You know what that means? Controversy. Rhetorical battles. Debates. Arguments. Which brings me back
to my first question in the opening of our study. Is the gospel worth
defending? Does it require some time standing
up against what someone says the gospel is, and you know it's
not, and you have to say, hey, that is not the gospel. This
is where we are. So under our first point, there
are four sub Categories are four sub points. I want to establish
first. I want to establish and this is inferred It's not explicitly
implied, but I'll see if I can demonstrate the importance of
it It was only a matter of pride that these men came down and
usurp the authority that they thought they had Over Paul and
Barnabas because they were the Jerusalem brethren. It was only
a matter of pride. I that they thought they had
the right to come down to where the apostle Paul and Barnabas
were to now modify or affirm or accreditate those believers
whom God had marvelously worked among. This really was a pride
thing. How do we know? Because Peter,
who was still in Jerusalem, had already said in Acts chapter
11, that God has opened the door to the Gentiles. This was two
chapters back. And you're going to see in a
moment why I say that this had to be pride. But look with me
in Acts chapter 11, verse 13, and then 15 through 18. This
is the time where Peter had to go back to the, to the church
and explain for himself the same problem that he was having. Because
they challenged him too. Notice what it says in Acts 11.1.
And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that
the Gentiles had received the word of God. And when Peter was
come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the what? Did what? Contended with him. Now watch
this. Saying, you went into men uncircumcised
and did eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter
from the beginning and expounded it by order unto them. And then
when we read over in verse 15, and as I began to preach or speak,
the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning, that
is in Acts 2, remember? Then remembered I the words of
the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but
you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. For as much then
as God gave them the light gift as he did unto us, who believed
on the Lord Jesus, what was I that I could withstand God? Notice
what Peter says in his defense of what he is acknowledging God
did with him among Cornelius in his game. Peter says to his
Jewish brethren, I couldn't withstand these Gentiles. What do you want
me to do? Withstand what God had done?
God had planted faith in their heart. He gave them the Holy
Ghost just like he did us. They evidenced the speaking in
languages just as we did in Acts 2. There was nothing else for
us to do. I wasn't supposed to tell them
that they had to learn the Tanakh and then be circumcised in order
to be saved. Clearly God had saved them. But
you see how passionate Peter has to be with his own Jewish
brethren? But I want you to see the verdict before we go back
and ask the question, why is this issue coming up again? Verse
15, verse 17, I'm sorry, verse 18. And when they heard these
things, they held their peace and glorified God saying, then
have God also to the Gentiles, what? Granted repentance unto
life. Do you see that? In other words,
Peter persuaded them that his experience was that God was with
Peter. God opened the door to the Gentiles.
It's undeniable. They have the Holy Ghost just
like we do. They don't need to be circumcised. And it shut down
the argument. But do you think it shut the
argument down in the heart of every man there? Why? because there will always be
people who will persistently challenge the biblical claims
of the gospel because they themselves have been excluded from it. And
they feel like they are the stewards of the truth and they will challenge
the gospel. So again, our second sub point
is discrimination and racism. My first point is that it was
a matter of pride against Paul and Barnabas. My second point
is that it's a matter of discrimination and racism against the Gentiles.
Why do I say that? Because in Acts chapter 15, which
we're gonna take about three weeks to unpack, is the historical
context for the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians is here
being worked out in Acts 15, and Galatians was written to
the Gentiles about the Jews who had come in with the same argument
that except you be circumcised, you cannot be saved. The book
of Galatians is drawn out of Acts 15. So what is my argument? In the book of Galatians, we
discover that the Jewish brethren really challenged Paul's authority.
And in fact, Paul's authority was challenged everywhere. But
it was clear to Paul in the book of Galatians that his Jewish
brethren had a problem with God saving Gentiles. Apart from them
look at Galatians chapter 4 verse 17. I want you to see it We'll
be going back and forth between the book of Acts and the book
of Galatians simply because it's going to merit it That's your
that's your counter passage the book of Galatians with regards
to Genesis 15 and in Galatians chapter 4 verse 17 here is what
the Apostle Paul says and I'll have to explain it but I want
you to get it then we'll go back to verse 5 and 6 and in Galatians
4 and He says, they zealously affect you. Now, what is he saying? He's saying that the Judaizers
who believe in salvation through circumcision and the law of Moses
have been able to actually influence the Galatians through their zeal
to the point that the Galatians were ready to give up the gospel
for Judaism all over again. Paul says they zealously affect
you. Now, I want to pull that out. I want to lift that up for
just a moment and challenge some of you as to why you must be
clear on the gospel. Because a legalist, a Pharisee,
will most likely be more knowledgeable than you in their Bible. And
if you are not clear on what the claims of the gospel are,
they can uproot your faith in Christ and bring you into bondage
and lead you into a works religion, a cult or a sect, because you
are not clear on what the gospel is. Am I making some sense? Are
you guys hearing what I'm saying? This goes on all the time. It
goes on all the time. And the only way that you're
going to be able to actually thwart off the very powerful
arguments of those who are knowledgeable of their Bible, even though they
espouse false doctrine and false teaching. It's for you to know
what the gospel is and what the gospel is not. And that means
you have to be able to rightly divide the word too. How many
times have you been challenged by a Jehovah's witness or even
a Mormon? or a seven day Adventist. And
why am I referring to these persons? Because these persons all have
the same basic caveat. They are very knowledgeable about
their system. and they are zealous enough to debate a weak Christian
around what they believe. And if a weak Christian is not
grounded in the word of God, the weak Christian will be taken
in by the zealous religionist, even though they are a legalist
and a heretic. Am I making some sense? This
is very important, very important. And this is one of the weaknesses
in the evangelical church today. That's why it's so porous when
it comes to false doctrine and false teaching and their members
are weak. This is the other reason As well for why evangelism is
not vital and virulent among evangelicals The reason why you
don't have a lot of brothers and sisters ready to go out there
and tell people about Jesus Is because they don't know how to
handle the Word of God Much of their belief in Christ is assumed
Not rooted in the Word of God as we're going to see tonight
Every Christian ought to be able to both confirm and defend the
gospel Every Christian ought to be able to both confirm it,
explain it, and defend it. Oppose error against it. But
because we don't, we run from debates, and we run from arguments,
and we run from the heretics, or we end up being stupefied
by their darts and arrows when they pierce our conscious with
their own claims. Galatians chapter 4, verse 17. where the apostle Paul says these
words, they zealously affect you, but not well. I really don't
like that translation. I'll leave it alone, but not
for good. They would exclude you know what they're saying.
They would set you up to believe or have to, or compel you to
believe what they're saying. And if you don't in your conscience,
they will make you feel like you are not in the kingdom of
God. So exclusion is an argument of the heretic by which they
stand at the gate of the kingdom and tell you, you can't come
in unless you come through us. And what you will do is you will
go about shaking in your faith, wondering whether or not you're
saved because they didn't accept you. Are you hearing what I'm
saying? And so exclusion tactics are
often used by the legalist. If you don't believe what we
believe, you can't be saved. If you don't come through our
door, if you don't come through our method, if you don't come
through our system, you cannot be saved. And one of the things
that we're all challenged by, unless we are really clear on
who we are in Christ, is rejection. The one thing we are all challenged
on, unless we are really clear on who we are in Christ, is rejection. This is why people who may very
well be God's lambs and sheep hear the gospel preached by a
solid gospel preacher and their soul will resonate with it, but
they will not leave their false churches because they don't want
to be rejected by their family members. Rejection is a very
powerful tool. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? And so God has to continue to work with an individual to
help them get strong and buoyed up in the gospel to the point
where that individual is willing to walk away from error because
they have resolved that they are Christ's and Christ is theirs. Now notice what it says in verse
five of chapter five, verse five and six of chapter five. Yours might say four, but it
should be five. In chapter five, verse five and six, this is where
Paul gets into the heart of the matter. And I think I'll read
verses one through five and six, just so you guys can have a context.
He says, stand fast, therefore in the what? Liberty is a synonym
for the gospel. Stand fast, therefore in the
gospel where with Christ has made us what? And be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Now
what Paul is saying is if you succumb, if you succumb, if you
yield to the notion of just one proposition which conditions
your salvation, you completely disannull the work of Christ
for you. Now, now stay there for a moment
because this is Paul speaking under inspiration of the Spirit
of God. How serious then is standing for the gospel when one compromise
could cut you off from the benefits of Christ. How serious is compromising
the gospel when, standing for the gospel, when one compromise
could jeopardize your relationship with Christ. That is to say,
if you yield to the proposition that one condition becomes the
basis for my salvation, you quite possibly have totally cut yourself
off from the grace of God. And at that point you are damned
because what Paul is saying by inference is this, you cannot
mix grace with words and have grace. You cannot mix grace with
words and have grace. The two are forever mutually
exclusive. The two never work in harmony. If I sit here and unpack the
implications of just that one statement, For those of you who
have been part of grace for years, you know what one conditional
act will do. It unravels the whole system
of salvation by God. It undoes the cross, which undoes
the atonement, which undoes reconciliation, which undoes regeneration, which
undoes security in Christ, Union in Christ and eternal salvation
in Christ. It's all undone by one conditional
act. Am I telling the truth? One conditional
act for you Theoretically undoes the finished work of Christ if
he said it's finished But you say no, I've got one thing to
do you have undone the gospel. I This is why we militated against
them. Grace has been around for 19
years and I've debated Jehovah witnesses, seven day Adventists,
Mormons, all of them, church of Christ, you know, uh, Pentecostals,
all of them won this Pentecostals. Why? Because we can't for one
moment, give them ground to say that we have the same gospel
when their gospel always asserts a condition for salvation. Do
you hear what I'm saying? And this is why I said in the
opening of our message, if you are the kind of person that compromises
and opens the door to all systems, you are in danger of not actually
owning the gospel. Especially if you actually know
that the gospel is itself exclusive. So now notice what he says. But
I, Paul, say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing, nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is what? that he is a debtor to do the
whole law. Here it is. Righteousness is
undone. The totality of the obedience
of Christ is rendered useless. The incarnation was for nothing
because the incarnation was the start of his substitutionary
work of obedience and suffering to merit a righteousness by which
you stand before God. But if you are to be saved by
an act of circumcision, of which if you don't circumcise, you
can't be saved, you have undone 37 years of obedience to the
Father on the part of Christ. You've undone the cross. You've
undone his death. You've undone the atonement.
You've undone the satisfaction of divine justice. You've undone
the finished. The debt has been placed back
on you to be resolved by your one act of obedience. And in
fact, you have become your own savior. Are you hearing me? This is how important the gospel
is. See, we understand implications. See what the devil did when he
basically told Eve, just take a bite. She undid every promise
of God for her by one bite. Undid the whole thing, but that's
all it takes. So now watch what Paul says in
verse 4. Christ has become of no effect unto you. Whosoever
of you are justified by the law, you have fallen from what? Right. Now verse 4 speaks in the theological
context of you can't actually Be confident that you are saved
by grace when in fact you are conditioning your salvation by
your obedience to the law. The two are mutually exclusive.
If your conscience is resting in your obedience and not Christ
obedience, you have fallen from the gospel. Are you guys hearing
me? If your conscience is resting
now, ah, now I know I'm saved because I speak in tongues. You
have fallen from the gospel. Now I know I'm saved because
I've been baptized in Jesus name. you have fallen from the gospel.
Now I know I'm saved because I came to the altar at a Billy
Graham program. You have fallen from the gospel
because your confidence is in what you did, not what he did. Are you guys hearing me? Very
dangerous. This is why those people who
put their confidence in an act, one time act in a moment are
so easily shaken up over the course of their lifetime and
always rushing back to reduplicate that act. This is why you have
folks rededicating themselves in churches every year, every,
whenever they get in trouble, they get saved. They say, and
they do all right for a while. And then they fall back into
trouble again. And then they decided to go to church and get
another fix. Come on up to the altar, cry, receive Jesus all
over again, do it 10 times, right? They are in a perpetual cycle,
like a hamster on a, on a, on a rotating wheel. Ever seeking
rest never finding it because it's based on what they did and
not what christ did Are you guys hearing me? Now i'll grant it
before we go on to fully develop this A free grace gospel is scary
to the person who does not know how to cast their soul upon god
A free grace gospel is scary intimidating To the soul that
does not abandon itself to Christ. Because to abandon yourself to
Christ is to say to Christ, you must save me apart from me. It is the purest form of faith,
but it's very hard to do. Without the grace of God, you
can't. You will lay on hold onto something you do as a basis of
confidence if God doesn't give you grace. And this is why we're
going to see And our second point, it's essential that the gospel
be constantly preached. If you hear someone say, why
does he always preach Christ? Why is he always on the gospel?
Why is he constantly saying the same things over and over? So
that you can be saved. So that you can be saved against
the heresy that's subtly coming in, imperceptibly drawing you
away from Christ, even as you raise that question. You don't
even know you're being drawn away from jesus by those arguments
that you're raising Against the purity and the beauty and the
splendor of the very message that saved you which you should
be willing to hear Every day of your life until you see jesus
face to face Can I get a witness So the enemy comes in and hog
ties you it just starts toying you to himself by apathy and
coldness of heart lack of reading your Bible, lack of prayer, lack
of communion, lack of fellowship. And when once you are far away
from God, he can start speaking into your head and cause you
to start doing the disputations and the dissensions and the arguments
that we're getting ready to work on. Now, I'm going to explain
to you that that particular danger as it's laid out for us, I think
it's important. Number two, as we'll see, but
listen, as I go through my next two verses, Paul says, you are
fallen from grace, whosoever you are that are justified by
the law. For we through the what? Spirit. Wait for the hope of
righteousness by what? That's a beautiful verse. Worth
working on. Because there are three things
in this verse that Paul says underscores the nature of the
gospel. First, it's the spirit of God, which gives us a hope
in the reality of what we are believing. Faith is the substance
of things what? Hope for. And so what the scripture
says is the Spirit of God gives us faith in the person of Christ
who is our righteousness, who will bring to reality everything
we believe in our heart now one day. But in the meanwhile, the
Spirit of God through the gospel gives me the power to wait by
what? Faith. Every day that I'm believing
the gospel, the Spirit of God is helping me. You guys see that? Notice what he goes on to say
in verse 7. Verse six, which is my last verse for in Jesus
Christ neither what? That is the Jew availeth anything
nor what that is the Gentile but faith which works by what? Mmm, see what Paul said? It doesn't
matter whether you're Gentile or Jew Circumstance circumcised
or uncircumcised. The only thing that matters.
Do you have faith? I And is that faith working by love the love
of God shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost by which you
trust Jesus and serve Jesus and walk by faith Abandoning yourself
to his righteousness alone as you're standing before God. That's
something that God has to continue to fuel in your heart Did you
know that did you know that the Holy Spirit that is Christ has
to work by his spirit to keep flaming? your faith with the
billows of love Did you know that he has to keep flaming your
faith as john bunyan puts it in the pilgrim's progress Flaming
your faith because the enemy wants to quench your faith Has
to continue flaming it and he does it through the preaching
of the gospel So then under our first point a matter of pride
who is paul and barnabas? It's a matter of discrimination
And then self-righteousness We are the gatekeepers So that's
basically what they're arguing, aren't they? That's what Jesus
meant, too, in Matthew chapter 23. If you go there, Matthew
chapter 23, verse 1 and 2, here's what they say in Matthew 23.
And this is our Lord speaking about the rulers. He granted
them this authority, but He exposed their hypocrisy. Then spake Jesus
to the multitude and to His disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. You see that? The scribes and
the Pharisees sit in Moses seat verse 2 all therefore whatsoever
they bid you observe that observe and do but do not ye after their
what for they say and do not whoo one of the things I do when
I debate and I don't love to debate only do it when I have
to that'll come down the line when we deal with that in a moment
I don't love the debate I love preaching the gospel I love strengthening
the Saints But when I have to debate, one of my rhetorical
arguments that I use is when once the legalist gets himself
out on the proverbial plank of the pirate ship, standing over
the sharks that are ready to consume him because of his arrogance
and pompousness and false claims of righteousness, I say, Do you
do those things that you are telling me I should do? And his
face may turn red or blue or green because I have pierced
his conscious with this reality. All have sinned and keep on coming
short of the glory of God. until you are able to actually
obey the precepts that you are laying on me, you are an unqualified
judge. There's only one judge that is
able to say, do these things to which I am to yield. And that's
the one who came, lived and died, rose again, seated at the right
hand of God, able to save and kill, who knew no sin, did no
sin, and him was no sin at all. He asked everyone, convince me
of sin. He came, he went, he came again
by his spirit to let you and me know that he's the only righteous
one in the world. The only righteous one in the
world has the right to tell you and I to obey. Everyone else
is just like you and me. We all hanging out on the edge
of that deck, the sharks ready to eat us alive. But the grace
of God says, turn back around and get off that plane. and put
your trust in Christ, right? So you don't listen to the pirates
who steal the authority of God, push you out on the edge when
they themselves are out there. As Jesus is saying, do not after
their works for they say and do not. The fourth reason for
which they are challenging the brethren at Galatia is what we
saw, brethren at Syria is what we saw in Galatians 5, 1 through
3. they were espousing a gospel of what? Right. Point number
two, defending the freedom of the Gentiles. Go back to our
text, Acts chapter 15, defending the freedom of the Gentiles.
Now, again, this is very important and insightful in terms of the
character of the apostle Paul. What is in Paul's heart? What's, what, how did this ethic
occur in Paul, appear in Paul, where he feels compelled to challenge
the very leaders of the church in protection of the Gentiles.
What is it that's motivating him to actually deal with them
in terms of debates and arguments around the gospel? Because again,
ladies and gentlemen, it didn't necessarily have to be that Paul
withstood them. He could have really wanted to
rally their favor since they were the original group of rulers
who believed the gospel in Acts 2, allegedly. And you know, Paul
was one who came a whole lot later on. And remember when God
saved him, the Gentile church, or rather the Jewish church,
didn't actually believe that he was truly a believer. They
had some real concerns about this former, you know, terrorist,
right? So he doesn't have a real way
in with the Jerusalem church even now. In fact, the whole
of his ministry will be that the Judaizers will seek to kill
him. And the brethren, I'm talking
true believers in Jerusalem, really have a hard time identifying
with him. They're glad he's down the road.
Cause he, Paul has the same kind of feisty spirit that the Judaizers
have. When you put two feisty spirits
together, they'll go at it. And so that's what we have here.
And so we'll work through point number two, defending the freedom
of the Gentiles. And I want you to mark with me
exegetically what's happening here, because this is important.
When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation
with them. That's the first line I want
you to see. And notice what the spirit of God does. He raises
up Paul. And he raises up Barnabas and
says, these two had no small dissension and disputation with
them. He emphasizes their, um, assertive
forward aggression against the Judaizers. The spirit of God
is letting us know that Paul and Barnabas are defending the
gospel. Listen vigorously. Vigorously. So the language in your Bible,
two words I want to lift out, uh, and I want to just share
them. It's not in your outline, but two, two words I want to lift
out. The first one is the word dissension. Do you see that when
therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension, what does
the term dissension mean? Dissent means to actually oppose
something with the, uh, effect of it being controversial, even
to the level of riot. To dissent is to say, I don't
agree, even to the point of controversy and riot. This word is used several
times in the scriptures. First, I want you to see it in
Acts chapter 19, verse 40. Go with me in your Bible in Acts
19, 40. I'm gonna show you an insight. This is where the apostle
Paul is, again, dealing with the argument of the gospel in
Acts chapter 19, verse 40. And here's what it says. In verse 40, this is what we
read. For we are in danger to be called into question for this
day's what? Uproar. There being no cause
whereby we may give an account of this concourse. It was talking
about the time when the apostle Paul is in Ephesus and the, uh,
uh, the, um, The Smiths and those who were creators of idols were
really worried about the gospel making inroads and taking their
wealth and prosperity under the goddess Dianus. And they really
started a battle with Paul around the gospel and that term uproar
becomes a word that underscores the dissension that occurs that
we have in our previous Text look again in Acts chapter 23
verse 7. I'm just going to use verses
in Acts for now to show you how Controversial the gospel is and
how controversial Paul and them had to be around the gospel and
then we have to assess ourselves How how precious is the gospel
to us that we might be willing to be controversial in Acts 23
verse 7 notice what it says And I'm gonna start at verse six.
But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and
the other part Pharisees, he cried out in the council, men
and brethren, I am a Pharisee. The son of a Pharisee is called
a tactic. It's called identification with the purpose of actually
making inroads. Of the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am
called into question. And when he had so said, there
arose a what? You know what that was? A division,
a separation between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Now they're
going at it. Do you see it? Now Paul set himself up because
his argument was around the resurrection. And what he did now was superficially
attach himself to the Pharisees who also believed in the resurrection,
but they didn't believe in the resurrection of Christ. And what
Paul is saying is my belief in the resurrection is not around
what will come in the future, but what took place some 17 years
ago when Jesus rose from the dead. I'm like you Pharisees. I do believe in the resurrection
of the body, but I believe in the past resurrection of one
man's body by which we are all saved. But it became a dissension
among the Pharisees and Sadducees. It became a battle among them. So that's how the word is used.
I want you to see it again in verse 10, chapter 23, verse 10. Notice what it says. And when
there arose a great dissension, do you see it? The chief priests,
fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them.
That's religion for you, wasn't it? Pulled in pieces. Let me
ask you a question as we work our way through. Is the gospel
worth dying for? And does careful, guarded debate,
which brings to the surface the irrational, um, insane behavior
of men around theological points necessary to help them see the
error of their way. If I didn't make myself clear,
what I am saying is sometimes we are in danger of being too
civil around the gospel. And we will lead people who are
self deceived, believing they are all right because the situation
hadn't risen to the level of controversy enough for them to
see that they are acting irrationally and irresponsible. But sometimes
the debate has to rise to that level so a person can see that
they are emotionally interested in a position in an unhealthy
way. Why am I so hostile, so antagonistic,
so antipathetic towards this individual when after all we
just have a difference of agreement? Maybe he has a point. Maybe I
am trusting in a set of ideas and not in a person. Are you
hearing what I'm saying? Maybe I am a legalist. Maybe I am a Pharisee. Maybe
I am depending upon my own good works. After all, I'm ready to
kill this man. They killed Jesus because of
what he said. This is the other thing that's
amazing about religion today, particularly in the West. I believe
in the virtue of civility without a doubt, but Jesus was killed
for his words. He was killed for his claims.
He was killed because he made himself the son of God. He was
killed because he declared what we call the exclusivity of the
gospel. He said, except you believe that
I am, you will die in your sins. That's it. In Jewish terms, that's
blasphemy. Unless you believe that he's
the son of God. Are you hearing? See, he didn't,
he didn't soften the gospel to make room for everybody's views.
The gospel is narrow and Christ is the only way. And when you
enter in, you can't enter in with anything. It all has to
be dropped at the door. The gospel is too narrow for
you to get in with your good works. And once you get in, it
doesn't get so wide that you get to pick up good works. and
continue to run from entering into glory. You are saved purely
by the grace of God. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? That's why Paul said in Galatians chapter three, have
you become so foolish as to have begun in the spirit and then
finished in the flesh? God didn't just give you some
help. He saved you. That's good. And that's the battle
we fight every day. It's the battle we fight every
day. Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul. And
then under point number two, defending the freedom of the
gospel. Now let's consider three things. Oh, there's another word
that I want you to deal with. So we just dealt with decision,
dissension. There's another word here that
I want to deal with briefly in verse two. And that is the word
disputations. Do you see that? Disputation.
So the dissension is the effect or the heat or the momentum or
the level of drive that is created by a controversial thing. But
the term disputation now gets into the methodology or the technique
of people who actually have a problem with the gospel. Okay. So the
term disputation is a term that means to raise questions speculatively. The term disputation means to
raise questions speculatively. The term disputation does not
mean to raise questions reverently or sincerely. We can all raise
questions and we should raise questions when we don't understand. But what the enemy does is raise
his questions with the objective of creating so much chaos, so
much back and forth that he's looking for a loophole in order
to establish his point. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? So it's the speculations that rise to the level of actually
getting off point. Have you ever debated somebody
and not using actually proper rules of debate or maybe not
knowing how to keep people on point when you debate? And the
next thing you know, you're way down a rabbit hole with them
arguing over something that didn't even have anything with what
you initially started. Well, that's because you don't
know how to debate. We might as well buy it now. When you debate, you have to
know how to set the terms of the debate. When you debate,
you have to know your end game, even if you don't know theirs.
When you debate, you have to know how to control the arguments
so that you keep them in the line and trajectory of where
you're going. When you debate, it would be
wise if you actually knew their position, but you don't have
to know their position to be able to win your argument so
long as you know your position. If you don't know your position
nor theirs, don't debate. Just let your tail, your tail
go between your legs and live to see another day. Are you guys
hearing what I'm saying? It's better not to debate. I
mean, you're over a family member's house or you guys are at Thanksgiving
or at Christmas and God is testing you on this occasion because
you've been lazy and slothful. And you're not prepared to give
an answer unto every man that asketh you of the hope of the
calling, which is within you with meekness and fear. And now
you got a family member say, so girl, you say you go to church.
What's the name of your church? I go to grace. Well, what, what
does that mean? And you, you, you go to, you
know, waffling over grace and they find a loophole and just
lasso you start towing you in. You know how it feels. You're
sweating. Your palms are sweating and you're really shaken up. Cause you can't even find your
Bible. You go, Ooh, I'm caught with
my pants down today. Right? Right. Because you're
not ready when you should be ready to give an answer. This is where repetition is critical. This is what teaching is all
about. This is what class is all about. This is what repeating
fundamental, essential, eternally soul-saving doctrine is all about
until it gets pummeled down so deep in the core of your being
that it comes up out of you, even when you're not ready, because
it's ready. So I'm glad that came back up.
I forgot about that verse. Thank you, Lord. not by works
of righteousness, which we have done, but by his mercy, have
he saved me by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy ghost, which he poured upon us abundantly through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. So verses will deliver you when
they are in your soul. And the spirit of God brings
it back up to save your lazy tail. Cause he's obligated to
keep you from falling and present you spotless before the presence
of his glory. All right, come on back up verse.
She hadn't read it in a long time, but give it to her or him.
The term is used in first Timothy chapter four, first Timothy chapter
one, verse four. First, I'm going to look at three
or four verses around this, and then I'm going to give you an
insight as to the new Testament ethic around debates. First Timothy
chapter one, verse four. Now this is Paul talking to Timothy.
First Timothy, second Timothy and Titus are what we call pastoral
epistles. So this is pastor to pastor,
but it applies to all of us. So I'm gonna read verse three
where Paul says to Timothy, I besought you to abide still at Ephesus
when I went into Macedonia in order that you might charge some
that they what? Teach no other doctrine. Same
context, right? So now Paul is telling Timothy
to charge people not to pervert the gospel with other teachings.
Do we have to do that in our churches sometime? Are there
people who come up into the church and are willing to just bring
in a new doctrine and a new practice? Right. And this is actually why
one, not many, but one of the reasons for which we advocate
and demand strong male leadership in the church. You're not going
to run with me. If you are a weak man, you can
come, but you're going to be at a distance. Cause you are
obligated to be able to stand for the gospel with those with
whom God has entrusted to you. Are you guys hearing me? And
at the end of the day, the gospel is really a manly gospel. The
matters of salvation have been put not exclusively, but largely
into the hands of men. It does not mean that our women
can't actually reason through, understand, and actually explain
the gospel, even defend it and confirm it. That's not the issue.
But it is a very incongruent, ugly scene where women are debating
publicly about doctrinal issues. It's really a category for the
men. And especially if some heretic comes up in your church and your
leaders are actually biblical leaders, elders and deacons and
strong men. As 1 John 2 puts it, I speak
unto you fathers because you have known him from the beginning.
I speak unto you young men because the word of God abideth in you
and you are strong because the word abides in you. So the strong
men in the church are the ones who are to defend the congregation's
peace and solemnity in Christ by being willing and ready to
deal with the heretics that come in. This is better to have a
system too, by the way. So that you know, this is one
of the reasons we don't go for crazy church services Because
we're not gonna let some fool stand up in the middle of worship
talking about he got a word from the lord Sorry, it's not gonna
happen in here So they want to sometimes i'm just here to tell
you they want to they come in And they really actually want
to but because they see that our order we have what is called
the regulatory principle of worship that worship is centered in Christ
by his word and in an orderly fashion, you are not going to
be the center of attention. We're not going to let you get
too loud anywhere in the church doing anything so that everybody's
focusing in on you. That's not worshiping God. You
know, you always got those people that just come in on Sunday and
they just want some attention. Well, we will give you some attention
after service in Tuesday prayer. are in private meetings, but
you're not going to steal God's glory on Sunday. Am I making
some sense? Every true believer comes to
worship on Sunday to put their eyes square on God through Christ
by his word and by his spirit in order that we might get something
from God. We don't want nothing from you because you know, in our crazy
churches, Where the order is not established and affirmed,
it gets out of hand. I've been in those churches.
I said, where are the leaders at? You got this man over here just
running off at the mouth, talking about the Lord has a word. Nobody's
paying him attention. We already know, do, do, do,
do, do, do, do, do, do, do. We know that. We know that. We
know that. But the leaders are supposed to escort him out of
the building so we can keep our eyes on God. Is that true? But
that requires strong men. Strong men and God will be there
in that kind of process because the worship of God must be done
decently and in good order at all times So Paul says in verse
3 verse 4 neither give heed to fables and Endless endless genealogies
which minister what? Rather than godly edifying which
is in faith. Do you see the word questions
there? That's our word there for disputations Now I'll show
you what the tactic is. And this is really simple. I'm
not going to be long with this. Paul is actually dealing with the
same people as he speaks to Timothy, as he himself was. And this is
largely the Jewish culture who love to argue about jots and
tittles, mint, rue, and cumin, and the minor things of the law. And in those things get so fastidiously
caught up and acutely focused on those little details that
they miss the centrality of the gospel. They miss the centrality
of the gospel. And these are people who are
not what we call grounded or centered. When you meet people
who are not grounded and centered, their emphasis are on things
that are secondary, tertiary, or remote at best. Are you guys
hearing me? And you wonder why they keep
orbiting, circling in the orbit of Christ and not landing on
Christ. Because they are what Luther
called free spirits. You know what a free spirit is?
Yeah, that's what it is. Right there, that's what a free
spirit is. It's not grounded. It's a person who is actually
spinning out of control and really wants some attention So they
stay up all night long on their computer and get caught up in
a doctrine that has no essential benefit to the kingdom as a whole,
or makes them special. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter
one, verse nine, I believe, seven, verse seven, God has not given
us a spirit of trepidation or phobia, but of love and of power,
dunamis, and of a sound mind. And the term sound there is the
Greek term for disciplined, restrained, calculated, reasonable, capable
of working through what's important and what's not. An untemperate
mind, an undisciplined mind is all over the map. This is why
when you're talking to people, listen very carefully to them.
And as they are talking, ask yourself, Am I dealing with a
fool? That's the way the proverb puts
it. I think it's chapter 26 or 25
around verse four or five when it says, answer not a fool according
to his folly. Because if you do, you're going
to end up looking just like him. In some cases you do have to
answer him, but not in the manner in which he wants. But, When
you stand before a man, as the proverb says, and you perceive
not in them the lips of knowledge, go away from them. Go, oh, don't
say that loud. Go, oh, got it. Got to go. And that's how you
do. Got to go. Do you hear me? Because you're not going to get
anywhere with the person who is undisciplined. This is what
Paul is telling Timothy not to do. Not to get on. his email,
not to get on his Facebook, not to get on the blogs and have
endless hours of debates. I'm going to talk about this
in our marriage class when I deal with, uh, um, hostile language
between husbands and wives, which is only supposed to be there
to inflame love. All right. Did you leave that
caveat there? Otherwise hostile language shouldn't
be there. Okay. And so you know what I meant
by that, right? Sometimes we can debate very kindly and lovingly,
but it's never injurious or pejorative or ad hominem. We're not hurting
one another. We can challenge one another.
But there is the level of hostilities that go on where we hurt one
another. Is that true? And it ought not to happen between
coveted people. It shouldn't happen to any of us as the people
of God, but we have to learn how to overcome that. The idea,
however, of being inclined to Fall into the trap that uh, paul
is telling timothy about in the area of here comes a question
or here comes a speculation Here comes a theory and a person tosses
it out there and then you jump like pavlov's dog You salivate
to jump at it and you want to tear it apart and you sit up
and write five Chapters on the topic and send it on the blog
and now you guys are going back and forth. Have you ever heard
those debates? back in the 90s when um The internet really began
to explode as you know, and I was in ministry at that time And
so all of the pastors were getting computers in you know We were
really debating whether or not we should even get computers
back in that day because good old-fashioned pastors wrote everything
down Then we started sneaking and looking at our computer.
We wouldn't tell anybody was reading and realize that it was
easy to cut and paste and Instead of write it all down, you write
it all down, you're a man. But then what was going on earlier,
those were the good old days. And I got a laptop right here,
right here, right in front of me right now. But what was happening
in those days is we discovered that with the blessing of technology,
you could listen to people's views and interact with views
across the nation and even around the world. So what I found myself
doing was tracking with different debaters, scholars and stuff
like that over different topics. Very seldom did I input because
I was really busy at the time and as busy can be good for you. As I learned, busy means being
anointed. But every now and then I would
take the time to insert a statement or something. And what I was
surprised that nine times out of 10 was that people would be
willing to write back and debate. I didn't put it out there to
debate. I just put it out there to give my position, but they
were willing to debate. And then I began to watch the
trends online where they just are debaters. And what you begin
to discover is this is unprofitable. This is no place for the Christian
to be. Then when I backed up and put
on my psychology glasses, I began to understand that the emotional
deficit in many of these people was that they were not known
and blogs allowed them now to be known. They wanted their hour
of fame. They had a vacuum in their soul.
They weren't being listened to people in public, but in private
now they're known. It's a very morbid thing. When
you find that your community is internet, Facebook, email,
and not human beings, it's time to go get some help. You got that? Time to get some
help. Paul says, Timothy, don't you
find yourself on your email all day long. Let me see if I give
you a couple more before we move on. Chapter six, verse four.
Yeah, how many of you guys know what I'm talking about? Raise
your hand just in case I didn't miss the point. Cause you can, you can see this
stuff on all sorts of topics, can't you? I promise you, I've watched topics
come up and I say, ain't nobody going to talk about this. I look
at the comment section and it goes on for pages. I'm like,
who on earth has time to talk about this? Well, apparently
somebody does. And you can find yourself distracted
if you're not careful. We can become addicted to everything
and anything that is not good for us. And by the way, will
you hear me? The goal of the devil is to usurp
your time so that you do not become anchored in the truth
of the gospel so that you become a Jack of all trades and a master
of nothing theologically. And that's dangerous. You guys
understand what I'm saying? And so Paul says in 2 Timothy
6 now, one more verse, verse 4, the same thing, 1 Timothy
6, verse 4, he says the same thing, but you'll see it in 2
Timothy and Titus. Here's what he says, I'll start at verse
3. If any man teach otherwise, he laid down to Timothy the gospel,
if any man teach otherwise and consent not to the wholesome
words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the
doctrine which is according to what? Look, verse 3, I want you
to circle that for some of you. Because this is going to go out
and my brothers are going to hear this and I want this to
be heard. This is what I want to be heard. Verse 3 actually
gives us the nature of the gospel as being centered in Christ and
its character as being wholesome and its fruit as leading to godliness. I want you to get that. If you
have a gospel that does not lead you to wholesomeness and godliness,
it's the wrong gospel. Your gospel is undone. You have
a half a gospel at best. The true gospel is supposed to
be radical, like I taught on Sunday. What is radical? It gets
at the root of a person's being and it changes that person from
the inside out. That's what the gospel is supposed
to do to you. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believes. If it doesn't change you from
the inside out, you have not experienced the power of the
gospel. Are you hearing me? Right. So very important. So
what Paul says is if they don't consent to the, to the gospel
that's laid down by our Lord Jesus Christ in the word of God,
which doctrine will lead to godliness. It's because he's proud. He knows
nothing, but he is what doting about what questions there it
is. And strife of words, where cometh
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings
of men of corrupt minds. There's your word. and destitute
of the what? That's amazing. Cause it's descriptive
of people who are off course. When you and I are sound in the
truth, there is a, there is a barometer barometer that basically establishes
parameters or boundaries for you of which once you bounce
up against these boundaries long enough, You say that's enough,
let me get back into the middle. Did you guys hear what I just
stated? When you are sound, there is an internal compass, a barometer
by which you can test when you're going to extremes. And there
are healthy boundaries or parameters that are established based upon
you knowing yourself and knowing how inclined you are to get in
trouble if you cross this line. And when the Holy Ghost is working,
this is what we mean by a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1, discipline.
You only let yourself go so far, then you get back in the middle.
Because the middle is where you are safest and orthodox. Now, let me share one other concept
around being in the middle. I want you to get this, are you
ready? And I've been sharing this for years, because I've
learned something about human nature around the gospel. This
is what I've learned. I've learned that when we are
immature and undisciplined, We are always looking for fun. We are always looking to be excited
by something. We mistake the quietness of sound
orthodoxy with being bored. We mistake the quietness of sound
doctrine where the man or the woman is in the quiet place of
the Most High God in the center of His will, where even though
the storm is around Him, He's operating in that peace mode,
which is one of the triads of the kingdom, righteousness, peace,
and joy. When we are immature, we are
always pushing the envelope and the boundaries just to get into
something. I'm telling the truth. And what
happens is when you get into something and get trapped by
that tornado, it will take you so far away from the solemnity
of the gospel that you recognize that you have earned greatly.
And it can take a long time to get back. If you ever get back,
if you ever get back, this is how apostasy begins to take place
where people begin to drift from the gospel. Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? Very important to know. Just
because nothing's going on doesn't mean something's wrong. The effect of righteousness,
Isaiah 33, the effect of righteousness is quietness and peace forever. The effect of righteousness,
when you are grounded in Christ, and you have acquainted yourself
with the grace of God, and you are waiting for Jesus by faith,
and you've got your protocol in order. What I'm going to talk
to my women about when we start our class, and I'll share it
with you now. There are three things with which
every believer, particularly in this generation, ought to
be constantly aware of. your immediate responsibilities, your immediate responsibilities. The thing with which God has
made you accountable, your own life, single or married, male
or female, boss, a servant, student, et cetera. As a believer, your
immediate responsibilities ought to be the thing that you hold
highest as the thing that you spend your time dealing with.
Secondly, the joy of life. Living life joyfully in the context
of responsibility is where the believer has been called. You
guys follow that? In other words, being responsible should not
make you miserable. Pastor, you said two. Thought
you said three. I'm getting to my third one right
now. But I wanted that to resonate. Because again, what people will
do is they'll actually lose a sense of priority in their life. And
this is really all about a sound mind that I'm talking about now,
what it means to be sound. Like we will make wrong choices
because we're not sound in our thinking. People will come to
me and say, Pastor, You know what I just did? I say sometimes
to myself, I really don't want to know. I really don't want
to know, but since we're here, what? I say that with a little bit
of facetiousness, but largely because people are undisciplined
and then they'll come and tell me they bought a yacht. when
they work at Jack in the Box. OK. What you going to do with a yacht?
You can't sell French fries on it. What you going to do? Decisions
that are based on surreal thinking. This is irrational. Disciplined
Christians don't do that. Disciplined Christians don't
act, as it were, compunctuously, impulsively, irrationally. Oh, and don't be Pentecostal.
The Holy Ghost told me to buy the yacht. No, he didn't. The Holy Ghost
didn't tell you to buy the yacht. Responsibility is the way you
honor God. And if you want God to move in
and to bless you in the areas of your responsibility, be committed
to your responsibility. Responsibility in those immediate
spheres of accountability and influence that you have. Because
that's the circle where God wants to actually build you up and
use you. And when you understand that, you can do it in joy. Because
sometimes we are in class. When you're in class, God's teaching
you something. And that's you and God. See,
also because we are tainted with levels of narcissism, we don't
like the private tutoring that God wants to do with us. We always
want somebody else in the class. This is good. You don't like
it, but it's true. And so we wanna bring other people
into our chaos when what God is trying to do with you is get
your priorities straight so he can bless you. So he can bless
you. Am I speaking to somebody? All
right, so I'm gonna get to my third one before we go on back to our
point. When you have your priorities straight and you can couple it
with the joy of the Lord because you know God is in it, always
maintain a missional attitude. You and I are missionaries. Did
you hear what I just said? We're missionaries. We're missionaries. That means I'm always looking
for God to crack a door open so I can tell somebody about
Christ. That's the only reason I'm breathing in and out. That's
the only reason I woke up this morning. I didn't wake up this
morning for no other reason. Cause I've been saved a long
time. I can go to glory right now. I'm here to share the gospel
with somebody or pray for somebody. minister to somebody. I'm missional. I'm happy. I'm responsible. That's a well-lived life. Did
you get that? That's a well-lived life. And
when I'm that way, I'm not gonna be distracted by the debates
of the devil. Go back to our PowerPoint. I
wanna just deal with these uh these uh three sub points and
then we'll close. I'll take a few questions. I
bet you I stirred up some thoughts and then we'll close. So defending
the freedom of the gospel is what Paul is dealing with, and
the debate here and the conflict is a consequence of Paul and
Barnabas standing for the cause of the gospel. And really what's
at hand is what we have in Subpoint A, interest by faith alone apart
from what? Right. And that would be Galatians
2, 16 through 21. You don't have to go there. But
in Paul's discourse with his Jewish brethren in Jerusalem,
he says, and we know that a man is not saved by the works of
the law. We're not justified by the works of the law, but
by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. That if in fact we were
saved by the works of the law, then why are we all considered
transgressors? And if we are saved by the words
of the law, when Christ has put the law away, fulfilled it for
us, and we go to rebuilding it again, that makes me a transgressor,
because what Christ has concluded, I am now rebuilding. And to do
so makes me a transgressor. This is Paul's argument. And
he said in Galatians chapter two, we believe that just as
the Jews are saved by faith, so are the Gentiles. Paul echoing
what Peter had said in Acts chapter 11. So the issue is about Interest
by faith alone apart from work secondly Paul's duty to vigorously
protect the gospel. This is the last verse I want
to deal with for tonight go with me to Philippians chapter 1 and
I want you to mark verse 7 now Paul finally came to understand
His calling and this is a good point at which to make a practical
application around calling These this is one of the three questions
that I would really want to deal with with my sisters as we work
through a crystal Centricity and a redemptive model of understanding
womanhood as we go through the scriptures the thing that I really
want my sisters to be able to do this semester is Define biblically
define and experientially define what it means to be a woman Biblically
and experientially define what it means to be a woman So very
important Biblically and experientially define that's what we're going
to be working on what it means to be a woman and Because if
we're not able to define biblically and experientially what it means
to be a woman, then my identity can actually be altered and changed
and reassigned and foisted on me. And I now have to bear the
burden of somebody else telling me who I am. When God has laid
out in his word what biblical womanhood should look like in
all its fullness and its beauty and its variety and its craziness. Yeah, I crazy we don't deal with
all that That's the colorfulness of my sisters, but you should
know what it means to be a biblical woman You should know as I anticipate
in our class young women and old women mothers and daughters
as often as the case and I'm gonna definitely having us have
us working together because that's a problem in our our churches
you're constantly being bombarded by the world as to who you are
and But can you articulate, can you give a thesis for who you
are biblically and what that looks like? What does a biblical
woman look like in her goings, in her character, her expression,
in her relationship with her sisters, in her dealing and confronting
with struggles and issues in her life? This is good, isn't
it? Right. Because when you are in
your storms, ladies, you can lose your identity so quickly. Here it is, Philippians chapter one, verse
seven. Listen to what the apostle Paul
said, Philippians chapter one, verse seven. And this is where
we'll close for tonight. He's actually saluting a wonderful
small fellowship called the Philippian church. He happens to be in prison
at this time, and he's encouraging them from prison not to feel
bad about him. You know, you full of the Holy
Ghost when you tied between a critorium of soldiers and you got to tell
the free saints, don't be sad. That's anointing. Is that anointing?
Here you are strapped in a cold cell, rats running around and
you writing letters with your tongue telling the saints, don't
be mad about me. And that's because Paul understood
his responsibilities. He always associated it with
joy. and missional opportunities is what he lived for, even in
prison. Don't worry about these big old
ugly dudes that surrounded me. Half of them saved now. That's
good, isn't it? Half of them saved now. That's
what Paul says. So here's what he says in verse
seven. Even as it is meet or appropriate
for me to think of you all, because I have you in my heart, In as
much as both in my bonds imprisonment and in the what? Defense and
what confirmation of the gospel you all are partakers of what? I love verse seven. I love it.
I love me some paul. Do you see paul here again? Paul
is claiming the actual existence of the church at galatia to his
labors He does it a lot He does it a lot Because he's such a
magnificent representative of christ He doesn't mind letting
them know that they were a product of his labors. The word labor
is gonna come up in our next study. It's the term karpios in the
Greek, and it means to labor to exhaustion. It means to strive
to the point of being tired and weary. And the ethic that Paul laid
down for the gospel minister is that he is to toil exhaustion
because that's the pattern that Christ laid down. The word is
used in John's Gospel chapter 4 where Jesus being wearied sat
on the whale and sent his disciples into town and waited because
God had a mission for him. But he was literally tired. Think
about this before I make this final point. Think about our
Lord's excursion for three and a half years. Did he get driven
in a limousine, a Rolls Royce, or a big stretched Mercedes? Did he have a massive entourage
with armor bearers around him? Did he jump out of his car blinging? Largely, he walked everywhere
he went. He walked. where he went. Or if he had to
cross from one land to another, he caught a ship. Our Lord traversed
the totality of his ministry largely on foot. Some of us won't
even walk to the corner. When's the last time you walked
to the corner? To the corner! Stay with me now, to the corner!
Well, I gotta walk to the bar station that's two and a half
miles from here. Our Lord and his disciples walked
everywhere they went doing ministry. Do you hear me? He labored to
exhaustion because sinners were important to him. That's the
model of the gospel. It's the model of the gospel
laid out for faithful ministers of the gospel. And here's what
Paul says. He says, I have you in my heart
as much as in my bond and in the defense. See the word defense?
That's our Greek term, apologetics. Apologio is the term. And it
means to actually stand in defense of, or give an answer to. It's
a translator also to give answer to. It's to be accountable for
that which you have been entrusted with. And to defend the gospel
means that you hold the gospel precious. I stand in defense
of the gospel. Got it? I defend the gospel. That goes back to our opening
statement, right? Are we capable of defending the gospel? And
then finally, and in confirmation of it, do you see it? Confirmation
is the word to strengthen, to give its founding and also to
bring it to fruition. When a thing is confirmed, it
comes to pass. When a thing is confirmed, it
comes to fruition. It's like a seed being sown into
the ground, and it's said to be a maple tree. But it's not
confirmed until it grows up and evidences itself to be a what?
Maple tree. And so the purpose of the ministry
of the word is to defend the gospel against heresy and false
doctrine, and then to grow that gospel up completely in the life
of the people of God. So that the people of God are
like oak trees in Christ. Trees of righteousness which
the Lord hath planted that cannot be moved when the wind blows
Every tree my father plants will stand every tree. He did not
plant will be uprooted Now what kind of work does that take it
takes an arduous? vigorous Relentless unending
work of teaching and preaching the gospel until the Saints grow
up into it Now watch this, you know the congregation is that
has had the gospel confirmed in them is you can't come in
and move that congregation. Everybody from the least to the
greatest knows the gospel and can quickly identify and expose
false doctrine and heresy by and large. Can easily see when
you have shifted to works or you are caught up in mysticism
or just stupid, silly stuff. A mature church quickly will
apprehend heretical teaching and stop it in its tracks in
a mature and a loving and in a wise way. That's why I said,
people will come in, they'll sit and they'll look around and
then they'll try to play with one or two members. And if you,
if you catch up with some of my wrong sisters, they're going
to tie you into a knot and drag you out of here. I said, what
happened to that brother? Well, sister, suddenly got ahold
of him. They started arguing and debating and she chopped
him up into 50 pieces and sent them down the river. Um, the heretic will try to always
work their way through and draw to themselves people. As Paul
said, even from among ourselves, heretics rise up and they try
to capture people. And where you don't know the
gospel, you can be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine
and the cunning slate of men, which lie in craftiness waiting
to apprehend the unstable and unlearned. Let me close in prayer. Father, thank you for this time.
Thank you for our initial study in the book of Acts. Thank you
for the hearts that were attentive to hear your word. We ask that
you would grow us all up, root us and ground us in the truth
of the gospel in such a way as for us to be able to discern
truth and error. And as your word has said, prove
all things, hold fast to that which is good, eschew evil, love
righteousness, Grant us the grace to do that both in love and in
zeal for our fellow man and mostly for you as we go our way. Give
us traveling mercies. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.