Safeguarding the Gospel
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“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
This is one crazy passage! How would you like it if Rev Tom and Deacon Nicola started rebuking each other at the front of a church service? Surely they should do it in private. But this public rebuke we read about today leads us to reflect on very important truths about our own salvation.
Paul may seem aggressive here but it's not because he is a prickly character. He is a faithful shepherd, guardian of souls and there were intruders infiltrating the church. In Galatians 2:14 Paul confronts it.
What is Paul battling for? For the survival of Christianity against contamination of the message, adding to it, that some would teach the Christian message is believe in and follow Christ but there are other rules and traditions that must be kept. Pauls says, NO! He is fighting for his Lord and Saviour, his great cause with such zeal.
Galatians 2:2 ‘he went in response to a revelation.’ Gal 2:2 ‘I presented to them the gospel that I preach.’ Gal 2:11 ‘I opposed him to his face.’
Three headings to guide us through this bible reading:
1 A Revelation.
2 A Presentation.
3 A Rebuke.
A Revelation
Paul in Galatians 2 is defending the good news of Jesus Christ that he has been given. He is certain that his Gospel message was revealed to him by Jesus. He refutes the idea that his gospel message was derived from others, not even the Christian leaders in Jerusalem. In Galatians 1:16-17, He says, “I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was.”
Galatians 1:18-19 states that after 3 years he went to Jerusalem, but he was not instructed by the leaders there in any methodical way.
Paul also refutes the idea that he developed his gospel message through his own reflection and reasoning, and thinking.
He was hostile to Christianity (1v13) until just before his conversion. There was no evolution of thought through a process of formulation, discussion, presentation, interaction with others, and revision – the good news was by divine revelation.
He went with Titus and Barnabas because God sent him to present the gospel to the leaders in Jerusalem. That gospel message is what Galatians is all about. Attacks on the gospel were putting the early church in danger of becoming an irrelevant church. A danger that we must be alert to today.
Fourteen years later Paul goes to Jerusalem, to the HQ of the Jewish Christian Church (Antioch is HQ of the Gentile Christian Church). Now, he is an established evangelist and church planter to the Gentiles. He goes to Jerusalem to present this great mystery that has been revealed to him by the risen Jesus (Ephesians 3:3 ‘the mystery was made known to me by revelation.’
A Presentation
Galatians 2:2 records that Paul said, ‘I presented to them the gospel that I preach.’
What was that presentation? There were 3 fundamentals of his presentation
1. Grace alone
2. Christ alone
3. Faith alone.
Grace alone. There is nothing that we can contribute to gain our salvation: it can't be earned or merited it is a free gift gained by Jesus' victory on the cross.
Second, the gospel is good news of salvation through Christ alone. In Acts 4:12 Peter controversially said, ‘there is no other name whereby we might be saved.’ Christ alone is the reason we are saved.
Third, salvation is received by faith alone - not by any action or deed of ours but only by faith. Remember what Paul said to the jailer in Acts 16: ‘believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’ Acts 16:31
NB The presentation in Jerusalem was not for their approval but that the Christian church would have unanimity about the truth, clarity about the message. Not unity at any price. We too must have that same zeal for the message of Jesus. Not to be compromised. We should not be silent when we see the gospel being distorted or watered down or added to. Rescue of perishing people is at stake.
Fanny Crosby wrote these words: ‘Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.’
We can't be happy that churches are being packed out as concert venues or places where people can abseil and climb or bounce on bouncy castles! These things are not mission. The Judiasers were attacking the 3 fundamental truths: Grace alone, Christ alone, Faith alone
Leaders of the Jerusalem churches Peter James and John give the right hand of fellowship saying we are at one with you in the gospel - ‘go on preaching it, Paul.’ ‘Go on preaching the one gospel message’ Paul says to Peter, we are in agreement – let us shake on it.
A Rebuke
Galatians 2:11-14 tells us that Peter came to Paul in Antioch at Paul's invite. Paul publically rebuked Peter, he opposed him to his face. I do believe there would have been tenderness and graciousness and loving kindness but nonetheless it was a confrontation between two brothers, leaders, and apostles - a public disagreement. The rebuke was not about the nature of the gospel but the practice of it. We learn in Acts 15:24 that people had come from James in Jerusalem (but crucially they were not sent by James) - it seems they were saying you couldn't be a Christian without being circumcised and they were also saying Jewish Christians should not be eating with the Gentiles.
So when these people came from Jerusalem to see Peter, he stopped eating with theGentiless to keep favour with them.
Paul is saying you are not practising what you are preaching Peter.
Your message may be good, your faith and believing is good but Peter you are being hypocritical. Such was Paul’s rebuk of Peter.
Today we need the attitude of Paul not for any other reason than being concerned about the Salvation of our friends, relatives and neighbours who can't find eternal life any other way than faith in Christ alone, by grace alone.
Do we care about the safeguarding and proclaiming of the gospel, are we bothered when the gospel is denied and Jesus is denied as the only Lord and Saviour of us all? I hope so!
