1
00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:05,640
Speaker 1: Let us pray. Wherefore my sentence is that we trouble

2
00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:09,959
Speaker 1: not them, which from among the gentiles are turned to God,

3
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:18,680
Speaker 1: Acts fifteen nineteen. As I am being transformed into your likeness, Jesus,

4
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,600
Speaker 1: I consciously make the choice to let go of past

5
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:27,319
Speaker 1: rules and outdated mindsets that stand in opposition to the

6
00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:31,960
Speaker 1: new way of being. I am freely able to live

7
00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,199
Speaker 1: by the work of Jesus. I am now saved by

8
00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:41,960
Speaker 1: grace through faith keeping. Traditions that hold me bound to

9
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:47,960
Speaker 1: the past can no longer serve in my new life. Therefore,

10
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,159
Speaker 1: like the multitude of counsel and Acts fifteen, guide me

11
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit and reveal to me what needs to stay

12
00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:01,320
Speaker 1: in my life and what needs to go. Reveal to

13
00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,800
Speaker 1: me in your Holy Word the ways I'm called to live,

14
00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,959
Speaker 1: so I may experience the life in abundance that you

15
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:19,479
Speaker 1: died to give me. Lord in Jesus name, Amen, thank

16
00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,760
Speaker 1: you for making prayer a priority in your day. To

17
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,160
Speaker 1: learn more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story,

18
00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,320
Speaker 1: brought to you by Bible in a year dot.

19
00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:41,120
Speaker 2: Com the Jerusalem Council.

20
00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,759
Speaker 3: In our last story, Paul was nearly stoned to death

21
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,960
Speaker 3: by Jewish Christians, who sought to control gentiles by the law.

22
00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,680
Speaker 3: They were dangerous and controlling, Yet Paul did not let

23
00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,000
Speaker 3: the stones stop him. Now we see a move of

24
00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,320
Speaker 3: God's spirit as he guides the apostles and leaders to

25
00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,960
Speaker 3: address the problems ahead. If gentiles are to be brought

26
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 3: into the Family of God, they are going to need

27
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,079
Speaker 3: to learn to let go. Inspired by the Book.

28
00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:17,600
Speaker 4: Of Acts, Hello, this is another episode of the Bible

29
00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,800
Speaker 4: in a year. I'm Jack Graham. In yesterday's episode, we

30
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,919
Speaker 4: heard about the persecution brought upon Paul and Barnabas by

31
00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,880
Speaker 4: those who wish to silence the message of Jesus. Twice

32
00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,440
Speaker 4: they had escaped those who wished them harm, but finally

33
00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,360
Speaker 4: in Listra, Paul was seized by angry men who stoned

34
00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,720
Speaker 4: him and carried him outside the city, leaving him for dead.

35
00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,000
Speaker 4: But the disciples came to his aid, and Paul rose

36
00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,560
Speaker 4: up to continue preaching and teaching, and many more came

37
00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,120
Speaker 4: to Christ as a result. Today we'll hear how christ

38
00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 4: following Jews attempt to add to the Gospel, trying to

39
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:57,639
Speaker 4: make Gentile believers follow Jewish religious traditions such as circumcision.

40
00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,760
Speaker 4: We'll see Paul and Barnabas Erney to Jerusalem and convene

41
00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,280
Speaker 4: a council of the apostles and elders of the Church

42
00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:07,360
Speaker 4: to stand against these doctrines that threatened to rob the

43
00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,000
Speaker 4: Gospel of his power. Let's listen now to today's reading

44
00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:12,000
Speaker 4: from the Book of Acts.

45
00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,720
Speaker 3: The toxic doctrine of the Church and Antioch was spreading.

46
00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,160
Speaker 3: Jews who had become Christian considered themselves more complete and

47
00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,320
Speaker 3: holy followers of God. They lorded their heritage over the Gentiles.

48
00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,280
Speaker 3: Many of them even taught that a gentile could not

49
00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,560
Speaker 3: become a follower of Jesus unless he was circumcised. This

50
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,880
Speaker 3: was in direct opposition to what Jesus had spent years

51
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,880
Speaker 3: battling against. He died so that nobody would be judged

52
00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,640
Speaker 3: on the law, but on the righteousness given to them

53
00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:48,120
Speaker 3: through his sacrifice. So Paul and Barnabas called for the

54
00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,440
Speaker 3: apostles and pastors of the church together to discuss these teachings.

55
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,720
Speaker 3: Since the early Church was mostly made up of Jews,

56
00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,200
Speaker 3: it was hard for them to comprehend a faith in

57
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,320
Speaker 3: Jesus without embracing the Jewish culture. So they prayed and

58
00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,520
Speaker 3: bore their heads before God and one another They argued

59
00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,320
Speaker 3: and debated the law of Moses and the law of

60
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,240
Speaker 3: liberty established by Christ. Then, in the midst of the

61
00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,479
Speaker 3: arguments and debates, Peter stood up before the room. Everyone

62
00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,360
Speaker 3: paused as Peter paced the room. He stood with authority.

63
00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,760
Speaker 3: He was no longer the scared fisherman. He was a

64
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,640
Speaker 3: man of quiet strength, a man who knew Jesus deeply.

65
00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,320
Speaker 3: My brothers, Peter said, I have been a witness to

66
00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,920
Speaker 3: what God has done to the Gentiles. God has met

67
00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,120
Speaker 3: them and given them his spirit. He has made no

68
00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,279
Speaker 3: distinguishing between us and them. He gives the same spirit

69
00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,280
Speaker 3: to both. And we are to not call unclean what

70
00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,720
Speaker 3: God has cleansed. Do we not still believe that we

71
00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,320
Speaker 3: are saved by grace? Should we not believe the same

72
00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,760
Speaker 3: is true for them? The room fell silent and Peter

73
00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,839
Speaker 3: sat down. Then Barnabas Saint Paul recounted the violence of

74
00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,440
Speaker 3: the Jewish Christians in Antioch. After this, all looked to James,

75
00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,160
Speaker 3: the brother of Jesus. He stood to his feet. There

76
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,160
Speaker 3: was silence, and James looked deep in thought. My judgment

77
00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,800
Speaker 3: is this, We should not bind the Gentiles to laws

78
00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,960
Speaker 3: that bring them no closer to Jesus, we should write

79
00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:25,920
Speaker 3: to them to encourage them, to guide them, to restore them.

80
00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,680
Speaker 3: But we should also inform them on the things from

81
00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,120
Speaker 3: the law they ought to keep, for such is our burden.

82
00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:37,160
Speaker 3: As leaders, all were in agreement, so they forged a

83
00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,320
Speaker 3: letter of encouragement to the gentile believers, and thus the

84
00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,080
Speaker 3: first major conflict within the church was solved by a

85
00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:46,760
Speaker 3: multitude of voices.

86
00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,280
Speaker 4: In today's scripture, we find Paul and Barnabas at odds

87
00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,160
Speaker 4: with some Jewish Christians who came from Judea and began

88
00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,760
Speaker 4: to teach that gentiles must first be circumstances in order

89
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,359
Speaker 4: to be saved. Paul and Barnabas saw this for the

90
00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,200
Speaker 4: false teaching, that it was a burden on the Gentiles

91
00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,240
Speaker 4: that Jesus never meant for them to bear, and they

92
00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,240
Speaker 4: debated them with passion. It was no small matter, and

93
00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,800
Speaker 4: a rift was beginning to form in the church. So

94
00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,000
Speaker 4: Paul and Barnabas wisely traveled to Jerusalem to meet with

95
00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,159
Speaker 4: Peter and the other apostles, along with elders in the church.

96
00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,880
Speaker 4: These were people who had lived alongside Jesus and heard

97
00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,919
Speaker 4: him preach. If anyone could rule on this matter, it

98
00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,080
Speaker 4: would be them. As it turned out, this was not

99
00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:38,000
Speaker 4: simply a question on the fringes. There were many Jews

100
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,560
Speaker 4: in Jerusalem who believed the same things that gentiles had

101
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,159
Speaker 4: to follow Jewish laws and customs and become circumcised. Of course,

102
00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,320
Speaker 4: it was a deeper issue than circumcision. This was a

103
00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,760
Speaker 4: fundamental misunderstanding of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

104
00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,720
Speaker 4: and the freedom that he gives to all who follow him.

105
00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,560
Speaker 4: After a great deal of debate and discussion, stood and

106
00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,039
Speaker 4: spoke with confidence. I can imagine that as he addressed

107
00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,280
Speaker 4: the gathering, he was recalling the day on the roof

108
00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,240
Speaker 4: when the vision of unclean animals came to him and

109
00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,720
Speaker 4: he heard God tell him to rise, kill and eat.

110
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,960
Speaker 4: How after he protested, God told him that he was

111
00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,680
Speaker 4: not to call anything unclean that God had made clean.

112
00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,600
Speaker 4: And how just after he awoke from his vision, men

113
00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,040
Speaker 4: came to bring him to a centurion name Cornelius, a

114
00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,040
Speaker 4: gentile who came to faith in Christ. Peter had led

115
00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,480
Speaker 4: this man and his whole family to faith in the Lord,

116
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,600
Speaker 4: and there had been no need for circumcision. Salvation came

117
00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,960
Speaker 4: through faith in Christ alone, by God's grace alone, To

118
00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,200
Speaker 4: these gentiles who heard the word of God and the

119
00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,920
Speaker 4: message of salvation, and the same Holy Spirit had been

120
00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:48,520
Speaker 4: given to them as was given to Peter and other

121
00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,640
Speaker 4: believing Jews. To Peter, the matter was settled. God made

122
00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,000
Speaker 4: no distinction and had called all nations and all people

123
00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:02,280
Speaker 4: to himself. So in Acts fifteen ten and eleven he concludes, Now, therefore,

124
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,200
Speaker 4: why are you putting God to the test by placing

125
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,640
Speaker 4: a yoke on the back of the disciples that neither

126
00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,200
Speaker 4: our fathers nor we have been able to bear. But

127
00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:13,880
Speaker 4: we believe that we will be saved through the grace

128
00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,080
Speaker 4: of our Lord Jesus Christ, just as they will. Paul

129
00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,960
Speaker 4: and Barnabas then began to tell those gathered what the

130
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,679
Speaker 4: Lord had been doing among the gentiles who were coming

131
00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:28,120
Speaker 4: to faith in the Lord. Finally, James, Jesus's own brother,

132
00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,280
Speaker 4: stood and testified that what Peter, Paul, and Barnabas were

133
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,840
Speaker 4: saying did not contradict Old Testament prophecy, but rather supported it.

134
00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:42,000
Speaker 4: This is so important that we remember this today as well. Yes,

135
00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,720
Speaker 4: God uses experiences to shape and inform us in our walk,

136
00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,679
Speaker 4: but our experiences do not trump God's revealed word. God's

137
00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,400
Speaker 4: word is our final authority for faith and practice, and

138
00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,840
Speaker 4: as James concluded, God did not intend for gentiles to

139
00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:03,240
Speaker 4: become Jews, so rather than burden them with religious requirements

140
00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:06,640
Speaker 4: of the law, they should instead exhort them to abstain

141
00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,600
Speaker 4: from things like sexual immorality, and other practices that would

142
00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:15,040
Speaker 4: violate God's moral law, ultimately hindering their fellowship with God

143
00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,400
Speaker 4: and other believers. This Jerusalem Council then drafted a letter

144
00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,120
Speaker 4: to send out to believers, resolving the matter and encouraging

145
00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,760
Speaker 4: them to have unity in the faith. This was the

146
00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:31,439
Speaker 4: first major disagreement in the church resolved through wise counsel, discernment,

147
00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,520
Speaker 4: understanding of God's word, and prayer. It would not, however,

148
00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,440
Speaker 4: be the last division in the church, and as we'll

149
00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,360
Speaker 4: discover in our next episode, Paul would remind believers again

150
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,400
Speaker 4: that righteousness and freedom come not from good works, but

151
00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,200
Speaker 4: through faith in Jesus Christ by God's grace. We'll learn

152
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:54,360
Speaker 4: more about that the next time. Let's pray. Dear God,

153
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,160
Speaker 4: we thank you for the gospel that your grace is

154
00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,679
Speaker 4: available to all. That this is not a religious experience,

155
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,160
Speaker 4: but a life changing transformation by the power of the

156
00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,839
Speaker 4: Lord Jesus Christ. May we always judge our experiences in

157
00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,560
Speaker 4: the discernment of God's work through the lens of scripture.

158
00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:18,000
Speaker 4: In Jesus' name. Amen, Thank you once again for joining

159
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,880
Speaker 4: the Bible in a year and you can help ensure

160
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,760
Speaker 4: that more and more people can hear the life changing

161
00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,360
Speaker 4: message of God's Word. With your generous gift today. To

162
00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,080
Speaker 4: keep these gospel centered messages reaching people around the world,

163
00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,600
Speaker 4: please give at www. Dot Bible in a year dot

164
00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:36,480
Speaker 4: com