Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 60

March 1;   Galatians 1:12;   60/260(II);   ‘The Revelation of Jesus’

Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11, shares an amazing list of persecutions he has endured to preach the gospel.  At the very end of the list, he shares a daily concern he has for the churches he either founded or ministered to.  Paul’s primary concern is that they abandon the true gospel Paul preached and hear a different gospel, which is no gospel at all.  Paul knew that when he was not present at the churches in Galatia, and elsewhere, the devil would try to infiltrate the churches with false ministers, ‘wolves,’ who would endeavor to lead the congregations away from the true gospel.  In verse 11 of this chapter, Paul tells the Galatians that the gospel which he preached to them was not from men.  What he preached to them, he was taught by the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to him.  Today we have the entire Bible, including the epistles (letters) the Holy Spirit gave to Paul.  In Paul’s day, this was not the case.  How then were the congregants to differentiate between what the Holy Spirit gave to Paul as opposed to the ‘different’ gospel, which was not gospel at all?  Two ways.  The first is the fruit Paul’s gospel produced.  Incredible numbers of people were saved wherever Paul went, as he preached the revelation the Lord gave to him.  The second is the protection of the Holy Spirit.  The Lord Jesus said the Holy Spirit would bring to our remembrance what Jesus said to us, not what a man made counterfeit  says.  The Holy Spirit would reveal to the spirits of the congregation what was from the Lord and what wasn’t.  Paul’s love and concern is incredible.  What an example to us all.