Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Acts chapter 15. The name of the message today
is Law or Grace. Law or Grace. I'm being very
excited about this portion of scripture. And we're just going
to look at the first six verses of this chapter. There's so much
in this chapter. So much. Acts chapter 15. Let's stand together and read
the first three verses together. In Acts 15 verses 1 to 3 it says,
And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren
and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye
cannot be saved. When, therefore, Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. and
being taught while on their way by the church, they passed through
Phoenix and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles,
and they caused great joy unto all the brethren." Phoenice,
I'm sorry, that's Phoenice there in that text. We see in verse 1 the fact of
salvation through Christ alone is actually being questioned,
beloved. So it did not take long after
the death of Christ for false religion to rear its ugly head,
mixing grace and law. Anyone who mixes anything with
the grace of God in and through Christ that you and I have to
do, that is not the gospel. Plain and simple. Salvation is
in and through Christ alone. You can take the word circumcision
there and put in baptism. There's a whole denomination
that believes you have to be baptized to be saved. There's a whole denomination
that believes you have to have a second infilling of the Holy
Spirit of God to be saved. And there's hundreds of different
things that people, thousands of different things that people
put on people and say, you have to do this to be saved. I'm here
to tell you that salvation is in Christ and Him alone, plus
nothing else. We rest in His finished work,
don't we? Now, as we saw on Sunday school,
we labor for the Lord, don't we? We desire to serve him, but
that's because he energizes us to do that. He gives us the power
to do that. Think of that. Did we want to
serve Christ before he saved us? Not at all. What changed? Well, God made us to differ.
We're born again. Now we have power, power of God. As we saw in our text, he gives
us power. It's actually his power working
in us to will him to do his good purpose. That's amazing. So you and I, beloved, we're
saved on purpose. Isn't that beautiful? You ever hear this? People say
this. People say this all the time. Well, if that guy gets
to heaven, he can get there by the skin of his teeth. You remember
that? Yeah, I said that even in religion.
Well, I'm just going to have a little shock when I get the
glory, because I'm, that's so self-righteous. Every one of us who are saved
here are saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And no one's going to make it by the skin of their teeth, because
that means that there's something they've got to do. We're redeemed,
beloved. We're saved. We're justified. Brother Jim, we got peace with
God now through the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful,
Brian? Oh, man. Makes your heart sing. My. So look at what these false
teachers are saying. Look at verse one. They are just
plain out saying you gotta do something to be saved. And only
men can be circumcised. But see, they don't think of
that. They think of the law. They're taking the law and they're
trying to put it upon people who are saved by the precious
blood of Christ and him alone. Again, how do you know when someone's
lying to you? When they're telling you something
you gotta do to be saved. The truth of the scriptures is
Christ saves in him alone. Not even our service for Him
matters in our salvation. We serve Him because we want
to, don't we, Brother Todd? We serve Him because He's our
King. And Scripture said, as we looked at it in Sunday School,
it's our reasonable service to serve Him. Oh my. So look at this. Look at this
false statement. Except ye be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. That is a false gospel.
I remember a few years back, one of our sovereign grace preachers
said, if you don't believe in the flat earth, you're not saved.
He's no longer preaching. But that's another gospel right
there. He added to the work of Christ. See how anything, this
is how serious it is. And God is serious about the
gospel. Because it's concerning his son, isn't it? The very one
he sent to save his people from their sins. Oh my. Look at this, they just flat
out said this. And this is an outright false
statement by work mongers. This is a flat-out statement
by a false teacher. They are adding something that
the brethren have to do to be saved. And as I said, even people
say, well, you have to belong to a certain church to be saved.
No. No. They say, well, you got to
be baptized to be saved. No. You got to speak in tongues. No. Nope, and add a thousand different
things. Nope. Nope, no, no. You know, Paul
dealt with this. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter one. Paul deals so clearly with this, so clearly in the
scriptures. Again, remember it's by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God, right? God is jealous over the gospel
because it's concerning his son. And he will have no tampering
with the truth of salvation through Christ in him alone. Look at
this. Galatians chapter 1. These ones that he's dealing
with are very similar to these folks here. They're Judaizers.
They say, you have to follow the law to be saved. You have
to be circumcised to be saved. We're going to see that later
on. Paul brings that forth in Galatians chapter 2. That this
is what they were actually desiring. So if a person professed Christ,
a man professed Christ, then they'd say, well, you have to
be circumcised to be saved. But I'm already trusting Christ
and him alone. They say, oh, no, no, no, you've got to do
this. That's a lie from the pit of hell, beloved. That's what
we call antichrist. Do you know antichrist means
against Christ? So any false religion, we have
them all over, don't we? Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh-day
Adventists, we have them all over. Mormons, that's anti-Christ,
beloved. That's anti-Christ. And they all have the same common
thread, it's all about what you do. But look at this, look at this,
Galatians 1 verses 6 to 9. So Paul's writing, he's writing
to various churches in Galatia, which is a Roman province. These
are Gentiles. They actually came down from
England and the Scots, and they came down, and they're very superstitious. They're very superstitious. And
Caesar wrote about the Galatians that they're very prone, if there's
something new said, they're going to scramble to that. So here
comes these teachers. Paul's laid the foundation of
Christ alone. Now here comes these false teachers. They got
something new, don't they? Oh my, but look what Paul, look
it, by inspiration, now remember, the Holy Spirit is the true author
of these words. Look at this, I marvel that ye
are so soon removed from him, that being Christ, that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Look at
that, another gospel. But then Paul, look at this,
which is not another. The gospel's good news, isn't
it? If you and I have to be circumcised to be saved, that's not good
news. If you and I have to do anything to be saved, that's
not good news, is it, Brother Tom? That's not good news at
all. Because I'm still a sinner. I'm a saved sinner, but I, but
I'm, my oh my. I still confess my sin, do you?
Yeah, we still confess to Christ. We still cry out to Him. Lord,
help me, I'm just, Here I go again. Please forgive me. Why? See, that never bothered
us before we were saved. Look at this, which is not another,
but there'd be some that trouble you and would, look at this,
pervert the gospel of Christ. So false religion is a perversion
of the good news of salvation through Christ because it adds
something that you or I have to do to be saved. And that's
not good news. And Paul, again, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, remember who the true author is. Do you
see how closely God guards the gospel? He says, that ain't another
gospel. It's a perversion. Oh, my. People say, well, you
shouldn't talk like that about when people say that. Well, that's
what the Bible says, and that's what I believe. Right? And it's
true whether one believes it or not because it's the Bible.
Right? It's not true based upon us believing.
It's true because that's what the word says. Right? But we believe that, don't
we? Oh yeah. Look at this. But though we or
an angel from heaven, could you imagine an angel showing up?
Oh my. Didn't supposedly an angel appear
to that Joseph Smith guy and tell him the Bible wasn't
good enough? Yes, he did. But the we are an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel, any other God, anything, anything,
outside of salvation in Christ alone. unto you, and that which we have
preached unto you, let them be accursed." In the Greek, that's
let them be damned, let them be anathema. Do you know that
the Catholic Church uses that word anathema for you and I?
Because we believe in justification by faith alone. Now you talk
to an average Catholic, they have no clue about this. I didn't
have any clue about this. But you talk to an average Catholic
and you say, do you realize that in the Council of Trent, that
they said that justification by faith alone, you're anathema
if you believe that? And yet they believe in baptismal
regeneration. They believe in salvation through
their church. That's another gospel. And Paul's saying here, if someone's
peddling workspace salvation, and this is from the Holy Spirit,
let them be anathema. Let them be damned. And I'll
tell you what, if God doesn't save them, they will go through
eternal hell forever. We pray for their salvation,
don't we? We pray that the Lord would take them out of that.
I heard recently, that Benny Hinn's nephew is now preaching
the gospel, the true gospel of salvation through Christ alone.
The Lord saved him. He used to work for Benny. Saved
him and his dad and his mom. And now he preaches salvation
by grace alone through Christ alone. Praise be to God. Brands plucked out of the fire
just like us, right? Oh my! No, look at this. He says it
again in verse 9. As we said before, so say I again
now. He's going to tell us twice.
If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which ye have
received, and they have received the gospel of salvation through
Christ alone, let him be accursed. Let him be damned. That's strong language, isn't
it? So by inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, Paul declared to the Gentile believers in the churches
in Galatia that the Judaizers who made the same statement as
in verse 1, remember? Verse 1 again. Here's the Judaizers. Except ye be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. We just saw in that
text in Galatians 1 that they are peddling a false gospel.
And Paul clearly said that, didn't he? Oh my. Because if you add anything
to the work of Christ, anything, I mean even our supposed obedience. We saw this morning that God
energizes us to will and to work his own purpose and will in us.
And that Greek word was where we get energized from. My oh my. Not only will false teachers
be damned, but also all those who follow them will be, unless
God saves them. This is why I praise God for
taking me out of the Catholic Church. Praise His mighty name. False religion. I know people
say, well, come on, Wayne, that's a strong statement. There's over
a billion Catholics. There's over a billion people
wrong. My prayer is the Lord save them. And you know, you hear people
coming out of her. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. God works his will. Turn, if
you would, to Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. Works-based salvation
leads to damnation of one's soul. Anyone who trusts that they can
gain merit and favor with God by something they do, and if
they trust in that until their death, they will be damned. They
will go into a Christless eternity into hell. But praise be to God, there's
salvation in Christ. Look at this, Acts chapter 4. Is there salvation in what? Any
other. Amen, sister. Look at that. Any
other. So that clearly states in Acts
4 verse 12, that clearly states neither is there salvation in
any other. Not in Buddha, not in Muhammad,
not in Mary, not Allah, not any other religion. None of them. None of them, neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none other name, that's the
name Jesus Christ, right? Under heaven, given among men,
whereby we what? Must be saved. I love how the
King James brings out must and shall. Eric was sharing that
with me when he was here. He says, I've noticed that as
you're preaching. These emphatic words in the King
James are shall and must. And it's wonderful, isn't it? Must be saved. The only way we
can be saved is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in him
alone. Now, as we've seen in our study
in Acts chapter 14 so far, Paul and Barnabas, they went back,
remember they went back and visited many of the cities that they
had already been to? And they preached the gospel. They'd already been established
in chapter 14 of verse 22, it says, And then verse 23, we're
told that, They ordained elders in the church
and praying and with fasting. They commanded them, commended
them to the Lord on whom they believed. They believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't believe that they
had to do anything to be saved. They believed that only Christ
could save them. That's why the Gentiles, remember the Gentiles?
Says, as many as were ordained to eternal life believe. That's
why they were rejoicing, because they thought that this salvation
was only for the Jews. And even the Jews thought that,
right? They were both in for a big surprise, weren't they?
God's people are Jews and Gentiles. We're proof of that. We're a
bunch of Gentiles. I know I always say that, but it's true. Oh my. And then Paul and Barnabas returned
to their home church in Antioch. Look at verses 27 and 28. And
what did they do? They gave a detailed report of
all that God had done with them and how he had opened the door
of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time
with the disciples, verses 27 and 28 of Acts 14. And notice, this is very important
to mention too, that Paul and Barnas didn't say about what
they had done. They didn't say, well, we've
done this and we've done that. They boasted in what God had
done. Ever been around someone that boasts about what they do,
supposedly for Christ? Man, it gets aggravating, to
be honest with you. And I'm talking about someone
who says, well, we did this, and we did this, and we did that,
and did that. Where does God get the glory? And we're all prone to that.
Thankfully, that doesn't occur a lot here. But isn't it wonderful? We seek
to give God the glory, don't we? And that's nothing for us
to be proud of. That's just God showing us. that
this is how it must be. And look at this, they just,
they just, in a detailed, said, look what God's done. He's saving
Gentiles! Oh my, my. These faithful missionaries knew,
as all of God's born-again, blood-washed children, that Jesus Christ,
the exalted, glorified God-man, is on his sovereign throne right
now, and he's working out all things according to his will
and purpose. And that isn't saving those Gentiles. and saving the
Jewish elect, right? Because we know there's elect
in the Jews and the Gentiles. We're proof of that. We're proof
of that. And that was our Lord Jesus Christ
and the person of God, the Holy Spirit, who had separated Paul
and Barnabas for the work which he had ordained for them. Oh,
my. And the Lord ordained the places
that they would go to. You ever think of that? It wasn't by chance, Brother
Tom, that you were at the church where your grandma was, and you
heard the gospel. That was all ordained by God.
Travis, it wasn't by chance that you went to Scott Richardson's
church to be with Sister Karen, and you heard the gospel. Brian,
here you are with Linda. My, and it just goes on and on
and on. Think back where you heard the
gospel. It was all by God's providence. Isn't that amazing? All by his
planning and purpose. My oh my. It's absolutely amazing. Brother
Tom, you were in South Korea serving, and you met your bride
there. And you're both believers. Amazing. Isn't God amazing? Oh my, now you have your own
children, you have grandchildren, and you're coming here and you're
serving the Lord here. It's amazing. All according to God's will and
purpose. It's absolutely amazing. Let's go back and look at verses
one and two again. Think of this too, it was our
Lord Jesus Christ that safely brought Paul and Barnabas back
to the church at Antioch, and now they're gonna head off to
Jerusalem. Let's read verses one and two again. In certain
men, which came down from Judea, notice it says certain men, it's
not important their names because they're false teachers. They're not preaching the gospel.
But they are certain men. And they think they're something
when they're nothing. Oh, my. Certain men which came
down from Judea taught the brethren and said, except ye be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension, in disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of them, should go up
to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about the questions.
Now, what we have here in these verses
is the issue of law and grace, which has been going on, we see,
since the book of Acts, and even before that. The Pharisees, remember,
Remember Paul said in his testimony, he said before the law blameless. No, he wasn't, but he sure thought
he was, didn't he? In his natural state. My, oh
my. So law and grace, this disputation has been going on
for quite a long time. Only one can be right. They can't
intermix. They're like oil and water, aren't
they? What happens when you pour water onto oil? I remember I
used to see that. My dad was a trailer mechanic. And there'd be water on the floor,
and some oil would leak in there, and it'd just float on the top
of that water. Never mixed. Travis, you probably saw that
a few times. Never mixes, does it? Law and grace do not mix. Salvation's
either all of grace or it's not salvation at all. They do not mix. Look at verses... Look at this. There was dissension
and disputation. Paul and Barnabas and the other
born-again blood-washed believers They preach that salvation is
in and through Christ alone, and here comes these Judaizers,
and they're proclaiming there's something you have to do to be
saved. But the truth of the gospel is salvation's only in Christ. Tom, remember we had that talk,
and you said the one thing that you bring is that we can bring
nothing to the table. I'll never forget that. Because
that's what we preach. That's what we teach. That's
what we believe. That there's nothing we bring for salvation
to the table. And men hate that. I hated it
before I knew the truth. My oh my. And God himself has saved us.
His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is so impossible for
us that God had to become a man to save us. It's so out of our reach that
God himself had to satisfy his own law and justice in our room
and place. And he could only do it by dying. Now God can't
die, can he? But man can. So God becomes a
man, fully man and fully God, and dies and bleeds in the room
and place of his people, sinners like you and I. Oh, he died the perfect substitute
in our room and place, fully satisfying God's perfect law
and justice by the shedding of his precious, precious blood.
And he redeemed our eternal souls, didn't he? He redeemed our eternal
souls. Now, throughout history, there's
been numerous church councils. Some have been of monumental
significance, but most have been of little consequence. Denominational
churches have regular councils. They get together all the time.
They have these big councils. Southern Baptist did it all along.
Should women be preachers was the thing that came up. Well,
that's not hard to clear up, but they had a big old morale
about it. Bible says that women aren't
to be preachers. Right? You don't really need a meeting
then, do you? Well, oh my. And they get together and they
meet to determine doctrinal stances and practices among the churches
of their denomination. And in these councils, three
things always take place. Number one, debate. What have
I told you many times? The scripture's not up for debate,
is it? You start debating, there's going to be trouble. I'm telling
you. We just present. We just present. There's three things that happen.
Debate, negotiation, and compromise. Somebody always compromises in
those meetings. Because if you have two sides
debating about something, there's going to be someone who can be
left out, isn't there? And they're not going to be happy,
and they're going to take their little ball and start a whole
other denomination. Right? Church of Christ. They were Baptists at one time.
Well, you don't believe that Baptism saves? No. Well, we're
going over here then. Oh my. My oh my. And that's the way
denominations survive. But with men of principle and
conviction, there can be no compromise. We see that in our text, don't
we? Are Paul and Barnabas, are they compromising in any way?
No, they aren't either, Brother Travis. Not at all. When it comes
to the gospel, now we can We can give leeway on certain things,
but when it comes to the gospel, we cannot move an inch, beloved. We have to stand like Paul and
Barnabas did. And they weren't debating, they
were just proclaiming the truth. Now this was heated. I'll tell
you why. This got heated. Look what these legalists are
saying. Look at this, they said, except
ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Now this council at Jerusalem, something for us to think about,
the truth of God is not debatable. It's not debatable. The scripture
stated, and that's the truth, right?
It's not up for debate. And think of this, it's not possible
for a church or a person believing the gospel to cooperate with
people who do not believe the gospel in a works-based salvation. I had the congregational guy
come to me when I first got here. He did not come back. But when
I first got here, he comes down. And he says, well, me and the
Vineyard Church, are getting together to do, what's that end
of the school thing that they do? The religious one that they
do? Is it baccalaureate? Baccalaureate. We're going to do baccalaureate
for Alma. We'd like you guys to be involved. And I said, well,
how can I be involved in that? And he goes, what do you mean?
And I said, well, I heard that you were this fellow. He was a Pentecostal. Then he became a Baptist. Then
he became a Congregationalist. Well, you know what? It's just
a job for him. That's all it is, beloved. It's not a calling. And I said, how can I get together
with you when you don't even preach the blood in your sermons?
Because I had listened to them. No blood. It's a bloodless gospel.
Well, without the shedding of blood, there's no remission for
sins, right? None. And then I said, how can I get
together with the Vineyard Church, who's Pentecostal, And they believe
in the second blessing. And I don't believe in that stuff. How can I get together with them?
They believe gospel, there's something you got to do to be
saved. I don't believe that. And how do I know that? Well,
one of my friends across the world had attended there. He's
telling me all about it. He finally left because the preacher
was saying, if you don't believe this way, you're not saved. He said, I guess he got up and
said, well, John MacArthur, that man's not preaching the gospel.
Really? I've listened to his messages.
He's pretty clear. My, oh my. Actually, even Bruce Crabtree
recommended him to me. My, oh my. Yeah, people. See,
this is why we just have to stay firm to what the gospel says.
We cannot compromise. We can't go and do things with
them because they don't believe how we believe. Now, I've told
you before, there's several different, there's reform groups and there's
other groups that we agree on the gospel. We can do things. But there's no one around here
with that flavor for us and here we are. My, Kent Clark, man, he's doing
an amazing preaching the gospel. I listened to some of his messages
the other day. So clear. And his ministry is to the homeless. Pray for him. Pray for him as
he preaches the gospel to them. My. We're not alone, beloved. Not alone. So the truth, though,
is not debatable. We can't compromise on the truth.
We just can't. And again, this conference wasn't
to debate, but it was to declare the truth of God with a unified
voice. In our days, we have these same legalists,
except they put a different spin on it. Again, they might say,
well, you have to be baptized to be saved. That's the same
spirit of Antichrist that was occurring here. My, oh, my. And so because these false teachers,
it had started a commotion. And because of that, there was
going to be a council at Jerusalem to say, this is what we believe.
Not to debate it, but to say, this is what we believe. And we will see Paul and Barnabas
go up there and they tell them what the Gentiles are believing,
that they're saved by the grace of God in Christ and him alone.
Plus nothing. Plus nothing. And this meeting at Jerusalem
was a good-sized meeting. There was apostles, there was
teachers, there were elders, there were preachers. but there
were only three principal speakers, which is Paul, Peter, and James. And they spoke as one, and we
will see as we study this chapter that there was a unified condemnation
of what the Judaizers were teaching. And we will see in the weeks
following, in Acts 15, that Luke gives us a historical narrative
of the conference. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter two. We're gonna see a little bit here of what occurred. Do you know Paul took Titus with
him? Paul and Barnabas, they took Titus with them. How do
we know that? Well, we're gonna see this in Galatians chapter
two. Look at this. Galatians chapter two. Starting
in verses one, and we'll read all the way to verse 10. Then
14 years after, I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took
Titus with me also. He's speaking of what we're reading
about, about them going up to Jerusalem. And I went up by revelation
and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the
Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest
by any means I should run or had run in vain. Now look at
this. So the Judaizers had said, except
you be circumcised, you can't be saved. Look at this. But neither
Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, remember circumcision was just
done by the Jews, not by the Gentiles, who being a Greek,
he was compelled to be circumcised. He wasn't compelled to be circumcised
because he's already saved. He's already saved. And that because of false brethren,
who we read about, unawares bought in, who came in privately, inspired
our what? Liberty. Oh, what freedom we
have in Christ. We have such freedom because
salvation is in and through Christ alone and by his perfect work
alone. What freedom we have, beloved.
What freedom. We're no longer in bondage. Look
at this. Which we have in Christ Jesus.
There's where our freedom is. Right? There's where our freedom
is. That they might what? Bring us
into bondage. The law brings one into bondage. Teaching of law and grace brings
one into bondage. The law can only kill, right?
We love the law of God. As believers, we should love
the law of God. We should. And we do. Because it shows us
the holiness of God. We just know we can never satisfy
it. And that Christ must satisfy it for us. Look at this. To whom we gave
place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of
the gospel might continue with you. They didn't give them an
inch, beloved. People say, well, you gotta give
to get along. You gotta give a little compromise
to get along. No. We can't compromise in the gospel,
beloved. Salvation's through Christ alone.
Period. End of story. That's it. Now, if one believes
that, we can have sweet fellowship. But if one doesn't believe that,
There's going to be contention. Oh my. Look at this. To whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue
with you. The truth of the gospel, salvation
through Christ alone, by faith alone, for the glory of God alone,
My, oh my. But of those who seem to be somewhat,
whatsoever they were, it make it no matter to me. God accepted
no man's person. So this is talking about people
who think they're something when they're nothing. Oh my. For they who seem to be
somewhat, in conference, added nothing to me. Paul's saying we're all the same. I was thinking about this this
week. You know, we preachers, we get to stand up and preach.
I am no different than you in Christ. no different beloved. We are all on the same ground
as Scott used to say. I love that and I'm going to
keep saying that because we are on level ground beloved. It's
wonderful. But, contrary, when they saw
that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the
gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that wrought
effectively in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same
was mighty in me toward the Gentiles." Notice that, for he that wrought
effectively. Remember what we looked at in
Sunday school? Energized to do his will and purpose. God's power
is at work. God's power is at work. in every
believer. My, it's wonderful. And when
James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived
the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas
the right hand of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen
and they unto the circumcision, only that we remember the poor,
the same which I also was forward to do. Now, we don't have to
guess what the reaction of Paul and Barnabas was to those who
tried to mix grace with works because we have it in our text.
Look at verse two of Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15, verse two. When therefore, Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension in disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. We
see in verse 2 that Luke, moved by the Holy Spirit of God, describing
how Paul and Barnabas reacted to those who said, ye must be
circumcised to be saved, We see that Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with them. Now, the underlying
Greek word for dissension means a stance. A stance. A posture. A contention. Dispute. They wouldn't give an inch. Remember
Martin Luther said to the Catholic Church, here I stand. I can do no other. And he was
proclaiming justification by faith alone in Christ alone,
to the glory of God alone. Paul and Barnabas, here I stand. Not going to let that stuff be
taught. That's poison, beloved. That's poison. My, oh, my. And then the underlying word
for disputation means to dispute, inquire, reason together. So
they asked questions, and they reasoned together, and they stood firm. How did
they do that? By the grace of God and by the
mercy of God. This was a heated argument. Paul
and Bias weren't debating with them. They were just putting
the truth of salvation in Christ before these men. They would not budge. And it continued for some time. And remember, Paul and Barnabas
had witnessed the power of God while they were on the missionary
journey, right? They had witnessed the power of God at work, the
Gentiles being saved. They go in that one city, Tom,
you looked it up, 30,000 people, and half the city saved. That's
amazing. They had witnessed the power
of God moving through and saving sinners. And it was all because of the
preaching and the power of God, the Holy Spirit, but they preached
salvation through Christ alone plus nothing. That's what they proclaimed. Paul writes this in Romans, he
says, if it by grace, then it is no more works. If salvation
is by grace alone, it's no more works. Otherwise, grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then it's
no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. So if one's saved by grace and
works, it's no longer grace. If one's saved by their works,
it's not grace at all. That's one of the scriptures. My, oh, my. That's in Romans
11, 6, if you want to look it up. And beloved of God and sinner
friend, God's grace cannot be mixed with works, man's works.
Therefore, Paul and Barnabas, knowing that, stood their ground
against these ungodly men. And that's what they are, false
teachers. They're ungodly men. Now, after
order had been restored, because it got pretty heated, and order
got restored, The church at Antioch determined by God's sovereign
will, of course, that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of
them should go up to Jerusalem under the apostles and the elders. My, oh, my. And we just read in Galatians that Paul mentioned that Titus
was with them in Barnabas, him and Barnabas when they went up
to Jerusalem. Look at Acts 15, verse 3. And remember, the apostles
and Paul and Barnabas and Titus, they all met not to debate the
Word of God, but to confirm the truth and the united front of
what they believed. They believed the same gospel,
didn't they? Yes, they did. They believed
that salvation was by grace alone, plus nothing that we do. Now,
afterwards, we desire to serve the Lord, don't we? Of course
we do. But God's ordained us to do those
things. Isn't that wonderful? It's amazing. It's absolutely
amazing. And all the way to Jerusalem,
they testified about the wondrous things that Christ done for them.
Look at this, verse 3, I love this. And being brought on their
way by the church, they passed through Phoenice and Samaria,
declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great
joy in all the brethren. So they didn't just quietly,
well, we're gonna go up to Jerusalem. They went through and they told
all the brethren who were born again, look what happened. God
saved the Gentiles, beloved. And they were rejoicing, weren't
they? Just like when we hear the Lord save someone, we start
rejoicing, don't we? Never forget when the Lord saved
Bill Kirkpatrick. Man, we were crying and rejoicing.
You guys had prayed for him for years. My, oh my. And then the Lord
took him home, didn't he? It's amazing. Amazing. So, see
the words being brought on their way? This is a Greek word that
means to send before. or to send forth, to help one
forward on the journey. It appears that the church at
Antioch sent them and provided for them for this journey. Because
they had to get this issue taken care of, didn't they? They wanted
clarity from the church at Jerusalem on what they believed too. And
again, they're not going up to debate, they're just going up
to see if they're united on this fact of salvation through grace
alone. And note the wonderful truth
of God saving Gentiles too, it's brought forth there. Declaring
the conversion of the Gentiles. God was saving Gentile, heathens
like you and I. Isn't that wonderful? I was a
heathen before the Lord saved me, you know that? I was. Oh my, it's wonderful. Oh my. His mighty work is being done.
Despite all the opposition, The trials and tribulation, God's
work is being accomplished. My, oh my. It brought great joy
unto believers. All the way to Jerusalem they
testified. I didn't look up how long it
is. I should look that up. All the way to Jerusalem they
testified. of the great things that Christ had done. Let's read
verses four and five, or four to six. And when they were come
to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles
and elders, and they declared all things that God had done
with them. See, they're declaring what God's done, not what they've
done. There's a difference there, isn't there? It's wonderful.
But there rose up a certain of the secular Pharisees, which
believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and
command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and
the elders came together for to consider of this matter. So
Paul and Barnabas and those who accompanied them came to the
church in Jerusalem. They received them gladly. with
open arms, and they met with the assembled saints at Jerusalem
in very orderly fashion. And Paul and Barnabas, they just
give the same report. Remember when they got back to
the church at Antioch, they gave the report. They're doing the
same thing. They're just giving the same report again. God's
saving Gentiles. This is wonderful. And he's saving
them by his grace and his grace alone. They declared how Jews
and Gentiles were delivered from spiritual darkness under the
preaching of the glorious gospel of salvation through Christ alone.
in stressing, I'm sure, how his gospel truths were made effectual
without the works of the law, because that was the issue, right?
So they would be bringing that up, that this was all done without
the works of the law. That's wonderful news for you
and I, who believe. We're free, aren't we, Brother
Zane? We're free in Christ. And Paul and Barnabas gave their
reason for coming to Jerusalem. They declared how certain Jews
of the secular Pharisees who claimed to be followers of Christ
insisted that it was necessary for those converts from the Gentile
nations to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses in order
to be saved. No one can keep the law of Moses. Those self-righteous
false teachers, did they think they kept the law of Moses? They
must have, didn't they? See, self-righteous religious
people have been around for a long, long time, haven't they? Even
before Christ came into this world. Oh my. And Paul and Barnabas knew salvation
was by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And the
apostles and elders and teachers of Jerusalem knew this to be
true too. They were eyewitnesses of Christ,
remember? Oh my. Again, let me say this before
we continue. Things haven't changed. The gospel
is still the truth. And false teachers are out there
still trying to say there's something you have to do or I have to do
to be saved. That's a lie. And they would even say we're
not saved. Well, you know what? I'm saved by the grace of God
in Christ, are you? Praise his mighty name. Who can
bring any charge against God's elect? It's God that justifies. We've been justified, Brother
Tom, by God himself. Whoo! My! In every generation, believers
have to deal with self-righteous religious folks who claim to
be followers of Christ But like these self-righteous Pharisees,
they insist that salvation is dependent upon something you
do. Something you do. The only way they say you can
gain favor with God is by something you do. That's an outright lie. I can't gain favor with God by
anything I do. But in Christ, he's done it all. All my merit before God, all
my favor before God, and yours, if you're a born-again, blood-washed
believer, is in Christ and Him alone, isn't it, Sister Carolyn?
Whoo! My! That's it. That's it. My. Any religion that promotes
man's works of any kind, I'm talking any kind, any kind, in
the salvations of God's elect, His people, is a false religion.
It's a false religion. Like Paul and Barnabas, we must
take a stand against all who would dare attempt to turn the
eye of true saving faith away from Christ Jesus to the works
of the flesh. Now next week, we'll continue
this study in this chapter, but keep in mind that from verse
7 to 35, if you want to read ahead, God's holy word gives
us the truth from God himself through the unified spirit of
the apostles that stopped the mouth of these false teachers,
these self-righteous Pharisees who tried to mix grace with works,
with the true saving gospel of salvation in and through Christ
alone. Let us rest and repose in Christ
and him alone. And true followers of Christ
will adhere to this fact. that are set before us, that
salvation is only in Christ, nowhere else. Neither is there
any other. Salvation's in no other, is it,
but the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. My, oh my, what a
gracious Savior, what a wonderful Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord. Brother Neil, can you close us