As it may please the Lords to
bless us together this evening, we'll commence meditation on
the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. And this evening we'll just speak
on the introduction, which is the first five verses. and we
will just read them again. So, Galatians chapter one and
verses one to five. Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who
raised him from the dead, and all the brethren which are with
me unto 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 the present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen. Well, it is really a very
wonderful introduction to the Galatians. Of course, we're not
sure where actually the Galatian church was. There's various views
as to exactly where it was. But nonetheless, the truth is
that there was a church and it was a Gentile church. And therefore
it was a wonderful blessing that the Lord had ordained that the
Apostle Paul should go and to preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ to the Gentiles. And of course, he was obviously
aware that there was the knowledge that there were the 11 disciples
who were still living. Of course, Judas had died and
destroyed himself. And yet the Lord had clearly
confirmed to him that he was the 12th apostle. And so he needs
to actually establish his credentials really in this position so that
those that he was writing to would take notice and realize
that these words were true and they did emanate from Almighty
God himself. And that's why he commences in
this way. It's not a boasting way, it's
just a factual way to establish the position. And we should always
be mindful of these kind of truths, which we do have in the Word
of God. On face value, we may think, well, here's somebody
boastful about what the Lord is doing for him. Well, we should
be careful just to realise that those things that the Lord is
doing, he's using poor sinful men and yet it is right to acknowledge
that it is the work of God and so here the Apostle says speaking
of himself, Paul an Apostle not of men, see he wasn't called
by man neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father
who raised him from the dead Now, the interesting thing, of
course, is that we know that the apostles thought they needed
to fill the space left by Judas, and therefore they chose Matthias. But that was a call by man. But this was a call by God. And
the apostle was clearly called by God to this work. We know
he was called in an amazing way on the Damascus Road. There he
was, walking contrary to the will of God, but yet the Lord
had mercy on him and called him in an amazing way so that he
saw the Saviour as that bright, shiny light above the brightness
of the midday sun, clearly calling him to this great work which
the Lord had commissioned him for. And then of course also
we know that in the 12th chapter of the second epistle to the
Corinthians he tells us about a very special experience he'd
been blessed with he tells us it is not expedient for me doubtless
to glory I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord I
knew a man in Christ about 14 years ago whether in the body
or I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell.
God knoweth such a one caught up to the third heaven, and I
knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot
tell. God knoweth. how that he was caught up into
paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful
for a man to utter. And so the Lord Jesus sovereignly,
wonderfully blessed the Apostle Paul on this occasion. And it's therefore necessary
to realise that the Lord was with him and blessed him with
such an amazing revelation. Neither apostle was actually
blessed quite like that. And so here we read that Paul
an apostle not of men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ and
God the Father. who raised him from the dead. Again another comprehensive statement
referring to God the Father who called the Apostle as well and
the Lord Jesus Christ who'd been raised from the dead by the Father
and all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of
Galatia. And having established this position
he then comes and enters into the wonderful truth of the gospel
And he says, grace be to you and peace from God the Father
and from our Lord Jesus Christ. It's lovely to realize that the
apostle commences with this word grace. What is grace? Well, I
hope we know it is the free unmerited favor of God. The apostle had
entered into it and the whole church of God enter into it,
the grace. of God, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is. And as
the apostle, when he wrote to the Ephesians, he said, and you
have the quickened who were dead, in trespasses and in sins. And
he goes on to explain in the second chapter those beautiful
words in the eighth verse when he says, for by grace are ye
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And that is a foundational truth
for the Church of God. It sets before us that we have
no hand in our redemption. We have no hand in our salvation. It is all of grace. And that's
what makes the word grace so very real and very precious to
the Church of God and how we rejoice in it. And we rejoice
in those words of the hymn writer, sovereign grace or sin abounding,
and how true it is. And so here the apostle speaks
of this word grace. Grace be unto you. And of course, it moves on. And
what does grace produce? Grace be to you and peace. from
God the Father, because as the Lord shows to us His grace, it
shows to us that we are amongst those who have received His grace. And if we are those who have
received His grace, then it must be well with our souls. And if
it's well with our souls, what does that produce? Does it not
produce peace in our heart? To realize that the great God
has been gracious to us, He's come and he's called us out of
the darkness of nature into the glorious light of the everlasting
gospel. And it's a wonderful favour to
know that today we enjoy that peace, that peace of God which
passes all understanding. the apostle when he wrote to
the Philippians another wonderful epistle and he speaks to us in
the fourth chapter and he says be careful for nothing but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God and the peace of God which passes all
understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus. Now, the only true peace is to
be found in Christ. There's no true peace in the
world. Men, women seek after natural
peace, but true peace is to be found in Christ because it sets
before us his great and glorious finished work, that work which
he did upon the cross at Calvary, in order to redeem his people
from their sins. So instead of facing the wrath
of God, we know that through the death of the Saviour who
died on Calvary's cross to atone for our sins, we have peace with
God. And grace be unto you and peace
from God, the Father and from our Lord. Jesus Christ and the
apostle when he wrote the epistle to the Romans and in the fifth
chapter he tells us this therefore being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we
have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God." Well, that's a wonderful statement,
isn't it? And to think how Glorious it
is if it has an application to us, and because of it, because
we are justified by faith, and again, it's God-given faith,
it's not something you and I produced. Just like grace, God gives faith,
God gives grace. It's all to his honor and all
to his glory, so that the Church of God desire to lift him up
and to honor and glory his great and holy name. And so here we
have grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from
our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he expounds on this
really by saying, who gave himself for our sins, and he might deliver
us from the present evil world according to the will of God
and our Father. The blessed, only begotten Son
of God. The second person in the Trinity. Isn't it amazing to think that
we have such a statement? Who gave himself for our sins. Our sins. Terrible sins. Evil sins. The Saviour gave himself
for our sins. And because of that, because
of giving his life in order to atone for our sins, that he might
deliver us from the present evil world. It's a wonderful thing
to be delivered. We're born in sin, we're shaped
in iniquity, we remain there. until the time when the Lord
comes and delivers us, when he brings us into the glorious light
of the gospel, when the light shines from heaven, dispels the
darkness, and we see light in his light, what a change, what
a glorious blessing it is, that he might deliver us from the
presence, evil world, and it is an evil world to the church
of God, The world does not conclude it's an evil world. They may
perhaps agree they're wrong things, but when the spirit of God shines
into our heart, we see the evil of our own hearts, the evil of
sin, we see the evil of this present evil world, and then
to have the blessed confirmation that the Lord Jesus Christ, none
less, has given himself for our sins so that we are washed. We're made right with God. We're justified. Yes, we're sanctified. What an unspeakable gift it is
to realize we have such a great and glorious savior. So it's
no wonder, is it, that the apostle commences, having established
his own position, to write to the Galatians in this way, pointing
out to them the glory of the gospel. And then he comes and
says, according to the will of God and our Father, the will
of God to save our souls, God's electing love chosen in him before
the world began. It's all of his grace. It's all
of his mercy. It's all of his love for such
unworthy sinners. And so can we not truly rejoice
in the wonder of redeeming love? And so the Apostle then concludes
this little introduction by saying, to whom be glory forever and
ever. And it will be. The Church of
God will. Glory of the Lord, glory in the
Lord and desire to glorify his name. for ever and ever, and
that will be the blessed lot of the Church of God. No going
out, safe, eternally, locked in with Christ, in glory, with
the whole Church of God, and able to join together in that
new song, from their pure hearts, worthy as a lamb, that was slain,
to him be glory. forever and ever. Well, may we
enter into this year and remember these simple verses full of great
truths, soul comforting truth, soul strengthening truth, and
that we also may be able to look ahead to that great day when
we shall be with Christ, which is far better, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen.