Okay, go back with me to Galatians
1. Galatians chapter 1. We saw the
last time that we were in this book that some false preachers came
in to the Galatians. Paul preached to them, preached
the gospel to them and he left and then they had some men come
in and they were false preachers.
And those men were trying to steer the Galatians away from
the gospel that Paul declared to them. causing them to question
his apostleship. That's what they were doing.
Causing them to not see him as an apostle and believe what he
told them. And Paul began his letter to
them in verse 1 by saying, Paul, an apostle. That's how he started
it out. Paul, an apostle. He is going to confirm to them
that he is indeed an apostle. And we need for him to confirm
the exact same thing to us. I need to know this. We're in a world of hurt if Paul
is not an apostle. We're in bad shape if Paul is
not an apostle. He wrote half of the New Testament,
or more, which we believe to be the word
of God, right? So if Paul is not an apostle,
we're in trouble because we all believe a lie. We are convinced. Here we are, this man, the apostle
Paul, we read what this man wrote. This man, you know, these different
denominations follow a man. This man said something radical
and everybody, now they're following that man. All right, well, if
Paul is not an apostle, we're in a world of hurt because we
believe what he said. We believe exactly what he said.
Now, the good news is Paul is an apostle. He is. We have seen Acts chapter 9 where
God confronted him. We know that story. We've read
that story where God confronted him. The thunder of his voice
knocked him off his horse, knocked him down into the dirt. The sight
of the face of the Lord Jesus Christ blinded him. absolutely
blinded him. We know that that took place.
We also know this account. If you turn back one page to
2 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 12 verse 2, Paul
is writing about himself. He said, I knew a man in Christ
above 14 years ago. Whether in the body, I cannot
tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth such
and one called 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." Now, what that tells me is he had no idea if he was
in his flesh or not. What he's saying is, this is
real. I mean, this is real. I know when I've had a dream.
I wake up and I know it was a dream. He said, I'm not sure if I was
still in my body or not in my body, but I'm telling you, this
thing was real. This really happened. Verse 3,
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,
the same paradise that the Lord told that thief on the cross,
today you're going to be there. And I heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful, it's not possible for a man to utter. Not possible. God brought him
up to heaven. He brought this man up to heaven. We have two
other accounts in the book of Acts where the Lord came and
stood by him and spoke to him. Paul was indeed a eyewitness
to the fact that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. He was
an eyewitness to him. And he's about to tell them back
in our text that the gospel was revealed to him by the mouth
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, by his mouth directly. So back
over in Galatians 1 verse 11, he said, But I certify you, brethren, I am declaring to you with certainty,
absolute certainty. that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man. I'm not delivering something
to you that I got from another man. Now, we receive the gospel
from another man. We all do. It pleased the Lord
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Isn't
that right? Turn with me over to Romans chapter 10. Romans 10 verse 13 says, For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? How? God calls out his sheep
through preachers of the Word. But God dealt with men directly
in writing this Word. He dealt with them directly.
And Paul is saying, He dealt with me directly. So back over
in Galatians chapter 1, verse 11 says, But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, For I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ." Now you can just listen to this if you want
to. You can turn or listen. This is 1 Corinthians 11 and
this is the passage we quote when we observe the Lord's table.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 23, For I have received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. That the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when
he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this
is my body. He said, I received of the Lord
that which I delivered unto you. What he is saying is, God told
me to deliver this ordinance to you. Directly. So Paul was an apostle. And as
we're reading Paul, we're going through this New Testament, as
we're reading Paul and believing Paul and quoting Paul, we're
reading God. And we're believing God. And
we're quoting God. I have written in my notes before,
I sit there and I write my notes out, and I'll write, God said. And then a lot of times I've
stopped and thought, well, actually Paul said. God said. God said, no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation. If Paul said it, God said it. God made him to be an apostle.
So if you turn, go back with me to Galatians 1 verse 11, I
certify you brethren that the gospel which was preached of
me is not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was
I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have
heard of my conversation 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 mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions
of my fathers." These false prophets started bringing back the law. They were bringing the law back
in. Now this is dangerous. It's dangerous. I say with David,
I love thy law. Man do I love thy law. I love
thy precepts. I love thy commandments. But
these false prophets started bringing the law back, confusing
Grace. And it's confusing. It's confusing. Whenever I first really started
getting a hold of the gospel, I had the hardest time with the
book of James. And most people do. Most people
do. And the reason is because James
is talking about works. This thing ain't by works, it's
by grace. But the fact of the matter is,
this thing is by works. Salvation is by the works of
God, and God produces works in a sinner, doesn't he? But if
we're not careful, these men will come in and they'll take
these precious commandments and bring them back in and confuse
the grace of God, causing men and women to believe, and these
men were causing the Galatians to believe that It still somehow
played a role in salvation. Should we love our neighbor as
ourself? Yes. Is that a requirement for
salvation? No. I was dead. I couldn't love. If you love
me, I'll save you. They were confusing grace. They
were bringing the law back in, stressing it, stressing causing
these Galatians to become confused on this issue. They need to still
somehow follow this law to be saved. And Paul told them, I
know all about the law. I know all about it. You know
my past. He said in verse 13, you have
heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion. How that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. Because they were not following
this law. That's why he did it. They were
not following the law. And so that's why he started
killing them. Persecuting them. He said, I hated Jesus Christ. I hated his followers. I hated salvation by his grace. And I gave everything I had to
destroy it, everything I had. He said at the end of verse 13,
I persecuted the church of God and I wasted it. Verse 14, and
profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine
own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of
my fathers. I was no beginner in the law.
That's what he's saying. I was not a novice. I didn't
just start out in this thing. Not only did I know it, I lived
it more than them all. I, exceeding, more zealous, I
made more ground, more than them all. Verse 15, he said, but. But that that this is the exciting
part. But. Oh, I'm so proud of myself. I love that law. I took this
Bible. I love this Bible. I love this
Bible. I read it cover to cover. I've never read it cover to cover.
I know a ton of people who have, though. No idea what's in it,
but they've read it cover to cover. I love this Bible. I'll
put a bumper sticker on my car that says, I love the Holy Bible. That's so proud of me. I was
exceeding zealous. Every time I ran across somebody,
I had to say, praise the Lord, brother. And people respected me. Don't you love that? But he said
when it pleased God. When is a sinner saved? When it pleases God. In religion, you know, I say
it all the time, I know, but in religion. Men and women make
their decisions deciding to be saved. Deciding to be saved. I believe with all of my heart
that they are sincere. I believe with all of my heart
that they set their mind and they set their own heart to be
saved. I believe with all of my heart
that they want to be saved, but do you know they're still not
saved? They are still not saved. Salvation does not take place
when a sinner decides to be saved. Salvation takes place when it
pleases God. That's when it takes place. Go
with me to Matthew 7. Matthew 7 verse 21, Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Those right there are people
who decided to be saved. That's who that is. People who
decided to be saved. Those right there are people
who wanted to be saved. They wanted to be saved. But they did not want to be saved
on the terms of Jesus Christ. That's the problem. They wanted
to be saved. Heaven or hell? Heaven or hell?
Heaven! They wanted to be saved. Oh yeah,
I want to be saved. I want to be saved. But they
did not want to be saved on the terms of Jesus Christ. They wanted to be saved on their
own terms, in their own time, in their own way. And they thought
they were saved. But look what God said to him
in verse 23. Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you,
depart from me, ye that work iniquity. When will a sinner
be saved? When it pleases God. when it
pleases God. Go with me back to Galatians
1. Paul is telling them, and he's
telling them so loudly and clearly, salvation is not about the law. Salvation has nothing to do with
obeying the law. Nothing to do with a sinner trying
to obey the law. He said, I tried that. I tried
that and it did not work for me. All it did was bring God's
wrath down on me. That's all it did, was bring
His wrath down on me. Verse 15 says, But when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb. You know what
you call that? birth. That's what you call that. He said let me tell you how salvation
is accomplished. The same one that caused me to
be born the first time. The only way a child can be born
is if God causes the child to be born. He said the same one that caused
me to be born the first time caused me to be born again. The same one that caused me to
be born physically caused me to be born spiritually, the same
one. Verse 15, but when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace, quickened me by His Spirit, pricked my ear, pricked
my heart, He gave me life. He called me by His grace, verse
16 says, to reveal His Son in me. Now I want us to notice something
very important. The difference between eternal
life and eternal death can be as small as two little letters.
This is important. It can be as small as two little
letters. He did not say to reveal His Son to me." Right there. He said, in me. What he's saying is, this is
what Paul is saying, salvation is roughly 18 inches. That's
what he's saying. Man, you're going to run across
people who know the doctrines of grace and know the doctrines
of grace and know the doctrines of grace and they know who John
Calvin is, they know where he was born, they know everything
about him. But when it pleased God to reveal
his son in me, in me, we should never be satisfied, never be
satisfied to have an understanding of the grace of Christ, but no
heart for it. Never. No love for it. No need
of it. Salvation is not knowing about
Christ. It's not. Salvation is knowing
Christ. That's what it is. When it pleases
God to save a sinner, He puts Christ in that sinner. Christ in a sinner is that sinner's
hope of glory. Christ in a sinner is the evidence
of a sinner being in Christ. All right, and I'm going to say
that again. If a sinner's in Christ, he was
there from the foundation of the world. And at some point,
God purposes, when it pleases God, he puts Christ in the sinner. And when Christ enters the sinner,
that's the evidence that the sinner's in Christ. Salvation is not an issue of
the mind. That's what it means. It's not
an issue of the mind. It's an issue of the heart. Christ in
me. One man said this. This is such
a good statement. A man can know exactly how Christ
saves sinners and not be a saved sinner. It's so true. It's so true. Christ can be revealed
to him, but not in him. Nothing in the heart. It's like
a man who knows everything about his wife. Everything, but has
no heart for her. It's not a true union. He could
know every tone of her voice and have no heart to talk to
her. He could know everything about her. He could know where
her favorite restaurant is and have no desire to take her there. A true saving union with Christ
is in the heart. It is in the heart. Verse 16,
to reveal his son in me that I might preach him. That's the gospel that I might
preach him. If you want to know whether or
not a man is preaching the gospel, when his message is over, ask
yourself, did he preach him? The gospel is a person. Did he
preached him? If he preached man's responsibility
and man's efforts and man's goodness and man's right, he preached
man. But if he preached his mind,
and if he preached his heart, and if he preached his will,
and his purpose, and his work, and his accomplishment, then
he preached him. And if he preached him, he preached the gospel.
The gospel is a person. Verse 15 says, 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." What he's saying is, I didn't need anybody's approval. Nobody's. When God speaks to
the heart of a sinner, when God moves on the heart of a sinner,
He does not want anybody's opinion or approval. Nobody's. When God says come, he didn't
go to anybody and say, God just told me to come. You think I
ought to go? When God says come, he's coming. When God says bow,
he's bowing. That sinner knows that he has
a brand new master. He knows who it is and he's not
going to confer with anybody. He's just going to obey God.
Verse 15, 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. Why Arabia? What's in Arabia? Look with me at chapter 4. Chapter 4 verse 25, for this Agar is Mount Sinai
in Arabia. Mount Sinai is in Arabia. The mountain where God gave the
law to Moses is in Arabia. God brought the Apostle Paul
to Arabia. He could have taken him to the
exact same spot he took Moses. He could have brought him to
the very spot he took Moses. Sat him down and taught him the
law came by Moses. I gave Moses the law, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law damned, Christ pardoned. The law killed, Christ made alive. Back in Galatians 1 verse 17
says, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before
me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter
and abode with him 15 days. Now can you imagine how encouraging
it was for Peter to hear from Paul? I just thought about that
for a minute. You just think about that. Paul saw the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul saw him. Peter, he was so sad after the
Lord's death, he knew he denied him. So sad, so devastated, he
loved the Lord, he sorrowed over the whole thing. And then the
Lord in Bethany told all those apostles, I'm leaving. I'm coming
back, but I'm leaving. And there he went. And he's gone
now. And Peter knew the things that
he'd been taught all those times. And this right here is roughly,
give or take a couple of years, this is roughly five years after
the Lord ascended. Paul came and met with Peter.
About five years afterward, and you have to wonder as time went
on if Peter's, if some doubts and some fears started setting
in. You know, he's gone. When is he coming back? I thought
you'd be right back. I thought you were coming right
back. Five years later now, all the
persecutions, the imprisonments, all the things that were happening.
And I've always thought of the encouragement that Peter must
have been to Paul. I can see Paul just listening. Here's an apostle before him,
sitting there, listening, learning, loving his time with him. But
it never occurred to me the encouragement that Paul must have been to Peter.
Peter sitting there just hanging on his every word. You saw him?
You saw him? You saw where he is, you saw
his dwelling place, what he was telling us about the third heaven.
It's really true. You mean it's really true, wouldn't
you love to know is this true? Peter said, you saw it. I bet that was an amazing 15
days. A wonderful 15 days for both of them. Verse 18, then
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. Imagine how excited
James must have been. The Lord's brother. Or as most believe, cousin. But
brother, brethren. How excited he must have been.
I thought about the fact that I'm sure Paul, the Lord told
Paul something to pass along so they would know, yep, that's
him. That's him. Did he? Yep, that's
what he did. That's him. Well, verse 20 says,
now the things which I write unto you behold before God, I
lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions
of Syria and Cilicia 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 preacheth the faith
which once he destroyed." That's precious. That's precious. Paul was a trophy of God's grace. Every sinner is. Every rebel
is. But when the Lord takes one who
is openly, arrogantly, blasphemously against the grace of God in Christ. Like Paul, he gave his life to
shut it down. Absolute hater of the true and
living God. Is it not glorious to see God
take a sinner like that? Isn't it wonderful to see God
take somebody like that and break him? Don't you love that? I'm so glad the Lord broke me. How wonderful it is to see God
break a rebellious sinner, break his heart, break his knees, break
his will, make him for the first time in his life start begging
Christ for mercy. He's so arrogant before. Oh,
now he's humbled. He's begging God for mercy. I
can imagine when the Apostle Paul was blinded, the Lord came
to him and he told Ananias, the Lord told Ananias, you go, you
go to him. Behold, he prayeth. I can only
imagine what Paul was praying. God be merciful to me, a sinner. That's the most glorious thing
that this earth could ever see. That really is the most glorious
thing that could happen here. And they said, only God can do
this. Only God. Verse 20 says, Now
the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie
not. Afterwards, I came into the regions
of Syria and Cilicia 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 is now preaching the faith
which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me."
They all glorified. Oh, they just praised God. We
would do the same thing, wouldn't we? We'd say, to God be the glory. Great things he's done. May the
Lord do it again, and do it again, and do it again. All right, let's
all stand together.