Galatians How People Change
Just Experience Convincing Logic WORLDVIEW WORLDVIEW Reason Personal Decision Just knowledge
Galatians 1:13-14 Persecutor-Believer-Witness � 13”For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God & tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age & was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
Acts 8, 9 & 22 Persecutor � 3”But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men & women & put them in prison.” � 1”Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.” � 4”I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison.”
Acts 26 Persecutor � 9"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”
Karla Faye Tucker Persecutor to Believer
Galatians 1:15-16 Persecutor to Believer � 15”But when God, who set me apart from birth & called me by his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man.”
Acts 8 Persecutor to Believer � 3”As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.”
Acts 26 Persecutor to Believer � “…I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”
Galatians 1:11-12 Persecutor to Believer � 11”I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”
Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was? � “Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne & I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him… I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man… I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me… but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men & spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts…
Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was? � Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time & space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted.
Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was? � Wonderful! In defiance of time & space, the soul of man, with all its powers & faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.” �
Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was? � “Christ speaks, and at once generations become his by stricter, closer ties than those of blood; by the most sacred, the most indissoluble of all unions. He lights up the flame of a love which consumes self-love, which prevails over every other love.” Napoleon Bonaparte �
From Persecutor to Believer � Self-Righteousness taken over by Christ’s Righteousness! � Paul didn’t consider the costs, he was taken!
1 Thessalonians 1 � “4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you , 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit & with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.”
Ephesians 1:4 � “ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy & blameless in his sight.”
Paul had everything BUT Christ Now he has lost everything BUT Christ � Now he would live by way of crucifixion - dying to self, and living for Christ � What was the result? � �
Acts 9:20 Persecutor to Believer to Witness � 20At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. �
Have you been knocked off the horse of your self-righteousness? � What’s been the result?
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