III. +That we may observe and remember what he had said as the
foundation of our religion+--that the doctrine of the apostles is the
only infallible truth of God, against which we may not listen to
Fathers, Councils, or to the very angels of God.
IV. They are accursed +who teach otherwise than the Galatians had
received.+--As Paul preached the Gospel of Christ, so the Galatians
received it. The great fault of our times is that whereas the Gospel
is preached it is not accordingly received. Many have no care to know
it; and they who know it give not unto it the assent of faith, but
only hold it in opinion.--_Perkins._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 10-12.
_The Superhuman Origin of the Gospel._
+I. The Gospel is not constructed on human principles.+--"But I
certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is
not after man" (ver. 11). Its character is such as the human mind
would never have conceived. When it was first proclaimed it was the
puzzle of the religious and the ridicule of the learned--"unto the
Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." It is
wholly opposed to the drift of human tendencies. Its supreme aim is
to effect a complete transformation of human nature. Not to destroy
that nature, but to renew, elevate, and sublimate it. By its
principle of self-sacrificing love, its insistence of the essential
oneness of the race, its methods in dealing with the world's evils,
its lofty morality, and its uncompromising claims of superiority the
Gospel transcends all the efforts of human ingenuity. Augustine, the
father of Western theology in the fifth century, divided the human
race into two classes--the one who lived according to man and the
other who lived according to God. The Gospel is the only revelation
that teaches man how to live according to God.
+II. The Gospel does not pander to human tastes.+--"For do I now
persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet
pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (ver. 10). The
adversaries of the apostle insinuated that he was a trimmer,
observing the law among the Jews and yet persuading the Gentiles to
renounce it; becoming all things to all men that he might form a
party of his own. Such an insinuation was based on an utter
misconception of the Gospel. So far from flattering, Paul preached a
Gospel that humbled men, demanding repentance and reform. It often
came in collision with popular tastes and opinions; and though the
apostle was a man of broad views and sympathies, he was ever the
faithful and uncompromising servant of Christ. Public opinion may be
hugely mistaken, and there is danger of over-estimating its
importance. It is the lofty function of the preacher to create a
healthy public opinion and Christianise it, and he can do this only
by a scrupulous and constant representation of the mind of Christ,
his Divine Master. The wise Phocion was so sensible how dangerous it
was to be touched with what the multitude approved that upon a
general acclamation made when he was making an oration he turned to
an intelligent friend and asked in a surprised manner, "What slip
have I made?" George Macdonald once said, "When one has learned to
seek the honour that cometh from God only, he will take the
withholding of the honour that cometh by man very lightly indeed."
+III. The Gospel has a distinctly superhuman origin.+--"For I neither
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ" (ver. 12). Paul's reception of the Gospel was not only
a revelation of Christ _to_ him, but at the same time a revelation of
Christ _in_ him. The human vehicle was spiritually prepared for the
reception and understanding of the Divine message; and this moral
transformation not only convinced him of the superhuman character of
the Gospel, but also empowered him with authority to declare it. The
Gospel carries with it the self-evidencing force of its Divine origin
in its effect upon both preacher and hearer. It is still an enigma to
the mere intellectual student; only as it is received into the inmost
soul, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, is its true nature apprehended
and enjoyed.
+Lessons.+--1. _Man everywhere is in dire need of the Gospel._
2. _The human mind is incapable of constructing a saving Gospel._
3. _The Gospel is inefficacious till it is received as a Divine gift._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._