227 - PAUL SHOWS PETER THE WAYMay 7, 1961
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
Galatians 2: 1 - 14 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. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Paul was under attack by Judizing teachers—the very same type of folks that are about today—those who hate the Gospel that Paul preached, the Gospel of pure grace. And they followed Paul about and tore down Paul, they tore him down as a person and they said he was not an apostle, he was not one of the twelve, and then also they didn’t like the Gospel that he preached. And so Paul starts to prove that they are wrong and that he is the Apostle to the Gentiles, and that he has the right message. He does it in a three fold way.
First of all, he proves he received his apostleship and his message, this Gospel by revelation from God, and then, secondly, he proves his Apostleship and his message by his recognition and being given the right hand of fellowship by the Apostles, and thirdly, by his rebuke and reasoning with Peter.
1/ Paul was sent by God out into Arabia, out into the dessert to be taught by Him.The very same place where God sent Moses, the other great man of the Bible—the other great revealer of the truth. Moses was the lawgiver, Paul is the grace-giver—they both spent time out in the wilderness.
2/ Galatians 2: 7 - 10 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
Paul bases his apostleship and his message upon his recognition by the apostles. Remember, that Paul did not go up immediately to Jerusalem. It wasn’t until after three years that he went up and then he only went up to seek Peter, and he saw James. He kept aloft from the rest of the Apostles and the leaders of the church there. Then Paul says fourteen years later he went up to the holy city, and this time he went up by revelation—God sent him there. God told him to go—it was in the plan of God for him. And there the Gentile believers were being instructed that it was necessary for them to be circumcised according to the Mosaic rite.
Acts 15: 5 - 6 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
You will notice that Paul adds for emphasis how he took Titus.
Galatians 2: 1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.
His choice of a companion was rather significant. Titus was a Gentile who never submitted to any Jewish rite, but he had been saved through faith in Christ, and Christ alone, and he had no thought whatsoever of keeping the law of Moses. Titus was a living demonstration of Paul’s argument. He was a test case in favor of the Gospel of Grace. These false teachers who had come into Galatia had said, now you know that no one in Jerusalem would ever condone the idea that a Gentile could be saved if he were not circumcised, but Paul said, that is not true. I took Titus with me and he never submitted to the rite, and here was Titus right in the headquarters of the legalists, and in the 3rd verse he says, Titus was with me, being a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised. Folks down there did not tell me to circumcise him. They were perfectly willing to accept Titus just by the Gospel of Grace.
3/ He said the elders at Jerusalem did not say one word about making Titus submit to circumcision—he was accepted as a fellow-believer. What an answer to those who were criticizing Paul and misleading his converts.
4/ Then in verse 4 & 5 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
These false brethren, and notice, he calls them false brethren, these Judizing teachers who had wormed their way privately into the assembly of believers at Galatia. Paul says, not even for peace’s sake did we submit to them, for we would be robbing you of your blood-bought heritage in Christ. We never subjected ourselves to them—in other words, we never compromised with them for one minute, in here is an important fact to see. Of course, love covers a multitude of sins, but Paul says, I never went along with these legalizers, I never went along with these folks for one second. What was it these false brethren did? They refused to see the difference between the message of Peter and Paul, and they refused the new message that Paul brought—this new message that was a revelation directly from God Himself.
5/ Remember Peter’s message at Pentecost..
Acts 2: 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Peter’s message had been repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
But Paul never preached that message—the message of Pentecost was to the Jews only—not a Gentile present, only Jews and proselytes.
Act 2: 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Peter preached baptism for the remission of sins, but Paul’s message was, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Acts 16: 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Anyone knows there is a difference between these two messages.
6/ Then they decided at the great council that Paul was to go to the Gentiles with the Gospel of uncircumcision, and Peter was to go to the Jews with the Gospel of circumcision. These two Gospels were not the same. I think we have taken enough time in days gone by to show you that they are not under any circumstance the same. But the important point is that Paul wrote this letter to the church in Galatia, he said, they gave me the right hand of fellowship, and they said—you go ahead with this Gospel.
Verse 9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
The sad part is that many people throw their hands up in holy horror at the preaching of dispensational truth, but there is no other way to understand the Bible. How else can we harmonize the message of Peter and the message of Paul.
7/ There is a portion of Scripture in Acts that I believe has a symbolic significance to what I am bringing out. What it means to lose the Pauline message. What it means to fail to rightly divide the word of truth.
Acts 20: 6 - 12 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.
From a study of this Scripture it seems to be that they gathered on Saturday night. They were observing the Jewish custom that a day started on the evening before. That Saturday evening marked the close of the Sabbath and the beginning of the next day, and I like this because the evening service means so much to me. It is quite evident that it was nighttime when they were gathered together.
8/ And there was a rare treat for the congregation at Troas, to find so many distinguished visitors present. There was a friend from Berea, two from Thessalonica, another from Derbe, two others from their own province, and also the well-known and beloved Timothy, along with Dr. Luke and then the Apostle Paul himself. All these brought out in Verses 4 - 6 And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. These going before tarried for us at Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days.
9/ And of course, they asked Paul to be their speaker of the evening.
Verse 7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
What a rare privilege it must have been to sit at his feet—the former arch-enemy of Christ, and now His special representative, and a veteran in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. With the thought in mind that he had to leave on the morrow, the apostle did not spare himself. He might not see them again, and he had so much to say, so much to reveal to them—so much to bring to their hearts—so much instruction and warning. Who could not listen to such a man preach? What if he did continue to midnight? Who would ever become drowsy listening to this man as he preached these marvelous truths?
10/ Yet someone did fall asleep during the service. Someone named Eutychus, and of course, he was a young man. Perhaps he had worked very hard that day, and the young man sat in a window. I am pretty sure he did not mean to allow himself to fall so soundly to sleep. I am sure he fought sleep at first, and then as it is a habit in a church service, he just indulged in a bit of dozing for a little bit, and he sort of just rested his eyes, just to take a little tension off them, but before long he had fallen into a deep sleep, and as Paul was long preaching, he sank down with sleep.
Verse 9 And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
11/ And the results were by no means amusing, for losing his balance, he fell from his position in the window sill to the ground three floors below, and was taken up dead. Can you picture the men rushing down with lamps and torches, to view the lifeless form of Eutychas lying there on the ground below.
But at this point, Verse 10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
Actually, you might say if you want to fall asleep and be safe in a church service, you better be sure someone like Paul is around who can help out.
12/ But notice they didn’t close the meeting at that time. Oh no, Paul was to travel the next day. But that didn’t matter either. We read that they went up again and they partook of some refreshments. This time they talked—they didn’t preach—they talked until the break of day. What glorious fellowship we can have around the Word of God. How much fellowship these people had together. How I enjoy being around people who can sit down and talk about the Word of God. They want to know more about it—they are not worried about sleep—they are not worried about the things of this world, they are worried because they do not know enough about God and His plan and His program for them.
13/ Let us just look at this portion of Scripture for just a moment. You remember, Paul was the preacher, he preached for a long time, and a young man fell asleep under his preaching. The young man was taken up dead, and then Paul restored his life to him—brought him back to life again. You remember that the church spread rapidly under the preaching of the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys. The grace Gospel that he preached was a marvelous gospel and men and women, boys and girls were won unto the Lord Jesus Christ. But Paul had been preaching a long time—even longer than Moses. Moses preached about 1,500 years—that is how long the law was in force. Paul's message has been preached more than 1,500 years—about 1,900 years. Grace has been reigning about 19 centuries.
Oh, the long suffering of God. Still the wrath of God has not come down upon man. The message of grace—all grace—goes forth. Paul is still preaching. But you and I know that some centuries ago the church fell asleep. It was during the dark ages, and it fell from its lofty position, and it became a corrupt and dirty and vile and filthy church—It became the means of sending billions into the very jaws of hell. The Gospel was practically an unknown thing. The Grace Gospel was non-existent, except for a few here and there who were preaching the truth. God has always had His remnant, never forget that.
But then came along some men—mainly a man by the name of Martin Luther. The world may not appreciate Martin Luther, but Henry Kulp does. The world may smear him. I know he brought many grave-clothes with him. But what was it that brought Martin Luther to the truth—what was the stirring of this great Reformation? I’ll tell you what it was. It was the truth of justification by faith. And where did he get it? He got it from Paul. Do you realize that the Reformers turned to Paul and got their truth.
Do you realize a man by the name of Darby turned to Paul and was used by God to bring the church, the body of Christ and blessed hope, of the personal appearing of Jesus Christ for His church. Where did they get it? Where did Darby get it?—From Paul. It was through the preaching of Paul that vigor and life was restored to the church. If only men and women could see it and appreciate it.
Luther and his theme—the just shall live by faith. Yes, it was Paul who was used to restore Eutychus back to life, and so it was Paul that has been used to restore the church in this dispensation to a life of vigor.
But again drowsiness is coming upon the church. Again it is becoming a sleepy-eyed church, because so much is being mixed up with it. Compromise is here, there and everywhere. That is why we need to study the book of Galatians and see that Paul not for one minute, not for one second would compromise with legalists, but took his stand with Jesus Christ, the glorified Saviour who paid the complete price of redemption.
14/ Then the third thing Paul bases his argument of his apostleship and his Gospel on is his rebuke and reasoning with Peter.
Galatians 2: 11 - 21 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
The rebuke was something that Peter sorely needed, and Peter knew it. Men today may put Peter upon a pedestal and say he was the founder of the church, the rock upon which the church was built, but he is far from that.
I Timothy 1: 15 - 16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
I Timothy proves this fact very clearly. Peter had the keys to the Kingdom, not the keys to the church, and Paul proves that he has supremacy over Peter by standing up before him and dressing him down, and notice, what it says in Verse 11, I withstood him to his face, and then in Verse 14, before them all.
Paul pulls no punches, but he confronted Peter with his sin and dressed him down, and put him in his place in a proper way.
15/ You can see the type of church you would have if it were built upon Peter. It would be a very poor church.
I praise God that Peter is not the head of the church. Christ is the head of the church. But I praise God that the Gospel we have is not from Peter, but from Paul.
AMEN
Ref: 05/07/1961 / PAUL SHOWS PETER THE WAY / 03/04/2021
No comments:
Post a Comment