Well, this morning, we are continuing our study in the book of Acts, and I invite you to turn to Acts chapter 21, that's found on page 1183 in your Bibles, Acts chapter 21. We're reading verses 17 to verse 26, 17 to 26 of Acts chapter 21. as we continue to make our way through this book and such a wonderful book to study as we look at the challenges of the early church in receiving the gospel to the ends of the earth and how similar the challenges still are to this day, to the first century. Beginning at verse 17, this is the word of the Lord. When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law. And they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs what then is to be done they will certainly hear that you've come do therefore what we tell you we have four men who are under a vow take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. Then Paul took the men and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled, and the offering presented for each one of them. And there ends the reading of God's Word. Well, we come to a passage this morning that I will openly confess, I pulled out my gray hair over. I really struggled with this one. On the one hand, it's one of the most complicated passages really in all of Acts. And I really did think a lot about why is this passage so difficult to appreciate what's going on. It's in the complication, though, that I really believe we have probably the most important message in Acts. And that's why when you come to passages like this that are full of tension and struggle, that whatever is the outcome, whatever you see come out of it, is something that is intended by the Holy Spirit to be important for the church of all ages. This passage is about a man who loved the church of Jesus Christ so much that in every circumstance, he was willing to put his reputation, his name, his life on the line for the sake of the gospel. That's how committed Paul was and how much he loved the church. I love saying that today because our attitude toward the church is just often terrible. This is exactly what the church needs today, right here. If we could take the heart of the Apostle Paul and put it in pastors going into ministry today, things would go a lot better. If we had pastors at half the heart today of this, and I include myself in that, of this of this man the ministry would be flourishing it's just such a wonderful testimony here to a true pastor's heart we need people with this kind of heart we need people who care sure we say that jesus is our great example but i couldn't help but to think that if jesus had been the only example and we jesus isn't just an example he's our mediator he's our savior but if it had only been everyone would have said, well, who can live up to that? Who can do what Jesus did? So that right after we have this man that is set apart who is just like us, who gives us a great example of the life of Christ and shows us how the gospel ministry should look and what kind of things we should value and what should be most important in it. We see Paul walking in the very same footsteps of Jesus, and that's an important message for the ministry. That's an important message for pastors, most certainly, and for all who serve any kind of leadership in the church, and for you who don't. If you're not in leadership, this is the kind of thing we should strive for, this kind of servant heart. I don't know how to say it, though, when I think of today, a love for the church, a love for the church. What are you willing to put on line, on the line for the church? what once you think about that a little bit is the church just a attack on to our busy lives is the church just something that shouldn't inconvenience us is the church something that shouldn't challenge us is the church something that shouldn't push us is it just there for us so long as nothing else is in the way this is what i i think is a major problem with the american church it's just used more of a social club than anything else this is is important this morning because it's demonstrating the kind of heart in the ministry that gives everything and it pushes us to think about our love for the gospel and for the church of Jesus Christ which was said in Acts 20 that was purchased with his blood I'm looking at this passage this morning with you considering the concern that is raised with Paul you'll notice that there a big concern is raised with him the solution that is proposed, and then the path that is chosen. It's a very simple outline. You'll see that there, the problem that is given, the concern, the solution, and then the path that is chosen. As we look at this particular passage, we have to sort of set the context again and remember exactly what happened last time. You'll remember that we wrestled with the struggle over the will of the Lord. That was that ending statement there last time in verse 14. Let the will of the Lord be done. And what they were struggling with was, should Paul go to Jerusalem? And all of his disciple friends, everyone said, you are not to go. All the prophecies said, listen, Paul, if you go, you're going to get persecuted. This is not going to go well for you. Paul fully understood that if he went to Jerusalem, he would suffer and it's quite possible that he would die. Here's my question. Why then, if everyone told him not to go, why did he go? Notice I didn't answer that last time. Why did he go? That has not been answered. Why do you want to go to Jerusalem? I'm not going to give you that to the end of the sermon. I'm going to try to see if you're awake by the end of the sermon, okay? But I'm seriously thinking about why would anyone in their right mind walk into known persecution? That's not what we do. I've met, I think of that verse of Jesus, that saying of Jesus, you have to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. I've met pastors who have not been wise at all in the way that they hold their convictions and they just do obnoxious things, and then, of course, I'm sure I've done it. Then there's those who are retreatists and don't do anything of any boldness with the gospel. These are hard balances to strike, but I'm wrestling with, why did this man walk into known persecution? We read in verse 17 there as we begin today, when we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day, Paul went with us to James, and all the elders were present, and after greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. So Paul walks to Jerusalem. He's with his little crew here. Luke's with him. We have the we passages. Somebody asked me about that the other day. Why is he saying we? Because Luke is the one narrating and giving us these details. walks into Jerusalem, and it's an amazing moment that he is there in front of the elders, he is there in front of the leaders, and he begins to rehearse the success of the Gentile church out there. James, you're not going to believe what's happening, what the Lord is doing. It's absolutely wonderful. The gospel is spread, and in places like Antioch, and in places like Ephesus, and Galatia, their churches are booming, and people are coming in, and the gospel is being heard. God is indeed taking this gospel to the ends of the earth. How do you think James is feeling about this? It's a fascinating moment because here Paul is in front of James, and think of all of the struggles that we have to this day with putting Romans next to James. Here you have it played out in flesh and blood, the struggle. I mean that. Think of all the struggles that we have reading the two books together. Luther struggled with the book of James because he just didn't believe it was clear on the issue of justification by grace through faith alone, whereas Paul's writings were completely clear. Well, why this confusion? Why this struggle? Here we have them face-to-face in the book of Acts. Here we have the struggle and if we could say, ask Paul, well, how did this go and what happened between you two? And here we have the very discussion and how they handled these matters and what were the issues. What a huge moment. James represented mother church in Jerusalem, primarily of the Jews. Paul, we know, was the apostle to the Gentiles, even though he was a Jew himself. So it's a really remarkable moment that you have these two groups here and the two sort of leaders of these groups standing face to face. Keep in mind all that has happened so far. Paul is here rehearsing the success of the mission to the Gentiles to the ends of the earth. He's talking about the things happening out there on the mission field. Everyone knows what has happened. The reports have come, Ephesus, Antioch. You'll notice again here, and I want you to really focus on this verse and not lose this as we go through this. After Paul had reported these things that we read, that he related these things in verse 19. You'll notice what verse 20 says, and when they heard it, they glorified God. We have to keep that in front of us. They glorified God. But I want you to notice here that we have a problem. These are two very different groups. These are two very different churches. Acts is pressing us not to see them as separate. Acts doesn't want us to see them. Luke doesn't want us to see them as separate. But we have this great problem all the way back. Remember the Jerusalem Council in chapter 15 that had already wrestled with these issues and already had made a declaration. And James quotes that here. Overall, the Jews were rejoicing at what God was doing among the Gentiles, weren't they? But then comes what I struggled with this week. It just seems so frustrating. I mean it. You have standing there with Paul all of these disciples and James, and here it comes. You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed. Listen, Paul, you're not the only one with success. Thousands have come into the mother church. Thousands. It's a big moment. I have to say, in just a side note, i won't run far with this but think about the entrance of and looking for the restoration of the nation of israel paul always said the jews were always coming in here's a testimony thousands were coming in right from the beginning it wasn't some future plan the jews and gentiles were always coming in together right from the beginning when jesus was reigned and said all authority is reigning all authority has been given to me the rain to the ends of the earth is underway this is the whole point of Acts. The rain has started when Jesus ascended. But here we are, and this rejoicing has happened, but James is saying, listen, thousands have come in, but then comes what is disturbing. And you know, they are all really zealous for the law. i'm sorry but if you're paul standing there that's really troubling why do i say that i'll show you in a minute i believe luke meant meant for us to say what zealous for what you want to hear the jerusalem church is zealous for the gospel that's what we want to hear jesus his life our obedience in him right his obedience for us the whole message that paul under the prompting of the holy spirit teaching to the gentiles was to go out and say listen no one is justified by the works of the law not by what you do no one on that day is going to stand there and say oh well my good outweighed the bad this isn't going to happen you're not justified that way the just live by faith so so over and over again the message was proclaimed paul said it everywhere think of him out on the missionary field the church in galatia by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified for by the law comes the knowledge of sin the law brings romans for wrath it was this very problem that would lead paul to write the epistle to the Galatians of how easy that when they started putting confidence back in the law, how easily they left the gospel. So imagine standing there and you hear, listen, Paul, thousands, thousands have come into the church and are believing, but their zeal is for the law. That's got to make your heart sink with concern. Has to. In what way? What are we talking about? What do you mean zealous for the law? I think that's the thing that has to be answered, doesn't it? What do you mean by that? What do you mean by zealous for the law? Implication is, Paul, you guys aren't. You guys aren't. Then comes the sad part of what follows. Paul is there and they say, listen, a report is spreading everywhere about you. That you're out there teaching that all the Jews who are still out there, diaspora all of them are still out there who've not come and are not part of the jerusalem church who have spread about who are living among the gentiles should forsake moses and not circumcise their children and they don't have to keep any of the customs wow this is a important moment james is really concerned what paul had taught everywhere was that circumcision doesn't save you just like we say baptism doesn't save you. It's not the act of baptism that saves anyone. It's the Holy Spirit giving you a new birth, changing your heart, gospel being believed, received by faith. He had taught, right, these things, that circumcision really is no avail. He said, he said that to the Galatians, that in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. Now imagine hearing that if you're a Jew. This is all being taught. but only faith working through love for even those this is this is a big one for even those who are circumcised this is galatians 6 13 listen to this for even those who are circumcised do not keep the law you can't just make statements like that out there we're zealous for the law but they desire said paul to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh as a jewish right circumcision really meant nothing now this man had been through paul beatings imprisonments everything for the sake of the gospel but i submit to you that this probably hurt him the most i really believe that when he said my anxiety all day long was for the churches i think this is the issue he was so concerned about them turning back away from jesus to the law for righteousness. This is Romans 10. I can't imagine, too, having your reputation slandered. You know, as a pastor, you struggle with this. What bothers you as a pastor is sometimes the feelings that, well, maybe I'm viewed a certain way and views are being attributed to me that I don't hold. And when you hear things said, it's one of the worst things that makes you sick to your stomach, because what's happening is an assault on your reputation. And everyone's talking about it. Here he walks to Jerusalem, and that's what he comes into. Massive rumors and slanders and things about him that are being said all throughout the mother church. What's worse is that James, with these guys, seems to present this in accusatory way. He's not saying, well, we don't believe this. He's fact-finding himself. Paul's whole life had been given to this, and you have to look at this scene, at least as I look at it, and think this is one of the most uncharitable, ugly scenes here in Acts. One pastor said they took the worst possible interpretation. But here's my concern. If I'm Paul, how easy it is to make our customs and our cultural practices the things that define us. Are we just defined by what we can't do? We've had a lot of this in evangelicalism, that it seems to be it's just defined by don't do this and don't do this and don't do this. No wonder the next generation rejects that. is that what christianity is is it just rules are we are we defined by what we do or don't do or are we defined by what jesus has done and then how does that affect what we do right you ever think that we fall into the trap of putting our confidence in our our customs our forms our practices themselves missing the substance of why we do them missing the heart that's supposed to be there for them in the right way this is a law and a gospel issue right here this is a law and a gospel issue right here with Paul and James standing toe to toe the real issue is how does justification by grace through faith alone by which you're right with God what does that mean for ceremonies and tradition and good works How does that all work together? And what happens when that's all mingled up? Well, what has to be done, says James. That's an interesting question. They're going to certainly hear that you've come. Here's our proposal. So, to have your clear outline, what have I done so far? I've explained here the problem, the concern, and now we're right at the proposal. here's the proposal do what we tell you therefore this is not an option here's what you're going to do paul we have four men who've taken a vow take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you but that you yourself also live in observance of the law but as for the gentiles who have believed we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual morality that's Jerusalem council to which i respond and say you've got to be kidding me you have got to be kidding me they just told paul to do what think about this for a minute these are four guys who have taken the nazirite vow they're going to go in and bick their heads and then they're going to go spend seven days in a ceremony in the temple doing sacrificial rites and ceremonies according to the law to cleanse themselves here's what you're going to do paul you're going to do it too and you're going to go in and you're going to perform those same rites and guess also what you're going to do you're going to pay for this all i mean for many of you it had been over right there, right? When you do this, we are all going to know that we believe nothing of what has been said about you is true. Hear James in that? Thou will know that you live in observance of the law. When we talk about the law and we say there's the moral law, there's the civil law, and there's the ceremonial law what are we talking about here we're not talking about really moral law that's what's striking we're talking ceremonial law and this is really messy i think it illustrates how close the jerusalem church was and members of it trying to hold on to the law and the Old Testament customs and ceremonial law in ways that were dangerous. But it's even more messy than that. What do I mean? The question is motivation. Why are they doing this? Why do they want to do this? What is their problem? Are they actually putting confidence in these things to be right with God, or is it just their Jewish ethnic identity? These customs that they've practiced for thousands and thousands of years are what made them Jews. Cultural customs, cultural practices. Who can judge that? Is it that or is it justification issues? What is it? And you see the mess of this because it's probably a mixture of both depending on who you're talking to. We know this. This is not hard for us. We have our own kind of culture here. In light of years of traditions, when you're a church that's been here a long time, this is what happens. And think of how far back we've traced some of the things and traditions that we've done. Some very good traditions. But we have views built into that and people have views built into how they view us because of that. How they view the Escondido, you are see because of that. Are they necessary or are they just cultural expectations? Sometimes people snap who are grown up in it and they just get so tired of the pressure of cultural expectation, of all the expectations of family, culture, all that, they want out of it. Is it the custom that makes us who we are? Is it the tradition that makes us who we are? Is it the culture that makes us who we are? These are the things I think that this text is pushing us with. You could go anywhere. You could go with Christian education. We have always done it a certain way. Gentiles might not. Now what? Now what? See how easy it is to tie together the traditions and the culture with principles? And then force all that together. Not everyone is called to do it a certain way. And when we expect it to be one way, we alienate other brothers and sisters. And we actually become spiritually arrogant if we insist that everyone must agree with us on a certain issue. This seems to be such a basic point of the text. I can't divorce myself from it. Because there's only one way it's done. See, is it the principle or is it the tradition and the custom that has now been put together and that expectation laid upon everyone to follow that? You see, Paul must have stood there being a Jew and said, has this church made any progress? Has this church made any progress? We're free from man-made traditions. We're free from the ceremonies of the law. If it's me, I'm thinking, you know what this feels? I'm not sure they've heard anything I've taught. I'm not sure there's any respect for anything I've taught. Why did I even come here? I still haven't answered that. Why am I here? Everyone told me not to come! And this is what I get. When I come to Jerusalem. This thing is a mess in Jerusalem. It's a massive cultural problem. They're stuck in the past. What would you do? You'd be gone. People do it all the time. Leave churches for reasons like this. You ever been frustrated with the church? I have. Are we going anywhere? Is there any progress with the gospel? Is our confidence in the tradition or the gospel? Is our confidence in the law or the gospel? And how does then being faithful to doing what's right and when there's good tradition and there is principles from the law that are helpful, how do we apply those things and do it in a way that doesn't end up like this? You see? See how challenging this stuff is? If you're Paul, I'm out. I'm back to the Gentiles. Hands haven't, I haven't been arrested yet. There's no chain around my neck yet. Agabus hasn't come right yet. I'm gone. I'm out. I'm heading out of here. They told me not to come. Does he? I love this. You're going to go into the temple and you're going to perform sacrificial rites and you're going to pay for it. Paul warned everywhere about binding consciences. Don't we always say, you can't bind my conscience, you can't violate my conscience? Don't you hear that all the time? What I struggle with here is this is a violation of his conscience. I have no doubt. I have no doubt in my mind this is a total violation of his conscience and he could even appeal to the law and the gospel. Of the gospel freedom he had and supposed to be in to let no one bring me back into it. What does Paul do? Well, read it. Then Paul took the men and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them. You see why I pulled out my hair? What are you doing? Was he wrong? I want you to listen to James Boyce for a minute. I have to quote this. Listen to what James Boyce said about this passage. Paul's error was worse than hypocrisy, though it was that too. It was a compromise of the gospel. The same apostle who had written so many New Testament books, the man who had argued so forcefully that were saved by Jesus Christ alone was about to go into a Jewish temple and I in the presence of the very priests who had crucified the Lord there participate with others in a sacrifice of an animal that was meant to be an atonement for sin. That is, he was about to turn his back on the only sufficient sacrifice of Christ. Well, that's about as strong as you get. That's about as strong as you get. boys. I want to do that to Paul right now. I want to go after Paul right now. This is where I was struggling. I would love to take that position right now. I would love to. There's no commentary from Luke on it. What are you to make of this? I just want to read for just a moment something out of Romans 14 and 15. You can just listen to it if you want to turn your welcome to, but listen to this. Just listen to it. Listen to his spirit. This is Romans 14, 13. Therefore, let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know, and I'm persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. This is a big point. But it's unclean for anyone who thinks it's unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding. We who are strong, now listen to this, we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up for christ did not please himself but as it is written the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope may the god of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with christ jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the god and father of our lord jesus christ therefore welcome one another as christ has welcomed you for the glory of god For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised. Whoa. He became a servant to the circumcised. To show God's truthfulness in order to confirm the promises. There are strong and there are weak. Everyone, if you ask them on their position whether they're strong, they're weak, they're going to say, I'm strong. Who says they're weak? in their convictions. But in this particular case, the Jews were the weak. They were weak. Had Paul walked away, had Paul pulled the conscience card, he would have put more of an obstacle in the way of the gospel than anything else he could have done. In other words, they would never hear him again. And it would split the church right in half. There would be Jew and Gentile. This was not a heretical church. We're not talking of issues of a false church and a true church. These are brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling to understand the implications of the gospel. Here's what I believe you have to land on it. Remember when I started, if pastors had the heart of this man, what I can't get away from is he doesn't have to be here. Why is he here? Well, first you can say his heart's broken for his countrymen. He wants to see Israel saved, Romans 9. But why is he here? It's this reason. When we come to Acts 24, it's going to tell us real plainly why he's here. He has a gift. What do I mean? Corinth and all the churches had been instructed. Paul said, do you know they're really poor in Jerusalem? Do you know that church is hit by famine? Do you know they're really struggling? You Gentile churches, would you give a gift, please? Would you give to these hurting saints? Would you give to them and all these churches together, got together, the Gentile churches, and they collected all this money. So here's Paul. Here he is, cheerful face, come with big bags of money from all the Gentiles. Why? Because it would heal the division. That's why he's there. It would heal the division to show that these Gentile churches loved the church in Jerusalem and loved these saints. All these Christians in Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia, you can read it all over the New Testament, gave a love offering, and he's delivering that love. And he'll die to unite the church. Paul was following in the footsteps of Jesus. He went to Jerusalem and faced the same path to do what? Give God's gift to the world. You see it? Jesus went to Jerusalem to die, and that's God's gift to the world. And he came and gave his own life, and it's that kind of love that inspires us. And I think what we see here is a message to the church of all ages is that this kind of sacrificial love is what wins people. It's this kind of sacrificial love that wins people. It's not a snarky, arrogant attitude, which we're all guilty of. Me too. It's not a disregard of our brethren who think differently than us. It's the sacrifice that we make toward one another to be willing to deny ourselves to bring good news to people. I do think this is about love, not compromise. And his whole presence here is telling us that. And this is what I think the church needs a lot of today. The kind of loves that Galatians 6 says, so bears one another's burdens and fulfills the law of Christ. You're going to find many problems in the church, right? And you may say, I don't like this or I don't like that. I don't like this or I don't like that. You may not like culture, you may not like this, you may not like that. You may feel like at times we're not going anywhere. But here's the example of how the church grows. And here's the example of how the church progresses together in love. Where Christ is preached, there is the church. And there our love in that body should be fulfilled for one another. I trust that the Holy Spirit is filling His church in this place and around the world today with willing servants who have a heart that is shown right here. We're going to sing right now. For all our brethren and companions' sakes, let peace in Thee abide. This is what we need in the church today. This kind of sacrificial love as the gospel is taken to the ends of the earth. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for your word and thank you for your gospel and thank you for showing us this. We realize that when the apostle did this, these things weren't anything in terms of his justification before God. But he did them and he went into that temple because he was free and because He had His eye to help a church that was struggling. Oh Lord, if we all would take that heart for the church and love the church, the church that was given, purchased by the precious blood of Jesus. May we so be taken by the love of Christ who went all the way up Golgotha to give the greatest gift of His life to the world. Would we be taken by that and demonstrate that same kind of sacrifice in our love for one another. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.