I've entitled the message for
this evening, The True Apostles' Creed. Perhaps you've heard the Apostles'
Creed. Perhaps you repeated it in liturgy
when you were growing up. Let me give it to you. By the
way, a creed is a confession or statement of faith of shared
belief. The Apostles' Creed goes like
this, I believe in God the Father Almighty, the creator of heaven
and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was
conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended
into hell. The third day he arose from the
dead. He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of
God the Father Almighty, whence he shall come to judge the living
and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness
of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. I'm sure that most of you
have heard that before. The Apostles Creed. Now, the
apostles didn't write it. It was written after they were
all dead in about the year 150 AD, and it was supposed to be
a summary of what they preached. Now, while I believe that we
would agree with pretty much everything that's said in there,
I'm not so sure about the descended into hell part. I don't think
anybody understands what took place. during the three days
between our Lord's death and resurrection. But all this is
really is a bunch of historical facts and the gospel's not in
it. Just historical facts. Now in Galatians chapter two,
verse one, we're gonna come back to Acts
15 in just a moment, but Paul refers to this. Then 14 years after I went up
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also."
Now he's referring to what took place in Acts chapter 15. 14
years. A lot of water goes under the
bridge. Some of you weren't here 14 years
ago. Some of you were. It hadn't been 14 years since
9-11 took place. That tells you some idea of how
long that period is, and it was actually 17 years after Paul's
conversion. He went to Jerusalem three years
after his conversion. We considered that a couple of
weeks ago, and then 14 years later, he went up to Jerusalem. Now turn to Acts chapter 15.
This is what he was referring to when he went with Barnabas
and Titus. Verse one, chapter 15. Now Paul
was at the church at Antioch at this time. And certain men
which came down from Judea. Now that's the church in Jerusalem.
James was the pastor. And Paul actually calls these
people in his account in Galatians, false brethren. but they came
from the church of Judea. James was the pastor. It was
a gospel church. That's scary, isn't it? These men came from a gospel
church. Certain men, which came down
from Judea, taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now, what they were saying is
something other than the person and work of Christ is necessary
for salvation. That's what they were saying.
Except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you can't
be saved. You remember in Paul's relating of these events in Galatians
chapter 2, he said they wanted Titus to be circumcised and we
wouldn't give in to them for even a second. This is what they
want. And Paul tells us a little bit
more about what they believed in verse 5. Look, he says, 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. Yes, salvation is by faith in
Christ. Yes, salvation is by grace, but you also need to be
circumcised and you need to keep the law of Moses. Added something
other than the work of Christ. Now look in verse two. When therefore
Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with
them, this caused a great conflict. Now these two words are debate
and an uproar. When Paul and Barnabas heard
this, they couldn't keep their mouth shut. Should they have? Should they have just been polite
and not said anything and said, well, we're just not going to
stir up the pot. No, there was no small dissension or uproar. You see, if you really believe
grace, if grace, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, really
is your only hope, you couldn't remain silent if someone denied
it. If you love the Lord Jesus Christ,
you couldn't remain silent while someone was denying the very
heart and soul of the gospel. There was no small dissension,
dispute. There was an uproar. There was
a fight over this. And they determined, verse two, that Paul and Barnabas
and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem and to the
apostles and elders about this question. Now, Paul and Barnabas
were not going to Jerusalem to see if perhaps they were mistaken
and maybe get some new light on this thing and see what the
other apostles taught. They knew that they were going
to Jerusalem to show that the apostles taught the exact same
thing that they did. They weren't going to see, maybe
we're wrong, let's go check it out. No, they knew that the apostles
taught the exact same thing. Now let's go on reading. And
being brought on their way by the church, that's speaking of
the church at Antioch, they passed through Phenicia and Samaria
and declared the conversion of the Gentiles and they caused
great joy unto all the brethren. Doesn't it give you great joy
when you find out someone, the Lord saved them? That he's made
himself known to them. It makes you happy. It had made
them happy. There was great joy over that. Verse four, and when they were
come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of
the apostles and elders, and they declared all the things
that God had done with them. But, now he's talking about the
issue at hand, the issue that was brought up in verse one,
but there rose up certain of the sect. the Pharisees, which
believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them, and
to command them to keep the law of Moses." Now, notice the word
sect. There rose up certain of the
sect of the Pharisees, which believed. You know that word
sect? That same word is translated in Acts chapter 24, verse 14,
heresy. Heresy. The word heresy means a choosing. That's all the word means. A
choosing. You see, if you or I believe
error, that which is contrary to the gospel, it's because we
chose to believe that way. A heresy is a choosing. You see, if you choose to believe,
you're a heretic. You believe because you have
no choice. You don't have two different options and you just
take one or take the other. Well, I'm gonna choose this one.
Turn with me for a moment to Joshua chapter 24. Verse 14. Now therefore fear the Lord.
Joshua 24, 14. Now therefore fear the Lord and
serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which
your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt
and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you
to serve the Lord, well, choose this day whom you will serve.
Pick your poison, whether the gods which your father served
that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the
Amorites in whose land you dwell. But ask for me in my house. We'll
serve the Lord. Now, if you're going to serve
someone else, make your choice. Make your choice. You see, you
don't choose to believe. You only believe because you
have no choice. It's the truth. You don't choose
to believe the truth. You believe the truth because
it's true. but you choose to believe that which is contrary
to Christ. Now, notice it says in verse
5, but there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees
which believed. Says they believed. And it's
in the 10th that says this is a completed action. You know,
if you really believe, you'll still believe. You'll go on believing. You'll keep believing if you
believe. You'll continue to believe if you believe. But it says in
this passage of Scripture, they believed, a completed action. They believed. Now, they believed
something. They didn't believe what Peter did. They didn't believe
that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.
They didn't believe that. They believed something. But
it says they believed. But there rose up certain of
the sect of the Pharisees, which came out of the church of Jerusalem,
which believed, saying that it was needful, it was necessary.
Yes, salvation's by grace, we won't deny that. Yes, salvation
comes through the Lord Jesus Christ, we won't deny that. But
something else is necessary. It is necessary to circumcise
them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. Now, if that's
necessary, how have you done? If that is necessary, how have
you done? With regard to this thing of
keeping the law of Moses, keeping the Ten Commandments, how do
you measure up? If that is necessary, I'm not
saved. If that is necessary, you're
not saved. Turn with me for a moment to
Galatians chapter two and look at these statements Paul makes.
We'll be getting to these in the coming weeks. Galatians chapter two. Paul said, knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Somebody I read recently said,
that's the most important verse in the Bible, and I wouldn't
put up an argument with it, knowing that a man is not justified by
his works, but by the faith, the faithfulness, the obedience
of Jesus Christ. Look in Galatians chapter two,
verse 19. Paul says, for I through the law am dead to the law, that
I might live under God. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. I don't frustrate the
grace of God, for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ
died in vain. Look in Galatians chapter 3 verse
10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law, to do them, not just to admire them,
not to just know them, but to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law and the sight of God, it's evident. For the just shall
live by faith. Look in Galatians chapter four,
verse 21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do you desire
to be under the law? My soul, I don't. Not in any
way, but these people did. He said, tell me, ye that desire
to be under the law, do you not hear what the law says? For it's
written that Abraham had two sons, the one by bondmaid, the
other by free woman, but he who was of the bondwoman was born
unto the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise, which
things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants. Now, you
know the story. God promised Abraham a child.
through Sarah, 20 years passed. It hadn't happened. Sarah says,
obviously it's not going to take place unless we do our part and
it's not happening through me. Here's what you need to do. Go
into Hagar. Abraham said, okay. He went into
Hagar. They had a baby, Ishmael by name. And God said that's
not the heir. Through Sarah the seed is going
to come. So Sarah has another child through Abraham, supernaturally,
and that child is Isaac. And God says Ishmael represents
the law. That's man doing his part. If any part of salvation, I don't
care what it is, if any part of salvation is dependent upon
me or you in any way, that's salvation by law. That's salvation
by works. That's the law. It doesn't have
to be the Ten Commandments. Anything you do that's dependent
upon you, that's law. Do you want to have anything
to do with that? Tell me the desire to be under the law. What
can you do? Look in Galatians 5. Beginning in verse one. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Speaking of the law, behold,
I, Paul, say unto you, if you be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you what? Nothing. If you're going that
route, you can forget Christ. If it's necessary for you to
be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify
again to every man that circumcised, that he's a debtor to do the
whole law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by law. You've fallen
from grace. Now, so much for what these fellas
were saying about it's needful to circumcise you and for you
to keep the law or keep some commandment. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness, the scripture says in Romans
chapter 10 verse 4. And when you get to the end of
something, you can't go any further, can you? Christ, isn't that blessed? Christ is the end of the law. The end. We're not under law. we're under grace. Would you
want to be anyplace else? Back to our text in Acts chapter
15, verse 6, and the apostles and
the elders came together for to consider of this matter, to
see if there's any validity to this, if there's any truth to
it. Verse 7, and when there had been
much disputing. And there was disputing going
on. There were some people, not the apostles, but there were
some people who were disagreeing. The Ten Commandments, it's a
good rule of life. I mean, we ought to try to keep
the Ten Commandments, shouldn't we? It is a good rule of life.
I mean, the law is no good for justification, but the law is
good for sanctification. It teaches us how to live and
it teaches us what to do. We ought to be under the law
as a rule of life. I mean, how could that? That's
God's law. How could that hurt? What would
be wrong with that? There was much disputing, and
there were other people who were saying, no, we're not under the
law in any way. If you're under the law in any
way, you're under the law all the way. There's no in-between.
There was much disputing going on at this time, and as far as
we ought to try to keep the law, well, have you kept it? Have
you done? The thing is, partial obedience is disobedience. That's
all it is. So if somebody says, well, I'm
trying to keep the law. I'm doing my best. Your best isn't any good. That's
not the way the law works. God commands absolute perfect
obedience. So there was much disputing.
And Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren, you know
how that a good while ago, And he's talking about what took
place in Acts chapter 10 when he preached the gospel to those
Gentiles for the first time. Cornelius, you remember the great
sheet let down from heaven with the unclean beasts, and God said
to Peter, rise, kill, and eat. And Peter said, not so, Lord.
Nothing's ever come under my mouth unclean. I wouldn't do
anything like that. He said, what God has cleansed, call not
thou common. And that's the gospel. God's
cleansed us. We're not common, are we? We're
perfect in Christ Jesus. And the gospel was preached to
the Gentiles at that time. He says, Men and brethren, you
know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that
the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and
believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness,
and he gave them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us. They
were given the Holy Spirit, just like we are, to believe. And
he put no difference between us and them, purifying their
hearts by faith, believing the gospel. Their hearts were purified
by faith. Now, verse 10. Why tempt ye God? This is blatant hypocrisy, is
what Peter is saying. This is blatant hypocrisy. Why tempt ye God to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear?" We're not under law. We're under grace. And why would you want to put
them under law? What would your purpose be in that? Christ is
the end of the law. For righteousness, we're dead
to the law. Why bring it back up? Verse 11. Now here is the apostles' creed. Here's the true apostles' creed.
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved. even as they." We believe. Now when Peter says, we believe,
that's the same way of Paul when he said, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to his purpose. We believe. It's whatever believer
believes. This is what all of God's elect
believe. Well, what about those fellas who... Believed in law. It says they believed. Well,
Paul goes on to tell us that they were false brethren brought
in unawares. Yes, they came out of the church
of Jerusalem. I mean, that was the church that everybody looked
up to. But these men came out of there.
So when Peter is saying we believe, he's speaking as a spokesman
of every believer, all of God's elect. If we believe differently,
one of us is believing wrongly. Isn't that so? Because all believers
believe the same thing. You know, there's a lot of comfort
in that, isn't there? All believers believe the same
thing. If you believe the gospel, and
I don't believe like you, that means I'm not a believer. If
I believe the gospel, and you don't believe as me, that means
you're not a believer. Somebody says, well, I disagree
with that. Well, your disagreement doesn't change the fact of the
matter. Not in any way. Believers believe the same thing. Now, Peter says we believe. The gospel is a message to be
believed. And the word means more than
giving assent to, it means to rely on. What we believe, listen
to me, all my eggs are in this basket. All my hope of salvation
is found in this creed, if you want to call it that, this statement
of faith. If this isn't so, there's no hope for me. We believe, we
rely on is what it means. We're relying on this. Now in this statement, we find
out what the apostles did not believe. They didn't believe
in the works. It's just that simple. We believe
that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be
saved. None of the apostles believed in works, neither did any other
believer. They didn't believe in salvation
by works in any way. They didn't believe in salvation
that was in some way dependent upon human works. The apostles
never preached a message like, Christ died for you, he paid
for your sins, but you may be in hell anyway if you don't do
something in order to make what he did work for you. They never
preached anything like that. Not one of them. We know what
they didn't believe. They didn't believe in salvation
by works in any form. Christ died for you, but you
won't be saved if you don't fill in the blank. Whatever that is,
that's a message of works. Doesn't matter what it is. The
apostles didn't believe that. Well, what did the apostles believe? In this statement, they first
of all said, by way of implication, but it's a fair implication.
They believe man's a sinner that needs to be saved by the grace
of God. That's easy enough, isn't it?
If you're dead in sins, how's the only way you can be saved?
By a salvation that's all together by grace. They believed in the
fall of Adam. They believed that we all died
in him. They taught that. It's throughout the epistles.
And the only way a sinner can be saved is by the grace of God. They believed in saving grace. We believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they.
They believed in saving grace. Now, what's it take for grace
to be saving grace? How much of salvation has to
be by grace? What is meant by this word saving
grace? Because you know that men use grace, they use the word,
but they attach a different meaning to what the Bible means by the
word grace. Most men, well God, no matter
how bad you are, he'll accept you if you'll come to him. If
you'll accept Jesus as your personal savior, you'll be saved. That
doesn't have anything to do with what the grace of God is. What's
it take for grace to be saving grace? First of all, for grace to be
saving grace, it must be electing grace. If I don't believe in electing
grace, I don't believe in grace, period. If a man's dead and sins, the
only way he can be saved is with electing grace. God choosing
that man to be saved. I love election. I love the God
of election. I love the glory election gives
God. I love the truth that election
tells us that salvation doesn't have anything to do with my works,
good or bad. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, isn't
that good news? But of Him that calleth. Oh,
I love election. Why would someone want to preach
the Gospel and leave out election? There's only one reason. They're
removing the offense from the cross. They're trying to hide
the offense of the cross. They're trying to make the gate
wider than God makes it. That's the only possible motive. Oh, for grace to be saving grace,
it must be electing grace. As a matter of fact, Paul called
it in Romans 11, the election of grace. according as he hath
chosen us in him, that we should be holy and without blame before
him. Chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Now
the only way I'm going to be holy and without blame before him
is if he chose me to be holy and without blame before him.
No election, no grace. For grace to be saving grace,
it must be Redeeming grace. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That grace came to me and to
you through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now, what's
redemption mean? It's God's sin payment. When Christ was dying
on the cross, He was redeeming. He was paying for my sin. The
wages of sin is death. He paid the debt. That's why
He died. My sin became His sin and He
died. And He paid the debt. And now
I don't owe anything. Jesus paid it all. All the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Now, most folks, what they think
of when they think of redemption, they think, well, Jesus Christ
died for all men. He paid for everybody's sins.
But there's something you need to do to make what he did work
for you. That kind of redemption doesn't
save anybody. There's no salvation in that redemption. There's no
gospel message in that redemption. That still puts the burden of
salvation on the sinner, and that's a burden I don't want
to bear. Thank God for redeeming grace. And for it to be saving
grace has to be electing grace, has to be redeeming grace, where
Christ actually pays the debt and it's gone so I don't have
to, but it has to be justifying grace. being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Aren't you thankful for the justness
of the gospel? You have justification. I hope
I never preach a message where I don't deal with the glorious
truth of what Christ actually accomplished. He made it to where
every believer is justified, absolutely without sin, without
guilt before God. Now the only grace that will
save this sinner is a grace that causes me to be justified. And
that's what Christ did on the cross. That's the other side
of redemption. He paid for my sins, and He gave me His righteousness,
and I'm justified before God. Now that's the only kind of grace
that'll save. We believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they. I love the justness of the gospel.
And for it to be saving grace, it has to be life-giving grace. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4 says,
And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. But God, verse 4, but God, who
is rich in mercy for the great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.
By grace are you saved. Now, in this thing of life giving
grace, that's everything included in our experience. When I have
life, I have faith. I have love to the Lord Jesus
Christ. I have repentance. I have perseverance. I have all
those things if I have spiritual life. It's the life of God in
the soul. We're made partakers of the divine
nature. Now, that's the only kind of
saving grace there is. It's life-giving grace. And for it to be saving grace,
It has to be preserving grace. I like the way Peter says this.
He says, we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved. We shall be saved. He's going
to keep us all the way to the end. And we shall be saved. Now the only kind of grace that
will do me any good is grace that keeps me. Grace that preserves
me. Because I know if God doesn't
keep me, I know what's going to happen to me. And I know what's
going to happen to you if God doesn't keep you. I need to be
preserved. We believe that by the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. That means He's
going to preserve us all the way to the end. And I love the
way he says, we believe that through the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we shall be saved just like they will. Now, how
is a Gentile saved? How is a Gentile saved? Peter
says, that's how we're saved. We're saved the way the Gentiles
are saved. Now, the one scripture I want to close with where this
phrase is used again, and I love this. Let's go ahead and turn
it with me and look at it. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9. Paul says in verse 9, And this
is his take of the Apostles' Creed that Peter gives us in
Acts chapter 15, verse 11. We believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they.
But look at this. For you know. That's a powerful
statement, isn't it? You know. Every believer. You know. It's not something you have to
be convinced of. This isn't something you have to be talked into. This
isn't something you have to be taught. You know. You know this intuitively. You
know this because the Lord has done a work of grace in your
heart, and you're a new creature in Christ Jesus, and you know.
Now that, that's such a powerful concept. He says to these people,
you know! What? the grace, the unmerited favor of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And look at his comment on it, that though he was rich, Now, who can describe the riches
of the Lord Jesus Christ? He's God the Son. He owns everything. Something that isn't there, He
can create if He wants it. Talking about riches. And how
rich He is in righteousness. He has a monopoly on that. His
righteousness really is the only righteousness there is. And you
think of his righteousness, how rich he was in perfection before
his father. Oh, his father looked at him
through eternity and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased. Oh, how rich in righteousness. He's rich in praise. Can you imagine the angels falling
down before his feet? rich in praise, rich in power, omnipotence. Rich, I suppose the greatest
of his riches was the presence of his All of what I've said comes out
of that. He said, I was daily in his presence,
always before him. What riches of the presence. There's nothing like, I mean,
when you hear the gospel preached in the Holy, power of the Holy
Spirit, you have the presence of the Lord. You have this Holy
Spirit bearing witness to your spirit, that you're a child of
God. What's better than that? What can compare to that? As
far as all the earthly joys that people have, nothing can compare
to even hearing the gospel and believing. But you think of His
joy in His presence with the Father, though He was rich. Yet, for your sakes, for your
sakes, for my sake. He had my name on his heart. Yet for your sakes he became
poor. He became poor in righteousness. You know what that means? That
means he didn't have any anymore. He was nothing but sin. Same way you and I are by nature.
He was made sin so that he became poor in righteousness. He became
poor in praise. Everybody that was anybody turned
thumbs down on him. They made fun of him. He was
all alone. The butt of jokes. He became poor in power. Scripture
says he was crucified through weakness. How weak he was on
the cross. And he became poor in his father's presence. He
lost it. He cried out, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor that you, through his poverty, might be
rich. You're rich in righteousness
right now. You're rich in praise. You have
God praising you, whose praise is not of men, but of God, as
said of every believer. You're rich in power. You have
God the Holy Spirit, and you're rich in his presence. He has
promised, I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. I'll never,
I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Now that is the true Apostle's
Creed. It's a lot better than that one
they wrote in 150 A.D. We believe that through the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they. Let's pray. Lord, by your grace, we believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. And how we thank you for the gospel of thy blessed
son, And Lord, how lovely He is to our eyes, the eyes of faith. How we love His grace. Lord, He is full of grace and
full of truth. And we give thanks in His name
we pray. Amen. Dwayne, you lead us.