“It Pleased God”

"It Pleased God"

(No. 3202)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1910.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
OCTOBER 19, 1862.

"It pleased God." Galatians 1:15.

WE will read the whole verse from which our text is taken–"But when it
pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by
His Grace." You will perceive, I think, in these words, that the Divine
plan of salvation is very clearly laid down. It begins, you see, in the
will and pleasure of God–"when it pleased God." The foundation of
salvation is not laid in the will of man. "It is not of him that wills,
nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." It does not begin
with man's obedience and then proceed onward to the purpose of God–but
here is its commencement, here the fountainhead from which the Living
Waters flow–"It pleased God." Next to the Sovereign will and good
pleasure of God comes the act of separation, commonly known by the name
of election. This act is said, in the text, to take place even in the
mother's womb, by which we are taught that it took place before our
birth when as yet we could have done nothing whatever to win it or to
merit it! God separated us from the earliest part and time of our
being! And, indeed, long before that, when as yet the mountains and
hills were not piled and the oceans were not formed by His creative
power, He had, in His eternal purpose, set us apart for Himself. Then,
after this act of separation came the effectual calling–"and called me
by His Grace." The calling does not cause the election–the election,
springing from the Divine purpose, causes the calling! The calling
comes as a consequence of the Divine purpose and the Divine separation,
and you will note how the obedience follows the calling. The Apostle
does not begin to be a preacher, according to the purpose and will of
God, until first of all the Spirit of God has called him out of his
state of nature into a state of Grace. So the whole process runs
thus–first the sacred, Sovereign purpose of God, then the distinct and
definite election or separation, then the effectual and irresistible
calling and then afterwards, the obedience unto life, and the sweet
fruits of the Spirit which spring from there. They err, not knowing the
Scriptures, who put any of these processes before the others, out of
the Scriptural order. They who put man's will first, know not what they
say, nor whereof they affirm, for it is not of the will of man, says
the Apostle in the most peremptory and positive manner–the salvation
of any soul is a display of the eternal purpose and Sovereign will of
God!

And, Beloved, by this test may we know the certainty of our election,
if we have obediently yielded to the call of God. If the Divine calling
has produced in us the fruit of obedience, then we may assuredly
believe that we were separated unto God before time began, and that
this separation was according to the eternal purpose and will of God!
Like golden links of a chain, any one of these will draw on the others.
Am I justified? Then I was called by God's Grace. Am I called? Then I
was predestined to be called and, on the other hand, if I was
predestined, then I shall be called, being called, I shall be
justified, being justified, I shall be glorified! I think I have used
this illustration before. On that bank of the great river of time is
the massive pillar of Divine Foreknowledge and Predestination, and on
the other side of the river is the equally massive pillar of
Glorification. How are we to bridge these two? Both of these pillars
are in the mists and clouds of eternity, but these stupendous chains
stretch right across the intervening chasm–"Whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He
might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did
predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also
justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified." If I want to
know what my relation is to Predestination way over yonder in the past,
I think of my calling, for I have been called, and so I am linked with
the past! And if I want to know whether I shall be glorified, I know
that, also, by the fact that I am today justified. So, as I stand here,
I am linked with both the past and the future–

linked so perfectly that neither time, nor life, nor death, nor Hell
shall ever be able to break the bonds that bind me equally to the
Predestination in the past and the Glorification in the future! You see
then, dear Friends, that from this verse, as a whole, we learn the
Divine plan of salvation! And by it we may judge as to our own interest
in it. But now, leaving the rest of the verse, let us consider the
three words that form our text. "It pleased God." I. First, we have
here THE FOUNDATION OF DIVINE GRACE.

The reason why Paul was saved was this–"It pleased God." And the only
reason why you or I will ever enter Heaven must be this–"It pleased
God." You can clearly perceive, in the Apostle's case, that there could
be no other reason. It could not be because of any merit of his that he
was saved, for what was he? A blasphemer, he says, and a persecutor–
so thirsty for the blood of saints that even in his younger days, he
guarded the clothes of the murderers who stoned Stephen. Afterwards, he
hated men and women, and committed them to prison, and compelled them
to blaspheme, "and being"–to use his own expressive
words–"exceedingly mad against them," he "persecuted them even unto
strange cities." There could be nothing in that persecuting Jew, whose
very breath was full of threats, and whose heart was like a furnace of
fury against the saints–there could be nothing in him which could be a
reason why God should save him! If saved, it must be because "it
pleased God."

And, most decidedly, there was no co-action of the Apostle's will
tending to his conversion. You remember the scene. I see him there,
upon his proud charger, riding onward toward Damascus. He has in his
possession letters which he treasures more than gold, for they give him
the permission of the high priest to seize the saints at Damascus and
carry them bound to Jerusalem. He rides on proudly, yonder is the city
glittering in the sun, and he is meditating upon the deeds of blood and
fury he will perform there–who can stop that man? But at midday God
arrests him! "A light from Heaven, above the brightness of the sun,"
shines upon him. The men that are with him see the light, but they know
not what it is. He falls to the ground and a Voice cries to him from
Heaven, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" He enquires, "Who are
You, Lord?" The answer comes, "I am Jesus whom you persecute: it is
hard for you to kick against the pricks," like an ox kicking against
the sharp goad. He rises blind, yet seeing more than he ever saw
before! He goes into Damascus, not to hunt Christ's disciples, but to
learn from Ananias the Good News that Christ's pardon may be given even
to him! In three days' time, he is converted, baptized into the name of
Christ, comes forth to tell the little Church at Damascus what God has
done for his soul and in the synagogues preaches that Christ is the Son
of God! What reason can there be why this persecutor of the saints
should have been saved but this–"It pleased God"?

Do not imagine that this is an exceptional experience. On the contrary,
such cases occur every day! Many come into this place of worship as
skeptics and go out sincere Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Some
have I known who have come here only to laugh and scoff, but they have
remained to pray. No thought was further from their mind than that they
should ever become the followers of the Lamb–but the Divine power,
which was not necessarily connected with the preacher–carried the Word
into their hearts, arrested them on the spot, changed their natures,
made them new creatures in Christ Jesus and sent them on their way
rejoicing in their newly-found Savior! And I am sure that all such
persons will bear their willing witness that they can see no reason but
for the Grace which was bestowed on them but this — "It pleased God."

There are some whose lives have proved how sinful their nature was, for
their sin has taken the form of open and gross vice. They are like that
woman in the city who was a sinner. And as they resemble her in their
sin, I trust that they will also resemble her in their love and be
ready to wash the Savior's feet with their tears, and wipe them with
the hairs of their heads! There may be some who are now truly
converted, who have sinned as deeply as even Saul of Tarsus did. Then
let them acknowledge, as he did, that their conversion was due to the
undeserved favor of God! John Bradford's saying has often been quoted,
but it will bear repeating again and again. He lived in a house past
which people used to be taken on the way to Tyburn to be hanged. And in
those cruel times there were many poor wretches thus hurried out of
existence–some of them for crimes which are far more leniently
punished now. As the honest preacher saw them pass his house, he said,
"There goes John Bradford but for the Grace of God." He felt that he
was, by nature, capable of doing just what they had done, and that only
Divine Grace had made him to differ from them. And when I hear or read
of some atrocious sinner, I say to myself, "That man is what I might
have been if God had left me to take my own course, for by nature I am
no better than he is. I might not have fallen into his special form of
sin, for the bent of my constitution may not be in that particular
direction, but I might have committed some other sin which would have
been quite as bad as

his." One vessel may leak at the bow and another may leak at the stern,
but it does not much matter where the leak is–in either case the
vessel will sink.

And those of you who have been converted as the result of a regular
attendance at the House of Prayer, when you come to remember how many
others who are still unregenerate, who have been sitting side by side
with you, you can only say, as you think who caused you to differ from
them–"It pleased God." How often one is taken and the other left! Two
women come up to worship at the same time and sit under the sound of
the same message–one retires impenitent, the other's heart is broken.
As we note the contrast between them, we can only stand and, holding up
our hands in wonder, say, "What is the reason for this difference,
Lord? There can be none except that so it seemed good in Your sight."

I know that there are many who the moment they hear this Doctrine
proclaimed, begin to quibble at it and quarrel with it. They do not
think that God should thus do as He pleases in the work of salvation!
But let me tell them that it is because they care not for God that they
feel as they do in this matter. Opposition to Divine Sovereignty is
essentially atheism. Men have no objection to a god who is really no
God! I mean by this, a god who shall be the subject of their fancy, who
shall be a lackey to their will, who shall be under their control–they
have no objection to such a being as that! But a God who speaks and it
is done! Who commands and it stands fast! A God who has no respect for
their persons, but does as He wills among the armies of Heaven and
among the inhabitants of this lower world–such a God as this they
cannot endure! And yet, is it not essential to the very Being of God
that He should be absolute and supreme? Certainly, to the Scriptural
conception of God, Sovereignty is an absolute necessity!

Let me say, then, to those who quarrel with the Lord for doing as He
pleases in the conversion of sinners that first, He has the right to do
so through His own inherent Sovereignty. He made men and He has the
right to do with them just as He pleases. "Has not the potter power
over the clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor, and
another unto dishonor?" If any man says to God, "Why have You made me
thus?" The only answer is, "No, but, O man, who are you that replies
against God?" Dread, mysterious and profound as the Doctrine of Divine
Sovereignty is, yet it certainly must be acknowledged that He who is
God has an absolute and inherent right to do as He wills with all those
whom He has, Himself, created–

"Mortals, be dumb! What creature dares Dispute His awful will? Ask no
account of His affairs, But tremble and be still."

But some of your animosity to this Doctrine may perhaps be melted if
you recollect that God's Sovereignty is never displayed apart from His
righteousness! To entrust a man with absolute power would be most
dangerous, for he is fallible. But to entrust absolute Holiness and
Righteousness with absolute power is the safest way of governing the
whole universe. God cannot do an unrighteous thing, therefore let Him
do whatever He wills! Who would wish to limit One whose acts must be
from the very Character that is essential to His Being, just and true?
No man who is lost will ever be able to blame God's Sovereignty for it.
The man that perishes shall justly perish because of his sins. And in
Hell, this shall be to him the pang of pangs–that he cannot reproach
God, but that his damnation lies at his own door since he incensed the
Justice of God, which must punish him for his sin. And in like manner,
the saints in Heaven, though saved as the result of Divine Sovereignty,
may boast that that Sovereignty never violated Justice, for, before God
would bring one of them to Heaven, He gave His Son to bleed and die
that the demands of Justice might be fully met before the sinner was
saved!

I will venture to go even further than this and to say that the
Sovereignty of God is never exercised apart from His mercy and His
benevolence. We know that "God is Love," and who would limit love? As
"God is Love," let Him be absolute, for He will assuredly do that
which, on the whole, is the best for all His creatures, as well as most
for the Glory of His own perfect Character. Then, as this is the case,
how ought we to delight to think that God is free and bound by no law
but His own will, which is the fountain of all law, and constrained by
no necessity but the carrying out of His own eternal purpose of love
and mercy!

I feel sure that much of the opposition to the doctrine of Divine
Sovereignty springs from a misunderstanding of God. I know that some
misrepresent this Truth of God as though God were an almighty tyrant,
but Scripture gives no warrant for such a caricature. And I again
enter, as I have already often entered, my earnest protest against such
an insult

to my God! When any man perishes, lay not his blood at God's door. If
any man is lost, his ruin is caused by himself and not to be laid to
the charge of our ever-gracious God. Yet remember, at the same time,
that if any are saved, the glory of their salvation must be ascribed to
God! I am often asked, "How do you make those two statements consistent
with one another?" But that question does not perplex me, for I do not
see how they are inconsistent with each other. Someone says, "But I do
not understand this Doctrine." Perhaps not, but remember that while we
are bound to tell you the Truths of God, we are not bound to give you
the power to understand them. And besides, this is not a subject for
understanding–it is a matter for believingbecause it is revealed in
the Word of God! It is one of the axioms of theology that if a man is
lost, God must not be blamed for it. And it is also an axiom of
theology that if a man is saved, God must have all the glory of it.
That "salvation is of the Lord" is as plainly revealed in Scripture as
anything that we see in nature! And that destruction is of man, is
equally plain, both from the nature of things and from the teaching of
Scripture! Hold the two Truths of God–do not try to run to the
extreme, either of the Hyper-Calvinist or of the ultra-Arminian. There
is some truth in Calvinism and some in Arminianism, and he who would
hold the whole Truth of God must neither be cramped by the one system
nor bound by the other, but take Truth wherever he can find it in the
Bible–and leave it to the God of Truth to show him, when he gets into
another world, anything that is beyond his comprehension now. At all
events, I have laid this down very plainly and I think every converted
person must agree with it, that if any of us are saved, the explanation
of our conversion is the same as the explanation of Paul's–"It pleased
God."

II. Now, secondly, I shall use the text in another way. We have, here,
GROUNDS FOR HUMILITY.

Paul was a preacher, but why was he a preacher? Because "it pleased
God." You are a deacon, or you are an elder, or you are a minister–is
there any ground for boasting here? Who made you what you are? "It
pleased God." That is the only possible explanation! Had God willed it,
you might have been sweeping a crossing. You might have been at this
moment in some tavern groveling in drunkenness. You might have been a
miserable wretch in prison. Any honorable office that you hold in the
Church is the result, not of your meriting it, but of God's
graciousness towards you in having put you where you are. The angels in
Heaven are humble because they remember who made them and kept them
angels, for they would have been devils in Hell if God had not
preserved them in their first estate. In like manner, office in the
Church is a ground for humility, not for boasting! If we are thus
favored, it is because "it pleased God." The Apostle was also a great
laborer. He could truthfully say, "I labored more abundantly than they
all." What then? Was that a reason for boasting? By no means, for he
added, "yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me." Are you
passionately zealous for the conversion of men? Do you labor both by
night and by day to propagate the Truth of God and to bring sinners to
the Cross of Christ? Then continue in your noble employment, but do not
plume yourself upon this as though you deserved some praise from God
for it! Remember that every virtue you possess, everything about you
that is pure, and lovely, and of good report, has come to you because
"it pleased God."

Paul was, moreover, a most successful preacher. Thousands acknowledged
him as their spiritual father. Through a great part of Asia, through
Greece and Italy, probably onward through Spain and, perhaps, even in
Great Britain, there were found traces of the victorious march of this
great soldier of the Cross! Wherever he went, he confounded the
reason-er, put to silence the boaster, made the heathen feel that one
had come among them who would hurl their idols from their pedestals! He
came like John the Baptist, casting down the high hills and filling up
the valleys to make straight a highway for his God, yet I never find
him boasting of all this, but, laying all his honors at Jehovah's feet,
he said, "By the Grace of God I am what I am," or, in the words of our
text, "It pleased God."

There are some people in the world who are constantly warning some of
us against pride and we are duly thankful for their warnings–they are,
no doubt, greatly needed–and it is very generous on their part to
bestow them upon us, especially as some of them sorely need the
warnings themselves! I remember some time ago receiving a warning
against pride from a Christian woman who told me that she would pray
that I might be kept humble. I thanked her and told her that I should
do the same for her, whereupon she said that she did not require it,
for she had no temptation to be proud, she had nothing to be proud of
and, therefore, she was quite sure she would never be proud. Then I
told her gently but decidedly, that I thought she was already proud, or
else she would not have uttered such a speech as that! I added that God
had His own way of keeping humble those whom He calls to stand in
conspicuous places–and His usual way was by chastening them in private
when their people knew nothing about it. And I also said that it was
quite as easy to be proud and to do nothing as to be proud and to do
much. Oh, dear, the lay ministers that I have seen who seemed to have
had

their backs made of cast iron–idle preachers who would scarcely bring
one soul to Christ in a century! Yet they were so dignified and
maintained "the dignity of their profession" with such vigor that there
seemed to be every reason to expect that they would die of dignity one
of these days, like the Spanish monarch who perished because his chair
was too near the fire! It was not according to court etiquette that he
should move it, himself, or that he should ring the bell for anybody
else to do it and, therefore, he sat still till he brought on a fever
by which he afterwards lost his life. If we have nothing, we should be
humble because of our poverty–and if we have much, we ought to be
humble because we are so much in debt to God! A man who owes £10,000
has no cause to crow over his fellow debtor who owes far less than he
does. He would be foolish if he said, "I have more to be proud of than
you have, for I owe £10,000, but you only owe £100." Why, that would be
the reason why he should hang his head down still lower! And so should
it be with the man whom God greatly honors. This should be the reason
for keeping himself very humble because he knows–and God will make him
remember it, too–that if there is any difference between him and other
men, it is only because "it pleased God." III. Now I am going to use
our text in a third way as A REASON FOR COURAGE.

I should like to see more of this virtue than we see nowadays. We live
in an age which needs to have a large infusion of the heroic martyr
spirit which enabled our forefathers to go boldly to the block or to
the stake for Christ's sake. We may well blush as we see how many
professors are ashamed of the religion which they are supposed to have
received. If they are called to do some work for Christ, how often do
they stop and parley, and question, and hesitate and, at last, when
they have summoned up enough courage to come forward, it is only with
an apology upon their lips for daring to do something for Jesus! I
heard one say of a certain preacher, "I greatly admired him, for he
commenced his sermon by saying, 'Permit a young man to address you.'" I
said, "That is not the way God's servants ought to talk. If God has
given them anything to say for Him, they have not to ask anybody's
permission to say it, nor should they apologize to anybody for saying
it as God enables them to say it." Apologies are out of place in the
pulpit! The man whom God sends to speak for Him is God's ambassador–he
has no right to apologize for delivering his Lord's message! He who
professes to be sent of God either is or is not God's ambassador. If he
is not, let him at once take himself off the pulpit! If he is his
Master's accredited representative, he needs no excuse and should make
none.

I think it will make us courageous and help us to do exploits for God
if we can feel that we do our work because it pleases God. I have never
approved of the warfare of the old Commonwealth days. I do not believe
that, after all, England gained much by fighting. Under Cromwell, she
gained liberty for a time, but it was soon lost again, as liberty
always must be if it is only won by the sword. But mark you, I must say
this–that which made Cromwell so mighty was the firm conviction that
"it pleased God" to make him the leader of the Ironsides! And that
which made his soldiers victorious on so many hard-fought fields was
that they also felt that "it pleased God." To them it was not a
question as to whether it was lawful to fight–they had made up their
minds about that matter. Taking out their little soldiers' Bible, they
read some fiery Psalm. And having read it, their blood boiled and, as
the old Crusaders cried, "Deus vult,"–"God wills it"–they shouted
their battle cry, "The Lord of Hosts," and dashed into the fight! And
they were victorious because they felt that "it pleased God." And now,
today, battling inch by inch, and contending hour by hour against the
leaguered hosts of sin, you and I can never be mighty if we only stand
in our own strength and question our call to be soldiers of the Cross!
But if we felt that each blow that we strike pleases God–and if in
every advance we make into the enemy's territory we can say, "It
pleases God," and if our war cry as we dash to the conflict is, "It
pleases God"–then we shall feel the earth shake again beneath the
tramp of the heroes' feet and we shall see the Church of God as she
should be–"fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army
with banners." Why, even the power of the Crusaders arose from the fact
that they thought the Crusaders "pleased God."

Brothers and Sisters, we must get back this old enthusiasm if ever our
land is to be swept clear of Popery! If ever Europe is to become free
with God's freedom, if ever Africa is to have the light of the Truth of
God driving away her dense darkness, if ever Asia, America and
Australia are to be won for the Lord Jesus Christ, they whom God has
called to the conflict must fight because it pleases God! Surely none
of you who profess to be Christ's will be content unless you do
something to help toward this great end because it pleases God! As you
come to the Communion Table, realize that God is within you, making
your body His Throne and enabling you to carry out your great life
purpose of glorifying God in your body and in your spirit which are
His. Do all that you do because it pleases God! If His Spirit shall
help you to feel and act thus, blessed shall it be both for the Church
and for the world!

My time has gone, yet I am not nearly done, so I must give you the rest
in brief. Here is AN ARGUMENT FOR PATIENCE. "It pleased God." The cup
is bitter, the knife is sharp, the bit is hard, the bereavement is
sore, but as it pleases God, we kiss the rod and patiently bow to our
Father's will.

Then, next, we have here A SUGGESTION FOR HOPE. If it pleased God to
save Saul of Tarsus–and if the only reason why He should save him was
because He pleased to do it–then why cannot He save you? Have you been
a drunkard? Have you dived into the foul slough of lust? Have you
defiled yourself by dishonesty? Still, if it pleases God, He can save
you! Now I know it pleases God to save everyone who trusts in Christ.
Then if you trust in Christ, you are saved! Awake, O man! Awake, O
woman and let this be your language–"I am the chief of sinners, but it
pleased God to save another who called himself the chief of sinners,
so–

'I'll to the gracious King approach, Whose scepterpardon gives. Perhaps
He may command my touch, And then the suppliant lives.'" If you will
thus cast yourself upon the Sovereign mercy of God in Christ Jesus, it
will please God and you shall be saved!

And then, last of all, our text is A MOTIVE FOR HOLINESS AND ZEAL. If
"it pleased God" and, therefore, He saved me when there was no reason
in me why I should be saved. If He loved me when I was filthy–now that
I have been washed I would be filthy no more–and in holiness I will
seek to show my gratitude to Him! If He loved me when I was dead, now
that He has made me alive I will not be lifeless and cold, but full of
zeal and fire for Him! I do not know how to press this last point
unless I get back to the one I was urging upon you just now. If you
feel that God has willed that you should be saved and that God wills
that you should be the means of saving others–that God wills that you
should become a spiritual father or mother in Israel–then I know that
your heart will boil over with holy zeal and that you will go forth as
a conqueror who has the certainty of victory already in his heart! God
shall be with you and you shall go on conquering and to conquer! The
Lord add His blessing for Jesus' sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GALATIANS 1:11-24; 2.

Galatians 1:11-17. But I make known to you, brethren, that the Gospel
that was preached by me is not after man. For Ineither received it from
man, neither was I taught it but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ For
you have heard of my conversation in timepast in the Jews 'religion,
how that beyond measure Ipersecuted the Church of God, and wasted it:
and profited in the Jews 'religion above many my equals in my own
nation, being more exceedingly jealous of the traditions of my fathers.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and
called me by His Grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach
Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them who were Apostles before
me; but I went up to Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.Paul was
intensely desirous that the Galatian Christians should understand that
he was no mere repeater of other men's doctrines, but that what he
taught he had received directly from God by supernatural Revelation.
They knew that he had been a most determined opposer of the Gospel.
Indeed, he was a man of such great determination that whatever he did,
he did with all his might! So, no sooner did God reveal Christ to him,
so that he knew Jesus to be the Messiah, than he earnestly sought to
learn yet more of the Truth of God, not by going up to the Apostles at
Jerusalem, to borrow from them, but by getting alone in the waste
places of Arabia! There, by thought and meditation upon the Word, and
by communion with God, to learn yet more concerning the Divine
mysteries.

18-24. Then after three years I went to Jerusalem to see Peter, and
abode with him fifteen days. But others of the Apostles I saw none,
save James, the Lord's brother. Now the things which I write unto you,
behold, before God, I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of
Syria and Cilicia; and was unknown by face unto the Churches of Judaea
which were in Christ: but they had heard only that he which persecuted
us in times past now preaches the faith which once he destroyed. And
they glorified God in me.

Galatians 2:1, 2. Then fourteen years later, I went up again to
Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by
revelation he was sent by the Church at Antioch, but the Church there
was guided by Revelation, so that Paul is correct in saying, "I went up
by revelation"–

2-4. And communicated unto them that Gospel which I preach among the
Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any
means I should run, or had run, in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was
with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: and that
because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privately to
spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might
bring us into bondage. There were always some among the Jewish converts
who insisted that the Gentiles should come under the seal of the Old
Covenant if they were to be partakers of the blessings of the Gospel.
But to this Paul would never consent–

5. To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the
truth of the Gospel might continue with you. It is impossible for us to
estimate how much we owe to the Apostle Paul! Of all who have ever
lived, we who are Gentiles owe more to him than to any other man! See
how he fought our battles for us. When our Jewish brethren would have
excluded us because we were not of the seed of Abraham according to the
flesh, how bravely did he contend that if we were partakers of the same
faith–Abraham is the father of all the faithful, that he was loved of
God and the Covenant was made with him, not in circumcision, but before
he was circumcised–then we are partakers of that Covenant!

6-10. But of these who seemed to be something, (whatever they were, it
makes no matter to me: God shows personal favoritism to no man) for
they who seemed to be something added nothing to me: but on the
contrary, when they saw that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was
committed unto me, as the Gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter,
(for He worked effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the
circumcision, the same was mighty to me toward the Gentiles), and when
James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the Grace
that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of
fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the
circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the
same which I also was forward to do. [See Sermon #99, Volume 2–the
duty of

REMEMBERING THE POOR.] One of the first things he did, when there

was a famine in Judaea, was to make a collection for the saints in
other places, that he might aid the poor Christians.

11-14. But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face,
because he was to be blamed. For before certain men came from James, he
did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and
separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the
other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas, also,
was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they
walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel, I said unto
Peter before them all, If you, being a Jew, live after the manner of
Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compel you the Gentiles to live
as do the Jews?It must have been very painful to Paul's feelings to
come into conflict with Peter, whom he greatly esteemed. But for the
Truth's sake, he knew no persons, and he had to withstand even a
beloved Brother when he saw that he was likely to pervert the
simplicity of the Gospel and rob the Gentiles of their Christian
liberty! For this we ought to be very grateful to our gracious God who
raised up this brave champion, this beloved Apostle of the Gentiles!

15, 16. We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by
faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we
might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the
Law: for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. No mere
man can keep the Law of God–no mere man has ever done so. We have all
sinned and come short of the glory of God! And as an absolutely perfect
obedience is demanded by the Law, which knows nothing of mercy, we fly
from the Law to obtain salvation by the Grace of God in Christ Jesus!

17. But if, while we seek to bejustified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid
That would not be caused by the Gospel, but by our disregard of it.

18, 19. For I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. For I through the Law am dead to the Law, that I might
live unto God. "Through my sight of the Law, which I have seen to be so
stern that all it can do is to condemn me for my shortcomings, I am
driven away from it and led to come and live in Christ Jesus under the
rule of Grace–not under the law of Moses."

20, 21. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless Ilive; yet not I, but
Christ lives in me: and the life which Inow live in the flesh Ilive by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I
do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the
Law, then Christ is dead in vain.