Thank you, worship team, for leading us this morning. If you would turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 15, we'll continue in our study in the book of Acts. I know we've been there a while, we will be here a while, but I pray that God is speaking to us as we think of our church, as we think of the church of Jesus Christ in general, that we might see God's love for his church as it began, as it continued to strengthen, as people were coming to know Christ. Let's pray together this morning. Father, again, we come to you. I pray that there is nothing that stands between us and your word this morning. And I pray that you might speak to our hearts. I pray that you might challenge our hearts so that we might walk with you. that we might be conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ. It's in his great name we pray, amen. As we think about the book of Acts and as we think of passages like this, chapter 15, we're reminded that this is a narrative. This is somewhat of a story or an account that is being written to a specific person to describe the events of what was happening at that particular time. And so how do we handle this passage of Scripture, and how do we handle the book of Acts as a whole as we think about that? We know that Luke was writing to his patron, and his patron was Theophilus. He was an individual, he was a Gentile most likely, who had an interest in Christianity if he wasn't a believer, and he's asking these questions about how this happened. How did this all come about? We read that Luke wrote to Theophilus in the book of Luke. He was writing to him and giving him this history of the work of Jesus while Jesus was here on earth. And then when we get to the book of Acts, we see that he continues this writing to Theophilus, the book of Luke part two, we might say, but the work of God through the apostles in the book of Acts. And he is giving him this context of how and why and what happened as far as this church coming to be. And as we mentioned early on, if we didn't have the Book of Acts, we would end up with the Gospels, the end of Christ's ministry, his death, his burial, his resurrection, and all of a sudden we'd be reading these letters to the church. We'd start in Romans, 1 Corinthians, and we'd say, what in the world happened here? in between these two points. And the book of Acts is this great book of transition that gets us from the Old Testament, basically, to the New Testament, and Christ's work with the church to proclaim the message of the gospel to a world that desperately needs to hear. And so as we look at this passage of scripture, there's several things that we need to understand as we make our way through this passage, and any passage, really, in the book of Acts. We need to understand the context, and as we look at chapter 15, we're reminded of chapter 14, which is a great place to go. In chapter 14, we have Paul and Barnabas making their way through a number of different places, actually 13 and 14. He starts off in Antioch, Syria. They make their way to the Isle of Crete. They go across Crete. They make their way up into Antioch, Syria. And then they make their way down Iconium Listera Derby, proclaiming the message of the gospel. People are coming to know Christ. Gentiles are coming to know Christ as their Savior. And this is a switch. Even though we know that Paul goes into the synagogues and preaches the gospel to the Jews first, and then to the Greeks. And people are coming to know Christ. Lives are being transformed. The church is growing. The church is under a great growth spurt as we look at chapters 13 and 14. And Paul and Barnabas now make their way back through those cities, strengthening the church. They make their way to Antioch and they give a report. Chapter 14 ends with that report from Paul and Barnabas and all that God is doing in the life of Gentiles as he's bringing Jews and Gentiles together. And so in that context, we come to chapter 15, where we know that individuals from Jerusalem make their way up to Antioch and say, you know what, if you're truly going to be a believer in Jesus Christ, You need to be circumcised. You need to follow some of these Mosaic customs and traditions and rituals, the Law of Moses. And if you want to truly be a believer in Jesus Christ, that's what needs to happen. Obviously, that causes some dissension that we looked at last week. And so, Paul and Barnabas and a group of individuals from Antioch make their way back to Jerusalem. And what they're doing in Jerusalem is meeting with a council of people, the apostles and the elders, and some other folks who had some interest in this. They have a heated debate about what they should do. Should Gentiles be under the law of Moses? Should we place that yoke upon them? And as we read last week, and as we studied last week, we recognize that Peter stands up and he says, hey, remember back in chapter 10, he didn't actually say in Acts chapter 10, but he said, remember when I was called to go speak to Cornelius. And he was a Gentile. And the same Holy Spirit that came upon us in Acts chapter 2, in the upper room, is the same Holy Spirit that came on Cornelius. And God is working in the same way with the Gentiles as he worked with us. Do you remember that? And then, he turns it over to Paul and Barnabas. And Paul and Barnabas share again, this is what God's doing. This is what God is doing with the Gentiles. And then James stands up and he says, we shouldn't put an extra burden on the Gentiles. And he comes up with a compromise. He comes up with a way to make this work. And here's what you need to do. You don't eat anything strangled. You don't eat anything with blood. You don't eat meat that's been offered to idols and you abstain from sexual immorality. If you do those, man, you're going to be doing well. And so that's the message that's being sent as we continue on in Acts chapter 22. And that gives us the structure of this passage. So as we're looking at this and as we're studying this, we understand the context of where this fits into the whole of the message of the book of Acts. I'm sure Theophilus is asking, well, why and how? Why would they be asking them about circumcision? And so Luke is explaining that in chapter 15, how it came about, where really this wasn't something that was pressed onto the Gentiles. And so the structure, we see them meeting in the council in those verses that we looked at last week, verses 1 through 22. And then we pick up at verse 23 today, or in 22 today, excuse me, 21, then we pick up in 22, a letter is written, that takes us down to verse 29, then 30 through 35 is the delivery of that letter back to the church at Antioch in the response to the people. So there is a definite structure to the points that Luke is making. From there, it's the point. What is the aim of what Luke is talking about and what he's sharing with Theophilus? And really what he's talking about is there is nothing that is added to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His ascension into heaven, and by faith, by God's grace, ultimately, by faith, as we put our trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that He paid the penalty for our sins. That is what salvation is all about. There aren't any of these man-made regulations that go along with it. It's the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ and our faith in Him. So we have context, we have structure, we have aim, and then we have these theological issues that Luke is dealing with. Do we need something else to truly be followers of Jesus Christ? And he answers that question in this passage. He says, no. There's nothing else. The concessions that are being made and the compromises that are being made here have something to do with our purity and our holiness. and that we show love and deference to brothers and sisters in Christ. And so what these compromises teach us is they're not theological issues, they're practical issues. We know that the church ate together. They had these family dinners. We call them potlucks. And they would get together and they would eat together. We see that in Acts chapter 2 where they were gathering together daily, they were eating together so that no one was hungry, needs were being met, and that continued on in the church. And what James understood as he is speaking, he said, you know what, you're going to continue to have these meals. And you know what? There's going to be an area of contention if the Jews are feeling like you don't care what we feel and what we've grown up in and some of the tradition that we have and you're just eating anything that you choose to eat. This becomes a problem with us. And you know what? It's going to continue to divide and separate the church. And so Gentiles, would you be willing to make a concession? Would you be willing, out of your love for the brothers and sisters who grew up in this Jewish tradition, to just abstain from those things? And as we gather together, then we can have fellowship. And on the other side of that, what we are going to do as Jews, we're going to say, you know what? You don't need to follow that Mosaic law and those Mosaic traditions. And we're not going to put that yoke and that burden on you. So that when you look at us, You're not saying, look what you've done to us. You guys couldn't live up to this. How in the world do you expect us to live up to this? And again, to keep the church from splitting and dividing. And so they come to this compromise, but the theological truth that's here is that we have nothing to give for our salvation. There is nothing that we can do to merit the salvation and the grace of God. Circumcision doesn't do it. Following the law doesn't do it. The Reformers, as they were studying the Scriptures, and as they were understanding the Scriptures, recognized that salvation was a free gift of God. And they were under the oppressive thumb of the Church. And you need to keep these Rituals, so that you are right with God. And the reformers like Wesley and Luther said, wait a minute, this isn't right. This isn't what scripture teaches us. Salvation is a free gift of God by grace, because of God's mercy toward us. And so those become the theological issues that we see that takes us to the person of Jesus Christ. And how does that take us to the person of Jesus Christ? The finished work of Christ on the cross tells us that it is finished. There's nothing more that you can do. I've done it all. I've paid the price. I've sacrificed my life. and I paid the penalty for all your sins. You don't owe anything. Your account has been wiped clean. You now have access to the throne room of God, and I'm in heaven preparing a place for you. So that takes us to the cross of Christ, and that brings us to us and now. You see, Luke is writing to them and then. He's writing to a specific person. He's giving him an account of what was happening within the church. And we have to take that into account. And if we jump from them and then to us and now, what we would say is we need to eat kosher And we don't have to keep the law of Moses. That's not what the passage is telling us. There's a matter of godliness here. And I think we see that as we make our way through this passage. So that brings us up to verse 22, this letter that is written. It must have been extremely important. It must have been important for Luke to communicate this to Theophilus, because this is the second time he just gives us the same things that were talked about earlier in this chapter. So starting with verse 22, then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. And they said Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter. the brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and to send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements, that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep these, you do well. Farewell. Here's all the instructions that we have for you. And so this letter comes, and it's an important letter, because now the matter has been settled once for all. And this letter is being written to the churches. And the churches are reading this letter. Every place Paul would go, he would take that letter with him. And if this question would ever come up, because we know the Jews and Gentiles are worshiping together, this issue's gonna come up, and Paul will pull out this letter and say, here, here's what we have from the council. Here's what we have from Jerusalem. Here's what we have from those Jewish believers. This is what they believe is important for you as brothers in Christ. So what Luke is doing is he is reinforcing the point of the decision that is made rectifying that dispute that we read about in those first four or five verses of chapter 15. This was sharp contention. This was really a struggle for the church, first in Antioch and then back in Jerusalem, as they're making this discussion, or having this discussion. And men were coming and they were sharing together, but they came to resolution. And that's the important thing here also as we look at this passage of scripture. How in the world did they come to resolution over something that was so divisive within the church? I think it's a great opportunity for us to look as there are going to be issues that come up that we're going to need to discuss, that we're going to have preferences for or against. And how do we handle it? How do we handle those situations in a godly manner? So that when we finish and we come to resolution, it's done that God is honored and God is glorified. I think we see three points here, four points here, as we look at this passage of Scripture. First of all, even though this debate was strong, as we saw in verses 1 through 21, There was open discussion and all sides were heard. There was freedom to be able to speak your mind without being shut down, without being told you're wrong. So everybody was able to voice their opinion. Everybody was able to share what they thought, which is very helpful. And then, they didn't deny the differences. Yes, this is true. We, growing up in a Jewish tradition, believe this. And we understand those who are growing up in a Gentile tradition understand this. We're not denying that. We're not denying the differences that we have. But how can we come together? What can we do to fix this situation? So that the Jews aren't sitting on this side of the church, and the Gentiles aren't sitting on this side of the church. And when we have our family meals, that there isn't this division. And there isn't this looking down the nose at someone else because look at what they're eating. But how often does that happen within the body of Christ? I've grown up in church. I've been through enough of those kind of meetings. I don't care what you think. This is the way I think. And if you don't think the way I think, you're wrong. Have you ever been in one of those meetings? And it's just a battle over the aisles. We see it in our government right now, don't we? Sometimes the church functions the exact same way. That ought not to be. And we need to understand that, you know what? I've come from a different background. I come from a different church setting. I come from a different tradition. Show me some grace here and let's talk this out. Let's come to a resolution because we want to honor God and we want God to be glorified through this situation. So that we might be able to continue on in the work because if we don't do that, Then we have people who are upset because they weren't heard. They're hurt because their opinion wasn't acknowledged. And so here within the church, We see this pattern, open discussion. They didn't deny the differences. They understand the differences. And then we see the leadership leading by allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to them. The leadership came together and they said, here's what we need to do. Peter stands and he speaks. He's a leader within the church. James stands and he shares what his heart is, being led by the Holy Spirit, saying, I believe that this is the way we ought to go. And then there are times when compromise is needed. I need to give a little bit. You need to give a little bit. Let's meet in the middle, not on theological issues, not on theology. We're not talking about theology here, are we? Not at all. But we don't compromise on our theology, but the leadership leads. They said, okay, what are the compromises based on everything that we understand? And how do we make a decision? And they make a decision. Probably not everybody was happy with it, but they want to show Christ. They want to give where they can give. They understand that we need to love one another. We need to demonstrate Christ to one another. And in verse 22, it seemed good to the apostles and to the elders, to the whole church, and let's send these people and let's go share what we've decided with the church in Antioch. So they sent this letter. We read the body of the letter there, and we recognize that this is the start of something amazing within the church. is bringing together Jews and Gentiles. Are there still issues? Yes. We know that Paul writes Galatians is one of those issues. This issue is going to continue to come up, but here there is a foundation. There's a basis to work from. They don't want to lay any greater burden on the Gentiles. But here's where the compromise can come. Can you just not eat this kind of meat? Can you just not eat this kind of meat for your brothers and sisters in Christ? And for all of us, it's abstained from sexual immorality. You need to live a godly life. You can't continue to practice the things, and Paul talks about that often, you can't continue to practice the things that you used to practice before you knew Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. And so we see in this letter, we see God doing something amazing within the church. We see God working through these circumstances to bring people together. What is the response? What is the response in verses 30 through 35? Let's read these again. So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. It doesn't say, because we gave in to you. It doesn't say, you know what, we made these concessions, and man, I hope this works. but recognizing that it was the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those in the Jerusalem council. And in the church in Jerusalem, it was an encouragement to the believers there in Antioch. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. And after they spent some time They were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. Verse 34 isn't in the original. Earlier manuscripts, that's why in some of our translations we don't have that verse, but somewhere along the line somebody thought it was important to say that Silas stayed behind, because in verse 40 it talks about Silas still being in Antioch, and if they all left, why was Silas still there? Just a side note. Verse 35, but Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word, of the Lord with many others also. A tremendous response to the message of the gospel, the church was encouraged. When the church works together, when the church comes together, when the church is able to work out its differences in a godly manner, being led by the Holy Spirit, allowing God to do his work in our hearts and in our lives, then God is glorified and the church is able to move forward. God is able to do a great work in and among us. So they go to Antioch. They gather everybody together. Here's the letter. Rejoicing comes because the church is encouraged. I'm sure they were waiting with anticipation. What is the council going to say there in Jerusalem? What are they going to bring back to us? What are they going to place on us? How are we going to live in light of these discussions we've already had? And I'm sure Judas and Silas were recounting to them just how this worked out. It says they encouraged them and strengthened them with many words, verse 32. Silas and Judas just sharing how God had worked. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace. What does this do for our church? How does this help us as a church? Understanding this, understanding how to work through an issue. Okay? We lay the issue on the table. We know that there's a problem. We listen to both sides. We know that there's differences in understanding and perceptions and preferences in all of those things. And then how do we gather together and how do we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and lives so that we might be able to come to some compromises that honor God and glorify God? But what does that do for us as a church? Number one, it strengthens the unity of the body. It strengthens the unity of the church. It draws us together as we are able to work through a difficult issue. It doesn't separate us. It binds us together because we have this opportunity to allow God to do his work. The second thing it does is it strengthens our witness to everyone, to all people. The church, if it would have gone in the direction that the people of the circumcised party wanted it to go, then the church would have been directly related to Judaism. You know, I got to identify as a Jew to be a Christian. And what this does is just opens up the possibilities of witness to all. And the third thing is that this brought blessing to many congregations as it was read. It just blessed the whole church of Jesus Christ. Other churches may have been dealing with this issue. And Paul, as he walks in, he could say, listen, this is how we dealt with it. This is a blessing. This is from the Holy Spirit. This isn't from a council in Jerusalem. This is by the direction of God. And so God did his work. The response was amazing. The gospel continues. And in our churches today, and in our church today, my heart and my desire is that we, as we face issues, as we face struggles, that we're able to work through them as the early church did. Are there going to be differences of opinion? Sure there are. We're looking for unity. We're not looking for uniformity. And all of us have opinions. And all of us have thoughts. All of us have a way of looking at things. And can we listen to one another? And can we honor one another? And can we love one another? John chapter 17 verses 20 and 21. Jesus says that the church needs to be unified so that the world might believe in him. And so as we work together, as we move forward, there's decisions that we're going to need to make. There are things that we're going to need to discuss, and there's going to be opinions on both sides of this. And I pray to God that we can work together. That we're not on opposite sides of the aisle, but that we are together and say, God, we want you to work. We want the Holy Spirit to be at work in our hearts and lives. So what do we learn from this? We know that problems and disagreements are opportunities to learn and grow. Problems and disagreements are opportunities for us to learn and grow. And these types of situations aren't caused by either the leadership or the congregants alone, but just by, we're all different personalities, and we all have different preferences, and we all have different ways of looking at one another, at the situations, and at one another at times. So how do we deal with that? We can come together and we can talk. And we need to learn that loving compassion and loving compromise is not bad. Compromise is not a bad word. But it's an opportunity for us to demonstrate the love of Christ. Again, we're not going to compromise on theology. We're not going to compromise on those things that are the foundational truths to what we believe and who we are. So in the context of this, Luke is writing to Theophilus, saying, Theophilus, here's how this all went down. This is how God was honored through a difficult situation. Here are opposing viewpoints on this issue of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be a follower of Christ. And the church was able to work through it. The church was able to pray through it. The church was able, by the work of the Holy Spirit in everybody's lives, to just do something amazing that is gonna help every church through every generation if they seek to follow this pattern. So we conclude with these questions this morning. Just two. Am I contributing to the unity of my church? How am I contributing to the unity of my church? And the second question is this, what do I need to let go, preferences, traditions, whatever those might be, that will lead to loving compromise and unity? God loves the local church. God sent his son to die for you and for me. And as we gather together, we are here to represent Jesus Christ to a world that so desperately needs to see Christ at work in the lives of His people. And I pray that that might be seen here in our church, that people might see Christ in us, that they might see us loving one another, caring for one another, being able to work together for the cause of Christ. Father, we thank you for this morning. I thank you for your word. I thank you for what we see here in the book of Acts and how you used a difficult situation to bring glory to your name. And Father, I pray that we might be that type of church, that we might be able to love one another deeply, That we might be willing to set aside whatever those preferences might be on our part. That, as it says, as Paul writes in Romans chapter 12, that we might outdo one another trying to love each other. That people might see Christ in us. That your name might be glorified in your church. We love you, Father. Thank you for this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.