But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)
Paul was an apostle. He preached the gospel of God to the Gentiles, to kings, and to the children of Israel.
Paul preached the Word of God. He did not received it from men. It was not passed down to him by and through any human means. It came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul received and learnt it from God.
Paul was once called Saul. He was a Judaizer. He advanced in Judaism. He persecuted the church of God beyond measure and he tried to destroy it. He was a champion of Judaism, very zealous, outshone many of his contemporaries.
But God had chosen him from the beginning of time. He had called him by His grace. He has chosen to save him and use him. God revealed His Son to him.
Paul's mission was to preach God among the Gentiles. He was to make Him known among us who were not a people and strangers to the Law of God. Thank God for His mercy and grace.
As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul did not confer immediately with his counterparts in Jerusalem. The apostle Paul did not immediately consult the 12 apostles in Jerusalem. Instead, he went to Arabia, and then returned again in Damascus. It was 3 years later that he met up with them in Jerusalem.
Unlike the apostle Paul, we don't receive direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ. We learnt it from the Word of God through the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit in us. God had given us other offices. Some of us are preachers, teachers, missionaries, evangelists etc.
Like the apostle Paul, we are chosen from the beginning of time. God loved us and saved us from the present evil age. God gave us talents. He enabled and empowered us for certain missions. We are special.
We thank God always. We spend more time with Him in humility and submissiveness. God must increase and we must decrease. He must have the supremacy. He must be our Lord at all time.
We do consult our brethren, and ask for their advice and guidance. But our Master and Teacher is God. God will guide us into all truths, and oversee everything we do.
As Christ's disciples, we do not lose hope, knowing that God is with us all the time.
May God glorify His Name through us with each passing days. Amen.
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