WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:03.839 Thank you for tuning in to Newsong Church's Sermon Podcast. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:12.240 Newsong is a gospel-centered community-serving Anglican church in Port Perry, Ontario, and the parish of the Anglican Network in Canada. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:13.759 We'd love to connect with you. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:19.760 If you'd like to reach out to us, you can find our contact information at Newsongportperry.ca. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.719 God bless you through the ministry of the Word. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:30.480 Reading from the Book of Acts, chapter 15, beginning at the first verse. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:37.520 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:44.479 Unless you were circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:59.759 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:14.159 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:24.799 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:36.560 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:42.159 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:54.480 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:00.079 That by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:08.879 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:15.599 And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleaned their hearts by faith. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:29.280 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:36.560 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.000 And all the assembly fell silent. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:56.000 After they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:03.280 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:06.560 And with this the words of the prophets agreed. 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:08.479 Just as it is written. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:14.400 After this, I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:29.120 I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:47.039 Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and for what has been strangled, and from blood. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:57.039 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:01.360 This is the word of the Lord. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:15.120 Why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have ever been able to bear? 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:26.720 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:28.240 So let's pray. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:38.399 Sovereign Lord, you reign over all things. 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:43.040 From King Cyrus to our world today. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.560 And Lord, you feed us with the bread of life. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.399 Lord, would you feed us today? 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:56.319 Feed us through your word. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:04:59.360 Feed hungry souls. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:01.600 We come hungry for you, Lord. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:09.439 And make us glad to enter into your house this morning and every day. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.000 Through our Lord Jesus, we pray. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:13.120 Amen. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:14.879 Please be seated. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:31.839 So one of my favorite shows in the last number of years concluded maybe a couple of years ago, but uh always enjoyable to go back and rediscover some of these things. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:34.160 One of my favorite shows is called The Good Place. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:36.240 Has anyone seen The Good Place? 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.680 Yeah, terrible theology, but uh a really wonderful show in many ways. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:52.959 The Good Place is a sitcom uh set in a very kind of bureaucratic vision of the afterlife, where folks are sorted into uh the good place or the bad place. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:55.519 You know, we don't use the proper term, so to speak. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:06.480 But you get sorted, whether you belong to the good place or the bad place, based on an infallible point system, metaphysical point system that's been developed over many cosmic eons, right? 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:09.680 And in the first episode, they sort of set up the premise. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:22.240 For those who've arrived at the good place, they're explaining how it is that they've arrived here and uh and what it is that they've done to deserve to be there, what it was that was done uh to make it to the good place. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:30.959 Now they put up a huge sort of screen of all the points that count for you, things you've done in your life, and the things that count against you. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:35.199 And I'm gonna read a couple of them because I find them uh quite funny. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:39.600 Um hug a sad friend, that's worth four points. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:44.399 Save someone from drowning, that's plus four hundred and fifty points. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.480 But if you poison that river, it's minus four thousand points. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:52.720 And if you use Facebook as a verb, that's minus six points. 00:06:54.160 --> 00:07:04.240 So the premise of this show, the premise of this point system, is that something must be done in order to make it to the good place, in order to be saved from the bad place, as it were. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:15.439 And it plays on, I think, that very common notion that we have, that somehow there's a tally going on, that our good has to outweigh our bad if we expect to make it in the end. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:36.000 Now, we've been journeying through the book of Acts, and we've been learning together what it means to be go and tell disciples the commission that the risen Lord Jesus gives to his apostles is you will be my witnesses, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, you know, in the community that you're familiar with, and to Samaria and to the ends of the world. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:38.879 You'll cross cultural boundaries and barriers. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.519 There is no barrier too great for the gospel not to meet. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:45.439 You will be my witnesses. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:48.319 And we might ask, witnesses of what? 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:59.360 The answer would be this: you will be witnesses of God's work of salvation, his deliverance, his rescue, his restoration of humanity and creation. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:04.720 This is what you're going to bear witness to, what you have seen God do in Christ. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:08.079 That's what the apostles are commissioned to go and proclaim. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.639 This is a restoration for all of humanity. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:22.800 The whole story of the Bible be uh um hinges on our first parents' decision to rebel against God's good will for them, to choose self-will and rebellion. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:27.680 And we live in the consequences with the guilt of that, and we live that out in our own lives. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.000 We like sheep have gone astray. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:34.480 That's the Bible's diagnosis of what it means to be a fallen human being. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:39.360 There's nothing we can do on our own willpower to course correct. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.879 We're always curved in on ourselves somehow. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:46.159 But what Jesus has done is entered into that humanity. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:54.240 He's entered into our fallen condition to bring it back into full communion with God, the way he always intended it to be. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:59.200 This is a deliverance, a rescue, a restoration for all of humanity. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:06.159 And God has been working that deliverance through the story of the people of Israel, through his covenant people. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:16.559 God has called a people to himself, Israel, given them his law, so that they can order their lives towards his redemptive purposes. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:22.799 That's the call for God's people, Israel, and that's the call to obey God's law. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.440 Acts 15 is our passage this morning. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:38.639 And at the heart of Acts 15 is this debate taking place within the broad story of God's deliverance, redemption, rescue, restoration. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:47.759 All of this that's been playing out culminates in this moment where folks know that something needs to be done so that we can be saved. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:49.759 What is that thing? 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:56.480 And I think what we see in Acts 15 and in our passage this morning is that we see one of two options in front of us. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:00.879 What needs to be done so that I can be saved is the question. 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:06.000 Either religion or gospel. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:14.799 Either religion or gospel needs to be done so that we can be saved, either good work or good news. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:19.840 That's what the two options are in front of us in Acts 15. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:29.919 Now, according to one preacher, uh, Acts 15 is something that uh is is not frequently preached on, I think, or at least it's often under preached on. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:40.080 And I think the reason for that might be something along the lines of uh Acts 15, unlike, say, you know, some of Jesus' most vivid parables, we love the prodigal son, don't we? 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:41.279 It's a beautiful story. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:45.759 Or maybe some of uh Paul's teaching, which have very clear application. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:50.080 Acts 15 is a lengthy, drawn-out theological debate. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.799 And I think for most of us, when we hear the phrase theological debate, we go, boring. 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:56.000 You know what I mean? 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:02.720 It's a little bit like, gosh, let's get a bunch of clergymen together to debate how many angels can dance on a pinhead. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:03.519 You know what I mean? 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:08.559 Can seem very abstract, can seem very removed from our experience. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:10.000 But here's what I want to say. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:18.399 I want to say that Acts 15 is not only the hinge of the book of Acts on which the whole book turns and takes its shape. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:26.240 I want to say that at the heart of Acts 15, at the heart of this theological debate, the gospel itself is at stake. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:33.440 If we can get this right, then we can catch the significance of the gospel. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:42.799 If we can track with this back and forth debate, we will catch the good news, what makes the good news good news. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:50.960 Pastor and legendary Bible teacher John Stott summarizes the uh the stakes, the implications like this. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:53.120 He asks a series of questions. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:55.519 Here's what's going on in Acts 15. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:05.840 Is the sinner saved by the sheer grace of God in and through Christ crucified when he or she simply believes, that is, flees to Jesus for refuge? 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:11.759 Has Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection, done everything necessary for salvation? 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:20.879 Or are we saved partly through the grace of Christ and partly through our own good works and religious performance? 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:33.360 What's going on here is this is justification standing right before God by faith alone or through a mixture of faith and works, grace and law, Jesus and Moses? 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:40.960 Are Gentile believers a sect of Judaism or authentic members of a multinational family? 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:47.360 If we want to catch what makes the good news good news, we have to get Acts 15 right. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:53.120 So would you open up to Acts 15 with me, either in your order of service or in your Bible? 00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:00.000 Acts 15 is asking the question: what needs to be done so that we can be saved? 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:10.639 So that we can participate and have a share in God's delivering, rescuing, saving, restoring work in the world and among us. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:12.320 What needs to be done? 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:14.240 Here's one side of the debate. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:18.480 One side of the debate says, here's what needs to be done is religion. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.679 Good work needs to be done if we're going to be saved. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:23.039 Here's the context. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:35.360 So in verse, or in chapters 13 and 14, Paul and Barnabas have been on, uh have been sent on mission to proclaim the gospel to Gentiles, to non-Jews, to outsiders, so to speak. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:41.519 And they've been seeing God do amazing and miraculous things and confirming his word amongst them. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:49.039 But opposition starts to creep up in the life of this new multinational family of faith. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:54.159 No longer is the good news simply understood for Jews, it's being opened up to everyone. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:14:00.000 And this is causing some racial, ethnic, theological tensions. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:04.559 And so an objection gets raised in the first couple of verses here. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:14.879 Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, teaching this church, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.759 Their teachings again summarized in verse 5. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:23.360 It is necessary to circumcise the Gentiles in order for them to keep the law of Moses. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:25.440 So who's saying this? 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:28.799 It's the Pharisees that are saying this. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.320 They get identified later on in verse 5. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:37.840 Now, the Pharisees, I think, sometimes get a really hard rep, let's put it that way. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:43.279 Some Pharisees in the Gospels, it's true, I think, have a very malevolent intention towards the Lord Jesus. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:45.200 I think they want to trap him in his words. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:46.399 They want to get him. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.759 But I don't think every Pharisee has a malevolent intention. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:54.080 In fact, the Apostle Paul describes himself later on as a Pharisee himself. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:59.919 I think what the Pharisees are a radically law-abiding group of lay people. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:08.080 We want to be serious about keeping God's word and doing whatever it takes to make God happy through our radical obedience. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:09.919 That's what the Pharisees are about. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:26.240 And these Pharisees have clearly heard the gospel of Jesus, responded by putting their faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and are now trying to reconcile God's law that He's delivered to Israel through Moses with what God has done through Jesus. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:35.200 And the answer they've arrived at is: well, if you're going to be a Christian, if you're going to put your faith in Jesus properly speaking, then you have to first become a Jew. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.639 You have to first submit yourself to the requirements of the law. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:42.320 You have to obey the law and all of its fine details. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:46.639 And all of that is symbolized by the covenant sign of circumcision. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:53.279 You need to submit yourself to everything it means to be a Jew before you can become a Christian. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.200 That's what's going on here. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:03.200 You can't be saved without first submitting, uh you can't be saved by Jesus without first submitting to Moses. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.200 Which is to say, salvation is up to you. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:08.720 Salvation is your good work. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:11.600 Maybe there's a combination of trusting in Jesus, sure. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:17.919 But if you're not doing the right things, you're not getting the points you need to be saved. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:19.279 That's the idea here. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:21.120 We're tracking with that. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:23.600 Okay, because I think that's so important. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:29.360 I think that's so important because I think that is a mindset that has not disappeared with time. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:36.879 I think that is a mindset that we can still carry forward in the life of the church and in our own spiritual lives as well. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:41.360 Sometimes we hear it in how the gospel itself is presented. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:48.000 We might hear the gospel presented like this, and I confess I've presented it like this myself in the past. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:50.480 You're a drowning person. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:17:01.440 You're lapping water in a tumultuous sea, and you have no hope of rescue except for that one ship that sails by and tosses you a life raft, or tosses you, what is that, the life preserver, the little donut thing. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:02.720 That's what it's called, right? 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.799 Tosses you the life preserver. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:10.000 Now, that grace has been offered you, but you have to do the work of swimming over to it. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.720 You have to do the work of grabbing onto it, don't you? 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:24.720 Or maybe you're a desperately sick person, a terminally sick person, but there's good news a doctor has slid medicine across the table that will save your life, but it's up to you to decide to take that medicine. 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:32.960 Now, I'm not trying to pull apart the idea that God's grace and our good works that you know don't cooperate, don't go together. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:34.799 Track with me here. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:42.240 But often what these illustrations can boil down to is God might have done this good thing, but really it's up to you. 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:43.680 Really, what do you want? 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:45.039 What are you going to be doing here? 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.240 Which is to say, what needs to be done to be saved? 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.799 You need to do God's preferred work. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:55.759 Even if his preferred work is to submit yourself to his word. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:57.599 This is religion. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:59.200 This is a religious requirement. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:05.279 And sometimes it takes a specific, uh, just a specific look within the life of the church. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:21.200 Sometimes we, well, sometimes we call into question the validity of someone's salvation if, for example, they haven't said, you know, the sinner's prayer, or they haven't spoken in tongues, or they don't show particular moral improvement that we expect. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:27.200 This is to say that your salvation depends upon your action. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:31.839 Now, I'm not against the sinner's prayer, by the way, and I'm not against speaking in tongues rightly understood. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.279 I'm not against any of these things. 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:34.240 Certainly not. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:36.480 All of these things accord with the gospel. 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:44.880 But when the gospel hinges on us taking these actions, then salvation is ultimately up to us. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:46.240 That's the way of religion. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:50.160 These might be good things and not bad things, but they're still up to us to do. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.839 And that's what the Pharisees are saying in their own context. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:56.480 And I just think this is true within the life of the church. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.839 I think it's also true even outside of the life of the church. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.880 I see this, I mean, in some ways it makes me very hopeful. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:04.319 I wonder if you've noticed this too. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:10.799 There's a renewed interest in recovering a Christian heritage or an intellectual tradition. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:17.440 I see a lot of public intellectuals wrestling around with taking the Bible very seriously and giving it careful reading. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:23.920 I see full auditoriums of people who will buy tickets to hear a three-hour lecture through the book of Genesis. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:30.720 You know, young people in their twenties, which you sort of think like, oh my goodness, they'll sit through a three-hour lecture on Genesis. 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.680 Some of these public intellectuals take the Bible very seriously. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:42.559 We want to recover a Christian heritage because there's something about this heritage that can address the problems philosophically, ethically, morally in our current situation. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:49.599 And yet, the best reading of Christianity, the best reading of the Bible that we have to offer is a very religious one. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:54.000 Is one that says it's ultimately up to you to order your life properly. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:20:00.880 And so what we have to offer is maybe a very psychologized, is that a word? 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:01.839 Sure, great. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.759 Happened into a word, that's great. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:14.720 A very psychologized reading, a very self-help reading, which says if you understand these symbols and stories properly, then you order your life in a way that God is pleased with, in a way that works out well for you. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:20.559 What's being offered here is not gospel Christianity, it's religion. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:25.839 It's up to you to order the chaos in your life. 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:39.680 And it concerns me sometimes that as exciting as it is to see a culture re-engaging with Scripture and taking it seriously, there's so much opportunity for us as Christians to come alongside that and bear witness. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:43.759 It concerns me sometimes that the church doesn't always catch the difference. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.839 That at the end of the day, what's being proclaimed here is on you. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:53.920 And good works and salvation, whatever that means, that's on you to perform. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.319 This isn't freedom, friends. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:06.319 This is either an endless striving after an unattainable goal, or it results in prideful self-righteousness. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.079 I've done this and I'm nailing it. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:09.200 I'm doing a great job. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:10.880 What need do I have for a savior? 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:12.400 I'm my own savior. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.599 What results is a sort of Phariseaism. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:21.519 So here are the Pharisees making their argument. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:30.079 You can't be a Christian, you can't be saved without first submitting yourself to God's law that he delivered through Moses. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:31.279 The law is good. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:33.759 I've quoted the book of Galatians earlier. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:44.240 It's not that the law is a bad thing, God delivered it and for good purposes to point towards that ultimate work of restoration and deliverance that he'll accomplish through the coming Messiah. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.079 But now the Messiah has come. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.880 The purpose of the law has been fulfilled. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:56.319 And so now do we look to the law or do we look to the one who's fulfilled that law for the sake of our salvation? 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.359 So here's what happens a debate ensues. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:14.000 And Barnabas engaged in this debate, verse 2, ultimately they head off to Jerusalem to gather the whole church together to prayerfully, considerately come to a definitive conclusion on the nature of the gospel here. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:19.200 And just as an aside, I think it's so important for us to notice what they do in verses two to six here. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:29.359 When they gather, they gather as those who submit themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the careful study of Scripture. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.920 You see that in James' response later on. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:39.920 They have reflected very deep on what Scripture has to say about the Messiah and about how God fulfills the promise of his salvation. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:50.240 These aren't folks who just gathered together in a circle and stayed silent until someone felt a real inner peace about something, or a booming voice came into the auditorium. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:52.640 These are folks who gave themselves over to God's word. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.559 What does God's word have to say? 00:22:54.799 --> 00:23:09.279 And so later on when it's said that it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to come to this conclusion, it's not because of some ethereal experience, it's because the church has given herself over to the careful study and reading of Scripture. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:13.519 We know that something pleases the Lord when it accords with his word. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:16.640 And that's what the church is concerned with here. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:20.400 So, is the way for religion or is the way for the gospel? 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:23.200 This is what the church has gathered to deliberate. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:28.240 And in verse 7, we start to see the good news emerge here. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:44.960 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, everyone who's assembled, brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:58.559 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.400 So what's Peter saying here? 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:15.920 Peter is pointing us back to that episode in Acts ten that we looked at just a couple of weeks ago, and he said, This is the lesson I learned in that moment, that God shows no partiality between insiders and outsiders, between Jews and Gentiles, and neither should we. 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:20.480 He gives the same Holy Spirit to both, and both have a common Savior. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.160 That's what Peter's pointing us to. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.240 We need to bear in mind it's probably been about ten years or so since Acts chapter ten. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:30.400 I know that's five chapters ago, but something like ten years has gone by. 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:32.880 That's what Peter can talk about the early days. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:34.640 That's what Peter's saying. 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:38.960 Peter is saying that God saves by his grace. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:55.839 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear, but we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.599 The yoke is something you place on a beast of burden. 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:03.599 It's a weight to keep it doing the work it's supposed to be doing. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:08.000 He's saying the yoke of the law is something we ourselves could not perform. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:09.839 It was too heavy for us. 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.960 But what we've seen God do is fulfill the purpose of the law in Christ. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:23.759 We don't point folks to the law for salvation, we point them to Christ for salvation, because it's by Christ we've been saved by grace. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:30.799 In Christ we have received God's unearned, generous kindness towards us. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:32.720 That's what Peter is saying here. 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:35.119 God saves by his grace. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:37.119 And Peter and Barnabas agree with him. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:38.160 Verse 12. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:47.519 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them amongst the Gentiles. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:50.960 So Peter gets up and says, God saves by his grace. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:58.000 Barnabas and Paul get up and say, God confirms his work through his signs and wonders. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:07.200 And surely they've got their missionary experiences in Acts 13 and 14 in mind, seeing the Lord show up again and again in miraculous ways to confirm the message. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:10.960 And we've said it before in the series, but it's worth saying again at this point. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:20.240 When signs and wonders are present, they're always meant to confirm the message of salvation, not be the thing to strive after themselves. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:25.119 Signs and wonders point past themselves to the one working salvation. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:28.240 They're not the things that we chase after, right? 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:31.279 This is what Paul and Barnabas are saying. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:38.400 God has confirmed his word to the Gentiles and His saving work by these signs and wonders that we've seen. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:48.799 God saves by his grace, God confirms his work by his signs, and so James gets up and has the final word, something like the moderator of this council meeting. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:54.559 James gets up and said that says that God fulfills his sovereign plan. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:56.319 Verse 13. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:00.079 After they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:05.200 Simeon, that is Peter's Hebrew name, Simon Peter, Simeon. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:15.200 Peter is related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name, people that would belong to him, Israel. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:25.839 And with this the words of the prophets, prophets plural, but he quotes one from Amos, the prophets agree, just as it is written, after this I will return. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:31.039 This is the Lord speaking, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:43.440 I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes all these things known from of old. 00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:45.200 What's James saying here? 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:53.200 He's saying that God's call has not just been for the people of Israel, but he's called the people of Israel for the sake of the whole world. 00:27:53.519 --> 00:28:01.359 God has always been concerned for the salvation of all, and he remains concerned for the salvation of all. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:20.079 He quotes Amos as one example, but he says, the prophets, because the whole Old Testament agrees, all of Scripture agrees that God is for us. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:26.799 God saves us by his grace, he confirms his work by his signs, and he fulfills his sovereign plan. 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:29.680 You notice what those three things have in common, right? 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:31.279 Who's doing the work? 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:32.559 Is it us? 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:34.799 It's not us, is it? 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:38.880 God saves, God confirms, God fulfills. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:44.559 James's point is this God has accomplished the work of salvation on our behalf. 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:56.079 Who are we, therefore, to lay a burden on anyone to say it's up to you to earn your salvation, to do the work, to earn points. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:57.680 We couldn't do it ourselves. 00:28:57.759 --> 00:28:59.839 Who are we to say others ought to do that? 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:06.400 Instead, we point to Christ, the one who has done it for us, the one who has fulfilled what the law requires. 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:11.279 The thing that we couldn't do for ourselves is the thing Jesus did on our behalf. 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:14.319 What needs to be done so that I can be saved? 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.640 Jesus has already done it. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:19.440 He has already submitted himself to the law. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:23.359 He has submitted himself even to circumcision, we read in Luke chapter one. 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:25.359 He's done all of that on our behalf. 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:33.839 He's taken our yoke of obedience on himself, and through his obedience now offers us his light and easy yoke. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:38.000 His invitation is come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:40.079 I will give you rest. 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:47.839 Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:48.400 Why? 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:53.519 Because you won't find rest taking that yoke on yourself to try and earn your own salvation. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:56.160 Come to me, and you will find your rest. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:15.200 You will find your assurance, you will find surety, you will know that I have accomplished this salvation on your behalf, and I've done it through the cross and resurrection, where I've paid the penalty, where I've delivered you, where I've rescued you, and where I've begun the ultimate restoration of humanity in my new life. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:18.640 This is what God has done for us in Christ. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:26.559 What needs to be done so that we can be saved is already done. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:32.319 Therefore, we trust in Him to save us. 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:39.279 We don't trust in ourselves to accomplish the things we think will make God happy and secure the outcome we want. 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:42.720 We go to the one who has already secured that outcome. 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:45.279 We always go back to Christ. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:52.400 I said earlier that sometimes the gospel's presented like you're a drowning person who gets thrown a life preserver. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:53.200 R. 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:53.440 C. 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:56.000 Sprohl offers a really helpful correction. 00:30:56.160 --> 00:31:01.920 He says the analogy that fallen man is like a man that who can't swim and he's cast adrift into the ocean. 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:24.319 He's gone under twice already, he's not he's going down now for a third time, his head is already under the water, he's got one arm stretched out, and only the top part of his fingers are above the surface of the water, and someone throws a life preserver, and they better throw it accurately, that preserver has to come right up against his hand, he will or he will most certainly perish forever. 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:28.799 And so we say God throws the life preserver right against his fingers. 00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:34.880 But if that man doesn't grasp the life preserver on his own strengths, he will drown. 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:37.519 This is what Sproll says. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:40.559 See, that's not what I find in Scripture. 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:56.480 I don't find saving grace being offered to people who are sick unto death in a hospital room, that saving drug is given and administered to a corpse who is already pronounced dead, who cannot in his own strength even respond to the gospel. 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:21.279 God has done for you if you were in Christ, pardon me, what God has done, what God did for you if you were in Christ is that after you went down the third time and you were a stone cold dead at the bottom of the sea, God the Holy Spirit dove into the water, picked you up out of the water, took you to the shore, and resuscitated you and brought you alive again through the power of his creation. 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:25.759 You are a new creation in Christ, and that is grace. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:27.839 Do you see the difference? 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:33.519 If we don't catch the difference, we miss what makes the gospel such good news. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:44.000 So, friends, if you are checking this Jesus guy out, figuring out what he's about, I hope that you will catch the difference between the way of religion and the way of the gospel. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:46.160 It makes all the difference. 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:49.440 Either it's up to you or it's up to him. 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:54.960 If you're growing in Christ, you're figuring out what it means to follow him. 00:32:56.000 --> 00:33:03.599 By all means, repentance of sin is a necessary part of your salvation, acknowledging that we've done wrong, we've gone away like lost sheep. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:05.200 Lord, would you forgive me? 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:07.200 That is necessary. 00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:11.759 But friends, we must also repent of our self-righteousness. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:15.440 Everything that tells us it's up to us to earn it before God. 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:23.920 Some of us today, I think, have even been going to church our whole lives and are still convinced that it's up to us to earn it before God. 00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:33.359 And friends, if that's you, you have to repent of your self-righteousness today and put your trust in the Lord Jesus who has already done it for you. 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:40.559 And friends, we also acknowledge that the gospel-centered life is not opposed to God's law. 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:45.839 God's law is not a bad thing, but rather it's something that now can work for our transformation. 00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:55.279 See, it's an interesting conclusion to this passage where James says, look, it's by grace alone, not by works, and yet he calls the Gentiles to works. 00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:56.240 Did you notice that? 00:33:56.480 --> 00:33:57.440 Verse 19. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:04.960 They should well let's write to them so that they should abstain from things polluted by idols, uh, things strangled, abstain from the blood. 00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:12.159 Those are all related to food laws that Jews would find very offensive in the communities in which they live, and abstain from sexual immorality. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:16.159 That's a very basic call to purity and holiness. 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.239 They should abstain from these things. 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:30.719 Those are good works to perform, but not as though these are the works they will do to earn salvation, but these are the works that reflect their gratitude and transformation as they enter into the new life. 00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:39.599 Love fulfills the law of God, and therefore this is an opportunity to show love to your Jewish neighbors who would otherwise be offended by these actions. 00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:46.639 You see, suddenly the law of God has gone from being a taskmaster that says, here's the bar you have to meet if you expect to be saved. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:57.920 Now it becomes a guide that says, here is a way for you to enter into living the new life, keeping in step with the Spirit, conforming your character to Christ. 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:02.719 The law becomes a good thing that is for us and not against us. 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:09.039 So, friends, what needs to be done so that I can be saved, delivered, rescued, and restored? 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:11.920 Do I earn points like in the good place? 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:15.280 Or do I put my faith in Jesus? 00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:20.960 Do I believe the good news that He has done for me what I cannot do for myself? 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:26.000 We believe, Peter says, that we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus. 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:29.280 Would you know the grace of our Lord Jesus today? 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:30.239 Amen. 00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:33.039 Thank you for listening today. 00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:38.800 We follow a generous God who calls us to give willfully, cheerfully, and sacrificially towards gospel ministry. 00:35:39.039 --> 00:35:45.119 Newsong is one hundred percent funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:52.880 If you'd like to learn more about how to give towards Newsong's ministry, you can do just that at newsongportperry.ca slash giving. 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:55.360 God bless you and keep you today and every day.