THE EYES CANNOT SAY TO THE HAND, I HAVE NO NEED OF THEE... 5 TEXT: GALATIANS 2:1-2 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also./And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. In pushing on the erring Galatians the veracity and genuineness of his gospel, Paul told them that he was not an apostle of man neither was he made one by any religious organisation or agency. (Gal. 1:2)He told them that his gospel came directly from Christ and that what he preached was not made known to him by any man. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul maintained that after he received a call into ministry, he did not consult with flesh and blood(human being) or did he go to them that were apostle before him. (Gal.1:15-17)When he visited James, the half brother of Jesus, it was for him to be sure about the domestic life of Jesus when He was on earth and to also be certain that there was such a man. (Gal.1:19) Also in Galatians, he went to peter and stayed with him for two weeks to get information about the earthly ministry of Jesus. (Gal.1:18) From all of these, we see a man that actually received a mandate from God directly. Paul was actually doing ministry without the apostles...the encounter he had created a burning fire and zeal for the Lord in him that he needed no push or approval from any man to serve God. To him, he is doomed if he preach not the gospel. (1 cor. 9:16-18) Paul had everything it takes to be independent of any man. He said in 1 cor. 9:1-2 that he was free from all men. Owe no man was his slogan anything... (Rom. 13:8.) The gospel he preached was not thought to him by any human being: Jesus personally sat with him and gave him the full gist of His plan for humanity. So such a man is prone to one thing: the desire to run alone. The common temptation of personal encounter is to become a lone ranger. Selfsurficiencywould set in...Paul even said what peter, James and john were did not matter to him... But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no mans person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: he was not arrogant but the scope of his revelation has changed his view about things.(Gal.2:6) Thus was the way Paul was pursuing his ministry until in Gal.2, after fourteen years in active and flourishing ministry, God gave him the revelation of the need and assent of the elders and apostles over his ministry. He said, ...I went up by revelation... what kind of revelation? The revelation of the need for others! It looks to me as if Paul suddenly realised that other ministers needed to look into the gospel he was preaching...fear gripped him...he said he did this so that he might not run in vain. I believe he said to himself, This gospel I am so vehement about, I need to let others look into it and make comments about it...even though it was given to me by Christ I should not exclude myself from other servants of God...I must go up to Jerusalem and see my fellow ministers! Paul, as great as he was, went to submit himself and his teaching to the body of elders for scrutiny. A meeting was called...not just one or two days but enough time was give to Paul to explain in detail the full contents of the kind of message he preached among the Gentile nations. To Paul, this was a huge advancement in ministry...he said I went up some would see this as humiliation, but spiritual men see this as progress. To be able to allow other ministers look into our sermon notes for scrutiny and chisling is a great development. But to be content and satisfied with our sermons and having no need of others to check our teaching is poverty. The apostle said he went up...this means that the elders and church in Jerusalem were up and Paul saw himself as down...hear this, the church is bigger and higher than any of us...the church is greater than any man on earth. Brothers and sisters, there are many things we hold unto as godly teaching of which we make a lot of noise about. If we can submit them to the scrutiny of the elders in Jerusalem, the error in them would emanate. That a sermon tickles my fancies and prejudice does not mean I should fall for it without cross checking with my elder brothers in Jerusalem. This elders are always meeting when we call for them. The pages of the Bible is called The New Jerusalem. I choose to style them thus. We see a lot of teachings springing up that have no symphony with the verdict of the elders in Jerusalem. We must be humble enough to tell one another the truth. Lets allow other servants of God look into our service for God...
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:43:56 +0000
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