Chapter 1, so now we're on to
Chapter 2. The nice thing about these studies
is every message is a separate message on their own, so no matter
where we're at, one can always come in, and you can get caught
up real quickly, because again, each message is independent.
It's usually on one verse, and so it's a real blessing that
way. Today, though, we're gonna be looking at chapter two. Now
false teachers had crept in to the local assemblies and had
told the Galatians that Paul, number one, they told them that
Paul didn't have the authority to be an apostle, first thing.
So they undermined Paul's authority to preach. We know from studying
the scriptures that Paul was sent by God. We saw that in chapter
one. He was sent by God to preach
the gospel to the Gentiles. And number two, they added to
the one true gospel saying that you must be circumcised in order
to be saved, thereby nullifying the work of Christ. in adding
man's works to complete salvation. We know, again, from being taught
by God the Holy Spirit, that salvation is of the Lord. When
Christ died on the cross, it was a complete, perfect, sin-atoning
work. He did it all. Everything that
God required for the salvation of our souls was absolutely completed. He satisfied the law of justice,
He satisfied the justice of God, and more importantly, too, the
wrath that was due us, he took it upon himself, and he extinguished
it. And we know that because the
Father says, I'll remember your sins no more. His wrath has been
poured out on Christ in our place. So therefore, all he does is
love his people. And remember, he's always loved
us. His love has never changed, right? Never ever changed. So Paul confronted the false
teachers with the teaching of the one true gospel in and through
Christ alone by his perfect sinatonic work alone. Let's read Galatians
chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. We'll be just on verse 1 today,
but we have to read the whole section. and see the context
of the verses that we're gonna read. Paul continues his thought
from chapter one. He says, then 14 years after
I went up to Jerusalem, remember he went up to Jerusalem to visit
Peter in chapter one, and he also saw James there. But this
time he went again up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus
with me also. And I went by revelation 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." Now, we saw in the first chapter
that he set forth that there's only one gospel. That's salvation
in and through Christ alone. Note what he says here, too.
And we're going to be looking at this next week. Look in verse 2. He says, that
gospel, singular. Not many gospels, that gospel,
singular. There's only one gospel, and
that's the one true gospel of salvation in and through Christ
alone. And he says, which I preach among the Gentiles. God had saved
him and revealed Christ to him. We saw in chapter one that he
might preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ
to the Gentiles. He says, but neither Titus, who
was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
So these Judaizers, Paul, the whole reason we're going to see
that Paul went up to Jerusalem is to confront the false teaching
of the Judaizers and to go and see the apostles. Now he didn't
go up there being sent by a church. He went up there being led by
the Holy Spirit of God. No one sent him up to do this
except the Holy Spirit. And why did he go? And because
a false brother unawares bought in, who came in privately, despired
our liberty, our freedom, which we have in Christ, which we have
in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. All works-based
religion will bring us into bondage. That's all it is. It's just bondage. what freedom we have in Christ.
We're going to look at that in chapter 5 when Paul says, stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. He
set us free, beloved. We're free from religious bondage. And look what he says about these
false teachers, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not
for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with
you. He didn't even give them teachers. He's like, they're
just false teachers. I remember hearing one preacher
say, let the dogs bark. It's in their nature. It's in
their nature to bark. My, oh, my. But of these who
seem to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter
to me. God accepted no man's person.
For they who seem to be somewhat in confidence added nothing to
me. But contrary, when they saw the gospel, the uncircumcision
was committed unto me as the gospel of circumcision was unto
Peter. So we see here, he didn't go up to Jerusalem to get their
approval. He went up to Jerusalem to preach
the gospel, that they might see that he preached the same gospel
as them. That they would finally put the
rest, the Judaizers. For he that wrought affectionately
in Peter of the apostles of the circumcision, the same was mighty
in me toward the Gentiles. So God sent Peter to preach to
the Jews, and he sent Paul to preach to 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. When we find someone's preaching
the gospel of God's sovereign grace, we'll give him the right
hand of fellowship, won't we? Absolutely, absolutely, 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 for to do. Now the church of God has gone
through many trials, many trials from its beginning. And we are
told that following the day of Pentecost, the church was united,
it was united. All with one accord, they gathered
together. And at the time of this letter
being written, there were some divisions sprouting up in the
churches. And one of them was the Judaizers
had come in and said, you must be circumcised and believe on
Christ to be saved. Well, I heard, David, I think
it was you who told me you went to that one church before the
Lord saved you, and they said you must speak in tongues to
be saved. That's another gospel. That's what these Judaizers,
anybody who adds anything that man has to do to the gospel of
God's free and sovereign grace, it's works. It's works. Remember, works is defined as
anything we think or do. A lot of times we think it's
the actions, but it's also what we think. So works is both, actions and
thoughts. Oh, salvation's in Christ and
Him alone. So as persecution occurred, as
persecution in the church occurred, the church just spread like wildfire. They took off into all different
directions. And as they took off into all
different directions, the gospel was spread that way. It's absolutely
incredible. Persecution is never bad for
the church. It's hard for we who are the
people of God, but it's never bad for the church because it
draws us closer to Christ. And it usually, usually, the
gospel will spread even more through persecution. So the scattered
precious seed of the gospel had spread, and many converts had
come about by the power of God the Holy Spirit among the Gentiles. And Paul had been converted,
as we know, by the power of God on the way to Damascus. He had
a divine appointment with God, and then he was sent to preach
among the Gentiles. And what happened when he preached
among the Gentiles? as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed, right? Isn't that amazing? That's absolutely
incredible. Now Paul, in this text, was in
Antioch. Let's go to Acts chapter 13,
and we're gonna read about what happens when Paul goes and preaches
the gospel to the Gentiles. This is why we just rejoice as
the gospel goes out from here. We do not know what God's doing
with it. But he's promised us that his word will not return
unto him void, and it won't. So the gospel goes out of this
place, out into the internet, to all over the world, and we
have no clue what God's doing with it. It's wonderful. It's
absolutely wonderful. Look at this in Acts chapter
13 here. Paul, in this text here, was
an Antioch in Assyria, which is in Asia Minor. It's not Antioch
of Syria, it's Antioch of Pisidia. Again, it's in Asia Minor. It
had rose to prominence after its refunding as a Roman colony
by Augustus in 25 BC. So it was a prominent city, but
it was a Galatian city. It was a city in Galatia. And
this city was named Antioch of Pisidia to distinguish it from
Antioch of Syria. And Paul, like he always had
done when he went into the cities, he went right to the synagogue.
See, he's not getting tied up with all these little debates
and stuff on the side. He goes right to the synagogue,
beloved. Every time he goes in, when you read the book Acts,
he goes right to the synagogues. It's amazing. And he went to
the synagogue to preach the gospel to the Jews. And when he finished,
many of the Jews and religious proselytes, who were Gentiles,
asked Paul in Barnabas, can you preach this to us next week,
on the next Sabbath? Now, I'll tell you what. I remember
Gene Harmon tell me, someone asks a gospel preacher to preach
the gospel, it's like saying, sick him to a dog. Man, I read
this and I'm like, what an open door. They're like, can you come
preach to us? Oh my gosh, why wait till Sunday
next week? Let's do it now. But what had
happened was, they had heard the words that he had spoken
in the synagogue. And he had spoken them to the
Jews. And let's look at this, Acts chapter 13, we're starting
verse 42. So when the Jews were gone out
of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might
be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now, when the congregation
was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed
Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue
in the grace of God. Now, here we go. In the next
Sabbath day coming, Paul was probably itching all week. I'll
tell you what, as a gospel preacher, he's probably itching. He's ready
to run there in the morning. I'm telling you, I know he would
be. Oh my, and the next Sabbath day came, look at this, almost
the whole city together to hear the word of God. So those guys
must have said, you need to come hear this fella. You need to
come hear this fella. But when the Jews, look here,
here we go, here's the religious, here's the religious folks. But
when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy. Oh,
we can't get that many people, right? See, men's always worried about
numbers. And numbers, how many, I can't
tell you how many people ask me sometimes, how many folks
come to your church on Sunday? And every time I say, as many
as God ordained. That's who comes, right? You're ordained by God to be
here to hear the gospel. My, people get so caught up in
all that stuff. But okay, look at this. But when
the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy. And
speak against those things, they're speaking against the gospel,
which was spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. These are supposed
to be the ones who are following the one true living God. My,
look at this. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, it is necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, that's to the Jews. But seeing ye put
it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles. You don't want to listen? Well,
we're going to preach to these folks here then. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, it's wonderful. For so hath
the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light
of the Gentiles. And don't forget, that's where
we are. We're Gentiles. Aren't you glad
that the Lord set them to be a light to the Gentiles? Why?
That thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, look at this, they were glad.
Oh, they were rejoicing. It's not just for the Jews. It's
not. And look what it says. This is
marvelous. Look at this. They glorified the word of the
Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. This Wednesday we're going to
look at how Christ gives eternal life to those the Father has
given him. We see it right there. He gave
him eternal life. He gave him. And you know what?
Do you know we have eternal life right now, you and I, as believers?
Eternal life's not when we get to heaven. We have eternal life
right now. I heard, I think it was Henry
Mann, I was listening to Henry this week, and he said, we have
eternal life right now. Now we're going to die in this
body, but it's ours. We possess it. We possess an
eternal inheritance because of what Christ has done for us.
Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely wonderful, beloved.
Because when we die, we're not going to perish in our sins,
are we? We're going to go to glory and be with the Lord forever.
Oh. But look at this. This is wonderful. And when the
Gentiles, I'm going to read that again. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. Oh, they
were praising God. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. Look at this. And the word of
the Lord was published throughout all the region. Man, those folks
were telling each other all about Christ. They, oh my. Well, here we go. Here's the
religious folks again. But when the Jews stood up, the
devout and honorable woman and the cheap men of the city and
raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them
out of their coasts. Get out of here, you gospel preacher. Isn't that awful? But you know
what? I'd have done the same thing
in my natural state. My, oh my. But they shook off
the dust off their feet against them and came unto Icarus. So
they just shook the dust off their feet. And where's the next
city? Isn't that wonderful? And the
disciples were filled with joy. And the Holy Ghost, they were
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. So with that in our minds,
let's read. the first verse of Galatians
chapter two. Then 14 years after, I went up
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also.
So Paul, up to this point, we saw in chapter one, he had shown
that he was independent of the apostles, the other apostles
of the 12, during his 14 years of his Christian life. Now he
proceeds to show how independent he was of the Jerusalem apostles
at the time of his visit to the city. We again looked at in chapter
one how he went up and saw Peter and James and spoke with them.
Now he's going up again 14 years after his conversion. Now he's
going up again to Jerusalem. And he's going to go up and speak
to them about the doctrine that he preaches. So about the doctrine
which the false teachers have called into question that they
might be silenced. And there had arose among the
churches of God some men of the sect of the Pharisees who had
falsely embraced Christianity. They were professors of Christ
but not possessors of Christ. They were just mere professors.
And these false teachers had joined the church Again, but
they were false professors. And how do we know that? Well,
because they embraced and taught that something you had to do,
something the Galatians had to do, right, which was circumcision,
had to be done, just like that fellow told you, you must speak
in tongues. It's just horrible to be saved. Just add it to the
gospel of Christ. Add it to something that we worms
and maggots had to do. There's nothing I can do to please
God outside of Christ. There's absolutely nothing. The
only way that God looks upon me with favor is in Christ, and
same with you. We know that, don't we? We know
what we are. And we saw in chapter one that
what they taught was actually a perversion of the gospel. And
in the Greek, remember, it brought forth that what they taught was
diametrically opposed to the one true gospel. So that tells
us that anyone who adds any kind of work along with the finished
work of Christ, that what they're teaching is diametrically opposed
to the gospel, the one true gospel. That's serious business, isn't
it? That's serious business. That should make anyone who professes
to love Christ and preaches, that should give them a check. Right, to make sure, hey, am
I preaching Christ alone? Am I doing what Paul does, just
preach Christ and him crucified? If I'm not, I got no right preaching.
Right? Because the one true gospel is
all about Christ. It exalts him. He is the object
of our faith. We're not, we're not, our faith
doesn't save us. Our faith has one object, right?
And that's Christ, and Christ alone. We're saved by grace through
faith. We're given faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. People talk about the faith,
say, well, I got faith. Well, that's, what's your faith in?
Who's the object of your faith? who's the object of God's God-given
faith has one object and that's Christ and we want to exalt him
and we want to hear him exalted so these Judaizers had crept
in with a perversion of the one true gospel which Paul told us
in chapter 1 which is not another but there be some that trouble
you and will pervert the gospel of Christ he said remember he
said he said what the got they preach a false gospel and then
he said no it's not even a gospel it's not good news anytime There's
something for us to do to be saved. That's not good news.
The good news of the gospel is Christ finished the work. That's
good news for sinners like you and I. That's good news. This old sinner can't say, I
can't save myself, can you? But praise be to God, we rest
and trust in the one who can save any sinner who comes to
him, right? Oh my, my oh my. So they were saying, except you
be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.
They had corrupted the simplicity of the gospel, which is, look
unto me and live, Christ. Look unto me, says in Isaiah.
Look unto me and be saved. The Mosaic law was ordained by
God in the hands of angels. It had been a true religion for
4,000 years, and it was very difficult for Jewish believers
to just let all that go. And number one, when they let
it go, they would be ostracized and cast out by their own families,
by their own families. And they had no idea that the
Mosaic Law was typical, that it was but types and shadows
pointing to the substance, which is Christ. Are Christians obliged to keep
the Moses Law, or are they free from it? Well, Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness, isn't he? Beloved, we're free. We're free. We've been set free. Now, we love the holy law of
God, don't we? But we look at that and tremble.
The law can never give life. It can only kill. It can only
kill. It shows us that we are in desperate
need of a savior. Desperate need of a savior. My oh my. So the issue was not
merely over circumcision, but the whole legal law, the whole
legal system. And so again, are Christians
obliged to keep Moses's law or are they free from it? This was
the question that divided the church in those days. Turn, if
you would, to Acts chapter 15. We're going to read a lengthy
portion. We're actually going to read
the portion where Paul and Barnabas and Titus go up to Jerusalem
and have a conversation, kind of a conversation with the apostles
up there. And this topic still divides
the church today. There's some who insist that
you must do this and must do that. My goodness. You know, I'll tell you what,
just resting in Christ is difficult enough, isn't it? Right? Just
trusting our Savior and struggling each day is hard enough, isn't
it? God give us grace just to rest.
Oh my. And don't let anyone bring you
under the bondage of the servitude of the law. Christ fulfilled
that law for us. We are free, beloved. We're free.
So basically what we have here is a question of law and grace. set before the church. And it's regrettable and dangerous
to the souls of men who follow these false teachers. And these
men are but pictures of the works, and we still have these kind
of people among us, worksmongers, that's what we call them as grace
preachers. They're just workmongers, they just tell you you gotta
do something to be saved, and it's just a false, it's gospel,
it's just putting you under the yoke of bondage. And let us beware
that we not be entangled again with the law. There's no life
again in the law, none at all. Only life in our Savior. In Him
is life. Nowhere else. And may our souls
be filled with praise for Him. Now let's read this passage,
this journey up to Jerusalem. Acts chapter 15. Look at this.
We're starting verse 1. We're going to read all the way
down to verse 35. And I might say a few words here
and there as we read this. And certain men, which came down
from Judea, taught that the brethren, and said, except ye be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. So this is what
had happened at Galatia. These men had come to the Galatian
churches, and they had said this. Look at that. Except, that's
the same as what that fellow told you, Dave, except it was
speaking in tongues. My, except, you imagine, except
ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, You cannot be saved. What? So they're saying that Christ
didn't finish the work? That's exactly what they're saying,
isn't it? They're saying man's got to complete
it. See, that ties into that old
heresy and that old false teaching of Christ died to make us savable. No, he didn't. Christ died to
save my soul. and to save yours if you're a
believer. Isn't that wonderful? All right, I'm gonna hang my
eternal soul on that. Those words, it is finished.
I'm gonna hang my eternal soul on that. Oh my, it's wonderful. Look at this, when therefore
Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispution with
them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other
of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and others
about this question. Here we go, this is what we just
read in Galatians. And being brought on their way
by the church, they passed through Phenis and Samaria, declaring
the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy in
all the brethren. They're going through all these places and
they're saying, oh, the Lord's saving the Gentiles, hallelujah. And by what we read here, the
saints of God were joyful, weren't they? They were joyful. And it wasn't just joy, it was
great joy. They were happy. And when they came 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 there rose up a certain of
the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, saying that it was
needful to circumcise them and commend them to keep the law
of Moses. And the apostles and the elders came together for
it to consider this matter. So here we go again. Law or grace? And when there had
been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, men and
brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among
us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe. Look, who made the choice? It says God made the choice,
doesn't it, in there? Oh, isn't that wonderful? If you're saved,
it's because God chose you to be saved. That's heartwarming,
isn't it? Oh, my gosh. That's wonderful.
And to hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, which knoweth
the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even
as he did unto us. So he's saying, we're born again
of the Holy Spirit, and they're born again of the Holy Spirit.
Same spirit. and put no difference between
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." Now, I love
that part. Look at that. There's neither Jew nor Gentile.
There's no... In the body of Christ, we're
one. There's neither Jew nor Gentile. Every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation, all the elect of all the ages are one in Christ. Isn't that incredible? My oh
my. And they say here, now therefore
why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Look at
that. He's saying we weren't even able to bear that. We couldn't
fulfill the law. Now you want to yoke these Gentiles
with that too? But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, look at this,
even as they. What a beautiful verse. What
an absolutely stunning and beautiful verse. But we believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they... For by grace you are saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Born again by the same Spirit,
given the same grace, And who's the faith in? Christ, in Christ
alone. Oh, it's wonderful. Absolutely
wonderful. Then all the multitude kept silent.
So what could they say? They were silenced. So all the
dispution, all the discussion, and when Peter declares this,
that hey, they're saved by grace the same way we're saved by grace,
by the same spirit born again, Just put a muzzle on all them
false teachers, didn't they? My, oh my. And all the multitude kept silent
to give audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles
and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. So now,
now Paul and Barnabas get to testify about what the Lord's
done, the great things that the Lord has done. And after they
held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken
unto me. Simon hath declared how God at first did visit the
Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And to
this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written, After this
I will return and build again the tabernacle of David, which
is fallen down, and I will build again the ruins thereof, and
I will set it up. This is God's work. that the residue of man might
seek after the Lord. And all the Gentiles, upon whom
my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth these things."
Look at this. Here's another spectacular verse.
No one under God are all his works from the beginning
of the world. Okay, just let that sink in.
No one under God. No one under God. are all his works from the beginning
of the world. That includes our salvation. Isn't that magnificent? You talk about security for the
believer. Oh, my God. Wherefore, my sentence is that
we trouble them not, which from among the Gentiles are termed
to God, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions
of idols and from fornications and from things strangled and
from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them
that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath
day. Now they write a council. The
council writes a letter to the Gentile believers. Because remember,
Paul's authority had been brought into question. The gospel that
he was preaching had been brought into question by the false teachers. So, after we saw that they've
agreed that they preach the same gospel, and that the Gentiles
are saved by the same grace as the Jews who are saved, and born
again by the same Holy Spirit, the council decides to write
a letter, which is wonderful, and we have a little bit of it
here, in 22 to 35. Then please the apostles and
the elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own
company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, surname
Barnabas, sorry, Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren. And they wrote letters by them
after this manner. The apostles and the elders and
the brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the
Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Caecilia. for as much as we have
heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you."
So now, see, they're addressing the Judaizers. They're addressing
the trouble that the Judaizers had brought forth. And remember,
this would carry weight because this is the mother church, right?
This is the church where everything, the apostles are there. And so
it has some weight because it's coming from the apostles. It's
written to the Gentiles. For as much as we have heard
that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words,
subverting your souls, saying, you must be circumcised and keep
the law, to whom gave, look at this, to whom gave no such commandment. To whom we gave, they're saying,
we didn't tell them to do that. It wasn't us that told them to
do that. It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one
accord, to send chosen men unto you, with our beloved Barnabas
and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent, therefore, Judas
and Silas, who shall tell you the same things by mouth." So
not only are they sending a letter, they're going to send two men
that are going to tell them the same thing. So if a letter isn't good
enough for him, well, here's two preachers sent by the council
in Jerusalem. For it seemed good to the Holy
Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things. What's the one thing? That you
esteem from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from
strangled things, and from fornication, from which, if you keep yourselves,
you shall do well. And they'll say, fare you well.
There's no yoke. We're not going to put no yokes
upon you, brethren. Fare you well. Just trust Christ. Isn't
that wonderful? Paul's preaching the gospel.
Just trust the one he's preaching. Oh, it's wonderful. So when they
were dismissed, they came to Antioch, and here goes Paul.
He's right on the road again. They dismiss and he's gone. He's
got to preach Christ, doesn't he? They're on the road to Antioch. And when they had gathered the
multitude together, they delivered the epistle. Here it is. You wanted this, here it is.
And look at this. And when they read, they rejoiced
for the consolation. Oh, they were comforted, beloved.
They were comforted, knowing Paul preached the one true gospel. And now they knew that those
men that said, you must be saved, were not sent out by them. See,
they were ones who had crept in on wares. My. Look at this, and after they
had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the
brethren unto the apostles. Notwithstanding, they pleaded
Silas to abide there still. Well, looks like the Holy Spirit
had Silas stay right there with the brethren, didn't he? Isn't
that amazing? And we know what Silas did. He
preached Christ to them. Isn't it wonderful? Paul also
and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word
of the Lord with many others also." Look at that. There's
the gospel going out. It's not just Paul and Barnabas
preaching. There's many others with them.
Oh my. So again, Paul didn't go to Jerusalem
for instruction, to get instruction or authority from the other apostles.
He went there. He went there to preach Christ
and Him crucified. And to get a letter from them,
to be sent back, and to prove that what he preached was the
one true gospel.