SERMON: FINDING JESUS -- KNOWING JESUS VERSUS KNOWING ABOUT JESUS (Acts 18-19)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 18:23-26

 

Acts 18:23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

 

24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

 

            -- one day this church was having a baptismal service down at the baptizing hole in the river -- an old drunk was wandering by and saw the preacher standing out in the water and waded out and stood beside him -- the preacher looked over and saw the drunk standing there and asked, "Are you ready to find Jesus?" -- the drunk said, "Yes" -- so the preacher grabbed him and plunged him under the water

            -- the drunk came up from the water and the preacher asked him, "Have you found Jesus?" -- the drunk said, "No" -- so the preacher plunged him back under again -- he brought him back up and asked him again, "Have you found Jesus?" -- the drunk answered again, "No"

            -- thoroughly disgusted by this time, the minister grabbed the drunk, plunged him under the water, and held him there for a good thirty seconds -- the drunk came back up, gasping for air, spitting and sputtering -- the preacher yelled at the drunk this time, "Have you found Jesus?" -- the drunk replied, "No, but before you put me back under again, are you sure this is where He fell in?"

 

            -- today’s theme is all about finding Jesus – specifically, we see this passage revolving around the question – do you know Jesus or do you just know about Him?

            -- and that is a good question for all of us to consider in our own lives – first, it speaks to salvation – for as we will see, there is a vast difference between knowing Jesus and knowing about Jesus – but it also speaks to living our Christian life in the world today – Christians can be functionally atheists – and what I mean by that is that we can be believers in Christ – we can be washed in the blood and saved by grace through faith in Jesus – but we live our lives completely without the presence of Jesus

            -- and what this looks like in practice is coming to church and Bible study – listening to podcasts and YouTube videos – listening to sermons and teaching on the radio – and taking in all of this information about Jesus and intellectually accepting all that we hear – but doing nothing with it

            -- Christian atheists – Jesus in our hearts and heads – but not in our hands and feet – even though we know Jesus, we live our lives without Him

            -- hopefully, by the time we get done looking at today’s passages, we will have a better understanding on this topic and make a commitment to quit living like atheists and to start living like the blood-bought saints that we are – because, honestly, that’s the whole point of this sermon series in the Book of Acts

            -- if you come away from this series just knowing more about the New Testament church and the journeys of the Apostle Paul and nothing else, then we have failed in what the Spirit wants us to do – because true Christianity is living out what we know in our lives – letting the Spirit empower us to go and do and be who we are called to be in Christ

            -- so, with that, let’s look now at Acts 18 and 19 and see what we can learn about the difference between knowing Jesus and knowing about Jesus

 

II.  Scripture Lesson

            -- here in Acts 18, we see Paul’s second missionary journey with Silas come to an end – when we left off last week, Paul was alone in the city of Athens, trying to convince the learned men of the Areopagus about the truth of the gospel and how Jesus’ death and resurrection made the forgiveness of sins and eternal life a reality for all believers

            -- Paul left Athens and traveled to Corinth, where he first meets Aquila and Priscilla – fellow believers who are instrumental in mentoring and discipling other believers during their travels

            -- Paul stayed with Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth for a while, working with them in their tent-making trade and preaching and teaching on the side – when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul spent more time preaching and teaching in the city of Corinth than before – and once again, we see opposition from the Jews against Paul and the gospel

            -- Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla left Corinth and sailed for Syria, making their way to Ephesus – the group split at this point, with Paul continuing on with Silas and Timothy to Jerusalem to fulfill a vow to the Lord and then back to Antioch, his home church

            -- and thus ended the second missionary journey of Paul

 

            -- which brings us to Acts 18:23 – look down at that again with me

 

Acts 18:23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

 

 

            -- so, after some time in Antioch, Paul felt a calling to go back to visit the churches throughout Galatia and Phrygia – staying for a while in cities such as Pisidian Antioch, Colossae, and Laodicea – where he preached and taught the believers and strengthened the fledgling churches

            -- before we move on to the heart of the passages for today, let me point out something here – we tend to think of Paul as a traveling evangelist – and he was – but he was more than that

 

            -- just this week, I was driving past a couple of churches that were announcing they were having summer revivals with guest evangelists coming in to speak

– the evangelists in our day are not like Paul – they come to a church – they preach and teach for a few days – at most, a week – and then they move on – Billy Graham did the same in his crusades – he never stayed more than a week or two in any one city

-- but that was not what Paul did – Paul was more than an evangelist – he was also a church planter, a mentor, and a guide – he didn’t just come into a city, preach and teach for a week, and leave – but he spent weeks and months – in some cases, like in Ephesus, Paul stayed for two years with the church there – leading them and guiding them as they built up their congregation and began worshiping together as new believers in Christ

-- so, don’t get the impression that Paul was just moving quickly from city to city – in some cases, he had to leave quickly, but that was a result of persecution – not choice – and even when he was forced to leave, such as the case in Lystra and Corinth, he always came back to strengthen the churches and to encourage them through his presence, his teaching and his preaching

            -- so, after spending some time in Antioch as part of his home church again, Paul set out to visit the churches in all the cities that he had been in – this time, it seems as if he’s traveling alone – perhaps Timothy was with him – Luke, certainly – but there is not a Barnabas or Silas with him – the leading force is Paul, driven and directed by the Holy Spirit, as we have discussed earlier in this series

 

            -- verse 24-26

 

Acts 18:24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

 

            -- Apollos was an exceptionally brilliant young man – he was a native of Alexandria, in northern Africa on the Mediterranean Sea – where the Great Library of Alexandria – one of the Seven Wonders of the World – was located

            -- Alexandria was similar to Athens and it drew scholars and philosophers to the area – with major schools and universities there to educate the best and brightest – Apollos was one of those

            -- he showed up in Ephesus and began speaking to the Jews and the Gentiles there about Jesus – his logic – his reasoning – his education – was flawless -- he spoke boldly in the synagogue and impressed everyone with his teachings – proving, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Jesus was the long-awaited for Messiah

             -- one day, Priscilla and Aquila were in the synagogue as Apollos spoke about Jesus – and although they were only uneducated tent-makers – they knew more than Apollos did about the gospel of Christ – because they knew Jesus, while Apollos only knew about Him

            -- when they heard him speak, they quickly realized this – there’s a big difference in someone talking about a subject that they have learned about in books and between someone talking about a subject that they know because they have experienced it and done it for themselves

 

            -- I’m working with a lot of younger people now – younger meaning they’re in their thirties and forties – makes me feel older every single day

            -- and one of the things that just drives me crazy is when these younger folks start lecturing us and trying to teach me and the other guys my age about things that we lived through

            -- do you realize that we are coming up on the 25^th anniversary of 9-11? – 25 years ago – that’s just hard to fathom

            -- we had a Commander’s Call a few weeks back, and the Commander asked how many of the people there were not alive when 9-11 happened – a good quarter of the crowd raised their hands

            -- and while my coworkers were old enough to have been alive when 9-11 happened, they were in grade school – a couple were in kindergarten – and we were discussing 9-11 and they said, “Well, actually, this is what happened…” and they proceeded to tell us older workers all about the events of 9-11

            -- we just looked at each other – we lived 9-11 – we were all on the military base when it happened – we experienced the uncertainty and the chaos of that moment when the plane hit that first tower – we watched it in real time – and we were part of the initial reaction to that event when we realized this was not an accident, but a terrorist event

            -- the base completely shut down – gates were locked – we were restricted in our movements – they weren’t letting anyone in or out of the buildings or the gates – we lived in that moment of panic

            -- but yet our younger coworkers were explaining the events to us – they knew about them because they had been taught about 9-11 in school – but we knew 9-11, because we experienced it for ourselves

            -- that’s what going on here in this passage – when you read that Priscilla and Aquila listened to Apollos speak and then invited him to their home, it’s because they realized that Apollos might know a lot about Jesus, but he didn’t know Jesus

            -- and so, they took him home with them and, as Luke terms it so eloquently here, “explained to him the way of God more adequately”

            -- they connected the dots for Apollos – they opened his eyes to the truth of Jesus – not just words on a page or evidence of prophecies fulfilled – but the living Christ and His very Spirit who was sent to indwell believers

            -- Apollos knew about Jesus, but he didn’t know Jesus, until Priscilla and Aquila explained it to him and helped him become a true believer in Jesus for salvation and eternal life

            -- when the head and the heart connected and Apollos became a true believer, he became a tireless evangelist and teacher of the gospel – he left Ephesus and went on to Achaia – primarily, the city of Corinth – where he continued to debate the same Jews who earlier had pushed back against Paul when he preached in the synagogue there

 

            -- like I said earlier, the first issue with knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus concerns our salvation

– Apollos – for all his learning and ability to teach others about Jesus – hadn’t put his faith and trust in Jesus for salvation – it was only after Priscilla and Aquila sat down and explained the gospel to him that Apollos became a believer

 

            -- the same is true for the people in our next passage – look over at Acts 19:1-6

 

Acts 19:1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

 

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

 

3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

 

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

 

4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

 

            -- Paul is in the midst of his third missionary journey – he has been traveling throughout the regions of Galatia and Phrygia and comes once again to Ephesus – just as a note, Paul spent more time in Ephesus that he did any other city – and that’s one reason why his letter to the Ephesians is so theologically robust and instructional – because he had time to mentor and teach and guide them deeper in their faith during his long stays with them

            -- Antioch might have been his home church – but his heart was with the people of Ephesus

            -- but this is earlier in his journey, and when Paul makes his way back to Ephesus to strengthen the church there, he finds a group of people there who tell him they are Christians, but he quickly discerns that they are not

            -- remember, for someone who knows Jesus, it is always easy to tell is someone is a true believer or just knows about Jesus – in the same way Priscilla and Aquila could tell Apollos wasn’t quite there yet – in the same way, we know when new believers just haven’t matured to the point of fully knowing Jesus in the same way as someone who has walked with Him for years

 

            -- when Paul meets these folks, he realizes something is off – he can sense they are Christians in Name Only – and so he asks them, “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” – and they reply, “No – we didn’t even know there was a Holy Spirit”

            -- evidently, they had heard the gospel preached and the Spirit had convicted them of their sins – they felt the call to respond – to repent of their sins – and that was all they did

            -- they were baptized as a sign of repentance only – not in the baptism that Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:18-20, when He told us to baptize disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

            -- we’ve talked about this before – but to bring this point out again, there is a difference between John’s baptism and Christian baptism – John’s baptism was a symbolic practice to illustrate the washing away of sins in preparation for receiving the coming Messiah

            -- Christian baptism is more than that – it is when a person has put their faith and trust in Jesus for salvation and eternal life – and it symbolizes dying to our old self – dying to sin – dying to our sin nature – and rising again to new life in Jesus, just as He rose from the dead victorious over sin and death

            -- as we have discussed before, water baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace – and when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are baptized spiritually with His presence and indwelt with the Holy Spirit

            -- these disciples had not put their faith and trust in Jesus in this way – they had only been baptized as a sign of repentance, not as a sign of their belief in Jesus and His death and resurrection – not as a sign of the inward baptism of the Spirit – and so, they didn’t know Jesus – they only knew about Jesus

            -- Paul realized this – and even though the text doesn’t expand on this, I believe Paul probably gave them detailed guidance in what it means to be saved by grace through faith in Jesus – we read here that he placed his hands on them and prayed for the Holy Spirit to indwell them – and the Spirit came in power upon these men

            -- they spoke in tongues and prophesied as they were changed from who they were into new creations in Christ – there is a difference in knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus, especially when it comes to salvation

 

            -- we transition now into the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus in regards to actually living out our faith by being His hands and feet

 

            -- skip down to verse 13-16

 

Acts 19:13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

 

            -- this has always been a fascinating story to me, for several reasons – not the least of that there is a real spiritual world around us, and we need to be aware of it and we need to approach it with caution – especially, if we only know about Jesus and don’t know Jesus in a real and personal way

            -- as Scripture says, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” – and we see a bunch of fools in this passage

            -- Paul and Peter and the other apostles and disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit to the point where miracles were part of their daily lives – we read in verses 11 and 12 here that God did extraordinary miracles through Paul – to the point where just taking handkerchiefs and aprons that Paul had touched were able to bring healing to the sick and cast evil spirits out of them – but note here that it was God doing this through Paul – it wasn’t Paul doing it on his own

            -- but many people saw those miracles – and while some were drawn to the cross and salvation as a result, others simply sought the power and prestige that being able to do miracles like this afforded – very similar to Simon the sorcerer from Acts Chapter 8, who tried to pay the Apostle Peter for the ability to lay hands on someone and give them the Holy Spirit

 

            -- in this case, seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, had seen Paul and the other disciples casting out evil spirits through the power of Christ – they thought they understood the process – that if they said the right words and did the right things, then miracles would happen and evil spirits would obey them – that’s because they only knew about Jesus, they didn’t know Jesus or His Spirit

            -- one day, these seven sons of Sceva – which, by the way, would be a great name for a Christian worship group – came across a person possessed by an evil spirit – relying on their knowledge of Jesus alone and the example of Paul, they commanded the evil spirit to leave that person by saying, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out”

            -- and honestly, I can’t think of a better response than the one the demon gives – “Jesus, I know.  And Paul, I know.  But who are you?” – and the evil spirit had the man jump on them and beat them to the point where they ran out of the house naked and bleeding

 

            -- it’s not about what you know – it’s about Who you know – and these sons of Sceva thought they could command spirits simply because they had head knowledge of Jesus – it doesn’t work that way

            -- we cannot be the people that Christ is calling us to be apart from His Spirit and His power and presence in us – we can go to Bible study after Bible study – we can listen to podcast after podcast and sermon after sermon – we can watch videos of people ministering and doing great things for Jesus across the globe – but that won’t empower us to do anything on our own

            -- there’s more to Christianity than just knowing about Jesus, as the sons of Sceva found out – and there’s more to living out a life for Christ than just knowing the truth of the Bible and the truth of the gospel and not letting God do anything in us or through us

            -- like I said, a lot of Christians live life today like atheists – we proclaim that we know Jesus – and we may know Jesus – but then we try to go out and do life in our own strength – relying on our knowledge and our skills and our abilities rather than the power of the Spirit within us

            -- we may wrap our ministries and our efforts in the name of Jesus, but if we’re not putting our faith and our trust in the Spirit to work in us and through us to accomplish God’s will, then we are doing exactly what the sons of Sceva are doing here

            -- verse 11 confirms that it was God who did the extraordinary miracles through Paul – it wasn’t because Paul knew a lot or had a lot of knowledge and skill from his former training as a Pharisee – it was because Paul humbled himself and allowed God to work in him and through him

            -- and we must do the same – that is the difference between living life as if we just know about God and living life knowing God and allowing Him to use us in His plans and as He wills

 

            -- verse 17-20

 

Acts 19:17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

 

            -- back in the day, there was a show on MTV called, “The Real World” – it was one of the first reality shows on TV, and it opened up with this tag line:

 

"This is the true story... of seven strangers, picked to live in a house, work together, and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real."

 

            -- what we are seeing in this final passage for today is what happens when Christians stop living their lives just knowing about Jesus and start getting real by changing how they live so that they live their lives as if they know Jesus

            -- let me give you another example – football season is right upon us – all summer, these teams have been practicing and learning about football – about the basics of football – about the plays – about how to come together and play as a team

            -- but at some point, they have to get off the practice field – they have to get off the bench and out of the huddle and turn what they know about football into something real – they have to go and snap the ball and put what they have learned and practiced into motion

            -- that is what is happening in these verses

 

            -- everybody knew what happened to these sons of Sceva – and it shook them – and it scared them – and they realized, “Hey, we’ve got to quit playing church and start being the church – we’ve got to quit coming together and learning about Jesus and leaving here and living life like normal – and we’ve got to start living life in His power and His strength – or the same thing is going to happen to us as happened to them”

            -- they were convicted of how they were living – they were seized with fear – and they started taking the name of the Lord Jesus seriously

            -- Jesus became more than just a concept – more than just a lesson from Scripture – more than just a good example – He became real

– and they realized they had not been living their lives as He intended – they still had the world in their lives, even though they were Christians

-- so, they went through and purged everything from their lives that was keeping them from living out their faith as people who knew Jesus and who didn’t just know about Him

-- they got rid of their magic scrolls and books and anything else that was holding them back – they did what the writer of Hebrews tells us to do in Hebrews 12:1 – “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”

-- these believers did this literally and spiritually – they burned scrolls and books that were holding them back – they repented of their sins – they got rid of the things of the world – and got serious about living for Jesus

-- this is what we need to do – this is what we are called to do – because being part of a church means more than just coming on Sundays or Wednesdays and learning more about the Bible or about Jesus – it means living out our faith – connecting our heads to our hearts and letting the Spirit empower us to move our hands and feet and lips to truly be the body of Christ in this place

-- this is our calling – this is our mission

 

III.  Closing

-- Susan Hill wrote, “It’s possible to read the Bible from cover to cover and learn lots of facts about Jesus—but not really know Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t want us just to know facts about Him—He wants us to be in an ongoing and lasting relationship with Him.”

-- and that quote really sums up what this section of the Book of Acts is all about

 

-- first, in order to be saved – in order to have our sins and our sin nature forgiven – to have eternal life with God – we have to put our faith and trust in Jesus’ atoning death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead

-- that means that we have to know Him – the Biblical definition of the word, “know,” refers to intimate knowledge of another – knowing them in a real and personal way – in the same way that the Bible says that Adam knew Eve, we are to know Jesus spiritually

-- it’s not enough to know about Him – we have to know Him – to trust Him – to put our faith in Him and the grace of salvation and the forgiveness of sins through Him

-- that’s the first part of knowing Jesus

 

-- but the second part – the part that we all should be aware of – is when we quit acquiring knowledge about Jesus and the Bible and His church – and we start living it out

-- when we move past being Christian atheists – Christians in Name Only – who know a lot about Jesus but who do nothing with what we know

-- it’s time that we start to live our lives in the knowledge and the power of Christ – putting aside everything that hinders our life with Him – figuratively, burning the scrolls and the books and the things of this world that we have been relying on instead of Jesus – and turning to Him in faith – trusting in Him and His Spirit to give us wisdom and guidance and power to do what He is calling us to do and to be who He is calling us to be

-- to quit just knowing about Him and to start knowing Him and experiencing Him in our lives as we move forward in faith

 

-- if I ever run across a demon like the sons of Sceva did, I hope he turns to me and says, “Jesus, I know.  Paul, I know.  And I know you, too, because you belong to Jesus”

-- so, as we close this morning, let us commit to turning away from relying on ourselves and our own natural talents and skills and abilities to do life – to stop just learning about Jesus in church and Bible study – and to start living our lives in the knowledge and in the name of Jesus

-- truly living life as if we know Him, because we do

-- let us pray

SERMON: DEFINING BELIEF (Acts 15:1-21 and Philippians 3:1-4a)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 15:1-5

 

Acts 15:1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

 

5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

 

-- I am sure most people here are familiar with the name Vincent Van Gogh – he remains a world-renowned painter – and even if you are not a lover of art, you have heard of Van Gogh and may even be able to recognize some of his paintings – and, of course, he is famous for having cut part of his own ear off during a mental breakdown following an argument with his roommate, the painter Gauguin -- which was later immortalized in his painting, “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

-- but the one thing you may not know about Van Gogh was that he began his working career as a missionary in 1878, which was a requirement to enter the ministry and become a pastor

-- for six months, Van Gogh served as a missionary to the poor coal miners of Belgium – and after that time, he was to be evaluated by the church’s leadership to determine whether he would be ordained into full-time ministry and be allowed to serve as a pastor

-- “There was just one problem with Van Gogh’s desire to become a pastor—in the view of many respectable church leaders, he took the example of Jesus a bit too seriously.” – instead of maintaining the dignity that the leaders thought he should display, Van Gogh “chose not to put his confidence in his credentials, education, or the fact that he came from a celebrated family of ministers”

-- “Van Gogh gave away most of his clothing and possessions, and rather than ministering from the clean confines of the church building, he worked alongside the miners in the tunnels -- He also shunned the comfortable housing provided to him by his church and instead lived in a filthy hut like those he came to serve” – he literally became one with those he ministered with

-- and this did not sit well with the church leaders – “in nineteenth-century Holland, pastors were held in high regard -- They were the leaders not just of the church but of the whole community -- and they were among the most educated men in society -- Therefore, they carried themselves with a dignity appropriate for their exalted status”

            -- so, when Van Gogh’s six-month assignment in the mines was complete, these leaders rejected his application for ordination because they felt he did not portray the standards of the office – in conduct – in dress – and in his preaching

            -- in all honesty, the clergymen weren’t merely rejecting Van Gogh – they were protecting themselves and preserving their own reputations – to have someone look and act like Van Gogh would demean their profession and diminish them in the eyes of their congregants – “In the end, they weren’t thinking about what would honor God, advance his mission, or help the poor miners of Belgium. They were focused on themselves.”

            -- “in a way, the church authorities who rejected Van Gogh closely resembled the religious authorities who rejected Jesus for not meeting their cultural expectations of a rabbi and prophet.” – and they closely resembled the certain people that we read about in Acts 15, who condemned the Gentile believers for not looking like them – for not being circumcised or following the law handed down by Moses

            -- rather than focusing on the evidence of God’s spiritual blessings in the life of these Gentiles, these men believed the Gentiles must first become Jews in appearance and conduct before they could be saved through Jesus¹

            -- this issue was the first great controversy in the church of Christ – and Acts 15 describes the great council that was held to discuss this issue and come to a decision on what is required for someone to be saved

 

            -- this morning, as we are continuing on in Part 3 of our sermon series through the Book of Acts, we will be looking at the controversy about Gentile believers and the decision of the church leaders in regard to defining true belief in Jesus

 

II.  To Circumcise or Not (Acts 15:1-40; Philippians 3:1-11)

            -- look back with me now at Acts 15:1 and let’s start our study on this subject

 

Acts 15:1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

 

            -- verse 1 defines the crux of the issue – as Luke says here, “certain people” came down from Judea to Antioch and told the Gentile believers in the church that if they were not circumcised – and, by implication, if they did not follow all the laws and customs of Moses as handed down to the Jews – they could not be saved

            -- these men who pushed this viewpoint became known as Judaizers – for they believed that only Jews could be saved – and if the Gentiles were to receive salvation, they must first become Jews

            -- and just so you know, this issue was not limited to the church at Antioch – for we see Paul dealing with Judaizers and their teachings in several of his letters, most notably in Philippians, which we will look at later

 

            -- before we dive into the issue of what is required for Gentiles to be saved, let’s first discuss what the big deal is with circumcision and why these Judaizers held this practice in such high regard

            -- as Skye Jethani points out, “The symbol of circumcision begins in the Bible with Abraham. God promised he would be the father of innumerable descendants, but Abraham and Sarah were elderly and barren.

“When Sarah heard the Lord’s promise, she thought it was so ridiculous that she laughed. In response to her laughter, God said, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” -- Of course, Abraham and Sarah did have a child, but it was clear that the birth of Isaac wasn’t natural --The old, barren flesh of Abraham and Sarah alone could not have conceived him -- God had done something special -- something miraculous – [and] the sign of circumcision was given to Abraham and his descendants to remember this [miracle and the] supernatural fulfillment of God’s promise”²

-- as part of God’s covenant with Abraham, He directed that all male children be circumcised on the eighth day as a permanent reminder of the miracle of Isaac’s birth and the supernatural fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham – and thus, circumcision became the law for the nation of Israel as a sign of their covenant with God

-- later, God gave the nation of Israel additional laws and customs that were handed down through Moses as part of His continuing covenant with the Jewish people – some of these laws were given to offer temporary atonement for sin while pointing the people to the Messiah, who would come to atone for the sins of the world once and for all time – other laws and customs were given to help separate the people from the pagans around them, and to keep them faithful to their God and Savior

-- but the funny thing about laws and customs and symbols of faith is that sometimes, these symbols take on a life of their own – what becomes more important than remembering and following God in faith is adherence to the symbol – in essence, the symbol becomes an idol that takes the place of God – and that is exactly what was going on with the practice of circumcision with the Jews in the time of Christ and the early church

-- so, these Judaizers came to Antioch and found these Gentile believers in Christ – who were part of the church and were worshiping God alongside the Jews – and when they found out they were not circumcised, they lost their minds

-- they laid down the law to these new believers and pronounced, “If you are not circumcised, you cannot be saved” – if you don’t have this physical sign – this symbol of faith – on your body, you are not part of the church

“in other words, in order to be fully accepted by God, one had to first be fully Jewish. Only then could you be part of the community of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.”²

 

-- verse 2-4

 

Acts 15:2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

 

 

-- Paul and Barnabas were not going to sit by and allow this heresy to come into the church and corrupt the new Gentile believers – they were steadfast in their teaching that salvation came by grace through faith – that nothing else was required – not circumcision – not following the Law – not becoming a Jew

– Jesus had done everything required for salvation – and our only part was to believe in Him and put our faith and trust in His atoning death on the cross

-- they had sharp disagreements with these Judaizers, and finally, the church decided to appeal to the Apostles in Jerusalem for a decision – they sent Paul and Barnabas, along with several other believers, to Jerusalem to consult with the Apostles – and, of course, the Judaizers tagged along

 

-- verse 5-6

 

Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.

 

-- what do we do when we have a theological concern in the church? – we do the same thing that the church in Antioch did – we take it to the leaders – and in our case, we review what the church has taught on the issue over the last 2000 years

-- our church derives from a Wesleyan heritage – and because of that, I want to introduce a concept to you that will help inform your thinking and research on matters of theology and church practice

-- there is this principle in the Wesleyan tradition that we call the Wesleyan Quadrilateral – despite the name, this is not a trick football play – rather, it is a guide on determining what authorities we turn to when theological questions come into consideration

-- Quad means four – and through Wesley’s writings and sermons, scholars have come up with the four means by which we are to evaluate theological questions – these four are given in order of priority

– first, we have Scripture, for it is to God’s word that we must rely on as our primary resource for determining the truth of a matter – the next is Tradition, and this does not mean the tradition of the local church – this is referring to the tradition of church history – of what has been taught and agreed upon by the church of Christ since its founding – third, Reason – taking the issue and reasoning an answer based on Scripture and Tradition and common-sense – and, fourth, Experience – what has been the experience of Christians throughout history in regards to this issue – Scripture – Tradition – Reason – Experience – these make up the Wesleyan Quadrilateral

-- and what we see here in Acts 15 is the church at Antioch relying on these guiding principles to come up with the answer to this issue of circumcision and conversion of Gentiles to Jews for salvation

 

            -- verse 7-12

 

Acts 15:7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

 

12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

 

            -- after the leaders had discussed the issue for some time, Peter finally got up and began to speak – he told of his experiences with Cornelius the Centurion that we read about in Acts 10 – about how the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles after they had received Jesus and put their faith and trust in Him for salvation -- and then Paul and Barnabas stood up and offered similar stories

            -- their whole point was that God had affirmed the faith and salvation of these Gentiles without requiring anything else – they didn’t have to be circumcised first – they didn’t have to go through the process of converting to Judaism and start following the Jewish laws and traditions first – the Holy Spirit had come upon them in the same way He had come upon the first believers on the day of Pentecost – and that proved that there was nothing required for salvation except faith in Jesus – as Peter says in verse 11, “we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved”

 

            -- that’s what this all comes down to – that’s what this whole discussion revolves around – what is required for salvation? – not only for the Gentiles, but for everyone

            -- the word of God – as received by Peter directly from the lips of Jesus and written in the Old Testament Scriptures – and the experiences of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas and the obvious acceptance of the Gentiles by God through the sending of the Holy Spirit – confirmed that salvation was by grace through faith only – not by works or anything else – to include circumcision

            -- requiring anything else – making someone take up a symbol or sign like circumcision – requiring them to follow a law or tradition or practice – was anathema – it went against the word of God and the clear teaching of Jesus and the experiences of the apostles with the Gentiles

            -- the point Peter, Paul, and Barnabas are making here is that, not only is circumcision not required for salvation – but circumcision cannot save – contrary to what the Judaizers were teaching

 

            -- hold your place here and flip over to Philippians 3:1-4a

 

Philippians 3:1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4a though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

 

            -- Paul makes the same passionate declaration here in Philippians as he confronts the Judaizer’s continuing efforts to make Gentiles convert to Judaism and be circumcised in order to be saved

            -- these are the people he is referring to in verse 2 – he calls them “dogs” – “evildoers” – “mutilators of the flesh” – now, you need to understand that Paul is not trying to just call them names here when he calls them a dog

            -- the term “dog” was used by the Jews to describe anyone who was not a Jew – a dog was a Gentile – a dog was a pagan – a dog was anyone who was not part of the covenant with God through Abraham -- it was a term of derision, but it named a specific group of people

            -- when Paul calls these Judaizers “dogs” here in verse 2, he is basically saying that these people were not true believers and were not part of the church of Christ, because they were mandating other practices and requiring adherence to the Law of Moses in order to be saved

            -- the Judaizers called themselves, “the circumcision” or “the circumcised,” to make it clear they were Jews who adhered to the Law – by using that term, they were saying that they – and only they – were saved

            -- but Paul says in verse 3 that these people are not truly circumcised, because their circumcision was physical only – it was done by hands of men – it was not the circumcision of the heart – and that the believers in Philippi and the other churches who believe in Jesus through faith and faith alone are the true circumcision because they have been circumcised internally through the Spirit

            -- in other words, the Judaizers were putting their faith in the symbol of circumcision – not in the atoning death of Jesus – as Skye Jethani wrote, “rather than trusting in God, the people began to put their trust in circumcision itself. They lost sight of what the symbol meant and began to believe circumcision by itself was powerful; a sort of magical mark that guaranteed God’s blessing and inclusion within his chosen people. In other words, circumcision ceased to be a symbol of trusting God’s Spirit, and it became yet another way people put their trust in their own flesh—literally.”

            -- but Peter, Paul, and Barnabas – referring to the clear word of God and their experiences with the Gentiles – made the case before the council in Acts 15 that the Judaizers were wrong – trusting in a symbol – trusting in circumcision – could not save – it was believing in Jesus in faith through grace that saved a person

           

 

            -- look back at Acts 15:13-21

 

Acts 15:13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

 

16 “‘After this I will return

    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.

Its ruins I will rebuild,

    and I will restore it,

17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,

    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,

says the Lord, who does these things’—

18     things known from long ago.

 

19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

 

            -- this James is the brother of Jesus – and it appears that he has assumed the leadership of the church in Jerusalem at this point

            -- after hearing the discussions and the arguments from both sides, James announces his decision, which was fully accepted by the council as the answer to the question of what is required for salvation by the Gentiles

            -- he affirms that the Gentiles are saved by grace through faith, just as the Jews had been – this was confirmed by the sending of the Holy Spirit upon them by the Father

            -- they were not required to be circumcised – they were not required to become Jews – they were not required to follow the Law of Moses

 

            -- but to unify this church that was comprised of believers from two different backgrounds – Jews and Gentiles – it was recommended that the Gentiles follow four rules

            -- these requirements were given -- not as a precondition for salvation -- but as a consideration to their Jewish friends

– first, they were to abstain from eating food polluted by idols – second, they were to abstain from sexual immorality – third, they were to abstain from the meat of strangled animals, which still had the blood within them – and fourth, they were to abstain from associating with blood, in general

            -- these four rules were derived from the Law of Moses and were related to faithfulness to God and to the sanctity of blood and its role in covering sin

            -- the laws that God gave Moses were intended to keep the nation of Israel separated from the world and faithful to Him – they were given to keep them from turning to idols and mishandling the sacredness of blood

            -- eating food dedicated to idols was a normal practice in the pagan world, but this would have been a stumbling block to the Jews – so, the council told the Gentiles to stop doing this – we see this issue come up again later in Paul’s epistles to the church at Corinth

            -- maintaining sexual purity and keeping the marriage bed holy was a sign of faithfulness – faithfulness to your spouse – and faithfulness to God – for marriage is a picture of our relationship with God

            -- this requirement to abstain from sexual immorality also included turning away from the common pagan practice of including sexual acts as part of religious services, which was linked to the idolatrous worship of other gods

            -- the concerns with blood have to do with the shedding of blood for atonement – for the covering and forgiveness of sins – according to the law of Moses, the blood was to be offered to God as part of a sacrifice and to atone for their sins – so, the handling of the blood was carefully restricted in the Old Testament

            -- it was common for Gentiles in this time to strangle animals and then drink the blood as part of religious ceremonies – so, this requirement is put in place to prevent the Gentiles from introducing this practice into the Christian church – additionally, it was forbidden for Jews to eat animals that had not been cleaned properly and had their blood drained before cooking, so if the Gentiles did this it would offend the Jews

 

            -- the goal with these requirements for the Gentiles is unity in the church – just as the church council in Jerusalem had ruled against forcing the Gentiles to take up religious practices that were not required and that would be a stumbling block in their faith – the council is asking the Gentiles to do the same for the Jews – to not participate in religious or cultural acts that would present a stumbling block for the Jews

            -- each side – Jew and Gentile – were asked to be aware of their cultural differences – and to abstain from acts that would be stumbling blocks for the others – all in the name of unity and in light of their common faith in Jesus Christ

 

III. CLOSING

            -- so, what can we learn from this discussion about circumcision and the requirements of salvation for Gentiles that we can apply today?

            -- I think one of the most important lessons to glean from this passage is to be careful to not elevate signs and symbols to the place of idolatry, which is what the Judaizers had done with the practice of circumcision

            -- they had forgotten the reason behind the act of circumcision – and had made an idol of the act – concluding that physically modifying your body in this way made you holy – when in fact this was only to be an outward sign of an inward grace

            -- what was important was not the physical act, but the spiritual change that it represented – the Judaizers had forgotten that

 

            -- it reminds me of the story of the newly married couple who were cooking their first big meal together – the wife was preparing a ham for baking, and before she put it in the oven, she cut off both ends

            -- her husband asked her why she did that, and she said, “I don’t really know.  But my mother always did it, so I do it, too

            -- she called her mother to ask why she cut the ends off the ham before she put it in the oven – her mother said, “My mother always did that, so I just started doing it too, and I passed it on to you” – she said, “Let me call your grandmother and find out why we do this – what the reason behind it is”

            -- so, the mother called the grandmother and asked, “Why did you always cut the ends off the ham before you put it in the oven?”

            -- the grandmother replied, “That’s simple – my baking pan wasn’t big enough for a whole ham, so I had to cut off the ends to make it fit”

 

            -- just because something has always been done this way or because it is a symbol that has religious value, doesn’t mean it should continue or be elevated to a level of importance above what it stands for -- “when that happens, they cease to be instruments that remind us to walk in the power of the Spirit and instead become idols that tempt us to walk in the power of our flesh”²

-- “The fact that Paul dismisses circumcision as a powerless mark when originally it had been a powerful sign of God’s Spirit is important. It shows us how easily we can put our trust in signs and symbols themselves, rather than in the God to whom they were intended to point us.”²

 

-- and this is not true only of signs and symbols – it can be actions that we are required to do or not do – for instance, in some Christian communities, we are told that we have to dress a certain way to be saved – we are told that we have to vote for a certain political party – or to keep our children out of public schools – or to not drink, smoke, or chew tobacco – or to avoid going to secular movies or listening to secular music

-- and it can involve religious practices – such as what type of baptism is required – whether worship can only be with hymns or whether it can be contemporary praise songs – whether musical instruments can be used in churches – and who can baptize or offer communion

-- in most of these cases, we are creating idols of cultural practices and elevating adherence to the rules above faith in Jesus – that is exactly what the Judaizers were doing – and that is what the council in Jerusalem agreed was wrong

            -- what is more important than circumcision of the body or following cultural rules or norms is circumcision of the heart – faith in Jesus and in His atoning death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins

            -- the physical doesn’t define our faith – it’s about what’s on the inside and the spiritual change that happens there – as Kenny Chesney sang in one of his songs, “Her mama wants to know am I washed in the blood or just in the water”

            -- it doesn’t matter how long you were held under the water when you were baptized, for being washed in the water doesn’t save you – what saves you is the blood of Christ and your belief in Him for salvation and eternal life – by grace, through faith

 

            -- so, don’t put your trust in circumcision or baptism or that cross around your neck or that little Jesus fish on your car – put your trust in Jesus and Jesus alone – for it is only through Him that we are saved – and no other way

            -- let us pray

 

 

 

 

1 Modified from Skye Jethani, 31 July 2026 Devotional, Impressive Ministry and Impressive Flesh

2 Skye Jethani, “With God Daily Devotionals”