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Amen. Amen.
So we continue our study of the book of Galatians.
We come to chapter 2, verses 1 to 10.
Anybody who has read it and come this morning, one hand, two.
Yeah, somebody give chocolate. It is not funny anymore.
I would say I really, I would really encourage people to read
and come because the gospels on the New Testament is so fully
loaded. Unless you interact with it, we
are not going to grasp it. Even I myself have struggled
with it the whole week to get a sense of what is this trying to
say or what is Paul trying to say in this chapter 2 verses 1
to 10. So first thing we see here is
that 14 years later I went up again to Jerusalem.
So what is this 14 years referring to probabilities from
the time he came to know the Lord and see after he was he was
conversion in Damascus. He came to Jerusalem and as he
was praying in the Temple, the Jesus appeared to him and said
I'm sending you to far away place to the Gentiles.
They are not going to receive you here.
And by revelation, I think he again fled back to some place
and then he disappeared for three years into Arabia.
Then Barnabas found him and brought him back in Antioch.
That is all the ministry started.
So now from that time when he left Jerusalem after 40 years,
he has come back. Now was there a time he visited
one more time in between? Probably, yes.
In Acts Chapter 11, he brought some alms and help to the poor
people and that he brought them from Antioch.
He came with Silas or somebody and then visited Jerusalem.
And later again in chapter 15, we see there is a Jerusalem
council. This Jerusalem council is very
important because that was a council where they brought a
delegation came from Antioch and Paul and Barnabas and Titus.
They all came, I think, at the time, and that was the time.
These things are happening around that time.
So some theologians, you know, the Bible scholars say it was
Acts 11 and then this is written and some say, you know, it's
Acts 15 and then it's written. Whenever it is happened.
I'm not really too much worried about it, but he did visit and
these things are happening for our good now.
Many times in the olden days when they were travelling by
ship, sometimes there will be a ship will be wrecked and people
will be going through loss and goods is loss and people who
are, I mean drown and die, but no one remembers when the water
started leaking into the ship. Am I communicating here?
We see the end result, Ship is broken, loss, people die.
Was anybody aware when the water started trickling into the ship?
If somebody has seen it that can be stopped.
Put your finger there. The boat will not sink.
So what Paul did in this chapter is something similar.
He didn't wait for the shipwreck to happen.
She he didn't wait for the whole ship to break into two pieces.
No, he took the initiative and he said I don't want this to
happen. Paul could see far into the
future what this all discussion is happening in Antioch.
The Jewish Christians traveling from Jerusalem to Antioch and
they come and say hey, unless you're circumference, you will
not be saved. That's what Acts chapter 15 was
one. Some people came from Jerusalem
and came to Antioch and said hey, you must be circumcised.
You Gentiles, you will not be saved and unless you are
circumcised. That was a slogan and Paul can
look at that little hole in the ship and put his finger there,
try to stop it so that the shipwreck will not happen into
the future. Am I communicating here?
We need to be proactively see through the situation.
It may be a simple thing now, but it can become a blow up and
become a big issue in the future.
That's the reason why we need leaders with foresight who can
look into the future and look into the present and connect it
where it is going, where is going.
So Paul was one of those guys who was able to see into the
future if he allowed those things to keep on happening.
That guy, one guy comes here and talks to some people, hey,
you're a gentile, you must be circumcised.
Paul is standing there and listening to the whole
conversation and listen, its OK, let him talk what he wants to
talk. Do you do that?
No, I can imagine he will go grab him by the car.
Hey, what did he say? He would not tolerate any kind
of a doctrinal deviation. That is Paul.
That is Paul, and because of him we have the gospel preserved for
us now without being diluted. We did men like Paul.
Even now, if you want churches to flourish, if you want
churches to become strong in the Word of God, we need people who
are strong in the doctrine and who can foresee when we
compromise a little how it is going to affect in into the
future. And very interestingly, last
night I had a dream of a man who is coming and telling and
telling me, hey, let us help this man.
You know, helping is good, isn't it?
But he actually was trapping me into something bad, something
bad. And I can see the far end is
going to be you're going to go to jail if you keep going with
that guy. So you need to say now enough,
I'm not going to cooperate with you.
So I don't know for whom it belongs.
But there may be somebody whom the Satan is tempting you to
compromise on a little thing so that he can shipwreck your life
in the future. So I'm not very big guy to
dreams, but these days is increasing.
I don't know why I always thought I'm not a dreamer.
But now I had the second dream in this week.
Something is happening inside. Amen.
So now what happened here is Paul also.
Yeah. He went up again to Jerusalem,
this time with Barnabas. And I took Titus also along with
me. He took Barnabas and Titus.
Why Titus? Titus is a Greek, a Gentile, so
he's taking him with Jerusalem, to Jerusalem.
Why? If the apostle say, Titus, you
are a Greek, you must be circumcised, then the whole
thing is going to erupt. So he's a test case.
So he wanted to test and see what the leadership wants to do
with this man. So he said, Titus, come along,
let's go troubleshoot. Real troubleshooting is bring
the man himself and let's see what they're going to do.
And what does he say? Here was 3 Not it.
Not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised,
even though he was a Greek. Even there was a Greek.
They did not, they did not compel him to be circumcised.
But was it easy? Was it a cakewalk for Paul and
Barnabas? No, it was not.
This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated
our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to
make us slaves. So there had to be a fight.
But at the same time, they are not involving Titus.
Titus, be here. I will take care of you.
He's shielding. OK.
What? Do you want to talk to?
Titus? Talk to me.
You you want to say something? Titus, say to me.
Paul was out and out defending the man and nobody could touch
him and say you need to be circumcised.
I tell you the heart of Paul, we should have the heart of Paul.
Everybody say we should have heart of Paul.
Why is it important? It is like the heart of Jesus
himself. The heart of Paul is like the
heart of Jesus himself. Now let us look at one verse in
John chapter 10 verse 14 onwards.
I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep
know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father,
and I laid on my life for the sheep was 16 important one.
I have other sheep that are not of the sheep pen.
I must bring them also. They too will listen to my
voice. And there shall be 1 flock and 1
shepherd. You have Christians who will be
who will be followers of Jesus from the Jewish background, but
we have Christians who are going to follow Jesus from other other
flock. It is not the original flock,
but they also have to come so that there will be 1 flock and 1
shepherd. 1 flock, 1 shepherd. This vision is caught up by Paul
those three years in Arabia. He caught up with the vision of
what Jesus really came to do, accomplish in his flesh on the
cross to make peace. There was a wall between the
Jewish people and the Gentile people.
That wall had to be broken. And he knew that when Jesus died
upon the cross, that wall is broken today.
He will not allow the wall to be resurrected again.
He doesn't want this wall to be rebuilt again.
This is the heart of all, a man with a mission, a man who knows
what he believes, a man who knows what will happen if he
changes the belief, how it is going to collapse the purposes
of God. Today we have the church
standing straight and upon this Reformation truth that the just
shall live by faith because there was one man, Paul, who
contended with the leadership at that time.
So what are the major benefits of this?
One of the major benefits is Paul could see far into the
future if he allowed this tendency of some Jewish people
to talk to the non Jewish people and get them circumcised.
You are going to end up with two churches, one that is Jewish,
one that is non Jewish and this people will say you have to
follow the law and this we will also be going through
circumcision and Christ dies on the cross for nothing in vain.
That purpose of Christ life laying down upon the cross will
be defeated if people begin to follow the Jewish religion.
Now sometimes come across some people call them just you know
the Christians who want to be sympathetic to the Jewish
people. I am not against it, sympathy,
its not very bad, but we don't need to go and sit with them and
do everything they do. The Passover is already done.
Christ is the Passover lamb. We don't need to celebrate the
Passover again and again. What we are doing when we follow
those things, you are actually inviting a curse on yourself
because once you do something you will have to do entire law.
So if Paul was fighting tooth and nail not to yield to that,
why should the modern Christians go and sit there and celebrate
it? You can demonstrate it.
You can say, oh, let's just see what they have done, but don't
have to just talk about it, but don't have to do it.
There are two different things. There are two different things.
Anyway, I don't want to go too much into that, but I am one of
those who is completely sold out to the the truth of the gospel
that Jesus died upon the cross for our sins as this morning as
shared from second cool is 5/21. He knew no sin was made sin.
Basically he washed in a like Sinner.
God looked at Jesus. One moment he was spotless Lamb
of God, and the next moment is near to the cross and the Father
is looking at him. He has become a sin.
Your sin, my sin is put upon him.
He is died as a substitute. He died as a representative.
He died as as as. He died as a ramana.
He died as John. He died as Joseph.
No, that is the truth. We cannot compromise.
When you compromise, you are going to have a shipwreck.
So doctrine is very important. We cannot compromise.
So instead of seeing this chest is going to be split far into
the future, he put his finger there into the leak of the boat
and said, no, this boat shall not break it.
And he wanted to stop it. That's what he did.
And then secondly, he came to Jerusalem.
OK, and who does he meet first? He chooses the leadership.
He goes to the leaders first. And he shares exactly what God
is doing through him. How miracles are being done, how
healings are being done, how Satan is being driven from the
lives of the people, how we were being set free from demonic
attacks, and how the gospel is being preached.
How people are becoming converted to the new faith and
how churches are being formed all over the Gentile world.
And when the when the apostles heard particularly Peter and
John and James, which whom there he mentions later in the chat
was 9 James, Peter and John, those who repeated to be pillars
gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship.
They when they heard what God did through Paul and through
Barnabas and through the other other people laboring in the
field building the church, they said this work is from God.
It is by the same Holy Spirit is by the same Holy Spirit.
But by the way, you must go home and read Acts chapter 15, how
exactly they defended the position and how they said that
Gentiles need not be circumcised.
They don't have to follow the Mosaic law.
That's that's very, very clearly written there.
So then the matter rose because of these people.
And in verse 5, we did not give in to them for a moment.
You cannot give in for even a moment.
That's that moment is very important.
The second you are tempted to do something wrong is the second
you resist the devil, whether in belief or in practice.
The moment is what is going to decide how you are going to go
forward. So they did not even even for a
moment so that the truth of the gospel might be remain with you.
Tell me, how many of us have this kind of vision like Paul
has? How are we committed to keep
this gospel pure so that after 100 years or so, somebody can
say these people have stuck to the gospel?
So today we have the gospel preserved for us.
That should be how it should be handed over from generation to
generation. One church hands it over to the
future generation the truth of the gospel.
No compromise. Jesus is the Savior He died for
upon the on the cross and no other way.
You can be saved only by faith that just shall live by faith.
I tell you that words that just shall live by faith is so much
loaded sentence. It is not only for your
salvation. It will be for every moment of
your life. You will live by faith.
There's no other way.
But at the same time, he says he
took Barnabas and Titus along. I went in responsible
revelation. Was too.
I went in responsible revelation.
Did the council in Jerusalem hear about what is happening in
Antioch and say, hey, Paul, come on here, you'll have to answer
us. No, No one dictated terms to
Paul. No authoritative command has
been issued by the leadership in Jerusalem to the people in
Antioch, say, Saint Paul here, we will take care of him.
What is he teaching there? No, he came in responsive
revelation. The whole Spirit spoke to him
and said, go up now. This is the time, You know, so
many times he was warned an Angel would be with him in the
ship. After 14 days of no sun, no
stars and no wind, no light, no food being tossed around.
An Angel of the Lord stood by me last night and he said, Paul,
take away not one hair is going to be lost.
Everybody on the ship, I'm giving them it to you.
Ship was only the there will be a loss of the cargo, but nobody
is going to die. You know, ultimately they land
on a island and then all of them become believers because of one
man, because of revelation. I am telling you, lot of us are
wanting to live a life without revelation.
It is not going to be the Word is there, but when you
understand it is not happening without revelation, will you
understand Bible? It is revelation.
When you don't understand it, there is no revelation.
Holy Spirit is the one who enlightens your mind.
He put the toss in your mind and say, see this, See this word,
See this word. This is the word for you.
For now. There is a revelation.
We need to learn to feed upon revelation from the Word.
That's the theologists talk about two kinds of words.
You know the word 1 is the Logos.
Logos is a written word. The word that is put here is
logos. What is rima?
Rima is the word that the Holy Spirit takes these logos and
enlightens it to you and makes it a lie.
There was a time I was reading a book by Martin Lloyd Jones.
The title was Authority and he was quoting a scripture.
Man shall not leave a bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God. When I was just reading the
book, not even loudly with my eyes, I was reading.
Suddenly I felt that warmth flesh over all my body, all my
heart became warm, my body became warm.
And I knew it's the Holy Spirit telling me, this is it, this is
it. Man shall not leave a plate
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,
that is Revelation. The Methodist founder, John
Wesley, he went into a meeting. They were actually doing some
Bible study, I think it was on Galatians, probably on
Galatians. And they were reading a
commentary by Martin Luther. And there it was, they were
reading the gesture Live by Faith.
And when he was sitting there and listening in the Bible
shreddy, his heart was strangely warmed.
That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
And that moment he knew that he saved.
And that man shook England. Revelation is not simple.
When the revelation comes to you, you will not be the same
man Why? Because the breath of God enters
you. The breath of God enters you.
It is like Adam being created in the God of Eden.
He takes the mud, makes the shape, and then he breathes into
his nostrils the breath of life and became a living being.
It will be as important as tumultus, as powerful as life
ordering, as that experience of that mud becoming a living
being. That is what Revelation is going
to do for you. You will become a living being.
Hallelujah. No, that's not something I
thought about before and it never entered me in my mind
before. It is the Holy Spirit who gives
us the words. That's why Paul can say in
Second Corinthians. He says we explain the spiritual
truths with spiritual words. That's what it is by the Holy
Spirit. Am I going to finish?
Let's see how it goes S he he had a heart of reconciliation,
heart of conciliation. He was not wanting to have Let's
go to Jerusalem. Let's confront the leaders.
Let us just I'll tear them apart my with my arguments.
That's not his. That's not the attitude with
this Paul was going Paul went to the with the humility.
He said he wanted to present the gospel to them.
And why does he say that? You look at here his he fears.
He fears that, you know, I had. Yeah.
Was 7. On the contrary, they saw that I
had been interested with this task of preaching the gospel to
the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
Paul when he was saying he was worried that he ran for nothing,
you know, I have wasted my breath for 14 long years.
He was preaching and building the churches and he wanted to
make sure that the gospel he preached is in conformity with
the gospel the disciples them just heard received from the
mouth of Jesus. Is it because he was worried?
He was because of he was afraid. No, he was concerned for the
body of Christ. He knew that the body is going
to be split into two big sections and the very purpose
for which Christ came and died upon the cross we nullified.
That was his fear. He is not worried about his
message being discredited. He is not worried that his pre,
his preaching is going to be discredited.
That's not his worry at all. Even though you see those words
there? Where is that word?
I suddenly my mind has gone blank about it.
OK, somebody finds it, please let me know.
OK Anyway that that's that's that's that's not a fear of
Paul. Basically he had the heart.
He wanted to make sure that things are going well.
And then he went there as a response to revelation.
And then he said before them the gospel them refers to the
leaders in Jerusalem, which he mentioned who seemed to be
leaders referring to Peter, John and James and that is the half
brother of Jesus Christ. Now he presented before them,
this is the gospel I am preaching.
And they said, fine, he's good. If he wins the leadership, he
can win the larger body. He wins the leadership, he wins
the larger body. So he goes and presents it with
the confident, confidentially. He talks to the leaders first.
They said, Paul, excellent, we are with you in this matter.
We are with you in this matter. And then Paul says that's fine.
And then they have this larger meeting with the church.
That is Acts chapter 15. Are we together?
So this is how he had a heart of conciliation.
He had a heart, humble heart to say, hey, let us, let us just
talk it over. Let us just make it clear.
Let us be very clear what you are teaching, what I'm teaching.
The whole issue is he did not receive the gospel from anybody.
He says no one told me the gospel.
I received it straight from the Lord Jesus himself.
Can he go wrong? If the apostles who were with
Jesus for 12 long and 3 1/2 years long and they heard the
teaching from the mouth of Jesus and now they have a gospel and
there is a man who comes along after many years and he has an
encounter with Jesus and Jesus gives him the gospel, it has to
be the same. It cannot be a different gospel.
So it was the same. So Paul is interested in the
task of preaching the two Gentiles.
And now they, what they realized is after the talk, hearing the
testimonies, OK, that isolating 1 leader above the others,
they're saying Peter is interested to the Jewish people
and Paul is interested to preach to the Gentiles.
What about John and James? They're still there.
They were only taking it as a matter of principle.
OK, we, when Peter, you talked about Peter, it includes all the
other apostles as well who are in Jerusalem.
They were interested with the gospel to the Jewish people and
Paul is interested with the gospel to the Gentiles.
In fact, if you look at how how big is Israel?
Very tiny, small place, but how vast is the area that Paul
covered when we were doing the study on Acts?
I have given you the map. How vast?
And he said I have labored more than them all.
I have suffered more than them all.
You know, that is something which is very, very difficult
for me to understand. How was this man?
What was it that is compelling him day after day after day to
be so focused on preaching the gospel?
It is so hard. You we don't find one more Paul
in history. We may have thousands of
missionaries have gone too far and wide and preach the gospel,
but not one more Paul, not one more power.
And God's challenge to us is how much do we appreciate the
gospel? Do we have the same concern?
Do you have the same desire to preach the gospel?
Do we have the concern for the people who are perishing?
Yesterday I was listening to one man called John Lennox on
YouTube. So he was having an argument
with a debate with an atheist. The atheist wanted to denounce
this man. He is John, are you a parents
Christian? He said, yeah, that explains why
you are a Christian. So John Lennon says, my family
is the first source for me to hear the gospel.
I thank God for it. And when his time came, he
turned to the atheist and said, are you a parents Christian?
He said, no, they are atheist. That explains why you are an
atheist. So what I'm trying to say here
is home should be the first place to hear the gospel.
Children should hear the gospel in the home first.
And that's a big awesome responsibility.
You need to, if you can, pray for the whole city with tears.
God save Christchurch. Let there be few tears for our
own family. If we, if we cannot shed those
tears for our family, but for the city we can do.
It's not right. It has to begin in the family.
I'm not saying don't preach outside.
No, no, that's not my point. The point is the heart should be
for the family and then for the city.
It has to go outward, not from inward.
It shall be in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, the uttermost
parts of the world at begins with the home.
So I was very surprised to hear this man John.
He was a mathematician and brilliant guy and he proves
gospel in so many different ways.
And I was listening to him. I said, he said I am privileged
to hear the gospel from my parents first.
That word first was very impressive to me.
OK, so we have this. God is at work in Peter's
Apostolic ministry, and God is at work in Paul's Apostolic
ministry in Gentiles. So who is the one who's doing
the ministry? Is it Peter and James and John
and Paul? It's God.
God is working through Peter. James and John is the same God
working through Paul. So we need to have that God
working in us, through us so that we will not lose the
essence or the power of the gospel.
When God works in US, it will be the same power, it will be the
same gospel brings the same revival.
Revival will happen when we say to God we are ready now, we want
the revival. You know, sometimes we ask for
God. We want 1000 people to come to
church. Are we ready for a handling 1000
people? Can we disciple them?
Can we pray for all of them and deliver them?
Heal them? We are not ready, everyone of
us, when we are committed with that kind of a commitment saying
God, we want a Kingdom to come. You're ruled to come and you
stand up and say, God, let that Kingdom begin in my life, I want
to be consumed by this gospel. I want to be consumed by the
power of the Kingdom of God. I am here available.
Fill me with the same power of resurrection.
And when you stand up and God says, yes, I'm happy to see you
stand up and I want to use you. And when we do it and when we
learn some things we had to learn, deliverance is not
something you can just find somebody and say hey come out,
they will come out. Its not going to happen
overnight because there were times we prayed, nothing
happened, but now something happens so we praise God for it.
So we need to go on the knees and pray and pray, and we fill
the Holy Spirit so that when the devil looks at you, he knows
this man has already prayed, and I cannot stop him from casting
me out. They can see far more into you
than you can see into them, like the Son Saskewa.
So we need to go on our knees and pray and pray and pray, and
we fill the Holy Spirit more and more and more so that we can
shake the Kingdom of darkness. I think I would now like to
close it. So they wanted Paul to remember
the poor, which he was eager to do.
They said OK, its all good now we have talked about it, what is
the gospel? Everything is clear now, but
remember us, particularly the poor among the Jewish people.
Paul said yes, I want to do it. In fact, Chapter 11, he already
had brought some relief by collecting money from different
places and brought it to Jerusalem and now during again
he is coming now again bringing the collection.
He said here is it, take it. So we need to take
responsibility for other believers who are poor and
that's very important. We had to keep that in mind.
But that doesn't really click in the minds of New Zealanders
because we have the government giving some dole.
But when you go to third world countries like India and
Pakistan and many other countries, you have to be
generous to help somebody who cannot afford to have a meal.
So probably that's one of those things the Western church has to
learn how to be generous and support.
Cool, let's just pray and ask the Lord to bless us this
morning. Thank you Lord for your word.
Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, you have not changed.
You are the same yesterday, today and forever.
It is we who need to change. So I pray, may a merciful,
loving hand come upon each one of our hearts, touch our heart
that we may change, and let the revelation come to us because
that is how we have to live. So I pray, Father, in the name
of Jesus, you visit your children every day when they
read your word. Let revelation come to them, let
power flow into them because of the Holy Spirit enlightening
them with the Word. I pray that you make us into
supernatural Christians, not complacent, not half hearted,
half dead, cold Christians, but people who are on fire of the
Holy Ghost, who have been enlightened by the fire of the
Holy Ghost. What are set on fire by the Holy
Ghost? I pray that you change your life
from inside out, that we may live for you.
Bring glory to you. Our life is very small.
Help us not to live for ourselves, but to live for you
to the glory of your name. Bless each one of us.
Jesus mighty name we ask. Everybody says Amen.
Amen. Thanks for joining us at Omega.
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