 In Galatians chapter one, it's not a long chapter compared to some chapters that we've seen, but I'm going to spend two weeks in Galatians chapter one. So the first week what I'll do is I'll preach through every verse, and I'm going to focus on one very specific spot in Galatians chapter one for this first sermon. We're going to look at the birth of Paul. We're going to look at Paul's origins as a Christian, because we get some information in Galatians chapter one that's new information, that it's information that we didn't get in the story in Acts. So what I want to do is I want to put those two stories together for you this evening, and then of course we'll apply it as normal. And then next week what we'll do is we'll preach, I'll still be in Galatians chapter one, and we'll start to look at what's actually happening in the church of Galatia. So this morning, or I mean, I'm sorry, this evening we're going to look at, we're going to focus heavily on Paul. So let's start with verse number one of Galatians chapter one. Paul, I mean, this is a Bible study after all. So let's figure out what's going on in Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one verse one, Paul and Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and the God, and God the Father who raised him from the dead. So how did Jesus raise from the dead first of all? I mean, the Bible tells us even that detail is God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. So let's look at the origins of Paul. So Paul here, he starts to tell you a little bit about his background. He says Paul and Apostle. And we're going to get into that as well, what it means to be an Apostle. But he says, you know, there's more detail than just Paul and Apostle. You know, Paul, I'm just an Apostle. He says, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and the Father who raised him, and God the Father who raised him from the dead. So turn to Acts chapter nine. Let's look at the origins of Paul or Saul as the Bible will call him at this point. He doesn't actually begin to be named Paul and tell about Acts chapter 13, I believe. And then the Bible says, and all, you know, his name is in parentheses also Paul. And then they call him Paul from then on. So it's going to call him Saul from here on out. So remember Acts chapter seven was the death of Stephen. Saul was at the death of Stephen. Or Saul was a Pharisee. He was, you know, wasting the church. We're going to look at that. Look at verse number one of Acts chapter nine. Let's look at the origins of this man who's writing Galatians chapter one. And Saul, yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues that if he found any of this way, meaning any of the Christians, okay, whether they be, they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why persecutus thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, who now persecutes. It is hard for thee to kick against the prick. So here Jesus, I mean, if you have a red letter Bible, these are red words. This is Jesus talking directly to Saul. And verse six, he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me do to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. Now go back to Galatians chapter one. So you see, he says, Paul says, I'm not an apostle of men or by man, but by Jesus Christ himself. So I want to show you some of the similarities this evening of Paul, who is a later apostle. I mean, Jesus is gone at this point. Jesus is already ascended to heaven in Acts chapter one. And this is Acts chapter nine, and Paul comes on the scene. But I want to point out that he came on the scene by Jesus Christ himself. Okay, Jesus Christ himself revealed himself to Paul. Now go to Galatians chapter one in verse number two. And all the brethren which are with me under the churches of Galatia, grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father. To whom be glory forever and ever, amen. I marvel, now he gets into some of the things that I'm going to talk heavily about next week, but we'll read through it. There was problems, that's why he was writing. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we are an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. He's saying, look, if anybody tells you that there's a different gospel or it's not the same as we told you before, he's like, let him be accursed. As we said before, so I say now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, then that ye received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. So basically in verse number 10, he's saying, look, he's like, I, he's saying basically, you preach out of season in season, that's what verse number 10 is saying. He's like, I'm going to tell you the truth no matter what, whether it's what you want to hear or not. He's like, I, you know, I don't speak to please men, Paul said. He's like, for if I please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. That goes to show you, you know, as we looked at the prosperity gospel a couple of weeks ago, that all these people that speak to please men and please, you know, to get people in the pews and in the chairs and fill their churches, they're not, you know, they're not the servant of Christ. Because the message of Christ many times will not please men. Many times is not what you want to hear. It's not for the itching ears. Okay. But now look at verse number 11. So there's problems in the church. We see that somebody has come into the church and is spreading something other than what they taught them at the beginning. We'll get into that next week. But now Paul goes into a defense of the gospel. So this is a, you know, Paul is a very persuasive writer. I don't know what he was like. He says he wasn't a great speaker, but he was a very persuasive writer. And I like the way that he thinks because he goes in now into this, this defense of the gospel itself. Okay. Look at verse 11. But I certify to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. He says it didn't come from man. He's like, well, how do you know? How do you know it didn't come from man? Well, he says for I, now he's going to give you a testimony. And that's what we're going to talk about this evening is Paul's testimony. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it. What in the world? So he wasn't taught the gospel by another man. Somebody didn't, you know, Peter didn't come up to Paul with the gospel and explain everything to him. Okay. So Paul is now going to tell you how he received. Look, Paul, we're going to find out, and you will find out throughout the Bible, that Paul would go and he would debate people in the temples for hours and hours and hours and days and days. He would go and stand in the temples with the leaders and all the Jews around him. And he would, look, this is different than debating somebody at the door. He would go and he would lay out the case for Christ in the temple. And look, maybe the person he was talking to wasn't convinced, the Pharisee or whoever, but many people around were convinced. You know, even King Agrippa almost persuaded me to be a Christian. Paul was very persuasive and that means he has a lot of knowledge according to what this gospel was, but he wasn't taught it. He wasn't taught it by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. He says, Jesus Christ showed it to me, is what he is saying. Now look at verse 13. For you have heard of my conversation in the time, in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted it and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in my own nation being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Now just like take a bracket around verse 13 and verse 14 and write your past right there. And I'll explain to you why you need to label that that way. Verse 15, he talks about how he was called by the grace of God. He didn't deserve whatever this choosing that God chose him to be this apostle, but God called him by his grace to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately, I conferred not with flesh and blood. Again, he says, I was not taught by men. He said, look at verse number 17. Neither when I up to Jerusalem. Now wouldn't you think that would be a smart thing to do? So Paul just got saved in Acts chapter nine, what we just read. He just got saved. And then he goes, we're gonna read a little bit further in Acts chapter nine about what happens. Go to Acts chapter nine and look at verse 17 and we'll look at Saul's conversion a little bit more. But it says, he conferred not with flesh and blood. Don't let that be lost on you. Neither when I up to Jerusalem. I mean, don't you think that would be a smart thing to do? You just convert it. You know, should I go to Jerusalem and talk to the apostles, the eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ himself? I would think that if you're gonna go out and preach this gospel that they're preaching, this doctrine that they're preaching, that you know, you wanna know what the doctrine is. But he didn't. Neither when I up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia and returned again onto Damascus. Turn to Acts chapter nine. Now this is something, Galatians, when you put it in with Acts chapter nine, it gives you some details that you would never get if you just read through Acts chapter nine. So go to Acts chapter nine, look at verse 17. The Bible says this. It says, and Ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus that appeared to thee in the way as thou camest me hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight. So Paul's blind now remember after this, you know, situation on the road and be filled with the holy ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes and he received sight forthwith and arose and was baptized. There Paul is saved and baptized right there. Verse number 19. And when he had received me, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus. So now he's in Damascus and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the son of God. So Paul, he gets converted on the road to Damascus. He goes in and into Damascus and he meets Ananias and he receives his sight again. He's baptized and then he goes and he preached Christ. He preaches Christ in the synagogues right away. Verse 21. But all that heard him were amazed and said, is this not he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem and came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound under the chief priests. Like he came to Damascus to gather Christians to bring them in chains back to Jerusalem. And now he's in this, I mean, just imagine. You know, this is verse 13 and verse 14 of Galatians. You know, just put a bracket around verse 21 and say Galatians 1.13, Galatians 1.14. They're looking at his past and they're saying this is the guy that was way over the top against these people, against this Christ. And now he's advocating for him. They're like, they can't make sense of it. They can't understand it. But Saul increased more in strength and confounded the Jews that dwelt at Damascus proving that this is very Christ. He's basically going into the synagogues and saying, hey, he really was the Christ. You're saying it was the Christ. We were wrong is what he was saying. Now between verses 22 and verse 23, just write a little arrow that says Paul goes to Arabia for three years because that's what Galatians chapter one is telling us that in between verse 22 and verse 23, there's two trips to Damascus in Acts chapter nine. So after many days were fulfilled, this is three years in Arabia. After three years in Arabia, the Jews took counsel to kill him. But they're laying a weight was known of Saul and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, now he goes to Jerusalem. So he went to Damascus. He went to Arabia for three years. Then he went back to Damascus. They were gonna kill him in Damascus. And then he went to Jerusalem finally. I mean, so how long has Paul been saved, Saul been saved before he goes to Jerusalem for the first time? Over three years at this point. Look at verse 27 of Acts nine. But Barnabas took him. So many of the disciples in verse 26 believe not that he was a disciple. They're still scared of him. Okay, they're still scared of this man. He was such a terror to the church after three years they're still scared of him. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto him how that he had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out of Jerusalem. So think about this, the timeline of Acts nine. Paul, Saul, I keep calling him Paul, Saul gets saved. He gets baptized and he receives a site. He gets baptized. He goes into Arabia out of Damascus into Arabia for three years. And look, God took him into Arabia and that is where God revealed everything to him for three years. Now I believe, the Bible doesn't specifically say that but I believe, because look, turn to Luke chapter one. I believe that that's what happened with Paul because this is kind of like God's mode of operation with his greatest prophets. He kind of takes them off and just reveals to them. And he did the same with John the Baptist. Look at Luke chapter one. Look at Luke chapter one in verse 76. This is talking about John the Baptist. Look at verse 76 of Luke chapter one. And thou, child, and thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. So if John the Baptist was gonna go and preach the gospel and preach this knowledge, I mean, isn't that what the gospel is? Is knowledge of salvation? Don't you think John the Baptist would have to have some knowledge? I mean, how long, you know, you have the entire Bible in your hand, but how long did it take you to become a thorough soul winner? It will take you. You might become a speaker. You might get the verses down. You know, you could get the bare bones verses down. But to become a thorough soul winner that can pretty much handle any situation that comes at you, that takes years to become that type of soul winner where if somebody just throws things at you, you can just turn to verses in the Bible and you just have command of God's word like that. Look, the knowledge that these men have to go into synagogues and debate the Jewish leaders of the time, who knew the Bible, by the way? They were doctors of the Bible. If they knew anything, it was, you know, the Bible, I mean, they had it all wrong, but they knew, you know, what they thought they were teaching the Bible said. You had to have some knowledge. You had to have some knowledge and some command of God's word. Look at verse 77, 78, sorry. Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high have visited us, to give them light that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the deserts till the day of his showing onto Israel. So God prepared John the Baptist in the desert for this job that he was going to have. God was revealing these things. I mean, where else did he receive the knowledge of what he preached? God took him aside and through revelation he gave it to them. God, I mean, God took Moses aside. He took Moses to Mount Sinai and he just revealed the law to him, you know, for days and days and days. Paul, he took to Arabia for three years to reveal his word to him. I was talking to pastor about this and he has an interesting theory. I've heard this theory before. I think it's a good one. I mean, I subscribed to it myself but there's a lot of evidence that Paul, that Saul was supposed to be the 12th apostle to replace Judas instead of, you know, what they did in Acts chapter one. Go ahead and turn there. We'll take a look at it. Paul also, you know, he had three years with Jesus and in verse number 12 of Galatians chapter one, he says, for I neither received it, a man neither was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. So Paul was revealed this word. Look at Acts chapter one, looking at this idea of the 12th apostle. So of course, Judas is dead. Now there's 11 and they need 12. So they appointed two, Joseph called in verse 23, Joseph called Barcebus who is surname justice and Matthias and they prayed and said, thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou has chosen that he may take part of the ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. Here you get your 12th apostle, but then Paul still comes in, in Acts chapter eight, Acts chapter seven, eight and nine, he's converted in Acts chapter nine. But look, the apostles were, it was one who has chosen, one who was sent out. These were eyewitnesses, okay? I mean, look, this is the last time you ever hear about Matthias in the Bible. You know, I'm not saying that Matthias, so it's an interesting theory that Paul was slated to become the 12th apostle. You know, it's just something to think about. Go back to Galatians chapter one. Go back to Galatians chapter one and look at verse, where were we? Look at verse 17 of Galatians chapter one. So he says, you know, to reveal his son and me that I may preach him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. He says, I didn't go and talk to anybody about this. Neither went I up to Jerusalem. I didn't even go talk to the main guys about this. But I went into Arabia and returned again under Damascus. That's how I know that between Acts 9, 22 and Acts 23, that that's when he went after many days to Arabia. He came back to Damascus, he fled Damascus and then he went to Jerusalem and that matches perfectly with Galatians chapter one. Now look at verse 18. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days. It's interesting that Jesus spent three and a half years with the disciples and now Paul has spent three years with Jesus in Arabia. So look at verse 18 after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days. Now look at, I mean that's Acts 9, 26 right there. Look at verse 19. But other of the apostles I saw none. Saved James, the Lord's brother. So basically he went to Jerusalem and the only disciples that he actually saw on this first trip were Barnabas, who kind of took him around, Peter and James. So he saw three of the disciples. So think of this, think of this. Now you say, what's the point of all this? But here's the thing, Paul gets saved. Paul goes into Damascus, he receives his sight, he gets baptized, he goes to Arabia for three years and Jesus reveals himself to him, just as he revealed himself to the other disciples. And then he's never even talked. Look, there's no email. They're not texting each other, like hey, what do you think of this doctrine? Hey, what do you do with these guys doing this stuff or whatever? There's none of this. Then he goes to Jerusalem after three plus years and he meets Peter and James and Barnabas. Look, James and Peter were the head guys here. I mean, James was the man in charge pretty much in Jerusalem. Look, and he goes and he meets them and miraculously they're all preaching the same gospel. Same Jesus, that's why. Because it was revealed to them through the same person. Look, Jesus revealed this to Paul. Go back to verse number 20 of Galatians chapter one. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Solicia. This, of course, again matches Acts chapter nine where after he goes to these places, after he leaves his first visit to Jerusalem and was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they had heard only that he which persecuted us in times past now preaches the faith which he once destroyed and they glorify God in me. So put a bracket around verse number 23 and put verses 13 and 14 there. Because again he is bringing up. He is bringing up his past once again. Why? Why does he keep bringing up his past? I mean he had a pretty good past if after several years these churches had still heard that this is who this guy was. They still knew his reputation. But look, his past, and this is the first point I wanna make tonight about Paul. His past, his horrible past became a witness. Paul's past became a witness. Look, he persecuted, go back to verse number 13 and 14. He persecuted the church of God. Like he wasn't just a regular Pharisee. He was exceedingly into this. He said, for you've heard of my conversation in times past in the Jews religion how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it and profited in it. He's like, I was the best. I was the best at this. The reason he was on his way to Damascus because he requested that he go there. He's like, I'm gonna go get him there too. I've heard there's Christians there. He's going above and beyond. But look, his past became a witness. He's bringing up his past in the context of the glory of God. Do you see that in the last verse? Or it says, because he was so bad, they glorified God in me. Now look, you need to think about this for a second. If you got saved later in life, maybe, you know, people, I mean, isn't this crazy that people will look back on their past and they will look back on their past and their past will become a stumbling stone to them. They'll look back on their past and be like, oh man, I just, you don't know how I grew up. You know, I grew up in this bad path. You don't understand how I grew up. You know, why don't you move forward? You don't understand. Look, people that know your past can glorify God in you because of that past. Look at James, turn to James chapter two. Look, you know why? Because they see your past, people that know your past, no matter how bad it was, you're saved now, they see your works. They see your works and they see you now advocating for Christ just as Paul in Galatians chapter one and they can glorify God through you. You can glorify God, you know, showing the divergence from your past. Look at James chapter two and verse 23. Yet it makes no sense that people would take that past and make it a stumbling block for their Christian life. It doesn't make it, you're not reading the Bible if you're doing that. You're not following what the Bible says. Paul brings this up in the context of people constantly remembering his past. So it's not like Paul was just humbling himself. He's like, no, people kept remembering my past and they're looking at me now and they're glorifying God because of it. Because of his horrible, wicked past. Think of it. Look at James two, verse 23. And the scripture was filled with says, Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And he was called a friend of God. Look, whenever things are said twice, pay attention. Look at verse 23 and the scripture was fulfilled with sayeth Abraham believed God and it was, oh, I just, I'm sorry. It doesn't say it twice. I pasted it twice in my notes. I'm the same verse. But look, Abraham was called a friend of God. Who was he called a friend of God by? He was called a friend of God by other men. Abraham, people were seeing Abraham's works and they were calling him the friend of God because they were seeing that his actions were towards God. It's the same thing with Paul. People were seeing who he was now. He wasn't just this saved guy who used to be a wicked person who was just sitting there doing nothing. No, he had these great works. He was debating these people, getting all these people saved, bringing the gospel to the heathen, things that Jews had never even thought was possible. And they're like, they're remembering his past and that past brought strength because they gave that glory. They're like, God can do anything with anybody. So what people will notice? I mean, when you are separated, your past can be a strength because when you're separated unto God, people will notice the difference. Yet, yet people dwell on it. Isn't that dumb? So it could be this huge. You say, I grew up in a horrible family with horrible things and horrible people. And well, I mean, you're saved now. So thank God for that. I mean, God got you out of that, but now look, and I did horrible things and I was a horrible person. Look, start going somewhere and be separated unto God and people will look at that witness and they will say glory be to God. Look what God can do. Look what God can do with people. So I mean, that's the first point I wanna make tonight is that Paul's past was something that was a great witness unto other people. A bad thing turned into glory for God is the first thing. The second thing is let's talk about this calling of God for the closing of the sermon this evening. Let's talk about the calling of God. So the 12 disciples, you have Paul. You know, you have the 12 apostles. Look, they were quite literally called by Jesus Christ. I mean, they were verbally called. I mean, Jesus literally said, follow me. You know, they were verbally called. They physically knew Jesus. Paul physically knew Jesus. Jesus talked to him. You know, but look, Jesus was starting his church. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter nine. Jesus was starting his church here. Jesus was making a plan to get the gospel started in the world. So look at 1 Corinthians chapter nine in verse one. Let's look at what, you know, an apostle is here. Right? So the Bible says in 1 Corinthians nine, verse one, am I not an apostle? Paul is saying this. Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Look, Paul has seen the Lord Jesus. More evidence that, you know, he's an actual apostle. Are you not my work in the Lord? So look, these men, I mean, these men, that's why you hear that an apostle is a literal eyewitness of Jesus. It's someone who actually saw the Lord Jesus Christ as Paul was one of. So look, none of us have actually seen Jesus Christ. I mean, you'll meet, you'll be soul winning and you'll meet people from these weird, you know, apostle churches or I don't even, I forget the name of some of the churches, but you know, I mean, I've ever heard Ben at the door and been like, you know, you're never going to heaven. Oh yeah, I'm an apostle. You know, it's a weird charismatic thing. They think that they're, they probably have seen, smoked something that's made them see something that they thought was Jesus. You know, I know that was a mushroom, you know? So I mean, look, but the point is, is Jesus had a very specific plan here. These apostles were actual eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ. All right, they actually saw him. But I do want to make some points about our calling. Our calling, you say me, yes, you have a calling. If you're sitting in this church this morning, this evening and you're saved, you have a calling. First of all, turn to Mark 16, 15. Actually, you turn to Acts two. I'm sure you've heard Mark 16, 15. I'll just read it for you. He said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Look, we are all called to preach the gospel. We are all called to preach. Now you say, what about women? Women, you know, they're not supposed to teach. They're not supposed to preach. Look, the women are supposed to preach the gospel too. On the day of Pentecost, go to Acts chapter two, the women were preaching the gospel as well. Look at Acts chapter two and verse 17. This is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. And it shall come to pass for the last days, sayeth God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. And what were they doing? In Acts chapter two, they were preaching the gospel in all sorts of different tongues, languages. This great miracle for them to preach the gospel. And then Jesus in Mark chapter 16 tells us, go out and preach the gospel. He's telling everybody, you know, preach the gospel. That's the goal. So we're all called to that task, to go out and preach the gospel to every creature. Now, let's talk about being called into the ministry. I don't know if any of you men have ever thought about this, but what I'm talking about is becoming a pastor. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter three. You say, do I have to be knocked off of a donkey and made blind in order to become a pastor? How will I know? How will I know if I should go into the ministry, if I should become a pastor or want to, you know, go in that direction? Well, first of all, in 1 Timothy chapter three, look what the Bible says. Look at verse number one. 1 Timothy chapter three gives all the qualifications of a pastor. But first, before those qualifications, you see this verse. This is a true saying. If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desired a good work. So look, the Bible is saying here, if you desire the office of a pastor, a bishop and pastor are the same thing in the Bible, you desire a good thing. You think that's a good thing to desire that. So the first thing is, you will be given a desire. You will be given a desire to become, to go into the ministry, to become a pastor. Now look, when I first, I'll give you, as we go along here, I'll kind of give you my testimony. Now I don't know if it's the same for every person that's ever gone into the ministry before, but my personal desire, the personal desire was laid upon me years after I moved to Sacramento. Okay, it was a desire, it wasn't so much even a desire that I should become a pastor, but it was a desire, a burden, it was laid upon me that I should be doing more. That I should be doing more in my Christian life. And it led to that desire of starting, going and telling pastor that I would like to be sent out. And start a church plan. And in my prayers, but here's one thing that I did, and I prayed this for about six months. Before I went in and I told pastor that this is what I wanted, my prayers for about six months were this, that God, don't let this desire be of me personally. I don't want this desire, I wanted God to want me to go into the ministry. I didn't want it for myself, because look, it was not a personal desire for me, if that makes sense. It was something I would have been happy that if I just would have stayed in Sacramento and just served in that church, as pastor said, every Christian, every Christian should either be a pastor or be supporting a pastor. And I personally would have been fine to support a pastor and do that with all my heart for the rest of my life. But I felt like I had this desire that I should be doing more. But I just wanted to pray and make sure that my heart was clear, that I wasn't doing this for any personal reasons, for any personal gain of myself. So look, first of all, I do believe, because this happened to me, that you will be given a desire for this good thing. Should you want to, should you get that desire to go into the ministry, don't ignore that, that's something you should be praying about and be spending time with the Lord, talking about, hey, Lord, where's this coming from? Is this a good thing? My personal desire, is this your desire? Look, and God doesn't speak to me audibly, but I want to make sure that I'm doing things for the right reasons. And search your heart for that. But it's a good desire. And it's a good desire. And every good thing comes from the Lord, the Bible says. But the second point I want to make about being called is this. And not just the, I'm sorry, this is the third point. But the third point is, the first point is that you're all called to preach the gospel. The second thing is that you'll be given, if you're gonna go into the ministry, you're not gonna be knocked off, your horse or your donkey. God's not gonna reveal himself to you in the mirror, in your bathroom, but you'll be given a desire to go into the ministry to become a pastor. And then of course, you have to follow. You know, you have to meet all those qualifications. So look, if you're somebody, you see a problem here, when you have to, you know, this desire has to come from the Lord, but you're not qualified. You know, you don't meet those qualifications, yet you still push yourself through to become a pastor. You think that maybe that's a personal desire and not a desire from the Lord. I mean, that, I mean, you know, people who are blinded by those things. You know, so look, that's, you'll be given a desire. That's my second point. The third point is this, and this applies to everyone once again, in your ministry, whether it be preaching the gospel, whether that be you supporting a pastor, supporting a church, wherever you are in your Christian life. But look, you will be, everybody that has a ministry in their life, and especially the men that were called into the ministry in the Bible, they were separated onto that ministry. They were separated under that, turn to Genesis chapter 12. I'll explain to you what I'm talking about. Notice, no one that was called in the Bible, and I'm talking about physically separated in one form or another. Physically moved in one form or another. No one that was called in the Bible just really stayed where they were at. Have you ever noticed that? Look at Genesis chapter 12, and I don't have time to go through all the examples of this, but look, this is just Abraham, Abraham. He's Abraham at this point. Now the Lord said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. He's like, hey, get thee out. Paul, Paul, you're going to all these different places. Paul didn't go back to Jerusalem until he was about to go on his, like 14 years later it says in Galatians chapter two, until he was about to go on all his missionary journeys. Paul was sent all over the place. Think about Moses, he was in Midian for 40 years, and God called him out of that and said, you know what, you're going on a mission for me. And then he left his comfort zone and he went on a mission. Think about, turn to Matthew chapter four. Turn to Matthew chapter four. Think of the disciples. Look at Matthew chapter four in verse number 20. Simon and Peter and Andrew. Look at verse 18, and Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he said, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And straightway they left their nets and followed him. They didn't leave their nets, they left everything. They left their place, they left their family. And look, I mean, if you're going to follow Jesus, you're going to leave somewhere unless you were already following Jesus. I mean, if you're following Jesus, great, stay where you are. But if you weren't following Jesus and you're called to follow Jesus according to the Bible, you're called to go preach the gospel according to the Bible. That is probably, look, if you just got saved and you're like, I'm going to get sold out and this is going to be my ministry to get as many people saved as I possibly can, you're probably going to have to move somewhere. You're probably going to have to leave where you're at. Look, this is my personal testimony moving from North Dakota. I didn't move from North Dakota to go into the ministry. It was a zero percent on my radar to go into the ministry when we moved. I moved so I could go do something with my, so I could follow Jesus. So my family could follow Jesus. But look, we weren't following Jesus at the time. So to follow him means we have to go somewhere else. Means you have to go somewhere else. I mean, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to do something to follow Jesus in my life. And with many people, that means getting in a good church. It's starting soul winning, starting getting people saved. Now think about this again. I mean, look, people, I mean, can you imagine? Peter and James or Peter and Andrew, people were probably pretty confused. They were like, what? Where'd they go? They, what? Some guy walked by and they just left. They just left their business. Look, people are still confused about me moving. They're just, they're confounded. Then, you know what? When I moved to Fresno, people were confused again. Look, saved people were confused. They're confused. They're like, why, why? Why Fresno? Look, to others, these moves are gonna be confusing. I mean, North Dakota people are gonna be confused on that move till forever. They're not gonna understand it. They're like, Sacra, California, the land of fruits and nuts. Jared went, where? I mean, they're still confused. People still ask me today, but like the thing about Fresno, people still ask me today. One guy actually literally asked me this today. It's like, how long do you plan on staying at Fresno? I'm like, forever? They're like, what? Like, it's not about, look, it was never about the place. It was never about the place. When I walked into Pastor's office and I told him, you know, hey, I'd like to go into the ministry. I'd like to be sent out by you. You know, I'd like to start those gears turning and all that. Look, and where, well, Pastor had mentioned Fresno and it was close to Sacramento. So I was like, I don't know, how about Fresno? I'd never even been there. I'd not been to Fresno one time. I'd been to Clovis, not Fresno. I'd never even been to Fresno. It was never about the place. It's not about the place. You're gonna go into the ministry, by the way. You know, it's not the right attitude to be like, I'm gonna go into the ministry, I'm gonna be a pastor, but it better be in paradise. I mean, it's not about the place. It's about following Jesus. You know, it's about, I mean, God can take care of the place. The ministry is never about finding a cool place to live, folks. Fresno's fine, I like Fresno, by the way. You know, God has worked that out. But look, it was never about the city. It was never about the job that you could get in the city. It was about the ministry. And God can take care of everything else. Look, the desire is there. If the desire is there, God will take it from there. So think about that. God can take care of the place as long as the desire is there. So if you have the desire and God is giving you that desire, if you have those qualifications, you have that desire, you know, just get in a church, first of all. Get in a church and start following Jesus in a church and just go from there. Just go from there. I mean, that's this calling, this calling's for everybody. People make it this mystical, magical thing. And you know, I've even heard pastors of churches that I used to go to make the calling, this magical thing. That, you know, this just, I was standing in church one day and God just knocked me down, you know? And everyone's like, whoa, look at that, you know? And he picked me up and slammed me into the ceiling and threw me on the ground, you know? And I'm like, you know, I mean, they're trying to make themselves, what they're trying to do is they're trying to make it this magical thing that equates them to Paul. You know, but look, it's just, God says, you know, you'll just have the desire. And if you have that desire, that's a good thing. And if you have those qualifications, you know, he puts that check in place for you. And look, your past, as we learned, you know, your past, you know, that was, Paul's past was used as a glory to God. So remember that, no matter where you came from, you know, that you're called to preach the gospel and your past should catapult you forward, you know, to the glory of God. So look, but you're gonna have to get out of your place to serve the Lord. And then, and then look, I just wanna end with this thought. And then, you know, once you get out of your place and you serve the Lord with your life and you follow Jesus, which means you might actually have to physically move your actual location, you know what will happen? Let me give you the answer on how to get old. You know, everybody has this thing where they get old and men, especially for some reason, they have this midlife crisis. You know, they're like, oh, you know, midlife crisis, I have to go buy a Corvette or something, right? But look, here's the trick. Here's the trick on getting older. You know, these midlife crises, you know, like the ministry, the ministry, I've learned a lot in the last year and I have to ministry, it's not easy. It's not easy, it's a lot of work. It has its ups and it has its downs. I will tell you that. But look, if you allow yourself to be separated unto God, and look, this doesn't have to be being a pastor for you. If you allow yourself to be separated unto God with what he wants you to do and you don't allow your physical location to stop you from following Jesus and doing what you know you're supposed to be doing, because look, everybody, I believe that most saved people, especially saved people that know the Bible, know what they're supposed to be doing. They know when that desire comes that I should be doing more. I'm not actually doing what I'm supposed to be doing. But look, if you follow that desire, you know where you will find yourself? You will find yourself at peace because you will know that you are right where God wants you to be. And you know what? That's where the middle, I'm waiting for that midlife crisis. Through all, no matter how hard the work is, no matter the ups, no matter the downs, I know where I'm at and I know God wants me to be here. I know that that desire came from him and I know that I'm where God wants me to be. And I know that I'm doing what God wants me to do. Look, and you should have that same feeling, especially being in a church like this. You should be out soul-winning, doing those things and then you'll know that you're where God wants you to be. Serving him, following him, doing that work, called to preach. You know, preaching the gospel. You know, supporting his church. That's where God wants you to be. Look, that's incredible peace. I don't care how old you are, how old you get. That's peace right there. You'll never have a midlife crisis if you know where you're at, if you know you're at where God wants you to be. And that's the beauty of it. That's the beauty of it. Follow that, you know, godly desire but the most people unfortunately, they have that desire. They feel that, I think if you're saved, you know you're, look, I knew I should be preaching the gospel to people before I was even saved. You say that's weird. No, I knew it. I knew it. I moved to Texas as a Lutheran and I saw all these Baptists run around knocking on people's doors and opening Bibles to people and preaching Jesus to people. And I'm like, I even mentioned it to my pastor one time. I'm like, I feel like we should be doing this. I wasn't even saved. And I had that desire that we should be doing that. You know, I wonder if that's why God, you know, opened the door to the truth to me. Because I just, I mean, I had that desire to be doing what, I mean, everybody, look, saved people know what they're supposed to be doing. But most saved people have that desire and they shut it off. They shut it off. They say, you know what, I have this desire. I know I should be out preaching the gospel but I'm just not gonna do that. And that's their whole life. And then you know what? You're 45, you're 50 years old and you're like, oh, you know, I put all my trust. I believed on my career. You know, some saved Christian doing nothing with his life, following nothing but a career and money or whatever. He's like, that's what he's put his trust in in his life with his feet that he's walking. He hasn't shot his feet with the gospel. He's shot his feet with, you know, worldly desires and wrapped himself with thorns. And he shut that desire off. And then he gets to be 50 and his kids hate him and everything's falling apart in his family. And he's like, man, midlife crisis time. Give me a sports car. That's sad if that ever happens to a Christian but I think it happens to most of them. But not us. Not us. Listen to that desire. And if it's a godly one, follow through on it. Move your feet towards it. You know, maybe that means if somebody's listening to this and they're not in church, that means moving your feet towards a church. But you have to do something. You don't just sit in your house and be like, oh, you know, you got to actually do something. You got to make some moves in your life. I don't understand why people can't do that. But it's all about choosing to follow that desire or not. It's that simple. But once you do, no matter how hard things are, no matter how up things are at that moment, no matter how down things are at moments, because look, there's peaks and valleys and everything. You will always know you're where God wants you to be. That's it, and that's all I need. That's all I need. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.