FBC Morning Light (11/23/2024)

Good Saturday morning, people of faith. This weekend we are reading in Acts chapters 13 through 18, as well as the book of 1 Thessalonians. I'm going to be just kind of giving an overview of the chapters that we're reading from the book of Acts, and then talk about one particular part of it for a little bit.

Paul’s Missionary Journeys and the Jerusalem Council

So, Acts chapters 13 through 18, we have three major events in those six chapters. We have the first missionary journey of Paul, and then we have the second missionary journey of Paul, and sandwiched in between those, we have a dispute over the nature of salvation, which led rise to what's often referred to as the Jerusalem Council.

So, the first missionary journey, remember that Paul and Barnabas went out and they had taken Mark with them, and Mark came back, went back to Jerusalem as they were at Cyprus, and then they went on to the region of Galatia, and then they came back, and that caused a problem in the second missionary journey, because then Paul and Barnabas disagreed with what to do, as John Mark wanted to come back with them again.

Salvation by Faith, Not Human Requirements

So, anyway, they arrived back in Antioch, that's where they had left from on the first missionary journey, and there were certain men from Judea. They had come down and they were teaching this in chapter 15, I'll pick it up in the middle of verse 1, and they would say, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

And so, Paul and Barnabas have, it says, no small dissension with them.

Right?

And I would suggest to you that even in our day, while circumcision isn't necessarily what in the church would not necessarily be the issue for what people would say is necessary for salvation, but some might say you have to pray a prayer or do certain things in order to be saved, and none of these things you will find in Scripture.

You will find in Scripture that you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and in that belief, the Lord has changed your heart, and out of that changed heart, there will be changed behavior, of course, but that is not a necessary condition for salvation, but rather an outworking of salvation.

The Jerusalem Council and the Authority of Scripture

So, there's the Jerusalem council, they decide to send Paul and Barnabas and these men down to Jerusalem, and they present to the apostles and elders that are in Jerusalem, all right? And it's very interesting, the way this is set up, you can tell that Peter has a prominent role amongst the apostles and in the church there, but he does not have the preeminent role for those that would consider Peter to have the preeminent role in the early church.

He really does not here, but rather, when it comes to pronouncing the final judgment of the Jerusalem council, it's James, the brother of Jesus, not even James the apostle, but James, the brother of Jesus, who is an elder in the church at Jerusalem, all right?

And so, the conclusion of this matter, it says in verse 24 of chapter 15, it says, it says, greetings, since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, you must be circumcised and keep the law.

And then it says something very interesting, to whom we gave no such commandment, all right? So, it's, first of all, very important when someone says to you, well, I'm coming to you on behalf of, check their sources.

Maybe they really didn't. Think of it here. If I came to, to talk to you about something and I said, well, pastor sent me to talk to you and maybe you should ask pastor if, did Mike really come and talk, you know, come to talk to me on your, on your behalf here?

Because what he was saying may not have been right or something. And so, so check that out, right? This, this, this sort of thing could happen all the time. We know we have people with their, there's churches that have built up traditions who would say, well, we received this from the oral tradition of the apostles.

Well, give me some proof. Give me some proof, not just what someone said. Give it to me, in other words, out of scripture. And so, we should test all of our interactions about, in particular, matters of salvation in regards to what does scripture in fact say?

Prayer for a Heart Anchored in God’s Word

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word and that your word is true and that your word is sufficient and we can live our lives by your word. Thank you for changing us from the inside. Give us hearts that seek after you, that look for you in your word, that stay anchored and grounded in your word.

It's in your son's name, Jesus, we pray, amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.