Branded

 

Text: Gal 6:17

Theme: Branding is used to display ownership. Paul says he was branded by the Lord. Are we branded?

  1. INTRODUCTION.
    1. Picture of branding operations on a ranch.
    2. Brand establishes ownership
    3. Paul tells the Galatians that he was branded.
    4. 2 Cor 11: 18-24 Paul tells about those things he has experienced for the Lord. Note no belly aching!
    5. Concludes Galatians with a ringing affirmation.


  2. BODY.
    1. Don't trouble me.
      1. Don't bother me with pettiness
        1. Don't like prayer meeting
        2. Don't like worship
        3. Etc.
      2. Don't bother me with your false teachings
      3. Don't tell me you are tired.
      4. Don't brag about your goodness and great deeds
      5. Don't come to me with your quarrels and disputes
      6. Don't dispute my apostolic authority
    2. Why? Branded
      1. Greek Old word from stizô, to prick, to stick, to sting. Slaves had the names or

stamp of their owners on their bodies. It was sometimes done for soldiers also. There were devotees also who stamped upon their bodies the names of the gods whom they worshiped.

    1. Brand is distinctive
      1. No two are alike. If so one is imposter
    2. Brand identifies manufacturer or owner
    3. Brand identifies the product
    4. Brand is often a mark of notoriety
    5. Brand comes with pain and or lots of work.
    6. Stigma is the English word that comes from the Greek work used to indicate branding.


  1. CLOSE.
    1. Branding carries many meanings.
      1. Paul was all. Notorious, stigmatized, etc.
    2. Challenge to Galatians
      1. What marks do you bear?
      2. What have you done?
      3. Where are you in your Christian life?
    3. Challenge to us the same as then.
      1. What marks do you bear?
      2. Are you branded?
    4. George Truett, who for many years was an effective preacher in Dallas, became a changed man through a terrible misfortune. In his youth he accidentally shot and killed a close friend while hunting. The shock of what he had done weighed heavily upon him, but he refused to let it defeat him. He determined to live for God and endeavored to do the work of two men. People who knew him said that his early experience was one of the reasons he glowed with a passion for the lost and gave himself so unstintingly to God's service.