This is Monday evening, March 5, 1973, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is being given by Brother Stephen Kaung.
We look to the Lord in prayer.
Lord, as we turn our hearts to Thee, may Thou turn to us. May the light of Thy countenance shine upon us. May wisdom and revelation be given to us, that we may know Thee in a real way.
Lord, we just commit this time into Thy hands, trusting Thee to perfect Thy work in and among us, that it may be unto the praise of Thy glory. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
But I make known to you, brethren, as to the glad tidings which were announced by me, that they are not according to man.
For neither did I receive them from man, neither was I taught them, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.
For ye have heard what was my manner of life formerly in Judaism, that I excessively persecuted the assembly of God and ravaged it, and advanced in Judaism beyond many my contemporaries in my nation, being exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
But when God, Who set me apart even from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might announce Him as glad tidings among the nations, immediately I took not counsel with flesh and blood;
neither went I up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus.
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make acquaintance with Peter, and I remained with him fifteen days.
But I saw none other of the apostles, but James the brother of the Lord.
Now what I write to you, behold, before God, I do not lie.
Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; but I was unknown personally to the assemblies of Judea which are in Christ.
Only they were hearing that he who persecuted us formerly now announces the glad tidings of the faith which formerly he ravaged; and they glorified God in me.
O senseless Galatians, who has bewitched you, to whom, as before your very eyes, Jesus Christ has been portrayed crucified among you?
This only I wish to learn of you: Have you received the Spirit on the principle of works of law, or of the report of faith?
Are you so senseless? Having begun in Spirit, are you going to be made perfect in flesh?
Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed also in vain?
He therefore Who ministers to you the Spirit and works miracles among you, is it on the principle of works of law, or of the report of faith?
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
Know then that they that are on the principle of faith, these are Abraham’s sons.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations on the principle of faith, announced beforehand the glad tidings to Abraham: “In thee all the nations shall be blessed.”
So that they who are on the principle of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
For as many as are on the principle of works of law are under curse; for it is written, “Cursed is every one who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
But that by law no one is justified with God is evident, because, “The just shall live on the principle of faith.”
But the law is not on the principle of faith; but, “He that shall have done these things shall live by them.”
Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, “Cursed is every one hanging upon a tree,”
that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
We mentioned this morning that when God had set apart Barnabas and Paul for the special work that He had appointed them, they began to travel. They first went to Cyprus, the native place of Barnabas. After they went through that island, they returned to the mainland. They visited Pamphylia, and from there they went on into the Roman province of Galatia.
These churches in Galatia were the churches that God used Paul to establish in his first so-called missionary trip. For this reason, these churches were the churches of his first love.
So when he learned of certain conditions and situations in the churches in Galatia, his heart was deeply disturbed. Out of the anguish of that loving heart, he wrote a very strong letter to the churches in Galatia.
We mentioned this morning that no letter written by Paul was written in such strong tones as the letter to the Galatians. It borders almost on passion. We almost think that Paul lost his temper, but we know that he did not.
Because these churches were the churches of his first love, the more you love, the stronger will be your reaction. Because he loved them so much, and wanted to see them walking in the straight path, he was so concerned that he reacted very strongly.
First, the situation. You know, in a sense, I feel that the churches in Galatia, according to the Epistle to the Galatians, had entered into the very difficult period of adolescence.
These churches in Galatia had a beautiful beginning. Barnabas and Paul entered into their midst, and the power of God was so manifest in spite of all the persecutions and oppositions.
Paul was even stoned and left for dead. They pulled him out of the city and left him there, thinking that he was dead. Then the brethren surrounded Paul. Suddenly Paul stood up, and he walked back into the city. That was resurrection life.
So here you find the work of God in these places through so many things. These believers had such a marvelous beginning. They knew the grace of God. They received the promise of the Holy Spirit, and they had a marvelous beginning there.
When Paul and Barnabas came back, they exhorted them, encouraged them, appointed elders in these different assemblies, and left them with the Lord. So you find that these churches in Galatia had a very happy childhood—a good beginning.
But after a couple of years, things began to change.
Another gospel was preached to them, and Paul said it was not a gospel at all, because it was another—not of the same kind, but of another kind. These believers in Galatia were led away from Christ into something else.
We mentioned this morning that their problem was that they were too anxious to grow. They were too anxious for perfection. They were impatient with the working of the cross in their lives.
So when people came in with an instant method, saying, “If you want to be instantly spiritual and perfect, it is very easy. You just be circumcised. You just keep certain days and certain seasons, and now you are perfect,” immediately you find that they went into that.
And who would not, if you do not know the Lord too much or too well? Their problem was that they were over-anxious to grow.
Instead of letting the Spirit of God use the cross of Christ, working deeply in their lives, cutting off the flesh, and forming Christ in their lives, they looked away from Christ. They adopted certain methods—quick methods—and they were told that they could be instantly spiritual.
They were led away from Christ. For this reason, Paul, in writing the letter to the churches in Galatia, tried to lead them back to Christ. He tried to lead them back to the very basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You know, every letter in the Bible has a very special message. Even though every book in the Bible touches upon many things, every book has a very specific message—a central message in each book.
What is the central message in the letter to the Galatians?
It is true, of course, that this letter to the churches in Galatia was Paul’s letter to solve a specific problem. In solving that specific problem, he had a special message for that special people. That is true.
But you remember one thing. In Revelation 2 and 3, you find that our Lord Jesus was meeting the specific needs of specific churches: the church in Ephesus, the church in Smyrna, the church in Pergamum, the church in Thyatira, the church in Sardis, the church in Philadelphia, and the church in Laodicea.
All these churches had their special problems, and the Lord wrote seven letters to the seven churches. He had a special message for each church to meet its various needs.
At the end of each letter, you find that He says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.” In other words, even though each letter was addressed to a different church, carrying a special message for each, yet every letter is meant for all the churches.
So, brothers and sisters, even though the letter to the churches in Galatia was written in such a way, yet it is in the Holy Bible. It is for us today. There is a special message for us today.
And the special message is the very basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of that, Martin Luther used this letter as the foundation of the work of Reformation.
We must have a firm foundation on which we can build. If there is any defect in the foundation, and you try to build, sooner or later it will fall.
So we need to be led by the Spirit of God back to the very basics of the gospel.
We mentioned this morning the first basic: grace. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of grace.
And what is grace? Briefly, grace is not a thing, or many things. Grace is a Person. It is Christ. God gives Christ to us as grace.
As we receive Christ, we receive grace. He has given Him to us graciously, freely, and universally. Because we have received Him, therefore grace has to be reproduced in us. We will return thanks to God, and more than thanks: the very character of Christ will grow in us. Even that is called grace.
So from the very beginning to the very end, we find this grace.
Now this evening, we would like to come to the second basic of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You are saved by grace through faith. If it is grace, then it must be by faith. So the second basic of the gospel of Jesus Christ is faith.
The prophet Habakkuk made a statement in the Holy Spirit. He made a single statement. He said:
The just shall live by his faith.
It was a statement, but it was a tremendous thing. People did not understand that statement: “The just shall live by faith.” Who are the just? How do they live? And what is this faith?
After hundreds of years, the Holy Spirit began to explain that statement to us. In explaining that statement, He gave us three books in the New Testament: the book of Romans, the book of Hebrews, and the book of Galatians.
These three books explain the statement, “The just shall live by faith.”
The book of Romans deals with this matter of the just. Who are the just? There is none just, no, not one. Whether you are a Gentile, whether you are very moral or very immoral, we are all unjust. There is no one who is good and just before God.
The just God justifies us. How can the just God justify sinners? But it happened. The just God does justify the sinner through the blood of our Lord Jesus.
We are justified before God, just as if we had never sinned. All our past sins are forgiven. But how about the present? How about the future? Are we really the just?
We are justified, but are we the just? Thank God, this old man was crucified. Therefore, it is no longer I, but Christ who lives in us. Who is Christ? He is the Just One—Christ, the Righteous One, the Just.
The Holy Spirit lives in us. We have no obligation to live by the flesh. We have every obligation to live by the Spirit. If we live by the Spirit, then we will be glorified, because this is the will of God: that we shall be conformed to the image of God.
So here you find the just. That is the book of Romans.
But how should the just live? What manner of life do they live? You get the book of Hebrews. The whole book of Hebrews tells us how we live.
We do not live under the old covenant. We live in the new covenant. Because we are in the new covenant, not only are our sins forgiven, but they are forgotten by God. We do not need to instruct anyone, “You should know the Lord,” because everyone shall know the Lord in himself.
We have the right within, and the Spirit of God is the law of our life—not only the law, but the power of our life. How shall we live before God? We will live like that.
The whole of Hebrews 11, from Abel down through the ages, shows us the way we live: having the testimony of God. That is how we go.
Then it takes the book of Galatians to tell us what faith is. Sometimes we think that it is Romans that tells us what faith is, but Romans actually tells us who are the just. It is the Epistle to the Galatians that explains to us what faith is.
What is faith? How do you know that you are living in faith? How do you know that you are walking in faith? That is the Epistle to the Galatians.
As we did this morning, we will do it this evening. First of all, we would like to know the meaning of the word faith in New Testament Greek. In other words, this word faith in New Testament Greek has a certain usage, and we would like to know how it is used in the New Testament and how much is included in it.
Now, thank God, we all know something about this, because we have believed in the Lord. We know what faith is. Yet, do we really know what faith is?
According to the New Testament, the word faith has three different meanings. You can find this word used in the New Testament in these three senses. All these meanings are interrelated. It does not mean that they are separated, but sometimes the emphasis is on the first meaning, sometimes on the second, and sometimes on the third. Yet all the meanings are always there.
Number one: faith is a strong conviction—an acknowledgement of a revelation received.
You receive a revelation, and that revelation carries with it, within you, a very strong conviction, assurance, and acknowledgement of what you have seen.
Number two: when you have received a revelation and you have a strong conviction within you concerning that revelation, then what happens? There is an absolute surrender of yourself to the truth that is revealed.
Faith is not merely that you believe it. Faith is that you obey.
You know, we always think of believing in the Lord Jesus as if, “Now I believe in Him. All right, I believe Him. I receive Him. He is for me.” Thank God, there is that part. But strictly speaking, that is not enough.
If it is faith, then there must be a self-surrender too. That is the reason why the gospel is not only to be received, but the gospel is to be obeyed.
The problem today is that people only know that the gospel needs to be received, but they do not know that the gospel needs to be obeyed. If you believe in the gospel, you have to obey the gospel. You have to surrender yourself to it.
The third meaning of faith in the Bible is this: when you have surrendered yourself to Him, something will be produced in your life. In other words, there will be a walk of faith. There will be conduct corresponding to the faith that you have seen.
All these three meanings are included in the word faith. Faith is more than a conviction. Certain people may be under a very strong conviction of the truth, but they do not surrender. Do you call that faith? Something is missing.
If you really surrender yourself, certainly your faith will be manifested in your life. If it is not manifested in your life, something is wrong. As James says, faith without works is dead. It is only a mental assent, but it is dead because it does not work. It is not manifested.
So according to the New Testament, the word faith includes all these three meanings:
Now, that is faith.
According to the letter to the Galatians, I think we should mention two things concerning faith. Number one: faith is based on revelation.
If there is no revelation, there is no faith—no living faith.
It is true that Romans 10:17 says:
So faith cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
In other words, you have the Word of God, and when the Word of God is reported to you, then faith comes by hearing the report of the Word of God. That is true. That is true.
You know, faith and superstition are very, very different—as different as heaven and earth. What is superstition? Superstition is make-believe. In other words, there is nothing there. There is no truth there. There is no reality there. Yet you are trying to believe that there is such a thing. We call that superstition.
But what is faith? Faith is this: there is a substance there. But that substance, when it is revealed, is not make-believe; it is believing the reality. Now, that is faith.
The Word of God, when it is revealed, produces faith.
The prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 53:1, begins by saying:
Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
You find that he reported the Word of God, but nobody seemed to believe the report. Is there a contradiction? Faith comes by a report, and the report comes by the Word of God. Now Isaiah reported the Word of God, but he said, “Who hath believed?”
What happened? Sometimes you faithfully report the gospel and faithfully report the Word of God to people, but it is strange: some people believe, and some people do not. What makes the difference?
The difference is this: when the Word of God is reported in the power of the Holy Spirit, revelation is given, and those who hear believe. But if the Word of God is reported and there is no revelation, even though it is reported accurately and exactly, it does not seem to spring up.
Why? Because faith is based on revelation.
You know, in the Bible, God very rarely defines a term. We always like everything defined. When you read the Bible, probably that is a temptation. I do not know about you; I know about myself.
When you read the Bible and come to the word faith, immediately you say, “Now, what is it? Give me a definition in a few words. Then I know exactly what it is.”
And not only faith—everything. We find in the Bible the word glory, and we say, “Now, Lord, why did You never explain and define what glory is?” You see the glory of God from Genesis to Revelation, but after you have read through the whole Bible, you still do not know what glory is.
How you long for God to tell you, in a few words, the definition of glory. The same is true of justification, sanctification, and everything else.
You know, we are all strong theologians. Our minds are theological. Whenever we read the Bible, we try to express things with definitions because we feel that, by doing so, we can grasp it. We have it.
But the strange thing is that God can rarely be defined. He touches upon many things and just leaves them there. He does not define them.
Well, in the whole New Testament—or in the whole Bible—there is one place where it seems that God is defining faith. Actually, it is not a definition, but it approaches a definition. That is Hebrews 11:1.
Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
I use “substantiating” because it is very close to the original. What is it? Faith is the substantiating of the thing. There is something there, but that something needs to be substantiated. Then it becomes real to you. Now that is faith.
Please, please. Here is an air conditioner. Now, when you come and sit down, you cannot help but see this. I wonder if anyone here tonight has never noticed this until I point it out. I think every one of us has seen it. Yes, unavoidably.
Here is an air conditioner. When you come and sit down and face it, you immediately see it. Now, this is a substance. The substance is there before you come in.
But when you sit down and look at it, your eyes substantiate that something to you, so you see it. You see it.
In other words, it is not only an objective substance; it now becomes a subjective experience to you. It is real—very real.
Suppose I am blind. I come into this room and sit there. The substance is here, but I do not have the power to substantiate it. Therefore, I cannot experience it.
Not because I do not experience it do I declare that there is no air conditioner in this room. No, there is. But the problem is that I do not have eyes to see. That is the problem.
I fail to experience the substance. And if you fail to experience a substance, that substance is, in reality, as if it is nonexistent to you.
Now that is what happens to the world. The eyes of worldly people are blinded by the god of this age. So, even though the gospel is so real, living, and powerful, yet to them it is nonexistent. They cannot experience it.
Faith substantiates. Just like this: if I put a cloth over this air conditioner and cover it, you come into the room, sit there, and look at it. Well, what do you see?
You see the veil. You see the cover. But you do not know what is behind it. You do not know what is behind it, though it is there. You have eyes, but you cannot see the object. Why? Because it is veiled. It is covered.
So what you need is for someone to come here and unveil it. As soon as I unveil it, oh, it is an air conditioner. You see the point?
It is true that faith is the power to substantiate a substance, but that something is covered. It is a mystery of God. Even though there are eyes, you cannot see until God reveals it to you—unveils it. You know, that is revelation.
So when revelation is given, then, “Oh, I see. I know.”
Faith is based on revelation. If there is no revelation, it is dead knowledge. You may say you have faith, but it is a creed—articles of faith. You do not really see it. It does not work.
You have not that personal experience of it. Even though you know all about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and know the story from the beginning to the end, no matter how accurate your knowledge is, yet you are not saved. Your sins are not forgiven. You do not experience Christ until one day, suddenly, the veil is opened.
That is it.
Strange, to believe is the most natural thing. You look back and say, “Now, why did I not believe earlier? It is so simple. It is so real. I could have believed long ago. Why did I have all these problems and trouble to believe?”
Now you have the same problem with those unbelievers. You cannot understand why they do not believe. It is so clear, right? The reason is that faith is based on revelation.
All right. Paul, in writing to the Galatians, said, “Brethren, the gospel that I announced to you does not come from man. I was not taught by men. It is not according to man. It is by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Now you see Paul—this is most important. Before that revelation, Paul was supposed to be a man of faith. Why? Because he was very religious.
You cannot call Paul, who was Saul before, a man without faith. He had faith. He was brought up in Jerusalem and sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the great master of Judaism.
As a Pharisee, he learned the law under the greatest master of his time. He advanced in Judaism far beyond his contemporaries. He was so zealous in Judaism and in the traditions of the fathers.
Certainly, this man Saul had faith. But what kind of faith? What did he have? The traditions of the fathers. All that he knew of Judaism was taught by human tradition.
His whole religion, his whole Judaism, came from there—according to men, instructed by men, and lots of it. He became the very symbol of human faith.
Why did he persecute the church? Because according to the traditions of the fathers, Jesus was an impostor, and those followers of Jesus were rebels against Judaism. They should be wiped out.
He thought he was serving God by doing that. Any revelation? No revelation. It all came by man—the traditions of the fathers. Now that is religion.
What is religion? Religion is that which you have received from men without revelation. It can be called anything as a religion.
It may be very accurate. It can have a divine origin, like Judaism. But if there is no revelation, there is no revelation.
And how Paul suffered under that. Because he had no revelation, he had Judaism; he had religion. So he went against God, not knowing that he was against God.
But thank God, on the road to Damascus, a heavenly light shone upon him, and he saw the Righteous One.
In that vision, he was stricken by the light. Stricken and stunned before the light, he was brought to the ground. As he lay prostrate on the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.”
That revelation destroyed all his religion.
He got up, and he could not see anymore. A revelation shatters everything.
Judaism was shattered by that revelation of Jesus Christ. You know how much that revelation of Jesus Christ shattered his Judaism? It shattered it to such an extent that he had to go to Arabia and stay there alone with God for about three years.
Why? He had to learn it anew.
After he received a revelation, he did not consult flesh and blood. Well, we say, “Saul, you are just too proud. How can you not consult your brethren?”
He might answer, “My brethren, I have suffered so much from flesh and blood. They taught me Judaism, and I did not know that I was opposing God. No more would I consult flesh and blood. I have received revelation. I have to go to God now.”
“My faith is based on revelation. My faith is not based upon flesh and blood, upon the consultation of flesh and blood, or the counsel of flesh and blood.”
So Paul learned his lesson. He would not consult with flesh and blood. He did not even go to Jerusalem to see the apostles who were before him. Even those apostles—he was afraid to go and see them right away because he was afraid they were men.
He went to Arabia, to the desert.
As a Pharisee, he knew the Old Testament by heart. But all his interpretation of the Old Testament was based upon the interpretation of the traditions of the fathers.
He had a lot of theology. He knew all about the Old Testament. I think he had a very good grasp of the Old Testament according to the traditions of the fathers. But now, with the revelation of Jesus Christ, all his theology was finished.
He had to restudy the Old Testament in the light of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, again I say, we are all natural theologians. As you study the Bible, what are you doing? As you study the Bible, you are trying to put everything in its place. You are trying to develop a system. You are trying to systematize everything until, after several years of study, you are satisfied: “Now I have everything well planned and good.”
Do you have this kind of feeling? Oh, let me tell you, if there is something in the Bible and I do not know where to put it, I am disturbed. I have to dig and dig and dig and dig, and try and fight until I come to the point where I know where it belongs.
Not only in matters of doctrine—of course, prophecy, yes, every event, in the right order. You know?
Have you had such an experience? You come to a day when you feel, “Now, I have it. Now I have the Bible. Now I have the interpretation. Now I have a system. Now I have developed my own systematic theology.”
Then one day the light comes. The revelation of Jesus Christ comes. You know, when the revelation comes to you, your whole understanding of the Bible begins to fall to pieces.
It is just like a jigsaw puzzle. It is all thrown up. It is all broken up. You lose your systematic theology.
Brothers and sisters, how many times I have suffered! I thought I had everything well put and settled. Then something happens, and I have to go back and start all over again. When I am approaching perfection, again everything needs to come apart.
What is it? Revelation.
That is the reason why, when you know perfectly, then you do not know at all.
When the revelation of Jesus Christ comes, it shatters all theology and all religion. You have to go to the Lord and study the Word all over again, but in the light of Christ—not according to the tradition of men, but in the light of Christ.
That is what Paul did during those years in Arabia. He really, really read the Old Testament in the light of the revelation of Jesus Christ.
So when he came out again to Damascus, he was able to declare to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. He is the promised Messiah. He backed it up with the Old Testament.
Then, of course, in doing so, you have to maintain a balance. On the one hand, your faith has to come by revelation. If it is not by revelation, it is not real. It cannot stand the test. It has to come from revelation.
But on the other hand, after you have received revelation and it has been confirmed by the Lord, then you need fellowship.
So Paul went to Jerusalem to seek out the apostles. Even though they were afraid to see him, finally, through the good work of Barnabas, at least Peter was willing to see him. So he was with Peter for fifteen days, and he also saw James, the brother of our Lord.
Again, on the one hand, our faith must come by revelation. It should not be merely tradition. It has to come from God.
On the other hand, you have to be humble enough to fellowship with your brothers and sisters, so that your revelation may be confirmed—or, sometimes, even corrected. You know, because we are human.
Anyway, this shows one thing: faith is a matter of revelation.
Brothers and sisters, when you look back into your life with the Lord, it begins with a revelation. Before the revelation comes, you may be religious. You may be in Christianity. You may have your theology and think that you know, but you do not have faith.
There is no surrender. There is no working of God in your life. You know that.
But one day, when the revelation comes, it pleases God to reveal His Son in you—Christ, the Son. Suddenly, yes, you believe. You are now in faith. You have living faith now, and this is the faith that you can live by.
You live by that faith.
But, brothers and sisters, the problem is this: you begin with revelation. You enter into faith. But after you enter into faith, do you continue in this way of revelation?
Very often, we have a good beginning, like the Galatian believers. They had revelation. Christ crucified was livingly portrayed before them by the Spirit of God. They saw Christ crucified, and their faith was very living.
It produced in them such a reaction that they were even willing to pluck out their eyes for Paul. That was no small thing. It was very real.
But then you find that they did not continue in the revelation of faith. They began to listen here and listen there. People began to tell them, “Now you must be circumcised, and then you are perfect. You must keep the days and the seasons, and then you are perfect.”
When they began to listen here and there, you find that they fell back into the traditions. When they fell back into the traditions of men, were they in faith?
They had faith, but they were not living in faith. They were not living. They had gone aside, astray from the way of life.
Brothers and sisters, this is true. We have to be very watchful and careful before God.
Can we go and listen to some people? Even if they tell you the truth, you cannot just say, “Well, now I have learned the truth. Now I have it.” You do not. You do not.
What you need is this: when you hear the truth, you should go to the Lord and ask, “Lord, reveal that truth to me.”
If the truth is not revealed, it is dead so far as you are concerned. But when the truth is revealed—that is to say, quickened by the Spirit—then it quickens your life.
You read the Bible, and you may memorize certain verses. You may even know the explanation of these verses, but they do not work until one day, suddenly, it dawns on you. That is it. It begins to produce something different. That is revelation.
Our whole life of faith is a continual life of revelation.
Brothers and sisters, revelation does not mean that you have to see something with your naked eyes. If you had to see something with your naked eyes, how many times could you have revelation? The first time Paul had that revelation, he was blind. He could not see.
Revelation simply means that the Holy Spirit unveils the mind of God to you through your spirit. Deep down in your spirit, there is an unveiling, and faith arises. Now, that is revelation.
Revelation does not mean something spectacular. As a matter of fact, God often reveals in the most ordinary way. God revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush. That was a most common occurrence in the desert.
Nothing strange. Do not expect anything. But when revelation comes, your faith arises. You do not need to manufacture faith. You do not need to create your faith. It just comes. It just comes.
To not believe is more difficult than to believe when you have seen. It is not that instant.
Brothers and sisters, if you measure your faith by revelation, how much remains as living faith? How much?
Furthermore, faith is something that we have to live by. We have to walk by faith. Now, how do we walk by faith? How do you know that you are walking by faith?
If you are walking by revelation, you are walking by faith.
Thirty years later, Paul went to Jerusalem, to that great council in Jerusalem over the matter of circumcision: should Gentile believers be circumcised?
If you read Acts 15, you find that Paul went to Jerusalem as one sent by the church in Antioch. Certain brethren from James came from Jerusalem, and evidently they used the name of James—maybe without James knowing it.
They began to teach the people in Antioch that these Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law. They even used the name of James. Paul and Barnabas argued with them.
Because they came from Jerusalem, the problem had to be settled in Jerusalem—not because Jerusalem was another church or a mother church. There is no mother church in the Bible, only sister churches.
But they went to Jerusalem because the difficulty came from Jerusalem, and it had to be settled there. So the church in Antioch sent Barnabas and Paul to Jerusalem to settle this matter with the church in Jerusalem. That is the account in Acts.
But when you read Galatians, Paul said, “I went by revelation.” Any contradiction? On the contrary, they are complementary.
The church in Antioch sent Paul to Jerusalem, but he received a revelation from God that he should go for the purpose of preserving the truth of the gospel and the unity of the body of Christ.
You find that not only in his understanding of the Word of God must there be revelation in order to make it a living truth; in his daily walk and movement, he was governed by revelation.
He wanted to go to Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbade him. He wanted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit him. He did not know what to do, and a vision of a Macedonian appeared to him.
You see, every movement was directed by revelation, confirmed by the church. The church sent him, but he received a revelation.
Yes, Paul was a man of faith. Why? Because he lived by revelation. He was guided by the will of God. Every step of his life was guided by revelation—an unveiling of God’s mind to him. Now, that is living in faith.
The same factor is seen in Peter. You can receive a revelation from God. When Peter was on that rooftop, you remember, praying, he received a revelation: a great sheet coming down with all kinds of four-footed and creeping things—clean and unclean animals.
A voice said, “Peter, rise up, kill and eat.” Peter said, “No, Lord, I have never touched anything unclean.” The voice said, “What God hath cleansed, make not thou common.” Three times he received a revelation.
Because of that revelation, he went to the house of Cornelius. Even Cornelius told Peter, “Thou didst well that thou didst come.”
Even in that great council at Jerusalem in Acts 15, Peter was very strong. His word carried weight. He testified how God gave him revelation that they were saved in just the same way, because the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles just as He was given to them.
Partly because of his strong testimony, based on revelation, the decision was made right.
After the council, Peter visited Antioch. When he visited Antioch, he acted according to the revelation he had received, because he ate with the Gentiles. He mixed with them because God had declared that no man should be called common.
But then certain brethren from James came from Jerusalem. When Peter saw them, suddenly he became frightened.
“What will these brethren report to James? James is very strict, you know. What will these brothers report?”
When he thought of that, he began to separate himself from the Gentile believers. All the Jewish believers separated from the Gentile believers, sitting at different tables, and even Barnabas followed them.
What? Was Peter walking in faith? He walked by expediency, not by revelation. He compromised.
Thank God for the faithfulness of Paul. Paul withstood Peter before the brothers and sisters—not to downgrade Peter, not at all, but for the preservation of the truth of the gospel.
Peter was humble enough to accept it. Beautiful, you know—beautiful.
Brothers and sisters, how easy it is for us to walk by expediency instead of by revelation.
Are you living and walking by the revelation of Jesus Christ? Or do you look around and begin to fear, and try to compromise? Why? Expediency.
Are you really interested, brothers and sisters? If you really come down to this matter of faith, probably you have to say, “Lord, increase my faith.” I do not think you have much faith.
Faith is based on revelation.
We have to go on very quickly to the second point. In the third and fourth chapters, you find that Paul puts before us two opposites. One is the faith of Christ; the other is the works of law.
These two are opposites. On one side, you find faith; on the other side, you find works. On one side, you find Christ; on the other side, you find law.
Faith is anchored in Christ. Works are anchored in the law.
What is faith? Faith sees that everything is done in Christ—D-O-N-E, done. That is faith.
What are works? Works say, D-O. You have to do it. You have to do it. Now that is works.
Whenever there is faith, it is always done. Whenever there is no faith, it is always do. That is simple.
Before you have faith in Jesus Christ, you do. You have to do. You have to protect yourself. But one day, when you see that it is done, then you rest.
This is not only true in the beginning of your Christian life. This is true all the way through your life.
Brothers and sisters, this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you think that in the beginning it is done and not do, but after it is done you have to do to undo it? That would not be the gospel anymore.
Oh, thank God. After you are saved, then you begin to do again, you know. You do and do and do, and you cannot do. Finally, when you come to the end, you look up and hear, “Done.”
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.
Done. Did you do anything? Did you do that? It is done. That is the strange thing, you know. Whenever faith comes, it is always done.
Even in a meeting for healing, when people are praying, “Lord, You heal, You heal, You heal,” you are still trying to get God to do something.
But one day you come to the Lord and are moved by the Spirit to say, “Thank God, I am healed.” It is done.
Whenever you come to the matter of faith, you find that it is always done. Then you say, “Oh, that leaves nothing for me to do.”
Why? Because God does not want to share His glory with you.
Some people say, “No, no. What will I do then? If it is done, what do I do?” Do nothing.
What? Do nothing? Yes, trust and obey.
Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
I like that chorus. There is so much teaching in it.
Brothers and sisters, that is our flesh. Our flesh always wants to do something.
That was the problem with the Galatian believers. They wanted to do something. So some Judaizers came in and said, “That is all right. Do it. Good.”
When they began to do it, they were led astray somewhere. So Paul is trying to point them back: Christ crucified, livingly portrayed before you—have you forgotten? How foolish you are. How thoughtless you are. It is done.
The Lord said, “It is finished.” You just trust and obey, and the Holy Spirit will make it real to you, because it is already done.
Oh, brothers and sisters, it is so hard for the flesh not to do.
But as you try to do, in the beginning you try to do the law of God; at the end, you will be under bondage. You cannot escape it.
But if you can see that it is done, and you just trust and obey, you will find that the Lord says, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Very simple.
So this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, thank God, the gospel of Jesus Christ has left me with nothing to do, because He has done it all. This is grace.
Well, we are not saying these things just to say them. We say these things because we know they are true.
Thy Word, Lord, we need Thy revelation, that we may truly see: it is finished. It is done.
O Lord, make us humble enough to accept Thee as everything to us. Teach us how to trust and obey.
And, Lord, do make us thankful to the heavenly vision, to all that Thou hast revealed to us, that one day, when we appear before Thee, Thou mayest say, “Well done.”
O Lord, do have mercy upon us. Bless Thy people. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.