Galations #6

[0:00] Well, we welcome you to our, what, our February 19 class, and if this is global warming, I don't know that we could survive global cooling.

[0:11] This is really getting kind of ridiculous, is it not? Nonetheless, the Word of God has not changed, and we are in Galatians chapter 1, wherein we find the Apostle Paul verifying his apostleship and insisting upon his apostleship.

[0:30] And he makes the statement, if you will look at verse 15, on the section that is labeled 1b at the bottom of the page, we see that the Apostle says, When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me, that, and this clause that follows is what is called a purpose clause in the Greek, and it means in order that, that is, God chose Saul of Tarsus to reveal his Son in him, in order that he might preach him, that is, Christ, among the heathen, which of course is another word for Gentiles or non-Jews.

[1:20] He says, In other words, he didn't go to any other individuals and ask them for information as to what had happened to him or the implications of it.

[1:38] He simply deferred and did not go up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me. Now, that's quite extraordinary, because those who were apostles before Paul, that is, the twelve whom Christ chose as his apostles at the beginning of his earthly ministry, those twelve would have been the resident authorities on all matters concerning Jesus Christ and who he was and why he came and why it mattered, etc.

[2:14] They would have been the so-called experts of the day, and it seems to me that it would have been almost logical for Paul to have gone to them right after his conversion and asked them to bring him up to speed regarding everything.

[2:33] But he didn't do that. That's very significant. Do you have any idea why that might have been the case? May I suggest, based upon what I think the context is going to reveal, is this.

[2:50] And I don't know how else to use this term, but I think this is exactly what is involved. Paul did not do that, lest he be contaminated theologically or doctrinally with the twelve.

[3:06] What do I mean by that? He knew his gospel was different, didn't he? He knew, absolutely. He knew that something was different here. And he didn't know what. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was apparent that things are changing.

[3:21] And this is a very, very important and dramatic thing to take into consideration. There's a good reason why he didn't go to the twelve and confer with them. Now, he's going to do that later, but only after he is really established in the calling to which God called him.

[3:38] So, he says, Neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again to Damascus.

[3:51] We don't know how long he spent in Arabia. This Arabia is, of course, present-day Saudi Arabia, probably in the southern area there.

[4:02] In fact, it might not have been too far, might have been in the very same area to which Moses fled when he left Egypt, because he was a felon, if you will, on the run from the Egyptian authorities regarding the man that he had, the Egyptian that he had killed.

[4:23] And we are told that Moses went into Arabia, present-day Saudi Arabia. It may have been the very same kind of an area. We just don't know. But he did go into Arabia and then returned again unto Damascus.

[4:40] So, get this picture, if you will. He starts out in Jerusalem, where he received orders from the chief priests to go all the way to Damascus.

[4:53] That's clear out of the country of Israel into a foreign country, into Syria, and round up Christians who had fled from Jerusalem to Syria because of the persecution.

[5:05] And he was assigned the responsibility to go there and bring them back. But on his way there, he was confronted with the risen Christ on that road to Damascus.

[5:17] And there he came face-to-face with the one whom he had been persecuting. And as a result, Saul of Tarsus underwent a dramatic conversion and placed his faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

[5:33] Then we are told, and this is in Acts 9, we don't see it right here in this text, but it's in Acts 9, immediately after he did that, he went to the synagogue, where, by the way, he was supposed to round up all of these Jews who had been believers.

[5:50] He went to the synagogue in Damascus and didn't round up anybody. He gave his testimony. And he told these Jews there in the synagogue at Damascus what had happened to him on the road to Damascus.

[6:07] And we're told in Acts 9 that immediately Paul began preaching in that Jewish synagogue that Jesus was the Messiah.

[6:20] And I missed it. I had it all wrong. And I came up here to round up you people who were believers in Christ, and I myself ended up a believer. So he is preaching this gospel there in this Jewish synagogue in Damascus.

[6:35] And shortly thereafter, he goes into Arabia. This appears to have been a time of some kind of seclusion or personal preparation on the part of Christ and Paul.

[6:48] We don't know exactly how long he was there. We are not told how long he was there. But he spent some time in, for all practical purposes, we can call it a one-on-one kind of tutoring time and a special kind of seminary where Christ must have been the teacher and is giving him the information that he needs.

[7:11] So he didn't go to Jerusalem. He went into Arabia. This is all in verse 17. And after spending an undetermined amount of time in Arabia, then he returned to Damascus.

[7:24] Still didn't go to Jerusalem. He returned to Damascus. And then, verse 18, After three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days.

[7:43] And as I've often said, man, oh man, if ever there was a discussion I would have liked to have eavesdropped on, it would be what Peter and Paul had to say to each other during those 15 days.

[7:54] Yes, Joe? Now, this three years, would this have been after he came back to Damascus from Arabia, or is this including the time that he was in Arabia after three years?

[8:06] That isn't clear. I really don't know. I would say that the three years would be from the time of his conversion.

[8:21] And when he says in verse 16 that he did not confer with flesh and blood, I would date those three years as having begun then. But the context is really inconclusive.

[8:32] We just cannot say for sure. But we do know this. We can say this for sure. And that is that there was a period of three years after Saul's conversion, before he talked to any of the 12 who were original apostles of Christ, including Peter.

[8:55] So he's got three years, if you will, of salvation under his belt. And whatever he has learned about his ministry to the Gentiles, he is well established in that.

[9:11] Now he goes to confer with Peter. And what they're going to do, of course, is compare notes. Because we do not have any actual record that Saul of Tarsus was ever exposed to the three-year earthly ministry that Christ had when he was here.

[9:33] There is the possibility that he was, but most likely he was not. As far as we can determine, and as far as the scriptures are concerned, and what they reveal, Saul of Tarsus never was confronted by Jesus Christ until that event on the road to Damascus.

[9:52] And if he saw him or was in the audience where Christ was preaching or anything during those three years that he was here on earth, it is not revealed. So at any rate, we are told then that he abode with Peter 15 days.

[10:08] They must have had some absolutely incredible discussions during that time. I can see Peter recounting to Paul the miracles that he saw Christ perform.

[10:23] And Paul, of course, is just dumbfounded by this, you know. He's absorbing all of this because he was not privy to that. And here Peter is filling him in on what Christ said and what he did and where they were and what they experienced and everything else.

[10:41] And they are comparing notes. And you may be sure, you may be sure that Paul recounted in considerable detail his conversion experience on that road to Damascus.

[10:52] And he's filling him in on that. And these guys are each being brought up to speed by the others. And it must have been incredible. Yeah, Joe. You don't think maybe that Christ, when Paul was having his experience with Christ, that he didn't get informed that he'd been on earth and that he had apostles before him.

[11:10] And this is what they saw and what he did when I was on earth. You don't think Christ told Paul? Well, I think. He's free ministry on earth. I don't. Let me put it this way. I am confident that Saul of Tarsus knew that Christ had apostles.

[11:30] He knew that because the person of Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, was a household name all throughout Israel for those three years. And virtually everybody knew that he had followers.

[11:44] And everybody knew that John the Baptist had followers or disciples. And when John was beheaded, those who were disciples of John the Baptist came over and became disciples of Jesus.

[11:58] In fact, some of the twelve had previously been John's disciples. So it was common knowledge wherever Jesus went, the twelve were traveling with him.

[12:09] It was common knowledge among the people as to who these men were and what their responsibilities were. And we were told in Matthew 10 when he called them. So I think we can be reasonably certain that Saul of Tarsus knew when he was persecuting the followers of Christ that there were certain individuals who were especially close to Christ.

[12:34] And these were referred to as his apostles, etc. Now, I do believe, however, that when Paul was in Arabia, there was some reason that he went to Arabia. We are not told what it was.

[12:47] We are told in the Corinthian epistle that he, Paul, received an abundance of revelations from the risen Christ that the twelve were not privy to.

[13:03] This was an update information that Paul received that the twelve had never received from Christ and information that had not been made available until after the ascension.

[13:17] You see, here is a very important but I think erroneous assumption that people make regarding the person and ministry of Christ.

[13:27] And it is this. And I don't want to stop here, but we'll cover it more fully later on. Just let me inject this here. It is commonly accepted among Christendom that what we refer to as the Great Commission, Matthew 28, 19, and 20, was Christ's final orders to his followers.

[13:53] And therefore, that is what we are to undertake and make our Great Commission, although the Bible never calls that the Great Commission. But there is a very flawed assumption there in that the latest word that Christ revealed was not to the apostles when he ascended.

[14:16] The latest word that Christ revealed was after he ascended, what he communicated to Saul of Tarsus. This he did from a glorified heavenly position as opposed to an earthly position here with the twelve.

[14:33] And what we are talking about, fellas, is that there was a considerable update that was provided to Paul that was never given to the twelve by Christ when he was here ministering for those three years.

[14:48] So the final words of Jesus to his followers is not Matthew 28, 19, and 20. It is rather what Paul received in the abundance of revelations given by the risen Christ that the twelve actually knew nothing about.

[15:10] For instance, when Paul writes to the Corinthians, he says things like, We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

[15:23] The dead in Christ shall rise. And he's talking about the rapture. And then when he writes to the Thessalonians, he talks about, I would not have you to be eager, brethren, concerning those who have died and gone on before.

[15:36] For if we believe that Jesus is the Christ, then the dead in Christ shall be caught up and we shall join them in the air. This is truth that the twelve didn't know anything about.

[15:50] Christ didn't reveal that. The rapture is not in the Gospels and the rapture is not in the Old Testament. This is updated information that the risen Christ gave to Paul.

[16:01] And it is part of what Paul referred to as the abundance of revelations. So we've got an ongoing kind of content that is made available to Paul that was not available to the twelve.

[16:14] And the reason for that is there are different marching orders. Because what the twelve got was in connection with Israel and the Gospel of the Kingdom. What Paul is getting is in connection with the church, which is the body of Christ.

[16:27] And that's entirely different. And I think this is where much of Christendom goes astray and produces a whole lot of confusion. Yeah. In Daniel, when Daniel had questions about when, you know, what was in store for him, he questioned when he would go, when he would be with the Lord.

[16:48] And the Lord said there are going to be like first fruits. There will be some people go, but you will go in your time. Meaning there's going to be different ascension times.

[17:00] Yeah. You're talking about Daniel 12. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And his time was not to know. Just like we're not to know. That's true. You just keep on, keep it on like you are.

[17:12] And, you know, don't worry about it. You will be taken up in your time. That's right. But others will go before you. Don't be impatient. Absolutely. Appreciate that. Thank you. Any other comments or questions?

[17:22] Yeah. Dan. What would Peter's reaction would have been when he came to him? And knowing who saw who Paul.

[17:36] That will become very clear as we move on through Galatians. Because what's going to happen? What's going to happen? And we'll see this coming up. It's in Galatians chapter 2. Paul is preaching this updated information that he has.

[17:51] But he is preaching it to Gentiles. He is the apostle to the Gentiles. And what we've got here is Paul is preaching one thing.

[18:04] And Peter and the 12 are preaching another. And we've got a problem. What's going to happen here? And this is coming up.

[18:14] And I'm excited about it because it answers so many questions. It's coming up in Galatians chapter 2. And we'll get there eventually. But what he is saying is that he went to the 12.

[18:25] And he informed the 12 what he was preaching to the Gentiles. That is to the non-Jews. And they put their stamp of approval on it.

[18:38] And fellas, here is where there's an incredible distinction that needs to be made. Because when Paul begins preaching his gospel. And he even calls it my gospel.

[18:49] When he begins preaching to the non-Jews, that is to Gentiles, he doesn't tell them, by the way, you guys need to be circumcised.

[19:00] He doesn't tell them that. And he doesn't say, you need to keep the Sabbath. And he doesn't say, you need to have a kosher kitchen in your home. These are all Jewish things.

[19:11] What he does say is, you are justified by grace, through faith, plus nothing. Nothing is needed except your faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

[19:25] Well, that's not what had been preached by the 12 to the Jews. This is really different. And this is exactly why we're told in Galatians 2 that Paul went to the 12 and he informed them what he was teaching the Gentiles.

[19:46] And they signed off on it. They are going to say, okay, Paul, well, it is obvious we've got two different things here. And if you want to peek and read ahead, you can.

[19:59] But the conclusion was this. The conclusion was, the 12 is saying, well, now it is clear to us that just as God raised us up to preach the good news to the circumcised, that is, to the Jew, even so, God has raised up Paul to preach the good news to the uncircumcised.

[20:29] And they signed off on that. It is inevitable that there are two different messages. Now, Christ is the center of both of them.

[20:40] He is the focus of both of them. And everything centers around him. That hasn't changed at all. But the message is definitely changed because it is not a Jewish message.

[20:55] It is a message for the Jew and the Gentile, both together in one new body. And that was unthinkable previously.

[21:07] Yeah, question? I like the term you used when you say he has an abundance of revelation. Is there a reference to that? Or is that in chapter 2, the first time that came out then?

[21:19] That Paul actually had an abundance of revelation beyond what the apostles had? It's in, let's see. 1 Corinthians.

[21:31] 1 Corinthians. I think it's 1 Corinthians. I sometimes get 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians mixed up.

[21:57] If anybody's got a handle on it. Maybe it is 2 Corinthians. I don't know. It is 2 Corinthians.

[22:12] I'm sorry. 2 Corinthians 12. Paul says, and he kind of gives a testimony here.

[22:25] He says, I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago. And most scholars are of the opinion, and I agree with him, that he's talking about himself. This is a personal testimony.

[22:37] And he says, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body. In other words, he doesn't know whether he's dead or alive. When he received these revelations, and I suspect that this was in connection with his being stoned to death at Lystra, when he was left for dead, they thought he was dead.

[22:52] And he says, God knows such a one caught up into the third heaven. I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. God knows how that. He was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, that is, a message, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

[23:15] Of such an one will I glory. Yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth.

[23:29] But now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he sees me to be, or that he hears of me. And lest I should be exalted, this is Paul's personal testimony, lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations.

[23:52] In other words, Paul had information on an inside track that humanly speaking could have really made him puffed up and proud.

[24:03] And look at what I know. Look at what I've got. And in order to hold him down and make sure that he does not become exalted above measure, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

[24:21] So, we don't know what all of these abundance of revelations consisted of, but we do know that in Paul's letters, he is going to reveal a lot of new information that is not found in the four Gospels or in the Old Testament.

[24:43] What Paul is going to give in the letters he writes is information specifically addressed to the church, which is the body of Christ.

[24:56] So, what is the church? Well, they are the believers at Rome to whom he wrote the letter to the Romans. They are believers at Corinth to whom he wrote 1st and 2nd Corinthians.

[25:09] They are the believers at Galatia. They are the believers at Ephesus. They are the believers at Philippi. And all of this content is designed not for Jew only, not for Gentile only, but for Jews and Gentiles blended together in one body through a common faith they have in Jesus Christ.

[25:34] And this new body is never found in the Old Testament. As you go all through the Old Testament and as you go through the four Gospels, you find a very specific line of demarcation between Jew and Gentile.

[25:53] They are separate. And boy, are they ever really separate. God said to the Jew, I'm going to make you a peculiar people unto me. And you're going to be different from all the rest of the world.

[26:08] There is a valid distinction made between Israel and all the rest of the world. But, with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the introduction of the Gospel of the grace of God, the distinction between the two is gone.

[26:27] Broken down. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Ephesians and said that God has broken down the middle wall of partition that separated us making the two Jew and Gentile into one new man.

[26:48] So that there is no longer Jew or Gentile bond or free male or female you are all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

[27:00] That is new. That is really new. That was never before Paul came on the scene. Twelve didn't preach that. Jesus told the twelve don't go to the Gentiles.

[27:13] Don't go to the Samaritans. Confine your ministry to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's Jewish only. But now with this abundance of revelations and Paul being raised up to be the apostle to who?

[27:27] the Gentiles. We've got a whole new thing that is introduced that wasn't even mentioned before. That's why it's called a mystery.

[27:39] It was not revealed previously. Yeah, Joe. Jesus was just trying to fulfill the promises that were given to Abraham to the people. And he did. Right. When he said the commission would only go to Jews and so forth and it would look like he was a hypocritical person but he wasn't.

[27:55] It's just the timing. Absolutely. later on. Absolutely. It doesn't mean that he didn't love Gentiles. Right. I appreciate you making that point. Jesus Christ came as the seed of Abraham.

[28:10] He came to Israel. Exclusively to Israel. This is what the text means in John 1 when it says that he, Christ, came unto his own.

[28:24] And his own received received him not. Well, who were his own? It was the nation of Israel. And then he goes on and says, but as many as received him, to them gave he the authority or the power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name.

[28:39] So Christ came to Israel exclusively, but he came to Israel for the whole world.

[28:50] Wow. that is not revealed in the Gospels. And when Paul provides that update, guess what? It caused a lot of confusion, a lot of controversy, and a lot of rejection of Paul for preaching that message because he was bringing the Gentiles up to the same level as the Jew, and to the Jew that was unthinkable.

[29:14] Yeah. When Abraham was picked, he was told though that he would be a blessing to all nations. That's right. That's right. In time, we would be included.

[29:25] Absolutely. Absolutely. Through thee and thy seed, all nations of the earth will be blessed. Yes. And of course, they had no idea at the time how that was going to work out, but now we know.

[29:37] So, I appreciate you guys being here. John. In the first chapter of Acts, when Jesus appeared to the twelve, they asked him, will it this time restore the kingdom unto Israel?

[29:53] They were looking for the kingdom. Absolutely. And the kingdom was put on hold. Yep. That was their program.

[30:04] You see, they had tunnel vision. And it was all about the kingdom. Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom unto Israel? And the remnant left after the tribulation that was hidden and when he came in to set up the kingdom, that was a person.

[30:23] They were converted. They did not accept Jesus until that time. That's right. Until the remnant saw and realized that, hey, he is who he said he is.

[30:34] We had persecuted him. Right. They had done this thought to them in the past. And then they, of course, ruled them during the late call. Thank you, Joe.

[30:45] Well, guys, I trust this will do for you what it did for me years ago when I discovered this. I consider this really breakthrough material.

[30:56] It enables a lot of dots to be connected that are just kind of dangling. And it gives a cohesiveness to the plan and program of God like nothing else. So we'll be pursuing it more as we get into Galatians a little bit further.