The controversy in Acts 15 regarding whether Gentile converts needed to adhere to the Law of Moses, particularly circumcision, to be saved. It highlights the council's decision, led by Peter, Barnabas, Paul, and James, to affirm that salvation comes through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, not by works of the law. The core lesson emphasizes Christian liberty from the law and the importance of living by love for Christ rather than legalistic obligation. The message concludes by urging believers to stand fast in their freedom and to do all things out of love for Christ, not out of duty.
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and verse one. And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. That's a very important verse. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, In other words, they encountered them and confronted them with this point. They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
Being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phineas and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. Now I want you to notice this verse. It shows up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, saying, that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. When there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, Ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God which know of the hearts bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us, that is the Jews and them.
purifying their hearts, the Gentile hearts, by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples of the Gentiles, and the yoke was the law, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus, we, the Jews shall be saved even as they, the Gentiles. Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had brought among the Gentiles by them.
And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, talk of them to me. Simeon have declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them the people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written, After this, that is after the church age, and after God has visited the Gentiles and taken out the church, after this I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.
There is the future revival of Israel and restoration, that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, said the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God for all his works from the beginning of the world, wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from ornication and from things strangled and from blood.
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Justice, surname Bar-Savus, and Silas, chief men among the brethren. And they wrote letters by them after this manner. The apostles and elders, and brethren, send greetings unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.
For as much as we have heard of certain which went out from us, there were those judiizing teachers, went out from us, troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying ye must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment. It seemed good unto us being assembled with one accord to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same thing thine mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and it's nicely gifted, for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things, that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood and from things strangled and from fornications, and from which if ye keep yourselves ye shall do well, fare ye well. So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle or the letter, which when they had read they rejoiced for the consolation.
That's all we'll read because we read the remainder of that chapter when we spoke on Barnabas and his dispute with the Apostle. This is the first Christian letter, the first conference I might say, that we have and the only conference that we can find in the New Testament. And if at this conference it certainly wasn't like the conferences that you... heared about today and that we have witnessed recently in the city. No conference of that kind at all. In other words, at this conference, they didn't pass on matters of church government as far as that's concerned, and they were not organized, or did they try to extend or advance their organization here in Acts chapter fifteen.
There was no such thing as purchasing property, no such thing here as assigning jobs to preachers and preachers to jobs, and there certainly was no controlling of funds. None of these things were taken up at this conference, the only conference you find in the New Testament, and as well that we see that. Here you find this first letter containing the great charter of Gentile Christian liberty, freedom from the law, O happy condition, Jesus hath bled, and there is remission.
And also another lesson might be learned from this conference here in the New Testament, and that is this, that difficulties in the assembly can be settled if they follow the procedure laid down in this chapter. In other words, the situation should be faced frankly. Furthermore, it should be discussed fully, and also it should be decided amicably. In other words, it should be decided in a way that would be cordial, and furthermore, the decision should be accepted heartily. These are some of the points you see in relative to this conference held in Jerusalem.
And if you want any further help on this passage and what we'll be getting into, that is, are Christians today, those who are born again, are they under the law? Are they obligated to keep the law, any phase of the law? Well, this passage, I'm sure, sheds light on that. But if you want other chapters that are devastating, For any who believe that we are under any phase of the law, read the third chapter of Galatians and the fourth chapter of Romans. How anyone can read those chapters, and furthermore, if you read the whole book of Galatians, which is developing the subject here, and much more in Romans, it marks the very foundation and every part.
out from under the argument that a Christian today is obligated to keep any phase of the law. In other words, the Apostle Paul makes it plain because these teachers said you've got to be circumcised and keep the law. You Gentiles have got to be like we do. You're obligated to the law. And you've got to be circumcised and keep the law moving. No, there's not a verse in the New Testament to strengthen or substantiate that heart. Paul makes it big. If you are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
And for a man to be circumcised simply means he's obligated to keep the law for he's endorsing the law. And certainly there's no such text in Scripture to substantiate that point. Well, as we had in the paper, we've got five sections in this chapter. They're very simple. You have a serious controversy or dissension. You have that in verse one. And then in verse two, you have the sensible course taken, a delegation selected to go up to Jerusalem and to discuss this matter fully. And also you have a striking contribution by four of the brethren.
You have Peter, Barnabas, Paul, and James. And there was a simple condition then, in verse twenty, and then a satisfactory conclusion. It's nice that it ended in that way. First of all, then, the serious controversy in the opening verses one and two. And I want you to notice this. It may have struck you, and it never had struck me like it had this time, but this past week and reading these chapters, seven times you read the word elders. Now, you have been reading that word previously. You find seven times in this passage and once in the chapter before about the elders and the elders and the elders and the elders.
And I thought, I wonder, what time, what's the length of time from Pentecost until this period? And I found it was twenty years from Pentecost or the founding of the church until this period, so now you begin to see the elders coming in. And it's ten years after the formation of the church at Antioch when the gospel was preached to the Gentiles, and the Gentiles were brought into the body. The reason I mention that is for this reason. No young brother is qualified overnight to be an elder. The Bible this statement says, not enough.
Not enough. You don't become an elder overnight. And no man can make you an elder. Here you find these elders have been saved at least ten years. If there were any elders from Antioch, they had been saved ten years. And it's quite possible many came to Antioch from other places. had been saved before the door opened to the Gentiles. And we can be safe in saying that between ten and twenty years, it requires to develop a man who is an elder. The very use of the term elder indicates experience.
Experience. And you folks who've got children, you've learned from experience what it is to be a father. what it is to be a monk. And in order to be an elder in the church or in ascendant, it needs one who requires one who has some experience, experience in leading souls to Christ and seeking to bring up the spiritual children and establish them to instruct them and care for them. As a shepherd dug his sheep, And so that's why we mentioned the meaning of the word elder, and it's very significant, it's coming in here twenty years after the formation of the church at Pentateuch and the bringing in and the reception of the Gentiles in chapter ten.
And now the elders are beginning to appear. And on your reference to this subject, as you have been, verse five, the sect of Pharisees, and that's unusual, that word sect. They've separated themselves, and they were believers, it says. They persisted in teaching that the law must still be kept, and circumcision must be practiced, or you just can't be saved. Well, this thing became quite serious, and if it hadn't been solved the way it was, why we don't know what might have happened to the early church.
The possibility is there would have been a Hebrew church in Jerusalem. And Jerusalem would have been the headquarters of the Jewish church. And there would have been another headquarters. Now it would have been an Antioch. An Antioch would have been the head of the Gentiles. And you would have had two headquarters. And you would have had two bodies of people. One, the Jews and the other Gentiles. You see how the devil tried right at the beginning. to split the early church. We've been noticing in our studies on Acts, how the Christians were persecuted from without them. Seven distinct persecutions.
He was Satan and he tried to smash the infant church. He's trying his best to annihilate the early church. He's trying to discourage the early church. By persecuting them, he didn't get anywhere. But now he's trying to bring in division. He's trying to bring in division. Division between the Jews and the Gentiles. To divide the early church. And so these Judaizing teachers, and you want the full development of that, or you get it in Galatians, these Judaizing teachers came down from Jerusalem.
And they're going to try and convince these young Gentile converts who are so happy, they were rejoicing in the newfound Satan, likely some of them had known something of the land upon the to the law. And they're going to come down and try and tell these young converts, listen, you're rejoicing too soon. All your happiness is very shaky. because you haven't been informed that you've got to keep the law. You've got to go back under the law of Moses. You only have saved. You only have saved.
And, of course, this was a serious situation because the moment these young converts were told that, why, maybe we're not saved after all. Maybe Christ isn't enough. Maybe we are obligated to keep the law. Well, I'll tell you I'm very happy that I don't have to keep the law to get to him. None of us could keep it. And as he tells you right here, why put a burden, a yoke upon these young farmers? Neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. And Paul in Galatians says, Stand fast in the Sand fast and the liberty were replaced with me to spring, and be not entangled again with the yoke of marriage.
Here you have Christian liberty, free from the law, oh, happy condition. I'm not under law. I'm under sovereign, sovereign grace. And there are those who, to this day, mix law and grace. They don't like pure grace. They want to mix it with law. And after a person gets saved, well now, the Lord has saved you up from now. You're saved now. But from now on, it's up to you. And you're getting to heaven. It's going to depend upon how you live from now on.
And the law is our standard of behavior. Let me say that that's it. none of us are really saved. And we'll never at least get to heaven unless we achieve the law according to that argument. And this was the very controversy that was brought up at the beginning. And strangely enough, it's the very controversy that took place when the Wesley's were preaching at the beginning of that mighty movement. And George Whitfield, I read the biographies of both of these men, And Treyus Whitfield was mightily used of God. And so were the Westlings.
But you know, so many of the converts made a profession. And it looked logical. It looked as though they'd really found the law. And for a little while they were happy, they were joyful, and they used to be called the shouting Methodists. To the point that the Westlings adopted this view, Those people really were saved. They've lost it. George Whitfield says, no. Once they're saved, they're saved forever. And George Whitfield and the Westleys had very views on this differing views, and many times some very strong arguments.
And the Westleys, for this day, as you well know, believe that you can be lost again. that you can be saved or the Savior up to the point of your confession from now on depends upon how faithful you are and how you serve the Lord. That was settled back in the beginning as we read here. We are not under the law. And I am thankful that God were not under the law. Well, you notice the sensible course that was followed here in verse two. They selected this delegation to go to Jerusalem. And Galatians, too, covers this situation, because the Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians, too, that he went up to Jerusalem, and he went up by revelation.
That's quite significant. In other words, the Spirit of God made it clear to the Apostle Paul, Paul, you go along. You go along. And Paul says, I went up by revolution, showing that this truly was of the Lord that he go along, that he might meet this situation head on and confront this situation and have it settled in the early church. And so they went up. You know, both of these churches, nice for us to get this in mind, is it's true that Jerusalem was the strong church of the Jews. And of course now the Gentiles church in Antioch is a strong church too.
Those strong churches. As to authority, they were independent of each other. Those in Jerusalem couldn't tell those in Antioch what to do. And those in Antioch couldn't tell those in Jerusalem what to do when it came to doctrine. But when it came to fellowship, they were interrelated. If these two churches and assemblies are going to be in fellowship with each other, then they are interrelated. They've got to settle the differences. But as to authority, if those in Antioch want to send us someone out into the Lord's work, those in Jerusalem have nothing to do with it.
Those in Antioch can settle their own problems. and those in Jerusalem have no right to interfere when it comes to matters of local church government. And the same thing is that his brethren in Jerusalem made decisions relative to their local assembly. It wasn't the rule, nor was it the right of those in Antioch to interfere what was done in Jerusalem. As a case of authority, they both had their own authority. But then it came to a matter of the fellowship between the two of them. And you see all around some doctrine, some point of doctrine.
Then they got together so as there might be fellowship between the two. An understanding of the situation that the two might go along in harmony. How wonderful that this was settled back in the beginning. And from then on, the church, having this problem, I and I, They went along together in happy accord and fellowship. So you have that point mentioned quite clear here how the one church was independent of the other when it came to authority but interrelated when it was a matter of fellowship. Now, the striking contribution was made here. Peter, the first speaker, and by the way, this is the last time his name is mentioned in the Act.
Peter passes out of the picture here, the last time his name is mentioned. And then Barnabas and Paul and James, all four contributed to the settlement of this argument in Jerusalem. This is noticeable and very, very important, I believe. Not this, but none dealt with this subject in a theological way. None of them did. They didn't deal with this subject in a theological way. How did they prove their point that the Gentiles were not under the law? How did they prove their point that these Gentiles did not need to be circumcised?
They pointed to their labors and what the Spirit of God did through their labors. Well, that's pretty clear. In other words, they presented the facts of the situation. And Peter brings it up. Barnabas brings it out, Paul brings it out. And not only did Peter, Barnabas, and Paul bring this out, but when it comes to change, he speaks of what God is doing now. The others speak of what God had done in the labors of the apostles, and Barnabas and those who labored them. In other words, Peter says, here I was preaching in Antioch, but a Gentile.
You know, while I preached in hernia-lissus' house, while I was preaching, he says the Holy Spirit came upon those who believed. I said nothing about the law. I was just preaching the gospel. And when I was preaching the gospel, these people believe, they're sitting out there in the audience. I said, the Spirit of God came upon them. In other words, They were sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of God took up his abode in their heart, and they became part of the members of the body of Jesus Christ. And there was no mention of them being circumcised or keeping the law.
And he says the very fact that the Spirit of God came upon them is proof positive that salvation is dependent upon the reception of Jesus Christ of Narrowlode and not upon the law. and pentamounts. And so the emphasis upon the work of the Holy Spirit as manifested and demonstrated in the labor of these men. They stated facts, and facts are stubborn things. So Peter tells about what happened in his labor, and as I already mentioned in the house of Cornelius and the widely preached, the Holy Spirit came upon these beliefs.
And there's the pattern When you preach the gospel, people get saved. This young lady who's up this morning says you have to work tonight, she couldn't be up. But he says she got saved during the meeting and got confirmed when we went back and showed her what the scripture said. And this happens time and time again. People open their hearts during the service, listening to the gospel and the Spirit of God saved. And how do they know they're saved? Who told them they were saved? Something must have happened.
Our peace comes in. And a lack of a fear of death. Just a joy comes in. They try and explain it. I'm not afraid to die now. But my sins are gone. Who gives them this information? The Spirit of God. They have their witness in themselves. He that believes upon the Son has the witness in himself. And who is the witness? The Holy Spirit is the witness. And when he comes in, when a person believes, he brings with him peace, joy, satisfaction, and freedom from fear of hell.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit. And so the Apostle Higg carries that flight on, telling about his labors. how the same thing happened, but also James, telling of what God is doing. Gentiles now, as well as Jews, are in the body of Christ. Christianity is no longer a national thing. It's an international thing. It's an international movement. The Spirit of God has leaped over the valley of one nation, the Jewish nation, and now it's all the nations of the earth. God is visiting the nations as James and God brings out visiting the nation to gather out of them of people for his name.
So Christianity today is international. It's not a national thing. Completely. Christianity is a complete separation and isolation from one nation. Christianity is to all people. To whosoever will. may come. Now these are stubborn facts and I've already mentioned. They follow the work the labors they were doing. Engage. And what the Spirit of God did, how He endorsed what they preached. He endorsed their labors. And as the gospel was proclaimed, people received the gospel.
They found out they were lost. They found out they were going to hell, that they couldn't keep the law, the law of condemnment, the law of custom, of when they accepted Christ, the whole situation changed. And that's the only way you can be saved is through the acceptance of Jesus Christ. The very fact that you, the Spirit of God, comes in. It's proof positive that the law couldn't do what it wanted to do, make you perfect. but the receiving of Jesus Christ did make you perfect because a perfect Savior came into your heart and you would accept it in the blood. About six or seven years ago some of you will recall the Church of Christ having the meetings here in town, the big tent.
Two of the preachers came by to see me one day and as they've come in I shouldn't have let him in but it is. They came in and so they said, well, we thought we'd come around and talk to you a little about the Lord. Well, I said, I'm all glad to talk about the Lord. And I said, I'll tell you how I found the Lord. I told them where I came from and up in Canada. And one night after coming home from eating under deep conviction of sin, I said, my father appointed me to Christ. And I told them when the date was and where it happened and how it happened. And I said tonight I receive the Lord Jesus. My peace came into my heart.
A joy came into my heart. I knew my sins were forgiven. I knew I'd never perish. I knew I was going to be in heaven forever. I said, I was baptized a month later. And I didn't have any of those sensations when I got baptized. The work had already been done. There's nothing left for baptism to be. And I said, when I got baptized, I did it out of obedience to the Lord. And I didn't get peace and joy and the assurance of salvation. And when I said, I've never finished when I got baptized, I got met a month earlier when I accepted Jesus Christ.
And I said, a month after I was baptized, I was received in the fellowship to break bread for the Christian. Well, I said all that I got in the way of salvation and peace and joy and the church I got when I stepped in Christ in the kitchen of our home when my father poured it into the Satan. I didn't get it at baptism. I didn't get it when I took the Lord's son. Well, he said, that's very good, but what are you going to do about baptism? And you could get away from baptism, give you trust. And every time you try and send them down, they jump like a bird to another branch. What about this?
But anyway, this is happy when they left, that when they came, they hadn't taken the thing from me. I had Christ. And every person who saved I had yet to see one who got the assurance of his sins forgiven, unless he was indoctrinated with that kind of stuff, that you'd get your sins forgiven? And you get everlasting life, you get peace and joy and freedom from any fear of death and meeting God when you get baptized. No. Christ and Christ alone gives you the assurance of salvation. Peace with God for when the Spirit comes in, He brings that peace.
He brings that joy. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace. Ah, yes, this is it. Baptism is but a figure of the reality through which Jesus Christ passed, death, peril, and resurrection. And the other ordinance, the Lord's Supper, is just a crack of commemorating. Remembering the one who pays such a price for my salvation. And baptism didn't add one eye over to my salvation. keeping the feast did not adder when I had one I owed it to my selfish. Am I preaching for forty-five years?
Hasn't added one thing to my salvation. It was settled the night I took Jesus Christ, and Christ needs no additives or no additions. It's right and Christ alone. stand past, therefore, in the liberty were with Christ that made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The Apostle Paul is very stern when he views his subject over in Galatians. He said, I would, to God, that they which trouble you were cut off, killed.
New Judaizing teacher, coming down here, I question if you are saved yourselves. that when James takes his subject up of justification by words, he makes it very clear and plain that the people in those days that he would pray for him like we were not Christians of law. Why, they believed in a supreme being. And a lot of people today believe in a supreme being. And James said, why? He said, you claim you believe in a supreme being. The devils believe that, and they tremble. Believing in a supreme being is not enough. You need to know Christ.
You need to be born again. And a lot of these people who think they've got to keep the law and they're justified by works. I don't think they've been saved at all allowed. They believe in a supreme being, but they haven't been born again or quickened by the supreme. For we know that what you have in James, he's bringing out the distance of belief that behaves. That if a man is born again, he's a new creature in Christ. And there are degrees of fruit. Says Christ in Matthew thirteen about the seed that fell upon good ground, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirtyfold.
Simply teaching this, that if a person is saved, there's going to be some fruit, even though it's thirty-four. If there's no fruit, then there's no root. No. A man tells me he's a Christian, a woman tells me she's a Christian, and I see absolutely no fruit at all. I don't think they're saved. I've asked many of them. You read your Bible. No. You don't have any desire to read the Bible. Well, now and again. You don't want to read the Bible. Well, I just won't read the Bible.
Do you spend time in prayer? Well, once in a while. Do you go to church, meeting now and again? Have you ever witnessed a sinner above Christ? Well, no. And you tell me you're... at one time we spoke on that about the trial that Elijah raised from the dead. He sneezed seven times and sneezed a good indication of life. But I'll tell you, friend, if you get Christ, you're going to do some sneezing.
There are going to be some evidences that you're saved. A corpse can't sneeze. And so James is taking this point up. He's very plain about this matter. He doesn't argue with the Apostle Paul here. He's called beloved Barnabas and Paul. Look how James speaks of his beloved brother Paul. He doesn't differ with Paul. He's perfectly in harmony with what Paul says in Galatians three and in Romans chapter four. And the Apostle Paul is in perfect accord with what James says. In other words, you find it over in that book of James.
Here is Abraham. God said to Abraham, Abraham, you see the stars? Yes, so shall thy seed be. Abraham believed God, and God imputed the unfit him for righteousness. There you have Abraham believed. That was an act of faith. And Abraham received righteousness from God. He was saved by God. That's an act of grace. God acts in grace with a person who believes that God says.
And Abraham, he could have talked to his neighbors by the hour, all you ought to see was down in my heart. I believe God and God said, I'm righteous. But Abraham, I'm sorry, I can't see in your heart. I don't see what God says. But then an incident happened later on in chapter two. This other happened back in chapter fourteen, fifty against. But now something happens in chapter twenty-two. And Abraham was told to grow up on that mountain and offer up eyes of his son. And Abraham went, without asking any questions.
He went, believing that if he did put Isaac to death, God would be able to raise him from again, the promises of God according to his posterity might still be carried out. For God says in Abraham, when Isaac shall lie seed and flesh, when Abraham walked up that mount, and he bound his son Isaac upon that altar of wood, and he lifted that flippering blade, and he was about to bring it down, and God stopped in midair. He stopped his hand, Abraham. That's enough. I see you're willing to trust me.
You are going to go through with this thing. Such was your faith in my promise that in Isaac that I see to be blessed. Abraham, because of that faith, Abraham... I'm not going to permit you to go through the pain of death. The death of Isaac. And God never would accept a human sacrifice. God tried Abraham. And God stopped his hand in midair. He was testing it. And why he tested them to a point, didn't he? Just a split section. Second.
Second. That's where God stopped. Sometimes God lets us go quite a minute, quite a way before he stops. I see now, you really do believe me. You really do trust me. Of course, Abraham could tell his friends and neighbors or they didn't hear about it. Well, Abraham, you proved to me that you really do believe in God. When you were willing to offer your son, your only son, I believe, Abraham. You're a different man. You're a different one.
God imputed righteousness to Abraham. When he saw the star, I believed God, so seldom I see him, he would justify me righteous before God. But in chapter thirty-two, there you see his real faith coming out. So the world could And his confession that he believed in God was believed. Because of what he did on Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah. There you have Abraham. He was justified in the eyes of man by offering up Isaac his son. But Abraham was made righteous when he believed God concerning the stars.
And God said, it says God imputed it up unto him. third chapter of Galatians I'll read it to you says here concerning Abraham in verse nine so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham for as many as are the works of the law are under the curse for it is written Because it is every one that continueth not in all things are written in the book of Allah to do them.
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God it is evident for the just shall live by faith. And I have gone back to verse six. Even as Abraham believed God and he was accounted unto him, imputed to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of the faith The same are the children of Abraham. And the Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen or the nations, the Gentiles, through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, Indeed, shall all nations be blessed.
And so we see the lesson of history. connection with Abraham and also in connection with David. For David is brought in by the Apostle Paul later on. Here is David. And David speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputed not oniquity. David is believed God. And God imputed unto him for righteousness. And David was saved. That's why there's no indication whatsoever that what David did, in reference to Meshiv, ask even that he lost his salvation.
David didn't say, Lord, restore unto me my salvation. No, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Abraham lost the joy of his salvation when he did that. He didn't lose his salvation. And when a Christian sinned, He eludes the joy of his selfish. God withholds it as a proof of God's disapproval of what that Christian has done. And only when you confess that sin will God restore to you the joy of your selfish. This is God in discipline. When they took up this subject here, Jerusalem, they ironed the whole situation up, and all four of them peaked their...
Barnabas Paul and James, their arguments agree that when a person has Christ, that's all that's necessary. That's all that's required for that person to go to heaven. Christ, you don't have to be circumcised. You don't have to go back under the law. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one the believer. But they said, we're going to send a letter to the Gentiles. And we're going to urge them to do these things. And it was quite simple what they were asked to do. You find it in the latter part of that chapter. Verse twenty-nine.
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication from which if ye keep yourselves ye shall do well. weren't asking very much were they all these Gentile converts they didn't say that you've got to keep the law you've got to keep the Ten Commandments you've got to be circumcised they said no you don't have to do that you've got Christ that's all you need but we do ask you there are certain things that might offend these young Jewish converts it's not so much that you're That wouldn't help if the Jewish.
You've got all you need in Christ, but there are certain things that might offend these Jewish converts. That is, if you partake of meat that's offered to an idol. And Paul takes us up in Corinthians. He tells the Gentiles. He says, you can eat what you like. Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be the Jew. But the Jew doesn't see that. The Jew still feels as though he's got to abide by the dietary laws given by Moses to the people, and you can't eat an unclean animal. Because you have that liberty, you consider the conscience of the Jew. Paul says, I'll eat no meat as long as the earth stands if I make my brother do a thing.
It's a case of Christian charity. And he says to the Gentile Congress, they send this letter, you don't have to keep the law. you're not under the law you're not obligated to the Decalogue at all you don't have to be circumcised for if you are Christ will profit you nothing all we're asking you to do these four simple things that I mentioned there that's all you're asked to do and of course they were only too glad to do that and how did this conference end well it ended joyfully you'll notice that A satisfactory conclusion in verse thirty-one, they rejoiced with their consolation.
They were happy. This ticklish point had been cleared up that the Christians are not under the law. They brought Christ, and Christ's enough. They don't have to worry about the temperament. And if you go back to thinking that you've got to keep the Ten Commandments, you'll be saved one day and lost the next. You'll be a legal character. You'll be under law. And there's really no joy under law. That is bondage. Of course, if I can use these illustrations, it doesn't affect me, but I like to use them.
A few married folks may not like it. But here's a young couple. In the break room, he comes home now, he says, I want to tell you something. I want my meals fresh. I want them hot. I want my breakfast at such a time. They ought to be good. When I get home at dinner time, I want a dinner, and I'll tell you what I want. I want it good and hot. When I come home in the evening, I want so-and-so. And I wanted such a time. I got some things to do tonight.
I went out with the gang. And you better have this house cleaned up. I come in here and see any dust in any of this furniture, things of this. We're not going to live together. I want you. And he writes out a whole list now. This is what you're going to do. I'm going to live here. I can see that poor thing. When he leaves the house, I want a relief. But then look what she's got. She's going to walk from back again. She's got to do all this work. That's legal. That's legal. But the husband goes off after he turns on the honeymoon, doesn't say a thing. Oh, she loves it.
She gets up. My, she's got his breakfast already. And she gets dishes herself and gets the house cleaned up from home for midday meal. Everything's in order. Food tastes wonderful. My, it's a nice atmosphere in the house. She got all clean, lovely housekeeper, a bowl in the evening, saying things. Why is she doing this? Does she have to? No, she can be rebellious like a lot of wives, right? She does it because she loves you. She does it because she loves you. That's the difference. I'm not on the law to Jesus Christ.
I am not doing these things because I have to. I am doing these things because I love you. I love Christ because He first loved me. And if you're under any other law, you're a legalist. You're a legalist. The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, treasonless, needless, goodless, temperance, faith, against such there is no law. There is no law to the Christian who abides in Christ and has the angry Holy Spirit reigning within his heart.
He doesn't have to worry about the law moves. All he rejoices in is a person and devotion to a person can change a person's whole life. manner of life, an attitude in life. I remember in North Carolina I was seeing in a home and, well, it was Brother Beck's Abbey, his mother's sister, the chapels. This was a young couple renting part of the house. Mrs. Chapel says, you know, it was kind of amusing.
Sometimes there's any steam on the windows or any little bit of dust around. She said, I'd see her husband's name on the dust or on the paint window painting the steam. Whatever she was doing, she was thinking of him in that night. If all you and I did was out of love and respect for him, I'm doing it for him. He's on my mind all the time. And don't tell me, you can't get this way. Before you were a man, you didn't think of anybody else but him or her. You couldn't hardly study. You couldn't hardly do your job. Your mind was, where is he?
Where he is? Where she is? Showed you the influence of a personality on the human thought and heart. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ had that place in your heart and life and mind. we wouldn't worry about the law. We were occupied with the person who satisfied that law. He kept it in his life before its curse in his death. And now he's at God's right hand, and that he is my life. And I want to stand fast in the liberty where if Christ had made me free, I'm not going to be entangled again with any hope of bondage.
In other words, Christians, Whatever we do, let's do it out of love to Christ. You'll never be sorry. You'll never regret paying the price. You'll have a joy in doing it. And if you're coming here to break bread just because we have to have that service, you're not coming here to love the Christ. You're just going through a format of it. If you really love the Lord Jesus, if you love him in a slight measure, of his love when he gave himself to you. You be here. And if you love the Lord Jesus, you'll be here prayer meeting, church, and air communion.
Not because you have to. Ninety-nine percent are christened in the day. The churches in many places are full, and they don't get as common gospel. They're there because of their loyalty to a system. We're not there as a love to Jesus Christ. Whatever you do, the word, Father, be to all, to the glory of God, out of love to the one who loved me. Yes, I love him because he first loved me. And the little I can do, I do it out of love for him. Feeble, so many times.
Nevertheless, if you move off this central point, you're off base. And this is the secret of a Christian's happy life. Love for Christ. Shall we pray? Our Father in heaven, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we commend to thy presence. We ask thy blessing upon thy word. We thank thee for the sufficiency we have in our Lord Jesus. We thank thee that the Holy Spirit has put his seal upon the preaching of the gospel. And every time we see a person saved, the Spirit is telling us the message that we're not under the law, we're under grace.
The law has been satisfied in the person of Jesus Christ. And so we thank thee for the wonderful provision, wonderful provision that thou hast made for us in thy Son. Father, when we've been our happiest is when we've been the closest to our Lord Jesus. When we've been our statuses, when we've fallen afar off. May we be occupied with thee, Lord Jesus. Then we're blessed. Peace that passeth understanding will fill our breasts. We ask it for Christ's sake. Amen. Shall we sing forty-one?
Ten forty-one. This is an old hymn, but I'll tell you if you sing it in fellowship with the Lord, it will be as though you sang it for the first time. Blessed are the servants, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a poor taste of glory divine, air of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, a watch in his blood. Shall we stand and sing?