you would please turn to the
book of Galatians and Galatians chapter 1 I want
to read verses 15 16 and 17 Galatians
1 verse 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. Neither went I up to Jerusalem
to them which were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia and
returned again unto Damascus. What I've entitled this message
is When It Pleased God. Man, as he is born, the natural
man, born in iniquity, brought forth speaking lies, being dead
in trespasses and in sins, that man, still in that state, cares
absolutely nothing about God being pleased. At best, he might
give a fleeting thought to it if his conscience is making him
feel guilty. That's at best. But man, as he
is naturally born, the unregenerate, dead in trespasses and sin, doesn't
care anything about God. And that includes no matter how
much lip service they may put out. Even religious men don't
actually care about God being pleased because they're more
actually concerned with God not being mad at them. You know that
old theology they sang that song about? God's going to get you
for that. Man is so worried about what
he does that he gives no thought to what God has done and God
is doing. Paul is writing here of what
God was pleased to do and in so doing, Paul is telling us
what God is doing. and what God shall do. He starts
it off here. And I do want, there's about
four things I want to show here. Uh, and I'll just give you the
list right now. The first one is separation.
The second one is salvation. The third one is revelation because
of salvation. And the fourth one is proclamation. But he starts it off here where
it says, but it pleased God. Now when you see the word but
there, that's putting a difference between what he just wrote. And
what was he had just wrote? In verse 14, well 13, he says,
for you have heard of my conversation in time past in what? The Jews
religion. How that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it and profited in the Jews religion. above many mine equals, in mine
own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of
my father. And you get that great word,
but, when it pleased God. This was Paul's state. This is
what Paul was doing, known then as Saul of Tarsus, on the road
to Damascus. had warrants in his pocket to
where he could arrest anybody who named the name of Christ
and take him back to jail in Jerusalem, have him bound over
to be killed. He said, I persecuted the church.
That's the state he's in. When God says, but, but when
it please God, but when it please God, never forget, When it comes
to God being pleased, it starts with God. It doesn't start with
us. It starts with God. Paul writes
here that his life, his birth, his setting apart, his salvation,
his knowledge of Jesus Christ, and his ministry came from God
himself. nothing came from him. Everything
that he just wrote about in verse 13 and verse 14, he says in another
place, I count it but dung. I count it but manure. I count
it but a waste product. The only thing worth knowing
now is our Lord Jesus Christ, the one that I had been persecuting. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb. This is the separation. Now, life comes from God, even
physical life. However, Paul writes here, he
is writing of a setting apart, a separation in that manner.
If you look at the word, it means literally a setting apart to. an appointment to, it's basic,
ordained. It's a setting apart to something. It's not just being separated
from his mother's womb, being born physically into this world.
Although that was done when it pleased God. It's the same thing that the
Lord wrote, the Lord said in the book of Jeremiah, you don't
have to turn there, but it's Jeremiah one in verse five. We
wrote, before I formed thee in the belly, what? I knew thee. I knew thee. And before thou
camest forth, before the physical birth took place, out of the
womb, I sanctified thee. I set you apart before you were
born. And I ordained thee, what? A
prophet unto the nations. That's what the Lord said concerning
Jeremiah. That's what Paul's saying here
when he says, but when it pleased God who separated me from my
mother's womb, Paul was exactly where God had ordained for him
to be when he was in his mother's womb. And before he was in the
womb, what? God knew him. God knew him. This is the same man that wrote
that we are chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of
the world. If you believe Christ, Christ,
God, the Holy Spirit knew you before you were ever formed. What a blessing. God appointed
me from my mother's womb. God set him apart to be a believer
and to be a preacher and to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Before he came out of the womb,
this was gonna happen. This was gonna happen. He was
separated from his mother's womb. And then it says, and called
me by his grace. Now this call is not the gospel
call. This is the call of the good
shepherd when he calls his sheep by name. That's what Paul's writing
up here. He says, he called me by his
grace. This is not being called to be a preacher. Walter is so
admirably and so well pointed that out. It doesn't say that
preachers are called in the scripture, it says they're sent. That's what it says. How shall
they preach except they be what? Sent. This is talking about Paul,
talking about his being called to life, to faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ by what? God. When it pleases God. Who separated me from my mother's
womb, what? And if he separated you from your mother's womb,
you're gonna be called. You're gonna be called, what?
By his grace. You're not gonna be called by
your works. You're not gonna be called because of your works. You're
gonna do some works because of his call. You're gonna believe
him because of his call. But this call, by name, my sheep
hear my voice and the stranger they will not follow. They follow,
what? Me. Christ said that. This is the call of the good
shepherd of his sheep, by name, to life and faith. And here,
particularly, this call is always individual. Paul said God called
me. I don't know if God was calling
anybody else when he called me, but his call to me was individual. When 3,000 were saved in one
day, each one was called individually. If he calls you, it is separate
from any other call of his chosen people. And first and foremost, it's
his call and it's by his grace. Paul is saying that God set me
apart in this world and God saved me by his grace. And if it's
grace, It's not works. If it's grace, it is no more
work. Because if it's work, it's not
grace. That's the definition Paul himself
gives us in the book of Romans. The call is by grace. And you
cannot separate these two things. Well, these three things. It
pleased God to do it, and it pleased God to separate me, set
me apart from my mother's womb, and that little conjunction ties
those things together, called me by his grace. But then he
says this statement. To reveal, to reveal, to reveal
his son, what? In me, in me. That I might preach
him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood. Revelation is a result of salvation He called me by his grace to
That's a word of purpose. That's a reason why he called
me to Reveal his son what not to me in me in me in me There's
lots of people get the Sun revealed to them But if they don't get
the son revealed in them, by him, by his grace, it doesn't
do any good. There's a lot of head knowledge
out there about Jesus Christ. If he doesn't reveal his son
in you, you don't know Christ. That's just the way it is. That's
what he's promised. Revelation is a part of salvation. The salvation of God reveals
His Son to the now faithful sinner, the believing sinner. Being called by the grace of
God reveals His Son in me because there is absolutely no salvation
without the Son. There is no grace without the
Son. And there is no knowledge without
the Son. What does it take for the salvation
of a sinner, for the revelation of a sinner? In a sinner, it
takes the grace of God. It takes the power of God. How is this power talked about
in the scriptures? It's called, in John, being born
again. It's called, in John, being born
from above. It's also called, in John chapter
one, being born, what? Of God, of God, of God. That's what it means to be having
been called by his grace You are born from above Except a
man be born again be born of from above He shall not what
see the kingdom of God and if you're not born of the water
and the spirit You're not going to enter the kingdom of God But
by His grace, if you believe, it's because He has called you
to His salvation. Jesus Christ told His disciples,
after they said, thou art the Christ, Peter said it, thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ told them,
He said that flesh and blood, what? Didn't reveal this to you. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it unto you. I can't reveal it unto you now. But my father, which is in heaven,
can reveal it to you. And he can reveal his son in
you. In you. Earl used to be fond of saying,
if I can talk you into something, somebody else can talk you out
of it. And knowing Earl the way I was,
If he could talk you into something, he could talk you out of it. But not this, not him. If God saves you, you are saved. If you know the son, it is only
by the revelation of God. What? By His grace. The Holy Spirit teaches of the
Son, reveals the things of the Son to those who have the Son
in them. To reveal His Son, what? In me,
in me. And then he says this, now this
is pertaining to the Apostle Paul, that, that's another word
of purpose. There's a reason the son was
revealed in Paul. That I might preach him among
the heathen. And this is the proclamation
part. Seen it. separation salvation
revelation and now proclamation the salvation of God by grace
and the revealing of the Sun in you is Not something we are
to keep secret Now I'm not saying We're all
preachers. That's what Paul was here This
is Paul preacher Paul an apostle. I'm not saying that we are all
preachers, but I am saying this I We are all to be proclaimers
of the Son of God. If the Son of God has been revealed
in you. You can't preach Him. You can't
proclaim Him without knowing Him. I said this a few weeks ago.
You can't teach what you don't know. It's not possible. A lot of people try. I said a
few weeks ago, there's people all around here I know who have
tried to teach. And it became very evident, and
I'm talking about they're trying to teach the Bible. It became
very evident by their words that they didn't know what they were
talking about. And the bad part is, the reason
they didn't know what they were talking about is they didn't
know who they were talking about. That's the lacking part. Because
if you don't know him, You can't teach him. If you don't know
him, you can't preach him. If you don't know him, you can't
proclaim him even to your neighbor. I remember years ago when I first
met Walter and other people I'd met, I didn't know much. You're going back 35 years now.
I didn't know much. But what I did know, I could
say, that I don't know if God will save you. But I do know
this, that if God does for you what he did for me, what he did
to me, and he did for me, you'll be saved. Because he put me in
a corner where I had nowhere else to turn. And if you haven't
ever been there, you may not know him. Because there is that
thing, some people call the law work, It's called the spirit
of bondage unto fear. We don't have it anymore, but
bless God, we had it. We had it. It's a fearful thing
to fall in the hands of a living God. And if you never had any
fear for your soul, for your life, for your very being, you
know, things are a little iffy. Because you won't turn to him
until he showed you, you've got nowhere else to turn. and he
will reveal himself to you. Because Jesus Christ is the answer. Here Paul's fixing to say it,
he's also the message. He's the answer to the question,
but he's the message. Paul's purpose is written here.
Preach what? Him. Him. What? To reveal his son in me that
I might preach Doctrine, no. Then I might preach law, no,
uh-uh, no. I might preach Him. I've determined
to know nothing among you save what? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ Jesus is the answer and
Christ Jesus is the message. And that's what we try to do
when we preach here in this place. We try to preach him. What? The one who is pleased to separate
me from my mother's womb. The one who called me by his
grace to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among
the heathen. We preach the son who is God. We preach Him who calls all,
every single one of His sheep by name, by name. What? By His grace. We preach His Son
by the revelation of grace. There is no other message. And
I'm here to tell you today, separation, salvation, revelation, and proclamation
are all of grace. Separation, salvation, revelation,
and proclamation are all of Christ Jesus. And separation, salvation,
revelation, and proclamation happen. when it pleases God. When it pleases God. That's for
Paul, and that's for every single child of God. There's no difference. Paul said his salvation was a
pattern. The way God saved the apostle Paul is the way he saves
every single son of God. By grace, through faith, and
that none of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works
lest any man should boast. We have to say that to be good
Baptists, Mason. I believe it. I believe it. People get upset. Y'all always
quote that verse. Thank God we do. Somebody needs
to. Thank God if you believe that
verse. Because we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus, what? Unto good works. Unto good works. What? He's ordained that you
should walk in Him. So walk in Him. Believe Him. Believe Him. Now I want to leave
you with some more things about a pleased Lord. Because the scriptures
tell us our Lord is pleased by many things. But before I get
too carried away on that, I do want to give you two negatives.
Things that don't please God. And then we'll go to the positive.
First one. You don't have to turn here,
but I got scriptures down here. This is Hebrews 11 and verse
six. But, without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. The second negative is just about
the same thing as the first, just in different words. It's
from the book of Romans 8 and verse 8. So then, they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. Basically, they're saying the
same thing. Because without faith, his faith, now the faith of Jesus
Christ, The faith of God's elect, the faith of God's dear son,
no man pleases God without that faith, his faith. He's the author
and the finisher of it, and he's the giver of it. Man naturally,
and those in the flesh are those
without faith. They cannot please God. They,
therefore, they cannot please God. Man, naturally, and this
is where this is, this is what this is saying, this is what
the world don't wanna hear. This is talking about ability and
the lack of it. They cannot please God. It is
not within the scope of their abilities to please God. Because
without faith, it's impossible. It's not improbable, it's not
unlikely, it's impossible. For he that cometh to God must
believe, must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him. Faith, which comes by the Holy
Spirit when he calls you, must be in the person before there
can ever be any discussion of pleasing God. Four, this is 1 Corinthians 1
and verse 21. This is starting the positives
though now. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world
by wisdom, what, knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. The preaching of his son pleases
God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. Now, it's not, as Earl always
said, and a lot of other people have said, and I've said, it's
not the preaching of foolishness. But to the world, this is foolishness. What we're doing right now. Y'all
sitting there listening to a man. Talk about something he doesn't,
he never, talk about another man I never met personally, Mason. Not in the flesh. But I have his witness right
here. I have his word right here and we have his doctrine. We
have his truth and y'all believe it. What is wrong with you people? That's what the world thinks.
There's something wrong with you people. No, we're the only
ones. If you know Christ, we're the
only ones there's something right with and it's not of myself. It's of him. If you know Christ, it's because
God has revealed his son in you. That's right. He's right. Not us, not me, not you. He's right. The preaching of
his son pleases God. And those that believe are saved. And here's something else. They
stay saved. This is 1st Samuel 12 and verse
22. For the Lord, capital L, capital
O, capital R, capital D, will not forsake his people. For, they're so nice and wonderful
and obedient, no. For his great name's sake. Because, Here's why, because
it has pleased the Lord to make you his people. Now is that not a blessing? God will never forsake his people
for his namesake. It's not because we deserve not
to be forsaken. We deserve to be forsaken. We
deserve not to have been called in the first place. And we're
not doing all that great a job after we've been called. The
only time I do anything good is when he works in me both the
will and the do of his good pleasure. If it's dependent upon me, I'm
a goner. I'm done for. But for his great
namesake, he will not forsake his people. Why? Because it pleased
the Lord to make you his people. The scriptures are clear. God
has a people and the Lord has a people for his namesake. It's
for his glory. And he will never forsake them. How does the Lord have a people?
The only way he could. He made them his people. He didn't
ask them, he didn't court them, he didn't woo them. He says he
did some of that stuff and it didn't work, Mason. He made them
his people. The Old Testament and the New
Testament agree. Paul agrees with Samuel, right
here. God makes His people and God
calls them by His grace. They are His and He will not
forsake His people for His name's sake now. And it pleased the
Lord to make what? You, you His people. That's what Paul wrote. 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 It pleased God to save the Apostle Paul it pleases
God to save every one of his people To what make you his people? How is this possible? How can
it be that horrible sinners are made children of God? Ooh, the
pleasure of the Lord. Isaiah 53 and verse 10 says this,
yet it pleased the Lord, what? To bruise him, to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. It
doesn't stop there though. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, what? He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, in his hand. And it pleases the Lord to make
you his people. How can he do that with a horrible
sinner? It pleased the Lord to bruise what? Him. Those for whom he was bruised
will never be bruised. Because he was bruised. And he
was only bruised once. Once, folks, once. That's it.
There is no celebration of the mass here. We're not bringing
down the broken body of Christ to put him in the cup in the
wafer. It only happened once. We are
to remember him in the Lord's table. We are to remember he
did break his body once. His blood was shed once, and
once only, and it was made an offering to the Father, and the
Father accepted him completely. We are sanctified set apart given
life given faith In him in the one who was bruised It pleased
God to punish sin in the person of his son once and never again
He'll see you see He'll call them by his grace and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all
deep places. That's Psalm 135 and verse six. Psalm 115 verse three says, but
our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Now, in the Old Testament, that's
in the past tense. The Lord did whatsoever he hath
pleased. What's it say in the New Testament?
I'm glad you asked. Revelations four, verse 11. It
says, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power. Why? For thou hast created all
things and, what? for thy pleasure. They are and were created. That's present and past tense.
What does the future hold? Exactly what the present holds
and the past held. I am the Lord, I change not.
If the Lord has done all his good pleasure, he's gonna do
all his good pleasure and he's gonna keep doing all his good
pleasure. and it pleased the Lord to make
you his people. He's making more people. He's
calling out his elect. The exact same thing, whatsoever
the Lord please and for his pleasure. Ecclesiastes 3 and verse 14 says
this, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it nor
anything taken from it and God doeth it that men should fear
before him. The next verse, that which hath
been is now. And that which is to be hath
already been. And God requireth that which
is past. God does as God has always done. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever. Jesus Christ is calling out his
sheep by name. He is saving them by his grace. What's he gonna do tomorrow?
He's gonna call out his sheep by name. And he's never, ever
gonna forsake his people because it pleased God to make you his
people. God will always do all his good
pleasure. Now the question is, I don't
know what that is. The question is what is the most
pleasing thing to God? That's the wrong question. Who
is the most pleasing to the Father? Well all three of the Synoptic
Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, plus John actually says it, It
says that there was one person in whom the father was well pleased. And y'all know who he is. It's
Jesus Christ. Matthew writes it down three
times in his gospel. Chapter three, verse 17, it says,
and lo, a voice came from heaven. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. That's what it said when Jesus
was baptized by John. Then in 12 and verse 18 he says,
behold my servant. This is Matthew quoting Isaiah
speaking about Christ and what Christ had done. He said, behold
my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is
well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him
and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. And then Matthew
17 and five we have the scene at the Mount of the Transfiguration.
And while he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed him
and behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, this is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. The son of God was, is, and always shall be well-beloved
and well-pleasing to the Father. Jesus Christ is God's holy Son. He is well-pleasing to the Father
and he always will be. He's the one who is revealed
in his people. He's revealed to his people,
but he's revealed in his people. And he is who we endeavor to
preach, to proclaim, to announce, to speak about. Anyone else, anyone else is another
gospel. Anyone else is a perversion. separation to his son Salvation
by his son revelation of his son and proclamation of his son
Pleases God And all four of those things Here's the thing are the
work of God Enough my work The only my works is if God is in
me both to will and to do of His good pleasure. You understand?
But still, that's God's work. Because God is pleased by His
own work. Our work only works when He works
in us. And the Son came to do, to do
the will of the Father. And God the Father was well-pleased
with the Son, is well-pleased with the Son. He is still seated
at the right hand of the majesty on high. And if he wasn't well-pleasing
to the Father, he wouldn't be there. God the Father is pleased with
his own work. It pleased the Lord to make you
his people. You understand, it gives me comfort to know,
to read, to believe that my salvation is dependent upon the pleasure
of God, not upon me. Not upon me, not even one little
teeny tiny bit. It's His work that I believe
Him. It's His work that I keep believing
Him. It's His work that He will take
me to glory, to meet my Lord Jesus Christ, to see Him with
my own eyes, to hear Him with my own ears. And though the skin
worms devour this flesh, I know that yet in my flesh, I'll see
God. whom I'm gonna see, not another.
I'm not gonna need anybody else to ever have to tell me about
him. Unless you just want to. Unless you just want to. It's his work, and his work is
pleasing to him, and he will do all of his good pleasure. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time. Lord bless the others as they're
in another place. Preaching your gospel, give them
a message of your incarnate son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
purchased us and is bringing in many sons to glory, even as
we speak. Thank you, Lord, in Christ's
name. Amen.