The Apostle James settles the Jerusalem Council with a letter to the Antioch Church that calls Gentile Christians to cut all ties with pagan idolatry and sexual immorality and affirms their identity as full members of the Church.
Transcription (automatically-generated):
We're in the middle of the first Apostolic Council known as the Jerusalem Council. The issues at hand revolve around questions like how is a man saved? And what is the relationship between a Christian and the Law? The Law being the Old Testament commands of God given to the nation of Israel through Moses. Certain Jewish groups within the Judean Church were arguing that Gentile Christians still needed to follow the law of Moses, including circumcision, to be truly saved.
Paul and Barnabas were arguing that salvation is entirely by faith alone and not by any works, including the works of the Law. In our previous study, we heard Peter's testimony, as well as Paul and Barnabas reporting on all they had witnessed firsthand God do among the Gentiles. And so, we continue today in Acts chapter 15, verse 13. After they - Paul and Barnabas - stopped speaking, James responded, brothers - he's addressing all of those present - Listen to me.
This is James the Apostle, the half-brother of Jesus, and he appears to be chairing the Jerusalem Council as the most prominent elder in the Jerusalem Church at the time. He's going to summarize the arguments for salvation by faith alone and render the equivalent of a verdict on the matter. Verse 14. Simeon that's Peter has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. James is a wise man, and so he uses Peter's Hebrew name, which is Simeon, when he addresses the concerning of the Jewish believers.
And then he refers once again to the events described in Acts chapter ten, when Peter preached to the Gentile household of Cornelius and saw them all filled with the Holy Spirit. And James's point is, guys, the issue was settled 13 years ago when Peter witnessed the first Gentiles being filled with the Holy Spirit. And I love the way James phrases it. He says God intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. Through Abraham, God made a people for Himself, the ethnic nation of Israel.
But through Jesus, God has made a new people for Himself. It includes not only those of Israel who love Him but those of every nation who love Him. And they are bound not by ethnicity, but by the blood of Jesus. This new people is the Church, the spiritual nation of Christ. Jesus still has plans for ethnic Israel, but his work on the earth is currently being accomplished through his spiritual people, the Church.
God intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. That God ever looked upon me and said, I want you to be part of my people. I want you to be part of My portion from the nations is astonishing. It's astonishing. And when you understand just a little of how amazing it is that God wants you in his family, it causes you to lose interest in any accolade that this world can offer.
For what could possibly compare to the honor of being wanted by the living God, adopted to be part of his family, chosen to reign and rule with Him in the ages to come? When people talk about winning at life, let me tell you something. Those who belong to the Lord aren't winning. They've already won. The victory has been secured.
And no matter how the rest of our lives play out, we are blessed, we are honored, we are victorious because we belong to Jesus.
The pro-law Jews who were in the meeting revered the Old Testament scriptures like all believers do. And so, James takes the discussion to the Scriptures, pointing out in verse 15, the words of the prophets agree with this. They agree with Peter's testimony of God giving the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles as it is written. And James's point is going to be that the Old Testament prophets prophesied centuries earlier that Gentiles would be brought into the family of God. And so, James is going to address through these scriptures from the Old Testament some unspoken concerns that the Jewish believers had.
To put it simply, they were concerning what it meant for Israel's future. If the law was now done with, if it had been put away by the finished work of Jesus, was the nation of Israel still going to be restored one day? Was Messiah actually going to sit on David's throne in Jerusalem one day as prophesied? Or was that all done with now? And James will now quote from Amos, chapter nine, where the Lord says verse 16, after these things, I will return.
Underline in your Bibles, that phrase, I will return. Now, this is really interesting, because, again, this is God speaking centuries before the incarnation. And here's where I'm going with this. Jesus had to come a first time before he could return in the future. So, this is not speaking about the incarnation, because that's Jesus's first coming.
He has to come a first time before he can come again, before he can return. And so, if you're not grasping how amazing that is in and of itself, let me just say it again for you. The second coming of Christ is prophesied in the Old Testament centuries before the first coming of Christ, over 700 years before Jesus came to the Earth the first time, the word of God prophesies that he will come a second time. It's astonishing. And what will the Lord do at his second coming?
It says Rebuild David's Fallen tent. I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again. This is a way of saying that when Jesus returns at the Second Coming, he will restore the family line of King David over the nation of Israel. Jesus was born into the genetic line of David, and so when he reigns over the nations from Jerusalem in the millennium, he will have rebuilt David's fallen tent. James was saying, brothers, that's still going to happen.
That's still the plan. If you don't know what I mean when I talk about the millennium or the Second Coming or the millennial kingdom. Just go to our website and just casually go through the 28 hours of teaching we have on the Book of Revelation. That's all. That's all you got to do, and then you'll be up to speed.
But Amos also prophesies that when that happens again, when Jesus returns to reign over the nations of the Earth as the King of Israel, it's not going to be a Jews-exclusive thing. He's going to come back and reign. Verse 17, so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, declares the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago. So, the Jewish Messiah, Jesus will one day rule over the nations from Israel, but everyone will be invited, all the Gentiles who are called by My name, not only the Jews. It's going to be different from when King David reigned.
And verse 17 makes it clear that all of the Gentiles at that time will seek the Lord as Gentiles, not as converts to Judaism. Now, of course, it was always possible for a Gentile to convert to Judaism and join the nation of Israel. But Amos is envisioning a different time when all the Gentiles, the rest of humanity, will seek the Lord in Jerusalem. In the King James Version, verse 18 reads, known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. And so, James's point in quoting this to his Jewish brethren is that the Lord declared all the way back in the Book of Amos that it had always been his plan.
It has always been his plan to include the Gentiles in his family. So can you see how quoting those verses from Amos would have helped address the concerns of the Jewish believers, but while also correcting their theology, it's brilliant. The promises of God to Israel would still be fulfilled. But James points out, rightly, that among those promises are promises that the Gentiles will be brought into the family of God. James could have also shared from the Old Testament prophet Zechariah, who prophesied that in the millennial kingdom, ethnic Israel will be messengers who will bring Gentiles to God.
Take a look on your outlines. All the other verses I'm going to quote today outside of Acts will be on your outline. In Zechariah eight, it's prophesied the Lord of Armies says this peoples will yet come, the residents of many cities. The residents of one city will go to another, saying, let's go at once to plead for the Lord's favor and to seek the Lord of armies. I am also going, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of Armies in Jerusalem and to plead for the Lord's favor.
The Lord of Armies says this in those days, ten men from nations of every language will grab the robe of a Jewish man tightly urging, let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you, describing a time in the future when Jesus will indeed reign on the earth from the city of Jerusalem. It was always God's plan to save Gentiles as well as Jews, and to save those Gentiles without making them Jews. James was pointing out that Peter saw Gentiles saved by faith alone, and the Old Testament's prophets prophesied that Gentiles would be loved by faith alone in the future. Therefore, we can safely assume that likewise for the period in between the Old Testament prophets and the time when Jesus reigns from Jerusalem, gentiles will be saved by faith alone as well. Now, if you're not hanging with me about what's going on in the Jerusalem Council, I have distilled all of the events of the Jerusalem Council into this meme for your convenience.
There you go. Perfectly done, perfectly executed. I was pretty proud of that one. So, all the young people are on the same page as us right now, and there's really nothing that makes you sound older than using the phrase young people, right?
Paul summarized the issues of the Jerusalem Council in his Epistle to the Ephesians. This also be on your outlines, writing in Ephesians chapter three. Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you. That is the mystery made known to me by Revelation. As I have already written briefly in reading this, then you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Antichrist, which was not made known to people in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's, holy apostles and prophets.
This mystery is that through the Gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israelite members of one body and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. Paul speaks about the Gentiles becoming part of the people of God, and he explains that it was a mystery which was not made known to people in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's, holy apostles and prophets. So, in other words, it was always God's plan. It was always in the Old Testament prophets, but it was concealed. People couldn't see it; they couldn't perceive it until the Holy Spirit revealed it to them.
And he chose to do that only after Jesus had completed the work of making a way through his life, death, and resurrection. It's very interesting. It was in the Scriptures, Paul is saying, but nobody could perceive it until the right time. And if you're into eschatology at all, then you're aware that with Daniel, a similar thing is told to Daniel. He is told that, hey, no one's going to understand the prophecies you've been given until we get to the time of the end, and then people are going to understand them and we're in that time.
And there are things we understand now about the Book of Daniel that nobody else understood over the past few thousand years. It's incredible. Paul continues, and he says, I became a servant of this Gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power, although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people. This grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in him, and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
And James will now share his verdict. In verse 19, he says, therefore, in my judgment, we should not cause difficulties for those among the Gentiles who turn to God, but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood. When teaching about the cost of following him, the cost of making a commitment to become a Christian, jesus said, which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? His point was that each person should understand the cost of following him before they commit to follow him. And Jambres lists four issues that should be clearly explained to Gentiles as part of the cost of following Jesus.
In other words, these things need to immediately change when you begin following Jesus. These are not things to gradually work on or phase out over time. They are things that must immediately stop if you are going to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Now, why these four things? I did a bunch of reading, and there are multiple theories, but the most reasonable and the most plausible is that they all relate to pagan worship.
We know from history that during the first century, which is when these events are taking place, Jews believed that the primary way they could be made impure by contact with Gentiles was because Gentiles were involved in pagan idol worship. They weren't first and foremost concerned that Gentiles were eating non-kosher food. They were concerned that Gentiles were engaged in pagan idolatry. And we all need to understand that there are still some things that must immediately stop when a person becomes a believer. Some things take years to work on, like changing your thinking, but some behaviors must change immediately, and two of those issues are pagan idolatry and sexual immorality.
If you are going to follow Jesus, he must immediately become the only God that you follow. You must disavow all other religious and spiritual belief systems; they must become dead to you. You must turn your back on them. It does not matter if it offends your family. It does not matter if it is your cultural or ethnic tradition.
You must renounce them all to follow Christ. It's a non-negotiable. Paul praised the Thessalonians because they quote turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Remember how Paul and Barnabas exhorted the crowd in Lystra to turn from worthless idols to those living God? That's the picture.
You're here. You're engaged in these forms of spiritual worship. To turn to God, he is over here means turning your back on those things. You can't grab them all and shift them here next to God. You're there or you're there.
Your back is to one of them. And so, if you turn to Christ, you turn your back on everything else. If you are engaged in sexual immorality, it must stop. If you're living with a partner outside of wedlock, you must move out immediately. And the Church would help anyone who wanted to obey Jesus in doing that.
If anyone said, I'm living with someone, I want to follow Jesus, I know I got to move out right away. I just don't know what to do. We'll figure out a way. We will figure out a way. If you're watching porn, you need to take practical steps to stop immediately.
And again, the Church can help with that. If you're hooking up with people, that needs to stop immediately. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about this too, saying, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God, as you are doing, do this even more. For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is God's will, your sanctification.
That you keep away from sexual immorality. That each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions like the Gentiles who don't know God. This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. For God has not called us to impurity, but to live in holiness. Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Sexual immorality in the Bible refers to any and all sexual activity outside of the context of marriage between a man and woman. That's what sexual immorality is, simply. And Paul hits on the issue of sexual immorality further in 1 Corinthians, chapters five and six, if you want to look that up on your own.
But I really want us to note what Paul says. The last verse I mentioned there 1 Thessalonians four eight. It's like Paul can just anticipate that we're going to look for wiggle room. We're going to look for a way to say, well, it's a little bit nuanced as an issue. We're going to try and find a crack to exploit.
And so he just throws in an absolute killer line there and he says, consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. Paul says, you disagree with me. You're not rejecting me. You're not rejecting my teaching, you're rejecting God. No wiggle room there.
So write this down. Converts to Christianity must immediately renounce all other gods and belief systems and turn from sexual immorality. And turn from sexual immorality. And I want to be clear what we're talking about here. We're talking about that being the agreed-upon goal.
Any person who comes to Christ must be in agreement. Yes, that's what I need to do. I see that clearly in the Scriptures. That is what I want to do, and I will do everything in my power to do that. Might it be a struggle?
Yes. Will there be challenges? Yes. But there is clear agreement, understanding, and desire that this is what needs to happen. Those are the non-negotiables.
And again, if there's a practical step I can take, I understand I must do it. I can't continue to live with my boyfriend or girlfriend and say, I'm working on it because I can make a single decision to move out and change my behavior. That's what it's talking about. Everything in my power I'm going to do. And my desire is to obey God in this.
That's what we're talking about. The four things James says gentile converts need to abstain from are, firstly, things polluted by idols. And scholars generally agree this refers to participation in pagan temple feasts or cultural celebrations held in honor of pagan gods. And these were the big societal events of the day in the Roman Empire. It may also have included eating meat that came from an animal that had been sacrificed to a pagan god.
And so, Paul says, it doesn't matter if all of your neighbors are doing that. James says, it doesn't matter if everyone on the block is going to that party. If it's in honor of a pagan god, you can't go. You cannot be involved with that. And Paul, of course, would tackle the issue of meat sacrificed to idols in greater detail later in 1 Corinthians, and also in that same epistle, Paul writes about the wickedness of believers who feast at communion one night at the church and then at a pagan celebration the next.
And this is what Paul says. He says, So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ he's speaking of? Communion. The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ because there is one bread.
We who are many are one body. Since all of us share one bread. Consider the people of Israelite. Do not those who eat the sacrifices likewise participate in the altar? What am I saying then?
That food sacrificed to idols is anything? Or that an idol is anything? No. But I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord's table and the table of demons. I love Paul for his clarity. 'Second thing that James lists is sexual immorality. The pagan gods that were worshipped by the Gentiles in the empire at this time in history generally required sexual immorality as part of their worship.
I know it's weird that cults dreamed up by men would have sexual immorality as part of their worship rituals, but I guess it happened. This could involve orgies, temple prostitution, and other wicked practices. And so, as I said, sexual immorality refers to any sexual activity outside of the marriage between a man and a woman. And when Paul and James are speaking about it, they're generally referring to it in the context of being involved in pagan idolatry and worship simply because that was the most prevalent form. The commands apply to all sexual immorality.
But it was out of control through participation in pagan cults at the time. The third and fourth prohibitions are connected to eating anything that has been strangled and from blood. The Mosaic law forbade the Israelites from eating any meat that still had the blood of the animal in it or from drinking blood. Because God declared the life of every creature is its blood. And it's interesting that most pagan cults at the time believed the same thing.
They believed in concepts like gaining the strength or characteristics of an animal by drinking its blood, that there would be some sort of supernatural impartation to the self. But God declared that since he alone is the author of life, it was wicked to even desire to enhance one's life by taking life. That was a wicked desire. And so pagan cults would sometimes kill animals by strangulation so that when they ate the meat, it was still full of the blood of the animal. And God obviously says have nothing to do with that.
So, as you can see, the prohibitions laid out by James were not arbitrary selections from the law of Moses. They were commands that would demand Gentile converts make a clean break with their old life and their pagan practices. And this is consistent with the gospel. This is not adding anything to the gospel. These were instructions that were to be clearly communicated to Gentile converts so they would know what would be immediately required following conversion and so that existing converts would know how to walk in the newness of life in Christ.
And by issuing these expectations, James was able to assuage the concerns of the Jewish believers inspired by the Holy Spirit, James brilliantly gives guidance that emphatically Caleb Gentile converts out of paganism and idol worship, addresses the primary concerns of Jewish Christians, and affirms salvation by faith alone, and does not put Gentiles converts under the law. The attitude required of all Christianity is summarized by Paul in 1 Corinthians, where he writes so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God. Just as I also try to please everyone and everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many so that they may be saved. James continues now in verse 21, and he says, for since ancient times, Moses has had those who proclaim him in every city, and every Sabbath day he is read aloud in the synagogues.
James's point is that the law of Moses was taught in synagogues in every city across the empire, such that even Gentile converts to Christianity will immediately understand and know why these four prohibitions were so important and why they mattered to Jewish believers. In the events of the Jerusalem Council, we see some basic guidelines for solving theological disputes. Issues of doctrine. When somebody says, well, I think that this is what God wants, the other person says, this is what God wants. And there's a conflict.
We can take a few pointers from how they handled things. I just noticed that they recognize in their context that each person there was actually coming from a place of sincerity. They weren't trying to lead anyone astray. Everyone was trying to be faithful to the Lord. And so, therefore, because they know that they engage with each other respectfully, addressing one another as brothers, I notice that they recognize that whatever the correct theology is, it'll harmonize with observable reality.
They take seriously the eyewitness accounts of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas. You see, correct theology will work in any part of the globe, and it will actually explain observable reality. If you have a doctrine that can be disproved by just looking at reality, it's not a correct doctrine. Correct doctrine explains reality. It doesn't require you to ignore reality.
I noticed that they recognize correct theology must agree with the Scriptures, because God will never contradict His Word. We see James refer to the book of the prophet Amos. And then lastly, they recognize that there must be agreement among the elders of the Church. Because they had selected Godly discerning and faithful men to be elders. They could trust that they were listening to the Holy Spirit and desire to do the Lord's will.
Therefore, unity was vital. The leaders of the Jerusalem Church and the brothers from Antioch showed an understanding of the truth that it is not the job of elders to dictate God's will, but to discern it and call the Church to walk in it. We should also note that while there was unity in their decision, their approach was not that unity should be attained at any cost. To agree that salvation was by faith alone, they had to also agree that what certain men were teaching was wrong. Those who wanted Gentiles converts to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses were wrong.
And I point that out because some people will criticize churches for ever disagreeing with another church. And they'll say all churches should be unified, there should be no division. And yet, just 20 years into the Church's existence, we see here a disagreement that caused some division in the Church, because the result was they drew a line in the sand and they said, Christians believe that salvation is by faith alone. Anyone who disagreed could not be part of the Church because this is what the Church believes and teaches. Jesus does not want people to be united at any cost.
He wants his Church to be united around the truth. Verse 22 then the apostles and the elders, with the whole Church decided to select men who were among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas Judas Caleb, Barnabas and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. First. This Judas is not that Judas. He's dead by this point and has been dead for a while.
The First Apostolic Council concludes, and they arrange a contingent to join the brothers from Antioch on their return journey to share the council's verdict with the Church in Antioch. This Judas and Silas would have been deacons or elders in the Jerusalem Church, and their presence was needed to authenticate the letter they were sent with, for without them, those claiming Gentiles needed to become Jews in order to be saved would have surely accused Paul and Barnabas of forging the letter. But by their presence, they could authenticate not only the letter but Paul and Barnabas's report of how all the events had unfolded in Jerusalem. Verse 23 they, the apostles and elders of the Jerusalem Church wrote from the apostles and the elders, your brothers - underline your brothers - to the - and then underline this - brothers and sisters among the Gentiles. To the brothers and sisters among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.
The term brothers and sisters was a big deal because it affirmed Jerusalem's acceptance of Antioch's Gentile believers as legitimate greetings. Since we have heard that some, without our authorization, went out from us and troubled you with their words and unsettled your hearts, we have unanimously decided to select men and send them to you along with underline our dearly loved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. They cleared the air by letting the brethren in Antioch know that those who had been stirring up trouble. For them had not been sent by or authorized by Jerusalem. They shared their affection for Paul and Barnabas, who were of course elders in Antioch, and they paid them the highest compliment they could, pointing out that they had risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We learned all about that during their first missionary journey. Therefore, we have sent Judaism and Silas who will personally report the same things by word of mouth. For it was the Holy Spirit's decision and ours not to place further burdens on you beyond these requirements that you abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. You will do well if you keep yourselves from these things. Farewell.
The doctrinal questions were answered with clarity and practicality. Guidance was given that would spur the sanctification of Gentile Christians and foster genuine unity across cultural lines. In the church. Verse 30. So they were sent off and went down to Antioch, and after gathering the assembly, they delivered the letter.
And when they read it - underline this - they rejoiced because of its encouragement. They rejoiced because of its encouragement. There were a lots of relieved recent male Gentiles converging who rejoiced in the Church in Antioch. But this really was a big deal. It was a huge deal.
For this reason, they had been waiting for an answer to the question, are we truly saved? Are we saved? And when they heard that they were, they rejoiced. Their reaction reveals the sincerity of their conversion. They rejoiced because they were saved.
That's the part of the message they responded to. Notice this they weren't focused or concerned about the prohibitions. They weren't concerned or complaining about being commanded to give up pagan idolatry and sexual immorality. All they cared about was that they were loved. And that principle is still true today when a person claims to have converted to Christianity. 'Become a follower of Jesus.
But all they can talk about is what they've had to give up. All they can do is complain that they can't sin the way they used to. You got to ask the question, are you really saved? Are you really saved? Because the focus of those who are truly saved is not on everything they have to give up.
It's on everything they've gained in Christ. I'm saved. I'm a new creation. I have Jesus. I'm in his family forever.
He's with me. He's in me. We're human. I know that we can struggle with breaking away from parts of our old life, but we should never be found lamenting. The fact that we can no longer sin like we used to.
Instead, we should be found lamenting. The fact that there's any part of us that even still wants to do that.
Lord, please help me. I don't want to go back to that. I don't want to be a slave to that sin again. I don't want to return to those things. Lord, change my heart, change my mind, change my desires.
It's telling that when the letter from Jerusalem was read, the Gentiles believers rejoiced over their salvation. That was their focus. That was the part of the letter that stuck out to them, not the things they could no longer do or the places they could no longer go.
Make a note of this. Sincere converts to Christianity rejoice over the righteousness they have gained rather than lamenting the sin they have lost. We rejoice over the righteousness we've gained rather than lamenting loves the sin that we've lost. Then it says both Judaism and Silas, who were also prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers and sisters and strengthened them with a long message underline a long message in your Bibles, and let the Lord speak to your heart. After spending some time there, they were sent back in peace by the brothers and sisters to those who had sent them.
I love that those Jerusalem elders and or deacons stayed fellowshipped with, encouraged, and strengthened the church in Antioch because they were staying to model what the letter they had brought said that Gentiles and Jews were one in Christ Jesus and therefore one in his church. And it would have added a whole 'nother level to their presence when they sat and ate with Gentiles and fellowshipped with them and modeled it. Some manuscripts add the detail here that Silas actually decided to stay in Antioch. He sensed the Holy Spirit leading him to stay and not go back to Jerusalem. And so, he did, and we'll see why later in the chapter.
But Paul and Barnabas, along with many others, remained in Antioch teaching and proclaiming the word of God. They're going to stay in Antioch for about a year or two before Paul will take on his second missionary journey that we'll read about. Next time I'm going to close by talking about this for just a couple of minutes. You know, every person wonders at various points in their life, how can I know the will of God? How can I discern the will of God for my life?
And while it may not be a complete list, we see several ways that we can discern God's will for us. Demonstrated in how the participants in the Jewish in the Jerusalem Council discerned God's will for the Church. And I put these on your outline. So firstly, we won't be long on each one. But God speaks through circumstances.
He speaks through circumstances the Jerusalem Council think about this would never have happened unless those troublemaking, unauthorized men from Judea had gone down to Antioch and started teaching that salvation was not by faith alone. It wouldn't have happened. God works through unlikely circumstances and even trials to direct our paths. We're playing checkers, he's playing chess. Secondly, God speaks through the testimony of believers.
Peter, Paul, and Barnabas all shared what they had seen the Lord do among the Gentiles. And God can sea to us through the testimony and confession of our brothers and sisters and may especially do so when we share with them an issue where we are seeking to discern the Lord's will. You never know, you might be amazed how people have a story to tell about what they've learned from the Lord Jesus in their own life. Write this down. Thirdly.
God speaks through his word. James directs the brothers to the Book of Amos to reveal that the Lord has always planned to save Gentiles as Gentiles. And we can go to God's Word for direction whenever we choose. And when brothers or sisters share a word with us, we can compare it to the Word and see for ourselves if what they are saying lines up with the truth. I'll be honest when people tell me, Jeff, I just... I just can't figure out what the Lord is telling me.
The first question I try to ask is, well, what is, what does His Word say? What loves the word say. I don't know. Well, you haven't even started trying to discern the will of the Lord then, because that's kind of where we start. What does the word say?
What does the word say? What does the word say? Fourthly, God speaks through the gifts of the Spirit. We see James operating in the gift of prophecy when he connects the current issue to the words of Amos from 700 years earlier. He also demonstrates spiritual gifts of a word of wisdom and leadership.
And so, God may choose to speak into your life and give direction through a brother, our sister, employing one of the gifts of the Spirit. It can happen if we don't share the issue we're struggling with, but it's far more likely to happen if we open up and share with someone the issue that we're having that we're trying to discern and ask for prayer and ask for help. It's amazing how many times I've experienced God speak to me through the prayers of somebody else who's praying for me. Fifthly, God speaks through the elders and deacons of the church. God told the Ephesians that God gave certain men to the church as gifts for their good.
He wrote, He himself - that's Jesus - gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. You know, people Peter, reach spiritual maturity when they say, I've heard it all, nobody needs to teach me anything. I had a guy one-time years ago come up to me after the message and he was like, oh, just great message, Pastor Jeff. I mean, I could have taught it myself because I've heard it all before and I thought in that minute, I thought, wow, that was the quickest 180 on a compliment I've ever experienced in my life. It's like, bam.
Just like that. But then I was saddened immediately because I realized this person is never going to learn anything new about the Lord as long as they keep that attitude. You come into church, you go into a Bible study thinking, I've heard it all, I've seen it all, I know it all, then you're right in the sense that this is all you're ever going to know because you're saying that there's nothing more for me to learn, and that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the person who says, I want to know more of Jesus, I want to know more of God, that's my prayer and comes with that attitude will be given that. Can I tell you a secret too?
They'll be given that even if the preacher is terrible, because God will honor that desire. God will honor his word. God will honor that heart. I regularly ask BJ about stuff and asks what he thinks about all kinds of things. Why?
Because, as Paul told us, he's a gift to my church, and I want to experience the benefits of that gift. So, when there's something I'm wanting to discern or think through, I don't hop on Facebook and ask anybody if they've got an opinion. I go to an elder in the church and I ask him. Number six god speaks through a plurality of wise counsel. I want to be so clear about what I mean when I refer to wise counsel.
The wise part is super important, okay? In the context of discerning the will of God, I am talking about men and women who have demonstrated spiritual maturity, knowledge of the Word of God, and faithfully walking with Jesus for years. That's what I'm talking about. Counsel is not hard to find. Just tweet out your question.
They'll get all kinds of counsel. Wise counsel is a completely different matter, and far too many people fail to distinguish between counsel and wise counsel and do so to their own detriment. When you consult multiple wise counselors and observe a pattern in their counsel, that can be God leading. In the Book of Proverbs, which you're reading if you're in a home group, Solomon writes, without guidance, a people fall, but with many counselors, there is deliverance. And he says, Victory comes with many counselors, many wise counselors.
And then lastly, God speaks through prayer. While not explicitly mentioned in Acts chapter 15, we know from their lifestyles that all of those present at the Jerusalem Council would have been praying in the lead up to the meeting, during the meeting, and after the meeting. That was just their custom. And today, God still speaks to his people when we pray. He can speak to us directly by guiding our thoughts, by leading our minds to a specific place in Scripture, to inclining our hearts in a certain direction, reminding us to ask for prayer or seek counsel, et cetera.
Those are seven ways that we can discern the will of God. So, if you ever feel lost, look at that list and begin to say, which of these have I done? Which have I not done? You'll be amazed how the Lord will speak to and lead you.
There has always been and will always be only one way to be saved, and we're so thankful for that. The glorious reality of our hope was stated by our brother Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, where he wrote, you are saved by grace through faith. This is not from yourselves. It is God's gift, not from works so that no one can boast. Whoever you are, Jesus has died for you.
He's done the work. He's lived the perfect life that you can't live. He's paid the price for every sin that you've committed, and he's risen from the dead so that you can live forever with Him. Jesus did it all. But you got a really, really big part to play.
I got to lay it out for you. It's a super big task. And when I explain it, you'll understand why you're so crucial to the entire process of salvation. Because your part, everything you bring to the table, is to say, thank you. That's it.
That's our great contribution to the divine exchange. Thank you. That's it.