Shabbat Shalom everyone. We are studying in the letter that Shaul Paul wrote to the Galatians. So, this is the third message that we are sharing today, and I would like you please to turn to Galatians chapter 1, and we want to read today from verses 11 to the end of the chapter. So, Galatians chapter 1, and the verses that I'm reading for this ministry meeting is verses 11 to verse 24. Shaul Paul was concerned for the welfare of the local assemblies in the region of Galatia. And he was writing to them because they were exposed to those who told them that they were really not saved unless they are going to be circumcised.

And therefore, the apostle Shaul Paul was so concerned because some of them began to deviate and get influenced by that which caused them to stop to stand simply upon the fact that it is only through the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, that one who believes on him can be saved. And there is nothing more except Yeshua only. The gospel has been presented to them, but things went wrong, and they were not careful to maintain themselves close to the word of God. So, now notice what he's writing to them. Galatians 1 verse 11. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after men, for I neither received it of men, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach.

For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church, the assembly of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equal in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen, And then, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.

Then after three years, then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none save James, Yaakov, the Lord's brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, behold, before God I lie not. Afterwards, I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and was unknown by faith unto the churches of Judea, which were in Christ, in Mashiach. But they had heard only that he which persecuted us in time past, now preaches the faith which once he destroyed, and they glorified God in me. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, this is message number three on ministry of the Apostle Paul to the brothers and sisters in the region of Galatia.

Now, just to remind you, that up till now, we have already looked over the fact that Shaul, Paul, to remind you that his Hebrew name is Saul, Shaul, his dispersion name, the name that he embraced or that he received when he was living in Cilicia, in Tarsus, was also Paul. He carried on both of these names. He was a Hebrew, he was an Israeli, he was a Jewish man whom God had called in order to be used by the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, to share the message with the nations of the world, with the Goyim, with the Gentiles. Now, the Apostle Paul, that now is writing to the Galatians, he wanted to emphasize to them three important things in this book of Galatians.

From the verse 11, where we read today, chapter 1, verse 11, all the way to chapter 6, to the end of the chapter, the Apostle Paul really presents three important things that he wants to dwell on. And you will notice as we study the book of Galatians, you will see that he has threefold arguments against those who do not believe that salvation is only by grace through faith in Yeshua the Messiah and no more. No circumcision, no law keeping, no baptism, no speaking in tongue, no human merit, no human works ever availed for salvation. Salvation is on the basis only of the finished work of Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah.

So what does he do? And it's very interesting, in these six chapters, and it begins here with verse 11. You will notice that in chapter 1, verse 11, into chapter 2, and verse 21, Shaul Paul presents his personal life. And he shows the Galatians, reminding the Galatians of his own personal life and how he, in his life, was reached out by the Lord, by Yeshua the Messiah, and was brought unto himself. Secondly, in chapter 3 and chapter 4, Shaul Paul will present doctrinal and historical biblical teaching to show the Galatians that even in past history, Israel, the nation, Abraham and Sarah and others in historical days of old, they became, you might say, children of God.

They were saved, they were saved, they were received forgiveness of sins, not by keeping any laws, but being circumcised by, but simply by faith in Yeshua, the Messiah. And thirdly, in chapter 5 and chapter 6, the Apostle Paul will show us the need of the believers to live their life with the freedom and the liberty that they have in Christ, in the Messiah, in the Messiah, in Messiah Yeshua. So he's going to mention three arguments in chapter 1 and 2, chapter 3 and 4, and chapter 5 and 6. Personal arguments, historical and biblical arguments, and as well the practical argument, how does the believer need to live his life today in this present age.

So, we are only going to begin today to listen and to hear about personal life of the Apostle Paul of Shaul. And you notice, by the way, that in these verses, verses 11, chapter 1, verse 11, to verse 24, Shaul Paul pointing to his personal past history as a proof of his apostleship. He's going to show the brothers and sisters in Galatia, that he, in his own personal life, was one that was elected by the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, to give the gospel, the message of the Besoah, to the world in which he lived in those days as an apostle to the Gentiles, to the Gohim. So notice this, and I would like to highlight some of these verses today in our ministry.

Verses 11 to verse 24, he's looking back to his past life, and he's sharing how he was elected or chosen by the Lord to become a messenger, an apostle. First of all, in verses 11, 12, 13, and 14, Paul is writing to the Galatians, and he's showing to them that in the past history, he himself used to persecute the church, the assembly, the congregation, and specifically, the Jewish believers in the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So notice what he says in verse 11 and 12, he's emphasizing the fact that he himself in past history is the one that persecuted the church. And notice what he says in verse 11, Let's just pause here for a moment.

Notice that he's emphasizing the fact that the gospel, and you notice the word gospel is mentioned here. The Hebrew word for gospel is simply means besorah. In the Greek, it's called gelation. It's like evangelization. That is the word here in the Greek. And he's reminding them that what he is sharing with them, the gospel that I'm sharing, the gospel which was now preached of me, is really not from men. In other words, I didn't receive it from anybody else. Nobody came to me, and any men, or even the apostles in Jerusalem did not share this with me. In verse 11, it's not after men, it's not of men, and it's not taught by men.

In other words, this revelation that the apostle Paul received was a unique revelation that was given to him by the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the glorified Messiah. Because some people, we said to him, Paul, Shaul Paul, where did you receive this information that you are giving today? You were not with Jesus, the Messiah, when he lived on earth. You did not follow him when he lived here for 33 and a half years. You were not one of these elected people that were in the first century of these early Hebrew, Messianic Jewish people who followed after you. Who do you think you are that you are teaching this kind of teaching of the gospel, of the grace of God, that is reaching now not only to the Jewish people, but beyond the borders of Israel, to the nations of the world?

Paul, who do you think you are? Where did you get what you receive and what you're teaching us? And Paul is saying, hey, listen, listen, the gospel which was preached of me is not after men. For neither received I from men, neither was I taught it, but, notice these brothers and sisters, this is so beautiful, but by the revelation of Jesus, the Messiah. In other words, he received the revelation concerning the fact that salvation is for all men, for all humanity, on the basis of the finished work of Yeshua, the Messiah, he received it directly from the glorified Messiah. We know that because we covered it, because we covered it already.

You remember in Acts chapter 9, the Lord have spoken unto Shaul on the way to Damascus, and he said to him, Shaul, Shaul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And then you remember what the Lord said to him, he said to him, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. In other words, you are going against, you know, you're going against God and against the people of God. And the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah, called him there and delivered him from sin, forgave his sins, and Yeshua was accepting the Apostle Paul's words, Lord, what will you have me to do? And at that time, Shaul became a child of God, so he sang to the Galatians, Galatians, brethren, listen, whatever I share with you, it is not after man, it is neither was I receiving it from any other man, it was not Peter, it was not James, it was not Jude, it was not Yohanan, there was no man that gave me this message, I received it by the revelation of the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah.

And I want to show you this in a moment, if you turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15 for a moment, and I want to point to this verse that he mentioned to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, look what Paul says to the Corinthians believers. He said to them in the first few verses, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, He said to the Corinthians, very similar to what he is saying to the Galatians, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, the besorah, the glad tidings, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, since ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I, notice this verse 3, For I deliver unto you first of all that which I also received. You see that? He himself received this from the Lord Jesus the Messiah, how that the Messiah died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried. He rose again on the third day according to the scriptures, to the Hebrew scriptures. He received the message of the gospel directly from the glorified Messiah. It was not of man, it was not by man, it was not through man, but as he says here in verse 12, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach. It was a direct revelation that was given to the apostle Paul directly by the glorified Messiah.

And I would suggest, brothers and sisters, it's very similar to the way whereby Moses received the law when he gave it to our forefathers on Mount Sinai. Nobody saw Moses on the mount. No one could even get closer to the mount because of the smoke and the burning and the noise that was there. But we have a revelation that Moses wrote to us in the scripture to show us what happened, how Moses went to the mountains, and God gave him on Mount Sinai the law that he had given through Moses to the nation of Israel. In a very same way, beloved brothers and sisters, the truth concerning the gospel of the grace of God to reach out to all humanity was given to the apostle Paul, to Shaul Paul, by direct revelation or from the glorified Messiah who was in heaven, who called him to become a messenger of that message of the gospel.

Now, I just want to one more word here about that word gospel. You see, in the previous verses, he said, he said, but if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, then that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we have here, anathema or cherem in Hebrew. Any gospel or any news that man gives us today that is not based upon the truth of the word of God, it is another gospel. It is another message. It's not a message that brings salvation. It is a message that brings judgment because if one assumes that he is going to accomplish something on his own in order to receive salvation, as far as the apostle Paul teaching in the word of God, it is another gospel.

And we live in today, in the days in which we hear of so many ways where someone seeks to be right with God, and this is another gospel if it is not based on the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Yeshua, the Messiah. And that's why the apostle Paul is insisting so hard upon the truth of the simple ABC of the gospel. So he is mentioning now that he was, first of all, himself a rejecter of the gospel. He was a persecutor of the early Hebrew believers because he opposed the message of the gospel. So notice what he says now in verse 13.

Actually, verse 13a, verse 13b, and verse 14, he says three things about his past persecution of the people who believe in Yeshua. And then he says, notice in verse 13a, he says, For ye have heard of my conversation or my manner of life in time past in the Jewish religion. He says, in other words, you remember the days of old? You remembered my life before I became a believer in Yeshua, in Jesus, the Messiah. I'm Jewish. I was part among the religious lifestyle of my people, the Jewish people. You know very well, Galatians. I have told you when I shared with you the gospel, you know, you have heard of my manner of life in time past among the Jewish people, among the Jewish religion.

You know, Paul, Shaul Paul, was a devoted man, Jewish man, who loved the God of Israel, sought to live for the God of Israel. And he initially in his life did not recognize and actually rejected the message of the gospel and the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. Look what he says, if you just turn with me to Acts chapter 22, look what he spoke to his own people about his life as a Pharisee, as a committed, godly, we might say, Jewish man among the nation of Israel. Look what he says to them in Acts 22 and verse 1. Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense, he is speaking there in the temple in Jerusalem, which I make now unto you.

And when they heard that he spake in a Hebrew tongue, he knew Hebrew well, when he spoke to his own brethren, to our own Jewish people in the Hebrew language, he said to them, when they saw, when they heard that he spoke in a Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the most silence. And notice what he said to them in verse 3. I am verily a man which am a Jew. I am born in Tarsus, in a city in Cilicia. Yet, listen to this, brought up in this city at the feet of Gamliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

He was speaking to the Jewish people who came against him at the temple in Jerusalem, and he reminded them, he says, listen, brethren, Achim, he is calling them. Look, listen, I am a Jewish man just like you. I was born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia. Cilicia was in Asia Minor today. I was born in Cilicia, but, he said to them, yet I was brought up in this city. This is the city of Jerusalem. And I was here, even though I was born in Cilicia, in Tarsus, I really lived my life in the city of Jerusalem. And there, here in this city, I was sitting at the feet of Rabbi Gamliel.

One of the respected rabbis among the people of Israel in the days of Yeshua, the Messiah, was a rabbi by the name of Gamliel. And what Shaul Paul was doing, he was sitting at the feet of Gamliel, and he was taught, listen to verse 3 at the end, And I was taught according to the perfect manner of the law of our fathers, and was zealous towards God, as ye all are this day. No one could accuse Paul, oh, you didn't know your Jewish background. Oh, Paul, you really don't know your people Israel. You don't know Torah Moshe, Paul, you are not quite there. You don't know so much.

You are, you have no information. Paul says, listen, Shaul said, listen, I am a Jewish man. I was born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, but I want to tell you that I grew up right here in the city of Jerusalem. And in Jerusalem, I was sitting at the feet of Gamliel. I was a student of the writings of the Word of God, and of course, the writings of the rabbis by that time that had been evolved over the generation. And I was taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and I was zealous towards God, as you are this day.

No one could blame Shaul Paul of not knowing the Hebrew Scriptures, or the writings of the rabbis in those days. Shaul Paul knew very well all these things that he was first accused as if he received that message of the gospel, that it was somehow initiated by men. And Paul says, no, I, in my past history, I very well knew the law. I knew the writings of the rabbis. I was sitting on the Gamliel at his feet. I was learning, and I was a zealous man towards the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But listen to this. Verse 13, and I'm back to Galatians. Chapter 1 and verse 13b.

Notice what he said about himself. Not only this, but I was a persecuted, listen to this. I persecuted the church of God and wasted it. I wasted the assembly. When you, see, you notice when you use the word the church of God. What is the church of God, the assembly of God? He doesn't speak about buildings. And he's speaking about people like you and I. But in the context of Paul and Shaul's past, it was his own Jewish brethren. He persecuted the first century Hebrew believers in Yeshua the Messiah. They were the local church in the land of Israel, in Jerusalem, and beyond Jerusalem. And you know what he was doing, beloved brothers and sisters?

He was persecuting, as he says here in verse 13. He admitted the fact that he persecuted these Hebrew believers of first century because they have followed the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And you know, it grieved him in his heart the rest of his life. If you read other passages, you would see how he never forgot the fact that he persecuted the first century assembly of believers in the days that he still didn't know that Yeshua was a Messiah. And the apostle here is mentioning this to the Galatians. I want to read just one more verse here. If you go back to Acts chapter 22, where we just read, you notice what he said in verse 4, which I didn't read earlier.

In verse 4 he said, You notice what he said, he says something that you and I perhaps don't think about, but he was persecuting this way even unto death. Apparently, some Jewish believers, Christians, Messianic Jews, Hebrew Christians, have suffered death because of what Shaul Paul had done in his past history before he became a believer in the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. We read elsewhere how he was so devoted to bring them from Damascus and he brought them to Jerusalem and he eventually put them in prison and caused them so much harm. We read it in Acts chapter 26 and so on as he took letters from the high priest and went to Damascus and he sought to bring those early believers to bring them to prison in the city of Jerusalem.

So, brothers and sisters, Paul is reminding, he's reminding the believers in Galatia of his past history. I was a persecutor of the believers in the days of old. And now we're moving along to verse 14 of Galatians chapter 1 and notice what he says again. And we learn another thing about the Apostle Paul here in verse 14. And I, or he says, and I profited in the Jews' religion above many of my equals or many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. Do you know what Shaul was involved in? In addition to the fact that he was so zealous for God, but he was actually part of the spiritual leaders of Israel that really had an advance.

He advanced in the Jewish religion above my equal in my own nation. What does that mean he was advancing? You know, in those days when the Messiah came, already the law that God had given to Israel now was, you might say, a stretch by so many man-made views as to how to keep the law. For example, if you will find out today, how do the, if God says to Israel, you keep the Shabbat day holy. So if God wanted Israel to rest on the Shabbat day, which was a God-given order, which was commendable and a blessing to the nation of Israel. So the rabbis, they sat together and they said, wait a minute, how do we keep Shabbat?

How do we handle the one single commandment to keep the Shabbat day holy separated to the Lord? So what did they sit down? They are, they are discussing how to keep the Shabbat and they came about with, it had been said over 1500 rules as to only how to keep that Shabbat. One single command, how to keep the Shabbat. Well, how do we do it? How far do we walk on that day? What do we do on that Shabbat day? Do we hold money in our pocket on a Shabbat day? Do we turn the lights on on a Shabbat day? Do we go on an elevator on a Shabbat day?

Do we fly an airplane on a Shabbat day? And so on. What do we do? How do we keep the Shabbat day? And so there are so many rules and regulations that have been brought into the one single command, simple command, just rest on a Shabbat day, devoted to the Lord, rest from your six days of labor. But by the time that Paul and others, Shaul and others were involved in those early days among the Jewish religion, he advanced more than his equal because he was participating in setting up additional rules and regulations as to how to keep the Shabbat day. Do you know that the Mosaic law gives us 613 commandments which God gave to Israel for the nation of Israel to follow in their life as a nation?

In fact, we read that the 248 of these commandments are positive and 365 of them are negative. Positive, you shall do. Negative, you shall not do. From the 613 commandments that God gave in the Tanakh, in the Hebrew scriptures, many additional rules of the spiritual leaders have developed that by the time that one hears about the promises of God, By the time he reads and he seeks to follow all these man-made rules, you lose that which God initially have given to the nation. Now, we cannot blame Israel because it's very much the same in the professing church today. Many man-made rules are being set in the body of Messiah today and the simple message of the gospel has no longer stayed or remain as it should be.

Others tell us, you've got to do this in order to be saved and you've got to do this in order to live a Christian life and you've got to do that in order to live a godly life. And by the time that you are, you might say, seeking to learn what the words tell us, we find ourselves already having thousands of men made rules that was not given to us by the Lord at all. And that was the situation at the time when Shaul Paul was there before he became a child of God, a believer. So, he said, I profited in the Jewish religion. He said, above many my equal in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous.

Listen to this at the end of verse 14. Of the traditions of my fathers. Now, remember, brothers and sisters, the problem that Yeshua had when he was here on earth. It was mainly not with the ordinary Israeli, but he had a problem with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, because they did not want to recognize that he was the Messiah. So, if somebody was sick and Yeshua healed him on a Shabbat day, they accuse him. He said, how can you violate the Shabbat day by healing this man on a Shabbat day? You see, you couldn't even heal a man who was sick on a Shabbat day.

If an animal fell into the ditch and you help the animal to come out of the ditch, of that pot, or I should say the pit, then they accuse him. How can you do some work on a Shabbat day? You cannot help animal to come out of the pit. And so on, and so on, and so on, and so on. And I tell you, it is so much the same in a professing church today, where we are told all kinds of things. You cannot ride a bicycle on Sunday. You cannot do this on that day, on that day. It is man-made rules which should never be entering into the clear message of the gospel of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

And so Paul was advancing above many of his fellow men in a Jewish faith, among the Jewish people. And he had, you might say, he was zealous for the God of Israel, for the traditions of my fathers. But I persecuted the church, the assembly of the living God. And he never forgot what he had done when he persecuted the people of God. So he's reminding now, Galatians chapter 1, verses 11 to 14, of his past persecution of those that believe in Jesus, in Yeshua, the Messiah. And now notice that, secondly, in verses 15 and verse 16, Shaul, Paul, is now became a believer. And he's sharing how he became a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah.

So notice that, he's mentioning in verse 15, When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. What Paul is showing to us here, is that even before he became a child of God, even before he was even, you might say, a Pharisee among our own people, a parush, that already, brothers and sisters, listen to this, that everything that happened to him in his life was totally of God. It was not of men. The first thing we find out, that it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb.

In other words, God, have already had in mind for Shaul Paul, to become a saved individual, already in his mother's womb. He was not even born as yet. He was not living in the city of Tarsus, or moving to the city of Jerusalem. He was already elected by God in his mother's womb. Now, this is amazing. This is really fascinating. This shows us that we can never give up on anyone, because God may very well lead someone to the knowledge of Yeshua, the Messiah, a little bit later in his life, because somehow, in eternity past, and in due time, he has already elected this person, as it happened in the apostle Paul, in Shaul Paul's life, that he already was separated to God from the time that he was in his mother's womb.

Now, who of us, those of us that are believers today in Yeshua, the Messiah, if we look back to our life in the past, before we have accepted the Lord, did we ever assume for a moment that we will accept that Yeshua, that Jesus is our Lord and our Savior? We would never believe that. We would never think of it for a moment. In the days of past, when we heard the gospel, we said, don't give me this nonsense. I don't believe in Jesus, the Messiah. But somehow, in due time, and it can happen to anyone here today who are not yet believers, that God will open the heart, and will, by the Spirit of God, will convict a person, and like in Shaul, in Paul's days, he finally came to know that Yeshua, Jesus, is the Messiah, but it was already foreordained.

As it says here, it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace. Today, we read about Jeremiah, the prophet of Israel. If you remember, in Jeremiah chapter 1, and I'm just going to read it for you. Just listen to these beautiful verses that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah, to Yirmiyahu. In verse 5 of chapter 1, God says to Jeremiah, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctify thee. And I ordain thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah, Yirmiyahu, before you were born, before you were in your mother's womb, I have already sanctified you to become a servant of mine, to preach the message to the nation of Israel, and to the nations of the world.

Same thing with Shaul Paul. Shaul Paul, he said, already in my mother's womb, it pleased God to separate me from my mother's womb. God has separated him to become a chosen vessel, to become a servant of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So, it's not of men, it is all from God, Shaul is saying. Paul is saying to the brothers and sisters of Galatia. So, he was separated by God. Verse 15a. Secondly, he was called by his grace. Notice this at the end of verse 15. Not only that God has separated him to become a servant, but he's also called him in time, and it was totally by the grace of God.

That's why Shaul Paul was so strong about the gospel message. He was so offended when some came from Jerusalem and said to the goyim, to the gentle believers, he says, Listen, if you believe in Jesus, Yeshua, the Messiah, this is fine. But more, you're really not quite saved. You have to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses in order to receive forgiveness of sins. And Shaul Paul says, no. It's not because the law of Moses is not holy. The problem is not with the law of Moses. The problem is with me. I needed forgiveness. I needed grace. The law condemned me because I failed to fulfill the law.

I needed the grace of God. So he was called by his grace. You know, brothers and sisters, every one of us that listen to my message today, and if you are a believer, you have been called by the grace of God. Ephesians 2 says, By grace I am saved through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. You receive the grace of God, like Shaul Paul, and by the grace of God, you have been saved. He continued, and notice what he says now in verse 16, the first part. Not only that God separated me, he says, in verse 15a, and not only that God called me by his grace in verse 15b, but God also revealed to me and in me his son, the Messiah, verse 16.

Notice, verse 16 said, Now here is something that is also very interesting, because many times people don't understand that God has a son. God the Father, Elohim HaAba, God the Son, Elohim Aben, and God the Holy Spirit, Elohim Ruach HaKodesh. God is a triunity, God, the Godhead, is consisting of the three persons of the Godhead, and God the Son, came down to this world to become a man, and to die on a shameful cross. And so notice what God has done with Shaul Paul. He revealed his son in him. Do you know, brothers and sisters, that the truth of the sonship of Yeshua is really problematic to many today in this world.

In fact, for the Jewish people, for our people, don't you share with them about the fact that God's son is Yeshua the Messiah? They will tell you, you must be really like the pagan world, who believe in all sort of idols, and gods, and so on. But the Bible, the Hebrew scripture, teaches us that God's son will come to this world, and he is the one that eventually will become that Emmanuel, the one who will save his people from their sins. Isaiah is said it in chapter 9, in verse 6, For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end.

upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. That was spoken by Isaiah 750 years before the Son of God, Yeshua the Messiah enter into this world. And Paul, Shaul is saying to the Galatians that God revealed his son in him and through him to the world in which we live in today. To reveal his son in me. And he continued in verse 16, that I might preach him among the heathen. And notice that God wanted Shaul Paul to preach the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world among the heathen.

Notice that he used the word heathen. In the Hebrew it says goyim. Because the heathen, the world, did not know the true and living God. The world did not know that Yeshua is the Son of God, that there is a way whereby man can be right with God. So God used Paul, God used Shaul to reveal through him the fact that God the Son became a man and brought to this world a salvation through his death and burial and resurrection. So God revealed his son to Paul and through Paul. I want to mention one more time that unless God revealed it to you and I, we would have never know what we know today.

Yeshua said, Flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. Brothers and sisters, sometimes we are wondering why our family members, why our loved ones do not know that Yeshua is the Messiah. Why they don't acknowledge him? Well, unless God will reveal it to them, they will never know that Yeshua is the Messiah. Only the Spirit of God is the one that revealed his truth to a sinner who need to be forgiven. So you notice, brothers and sisters, the past history of Paul, Shaul, he was a persecutor of the assembly. Then later on, he became a believer and a servant of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, because he met him and he brought him to himself.

It was God who separated Paul. It was God who called Shaul Paul. And it was God who revealed to Shaul Paul that Yeshua is the Messiah. And notice that at the end of verse 16. And it is God who caused Paul to preach to the heathen, to the nations of the world. So I will preach him among the heathen. And then Paul said, Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. So when Shaul Paul became a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, when he was separated by the Lord, when he was called by the Lord, when he was revealed the truth of the gospel by the Lord, and when he was sent to preach, you would think that now Shaul Paul will turn around and will go to the city of Jerusalem, because after all, in the city of Jerusalem, the apostles were.

In the city of Jerusalem is where the foundation were. There were the apostles, those that began, you might say, the truth of the days of the assembly. But you notice what he says here in verse 16? Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. I didn't go to Jerusalem. I didn't go to the apostles that were in the city of Jerusalem. And something that he had to do before he even went to the city of Jerusalem. And the apostles, Shaul Paul, needed to go through a lesson from the Lord himself. And so you notice in the next verses, verses 17 to verse 24, this rabbi, Shaul, who became a believer in Yeshua, now you notice that he become a servant of the Lord.

And in order to become a servant of the Lord, he needed to spend some time with the Lord. And so we read in verse 17, neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them which were the apostles before me. But notice what he says in verse 17b, but I went to Arabia and I returned again unto Damascus. You see what happened? When Shaul became a believer, he actually, first of all, if you notice, he went first of all to Damascus. There his eyes were open, if you remember, by Hanania. But we learn something about Shaul that happened to him even before he went to visit the city of Jerusalem.

He actually went to the desert. He went for a while to be separated from men totally. Notice he says here, he says, Some suggested the area may be even Saudi Arabia. We do not know where it is, but he went to the area, to the wilderness, to the desert. And why did he go to the desert? You see, brothers and sisters, no one can ever serve the Lord unless he first takes some time alone with the Lord. You can never, and we know it in our own life, we can never speak the truth of God to people outside unless we first of all take some time alone with the Lord.

No one will be able to serve the Lord before he spends some time alone at the presence of the Lord, at the feet of the Lord, and to learn from Him. In fact, many a time we stumble and we fail when we speak to others before we speak to the Lord. That's what we learn here from Shaul is going first of all before he went to even speak to the apostles. He went first of all to the wilderness to spend some time alone with the Lord. And beloved brothers and sisters, in the desert, when one is spending time alone with the Lord, the Lord can speak to that person, can prepare that person for the ministry that He has to do.

Doesn't it remind us of Moses? Moses, the servant of the Lord, thought that he would be able to bring Israel out, if you remember, out of the land of Egypt when he first killed this Egyptian who killed, who harmed that Jewish slave there. Say, Moses killed him, hid him in the bush. And then somebody saw him. And then revealed it to the king of Pharaoh. And the king, Paron, was going to kill Moshe, and Moshe, and Moshe, according to Exodus 2, he fled into the wilderness. And it was there in the wilderness. He was there for 40 years. And God spoke to him. And God prepared him to become a servant of the God of Israel, to deliver Israel out of Egypt.

Moses initially thought that he's going to do it in his own merit, in his own power, and then he found out that he failed. Even the people of Israel said to him, who made you a ruler over our people? And then he fled to the desert. And it's amazing when you read the story of Moshe in the wilderness, because even after 40 years in the desert, when God said to Moshe, Moshe, go to bring my people out of the land of Egypt. And you know, Moses then, after 40 years alone with the Lord in the wilderness, he said, send somebody else. I'm not going. How would, if I tell them, who will I tell them that send me?

And the Lord had to, you might say, work in the heart of Moshe, of Moses, to work out in his heart to understand that now he is ready to go to share the message with Israel and to bring the nation of Israel and to become redeemed nation. It's the same thing with Shaul Paul. He couldn't go immediately to be publicly in a full sense of the word before he, first of all, took some time to be in the presence of the Lord. I want you for a moment to turn with me to Acts 9. One more time for a moment. And I want you to notice that in Acts chapter 9, we read that he went first of all to Damascus and he was preaching in Damascus but apparently it was necessary for him to go to spend time in the wilderness alone with the Lord.

And so we read in Acts chapter 9, listen to what we read there, after he finally have accepted the Messiah, it says there in verse a little bit further on, after the Lord said to him in Acts chapter 9, he said to him, notice, arise, verse 6, and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And then he went to Damascus, it says in verse 9, he was there for three days without sight. And then neither did he eat or drink and there was a certain disciple by the name of Hananiah there in Damascus and Hananiah was told by Yeshua the Messiah in verse 15, go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how great thing he must suffer for my name sake.

So he went to Damascus, he was for a while in Damascus but according to his writing in Galatians chapter 2 it was not sufficient to go and start to preach in the city of Damascus but he needed to be separated for a while and go to the wilderness to the desert to learn the lessons that the Lord will teach him in order for him to become an apostle and a messenger of his.

And so I'm back in Galatians chapter 1 verse 17 Paul said I didn't go up first of all to Jerusalem I didn't go to the apostles which were before me I didn't go to get instruction from them first of all but I went I returned to Damascus and after three years notice that verse 18 and after three years after he been in Arabia in a desert and back in Damascus after three years he went now first again to the city of Jerusalem now he is a saved child of God but also a preacher an apostle that was sent by the Lord himself so you see how he emphasizes here Paul emphasizes that his message of

the gospel he received directly from the Lord Jesus the Messiah the glorified Messiah it was not given to him by men but by the Lord himself so let me just finalize here what he's saying in verses 18 to verse 23 two more points that he's mentioning here in these verses notice after three years after he went to Damascus and to Arabia and back to Damascus verse 18 tells us 18 and 19 and 20 finally Paul went for a private visit with some of the apostles in the city of Jerusalem it says there in verse 18 then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and I abode with him for 15 days

but he says others of the apostles saw I none save Jacob James the Lord's brother notice this how interesting it is you know when he first went to Jerusalem the first time after he became a believer about three years after his salvation after he had acknowledged that Jesus Yeshua is the Messiah he was preaching somewhat in Damascus went to the desert to spend time with the Lord returned to Damascus and now finally he went to the city of Jerusalem three years had passed by and everybody here there was a man by the name of Shaul a Jewish man who was persecuting the assembly and now something happened he's preaching the message of the gospel he's

now became like one of us a child of God a believer in Yeshua and so he went to the city of Jerusalem and notice he only saw two men according to this passage the first one is Peter Shimon Petos and the second one was James Yaakov the Lord's brother it's the half brother of Yeshua the Messiah and you notice why it's so important that he saw Peter because after all if you remember Peter was chosen by Yeshua the Messiah to open the doors of the message of the gospel into the body of Messiah to the Jewish people in Acts chapter 2 to the Samaritan people in Acts chapter 8 and to the Gentile world in

Acts chapter 10 Peter held the key you might say he was the one that the Lord have entrusted him to open the door and to the body of Messiah to the Samaritan people and to the Gentiles and so Paul goes now to Peter and he's spending 15 days with Simon Peter I can imagine Simon Peter talked with him and they began to talk about perhaps they continued on speaking in those 15 days about wow you were the one that once persecuted us all look what happened to you in your life you have been changed now you have been transformed God have now opened your heart and you are now recognized that Yeshua is the Messiah

and Shaul Paul probably told Peter all that which the Lord have used him for already in the time when he was in Damascus and in the wilderness and you notice that Peter did not tell him one word according to what Paul is saying that his gospel was not consistent with the gospel that these apostles were preaching he didn't mention we don't read here anything that Peter said no no no and you are not preaching the same message that we are preaching and not only this beloved brothers and sisters he also saw Yaakov James the Lord's brother the Lord's half brother you remember after Miriam gave birth to Yeshua the Messiah she had more children from

Yosef her husband in fact if you don't mind to turn to Matthew chapter 13 for a moment and I'm just going to mention that here for our benefit in Matthew chapter 13 we find out that Yaakov James have been the first one to be mentioned when Yeshua was still there in the midst of our people of all the people of Israel Matthew chapter 13 and verse 55 notice what we read is is is not this the carpenter son is not his mother called Miriam and his brethren James Joseph Simon and Judah Yaakov Yosef Shimon and Yehuda and his sisters are they not all with us from where then has this man all these things see

in Israel our own people wondered at the fact that Yeshua was such a tremendous individual in the midst of the nation and they ask wait a minute isn't he not the carpenter son and is not his mother his name her name is Mary Miriam and look does not his brethren call Yaakov Yosef Shimon and Judah and his sisters are they not all with us how does he know so much you see Yeshua the Messiah after he was born sinless undefiled by the Holy Spirit of God his mother Miriam gave birth to at least four brethren and at least two or three or more sisters Miriam gave birth to others and here is that Jacob or

James that is mentioned in Galatians chapter 1 in verse 19 but others of the apostles saw I none save James the Lord's brother so when he went to Yerushalayim he only saw two people Peter Shimon Petros and Yaakov James that's it 15 days beloved brothers and sisters Shaul Paul spent with them and they didn't criticize his ministry they didn't blame him because he is allowing the Gentiles to come in they didn't tell him no no no you should have tell them more than just simply to believe in Yeshua and be saved he didn't they didn't say anything to him in fact later on you will see that they commended him for the ministry that he

had had and so finally in verses 20 to the end in verse 20 he says now the things which I write unto you behold before God I do not lie I lie not I am telling you the truth whatever is here it is honest truth and I am sharing this with you Galatians he said to them and finally in verse 21 to 23 Paul now returned back to his city city where he was born in Cilicia it says here afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia verse 22 and was unknown by faith unto the assemblies of Judea which were in Christ in Messiah but they had heard only that he which persecuted

us in time past now preaches the faith which one he destroyed and they glorified God in me you know that brothers and sisters when he finished the 15 days in Jerusalem he went back to Syria and from there to Cilicia and the city of Tarsus was in Cilicia so he really went to his birth place and then continued to minister among the nations of the world sharing the gospel and then until finally it was necessary for him to go once again back to Jerusalem and he going to tell us about it in the second chapter of the book of Galatians where Shaul will tell the Galatians what's happened after 14 years later how eventually he

went once again to the city of Jerusalem because he had to deal with the issue that salvation is only through faith in the Lord Jesus the Messiah no more no circumcision no law keeping no rules of men no baptism no speaking in tongue what shall wash one sins away it is nothing but the blood of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah so it says there that the people in Judea only heard about him they never saw him they never saw his face but they knew that the one that once persecuted the assembly is now is the one that preaching the message of the gospel so they glorify God in me and we also need to glorify

God because of the message of the gospel of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that saved us that forgave our sins and made us sons and daughters of the father can we say amen to that