The First Board Meeting
July 28, 2002
Acts 15:1-35
Intro:
A. [None Survived, from the book, "God Has Never Failed Me, But He’s Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times" by Stan Toler]
There was a family who decided to move to the country.
They bought a ranch and made plans to raise cattle.
They completed the relocation process and set about building their ranch, and about six months later some friends came to see them.
They wanted to see the ranch and the cattle.
The friend said to the owner of the ranch, "What do you call the ranch?"
The owner of the ranch said, "I wanted to call it the ‘Flying W.’ My wife wanted to name it the ‘Suzie Q.’ My oldest son wanted to call it the ‘Bar J.’ And my youngest son wanted to call it the ‘Lazy Y.’
So the friend asked, "Well, what did you call it?"
"Well, we call it ‘The Flying W, Suzie Q, Bar J, Lazy Y Ranch,’" he said.
"OK," the friend said, "but where are the cattle?"
The owner replied, "Well, we don’t have any. None of them survived the branding."
B. Today, we come to Acts 15, where we learn about the first board meeting.
I. Salvation by meeting requirements?
Acts 15:1-5, Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. 5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
A. Paul and Barnabas are now back in Syrian Antioch, having completed their first missionary journey.
1. It is now about the year 51.
2. It has been about 18 years since the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
3. Paul and Barnabas have completed their first missionary journey and were staying in Syrian Antioch—about 300 miles north of Jerusalem.
B. But we learn that life after the first missionary journey was not uneventful.
1. We see that there were some men who came from Judea to Antioch and began teaching people that unless they were circumcised (according to the law of Moses) they weren’t really saved.
2. Listen to how Paul described these very people in Galatians 2:4, "This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves."
3. Acts 15:2 tells us that this teaching brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute with those false brothers.
4. Paul knew that God had lead him to the Gentiles.
5. Paul had not been circumcising anyone; he had simply called them to belief in Jesus Christ and baptized them in water.
6. But now these men had come down from Judea to tell the people in Antioch that if they don’t get circumcised, they really weren’t saved.
7. And verse two tells us that "This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them."
C. They were unable to resolve the debate, so they had to take another course of action.
1. In Galatians 2:2 Paul says that during this time, he got a revelation which told him to go to Jerusalem.
2. So Paul told the others that if they didn’t believe him, they should go ask the apostles in Jerusalem.
3. They weren’t ready to believe Paul, but they were evidently willing to listen to the apostles and so a number of people packed up and took a 300 mile journey to Jerusalem.
D. Along the way, they told people in different cities about the first missionary journey and how God had brought salvation to the Gentiles.
1. This news made people glad.
2. When they got to Jerusalem and the board was assembled, they reported to them about their first missionary journey and all that God had done among the Gentiles.
E. Then some others stood up in the meeting and started spouting their spiel about the Gentiles needing to be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.
1. Now we need to think about what they are saying.
2. They are saying that in order to be saved, everyone should be required to obey the law of Moses.
3. That is the 10 Commandments, but it is far more than that!
4. It is the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
5. It includes sacrifices and pittance.
6. It includes priests and requirements.
7. It includes laws and penalties.
8. It includes slavery and bondage because it can never save.
II. Salvation by grace!
Acts 15:6-11, The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
A. In response to the spiel about requiring people to keep the law of Moses, Peter addresses the board.
1. Peter stood up and told them about how God had made a choice that the Gentiles would hear the gospel from his lips.
2. We studied that story in chapter 10.
3. God, through a vision, an angel, and circumstances showed Peter that He was now going to offer salvation to everyone and not just the Jews.
4. Peter pointed out to the board that only God can really judge people’s hearts and it was clear to Peter that God had judged the household of Cornelius and had shown His acceptance of their hearts by pouring out the HS on them with the evidence of speaking in tongues—just has the 12 had in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost.
5. Peter was saying that was how God had put His stamp of approval on non-Jews being saved.
6. Peter said that God made no distinction between Jews and Gentiles and they should therefore not require the Gentiles to become Jews.
B. And in verse 10 Peter said, Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
1. A yoke was a wooden collar that was placed on oxen so they could pull a cart.
2. A yoke was burden.
3. And Peter said loading up the Gentiles with the burdens of the law of Moses was an outlandish thing to do considering that neither they nor their ancestors had been able to bear that burden.
4. Peter wanted to know why they wanted to put all those requirements on people.
C. And in verse 11 Peter concluded, No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
1. Peter said, "No we should not do this! Its not right!"
2. Peter said, "Salvation is not by works, it is by grace."
3. Peter said, "Salvation is not something you earn by keeping the law and doing good deeds, it is something we receive as a free gift from God."
4. Peter said, "We are saved and we are circumcised; but they are saved even though they are not circumcised.
5. "We are saved just as they are—by grace!"
III. Confirmation by Barnabas & Paul
Acts 15:12, The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
A. Now it is Paul and Barnabas’ turn to respond.
1. Luke says that everyone became silent as they spoke and they listened to them.
2. Paul and Barnabas began to tell of their experiences.
B. Paul and Barnabas were echoing what Peter said.
1. Peter spoke of how God had revealed this to him and how God had confirmed it.
2. And now Paul and Barnabas were echoing those some things from their own experiences on the first missionary journey.
3. Paul and Barnabas told the people about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done amongst the Gentiles.
4. Paul and Barnabas were saying, "The things that God did to show that this was right with Peter, God did through Paul and Barnabas as well.
IV. Confirmation by Scripture
Acts 15:13-21, When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: 16 "’After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ 18 that have been known for ages. 19 "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
A. Now James speaks.
1. This James was not the brother of John, because he was killed by Herod in chapt.12.
2. He was not one of the original 12.
3. But Galatians 1:19 tells us that he is the brother of Jesus who wrote the book of James.
B. James begins to give a Scriptural argument for not requiring the law of Moses.
1. James quoted from the OT prophet Amos.
2. Amos was very clear that God was going to rebuild the house of David and that rebuilt house was going to include Gentiles.
3. Now if they were going to have to convert to Judaism, they wouldn’t be called Gentiles, they would simple be called Jews.
4. God was going to rebuild the house of David in a different way—His way.
C. So then James concluded that they should not make it more difficult on people coming to God than God did.
V. Confirmation by the apostles
Acts 15:22-35, Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. 24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul-- 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. 30 The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. 34 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
A. So the board (including the apostles and the elders and in agreement with the whole church) decided to write a letter to the believers Antioch and everywhere else.
1. They had evidently spent time in prayer seeking direction from the HS because in verse 28 the letter said that this seemed good to the HS.
2. And what they said was that it wasn’t right to load people down with requirements for salvation.
3. They were already saved, regardless of what the false teachers had tried to tell them.
4. They were saved whether they were circumcised or not.
5. They were saved and they did not have to do anything to receive.
6. God had already confirmed by signs and wonders that they were saved, they didn’t have to confirm it themselves by cutting off a piece of their flesh.
7. The Good News was that they were saved—period!
8. They did say that it would be good for them to avoid some things since they were saved, but doing those things was not what saved them.
9. They were saved by grace; it was a free gift.
10. After they were saved, it would be good for them not to do certain things.
B. So they sent a delegation back 300 miles to Antioch.
1. They went to Antioch, delivered, and read the letter.
2. Luke says the people were glad and encouraged by the letter.
Conclusion:
A. [None Survived, from the book, "God Has Never Failed Me, But He’s Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times" by Stan Toler]
There was a family who decided to move to the country.
They bought a ranch and made plans to raise cattle.
They completed the relocation process and set about building their ranch, and about six months later some friends came to see them.
They wanted to see the ranch and the cattle.
The friend said to the owner of the ranch, "What do you call the ranch?"
The owner of the ranch said, "I wanted to call it the ‘Flying W.’ My wife wanted to name it the ‘Suzie Q.’ My oldest son wanted to call it the ‘Bar J.’ And my youngest son wanted to call it the ‘Lazy Y.’
So the friend asked, "Well, what did you call it?"
"Well, we call it ‘The Flying W, Suzie Q, Bar J, Lazy Y Ranch,’" he said.
"OK," the friend said, "but where are the cattle?"
The owner replied, "Well, we don’t have any. None of them survived the branding."
1. Do you see that God is telling us that if we load people down with requirements in order for them to be saved, they are not going to survive the branding?
2. We are going to kill people spiritually by loading people down with our own rules and opinions.
3. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for this in Luke 11:46, Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
B. Listen again to how Paul described this in Galatians 2:4, "This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves."
1. And also in Galatians 1:6 he said to the people of Galatia, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ."
2. Paul called mixing the gospel with the law of Moses perversion.
3. Paul said going back to the law of Moses is going back to slavery and abandoning the freedom we have in Christ.
4. Paul said loading people down with extra requirements is wrong!
C. It is very important that we understand this truth and Paul explained it best in Ephesians 2:8-10, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1. First and most importantly, we need to understand that salvation is by grace!
a. Salvation is a free gift; it is not something we earn.
b. Salvation is a free gift; it is not something we work to receive.
c. Salvation is a free gift; it is not something we get for being a good person.
d. Salvation is a free gift; it is not something we get for keeping the 10 commandments.
e. Salvation is the gift of God; all we do to receive it is believe in Jesus Christ.
f. If we believe in Jesus Christ, the Bible says we are saved!
g. Salvation is by grace.
2. But then after we are saved, we do good deeds because we are grateful for salvation.
a. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
b. After we are saved, we do good deeds because we are grateful that we get to go to heaven.
c. After we are saved, we do good deeds because we are grateful for Christ’s death on our behalf so that we could have eternal life.
3. But the important thing we need to understand is that there is a big difference between the attitude of the heart in the two instances—now listen to me!
a. A person who is doing good deeds in order to be saved is in slavery.
b. A person who is doing good deeds in order to be saved is in slavery to trying to do good and be good—somehow hoping to work our way into being accepted by God.
c. That is misery and depression.
d. Paul said it is slavery!
e. But a person who is doing good deeds out of the gratefulness of his heart is celebrating Christ!
f. A person who is doing good deeds because he is saved is thankful for the Christ of Calvary!
g. A person who is doing good deeds because he has been saved from hell is free from bondage!
h. A person who is doing good deeds because he has eternal life is really living!
i. A person who is doing good deeds because he is saved, WANTS to do them because He ENJOYS pleasing God!
4. Therefore, we don’t do good deeds in order to be saved; we do good deeds because we are saved!
D. And when we understand our own salvation—we know how to lead others to Christ!
1. We know they don’t have to be circumcised.
2. We know they don’t have to keep the 10 commandments!
3. We know they don’t have to get themselves straightened out before they come to Christ!
4. We know they don’t have to be a good person in order to be saved!
5. We know they don’t have to do all the things that we do!
6. We know we must respect them for where they are in their journey with Christ!
7. We know we cannot load them down with rules, regulations, opinions, or traditions!
8. No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." (Acts 15:11)
E. In fact, look at Chapter 16…
1. Acts 16:1-5, He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
2. We looked at 15:36-41 a couple of weeks ago in relation to John Mark.
3. In those verses Paul and Barnabas had a sharp dispute in starting out on their second missionary journey about taking along John Mark who had deserted them on their first journey.
4. So they decided to take separated trips: Barnabas took John Mark on a missionary journey and Paul took Silas.
5. Now in chapter 16, as they start their second missionary journey, they decide to take Timothy as well.
6. But before they went, they took Timothy and circumcised him!
a. Now why in the world would they do that?!!
b. Verse four says they were delivering the letter from the board and we know that it says that circumcision is not necessary!
c. They just left the board meeting and are carrying in their hand the letter from the board that says circumcision is not necessary and they circumcised Timothy!?
d. Luke said in verse one that Timothy was already a believer; he was already saved.
e. And Luke says in verse three they did it because of the Jews who lived in the area.
f. The Jews were not believers in Christ.
g. Luke called believers in Christ "believers," while he called non-believers "Jews" and "Gentiles."
h. The Jews were Paul’s primary target in preaching the gospel and Paul knew that it would be difficult to even get the Jews o listen to them if Timothy wasn’t circumcised.
i. Paul circumcised Timothy to make it easier for the Jews to be saved.
j. Paul didn’t circumcise Timothy in order to be saved; he was already saved.
k. Paul circumcised Timothy so as to make it as easy as possible for the Jews to be saved.
l. Paul WAS following the boards decision!
m. He was not loading unbelievers up with additional requirements—in fact he was lightening their load.
n. Paul knew that he wouldn’t even get to tell the Jews about Jesus if Timothy wasn’t circumcised.
o. Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy weren’t loading unbelievers down with extra burdens, they were going out of their way to make it easy for people to hear the gospel!
F. And THAT is exactly what God is calling us to do!
1. God is calling us to take the burden off of others coming to Christ!
2. God is calling us to go out of our way to make it easy for people to be saved!
3. Now God doesn’t call us to sin in order to get people saved, but we are to do whatever else we can—even if it causes us pain and suffering.
4. Now I have tried to keep this on a good level, but I need to point out that Timothy experienced pain and suffering so that people might be saved!
5. We can not expect people to change and become like us in order to be saved!
6. We can not expect non-believers to have the same kind of commitment that we do!
7. We can not expect non-believers to like the same kind of music we do!
8. We can not expect non-believers to dress the way we do!
9. We can not expect non-believers to act the way we do!
10. We need to do what it takes to go to them!
11. We need to change in order for them to accept us and not the other way around!
12. We need to do what it takes to make it easy for them to experience Christ!
13. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
14. After people are saved, we teach and encourage people to mature in their faith, but we respect them as children of God right where they are on their journey!
15. God is calling us to make it as easy as possible for people to come to Christ—even if it makes us uncomfortable or cause us pain or suffering!
16. Because …We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." (Acts 15:11)
17. We weren’t saved by doing certain things and neither are they, so we must make it as easy as we can for them to be saved!
