Sermon Tone Analysis

A favorite joke among San Francisco lawyers concerns the phony who fakes an injury in an auto accident, comes to court in a wheel chair, and is awarded two hundred thousand dollars.

When the verdict is announced, the insurance company lawyer snaps, /You're going to be tailed by a private eye wherever you go from now on, and as soon as you take one step out of that wheelchair, we'll throw you in jail./

The phony smiles and advises the lawyer pleasantly, /Don't go to all that trouble.

I'm going from here to the Waldorf in New York, then to the Savoy in London, then to the Ritz in Paris, then on to the French Riviera--and after that to Lourdes for the miracle./

Some people will go a long way to intentionally deceive people; often as a means of getting something.

Some people deceive out of fear.

They put on masks and hide their true self.

Today, we will look where fear can lead you.

Gen. 12:11 – Because of fear Abraham lied about Sarah his wife and Pharaoh took her as wife.

Plagues struck Egypt because of Abraham’s fear.

John 7:13 – People were afraid to even talk openly about Jesus for fear of the Jews.

Today, some people are still afraid to talk openly about Jesus for fear of someone.

Afraid of what others will think, say, or do.

Fear is natural when you KNOW something can happen.

However, it can lead to something worse, it can lead to compromising your beliefs and faith.

You can end up NOT standing up for your faith.

Allowing false teachings to go unanswered, and in the case of our society, because of the fear of many, many pastors 50 – 70 years ago, Biblical doctrinal preaching from the pulpit disappeared to the point that Jesus has become irrelevant in today’s society.

Christians who allowed this to happen, and Christians who participated in that compromise, for whatever reason, will have to answer for that.

What we must do is make sure WE do not compromise or become hypocritical in our faith.

We will look at 2 reasons why being afraid to live for the gospel can lead to condemnation.

Paul will show us that it doesn’t matter WHO you are, you cannot compromise the gospel.

Remember what he said in 1:9?

If ANYONE brings a different gospel let him be accursed.

Strong words.

TWO reasons why being afraid to live the gospel can lead to condemnation.

READ 11 -1 4.

!

I.Being afraid to stand up for the gospel can lead to condemnation because it leads to stumbling.

(vv.

11, 12).

How can being afraid to stand for the gospel lead to stumbling?

Is stumbling wrong?

First, stumbling, especially leading others to stumble is serious.

We see very specific teachings on this in the new testament:

* Sermon on the Mount – Jesus said if you right eye, hand, etc., causes you to stumble, pluck it out, cut it off.

* Matt.

18:6 – Jesus said, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.

* 1 Cor.

8:13 – Paul said that if his eating meat causes a brother to stumble, then he would not eat meat again.

It is clear that stumbling is very serious – whether you are the stumbler or the stumblee.

SO, how does being afraid to live the gospel lead stumbling?

Look at verses 11 & 12.

In verse 11 - Paul has stated that Peter/Cephas stood condemned, condemned by what or who? [Some manuscripts say Peter and others Cephas – both mean the same thing; rock.

Peter is from the Greek while Cephas if Hebrew.

It is the name Jesus gave him who used to be called Simon.]

The word condemned is an interesting word.

The form of it indicates that Peter’s condemnation was either by his contradictory actions OR by his own conscience.

Let’s look at both.

!! A.Contradictory actions.

In what way was Peter contradictory?

Verse 13 will use the term, ‘Hypocrisy.”

Look at verse 12 – Apparently Peter used to eat with Gentiles.

We may not think of this as much, but in the 1st century, anyone who remotely considered themselves a good Jew would never think of eating with Gentiles because Gentiles were “UNLCLEAN.”

Searching through the OT will not find one particular reference which says that all Gentiles are unclean.

This was a tradition which had taken the force of the law in ancient Judaism.

We can see this in Peter’s life in Acts 10 when he had the vision of clean and unclean animals – /“What God has declared clean, don’t YOU call it unclean.”/

IN OTHER WORDS, take my Gospel to the gentiles.

After this Peter confessed in Acts 10:28, /God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean./

Peter began associating with gentiles after this as verse 11 in our passage says – LOOK at verse 11 again, Prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.

These same people that Paul is fighting in Galatia, the Judaizers, caused even Peter to contradict himself – to say one thing and then do another.

The Bible says Peter /separated/ himself, held himself “aloof.”

He told Cornelius that Jews should not consider Gentiles unclean, but here Peter is saying one thing and doing another.

This could cause the Gentile believers to stumble, to hesitate in their faith, to think that maybe they do need to become Jews to be saved; to hold to a works-oriented faith.

Causing others to stumble leads to condemnation because of contradictory actions, or through your own conscience.

!! B. Conscience.

I said that Peter’s condemnation was either through his contradictory actions OR his own conscience.

It may very well be a combination of both.

Let’s see how his own conscience could condemn him through two events.

!!! 1st – We saw in Mark’s gospel that Peter swore that even if all others denied Jesus he would not, that he would even die for him.

What happened?

* When Jesus was arrested what did Peter do? Ultimately he ran for his life.

* Regaining a bit of courage, he went to the temple area and then denied Jesus 3 times.

Perhaps this event was refreshed in Peter’s mind – when he separated himself from

the gentiles, perhaps his conscience was pricked.

There you go Peter, once again, all talk and no show.

A conscience empowered by the Holy Spirit has a way of convicting us, doesn’t it?

Let’s look at the other I’ve already mentioned.

!!! 2nd – Cornelius in Acts 10, in obedience to the vision God gave him invited Peter to his house.

Peter received his own vision from God specifically telling him to NOT declare unclean what God has declared clean.

People do not generally forget visions they have had.

I don’t remember dreams for very long after I wake unless I write them down or repeat them, even then, my memory is of my repeating it, not the dream itself.

In the summer of 1981, I had a dream-vision while living in Columbia.

To this day, 25 ½ years later, I remember that dream-vision – I remember what it was about, I remember ALL the events in it, I remember the emotions in it, I still remember waking and sitting bolt upright in bed with tears running down my face.

YOU DO NOT FORGET DREAMS/VISIONS FROM GOD!

You do not forget!

I am sure that Peter remembered this vision about Cornelius, especially when Paul confronted him to his face about his hypocrisy.

When faced with the prospect of the Judaizers going back to Jerusalem and accusing Peter of being a bad Jew for eating with Gentiles, he separated himself from the gentile believers.

Peter’s fear of the Judaizers allowed himself to stumble and very well may have caused others to stumble.

IMAGINE how the Gentile believers must have felt!

Some may have concluded that, maybe we are not really Christians after all, maybe Cephas is not if this is how he is going to act when those folks from Jerusalem show up.

WHO NEEDS THIS!

Being afraid to stand up for the gospel can lead to condemnation because it leads to stumbling.

You can be condemned because of your actions, your conscience, and because it leads you or others to stumble.

In their faith.

!

II.Leading Christians astray leads to condemnation (vv.

13, 14).

This is easy to understand.

We are accountable for our actions, especially when they lead others astray.

LOOK at verse 13.

Peter was so influential that his actions caused a split in the local church.

The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.

Our lives and actions matter.

Leading Christians astray leads to condemnation because: