July 12, 2020
Morning Service

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Last week we focused on Paul’s story of his journey of following Jesus.  God called him from being the biggest enemy of the church to being one of its greatest leaders.  God used the life that Paul had lived as a spring board for him to enter into the ministry; taking something ugly and making it beautiful.   He was known as “the one who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.”  The main focus of this letter remember was that the Galatian church was being deceived by Judaizers to follow the false gospel of being saved by works rather than by faith by following the OT Law.  As we begin chapter 2 Paul tells how he had taken this issue to the young church’s leadership in Jerusalem to be resolved.

Gal 2:1-10 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.  (2)  And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.  (3)  Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.  (4)  And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), (5) to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.  (6)  But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.  (7)  But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter  (8)  (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),  (9)  and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.  (10)  They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

            This was a very important meeting in the history of the church as it is also recorded by Luke in Acts 15.  The leadership of the church recognized that God had included the Gentiles in this new covenant that Jesus had established.  It had begun with Peter being called by a dream from God to go and share the gospel message with Cornelius (a Gentile) in Acts 10.  In it a voice revealed to Peter that “what God has cleansed you must not call common.”  Peter obeyed and went to Caesarea and presented them with the gospel message of salvation through faith in Jesus.  Cornelius and his whole household were converted and filled with the Holy Spirit.  When the other apostles were informed of this event they agreed with Peter and said; “God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”  This set the stage for Paul to enter the scene and be given the hand of fellowship to minister to the Gentiles.  All of this was done through the working of the Holy Spirit in each of their lives to recognize God’s hand moving among them.  They were aware enough to know they had to let go of the old traditions that they had been taught knowing that Jesus had made everything new; things were changing.  Peter summed up the discussion of the Gentiles being under the OT Law at the council meeting of Acts 15 by saying this:

 

 

 

Act 15:8-11   So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, (9) and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.  (10)  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?  (11)  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they."

            Peter saw that the Gentile Christians should not be held accountable to keep the Law that their ancestors had so struggled to do themselves.  Jesus had set men free from the Law and opened up the doors of grace.  Jesus had also given Peter the keys to the kingdom, the authority to make these decisions, in Matthew 16 where He had asked the apostles who that men said that He was.  He then asked Peter this question.

 

Mat 16:15-19 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  (16)  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  (17)  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  (18)  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  (19)  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

            Jesus gave Peter this authority not because of his wisdom, but because he was yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit in his life.  Jesus knew Peter would lead the young church not by his own abilities, but by pointing them to “Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  It was through the Holy Spirit’s guidance that Peter and the other apostles agreed that the Gentiles would be included in the good news of the gospel message and they would not be required to keep the Law along their spiritual journey.  This directly applies to each of us as Gentile Christians.  We are not bound to the OT scriptures, except where they are restated in the NT.  Jesus fulfilled the Law and made all things new and now perfect.

            Though Peter was leading the church, that does not mean he was perfect.  He struggled at times breaking away from the traditions and accepting these Gentiles, once enemies, now as brothers.

 

Gal 2:11-14 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; (12) for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.  (13)  And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.  (14)  But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?

            Peter, the leader of the church, gets caught up in peer pressure and as Paul calls it “plays the hypocrite” and walks out on the Gentiles in the presence of their Jewish brothers.  First we must realize that none of us are perfect, we all fall short of the walk God has called us to and leaders are not exempt from this either.  We all must stay on guard that we do not get caught up “conforming” to those around us and make bad choices.  Peter got caught up in the “old” way of thinking and lost sight of the true perspective that Jesus had taught to him. 

 

 

 

Secondly with that in mind, I would like to spin this at you personally and ask each of you to examine the way you are reacting to all changes that are happening around us right now.  We are dealing in uncharted waters for most of us.  The pandemic, the riots, the divisive spirit, and just the uncertainty of where this is going are all things that we have not had to deal with at this level before.  It is stressful and confusing to get a grip on what is really happening and know how we should be reacting to it. 

My warning is that we do not get caught up with the world’s view and allow the media and those around us to draw our perspective away from what God would have it to be.  God is in control.  Fear does not come from God.  Our enemy is working in all of these situations in hope of derailing our faith and causing us as the church to get caught up in the moment and “conform” to what the world is telling us is true.

 Examine your life, have you allowed some of the world’s views to influence you in the wrong direction?

  Church, we are in a spiritual battle right now; don’t get caught with your eyes looking elsewhere.  The message of the cross is love, faith and hope; don’t ever lose sight of that and get caught up in the moment like Peter was; it is easy to do if you are not on guard.  This is a time that the church needs to step up and demonstrate what Jesus’ teachings look like on display in each our lives.  You need to be a voice of faith, encouragement, and be pointing people to the fact that God is speaking to us and we need to be listening.  Love never fails and truth always wins and we need to stay focused on Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You that to Your church the truth has been revealed.  Please show us through this chaos that You are still in control and open our hearts to understand that You are leading us through this.