 Amen. Acts chapter 15. So here we are in Acts chapter 15. Paul and Barnabas are back from the first missionary journey and they are in Antioch and the story continues. So the Bible ended in Acts chapter 14 saying that they got back to Antioch and they were telling the disciples, they were telling everybody about the Gentiles and they were telling everybody about the mission trip that they went on and just kind of explaining to everybody, the story which we'll see a little bit more of this evening in Acts chapter 15. But Acts chapter 15 really is kind of a chapter of disagreements. I mean there's a lot of contentions and people that are having disagreements. So it's a really important chapter to see how we deal with disagreements. The first one that we're going to look at is the disagreement amongst several different churches here. So we're going to look at the first disagreement in Acts chapter 15. Look at how they dealt with it and then because look they dealt with it in a very good way. They dealt with it in a very biblical fashion and we'll see what we can learn from that, how they dealt with it, why they dealt with it in the specific way that they did because there's been a lot of confusion that I've heard about why it was dealt with in this certain way. But let's just get into it and see what we can learn this evening. You're there in Acts chapter 15. Look at verse number one. We start out right away with controversy in verse number one. The Bible says, and certain men came down from Judea, taught the brethren. So they're in Antioch, so they really came up but they're talking about, they kind of came from the major church here. They came from the church in Jerusalem. They came down from Judea and taught the brethren and said, so these are men that came from Jerusalem to the church in Antioch and they are teaching the people in the church in Antioch. So this would be like a much bigger church comes to our church and they start teaching something here and look what they say. They said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, he cannot be saved. So, whoa. So there's a big problem here. We just had somebody teach a false gospel in this church. So we had somebody come into the church and preach workspace salvation in the first verse of Acts chapter 15. And you have to say, you know, that was fast. I mean, the gospel has only been being preached, only being spread for just a few years at this point. And already false gospels are popping up. Already people are adding works to the gospel. So there's a controversy of all these Gentiles getting saved. I'm going to kind of get into that and kind of, I'm going to kind of maybe explain to you that this wasn't quite as sinister as, you know, it seems, but it needs to be taken very seriously whenever somebody tries to add works to the gospel. So what did they say here? Let's just kind of pick this thing apart. They said, basically, you need to be these people. It says, it doesn't say who they were or whatever. It says they're from the church. They're from Judea. We find out later. They're from the church in Jerusalem. Same thing is going on there. But they're teaching that you must be circumcised to be saved. All right. Go to Genesis chapter 17. Let's talk a little bit about the practice of circumcision. I'm not going to explain what it is. If you need to know what it is, you know, talk to, you know, your parents or something. I don't know. But anyway, you know, that's not really the important thing here is to talk about what it actually is. But let's look at it when it was implemented and what the reason for it was. Go to Genesis chapter 17. This actually, they said in the manner of Moses, but it actually didn't start with Moses. It started with Abraham, okay? Or Abraham, you know, as it was right before this in Genesis. But look at Genesis chapter 17. Look at verse number nine. The Bible says, And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore, Thou and thy seed after thee in generation. So this is God is kind of telling him, you know, where he's going to get the land and, you know, the land is going to give them. Look at verse number 10. He says, This is my covenant, which ye between me and you and thy seed after thee. And then God implements this thing that he must do. So God has told him already that he's going to have these children and that he's going to have, you know, many descendants and that he's going to get all this land and this land that is promised to him. But look at verse number 10. He says, This is my covenant, which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee. Every manchild among you shall be circumcised. So this is where this practice is implemented in the Bible. Look at verse 11. He shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you. So that's really important right there, that verse. That tells you what the whole point of this circumcision was. What was it? Was it salvation? Was it, you know, it was just a token, which is what? It's just a symbol, a visible picture that you are with me. It's basically like, you know, a mark upon God's people. Alright, so it's a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. God is saying, I want you to do this so you will have a visceral sign that you and I have made a covenant together. That we have a deal, so to speak. Look at verse number 12. And then he gives more detail. He says, And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you. Every manchild, every boy, of course, in your generations, he that is born in your house or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. Anybody that becomes part of your nation is what he's trying to say. He that is born in thy house and he that is bought with thy money must needs be circumcised. And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man, child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He hath broken my covenant. So that verse right there where it says, That soul shall be cut off from his people. It's talking about that person. It's talking about that person. It's not talking about that person loses their salvation or that person is not saved or whatever, which probably was the case, but it had nothing to do with them not being circumcised. Circumcision, the point is this. Circumcision was never for salvation. It was never for salvation. It's not that now that Jesus has come, salvation is by grace through faith and by belief only, but it used to be through circumcision. It was never through circumcision. It was never that. As a matter of fact, we'll get a couple verses on that anyway, but just kind of a mini sermon here. So God tells Abraham, he's like, you're going to get this land, I'm making all these promises to you. He's like, you have to do this. He's like, I want you to go and as a token, as a sign, that you're following me as a token of you listening to me, a token to other people, an example to other people that you are part of this covenant with me, God tells them to do this specific physical thing to their male children. Now, how does Abraham respond? Look at verse 23. This is kind of just a side note. Just a side note to notice this. God basically tells Abraham to do something and right away he does it like immediately. Look at verse 23. And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all that were born in his house and all that were bought with his money. Every male among the men of Abraham's house and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin the self same day as God had said unto him. So the point of trying to make here is just kind of a side note is that God told, I mean, this shows the faithfulness of Abraham right here. This is an outward sign for us that when God told Abraham something, he did it right away. He didn't wait for a while. He didn't, you know, wonder about it. He didn't discuss it with his wife. God told him to do it. He did it. That's it. You know, if only we would all do that. Whenever we read something in the Bible, and we saw something in the Bible, we just did it right away. Because look, that's what the Bible is. The Bible is just God telling us what to do is what the Bible is. And if we were like Abraham, if we had the faith of Abraham, not talking about salvation here, I'm talking about just like what God wants you to do in your life. If God tells you something, you read something in the Bible, you understand it, you hear something preached in the Bible, and you're like, Oh man, bam, I'm going to do that right now. Like I think things would be a lot different for a lot of Christians. But he didn't say I'll do it next week. He just did it right away. All right, back to circumcision. Let's turn to Deuteronomy chapter 10. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 10. Circumcision, the physical act of it was never for salvation. Turn to Deuteronomy. Actually, you turned to Romans chapter 2. I tricked you. Turn to Romans chapter 2. You go to Romans chapter 2. And I'll just read for you Deuteronomy chapter 10. Where Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 16 says, circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff-necked. Here, Moses is trying to, you know, convince the people to turn back to God, to get right with God. And he's saying, circumcise your heart. Again, in Deuteronomy chapter 30 in verse number 6, the Bible uses that same term. It says, circumcise your heart. So, I mean, that wouldn't make any sense if we were just thinking about this, the physical act of circumcision. What it's instead talking about, look at Romans chapter 2. Paul really makes this clear in Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2, look at verse number 28. So, remember, as the children of Israel under Moses, they were still doing this practice of circumcision. But Paul is explaining, in Romans chapter 2, he's explaining that it's not the physical act of circumcision that's so important. Look at verse number 28. He says, for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. This is somebody that is doing all the customs. Somebody that is circumcised. Somebody that is following all the different customs, the Levitical law of the Old Testament. This is what a Jew outwardly would be. It says, but Paul is saying in Romans chapter 2, he's like, that's not a Jew. And you're like, what? But look at verse number 28. It says, for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, saying, Paul is just reiterating what I just told you. He's just saying that all circumcision was, was an outward sign that you were of this nation, that you were of this covenant that God made with Abraham. But look at verse 29. So you say, okay, well, that doesn't mean you're a Jew. What are we talking about? But he says, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision, just like I showed you in Deuteronomy, I just read for you, circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter. The letter meaning the law, the Bible, all right? Whose praise is not of men, but of God. All right, so look, all these outward signs, this is a, you know, a lot of people, like even Christians have a hard time getting passed. All these outward signs, all these outward signs, that's what got people praise of men. Wow, that guys, look at these Pharisees, look at the garments they wear, the fancy hats and all this kind of stuff and the borders on their garments. Look at all these, these, you know, these guys are really spiritual because they looked outwardly very spiritual. But Jesus saw right through it. You know, God was not pleased, right? The Bible says what's important is the circumcision of the heart. So we just see this again, the circumcision of the heart, the circumcision of the heart, the circumcision of the heart. Turn to Romans chapter 10, just a few chapters over. Romans is such a great, great book in the Bible. That's why, why in the, I think the first book I ever studied through and preached through was the book of Romans. But look at Romans chapter 10, look at Romans chapter 10. So we see this come up over and over again. It's not the circumcision of the flesh that matters, that's just an outward sign. It's the circumcision of the heart that matters. Well, what do you do with the heart? One is done with the heart that is so important. Look at Romans chapter 10 and verse number 10. Romans chapter 10 and verse number 10. The Bible says, for with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. It's with your heart by having your heart circumcised and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ that you're saved. So this, it's the circumcision of the heart and that belief with your heart that saves you. That's what Paul is saying. He's a Jew that has been circumcised in his heart. What does that mean? He is a Jew that has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Paul is saying. This is replacement theology. This is what, you know, we've been studying in Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 14, and we see it again in Romans chapter 2 and Romans chapter 10. So you believe with the heart. Again, you know, Jesus said in himself in Matthew chapter 3 where, you know, all the Pharisees, you know, they were, they were just bragging about how we're the children of Abraham and, you know, Jesus himself said, you know, out of these stones, God is able to raise up, you know, children of Abraham. What he's saying is exactly what Paul said in Romans chapter 2 where Jesus is saying of these, of anybody that believes on Jesus will be a child of Abraham. That's a Jew. That's what Paul is getting at. That's what Jesus is getting at. Who taught Paul? Jesus. Alright, so it's the same gospel. So here we're having, go back to Acts 15, we're having these people come in and try to add this outward sign of, you know, add this outward sign to salvation. Look, this is the problem with the Catholic Church in 300 AD when they started adding baptism to salvation. Look, baptism is an outward sign of obedience. It's us, like, when people watch someone get baptized, they're watching somebody be obedient to what Christ has told them to do. That's what they're watching. Yes, it pictures being buried and risen again and that, that new birth, it pictures that. It pictures identifying with Christ, identifying with believers. But what people are seeing is a token of obedience. That's what people are seeing. It's an outward sign. Nothing to do with salvation. Alright, nothing to do with salvation. So it's just, there's nothing new under the sun. There's people trying to add works, add things to salvation and we see it begin just a few years after Jesus left this earth. Look at verse number two. Verse number two. And wherefore, so look, did they take it seriously? Therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them. Look, these guys are like, whoa, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem onto the apostles and elders about this question. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phines and Samaria declaring the conversion of the Gentiles that they cause great joy unto all the brethren. So they decide, so Paul and Barnabas throw up a red flag and they decide, well, these guys came from Jerusalem, you guys better go there and figure this out. You better go to Jerusalem where this whole thing started and get this thing worked out. So they go and along the way, they're telling people about their first missionary journey about the Gentiles, about the replacement, you know, theology, about the Gentiles getting saved just like the Jews. They're telling everybody this wonderful story and people are excited, they're happy, they have great joy. Look at verse four. And when they come to Jerusalem, they were received to the church, you know, the apostles and elders. So this is the second time Paul's been here, okay? He's been there before and they declared all things that God had done with him. You know, I'm sure the reception was a little better this time with Paul. I mean, Paul has kind of, he's kind of proved himself, he's gone on this great missionary journey, he's gotten like, I don't know, yeah, thousands of people saved. You know, they pretty much believe that Paul has really converted. You know, the first time Paul goes there, everyone's like, ah, you know, this guy was killing and enslaved, or not enslaving, but imprisoning, throwing in prison Christians. But they come to Jerusalem, they're received to the church and the apostles and elders and they declared all the things that God had done with them. So the first thing that they do is they don't start just arguing right away. They go there and they tell everyone about the Gentiles, the missionary journey, all the wonderful things that have been happening in the church at Antioch. But look at verse number five. This is very interesting. But there rose up a certain sect of the Pharisees which believed saying that it were needful, that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. Alright, so now this is very interesting because now we see the root of the problem. We see where these people, now we get more detail on where these people that arrived in Antioch from Jerusalem got this doctrine. So there was this sect, this certain group of Pharisees that they got saved, but then they started wanting to push this idea that, you know, because it doesn't say necessarily in verse number five that for salvation. But somehow, you know, that game of telephone turned into, yeah, you know, you gotta get, you better do all this stuff to get saved. And look, it makes sense that people would want to do that if they were trying to change a certain people. If they're trying to change a culture, look, it's not right to change the gospel. But look, we see the same thing happening today. Why do you think the Catholic Church says you have to get your babies baptized and you have to, which isn't baptism, we know that, get your babies baptized, you have to come to the priest to confess your sins, you can't go to just, you know, pray to Jesus like the Bible says, you have to come to the priest, you have to come to Mass, you have to come to the church to get the communion and the Eucharist and all these things. Like, you have to salvation lies through the doors of the church. It's a means of control. That's all it is. You know, I mean, look, you don't have to come to church here to go to heaven, folks. You know, oh, you shouldn't tell people that. Why? That's what the Bible says. That's all we care about here. You don't have to, you know, pay money to get your relatives out of hell because that's impossible. But look, it's good for business. If it's good for business, you know, I mean, look, it's all about control. It's all about control and that's exactly what was starting to happen here. As people were starting to add works to salvation to get a cultural change from these Greeks, from the Gentiles. Alright, and look, we're gonna see, they were just, they were disgusted with some of the things. They didn't like the fact that here, you know, it was arrogance, it was pride, but it was a major cultural clash. That's what you need to understand. It was a major cultural clash. Look at verse number six. So look, but the point I'm trying to make is in verse number five, it wasn't just circumcision. So the message keeps getting changed as it goes. It said, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. Now they're adding like the whole law. Alright, but they're trying to add works to salvation. Look at verse six. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there have been much disputing, again, you know, there's a lot of people, you know, having a problem with this. But now we start to see the leaders step up and speak. Okay, and what do they do? Do they step up and I want you to really notice how these leaders handle this problem. They stand up and they don't say, here's what I think. They stand up and they use the word of God to lead to truth. And first Peter goes first. He says, Peter rose up, verse seven, and said to 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. Look at verse eight. And God which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us. He's basically just saying like, look at the testimony of what's been happening. You know, not only have we received the Holy Ghost, but the Gentiles received the Holy Ghost. We saw this earlier on in the book of Acts that the Gentiles received the Holy Ghost just like the Jews. Look at verse nine. It says, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. This is so interesting, verse number 10 and verse number 11. So here's what you have to do. You have to put a bracket, if you write in your Bible, you have to put a bracket around verse 10 and verse 11. If anybody ever asked you the question or anybody, because there's a lot of false doctrine out there, like, there's like saved people today that believe these are the dispensationalists, right? And there's different levels of, I don't want to say crazy, but there's different levels of extreme when it comes to dispensationalists. But the heart of the dispensationalists, even the base dispensationalists, believes that people in the Old Testament got saved in a different way than people in the New Testament. Okay, so that's the basis of dispensationalists, and then they go into all kinds of other things. But look, verse number 10 and verse number 11 is proof against this. So what I need you to do is just kind of notice verse number 10 and verse number 11, how these two go together, because I mean it's pretty easy to miss. It says, now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, but then look at the last part of the verse. It says, which neither, so now he's talking about two groups of people. Okay, he's talking about two groups of people here in the last verse, part of verse 10, he says neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. So who are the two groups? He's saying our fathers, those are the Old Testament people. Those are the Abraham and the patriarchs, as we would call them. He's saying our fathers and us. He's like why would you put a yoke on these people that neither Abraham, the patriarchs, or us were able to bear. Could anyone bear the law? Could anyone bear the law? I don't care what time in history you lived before Jesus, after Jesus, before the flood, after the flood, could anyone, I mean the law wasn't even around them, but could anyone be perfect is what I'm trying to get you to understand. Could anyone be sinless? Now look at verse number 11. It says, but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. Oh, look at the next part, even as they. You know what that's saying? Those two verses right there prove that people in the Old Testament are saved by belief just like people in the New Testament. Now turn to James chapter 2. You would think the Bible says this somewhere. Turn to James chapter 2 and look at verse number 23. Look at James chapter 2 and verse number 23. We could do a whole sermon on just this topic in itself. I just want to give you one simple verse. Look folks, people in the Old Testament were saved by belief. Abraham was saved, well let's just read it in the Bible. Don't take my word for it. Look at James chapter 2 and look at verse number 23. James chapter 2 and verse 23. And the scripture was fulfilled with Seath. Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Why was Abraham righteous? Why when Abraham stands before God is he looked at as righteous because he had faith in God. That's why. He was saved by faith just like everybody else. Go back to Acts chapter 15. Go back to Acts chapter 15. So people in the Old Testament saved the same way as people in the New. You say but Jesus wasn't there yet. Well they're saved on, think of it this way. They're saved on credit. They're saved on the faith in the coming Messiah. Whereas we can look back on the Messiah that's come. They were saved by God's promise of the Messiah which by the way God promised Abraham would come from him. Would come from you know his bloodline. Look at verse number 13 of Acts chapter 15. So we see Peter get up and Peter's like look at the testimony of what's been happening. The Gentiles have been saved. He's like the Gentiles have been saved. You know the Old Testament saints were saved just like us. You know everybody saved the same. Why would we why would we change this and all of a sudden try to tell people that you're saved by the law. Look at verse 13. And after they had held their peace James answered saying men and brethren harken unto me. Simeon had declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets as it is written. After this I will return. Now he starts quoting the Bible. All right. He's quoting Amos chapter 9 here. We won't go there for sake of time. But he's quoting he's quoting Old Testament prophecy. After this I will return and I will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down. I will build again the ruins thereof. I will set it up that the residue of men might seek after the Lord. He's kind of paraphrasing now. Amos chapter 9 verse number 11 and verse number 12 if you want to write that reference down. That the residue of men might seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called saith the Lord who doeth all these things. James is saying like look why why wouldn't we believe that this is happening when the Bible tells us it was going to happen. He's quoting Amos here and then look at verse number 18. No one to God are all his works from the beginning of the world. That verse again proving that everyone has saved the same. From the beginning of the world God had the plan to save mankind. The plan was always the same. God may have have changed his mind on whether he was going to judge a certain people and according to whether or not they they turned and got right or not but the plan for salvation for mankind was always the same. It was always the plan. When? From the beginning of the world. Now look at verse number 19. So this is James. Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble them not from which among the Gentiles are turned to God. So there's a lot here but first of all who is this James? I thought James was dead. Turn to Matthew chapter 13. Turn to Matthew chapter 13. This is not James the son of Zebedee. This is James the brother of Jesus. Who by the way in verse number he's silent throughout this whole debate and then he stands up and says my sentence is meaning he's like the chief priest or the pastor of this church in Jerusalem. He's the head guy here. He's sitting there and he's listening to this and then he passes judgment on the situation. But who is James? Go to Matthew chapter 13. Let's just look at who he is. This is the brother of Jesus or the half brother of Jesus if you want to get technical. Look at verse 54 of Matthew 13. And it's interesting because in the Gospels when Jesus was here his brethren they didn't believe in Jesus. You know they didn't believe he was who he said he was. Look at verse 54. This is when Jesus was coming into his own country. It says when he came into his own he was coming to his own country. He taught them in their synagogue it's so much that they were astonished and said whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? Do you know that by the way many parts of the Catholic Church teach that Mary remained a virgin and she never had children? Let's read the Bible. Is his mother called Mary and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Look Jesus had brothers and sisters and his sisters are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him but Jesus said unto him a prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in his own house. So you're going to find this to be true all of you as well. You're going to find this to be true as well. Everyone kind of has the same story. You know this is just a rabbit trail but everyone kind of has the same story. Everyone kind of gets saved. You know they get saved and they're just like they want all their friends and all their family to get saved and like their friends and family just a lot of times a lot of times they do get saved so definitely try but the point is is a lot of times like your family and your friends and the people closest to you they don't seem to want to listen and this is exactly what happened to Jesus. So a lot of times many times people need to hear from somebody else or it's why it's a good reason to just bring people to church and make somebody else can talk to them about the gospel because a prophet a prophet is not without honors save in his own country and in his own house talking about his closest relatives meaning Jesus' own brothers and sisters didn't believe him they didn't believe that he was the Messiah look at verse 58 and he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief in John 7 5 the bible says for neither did his brethren believe in him so James obviously has gotten saved all right James is now a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ and it's you know he later converts go to Acts chapter 12 and he later converts to be a believer in Jesus his half-brother and he becomes a leader in the church in Jerusalem look at Acts chapter 12 in verse 16 we've seen his name come up a couple times before but look at verse 16 of Acts chapter 12 this is when Peter you know gets broken out of prison by the angel and look at what happened in verse 16 of Acts chapter 12 but Peter continuing knocking and when they opened the door and saw him they were astonished remember this house was praying for Peter and praying for Peter and all of a sudden Peter knocks on the door but he beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and he said go show these things unto who he's again showing that James is the leader of this church all right go show these things unto James and to the brethren and he departed and went into another place he's like basically saying go tell the pastor go tell the pastor what happened you know James is the leader and we see it again in Acts 15 when he finally says everybody's done talking and he's like here's my sentence all right so look this is not James the son of Zebedee who was killed by Herod this is James the half brother of Jesus Christ I want to show you one more thing this is also James turn to James the book of James this is the James that wrote the book of James but it's super interesting because here you have the half brother of the Messiah all right so you're like yeah wonder how he got the job wonder how he got to be the the main pastor in the church in Jerusalem right but look it's interesting if you look at how James describes himself just opening the book of James you know I don't think that's how he got the job because you know he seems like a very humble and intelligent and you know just very level-headed person first of all look at verse number one and I'm going to show you how level-headed he is by how he solves this problem too because he solves this problem in a very biblical yet very clever way but look at how he describes himself we kind of get we'll see a little bit of his character here this is James the brother of Jesus Christ okay this is like it's like yeah that was my brother you're gonna do what I say you know you can been throwing some weight around in this church but look how he describes himself he says James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes that are scattered abroad greeting he just says look you know what I am I'm a servant to Jesus Christ you know what you are you're a servant to Jesus Christ he puts himself on the same servitude level as everybody else it shows his humility there all right go back to go back to actually go to Proverbs chapter 18 so what does he do James is quiet James is quiet well everyone kind of everyone kind of gives their you know their their disputations and Peter gets up and explains things and James gets up and he says my sentence is this but here's what James was doing all right look at Proverbs 18 and verse 13 the Bible says in Proverbs 18 13 it says he that answereth a matter before he heareth it is folly and shame unto him so what James was doing is he was just taking in all the information and then once he heard both sides he heard the whole thing then he passed his sentence not using his own opinion by the way using the Bible go back to Acts chapter 15 go back to Acts chapter 15 so what does he tell them to do all right he says look the Gentiles he says the Gentiles they we knew that they were going to get saved the Old Testament told us that the Gentiles are going to be brought in that these people that were scattered you know we're going to be God was going to bring them in and we see all this coming to pass and you know Peter and James are just like why is everyone surprised the Bible told us this was going to happen it's like why are we just going to all sudden try to change these people and add works to the gospel so look what James says and a lot of people are confused by James sentence here but look in verse number 20 what James tells him to do he says you know let's not trouble them let me turn back to Acts 15 look at verse number 19 so what does he say in verse 19 he says wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God he's saying we shouldn't put this yoke on them he's like we shouldn't put this yoke on them from you know from them that are turned to God meaning the ones that are saved let's not put this yoke on them but then he gives something that people are confused on but look what he says but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols from fornication and from things strangled and from blood now go back to verse number one real quick what did he leave out of that statement in verse number one of acts chapter 15 what was the main problem was the problem that they were saying that they should be circumcised the problem was that they said that they should be circumcised after the matter of Moses ye cannot be saved that was the problem so James says he agrees with Peter don't put this yoke on them trouble them not he's like instead he's like tell him to just quit worshiping idols he's like tell him to quit eating blood and tell him to quit strangling eating things that they strangle he's like he's trying to get he's trying to get the cultural divide of the church broken down is what he's trying to do he did not say do these things for salvation turn to leviticus chapter 17 I'll tell you where this list came from you say why those things because he's trying to just get the Gentiles that are now in the same church building with the the ex-Jews or whatever you want to call them he's trying to get them to be able to sit down at a potluck together and be able to fellowship I've used this example before I'll use it again he's trying to what if we had somebody come from a country here and they were just as saved as you and just as saved as me because they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ but they loved it was a delicacy in their country to eat raccoons that had been hit by cars and we're like you know so they bring they bring all these every potluck we have they bring in roadkill and we're like man you know you know what you know there's no there's nothing unclean anymore Peter already learned that lesson James is trying to just fix this problem because the Jews are so in depth and so ingrained with the Levitical carnal laws you know that they just they're they're finding these things repulsive all right they're finding the Gentiles themselves as culturally unacceptable look at Leviticus chapter 17 Leviticus chapter 17 look at verse Alex just explained to you real quickly why he chose these things you say why these items I mean why but look at Leviticus chapter 17 look at verse number 13 it says and whatsoever man there be of the children of you of Israel or of the strangers that so join among you which hunteth and catcheth any beast or foul that may be eaten he even shall pour out the blood thereof and cover it with dust for it is the life of all flesh what is the life of all flesh the blood okay and this I mean this is a whole sermon in itself why are we you know Jesus gave his life you know he gave that's why the blood was shed for you okay for it is the life of all flesh the blood of it is for the life thereof therefore I said unto the children of Israel he shall not eat the blood of no manner of flesh for the life of all flesh is in the blood thereof whosoever eateth it shall be cut off so to the Jews to these traditional Jews eating blood was disgusting eating blood was this unclean unholy thing all right because it just it wasn't something they culturally did so he said don't eat blood don't eat blood by the way all these levitical rules they all have spiritual applications for you know looking ahead to Jesus but they also have very practical reasons too you probably just shouldn't go and like start drinking a bunch of animal blood or you're gonna get some kind of bacteria or get sick or something you know so God is kind of has a dual you know his laws kind of make sense for us like that's why that's why a lot of these you know like dietary laws and things people still follow today just because they make like sense as far as being healthy and as far as not getting sick and things like this this is why by the way so you say why things strangled well this is why if you you know ever go hunting and you know maybe if you've ever been deer hunting and if an animal was wounded you were supposed to cut the animal's throat why because it it's a it's a it's a quick way to kill the animal because the life is in the blood if you kill you drain a blood the blood from you know an animal it will quickly die it will be a quick death right and look my father in law I hope he wouldn't mind me telling the story but my the meat actually tastes different too if you actually shoot a deer in the right place like through the lungs in the heart you don't have to do that because they'll bleed out inside their cavity this is maybe too much information for a sermon but the point is if you don't drain the blood out of an animal when it's killed the meat actually tastes different the meat will taste worse my father in law is such a picky hunter that he will only shoot a deer that he finds through his spotting scope that is sleeping he will not shoot a deer that is running because he you know it tastes different when all that blood is pumping through the animal and in the muscles you know that the meat does not taste as good it's not as tender and it has a different taste to it so look there's reasons for this but the point is maybe that's a little bit too much information for everybody in the room but the point is this James is trying to make cultural peace in the church while protecting the gospel so he does a very practical things here he's just trying to lead the church together turn to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9 he's trying to get the church to come together and let that takes proper leadership look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9 in verse number 20 Paul himself talks about this same philosophy hey maybe he learned it from James you know maybe he learned it from James James seems very wise to me when I read some of the things that he has said here but look at verse number 20 of 1 Corinthians chapter 9 in verse number 20 so you have to understand I mean that that everyone is saved and these churches are filled with Saint look churches for the saved it doesn't mean that unsaved people aren't going to come here but was the first thing that we do when an unsaved person comes in here we try to get them saved we try to preach them the gospel so they will get saved church is for the saved that's why you know I don't preach the gospel every single sermon because it would make no sense because you're all saved so church is for the saved yet everybody comes from all different cultures it's true with this room I'm sure we all come from different cultures but guess what we are to just you know we are to try to you know conform to the bible you know and have peace in the church because look our culture should just be thrown off first of all and the bible should become our culture but they were having major problems here all right look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9 in verse number 20 and Paul himself when he would go preach to people look what he says he says unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the law as under the law that I might gain them that are under the law so Paul when he went to a Jewish town to preach the gospel he wasn't taking a raccoon that was hit by a car and eating it and bringing it to the potluck you know he was he was eating what they eat he was fitting in with their culture why so he could gain the Jews so they would they would trust him they would want to hear what he has to say now look at verse 21 he says to them that are without the law this is this is the Gentiles this is the Gentiles as without the law then he clarifies because you're like oh he's just acting like a hoodlum you know when he's out there with the Gentiles no he says being not without law to God but under the law to Christ that I might gain them that are without the law so what he's saying is I just I go along with their culture he's like I'm not getting into sin I'm not worshiping idols and going into fornication and all these things he's like but I'm just fitting in with their culture so I can preach the gospel then look at verse 22 he says to the weak I became as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some and this I do and this is why he says he doesn't this I do for the gospel's sake that I might be partaker thereof with you he's saying you know what he's saying he's saying the reason I do this look he's telling you how to be a good soul winner too this is like great soul winning tips like just to be able to he's saying I'm just trying to relate to the people that I'm talking to he's like I'm trying to relate to the people that I'm talking to I'm trying to get with them on their level why for the gospel's sake because in the last part of the verse 23 it's perfect because he's like I want you to be in heaven with me it's what he says that's what he's saying so this is what James is trying to do James is trying to break down these cultural walls try to you know make these these gentiles that seem you know repulsive with some of the things that they do and eat he's trying to just get them to you know be I mean they shouldn't be worshiping idols this is true but the point is salvation comes first and then growth after that all right so he's saying look keep the gospel we must defend the gospel and let's send letters let's tell them to do these things which is I mean it's a good start as far as their christian growth goes all right it's great advice go back to axe axe chapter 15 oh by the way Paul does this in the very next chapter go to axe 16 actually just go to one one chapter over Paul does this with Timothy in axe chapter 16 I don't want to give it away but I mean he just he I guess it applies look at axe chapter 16 in verse number one he says then came he to Durban Leistra this is Paul and a certain disciple was there named Timotheus this is Timothy who was the son of a certain woman look at this guy's problem he was the son of a certain woman which was a Jewish and believed but his father was Greek this guy's like he's all messed up he's got a dad he's a Gentile and a mom who's a Jew says which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Leistra and Iconium him would Paul have to go forth with him and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters for they knew all that his father was a Greek so he just he just had Timothy circumcised so it just wouldn't cause any trouble so he would be you know to the Jews he'd be as a Jew and this is what he's doing he's just trying to be culturally pleasing I guess is what you could say for the Gospel's sake all right go back to verse number 21 we've got to hurry up we're running long here all right Acts chapter 15 verse 21 so James passes sentence he tells them you know just abstain from these things strangled things blood you know because that's the culture of the time look it's the same kind of culture today I mean we you know you shouldn't most people when they butcher things they drain the blood it's very similar it's Leviticus 17 and it's not because it's to be saved or anything even religious today it just makes sense like what God does makes sense look at verse 21 for Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day then it pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas namely so now they're sending them back namely Judas and surname Bar Sabbath and Silas chief man among the brethren so they they send Paul and Barnabas back the matter's over they send Paul and Barnabas back and they decide to send two elders of the church with them why? look at verse 23 and they wrote letters by them after this manner the apostles and elders and brethren sending greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles and Antioch and Syria and Silasia for as much as we have heard that certain which went out from among us so you know what this church is doing is they're taking responsibility for this this heresy that came out from their church they're sending Paul and Barnabas back they're sending two elders out they're like we got to get the word out that this is wrong this is false and then they send letters in every direction for as much as we have heard that certain went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your souls saying he must be circumcised and keep the law to whom we gave no such commandment right so subverting your souls meaning they're saying how serious it is they're showing that it was an attack on the gospel saying that it was really just like a bad thing it seemed good unto us being assembled one accord to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we have therefore sent Judas and Silas who shall also tell you the same things by mouth you know what they did here you know why they did that think about this you had this argument where did this all start it all started with the church in Antioch this is starting to sound like a court case but it started with the church in Antioch where these men showed up from Jerusalem they were really from Jerusalem they were really from the church and they started preaching a false gospel Paul and Barnabas you had these men Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them at the church in Antioch then Paul and Barnabas say we're going to go find out what the truth is they go off what if Paul and Barnabas would have come back and said yep we figured it out we were right I mean it's kind of like they had a dog in the hunt right so the reason this is Deuteronomy 1915 right here this is Deuteronomy 19 where the bible says let every matter be established by two or three witnesses so what they the reason they sent these notable men they weren't just any men they were elders of the church they were honorable men men that were respected they sent them as witnesses to what happened they sent them so when Paul and Barnabas came back and said yeah hey you know what you know what guys we were right they actually have witnesses to say yeah they are right they are correct these things did happen instead of it's like two men getting in an argument and you know one man saying okay I will talk to somebody about it because back he says I was right you were wrong well instead you come back with two witnesses this is why the bible just says by two or three witnesses two or three witnesses two or three witnesses right and they were actually witnesses they saw it happen they were there they came back and they told them all right so that's why that happened super important verse 27 verse 28 first seem good to the Holy Ghost and unto us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things the abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication from which if you keep yourselves you'll be saved no it says if you keep yourselves from these things ye shall do well very well so all they said is like look this is the this is the direction from the church these Gentiles they don't they didn't have the law he's like just do these things and you'll do well nothing to do with salvation look at verse 30 and when they were dismissed they came to Antioch when they had gathered the multitude together they delivered the the epistle they delivered the message the letter and look at verse 31 and when they had read they rejoiced for the consolation everybody was happy that this was solved all right everybody was happy that the church was in unity again all right so look I mean this is such a great story we'll stop here this is such a great story for this idea of the unity of the church because even today in any church in our church in any church there's just going to be people that come in from all different cultures all different areas but here's the thing look I mean even with standards I mean we're really talking about standards last Sunday we're really going to be talking about standards this Sunday even with standards they look folks there will be different decisions in different families there will be places that maybe I don't go with my family that maybe somebody in this church does go with their family there will be those types of standards that differ but here's the point and here's the point and here's the reason here's the reason that I really like how James solved this with just using the Bible how Peter did the same thing and this is why we use so much Bible in this church I mean if you're sitting here and you have a Bible I mean you're constantly just flipping to Bible versus constantly in the sermons here why? why? the reason that I do it that way and the reason that pastors like me do it that way is because we will be more unified if we go off the Bible we will be more unified if you can just make a decision in your mind that you know what no matter how I was raised no matter what I was taught no matter what I was told no matter how I spent the first 20, 30, 40 years of my life if it's in the Bible I'm just going to do it that way if you can make that decision and if everybody in a church could make that decision the church would be super unified everybody would be on the same page even standards would be the same if everyone just made that decision just threw off those old cultures and just said you know what the Bible is going to be in my culture that's why I'm just like look at it yourself turn there yourself don't just listen to me I mean that's why the Catholic Church has killed thousands of people maybe millions of people throughout history for having a Bible I'm like go read the Bible I'm like go read your Bible why aren't you reading your Bible more you should read more go read read, read, read, read study to show yourself approved it doesn't say listen to pastor constantly it says study to show yourself approved read the Bible yourself and guess what as you and the Holy Spirit read the Bible as me and the Holy Spirit read the Bible as you hear the Bible preach I mean we're just going to get more and more unified on the Bible I mean imagine that this is this is another reason by the way that it's just it's pointless to debate like people that aren't saved it's pointless like we don't go out soul winning to argue with people but even that like even when you see like a debate between a Christian and an atheist it's just a huge waste of time it's a waste of time why because what is the atheist basing anything on you can sit there and read them all the Bible you want he's like whatever big deal I don't believe that it's literally a pointless exercise if you have somebody that you're trying to debate that's not even saved it's a pointless exercise because what you have there you don't have a problem of differing of opinion you don't have a problem of logic you have a problem of a heart you have a heart problem and you know they have to allow the word of God be seeking the truth in their own heart in order for that to be fixed you're not going to fix that by arguing with them all right so look that's the point I'm trying to make is the reason we use so much Bible here is because of exactly how this problem was solved all right this problem was solved in a biblical way and the more Bible that we all look at the more Bible that we all you know just know the more unified we will be it's very simple it was such a great example of the leadership role too how they just they used the Bible they listened to everybody they figured out what was wrong they didn't just nobody was going off half cocked and it was just a very logical way and then not only does James defend the gospel but he just gives this practical advice to try to bring the church closer together by just this practical advice just like hey you know it's by grace through faith for you too but just could you not bring dead raccoons to the next potluck that's it that's all right and he's just trying to spark that Christian growth in them and you know that's another thing that everybody needs to keep in mind as well you know somebody that's been saved for 20 years and been soul winning for decades you know you gotta understand that people are going to come into a church all the time brand new Christians and they're not going to be in the same place you know as far as growth it's going to be very much like the Gentiles you know where we have to understand that people need time to learn the Bible and to grow get a mosquito up here speaking of blood all right last point last point the gospel was under attack this is the last point I want to make the gospel was under attack right away the gospel was right away under attack just a few years after Christ there is nothing new under the sun and what this is all I need you to understand it was attacked in what way it's always going to be attacked in the same way works were being added to it so it's just don't be surprised don't be surprised when works are being added to the gospel but guess what thank God that there was people back then that stood up to it thank God that Paul and Barnabas right away in verse number two jumped up and said this isn't right and then they went and they solved it the right way and then they got the truth corrected with everybody that was confused right away so it's a very serious thing it takes people to stand up for it the gospel is not going to stand up for itself and satan is constantly putting pressure I mean that's how satan wins it's just a constant pressure and as soon as christians led up he makes advances you know so christians need to be constantly standing up for the gospel and that's what we're doing when we go out soul winning we're out there we're getting the truth back out there you know so many people have distorted it and added works to it and we're outnumbered but we're putting pressure back is what we're doing all right and they judged everything using scripture which we always want to do let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer um great chapter axe chapter 15 um let's bow our heads