Now, turn again to the book of
Acts, chapter 15, Acts 15. When Paul and Barnabas had come
back from their missionary journey preaching the gospel, God called
them, sent them to preach the word, and God blessed that gospel
preaching. A number, everywhere they went.
Remember, I told you two things happened. Riot. A lot of folks got mad because
the preaching of the gospel will expose the refuge of lies. A lot of people got mad. But
a lot of people, by the grace of God, there was not only a
riot, but a revival. God sent that word of truth and
it was quickened by the Spirit of God to their heart. And God
called them with the gospel and gave them faith to believe the
Lord Jesus Christ and to love Him and to look to Him. Well,
as they assembled together, it says in Acts chapter 14, verse
27 and 28, they rehearsed all that God had done with them,
and they abode there a long time. in harmony and fellowship, preaching
the gospel, rejoicing. You can imagine what was going
on there. This is a gathering of Gentiles who were called by
the grace of God and made new creatures in Christ. And they
were so happy and so thrilled to have Paul and Barnabas there
preaching the gospel and hearing all things that God had done.
How He blessed the Word. How He called out His people.
And there was a happy harmony and fellowship together and unity
and purpose of heart. And the disturbance came. In
verse 1 of Acts chapter 15, and certain men, now Paul clearly
identifies these men here, these certain men as Acts 15, verse
1, he identifies these men as the certain men, and he identifies
them as false brethren who were trying to point sinners to circumcision,
ceremony, and to the law, deeds of the law. By the deeds of the
law, the Scripture clearly says that by the deeds of the law
shall, well, some people be justified by the deeds of the law. That's
not what it says. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight. Now, you might look pretty
good to another worm, but before God Almighty in His sight, no
one will be justified by the works of the law. If righteousness
comes by the law, then Christ is dead. He died a needless death. If I can satisfy what God's law
demands, Christ doesn't need come. But my friend, those who
do not obey every jot and tittle of God's law are under the curse
of that law. Now that's what these men were
saying here. They were saying that except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be justified. You cannot be forgiven. You cannot
be redeemed. Again in verse 5, They said it
was needful that these people be circumcised, these Gentiles,
and then they commanded them to keep the law of Moses. Keep
that law. Well, what did they do? They
perverted the gospel of Christ, didn't they? They perverted the
gospel by adding something to Christ. Now, is the Lord Jesus
Christ enough? Is He enough in salvation? If
He's all you've got, you've got everything that God determined
for us to have. He's able to meet all our need
of forgiveness, pardon, righteousness through and according to His
grace in Christ Jesus. Beware of that ministry. Beware
of that preacher that says salvation depends upon you. Beware of that
man who says God's done all He can do Now it depends upon you. Beware of that ministry. Beware,
because that man is a false preacher. Salvation does not depend upon
the creature. Salvation is totally dependent
upon the Creator. Salvation is of the Lord. Beware
of that ministry that says the Lord Jesus Christ is not everything
in salvation. Because this book says He is.
In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in
Christ, in Christ, we stand complete in Him. Well, Paul and Barnabas
took a strong stand, verse 2, down through verse 3. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas
had no small debate over this matter. They weren't going to
just, well, dismiss it and say, well, you go your way, you go
that road of law and ceremony and we'll go the way of grace
and we'll all end up together. No, he said, you're wrong. God
is right. No small stir, big debate. They determined to go to Jerusalem
and to the apostles to declare that salvation is by the grace
of God. and being brought on their way
by the church, they passed through Phanthi, Samaria, declaring the
conversion of the Gentiles, regeneration by the power of God. And this
caused great joy among all the brethren. And when they were
come to Jerusalem, verse 4, they were received of the church and
of the apostles and the elders. And here again, Paul in Barnabas
declares that salvation is of the Lord. They declared all things
that God had done with them. They took a strong stand and
declared salvations by grace alone, faith alone, the Word
of God alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. Declared
all things that God had done. Salvations of the Lord. Now verse
5, we see this same group that came down and disturbed the peace.
in the church in Antioch, these Pharisees. A Pharisee is one
who was very self-righteous, very proud of his... The Pharisees would say, Lord,
I thank God I'm not like that Gentile. You remember the way
he prayed? Lord, I thank you I'm not like that man. I pray,
I tithe, I give, I do all these things. That's these Pharisees. It says here they believed, but
it's obvious that they did not believe the gospel of God's grace. They gave lip service to the
fact and the historical fact of Jesus Christ's coming, Him
dying, and Him being raised again, but they did not believe that
salvation was all in Christ because they said it was needful. Is
it needful for a believer to keep the law of Moses? You can
no more under the law, but under grace. Aren't you glad He's redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us? Well, verse 6, the apostles came
together to consider this matter. Now, here's the outcome. Here's
what we want to look at today. Verse 7 down through verse 11. We believe, and here's the bottom
line, we believe that salvation is all of grace. All of grace. That means it's nothing I contribute,
nothing I bring. Salvation is not in my hand,
it's in God's hand. Salvation is all of grace, all
of God. Now here's what Peter says, verse
7. When there had been much debate,
Peter stood up and said, You know, this is a fact, you know
that a good while ago, God made a choice among us that the Gentiles,
by my mouth, should hear the word, hear the word of the gospel,
and believe. Peter's bold declaration that
God, first of all, is sovereign in salvation. God made a choice. You see, salvation is God's choice.
His choice. Let me show you a couple of scriptures.
Turn to John, chapter 15. Salvation is by God's choice. God made a choice. God chose
Cornelius and his house. God elected them. He said, a
good while ago. How long ago? Well, in eternity,
God made a choice. John, chapter 15. Look at verse
16. He said, You have not chosen
me. I've chosen you and ordained you that you should bring forth
fruit, that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you shall
ask of the Father in My name, He'll give it to you. Salvation
is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but it's
God that shows mercy. Turn to Psalm 65. God made a
choice. Peter His first point in his
message was that of sovereign electing grace. God made a choice. Psalm 65, 3 verse 4, Blessed
is the man in whom thou choosest. You see that? Psalm 65, 4. Blessed
is the man to whom God chooses and causes to approach unto him
that he may dwell in his courts. You see, we are made willing
in the day of God's power. Blessed is that man whom He chooses
and causes to approach unto Him. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Now turn back
to the book of Acts, chapter 13, look at verse 48. You see, Peter declared that
salvation was by God's choice. Election is election of grace. It's His electing love, where
God in eternity set His heart on the people, chose them sovereignly,
unconditionally, and gave them to the Lord Jesus. That's what
this book teaches. Look what it says in Acts 13,
verse 48. When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed God. Back to the text, Acts 15. So
Peter said that God is God. God made a choice to call out
His people with the gospel. And God made a choice in that
election of grace, in the covenant of grace, to give a people to
the Lord Jesus Christ. And they will hear the gospel.
God will cross their path with the gospel. And He will call
them to Christ and give them life in Him. Now look at verse
8. And God, Acts 15, and God who
knows the heart. You know the Scripture says our
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Who can know it? I'll tell you one who knows it.
God knows your heart. God knows your heart. Known unto
God are all His works from the beginning. God knows your heart. Now, a couple of scriptures here.
Turn first of all to, I think it's Luke 16. Luke 16. Luke 16. 15. Peter declares not
only that God is sovereign in salvation, Peter declares that
God knows all things. He knows your heart. Luke 16. Look at verse 15. Verse 14 says, The Pharisees
also, who were covetous, heard all these things and derided
him. And he said to them, You are they which justify yourselves
before men. God knows your heart. For that
which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the
sight of God. God knows your heart. Now look back at the text. God
which knoweth the hearts. Bear them witness, giving them
life, giving them the Holy Spirit even as He did to us. Salvation
is the gift of God. God knows the heart. Now listen
to this. God knows those who are His.
He knows the heart of His elect. I want you to turn to 2 Timothy.
2 Timothy. And look at this, chapter 2.
He knows the heart. of His elect. I don't know who
the elect are. He does. He knows their heart. He said, My sheep, I know them,
and they follow Me. Now notice 2 Timothy 2 verse
19. 2 Timothy 2 verse 19. You got it? Nevertheless, the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are His. He knows them. He knows the hearts
of His people. Let everyone that name the name
of Christ depart from iniquity. Depart from seeking salvation
by circumcision and the deeds of the law. That's iniquity.
So God, back to the text. Peter declares the sovereignty
of God in salvation. He declares that God knows His
elect from all eternity. And He gives
them life in Christ Jesus through the preaching of the gospel.
Now look at verse 9. And He put no difference. God
puts no difference between Jew and Gentile purifying their hearts
by faith. There is no difference. Now let's
look at that phrase just a moment, no difference. There is no difference. Turn to Roman chapter 3. There
is no difference. Is there a difference between
Jew and Gentile other than their national origin? We all descended
from Adam, unless you believe in evolution, then you descended
from an ape. I believe in creation. We all
descended from a fallen man, Adam. Adam. And because we all
descended, whether black, white, young, old, Jew, Gentile, we
all descended from one man who was a fallen man, a sinful man. There it says in Romans chapter
3 therefore, Romans 3 verse 9, what then? Are we better than
they? Are we better? Are the Jew better
than the Gentile? No, in no wise. No way. But we
have before proved both Jew and Gentile, they're all under sin. There is no difference. We've
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's none
righteous, no, not one. Now, look down at verse 20. Romans
3, verse 20. Therefore, therefore, because
we're all sinful, the Scripture hath concluded all under sin.
Anyone have a problem with that? We're sinners. And Adam all died. dead in sin. Therefore by the
deeds of the law, verse 20, shall no less be justified in his sight
for by the law is the knowledge of sin, but it doesn't remove
it. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifest being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, what does
that say right there? There is no difference. There
is no difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There is no difference. No difference. All have sinned and salvation is all by the grace
of God. Now turn to Romans 10. There
is no difference. All men are in need of salvation.
The Scripture says that God has no respect for a person. Romans
10. Look at verse 11. Romans 10, 11. The Scripture
says, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, for
there is no difference between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord
over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. There is no difference. I'm going to call upon Him. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I'm going to call. The Lord have
mercy on me. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. No difference. No difference. Grace does not run in bloodlines.
All have sinned. Now look back at the text again.
Put no difference between us and them, verse 9. purifying
their hearts, not by law, not by circumcision. What does it
say there? Purifying their hearts by faith, by believing, by believing. Salvation, my friend, is received
by faith, not doing, believing, and that's the gift of God. We
all know this scripture in Ephesians 2. All of you could quote it.
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is a gift of God, not of works, let any creature should boast."
Faith is a pure gift of God. It's not of works. Without faith,
it's impossible to please God. Not works, not law. Salvation
is received by faith. By faith. Believing Him. Now
I want you to turn to some Scripture. Back to the book of Romans. It
is Christ that cleanses from all sin, right? Purify their
hearts by faith. What is Christ who cleanses from
all sin? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. True saving faith looks to Christ
for all cleansing, for all righteousness, for all forgiveness of sin. Now,
turn to Romans 4. The just live by faith. Purifying
their hearts by faith. Not ceremony. Not law. The just live by faith. You know
it says that four times in Scripture? The just live by faith. Now look
at Romans 4. Look at verse 1. What shall we
say then, that Abraham our father, as pertains to the flesh, hath
found? You got it? Romans 4.1. For if Abraham were
justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.
For what sayeth the Scripture? Abraham believed God. You know,
God said he was justified before the law was given. God said he was justified before
the law was even given, before circumcision was even given.
God said, you believe me and you're justified. Abraham believed
God and was counted to him for righteous. Now to him that worketh
is a reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to that man
who worketh not. Rest. Oh, rest. Worketh not. But believe it on Him that justifies
the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man whom God imputed righteousness
without work, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
will not impute sin. Now stay right there in Romans
4 and look at verse 16. It is a faith purifying their
hearts by Christ. True saving faith looks to Christ,
not to myself. Now look at verse 16, Romans
4. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end
the promise might be sure to all to see, not to that only
which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of
Abraham, who is the father of us all." Now read on, Romans
chapter 4 verse 20. It says of Abraham, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief. but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what He promised
He was able to perform, therefore it was imputed to Him for righteousness.
Now it was not writ for His sake alone that it was imputed, but
for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on Him
that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. 1 and
chapter 5 of Romans, therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and
we rejoice. We rejoice. Rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. Now back to Acts 15. Put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Salvation
is received by faith. And that's the gift of God. Now,
look at verse 10. He asks this question. Acts 15,
10. Now, therefore, why do you insult
God? Why do you tempt God to put a
yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor
we are able to bear? Now I want you to turn and read
this with me. And mark this in your Bible. Turn to Galatians
chapter 2. Why would you insult and disregard
God's sacrifice for sin and bring believers under the curse of
the law? Galatians 2 verse 21. Now, circle this in your Bible. Galatians 2 verse 21. I want
everyone to read this. This is so vital. Paul said,
I don't frustrate, distort, or confuse the grace of God. If
righteousness, justification, salvation come by the law, then
Christ is dead in vain. Now, have you got that underlined?
Now, you think upon that all week. You take that home with
you all week. Christ came to set us free. Now, stay right there in the
book of Galatians. Christ came to set us free. Galatians 3.13. Why insult God to try to put
believers back under the yoke of the law or some other man-made
law or bylaws? God has given us His record,
His testimony. Here it is. Galatians 3 verse 13, Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law. He has redeemed us
from the curse of the law. being made a curse for us, for
it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through,
what does that say? Through faith. You see, faith
honors and glorifies God. Now, Galatians chapter 5, verse
1. Why do you want to put a yoke
of bondage upon the neck of the disciples which our fathers nor
we, we cannot bear. Galatians 5 verse 1, Stand fast
therefore, Galatians 5 verse 1, 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 you be circumcised, now this goes right back to that
issue, if you be circumcised, Christ prophets you nothing,
nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised, if you're doing it for salvation, that
he's a debtor to do the whole law. Christ has become of no
effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law.
If you think you're justified by the law, you've departed from
the grace of God. That's what he's saying. You've
fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, Wait for the hope
of righteousness by, what does that say? There it is again,
by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which works by love. Faith's motivated by love. You
see what he's saying here? This is the message of all Scripture.
Now, here's the bottom line, verse 11, Acts 15, verse 11.
But we believe it's through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ that we shall be saved. Here's the gospel we
believe and preach. Here's the gospel that this book
teaches. Here's the gospel that Paul set
forth. Every aspect of salvation we believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus. Every aspect of salvation is
by God's free, sovereign grace. From election to glorification. Election, there's a remnant according
to the election of grace. Redemption, through His blood,
according to the riches of His grace. We're justified freely
by His grace. And we're glorified and regenerated
by His grace. Now we could turn and read every
one of those scriptures. Romans 11, 5, and 6. Election
according to grace. Redemption. Ephesians 1, 7. According to the riches of His
grace. Justification. Romans 3, 24. Freely by His grace. Glorification by His grace. Ephesians 2, 4, and 9. You see,
it's all of grace. You mean creature merit enters
in nowhere? None. None. It's by the grace
of God alone. Every aspect of salvation is
by grace. Look what it says there. Through.
Through. Through. The Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him. Of Him. By Him. And through Him. I turn
and read this scripture. 2 Corinthians 8-9. 2 Corinthians
8-9. Every aspect of salvation is
by God's free and sovereign grace. Every aspect of salvation is
by and through the means God has ordained. He's ordained the
means. What are the ordained means?
The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. I want you to mark this in your
Bible and read it again and again. He's talking here about giving.
and to motivate us to give, He gives us the supreme example
of giving, verse 9, 2 Corinthians 8, 9. Do you have that mark in
your Bible? Mark it. For you know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, rich beyond
description, in holiness, glory, majesty, power, yet for your
sake He became poor. He impoverished Himself in the
body of a man made sin for us that you through His poverty,
through His sacrifice, through His incarnation might be rich. Believers are rich. They're rich. I'm not a poor man. No believer
is a poor man. He's a rich man. Heir of God
and joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I tell you,
we have all spiritual blessings in the heavenly, in Christ Jesus.
Now, back to Acts 15. We believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, through Him, we, we shall be saved even
as they. Every aspect of salvation is
secured and certain. We shall. You see that? Salvation is not a maybe. Salvation
is not conditioned upon you. Salvation is all conditioned
upon Christ. We shall be saved. All that the Father has given
me, they'll come to me. Those that come to me, He says,
I will in no wise cast out. Will He lose one for whom He
died? At the day of the last day, will
He say, Well, there's some missing. No, they're all that the Father
had given me. Here they are. I died for them. I called them. I raised them.
I present them to you. How does he present them? He's
able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Jude 1, 24. He shall save his people from
their sin. He says, I give them eternal
life, they shall never perish. Now this last statement, God
saves all sinners one way. We shall be saved even as they. The self-righteous, religious
lost man, or the pagan idolater, God saves all sinners the same
way. Grace alone. Faith alone. The Word of God alone. Christ
alone. To the glory of God alone. This
is the message of all Scripture. The theme of the Reformation.
That's what cost Martin Luther his life. And it's the heartbeat
of the Gospel, my friend. It's the message that this book
teaches. And it's the message that I'm determined to preach.
Salvation. We believe through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in him." Justify,
glorify in Christ Jesus.