Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Acts 15:19-35

Transcript

Acts 15:19-35 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
Of the new faces that are here, you're kind of coming in the middle of a story.
0:03
You ever hated how you kind of showed up in the middle of a movie and you had no idea what
0:08
! was going on and then all of a sudden you had to, you were lost and you're like, oh,
0:12
that seemed like a great ending, but I don't really know what happened. And you had to go
0:16
back and, you know, watch the movie somewhere else and from beginning to end. Some of you
0:21
may feel that way this morning because here at Christ's family, we love the Bible. We love
0:26
the Word of God. We believe it is enough. It always has been and always will be enough
0:34
for what your soul needs. So turn in your Bibles to Acts 15. That's where we've been in the
0:42
book of Acts. We believe here that it's good, right, and proper to walk through certain books
0:49
of the Bible to teach the whole counsel of what God is saying. So last week, some of you
0:59
might remember that we talked about how salvation cannot be achieved by just observing the law
1:08
of Moses. It can't be achieved by just being good and doing good works. And so we kind of,
1:14
in the context, I just kind of want to throw out just a couple of books because I don't have,
1:20
you know, there's not enough time to do a complete whole sermon on the law today, but I want to touch
1:26
on it. But for your further reading, here's a couple of books. One is if you're interested in
1:33
saying, okay, how does the Old Testament law apply to the New Testament believer? This is a great book.
1:41
It's called Tablets of Stone. Not a great cover, but just for your information. Most of the great
1:46
books don't have great covers. So it's called Tablets of Stone by John Reisinger. And it's just,
1:53
it kind of walks through the covenant and the law and how it comes into the New Testament
1:58
and how it doesn't as well. And then just in the Old Testament in general,
2:05
there's a great book here I have called Loving the Old Testament by Alec Mortyer.
2:10
It really just kind of shows you how awesome, powerful, and relevant it is to New Testament
2:16
life, as well as just how Christ is a fulfillment of a lot of those things.
2:22
And I've got the last book. If you're looking just for a good book, if you're curious just about
2:30
who Jesus Christ is, what his message was, and you're wanting to investigate further, this is a
2:38
great book called Who is Jesus? by Greg Gilbert, forward by Trip Lee. So it's a great book that just
2:49
unpacks the person, the person of Christ, and who he is and what he did on the cross and his
2:55
resurrection. So a great book just called Who is Jesus? And so now we find ourselves in Acts 15.
3:03
And what's been going on thus far in the book of Acts is the gospel of Jesus Christ is going out
3:10
to the Gentile word from Jerusalem. And so all the non-Jews are hearing the message of Christ.
3:18
And we see in chapter 15 that the mission kind of hits a little snag. I'm trying to give you a brief
3:26
summary. For those of you who weren't here, you can go back and listen to the message later. But
3:32
as the Gentiles, the non-Jews, were hearing the gospel, there were some men who came down to Antioch
3:40
and told them that the gospel is good and the gospel may be, you know, fine, but you also,
3:47
to be made right with God and to be saved, you have to observe the law of Moses. You have to do all
3:53
these strict things that the nation of Israel did. You have to be circumcised for the males. So many
4:00
other things. It was like Jesus plus this equals salvation and not just Jesus equals salvation.
4:07
And so there was a big response to that. The apostles, particularly Paul and Peter and James,
4:17
they all met in Jerusalem and they had to talk this stuff over. They had her decide how much of
4:23
the law of Moses is a New Testament. They didn't call it that then, but there's a New Testament
4:29
believer need to follow and what's not necessary. Does a Gentile who puts his faith in Christ,
4:39
does he need to also observe all the dietary laws and does he need to be circumcised,
4:46
observe all the rituals and festivals that those in the people of Israel followed? Their conclusion,
4:53
you can go back and just read it from the beginning of 15, is a resounding no. Salvation only comes
5:01
by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works and not by observance of the law of Moses, but only by
5:09
faith in Christ. Christ was enough. So today we're going to kind of pick up in verse 19 of the chapter,
5:22
and this is when they kind of make the final judgment and kind of say the law was good for what it is,
5:28
but a New Testament Gentile believer does not need to observe all these things that the law of Moses
5:36
included. So starting in verse 19, and this is James, the apostle, the brother of Jesus. He's the one
5:44
who's speaking here in verse 19. Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those Gentiles
5:55
who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols and from sexual
6:04
immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. For from ancient generations,
6:12
Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he has read every Sabbath in the synagogues.
6:21
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men among them and
6:28
to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Bersabbas and Silas leading
6:37
men among the brothers with the following letter. So here's what the letter said. The brothers,
6:45
both the apostles and the elders to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria,
6:53
Sicilia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with
7:00
words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions. It seemed good to us having come to
7:09
one accord to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked
7:17
their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas who themselves
7:25
will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us
7:32
to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements that you abstain from what has been
7:40
sacrificed to idols, from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality.
7:48
If you keep yourself from these, you will do well. Farewell. So when they were sent off,
7:56
they went down to Antioch and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.
8:03
And when they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And Judas and Silas, who were
8:09
themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. And after they had spent
8:16
some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas
8:24
remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. Just pray with me.
8:34
Father, we come to you this morning with many things on our minds, many things in our hearts.
8:43
I ask that you would draw us into your word by the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would work in our
8:53
hearts, that we would not leave here the same as we came, that you would convict us of sin, that you
9:01
would point us to Christ, and that he would receive the glory. And so just help me now to love these people
9:10
well and to teach your word rightly. And just ask that in Christ's name. Amen.
9:18
So I promised you last week, because so much of what we discussed last week was the law of Moses.
9:26
And I tend to find by just experience and talking to a lot of college students, particularly
9:32
that we have most believers in the church that have a very narrow, sometimes even pathetic knowledge of
9:41
the Old Testament and what it includes. And you want to just say, usually out of just laziness,
9:49
what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to obey the law of Moses? Are we not supposed to obey the law of Moses?
9:53
Because it's not that simple. The law of Moses is a very intricate, detailed thing.
10:02
And so I thought I would just give you a brief overview. And I know I'm getting in dangerous water
10:08
there because you can either spend too little time on it or too much time on it. But I hope that it
10:15
just leads you to more conversation, to study, to prayer. Come talk to me or Nathan or Wes or Doug later.
10:23
So what about the Christian and the law? Law is a capital L, like the law that we see in Exodus,
10:33
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. What do we do with that? So I'm going to first give you the content
10:40
of the law, the content of the Mosaic law. And it's been broken up different ways. This suffices for sure.
10:50
Number one, there's a part of the law called the commandments. And they're expressed, they're the
10:58
expressed righteousness of God. They're what God says. Some people call it the moral law,
11:04
including the Ten Commandments. So that's the commandments. You can read about that in Exodus 20,
11:11
1 through 26, the moral law, the commandments. Secondly, the second part of the law is referred
11:22
to as the judgments. And they were given to govern the social life of the nation of Israel. And they
11:30
can be found in Exodus 21. Those things include things like dietary laws, dress, things like that.
11:37
A lot of the piggy things that people look at in Leviticus and other places. Exodus 21, 1 through 24
11:46
kind of gives you a brief overview of the judgments. And then thirdly and lastly, the ordinances.
11:55
And they govern the religious life of the nation of Israel. So that's things like sacrifices,
12:00
how to prepare yourself for worship in a ritual cleansing way. So that may be oversimplifying,
12:11
but like that's the main three parts of the law of Moses. So what are we supposed to do with all that?
12:17
Well, the only part really that the New Testament believer needs to understand and like really,
12:26
excuse me, excuse me, I don't want to put it that way, needs to still follow and adhere to is the commandments,
12:32
the moral law of God. Those have not been done away with by Jesus coming. If anything, he raised the bar
12:41
on the moral law. You might remember, he said to, to a crowd of people, he said, you've heard it said,
12:51
do not commit adultery. That's one of the commandments. And in their mind, they're thinking,
12:58
okay, well, I haven't slept with another man's wife. Have you? I haven't, I haven't, I've kept that
13:03
commandment. And he says, no, I tell you, if you look after a woman lustfully and look at her and think
13:14
about her in that manner, he tells you, I've come, you have committed adultery in your hearts.
13:18
He got down to the heart of the law, not just the outward appearance of the law. He made it
13:25
impossible for man to say that they kept the law. So, but the judgments that were given to govern the
13:33
social life of Israel, the New Testament believer does not have to follow those. This is part of what
13:40
this council was about. Those were laws that were given to the nation of Israel to make them stand
13:47
out, to look distinct from all the other nations of the world, both in how they lived, how they looked,
13:55
everything. So that was a, that was a law that applied to them during a season. And now that's not
14:02
carried over. And then the ordinances that govern the religious life. So the sacrifices, the priesthood,
14:11
all that stuff that has been completely fulfilled in the person of Christ. He was what all those
14:19
sacrifices were pointing to and foreshadowing. So likewise, we don't have to go out and slay
14:25
lambs to offer our forgiveness to God. We don't have to do all that. That has been fulfilled in Christ.
14:35
So the New Testament gives us many purposes of the law. So what was the law about? So I'm going to give
14:44
you just a few things to hold on to. I might not read all of this, but here's a few of the things,
14:50
purposes of the law. All right. Here's a big one. The law educated us about sin and pointed to the need
15:03
for a savior. All right. So this is what Paul says in Romans 3, 19. I'll just read it to you.
15:13
He says, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law
15:18
so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
15:26
All right. So he's saying, do you think that you have the ability to stand before a holy God on your
15:31
own? Well, the law has come to silence you. It's come to show you that you can't live up to the holy,
15:39
righteous standard of God. And now you are held accountable to God because of that.
15:44
Then he goes on. He says, for by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight
15:53
since through the law comes the knowledge of sin. So the commandments told us what God sees is holy
16:02
and good. And he told, and it tells us what he sees is breaking those commandments as sin and evil.
16:08
So it's spelled out for us. We know like what honors God and what displeases God because of the moral law,
16:16
because of the 10 commandments. And but they also make us aware that we can't keep them.
16:21
And they point to the need for someone to come and save us from our sin. All right. It's a huge one.
16:29
All right. So secondly, the law in regard to worship and sacrifices, it was fulfilled in Christ.
16:42
Okay. It was pointing, foreshadowing to Christ coming. All the lambs that were slain were pointing to
16:50
the lamb, capital L of God, who is going to come on our behalf and be slain.
16:56
So I'll read you what Jesus says out of Matthew 5 or 17 said, do not think that I have come to abolish
17:04
the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you
17:12
until heaven and earth pass away, not a iota, not a dot will pass from the law until it all is
17:20
accomplished. So he was saying like, I'm not come here to kind of throw that away. All the stuff that
17:25
came before me, I'm here to fulfill it and to show you that all was pointing to me.
17:33
And in Romans 10, Paul says, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who
17:42
believes. Okay. So the law has come to show us that we can't please a holy God in and of ourselves
17:50
by our conduct and by just being good, keeping the rules. We can't do it. So a word you're going
17:57
to hear a lot this morning is the word justified, our justification. And without spending a ton of
18:05
time on it, I'm just going to tell you just wherever you hear that bread, just think being
18:10
made right with God. How can I be made right? How can I stand before God in a right relationship
18:16
to be justified before God? So here's a good quote for you. It's on your bulletin. If you want to
18:24
look at it, John Stott, a great pastor, theologian. He says, we cannot come to Christ to be justified
18:42
until we have first been to Moses to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, acknowledged our
18:50
sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. So don't stay there, you know, being
18:56
beating yourself up because of how miserable you are. We must let Moses send us to Christ.
19:03
So that was the purpose of the law was to send us to the savior so that we know that we cannot
19:09
save ourselves. Right? So there's two more purposes I have here for you, but sort of already touched
19:19
on one, but the moral law, so the Ten Commandments, they still remain the standard of Christian living,
19:26
as we'll see today, just even in our text, that we're to follow those, we're to observe those. But
19:32
here's the cool thing. A believer, someone who has been born again, who has placed their trust
19:38
in Christ in Christ, God changes them. The Holy Spirit comes to live in them. They're new creations.
19:46
They've been given new hearts. And they have a desire, a strong desire to keep the moral law of God.
19:55
So it's not just like something that God has given to you in an arbitrary way as a believer. He wants you
20:01
to keep the law. And so that's what we strive for. The law is good. It is holy. It's a good thing.
20:12
So what about good works? And what about observing the law? I just kind of want to throw this out there to you.
20:19
Because I don't want any of you to hear this. I'm not saying don't do good works. If Jesus died for you,
20:29
then you can go out and live any way you want to. I'm not saying that you can say like, yes, I'm a Christian.
20:36
Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ. And I know I'm going to heaven. I got my ticket. I prayed the prayer.
20:41
I walked the aisle. And now I can just live however I want to. No. Paul says in Romans,
20:51
should we sin now that grace may abound? May it never be. And he even says to the point in Romans that
21:00
if you really do think that way, that's what you really believe, then be sure of it. You don't belong
21:06
to Christ. Because if you really understood who he was and what he's done, you will love him and you
21:12
don't want to follow him. You will not be perfect. But your desire will be to become more and more
21:17
holy. You cannot justify such defiance like that. When Christ comes into you, he changes you. He doesn't
21:25
just leave you the way you were. So, so good works, good deeds, observing the moral law,
21:35
and following it. Those are not the grounds for salvation or the means of salvation. They're the
21:42
proof and the evidence of real salvation. They're the fruit of what Christ has done to you. Even that
21:48
little silly song we sang earlier, you may be going ha ha ha, but it really is a deep theological concept
21:55
saying that if Christ has changed you, you will bear good fruit, right? If you really has, if you've
22:01
encountered God, you will change. You will not be the same. You'll want to live in a way that pleases God
22:09
when you understood the agony that Christ went through for your sake. And then lastly,
22:16
I want you to turn here, but hold your hand in Acts, but just turn to Galatians chapter 2.
22:21
I think I would recommend Galatians, reading Galatians in regard to the topics we've been discussing the
22:30
last two weeks. It's a lot about the law and about faith, but Galatians chapter 2 verse 15.
22:39
2 verse 15. It's Apostle Paul, and he says,
22:48
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified
22:56
or made right by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus
23:06
in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by the works of the law,
23:16
no one will be justified. You see that? Like, we cannot be made right. We cannot be justified before God
23:24
simply on the basis of keeping the law. We can't do it. So he's saying that how that's done
23:31
is by putting your full trust, your faith in Christ to save you.
23:39
So that's a very awesome text to show that salvation only comes by faith in Christ alone.
23:46
So that is a probably terrible but brief overview of the law. So just come read more, talk more.
23:53
But the law, we're not to follow all of it as Gentile, New Testament believers, but the moral law is still
24:03
upheld by Christ and the apostles in the New Testament. It's how we live in a manner that pleases God.
24:10
So that's kind of jumping back to last week, okay? So, but diving more into this week,
24:17
the text that we just read in Acts 15, we're going to just sort of walk through that. So this is on the
24:25
heels of them deciding, like, no, like, to have Christ and to be saved, one does not need to follow
24:32
all the law of Moses. Very, very clear. You can go back and read what they say. And they use Scripture
24:39
to prove what they're trying to say, even in this text. So three questions. Three questions that will
24:47
help us walk through the text. Number one, what was the reason for the proposal? What was the reason
24:59
for the proposal? So you see this in verses 19 through 21. So as some of the apostles went out from
25:09
Jerusalem after this council was over, as they went out to the Gentiles, what was, how do they move
25:16
forward? They're going to be around Jews at some point, so how should they interact with one another?
25:23
How should the gospel move forward after this council? So James and others, Peter, they knew that
25:30
these Gentiles were going to come in contact with Jews. And when they come in contact, how are both
25:36
parties to interact with one another in a way that's good and loving and honorable? So how do they do that?
25:46
So the council concluded that, in our text, that Jews should not attack the consciences of Gentiles.
25:54
But on the other hand, this letter is telling the Gentiles not to attack the consciences of Jews,
26:01
who still feel like some of that stuff is important. And he kind of gives you the evidence of that
26:07
in verse 21. He says, for, right, in verse 21, in every city, there are still Jews who hear the law of
26:17
Moses read every week, right? So they need to be aware that as they go out, they're going to encounter
26:23
Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ, they still feel like following parts of the law are important.
26:31
So how should they interact? Well, James, here in our text, humbly proposes that the Gentiles abstain
26:41
from four pagan, idolatrous acts that can violate the law of Moses, which could offend the Jews, right?
26:50
So these four things, I guess you could say stipulations, that James kind of sets out,
26:56
they're not requirements or conditions for salvation, but rather they're guidelines for both Jews and
27:04
Gentiles to interact with one another. So when you're around someone like this, how do you interact
27:10
with them in a way that's loving, that's humble, that doesn't offend their conscience? So interesting
27:17
enough, like in Leviticus 17 and 18, there's similar kind of stipulations. So James knew his Old Testament
27:27
well, knew his covenant well. So how do they, how do they interact? But first, before we unpack that,
27:35
you know, they decide to write a letter to the churches for the apostles to take with them
27:41
to be read to the Gentiles. So just look at verse 22, 25, 28, and I want you to kind of see this phrase
27:52
repeated in these verses to kind of understand the spirit of the letter, the character of the letter
27:58
that they send. You see this kind of repeated, verse 22, then it seemed good. Verse 25, it has seemed good
28:10
to us. Verse 28, it seemed good, it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. So they're saying, like in our
28:20
opinion, we have agreed, this is good, this is appropriate. It pleases us to send you this letter. So the letter
28:29
comes across very humble, very compassionate, pastoral even, and protective. But it's not like this edict, they just
28:38
kind of shut everybody down and say, we're the council of Jerusalem, don't question us. It's a very
28:43
humble, compassionate letter, giving them instruction. As if to say, like, hey, we're sorry that these men
28:50
came out to you and they filled your mind and they troubled you with all these lies. We're very sorry
28:57
about that. We're sorry that they confused you, that they hurt you. Just so you know, they didn't come out
29:03
from us. They did not have our stamp of approval on this. We just want you to know that after much prayer and debate
29:11
and looking at the scriptures, this is the outcome. You don't have to follow all the law of Moses to be made right
29:18
with God. Christ is all you need. Christ is all you need. But you should know that as Gentiles, you're going to be
29:27
around fellow believers who are Jewish and they're going to struggle with some of the things that you may do.
29:35
So just beware that we want you to be humble, to think about who you're interacting with.
29:43
So that's kind of the spirit of the letter. Like, it seemed good to do this, right?
29:48
So that brings us to the second question. What were the requirements in the proposal?
29:56
This is where we're going to spend the most time. What were the requirements in the proposal?
30:02
You see this in verse 20 and in verse 29.
30:07
So they focus on the necessary things. They say,
30:12
what would a Gentile in the Greco-Roman world do that could offend the conscience of a fellow believer who's a Jew?
30:22
And so these are the necessary things.
30:25
So he focuses on these four things that could be completely taken wrong by the Jews.
30:33
All right. I want you to know that the first three are contextual,
30:36
meaning that you may or may not be able to do it based on where you are at the moment and who you're around.
30:45
Think about it.
30:47
Maybe a New Testament connection could be drinking.
30:52
Some of you, like you know that in Christ you have the freedom to have a beer.
30:56
You're not going to go to hell because you have a beer.
30:58
But if you're around people who really struggle with alcohol,
31:02
and they struggle with their family because of alcohol,
31:06
don't drink a beer around them.
31:07
Like don't encourage them or hurt their conscience because of that.
31:11
It's a similar, I made up a big can of worms there.
31:14
Just come talk to me later.
31:15
Whatever.
31:16
So I'm just seeing you Nathan's way.
31:18
He'll appreciate that.
31:20
So just think about who you're around is what they're saying.
31:25
But the fourth requirement is universal.
31:29
At all times, at all places, never do this.
31:33
That's sexual immorality.
31:35
So just briefly, let's look at these things.
31:39
So the first thing you see in these verses is food offered to idols.
31:44
So what is that about?
31:46
Well, in the Greco-Roman world, and still in many places in the world today,
31:52
people would take food and meat, right?
31:56
And they'll offer it as a sacrifice or an offering to a pagan idol.
32:02
And then they would take that meat later,
32:04
and they would sell it in the butcher market,
32:08
usually around the temple at the time.
32:10
Not the temple in Jerusalem.
32:12
I mean like the pagan temple.
32:15
And so Jews had this understanding that anything remotely associated with idols,
32:21
we don't even want to come near it.
32:23
Like, keep away.
32:25
We don't even want to come near those things.
32:27
So they instruct them,
32:29
just when you're in that context,
32:31
don't give your Jewish brother food that came from that kind of context.
32:36
Just don't.
32:38
Because they consider it to be contaminated, polluted.
32:41
But here it is.
32:42
Here's where you actually have to think.
32:44
Paul, in other circumstances where there may not be Jews around,
32:50
fellow believers who are Jews,
32:53
he permits believers to eat food,
32:55
sacrifice to idols, or are given, are offered there.
32:58
1 Corinthians 8, 1 through 11.
33:01
You can just look at that.
33:03
But he's saying, like, food itself is not evil.
33:05
Food is a gift of the Lord.
33:08
It hasn't been corrupted.
33:10
So if that's where your conscience is, then just eat.
33:14
You know?
33:15
So, but he's saying,
33:16
don't do this around your fellow brothers who are Jewish,
33:19
because it will offend them.
33:21
Lay that down.
33:23
Right?
33:24
And then the next one, it says, from blood.
33:29
So this refers to animals that were killed without draining the blood.
33:34
So there is a diet, physical factor, like, you know,
33:39
eating blood is not very healthy.
33:42
It can be dangerous.
33:44
But on the other hand,
33:46
the Jews saw it as more what the Scripture says.
33:50
Blood is symbolic of life in the Scripture.
33:54
And it has been given as a means for them to make atonement for their sin.
33:59
You can read about that more in Leviticus 17, verse 10.
34:05
So then it gets into from things that have been strangled.
34:10
That's just the thought of that.
34:11
It's like, right, just strangling an animal.
34:16
So he's not saying it because of animal rights.
34:18
He's just saying play a close connection,
34:21
because Jewish brothers will be offended if you strangle an animal,
34:26
because there's still blood in them.
34:29
There's still that blood, right?
34:30
It's still connected to the idea of blood.
34:33
So those three things are contextual based on where you are
34:38
and who you're with at the moment, right?
34:40
Just be sensitive to the consciences of your brothers who are Jewish.
34:45
But then, fourthly, and this is the big one,
34:50
and I really felt a burden to kind of spend a little more time on this,
34:56
because up to this point you may be like, yeah, that's great.
34:58
But this is something that affects us all.
35:01
And the fourth thing, sexual immorality.
35:06
And just so you know, I feel weight talking about this.
35:13
So this is not contextual or opinion.
35:16
It's a requirement of obedience at all times.
35:19
It's a broad meaning.
35:22
But, however, in a very specific context,
35:25
you should know that in the Greco-Roman world,
35:28
that if you wanted to go and you wanted to worship one of the pagan gods,
35:33
like I know that in Corinth, there was the temple of Aphrodite,
35:38
and you could go there and you could pay money
35:40
to have sex with the prostitutes that were there,
35:45
and it was an act of worship towards Aphrodite.
35:49
And so, in a way, they could be saying,
35:53
don't go and do that.
35:56
That kind of stuff is wicked, is pagan, is idolatrous.
36:01
Flee from those kind of things.
36:04
They may have been just aware that most Gentiles living in that world at the time,
36:10
they didn't really have a high standard of moral purity,
36:13
much like in our culture today, like more and more what it's becoming.
36:17
So, he's saying, like, don't do those things in that context.
36:22
But I want you to know that there's a much broader sense here.
36:25
It's not just historical context.
36:28
It's much more.
36:29
It really applies to all of us, not just in this text.
36:34
So, think about this.
36:36
Does it blow your mind that the Jewish council,
36:39
like the council in Jerusalem,
36:41
the apostles, Peter, Paul, and James, and other church leaders,
36:45
I mean, don't you think that if they sent a letter out,
36:49
they'd have this long list of do's and don'ts?
36:53
That kind of, this is all they asked.
36:55
This is all they asked them to do.
36:57
Please refrain from these things.
37:01
And they seem to be simple.
37:03
But it just, if we have to boil it down to a few things to tell you,
37:08
which we don't want to burden you.
37:10
They even say that.
37:11
We don't want to burden you.
37:13
Just boil it down to these four things.
37:16
Why?
37:18
Think about this.
37:19
These things are laid out beside each other, right?
37:22
Idolatry, blood, consuming blood.
37:26
And in a way, it's as if he's saying these things are kind of on par with one another.
37:32
Can you think about that?
37:35
Because this sin in Scripture and in history and in our modern times
37:40
has destroyed many, many, many people,
37:44
both within and without side of the church.
37:48
It is a dangerous, wicked sin.
37:51
And if you don't believe me, I'll tell you to go listen to a sermon by Paul Washer
38:00
that's called Sexual Immorality.
38:02
And to know that his heart is a very good, loving heart,
38:05
but he just kind of shoots straight with you the way Jesus did a lot of the time.
38:10
I'm always convicted, no matter how many times I hear it.
38:14
He looks at 1 Thessalonians in regard to sexual immorality.
38:18
But he said, if you don't believe this sin is a big deal,
38:21
go talk to the policeman, to the judge, to the lawyer, and to the counselor,
38:28
and they all will tell you how much disaster this particular sin has brought on humanity
38:34
and how much stuff they deal with comes from those sorts of things.
38:40
It is very dangerous.
38:42
Not just dishonoring to God is very dangerous to people.
38:45
Very dangerous.
38:46
So, I want to be clear.
38:49
Like, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul says, like, don't even, in the context of the church,
38:55
like, don't even associate and welcome in, like, be a part of the church,
38:59
someone who is enslaved and who lives in this type of sin.
39:04
It may sound harsh, but let's be clear.
39:07
Remember, he's not referring to a genuine Christian who is struggling and fighting and hating that sin
39:15
and repenting of it and growing every day further and further away from it.
39:19
He's not talking about that in the context.
39:23
He's really saying the people who live in this type of sin, it doesn't bother them.
39:28
They flaunt it around.
39:31
They even try to pick up people inside the church to have sex with, and they boast about it.
39:36
That's the kind of person he's talking about.
39:39
Don't even let them come in among you if that's their goal.
39:44
That's why leaders, particularly pastors, elders, deacons,
39:49
that's particularly why that sin can't be present in their life,
39:54
or they disqualify themselves.
39:59
So, in our text, where it says sexual immorality,
40:04
it's the Greek word pornea.
40:06
It may ring a bell.
40:09
Pornography, porn.
40:11
And it just refers to any illicit sexual intercourse.
40:15
And in the original language, it extends to adultery,
40:20
homosexuality, and really just any thought, belief, or action
40:25
in a sexual sense that's in contradiction to what God says sex is for,
40:31
which is only inside the bounds of covenant marriage between one man and one woman.
40:37
Anything outside of that, he's referring to as pornea.
40:43
So, strong language.
40:46
Pornea is meaning from the word prostitutes.
40:50
There's pornography, kind of adds the word graphos,
40:53
and it means writings about prostitutes.
40:59
Today, it's been expanded,
41:02
and it's even just referring to sexual exploits.
41:05
For a man, it can mean, like, how many notches on his belt does he have from girls?
41:12
How many girls has he slept with, and how does he boast about those things?
41:16
It's not just reading, or not just seeing.
41:20
It's all that stuff.
41:22
And our culture is attached so hard, and I promise, like, it may scare you,
41:28
but in this room, there's a ton of you who still deal with this stuff.
41:32
There's some of you who are in a relationship with someone you're not married to,
41:36
and you're sleeping together.
41:38
You're hurting them, hurting yourself, and offending God altogether.
41:47
Not good.
41:49
Dangerous.
41:49
Go to Christ.
41:50
Let him save you from this disaster.
41:53
Don't listen to their lies telling you you'll never find anybody else,
41:56
that you don't matter.
41:59
That's a total lie.
42:01
Go to Christ.
42:02
Let him be the one who takes care of you and cleanses you.
42:05
And just to throw this out there, there's no such thing as soft porn.
42:10
You can see porn on Facebook.
42:11
You can see it on Instagram, YouTube.
42:14
You don't have to go to an explicit porn site.
42:18
It's anything that is revealing that leads to sexual thoughts.
42:23
And you could, a long time ago, people would just blame women,
42:26
but guys, too, now, like anything that you're wearing or doing
42:30
to kind of push yourself on display for other people, not okay.
42:35
You can lead people to think about you in a dishonorable way.
42:39
So many of the movies, TV shows, video games, all of that,
42:46
there's so much of that trash in there.
42:48
Guard your eyes.
42:49
I wish, I wish I had taken better care of my mind and my heart
42:54
when I was a younger guy, teenager, growing up.
42:59
I wish.
43:00
Because those things don't leave.
43:03
They don't leave.
43:05
And I'll be personal with you.
43:07
In my teenage years, I ran with a lot of athletes,
43:13
and it was just a fun thing to do,
43:16
to get together and watch a porn video
43:18
and make comments about it.
43:21
And I developed, probably from age 16 to my early 20s,
43:28
a very strong addiction to Internet pornography.
43:31
And I praised God that He kept me sovereignly.
43:35
I never actually slept with another woman.
43:39
But it was all here, and in Jesus' words,
43:41
I was committing adultery.
43:43
I was guilty.
43:46
And it made me not care about women at all.
43:49
It made me just see them as playthings and not people.
43:52
And I remember the day.
43:57
It was sort of a turning point for me.
43:59
I had seen pornography the night before.
44:02
It was probably when I was 22, maybe 21.
44:06
And I was feeling the weight of it.
44:09
And I opened the Word, and I read in Ephesians 5.
44:16
You just turn there.
44:17
Turn there with me, Ephesians 5.
44:22
Ephesians 5, verse 3.
44:32
Ephesians 5, verse 3.
44:34
Paul says,
44:36
But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness
44:41
must not even be named among you
44:44
as is proper among the saints.
44:47
As if he's saying this topic is so sickening,
44:50
so vile,
44:51
that it should be almost embarrassing to talk about it
44:54
in the context of born-again believers.
44:59
Then he says,
45:00
some of you guys particularly need to watch this,
45:04
let there be no filthiness,
45:06
nor foolish talk,
45:08
nor crude joking,
45:10
which is out of place,
45:13
but instead let there be thanksgiving.
45:15
So some of you like to joke about that kind of stuff
45:18
and how you talk.
45:20
He's saying, don't even talk about it.
45:22
Don't even bring it up.
45:24
It's dishonorable.
45:25
It's polluting.
45:26
It dishonors God.
45:28
Be thankful to God instead.
45:31
Verse 5.
45:31
For you may be sure of this,
45:35
that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure
45:38
or who is covetous,
45:40
that is an idolater,
45:42
has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
45:46
I was broken over that.
45:49
And so it started with the Word of God,
45:53
the Scripture,
45:54
not just a man telling me that.
45:57
But then I went to a house church,
46:01
a worship gathering,
46:03
and a man who mentored me
46:05
and discipled me
46:06
in my early Christian life.
46:09
Some of you women,
46:10
from the women's retreat last year,
46:13
you might remember Alice,
46:14
who came and spoke to you.
46:15
It was her husband,
46:16
who passed away many years ago.
46:18
His name was Larry.
46:20
This man was saturated in the Word of God,
46:24
who loved the Scripture,
46:26
loved the Gospel.
46:28
I don't know if I've met his equal yet.
46:31
You couldn't put him in a box.
46:32
He wasn't this, this, or this.
46:34
He was just a Gospel, Christ-loving man.
46:38
But he was playing the piano
46:39
and singing praises,
46:41
and everybody was kind of joining in.
46:43
And I just hid in the corner of the house by myself,
46:45
just in shame,
46:47
and just sort of,
46:48
I can't do this because of what I did last night
46:51
and what I've been doing for the last few years.
46:55
And I kind of heard the piano stop playing,
46:58
and I didn't say anything.
47:00
Like, I wasn't out talking about this.
47:01
And I was just sort of in the corner,
47:06
and Larry just leaned down to me,
47:08
and he said,
47:09
Hey, the Lord wants you to know
47:11
that what you did last night
47:13
was very dishonoring to Him,
47:15
was very displeasing to Him.
47:17
It hurt Him.
47:18
It angered Him.
47:19
But,
47:21
He wants you to stand up right now
47:23
and praise Him.
47:24
Not because you feel like it,
47:26
but because you're worthy.
47:28
Because He is worthy.
47:29
Because Christ is worthy.
47:31
He said,
47:31
Get up and give Him praise,
47:32
because He saved you,
47:34
even from that sin.
47:35
And I,
47:36
just a prophetic word that He received.
47:39
I didn't tell Him about that.
47:41
Then He went back
47:42
and just started playing music
47:42
as if nothing happened.
47:43
But,
47:44
just the Lord laid that on His heart.
47:48
So,
47:50
I have dealt with this in my past,
47:53
and I still face the bullets out every day
47:56
like it always will come.
47:58
And even,
47:59
you should know that at the very end,
48:01
like in the judgment,
48:02
in Revelation 21, verse 8,
48:05
it says,
48:06
But the cowardly,
48:07
the faithless,
48:08
and the detestable,
48:10
as for murderers,
48:12
and the sexually immoral,
48:14
sorcerers,
48:15
idolaters,
48:16
just throwing in that bunch
48:17
of those same things,
48:19
and liars,
48:21
their portion will be in the lake
48:22
that burns with fire and sulfur,
48:25
and that is the second death.
48:27
This is such a crazy,
48:29
sickening,
48:30
horrible,
48:31
horrific sin
48:32
that is listed
48:33
among all these other things,
48:35
like pagan idolatry
48:36
and sorcery.
48:38
It's scary.
48:40
And in the church,
48:41
we've either erred on one or two ends,
48:44
we've either said,
48:45
hey buddy,
48:48
it's okay,
48:50
Jesus died for you,
48:51
he still loves you,
48:53
just stop doing that.
48:55
And that only usually leads
48:57
to people doing it more and more.
49:00
And on the other hand,
49:01
the other extreme is,
49:03
how dare you do that?
49:04
God hates you,
49:05
he'll never forgive you for that.
49:07
You'll never,
49:07
so it's either all wrath
49:08
and damnation
49:09
where it's all
49:10
cheap grace
49:11
and a slap on the back.
49:13
We can't treat it that way.
49:14
It is very,
49:15
very serious.
49:17
But we have to come at it
49:18
with grace,
49:19
we have to come at it
49:19
with love,
49:20
and I know many people
49:23
in this room
49:24
have been personally affected
49:25
by sexual morality.
49:28
Many people.
49:29
And we have to come together
49:31
as brothers and sisters,
49:33
confess sin to one another,
49:34
pray for one another,
49:35
hold each other accountable,
49:37
feed each other
49:37
the word of God
49:39
that can birth more faith
49:40
than us
49:41
to face these things.
49:42
There's no greater way
49:45
to overcome sexual sin
49:47
than to develop a hatred
49:49
and a distaste for it
49:51
by delighting yourself
49:53
in the superior pleasures
49:55
that God offers you
49:56
in himself.
49:58
No greater way.
50:00
Fight pleasure with pleasure.
50:02
You think sex is great?
50:03
Jesus is better.
50:05
Much better.
50:06
Infinitely better.
50:07
He created it
50:08
in a good and holy context.
50:12
And you should know
50:13
that in the scripture,
50:15
sanctification is often
50:16
measured this way.
50:18
It's measured in your love
50:19
for God,
50:20
love for others,
50:22
and sexual purity.
50:24
Those things are always
50:25
beside each other.
50:27
And it's very true.
50:28
And as Paul Washer said
50:30
in this video,
50:31
I watched this sermon.
50:33
He says,
50:33
know that
50:34
true, genuine love
50:36
for God
50:37
and others
50:38
will lead
50:40
to sexual purity.
50:41
Then he flips it
50:43
and he says,
50:43
but sexual impurity
50:45
will only lead
50:46
to lovelessness
50:48
and hatred
50:49
toward God
50:50
and others.
50:51
Have you ever noticed that?
50:53
Have you ever noticed that?
50:55
The more you
50:56
give yourself
50:57
to someone else,
50:59
the more porn you watch,
51:01
the more loveless
51:03
and selfish
51:03
you become.
51:04
when you look at
51:06
those who were created
51:07
in the image of God,
51:09
beautiful
51:10
and unique
51:11
and you look at them
51:11
as notches
51:12
on your belt
51:13
and as something
51:14
to be consumed
51:15
and harden your heart.
51:18
Guys,
51:19
every time you look
51:19
at porn
51:20
on your computer,
51:21
your phone,
51:21
your iPad,
51:22
it's just going to
51:23
harden
51:24
and harden your heart
51:26
into sin.
51:28
And the scripture says
51:30
to flee these things.
51:31
Don't think about them.
51:32
Don't talk about them.
51:35
Don't give occasion for them.
51:37
Flee to Christ
51:38
instead.
51:40
And if you look
51:41
at our text
51:41
in verse 29,
51:43
he says,
51:45
if you keep yourselves
51:46
from these things,
51:47
you do well.
51:49
So flip that.
51:50
If you don't keep yourself
51:51
from these things,
51:52
you will not
51:52
do well.
51:54
And we know that's true.
51:56
My personal experience.
51:59
Right?
52:00
So can you imagine yourself
52:02
worshiping a pagan idol
52:04
and like drinking blood
52:06
in front of that
52:07
pagan idol?
52:08
Well,
52:08
they're basically saying
52:09
that like,
52:10
in a very similar sense,
52:12
you're doing this
52:13
when you commit
52:14
sexual immorality.
52:16
That's scary,
52:17
is it not?
52:18
It kind of made it
52:19
its own thing,
52:20
but it's not.
52:22
I want you just to turn
52:23
to 1 Corinthians
52:25
with me.
52:27
Chapter 6.
52:27
And we'll kind of
52:28
probably end it
52:30
right here.
52:35
1 Corinthians
52:37
chapter 6,
52:39
verse 15.
52:41
Actually,
52:41
go to verse 18.
52:44
For sake of time.
52:47
Verse 18.
52:49
Now,
52:49
most of you
52:50
may be familiar
52:52
in the Old Testament context
52:55
when a priest,
52:57
a Levitical priest
52:58
would,
52:59
the high priest
53:00
would once a year,
53:01
right,
53:02
make atonement
53:02
and he would go into
53:03
the Holy of Holies
53:05
where the Ark
53:06
of the Covenant was
53:07
where the presence
53:09
of God resided.
53:11
Right?
53:11
And no one was allowed
53:13
to go in there
53:13
other than the high priest
53:14
once a year.
53:16
And if he did,
53:17
he was struck down.
53:19
He was killed.
53:20
God would kill him
53:21
if he came into
53:21
the Holy of Holies
53:22
in a very wrong attitude
53:24
or wrong approach
53:25
with sin in his heart.
53:27
So a very
53:28
trembling,
53:30
scary thing.
53:32
But,
53:32
I want you to imagine
53:35
this idea
53:35
of like
53:36
the Levitical
53:37
priest
53:38
sleeping with a
53:40
prostitute
53:41
inside the Holy of Holies.
53:43
How sickening
53:44
is that?
53:45
It wouldn't last.
53:46
God would
53:46
consume them
53:47
in fire
53:48
for sure.
53:49
But just imagine
53:50
that gross,
53:50
sickening image.
53:53
And now I want you
53:53
to look at
53:54
1 Corinthians 6
53:56
verse 18.
53:58
He says,
53:59
flee
54:00
from sexual
54:01
immorality.
54:03
Every other sin
54:04
a person commits
54:05
is outside the body.
54:06
But the sexual
54:08
immoral person
54:09
sins against
54:10
his own body.
54:12
Here's the connection.
54:13
Or do you not know
54:15
that your body
54:16
is a temple
54:17
of the Holy Spirit
54:18
within you
54:19
whom you have
54:20
from God.
54:21
You are not
54:22
your own
54:23
for you have been
54:23
bought with a price
54:25
to glorify God
54:26
in your body.
54:29
He's saying
54:30
God's Holy Spirit
54:32
that same idea
54:33
of the Holy of Holies
54:34
now abides in you
54:36
as a believer
54:37
in Christ.
54:39
And
54:39
so when we commit
54:41
gross
54:41
sexual acts
54:43
it's almost the same
54:44
connection to what
54:45
I just told you.
54:45
we are now
54:47
the temple.
54:48
We were the
54:49
Spirit abides.
54:51
It's supposed
54:51
to shake us
54:52
and scare us.
54:54
Then
54:55
if you can make
54:56
this connection
54:57
continue to sort
54:59
of follow along
55:00
I want to
55:02
kind of leave
55:02
that with hope.
55:03
Okay?
55:04
If you've had
55:05
a sexual
55:06
impure past
55:07
or life
55:08
like Christ
55:09
is for you.
55:10
He's ready
55:10
to take you
55:11
save you
55:12
cleanse you
55:13
make you new
55:15
you're not
55:16
beyond hope.
55:17
This isn't
55:18
the unpardonable
55:18
sin.
55:19
It's just a
55:20
really hard one
55:21
really rough one.
55:23
And so
55:23
I want you
55:23
to just go down
55:24
a few verses
55:25
or go up
55:26
excuse me
55:27
go up
55:27
and
55:29
verse 9
55:30
of 1 Corinthians 6
55:32
verse 9
55:33
it says
55:36
already you not
55:37
know that the
55:37
unrighteous
55:38
will never
55:39
inherit the
55:39
kingdom of God?
55:41
Do not be
55:41
deceived
55:42
neither the
55:44
sexually immoral
55:45
nor idolaters
55:46
nor adulterers
55:47
nor men
55:49
who practice
55:49
homosexuality
55:50
nor thieves
55:52
nor the greedy
55:54
nor drunkards
55:55
nor revilers
55:56
nor swindlers
55:56
will inherit
55:57
the kingdom of God.
55:58
So there's the
55:59
deal.
56:00
People who love
56:01
these things
56:02
who live in
56:03
these things
56:03
and boast in
56:05
these things
56:05
will not
56:06
inherit the
56:06
kingdom of God.
56:08
So he's
56:09
talking to
56:09
Christians
56:10
okay?
56:10
He's writing
56:11
to believers
56:12
who are in
56:12
Corinth
56:13
but then he
56:13
says
56:13
in verse 11
56:14
and such
56:16
were some
56:17
of you
56:17
but you
56:19
were washed
56:20
you were
56:21
sanctified
56:22
you were
56:23
justified
56:24
in the name
56:25
of the Lord
56:25
Jesus Christ
56:26
and by the
56:27
spirit of
56:28
our God
56:28
he saved
56:30
you from
56:31
those things
56:31
is what he's
56:32
saying.
56:32
You were
56:33
some of those
56:34
things and now
56:34
you're not
56:35
you've been
56:36
sanctified
56:36
you've been
56:36
taken
56:37
and set
56:37
apart
56:38
for God's
56:39
holy purposes
56:40
you were
56:41
made right
56:42
in the
56:42
sight of
56:43
God
56:43
you were
56:43
justified
56:44
because of
56:46
the name
56:46
of Christ.
56:48
So rejoice
56:49
in that
56:49
right?
56:50
Rejoice in
56:51
that.
56:52
There is
56:52
hope in
56:53
Christ.
56:54
And the
56:55
last question
56:55
back in
56:57
Acts
56:57
I just
56:58
kind of
56:59
wanted
56:59
I felt
56:59
the burden
56:59
to spend
57:00
some time
57:00
on that
57:01
because I
57:01
know that
57:01
it's
57:01
the most
57:02
relevant
57:03
to most
57:03
people here
57:04
and to
57:05
our time
57:06
but he's
57:07
saying keep
57:07
yourselves
57:08
from these
57:09
things
57:09
and you'll
57:10
do well.
57:11
If you
57:11
don't
57:12
you will
57:12
not do
57:13
well.
57:14
Flee
57:15
these
57:15
things.
57:18
All right?
57:20
So the
57:21
third question
57:22
was what
57:22
was the
57:23
result of
57:23
this proposal?
57:24
Like what
57:24
happened
57:25
after they
57:26
sent this
57:27
letter out?
57:27
You see
57:28
that in
57:28
verse 30
57:28
through 35.
57:31
The
57:31
apostles
57:32
they go
57:32
out to
57:32
plant the
57:33
church.
57:33
They
57:34
carry the
57:34
letter
57:35
with them
57:35
and the
57:35
Gentile
57:36
mission
57:36
continues
57:37
and people
57:38
are
57:38
encouraged.
57:39
They
57:39
are
57:40
blessed.
57:40
They
57:40
rejoice.
57:42
You see
57:43
that in
57:43
31.
57:44
And when
57:44
they had
57:45
read it
57:45
they
57:45
rejoiced
57:46
because of
57:46
this
57:46
encouragement.
57:48
Then it
57:48
says Paul
57:49
and Barnabas
57:49
stayed on
57:50
teaching and
57:50
preaching the
57:51
word of the
57:52
Lord with
57:53
many others
57:53
also.
57:55
So this
57:55
was a good
57:56
outcome.
57:56
This was a
57:57
good thing
57:58
that the
57:58
council had
57:59
decided.
58:00
It resulted
58:00
in the
58:01
gospel moving
58:02
forward to
58:03
all the
58:04
nations,
58:04
right?
58:04
It just
58:05
kept spreading
58:05
out because
58:06
of this.
58:06
and the
58:08
council had
58:08
come together
58:09
and talked
58:10
about how to
58:11
work through
58:11
these big
58:12
issues and
58:13
they didn't
58:14
use their
58:14
opinions or
58:15
their feelings.
58:16
They used
58:17
the word of
58:18
God.
58:19
What does
58:20
God say?
58:20
That's the most
58:21
important thing,
58:22
not what I
58:22
think.
58:23
They used
58:24
prayer.
58:25
They discussed
58:25
it in
58:27
humility and
58:28
they concluded
58:28
that nope,
58:30
Gentiles don't
58:31
have to do
58:31
all these
58:32
things.
58:32
They made
58:32
right with
58:33
God.
58:33
they only
58:34
have to
58:34
put their
58:35
hope,
58:36
their trust,
58:36
and surrender
58:37
their lives
58:38
to Christ.
58:40
And that's
58:40
enough.
58:41
That's the
58:42
gospel.
58:43
So,
58:45
that's the
58:46
end of our
58:46
story here in
58:47
Acts 15,
58:49
at least at
58:49
this point.
58:51
And Nathan,
58:51
I think,
58:52
is going to
58:52
pick it up
58:52
from this
58:53
part of the
58:54
story.
58:55
So,
58:56
just join me
58:56
in a word
58:56
of prayer.
58:57
Amen.
58:57
Amen.
58:57
Amen.