you. We have come into this house,
gathered in His name to worship Him. We have come into this house, gathered in
His name to worship Him. So forget about yourself So forget about yourself. Concentrate on Him and worship
Him. So forget about yourself. Concentrate on Him and worship
Him So forget about yourself Concentrate on Him and worship
Christ the Lord Worship Him, Christ the Lord. So let's lift up holy faith.
So let's lift up holy faith, magnify His name, and worship
Him. So let's lift up holy faith,
magnify His name, and worship Him. So let's lift up holy vain, and
magnify His name, and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him,
Christ the Lord. He is all my righteousness. He
is all my righteousness. I stand in Him completely and
worship Him. He is all my righteousness. I stand in Him completely and
worship Him. He is all my righteousness, I
stand in Him complete and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him,
Christ the Lord. Let's all stand together and
sing hymn number 51. Hymn number 51. Praise the Savior, ye who know
Him, who can tell how much we owe Him. Gladly let us render
to Him all we are and have. Jesus is the name that charms
us, He for conflict bids and arms us, Nothing moves and nothing
harms us while we trust in Him. Trust in Him, ye saints, forever. He is faithful, changing never. Neither force nor guile can sever
those he loves from here. Keep us, Lord, O keep us, cleaving
to thyself and still believing, till the hour of our receiving,
promised joys with thee. Then we shall be where we would
be, then we shall be what we should be, Things that are not
now nor could be soon shall be our own. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number 209. 209. Marvelous grace of our loving
Lord, grace that exceeds Our sin and our guilt yonder on Calvary's
mount outpoured. There the blood of the Lamb was
shed. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse
me within. Grace, grace, Grace, grace that is greater
than all our sin. waves cold. Threaten the soul with infinite
flaws. Grace that is greater, yes, grace
untold, points to the mighty cross. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that filled pardon and
cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that is greater than all our sin. Dark is the stain that we cannot
hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson
tide. Brighter than snow you may be
today. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse
within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that is greater than all our sin. marvelous infinite matchless
grace freely bestowed on all who believe you that are longing
to see His face. Will you this moment His grace
believe? Grace, grace, God's grace, Grace
that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that is greater than all
our sin. Good evening. If you will, open
your Bibles to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits, whether they are of God. because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is the spirit of Antichrist. Whereof ye have heard that it
should come, and even now already is it in the world. You are of
God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are
of the world. Therefore speak they of the world,
and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth
God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and
knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love. not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we
dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify
that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear
in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. We love him because he first
loved us. If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? This commandment have we from
him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer.
We come seeking to worship tonight, Lord. We come seeking to learn
more about Him, to be drawn closer to Him. Leave us not to ourselves
still, Lord. Cause us to trust Him, love Him,
need Him, want Him. Forgive us of everything that's
unlike Him. I pray, Lord, for this body of
believers. I pray that You'd bless them and meet their needs,
heal them if they're sick, feed them if they're hungry, and cause
them to need You. I pray again, Lord, for my wife,
my children. I pray that you give them a need,
cause them to see that they need you. I pray, Lord, for my grandchildren.
None of them seems to know you. I pray that you give them a need,
cause them to want to come hear the gospel. Cause Brother Donnie
to tell us about Christ again this evening. Open our hearts
to him. Forgive us of our sins. In his
holy name we pray, amen. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard
thy voice, and it told thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms
of faith, and be closer drawn to thee. Draw me nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. Consecrate me now to thy service,
Lord, by the power of grace divine. Let my soul look up with a steadfast
hope, and my will be lost in thine. Draw me nearer, nearer,
nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. O the pure delight of a single
hour that before Thy throne I spin. When I kneel in prayer and with
Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. There are depths of love that
I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea. There are heights
of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with Thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, Nearer,
blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. Open to Galatians chapter 1.
Galatians chapter 1. Start reading at verse 11 and
go to the end of the chapter. Galatians chapter 1. But I certify
you, brethren, verse 11, 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 my own nation, being more exceedingly
jealous of 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 to 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. Afterwards, I
came into the region 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
preaches the faith which once he destroyed, and they glorified
God in me." Glorified God in me. My title this evening is Law
Fails, Grace Works. Law Fails, Grace Works. The apostles were men, they were
just men, but not ordinary men. What made them not ordinary was
that God called them to be apostles, made them to be what they were.
You know Moses, Moses He was a shepherd tending sheep on the
backside of the desert. God appeared to him and called
him and told him to go down and save his people, Israel, out
of the house of bondage out of Egypt. It had been down over
400 years. And God used him to go down and
save his people and then deal with them all the way through
the wilderness for 40 years. Now, he was a man, but he was
God's chosen man. That's what makes the difference.
He was the deliverer. And when the apostles wrote,
it was scriptures. When we read what they say, a
fellow asked me the other day, he said, you know, when Christ
died and rose again, they didn't have the scriptures. They didn't
have the Bible. He said, I wonder how many people
were still alive when they got ahold of the Gospels. that was
just children or babies or something like that, and their grandparents
or somebody that the Lord had done a miracle for, they, when
they started Matthew, Matthew wrote his gospel, Mark wrote
his, Luke wrote his, John wrote his, and you wonder, so he asked
me, you reckon any of those people that know the Lord on when he
was alive on this earth, when he got the Bible, you reckon
they said, well, listen, that was about my father, that was
about my children, that was about my grandchildren. And I said,
I never thought about it like that, but I mean, it could be,
and I don't know. That girl that was 12 years old,
she might have been, you know, our Lord's only here three years,
and he was in the grave three days, on the earth 40 days after
his resurrection. So she would have been a very,
very young woman. So she very well could have,
and 65 years after Christ's death, they had the Bible to read. And
so, He asked me that, and I said, I never thought of it before.
It never entered my mind to think of something like that. But there's
some people think different. Some people think different than
other people. But he's a fine person I was
telling you about. But anyway, when the apostles
write, wrote, it was scripture. It was God breathed. Now you
keep Galatians 1, and go over with me to 2 Peter. I want to
show you something about the scriptures, and how they were
wrote, and how precious they are, wonderful they are, they're
God-breathed. Look what he says down here in
verse 16 of 2 Peter chapter 1. For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables, stories of men, fables, and when we made known
unto you unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
and were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We saw it with our own
eyes, for he received from God the Father honor and glory when
there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This
is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Now, he's talking
about what took place on the Mount of Transfiguration. That's
what he's talking about. He said, I saw this. I was there.
I was witnesses of it. I heard the voice come from heaven.
And this voice, in 18, said, this voice which came from heaven,
which we heard, we heard when we were with him in the Holy
Mount. But now watch what he says right here. We also have
a more sure word of prophecy. And that means preaching, a more
sure word of what the scriptures teaches. Were unto you do well
that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place,
until the day dawns, and the day star cries to rise in your
hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures
is of any private interpretation. What he's telling us is that
nobody Nobody has it all. And I don't have the handle on
all of it, and you don't either. And that's what he's saying.
Men have come along saying, well, listen, I've seen something new.
I see this, and I see that. But the Scriptures has no private
interpretation. For the prophecy, the preaching,
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men, holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So these men
even the Old Testament prophets, they were speaking by the Spirit
of God. And Paul here, back over in our
text, Paul here is speaking of his own life, speaking of his
own life, and he goes back into his history, back into his own
young life, and there were Judaizers that came to Galatia, wanted
to tell these believers that They could be saved. They could
be saved. They can even trust Jesus. But
that wasn't enough. That wasn't enough. They would
have to be circumcised. And they'd have to keep the law
of Moses. And Paul himself uses his own
life to prove the absolute error of this heresy in such a position
for people to hold and there's still people a lot of people
today that hold to law and Works, but he said there in verse 11
But I certify you brethren He said I'm telling he said I want
to certify before God. I want to certify before you
I want to certify it in the Bible I want to certify it in these
scriptures in these letters that I write that the gospel is that
the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. He said, the gospel that I preach,
and all of us have a gospel that we believe. Everybody in this
building tonight has a gospel that they believe. And Paul said,
my gospel, the gospel which I preach was not after man. And you know,
all of us have a gospel. Look, keep Galatians, look over
to Ephesians chapter 1. Next book after Galatians, look
in Ephesians chapter one. He said, my gospel's not after
man. And all of us have a gospel.
All of us have, we've heard the gospel and it becomes our gospel.
It becomes our gospel. It has to be a gospel that you,
that you know for yourself, that you've learned yourself, that
Christ has taught it to you himself. But look what he said here in
verse 12 of Ephesians 1, that we should be to the praise of
his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted. Listen to this, after that you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Everybody
here heard the gospel at one time and you said, that's my
salvation. That's my hope. That's what I
believe. That's what I'm trusting. That's
what God taught me. And you know, and he goes on
to say, and you believed after you believe that God come along
by the Holy Spirit and sealed you, put his mark on you and
put the Holy Spirit in you. So all the gospel, then go back
over here to Galatians. Oh, and he calls them brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. I didn't
receive it of man. I wasn't taught it by man. And
that's what he says in verse, he said in verse 12, for I neither
received it by man. Man didn't come and teach me
the gospel. He said, which was I taught,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. You and I have our gospel. But when you and I hear the gospel
through men, we learn the gospel through men preaching the gospel
to us. Paul was down in Philippi, Thessalonians, and there was
a woman from Philippi that was over there, Lydia. And they would
meet down by the riverside, and they'd have a meeting down there. A bunch of Jews would get together
and have a meeting. Well, Paul went down there where
all those Jews were gathering by the riverside to meet. And
he met there with those people and he began to preach the gospel.
And the scripture says, the Lord opened Lydia's heart. And so
what that means is that the gospel that she heard became her salvation
and what she hoped in and trusted in. She said, that man that he's
talking about, what he did is my salvation. I've heard this. I believe this. I trust this. He showed me this from the scriptures. He showed me this from the Old
Testament. And oh my, and I tell you, oh my, faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the gospel. But Paul received his gospel
from Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
was his teacher. Christ himself was his teacher. And look what he goes on to say,
verse 13. Not taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. And he goes on to say, for you
have heard. You have heard, you Galatians
have heard. Everybody's heard of my manner
of life back in my past. Back when I had, and I was in
the Jews religion. How that beyond measure, I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. and profited, oh, I was so
good, profited in the Jews' religion, above my equals, in my own nation,
the nation of Israel, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions
of my fathers." So he, well, he knows how these Judaizers
think. He knows what they believe. He
knows what they taught, because he had been warned himself. His
knowledge of Judaism, if you listen to these false preachers,
and that's what he's talking about, let me tell you my relationship
as a Jew. Let me tell you what I was like
as a Jew. Let me tell you what I was like
as a Pharisee. He had been outstanding in his
religion. He had been a great man in his
religion. He's taught by the greatest teacher
of his age in those days, Gamaliel. And oh my, he had been outstanding
in the Jews religion, beyond measure. Nobody, he was beyond
measure of anybody else in his Jews religion. They can measure
what other people did, but you couldn't measure what he did.
He said, beyond measure, try to measure how mean I was. Try
to measure how much of a Pharisee I was. Try to measure how strong
I was in my Jews' religion. And oh my, and I tell you, I
was exceeding zealous of the traditions of my fathers. I profited
in the Jews' religion. Oh, I profited in it. How much
I profited in it. And then the traditions, and
that's what the Jews always said about Christ. The Father said,
the tradition said. They said, you transgress the
traditions of our fathers. And oh my, he profited, oh my. You know, look over in Acts chapter
nine. Look in Acts chapter nine, verse one. In Acts chapter nine,
look what it says about him over here. This man was something. In Acts chapter 9, verse 1. And Saul, and Saul, yet breathing
out threatenings, and slaughter, slaughter, shed their blood against
the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired
of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found
any of this way, whether they were men or women, that he might
bring them bound unto Jerusalem and be dealt with. And let me
show you some other things about him over in Philip. Philippians,
look over in Philippians, let me show you what it says over
here about him. In Philippians chapter three,
look what he says about himself. This man was so, he knows exactly
how these men think. He know the law inside and outside. He could quote all the laws. And oh my, he thought he was
blameless in that law. Look what he says down in verse
four, Philippians chapter three. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh. He said, we don't have any confidence
in it. If any man thinks that he hath worth, he might trust
in the flesh, trust in his body and what he's accomplished in
his flesh. I more. I was circumcised the
eighth day, just like the law says. I was of the stock of Israel,
a full-blooded Jew. I was of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Mama was a Jew. Daddy was a Jew. As touching the law, I was a
Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
in the law, which is in the law, blameless, blameless. Oh my, he was that rich young
ruler. I believe that when the Lord, he come to the Lord and
said, what must I do to be saved? And our Lord says, sell all you
got and give it to the poor. And he went away sorrowful because
he had many riches. I might've very well been him.
He said, if thou keep the commandments, he said, I've kept all these
since I was a child. I've kept all the laws since
I was a child. Well, if you've done that, then
sell what you got. He's gonna make that man understand
that he ain't got nothing but Christ before it's all said and
done. So, I mean, this man was really, really a mean, mean man. And, oh, my. And I'll tell you
what, these Galatians didn't understand the true nature of
the Jews' religion. I don't understand the true nature
of a Jew's religion. Have you ever seen any of them?
I mean, there's what they call Orthodox Jews. There's what they
call Hasidic Jews. And there's Jews that still wear
their ephods, and they put them across their shoulders. And they
have this young kipper starts tonight. That's a great Jewish
holiday, and they put those ephods over their shoulders, and they
put their yarmulkes on their head, and they bow and bow and
bow and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and pray and
pray. And then when you see them out in public, the men have to
have those long curls. If they're Nazarite, you'll see
that long hair coming out from under their hats. They got that
long hair and then they got their ephod wrapped around their bodies
and under their coats. So they got some strange beliefs. And I was talking to some one
time about the love of God and they said, we're not interested
in the love of God. We got too many laws. We got
too many things we have to do. Why would we be interested? Listen,
we're trying our best to live according to the law and what
Moses said and all the rituals and all the sacrifices and all
the feast days and all the holidays and all the fastings and all
the prayers we're supposed to pray. Oh my. And that's why he said, you know
these Galatians, they didn't understand the true nature of
Jews' religion. They were Gentiles. They were
Gentiles. And all to them, circumcisions
and the law of Moses was a novelty. They'd never heard those things
before. And men comes along and they bring them some new thing.
They bring them something that they never heard before. And
it's a novelty to them. And novelties can be enticing,
and they were enticed. Well, listen, I want to be the
best Christian I can, so this, if that's what it takes for me
to be the best Christian I can, is to keep the law of Moses.
Well, as long as I can trust Christ, but yet, you can trust
Christ, but you still got to do this, and you still got to
do that. And oh, my. And look at today's
worship. Oh, my goodness. A young man
told me this morning that A couple he knew went to one of these new outfits here
in town and he said, all the preacher did, spent the whole
service asking for money. Had his PowerPoint up on here,
PowerPoint up. Told how much money that everybody,
he said, if you're a single, you can get $1,500. If you're
married, you all need to give $3,000. He went down the thing
and told all much everybody needed to give so they could build them
a great big new gymnasium. Never said anything about Christ. Never opened a Bible. Never shed a tear over the shape
that people's in. And he said, if you can afford
to go to Starbucks, you can afford to give to the church. I'll drink
my coffee and tell him where to go. I don't mean to be ugly. I'd go to his place and sit there
and drink coffee in front of him and say, you ain't getting
a nickel of mine. Not a penny. I'll tell you what old Roth Barnard
used to say. He said, men who don't preach
the gospel, He said the people that support them are as guilty
as they are for preaching it, for listening to it. He said
a man who robs a bank, and he comes out and he's the one that
goes in and robs the bank, puts a gun in their face and robs
the bank, that fellow that drives the getaway car is going to go
to the same jail that the man that robbed the bank. And that's
the same thing to people that listen to a false preacher. They're
as guilty as the people that listen to them. And that's sad. That's sad. And of all the things,
we got a whole Bible. We got a whole Bible, 66 chapters. 27 New Testaments, 39 Old Testaments. And here we have this whole Bible.
And preachers want to talk about money, soul winning, doing something
for God. Oh, it's a sad, sad day we live
in. Sad day. Oh, today's worship. And oh my,
there's so many new exciting things to stir up the flesh now. Oh, so many things to stir up
the flesh. Oh my, that's human nature. They
love to have their flesh stirred up. And these false teachers,
these Judaizers preach their requirements For
salvation, they taught what they taught as for salvation. And
as a man to progress in discipleship, if you want to progress in discipleship,
this is what you got to do. And that's another thing. There's
places that have discipleship classes. Is Christ not able to
teach you what a disciple is? You know, He had disciples. He
didn't have to teach them what it was to be a disciple. A disciple's
a follower. That's all it is. Buddha has
got disciples. Roman Catholicism's got disciples. Confucianism's got disciples. Free willism's got disciples.
And that's people that follow that teaching. We follow Christ.
That makes us disciples of Christ. We're following him. He's our
teacher. Buddha's not our teacher. Christ
is our teacher. We're not following a statue.
We're following a person. We were following a person. And
oh my, to think, oh, we had progress in discipleship. I'll tell you
what, Houston prayed tonight out there. He said, Lord, teach
us grace. Give us faith. Teach us to love. These are the things we're interested
in. That's a true disciple, somebody
that wants to be Talk to Christ and talk from the heart and look
to Christ and trust Christ. Oh my, that's a disciple. That's
what he asked. I said it this morning so many
times you've heard it. 5,000 walked away and said, these are hard
sayings, who can follow him? Are you 12 going away too? Lord,
to whom shall we go? Who are we going to go to? You're the one with the words.
You've got the life. Your words are life. Your words
are spirit. Your words are life. And I need
life. I need your words. I need you
to speak. And I don't care what anybody
says. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Oh, my. And they would tell them,
you see, you're not a proper believer. You're not a real Christian
until you're submitted to circumcision, until you embrace the law. But
Paul knew the Jews' religion inside and out, and he could
reveal this lie to be what it was, and the falseness of these
men. So he goes on here and says,
the gospel that I would know, I didn't get it from man. Christ revealed it to me. Christ taught me the gospel.
And then he talks about how traditions and followers, he said, but now
watch what he says. Watch what he says. He looked
back there and said, that law failed me. That law failed me. And it's going to fail you. And
look what he says. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. Went from traditions of his father's. Separated me from my mother's
womb. What'd he do? Call me by his grace. Call me
by his grace. And you know when a man's gonna
be saved? When it pleases God. He said, I'm gonna show you how
God saves a man. I'm gonna show you how God does
for a man. I'm gonna show you what salvation really is. And
this certainly ain't enough. You know, you've heard of my
life. But he says, But when it pleased God, who separated me
from my mother's womb. If they had law and circumcisions
and work, why did God separate me to Christ and the gospel?
I didn't deserve it. I had a zeal in the law, but
abominable sins it was. But it pleased God. It pleased
God. One day, One day it pleased God. And look what he found out. He
didn't know this on the Damascus road. He found it out when Christ
began to teach him the gospel. And he says this, who separated
me from my mother's womb. When I was still in my mother's
womb, I was loved of God, I was chosen of God, I was an apostle
of God, I was a preacher of God, I was going to be used of God,
and it was all unbeknownst to me, but God had me be His, when
it pleased Him, for separated from Him in my mother's womb.
Oh, he told Jeremiah, he said, I knew you before you was formed
in your mother's belly. Mother's belly. Oh, my. Brethren, we're bound to thank
God, for God has from the beginning chosen you, chosen you unto salvation. Oh, that's one thing to be chosen
unto salvation. But you know what salvation is
based on? Belief of the truth and sanctification by the Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit comes, He brings faith along with it. And
oh, when the time was come, I was declared before the world to
be an apostle. And that this grace cuts off
all of his boasting, and it gives God all the glory. And being
not yet born, you know, it says in Romans 9, 13, I believe, it says that the children
not yet being born, having done neither good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works, but of him that calleth. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. And neither one of them had been
born, hadn't done a thing. And Paul had not yet been a persecutor
of the church, but God called him from his mother's womb. Called
him from his mother's womb. and separated him. Separated
me. God separated me from my mother's
womb. Separated me for himself. Separated
me to be an apostle. And then look what it says here.
There was a day when he called me. He called me. Saul, Saul! Why persecutest thou
me? It's hard to get against the
pricks, ain't it? Who art thou, Lord? Oh my, and oh my, he called me,
he called me. Did he call me because he knowed
I was going to be a real dedicated Christian? Did he call me because
he knew I was going to Quit being a Pharisee? Did he call me because
I lived a holy, blameless life? Did he call me for my praying?
Did he call me for my works? Did he call me because I circumcised? No! He called me by His grace,
a gift undeserved, undeserved. Oh my. And oh, look what he's
done to him. He said, he separated me from
my mother's womb and called me by his grace. And look what,
this is the reason he did it. To reveal his son, not to me,
but in me. Reveal his son in me. to make Christ known in me, to
my heart, to my mind, to my soul, to make Christ reveal His Son
in me. And why did He do that? That
I might preach Him, not about Him, not hope to, I think I will,
I'll try to, but to preach Him. Reveal His Son in me that I might
preach Him. And who's He gonna preach it
to? Heathens. Heathens? How many times we called our
children and we seen people say, boy, they're heathens. They act
like heathens. Well, that's what we were. We
was heathens. And we'll have to own up to it.
We're heathens. And he said, God sent me to priest Christ
him to the heathens. Jews ain't going to hear me,
but they going to hear me. They going to hear me. And oh
my. And look what else it said in
verse 16. Immediately I conferred not with
blessing blood. Oh my. You know this gospel of
revealing Christ in him is the son of God. He saw him as he
substituted sin offering sacrifice. And I'll tell you this gospel
that he is talking about that Christ his son revealed in him.
It doesn't accuse or threaten death. doesn't bring despair
like the law does. But look what he says now. He
said, I conferred not with blessing blood. When people start hearing
the gospel, I've seen this happen so many times, and I know every
preacher I know of knows this happens. People will come in,
they'll come in a few services, and they'll hear something. And
they'll start listening to something. And they'll say, boy, I've never
heard that before. That's different than anything I've ever heard.
And so what they do is they go ask mama, ask daddy, ask granny,
ask grandpa, ask their neighbors, ask their... Listen, this is
what... I'm hearing this preacher say
this about election and grace and works have nothing to do
with it. That Christ is our righteousness and we have none of our own.
The salvation is of the Lord. that we contribute nothing to
our salvation before and after we're saved. And I said, I've
never heard anything like that. What do you think about that?
And he says that there's a lot of antichrists already in the
world. And he says, you know, my sheep hear my voice and they'll
come to me. And he starts, they start hearing
that and they go, boy, I never, and they go start going, confirm
with flesh and blood. And nine out of 10 times when
they confirm with flesh and blood, you'll never see them again. You'll never see him again. Oh,
honey, you better stay away from that. There's a fella dead and
gone. A preacher, big shot preacher.
Made piles and piles of money as a preacher. Preached 48 to
50 years, weeks a year. And him and I was good friends,
and I started learning the gospel, and him and I'd even talk about
it. Here's the one that took me to meet Brother Henry the
first time I ever met him. But after I really settled down
on the gospel, you know what he said? He said, stay away from
Donnie Bell. Stay away from him. Everywhere
he went, stay away from Donnie Bell. Said he's went off the
deep end on predestination. He went off the deep end on human
error. No man has that he believes that
God saves his people before the foundation of the world. And
man don't have power over his own will. And he said, I don't
want to be identified with him at all. And that man's dead and
gone. Don't have nothing to do with
him. Don't have nothing to do with
him. Hmm. Well, that's okay. You know, the gospel reveals
grace, not law. The gospel reveals salvation
as a gift, not of words. Salvation in Christ in the gospel
reveals a righteousness, not our own. It reveals our righteousness,
or as a filthy rank. And, oh, he went to Damascus
and went to preaching among the heathen. Oh, this gospel's a
revelation. Oh, he didn't get the approval
or acceptance of anyone but Christ. That's all he was interested
in. And oh my, it's kind of like, you know, when Abraham sent his
servant to go get a bride for his son Isaac. And you know,
she took all that silver and gold and all them garments and
showed them to her and said, You know, my master loves his
son, and his son's got everything. He's going to give his son everything.
His son has got all the wealth of his father. He's the heir. Boy, she's seen all that stuff,
and she said, will you go? I said, yeah, I'll go. Mom and
daddy and everybody, you know, his brothers and sisters, she
said, honey, don't go. Stay here just a little while
longer. We're going to miss you so much.
Stay just a little while. Don't go now. And that fella, you know, that
service said, are you ready to go? They begged her to stay. He said, I got to go. She said,
I'm ready to go. I'll go. I'll go. And that's
the way we are when we hear the gospel. I'll go. Yes, sir. I want that heir. I want to know
that heir. I want to know the son. I want
to know what he's got. I want to understand what power
he's got. I want to understand how rich he is, how powerful
he is. And that's what Paul preached,
that, oh, my. They didn't need acceptance.
We don't need acceptance of anybody but Christ. Oh, my. And then look what he says. I
got to hurry on here. And he says, and neither with
verse 17, neither went I up to Jerusalem. That's where all the
apostles were to them, which were apostles before me. But
I went into Arabia. He stayed three years in Arabia,
and that's where Christ taught him the gospel, revealed these
things of grace to him. But I went on to Arabia and returned
back to Damascus, where I started preaching to start with. Then
three years later, I went up to Jerusalem. I went back to
Jerusalem to see Simon Peter, and I stayed with him for 15
days. But I saw no other apostle except James, the Lord's brother."
The Lord's brother. And afterwards, I came into the
regions, and these things I'll write unto you before God. I lie not. You know I'm telling
the truth. Afterwards, I came into the regions
of Syria and Silica, and look what he says now. And I was unknown
by face. Nobody knew who I was. Nobody
knew. I was unknown by faith unto the
churches of Judea, which were in, listen to this now, which
were in Christ. I was unknown, those which in
Christ. But they heard only, and they had heard this now,
that he which persecuted us in times past, what, you know, something
dramatically happened to him. Now he preached that faith that
he once destroyed. And what happened when that happened,
when he went and preached? And they glorified God in me. They said, this man's telling
the truth. What a change in this man. Never seen him before, but
I tell you what, he's a preacher. God's using him. God's using
him. God's using him. Oh, my. What a gospel we have. What a
gospel. What a glorious gospel. Our Father,
Oh, our Father, in the blessed name of Christ our Lord. Oh, I am so grateful that you've
revealed yourself to us, revealed your truth, revealed your love,
your mercy, your grace, your power, revealed your son to us. Oh, you revealed your son in
us. And it's him we want to follow, it's him we want to know, it's
him we want to trust, it's him we commit ourselves to. And Lord, forgive us of everything
that's unlike you, and God bless these dear saints here. Meet
the needs of their home, meet the needs of their heart. And
Lord, bring glory to yourself through us all. For Christ's
sake, in his holy name we pray, amen.