Confronting Compromise with the Gospel

Transcript

GR 2084
05/07/2017
Confronting Compromise with the Gospel
Galatians 2:1, 2
Gil Rugh

We are going to the book of Galatians in your Bibles so if you would turn there, the book of Galatians. You always feel like you are making progress when you move to a new chapter and we come to chapter 2 of the book of Galatians.

We have noted Galatians is often considered something of a rough outline of the book of Romans because of the similarity in content in a condensed form. The book of Galatians is about the Gospel. You are aware the book of Romans is an unfolding of the Gospel in a full and clear way.

Paul’s life was devoted to the Gospel. He was a man that selected and chose to use for His purposes and that would involve carrying the Gospel to new places. This required of Paul that he keep his focus clear that there could be no variation. There could be no compromise with the Gospel.

The danger is over time we may get more loose with the Gospel and accept changes and alternations and end up with something that is really not the Gospel. And if that would have happened, for example with a man like Paul that corruption would have been wide spread but by the grace of God he was a man who was ready to give his life for the Gospel. And as you are aware, he ultimately will. In his last letter he is prepared to face that execution. It was the testimony of his life as he declared to the Romans – “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” And that iron fix on the truth of the Gospel is what the book of Galatians is about. That would lead to personal attacks on him, his character, his trustworthiness because of the devil undermining people’s confidence in Paul, they raised questions about whether he could be trusted then they would lose confidence in the message that he preached and with that there would be attacks on the message claiming that Paul didn’t have it right, that he had corrupted the Gospel, that he was not preaching a complete Gospel and it is relentless so Paul is having to deal with that.

In one sense Paul was used to it. In another sense there is a way in which it is hard to get used to relentlessly being attacked. We have studied the letter to the Corinthians together and in his second letter to the Corinthians Paul spends several chapters defending his apostleship, his own trustworthiness. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 10, we won’t turn there for time but Paul said his critics were saying this, “His letters are weighty and strong but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptable.” In other words what? You get one thing with his letters but you get something totally different when he is present. Of course in that day travel, communication took time. He couldn’t be with people personally very easily. It was large amounts of time between personal contacts when they did come.

So his opponents said, “Well you’ve gotten a great letter but that is not what you will get when you see Paul.” In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul had to defend himself and say, “In no way was I inferior to the most eminent, prominent of the apostles.” No way. He is not really an apostle. That is coming up in Galatians, questions about his apostleship, about the reliability of his message.

In chapter 2 of Galatians, verse 6 he will say: “But from those who were of high reputation.” Those who were of a reputation contributed nothing to me. Now he is not putting down other apostles like Peter, John and so on. He wants to make clear, I stand on my own as an apostle receiving direct revelation from God. “I have maintained the purity of that revelation and the Gospel that has been committed to me.” The attacks were, “he got his message from other apostles but he doesn’t have it right. He doesn’t have it complete.” So playing one off against the other and we will see that as we look into this.

Paul is in Antioch and then in Tarsus and these in Jerusalem would come from there and say, “This is what the apostles in Jerusalem are saying. This is what they are teaching but Paul is teaching something different and he is over 250 miles away.” One commentator said, “A trip like that in those days could take 30 days, a month.” Well you know, he said, they said, I say. All attempts to what? Undermine the Gospel.

So we come to chapter 2 and you will note it begins with the little word ‘then.’ And we noted back in verse 18 of chapter 18, ‘then.’ “And it was then three years later,” three years after his conversion. “He went for the first time and had contact with apostles in Jerusalem.” And we looked at that in chapter 9. “He became acquainted with Cephas who was Peter and stayed with him for 15 days.” He is very specific. He didn’t go up there to be schooled by Peter or the other apostles. He went up there for personal contact. He didn’t have contact with the other apostles at that time except James who is the Lord’s brother and is identified among the apostles, then the leadership there in Jerusalem.

Then we are in verse 21: “Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.” And he still was not known by sight in the churches in Judea. Judea is the region where Jerusalem is. So he still hadn’t been down in that area for any extensive time or ministry. The point is, he didn’t get his information, the truth of the Gospel and what he was preaching from those in Jerusalem and that region. Now what he receives is not different or in conflict with them. But it is important to understand that Paul can stand on his own as an apostle. He is not a second level apostle. That is so important because God is going to use him in the ministry of the Gospel in carrying it to Europe and so on.

He is going to write much of our New Testament Scriptures so it must be clear that he is totally dependable, totally reliable and his message came directly from God as the other apostles had received information.

Then chapter 2 begins. “Then after an interval of 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas taking Titus along also. And it was because of a revelation that I went up, I submitted to them the Gospel which I preached among the Gentiles but I did so in private to those who were of reputation for fear I might be running or had run in vain.” Paul is not looking to create conflict or misunderstanding; so this interval, 14 years.

Now there is a question here. Is this 14 years after his conversion because chapter 1 verse 18 said, “Then after three years later I went up to Jerusalem?” Well that clearly in the context as we have seen was three years after his conversion.

Then he went in to the regions of Cilicia, Syria and Cilicia. We looked at those on the map. “Then after an interval of fourteen years.” Now is he talking about 14 years after the three years in verse 18? Or is he talking about 14 years after his conversion? If it is 14 years after the three years in verse 18, that is a total of 17 years after he was converted.

Now from where we are going to be going, it won’t make a difference. We can say somewhere between 14 and 17 years after his conversion he went to Jerusalem. We don’t have to nail that down any more than that. What he is showing is there was an extensive period of time in his contacts with Jerusalem and particularly the apostolic leadership at Jerusalem. When he went up in verse 18 of chapter 1 he had contact with Peter and James but he wasn’t involved with the other apostles and his time there was relatively brief. Then issues came up and he had to leave as we see in Acts chapter 9 where that is related.

So really now, 14 years or more later he is going up to Jerusalem and there will be more extensive contact. Now a question comes and the reason why we are stressing this, what contact is this?

Come back to Acts if you would. In Acts chapter 9, I didn’t give you the chapter did I? Acts chapter 9 we have looked at this, verse 26 “when he came to Jerusalem he was trying to associate with the disciples but they were afraid of him” so “Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles” and the particular apostles would be Peter and James. You can understand. Paul’s reputation in Jerusalem carried over and you wonder, has he undergone a false conversion so to speak? He was creating havoc in the church and the churches when he left. He was there at the stoning of Stephen in chapter 7. He was having men and women alike arrested if they were Jews who had converted to Christianity. So is this just a ploy?

But he meets with Peter, James and then as I mentioned he had to leave. There was an intention among some of the Jews, Hellenistic Jews to put him to death. So they take him down to Caesarea and he goes from that seaport up to Tarsus where he is from. Then you see in verse 31 “the church enjoyed peace” and so on.

Then you come over to chapter 11. We see another visit of Paul to Jerusalem. This will raise the question. Look at verse 29. And verse 28 this happens at Antioch. Verse 27: “Some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.” Now remember we are going north so we wouldn’t say if we were leaving Nebraska, Lincoln and going to Bismarck, North Dakota, we went down to Bismarck, North Dakota, we are going north. If we would talk we went up to Bismarck but as we noted you always go down whatever direction you are going when you go from Jerusalem. Not only that it is elevated but it is the focal point. So just don’t get confused. They came down from Jerusalem to Antioch which was the trip up and Agabus was one of the prophets. “He stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all over the world. This took place in the reign of Claudius,” the Roman Emperor. You can just note. Claudius was the Roman Emperor from 41 to 54 A.D. There we have at least a range of dates.

So then “in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.” This famine was particularly severe there in Judea and you add to it the problem of being a believer in the Jewish center where the opposition always remained strong these believers in Antioch decided we will take up a collection and we will send it down.

So verse 30: “This they did sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders,” the leadership at Jerusalem. Now some think that this is the visit that Paul is referring to in Galatians chapter 2. “After fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem.” I don’t think so. I will give you some reasons for that. I think the visit here in Galatians while you are in Acts and we will be going back and forth is the visit in Acts chapter 15, the Jerusalem Council. Some of you have studied Galatians and you know you can’t read a commentary without reading this discussion because it says, “Well, why would Paul leave out a visit? Isn’t that contrary? Isn’t he trying to trying to set forth all of his visits to Jerusalem? And that’s not the point. The prime point he is making is the contact he has with the apostles in Jerusalem. Now when he goes up to Jerusalem in Acts chapter 11, verses 29 and 30, it is to bring money for a famine relief. This is also a very difficult time in Jerusalem.

Now you will note, “They sent it in charge of Barnabas and Saul,” the end of chapter 11, verse 30. Now come to the end of chapter 12, verse 25: “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission.” So chapter 12 takes place in the context and the time period is which Paul and Barnabas are at Jerusalem with an offering to help the needs of the church there. Now what is going on?

Chapter 12 opens up, “Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them.” And you will have a marginal note. If you have a study Bible you may have a note. This is Herod Agrippa the 1st. Herod Agrippa the 1st was the grandson of Herod the Great and from 37 A.D. to 44 A.S. He is the king of Judea and he is going to die in chapter 12. But he is in the midst of persecuting believers, believing Jews to curry the favor the of the Jews because he is king of the Jews. But he is just a minor king because the Romans, because of contacts he made when he was young and having been sent to Rome for training he got to know the man who would become the emperor. So when this man becomes the emperor that we had mentioned, Claudius, he appoints Herod Agrippa the 1st to rule Judea. But he just serves at the whim of the Roman Emperor. He has no independent power but his ability there and his position depends upon keeping peace because the Romans appoint rulers who will keep order in the empire. They don’t want to be sending Roman soldiers to have to deal with everything. This was a problem. Remember that the Roman governor Pilate had during the time when Christ was on earth and then crucified. He had to placate the Jews because you would have riots of the Jews, things got out of hand, the Roman emperor would decide he is not capable to keeping peace, get rid of him. We will appoint somebody else.

So here you have Herod the king. “He had James the brother of John put to death with the sword.” Remember we have James the brother of the Lord. It will be the half-brother, referred to as the brother of the Lord who will be a leader in the church at Jerusalem. We will see him in chapter 15 at the Jerusalem Council. This is James the brother of John. We talk about Peter, James and John, those three inner-circle disciples during Christ’s earthly ministry. James is beheaded by Herod and he saw the Jews were pleased with that so he arrests Peter and has him imprisoned but an angel of the Lord comes and delivers him, opens the gates. Peter gets out and we have that story where he goes to the house of John who is also called Mark and so we usually just combine his name and call him John Mark to distinguish him.

Verse 12, after he is released from prison the angel opened the gates and Peter realizes what he does. He goes to the house of the mother of John who is also called Mark where they were praying for Peter. But they weren’t really expecting any kind of immediate answer and then Peter knocks on the door. Finally they let him in and then you note in verse 17 he tells them what has happened. Then he tells them, “Report these things to James and the brethren and he left and went to another place.” In effect he goes into hiding. He gets out of the area for the time.

Verse 18: “Now when day came there was no small disturbance among the soldiers.” What happened to Peter? Well it is something. As a soldier there is no answer for. Remember the guards that the Romans had stationed at the tomb of Christ and the Jewish leaders said what? Tell them that you fell asleep and his disciples came and stole the body. Why would they tell that lie? What is the alternative? Tell the commander that an angel appeared and Christ was raised from the dead because His tomb was empty? So if that is your story you are going to be executed because you are accountable. That is what happens to these guards. Peter has been supernaturally released from prison. You are accountable for the prison. So you will note what happened.

Verse 19: “When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, (Peter) he examined the guards, ordered that they be led away.” And we have added in our Bible, “to execution” because that is what is implied in being “led away.” You have to die.

Remember later in Acts 16 when there is an earthquake. The prison doors are open. The man in charge of the prison is ready to fall on his sword. Why? That is his doom. He assumes the prisoners are gone. If the prisoner you are guarding is gone you die in his place. So that is the time.

Then what happens? Herod himself is struck dead by the Lord because he is giving a speech and this is recorded by Josephus, the Jewish historian as well. He was wearing a garment where all the thread was silver. When he stepped out into the sunlight everything sparkling and radiating and then he speaks and so it is the voice of a god, not of a man.

Verse 23: “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory. He was eaten by worms and died.” And Josephus the Jewish historian records the event where on occasion where Herod Agrippa was giving this major speech he was struck with great pains so they removed him, carried him to his palace. There after five days of agony he died. Then you note the contrast. “But the Word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied.”

Then Barnabas and Paul return home. There is no indication that Paul had any kind of contact with the apostles when he brought the money. I mean Peter is in prison. When he gets out of prison he goes into hiding. James has just been executed. This is not a time for a public meeting. This is not a time to get the apostles together and talk about things. So I think seeing the time for those who put the visit of Paul at the end of chapter 11, the one we are talking about in Galatians 2, they really have to put events after the death of Herod. But we are told at the end of chapter 12 it was then that Paul and Barnabas return.

So all of this is going on. So it is not a relevant time. They brought the money. We can take it, they would have “laid low” during their time there and then returned home. What he is going to talk about in Galatians 2 is major meetings with apostles and interacting over the Gospel. I think that happens at a later time.

Think about the timing here. Herod Agrippa died in 44 A.D. Even if you take the shorter time in Galatians 2 “After fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem,” even if that is going to his conversion, not after three years, 14, a total of 17 years. Even if it is 14 years Paul would have had been converted about 30 A.D. We are right at the crucifixion of Christ. You need more time. So if you are going to take the dating and there is no question. You can go to any Bible dictionary or encyclopedia and they date the death of Herod Agrippa.

That is a helpful thing to have these political figures like Claudius. Everybody agrees on the date when he was Roman Emperor. Everybody dates. Herod Agrippa the First was born in 10 B.C. He died in 44 A.D. at 54 years of age.

Paul is talking about going up to Jerusalem at the end of Acts 11 which was at least 14 years after he was converted. You back up from when Agrippa died in 44 you would be in 30 A.D., back to you know, you didn’t have any time. Paul was probably converted around 34 or 35 A.D. because we know events take place up till the 9th chapter of the book of Acts before he is converted. So you need time.

So I think what happens while you are here, you have chapter 12. Then they return at the end of chapter 12, verse 25 and you will note, “Taking them along with them John who was also called Mark.” And then in chapters 13 and 14 you have Paul’s first missionary journey carrying the Gospel out to Galatia regions, southern Galatia as we have noted, those to whom the letter to the Galatians is being written. But his ministry in chapters 13 and 14 and then after that missionary trip and he returns home at the end of chapter 14 they reported what the Lord had done. They have come back now to Antioch.

Then verse 28 says, “They spent a long time with the disciples.” And then you have men come down from Judea in chapter 15 saying what, “We are at Judea, we are from Jerusalem” and that area. They have to be circumcised and that is the issue. “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved.”

Now the confusion being injected here is these individuals are not denying that Jesus is the Messiah. They are not denying He died on the cross. They are not denying He was raised from the dead. Now if we had taken the time to look through the opening chapters of Acts most of the persecution has come from without like the stoning of Stephen, the persecution led by Saul following Stephen’s execution. Like the execution of James by Herod, the imprisonment of Peter and Peter and John would have been in prison by the Jews earlier in Acts. Mostly it was external opposition.

Now we have the devil moving in with an attempt and you understand you’ve got intense persecution that has occurred and continued to occur compromised because here you have Jews that are willing to join with you but you must also and down in verse 5. “Some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed;” this meeting now they are having in Jerusalem which would have been around 50 A.D., 49, 50, 51 in that region. “Some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed,” (that is, their profession) that’s why I say they weren’t denying the basic facts of the Gospel. They were saying Paul is preaching an incomplete Gospel. “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

Now we have a real issue. We have an internal attack from professing believers. Now it is always more difficult when it comes to that; one thing to do battle with the unbelieving world. Now it is unsettling. Well these people seem to love the Lord. They are Jews who have paid a price. They are declaring themselves followers of Jesus of Nazareth. They are agreeing He is the Messiah of Israel. He died on the cross and was raised from the dead. They are of the sect of the Pharisees as Paul was but Paul’s gospel is not complete and you can see the problem.

They come from Jerusalem, a region of Judea where Jerusalem is. Hmmm, well maybe Paul is not trustworthy because if the disciples and the apostles at Jerusalem are saying that Paul’s gospel is not complete now they are not because they are not genuine believers and Paul will make that clear. He will call them false brethren in Galatians chapter 2 as we will see.

But you see here how the devil has altered strategy and now the attacks will come from within and this will become an ongoing battle for Paul. It was the problem with the churches in Greece, at Corinth. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 he talks about Satan “masquerading as an angel of light. Infiltrating among the churches, leading them away from purity of devotion to Christ” and it just goes on; compromise, adjustment. Well at least we’ve got people who agree with us on basic facts. They are under this kind of intense persecution where people are dying for their testimony, you just want to write off these believing “Pharisees” and stand against them as emissaries of the devil? What are we going to be left with and you see the intention is to tear apart from the inside.

So that is where we are I think when we come to Galatians 2. Paul is going to talk about what happened when he went to the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15 which could be 15, even 17 years if you want to go the larger extent. If Paul was saved in 34 A.D. and if three years he went up and then 14 years after the three years making 17 years, the Jerusalem Council would have been in 51 A.D. which still fits with later dates about Festus, the Roman Governor who will come in to play later in Acts. If it is 14 years we could be at 49 A.D. which still fits. So it fits the timeline.

It is important to see the seriousness and what they are dealing with in Acts 15 is what Paul says they had to deal with in Galatians 2. Hard to think they would have been able to deal with these things in the context of the kind of if you will turmoil that requires a man like Peter to go into hiding for a time. Even though the apostles hadn’t been scattered in the persecutions up to that point there comes a time when like Peter, he just didn’t go back like he did earlier in Acts. Now he goes to a place where Herod cannot discover him and you can be sure other leaders at this time have to be careful about visibility. I mean this is not just a questioning. James has been beheaded. The Jews are on an aggressive attack and they had the support of Herod Agrippa. Now he is dead, Paul can return to Jerusalem.

Alright, come back to Galatians chapter 2. So “after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas.” Back in Acts 15, verse 2 “when Paul and Barnabas had great dissention” with these Judaizers in Antioch “the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas along with others would go to Jerusalem.” That is the very thing he says about here as well. And here in Galatians chapter 1 it says “he took Titus along also.”

John mark had bailed out on the first missionary journey. That will become an issue a little bit later in Acts when Paul starts the second missionary journey and he and Barnabas will part ways because Barnabas wanted to give John Mark a second chance and Paul said, “I can’t take somebody that I can’t trust. He may not be able to endure. You don’t want to put your trust in someone who is unreliable.” So Barnabas takes him and we know John Mark is recovered. Later he will be used to write the Gospel of Mark. Later Paul will refer to him very positively but he will take Timothy with him.

But here, Titus, this is another young man that evidently Paul led to the Lord in his ministry in Titus chapter 1. Maybe you want to just turn over to Titus. If you don’t I will read it to you, Titus chapter 1. Titus had been left in Crete to carry on ministry and bring things to order in the churches in Crete. In Titus chapter 1, verse 4: “To Titus, my true child in a common faith.” It is like Timothy. He refers to him as his true child. He doesn’t call him a true brother in a common faith but he calls him his child because he is his spiritual child, like he does Timothy. He led him to the Lord so there is a special bond with Titus and he becomes a trusted fellow worker but this is the only reference here to Titus. In fact he is not mentioned in the book of Acts at all. So even though he was with Paul, he is not mentioned.

Again Luke is condensing things. He is not going to talk about everybody that Paul has contact with, everybody that travels with Paul and we have talked about it. Pauls’ family is not mentioned except a nephew, the son of Paul’s sister but Luke never gives us any more information than that about the family because that is not the purpose.

So Titus is taken along and he will become a test case and that is one reason that Paul takes him along. We will see in verse 3 he won’t be compelled to be circumcised. We won’t get into 3 and following until our next study but he is a Greek so he will not be required to be circumcised. Paul is taking him for a purpose. Here is one of my converts who has responded in faith to the Gospel that I preached but he is not circumcised.

He takes a pure Gentile if you will. Timothy, we will talk about next study but he does get circumcised because his father is a Gentile, his mother is a Jew. Paul is not trying to make issues with the Jews over the issue of circumcision. We will talk about that in the next study.

Paul says in verse 2 of Galatians 2 “It was because of a revelation that I went up.” Basically two things happened. In Acts 15 it says, “It was agreed among the key leaders in the church in Antioch that Paul, Barnabas and others should go to Jerusalem and work through the issue.” But as we won’t have time to look in Acts but on occasions where it says that it has happened on a human level, Paul will later say it happened by divine revelation. He compares something that happened in Acts 9 with Paul’s testimony what happened in Acts 22 and in one place it was the decision of the leaders of the church but in Acts 22, Paul says God spoke to him in a vision and the two worked together. And so here Paul says, “He went up by revelation.”

And what is important for Paul to emphasize? The content of his Gospel and the carrying out of his life, he had direct revelation from God. So his going up to Jerusalem is to be understood, he had direct revelation from God that he should go. That is confirmed by the decision of the church as well.

So “it was because of revelation that I went up.” And what did he do? “I submitted to them the Gospel which I preached among the Gentiles.” So he didn’t go up to learn if his Gospel was correct. He went up to tell them. “Here is the Gospel that I preached among the Gentiles.” His Gospel was set. It was clear. He had been a believer for some 14 years plus at least, a minimum of 14, up to 17 depending again what the “then” connects to. So he is not a new believer. He has had a missionary journey carrying the Gospel to Gentile area in the region of Galatia.

So when he goes up to deal with these matters in Jerusalem with the apostles and their recognized leaders in the church, he presents to them the Gospel that he was preaching. That word “the Gospel I preach” is present tense. It is not “the Gospel that I preached.” It is “the Gospel that I am preaching.” And Paul doesn’t go up to wonder, “Are you okay with this?” He just goes up to present that to them and they will recognize it as the true Gospel.

You will note he doesn’t just go up to tell them stories about people impacted. Titus is there as am obvious example but to Paul the most important thing he was doing among the Gentiles was he was preaching the Gospel. He keeps the focus on the Gospel.

One commentator writing a number of years ago said something important. He said “In modern times there has been a tendency for the procedure to be reversed. Sometimes for all too little interest to be shown by congregation and missionary gatherings in the character of the Gospel being preached.” They talk about stories. I get missionary literature.

It is not just true in missionary but Paul was carrying it as a missionary to Gentile parts of the world. They talk about work being done but very little about Gospel being preached. Sometimes I get mail and Marilyn will hand it to me. She opens it and reads it. Some of it comes to our home. Read this. I couldn’t find anything about the Gospel in this. Somewhere along the line we talk about many things going on and happening and how busy we are and what is going on. All Paul wanted to talk about is here is the Gospel I preach because that is what it is about. Once that is lost sight of, everything else just becomes fluff and confusion.

He went up to present to them the Gospel that I am preaching and it is preached among the Gentiles. The issue is Gentile salvation. For Jews it is a non-issue because every Jewish male was circumcised at eight days. So you know these believing Pharisees already had been circumcised so it doesn’t become an issue.

So the real issue is, do Gentiles have to in effect become part of Judaism to be saved? Incorporate the sign of the physical descendants of Abraham and the Abrahamic Covenant, with circumcision and obey the Mosaic Law? Paul said that is not the Gospel that I preached. He first went to those who are of reputation privately. Paul is not there just to create chaos. He is concerned and he wants them to understand his Gospel and he is confident that they will recognize it as the same Gospel that God revealed to them. So why he is not looking for information from them or correction on his Gospel, he is looking for agreement. Yes, Paul the Gospel that God revealed to you is the same Gospel that He revealed to us. So we have agreement. It is God’s Gospel. So first he goes to key leaders. It would have been Peter, James and John as those of reputation and any others who are key leaders. Obviously that would be a problem because Peter during that time is in prison and with everything else going on it would be a difficult time. If it had been the famine visit in chapter 11 for such a meeting to take place and Peter is a key part of this meeting which would seem to be out of step in light on the content of chapter 12 and what is going on in Peter’s life at this time, so another indication that he is talking about Acts chapter 15.

And he did it this way “for fear that I might be running, or had run in vain.” He realizes if he allows this to become an issue among himself and the apostles then damage will be done. Satan likes to divide the leaders because then the people surround the leaders and now they are divided. When the shepherds get confused then the sheep are confused and scattered. So he wants to go. So you don’t get in a public meeting and then everything gets confused. So Paul exercises wisdom. I am going to sit down with the key leaders and apostles in the church at Jerusalem and I am going to talk with them so they understand. Here is my Gospel. I presented my Gospel to them that I preached and they can compare it to the Gospel that they preach. You don’t have all this confusion being injected into the situation because when you move out from that these false brethren, non-genuine believing Pharisees are going to try to inject confusion into the situation. Paul wisely has cleared the air with the leaders there. Paul has made clear to them what his Gospel is. What are they going to say to that? Well, that is the Gospel that we also have received. So you go to the public meeting now and you are more prepared to deal with it.

Well we have to leave it there. We are reminded the devil continues to work the same way, compromise, confusion. We have to keep a laser focus on first of all, the Gospel. If we lose that, that is what we talked about earlier, the injection of things like social issues and that. That is not the Gospel. Well we have a Gospel, a whole Gospel for the whole man and we are concerned about him physically as well as spiritually. That is not the Gospel. The Gospel as Paul said is “I determine to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” That is just a subtle way to compromise the Gospel. Well these are dear people you know. I think they love the Lord and they believe in the death, burial and resurrection. That is not good enough. It is not only taking anything away from the Gospel, it is adding anything to it. They are equally corrupted errors. So we want to be sure that we are learning the lessons that the Galatians have to learn and we are standing with the firmness that Paul did.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord that the Gospel that You have given is given to be Your power to bring salvation to everyone who believes. Thank You Lord for the way that You use these men at the very beginning in the churches history. Thank You for the faithfulness of Paul to stand against so much opposition, to be faithful against friend and foe alike to maintain the purity of the Gospel and then who have stood in line with him down to our day so that we can still have the pure Gospel to preach that will bring about salvation, the salvation that we have entered into by faith in the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We praise You in His name, amen.