Great News about the Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Book of Acts - Part 50
Acts 15:11-31
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - July 27, 2014
INTRODUCTION:
*I have heard a lot of great news in my life. "Yes, I'll marry you!" "I'm pregnant!" (I got to hear that one 3 times!) "You're going to be grandparents!" "We got all of your wife's cancer, and we got it early. She won't need treatments."
*I've heard great news in my life countless times. But the greatest news I've ever heard is the gospel of Jesus Christ! "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16)."
*The good news of the cross of Jesus Christ is the greatest news the world will ever hear! And this Scripture shows some of the great things about the gospel.
1. First: The gospel is based on God's grace.
*We start today with the wonderful statement of faith Peter made in vs. 11, "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.''
*The early church leaders had come together in Jerusalem to deal with the false teaching of legalistic believers. They claimed in vs. 1 that "unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." The question then was: Do we have to keep Old Testament law in order to be saved? And Christians: The clear answer was no. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9)."
*We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ! King Duncan explained that this fact is so critical to us, because ultimately, the only thing the law can do is condemn us. As Duncan said: "If we are saved by keeping all the laws and ordinances, then all of us are doomed.
*Henry Moorhouse told of a lady who said to him, 'I can't see how a person who has broken just one of the commandments can be as bad as another who has broken five or even all of them.' Moorhouse explained to her that God had actually given only one law which consists of ten different parts. 'Look at this watch of mine!' he said. 'If you counted all its cogs, you would find many. If you ruined only one, you might leave the other parts in perfect condition. And yet this would be a broken watch that would no longer run.'
*The woman still couldn't see the point; so he said, 'Suppose you were hanging over a cliff, suspended by a chain with ten links. If someone took a hammer and smashed every link, where would you go?' She replied, 'To the bottom of the canyon, of course.' 'But if he split only one link, what would happen?' 'Why, that would be just as bad. I'd still fall and be killed!' Suddenly she got it. She grasped the truth of James 2:10 that 'whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.' (1)
*If we had to be saved by keeping the law, then we would all be doomed. But we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ! And in these verses God confirmed the gospel of grace.
*First, grace was confirmed by God's works. We see this in vs. 12, where "all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles."
*The grace of God was confirmed by God's works. Then it was confirmed by God's Word, as James began to speak in vs. 13:
13. . . "Men and brethren, listen to me:
14. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
15. And with this the words of the prophets agree. . ."
*Then James quoted verses from the Old Testament book of Amos, including great news for us Gentiles! There the Lord said:
16. 'After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up,
17. so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the Lord who does all these things.'
18. Known to God from eternity are all His works.
19. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God."
*There is hope for the Jews and the Gentiles! There is hope for all of us! There is hope for the lost! There is hope for all who will receive our crucified and risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is hope for all who will trust in the grace of God. That's great news about the gospel!
2. But there's more! The gospel liberates us from Old Testament law.
*The gospel of Jesus Christ liberates us from the heavy burden of the Old Testament law.
*Starting in vs. 19, James proposed to write a letter to clear up this controversy about circumcision. And James said:
19. "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
20. but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
21. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.''
*Then in vs. 23-29, we see the actual letter:
23. They wrote this letter by them: "The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
24. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised and keep the law' to whom we gave no such commandment
25. it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26. men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
28. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
29. that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."
*One thing that stands out in this letter is that the burden of Old Testament law had been lifted by the cross of Jesus Christ. Keeping the laws about circumcision, animal sacrifices and the Sabbath, etc. was no longer required. We can eat bacon! Praise the Lord!
*Of course, God's moral law was never abolished. In fact, Jesus calls us to a much higher standard than under the Old Testament. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 makes this truth abundantly clear. But we are no longer bound by the multitude of ritualistic laws. So the letter the church leaders sent out to the Gentile Christians was very simple. It did not include 400 things to avoid or 40 things to avoid. It only listed 4 things to avoid.
*Paul later talked about the simplicity of the gospel in 2 Corinthians 11:3, and there he said: "I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." The great news here is that we are released from the burden of the law! We are released from the complex burden of Old Testament law.
*Many years ago, I worked for the Air Force as a contract negotiator and price analyst. It was a very rewarding, but sometimes frustrating job. I got to work with a great group of people for six years. But the regulations were mind-boggling. The basic regulation that we used was the A. S. P. R. or "Armed Services Procurement Regulation."
*The A.S.P.R. was thousands of pages long, and it was written in the most obscure gobbledygook you could possibly imagine. If you asked three people the same question on any topic, you would usually get at least two different answers! -- Sometimes more!
*The scribes and Pharisees had turned the Old Testament law into something like that. William Barclay explained, "Take the case of carrying a burden. Jeremiah 7:21 said: 'Take heed for the sake of your lives and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day.' So a burden had to be defined. And the scribes defined it as 'food equal in weight to a dried fig, enough wine for mixing in a goblet, milk enough for one swallow, honey enough to put upon a wound, oil enough to anoint a small member, water enough to moisten an eye-salve,' and so on and so on.
*It had then to be settled whether or not on the Sabbath a woman could wear a broach, whether a man could wear a wooden leg or dentures, or would it be carrying a burden to do so? Could a chair or even a child be lifted? On and on the discussions and the regulations went." (2)
*Here is part of what the scribes said about writing on the Sabbath day: "To write was to work on the Sabbath." But writing has to be defined, so the definition says: "He who writes two letters of the alphabet with his right or with his left hand, whether of one kind or of two kinds, if they are written with different inks or in different languages, is guilty. Even if he should write two letters from forgetfulness, he is guilty, whether he has written them with ink or with paint, red chalk, vitriol, or anything which makes a permanent mark. . . But, if anyone writes with dark fluid, with fruit juice, or in the dust of the road, or in sand, or in anything which does not make a permanent mark, he is not guilty." (3)
*Thank God for the liberty we have in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We are free from the burden the law. So in 2 Corinthians 3:17, Paul tells Christians us that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
*But legalists like those causing trouble in Acts 15 were stubborn in their efforts to oppose the good news of God's grace. So in Galatians 2:4, Paul spoke of "false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)." And in Galatians 5:1, Paul urged the church to "stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."
*Thank God for the liberty we have in Jesus Christ! The gospel liberates us from Old Testament law, and that's great news about the gospel!
3. But there's more! The gospel calls us to live by love.
*Godly love is the purpose for the necessary things James mentioned in his letter. As he said in vs. 28-29:
28. . . "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
29. that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."
*The call to sexual purity is no surprise to us, but what about those other three "necessary things?" Why in the world did the church leaders ask the Gentile Christians to "abstain from things offered to idols, from blood," and "from things strangled?" Why pick out those specific things? The reason why is because James was concerned about Gentile Christians being able to fellowship with Jewish believers.
*Barclay explained it this way: "How could a strict Jewish believer share company with a Gentile? To make things easier the Apostle James suggested certain regulations that Gentiles ought to keep. For example: They must abstain from the meat offered to idols. And this may seem strange to us, but meat offered to idols was a huge issue in the early church.
*Paul dealt with this problem at length in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, and he opened 1 Corinthians 8 with these words:
1. Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
2. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
3. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
4. Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
5. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),
6. yet for us there is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
7. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
8. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.
9. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.
*Barclay gave this background: "When an idol worshipper sacrificed in a pagan temple, often only a small part of the meat was sacrificed. Most of the rest was given back to him to make a feast for his friends, often on the temple grounds, sometimes in his own house. The priests received the remainder, which was then sold for ordinary use." (4)
*Here in Acts 15, James was urging the Gentile Christians to abstain from eating meat offered to idols, not because it would cause them to lose their salvation, but because it could offend the weaker brothers. By adding this dietary restriction, God was asking the Gentile Christians to bend over backwards to keep peace with their Jewish brothers in Christ.
*Now God wants us to bend over backwards for each other, because of our love for the Lord and our love for His people. Yes, we are released from the detailed, strict regulations of Old Testament Jewish law, but at the same time, we are restrained by God's love. The gospel calls us to live by love, and that's great news about the gospel!
4. But there's more! The gospel leads us to serve our Savior.
*The gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ leads us to a life of godly service. And here in Acts 15, we see some faithful Christians who were willing to serve the Lord.
*In vs. 22-27, God's Word says:
22. Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.
23. They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
24. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised and keep the law' to whom we gave no such commandment
25. it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26. men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
[1] What did these wonderful Christians do to serve the Lord? They went on the road for the Lord.
*They were willing to go the distance for the Lord. Today people describe it as getting outside the four walls of the church. And we have to do that, because being a Christian is not just about coming to church. It's about going out into our community to for Christ. That's why things like VBS, Upward, and the Canada Mission are so important for our church.
*Any godly thing we can do to get the people outside the church inside the church is important to God. Anything we can do to get lost people closer to Christ is extremely important to God.
[2] These faithful servants went on the road for the Lord. They also they reported some good news to the church.
*That's what these men did when they took that vital letter back to the believers in Antioch. And in vs. 27, we see that they also "sent Judas and Silas" to "report the same things by word of mouth."
*They reported the good news and we see the result in vs. 30-31:
30. So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.
31. When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.
[3] These faithful servants reported the good news. Some of them even risked their lives.
*In vs. 25-26, James gave great credit to Barnabas and Paul. There James said:
25. it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26. men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
*These great men of God were willing to go the distance. They even risked their lives. And it brings up the question: What are we willing to risk for Jesus?
*We read of pioneer missionaries like Adoniram Judson and Hudson Taylor. Over in Burma, Judson was lying in a terrible, filthy jail. He had 30 pounds of chains on his ankles, binding his feet to a bamboo pole. Another prisoner, an atheist, sarcastically asked: "Dr. Judson, what about the prospect of the conversion of the heathen?" Dr. Judson's instant reply was, "The prospects are just as bright as the promises of God." What faith! Adoniram Judson was willing to risk his freedom. What are we willing to risk for Jesus?
*During a terribly trying time in the work of the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, "We have twenty-five cents --and all the promises of God! What faith! Hudson Taylor was willing to risk going into poverty. What are we willing to risk for Jesus? (5)
CONCLUSION:
*Many followers of Jesus Christ went the distance for us. Now God wants us to do the same. Get out on the road. Report the good news. And take a risk for Jesus, because the good news of the cross of Jesus Christ is the greatest news the world will ever hear!
(1) Adapted from "Life and Light" - Source: Sermons.com sermon "Battle with the Law" by King Duncan - Mark 2:1-12
(2) Adapted from BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition Copyright 1975 - Edinburgh, Scotland. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - THE MAN WHO CAME BY NIGHT - John 3:1-6
(3) Adapted from BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition Copyright 1975 - Edinburgh, Scotland. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Chapter 5 - THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT Matthew 5:1-48 - Source: SermonCentral illustration contributed by Troy Mason
(4) Adapted from BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 William Barclay. First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Acts 15:13-21
(5) W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 242 - Source: Sermonillustrations.com
