Gospel unitty

Intro

Hey guys, It’s super great to be with you tonight. I am so grateful for all the Lord did during our retreat together It was really a great time of fellowship, worship, bible study and hopefully freedom

If you have your Bibles go ahead and turn to and tonight we will be in verse 1-10

English Standard Version Chapter 2

2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those lwho seemed influential) the gospel that mI proclaim among the Gentiles, nin order to make sure I was not running or had not orun in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, pwas not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 qYet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who rslipped in to spy out sour freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, tso that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that uthe truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those vwho seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; wGod shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential xadded nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been yentrusted with zthe gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, vwho seemed to be apillars, perceived the bgrace that was given to me, they cgave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, dthe very thing I was eager to do.

This is a passage we come to with great gratitude. Even though this seems distant from the concerns of us today what I think we will learn is it’s super relevent and it describes a meeting that took place at the start of the church that had

Huge consequesnce even for us today.

and what we will once agiN RECOGNIZE is that God procted all of us on the day the meeting took place

so right away we see Paul still telling his story. He says 14 years after his conversion he goes up to Jerusalm.

and he goes with guys that have been on mission with him. Baranbas and Titus.

And he went because he was responding to a revelation from God and for a fear he was wrestling with internally.

and it’s intersting right? Paul is not a guy that we normally think of us afraid. When you read about all the hardships Paul face and all the challenges he face in acts he normally looks like a super bold and confident dude.

Let me illustrate it for you this way. Back in 1998 I was having a great summer. Tons of friends. Crossing creeks. Just super confident. Life was good.

but then in August something happened I went to High school. and I heard about this thing called fresshman friday. And I was afraid. I had the normal what’s the first day of school going be like conversation in my head.

I also had the whose going kill me on freshman friday. I was afraid. and maybe rightfuly so. People got thrown in trash cans. Food thrown at them

but alas I survied.

Paul had to feel that way a little. and some have thought maybe he was concred that his message or methods of sharing the gospel had been wrong. But that’s not what it was

Paul was heading to Jerusalme in response to something God was doing in him.

Something God had shown him. So it makes no sense for him to be uncertain about what God had shown him

Nothing was threating his certainty in the gospel but something was threating his fruitfulness in gospel work.

Galatians for You Paul’s Fear: Why He Went

If the other apostles did not confirm his message and renounce the false teachers, it would be very hard for him to retain his converts.

See false teachers were going around and preaching something different then Paul was teaching. They said paul had a cheap gospel or “easy believism”

but Paul new his message was reveled by God and therfore true.

But if the early leaders of the church didn’t have sound doctirnce Paul had a legitiment fear that he was running his race in vain.

It’s a legitement fear. I mean if you think about it in a pratical way. A lot of runners in our minisry. Imagine you go through all the training. All the correct teaching on running. and then you start to run the race only to find out you have done it wrong or you are in the wrong lane or you are at the wrong race

Or worse people have lied about you and caused all of it to be in vain. That would be super dishearting.

so imagine you have the most important truth in the world and people are actively trying to underimine it.

His other fear came from this idea that the church in jerusalme wouldn’t be ready to recive the true gospel.

Which is truly heartbreaking. Anyone who has been saved by Gods grace, who has expierenced his mercy wants others to know.

but yet there were people who were preaching a false gospel. There were people who were making damging claims

and a lot of it deals with predjuce. there were Jewish people who didn’t think other cultures could actaully be saved without being Jewish.

They were holding onto traditon. but it wasn’t right and it was hindering people from coming to faith in Jesus.

Galatians for You The Stakes: True Church Unity

John Stott put it this way:

“It was one thing for the Jerusalem leaders to give their approval to the conversion of the Gentiles, but could they approve of … commitment to the Messiah without inclusion in Judaism? Was their vision big enough to see the gospel of Christ not as a reform movement within Judaism but as good news for the whole world, and the church of Christ … as the international family of God?”

The struggle was because most of the early church leaders hand’t left Jerusalme. They hadn’t followed Jesus command to go to the nations with the gopsel. They hadn’t worked out the implacations of the gospel For people who were converting from paganism.

but Puals heart is to help all christian realize the freeom they had in christ (4) and the this freedom came from the truth of the gospel.

Paul new the stakes could not have been higher. This conversation could literlly split the church.

but Paul longed for what we should all long for. He longed for unity without the church.

so Paul takes titus with him to show someone who had been touched by th grace of Jesus but hadn’t lived accorind to Jewish rituals.

He was trying to help the church understand that any coverting to Jesuralm would not make Tituse “more saved”

that because of the work of Jesus in titus life he was complete because of what Jesus had done.

to have add anything to the gospel is undermining the very nature of the gospel.

But the leaders in Jeruslam recived Paul and Titus well saying

Galatians for You The Verdict: Welcome

God does not judge by external appearance” (v 6). Externalities are to do with our doing; internalities have to do with our being; and Christianity is about who I am in Christ, not what I do for Him.

and that’s a great reminder. Christian is about who I am in Christ not what I do for him.

So who are we? We are someone deeply loved by God.

When God sees us he sees Jesus.

God cannot help but seing you through the eyes of love.

But that can be hard to beleive right?

Elizabeth and I were talking about that last night during dinner. A lot of our early faith years was shaped by yes God loves you but you have to walk on eggshells.

If you mess up. If you sin. If you blow it God will bring his wrath down on you.

So don’t even have the appearnce of evil.

So we lived in this endless cycle of guilt and shame.

we wanted to live as people deeply loved by God but just had a hard time beleiving it.

We didn’t want to be defined by our childhood(kids of divorced parents)

or our failures

or our jobs

but man it was hard.

but when we think abou tthe beuty of the gospel we can be reminded we are more then our accomplishments and failures.

we are more then our present or our future.

we are loved by God.

and this is what I long for each one of you!

that you would know how Loved you truly are and you would stay there.

Divine love is absolutley unconditional, unlimted, and unimaginably extravagent.

andt it’s the kind of love God has for those who are in Christ.

When we focus on the external we are robbed of Gods love and we Rob others of Gods love.

but when we add nothing to the message of the gospel then we get all of Jesus.

it’s what Paul says jeruslm did.

v 6- they added nothing to my message

They agteed it’s by faith alone in christ alone that saved people.

not performace and not ritual.

and the implications of this reality are fundamnely to udrstanding the Christian message.

In puals day there were countless regulaiotns for “cleanliness”

today we have the same thing. We have what we have to do to make us acceptable.

Writer of hebrews helps us understand that wasn’t enough

Galatians for You The Verdict: Welcome

The gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order

the only hope we have to be made clean is thorugh the blood of Jesus

and the outcome of this is freedom.

1st- Cultral freedom.

Moralistic relgiouns address dress and behviour. It says

Galatians for You The Outcome: Freedom

If your salvation depends upon obeying the rules, then you want your rules to be very specific, do-able and clear. You don’t want: Love your neighbor as yourself, because that’s an impossibly high standard which has endless implications! You want: Don’t go to movies or Don’t drink alcohol or Don’t eat this type of food.

I followed this for a while.

No secualr music and no rated R movies.

and sure there is music tha’ts not awesome to listen to and movies specifically that feature pornaography that are wrong

but when I define my relationship with God by what the culure says is acceptable then I won’t ever feel right.

the second freedom the gospel leads to is an emotial freedom

Instead of feeling guilt or insucurity all the time we are fee to worship God and come bodly before his thorne because fo the grace we have epxierencd in christ.

we don’t obey to earn salvtion

we obey in the freedom of GRatitude.

and and all of this brings unity in the church.

we get to live in unity with other christians

Rivertrees mission

To help one another know Jesus by sharing the gospel and our lives

the 2 handed approach to missions

Yes we want to tell everyone about Jesus but we also want to help those in need.

and when the church is united we take what Paul says in v 10 seriously.

we remeber the poor.

we remeber that Jesus cared for the least of people.

Some prayers tonight

1st New for me but transformationl.

God help me see myself the way you see me

2- Help me see others the way you see them

let’s pray