WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:06.000 Our passage of scripture for today's sermon comes from Galatians two one through ten. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:18.079 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:24.000 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:37.039 I went up because of a revelation and set before them, though privately before those who seemed influential, the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running or had not run in vain. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:42.719 But even Titus, who is with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:52.240 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in and slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:59.759 To them we did not yield in submission, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.159 Even from those who seemed influential, what they were makes no difference to me. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.239 God no shows no partiality. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:10.239 Those I say, who seemed influential, added nothing to me. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:20.560 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the circum to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:29.120 For he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised, worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:39.680 And when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, received the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of the fellowship to the Barnabas and me. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.040 That we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:45.439 Only they asked us to remember the poor. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:47.280 The very thing I was eager to do. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:48.879 This is the word of God. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:02.799 So it was on YouTube this past week, as you do, you know, um throughout the week. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:16.960 Um and I was scrolling mindlessly, and a video popped into my suggestion feed amongst the plethora of video game soundtracks and ambient noise videos, right, which is the majority of my feed. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:21.520 Um and this video in particular, it was a video of an interview. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:28.719 Uh it was interviewing people in the American prison system who had accepted Jesus as their savior. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:37.039 The video opened with a man convicted of double homicide, serving two counts, two life sentences rather, in the state of Mississippi. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:41.039 And he began to tell his story about how the gospel changed him. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:42.159 And he wasn't the only one. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:49.919 There was interview after interview, person after person, whose life had been changed while they were incarcerated. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:03:01.919 Eventually, the video cut to an interview with one man who was telling his story, and he he didn't mention his crime or how long he was in, but uh he said something that I thought was very profound. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:17.280 Uh he had accepted Jesus as his Savior right before he went to prison, and he said, even though I'm in prison now, I am free in Christ. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:23.919 That even though I am imprisoned, I have true freedom in Christ. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:28.479 What a profound thing to say. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:37.919 Well, this morning, what we will see in this text, that the truth that we're going to see is that Christ sets us free, truly free. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:45.199 And what he sets us free from is he sets us free from the law, which that that's a big term, right? 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.800 When we say the law, we mean the commands of God, as summarized in the Ten Commandments. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:50.879 And what we mean when we say that he sets us free. 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:54.240 It's not that he sets us free to not obey those things. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.680 He actually sets us free from the condemnation brought by the law. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.240 We'll get into what that means in this sermon. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.240 Here are two points this morning. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.599 The gospel frees us from the law. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:11.360 The gospel frees us from the law, and it unites us in our freedom. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:14.479 The gospel frees us from the law and unites us in our freedom. 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:19.439 So first, verses one through five, the gospel frees us from the law. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:20.959 He starts out in verse one. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:28.560 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:42.319 I went up because of a revelation, and I set before them, though privately before those who seemed influential to me, the gospel that I proclaimed before the Gentiles in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:43.680 I'm gonna stop right here. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:45.040 There was a lot that went on right there. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.199 I want to make sure we're all tracking with the story. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:50.639 So, Paul, in the last chapter, he was converted. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:52.720 There was some other things that happened. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:59.759 He spends 14 years after that going throughout Asia, planting churches, preaching Christ to the Gentiles. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:02.560 That means anyone who wasn't ethnically Jewish. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:07.680 So he does that, and then one day Paul receives a revelation from Jesus Christ. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:11.839 It says, get up, go to Jerusalem, go talk to the apostles. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:21.360 So he does that, and he brings along with him Barnabas, who is an ethnic Jew like Paul, and he brings along Titus, who is a Gentile. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:30.879 So he takes them with him, he sits with the church there, and he lays out, he explains the gospel that he's been preaching to the world. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:35.839 He says here that he sets privately before those who seemed influential. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:42.480 We know this is referring to John, James, the brother of Jesus, James, and the apostle Peter. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:44.800 We know this because they're mentioned later in the text. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:45.680 We'll get to that. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:54.399 So he says he has this meeting with John, James, and Peter, and he does this in order to make sure he was not running in vain. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:55.839 Here's what he means. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:07.040 This might seem confusing, because like if we've been reading Galatians up to this point, if you're tracking with us, like he spent, he said earlier, if anyone preaches another gospel, let him be accursed. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:21.839 So it seems sort of weird that Paul would be preaching this gospel for 14 years and planting churches, and then all of a sudden say, I should probably go and make sure this is like the right thing to be preaching. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:25.519 You're like, hey, you've been at this for 14 years. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:27.360 I think there was time for that, right? 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:27.759 No. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:30.079 But that's not actually what he means. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:39.519 See, what he means is that he wanted to make sure there was a consensus between the church in Jerusalem and the Gentile churches. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:07:00.800 Paul had spent 14 years planting these churches throughout Asia, and what would happen, inevitably, is after Paul would plant this church, and this was the same thing happening in Galatia at the time, is people claiming to be Christians would come in after Paul had planted, and they would say, Well, Paul almost got it right. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:04.879 They would say, Yeah, it's true that we're saved by Christ. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:09.439 But what we also have to do is follow the law. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:13.759 What we also have to do is keep the Jewish law. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:20.800 Specifically, most of the time they were talking about being circumcised and following the dietary restrictions. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:27.360 And if you're sort of new to studying your Bible, you might be like, that's that's pretty weird, right? 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:28.399 That's okay. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:30.560 That's a normal thing to think. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.519 Why harp on circumcision? 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:45.439 It was because in the Old Testament, Jewish people would circumcise their boys, and this act of circumcision was supposed to be an outward sign that these people belonged to God. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:50.639 It was a way of differentiating who was Jew and who was Gentile. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:08:03.759 It was a way of differentiating who belonged to God, and mostly, most importantly, rather, to be circumcised meant you were supposed to be one who followed the law, who kept the law. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.279 Obviously, we know they didn't. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:10.480 But that was what it was supposed to signify. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:20.399 So by saying that you had to be circumcised, what these people were saying was, hey, you have to trust in Christ, but in order to be saved, you also have to keep the law. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:24.160 Paul says, no. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:31.680 I'll tell you why, because in verse 3 he says, even Titus, I brought Titus with me, and I went to the apostles, right? 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:32.720 And we talked. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:33.840 He was a Gentile. 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:34.960 And guess what? 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:37.279 He was with me. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:39.360 They didn't force him to be circumcised. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:44.799 So if someone tells you that you're saved by Christ plus the law, they're lying. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:51.519 Then he he sort of gives this direct attack against us. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:09:06.799 I believe this might be yeah, this is probably the first really real time we get into this idea in this book that following the law, trusting in the law is slavery, spiritual slavery. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:08.559 Here's what he says. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:22.320 Verse 4 Because of false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ, so that they might bring us into slavery. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:23.840 We'll talk about that in a second. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:31.759 To them we did not yield in submission, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:43.519 As part of this meeting with the leaders in the Jerusalem church, there were those who said, just like the people in Galatia, that you had to be circumcised to be saved, that you had to follow the law. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.879 Notice the language Paul uses for that. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:49.519 Notice how harsh it is. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.320 He calls them false brothers. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:56.240 He said they were sent to spy out our freedom. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:57.679 That's military language. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:01.279 He's saying they're enemies to the cause of Christ. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:09.919 They were sent to bring us into slavery. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:18.320 To believe in the message of Jesus plus works. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:22.559 It is to be spiritually enslaved. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:28.399 I know that's that's a heavy word that carries a lot of baggage, that's intentional. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:30.720 That's the point. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:32.799 It is a great evil. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:36.720 Why? 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:45.519 Because to trust in the law to save you would mean to trust in your ability to keep the law. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:48.080 And guess what? 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:48.960 You couldn't do that. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:49.919 I couldn't do that. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:52.240 That's not a you, you, me thing, right? 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:54.080 We couldn't do that. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:00.639 The law was good, but it was not saving. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:08.320 I heard another pastor put it this way: if sin was a broken bone, the law was like an x-ray, right? 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:17.360 So sin, the thing wrong with us, the law is there to expose, it's there to diagnose that, hey, there's there's something wrong. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:26.240 Trusting in the law, the works, to save us would be like trusting the x-ray to mend our bones. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:44.799 But whereas the law condemned us, the law shows us our sinfulness, in Christ, we have freedom from that condemnation. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:54.080 And as we as we talk about this, you know, we're talking about circumcision and the Old Testament law, and this may seem far off. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:58.159 I don't know anybody who's like, I'm going to heaven because I'm circumcised. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:03.120 If you're here and that's you this morning, I'm sorry, you are actually the first person I've met. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:04.799 No one says that, right? 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:10.799 But we are surrounded by people who are trusting in themselves for salvation. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:17.600 We grew up in the Bible Belt, or I did, I'm sure a lot of you did as well. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:33.759 You might be here this morning and you think that in order to be saved, what you have to do is follow some convoluted step system of steps. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:38.240 You have to do all these works. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:46.480 You have to love your neighbor enough, you have to go to church enough, you have to give enough, you have to not drink enough. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:53.759 And this, trusting in all this, is spiritual enslavement because you could never be good enough. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:57.759 There's nothing you could do. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:04.240 The Bible says that even your best works are as filthy rags before God. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.159 They're useless, they're not saving. 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:10.320 I don't tell you that to insult you. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:13.759 I tell you that because there's actually good news. 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.080 There was one who did follow the law. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:24.960 Though we can't follow the law perfectly, Christ did. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:29.440 The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a perfect life. 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:42.639 He followed the law perfectly, he then died on a cross, taking God's wrath for our sins, and he rose from the grave so that we could be free from the condemnation brought about by the law. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:52.960 Now, if we turn from our sins and place our faith in Christ, we can be set free from striving. 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.360 We don't have to earn God's favor. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:10.000 You might be here this morning and you are a Christian. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:14.720 And you you hear me say this, and you're like, Yeah, I get it, right? 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.519 Saved by grace, apart from works of the law. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:22.320 But no, this is actually good news for our Christian walk. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:24.159 Here's why. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:31.679 Christ lived a perfect life so that imperfect sinners could be seen as perfect in God's eyes. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:32.399 You know what that means? 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:43.120 It means even when you sin, Christian, even right now, that you're standing in God's eyes, it doesn't change. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:50.720 We often think of God like He's just a big version of us. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:52.320 Right? 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.720 When people hurt us, what do we do? 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:56.159 We we distance them. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:05.519 No, when we sin against God, God draws us in if we are in Christ. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.480 Our standing does not change. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:16.080 Christ freeing us from the law, it means that we're saved apart from our good works. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:21.360 It also means that we are loved even when we fail to do good works. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:28.080 We don't have to strive to be loved by God, to be accepted by God. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:31.440 We should follow the commands of Christ. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.440 We should willingly, lovingly. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:39.759 But when you fail, which which you will, you're still God's child. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:43.759 Could your kids do anything to make you love them any less? 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.679 Why do we assume it's like that with God? 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:50.320 He's a perfect father. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:57.840 The gospel frees us from condemnation, which means it frees us from striving. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.799 If we follow Jesus, we have freedom from the law. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:07.440 Christ lived a perfect life because you weren't able to. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:15.200 And only by trusting in him can we have true spiritual freedom. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.399 So we see that the gospel frees us from the law. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:27.039 We also see that the gospel unites us in this freedom. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.120 We see this in verses 6 through 10. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:30.399 First verse 6. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:37.519 He says, and those who seem to be influential, what they were, makes no difference to me. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:39.840 God shows no partiality. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:43.120 Those I say who seemed influential added nothing to me. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:48.559 So here again he's talking about James, Peter, and John, and he says that they added nothing to him. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:54.320 Not that the meeting was a wasted meeting, and he was like, Man, I'm really glad I walked all this way to Jerusalem for this. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:55.919 No, it wasn't like that, right? 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:59.360 What he's saying is they added nothing to his message, right? 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:09.519 He laid out the gospel before them, and they agreed wholeheartedly with Paul's message of salvation by grace alone, apart from the works of the law. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:15.279 He's telling the Galatians, once again, the church in Jerusalem agrees with me. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:19.920 These people are coming in here and they're telling you you have to be circumcised to be saved. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:21.119 They're liars. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.319 I also like this little aside he gives in here. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:32.079 He says, the apostles seemed influential, but that made no difference to him because God shows no partiality. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.920 That's an astounding thing to say about the apostles. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:37.279 I mean, like, let's think of it. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:46.160 These are like guys who walked with Jesus during his earthly ministry, and Paul's just like, you know, whatever. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:47.119 Right? 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:48.720 That's wild. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:52.319 But he says God shows no partiality. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:57.039 He didn't deem these people to be any more important as any other person. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.839 This isn't the main point of our text, but I think it is good to know. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.319 We live in like a celebrity culture. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:05.519 Right? 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:06.559 You know what I'm talking about. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.079 We have like influencers. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:12.160 Um, we have we watch vlogs, which, if that's your thing, great. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:15.440 I will never understand, but more power to you. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:26.319 We have this tendency to elevate people or leaders and put them on a pedestal and say, hey, whatever this person says, it's bulletproof. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.200 We even do this in Christian circles. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:40.720 I remember one time I had a buddy who was uh counseling uh a church member, and um this church member was sort of confused on the meaning of marriage, on what marriage was biblically. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:53.839 And my buddy was walking him through uh the Bible and showing him marriage in the Bible, and this buddy said, Well, not to, you know, not to argue with you, but John Piper agrees with what I'm saying. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:59.200 And my buddy went, Well, first off, that's not true, uh, because I know what John Piper says about marriage. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:09.279 Uh, but secondly, if John Piper does believe what you're saying, John Piper is wrong, and this dude was just floored that anyone would say John Piper was wrong. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:15.119 And don't hear that as an attack on John Piper, like, love John Piper, benefiting greatly from John Piper's teaching. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.240 The point I'm trying to make is that no man is infallible. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.799 There's one infallible source of truth, that is God. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:26.640 Can other people be helpful? 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:27.680 Absolutely. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:33.680 We should thank God for great leaders, great teachers, but they're not infallible, trusting Christ alone. 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:53.200 So he says, verse 7, on the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised, for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised, worked also through me, for mine to the Gentiles. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:04.000 Not only did they confirm that Paul's gospel was pure, they agreed that God was working in both places, both to the Jew and to the Gentile. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:17.599 The same God who appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus was the same Christ who walked with Peter and who ate with Peter and who had a relationship with Peter. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:22.559 It was the same God, it was the same Christ empowering both ministries. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.319 He then says, and when James and Peter and John, that's once again, there they are. 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:32.799 That's how we know who we've been talking about this whole time. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:48.480 When James and Peter and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and then to the uncircumcised rather to the circumcised. 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:49.759 Excuse me. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:55.759 When the apostles saw how God was using Paul and Barnabas, they affirmed them. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:57.839 It says they gave them the right hand of fellowship. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:01.039 We we use that word fellowship a lot in Christian circles. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:04.079 Um that's good in some ways because it's a Bible word. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:08.400 I think it's actually bad in other ways because it loses its meaning, right? 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:18.000 We we sort of equate it to like, oh man, we're gonna like sit around and like watch the Super Bowl, which like that can also be fellowship, but you get my point. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:20.319 Like we sometimes lower the bar. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:23.440 But what this means is we have oneness. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.480 We have the same DNA. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.880 He said they agreed that we were one. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:35.920 We had one mission. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:38.720 They shared a blood, an identity, and a mission. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:49.759 And how they would achieve this mission was Paul and Barnabas, they would go to the Gentiles, keep preaching throughout Asia, and the other apostles would preach to the circumcised, the ethnic Jews. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:56.000 And this might not seem like such a big deal to us, because we don't, we're not in this culture, right? 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.680 We're not in this context. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.440 This was a big deal. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:08.559 In the first century, at the time this was happening, Jews are hostile towards Gentiles. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:15.839 It wasn't like, all right, Jake, you're gonna do ministry in South Huntsville, and JD, you're gonna go over to Athens and you're gonna do ministry there. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:18.079 It wasn't just a location change. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:24.960 For a Jew to even associate with a Gentile was almost unheard of. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:35.519 To give you an idea of the hostility between these two groups, we have archaeological finds today from Jewish synagogues in the first century. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:41.279 They had signs on the door that says, Gentiles entering here risk death. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:49.599 It was a deep-seated hatred between these two people. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.240 So what they're saying here is amazing. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:23:03.440 They're saying that the gospel, the good news about Jesus, it's stronger than any ethnic or political division that exists. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:10.720 The same God is working to the Jews and the Gentiles from Jerusalem to all nations. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:16.559 God is not for a certain type of people, He is for every people. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:24.240 And then he says in verse 10, only they told us to remember the poor, the very thing we were eager to do. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:28.960 Part, rather, of Paul's ministry was to care for the needy. 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:31.359 That's important to us, right? 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:37.599 As our church, we say, as a church, we say we want to be about ministries of justice and mercy. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:38.400 This is what we mean. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:41.920 We want to care for those who are hurting, as Jesus did. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:44.720 A really practical takeaway. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:46.559 How do we treat people in need? 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:50.559 How do we treat the beggar on the street corner? 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:55.839 How do we treat people who are hurting? 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:03.200 Do we have the mind of Christ, who cared for the poor and healed the sick? 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:10.240 But even more important about this verse is the context it was given in. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:15.200 So when they tell him to remember the poor, they're talking actually about something specific here. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:23.119 It's not like, oh, hey, Paul, you're going throughout these ministries or throughout these cities in Asia as you do, just go give money to people who are poor. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:27.039 I'm sure he did that as well, but that's not exactly what they were saying. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:34.640 There was a specific collection in Jerusalem for poor Jewish Christians. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:48.640 And by telling him to remember the poor, what they're saying is, hey, Paul, go plant these Gentile churches, and when you do, have them send money back to us so we can care for these poor Jewish Christians. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:57.359 Gentile Christians were supposed to freely give to Jewish Christians, and vice versa. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:09.039 Imagine if your whole life you had an enemy and not like, I don't like what that dude posts on Facebook or like Samantha stole my lunch out of the office fridge. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:10.480 Like that's not what I'm talking about, right? 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:13.359 Like an actual, an actual enemy. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:20.160 Someone who said, hey, if you come near me, if you come into my part of the neighborhood, I'm gonna kill you. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:33.440 And then imagine that one day someone told you to give a portion of your paycheck to this guy who said he was going to kill you previously so that he could afford food. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:42.240 All except the most Christ-like of us would say, go kick rocks, right? 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:44.240 Probably. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.640 I pray that I would be in a different position, but honestly, I don't think I would be. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:52.079 If I'm just being honest with you, I think I'd say absolutely not. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.359 That's what Paul was telling these people to do. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:58.079 And the even cooler thing is they actually do it. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:03.759 We know from church history that they actually give to the collection in Jerusalem. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:15.200 Gentile churches send money to help Jewish Christians who, by all earthly standards, should be their enemies. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:19.279 What radical unity. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:27.920 These people were once enemies, real enemies, kill each other in the street, enemies. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:33.119 Now they give freely and gladly to each other. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:41.519 If you are a Christian, you have been unified by the blood of Christ with every other Christian. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:48.160 Meaning that that person is now your brother or sister. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:49.920 And that sounds like churchy, right? 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.079 If you come from certain backgrounds, you might hear a deacon called like brother so-and-so, right? 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:55.519 That's what this comes from. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:00.160 We've been unified. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:02.960 We have fellowship, oneness. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:16.559 And this unity is stronger than any socioeconomic difference, stronger than any cultural difference, stronger than any political affiliation, stronger than any other differentiator. 00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:18.000 It is Christ. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:27.119 Once I heard it put that you have more in common with a Christian in Iraq than you do with an American who doesn't know Christ. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:31.759 To take it a step further, maybe in a way that might challenge us. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:42.960 Christians, you have more in common with a Christian who votes Democrat than you do a non-Christian who votes Republican. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:46.559 I'm not trying to make a political statement here. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:47.839 That wasn't a political statement. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:52.559 What I'm trying to show you is that Christ unifies across all barriers. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:54.960 All boundaries. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:09.440 The gospel to the Jew is also the gospel to the Gentile, which is the gospel to the Americans, to the Haitians, the rich, the poor, the pretty, the ugly, the man, the woman, the white, the black, the Republican, the Democrat, young, old, all the ends of the earth. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:16.720 When we are in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, nor slave, nor free. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:29.119 We are all children of God, and he loves us, and we have fellowship, oneness, we have unity with one another where once there was division. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:31.920 What's this practically mean for us? 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:38.480 Well, first it means that living for Christ means that we show no partiality. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:40.400 Like God does. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.400 We preach the gospel to all peoples. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:47.119 Anyone who will give us an ear. 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:59.839 Doesn't matter where a person is from, what a person believes, what a person's lifestyle is, every person, rather person who has not placed their faith in Christ needs the gospel preached to them. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:00.799 Guess what? 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.359 That means we're going to have to associate with them. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:07.599 Even the ones we don't like who aren't like us. 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:12.240 I would argue, especially the ones who we don't like who aren't like us. 00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.960 That was the model that Jesus gave. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.319 Eating with people that were different than him. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:25.839 It also means that petty quarrels have no place in the church. 00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:32.319 God forgave us when we hung his son on a cross by our sin. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:35.599 In fact, he put him up there because of our sin. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.079 We've been unified by Christ's blood. 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:43.200 What could come between us? 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:52.559 All the time I see Christians dividing over things that, I mean, quite frankly, are just sort of dumb. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:57.039 It shouldn't be that way. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:00.400 Do we not have unity in Christ's blood? 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:10.319 This unity brought Jews and Gentiles, bitter enemies, together so that they cared freely for one another's needs. 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:13.440 This is the type of unity we have. 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:17.839 Christ said they'll know that you're my disciples by what? 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:20.400 How you love each other. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:33.279 When the world sees people who shouldn't be friends, who should be enemies, and they're loving each other, they're freely giving to one another, caring for each other's needs. 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:35.920 It's astounding. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:39.119 More than that, it's attracting. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:43.119 Why is there love when there once was hatred? 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:47.279 It's because Christ has united us in the gospel. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:56.640 Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, we have freedom from the law. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:58.480 We have freedom from striving. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:02.160 We don't have to work to be in a right relationship with God. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:03.920 Christ did all the work. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:08.559 All we have to do is place our faith in him, trust in his work. 00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:13.599 That also means that we have freedom to love one another well. 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:21.839 If Christ has reconciled us to each other by his life, death, and resurrection, what could tear us apart? 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:34.480 I pray that we're a church that cherishes that message, that cherishes the gospel, and that rests in Christ and that loves one another well for his glory. 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:36.000 Let's pray. 00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:40.400 God, we thank you so much for your word. 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:42.559 We thank you for the book of Galatians. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:46.400 God, we thank you for how you have reconciled us to yourself. 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:57.839 God, we repent of any ways we are trusting in our own works to be in a right relationship with you. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:00.079 We pray you would break us of that. 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:09.200 That even as Christians, we would remember that our standing towards you doesn't change even when we sin. 00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:11.920 You still love us, that you still show us grace. 00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:13.920 We thank you for that truth. 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:21.359 God, we thank you that we have been reconciled to each other by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:30.240 God, we would pray we would be a church that lives that out, that cares well for one another, and that the world would look at that care. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:40.720 They would see people who shouldn't be caring for one another, and they would say, Man, what a beautiful, surprising, God glorifying unity. 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:44.480 And use that, Lord, to draw people to yourself. 00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:46.079 It's in your name we pray. 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:46.960 Amen.