- 2 days ago
- #mlcc
- #church
- #churchonline
In the formative years of Christianity, a pivotal assembly confronted divisions threatening to fracture the burgeoning faith community. What profound decisions emerged from debates over ancient laws and new believers, and how did they redefine belonging to God's people? Delve into this sermon by Pastor Mark Hudson as we grapple with timeless tensions of unity amid diversity that still resonate in the church today.
✉️ Check In: https://medicallake.church/checkin
🙏 Pray With Us: https://medicallake.church/pray
🔗 Next Steps: https://medicallake.church/next-steps
#mlcc #church #churchonline
✉️ Check In: https://medicallake.church/checkin
🙏 Pray With Us: https://medicallake.church/pray
🔗 Next Steps: https://medicallake.church/next-steps
#mlcc #church #churchonline
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Years ago, back in the 80s, and you're going, whoa, I wasn't even born in the 80s.
00:04Some of you may still know this.
00:07Smith Barney Brokerage Firm had a commercial on television,
00:11and the guy, John Hausman, was the guy that did the voiceover of the thing.
00:15And the famous line, you've probably heard this line before,
00:18if you have never seen the commercial, you've heard this line is,
00:21we make money the old-fashioned way, we earn it.
00:26And you think, oh, yeah, well, that sounds really cool.
00:28So it's just, a Christian later made a cartoon later on of Jesus talking with the Pharisees,
00:35and the punchline was, the Pharisee says, we get salvation the old way, we earn it.
00:42So that's kind of the situation we're going to look at today.
00:45The question is, what do we do with all of these Gentiles that are coming now into what we know as the church?
00:52Before in the past, we had Israel as those that have been selected by God, chosen by them.
00:57They were given circumcision, they were given the dietary restriction,
01:01they were given the days to celebrate, and this marked them out,
01:04this distinguished them as the people of God.
01:06And that was normal to them.
01:08But now all of these Gentiles who don't have that kind of background, who are different,
01:13they're coming into this new thing called the church, and we're not sure what to do with them.
01:17And that's kind of the question that's going to arise and answer that this thing we call the Jerusalem Council.
01:22What we have to understand is from the very beginning, from the very beginning,
01:27salvation has always been by faith through grace.
01:31It has never been by works.
01:33It has always, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
01:38It has always been, salvation has always been by faith through grace.
01:42It has never been anything different.
01:44But what happens is over the centuries, in the Jewish mind, somehow they connected obedience to the law of Moses
01:52as a way of being acceptable to God.
01:54Not faith, but being obedient to the law of Moses.
01:58If I follow this, if I'm circumcised as a male, and I follow these things,
02:02and God will accept me just because I do these things, I work these things.
02:06And it became ingrained in their thinking.
02:10And now we've got something completely different.
02:13Now we have this idea that there's no longer a dependence on the ritual observance of the law
02:18to be right before God.
02:20Things have changed, and they're not quite sure what to do with this change,
02:24and how does it all fit, and how do we fellowship together when we're so diverse?
02:28Which is really a great question we can ask ourselves today.
02:31I mean, we're a group of diverse people.
02:34I mean, we're male, we're female.
02:35Some are born in the South, some are born in the North, some are born in other countries.
02:39Yet we're all together here, naming the name of Christ in one body with a unity.
02:44How does that work with diversity and unity, and how do we make it happen is the problem here.
02:52Shaped by their past, these believing Jews here in chapter 15 of Acts
02:56are looking to the law of Moses to make the Gentile believers acceptable to God.
03:01Okay, okay, they believe in Jesus, that's okay.
03:03But let's add now, circumcision for the males, and following the law of Moses,
03:08and then they'll be acceptable to God, just like we were in the past.
03:12And God is saying, no.
03:13Remember what I told Peter?
03:15When that cheek came down, he says,
03:17what I have made clean, do not call common.
03:22Things have changed.
03:24Don't say that this is unclean.
03:26What I have said, I have made them clean,
03:28and they're clean by faith alone in Christ.
03:31So now what do we do?
03:34Here in this Jerusalem Council, what it's called, Acts 15,
03:38we see that the Jerusalem Council acknowledges what marks out the new covenant people of God
03:44and how they ought to interact with one another.
03:47How they ought to interact.
03:48When you have diverse people that have different ways of living,
03:52and they overmesh, and conflicts happen,
03:55and that's what we see here is going to take place here.
03:59Now, I have to just up front be honest,
04:01there's a lot of moving parts to this sermon.
04:03There's a lot of things that piece together.
04:05Hopefully in your mind, some of the things will piece together
04:07that you never quite saw how they came together.
04:09Hopefully today I can accomplish that.
04:11But there's a lot of moving parts in this sermon.
04:14Acts 15 isn't literally the center of the book.
04:17There's 28 chapters.
04:18It's close to the center of the book,
04:19but it becomes a central theme throughout the whole book.
04:22So you can kind of look at Acts 15 right here.
04:25This Jerusalem Council is kind of the center of the book of Acts.
04:29So there's a problem.
04:30Look at the problem.
04:31The problem is given to us in verses 1 through 5.
04:34So open up your Bibles.
04:35This is God's Word.
04:36We want to look at it together.
04:38Here's what the problem is.
04:41But some men came down from Judea.
04:43We're going to find out later.
04:44They actually came from Jerusalem, Judea,
04:46and we're teaching the brothers.
04:48Where did they come from?
04:49They came from Judea, but they're in Antioch.
04:51Remember, we left Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Syria.
04:54So they came to Antioch.
04:57And we're teaching the brothers.
04:59Unless you were circumcised according to the custom of Moses,
05:02you cannot be saved.
05:04The Gentiles are going, we're not circumcised,
05:05and we don't keep Moses' law.
05:07I mean, are we saved?
05:08We believe in Jesus the Messiah.
05:10Are we saved by faith alone,
05:11or do I need to add something to my salvation?
05:13And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate,
05:20you can imagine.
05:20It was quite heated, I'm sure.
05:23Paul and Barnabas were going, no, you're missing the point.
05:25That's not what God has said.
05:28And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them,
05:31Paul and Barnabas and some of the others,
05:33so a group of people,
05:34were appointed by the Antioch church
05:36to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders
05:39about this question.
05:41There's a problem.
05:42Do we need to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses
05:45to be accepted by God?
05:46Or is it different now?
05:48Is there something else going on?
05:51So being sent on their way by the church,
05:53church sent them, blessed them, sent them out,
05:56they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria,
05:58describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles
06:01and brought great joy to all the brothers.
06:03Well, most of them were Gentiles anyway,
06:05so they're excited that God has brought them in.
06:08All the brothers.
06:09When they came to Jerusalem,
06:10they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders.
06:13They met together with the church
06:15and they declared all that God had done with them.
06:18But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees,
06:21actually later called the circumcision party,
06:24rose up and said,
06:25it is necessary to circumcise them
06:27and to order them to keep the law of Moses.
06:30That's the problem.
06:31What distinguishes this new people called the church,
06:36this body of Jews and Gentiles?
06:38We have the Jews over here that had circumcision and the law of Moses,
06:41and that distinguished them from all the other nations of the earth.
06:45But what distinguishes this new group of people,
06:47this new covenant people called the church?
06:49What is their distinguishing marks?
06:51Is it circumcision?
06:53Is it following the law of Moses?
06:54Just what is it that marks them out?
06:58So obviously,
06:59God had blessed Paul and Barnabas.
07:01So many people came to faith.
07:03Many people came to faith.
07:05Now they needed to understand the significance of the Gentile mission
07:09and also how Gentiles fit into the new people of God.
07:13What is this Gentile thing all about?
07:14And how do they come in and fit together with us?
07:16Because we've been doing this all along,
07:18but now they're like this.
07:19We're just like oil and water,
07:21and it doesn't seem to make,
07:22what do we do to maintain the unity of this thing called the church?
07:28Some of the believing Jews believe that Gentiles needed to be accepted
07:31like they had been in the past,
07:33circumcision following the law of Moses.
07:35But this was a burden.
07:38Because if you keep just circumcision,
07:40Paul says you have to keep everything in the law.
07:43And none of us can do that.
07:45If it was the law of Moses that could save us,
07:48none of us would be saved.
07:49You know why?
07:49The law points out that we're sinners in need of a savior.
07:54So the law is our tutor pointing us to Christ so that we can come to faith.
07:58And it's never been a way of salvation.
08:00It never was intended to be a way of salvation.
08:02It doesn't mark them out as the people of God.
08:05But this new people,
08:06how do we distinguish them?
08:09What God was trying to say was that the distinguishing marks of the people of God
08:13under the old covenant were circumcision in the ceremonial dietary restrictions,
08:17the ceremonial days and dietary restrictions,
08:20these marked out the people of God as belonging to Yahweh.
08:23What now with this group?
08:25What marks them out?
08:26How can we have unity together and sit at the table and have fellowship?
08:31James Dunn wrote,
08:33the specific disagreements,
08:35and he's writing about the church at Rome,
08:36which we're going to come to here later on
08:38and look at some passages out of Romans.
08:41Regarding diet and days were particular expressions of the larger issue
08:46of how Gentiles were to be regarded as heirs of the covenant
08:49and how this strange new hybrid community,
08:52that's Jews and Gentiles,
08:54was to understand and identify itself.
08:57What marks out this people?
08:59Do they really need to keep the law of Moses
09:00and be circumcised to be accepted by God?
09:02Or has God accepted them some other way?
09:05God is trying to get the believing Jews to understand
09:09that he was forming a new people
09:11comprised of both Jews and Gentiles called the church,
09:14who by faith have entered into a new covenant with him
09:17through the blood of his son that ratified that covenant.
09:20It was something brand new that God was working.
09:22And the Jewish believers,
09:23they were having a hard time grasping that.
09:27See, the distinguishing mark of this new people,
09:30what we call the church,
09:31will not be ceremonial and dietary restrictions.
09:34It's not going to be circumcision.
09:36That's not going to mark out the people of God today,
09:38this new covenant people of God.
09:40What marks out the new covenant people of God
09:42is the inward holiness by the presence of the Holy Spirit
09:45that lives within us.
09:47Ezekiel said,
09:48I will put a new spirit inside of you.
09:52And it's the Holy Spirit that is coming in us
09:54that marks us out as the people of God.
09:57We are his people.
09:58This now marks out the people of God,
10:00the indwelling, sealing, and baptizing Holy Spirit of God
10:03marks us out as a new covenant people of God.
10:06Not these restrictions or circumcision.
10:08No.
10:09The old covenant looked to external markers,
10:12whereas the new covenant looks to internal markers
10:14inside of us.
10:16Born again.
10:17This was a time of change,
10:19and some of the Jewish believers didn't understand
10:20what God was doing here.
10:22How can we mesh together?
10:24We're so different.
10:25How can we have unity?
10:27We've not done it this way before.
10:31Heard that one before?
10:32We've not done it this way before.
10:34This is different.
10:35So these guys come down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
10:38Can I ask my question?
10:38Why did they travel 250 miles?
10:43Did they travel because they thought they knew better
10:45than what was being taught in Antioch?
10:47Why did they travel?
10:48And then, and actually later,
10:49we're going to be told they're troublemakers.
10:53They were troublemakers, these men.
10:55But why did they come?
10:57These men who came from Jerusalem
10:59are likely the same men mentioned in Galatians chapter 2.
11:03So there's a tie-in to Galatians.
11:05The whole book of Galatians deals with this whole topic
11:07right now of the law of Moses
11:08in relationship to the believer.
11:10But in chapter 2, we read about these men that came down.
11:14But when Cephas, that's Peter,
11:16came to Antioch, I, Paul, opposed him to his face.
11:20In other words, there was a disagreement
11:21because he stood condemned.
11:23For before certain men came from James,
11:26the Jerusalem church,
11:27he was eating with the Gentiles.
11:28He was at the table with the Gentiles.
11:30They were having table fellowship together.
11:32And the implication in the text is,
11:34it was a continual act.
11:36He was eating.
11:36It was imperfect verb.
11:37He was doing it all over and over and over and over again
11:40because he saw that we were one people of God.
11:43But these men came.
11:44But when they came,
11:46he drew back and separated himself,
11:48fearing the circumcision party.
11:50And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him
11:53so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
11:56So these troublemakers came and said,
11:58listen, we can't sit at the table.
12:01They're not circumcised and they're not following the law of Moses.
12:03We can't do all that.
12:05So we're going to have to figure out what's going on here.
12:11Peter says, okay, well then I just won't eat with them.
12:13And Paul says, no, you're missing the point.
12:16God is not dividing Jews and Gentiles out as two separate groups.
12:19He's bringing them together by faith in the Messiah
12:22to be one body, the church, united together,
12:26walking in unity,
12:27even though there is a diversity here.
12:29So these troublemakers came.
12:34The Jewish troublemakers were in essence saying,
12:37let Moses complete what Jesus began.
12:40The way of salvation is now being called into question.
12:43It's okay to believe in the Messiah,
12:44but now let's add circumcision
12:46and following these dietary restrictions
12:49and the special days,
12:51then they'll be acceptable to God.
12:53God already said,
12:55what I have made clean, do not call common.
12:57The question is,
13:01must a person first become part of Israel
13:03through circumcision
13:04and following the law of Moses to be a Christian?
13:08Is that how it works?
13:10What is salvation?
13:11Does a person need to add or supplement
13:13the work of Christ with their own works?
13:17Or is the work of the cross sufficient to save us
13:20apart from any work that we would do?
13:23So they sent some witnesses along with Paul and Barnabas
13:26to confirm so that no one in the church in the Antioch
13:28could say, yeah, they're lying to us.
13:29No, there are other witnesses that are there,
13:31other witnesses.
13:32In fact, Titus was probably one of them that went.
13:35Titus, we read in Galatians chapter two again.
13:38Then after 14 years,
13:39I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas
13:41taking Titus along with me.
13:43So he's probably one.
13:44Titus, you'll recognize the book of Titus.
13:46He'll come up later on as well.
13:47He's probably with them.
13:48So they traveled the 250 miles to Jerusalem
13:51to try to solve this problem.
13:53What are we going to tell them?
13:54So they meet together, they discuss it,
13:57and they come out with a plan.
13:59So look with me in verse six,
14:00and it's a larger passage here.
14:03The apostles and the elders were gathered together
14:05to consider this matter.
14:06So the apostles, 11 at this point,
14:08James has been murdered.
14:10Apostles and the elders,
14:12the church was run by elders,
14:14were gathered together to consider this matter.
14:16And after there had been much debate back and forth,
14:20Peter stood up and said to them,
14:21he's one of the chief apostles.
14:24Brothers, you know that in the early days,
14:27God made a choice among you that by my mouth,
14:29the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
14:32And God, who knows the heart,
14:34bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit,
14:37just as he did to us.
14:38In other words, he made no distinction
14:40between Jews and Gentiles.
14:41Why are you making a distinction?
14:44And he made no distinction between us and them,
14:46having cleansed their hearts by faith.
14:49That's how a person gets saved is by faith through grace.
14:53Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test
14:56by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples
14:59that were the Gentiles that neither our fathers
15:02nor we have been able to bear?
15:03We couldn't even keep the law of Moses.
15:05Why are we going to place it on them
15:07when we couldn't even keep it?
15:08We weren't even able to bear it.
15:11But we believe that we will be saved
15:14through the grace of the Lord Jesus,
15:16just as they will.
15:19And all the assembly fell silent.
15:21And they listened to Barnabas and Paul
15:23as they related what signs and wonders
15:25God had done through them among the Gentiles.
15:28After they finished speaking, James replied,
15:30he seems to be the leader of the Jerusalem church,
15:32the elder, leading elder.
15:33Brothers, listen to me.
15:35Simeon, which is his Hebrew name, Simon Peter,
15:37Simeon, has related how God first visited the Gentiles
15:42to take from them a people for his name.
15:45And with this, the words of the prophets agree.
15:47In other words, what the apostle says
15:48and the prophet said, agree together,
15:51just as it is written.
15:52He takes this out of Amos.
15:54After this, I will return
15:55and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.
15:58David was the king.
16:01And from his line, a king was going to come
16:03that would sit on his throne
16:04and rule a kingdom that lasts forever.
16:06And rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.
16:09I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it
16:11that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord
16:14and all the Gentiles who called by my name,
16:17those who believe in me, says the Lord,
16:19who makes these things known from of old.
16:24Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble
16:27those of the Gentiles who turn to God.
16:29Don't put a burden upon them that we couldn't do,
16:31but should write to them four things,
16:34to abstain from things polluted by idols,
16:37and from sexual immorality,
16:39and from what has been strangled and from blood.
16:41So both of those are very similar.
16:43We're supposed to drain the blood out of the animal.
16:45So a strangled animal hasn't had the blood drawn,
16:48drained correctly, and then blood in itself.
16:52For from ancient generations,
16:54Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him,
16:56for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogue.
17:00So that's their conclusion.
17:01They met together, they debated it.
17:02I'm sure it was heated at times,
17:04but they came to a conclusion
17:05that they're going to send a letter,
17:06which we'll see in the next section,
17:08to the Gentiles.
17:09So Peter is speaking for the apostles,
17:11James is speaking for the elders,
17:13and there's two issues at stake here
17:14that they're trying to figure out.
17:16Two important issues.
17:18James Pohlhill wrote this.
17:19These were the two issues that were faced
17:22and resolved in Jerusalem.
17:23Whether Gentile converts should submit
17:25to Jewish proselyte requirements,
17:27circumcision following the law of Moses,
17:29especially to circumcision,
17:31and two, how fellowship could be maintained
17:34between Jewish and Gentile Christians.
17:36We already saw Peter.
17:37He was eating with the Gentiles.
17:38Then these guys came,
17:39and he separated himself,
17:40and he made a division.
17:42And Paul says,
17:42no, that is not the gospel.
17:44The gospel is that there are two people groups,
17:47Jews and Gentiles, and one body,
17:49and God is looking at them as a unity,
17:51not two separate groups.
17:56Peter discovered,
17:57or Peter discussed how God had saved Cornelius.
18:00And this is where it gets really crazy.
18:01We talked about it last week.
18:02The missionary journey was two years long,
18:04and it's like two chapters in the Bible.
18:06So it's like, whoa,
18:07he never figured out what's out.
18:08He's talking about Cornelius back in chapter 10.
18:11That's been 10 years since that event.
18:1510 years has gone by since Cornelius got saved.
18:18It's been a long time.
18:20Acts 11, 18.
18:21When they heard these things,
18:22they fell silent,
18:23and they glorified God,
18:24saying,
18:24then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance
18:27that leads to life.
18:29Yes, God has brought the Gentiles through faith in as well.
18:33And Peter reminded the council
18:34that Cornelius and his household were saved
18:37by believing the gospel,
18:38not by obeying the law of Moses.
18:40In fact, Peter didn't even finish his sermon.
18:42He's preaching along,
18:43and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit falls,
18:44and it gives evidence
18:45that the Spirit has fallen upon them.
18:47And he goes,
18:47wow, God is great.
18:49God is great.
18:52God only gives the Holy Spirit
18:54to those people he's accepted.
18:55So when the Spirit fell upon them,
18:57it was that he has made them clean.
18:59He has accepted these Gentiles by faith.
19:01Romans 8 talks about this,
19:03the Spirit only given to those
19:04who are accepted by God.
19:06You, however, are not in the flesh,
19:08but in the Spirit,
19:09if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.
19:11If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
19:14anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ
19:15does not belong to him.
19:17You either have the Spirit
19:18or you don't have the Spirit.
19:19Remember, the Spirit is the identifying mark
19:21of this new covenant people of God.
19:23He unites us.
19:25He brings us together.
19:25He baptizes us.
19:26He seals us.
19:27He, to the day of redemption.
19:30He indwells us.
19:32The indwelling, sealing, and baptizing Holy Spirit of God
19:35marks out the new covenant people of God.
19:37The old covenant looked to external markers.
19:40The new covenant looks to internal markers.
19:43So the Gentile Christians became believers
19:45through faith alone,
19:46as it's always been,
19:48through faith alone.
19:49God saved them by grace through faith.
19:53Galatians 2,
19:54yet we know that a person is not justified
19:56by the works of the law.
19:58There's no works you can do,
19:59even if it's the law of Moses.
20:00Any works you can do,
20:02you can't become a right standing to God
20:05by doing things.
20:06But through faith in Jesus Christ.
20:10So we also have believed in Christ Jesus
20:12in order to be justified by faith in Christ
20:14and not by the works of the law.
20:16Because by the works of the law,
20:18no one will be justified.
20:20There's no number of works a person can do
20:23to be justified before God.
20:25We are justified by faith alone,
20:27by grace alone.
20:30The law was insufficient to save anyone.
20:33In fact, Romans 3, Paul tells the Romans this,
20:35for we hold that no one is justified by faith
20:38apart from the works of the law.
20:40It's not about the law.
20:41It's not about doing things for God.
20:42It's what God has done for us.
20:47There's only one way for salvation.
20:50Faith alone by grace alone.
20:52That is it.
20:53It's always been that way.
20:54It's not been anything different in the past.
20:55It's always been that way.
20:57The problem is they got wrapped up
20:59in the legal requirements of the law
21:02and felt like just doing them,
21:03even if your heart was not in the right spot,
21:05just doing them would make you acceptable to God.
21:07But God is more concerned about your heart,
21:10not by the external things that you do.
21:15I'm concerned.
21:18I'm concerned that there are people
21:19that are perhaps listening to us at home
21:21or maybe even sitting here today
21:22that have always thought that by what I do,
21:25I become acceptable to God.
21:27I'm granted salvation by my works.
21:32I've done just that,
21:34and that concerns me.
21:36They don't understand that it's by faith alone
21:38through grace alone,
21:40not by good works that a person is saved,
21:43or saved by faith through grace.
21:47So I say, if you think that there's,
21:49well, here's a logical question.
21:52If it's our works that save us,
21:54how many do you need to get saved?
21:57Is it 47,000?
21:58Is it 47 million?
22:00Is it five?
22:01I mean, how do you quantify it?
22:03If that's the way you're going to judge
22:04whether you're saved or not
22:05by the number of works you do,
22:07how many is the number you're looking for?
22:11The Bible clearly teaches
22:12we are saved by faith through grace alone,
22:16not any other way.
22:19So I'm asking,
22:20stop trying to earn your salvation today
22:23by doing things
22:24and believe in the Messiah
22:26who has done it for you today.
22:31So Paul and Barnabas
22:32give their missionary experience,
22:33and that's all you hear from them.
22:34The rest of the council,
22:35you don't hear anything else from them,
22:36but they tell us,
22:37you got evidence that God
22:39has accepted the Gentiles by faith.
22:40Look, this is what he did.
22:43So James comes up.
22:44This is the oldest
22:45of Jesus' younger half-brothers.
22:47So it's Jesus' half-brother, James.
22:52And we see that he says,
22:54listen, we have to understand
22:55that God has called out
22:56something brand new here.
22:57Not Jews and not Gentiles,
22:59but something brand new,
23:00this thing called the church.
23:03Paul talks about it
23:03in Ephesians chapter 2
23:04how we, the Gentiles,
23:06were brought into this one new body.
23:08But now in Christ Jesus,
23:11you who once were far off
23:13and haven't been brought near
23:14by the blood of Christ,
23:16for he himself is our peace,
23:18who has made us both one,
23:21Jews and Gentiles,
23:22and has broken down in his flesh
23:24the dividing wall of hostility.
23:27How?
23:27By abolishing the law of commandments
23:29expressed in ordinances
23:31that he might create in himself
23:33one new man in place of the two,
23:36so making peace.
23:37Jews and Gentiles,
23:38so diverse,
23:39they never,
23:39oil and water,
23:40they never mixed.
23:41Now he brought them together
23:42in one body called the church
23:44and might reconcile us both,
23:49Jews and Gentiles,
23:50to God in one body
23:52through the cross,
23:53thereby killing the hostility.
23:55And so James quotes
23:56a passage out of Amos
23:58to show that the prophets
24:00said the exact same things
24:01in the Old Testament.
24:03As a matter of fact,
24:03I'm going to bring up here,
24:04the left is a Septuagint version
24:06which James followed
24:07closer actually
24:08than the Maserite version
24:09that we have in our translation.
24:11The Septuagint was used
24:12by Paul and Luke often.
24:15So it is a translation,
24:17but he seems to follow
24:18that one closer
24:18than the Maserite text.
24:19You can kind of see
24:20off to the side.
24:21Let me read the ESV,
24:23Maserite text.
24:24And that day I will raise up
24:25the booth of David
24:26that has fallen
24:27and repair its breaches
24:28and raise up its ruins
24:30and rebuild it
24:31as in the days of old,
24:32that they may possess
24:34the remnant of Edom
24:35and all the nations
24:37who are called by my name
24:38declares the Lord
24:39who does this.
24:39So there's a slight variation
24:41in how he uses it
24:42in the Septuagint.
24:42The idea is, listen,
24:44I've accepted the Gentiles
24:45also by faith.
24:47And Amos was talking about
24:48all those nations
24:49called by my name.
24:52Believers.
24:53So what the apostles
24:54were saying
24:55and what the prophets
24:56were saying,
24:57they agreed together.
25:00Gentiles being saved
25:01apart from the law
25:01does not contradict
25:03Old Testament prophets.
25:05They agreed together.
25:06They just didn't see that.
25:10Promises made to David
25:12about one sitting on the throne
25:13are fulfilled in Christ.
25:14And of course,
25:15when he comes back
25:15and sits on his throne
25:16and rules in his millennial kingdom,
25:18be evident.
25:20So the leading apostle
25:21and the leading elder
25:22are in agreement.
25:24The Gentiles must not be burdened
25:25with circumcision
25:26and following the law of Moses.
25:28No.
25:29Galatians 5.
25:31Look, I, Paul,
25:32say to you that
25:33if you accept circumcision,
25:34okay,
25:35if you want to go that route,
25:36you want to say,
25:37I'm going to take on circumcision,
25:38that will make me
25:40acceptable to God.
25:41I'm going to do something,
25:42okay, external.
25:43That will make me
25:43acceptable to God.
25:45He said, fine,
25:45if you want to do that,
25:47Christ will be
25:48of no advantage to you.
25:50I testify again
25:51to every man
25:51who accepts circumcision,
25:53if you want to go that route,
25:54that he is obligated
25:55to keep the whole law.
25:57And guess what?
25:58None of us can do that.
26:00You want to take on circumcision,
26:01you're going to find
26:01that you're going to be
26:02just in the same place
26:02that you cannot be
26:03acceptable by God
26:04by external rituals.
26:06We are acceptable by God
26:07because he has made
26:08our hearts born again
26:09to a living hope.
26:11He's put his spirit
26:12within us.
26:12That marks out
26:13the new people of God
26:14called the church.
26:16And even though
26:17that we're diverse,
26:18we can still have unity
26:19and that's fine.
26:20But he tells them
26:21four things,
26:21four things you're
26:22abstaining from.
26:24Meat offered to idols,
26:25sexual immorality,
26:28strangled and blood.
26:29And again,
26:30strangled and blood
26:30are very similar.
26:31I mean,
26:32they're the same idea
26:32of being blood,
26:33having blood in there,
26:34but the life is in the blood.
26:38The meat offered to idols,
26:39actually this is interesting,
26:40in Leviticus 17,
26:41deals with meat offers
26:42to idols.
26:43Leviticus 18 deals
26:44with unlawful sexual relations.
26:46So he seems to be pulling
26:47actually out of the law
26:48of Moses to teach
26:49these things that are true.
26:51Strangled with blood,
26:51back to Leviticus 17.
26:54And this idea of blood,
26:55you know,
26:55don't eat blood
26:56because that's where
26:56the life is in the blood.
26:57Don't eat blood.
26:58That goes back
26:59before the law of Moses.
27:00It goes all the way
27:01back to Noah,
27:02Genesis chapter 9.
27:04But you shall not eat flesh
27:05with its life,
27:06that is,
27:07its blood.
27:07So that commandment
27:09was given before
27:10the law of Moses.
27:11That's applicable.
27:12We should not be
27:12drinking blood.
27:13Hey,
27:14don't drink blood.
27:16Don't drink blood.
27:19The goal then,
27:20what was the goal?
27:21The goal was to make
27:22table fellowship possible
27:24between believing Jews
27:26and Gentiles.
27:26How do we sit down
27:27at the same table together
27:28when we're so diverse?
27:30How do we do that?
27:31When one holds this position
27:32and one holds this position,
27:33how do we sit together?
27:34That's the question.
27:35How do we have unity?
27:36How do we have fellowship
27:37with one another?
27:39Romans 14 deals
27:40with this whole topic.
27:43Romans 14,
27:44actually 15 a little bit
27:45as well.
27:47As for the one
27:48who is weak in the faith,
27:49welcome him,
27:50but not to quarrel
27:51over opinions,
27:52okay?
27:52You have an opinion,
27:53I have an opinion.
27:54We're not talking
27:54about scriptural understanding
27:56but just different preferences,
27:57okay?
27:57Don't quarrel
27:58over the preferences.
28:00And what are some
28:01of the preferences?
28:01Well,
28:02one person believes
28:03he made anything,
28:04that's a preference,
28:05while the weak person
28:06eats only vegetables,
28:07that's a preference.
28:09Let not the one
28:09who eats
28:10despise the one
28:12who abstains
28:12and not the one
28:14who abstains
28:14past judgment
28:15on the one
28:15who eats
28:16for God
28:17has welcomed him.
28:18So you may say,
28:19hey, listen,
28:19I'm going to be a vegetarian.
28:20I'll say, great.
28:21I love meat.
28:23It's more meat for me.
28:24Thanks.
28:25It's okay.
28:26Bacon.
28:26Yes, whoever said that.
28:27Bacon.
28:28I like it.
28:28That's right.
28:29So if you want to do that,
28:31that's okay.
28:32That's fine if you want to do that.
28:33But I'm going to still eat meat
28:35so you don't look down on me
28:37and I don't look down on you
28:38and we can still sit together
28:40at the table
28:40even though we have
28:41different preferences.
28:42Not biblical things
28:43but different preferences.
28:45That's okay.
28:46The reason why is
28:47they're going to be traveling around
28:49and there are Jews
28:50in every city
28:51that listen to the law of Moses
28:52and if you intentionally
28:53put a stumbling block
28:54in front of them,
28:55it's going to hinder
28:56the witness to the gospel.
28:57So don't do that.
29:00You Gentiles need to be willing
29:01to set these aside
29:02so that you can have
29:03a good witness
29:04to the Jewish people
29:05you're going to be talking to.
29:08So now the Jerusalem church
29:09sends out two representatives
29:11to confirm
29:11what the council decided
29:13so that they know
29:14yep, this is what they said.
29:16Look at verse 22.
29:18Then it seemed good
29:20to the apostles
29:20and the elders
29:21with the whole church
29:22to choose men
29:23from among them
29:23and send them to Antioch
29:25with Paul and Barnabas.
29:27They sent Judas
29:28called Barsabbas
29:29son of the Sabbath
29:30and Silas
29:31leading men
29:33among the brothers
29:33with the following letter.
29:35So this is what they wrote.
29:37The brothers
29:38that's believing Jews
29:39both the apostles
29:40and the elders
29:41to the brothers
29:42believing Gentiles.
29:43I love it.
29:44He doesn't say,
29:44oh yeah, you Gentiles.
29:45No, us.
29:46We're brothers
29:47who are of the Gentile
29:50in Antioch
29:51and Syria
29:52and Cilicia.
29:54Greetings.
29:55Since we have heard
29:56that some persons
29:57have gone out from us
29:58and troubled you,
29:59they were troublemakers
30:00with words
30:01unsettling your minds.
30:03Although we gave them
30:04no instruction,
30:05we didn't send them.
30:06They went on their own.
30:07And it seemed good to us
30:09having come to one accord
30:10to choose men
30:11and to send them to you
30:12with our beloved
30:13Barnabas and Paul,
30:15men who have risked
30:16their lives
30:16for the name
30:17of the Lord Jesus Christ.
30:18We have therefore
30:19sent Judas and Silas
30:20who themselves
30:21will tell you
30:22the same things
30:22by the word of mouth
30:23for it has seemed good
30:25to the Holy Spirit
30:26and to us
30:26to lay on you
30:28no greater burden
30:29than these requirements
30:30that you should abstain
30:32what has been sacrificed
30:33to idols,
30:34meat offered to idols,
30:34which was prevalent
30:36in their day.
30:37That's how you got meat.
30:39They sacrificed it
30:40in the temple
30:40then sold it in the market.
30:42So meat offered to idols
30:44and from blood
30:47and from what has been strangled
30:48and from sexual immorality.
30:50If you keep yourselves
30:51from these,
30:52you do well,
30:53farewell.
30:54That's a pretty
30:54succinct letter.
30:55I mean,
30:56there's not a whole lot
30:56of instructions there.
30:57Pretty clear.
30:59So when they were sent off,
31:00they went down to Antioch
31:01and having gathered
31:02the congregation together,
31:03they delivered the letter.
31:04Okay,
31:04what are they going to say?
31:05What are they going to say?
31:07And when they read it,
31:08they rejoiced
31:09because of his encouragement.
31:11And Judas and Silas,
31:12who were themselves prophets,
31:14encouraged and strengthened
31:15the brothers
31:15with many words.
31:16And after they had spent some time,
31:18they were sent off in peace
31:19by the brothers
31:20to those who had sent them.
31:22But Paul and Barnabas
31:23remained in Antioch,
31:24Antioch of Syria,
31:25teaching and preaching
31:26the word of the Lord
31:27with many others also.
31:28Okay,
31:29how can we do this?
31:31What are we going to do
31:31with the Gentiles?
31:32We're going to bring them in.
31:33We're going to ask them
31:34for the witness of the gospel.
31:36There's certain things
31:37you should abstain from
31:38so you can be a good witness
31:39for the gospel.
31:40And he lists those things.
31:42And Luke,
31:43immediately,
31:43he introduces us
31:44to a guy named Silas
31:46or Silvanus.
31:49He's going to accompany Paul
31:50on a second missionary journey.
31:52He's a very important person.
31:53So Luke is introducing him
31:55to let us know about him later on.
31:56He was a Roman citizen
32:00and probably a Greek-speaking Jew.
32:04We know he's a citizen
32:05because in Acts 16,
32:07when they were beaten,
32:08Paul and Silas,
32:09we read this.
32:11But Paul said to them,
32:12they have beaten us publicly,
32:14uncondemned,
32:15men who are Roman citizens
32:16and have thrown us into prison.
32:18And do they now throw us out secretly?
32:20No,
32:21let them come themselves
32:21and take us out.
32:22So he's a Roman citizen
32:23and probably a Greek-speaking Jew,
32:26the Silas,
32:26and a prophet on top of that.
32:29The troublemakers came
32:30from Jerusalem church,
32:31but they were not authorized
32:33by the church
32:33to speak on the church's behalf.
32:35They stirred up a problem.
32:37They poisoned the minds of people
32:39by teaching a false teaching.
32:44See,
32:44the Jews must understand
32:45that salvation is by grace alone
32:47apart from the law of Moses
32:48and the Gentiles must adjust
32:50their eating habits
32:51around the Jewish believers
32:53so not to cause an offense.
32:55Romans 14,
32:5613,
32:56and 15.
32:57Therefore,
32:58let us not pass judgment
32:59on one another any longer.
33:01Stop it.
33:03But rather decide
33:04never to put a stumbling block
33:05or a hindrance
33:06in the way of a brother.
33:07I know and am persuaded
33:08in the Lord Jesus
33:09that nothing is unclean in itself.
33:11All food is clean,
33:12Jesus said,
33:13but it is unclean
33:14for anyone who thinks
33:15it's unclean.
33:16For if your brother
33:17is grieved by what you eat,
33:18you are no longer
33:19walking in love.
33:20By what you eat,
33:22do not destroy
33:23the one for whom Christ died.
33:25So Gentiles,
33:26listen,
33:27your dietary restrictions,
33:28you need to curb yourself.
33:30You need to voluntarily,
33:31for the sake of the witness
33:32of the gospel,
33:33set aside your personal preferences
33:34so that the gospel message
33:36can go out.
33:39This agreement
33:39would strengthen
33:40the unity of the church
33:41and would not hinder
33:42the witness of the gospel
33:43that's going out.
33:44Dissension does that.
33:45You know that?
33:47Dissension,
33:47division hurts our witness.
33:52The church rejoiced.
33:55That's great.
33:57Now we know
33:58what God is saying.
33:59He's from the beginning
34:00accepted Gentiles by faith
34:01just like he accepted
34:02Jews by faith.
34:05And Judas and Silas,
34:06both prophets,
34:08they encouraged
34:08and strengthened the believers.
34:10Paul's going to have
34:11Silas with him
34:11who's a prophet
34:12receiving revelation
34:13from God
34:13which is great
34:14why Paul is working
34:15together with him.
34:16So what we see here
34:19is that problems
34:20and difficulties
34:21are opportunities
34:22for growth.
34:24No churches
34:25without problems.
34:26Do you understand that?
34:27No church.
34:27You know why churches
34:28are not without problems?
34:29Because churches
34:30have people in them
34:31and people are problems.
34:35I'm a problem at times.
34:37So the idea
34:38the absence of problems
34:39is not the sign
34:40of a healthy church
34:40in my opinion.
34:41The sign of a healthy church
34:42is how fast
34:43we reconcile
34:44our problems
34:45that we do have.
34:46So problems
34:47give us an opportunity
34:48for growth
34:49as a church
34:50but at the same time
34:52it gives us
34:52an opportunity
34:53of temptation
34:54for division as well.
34:56We could divide.
34:59Personal preference
35:00can divide people.
35:02My family
35:03we like Fords.
35:04Your family
35:05may like Chevys
35:06or you may like
35:07Subarus
35:07or you may like
35:08Teslas
35:09or whatever
35:10and then we start
35:11getting in these camps.
35:12Oh my car
35:13is better than your car.
35:14Ford found on road
35:15dead.
35:15And personal preference
35:17becomes these things
35:18that divide us.
35:21And it's hard
35:22to set aside
35:23a personal preference
35:23because it's
35:24a personal preference.
35:27So what do we do?
35:29Seek reconciliation
35:30before criticizing
35:32or leaving the church.
35:34If you've got a problem
35:35with somebody
35:36go talk to them
35:37please.
35:38Don't criticize
35:39don't poison people's minds
35:40go talk to them
35:41please.
35:42That's what they did here.
35:43They went to talk
35:44to try to decide
35:45what they're going to do.
35:46Go talk to them
35:48before criticizing
35:49or leaving the church.
35:52Believers also need
35:53to learn
35:53loving compromise.
35:55We never compromise
35:56the convictions
35:57of the scriptures
35:57ever.
35:58Ever.
35:59What the scripture says
36:00we're going to do.
36:01We can compromise
36:02our personal preferences.
36:04Personal preferences.
36:05I don't personally
36:08wear pink.
36:09That's just my
36:09personal preference.
36:10I don't care man
36:11if you wear pink.
36:12It doesn't matter me.
36:12It doesn't bother me at all.
36:14My personal preference.
36:15And I have set aside
36:16my personal preference
36:17for a reason.
36:18And you can see
36:18a picture up in the office
36:20of Pastor Mark
36:21in a pink shirt
36:21and I went a step further.
36:23I sprayed my hair pink
36:24and my goatee pink
36:25too as well.
36:26All right.
36:27But that's a personal preference.
36:30Pink doesn't make
36:30a person less a person
36:31a man if he wears pink.
36:32No of course not.
36:33Are we willing
36:35to set aside
36:36personal preference
36:36to keep the unity
36:37of the body?
36:38Or are we going to fight
36:39for our personal preferences?
36:41It's even one in churches
36:42where it's a question
36:43of pews or chairs.
36:45There have been fights
36:46in churches
36:46over pews and chairs.
36:50I agree.
36:51Chairs.
36:51Someone said chairs.
36:52Okay.
36:52So what do we do?
36:54Be willing to set aside
36:55a personal preference
36:56in order to maintain
36:57the unity of the church.
36:59Not a doctrinal conviction.
37:00We never set those aside.
37:02Ever.
37:02A personal preference
37:04we can.
37:07The disunity of a church
37:08will impact their witness
37:10to the lost.
37:13If we're fighting
37:14among ourselves,
37:16who in the world
37:16of medical aid
37:17is going to come
37:17to our church
37:18and watch us fighting?
37:21I've read churches
37:22in a business meeting
37:23the cops were called
37:25because the pastor
37:25punched the deacon
37:26right in the face.
37:29Who's going to come
37:30to a church like that?
37:31If we're in division
37:33and fighting
37:34and disunity,
37:36our witness
37:38to the city
37:39of Medical Lake
37:40will be hindered.
37:41So,
37:43maintain our unity
37:44so that our witness
37:45to the message
37:46of the gospel
37:47may not be hindered.
37:49This is what we're going
37:50to do.
37:51We're going to tell them,
37:51listen,
37:52you're accepted
37:53by faith alone,
37:54by grace alone.
37:55God has accepted you
37:57by giving you
37:58his spirit.
37:59He's brought you
37:59into this body.
38:00We're going to have
38:01unity in this body.
38:03Don't try to divide it
38:04any longer.
38:06Unify it.
38:07Let's pray.
38:08Father,
38:08thank you.
38:10A lot of moving parts
38:11going on here,
38:12passages that points us
38:13to other places
38:14in your word,
38:14Father,
38:15but it makes it clear
38:16it was a problem
38:17in the early church.
38:18What are we going to do
38:19with these two diverse
38:20groups of people?
38:21How can they come together
38:23as one?
38:24And so thank you
38:25for the Jerusalem Council
38:26that lays out not only
38:27what is salvation,
38:28but how can we have
38:29table fellowship?
38:30How can we fellowship
38:30with one another?
38:31Even we're so diverse.
38:33How can we fellowship
38:34with one another?
38:35We are united
38:36by your spirit,
38:37Father.
38:38We are united
38:39by your spirit.
38:41Like Jesus said
38:41that he has made us one
38:43so that the world
38:45would know
38:45that he sent,
38:48that you,
38:48Father,
38:48sent him into the world.
38:50Our unity gives evidence
38:52to the fact
38:53of the truth
38:53of Jesus Christ
38:54that we are one.
38:55Not uniformity,
38:57but unity.
38:59So, Father,
38:59I pray
39:00that as diverse
39:02as we are,
39:03that we would be willing
39:05to maintain the unity
39:06by setting aside
39:07personal preferences
39:08and believing
39:10and seeking reconciliation
39:13when we have problems.
39:15So, Father,
39:15I thank you
39:16for this text.
39:17It's a hard one,
39:18a lot of moving parts,
39:20but it gives us
39:20a clear direction
39:21of where we should go,
39:22and we thank you
39:23in Jesus' name.
39:24Amen.
Be the first to comment