Guarding the Gospel | Acts 15

Good morning. My name is Blake Holmes, and it is great to be with you here this morning. As we start every week, I'd like to ask you to join me in prayer. First, I'd ask that you would pray that regardless of whatever you're carrying into this room, whatever you have to do following this service or this week, that the Lord would still your heart, and just pray that the Lord would speak to you. Would you now pray the same for those seated beside you, that collectively we'd be attentive to God's Spirit? Finally, would you pray for me that I would speak only what the Lord intends, nothing more and nothing less?

Father, thank you that when we pray you hear our prayers. Thank you, Lord, for the truth of your Word. Thank you for the gathered body of believers in your church, for the privilege it is to be a part of this local church, and for this Sunday we have together, for everybody listening online, for everybody here in the room, for all of the kids next door, and for all of the volunteers. Lord, would your hand of blessing be on this place, we pray. In Christ's name, amen.

Well, let's face it. There are some subjects that are rather explosive, controversial, if you will. I could say just a few words, and the room is immediately divided. For example, Texas A&M. See? TA does that every single week. Yes, you do, TA. Every week. And here's what happens. The moment that happens, on cue, half of you are like, "See? That's it, honey. We're no longer going to Watermark," and the other half is sitting there going, "This is God's church. Why would we go anywhere else?" It divides the room immediately.

Then there are other lighthearted subjects. I was the judge of a chili cook-off last winter. I didn't realize how hard it would be to be a judge of a chili cook-off, because you know immediately what the controversy is when you become a judge. It's whether or not you believe beans belong in chili. Right? There are hot sports opinions about beans in chili. You know, we could talk about other subjects, a little less fun, that divide a room…school vouchers, COVID, Trump. Immediately, people begin to go, "What are we talking about today?"

Well, we're going to talk about a controversy within the early church, a debate that was sparked that threatened the unity of the church and the message of the gospel. Now, some of you grew up in homes where debate was par for the course. Others of you are like, "I hate conflict. I hate debate." In my home, for instance, if you didn't speak up or you didn't speak loudly, you must not really have anything to say, and if you didn't interrupt, you must not really believe it. There was all sorts of debate around our family dinner table.

With my wife, it was completely different. They have a really novel approach of one person speaks and everybody listens, and then you go to the next person, and she speaks and everybody listens. So, it was a really different home for each of us growing up. The opportunity we have today is to look at a debate within the early church where the tensions were high and where there was so much at stake.

So, turn your Bibles with me to Acts, chapter 15. Commentators describe this chapter as the centerpiece or the watershed moment in the book. It's loaded with cultural and historical context that I want to unpack for you, because if you don't understand the background of what leads up to this chapter, then it's going to be devoid of any meaning.

Historically, if you're familiar with your Bible, it's broken into the Old Testament and the New Testament. In chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis, we see that God creates the heavens and earth. He creates man, male and female, in his image that we would have a relationship with him, know him, walk with him, and enjoy him forever, but we rebelled against him in Genesis, chapter 3. That is called sin, where man chooses their own way, and we doubt the goodness of God and the truth of his Word.

When we choose counter to him and rebel against him, that's called sin, and it leads to death. That's why we live in a broken world where we all experience pain and suffering as a result of our rebellion against God. That's how the Bible starts out. But all the way back in Genesis, God makes a promise that he's going to send a savior whose name is Jesus Christ. He's the rescuer. He's going to be the Serpent crusher, we learned in Genesis 3:15.

As God's plan of salvation unfolds, he starts with one man named Abraham, and he promises him three things: land, seed, and blessing. That's in Genesis, chapter 12. That's known as the Abrahamic covenant, and that's the beginning of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. Now, what distinguished the Jewish people was circumcision. They had a physical mark that reminded them that they were to live differently, set apart, a holy life. They were to be a kingdom of priests who God intended to use to reach all of the nations of the earth.

So, we see this unfolding throughout the story of the Old Testament, how God works through Israel to try to reach all people and that they'd be a blessing to all the nations. Now, Israel doesn't do a great job at doing that, and we see the ups and downs, their highs and their lows, but ultimately, there's one who does come from Abraham. His name is Jesus, and he is perfect. He lives the life you and I couldn't live and dies the death we deserve, and three days later, he rose again, validating all he claimed, said, and did.

The church then begins in the book of Acts. What's remarkable in the book of Acts is, for the very first time, after Christ has ascended to the right hand of the Father, the Spirit of God now lives within the people of God, unlike any time before in the history of the Bible. The very Spirit of God lives now within the hearts of the people of God, all of those who place their faith in Jesus Christ as their one and only Savior.

What happens is there's no longer a dividing line between Jew and Gentile, but it is the church coming together collectively…Jew, Gentile, male, female, multiple languages, multiple ethnicities, multiple nations. What you see is this coming together in the book of Acts and the Jewish people, the Israelites, recognizing what God has been doing, reading God's Word and coming to these aha moments, like, "Oh, this is what God has been doing all along."

Now, as I was thinking about this chapter and how to prepare this, just to set this context, I thought the World Cup is a really good example of this. As nations have come together, you see this blending of cultures. My family has followed one guy on social media. His name is Freddy. Anybody familiar with Freddy from Germany? Yeah, Freddy. He's anonymous. You never see his picture, but I kind of love it.

He goes all over America. It's his first time in America, and he's discovering all of these things that you and I are kind of like, "Yeah, that's part of American life." For instance, he shows up at Waffle House. He said, "Just had our first Waffle House experience at 1:00 a.m. Great food, great prices, and friendly staff; 10/10, we will be coming back." Now look. I love myself some Waffle House every once in a while, but hey, we can do better, Freddy. All right? It's not the best America has. And I love your Waffle House.

My favorite was this. He goes to Bass Pro Shops. Like any good Texan, I love this, because he says, "We found another surreal place. I know some people will say I'm too positive about everything I see, but this place was crazy. They had a shooting range in the store." Freddy, welcome to Texas, man. They not only have a shooting range in there, but practically half the people you see are carrying, Freddy, but we won't go into that.

What happens is there's this blending of cultures, just like today there was in the book of Acts, and then also there are some pretty good rivalries and divisions. So, if you look at Acts, chapter 15, what we're going to do is look at the debate that threatened to split the church, we're going to look at the deliberation in verses 6-21, and then we're going to look at what the church finally decided to settle this debate. Are you ready to jump in with me? Thirty-five verses. That's a lot. Here we go. Verse 1:

"But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.' And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, 'It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.'"

Like I said, this passage is very dense, and it has a lot we need to unpack. Let's just take it one verse at a time. What you see here at the very beginning is some men come down from Judea, and they're teaching the church, "Unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved." Remember what I said circumcision is? It's the mark of the Abrahamic covenant.

What they are saying is "If you are going to be a part of this church, to follow Jesus, to believe in Jesus, you must first become Jewish. You must follow the law." So now what is at stake is what the gospel is. They are arguing "You have to be circumcised in order to be saved. You have to follow the law."

Now, you think about this. To kind of be humorous for a second, it's kind of like… We live in Texas. If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of people from California who have moved to Texas. So, all of you who have on your bumper sticker, "Don't California my Texas," you're these people. Right? You're like, "Hey, you're welcome to come here, but don't change my Texas." That's kind of what's going on. By the way, we're so glad you're here.

That's kind of what's going on. "Hey, how are we going to incorporate all of these Gentiles, non-Jewish people, into the church when we've lived by the law, which tells us what we eat, what we wear, who we marry?" All of these things were to help the nation of Israel to be set apart, because all of life is an expression to God. So, these people are saying, "Hey, you've got to be circumcised if you're going to be a part of this church."

Now, Paul and Barnabas… Notice what happens in verse 2. "And after Paul and Barnabas [leaders in the church] had no small dissension and debate with them…" They're like, "Hey, no. We're going to fight over this. That's not true." So, they decide to go to Jerusalem, the birthplace of the church where the apostles are, to go, "Hey, help us settle the debate."

Then you read in verse 3 and following that along the way, they're going and speaking with other people within the church, and they're telling them, "Look. The Gentiles are responding in faith. It's not just for the Jewish people. It's for all people, all ethnicities, all cultural backgrounds. The gospel is for all people," and the brothers rejoice along the way.

Then you get to verses 4 and 5, and they go from Antioch where the debate starts, they get to Jerusalem, and they run into the same controversy. "But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees…" Those were the religious leaders of the day. Those Pharisees rose up and said, "Hey, it's necessary to be circumcised, and you've got to follow the law." So, now they're in it. I can't state enough what the tension would be in this room.

What we have to pause and reflect on is that the same challenge that faced the early church faces us today. Time and time again, you're going to hear people wrongly say things like, "Unless you are baptized, you cannot be saved." "Unless you join this church, you cannot be saved." "Unless you vote this certain way, you cannot be saved." "Unless you think the way I think, you cannot be saved," in terms of politics or culture.

We must be super clear on what the gospel is, and we have to be aware of any teaching that adds to the gospel. Ephesians 2:8-9 says it explicitly, clearly: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." The gospel, according to Scripture, is that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone. That is the cry of the Reformation, the five solas: saved by grace alone.

In other words, grace is God's unmerited favor. He doesn't look at your heart and go, "Oh, well, you know, the good outweighs the bad, so I choose you." He doesn't look down the corridors of time and go, "Oh, really. You're going to be a good person. I choose you." No. Ephesians, chapter 2, says we were dead in our sins. What can a dead man do? Nothing. We were sons of disobedience, children of wrath, you and me…all of us. That's who we were, but God in his great love, by his grace, calls us to receive him in faith.

We're saved by grace alone through faith alone, not in what we do or don't do but in whom we trust. We recognize our need for a savior, that we're broken people who have rebelled against God. We place our faith in God's grace. We don't trust in our own merit. We recognize Jesus as our Savior. He's the one who's fully God and fully man…fully God so as to be without sin, fully man so as to serve as our substitute. As the God-man, he's the only bridge between a perfect, righteous, holy God and a sinful people. He is the one mediator.

The plan of salvation is clear: through the Scriptures alone. There is no greater authority for us…no church power, no historical figure. It is God's Word, his revealed Word to us. And this is all for the glory of God alone. It is to God's glory that we are saved. This way of thinking is what Paul calls a stumbling block because it offends our pride. It is foolishness to those who don't know the Lord. Notice in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul says, "For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified…"

The message of the gospel, the good news… What I just shared to you is a stumbling block to Jews, who believe they can earn God's salvation, and it's folly to Gentiles. Why? Because the cross of Christ sounds ridiculous. "…but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." For those who know Jesus Christ, you bet your life on the truth of this. We are a gospel-saturated church. We are not here because of anything we've done, because we're good enough, smart enough, or figured anything out on our own.

We believe God's grace is sufficient. We trust in his grace, Christ's finished work on the cross, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. It is the gospel that informs everything we do, everything we teach. It's behind every one of our ministries. It's what you hear preached up here every single week. We believe in the gospel. But here's what I want you to hear. You may be sitting there going, "Hey, I kind of do think it's foolishness. I do think y'all are kind of weird."

I want you to stick with me as I explain this and walk through this. I don't want you to miss this message that there's a God in heaven who loves you. He loves you. He knows you, and there's nothing you've done in your past, no matter what you've done, no matter how many times you've done it, that can separate you from the love of God. He's calling you to come to know him, but you have to believe in him. You have to trust in him. You have to receive that gift. There is a place for you in God's family, but it starts with admitting your need and acknowledging who he is.

So, that's what's at stake. That's what's going on in Acts, chapter 15. It's a compromise. "What is the gospel?" "Unless you do this…" Grace plus. Now they're going to go talk to the church at Jerusalem. It's kind of like us from Dallas appealing to D.C., the Supreme Court, so to speak, and going, "Hey, settle this matter. Let's be clear." So, they go, beginning in verse 6.

"The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, 'Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.'"

So, now they're in Jerusalem, and Peter, one of the apostles, leaders in the church, speaks up. And what is he arguing? He says, essentially, "Listen," and he's referring back in your Bibles to Acts, chapter 10. He's referring back to a time where God gave him a great vision and a call to go to a man's house whose name is Cornelius. Cornelius was a Gentile, and Jews and Gentiles didn't have dealings with one another.

Peter is like, "Hey, I don't know if I should go," and God is like, "No, you're going to go, and you're going to preach the gospel to him." So, he goes and preaches the gospel to Cornelius, and lo and behold, his whole house believes. The same Spirit of God who lived within the Jews' hearts in chapter 2 moves within Cornelius, the Gentile man's heart. It is this aha moment for Peter.

In Acts 10:44-48, it says, "While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised…" That's the Jewish people, remember. "…who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles [the non-Jews].

For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 'Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days."

This is mind-blowing for Peter and the Jewish leaders. So, he goes back in chapter 15 and tells them, "Guys, the gospel is for everybody, and the Spirit of God lives within all the people who trust in him for salvation." Then, look at what Peter says in verse 10. He warns them. This is important. "…why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?"

What he's saying is "Hey, if you add to the gospel, you're testing, challenging God's Word. You can't do that. And you're putting a yoke on these people. You're putting a burden on them that neither you nor I can live up to. Why are you doing that to them?" Understand, the law was never meant to say we're always saved by grace through faith. The law was to set apart and to reveal to them the character of God and their need for him. That was the purpose of the law.

So, Peter is going, "Hey, you don't tell somebody to live according to the law. They can't do it. You couldn't do it and they can't do it." So, what does he say in verse 11? "We believe that we are saved through…" There's that word again. "…the grace of God." That's the gospel. If you know your Bible well, I want to encourage you. Right down here, write down "Galatians 2," which puts so much more weight to what Peter is saying here.

If you remember, Paul had to confront Peter about this very issue when he was confused. Now he's standing up with such clarity, going, "Guys, let's be clear on the gospel." So, Peter has spoken. Now Paul and Barnabas. Look at what happens in verse 12. "And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles."

Now, Luke, the author of this book… All he says is Paul and Barnabas speak, and he's referring to Acts 13 and 14, which is the first missionary journey. They're like, "Hey, we saw the same Spirit of God live within the Gentiles. Don't make these people become circumcised. Don't put them under the law. That's not the gospel. It's not about what you do and don't do; it's in whom you trust." So, now you've had Peter, and now you have Paul and Barnabas, and then finally James stands up. James is one of the leaders of the church. Verse 13:

"After they finished speaking, James replied, 'Brothers, listen to me. Simeon [Peter] has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from 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 I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old."

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.'"

Now, that is a lot. We're in the deep end of Scripture right now. Still with me? All right. Let me try to explain to you what James is trying to say, because it requires some explanation. You have Peter, who talks about his experience, what he saw. You have Paul and Barnabas talking about what they experienced. James is going, "Hey, this is a fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophets," and he quotes from Isaiah and Amos.

So, his argument within the church is "Hey, listen. The Gentiles being brought into faith, being saved by grace through faith… That is what the Bible has foretold from long ago. It's consistent with God's plan of salvation. He has always had a plan and a desire to reach all nations, and that's what he's doing right now. Don't add to the gospel. The gospel is for all people. It is the cross that unites both Jews and Gentiles into one body."

Now, you see in verses 19-21 what seem to be pretty strange instructions. He tells them, "Abstain from food offered to idols. Abstain from sexual immorality, meat that comes from strangled animals, and blood." Now, we read that… It's a culture clash, and we're kind of like, "What is this?" Well, it's the customs, the law, about table fellowship, who Jewish people could sit and have fellowship with.

Remember, the law distinguished them in every area of their life, from their clothes or their dress to the meal they ate to who they married. Everything communicated the holiness of God and how they were to live set apart. So, what he's doing here is he's telling the Gentile believers, these people who have come to faith, "Hey, don't unnecessarily upset the consciences of the Jewish people. Don't distract them by violating their table customs."

He's not adding to the gospel. He's saying to them, "You've come to faith. The Spirit lives within you. You're part of the brotherhood, but there are Jews who hear the law preached every week who don't know the gospel. Don't unnecessarily offend them." Paul is going to make the same argument to us in 1 Corinthians 9.

He says, "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." In other words, "Hey, I'm not going to live in such a way that I would unnecessarily create a burden or a distraction or hindrance to other people coming to believe in Jesus Christ."

That's a lot. You have the debate that broke out. You have an argument over the nature of the gospel. You have a clear decision that the gospel is by grace through faith in Christ alone to the glory of God alone, that one doesn't have to first become a Jew in order to be a part of the church. This model you see in the deliberation offers us a pattern for how to think theologically, and I want us to pay really close attention to this.

First, what we recognize that I think is so important for us today is do not do theology alone. Theology and creativity don't mix. If you're the only one who has ever seen this before, beware. They don't do theology alone, but what do they do? They gather with other trusted leaders and believers, teachers of God's Word, those more mature, those in leadership, and they go, "Hey, challenge our thinking. Help us. Are we thinking clearly?" This is so important that we start with humility, ask good questions, invite others into the process, and ask them, "Hey, help me as I wrestle with certain ideas."

Secondly, you notice they reasoned well. Now, this may sound a little philosophical, but please hang with me, because it's so important. They reason well in looking to God and his Word as the final authority and objective truth in their lives. They had an understanding about the nature of truth that's, candidly, very different than the way so many people understand the nature of truth today. They believed truth was objective. They believed truth was fixed in the character of God and revealed in the Word of God, that all truth is God's truth. That's what they believed.

Today, on most university campuses, you'll be told that truth is subjective, truth is in you, and it is your job to discover your truth and do you and be you, but that way of thinking is going to lead to disaster. That doesn't bring freedom; it brings crushing results. Truth is not in you; truth is in the character of God revealed by the Word of God, because all truth is God's truth. Truth is not subjective. It's not relative depending on who you are speaking to or what time or the cultural norm of the day. The idea that truth is relative is inconsistent with biblical Christianity.

Or, what's popular today is that truth is just a social construct used to elevate certain groups and oppress others. That's not the case. Truth is found and rooted in the character of God, revealed through the Word of God. Friends, this is important to note. Reason is not antithetical to our faith. You're going to be told that time and again, that reason and faith are somehow at odds with one another. No, they're not. The opposite of faith is not reason; the opposite of faith is unbelief. God has given us minds. He has revealed his truth to us. Christians should be the sharpest thinkers, fighting for ideas.

Thirdly, you recognize they learn from history and experience. They look back. They learn from their experience. They learn from their history. As Christians, we have a rich history. Do not fall prey to recency bias. Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. If you want to understand about the nature of man, read Augustine's Confessions.

If you want to understand about the spiritual life and what it looks like, read Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. If you want to know what true revival looks like, true conversion, read Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections. The church has spoken so clearly throughout the centuries on evidence of the resurrection, the problem of evil, all of the debates we have today. Learn from the past.

Finally, filter all claims through the truth of God's Word. Ephesians 4:14: "…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes." Colossians 2:8: "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." Christ who says, "I am the way and the truth and the life." Christ is the truth.

We are bombarded by messages today, messages that are inconsistent with the gospel and the truth of God's Word. We must use God's Word as a filter so we understand what to believe, what to hold on to. It shapes our worldview and our thinking, because to not understand God's Word or to disobey God's Word, to rebel against him… It only leads to death. It only leads to pain. It only leads to suffering. God's way is the best way. He longs for you to know him. He has revealed himself through his Son. He wants to show you how to walk with him through his Word if you'll believe him and trust him.

So, they give us a pattern for how to think theologically and how to wrestle with ideas. So, I want to apply that. I want to apply it in a really quick, simple way. I want to apply this to the message we are told over and over again out there, even in many churches where you see it on their marquees. That message is "Love is love." I want you to hang with me, and I want you to think about this.

First, don't do theology alone. That was their first point. If you are here today, and you believe, "Hey, love is love…" This is something you've promoted or taught or don't even know why you've taught it. I'm so glad you're here. Man, I'm so glad you're here. Can I just tell you, this idea that we live in a world of a cancel culture where we cancel people out because we don't agree with them… That's crazy. That is the most unintellectual approach you can have.

Every Monday night, we offer a ministry called Great Questions. We welcome anybody who wants to engage with us at any time on any subject about what the Bible has to say. We welcome conversations with people who disagree with us. If you believe love is love and you hold to that way of thinking, I'm so glad you're here, but recognize we don't think that's a right statement. We want to reason well with you, because that idea presumes truth is subjective.

Love is rooted in the character of God, best revealed through the person of God. There has never been a greater expression of love than through Jesus Christ. God defines love because it's rooted in who he is. Love is not for us to redefine. Marriage is not for us to redefine. Gender is not something for us to redefine. It is God who has given us the gift of marriage. He designed it with a purpose because he loves us.

If we just hold "Love is love…" To what limit, and who sets them? Can I love two people, three people, four people, or five people? You may go, "Blake, that's starting to get ridiculous." Says who? If truth is subjective and you are the determiner of truth, well, you do your truth and I'm going to do mine.

What if I want to love people who are younger? What if I want to love people who are older, and many of them? You're like, "Oh, well, hold on." Well, you can't hold on, because now it's just me doing me. It leads to chaos, pain, confusion, and hurt. It sounds good. It just leads to suffering and pain.

The church has historically taught, for centuries, that marriage is between a man and a woman, but the reason now you see this idea spread even throughout churches and rainbow flags across marquees is because we've taken God's Word and jettisoned it. We've misunderstood the nature of truth, and we say, "The truth is in you."

So, when we ask, "Well, what does the Bible mean to you? What does the Bible mean to you?" that's a bad question. It's not what the Bible means to me. The question is…What does the Bible mean? What did Luke intend? What are we to understand? Then we can ask, "Well, how does that apply to me?" But the meaning resides in the text. So, we want to filter all claims through the truth of God's Word.

Genesis 2 teaches us that God gave us the gift of marriage. Matthew 19 states explicitly through Christ it's between one woman and one man intended for a lifetime. Ephesians 5 tells us it is to be a glory and illustration of the church. First Corinthians 13 tells us that love rejoices with the truth. The most loving thing we could do is tell people the truth. We are a Bible-revering church. We believe the Bible is true, authoritative, necessary, clear, and sufficient. This is what we teach our residents and fellows every year. It's true, it's authoritative, it's necessary, it's clear and sufficient.

We believe it's true in all that it teaches to every area of life. It's authoritative. We seek to submit to its teaching, whether it feels good or not, regardless of our experience or not. It's necessary to understand the character of God and his will. It's clear for all those who come to it in faith with a heart to receive, and it is sufficient to teach us the way of salvation and how to walk with God.

We do not hold to a secular or sacred divide, but we believe all of our lives are an expression of our worship, and the Bible speaks to every area of our lives. That's why when we go to work or we're with you in communities, it's not like, "Well, you just keep that private." No. There's nothing private about my relationship with Christ. It's going to inform everything I do, not just my Sundays.

I want to just summarize what happens then in verses 22-35 for the sake of time. They've deliberated, and now they go to share this decision back in the church of Antioch. What the church of Jerusalem does… In their kindness, they send representatives with Paul and Barnabas, Judas and Silas, a Greek and a Jew, and they write a letter. It's like, "Hey, we're going to send you people to explain what it is we believe. We're going to give you a letter so you can read it."

What you even see in verses 28 and 29 is they have this sense that the Spirit of God has been with them, and they have such a prioritization that this truth get back to the church at Antioch so the church could be unified, protected from false teaching. Upon hearing this good news in verses 30-35, you see that the people in Antioch are strengthened and encouraged.

I think it's so important for us to recognize the nature of the church, because it's so antithetical to the way so many people live and believe today. It's not just "Me and Jesus." That's not the Christian life. God calls us to live in community with other believers in Christ. He invites us to be a part of his family. In my home, I have a table with six chairs where my four kids and my wife and I sit. When one of my kids isn't there, I miss them. I want them all there every night for dinner.

God wants you to have a table where you gather with family in a local church where you're known, encouraged, strengthened, taught God's Word, understand his will, are loved, supported, and helped. But you can't do that if you're like, "Well, I go to Watermark sometimes, and then I go to this other church, and I listen to this podcast. No, I don't really want anybody to know me. I just kind of slip in and slip out." The problem with this many people in a room is you can hide. We want to tell you…don't hide. Join a local church where you're known, where you're cared for, where there's a group of elders to lead you.

I wasn't going to tell them I was going to do this, but this is a picture of the nine men I get to serve alongside, and it is a joy and a privilege for me. I gather with these men every week. We're in conversation every day, praying for this church, talking about ideas, wrestling with ideas, deliberating, with God's Word as our authority and our source, on our knees, asking him to lead us. We're not perfect by any means, but God's Word is true and our Lord is perfect, and we seek to follow him.

Our prayer is that every church is a prevailing church. We want to be a unifying church in that elder room and for every member here. We spiritly debate, but in love and in quest to discover what God has to say for us. There have been times we debated and reasoned well, and I've said to them after much debate, "I wish there was a camera in the corner of this room that our church could see what happened right there. I think they'd be so proud to follow you men. I'm proud to be in this room and to learn from you men."

God invites us to be a part of a church family, to not live alone in isolation. He's inviting you. Be a part of the church where you're strengthened and encouraged, just like they were in that day, where you hear the gospel proclaimed. We want to be a gospel-saturated, Bible-revering, unifying church. We invite you to be a part of it.

If you don't know Jesus, would you please consider what I so earnestly tried to convey to you? Regardless of all of the social media feeds and crazy political things that are said or what you think Christians may or may not believe, the gospel is this: There's a God in heaven who loves you…loves you, knows you. He desires to live in a relationship with you.

But you don't come to him with your résumé of what you have or haven't done. You receive his gift of grace. You receive the gift. That's it. You receive it. You acknowledge that you can't live life on your own, that your way is broken. You receive that gift of grace, and you receive that forgiveness that comes through Christ's shed blood because he paid the penalty for you. There's healing and there's life, that you can have joy, the abundant life.

What you're looking for… Everything you're looking to outside of that is not fulfilling. Christ came that you might have life and have it abundantly. Trust him. I'm not talking about trusting just for your eternity…trusting for today. He'll show you where life is truly found, where joy is found, where meaning and purpose are found. Be a part of his body. Be richly encouraged. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, I thank you. I thank you for your Word. I thank you, Lord, for the gathered church together. I thank you for the singing. I thank you, Lord, for the prayers that have been offered today. Lord, I know anyone here who is in the sound of my voice is providentially here because of your leading. Would you help us to consider the truth of your Word and to respond accordingly, Lord? Give us open hearts to receive, eyes to see, ears to hear, and a will to follow. It's in your Son's name we pray, amen.