Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24467 - Grace Triumphs Over Legalism Pt 1 - Acts 15:6-12

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#24467 - Grace Triumphs Over Legalism Pt 1 - Acts 15:6-12 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Open your Bibles to Acts chapter 15, Acts chapter 15.
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We're going to pick up where we left off last time in verse 6
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and I've entitled our Bible study today.
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Grace triumphs over legalism. Grace triumphs over legalism.
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And it's a two-part study just on this topic.
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But we're going to be in Acts 15 for a few more weeks, as this is
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such a pivotal chapter in the book of Acts.
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Everything could have been derailed here if this issue that
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we're studying today would not have been resolved according to
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the heart of God. The simplicity of the gospel was
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under attack, and we're only talking about 20 years.
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By the time we get to Acts Chapter 15, we're only about 20
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years into the life of the early church.
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Within 20 years, there were already those wanting to
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undermine, wanting to infiltrate, if you will, with
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false teaching and really attack the most significant part of the
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church or one of the most significant parts of the church.
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And that is, how is a man, how is a woman saved?
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That's the question at hand here.
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Now for our church here today, as you read through our website,
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if you go to that section on our website where our doctrinal
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statement is and our vision and the direction and why we exist,
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you'll come across this paragraph that should be very
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prominent there. We brought with us from
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California. Pastor Chuck Smith actually
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wrote it and it becomes this bedrock of the ministry here.
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If this was all we had, it would be very helpful for us in
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leading the church. And this is what he wrote and I
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quote our supreme desire is to know Christ and to be conformed
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into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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We are not a denominational fellowship, nor are we opposed
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to denominations as such, only their over emphasis of the
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doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the body
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of Christ. We believe that the only true
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basis of Christian fellowship is His agape love, which is greater
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than any differences we possess and without which we have no
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right to claim ourselves. Christians End Quote and just
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rereading it brings me such great comfort and confidence in
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the choices that we've made as a church towards simplicity in our
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living in and for Jesus Christ. We want things and work very
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hard to keep things simple here in the life of our fellowship.
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Keeping things simple and keeping our eyes focused on
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Jesus helps to alleviate so many problems that have plagued
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churches for centuries. And yet, the enemy is really
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good at scattering false teaching and false teachers
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amongst true believers and true teaching.
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He loves confusion and he loves to get people distracted.
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The false teaching that was taking root in the early church
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here was this bondage of legalism or the requirement to
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continue on with works in order to be saved.
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It's burdensome and it's heavy, and it's a trap.
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The trap of man made religion. The trap of man made traditions.
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In order for you and I to be in a right relationship with God,
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people get really burned out on religion.
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Some of you have that testimony. Man made religion.
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All of these barriers that exist, that have been put there,
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that you have to get through all these barriers in order to get
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to Christ. No.
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The Bible is very clear that any one of us can enter boldly into
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the throne room of God by faith in Jesus Christ.
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Any one of us can find a deep, abiding relationship with Jesus
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that you open up the Bible, you read it, you repent of your
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sins, God welcomes you in, and people are getting ripped off
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today from the simplicity of Jesus.
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So we've made it a point to stay as simple as we can to minimize
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rituals and ceremonies and rules and regulations.
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This heavy burden that comes now in our statement that we read
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There is a lot of division in the body of Christ over what we
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would say are non essentials. It's important that we
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understand some things are worth fighting for.
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Absolutely taking a stand. There are non negotiables.
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For example the deity of Jesus Christ, his very nature.
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We're not messing around with that that that that is non
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negotiable. Will we trust what Jesus said,
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how he demonstrated and revealed himself.
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That's a non negotiable. The virgin birth of Christ, non
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negotiable. Whether we lift our hands when
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we're singing or not, that's negotiable.
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And people argue about that stuff.
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What songs we choose to use or all the little things, what
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color the carpet and what what you name it.
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There's a lot of things that divide, but some things we must
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fight for. And that's where the early
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church is. There are things, most things we
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don't need to fight at at all. We we just need to look at each
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other and agape love and just know that we're in.
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We're true believers, we're in true fellowship.
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The agape love knits us together and I think it's a word for us
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today to be reminded that we need to stop arguing about non
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essentials. If there's anything Christians
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are good at, and I recognize that some might take this
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personal, If you take this personal, then I would just say
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deal with it. Deal with it.
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You ready? Some things that sometimes the
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only things Christians are good at are fighting about, things
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that don't matter. One Amen.
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And everyone on the radio is screaming at me right now.
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Amen, brother. But if you're not careful, this
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will become your life, and you will waste a lot of energy
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getting involved in things that have no eternal value.
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And you might have the right argument, and you might have,
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and you might just be taking the word of God and pounding people
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onto the ground with it. But you're not winning any any.
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You're not winning anyone over to the love of God.
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You're arguing about things that really don't matter.
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They'll all be sorted out at the end.
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If you're going to take a stand, take a stand for those things
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that are essential. But even then, take a stand in
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love, recognizing that you're dealing with another human
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being. On the other end of this, even
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false teachers, even those that might, we well, boy Ed, they're
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an enemy of the gospel. I know they're an enemy of
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gospel. And Jesus said that we're to
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pummel our enemies, right? Isn't that what it says?
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Pummel our enemies? Destroy.
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No, it's not what the Bible says.
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Jesus gives us a counter intuitive approach to enemies,
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doesn't he? He says love them.
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Love your enemies. As we turn to Acts 15, they're
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dealing with a very essential that we must take a stand on,
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and that is how is a person saved?
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There is only one way that a person is saved that can receive
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the forgiveness of their sins and be in right relationship
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with God. There are not two ways.
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There are not three ways. God has made this so simple.
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He has made this so simple that even a child can understand
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this. So to complicate it and to
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obfuscudate it. I don't even know if that's a
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word but like to to make it all where you can't see where to to
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blind people's eyes from it. You are going beyond the
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scriptures. Jesus made it very clear.
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You ready? He said this.
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Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one
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that pretty much covers them all can come to the Father except
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through me. Jesus said there is no other
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way. There is no other way for you
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and I to be saved. Not only is there only one way,
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but you also need to understand you must be saved.
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You must be saved. It's an essential in your life
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to be reconciled to your Creator, you and I.
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We must be saved. Jesus once again would say no
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one's going to see the Kingdom of God unless they're born
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again. You need new life outside of
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yourself. You cannot save yourself.
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And I think of the room, you know, can be divided into a lot
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of different ways. We can say that some of us have
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a really, really, really bad past, and God saved us from our
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past. We need to be saved.
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If you have a really, really bad present, you know, like you're
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just living in rebellion and separate from God, you must be
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saved. And those you know, we, we agree
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with that. Like, of course we look at
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someone and we think, man, that's what they need is what
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they really need is God. And you would be true.
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But also in the room among us today are very moral people,
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very good people. Like the society would say,
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you're very good, upright and moral.
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You too, friend, must be saved, because no matter how moral or
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good you are, you don't measure up to the requirement of God.
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And the requirement of God is perfection.
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Do we have any perfect people in the house?
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Hey, no you no put no no perfect people in the house.
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Because even if you made one mistake in your life, just one
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that ruined perfection forever, forever and ever, and
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theologically we understand that we've all been born and sin.
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We're not only sinners because we sin, we're also sinners
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because we were born with a sinful nature.
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So therefore we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of
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God, and we're separate from God.
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You must be saved. There is no other way around and
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there are dangerous substitutes that infiltrate the Church that
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would confuse you and Acts 15 was given to us.
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If they didn't answer this question properly we would not
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be worshipping the same way today.
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They discerned the heart of God and got it right, consistent
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with the rest of the scriptures. What's the issue?
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Well, the issue is with the early churches.
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What do we do with all of these non Jewish people that are
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responding to the gospel and now following Christ?
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Because you'll remember the church started where in
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Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit came upon them
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on Pentecost, on that gathering of 120 and the church was born.
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Really you could say it was born earlier when Jesus breathed on
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some of his disciples. But the church started in
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Jerusalem and after the gospel left Jerusalem through
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persecution it went through all the surrounding areas that were
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filled with non Jews. The Bible word to describe non
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Jews is Gentile. The gospel now is going
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throughout all the known world and the church is being filled
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with these Gentile believers. Understand, Gentile believers
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had no connection to Jerusalem, no desire to go to the temple.
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They didn't do anything with the sacrifices or the animals.
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They were outside of the covenant of God for them to be
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now inside so quickly without doing anything observantly.
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This has stirred up the religious leaders.
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Notice what the issue is. Notice with me in verse five of
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Acts 15. This is the issue.
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The issue is some of the sect of the Pharisees, which would be
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the religious rulers of the day who believed they're following
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Christ. They rose up saying it is
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necessary to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of
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Moses. What they're saying is if the
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Gentiles want to be a part of the church, they need to get in
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line and have the foreskin of their privates physically cut
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off to be a part of the covenant.
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They need to go through this ritual that we had back in the
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Old covenant. Now, fortunately, we don't have
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to do that today. So when you get to heaven, you
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go find Peter, James, Paul and Barnabas and just thank them.
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Because if they got this wrong, instead of a prayer room after a
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service where people respond to the gospel like we had, we'd
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have a circumcision room. Yes.
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Just think it would be horrible, but that is not what we have.
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We are saved by grace through faith.
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And you go, aha, so I wanted you to laugh.
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I wanted to lighten it up again because while circumcision isn't
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the issue, you know what the issue is today?
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Water baptism. The same approach to salvation
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through works is often seen through water baptism.
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And there's a lot of confusion in the church today about water
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baptism. Those that teach wrong will tell
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you that you cannot be saved until you are water baptized.
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And the Bible couldn't be clearer.
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That's not true. Couldn't be clearer.
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We'll clear it up a little bit in our text today, but the Bible
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couldn't be clearer. Only believers are water
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baptized. Water baptism is an outward
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expression of obedience, of something that's already
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happened inside. So that if you would say, well,
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I want to be baptized, I want to be baptized, but I don't want
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anything to do with God. I just want to be baptized.
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So I know that I'm going to heaven.
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Look, if you came to our services and one of our baptism
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services and you said that and you went into the water, the
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only thing that's going to happen is you're going to get
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wet. You're certainly not going to
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get saved. The Bible requires you to repent
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of your sins. The Bible says this.
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If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe
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in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
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saved. Water baptism comes to everyone
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that is saved. I mean, it happens all the time.
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I hear these testimonies all the time.
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I even experienced it in my own water baptism because of the
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family that I was raised in the church they went to years ago.
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Where you're you get, you go out to our summer baptism at the
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reservoir. You're so excited.
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Thousands of people are there. We're taking people under the
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water one after another after another.
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You go back to work on Monday. You're so excited.
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You're telling all your friends and and you're.
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What'd you do this weekend? I was baptized.
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Where? In the reservoir or what?
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And you'll hit that one person to go.
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You can't be baptized in Aurora water and the reservoir?
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No way. It doesn't work like that.
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You need to be baptized in our church with our water and for
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some churches, even with our ministers.
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Otherwise it doesn't count. Now let me just say, if that
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person goes to a church in Aurora and they're baptizing in
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their sanctuary, guess where they're getting their water On
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the reservoir? Please, I like to call nonsense
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on that kind of stuff because it's not special water and it's
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not special person. It's a special God who has sent
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us on Jesus Christ to die for you.
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And circumcision and keeping the law is no longer required
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because of what Jesus Christ has done.
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And that's the key. That's what they're going to be
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sharing here. And they do have a strong word.
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This is a strong word. Sometimes we need to stand
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strong for those things that matter.
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Pick up with me in verse 6 Now. So the apostles and the elders
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came together to consider this matter.
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Let's pause there for a moment and recognize that this meeting,
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or what is commonly known as a church council, was convened to
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solve the matter between works and grace.
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Was Christianity to become another sect of Judaism or was
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it to be the free flowing relationship with Messiah that
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was both prophesied and fulfilled with the coming of
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Jesus Christ in this Church council?
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I want you to notice in verse six that they gathered the
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leadership together to solve the problem.
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Only the spiritual leaders of the Church came together to
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decide this matter. They did not call the general
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population of the church to come together.
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It was only the leaders in the church government in Acts 15 was
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not congregational. And I know congregational
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leadership in churches is quite popular today, especially in the
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Western world. But it's foreign to the
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scriptures. It's foreign to the scriptures.
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It's more of a a Western democracy type of approach to
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church government, but it's not biblical.
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It's not really found in the scriptures.
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What is found here at the biggest issue that the churches
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faced at this they called the elders together and the apostles
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and they hashed it out. The leaders gathered together
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and they prayed and sought the mind of Jesus on this matter.
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In our time today, we're going to be looking at what Peter
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shares, but in the rest of Acts 15, we're going to have four key
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leaders share. If you're taking notes, which
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you can look for coming up ahead, four key leaders are
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going to give their biblical assessment of this issue and
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their conclusion. The first one we're going to
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look at today is Peter. Peter's going to stand up and
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he's going to give a viewpoint from the past affirming a grace,
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a based approach to the gospel, grace and faith.
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And he's going to undermine this idea of, hey, you've got to be
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circumcised, you've got to keep the law of the rest of your
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life. No, no, no.
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He's going to look at the past, his own personal past, and he's
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going to affirm faith and grace. Then in our next study, we're
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going to look at Paul and Barnabas.
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They're going to give a present assessment, and they're going to
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give a present assessment because they're in the middle of
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their missionary journeys, so they can just share.
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We were just here. We were just here.
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We were just here. We're just here.
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You won't all believe what God is doing, and all without
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circumcision and all without the law.
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And then finally, James is going to step up.
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James is going to share his perspective, and he's going to
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look toward the future. He's going to give the direction
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which will be healthy for the future of the church, and we're
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grateful for these men. I also want you to notice before
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we get into this text, who the leaders are and who they're not.
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Peter is not the key leader in the early Church.
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Contrary to a very popular false teaching today, Peter was not
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the first Pope. Neither was he ever a Pope.
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The office of the Pope is a man made office.
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It is not a biblical office. It does not belong in the
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scriptures. Peter was not even the key #1
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leader here. Who was the key #1 leader at
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this time? James from Jerusalem.
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And you have to be careful. You have to be careful to take
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everything you've ever learned and heard and compare it with
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the Scriptures. Peter takes a subservient
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position. He's not writing new doctrine.
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He's not overseeing the church. He's not bossing people around.
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Not everybody's looking to him. He's just one voice among four
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key voices that are shared here. And from all appearances, James
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actually is the key leader of the church, but he doesn't even
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draw attention to himself for it.
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He just fills the role. Notice verse 7 now, when there
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had been much dispute, much dispute, Peter rose up and said
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to them. So it's like he silences the
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crowd. Men and brethren, you know that
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a good while ago, God chose among us.
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That by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the
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gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart,
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acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did
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to us, and made no distinction between US and them, purifying
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their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test
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God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which
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neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
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But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
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we shall be saved in the same manner as they.
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Now, one of the things you're going to learn in the inductive
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Bible study class when you take it is how to pay attention to
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context. So you see Peter here using a
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couple of different phrases that we need to determine who he's
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talking about. So notice in verse seven he
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talks about God chose from among us that by my mouth the Gentile
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should hear the word of the Lord of the gospel and believe.
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So there's a distinction between us, the Jews and Gentiles.
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Specifically Peter's talking about in verse 7 his his own
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leadership, but then he broadens it.
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Notice in verse 8. So God who knows the heart
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acknowledged them. Who would that be?
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Say it out loud them gentiles we know that by the context.
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So God acknowledging all these people getting saved, the non
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Jews, the gentiles by giving them who's that say it out loud.
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Come on you guys are going to do better than that them because
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people are listening. They're wondering, is anybody in
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the room? Is that by himself?
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They're listening from afar, so them by the Holy Spirit, just as
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he did to us. Who's that?
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The Jews. So you can see just something.
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Learning something simple like that gives a depth of meaning to
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the text. He's he's laying before them,
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the issue, including themselves. But you have to remember who is
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Peter. Peter's not just a leader, but
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ethnically he's a Jew. And that matters because the
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whole issue is dealing with the Gentiles.
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Now remember this as well. We've studied this previously,
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but the Jewish people, many of them, had a very prejudicial
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racial issue with the Gentiles. Sinfully, prejudice and racism
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is sin. Every day of the week, every
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week of the month, every month of the year, every year of the
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year of the year, forever and ever.
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OK? Racism is not from the Lord.
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It is selfishly sinful. And yet that's what they're
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dealing with. So part of the undertone of this
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is not just merely the religious manner of salvation, but it's
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who's getting saved. I can't.
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They're they're shocked that compared to the Jewish response,
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the the gospel is exploding throughout the Gentile world.
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So keep that in mind as well that there's an issue of Jew
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versus Gentile that Peter is also addressing indirectly.
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Lots of dispute going on. Peter gets up and he says the
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first of four things. The first thing that he says to
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them is this. God called me to the Gentiles.
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That's what he says. He says, you guys know this,
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that a while ago God chose me among chose among us, me, my
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mouth, that Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and
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believe. He's basically giving a part of
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his testimony. And I know many times when we
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give our testimonies, it's kind of like what where we were and
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all the things that we were into and what God saved us out of.
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And I know some of you, you know, you're challenged with
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your testimony. I mean, I wish you didn't have
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as bad a testimony as you have. I wish I didn't have as bad a
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testimony of all the bad, horrible decisions I made.
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But here's the thing. You're a new creation in Christ.
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Old things that passed away, behold, all things have become
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new. You got a bright future.
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Your future is great in Christ. He's going to do new things.
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He's going to restore to you years that you threw away that
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you wasted. He's going to restore your
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reputation. He's going to restore your
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person like you just trust the Lord.
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Don't worry about that. You just trust the Lord because
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look where you're at now. You're not in sin anymore.
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And I was thinking of that because I was just sharing my
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testimony. You know that you need, you need
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to be encouraged by sharing your testimony as hard as it might
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be. Because just last week I was
24:25
sharing my testimony again and and as I'm sharing it, I'm going
24:28
here and I'm going there and like the brother was, he was so
24:31
encouraged, but so was I I'm like, man, I was bad.
24:35
Yeah, this was horrible. But I'm not that anymore.
24:37
I'm not that anymore. That's the work of God.
24:40
And he was sitting across and I was sharing.
24:42
He goes, man, you need to make this like a Netflix miniseries.
24:46
And I'm like, do you want to buy the rights to it?
24:48
I'd love to, You know, like, like it's crazy.
24:50
And I know even in my own memory, I don't remember as bad
24:53
as it was. I know other people have
24:55
perspectives that it was much worse than what I remember.
24:59
But I get to stand here to affirm that God has delivered me
25:03
from my past. You know, with the exception of
25:05
my wife, with the exception of Marie, nobody really knows The
25:09
old Ed here. Maybe Henry and Maria to some
25:11
degree because I grew up with Maria.
25:13
But like, nobody really knows my past.
25:16
The old Ed, he died in Southern California and the new Ed moved
25:22
to Colorado. And that's what we get to
25:24
benefit from, just like in your life.
25:26
So sharing your testimony is important.
25:29
Part of what Peter's saying here is God chose me to share.
25:31
But you know, there's also, I think Peter's going, you guys
25:34
know me. I'm just a fisherman.
25:36
I'm just. I was just doing fine fishing
25:38
with my dad, making a good living.
25:41
Mind that my own business, being an upright Jewish man.
25:44
And then Jesus met me and that wrecked my life forever in a
25:48
day. It wrecked my sinful life and
25:50
put me on the path of righteousness.
25:52
He changed my life for the good that changed me.
25:55
And you know, guys, he says not only did God save me, not only
25:59
did I not choose this, it was chosen for me.
26:02
But check this out. This little guy from Galilee,
26:05
this fisherman. God told me that he's going to
26:08
use my mouth. I mean, I think of some of you
26:11
that have some of the foulest, dirtiest, nastiest cussing
26:15
mouths and minds that man has ever known.
26:20
To think that God. Wants to use that same mouth,
26:23
clean it up, and use it for the gospel.
26:25
Isn't that amazing? It's it's just unbelievable what
26:28
God wants to do in your life if you yield to him and trust him.
26:33
Don't worry about what people say.
26:35
Don't worry about all the critics.
26:36
Don't worry about people who want to remind you of your past.
26:39
When people remind you of your past, you remind them of your
26:42
future, of what God is doing in your life.
26:45
You trust him. That's where Peter is.
26:48
And no doubt he's got to be encouraged.
26:50
He's given some theology here. He's giving some facts here.
26:53
But inside he's like, man, this is amazing.
26:56
I mean, this is what God's done in my life.
26:59
He told me to go with my mouth and I did.
27:02
I did go with my mouth. And it says that they heard the
27:06
word of the gospel and believe. That's why I went.
27:09
I took the word of the gospel and many believed.
27:11
And you remember Acts, Chapter 10, Cornelius.
27:14
It started with Cornelius. It was where, like he was
27:17
probably shocked as anybody of what God was doing with
27:20
Cornelius. Peter's the guy that had to get
27:22
the vision, remember, is the food coming down with the sheet.
27:26
And what was that? Was it for the all the animals
27:28
and all the different animals and things that he Was that the
27:31
purpose of the vision? No.
27:33
What was the purpose? You remember what God said.
27:35
It was basically this and Peter's giving it right now.
27:38
Hey, Peter, you got to understand something.
27:40
If you and I are going to make it, you got to understand if
27:42
you're going to be used greatly, you got to get this.
27:44
This is so important to you because of what's up ahead,
27:46
right? Because everything you're going
27:48
through right now, God is preparing you for what he has
27:50
prepared for you. So he gets the vision.
27:52
And what was the summary? Remember the summary.
27:55
God said as clear as day what God has called clean, Don't you
28:00
call unclean? That was the essence.
28:03
Peter. I'm going to show you some
28:04
incredible stuff and you're going to wrestle with it because
28:08
it's not what you're used to. It's not what's normal for you.
28:11
You're immediately going to think unclean, unclean.
28:14
But I'm telling you right now, I can clean the unclean.
28:18
I'm telling you and. That's where Peter is here, so
28:20
it's got to be so encouraging for him.
28:22
Notice in verse eight it says So God who knows the heart,
28:26
acknowledged them. Who is them?
28:29
Gentiles. And this them is in particular
28:31
Gentiles that heard the gospel and believed God acknowledged
28:36
them. Why?
28:37
Because he knows the heart. He knows the heart.
28:40
Notice it, says God, who knows the heart.
28:44
Acknowledge them how? By giving them the Holy Spirit,
28:47
just as He did to us. They have their own little mini
28:50
Pentecost. It was visible, it was audible,
28:53
it was recognizable. It was an affirmation of God
28:56
knowing their hearts, that God was working in the Gentile world
28:59
because the Jews had rejected him almost wholesale.
29:03
So the second thing he says is that the Holy Spirit was given
29:07
to the Gentiles, just like the Jews.
29:09
We don't need they, they weren't circumcised.
29:11
None of these guys cared about the law when I showed up.
29:14
But I'll tell you what they I preached to them.
29:17
They believed and then the Holy Spirit came upon them.
29:20
How can you argue with that? God is at work.
29:24
However, there are still people that love to argue.
29:27
They they think they know your heart, but only God knows your
29:30
heart. Sometimes you even wonder.
29:32
You even, you know, question your own salvation at times
29:35
because you don't even know your heart.
29:37
But when you don't know your heart, you don't understand.
29:39
You're starting to question, here's here.
29:41
I want to help you with that. You're starting to question your
29:43
salvation or question whether it's real or whether it took or
29:46
any of that. You start looking for the fruit
29:48
of the Spirit in your life. The fruit of the.
29:51
Spirit What is God doing through you?
29:54
You may not feel it, you may not see it, but you can look for it.
29:58
The fruit of the Spirit. What are those, Ed?
30:00
Well, let me share them with you.
30:01
You should memorize them. Galatians, chapter 5.
30:03
But here they are. Lovejoy.
30:08
Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, gentleness,
30:15
self-control. Those are from the Lord, those
30:20
that God has acknowledged by knowing your heart, the heart
30:23
that believes. He fills you with.
30:26
This Holy Spirit and in that spiritual relationship, those
30:30
attributes and more. Start appearing.
30:33
In your life. And you know what's the most
30:35
dramatic and most shocking is the ones that you never ever
30:39
experienced before in your life. Like, I think perhaps some of
30:43
you may be a harsh person before you got saved, but now you're
30:46
one of the kindest, most gentlest people that's tripping
30:49
people out that were close to you.
30:51
Why? Because God knows your heart and
30:53
he's changing you from the inside out.
30:56
You're not harsh anymore. You you are now gentle and and
31:00
you're you're you're living such a life that's honoring God
31:03
because he lives in you. God knows your heart.
31:06
You have to be careful because when you start sharing your
31:09
testimony, people will start arguing with you and like, no,
31:12
you're stuck to your paths. No, no.
31:14
On and on, like, and you can just you can just like if you
31:17
have to, you can just look at them and go, bro, you don't know
31:19
my heart, man. Like, you're not.
31:21
You're talking so far from reality, My heart.
31:25
God has affirmed my love for him.
31:28
You know, because other people are like water baptism.
31:30
They'll get upset when they hear you might respond to the gospel
31:32
today, and which will be glorious.
31:34
We want you. We've been praying for you.
31:36
We want you to do that. And we'll give you an invitation
31:38
in just a few moments from Jesus himself to follow him.
31:41
You respond to the gospel. Then you start telling people
31:43
and they'll go, well, how'd that happen?
31:45
They go, I don't know. Some dude invited me to church.
31:47
I was sitting in the back, this guy up there talking, he's
31:50
moving around, told me about the love of God.
31:52
He invited me to follow Jesus. I'm like, I want to follow
31:54
Jesus. Look at my life.
31:56
I want to turn from my sin. And I did what they asked me to
31:58
do. And I'm going to follow God the
31:59
rest of my life. And the response is you can't do
32:02
it that way. Like, what do you mean?
32:04
What are you talking about? What do you mean I can't do it
32:06
that way? What?
32:07
What's the way to do it? Well, then let me show you.
32:09
And then they've got all these things that you have to do.
32:13
And then once you finish them all and take a test, if you get
32:16
AC plus plus, you're in. And you just got to remind
32:21
people, hey, look, God, he's searching the hearts right now.
32:25
Whether you raise your hand, whether you stand, whether you
32:28
walk the aisle, whether you walk out to the parking lot and pray
32:31
and ask God to forgive you of your sins in your car, the
32:34
methodology doesn't matter. You know what matters?
32:36
The heart. Every single week I share this
32:40
scripture with you without fail, almost every single week.
32:45
It's such an important scripture that even for the guest
32:48
teachers, we have it printed right here on the pulpit.
32:51
It's right here in case I ever forget, it always catches my eye
32:55
when I stand in this pulpit. And this.
32:57
I'll read it to you verbatim right here.
32:59
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe where
33:04
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
33:10
saved. For with the heart one believes
33:13
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
33:16
salvation. That's Romans chapter 10, verses
33:19
9 and 10. That is the truth of God's word
33:22
for you and the heart. I don't want you to think of it
33:25
just as you're pumping muscle in your chest, but rather the
33:29
Greeks and the Hebrews in the 1st century would understand the
33:32
heart as the sum of who you are. You know, we even use a little
33:36
bit of that phrase today, right? When you put your heart into it,
33:39
what are you trying to describe? Man?
33:41
You're all in. You put your heart into it.
33:43
You're a teacher at school. You put your heart into it.
33:45
You're a mom or a dad. You put your heart into it.
33:48
In your singleness, honoring the Lord, you put your heart into
33:50
it. What are you trying to say?
33:52
This is who I am. I want to please the Lord.
33:55
I want to give it my all. And God knows your heart, even
34:00
if everyone around you doesn't. And even sometimes we don't even
34:04
know our own hearts, man. We just got to cry out.
34:06
God search me and know me and reveal my heart because I
34:09
thought my motives were. I thought, but God, he knows who
34:12
we are. He knows that we're just human.
34:14
He knows that you're in a certain stage of your spiritual
34:17
growth and your maturity. He knows you and you know what's
34:22
so beautiful about the knowledge of God.
34:24
He knows everything about you. He knows more about you than you
34:27
know about yourself. And he still loves you.
34:31
He doesn't abandon you. He doesn't walk away from you.
34:35
It's so good. So Peter says the Holy Spirit
34:38
was given to him. The third thing he says in verse
34:40
9 is that he made no distinction between us, the Jews, and them,
34:48
the Gentiles, purifying their the Gentiles hearts by faith.
34:54
God's work among the Gentiles is happening without the
34:56
ritualistic rules or without the obligations, and certainly
35:00
without circumcision. It was happening, you know, for
35:03
the Jewish boy born into a Jewish Home.
35:06
He was circumcised within a few days.
35:09
And so then you could attribute, well, he's a part of the
35:11
covenant. And so all these good things are
35:12
happening because he's a part of the covenant.
35:14
For the Gentiles, not one of them are circumcised, not one of
35:17
them have a copy of the law, not one of them have been in
35:20
synagogue, not one of them have gone to the temple.
35:23
They don't care. But when they hear the gospel,
35:26
they're transformed, just like all those that had a head start
35:29
on them, the Jews. And the third thing that Peter
35:32
says is that God is no respecter of persons.
35:36
There's no. Distinction between Jew and
35:38
Gentile. Again, the clarity of God's
35:41
heart against racism and prejudice to prejudge someone by
35:46
the color of their skin or by the language or by their status
35:52
or where they came from or what they look like.
35:55
Or 1000 different ways that man is invented to divide men from
35:59
men, women from women. God doesn't.
36:02
He's not a respecter of persons. He loves you as the human being
36:06
that you are. He created you in his image.
36:11
And it's unfortunate, the damage that we've done to one another
36:14
through treating each other, you know, as we learned a few years
36:18
ago from our friend Miles McPherson.
36:21
You know, the Bible says that we're to love our neighbor.
36:24
But what we do internally, whether consciously or
36:26
subconsciously, he taught us what we do is we create
36:29
different labels for people instead of neighbor.
36:32
So if we can label you something other than a neighbor, then
36:35
something kicks in on us that we don't have to love you.
36:38
But you remember they asked the question, who to Jesus, Who is
36:41
our neighbor? And Jesus, said everyone.
36:45
Everyone. God is no respecter of persons.
36:48
That's a good news not only on the racial prejudice line, but
36:52
it's also good news for everyone you're praying for right now.
36:55
God is no respecter of persons. As bad as your mom is, God wants
36:59
to reach her. And as bad as your son might be
37:02
right now, God wants to reach him and that new boss that came
37:05
in that's just flipping everything upside down at work.
37:07
God wants to reach him. He wants to reach your dad and
37:11
your mom and your brother and your sister and your friend and
37:15
your neighbor. Why?
37:16
Because he's no respecter of persons.
37:18
Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
37:22
And of whom Paul would say, I'm a chief, but we all are and
37:26
there is no respecter of persons.
37:28
Peter is clear and consistent. He learned this with the vision.
37:32
He learned this with Cornelius. Remember in Acts chapter 10 and
37:36
verse 34 Peter opened his mouth and said in truth I perceive
37:41
that God shows no partiality in every nation who whoever fears
37:47
him and works righteousness is accepted by him.
37:53
Romans chapter 3 verse 9. Paul would say this.
37:56
What then? Are we better than they?
37:58
Not at all. For we have all previously
38:00
charged that both Jews and Greeks or Gentiles that we are
38:05
all under sin. And the fourth thing that Peter
38:09
shares is his conclusion. Notice in verse 10.
38:13
Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the
38:17
neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were
38:21
able to bear? What is the yoke?
38:23
Circumcision and putting them back under legalism.
38:27
Taking them back. Legalism.
38:29
The word comes from law. It's the idea of requiring
38:33
people certain behaviors in order to be saved.
38:37
Another way we try to explain that is in our relationship with
38:40
God, we are not saved or kept saved by our good works.
38:44
We are simply saved for good works.
38:48
So there will be change in our life, but that's not what keeps
38:51
us changed. That's not what keeps us in
38:53
relationship. We are not saved by our works,
38:56
but rather we are saved by the finished singular work of Jesus
39:00
Christ dying on the cross, buried and rose again.
39:04
So the yoke here is an interesting description.
39:09
Why do you want to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples?
39:15
Don't miss this. It's it's Peter saying a lot in
39:18
a little bit of space. But who?
39:20
What is he calling all of the Gentiles that responded to the
39:24
gospel disciples? What is a disciple but a learner
39:28
or a follower of Christ? You know what Peter just did
39:32
with all the folks getting saved in the 1st century?
39:34
He's putting him in the same category as you.
39:39
You're a disciple in the 21st century, and you all came
39:43
different ways. Fighting different?
39:46
Battles. Different paths.
39:49
But you know God's no respecter of persons.
39:50
You hear the gospel. You believe He'll give you a new
39:53
life. He'll indwell you with his Holy
39:55
Spirit. He'll baptize you with his
39:57
power. And the last thing you need
39:59
today is for me as a pastor and leader to play some heavy yoke.
40:04
On you Now, for some of you that are new to the Bible, you might
40:09
be thinking right now, what in the world does an egg have to do
40:13
with the gospel? So I'm not saying yoke like an
40:18
egg. This is a yoke Y OK E It's a
40:22
very important illustration. You got to remember the 1st
40:25
century believers. This was an agrarian society, so
40:29
you'll find that a lot of the illustrations that are used, a
40:32
lot of the descriptions are used for farmers, for those that are
40:36
working on farms and and tilling the land.
40:40
And a yoke was a large wooden contraption with a circle on it
40:44
that sometimes two circles that they would connect two oxen
40:48
together to work together. So if they put them together in
40:51
the yoke, then they would be able to have two animals as
40:55
strong and get the work done faster.
40:57
That's why by the way, for you single folks, the Bible says do
41:02
not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
41:06
And the idea is if you connect yourself with unbelievers it
41:10
will hinder your progress and it's forbidden by God.
41:13
So that's the picture. The picture is it's a heavy
41:16
wooden contraption that would go on your shoulders, go on the
41:19
shoulders of an animal. So Peter's like, why are you
41:22
guys wanting to put heavy things on the shoulders of these new
41:26
believers? Don't do that.
41:29
Don't put a heaviness on these disciples when you yourselves
41:33
aren't even doing it, when you yourselves are not even
41:37
following it. You know this is what this this
41:40
in. You know, I would say this.
41:42
The law had become an intolerable burden upon the
41:46
people. Jesus would often come up
41:49
against the religious rulers in their attempt to add further
41:53
burdens to the people. It still happens today.
41:56
Jesus is most upset with religious charlatans that are
42:01
taking advantage of his sheep by burdening their lives with rules
42:06
and regulations. Notice with me in Matthew
42:08
chapter 23. The whole chapter is relevant to
42:12
this, but I just want to read a couple of verses.
42:14
Turn back now to Matthew 23 as we wind down into this time of
42:20
remembering the Lord through communion.
42:22
Notice Matthew 23. The final thing that Peter says
42:27
is that through grace, God has removed the yoke of bondage from
42:31
around the Jews, neck from around anyone's neck.
42:33
And don't put it back on. Don't put it back on yourself.
42:37
Don't let some new thing on YouTube put it back on you.
42:40
Don't let some teacher put it back on you.
42:42
Don't let some movement. You know, there's movements
42:45
today, messianic movements, that want to put people back under
42:48
the law. Don't let them do it.
42:49
It's right here in Acts 15. Couldn't be clearer, Couldn't be
42:53
clearer. A child can understand this,
42:56
that if you believe in Jesus, you can follow him and he will
43:00
lead you. You can trust him, he'll lead
43:02
you in life. Notice what Jesus said to the
43:04
religious leaders verse three. Therefore, whatever they tell
43:08
you to observe, observe and do it.
43:11
But don't do according to their works.
43:13
For they say and do not do. By the way, that's a good
43:16
definition of hypocrisy, they say, but they don't do what they
43:20
say. Verse 4.
43:21
For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on
43:26
men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them
43:30
with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to
43:33
be seen by men, and they want the best places at the feast.
43:37
Verse six they want the greetings.
43:39
Verse seven of Rabbi Rabbi and it's all a sham.
43:45
And that's what Peter's. Saying here Grace has released
43:48
you, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law.
43:52
It has served its purpose. What was the purpose of the law,
43:57
the purpose of the law? Galatians tells us it was a
44:00
tutor. And what did it teach us?
44:03
It taught us that we needed forgiveness.
44:07
I use the same. Illustration all the time, but
44:09
it happens to be extremely relevant in our church.
44:14
The speed limit sign, when you're driving here and you see
44:19
the speed limit sign and you compare that number with the
44:22
number on your dashboard, that sign's telling you something, of
44:27
course, if the number is higher on the speed limit sign than
44:32
your speedometer where the car behind you hoping you'll speed
44:36
up, it's like, come on, you can go faster, it's OK, your number
44:40
is higher. But if the speedometer is higher
44:44
than the speed limit sign and you see it, the scientist says
44:48
one thing to you, You've broken the law.
44:53
You are a law. Breaker.
44:54
That's all it says. It can't jump into your car and
44:56
stop. You slow you down.
44:58
It can't chase you down the street and hit you on the back.
45:01
Slow down, slow down. It just merely is telling you
45:04
you have broken the law. It has done its job.
45:07
It is there to limit you, but when you go beyond its limits,
45:12
it is there to reveal to you that you're a law breaker and
45:16
that's all it can do. And then once you pass it, it's
45:19
served its purpose. Because if you don't pay
45:21
attention to the signs, eventually someone will come
45:24
alongside of you and help you pay attention to the signs.
45:30
Red. Blue flashing lights.
45:34
Pull over. Sign right here.
45:39
And what is that? Officer doing but enforcing what
45:42
the sign said to you that you already know to be true.
45:48
Check this out. Some of you even when somebody
45:50
comes to the door. When an officer comes to the
45:52
door. But but but officer, I thought I
45:54
could go 5 miles above the number.
45:58
That's what you thought. Sign here because that's all the
46:03
law can do. With the law in the Old
46:05
Testament. The Bible using that same
46:07
illustration, what the law did is revealed to all of us that
46:10
we've all sent. It can't change us.
46:13
It can't get inside of us. It only drives us.
46:15
It tutors us to call out to God who can save us.
46:19
And once you call. Out to God by grace you are
46:22
forgiven. No longer do you need the law.
46:24
You have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
46:26
When Jesus Christ came, He fulfilled the law by faith in
46:31
Jesus Christ. You fulfill the law through him.
46:36
When you abide in Christ, that is the safest place for you to
46:40
be on the planet earth. Be careful of these yokes.
46:44
Don't let anybody lay a heavy trip on you.
46:48
I don't want you to think that you have permission to run wild
46:51
and sin all you want. The wages of sin is always
46:54
death. You'll pay a price for it.
46:55
Remember, you know that God acknowledges your heart when you
46:58
see the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
47:01
Not this sense of well, you know I'm saved, but I can still be
47:04
the same horrible person I've always been.
47:06
That's not saved. That's like saying, you know,
47:09
moving into a new house, you got a new address, but you go home
47:12
to the old address all the time and there's already a new family
47:15
living there. And you're like, hey, hey, what
47:17
are you doing, man? Hey, I we live here now.
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No, no, no, I I live over there, but I still live here.
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It's dumb. It doesn't make any sense.
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But people live their life the same way.
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They're in and out of church, in and out of church, in and out of
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church. They might even be out by a
47:30
Bible but never surrender their life to Jesus Christ.
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And they're still acting the same way, still sounding the
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same way. But now, every once in a while.
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Now you know I'm a Christian. No, you're not.
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You need to be born again. That's the word of the Lord.
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You must be born again. There is no other way.
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You're going to live a frustrating life the rest of
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your life unless you're born again.
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So let's talk about this yoke real quick here before we end.
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And we remember the Lord, because it's a great picture.
47:57
While the law became an untolerable burden, we have an
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invitation from Jesus. Very familiar, so familiar we
48:05
might miss it. But you'll remember in Matthew
48:08
Chapter 11 and verse 28, Jesus said this.
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He said come to me all you who are labor and are heavy laden
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and I'll give you rest. And isn't that what you're
48:19
looking for? True rest, like you don't have
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to play this game and work this and manipulate this and make
48:25
this and try to work because it doesn't work.
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It's not working for you and it's just exhausting you.
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And you know, you might get this sold over here and there's ten
48:34
other things over here and you're not rest resting at all.
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You're not experiencing the peace of God.
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And So what does Jesus say you want that you come to me?
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He doesn't say come to the law. He doesn't say come to the
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synagogue. He doesn't say come to the
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church. He says come to me.
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All you that. Are burdened today, and I mean,
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I think about why people come into church.
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They come in, they come into churches like ours all the time
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for a lot of different reasons, but I'm speaking specifically to
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the ones that you're here today because the burdens of life have
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weighed you down. They're heavy.
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And they're hard. And you're like, well, maybe
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that guy keeps inviting me to church, and I'll come, and I'll,
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I'll visit, but I won't tell anybody.
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I'll just sit in the back. And here you are, reminded of
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God's love once again and hearing the words of Jesus come
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to me, and then he says something interesting.
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You'll never, you'll never remember this verse the same way
49:27
after this teaching today. You know why?
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This is what Jesus says. He says Take my yoke.
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Take my yoke. Upon you Peter's saying, don't
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put a yoke of bondage on people that are so heavy.
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And Jesus is saying, if you are going to take a yoke, you take
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mine. What does he say?
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He says take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
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For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for
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your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
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burden is like by the way you're looking for things that magnify
50:06
that you are a saved person. You'll start sounding like
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Jesus, and you don't even mean to.
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That's what Peter's doing. He's using the same
50:14
illustrations. Where did he learn that
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illustration from Jesus? It's the back end of what Jesus
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is teaching here in Matthew 11. So I have the privilege of
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inviting you today to come to Jesus that you might have your
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sins forgiven by the blood that he shed for you.
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You're going to see in a moment this whole church room
50:38
participate in something known as communion, where we are told
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by Jesus to remember his broken body and the blood that was shed
50:46
for us. Today Jesus is inviting you to
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take of His body, to take of the blood that was shed for you.
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So that your. Forgiveness might be secure in
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him. And so, Lord, we come to an end
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of a very beautiful section of scripture.
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Thank you for Peter. He encourages all of us with a
51:10
testimony to see how you've used this man.
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This was the man that failed greatly.
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This is the man who was always ahead of the gate.
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This was the man who said things he wished he never.
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This was the man that we may have thought never will change.
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We thank you for Peter because he is the man you've chosen to
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use. And we pray God that today, as
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we prepare our hearts for communion, that truly we would
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remember you and not forget all the great things you have done
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and are continuing to do in our lives.
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For some you save marriages here.
51:47
For some you save literal lives. For some, you added years to
51:52
their life by removing sin. For some, you gave a sound mind,
51:57
you healed their body. For some you you know man, so
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much to be said and we thank you for that today, God.
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Now as the Church is praying you guys that are here keep praying
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for those that are listening to me because I want to extend the
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invitation of Jesus to those that need it.
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Jesus is inviting you to himself.
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Not only. Not only is salvation through
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Jesus, but remember you must be saved.
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So I want to invite you here today.
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If you want the forgiveness of your sins, like for the very
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first time, like you've never done this before, you want to
52:34
acknowledge it publicly. You want to follow Jesus with
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your life. Would you just stand to your
52:38
feet? I want to pray with you.
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I want to help you do what we read.
52:43
Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, the belief that you have
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right now in your heart. I want to help you with that.
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And I'm inviting you. To respond publicly, right where
52:54
you are, God bless you right here in the front.
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Those of you that respond, you're going to have pastors
52:58
come up alongside of you. So don't be startled by them.
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They're coming up to help you. God bless you in the back.
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Who else would say that's me, You guys right here in the
53:05
middle, you guys online listening on the radio for sure
53:10
you're not forgotten. You guys right here.
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So good right here, up front. We're going to run out of
53:19
pastors here pretty soon. So if you're a.
53:23
Leader in this church, you get up and I want you to walk by
53:26
some. We got folks over here.
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We got a young lady here, couple over here.
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I want you to help. We'll wait for you.
53:37
Thank you, Matt Everett, Sergio. So good.
53:44
What's up, brother? You want to reaffirm I know
53:47
you're already born again. He's the Lord's working in your
53:49
heart, huh? So good.
53:53
Somebody a brother can. Put come up and lay hands on
53:55
him. Thanks, Matt.
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Back in the back, over here. It's an outpouring of the spirit
54:04
of God today, a work of his spirit.
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Everett's heading over there. The Lord is working.
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So I want to help you. It's worth the wait.
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Just ask God to forgive you. It's what we call prayer.
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You can say this, you can talk like this, and you can repeat
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after me if you like, but you can use your own words that you
54:24
say something like God. I ask you to forgive me of my
54:28
sins. Through the blood of.
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Jesus Christ. I believe you.
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Sent your only begotten son to live for me, to die for me, and
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I believe he rose again from the dead to save my soul.
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I turn away and repent of my sins, and I ask you to forgive
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me and help me follow you all the days of my life.
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And Father, I pray. Those near and far that truly
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you're just working in their hearts right now.
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It's a special, special day. Special work.
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Of your spirit we pray it's real.
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Legitimate. And lasting in their lives in
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Jesus name. Amen.
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We pray that. You've been encouraged by this
55:21
Bible study, delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church
55:25
for prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
55:29
That's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
55:35
entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
55:40
online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
55:45
Church app. Be blessed as You Worship Jesus
55:48
this week.