In Galatians chapter 1 verse 15 and 16, 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." There's so much here I want you
to note, we'll come back to, to reveal his Son in me, that
I might preach him among the heathen. Now here's the phrase,
immediately, I conferred not with flesh and blood, I conferred
not with flesh and blood. Now the Apostle Paul's conversion
was a marvelous conversion, marvelous. Here was a man, according to
his own testimony, who was a blasphemer. He was a blasphemer. Someone mentioned the other day
about a person who continually uses God's name in vain, idly
carelessly and flippantly uses God, God, God. Such a person
doesn't know God. You can't flippantly and carelessly
use the name of God in that passion if you know Him, because you're
awed by His majesty and you're awed by His power and you're
awed by His greatness. And in reference to God, any
reference to the living God is a reference of holiness and awe
and fear. I fear God. You don't fear God,
you don't know God. To know God is to fear God. You're
overwhelmed with the majesty of God. And you're very careful
about the use of his name. Paul was a blasphemer in that
he took the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in vain. He despised him. He thought he
was an imposter. He thought he was a fool. He
thought he was a renegade, a traitor. And he said, I was a blasphemer. And he was not only a blasphemer,
and I'm saying his conversion, any conversion, marvelous. And
this man is a pattern of conversion. But he was not only a blasphemer, but you wouldn't believe this,
he was a self-righteous man. Doris and I were talking about
a man just not so awful long ago, a man of whom I think a
great deal as a man, individual. But I don't believe God will
ever save him. He's not going to save him as
he is. I know that. He's too self-righteous. He's
too good. He'll tell you, he's as good
as you are. And he is. But that ain't such
a good recommendation, is it? But God doesn't save self-righteous
men. He saves sinners. He saves sinners. And Paul was a self-righteous
man. It's so rare for a self-righteous man to ever be saved. Did you
know that? It's so rare. And Paul, he rejected substitution
because he didn't need a substitution. He rejected the righteousness
of Jesus Christ because he had his own. What needed he for the
righteousness of Jesus Christ? It's only a sinner who needs
the righteousness of Christ. It's only a sinner who needs
a substitute, and Paulius Platt didn't need one. He didn't see
substitution because he didn't need a substitute. And he didn't
see the imputed, perfect righteousness of Christ before God on his behalf
because he didn't need it. He was a good man. He said, considering
the law, concerning the law, I blame this. And then not only
that, but he was an injurious person. He was a fighter. And
the thing about it, he fought God's people. He fought, he persecuted
the church which our Lord loved. He persecuted them. He sought
them from city to city to put them in prison to shut their
mouths. And I tell you, America better
learn that. I don't make many references
to politics, but I'm going to shoot one in here. Don't ever
elect a preacher to any office if you want to safeguard your
religious liberty. They're the greatest enemies
of religious liberty on the face of this earth, the preachers.
Paul was an enemy of religious liberty. He demanded it for himself,
but not for anybody else. He wanted to silence everybody
that didn't agree with him. Everybody that didn't agree with And he didn't believe in Christ,
and he wanted to destroy everybody who did. And not only that, but
humanly speaking, humanly speaking, he was the last candidate for
salvation that you would have picked out. In fact, when they
heard that he had been converted, old Ananath said, I've heard
about that fellow, Lord. The Lord told him to go down
and visit with Saul of Tarsus, and he said, I've heard of him.
He's scared of him. Paul said, I obtained mercy.
I'll tell you, I know I've mentioned this story to you, but it impressed
me so much. Two of my favorite old-timers
of many years ago, William Jay and John Newton. But William
Jay, according to the story, came into the study of John Newton,
and he said, so-and-so of Bath County has been saved, has come
to the knowledge of the Lord. And Newton said, well, I'm pleased.
And William Jay shook his head, and he said, you know, he said,
since that man's been converted, since the Lord saved that man,
I don't believe I'll ever despair of anyone. And John Newton looked
at him, and you know the story of John Newton. He said, Brother
Jay, since the Lord saved me, I've never despaired of anyone. If he can save me, he can save
anybody. So his conversion was marvelous. And you know, that
ought to encourage us to hope for the conversion of others.
I've got some folks in my heart and on my mind, like the man
I mentioned a moment ago. I'd like to see the Lord save
them. I've got some folks awful close to me. I'd like to see
the Lord save them. And you think, well, they're just not interested.
They have no interest. Paul didn't have any interest
either. They just have no concern for their souls, or God, or the
gospel, or Christ. Well, Paul didn't either. But
God's able. He's able. Let's pray for them. Let's pray for them. Never stop
praying for them. God may be pleased. And his conversion
ought to encourage, ought to encourage, any man to seek the
Lord. Someone said this, I believe
it was, I believe it was Jonathan S. He was talking about David
Brainerd. David Brainerd was an outstanding
preacher of the gospel who died quite early. I think he was 29
years of age. But of David Brainerd, Jonathan
Edwards said this, any system of theology which produces a
man like David Brainerd is worthy of serious consideration. And
I say this. any system of theology that will
find and convert and save and produce, by God's grace, a man
like Paul the Apostle is certainly worthy of our consideration and
our study. Well, his conversion was not
only marvelous, but it was miraculous. His conversion was miraculous.
All conversions are miraculous. If any man saves, it's a miracle.
What's the It took a miracle to put the stars in space. It
took a miracle to put the moon, the sun in place. But when God
saved my soul, when He cleansed and made me whole, it took a
miracle of love and grace. Paul's conversion was miraculous. Don't try to account for Paul's
faith logically. It's not logical, it's a miracle.
Don't try to account for Paul's faith from a human standpoint
or a human reason. Don't try to account for any
conversion logically. In fact, let me tell you this. The Bible is not logical. The
Bible is spiritual. God is not who we think He is.
He's who He says He is and who He is. And the way of life is
not the way we think it is. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
The Lord says there's a way that seems right, logical, to men,
but the end is dead. You see, the Bible's not logical.
Now, don't argue it from the logical standpoint. And don't
approach it from the logical standpoint. Don't try to prove
God. You can't prove God. God doesn't try to prove Himself.
He just starts the Bible saying, in the beginning, God. And if He doesn't try it, why
should I try it? Paul's conversion was the work
of God. He said here, it pleased God
to reveal His Son in me. When will a man be saved? He'll
be saved when it pleases God. That's when you'll be saved.
I hear people say, well, I can save anytime I want to. Can you? Men are saved when it pleases
the Lord. Now that's so. When it pleased God, He revealed
His Son in me. It's the work of God. It's not
the work of the preacher, or a committee, or the soul-winning. And then it's not only the work
of God, but Paul's conversion was the purpose of God from all
eternity. He said, but when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, What God did on
this day 2,000 years ago is what God decreed to do on this day
100 million years ago, or thereabout somewhere. What God does tonight, I'm just
as confident that Dan Culver walked up here and declared to
this congregation, his family, his friends, his associates,
that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior, that that was all
in the purpose and good pleasure and providence of God from the
beginning of this world. There are no surprises to God.
You and I have some surprises, plenty of them. I like surprises,
but you don't surprise God. You see, we do what God willed
and determined before to be done, and yet in no violation, in no
violation or encroachment upon the sinner's will. God doesn't
twist his arm, he makes him win. Tenderly and lovingly and affectionately. Dan did what he wanted to do,
but he did what God intended for him to do. Did you feel any
pressure? The only pressure that a man
gets in coming to Christ is the pressure on the heart by the
Holy Spirit. And he genuinely is tired of
the old road. He's sick of the confusion of
religion. He's unhappy with where he's
been. And he sees the light of the glory of God in the face
of Christ. And he discovers peace and joy and rest in Christ, and
he reaches out and lays hold on it. The hungry bird comes
and eats the seed, but God put the seed there. God put the seed
there. Not there by accident. God put
it there. And God directed the bird to that place. God gave
him the health and the hunger. That's right. It's all of the
Lord. See, Paul's conversion, he said,
he said, it's the work of God, when it pleased God, but God
separated me from my mother's womb. And his conversion was
a revelation. He said, but when it pleased
God, when it pleased God, in God's own time, in the fullness
of time, who separated me from my mother's womb, he said, Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. before you came
out of the womb, I sanctified you. And he called me by his
grace, it pleased him to reveal." You see, Paul wasn't one to crash
by argument. I wish we'd quit this opening
the Bible and trying to argue a man into a profession of faith.
Now, that's not only a waste of time, it's the very opposite
of what God would have you do. The wrath of man does not work
the will of God. And Paul wasn't argued into a
profession. He wasn't persuaded into a profession. He wasn't taught into a profession.
God revealed Christ to him. Hey, hey, I learned something. I like what they said to that
woman of Samaria. They said, we believe on not
because of what you said, but we've seen Him ourselves. I'll tell you this. You can't rest on another man's
foundation. You just can't do it. And you
can't find peace in another man's commitment. You just cannot do
it. This was a revelation. God revealed
His Son to me. It's a revelation. It's a revelation. And not only that, but now watch
this. And this is so important. It
was an inward revelation. Now watch this. This is so important.
Verse 15, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my
mother's womb and called me by His grace. He called me to reveal
His Son to me. Well, there's a sense in which
Christ is revealed to us, but He's revealed in me. Paul had
enough external religion. That's what you were talking
about, Dan. You had external religion. You had every reason
to go to church. Every reason to keep the law,
every reason to tithe, every reason to sow wind, every reason
to stay out of certain places and stay in other places. You
had all this external. But what was missing, what was
missing was the heart and the life and the essence of this
thing that actually, when that becomes a reality and an experience,
it produces the other. But it doesn't produce duty,
it produces joy. It doesn't produce an adherence
to responsibility. It produces a desire to glorify
God. I'm not here because I'm supposed
to be. I'm here because I want to be. I'm not giving because
it's my duty. I'm giving because it's my joy.
You see what I'm talking about? I'm not witnessing to you, friend,
because I'm supposed to win a soul every week. I'm witnessing because
I love the Lord I'm talking about. You see what I'm talking about?
He revealed His Son in me. And that gives you some insight
into those words over there in Galatians 4 and 19 where Paul
said, My brethren, I prevail like a woman with child. I prevail
till Christ be formed in you. In you. Don't follow a preacher. I don't care if he's going the
right way, don't follow him. Don't follow a denomination,
don't follow a doctrine, follow Christ. And Christ is revealed
in us. I know to us, to us in his prophetical
offices, prophet, priest, and king, and to us as surety, incarnate
Lord, redeemer, righteousness, risen justifier, reigning mediator,
But Paul says something here that we need to get hold of,
God revealed his Son in me, in me, and I prevailed to Christ
before him in you. Now here's a statement here that
I got hold of, and you know, and this is the reason it impressed
me. I have a threefold motive in this thing of the ministry. I want very much in my preaching
and teaching and whatever doors God's pleased to open for me,
I want to ring the bell on this issue. I want to bring men and
women to consider, to think, and to give some attention to
the character of God. the holiness of God, the power
of God, the righteousness of God. I want, if I can, I really
believe that God that's being preached today is not the God
of the Bible. I believe that God that's being preached today
is not the God of the Bible. And I long to preach and bring
men and women, if the Spirit of God will enable me, to be
all with the power, greatness, holiness, majesty, righteousness,
justice, and sovereignty of God. Who is the Lord? And I know this,
that will accomplish a twofold purpose. Not only in that we
will approach God, or know God, but we will know our Savior.
You see, this is what God did for Isaiah. When Isaiah saw the
Lord, he saw himself. It's an automatic thing. You
don't have to bring sinners to know they're sinners. If they
ever see God, they'll know they're sinners. Isaiah said, When I
saw the Lord, I said, I'm undone. I'm cut off. Hey, I'm in a mess. When Job saw the Lord, he said,
My, he said, I've heard of you. Now, when I see of thee, I hate
myself. Daniel said, When I saw him,
my comeliness melted into corruption. Bring men and women to consider
the holiness of God. Secondly, how long the very beat
of my heart is it men and women, boys and girls, might come to
look to Christ only for salvation. I mean only. I mean Christ as
their wisdom, all the wisdom we have is Christ. Righteousness,
sanctification, justification, holiness, rediction, Look to
Christ. Now, I brought out something
on television this morning. Some of you saw this program
and heard it. And to me, I listened to it this
afternoon. I recorded it on that VCR you
gave me and listened to it. But in the whole message, there
was one thing that I feel that God gave me that needed to be
emphasized over and over again. Our Lord looked at His disciples
and said, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Now let me tell you something.
Anybody here who believes in God has a right to be troubled. Is that right? Sure you do. Unless
you can say, I believe in Christ. Because God without Christ puts
you in trouble. That's exactly right. God without
Christ is nothing but trouble. God in His holiness. You see
what I'm saying? God in His majesty. God in all
of His righteousness. You want nothing to do with a
holy, immaculate, infinite, absolute God. Let not your heart be troubled,
because if you believe in God and believe in me, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. You've got a way to God. Without
me, you are in trouble. You're in deep trouble. So what
I want to bring people to see with spiritual eyes, with eyes
of faith, is Christ. All I need is Christ. All I need
is in Christ. All I need is provided by Christ,
and all I need is given for the glory of Christ. Become absorbed
with Christ, obsessed with Christ, in love with Christ, and I'll
tell you, it'll meet every need. And then thirdly, And here's
what I'm getting to here. I want men and women, boys and
girls, and myself and all of you, people to whom I praise,
to become Scripture conscious. I want us to literally get into
the Word. And here's what I'm saying here.
He said in verse 16, immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood. And when it pleased God, who revealed His Son in me, that
I might preach him among the heathen. When he revealed his
son in me, Paul said, I didn't run down to have a conference
or conversation with Peter, James, and John. Now this is one of
our greatest problems. I'm convinced that a greater
part of the errors and heartaches that come upon people who seek
the will of God is that rather than going to the scriptures,
they go to the table of the flesh and the counsel of the flesh
to get their counsel and their message. The Apostle Paul said, I conferred
not with flesh and blood. In other words, when God revealed
Christ to him, he conferred not with other believers to evaluate
his experience. He conferred not with other believers
to try to imitate their experience. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
I think that a dear lady, I'm not sure of this, but it bears
every indication, who asked me to baptize her on a Wednesday
night, asked me on Wednesday night to baptize her the following
Saturday, want to confess Christ, she seemed so happy. She seemed
like she knew, she was my age nearly, knew these things. When
it came time Saturday for the baptism, she came by and she
said, I don't believe her will. I know immediately what happened.
Somebody got to her. Some human being, somebody got
to her. I don't know whether it was a
pastor, I don't know whether it was a friend or a relative
or somebody else, but somebody got to her. And this is what
Paul is saying. when God, by His eternal grace
and by His eternal Spirit, was pleased through His blessed Word
to reveal Christ to my heart, I didn't run down to other believers
to find out if what I had was all right. Another thing, He
didn't confer with a religious crowd either, either to set Himself
straight or to set them straight. to argue or to correct their
methods. He didn't go down and confer
with them. You know, we have a tendency
to do this. If God does something for us, we're going to run and
maybe to some preacher and argue with him. But you know, we're
not ready to argue that soon. We're not ready to set anybody
straight. We haven't even been set straight. We're not ready. We're not ready to take on the
Goliaths when we've just been born into the kingdom of God. And Paul didn't confer with his
relatives. They're your severest critics.
If God's pleased to show you something, let's say here tonight
or this morning or this week when the preachers are preaching,
don't run to your relatives. They're not usually seeking your
good. They're seeking their good. They don't want to be embarrassed.
That's exactly right. And I'll tell you another thing
that relatives will do. You see, if they've got a nominal
religious profession, that's what they want you to have. But
if you get too much, too much spirituality, see, you cast a
shadow on their spirituality. You get too much knowledge, and
somebody said one time to a friend of mine, said, If what you're
saying so, then I'm not saved." And that could never be. And
then he conferred not with his own interest. Paul, he said,
flesh and blood. He wasn't just talking about
the religious crowd and other believers and the apostle and
his relatives. He didn't even confer with himself
flesh and blood. Because if he had, his flesh
would have said, this is going to cost you too much. Now listen,
now Paul, now wait a minute. You're going to be embarrassed?
What are you going to tell so-and-so? It's going to be something you
have to explain? You know, our flesh, like I said
this morning, when God tells you to do something, don't reason
it out except as the Word. Now here, this is what I'm getting
to. Paul said, when God revealed His Son in me, when He did a
work of grace in my heart, I didn't confer with flesh and blood.
Not the religious crowd, not my old cohorts, not other believers,
not my relatives or my own flesh. I conferred with His Word. Listen,
verse 17, and I didn't go up to Jerusalem to them who were
apostles before me, but I went into Arabia. I went into the
closet. I went and got along with God.
That's where I went, David, along with God. You see, my friends,
faith needs no foundation but the Word of God. And this is
what I want so desperately and earnestly. I'd like for every
one of us to become so word conscious, so obsessed with the Scriptures.
I'm for reading other things and seeking some help and all,
but this is where it is, in the Word of God. Faith needs no foundation
but the Word of God. Here's Noah. Now you take this
for example, Noah being warned of God. If he had sought somebody's
counsel, I don't care who it was, I don't care who it was,
they talked him out of that thing. Talked him out of that argument. It's not logical, it's not reasonable,
it's never flooded here before, Noah. They'd had a lot of good
reasons, but Noah moved with fear basing what he did only
on what God said. God bless Abraham. Now here Abraham
is 75 years old. He's lived with his kinfolks
75 years. He's got a wife, he's got friends,
he's got a business, he's got all these things, he's raising
sheep, all these things. God comes to him, God says, get
out of your father's house and go to Landau Sheolik. Suppose
he had sought counsel. He'd have never left. He just
wouldn't have. Everything was against him, except
one thing God said. You see what I'm saying? All
right, take Moses. Here Moses, you know, walking
into Pharaoh's palace. Oh, he's got the shepherd rod
and his brother with him. His brother wasn't all that big.
And they walked into Pharaoh's palace and they got an appointment.
because of whom Moses was. You know, he'd been there before.
He was a half-brother to this guy. And he walked into Pharaoh's
palace and looked there and said, God said, let my people go. Now,
if he'd have taken counsel with somebody, he'd have done it a
different way. I guarantee you he'd have done it a different
way. And I know he wouldn't have slain some lambs and put blood
on the door. And David. Here's David. And they tried
to mess him up. You know, when he came to fight
Goliath, He was in there and they wanted to put Saul's armor
on him, put Saul's hat that covered down below his ears, you know,
and the armor was too big and gave him that big old sword he
could hardly hold. And that's counsel, that's human
counsel. And David took it all off and
walked out there. And don't you know that committee
of generals was astounded and he reached down to pick up some
rocks and put them in a sling. But he said, Is there not a cause? fool for Christ's sake. And John
the Baptist, only voice in his day. But there he stands out
there pointing at a carpenter, son of Maverick, thirty years
old, with nobody following him but
a bunch of fishermen. And he said, there's the Lamb
of God. God told me that. Charles Spurgeon said this one
time, When God calls a man by his spirit, reveals his gospel
to him, and makes God's Word to be the foundation of his faith
and the rule of his life, God will meet his need and carry
him through and exalt him in the end. He said, I would undertake
to govern half a dozen worlds if God called me to do it. But
if God didn't call me to do it, I wouldn't try to govern a half
a dozen sheep. When God was pleased to reveal
His Son in me immediately, I didn't seek the advice or the counsel
or the good word of any body in the flesh. I went along with
God. And I know a lot of people feel
like, well, preacher, you ought to do more counseling. You ought
to do more when people want to come and talk to you. I'd just
rather they wouldn't, honestly. I can't answer your questions.
I'd rather you talk to God. Rather you get into the Word.
Come and sit and listen. Listen to the gospel. And look
into the Word. And wait on the Lord when He's
pleased to reveal Himself to your heart. You see, if I answer
all your questions and give you my way and my experience, you'll
try to duplicate that. And I don't want that. I want
you to have a spirit of grace with Christ yourself. And maybe
you feel like I neglect you, but I don't really. I'm doing
it for your good. I'm staying out of it. Salvation is not my
business, it's God's business. Revealing Christ is not my business,
that's the Holy Spirit's business. But I guarantee you this, the
Word of God is the seed, is the foundation of faith, the Word
of God. You're convinced by the Word
of God. Now you take, I realize the Apostle Paul had a divine
revelation. He said, look at verse 11. He
said, I certify you, brethren, 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, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now, you'd have a hard time knocking a man off that foundation. I have a fellow that's a Baptist
because I know him, and he's got different convictions because
I haven't. Somebody a little smarter can
come along and knock him off. But I'll tell you, if he's a
God-taught man, There's no sly fox going to knock him off that
foundation. He just said, I didn't get it from man, and I'm going
to have it taken away by nature. Here's some examples in the matter
of human guilt. The flesh says, well, man's basically
good. But what does the Word say? In the matter of Adam's fall,
the flesh denies original sin, says that we become sinners when
we reach a stage of accountability. What does the Word say? In the
matter of God's sovereignty, the flesh says, well, God can,
and He will, if you let Him. God helps them that help themselves.
What does the Word say? In the matter of election, the
flesh says, well, I believe in election. God votes for you,
the devil votes against you, and you cast it aside and vote.
Well, now, what does the Word say? In the matter of sanctification,
like Dan brought up, he was brought up believing, do the best you
can, God will take care of the rest. Now, what does the Word
say? The Word doesn't say that. In the matter of perseverance,
what does the flesh say? Well, you better keep on keeping
on or you'll fall off. Well, what does the Word say?
In the matter of baptism, Lord's Supper, what does the flesh say? Well, mode doesn't make any difference. Time doesn't make any difference.
Well, what does God say? In the matter of personal service,
the flesh says, Use methods that people will respond to. We're
living in a new day. You've got to go with the crowd. You've got to do what people
will respond to. Wait a minute now. What does
the Word say? And I want to give you one verse, and I'll quit.
John chapter 2, verse 5. Now listen to this. And this
is, you know, we put all these little clichés on the board.
Here's one I think that's worthy to be put on the board. Worthy
to be put on the board. John 2, 5. You know the background
of this, and all of them will read the scripture. John 2, 5.
His mother said to the servants, Whatsoever he sayeth to you,
do it. Bob, that's all right, isn't
it? That's what I'm saying to you. Whatsoever he sayeth to
you, do it. Do it. I'll move out of the way
and let you do it. Whatever he sayeth. That'll do
with anything. About baptism, whatever he says
to you, do it. About who you want to marry,
you young people, if he says do it, do it. If he doesn't,
you better not. About giving, you're not going
to get a card around here to sign. Whatever he says to you,
do it! Young man came to Brother Barnard
one time and said, Brother Barnard, he said, I want to serve the
Lord. I want to serve the Lord. Well,
he thought Barnard would come out with some long explanation
about where to go to school, what kind of service to get into,
and how to prepare himself. He said, Brother Barnard, I want
to serve the Lord. Barnard looked in and said, we'll
do it. Do it. Whatever He says, do it. Can't miss it. Immediately I
conferred not with flesh and blood. But I found out what He
said. And that's what I did. What He
said. Our Father, use this message
tonight. Use it for Your glory and our
good. If any word we can say and any
message we can preach, any influence we can exert, to turn our dependence
away from flesh and blood and tradition and custom, what people
think, and turn my heart and the hearts of these dear people
to your word, to your will, to your way, oh, we would go out
of here rejoicing. This is what our Lord said, and
whatever men think, whatever they suppose, matters not to
me. I do not seek to please men,
but to do what my Lord commands. Now bless the message. This day,
what a blessing you've given us, what a fellowship, what a
joy divine, leaning together on the everlasting arm. For Christ's
sake, amen.