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Please turn with me to Galatians 
chapter 1 as we look through this particular letter of the 
Apostle Paul to the Galatians. We're looking at Galatians chapter 
1, specifically this morning taking up the section beginning 
in verse 11. Galatians 1. I'll pick up reading 
in verse 1 just to set the larger context for us as we examine 
this portion of God's Word. Paul, an apostle, not through 
man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised 
Him from the dead. And all the brethren who are 
with me, to the churches of Galatia, grace to you and peace from God 
the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for 
our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age 
according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory 
forever and ever. Amen. I marvel that you are turning 
away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to 
a different gospel, which is not another. But there are some 
who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even 
if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you 
than what we have preached to you, Let him be accursed. As 
we have said before, so now I say again. If anyone preaches any 
other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be 
accursed. For do I now persuade men or 
God? Or do I seek to please men? For 
if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. 
I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached 
by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from 
man nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation 
of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former 
conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure 
and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond 
many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly 
zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased 
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through 
His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among 
the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before 
me. But I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then 
after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and 
remained with him 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles 
except James, the Lord's brother. Now concerning the things which 
I write to you in D, before God, I do not lie. Afterward, I went 
into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was unknown by 
face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they 
were hearing only. He who formerly persecuted us 
now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy. And 
they glorified God in me. Amen." Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the Holy Scriptures and we thank you for your Spirit. 
And we pray that you would guide us and instruct us now. We pray 
that you would forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness 
and anything that would cast its darkening influence upon 
our minds. We pray that you would grant us the zeal and desire 
to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, to 
learn from this passage, to be encouraged and to be built up 
and to be strengthened. to marvel again at your grace 
and your mercy and your power displayed in the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. We just praise you and we ask 
now for your benefit and your help to be upon us and we pray 
through Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, it's a good rule 
and an important truth that a man of God, a preacher of God's Gospel, 
ought to keep himself in the background. He ought to not present 
himself. He ought not to make sermons 
center upon his person and upon his Word. Rather, he ought to 
be diligently employed in setting forth Jesus Christ. preaching 
Christ and Him crucified. But when we come to Galatians 
1, verse 11, to the end of chapter 2, we see Paul setting himself 
forth, not in an arrogant, proud, and sinful way. He gives his 
autobiography. Because if you remember, people 
had gone to the churches of southern Galatia and they had began to 
challenge the authority of the Apostle Paul. They said that 
he was not what he claimed to be. Yes, as far as he spoke, 
it was good, but the Judaizers came in and they said, you must 
also be circumcised in order to be saved. This Paul loves 
you and he has genuine desires, but he's not really what he claims 
to be. So, Paul's authority is intimately 
connected with the Gospel of Jesus Christ Himself. That's 
why he spends a considerable amount of time in autobiography. Again, it's not just to draw 
attention to who Paul is, and what makes Paul tick, and isn't 
Paul just a great guy. No, he is doing this because 
his authority as an apostle has been challenged, and the doctrine 
that he is proclaiming, that gospel which is by grace alone, 
through faith alone, unfettered by works, unfettered by merit, 
unfettered by law, that gospel is under attack. We remember 
that He greets the church in verses 1 to 5, and then He gets 
immediately to the issue in verses 6 to 10. I marvel, He says, that 
you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the 
grace of Christ to a different Gospel. Then he goes on to say, 
but it's not a Gospel. He says that if an angel, or 
we, or anyone is to preach a Gospel other than what you initially 
received, let the curse and the wrath of Almighty God be upon 
him. He uses the language of the anathema. May he be banned. May he be devoted 
to destruction. May God's wrath fall upon him, 
both in this life and in that which is to come. Paul does not 
play around when it comes to the integrity of the gospel. 
And neither should we as God's people in the church today. We 
ought to be charitable. We ought to be long-suffering. 
We ought to be loving on those matters that are not uniquely 
tied into salvation. But when it comes to the grand 
issue of how a man is made right before God, we must be tenacious, 
we must be fighters, we must be defenders of the truth, and 
we must be like Paul the Apostle, even if it isn't popular in our 
own particular day. I don't think it's any stretch 
to say apart from the work of Christ in terms of His life and 
death and resurrection, Paul's conversion is second in terms 
of impact upon this world. The conversion of the Apostle 
Paul and the way God used him is key in redemptive history. It is monumental. In fact, F.F. Bruce said, no single event apart 
from the Christ event itself has proved so determining for 
the course of Christian history as the conversion and commissioning 
of Paul. He then quotes another man who 
said, the conversion and apostleship of Paul alone, duly considered, 
was of itself a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity 
to be a divine revelation. So the gospel that Paul preached 
is uniquely connected to the gospel that Paul received on 
that road to Damascus. And hence he spends a considerable 
amount of time verifying or confirming his authority as an apostle and 
the divine origin of his gospel. Notice specifically how he does 
this. In verses 13 and 14, he says 
his life prior to conversion made it such that he didn't receive 
the gospel from men. He mentions his early Christian 
career in verses 15 to 24. He then speaks of his conference 
with the pillars of the church in Jerusalem in chapter 2, verses 
1 to 10. And then his refutation and rebuke 
of the apostle Peter in chapter 2, verse 11 to the end of the 
chapter. So again, it's a whole large 
section dealing with Paul's office as an apostle and the divine 
origin of his Gospel. And that brings us to consider 
this morning, first, the divine origin of Paul's Gospel, verses 
11 and 12. Secondly, his former conduct 
as a Pharisee, verses 13 and 14. And then the early Christian 
career of the Apostle in verses 15 to 24. Verses 11 and 12 function 
as a thesis statement. Hopefully you all as students, 
the young people here, know what a thesis statement is. Before 
you write something or in the midst of your writing, you set 
forth what it is that you want to prove, what you want to argue 
for, what it is that your whole theme is about. And that's how 
verses 11 and 12 function. This is a thesis statement for 
the entirety of the passage of the section that follows. I make 
known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached 
by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from 
man, nor was I taught it. But it came through the revelation 
of Jesus Christ. He's already done something similar 
in verse 1. Notice with reference to His 
apostleship. Verse 1, Paul, an apostle, not 
from man, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God 
the Father who raised Him from the dead. His apostolic authority 
is grounded in God. It is grounded in the Lord Jesus 
Christ and His gospel message. The truth that God saves sinners 
by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, is not 
dependent upon a man. He was not taught this by man. 
He didn't receive it from man. But rather, He received it directly 
from Jesus Christ Himself. So, He is distancing Himself 
from the apostles in terms of His authority. He's not distancing 
himself like he's a lone wolf. He's an independent guy. He has 
no need or no concern for anyone. No, we see that after three years, 
he went up to Jerusalem. He conferred with Peter. He didn't 
receive his commission there. He didn't receive his understanding 
of the Gospel. But certainly he received understanding 
about the earthly ministry of Jesus. Paul was not one of the 
original twelve. He didn't spend that three years 
with Jesus Christ and his incarnation. Peter did. One man as well said, 
Peter and Paul didn't spend fifteen days talking about the weather. 
They talked about Jesus. Peter filled him in. Talked about 
his miracles. Talked about his teaching. Talked 
about the resurrection. It's interesting, when Paul deals 
with the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, he mentions uniquely Peter 
and James. These men he had conference with. 
They filled in the details of the life of the earthly Christ. 
But that doesn't mean they commissioned Him, they called Him, they gave 
Him this authority. So Paul here is asserting the 
fact that he had a divine call. He had a divine appointment. 
He had interaction with the King of Kings himself. So that to 
reject Paul's gospel was to reject Jesus Himself. He wants the Galatians 
to understand that. These men who are coming and 
saying faith plus words ultimately want the worst for you. They are perverting. They are 
distorting the gospel. May the wrath of God be upon 
them. But Paul, conversely, when he preaches to them, he says, 
I want your best. In fact, here he addresses them 
in verse 11. as beloved. He's got a pastor's 
heart. He has genuine concern. He wants 
the best for these brethren. He is long-suffering. He is charitable. He is gracious. He becomes all 
things to all men that He might win some. When it comes to matters 
indifferent, but when it comes to the integrity of the truth 
of the Gospel, He fights for it. And He loves the people to 
whom He writes. And He wants their best. He says 
it was not devised by man. Verse 11. The Gospel which I 
preached, or the Gospel which was preached by me, is not according 
to man. We didn't make this up. It wasn't 
a cunningly devised fable. It wasn't a bunch of guys sat 
around and smoked something, and then took pen to paper and 
wrote some myth, or wrote some fable. If that's your view of 
the understanding, or that's your view of the Gospel, you're 
wrong. This is the revealed will and word of the living and the 
true God, rooted in and based in historical accuracy. There 
was a Jesus of Nazareth who did live in obedience to His Father's 
law, who died on the cross at Calvary, and who rose again on 
the third day. This wasn't developed by men. This isn't like the religions 
and the philosophies of the world. This isn't just some simple philosophy 
that may work to help you have your best life now. This is the 
everlasting truth of Almighty God. I just read something that 
John MacArthur said. There was a conference this weekend 
in Southern California on Christless Christianity. A man by the name 
of Joel Osteen, who's written books like Your Best Life Now 
and How to Be a Better You. MacArthur said something very 
perceptive. He said, if you want to live your best life now, follow 
Joel Osteen. But if you want to live your 
best life forever and ever, don't. Don't. Because that Christless 
Christianity will only end you up in hell. Paul is fighting 
for souls here. He is concerned for brethren. The Gospel was not passed on 
to him by man. The Gospel was not taught to 
him by man. But he makes a positive statement 
in verse 12. He says, but it came through 
the revelation of Jesus Christ. When did this happen? It's not 
as if Paul had no understanding of the Gospel whatsoever. Oh, 
he understood something of it as an unconverted man, which 
he'll deal with a bit in verses 13 and 14. Remember when he was 
on the road to Damascus with papers in his hand so that he 
could arrest Christians and drag them back to Jerusalem? He understood 
something. He knew that the Jesus of Nazareth 
had claimed to be the Messiah. He understood these truths that 
Jesus made a claim to divinity. He rejected it. He refused it. 
And it caused in him this fire and desire to punish people who 
held to such things. So he had some working knowledge 
of the facts of the Gospel message. But it wasn't until Jesus came 
to him on that road of Damascus. It wasn't until he humbled him. 
It wasn't until Paul fell to the ground and he said, who art 
thou? And Jesus said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. I've 
always found that very interesting. You persecute Christ's church, 
you're persecuting Jesus Himself. You put Christians in prison. You torture Christians. Jesus 
says, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Our brothers in 
the Middle East, or our brothers in India, or our brothers in 
China, when they are being persecuted and tortured, Jesus Christ cares 
for them. Jesus Christ identifies with 
them. Jesus never forgets them. That's what He is telling us. 
And so what happened? He converted Saul of Tarsus on 
that road to Damascus. And then it was as if the light 
had gone on. And then he understood. It all 
made sense to him. He got it. It's like with us. We had some idea of Jesus and 
of the Gospel before we got saved. But when God dealt with us, when 
He regenerated us, when He caused us to be born again, can't you 
testify that it was like a light going on? Everything made sense 
now. What at one time was just a bunch 
of talk about sin and righteousness and eternal judgment and all 
that stuff that he said, you know, this really doesn't matter. 
It really doesn't affect me. In fact, there are probably some 
in here right now who don't really think about these things. Yeah, 
you've got some working knowledge of who Jesus is. You've got some 
idea of God. You've got some idea of sin. 
But until God the Spirit works in your heart, until you're born 
again, until you come to that place of reckoning yourself before 
a thrice holy God and seeing Christ as the only answer and 
the only hope, it just doesn't make sense. It's foolishness, 
as Paul says. It says the Jews, they consider 
the crucified Messiah as a scandal, as a stumbling block. Greeks 
look at it as foolishness. But to us who are being saved, 
Christ is both power and wisdom from God. You see, it's like 
the light switch goes on. It's like we can now see. It 
makes sense. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. 
Substitution. Jesus lived for us. Jesus died 
for us. Jesus rose for us. The Gospel 
of free and sovereign grace. Don't think you can work yourself 
into heaven. You cannot. You have violated 
God's law. You have broken His statutes. 
You have rejected Him in total. And the only way of salvation 
is by faith in Jesus Christ. This is what Paul was saying. 
Nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus 
Christ. That Damascus Road experience 
was life-changing for the Apostle Paul. He had been transferred 
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of 
God's love. It wasn't as if he added a little 
bit to his former religion. It wasn't as if he just put something 
into the equation so that now he'd be right before God. It 
radically changed him. It was a radical revolution. 
Turn to Philippians chapter 3 for just a moment, where it highlights 
this reality. It is radical. It wasn't addition. 
It wasn't throwing a little Jesus into an almost complete life. 
But it was a radical revolution at its very core. Philippians 
3. Verse 2, beware of dogs, beware 
of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision 
who worship God in the spirit, boasting in Christ Jesus and 
have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence 
in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may 
have confidence in the flesh, I more so. circumcised the eighth 
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew 
of the Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, 
persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which is in 
the law, blameless." Here he's engaged in autobiography again. 
You might read this in Galatians 1 and say, wow, he likes to talk 
about himself a lot. No. No. This is a contrast. He is 
saying if anybody out there thinks they can earn their salvation, 
it was me. He was the poster boy for Judaism. 
Right? He was the poster boy for Judaism. You want to be a good Jew? Look 
at Paul. Right tribe, right circumcision, right nation, right job, right 
vocation, everything in place. He had his shirt, he had his 
tie, he had his pen pack, he carried his briefcase. Everything 
was in order for him. His hair was parted just so. He was everything you could imagine 
in a religious man. That's what he's saying. If anybody 
could have availed themselves with God Most High, it was Saul 
the Pharisee. Why is he doing this? Because 
he wants to tell us verses 7 and 8. Notice. But what things were 
gained to me, these I have counted, loss for Christ. Yet, indeed, 
I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss 
of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ 
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is 
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the 
righteousness which is from God by faith. You may have been brought 
up in a Christian home. You may have gone to Christian 
school. You may have everything in place, religiously speaking. 
You may wear the right clothes, listen to the right music, go 
to the right places, do the right things. But without Jesus Christ, 
you go to hell. That's his point. What things 
were gained to me? All of my religious accomplishments? all of my external compliance 
with the law, all of my position in the eyes of men, all those 
things that were gained, I count these as dung, he says literally. I count these as rubbish. I count 
this as something worthy only to be thrown to the dogs in comparison 
of Jesus Christ. the excellence of the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus my Lord. That's why he makes this contrast 
here. That's why he's highlighting 
what he does in Galatians chapter 1. I was not in a mountain zone 
just thinking about how I could deceive people and preach a gospel. 
I didn't receive this from any pillars in the church in Jerusalem. 
Jesus came to me on the road to Damascus and He radically 
altered my life. He saved me. He commissioned 
me. And He sent me forth to preach 
the Gospel. That's Paul's authority. It's 
not because of Paul. It's because of the Christ of 
Paul. The divine origin of Paul's Gospel is Jesus Christ Himself. Notice, secondly, His former 
conduct. We're going to spend some time 
on this this morning. Four observations on his former conduct, verses 
13 and 14. First of all, he was a practitioner 
of Judaism. What is Judaism? It was the religion 
of the Jews. It wasn't the religion of the 
Old Testament. I know we often assume that. 
We often incorrectly think that. We think that New Covenant Judaism, 
or the Judaism that was extant in the days of Paul and the apostles 
and Jesus, was just the natural outflow of Old Testament religion. No. Paul was the natural outflow 
of Old Testament religion. But prior to his conversion to 
Jesus Christ, he engaged in Judaism. Verse 13, you have heard of my 
former conduct in Judaism. That's good. My former conduct. Judaism wasn't just, we do this 
once a week and then we go on our way. It was a life. It was 
a conduct. It was a way to eat. It was a 
way to drink. It was a way to live. It was 
a way to worship. It was an all comprehensive thing. You've heard of where I come 
from. I didn't receive the Gospel from 
men. I was a hater of the Gospel. I was a practitioner of Judaism. The specific function of this 
passage here proves that he did not receive the Gospel from men. But I think as well the function 
in the Epistle as a whole is simply this. If there was ever 
a man who would be prone to throw circumcision into the equation 
for salvation, it would be Paul. Like some people here, because 
it's hot or whatever, ain't tracking. Track. This is important. If 
ever there was a man who in his preaching to Gentiles would be 
prone to say, you need to believe and be circumcised, it would 
be a fellow that was so pro-Judaism. Right? So while he is saying 
and highlighting here specifically in verse 13, I didn't receive 
this Gospel from men, he's also in the larger context of Galatians 
saying, you Gentiles, do not think for a moment that you have 
to be circumcised in order to be saved. That is a Judaistic 
addition. That is a Judaistic corruption. That is a Judaistic abomination. And you need to reject it. Judaism 
is not the natural outflow of Old Covenant religion. I think 
Robert Raymond describes it well in his Paul Missionary Theologian. He said, Bible students should 
draw a distinction between the religion of the Old Testament 
and Judaism. The former is rightly designated 
Yahweh-ism. Yahweh is the name of God. The 
Tetragrammaton. The YHWH. A couple of vowels 
are supplied. We get the name Jehovah or Yahweh. Jehovah is more common to us. 
Yahweh is probably closer to the reality. He said, the former 
is rightly designated Yahwehism, the worship and service that 
Yahweh required in the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants, while Judaism 
is the post-exilic deconstruction of Old Testament Yahwehism that 
the rabbinic schools erected around the law in such sources 
as the Babylonian Talmud. Now, I realize that was a mouthful. But remember, Judah went into 
Babylon. Remember that? We've been studying 
that in the Minor Prophets. Yes, we remember. We're alive. We're tracking. What a lot of 
the Bible's about in the Old Testament. They went into Babylon. They did not convert Babylon. Babylon affected them. They became syncretistic. That 
means they took that religion of Yahwehism and married it with 
the customs of the peoples around them, just like they did previously 
with the Canaanites, with Baalism and Moloch. Well, they did that 
in Babylon as well. And so what resulted was this 
mix, this hybrid, this perversion, if you will, so that the Babylonian 
Talmud is not a neutral book. It is very anti-Christian. That's Judaism. It's the rabbinic 
additions. It's the marrying pagan religion 
with these things. It's what was spawned as a result 
of corruption. Do you remember this? Not like, 
oh, Judaism, that's just a cool thing. No. Reject Jesus. They deny the gospel. There's 
people out there today that think, well, as long as you're a Jew 
or you're a Christian, you're a Muslim, the big deal is that 
you have one God. No. Paul would say, I marvel 
that you are turning away so soon. How could you for a moment 
think that that is legitimate? Jesus said, I am the way, the 
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except 
through me. You reject Christ, you die in your sin. Jesus said 
in John 8.24, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your 
sins. You need to make sure you understand 
this. He goes on to say, deconstruction of Old Testament 
Yahwehism that the rabbinic schools erected around the law in such 
sources as the Babylonian Talmud in order to make Yahwehism compatible 
with and applicable to the Jews' lack of access to land and to 
the temple. That's pretty gracious. He's 
saying because they weren't in their land and they didn't have 
access to their temple, they sort of made things adaptable. 
I think it went a little bit further. They took things or 
elements from pagan religion and put it right in with their 
own approach. But the point what he's making is right on. He says, 
the two are not the same and are not compatible. As Jesus 
so clearly declared, the former urging the commands of God, the 
latter urging the traditions of men, which nullified the Word 
of God. Remember that. They come to Jesus. They say, Teacher, why do Your 
disciples, they don't eat before they wash their hands? He says, 
what are you doing? You're nullifying the Word of 
God with the traditions of men. Jesus dealt with this. On the 
other hand, New Covenant Christianity is simply the administrative 
extension and unfolding of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is 
just to say that the spiritual blessings which Christians enjoy 
today under Jeremiah's New Covenant are founded on the Abrahamic 
Covenant. It's one of the things I think Paul is doing in Galatians. 
What he does in his ministry during the book of Acts. He says, 
I'm not the one who's departed from Old Testament religion. 
I am not the one who's rejected or refused it. Paul is in line 
with Abraham. Paul is in line with David. Paul 
is in line with Isaiah. Paul is in line with the prophets. 
Paul is in line with Jesus. The problem isn't that succession. The problem is the distortion 
brought upon it by unbelieving Jews. So when he speaks of being 
a practitioner of Judaism, he is saying, I couldn't have received 
the Gospel from men. I didn't go to Sunday school. 
I didn't learn the short of catechism. I wasn't brought up on the Heidelberg. 
You see? I received this from Jesus Himself. Notice, secondly, he highlights 
the fact that he was a persecutor of the church. Not only did I 
not receive this from men, I persecuted the very man who preached it. 
See what he's doing? That's the kind of fellow I was. 
This is what I became. The verb he uses, to pursue, 
to hunt, to persecute, is used in the imperfect tense. And the 
imperfect tense means continual action in the past. This wasn't 
like Paul woke up on Tuesday and his day timer said, 10 o'clock, 
go persecute a few Christians, have coffee at Tim Hortons at 
2. Wednesday, you've got a full slate. A bit of golfing. Thursday, 
you can go preach in the synagogue. Friday, persecute Christians 
at three. That's not how it works. His 
life wasn't compartmentalized quite like that. When he says 
in verse 13 how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure 
and tried to destroy it, he's not kidding. He's not trying 
to make a bit of literary impact. You know, sometimes when you 
give your testimony, you're tempted to throw a little bit of wickedness 
in there so people can go, ooh. We have this testimony circuit 
where guys go out and they're paid big bucks to tell about 
how God saved them. Doesn't make sense to me, but 
so be it. The temptation might be there 
to sort of pad it. Instead of being 10 years in 
the world, I was 15 years in the world. Instead of being a 
heroin addict, I was a heroin and a coke addict. We want to 
pad it to make it sound really bad and evil. That's not what 
Paul's doing. I wonder if the brother isn't 
wiping tears away from his eyes as he thinks back to these things. 
This wasn't the high point in this man's life. He's not putting 
it out there so everybody in Galatia could go, wow, what a 
great guy. He's saying, not only did I not 
receive this gospel from men, but the very men who preached 
it, I tried to kill them. I tried to destroy the church. 
I tried to single-handedly strangle it and put it out of its misery. 
That's what Paul's saying. You think that I was brought 
up in that system? No. I tried to kill it. I wanted 
to purge it. I wanted to be rid of it. Isn't 
that how he describes himself in Philippians 3? In terms of 
zeal? I persecuted the church. You 
see the function here. You've heard of my former conduct 
in Judaism. How I persecuted the church of 
God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. Turn back for 
just a moment to the book of Acts chapter 7. It's important 
that we understand this. Acts chapter 7. We have to pick 
up at verse 54. I don't think we could do otherwise. 
Acts chapter 7, the stoning of Stephen the martyr. Incidentally, when you work the 
dates out, you compare Paul's three years and his fourteen 
years, and you look at the book of Acts, and you compare these 
sections, you can come up with a chronology. You can see particular 
times emerging. We have the fixed date of the 
Jerusalem Council in A.D. 49. Working backwards with the 
dates that are given, this is A.D. 33, when Stephen was martyred 
and the Apostle was converted to the Lord Jesus. Notice in 
754, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. They 
gnashed at Stephen with their teeth. But he, being full of 
the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right 
hand of God and said, Look, I see the heavens open and the Son 
of Man standing at the right hand of God. Beautiful vision. Beautiful thing. Stephen is about 
to be stoned to death. And the triune God demonstrates 
His alliance with him. You see that? He's filled with 
the Spirit. He gazes up and sees the glory 
of God. And there's Jesus standing at 
the right hand. You read the book of Hebrews 
and it makes a lot about after Jesus fulfilled His sacrifice, 
He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Why is He standing 
up right here? Two reasons. One, He is the presiding 
judge over this fiasco. These Jews think that Stephen 
is in the dock. They are. Christ is watching. Christ is observing. And Christ 
will judge these men. But not only that, he's standing 
to receive his holy martyr. He's standing to show his sympathy 
and his strength and his blessed power for Stephen. Beautiful 
scene. Notice verse 57, Then they cried 
out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with 
one accord. And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. 
And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young 
man named Saul. This is the same Paul the Apostle 
who wrote Galatians 1, 13 and 14. Notice, they stoned Stephen, 
verse 59, as he was calling on and saying, Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit. Then he knelt down and cried 
out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this 
sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. God answered 
the prayer of Stephen, didn't He? You turn one chapter over 
and Saul of Tarsus is saved. Lord, do not charge them with 
this sin. What does God do? He picks off the one who's guarding 
the clothes. Notice in chapter 8, verse 1, 
now Saul was consenting. It wasn't just sort of a, eh, 
okay. It was a hearty agreement. It was a raised fist. It was 
fervor and zeal. He was consenting to his murder. 
You see the picture of this man? He'll come to your house. If 
you don't answer, he busts your door down. He's not the Feds. 
He's not the FBI. He's not the ATF. He doesn't 
come with that big ramrod, but he comes in nonetheless. And 
he grabs men, and he grabs women, and he drags them off to prison. You see why he's saying in Galatians 
1, you've heard of my former life, my former conduct in Judaism. I wasn't reared in the church. 
I didn't receive this gospel from these men. Here's what I 
was. Here's how I rolled. These are 
the ways I trafficked. This was my former conduct. Chapter 
9, verse 1. Then Saul, still breathing threats 
and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high 
priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus 
so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, 
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. He had earnestness. He says, I persecuted. He means 
continuous action. I hunted them down. You know, 
you go out hunting for game. There's a time when you give 
up. It's to be too much. It's raining. It's snowing. It's 
wet. It's cold. You miss life. And you give up. He didn't give up. He needed 
a paper in his hand in order to go to Damascus so that he 
could grab people and take them back to Jerusalem and throw them 
in the jail. So he does it. Paul never forgot this either. 
Paul never, ever forgot this. Notice in Acts chapter 22. Acts 
22, testifying his defense in Jerusalem. Chapter 22, verse 
3. He said, I am indeed a Jew, born 
in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of 
Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our father's 
law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted 
this way to the death binding and delivering into prisons both 
men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and 
all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters 
to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even 
those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished." And again in 
chapter 26, verses 9 to 12. Chapter 26, verse 9, Indeed, 
I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of 
Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem. 
And many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received 
authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, 
I cast my vote against them. See what he's saying here? So rich. Amazing grace, how sweet 
the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but 
now I'm found was blind. But now I see. Every time he 
describes his wickedness, he brings glory to God. Every time 
he brings his past before people, he brings the glorious presence 
of God's forgiveness as well. He didn't forget this. Go back to Galatians chapter 
1. He's not only a practitioner of Judaism, he's a persecutor 
of the church. Thirdly, he's a professor of 
Judaism. And by that I don't mean he professes 
the faith of Jews. I mean that he's a teacher. He's 
an instructor. He's a professor. He's the one 
you went to synagogue to listen to. He's the one who had the 
whiteboard and wrote down Torah. He's the one you sat at the feet 
of. Gamaliel passed the mantle to 
this man. Notice what he says. Verse 14 
of Galatians 1, And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my 
contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous 
for the traditions of my fathers. I don't know that traditions 
of my fathers there means the Old Testament Mosaic Law. I think 
it's that rabbinic stuff that God added to it. And again, he 
is saying, if there was ever a man who would come to a Gentile 
church and say, believe and be circumcised, it'd be me. But 
I reject that, I repudiate that, because if we go that route, 
then Jesus died in vain. That's his point. That's what 
he's doing. If you haven't got that, that's his thrust. And 
then he's a portrait of amazing grace. I'm going to stop here. I don't mean right here. We're 
going to stop at this particular point, make a few concluding 
observations. But notice this. He goes from 
a practitioner of Judaism, a persecutor of the church, a professor of 
Judaism, to a portrait of amazing grace. Was there ever a greater 
enemy of the church of Jesus Christ? No. When he says in 1 Timothy 
1.15, this is a trustworthy statement. Everybody should listen to this. 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am 
chief. He's not kidding. He is the real 
deal. He was breathing threats, hatred 
and murder against men, and women. I don't think it's an accident 
that we find and women. There's something very barbaric 
in a man who would lay his hands upon a woman and drag her to 
jail for religious convictions. I think it's specific. I think 
it's pointed. I think it's particular. I think 
he wants us to see what kind of a man he was. I mean, what 
kind of a man stands there and watches an innocent man be stoned 
to death? and then consent to it, or agree 
to it, or give His hearty approval about it. What kind of man is 
so driven that he'll go to a body of high priests and say, I want 
to go to Damascus because I hear there's some Christians there. 
And when I find those Christians, I want to lay my hands on them, 
I want to drag them back to Jerusalem, and I want to purge them. I want 
to rid the world of this wicked expression of religion. What 
kind of a man does this? A very wicked man. a very wretched 
man, a very ungodly man, such that when Jesus comes to him 
on the road to Damascus and humbles him under His mighty hand, and 
then saves him, and then sends him out to preach the Gospel, 
the only thing that rational minds can conclude is that our 
God is great. Our God is amazing. Our God is 
merciful. Our God is gracious. Our God 
is kind. You should, if you have not come 
to Christ this morning, be able to look at Paul as a big argument 
as to why you ought to go to Christ. Sometimes people say, 
I'm so sinful, He wouldn't want me. You're so sinful, you must 
go to Him. You're so sinful, there's only 
one place for you, and that's in Christ. You see, he is a portrait 
of amazing grace. I've got to tell you, if I was 
Jesus, Paul would be the last man I would have saved and used 
to serve me. I'm just being honest here. Would you take your chief enemy... 
I mean, I don't want you to do this, but sometimes think about 
your worst enemy. Not a good exercise, but if you 
do, imagine God saving that person and making them a choice servant. There's something in us that 
says, no, it's just not right. There's something in us when 
we hear somebody really bad getting saved, we don't voice it, but 
we're like those people who when Zacchaeus came down that tree 
and Jesus blessed, we grumble. We complain. We wonder in our 
heart of hearts, how could this man ever go eat with this wretched 
tax collector? There's something in us like 
Simon the Pharisee, who when he was having lunch with Jesus, 
and that woman, which was a sinner, came in and fell before his feet 
and started weeping and using her hair to wipe up his feet. 
There's something in us like that Simon the Pharisee who says, 
if this man knew what manner of woman she is, he wouldn't 
let her do this. But our God is great. How many 
people are going to be surprised or have been surprised that God 
saved us? I often think one of the best 
thrills of heaven, not the best, one good thrill in heaven, is 
watching people's expression when they see me there. Wow! You made it! You're here! Right? Because it doesn't depend 
upon the man. It depends upon God, our triune 
God, who saves sinners. He saved Paul. So Paul is saying, 
I didn't receive it from men. I didn't hear it from men. I 
wasn't taught by men. This is my background. This is 
how I operated. This is how I rolled. And this 
sets the stage for what he's going to say in verse 15. He says, but when it pleased 
God, That's the deciding factor. That is the decisive factor in 
the salvation of sinners. When it pleased God, who separated 
me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace. He is magnifying grace. It's not by circumcision. It's 
not by your merit. It's not by your feeble attempts. 
It's not by your works. It's not by your outer conformity 
to external codes. There is nothing in your hand 
that you can break. It is simply to the cross of 
Christ you must cling. There is no good in us. There is no benefit to our performance. You see, Paul, in making this 
autobiographical defense, is making a very powerful statement 
concerning the manifold grace of God. This will carry over 
through the remainder of the epistle, such that he will say, 
if you get circumcised, you're now obliged to keep the whole 
law. If you think righteousness comes through the law, then Jesus 
died in vain. All of this is integral to his 
entire apologetic in this particular letter. And he magnifies God's 
great grace. Well, brethren, unfortunately, 
the opponents of Christianity then are similar to the opponents 
of Christianity today. Back then, they denied that Paul 
had any special call to the apostleship or any special authority in terms 
of his gospel. You know how modern interpreters 
deal with the road to Damascus? Paul had some psychological breakdown 
on his way to Damascus. You know, being a fanatical persecutor 
of innocent people can weigh heavily upon a man. And he gets 
just outside of Damascus and that's it, he has a breakdown. 
He collapses. It wasn't as if Jesus really 
came and manifested His glory and revealed Himself to him and 
commissioned him to go preach the Gospel. Oh no, it couldn't 
have been that. It was a psychological episode 
or an epileptic episode. It's the only way we can explain 
it. He couldn't really have what appears to have been this dramatic 
conversion. It could have been sunstroke, 
or he saw a flash of lightning and he got thrown off his horse, 
though they never explain where this horse came from, because 
he's not in Acts 9. This mystery horse threw Paul 
off, he hit his head, and when he woke up, he had a new perspective 
on the Gospel and upon Jesus. I wish this was made up. You 
have Raymond Systematic, he has an appendix on the historicity 
of Paul's conversion. He goes into these things. A 
rejection of the supernatural. A rejection of his divine authority. 
A rejection of the divine origin of his gospel. It was true then, 
it's true today. See, the opponents know this. 
If we can say that Paul was not legit, we maybe not have destroyed 
Christianity, but we have certainly kicked it really hard in the 
shin. If we take out one of its chief proponents and his claim 
to special revelation, then everything he said falls by the wayside. In fact, there's big constructions 
pitting Jesus against Paul, who is the real founder of Christianity. 
All of that stuff is bunk. Acts 9 is historically true. Saul of Tarsus was breathing 
threats of murder. He was heading to Damascus, and 
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords came to him and dropped 
him down and saved him by grace. And then he picked him up, and 
he sent him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. And by God's 
grace, he was what he was. And he labored, and he was diligent, 
and he was faithful, and he preached the Word. Well, as we conclude, 
notice the gospel Paul preached. We hear that word a lot. You've 
heard it this morning. What is gospel? It means the good news. 
Not the good news that you got a new car. Not the good news 
that you got a new house. Not the good news that you got 
a promotion. When we speak of gospel in connection with Jesus, 
we speak of things connected to His life, His death, and His 
resurrection. It is the story of Christ. It 
is the fact that He came from heaven, that He lived in obedience 
to His Father, that He died as a substitute at Calvary, and 
that He rose again. The good news is this. You believe 
that truth and you will be saved. Paul's gospel, as communicated 
in the book of Galatians, is divine in its origin, verses 
11 and 12. Divine in its origin. Men didn't 
make it up. I remember as an unconverted young man, I used 
to have this theory with my buddies that a bunch of guys sat around 
and wrote the Bible. Oh yeah, they just wrote the 
Bible. Nice story, nice idea, nice way to start a religion. 
There's no way apart from divine inspiration, than any man would 
have ever conceived of a triune and holy God. When men make gods, 
they make them like themselves. They don't make them as condemners 
of their evil works. They don't make them as furious 
and angry with sin. They don't make them to punish 
them. When men make gods, they make 
them like themselves. Gods who allow them to do whatever 
it is they want. God's who will indulge them. 
God's who will only give them things. God's who will only bless 
them. No man devises a triune holy 
God. And certainly no man would ever 
devise a triune God who the second person comes into the sinful 
world of man and identifies with them. Though without sin, but 
identifies with them as man in all points like us. And then 
who dies and rises again. No man makes that up. No man 
makes that up. It is divine in its origin. It 
is received by justification by faith alone. That's Paul's 
point in the book of Galatians. You're not saved by grace through 
faith plus works. You're saved by grace through 
faith alone. The Reformers were right. Alone. 
Luther and Calvin were right. Alone. These New Perspective 
and Federal Vision guys are wrong. It is alone. That's his point. It involves substitutionary atonement, 
Christ satisfying divine justice by his sufferings and death in 
the place of sinners. It produces sanctification in 
its recipients. It brings glory to God. And its 
target is sinful men. That's its target. So if this 
morning you are here as a sinful man or a sinful woman or a sinful 
boy or a sinful girl and you have not yet believed the gospel, 
everything in Paul, everything in his writings, everything in 
his experience, calls you to believe the Gospel. Believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Not believe plus, 
not believe do, not believe go, not believe perform. Believe 
and you will be saved. That's good news. That's a blessing. That is joyful. That's why Christians 
ought to sing to high heaven in praise of their God of amazing 
grace. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for Your Word and we thank You for the life and the 
ministry of the Apostle Paul and the way that he brought glory 
to God. the way that he preached free grace, the way that he preached 
justification by faith alone. We thank you for the many letters 
that he wrote for the good of the churches. God, in all of 
us, we thank you. We thank you for your grace and 
your power and your mercy. We thank you for the life and 
the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we pray 
that wherever this Gospel is proclaimed today, many people 
would believe and be saved. God, we love to tell the story 
about Jesus saving sinners. And we pray that you would prepare 
a thousand hearts to receive that message, to believe that 
truth, and to know the joy of everlasting life. Go with us 
now, Lord God, and sanctify and strengthen us and help us to 
honor you. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.