Pathway To Ministry
Text: Gal. 2:1-10
Introduction
1. Illustration: A well-known Christian businessman who was visiting a church was asked to give his testimony. He said, "I have a fine family, a large house, a successful business, and a good reputation. I have plenty of money so I can support some Christian ministries very generously. Many organizations want me on their board of directors. I have good health and almost unlimited opportunities. What more could I ask from God?" As he paused for effect, a voice shouted from the back of the auditorium, "How about asking Him for a good dose of humility?"
2. It is one thing for you to think you have it, but it is another thing to have someone confirm it in you.
3. If God is calling you to a particular ministry here are three ways to test whether its from God.
a. Seek Consultation
b. Seek Confirmation
c. Seek Commission
4. Let's stand as we read together Gal. 2:1-10
Proposition: It is always wise to seek wise counsel when stepping out into ministry.
Transition: The first thing you should do is...
I. Seek Consultation (1-5).
A. In Agreement
1. When you feel that God is leading you into a new ministry it is a good idea to seek wise counsel.
2. We can see this in Paul's life and ministry. He tels the Galatians, "Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too."
a. The word "then" indicates that Paul is relating a chronological series of events and was leaving out nothing of importance.
b. Furthermore, the word "again" shows that Paul is describing his second visit to Jerusalem (Fung, NICNT: Galatians, 85).
c. Some assume that this is a reference to the Council of Jerusalem from Acts 15. However, Martin Luther, indicates that what Paul is talking about here happened much later (Luther, Reformation Commentary On Scripture, vol. 10, 47).
d. Fourteen years after his conversion Paul made a second trip to the holy city; he took two of his friends with him: Barnabas and Titus.
e. Barnabas, originally named Joseph, was a Levite who grew up in Cyprus. As a result of his ministries the apostles named him "Son of Encouragement," i.e., Barnabas.
f. We later learn that he was the "cousin" of John Mark. His obedience, reconciling manner, and encouraging temperament, along with his dependence on the Holy Spirit, earned him a prominent ministry alongside Paul.
g. The second travel companion of Paul was Titus. While we may be unsure why Titus accompanied Paul and Barnabas, his distinctive trait (and the reason he is mentioned at all) is that he was a Gentile.
h. It is possible that Paul brought Titus, likely one of his early converts and a continual friend, as a "test case," in which case Titus would have had unmistakable and unimpeachable Christian character while at the same time being a Gentile (Scot McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 82).
3. Now that we have set up the background, let's look at what Paul is trying to say. He says in v. 2, "I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing."
a. Paul would not have gone to Jerusalem if the Lord had not told him to do so since he was not concerned with the soundness of his teaching (Luther, 48).
b. However, he still wanted to be in agreement with the leaders in the church. If Paul felt the need for agreement, then it makes sense that we should be in agreement.
c. When Paul reached Jerusalem, he simply submitted (from anatithēmi, to lay something before someone for consideration) to them the gospel which he had always preached among the Gentiles, the gospel of salvation by God's sovereign grace through man's penitent faith—a gospel utterly contrary to the works-righteous belief of the Judaizers that "unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
(John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 35).
d. His gospel did not demand adopting the Jewish way of life and did not include submission to the law. Paul even states that he did this humbly: "for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain."
e. This was a grand concession on Paul's part. However confident he was in the revelation that he thought was from Jesus Christ, he was still willing to submit his revelation to the evaluation of the leaders of Jerusalem (McKnight, 83).
4. The church leaders were so in agreement with Paul, "they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile."
a. Although Titus is never mentioned in the the Book of Acts, from Paul letter's we know that he was one of Paul's converts, and became one of his close companions (Fung, 86).
b. Titus, a true Christian, was living and incontrovertible proof that circumcision and Mosaic regulations are not necessary for salvation.
c. It should be noted that some years after that occasion Paul circumcised Timothy "because of the Jews who were in those parts" (the region of Galatia), but he did so because Timothy was half Jewish.
d. He was not making a concession to the Judaizers, but rather was giving Timothy closer identity with Jews to whom they might witness.
e. Timothy was circumcised as a Jew not as a Christian. His circumcision had no relationship to his salvation but simply gave him entrance to Jewish synagogues, from which he would otherwise have been excluded (MacArthur, 38).
f. There was nothing wrong with being circumcised, but to insist upon it as a condition for salvation would be a slap in the face of God's grace (Luther, 51).
5. However, we need to be cautious whose counsel we seek. Paul shows us this by saying, "Even that question came up only because of some so-called Christians there—false ones, really—who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations."
a. The Judaizers were marked as false ones (pseudadelphos), a phrase that has also been translated "sham Christians" (neb) and "pseudo-Christians" (Phillips).
b. Those professing Jewish believers had developed a hybrid faith that was true neither to traditional Judaism (because it claimed allegiance to Christ) nor to apostolic Christianity (because it demanded circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law for salvation).
c. Some scholars believe they were planted in the churches by Pharisees or priests in order to corrupt this threat to traditional Judaism.
d. In any case, Satan, as always, was the primary instigator of the subterfuge. The Judaizers were first of all the devil's agents, whatever their human associations and loyalties.
e. The verb "enslave" (katadouloō) is a compound and conveys the strong slavery of a works system.
f. The Judaizers could not tolerate a gospel that was not tied to Mosaic ritual and law because their view of salvation was centered in what they could self-righteously perform to earn favor from God rather than in what God could do for them (MacArthur, 38-39).
B. Wise Counsel
1. Illustration: Robert Cook, President of King’s College once related a true story from the early years of his ministry. Evidently at that time, he had been receiving some rather pointed criticism. In fact, it had become of such great concern to him that he sought the counsel of a friend, the beloved Bible expositor and pastor, Harry A. Ironside. Pouring out his heart, Bob Cook asked what he should do about the denunciations being made against him. He wanted to know how to handle them. Ironside gave the following wise counsel: "Bob, if the criticism about you is true, mend your ways! If it isn't, forget about it!"
2. Successful people seek wise counsel.
a. Proverbs 20:18 (NLT)
Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice.
b. Wise people seek out wise people.
c. They seek to find out the truth before they move forward.
d. They don't just go to people who tell them what they want to hear.
e. They go to people who know what they are talking about, and will give it to them straight.
3. Foolish people do not seek wise counsel.
a. Proverbs 26:16 (NLT)
Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.
b. Foolish people think they have all the answers.
c. Foolish people are stubborn and closed-minded.
d. Foolish people won't listen, seek advice, or submit to authority.
e. Don't be foolish!
Transition: The second thing you should do is...
II. Seek Confirmation (6-8).
A. They Saw That God
1. It is one thing for you to think you are gifted in a certain area, but it's another thing when others can see it in you.
2. That's what happens with Paul, He tells us, "the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.)"
a. For seventeen years he had preached the gospel without their having had the least part in it.
b. When he finally went to Jerusalem to testify to what he preached, it was not for approval or correction but simply for recognition—and that not for his own sake but for the sake of those who had been deceived by the false accusations against him being spread by the Judaizers (MacArthur, 41).
c. Paul's gospel was now facing a crucial test: how did those whom everyone respected as authoritative in Jerusalem respond to it?
d. The "had nothing to add" clearly means they did not think Paul's message was an abbreviated one, one designed to make the gospel more attractive to Gentiles.
e. They did not think that Moses needed to be studied and obeyed in order to be a "full member" of the church, and they did not think such things as boundary markers needed to be imposed (like circumcision and food laws).
f. They must then have thought that the message of Paul was the message of Peter and the other leaders, for his message had been accepted as Christ's message (McKnight, 85).
3. Furthermore, not only did they add nothing to his message, but "Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews."
a. What these pillars perceived was that God had separate callings for Paul and Peter.
b. They did not contend that each had a separate gospel but that each had a separate target for ministry: Paul with the uncomfortable, potentially disturbing, ministry of opening the rest of the world to the message of Christ and Peter with the more comfortable, home-missions ministry with all its social problems.
c. Crucial in this decision was the conviction that "God… was also at work in my [Paul's] ministry" (McKnight, 86).
4. What they recognized was "the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles."
a. The same Holy Spirit (He) who energized and empowered Peter energized and empowered Paul, and the Spirit has but one gospel.
b. When Paul returned to Jerusalem several years later, "the brethren received [him and those with him] gladly," and when he "began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry."
c. Recognizing the grace that had been given to Paul, the other apostles and the church at large could only conclude that this man was a divinely commissioned and blessed instrument of God. Only God's grace—His free, sovereign, and undeserved blessing—could account for the mighty spreading of the gospel and building up of the church that the Lord had accomplished through this man (MacArthur, 41).
B. Vision of Others
1. illustration: The 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, "Duryée’s Zouaves," was one of the most renowned fighting regiments of the American Civil War. Their colorful Zouave uniform, precise maneuvers, effectiveness in combat and steady bearing under fire, won them universal respect and recognition. "I doubt whether it had an equal," General George Sykes said of the 5th New York.
2. It is good to let God's anointing in you be recognized by others.
a. Proverbs 27:2 (NLT)
Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth— a stranger, not your own lips.
b. Let others recognize your God's calling in you.
c. Let others confirm your ministry.
d. Let others confirm what God is doing in your life.
3. It is not good if you are the only one that sees it.
a. 2 Corinthians 10:18 (NLT)
When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.
b. If it is truly God he will confirm it through others.
c. If it isn't God nobody else will confirm it.
Transition: The third thing we should do is...
III. Seek Commission (9-10).
A. Encouraged Us To Keep Preaching
1. Webster's dictionary defines commission as "an authorization or command to act in a prescribed manner or to perform prescribed acts."
a. As an ordained Assemblies of God minister I am commissioned by the Assemblies of God organization to perform the function and duties as an Assemblies of God pastor.
b. This provides me not only with their approval, but also there authority and support.
2. When Paul met with the church leaders in Jerusalem they in essence commissioned him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.
3. Paul says, "In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews."
a. They publicly announced that they thought God had called Paul to this very task.
b. It could be profitably compared today to an ordination committee's endorsement of a candidate after lengthy questioning and discussion.
c. Astute committees (then and now) can quickly get to the heart of the issues to determine whether a given candidate is orthodox or not.
d. The endorsement by the "pillars" was genuine, and Paul was introduced as one who preached the gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully and accurately (McKnight, 86).
e. The phrase translated here as "encouraged us to keep preaching," is literally "the right hand of fellowship."
f. In the Near East, to clasp the right hand of a person was to make a solemn vow of friendship and was a mark of fellowship, or partnership.
g. The "pillars" at Jerusalem recognized Paul not only as a true preacher and teacher of the gospel but also as a beloved partner with them in Christ's service (MacArthur, 42).
B. Sent Out
1. Illustration: There was a young seminarian who was taking an oral examination for his ordination process. During the questioning, one of the examiners asked him if he believed in a personal devil. "No," he replied, "I do not believe in the devil." Hearing this, the examiners began to discuss the seminarian’s fitness for ordination. They were on the verge of disqualifying him when one of the older faculty members spoke up: "Don’t worry about this young man’s present disbelief in a personal devil. This whole thing will take care of itself. He won’t be working in a church for more than two weeks before he changes his mind."
2. Commissioning provides spiritual covering.
a. Acts 13:2-3 (NLT)
One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.
b. It provides prayer covering.
c. It provides spiritual warfare covering.
d. It provides spiritual authority.
3. Commissioning will remind you of the seriousness of your ministry.
a. 1 Timothy 1:18-19 (NLT)
Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles.
19 Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.
b. It will remind you that this is not fun and games, but rather, that it is a war.
c. It will remind you that this will not be easy.
d. It will remind you that there will be opposition.
e. However, it will also remind you that God is on your side!
Transition: If God has not called you, run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. If God has called you run as fast as you can to the front lines so he can use you.
Conclusion
1. If God is calling you to a particular ministry here are three ways to test whether its from God.
a. Seek Consultation
b. Seek Confirmation
c. Seek Commission
2. Has God called you to a particular ministry?
a. Have you asked your spiritual authority about it?
b. Have you asked them to confirm your calling?
c. Have you allowed them to send you into the field?
