Galatians chapter 2 and we're
going to read from verse 6. And we'll read through to verse
10. But of these who seemed to be
somewhat, he's speaking about James and Cephas and John particularly,
the apostles in Jerusalem, and the apostle Paul that's writing
to the Galatians, and he says, but of these who seemed to be
somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me, God
accepteth no man's person, For they who seemed to be somewhat
in conference added nothing to me. But contrary-wise, when they
saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the
gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that wrought
effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same
was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas, and John,
who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto
me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship
that we should go unto the heathen as they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should
remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. I wonder if perhaps, maybe it's
just my imagination, but I wonder if you feel there's a little
edginess to these comments by Paul, a little sharpness in his
references to James and Cephas and John. If you have wondered
that, then I've wondered it too. Twice Paul says, seemed to be,
and I wonder if there's a sense in
which he is implying a certain element of doubt or inserting
a degree of hesitation into his comments concerning the apostles'
standing. They seemed to be somewhat, they
seemed to be pillars of the church at Jerusalem. Of course, it may
be that there's something we miss in translation here, or
maybe the phrase, seemed to be, is more negative today than it
would have been understood back then to the Galatians to whom
he was writing. But I wonder if, too, there might
be an insight in this little section into what it was the
Galatians were being told by the troublemakers who had come
from Jerusalem and were disturbing the peace and the stability of
the fellowships there in that region, the churches of Galatia. If we look at Paul's comment
in verse six, He says, but of these who seemed to be somewhat,
whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me, God accepteth
no man's person. For they who seemed to be somewhat
in conference added nothing to me. I wonder if there's perhaps
some emphasis here on the word were. He says, whatsoever they
were, it maketh no matter to me. And it may suggest how the
means, the method that these troublemakers were employing
to try to force a wedge between Paul and the other apostles Perhaps
by divulging something of the kind of man that Saul of Tarsus
was, that Paul had been before his conversion. Not that Paul
ever tried to hide this. He was honest in all his recorded
testimonies. In fact, we can see an example
of that if you just look back across to chapter one and verse
23, he says there, but they had heard only, that is speaking
about the churches of Judea, they had heard only that he which
persecuted us in past times now preacheth the faith which he
once destroyed. He speaks as one who was a destroyer. A destroyer of the church had
he had it within his ability to do so. A persecutor of believers. And it may well be that these
troublemakers from Jerusalem thought that they could employ
that, that they could use that, that history of the apostle in
order to undermine his character and thereby undermine the gospel
that he preached. These Judaizers were spreading
stories perhaps about who Paul really was and the hurt and the
fear that he had inflicted on the young church and perhaps
even his efforts to hunt down and arrest the apostles themselves. Was such a man to be trusted?
Did the Galatians really think that Paul had come to them with
the backing and the support of James and Cephas and John and
the Mother Church back in Jerusalem? So that to attack his gospel
they attacked the man's character and his background and his past
life. And seen like this, if indeed
that is what Paul has in mind here when he's making this reference
to what the apostles were, seen like this, Paul's words lose,
I think, any sense of belittling that we might imagine is contained
in this reference to they seemed to be. And I think perhaps he
rather teaches us some useful lessons about what it is to be
a child of God. Lessons such as God doesn't choose
people to salvation based on any form of eligibility. Their good works or their lack
of good works doesn't make a person more or less eligible for salvation. No one makes themselves more
or less qualified for God's grace or entitled to God's mercy by
the things that they do. Even, we say, by the things that
they say or confess or believe. As believers in free grace, we
know this. But I wonder if sometimes we
become guilty of sloppy thinking to some extent in this matter. Have you ever thought, for example,
when you're speaking to someone or you meet with someone or you're
introduced to someone for the first time, you think to yourself,
that person would make a lovely Christian. And I wonder if you've
heard yourself saying, That person is beyond redemption. And we've
got to hear again Paul's words on this matter. God accepteth
no man's person. On the contrary, God converts
us and makes us what we never could be. Both David in the Psalms
and Paul in his epistles both knew that there is none that
doeth good. There is nothing, nothing in
the human mind, in the human motivation, in the human act
that is in any way meritorious or recommending to God outside
of Christ. All our righteousnesses are filthy
rags except for that righteousness alone that is wrought out by
the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. James was the Lord's brother. Peter had walked with the Lord
Jesus Christ. John had leaned on the Saviour's
bosom. while Saul of Tarsus had brutalised
the young church to the best of his ability. And what Paul is perhaps teaching
us here is that such things as these do not impinge on the truthfulness
of the gospel or of the integrity of the message that a man brings
from God. What a man was before his conversion
ought to have no bearing on his reputation as a minister of the
gospel, either for or against. And that is true for all believers.
We leave these things behind when we become a new creation.
We are not the person we once were, such is the power of Christ
in the life of an individual. Old things are passed away and
it is something perhaps for us just to note and remember. that when a person comes to know
the Lord, when we accept a brother or a sister in the Lord, those
old things that once characterised their lives, and we take this
as a comfort for our own past conduct, they are done away with. and it is a new beginning and
it is a new start and it is a new creation, it is a new creature
as far as the Lord is concerned. The criteria for our esteem for
one another, our criteria for our esteem of our ministers is
simply that they speak the truth as it is in Christ. Do they speak
according to the law and the testimony? Do they preach the
gospel of free sovereign grace? If they do, then as Paul says
to the Thessalonians, receive it not as the word of men, but
as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh
also in you that believe. And this brings me to my second
point here. Paul knew that the message and
not the messenger was the key to spiritual good and spiritual
growth. That's why he says to the Galatians
that he is so soon removed from him that called you into the
grace of Christ unto another gospel. You know, there are a
lot of slick, eloquent speakers who are great motivators and
engaging storytellers in the pulpit. and sometimes they're
even comics and comedians. And you can easily spend an hour
on a Sunday or in midweek listening to their clever talk. The question
is, however, have they a message from the Lord for your soul? Has the Son of God wrought effectually
in their hearts so that they can bring a word to your heart. What does that little phrase
wrought effectually actually mean? Well, wrought is just the
old English word for worked or shaped or fashioned. and effectually
means successfully and powerfully achieved. And the point is this,
that for a man to come with a message from the Lord, that man must
have himself had that work of grace worked in their own soul. They must have had that lesson
taught to them. and that enables them, having
had that work effectually and powerfully in their own soul,
that enables them to bring the message that does our hearts
good. Paul knew the gospel had been
wrought effectually in Peter. thereby enabling and equipping
him to carry the message of God's free grace in Christ and the
vicarious atonement of Christ to the Jewish people. Not exclusively
to the Jews, he preached to Gentiles as well, but predominantly to
the Jews. Paul knew also that the same
divine power had worked mightily in his own soul. To the end of
bearing the same message as Peter preached to the Jews, Paul preached
to the Gentiles. Again, not exclusively, but predominantly. That's where Paul's ministry
was. The Lord established their sphere
of ministry and he established the use to which he would put
him. The Lord sent his preachers at
the appointed time to the appointed people. And this is something,
again, that we perhaps might helpfully note. Isaiah tells us and then Paul
repeats it again. How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent? The Lord not only has his people,
he has the means whereby his people will be nourished and
fed by the true gospel. There's no accidents in this. There's no randomness in this.
The Lord is his sheep and he will have his sheep pastured. He will have his sheep fed and
nourished by the preaching of the gospel. That is how the Lord
manages these situations. And Paul and Peter were both
men of the Lord's making. so that this activity upon which
we are engaged here, this little service that we are having together
here, it's a spiritual matter. God forbid that this is merely
a social gathering or a pleasant hour of chat and conversation. We are here to be serious with
the Lord. We're here with the prayer that
the Lord may speak to us and grant us ears to hear. So Paul writes to the Galatians
and he says, he that wrought effectually in Peter, the same
was mighty in me. Paul recognised that Christ was
at work in his own soul, enabling and equipping him to serve his
purpose through the preaching of the word. And these Galatians
were being assailed, they were being assaulted, they were being
adversely influenced by these Judaizers, these troublemakers
amongst them. and the Apostle Paul was saying
that the same Lord that inspired and taught the other apostles
was at work in his own life and that is what validated the message
that he brought amongst his friends in Galatia. He that worked a
work in Peter, worked a mighty work in Paul as well. And that, brothers and sisters,
is what we all need and we must have. A mighty work of grace
in our hearts, an effectual calling, a great salvation. Recently somebody
sent me a little paragraph that describes this mighty work and
the purpose for which it comes, that we might be enabled to see
the Lord Jesus Christ in his true character and his true role. Here's part of what was in that
little paragraph. It said this, the more you know
about Christ, the less will you be satisfied with the superficial
views of Him. The more deeply you study His
transactions in the eternal covenant, His engagements on your behalf
as the eternal surety, and the fullness of His grace which shines
in all His offices, the more truly will you see the King in
his beauty. And this knowledge of Christ
is the mighty work Paul speaks of. It is not only a mighty work
that calls a man or a woman to serve a particular purpose, such
as preaching to the Jews or to the Gentiles, as in Peter and
Paul's relative cases. but it's a mighty work to quicken
the soul and to raise the spiritually dead and to open the heart and
to convert the mind to see and know the salvation that comes
by faith. Peter was a character. He was
a common man. He was a fiery man. He sometimes lost his temper.
He sometimes betrayed his own passions in a way that brought
shame upon him. He was just a fisherman. Paul
was the elite in society. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was educated to the highest
standard in the most theologically astute religion of the age. One of them spent his time mending
nets by the seashore, while the other one was arguing philosophy
in the finest universities of the land. And in time, by grace,
both felt the same power, discovered the same Lord, knew the same
Saviour, both knew the same calling, And we're reminded that the potter
takes the clay and he makes the vessel suitable to his purpose. And none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? Our Lord Jesus Christ is forming
his kingdom and he is employing his means to do so. And the third
and final point that I want to leave with you is this, Paul
declares Paul says is, this is all of
God's grace. James and Cephas and John, they
perceived the grace that was given to me. They saw, the apostles,
they saw the grace that had been given to Paul. The grace given
is the grace of God in redemption by Christ's blood. It is pardon
for sin, it is peace with God, it is full and free salvation
and eternal glory to follow. And these apostles discerned
that grace in Paul. This is the grace that is given.
And how blessed we are to taste such grace. How privileged we
are to have been called to spiritual life. bestowed with faith and
drawn to trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. It was grace
that sought out James and Cephas and John when the Lord Jesus
Christ said to them, follow me. You've not chosen me, I have
chosen you. And grace called Paul and Barnabas
and Titus. It was grace that opened the
hearts of the Galatians and grace alone that will bring you and
me to the footstool of God and to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Every sinner's calling is an
evidence of grace and a privilege of grace. and our calling to
salvation and our call to service flows from God's love towards
us personally and of his love to his church collectively. The
apostles were men greatly used, but they were only men. And with
admirable humility and true spiritual discernment, James and Cephas
and John recognized Christ in their fellow worker Paul. And
they extended to him and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship,
a symbol of their common salvation and united purpose for the cause
of God and truth. May the Lord grant us all fellowship
with our brothers and sisters in Christ upon the ground of
grace received, grace wrought mightily and effectually in our
hearts, and the united common cause to serve him according
to our gifts, wherever it is that he has placed us. Amen.