Galatians chapter 2. Now, you'll
remember that the reason that Paul wrote this epistle is because
false prophets had come into the churches at Galatia. They
preached that salvation required the death of Christ, but also
required some obedience and works of the law from the part of the
sinner. And this issue had come up before.
This is not the first time this issue had come up, and it's come
up many times since then. It's salvation. Is it by Christ alone without
any of our works, or do we have to contribute some works? Is
justification by faith or works? Now, which is it? That's the
issue. We see that same issue today. So let's look at what
Paul has to say about it, and it'll help us deal with that
very same issue today. Galatians 2, verse 1. Then 14
years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and
took Titus with me also. 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. But neither Titus, who was with
me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised." Now Paul
didn't go up to Jerusalem because he was being called on the carpet
by the other apostles. He wasn't being called to headquarters
because there was an issue. He went by revelation. The Holy
Spirit revealed to Paul. go to Jerusalem at this time
to settle this issue. And as he went, I want you to
notice a couple of things about some wisdom Paul used. Now, when
he gets to Jerusalem, this is going to be the question. Does
a man have to be circumcised in order to be saved or not?
This was a key element to the law that they wanted to continue
to impose upon believers. Well, Paul said no. Paul says
salvation is by grace, through faith, without any deeds of the
law. And he took Titus with him. Now, Titus was a Gentile. He's
an uncircumcised man. Paul called Titus my own son. Paul taught him the gospel. He
preached to him. He went out preaching with Paul
and traveling with Paul. And Paul took this uncircumcised
Gentile with him to Jerusalem. Now, here's my brother. You fellas
going to accept him or not? There's a wisdom involved in
this. And they did accept Titus as a brother. They didn't require
anything else of Titus in order to preach their Jerusalem. Now,
if any of these other ceremonies are required for salvation, surely
the apostles would have required that out of Titus, wouldn't they?
But they didn't. So they're plainly saying salvation
is by grace, through faith, without any of our own deeds of the law,
without us following any of the ceremonies. It's dressed a little different,
but this issue is the same issue that's in the hearts of men today.
This man's nature. We want to do some work. Let
me contribute something. I'm willing to have Christ do
most of the saving, but let me do something. Contribute something
to my salvation. People want to observe a day.
Now, they don't want to observe Saturday, which is the Sabbath
day according to the law. We've got too much to do on Saturday.
So we can't say we can't do work on Saturday. That's the day I've
got to get some work done. So, let's create a new day to
observe. We'll call it the Christian Sabbath.
We'll celebrate it, observe it on Sunday. And we're not going
to make the rules as stringent as the law, you know. The Christian
Sabbath is Sabbath-like, you know. But it makes us feel better
to observe. We want to observe a day. It makes me feel like
I'm doing, contributing something. People want to observe dietary
laws. Now, they don't want to do it
all the time like the law requires. So let's just, we'll create some
different rules and we'll observe them on Friday and we'll observe
them a few weeks out of every year, just for a limited time. Some people think you ought not
even drink caffeine. This is their dietary law, don't
drink caffeine. Now you think God's pleased with
that? You can not drink caffeine if you want to, but I'm telling
you this, it won't make you more holy, it'll just make you sluggish.
That's not, be more sluggish is not holy, don't confuse the
two. And people want to observe infant baptism. This is a ceremony
that they want to observe. And they want to do that because
this is what they don't understand. We're not washed from sin by
the waters of baptism. The only way our sin can be cleansed
is in the blood of Christ. And I understand a parent desperately
wanting to see their child saved, wanting to see their sins cleansed.
That's the heart's desire of every parent in here, to see
God be merciful. to our children and save them.
But baptizing a child will not accomplish that. It might somehow
make this flesh feel better, but it's not going to accomplish
anything spiritual. Baptism is a confession of what Christ has
already done for us. When we're baptized, we're confessing
that Christ is all my salvation. And an infant can't confess that.
Because an infant can't understand anything except I'm tired, I'm
hungry, and my diaper's dirty. That's all an infant can understand,
so he can't confess Christ. But it might make the flesh feel
better. If people want to observe tithing, now you can't give that
one up. People think the law had that
right. You can't give tithing up or the church can be bankrupt.
You don't preach tithing to people God saved for two reasons. First
one's this. The law is done away with in
Christ. God's people are not under the burden of the law.
You're children of God. You're children of the King.
The children of the King aren't taxed. The law is done away with
in Christ. And secondly, you don't preach
tithing to people God saved. Now, you have to preach tithing
to people you saved, but not people God saved. Because when
God saves a sinner, he gives that sinner a new heart, a generous,
loving, giving heart. You don't have to make them give.
They'll give. Now, we teach giving because scripture tells us we're
to teach giving, but no one's forced to give in order to be
saved or in order to keep their salvation. Christ already gave
himself. Christ gave himself. Boy, there's
nothing left to give. Christ gave himself. The price
is paid, so we give out of a thankful heart. See the difference? Now
here's a second example of Paul's wisdom in his trip to Jerusalem.
He goes to Jerusalem and he went to discuss this matter privately. He went to the apostles to discuss
this matter privately before they discussed it in the church.
He went to Peter, James, and John first. Paul wanted to make
sure, now we're all in agreement about this thing. If we're not
in agreement, something's seriously wrong. There's no point in me
talking to the church. If we're not in agreement, You know, on
this matter that's so serious, I'll go my way, you go yours.
And there's wisdom involved in that. Before you blow the lid
off this thing, let's talk about it privately. If I thought there
was some disagreement between me and many other pastors that
we know and love, I'd call them and I'd want to talk about this
thing privately. It would matter to me that we're
on the same page, that we're preaching the same gospel. And
that's exactly what Paul did. He went to Peter and James and
John and discussed it. He said, this is the gospel that
I preach. And they said, oh, yes, yes, Paul. We're in agreement
on this. If something is important, it's
justification by faith. Now, we're in agreement on this.
Now, I can just see Paul coming to town and makes this appointment
with the other apostles. We're going to sit down and talk.
And Paul came to him and said, brethren, This is the gospel
I've been preaching. Fourteen years I've been traveling
the Gentile world preaching the gospel. This is the gospel that
I preach. Wouldn't you love to have been
there and listened in on that conference? Paul, Peter, James
and John sitting around drinking coffee, talking about the scriptures,
talking about the gospel, talking about the Savior. I'd love to
have heard the Apostle Paul Preach Christ from the Old Testament
Scriptures. These men knew the Old Testament Scriptures. They
knew them well. They were taught them from the
time they were just that high. Paul began the Old Testament
Scriptures when he was eight days old being circumcised. Now
these men see Christ in all those Old Testament Scriptures. And
can't you just hear them? I mean, you just hear them sitting
around talking about the Lord. The only point of reference I
have to is when we were in Mexico. In the evenings, we'd go out
and sit on Cody Gruber's patio and just sit there listening
to Walter Gruber and Todd Nyberg talk about the scriptures. Kind
of similar to what's going on here. And Paul told them, brethren,
this is the doctrine of Christ. Look over to 1 Corinthians 15. I know this is what he told those
other apostles, because this is the gospel Paul said he preached
everywhere. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1. Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which
you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received. This is the gospel I received
from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, according to the Old Testament
Scriptures, and that he was buried. He rose again the third day according
to the Scriptures, according to the Old Testament Scriptures.
And this gospel that Paul preached in Corinth, he preached it in
Galatia, he preached it in Philippi, he preached it everywhere he
went, he ultimately preached it in Rome, and I'm confident
when he's in Jerusalem, this is the gospel that he laid out
to the other apostles. This is the gospel I preached.
Paul talked about God's promise of salvation through the seed
of woman. He talked about how God became
a man. Now, God didn't become a man
through the seed of man, not through the seed of Adam, because
if he'd done that, he'd have been partaker in Adam's guilt
and Adam's nature, wouldn't he? So Christ became a man through
the seed of a woman. The Messiah that God promised
when Adam and Eve were first thrust out of the garden, he
became a man through the seed of a woman. He wasn't unrighteous
in Adam, he was righteous in himself, so that he had a righteousness
to impute to his people, and we're righteous in him. Righteousness
is in Christ, not in something we do. Then I think Paul talked
to them about the rod of Jesse, the branch of David, whose name
is Jehovah Sidkenu. He knew the writings of Jeremiah
well, and Paul quoted it. This is the name wherewith he
shall be called, Jehovah Sidkenu. The Lord our righteousness. He
is our righteousness. And then Paul went over, he didn't
go down the scroll a little ways, and he quoted this verse. This
is the name we're with. She shall be called Jehovah Sid
Kenyon. The Lord our righteousness. And
Paul said, brethren, now we bear his name because we're joined
to Christ. We're righteous in him. And then
Paul talked to him about the everlasting covenant of grace.
He said, Brethren, now you know this. This is the gospel I preach.
We're not saved because we chose God. We're saved because God
chose us. He chose us in eternity past.
And we're not saved because we did anything good. We're not
saved because we kept some of the law and obeyed some of these,
followed some of these ceremonies. We're righteous because Christ
is our righteousness. When Christ kept the law, I kept
the law in me. He's my representative. When
Christ died, I died to the law, and I died to sin in Him. He's
my representative. And when Christ arose, I rose
too. I arose to newness of life in
Him. And at this very moment that I'm talking to you, I'm
seated in the heavenlies. In Christ. It's all in Him. It's all because of God's eternal
covenant of grace. God chose me, God put me in Christ,
and there I'll stay. By the power and grace of Christ.
Then Paul talks to him about the Passover lamb and all the
sacrifices. I'm just hearing, brethren, God
doesn't pass over us because we don't have any sin. God doesn't
pass over us because we don't have as much sin as the heathen.
God doesn't pass over us because we kept part of the law. God
passes over our sin because of the blood, and not the blood
of that lamb, the blood of Christ. Christ, our Passover, sacrificed
for us. The blood has been shed. The
Holy Spirit applied the blood to our hearts. That's why God
passes over us. Because the substitute died in
our place. The substitute suffered everything we deserve. Salvation
is all in Christ. That's a doctrine of Christ.
Paul talks then from the Old Testament Scriptures. Then Paul
talks to them about the experience of the gospel. The new birth. Salvation is a whole lot more
than an experience, isn't it? But I'm telling you, it's an
experience to have Christ formed in you. That's what Paul talked
to him about. He talked to those other apostles about going out
and laboring and travailing to Christ be formed in those Gentiles.
And through this gospel, they were. Christ was formed in them.
Now, that's a whole lot more indoctrinated. Salvation is more
an experience, but it's more indoctrinated, too. God gives
a new heart. He writes his law on the new
heart, the heart that God gives in the new birth. Now, that's
an experience, the experience of grace. And then Paul talked
to him about the fruit of the gospel. Faith in Christ produces
a changed walk. It produced a changed walk to
the Jews. They weren't under that law anymore. And it produced
a changed walk to the Gentiles. They turned from their idols
to serve the true living God. Paul saw that happen, the fruit
of the gospel of these Gentile believers. And this is the gospel
Paul preached to everywhere he went. And he didn't change his
message when he was talking to the apostles, not one whip. And
every servant of God do this exact same thing. Everywhere
I go. I try to be here all the time,
but when I'm not, if I'm out somewhere else preaching, I can
tell you right now, I don't change my message. I preach the same
message wherever it is I go, that I preach to you every week.
Because there's just one gospel. And all the apostles, they listen
to Paul. I'm sure they went back and forth, and they all there,
Amen, and Paul. And they said, what about this? And they talked
about this scripture, and this type, and this shadow. And the
apostle said, Paul, that's the gospel. That's the gospel of
God. That's the gospel that saves.
That's the gospel we preach and we believe, too. Look back in
Acts 15. This trip to Jerusalem is recorded
in Acts 15. Read the conclusion of the matter.
If you want to go home and read this whole chapter, we'll read
just a few verses here. Beginning in verse one of Acts
15. 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, and Paul's wisdom,
that was Titus, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles
and elders about this question. And being brought on their way
by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring
the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto
all the brethren. 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.
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and
to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the other apostles
and elders came together for to consider this matter. And
when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them,
Men and brethren, ye know, how that a good while ago God made
a choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word
of the gospel, and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts,
bared them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts, how? By faith, not by the works of
the law, but by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God?
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither
our fathers nor we were able to bear. But we believe, through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they."
Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas
and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among
the Gentiles by them. And then James spoke, and you
can read that this afternoon if you'd like, but look down
at verse 23. Here's the conclusion of this conference, verse 23.
and they wrote letters by them after this manner. The apostles
and elders and brethren sent greeting unto the brethren which
are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Forasmuch
as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled
you with words, subverting your souls, saying you must be circumcised
and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment, it
seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen
men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and and that have hazarded
their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have
sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same
things by mouth. 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 ye well."
You read that, it sounds like the question's answered, doesn't
it? The issue's settled. Far from correcting Paul's message,
they were blessed by it. They amended it. Now hold your
finger there, we're going to come right back to this, but
let's look back in our text, Galatians 2, verse 4. And that because of false brethren,
unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty,
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage, to whom we gave place by subjection No, not for an
hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. Now,
look back in Acts 16. These false prophets, they claim
that you've got to add something to Christ in order to be saved.
And Paul wouldn't agree with that for one minute. He wouldn't
tolerate that for a second. And here's why. That kind of
preaching puts men and women back under the bondage of the
law. How horrible is it? How horrible is it to be under
the bondage of the law in the first place? But to be delivered
from that bondage in Christ, have freedom from the law in
Christ, and to enjoy that freedom because Christ kept the law for
us. The law's done away with. You've got nothing to do with
the law. The law's got nothing to do with you. And now somebody
wants to put you back in that bondage? Paul says, no, sir.
Christ set me free from that prison. I'm not going back. And
I care about you, I'm not going to see you be put back in that
prison either. Now I know these fellows act religious, but they're
trying to put you under the law and we're going to have a fight.
Now we're not going to tolerate that. But I want you to see another
example of Paul's wisdom. He brought Titus with him and
under no circumstances was he going to let Titus be circumcised
because it is not a requirement of salvation. Can't be. Because
Christ met every requirement. But here's another illustration
of Paul's wisdom. Different circumstances can require
different approaches. Look in Acts 16, verse 1. Then
came he to Derbe, in Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple
was there, named Timotheus, son of a certain woman which was
a Jewess, and believed, but his father was a Greek, which was
well reported of by the brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium.
Him would Paul have to go forth with him, and he took and circumcised
him, because of the Jews that were in those quarters for they
knew all that his father was a Greek." Now, why would Paul
do that? Why would Paul have Timothy circumcised,
but he refused to have Titus circumcised? Why would he do
that? Because with Titus, the false prophets were demanding
that Titus be circumcised as a requirement of salvation. He
said, you can't be saved without it. That's what we read back
there in Acts 15. You can't be saved unless you're
circumcised and keep the law of Moses. Well, Paul wouldn't
give in to that. That's not a requirement of salvation. Either salvation is in my works
or it's in Christ. Scriptures say Christ accomplished
all our salvation. Christ fulfilled every requirement.
Well, then I'm not having him circumcised because that's a
violation of the scripture. That's a violation of faith.
Paul wouldn't give in to that. But Timothy, he had circumcised.
And here's why. Paul had Timothy circumcised
before he went to the priest to the Jews, before it ever became
an issue. Paul took the issue out of the
way for this reason. So those Jews listened to him
preach. So they wouldn't sit there and not listen to him or
refuse to listen to him because they knew he was uncircumcised.
But now, if they would have demanded Timothy be circumcised for the
same reason, they said, we're not going to listen to him unless
he's circumcised. He can't be saved unless he's circumcised.
Well, then Paul wouldn't have done it. But before it became
an issue, Paul took that issue out of the way so that they listened
to him preach. And this is exactly what Paul
meant when he was talking to preachers. You be all things
to all men. Don't do things that offend people
so they'll listen to you preach. You watch yourself and just don't
do things. It may be all right for you to
do, but don't do it if it's going to offend somebody because your
function in life is this, preach the gospel. And you can't be
effective with people if you just listen to them. That's what
he's saying there. Now, we can compromise on things. But if
you're going to make it a matter of righteousness, if you're going
to make a requirement for salvation, then we can't compromise there.
But if we can avoid doing something that will cause somebody to stumble
before they make an issue of it, before they make a requirement
of salvation of it, then we compromise on that now. The illustration
I used a couple of weeks ago, we're preaching there, going
through the study of John, talking about the Lord washing the feet
of his disciples. We can compromise on foot washing.
I mean, if somebody wants to wash feet, I mean, that's fine.
We're not going to do it here, but if somebody wants to, that's
fine. I'm not going to wash my feet, because my feet are ticklish,
so I just, you know, I'm not going to. But if somebody wants
to, that's fine. We can compromise on that, as
long as you don't make it a requirement for salvation. See, that's what
Paul's saying here. Now, verse 6, back in our text. But of these
who seem to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter
to me. God accepteth no man's person. For they who seem to
be somewhat in conference, added nothing to me. Now Peter, James
and John, that's who he's talking about here. Now they should be
highly respected and Paul is not saying he doesn't respect
them, he does. They're highly respected and they ought to be.
Christ himself chose these men to be apostles. Christ himself
gave them the message, taught them the gospel and they've earned
that respect, haven't they? But now even though they're highly
respected, this is what Paul's saying, He would not have changed
his message to suit them, no matter how highly respected they
are. For this reason, the Lord Jesus Christ gave Paul his message
too. And if Christ gave Paul his message
and gave Peter his message, they ought to be the same, shouldn't
they? And they were. And Paul said, now since Christ
gave me my message, I didn't need these other men to confirm
it for me. And they ought to be respected.
But now God doesn't accept anybody because of their position or
their, you know, whatever they've done or haven't done. God only
accepts sinners in Christ. And Paul was determined, I'm
going to preach the gospel of Christ no matter what anybody
else does. And I hope that's the same gospel Peter, James
and John preached. But I'm not changing my message
to match theirs if they're not preaching justification by faith. And that's what Paul is saying.
He said the office that Peter, James and John held, you ought
to respect that. But no, that doesn't impress
God. And I'll tell you what God's impressed with, who God's impressed
with. He's impressed with his son. This is my beloved son,
whom I'm well pleased. He's not impressed with us. He's
impressed with his son. And that office didn't impress
God, and it wouldn't sway Paul to change his message. Now, how
does that apply to us? Well, God hasn't spoken audibly
to anybody in this room. He hasn't. But we have a message
from God just as surely as Paul did. Just as surely as Peter,
James, and John did. And we find it in God's Word.
We have a more sure word of prophecy, Peter said. Word of God. Now
there are many pastors I highly respect. I love them. I highly
respect them. And I'm glad. I'm completely
honest with you. I'm glad when they say, Frank,
that's a blessing. That's the gospel. God don't need them to
confirm a message. I don't. For this reason. Not because I'm so sure of myself.
Because the message in God's Word, that's what it says. So
we preach it. And I'll give you a good example
of this. Recently, I was in a restaurant
with a group of believers. We're sitting around talking
and drinking caffeine drinks and we're eating and talking,
you know. And there's a group of people there of different
ages and things. And we're talking. And you know
how it is, they're bathing Christ, they stay silent for a long time.
And finally this bathing Christ spoke up, made this statement. It doesn't matter to me what
I think I see in myself or what I think I feel. The only thing
that matters is what is God's word said. Now why does it have
to be more complicated than that? All the older believers around
the table couldn't amen that fast enough. I about came out
of my chair. That's it. All that matters is
what's God's Word say. That's what we're going to preach.
And the gospel that's declared in the Word of God, we will never
compromise it for anyone or anything. You can never compromise man's
total depravity. Not preach the gospel you can't.
You can't compromise unconditional election. Unconditional simply
means this. You didn't meet a condition for
it. God simply chose it because he would. You can't compromise
that. We can't compromise limited atonement. How can you compromise
and say Christ died for everybody? He didn't. He died for his people.
Those people will be saved. You can't compromise irresistible
call of the Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit calls. And
you're not going to resist. He made you willing. You come
running to Christ. and perseverance of the saints.
How can you compromise that? What if you compromise that?
The only reason you're doing that is you're trying to scare
people into continuing to attend and give money and all these
things. We're not going to compromise that. If Christ saved you, God's
going to keep you. We can't compromise that. We
can't compromise ruined by the fall, redeemed by the blood,
regenerated by the Spirit. That's the message of God's Word.
And we can't compromise that for three reasons. There are
many, but I'll give you three. Number one, we cannot compromise
the gospel of God's word because God's glory demands it. Salvation
that's accomplished by me and Jesus. You can't see it, but
in my notes that's a little jagged. Me and Jesus, we didn't accomplish
a salvation that's very impressive at all. But salvation in Christ
alone, by God's grace alone, through faith alone, that's a
glorious gospel. And God's glory to man, we don't
compromise that. Secondly, we cannot compromise
the gospel of God's Word. Because God's people can't worship
any other way. You can't worship hearing a false
gospel, hearing a lie. And God's sheep can't be fed
any other way than this gospel. The Word of God. The Word of
God's sheep food. We can't compromise that. People
starve to death. And third, we can't compromise
the gospel. Because the lost can't be saved
any other way. This is the gospel God uses to save sinners. And
Paul was thankful. These other apostles were in
agreement with him, but now he wasn't compromised to sue them
because he's not their servant. He's a servant of God. Isn't
that what he said back in verse 10 of chapter 1? For do I now persuade men or
God? Do I seek to please men? If I
yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. and
I'm not going to compromise because I'm a servant of Christ. Now,
let me give you this quickly. These apostles, they all had
their own place of service. Look at chapter 2, verse 7. But
contrarywise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision
was committed unto me as the gospel of circumcision was unto
Peter, for he that wrought affectionately in Peter to the apostleship of
the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. Now, God's servants all have
their own place of service. They serve in the place where
God put them. God's called me to serve here, and this is where
you're going to find me. As long as God gives me the strength
to stand and speak, this is where you're going to find me. Because
God called me to serve here, just like Paul was sent to the
Gentiles. Peter was sent to the Jews. Now,
here they went out preaching the gospel. What message are
they going to preach? Going to completely different worlds.
What message are they going to preach? The issue of the law
wasn't as big of an issue to the Gentiles as it was to the
Jews. The Gentiles never kept the law. They never heard anything
about the law. All the time they were growing up they were idolaters.
They turned to God from their idols to serve the true living
God. But now the Jews, they had a problem with the law. Because
they were brought up observing it. I mean, from the time they
could understand language. But they were put under the law.
They were steeped in it. Now they knew they were free
from the law. They heard that in the gospel.
They heard they were free from the law. But false prophets could
still appeal to that. Because it's ingrained in their
flesh. And they could still appeal to
that. It's just their habit. So Peter and Paul go out preaching.
And they preach the exact same gospel. They're preaching it
to different nationalities, people of different backgrounds, people
of different races, but they all preach, all the apostles,
all God's servants preach the same message because there's
just one gospel. One gospel that saves. The gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the gospel of Christ will
cause you to turn to God from your idols just as surely as
it will set you free from the law. Same message. Now we have
different places of service. Here we are meeting today nationally. Brethren are meeting in Lexington,
Danville, Pikeville, Rocky Mountain, just everywhere you can think
of. There they all are meeting. Different places of service,
aren't they? But the same body. We all serve together, too. Look
at verse 9. And when James and Cephas, that's
Peter and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace
that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right
hands of fellowship. That we should go unto the heathen,
unto the Gentiles, and they into the circumcision, to the Jews.
Only, they would that we should remember the poor. The Jews were
under heavy, heavy trial right now. They were poor and they
lost their homes and their jobs and everything that they owned.
And so, remember the poor. And the same Paul says, which
I was also forward to do. We're going to take care of the
poor. As much as we can, those who are poor financially and
needy. especially those who are poor spiritually. And we're going
to help each other out. You know, the gospel is not just
Ashland. God's got one church, one body, and we're going to
support and we're going to encourage one another here and in other
places too, as the Lord enables us, because we're all one body.
That's what Paul's saying there. If you've got one message and
it's just one body, we're all one body. We come from different
races, different backgrounds, different dialects that go up
there in New Jersey. I talk a different language,
it seems like, than they do, but we're one body. One Lord, one
faith, one Baptist. All right. Well, God bless.