May it please the Lord to help
us as we desire to continue our meditation in the Epistle of
Paul to the Galatians in this evening, and we'll speak from
verse 13 to verse 19. The Epistle of Paul, the first
chapter, from verse 13 to verse 19, where the apostle says, for
ye have heard of my conversation in times past in the Jewish religion,
how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted
it, and profited in the Jewish religion above many my equals
in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous on the traditions
of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me 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. Neither
went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me,
but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus. And after
three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him
15 days. But other of the apostles saw
I none save James, the Lord's brother. Well the apostle continues to
describe his personal situation and in order to emphasize that
what he is saying is not that which is of his flesh, it's that
which God had done for him and how God had raised him up and
how God was the one who was with him and had revealed himself
unto him as he does not unto the world and therefore he reminds
them of the situation and he tells them for ye have heard
of my conversation in times past in the Jewish religion, how that
beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted
it and profited in the Jewish religion above many of my equals
in my own nation being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my
father's. So naturally, we can see he couldn't
really have been farther from the gospel. He was a believer
in those traditions which the Jewish nation had kept for many
years and now they would not let them go. They wanted to continue
in them. They did not believe that the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, had come because he didn't meet
their criteria. They expected him to come as
the King of Kings, naturally, and this hadn't happened. And
therefore, they would not accept the Lord Jesus Christ, and nor
would the Apostle Paul. And he was so well-versed in
all the traditions of his fathers, so well-versed in all their ceremonies,
and any who disobeyed that, he was concerned. that they might
be imprisoned, they might be persecuted for those things for
which they were doing opposite to the things of God. And the
Apostle reminds us, when he wrote to the Acts, or at least when
he spoke and it's recorded in the Acts, he tells us, I verily
thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to
the name of Jesus of Nazareth. which thing i also did in jerusalem
and many of the saints did i shut up in prison having received
authority from the chief priests and when they were put to death
i gave my voice against them and i punished them oft in every
synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme being exceedingly
mad against them. I have persecuted them even unto
strange cities." So the Apostle is an honest man and the grace
of God makes God's people honest. It's a wonderful mark, honesty. It's a wonderful mark of his
grace. And so here we see the Apostle
able to confirm the situation which he found himself in. But, you see, there came a change. And what a mercy if there comes
a change in our lives. He tells us in such clear terms. But. Oh, there's many buts in
the Word of God, and perhaps there's many buts in our lives.
And here is a very special one. But, when it pleased God. What a mercy that is. When it
pleases God. look upon us. It pleased God
to look on his son, his child, Paul. You might think, well fancy,
there must have been very many more people who were better naturally,
but no, the Lord had chosen this person, Paul the Apostle. And
we sung together in that second hymn, this lovely verse, which
I'm sure Paul would have sung if he'd been here, and I'm sure
all God's people can sing. And it says, but oh amazed, I
see the hand that stopped me in my wild career, a miracle
of grace, I stand, the Lord has taught my heart to fear. And it is only the work of God. It's only the grace of God. And
here we see the Apostle telling us, but when it pleased God who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Ah, the Apostle's desires to
honor his God. not to claim anything himself. No, it was God that had called
him by his grace. And when it pleased God, yes,
that was the wonderful statement, when it pleased God. Well, my
friends, in our lives, may we have the evidence that it's pleased
God to call us by his grace That means to grant unto us his free
and merited favour, to show to us our condition, our lost and
ruined condition, our sinful condition, and to direct us to
none other than the only one who can save us, the Lord Jesus
Christ. when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. And he
tells us again in one of the accounts in the Acts of the Apostles,
when he says, after the Lord had called him, and he says,
and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales. And he received sight forthwith
and arose and was baptized. And when he had received meat,
he was strengthened. Then was Saul. We now know, of
course, he was then called Paul. But here he was, Saul. Then was
Saul. Certain days with the disciples, which were at Damascus. In a
straight way, he preached Christ in the synagogue, that he is
the son of God. What an amazing change. What
an amazing change. My friends, God does amazing
things. And God can do things which you and I can't do. And
God has a time scale which you and I don't know about. And God
can do a very fast time scale. Sometimes He does a very slow
time scale. But here we see the evidence
of the apostles' call by grace and how wonderful it was. And how the Lord then commissioned
Him. And He tells us, He called me
by His grace, and it wasn't just to spend then His life in wasting
it, just to go around pleasing Himself. No, my friends, He had
a work to do. And God has a work for His people
to do. We're not to please ourself.
And here we're told to reveal His Son in me that I might preach
among the heathen. What did He do? Did He say, well,
I'm going to sit down, Gonna take it easy, gonna wait and
see what happens. Immediately, I conferred not
with flesh and blood. No, he went to his God. What
a safe place that is. What a safe place. We can make
mistakes by going to man, asking man for his advice. We might
perhaps select certain people that we think will give us the
advice we want. God gives us the right advice. God never makes
a mistake. And so he did to the apostle
Paul. And perhaps it wasn't what he
expected. Immediately I conferred, not
with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them
which were apostles before me. He could have gone there, you
see, and he could have asked the apostles there, but no, it
was a very different condition. And we're told, but I went into
Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years. So there he was, three years
it would seem in Arabia. We're not told really what happened
there. But three years is quite a long
time. And three years in the desert is perhaps a longer time.
And surely in that time, God revealed himself to the apostle. revealed himself in a most remarkable
way, gave him a wonderful insight into the grand truths of the
Old Testament revealed in the New, so that he was able to come
and to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. You see, God's
way is right. God's way is perfect. And so
here we have this statement. He went up into Arabia and returned
again unto Damascus. Then after three years, he went
up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days. But
other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. And what was God's command to
the apostle? We might think, having been brought
up so very clearly in the Jewish religion, and having had it explained
to him by the Lord so very clearly, that the Lord would send him
to preach the gospel to the Jews. But no, it wasn't. See, God's
ways are higher than our ways. What was God's purpose? This
is what Paul tells us. And he said unto me, Depart,
for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And so we know the apostle traveled
all around declaring the great truth of the gospel. and what
a blessing was his ministry. How many were led to the Lord
Jesus Christ, how many were converted, and how the gospel was so greatly
spread to a large extent through the apostles' ministry. So we
come tonight, and can we not bless God that we have such a
God who still works today in his sovereign way, He has a divine
purpose, a divine way, a way which is higher than our way.
As for God, His way is perfect. So may we be encouraged as we
read the account of the apostle as he describes his experience
to the Galatians to testify of God's work to him in equipping
him for this great work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Amen.