SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, the community of listening saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back and darkness together.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, everybody.
SPEAKER_00: How are you doing today?
SPEAKER_00: Doing good, mostly awake, hopefully.
SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, so I am going to be reading the scripture for today, and we are going to read Acts 15, 1 through 21.
SPEAKER_00: So I hate to do this.
SPEAKER_00: I know you all just sat down, but if you will please stand with me for the reading of the word.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So Acts 15, 1 through 21.
SPEAKER_00: But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
SPEAKER_00: And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up to them, or stood up and said to them, 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.
SPEAKER_00: 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 among the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: After they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name.
SPEAKER_00: And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written.
SPEAKER_00: After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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 the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
SPEAKER_00: For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Madeline.
SPEAKER_02: Well, welcome everyone to the Way Church KC.
SPEAKER_02: If we haven't gotten the chance to meet, my name is Zach.
SPEAKER_02: I have the privilege of being the lead pastor here at this church.
SPEAKER_02: And um We're about a two-year-old church plant, and we exist to follow the way of Jesus and push back darkness together.
SPEAKER_02: And I've recently been informed that there's some people that like our vision statement, and our vision is this: to be a community of misfits and saints who follow the way of Jesus and push back darkness together for the good of Kansas City and the sake of God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: Dude, I knew you would be here this week.
SPEAKER_02: I knew you weren't gonna stay hunting.
SPEAKER_02: Anywho, I'm glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: If this is your first, second time here, welcome.
SPEAKER_02: We're glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: Uh if you fill out a Kinect card after service, we have a gift for you.
SPEAKER_02: And also a new thing that we just started last week is we're gonna be putting uh$5 towards an addiction recovery nonprofit for every Kinect card that's turned in, whether that's digital or physical.
SPEAKER_02: Um I've recently come to the conclusion that if you're attending a new church, you don't want like a branded coffee mug.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: Like, I mean, cool maybe, like there's some people that might want a coffee mug, but it's like, hey, let's join what God's already doing, and like, hey, put some money where our mouth is and uh do some mission work from like the moment that a new person shows up at this church.
SPEAKER_02: So that's what we're gonna be about.
SPEAKER_02: If you have any qualms, you can holler at me later.
SPEAKER_02: You like your coffee mug?
SPEAKER_02: Cool, cool, cool.
SPEAKER_02: Um so we've been in a series through the book of Acts, and we're gonna continue in that.
SPEAKER_02: Today we're in Acts 15, as Madeline read, but before we do that, I want to give you a little quick recap of Acts 13 through 14.
SPEAKER_02: Who here in elementary, middle school, high school enjoyed geography class?
SPEAKER_02: Some people, Seth and Bo and Glenn.
SPEAKER_02: Glenn's hands raised really high.
SPEAKER_02: Rachel's kind of like right here with it.
SPEAKER_02: Um I didn't necessarily when I was in school, but early on in my Christian walk, um, I attended a church and they had this one pastor who would preach every now and then, and he was a big map guy, and it really um opened up the scriptures in a new way for me.
SPEAKER_02: So, what we're gonna do is we're just gonna briefly recap Acts 13 through 14 with a map.
SPEAKER_02: So, Acts 13, 1 through 3, you see Antioch of Syria.
SPEAKER_02: Um, we're gonna just kind of be tracing Paul's first missionary journey to give you a little context.
SPEAKER_02: Um, Antioch is the home base, it's the sending church for Paul and Barnabas as they go on their missionary journey.
SPEAKER_02: They commission them and they send them out.
SPEAKER_02: Then, Acts 13, 4, they get to Seleucia, that's the port of departure, um, where they're about to head to the island of Cyprus.
SPEAKER_02: Acts 13, 5, they get to Salamis, that's their first stop in Cyprus, and that's where they proclaim the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.
SPEAKER_02: Then we get to Acts 13, 6 through 12.
SPEAKER_02: That's where the proconsul Sergius Paulus believes radical conversion, and that's where Elamas the sorcerer is struck blind.
SPEAKER_02: Then we get to Acts 13, 13.
SPEAKER_02: John Mark departs for Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_02: Jerusalem's gonna be just kind of like straight south of Antioch, Syria, like right kind of next to the drum cage, is where it would be if the uh map went all the way down.
SPEAKER_02: So John Mark, he departs for Jerusalem, and then Paul and Barnabas, they press on in their missionary journey inland.
SPEAKER_02: Then, Acts 13, 14 through 52, they're in Poseidon Antioch.
SPEAKER_02: That's where Paul preaches the powerful synagogue sermon.
SPEAKER_02: The Gentiles rejoice, but the Jews stir up persecution and expel them from the city.
SPEAKER_02: Then Acts 14, 1 through 5, we're in Iconium.
SPEAKER_02: That's where many Jews and Greeks believe.
SPEAKER_02: And there's a plot to stone them that forces them to flee from the city.
SPEAKER_02: Then we get to Lystra, where in Acts 14, 6 through 19, Paul heals the lame man, the man who had been lame since birth.
SPEAKER_02: And then, if you remember, that's when the crowd worships Paul and Barnabas as gods.
SPEAKER_02: And then Paul is stoned, but he rises.
SPEAKER_02: Then we get to Derby in Acts 14, 20 through 21.
SPEAKER_02: This is the turning point of the journey.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, we talked about how they then returned through these cities that they planted churches.
SPEAKER_02: There were many disciples made, and the long road home begins.
SPEAKER_02: Then they're back in Lystra in Acts 14, 21.
SPEAKER_02: This is their return visit.
SPEAKER_02: They strengthen the church there.
SPEAKER_02: They encouraged the believers there to remain in the faith.
SPEAKER_02: Then we get back to Iconium also in 1421.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, this is last week.
SPEAKER_02: This is what we preached about last week.
SPEAKER_02: The elders are appointed in that church and they commit to the Lord with prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_02: Then they're in Pisidian Antioch again.
SPEAKER_02: And that's where Paul boldly declares that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_02: The church is once again strengthened.
SPEAKER_02: Then they're back in Perga in Acts 14, 24 through 25.
SPEAKER_02: The word is preached before they move to the coast.
SPEAKER_02: Then they're shipping off from Italia in 1425.
SPEAKER_02: This is the coastal port, and they set sail back to Antioch of Syria.
SPEAKER_02: Boom.
SPEAKER_02: They're back in Antioch, Assyria.
SPEAKER_02: This is kind of where we closed the week last week.
SPEAKER_02: Acts 14, 26 through 28.
SPEAKER_02: Paul shares how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: Their first missionary journey is thus complete.
SPEAKER_02: They're giving a missionary report back to the church.
SPEAKER_02: And that brings us to Acts chapter 15.
SPEAKER_02: So you like the map?
SPEAKER_02: We fans of the maps?
SPEAKER_02: Alright.
SPEAKER_02: So Acts 15, where we're going to be today, it's a defining moment in the history of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Discussed here is not secondary, it's not tertiary.
SPEAKER_02: What we see today is what's known as the Jerusalem Council.
SPEAKER_02: And what's discussed here is not a matter of preference, it's not a matter of style or even a matter of tradition.
SPEAKER_02: What is at stake here is the gospel itself.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, one scholar states that this moment threatens nothing less than the very existence of the new movement.
SPEAKER_02: So the question being addressed at the Jerusalem Council is seemingly a simple one, but it's explosive nonetheless.
SPEAKER_02: The question being raised is how are people saved and who gets to belong?
SPEAKER_02: How are people saved and who gets to belong?
SPEAKER_02: And beneath that question, under the surface of that question, is the what is one that if we're being honest, we still wrestle with today.
SPEAKER_02: It's this.
SPEAKER_02: Do we add anything to grace?
SPEAKER_02: And what I want us to do right now is to really think about this.
SPEAKER_02: Have you ever noticed how easy it is to add requirements to belonging?
SPEAKER_02: Be it the church, be it a social circle, be it a club, whatever it is, think about it.
SPEAKER_02: It's this idea, this false idea of you can be part of us, but you need to look like us.
SPEAKER_02: Or you can follow Jesus, but only if you fit our culture.
SPEAKER_02: Or you are welcome here, but only if you clean yourself up first.
SPEAKER_02: This what's being discussed here is not a random issue.
SPEAKER_02: It's the very issue that is taking place in the book of Acts and here in Acts 15.
SPEAKER_02: And what we're gonna see is that these additions to the grace of God simply are not found in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: They're not found in Jesus' teachings, and they have absolutely no place in the church.
SPEAKER_02: Both back then and here today.
SPEAKER_02: What we'll see, undoubtedly, is that it is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, that we are saved and that we belong in God's family.
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing else.
SPEAKER_02: There are no additions to be made to the grace of God that grants us acceptance into his family.
SPEAKER_02: We had a few weeks ago, we had a missions team, no, this is a month ago, a missions team that was here from Oklahoma, and one of the students uh drew, like colored a sign, and it's right there as you head into our basement.
SPEAKER_02: It says, Jesus plus nothing equals everything.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus plus nothing equals everything.
SPEAKER_02: And that's a truth for us today.
SPEAKER_02: So here's our big idea this morning.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel unites us by grace alone, so we must refuse to add burdens that Christ never required.
SPEAKER_02: I'll pray and then let's dig into the scriptures.
SPEAKER_02: Sound good, Jevin?
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day.
SPEAKER_02: We praise you for being here among us.
SPEAKER_02: We praise you for the work that you are doing in this church family.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I pray that you would continue to build us up, continue to strengthen us, continue to deepen us in the knowledge of your word, and we would your Holy Spirit continue to do a deep and personal work in this house.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, thank you for sending your son Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you that it is by grace alone that we are saved.
SPEAKER_02: We praise you.
SPEAKER_02: And it's in the mighty name of Jesus I pray.
SPEAKER_02: And all God's people said.
SPEAKER_02: Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_02: So point number one this morning is this.
SPEAKER_02: When the gospel gets crowded, when the gospel gets crowded.
SPEAKER_02: Acts 15, verses 1 through 5, the word says, But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.
SPEAKER_02: 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.
SPEAKER_02: 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.
SPEAKER_02: 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.
SPEAKER_02: 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.
SPEAKER_02: So this conflict begins with a shocking claim.
SPEAKER_02: So right off the rip we see that this is not about culture, it's a question about salvation.
SPEAKER_02: You see, circumcision, it was rooted in Genesis 17.
SPEAKER_02: It's the covenant that God made with Abraham.
SPEAKER_02: This covenant that made it to where you could enter into God's covenant family.
SPEAKER_02: So for the Jewish people, no circumcision meant no covenant, which meant no salvation.
SPEAKER_02: But now what's been happening in the book of Acts in the early church is the Gentiles are coming in without it, without this covenant of circumcision.
SPEAKER_02: And this creates a theological crisis.
SPEAKER_02: The issue at hand is not whether or not Gentiles can come in.
SPEAKER_02: That's already been settled in Acts 10, as the Gentile people encounter the indwelling Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: The Holy Spirit rests on the Gentile people.
SPEAKER_02: That's like the confirmation of them being a part of this family.
SPEAKER_02: But the issue at hand here is how the Gentiles come in.
SPEAKER_02: The question is: do they come in through the law or do they come in through grace?
SPEAKER_02: So, what's really happening here?
SPEAKER_02: Well, this is an internal threat.
SPEAKER_02: This is an external persecution.
SPEAKER_02: We've seen in weeks past external persecution that the early church is facing.
SPEAKER_02: And the early church will continue to go through external persecution.
SPEAKER_02: But that's not what this is here.
SPEAKER_02: This is from the inside, this is stemming from the inside.
SPEAKER_02: And I think that that's a truth both for them and for us today.
SPEAKER_02: Because this, the enemy often attacks the church, not from the outside, but from within through the distortion of the gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02: Like, I want you to have this abundantly clear in your minds and in your heart.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel is a free gift.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what's happening here in Acts 15.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel is a free gift.
SPEAKER_02: And think about this: like, it's like someone handing you a gift, a free gift, and then slipping a little bill of sale in your pocket, expecting something in return after the fact.
SPEAKER_02: Saying, hey, there's more that you gotta do for this gift, Bo.
SPEAKER_02: And what that is, what that does, that's what legalism does.
SPEAKER_02: It adds to the gospel, it distorts the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: And I've talked about this before, but I'll hit it again.
SPEAKER_02: There's two opposite ditches that we can fall into in this Christian life.
SPEAKER_02: On one side, there's a ditch called legalism, and on the other side, there's a ditch called licentiousness or antinomianism.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Legalism, licentiousness.
SPEAKER_02: So licentiousness says, Jesus saved me, so how I live does not matter.
SPEAKER_02: What happens is when we're living with this license to sin is that sin becomes casual, that holiness becomes optional, that obedience becomes irrelevant.
SPEAKER_02: But that is not grace.
SPEAKER_02: That is distorting the gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the truth for us about grace.
SPEAKER_02: The same grace that forgives you is the same grace that transforms you.
SPEAKER_02: So that's licentiousness.
SPEAKER_02: The way I think about it is like, hey, I got a license to sin.
SPEAKER_02: That's what people who live licentiously would think.
SPEAKER_02: The other ditch is legalism.
SPEAKER_02: Legalism says that Jesus is good, but he's not good enough.
SPEAKER_02: So we start adding Jesus plus rule keeping, or Jesus plus moral performance, or Jesus plus cultural conformity.
SPEAKER_02: That, family, is exactly what's happening in Acts 15.
SPEAKER_02: What do they say?
SPEAKER_02: Unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved.
SPEAKER_02: And what that is, that's not just like bad theology, that is a different gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: So what legalism does is it burdens people with what God does not require.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the truth for us today: the gospel does not live in either ditch.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel it drives right down the middle, saying it's because of God's transforming grace that I live rightly.
SPEAKER_02: We don't live rightly in order to earn God's grace.
SPEAKER_02: And we don't live however we want because we have God's grace.
SPEAKER_02: No, we live rightly because God's grace transforms us.
SPEAKER_02: So, in in regards to this particular section of text, I think the question for us is where are we tempted to add to the gospel?
SPEAKER_02: Where are we tempted to add to the message of the gospel?
SPEAKER_02: Do we subtly communicate that it's Jesus plus politics?
SPEAKER_02: Do we subtly communicate that it's Jesus plus this morality checklist?
SPEAKER_02: Do we subtly communicate that it's Jesus plus church culture?
SPEAKER_02: Ask yourself, in your heart of hearts, like for you personally, is it Jesus plus anything for you?
SPEAKER_02: Is it Jesus plus if he gives me this spouse that I've been praying for?
SPEAKER_02: Is it Jesus plus if he sets me free from this thing that's holding me back?
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the fact of the matter Grace plus anything equals no longer grace.
SPEAKER_02: And what we're gonna see is we'll see that fl that truth continue to be fleshed out in this text.
SPEAKER_02: That's where we continue to go.
SPEAKER_02: The debate intensifies, and then Peter stands up.
SPEAKER_02: Point two is this Grace alone means no distinction.
SPEAKER_02: Grace alone means no distinction.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 15, verses 6 through 11, the word of God says, The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
SPEAKER_02: 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 that by the mouth of the Gentiles should he that by my that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
SPEAKER_02: And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.
SPEAKER_02: And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
SPEAKER_02: 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?
SPEAKER_02: But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.
SPEAKER_02: So what Peter's doing here is he's reminding them of what God has already done in Acts 10.
SPEAKER_02: Notice the emphasis here.
SPEAKER_02: That God chose, that God gave the Spirit, that God made no distinction, that God cleansed their hearts by faith.
SPEAKER_02: Salvation is a work of God.
SPEAKER_02: Now there's some footwork that we've got to put in here.
SPEAKER_02: Like we we play a part, we respond to this grace by.
SPEAKER_02: Faith.
SPEAKER_02: We're not like standing passively by.
SPEAKER_02: We got to take some action.
SPEAKER_02: We have free will.
SPEAKER_02: But that's not the point, though, of this text.
SPEAKER_02: The key phrase there is that this, he being God, made no distinction.
SPEAKER_02: Cleansing their hearts by faith.
SPEAKER_02: What this is, this is covenant language.
SPEAKER_02: In the Old Testament, cleansing came through ritual, through keeping of the law.
SPEAKER_02: But now, in the new covenant, this cleansing, it comes through faith alone.
SPEAKER_02: And what this does, what is happening here, is this Old Testament language is being fulfilled.
SPEAKER_02: Promises like Jeremiah 31, 34, where the prophet Jeremiah says, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, where I will make a new covenant.
SPEAKER_02: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
SPEAKER_02: For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
SPEAKER_02: Do you see the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe Ezekiel 36, 24 through 27.
SPEAKER_02: That's another fulfilled promise that we're seeing in this text.
SPEAKER_02: Ezekiel 36, 24 through 27, just to give you an idea, says this I will take you from the nations.
SPEAKER_02: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean.
SPEAKER_02: I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.
SPEAKER_02: So what what Jeremiah promised, a new heart and forgiven sins, what Ezekiel prophesied, a cleansed people filled with the Holy Spirit, is now fulfilled in Christ and being applied right here in Acts 15.
SPEAKER_02: Not through the law, but through faith.
SPEAKER_02: Peter here, he's reframing everything that the Jewish people would have had in their thoughts and beliefs.
SPEAKER_02: He's saying that Jews are not saved by the law, that Gentiles are not saved by the law, but that everyone is saved in the same way by grace.
SPEAKER_02: The Pharisees, in contrast, were saying, these Gentiles, they need circumcision.
SPEAKER_02: But God had already done something deeper.
SPEAKER_02: He had circumcised their hearts, he had given them a new heart.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, he calls the law a yoke in this text.
SPEAKER_02: Not because the law is bad, but because sinful humanity cannot bear it, cannot keep the law.
SPEAKER_02: And what this does, this echoes Israel's history of failure for us.
SPEAKER_02: And ultimately, it should point us to Jesus Christ, who says, My yoke is easy, my burden is light.
SPEAKER_02: Because what we see is that Jesus fulfills the law perfectly.
SPEAKER_02: So, what we're seeing, just to give you a little overview of what we've seen so far, we're seeing this.
SPEAKER_02: We are not saved by carrying the law.
SPEAKER_02: Praise God.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: I can't keep the law in my own fleshly power.
SPEAKER_02: But we are saved by trusting the one who carried it for us, who carried the law for us, who came to fulfill the law perfectly.
SPEAKER_02: And that's good news.
SPEAKER_02: So, family, my hope for us is that we would stop trying to prove ourselves to God.
SPEAKER_02: Stop saying, hey God, I've done this, this, and this, so therefore you should do this.
SPEAKER_02: That's not how it works.
SPEAKER_02: That we should also stop measuring others by standards that Christ didn't give.
SPEAKER_02: That we would see that the ground at the foot of the cross is level.
SPEAKER_02: It's an even playing field at the foot of the cross.
SPEAKER_02: And with that, we would see that grace alone means that there is no distinction.
SPEAKER_02: Jew, Gentile, Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri.
SPEAKER_02: I mean Deborah, we're talking about the state line stuff today.
SPEAKER_02: Um ethnicity, neighborhood, background, upbringing, whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_02: There's no distinction.
SPEAKER_02: It's grace alone.
SPEAKER_02: And that's the sort of debate that's being on counsel.
SPEAKER_02: So Peter, he makes his point, and then the room goes silent, and then the testimony backing this point begins.
SPEAKER_02: Point three, when God's work settles the debate, when God's work settles the debate.
SPEAKER_02: Verses twelve through eighteen, 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 among the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: After they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me.
SPEAKER_02: Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name.
SPEAKER_02: And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written.
SPEAKER_02: After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that is fallen.
SPEAKER_02: I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.
SPEAKER_02: So Paul and Barnabas here, they're describing the work that God is doing and has done among the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: Remember that map, all throughout that map, God had been doing a incredible, miraculous work in the lives of both Jews and Gentiles, but primarily through radical conversions of Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: We followed that map all around the region, and then they went back through it.
SPEAKER_02: They're sharing what God had done on that missionary journey.
SPEAKER_02: And what they're doing, they're not arguing, they're not like, hey, I gotta make the best point in order for the Jerusalem Council to see things our way.
SPEAKER_02: No, they're just pointing to concrete evidence.
SPEAKER_02: They're saying, look what God has done: miracles, conversions, changed lives.
SPEAKER_02: That's something that you can't argue with, right?
SPEAKER_02: You can't argue with concrete proof of God moving.
SPEAKER_02: But notice the balance here.
SPEAKER_02: Like experience also matters here.
SPEAKER_02: Scripture interprets experience, and that's why James steps in.
SPEAKER_02: He quotes Amos 9, 11 through 12.
SPEAKER_02: So, right there in verses 16 and 17, that's uh James quoting Amos 9, 11 through 12.
SPEAKER_02: And um, just to kind of like back up a second, verse 14, I just want to point this out to you.
SPEAKER_02: It says, Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_02: And you might be reading that and be like, who is this Simeon?
SPEAKER_02: That is Simon Peter.
SPEAKER_02: They're using his Hebrew name.
SPEAKER_02: It's very contextual in this text.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, I just wanted to give you that aside.
SPEAKER_02: Amos 9, 11 through 12.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're seeing this language of rebuilding David's tent.
SPEAKER_02: And that's symbolic language for the restoration of God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the twist: the restoration, it includes the nations.
SPEAKER_02: Instead of Israel conquering the nations, the nations are coming to seek the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And what this does is it fulfills God's covenant promise to Abraham.
SPEAKER_02: Part of that covenant promise was this: all nations will be blessed through you.
SPEAKER_02: Fulfilled in Christ, being fleshed out right here in Acts 15.
SPEAKER_02: So what we should see is that Gentile inclusion into God's family is not plan B.
SPEAKER_02: It's been God's plan all along.
SPEAKER_02: All nations.
SPEAKER_02: That has been God's plan all along.
SPEAKER_02: All the way back to the book of Genesis.
SPEAKER_02: So the application for us here is if God is welcoming people, we don't get to close the door.
SPEAKER_02: We celebrate diversity in the body of Christ because it displays God's global grace.
SPEAKER_02: That's what's taking place in Acts 15.
SPEAKER_02: So the evidence has been presented in front of the Jerusalem Council, and now comes the decision.
SPEAKER_02: Point 4.
SPEAKER_02: Unity without compromise.
SPEAKER_02: Unity without compromise, Acts 15, 19 through 21.
SPEAKER_02: 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 the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
SPEAKER_02: For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.
SPEAKER_02: So right here, James, he gives the ruling.
SPEAKER_02: Salvation is by grace alone.
SPEAKER_02: There is no circumcision required, there's no law-keeping required for justification.
SPEAKER_02: That's the ruling.
SPEAKER_02: But then we see these instructions.
SPEAKER_02: And you might ask, why the instructions?
SPEAKER_02: Why abstain from idolatry?
SPEAKER_02: Why abstain from sexual immorality?
SPEAKER_02: Why abstain from blood practices?
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think it's twofold here.
SPEAKER_02: First, I think it's this understanding that grace both saves and grace transforms.
SPEAKER_02: The transformative power of God's grace does not leave us in idolatry.
SPEAKER_02: We have a new heart where we don't desire those idols, desire those things of the world.
SPEAKER_02: We desire Christ and the things of his kingdom.
SPEAKER_02: Second, the transformative power of God's grace in Jesus Christ, it does not leave us in sexual immorality.
SPEAKER_02: Again, God's grace transforms us.
SPEAKER_02: We have a new desire.
SPEAKER_02: We have a new song that we're seeing.
SPEAKER_02: And additionally, the transformative power of God's grace in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't leave us in, you know, this is more historical, contextual, this idea of blood practices.
SPEAKER_02: So it doesn't leave the early church in these occult practices.
SPEAKER_02: But I think for us, it's like the transformative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: It does not leave us in this like syncretism where it's like, hey, this plus Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, no, just Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: So that's one.
SPEAKER_02: That's the first reason why these instructions are here.
SPEAKER_02: Because grace transforms us.
SPEAKER_02: But I think secondly, it's also for fellowship.
SPEAKER_02: This is about like removing unnecessary offense.
SPEAKER_02: It's not adding requirements for salvation.
SPEAKER_02: So the goal here is that Jews and Gentiles are eating together.
SPEAKER_02: They're fellowshipping together.
SPEAKER_02: They're doing life together.
SPEAKER_02: They're worshiping together.
SPEAKER_02: They're living as one body.
SPEAKER_02: And so there's this balance that we see here.
SPEAKER_02: There's, on the one hand, no compromise on the gospel, but there's flexibility in non-essentials for unity.
SPEAKER_02: There's a quote.
SPEAKER_02: It's often attributed to Augustine, but most people agree that he didn't actually say it.
SPEAKER_02: It's not in any of his writings.
SPEAKER_02: But I'll read it to you because it is a good quote.
SPEAKER_02: We don't know who said it, though.
SPEAKER_02: An unknown author, an unknown theologian, said this.
SPEAKER_02: In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, and in all things, charity.
SPEAKER_02: Another way to put it would be like there's primary, secondary, and tertiary theological, biblical beliefs.
SPEAKER_02: Primary being stuff that our salvation is contingent upon.
SPEAKER_02: That's Jesus came.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus lived.
SPEAKER_02: Perfectly God, perfectly man, holy God, holy man.
SPEAKER_02: And he came and lived and performed miracles and signs and wonders.
SPEAKER_02: And he died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
SPEAKER_02: He was buried in a tomb.
SPEAKER_02: And three days later, he rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: The tomb was empty.
SPEAKER_02: He then spent 40 days with his apostles and disciples, sharing the reality of these scriptures and the things of God.
SPEAKER_02: And then he ascended to the right hands of God the Father, where he now intercedes and judges.
SPEAKER_02: That's like that's essentials, right?
SPEAKER_02: The gospel message is essential.
SPEAKER_02: But secondary is things that you gather based upon.
SPEAKER_02: And then tertiary would be like preferential things, right?
SPEAKER_02: Like, um, should Dolly wear a hat in church?
SPEAKER_02: Like, that's fine with me, but some people might not feel that way.
SPEAKER_02: Sorry, Dolly, you're just right in front of me.
SPEAKER_02: So that's just a way to frame it for you.
SPEAKER_02: So application, what what are we thinking?
SPEAKER_02: What are we looking at?
SPEAKER_02: I think the questions we should be asking is are we willing to limit our freedoms for the sake of unity?
SPEAKER_02: Um I think of uh a brother of mine that had had struggled with alcoholism and addiction, and he was a part of a church, and at this church, you know, there they had this kind of um practice of fellowshipping around alcohol.
SPEAKER_02: Alcohol is not sinful in and of itself.
SPEAKER_02: Like I believe that you can um have a glass of wine, you can have a uh a beer, and that's not operating in sin, but in that instance, if it causes a brother to stumble, that's not good.
SPEAKER_02: You following me?
SPEAKER_02: So are you willing to limit your freedoms for the sake of unity?
SPEAKER_02: Do you prioritize love over preference?
SPEAKER_02: I might I don't.
SPEAKER_02: I might really hate like North Face Jacks.
SPEAKER_02: But I love Bo.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm prioritizing that love over preference.
SPEAKER_02: That's a silly example, but like think about it.
SPEAKER_02: And there's one disclaimer I want us to make.
SPEAKER_02: What this does not mean, hear me, what this does not mean is that we are to be flippant to sin.
SPEAKER_02: We don't sweep sin under the rug.
SPEAKER_02: No, we we are to be a people who speak the truth in love.
SPEAKER_02: And we are a people who believe that God's grace brings the change, that God's grace brings the transformation in people's hearts.
SPEAKER_02: And if we believe that, then what should naturally flow is here?
SPEAKER_02: No, this is what the scriptures say.
SPEAKER_02: That's grace alone.
SPEAKER_02: So, Ashton, you'd come on up, close us in song.
SPEAKER_02: But in conclusion, Acts 15, it teaches us a few things.
SPEAKER_02: First, that just what I just said, the gospel is grace alone.
SPEAKER_02: There are no additions, there's nothing to add to the gospel, there's no upgrades, there's nothing that any of us can do to make the gospel message better.
SPEAKER_02: It's the best thing that there is.
SPEAKER_02: There's no prerequisites, there's no requirements for receiving this gospel other than faith.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, like that sign right below, it's probably like right below Keith and Tyler right there, maybe a little further back.
SPEAKER_02: The sign right there on the wall, Jesus plus nothing equals everything.
SPEAKER_02: Secondly, what we've seen is that the gospel creates one people, not Jew or Gentile, but one body in Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And thirdly, we've seen that the gospel calls for humble unity.
SPEAKER_02: Humble unity.
SPEAKER_02: We fight for truth, but we also fight for love.
SPEAKER_02: So what I want us to do, close your eyes wherever you're sitting, spend some time praying to the Lord, listening to what I'm gonna share.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna paint a picture for you figuratively.
SPEAKER_02: So imagine, if you will, a table.
SPEAKER_02: A big, long table, the biggest dining room table you've ever seen.
SPEAKER_02: Chairs all around it, and at that table, sitting around that table, there are different backgrounds, there are different nations, there are different ethnicities, there are different languages being spoken, there are different stories being told, there are different upbringings around that table.
SPEAKER_02: There's some people that grew up on the opposite side of the tracks from you.
SPEAKER_02: There's different socioeconomic classes, different struggles, different issues, different hurts, different habits, different hangups, different heartaches, different pains.
SPEAKER_02: And everyone sits there for one reason.
SPEAKER_02: Not because they earned a seat, but because Jesus invited them.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you haven't already, place yourself at that table and rest in this truth.
SPEAKER_02: You are not at this table because you have earned a seat, because you deserve a seat, but you are at this table because Jesus Christ has invited you.
SPEAKER_02: That is the gospel message.
SPEAKER_02: So, church, as we close today, my hope is that you would lay down legalism, that you would lay down pride, that you would lay down superiority.
SPEAKER_02: Brothers and sisters, Jesus says that you have a seat at this table, that you have a seat at his table.
SPEAKER_02: And if you have not yet confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, I'm happy to pray with you, happy to talk with you, and say a prayer that grants you a seat at that table.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the fact of the matter.
SPEAKER_02: If you hear nothing else today, hear this.
SPEAKER_02: It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, that you are offered that seat.
SPEAKER_02: And because of that, we as the church, as the local church and the global church, we stand together as one.
SPEAKER_02: Grace alone.
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, we love you.
SPEAKER_02: We praise you.
SPEAKER_02: We thank you for the work that you're doing in us.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I praise you that you've given us a new heart.
SPEAKER_02: I praise you that you've given us a new song to sing.
SPEAKER_02: I praise you that we no longer live in our old manner of life, that the gospel it transforms everything, that your grace it changes everything, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: I praise you for that truth.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I ask if there's anybody that is reluctant to let your grace transform their life, that right now you would pierce their hearts and bring them to repentance, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: God, if there's nobody, if there's somebody here who has not yet encountered your grace for the first time, Lord, I pray that you would encounter them right now and lead them into saving faith.
SPEAKER_02: God, I praise you for your work.
SPEAKER_02: I praise you for your son Jesus, I praise you for the early church in Acts 15.
SPEAKER_02: And that there is now no distinction because it is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, that grants us a seat at your table.
SPEAKER_02: We love you, we praise you, and it's in the mighty name of Jesus I pray.
SPEAKER_01: And all God's people said.m in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.
SPEAKER_01: Or find us anytime at the wakeac.church.