But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. The gospel. I like the definite
article, don't you? The gospel. There's only one
gospel. And I love what the gospel means. The good news. You know, the gospel is always
news. News is what you hear today,
not yesterday's news. Yesterday's news is old and stale. It's new. It's fresh. It's powerful. It's what I need
to hear. It's good news. Now, I realize that term is relative. What is good news to some is
not good news to others. But how the gospel is good news
if you have sin on your conscience, sin on your heart, to hear what
Christ accomplished for sinners. He said, the gospel which was
preached of me. Now this glorious message is
communicated through a sinful man. Isn't that amazing? He doesn't use an angel. He uses
a man, a weak man, a frail man, a sinful man, and he communicates
his gospel. I certify you, brethren. Paul is claiming the divine authenticity
of the gospel. I certify you, brethren." Now
you will remember that false teachers had entered the churches
of Galatia. Look in verse 7. He talks about
some that would trouble you and would pervert or change the gospel
of Christ. Look in verse 4, and that because
of false brethren. Unawares brought in, who came
in privileged to spy out our liberty, our freedom, which we
have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.
Look in chapter 3, verse 1, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
you? He said they'd been bewitched.
That you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus
Christ hath evidently been set forth, crucified among you. So, Paul's answer to these men
that had questioned his apostleship was, the gospel that was preached
of me was not after man. It was not derived from any human
source. He said, I didn't receive it
by man, but by Christ himself. You know, human instrumentality
was not used to teach Paul. Now somebody says, what about
Ananias? Didn't he first hear the gospel from Ananias? Well,
I believe he first heard the gospel from Stephen. It's not
like he never heard a preacher. He heard Stephen preach the gospel.
Remember, he held their coats when they got ready to stone
him. He was giving consent to Stephen's death. And he heard
Ananias come to him. The Lord sent him a preacher.
And I love the way the Lord sends him a nobody. You never hear
of Ananias before this or after this. And he heard from a man,
but he was specifically taught the gospel, the mysteries of
the scripture from Christ himself. And that's what he means when
he says, the gospel which was preached at me is not after man. Turn back a few pages to second
Corinthians chapter 12. Verse one, it's not expedient
for me, doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations
of the Lord. Now he talks about his experience
that took place 14 years ago. He said, I knew a man in Christ
above 14 years ago. And look at the humility he uses. He doesn't say this happened
to me. I experienced this. He refers to himself as somebody
else having this experience. Isn't that amazing? I'd be saying,
Lord did this for me. I know myself. I'd let everybody
know that this was not Paul. He says, I knew a man in Christ
about 14 years ago, whether in the body, I cannot tell, whether
out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth. Such a one caught
up to the third heaven. Now, Paul went to heaven. The first heaven is what we see,
the sky, the clouds. The second heaven is outer space,
what we see at night. The third heaven is heaven itself.
And Paul said, I don't know if my body went up there or whether
it was my spirit, but I was there. I knew such a man, verse three,
whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God
knows, how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable
words, which is not lawful for a man to utter. Next time somebody
says they came back from heaven and they tell you what they heard,
this tells you they're not telling the truth. He said, if you heard
words from heaven, you wouldn't even be able to utter them. You
wouldn't even be able to bring them back. Of such a one, he
said, will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine
infirmities, in my weaknesses. Look in Galatians, I mean, Ephesians
chapter 3, verse 1. For this cause, I, Paul, the
prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles, if you've heard
of the dispensation, the stewardship of the grace of God which is
given me to you, how that by revelation He made known unto
me the mystery." Now, he would have never known these mysteries,
like the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory, the mystery
of, this is a great mystery, but the two or one flesh, I speak
concerning Christ and the church, the mystery of eternal union
with Christ, the mystery of God manifest in the flesh, all the
mysteries of the scripture. Christ made them known unto him.
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as
I wrote to Ford a few words, whereby when you read you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ." Now, Paul
was taught directly by Christ himself, and at this time he
is defending his authority because these false preachers and these
false brethren were calling it into question. And he wasn't
doing it for personal reasons, although I'm sure he was upset
or his feelings were hurt that the Galatians were calling into
question his authority, but he knew what was at stake. You see,
what he said was nothing less than the Word of God. And the
early church recognized that. Let me read a scripture to you
from 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 15. Peter says, In account that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved
brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him,
hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking
in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest. as they do
also the other scriptures under their own destruction. You see,
Peter recognized the writing of Paul as scripture. Aren't you thankful for the scriptures?
It's written down. Now, when somebody tells me something,
I may hear it, I may hear something else. They might not have meant
what I thought they meant. If I hear it from somebody else,
it's probably gone through some kind of change. Aren't you glad
for the written word of God? I recently heard a man say, I
don't agree with Paul. I thought, that's amazing. This
man says he does not agree with Paul. Well, I don't know if he
realized this, but what he's saying is I don't agree with
God. I don't want to be found there, do you? That means the gospel Paul preached,
the gospel which was preached to me, is utterly unique. There's nothing like it. It stands
alone. It has no peers. He said in Galatians 1, 6 and
7, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called
you to the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not
another, but there's some that trouble you and would pervert
or change the gospel of Christ." This gospel is the gospel of
Christ. Now, Paul used this language
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 3. He spoke, and this is
such a wonderful name of the gospel. He spoke of the simplicity
The simplicity of Christ. Don't you love that word? The
simplicity of Christ. This is not complex. Oh, it's
mysterious. No doubt about that. It's very
mysterious. And it's beyond intellectual grasping. But it's not complex. The simplicity of Christ means
it's simple. It's it's only this book has
only one message. It's a simple message. Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's the message of this book.
I have a very simple salvation. I understand what Simeon meant
when he said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. In every aspect of salvation,
I don't care what we're talking about, there's a simplicity to
it. I've got a simple reason why God elected me. I was chosen
in Him. I've got a simple reason for
being redeemed. I was redeemed by His blood.
I've got a simple righteousness. It's not a combination of mine
and His. It's His only. Isn't that simple? I have a simple
justification. He is my justification before
God. I have a simple reason for regeneration
or the new birth. He birthed me into the Kingdom
of Heaven. It wasn't my response to Him. It was Him saying, live.
I've got a simple acceptance. I'm accepted in the beloved.
You see how simple this is? It's not complicated. Christ
is the answer to everything. He's the reason for everything.
I have a simple reason why I'm preserved. There's one reason
why I haven't fallen away. Because I'm preserved in Christ
Jesus. And when I stand in glory, I'll have a simple reason for
being in heaven. It ain't gonna be because I'm a preacher. It
ain't gonna be because of anything I've done, thought, or intended
to do. The only reason I'll be in heaven is because of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The simplicity that is in Christ
Jesus. Now Paul's gospel was not after
man. It was perfectly devoid of any human input. Don't you love thinking that?
If there was human input in it, It would no longer be the composition
of God. Any addition or any deletion
would make it the work of man and not the work of God. But
the gospel is 100% holy, divine. Now the gospel Paul preached,
and I sure hope I preach his gospel. Pray for me that I will. Oh,
pray for me that I will. Paul's gospel was the gospel
of God. Its source was divine. And Paul's gospel was wholly
divine in its substance. It declares what no man could
ever come up with. And this is what is so glorious
about the gospel we believe. The gospel of who Christ is and
what He did and what He accomplished. All of God's glorious, excellent
attributes are revealed in the cross. Every attribute. This is so glorious, it's so
mysterious, but all that God is, He makes Himself known in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every attribute, we see His love.
We see His justice. We see His wisdom, how He's made
a way to be just and justify the ungodly. We see His power
to put away sin. We see His grace. We see His
mercy. We see His purpose. We see His
sovereignty. Everything that God is, He has
made known in the cross. As a matter of fact, if you wanted
one word that describes the whole counsel of God, you know what
that word would be? The cross. God forbid that I
should glorify save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
I love what he says next. He doesn't say by which I'm crucified
unto the world, but by whom I am crucified to the world. You can't
separate the cross of Christ and the person of Christ. They're
one and the same. What about what the gospel says
about man in his fallen state? You know it doesn't have anything
good to say at all. Not man in his fallen state.
Man was created upright. But man, it is fallen state.
Scripture says the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. That's God's testimony of me.
What I am in and of myself. Genesis 6, 5, God saw the wickedness
of man. He's talking about every man
was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. I can't even trust anything I
think. I really can't. I deceive myself. I don't trust
a thing about me. That's why I said, Lord, let
me be found in Christ. You know, no man would say what
the gospel says about men. We come up with something good
about man, but not the gospel. It gives the true testimony concerning
the true character of man. And the gospel is about how God
can be who he is and still make that man that I just described
who nothing good can be said about him. The gospel is about
how God can make that man perfect and holy and righteous in a way
that honors every attribute he has. That's the gospel. It tells how somebody like me
can be made exactly, perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus
Christ. It talks about how somebody like
me can have all their sins put away. It tells how somebody like
me can possess the very righteousness of God. Now that is glorious,
what the gospel declares. Now only the gospel could tell
how that could be, And no man could ever come up with anything
like that. And if he could come up with it, he couldn't execute
it. Only God can take sinners like us and make us perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ. How glorious the gospel is. And the gospel Paul preached
was wholly divine because of the success of it. I love to
think of the success of the gospel. In Matthew 121, the opening pages
of the New Testament, thou shalt call his name Jesus. for he shall
save his people from their sins. My great enemy is my sins. You know, I read through the
Psalms, David's always talking about deliverance from his enemies.
Well, I know who my enemies are, my sins. Now, here's the question
I want to ask you. He said, thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Did
he do it? Did he do it? Beloved, when he bowed his mighty
head and said, it is finished, I was saved from my sins. I was saved from the penalty.
I was saved from the power. And I've been saved from the
presence of sin. Scripture says I'm already glorified
in Christ. Somebody says, you can't see
it. I know I can't see it either, but I believe it. I believe it.
We take it by faith, what God's word says. We're already glorified
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what a gospel we believe. Only that which is wholly divine
can do what the gospel does, make me perfectly conformed to
the image of Christ, keep me, and glorify me. Only that which
is truly divine has such success. Now Paul said, I certify you,
brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after
man, for I neither received it of man, no man gave this to me,
neither was I taught it. I wasn't taught by man, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now I'm so interested in this.
I want the revelation of Jesus Christ. I want God to reveal
Christ to my heart. Now, the uncovering, that's what
revelation means. The uncovering of Jesus Christ. Now, he is, whether we see him
or not. I love that hymn we sing, holy,
holy, holy, though the darkness hide thee, though the eye of
sinful man thy glory may not see, only thou art holy. There is none beside thee, perfect
in power, in love, in purity. Now, I got four things I'd like
to say about the revelation of Jesus Christ. Here's the first
thing. The revelation of Jesus Christ
is a scriptural revelation. God does not speak apart from
this word. This is a scriptural revelation. We're not dependent upon some
fallible man to give us the information. God has given us his truth in
this book we call the Bible. Now, everything Paul said already
was already taught in the Old Testament scriptures. I want
to give you some scriptures regarding that, but the revelation of Jesus
Christ is in the pages of this book we call the Bible. To him,
give all the prophets witness. Every single one of them. Whoever
was a prophet, to him give all the prophets of the scriptures
witness that through his name, whosoever believeth shall receive
the remission of sins. Now, when we're talking about
the revelation of Jesus Christ, we're not talking about what
I think. We're not talking about, well, here's what this scripture
means to me. You know, it doesn't matter what this scripture means to
me. The scriptures have no private interpretation. But holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. I don't want
to give my interpretation. I want to give what God's Word
says. Now, there's a sense in which we're interpreting scriptures,
but there's also a sense which we're not. We're just saying
what they say. And this is a scriptural revelation. The Lord said in
John chapter 5 verse 39, you search the scriptures. He said
this to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures. For in them,
you think you have eternal life? You think I can find out what
it's going to take for me to have eternal life? And he says,
they are they, the scriptures, they are they which testify of
me. Of me. every single one of them. Let's look at some familiar scriptures.
Turn to Luke chapter 24, the road to Emmaus. He says to these disciples who
didn't really know who he was just yet, verse 25, then he said
unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken." You know, I think of the way
the Lord spoke to his disciples. Can you hear him saying this
to you? Oh, fool. Slow of heart. to believe all
that the prophets have spoken. Ought not, was it not necessary
for Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his
glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expanded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
How would you like to heard that? You know, one of these days we
will. We'll spend eternity at his feet listening to what he
has to say. And oh, how we'll be thrilled. Look in verse 32, they said to
one another, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked
with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures. Look in verse 44, and he said
unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the
Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. Now, We've never
seen Jesus Christ physically, but beloved, we've seen him in
his word. Weren't you thrilled with that
beautiful description of Christ at 1 Corinthians 13 this weekend?
I mean, it was just so beautiful. You could see how beautiful he
is in his word. We saw him. Now, I've not seen
him physically. Every time I look at those pictures
of him in stores, he's got this real good-looking white Caucasian
with blue eyes and long hair, I think, good grief. Scripture
doesn't give any support to anything like that. But oh, we can see
how beautiful he is in his word. And you know, everything Paul
said about him. went over the great truth of, to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, he begins
immediately with, even as David described, the blessedness of
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without work, saying,
blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
sin. Now this revelation of Jesus
Christ, first of all, we've got to begin here. is a scriptural
revelation. Secondly, the revelation of Jesus
Christ is the revelation of God incarnate. God in the flesh. It's the revelation of Jesus
Christ, who He is. Who is He? He's the eternal God
the mighty creator of the universe. He said, you believe in God?
Believe also in me. Whatever you believe regarding
God, that's me. He is God manifest in the flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Colossians 2, 9, and 10 says,
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Who can describe
that? All the fullness of the Godhead,
but it dwells in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, what we believe is determined
by who we believe. You know, really, what we believe
becomes a point if it's who we believe. If it's who we believe,
everything becomes obvious, doesn't it? If he's God, if he's all-powerful,
if he's incapable of failure, well, you're going to believe
everything about him. This is the revelation of a person
to the heart. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
who he is, God incarnate. Now, let me ask you a question.
Do you believe that he is God incarnate? Yeah, I really do. I believe
that he's God manifest in the flesh. Now he is, whether I believe
it or not, but I believe, I believe he's the son of God. I love what
David Pledger said. Somebody struggling with assurance.
Well, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Oh, yes. Yeah,
I believe that. Me too. Do you believe he's the
son of God? Well, yes. I believe he's the
son of God. What are you not sure of? It's believing who He is. What hinders me from being baptized? If you believe with all your
heart, you may. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. And this revelation of Jesus
Christ is a spiritual revelation. It's a scriptural revelation.
It is a revelation of God incarnate, who he is, and it is a spiritual
revelation. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, I was spiritually dead, and he gave me life. And I now
see, the Lord said, the hour cometh and now is when the dead
shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear will
live. This is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son. And beloved, I've seen
him. I've seen him in his word. I've
seen him in his word. Everyone that seeth the Son and
believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at
the last day. Now here's what happens in that
spiritual revelation. Lazarus, come forth. and he that was dead came forth. Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound by sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening
ray. I woke the dungeon flamed with
light, my chains fell off, my heart set free, I rose, went
forth, and followed Thee. Now let me tell you how you can
know whether you've had this spiritual revelation, whether
you've had this scriptural revelation, whether you've had this revelation
of His person, and it's been a true spiritual revelation.
Here's how you can know. Do you believe on the Son of
God? That's the only question I need
to ask. Do you believe on the Son of God? Are you relying on
Him as your wisdom, your righteousness, your sanctification, and your
redemption? And you wouldn't dare look anywhere
else. If you do, that's because Christ
has been revealed to your heart. You have had the very revelation
of Jesus Christ given to you. Paul said, when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me. And I love the way he says, He
revealed His Son in me. I've said this before, it's not
enough for Him to reveal His Son to me, because I'll lose
that. He revealed His Son in me. that I might preach him among
the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood." I didn't have to ask men about this. Now, the
final revelation is a revelation that has not taken place yet. Peter spoke of it when he spoke
of the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. A revelation that has not yet
taken place. You can read these descriptions,
particularly in the book of Revelation. Behold, he cometh with the clouds. And we read where there'll be
a mighty trumpet sound and the voice of the archangel. And everybody's
gonna know who he is at that time. All the people who don't
care about him, they're gonna know who he is. When he returns
and it's gonna be like lightning going out in the sky, in the
dark sky, the way you see it, that's how he is going to return. that one that God has given a
name that's above every name, that His name, every knee is
going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that He is
Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now that revelation hadn't
taken place yet, but it will. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
9. Verse 24 speaks of His present appearing. Hebrews 9 24. For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the
figures of the true, but into heaven itself. What's that next
word? Now. Right now. While I'm speaking. There's one
in the very presence of God representing me. Isn't that comforting? That's where he is now. To appear in the presence of
God, and look at this next word, for us. for us, speaking of every
believer. Now, the reason I'm preserved,
the reason God accepts me, is because Christ Jesus is my Savior. He's my great High Priest. He's
right now appearing before the Father for every single one of
His believers. That's what He's doing right
now, right now while I'm speaking. Now, let's go on reading. Let's
read about His first appearance, verse 25. Nor yet that he should
offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy
place every year with the blood of others. And this went on for
thousands of years. For then must he have often suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin. by the sacrifice of himself.
Now this is talking about his first appearing. You know what
he did? He put away sin. You know what that means? That means I do not have any
sin. That's exactly what that means. If he put it away, it's put away. That's what he did on Calvary's
tree. He canceled it. He blotted it out. I love thinking
about him never, his body never going through the process of
decay because he made full satisfaction for sin and it was blotted out.
It's put away. He actually put that sin away. Now let's look at his third appearing,
his third revelation. Verse 27, And as it's appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time. without sin. You see my sins gone and he's
going to come after me and hang me sin with him and I'm
not going to have any sin. And to them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 1 John chapter 3 verse 2 says,
Beloved, it does not yet appear what we shall be. John is speaking
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writing scripture. And when he's talking about what
we shall be, he says, I have no idea what that's going to
be like. Can you imagine being without sin? We can't even fantasize
about it, can we? I can't even for a second imagine
what it would be like to be without sin. It's always with me. And
John couldn't either, even when he was writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, he says, we don't know what that's going
to be like. But we know this, when he shall appear, will be
like Him. There's such glory in His divine
person that one side of Him will change you into His image. We'll
be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. Now when Paul says I certify
you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached to me was
not after man. I neither received it of man, neither was I taught
it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know what we
say? The gospel which was believed of me is not after man. It's not derived from men. I
neither received it of man, nor was I taught it. It was Christ
who taught me. the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now anything you know truly, Lord use means, but who taught
you? A man or Christ himself. Isn't that amazing? The revelation
of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Lord, how altogether glorious
and beautiful he is in our eyes. What a Savior, what a priest,
what a king, what a prophet, what a Lord, what a God. What a husband. What a friend. Lord, we ask. That you would
reveal him. To each heart here. According
to your will. In his name we pray, Amen. Yeah,
Glenn. 226