May it please the Lord to bless
us as we continue our meditation in the Epistle of Paul to the
Galatians. And this evening, we'll come
to chapter two and we'll just read the first two verses. The
Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, chapter two, and the first two
verses. Then 14 years after, I went up
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also.
And I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel
which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were
a reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain. We'll just read the first four
verses in the 15th chapter of Acts, because this really has
reference to the situation that the Apostle is referring to here,
as he writes to the Galatians. And Acts chapter 15 reads, And
certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and
said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye
cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And
being brought on their way by the church, they passed through
Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles.
And they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they
would come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and
of the apostles and elders. And they declared all things
that God had done with them. And so we have this statement
here. The apostle tells us, then 14
years after, I went up again to Jerusalem. And you may remember,
he went to Jerusalem just over three years after he was converted. on that Damascus road. So it
would be some 17 years since that time, since that amazing
occasion. And he tells us that he comes
now to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also. And it's significant to realize
that he took Titus with him. Titus, of course, was a Gentile. And therefore he'd been sent
to the Gentiles. We know that the Apostle Peter,
his work was mainly amongst the Jews and Paul's work was mainly
amongst the Gentiles. And so he therefore, he took
with him Barnabas and took Titus so that they would have been
clear that here was a convert, a Gentile convert. And he tells
us then, and I went up by revelation. We're not told what that revelation
was. But what we are told, it was
a clear direction by Almighty God to come to Jerusalem. And we can believe that when
God gives us clear direction in one way or another, then as
we follow that direction, then we can believe that God will
be with us and go with us. We know that the Lord was with
Israel in the wilderness, how he said they would come out of
Egypt, and they did. And the Lord was with them throughout
all those years, notwithstanding all their badness and evil actions
and evil words. Yet God was very gracious and
merciful. What God says comes to pass. It's a great blessing to know
that we today come to the same God, who doesn't speak things
and then they're forgotten about and they don't come to pass.
They do come to pass in God's time and in God's way. And so here the apostle was directed
to come to Jerusalem. And I went up by revelation and
communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. So here he was now, generally
speaking, among the Jewish people, the Jewish believers. But the
problem was that the difference, rather, was between the Gentile
believers and the Jewish believers. For the most part, the Gentile
believers, of course, didn't have behind them all those ceremonies
which had been so carefully kept by the Jews. And therefore, they
didn't, as it were, have that baggage to contend with. But
the Jews did, and they were reluctant really to part with all those
things that they'd been used to carrying out. And so the apostle
here comes and communicates unto these people, unto them, the
gospel which I preached among the Gentiles. And that of course
was the glorious gospel. And without any of the ceremonial
law, because that was all past, that was all history. And he
would have been able to have set before them very clearly
the Gospel as it was declared in the Old Testament that would
come to pass, and it had come to pass, and he would have told
them how that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled all that was prophesied
regarding him in every detail. And to direct them to the great
truth that This was what they should do to follow the wonderful
example of the Saviour, and indeed to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ that they might be saved, and to dispense with all that
which is of the flesh, all that which was of works, all that
which of course could not profit, all that which could not bring
salvation. And therefore the Apostle was able to freely declare
this great truth and he communicated unto them that gospel which I
preached among the Gentiles. Now how did he do it? And it's
interesting. He tells us, but privately to
them which were of reputation. Clearly he was there in Jerusalem
and he was preaching and speaking to those who we might say were
important. No doubt, as we read, some of
the apostles were there, and no doubt some of the converted
elders were there, and therefore he addressed them. We might say
those people who naturally would have influence, would be able
to confirm that God had greatly blessed his ministry, and he
was able therefore to speak this way privately. He didn't want the words of the
glorious gospel to be trampled underfoot. He didn't want it
to be ignored by those Jews who were only concerned still of
earning their religion, earning their salvation by carrying out
the Old Testament ceremonies. And so we see that God gave him
that wisdom to come up to Jerusalem God had directed him, and now
he directs him to go in this way, but privately. Now we know,
of course, that the Apostle had gone throughout many nations,
fulfilling that great exhortation to go into all the world and
preach the Gospel. And the Apostle had done that
fearlessly. And we might think, well, Paul,
surely now you would do it fearlessly in Jerusalem. Well, it wasn't
because He lacked any courage. It wasn't that. He hadn't got
that ability. But we see here that God directed
him in this way. And it is important for us to
realize that we have the whole counsel of God before us in the
Word of God to direct us, that we are, of course, to go into
all the world and to preach the Gospel, but sometimes it is necessary
not to do into all the world, as it were, into all mankind
as we might come across them. But there are those occasions
when perhaps we are separated to declare the great truths of
the gospel to those who perhaps were and are of reputation. These people were reputation,
but they needed to be directed in the right way. A bit like
Apollos, you may remember. He was very fervent. But it was
necessary that he was taken aside and taught the truth more fully. He understood a lot, but not
all of it. And we should not therefore be
surprised. Still in our day, if there are
those, especially who may be converted and come out of other
denominations, who may bring with them quite a lot of baggage,
which they would have to lose, and they may not lose it immediately.
and to such it would be good therefore to remember such a
word as this that they might be spoken to privately. To them
which were a reputation less by any means I should run or
had run in vain." That means that all the gospel that he had
preached might be, as it were, put aside and great dissension. He didn't want that to occur
and therefore we see the wisdom that God gave him on this occasion. But it's good to be able to read
the whole counsel of God and to recognize that in these epistles,
like it is in the Acts of the Apostles, there is much instruction
to us today. Not to just go on in an unconcerned
way and perhaps just quoting one scripture and think that
we're doing the will of God by confirming our position in that
way. We are to take the whole counsel
of God and to realise that God leads and God directs. God clearly
led the Apostle Paul here and what a mercy to know that we
worship today the same God that might be with us and lead us
because the Apostle's great concern of course was to preach the Gospel. and that without anything added
to it and nothing to be taken away. What did he desire? Desire
to preach Christ and him crucified. That was the gospel that he wanted
to set before these people and may always be our concern to
preach the gospel and set the gospel before those perhaps who
are unbelievers Also to those who perhaps may believe but may
need perhaps some instruction and succumb to them graciously
in a right way, in a right spirit. Paul didn't come here in a wrong
spirit. He came in a right spirit, a
spirit of love, a spirit of humbleness, and how good it is if God gives
us the same instruction and the same spirit. So here we have
the Apostle, he's 14 years after, that he'd been to Jerusalem,
coming once again. He'd been preserved all those
14 years. He'd been watched over. He'd been able to preach the
gospel. He'd had many hard times, but God hadn't forsaken him and
God was with him. And therefore God brought him
safely to this occasion. And so he came with Barnabas
and Titus and went up by revelation and communicated unto them that
gospel, which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately,
to them which were a reputation, lest by any means I should run
or had run in vain. Amen.