You’re going to be consumed by something…best be Jesus.

Steve Brown:
You’re going to be consumed by something…best be Jesus. Let’s talk on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
It’s for freedom that Christ set us free and Key Life is here to bring you Biblical teaching that encourages you to never give into slavery again. Our teacher on Key Life is Steve Brown. He’s an author, broadcaster and seminary professor who’s sick of phony religion.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. We’re looking at the apostle Paul and he’s got a checklist and on why he’s an apostle and a servant of Christ and the real deal. And as we go through this defense that Paul makes of himself and his ministry, we get a checklist for us too. And these are places where we can check off and learn to rest secure in the fact that we’re the real deal too. Now we’ve seen that Paul was confronted, he didn’t make the choice. This is all in the first chapter of Galatians. He was convinced, absolutely convinced that he was right. And he was changed. He didn’t become nicer. He became realer. I know don’t send me the letters, you English teachers, but he did become more for real. But then we saw, and we saw this yesterday. He was consumed. By the way Zach’s going to be in next week. And man, if you’ve been listening to Zach Van Dyke on doubt, it’ll blow you away. So I get to rest for a week and get ministered to. And so be sure and check with Key Life next week. As I was saying, before I so rudely interrupted myself. We’re talking about Paul being consumed. We saw yesterday, how in the first part of Galatians, it’s me, me, me, me. And when you get to the 15th chapter, it becomes him, him, him, that would be Jesus. We looked at Philippians 1:21, the statement of a fanatic.

For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Galatians 2:20

I’m crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ, liveth in me.

Now I don’t want to be too absolute on this, you know, it’s very easy to make Christians feel nothing but guilty, because they’re not consumed enough by Jesus. And sometimes they think about a milkshake or playing ball or golf, or having fun with people. I need to be consumed with Jesus. So, this is not a place where you’re beaten over the head. It’s something that happens inside as you grow in him. The longer I serve him, the Gaither’s saying, the sweeter he becomes. Listen, I can say it with a degree of authority. I’m as old as dirt. And I’ve been doing this longer than a lot of you have been alive. And I want you to know. I can say for me to live is Christ, sometimes. I can say I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, sometimes. I see it happening. Let me tell you something. The nature of human beings is to be consumed. We’re looking for addictions. We’re looking for places to just be caught up. And it happens all the time. That’s what you see now in our culture. That’s what you see in the protests. That’s what you see academia. And even in the church with the religion. You’re going to be consumed by something. When I was very young, one of my friends said. And I think about it a lot. He was talking to a professor at a graduate school we were attending and he said, I don’t know where Steve’s gonna be in 20 years, but he’s going to be waving a flag for something. And there was truth, and a lot of times that flag was my flag. A lot of times that was the wrong flag, but not anymore, because something has happened to me. I mean, Christ has gotten under my skin. You remember in John 9 when Jesus was saying some controversial things. And people started leaving, you know, that happens sometimes. All of a sudden they thought they were saying to Jesus, we thought you were going to bring a sword and wipe the Romans out. And you keep talking about love and washing people’s feet. What’s with that? And they left. And that ninth chapter has such pathos to it. There’s probably no place in the New Testament where Jesus is more human than right here. And he looks at disciples and he says, are you guys, are you guys going to go too? And Peter, God bless him said, where are we going to go? I mean, I mean, what are we going to do? I mean, you’ve screwed up our lives. Who’s going to love us the way you are going to love us. Who’s going to forgive us the way you forgive us. You have the words of eternal life. That’s what happens when you’re a Christian, you find it gets in your skin and it gets in your blood and it becomes a part of how you define yourself. And as you see that beginning to happen. And you know exactly what I’m talking about. When you see that happening, you know that what you got is the real deal. Paul was consumed. Let me show you something else. I want you to note, that not only was Paul confronted and convinced and changed and consumed. He was controlled. Galatians 1:15-16a,

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and he called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles.

First God set him apart. Second God called Paul through grace. And thirdly, he revealed his son to Paul and then send him out and controlled him in the ministry that God had given him. I have a new car. Well, it’s pretty new. I kind of drive Hondas and have for many years. And my other Honda had 260,000 miles on it. And it was beginning to cost me a lot of money to keep it up. So I decided it’s time to do the new one. I want you to know, I love this car. Jesus told me if I didn’t get over it, he was going to crash it. So I’m trying to get over my being enamored with this new car. Boy, it does everything. Do you know, that I can go on a trip, put the thing on cruise control and it’ll drive for me. And when I get out of the lane, it pulls me back into the right lane. If I’m getting ready to do a turn signal, to turn, and there’s a car in the lane where I’m turning, it gives me an alarm. I mean, I’m safer than I’ve ever been, but I’ve noticed that sometimes I get irritated and I want to say to the car, leave me alone. I want to do it myself. If I get out of the lane, it pulls me back in. And then Barnhouse said,

All of life illustrates Bible doctrine.

Doing what’s pretty right, and what God pretty much wants me to do. And so I don’t worry about it much because I look back over my life and I can see how, when I got in the wrong lane, he pulled me in the right lane. How, when I almost crashed, he set off an alarm. How I, how I was controlled by God, who, who likes me a lot and who wants the best for me. And so the apostle Paul was controlled. God set him apart for a purpose. People are always asking me about how they know the will of God. And generally I say to them, don’t worry about it. The Bible is pretty clear about some things that are God’s will, and some things that are not. When you get down to some specifics, about marrying the right person, about having the right job, about going to the right place, about serving the way you ought to serve. Don’t worry about it. In Thessalonians Paul said, this is the will of God, your sanctification. That was the will of God. What does that mean? It means being set apart, the way Paul was and the way he was talking about his apostleship. I was set apart. And then I was controlled. And as long as the set of part thing is right, then the other stuff is going to be okay too. And you don’t have to stay up at night worrying about it, or what the next step is going to be, or how you’re gonna survive because that’s his business. And the three spiritual laws are first there’s a God, secondly you’re not him, thirdly he’s in control of this whole thing. And so we see that the apostle Paul, when he looks back at his life said, you know, there’s a difference. I went into the wilderness and Jesus found me and he’s showing me off. And I didn’t choose what I’m doing. He had this controller that got me in the right lane and I can hardly drive in another lane. And that’s true with you too. And so, and so when it gets hard and you wonder, and you think, I don’t know if I’m doing this right or wrong, go get a milkshake, because, because God’s got your back. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks Steve. Hey, if you missed any of this week shows on the book of Galatians, make sure you swing by the brand new keylife.org where you can binge listen till your heart’s content. We will continue this series on Galatians soon, but next week, Steve’s invited our favorite megachurch pastor Zach Van Dyke to join us again, always good stuff from Zach. Do not miss that. And tomorrow Steve will be here with our friend, Pete Alwinson for Friday Q & A. One of the questions on tap. Why ask for forgiveness if you’re already forgiven? Yeah, that’s a good cue. Join us tomorrow for the aim. Well, folks do share big questions with us, but sometimes you have questions you’re scared to even speak. For example, have you ever had trouble believing that the Bible is true? Have you ever wondered if God is really there or questioned why you don’t feel a certain way? If you’re looking for Biblical answers to those questions, there’s a many book we’d love to send you for free. It’s called Faith and Doubt: When Belief Is Hard. Get your copy right now while supplies last, just call 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also request the minibook by emailing [email protected]. If you’re mailing us send your request to

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