This past week, kind of ironic that we're dealing
with this subject, we were invited to be up there,
to this street service. And I said, no. I said, we'll
just stay down here. We'll just continue what we're
doing. sit up there this morning, I
promise you, we would have to compromise. We would have to
compromise the gospel that we believe. By not compromising,
it does separate us. But isn't that what God said,
that His people are a separated people? We are a separated people. The gospel separates us. Christ
said He came to divide. It doesn't divide God's children.
It does not divide the family. It divides the sheep from the
goats, tears from the wheat. What kind of watchman would I
be to take the Lord's sheep and put them in a compromising situation? I'm glad we sat under a pastor
for years and wouldn't do that. Couldn't do that. The very reason
we're here is because we wouldn't compromise. But here is a black spot in Paul's
ministry. Many of the commentaries that
I read here this past few days, all of them I said, this is hard to understand.
And I agree. It's hard to understand. I'm
hoping it's not going to be too hard to preach from. But it's
hard to understand. And most of them tried to put
some kind of a light on it that did not make Paul look too bad. But you know, God uses, and here's
what we must understand. God uses men. that do great things, but they're still just men. At
our best, we are still sinners saved by grace. I promise you
this, if you hang around me long enough, you're going to be disappointed.
You're going to be disappointed because I'm just a man. Sinners
saved by grace. But that's all we are at best.
And here we have a failed compromise. There are some things that we
can compromise. You know, when it comes between
employer and employee, there has to be compromises. When you
get into politics, there has to be compromises or it's nothing
but stalemate and nothing happens. It doesn't go anywhere. We can
compromise on the length of our hair. My dad didn't, but he said
this is going to wear this long, and he cut it off. There was
no compromise there. We can compromise even on our
dress. There's a lot of things we can
compromise and get along, and it's all right. We cannot ever
ever compromise the gospel. We can never compromise the gospel
of God's glory. It doesn't matter if we're the
only little group left in the world. You can't compromise it. You can't do it. Because you're compromising the
truth. And you know, when you do that, it becomes a lie. When
you compromise the truth, it becomes a lie. It's not the truth
anymore. And then we compromise God's
glory. This is God's chief glory, how
He saves sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ, His redemptive
glory. We cannot compromise that. Can't
do it. It's never to be compromised.
Now, we don't have to preach in an offensive manner. We don't
have to be offensive purposely, trying to be offensive, but the
gospel is offensive to natural man, I guarantee you. I thought
about this last night when I was thinking about this going on.
If I could stand up there and say the truth, it's going to
be offensive. But I declare the sovereignty
of God Almighty. I declare the authority and the
Lordship of Jesus Christ. When we declare the redemptive
work of Christ for His people, which are a multitude of sinners,
given to him by the Father, I'm going to tick some people off.
I'm not going to. The gospel is. It's going to
make some people mad. Haven't we seen this going through
the book of Acts? Paul goes into town. Paul preaches
the gospel of God's glory. Some sheep are called out. But
for the most part, the town is in an uproar and he's ran out
of town. And they thought he'd run us
out of town. Stand there and tell the truth,
unless God Almighty did something for them. It's offensive to the natural
man, and it will always be that way. It will always be a stumbling
block to the Jew, the religious man. It always will be. And it
will always be foolishness to the Greek, no matter how you
preach it. As it is, as it's revealed in
the Scriptures, it's always going to be a stumbling block and foolishness,
unless God reveals it to you. Now, here in Acts 21, Paul goes
to Jerusalem. There in verse 17, it was revealed
to him by the Holy Spirit that he should go to Jerusalem. It
said he was bound in spirit to go to Jerusalem. They tried to
talk him out of it, but he wouldn't do it. He said, this is what
I've got to do. And so Paul goes to Jerusalem
and he meets James and the other elders there at Jerusalem. And
I think part of the problem here is James. James to me, in studying
this this week, shows a weakness. He shows a weakness here by seeking
a compromise. He's trying to avoid. Here's
what he's trying to avoid. He said there's going to be a
lot of people, thousands of Jews. who have heard that you are in
town, and they are very, very zealous to keep the law. Now,
that seems strange to us, doesn't it? But we have to remember,
these are babes in Christ. And I believe many of these thousands
of Jews are truly saved, but they're babes in Christ. And
remember this, they were brought up. They were brought up as children. Like these children sit back
in Janet's class, and she's teaching them. Train a child up in the
way you'd have him to go, and what? They won't depart from
it. They were trained up in this. They were trained up that the
law, first of all, is God-given. What you are asking me and asking
us to give up is that which God gave us. And these Judaizers, the ones
that did not believe. But they said, it's okay to believe
on Christ. It's okay to have faith in Him,
but you've got to keep the law also. And this was a very confusing
time. And this went on for about 70
years. And then in 70 A.D., God destroyed Jerusalem. Tore out
all that down. Just wiped it out. It's like
breaking your hand. Trying to get something out of
somebody's hand. They're hanging on to it and God just broke their
hands. He took it away from them. So this is the situation going
on here. And so James is trying to avoid some trouble here. And
that's when you finally get into trouble in a spiritual sense,
when you're trying to avoid trouble. Because that's when compromise
comes in. That's when compromise comes in. And then, I think this
also. Sometimes, the soldier gets tired
of fighting. He gets tired of fighting. You
ever get tired of fighting? I did that way in business. I get so tired of fighting this
all the time, and that's the way it is in business. You're
always fighting month after month after month. You just get tired
of fighting. But Satan never tires, does he? He never tires. He never tires
of trying to destroy God's glory. The Scripture presents him as
going through the earth, going to and fro through the earth,
seeking Him, what? He may devour. When our Lord was in the wilderness
forty days and forty nights, then Satan came at Him when He
was tired. And that's what's going on here.
Now, verse 19, Paul declares how that God has saved the Gentiles
by His ministry. He declared unto them all that
was going on and all that God did among the Gentiles and how
He saved them. And it says here, "...and they
glorified the Lord." There in verse 20. And when they heard
it, they glorified the Lord. They didn't glorify Paul. Here's
this wisdom. They glorified the Lord. You
give honor to whom honor is due, but the glory goes to Christ.
All glory and salvation belongs to Jesus Christ. If I were to
stand here and preach Him a sermon, and 3,000 people were saved, I have nothing to glory in except
Christ. And it would be wrong for you
to glorify me saying, My soul, you know, He's a preacher, isn't
He? It's the Lord who saves. It's
the Lord who gives power to the message. I can't give power to
this. I can't do it. He can. And He does. And so they
glorified the Lord. But then the compromise comes
in. Here comes the compromise. In order to get along, in order
to keep trouble down, Paul is informed that thousands of Jews
have believed Yet, he says, they're very zealous
in keeping the Law of Moses. And they've heard that you have
said to just take the Law of Moses and toss it aside. No,
that's not so. He said, Paul preached that the
Law was fulfilled in Christ. Those Judaizers are saying, Paul
says the Law of Moses is no good. Toss it away. Scripture says
the Law is good, doesn't it? Nothing wrong with the Law. The
Law is good. But it's fulfilled. It's fulfilled. But they had them believing that
Paul had said that we just toss that aside, we don't need it
anymore. Well, that's not the complete story. That's not the
complete truth. And they had a lot to overcome. What they didn't realize fully,
fully, was that the blood of bulls and goats could never take
away sin. The blood of an animal,
the death of an animal, the blood of an animal could never take
away the sin of a man. The only blood that can wash
away sin and take it away is the blood of Jesus Christ. And
this blood here is not needed anymore. It's fulfilled in Christ. And they were having a hard time
letting go of that. And these Jews who were weak
in the faith had a lot to learn and a lot to overcome. It takes
a while. I heard Henry say this one time in a message a long
time ago. He said it takes a while to get the grave clothes off.
It takes a while. And it appears to me that James,
as I said, was weak in this area. Grace and legalism can never
mix. You can never mix the two. It's
like fire and gas. There's going to be a combustion.
They cannot mix. And God had to bring that place
down in order to break their hold on the law for salvation. Any part of salvation, salvation
is Christ and Christ alone. It's grace alone. It is Christ
alone without me doing anything to add to it. Are you doing anything to add
to it? Aren't you glad of that? I'm so glad this morning that
we do not have to go through some ceremonies and some rituals
to add to the preaching of the gospel. I'm so glad of that.
It's Christ. He said it's free from these
things. You're free from them. Don't go back under them. They
had a hard time getting out from under them. That's what they
were doing. They were raised to keep the law as a way of acceptance. And now it's over? Put yourself in their place.
Now it's over. This is what my mom believed.
This is what my dad believed. You've definitely seen that. This is over. It's fulfilled.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. But Paul gives in. This is sad. I'm sure there'll be sad things
that I'll do too. He gives in trying to keep the
peace, and that's a bad decision. You know, we may not eat meat
if it offends our brother. And Paul says, don't do that.
Don't eat meat or don't drink wine if it offends your brother. Don't do that if it offends the
weaker brother. But we never do that which violates
the gospel and promotes a legal spirit. We never do that. Never. We stand for grace alone, Christ
alone, at all costs. Like I said, if we're the last
ones standing, that's the way we stand. And you could not take
that message and stand up there and preach and not be troubled. And I have no doubt that Paul
regretted this. I have no doubt he's regretted
it. I have no doubt. You know, nothing else is said in the Scriptures
about this. It's quiet. It's left quiet. Nothing else needs to be said. I'm so glad, too, that the Lord
doesn't keep putting salt in the wound. Aren't you? I'm so glad He doesn't keep bringing
up, well, remember when? He said, they're gone. Our sins
are all gone. And God took care of that one
too. But he regretted it. And one
of the reasons I know he regretted it, because some of the strongest
epistles that he wrote was after this happened and after he was
put in prison. And by what he wrote then, and
it was from this experience. He didn't have to bring it up,
he just brought out the fruit of it, what he experienced, the
benefit to us. When they put him in prison,
some of the, go read Ephesians, Philippians, those prison epistles. Now they said, James says this,
Do this that we say to thee. We have four men, four believers,
which have a vow on them, a Nazarite vow, and a man, a woman, could
make a Nazarite vow at any time. It was a separation unto the
Lord for a certain purpose. And he said, you take and purify
yourself with them. We are pure in Christ. There's
nothing that we do, nothing that we offer that purifies us. Christ
is our purity. But he told Paul, he said, purify
yourself with them. And Paul gives in to this request
by doing so, and by doing so, he promotes He promotes the very
thing he preached against, a legal spirit and the keeping of the
law. He confuses, no doubt, he confuses some of the Gentiles
who said, Paul, that's not what you said. And he encourages those Judaizers. Oh, I tell you what, this is
the same Paul that Jumped on Peter for separating
himself. Remember that? Over here in Galatians? Let me look over here in Galatians
and read that to you. See if I can find it. In verse 11, chapter 2. Listen
to this. Verse 11, chapter 2. But when
Peter was come to Antioch, Paul says, I was stood into the face.
because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came
from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were
come, he withdrew, and separated himself, fearing them which were
of the circumcision. And the other Jews disassembled
likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas got caught up in this
also, and he was carried away with their dissimulation. But
when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth
of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being
a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do
the Jews, then why compel thou the Gentiles to live as do the
Jews? We who are Jews by nature are not sinners of the Gentiles. And then Paul does this. Is he a hypocrite? No. No. No, he just made a bad, he just
gave in to a bad situation. But to show you, listen, let
me tell you this. Strong men in the faith still make bad decisions. They still make bad decisions. Read the history, and God does
not hide the history, the bad parts of His servants. He doesn't. He doesn't hide David's adulterous
affair. He doesn't hide the fact that
David had that woman, Bathsheba's husband, murdered. He doesn't
hide it. He doesn't hide Abraham going
down to Egypt and lying and saying, this is my sister, and letting
the king take her. Now you and I look at that and
we say, whoa, man, that's some bad stuff. What if he wrote our
story? Aren't you glad he's not writing
your name down? I'm glad he's not writing mine down. I'm glad. Jacob, thou worm, Jacob, you
deceiver, you supplanter. He didn't hide that fact, did
he? But to show how confusing Paul's
actions were here, look back over here in the book of Galatians.
Now whether this was written, most say this was written when
he was in Ephesus. Some say it was written at Antioch. It says here, and the scripture
says it was written in Rome. I don't know whether it was written,
myself personally, I don't know exactly when it was written.
John Gill said it's hard to say exactly when this was written.
If it was written before prison, before this experience, then
you can see how confusing it is. If it was written after this
experience, then you can see how profitable it was. But you
can see how confusing it is here. Look in verse 6, chapter 1. Paul says, I marvel that you
Galatians are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel. which is not another,
but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ." Now look over in verse 16, that I just read down
through here, and we pick back up. We have to talk to Peter,
speaking here to Peter. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. And not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. By the keeping of the ceremonies,
no flesh shall be justified in God's sight. Now look over in
chapter 3. Well, you can read all the way
down through verse 1 through 8. He calls them all foolish
Galatians. Who hath bewitched you? you should
not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth, crucified among you." And let me say this, these Galatians
were mostly made up of Jews that he's writing to here. This is
only what I learned of you. Did you receive the Spirit by
the works of the law, by the reading of the law, or by the
hearing of faith? What was going on when God saved you? Was it
the reading of the law? Or the preaching of the gospel?
Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, Are you now made
perfect by the flesh? Now look over in chapter 5, because
here's one of the things they accuse him of, that they should
not be circumcised anymore. He says, Stand fast, therefore,
in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul,
say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
James says, this is one of the charges, James says, these people
are saying, you said not to be circumcised. For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the
whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever you who are justified by the law, you are
followed from grace. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ
neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision. But faith
which works by love. See how confusing that is? See
what kind of a confusing message that sent when Paul did this? When he did this? And to show
you what he had to do, turn over to Numbers chapter 6. Numbers
chapter 6. It says in Numbers chapter 6, this is the Nazarite vow, this
is what he was attaching himself to. Sometime when you have time,
just read that whole chapter. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
When either man or woman shall separate themselves, to vow a
vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord. He
shall separate himself from wine and strong drink." And he goes
on down and tells what he'll separate. He can't even eat raisins. Well, there's a lot of things
they were not to do. Now, turn over to verse 13. This is at
the end of their seven days. After the end of their vow, this
is what had to happen. And this is the law of the Nazarite.
When the days of his separation are fulfilled, He shall be brought
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and he shall
offer his offering unto the Lord, one elamb of the first year without
blemish for a burnt offering." Christ is our burnt offering.
"...and one elamb of the first year without blemish for a sin
offering." Christ is our sin offering. Paul, what are you
doing? and one ram without blemish for
peace offerings. And a basket of unleavened bread,
cakes of fine flour, mingled with oil and wafers of unleavened
bread and anointed with oil, and their meat offering and their
drink offerings. And the priest shall bring them
before the Lord and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt
offerings. And he shall offer the ram for
a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord with the basket
of unleavened bread the priest shall offer Also his meat offering
and his drink offering. And the Nazarite shall shave
the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation and shall take the hair of the head of his separation
and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the
peace offerings. And the priest shall take of
the sodden shoulder." You can read all that. Paul, what are
you, and you know us, we were not under this. But when you
look at this, you say, Paul, what are you doing? I promise you there will
be many times you'll say, John, what are you doing? Christ is our sin offering. Christ
is our priest. And all these things have their
fulfillment in Christ. But they're trying to avoid a
problem, a separation, a tumult. But God stops the compromise.
I'm so glad that Christ is Lord. That this guiding of the church
is not left in our hands. It's in His hands. And He puts
a stop to this. And then they say, and when the
seven days were almost ended, now some say that the actual
offering didn't happen, that it was stopped. It says here,
when the seven days were almost ended, which kind of leads me
to believe that it was stopped before the actual offerings happened.
I don't know, but I think so. The Jews which were of Asia,
when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and
they laid hands on him. God is putting a stop to this.
This is what's happening. God Almighty is putting a stop
to this. And they cry out, Men of Israel, help! This is the man that teaches
all men everywhere against the people. He didn't teach anybody.
The Gospel doesn't teach against the people. It's good news, isn't
it? But when you put it into the hands of a bunch of perverted
people, it gets twisted. That's what happens. And the
law and this place and further brought Greeks also into the
temple and hath polluted this holy place. For they had seen
before with him in the city of Trophimus, in Ephesians, whom
they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. That's what
happens when you suppose. They just supposed it. And then
their imagination got carried away with it. And all the city
was moved. And the people ran together.
They joined together. And they took Paul, drew him
out of the temple, and forthwith shut the door on him. They shut the door. And there
became a big uproar over Paul. And then the centurion came and
got him and had gone to take him haul him off to jail because
there was such an uproar. They didn't want Caesar to hear
this. You'd get in trouble for that,
uproars. So they haul him off. They go put him in jail. Then
Paul talks them into letting him make his defense as to who
he is and his message. And we'll pick that up next time.
But it was a failed Compromise. Something you just can't quite
understand. Not easy to preach from either. I looked at this. That's the reason I didn't preach
from it last week. I thought, I've got to think about this
one for a while. I looked at this and I just thought, I've
got to wait a little bit on this one. But here's the truth that comes
out of this. You can't compromise the gospel.
You can't do it. Or you don't have the Gospel.
You have a perverted Gospel. But not the Gospel.