The Gospel Under Attack

April 23rd,2023

Series: The Book of Acts

Sermon Title: The Gospel under attack - Acts 15

Topic: Journey through the book of Acts.

Key Passages: Acts 15: 1-35

Sermon Blurb: In this message, we will see the Gospel message under attack. Will the Jewish believers require their Gentile brothers and sisters come under the Law of Moses? Will they have to become Jewish first in order to be saved? We will see how the church leaders answer these questions and how that affects our lives today!

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!!!!!

Family Moment

Welcome back to our study through the book of Acts!

Grab your Bible and open it up to Acts 15

As you are getting there….

Let me catch up any guests we have today.

The book of Acts is all about the church that was launched by Jesus shortly after his resurrection and return to heaven.

We have seen the church growing like crazy!

We have seen the culture the church was born in trying to destroy it, and we will see more of that today and next week as well.

We have seen the other religious organizations around it trying to destroy it, we will see that again this week and next as well.

But God is God….and God’s church will never be stopped.

PAUSE

A teacher once asked the children in her Sunday school class, “If I sold my house and my car and gave all my money to the church, would I get into Heaven?”

“NO!” the children all answered.

“If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get into Heaven?”

Again, the answer was, “NO!”

“Well”, she continued, “then how can I get into Heaven?”

In the back of the class, a 5-year-old boy shouted, “You got to be dead!”

Now, that’s a true statement, right?

Although, not the answer the Sunday School teacher was going for!

But the question remains, “How are people saved?”

Or “How do people get to Heaven?”

Truly, this is the most important question we could ask of ourselves or others!

After all, the answer to this question will determine our eternal destiny, right?

Soooooooooo..............

How are people saved?

What response would you give if a random person at the grocery store walked up to you and asked you that very question?

What would you say?

Would you freeze?

Would you stumble over your words?

Would you say you don’t know...

And the GOOD NEWS for all of you today is this!!!!! This was the BIG QUESTION on the table in Acts 15!!!!!

You may not realize, but what happened in this chapter has directly impacted all of us today!!!

PAUSE

Remember in the past few weeks we say Paul and Barnabas’ go on their first mission trip....

They preached the Gospel....

They planted churches.....

They did great things!

Then came back to their sending church in Antioch and reported all that God had done and how He had opened the door of Faith to the Gentiles!

They reported how the Holy Spirit was moving.

How lost people were coming to faith in Jesus.

How lives were being changed.

How communities were being transformed!

Things were going good!!!!!

OR so one would think......

But often times we find when we think things are going GREAT other people do not.

Have you ever seen that in your life?

You think things are AWESOME and someone else thinks it is TERRIBLE!

Maybe in your marriage...you thought it was good and then your spouse asked to go to counseling....

Maybe you thought you had a best friend until you heard what they said about you behind your back....

Maybe you thought the person you elected had you best interest in mind until they got into office...

PAUSE

Here in Acts 15.....we are going to see the same thing.

While some thought things were going EXACTLY to GOD’S plan....others did not.....

It is always amazing to me how two people can look at the SAME situation and see things so differently....

PAUSE

Acts 15 starts with these words,

Acts 15: 1-35 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Uh oh. What’s happening here?

This verse tells us that “certain people” came from Jerusalem to the believers in Antioch with a message.

First, although we don’t know their names, we do know that these were Jewish Christians.

These were people INSIDE the church.

Second, we see that these people went a long way to bring this message to the believers in Antioch.

The trip from Judea to Antioch was roughly 300 miles!!!

So, these people were passionate about bringing this message!!!

But, what was their message?

Why did they travel so far to share it?

PAUSE

Look in your Bible....

Look at what we just read.....

Their message was, “Hey, that’s great that you guys have received Paul and Barnabas’ message of salvation by faith through grace...BUT

BUT we have traveled here from a LONG WAY away to let you know that there is more you have to do to be saved!!!!

In fact, they got it wrong........

UNLESS YOU ARE CIRCUMCIZED!!!

UNLESS YOU COME UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES!!!

UNLESS YOU FIRST BECOME JEWISH!!!

YOU CANNOT BE SAVED!!!

That is what they came to say!!!!

And understand that is NOT a small thing to say.....

This was not a “you can take it or leave it.”

Or a, “let’s agree to disagree” kind of thing.

These guys came with a very different message than Paul and Barnabas had preached.....

This was a different way of being saved!

And we know that because we learned that in Acts 13....

Back in

Acts 13:39 And by Him (Jesus) everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

CLEARLY Paul and Barnabas were saying that people could ONLY be saved on the basis of what Jesus Christ has done....

NOT based on Jewish laws.

NOT based on Jewish traditions.

NOT based on the law of Moses...

And these GOOD church going men objected, saying, “Jesus saves, but He only saves Jews! So, you MUST become Jewish first! You MUST come under the Law of Moses, just like we have.”

So the question is.....

Is that true????

PAUSE

Which brings us to our first point in the message....

1. The Gospel of grace is always under attack.

Repeat

Think about this...

It was only 50 AD when Acts 15 took place.

The church was just starting to expand throughout the Gentile world through when this happened.

It didn’t take the Devil long, did it?

And this is a tactic of the devil.

If he can’t stop the movement through persecution and fear from the outside, then maybe he can stop things from the inside!

And the same is true for us today. The Gospel message is STILL under attack.

I mean if you think about it the ONLY religion you see attacked in the news today is Christianity & the Jewish people….

Not Hinduism….

Not Scientology…..

Satan will do whatever he can to distort truth….

And if the ONLY truth is God’s…that is why it is the ONLY one attacked!!!!

PAUSE

Let’s go back to the story...so, what happened next?

2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad.

4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

And this brings us to the second point in today’s message:

2. The Gospel of grace is worth fighting for!

Repeat

We see Paul and Barnabas doing this right here!!

They don’t stand idly by when a group of believers come with a different message of salvation.

No, they knew that they needed to stand up for truth!

So, Paul and Barnabas stand up and confront these men, just like we cannot FEAR doing today.

I know this can be hard, and most of us don’t like to rock the boat...

BUT some things are worth fighting for!

And the Gospel is one of them!

So, whenever we hear others preaching a message of Jesus + or Jesus AND, we have to stand up and say NO!!!!

The salvation of souls is at stake!

Share a story about standing up for the Gospel like this…..

My wife and I were out shopping when we first moved here and we ended up talking with our sales guy. And as we try to do, we ended up asking if we could pray for him before we left. He agreed and after we prayed he began talking about how he was Catholic and how it’s all about being a good person, doing more good than bad and how we all end up in Heaven anyway.

Well, in that moment we felt that tension... Do I just smile, nod and walk away or do I speak up and defend the Gospel? You know what needed to be done, right?

Well, I said, “Do you mind if I share what the Bible says about salvation and how we get to Heaven?” And then I shared the Good News that we can be reconciled to God and guaranteed Heaven because of what Jesus Christ has done for us on the Cross.

Why rock the boat?

Why not just let him believe a lie?

Because people need to hear the Gospel!

There is only one way to be saved and it’s through faith in Jesus Christ alone!

PAUSE

Let’s keep reading….verse 5…....

5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.

So, there were more Jewish believers in Jerusalem that felt this way.

It's likely that these guys were part of the same group as the delegation that came to Antioch.

They were part of the Pharisees, who were the ultra-Orthodox Jews, so again, it makes sense that they would be the ones demanding adherence to the Law of Moses!

But, the apostles and elders met to talk about this most important issue, “How are people saved?”

Verse 7….

7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.

8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.

10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

And this brings us to our third point, jot this down...

3. It is by the grace that all people are saved!

Repeat

Now….What is grace?

Is “grace” the prayer we pray before a meal, right?

“Who will say “grace”?”

Well, that’s not what Peter is talking about here.

Circle that word “grace” in your Bible and write next to it gift or favor...

Peter was saying that both Jews and non-Jews are all saved by the free gift of Jesus!

NOT the works you or I do…

NOT circumcision.

NOT keeping the Law of Moses or anything else will save us!

Paul echoed these words in

Romans 3:27 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Think about the difference between a WAGE and a GIFT.

You EARN a wage, right?

And we’ve all earned death because we’ve all sinned.

Sin is our work and death is our wage.

BUT, you receive a gift, right?

And the gift of God is salvation through Jesus!

And we can choose to accept a gift or not…..

That is why the Gospel is such Good News!

It is a FREE gift offered to ANYONE!

But, we’re not done. Someone else adds to the discussion in verse 12…

12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me.

14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

16 “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— 18 things known from long ago.19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

Stop there….

This is incredible.

After Peter steps up and affirms that people are saved by grace through faith in Jesus...

James, the brother of Jesus and other leader at the church in Jerusalem, affirms what Peter had said based on Scripture.

And I love this.

James wants to make sure that everything they were doing was based on Scripture.

His main concern was, “Is this Biblical?”

This is a LARGE part of the problem we see going on in many denominations today…

They have shifted away from, “Is it Biblical” to “Is it culturally accepted.”

Take this passage as an example….

It is GREAT that Paul had his divine revelations and personal experiences…..

BUT… we need to make sure we test ALL things through the lens of Scripture!!!!

What has God said?

That’s what James is doing here!

And if denominations would do that today we would NOT be wandering into all the crazy stuff so many are!!!!!

PAUSE

But, what about you?

Is the Word of God your source for Truth?

Do you run all things you see, hear and experience through the True North of the Bible?

PAUSE

This brings us to our fourth point...

4. The Gospel of Grace is for ALL people!

Repeat.

James goes on to say that since it’s God’s will for gentiles to also come to faith in Jesus, let’s not make it hard for them.

In other words, let’s not put our Jewish yokes or burdens on them.

Let’s make it easy for them to come to Jesus and be a part of the family of God!

What about you and me?

Do we intentionally seek to make it easy for non-Christians to come to faith in Jesus?

Do we show love and kindness, hospitality and warmth to those outside of the faith who are interested or seeking Jesus?

Or do we make it hard or impossible for them to come to faith?

PAUSE

I know that here at FC, our desire is to make sure that we don’t put extra stumbling blocks in the way of people who are seeking Jesus.

That’s also part of why we seek to create a hospitable, loving, generous environment here at church. Because we want to make it easy for people who are not yet Christians to come to Jesus.

But what about you in the way you interact with your family, friends, co workers, classmates, or neighbors?

Do you set up religious hurdles for unbelievers to jump over, or cause stumbling blocks that have nothing to do with the Gospel?

Rather than making it hard for people to come to Jesus, maybe we need to ask, “what can I do to make it easier?”

PAUSE

Let’s read the rest of this passage and see what God has for us….Verse 22…

22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.

23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.

24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—

26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.

28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:

29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.Farewell.

30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.

32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them.

35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

Stop there….

What an amazing ending to what was a very disturbing start to this chapter, right?

The Gospel of grace was attacked by people inside the church.

The apostles fought for the truth.

And they became unified!

And it ends with MANY OTHERS teaching and preaching the gospel!!!!!

PAUSE

Let me give you your life application today…..

And for those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church.

We love to end our messages with an application point to your life.

Something that you can take away from the message and apply to your life this week.

This week’s life application says this……

Life Application: The Gospel is “the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe”, yet most of us don’t share it with others. Commit to writing out the Gospel in your own words and sharing it with someone this week. As a result of today’s message, I will_______________________.

Let me encourage you to write down one simple thing you WILL do as a result of what you learned this week….

And watch what God does!!!!

Let’s Pray…..

Offering

Capital Update now and again…