Author: missionspaul

Comparison has been the key disqualifying voice of the first part of my life. I compared myself with what I saw and what I heard in others. As I got older and came closer to those heroic figures I soon realised that they had the same character flaws as myself and some had worse ones! Superstars are usually people we don’t really know.

Today you can walk into any situation and have confidence no matter who is in the room. You have every right to be there. You may be dwarfed by educational qualification, beauty, wealth and experience yet still feel this is the place where you should be. You belong here. It is not because of your own ability, title or prestige but because of Jesus and your confidence to be anywhere is always found in Him.

Paul walked into a private meeting with the most influential Church leaders of his day and said this:

“As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favouritism—they added nothing to my message.” (Galatians 2 v 6)

His private meeting was with the original friends of Jesus. They had been with Jesus for 3 years. Yet Paul was able to say they added nothing to his message meaning he was not operating a faulty message. He was not disrespecting them. Rather he was defending his position to the false teachers by saying there had been no editing, no reworking and no fine-tuning of the gospel he was preaching.

But it is true that Paul was not overawed by the presence of these friends of Jesus. For Paul was now also a friend of Jesus too. These apostles were of great standing in the community of Jerusalem, they were the heroes of the faith and yet Paul was carrying the same message and the same authority. Let’s be careful how much we puff up these men and women of God. Honour yes. But worship and tip-toeing around NO!

A cult-figure cannot be spoken against; A cult-figure is never wrong; A cult-figure has an attraction either in appearance, riches or displays of power; A cult-figure is not God but is the way people grow and experience God; A cult-figure will always want to remain in place; Every man of God is a man; Every prophetess is a woman. God is God.

The higher they are built up the harder they will fall when you come to the realisation they are only human after all.

The red carpet always belongs to God.

A few weeks ago after I preached I called people forward for prayer and thankfully there were many needing prayer. It actually went on longer than the service time and still people were queuing to be prayed for. This may seem very strange but it absolutely true. I need to point out that my message was in no way connected to doing better or pleasing God it was actually about what Christ has done for us. However apart from a couple needing prayer for healing the vast majority, I would say over 90% of the people I prayed for asked for the same thing. “I want to be a better Christian; I feel so guilty that I have let God down; I don’t feel I am a proper Christian; I want to please God but I cannot.” It was actually devastating. How had these people come to such a place? They believed what they did was more important than what Jesus has done for them. They had not understood it is never what I do but who Jesus has made me that counts.

I say all that because it leads us into the challenge Paul walked into when he visited Jerusalem and had a private meeting with the apostles. He brought Titus, a gentile and uncircumcised and yet a Christian brother and leader. Paul obviously brought him purposely. He needed to show an example that converted gentiles are as much in the family of God as Jewish believers.

“Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴ This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ⁵ We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.” (Galatians 2 v 3-5)

Paul describes how ‘false believers’ crept into the meeting unseen, infiltrated, by stealth, doing what they thought was important work for God. They wanted to bring this new movement back to the Torah. But Paul saw that as a step back to slavery.

Stealth has been used all our life and we often don’t even recognise it is happening.

Stealth is used in war. The US arguably have the best stealth bomber planes in the world. They are created so as to get into enemy territory unnoticed deflecting or absorbing radar signals.

Stealth is used by the enemy of our soul, the great infiltrator, coming as an angel of light even.

The false believers were believers and that is what made things difficult. If only our greatest threat is obvious. It isn’t. It is deception. The false believers wanted to bring the movement back under the Torah. The Torah supernaturally given by God on Mt. Sinai which had served the generations of God’s people.

The Torah showed us we could never be perfect and acceptable to God. The false preachers taught the opposite that if we obeyed it we could.

The big challenge was this: how big is your vision? Could God do this? Could the family of God become international with none of the Jewish conditions?

Could this new movement realise it is not what I do but who I am and that is the truth of the gospel?

These are questions still being asked today.

There is nothing you can do to cause you to be saved, not one thing, it is total grace. Not one performance, not one sin-free day, not one commandment or act of purity or sacrificial giving, nothing. Get rid of the whole notion.

These next few verses are interesting and reveal what went on in those private meetings in Jerusalem. Here is the opening line:

“Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.” Galatians 2 v 3

Before we go further into the controversy let’s pause and remind ourselves on the needless compulsion for most things in order to be seen or to know we are His.

Circumcision is so important to the Jew. In fact it is the rite of passage. It is easy to imagine Jewish teachers imposing this requirement on new followers of Jesus.

Baptism is not the outward sign of belonging to God nor is the Lord’s Supper or witnessing or church attendance etc. These are never enough. There is always more things that are needed. Don’t be friends with Pharisees because you will lose the one thing that is of all importance, grace.

Moses called for people to circumcise their hearts. Jeremiah called for people to circumcise their hearts before the Lord and Paul agreed (Romans 2) that circumcision is one done by the Spirit.

I have found the cut of my heart continually happen throughout my life and so have you. Sometimes the pain of circumstances are used to make the cut and sometimes it is the pain of conviction.

It will mark a new day, a new journey, a new direction, this is a moment of change, you will never be the same again and all that sounds wonderfully exciting, but it begins with a cut. It hurts. This is life. This is what makes the beautiful you that you are!

However, I don’t have to do one thing to prove to anyone what Christ has done for me or who I am in Him. He has my heart and He continues to circumcise it.

I have found the Bible to be the best text book for leadership lessons. This morning I am again thankful for seeing 3 new lessons in handling difficulty, whether you are a leader or not.

Barnabas had gone to Tarsus to look for Saul/Paul and they had gone to Antioch to work the gospel for a whole year. It was here that the followers of Jesus were called Christians (Acts 11).

Paul is defending his apostleship to the false teachers who had been saying he had got his gospel from man and had got faulty thinking. He is writing informing the Galatians of his calendar. He went to Jerusalem for only the second time within 14 years after meeting Jesus Christ. His was a personal revelation he had received.

“Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. ² I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.” (Galatians 2 v 1-2)

So here are the 3 lessons for handling difficulty:-

1. Take the opportunity when it is presented to you to deal with the important matters.

Paul, Barnabas and Titus went to Jerusalem in response to a revelation which was probably the prophetic message from Agabus about the global famine. In Acts 11:29-30 “The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.” Barnabas and Saul/Paul were trusted with the money. They were handling the offering raised and would carry it to the leaders in Judea. 

This was of huge importance. The fledgling church were keen to give to the poor and also to support one another across their known world. But that was not the real outcome of them going to Jerusalem.

• If you are meeting someone, make sure you take the opportunity to discharge everything you have that needs to be said.

Whilst Paul was there not only did he hand over the money (the reason for going) but here in these verses 1-2 we see that what was central to Paul’s mind was to tell the leaders the gospel he was preaching in Antioch. He had been obedient to God in taking the gospel to the Gentiles. It is an important lesson. Don’t leave stones unturned. Expose elephants in the room.

• Talk privately – don’t be quick to make public your conversations, not everything needs to be a social media post.

Paul didn’t know beforehand if the apostles he would meet would need to be corrected. He didn’t know if his conversation would turn into a confrontation, we seldom do. What he did know is that he was meeting esteemed leaders, people of reputation and he didn’t want to be accused of tarnishing that.

The temptation to be rude is ever before us.

Our aim must always be to protect the credibility of others. Paul didn’t shed doubt on them before the meeting. No one knew the meeting was happening. It was private. Where has ‘private and confidential’ gone to these days?

• If you are arranging a meeting make sure it is a safe place; work at creating a better meeting for all; keep it safe for everyone, esteem them.

The need to talk privately, safely and respectfully is probably one of the greatest needs today. Everyone in the meeting needs to know they are protected because you value them.

3. Test the perceived reality – not everything that looks real is.

For Paul this one family, the Church, cut across every divide, supporting and encouraging one another in this new creation order that Jesus as the Messiah had begun. That’s what he was preaching and he needed to know Jerusalem were also on the same page.

• Place a review for everything. It all needs testing. Are we going in the right direction together?

The servant, Isaiah, said in 49:4 ““I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.” Paul follows suit and said, “. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.” He was not afraid that his work would collapse because he would continue regardless. But he wanted to make sure they were all sharing the same gospel.

3 lessons from Paul for every one of us, not just leaders, who handle difficulty regularly.

Which one do you need to focus on today?

Madam X is an Elim Church planter in an Islamic nation. One Saturday in September 2016 having never been told the truth about Jesus she began to meditate on a verse from the Quran in Surah 1:6 “Guide us in the right path”. Suddenly in the corner of the room a ‘bright light’ filled the room as Jesus revealed His identity to her. She fell to the floor and her life was never the same again even 8 years on!

No one knew who the Apostle Paul was and that was his defence that he had not received a gospel from man and then changed it. All they knew was he had been a bad man and now he wasn’t.

“I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me.” (Galatians 1 v 22-24)

They praised God because of Paul’s testimony. That’s what testimony does. Keep looking for what God has done for He is at work all around us.

Yesterday, Sarah, one of our Church planters sent me this amazing testimony: “We have been building a relationship with a lady called Elaine, she works at the place we hire for toddler group. She mentioned a few months ago that she was having problems with her shoulder so we prayed with her and Jesus healed her, she recognised it was Jesus too. Every week she has an expectancy that we will pray with her which is wonderful and the Lord has been really drawing her unto Himself. Today before we prayed with her I said the Lord has been really touching you, where are you at with asking Him in and having a personal relationship with Him? She said this “well I didn’t believe in Jesus but you started to pray with me and He started to heal me, especially my shoulder, and I’ve been reading the bible you left me (a gospel tract and the why Easter book) and now I believe in Him and I’m ready to ask Him in’. So, we led her to Jesus ☺️”

How amazing is this?!! The presence of God bring known not even in a church building!

I also spent some time with a beautiful Pastor from Bangalore, his name is Samson. He told me a testimony and I asked him to write it down:

“In a quiet village lived a man named Rajkumar, who had practiced witchcraft for many years. His reputation for causing trouble, particularly to his Christian neighbours, was well-known. His disdain for the Christian faith often made life difficult for those who believed.

One day, I visited the village to pray with a Christian family who lived next door to Rajkumar. As I approached the house, I noticed Rajkumar standing boldly outside, watching me with a challenging gaze. Undeterred, I greeted him warmly and inquired about his well-being. To my surprise, he responded positively and shared that he had been suffering from a severe headache for many years.

Sensing an opportunity, I offered to pray for his healing. To my amazement, he graciously agreed. After the prayer, I invited him to attend our church service on Sunday. Remarkably, he accepted the invitation.

That Sunday, Rajkumar attended the church service. During the worship, God touched his life in a miraculous way, completely healing him of his long-standing headache. Overwhelmed by this miracle, Rajkumar began attending church every week and eventually gave his life to Jesus.

Two months later, I visited Rajkumar at his home to see how he was doing. He joyfully testified to the mighty power of God that had healed him. He also confessed to his past persecution of Christians and his involvement in witchcraft. In a powerful act of repentance, Rajkumar brought out all his books on witchcraft and occult practices, and together we set them on fire, destroying them completely.

Rajkumar’s transformation was a testament to the incredible power of God’s love and healing. From a man who once opposed the Christian faith, he became a devoted follower of Jesus, embracing his new life with joy and conviction.”

And they praised God because of the Apostle Paul, Madam X, Elaine and Rajkumar!

And after posting this I then place the link on Facebook and see a video from a friend called Robin who lives in Myanmar . The video shows a man who committed his life to Christ asking Robin to remove all the idols from his home. The man for decades had placed food in front of his idols and yet the gods had never come down to eat the food. So the gospel was shared to him and after dreams of Christ he gave his life after a few months. It is a powerful video.

And they praised God because of the Apostle Paul, Madam X, Elaine, Rajkumar and a lovely ex-Buddhist man!

And there’s more! Every day all around the world there is more!!

Ever gone through a period of time when you think nothing much is happening? Yes it is part of all our stories. They are the hidden years. Even the Apostle Paul had them.

“Then I went to Syria and Cilicia.” (Galatians 1 v 21)

Paul was defending himself and simply saying he wasn’t trained by the apostles and after 15 days in Jerusalem he went far away to Syria and Cilicia. So he was not influenced by anyone.

We know from Acts 15:41 that Paul travelled with Silas strengthening the churches of Syria and Cilicia but this is not that time.

This is between AD36 and AD46 and no one knows what Paul was doing in that decade. There is silence. He doesn’t even elaborate himself. These are his hidden years.

The hidden years are not where you are destined for but where you grow to move into your destiny.

The hidden years can be lived in, you can find a way to dwell there.

The hidden years are the time when nothing much grows, except you.

The hidden years don’t shrink you but enlarge you.

The hidden years don’t weaken you but strengthen you.

The hidden years will come to an end, they are temporary.

The hidden years are essential.

Don’t ever feel overlooked or unnoticed. Don’t ever feel no one knows who or where you are at. Don’t ever feel of no worth and not wanted. Jesus knows you in those hidden years. They can be the most formative of times.

It is obvious as we have been reading this chapter that the most important thing in Paul’s mind is actually not the amazing doctrinal truths that he is going to write about. No. He just wants to clear his name. Rival preachers have been saying that Paul got his gospel from the Jerusalem church and on his journey into Galatia he had purposely dropped the importance of circumcision from this gospel he had been taught. Paul is adamant. He knows his own story. He got the gospel from the risen Messiah, Jesus Christ, it was this visitation that verified his apostleship. He then went immediately into Arabia. The date was approximately AD33.

“I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬-‭20‬ ‭

Why in approximately AD 36 did Paul go to Jerusalem?

Just over 2 weeks actually, 15 days, getting to know, becoming acquainted with Peter (Cephas). That’s why he was there. He wasn’t sent for. He went on his own violation. Paul was hearing Peter’s story and all that he had seen and heard from Jesus. He also heard from James. Paul was sharing his own story too. This was not a new Christian-Paul. He was 3 years a follower of Jesus. He was not learning the gospel. He already had it.

Paul shows us that we cannot do this Christian life on our own: we cannot stay in Arabia and neither can we start our own itinerary ministry in Damascus. We need to do this Christian life in community. We need people to pray with and to support us. We need fellowship. We need to be investors into other people and we need investing in.

About 6 months ago a young Pastor I didn’t know very well asked to come and spend the day with me. At first I didn’t know what on earth we were going to be doing and could we even talk all day? But I wanted to give this young man who was travelling a long way as much time as possible. So I scheduled a day for him. It was an incredible day of drinking copious amounts of coffee, eating and sharing our lives. It ended with me being very energised and inspired by this young man’s passion for Jesus and the mission. It was a God appointment for me.

There are times we don’t need conferences and seminars etc. we just need coffee with people and good inspiring conversations about Jesus.

Paul takes a solemn oath because he is desperate for them to believe him. He had the gospel before he met anyone. But his story of those 2 weeks with Peter and James tells us so much more. If the Apostle Paul needed people then so do we.

Imagine with me a lengthy period of time with no noise because you have found a place where it is just you and God.  A season where there is time to meditate on who God is, what He has said and what He has done. Imagine God filling the silence with His presence. Imagine God filling you with faith.

Isaiah 30:15 “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” So many of us are in the last few words of that verse, we ‘have none of it.’

Our world is anything but silent. Activity has increased, our minds are flooded with ‘to do’ lists, we have plans, strategies and every experience we have we immediately go on social media and tell the whole world. 

Maybe there are times not to tell. Maybe these times are times to think through what God has told us.

“… my immediate response was not to consult any human being. ¹⁷ I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.” (Galatians 1 v 16-17)

Remember that Paul is defending his own calling as an apostle. There are preachers saying he has learnt a gospel from others and yet Paul is clear. After receiving his revelation from the resurrected Jesus he didn’t go to Jerusalem to check his story out with those who had also seen the resurrected Jesus and known as the apostles. His immediate response was not that. He went into Arabia before returning to Damascus. There is a lovely comparison with Elijah in 1 Kings 19 who escaped to Mt Sinai (Horeb in Arabia) who then was sent to Damascus. The difference being that Elijah was depressed when he went to the mountain, Paul wasn’t.

The point is this. Perhaps Paul went to meet with God after his encounter and experience on the Damascus Road. The revelation he had received of Jesus being the Messiah was so undoing and mind-blowing he had to have time alone to process it. Was this a 3 year personal retreat? Or did he begin straight away evangelising amongst the Gentiles. No one knows. He certainly didn’t tell Luke, the scribe, about an Arabian missionary journey.

But what we can ponder today is what Paul didn’t do. He didn’t go and tell fellow believers of the huge privilege he has just encountered. He didn’t go to them and say, ’Look what happened to me!” They didn’t train him, disciple him and importantly interfere with the gospel he had received. This is the defence of his apostleship.

The point is this: are we too quick to run to people with the things we receive from God? Do we have a place whether Mount Sinai or another place where we can simply run to? Perhaps God wants you to hold on to what you have encountered from Him without telling people too quickly? Maybe He doesn’t want the world to know what He is telling you. Can He trust you to keep what He tells you confidential for a season? Is the reason for His encounter with you so that you will seek Him even further? I believe it is.

If you were to write down the story of your life then it would be a huge blessing to others to see how God came to you even before you knew Him; He purposed a pathway for your life; He transformed who you and He poured grace into your heart so that you could love people. That’s what He did and what He continually does for you. This is your testimony and it is marvellous. He did this for Apostle Paul also:-

“But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. ” (Galatians 1 v 15-16)

God had called him before Paul had achieved anything.

It wasn’t because someone else had pleased God in such a way that He looked at Paul and said I will call him. It wasn’t because Paul had pleased God in such a way because before we are born God knows what He is going to do with us. We know that we haven’t done anything to achieve such grace. In our mother’s womb God knew what our path in life would be. He calls each and every one of us before we have accomplished anything. He does it because of His own pleasure. Before we become a Christian our vocabulary is all about ‘me’ and ‘what I have done’ and then when we come into the revelation of who Christ is then we speak differently. We speak of who He is and what He has done.

God had separated him before Paul became a ‘separated one’ (a Pharisee).

Paul saw that he had been set apart at the beginning of his life, a long time before he joined the set-apart purist group of Pharisees. These are 2 important words (one word in the Greek) as they described who the Pharisees were. They were set apart to God. They felt good about themselves because they had proof they were different to the most. He didn’t take into his body anything that was impure or unclean. He didn’t drink or eat the wrong things. He had evidence of being pure. But the moment he met Christ he knew he wasn’t. He wasn’t really separated to God. He had to meet Christ for that to happen. On looking back he realised the importance of the word for set-apart. It wasn’t anything he could do but it was what Christ did for him.

God did a work in Paul as opposed to all the outward works of Paul’s life.

It is subtle but powerful. God did a work in and not to. People are impacted not because of what you do but who they see in you. Jesus!

God had called Paul to preach to the Gentiles before he began hating them.

In Paul’s day it was a fact that the Jews hated the Gentiles. That was part of the culture. Paul hated the Gentiles all his life and YET God had called Paul to reach out to those he hated. You too come out of a world of all kinds of prejudice. You love people now that you would never have thought you would. How and why?

It is all because He called you. Before you knew anything He called you. Before you did anything He called you. You are called here right now. That call is powerful. Today we go and walk out in that calling. Amen!

We have all met one.

A ‘know-it-all’. They are easy to spot. You can hear them and they know how to use social media.

In our journey with the Apostle Paul in this letter to the Galatian churches we see his confession that he was a know-it-all.

“For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” Galatians 1:13-14

Paul was not an atheist before he met Christ. Damascus was not a conversion experience towards faith in God. He already had faith. 

Paul believed he was doing the work of God when he persecuted the church. 

In his Jewish history there were examples of God’s leaders clamping down on individuals and groups who were endangering their faith. So Elijah kills 850 false prophets because he didn’t want his community to be impacted by false Baal worship. Paul is doing the same. He is working for God. This Jesus who apparently was resurrected is a danger. His followers are even more dangerous. They need to be stopped. “God wants me to do it”. He was convincingly right and absolutely wrong. He had Scripture verses to back him up and yet he was blind (God actually did temporarily blind him).

He says he was extremely zealous and had advanced in Judaism. This was not only theoretical. This would have been in a commitment to prayer and almost like a jihad to stamp out all forms of blasphemy. He became violent to the point of persecuting those within what he describes as this ‘church of God’. It is shocking and he words it like this on purpose. This was God’s people that he expressed violence towards. He was hell-bent on dealing ruthlessly with them, that would mean even killing people himself or at least presiding over their martyr deaths as he did with Stephen. He felt justified to break one of the commandments in order to do what he thought was God’s work and he was so blinded he never saw the hypocrisy of that. How did he feel justified?

Simple. He knew better than most.

Of course we will never be in such a situation. For we have come to Christ as he did (actually Christ came to him!). We are followers of Jesus so this is not going to happen for us. However, do we think we know better than others because of our experience and our activity? Social media is full of agents of God, the caretakers of the church, opinionated activists who are experts on many subjects and who are not afraid to tell people they are wrong.