Let us turn to the book of Acts, chapter fourteen. And we're going to begin at verse fourteen in our reading. Excuse me, verse twenty-four. Excuse me. Acts chapter fourteen, verse twenty-four, and we shall read through chapter fifteen and verse eleven. This is one of the most important sections in the Word of God. We're dealing here with one of the ten great battles. that the Christian church has had to face down through the centuries. And it's amazing that we have not listened to the results of this great battle that was fought and won in Acts chapter fifteen. For the things that they dealt with are still with us today. And it seems in every generation we have to come to an understanding that Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And that was the real issue. Verse fourteen, or verse twenty-four of chapter fourteen. And after they had passed throughout Pesidia, they came to Pamphylia. And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Italia, and then sailed to Antioch from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and Hyatt opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles, and there they abode a long time with the disciples. This is the close of Paul's first missionary journey. And we find that Paul in his first missionary journey They worked on four things and they accomplished four things. First, there was sincere evangelization. And that's so important. When a person goes forth, they must go forth with sincere evangelization. And then they were occupied with orderly consolidation. They consolidated the churches. or those who believed into local assemblies, and they ordained elders in every city, as we noted last week. And then there was also spiritual exhortation. They exhorted the believer. They exhorted them to expect suffering. Through much tribulation, we enter the kingdom of God. and they exhorted them that they should cleave unto the Lord. And then finally there was sensible information when they got back to their home church. They came back to the church that commended them and sent them forth in the opening verses of chapter thirteen, and they give to them sensible information. For they rehearsed all that God had done through them on their missionary journey. Now it's while they're back at Antioch that the events of this chapter, chapter fifteen, take place. And we begin our reading at verse one. And certain men which came down from Judea took the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised, therefore the men are of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenus 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. But there rose 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. And 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 knoweth a heart bear them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them. purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God 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 our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they. Now it is important when you read that verse that you know who the we are and you know who the they are you will not grasp the truth of this chapter if you do not distinguish between the we and the they and you'll find back in verse eight the same truth giving them the them even as he did unto us there you have the them and the us because it's a accusative case and when you get to verse nine And he put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith. The we, we believe, are Jewish believers, those who have been saved from among the Jews. And the they are the Gentiles, those who come to faith from among the Gentiles. And verse eleven, we could call the Apostles' Creed, we believe. And that has reference to Jewish believers. We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we Jews shall be saved even as they Gentiles. Now, this is just the opposite of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, if a Gentile wanted to be saved, they had to come into the Jewish community. You remember what Ruth the Moabite said? In Ruth chapter one, in those great words, whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgeest I will lodge, thy people shall be my people. In other words, she had to belong to the people of the Jewish nation, the theocratic kingdom before she could say, thy God is my God. And this is different. This is a reversal from the Old Testament. It isn't a matter of a Gentile becoming a Jew to be saved. It's a matter of a Jew leaving the religion of the Old Testament and coming by the grace of God into the salvation provided to the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the most important chapters of the Bible. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we bow in our presence, we thank you for this glorious truth. Teach us this truth in such a way that we'll never be led astray and that we'll delight and magnify the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ continuously for his name's sake. Amen. Now it is while the ascending church, the church of Antioch, had Paul and Barnabas there, having returned from their first missionary journey, that these Judaizers, and the Judaizers is a term that is used to speak of the religion of the Old Testament, these Judaizing legalists, they were zealous for the law of Moses, that they came. They came from Jerusalem. It's in relation to this that we should read from the second chapter of the book of Galatians. For we find in Galatians chapter two where Paul establishes his apostleship and in the third chapter of Galatians where he proclaims the glorious truth that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from any other works. This is very important. And we want to begin reading at verse eleven. For it says this, But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself fearing them which were of the circumcision. Now you can rewrite over that verse the little word from the book of Proverbs, the fear of man bringeth a snare. And when these big so-called, there should be no such thing in the church. In the church there should be no big people and small people. In the church we're one in Christ. And when my son comes through the door, he's no longer my son. He's my brother. He's a brother in Christ. And this is so important that we grasp this truth. And these Gentiles, Peter was willing to eat with the Gentiles. Maybe he had bacon and eggs for breakfast. But when the fame from Jerusalem, from the mother church, as it were, He separated from the Gentiles, and then he ate kosher with those who came from Jerusalem. The fear a man bringeth a snare, but it brought something else. We thank God for men today, I do, who have stood at the crucial times in the history of the church. Thank God for a man like Paul who was not afraid. to withstand Peter at this time for Peter's wrong. And he didn't do it privately. He withstood him to the face because what he did was a public thing. It affected the whole church. And he withstood him to the face. And of course something happened. And notice verse thirteen. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him in so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But Barnabas, his co-worker, he got carried away with what Peter did. After all, it was Peter who did it. But that didn't matter to Paul. Paul took a stand. And, beloved, if we're going to amount to anything for God, when it comes to the gospel of saving grace, We need to understand this truth, that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, in a part from any works of the law. Now, he said something to Peter in verse fourteen, But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou being a Jew, Liverst after the manner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews. Why compelest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? In other words, he was saying to Peter, get your message straight. Before these men came, you were living like a Gentile. Now that they've come, you've changed over and you're trying to get now the Gentiles to live like the Jews. He said it's wrong. You see, there is a real problem with legalism. There's a real problem with following the law of Moses. Another fact of Gentile conversion was settled. Paul spoke in Samaria and in other places as he went up to Jerusalem and they rejoiced at the conversion of the Gentiles. Acts chapter ten settles the matter of the conversion of the Gentiles when Peter went to the house of Cornelius. That was settled. But the method, friends, was not settled. And a lot of the arguments of Christianity have to do with methods. They have to do with methods. It was not settled as far as the legalists were concerned. They said you must submit the circumcision. And to submit the circumcision would mean that salvation is by works. If a man was not circumcised, According to the law of Moses, then he wasn't saved. That's what they really said in verse one of chapter fifteen. Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. That would make salvation by works. Works. Now these legalists came to the church of Antioch, and this was a missionary church. This is a church that was sending the gospel to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles were saved. And it's here that Paul withstands Peter, according to our passage that we read from Galatians two. Let me ask you, what are legalists really like? When you really examine them, what are they like? I'll tell you what they're like. They hang gospel crates. That's what they do. You know, years ago, in the area where I came from when a person was a strict Democrat or Republican, either one, it didn't matter, and their party lost in a presidential election. Some of his friends would sneak by his home and drape the front door of his house with black crepes, you see. Now, the legalists were men like this. They hang gospel crepes. The gospel is not a message that's delightful. It is a message that depends on the work of men. The thing that makes the gospel such a joyous message is that we can sing from the heart that Jesus paid it all. That it's a finished work. And a man is saved not by his own doing, no matter how religious they are, no matter how nice they appear. A man is saved by the grace of God and by the grace of God alone. Now, three things that legalists do. And we need to keep these things in mind as they hang their gospel crate. Number one, they seek to rob God of his glory. Number two, they seek to rob the cross of its power. And number three, they seek to rob the believer of his joy. And when you get a preacher who preaches salvation by work, it robs God of his glory. It robs the cross of its power. And you're going to find a group of joyless Christians. They have no joy because they never have assurance. They never have assurance. You'll never find a person who believes that salvation is by works that has the assurance. that he's truly saved. They don't have it. They hope so, but they don't know so. I enjoy the writings of Dr. Barnhart. And I remember when a number of college students came to approach him at the Chautauqua grounds at Mount Gretna and tried to put him on the spot after he preached a powerful message And these young men approached him with their subject. He said, young men, they asked you questions. Are you saved? And the one father said to him, I hope so. He said, you have a right to know that. And there's such a big difference, friend. And when I hear a person hope they're saved, my soul yearns on the inside. They have a right to know it. Oh, the joy of knowing that we're saved. Well, you see, when the cross is robbed of its power, the cross is then robbed of its offensiveness. The cross is offensive. For Paul, when he wrote to the Galatians in chapter five, verse eleven, he said, And I, brethren, if I yet breach circumcision, why do I suffer persecution? Then... is the offense of the cross preached. In other words, if he preached that you've got to be circumcised in order to be saved, then the cross is no more offensive. Then salvation is by man. For the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ cuts right across the pathway of man as a tremendous barrier to his own works as a means of salvation or a means of grace. For the cross is offensive, friends. to human pride man insists on having a part in his salvation but the grace of God in the New Testament is free grace and we must emphasize that word free it is free grace God is totally free to manifest his grace to sinners and Paul was persecuted because he preached that grace is free The cross reveals the sinfulness of the human ear and the human heart. But the cross is not only an offense to human pride, the cross is an offense to morality. The good works of a man will never justify. Dr. Barnhouse used to say, your good works can take you to hell, but they'll never take you to heaven. And how true that is. Do you know that there isn't a good person in heaven? There isn't a good person there except God himself. Everyone who ever goes to heaven is bad. And they acknowledge that they're bad. And they come to the only one who can save the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone there has admitted they need a savior. And he's the only savior for them. The cross is an offense to human morality. Moreover, the cross is an offense to philosophy. For philosophy appeals to human reason, but the cross appeals to faith. Through faith, we understand that the world's refrained by the Word of God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. One of the most sad things that you can ever see is a well-educated man without faith. For without faith, it's impossible to please God. He may have everything that this world can offer, but apart from faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, he is a pauper indeed. The cross is an offense to culture. Our whole manner of culture is cut across by the cross. In our culture, the rich and the famous are adored, but the cross appeals to the simple. First Corinthians one says, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Queen Victoria. used to have a saying, I was saved, but a letter M. She said, I'm so glad that verse didn't say not any. It says not many. And we need to remember what the scripture says. The cross is an offense to our sense of care. And we have a sense of care, even though it's wrong. James chapter two, verse five, says that God has chosen the poor of the world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. Our sense of caste means nothing to God. God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. The cross is an offense to the human will. It is, for the cross calls for unconditional surrender. man isn't saved by human volition he is saved by divine volition james one eighteen says of his own will begat he us by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures now our response to the gospel friends is induced by the divine will and the spirit of god and the word of god it's a divine will philippians two verse thirteen says it is god who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Now we appeal to the will and the reason we appeal to the will is because we're expecting God to energize that will to trust his son. The gospel works in our will and the divine enablement by the will of God is what We're looking for as we proclaim the gospel. The cross is an offense. The cross is an offense to the person himself. So the cross declares that men are dead while living physical lives. They are dead and they are dead because they're outside of the life that is in Christ Jesus the Lord. The cross declares You must have a second birth. You must be born from above. You need a birth that begins in heaven and comes through the death and burial, resurrection of Christ, his ascension back to heaven, and the coming of the Spirit of God who applies the work of the cross to the hearts of men. We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. This is one of the ten great battles of the Christian church. And it's a battle over grace or worth. It is amazing, friend, that this battle is still raging. in the Christian church do we understand this morning that salvation is by the way do you with your mind understand how God who is absolutely holy and absolutely righteous can save a guilty sinner who rebelled against Him. When once we understand this and we see the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus the Lord and the grace of God working on behalf of guilty sinners, it is then that we run to Him and we trust Him as Lord and Savior. The cross is the answer. And that cross that we love was the most offensive thing that ever came across our pathway for it cut down our whole system to nothing and caused us to see that our all in all is found in Jesus Christ our life and from the heart we can sing at the cross of the cross where our first saw the light And the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight. And now I am happy all the day. We started this morning by singing that hymn. There's a wonderful change in my life has been wrong since Jesus came into my heart. Let me ask you. Have you experienced that change? Are you different than you once was? Do you have that genuine hope? Not a hope that you're saved, but a genuine hope that we sang about. I shall go there to dwell in that city I know since Jesus came into my house. My friend, this is the only thing that really comes. And we thank God for men. who have stood at crucial times in the history of Christianity. I'm thinking of the crucial times of Luther, of Calvin, of Zwingli, of Huss, and of you. Where do you stand? Are you standing in grace or are you falling in works. You can't stand in works, so you have to fall. I trust your standing for his name, sir. Let's pray together. My Father, as we come to the close of this sermon, we thank you in Jesus' name for your wondrous grace. It is you who have saved us. It is your grace and your grace alone. which has brought us into a relationship with Christ. And we ask you now that you will search our hearts. Use this word to speak to each of us that we may rejoice in the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory and rejoice there now because of the relationship which he established and establishes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone therefore we commend to these this people and to the word of your grace which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance among all that are sanctified through Jesus Christ the Lord amen