No Other Gospel 3 - Galatians 2:1-10

[00:00:20] Good morning once again everyone. We all know maybe that we've been going through Galatians now and we're in chapter 2 and before I begin into chapter 2 just a reminder about what happened in chapter 1 just briefly. Paul's telling the Galatians and Galatia is a region it's not a city. Many churches there, many churches he started, he planted and he discipled and so now he's coming back after a couple years again like the Corinthians to kind of

[00:00:50] set things straight and the Corinthians issues were different than the Galatians issues certainly they had similar issues but in Galatia they were getting the gospel wrong. That's a big deal especially to Paul especially since Paul had gotten the gospel wrong for his entire life until he met Christ and he wants to let the Galatians know hey I've been where you are you're being fooled and I have the truth and I got it from the horse's mouth the risen Christ himself and so that by

[00:01:20] by way of background is where we entered Galatians 2 today. And he wants the I think his heart went up to the Galatians to say you know he kind of felt what they were feeling and he wanted them to cling to the one true faith which has been we talked about last week the one true faith has been around since the Garden of Eden. It was called well now we call it Christianity but it was faith in the one true God right and his the promise of his coming Messiah who is Christ.

[00:01:49] And so he wants to let them know kind of what they're missing. And so he went and he told the Galatians about how he had found the gospel how he'd spoken with the apostles he's saying hey I have this authority to tell you this because I met with the apostles even and they have approved me for this in preaching the one true gospel. And so I'll read from Galatians chapter 2 beginning in verse 1. Paul writing he says then 14 years later I went back to Jerusalem again.

[00:02:18] This time with Barnabas and Titus came along too. I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I'd been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. And they supported me and they did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised though he was a Gentile.

[00:02:45] Even that question came up only because of some so-called believers there false ones really who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and to take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you. And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching.

[00:03:13] By the way their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me for God has no favorites. Instead they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, James, Peter, and John who were known as pillars of the church recognized the gift God had given me

[00:03:40] and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles. While they continued their work with the Jews, their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I've always been eager to do. The word of God. Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, you've given us this account of Paul's life and his time with the Galatians

[00:04:07] and I think we can see ourselves in their shoes after hearing some of Paul's words. We want to keep sharp and Lord you keep us sharp. We pray that you give us the ability to discern truth from error. We pray that you give us the ability to discern what is right from that which is almost right because you are truth and we want to find you. We pray that you lead us beginning right now this morning by your spirit that has promised to lead us into all truth.

[00:04:37] We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And we've all seen things like this, of course. We still do society's attempts at their gospel message to us. Judge not, lest ye be judged. We've heard that. Love Wins, a popular book by, I forgot his name, it's probably a good thing. Rob. Remember his name? Rob something wrote a book called Love Wins. Not talking about judgment, talking about love. We should just all love everybody.

[00:05:07] Rob Bell, that was his name. False teacher. Have your best life now, of course. We've heard that forever. What would Jesus do? The bracelets in the 90s? These aren't bad things to say. It's just, if this is as far as your gospel message goes, we've got issues. The coexist bumper stickers. We have bumper sticker theology. And that's as far as our gospel message goes, we've got issues.

[00:05:32] And, of course, the one that I don't like the most, maybe, is love is love. Love is love. And although that kind of catchphrase, Christianity, is pretty popular, it's cute and cuddly, and it's, you know, anybody can agree to that. It's like saying, I'm for the environment. Who's against it? None of those messages, though, can save your soul. Paul tells the Galatians that his priority is to preserve the gospel message because people like to mess with it.

[00:06:01] And they like to tweak it and customize it because it's more comfortable if I say love is love than if I don't believe in Christ, I'm going to eternally die. So I'll just change the gospel to say that. And then I can live with it. It'll be more palatable for me. And it's something I can live with. But that's not how it works. And that was happening in Galatia. His priority was to preserve what the Lord had given to him, not to change it or to modify it or to water it down even.

[00:06:31] He desires the Christian to have a backbone and to say things that are hard but are true. And we should defend that faith, the only faith that can save. And it should be our priority as well. Come what may. Verse 1 again, he says here, remember he just got done telling us in chapter 1 that he had seen the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. And he went down and he heard the gospel and he was converted. And he says, and then I went to Arabia. And he says, then he went back to Damascus.

[00:07:00] And after three years, he told us he went to Jerusalem to talk to the guys up there, the leaders, Peter. After three years, he went to Jerusalem. Now he's here and he's talking about an additional 14 years. He says, then 14 years later, I went back to Jerusalem again. This time he brought some friends, Barnabas and Titus. And so Paul had been already working for a few years. Went up to Peter and had the right hand of fellowship.

[00:07:29] Peter blessed him and then he went back. And 14 years later, he went back up again. And I thought about what were you doing 14 years ago? Because that's kind of a long time. Maybe some of you weren't born yet. But 14 years ago, I mean, it's not all that long ago, but it's quite a good chunk of time. 14 years ago was 2012. It's when the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy happened. Seems like kind of a long time ago. When Barack Obama won re-election over who? Mitt Romney. Remember that?

[00:07:59] Seems like kind of a long time ago. Apple released the iPhone 5. I don't know, what are we at now? The 18? iPhone 18, 19? It's kind of a long time. So why would Paul mention that here? Like, oh, after 14 years, I went back. Because I believe everything in Scripture has a reason, a purpose. Holy Spirit could have said, ah, leave that out. But it's in here. And I think it tells us a couple things. And I think if the Lord didn't prompt him to go, maybe he wouldn't even have gone at that point.

[00:08:29] But the Lord did prompt him. Look at verse 2. It says, I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. Seems like Paul was content doing whatever he was doing for 14 years. And God says, I think you should go to Jerusalem now. So that's what he did. Seems like he was content to keep evangelizing, planting churches. We're not quite sure exactly what he did, but we have the history from Acts and some things in Luke tell us. But I think it tells us a couple things.

[00:08:56] One is that he was content to be occupied with the ministry. He was quite occupied with the ministry, 14 years worth. And he was fervent about it and he was joyful about it. And he was zealous about it just like he was a zealous Pharisee. Only now that energy from the Pharisaical Judaism went into building the church. Instead of doing his best to destroy it from last week. Still had that energy, that zeal. But now it was correctly in the right direction.

[00:09:24] He was keeping his head down, keeping his nose to the grindstone. 14 years. Kind of a long time. And I think these words also tell us about the 14 years that he was also confident about his message. Confident that what he was preaching for those over a decade years was true. Otherwise he maybe would have checked in with Jerusalem a little sooner. But I think that if you receive the gospel from the Lord himself, you might be confident too about your message.

[00:09:53] Look at all the disciples who changed their minds about how to live their lives after seeing the risen Christ because they knew it was true. Even some doubted after the resurrection. Thomas said, unless I see him, I'm not going to believe. But once he saw him, he gave his life for that. Because he knew it was true. Paul knew this was true. He knew the gospel was true. And he was content to work in it for over a decade before checking in. But when the Lord said, you better go, he went. Your first note says,

[00:10:21] In the ministry of our lives we seek only to please the Lord, not the praise of men. And your life is a ministry. If people know you're a Christian or know that you profess to be a Christian, your life is a ministry. Because they're going to know that in the back of their mind. They've got you categorized under Christian. And whatever you say or do or how you talk or how you live is going to be your testimony. I don't know who it was. Maybe it was Spurgeon. It said the best, your life is a sermon.

[00:10:51] Something like that. Or maybe Calvin said it. Whoever said it was, think of it that way. Yeah, my life is a sermon. How I live, how people see me, how I reflect Christ is a sermon, is a message to people about Jesus. Whether you know it or not. So in our ministry of our lives, we should seek only to please the Lord. I think Paul was doing that because he never went up there and said, hey guys, do you see all the stuff I'm doing here for the church? Hey Peter, hey Paul, or hey James, John, look at me. He didn't think about it.

[00:11:19] And the Lord said, I think you should go talk to the leaders. He might have just kept doing this thing and went to heaven and maybe they never would have met. I think it shows us diligence, humility. I have an assignment from the Lord and I'm doing it. And he's going to bless me and that's all I need. Verse 2 he says here, While I was there in Jerusalem, I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I'd been preaching to the Gentiles. Now, this is Paul.

[00:11:49] He was an enemy of the church. Hunting down Christians. Doing his best to destroy it, he told us himself. He went to headquarters and he says, this is what I'm saying. This is what I'm preaching. Does it pass muster with you guys? The top dogs. The inner circle of Christ. Peter, James, and Paul. And so what are they going to say? He says, here's what I've been teaching. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement.

[00:12:20] For fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. He wants to make sure he's teaching the right thing. He's been teaching it for 14 years. Add on the three in the beginning. 17 years. He's checking in with the apostles. The apostles of Christ. Seems like a good thing to be concerned with. Shows, I think, a spiritual maturity for Paul to say, can you guys check on me? I mean, who's going to go up to headquarters and voluntarily say, can I have a personal evaluation of what I've been doing?

[00:12:49] I mean, we want to maybe stay away from that. I think the yearly evals come up. Who wants to go through that? People look at how you're doing and look at the ledger and is your work up to snuff? But he went there. Lord told him to and he went. How am I doing, guys? How's my message? How's my ministry? Check on me. So what's going to happen? I don't think he thought he was wrong about the gospel. But he didn't want to be wrong. And it shows here because he says, I told him when I was teaching.

[00:13:18] And I wanted to make sure I was teaching the right thing. Shows spiritual maturity. What would they say? Because I think surely there are still ministers today. Not even just ministers, but anybody. Any employee who would be very averse to going down to the boss's office and say, hey, can you check on how I've been doing? Can you look through all my work for the past 14 years and see how I've been doing? Who wants to do that? Well, Paul did. Shows that he had a genuine heart for the ministry.

[00:13:43] And he included in that ministry, as of utmost importance, the preservation of the gospel. The gospel that the Galatians were getting wrong, apparently. And he should know. Paul says he wanted to be in agreement with the apostles. Next note here. Paul exemplifies a willingness to be held accountable. And accurate. And humble under correction.

[00:14:11] We should have a willingness to be held accountable. Paul did. We should have a willingness to be accurate. And we need humility to do that and to ask our superiors for that. Our brothers in Christ. Whether it be elders, pastors, family members that are true believers. We should say, hey, can you check on, is this right what I'm doing here? And then humbly accept their correction, accountability. This is a spiritually mature thing.

[00:14:43] These are righteous concerns. Maybe they should still be righteous concerns for churches today and ministers. Of course they should be. Instead of whatever else they're concerned with these days. But Paul, at least for one, was concerned that if he was wrong, he might be wasting his time. And we know from Philippians, he told us all about him wasting his time before with his worldly pursuits and his degrees and his stature and all the different languages he knew. And he says, oh, that's a waste of my time if I don't have Christ.

[00:15:12] And it was almost as he was saying, I don't want to do that again. I want to check in now with these pillars of the faith to make sure that's not happening again. So he's confirming and reconfirming his message here. Who else to ask than people who Christ anointed and appointed himself? Peter, the apostles. Who else to ask than James, the half-brother of Jesus?

[00:15:38] These people lived with him, saw him raised from the dead, saw his life, saw his death. Who else would you ask? And he went to them. He says, how am I doing? This shows us, too, in our Christian walk that it's good to pick our head up once in a while. Maybe it won't be 12 years, hopefully not. But every once in a while we should pick our head up and ask our brothers and sisters, hey, how am I doing? Can you be accountable to me? Can I be accountable to you? Can you keep an eye on me?

[00:16:09] We're all like sheep in a flock anyway, right? And we need to stay together. The Lord's family. There's strength in that. It's good to pick your head up once in a while. Paul did that. Because he wanted to know if he had strayed from the flock. Strayed from the truth. We can go down rabbit trails, can't we? We find different little things and we get hung up on this little thing that takes us off some trail. And we're gone for three years on some conspiracy theory or whatever it is. I mean, hey, some conspiracy theories end up being true.

[00:16:39] But the point is, if we're not focused on Christ first, we can stray. And Paul didn't want to be that one sheep that has gone so far off that the Lord has to go out there and get him and bring him back in. Paul doesn't want to do that. We can take a lesson here from Paul. Go to check in with headquarters once in a while. Go to check in with the home base of the gospel once in a while. Often. Not every 14 years. I hope it's sooner than that. But it's good to check in with the Lord, his people, his word. Often.

[00:17:08] To make sure we're on the right track. We're not straying too far away from the flock. Verse 3. What would they say? Verse 3. And they supported me. They endorsed him. They endorsed Paul. They supported him. And didn't even mention or demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was Gentile. This was a big deal for them in the first century. He's talking about the Christian leaders here. The Christian leaders.

[00:17:38] The apostles of Christ. The three from the inner circle. Peter, James, and John. They supported Paul. He received their seal of approval. They endorsed him. How many times, how many different ways can you say it? He came to them. If they had any issue with them, they would have said, Let me tell you, where can I begin, Paul? But they supported him. The church leaders didn't compel or demand that Titus be circumcised.

[00:18:07] What's he talking about here? Well, he's talking about some, quote, false brethren that were in Antioch. And we know this from Acts 15. From Acts 15, Luke writes about Paul. It says, While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers, unless you're circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved. And Paul's referencing these people as false teachers.

[00:18:38] And instead of saying Jews, he says, Luke says, There's some men from Judea. I mean, we can connect this. Verse 2, Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers to talk to the apostles and elders about this question, about circumcision. Do new believers in Christ, new converts in Christ, need to be circumcised? Because circumcision was a symbol of the old covenant.

[00:19:10] And Jesus says, this is the new covenant in my blood on the Last Supper. Do we still have to do the old things to be saved? And these Jews said, yeah, you need to have the gospel of Christ and to be circumcised. And Paul said, those are false believers. And they're false teachers. Big deal. And so it was a big deal for Paul, let alone the ancient Near East world, for the apostles to say, no, you don't have to be circumcised. This is from Acts 15, they had a council.

[00:19:39] What's the decision here, everybody? Do new believers in Christ need to be circumcised? The old covenant. Show the old sign of the old covenant. And they came out and they said, no, they don't. Big confirmation of the true gospel of Christ. That a converted Gentile was not compelled to be circumcised. That becomes a big issue in Galatians, as we'll see. Because the Jews were trying to modify the gospel. And customize it. Because they loved the old covenant.

[00:20:09] That was their way of life. And they wanted to add to it. A little something. We just want to add one thing. And one thing made them false teachers. The true gospel is that you take up your cross, you deny yourself, you follow Christ. It's by repenting and believing. It's through only God's grace. By your faith in Christ. Nothing more, nothing less. You don't add things.

[00:20:37] You don't impose your own standards upon the gospel. These, what Paul calls Judaizers, claim that you were saved if you had faith in Christ. And you were circumcised. And so we, today, could say, well, we don't, nobody says that today. But the things we say today are, yes, you are saved if you have faith in Christ, and you speak in tongues. Oh, yes, you have faith,

[00:21:06] you're saved if you have faith in Christ, and you vote Republican. It's just the, the and you, this or that, is where we get lost. Because you can add anything. Add your own standard. How can a fallen man's standard add anything beneficial to the gospel? It can't. No matter what it is. And they might even be good things. Yes, you can be saved if you have faith in Christ, and you never lie again. Now, that's a very good thing to say. I mean, but that's not how the gospel is.

[00:21:37] They were adding one thing. And Paul says, you're a false teacher. Your next note. When you change the gospel in any way, it becomes not the gospel, and powerless to save. Powerless to save. I would not dare to change the gospel. I would hope not. And eviscerate its power

[00:22:07] by putting something on a bumper sticker that people, if they see it and read it, say, oh, I can agree with that. Coexist. Sure, I'm in. And then they think they're saved. It's dangerous. Paul talks about these false believers among them, among the church in verse 4. He says, even that question came up about, because of some so-called believers there. He says, false ones, really, who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us

[00:22:36] and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. After mentioning how the gospel of Christ is confirmed, even without being circumcised, Paul brings up this topic of current interest. He says there are people that he refers to as so-called believers, who are really false believers, he says. It's kind of a, what do they call it, oxymoron?

[00:23:06] A false believer? But you're putting yourself out as a believer. But you're really not. You're in it for something else. Your motivations are different than true believers. True believers would want to preserve the gospel message as it is. It's interesting that Paul lists the trouble that he had to deal with from these so-called believers, these false believers, as part of his struggles and part of his persecutions and sufferings and hardship. He throws in these fake Christians in 2 Corinthians 11. Remember this passage?

[00:23:37] He says, I've traveled on many long journeys. I've faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I've faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I've faced danger in cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I've faced danger from men who claim to be believers, but are not. As far as you know, have you ever faced any trouble, hardship from phony Christians? As far as you know.

[00:24:07] We can't see in the people's hearts. But when you confess Christ, the world and Christians should be able to see if you're presenting the fruit of a Christian, if your words and your deeds line up over time, we should be able to see some evidence of your true faith, that people see you, how you act in private, the things you do, maybe that they don't know that you see. Could be hints,

[00:24:35] could be evidence you could bring in court to say, no, no, look it. This is evidence of my Christianity, of my true faith. But people who say they're Christians and aren't are trouble for Paul, and they're trouble for the church, because their motives are not pure. They're not the same as the motives of the Spirit of the Lord, which dwells within all of us. Here Paul goes further to say that some of them had bad intentions.

[00:25:05] He says they were secretly brought in. This implies premeditation. He says that they sneaked in to spy on us. This implies deliberation. And he goes even further, revealing that their motive was to take away the freedom that we have in Christ. Freedom from the bondage of man's standards, of circumcision, or anything else added to the gospel.

[00:25:35] That's just chains. Yes, I have freedom in Christ. I have faith in him. But then I have to do all this other thing. This other stuff. Bondage. And he says they wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations, because that's what happens when you add anything to the gospel. Now you are free in Christ, except I have to still check out this other box. It's slavery. It's bondage. And it's not the gospel.

[00:26:06] There's no standard man could add to the gospel to make it better. But people still try. So-called believers. And you say, well, surely there aren't any today. I don't know. We're not that naive. False brothers. They would be so conniving to infiltrate like spies. I mean, these words have this sense of sneaking around, being conniving and premeditating and ulterior motives.

[00:26:36] But would they do that to subvert the gospel? To meddle with the gospel? For their own gain? Even today? It's been going on forever. We can't be so naive to think it doesn't happen today. We can't be so naive to think that every person in the pews has the purest of hearts. Or even in the pulpits. So why should we be so naive today? We shouldn't. And you know, it's your next note. The thing about false brethren is that

[00:27:05] they're not outsiders. They're not outsiders. The ones that are out there, they're false teachers. They're easy to spot. They're preaching against Christ. They have contradictory messages about the gospel. Easy to spot, right? They deny Jesus. Well, it's the ones that are inside the flock that are the ones that are more difficult to see because they kind of look like us. They know the language. They know the ropes. They can speak Christianese.

[00:27:35] They're not outsiders. And that's what makes it difficult for us to see them if we're not keeping our head up, checking in once in a while. Do I have the gospel right? What am I going to compare their message against if I don't even know the word of God or know the gospel? If I know the gospel, I'll know what to compare their message to. But their priority is not to preserve the gospel. You'll find these people within the walls of churches.

[00:28:06] Sometimes you'll even find them behind the lecterns on Sunday mornings. God forbid. Because somehow they still are sneaking in, as Paul said, and they slither in. And what slithers but snakes? And that's what Jesus referred to the Pharisees as. Vipers, snakes, you snakes. And he had the seven woes. With their charm and their smooth talk, somehow they got into power or into leadership,

[00:28:37] putting up a front of righteousness while meddling with the gospel and adding Jewish laws as requirements to a person's faith. There's still snakes in churches today who sneaked in, and they don't fear God. And they don't fear his judgment, which is coming. Back then they were trying to customize the gospel, and they're still doing it today. I want to read verse five here. How's Paul going to respond to these false teachers and false brethren

[00:29:07] that are trying to teach a different gospel? He says, but we refused to give in to them for a single moment. Praise God. He says, we wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you. We encountered false teachers within the church. They were trying to force us and enslave us, but we didn't give them a minute's notice. We refused to listen to them, and we didn't yield to them even for a moment, he said. And praise God for that. That's how we should be doing it. We should be, oh, well,

[00:29:37] maybe we can talk about what you're saying. Maybe we can fit that into the word of God, and maybe we can kind of compromise. If you compromise with the gospel, it's not the gospel. You can't give them a moment's concern. The gospel must be preserved, and God will preserve it. Can't be changed. Can't be watered down. Can't be made more palatable for rebellious sinners that love their sin and just want to have a gospel

[00:30:06] that they can accept and they can call themselves Christians and they can kind of have benefit on both sides and play both sides of the field. No, it must be preserved as is. Kept as it was once delivered to the saints, as Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 15. It's something to be preserved. It's something to be, well, preserved, definitely. Defended. Guarded. Jude tells us,

[00:30:36] in Jude, Paul tells us, in verse 3, he says, Dear friends, I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith. Defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. It doesn't change. The message of hope doesn't change. The gospel message doesn't change. Verse 4, I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into churches, saying that God's marvelous grace

[00:31:05] allows us to live immoral lives. And he goes on to say that, The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. I think the New Living Translation is a good translation to read from when you're reading Paul, if you're teaching Paul, because Paul has a loftier way to write. NLT puts it like this. I love how all the translators put this.

[00:31:37] I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into churches. What a better way to say it. He's kind of wiggled in here. He's slithered in here. How'd you get in here? And now you're leading the place? People don't notice. They're conniving. And they're subtle. And they know what they're doing. And he says, People like this have been condemned from long ago. And he said, People like this have denied our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. They've denied Christ

[00:32:08] because they're meddling with the gospel and changing it. Because when somebody changes the gospel and waters it down and boils it down to love is love. They're perverting the gospel. And they only have to say, This is the gospel. Coexist. That's not the point. Their implication is that that's the way to salvation. This is the way. Love is love.

[00:32:37] They're twisting the gospel. And some leaders who say these things in Christian churches, pastors too, have wormed their way into the pulpit somehow. Either no one's noticed or no one cares. And I think sometimes people who are pastors in churches worm their way in and then they're there and the people want that just like Paul told Timothy. The people love it and they want it. And it's a judgment upon them.

[00:33:09] Paul's talking about them when he says the condemnation of such people was recorded long ago. Why? Because they've denied Christ. And it was happening in Antioch, the first century. And it's happening now in Galatia. And it's now happening in Lakeville and in any town USA. Unless we pick our heads up once in a while. And compare what is being said to the gospel of Christ. Because we must preserve that gospel. Simple.

[00:33:39] Simple gospel. A child can understand it. It's by grace through faith in Christ. Simple. These false brethren in Galatia wanted to add one thing. Circumcision to the gospel. And Paul said no. The gospel must be preserved and we refused to give in to them even for a moment. Even for a moment. We didn't even have the conversation. I said no, we're not doing that. Other translations have

[00:34:09] we did not yield. Paul says we didn't give in in the NLT. Other translations say we did not yield. We did not submit. We gave no place. We didn't surrender. But they all say not even for a moment. And neither should we. And you say when are we ever having these conversations? We don't ever this is kind of a you know mental exercise, right? You probably had some this week and maybe didn't realize it.

[00:34:39] People just assume that well you know Jesus really isn't the only way or well I can do this and do this sin and do that sin and you're cool with that, right? It all comes back to what's the gospel? What's the way of salvation? At some point we have to say no, no. As the kids say I'm not about that. I'm not giving that one minute of my time. Whatever is going on here that's not right. I don't stand for that. How is anyone going to know where you stand unless you say something or do something? Because if all we do

[00:35:09] is become professional compromisers what kind of a testimony is that? Somebody once said a long time ago will there be any evidence that you're a Christian? Could you just prove that in court? Some of us would have good cases and maybe some wouldn't. How's the world going to know? How's your neighbor going to know? Your brother, your sister if they are giving you some other message and you have the real message you don't say

[00:35:38] anything but oh that's okay. We gave no place. We didn't surrender not even for a moment and for the sake of God's true message of salvation we're called as believers to stand our ground and preserve the only message that will save which is the gospel of Christ period. And again this is nothing new. Peter, the apostle Peter puts it this way in 2 Peter 2 he says but there were also false prophets in Israel.

[00:36:08] Now Peter, James and Paul and every time I say Peter, James and Paul I want to say Peter, Paul and Mary. Why is that? I got to come over but Peter, James and Paul were the three guys that would know false teachers. They were out there in the trenches they would know one if they saw. So Peter here says but there were also false prophets in Israel just as there will be false teachers among you they will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the master who bought them in this way

[00:36:38] they will bring sudden destruction on themselves many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality and because of these teachers the way of truth will be slandered in their greed they will make up clever lies to get a hold of your money but God condemned them long ago and their destruction will not be delayed the apostles are speaking the same language here because these false teachers that worm their way they don't care about the gospel

[00:37:07] but they can be found in churches because they're not outsiders look at what else they're called in scripture 2nd Corinthians they're called false prophets disguised as the servants of righteousness this all implies a motive premeditation a plan bad intentions Philippians 3 from last week watch out for those dogs Paul calls them who twist the scripture Matthew 7 Jesus calls them wolves in sheep's clothing

[00:37:37] and Paul again calls them in Romans smooth talkers and deceiving the innocent and it's nothing new and they're here today and they're on TV and they're in churches and God forbid they're here but we can't be naive to it so we have to be sharper and measure the words that we're hearing especially from loved ones does that line up with scripture does that line up with the gospel am I supposed to say something here we should defend the gospel for his name's sake

[00:38:08] and I wonder if you've been asked or shamed or pressured or threatened even or given an ultimatum to give in to what the world would call its gospel by people you love to yield to false believers gospels to submit to so-called believers idea of God's message to surrender to it even I hope that we can all look the Lord

[00:38:38] straight in the face on judgment day and say no I didn't give in to that not even for a moment Lord while your eternity is hanging in the balance on that day and depending on how that meeting goes with our Lord he will either say to us depart from me or well done thou good and faithful servant enter in all while those who you had been maybe trying to keep peace with are waiting behind you in line

[00:39:08] because you're not answering to them you're answering to him your next note don't meddle with the gospel it is what it is and we must preserve it don't mess with it don't meddle with it don't tweak it sometimes it's a hard pill to swallow I get it for some new believers verse 6 how would the apostles react to Paul again he says and the leaders

[00:39:38] of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching by the way their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me for God has no favorites another poignant message from Paul he went up to see the big wigs the apostles of Christ the inner circle these pillars of Christianity and he says after meeting the risen Christ yeah they're pretty awesome guys but I wasn't overly impressed because you're not Jesus Paul kept the level head he wasn't starstruck by Peter or James

[00:40:10] the way a lot of people are starstruck by people on TV who are ministers or people who are well known in Christianity he wasn't starstruck he says yeah those guys are great they know what they're doing but I'm over it he's almost like I gotta get back to work he says God has no favorites other translations here says God shows no partiality one even says he's not impressed and so Paul says I shouldn't

[00:40:39] be too impressed by people either no matter their role in the church no matter their role in society Paul wanted to keep a level head which we should too Peter said it himself in Acts 10 God is no respecter of persons so the apostles agreed with Paul they didn't want to have big heads either I don't think they did but we shouldn't be swept away or swept off our feet or overly impressed these days by anybody in ministry because even though they might think that God really needs them he doesn't

[00:41:10] he'll find another faithful humble servant or he'll raise the rocks up to do it so let's see how the apostles did respond to Paul after these 14 years verse 7 he said instead they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles now there's an endorsement they realized that God gave me this authority to preach to the Gentiles just as he'd given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews Paul had the same authority

[00:41:40] as Peter did they said it right here the same authority the same calling for the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles same God same authority same appointment and Peter and James and John saw that you've been appointed as we've been appointed verse 9 in fact James Peter and John who were known as pillars of the church recognized the gift God had

[00:42:09] given and they accepted Barnabas even and me as their co-workers their equals their co-laborers they didn't say we're up here Paul and you're down here Jesus called you later no equals you are our equal they encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles keep doing what you're doing while they continued their work with the Jews the apostles affirmed Paul's ministry so you have a problem with Paul got a problem with Peter and James and John

[00:42:41] and you've got a problem with God the apostles recognized their different roles in the ministry and they accepted that and they endorsed that no big heads no bloated egos they said after 14 years and Paul says how am I doing guys they said keep up the good work you're doing a good job verse 10 Paul says that we keep on helping the poor which is

[00:43:11] what I've always been eager to do for the second time in two verses Paul reiterates the affirmation that the apostles gave him after his voluntary performance review they told him to keep up the good work basically after 14 after 17 really years they said keep doing what you do we accept you we endorse you and I'm sure somewhere in Paul's brilliant mind he was relieved to say you know what I wasn't quite sure when God told me to go to Jerusalem how this was going to go down but now I

[00:44:02] to close I want to make sure that hearing Paul's attitude during his unwavering time of faith here that when we hear that we don't take away from this message that it's all about Paul standing strong more so it should be like this your last note Christ is the reason for us to never give in but to stand firm upon his gospel Paul yeah he was probably a stalwart of the faith and standing strong willing to do that but he wouldn't have been standing strong for something that he wasn't sure about

[00:44:33] Christ is the reason he was standing strong and Christ is the reason we should stand strong because we may have tough conversations with people who don't like should also take from today

[00:45:03] a renewed duty to have a sharpened eye for things we hear from people we love from people on TV to say is that biblical what you just said am I supposed to rebut that here or just say oh that's nice it's a challenging message for us how much should I say what if I don't say something they like what if it's uncomfortable it's good

[00:45:35] one way to detect these people is to see just how important the gospel is to them or even if they mention it all the gospel let alone be preserved and finally the virtue in checking in with trusted brethren to see how we're doing is humble it's humbling we should be willing to do that to receive private counsel even to reach out for private counsel according to God's prompting like Paul did while

[00:46:05] standing firm in the public square too when we're called upon to do that it should be integral and Paul in his last letter of scripture he wrote to Timothy the young pastor with probably the most important things he was thinking about telling him because he knew he was going to die you put the most important things down in your last letter don't you he told Timothy through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us carefully guard the precious

[00:46:35] truth that has been entrusted to you guard the gospel preserve the gospel don't change it just preach it as it is of course he's talking about the only gospel that can save anyone from their sins to dutifully defend and preserve the gospel which is by faith alone in Christ alone by God's grace alone while facing the pressures and the threats and the ultimatums you'll receive

[00:47:04] don't give them a minute not yielding not wavering not surrendering not even for a moment because we're not here to please man we're not here to please my family we're not here to please my friends I'm here to please Jesus friends come and go we're here to please Jesus we're only here for a breath the Bible says our life is only a span of a hand we're like a vapor

[00:47:35] and then we meet him for eternity how's that going to

[00:48:08] we know we we see we can trust your word because you through your Holy Spirit gave men words to say and to write down and they did and we should see them in the pages of Scripture the Bible and believe them you told us that you would preserve your word and now we're trying to our best with your help to preserve your gospel message Lord we trust that you preserved your word we

[00:48:38] trust that your word is true your promises are in truly reflecting you in every day of our life every minute never giving a moment to the enemy who wants to twist your word and twist your gospel we want you to