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yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10).
Does The Preacher Please Men Or God?
With sarcasm Paul asks in Galatians 1:10: “Am I trying to persuade God
to fall in line with my program?" "No," he said, "I am trying to get you to fall into line with His program."
This is a stern criticism to those who have the attention of the public who are constantly asking, "Do they like my message? Am I giving them what they want?" Such leaders have no liberty. They are the slaves of men. When we seek to please men we are not true servants of Christ. This is what the above verse says.
How many preachers are there whose aim is to just keep the people coming,
and the congregation growing, and having a nice, happy fellowship. They won't tolerate anyone who might rock their boats by pointing to some important truth that should be known. There must be peace at any price! Whatever the takes, let us have peace! Speakers are often chosen on the basis of popularity; rather than on the content of their messages.
Paul was once like that. He wrote that he "profited in the Jews' religion" (Gal. 1:14). Why? Was it be
. . .
that none of them had ever met him or seen him, but that they had heard of him; that he which persecuted them in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. He has shown His mercy for a long time to the stubborn nation. ” It is evident that his message did not originate with man, but again, as verse 1 says, God did not use men to teach it to him.
When we confuse Paul's message with that of the twelve, we don't stand approved of God and we ought to be ashamed. In Galatians 1:12, he says he got his message "by the revelation of Jesus Christ," but in Verses 15 and 16 he says, ". And not only was Paul now in Christ, but Christ was in Paul. How can we talk about law-keeping when we are all guilty of lawbreaking? Keep defending yourself and God will never save you. They had an earthly calling with Christ as their King to reign at Jerusalem according to the prophecies of the Old Testament. His friends knew he was not safe at Jerusalem and sent him back home, but God had a hand in this too.
Luke tells us that when Stephen was stoned, Saul was consenting to his
death.
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