Well, it's comforting that I'm not standing here condemned today. I'm just standing here to bring the word of the Lord. Unlike the situation we read of in the passage before us.
! Last week we began to see how Paul addressed the challenge that arose in the gathering of the apostles in Jerusalem.
He had taken Titus with him to Jerusalem and there was this insistence by the other apostles who were Jews that Titus should be circumcised.
And Paul felt that was not right and for him it contradicted the truth of the gospel.
So he rose to confront and challenge that because he felt the truth of the gospel was in question and he fought to defend the truth of the gospel.
So last week dealt with circumcision and today, today's passage seems to be dealing with yet another issue but this time the matter of dietary laws.
Because in the passage before us, some apostles came from Jerusalem.
They had been sent by James or they were from the big gathering in Jerusalem.
But before then, Peter who had been with Paul in Antioch and the other Gentiles had been enjoying wonderful fellowship with the Gentiles.
No difference, no discrimination and he would eat with them celebrating his freedom that came to him even in the gospel.
Because having been saved, having enjoyed the liberty that the gospel brings, he felt there was no need to be different, to refuse to eat with the Gentiles.
So he ate with them.
But when this party came from Jerusalem, he now found himself in a difficult situation.
He decided to keep away from these Gentiles and would no longer participate in the fellowship with them, which I'm sure must have made them to feel one, must have made them to feel welcome, must have made them feel one in the body of Christ.
If Peter or Kephas, these apostles who had been with the Lord Jesus and Paul would come and sit with them, then truly it meant that the gospel has a way of making people from different nationalities and backgrounds one.
But this time, he kept apart.
But not only did that happen, others followed his example.
And again, Paul felt he had a responsibility to defend the truth of the gospel.
For him, the challenge was, their action kind of presented the gospel that had come to us, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And what the gospel stood for, it presented a challenge to the truth of that gospel.
And he felt it needed to be defended.
And he stood staunchly to talk against it.
And he confronted Kephas to his face.
And did it publicly.
And I'm touched that, I'm impressed that he dealt with the matter publicly.
I'm sure if I was the one, I would have felt, well, Brother Peter is an important person in the body of Christ.
This is a man who had had wonderful experiences.
There's so much that is said about him in the faith.
You don't speak to such a leader publicly.
You call him aside.
And in the spirit of Christian love, rebuke him.
If he had done that, the Gentiles would still have felt not part of the gospel.
They would have felt cut out.
What Paul felt, this gospel should be defended publicly.
Why?
Because the gospel is not just a message.
It is the good news that there is a privilege that has come to us in Christ Jesus.
And the privilege is that we who are sinners, and all who are sinners, and who are worthy of the condemnation and rejection of God by virtue of sin,
could now come and find membership in the body of Christ as a result of the death and the resurrection of Jesus.
So for Paul, here was an important matter that needed to be defended.
God had provided solution for the breaking of every form of wall of division.
And why would Paul choose to want to raise him on the basis of insisting on Jewish traditions?
Because the reason for the separation of Peter or Kephas was the fact that Jews were to observe strict dietary regulations,
and they were not to have fellowship with Gentiles, lest their relationship with Gentiles would contaminate their holy appearance or holy nature.
So Paul told him, this is wrong.
And he said it in the presence of the Gentiles.
This is wrong.
And he told him, here is something that you and I have in common.
You and I have known this.
In verse 15, he explains what is common knowledge to both himself and to Paul, to Peter.
He said, you and I are Jews by birth.
We know the law of Jewish lifestyle.
We have lived by the Jewish requirements.
We have observed all of the requirements.
But, yes, we cannot be compared to, by virtue of Jewish positions, we do not see ourselves as Gentile sinners.
Yet, here is something that happens to us.
Though you and I were Jews, we came to faith in Christ Jesus.
And by virtue of our coming to faith in Christ Jesus, something significant has happened to us.
We have come to the assurance of salvation.
Not because we have observed the Jewish regulations.
Not because we have been wonderful people as Jews.
But because we have placed our faith in Jesus and accepted the salvation.
The free offer of salvation from him.
Therefore, we have assurance of standing before God only in the grace of Jesus.
Because you and I know this.
You and I have had experiences of this.
Why would Paul be so sure that Peter knew this or Kephas knew this?
If you just flip back to Acts chapter 10, you will remember the experience that Peter had.
When in a vision, a sheep came from heaven.
With all manner of animals.
And they were all animals that by Jewish law and regulation, he was not supposed to eat.
And he was told, rise, kill and eat.
And he presented his Jewish regulations.
He presented his righteousness by observation of the Jewish regulations.
He said, I have never eaten anything that will defile me.
And God told him, why would you, how can you call that which God has cleansed unclean?
Right after that experience, he now saw how the grace of God appeared to the family of Cornelius.
A Gentile.
And he saw how God brought Cornelius, an outsider to the Jewish race, into the faith.
And he saw how the spirit of God did not discriminate between him, Peter, being a Jew, and the family of Cornelius.
But they were blessed by the spirit of God, the presence of God.
Maybe that is why initially he could sit to eat with other Gentiles.
And then suddenly, because other fellow disciples from Jerusalem had come,
he now turned against this experience he had had.
He turned against this deep knowledge he had received and acted wrongly.
Peter said, this is not right.
In doing this, you've betrayed your conscience.
You've betrayed the truth of the gospel that came to you and I.
You've betrayed the fellowship that you started to establish,
even in the initial relationship you had with these Gentiles.
And we all do the same.
In various ways we do the same.
When in our churches we think we are more Christian than others because of race,
we are behaving just like Peter behaved in his relationship with these Gentiles.
When we would refuse to see and have fellowship with fellow believers,
creatures, children of God created in his image and likeness.
But if we would differ on the basis of race,
on the basis of our educational standing,
on the basis of something that is not a criteria for entering into the relationship with God,
we behave just like Peter.
And I hear the voice of the Lord speaking strongly through Paul
that this does not present the truth of the gospel.
The truth of the gospel is less.
The salvation of God has come to all,
irrespective of color, skin, knowledge, wealth, status also.
Salvation has come to all who would choose to place their faith in Jesus Christ.
So yes, though they had a joint theology and joint understanding,
Peter betrayed it.
And we have a responsibility to draw others into this faith.
When I first arrived in this country,
I had some wonderful experiences in the people,
in some of the churches I went to,
but the truth also is that in some of the churches I visited,
I left wondering whether I had been in a church
that truly believed in the name of Jesus.
Because after service,
they all had fellowship with each other,
would greet each other and say hello to each other.
But this Nigerian felt out of place.
No one would say hello to me.
And I wondered whether I was really a child of God
and was among the children of God.
Yet, there are other churches that when I went to,
oh, they so embraced me.
And I felt at home.
And that is exactly the experience I have had in this lunchtime talk.
This is why I keep coming again and again and again.
Because here I have a sense that I'm among children of God.
I'm among family.
I'm among brethren.
And this is what Paul fought for.
This is what the truth of the gospel makes clear.
If our faith in Christ will cause division when we go out,
if our relationship with others outside
will make them feel condemned, rejected, despised,
because we are holier people,
we are so righteous that we are doing them,
those who do not believe in Christ,
a favor in inviting them,
then we are not representing the gospel correctly.
And that is why Paul went on in verse 20
to say,
look, here is a truth.
We have been crucified with Christ.
I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live,
but Christ that lives in me.
And in that statement,
Paul was acknowledging that
the gruesome nature of the death of Christ
was a result of who I am
and who I had become.
And that is what I was deserving.
But when Christ died that horrifying,
that gruesome death,
he died in my place.
So in him I died.
I died to a desire
to prove my standing with God by my works.
I died because I realized
that it is only in Christ
that I am accepted
and I can please God,
not by any works of righteousness.
It's not my wonderful prayer life
that qualifies me
for a right relationship with God.
It's not good as prayer is.
It's not my knowledge of Bible
and my ability to recite all of it
that qualifies me
for a right standing with God.
Good as that is,
it's not even the good works I do
to prove that I am a wonderful Christian
that qualifies me
to enter into right standing with God.
It is only faith in the fact that
what you and I
have not been able to do
would for all of eternity
not be able to do
to merit eternity with God.
Christ did it on our behalf.
And by virtue of our placing faith in Him
we are accepted,
we stand right with God,
we stand justified with God,
we stand beyond condemnation,
beyond rejection with God.
That is what has happened also.
Though I continue to live,
according to Paul,
he says,
though I have been crucified with Christ,
it is no longer I that lives,
but Christ who lives in me.
My responsibility is to allow Christ
to live in and through me.
So I become merely a channel
through which the life of God
will be expressed in and through me
in my relationship with people.
Electricity passes through the cables,
but the cables never take credit
for the power that passes through them.
Water flows through the pipes
to come to my house.
I benefit from the water,
I use the water,
but the pipes never take credit for it.
Why would we then
take credit for the life of God
that should be flowing in and through us
to bring others
to the knowledge of God
and the love of God in Christ Jesus?
So Paul says,
when you, Peter,
when you try to rebuild those things
that you have been convinced were wrong,
when you try to bring back
the lifestyle you have been convinced was wrong,
when you try to live by the regulations,
by the laws,
in the hope that observing them
is what qualifies you
to be a proper Jew,
then you are rebuilding those things
that you say Christ has destroyed in you.
So when we show difference,
when we live with a sense of superiority
over others,
when we treat others
as though they are not good enough,
they are not as good as we are
to come to the Lord,
we are now destroying
what Jesus has done for us.
We are saying,
yes, Jesus,
granted you died for me,
you cleansed my sin,
but here is some good
that I have done
that qualifies to be accepted.
No, it's not that
we will not do good works,
but whatever good works we do
should be Christ leading us.
We will walk in grateful response
to who we have been made
and what God has done in us.
not that our good works
will be a way of earning
God's merit of commendation.
Paul tells us,
when we begin to trust
in the same works
that we looked up to God
to deal with
so that we will be accepted,
then we are nullifying
the grace of God.
As we go out
to relate with people
and they meet with us
and we try to evangelize,
which is what I encounter
every day,
what do we present to them?
What do we,
how do we come up
to those that we seek
to share the gospel of Jesus with?
Do they meet
very wonderful,
holy people
that are so far
that they cannot begin
to aspire to reach up to
by virtue of
their good works?
The only things
we have to present,
what do we present
to cause us to be accepted?
Our wonderful works?
Or do we present the truth
that we are also sinners
that have been saved by God?
We are sinners
being saved
by the cleansing
of the word of God
that comes to us
constantly
and we are people
that will be saved
from the very presence
of sin itself
when we finally stand
in the presence of God?
What do we make them
feel very bad?
In 1998,
I remember,
back in Nigeria,
when we were trying
to plant a church
in a very remote part
of Abuja.
Abuja is the capital city
of Nigeria.
It's a new capital
that was formed.
So there are loads
of villages
that were unreached.
We had been sending
women who had gone there
as part of women fellowship,
youth had gone there,
but they had not been successful.
On this particular day,
I went along with them
and they were happy.
Their pastor,
a leader in the church,
had come along with them
and so maybe I would do
something unique
that would make the people
accept the gospel.
And on that day,
the people decided
they are tired
of these people
that have been coming
to try to make them
change their way of life.
They would do something
so despicable
to keep us away.
And we went to preach
and they brought food.
And the manner
from the dish
to the place
we start to eat
to the appearance
of the people,
it will take
exceptional grace
for you to sit
to eat with them.
And we start to eat.
And the leader
of the group
did something
that is so terrible
I wouldn't want to tell you
so that you will be able
to eat your next meals.
And when he had finished,
he came
and I looked at his hand
and his hand was
in bad need of water.
But he looked at me
and came
and dipped his hand
right in front
of where I was sitting
and ate
and everybody waited
to see what I would do.
I was struggling
between vomiting
and getting
up of that place.
But I quietly prayed
and asked God
to help me.
And I ate
from the same spot
that he ate.
And that moment
was when
he decided
to give his life
to Christ.
Two years later,
he was preaching
in the community
where we had gone
to plant
the church.
and he said
the one thing
that made him
give his life
to Christ
was the fact
that they were
filthy
yet we did not
reject
to eat with them.
They had done
they were living
in squalor
in great filth
but it did not
turn us away.
They now believed
that we had
genuine love
for them.
but I told him
we had received
greater love
from the Lord
Jesus.
Because you see
everyone
who has sinned
is deserving
of the judgment
of God.
But God
chose to send
Jesus
who died
so that we
who are deserving
of
condemnation
would find
life eternal
with him.
all around us
are people
that are
desperately
in need
of
a true
manifestation
of the love
of God.
All around us
are people
who are interested
in meeting
Christians
who would not
present
how wonderful
they are
but would present
the wonderful
loving God
they are in
relationship with.
so that
when they
see that
lifestyle
they will be
drawn
into the
relationship
with the
Lord Jesus
that will
transform them
and they
will stand
because of
the love
of God.
Do we go
out
being such
people
or do we
go out
lifting up
our noses
looking down
on people
despising
them
because
they have
not
entered
into the
relationship
you and I
have in
Christ Jesus.
God expects
that
because
we have
received
of his
salvation
freely
we have
experienced
his love
and we have
been drawn
into a
loving
relationship
with him
so freely
we will
be extension
of his
hands
in reaching
out to
people
I mean
we would
be available
to be
channels
through whom
he would
pass
to touch
others.
Let them
see our
lifestyle
let them
see our
submission
to God
let them
see how
desperately
we love
God
and are
appreciative
of the
message we
have received
that they
can be
attracted
and welcome
into this
wonderful
fellowship
that you
and I
have.
And I
assure you
in case
you are
here and
you are
thinking about
what the
Christian
faith is
all about
it is
entering
into a
wonderful
loving
relationship
with Jesus
and he
will not
condemn
you.
Most of
us humans
are a
poor
reflection
of what
the true
gospel ought
to be
but I
tell you
if you
would just
give in
to the
Lord Jesus
you
would
know
love
that is
beyond
understanding.
Let's
pray.