The Offense of the Gospel.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Amen. Things have a seat.

[0:05] Welcome to the Village. My name’s Steve. [0:07] I am one of the pastors here. [0:10] This afternoon, if you’re not busy or if you just want to change your schedule because [0:14] you want to see me and talk to me so much, we’re going to be having a little event that [0:18] we call Intro to the Village. [0:20] This is a really informal and easy way for you to find out more about our church, for

[0:28] you to find out why we’re here, what is our mission, what are our core values, any questions [0:33] that you might have for us, come and ask those questions. [0:36] We’re going to be meeting at 4 o’clock this afternoon. [0:39] It’s in a condo complex right across the street, actually. [0:43] Directions are out in the little breezeway area on our connections table out there. [0:48] It’s got a nice sign that says Village Church in blue.

[0:50] You can’t miss that. [0:51] So grab those directions. [0:53] And if you don’t mind, if you are going to be there this afternoon, and trust me, I really [0:57] want you to be there because you will be able to learn all about our church. [1:00] You’ll be on the advance track. [1:02] You’ll come and you’ll be like, I know why Steve talks the way he does.

[1:05] I know what he does. [1:06] I know what the church believes. [1:09] And fill out one of those cards that are under your chair, one of those connection cards. [1:13] And slip those in the offering box right after the service just so we can kind of figure [1:16] out how many people are going to be there so that we can plan for that this afternoon. [1:20] I cannot tell you enough how much I want you to be there.

[1:24] I mean, you can ask me any questions this afternoon. [1:27] I can’t promise that I’ll answer it. [1:29] But you can ask me anything you want to know about the church. [1:32] You can find out who the other pastors are. [1:34] Because every week I come up here and I’m like, I’m Steve. [1:36] I’m one of the pastors here.

[1:37] And I’m the only one you ever get. [1:40] So you can find out who the other ones are this afternoon. [1:43] And maybe you’ll find out why they don’t come up here and do this because not everybody [1:46] likes doing this. [1:47] But there are other things that we do in this church. [1:49] You’ll be able to find out about our community groups, why we talk about community groups

[1:53] so much. [1:54] And why I would almost rather you go to a community group that come on Sunday morning. [1:57] Please come. [1:58] Keep coming on Sunday morning. [2:00] But I would almost rather you go to a community group more than come here because that’s where [2:03] you’ll really be able to connect.

[2:05] That’s where you’ll really be able to learn more about Scripture. [2:07] That’s where you’ll really be able to learn more about how to live the gospel in your [2:11] everyday life. [2:13] All right. [2:13] So please, please, please, everybody, if you’re here, I want you to be there. [2:18] And if you know somebody that’s normally here and they don’t normally come, call them

[2:21] tell them to be there this afternoon at four o’clock. [2:24] The directions are out in the breezeway. [2:27] Go ahead and open your Bibles to Acts chapter 10. [2:30] Acts chapter 10. [2:32] I know we’re in Galatians. [2:35] But I’ve got to do a lot of background today so that you’ll understand this section of

[2:40] verses that we’re going to be talking about. [2:41] If this is your first time here, we’re going through the whole book of Galatians verse [2:45] by verse as a church, learning what it what this book is really about, how it guides [2:51] our lives and why it is such an important book for us to really live the Christian life. [2:57] But I’ve got to give you a history lesson today because where we are in the book of [3:02] Galatians today is probably one of the pivotal moments in church history.

[3:08] The gospel was really reinforced in this section today. [3:13] And so while you’re turning to Acts chapter 10, I’m going to rewind to the book of Genesis [3:18] for you. [3:18] I don’t want you to turn there, but I’m going to spend the next two or three minutes hopefully [3:22] giving you about 10,000 years of history. [3:25] So bear with me.

[3:26] Keep tracking with me. [3:27] Put your seatbelts on. [3:28] All right. [3:29] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [3:32] All right. [3:32] Then he created a lot of other things.

[3:35] All right. [3:36] Read Genesis 1 if you want to get that. [3:38] Then he creates Adam and Eve. [3:40] Adam and Eve sin. [3:41] They rebel against God. [3:44] Because of that rebellion against God, man is separated from God.

[3:50] After this, everything up to the book of Matthew when we see Jesus come is God preparing [3:57] the world for the coming of his Son. [4:00] You’ve got to have that as your foundation as we go through this history. [4:05] Everything that takes place after the fall of man until the coming of Jesus is to prepare [4:10] the world for the coming of Jesus. [4:12] That’s probably different than the way you’ve been taught to read the Bible.

[4:16] But that’s the truth. [4:17] You can come this afternoon and we’ll talk about that if you have any questions. [4:20] All right. [4:21] Now, then Adam and Eve sin. [4:23] Then we fast forward a couple of years, go past Noah and the ark where God destroys all [4:27] mankind because there are such dirty sinners.

[4:30] God raises up a man named Abraham. [4:32] God chooses Abraham. [4:33] He makes a covenant with a man named Abraham. [4:35] He says, your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. [4:41] I will bless those who bless you. [4:43] I will curse those who curse you.

[4:44] I will make your name great. [4:47] And out of the seed of Abraham comes a nation. [4:51] And we all might know that nation is called Israel. [4:55] So God chooses this people Israel. [4:58] And Israel was used by God as his chosen people to represent him to the earth. [5:03] And to be a beacon of light to the entire world.

[5:08] Some of you may have been confused while you’re reading through the Old Testament or while [5:11] you went to Sunday school or something as a child. [5:13] What is the purpose of Israel? [5:15] Well, you have to get through to the minor prophets to really see what the purpose of [5:19] Israel really was. [5:21] Israel was not chosen to be a people who would separate from the entire world and simply

[5:26] be God’s chosen people and be holy and separate while the rest of the world went to hell. [5:32] That is how a lot of people understand the Old Testament. [5:35] But that was never the purpose of Israel. [5:38] God raised Israel up, chose them as his people, and their purpose was to follow God, obey [5:47] God, and draw the rest of the world to God through their obedience and through their [5:54] witness to the world.

[5:56] If you read through the book of Isaiah, especially chapters 42 through 53, you see that Israel [6:03] failed miserably in the mission that God gave them. [6:08] They misunderstood what it was to be God’s chosen people and more than that, if you [6:13] read through the whole Old Testament, they continually rebel against God and choose to [6:18] worship false gods. [6:21] Completely missing the point of their existence.

[6:23] Their existence was to draw the world to God. [6:26] Now a little thing you have to understand, every member of the nation of Israel, people [6:31] from all other nations, were referred to as Gentiles. [6:35] So throughout the Old Testament, you basically had two people groups. [6:39] You had the Jews, then you had everyone else. [6:42] Everyone else is referred to as a Gentile.

[6:44] So as I talk about the difference between being a Jew and a Gentile, understand that [6:48] there are the Jews and then there’s everybody else. [6:51] And I think most of us are probably in the Gentile category by birth.

[6:57] So Israel continuously rebels against God. [7:02] But what does God do? [7:04] And what is God’s plan of redemption to save the world? [7:08] Israel’s purpose was to draw people unto God. [7:11] They failed in this task. [7:13] God used their failures and them as his chosen people to bring forth his Son.

[7:23] See, man was never meant to get to God through obeying the law. [7:28] The book of Galatians actually alludes to it in chapters 1 and 2. [7:32] That the law actually shows us how sinful we are. [7:37] That if it wasn’t for the law, the book of Romans tells us, we would not know how sinful [7:42] we actually are. [7:44] So Israel stands as this shining example of our sinfulness and our desire and our habit

[7:53] of rebelling against God as fast and as hard as we possibly can. [8:00] Then, through Israel, God gives us Jesus, his Son. [8:05] Israel shows that man is not able to redeem himself. [8:09] God sends his Son, who lives a perfect life, dies a sinner’s death, for us, taking the sin of mankind unto himself, [8:20] raising from the dead the third day, securing redemption for all who will believe in him.

[8:28] Now, so we’re like, that’s fantastic. [8:30] That’s where we get salvation from. [8:32] That did not fix Israel. [8:35] Okay. [8:36] There was a period of years after the crucifixion of Jesus, after the resurrection of Jesus, [8:43] where the Jews still did not understand that this salvation from Jesus was supposed to go to the entire world.

[8:52] Alright. [8:53] If you are familiar with church history, you know that after Jesus rose from the dead, [8:58] after he ascended up into heaven, when he looked at his disciples, and he said,

[9:09] After he does this, the disciples, there were about 120 of them at this point, [9:14] return to Jerusalem and pray in the upper room where Jesus had the last supper with the disciples. [9:24] They spend about 10 days in this upper room. [9:26] Then, they come out of the upper room, and Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit. [9:33] God gives them his Spirit. [9:34] Peter preaches the Gospel in the streets of Jerusalem,

[9:38] and 3,000 Jews, Jewish men probably, not including the women and the children, [9:44] 3,000 Jewish men get saved. [9:48] They say, Absolutely, we believe in this. [9:51] Alright. [9:51] That did not solve all of the misunderstandings, though. [9:55] Alright.

[9:56] So, from Acts chapter 2 until Acts chapter 10, [10:00] Peter and the rest of the disciples and all of those 3,000 people set up the first church that ever existed, [10:06] and it is in Jerusalem. [10:07] It says that they met from house to house. [10:10] They basically had a lot of small groups. [10:12] There was no First Baptist Church of Jerusalem for everybody to go to.

[10:17] So, they met in houses, they worshiped God in houses, [10:20] they broke bread together in houses, and spread the Gospel throughout Jerusalem. [10:25] Many thousands of Jews got saved. [10:28] The scriptures actually tell us at the end of chapter 2 [10:30] that daily, God was adding to their number those who were being saved. [10:34] So, every day, people are getting saved.

[10:37] Acts chapter 10 finds us with Peter. [10:42] Alright. [10:42] He has gone to the coast of Israel and is preaching the Gospel, [10:46] and he goes into a house and goes onto the rooftop.

[10:51] Peter has not yet, and none of the disciples have yet started preaching the Gospel to Gentiles, [10:57] people who were not Jews. [10:59] So, God, while Peter is on top of a roof praying, [11:03] God puts Peter basically in a trance and gives him an interesting vision, [11:09] gives him a revelation. [11:11] In this vision, God lowers a sheet down onto that rooftop,

[11:16] and when the sheet opens up, there are animals, live animals, inside of that sheet.

[11:24] Peter looks at it, and what these animals are, if you read through the book of Leviticus, [11:29] maybe you know, maybe you know if you have had a Hebrew national hot dog. [11:32] If you had a Hebrew national hot dog, it says it is a kosher hot dog. [11:35] Alright, what it means to be kosher is that it is of the Jewish law. [11:40] There are certain animals that the book of Leviticus forbids Jews from eating. [11:47] Inside of this sheet are those animals.

[11:50] There are animals with hoofs, there are birds, there is like an alligator in there, [11:55] there is a lobster, and Jews are not allowed to eat these creatures. [11:59] It is against the Old Testament covenant.

[12:03] And so Peter looks at this and he is confused, and a voice comes out of heaven and says, [12:07] Rise Peter, kill and eat. [12:12] And his voice of course is the voice of God.

[12:16] And Peter looks at these animals and says, absolutely not. [12:20] I have never eaten an unclean animal. [12:24] If I eat this animal, I will become unclean. [12:28] So he says, no. [12:30] The sheet is taken back up into heaven. [12:32] This vision happens three more times.

[12:35] The same sheet is lowered, same number of animals, voice comes from heaven, rise Peter, kill and eat. [12:40] Peter says, absolutely not. I am a good Jew, I will never eat these animals.

[12:45] At the end of the third vision, the voice from heaven, the voice of God, comes to Peter and says, [12:51] Peter, do not call unclean what I have made clean.

[13:01] So then we will find ourselves in Acts chapter 10. [13:04] And you may be asking, why in the world was God so interested in Peter eating a lobster? [13:10] God was not interested at all in Peter eating a lobster. [13:12] That vision actually had nothing to do with food whatsoever. [13:16] Because unbeknownst to Peter, a few miles away in a house, was a Roman centurion. [13:21] This Roman centurion was a Gentile. His name was Cornelius.

[13:25] The scripture says Cornelius was a good and upright man, [13:28] gave of his money to the poor, and prayed to God even though he did not know who God was.

[13:36] God sends an angel to Cornelius.

[13:39] He says, Cornelius, there is a man who knows me, who is on a rooftop, [13:44] and I want you to send two servants to get him. His name is Peter. [13:47] He told him where Peter was. He told him whose house he was in. [13:50] It was the house of Simon the Tanner. [13:52] So, he sends two servants. He says, okay angel, I will send two servants. [13:56] So he sends two servants to his house. They knock on the door.

[13:58] As the final vision is ending, and God says, do not call unclean what I have made clean. [14:06] These servants of Cornelius, a Gentile, knock on the door and say, is Peter here? [14:11] Can you imagine being those two servants? They have no idea who they are actually looking for. [14:14] I would probably be a little embarrassed. [14:17] They knock on the door. They say, is Peter here? [14:19] And Simon the Tanner says, yeah, he is on the roof. Let me go get him.

[14:21] He gets him. Comes down. [14:22] And finally, when Peter meets these two men, and they say, [14:25] Our boss is a Roman centurion. We are his servants. He sent us for you. [14:30] Finally, the vision makes sense to Peter. [14:33] Peter realizes that God was actually revealing to him that he is going to bring the Gentiles into the Gospel. [14:42] And the Gospel is supposed to go to the Gentiles and not simply to the Jews.

[14:45] So Peter goes, and he preaches the Gospel in the house of Cornelius. [14:49] And that is where we are going to pick up. [14:52] Acts chapter 10, in verse 34. [14:57] He goes to the house of Cornelius, and then he preaches to them. [15:01] And it says, So Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I understand that God shows no partiality. [15:07] But in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right and is acceptable to him,

[15:12] as for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. [15:18] You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism, John proclaimed. [15:24] How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. [15:28] He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. [15:33] For God was with him, and we are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. [15:40] They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.

[15:43] But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all people, [15:48] but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. [15:54] And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. [16:02] To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. [16:09] It’s important to look at what Peter says at the very beginning of his sermon. [16:12] He says God shows no partiality, but is opening the gospel up to all nations.

[16:18] Okay? So here, and as soon as he finishes preaching this, Cornelius gets saved and every single person that’s in his house gets saved. [16:26] They’re baptized with the Holy Spirit. They’re followers of God. [16:29] This is the first time a Gentile is redeemed by Jesus, as in Acts chapter 10. [16:34] Okay? So what happens next? Turn over to Acts chapter 11. [16:39] Alright, in Acts chapter 11 verses 19 through 26.

[16:44] Starting in verse 19. [16:46] Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen, [16:50] traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. [16:58] If you’re familiar with some of the stories of the New Testament, [17:01] you know that just a few chapters back there was a man named Stephen who got into a verbal altercation [17:07] with a group of very religious Pharisees who did not believe in Jesus.

[17:13] And after he gives pretty much a scathing message, and he gives them a history lesson on Israel, [17:19] and tells them that they are basically going to hell if they don’t believe in Jesus, they stone him, they kill him. [17:24] Stephen is the first follower of Jesus to be killed for his faith. [17:30] Okay? And because of that, it scared a lot of Christians. [17:35] I can only imagine if out on Hole Street a Christian is killed because he’s a Christian, many of us may go into hiding. [17:42] Well, a lot of the people in Jerusalem who were followers of Jesus reacted to this by fleeing.

[17:47] It says that they went all over that area of the world. [17:51] All the way up to Phoenicia, all the way up to Cyprus and Antioch. [17:55] But it says those followers of Jesus, as they fled in fear, they continued preaching the Gospel to who? [18:03] The Jews. They did not give the Gospel to anyone but Jews because, think about what I told you about Israel in the Old Testament. [18:11] They had spent thousands of years thinking that they were special and that they needed to separate from the rest of the world. [18:20] So they thought that God only liked Jews and that he hated everyone else.

[18:26] This is racism on a cosmic level.

[18:31] So they’re preaching only to Jews. [18:34] But then notice, but there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. [18:45] A Hellenist is a Greek. Greeks are not Jews. They’re Gentiles. [18:52] So some of them said, well, you know, I’m meeting some Gentiles on this journey while I’m running for my life. [18:59] I’m going to preach the Gospel to them. Let’s see what happens. [19:02] So they preached the Gospel to them and some of the Greeks start getting saved.

[19:08] And the hand of the Lord was with them. [19:11] And a great number who believed turned to the Lord. [19:14] The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. [19:21] When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. [19:28] For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. [19:31] And so great and excuse me, and a great many people were added to the Lord.

[19:36] So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. [19:39] And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch for a whole year. [19:42] They met with the church and taught a great many people. [19:46] And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians.

[19:52] So here in Acts chapter 10, we have the first Gentile coming to faith in Christ. [19:58] In Acts chapter 11, we have the first Gentile church. [20:04] In Acts chapter 11, a large group of Gentiles are redeemed through the cross of Christ. [20:10] And many of them get saved. [20:12] And what happens is that the church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas, one of their deacons. [20:16] And he goes up to Antioch and he’s talking to them.

[20:19] He’s saying, okay, tell me what happened to you. [20:21] And he finds, man, these people are really getting saved. [20:24] He says these people need someone to lead them. [20:27] So Barnabas goes to Tarsus to get Saul. [20:31] Who, just a couple of chapters earlier, we have the story that we went over a couple of weeks ago [20:36] where Saul gets saved dramatically.

[20:38] Jesus Christ himself reveals himself to Saul. [20:42] So Barnabas goes and gets him and says, I need help over in Antioch. [20:46] Maybe you can be of some assistance. [20:48] And they go to Antioch and the scriptures say for the next year, they disciple the church at Antioch. [20:56] Now, we can go back to the book of Galatians. [20:59] So turn over to Galatians chapter 2.

[21:07] In Galatians chapter 2, today we find ourselves in verse 11.

[21:29] But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. [21:38] All right? [21:39] Cephas is Peter. [21:42] Okay? [21:43] It’s just another way of saying Peter in a different language.

[21:46] So here we have Peter coming to Antioch. [21:50] Paul is there because him and Barnabas have been discipling this church. [21:55] Peter comes up from Jerusalem and he spends time there. [21:59] And then we have a very interesting story about Paul rebuking Peter [22:05] for changing the way he eats with Gentiles.

[22:12] That’s why I had to tell you that whole story [22:14] because this story would make absolutely no sense if you didn’t know the background [22:16] of the conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles. [22:20] All right? [22:20] So what we have going on here is we have Peter. [22:23] Peter is the leader of the church.

[22:26] All right? Peter is the big name here. [22:27] Peter preached the first message of the Christian church. [22:32] He started the Christian church by preaching the gospel [22:35] and many people were repenting of their sins and coming to faith in Jesus. [22:38] Peter had walked with Jesus while Jesus was on earth [22:41] and he had been rebuked a couple of times by Jesus.

[22:44] Then he had denied Jesus and then he comes and finds Jesus after he’s risen from the dead. [22:49] Jesus forgives him and then this miraculous change takes place in Peter’s life [22:54] where this coward becomes extremely bold and brave [22:59] and he goes directly into the streets of Jerusalem [23:02] where Jesus had just been crucified. [23:06] And he preaches the gospel to the very people who had been in the crowd saying,

[23:10] crucify him, crucify him.

[23:13] Then you fast forward and he comes to Antioch [23:16] and he almost goes back to the pattern of while he was with Jesus [23:19] and while he was a coward who denied Jesus. [23:21] And he becomes a coward once again in Antioch. [23:26] And the question we have to ask ourselves about these verses [23:29] is why in the world did Peter become such a coward all of a sudden?

[23:39] We’re most likely seeing Peter who’s been in Antioch for just a short period of time [23:46] because the book of Acts does not tell us that Peter spent a significant amount of time in Antioch. [23:52] What probably happened is after Barnabas and Paul came into Antioch [23:56] and found out that all of these people were actually Christians, [23:59] were actually being discipled, some other men from Jerusalem who were in leadership [24:04] came to see what exactly was going on.

[24:07] And when Peter comes, the scripture says right here [24:10] that he was eating and drinking with the Gentiles and then he stops. [24:14] What is significant about eating and drinking with the Gentiles? [24:18] To a Jew, eating and drinking was much more than a social event. [24:24] It was much more than just a meal time where you set up the TV tray in front of the TV [24:28] and you watch the 6 o’clock news.

[24:30] It was much more than that to a Jew in the first century. [24:34] To a Jew in the first century, it was called table fellowship. [24:38] It was a special and religious event. [24:40] This was part of their holiness as they saw it. [24:45] And so when they would eat a meal, they would invite their neighbors, [24:48] they would bring their whole family in, and they would break bread.

[24:51] That’s where the term breaking of bread comes from. [24:53] They would break bread together and share a meal and give thanks to God [24:57] as part of their religious activity.

[25:01] But there were rules about table fellowship. [25:05] One of the rules about table fellowship is that you could only have table fellowship [25:10] with Jews. [25:13] You could not eat with Gentiles. [25:15] You were to separate yourself away from Gentiles. [25:18] You were to separate yourself away from tax collectors.

[25:21] You were to separate yourself away from anybody that could be deemed unclean [25:27] when you ate your meals. [25:28] And if you did not do this, you yourself were seen as unclean. [25:33] And there was a period of time that you were not allowed into the temple to worship. [25:37] So the Jews took this very seriously.

[25:43] And so Peter, under his freedom in Jesus, under his freedom in the Gospel, [25:48] realizing that under the name of Jesus, anyone can get saved, [25:52] and that there is no clean and unclean in Jesus. [25:56] There is simply those who have been cleaned by Jesus. [25:59] Jews and Gentiles alike. Peter realizes this. [26:02] So when he comes to Antioch, he feels freedom to eat and have table fellowship

[26:08] with Jews and Gentiles alike because he realizes, [26:11] I cannot be unclean any longer. I am in Jesus.

[26:16] But then the people that we have been dealing with since chapter 1, [26:20] if you have been with us the past few weeks, track with me. [26:22] The people that came called the Circumcision Party, [26:25] who were causing so many problems in Galatia, [26:27] who were telling the church at Galatia, which was also a church made up of Gentiles, [26:34] you have Jesus, good, only one more thing you need for salvation.

[26:39] Be circumcised and follow the Jewish law. [26:41] Then, and only then, can you be saved. [26:44] These very men had come up through Antioch while Paul was in Antioch. [26:51] And Paul is giving them his accounting of the story [26:54] of when those people of the Circumcision Party came through Antioch [26:58] and were going to preach to the church at Antioch.

[27:00] They needed to be circumcised.

[27:05] Peter, though, takes a different approach.

[27:09] Peter becomes fearful.

[27:12] Peter is afraid of what will happen when the Circumcision Party comes. [27:17] Because if you think about it, what has just happened not too long ago [27:21] in Jerusalem with the Christians? [27:25] Well, Pharisees have started killing followers of Jesus. [27:30] So this Circumcision Party, who kind of changed their methods, [27:35] they’re not just trying to kill you, they’re trying to convert you,

[27:37] and if they can’t convert you, well, then they’ll probably persecute you for a while. [27:41] They come up through Antioch, and apparently, fear came through Peter, [27:47] the leader of the New Testament church.

[27:52] So what happens? Look at verse 13.

[27:57] And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, [28:02] so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. [28:10] Because of Peter’s actions here, everyone else that had come to Antioch [28:15] to spread the Gospel stops. [28:19] They stop dead in their tracks. [28:21] They follow Peter’s example.

[28:24] And they stop having table fellowship with the Gentiles, [28:27] stop socializing with the Gentiles, [28:29] stop having anything to do with the Gentiles. [28:33] People stop getting discipled. [28:37] The Gospel stops being spread. [28:40] Could you imagine the ramifications of this?

[28:42] Could you imagine the problems that this has? [28:44] Could you imagine the problems in your life, [28:47] if you have a group of friends, and you all meet on Friday at Starbucks, [28:50] and then next Friday you show up, and you sit down at the table with them, [28:53] you get your mocha, you sit down at the table with them, [28:56] and they just look at you and say,

[28:57] ooh, we’re going to have to move, we don’t drink with you anymore. [29:00] And so they all get up, and they go to a different table. [29:03] Is that going to hinder your relationship? [29:05] Maybe just a smidge?

[29:08] Absolutely, it’s going to hinder your relationship. [29:10] You’re going to be offended by this.

[29:15] That’s what you have going on here in Antioch, [29:17] the first Gentile church. [29:20] This church served as a catalyst to send out missionaries [29:24] to reach the rest of the Gentile world. [29:27] And here in this first church, [29:29] we almost have a church split that will change everything

[29:34] because of the cowardice of one man [29:38] who was given the responsibility to spread the Gospel to the whole world.

[29:44] He becomes a coward, so everyone else that’s been following him [29:48] also becomes a coward.

[29:51] Because in this instance, [29:53] they allow religious preference [29:57] and religious bigotry [29:59] to guide the Gospel.

[30:05] Religion cannot guide the Gospel. [30:10] It was never meant to guide the Gospel. [30:13] This is what Peter was trying to do. [30:15] He was attempting to compromise the mission of Jesus [30:19] to save face with people from his past. [30:23] He was willing to compromise on the Gospel

[30:27] because of what a few other men, [30:30] who he had already seen as false teachers, [30:34] and he had already rejected their message, [30:37] he had already rejected everything that they taught [30:40] because it was heresy and it was sending people to hell. [30:45] He had already rejected this.

[30:48] But because of his fear of them coming and persecuting him, [30:52] because of his fear of them coming and causing problems inside of the church, [30:56] he is willing to stop the spread of the Gospel [31:00] in order to keep a problem from happening [31:03] and in order to keep the Jews from getting offended.

[31:10] So he says, okay, we will compromise. [31:15] And we will allow the spread of the Gospel to stop. [31:19] What Peter does here is he erects a barrier [31:23] between the Gospel and the Gentiles.

[31:28] He does never look at them, Scripture doesn’t tell us, [31:31] and say you cannot be saved.

[31:34] He simply looks at them and says,

[31:38] I am not willing to have anything to do with you anymore.

[31:42] When in actuality, that’s the same message.

[31:48] If you are unwilling in your heart to have something to do with a person,

[31:53] you are putting a barrier between yourself and themselves. [31:57] And if you are the person that is leading the charge of the Gospel in their life, [32:03] you are also erecting a barrier between them and the Gospel. [32:08] And unknowingly, you are also putting up a barrier between yourself and the Gospel.

[32:16] Because of Peter’s actions, [32:18] those who depended on him to lead them while he was following Jesus [32:21] acted the same way that he did. [32:24] Paul writes that even Barnabas is led in the wrong direction by what Peter does. [32:30] He says even Barnabas who came and saw these people get saved [32:34] and knew the truth of the Gospel,

[32:36] stops having table fellowship with them. [32:38] He stops eating with them. [32:39] He stops drinking with them. [32:40] He stops having anything to do with them because these people in the circumcision party came up.

[32:48] Now read with me what Paul actually says to him in verses 14-16. [32:53] In verse 14,

[33:33] Paul stands right before Peter in front of everybody. [33:37] The Jews, the Gentiles, there are probably even people from the circumcision party right there. [33:43] Paul stands in front of them all, points his finger in the face of Peter [33:48] and rebukes him openly in front of everyone.

[33:53] That probably took some guts because Peter was kind of in charge at this point.

[33:59] Paul stands in front of them and says, [34:01] How dare you be a Jew yet you’re living like a Gentile five minutes ago [34:09] eating with them, drinking with them, telling them they don’t have to become a Jew [34:13] but rather they can come to faith through Jesus and Jesus alone [34:17] yet now you’re looking at them by your actions [34:21] and telling them that they do have to become a Jew in order to be saved.

[34:25] How dare you who know the truth of the gospel [34:29] live a lifestyle like you don’t know the truth of the gospel. [34:37] Could you imagine being Peter who walked physically with Jesus [34:42] standing there hearing this from a man who had not been there when Jesus was on earth.

[34:51] See I think this goes to show us that there was nothing special about these people.

[34:58] They were just like you and me. [35:00] They were human beings who became completely passionate and completely obsessed [35:06] with the life saving message of Jesus Christ. [35:09] And God changed their lives. [35:11] God used them dramatically.

[35:15] But they were still people. [35:17] Peter was still a human being. [35:20] And Peter made a terrible mistake. [35:24] And for just a moment.

[35:28] He chose a sinful path instead of a gospel path. [35:32] He chose just for a moment to allow something other than the gospel to motivate his decisions. [35:42] And Paul stood right before him and rebuked him. [35:45] How offended must Peter have been?

[35:51] I mean I bet he felt about two feet tall in this moment. [35:53] He’s probably fairly embarrassed, fairly ashamed of what had taken place. [36:00] But this is the key that you have to understand to understand why this passage is so pivotal. [36:06] The gospel is offensive. [36:08] What does Paul say to Peter in this passage that is not the truth of the gospel?

[36:17] Absolutely Peter was offended. [36:19] He was offended by the truth of the gospel.

[36:24] Even though many within the church spend tons of time trying to prove otherwise in this day and age. [36:31] The gospel is offensive and there’s nothing we can do about that. [36:34] There’s no way we can take the offensiveness out of the gospel. [36:38] The gospel is offensive to absolutely everything inside of me. [36:41] The gospel tells me the truth of who I really am. [36:47] The gospel reveals to me that I am nothing but a sinner.

[36:51] The gospel was revealing to Peter in this moment, [36:54] Peter you are a sinner and you are walking a path of sin that is going to lead to the destruction of an entire church. [37:01] And is going to lead to many people going to hell. [37:04] Because of a decision that you are allowing something other than the gospel to motivate.

[37:12] Paul is looking at Peter and saying you have been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus. [37:17] The news that will liberate lives away from sin. [37:21] And you are willing to live a lie even just for a moment. [37:25] Even though you know the truth.

[37:31] You see the problem is that Peter in this moment was not really living the gospel. [37:42] Peter was living a very self-centered life where he was afraid of what might happen if he is seen as an unclean Jew. [37:50] But the question we have to ask ourselves is how many times do we do this in our lives? [37:56] See it is easy to look at a passage like this and see the history story and see why this is so important. [38:03] Because the gospel is being purified here and say man that is awesome. [38:07] Paul saves the day.

[38:10] But then what we don’t do is we don’t go that next step and say where does this passage speak to me in my life? [38:16] Where does this passage offend me? [38:19] Where should it offend me? [38:21] My question too is where should this message offend you? [38:24] The gospel is offensive because it shows us everything that is wrong about how we see life and how we live life. [38:31] And it tells us how to do it differently.

[38:35] This is a different gospel than you are probably used to. [38:38] This is the gospel you are probably used to. [38:40] You have probably turned to a gospel possibly that is a fairy tale where a savior comes in and takes all your problems away. [38:47] Makes life okay and comfortable and gives you the right to skate through life doing whatever you want. [38:54] But in the end you will have the ability to avoid going to hell.

[39:03] That is the gospel that most people are preaching.

[39:08] That is possibly the gospel that you have believed.

[39:14] That is not the gospel.

[39:18] That is not the gospel.

[39:21] That is a message that is constructed to make us feel better about ourselves and better about our lives. [39:27] Because the problem is what this gospel that is not real does to our lives is that it gives us Jesus as a functional savior.

[39:39] Who exists to meet our needs. [39:43] Who exists simply to fix our problems. [39:46] The problem with this is that it turns Jesus into a genie.

[39:51] Who when there is a problem in our life we turn to.

[39:56] But in everything else we can ignore.

[40:03] You say but isn’t Jesus the savior? [40:05] Absolutely. [40:05] Doesn’t Jesus save us from hell? [40:08] Absolutely. [40:09] Isn’t salvation by grace through faith free of charge not of works lest any man should boast? [40:14] Absolutely.

[40:15] That is part of the gospel. [40:18] But we have a huge tendency as human beings to latch on to the parts of the gospel that give us all the benefits. [40:24] And then anything that is required of us we say not so fast. [40:28] I am not comfortable with that. [40:30] Give me heaven. [40:31] Give me eternal security.

[40:33] Make me comfortable. [40:35] Heal my sicknesses. [40:37] Give me money. [40:38] Give me a good life. [40:40] Give me a functional savior. [40:42] Have a nice day.

[40:44] I will live life however I want. [40:45] I will live life completely for myself. [40:48] I will use other people completely for my benefit. [40:51] I will avoid any hardship in life. [40:53] I will avoid any suffering in life. [40:55] I will avoid anything that will cause me to have to make any hard decisions.

[41:00] And do any hard things. [41:02] And do anything for the gospel in my lifetime. [41:05] I will avoid all that and I will still get heaven.

[41:10] That is as bad as the name it and claim it theology that says if you give me money God will give you a million dollars.

[41:19] It is just as dangerous because it is just as untrue.

[41:24] Countless thousands in every denomination. [41:28] It is an about denomination. [41:30] Countless thousands in every denomination. [41:34] Believe that.

[41:38] And we wonder why churches are emptying. [41:44] Churches are closing. [41:46] Thousands are unreached overseas. [41:49] Millions within what is called the 1040 window will never hear the gospel of Jesus. [41:55] And they will perish and go to hell because no one was willing to make a hard decision. [42:01] And no one was willing to look at the gospel and say what an amazing salvation I have.

[42:06] Jesus died for me. [42:07] He paid it all. [42:08] He redeemed me. [42:09] He is my joy. [42:11] How can I live a lifestyle that is centered on this message?

[42:17] We never do it. [42:20] We are just interested in getting our bills paid. [42:22] Getting our 401k filled. [42:24] And then at 65 retiring and playing a couple of rounds of golf until we die.

[42:34] That is what Peter is struggling with right here. [42:37] Is he is choosing to avoid discomfort rather than live a life for the gospel. [42:43] He wants safety. [42:45] The problem is that the gospel is not safe. [42:48] The gospel is the most dangerous message that has ever existed.

[42:55] Because it will change your life. [42:59] It will change the way you see life. [43:01] It will change the way that you do everything.

[43:06] And if it doesn’t, you haven’t gotten it.

[43:11] That is the problem. [43:12] That is what we are unwilling to tell people. [43:14] The problem is the message that Paul looked at Peter in the face and said, [43:18] Peter, if you really believe this, what Paul is saying, [43:21] then you don’t have the gospel.

[43:26] Do you think Peter didn’t know the facts that Paul was laying in front of him? [43:31] This is Peter. [43:32] You think he didn’t know those facts? [43:35] What Paul is saying is, you are not living those facts. [43:38] And if you are not living those facts, it means you don’t believe those facts.

[43:44] Do you see any safety in this gospel message? [43:47] There is none.

[43:51] It is hard. [43:52] And I am not very comfortable preaching it.

[43:57] Because it calls me to a life that is not all about me being able to sit in front of my TV and zone out.

[44:06] It means that every decision that I make in my life has to be a gospel-centered decision. [44:12] The gospel will call you to take risks with your life that you have never even dreamt of making. [44:20] And you are like, does that mean I am going to have to sell all of my possessions and fly somewhere? [44:25] Maybe.

[44:30] But not probably. [44:31] It is not going to start that way.

[44:35] When people come and get saved, we don’t hand them plane tickets to Africa.

[44:41] But maybe it starts somewhere else. [44:45] Maybe it starts with you forgiving people in your life and saying, I am going to go and I am going to say, I am sorry. [44:52] Rather than expecting them to be sorry to me. [44:55] Because if I say, I am sorry, then that will give me an opening to telling them what Jesus has done in my life. [45:04] That didn’t cost you a penny.

[45:08] But that is a fortune in some people’s eyes. [45:13] Maybe it simply means that you need to start attending a community group.

[45:19] One night a week. [45:21] One morning a week maybe.

[45:24] Where you go and you learn about the gospel and you miss one television show.

[45:32] You see, it is when you get your mind off of your life and your mission and get it onto God’s life and His mission that your life changes. [45:43] You see, nobody goes from 0 to 60 without hitting all of the miles per hour in between. [45:51] Some of you need to go from 0 to 1.

[45:56] And that one mile per hour is just starting a relationship where someone is discipling you. [46:01] And then you get to 2 where you start making harder decisions and you might reproduce your faith in someone else. [46:07] Then you get to 3 and you might become a leader of a group of people who you are discipling yourself. [46:13] Then you get to 4 and then more decisions are becoming about the gospel. [46:17] And instead of going in debt you use your money wiser. [46:23] So that you can give to the church or so that you can give to missionaries or so that you can give to some way of furthering the mission of Jesus.

[46:30] See, our way of life is you either have 0 or you have 60. [46:34] Either I am less than or I am the missionary who gives his life in Africa forever. [46:40] You want an either or mentality. [46:42] Do you think a missionary that gives their life in Africa went there the day after they got saved? [46:48] Maybe they were on the advance track but most likely they hit all those miles per hour in between. [46:53] And then when they finally were looking at their lives and saying, you know what, nothing of this matters to me.

[46:57] And people are dying and going to hell over in Africa so I am going to go there. [47:00] But maybe for you it is the person across the street. [47:03] We have a mission field here in Midlothian. [47:06] The biggest problem with Peter was that he did not realize that the gospel was unsafe. [47:11] He wanted it to keep him safe. [47:13] You think the gospel is going to keep you safe and keep you from problems.

[47:17] The reality of that is the gospel might actually bring problems into your life because it is completely unsafe. [47:24] But Jesus is such an amazing God that he will take you through the persecution. [47:28] He will take you through the suffering. [47:30] He will take you through the trials. [47:31] And in the end you say my life is enough because I have Jesus. [47:35] Has there been suffering?

[47:37] Has there been sickness? [47:38] Absolutely. [47:39] But I have Jesus and I am spreading the gospel because it is being spread in my life and the life of others.

[47:48] That is the kind of church that we need to be. [47:52] Because that is the only lifestyle that is really going to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ.

[47:58] That is it. [48:00] The gospel is the basis of life. [48:03] The will of God is the mission of Jesus. [48:06] Peter’s problem was that in this moment, at this point, he decided not to risk. [48:11] To not live a life that would be for the gospel at all costs. [48:15] And it almost led to a church going completely away from the gospel.

[48:20] Now think about this. [48:21] Peter recovered. [48:23] Peter did not sink off into a life of credulity. [48:26] Rather, Peter repented of this and he went on to write much of the New Testament. [48:31] He went on to plant many churches, even the church at Rome. [48:34] He went on to be martyred.

[48:38] When you talk about the life of Peter, we do not mention this very much, do we? [48:43] No. [48:44] Most people do not even remember this. [48:46] Most people do not even think about this. [48:48] We think about Peter as the great apostle of the faith that helped start the New Testament church. [48:53] Why is that?

[48:54] Because he saw the error of his way. [48:56] He repented and he did not dwell in that sinful mindset any longer. [49:02] What about you?

[49:05] See, because if you think about Peter, what if he had not repented? [49:09] What kind of a life would he have missed out on? [49:11] We probably would not even remember his name.

[49:15] What about you though? [49:16] What are you missing out on? [49:19] What if you do not listen to this? [49:21] What if you do not start making decisions based on the gospel? [49:25] What if you do not believe the gospel? [49:26] What if you decide to live a life where Jesus is just your functional savior to fix all of your problems and your needs,

[49:33] and he does not exist to do anything in your life to help anybody else? [49:36] What if you do that? [49:37] What will you miss out on? [49:40] What if you, taking just one risk with one person, would change everything in your life? [49:47] What if your dreams were obsessed and saturated with the gospel? [49:52] What if you started living a life that was a resemblance and a direct representation of the gospel?

[50:01] Because the gospel is not a motivation for life. [50:04] The gospel is the motivation for life. [50:07] And any other motivation that you have in your life will lead you astray, like Peter almost went astray. [50:16] Because you have many motivations, and the gospel just happens to be one of them.

[50:22] That is not truth. That is sin.

[50:27] Be motivated by the gospel. [50:31] And if you are following a different motivator than the gospel, you are not following Jesus.

[50:39] Pray with me. [50:41] Father, we come before you today.

[50:50] We simply ask, give us hearts for the gospel.

[50:58] Give us lives for the gospel.

[51:01] Lord, you sent your Son to save us from our sin.

[51:07] Father, create hearts and minds that actually believe that that message is true. [51:15] Because if we believe that that message is true, then it will surely change our lives completely. [51:22] It will transform us. [51:24] God, you have promised to give us life and to actually give it more abundantly.

[51:33] Lord, help us to experience that today.

[51:38] Maybe you are in here and you have never really believed the gospel.

[51:45] And you sit there and you are like, when you talk about Jesus not having control of my life, [51:51] and the gospel not being my motivating factor, talking about me. [51:57] If that is you this morning, when you leave here today, it does not have to be like that.

[52:06] You can change. You simply need to repent of your sins. [52:11] You simply need to realize that you have sinned against a holy and righteous God.

[52:18] And instead of making you pay the penalty for that, he laid the penalty onto his son Jesus. [52:27] And you need to trust him with your life this morning. [52:31] And if you will trust him with your life, he has promised to transform your life. [52:37] And make your life about his life the great exchange where he exchanges his righteousness for your sin. [52:44] And he takes your sin onto him and gives you his righteousness.

[52:50] No matter how many years you have spent not following God, you can spend the rest of your life following God. [52:59] Because it is not about your sin, it is about Jesus paying the penalty for your sin. [53:07] Or maybe you are in here and you have been redeemed and you have been saved by Jesus. [53:12] And you simply are like Peter.

[53:17] There have been moments, and maybe you are in a moment right now, where you are allowing something other than the gospel of Jesus to lead you.

[53:28] Repent of that because that is not who you really are. [53:31] Turn away from it. [53:34] Follow Jesus. [53:36] And live a life for the gospel. [53:39] We are here for you. If you need me, I will be just in the back. [53:44] I will talk with you. I will pray with you.

[53:47] Anything you need.