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We started to look at the council 
at Jerusalem last Sunday morning. We saw the issue or the conflict 
or the problem addressed in verses 1 to 5. Essentially you had what 
was called Judaizers, those who said faith in Christ was good 
and necessary, but you also needed to be circumcised if you were 
a Gentile in order to be saved. So they're not concerned with 
how to facilitate Gentiles and Jews in the same church initially. The council does address that 
as they issue forth a decree, but initially it's a matter of 
salvation. They were imposing law upon Gentiles 
in order that those Gentiles might in fact enter into the 
kingdom of God. And so this was a most important 
subject, a most important doctrinal meeting, and I wanna read beginning 
in Acts 15 at verse one, and we'll read to verse 21. 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 the 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. And 
after they had become silent, James answered, saying, Men and 
brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared how God at 
the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people 
for his name. And with this the words of the 
prophets agree, just as it is written. After this I will return 
and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. 
I will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up, 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. 
Known to God from eternity are all his works. Therefore, I judge 
that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are 
turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things 
polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, 
and from blood. For Moses has had throughout 
many generations those who preach him in every city, being read 
in the synagogues every Sabbath. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father 
in heaven, we thank you again for your written word. We know 
it's given by inspiration of God. that it's profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And we pray that Your Holy Spirit 
would come that He would guide and direct and lead us, that 
He would illumine our minds and our hearts, and that we would 
stand amazed again at Your glorious grace, the way that You save, 
not according to the works of men, because our works are polluted, 
but according to Your grace, and according to Your power, 
and according to Your sovereignty. We praise You for including us 
in Your redemptive plan, and we ask now that You would help 
us to be encouraged, and we pray through Christ our Lord, amen. 
Well, last time we saw, according to verse one, there were certain 
men in the church in Antioch. Remember that after the first 
missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch 
there in Syria. They reported what God had done 
on that missionary journey. And in the midst of the church 
of Antioch, we see that there were those who thought that unless 
you are circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot 
be saved. Again, it was a matter of the 
greatest importance. do sinners enter into the presence 
of a thrice holy God? Well, in Antioch, you had these 
Judaizers. So the church in Antioch determined 
to send Paul and Barnabas down to Jerusalem. And at Jerusalem, 
they would convene a council. And at that council, they would 
hear the particular matters and they would address the churches. 
They wouldn't speak with absolute authority, but rather they would 
give advice, they would give encouragement to the other churches 
that were affected by this situation. So Paul and Barnabas arrive in 
Jerusalem, and we see that Judaizers were in Jerusalem as well. Notice 
in verse 5. So verse 1 records the Judaizers 
in Antioch in Syria, and then in verse 5, some of the sect 
of the Pharisees who believed rose up. Again, that's in the 
church at Jerusalem, and they said it is necessary to circumcise 
them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. In other words, 
Gentiles who believe the gospel must also be circumcised and 
are therefore obligated to keep the law as a means of acceptance 
with God Almighty. So now there are deliberations. 
In the first place you have Peter, which we'll look at in verses 
6 to 11, and then you have Paul and Barnabas in verse 12, and 
then verses 13 to 21, James sort of takes the lead and institutes 
what they will indeed communicate to the other churches. Because 
James cites the prophet Amos, I want to spend a bit more time 
on that. So I don't want to sort of tack 
James on, so we'll just look at the testimony of Peter, verses 
6 to 11, and then secondly, the testimony of Paul and Barnabas. But notice with reference to 
the testimony of Peter, before he speaks, look at verse 6. Now 
the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. Again, theology mattered for 
the early church. Soteriology, or the way that 
sinners enter into the presence of God, was absolutely crucial. 
It was of vital importance that these brothers meet together 
and they hear the collected wisdom of the church and they make these 
decisions affecting the church so they can put a stop to this 
idea that persons can add to the finished work of Jesus Christ 
in order to be saved. The very thought of that is reprehensible 
and so this council convenes in order to put silence to it. 
Now notice the testimony of Peter in verses 7 to 11. Verse 7 tells 
us when there was or when there had been much dispute. That's 
a good sign. Much dispute is necessary in 
matters of theology. Much dispute, much debate, much 
confrontation, much discussion. We ought not to be the sorts 
of men and women that are fearful of engaging these particular 
things, but rather the church of Jesus Christ is for big boys 
and big girls who put on their theology pants and do the business 
of the church. It is absolutely requisite. We 
spend, as churches, a whole host of time talking about things 
that really don't matter when we should be narrowing down and 
articulating and distinguishing Christian doctrine that is absolutely 
crucial for the salvation of sinners. So there had been much 
dispute, and then Peter rises up. And Peter highlights three 
things. First, the Apostle Peter and 
the Gentiles Secondly, the Lord God and the Gentiles. And then 
thirdly, how the church should deal with the Gentiles. But note 
first, the Apostle Peter and the Gentiles. Look at what he 
says in the middle of verse 7. 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 chose Paul ultimately 
to be the missionary or the apostle to the Gentiles. But the initial 
call of the Gentiles, God uses Peter. And we see that in the 
book of Acts in Acts chapter 10. Now the household of Cornelius 
and their conversion under the preaching of Peter happened probably 
about 10 years prior to this Jerusalem council. So Peter essentially 
is standing before them and telling them what God had done in terms 
of saving these Gentiles. That's crucial, isn't it? If 
the question is now, do we insist upon them being circumcised in 
order to be saved? Well, how did God do it in the 
past with reference to these Gentiles with Cornelius and his 
household? So the Lord chose that by Peter's 
mouth, the Gentiles would hear the gospel. Again, God gives 
a vision to that man Cornelius, God gives a vision to Peter the 
Apostle, God brings them together, and then Peter rather preaches 
the gospel to Cornelius and his household, and the Holy Spirit 
falls upon them, and then they are baptized. So what Peter is 
saying here is that there was no circumcision that transpired 
with reference to Cornelius. There was no, oh, it's good that 
you believe, now get circumcised, now engage in obligation to keep 
the entirety of the law, and then we'll baptize you. That's 
not how Peter operated. That's not how he proceeded. 
The apostle Peter had reported this to Jerusalem after it occurred. Look at Acts chapter 11. In Acts 
chapter 11, Peter is called upon to explain what had happened 
with reference to Cornelius and the Gentiles. And he brings this 
to a conclusion in verse 15 in Acts 11. And as I began to speak, 
the Holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning. 
Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed 
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy 
Spirit. Now notice Peter, if therefore God gave them the same 
gift as he gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
was I that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, 
they became silent. They glorified God saying, then 
God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. So he's already 
engaged in this activity. He's already reported it in Jerusalem. So again, we might ask the question, 
why did this council have to be convened in order to deal 
with this issue? because it is a pernicious and 
subtle error that typically crops up when the gospel of Jesus Christ 
is proclaimed. This idea of grace, this idea 
of full and free acceptance by a sovereign God on the basis 
of the work of his Son, is somewhat revolutionary to the minds of 
sinners. We always think there must be 
a contribution we have to make. We always think there must be 
something we have to do. We always think there is an addition 
that we need to engage in in order for God to accept us. But 
the gospel is not condition. The gospel is not good advice. The gospel is good news. that 
God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The reality 
that God is both just and the justifier of the one who has 
faith in Jesus. We read in Romans 4 that God 
justifies the ungodly. Again, that's counterintuitive. 
We think we ought to fix ourselves. We think we ought to do something. 
We think we ought to comb our hair, put on a fresh shirt, go 
out and obey the law, and then God will save us according to 
what we have contributed. But that's not the gospel. The 
gospel comes without condition. The gospel comes, and sinners 
are told, without money, without price, come buy and eat. There 
is nothing that we can do to contribute to this salvation, 
and that is what Peter is underscoring in this reference to the Gentile, 
Cornelius and his household. The Lord purposed that salvation 
would come to the Gentiles when they heard the gospel and believed. Notice at the end of verse 7. 
He says, God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should 
hear the word of the gospel and believe. Beautiful, isn't it? 
Not hear the word of the gospel, believe, and get circumcised, 
and enter into an obligation to keep the entirety of the Mosaic 
law in order to be saved. No, it is grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone, according to Scripture 
alone, and that redounds to the glory of God alone. The gospel 
is designed with that end ultimately, the glory of God Most High. So Peter rehearses the salvation 
of Cornelius. One commentator says, what had 
been required of the Gentiles was that they should hear and 
believe the gospel, not that they should be circumcised or 
commit themselves to observance of the law. Calvin agrees. He 
says, therefore, seeing that the Gentiles are engrafted into 
the people of God without circumcision and ceremonies, Peter gathereth 
that it was not well done to lay upon them any necessity to 
keep the law. In other words, Peter's testimony 
is impeccable. God saved these Gentiles. God 
gave them the Holy Spirit. God blessed them immeasurably, 
not based on their faith in Christ and their circumcision, but holy 
and alone by his grace concerning faith in our Lord Jesus. Now 
notice he speaks concerning the Lord God and the Gentiles in 
verses eight and nine. He says, God knows the heart. 
And this is most crucial. Look at what he says in verse 
8. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them or bore witness 
to them. In other words, God knew exactly 
what he was doing in terms of including Gentiles in his redemptive 
plan because he had determined to do that in eternity past. God chose us in Christ before 
the foundation of the world. God then sent his Son in the 
fullness of the times, born of a woman, born under the law, 
to redeem those under the law. God had promised and purposed 
to save both Jew and Gentile by our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
so what Peter is saying is that God knows the heart. We don't 
have to try and discover if somebody's circumcised. God knows the heart. He knows that they're the real 
deal because he made them the real deal. He bore witness to 
them by pouring out the spirit upon them, just as he did with 
the Jews. So the emphasis here is upon 
God's knowledge of the certainty of the Gentiles' conversion. 
See, with reference to this Judaizing mindset, We gotta really know, 
we gotta really make sure, we gotta see if they're serious. 
It's good they believe, but now they need to take that next step 
in getting circumcised. Brethren, if we append things 
to the gospel in a manner like that, may not be circumcision, 
but it may be this particular church, it may be our particular 
rules, it may be our particular emphases on particular cultural 
things. If we are adding to the gospel, 
we are subverting it. We are destroying it. Because 
if righteousness comes to the law, then Christ died in vain. 
And Peter's rehearsal of Gentile inclusion is making the case. So God knows the heart. God gave 
the Gentiles the Holy Spirit. Notice, so God who knows the 
heart acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as 
he did to us. Turn back to Acts chapter 10. 
Acts chapter 10, just to see this in Peter's preaching with 
reference to Cornelius. After the two men come together, 
beginning in verse 34, Peter begins to preach concerning Jesus. 
And he brings us to a conclusion in verse 43, where Peter says 
to him, to Christ, all the prophets witnessed that through his name, 
whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. Whoever, 
whether Jew or Gentile. Again, the inclusion of the Gentiles 
in the covenant promises of God wasn't a new thing. This had 
been prophesied by God to Abraham way back in Genesis chapter 12. 
But the inclusion has come now after the work of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And so the church is trying to 
figure out, how do we deal with these Gentiles that are coming 
in among us? Well, Peter says, when they believe, they receive 
the Spirit just like we did. Notice in verse 44 in Acts 10. 
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit 
fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision, 
Jews, who believed, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because 
the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles 
also. So Peter's testimony, again, is impeccable. God knows the 
heart. He knows what he's done in the lives of these Gentiles. 
He knows and bears witness that they are, in fact, the real deal. 
They are saved. They're not saved because of 
faith plus words. They're saved because they heard the gospel 
and they, by grace, believe the gospel. when they heard and believed, 
they received the Holy Spirit. And then Peter says that they 
ought to be baptized. Again, baptism is not another 
thing that we must do in order to be saved, but it comes to 
men or it is engaged by men after they have been saved by grace. 
So Peter's rehearsal concerning this man, Cornelius, is a great 
piece of evidence to this Jerusalem council. And then notice, he 
goes on to say that God made no distinction between Jew and 
Gentile. If you look back at Acts 15, 
verse nine, he made no distinction between us and them, purifying 
their hearts by faith. So the way of salvation is the 
same. Grace through faith in Christ 
Jesus. He, God, made no distinction, 
so why would we make a distinction? If they have received the Spirit 
based on the free mercy of God Almighty, then who are we to 
come along and append circumcision to these Gentiles so that they 
may be saved? If God made no distinction, purifying 
their hearts by faith, we ought not to make any distinction either. 
we ought to receive them among us as brothers in Jesus Christ 
who have believed the gospel and who have passed from death 
unto life. Instead of adding works to their sort of steam 
in order to be saved, let's celebrate, let's rejoice, let's praise God 
Almighty for what He has done in including these Gentiles in 
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then notice what He says 
there at the end of verse nine. He says, purifying their hearts 
by faith. Since God purified Gentile hearts 
by faith, to call upon them to be circumcised as an act of purity 
is absolutely redundant. God has purified them. God has 
fit them. God has qualified them. And it's 
not based on them, it's based on His Son. It's based on the 
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then when it says 
He purified their hearts by faith, Calvin has a beautiful comment 
here. And I think we do well to receive it. He says, for faith 
does not make us clean as a virtue or quality poured into our souls. It's not that faith is a tonic 
that God pours into our souls and that faith somehow purifies 
us. That's what Calvin is saying. 
That's not the way we should understand it. But because it, 
faith, receives the cleanness which is offered in Christ. So 
it's grace alone through faith alone, not on account of faith, 
but through faith. Faith is the empty hand of the 
sinner receiving what God has given in and through the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Remember Paul in Ephesians 1, 
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who 
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 
in Christ, we receive those blessings by faith. So faith itself is 
not a work. It is never the case that we're 
justified on account of our faith. We bring faith to the bartering 
table. God sees that faith and then says, oh, now I'm going 
to justify you based on that faith. No, it's an instrument. 
It's the empty hand. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash 
me, Savior, or I die. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply 
to thy cross I cling. That is the gift of God given 
to us according to the profusion of His grace. And so that's Peter's 
point. He made no distinction, purifying 
their hearts by faith. And now he turns his attention 
to the church and the Gentiles. In other words, what Peter had 
seen in preaching to Cornelius is what God had done in terms 
of saving Cornelius, and now Peter challenges, exhorts, as 
an apostle, encourages the church, this particular council, on how 
we ought to proceed. In other words, if this is what 
happened, if this is what God did, then we as a church stand 
at a crossroads and we need to make sure that we don't overstep 
our boundaries. Now, brethren, churches have 
been overstepping their boundaries ever since. Again, it may not 
be circumcision today, but it's something. There's always an 
addition. There's always a supplement. 
There's always something we feel we need to contribute in order 
to be saved. Brethren, that is not gospel. The gospel is that Christ saves 
to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through Him. It's 
not our works, not our efforts, not our merit, not our law-keeping, 
because we have none. Remember the prophet Isaiah in 
Isaiah 64, he says, all our righteousness is. Listen to what he's saying 
there. All our righteousnesses are like 
filthy rags in the sight of God. He doesn't say our sins are like 
filthy rags in the sight of God. He says our righteousness, our 
Sabbath compliance, our temple worship, our sacrifices, the 
very good things that we proffer unto God, they're like filthy 
rags in the sight of God. See, there's a fundamental problem 
when sinners choose the path of law in order to be saved. The law of God condemns. Not 
because the law is bad, but because our hearts are bad. That's what 
the gospel addresses. That's the reality that we need 
to appreciate. So now before he exhorts the 
church on how they ought to go, he first issues this challenge 
to the Judaizers. Remember, they're there. Verse 
5 tells us some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed were 
there and says it is necessary that they be circumcised and 
that they keep the law of Moses. Notice what Peter says in verse 
10. Now, therefore, why do you test God? This is no small thing, 
brethren. I've said it before, you've heard 
it before, I know you have because I've said it in your hearing. 
We're all different on some matters of doctrine. I dare say that 
if we collectively sat together this afternoon and talked about 
eschatology, if you found two of us that were absolutely identical, 
I would be absolutely amazed. I would be confounded by that. 
But all of that discussion notwithstanding, as long as we're all believing 
the gospel of Jesus Christ, we're going to go to heaven. But when 
it comes to believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, or when it comes 
to the matter of soteriology, when it comes to the matter of 
Job's question, how can sinful man stand before a holy God? We have to be absolutely positively 
correct. Because if we falter, or we fumble, 
or we drop the ball, or we add to the finished work of Jesus 
Christ, what Peter says is, is that this is to test God. If God made no distinction between 
Jew and Gentile, purifying their hearts by faith, then who are 
we to come and drive a wedge between these two peoples of 
God? are between these people of God. We are not to make them 
two people the way that Paul indicates in Ephesians 2, not 
to make them. He's highlighting the solidarity 
and the unity of God's people. So he says that this will be 
a testing of God. God made no distinction between 
Jews and Gentiles, neither should man. But then notice he highlights 
the imposition of the yoke of the law. 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? It's just 
here that if we didn't have live stream going on and this was 
more of an informal setting, I'd say, what kind of a use of 
the law is the apostle addressing here? He is addressing a false 
or a wrong use of the law. When we impose the law as a yoke 
upon men's necks, in order that those men may be saved, we have 
transgressed. We are no longer using the law 
lawfully. We know it's good, 1 Timothy 
1.8 tells us, if one uses it lawfully. Romans 7.12 tells us 
the law is good, the law is holy. The problem is with man. So the 
law, as it's given by God, functions to hedge in the creature from 
being as wicked as he can be. It serves to show man their need 
for the Savior. And then it instructs believers 
who have the Holy Spirit on how they're supposed to live each 
and every day. But when they take this unlawful use of the 
law and make it a means by which Gentiles get saved, Peter says 
this is to test God, and it is an imposition of a yoke that 
God never intended for them. Paul gives the same caution in 
Galatians 5.1. He says, Stand fast, therefore, 
in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not 
be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Again, the law as 
it's given by God is good. It functions and does what he 
has purposed for it to do. But when we take that law and 
we use it as a means of salvation or justification, we have sinned. We now are testing God. We are 
now engaged in an activity that God says don't do. And the impossibility of salvation 
by the law. Notice what he says, which neither 
our fathers nor we were able to bear. Have you all noticed 
every time you touch your face now or scratch your head? Because 
I do. Or you give a little cough and you're thinking everybody's 
going to run from you. I never thought I touched my 
face or head as much as I do, obviously. But with reference 
to this particular point, the impossibility of salvation by 
the law is because, in the first place, the law is demand. Does 
God ever say, you know, do your best, champ? We do that with 
our kids. Do your best, T-ball. You know, 
all you gotta do is hit that ball. Do your best, just do your 
best. God never gives us the law that way. The law comes to 
us commanding and demanding absolute purity and perfection. In the 
language of our confession of faith, it renders or rather calls 
us to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. Peter 
says neither us nor our fathers would be able to manage. We couldn't 
enter into heaven based on law. As well, the impossibility of 
the law to bring salvation, it's not only based on the demands 
of the law, but it's also based on the wretchedness of man's 
heart. Again, Paul's argument in chapter 7 in the book of Romans 
isn't that the law is faulty. It's not that the law's got problems. 
It's not that the law's a bad thing. But Paul's point there 
is that we've got problems. We're bad things. And if we say, 
hey, I'm going to try and comply with this law as dead sinners, 
we will never make it out of the gate. John Calvin made this 
observation when I say all mankind is polluted. My meaning is that 
we bring nothing from our mother's womb but mere filthiness and 
that there is no righteousness in our nature which can reconcile 
us to God. It's absolutely positively correct. And then the impossibility of 
salvation by law also contradicts God's purpose in the gospel. See, he knew when he gave that 
law that we wouldn't be able to satisfy those requirements. It's in that framework or context 
that the sending of the Son comes. Born of a woman, born what? Under 
the law, to do what? To redeem those under the law. Galatians 3, Christ has become 
a curse for us so that God could deal with the curse that remained 
upon us vis-a-vis the law. It's a beautiful thing. In fact, 
turn there to Galatians chapter 3. We looked at this passage 
several months ago in a Lord's Supper service, and it's Paul's 
point on how the law doesn't bring justification. Galatians 
3 verse 10, For as many as are of the works of the law are under 
the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not 
continue in all things which are written in the book of the 
law to do them. There's that point, right? It's the law's 
demand. Do your best, champ. No, the law's demand is curse 
it is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written 
in the book of the law to do that. Again, circumcision being 
the most visible, circumcision being sort of the most external, 
but that obligates one to keep the entirety of the law of Moses. 
Notice what he goes on to say, but that no one is justified 
by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall 
live by faith. So God's purpose in the gospel 
was not salvation by gospel and law, but it's salvation by gospel, 
salvation by Christ, salvation by the life, death, and resurrection 
of our Lord Jesus. Verse 12, he says, yet the law 
is not a faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. 
There are contradictory purposes relative to law and gospel. They 
work together, there is a harmony to be sure, but in terms of our 
acceptance with God, If you choose the course of law, then you are 
invalidating the very gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's 
the point of the book of Galatians. Notice the blessed statement 
in verse 13. Christ has redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, 
cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing 
of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that 
we might receive the promise of the Spirit through what? through 
faith, not through faith plus works, not through faith plus 
circumcision, not faith plus the law of Moses, but it's grace 
alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That's Peter's 
point at this council at Jerusalem. It's a point that needs to be 
underscored and reiterated throughout the history of the church, because 
it is simply testing God when we tell sinners that faith in 
Christ isn't enough. You need faith. plus our church. You need faith plus our rules. 
You need faith plus our particular way to go about things. Brethren, 
I've said this a million times as well, maybe not a million, 
that's hyperbolic, but I have said that we need to be careful 
of allowing our church culture to become on par with acceptance 
with God. Let me just qualify that. Every 
church has a culture. Every church has things that 
are unique to them. People might come in and say, 
boy, what an odd group of people this is. Okay, I own that, I 
accept that, I can hardly embrace that. But we do certain things 
as a church culture that we need to guard against communicating 
to someone coming in among us that they also have to imbibe 
that in order to be saved. Does that make sense? Give me 
a nod if it does, because this happens. We may not meet people 
at the door say, you should listen to the pastor, you should believe 
the gospel, and you should be circumcised. We don't do that. Circumcision isn't our deal. 
But we do have a culture. Churches everywhere have cultures, 
and we need to distinguish what is part of culture, which isn't 
necessarily wicked, it's not necessarily sinful, but it's 
wicked and sinful when we communicate that culture as a part on which 
God accepts us. That is faulty. That is testing 
God. That is compromising the law-free 
gospel. It is free access to the Father 
by the Son or through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
It is by grace through faith. period, and full stop. The moment that you and I try 
to make some cultural thing we do as a church necessary for 
salvation, we have transgressed God's word. Now this happens 
again, if not circumcision, decisions on how to school people, decisions 
on how to get medical treatment, decisions on how, oh, I don't 
know, a million other things. Brethren, there are matters of 
liberty in the Christian life, and we need to respect that blessed 
doctrine. We are not to Judaize in this 
current generation by giving additions to sinners on how they 
need to be accepted by God. It is grace alone, through faith 
alone, in Christ alone, or we have crossed a line and are now 
testing God. Alexander describes this yoke. 
Notice what Peter says. 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? Alexander says the yoke 
meant is the whole law as distinguished from the gospel and of which 
the ceremonial system was a mere form of expression. The covenant 
of works as distinguished from the covenant of grace in the 
economy of man's salvation. The hope of deliverance by merit 
or obedience as distinguished from deliverance by grace or 
favor. It is always a yoke placed upon people when we attach conditions 
to the gospel. That is... Absolutely forbidden 
by God. And brethren, I hope and pray 
that we don't fall prey to that. Now notice how Peter concludes, 
verse 11. But we believe that through the 
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same 
manner as they. Now Peter had his issues. Galatians 
2, Peter stopped having table fellowship with Gentiles. Barnabas 
got carried away. Paul withstood Peter to his face. But Peter got it. Peter understands 
it. Peter now knows. Praise God for 
Paul who didn't shrink back, or fear the face of man. It was 
said of John Knox, he neither feared nor flattered the face 
of any man. Well, Paul was the same sort 
of guy. He didn't fear, nor did he flatter. Oh, Peter, you know, 
because it's you, I'm gonna let you do. No, I wish stood him 
to his face. And what does Paul write in Galatians 2.16? It's 
something that Peter is affirming in his speech here. Paul says, 
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but 
by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, 
that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the 
works of the law. For by the works of the law, 
no flesh shall be justified. Peter agrees. Peter is propounding 
that. Peter has stood up in this council 
and has made that testimony. There's one way of salvation. 
It applies to Jews. It applies to Gentiles. It is 
Jesus Christ, the great Savior, the Redeemer, the Champion, the 
victor, the very one prophesied in Old Testament scripture that 
did come from the Father, that lived in obedience to the law, 
that died as a sacrifice at the cross and was raised the third 
day so that you and I might have everlasting life. Brethren, Judaizing 
is wicked. Terrible, bad, horrible stuff. That's why we go after Romanism. 
It's not because of the weirdities and the oddities that they have, 
which there are a plethora, but it's at this very point, this 
collapsing, this conflation of justification and sanctification. This idea of including our faithfulness 
into God's reception of us is pernicious. Because the very 
best we do, even as redeemed sinners, falls incredibly short. For all of sin and fall short 
of the glory of God is a truism relative to sinners out there. 
But I think we'd all say the same thing for us redeemed sinners 
in here. We would say with the prophet 
Isaiah, our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We affirm the 
Puritans who said that our repentance needs repenting of. We don't 
do what we ought to do in a manner that is perfect, that is exact, 
that is entire, that is perpetual. I mean, we get a bee in our bonnet, 
we're gonna go out and obey God, and that lasts about, what, 12 
seconds? And then something happens and we lose it? Brethren, if 
our righteousness depends at a minuscule level upon us, we 
are dead and in hell forever and ever. Praise God for this 
law-free gospel. Now, when I say law-free gospel, 
I am not denigrating the law. I am talking about the gospel 
of Jesus Christ and the way of salvation. With reference to 
those who are blood-bought, those who have believed, those who 
have the Spirit, We ought to say, oh how I love your law, 
it is my meditation day and night. We take it, we use it normatively. We seek by grace to comply because 
it's a revelation of who God is and we want to please our 
father because he saved us. But that's a far cry different 
note than saying you have to do this in order to be saved. 
Now notice, we have the testimony of Paul and Barnabas in verse 
12. It's brief, so we'll be brief. 
Then all the multitude kept silent. You may think I'm odd for camping 
on these little comments by Luke about the assembly, but I think 
this is great. They kept silent. It wasn't a 
room full of know-it-alls. It wasn't a Facebook theology 
page where everybody thinks they know everything and they have 
to blurt out everything. There's a place for sanctified 
silence. Those of you reading McChain, 
well, you'll read it tomorrow. I used the leap year to get one 
day ahead. So I read Proverbs 17 this morning. And what's an indicator that 
a man is wise? If he just shuts his mouth. He 
may not be wise, brethren, but he sure looks wise if he just 
shuts his mouth. There is wisdom in closing that 
thing once in a while. Well, there's wisdom in closing 
that thing a lot. Remember by design, we're supposed 
to listen twice as much as we talk. You've got two ears and 
one tongue. Do not disrespect the Lord God 
most high and his ingeniousness when it comes to creation. He 
designed us to listen more than we talk. And that's what the 
council is doing. They're not rushing to conclusions. 
They're not saying, oh, no, they're deliberating. They're thinking 
through it. They're processing data. Brethren, this is what churches 
do. They're something of a deliberative 
body. They think through information. 
a rash to giving, you know, their thoughts or whatever. The assembly 
kept silent, according to verse 12, and listened to Barnabas 
and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through 
them among the Gentiles. The two men, I would suggest, 
agreed with Peter. Right? They didn't stand up and 
say, Peter's completely wrong. No, what they say affirms and 
confirms what Peter has said, because they just went on this 
first missionary journey. And what did God do? When they 
went from city to city and place to place, God worked wonders. 
He worked miracles. Remember in Lystra, there was 
that man sitting and he was crippled and Paul told him to rise up 
and he did. It caused the city of Lystra 
to go into an uproar and they wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas 
as a result of this. So what Paul and Barnabas do 
here is simply rehearse that God's signs, God's wonders, God's 
powers are multiplied not only among Jews, but among Gentiles 
as well. And that's the emphasis of Paul 
and Barnabas in verse 12. Daniel Bach says that God would 
work miracles in the midst of the Gentiles is another divine 
indicator for Gentile inclusion. Again, God didn't say, okay, 
once you guys believe, get circumcised, come back and I'll show you how 
I can heal this cripple man through the agency of the apostle Paul. 
That's not what happened. The signs and the wonders come 
irrespective of their circumcision before this holy God. So Paul 
and Barnabas affirm and confirm what Peter says, and that will 
bring us, God willing, next Sunday to consider James. James summarizes, 
James appeals to Peter, James appeals to the prophet Amos to 
show that what Amos had said is coming to pass in their midst. 
Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God is what Amos 
9 was all about, and that's what James does. James then highlights 
the sovereignty of God in verse 19, and then James purposes to 
deal with doctrine and practice in the context of Jews and Gentiles. It is a wonderful display of 
a council at work, hearing information, hearing data, deliberating on 
it, and then Pastor James stands up in the midst and gives specific 
direction on how they ought to proceed to try and deal with 
this problem that was facing the churches. Now again, this 
problem still affects the churches, so we see that the Jerusalem 
Council didn't fix everything. Just like Elijah at Mount Carmel, 
didn't fix everything going forward with reference to Baal worship. 
We need constant and frequent reminders. We need constant and 
frequent emphases on justification by faith. Remember, Luther famously 
said, I preach justification by faith every week in my church 
because my people forget it every week. We need this reminder that 
it's by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and that's Peter's 
point. So in conclusion, first the role 
of the church in matters of theology. I just don't think it's the church's 
job, business, or prerogative to be entertainers. I don't think 
that. I don't think it's the church's 
job, prerogative, or calling to be a business, to be structured 
similarly to a Fortune 500 company. I believe the church, according 
to Paul's definition in 1 Timothy 3, is the pillar and ground of 
the truth. In other words, the Bible tells 
us that truth matters, and true churches take that seriously. They don't play games with soteriology. They don't mess up when it comes 
to sovereignty. They don't mess up when it comes 
to, you know, is somebody a Calvinist or an Arminian. I think I shared 
with you before, I remember years and years ago, we had a young 
fellow from Simon. He went to Trinity Western. He would bring 
friends to our church. He was kind of an interesting 
guy that way. He'd invite people to go to church, and they'd agree. 
And then he'd say, oh, and by the way, can you drive? Because 
I don't have a car. And every week he got here, and some weeks 
he brought lots and lots of people. But I remember one time there 
were two guys, and they were biblical studies majors. I wouldn't 
know them if I bumped into them. I could bump my head into them. 
I wouldn't remember what they looked like. But I do remember 
them saying something to the effect, well, I'm not sure about 
Calvinism or Arminianism. Now, I'm going to say this. You need that worked out in Sunday 
school. If you're considering the pastoral 
ministry, you're considering shepherding souls, you're considering 
a ministry of preaching and teaching the Word of God, and you're a 
biblical studies major in a graduate level degree program and you 
haven't figured out that, Can I just say, you need to go back 
to Sunday school. You need to learn your ABCs. 
You need to learn your Bible basics before you ever, ever 
stand before sinners and teach them the word of the living and 
true God. Doesn't James tell us, let not many of us become 
teachers, or not let many of you become teachers. Why? We 
shall incur a stricter judgment. You know, the entertainment craze, 
the business craze, the community craze, whatever the craze may 
be, if the church is not operating as the pillar and ground of the 
truth, she has lost her way. This is the point of the church 
in the world. And one of the most intriguing 
things is to see people say, well, the church needs to be 
relevant. It's been my observation that when the church apes the 
culture in order to be relevant, she makes herself perniciously 
irrelevant. You know what this culture needs? 
They need churches that are pillars and grounds of the truth, churches 
that are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Churches 
that are not going to compromise when it comes to the way of salvation 
or add to it or supplement it or derogate from the finished 
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are relevant by doing what 
God calls us to do. That's the bottom line, brethren, 
and that's what we see in passages like these that church, that 
theology matters for the church. Secondly, the mercy of God in 
the salvation of sinners. I don't want to just treat this 
as some sort of clinical, you know, exhibit A on the part of 
Peter. God saved Cornelius. God saved Cornelius' household. God is in the business of saving 
Gentiles. God is saving from every tribe, 
tongue, people, and nation. God has purposed, in eternity 
past, to save a great multitude that no man can number. God undertook 
by sending His Son, God the Son, into this world to accomplish 
the work of redemption. And God right now sends the Spirit 
to bless preaching, to open dead sinners' ears and hearts, and 
cause them to come unto Jesus. We see the mercy of God in the 
salvation of sinners, and we ought to rejoice that mercy and 
that grace is free. He doesn't say, believe and, 
believe and, believe and. Brethren, we function that way, 
don't we? When somebody wrongs us or somebody does disservice 
to us, we tell our kids, okay, I accept your apology. Plus, 
you need to go do this act of penance. We don't just freely 
accept them the way that God does. The gospel is free and 
it is most blessed. Thirdly, we ought to appreciate 
from passages like these the inability of man in the salvation 
of himself. Again, the law is good, therefore 
the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. It's 
not the law's fault, it's not the law's problem, it's our It's 
our problem. It's our sin in Adam. It's our 
rebellion. It's our waywardness It is our 
transgression of God's holy law. I quoted Luther last week from 
Galatians chapter 2 He says no law no matter how divine or holy 
has the right to tell me that I obtain justification in life 
through it I will grant that it can teach me that I should 
love God and my neighbor and live in chastity patience, etc 
But it is in no position to show me how to be delivered from sin 
the devil death and hell For this I must consult the gospel 
and listen to the gospel, which does not teach me what I should 
do, for that is the proper function of the law. But what someone 
else has done for me, namely, that Jesus Christ, the Son of 
God, has suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. Praise God Almighty for that 
reality. Luther, contrary to a lot of 
popular opinion, was not an antinomian. Luther, however, saw a distinction 
between law and gospel, and we ought to see that distinction 
as well. There's a harmony, there's compliance, there's sweetness 
between the two. But in terms of a man's acceptance 
with God, we cannot preach law. Law will always destroy, law 
will always conquer, law will always win sinners. It is the 
Christ of the Gospel, it is the glory of Jesus, it is every spiritual 
blessing, vis-à-vis justification, sanctification, glorification, 
Our champion brings that. Our Savior saves. Our Redeemer 
redeems, and He does so without our assistance, or without our 
contribution, or without our obedience to the law. It is His 
obedience, it is His death, it is His resurrection that is the 
basis for our acceptance with God. That, brothers and sisters, 
is what Peter said. And the church receives it, James 
enacts on it, and they give counsel to churches to facilitate Gentile 
inclusion in an ecclesiastical context, all the while shutting 
the door on this pernicious idea that it's faith plus Moses in 
order to be saved. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity 
of Peter's presentation here, and we see it in Acts 10. We've 
seen it in our studies in this book of Acts and the way that 
Gentiles come freely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. 
God, we give praise to you for that. We give praise to you that 
you have called us out of darkness into marvelous light. You have 
given us faith to believe on the Redeemer. You have given 
us repentance unto life. We pray that a multitude more 
would come to you by Christ and for your glory and honor. And 
we ask this in Jesus' holy name. Amen.