Unity Among the Churches--Acts 15:1-41 (January 21, 2024)

Then we open up the Bibles to Acts 15. We've been going through the book of Acts, the better part, since the beginning of August.

And we come to Acts 15 this morning. And the theme of today's sermon is

Unity Among the Churches. And so by this point in the book of Acts, the church has spread from the very first church there in Jerusalem, it's spread through Judea, through Samaria, and now it's making its way towards the ends of the earth.

As Jesus' disciples are bearing witness to him, churches are popping up all over the place.

But what we see here in Acts 15 is that a threat emerges to the unity of these churches.

And as we'll see, the leaders were called on to deal with this situation in a way that preserved the unity among the churches and propelled the mission towards the nations.

So what I want us to do is just begin to read the first five verses to understand the situation, and then we'll see how they brought resolution to this conflict and this threat.

So the situation we read in Acts 15 verses 1 through 5, and the word of God says this, And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren,

Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when

Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the

Gentiles, and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all the things that God had done with them.

But some of the sect of the Pharisees, who believed, rose up, saying, It is necessary to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of Moses.

This is the word of God to us. And what we see here in this situation is that the

Gentile mission is underway. Earlier in the book of Acts we've seen that Peter had the vision.

He had gone to Cornelius, and Cornelius and his household had believed. We have seen that Paul and Barnabas go out on their missionary journey, and they preach the gospel in Iconium and Lystra and Derbe, and folks are coming to faith.

But now an issue arises. These teachers come down from Judea, teaching that they must be circumcised to keep the custom of Moses and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved.

And this issue arises, and the question is, what will the character of this new church be? What will the status of Gentiles be in the church?

Now, so far, many of those who have come to faith in the book of Acts here, they've been what's called

God -fearers. They're kind of Jewish adjacent Gentiles. And they kept many of the customs of the

Jews and were easily assimilated. But now, what we see, what we saw in Acts 14, now pagans are coming to Christ.

Those who, they were not God -fearers at all before. They were worshiping idols, and now they are coming to Christ.

Well, what's the church going to do about them? Well, these teachers came down, we see it in verse 1 and verse 5, these teachers from Judea come down to Antioch, and they're teaching, must keep the law of Moses in order to be saved.

Now, they believe that before the coming of Christ, you could have, you know, you had these

God -fearers, and God kind of overlooked the fact that they haven't, you know, they weren't circumcised, they didn't come and keep the law of Moses, they didn't join the people of God officially.

But something changed with the coming of Christ, they believed, and so now they must, all people must repent and come into God's people.

And the way they saw that, that meant circumcision and becoming Jewish. They must keep the law of Moses.

And so the question that's before the church then, the controversy is, can Gentiles be saved as Gentiles? And this was a hot -button issue, you see it there in verse 2.

What does it say? It says that Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them. In other words, not small, it was a large dissension and dispute.

The very heart of the gospel is at stake here. This is likely what we'll read about in Galatians chapter 2, when

Peter, acting out of fear of the circumcision party, withdrew from the Gentiles at Antioch. And what did

Paul do? Paul rebuked him to his face. This is the no small dissension and dispute.

And it's a hot -button issue because you have the threat of Jewish persecution. At this point in time, it's not necessarily the

Romans that are, that are persecuting the church, sometimes they're the means of it, but it's the

Jews that are stirring up strife. They're the ones who came and chased

Paul down in Lystra, coming from Antioch and Iconium, coming to stir up trouble.

And so one commentator suggested that maybe the motivation for the circumcision party, in addition to just, you know, they're from the sect of the

Pharisees, which are very fastidious keepers of the law, so much that they added to the law as a hedge around it.

One motivation was to avoid persecution by the Jews, by presenting Christianity as this respectable

Jewish sect that is making proselytes of the Gentiles. The problem here with that strategy is that it hides the distinctiveness of the

Christian faith. It downplays the cross, it makes secondary issues primary, and it puts unnecessary burdens on others in order to remove burdens, the burden of persecution from themselves in which this is fundamentally selfish.

And so it's a hot button issue with high stakes. What will the character be of this new network of churches?

What will the relationship be between Jerusalem and Antioch? Jerusalem, the mother church, Antioch, the new center of Christian mission to the

Gentiles. What's that relationship between those two major churches going to be and how is that going to affect the churches in Phoenicia and Samaria and Derbe and Lystra and Iconium and other places where the church has gone?

What is the relationship of these churches going to be? Will they be able to press on in mission together or will they become isolated and divided?

The fate of the Gentile mission is up in the air at this point because of this controversy and so they must come up with a solution.

And what solution do they come up with? They go to Jerusalem. They go up to the apostles. They go up to the elders and they're going to hash it out there.

I think it's interesting if you notice there in verse 3 as they're passing through Phoenicia and they're passing through Samaria, they're describing the conversion of the

Gentiles. It causes great joy. Everybody's happy about it. They get to Jerusalem and they're received and they hear the word about what

God has been doing among the Gentiles. But then you have the sect of the Pharisees who have believed. So this is the same group of people that Paul had come out of and they are not pleased.

They're the ones who had a problem. They're the ones who demanded that Gentiles be circumcised and brought under the law of Moses, basically saying that in order to become

Christian you've got to become Jewish. It's usually a small group of troublemakers and malcontents that stir up strife and threaten unity and that's what we see here.

It's one sect of the new church. And what we see in the next few verses, in verses 6 through 11, there we consider the question of Gentile salvation.

You see in verse 1 these certain teachers are coming down and saying, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

Their question is taken up in verses 6 through 11. Let's read. Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute,

Peter rose up among them, rose up and said to them, excuse me, men and brethren, you know that a good while ago

God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did us and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.

After much dispute we see that Peter rises up to speak and he gives testimony of what God has done through him to the

Gentiles. That God chose that by Peter's mouth that the

Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and that they should believe.

And then he says that God knows the heart there in verse 8. This signals that the heart is more important, more central than the outer man, the flesh, which is what they are concerned with.

He notes in verse 8 that God gave the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles just as he gave it to us.

God made no distinction between the Gentiles and the Jews in the giving of the Holy Spirit. And then in to verse 9, purifying their hearts by faith.

This is circumcision of the heart, which is more important. Peter is saying that God has already circumcised them in the way that really matters.

He has purified their hearts by faith. He's already welcomed the

Gentiles and he's done so in the same way that he has welcomed the Jews who believe. By faith, giving them the

Holy Spirit, purifying their hearts. And so we see that salvation is open to the

Gentiles. In verse 10, Peter goes on and he says, why do you put

God to the test? Why do you test God by putting a yoke on the necks of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

It's interesting that Peter uses this imagery of a yoke about the law.

You read Psalm 119, you see the law is good. The law is glorious. The law is more valuable than gold.

It's sweeter than honey. And yet here Peter says, he compares it to a yoke.

If you read Galatians, you see that God's law is a tutor that brings us to Christ. It is a rigorous tutor.

It is a rigorous education that brings us to Christ. It's what we see in the law. The law reminds of sin. You see throughout the law of Moses, sacrifices are required.

Purity rites are required. Dietary restrictions are required. There's clean and there's unclean.

It was a burden that they nor their fathers were able to keep. And yet these same people want to demand that the new believers, the

Gentiles, that they be made to keep what they were not able to keep. And Peter says, no.

All of us were unable to keep it. All of us were unable to keep the law and be saved. That's why we needed

Christ. And so what does verse 11 say? But we believe that through the grace of the

Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same manner as they. We are saved by grace.

And so we see that on the question of Gentile salvation, Peter proved that the

Gentiles are saved in the exact same way as these Jewish background Christians were saved. By grace, through faith.

And Jesus was enough. They didn't need to add anything to the gospel. They didn't need to add anything to Christ. It's not Jesus plus anything that saves us.

It's Christ who saves. That is what Peter shows. And then in verses 12 through 18, we consider the question of Gentiles in the plan of God.

How does this fit with the plan of God that Gentiles are saved? Let's read it in verses 12 through 18.

Then the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the

Gentiles. And after that, they became silent. After they had become silent,

James answered saying, men and brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the

Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And with this, the words of the prophets agree just as it is written.

After this, I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins.

I will set it up so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord. Even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the

Lord who does all these things, known to God from eternity are all his works.

In other words, what is God doing with the nations? What is God doing with the

Gentiles? That's the question at hand. And Paul and Barnabas, they speak first. They describe what God has been doing.

They describe the signs and the wonders that attest to the gospel, the signs and the wonders that attest to God's work among the

Gentiles. That God is drawing them to themselves. That God is offering them salvation. God is bringing them into the people of God.

And then James quotes Amos chapter 9, demonstrating that God has always had a plan for the

Gentiles. That Jesus is rebuilding the house of David and he is including the Gentiles as Amos prophesied that he would.

And in fact, James goes on to say in verse 18, that this has been God's plan all along, even before the foundation of the earth.

Because all of his works, known to God from eternity, are all of his works. And all of his works would include his works among and for the

Gentiles. Therefore, Christianity transcends cultural, social, national, ethnic bounds.

It is truly a faith for all peoples. Now, Christianity doesn't abrogate or do away with those bounds.

Grace does not destroy nature. Grace restores nature. But there is a way in which it does transcend those bounds.

Meaning, Gentiles can be saved as Gentiles. Americans as Americans. Greeks as Greeks. Nigerians as Nigerians. The Christian hope is

Christ for every nation and every nation for Christ. It transcends these things.

Verses 19 -29 then illustrate a godly and wise way to settle disputes among the churches.

And so far what we've seen is the situation that is at hand, the controversy that was there, the threat to the unity as these teachers are teaching that the

Gentiles must become Jewish in order to become Christian. We've seen that. Now, how does the church resolve this? They go up to Jerusalem.

We've seen what they present. How do they go about solving this problem? How do they settle the dispute?

That's what we see. Verses 19 -29. Let's read God's word. Therefore, this is James speaking, therefore

I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God.

But that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.

For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city being read in the synagogues every

Sabbath. And then it pleased the apostles and the elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely

Judas, who was also named Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.

They wrote this letter by them, the apostles, the elders, and the brethren, to the brethren who are of the

Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words unsettling your soul, saying you must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment, it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved

Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the

Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things, that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.

If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. How do we settle disputes among the churches?

First thing we notice is that they address the problem head on. They don't attempt to sidestep it. They don't attempt to ignore it.

They don't attempt to pretend that the situation is otherwise. They decide to deal with it head on. Ignoring problems won't make them go away, and so unity requires action.

And so they go up to Jerusalem. Second thing we notice is they go to those who have authority. So the teachers that come down from Judea, they are therefore under the church authority of the

Jerusalem church, and so that's where the meeting takes place. They go to Jerusalem to those who have authority to fix it.

They go there, it's where the apostles are. It's where the elders are. And that church will make a judgment. And I want you to remember as we think about the fact that this group is going to make a judgment, remember that being, part of being human, part of being made in the image of God, being placed on earth to rule the world in God's stead, is that we must make judgments.

Judgments between good and evil, between right and wrong. We're to discern between good and evil and make these kind of judgments.

It's a kingly duty. We've seen that as we've looked in other places in Scripture, here on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

It's a kingly duty which the Holy Spirit fuels. And so if you remember in the Old Testament, Israel, the

Holy Spirit rushed upon the king when he became king. The Holy Spirit departed. The kingship had departed.

We see here in Acts, the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the church. And the church was to exercise wise rulership as the body of Christ, the king.

And so this present controversy would demand wisdom and judgment. It's a test for this first church. It's also an opportunity for maturity, to mature greatly.

And this is what we see in fact happen. The church and the leaders are assembled. They hear two to three witnesses.

If you remember that the law required that to establish a fact, to make a judgment, you needed two to three witnesses, two to three lines of evidence for due process.

Those two to three witnesses, those three witnesses are Peter's testimony, Paul and Barnabas' testimony, and then the prophet's testimony.

James quotes from the book of Amos. And in hearing this testimony, we then see someone exercise leadership and authority.

Verse 19, James says, therefore I judge. And he makes a decision, makes a proposal to the church.

He says, this is the way we ought to go, therefore I judge. We should not trouble those from among the

Gentiles who are turning to God. James makes a decision. He is a leader among the

Jerusalem church, maybe the leader among the Jerusalem church. Some say he was the moderator of this meeting. He's prominent in this meeting, regardless whether he's the moderator or not.

He's the brother of Jesus. And he says, therefore I judge. He makes a decision. And so one thing we take away from here, one principle that we see here for preserving and promoting unity among the churches is that leaders lead and leaders make decisions.

See, God has made us as such that people need to be led. That's why God gives us leaders in so many different areas of life.

And those who have been delegated with authority from God to lead God's people must lead.

They must not be afraid, kind of welling up internally, being fearful of being, of exercising leadership.

Nor should they be discouraged, kind of welling up from outside, from others. They shouldn't be discouraged from leading.

But instead, leaders lead. Because if they don't, then one, they aren't leaders by definition if they're not actually leading.

Two, the sheep are left without a shepherd and the whole church gets stuck. And then often, it gets steered by the voices of the least qualified or the weakest members.

Therefore God, in his kindness and his mercy, gives leaders. But we see in verse 22,

James didn't make this decision alone. His judgment was put out there as a proposal, but he did not make any decision alone.

See verse 22, then it pleased the apostles and the elders with the whole church. So it wasn't just James, it was the other apostles, it was the elders, and then it is the whole church.

It pleased them. And so leaders lead with the advice and consent of those who are led. In other words, church leaders, pastors for example, are not dictators.

We lead, but we lead in step with the congregation. And so in congregational polity, which we have here at First Baptist, it's what we operate by, congregation has final say.

But we also notice in verse 28, the church doesn't make decisions alone either. The congregation does not have authority unto itself, because what do we see in verse 28?

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. It seemed good to the

Holy Spirit. Churches, congregations, must be led by the Holy Spirit. Churches operate under the direction of the

Holy Spirit. And how does the Holy Spirit lead us? Through the Word of God and through pastors who lead and apply the

Word of God. This is how the Holy Spirit and then inward testimony, as we have the

Holy Spirit dwelling within each of us, through wisdom. So what was the judgment of James in the church?

Well we see this. The judgment was that they, not to trouble them, those who are turning to God, don't trouble them, don't put any extra requirements on them.

Rather, he tells them to abstain from things polluted by idols, to abstain from sexual immorality, to abstain from things strangled and from blood.

These are four requirements that come from Genesis 9 -4 and Leviticus 17 and 18.

Genesis 9 was binding for all of the sons of Noah, because this was given before Abraham and Moses.

So these things were already required to the Gentiles. Leviticus 17 and 18, these gave instructions for Gentiles who were sojourning among Israel.

So in other words, these were not new requirements. These were things that they were already supposed to be doing. Already supposed to be abstaining from.

In other words, they would not put anything extra on to them coming to faith. They're not going to be required to be circumcised.

They're not going to be required to come under the law of Moses. Rather, they were to live moral lives.

They were to keep away from idolatry. They were to keep away from the idolatry and sexual immorality and sacrificial practices of the pagans.

In other words, they were to live like Christians. And so here we see the wisdom of the church.

The church did not compromise doctrine in order to avoid persecution or something. They didn't compromise doctrine in order to appease this one sect of the church.

They did not compromise doctrine. They did not minimize Christ. They did not minimize the cross. They did not minimize the distinctiveness of the

Christian faith. They did not revert to Judaism. They did not add to the Gospel. They did respect

Jewish scruples, but in a way that did not cave to the Judaizers. They did encourage separation from paganism.

They did encourage godly Christian living. And they did apply the Bible, the Bible that already applied to the Gentiles, applying

Genesis 9 and Leviticus to these Gentiles. And it was a wonderful, wise solution.

It was agreeable to everybody. We see it in verse 28, it seemed good to us. Jerusalem was good with it.

And when they read it, verse 31, it calls great rejoicing to those in Antioch.

It was a wise decision. And the result is that unity was preserved among the churches. There was no rift between Antioch and Jerusalem.

The mission to the Gentiles continued and the kingdom of God advanced. The decision was wise.

The decision was mature. The decision was godly. And the decision was fruitful for the work of the

Gospel and the church among the Gentiles among the nations. At this point what

I want to do is, I want to just summarize the rest of this chapter without reading it.

And then I want to make application for us from Acts 15. If you would continue reading verse 30 -35, you see that Antioch is encouraged by the letter.

It calls great rejoicing. This decision from Jerusalem. They send Judas and Silas. They send Paul and Barnabas.

And they deliver the letter and then they stay there continuing the ministry in Antioch, preaching, teaching, exhorting, and strengthening the brethren there.

But then the chapter ends in verses 36 -41. The chapter ends on a note of division.

Paul intended to go back to visit the believers from every city where they had gone to preach the word. But Barnabas wanted to bring, and he was determined to bring

John Mark with them. Now John Mark had previously deserted them on that missionary journey. And so Paul did not believe they should take him.

He hadn't participated and finished the work. He shouldn't go back. And this disagreement between Paul and Barnabas became very sharp, so much so that they parted ways.

And Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus. And Paul and Silas went to Syria and Cilicia.

And so a few comments here. This one, sometimes brothers, but also their firm convictions must go separate ways.

This is why we have different denominations today. We have sharp disagreements over some secondary matters that prevent us from moving forward together in ministry and mission.

It's lamentable. We don't like it. We don't love it. But it is real. Now who is right in this situation?

The scripture doesn't tell us explicitly, though it does say that Paul and Silas were commended by the brethren to the grace of God.

And then the rest of the book of Acts follows Paul's missionary journeys in his ministry and his work. Not that of Barnabas.

That's not conclusive, but I do think it's worth considering as we think about who is right in this situation. The good news is that by the time that Paul writes 2

Timothy, he has seen Mark prove his repentance and he asked Timothy to bring Mark to him because, quote, he is useful for me, to me for ministry.

And so Paul and Mark end up reconciling. But at this point, there's sharp disagreement and that means separation, which is lamentable.

I'll spend the rest of our time making application from Acts 15 to working for unity among the churches today.

First I want to outline three quick principles for working for unity and then we'll look at a present day, a specific application for a present day controversy.

Principle first, doctrine unites and doctrine divides. Doctrine unites and doctrine divides.

The one thing that doctrine is not is unimportant. This is because doctrine provides the foundation for cooperation among Christians and churches.

It provides the framework and it provides the guardrails for cooperation and it fuels ministry together.

And so if we don't believe the same things, we're going to be limited on what kind of work we can do together. And if you're interested in where, you know, some principles for how do we draw those lines,

I'm going to present two models for that on Wednesday night, Wednesday Midweek Family Fellowship. We have time for sermon follow -up.

So if you have questions about that, come with those questions. But as part of that, I'm going to outline how do we draw those lines, a couple of different models for that.

But we see this principle at play here in Acts 15 because the doctrine of the Judean teachers divided the church, or at least threatened to.

And the doctrine of the decision from the Jerusalem Council united the church, united Jerusalem and Antioch in their mission to the

Gentiles. That's the first principle. Doctrine unites and doctrine divides.

Second is that the one who departs from right doctrine, one who departs from the scripture's teaching, he is the divisive one, not the one who defends right doctrine.

And so Christians who contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, believers who bring any kind of masculine energy or martial spirit to the defense of the historic

Christian faith, they are often the ones who are chided as being divisive troublemakers. That is precisely backwards.

The one who leaves, the one who goes against the teaching of the Bible, the one who cozies up to the spirit of the age by twisting the words of Holy Scripture, he is the divisive one.

He is the one who is sowing discord among the brethren. He is the troublemaker, not the brave soul who stands up and says, no, that's not what the

Bible says. And so there's a difference in being divisive and being a defender.

We need defenders of all that is good, true, and glorious. Then the third principle is we settle disputes with an open

Bible. These scriptures are authoritative. The scriptures are sufficient.

And so every opinion is subject to the Bible. Every emotion, every feeling is subject to the

Bible. Every thought is subject to the Bible. We don't judge the Bible. The Bible judges us.

So whenever we attempt to settle a dispute among the churches, we must do so with an open

Bible. Of course, we can appeal to church history. We can appeal to natural law, and we ought to.

But all of that is subject to what God has said in the Bible. It's a chapter and verse please.

Or as I heard one pastor, Tom Askell, say, come at me with an open Bible or don't come at all.

We settle disputes by the Word of God. Now there is a present -day controversy among the churches that we cooperate with, the

Southern Baptist Convention. We cooperate with the Southern Baptist Convention for theological education and for mission, both here in North America and around the world.

And this present -day controversy is one that threatens the unity of our convention.

If I were to paraphrase chapter 1 to make mention of this, I'd say, and certain men have come down from Raleigh -Durham and taught the brethren that it's okay to place women in the pulpit in the pastorate.

This is the present -day controversy that we have within the Southern Baptist Convention. We have at least 1 ,200 churches within the convention that have women serving as pastors of some kind or another.

And a host of leaders that want that to be normative or at least okay within our convention, even though it is in direct contradiction to the

Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the SBC's Confession of Faith, which says clearly that the office of pastor slash elder slash overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

Further, this is in direct contradiction to the clear teaching of Scripture in 1 Timothy chapter 2, chapter 3,

Titus 1. And it's in direct contradiction to the whole of the Bible's teaching about what it means to be male and female.

That pastors must be men is not an arbitrary rule. It's not an arbitrary practice.

It is one that is rooted in creation, in the order of creation. Paul roots it in the order of creation in the

Scriptures. And it's rooted in the nature of what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. It's rooted in nature.

In other words, we confess that men and women are not interchangeable, but different. And those differences matter.

And those differences manifest in many different ways of life, especially when it comes to exercising authority.

Yet, there are some within our convention who are departing from the historic teaching and practice of the church to make room for disobeying

God and His clear words on this matter. Some openly advocate for women pastors.

Others say they would never practice that at their church, but they want to make space for those who do within our convention.

Now, one courageous pastor from a normal -sized church up in Virginia named

Mike Law, he proposed an amendment to our bylaws to make explicit in the bylaws what our confession already makes explicit, and that is that pastors can only be men as qualified by Scripture.

This past summer in New Orleans, the convention passed that amendment, but by constitutional rule, any kind of amendment like that must be passed two consecutive years in order to be adopted into the bylaws.

Therefore, we'll be voting on it again this coming summer in Indianapolis at the annual meeting. Now, there's been a concerted effort to thwart this effort, and I expect that there will be rival proposals presented at the meeting in June to try to neutralize or defeat the law amendment.

Now, the unity of our churches and our mission is at stake in this. One way or another,

I expect many churches to leave the Southern Baptist Convention after this summer. It just depends on who, you know, what side wins, who leaves.

Now, I don't want to say that the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is the exact same kind of thing that we see here in Acts 15 with the

Jerusalem Council, yet I do think that our annual meeting is an application of what we see in Acts 15 with the

Jerusalem Council, and that there are many parallels. Unity of our cooperation is threatened.

We are coming together to address the problem head on. Decisions will be made not just by leaders on the platform, but by the body of messengers who show up to vote, and I believe the stakes are high.

In Indianapolis this June, the Southern Baptist Convention will either formally submit to God's word or we will formally reject it and rebel against it.

Unless you think I'm being just too dramatic or making too big of a deal about this issue, I would say these things.

One, God never blesses disobedience or rebellion. Never will you find God in those scriptures blessing disobedience or rebellion.

And so the blessing of God is at stake here for our convention of churches, for our missionary efforts.

Two, the doctrine of man, anthropology, and the doctrine of sexuality within that, that is the issue of our day.

This is precisely where the enemy is attacking, and so we must not, we must not compromise here.

If you think of it like a city being attacked and the enemy presses in on one place on the city walls, that's the area that needs defending.

If you let them in there, the whole city's gone. We must hold the line on the biblical doctrine of man, on the biblical doctrine of sexuality.

So what we've seen throughout church history as well, that once a church or denomination compromises on sexuality in order to place women in the pulpits or the pastorate, they almost inevitably compromise on sexuality in other areas.

Homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion. It is not a slippery slope fallacy if the slope is actually slippery.

And so I intend to go to Indianapolis for the June 11 and 12th annual meeting. I'd love to take a slate of messengers with us.

I booked a house on Airbnb this past week, so we can do that. If you're interested in going, let me know.

We'll set up a time to talk about it. We may be a small church, but we get the same number of messengers as a megachurch with 10 ,000 members.

But we've got to show up. And we've got to show up with an open Bible and a stout heart and a steel spine.

Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we pray for unity among our churches.

We pray for unity among the Southern Baptist Convention, that we would have unity around the Bible and sound doctrine.

And standing on that, we'd have unity in our mission to proclaim Christ to the world. Lord, I pray that you would give us courage to get it right.

Lord, I pray that your will would be done in Indianapolis this summer. Lord, I thank you for those churches closest to us that we partner with, those of the

Three Rivers Baptist Association. And I thank you for the remarkable unity that we have with those churches. And we ask you to preserve it.

And Lord, I thank you for the sweet unity that we have here at First Baptist and ask you to preserve it.

So Lord, towards that end, I pray that you would give us a love for your word, a humility before your word, a right understanding of your word, and that we would unite around it.

And therefore, Lord, I pray that you would use us for your glory in Traveler's Rest and Northern Greenville County.

And we go out and win glory for King Jesus, whose name we pray. Amen. Amen.

We're going to sing here in just a moment. Before we do, I want to make one note. And that is, I realize that the

Bible's teaching on men and women runs in direct contradiction with the air that we breathe culturally.

And so, because of that, that might take some of you just a little bit aback when

I am talking about what the scripture teaches as far as requirements for the pastorate.

If that's you and you hear me talk about a male -only pastorate and you think, what? Why? What's the big deal?

I want to invite you to do one of three things. Call me. Come visit me in the office.

Come Wednesday night, the Midweek Family Fellowship, where we have a time to discuss these things. But let's talk about it.

And let's open up and reason together from God's Word. But I want to be sensitive to that. While standing firm on what

God has said, I want to be sensitive to that. And let's have a discussion about that if that's you. But right now, we're going to stand. We're going to sing.