If you will turn back to Galatians
chapter 1. I pray every time the Lord enables
me to preach, I'm able to give the context of it. And I want
us to remember that this book, this letter was written to the
church at Galatia for a reason. The Lord gave Paul these words
to write, but there was a reason that he wrote the letter. And
that's because those people in that church with them, brethren
intermingled with them, those Jews that professed exactly what
these Galatians professed. They professed what Paul preached
to them. They professed what we preach
here today. Christ did it all. Christ chose a people. He came
into this world, born a woman. He was the God-man. He lived
perfectly. And He swallowed up that justice
that was for us in our place. He accomplished it forever. Our
warfare is over. They believed that. But then
they said, well, these Galatians It's non-Jews. They still need
to be circumcised. They put something else on them. They put something
else in their hand that needed to be done. So if they put one
drop, one work, one drop of leaven in there was the reason this
whole book was written. Paul had to clarify that. He
had to address it immediately. And I want us to keep that in
mind every time we look in here. It says there in verse 11, 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, he's about to tell us how the gospel was revealed
to him. He's going to give us a brief
summary of it. He's going to show us how a sinner is called,
the way the Lord works in people's lives. And this is a pattern
for us to look at. Now, each one of us are dealt
individually. The Lord comes to us where we
are. and He deals with us personally. There's some things we all have
in common. I always enjoy hearing the stories of how the Lord brought
people to hear the truth. I grew up under the sound of
the gospel, and to me it's interesting. I love hearing those stories.
I love seeing the Lord work. I love seeing Him work now. It's
always something for me that I'm impressed by. But what was
different between The way that Paul was brought to know Christ
and the way that the thief on the cross was brought to know
Christ, was there a difference? What was the difference between
that thief on the cross and King Nebuchadnezzar? What's the difference
between them and me? What's the difference between
all of them and you? Is there a difference? Ways may be different,
but we all come from different lives, we have different upbringings,
different social statuses, but the salvation was the same. The
way he used it was the same. So we see there in verse 13,
Paul's still in an unregenerated life, wasn't he? It says, for
ye have heard of my conversation, that's his behavior, and time
passed in the Jews' religion how that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it and profited in the Jews'
religion among many my equals, many my equals in my own nation,
being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my father.
Paul was a famous person. They knew of him. His name was
renowned. Turn over to Acts chapter 8 real quick. Acts chapter 8 verse 1 it says,
And Saul was consenting unto his death. At that time, there
was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem,
and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen
into his burial and made a great lamentation over him. As for
Saul, speaking of Paul, he made havoc of the church, entering
into every house and hailing men and women, committed them
to prison. Paul wasn't suffering. He was the one making the brethren
suffer. He profited. He was moving up
that social ladder, wasn't he? I'd say if he had a chariot,
it probably had leather seats in it. He was comfortable. And people
were jealous of him. Turn over to Psalm 73. There's
times that I get jealous. I thought there was a Costco
on a hill up here, but I think it's what they call a church.
I thought we were looking for places to shop. You know, I don't
want to shop there Look to what David wrote here in Psalm 73
Again verse 1 truly God is good to
Israel even to such as are of a clean heart, but as for me
I My feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped,
for I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked, for there are no bands in their death, but their
strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other
men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore, pride
compass them about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could
wish. That doesn't sound like my life. I don't know if it does yours.
I'm not just, everything's just on easy street. I don't think a lot of people
are jealous of me, but the scriptures tell us that the believer shall
have trouble. Trouble is going to come. We've
looked at that several times, haven't we? You're going to have
trouble. There's going to be some hard times. Maybe not on
the outside, but on the inside there will be. But how was my
life outside of knowing Christ? What was I like? Did I persecute
the church? Did I steal God's glory? I told
you that before. I had a man tell me one time,
he said, well, you grew up around the sound of the gospel. You
don't have any grave clothes. And I said, no, I have a grave
tuxedo. There's nothing to change. That nature is not any different.
I grew up and heard the truth, but I thought, well, what do
I need to do? I want to do something. I want to contribute. I should
be doing this more. I wanted to have an act to perform
and steal God's glory. Our Lord is a jealous God. He will not share His glory with
another. But outside of the grace of Christ, all will perish. Not from works, outside of Christ.
Look down, stay there in Psalm 73, look down at verse 17. Here's
David's. Change of heart says, until I
went into the sanctuary of God, then understood their end. Surely
thou did set them in slippery places and cast them down into
destruction. However, they brought into desolation
as in a moment. They are utterly consumed with
tears. That's what David saw from these people that had it
too easy. But that's How Paul was saved,
where he was, and that's where I was, when the Lord came to
find me. I was comfortable in seeking
the glory that God deserves. But when was Paul saved? Was
it whenever he was physically circumcised? Like these Galatians
were being told they had to be? No, it was when Christ was revealed
in him. Look back there in our text,
Galatians 1. Galatians 1.15, 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. It
says there, but when it pleased God. Everything happens in its
season and by God's providence. We know that, don't we? I make
plans. We had plans of when we're going
to arrive here. We still hope those plans is
the Lord's plan, but it'll happen in his time, his season. I can't
guarantee anything but the Lord can. I want and he does. It's a difference, isn't it?
Psalm 102 says that, Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion
for the time to favor her, yea, the set time is come. The Lord sets a time for these
things. He set a time for Paul. He set a time for me. He sets
a time for every one of his children to hear the truth of Christ,
doesn't he? Peter said one day is as of a thousand years and
a thousand years is as of a day. So the time to the Lord doesn't
matter. We see everything linear. We're
ruled by a clock in our day. The Lord's not bound by time.
He does it when it pleases Him and when it's best for us and
most for His glory. And we're told throughout the
scriptures repeatedly to wait on the Lord. It says there, who
separated me from my mother's womb. I know a lot of folks that's
That's in the Lord's providence as well. Physically, they want
to have children and aren't able to, and there's some that have
several children and don't want to have any more and end up having
a couple more. That's not always our intentions don't come to
fruition, do they? But it's not just that physical
birth only. God is the Lord of providence
in all things, providence and creation, both physically and
spiritually. Jeremiah said, Clay read this
yesterday, When the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 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
to the nations. Paul was created on purpose. He was born on purpose. But also,
Paul was allowed to harass the church, persecute the church,
and kill those believers to go after them. The Lord allowed
him to do that. Look over in Galatians 4. Galatians 4 and verse 3. Even so we, when we were children,
we were in bondage under the elements of the world. We were
in sin, we were regenerated, weren't we? But when the fullness
of time was come, it's in the Lord's providence on His time,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoptions of sons. Christ died for sinners. while
we were still in our sin. We weren't moving upward. We
didn't do something to deserve that. We didn't attain a level
to deserve merit while we were nothing, while we were dogs like
we looked at last night. That's when He come to us. Romans
5 said, but God commendeth His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So it's a nothing of
man. There's nothing I did, but it
pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb." Why was
that? Look there in her text. Verse
16, "...to reveal His Son in me." Paul didn't have Christ
revealed to him. It wasn't plan A or plan B. He
said, Paul, here's Christ and here's the way you want to do
it. Now you pick which fork in the road. Are you going to go
left or right? That wasn't what was presented to him. Christ
was revealed in him. I don't harp on this often, but
if you've got a Bible there that says he was revealed to him,
get rid of it. Get you a King James Bible or
a Bible that says His Son was revealed in me. To reveal something,
I think I told you that before. If I had a blanket over a glass
of water and I pulled the cloth off and you could see the water,
I revealed the water to you, the glass. It was already there.
The cross was put in Him. And the Spirit came in and quickened
Him and turned it on, didn't it? He revealed the cross to
Him. Something was already done. That way it wasn't of man. Christ has saved him, and then
Paul declares what we declared. He cried, Lord, save me. Then,
he saved me now, and he's the one that has to continue to keep
me. He continues to save me. But after his son is revealed
to him, what happens? He says that I may preach him among the
heathen. Now, who did Paul preach? He
preached Christ. Who do we preach? We preach Christ. It's what the saints will from
Adam until today. That's the only message. The
message hasn't changed at all. We preach Him. And these heathen
that He preached them to, who's that? The word means a foreign
tribe. Someone that's alienated, right?
They're foreign. Colossians 1 says, And you that
were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, now hath He reconciled. Now, if we're separated from
the Lord, He reconciled us. He brought us to that knowledge,
didn't He? Some may hear this and not be regenerated. They
may hear these words and they may not agree to it in their
heart. They may profess it. But Job
wrote, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now
my eyes have seen thee. That's when the Lord quickens
someone. He shows them. He uses the Spirit to show them
Christ in them. Once He does that, what do we
do once Christ is revealed in us? We'd preach Him and Him crucified. And I always thought that was
interesting that scriptures say that we preach Christ. Now, it
was Paul and the other apostles, yes, but right now, we preach
Christ. I can stand here and speak. No
one was here in my preaching. Or if you showed up and I wasn't
here, there's no preaching, right? We send forth this word. You
all labored. To come, you give your time and
your money and your efforts, the skills that the Lord gave
you to have this building, to gather faithfully, the Lord's
made you faithful, and together we send forth this Word. And
that's through whatever means the Lord decides to use, whether
it's sermon audio or helping missionaries or helping another
church or praying for them. I think that's underestimated.
If we pray for another church, pray for those men that's preaching
back in New Jersey this morning and here in California and Kentucky,
wherever they are in the world, we pray for them. We preach Christ.
We spread forth that gospel that way, together. The Lord's knit
us together that way. It says there in Galatians 1.16,
to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among the
heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, After this, Paul went where the
Lord told him and when the Lord told him. He submitted immediately. He didn't confer with flesh and
blood. And he did what the Lord would have him to do. There in
verse 17 it says, Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which
were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, and returned
again into Damascus. Then after three years I went
up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's
brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before
God I lie not. And afterwards, I came into the
regions of Syria and Sicilia. These are unfamiliar, hostile
territories. And Paul went willingly, happily. The Lord's servants are made
willing in the day of His power. Paul was made willing. So we
see that he was unregenerated. He was saved. He was given a
heart to further the gospel, to follow the Lord. What happens
next? In verse 22 it says, "...and
was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea, which were
in Christ, that they had heard only that which was persecuted
us, and times past now preaches the faith that he wants destroyed."
Paul showed up to those brethren. He wanted to honor them, but
he knew that the only thing that they had heard of was what he
had physically done in this world. The crimes he committed against
the church, persecuting the church. Let's turn over to Acts chapter
22, verse 17. And it came to pass that when
I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple,
I was in a trance, and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, get
thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy
testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that
I am imprisoned and beat in every synagogue, them that believed
on thee. And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed,
I also was standing by and consenting unto his death, and kept the
raiment of them that slew him." He held the coats of the men
that killed Stephen. And he said unto me, Depart, for I will send
thee far hence unto the Gentiles. Paul said, Lord, who's going
to listen to me? You've saved me. You've found
me. You've quickened me. But my reproach to this gospel
was great. How could someone listen to Paul
after all the things he'd done? That comforts me. How can you
sit there and listen to me? If you know what I am on the
inside, the sinner that I am, the thoughts that I have, I feel
distant to the Lord often, the majority of the time. I feel
like I don't know Him. How is that possible? How could
you be receptive? How could these brethren in Galatia
be receptive of Paul? There in our text in verse 24,
it says, "...and they glorified God in me." Is that natural? Could you do that? Do they know
what Paul was and glorify God in him? Do they choose to do
that? Clay knows me pretty well. Our
new man gets along perfectly. And our old man gets along pretty
good too. You know me. If I stood up here and I told
these people who Christ, why would they believe me? The Lord
has to do that, doesn't He? He gives that. But who gets that glory? It says, and they glorified God
in me, didn't they? The Lord gets glory in natural
birth and nature. I heard some stories of children
not too long ago that were suing their parents because they were
born. They were adults. That's foolish, isn't it? We
can laugh about that, because that's ridiculous. Because that
person had no intention of doing those things, had no ability
to. How is that any different? The Lord brought me into this
earth. Spiritually, He can bring me into it. Who gets the glory
and providence that leads men and women here? When I tell you,
I like to hear those stories. Somebody's driving by and they
see a sign, don't they? They decide to come in. So there's
a church, I'll go listen. Was that a great effort of their
part of researching? Did deductive reasoning teach
them these things? No, the Lord did that, didn't
He? Who gets the glory of revealing Christ in a person? He does. Not us. He revealed it in us.
Not to us when we chose. In us. Who gets the glory of making
one sinner love another one regardless of their flesh? That's not of
us. He gets the glory for that. And
who do we glory in in all things? Christ. All things. We were dead,
unregenerated. Christ revealed Himself to us,
in us. We have a heart to serve the
Lord. And after that, we don't want to bring any reproach on
our brethren or on this Gospel, do we? That's the same. That's
the same for that thief on the cross. It may have been for 30
minutes. Same for Nebuchadnezzar, same for Adam, same for me, same
for Cass. It ain't changed, is it? The
Lord found us, came to us where we were, revealed Christ in us,
and we want to serve our brethren, serve Him, not bring any reproach
on the gospel. So how does that play out with
Paul? Let's turn to Acts chapter 9 and I'll wrap this up. Paul's
conversion. It says there in verse 1, And
Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went unto the high priest. And he desired of him
letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this
way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound
to Jerusalem. He was asking for a warrant for
his marching orders. And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus. And suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me?" Now, Paul's conversion was miraculous. It was, the way it
happened was different than it was for me. He was an apostle.
He heard the Christ's voice, saw him in person, didn't he? It was different, but all those
elements were the same. Christ come to him and said,
saw, saw, while persecutest thou me? Who is Paul going after? Men and women, either or. If
any of them believed in Christ, I'm going to get them and I'm
going to bring them back to Jerusalem. Christ didn't say, why are you going
after my people? That's how one we are with the Lord. Our great
defender comes in and says, why are you persecuting me? And he
said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he trembled, and astonished,
said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" In front of my Bible I wrote,
I don't know who, one of the preachers was preaching one day,
and he said, you get these scriptures, don't look for what you need
to do, look for what's already been done. All those things,
that's perfect submission right there. The Lord brought Paul
down. And he said, Lord, there's nothing for me to do for salvation.
What do I do for you? Thank you. You're the one in
control. The Lord speaks to him there
in verse 6, says, Arise, go into the city, and it shall be told
thee what thou must do. He's going to use him. And the
men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice,
but seeing no man. There were some witnesses there
in Paul's life, those men around him. There was a change that
happened. This strong, arrogant Paul that was charging forth
with his own plan submitted totally to someone right there on that
road, didn't he? And Saul rose from the earth,
and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man, but they led him
by the hand and brought him unto Damascus. And he was three days
without sight, neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain
disciple of Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And
the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which
is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one
called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he prayeth. And he hath seen in a vision
a man named Ananias coming and putting his hand on him that
he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered the Lord
and said, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he
hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name. Ananias
was worried. But the Lord said unto him, Go
thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me. to bear my name before
the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, for I will
show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.'
Ananias went his way and entered into the house, and putting his
hands on him, said, When we just looked at Ananias
and Saul, he knew who Paul was, who Saul was, and the Lord said,
he's mine, he's my chosen vessel, go to him. And that calmed Ananias'
fears, didn't he? He walked in and said, brother.
Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee
in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, and thou must receive
thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately
there fell from his eyes as it had been scales, and he received
sight forthwith and arose and was baptized." Paul was literally,
figuratively walking in sin. He was on that road. The Lord
met him. He separated. He caused him to
seize Christ, caused him to serve Christ, and caused him to honor
Christ. I pray that's for every one of us to see that, see what
the Lord's done. That what I was doing, my thoughts
of God, my intentions, I thought was right at the time. But God,
he came in, separated me, showed me Christ in me. He saved me,
he's kept me, and he's given me a heart to serve him. And
if I continue to serve Him and continue to honor Him, He has
to keep me. And I pray that for you. As the Lord found you where
you are, as He showed you that you're unable, unwilling to do
anything of yourself, He has come to Him. Ask Him,
the Lord have mercy on me. And He will. And He's able to
do it and able to keep you after the fact. That's the experience
I've read of in the scriptures. That's the experience I've lived.
I was nothing and the Lord got a hold of me and he's kept me. He's all the one at the table.
Any peace that I have is when I look to him. Any worry and
fret I have is when I look to myself, my experiences, my decisions. That's all of Him. So this day,
today is that day. Look to Him. Trust the Lord. Trust the Lord. If He's kept
you, He will continue to keep you. Always look towards Him.
Alright, let's pray together. Father, have mercy on us. We're
so unable, full of sin, corrupt. We don't know which way to go,
Lord. You have to come into our lives where we are and save us. Show us Christ. Bind us to Him. Keep us in Your grip till the
end, Lord. And those that are Yours that haven't heard Him
yet, those lost sinners, use us, Lord, to further Your gospel
so they can hear. Allow them to hear of the One
that can save them. Keep them always. Be with our
brethren everywhere, Lord. Allow them to have hearts that
desire this One that can save. Give them ears to hear. Be with
those pastors as they preach. Give them boldness to declare
Your Word. It's in Christ's name that we ask.