Sermon Tone Analysis

the importance of a joyful church to our witness

It is a powerful testimony to unbelievers when churches go through difficult times with peace and joy.

my title chosen carefully

what constitutes a united church?

how is unity achieved?

One popular method of achieving unity is to remove doctrine and theology and simply agree to agree on everything.

this is very important to our culture and it has destroyed some denominations!

this is not the unity I am speaking of and it is not what is taught in the NT

Doctrine and theology are the foundation of the church, remove them and the building crumbles.

(Mt 7:24-27)

Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the wise and foolish builders

Jesus not teaching about physical houses but the lives of individuals

the church is the collection of saved individuals

the first major doctrinal issue to face the NT church had to do with how we are saved

the issue: Jewish Christians who could not let go of Judaism and tried to force it on the Gentile believers

the question: is the work of the Father, the Son and the HS sufficient and complete or is there something remaining for us to do?

the answer:

Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journey: saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone

Peter’s vision and subsequent experience with Cornelius: saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone

ultimate answer: the testimony of the scripture

salvation is God’s sovereign, gracious work of raising a dead sinner to new life in Christ and giving that new believer the gift of faith to trust in the Lord Jesus and his finished work on the cross

Faith is aroused by grace, upheld by grace, and energized by grace.

Grace reaches into the soul of the believer, generating and maintaining faith.

By God’s grace alone we trust Christ, and by grace we continue to believe.

(John MacArthur, Blog Post 06/19/19)

the result: a life of joyful love and obedience to Jesus as Master and Lord

no joyful love and obedience = no saving work of God (James: faith without works is dead; Mt 7:21-23)

with the major doctrine of salvation by sovereign grace resolved James turned his attention to the critical matter of maintaining unity between believers with radically different beliefs and backgrounds

Church unity is a key New Testament goal.

(Eph 4:3; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:13; Php 2:2)

how were the weak Jewish Christians to treat their immature Gentile brothers and sisters who were not circumcised and did not live according to the law of Moses?

how were the spiritually immature Gentile believers to treat their weak Jewish brothers and sisters who could not let go of their Jewishness?

the leaders of the Jerusalem church were not only concerned that the Jewish believers not trouble the Gentiles believers but that the Gentile believers not trouble the Jewish believers and that a door for witness remain open for witness to Jews

The Jewish believers were not to trouble the Gentile believers and the Gentile believers were not to use their freedom in Christ to pressure the Jewish believers into violating their consciences.

“… freedom in Christ does not grant the right to sin, or to offend another believer” (John MacArthur, Acts: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Acts 15)

What Eastwood needs to learn 2000 years later: work hard for unity and guard against disunity while staying doctrinally pure and theologically sound.

The Delegation

“it seemed good”

to resolve positively in favour = there was a vote

the result in v.25 - “having come to one accord” = the vote was unanimous

“with the whole church”

the decision by James was made in a closed meeting of church leaders

that decision and the plan to write an explanatory letter was made known to the church

that there was universal agreement indicates that the leaders sought feedback

Although they were primarily a Jewish church and this decision could have been viewed as a rejection of an important Jewish tradition it was united in doctrine.

they were united in their affirmation that salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone

on this most important doctrinal issue, truth was more important than tradition

“to choose men from among them”

men from the Jerusalem church were chosen to go with Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch with the letter

Jerusalem was the centre of Jewish Christianity and Antioch the centre of Gentile Christianity

this was to help Paul and Barnabas avoid the perception of bias

“leading men”

Judas and Silas were men who had a proven track record of ministry and leadership

they were among their most accomplished leaders

that and the fact a letter was written shows how serious the issue was and that they get it right with the Gentiles

“Judas called Barsabbas”

nothing is known about him other than that he was a leading man and a prophet

Important and effective leaders sometimes minister in obscurity.

Principle:

since this is true of leaders how much more of those who are not leaders!

those who minister to God’s people often do so with little to no recognition

what is our attitude when we don’t get noticed or affirmed in our service?

what do we think when someone is recognized but we aren’t?

who or what are we really working for?

“Silas”

also known as Silvanus

was given a prominent role in the history of the NT church

accompanied Paul on his 2nd missionary trip

served as Peter’s secretary (1 Pet 5:12)

Principle:

God raises a select few to high profile positions but the vast majority of his faithful servants minister in obscurity

this does not mean that the majority are inferior

the problem of making them into celebrities:

Jesus is our only celebrity

fame is a dangerous burden to place on a pastor or teacher

most eventually break under the burden

puts a very heavy burden on local pastors who do not have the time or resources to measure up

may lead to an inability to be satisfied in your local church and produce spiritual voyeurism

may also open a believer up to false teaching

the pressure on celebrities to conform to the world is very powerful and we have seen many of them cave in on important issues!

The Delivery

Acts 15:23-29

“the brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers” (23)

these are family terms not corporate or political terms

The Jerusalem church was a family.

(Acts 4:32-37, 2:42-47)

the church is an organism not an organization

example of family attitude:

held everything in common (Acts 4:32-37)

did not look selfishly at their possessions but sold what they did not need in order to provide for the needy

Acts 2:42-47 - devoted to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer, had all things in common, attending the temple together, received their food with glad and generous hearts

there was no sense of superiority from the Jewish Jerusalem church towards the newly established Gentile Antioch church!

Gentile believers were considered full fledged brothers not unbelievers as some of the weak Jewish believers had labelled them

“the apostles and the elders” (23)

Although they were a family there were leaders in the family who ruled with authority.

Apostles were chief - held extraordinary authority and power

according to Peter’s definition in Acts 1:21-22, 24 apostles no longer exist

had to be male

had to have been a member of the inner group of disciples from the baptism of Jesus to his ascension

must serve as an eye witness of and to his resurrection