One thing I want you to see tonight
in Acts chapter 15 is that Christ Jesus the Lord is working right
now in the midst of His church through the Holy Spirit. you
and me who believe, and in the whole body, just as Brother Jaime
just read there in Corinthians. It's one Spirit. It's God who
works all in all. And I want to start out by reading
this Scripture at the beginning, and then I'll read it to you
again at the end. But in Philippians 2, in verse
12, the Apostle Paul said this, My beloved, as ye have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That's what was going on between
the church at Antioch and the church at Jerusalem. They were
working out their own salvation. They were working out the affairs
of the church. They were working out some issues
that had come up in the church. That's what we're talking about
here. This is not talking about salvation, justification, sanctification,
redemption, things that only Christ accomplishes. These are
things wherein we do these things together as the body of Christ,
as believers dwelling amongst one another. Let's do these things,
he says, with fear and trembling. Why? Why? Why be careful? Why be careful about these things
and be slow? Verse 13, For it is God which
worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Now, if you'll go back with me
to Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15. The brethren at Antioch came
into some trouble. Their souls were troubled. And
when their souls were troubled, these new converts, these new
believers, Gentiles, went up or sent word up to the church
at Jerusalem for help. They went there for help. And
the church at Jerusalem sent them help. The church at Jerusalem
sent them help in three ways. They sent them some faithful
witnesses from Jerusalem. Witnesses from Jerusalem. They
sent them a letter or a word. And they sent them the messengers
who had come up to them. They sent them back to them.
Those pastors that had been originally given to them. Paul and Barnabas.
They sent them back to them with this Word. Now, they worked out
these affairs in the church with much fear and much trembling
because they knew this, that it's God working in them both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. And that's what I want
you to see. That's what I want to focus on.
I want to focus on God working in us to will and to do His good
pleasure. The place they went to was the
church at Jerusalem. Now, it's good to have brethren
to help in times of need. We're encouraged in that in the
Scriptures. It's good to have a church we
can go to in times of need. But if it's a true church of
God, if it's true brethren, where are they going to send us? Where
are they going to point us to? Now, they went up to Jerusalem.
But these brethren at Jerusalem pointed them to a better Jerusalem. They pointed them to Christ.
Where is Christ? Where is He? Scripture says,
if you'll be looking at Galatians 4, verse 23, I'll quote Hebrews
12. We just saw this in our study.
You turn to Galatians 4, verse 23. You're coming to Mount Zion,
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. That's where we go. That's where
we go, is heavenly Jerusalem. And we see a type of that here
in the fact that when they went up to heavenly Jerusalem, what
did they receive? Or when they went up to Jerusalem,
what did they receive from Jerusalem? That's what I want you to see.
But read here Galatians 4.23. Speaking of the allegory between
the bondwoman who was born after the... or he that was born of
the bondwoman was born after the flesh, and he of the free
woman was by promise. Now verse 24. Which things are
an allegory, for these are the two covenants, the one from the
Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar, from
this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, that literal Mount Sinai, and
answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, that's the Jerusalem,
earthly Jerusalem, and is in bondage with her children. But
Jerusalem, which is above, is free. which is the mother of
us all. That's where Christ is seated.
And what was the promise that Joel the prophet sent? What was
the promise that he declared? It shall come to pass that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. Now where
is he talking about? He's talking about that that
earthly Jerusalem? He's talking about inheavenly
Jerusalem. He's talking about inheavenly Jerusalem. Whoever
calls on Him, they'll find deliverance, as the Lord has said, and in
the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Now what happens when you
seek the Lord inheavenly Jerusalem? What happens when you seek the
Lord inheavenly Jerusalem? He personally answers the call
of His redeemed the same way He personally answered the call
of His redeemed in Antioch and in Jerusalem. He does that personally. They, first of all, sent faithful
witnesses from Jerusalem to the brethren at Antioch. Look at
Acts 15.22. They sent Judas, surnamed Barsabbas,
and Silas. Now both of these men are just
men. They are men who really went
down from Jerusalem to Antioch. They were prophets of the Lord,
chief among the brethren. It was Christ through the Holy
Spirit working in them who moved the apostles and brethren to
send these two eminent men to Antioch from Jerusalem. That's
what verse 28 says, for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost. That's
how come these men went down there, with the message they
went with. What I want you to see is this, just as real as
Peter and James sent forth Judas and Silas to these brethren at
Antioch, so too Christ the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, from
heaven's Jerusalem, abides with us from heaven's Jerusalem. God
the Father has entrusted, he's given all power to Christ, and
he's given the gift of the Holy Ghost. And through the Spirit,
Christ teaches and he corrects and he leads his people continually,
bearing witness in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Sometimes
if we look at a person's name in Scripture, it'll help us to
see Christ in the passage, to see Christ in the passage. Judas
means he shall be praised. Barsabbas means the son of his
oath. Judas Barsabbas was a prophet.
He was chief among the brethren. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
son of God the Father's oath. You know in Hebrews when it says
we're in God more willing, more abundantly to show unto the heirs
of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by
an oath. The phrase there means he made
his covenant in a mediator. That's what it means. Christ
is that mediator. He's the son of God's oath. He
came to this place where we are. He came down and walked among
us, lived among us perfectly, and went to Calvary. And when
he had purged our sins, He entered in, He's the anchor of our hope,
of our soul, and He's entered in through the veil into the
holiest of holies, and He sits at God's right hand, and He is
the mediator between God and His people. He's the high priest
that ever liveth to make intercession for us. Barsabbas, or Judas, meaning
he shall be praised? Do you think Christ the Lord
shall be praised? Do you think God the Father,
that He shall be praised? I keep saying this here lately
quite a bit, but after you read everything Christ did in 2 Philippians
about how He humbled Himself and took the form of a servant
and being found obedient, He went to the cross, and right
after that it says, Wherefore God also, Highly exalted him
That's he was highly exalting God the Father when he did all
that wherefore God Also has highly exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name now Look, this is going to help you
to see that the message tonight. Look at Psalm 45 verse 6 We saw this in in our study early
on in Hebrews, but this is where it came from Psalm 45 6 Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. This is Christ the Lord. That's
who's been spoken of. He's seated on a throne in heaven. And the word is, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of Thy kingdom is
a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore, God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Be looking at Daniel 7 verse
14. What did we see Isaiah said of
the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end
upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it
and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
He shall be praised. His power and strength shall
be exalted in the face of His people. They'll know He has all
power, not just when we get there, even now as we walk this earth.
Daniel 7.14, and there was given him dominion and glory and a
kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass
away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Our Lord
shall be praised. His strength, His power shall
be exalted. The Lord of hosts shall exalt
His power. Hopefully, Lord willing, we're
going to see something about that Sunday. But then, These
men, Judas and Silas, were prophets, and he's the prophet. He said,
no man knows the Father, but him to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him. They shall be all taught of God.
He's the prophet that teaches. Judas was chief among the brethren.
Whenever the Lord Jesus Christ discovers Himself in the hearts
of His people, one might ask, What is thou, beloved, more than
another beloved, O thou fairest among women? And what does the
Song of Solomon say? My beloved is white and ruddy
the chiefest among 10,000. He's the chief everything about
him is Set forth here before us and justice Silas here, and
Judas went from Jerusalem down to Antioch. So Christ, through
the Holy Spirit, comes from Heaven's Jerusalem to His church, into
our midst. And God works in our midst, both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. That's what was taking
place here. They sent down, first of all, faithful witnesses from
Jerusalem down there. Christ comes to us. Now, concerning the truth which
were guided into by the Holy Spirit through the grace of Christ,
we come to the second thing. The second thing that was given
from Jerusalem was a letter, an epistle. Look here in verse
23. And they wrote letters by them
after this manner. The apostles and elders and brethren
send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in
Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. This was an epistle. It was written
by men who were moved by the Holy Spirit, just as the Lord's
Word is comprised of letters sent down from Heaven's Jerusalem
to us. This word right here is His greeting
to us, to His people, to the brethren. This is His letter
from Heaven's Jerusalem to us. The Word of God, what does it
do? What does it do? First of all, it exposes all
false prophets. Look at this letter, verse 24.
For as much as we have heard that certain which went out from
us have troubled you with words, subverting your soul, saying
you must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such
command. How were these men exposed? How
were they exposed? Because they came speaking their
own word. But the Word that came from Jerusalem
said, we didn't send these men because they don't speak the
Word we're sending to you. They came speaking another Word.
How are you going to know if the man that God has sent is
God's man? Of whom does he speak? What did
Isaiah say? If they speak not according to
this Word, it is because there is no life in them. What word is that? I read this
to the children a few Sundays ago, but in Romans 1.1, Paul
said, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God, which He had promised afore
by His prophets. Where? In the Holy Scriptures. What is that Word? What is it
to preach the Gospel? Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh. These men came down from Jerusalem,
sent themselves, those false prophets came down saying, except
ye, you cannot. And that's troubling for the
believer because the believer knows if it's except ye, And
it don't include me. It can't. If it's except ye,
I'm excluded from that because I can't do it. I can't do whatever
it is that's required by men. Whatever it is false prophets
require, I can't do it. Nobody that hears their message
can do what they're saying to do. They just can't do it. These
men couldn't. Verily, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity. That's me and you, believer.
It's not just the person out there in the gutter somewhere.
That's me and you. At our best state, we're all
together vanity. So there can't be any except
ye do something, you can't be saved. But Christ messengers
come saying, He's speaking of Him who said, it's finished.
That's who they come talking about. What did the Apostle Paul
preach to the Gentiles? Look back at Acts 13 at verse
38. He said, Be it known unto you,
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. These Gentiles. He's speaking
in the synagogue where Jew and Gentiles were. But we saw later
that it was the Gentiles to whom Christ had sent this Word. But
these Gentiles had come into the synagogue. They had never
been under the law of Moses, but they had begun to come in
there to the synagogue and hear about the law of Moses. And they
were turning to it just like they had turned to their other
idols when they were worshipping those dumb idols. They were going
to just take up the law of Moses and use it just like another
idol. But Paul said, I've got something better than what the
law tells you. He said, by Him, by Christ, all that believe are
justified, purged, accepted in the Beloved, perfected forever,
sanctified, made pure and holy and accepted, unblameable, unreprovable
in God's sight. from all things, from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. You can't have
that by something you've done. That's what he came preaching.
What did Peter say at Jerusalem? Look at Acts 15.11. Those Jews
who were... Peter was born of Moses, born
of God. He was a Jew, but he had been
under the law of Moses, but he was already saved in the sense
that Christ had converted him through grace. He had already
converted him. So had Christ done that to the Gentiles of
whom he was speaking, who had come from Antioch. Christ had
done that for the other Jewish brethren he was talking to. And
Peter says, we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as those Gentiles shall. They don't have
the law. We're going to be saved just
as they're saved. He was saved in the sense He
was already converted. But we begin in the Spirit and
we continue in the Spirit. We begin being saved through
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and we continue being saved through
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when Paul was over
there and he was writing to the Corinthians and he said, I wouldn't
have you ignorant of the trouble that came to us in Asia. He said
we were pressed down above measure, more so than we had strength
to bear. So much so that we had the sentence
of death in our cells. We thought we were goners. As far as we could tell, this
was the end of the road for us. But he said, but we had the sentence
of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves,
but trust in God who hath saved us. He delivered us and He shall
deliver us. He's delivering us now and He
shall deliver us. Peter said, we're not going to
be saved under this law. We're not going to go to this
law now that we know Christ. We're going to be saved through
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ continually working in us, keeping
us, separating us from this world, strengthening us, giving us power
and grace to walk in His light. Not in our own, not in the law,
in Him. He's leading us and He's guiding
us. That's what we preach. How do
you know if a man sinned? Look at Acts 15, 26. What do
they say about these men? These are men that have hazarded
their lives. Why? For the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. A man that will give his life,
lay down his life for Christ, you can trust that man. You can
trust what that man is saying to you. The man who stands up
and preaches to you, to sinners, what they want to hear about
something they can do, and he'll use something like denying yourself,
and say, you've got to deny yourself. And we're taught to deny ourselves,
no doubt about it. But when we're taught that in
a way to where we're made to think that we're a little better
because we've denied ourselves. You know what that man has done?
That man that preached that? He hasn't laid down His life.
He hasn't denied Himself, because He's not preaching Christ. He's
not a base in preaching that Christ is all. He hasn't hazarded
His own life. These men had. We preach a Christ-centered gospel. Is that really a good saying?
Something about that bothers me. I don't want to be nitpicky,
but We preach a Christ-centered message. To me, that word centered
bothers me. It's like it leaves a little
room. Sometimes we preach a little
to the left, and sometimes we may preach a little to the right,
but for the most part, it's Christ-centered. How about we preach Christ? That's
what Paul said. We preach Christ, the power and
wisdom of God. He said, I was determined to
know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's
how you're gonna tell. That's how they were able to
tell these men were false prophets. They came with another word,
another gospel. So Christ, through the Holy Spirit,
he's working in our midst, and it's through his word, through
his word, and these false prophets are exposed. Let me give you
one more thing he does through his word, and this is of utmost
importance, and I'll hurry. Acts 15, 28. for it seemed good to the Holy
Ghost. and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things, that ye abstain from meats offered to idols,
and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication,
from which, if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare you well."
Now, we've looked at this in great detail over the past two
or three messages, so I'm not going to go into too much detail,
but I want to look at this one thing, this word, no greater
burden. No greater burden. I haven't
looked at that word. We looked at necessary things, but no greater
burden. I believe they called it no greater
burden for this reason. This is the yoke of Christ they're
talking about. This is the light and easy yoke
they're talking about. Our Lord said, come unto me all
ye that labor and are heavy laden. That's what those false prophets
wanted to put on them. Heavy, heavy, heavy burdens. He said, I'll give you rest.
He said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek
and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your soul. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light. The yoke of Christ constrains
us not by legal law and threats, but by love. His love for us. Christ is where our souls rest. And because of what He's finished
on our behalf, we have no greater burden than a few necessary things. Things that will not hinder our
standing with God whatsoever. Things that will not better our
standing with God whatsoever, but things that will be a distraction
for us and our brethren from beholding Christ our all. Now, let me ask you, if you know
Christ, and you trust Christ, and you delight in Christ, if
there's something that's distracting you from Christ, is that a great
burden for you to want to get rid of that? We want to, don't
we? That's not a heavy burden. It
may be too much of a burden for us to move ourselves, but it's
not a heavy burden in the regard that we want it gone. We happily
would love to lay it aside and want to lay it aside. Well, this
yoke of Christ makes the believer who's born of the Spirit, it
makes him meek and lowly in heart. When he knows his Redeemer, knows
what his Redeemer did, and knows something of himself, what a
sinner he is, vile and wretched sinner, it makes him meek and
lowly in heart. We've got nothing to boast of.
I've got nothing to boast about. When you see Christ hanging on
the cross, you know what the best thing I can say about myself
is? I put him there. That just shuts my mouth. That
makes me not want to brag about Clay at all. He's there because
I had to have somebody represent me. I had to have somebody be
my substitute. But this is what it is, and this
is what they're saying here. Two reasons, two all-important
reasons they were saying lay these things aside, because We
must behold Christ. We personally must behold Christ.
We must follow Christ. We must be led of Christ. We
must hear Christ. We must have no distractions
between us and Christ. That's why these things were
their former idolatry. These were things they practiced
in their former idolatry. And it would be a great hindrance
for them to continue in these things. He said, lay them aside.
The second thing is, brethren, is we don't want to cause any
distraction for our brethren. We want them to be able to see
Christ. Those that God has come into and dwells in, who's given
a new heart, He's given them a love for their brethren. This
is how the Lord Himself said, you'll know my disciples. They
love the brethren. They don't want to put a hindrance,
a distraction between their brethren and Christ the Lord. And if these
fellows, we saw this last time, but I'll touch on it, if they,
being Gentiles, if they, they're at liberty. They can eat these
meats. Fornication is not a thing indifferent,
but they, if they continue in these things, and the Jews who
hear the Law of Moses read every Sabbath day in the synagogue
at that time, if they saw the Gentiles continuing in those
things, They hadn't been made to be circumcised. They were
at liberty. Those things didn't affect their
standing with God, whether they ate or they didn't eat. The kingdom
of God is not meat and drink. But seeing those things and being
weak brethren and knowing that those things are in the law of
God. They would turn to that law. And they would start going,
the law says you shouldn't be doing that. They would turn from
Christ to the law of Moses. And in doing so, they would begin
to look down on their brethren and exalt themselves above their
brethren. And legalism would reign in the church. And it would
have been just the same as if Paul and Peter would have said,
go ahead, circumcise them. It would have been the same result.
And so Peter and James, they said, let's just lay those things
aside if it's going to cause a distraction. Now, that's no
greater burden than these necessary things. Now, it's not a great
burden in a sense. We want to do that, don't you?
I don't want any distractions between me and Christ. I don't
want any distractions between you and Christ. But those are some necessary
things. Christ comes down from heaven's glory through the Holy
Spirit just as those were sent from Jerusalem. He gives us His
Word of grace from heaven's Jerusalem like they sent that letter down.
And then here's the third thing. This work was done through Christ's
ambassadors. It was done through Christ's
pastors, through His preachers. Christ's messengers are sent
men. Look at verse 25. It seemed good
unto us, being assembled with one cord, to send. That's what
Christ does from heaven. He sends those that He's appointed
to help His brethren. Christ's messengers are chosen
by Christ for the very place He sends them. It seemed good
unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men
unto you. Christ's messengers are beloved
of Christ and they're beloved of their brethren. Look at verse
25. It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to
send chosen men unto you with our beloved Artebus and Paul.
Through the grace of Christ, His messengers give their lives
for His name. These are men that have hazarded
their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 26 says,
And Christ's messengers get their word directly from heaven's Jerusalem,
from their Master, for those Christ has sent them to." Look
at verse 30. So when they were dismissed,
when they were sent away from Jerusalem, they came to Antioch. I was laying in bed this morning,
about 4 o'clock. And I've been looking at this
passage of Scripture all week. Trying to figure out, what's
the message? What's the message? And I couldn't find it. And something woke me up at about
four this morning, and I was praying. I was just asking the
Lord, Lord, give me the message that you would have for your
people for this hour that exalts Christ, that shows how Christ
is ruling and reigning and has accomplished the redemption of
His people and is working in our midst. What is the message
here in this passage? I went to Jerusalem to get it. That's where I was, laying flat
on my back in the still of night, in the stone cold darkness. I went to Jerusalem. And about
4.30 or so, I began to get it. They went
to Jerusalem. And they were sent back from
Jerusalem with some witnesses directly from Jerusalem. I thought,
could that be Christ and the Holy Spirit that's speaking about,
or be an example of them? And I thought, and they came
back with a word. And it was those men sent down
there with that word, Christ's preachers that went down there.
And the more I sat there, until about five or a little after,
and I thought, I gotta get up. I gotta get up now and go write
this down and start on it. I went to Jerusalem, and when
the Lord dismissed me, He said, now go write this down and then
go to Antioch. And tonight I came to Antioch to give it to you.
To give it to you. Well, That's what they did. Christ's
messengers are just delivery boys. That's all they are. Look
at Acts 15.30. So when they were dismissed,
they came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude
together, they delivered the epistle. They delivered the word. They went up there and got it.
Brought it back. Gave it to the brethren. Well,
here's the conclusion. When he does all this, what does
Christ do? Here's three things. Verse 31.
which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation."
The word means exhortation, it means admonition, but it also
means comfort. They rejoiced for the comfort.
What does the Lord say to His messengers? Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people. You know what these saints heard
when Paul and Barnabas and Judas and Silas came down there and
the others that were there too, when they heard them say, There's
no greater burden than these necessary things. When they heard,
you're not obligated to go into the law, Moses. You know what
they heard? They heard, your warfare is accomplished. Your iniquity is pardoned. You've
received double at the Lord's hand for all your sin. He's given
you grace upon grace. You don't have to go into the
law. You're under grace. And they were comforted by that.
And here's the second thing. Judas and Silas, verse 32, being
prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words
and confirmed them. And I started out saying that
I could see an example of Judas and Silas. They were prophets
themselves. I said that Judas and Silas,
I could see Christ in them. You know what happens when this
message is preached? after that you believed, you
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we're the children of God.
When the Word is preached, you're confirmed, you're established,
you're strengthened, ratified by bearing witness in your heart. That's what the Spirit of God
does. And then here's the third thing, verse 33. And after they
had tarried their space, they were let go in peace from the
brethren unto the apostles. Notwithstanding, it pleased Silas
to abide there still. Paul also and Barnabas continued
in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many
others also. He's taught us What do we see? Let your conversation
be without covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have. For he has said, I'll never leave
thee, nor forsake thee. They stayed there. And Silas
stayed there with them. And the Lord's my helper. I'll
not fear what man shall do unto me. And therefore you can remember
them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you
the word of God, and follow their faith, considering the end of
their conversation. Christ Jesus, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Now, turn with me to Philippians
chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. You remember, when we started
this study in Acts, I said, as we behold the acts of the apostles,
we're really beholding the acts of our King, Christ Jesus, the
Lord, from His throne in glory. Well, that's what Paul was telling
the Philippians. Verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved,
as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, Work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you, both to
will and to do of His good pleasure. All right. Our gracious Father,
we thank you for this word and for promising us through the blood of our Redeemer,
that you'll never leave us nor forsake us, that you'll help
us, keep us, guide us, correct us, lead us, and bring us home. Oh Lord, what reason we have
for contentment. We ask that you'd bless this
word to every heart here. Be with us now as we depart this
place. And if it be your will, Lord,
that you would bring us here safely again in your time. For Christ's sake, your honor.
Amen.