Galatians 2:1-10

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 150
• Hymn — Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (#53)
• Westminster Shorter Catechism — Questions 63 & 64 (Fifth Commandment)
• Hymn — Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds (#364)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — How Firm a Foundation (#94)
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26

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Sermon Title: God Faithfully Preserves His Gospel Without Obstacle

Scripture: Galatians 2:1-10

I. God Preserves His Gospel by the Endorsement of the Church

A. Paul's second journey to Jerusalem, 14 years after his conversion

1. Paul had been preaching the gospel to Gentiles since his calling on the Damascus Road — set apart even before birth (Galatians 1:15)
2. The background to this visit is the prophecy of Agabus foretelling a famine, prompting Paul and Barnabas to bring aid to poor believers in Judea (Acts 11)
3. God orchestrated this mission so that Paul could gain a private, official meeting with the Jerusalem apostles

B. Paul presents his gospel before the influential apostles privately

1. His purpose: not that he himself doubted his gospel, but so the broader church would not think he had been running in vain
2. Application: what is proclaimed from the pulpit matters eternally — a false gospel believed leads to eternal condemnation; the true gospel must be carefully preserved and examined

C. Titus, a Greek believer, is brought as a living example

1. The Jerusalem apostles did not compel Titus to be circumcised, demonstrating unity around the gospel of grace
2. False brothers had secretly infiltrated to spy out the freedom believers have in Christ Jesus, seeking to bring them back into slavery — Galatians 2:4
3. Paul and his companions did not yield even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved

D. The apostles extend the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas

1. James, Cephas (Peter), and John — the pillars — recognized the grace given to Paul
2. They affirmed the same gospel: Paul entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, Peter to the circumcised — one gospel, two mission fields — Galatians 2:7-9
3. This endorsement was not for Paul's sake but for the church's confidence — including the Galatians and believers today

II. God Preserves His Gospel as It Expands to the Nations

A. It has always been God's purpose to include the nations in his saving work

1. The blessing of the nations was already in view when God met Abraham — Genesis 12
2. The Great Commission sends the church to make disciples of all nations — Matthew 28:19-20
3. The arc of Acts moves the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth

B. Titus illustrates the expansion: a pagan Greek who has come to faith in Christ, one of many Gentiles turning from many gods to the one Lord Jesus Christ

C. The gospel transforms everything it touches

1. Paul, once breathing murderous threats against Jewish Christians, now brings them financial aid and preaches life
2. Gentile converts, once enemies of God's people, now support poor Jewish believers — a picture of unity across ethnic lines
3. The gospel turns hostility into affectionate concern, and death into life

D. The preserved gospel has come to the ends of the earth — including Meridian, Mississippi

1. Believers today are recipients of the same gospel proclaimed in Jerusalem
2. Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone has been faithfully handed down because God is faithful to preserve what is his
3. The gospel brings freedom from condemnation, freedom from bondage to sin, and transformation of the heart — Galatians 2:4; Isaiah 55:11