1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,200 If you have your Bibles with you, can I invite you to please open them to our Bible reading 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:11,280 this morning. We will be reading from Galatians chapter 2 and we'll be reading from verse 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:27,500 11 to verse 16. Galatians chapter 2 from verse 11. 4 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:33,960 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For 5 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:40,400 before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, 6 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,320 he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of 7 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:52,360 those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy 8 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:58,400 so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 9 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:03,120 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas 10 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:10,440 in front of them all, you are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How 11 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:17,840 is it then that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? We who are Jews by birth and 12 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:24,120 not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but 13 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:32,000 by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified 14 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,840 by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law because by the works of the law, no 15 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,840 one will be justified. 16 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:53,320 Good morning church. It's great to be together today celebrating our Father in heaven through 17 00:01:53,320 --> 00:02:00,720 his word. And I'm sure there's many things that we can be thankful for in sending the 18 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:06,840 Lord Jesus Christ to us. But before we come to the word and see what we have to see today, 19 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:14,880 I'd ask that you please pray with me. Let's do that now. Father, we thank you so much 20 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:22,400 that you have indeed gathered us together around your word, around each other this morning 21 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:29,720 to sing praises to you, to pray to you, to hear from you through the preaching of the 22 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:39,320 word, to come to you later at the Lord's table. And we know that this is all by grace alone 23 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:45,680 because of your mercy, but also because of your great love for your people. We ask this 24 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:52,200 morning that you would please teach us and that we would be changed by the gospel. We 25 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,840 ask for this in Jesus' name. Amen. 26 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:04,800 It was October 1987 when the world watched as dozens of rescue workers descended on a 27 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:12,920 small backyard in Midland, Texas to save the life of a little baby girl. Jessica Macure, 28 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:20,280 just a toddler at the time who will be forever remembered as baby Jess, fell down an eight 29 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:28,560 inch wide hole plummeting six metres underground. For more than two days, people all around 30 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:34,960 the world held their breath with everyone watching and waiting to see if this helpless 31 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:42,800 toddler could be saved in time. Trapped inside the tiny space, workers said that though it 32 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:50,520 was a tough task indeed, the people of Midland were just the ones to get the job done. Their 33 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:57,280 wealth of gas and oil workers provided the knowledge and the know-how to get this little 34 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:04,480 one to safety before any permanent damage was done. Now I draw your attention to that 35 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:12,400 event because it serves as a good illustration of the spiritual situation of the original 36 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:19,680 recipients in Galatia. They had somewhat fallen into a hole of their own and they were in 37 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:27,200 awful spiritual danger that they needed to get out of. Because though they had received 38 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:35,600 the gospel, false teachers had come into the churches and they were now falling for a Jesus 39 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:43,280 plus something else kind of doctrine. And so Paul was doing what he could to help rescue 40 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:50,480 his dear brothers and sisters out of the hole in which they have fallen into. And so we 41 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:59,760 might ask how has he gone about this task thus far? Well, it's been by reminding them 42 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:07,760 of the gospel that he first preached to them. As we've seen in this series so far, Paul 43 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:14,480 first started with where he got the gospel from. You might remember it, he didn't receive 44 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:22,680 his message from any one preacher or church. No, he got it from Jesus Christ himself. And 45 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:29,680 then he shared that it was this very gospel that saved him. In fact, Paul says that he 46 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:38,400 was in no way seeking Jesus, but in every way seeking the followers of the Lord to decimate 47 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:46,880 them. But by God's grace alone, God revealed his son in him, which transformed absolutely 48 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:54,320 everything about him. To sum it up, the gospel that Paul had preached to the Galatians, 49 00:05:54,320 --> 00:06:01,920 the salvation he received wasn't because of his own works, but by grace alone, through 50 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:09,760 faith alone, in Christ alone. This was the gospel Paul preached and he was completely 51 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:15,920 transformed by it. Then a couple of weeks ago, Jared took you through Paul's meeting 52 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:21,800 up with the apostles there in Jerusalem, being Peter, James and John, where these pillars 53 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:28,720 of the faith were astounded with the ministry of Paul and how Jesus had really called this 54 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:35,720 man and deployed him to preach the message that they had received as well. We read that 55 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:42,760 they not only accepted him, but they endorsed him as one of their own, because the news 56 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:48,840 of Jesus that they preached was the same. And thus they decided to take what they'd 57 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:58,920 been given to where they had been called to go. Peter to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles. 58 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:05,240 Absolutely amazing and wonderful things indeed. But now, as you may have noticed, as Stu read 59 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:12,840 our passage out for us this morning, there's a shift in the story, a shift in that we have 60 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:19,400 this wonderful high of these apostles there in Jerusalem celebrating what they have to 61 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:26,320 now see first, which is another name for Peter, when he went to Antioch, where Paul opposed 62 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:37,240 him to his face. Why? Because he stood condemned. What happened? What happened? Well, like the 63 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:46,520 Galatians, Peter too had fallen into a spiritual hole and he was in serious trouble. And that's 64 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,960 what we're going to look at this morning. Paul tells us a few things here that we all 65 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:58,800 need to be aware of in our own Christian walk. And that's that we must be cautious of other 66 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:06,280 things than the gospel that can come in and grip our hearts, which will cause us to fall 67 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:12,760 into our own so-called ditch. First, I want us to explore this theme by looking at the 68 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:19,400 problem and how Peter got himself into this situation in the first place. Second, I want 69 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:26,400 you to see how Paul approached his dear brother in his sin. And then third, how the gospel 70 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:36,640 is the solution that pulls any of us out of the so-called hole. And so first, why did 71 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:43,560 the apostle Peter stand condemned? What was the problem? Well, if you have your Bibles 72 00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:51,040 with you this morning, read with me verse 12. We read, for before certain men came from 73 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:57,040 James, he being Peter, used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began 74 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:07,640 to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles. Okay, so on first glance in 21st 75 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:15,480 century Australia, this is a bit weird because we're tempted to see this whole problem as 76 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:22,080 being things over like a manners or something like that. Like Peter was a guest from another 77 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:29,280 city, but he didn't like the company and he moved tables kind of thing. Well, understanding 78 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:35,880 the context of this whole situation is going to really help us out with what's happening 79 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:46,600 here. You see, this whole thing is over the place of the mosaic law in the Christian life. 80 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:53,080 In the law that was given to Israel, there was a whole bunch of rules that the Jews were 81 00:09:53,080 --> 00:10:01,240 to keep to show that they were different in that they belonged to God. And this is the 82 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:08,560 thing in the law, who you ate with was really important because you shared something. You 83 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:16,880 were in unity with them. We see this in Leviticus 11. Now, as we've seen in the previous verses, 84 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:24,600 both Paul and Peter agreed that belonging to God didn't come through following these 85 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:32,920 rules, but by faith in Jesus Christ. And thus, because Gentiles or non-Jews had received 86 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:40,000 the same faith as them, the old rules that taught what was to be considered clean and 87 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:48,840 unclean were fulfilled in Jesus and no longer applicable in the same way. To put that as 88 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:55,400 simply as I can, Peter was happy to eat with the Gentiles because what united them was 89 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:04,480 Christ who made them all clean in the sight of God by faith. In other words, these were 90 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:12,440 his brothers and sisters in the Lord, and he was delighted, delighted to be in fellowship 91 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:19,240 with them. Now, we know this to be the case because not only did Peter know and preach 92 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:28,840 the gospel as we saw in the previous scene, but God himself in Acts 10 actually revealed 93 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:38,160 to Peter that the Gentiles who have faith in Jesus are in no way to be considered unclean. 94 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:43,640 You might know the story. Peter was praying one day and God gave him the vision of all 95 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:52,280 sorts of animals that Jews were forbidden to eat. Then a voice came and told Peter to 96 00:11:52,280 --> 00:12:00,240 partake. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, but the voice said to him, well, God has made 97 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:08,600 clean. Don't you dare consider unclean. This was all in preparation for Peter to take the 98 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:18,040 gospel to a guy named Cornelius, a Gentile whom Peter shared the gospel with, whom he 99 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:28,520 saw as this man was filled with the Holy Spirit as he put his faith in Christ alone. Astoundingly, 100 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:34,080 it was this very event to which Peter gave evidence at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 101 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:41,760 15 to prove that the Gentiles are saved by faith alone and not to force them to live 102 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:51,040 under the stipulations of the ceremonial laws given to the Jews. This was a guy who was 103 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:57,600 appointed by Jesus on earth. This was a guy that we read in Acts 2 preached powerfully 104 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:04,040 on the day of Pentecost, a guy that knew that the gospel is the power unto salvation for 105 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:13,040 both the Jews and the Gentiles, not the works of the law. So what on earth happened here? 106 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:21,080 Why did Peter go back to an old Jewish ceremonial rule and draw back and separate himself from 107 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:28,960 the Gentiles? Well, it's as Paul tells us here. It was because he was afraid of those 108 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:36,040 who belonged to the circumcision group. Now just a quick reminder here, the circumcision 109 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:42,960 group weren't a metal band, though it sounds like one. No, they were the teachers who we 110 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:48,960 have heard about that were going about to all the different Gentile churches, telling 111 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:58,120 them that they needed to do more to be accepted by God. Like, well it's in the name. You get 112 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:06,000 the picture. This is what's coming out here. You have this pillar of the faith, this appointed 113 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:12,040 apostle of Christ and he comes and he fellowships with his brothers and sisters in the faith, 114 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:18,880 but then these other guys rock up and why did he back off? Why did he separate himself? 115 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:27,560 Because he feared what others thought of him. That's why Peter backed off, because something 116 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:38,280 other than the gospel gripped his heart and that was fear which caused him to not walk 117 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:47,480 in line with the truth. You may have experienced something like this in your own life. I most 118 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:55,960 definitely have. You know the gospel. You love Jesus. You love, you adore his people, 119 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:01,880 but you're in a situation where something happens that causes your actions to not line 120 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:09,880 up with what you know to be true. Now granted in this day and age we might not find ourselves 121 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:16,880 in this exact situation over keeping ceremonial laws, but thinking more practically here, 122 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:23,640 there's other ways in which we go back, we draw back from showing the truth of the gospel 123 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:32,080 in our actions. Maybe it's been in the workplace. Maybe it's been at university or at a family 124 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:38,920 event where you know that people need to hear about Jesus and someone asks you, why are 125 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:46,800 you religious? And you fear their opinion. Fear of their opinion grips you. So instead 126 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:54,040 of telling them about Jesus and what the good news actually is, you say nothing or you change 127 00:15:54,040 --> 00:16:00,440 the subject as quickly as you can. Maybe you've done the opposite. Maybe people know that 128 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:06,640 you're a Christian, but they've wanted you to do something that you know doesn't line 129 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:13,720 up with what you know would be pleasing to our God. But because you fear missing out, 130 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:21,520 you go with the crowd. Whatever the case may be, when something other than the gospel grips 131 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:30,200 our heart, we won't live out the truth. Fear, fear is a powerful motivator, a powerful motivator 132 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:37,800 to take us from knowing one thing, but doing another. And as we see in our text this morning, 133 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:42,960 that wasn't just true of Peter, but all of those that were with him. As we read, the 134 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:52,400 other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy, even Barnabas was 135 00:16:52,400 --> 00:17:02,400 led astray. Church, let me drive home how serious things are here. Antioch wasn't in 136 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:09,320 a Jewish region, which means that this was more than likely a church full of Gentile 137 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:15,560 converts who had experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives and their newfound 138 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:22,520 freedom in Jesus Christ. Then one of the rock stars of the faith, he comes to the church, 139 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:27,640 they're eating together, they're sharing together in their mutual love and affection of who 140 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:33,720 Jesus is and what he's done. And then these others rock up, and then one of their leaders 141 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:39,400 gets up and sits somewhere else, then they notice that their newfound brothers and sisters 142 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:46,920 in the faith, one by one, start to get up and then even the one guy in the Bible that 143 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:56,280 is known as the happy chappy, Barnabas, the son of encouragement, picks up his plate and 144 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:04,080 leaves as well. All because they feared what others would think of them if they were to 145 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:12,480 be seen not following the rules of and listen to this, following the rules of what made 146 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:23,280 them clean and acceptable before God. Imagine that for a moment. Imagine how these people 147 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:28,840 felt. They've heard by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone, they've heard 148 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:34,880 that that's what makes you clean and acceptable before our heavenly father. But then their 149 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:42,760 church show them by their actions that they have to do more before they would really be 150 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:50,920 considered part of God's people. To put this as simply as I can, these Gentile believers 151 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:59,200 had been witnessed to by these people's actions, but they hadn't had the gospel witnessed to 152 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:08,240 them. Now they'd witnessed hypocrisy. That's what Paul calls it here. They'd witnessed 153 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:18,200 being told one thing, but seeing another. That's what hypocrisy is. And this disease 154 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:25,240 had entered the church there in Antioch and people were sick. They truly believed, we 155 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:32,800 know they truly believed one thing, but because of fear, because it had gripped their hearts, 156 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:40,120 they practiced another. Paul was in a ditch. His fear drove him to it and Paul could see 157 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:48,160 exactly what was going on. And because Paul saw the gospel being compromised on, because 158 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:53,560 he saw where this whole thing was heading, instead of joining in and being driven by 159 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:59,880 the fear of what people would think of him, if he called out this great, well-known apostle 160 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:05,920 of the faith, he approached the whole thing so as to help them out of the ditch in which 161 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:13,320 they had fallen. We read in verse 14, when I saw that they weren't acting in line with 162 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:19,040 the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas, again that's Peter, in front of them all, 163 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:25,600 you're a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it then you force 164 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:33,520 Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? Now church, notice this, if you will, notice how Paul 165 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:40,040 approaches all of this. He doesn't say, you hypocrite. He doesn't say, look what your 166 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:46,880 fear is driving you to do. He could have. It's a temptation for any of us when we're 167 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:53,240 mad at a brother or sister. But that wasn't really going to get to the heart of the matter. 168 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:57,600 That wasn't going to really drill down to the hole that they found themselves in. No, 169 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:04,840 Paul saw it for what it was. He saw that fear had gripped Peter's heart in that moment because 170 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:12,560 he wasn't living in accordance with the gospel. And so in great wisdom and love, Paul points 171 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:22,760 out a couple of things for us to consider here. First, he rightly points out that Peter's 172 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:29,200 not walking in a straight line. That's what's meant there in verse 14. I saw that they were 173 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:36,880 not acting in line with the truth of the gospel. Brothers and sisters, what Paul is saying 174 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:44,640 here is absolutely profound. The gospel leads us to walk on the straight and narrow, which 175 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:53,040 means its truth has vast implications for every part of our life. And so for the gospel 176 00:21:53,040 --> 00:22:01,960 to not be the governing principle in our lives, we will walk in a wonky, staggered, and even 177 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:11,000 backwards fashion. In this particular situation, Peter knew that he was united to the Gentiles 178 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:18,360 because they had both received the awesome gift of faith in Christ. Peter knew that the 179 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:25,560 dietary and food laws of what makes one clean and unclean before God were torn down in Christ. 180 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:31,280 Paul will say it later where there is no Jew or Gentile when it comes to our status in 181 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:38,360 Christ. That's the gospel he knew. That's the gospel he proclaimed and preached. That's 182 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:44,720 why he was happy to come to Antioch and fellowship with his brothers and sisters in the faith 183 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:53,120 in the first place, because he knew what the gospel had achieved. He was walking in a straight 184 00:22:53,120 --> 00:23:01,160 line. But when Paul saw that Peter was going wonky, that he was now in this so-called ditch, 185 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:07,800 he knew something other than the gospel was governing his walk. He knew fear was governing 186 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:19,120 his heart and that it was causing him to revert to something that we might call legalism. 187 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:24,880 Now if you've never heard that word before, legalism is looking to something other than 188 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:33,480 Christ alone in order to feel accepted by God. Legalism is usually fueled by the fear 189 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:39,960 that you need to do more before God will really approve you. The fruit of this is usually 190 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:49,840 pride in our own works and fear of what other people think of us. Thus it causes suspicion 191 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:56,320 of others. It usually ends up with people separating themselves from others that don't 192 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:03,240 quite act like them. The problem, it plays itself in all manner of ways in things like 193 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:12,840 nationalism, elitism and in horrid cases racism. But I don't think we're immune to this in 194 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:22,760 Christian circles. I think this sort of thing works itself out in denominationalism. Denominationalism, 195 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:29,680 sorry I'm trying to say that, denominationalism, what do I mean by that? What I mean is that 196 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:36,920 when the gospel isn't governing the heart, which declares that we are saved by faith 197 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:43,800 in Jesus, brothers and sisters in the faith start to become suspicious of one another 198 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:50,240 and exclude others because they might have Baptist, Methodist, Salvos or whatever in 199 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:58,080 their name. What lies at the heart of it all is that our own tradition is the defining 200 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:07,080 factor that makes us acceptable before God. And so as a result we back off to make us 201 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:14,000 feel like we have God's approval for not mixing with Christians that just aren't as Christian 202 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:24,600 as us. We all have to be aware of this in our lives and congregations. So we might ask, 203 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:31,960 are we looking to something other than the gospel to define us before God? Are we looking 204 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:38,720 to something other than the gospel to define others before God? Do we look at our brothers 205 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:43,920 and sisters in the faith and say well they're not really of our status because they haven't 206 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:53,040 yet become Presbyterian? Be aware of that kind of thinking. It can take root in the 207 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:59,960 church. It's the result of fear and legalism. And that's the sin that Paul was calling out 208 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:06,440 here. Fear had gripped the Apostle Peter's heart and driven him to something other than 209 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:14,040 the gospel. Fear had driven him into legalism and he was acting like a hypocrite, which 210 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:21,040 secondly preached to these people that they had to do more as well. Like follow the Jewish 211 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:27,400 customs to be fully accepted. That's what Paul means here. When he asks him in front 212 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:41,640 of all, why do you force the Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? By his actions he was. I just 213 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:47,560 want to say something here that I think is very important. It's incredible that in Peter's 214 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:54,240 pursuit of trying to find acceptance by the works of the law, that he actually broke one 215 00:26:54,240 --> 00:27:04,720 of the most important ones. And that's to love your neighbour as yourself. Notice it. 216 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:11,280 Peter's hypocrisy spoke louder than words to his brothers and sisters in Christ. You're 217 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:19,920 not like me. You're not clean. You have to do more to be accepted. Brothers and sisters, 218 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:28,440 that's why legalism causes so much hurt and frustration in the body of Christ. Because 219 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:34,480 we know that our works are never good enough. So as a result, we have to look at others 220 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:45,800 and their faults to feel better about ourselves. This will only ever end up making us hypocritical 221 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:54,320 and exclusive. Legalism is a horrible disease. And we as the people of God must be aware 222 00:27:54,320 --> 00:28:01,040 of it and pulled out from it when we fall into it. And there's only one way for that 223 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:06,840 to happen. That's exactly where Paul takes it next. He's pointed out the great big problem. 224 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:15,720 He's pointed out his approach to it. And now he takes us to the wonderful balm of the solution. 225 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:23,040 And that is the gospel. Paul brings it to us here in verses 15 and 16 saying, we who 226 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:28,640 are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person's not justified by the 227 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:37,120 works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus 228 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:44,200 that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. Because by 229 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:53,560 the works of the law, no one will be justified. Church, this is pretty much a summary of the 230 00:28:53,560 --> 00:29:03,440 book of Galatians. A person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus 231 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:13,840 Christ. That is central to everything we've been looking at so far. A person isn't made 232 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:22,600 completely right in the eyes of God for all eternity by the works of the law, but by faith 233 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:29,200 in Jesus Christ. That was the whole problem with these false teachers that had come into 234 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:36,680 the churches of Galatia. They said Jesus plus keeping the law. That's the problem with Peter 235 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:43,200 here. He said Jesus, but just to be safe, I better do this. And that's our problem when 236 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:52,040 we fall into legalism. We say we need to do more for God to truly see me as his own. Paul's 237 00:29:52,040 --> 00:30:02,080 words are so profound for anyone that finds themselves at the bottom of that there ditch. 238 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:07,920 You can't get right with God by doing more things. You can't get right with God by your 239 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:14,200 own works. A person isn't made right with God by their own efforts because by the works 240 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:26,960 of the law, no one will be justified. Faith, faith in Christ makes all the difference. 241 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:32,760 That's what our apostle wants us to get here this morning. Doing better, trying harder, 242 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:37,840 working more won't make you innocent from the stain of sin. That's what Paul reminds 243 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:45,160 us of here in our passage this morning. He wants that to grip our hearts yet again because 244 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:55,080 when the truth of the gospel is leading and guiding the body of Christ, everything changes. 245 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:59,840 Brothers and sisters, the gospel preaches that you're accepted in the sight of God for 246 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:07,080 nothing that you've done. Not because of your behaviour or background, but only because 247 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:17,440 Jesus Christ obeyed and bled and died for you. It's faith in Jesus that you're justified, 248 00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:24,560 that you're made right before God. It's faith in his works that you're completely embraced 249 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:34,000 and loved and accepted. God reached out and he revealed Christ in you. Not because you 250 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:42,320 cleaned yourself up first, but because he chose you and he loves you. You can't be any 251 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:50,360 more accepted than you are right now because of the blood of Jesus that has washed you 252 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:59,280 clean and made you God's beloved child. This was all a free gift of undeserved love and 253 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:06,720 none of our doing. When the truth, the truth of the gospel really grips our hearts, it 254 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:13,800 will set us free from the need to seek acceptance from others. When the truth of the gospel 255 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:20,760 is guiding us in a straight line, we won't focus on our works and wonder if we're doing 256 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:27,400 a good enough job. Yes, we'll struggle with this. Yes, we'll always be tempted to see 257 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:33,880 ourselves in the light of what other people think. Yes, we'll always be tempted to separate 258 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:40,200 from people who we deem to not quite measure up to our standards that we put up for ourselves. 259 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:46,240 It was the whole thing that had happened to Peter. Something other than the gospel was 260 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:52,800 directing his decisions, but it's here that we see the solution for when those temptations 261 00:32:52,800 --> 00:33:01,960 come. Church, the gospel reminds us that we belong to Christ. The gospel reminds us that 262 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:08,560 we've been accepted. The gospel reminds us that we are the beloved of God, beloved by 263 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:16,440 Him, despite our sin, loved not because of our obedience, but by the obedience of Jesus 264 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:22,160 Christ in our place. Church, when we remind ourselves of the truth of the gospel, that 265 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:28,120 we are forgiven and accepted because of the work of Jesus in our place, when that sinks 266 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:38,240 in, when we walk in line with that truth, we are free, free from the approval of others, 267 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:45,640 free from looking at our own works, we're free from looking down on others. We're free 268 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:54,120 from the ditch that we so easily fall into time and time and time and time and time and 269 00:33:54,120 --> 00:34:03,520 time again. As we bring this to an end this morning, are you trusting in Jesus Christ? 270 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:09,680 Or are you trusting in your own good works? Paul is clear, no one is made right by trying 271 00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:17,760 harder and doing better. We are justified, we are made right by faith in Jesus Christ. 272 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:23,240 And so hear this this morning, the Bible says, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will 273 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:31,680 be saved. If you call out from whatever hole you find yourself in today, Jesus will in 274 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:42,240 no way cast anyone from him who cries out in faith. I might also ask, has fear of others' 275 00:34:42,240 --> 00:34:50,960 opinions gripped your heart? Has fear of others' acceptance caused you to go a bit wonky and 276 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:59,560 live for their approval over what you know to be true? And hear the gospel loud and clear 277 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:07,760 this morning, because of Jesus, you have the approval of your heavenly Father. You can't 278 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:15,800 be any more accepted than you are at this very moment because of your status in Christ. 279 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:23,800 God looks at you this morning and he sees his precious child. His promise is that he 280 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:32,440 will never relent on that. Do you believe that? I just want to point to one other thing. 281 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:39,240 Do you see others in trouble? Do you see others around you in trouble? Do you see your brothers 282 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:47,680 and sisters in Christ not walking in line with the gospel? Well, wisdom calls in the 283 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:55,920 streets to remind us not to whiplash the actions, but to be faithful servants of Christ and 284 00:35:55,920 --> 00:36:03,360 hold the truth of the gospel to them. Paul's love for his dear brother and his brothers 285 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:11,880 and sisters in the faith drew him to not draw back from helping them out of that ditch, 286 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:20,360 but to go to them in love and truth. We might say he is a great example and what he does 287 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:28,560 is a great example of how to love your neighbour as yourself. The gospel, my dear brothers 288 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:35,160 and sisters, the gospel is the solution for the heart when other things threaten to come 289 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:50,120 in and grip it. Would you please pray with me? Father God, we are in awe of the gospel. 290 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:58,080 We are in awe of what you have done for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. By your Holy Spirit 291 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:06,280 you have revealed the Lord in us so that we might have eternity with you. None of this 292 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:13,560 was our doing. None of this was something that made you draw close to us, but by your 293 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:21,400 unmerited favour, your unmerited love, your undeserved passion for your people, you came 294 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:28,960 after us. Father, we want to be a people that live in light of that. We want to be people 295 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:36,000 that live in line with the gospel in all areas of our lives. Lord, we know there's bits and 296 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,640 pieces, we know there's big things and small things that aren't in line with the gospel 297 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:52,200 in our lives. I ask that you would please help your children to trust you, to know that 298 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:59,960 the cross, that the sacrifice of Jesus, the perfect life in our place is indeed sufficient. 299 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:05,760 Lord, would you make us a people that are able to hold the truth out in love, to not 300 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:11,360 be clashing symbols to those around us, but to be people that truly love our neighbour 301 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:17,960 as ourselves and hold the gospel out to them. Lord, we ask that you use this congregation 302 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:23,880 here in Armidale, that you use the church in Armidale, in Perth, to be a place that 303 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:31,460 real hope is held out, real truth is held out, and that disciples of Jesus are made. 304 00:38:31,460 --> 00:38:42,000 We ask this in Jesus' name and for your glory. Amen.