 Hey man. Alright, Galatians chapter 2. Boy I hope that I can do these chapters in Galatians justice with the way that Paul writes and the way he explains things here. But let's take a look at Galatians chapter 2. So Galatians chapter 1 we see that Paul addressed the church in Galatia. We looked at the origins of Paul, how Paul got saved, where Paul came from because he uses that in his explanation that he's giving to the Galatians here. He's using the history of where he came from and what he's gone through and how he learned the things that he learned, how he got saved. He uses that as an example to teach this lesson that he's continuing to teach to the Galatians. And then of course we looked at the second sermon in Galatians chapter 1 how these people came in and were perverting the gospel, they were preaching a different gospel. We'll start to see more and more in Galatians what they were teaching and what they were actually mixing in with the gospel and how they were perverting the gospel. We looked at how we need to be careful with that here. We need to be careful with the integrity of the gospel always, the integrity of doctrine. That's why we're going through Baptist basics, we're going through fundamentals of the Bible as a sermon series. We'll always be doing that to one degree or another here just to keep sharp on the basics. Now in Galatians chapter 2 Paul continues and he says in verse number 1 he says then 14 years after. We already see that he had gone up to Jerusalem after he spent three years in Arabia getting taught by Jesus Christ. The doctrines of the gospel and the Old Testament, the New Testament, all this we see where all his knowledge came from. But then he says then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also. 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. So it's interesting that he goes up and he goes to Jerusalem and he says that basically the leaders of the church is what he's saying here. He communicated his gospel what he had been preaching to them in private. The big leaders of the church who were going to see who those names are here in a few minutes. But he had a private meeting with them just to make sure that this is what I've been preaching and it all matched. It was all perfect because it came from the same place. It came from Jesus Christ himself. So he basically says to them here's what I've been preaching for 14 years just to make sure that it hadn't been in vain. He hadn't been preaching something wrong but look at verse three. Now we get into something different in verse number three. It says but neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised. So now turn to Acts chapter 15 because the same situation is detailed in Acts chapter 15. But basically you have a situation here where Titus who's a Greek he's not a Jew. So he was what would be considered a Gentile and he was not a Jew meaning he didn't follow the traditions of the Jews. Look they're all saved. Barnabas, Titus, Paul they're all saved. They all believed the gospel. They believed on Jesus Christ. They're saved. But Titus he just didn't come from that Jewish background and he was not circumcised. Okay look at Acts chapter 15. We see in Acts chapter 15. Let me go ahead and turn there myself. But we see in Acts chapter 15 what's called a lot of people will call this the council, the Jerusalem council. A lot of people will call it. But if you look down at verse number five in Acts chapter 15 we see the situation detailed here where it says but there rose up certain sect of the Pharisees which believed saying so here we have a certain sect of the Pharisees. I mean these people were saved. Okay these people believed. So this is very interesting. They believed saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much disputing Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren you know that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by mouth should hear the word of the Gospel and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts and bear them witness giving them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us. And he put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith. Okay now we're going to see you know down a few verses later I'm going to read to you and we're going to look at how this situation was resolved. But the point is is you had these sect of Pharisees that had believed on Jesus that were saved and they were saying they were trying to put all these rules on the Gentiles that were saved. So the Gentiles got saved and they were trying to say yeah we need to tell them that they need to be circumcised. We need to tell them that they need to follow the law of Moses. We need to tell them that they need to do all these things. Okay so it's quite a controversy and Paul makes mention of that with Titus. And the situation with Titus in Galatians chapter two. So that go back to Galatians chapter two and verse number four. Go back to Galatians chapter two and verse number four. And where Paul says, And that because of false brethren on a where's brought in who came in privily to spy out liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage. So now we see Paul says that okay now there is some false brethren here that are also trying to put us into bondage and say that we have to follow the law. To whom we gave place by subjection, no not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with me. With you, sorry. So these were people, they were false brethren brought in that came in privily to spy out their liberty in Christ Jesus but he says we didn't put up with it for a minute, for an hour. That the truth of the gospel might continue. He's like we didn't accept it. But if those seem to be somewhat whatsoever they were it make no matter to me, God accepted no man's person. These were people of some kind of reputation that were trying to push this doctrine. For they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me. So he's like there was these people, there was these people that were there in Jerusalem that were trying to push the law on us there. He's like I didn't give place to it for an hour. He's like it didn't matter, God's no respecter of persons. I didn't put up with it. So why do you think he's telling the story to the Galatians first of all? I mean the Galatians are in this situation where someone has come into their church. Don't forget the context of the letter. As we go off and we learn all these different doctrines in these chapters I don't ever want you to forget the context of what we're talking about what's happening in this church. Some of the false people had come in and were teaching that they had to follow the law. They were mixing works with faith in this church. And Paul is sitting there and he's basically saying hey we've seen all this before. He's like this is nothing new. You know I saw this in Jerusalem. People came in and tried to do this there. And I didn't put up with it for an hour. And they were men who were of reputation. They were men in Jerusalem who were of reputation. As a matter of fact even some saved people in Jerusalem were doing the same stuff. It doesn't say that they that believed were saying that they need to do that to be saved. It just said that we wanted the saved Gentiles to have to follow all this stuff. We'll get into why that is later. But Paul is just saying look this is nothing new under the sun folks. We've seen this before with verse 6. I'm sorry but verse 7. But contrary wise when they saw the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter. So he says here in verse number 7. He says look they saw that the gospel of uncircumcision was committed unto me. Everybody in Jerusalem realized this and the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter. Basically they're saying the gospel of the Gentiles was given to Paul and the gospel of the circumcision the Jews was given to Peter. That's what he's saying. What are you saying different gospel? Different gospel? Look people believe this. Okay people believe because of verse 7 that it means that there's a different gospel for the Gentiles. There's a different gospel for the Jews. This is where it gets into all the Jews today or God's chosen people and they don't really have to believe in Jesus. You're like what? But look how about we do this? How about we read another verse in the Bible? So it says the gospel of uncircumcision was committed to Paul and the gospel of circumcision was committed to Peter. Look at verse 8. For he that wrought effectually and it's in parentheses so it's explaining verse 7. Okay? For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision the same was mighty in me towards the Gentiles. It's talking about the apostleship and who they witnessed to. Who they brought the gospel to. And when James, Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars he's saying these people seemed to be in charge there. These people were in charge there. Perceived the grace was given unto me. He gave to me in Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision. So verse 8 and verse 9 explain verse number 7. It's not a separate gospel. It's a separate ministry. It's a separate ministry. It's kind of like, you know, it's all about who they ministered to. It says the apostleship. It explains it by the apostleship of the circumcision the apostleship of the uncircumcision. It's who they ministered. It's kind of like, you know, Pastor Jimenez is ministering to the people in Sacramento and I'm ministering to the people in Fresno. It's the same thing. That's what it's talking about. It's Pastor Jimenez preaching a different gospel than I am. Okay, that would be a huge problem if we were preaching different gospels. Okay, but it's the same gospel. It's the same message. Different groups of people. That's it. Okay, just have to read like whenever you see something with just one verse that just like sounds weird. Just read a little bit before and a little bit after. You know, clear it up. Look at verse 10. Only they, so they basically said, you know, they gave him the right hands of fellowship. They met the same gospel, same everything. They're like, hey, you know, this guy's been given, you know, he's been called to minister to preach to the Gentiles. And that's what Paul did his whole life. And they said, they gave him the right hand of fellowship. They said, that's great. Look at verse 10. Only that we should remember the poor, the same which I always was forward to do. They said, just don't forget, you know, ministering under the poor, you know, always, you know, the meek, the same thing Jesus said. You know, which in Paul's like, I, you know, I did that anyway. You know, I had a heart for the poor anyway. But when Peter was come to Antioch, now there's a different thing happening. Okay, now Peter comes to visit in Antioch. He comes to visit the church in Antioch. I was stood him to the face. Whoa, because he was to be blamed. So here you have a situation where Paul went to Jerusalem and there was false brethren there and there were some even believing Pharisees there. They were trying to push, you know, the Mosaic law on people. And, you know, Paul squared them away. He met with the leaders of the church. They all agreed the gospel was the same gospel from Jesus. They're all preaching the same thing. But now Peter comes to visit Antioch and there's some kind of disagreement between Paul and Peter. Whoa, imagine being there that day. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. Now that's interesting. You had to remember that part of verse number 12 to understand what happened here. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them that were of the circumcision. So here's what happened. Peter comes to Antioch where Paul is and the Gentiles are. And Peter eats with them and fellowships with them and hangs out with them and everything's cool. But then some people come from James. Some leaders of the church of Jerusalem come. Then they're Jews in Jerusalem. And they come and Peter separates himself and will no longer eat with the Gentiles. I mean, can't you see this happening? I mean, can't you just totally see this happening? And he separated himself because he was worried that, you know, the believing Jews from Jerusalem would be offended. They would be offended by eating with the circumcision. You say, why would they be offended? We'll get into that detail as well in this sermon. Okay, so basically he acted different. He acted different when the Jews, the leaders from Jerusalem came than when he was just there by himself. And Paul called him out on it. Paul was stood him to the face and said he was to be blamed. And here's another thing that happened. All the other Jews that were with Peter followed him. Look at verse 13. And the other Jews disassembled likewise with him in so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Even Barnabas fell into it. Even Barnabas fell into it. So Peter came to visit and separated himself. Turn to Acts chapter 10. Look, this was taken care of with Peter in Acts chapter 10. And he fell back into this. Okay? And he still did something that he was to be blamed for here. So look at Acts chapter 10. And Paul called him out on it. Now in the story of Peter going to Cornelius, who was a Roman, you know, God gives Peter a vision. And he gives, you know, because Cornelius is not a Jew. Okay? And God gives Peter a vision. And look at verse 13 of Acts chapter 10. The Bible says, And there came a voice to him, rise Peter, kill and eat. Well, there's this plate that came down. We don't want to get into the whole thing. But basically, all manner of four-footed beasts and earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fall, you know, he saw heaven opened in verse 11 and a certain vessel came down with all these meats and everything on it. Okay? Now the Jews were not able to just eat anything. They had forbidden meats and all these types of things. There's all these rules on what they couldn't, couldn't eat. And verse 14, Peter said, For I've never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And we can go through a huge Bible study on which animals clean, which animals not, the hooves and all this kind of stuff. And basically, the Jews were under all these carnal ordinances on things that they couldn't eat because they were deemed unclean. Okay? And here, Peter is given this vision where he says, you know, the Bible says, Arise, slay and eat. Look at, I've never eaten anything common or unclean. Verse 14. And the voice spoke unto him the second time, What God hath cleansed, thou call not uncommon. And this was done thrice and the vessel received up into heaven. So, Peter doubted himself what the vision he had seen should mean. Behold, the men that were seen from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate. So, look, the Bible says here that Peter was told that this is done away with. Okay? So, Peter was not to worry about, God was already trying to fix this problem that he saw coming between the Jews and the Gentiles here. And in Galatians chapter two, you know, Peter kind of fell back into things here and he would drew himself from the Gentiles. And Paul called him out on it. Look at verse 14 of Galatians chapter two. Look at verse 14 of Galatians chapter two continuing here. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel, now, Paul is calling Peter out right here. I said unto Peter, before them all, you're not saved. No, look, he just called them out for something that he was doing wrong is what he did. If thou being a Jew liveth after the manner of Gentiles as not as do the Jews, why compelest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature are not sinners of the Gentiles. Look, first of all, he's saying, look, you're not living like a Jew anymore. So why are you expecting the Gentiles to live like you? Like a Jew? You know, once they get saved. Because now you're free and the whole Romans, you know, the whole book of Romans, you're free from the law. In verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Three times he says the same thing here. He says we're not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Then he says it the other way. I mean, how could you possibly believe that works have anything to do with salvation? Then he says it the other way that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. And then he says it just caps it off one more time for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Look, this is not hard to understand. This is pretty clear stuff. So, and he wasn't telling Peter this. So Peter, you know, he's just clearing Peter up here. He's like, look, you're not acting according to the gospel. He's like, you're not acting correctly. He said you're not acting uprightly according to the gospel that you've believed. And he calls Peter out on it. Why are you requiring these carnal ordinances of the Gentiles if you yourself are not bound to them? Is what he's saying. Look at verse 17. And he says, look, he says it's an attack. He literally says you're not walking uprightly, you know, to the truth of the gospel. And verse 14, he literally says, what you're doing is an attack on the gospel. He doesn't say, you know, you're not saved or anything. He's like, what you're doing is an attack on the gospel itself. Look at verse 17. But if, while we're seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. So I mean, Paul, of course, you know, he sees people coming in their arguments when he just says that, you know, the works of the law have nothing to do with your justification. You're justified by faith, not the works of the law. It's not, you know, it's, you're not even, it's by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. And then he says, right away he knows people are going to say, oh, I can just go ahead and go sin then. He just caps it off with verse 17 saying, look, is Christ the minister of sin? It's a God forbid. Should Christ be the minister of sin? Should we just go out and sin? For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. He's like, look, you're going to be in trouble for that. For I, through the law, am dead to the law that I have to live unto God, that I will for sure live unto God. No, that I might live unto God. You have to understand when Paul is writing about, you know, not taking advantage of the grace of God, that he's always using these words like should. He's always using that I might do this. He's always trying to compel you. He's trying to compel you because God's already given you the grace. God's already given you the salvation. He's already sealed you. He's already put the earnest down. He's already put the down payment down on you. He's like, you should be doing this. He's trying to compel you to good works. He's trying to provoke you to good works. Look at verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, within me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. He's trying to compel them to not just take advantage of the grace of God. I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. That's an awesome verse right there. You know, that's an awesome verse. He's saying, look, he's like, we should live by, you know, we should not sin. Christ is not the minister of sin. But he's like, back to Peter. He's like, but don't frustrate the grace of God. Don't pollute it. Don't pollute the grace of God. Because righteousness does not come by the law. Because if righteousness comes by the law, why did Christ die? If I can get myself to heaven, if I can justify myself, why in the world would God would have sent His Son to go through all this stuff? For what? If I could do it myself. If we could do it ourselves, Jesus have gone through all this. Why was the sacrifice necessary? Christ is dead in vain. Look, if it was even just a little bit by you, Christ is dead in vain. Don't frustrate the grace of God. We met a guy out somewhere today. It was the most confusing thing. One of these really weird twisted up Pentecostals. Just like, just, just vomiting Bible verses that he doesn't understand. He doesn't even know what he's saying. You know, but it's not by the works of the law. Oh yeah, I know. It's just by faith. And you have to live and be obedient and do all these things. Otherwise, you know, you're not going to go to heaven. What are you talking about? He's frustrating the grace of God. He's frustrating the grace of God. If righteousness comes by the law, look, if you have to be obedient and do all these things. I'm asking him. I'm like, what is baptism? What is going to church? What is walking with Jesus? What is, that's all the things that you do, is it not? Well, isn't that like, you know, you justifying yourself? No, it's just by faith. You know, people like this are just, I mean, I hate to say it, but people like this have met several of them and they're probably done. They're probably done. They're so proud. They're so proud and they're so wrapped up and all this stuff that they don't even understand. It's almost like God has blinded them at that point. But look, if that was the case, then Christ is dead in vain. So that's a great ending to the chapter. But look, let me just say this. In conclusion, go back to Acts chapter 10. What's happening here is that Paul accuses Peter of frustrating the grace of God. Paul went to Jerusalem. There was all this pressure on Titus to get circumcised. We saw that it happened in Acts chapter 15. And then Peter comes to Antioch. That's taking care of in Acts chapter 12. I'm sorry, go to Acts 15. It's taking care of in Acts chapter 10 that I read for you. But basically what we see happening between Paul being in Jerusalem and Peter being in Antioch is we see this cultural clash happening here between the Gentiles and the Jews. And the cultural clash is a clash of these two different cultures and this works argument is being wrestled with inside there. But look at Acts chapter 15 in verse number 19. Now James. Now the big contention and the argument over circumcision and what to do with these Gentiles that are getting saved. Peter's like, well they're getting saved. They're getting saved just like us. He's like, what are we going to do? And James comes and he declares how we know that James is pretty much the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He comes and he just declares judgment. He's like, here's what we're going to do. And I want to explain to you James's judgment because at least I want to give you my take on it. I want to explain to you verses 19 and verse 20. Look what James says. Wherefore my sentence is, this is James talking that we trouble them not which from among the Gentiles are turned to God. He's talking, he's like, here's what we're going to do. He's like, we're not going to require them to keep the mosaic law. The Gentiles that are turned to God. He's like, the Gentiles that are believing and getting saved, we're not going to turn them into Jews. That's what he's saying in verse 19. Well what are we going to do then? Here's what he says they're going to do. But that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood. And you're like, what in the world? You know how many people I've had asked what that verse means? I'm going to say that we're going to add this to the doctrine of salvation. He says, we're going to write to these Gentiles because look, they already got saved in verse 19. To the Gentiles that have turned to God. They got saved in a moment. You hath everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. You're not getting it. You're not earning it. You're not getting it with every bloodless steak that you eat. You're not getting it in a moment. These Gentiles were saved and James is saying, here's what we're going to do. We're not going to turn them into Jews. We're just going to tell them to do these things. That's what we're going to do. Done. Did he just randomly pick these things? Let's look at these three things. He just randomly decide. It seems kind of odd at first. But when we break it down, let's just look at these things. What's the first thing that he says? He says that they abstain from pollutions of idols. You know what he's saying here? You know what he's saying to the Gentiles by saying abstain from pollutions of idols? You know what he's saying? Have respect for the God that you now serve. That's what he's telling them. He's like, have respect for the God that you now serve. Actually, turn to Matthew 22 and I'll read for you Exodus 20 verse 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Very simple. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image or any likeness of anything that is heaven above. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image or any likeness of anything that is heaven above and that is the earth beneath or that is the water under the earth. Have no other gods before me. Look at Matthew 22. Matthew 22. Look at verse 40. And look. Matthew 22.40 pretty much kind of covers what James is getting at. And I'm going to prove that to you this evening. Look at Matthew 22. And let's start reading in verse 37. And Jesus said, I mean you would have thought that James would have just gave him the greatest commandment. But no, you have to get more specific because there's cultural problems here. Look at verse 37. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul and all thy mind. That matches exactly the first thing that James told them to do. Get rid of your idols. Don't pollute your lives. Don't pollute your food. Don't pollute any of your lives with all these idols and false gods. Like you're saved now, stop that. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, now shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Those two commandments covers everything. Every commandment in the Bible fits underneath those two categories. And so do these three things that James told them to do. So the first one is, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. He talks again, actually turn back to Acts chapter 15. Look at verse 21. He talks about Acts, you know, 1 Corinthians chapter 8 talks about eating things that are sacrificed to idol. A good moderate, you know, look, this was the culture of these people. They had idols. They worshiped idols. They ate things that were sacrificed to idols. They were idolatrous people. You say, well, they got saved, right? Well, you ever get a Catholic saved? They still got a bunch of idols in their house. It's the same thing. It's the same exact thing. Look, getting saved getting saved doesn't mean all of a sudden you're going to have all this Bible knowledge on what's right and what's wrong. Maybe you grew up having a statue in your yard and you're just like, that is just normal. Because we have a statue in our yard. It happens all the time. It happens all the time. It's a normal cultural thing. This is where they were at, folks. This is where these Gentiles were at. This is the culture that they were raised in. So, look, being saved is not just going to all of a sudden make you just like, you know, and just see all the... The Gospel is simple. The Bible, there's a lot of doctrine and things that God wants you to do and not do in the Bible, and you need to learn that. Okay? Now look back at Acts 15 verse 21. It's interesting because in the verse after this James explains he gives them these things to do and then he says, look, he says in verse 21, for Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. You know what he said? He's like, we've had the Bible read to us constantly. He's like, these people know nothing. They know nothing of the Bible. So that's another thing. Visitors come to church. People just get saved. They just start... Look, they're starting from zero. You've got to understand that. You've got to, I mean, you've got to at least be aware of that. That people just aren't going to get up to, you know, up to speed. James is talking about how do we get these people up to speed? How do we get these cultures together? So look, this is all new to them. So James says, get the idols out of there. Get the idols. That's the first thing. What's the second thing? And he says, and, so he says, abstain from idols and from fornication. He says, you're like, fornication, that's kind of random, isn't it? You know, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. It's not random at all. Look what he says. Look what he says. He says, remember, what's the two greatest commandments? Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 in verse number 18. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he did commit fornication, sinneth against his own body. It's the only sin in the Bible that's against your own body. The Bible says, when you commit fornication, you're sinning against yourself. Now he is teaching that, look, he's saying, respect your God and respect yourselves. And when you commit fornication, you're sinning against yourself and you're sinning against your neighbor, too, that you're committing fornication with. I mean, look, fornication was a lifestyle for these people. It was a way of life for the Gentiles. Sound familiar? It was a way of life. Look, it was a culture that needed to change with them. You say why? Because a culture like that did you know can ruin an entire society? Just fornication. You're like, fornication, why? Well, first of all, it's ruining our society. Fornication is ruining our society. Look, it's not only ruining it for what it is. It's not only ruining it for what it is. It's dangerous. I mean, it's dangerous to yourself with disease and all sorts of different things. Look, it leads to murder. Did you know that 90% of abortions are all from fornication? I mean, it's dangerous. It's dangerous to human life. It literally destroys a society because it not only is dangerous to you and whoever you're committing fornication with, but it's dangerous to unborn children. Look, but here's what it really destroys. It destroys the family unit. It destroys the family unit. Without the family unit, remember the sermon series, The Biblical Household? Remember, we're sitting here and we're like, okay, you're married, you have kids and we're trying to raise these kids right. We're all trying to raise these kids according to the Bible in the right way. We're trying to be successful passing this culture of the Bible onto our children. It's one of the most difficult things that you could do in your life. Just do that successfully. We're trying to do that. Look, if there is no family unit, it's impossible. Or nearly impossible. If there is no family unit. Look, even a Christian family has a difficult time raising a God-fearing generation. Brother Frank and I were just talking about this out soul-winning. Look at the kings. How many great kings were there that did right? Almost all of their life. And then either they ended horribly or they raised wicked children. I mean, it's not a guarantee. You're like, I'm saved, I'm following the Bible. Look, you got to get a lot of things right. If there's no family unit, it's a needle in a haystack. So look, it's terrible personally with just being damaging to you personally, to your body. It's ruining your future. But the biggest effect is on society. That's why James said it, abstained from fornication. It's brilliant advice from James. It's brilliant. And then look at number three. And abstained from what else? Now it gets weird, right? And from things strangled and from blood. So let's look at this for just a couple minutes. So he says abstained from idols. He's like, love your God. He's like abstained from fornication. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. Get your society right. Get your families right. The physical relationship between a man and a woman should be within a marriage. He's saying get that right. It's super important. For the next gentile generation, if you get this wrong, if you can't get that right. So number one, number two, brilliant. Number three, and from things strangled and from blood. Look at Leviticus 19. And there's quite a few places where this is listed in the Bible. I'll just give you one example. He shall not eat anything with the blood. Neither shall you use enchantment nor observe times. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 14. So you're not supposed to eat raw meat. You're not supposed to eat bloody raw meat. That's in the Bible. You're not supposed to eat it. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 14. Look at verse 32. Paul, or not Paul, I'm sorry, Saul, he has the people commit to this stupid oath that they're not going to eat anything until he's avenged of his enemies. And then finally, they're so hungry. Look at verse 32. And the people flew upon the spoil and took the sheep and auction and calves and slew them on the ground and the people did eat them with the blood. They were so hungry they just killed all these animals that they took from their enemies after they defeated their enemies. They started eating them raw. That's all hungry these people were. And then they told Saul saying, behold, the people sin against the Lord. So they all knew this was wrong in that they eat with the blood and he said, you have transgressed. Roll a great stone unto me this day. So look, turn to Ephesians chapter 2. So we see that in the Old Testament that you're not supposed to eat things with the blood. But you say, I thought the carnal ordinances well, they were. Look at Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2, look at verse 14. So the carnal ordinances, they were a picture of things to come. They were done away with. We already saw it in Acts chapter 10 with Peter. The vision that Peter was given by God saying, slay and eat. There is nothing unclean. It's all been sanctified by Jesus. Just eat. He's trying to bring Peter into fold with the Gentiles here. Look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 14. For he is our peace who hath made both one and he hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. It says, it doesn't say commandments, period. It says in ordinances. Meaning carnal ordinances. For to make himself a twain, one new man, so making peace, that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity here thereby. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 9, I'll read for you. It says, which was a figure for the time then present, which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks in diverse washings, even ceremonial things, and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation, the time of Reformation when Jesus came. So look, the carnal ordinances, the ceremonial things, the things that you can't eat and can't eat, they're all done away with by by Jesus. So look, why instruct the Gentiles this way? Is the question. Look, so we see that there's two reasons. First of all, the commandment on idols was to respect God. Then number two, the commandment on fornication was on respecting yourself. The commandment on fornication, there was many health reasons for that. There's many health reasons that it says that you're sinning against yourself. Look, these Gentiles were not, they weren't talking about, you know, they were eating medium rare steaks. Okay, these people were, they were either sacrificing unto idols and just eating raw animals, dead animals, whatever. They were just, they were acting in a way that was not healthy and clean. And they also need, and James also knew. So look, it wasn't healthy. It wasn't healthy, and James also knew. Look, this is how you know that James he was a, he was a, he was a pragmatic man. He also knew that we were bringing two cultures together here. Okay, so in a culture where you don't just slap a raccoon on the table and rip it open and stick your face in the raccoon and start eating it. I mean how, how would that work if I had Brother Ryan over to my house and he's like, hi, how are you doing? And he's, you know, from Jerusalem and I'm from Galatia and he's like, wow I want you to have you to my house brother. We're brothers in Christ. Are we not brothers in Christ? He's from Jerusalem. I'm from Galatia and I slap a bunch of dead raccoons that I just killed five seconds ago on the table and we're like, we're eating raccoon now. Here's a knife. Here's a buck knife. Let's eat. This is where it's at. This is where it was at. You had these kind of cultures colliding here. James is very simply saying, look, what do we do in fellowship? What do we do all the time with fellowship? What do we do? We eat. We eat together. We have big potlucks here. We have, I mean I don't know what is the deal with the women in this church but there's some of the best cooks I've ever seen. I mean I love, I do not like potlucks historically. I love them here. It's good stuff. Everything's good here. How about we get a new family that comes and they're from Tennessee. They start putting a bunch of dead raccoons and armadillos on the table. You laugh but this is what's going on. Hey, what do you got? I just hit this deer with my car. Free. It's free. I know people that have done that. But look, here's the thing folks. This is the kind of cultural things that they were having problems with here. Okay? Peter, he put up with it for, you know, he put up with it but nobody else was looking. He's sitting there eating with the gentiles and he's like, I can't believe what they're eating over there. And it's kind of like when I would get invited out to go eat sushi or something I'm sure he found the two things that he could possibly eat that wouldn't totally discuss him and not go away hungry but he's making do but then all the big shots from Jerusalem came and he's like, yeah, I'm out of here. You know, it's hamburgers and french fries for me outside. Okay? Look, you had a major cultural problem here. You see, that would be the equivalent of this happening here. And aside from the religious part of it that, you know, they may have been animal sacrifice to other gods and all these types of things. You know, we don't know the exact situation. This is where James is coming from. This is where James is coming from. So look, he's just trying to be pragmatic. He's trying to teach them, respect God. Respect your new God that you believe in now. Respect the one true God. Respect yourselves. Respect each other. Get your families and your society together. And for goodness sake, be able to have potlucks together. That's basically what he's saying. He's in a situation where they've got these churches with all these people of mixed cultures coming together. Sound familiar? Sound familiar? I mean, let's talk about us. We have people from all different kinds of backgrounds here. But like, we have this stuff squared away. Right? We're not eating. You know, there's no family so they eat roadkill. Right? And if look, if there was, then I would pull them aside and I would give them, you know, some advice like James. I would say, look, no raccoons. Nothing to do with your salvation. Eating a dead raccoon is not going to make you lose your salvation. However, you know, let's be real. You know, let's be in fellowship as a church. So let's talk about you. Here we are as a church. We're full of believers. We're all from different backgrounds, right? For the most part. We're all from different cultures. I mean, we're all from different religious cultures. But here's the thing. Maybe you had religious traditions in your past. You know, especially people that have been saved later in life. You know, your culture it may haunt you to a degree. You know, it may haunt you. You might have, you know, religious traditions in your past. You might have, you know, idols. You might have come from a Catholic background and you might think it's okay to have idols and all these things all around your house. You're just going to have to learn that that's not okay. You know, by studying the Bible. Maybe you have certain traditions. You know, look, certain things aren't bad as long as they don't go against the Bible. There are certain things that don't matter. But things like Santa and Easter Bunny. All these things that are designed to take away from Christ that try to draw the children's attention away from Christ and to candy or something else. Look, these are all bad cultural things. And you're like, but I was raised with the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny. Look, it's not good. It's bad. It's, it's abstained from it. You should abstain from that. So we all need to conform our religious culture to the culture of the Bible. Well, I mean, what about what about your, your carnal culture? What about the ordinances in the carnal culture? I mean, obviously, fornication, things of that nature, you know, they're going to be preached hard against here. And, and, you know, look, they'll be filtered out of the church in general because the Bible tells us that that type of thing is not to be allowed in the church. But other cultures, what about other things? What about other things like like music you grew up with? Like, like how you, you know, how you dress. You know, the culture you came from in that aspect. Look, it's funny because you'll find people, how about this? How about this? Your lifestyle in general. How about the places you go? The people that you see. You know, how about all these, you know, the things that you do? These things are all up to you. And how to define your culture. Look, but the more you can conform to the principles of the Bible, did you know the better we will be as a church? This is what James was getting at. James was trying to bring these people together in fellowship is what he was doing. Now, I mean, just an example of this is I have a, and it's funny because you look at things like music and dress and all these different things and you might find two people, a friend of mine, he grew up in like an inner city. He's a saved brother in Christ and we're good friends. But I look at this situation, I look at how he grew up in an inner city and I look at how I grew up in rural North Dakota and I'm like, how are we friends? But you know what, you know how we're friends? Because we've thrown off our culture. You know, he had certain music that I'm sure that he grew up as a culture. You know what? So did I. Both wicked. Both bad. We had certain ways we dressed and acted and things that were okay that are not okay in both of our cultures. But look, he had to throw things off. So did I. And here we are in great fellowship. We're good friends. That's how it will work in the Christian life. Because look, these cultural things that you grow up with they all become normal. They all become normal to people and you'll find yourself you know as an adult, you know seeing things and that thought might come into your head. Yeah, that's not that bad. I grew up with that. Okay, if you've been saved later in life, you may have those types of thoughts. Hopefully our children don't have those types of thoughts as they've never been raised in that type of culture. But look, what church will do turn to Romans chapter 7. What a good church that preaches the Bible will do. And this is why it's so important that you go to a Bible preaching church. If you leave this church, go find a Bible preaching church that you go to. Okay, a church that preaches the entire Bible to you and doesn't filter it and give you this you know frosted flakes version of what's in the Bible. Look at Romans chapter 7. Here's what a good church will do to you. Romans chapter 7 verse 12. Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good was then that which is good to me made death unto me. He's saying the law is good. The law is holy and just and good. He's like, but is that which is good? It made death unto me. He says, God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin. This is the point of the law. This is the point of the Bible. So sin appears like sin to us. So when we see sin, so when we see sin, we don't think, yeah that's not that bad. I grew up with that. When we're in the Bible and you're getting preached from the Bible and you're in the Bible and you're learning the Bible, you're going to see sin. You're not going to be like, that's not that bad. You'll be like, that's bad. You'll be like, that's bad. That's what? What does he say? That by sin by the commandment might become what? Exceedingly sinful. The more you're in the Bible, the more of those things of the culture that you grew up in or the culture that somebody else grew up in or the culture that's out in the world today, it would just light up to you as sin. But the more you get out of the Bible and the more you stop going to church and you get out of that spiritual life, this is why you have to come to church. It's not, look, it's for you. It's so you can recognize these things and so when you see these things, they just you recognize them right away. A Bible preaching church will change your culture. All you need to do, all you need to do, here it is, here's the answer and here's another thing. I love trends, right? I love trends. So I first moved to Verity Baptist Church. I first moved to Verity Baptist Church and I would sit in that church and I would look around and I would just say everybody's from different places. Everybody's from different countries. Everybody's from different backgrounds. Everybody grew up different. I mean, there must be something in common. There is something in common. What do we all have in common? We all end up here. You know why we all ended up there? You know why we all ended up here? Because every single person in this room I don't care when you got saved especially if you got saved later in life as an adult every single person in this room and in Sacramento they had a moment in their life where they just wanted to know what was true. And you know that's the case. You just wanted to know despite what you believed despite how you grew up despite what you were taught despite if you were raised Lutheran or whatever there was a moment in your life when you just said you know what despite what I think, what I grew up with, what I was taught from being from this tall to where I am today I just want to know what's true everyone had that moment. That's what everyone has in common. All you have to do is just continue that and the Bible will change your culture. All you have to do is continue that attitude. You know, if it's in the Bible I'm going to believe it. And it's more than that. If it's in the Bible I'm not only going to believe it. Look, because there was a lot of things I can list them out for you that I got saved and then I got into the Bible and I started reading the Bible and I started listening to Bible preaching and I got into a good church and you know what, there was a lot of things I was just like, oh, really? Oh, man. That too? I mean, look, it changed my culture but you have to believe it and then you have to practice it and then that will happen. That will happen. So you have to throw off everything else and everything, look, you just kind of got to realize that everything that you've been taught your whole life is wrong in Romans chapter 12. Let the Bible change you. That's why we're going to talk about Baptist basics. We're going to talk about, you know, lifestyle. Here's the thing. People, as you let the Bible change you, people around you it's going to make things worse for people around you. For people that aren't in the Bible, that aren't saved that are watching this thing from the outside it's going to make it all worse. I'm just warning you. It's going to make it all worse because they don't understand, they're not going to understand because you're headed down a path that they're not on. Look at Romans chapter 12 and verse number 2. The Bible says, You have been conformed to this world. Let the Bible reform you. That's what you have to do. And that's what James was getting at with the Gentiles and what Paul was struggling with when he was talking about his trip to Jerusalem and Peter's trip to Galatia. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.