we turn again to God's Word in
the portion that we read in Galatians chapter 1 and I read again verses
15 and 16 one of those passages in which the Apostle is speaking
of himself and of his experiences interestingly we know that so
much of the writings of the Apostle Paul is full of profound doctrinal
truth And then also there are those practical aspects of the
epistles when he comes to the closing chapters and gives exhortation
and direction. But there are also these passages
such as we read here at the beginning of Galatians. And so here in
Galatians chapter one, reading again verses 15 and 16. But when he 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." And
the words that I really want to take for a text are those
that we have at the beginning of verse 16. To reveal His Son
in me. To reveal His Son in May. It has been observed that the
religion of Jesus Christ is not a science but purely a revelation. And how true is that statement
when we take into account what is being declared here in the
words of the text to reveal his son in me. And so the subject
matter I want to take up is that of this gospel revelation, the
gospel revelation. And it must be a revelation because
there is so much in it that to the natural mind is a great and
a deep mystery. It's not something that we could
come to by our own endeavors, by our own studies. It must be
something that is revealed to man. First of all, of course,
there is that great mystery of God himself, the mystery of the
doctrine of the Trinity, the mystery of God and of the Father
and of Jesus Christ, as it's put in Colossians chapter two. That there is one God and in
that one God there are those three distinct persons, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost. And though God be three, yet
the God of Israel is but one living and true God. The mystery then of the Trinity. And then also there is that mystery
of the eternal generation of the Son of God, who shall declare
his generation, asks the Prophet. He is that one who is the only
begotten of the Father. the one who says when there were
no depths I was brought forth when there were no fountains
abounding with water before the mountains were settled before
the hills I was brought forth brought forth begotten of the
Father from all eternity that is a mystery to us the eternal
generation of the Son of God. And then His appearance here
upon the earth in the fullness of the time, the mystery of the
Incarnation. Without controversy, Paul says,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. He who is the eternal Son of
God becomes the Son of Man. Oh he is made of a woman and
he is made under the law as we read later here in Galatians
chapter 4. Now the Christian religion then
is full of these deep mysteries and these things if we're going
to believe them have to be revealed to us. And so here Paul speaking
of his own experience states how it pleased God. It pleased
God, he says, to reveal His Son in me. And so, taking up this
theme of a gospel revelation. And I want us this morning, as
it were, to consider it from the perspective of God Himself,
and to see how in that revelation we have those three persons of
the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And first of all, to see that
aspect of the revelation that is so much associated with God
the Father, because it is truly a sovereign revelation. As we have it there at the beginning
of verse 15, Paul says, it pleased God. It is the good pleasure
of God. that he is speaking of, his good
pleasure in predestination. And you can think of the language
that we have in the following epistle when Paul writes in that
opening chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians, and there at
verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of His will. It's according to the good pleasure
of God's will, that's eternal good pleasure. Oh, it's the sovereignty
of God. As I said, it is a revelation
that God is pleased to grant to the sinner and here it is
granted to Saul of Tarsus, who becomes Paul, the great apostle
to the Gentiles. Though, in a sense, in this verse,
this 16th verse, he is emphasizing the fact that it is God's work. It has nothing to do with man.
It pleased God to reveal His Son in me, He says, that I might
preach Him among the heathen. And then He says immediately,
I confer not with flesh and blood. It's nothing to do with flesh
and blood. This revelation is associated with that work of
regeneration, the new birth, and they're born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. Now, in the verse, the apostle
makes some reference to his natural birth. He speaks at verse 15 about God
separating me from my mother's womb. And so he draws, in a sense,
that comparison. There was a separation when he
came to experience his natural birth. He'd been conceived in
the womb of his mother, but there was that day appointed a time
to be born, and he was separated from his mother's womb. But when
we think of this revelation of the Son of God in him, And as
I said, associated with the new birth, here is something that
really took place in eternity. That's when the separation was
made, as it were. Look at the language that we
have there in Romans 9, at verse 10 following. Paul says, speaking
here of course, of the sons, the twin sons born to Rebecca
and Isaac he says not only this but when Rebecca also had conceived
by one even by our father Isaac for the children being not yet
born neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve
the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated." Oh, there was a separation! And when was that
separation made? Before the children were born,
and he speaks of the purpose of God, the eternal purpose of
God. What Paul is speaking of then
here with regards to his own experience reaches back into
eternity, when God the Father appointed him to salvation, and
so in the appointed time he must come to experience the blessing
of that salvation. We oft times sing that hymn of
John Kent, 76, The Appointed Time. Rolls on apace, not to
propose but call by grace to change the heart, renew the will,
and turn the feet to Zion's hill. Oh, when he pleased God to reveal
his Son in me. He's speaking then of how he
came to experience that great blessing of salvation, and it
was at the sovereign appointment of God the Father. Now, he goes
on also, of course, in the context here, not only to speak of that
revelation in his soul, that salvation that came when he was
born again by the Spirit of God, he also goes on to speak of the
purpose that God had in view was also to set him apart, to
call him to the work of the ministry. Isn't that what he is saying
really at the end of this verse? He reveals his son in me, Paul
says, in order that I might preach him among the heathen. He is
called also to preach. The opening words of the of the
Epistle. Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who
raised him from the dead. His call was also a sovereign
act of God. Mr. Philpot says that the call
to the ministry is sovereign as the call by grace. What a blessed truth is that. It's all the sovereignty of God. It's all the eternal purpose
of God being unfolded. We see it not only in a man like
Like Paul, we see it time and again in the experiences of those
who are the Lord's servants. We go back into the Old Testament
and think of the ministry of a man like Jeremiah the prophet.
And there in the opening chapter of that book, what does he say? He speaks about how God came
to him, how God spoke to him, how God was the one who separated
him to be a prophet in Israel. Jeremiah 1.5, Before I formed
thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations. It's all the work of God, be
it the call by grace, be it that's called to the work of the ministry. And how this is so evident when
we consider this man, this Paul, the Apostle. We have the record there in Acts
chapter 9 of his experience as he is bent on the persecution,
even the death of Christians, He has received letters from
Jerusalem to go to Damascus hunting out these Christians and yet
there at the very gate of Damascus how the Lord Jesus meets with
him. Suddenly we read there shined round about him a light from
heaven. A light from heaven. A man can
receive nothing except it be given him from heaven and this
is what we see that man experiencing as the Lord comes to him, as
the Lord calls him, he is going to have to suffer many things
now in the cause of Jesus Christ as the Lord is there separating
him to the work of the ministry of the gospel Oh, it is ever
and always that that comes from heaven, it's sovereign. It's
pleased God. It was the same, remember, in
the experience of another of the apostles, Peter. We're familiar
with the 16th chapter of Matthew there at Caesarea Philippi where
the Lord is asking his disciples at that time concerning the things
that are being said, not that he was ignorant of those things,
he knew what was in the hearts of men but he asked the disciples,
he draws the disciples out, what do men say? what do men say concerning
me? who I am? and they tell him the
various ideas that the multitudes were speaking. And then he asks
the disciples directly, he'll say, ye that I am. And Peter
makes that wonderful confession, thou art the Christ. Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. Oh, that had been revealed
to him, even that great mystery, you see, of the eternal generation
of the Son. He is the Son of God. He is very
God, a very God. And the Lord says to him, Blessed
art thou Simon, bar Jonah, Simon son of Jonah. Flesh and blood
have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. It's a revelation, and it's a
sovereign revelation. It comes from the Father, it
comes from heaven, when it pleased God. It pleased God to reveal
His Son in me. Or again we can think of the
ministry of the Lord Jesus when he tells the people plainly they
will not come to him that they might have life. How can any
ever come then? Well, it involves the sovereign
work of God. No man can come to me you see,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him. and I will
raise him up in the last days. It is written in the prophets,
they shall be all taught of God. Everyone therefore that has heard
and learned of my Father cometh unto me. Oh friends, it is so plain this
revelation. It is a sovereign work of God.
It is the good pleasure of the Father when it please God. to reveal His Son in man. Look at what he says back at
verse 12 concerning the Gospel. I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's the revelation of Jesus
Christ. It's the good pleasure of the
Father. But it's not only the work of
the Father, it's also the work of the Holy Spirit. It is truly
a spiritual revelation that is being spoken of. He says, it
pleased God to reveal His Son inward. Oh, it's an inward revelation. It's a spiritual revelation.
It's something taking place in the depths of a man's soul. Now
there is, of course, a revelation to the sinner. The Lord Jesus
is that one who comes to reveal God. He is the image of the invisible
God. No man knoweth the Son, but the
Father. He says, Neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal
Him, or will make Him known. There is a revelation to, but
here it is the preposition in that is being used. Whilst there
is a revelation to the sinner, We have to recognize that the
emphasis here is very much on something quite different and
distinct. It's an inward revelation. And
why is it necessary to be inward and spiritual? Because of the
state of man by nature. Man's mind by nature is a darkened
mind. Man's affections by nature are
so perverted. Man's will by nature is so enslaved. What is man's condition by nature? He is dead in trespasses and
in sins. The awful doctrine of the sinner's
total depravity. That's the truth that is opened
up to us so clearly here in Holy Scripture. The Bible, a revelation
to us of God, And man, as we see at the very beginning, there
in the opening chapters of Genesis, man, the image-bearer of God,
made in the likeness of God. And so when we come to Holy Scripture
and we read the Word of God, should we not see ourselves as
it were in a glass, in a looking glass, in a mirror? Should we
not see a reflection of the image of God? But we don't see that.
The Bible says before us that man, alas, is in that sad fallen
condition. The image of God now so marred,
disfigured, lost because of the transgression of our first parents. The carnal mind, the natural
mind of man, enmity against God. not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be." This is the truth that we see when
we read the Word of God. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. Their foolishness to him neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. This is why there must be an
inward work, a spiritual work, with regards to this revelation
that Paul is speaking of. Again, look at the language that
we have there in the fourth chapter of Ephesians. He's addressing
Gentiles. Here is Paul again. You see the
epistle to the Ephesians as that to the Galatians is a Pauline
epistle. And as he addresses these Gentiles,
Ephesians 4.17, This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that
ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles, as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their hearts. Oh, he speaks of the vanity of
the mind. the darkened understanding, the
ignorance that is in them, the blindness or the margin says,
because of the hardness of their hearts. This is the condition
of man by nature. And so, there must surely be
a spiritual revelation. there must be a work of the Holy
Spirit and I think it's brought out so beautifully I do love
the hymns of Berit earlier this year I purchased from our friend
John Crowther up in Norfolk he'd republished the hymns of Berit
and I've been going through them each day reading a few of his
hymns and I know some of his poetry might be said to be quite
and it is but some of it is so beautiful and it's so true to
experience and that hymn that we sang as our opening praise
no man can come to me except the father draw him and he speaks
of the work of the spirit his spirit must disclose the deadly
plague within uncover all our woes and show the man of sin
and feeling thus our ruined state, we humbly fall at Jesus' feet.
The Comforter, another name of the Spirit, the Comforter must
teach the Saviour's toil and smart, and with conviction preach
atonement to the heart. Then sinners gaze with ravished
eyes and feast upon the sacrifice. The Spirit too must show the
power of Jesus' arm to vanquish every foe and guard the soul
from harm. Believers then grow strong in
faith and triumph over sin and death. Oh, we're those who are
utterly dependent upon that work of the Spirit. It's an inward,
it's a spiritual revelation to reveal His Son in me, in me. Oh, I remember I can't remember
actually who said it but I can remember a minister stating the
fact that so much in the epistles of Paul the theology is in the
little words it's in the prepositions and what truth is there in this
little word in to reveal his son in It's not just a matter of assenting
with the mind. It's not just a matter of external
observances. It's something that is taking
place in the soul. And it's brought out. It's brought
out time and again. Look at the language that we
find there in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. We've already referred to
verse 14 but previously verse 10 he says God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things
yea the deep things of God for what man knoweth the things of
a man say the Spirit of man which is in him even so the things
of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God now we have received
not the Spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
Oh, it is that blessed work then of the Holy Spirit. And as it
was the experience of Paul, not surprising then, is it, that
he comes out in his epistles. You know, when we speak of the
Word of God, we don't have a sort of mechanical view of what inspiration
is. We say it's the Word of God.
It's the words of men, yes, but ultimately it's not the words
of men, it's the inspired scripture that we're considering this morning.
But how were these men inspired by the Spirit of God? Well, God
didn't just dictate words to them and they took the words
down and wrote the words as they were dictated to them. That's
not the way of inspiration. It's a more profound thing than
that. These men were so moved in their
own souls, so inspired by the Spirit in their own thinking
and in their own writing, that they're expressing themselves
out of all the fullness of that work of the Spirit of God in
them as they write these words. And so, as Paul experienced this
spiritual revelation of the Gospel, it comes out. And it comes out
in his various writings. It comes out in his prayers.
Look at what he says there in Ephesians. In Ephesians chapter 1, the end
of that chapter, we have Paul turning from addressing the Ephesians
and he prays for them. He does this many times. As he writes to these churches,
he is so burdened for them that he can't help himself praying
for them as he writes to them and so he says here in Ephesians
1.16 that he ceases not to give thanks I cease not to give thanks for
you he says making mention of you in my prayers and then his
prayer that the gods of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him the eyes of your understanding being enlightened
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us would who
believe according to the working of his mighty power and so forth
it's a prayer and what is the great matter of the prayer that
he is praying, oh this is his concern that God would grant
unto them that spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a spiritual revelation and
there Paul in a sense is taking the words of the Lord Jesus and
he is pleading and praying over the words of the Lord Jesus.
Doesn't the Lord Himself speak of the necessity of that ministry
of the Holy Spirit? Those chapters, those familiar
chapters, John 14 and 15 and 16, in which Christ has so much
to say with regards to the coming of the Spirit and His work. The end of chapter 15 he says,
When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father,
ye shall testify of me. Oh, there's the ministry of the
Spirit. He comes to bear testimony to Christ. Again, verse 13 in
chapter 16, O be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come.
He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself,
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will
show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall
receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you." And it's that ministry
of the Spirit that the Apostle is so mindful of when he is writing
there at the end of Ephesians chapter 1, he's praying those
words of Christ, that they might have their fulfillment, that
there might be such a revelation granted. Oh, it's everywhere, you see,
that ministry of the Spirit, how we need Him to come and to
open to us the treasures that are in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness might
shine in our hearts. to give that light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This Gospel
revelation, it's sovereign. It's the good pleasure of the
Father, it pleased God to reveal His Son in man. It's a work of the Spirit of
God. It's an inward revealing. It's something taking place in
the soul. And then, finally this morning, it's a saving revelation. Oh, it's a saving revelation.
It concerns His Son. To reveal His Son. Oh, it's a revelation of a person.
That blessed person, even Him, who is the only Saviour of sinners. For unto us a child is born,
and unto us a son is given. Oh, when the fullness of the
time was come, God sends forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. It's
that great work of redemption. that redeeming work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we need to mark well these
words then, His Son. That's the revelation. It's not
a revelation of an absolute God. Think of a God outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Or think of God revealed as it
were in the law. There is a revelation of God
in the law and how fearful that revelation is. Paul speaks somewhat
of it when he writes in Hebrews chapter 12 and there at verse 18, following,
he says, You are not come unto the mount that might be touched
and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness,
and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words,
which voiced they that heard, entreated that the word should
not be spoken to them any more, for they could not endure that
which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
the mount, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart,
and so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. Oh, this is God a consuming fire
when we see him in all the terrors of that holy law. What is the
law? It's a commanding, a threatening,
a wrathful God that is seen in the law. Paul says, of the law
the law worketh wrath That's what the law works wroth. It's such a fearful revelation
of God in all His holiness and righteousness and justice who
will by no means clear the guilty. It's administration of condemnation. It condemns the sinner. It's
administration of death. It kills the sinner. Oh, that's
what the law is about. Again, Paul knew it, he experienced
it, he writes of it so freely in his epistles. The language
there in the epistle to the Romans, verse 12 in chapter 7, Wherefore
the Lord, he says, is holy. and the commandment holy and
just and good. Was then that which is good made
death unto me? God forbid! But sin, that it
might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good,
that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For
we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold unto sin. That's what sin does, you see.
Reveals to us the awful truth of our condition as sinners.
Whatever things the law said, it said to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
become guilty before God. In the law, God is revealed to
us as a commanding God. Ah, but in the gospel, Is He
not revealed to us here as a promising God, a gracious God, a merciful
God, a loving God? All the promises of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ our Yah and in Him our man to the glory of
God by us. All that gospel you see, that
great promise of God, the promise of salvation and this is what
Paul is speaking of here and you know something I'm sure most
of you know something of what the content of Galatians is there
were those legalists who were trying to bring these Gentile
believers under the law and that's why Paul writes the epistle he's
so concerned for the gospel he's an apostle not of men, neither
by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised
him from the dead. And what is his great concern?
The gospel. I marvel that ye are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel, he says, which is not another, but there
be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. And that gospel is promised,
the promise of God, and that promise sealed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of all the promises of the gospel,
they speak of the grace of God. The law was given by Moses, grace,
and truth came by Jesus Christ. And these are not to be mixed.
We're not to mix law and gospel. we're not to mangle the gospel
with the law and you know those who speak of duty faith are they
not doing that very thing they're mixing law and gospel they're
mangling the word of God If salvation is by grace in the
Gospel, in no way is it of works. If by grace, then is it no more
of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. If it be of works, it is no more
of grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
That's the language of Paul, writing in Romans 11. These two are exclusive one of
the other. It's either grace, gospel, or
it's works, law. And we cannot mix and mangle
them. We must not. And see how Paul writes here
in chapter 3, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that
you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ,
that have been evidently set forth, crucified among you. This
only would I learn of you. Receive ye the Spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are
ye now made perfect in the flesh? O friends, if it is by grace,
it must be grace throughout. It is grace from beginning to
end, from first to last. Think of the language there in
Zechariah. He shall bring forth a headstone
thereof with shoutings crying grace, grace unto it. Or the topstone of the temple
that was being rebuilt by Zerubbabel. He brings forth that headstone,
crying, Grace, grace, from first to last it's grace. Grace, all
the work shall crown through everlasting days it lays in heaven
the topmost stone and well deserves the praise, says the hymn writer. That's salvation. That's the
gospel. And this is that gospel that
was revealed to the Apostle Paul, the sovereign work of God the
Father, an inward work in the soul by God the Holy Spirit revealing
of that salvation that is found only in the eternal Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that God might grant such
a revelation to us that we might know the truth of these things.
and that we might know that truth the same way as Paul came to
know it. It's in experience. That's what we have to come to. It's an experience of these things.
It's the Lord working in the soul. Or that the Lord might
come then and bless to us his truth this day. For Christ's sake. Amen. 299, which means 8 Ns per 275. Amidst
10,000 anxious kids, the world and