02.22.2009 - Acts 15 - What is Really Required?

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02.22.2009 Grace Summit Sermon - Part 1 - Acts 15 - What is Really Required? from Grace Summit on Vimeo

02.22.2009 Grace Summit Sermon - Part 2 - Acts 15 - What is Really Required? from Grace Summit on Vimeo

02.22.2009 Grace Summit Worship from Grace Summit on Vimeo

Next Sunday we will be having a communion service.

I'd like to give you - because my wife asked me to - to give you a rundown of where we have been

We started with becoming a community empowered by the Spirit - we are looking at Acts - the first century community. Acts 1:8 - You shall receive power - to do My work - to bring the message of the gospel to the remotest parts of the earth.

After that, there were 120 of them gathered together and the Spirit is given at Pentecost. Peter preaches a sermon and 3000 come to Christ and they have this enormous church in Jerusalem empowered by the Spirit.

Acts 3 and 4 - several miracles. The disciples being arrested and miraculously freed. Barnabas gives a plot of land and this community is caring for each other. It is a family making sacrifices for one another and God blesses and empowers them all the more.

Acts 5 and 6 - problems enter that threaten this community - Ananias and Saphira - God dealt with that problem (He killed them!) Hopefully He doesn't do that today. But then the church was able to deal with some other problems.

Acts 7 Stephen was martyred and it caused the spread of the Gospel.

Acts 8 - Salvation of Saul/Paul -

Acts 10 - Peter has a vision of eating things that are unclean - Lobster and Shrimp - so praise God for Acts 10 so we can eat those things. Every now and then a good pork roast is excellent and you can thank Acts 10 for that.

Then Cornelius and his household come to Christ.

Acts 11 - First Gentile church in Antioch - we see this church being the base for Paul and Barnabas' ministry to the rest of the known Roman empire.

That brings us to Acts 15 - I'd like to get some feedback. How many of you - were Catholic? Lutheran? Presbyterian? Methodist? Non-denominational? No church background?

There is a lot of diversity here. There are many denominations - but in trying to bring that together into one community - we have to ask, what are the essentials - what must be agreed upon for a church community to work? It is important - as we have communion next week - the church would gather and answer - What must we agree upon? That happens in Acts 15 - and then throughout history we have gotten the creeds - the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed -

And the next question must be asked - where is there freedom for diversity? God was never interested in a community where everyone is the same - in fact, he wanted the opposite - all cultures together. The Gospel can move into any culture and work within that culture.

There was a big mistake made among the missionary movements of the 18^th and 19^th centuries - where they felt that they needed to Westernize the people they were ministering to.

Acts 15 is the pivotal chapter of Acts. It divides the book in half - not in size, but it is the climax of how to integrate the Jews and Gentiles into a community. We don't see it today. But it would be like Rush Limbaugh marrying Nancy Pelosi! Think about that! Don't think about that! But that would be what it would be like! It was a very difficult circumstance.

Antioch of Syria - first Gentile church. Then Paul and Barnabas go to Cyprus (where Barnabas was from) then up to Perga - then they went to Pisydian Antioch - then down to Iconium, Lystra, and Derby and then back to Antioch -

Acts 15 - back in Antioch

15:1 Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

Some Jews come from Judea and are saying that the Gentiles need to be circumcised - they need to follow the Jewish law. There is a debate - an argument - between Paul and Barnabas and these who have brought this issue up - the result is that they go down to Jerusalem.

Acts 15:... they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. 5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."

Peter stands up and explains Acts 10 - how he led the Gentiles to Christ -

Acts 15: 8 "And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;

Just as the Jews received the Spirit, so did the Gentiles -

9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

In the Old Testament, a Gentile who wanted to become a Jew - must have been circumcised. But now, Peter is saying that is no longer the case - the Gentiles do not need to become Jewish to become members of the faith community. They only needed faith - to believe in Jesus Christ.

A church may have many membership regulations - and that is fine - but to be part of The Church - the global church - God's family - is to believe in Jesus Christ.

10 "Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

They wanted to make them follow the Law - "which we have not been able to bear" but Peter says no.

We only come to God through faith. We only live the Christian life by faith. Not by your activity or works. We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way also.

Peter is promoting unity - no distinction - but there will be diversity. There was a wall that separated those groups of people - they never connected from Abraham until Christ.

Ephesians 2 - Paul explains it.

(11 Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," [which is] performed in the flesh by human hands-- 12 [remember] that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both [groups into] one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, [which is] the Law of commandments [contained] in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, [thus] establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner [stone], 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.)

But let's look at Galatians 3:28 - no distinction

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

Paul says, Look - when you look at religion - up to this point - and even up to today - there are distinctions made between people - Between Jew and Gentile - the Jews believed themselves to be superior - to be circumcised. - Paul says there is not a superior race or culture. Nor slave nor free man - this relates to status - social standing - your status - a slave, of which there were many - half the world's population in the Roman period - the slave did not have the religious freedom. Male nor female - There were certain areas of the temple where women could not go. Jesus broke it all down - we are one. There are no distinctions on any of those issues. If a person has faith in Christ - he has free access - there is no difference - we are all completely - we are all priests, able to come to Him completely and fully.

Acts 15 - James gets up and speaks - he takes some Old Testament verses and indicate that the Gentiles would come in and not have to convert to follow the Law. They move on from there - there is the ability for diversity - there are some essentials though. James wants to deal with those problems - and they put forth this decree:

Acts 15: 19 "Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

We bring all these people together - the Gentiles were coming in with a completely different set of rules and morals - so James lays out some other standards.

First - to abstain from any form of idolatrous practice. For the Gentiles that is what they did - it was a part of their existence - they had temples everywhere - and to do business - they would have these sacrifices to idols - the food in the markets were all sacrificed to idols. They are bringing all of that into this separate Jewish culture - and James is saying - you can't do that anymore. In order to be a Christian - yes, you must have faith, but you must forsake these other idols. There is a church in Colorado - the Church of the Living Elvis - they worship him and pray to him - it is a movement of Elvis worshipers - but that is funny and a lot weird - but we need to understand that an idol is anything that takes the place of God in your life. America is filled with idolatry - but just not statues! Work, money, sports, - anything you set above God in your affections. We use the word addictions for many things - food, drugs, alcohol, sex - addictions and idolatry are really similar. It is a devotion to something else - other than God - I challenge us - there is a significant amount of idolatry to fall into - God wants our whole hearts - we have to watch - is there anything in your heart? It could be a person - or a way of doing things - that prevents you from being devoted to Christ. The Great Commandment - Love the Lord your God with All your heart, soul, mind, strength - when your mind wanders to things you shouldn't think about - He is only getting part of your mind. That thing that you give your energy to is an idol. So we all have idols - could be simple things like Elvis - and we think that is funny - but what if it is football - or food? There life is centered around it - they watch television shows about it - Hey - sounds like me!

Next word - fornication - I should have used a different word here. - Sexual immorality. You had people whose worship practices included sexual immorality - practices against biblical standard that were well-accepted. When it comes to morality - we need to hold to a biblical standard -

"70% of men are addicted/involved with internet pornography" - I said - that sounds high - and some of the guys said, I think it is closer to 90%

We have made it - "the worst sin" - we have turned it into the most awful thing - and what has happened - it goes underground and people are unable to acknowledge they have an issue with that. The Bible puts food addiction and sex addiction at the same level - we would never think that in our mindset - the reason I say that - the church needs to learn to be a safe place where people can get help when they have struggles - but in reality - most would be afraid to tell someone at church and that is the church's fault. We have not been willing to discuss it or acknowledge it. If you have that issue - talk to me or someone else. It tends to be pushed under the shelf and people don't get the help they need. You can't overcome it on your own. You need help. But with alcohol - with AA it is a bit more acceptable to do that. We need to be a safe place and we wish to be.

"what is strangled and from blood" - in the gentile world, that was typical and common.

Idolatry - Immorality - this next one - the focus is - an essential which we will call sensitivity - He is asking the Gentiles to be sensitive to others in the community - to not offend others who have different convictions. You probably have no idea if you chicken was strangled or not. For the Jews and Gentiles - this was huge - but it is essential that you practice sensitivity - Paul expands on this - in 1 Cor. 10: 23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own [good,] but that of his neighbor.

Christianity is a religion of freedom - that is what Paul is saying - that is what is happening in Acts 15 - the Jews, who were under the most restrictive system are being told there is complete freedom with only a few restrictions. Paul is telling the Gentiles that they have complete freedom - but let no one seek your own good - but that of your neighbor - don't do anything that will cause offense and pain and harm to someone else. That is the primary essential of New Testament Christianity -

1 Cor. 10: 31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the [profit] of the many, that they may be saved.

Do it to God's glory - whatever the issues are today - that you have - certain Christians will have complete freedom in certain things - but with your freedom - don't offend or hurt -

; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the [profit] of the many, that they may be saved.

We come from all kinds of backgrounds - and those backgrounds have caused us to believe that certain things are right and wrong (on the non-essentials) the essentials are very small - but we have all been preconditioned to think - this is not essential. There is diversity - in order to take it and turn it into a community empowered by the Holy Spirit to do His work in our world - these few things - not seeking our own good, but the good of the neighbor. For us, that is the primary essential. The New Testament focuses on that essential - to love others and live in such a way to bring grace and healing to others.