WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.200 Father in heaven, we humbly come before your word, a very rich and dense and in some cases 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:18.400 difficult text to understand, and we pray that you'd give us humility to learn and to submit 00:00:18.400 --> 00:00:23.059 to your word. And Lord, we also ask that you'll open our eyes to what you would want us to see 00:00:23.059 --> 00:00:26.699 this morning. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.799 If you've been watching the news at all, last week in Vancouver, a group of anti-Israel and anti-West 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:46.260 and anti-Canada demonstrators, they publicly burned a Canadian flag. After and during the burning of 00:00:46.260 --> 00:00:52.219 the flag, the leader led them in a chant of burn Canada. A few other things they wanted to burn as 00:00:52.219 --> 00:00:59.679 well, but burn Canada was heard loud and clear. They're clad in masks. We have no idea who these 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:08.900 people were. The police were said to look into it. I'm not sure. I don't know of any updates. I didn't 00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:14.799 go digging around. But it would be safe to assume that these people were Canadians themselves, 00:01:15.460 --> 00:01:20.159 at least some of them, either through birth or immigration. Either way, they would hold Canadian 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:26.900 citizenship. I was thinking about, apart from the obvious, I'm a Canadian. I'm thankful and proud that 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:32.240 I'm a Canadian and I don't like seeing the flag burned. But I was wondering why it made me so 00:01:32.240 --> 00:01:41.900 unsettled to see the flag burned. I think for me, and maybe for you as well, the Canadian flag, 00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:50.020 it represents the ideals of Canada and our shared citizenship, the things that bind us together 00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:59.560 as Canadians. I say ideals because ideally we'd hold on to these. Maybe they're not held so tightly 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:05.699 anymore. But by and large, the Canadian flag, it ought to represent our shared values for tolerance, 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:14.219 that many people from different backgrounds can live together and coexist, for equality before the law, 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:23.599 just to name a couple things. The flag, ideally, is the thing we rally around as Canadians. The flag 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:34.360 is our point of reference. Especially in this Olympic year, the summer that we had, it's a wonderful time 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:42.240 to be a Canadian. So it represents our unity, our national pride, and unfortunately, less and less, 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:46.960 this is appearing to be the case. And so the Canadian flag goes up in flames on the streets of Vancouver. 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:57.480 And people like myself lament it, but it's a bit unsurprising. I bring that up just to talk about 00:02:57.480 --> 00:03:07.120 the flag itself as being the very thing that is what we rally around. It represents our ideals. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:13.759 And I want to ask this morning, what is the unifying ideal for Christians? What is our flag, 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:20.599 so to speak? The thing that we rally around, the thing that unifies us, the bond that transcends, 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:27.759 as Christians, national pride, even our civic duty. What is the thing that unites Christians? 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:36.699 The question's easy. It's also very hard. It's easy because we could say it's Jesus. That's what 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:49.000 unites us. And it's incredibly difficult in some cases because even though Jesus is the center and 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:53.580 we are on the periphery, but he's connecting us all, he is the hub and we are the spokes, 00:03:55.240 --> 00:04:04.979 and he is the source of our unity as Christians, we have a real tough time to find things that we 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:12.340 agree on. Maybe not necessarily this church, but Christianity itself across our province, 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:19.780 across our country, across our continent, across the world. What unites us is hard to understand, 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:29.100 and if we're being perfectly honest, quite elusive. The Christian churches across Canada, for instance, 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:35.319 even if you look at Ottawa, differences in emphasis, cultures, practices, styles, 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:41.860 and certain doctrines that are held dear in the church. I'm not saying all differences are bad, 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:48.139 but where there is differences, unity is not necessarily easily come by. 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:57.519 So, how do we debate well? How do we consider well? How do we unite well? How do we come to 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:03.099 consensus well? And how do we struggle even to get to the table to have that conversation? 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:17.540 So, Jesus is our rallying point, but how do we come into this unified group? How do we come to call 00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:26.600 each other brother and sisters, arm in arm, hand in hand? So, we're at Acts 15. This text is a key text 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:35.580 for just this question. It's the midway point of Acts, both pretty much in terms of its structure of 00:05:35.580 --> 00:05:43.340 Acts in the narrative. It's kind of at the halfway point, but it's also the midway point of Acts where 00:05:43.340 --> 00:05:51.200 there's a clear shift towards the spread of the gospel and the building up of the church. What we see in 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:57.500 Acts 15 is the Jerusalem Council, as it has been come to known, come to be known, and it's the first such, 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:04.879 it's called ecumenical council, the universal or where all of the church comes together in one spot. 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:11.199 There'll be councils afterwards, but this is the first one, and it's in Jerusalem. It's a huge turning 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:18.419 point in the narrative of Acts, for it both defines what true salvation is, and by extension, what true 00:06:18.420 --> 00:06:25.160 membership in the churches is, it also provides us a blueprint for how to deal with differences, 00:06:25.860 --> 00:06:36.000 doctrinal differences within the church. Okay, mountain in Acts 15. It's a mountain. We're not 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:43.400 going to scale to the summit addressing every little bit. We'll read the entirety of it by the time we finish 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:50.719 up this morning, but I'm going to point out just a couple things, and I've already mentioned them. 00:06:51.939 --> 00:06:59.639 Acts 15 will help us to understand what the true definition of salvation is according to God's word, 00:07:00.299 --> 00:07:07.539 what that looks like, and by definition, what membership in his church looks like. And then the 00:07:07.540 --> 00:07:13.020 third thing that we'll investigate is a blueprint for navigating doctrinal differences. 00:07:14.960 --> 00:07:20.680 Huge implications for the church, but huge implications for how we live our life and how we 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:27.120 enjoy flourishing as human beings in God's creation. So let's jump to it. If you have one of these, 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:31.620 turn with me, like I mentioned, page 86, and read verses 1 to 5. 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:37.959 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:45.280 to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension 00:07:45.280 --> 00:07:50.280 and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem 00:07:50.280 --> 00:07:56.000 to the apostles and the elders about this question. So being sent on their way by the church, they passed 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:02.579 through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and brought 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:08.800 great joy to all the brothers. We'll continue on to read verses 4 and 5. When they came to Jerusalem, 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:14.019 they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:19.040 done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:24.699 it is necessary to circumcise them, that is the Gentiles, and to order them to keep the law of Moses. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:35.240 Many people romanticize the early church as the key point of purity and unity within the history 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:40.980 of Christianity. And we get to Acts 15 and we see within the first generation, within the first 00:08:40.980 --> 00:08:49.279 generation, there's dissension, there's debate. It's not exactly so pure and clean and without blemish. 00:08:49.980 --> 00:08:54.580 Everybody linking arms, everybody in one accord. We have instances of that early on, 00:08:54.580 --> 00:09:04.639 but within a generation, we're seeing debate and issues arise. Sex even developing. Here we see 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:09.220 that there's some converts from the Pharisees who are promoting this distorted view of the gospel that 00:09:09.220 --> 00:09:13.800 they're saying, hey, listen, yeah, you have to have faith in Jesus, but you also essentially have to live 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:22.319 like an observant, law-keeping, Torah-abiding Jewish person. And carton parcel to that is circumcision. 00:09:23.899 --> 00:09:30.219 Before we address this, I just want to say this. These aren't the Pharisees that are trying to 00:09:30.219 --> 00:09:35.099 thwart Jesus in the gospels. These are brothers and sisters in the faith, 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:45.240 except that they're believing a false gospel. They love Jesus, but they have a distorted view of what 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:50.680 it means to walk with Jesus and to serve with Jesus. I would say that we need to be careful 00:09:50.680 --> 00:09:57.440 to demonize them, but rather show some sympathy to them for two reasons. They left Pharisaical 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:03.700 Judaism to follow Jesus. They're part of the Pharisee group, which is to say that they just have those 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:09.560 leanings. They haven't kind of abandoned those leanings. You're in the church long enough and you 00:10:09.560 --> 00:10:16.160 have the privilege of seeing people come to faith from, say, a different religion or a different 00:10:16.160 --> 00:10:22.480 practice or a different kind of spirituality. They don't do away with everything overnight. 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:31.259 It's not like a switch is flipped and then within moments they don't, they stop thinking like a Muslim 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:37.480 or they stop thinking like a spiritualist or they stop thinking like somebody that is obsessed with 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:45.580 money. It takes time. This is what the Bible calls sanctification. It's God working in us and through 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:55.240 us to change our view towards him. This is what's happening here. These aren't enemies. These are brothers 00:10:55.240 --> 00:11:02.659 that are confused. The second thing why we should be sympathetic towards them is that they really want 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:07.320 to follow God's law. They really want to be concerned about the Bible. I mean the New Testament's not 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:13.360 written right now, so they're trying to follow the Bible. Wrong way of following the Bible, but they're 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:20.200 trying to follow the Bible. So they're brothers in Christ, but brothers who are confused about salvation 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:26.440 in the church and the place of the Gentiles, nevertheless, even if we're sympathetic to them, 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:34.500 they're causing problems, dissensions, debates. They're, we'll see, hoisting upon the non-Jewish 00:11:34.500 --> 00:11:44.300 believers in Jesus a yoke that was never intended for them. What's interesting today amongst Jewish people, 00:11:44.299 --> 00:11:50.740 and it has been for centuries upon centuries, is can I be Jewish and believe in Jesus? Here it tells us 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:58.740 that the original question is, can I be not Jewish and believe in Jesus? This is what's at play here 00:11:58.740 --> 00:12:09.500 in Acts 15. Were they just these Jewish believers? I mean, they were worshiping the Jewish Messiah 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:17.860 from the Jewish scriptures, walking according to the Jewish Torah, with Jewish patriarchs, 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:23.759 all of the Jewish hope. Are they to abandon that? This is the question. Are they to abandon that for 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:35.320 the Samaritans, for the Phoenicians, for the Cypriots, to those in Antioch, to those in Pisidia, 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:44.060 in Asia Minor, in Rome, in parts of Asia? Are they supposed to abandon all of that for these Gentiles? 00:12:44.780 --> 00:12:54.860 It's a big question. It's a big question. What's at stake here isn't just, can Gentiles remain Gentiles? 00:12:55.100 --> 00:13:04.180 It's, does the gospel destroy culture? Does it destroy our heritage? It's a scary thing to ask. 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:09.019 It's a good thing to be proud of where you're from and the people you're connected to. 00:13:09.719 --> 00:13:16.899 I mean, within moderation. I'm not talking about like, like Nazi pride or something, but like a good 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:24.439 pride. I'm thankful for the parents I have and where I came from. I, I'm privileged wherever I am. 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:32.120 I'm thankful for the life I have. The gospel comes and offers us true life. And the questions asked, 00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:34.860 do I have to give up everything? Scary. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:43.000 So, Paul and Barnabas, they're pushing back against this question. 00:13:44.620 --> 00:13:49.720 And they are proclaiming a gospel of faith in Christ alone, not compelling 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:59.279 the Gentiles to become Jews. They're not asking them to have Jesus plus anything, but just Jesus. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:08.220 So, we have these two sects within the Christian church early on that are promoting two different 00:14:08.220 --> 00:14:15.580 faiths. How are they to be dealt with? Look with me now in verse 7. Before we get in there, 00:14:15.580 --> 00:14:23.460 there's going to be three successive testimonies on behalf of the true gospel. It'll be Peter, 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:29.900 it'll be Saul and Barnabas, and then it'll be James. We're going to just jump into Peter's bit here, 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:36.000 starting in verse 7 to verse 11. And this will tell us a little bit about what true salvation is. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:46.379 Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles 00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:49.960 should hear the word of the gospel and believe. What he's referring to, by the way, 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:58.919 is a few chapters back, and likely about a decade prior, where Peter gets a vision and goes by the 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:07.879 Lord's leading to Cornelius, who is not a Jewish person. He is a Roman soldier and proclaims the 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:12.879 gospel. They believe the Holy Spirit is given, and this is what Peter's referring to here. 00:15:13.779 --> 00:15:14.240 Verse 8, 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:19.559 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, that is Cornelius and his household, 00:15:19.959 --> 00:15:26.599 by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. And he made no distinction between us and them, 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:34.840 having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:41.259 by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:47.940 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:54.080 Notice a few key points here. Peter references the story of Cornelius and his household coming to faith. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:16:01.160 It was by divine will that it happened. If you remember, Peter has this vision, and it's God 00:16:01.160 --> 00:16:07.960 speaking to him to associate with people that he previously deemed unclean. It was God who made the 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:14.120 inroads into Peter. And God also, we find out later, made the inroads into Cornelius, opening his eyes, 00:16:14.280 --> 00:16:22.940 connecting the two. And when Peter proclaimed the gospel to Cornelius, he did not compel him to become 00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:31.540 Torah observant. He did not compel them to get circumcised. No. In verse 7, they hear the word 00:16:31.540 --> 00:16:38.340 that is the gospel message and believed. Faith was at work. And that's all Peter ends up talking about 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:44.260 here. That's it. It's just faith. They heard, they believed, it was faith, it was the gift of God 00:16:44.259 --> 00:16:51.620 to these Gentiles. And what's interesting, too, in all of this, is that God bore witness to what he was 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:57.799 doing to the Gentiles. How? By giving the Holy Spirit. And then he says, just like it happened with 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:05.339 us, and he's referring to Acts chapter 2, where the Holy Spirit falls on the Jewish pilgrims when they're in 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:12.559 Jerusalem. And it's a fulfillment of prophecy, the God verifying that he is at work saving people. 00:17:12.939 --> 00:17:15.539 And the same pattern of events is happening 00:17:15.539 --> 00:17:25.399 with Cornelius. And he is not a Jew. He is a Gentile. And he is going to stay that way for the rest of his 00:17:25.399 --> 00:17:34.699 life. True salvation, what we see here, it's always a matter of the heart. It's always a matter of the 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:42.840 heart. The heart that hears the gospel message and turns to Christ by faith and enjoys the cleansing 00:17:42.840 --> 00:17:49.840 that only God can do. The indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that is given. All of which, Peter says, 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:57.259 at the end of this section, is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all through the grace of the 00:17:57.259 --> 00:18:01.220 Lord Jesus Christ. A gift from above by God himself. 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:11.200 And what does this result in? He says, Peter, that there's now no distinction between Jew and Greek. 00:18:12.379 --> 00:18:19.480 And that's not my opinion, he says. God is the one who said that. So if you have a quarrel with what we are 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:26.539 saying, listen, you're not quarreling with me, Peter, the former fisherman. You're quarreling with God 00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:34.079 himself because he is the one who's bore witness to all of this. It's a heavy, heavy statement, but it is true. 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:42.440 No ceremonial conversion to Judaism, but a spiritual conversion of the heart all by the power of the 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:50.680 Lord Jesus Christ. And friends, I'll just say this. Why is this a good news for them and also for us today? 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:58.120 It's because such a salvation that is not our own doing. It is by the grace of God that we receive by faith. 00:18:58.180 --> 00:19:05.519 It is a gift for us. It is no small matter because it both obliterates pride and it smashes hopelessness. 00:19:07.500 --> 00:19:12.680 And if you're following along, even on the periphery, there's a lot of pride and a lot of 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:14.799 hopelessness today. There's a lot of it. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:23.079 So it's good news for us. How does it obliterate pride? It does so because the heart that revels with 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:29.599 pride in either achieving enlightenment or perfection or nirvana or some kind of connection to 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:38.220 the above or thinking that I am somehow, all of that doesn't apply to me. I'm good where I stand 00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:49.380 right here. That heart is not just a part of the problem. It is the problem. If you're familiar with 00:19:49.380 --> 00:20:00.620 the seven deadly sins, pride is the king of the sins by which all of the other sins can take root 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:02.939 and germinate and germinate and grow and bloom. 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:14.459 Pride needs to always be fixed. And therefore, the idea of salvation through self-achievement, 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:21.399 be that keeping the Torah law or just thinking, no, I'm okay, I'm good the way I am, it's inherently 00:20:21.399 --> 00:20:27.939 flawed. It is, and I have no idea why we use this. It's like pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:38.779 It's an impossibility. It's impossible. It's inherently flawed. Likewise, hopelessness. Why does 00:20:38.779 --> 00:20:44.920 it smash hopelessness? Hopelessness, it falsely states that there's no way out of the pit, that 00:20:44.920 --> 00:20:52.900 the dark is too dark. The light isn't good enough. The life that it's offered, it's not going to 00:20:52.900 --> 00:21:02.000 deliver what it's promising. Things are too far gone. Life lacks hope. But like with pride, a salvation 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:10.880 that does not offer and satisfy the longing for hope is no salvation at all. So, it would take the 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:19.640 very person of God himself to take upon human flesh, to die in our place, to live, to die in our place, 00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:28.420 to defeat death, to rise again. That's the hope we put our, that's what we put our faith in. That's our hope. 00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:36.820 And if the object of our hope defeated all of the things that cause us hopelessness, 00:21:37.580 --> 00:21:41.420 my goodness, that's an antidote to the hopelessness of our society. 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:53.560 As we transition to the next bit, the next point, there can be no plurality of thought when it 00:21:53.560 --> 00:21:58.340 pertains to salvation by grace through faith. There can't be two competing gospels. There can't 00:21:58.340 --> 00:22:03.500 be a 1A and a 1B. There can't be a Jesus and then a Jesus plus whatever, fill in the blanks. 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:10.299 So much rides on a proper definition and understanding of salvation, for it has implications 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:15.000 for both belonging to Christ and to his church. And this is where we'll jump to the next section. 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:18.460 Look at verse 13 and following with me. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:28.799 So, I'll back up. Verse 12. Paul and Barnabas, it's one verse, but it's like a, 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:34.079 we could double click on that, but we'll just read it. And all the assembly fell silent. That's 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:39.359 at what Peter has just said. And they listened to Paul and Barnabas as they related what signs and 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:43.680 wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. That's, we're presuming that's the first missionary 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:49.299 journey that we talked about the last three weeks. Verse 13. After they finished speaking, 00:22:49.299 --> 00:22:57.299 James replied, brothers, listen to me. Simeon, that's Peter's Jewish name. Simeon has related how God 00:22:57.299 --> 00:23:03.500 first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name. And with this, the words of 00:23:03.500 --> 00:23:08.559 the prophets agree, just as it is written. He's going to quote Amos chapter nine here. 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:15.299 After this, I will return and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its 00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:21.659 ruins and I will restore it that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who 00:23:21.660 --> 00:23:28.720 are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old. We're not going to 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:38.420 deep dive into this prophetic quote of James and not a lot of time on this point because we've covered 00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:45.660 some of this already. However, what James is claiming here is that as Gentiles have come to faith, 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:58.120 that Gentiles being in Christ, now they belong to the people of Israel in a very real spiritual way. 00:24:00.420 --> 00:24:08.640 James, he is a leader of the church in Jerusalem. He is a Jewish man himself. And what he is doing is 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:14.660 he is describing the conversion of the Gentiles using language that up till now has only been applied to 00:24:14.660 --> 00:24:23.220 Jewish people. This is a bit of a scandal because the Jewish people in Israel, they've existed by being 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:27.279 distinct and the times that they haven't been distinct where they've wanted to be like the 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:34.820 nations around them have led to their downfall. So they're very cagey on who is and who isn't 00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:46.480 in the in crowd. And here, James, he is using language that is exclusive to the Israelites and he's applying 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:54.119 it to the Gentiles. So words like visitation and speaking of the Gentiles as a remnant are very 00:24:54.119 --> 00:25:02.659 Judaic words to use. And yet he is not using it to describe the nation, singular, that is the Jewish 00:25:02.660 --> 00:25:09.940 nation, but the nations which come to describe people from every tribe and tongue, every part of the world. 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:17.200 Not only that, the quotation of scripture speaks to this expansion of David's kingdom. 00:25:17.820 --> 00:25:24.240 If you remember, King David is like the king of kings, the king that the Messiah will come from. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:33.019 That this kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and now it is expanded to include people that did not belong 00:25:33.019 --> 00:25:39.059 to this kingdom beforehand. And finally, if we take a look at the letter written to the Gentile church, 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:45.480 this is the portion that Matt didn't read, verses 23 and following, which is to say a summary of the 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:52.019 debate and a letter written to the Gentile churches informing them of all that went down in the Jerusalem 00:25:52.019 --> 00:25:58.240 council. If we look at that letter, it is written from the brothers to the brothers. 00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:09.619 From the brothers to the brothers. Not from the master to the slave. Not from the clean to the unclean. 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:17.700 Not from even God's chosen wonderful race and those people that have kind of just slipped in 00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:25.920 in the back door. It's brothers to brothers. That is not a small detail. That's a huge detail. It's huge. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:32.360 Distinctions remain. Jews are still Jews. Gentiles are still Gentiles. 00:26:32.360 --> 00:26:40.140 But those important identity markers are superseded by new and eternal identity markers. 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:45.240 That is, before we are Canadians, we are Christians. 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:56.460 No longer do ethnic and familial and social and economic and regional and whatever other factors 00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:59.539 that come to mark us, 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:04.519 they aren't the highest description of who we now are. 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:06.279 Rather, we are Christians. 00:27:07.180 --> 00:27:10.099 So our allegiance is still, say, to a Canadian flag, but it's, 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:12.940 we have a higher allegiance to a different flag. 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:14.320 And this flag is eternal. 00:27:15.620 --> 00:27:20.240 And around this flag are people from every tribe and tongue. 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:25.140 It is a beautiful, a beautiful family that we have been brought into. 00:27:27.360 --> 00:27:31.000 Full inclusion into the people of God. 00:27:31.100 --> 00:27:32.920 He does not have two peoples. He has one. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:38.039 And as we get to our final bit, looking at the blueprint for this unity, 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:41.539 how to get and maintain unity within the church. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:46.079 In Christ, Paul can say there's neither Jew or Greek, 00:27:46.139 --> 00:27:47.579 that all are one in Christ Jesus. 00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:53.500 But we need to be honest and open about the disputes and differences that mark the church. 00:27:53.659 --> 00:27:56.079 From the beginning all the way to the present, 00:27:57.079 --> 00:28:00.799 that threaten to undo the unity and purity of the gospel message. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.279 And these differences and disputes, 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:06.919 they threaten to burn down the flag. 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:13.539 Acts 15 provides a blueprint for how to achieve and maintain this unity. 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:17.240 This perplexing section that I'm going to read, 00:28:17.419 --> 00:28:19.539 follow along with me, verses 19 to 21. 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:26.339 It is no small portion of scripture to interpret. 00:28:26.339 --> 00:28:27.720 Verse 19. 00:28:28.519 --> 00:28:30.619 This is James now speaking. 00:28:31.659 --> 00:28:35.699 Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God. 00:28:35.959 --> 00:28:36.759 Okay, that sounds great. 00:28:37.419 --> 00:28:37.819 Verse 20. 00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:41.839 But should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, 00:28:42.199 --> 00:28:43.779 from sexual immorality, 00:28:44.459 --> 00:28:46.179 and from what has been strangled, 00:28:46.339 --> 00:28:47.099 and from blood. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:50.139 For from ancient generations, 00:28:50.279 --> 00:28:53.639 Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, 00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:56.340 for he has read every Sabbath in the synagogues. 00:28:58.380 --> 00:28:59.720 Four prohibitions. 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:01.820 Difficult to understand. 00:29:02.020 --> 00:29:03.840 Three seem to be ceremonial in nature. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.180 That is, the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:11.560 strangulation, which is a type of slaughtering, 00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:14.000 and the consumption of blood. 00:29:14.780 --> 00:29:16.360 Things that we probably don't deal with. 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:18.480 If you're like from England, 00:29:18.600 --> 00:29:21.440 you might enjoy yourself a blood pudding in the morning. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:22.880 It sounds disgusting. 00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:27.000 I looked up the ingredients, 00:29:27.280 --> 00:29:27.860 and it's not like, 00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:29.980 hey, it's called blood pudding because it looks red. 00:29:30.040 --> 00:29:30.720 It's blood. 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:34.120 And anyways, if you like that, fantastic. 00:29:34.600 --> 00:29:35.180 Great for you. 00:29:36.180 --> 00:29:39.780 So there's three ceremonial prohibitions, 00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:41.360 and then there's one moral one. 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:43.300 And the three ceremonial ones, 00:29:43.340 --> 00:29:45.040 you could say, okay, we can figure that one out, 00:29:45.060 --> 00:29:46.940 but how does it work with this one moral one? 00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:49.940 Because the prohibition of sexual immorality, 00:29:50.080 --> 00:29:55.799 that is, any sexual knowing outside of a male and female marriage, 00:29:56.799 --> 00:30:00.980 it seems to be applied across all people. 00:30:01.080 --> 00:30:01.960 It's binding on all people. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:03.660 So there's more, 00:30:03.799 --> 00:30:07.180 but there's two fairly mainstream ways to understand these prohibitions. 00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:08.720 The first, 00:30:09.340 --> 00:30:11.160 that all of these four prohibitions 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:15.420 are somehow connected to foreign practices 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:18.320 that were repulsive to Jewish sensibilities 00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:24.080 that were prohibited back in Leviticus 17 and 18 00:30:24.080 --> 00:30:26.880 to foreigners living amongst God's people. 00:30:27.620 --> 00:30:30.240 I'm not going to read portions of Leviticus 17 and 18. 00:30:30.320 --> 00:30:31.480 You'll have to take my word for it. 00:30:31.940 --> 00:30:32.600 Jump into it. 00:30:32.599 --> 00:30:34.279 I can see it. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:36.980 There's definitely a case to be made. 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:42.079 I am not smarter than the biblical scholars that I consult. 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:44.219 So that's one view. 00:30:44.519 --> 00:30:45.599 The second is this, 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:50.559 that these practices were seen as representative of paganism writ large 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:53.859 and therefore also repulsive to Jewish sensibilities 00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:59.619 so that to become a Christian yet remain a pagan 00:30:59.619 --> 00:31:03.079 would cause a dissension, 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:04.579 cause a disunity, 00:31:04.739 --> 00:31:05.939 a separation between the two. 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:08.379 I'm not sure which one is correct. 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:08.759 However, 00:31:09.500 --> 00:31:10.659 in both cases, 00:31:10.719 --> 00:31:12.679 it would seem that these prohibitions have 00:31:12.679 --> 00:31:16.219 more to do with making concessions 00:31:16.219 --> 00:31:18.759 for a portion of the church, 00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:19.319 in this case, 00:31:19.379 --> 00:31:20.599 the Jewish brothers in Christ, 00:31:20.839 --> 00:31:23.839 who may have been offended by certain practices 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:27.519 and therefore to disregard their unease 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:29.259 would be to not love them 00:31:29.259 --> 00:31:32.019 and therefore break fellowship in Christ's church. 00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:33.199 Okay? 00:31:33.339 --> 00:31:34.119 Stick with me. 00:31:35.059 --> 00:31:35.879 So in other words, 00:31:35.959 --> 00:31:39.119 it would be to poo-poo the unity of the church. 00:31:39.399 --> 00:31:41.799 I think that's a decent way of saying it in layman's terms. 00:31:43.259 --> 00:31:44.220 The fact is, 00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.019 we all have our things that make us feel uncomfortable. 00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:55.440 And we always feel seen and appreciated and heard 00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:56.339 when people can, 00:31:57.180 --> 00:31:57.379 one, 00:31:57.519 --> 00:31:58.500 articulate that 00:31:58.500 --> 00:32:00.480 and then make concessions for us. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:03.480 Make exceptions. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:04.720 Help us. 00:32:05.059 --> 00:32:05.299 Maybe, 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:07.799 even though that they can, 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:08.859 for instance, 00:32:09.019 --> 00:32:09.740 drink alcohol, 00:32:10.059 --> 00:32:12.279 if somebody is a tea totaler 00:32:12.279 --> 00:32:15.119 and somebody recognizes that 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:15.879 and they come for dinner, 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:16.900 they don't bring wine. 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:18.379 Or they have you for dinner 00:32:18.379 --> 00:32:19.500 and they don't have wine, 00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:21.960 but rather they have some non-alcoholic drink. 00:32:22.379 --> 00:32:22.660 Oh, 00:32:22.759 --> 00:32:23.240 this person, 00:32:23.420 --> 00:32:24.660 they care enough about me 00:32:24.660 --> 00:32:27.799 to make this concession. 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:29.440 This is like a loving thing to do. 00:32:30.639 --> 00:32:31.299 And this is, 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:31.579 I think, 00:32:31.619 --> 00:32:32.240 what's happening here. 00:32:32.299 --> 00:32:33.420 And the reason why I think that 00:32:33.420 --> 00:32:34.879 is because in the very next chapter, 00:32:35.559 --> 00:32:36.259 the Apostle Paul, 00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:37.940 who is vehemently opposed 00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:39.339 to this sect 00:32:39.339 --> 00:32:42.480 of believers 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:44.180 who are pushing circumcision, 00:32:44.259 --> 00:32:45.119 the very next chapter, 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:47.179 he circumcises Timothy 00:32:47.179 --> 00:32:48.699 for the sake of the gospel 00:32:48.699 --> 00:32:52.379 being spread amongst Jewish people 00:32:52.379 --> 00:32:53.759 and non-Jewish people alike. 00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:54.179 And you're like, 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:54.899 wait, what? 00:32:55.339 --> 00:32:56.939 This is like exactly the opposite 00:32:56.939 --> 00:32:57.699 of what you've said. 00:32:58.019 --> 00:32:59.479 And it would seem to me that 00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:01.839 that for the church 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:03.039 to stay unified 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:04.480 means, 00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:05.660 like in any family, 00:33:06.140 --> 00:33:07.819 we make concessions. 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:10.620 Here's where the rub is. 00:33:11.779 --> 00:33:13.579 We can't make concessions 00:33:13.579 --> 00:33:15.039 that then go against 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:17.059 our convictions. 00:33:17.059 --> 00:33:19.599 So, 00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:20.940 how do we navigate this stuff? 00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:24.179 Either we embrace, 00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:24.859 in this case, 00:33:25.679 --> 00:33:26.319 unity, 00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:29.460 but we engage with heresy. 00:33:29.859 --> 00:33:30.339 Or, 00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:32.279 we have a pure doctrine 00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:33.720 and we're schismatics, 00:33:33.799 --> 00:33:34.419 which is to say 00:33:34.419 --> 00:33:35.379 that we're just separating 00:33:35.379 --> 00:33:36.099 from everybody 00:33:36.099 --> 00:33:36.659 because they're not 00:33:36.659 --> 00:33:38.700 spiritual enough, 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:39.759 they're not clean enough, 00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:40.899 they're not focused enough, 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:41.259 whatever. 00:33:41.819 --> 00:33:43.240 You have two gutters. 00:33:43.700 --> 00:33:44.839 How do you navigate it? 00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:46.539 Heresy and schism. 00:33:46.980 --> 00:33:47.639 It's a huge problem. 00:33:48.279 --> 00:33:49.159 It's a huge difficulty. 00:33:49.699 --> 00:33:50.439 How do you do it? 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:51.659 So, 00:33:51.919 --> 00:33:53.500 as that kind of sets the table, 00:33:53.659 --> 00:33:54.519 how then does, 00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:56.199 does Acts 15 00:33:56.199 --> 00:33:56.899 lay out a blueprint 00:33:56.899 --> 00:33:57.919 for us to navigate 00:33:57.919 --> 00:33:58.500 these things? 00:33:59.740 --> 00:34:00.539 I'll say this, 00:34:00.619 --> 00:34:00.839 for the, 00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:02.039 for the Christian faith 00:34:02.039 --> 00:34:02.939 to be truly, 00:34:03.439 --> 00:34:05.500 truly unified, 00:34:05.699 --> 00:34:06.500 it has to be 00:34:06.500 --> 00:34:08.059 small c Catholic. 00:34:08.799 --> 00:34:09.699 That is to say 00:34:09.699 --> 00:34:10.460 it has to 00:34:10.460 --> 00:34:12.219 be universal. 00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:12.699 That, 00:34:12.819 --> 00:34:13.420 that doesn't mean 00:34:13.420 --> 00:34:14.199 there's not differences 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:15.000 because Catholic 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:16.859 also means varied. 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:18.259 To have a Catholic 00:34:18.259 --> 00:34:19.099 taste in music 00:34:19.099 --> 00:34:19.839 means to have 00:34:19.839 --> 00:34:21.079 an eclectic taste 00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:21.419 in music. 00:34:21.500 --> 00:34:22.059 So it has a bit 00:34:22.059 --> 00:34:22.980 of a double meaning here. 00:34:23.619 --> 00:34:24.460 But for the, 00:34:24.460 --> 00:34:25.039 the church 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:26.119 to be truly unified, 00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:27.059 it has to be 00:34:27.059 --> 00:34:28.779 small c Catholic. 00:34:29.839 --> 00:34:31.500 It must both avoid 00:34:31.500 --> 00:34:33.219 and make concessions 00:34:33.219 --> 00:34:35.079 to non-core beliefs 00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:37.079 that are sectarian 00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:37.699 in nature. 00:34:38.739 --> 00:34:39.419 There's a, 00:34:39.419 --> 00:34:40.599 a great YouTube channel 00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:41.019 and, 00:34:41.019 --> 00:34:41.379 and, 00:34:41.379 --> 00:34:42.439 and theologian, 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:43.740 it's called 00:34:43.740 --> 00:34:44.619 Truth Unites 00:34:44.619 --> 00:34:45.700 by a guy named 00:34:45.700 --> 00:34:46.280 Gavin Ortlund 00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:47.099 and he calls this 00:34:47.099 --> 00:34:48.880 theological triage. 00:34:49.220 --> 00:34:49.720 It's very 00:34:49.720 --> 00:34:51.000 helpful. 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:51.860 We're not going to 00:34:51.860 --> 00:34:52.440 jump into it, 00:34:52.500 --> 00:34:53.619 but all that to say 00:34:53.619 --> 00:34:55.700 is the Christian faith 00:34:55.700 --> 00:34:56.639 can never bend 00:34:56.639 --> 00:34:57.440 on core beliefs. 00:34:58.099 --> 00:34:59.420 The Nicene Creed 00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:00.119 that we, 00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:01.820 we not just recited 00:35:01.820 --> 00:35:02.480 but proclaimed, 00:35:02.679 --> 00:35:03.059 that is, 00:35:03.179 --> 00:35:04.139 that's core stuff 00:35:04.139 --> 00:35:04.980 we need to believe. 00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:05.800 The Apostles Creed. 00:35:06.200 --> 00:35:07.700 We can't be wishy-washy 00:35:07.700 --> 00:35:08.200 on the Trinity. 00:35:08.780 --> 00:35:09.119 That's not, 00:35:09.179 --> 00:35:09.960 that's not a concession 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:10.460 we make. 00:35:10.980 --> 00:35:11.199 We, 00:35:11.300 --> 00:35:12.139 we're not wishy-washy 00:35:12.139 --> 00:35:12.920 on the Incarnation. 00:35:13.179 --> 00:35:14.000 It's not a concession 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:14.539 we make. 00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:16.920 The mode of baptism 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:17.780 can be a concession 00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:18.300 we make. 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:19.679 It's, 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:19.960 it's, 00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:20.679 it's important. 00:35:20.820 --> 00:35:21.340 It's not to say 00:35:21.340 --> 00:35:22.119 that the concessions 00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:22.820 aren't important. 00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:23.619 It's to say 00:35:23.619 --> 00:35:24.539 that they're not core, 00:35:24.900 --> 00:35:25.699 that the faith 00:35:25.699 --> 00:35:27.159 doesn't rise and fall 00:35:27.159 --> 00:35:28.039 with, 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:29.019 with whether we do 00:35:29.019 --> 00:35:29.639 away with them 00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:30.400 or embrace them 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:32.280 in, 00:35:32.340 --> 00:35:33.000 in a certain way. 00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:34.639 The faith rises and falls 00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:35.159 if we say 00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:35.619 the resurrection 00:35:35.619 --> 00:35:36.199 didn't happen, 00:35:36.619 --> 00:35:37.679 but it does not 00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:38.740 rise and fall 00:35:38.739 --> 00:35:39.799 if we say, 00:35:39.919 --> 00:35:40.119 listen, 00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:41.119 this church, 00:35:42.139 --> 00:35:43.379 baptism by sprinkling, 00:35:43.779 --> 00:35:44.299 this church, 00:35:44.579 --> 00:35:45.719 baptism by full immersion. 00:35:46.959 --> 00:35:47.539 It doesn't. 00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:48.739 They're, 00:35:48.739 --> 00:35:48.939 they're, 00:35:48.939 --> 00:35:49.699 they're modes 00:35:49.699 --> 00:35:50.359 we're discussing. 00:35:50.659 --> 00:35:51.399 We don't break fellowship 00:35:51.399 --> 00:35:52.199 over that kind of stuff. 00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:53.079 And there's a whole host 00:35:53.079 --> 00:35:53.719 of other things. 00:35:54.099 --> 00:35:55.219 This is why it's called triage, 00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:55.839 right? 00:35:55.919 --> 00:35:57.139 Because we have our core beliefs, 00:35:57.259 --> 00:35:58.119 but for secondary 00:35:58.119 --> 00:36:00.179 and third order issues, 00:36:00.619 --> 00:36:03.019 we can have unity 00:36:03.019 --> 00:36:03.819 with difference. 00:36:03.820 --> 00:36:04.900 It's not to say 00:36:04.900 --> 00:36:05.960 that we don't wrestle 00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:07.059 and spar 00:36:07.059 --> 00:36:07.519 and, 00:36:07.559 --> 00:36:08.740 and read 00:36:08.740 --> 00:36:09.720 and push back 00:36:09.720 --> 00:36:10.620 and have discussions, 00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:12.080 a lot of which 00:36:12.080 --> 00:36:13.220 is like, 00:36:13.300 --> 00:36:14.000 there's a famine 00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:14.620 in our culture 00:36:14.620 --> 00:36:15.480 about that today. 00:36:16.780 --> 00:36:18.180 To wrestle with this stuff 00:36:18.180 --> 00:36:18.720 and to, 00:36:18.780 --> 00:36:19.180 hopefully, 00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:19.960 to come to 00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:21.580 at least an understanding 00:36:21.580 --> 00:36:22.039 of saying, 00:36:22.380 --> 00:36:22.720 you know what, 00:36:22.740 --> 00:36:23.200 I'm going to stick 00:36:23.200 --> 00:36:23.860 to this conviction 00:36:23.860 --> 00:36:26.260 or I see the way forward 00:36:26.260 --> 00:36:27.380 and I'm actually 00:36:27.380 --> 00:36:28.100 going to switch it. 00:36:28.099 --> 00:36:32.360 this is what we see here 00:36:32.360 --> 00:36:34.279 in Acts chapter 15. 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:36.039 The core beliefs, 00:36:36.619 --> 00:36:37.619 they are not, 00:36:37.619 --> 00:36:39.739 they are not sacrificed 00:36:39.739 --> 00:36:41.039 at all. 00:36:41.259 --> 00:36:42.400 It's still salvation 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:43.219 by faith. 00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:44.599 But, 00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:46.219 there's these, 00:36:46.219 --> 00:36:47.380 these wonderful, 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:48.059 beautiful, 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:49.219 lovely brothers 00:36:49.219 --> 00:36:50.599 that just struggle 00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:53.679 with Gentiles 00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:54.460 eating non-kosher. 00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:57.779 So don't eat kosher. 00:36:57.780 --> 00:36:58.600 Eat kosher. 00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:00.060 It's not going to bother them. 00:37:00.740 --> 00:37:00.840 Like, 00:37:00.900 --> 00:37:01.200 is it going to, 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:01.880 are you not going to get 00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:02.480 your nutrients? 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:04.460 What are you worried about? 00:37:05.300 --> 00:37:06.480 You don't have blood pudding. 00:37:06.580 --> 00:37:07.060 You'll live. 00:37:07.680 --> 00:37:08.620 For the sake of unity, 00:37:08.740 --> 00:37:09.380 what is that? 00:37:09.580 --> 00:37:09.760 We, 00:37:09.820 --> 00:37:10.780 we embrace it. 00:37:11.060 --> 00:37:12.440 We embrace other people's 00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:13.519 struggles. 00:37:13.880 --> 00:37:14.720 And I'm telling you, 00:37:15.540 --> 00:37:16.519 if you stand 00:37:16.519 --> 00:37:17.700 on your pride 00:37:17.700 --> 00:37:18.120 and say, 00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:20.360 I don't need to bend 00:37:20.360 --> 00:37:21.340 for somebody else, 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:24.140 question if salvation 00:37:24.140 --> 00:37:24.920 has taken root 00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:25.480 in your life 00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:26.400 because what marks 00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:26.920 the Christian 00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:27.820 is love. 00:37:29.380 --> 00:37:30.320 It isn't the ability 00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:31.980 to just rail off 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:33.260 all of the doctrines 00:37:33.260 --> 00:37:33.880 of the faith. 00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:34.820 Very important. 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:36.400 But it's how do we 00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:37.039 love God 00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:38.200 and how do we love others, 00:37:38.300 --> 00:37:39.740 especially our brothers 00:37:39.740 --> 00:37:40.740 and sisters in the faith. 00:37:45.680 --> 00:37:47.059 We have to do hard work. 00:37:47.539 --> 00:37:48.440 We have to search 00:37:48.440 --> 00:37:49.539 the scriptures for truth. 00:37:50.019 --> 00:37:51.320 The cry of the Reformation 00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:52.559 was ad fontes, 00:37:52.659 --> 00:37:54.220 which is back to the sources, 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:55.300 back to the scriptures, 00:37:55.300 --> 00:37:57.260 and not a generation 00:37:57.260 --> 00:37:58.360 after the Reformation. 00:37:59.660 --> 00:38:01.240 Another rallying cry 00:38:01.240 --> 00:38:01.940 of the Reformation 00:38:01.940 --> 00:38:05.880 was semper reformanda, 00:38:06.060 --> 00:38:06.640 which is to say 00:38:06.640 --> 00:38:07.880 the church is reformed 00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:09.280 and always reforming. 00:38:09.340 --> 00:38:10.120 We're always, 00:38:10.160 --> 00:38:10.840 we're always, 00:38:10.920 --> 00:38:11.600 we're always 00:38:11.600 --> 00:38:13.280 seeking God's face, 00:38:13.840 --> 00:38:14.640 seeking to reform, 00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:15.680 always coming under 00:38:15.680 --> 00:38:16.360 God's word. 00:38:16.460 --> 00:38:16.560 Well, 00:38:16.600 --> 00:38:17.640 not just the book of Acts, 00:38:17.680 --> 00:38:18.420 but the entire Bible. 00:38:18.860 --> 00:38:19.519 God's word. 00:38:19.620 --> 00:38:20.800 We are submitting to it. 00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:23.580 It's a huge aspect 00:38:23.580 --> 00:38:24.360 of what it means 00:38:24.360 --> 00:38:26.380 to be a Catholic Christian. 00:38:27.180 --> 00:38:28.019 And that's why 00:38:28.019 --> 00:38:28.920 we will, 00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:30.880 we will say that, 00:38:31.019 --> 00:38:32.280 that we are Catholic, 00:38:32.460 --> 00:38:33.080 small c, 00:38:33.300 --> 00:38:34.519 and I will push it 00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:35.980 in this church 00:38:35.980 --> 00:38:36.840 and push other people 00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:37.700 to embrace it 00:38:37.700 --> 00:38:38.440 because 00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:40.500 this is what 00:38:40.500 --> 00:38:41.519 the heart of God 00:38:41.519 --> 00:38:43.480 is for the church. 00:38:44.160 --> 00:38:45.800 And the Roman Catholic Church 00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:46.600 can't 00:38:46.600 --> 00:38:49.120 claim the word Catholic. 00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:50.500 It can claim the word Roman 00:38:50.500 --> 00:38:51.139 all at once, 00:38:51.259 --> 00:38:51.500 but it 00:38:51.500 --> 00:38:53.519 can't claim the word 00:38:53.519 --> 00:38:54.539 Catholic. 00:38:55.239 --> 00:38:56.179 And even still, 00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:56.900 and I'll say this, 00:38:57.940 --> 00:38:59.039 a little bit of polemics, 00:38:59.239 --> 00:39:00.099 and if you have issues, 00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:01.019 talk to me afterwards, 00:39:01.139 --> 00:39:01.839 I'm happy to 00:39:01.839 --> 00:39:03.799 discuss the issue with you. 00:39:05.259 --> 00:39:05.980 This is why 00:39:05.980 --> 00:39:07.000 the Roman Catholic Church 00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:08.539 isn't truly a Catholic church, 00:39:08.579 --> 00:39:09.739 but it's more sectarian. 00:39:10.799 --> 00:39:11.659 Because what it does 00:39:11.659 --> 00:39:12.659 is it elevates, 00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:14.659 I would say erroneous, 00:39:14.759 --> 00:39:15.440 but we could call them 00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:16.719 secondary beliefs, 00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:18.880 but say erroneous beliefs, 00:39:19.119 --> 00:39:21.099 to primary doctrines, 00:39:21.219 --> 00:39:22.559 so that if you do not 00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:23.159 believe in it, 00:39:23.199 --> 00:39:24.139 you are anathema. 00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:26.759 They are preaching 00:39:26.759 --> 00:39:29.559 faith in Christ 00:39:29.559 --> 00:39:30.440 plus circumcision. 00:39:41.579 --> 00:39:42.639 We cannot 00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:44.599 elevate anything 00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:46.219 above faith in Christ 00:39:46.219 --> 00:39:47.619 as the very core 00:39:47.619 --> 00:39:49.379 of what true salvation is. 00:39:49.839 --> 00:39:51.639 That God has made a way 00:39:51.639 --> 00:39:54.739 irrespective of our ability 00:39:54.739 --> 00:39:55.739 and where we are at 00:39:55.739 --> 00:39:57.299 so that our hearts 00:39:57.299 --> 00:39:58.459 can be cleansed 00:39:58.459 --> 00:39:59.119 from sin. 00:39:59.480 --> 00:40:00.539 That we can know 00:40:00.539 --> 00:40:02.000 true joy, 00:40:02.879 --> 00:40:03.359 peace, 00:40:03.739 --> 00:40:05.799 that we can be in fellowship 00:40:05.799 --> 00:40:06.619 with one another 00:40:06.619 --> 00:40:07.679 because we are in fellowship 00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:08.379 with God. 00:40:08.380 --> 00:40:08.420 God, 00:40:08.980 --> 00:40:10.599 we cannot elevate 00:40:10.599 --> 00:40:11.440 anything 00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:14.180 to that level. 00:40:14.539 --> 00:40:15.900 It is only grace 00:40:15.900 --> 00:40:17.160 by faith. 00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:20.340 So, 00:40:20.440 --> 00:40:21.099 to wrap it up, 00:40:21.519 --> 00:40:22.880 Christ died and rose again 00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:24.380 in order to make 00:40:24.380 --> 00:40:25.360 many people one. 00:40:26.380 --> 00:40:26.820 Yet, 00:40:27.059 --> 00:40:28.320 they remain different. 00:40:29.160 --> 00:40:29.400 Yet, 00:40:29.460 --> 00:40:29.960 they are one. 00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:30.140 Yet, 00:40:30.180 --> 00:40:30.980 they remain different. 00:40:31.099 --> 00:40:31.260 Yet, 00:40:31.340 --> 00:40:31.960 they are one. 00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:34.380 And when we see 00:40:34.380 --> 00:40:34.880 differences, 00:40:36.019 --> 00:40:36.740 he has given us 00:40:36.740 --> 00:40:37.300 the strength 00:40:37.300 --> 00:40:38.300 by his Holy Spirit 00:40:38.300 --> 00:40:39.980 as individuals 00:40:39.980 --> 00:40:41.599 but also as a church 00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:42.699 and as the church 00:40:42.699 --> 00:40:45.240 to do the hard work 00:40:45.240 --> 00:40:46.059 of figuring out 00:40:46.059 --> 00:40:46.980 how to make 00:40:46.980 --> 00:40:48.300 loving concessions 00:40:48.300 --> 00:40:48.920 for our brothers 00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:49.539 and sisters 00:40:49.539 --> 00:40:51.820 so that we will remain 00:40:51.820 --> 00:40:52.380 in fellowship 00:40:52.380 --> 00:40:52.900 with them. 00:40:54.539 --> 00:40:55.699 And it reminds us 00:40:55.699 --> 00:40:56.240 that what truly 00:40:56.240 --> 00:40:57.240 unifies us, 00:40:57.840 --> 00:40:58.980 what is our true 00:40:58.980 --> 00:40:59.780 rallying cry, 00:40:59.780 --> 00:41:00.880 what is the flag 00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:01.940 that we pledge 00:41:01.940 --> 00:41:02.519 allegiance to. 00:41:02.560 --> 00:41:03.019 We don't do that 00:41:03.019 --> 00:41:03.360 in Canada 00:41:03.360 --> 00:41:04.160 but the flag 00:41:04.160 --> 00:41:04.720 that we pledge 00:41:04.720 --> 00:41:05.480 allegiance to 00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:07.019 it is Christ Jesus 00:41:07.019 --> 00:41:07.880 who is Lord of all 00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:09.880 and nothing less. 00:41:10.620 --> 00:41:11.060 Let's pray. 00:41:12.820 --> 00:41:13.540 Father in heaven, 00:41:13.640 --> 00:41:14.160 we thank you 00:41:14.160 --> 00:41:16.440 for the Jerusalem Council 00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:17.640 and there was 00:41:17.640 --> 00:41:18.260 much more 00:41:18.260 --> 00:41:18.920 that we could have 00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:21.500 read and plumbed 00:41:21.500 --> 00:41:23.780 but Lord, 00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:24.480 we pray that 00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:26.019 what we have read 00:41:26.019 --> 00:41:27.080 and what we have considered 00:41:27.080 --> 00:41:29.500 we've seen 00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:30.539 what true faith is, 00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:32.719 what true membership 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:33.679 in your church is 00:41:33.679 --> 00:41:34.300 and a blueprint 00:41:34.300 --> 00:41:35.179 how to maintain 00:41:35.179 --> 00:41:35.800 that unity 00:41:35.800 --> 00:41:36.500 Lord, 00:41:36.579 --> 00:41:37.579 that we would take 00:41:37.579 --> 00:41:38.159 that to heart. 00:41:39.019 --> 00:41:39.460 Lord, 00:41:39.539 --> 00:41:40.460 that we would be marked 00:41:40.460 --> 00:41:41.539 by people that love 00:41:41.539 --> 00:41:42.559 that would do, 00:41:43.059 --> 00:41:43.860 like your son, 00:41:44.039 --> 00:41:44.699 do away with 00:41:44.699 --> 00:41:46.880 our own prerogatives, 00:41:47.460 --> 00:41:49.619 our own rights 00:41:49.619 --> 00:41:50.239 so to speak 00:41:50.239 --> 00:41:51.360 for the sake of others, 00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:52.599 to put others 00:41:52.599 --> 00:41:53.340 before ourselves. 00:41:54.420 --> 00:41:54.880 Lord, 00:41:54.940 --> 00:41:55.380 we ask that you 00:41:55.380 --> 00:41:56.920 bless us this week 00:41:56.920 --> 00:41:58.519 as we consider 00:41:58.519 --> 00:41:59.200 these things 00:41:59.200 --> 00:42:00.500 and Lord, 00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:02.099 may your church 00:42:02.099 --> 00:42:03.500 be continually 00:42:03.500 --> 00:42:04.599 cleansed 00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:06.059 and made 00:42:06.059 --> 00:42:06.740 whole 00:42:06.740 --> 00:42:08.240 and cleaned 00:42:08.240 --> 00:42:08.860 by your 00:42:08.860 --> 00:42:10.380 most precious 00:42:10.380 --> 00:42:10.920 son, 00:42:11.019 --> 00:42:11.700 Jesus Christ. 00:42:12.619 --> 00:42:13.380 To him be the glory. 00:42:13.460 --> 00:42:13.639 Amen.