14 Years Of Running In Vain? S6e4 Gal2:2

People want to make sure Paul, 14 years after his conversion, is really a Christian.  Paul gathers the evidence and presents it to the Jerusalem church.  He accounts for the time, because he's been accused of NOT BEING A CHRISTIAN (Acts9:26) 3 years into that 14 years.  

No wonder Paul has to "give his credentials" to the Galatian believers.  It took him a long time to win the trust of the church.  Killing people has a tendency to make people look at you in a certain way.  Today Paul is filling in the blanks about that 14 years.  

• conversion in Damascus, Syria where they wanted to kill him
• 3 years in Arabia (where the Lord disciples him)
• 15 days in Jerusalem where they wanted to kill him so he is sent to 
• Tarsus for 10 years or so
• To be found there by Barnabas and Brought to Antioch, Syria for a one year stint of ministry.  It is there the church is first referred to as "Christians"
• Finally, Barnabas and Paul head back to Jerusalem with a pile of cash for famine relief

Paul defends his ministry before the "1st" missionary journey.  Did he run in vain all those years? Have I run in vain for the last 14 years?  Listen 7 minutes and find out. bewithme.us

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Good morning, my brothers and sisters, welcome to episode four of season six. We're following Paul and kind of correlating what happens in the book of Galatians, because it was written halfway through the book of Acts. And we're coordinating the events from Glacia. To the events in the book of Acts, okay? So what Paul is doing is he is he's yelling at the Galatians, a little bit. And he, what he's doing is he's establishing his credentials. And he's going back to how he became a believer and what the Lord had done with him in the meantime. And he's going to refer here in the book of Galatians, to a couple things that happened in the book of Acts. So we're going to flip back and in, in forth just a little bit. I'm going to read from the book of Galatians, and then we'll dissect what he's meaning about this. This is from Galatians chapter two. There's only two official verses today. This is Galatians, two, verses one and two. Here's verse one. Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. So let me just pause there. So what we're going to do today is we're going to fill in those 14 years from about 34 ad to 48. AD. And where has he been all this time? And what did the people in the Jerusalem church think about him during that period of time. So after 14 years, so we have to fill in the blanks. He's going to go up again to Jerusalem, he's already been there one time, the first time was kind of a disaster. We'll talk about that. And we're going to talk about the person Barnabas who's going to go along with them. This is verse two, now, I went up, that is to Jerusalem for the second visit, because of a revelation. Well, that was from a guy named Agabus, in Acts chapter 11, who had a prophecy that there was going to be this horrible famine. So Paul is three or 400 miles away, and he collects money and brings it back to Jerusalem. And so that's the when why he went back up to Jerusalem in Galatians, two, two, they finished the Galatians. Two, I went up because of Revelation, and set before them, though, privately before those who seem influential, the gospel I had proclaimed among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running or had run in vain. And so the the, the church leaders in in Jerusalem, we're basically suspicious about this guy who had had a ministry three and 400 miles away for 14 years. And they're wondering, just a little bit, are you a Christian? So let's get let's go through Paul's credentials for these couple of years. Alright, so first of all, let me just start back in Acts chapter nine, that's after his conversion. And Paul immediately starts proclaiming to the Jews in the synagogues. And then he goes away for three years into Arabia after the after the the Jews in Damascus start to try to kill him. These let down through the wall. He goes off to Arabia for three years, and I think learns all about being a Christian at that time. So that's part of the 14 years, that's the first three years of the 14 years, and then he visits Jerusalem. Now, this is hilarious because in Acts, chapter nine, verse 26, he attempts to join the disciples and they are afraid of him and don't believe that he was a disciple. In other words, three years into Paul's Sol's, they're still calling himself at this point. Saul's Christianity. The Jews are the Christian, the Christians of Jerusalem do not believe that he is a Christian. So Barnabas has to somehow somehow he has a relationship with Barnabas, this is where his relationship starts. Somehow Barnabas has to take him and bring him to the apostles, because I don't know maybe they're so suspicious of them, and declared to them how on the road that he had seen the Lord and that he's been preaching for a number of years. And then he goes out into Jerusalem and preaches there. He disputes with the Jews there in Jerusalem, but the dispute becomes so hostile. They were seeking to kill him. And so the, the Christians in Jerusalem on Paul's first trip to Jerusalem, sent him off to Tarsus, which is kind of his hometown or his hometown. region at least. And he is there for maybe eight to 10 years. So from the from the years of 34 ad three of its spent in Arabia, he has a quick visit to Jerusalem. Galatians tells us it's only two weeks long, then the Jews there, tried to kill him. So the Christians there, send them up to his hometown area. He's there for eight or 10 years. This takes us to maybe 45 ad or so. And then a second thing happens and that is the Christian church hears about good work that's being done with Gentiles up in 300 miles north, and of interest in Antioch, Syria, or takia. A turkey is where that is today. The gospel is being preached, but it's not by Paul. It's not by Saul, it's by some other men. So the Jerusalem Jews send an emissary up there to check it out. The emissaries name is Barnabas again. And the Christians that are preaching about Christ art is not Paul. But after he's done with that, Barnabas does go to Tarsus and looks for Saul. And when he had found him, so this is from Acts chapter 11. And when Barnabas finds Saul, they're still calling him Saul. He brings him to Antioch. And then listen what happens in Antioch. So this is the last year that Paul is sort of out in the in the not wilderness, but out in the boondocks for sure. For a whole year they met with the church. That's the church and Ania taught a great many people in Antioch. The disciples were first called Christians. Isn't that cool? So then, so now this is getting close to the time where Paul is going to head back to Jerusalem, get his act together and go off on his first missionary journey. So how does he get there? Well, it says in Acts chapter 11, verse 27, in those days, Prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, one of them named Agabus, talks about a famine. So they gathered each one aboard according to his ability, and then they head down to Jerusalem who who goes Barnabas and Saul? This is about 47, eight D. So, Paul, was accused of not being a believer at three years into his belief. And finally, he's gonna come back down to Jerusalem and support his ministry and tell tell them that yes, I am a Christian. Here's all the fantastic things I was I've been doing. So I've just been wondering if someone accused you of being Christian, a Christian for the last 14 years. Could you make a defense Paul? certainly could. I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for listening.