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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e [Music] welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the Lord's House on the Lord's day for our call to worship you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 93 Psalm 93 I'll begin reading in verse one the Lord Reigns he has clothed with Majesty the Lord is clothed he has girded himself with strength surely the world is established so that it cannot be moved your throne is established from of old you are from Everlasting the floods have lifted up O Lord the floods have lifted up their voice the floods lift up their waves the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many Waters than the mighty waves of the sea your testimonies are very sure Holiness adorns your house O Lord forever amen well please turn in your hym books to Psalm 99 Psalm 99a as in Alpha and we'll stand as we sing together on high [Music] all share of let all Mery God is great for all the world and oh PR is great and awesome the Holy One Mighty forceing CH exal the Lord our God and worship him alone oh his to the Holy One his and also you his name they all the Lord the [Music] his our God you oh God you were [Music] foring exal the Lord Our God we for his and wor for is the [Music] holy let us pray our blessed God and Father we thank you for the privilege to gather again in your house we come before you with a desire to worship you in spirit and in truth and to that end God we stand in great need we are dependent upon you we pray that your Holy Spirit would guide us and help us and promote in us that reverence and awe that is fitting before such a great God as well may that be mingled with joy and Thanksgiving and gratitude as we consider the great salvation wrought by our blessed God even father Son and Holy Spirit we praise you for the gospel of our Salvation we praise you for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ that sure of a of a better Covenant we thank you for the Forgiveness of sins we thank you for the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone and God As we sing as we pray as we turn our attention to the holy scriptures may all that we do be for your praise we ask that you would forgive us now for our sin and our transgression against you we know that we are to let our conduct be worthy of the Gospel yet we find in us that remaining corruption we say with the Apostle Paul the good that we wish to do we don't always do and that evil we we don't want to do we find ourselves doing thank you that there is forgiveness with you we pray for that even now that you would cleanse Us in that precious blood of the Lamb of God we pray for any and all who've come here tonight that are dead in their trespasses and sins we pray that by the word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit you would convict them and show them their knee for a righteousness and for that forgiveness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ and may you be pleased God to save Sinners to the uttermost as they by Grace draw near to you through your son the Lord Jesus we ask that you would bless our local body here we pray for all of the spiritual needs that you would grant us the grace to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and savior help us to walk by your spirit according to Holy scripture we pray for those with physical and and temporal challenges with reference to sickness and illness and all the other difficulties associated with life and Fallen World we just commend them to you and to the word of your grace and we pray that you'd uphold them that you would encourage them that you would strengthen them give them that sure understanding that though the outer man does Decay the inner man is renewed day by day we thank you Lord for this uh this community that we find ourselves in we pray that the churches that are faithful would be blessed richly by you that they would Prosper that they would know The Nearness of God as their good that you would look with favor upon gospel preaching in this city and that many would come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray for our association and the various churches that make it up bless the brethren in Suri and in Armstrong and in pinoca and in medicon hat as well in Regina we pray for the men that are leading those congregations the men that are Faithfully given to the word and Doctrine we pray that they would be blessed richly by you and God throughout this country we know the greatest need is for the outpouring of the holy spirit for the strengthening of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to be battle ready to shine as lights as in this crooked and perverse generation and to hold forth that word of Truth and we know as well the great greatest need amongst the unsaved is that they would be saved by your grace and For Your Glory we ask that you would bless the persecuted Church be with our brothers and our sisters that are suffering for the cause of God and Truth throughout this world it Grieves us on the one hand but it encourages us on the other when we see various false religions and hostile governments uh opposed to Christianity we know it's it's for a reason it's because Sinners are being saved and the church is being strengthened and that is perceived to be a threat and yet we have that blessed promise of our Lord Jesus that the gates of Haiti shall not Prevail against the Church of the Lord Jesus thank you for that as well we pray for the nation of Myanmar and the ongoing hardships there we pray for a ceasefire we pray that in your kindness you would continue to provide for Peter and his family and the orphans this is good news concerning this provision of rice until the month of March we pray that beyond that they would continue to know your goodness to them and that you would bless them richly with temporal benefit and with spiritual growth in Grace and God bless the missionary Enterprise throughout the world we thank you that we're a small part of a much larger whole we thank you that sinners from every tribe and tongue and people Nation are coming to the Lord God most high through Jesus Christ so bless that word as it goes forth may it be preached boldly may it be preached accurately may it be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit and may you bring glory to yourself through the salvation of multitudes and we ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we can turn again with me in your hym books to 381 381 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] sing and glory and power Andes and Str to him our battle have W Lo are the of the ground and [Music] the the the with his the Earth with his glory and O and Mountain rest and poweres of his with the S and the Jo [Music] end [Music] the blessing and and glor and praise this is the of be PR we glory and praise to the take me a ro and a [Music] heart sing the song of The L that was SL [Music] ring [Music] to please turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Joshua Joshua chapter 21 Joshua chapter 21 it's a longer chapter but I want to read it in its entire y basically we have the Cities of Refuge and then verses 43 to 45 is a wonderful summary statement and an outline of the entirety of the Book of Joshua so I'll begin reading in chapter 21 at verse one then the heads of the father's houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest to Joshua the son of nun and to the heads of the father's houses of the tribes of the children of Israel and they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan saying the Lord commanded through Moses to give US cities to dwell in with their common lands for our livestock so the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance at the Commandment of the Lord these cities and their common lands now the lot came out for the families of the coites and the children of Aaron the priest who were the Le who who were of the Levites had 13 cities by lot from the tribe of Judah from the tribe of Simeon and from The Tribe of Benjamin the rest of the children of coath had 10 cities by lot from the families of the tribe of ephra from the tribe of Dan and from half the tribe the Hal tribe of Manasseh and the children of Gerson had 13 cities by lot from the families of the tribe of isachar from the tribe of Asher from the tribe of napali and from the halft tribe of Manasseh and Bashan the children of Mor of marari according to their families had 12 cities from the tribe of Reuben from the tribe of GAD and from the tribe of zebulun and the children of Israel gave these cities with their common land by lot to the Levites as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses so they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are designated by name which were for the children of Aaron one of the families of the coites who were of the children of Levi for the lot was theirs first and they gave them kirjath arba arba was the father of anac which is Hebron in the mountains of Judah with the common land surrounding it the fields of the city and its Villages they gave to Caleb the son of jeffan as his possession thus to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its common land a City of Refuge for the Slayer libna with its common land Jer with its common land asoa with its common land holon with its common land deir with its common land a with its common land jutah with its common land and Beth shemes with its common land nine cities from those two tribes and from The Tribe of Benjamin gibian with its common land giba with its common land anoth with its common land and Elman with its common land four cities all the cities of the children of Aaron the priests were 13 cities with their common lands and the families of the children of coath the Levites the rest of the children of coath even they had the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim for they gave them sheam with its common land in the mountains of Ephraim a City of Refuge for the Slayer gizer with its common land kbam with its common land and Beth horon with its common land four cities and from the tribe of Dan El with its common land gibon with its common land aelon with its common land and gath remon with its common land four cities and from the half tribe of Manasseh tanak with its common land and gath remon with its common Land Two cities all the 10 cities with their common lands were for the rest of the families of the children of coath also to the children of Gerson of the families of the Levites from the other halft tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with its common land a City of Refuge for the Slayer and bhra ashra with its common Land Two Cities and from the tribe of isachar kishion with its common land dabra with its common land garmouth with its common land and enim with its common land four cities and from the tribe of Asher mishel with its common land abdon with its common land helath with its common land and Rahab with its common land four cities and from the tribe of nap G Kadesh and Galilee with its common land a City of Refuge for the Slayer HTH door with its common land and carton with its common land three cities all the cities of the gershonites according to their families were 13 cities with their common lands and to the families of the children of marari the rest of the Levites from the tribe of zebulun JN name with its common land Carta with its common land dimna with its common land and nahalal with its common land four cities and from the tribe of Reuben beaser with its common land jahaz with its common land kth with its common land and meth uh metho with its common land four cities and from the tribe of GAD R ramoth and Gilead with its common land a City of Refuge for the Slayer Mahan name with its common land heshbon with its common land and Jer with its common land four cities in all so all the cities for the children of marari according to their families the rest of the families of the Levites were by their Lot 12 cities all the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were 48 cities with their common lands every one of these cities had its common land surrounding it thus were all these cities so the lord gave to Israel all the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers and they took possession of it and dwelt in it the lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers and not a man of all their enemies stood against them the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel all came to pass amen well as I said verses 43 to 45 is a wonderful summary statement of the book a good outline of the book and a reminder of God's faithfulness to his promises to Abraham Isaac and Jacob essentially verse 43 summarizes chapters 13 to 21 verse 44 summarizes chapters 1 to2 and verse 45 basically encompasses the entirety of the book and that's the emphasis not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel all came to pass our God is faithful he makes promises he keeps promises obviously the New Covenant application of this is in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who assumed our Humanity who did all that he did for the glory of the father and for the Salvation of us needy Sinners well let us pray Father in Heaven thank you for your word thank you that all does come to pass according to your purpose and plan we acknowledge your Sovereign decree we acknowledge your Providence wherein you govern all your creatures and all their actions according to your most holy wise and Powerful preserving we thank you so very much for inclusion in the New Covenant by your grace and For Your Glory we ask for your blessing to be upon Pastor Porter as he comes up to preach to us we pray that the Holy Spirit would be upon him powerfully that he would make clear the truth as it is in Jesus and that we would have Open Hearts and ears to receive these things and may it affect us for good and to further Conformity un to the image of our blessed savior and we pray in Jesus name amen we can turn with me again to 138a 138a as in Alpha we'll stand as we sing together [Music] my heart my I bring before the God for prise I sing your place and praise your name for Tru and prise for you all oh Lord how your name and I call you me my soul All Shall the Lord for shall sing the of Glory is the Lord the Lord is the [Music] of Andy heart he knows I will heart and streng me you will of my and the Lord for me the world he has forever for the your [Music] good evening everybody you can turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Galatians uh Galatians chapter 1 returning to our working through the book of Galatians it's been quite a number of weeks since we were in the book as as far as a an exposition of the book goes uh through the book of Galatians we we have had two sermons previous to this one uh verses 1-5 and verses 6-1 uh so tonight we're going to look at verses 11 through 24 but I'm going to read beginning in verse one to the uh uh of chapter one to the end of the chapter this is the word of God Paul an apostle not from men nor through men 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 enough 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 ACC cursed 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 a cursed 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 bond servant of Christ but 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 father 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 indeed before God I do not lie afterward I went into the regions of Syria and cissa and I was known by face uh excuse me and I was Unknown by fa 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's pray God we thank you for your word we rejoice in its declaration its setting forth of the Son of God incarnate came who came into this world Sinners to save we pray that you would help us as we uh engage in this act of worship the preaching of your word that we would have that measure of your spirit that we might know your word right that uh our souls would be lifted up to uh a high appreciation and joy and the for and in those things that you've revealed to us in your word do help us to understand to help us to to glory in you and to give you praise and we do pray that our savior the Lord Jesus Christ would be uh exalted upon the Praises and the worshiping of this gathered assembly and it's in his name we pray amen well just a just a reminder regarding the subject matter of the book of Galatians we've noted before that we could we could summarize it in a three-fold manner the pernicious error affecting the churches the reigning truth to be confessed by the churches and the implications of rejecting the truth for error as the Apostle Paul is writing and perhaps particularly in this this section here which begins at verse 11 of chapter 1 and continues essentially all the way through the second chapter the Apostle Paul is is vigorously arguing for the veracity of his gospel which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which comes from God and not from man and his vigorous defense is because the very salvation of souls are at stake if uh uh if one is wrong at the point of the doctrine of justification um one is not heavenbound but Hellbound and certainly these false teachers are to be opposed because they are introducing a pernicious error they are they were propagating a pernicious error a wicked error uh in the context of the galatian churches and so Paul is opposing it with great might just what we covered previously here verses 1 to5 the gospel's Liberty with emphasis on the the reality that Paul in stating that Christ gave himself for our sins verse four that he might Deliver Us from this present evil age that the Apostle Paul is pressing the Christians Liberty over and against the bondage that these false teachers are introducing we noted the gospel's Irreplaceable value the Apostle Paul saying that it it it is so important that even if an angel or one of the Apostles came preaching anything other than that true gospel then they were to be considered as and to pronounced as those who were anathema or dedicated to destruction dedicated by the Lord to be damned eternally the importance of the Gospel is uh of the highest importance and Paul vigorously defends it here and so as we come to to chapter 1: 11 and through to the end of chapter 1 verse 24 we want to note that 111 to 221 is essentially the Apostle Paul engaging in an autobiographical defense of the veracity of his gospel which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ so he's setting forth this autobiographical um these autobiographical words and arguments in order to show that the errorists were wrong about the gospel and that the Apostle Paul was preaching truth when he declared to them the riches of the Lord Jesus Christ so we're simply going to do two things tonight or look at two uh larger sections first the divine origin of the gospel and the mission of the Apostle Paul in verses 11-1 17 and and then verses 18 to 24 we'll look at the glory of God in the mission of the Apostle Paul so first off with the divine origin of the gospel and the divine origin of the mission of the Apostle Paul we see first a statement concerning the authenticity of Paul's gospel The Gospel According to Paul is The Gospel According To Jesus notice this statement that we see concerning the authentic I it of Paul's gospel verse 11 but I make known to you Brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man this this section here verses 11 uh verses 11 to 12 correspond with acts 9 1-9 specifically touching upon the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus he States here but I make known to you Brethren that the gospel which was preached by is not according to man and we need to notice the the butt of transition here at verse 11 because it's connecting us back to verse 10 where we read 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 bonder servant of Christ but since I do not please men but rather seek to please God in the proclamation of the Gospel he makes known to them that the gospel which was preached by him is not according to man and so we see first here this this primary assertion is given that his gospel is not according to man and I I think we should note at the outset there's a special meaning or a special application here but first we should note that generally speaking the Gospel of Jesus Christ is is not according to man but it is according to God you know I as Pastor Butler said before the very the very proof of the veracity of the word of God and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the manner by which it comes presented to us by God would would man ever concoct a Triune God one and only living and true God who eternally exists as Father Son and Holy Spirit all three persons having the same Essence the same power the same will the same Glory uh equal all equal uh one in being undivided yet eternally existing as three persons would would man construct such a thing would would man construct and and proclaim a doctrine that sets him aside as totally depraved without power without hope in the world and that salvation only comes from one outside of himself the the very Gospel of Jesus Christ is proof positive that it is from God God because no man would come up with such a thing men come up with doctrines of God where they're anthropomorphized and have sexual desires the gods the gods of lusts and the gods of wickedness you know man comes up with the the the god of atheism saying that there is no God but that somehow nothing exploded and created everything the the creature becomes the god they their God is chaos their God is Chance um and their God is creature so the Apostle Paul can say with certainty that the gospel that is preached by him is not according to man and another proof positive that it is not according to man is verses 13 and 14 Paul recounts his wickedness that he tried to destroy the church no one seeking to propagate a religion according to man would would highlight his own Wicked his own previous perniciousness and pernicious error so generally speaking and gloriously speaking Paul makes known to them that the gospel which was preached by him is not according to man but specifically the gospel Paul preached and preaches did not originate from his own mind but was revealed to him by Jesus Christ we have that wonderful account on the road to Damascus that you know Paul is in the midst of and and the the section verses 13 and 14 they would coordinate with acts 7 58 to to acts 83 not not only to acts 83 but but that that section specifically where we see that Saul went about persecuting the church and so Paul is confronted by the the Risen and glorious Christ on the road to Damascus to to Damascus and it's there he receives the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Very commissioning of himself as an apostle the gospel that was preached by him was not according to man and we're given this explanation and reasoning for the assertion of verse 11 in verse 12 notice that it begins with the word for for I neither received it from man nor was I taught it but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ so this explains the primary assertion um how is it that I can say the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man because or for I neither received it from man nor was I taught it so this means he he was not under the instruction of he first he was not communicated the gospel by man with respect to his uh owning of it and reception of it and he was not instructed in the things of the Gospel having uh come to his knowledge of the gospel of Christ by man but rather it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ and so what's in the background here or why does the Apostle Paul say this when when we say that Paul is giving here an autobiographical defense we're not saying that he's arguing for his own Acclaim and his own Splendor and his own notoriety the the very Gospel of his Savior and master Jesus Christ is at stake and the errorists those who we read of in Chapter 2 if you look at chapter 2 for a moment and you see verse four we see the bracketed the the bracketed um explanation there that these errorists came in by stealth to spy out our Liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage and so the Apostle Paul is writing these things he's defending himself and his gospel and he's stating that he did not receive it from man in other words this isn't man's gospel I didn't make this up I didn't receive it from those who made it up but it came through the very revelation of Jesus Christ and so by contrast then or by that reality these who came in to spy out our Liberty these who you're following after these whom I'm marveling over that you this reality that I'm marveling over that you're turning away so soon verse 6 from him who called you in the grace of Christ these are the ones who have their Doctrine from man these are the ones who do not have their Doctrine from God and so no man communicated to Paul first the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he was not at the feet of any human instructor and he was taught by the master Jesus Christ and notice this is a this is a proof of the deity of the Lord Jes Jesus Christ it's not a passage that we would often go to hey where you know where would you go to argue the do the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ well Galatians 1:12 but it's a place that we can go notice I neither received it from man nor was it nor was I taught it but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is set here in opposition to man yes the Son of God who is very and eternal God assumed our Humanity in time and in history but he is of course also Son of God one in substance with the father and he is set in opposition here to man it's proof positive of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and John Gil writes this these words furnish out another proof of the deity of Christ for if the gospel is not after man nor received of or taught by man but by Christ then Christ cannot be a mere man or else being by him it would be by man and which also confirms the authority and validity of the gospel and Carries in it a strong reason for the apostles anathematizing all such as preach any other these errorists these Heretics these opposers of the truth did not receive their gospel from God but rather from men from the traditions of men from the wickedness of their own minds and you are not to be turning away so soon from the true gospel and following after that so we see this statement concerning the authenticity of Paul's gospel that's verses 11 and 12 and then we see the authenticity of Paul's gospel argued from his former conduct verses 13 and 14 the authenticity of Paul's gospel argued from his former conduct The Gospel According to Paul is that which Juda violently opposes notice at verse 13 here we see the clear evidence of this this explanation that he neither received it from man nor was he taught it from man but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ this first statement is the clear evidence of that explanation for again this is connecting to to it previously an explanation a reason for you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it this second four estab uh uh basically um substantiates the first four of verse 12 and how does it do this well Paul is saying this is a the clear evidence that this gospel that I preach to you is from God and not from man because before I preached it I violently opposed it before I proclaimed the truth of Jesus Jesus Christ I violently opposed his church and by virtue of that I violently opposed him one of the first things that the Lord Jesus Christ says to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus is I am Jesus Christ whom you are persecuting and so the very one whom he formerly persecuted is the one who gave him the very revelation of himself that he might go to the Gentiles preaching the glories and the Riches of Christ but notice this language that the Apostle Paul uses again I believe proof positive of the divine inspiration of the scriptures and the truth of Christianity you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it and we see here continually this setup for the amazing contrast in verse 14 Paul's Life as a persecutor and his Earnest defend defense of the Mosaic law and I advanced in Judaism Beyond many of my contemporaries in my own Nation being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers now as we're working through this we need to appreciate and understand that the Apostle Paul isn't simply engaging in Recollections here of his of his life of The Life and Times of the Apostle Paul it is autobiographical but he's engaging in this it's it's um it's retrospective demonstration of the glory of God in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is what he's doing here and so he's setting up for this this wonderful contrast in highlighting his former conduct in Judaism and by by speaking with respect to his former reality that he was more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers he's he's striking clows against those who were preaching error and stealing away trying to steal away the people of God unto damnation which can never truly be stolen away unto that but those in the church that had not yet come to Christ would have been stolen away to this false gospel which would lead them to damnation and the the summon substance of that false gospel had to do with the very traditions of the fathers that Paul beforehand was so zealous tell us about these these errorists were were seeking to again they were spying out Liberty bringing us into bondage that is bondage to the Mosaic law in order to be finally and ultimately Justified before God that is bondage when anyone sets themsel under the law in order to be justified that is the the the the depth of slavery H to be a slave to something that will not save but will only bring death remember that the law of God is the letter of death but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is light and life unto salvation and to set people back under the bondage of the Mosaic law circumcision primarily but also the Mosaic precepts is to bring people under bondage and that's where Paul was previously that wasn't that wasn't gospel now there were some differences of course because these these errorists these opposers these false Brethren would have you know spoken in a measure reasonably about Jesus Christ but they're adding and so destroying Christ by adding circumcision and adherence to the Mosaic law so all of that to come back to the point that Paul is highlighting his former life and his former self in order to set up this amazing contrast and to show that The Gospel the true co gospel did not come from men but it came from God the authenticity of Paul's gospel is argued from his conversion and his first movements and that's what we see in verses 15 to 17 The Gospel According to Paul is that which is in accord with amazing grace and the Divine commissioning now this section here coordinates with acts 919b to 25 notice the language and what we have here first is this amazing contrast the the butt of verse 15 serves as we can call a contrast of conjunction that simply means that there's this this butt is joining the previous context with the subsequent context and it's contrasting the latter with the former and so we see this wonderful and glorious contrast notice verse 13 uh verse 15 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 wonderful language we we have the Apostle Paul here reflecting No Doubt with with great glory and joy though with genuine concern for the churches in his in his calling through Grace in his reflection upon the Amazing Grace one of the one of the the the most favorite things for the Apostle Paul to do is to reflect upon on the amazing grace of God he has those wonderful butt statements throughout throughout his Epistles that we were dead in our trespasses and sins we were we had the the lusts of our flesh the ass sailings of the devil and the allurements of the world but God in his mercy and in his grace condescended to bring us forth from the deadness of sin to life in Christ here we have this this transitional this contrast of con conun Ive but but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace that to reveal his son in me that that language of separated me from my mother's womb doesn't really have literal a application or connection to the physical act of birthing though obviously in the physical act of birthing a child is separated from his mother's womb but it carries it carries the language of the stuff of Jeremiah 15 where one is consecrated beforehand unto a particular position and in time bears that position for example in Jeremiah chapter 1 um we read something to the effect of but uh you know before you were born or before I formed you in the womb uh I knew you before you were born I I consecrated you I ordained you to be a a prophet to the Nations This Is The Stuff of what Apostle the Apostle Paul is talking about like Jeremiah he he was decreed unto a particular end time consecration or setting apart to a particular position in the kingdom of God and for the Apostle Paul it was the Proclamation of Christ and him crucified so we have this blessed and amazing contrast and this next clause and called me through his grace to reveal his son in me now we can all enter into this first aspect of what this means that all of us were called by the grace of God and all of us had the the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us isn't isn't that a blessed thing as Christians to reflect upon the fact that we were the Blessed though undeserving recipients of the amazing grace of God bringing us Force bringing us forth from The Madness of sin to life in Christ and through that and by that and unto that we were revealed or God revealed to us Jesus Christ the the greatest thing in the history uh of each and every one of our Lives all of you Christians out there is the Salvation that we have received by Amazing Grace and the revelation of Jesus Christ made to us what a blessed thing that we have we can we can look back upon our lives and we can see a lot of wonderful things for many of us the day that we were married for many of us the the day our first children came into the world then our second children and not so much II uh just joking all of our all of our children coming into the world Marissa is not here so I can I can say that but we can look back upon our lives and we can reflect upon wonderful things the the one thing that we should reflect upon with the greatest joy with with a and and if we can say an infinitely exalted Joy is when God brought us forth from the deadness and the Darkness of sin to life and light in Jesus Christ but there's another element here with respect to the apostle Paul in this called me through his grace none of us were called to be Apostles but the Apostle Paul was called to be an apostle and so God separated him from his mother's womb or consecrated and set him apart unto his apostleship to reveal Jesus Christ in him and we have this proof of the uh of Paul's gospel authenticity in 16b to 17 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 so the the proof of Paul's gospel authenticity is this um these elaborating words that he did not receive the Gospel from men he's he's opening this up God in his grace revealed by the revelation of of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ to him and not only from the first point of his conversion but also his first movements as an apostle he did not confer or he did not receive instruction and gospel a gospel instruction by men but from god notice this language here I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood so Paul's first movements as a Christian and Paul's first movements as an apostle of Jesus Christ were not by the instructions and the conferring with men uh but rather by the revelation of Jesus Christ himself and this this language I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood uh remember because it's the same language but remember that account in Matthew 16 because this isn't just you know flesh and blood as as that which is just flesh and blood man as just sort of synonymous with man but directly in contrast in opposition to God most high in Matthew 16 Jesus Christ upon the confession of Peter says Flesh and Blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven this flesh and blood is uh its language that is often set directly in contrast to that which is from God and it is here 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 so we see again this this is corresponding with that section in Acts where we have 919b in Acts to verse 25 and we have the Apostle Paul going about his Apostolic mission in a measure of IND dependence from the apostles not with a gospel that's distinguished from them but the same gospel you know not with a gospel different from the apostles but the Apostle Paul in seeking to bring these back from following after aorists who were probably saying that's why Paul has to say this who were saying that the Apostle Paul did learn the gospel from men that he perhaps learned it from ananas or that he perhaps learned it from the other Apostles or from someone the Apostle Paul in order to defend the true and saving gospel says that he did not confer with the apostles he did not get the gospel from Flesh and Blood he did not initially go to Jerusalem but he went in his own missionary Endeavors to Arabia and returned again to Damascus this uh Arabia is uh only used three times Well twice and they're both in the book of Galatians in the New Testament we see Arabia largely in the book of Isaiah but in other places as well in the Old Testament in the New Testament we see it in three places in the book of Acts we see that Arabs come to Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and they receive the preached Gospel of Jesus Christ and Paul as we read here we don't read it later in the book of Acts as far as him going to Arabia but he went there uh he went to Arabia and I I think it's interesting hopefully for you also to reflect on the fact that there were Arabian Bishops who traveled to the Council of NAA um the the gospel Paul's gospel and Peter's gospel preached on the day of Pentecost to Arabs including many others and Paul's preaching of Jesus Christ in Arabia that was foundational for these Bishops who you know couple who three centuries later would travel to NAA to articulate and defend the very Trinity of persons in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ what what a great thing we have in the foundational setting of the Apostles I don't think it's it's silly uh 2,000 years to removed from the work of Peter and Paul and the apostles to see that we have an unbreakable link back to the apostolic Doctrine Through the Ages the the reigning ascended Christ through the sending of his Spirit has equipped Christian churches to defend the true Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout centuries and we here in chillak 2000 years removed from the work of the Apostle Paul are the Blessed beneficiaries yes of the Apostle Paul but more largely the Risen Christ who brought Paul forth from Darkness to light gave him his holy spirit that he might go about to the Gentiles like us to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ what a glorious thing we have I don't think we'll be able to close with the glory of God in the mission of the Apostle Paul we'll we'll pick that up next time as we see in verses 18 to 24 continuing activity in the life of the Apostle Paul when he actually does go to Jerusalem but just some closing thoughts here and we'll leave that for next time first off the divine origin of the Gospel not not from man not from flesh and blood but from God uh we can all here have confidence brethren in the in the Blessed fact that the gospel that we rally around the gospel that we preach in this church the gospel that we hear um in this church is the very Gospel of God it did not come from men but it came from the Triune God through the the blessed person of the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to declare his own riches his own excellencies for the the salvation of people who uh of Sinners who came into this world to to live to die and to rise again for Sinners you know the as Pastor Butler said this morning the world can mock the world can laugh the world can think we're weird but praise God that in due time he brought us forth by his grace to lay hold of the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ whatever the world does whatever the government does whatever opposers do uh we can latch on to that uh with hopefully an inviable grip upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ knowing that sometimes if our grip loosens and slips a little bit we have the John 10 great Shepherd who does Hold Us in that inviable grip in his hand who does keep us the true champion of the true gospel Keeps Us by his grace the gospel we believe in is not according to man but it is from God and second the divine power in Salvation God Saves by Amazing Grace as it's often been said um the the example of the Apostle Paul gives us great hope that the chief of Sinners became the greatest proclaimer of the religion that he previously tried to destroy should give the Christian great hope when we can see our family members when we can see friends that we have outside of Christ in death daming unbelief perhaps following after a pernicious error like these propagated so many centuries ago we should never be at a loss and say you know woe is me because this person can can never be saved we can we do get in our Humanity frustrated we we we can you know wonder you know you know what's going to happen why every you know I've spoken to this person 137 times and and man I'm going to do it 138th but what's going on what am I doing wrong just have hope that the judge of all the Earth will do right for his own glory and for the good of his church and so we have hope in the Apostle Paul divine power in Salvation this one who persecuted the church beyond measure and tried to destroy it was brought forth by Amazing Grace to proclaim the very truths he previously tried to squash and last ly thirdly and lastly the on the authenticity of Paul's gospel peace with God through justification by faith alone you know the the the implications of this false teaching uh of these errors were not just that Paul's gospel was being uh was being attacked and and affronted that Paul's gospel was be was being attacked not not just that you know the you know the doctrine of salvation was was being affected as great Brave and as serious as that is but the very character of God is at stake in these errorists saying that we can be justified by circumcision and adherence to Mosaic law the the the Proverbs say something like the the the justification of the wicked and the condemnation of the just both are an Abomination to God the only way that we can be just before God is if we have a substance itude not if we Lop off foreskin and in our sin seek to justify God by weak and sloppy and miserable adherence to to perfect law the the glory of God or the only way that the glory of God is upheld in a doctrine of salvation is if we have a substitute and we have one in Jesus Christ the just the one who brought forth Paul the one who commissioned Paul and the one whom Paul preached so have much hope and much joy and much Christian happiness in the fact that our gospel is not of man but it comes from our blessed God that there is a God who saves powerfully by his Amazing Grace there is much hope in that and as we move through the book of Galatians understanding that our peace with God is had solely and alone first and last midst and throughout by a Triune God who saves without a Helper and who has saved us perfectly through the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ the King of Kings let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we rejoice in your goodness to us in revealing your son to us that you and your Amazing Grace made us to see our blessed Christ having beforehand been those opposed to truth opposed to the gospel opposed to our creator and our sustainer you did in your due time and by that Grace bring us forth to behold the preciousness of our redeeming King we pray that we would reflect with great joy upon that as we as we go to a moment of prayer and as we live out the rest of this Sunday and as we go into the week that we would have fond daily reflections of our great God and the Christ whom he has sent and it's in his name that we pray amen we'll have a brief time of prayer and when the piano's finished you're dismissed e e e e