The Fallibility of Ministers and Church Leaders

Galatians 2.11, the Apostle Paul
is speaking, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood
him to the face, because he was to be blamed. Now what did Peter
do at Antioch? Here we have one apostle rebuking
another apostle. And when you consider who these
two men were, the greatest of all men of New Testament times. And when you consider that Paul
was the younger, rebuking Simon Peter, the elder. And then you
remember that Paul rebuked Peter publicly before the whole church. And then he sat down and wrote
an epistle to the Galatians and broadcasted this affair over
the whole world. That makes it further astounding. If Christianity had been the
invention of men, this incident would have been hushed up considerably,
never would have been recorded, never would have been mentioned
in their book. But the Holy Spirit has something
for you and for me to learn and therefore he records even the
messengers and ministers of Christ's failure. Now there are three
lessons to be learned from this scripture and I want you to stay
with me throughout all of the message tonight and give me your
undivided attention. There are three lessons to be
learned. According to Bishop J.C. Rowe, they are as follows. Number one, great preachers and
Christian leaders often make great mistakes. The second thing
we're going to learn is this, to keep the truth of Christ and
his gospel is more important than to keep the peace. And then
the third thing that we're going to see from this scripture is
this. There's no doctrine about which
we ought to be so jealous and zealous as justification by faith
without the deeds of the law. Now then, this is of great importance,
as I pointed out to you, because we have one apostle rebuking
another. And the one who's rebuking the
other is Paul the Younger rebuking Peter the Elder. And then he
does it publicly. He does it before the church,
and then he broadcasts it to the whole world, and it's recorded
in over 300 languages. And this incident was not hushed
up by the Holy Spirit, but it was brought out into the open
that all might see. Now here's what we're going to
learn. Great preachers and great leaders and Christians make great
mistakes, and what clearer proof can we have than that which is
before us this evening? First of all, the Apostle Peter,
without a doubt, was one of the greatest apostles. Would anyone
question that? He was one of the first. He was
with our Lord on the greatest occasions when our Lord left
the other nine disciples back, he took with him Peter, James,
and John, Peter, James, and John, Peter, James, and John, always.
He was with our Lord on the greatest occasions, and our Lord said
to Peter, I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And
he was the apostle who opened the door of faith to the Jews
at Pentecost. He was the apostle who opened
the door of faith to the Gentiles for the first time at the home
of Cornelius. He was the apostle. Now watch
this. This is what is astounding. Turn
to Acts 15. Now you be sure and turn here
with me, because this is most astounding. When I put these
two scriptures together, I was astounded. He was the very apostle
who stood up when nobody else would and defended the Gentiles. Look at Acts 15, verse 5. Now listen to this. There rose
up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying
that it was needful to circumcise the Gentiles and to command them
to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and the elders
came together to consider this matter. And when there had been
much disputing, Peter rose up. The apostle Peter rose up and
said, Men and brethren, you know that how 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, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even
as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them,
purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither
our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they."
This is the Apostle Peter. Yet here in our text tonight
we see him withdrawing from the Gentiles for fear of the Jews
that came down from Jerusalem. Before they came down, Peter
down here was fellowshipping with the Gentiles. going in and
out among them, eating with them, talking with them. When these
Jewish brethren came down, he withdrew to such an extent that
many of the brethren went with him. And even Barnabas, Paul's
sidekick, was drawn away with this dissimulation. This is the
same man that a little while earlier was defending the Gentiles. Now this is the third great error
that Peter made. First of all, he tried to keep
the Lord from going to the cross. That's right. He said, not so,
Lord. Christ told about how he would
go to the cross and die, and Peter said no. He sat down on
another occasion and three times denied he knew Christ. Three
times he denied that he knew him and closed the final denial
with an oath. And here he is at Antioch endangering
the very foundations of the gospel. Justification by faith. And this is to teach us that
even the apostles, when they're not writing under divine inspiration,
are liable to error. It's to teach us that whoever
the man is, he is still a man. It is to teach us that unless
the grace of God holds us, whoever we are, we'll fall into error. Now Christians are elect, Christians
are converted, Christians are justified, Christians are sanctified. They are beloved children of
God. They have the Spirit of God and they're kept by the power
of God, but they're still human beings. That's what this is saying. The failure of Simon Peter here
at Antioch doesn't stand alone. We have illustrations all the
way through the Bible. Abraham followed the advice of
his wife, Sarah, and took Hagar to be his wife, and she bore
him a son. That was all wrong. Aaron, the
first high priest, listened to the children of Israel, made
a golden calf. That was all wrong. David wouldn't
listen to anybody and numbered Israel, and that was all wrong.
Solomon allowed his wives to worship idols, and that was wrong. Jehoshaphat, the good king, went
down and helped Ahab, the evil king, and that was wrong. And
James and John, the beloved disciple, wanted to call down fire from
heaven on the heads of their enemies, and that was wrong.
And these things deserve to be remembered. That's the reason
the Holy Spirit is writing them. They're written for our learning.
And they all cry aloud, these men are but men. And if you read the history of
the church, You'll see some of the greatest leaders of the church
in era, Luther. Luther was harsh. He was unlovely. Luther even tried to take the
book of James out of the Bible. He didn't want it in there. He
didn't feel it was inspired, and he made some serious charges
against the book of James. John Calvin permitted a man to
be burned at the stake. Wesley and Toplady They abused
each other in the most shameful language. Augustus Toplady, who
wrote Rock of Ages, cleft for me one of the greatest hymns
ever written. You ought to read his writings. I've got his whole
works in my study. And he gets so violent and so
abusive in the most shameful language when he's talking about
John Wesley. Yet Charles Spurgeon said the
two greatest men who ever lived since apostolic times was John
Calvin and John Wesley. Cranmer recanted, denied the
faith to keep from going to the state, later repented. The Puritans,
these great old Puritans whom we read today, they hated your
Baptist forefathers. They did everything they could
to put the Baptists out of business. They permitted their churches
to be shut down and permitted their ministers to be thrown
in prison. And the very men who backed that
were these Puritans of past days. All of these illustrations from
the Bible and from church history cry aloud these words from God's
Word. Cease ye from men. Put no confidence
in the flesh. Call no man master. Call no man
father on the earth. He that gloweth, let him glow
in the Lord." That's what it says. Don't put any confidence
in your flesh or anybody else's flesh, because in the end, that's
all that it is, is flesh. But I see this tendency everywhere,
on every hand. Men are naturally inclined to
lean on some human being. They want to lean on someone
whom they can see, rather than on God whom they can't see. And
most people don't like to think for themselves, really, they'd
rather somebody else think for them. And too many of us are
ready to accept something because a religious leader said it, rather
than going to the Word of God to see if that's what God said. And here at Antioch, if you look
at verse 13, this is what amazed Paul. In verse 13 he says, And
the other Jews dissembled likewise with Peter, insomuch that Barnabas
was carried away with their dissimulation, as if to say, Well, an old apostle
like Peter can't be wrong, so I'll follow him. Well, he was
wrong, and they followed him, and they were wrong. I found
this. I think it's interesting. And
this hit me real good, and I believe it'll hit some of you too. A
man is not right because he lived many years ago. You know, we're
inclined in this day, I hear preachers and other speakers,
we're inclined to quote an old source as though it were infallible. This was written, we say, in
the 14th century. Well, it's so old and so wrong
that it's rotten by now, but we quote it as if it were absolute
authority because it's old. Well, that doesn't mean it's
authority because it's old. Peter lived in the time of Christ
and he was wrong, dead wrong. And a thing's not right because
it's old. And then here's another problem
we have. A man is not right because he holds a high office. Well,
I'll tell you who said it. Archbishop so-and-so said it.
That doesn't make it right. Peter was the chief apostle,
but he was wrong. And then the third thing, a man
is not right because of his learning. Peter was taught by the Master.
Paul talks about sitting at the feet of Gamaliel. Peter sat at
the feet of the Lord Jesus. And when he speaks, this man
speaks five languages, which I know Peter spoke several languages
too. He preached the gospel in other
tongues, the scripture said, but he is still wrong. In spite
of his learning, in spite of his talents, in spite of his
ability, in spite of his gifts, he was wrong. That's what the
apostle Paul is showing us here, that great ministers, even of
great age, and of great office and of great learning to make
great mistakes. And then a man, fourthly, is
not right because he was our father in other spiritual matters.
Peter had been right in a lot of things, but he was wrong in
this. He had been right in a lot of
things, but he was wrong in this. I read in the Old Testament,
I believe in 2 Chronicles, this statement When Jehoiada was priest,
Joash, the king of Judah, did that which was right in the eyes
of the Lord. As long as Jehoiada lived, as
long as Jehoiada was priest, as long as Jehoiada was the priest
down at the temple, Joash did that which was right in God's
eyes. But when Jehoiada died, Joash's religion died with him.
and he departed from the living God. That's what the Bible says. When Jehoiada was preached, as
long as he was preached, Joash walked and did that which was
right in the eyes of the Lord. When Jehoiada died, Joash's religion
died with him. So we are not to be content with
a religion built on any human being, whether it's an apostle
or a prophet, an evangelist, a pastor or a teacher, or a father
or a mother. Our hope is not, I have hope
because my minister says so, but I have hope because God says
so. The Bereans, the scripture says,
the Bereans search the scriptures to see if these things be so. And this thing goes all the way
through this scripture here. Even great ministers of God,
as well as other Christian leaders, are fallible and they make great
mistakes. Now here's the second thing I
see. The second thing is this, to keep the truth of the gospel
is more important than to keep the peace. Now no man knew the
value of peace and unity more than the Apostle Paul. He knew
the Old Testament which said how blessed it How sweet it is
when brethren dwell together in unity. The Apostle Paul wrote
these words, Be of the same mind one toward another. He wrote
these words, Be at peace among yourselves. He wrote these words,
Mind the same things. He wrote these words, I become
all things to all men, that by all means I might save some.
I give and I take, he said, that I might reach men with the gospel.
And yet, in this case, he runs the risk of a sharp division
among the apostles. He wasn't with the Twelve. He
was an apostle later on. And he dares, the apostle Paul,
the young apostle Paul, dares to stand face to face with this
old faithful warrior, Simon Peter, and rebuke him. He takes the chance, publicly,
that he might divide the whole church. And why did he take such
an awful, awful responsibility upon himself? He did it because
he hated false doctrine, and that's what he's face to face
with. He hated error. He did it because he knew that
a little leaven, if you permit it to continue, will leaven the
whole lump. He did it because he knew that
truth was more important than peace. A lot of preachers today
avoid a lot of Scripture and God's Word in order to preserve
the peace. A lot of preachers and people
today will sacrifice the preaching of God's Word to avoid controversy. They avoid clear doctrines, doctrines
on the covenant, doctrines on the grace of God, doctrines on
the deity of Christ, doctrines on the sacrifice of Christ, doctrines
on the effectual work of Christ, and all these things. They avoid
these doctrines in the Word of God to keep peace. And the Apostle
Paul wasn't willing to do it. He saw an error here in the very
foundation of our gospel. He saw an attack upon justification
by faith, even by the Apostle Peter. He knew Peter knew better,
and he attacked it right there on the spot. And we must have
the boldness and the sincerity to declare the whole counsel
of God, whoever it may offend. It was for truth's sake that
our Lord rebuked the Pharisees. It was for truth's sake that
Paul withstood Peter. It was for truth's sake that
Luther denounced the Pope. It was for truth's sake that
Whitefield challenged his good friend John Wesley. It was for
truth's sake I'm not talking about going around picking, picking,
picking little insignificant, minute, minor matters and making
war over them. I'm talking about these basic,
fundamental, foundational truths of God's Word that have to do
with the flow of the gospel. That's what we're talking about.
The Apostle Paul saw a lot of things in Peter, I'm sure, that
were not acceptable to him. and personality traits and characteristics,
and that's not what we're dealing with here now. We're dealing
with foundational truth. We're dealing with that compromise
for the sake of unity and peace, and Paul was not willing. I read
an illustration some years ago, and it came to mind today. Hugh
Latimer. Some of you historians know who
Hugh Latimer was. But he was called to preach before
Henry VIII. This is a true story. I found
this in several religious and church history books. Hugh Latimer
began that sermon before Henry VIII, and he was a fearful gentleman. He began his sermon in this way, Dost thou remember thou art speaking
before the high and mighty King Henry VIII? Thou art speaking
before him who has the power to commit thee to prison. Thou
art speaking before him who can have thy head struck off if it
please him. Latimer, take care that thou
sayest nothing to offend his royal ears. And then after a
long pause, he went on. Latimer, Latimer, dost thou remember
that thou art also speaking before the King of kings and the Lord
of lords? Thou art also speaking before
him at whose judgment Henry the Eighth will someday stand. and
art speaking before him to whom one day thou shalt give an account. Latimer, Latimer, be faithful,
be faithful to thy master, and declare the truth of God's word." When we learn that, that's when
we learn that truth is more precious than peace. Peace is precious,
unity is precious, how sweet it is when we can have that peace
and that unity and that fellowship in the faith. But that unity
and that peace is not worth compromise of the gospel. Let us not be
bashful to declare, as Paul said, I have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God in sincerity, in boldness,
in tenderness, in affection, and in the sight of God. There's no way There's no way
that we can make truth acceptable to a natural mind. No way. And there's no way that we can
make error acceptable to God's people. So a fellow's in a mess,
isn't he, when he tries to compromise. No way! No way he's going to
make that truth acceptable to a natural mind. The natural mind,
enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be, the preaching of the gospel's foolishness to them
that perish. Well, to whom are we ministering? We're ministering to God's children. And there's no way we're going
to, by compromise, feed the flock and the sheep of Christ. Now
here's the third and final thing that I learned from this illustration.
There is no doctrine about which we ought to be more jealous than
justification by faith without the deeds of the Lord. Now let's
pause here a minute. What had Peter done? Read the
text again. When Peter, verse 11, Galatians
2, was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was
to be blamed. Verse 14, When I saw that they
walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, what
had Peter done? Well, he had not publicly denied
a single article of faith. The Apostle Peter had not preached
one false doctrine. The Apostle Peter had not denied
the cross, he had not denied substitution, he had not denied
the sacrifice of Christ. But here's what he did. After keeping company with the
believing Gentiles without their being circumcised, without their
submitting to the law of Moses, without them taking this yoke
of bondage upon them, after keeping company with them as fellow heirs
and partakers of the promise of Christ in the gospel, he suddenly,
he suddenly became shy of them. He suddenly withdrew himself
from them. When these important leaders
from the church in Jerusalem, James and that crowd, came down,
the Apostle Peter indicated, by withdrawing from those Gentiles,
that he thought they were less holy than these Jews, that these
Gentiles were less acceptable to God than these circumcised
Jews. Peter implied by his actions
that the believing Gentiles who had not kept the law of Moses
were lacking something. They were lacking something.
In a word, this is what he was doing, and this is what infuriated
the Apostle Paul. In a word, Peter was adding to
Christ. He was adding the keeping of
the Jewish ceremonies to faith in Christ. That's exactly what
he was doing by his actions. What must I do to be saved? Not
merely believe on Christ, but believe on Christ and be circumcised. That's what Peter was saying.
If you want to be accepted, if you want to be all that you ought
to be, if you want to be holy, if you want to be one with whom
I can fellowship, then you believe on Christ and, you believe on
Christ and, you believe on Christ and. And such conduct the Apostle
Paul would not endure. And he withstood him to the face.
And this is the theme of the whole book of Galatians. Let
me show you that. Look back at Galatians 1.8. Paul
says, Though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we preach, let him be accursed. Talk about
the apostle Peter. Talk about Paul withstanding
Peter to the face. Paul was willing to withstand
the angels to the face if they departed from justification by
faith alone. If they departed from the preaching
of Christ sufficient and Christ effectual and Christ alone. He
was willing to curse an angel if he departed from this gospel.
Look at Galatians 2 verse 20. He says, I am 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 it not by
the law, I live it not by the Jewish ceremonies, I live it
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself
for me, and I do not frustrate, I do not confuse the grace of
God. If righteousness comes by that
law, Jesus Christ died in vain." That's what he said. Boy, when
he gets stirred up on this thing, he's stirred up. Look at Galatians
chapter 3, verse 3. He calls them, verse 1, O foolish
Galatians. Verse 2, this only would I learn
of you. When you received the Spirit,
did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the
hearing of faith? All right? Are you so foolish, having begun
in the Spirit Does it now take the law and circumcision and
rituals and days and meets and Sabbaths to perfect you? Is that
how you're matured? Is that how you're perfected?
You began in the Spirit and now you're complete by the flesh?
Look at Galatians 3.11. No man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. It's evident, it's clear. The
just shall live by faith. Galatians 3.24. Listen to this. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith came, we're no longer under the schoolmaster.
No longer. Don't get back under the law.
Don't take the coats of skin off and put the fig leaf back
on. Galatians 3.28, look at this, there is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,
you are one in Christ. Now that takes care of Peter's
dissimulation, there is neither Jew nor Greek. This takes care of the slavery
issue, there is neither bond nor free. And this takes care
of the Mormon issue that a man is baptized for his female, and
that's the reason he got so many wives. A woman can't be saved
unless she's married to a man. And Paul said there's neither
male nor female. You're all one in Christ. Those things don't exist in Christ. And then Galatians 4.10, look
at this, you observe days and months and times and years. I'm
afraid of you, Paul said, I'm afraid of you, lest I have bestowed
upon you labor in vain. You who would live by the law,
don't you hear the law? You who judge your salvation
by what you do or what you don't do, don't you hear the law? I'm afraid of you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labor in vain." Now one last verse, turn to Colossians
chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2, verse 10. Verse 9 and 10. Here's the summary
of the whole thing. Colossians 2, verse 9 and 10. For in him, in Christ, dwelleth
all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him."
That's where it all dwells. None of it dwells in the rituals
or the ceremonies or the ordinances or the institutions or the laws. It all dwells in Christ. When
you have Him, you have it all. When you're in Him, you're complete. That's it right there. Our Father in Heaven, we're thankful
for the Word. We're not left to our own directions,
our own wisdom. But thy Word is given in the
hands of thy Holy Spirit. not only to bring us to Christ,
in whom we are complete, but that we might grow in grace and
in the knowledge of Christ, that we might be no more babes tossed
to and fro, dependent on the milk only of the Word, but that
we might be young men in Christ Jesus, yea, and even fathers
in Christ Jesus. Grant Thy Holy Spirit to bless
this word that's been read and preached tonight to accomplish
Thy glory and Thy purpose. For Christ's sake we pray, Amen.

The Fallibility of Ministers and Church Leaders

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The Fallibility of Ministers and Church Leaders

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