Galatians -- The church’s Declaration of Independence
1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
To say that Paul was an apostle means that he was sent with a message to us. He was sent by Jesus Christ and he was sent by God the Father. Jesus Christ was the one that was raised from the dead and God the Father was the one that raised Him from the dead. Every religious leader and cult leader claims they are sent by God. How do you know the difference? Theudas claimed to be somebody (Acts 5:36) and after him Judas the Galilean claimed to be somebody. So how do you know which one is truly sent by God with the word of God? God’s word is like gold, it is precious, it is treasured, it does not rust or corrode. 2,000 years later gold is still as precious as it was. Fool’s gold on the other hand does rust and decay. The words of Paul have been treasured for 2,000 years, how about the words of Theudas? How about Judas the Galilean? Gamaliel’s counsel was accurate, time will tell if this is truly a word from God, but it is also pathetic. You are a teacher of the Jews, you should be able to discern the words of God from the words of man. Still, if they are the words of God they will have the resurrection power, you will not be able to kill them, and that is the point that Gamaliel made. If you are going to bring this extremely revolutionary message of the gospel to an evil age, you know they will kill you. That is a given. So the only ones who could possibly send this message are those that have conquered death.
2 and all the brothers and sisters with me,
Paul was not alone. There is a fellowship of the Body. Right now we are watching the Black Lives Matter movement. They also want to rescue people from this evil age. There are a lot of people with them. But many of those in this movement are not interested in being in the fellowship with everyone else. Many people have their own agenda. An apostle does not have his own agenda, he is a messenger. He is bringing a message from Jesus and from the Father. It is not his word, it is their word.
To the churches in Galatia:
This word is to the churches. Do you need to be rescued from this evil age, well this word is for you. Do others need to be rescued from this evil age? Well, “to me to live is Christ”, if Jesus Christ rescued you from this evil age, then for you to live is to help rescue others from this evil age. The church is the vehicle that brings in the kingdom of the heavens. The only weapon the evil age has against this word is to “kill it” and Paul said “to die is gain”. Therefore the enemy is powerless against the gospel.
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
What do you think, as you watch these protests, are they ministering grace and peace to you from God our Father? Nancy Pelosi was asked what she felt about protestors ripping down statues and she said "I don't care about statues". For six months we heard various people justifying these heinous acts calling them "mostly peaceful" protests while buildings and cars burn in the background. It was like saying that the JFK Parade in Dallas was mostly peaceful. Others have claimed that "riots are the voice of the unheard". So it isn't the actions of thugs and criminals but the "voice of the unheard". We watched them burn down a police station for what? For Jacob Blake being shot and which after very careful examination the police officer was completely exonerated as having acted appropriately to safeguard people's lives. We saw these anarchists call to defund the police and set up autonomous zones all while government and other political leaders did nothing. Was this a word of grace and peace? Washington DC was set on fire and the Whitehouse was under siege by these protestors and the media ridiculed Trump because the Secret Service took him to the bunker, fearing the Whitehouse could be over run. Grace and peace?
4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age,
Jesus was the true revolutionary. No one else would do this. Give yourself for the sins of sinners to rescue them? The idea is utterly revolutionary. according to the will of our God and Father, When you pray according to God’s will that is a prayer that is powerful and God will answer. Many people right now are praying for justice, walk according to God’s will and you will be unstoppable.
5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus' victory over death was glorious. But much of what we are seeing is not glorious, it is shameful.
The woman who set fire to Wendy’s, shameful. Looting, rioting, and vandalism shameful. Much of what is done is done in ignorance, again shameful. For example, there is a statue of Teddy Roosevelt on a horse with a strong african man and a strong native American on either side. This statue is in front of the museum of natural history and depicts the two continents, North America and Africa. Teddy Roosevelt was a naturalist who gathered creatures from both continents that are in the museum showing our natural history. This includes archaeological digs and dinosaur bones gathered by many, many other scientists. Since Teddy’s contribution was the real foundation of the museum he is depicted. There is nothing insulting about this statue nor does it have anything to do with oppression. Doesn't matter they want to tear it down.
There are many in these Stop the Steal rallies who are protesting election fraud that took place during the election. The evidence of fraud is overwhelming and undeniable which is why they will not so much as listen to the evidence nor are you allowed to say "election fraud" on their platforms. People were hoping judges or legislators or even the Vice President would do the right thing. The glory will be to the Lord Jesus, not them. Jesus is the savior, Jesus is the Lord.