Galatians 2:1-5
SERMON OUTLINE
TRANSCRIPT
I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Our text for today’s message is taken from Galatians chapter 2 verses 1 to 5. Remember the Judaizers were accusing Paul that he was not a legitimate apostle. He was a self appointed apostle. Perhaps to the Galatians these Judaizers would say, “Look, we know James the elder, we know Peter and other apostles. But who is Paul? He is an apostle of his own imagination and on what authority does he preach the gospel?” Is it necessary for Paul to defend his apostleship? Most certainly. If he did not defend his apostleship then his preaching would be in vain. The gospel, which he had been preaching so zealously would be undermine. So when Paul defended his apostleship, in reality he was defending the integrity of the gospel message. The message that he preached - these two things could not be separated.
In a sense, you cannot separate the messenger from the message. By defending himself he was defending the gospel. This same principle applies to all of us in the ministry too. Sometimes, people may attack the things that we have done wrong. In such times we must humbly admit our mistakes. Sometimes people may attack our personal interests; seriously it doesn’t matter because we cannot please everyone. But in attacking us they are attacking the integrity of the gospel, then we must defend ourselves. Not because our personal interest is at stake, but the word of God.
The heart of the apostle Paul is always about the gospel. In the previous chapter, he talked about the source and power of the gospel. The gospel that he preaches, where did it come from? Was it powerful to save? He said in Galatians 1 verse 11, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” In other words he was saying, “I did not receive it from the apostles or from any other man, but from the Lord Jesus Christ himself.” After explaining the source of the gospel, which is from God, he explained the power of the gospel. Was it powerful to save?
He went on to give his own testimony, “I am the living proof of the power of the gospel. Before my conversion I was a violent persecutor of the church of God. But God had called me from a persecutor to a believer. From a believer, I went on to be a preacher of the gospel which I tried so hard to destroy.” No one could ever explain this sudden transformation of Paul. Humanly it was impossible apart from the power of the gospel. That was where we ended our last message.
Now take a moment and consider this. If you were the apostle Paul (and) you have received the gospel directly from the Lord Jesus Christ; it had transformed your life, saved you from a persecutor to a believer to a preacher. And now when the gospel is being attacked, will you defend the gospel with everything you have including your life? Most definitely, right? That was exactly what had happened to Paul. And he was recounting an incident, which occurred many years ago when he had to defend the gospel. This is what we want to learn from today’s message. The title of our message is “Standing for the Truth of the Gospel.”
I. The Private Discussion
Our first point is: “The Private Discussion.” Let us begin with verse 1, “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.” In the previous chapter, in verse 18, Paul had visited Jerusalem to see the apostle Peter and he stayed with him only fifteen days. He also met up with James, the half brother of Jesus who was the leader of the Jerusalem church. Now fourteen years later he went again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, this time he brought along Titus. Verse 2, “And I went up 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.” We do not know how the revelation came to him, but what we do know is that God revealed to him that he must go to Jerusalem to deal with an important matter. In order to understand the context of this passage, we have to turn to Acts 15, which was our responsive reading. Now keep your fingers to Acts 15 because we will turn to it from time to time. Allow me to read for you Acts 15 verse 1 and 2, “And certain men which came down from Judaea 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” which means disagreement and debated “with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.” So what happened was that Paul and Barnabas had returned from their first missionary journey to the sending church at Antioch. When they arrived at Antioch, they realised that certain men from Judae - the Judaizers - were teaching the brethren in the Antioch church this false teaching that “unless you be circumcised, you cannot be saved.” Immediately, Paul and Barnabas rose up and defended the truth of the gospel boldly and debated with them. It was not easy because this false teaching had already created a great split in the Antioch church. So much so that the Jewish believers refused to have anything to do with the Gentiles. They refused to eat with the Gentiles; they refused to have fellowship with the Gentiles in the Lord’s Table. The Gentiles on the other hand had thought that they had been saved through faith in Christ. Now they were being informed that their salvation was invalid because they were not circumcised. You can imagine how confused they were. You can imagine the problems these false teaching had created in the Antioch church. Do you realise that that is exactly what false teaching would do to us? It will split the church. People will take sides when false teaching creeps in - people will take sides. Some will stand for the truth; others will stand for the strange doctrine, whatever it may be. And the people would be confused. Didn’t the bible teach this? Then why are these people teaching otherwise? These are the two things that false teaching will do – split and confuse. That is why we must always be aware of false teaching. Once it creeps into our church, it will split our church - our people will be confused. This problem could not be resolved in the local church - it was very serious. Therefore the suggestion was that Paul and Barnabas together with some of those brethren whom might disagree with him and stood for circumcision as necessary for salvation to go up to Jerusalem to consult the apostles and elders. Sometimes known as the Jerusalem Council. Ephesians 2 verse 20 tells us that the church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.” So at this point in time, the apostles were still around. And together with the leaders of the church, the elders, they formed the Jerusalem Council. So Paul, Barnabas and the rest were told to go to the Jerusalem Council. So that was the background - the reason why Paul, Barnabas and Titus went to Jerusalem to deal with this matter. Must the Gentiles believe in the gospel plus circumcision for salvation or just the gospel alone? So that was the question. Now notice how the apostle Paul went about dealing with this matter. He said (in Galatians 2:2), “I communicated unto them, the apostles and elders that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles.” Paul declared to the apostles and elders that, “this is the gospel I preach unto the Gentiles. This is the same gospel you yourself also affirmed. I am not preaching another gospel, a different gospel. It is the same gospel.” Then Paul spoke, “privately to them which were of reputation.” Who were these men “of reputation”? Verse 9 gives us a clue who they were – “James the elder, Peter and John were known as the pillars. They were the essential leaders of the Jerusalem Church. These men “of reputation” was a reference to them. Paul wanted to have this private meeting with them before the public meeting before the Jerusalem Council. He wanted to know their stance. If they had already been influenced by the Judaizers, then all his efforts would be in vain. That was the reason why he said, “Lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain”. In other words, “I want to know your stance. I want to know what you believe in. I want to know what your convictions are otherwise all my efforts would be in vain.” So before they ever went public, Paul wanted to have a private meeting. Sometimes in our eagerness to defend the truth of God’s Word we can be so zealous to speak up. We want the whole world to know and we assume that everyone shares the same conviction. But we do not take time to study the details, to understand the situation and consequence before we go public. We do not even have a discussion; we do not even have a private meeting. And then all of a sudden we receive a smack on our face that the situation was not the way we thought it was. Many years ago, I was serving in a Christian organisation reaching out to ex-prisoners. Initially, the leaders believe very strongly that only the Word of God could transform the lives of the prisoners. So every morning we encourage the ex-prisoners to spend forty-five minutes in quiet time followed by one hour of bible study. At the end of the day they would come together for one hour of biblical counselling. By the grace of God, many lives were transformed. Then all of a sudden, the leader passed away. And a new committee was installed. They tried to remove all the spiritual activities from forty-five minutes to fifteen minutes, from one hour to half an hour. At that time I was young and fresh from the bible college, and I was the director of that organisation. And I thought, “How could this be? I was like a bull rushing into the arena. I immediately called for a meeting without any considerations, without any discussions, without any private meeting because I presumed that everyone would share the same conviction - only the Word of God could transform the life of the people. To my horror, it was the opposite. We were not on the same page.” Have you ever been called in such a situation whereby you have acted too impulsively? You said things that you were not supposed to say or you did certain things that you were not supposed to do. You may be right, your motives may be right but it was unwise. And you lived to regret what you have said and done. Well, let us learn from the apostle Paul. It was a very important matter and he was able to pause and think. He did not want to run in vain, so every step had to be carefully considered and calculated. Most importantly, prayerfully committed to God even before he took this step to have this public meeting in the Jerusalem Council. He called the leaders and have a private meeting to understand their stance, to understand what they believe in, to understand what their convictions are before they ever went public. He wanted a private discussion. This is the wisdom God had given to him recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures. And what was the conclusion of that private discussion? Well the private discussion led to a public declaration, which is our second point.
II. The Public Declaration
Please turn with me to Acts 15 verse 7 to 19, which will give you a clearer picture. After the private discussion with James, Peter and John, there was a public debate. Verse 7 tells us that after the public debate, Peter rose up and declared openly that in the early days of the church, God had called him to preach to the Gentiles, so that they would hear the message and believe. Verse 8, Peter reminded them that God knew their hearts – the hearts of the Gentiles, that their faith was genuine. That was the reason why God gave them the Holy Spirit. Just like the same way He gave the Holy Spirit to the Jewish believers. Verse 9, Paul or Peter said, “that there was no difference between the Jews and the Gentiles. Both were saved when they were cleansed of their sins by faith alone.” After explaining to them all that, Peter concluded his message in verses 10 to 11, “Why do you want to test God? It is foolish and selfish for you to expect the Gentiles to carry a burden that we ourselves cannot carry. If we cannot be saved by keeping the law, why should we require the Gentiles to do so? Whether Jews or Gentiles, we are all saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” That was what Peter said.
Verse 12 tells us that the people were not able to argue against Peter, so they all kept silent. It was at this point in time that Paul and Barnabas spoke up and they talked about the miracles and wonders that God had done amongst the Gentiles through their ministry. Then James the leader of the Jerusalem church gave the final speech. Look at verse 13, Acts 15 verse 13, “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:” Verse 14, “ Simeon” or Simon Peter “hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” In other words, he agreed with Peter about God saving the Gentiles. Then he went on to say in verse 15 to 18, “And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”
This was a quotation taken from Amos 9 verse 11 to 12. Allow me to explain this briefly. In that passage, Amos the prophet spoke about the millennial kingdom where the Messiah said, “I will return”. Our Lord Jesus will return. But what has the millennial kingdom got to do with the salvation of the Gentiles and circumcision? Well James used that quotation to say that, “Amos the prophet spoke very clearly that the day will come in the future when the Gentiles who were outside the community of Israel would be saved.” And how would the Gentiles be saved? The Gentiles would be saved as Gentiles without the need of becoming a Jew. That was the reason why Amos said “all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called. So if in the future the Gentiles would be in the millennial kingdom without first becoming Jewish proselyte then why would you require them to become Jewish proselyte in this present age. Why would you require them to follow the customs of the Jewish people?” That was what James was trying to say. And then in verse 19 he concluded this. Look at verse 19, “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:” which means, “as the leader of the Jerusalem church, it is my judgement that we should not trouble those Gentiles who had turned to God, to force them to be circumcised. It is unnecessary.” So that was what had happened at the Jerusalem Council - the conclusion was that “the Gentiles need not be circumcised. You just need to preach the gospel only. It is not the gospel plus circumcision.” Now back to our text in Galatians 2 verse 3, Paul says, “But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:” Because of that public declaration in the Jerusalem Council, Titus was not forced to be circumcised - he was not compelled to be circumcised. You see, Paul knew what he was doing. He went to Jerusalem to defend the gospel from this false teaching that “unless you be circumcised, you cannot be saved.” And he brought along Titus for a purpose. Titus was a Gentile convert who had come to faith in the gospel of Christ. He had the Holy Spirit, more importantly he was not circumcised. In a sense Titus was like a test case. “If they are going to deny God’s work among the Gentiles then they had to deny this man Titus. If they are going to insist that a man had to be circumcised to be save then what about Titus? This man was converted, this man love the Lord Jesus Christ, this man served God in the power of the Holy Spirit (and) everyone knew that. What about Titus? If someone had to be circumcised to be a Christian, how are you going to deal with Titus? He was not circumcised.” There was another thing very important about bringing Titus to Jerusalem. Now consider this, if Paul had brought Titus to the Jerusalem Council and he came back circumcised. Lets say “Titus was circumcised - what would it imply? It would mean that the gospel message Paul had preached all these while had flaws in it. Paul was wrong, you need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation plus you need to be circumcised. Why? Because look at Titus, he went to the Jerusalem Council and he returned back circumcised.” But the truth was that Titus came back, he remains uncircumcised. That was a very strong and powerful message sent to all the Gentiles. If it was unnecessary for Titus to be circumcised, it would also be unnecessary for you to be circumcised. Paul again had this wisdom that God had given to him. He brought along Titus for a purpose – for a sovereign purpose. Verse 4, “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:” Paul called the Judaizers false brethren. In other words, they had crept into the church, pretended to be Christians, mingled with the believers. But they came in with one intention and one intention only and that was to look for an opportunity to bring the Gentiles into the bondage of Judaism. That is the meaning of “privily to spy out - looking for an opportunity.” Once the people are not careful, they would bring these Gentiles and emphasize this false teaching “unless you be circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And then bring them into the bondage of Judaism – that was their intention. Remember the Antioch church had sent Paul and Barnabas together with some brethren to the Jerusalem Council; most likely some of them were these Judaizers. And they had debated with Paul at the Jerusalem Council. That was why Paul said in verse 5. Look at verse 5, “To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” The Judaizers must have given him a hard time. There was an implication that it was a long debate that was why Paul said, “Did we give in to the pressure? No, not even for one hour. We stood firm all the way. Why? For the truth of the gospel so that it might continue with you. Because of you.” You know it takes a person like the apostle Paul who understands the importance of the gospel - someone whose life was transformed by the power of the gospel. At the beginning I shared with you, “from a violent persecutor to a believer to a preacher.” He understands the power of the gospel and he loves sinners and he wants the sinners to be saved. He wants them to hear the pure gospel. That was why he was willing to stand and defend the truth of the gospel and all cost, even at the expense of his own life. My friends, ever since Paul’s time the enemies have always been trying to add something unto the gospel of grace. They will tell you “that a man is saved by faith in Jesus Christ plus something else. Plus good works, plus baptism, plus the Ten Commandments, plus church membership, etcetera.” The enemies have always been trying to cast doubts on God’s Word. They will tell you the Bible is not divinely inspired or perfectly preserved. The church has been tormented by so many false teachings – Charismatism, New Age Movement, The New Evangelicals, Health-Wealth and Prosperity Gospel, New Fundamentalism, (and) etcetera. In these last days, many more false teachings will creep into the church. In such times like this we believers who have been saved by the pure gospel, we have been transported out of darkness into God’s marvellous light - our lives have been transformed. What are we going to do about it? Will our pastors, preachers, Sunday school teachers, fellowship leaders say like the apostle Paul, “We will never give in to the pressures and temptations, no not even for one hour.” Do you think our people will say that? We will never give in so that our children, our grandchildren will be able to hear the truth of the gospel in all it’s purity. In those days, when Paul encountered all these troubles, he could turn to the Jerusalem Council for help. So when there are difficult doctrines to understand or false teachings had crept into the church, they would go to the Jerusalem Council. Today we no longer have the Bible Presbyterian Signet and Council. When trouble comes, when false teachings comes, who can Bethel BP Church turn to? Take a moment and consider this, “If five years down the road I start to preach another gospel. I start to preach a gospel that is different from the gospel in the Bible, what are you going to do about it? Some of you may leave the church. What about those who remain in the church? Our children - how can they hear the pure gospel and be saved? That is the reason why it is my prayer that God will raise up pastors and elders in our midst. And together with our pastors and missionaries in Myanmar, even in the Philippines, that by the grace of God, together we stand, together we are accountable to one another and together we protect the purity of the gospel.” God willing we can form a Presbytery. And this will then protect the pulpit, the gospel that has saved us so that our children, our grandchildren will be able to hear the pure gospel for as long as our Lord Jesus would tarry in His return. And then we will say like the apostle Paul, “That the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” I pray that all of you will understand this message. We are living in perilous times; we must never take it lightly. Pray for the church, pray for the leaders, pray that God will raise up godly man and this is for Bethel BP Church to remain faithful to the truth of the gospel. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. Until He comes, we want to be faithful to Him. Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for how Thou has enabled us to consider this portion of Scriptures. Indeed, we acknowledge that truly we are living in the last of the last days. And there will be many more false teachings that will come our ways. Oh Lord, what will our people do? We believers who had been saved and transformed by the power of the gospel, what will we do? Will we give in to the pressure and temptations? No, not even for an hour. Oh Lord, we pray that we will all be able to say this like the apostle Paul – to stand for the truth of the gospel, so that the next generations - our children, our children’s children, for as long as our Lord Jesus would tarry in His return, would be able to hear the pure gospel, not the fake gospel. They would hear the pure gospel and by Thy grace and mercy be saved. Oh Lord, we cannot do this base on our own strength. Help us. Help us so that we can remain faithful to Thee always. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF GALATIANSA Letter To The GalatiansA Letter To The GalatiansGalatians 1:1-5
The Danger of Preaching Another GospelThe Danger of Preaching Another GospelGalatians 1:6-9
Be a God-Pleaser, not a Men-PleaserBe a God-Pleaser, not a Men-PleaserGalatians 1:10-12
But When It Pleased GodBut When It Pleased GodGalatians 1:13-24
Standing for the Truth of the GospelStanding for the Truth of the GospelGalatians 2:1-5
One Gospel, Different MinistriesOne Gospel, Different MinistriesGalatians 2:6-10
The Need to Confront Sin (Part 2)The Need to Confront Sin (Part 2)Galatians 2:14-16
The Need to Confront Sin (Part 3)The Need to Confront Sin (Part 3)Galatians 2:17-19
Dead, Yet Alive!Dead, Yet Alive!Galatians 2:20-21
Remember How You Were Saved!Remember How You Were Saved!Galatians 3:1-5
Saved by FaithSaved by FaithGalatians 3:6-9
The Age Old Promise of the GospelThe Age Old Promise of the GospelGalatians 3:6-18
Christ Bore Our CurseChrist Bore Our CurseGalatians 3:10-14
Will God Keep His Promise?Will God Keep His Promise?Galatians 3:15-18
Why Then Have the Law?Why Then Have the Law?Galatians 3:19-22
What the Law Meant to Us?What the Law Meant to Us?Galatians 3:23-29
The Son of God Became the Son of ManThe Son of God Became the Son of ManGalatians 4:1-7
No More a Servant and Child, But a SonNo More a Servant and Child, But a SonGalatians 4:1-7
Until Christ Be Formed In YouUntil Christ Be Formed In YouGalatians 4:8-20
Freedom in Christ or Bondage to WorksFreedom in Christ or Bondage to WorksGalatians 4:21-5:1
By Faith Or By Works!By Faith Or By Works!Galatians 5:2-6
The Dangers of False TeachersThe Dangers of False TeachersGalatians 5:7-12
The Christian FreedomThe Christian FreedomGalatians 5:13-15
The Works of the FleshThe Works of the FleshGalatians 5:19-21
The Fruit of the Spirit (Part 2)The Fruit of the Spirit (Part 2)Galatians 5:22-25
Restoring the Sinning BrotherRestoring the Sinning BrotherGalatians 5:26-6:5
Restoring the Sinning BrethrenRestoring the Sinning BrethrenGalatians 5:26-6:6
You Shall Reap What You SowYou Shall Reap What You SowGalatians 6:7-10
Living for the Praise of MenLiving for the Praise of MenGalatians 6:11-13
Living for the Glory of GodLiving for the Glory of GodGalatians 6:14-18
