“Consider The Source”
Gal. 1:11-24
Intro.: Information bombards us from all sides. The internet has made matters worse, making
it very difficult to sort out rumors from reliable news, fiction from fact, and
mountains of lies from a grain of truth.
It is important before we act on information that we always check the
source to make sure that it is reliable.
This is especially true in spiritual
matters. Religious information and
spiritual messages are all around us clamoring to be believed and battling for
control of our lives. What I say to all
of you [I say especially to you confirmands] is always consider the source before you
stake your faith and life on something. Because a…
I.
Faith And Life From An Uncertain Source Ends In
Ruin.
A. A person cannot go through life making
choices and acting on them based upon personal opinion, ever changing feelings,
or the consensus of others and expect a good outcome.
In
our epistle Paul admits that for a time he lived that way. He made decisions that brought him to the
brink of hell and did things that haunted him the rest of his life. While under the influence of Judaism he had
been a party to killing and imprisoning many of God’s people and felt totally
justified in persecuting and trying to destroy Christ’s Church.
We also need to understand that personal
decisions and actions based upon the desires of our sinful nature and the
flawed sources of this world can and will lead to our destruction. How many of us have been at the brink of hell
because we adopted lies and called them truth, and have built our faith and lives
upon them? How many of us are even right
now teetering on the edge of eternal death because of the decisions we have
made based upon unreliable sources? We live
in the sin of adultery, decide that it doesn’t matter if we attend worship, and
steal as a matter of good business practice.
We put our leisure and luxury ahead of the needs of the poor, hungry,
and unbelieving. We feel absolutely justified
and righteous in hating some and gossiping about others. In these and so many other ways we allow the decisions
and actions we make based upon our own feelings or the collective opinion of
the world to bring us to spiritual ruin.
In our hearts and minds we, like Paul carry the memories of things we
have done that haunt and torment you. Some, like him, try to adopt a religious life
in an attempt to tip the balance in our favor.
Yes, if we are zealous and committed to God, then perhaps our faith and
life can be set right. Like
B. Even a
faith and life based upon religion cannot save us from ourselves if it is based
upon an unreliable source. Paul admits
that the religion upon which he had once based his faith and life was unreliable. It was a man made religion built upon the
traditions of his fathers. His life of
Judaism and adherence to the strict code of the Pharisees did not make him any
more holy or bring him any closer to God.
Instead it condemned him and made him into an enemy of Christ. He was deceived by the wisdom of the men he
respected. He lived in awe of the ourwardly righteous lives of his teachers, never perceiving
that for all their pious talk and outward righteousness their religion was
false. In the end it was an insult to
God’s grace and hostile to God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
This
is why Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, because they had fallen victim
to the same thing. They looked at the
impressive credentials of some of the men who came to them and began to follow
them. They were inspired by the eloquent
speech and wisdom of the false teachers and began to embrace the false teachings
of men as the source of their faith and life.
Don’t you see that this same thing is happening
now to Christ’s Church and to us. We live in a society in which people stand in
awe of the rich and famous. They pattern
their lives after what their favorite television show or follow the example of the
latest music artists and movie stars.
The hearts and soles of our children are taken captive by the false
teachers of the academic world who teach them to despise and reject their faith
as foolish fable and moronic myth. Some
are swayed by the success and polish of TV preachers and pop psychologists to
exchange the Gospel for a man-made religion that offers trivial, self-serving
and shortsighted answers to the most important questions of life. We in our own congregation have experienced
this and suffer as a result. Too many of
our own members, [too many young people
like you,] have turned to unreliable sources upon which to build their
faith and life. The consequences are
disastrous and left on that course their end will be spiritual and eternal ruin. Again, I say it: Always consider the source! [Admonition to Confirmands]
II. The Gospel Is The Only Sure Source
And Strong Foundation For Faith & Life.
A. Paul reminded the Christians of Galatia, as I
remind each of you here today that the Gospel that comes to us through the
prophets, apostles and evangelists is not the erring opinions or mutated
traditions of men; it is the very word and promise of God.
Still today the divine gospel comes under
this same attack. Satan wants you to
believe that all religion, including Christianity, (to quote my religion
professor from college) “is a fools dream, dreamed up by fools.” What He did with Adam and Eve, he wants to do
with you - move
you from faith to skepticism, and from trust to doubt.
B. But this Gospel, the one proclaimed by
Paul, and the one that continues to be preached among us was not dreamed up by
men, this Gospel written and spoken is from God, Himself, and anyone who thinks
otherwise is dead wrong. There will be
times when you will want to take a different course in your life, one which is
clearly contrary to what the scriptures teach, but remember this to dismiss the
clear teachings of the Bible as the mere opinions of the individual writer or as
misguided expressions of cultural influences, is a dangerous thing. Paul wrote: “if anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him
acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this he, himself, will be
ignored.” Peter also wrote: “Above all you must understand that no prophecy
of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will
of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
(II Pet. 1:20-21) Here in
His Word, and in the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ, God has given you a
sure and certain source upon which to build your faith and life.
This
Gospel upon which [you confirmands] and all of us are
invited to build our faith and lives was revealed revealed
by Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God.
This is no second hand, slop it together, trumped up message. In our epistle Paul tells us that he heard
this Gospel from the very mouth of his resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, while on the road to
Paul’s Gospel,
and the Gospel which you yourselves have received is the divine Gospel which
Christ himself has spoken to you as Hebrews 1 notes: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many
times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his
Son...” (Heb. 1:1-2)
Still today Jesus speaks to us and reveals
the Gospel to us through the words of His holy prophets, evangelists and
apostles. Through that word carried
forth by pastors and teachers, and witnessed to one another we have a sure
source and a strong foundation.
C. My dear family in Christ, [my dear spiritual children], faith is
too precious and life is far too difficult to be left to uncertainty. Today, I invite you to take hold of the one
reliable source and the one firm foundation of the Gospel. Here in the Gospel of Word and Sacrament God
offers you Divine power to build lasting faith and an abundant, eternal life.
By this reliable Gospel of Christ, to the
amazement of everyone, Paul’s life was transformed from being an enemy of
Christ and persecutor of the Church into a friend of Jesus and apostle of the
Church
Paul’s transformation came, not because of
his own decision or effort, but through God’s gracious call, and the revelation
of Jesus Christ, as he notes in verses 15 & 16: “..God, who set me apart from birth and called
me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him
among the Gentiles...” The
Holy Spirit working in Him by the Gospel changed His life and became the source
and foundation for all of his faith and life, as we confess: “I believe
that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or
come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me by
his gifts and sanctified and kept me in the true faith...”
This same transformation of faith and life
is available to us freely in the Gospel.
All of us who were once enemies of God have now been declared children
of God. He meets us in the midst of our
evil plans and wicked ways, and calls us by the Gospel and claims us for Christ
and His kingdom. He sets us apart to
proclaim the wonders of His gracious work and glory in the lives He has given
us.
Concl.: My dear brothers and sisters, your faith is so precious and life in this world is simply too difficult to buld them upon uncertain sources and flimsy foundations. Here in the Gospel of Word and Sacrament the Lord has given you a reliable source and a firm foundation upon which to establish your faith and build your lives. Again I invite you to: Consider the source! Amen.