[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:15] Well, how many of you are still in shock? Say amen. That's kind of a great bit of news. $600,000, the building, the loan that we have is for $1.6 million.
[0:28] So that means from $1.6 down to $1, and that's a great blessing. So some of the things we were concerned about probably are going to be able to be taken care of.
[0:42] We can probably get that acoustic tile for you, Andrew, that you were so worried about. And so I think we're going to be able to handle that. I want to ask you to thank John Pearson, who, without telling any of us, put in untold hours doing all the work to get that, and to get that taken care of.
[1:02] And I want to thank you for being extremely generous people. You're giving people, and God has blessed that. You've given them over $1.2 million to missions, and now God gave back.
[1:14] I hope that teaches you a big lesson. Give, and it shall be given. Amen? God is good to his people. God is good to his people. And tonight, you'll hear more of that.
[1:27] I want you to be here tonight. Ben Johnson will be giving a testimony. He's going to let you know how big a God he serves. He'll let you know what it's like to see God come through and work big miracles in his life.
[1:38] And I just thank you for allowing me to serve with you. And I thank God for these deacons that God's given us at our church. I hope you realize that he's given you godly men to help lead this church, and I appreciate them.
[1:54] So please thank John and let him know how much you appreciate all the hard work he did. Actually, the deacons didn't do that, and I didn't do that. John did all that and took care of it.
[2:04] So I am very grateful for his hard work. And he has done so much over all these years to make sure this church was here. Turn with me to Genesis. To Galatians chapter 2.
[2:16] That's why I never start with all that other preamble. Galatians chapter 2. Can you imagine with me just for a minute what it would be like to live in India and to realize that as a cow walks down the street, you can't eat her.
[2:31] She could be your grandmother. You may reach out and touch her as she goes by and hope for a blessing. Or you may rub the Buddha's belly if you're in Thailand. You may rub the Buddha's belly.
[2:43] Or if you're in Peru, every time you go by a Roman Catholic church or a graveyard, you will cross yourself. And if you forget to cross yourself as you go by, you cross yourself over your mind, and you cross yourself over your mouth and over your heart and then over your whole body.
[2:59] Sometimes they start with the whole body and then they do all three parts and then they come back. I mean, you'd be like, what in the world is going on? Can you imagine living like that and always knowing that at any moment you could lose your salvation?
[3:12] That the God you serve is so hesitant to totally save you that he's always watching you. Did you rub the Buddha's belly?
[3:23] Did you step on the crack in the sidewalk? Did you take the salt straight out of their hand? Are you wearing the same socks you won the last ball game with? Superstition to the nth degree.
[3:33] And so the gospel of Jesus Christ was like the most life-changing, radical message they'd ever heard. You could be a Hindu.
[3:46] You could be a Buddhist. But you've got so many other things you've got to keep doing. I mean, you can believe, but you can't work on Saturday if you're a Seventh-day Adventist. You've got to be really careful or you'll lose your salvation.
[3:58] Or if you eat that pork or whatever, if you do that, you lose something. Because God's in this little tit-for-tat relationship with you. And the gospel is completely the opposite of that.
[4:12] So after Paul gets to explain the gospel to them, and he delivers them from the beggarly elements, it's going to be called. From this weak, silly stuff.
[4:23] Silly stuff that people believe. And some of you fall into it as Christians. Man, Baptists are just as bad. Did you get baptized? Did you speak in tongues?
[4:33] Did you pray the right prayer? What have you done to get saved? So Paul, he's taught them the gospel. And he said, hey, it's gospel. It's good news.
[4:44] It's God loves you. And God gives you a gift. And it's all free. And it's all yours. Just believe. Just trust. And you can be saved. And then these guys came down.
[4:55] They said, well, that's not quite true. Paul didn't tell you the whole story. The whole story is that you do trust Jesus. That's a good start. But you've got a lot of stuff to do. A friend of mine told me that he recently asked somebody in another church, another evangelical church.
[5:12] He asked them how much of their salvation God had done. And they said, well, 60 or 70%. I still got to come through with quite a bit on my end. Well, here's what the Bible is going to tell you.
[5:24] It's all God. He saved you. Amen. So take your Bible and follow along. Because here's what's happening in Genesis 2, 1 through 10.
[5:34] And Paul is going to go to Jerusalem. And he's going to have this big confrontation. And you need to open your Bible right now to Acts chapter 15. Because that's the story in the book of Acts that Luke wrote down to tell us about how the confrontation went.
[5:49] And I want you to mark some things. This is important. Because we need to stand up for gospel truth. And I'll just tell you, all preachers like to twist this. Preachers enjoy the manipulative powers of hanging something heavy, heavy over your head.
[6:07] God's not into it, but preachers are. Preachers really like to say, but if you skip church. But if, but if, but if. And they got a whole bunch of those because they want to hold them there.
[6:18] And let's see what the apostle Paul said and what the gospel of the Bible, what the Bible says. Paul's in a fight, a spiritual warfare to keep us free in the grace of Jesus Christ.
[6:30] So go with me to Acts chapter 15. And we're just going to read some of the verses again. And we'll do that over and over through, as we go through this. But in Acts 15, 1, certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, Except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.
[6:51] Unless you get baptized like Moses, circumcised like Moses said, you can't be saved. I don't care what Paul told you. I'm sorry.
[7:03] Paul can tell you all he wants that believing in Jesus is enough. But you got to speak in tongues. You got to get the second blessing. You got to not eat pork. You got to rub Buddha's belly.
[7:13] You got to touch the cow. You got to do other stuff. He said, unless you can't be saved. Verse 2. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them.
[7:26] See, these guys are down there and they've come into his church. And Paul's like, that ain't happening. You guys can see how you wanted to say. But that ain't happening. And they're saying, well, Peter sent us. And James and John, the big shots up in Jerusalem, they sent us.
[7:39] And Paul said, no, they didn't. They did not. They don't believe that garbage you're saying. They know the gospel. And those guys say, oh, no, they don't. You're not even a real apostle. You don't even count. And Paul said, I am an apostle by Jesus Christ.
[7:51] And you can't say that. So there's a big fight going on. And so they, look at your verse, 2. The church in Antioch determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem under the apostles and elders about this question.
[8:06] So Paul's like, they don't say that. And the other guy, yes, they do. So Paul said, well, we can't text them. So let's drive up there. And so they drove up on their camels. And verse 4.
[8:18] And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church. They got there in the church. Amen. Glad to see you, other brothers in Christ and the apostles and the elders. And so they said, let us tell you what God's doing down in Galatia.
[8:30] And they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees. Anytime you see that word, you should be nervous.
[8:40] This is a bunch of legalists. There's a bunch of people that don't know Jesus. But they like rules and they think they're the holiest guys on the planet. Which believe, saying, it's needful to circumcise them.
[8:54] It's needful to circumcise them and to command them. Command them to keep the law of Moses. Verse 10. Now, therefore, why tempt you God?
[9:06] This is what Paul ends up saying. Why are y'all tempting God and putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Now, wait a minute, guys.
[9:17] Quit telling them to get circumcised and keep the law. Our daddy couldn't do it and we couldn't do it. And now you want to make these Gentiles do it. I don't even make a lick and say, what are you doing that for? Why are you tempting God? Verse 11.
[9:28] We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved.
[9:40] And after that, they held their peace. James, who's probably the lead pastor, answered and saying, men and brethren, listen to me. Hearken to me.
[9:51] Simeon, Peter, that's Peter, one of Peter's names, had declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name.
[10:02] It wouldn't even, hey, guys, Peter already was, he's the first guy who went out and witnessed the Gentiles. It wasn't Paul. Where y'all coming up with this stuff like Paul and Peter aren't agreeing. Again, verse 15.
[10:13] And to this agree, the words of the prophets. So I'd say, we've been studying our Bibles and this stuff about God saving Gentiles and loving everybody. It's in the Old Testament. So it's still in the Bible.
[10:24] The prophets, what's happening already in the Bible, is written. After this, I'll return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. And I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.
[10:36] And that the residue of men, not Jewish people, everybody else, the leftovers, might seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles. Skip down to verse 19.
[10:47] So the guys in the early church agreed that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God. Stop bothering them.
[10:58] Stop bothering them. And then they said, in verse 22, we will send some chosen men of our own company to Antioch, to Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, surnamed Barthas, and Silas, a chief men, leaders among the people.
[11:14] And they wrote letters by them. And in verse 24, for as much as we have heard that certain which went out from us, we heard about these jerks that came out from here.
[11:24] They have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying you must be circumcised and keep the law. And we never said that. And we never said that.
[11:36] And so in verse 25, it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. We're not just going to send a letter. We're going to send chosen men.
[11:48] And they're chief men, big shot leaders in our church, so that everybody will know. You'll know they came from our church because anybody could forge a letter. So we're going to send a letter. We're going to send some guys along to be witnesses. Verse 27, we have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
[12:05] So you get a letter, but you got two witnesses are going to tell. Verse 30, they came to Antioch. And they delivered the epistle of the letter. They came and they brought the letter.
[12:15] And they read it, and they were, the guys done it, the guys in Antioch, the guys in places where this is going on, they're like, Jesus.
[12:26] What Paul said is true, and they believe it up there too. Verse 32, Judas and Silas, being prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them.
[12:38] They were prophets, preachers, and they exhorted them, and they confirmed them. And they tarried there for a space, and then they let them go back home. But old Silas, in verse 34, it pleased him to stay there, and later on he's going to work with Paul.
[12:52] And Paul and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others. Now we haven't even got to Galatians yet. But the problem is, you know, Antioch is the center of world evangelism of their day.
[13:05] It is an unusual church. It got started in some unusual ways that we'll mention real quickly in a second. And they were a missionary church, and Barnabas was there by himself, and then he went and got Saul to work with him.
[13:18] And then they trained three national leaders who apparently were multicultural, a diverse leadership from different countries, different backgrounds, probably different races. And they got in this church going, and it was all about gospel, all about what God was doing.
[13:32] And then over here, these Judaizers have come, and Paul is like, that's not going to happen. Without Paul standing strong and fighting, the gospel would have been corrupted to a mixture of law and grace.
[13:48] Let me just say this. It's corrupted in almost every place you'll ever go. In Baptist churches, in Methodist churches, in Bible churches, in Pentecostal churches, in charismatic churches, you name them, there's been this mixture of what God does and what we do.
[14:09] But we want this to tell us what the truth is. And I'm reading a bunch of it. And if you'll get yours out, you can mark it. And then you can go home and study it and see if I'm telling you the truth.
[14:23] You see, a real preacher has to be careful to protect his people from how the devil would like to lie. Because Satan wants to plant believable lies.
[14:37] Satan wants to plant believable lies. So in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28, the apostle Paul warns the Ephesian elders. Elders or pastors, same word.
[14:48] It's the same word. Probably even a more common word would be elders. The Bible says in Acts 20, 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God.
[15:03] Feed them. That's open the Bible. Show them the Bible. He said, after which he purchased with his own blood. He said in verse 29, I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in.
[15:16] There will be these wolves that they don't care who they hurt. They don't care how they twist it. They would love to see you petting the cows rear end again.
[15:28] Just going back, kiss the cow, kiss the cow. They'd love to see you doing that again. They would love to see you rubbing Buddha's belly again. They would love to see you speaking in tongues and getting baptized so you could be saved.
[15:39] They'd love to see you giving offerings so you'd stay saved. He said in verse 30, and they will speak perverse things to draw away disciples after them. So watch, I've been warning you with tears for three years.
[15:55] He told Timothy the same thing. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1, he said, now the spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits.
[16:07] That's demons that can trick you, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry.
[16:19] There's a whole religious group that said none of their spiritual leaders can get married. If they just read this passage, they'd know that's a doctrine of the devil. And then there's some that say abstaining from meats.
[16:30] There's whole groups built around that too. All of that was happening. And then Paul said, y'all be careful. It's going to happen. Now go with me to chapter 2. Go with me to chapter 2.
[16:40] You've got to understand, Paul's taking a stand for grace. Paul has taken a stand for gospel. Paul wants you to quit living in fear that God's not going to like you tomorrow, that you get up on the wrong side of the bed, and God's like, ha-ha, you were mine, you're not now.
[16:57] Oh, you forgot to kiss the cow. Oh, you forgot to rub the Buddha belly. Oh, you forgot to whatever, and God's not going to be happy. And he said, we're not letting that stand.
[17:09] You're not taking our people back under beggarly elements. In chapter 2 and verse 1, Paul, Barnabas, and Titus go up to Jerusalem. And it's been 14 years since Paul's been up there.
[17:20] In chapter 2 and verse 1, it says, 14 years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me. So they go up to let them, they go up because the Lord leads them to.
[17:34] Look at verse 2, by revelation. He said, man, the Lord spoke to me and said, we've got to get this thing solved. We've got to fight this battle. We've got to clear this up. The Lord has spoken to my heart about getting the gospel up there.
[17:47] And the church was in agreement. If you remember back in Acts 15, too, they, the church at Antioch, the church that sent Paul out, the church that he was ministering from, they said, you better get up there and see if you can't get this taken care of.
[18:00] Paul went up there to show them what he was preaching. He went up there and said, I'll just tell you what I'm preaching so you won't even doubt about it. Here's what I preach. This is what I preach. And that's what he did in chapter 2, verse 2.
[18:12] It says, and communicated to them that gospel, that gospel which I preach among the Jews. Don't forget, there are men saying that Peter, James, and John sent these false brothers out.
[18:25] Paul meets with them privately. No need for a big fight in front of everybody. No need for some big getting the crowd all yelling and trying to crucify him, crucify him. So let's meet in private.
[18:35] And they all agreed. Peter, James, and John, they all said, Paul, we're on the same page, buddy. No problem here. We're with you. Let's go out and tell everybody. Second thing.
[18:47] In the story from chapter 2, verses 1 through 10, there's some witnesses that are going to be brought to this trial. So go with me if you would. Paul, you know who he is. He's the man that's writing this letter.
[18:59] He's the man that writes at least 13 books of the New Testament. He's the guy who takes the gospel to the world. But when he goes up, he takes Barnabas with him. Now you've got to understand who Barnabas is.
[19:09] Barnabas is like the most gentle man you're ever going to meet. He is a gentleman's gentleman. Paul, he's kind of fiery. He likes to fight with you. You want to mess with Paul?
[19:20] He just takes your head off. He doesn't mind saying what he thinks. He just, that's the way it is. But he took Barnabas. That's got a softening of the blow, isn't it? Let me tell you who Barnabas is right quick.
[19:31] If you don't know, you remember? In Acts chapter 4 and verse 36, there was this guy named Joseph or Joseph, and the apostle surnamed him Barnabas. Because what happened was he had this big piece of land in Cyprus, and there was a need for money in the church, and he sold his land and gave the money.
[19:50] Because he loved people and he cared about people. And they said, we're going to call you Barnabas. From now on, we'll never refer to you with your original name. We're always going to think of you as the son of consolation. That's the kind of guy you are.
[20:01] So from then on, that's who he is. It was Barnabas who opened the door for Paul to get in the church. The apostle Paul, Saul, had persecuted the church. He beat up Christians.
[20:12] He drug them. He mistreated women. He was a really rough guy before he got saved. And when he got saved, and he was wanting to get in the church, in Acts chapter 9 and verse 26, he tried to get in and join, and they were afraid.
[20:25] They said, you need to get in here. They kept the door shut. They kept that bar down where you couldn't get in the church. And so I could see him sitting across the street on the curb, and Barnabas goes over and says, hey, what you doing, buddy?
[20:38] He said, man, you don't believe this, but I know I'm wicked. I know I did a bunch of bad stuff, and the church ought not let me in, but I got saved. I just want to go to church with other people. Barnabas said, well, lay your testimony on me, buddy.
[20:49] Let me hear it. Tell me. And he told him his testimony. Barnabas said, come on. I'll get you in the door. Barnabas walked over and knocked over. Hey, this is General Barnabas. You can trust me. Let this guy in. And they do.
[21:00] They let him in. And Barnabas goes in, and they take him to the apostles, and he tells them about his preaching. He's the encourager. In Acts chapter 11, there's a new church got started by accident over in Antioch.
[21:14] It's going to be my favorite church in the New Testament. There's this new church that gets started by accident. You see what happened in Acts chapter 8 and verse 1? There was this great persecution that shook all of the Christians in Jerusalem, and everybody took off running, scared for their lives.
[21:31] It was like you were going to get hurt if you believed in Jesus and stayed in Jerusalem. And so they all ran. And everywhere they ran, they only told the people that were Jews.
[21:41] So they kind of walk up to you, and they look at you and go, I believe you're Jewish. Let me tell you about Jesus. You ain't Jewish. I ain't telling you. You ain't either.
[21:53] I'll tell you. That's kind of how they did it. But then this couple of guys, they were just so excited, they couldn't keep their mouth shut, and they just let it slip. And they told these guys that were not Jewish, they told them about Jesus.
[22:05] They told them about how Jesus, God, came to earth and died on the cross and paid to send at it. Anybody could be saved. This is Acts chapter 11. You can check out the story for yourself later. Acts chapter 11, verse 19, and follow it.
[22:17] And when they did, man, people got saved like crazy. Everybody was getting saved, and everybody was getting excited. And the people back in Jerusalem heard about it. I don't know, man.
[22:27] Twitter wasn't even working yet, but it still got back there. And so back there in town, they all said, what's going on? People are getting saved over in Antioch, and they're not Jewish. We've had a lot of Jews saved, but these are Gentiles.
[22:40] What's going on? And so they said, we need to send somebody to find out what's happening. Well, they picked the right guy. Oh, gentle Barnabas, the son of consolation.
[22:52] Sweetest guy you're ever going to meet. And Barnabas goes over to the church at Antioch, and he finds out what's happening. And he starts discipling them like crazy, but he realizes, I can't keep up.
[23:04] And in Acts chapter 11, verse 25, he says, let's take a break, guys. I'm going to run over to Tarshish, and I'm going to pick up a guy, a friend of mine named Saul. I remember Saul. Man, he's trained.
[23:15] That guy, he is trained at the feet of one of the most famous preachers of the Jewish religion, but he got saved, and God changed him, and he brings him back, and they go to work for a whole year, and they taught a whole lot of people about Jesus.
[23:28] And so they started that first church in Antioch and got it going. In Acts chapter 13, God said, I need a couple of witnesses. I need a couple of missionaries. And the Holy Spirit spoke to them, and they sent out Saul and Barnabas, and they went out to the gospel ministry.
[23:45] Barnabas. I mean, this guy is everywhere in the Bible. So when Paul shows up with Barnabas, he's not taking along some little doof-looking. He's taking along some big shot.
[23:55] He's taking along somebody. They know Barnabas. Barnabas is a big giver. Barnabas is a sweet guy. Barnabas is a lover. And by the way, when John, Mark, and Paul have fallen out, it's Barnabas who helps him.
[24:09] So Barnabas, the encourager, the courageous minister of the gospel, the great co-worker, a man willing to cross racial and cultural divides to carry the gospel, he goes with Paul back to Jerusalem to say something.
[24:23] So now you've got Paul. He wasn't a regular apostle. He didn't get ordained with the first 12. You've got Barnabas. They know Barnabas really well. They don't know Paul that well. He hasn't spent much time with them.
[24:35] He says himself, it's been 14 years since I've seen these guys. And so they show up there. But they take with him another guy in the story named Titus. That's very important.
[24:46] They take this guy named Titus. Titus is one of Paul's sons in the ministry. Somebody got saved under his ministry. In Titus chapter 2 and verse 1, the Bible says, Titus, my own son after the common faith.
[24:59] So he takes Titus with him. Titus, that's important. What's the question here? What's the argument? To be saved, you must be circumcised.
[25:10] So he says, hmm, let me take Titus. He has never been circumcised. I'll let him see exhibit A, uncircumcised, on fire, powerful man of God.
[25:23] And they show up. He's a result of Paul's ministry among the Gentiles. He says exhibit A, he wasn't circumcised. But he is such a powerful man. And he's used of God in Titus chapter 1 and verse 5 when Paul left Crete.
[25:37] And he didn't get everything done right. He actually didn't do the ministry as well as it should have been done. And he said, I left you in Crete that you could set in order the things that are wanting. What I didn't finish up good, I left you.
[25:49] That's Titus. He's not just a church member. He is an on fire preacher that's greatly used of God. And they go. And here was the wonderful thing. Look at Galatians chapter 2 and verse 11.
[26:00] The leaders in Jerusalem see God's work in Titus' life. And they know it. Hey, this guy's got it, buddy. He's really saved. And they did not ask him to be circumcised.
[26:13] Peter, James, and John, and all the other big shots, they didn't say, Well, I'm glad he believes. And I'm glad he's showing a lot of promise. But we've got to circumcise him.
[26:23] They said, Oh, no, no, no, no, no. He's fine. He doesn't need to kiss the cow. He don't need to rub Buddha's belly. He doesn't need to do nothing else. He's saved. We're okay with it.
[26:34] Then the other people in this story, there's some false brethren. Look, if you would, Galatians 2, 4. These guys aren't really saved. They think they are.
[26:45] They go to church. You know, they've probably been baptized. They've done everything you can do because these guys are big on doing stuff. And it says, And that because of false brethren, unawares, brought in, who came in privately, privily, to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.
[27:09] Paul said, Let me just tell you, these yahoos over here, they came down and said, You sent them. They're not saved. I'm just going to go ahead and tell you. They're not born again. They're false brothers.
[27:20] And the only reason they came down to our church was to spy out our liberty and see exactly what we're doing. And what they really want to do is kind of get in our church and join our church and see if they can't get their rules passed.
[27:31] They want all of us to follow along with that. They still believe in keeping the law. Then there's these other three guys that are in the story. All this is a trial going on. There's Peter, James, and John.
[27:43] Peter's like the big man. You know that. He's not the pope, by the way. Can't be the pope. He's got a mother-in-law. Okay? And you don't get mother-in-laws without a wife. And he never got to Rome, so he's not the pope.
[27:55] But he is a man of God. And God did use him in a very special way. In Matthew 16, 18 and 19, he gave him the keys of the kingdom. It was like Peter had the privilege of opening the gospel to every new group.
[28:09] And I don't have time to show you, but he was there preaching on the day of Passover. He was the guy there with the Samaritans when they got the Holy Spirit. He was the guy that was there when the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10 and the centurion.
[28:24] This is Peter. He's there. He is a man of God. In no way should you come out of this story thinking, Paul's a great guy and Peter's not. No way. They're both great men of God.
[28:35] They're all great men of God. It's these other little worms that have come into the church that are trying to cause trouble. That's the problem makers. Then there's John. You know him.
[28:46] He wrote John and Revelation in the three letters. He's a beloved apostle. And there's James in the story. James is the pastor, it seems, down in Jerusalem. But James isn't, he's not James the apostle.
[28:59] He dies in Acts chapter 12. This is happening in Acts chapter 15. This is James, the brother of the Lord, who's going to be doing that. He's a half brother to Jesus. You know the Virgin Mary had more children.
[29:13] You know, she wasn't the Virgin Mary always. She was the Virgin Mary for Jesus. And after that, she had more children. You say, I don't know if that's true. Well, you can look up Matthew 13, 55 and 56. And Mark chapter 6 and verse 3, and you'll find that out.
[29:26] James didn't believe on Jesus when he first started. He's like, he's my brother. I don't know much about him. I don't know if I believe that. But he finally believes and he ends up being a pastor. And he writes the book of James.
[29:38] Now, what's the meaning of the, what's the why they got this meeting? Go with me to verse 5. Listen to me. Maybe too many details for you. Listen to me. Here's what you got going on.
[29:49] You got these people who want to make you live in fear. I don't know if you've ever been like this, but when you witness to people, you'll say, hey, do you know if you die today, you go to heaven?
[30:00] Here's what most people will say. I hope so. I'm sure trying. I hope so. I've been baptized. I go to church.
[30:14] I'm a good person. That's just about like a muscle. I'm saying, I strapped a bomb on my kid. I hope so. And Paul said, that's not the way it works.
[30:24] I'm here to stand for liberty. Salvation's by what Jesus did, not what you do. So look if you would at Galatians chapter 2 and verse 5. To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
[30:42] So they got this argument going. These false brothers are saying, I'm telling you, if they're really saved, they got to be baptized in the Holy Ghost. They got to speak in tongues. They got to quit eating pork. I'm telling you, they got to be circumcised.
[30:54] I'm telling you. And Paul said, I ain't backing down one iota. You are wrong. Jesus did it all. All. All. On the cross, he said, it is finished.
[31:06] Guess what finished means, boys? It means finished. He said, I ain't backing down a bit. I don't care how smart they talked. I don't care how many fathers they quoted. I stood for the truth.
[31:17] That's what's going on. These guys aren't saved. They're false brethren. Chapter 2, verse 4. And their brethren, false brethren, unawares, they snuck into the church.
[31:28] They gave a false testimony. And they were trying to bring them into bondage. They were there to see what Paul was preaching. They were there to change the message. Before salvation, they had already lived in fear.
[31:44] Don't you understand? Everybody and every God out there lives in fear. Look at Galatians 4, 3. Paul's going to say this exactly how it works.
[31:56] Even so, when we were children, we're in bondage under the elements of the world. Elements of the world. He said, even as a Jew and a child, there was all this stuff.
[32:10] Make the sacrifice right. Keep the commandments. Do, do, do, do. If you don't do. And he said, by the way, you guys had the same problem in your other religion. It's all that.
[32:22] It's all that. He said, but it's gospel. Gospel. Good news. Jesus loves you. God loves you. Jesus died for you.
[32:32] It's not about what you do. It's about what Jesus did. It's not about preachers hanging heavy, heavy over your head. It's trust Jesus who did it all in the cross of Calvary.
[32:44] Look, if you would, at chapter 4 and verse 9. Relations chapter 4 and verse 9, if you would. But now, after that you have known God, or rather are known of God.
[32:58] That's an interesting verse. We'll get to it again later. You know God. Even more important, God knows you. How turn you again? How could you go back to the weak and beggarly elements?
[33:13] Where until you desire again to be in bondage? You see, before they got saved, they were under bondage, weren't they? I wonder if Thor is mad at me today. I wonder if Zeus is going to throw a lightning rod at me.
[33:28] I wonder if I don't kiss the cow. If I'll have to come back as a rat. I wonder if I don't rub Buddha's belly, I'll fall down. I wonder if I don't cross myself just the right number of times.
[33:39] I'm afraid if I eat pork. I'm afraid if I work on a Saturday. So all these rules. I hear you do it. I hope I prayed the right prayer.
[33:50] What if I didn't say all the right words? What if I didn't hold my tongue right when I got saved? Was I baptized right? What if all my body didn't go underwater? Am I still saved? When they baptized me, they left this much out of the water.
[34:03] Am I saved? Weak, weak and beggarly elements. We trust Jesus. We don't trust a pastor. We don't trust a baptizer.
[34:13] We trust Jesus. Paul said to him in Galatians 5.1, Stand fast. Therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.
[34:25] And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The devil loves to hurt you, to put you in bondage. John 10.10 says, The thief comes but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy.
[34:38] But I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus said, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. Take my yoke. The world's yoke is hard.
[34:50] My yoke is easy. And my burden is light. I'm a good God. That's what he was saying. So in verse 6, we find out that they agreed on the gospel.
[35:00] This wasn't Peter preaching one gospel and Paul preaching another gospel at all. This isn't a denominational split. They both preached the same thing. It says, But those who seem to be somewhat whatsoever they were, it makes no matter to me.
[35:15] God accepts no man's person. For they who seem to be somewhat in comfort said nothing to me. The Big Shots didn't teach me anything. Well, actually, they agreed with me. In this meeting, we just put the false brothers right in their place.
[35:30] In verses 7 and 8, they agreed that Paul would go ahead and preach to the heathen, the pagans, the Gentiles. And Peter would preach to the circumcised, mostly.
[35:41] If they both would win people, Peter will, in the next Sunday morning, Peter will be in Galatia with them. So Peter comes and preaches to the Gentiles. But one guy seems to be the leader of it all.
[35:54] The pillars of the church, in verse 9, agreed with the ministry. James, Cephas, another name for Peter, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me and Barnabas, and they gave us the right hand of Christian fellowship.
[36:11] Like you did in so many churches you joined. You joined, they had you stand in front, and everybody come by and shook your hand. Paul and Barnabas got through, and Peter and James and John, and everybody else came by and said, we agree with you.
[36:22] Here's a handshake. We agree with you. They simply asked him to remember the poor. Now let me give you the entire point of the message, and I'll be through. The point of the whole passage is keep the gospel pure.
[36:41] Can I just say, in Peru, I was teaching one day, one of the dear ladies of the church, and I said, you don't have to do anything to get saved, except trust Christ, and you don't have to do anything to keep saved.
[36:55] It's just Jesus. Jesus. She said, but don't they need to? And I said, no, they don't. She said, but what about? I said, no, they don't. They'll do that because they want to, but they don't need to.
[37:07] And she said, we can't do that. She said, if we don't tell them they got to give, they won't. If we don't tell them they got to come to church, they won't. And I said, there's a whole book written about what you're saying.
[37:21] It's called Galatians. And so many of us want to say, yeah, you can get saved, but Austin needs to get up there and thunder. I'm checking your giving record, bless God.
[37:33] I'm checking your attendance record, bless God. I'm going to check how you dress and how you talk and how you walk, and I'm going to tell you if you're in or you're out. I knew a church, I knew more than one church in Peru that actually had a blackboard where they listed every church member's name and how much they gave each week.
[37:52] And if they didn't, they had it noted there too. Not one of the churches I started. But I mean, literally, I'd walk in, I'd say, what is that? Because it was like, it was like name, name, name, name, name, name, name, lots of blanks.
[38:05] And they were trying to embarrass the people into giving. Galatia was written to say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let's keep the gospel pure.
[38:17] Gospel means good news. It's not good news if I say to you, look, I'm going to give you a car. I want to give you a car. I'm going to give you a beautiful red Corvette I saw.
[38:30] And I'm going to give you that car. And here's what I'm going to do. All you got to do is make all the payments. But I'm going to pay the first five or six. You got to pay the insurance to make all the payments, but I'm giving it to you.
[38:42] You'd be like, that don't sound like much a gift. I'd be like, hey, hey, hey. I'm giving you some of it. See, the Lord doesn't give to you like that. He doesn't come to you and say, well, here's salvation.
[38:54] It's a free gift. 99.9%. But you better come up with that other percent or you're in a heap of trouble. That's not how it works. Keep the gospel pure.
[39:05] The temptation is to add something to the gospel. Men love rules. Men love rules. They love rules. They love rules to get saved, to stay saved, to look saved.
[39:19] Bless God, the Christian's envision ought to do this or that. Well, that's the Holy Spirit's job, buddy, not yours. You believe me, I come out of a real strong kick your backside ministry where I would say to you, let's fix this.
[39:33] But I learned something. Don't add to the gospel, let God deal with his people. Paul was a very violent and a very violent and active fight to keep the gospel pure. People will always try to get you to put emphasis on you, on you and what you're doing to be saved, to stay saved, or to look saved.
[39:58] There's so many things I listen to and if you just put it in a context that you understand, it would make so much sense. Can you imagine me walking home driving home? I'm not going to walk, that's for sure.
[40:11] But I go home today and Betty didn't come to church today. She's sick. So I'm going to walk in the house and I'm going to say, huh, you're about to lose your wife ship. You wasn't at the house of God today.
[40:24] You weren't in my Sunday school class. You weren't in your place. You aren't carrying your end of the load. I don't think you're that sick. She's probably listening right now. You better get it right, woman. And you'd say, you're ridiculous.
[40:40] And I'd say, Betty, if you don't fix me this many meals and do these things, you're not a wife. You've got to meet my needs as a wife. And if you don't do that, you're not a wife. Y'all don't say, there's something wrong with you.
[40:52] And I'd say, no, that's how you talk about Jesus. You say, Jesus looks at you and says, you're mine. I love you, as long as you. But if you don't do some of the things I want you to do, we're calling her quits.
[41:11] He loves you. Do not turn back to the things that pagans did. No kissing the cowboys. No rubbing Buddha's belly.
[41:21] Do not allow beggarly elements of the world to be what makes or keeps you saved. Keeping the law, not eating certain foods, dressing or acting a certain way, rubbing Buddha's belly, kissing the cows that walk down the streets, crossing yourself when you cross by a church or a cemetery.
[41:39] Any superstition you have doesn't belong in the gospel. If you in any way believe that you have somehow earned your salvation, then today, turn from weak and beggarly elements to trust what Jesus did on the cross.
[41:55] I will tell you that I think most Christians think Jesus did most of it. We believe Jesus paid it all, partly, part of it I owe to him.
[42:11] But I better do my part because he didn't pay at all. You say, we don't really believe it. Yes, you do. Yes, you do.
[42:28] It's finished, partly. Partly. But you better get circumcised and you better keep the law and cut your hair while you're at it.
[42:41] Ladies, you dress this way or that way. Son, you don't obey me.
[42:53] You're not my son. That really don't work that way. He might be an embarrassing son, but he's still my son. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[43:09] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[43:21] Thanks. You