It's chapter 15. We'll look at verses 1 to 18 this morning. A very important passage of Scripture for the future of the church at that time. The Gospel, the very Gospel of Christ. I hope you will follow me as I share this message this morning. We'll start off with just the first 12 verses. And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all things that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God? By putting a yoke on 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 in the same manner as they. Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Would you join me in prayer? Heavenly Father, I come to you in prayer and I thank you, Lord, that long ago the question of how we're saved, how we are made right with you, was settled. And we have the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. And I pray that as I proclaim the Gospel this morning, that there would be some that would hear and be saved today, or when they hear this message later. And Father, I thank You for the Gospel. I thank You for Jesus. I thank You for Your saving grace. And I pray that by Your Holy Spirit, I will be able to proclaim it well. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. There's an unconquered disease that is among us. You don't hear much about it like you used to, but it is still afflicting 37 million people worldwide. And that is the disease called AIDS. And it's a terrible death that many have experienced because of AIDS. And yet, one good thing that can come out of even something like AIDS is that it gives an illustration of our spiritual disease called sin. You see, there's several comparisons that I can make. One is that people can have AIDS and not know it. for months, perhaps even for a few years before the symptoms really began to show up. And it seems like there's a lot of people that have the disease of sin that leads to death, and yet people act like they don't have a disease, they don't have a spiritual problem. They don't realize the real problem that they have. And another thing about AIDS is this, that it's a slow death. It can take years before the symptoms begin to be very serious, and a long time before it finally brings death. And even so, this disease of sin typically does not bring death quickly. But oftentimes, people will not experience the death of sin in all its fullness until the end of a long life. And so, many people don't realize the urgency of the sin problem that they have, and they don't call upon the Lord to save them. But imagine a situation that I would describe that's different. Imagine that you're hiking and you slip and you fall down a cliff and you grab a hold of a tree. And you're holding on for dear life and then that tree from its roots begins to pull away from the cliff. And you know that if that tree doesn't hold and your hands don't hold on that tree, you'll fall to your death. In that situation, I can imagine you're going to be calling, Help! Somebody save me! Somebody save me! Perhaps someone will hear your voice and can throw a rope to you or call for help in some way. The more immediate the danger, the more urgent our sense of need for salvation is. And yet sadly, many people do not see the urgency of turning to the Lord Jesus and calling upon Him to save us. And don't think for a moment that just because you're young, if you're still young, that the urgency is not there. Drew and I have preached the funerals of at least a half dozen people under the age of 25. Never thought it would happen to them, but it did. So we're going to answer the question this morning of how a person is saved from the sin problem. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, we all are born with this sin problem. And how can we be saved from it? Because the wages of sin is death. We look around us and we see the suffering that sin brings. How can we be saved from sin? How can we be forgiven? Well here in Acts chapter 15, the church was called together to debate this very issue. In verse 2, we read that there was no small dissension and dispute with them. There were some that were saying, yes, Jesus had to die on the cross that we might be saved, but in order for you to receive that salvation, you must be circumcised. You must keep the law of Moses. In other words, it's Christ plus works. in order for us to be saved. And Paul said, no. It's Christ alone. It's grace alone. It's by faith alone that we're saved. It's not by works. It's not by keeping the law. And so they met in Jerusalem. They decided, well, we've just got to settle this. And so they traveled down to Jerusalem and met with the other apostles and the elders of the church. and they discussed, and they prayed, and they heard the Scriptures, and arrived at a consensus of how indeed we are saved. And this is very important, because though we take it for granted as evangelicals that most of us believe that we're saved by grace through faith, the majority of people do not believe that. The majority of people believe that we're saved by our works, our religious works, by being a good person, by keeping the Ten Commandments, that fundamentally it boils down to our works are required in order to save us. And if there are some here this morning that discover that you have been basing your belief of salvation on your works rather than wholly upon Christ and faith in Him, I hope you'll hear the gospel today and be saved. But we also live in a society that does not believe salvation by grace through faith alone. We live among people who believe that we are saved by our works. And I want to equip you to be better able to share the truth of the Gospel, that we're saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ. Now how do we know that is the Gospel, that is the way of salvation? Well first of all, God has shown us how to be saved through His apostles as we see right here in chapter 15. As Peter spoke, as Paul spoke, as Barnabas spoke, as James spoke, they all clearly demonstrated to all gathered, including those who did not initially agree, that yes, we are saved by grace through faith. And notice who speaks up first. Peter spoke up. Now at this point, he had become a missionary. There in Judea, he had traveled up to Antioch and ministered there. He was a missionary at this point, but Peter came to Jerusalem probably for this very discussion that would take place. And he took the lead in addressing this question. And notice his testimony in verse 7. He says, And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. You remember the story. in Acts chapter 10, where God chose Peter as the leader of the apostles to be the one to go to Cornelius, a God-fearing Gentile, and share the gospel with him. And through that experience, Peter was convinced that it's not by works, it's not by becoming a Jew, but it's solely faith in Jesus. is how we are saved. And notice what he goes on to say in verses 8 and 9. Basically that salvation is inward and not outward. It's not what we do outwardly, but what happens in our heart that brings about salvation. So verse 8, So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us, Jews, and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Notice how verse 9 says that God made no distinction between how the Jews were saved and how this Gentile was saved. It was by faith. It was by God's grace. You see, with God, He doesn't look at Jewish faith Jewish flesh and Gentile flesh as being any different. He doesn't see a difference between a white man and a black man. Between a man that has tattoos all over his body and the one who doesn't. God looks past the things that we look at and goes straight to the heart. And what matters to God is the heart. Whether your heart has been cleansed, whether you have repented in your heart, whether you have believed in your heart, that is what makes the difference between those who are saved and those who are not. That so many people think that just as long as you outwardly look like a Christian, and act like a Christian, and talk like a Christian, or whatever faith you hold to, that that is going to make you right with God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Remember how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23? He said, you are like whitewashed sepulchres. On the outside you look beautiful, clean and white, but inside you're full of corruption and dead men's bones. God sees the heart that they had not been cleansed on the inside, and the same thing is true with us today. God knows the heart. And I want to ask you right now, everyone that's listening to me, God looks beyond what people see, And he sees the heart. He knows exactly what you're like in your heart, in your spirit. You can fool men, but you can't fool God. And if you have not repented of your sins, if you have not placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, your heart has yet to be cleansed. You're still not right with God. God knows your heart. And Peter also made it very clear that salvation is by grace through faith alone. Again, he says in the last of verse 9, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Why are you saying you've got to be circumcised? You've got to keep the law in order to be saved. Nor we, nor our fathers were able to keep the law. Listen, the law does not save you, the law condemns you. You can't keep the law well enough. And so, don't be telling these people they've got to be keeping the law in order to be saved. God cleanses our heart through faith. He says there in verse 9. It's through faith. Verse 11, but we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same manner as they. In verse 9, we're saved by faith. Verse 11, we're saved by God's grace. Put them together. We're saved by God's grace through faith. Through faith. This is the way Peter says that we must be saved. It is through faith. You know, we want to contribute to our salvation. We want to say what we've done to make ourselves right with God. You can't do anything. Our salvation and forgiveness of sins and eternal life is not based on what we do, but based on what Christ has done. The only thing we do is simply respond in repentance and faith. Trusting not ourselves, but trusting in Christ. That is how we are saved. Ephesians 2, 8, Romans 6, 23 says that salvation is a gift. It's a gracious gift. God has provided it through Christ. We just have to believe God and accept the gift of eternal life through faith. And by the way, look at the last of verse 11 again. We shall be saved in the same manner as they. We Jews shall be saved in the same manner as they. Now how was Cornelius saved? Peter preached the gospel. He believed. And he was saved. And we know he was saved because of the evidence of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now Peter gave him no instruction about the Holy Spirit, but yet, as the moment God saw faith in his heart, He gave him the Holy Spirit. The evidence of the Holy Spirit was clear because, again, without being taught, He started speaking in tongues. Clearly the Holy Spirit had been given to him. And Romans 8 and 9 says that a true believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. How could he have been saved? How could he have been given the Holy Spirit unless he was already saved simply by faith? Listen, this man had never been circumcised. He was a God-fearing Gentile. Just attended the synagogue. That's as far as it went. This man had not even made a profession of his faith yet. This man had not been baptized yet. This man had not joined a church yet. This man had not done any Christian good works. All he had done was believe. and by his faith in what Christ did for him, he was given the Holy Spirit, God proved that we're saved by faith. And again, Peter says, we Jews are saved the same way Gentiles are saved. Now some people say, well, I'm a Jew, therefore I've got to keep the law in order to truly be saved. No, you Jews are saved the same way. It's by grace through faith. And you need to understand that. And so, the argument was convincing, no doubt. And so, Peter gave up and gave testimony of salvation by grace through faith. You know, God says in the Old Testament, that everything shall be established at the mouth of two or three witnesses. Not just one, but two or three witnesses. And so, not only did Peter stand up, but Paul and Barnabas stood up as well. God affirmed this salvation through miraculous signs. given through the ministry of Paul and Barnabas. Verse 12, Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul, declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. No doubt they said, listen, we preach the gospel of God's grace. that you're saved by faith in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. We have proclaimed His resurrection, that He is alive. And multitudes of Gentiles were saved. And we know they were saved because the Holy Spirit indwelt them as well and changed their lives. And God did mighty miracles of healing and God did other miracles. God confirmed the message of grace through faith, salvation by grace through faith by miracles and signs and wonders. And folks, the same thing is still true today. God is still affirming the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. God is still saving souls. People are still being born again with the gospel message. Lives are still being changed. Right here in this audience are changed lives by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can imagine that Paul and Barnabas brought with them some Gentiles who used to live ungodly lives, or even worship idols, and standing before them were godly men, made godly by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so after Peter and Paul and Barnabas stood up and gave testimony of how God demonstrated the truth of the gospel with giving of the Holy Spirit and miraculous works. Then we also see another evidence of the gospel of grace and that is that God has told us how to be saved through His Word. Now James speaks up at this particular time. He had become the leader of the Jerusalem church. Now this is not James the Apostle. He was martyred back in chapter 12. This is James the half-brother of Jesus. And he became the leader of the church. And he did not have a lot of personal experience with the conversion of the Gentiles. And so he decided to speak up on behalf of the gospel of grace through faith by pointing to the Scriptures. And he quotes from Amos chapter 9 verses 11 and 12. Look at verses 16 and 17. After this I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up. Indeed, the temple was destroyed through the Babylonians, and Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people were scattered. And God says, I'm going to restore My people Israel. Verse 17, So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things. James says, listen, our Scriptures point to the fact that the day will come when God will work through His people Israel, God will send the Messiah by implication here, and then the Gentiles would seek the Lord and the Gentiles would be saved and call upon the name of the Lord. Now I must digress and point out that what James does here is there's a dispute, there's an argument going on in the church. And how are we to settle disagreements and disputes? We are to settle it by looking to the Word of God. He quotes from the Scriptures, and through the Scriptures shows how we are to believe, what we are to believe, how we are to live, and so forth. We Baptists, our Baptist heritage is strongly on the belief that Scripture is our sole authority. And James refers to Scripture. And where Scripture is silent, we may have our opinions, we may have our personal convictions, but we are to unite around the truth of the Word of God. And so what does James indicate here based on the Scriptures? One is that salvation is individual and not collective. Verse 14, James says, Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. He talks about the fact that those who are saved are called out of a group of people. Whether you're a Jew or Gentile, Not all are going to believe the gospel, but of those who do, God calls them out to be a new people of God. The very word church, ekklesia in Greek, means a called out assembly. We're called out of this world. We're called out to live a different kind of life from this world, to believe differently from this world. We are the called out one. And we're not saved because we're Jew, we're not saved because we're Gentile, we're not saved because we belong to some religious group, but rather we are saved by our own personal faith commitment to Jesus Christ. Have you heard the call of the gospel? And have you responded with your own repentance, your own faith in Jesus Christ? Listen, you can't be saved on the coattails of your mama, or your grandparents, or because you belong to a church. Listen, you must be saved by your own personal commitment, faith commitment to Jesus Christ. And James also indicates here that salvation is for all, not just for Jew, but it has always been in the plan of God, not just to save the sons of Abraham through Jacob, but to save all people. You remember when God called Abraham in Genesis chapter 12? He said, in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. God's purpose was not just to save the sons of Abraham, but God's purpose was to save all people. People from all nations. And so, James says here that all the Gentiles who are called by my name, they may seek the Lord. Salvation is for all. Why is this? Because sin is a universal problem. Romans chapter 3 verses 22 and 23 says, There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's no difference between Jew and Gentile. We're all sinners. We all need to be saved. And then furthermore, Galatians 3.22 says, But the Scripture has confirmed all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. We're all guilty. We're all sinners. And so, this salvation is extended to all who will believe. It's a universal problem. The only difference between one sinner and another is the depth and degree of sin. We're all sinners. We're all sinners. The only difference between one AIDS victim and another is just the progression of the disease. And so, all can be saved. The gospel goes out to all because all are sinners. And furthermore, Christ is a universal provision for sinners. How many Scriptures need I share with you to demonstrate this truth? Romans 10, 12-13, For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever, whoever, Jew, Gentile, Greek, doesn't matter. Call upon the Lord and you can be saved. 2 Corinthians 5.15 says that Christ died for all. All. The Gospel is for all. 1 Timothy 2.6 that Christ gave Himself a ransom for all. The Gospel is for all. Years ago, there was an evangelist named A.H. Stewart. And he was concerned about his soul, and someone told him to be saved, to be forgiven, to have eternal life, all you need to do is repent of your sins and trust in Jesus as your Savior. He thought that was too simple, that was too easy, there must be a better way. And so he set about finding peace with God his own way. He joined a church. sang in the choir, got active doing all kinds of good works in the ministry of the church, and yet he still did not find peace for his soul. One day he was reading the parable of the sower. We're familiar with that parable. And he ran across this verse. Then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. He sat down his Bible and said, even the devil knows that we're saved by faith. And at that moment, he turned to the Lord and just put his trust in Him and was saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And his life was changed and he became a great evangelist for the Lord. You know, the Bible warns that there are false teachers that will tell you the wrong way of salvation. Salvation by works, salvation by religion, by rituals, what have you. But the true gospel of salvation is by faith and repentance of sin, putting our trust in Jesus Christ, we will be saved. Listen, the door of salvation is open for all. All we have to do is simply believe the Gospel, put our faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, walk through that door, and embrace the gift of eternal life which God wants to give you. Will you receive it this morning? Will you enter the door? Would you bow with me in prayer? Heavenly Father, I thank You for the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank You that He died for our sins on the cross, that He rose again and ascended up on high, seated at the right hand of God. We thank You that all who call upon Him in repentance and faith can be saved, can be forgiven, can have eternal life, will receive the Holy Spirit, will be born again, their life will be changed. Lord, continue to save souls, we pray, in our generation, in our day. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.