Private Effort Neglected
Galatians 2:2
And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles…


The well-known Rev. Alex. R. C. Dallas was an officer in Wellington's Peninsular wars before he became a clergyman, and at Cadiz, in Spain, he used to be much in the company of another officer named Cumming, who was always considered steady. Their meeting again in their old age was thus described by Mr. Dallas: "Many years after it had pleased God to enlighten my mind, and to impart to me the knowledge of His salvation in Christ Jesus, I was walking in the Strand, and met Cumming near Temple Bar. He was aged and limped, having suffered from a paralytic stroke; but we knew each other immediately. I gave him my arm, and walked back with him nearly to Charing Cross. My great anxiety was to speak to him of Christ. We began to speak about old times, and especially our eventful march in Spain together. At length I came to the great subject that was upon my heart; he listened to me attentively, and at last he said, 'My dear Dallas, I knew all that long before I knew you, and many times I prayed God to convert you when you were in the world. I often put Spanish tracts under your pillow: I looked at him," Dallas continues, "with great surprise, and I told him that I did not know whether to be grateful to him for his prayers or angry with him for his silence to myself. Why did he not tell me of Christ's salvation, if he knew it so well? What a lesson is this for those who shrink from confessing Christ before the worldly!"



Parallel Verses
KJV: And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

WEB: I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.




Paul's Tact and Tolerance
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