Why Paul's Gospel Was Different — Galatians 1:11 Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, ready to go, and we'll pick right up where we left off at the end of our last program, which of course is 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and in verse 23, but of course we were going back into the book of Acts, and what we're trying to show is how this next order of the resurrection comes about, which of course would be the Body of Christ. And again, we like to always let our television folks know that we're just an informal Bible study, and we just appreciate so much, my, how we love to hear from our television audience, and your glowing letters, and just this morning I think a gentleman called, and no late, late last night. My, I think we were almost ready for bed, it was a late last night call, and from quite a distant state, and he was so excited, he had to let me know before I could even go to bed, that he had a friend who was an alcoholic, and he said she was in treatment, and he went in to see her, and he said, now look, this is probably your last chance. And he said, it's time you get interested in the things of the Spirit, so he left her a couple of my tapes, and the reason he called, that from those tapes she had gotten saved, she was right with the Lord, and he was just so thrilled, he couldn't get over it. So this is our whole purpose, that whether you're watching the program by way of television, or whether it's by a tape, or whether it's through the printed page, the only reason we teach is to help folk understand what the Bible is really all about. And remember, this is God's Word, and He has left it with us to prepare us for eternity. That's the only reason we're here. This life of 70, 80, 90 years is just not even a split second compared with eternity, and so this is what man is supposed to be getting ready for. Okay, now let's turn again for the sake of our television audience, so that you'll understand that this is the sequence of our program material. We are in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and we've been talking about the resurrection, the doctrine of the resurrection, which is basic to our Christian faith, and then at the 20th verse we saw Paul, as I said one time, sort of shift gears, and now he breaks down how the resurrections are going to take place. They are not going to be just all at one event, but first we had the First Fruits when Christ rose from the dead, and those Jewish believers who came out of the graves in Matthew 27, and they of course comprised the First Fruits. Then Paul said in verse 23, that every man in his own order, first Christ, the First Fruits, and afterwards those who are Christ's at His coming, which of course would have to be the believers of the church age. So now in our last program, that was the purpose of my taking us all the way back to Acts, and bringing us through those early chapters when Peter was still dealing with the nation of Israel, and then how God raised up Saul of Tarsus, and made it plain as day that now this man was going to be sent to the Gentiles. And of course we saw that all in chapter 9, and we left him as they had lowered him in a basket over the wall because of the threats on his life. But now I want to have you turn to Galatians chapter 1. Now that's Romans, I and II Corinthians, and then Galatians. In this little chapter Paul again brings us up to date as to what took place after he fled from Damascus. Now you want to remember that God is going to use this one man to take the message of salvation primarily, not exclusively again, but primarily to the Gentile world, although certainly Jews are going to be available for this same salvation. Galatians chapter 1, and I just for sake of time like to start at verse 11, where he writes to the Gentiles, so he could just as well be writing to us today. But I certify you brethren, that the gospel which is preached of me is not after man. Now you know I'm a stickler for words, and the Holy Spirit never puts in an excess. He never cuts it short. He puts in everything we need. Now look at that verse. If Paul is going to be preaching the same gospel that Jesus and Peter preached, then why in the world does he identify the gospel that he preached, as not being after man? Why those extra little words in there? He says, I certify you brethren, that the gospel which is preached of me is not after Why didn't he just simply say, I certify you brethren, that when I preach the gospel. But he doesn't put it that way. He says, the gospel which is preached of me. Now that identifies it. Now if you'll come across in chapter 2, he does it even more clearly. Now he's going to years later in chapter 2, meet with Peter, James and John, and the other leaders of the church there in Jerusalem, and he's going to have to give an account of what he's been preaching to these Gentiles. Now look at verse 2 of chapter 2, and he says, I went up, that is to Jerusalem, I went up by revelation, and communicated. In other words, he made it crystal clear. He communicated unto them that gospel. And again, why didn't he just say, the gospel? Well that would have left a gap. But he doesn't. He clarifies it by saying, I communicated unto them that gospel, which I preach among the Gentiles. You see how that clarifies everything? Now let's come back to chapter 1, and see how all this came about, because Paul is reviewing it of course, and when he writes Galatians, this is 20 years after his conversion. I think a lot of people lose sight of the chronology of some of these events in the New Testament. See Saul of Tarsus was probably saved on the road to Damascus in around 37, and then after his 3 years of desert training, it's 40 before he goes out into the Gentile world, and then he has that consulate Jerusalem, which is in Acts 15 and Galatians 2 in AD 52. So you see that's about 12 years after he began his ministry, and then the first letter that he writes according to my time table is the Thessalonian letters, and they're written some 12-14 years after he began his ministry. So you see time keeps rolling on, and this isn't all just mashed together. This is all spread out over a period of 20-30 years. Now in Galatians chapter 1, which he is writing in about 58 or 59 AD, remember if he began his ministry in 40, how long? 18 years later he starts writing these epistles. Now look what he says in verse 11 again. He says, "...the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it by men." But where did he get this Gospel? By the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now that tells you something. If Paul received everything that he is preaching and writing from the Lord Jesus Christ, where is Christ at the time of all this revelation? Well He's in Heaven, He's in Glory, after His resurrection. See I'm always pointing this out. We hear so much of our preaching in our Sunday School material from the four Gospels, and there's nothing wrong with it to a degree. But listen, that all took place before the work of the cross. But this man is going to have the Lord Jesus tell him these things after the work of the cross is accomplished, after He has ascended back to Glory, and now He's going to tell this man what to tell the whole world. Not just the Jew, not just the Gentile, but all the world. Now in Galatians chapter 1 verse 13, Paul says, You have heard of my conversation, or my manner of living, in times past, in the Jews religion. Remember that's what he was when he was the persecutor. He was a religious Jew. And he says, In times past, in the Jews religion, and how beyond measure I persecuted the church, or the assembly, I prefer to call it, it's the Greek word ekklesia, and I persecuted the church, or the assembly of God, and wasted it. Absolutely he did. He tore them up. He killed them, he imprisoned them, anything that he could stop, anything concerning Jesus of Nazareth. Alright, verse 14, he profited. He was a religious bigwig, and he probably gained a tremendous amount of wealth. And from that period in time, I think Saul of Tarsus must have been married and had children, and I think as a result of being sold out now to Christ, he had to put all that behind. He lost it all. And I think that was all included when he said that everything he ever owned, he counted but done. That's the word he used. I think it's in Philippians. Why? Because now he had a far higher commission in life, than even gaining wealth, or taking care of a family. So he profited, verse 14, in the Jews religion, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my father's, or Judaism and its religion. Then verse 15. What's the first word? But. Here he came out of all this religion, and all of the benefits of it. But the flip side, but. God had something else for the man. And he said, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace. He didn't deserve it. If anybody didn't deserve it, Saul of Tarsus didn't. But God called him by His grace. For what purpose? Verse 16. Saul said, 16. To reveal his Son in me, and again for what purpose? That I might preach him among the heathen, and who are the heathen in Scripture? Gentiles. So here's his whole purpose. That God has brought this man on the scene for the distinct purpose of taking the Gospel of Grace to the Gentiles. Now granted it's going to also spill over to some Jews, but not many. You know it's almost a total reverse of the Old Testament. There God was dealing only with the Jew, but a few Gentiles picked up some of the gleanings. And the same thing here. Saul of Tarsus, now Paul is going to go primarily to the Gentiles. But there are a few Jews that come in to the Body of Christ. So then verse 16 reading on. Verse 16. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Now you know what I always point out to people? Just put yourselves in Saul's shoes, running outside the walls of Damascus, not really knowing where he was going, pitch dark, no explicit instructions yet of where to go, all God had said was that he was going to suffer for his name. Now if you had been in Saul's shoes, just outside the wall of Damascus, and you put your own mind in gear, where would you have headed? I know where I would have gone. Now come on, think, where would you have gone? Back to Jerusalem and look up Peter, James and John. He knew that those were the fellows who had been with Jesus for three years. He knew that they headed up the group that he had been trying to destroy. And now when he suddenly realized that the one that he thought he was trying to obliterate was the very God that he thought he was serving, listen, common sense tells me the man should have headed right straight back to Jerusalem, and poured out his heart to those twelve men, and shared with them everything that had happened, and confessed the fact that he had been dead wrong about Jesus, and that now he was ready to serve Him. But he doesn't. Why? Now there's purpose in all this, divine purpose, sovereign purpose. And look what he says, and I conferred not with flesh and blood. Now who do you suppose he was referring to? The twelve. He didn't go back to Jerusalem, and he didn't confer with them. Neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them who were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia. And we know from another chapter in Galatians, what was in Arabia? Mount Sinai in Arabia. And so that's where the Lord took him. Now we have to feel that from the account in the Book of Acts, he must have been down there three years. And then from that three years of experience at Mount Sinai in the desert, now he's ready to take the message of grace to the Gentile world. I think that's far enough here isn't it? Verse 18. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter. Now by this time he has all these revelations, the mysteries are beginning to unfold. Now he can go and see Peter, not to learn everything that Peter knew, but to share with Peter some of these new revelations. And I've said it so often, Peter never did get them all. Peter never could comprehend all these revelations that the Apostle Paul had received. Alright that's enough for that. Now let's come back to Romans chapter 16 and verse 25. And now he's going to rather subtly clear at the end of this tremendous Book of Doctrine, the Book of Romans. And it's doctrinal, from verse 1 to at least chapter 16 is more or less greeting. I know that. But now in chapter 16 and verse 25, here comes a subtle statement, and it should blow our minds, but too many people don't even know it's in here. And look what he says. Romans 16, verse 25. Romans 16, verse 25. Now to him that is of power to establish you, now remember he's writing to believers, now to him that is of power to establish you according to the gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation, or the revealing is the other root word, of the mystery, or the secret that's been kept in the mind of God, the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began." Now isn't that plain? Why can't people see that? That here this mystery, which is the whole circle of Paul's doctrines, were kept secret until God revealed them to this man. Most of which I think came out in that three years at Sinai, and then the deeper revelations that come out in Ephesians, and that's where I'm going to take you next. Come with me now a minute to Ephesians chapter 3, and then I think his prison epistles the Lord may have poured out all of these deeper doctrines while he was sitting in prison in Caesarea waiting to go to Rome. Ephesians 3 and we'll just start at verse 1. Now remember this is just sort of an overview of Paul getting to the place where the Lord can use him to start calling out that next great body of resurrection, the Body of Christ, the Church. Ephesians 3, verse 1. Ephesians 3, verse 1. Now watch how it came. It doesn't say, "...which came to you by Jesus Christ." It doesn't say, "...which came to you by Peter, James, and John." It doesn't say, "...it came to you by way of Abraham." What does it say? Ephesians 3, verse 1. And then where did it go? Ephesians 3, verse 1. Ephesians 3, verse 1. How plain that is. I remember I had a gentleman sitting at my kitchen table one night, and I wouldn't dare say who it was because he listens to the program, and I don't want to embarrass him. But I had him read that verse, and he said, I don't know what you're driving at. I said, read it again. Ephesians 3, verse 2. Ephesians 3, verse 2. And I think he read it three or four times before he finally just almost batted his eyes and he said, I never saw that before. I said, well you're typical. That's the way people read their Bible. They read it, but they don't read it. But when he saw that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to say, "...that this grace of God was given to me to you were..." Now there's the process, and how many people understand that? And that's why I'm always telling when people will call or write, well I'm just a relatively new believer. What part of the Bible should I be reading? Paul. Paul, because this is where it's at for the church age. Now you don't throw the rest of the Bible away, but it's Paul that reveals all these various doctrines. So now in Ephesians 3, verse 3. "...how that by revelation..." The same word he used in Galatians. "...how that by revelation he, the Lord Jesus Himself, made known unto me the mystery..." Now we've covered all the mysteries in previous programs, and they are that whole composite of truth that makes for the church age. And they all come from the pen of the Apostle Paul. I was talking to someone the other day, and they asked me, why do you make this much of Paul? And I said, let me ask you something. I don't care what denomination handle you have, do you have a pastor and deacons and church elders? Well, yeah. I said, where did you get the instructions for it? Well, she didn't know. I said, well, I'll tell you. You got it from Timothy. And who wrote Timothy? Paul. I said, does your church practice the Lord's Table, the communion service? Oh, yeah. I said, where did you get it? Well, she thought maybe when Jesus said it. And I said, no, Jesus didn't put anything on it. All he said was, this is my body and this is my blood. But he didn't give him any instructions for the communion service. Where do you get it? 1 Corinthians 11. And down the line, you can go with every facet of what 99% of Christendom practices, doctrinally, they get it from Paul, and yet they'll never give him the time of day. Amazing, isn't it? So now then in verse 3, he says, "...he made known unto me the mystery, this secret, that is, been held in the mind of God." Verse 4, "...whereby when ye read, that is, his epistles, ye may understand my knowledge in the mysteries of Christ." Now look at verse 5, and this is enough to blow your mind if you'll read it carefully enough. It doesn't say, which was made known, it was not made known, but these things were not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed. Now what does that bring up again? This whole concept of the secret that God keeps, until He's ready to reveal it. But when He reveals it, He expects mankind to believe it. Then we'll come all the way down to verse 8, "...unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." How many believers understand the unsearchable riches of Christ? Very few. I could stand here for the next hour on just the unsearchable riches of Christ. It is beyond human comprehension. But we're not going to do it, we're going to move on. Verse 9, "...and to make all men see," or understand, "...what is the fellowship of the mystery, this body of truth, which from the beginning of the world, has been hid where? In the mind of God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." In other words, we're talking about the same God in Ephesians 3, that we're talking about in Genesis 1. Same God, and He has seen fit to keep all of these things secret until it has been revealed to this Apostle. All right, now then I think we'll go on to the next verse. I don't think we've got enough minutes left to really go into the next series of verses that I want to look at. But now in verse 10, why has God revealed now this secret of the mystery? And that is, "...to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in the heavenlies might be known by the church," and here again it's the word Ecclesia, and again it's an assembly of called out believers. And we're going to be looking in our next 30 minutes, which church Paul is dealing with. But I'm not going to take time for that in this half hour, we'll go on to the next one. "...that all these things might be made known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God." Now who is the church? The seminarians? The preachers? Who? Everybody! The common ordinary person in the pew comprises the church. Are they supposed to know the manifold wisdom of God? Absolutely! You know I've used it on this program many a time. I think it was Tyndale. I'll take the time to look it up and make sure. But I think it was Tyndale when he was trying to get Bibles across from Europe to England. He wanted to get the Word of God into the hands of every plow boy in England. What does that mean? There wasn't anybody too uneducated to have the Word of God in his hands. And this is what God intends. He wants every single believer to study the Scriptures and to understand them. Nothing thrills me more than when someone says, "...well I sometimes disagree with you, you make me a little mad, but I have determined that I'm going to start studying my Bible." Hey, I'm the winner. I had a lady come out of one of my classes one night, and I think she was living from Michigan, and I mean she was hot under the collar. She said, "...Less, I will never agree with you." I said, "...that's fine, but I'll have to admit something." She said, "...back there the matter I got, the more I determined I was going to start studying my Bible." And I said, "...then lady, do you know what? You made this trip over here all worth while." Now you know most of you know I have to drive 45-50 miles for every class, some further. But hey, when you get a response like that, it's worth it, because if people would just get into the Book and study it. Not just read it, study it, and then all of a sudden these things start falling into place. Alright, let's take one more verse here, and then I suppose it's time to go. Verse 11, the manifold wisdom of God in verse 10, it's a comma, so the thought goes right into verse 11, "...according to the eternal purpose." Now when you see that word eternal, what does it take you back to? All the way back to eternity past, before there was ever anything created. Even before there was a heaven, even before there was the first angel, even before there was the first star or a celestial body. That's eternity. And from that eternity past, God had His purposes for you and I, for the human race, and which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then verse 12, "...in whom." When you're a believer, you're a part and parcel of Christ Himself. And in Christ, and we'll be looking at this in the next 30-minute program, that in Christ we then have boldness and access by faith in Him. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer -supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.