Dealing With Issues Part 1 Series

Dealing with Issues Part 1

Text: Acts 15:1-12

Introduction

1. Over the past 27 years of ministry, I’ve learned a lot of lessons, and some of them were hard lessons. One of the most important lessons has to do with problems within the church. I’ve tried the just ignore it and it will go away and trust me that never ends well. What I’ve found is the best way to deal with problems is to deal with them head on.

2. Now, I’m not saying this because I think we have problems in our church right now. I mean you guys are awesome! But we need to understand that at some point they will rear their ugly head, and we need to know how to deal with them when they happen.

3. Even the early church had issues, and we can learn a lot from how they dealt with those problems.

4. Read Acts 15:1-12

Transition: First, let’s look at the…

I. Problem (1-3).

A. Unless You Are Circumcised

1. One of the most important things that we must protect against in the church is false teaching.

2. This was the point of contention in the early church. In v. 1 Luke writes, “While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

a. While Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea came in and began to tell the Gentiles that they could not be saved unless they were circumcised according to the law of Moses.

b. Some people refer to these men as “Judaizers.” God had made the covenant of circumcision with Abraham, and it was sign of obedience between Abraham and his descendants with God. It signified that they were God’s covenant people.

c. These Judaizers were not saying that Gentiles couldn’t be saved, but they were insisting that the Gentiles had to keep the laws of Moses, including the physical rite of circumcision.

d. In essence, they were saying they had to become Jews to become Christians.

e. They were afraid that eventually they would be more Gentile than Jewish Christians.

3. Well, this did not sit well with Paul and Barnabas. In v. 2 it says, “Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.”

a. This was no small difference of opinion, and certainly not something Paul and Barnabas could live with.

b. The Greek words for “disagreed with,” and “argued vehemently” conveyed the idea of great strife, discord, and disunion” (Barton, 525).

c. In other words, they threw down!

d. This was a major problem within the early church, and area of great concern theologically and within the church.

e. If it was not handled in the right way it could cause a major split within the early church.

f. So, Paul and Barnabas, along with some local believers went to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles and elders there to try and come up with a solution to this problem.

4. On their journey to Jerusalem, Luke tells us, “The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.”

a. As was their custom, Paul and Barnabas and the folks with them stopped in Phoenicia and Samaria to encourage the believers there.

b. Well, apparently, not everyone was upset the Gentile’s were coming to faith in Jesus.

c. Rather than being upset about the Gentiles believing in Jesus, these believers rejoiced that they were coming to faith.

d. They knew that the only thing that matters is faith!

B. Good Works

1. Illustration: Methodist Bishop Reuben Job writes, "If we are just good enough, do enough, deny ourselves enough, we will be forgiven, redeemed, and reconciled to God. Following this path brings no peace, assurance, or sense of companionship with God. Rather than asking why we are miserable and have no deep peace and joy in our relationship with God, we just try harder to earn our way to companionship with God. We do this through busyness in the church, prayer, or acts of compassion in the world. We are led to believe that if we work hard enough, salvation will be ours. But the biblical view of life is quite different and John Wesley, grounded as he was in the Bible, was certain that salvation was not for sale. He was convinced that no one could ever earn a place at God’s table…We can never justify ourselves, be reconciled to God or earn our way to heaven on our own. But the marvelous, good news is that God offers it all to us as a gift. We are saved, in this world and the next, by grace through faith."