◄ Galatians 1:24 ►














Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
God Glorified In Man
Galatians 1:24
W.F. Adeney

I. THE CHURCH SHOULD HEARTILY WELCOME NEW CONVERTS. St. Paul proves conclusively that he obtained neither his Christian faith nor his apostleship from the Church at Jerusalem. But in doing so he gives little ground for the view of those who hold that he was in direct antagonism to that Church. On the contrary, he distinctly asserts that the Jewish Christians welcomed him and praised God for his conversion. This was an act of large-hearted confidence.

1. It shows a genuine Christian spirit to honour ungrudgingly a spiritual work in which we have taken no part. There is always a temptation to slight such work and to regard the fruits of it with suspicion.

2. The beauty of Christian charity is also seen in the warm welcome of one who had been an enemy. The persecutor preaches what he had opposed. That is enough for the Church at Jerusalem. If we had more faith in such conversions we should encourage them more readily.

3. The breadth of this charity is still further noticeable in readiness to welcome as a brother a man whose views and habits differ from our own. From the first St. Paul's Christianity must have borne a different colour from that of St. James. But the common faith in Christ united them.

II. THE GLORY OF CHRISTIAN GRACES IS DUE TO GOD. They are "graces:" and gifts, not attainments which a man acquires for himself. The wonderful change of the zealous persecutor of Christianity into the equally zealous preacher is wholly attributed to God. It is not St. Paul who is glorified by the Church at Jerusalem. We make the mistake of unduly praising the character of a saint without recognizing sufficiently the source of his saintliness, or we make the equally foolish error of honouring the preacher for the fruit of teaching which would never have been reaped but for the Divine power of which the man was only the conductor.

III. GOD'S GLORY IS NOWHERE SHOWN MORE RICHLY THAN IN THE WORK OF CHRISTIAN GRACE. It flashes from the face of nature, glowing in the broad heavens, smiling on the beautiful earth. It breaks out through the course of history in grand indications of providential justice and mercy. It gleams in wonderful truths revealed to the eyes of seers who speak it forth in articulate prophecy. Above all, it shines most brightly in the life and person of Christ. But as Christ is full of grace and truth, every Christian has some measure of the same blessings, and according to his measure manifests the glory of them. God may be glorified in a man. Man often dishonours God. He may also reveal God's glory. Just as the brightness of the sun is not seen in its beauty till it is reflected from earth, or sea, or sky, the glory of God must be shown on some object. Shining on the face of a Christian, it is revealed. It is well to recognize this. Our religion is too selfish, and therefore it is too gloomy. We often pray when we should be praising. We seek good things for ourselves unceasingly when we should be losing ourselves in the contemplation of the glory of God. We cannot add to that glory; yet we may and should glorify God by joyously declaring the works of his grace. - W.F.A.

Biblical Illustrator
And they glorified God in me.
Galatians 1:24
God's glory in the soul
S. H. Tyng; D. D.
I. IN THE ACT OF CONVERSION God is glorified. It is strange how many misapplications of this word "conversion" prevail in the world and the Churches. It is used to express the change from one civilization to another; the Chinaman is converted when he becomes an American. It is employed to tell the story of a change of philosophical thought, when one begins to believe in the existence of spirits after having all his days supposed that God had nothing in this universe like unto Himself, but all was dead, inert matter. It is introduced, again, as the explanation of a person's change of ecclesiastical relations. One passes from your church into the church opposite to yours, and he is "converted," according to the usage of many. He has changed the mere form of his profession, whilst he holds to the same great essential truths. Yet not one nor all of these are here meant by the words in the sacred Scriptures. It tells the story of a Divine impulse upon our affections, to turn them from the things they have loved before; upon our will, to entirely change the purposes and desires which have prevailed before; upon our life, to make perfect the contrast of that it had been theretofore. It is the impulse of God upon man, turning him away from the things that tempt him further from God unto the things that attract him into nearer associations and relationship. And every part of the act of conversion is Divine. This act of conversion includes several facts.

1. The sense of estrangement from God is its first feature. Now you will admit that this is not a common experience among men. God produces this sense of estrangement. All conversions begin here, and no power but that which is Divine can make a man realize that great truth.

2. Instantly the desire for reconciliation springs up in the heart of him whom God is converting. This has God wrought. No human being can pump up such a desire out of his estranged heart. It is like the spring in the soil which God feeds from the clouds — it would run dry if He did not give the early and the latter rain and the morning and the evening dew.

3. Now comes the determination to return. It may have occupied only minutes, but what a journey it is of soul!

II. But I want to speak, secondly, of the INFLUENCE OF CONVERSION. This is the glory of God. Both our conscious and unconscious influence as converted men and women is continually crying, "Let God be glorified."

1. In this influence of a converted soul, the first fact is the withdrawal from dishonouring associations. "Conversion to God," says one of the old seventeenth century divines, "begins with aversion from sin."

2. A second fact in this influence is the attachment of one's self to God's people. "Let God be glorified," is the desire and the expression of the soul. There is a ministry to which this influence impels him. The convert seeks his brother to save him.

III. Now, lastly, I want to point out some ASPECTS OF GOD'S GLORY that converted lives do testify. God does it all, and it takes all that there is in God to do it. It is no light work, Wherever you see a converted man, brother, there has been an Omnipresent God, there has been an Omniscient God, there has been the exercise of the omnipotence of God. Every natural perfection of God is engaged in. the conversion of a soul. Now, it is very difficult to conceive of God in our times of thought, still less in our times of devotion. The eye is made for taking in the things of beauty in this world; the reason is adapted to comprehend principles. But the eye cannot look at the full meridian sun, and the reason is blinded when it searches the depths of God's glory. Yet, when He manifests Himself in the works of His hands; when He brings the soul out of darkness into light; when He transforms a backsliding infidel into a true and accepted and faithful child of His; we testify, "God has been here." The Arab was asked how he knew that there was a God; and he answered, "When I look out of my door in the morning, how do I know it was a man, and not a camel, that passed my tent?" We know Him from the marks of His presence. A converted soul glorifies all the natural perfections of God. The moral attributes are equally engaged in a soul's conversion. Justice, mercy, love, fidelity, holiness; all these are rays of His glory. Take that prism, to-morrow, and let the sun shine through it, and you will see marvels. The white, pure light is divided into many colours. Even so this gospel of God's grace analyzes the glory of God, and shows how justice and mercy have met together; how righteousness and peace have kissed each other. At Bethlehem! see God condescending; in Galilee I see God obeying; in Gethsemane I see God struggling and agonizing; on Golgotha I see God bowing his head in the substitution for man's sin. What glorious rays of beauty! But when, with Peter and James and John, we stand on Mount Hermon to view a transfigured Christ, whose face did shine as the sun, we behold the glory of God in marvellous combination. Each ray may be contemplated in itself, but all blend in the glory of God a Saviour. All that each event of life testifies is there, and far, far more than the mind of man can ever conceive. But then, more than that, the covenant relations of God are glorified. The converted man finds a Father — meets a Saviour — is welcomed by a Friend. Now, it is sometimes the experience of children in this world, who never go away from home, that they find their parents in a new and better sense than they had ever met them before. If they have doubted them, if they have been disobedient to them, if they have suspected them, and if, at length, the dark cloud between child and parent passes away, the little one comes with new confidence to bury his head in his father's bosom, or on his mother's neck, to say, "I never knew you until now; I never understood you till now. The love has been deep down in my heart, but now I have found my father, I know the one with whom I have so long been living." Even so is it here, dear friends. The converted man finds the fatherhood of God, who has been his father in Jesus Christ, ever since he was born; realizes the Saviourhood of God, who bought him with a price before his first returnings were ever experienced; and rests in the friendship of God, who is his abiding, faithful supporter and strength. This is my subject — the glory of God in the conversion of a soul. Now, dear brother, let us bring it down to one single point. Has any one glorified God on your behalf?

(S. H. Tyng; D. D.)

God's glory incapable of addition
S. H. Tyng; D. D.
The God whose glory is in the heavens, revealed in the history of earth, and declared by the experience of every sincere and trusting soul, has perfections impossible of addition as they are evasive of all analysis. He is the standard of holiness, the source of life, the saviour from wrong. His glory belongeth unto Him; He will not give it to another; yet every soul, every life, every home, every Church, dwelling in the brightness of the beauty of God, declares, extends, exalts His glory. Before the eye and in the ear of rational creatures, theology cannot make God either more or less than He is. The panegyric does not add one virtue to the person about whom it is told; the picture that is true cannot make the portrait more beautiful than the face; the window, translucent, does not create, but lets in, the light; even so our relation to God in His glory. It belongs unto us to declare — it does not belong unto us either to diminish or increase the majesty of God. All our consecration cannot add one ray, all our scorning cannot detract aught from Him.

(S. H. Tyng; D. D.)

They glorified God in me
J. Stoughton, D. D., Bunyan.
I. THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD IN MAN. God is manifested —

1. In nature.

2. But this is surpassed by His manifestation in man.

(1)Physically;

(2)mentally;

(3)morally; and because this latter is based on the manifestation of God in Christ —

(a)in the New Testament;

(b)in the believer;

(c)in ministerial gifts and fruit.

II. THE GLORIFICATION OF GOD FOR THIS MANIFESTATION. In the way of —

1. Gratitude.

2. Imitation.

3. Trust that God will maintain the succession.

(J. Stoughton, D. D.)He does not say they marvelled at me, they praised me, they were struck with admiration of me, but they glorified God in me.

( Chrysostom.)They praised God, and took courage to believe the more in the mercy of God for that He had mercy on such a great sinner as he. "In me." They wondered that grace should be so rich as to take hold of such a wretch as I was, and for my sake believed in Christ the more.

(Bunyan.)

Christ glorified in Paul's conversion
S. Rutherford.
I am sure there was never a man who had more hurtful thoughts of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, than Paul had, for he could not endure to hear of His name, nor to hear of any that professed His name, but persecuted them all most cruelly. And yet our Lord, He did no more but speak a word or two to him, and with these same few words He cast him off his high horse, whereupon he rode so triumphantly, and lays him down upon his back and under his feet, to make him say, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" That is a cast of the power of our Lord's right arm.

(S. Rutherford.)

Divine grace seen in the life
Bishop Ryle.
Can I see the dew of heaven as it falls on a summer evening? I cannot. It comes down softly and gently, noiselessly and imperceptibly. But when I go forth in the morning, after a cloudless night, and see every leaf sparkling with moisture, and feel every blade of grass damp and wet, I say at once, "There has been a dew." Just so it is with the presence of the Spirit in the soul.

(Bishop Ryle.)

That the conversion of an immortal soul is cause of great joy and thanksgiving to the God of grace
The Pulpit.
I. This will appear if we consider the nature of the human soul, and the misery from which it is rescued.

II. If we contemplate the felicity to which a saved soul is exalted.

III. It will further appear if we consider the price paid for the salvation of the soul.

IV. This is evinced by the perfect nature of salvation.

(The Pulpit.)

They glorified God in
J. Lyth.
I. The subjection of the persecutor.

II. The conversion of the sinner.

III. The zeal and success of the preacher.

IV. The dignity of his office.

(J. Lyth.)

God glorified in Paul
J. Lyth.
I. In his conversion — a persecutor and a Pharisee — yet called by special grace (vers. 13-15).

II. In his call to the ministry — Divinely qualified (ver. 16) — and instructed (vers. 11, 12, 17).

III. In his labours — incessant — widely distributed — unsupported by human influence — yet abundant to the glory of God.

(J. Lyth.)

God glorified in Christians
C. J. P. Eyre, M. A.
It should ever be the end of the Christian man, not only to promote the glory of God by his works, but to illustrate the glory of God in his character; in this, as in nothing else, are the goodness and power of God seen most strikingly. An architect rears a building. It is admired for its beauty in detail, and its grandeur as a whole; but the praise belongs not to the building, but to the builder. A tutor takes a youth under his care, and sends him forth to attain eminence and distinction in the early struggles and in the highest positions of life, but the tutor is glorified in the pupil. So the creation is the result of the Almighty hand, and He is glorified in it. Impressions of His glory are left upon the largest and upon the least; upon the stars in their courses discovered to the telescope; and on the minutest specimens of organized life which the microscope opens to our startled eye. And shall my God be less glorified in the new creation than He is in the old? Shall He not be glorified by the humblest Christian, just as He was glorified by the great apostle? All stars shine by His will, and one star differs from another star in glory, for this is His will; but each renders to Him its measure of praise. God, who is glorified in Saul of Tarsus pre-eminently, must be glorified in each of us, as Christians, according to our position and opportunity. If we have a Christian's hope, it is to the glory of His name; if we have a Christian's life, it is to the glory of His cross; if we have performed a duty, it is to the glory of His grace; if we have borne a trial, it is to the glory of His support; if we have overcome a sinful habit, or the lust which led to it, it is to the glory of His power which gave us self-mastery.

(C. J. P. Eyre, M. A.)

People
Cephas, Galatians, James, Paul, Peter
Places
Cilicia, Damascus, Galatia, Jerusalem, Judea, Syria
Topics
Account, Glorified, Glorifying, Glory
Outline
1. Paul's greeting to the Galatians;
6. He wonders why they have so soon left him and the gospel;
8. and accurses those who preach any other gospel than he did.
11. He learned the gospel not from men, but from God;
14. and shows what he was before his calling;
17. and what he did immediately after it.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Galatians 1:24

     8664   praise

Library
Our Manifesto
TO ME it is a pitiful sight to see Paul defending himself as an apostle; and doing this, not against the gainsaying world, but against cold-hearted members of the church. They said that he was not truly an apostle, for he had not seen the Lord; and they uttered a great many other things derogatory to him. To maintain his claim to the apostleship, he was driven to commence his epistles with "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ," though his work was a self-evident proof of his call. If, after God has …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Answer to Mr. W's Fifth Objection.
5. The consideration that none of these raised persons did or could, after the return to their bodies, tell any tales of their separate existence; otherwise the Evangelists had not been silent in this main point, &c. p. 32. None of these persons, Mr. W. says, told any tales of their separate existence. So I suppose with him. As for the two first: How should they? being only, as Mr. W. says, an insignificant boy and girl, of twelve years of age, or thereabouts. Or if they did, the Evangelists were …
Nathaniel Lardner—A Vindication of Three of Our Blessed Saviour's Miracles

The Epistles of St. Paul
WHEN we pass from primitive Christian preaching to the epistles of St. Paul, we are embarrassed not by the scantiness but by the abundance of our materials. It is not possible to argue that the death of Christ has less than a central, or rather than the central and fundamental place, in the apostle's gospel. But before proceeding to investigate more closely the significance he assigns to it, there are some preliminary considerations to which it is necessary to attend. Attempts have often been made, …
James Denney—The Death of Christ

Institutions of Jesus.
That Jesus was never entirely absorbed in his apocalyptic ideas is proved, moreover, by the fact that at the very time he was most preoccupied with them, he laid with rare forethought the foundation of a church destined to endure. It is scarcely possible to doubt that he himself chose from among his disciples those who were pre-eminently called the "apostles," or the "twelve," since on the day after his death we find them forming a distinct body, and filling up by election the vacancies that had …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Fourth Conversation
The manner of going to God. * Hearty renunciation. * Prayer and praise prevent discouragement. * Sanctification in common business. * Prayer and the presence of God. * The whole substance of religion. * Self-estimation * Further personal experience. He discoursed with me very frequently, and with great openness of heart, concerning his manner of going to GOD, whereof some part is related already. He told me, that all consists in one hearty renunciation of everything which we are sensible does not …
Brother Lawrence—The Practice of the Presence of God

Exposition of St. Paul's Words, Gal. I. 8.
Exposition of St. Paul's Words, Gal. i. 8. [21.] When therefore certain of this sort wandering about provinces and cities, and carrying with them their venal errors, had found their way to Galatia, and when the Galatians, on hearing them, nauseating the truth, and vomiting up the manna of Apostolic and Catholic doctrine, were delighted with the garbage of heretical novelty, the apostle putting in exercise the authority of his office, delivered his sentence with the utmost severity, "Though we," he …
Vincent of Lérins—The COMMONITORY OF Vincent of Lérins

A Reasonable Service
TEXT: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."--Romans 12:1. There is perhaps no chapter in the New Testament, certainly none in this epistle, with which we are more familiar than this one which is introduced by the text; and yet, however familiar we may be with the statements, if we read them carefully and study them honestly they must always come to us not only in the …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

The Praise of Men.
"They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."--John xii. 43. This is spoken of the chief rulers of the Jews, who, though they believed in Christ's Divine mission, were afraid to confess Him, lest they should incur temporal loss and shame from the Pharisees. The censure passed by St. John on these persons is too often applicable to Christians at the present day; perhaps, indeed, there is no one among us who has not at some time or other fallen under it. We love the good opinion …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Sudden Conversions.
"By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain."--1 Cor. xv. 10. We can hardly conceive that grace, such as that given to the great Apostle who speaks in the text, would have been given in vain; that is, we should not expect that it would have been given, had it been foreseen and designed by the Almighty Giver that it would have been in vain. By which I do not mean, of course, to deny that God's gifts are oftentimes abused and wasted by man, which …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

So Great Blindness, Moreover, Hath Occupied Men's Minds...
43. So great blindness, moreover, hath occupied men's minds, that to them it is too little if we pronounce some lies not to be sins; but they must needs pronounce it to be sin in some things if we refuse to lie: and to such a pass have they been brought by defending lying, that even that first kind which is of all the most abominably wicked they pronounce to have been used by the Apostle Paul. For in the Epistle to the Galatians, written as it was, like the rest, for doctrine of religion and piety, …
St. Augustine—On Lying

Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Early History of Particular Churches.
A.D. 67-A.D. 500 Section 1. The Church of England. [Sidenote: St. Paul's visit to England.] The CHURCH OF ENGLAND is believed, with good reason, to owe its foundation to the Apostle St. Paul, who probably came to this country after his first imprisonment at Rome. The writings of Tertullian, and others in the second and third centuries speak of Christianity as having spread as far as the islands of Britain, and a British king named Lucius is known to have embraced the Faith about the middle of …
John Henry Blunt—A Key to the Knowledge of Church History

It is Also Written, "But I Say unto You...
28. It is also written, "But I say unto you, Swear not at all." But the Apostle himself has used oaths in his Epistles. [2342] And so he shows how that is to be taken which is said, "I say unto you, Swear not at all:" that is, lest by swearing one come to a facility in swearing, from facility to a custom, and so from a custom there be a downfall into perjury. And therefore he is not found to have sworn except in writing, where there is more wary forethought, and no precipitate tongue withal. And …
St. Augustine—On Lying

Easter Monday
Text: Acts 10, 34-43. 34 And Peter opened his mouth, and said: Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him. 36 The word which he sent unto the children of Israel, preaching good tidings of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)--37 that saying ye yourselves know, which was published throughout all Judaea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; 38 even Jesus of Nazareth, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Colossians 3, 12-17. 12 Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; 13 forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: 14 and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the Word …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Extracts No. vii.
[In this number the objector gives the whole ground of his objections, and the reasons for his doubts: which he states as follows, viz. "1. Mankind, in all ages of the world, have been, and still are prone to superstition. "2. It cannot be denied, but that a part of mankind at least, have believed, and still are believing in miracles and revelation, which are spurious. "3. The facts on which religion is predicated are unlike every thing of which we have any positive knowledge." Under the first …
Hosea Ballou—A Series of Letters In Defence of Divine Revelation

Chrysostom Evades Election to a Bishopric, and Writes his Work on the Priesthood.
About this time several bishoprics were vacant in Syria, and frequent depositions took place with the changing fortunes of orthodoxy and Arianism, and the interference of the court. The attention of the clergy and the people turned to Chrysostom and his friend Basil as suitable candidates for the episcopal office, although they had not the canonical age of thirty. Chrysostom shrunk from the responsibilities and avoided an election by a pious fraud. He apparently assented to an agreement with Basil …
St. Chrysostom—On the Priesthood

The Apostle's Position and Circumstances
PHILIPPIANS i. 12-20 Disloyal "brethren"--Interest of the paragraph--The victory of patience--The Praetorian sentinel--Separatism, and how it was met--St Paul's secret--His "earnest expectation"--"Christ magnified"--"In my body" St Paul has spoken his affectionate greeting to the Philippians, and has opened to them the warm depths of his friendship with them in the Lord. What he feels towards them "in the heart of Christ Jesus," what he prays for them in regard of the growth and fruit of their …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

Epistle Xlv. To Theoctista, Patrician .
To Theoctista, Patrician [153] . Gregory to Theoctista, &c. We ought to give great thanks to Almighty God, that our most pious and most benignant Emperors have near them kinsfolk of their race, whose life and conversation is such as to give us all great joy. Hence too we should continually pray for these our lords, that their life, with that of all who belong to them, may by the protection of heavenly grace be preserved through long and tranquil times. I have to inform you, however, that I have …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Jesus' First Residence at Capernaum.
^D John II. 12. ^d 12 After this he went down to Capernaum [The site of Capernaum is generally conceded to be marked by the ruins now called Tel-Hum. Jesus is said to have gone "down" because Cana is among the hills, and Capernaum was by the Lake of Galilee, about six hundred feet below sea level], he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples [There is much dispute as to what the New Testament writers mean by the phrase the "brethren of the Lord." This phrase, found in any other than a …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Indeed in all Spiritual Delights, which Unmarried Women Enjoy...
27. Indeed in all spiritual delights, which unmarried women enjoy, their holy conversation ought also to be with caution; lest haply, though their life be not evil through haughtiness, their report be evil through negligence. Nor are they to be listened to, whether they be holy men or women, when (upon occasion of their neglect in some matter being blamed, through which it comes to pass that they fall into evil suspicion, from which they know that their life is far removed) they say that it is enough …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

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