AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTIONER
Text: Galatians 1:1-5
Scripture
Reading
: I Peter 3:13-22
INTRODUCTION
1. Paul is being called into question by some of those would-be detractors
2. There are groups who deny Paul’s apostleship, including those Judaizers in
3. Paul hears their doubts and gives them an answer to their questions, consistently defending his work in the Lord’s kingdom
4. In Galatians 5:1-5 Paul answers five questions that tell everyone a great deal about just who Paul really is:
a. Who are you with?
b. What are you doing?
c. When are you doing it?
d. Where are you from?
e. Why are you doing this?
5. Paul’s answers to these five questions could, and should, be the answer to those questions people ask of our lives.
TRANSITION: The first question Paul answers is:
I. Who are you with?
A. This is answered in verse 2, “And the brethren who are with me”
1. This is an important answer for us to notice
2. Look who Paul shared time with
a. He shared time with the brethren who were with him
b. He did not say, “And the drunk on the stool next to me”
c. He did not say, “And the woman in my bed to whom I am not married”
d. He was not spending his time with reprobated people who would destroy his influence and strength
e. He spent time with brethren who helped him become stronger and put forth a brighter light for the Lord
3. Paul gave an influence to weaker Christians and drew strength from them to help make him stronger
B. He understood some of his own teaching
1. He says in I Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
2. The people you hang around with help to determine who you become
a. If you hang around in bars those drunks are going to influence you and drag you into their gutter
b. If you hang around with people of loose morals you are going to spiral downward toward them
c. But if you decide to spend your time with people who help you become stronger you can only benefit from their positive influence and gain from their strength
3. Don’t be like the little boy who hung around the apple barrel
a. The clerk asked him, “Boy, are you trying to steal an apple?”
b. The boy replied, “No sir, I’m trying not to”
c. Get away from the barrel, find positive influences and enjoy the greater life they help bring to you
TRANSITION: The next thing we want to notice is the answer to the question:
II. What are you doing?
A. To this Paul’s answer is that he is sharing, “God’s grace and peace” (v. 3)
1. He spent his time with his good friends sharing with others the grace and peace of God
2. How did he do that?
a. By writing to them those things concerning God and His kingdom
b. He told them of the bad things they had done and how to correct those things
c. Paul’s life consisted of sharing God’s precious message with others
3. That is what he meant when he told the Philippians, “For me to live is Christ but to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me…” (2:21-22)
a. Fruitful labor is the bringing of fruit to the Lord
b. That is what Jesus is talking about in John 15 when he says that those who do not bear fruit will be cut off and burned but those who bear much fruit will be welcomed into the Father
B. That teaching of Jesus still exists for us today
1. If we do not bear fruit for God then He will cut us off and throw us out to be burned
2. Instead we need to be writing, speaking, and living the grace of God so that we bear much fruit and so prove ourselves as His disciple (John 15:8)
3. We sing, “Will There be Any Stars in my Crown?”
a. What is that song talking about?
b. Not about earning brownie points for personal favors
c. But bring people to Christ to make those stars shine forth in our crown
d. Paul calls the Philippians his crown in 4:1 and the Thessalonians in I Thess. 2:19
e. At the coming of Christ those to whom Paul had preached would be his crown
C. The question then is not about stars, will I receive a crown at all?
TRANSITION: Paul was spending time with brethren while teaching God’s word, next he answers the question:
III. When are you doing it?
A. “In this present age” (v. 4)
1. Right here and now
2. This is the time the Lord has made and this is the salvation He brought forth for man right now
3. And, “Today is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2)
a. Agrippa wanted to wait around for another time to listen
b. But Paul said, “I would wish to God, that whether in short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains.” (Acts 26:28-29)
c. Even in the face of trial and potential death Paul preached Jesus Christ to the lost
d. How powerful the image must have been, Paul standing before them with the chains and saying, “I wish to God that you were all just as I am”
e. He did not wait for a better time, he used the time he had
B. So often we think the timing is not right
1. We do not say anything because things are not just so
2. The cancer patient waiting for a cure does not care about timing, just healing
3. The lost soul may not have a tomorrow to hear, today is the day that he needs God, now is the hour
4. Do not wait for the timing to be better because the timing may never be again
5. Share God with the lost in this present age or watch loved ones pass by not knowing the saving grace of Jesus Christ
TRANSITION: Paul also answered the question:
IV. Where are you from?
A. This is actually the first thing Paul answers in 1:1, “Paul, an apostle (Not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).”
1. He is saying that he wants no doubt on whose side he stands
2. He was accused of not having the full authority of an apostle but being simple message boy of the apostles
3. He says in no uncertain terms that he is from God and appointed an apostle by God
B. People want to know who you are from
1. They may not ask, but when you speak to them they wonder
2. And you answer with your speech
3. It is easy for me to say to the world that I am from God and I love God
4. But often my daily life will give me away if I do not truly mean it
5. When Jesus approached the woman at the well, He never mentioned being from God to her and she said, “Sir I perceive you to be a prophet” (John )
6. Jesus was from the Father and people knew it, Paul was from God and no one could really argue with it when they saw his life
7. What answer do people get when they ask you where you are from?
a. Are you from God?
b. Are you from yourself?
c. People want an answer
TRANSITION: Finally, Paul answered the question:
V. Why are you doing this?
A. V. 5, “To whom be the glory forevermore amen”
1. His sole purpose in being there was to give glory to God
2. He was writing to them of God’s grace because he wanted to bring glory to the Father
3. The way to do that, according to John 15, was to be fruitful and prove yourself a disciple of Christ
4. Paul was being maligned
a. We usually lash out and get mad
b. Or we begin to sing our own praises to show how wonderful we are
c. Or we turn the tables against someone else and make them look worse that we look
5. But Paul turned the tables toward Christ and glorified Him
B. Why do you do the things you do?
1. Colossians , “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord…”
2. That means doing things according to His will and to His glory
3. We answer this question before it is asked
4. First ask yourself the questions:
a. Is this thing approved by God? (If not, don’t do it)
b. Why am I doing it? (If not to glorify God, don’t do it)
c. What will the end result be? (If damaging to God’s purpose, don’t do it)
5. See, this doesn’t mean that we go around saying, “In Jesus name”
6. But that we live in such a way that His will is the first thing we consider and His purpose is the reason
7. When that is that case we are acting in His name and we will begin glorifying the Father by taking the opportunities to share His word with the lost
C. Where are you coming from?
CONCLUSION
1. People have questions about your life, of this you can be sure
2. Live in such a way that they are really already answered
3. Let them know you are from God by living a life that shows His word walking and talking through you
4. Then take every opportunity to talk to others and teach them of the love of God and His wonderful grace, and the path to it in Jesus Christ
5. Make sure you have the strength to continue by surrounding yourself with brothers in Christ who help give you the strength to move forward
6. Then the question will be answered, not only to those who ask of the world, but also of the Christ who will ask at judgment
INVITATION:
When that judgment comes what will your answer be? Will it be said to you enter in, or depart from me? One of these statements will be your fate. Have you obeyed the command of the Lord and put Him on in baptism for the remission of your sins? If not then your answer will be, “Depart from me.” Are you living a life that answers the questions in advance? Has your life answered the questions that the Lord will ask on judgment day? If not then the answer to you will be, “Depart from me.” Do not hear those dreaded words when today we can change that answer to “Come to me.” Let us help you today while we stand and sing.