Okay, this morning we're going
to look at Acts chapter 15, and I'm going to take the title for
the message from what's found in verse 24. Verse 24, the last
part of that said that certain went out from us and troubled
you with words subverting your souls. or distracting or turning
you away from the Lord Jesus Christ, subverting you, turning
you away from trusting Christ alone for all salvation, and
saying you must keep the law, saying you must be circumcised,
to whom we gave no such word. No order from us, no commandment
came from us, So the title being, We Gave No Such Commandment.
Now remember what the issue was that was raised by those who
came from Jerusalem down to the Gentile church in Antioch, who
were saved by the sovereign free grace of God. THEY CAME TO THOSE
PEOPLE SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD, AND SAID TO THOSE PEOPLE,
YOU MUST BE IN SUBJECTION TO THE LAW OF CIRCUMCISION AND TO
THE LAW OF MOSES. IT REALLY, IN ORDER TO BE JUSTIFIED
AND SANCTIFIED, YOU MUST KEEP THE LAW OF GOD. AND PETER AND
JAMES SAID, WE GAVE NO SUCH WORD. PETER DECLARED IN VERSE 11, WE
BELIEVE DO THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT WE SHALL BE
SAVED. THAT WE, THE RELIGIOUS JEW, THAT
WE'RE GOING TO BE SAVED EXACTLY THE SAME WAY GOD SAVED THOSE
PAGAN GENTILES. HOW IS THAT? BY THE GRACE OF
GOD ALONE. PETER AND BARNABAS ALSO AGREED
THAT GOD HAD WROUGHT A MIRACLE AMONG THE GENTILES CALLING OUT
AND TAKING A PEOPLE OUT OF THEM TO HIS NAME. GOD HAD WROUGHT
AMONG THE GENTILES miracles of grace, and God called out a people
by His will, His sovereign purpose. James also agreed that God saves
sinners by the grace of God, not by the deeds of the law.
Verse 14, Simeon had declared how God did first visit the Gentiles
and take out of them a people for His name. James wrote in
his epistle, it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, BUT OF GOD THAT SHOWS MERCY. FURTHERMORE, JOHN IN HIS GOSPEL, JOHN CHAPTER 1, TELLS
US THOSE WHO ARE BORN AGAIN BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD WAS BY THE
WILL OF GOD, THE PURPOSE OF GOD, NOT BY THE WILL OF THE FLESH.
BUT WE'RE BORN AGAIN OF HIS WILL, HIS PURPOSE IN THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. NOW, WHY MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT
THAT? Why does the Word of God make a big deal about that? Well,
because it needs to be clearly declared that salvation is grace,
grace alone, not of works. Now, not according to the deeds
of the law. There are many churches today
There are, believe me, they're out there who attempt to do the
same thing to people today. Trying to put believers back
under the works of the law rather than preaching the freedom and
liberty we have in the Lord Jesus Christ being redeemed from the
curse of the law. We've been set free. When Paul
writes to those believers in Galatia, he says, Stand fast,
therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath set us free, and
don't be entangled again with the works and bondage of the
law. Stand fast in that liberty, and we've been set free. We've
been set free in the Lord Jesus Christ. James continues his message
in verse 18, and we had this last week. Known unto God are
all his works, his works of providence, his works of creation, his works
of electing love and salvation from the beginning of the ages. That's what the word world means. Eons of time, from everlasting
to everlasting, God ordained and predestinated all things
concerning the salvation of his people. Wherefore, verse 19,
my sentence is this. Remember in verse 28, it seemed
good to the Holy Spirit and us. Wherefore, my sentence is this,
that we trouble not them from among the Gentiles, which are
turned to God. Now that's saying a whole lot
right there. James continues to teach that
Gentiles are saved by the grace of God, not by the deeds of the
law. So let us not trouble or disrupt
or discourage those that have been turned to God. Now imagine
SAYING TO SOME PERSON WHO'S JUST BEEN SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD,
AND COMING TO THAT PERSON AND UNDERMINING HIS FAITH, UNDERMINING
AND SUBVERTING HIM AND TURNING HIM BACK TO THE LAW OF SINAI,
INSTEAD OF SAYING, LOOKING TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THAT'S
WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE. NOW YOU SEE HOW DANGEROUS IT
IS TO TURN SOMEONE AWAY FROM CHRIST ALONE unto the deeds of
the flesh, or works of the law, of which no man can be justified. These sinners have been turned
to God. That's salvation. You remember
when Paul writes to the believers in Thessalonica, he says to them,
remember how you turn to God from your idols. They were turned
to God from their former idolatry. That's salvation. What a miracle
salvation truly is to cause a sinner to turn to the true and living
God from our dead works and idols of the flesh. And when that happens,
we say with Paul, We count all things lost, dung, and ruined
that we may win Christ and be found in him. Old Saul of Tarsus
was one of those who were seeking salvation by the deeds of the
law. And then when he writes to the Romans, he said, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
No longer going about to establish the righteousness of our own.
I read in the Psalms a couple of places where in Psalm 80,
It says two or three times in that one Psalm, David said, turn
us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine upon us, and we
shall be saved. God, turn us to thee. And then in Lamentations chapter
five, we read this, turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we
shall be turned. If he turns us away from self, unto the Lord we shall be turned."
And it's a continual turning. It's a continual thing. It's
like looking. It's like coming. It's like repenting. We're continually
being turned from idols, works, self-righteousness, unto the
Lord alone. HE MUST COMMAND THE LIGHT OF
CHRIST TO SHINE IN OUR DEAD HEARTS. AND WHEN THAT DOES HAPPEN, WE
SEE THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST. WE SEE THE GLORY
OF HIS MERCY, THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. NOW, VERSE 20 AND VERSE 29 WE'LL
READ TOGETHER. WE WRITE UNTO YOU THAT unto them
that they abstain from pollution of idols, that is, meats that's
offered unto idols, and from fornication, that was a very
common practice among the Corinthians, among the Gentiles, it was a
common, ordinary thing, and he says, you turn from those things,
and then from things strangled, talking about things, animals
that have not been properly killed and prepared to eat, and from
blood, animal blood. Verse 29, let's read verse 28
and 29 together. For it seemed good to us, to
the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay no greater burden upon you
than these things necessary, not necessary for salvation,
but necessary for peace among the brethren. Abstain from meats
offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, fornication,
from which if you do these things, if you keep yourselves from these
things, you shall do well, fare ye well." Now, here's what they
agreed that the Gentiles who were saved by the grace of God
should do in order to keep the peace, in order to keep from
offending the Jewish believers. James gives this godly advice
unto the church there in Antioch not to put a stumbling block
before Jewish believers by needlessly offending them by flaunting your
liberty and freedom that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul deals with this same issue
in Corinthians. He deals with the issue of eating
meat which had been offered unto idols, he said, it will not defile
your soul, but if it offends someone, leave it off. You remember those meat markets
where they had taken the leftover meat that was offered to pagan
idols and they sold it in the market for a better price? He
said, you can eat that meat. You can get it at a good price.
It's not going to defile your soul. But if you invite a Jewish
brother to your house and flaunt your liberty, oh, this was offered
to an idol, don't do that. That would be needlessly offending
him, right? He said, just leave it off. That
makes common sense. And then he mentions here about
this thing of fornication. We know the marriage is honorable
in all things and the marriage bed is undefiled. But he says
also in his letter in 1 Corinthians 6, he said, flee fornication.
And then in Ephesians 5, he said, but fornication and all uncleanness,
or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, that becometh
saint. That was a common practice in
that day. And then he mentions also the blood of the animal
sacrifice that was an offering unto the Lord. And here's the
reference in Leviticus chapter three, verse 17. And that's the
reference that it gives there on that verse. Here's what we
read. It shall be a perpetual statute
for your generation throughout all your dwellings that you shall
eat neither the fat nor the blood. Now that was said to the priest. When you bring your sin offering,
you don't eat the fat, that belongs to the Lord. And the blood, the
blood was to be shed and put upon the altar, not for you. That's what he's saying there,
and that's what the reference is to back to the law. Now, here's
the sad thing that's happened in our day. Some people point
to this very verse, verse 20 and verse 29. Some religious
groups use these verses to teach that believers should not receive
any blood transfusion for emergency medical purposes. Now, is that
what that's talking about? Is that what that's referring
to? Absolutely not. But you see how some people who
want to promote certain thing to establish a righteousness
of their doing, this is talking about animal blood sacrifice. It's not talking about human
blood. If you get in a terrible wreck,
and almost bleed to death, if you don't go to the hospital
and get a transfusion, you're gonna die. There's nothing wrong
with that. There's nothing wrong with that.
And why these religious people, I mean, they're serious about
it too. They'd rather have a loved one die. than to violate their
religious rule. You know what that is? That's
evil. That's what that is, pure and simple. That's not what this
is teaching. Under the gospel, we know the
blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is our sin offering. And
we do partake of that by faith. Now listen to this scripture.
Our Lord said this, he said, except you eat my flesh and drink
my blood, You have no life in you. Now, what is that talking
about? Are we supposed to literally
drink his blood? No, not at all. It means simply
this. Believers feed upon the Lord
Jesus Christ and him crucified. We see his blood as all of our
atonement. We see his flesh that was broken
for us, that was made sin for us, as all of our righteousness
before God. It's His blood that cleanses
us from all our sin. He bought us with His own blood. So if we're gonna talk about
the blood, we're gonna talk about how Christ put away our sin and
redeemed us with His blood. We're not going to, and we're
gonna partake of it by faith. We're not going to say these
needless things about no blood transfusions and so forth. So
let's read on. So verse 21, Moses of old time
hath in every city them that preach him. being read in the
Sabbath, in the Sabbath, on the Sabbath day. You remember in
Acts chapter 13, when Paul first came to Antioch, to the Jewish
synagogue, and they were reading the word of the Lord, and he
was given an open door, an opportunity to preach the gospel, and he
took that same scripture and preached unto them the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then in Luke chapter four,
turn over there to Luke chapter four, YOU REMEMBER FROM OUR STUDY
IN LUKE, CHAPTER 4, WHEN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST CAME TO HIS
OWN HOMETOWN SYNAGOGUE IN NAZARETH, LUKE, CHAPTER 4, LUKE, CHAPTER
4, VERSE 16, SO MOSES OF OLD TIME HATH IN EVERY CITY THEM
THAT PREACH CHRIST. THEY PREACH CHRIST IN THAT THEY
READ THE WORD OF GOD. LOOK AT LUKE, CHAPTER 4, VERSE
16, And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue. On the Sabbath
day, he stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto
him, that is, the Lord Jesus, the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it is
written, The Spirit of the Lord, Isaiah 61, is upon me. because
he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has
sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captive, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
And he closed the book, gave it to the minister, and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened
on him, and he said, this day, This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ear. The Lord Jesus Christ read the
scripture of himself and said, this is fulfilled in your ear. So the Old Testament scriptures
have but one message. You remember from Acts chapter
10 verse 43, to him give all the prophets witness. Our Lord
said to those Jews, you are they, you search the scriptures, but
they are they that testify of me. The whole Old Testament is
a message of Jesus Christ, his person and his work. So even
when they read the word of God, they were in essence preaching
the gospel. in those Jewish synagogues. That's
amazing, is it not? The Lord puts great emphasis
upon His Word. Then, verse 22, the church at
Jerusalem, they sent the apostles, they pleased the apostles, this
is John and James and others, Peter, the elders, the whole
church to send men of their own company to Antioch with Barnabas
and Paul, Judas, Surname Barsabbas, Silas, chief men among the brethren.
They wrote letters by them after this manner. The apostles and
elders, brethren, send greeting unto you, the Gentile church
in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, for as much as we've heard that
certain men went out from us, troubled you, Subverting your
soul that you saying you must be circumcised to keep the law
of Moses We gave no such commandment. It seemed good and us being assembled
with one accord to send chosen men with you Barnabas with Barnabas
and Paul Men that have hazard their lives for the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ now Let me make a few comments here and
I'll let you go Judas and Silas were chosen to because they were
faithful to the gospel. They were believers and they
went back with Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch to preach the
gospel. He says clearly in verse 24,
those men who came to Antioch from Jerusalem originally saying
you must keep the law of Moses were not sent from God or from
the church. They did not have God's message. Paul called them in Galatians
chapter two, he called them false brethren. He said we did not
send them, we gave them no commandment concerning circumcision, nor
did we say believers must be put under the law. Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law. The Lord Jesus Christ
came and honored the law of God for us in every precept and every
penalty. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law of God, I came to honor it. So we do not frustrate the
grace of God, do we? By seeking a righteousness by
our own doing? No, we rest in the Lord Jesus
Christ alone for all of salvation. all of salvation alone, Christ
alone, Christ always. Verse 25, one or two words in
verse 25. It seemed good unto us being
assembled with one accord, with one accord. If we go back, go
back with me to Acts chapter one, when we started the brethren
there were with one accord, Acts chapter one, verse 14. Acts 1
14 these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication
with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus with the brethren in
Acts chapter 2 verse 1 When the day of Pentecost was fully come
they were all with one accord and then in chapter 2 again verse
46 and they continued daily with one accord in the temple and
breaking of bread from house to house, that eat with meat
with gladness, that eat their meat with gladness and singleness
of heart, with one accord, praising God, praising God, having favor
of all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily such
as should be saved." They continued with one accord. HOW GOOD AND
HOW PLEASANT IT IS FOR BRETHREN TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY. REMEMBER FROM PSALM 133. THESE
MEN, VERSE 26, THEY'VE HAZARDED THEIR LIVES. THEY'VE GIVEN UP
THEIR LIVES FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL. THEY'VE SURRENDERED
AND YIELDED UP EVERYTHING AND COMMITTED EVERYTHING to the cause
of God and His glory and to the furtherance of the gospel, and
to promote and exalt the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
Paul didn't go preaching to get fame and gain in the name of
Paul, did he? Nor did John, nor did Peter.
These men have committed their lives to the gospel of God for
the name of, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to make His name known. Remember what Peter said
in Acts 4, neither is there salvation in any other for there's no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Let me ask you a question here. I'm gonna answer it with four
things and I'll let you go. Why did they and why do we insist
on preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why do they
and why do we insist upon preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ when we meet together? I'll give you four reasons. Number
one is this. What would you think number one
would be? NUMBER ONE WOULD BE THIS, TO THE GLORY OF GOD. WE
PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE GLORY AND HONOR OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
WE WANT HIM TO BE MAGNIFIED IN THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL,
AND WE WANT HIM TO BE MAGNIFIED IN OUR MINISTRY, AND WE WANT
HIM TO BE MAGNIFIED MORE IMPORTANTLY IN YOUR HEARTS. AND HE DOES THAT
THROUGH THE PREACHING OF THE WORD. TO THE GLORY OF GOD, WHATSOEVER
YOU DO IN WORD OR DEED, DO IT ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD. God
forbid we should glory, saving the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. So foremost and first, why do
we preach the gospel? For the glory of God. Secondly,
why do we preach the gospel? What would you think number two
would be? Why do we preach the gospel? Why don't I just get
up here and tell you some sad stories? Some of my trying times. And it gets you to feel sorry
for me. Why do we preach the gospel? To the glory of God. Secondly, it's a command of God. What are we to preach? According
to the command of God, he said, go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. Paul, when he writes to young
Timothy, he said, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus
Christ to preach the word. Preach Christ. We're determined
to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
So why do we preach the gospel? Why do the apostles hazard their
lives, give their lives, martyred? THEY WERE ALL KILLED FOR THE
GOSPEL. WHY DID THEY DO THAT? FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, TO THE
FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL. HE COMMANDED US TO GO PREACH
THE GOSPEL. WHAT'S THE THIRD REASON? WHY
DID WE HAZARD OUR LIVES? WHY DID WE GO SUCH GREAT LENGTHS
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL? WELL, THE THIRD REASON IS THIS.
IT'S THE MEANS THE LORD HAS ORDAINED TO CALL OUT HIS PEOPLE. IT PLEASES
GOD BY THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING TO CALL OUT HIS PEOPLE. FAITH
COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF THE LORD. HOW
ARE THEY GOING TO HEAR WITHOUT A PREACHER? YOU CANNOT BELIEVE
WHAT YOU'VE NEVER HEARD. THERE MUST BE THE PREACHING OF
THE GOSPEL. IT'S THE MEANS THE LORD HAS ORDAINED
TO CALL OUT HIS SHEEP. HE SAID, MY SHEEP, THEY HEAR
MY VOICE. I KNOW THEM. THEY FOLLOW ME AND
I GIVE THEM TO THEM ETERNAL LIFE. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY THE FOURTH
REASON WOULD BE? YOU GOT THE FIRST THREE? TO THE GLORY OF GOD. TO THE GLORY
OF GOD. IT'S HIS COMMAND TO GO PREACH
THE GOSPEL. IT'S A MEANS THE LORD HAS ORDAINED
TO CALL OUT HIS SHEEP. AND THEN THE FOURTH REASON IS
THIS. THIS IS HOW THE LORD FEEDS HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE PREACHING
OF THE GOSPEL. TURN TO ACTS CHAPTER 20. LET
ME SHOW YOU HERE. ACTS CHAPTER 20, VERSE 27, ACTS
20, 27. He said, I have not shunned to
declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed, therefore,
unto yourself and all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath
made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood. Right on down the page there,
verse 32, Acts 20, 32. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God, to the word of his grace, which is able to build
you up to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified."
You remember our Lord asked Peter, the risen Lord, when Peter said,
remember Peter said, we're going fishing. He said, I'm going back
to my trade. I was a fisherman when the Lord
called me. He said, I'm going back fishing.
Some think he quit the ministry. I don't know about that. But
the Lord came to him and said, Peter, Do you love me more than
these boats and nets in your occupation? Do you love me more
than these? He said, yes, Lord, you know
I love you. Peter, if you love me, feed my
sheep. Lord, you know. Lord, you know. You know all things. You know
that I love you. You feed my sheep. feed my people."
And when Peter writes his epistle, no doubt this came to his mind.
Let me just read it to you. In 1 Peter chapter 5, he said,
the elders which are among you I exhort, whom also an elder,
a witness of the sufferings of Christ, also the partaker of
the glory that shall be revealed, feed the flock of God, which
is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind." We preach
the gospel to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to feed the
people. That is why we take the word
of God each week and teach it line by line, word by word, verse
by verse, book by book. The Lord said, HE WILL BLESS
HIS WORD. HE SAID IT WILL NOT RETURN TO
HIM VOID. YOU SEE, THE WORD OF THE LORD
IS THE CHILDREN'S BREAD. DESIRE THE SINCERE MILK OF THE
WORD THAT YOU MIGHT GROW THEREBY. WE FEED UPON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. OUR LORD SAID, I AM THE BREAD
OF LIFE. HE THAT COMETH TO ME SHALL NEVER HUNGER. HE THAT BELIEVETH
ON ME SHALL NEVER THIRST. WHAT DO WE BELIEVE? HIS WORD,
HIS TRUTH. May God give us a healthy appetite
to feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember when Peter came to the
house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and God had been working on both
ends. He was working in the heart of
Cornelius, working in the heart of Peter. Peter wasn't going
to go to a Gentile's house and preach the gospel until God told
him Don't you call anything common or unclean that I have cleaned.
You go and preach the gospel. And Cornelius said this, he said,
immediately, therefore, I sent to thee, and thou hast well done
that thou art come. Now, therefore, we're all here,
present before God, to hear all things commanded thee of God. And that's why we come, to hear
a word from him. We hear about his obedience unto
death. We hear about his righteousness.
We hear about his sacrifice. We hear about the work of salvation
he's accomplished for us. When I was finishing this message
up on Friday, a song, a hymn came to me that I heard years
and years and years ago, but it just like that popped in my
mind. And the old hymn writer said
this, upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die. Another's
life, another's death, I rest my hope eternally upon his obedience. his life and his death. We studied
in Romans 5, by one man's disobedience, many became sinners. By the obedience
of another, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous
in him, in Christ.