The Council of Jerusalem

If you remain standing, please, we'll turn to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

We'll be reading the whole chapter. So do listen and give attention because

what I'm about to read is God's holy and inspired word.

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers,

unless you're circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

After Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them,

Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem

to the apostles and the elders about this question.

So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia

and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and brought

great joy to all the brothers.

When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles

and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.

But some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said,

it is necessary to circumcise them in order to keep the law of Moses.

The apostles and elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them,

brothers, you know that in the early days, God made a choice among you,

that by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knows the hearts, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy

Spirit just as he did to us.

And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the

neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as they will.

And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as

they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

After they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me.

Simon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name.

And with this, the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written.

After this, I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen.

I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it that the remnant of mankind may

seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

says the Lord who makes these things known from of old.

Therefore, my judgment is that we should no longer trouble the Gentiles who

turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by

idols and from sexual immorality and for what has been strangled and from blood.

For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim

him, for he has read in every Sabbath in the synagogues.

Then it seemed good to the apostles and to the elders with the whole church

to choose from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

Then they sent Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leading men among the brothers

with the following letter.

The brothers both, the apostles and the elders to the brothers,

who are the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you

with words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instruction,

it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send

them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives

for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have therefore sent Judas and Silas Who themselves will tell you the same

things By the word of mouth,

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us To lay on you no greater burden

than these requirements,

That you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols And from blood And from

what has been strangled And from sexual immorality If you keep.

These things for yourselves You will do well Farewell So when they were sent

off they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation there,

they delivered the letter.

And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

And Judas and Silas were themselves prophets, and encouraged and strengthened

the brothers with many words.

And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers

to those who had sent them.

But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of

the Lord with many others also.

And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, Let us return to visit the brothers

in every city where we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are.

Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark, but Paul thought it

best not to take them with him, with one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia

and had not gone with him to the work.

There arose a sharp disagreement, so they separated from each other.

Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

But Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to

the grace of the Lord, and they went through Syria and Cilicia,

strengthening the churches. This is the word of the Lord.

You can be seated. Let's pray together.

We ask now, Lord, as we do from week to week, that you would help us,

help us to see your word, hear your word, understand it, and be called most

of all to love and follow Jesus Christ in whose name we pray, amen.

So Acts chapter 15 is almost literally the halfway point.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

By the way, just FYI, I think this week is one year when I first came here.

So I know you think we're going way too fast through the book of Acts.

So I'll slow down then. So Acts chapter 15 is worth slowing down for because

Acts 15 · chapter mention

it's focused on, the name of the sermon is the Council of Jerusalem,

probably because I was at camp and busy and couldn't be as creative or something.

But this Acts chapter 15, most of it does dedicate itself to what we call the

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Council of Jerusalem, the meeting of the church in council there to decide a matter.

It's interesting because what I'm going to try to do today is I'm going to try

to look at the issue of circumcision at that council, but also I'm going to

try my best to do it in the context of the meeting of a church,

the Council of Jerusalem, and the nature of the church.

Oftentimes, the study of church, its government's nature is called ecclesiology.

So I'm going to try to talk about circumcision as it comes forth from this church,

from the Word of God, in the context of the church of Jesus Christ, which we can't miss.

For instance, when you see this controversy arise, you might ask the question,

what happens in a local church when a controversy does arise?

What happens if one group of people begin to say, no, you need to be circumcised

in order to become a Christian or in order to keep the law of Moses,

which is given to Christians?

And Paul and Barnabas are there saying, no, that's not true.

And it says, as an understatement, there was no small dissension. They were fighting.

Okay, let's make no mistake about it. This was a big fight in a local church.

What are you supposed to do in a local church if you have a controversy that

you can't seem to solve yourself?

If you believe, if your ecclesiology or the church government that you have

is that the congregation is the only sole final authority on all such matters,

you have a serious problem.

Because what are you supposed to do if you can't agree? That's what we have.

Paul and Barnabas are out, they're sent, they're missionaries,

they're apostles, they come back, they're told this, this, this,

and they say no, and they can't seem to settle the matter. What are you supposed to do?

Well, church government, the way it's structured in Acts is you call a council.

You call a meeting with other churches. Now, I'm going to anachronistically

sometimes refer to this chapter 15 as the meeting of the First Presbyterian

Church of Jerusalem with First Presbyterian Church at Antioch and Samaria and Judea.

That's exactly the way we structure our church. The reason it says they called

elders, the word for elder in Greek is presbyteros.

Sounds like presbytery or Presbyterian. That's basically where we get our name.

Our church believes in the rule of elders, and we get that model right here from this text.

This text teaches us that the church, local congregations are to be ruled by

elders. How do we know? Paul has already established these elders in local churches,

and there are elders in the church at Antioch.

But what happens when there is a controversy or there's a problem and you can't just sort it out?

Then you gather together other churches, other presbyters, which in our church,

we basically have a congregation ruled by elders.

And then we meet in another meeting called a presbytery, which is the gathering

or council of other pastors and elders where we meet.

And then we also even have a general assembly once a year.

Where do we get this? We get it mainly from this text, Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

There's a church with a problem. What do they do? They appeal to the church

in Jerusalem. What does the church in Jerusalem do? They call it a presbytery meeting.

You can call it a presbytery. You can call it a classist. You can call it a synod.

You can call it a council. Different churches call it different things,

but it's essentially a conciliar meeting of the church in Jerusalem to deal with this matter.

This is the way the church is structured. I'm going to keep going through that in Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

That's sort of what we call church government, but also the nature of the church,

the nature of the church as the gathered people of God.

Remember Jesus said to Peter, on this rock, I will build my church.

The word is ecclesia. That's where we get the word ecclesiology and ecclesiastical

matters and things like that.

What is that word mean? Well, it means to called out ones, but I want you to,

think about this as we keep moving through Acts.

It's not just that God calls out people and saves them.

That never happens in the Bible. He doesn't just say, hallelujah,

you're free, go live a great life. No, it's not just that. Ecclesia means the

called out and gathered ones.

The church are the people of God who have been called out of darkness into his

light and gathered into his presence into the church.

So the church is a necessary institution. And I know you hear,

and I've heard so often in this country, America especially,

Actually, it's a religion, or excuse me, it's a relationship,

not a religion. Sorry, I messed up my own illustration.

It's a relationship, not a religion. So by religion, they mean guys like me

standing up here in robes with elders who rule the church and think they can

organize the church in some way that people don't tend to like.

But it actually is both, you realize that. A relationship with Jesus Christ,

when you're called out, you're called out and gathered with the church, with his people.

It's a relationship with Christ and it brings you into the true religion. It is a religion.

Jesus never said there's no such thing as religion, neither did James.

He said true religion is this, okay?

And so in the book of Acts, we see the church organized, gathered, and meeting.

Where are they meeting? Well, right at the beginning, it says 15,

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers,

unless you're circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

So they're saying it's not enough to just simply trust and believe in Jesus

and follow him. They want to add a burden to people.

They want to add something onto following Jesus Christ as a means of salvation. They say it.

You can't be saved unless you do this according to the custom of Moses.

So boom, right off the bat, there's a controversy. They fight.

Churches do fight. It's nothing wrong necessarily with having a fight. You have to fight fair.

Sometimes you'll have disagreements. You have to sort it out.

And that's what they tried to do. They couldn't quite sort it out, so they appealed.

You'll notice it says, 15 to, after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension

and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the brothers were appointed,

to go. And this word appointed is very specific.

They were sent on a particular mission.

They were given detailed instructions as to what to do. They didn't just say,

why don't you guys go down and talk to the church in Jerusalem?

No, they said, this is what we want you to do.

Here's the controversy. Here's the issue. What are we going to do about it?

Let's have someone deal with this. So they ordered them or instructed them to

go down to the church in Jerusalem and try to deal with this matter.

This is a different word than appointed when it says Paul appointed elders in every city.

Different Greek word. It's translated for some reason in your English as to

appointed and appointed.

When Paul appointed elders in

every city, we see the word actually means selected or chose or elected.

So churches, congregations are to elect elders according to the qualifications.

But in this case, the elders here were sent on a specific mission to Jerusalem.

And verse 3 says, so being sent on their way to the church, they passed both

through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail, so they're going church

by church, describing in detail,

the conversion of the Gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers.

And when they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles,

and they declared all that God had done with them.

But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said,

it is necessary that these people be circumcised. they have to be circumcised

in order to keep the law of Moses.

So in other words, the question of what parts of the Old Testament continue

into the New Testament and what don't continue is a big question.

These guys, the Jewish believers here are saying, you have to keep the law of Moses.

The Council of Jerusalem was then called together as the first major council

in the history of the church in the New Testament.

And it was called to deal with this particular point. And you'll notice,

by the way, it's the church that's dealing with this, not the Sanhedrin,

not the Pharisees, per se. It's the church.

That in and of itself is a significant shift in redemptive history.

The focus of authority and the focus of dealing with these issues is no longer

Jerusalem, per se, or Israel, per se, but the church of Jesus Christ.

That in and of itself is significant, and it's a radical change,

which forecasts to us what's going to happen with the decision with regard to circumcision.

What I want to do then is just look and say quickly, look quickly,

are we together? Look quickly, kind of quickly at circumcision. What is it?

We mentioned it a lot. It's all over the Bible.

It's the hub or the nub of the whole controversy here this morning.

Circumcision, circumcision over and over. Where did it come from?

Where did we get it? Well, we read as far as Abraham is concerned that it came

in Genesis chapter 17 after Moses or Abraham had already been given a promise in Genesis 15.

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

Circumcision itself doesn't seem to have originated uniquely with the Jews.

In other words, there were tribes of nations that circumcised other than the

Jews. Now, there's a big debate.

Some say no, some say yes. I think my conclusion is it looks to me like historically

there were other tribes.

However, the major distinction between those tribes and what Israel did was

that with all those tribes, at least that I've seen, all of them were coming-of-age

ceremonies, manhood ceremonies, in other words.

We actually, when we were in Africa, the tribe we worked with most closely was

the Begisu tribe, and they were famously known, and I mean, or infamously,

whatever you want, famously known for adult male circumcision.

And it was a public event. I won't even begin to go into it and describe it. You can imagine.

It was characterized by all kinds of revelry and debauchery.

I used it in Sunday school a few weeks ago, debauchery. It was a very rotten,

drunken festival. And all of it was focused on manhood.

According to the Begisu legend that Masaba, the original father of the tribe,

was on the mountain, saw a beautiful woman from Kenya.

And she said, I will not marry anyone who's not circumcised.

And so he went and got circumcised. And when he did, he had the strength, the virility of 20 men.

And so every time a Begisu gets circumcised into manhood, they think it means

they're the man of all men.

And they're going to now produce 10, 15, 20 children because they're Gishu.

You're even known, I was walking along the road once, I greeted in the local

language and the guy was surprised. And I said, you know, Kemakawa,

we go through our little thing. And he said, hey, Imbalu, Imbalu,

which means the cut. Are you circumcised?

I said, yes, but no.

I'm not one of you if that's what you mean. So, I mean, it's so characteristic

of their tribe. That's what they're known for.

The same was true of the Jews. The same was very much true of the Jews,

except you'll notice in the initiation right here, it wasn't about male prowess,

or even fertility per se.

It was a humble ceremony for children eight days old.

And it was focused on the foreskin as to focus on the hope of producing a seed, a child.

They wanted someone to come. And that's, of course, in long accord with the

way that Adam and Eve even thought.

Remember, I may have mentioned Adam and Eve. Eve, when she lost her son that

had the struggle with Cain and Abel, she had a son called Seth,

right? And this meant the promised one. And then another son named Noah,

which tended to mean rest.

The naming of Jewish children was all in line with the hope of the promise that

someday God would, through the seed of the woman, bring a savior, bring Messiah.

And this was most pointedly focused on Abraham and his relationship in Genesis chapter 17.

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

It's even marked by the nature of Abraham calling him El Shaddai, God Almighty.

Only God Almighty could produce a child with a hundred year old man and a 90

year old woman. It's virtually a miracle what happens here.

And it comes from, they were connected to this mark of circumcision.

God was going to produce through Abraham's literal body, a seed from whom Messiah

would come and through whom all the nations would be blessed.

It's also very important to note that this circumcision rite was also a covenant with the children.

This is, again, I'm going to try to weave as many different things in here as

I can, because as we noticed that the relationship between circumcision and

baptism, many Baptists will say, well, where does it say in the Bible you should include children?

The question is, where does it say you should not include them because they've always been included.

And here in this particular bloody ceremony, children were included in this,

circumcised, and they're, as they're circumcised, dedicated entirely to the

Lord, just as what we do in baptism.

Did circumcision mean that every child that was born was saved? Of course not.

No more so than baptizing every one of our babies means that we believe it automatically

saves them. We don't teach that.

It's always the question you get for some reason when people say,

well, why do you baptize your babies unless you believe it's saved.

Why did they circumcise their children?

Because those children were dedicated through that ceremony to the Lord and to the hope of Messiah.

You'll notice it's not just a bloody ceremony physically. It's also a ceremony

that's indicating to Israel that God wanted to cut away the foreskin of their

heart, so to speak. It's an issue of the heart.

In Deuteronomy 10, Moses directs the Israelites. He says, I want you therefore

to circumcise the foreskin of your hearts because you've been so stubborn.

Cut away anything that's been hindering you and stopping you from loving the Lord in your heart.

Leviticus 26, when Israel, that if Israel confesses her iniquity,

that those of her fathers, quote, if their uncircumcised hearts would be humbled.

So circumcision wasn't merely about a physical ceremony. Circumcision was to

put their heart and hope in the coming of Messiah, in their lives,

in the lives of their children and generation after generation after generation.

Circumcision appears in the major prophets. When the prophets were saying,

you guys are hard-hearted, you guys are stubborn, they would refer to them as

uncircumcised, even though we know physically they were circumcised.

And Yahweh your Lord will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants

to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. Deuteronomy 30.

So doubtless, the promise was physical, but also as doubtless,

the promise was pointing to the hearts of the people of Israel.

Jeremiah 9, it says, Behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh the Lord,

that I will punish all those who are circumcised and with the uncircumcised.

Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon and Moab, they will all come from the

farthest corners of the earth who dwell in the wilderness.

For all these nations are uncircumcised

and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts.

In their heart. So the Israelites were given this sign as a hope.

It's a sign dedicated to the idea of procreation and a seed,

a child, a Messiah would come to it.

It's also indication that their heart should be set on Messiah and the hope

of Messiah, but it was also a national symbol of who they were.

It was part of their identity.

Just like my friend wanted to say, Imbalú, are you cut? Have you been circumcised?

Then you're a man of our tribe. You're a Gishu. The same thing with these people.

It was actually part of their identity as Jews.

You'll notice in the story of David and Goliath, when he yells out,

David spoke to the man who stood there saying, what shall be done for the man

who kills the Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?

For who is this uncircumcised Philistine? Remember that story?

What does this uncircumcised person think he's doing challenging the circumcised,

those who belong to the Lord?

Notice when he went into that battle, he said, I come to you in the name of the Lord God of Israel.

My people are circumcised, set aside, dedicated to the Lord,

and the Lord will have victory here.

So it's a sign of identity. The question then becomes, well,

I thought it said, and you heard it read, that it was an everlasting covenant,

everlasting covenant, because that's exactly what these guys were saying.

Wait a minute. Yeah, they can be Christians.

Yes, they can believe in Jesus because he's Messiah, but we still have to be

circumcised because it's called an everlasting covenant.

Many of our brothers in Protestant churches everywhere still teach this.

That yes, Christians are true. Yes, you can get saved. Yes, there's a church.

But since the promises were everlasting, since they were forever,

there's going to be another day when Israel will rise again, et cetera, et cetera.

But when Paul teaches about it, he teaches about it differently.

He teaches it as a sign dedicated to the coming of the one who it was focused

on, which is Jesus. Are we together?

I look a little tired. I know, I know, I can see it. It's about church theology

and ecclesiology and stuff.

But circumcision was given to Israel.

And after that, he said, this will be an everlasting covenant.

What did he mean by that if now we don't circumcise? because Paul later will

say, circumcision and uncircumcision don't matter anymore. It's finished. It's done.

How can he say such things? Well, one of the issues was the everlasting character

of the covenant was pointing on faith in Messiah and faith itself,

not with works, not with added things, but faith.

Circumcision was not a work you did in order to get saved. It was something

that you did because you dedicated yourself to God.

It didn't save you. It didn't add anything to you, even though the Israelites

thought that it did. we are the circumcised, they are the uncircumcised.

But Paul reminds us that Abram was given this sign after he had already been given the promise.

Circumcision was not at the heart of the promise, it was after.

Romans chapter 4, he says, does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised

Romans 4 · chapter mention

only, or upon the uncircumcised also?

For we say that faith was accounted to Abram for righteousness.

How then was it accounted?

While he was circumcised or uncircumcised. So when did he get this faith?

Before or after circumcision?

Not while circumcised, Paul says, but while uncircumcised. And he received the

sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith.

Which he had while he was still uncircumcised. That he might be the father of

all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also.

And the father of circumcision to those who not only are the circumcision,

but also to those who walk in the steps of faith, which our father Abraham had

when he was still uncircumcised.

The promise and the eternal character of the promise has nothing to do with

this constituent part circumcision, but with the faith in Messiah and the hope

in the one who was to come.

And that sign was pointing them to that seed. That's why it's related to the idea of procreation.

The sign itself was going to be temporary until Messiah came.

And then once Messiah has come, what are you circumcising for?

Why do you circumcise in the hope of Messiah when Messiah has come?

And the sign to which this circumcision pointed has been fulfilled in Jesus

Christ. That will be the argument. That is the argument. That's what Paul said.

So how is it an everlasting covenant? Because it says it, this will be an everlasting

covenant. The same way the priesthood was an everlasting covenant.

Listen to Exodus, it says, you shall anoint them and have priests.

They may minister you as priests for the anointing shall surely be an everlasting

priesthood throughout all the generations. Wait a minute, do we have priests today? Of course not.

Because in Jesus, our great high priest, he has fulfilled all the functions

and all the ceremonies that were taught about in the Old Testament priesthood.

The same with the sacrificial system. And now the same with circumcision and

the same with the land and the same with the temple and the same with all of

those ordinances which were driving and teaching them to come to Jesus Christ.

That's why Paul in Romans 10 can say, Christ is the end of the law.

But that word end does not mean finished like terminus. The word there that's

used is a great Greek word. Everyone should read it, love it,

put it under your pillow, something.

It's the word telos. It doesn't mean Christ is the end of the law,

like everything's finished. It means Christ is the purpose.

You have a telescope, you know, you're able to see to the end, to the other side.

So a telos, Christ is the end. He's the reason the law was given.

You've heard this from me many times in many different ways.

The same with circumcision and the church is having to reconcile with this because

the Jewish people wanted the religion to be a Jewish religion.

And it was not going to ever be a Jewish religion. It was going to be a Jewish

religion pointing to the coming of Messiah, who would be,

the Savior of all the nations, which they should have seen in the promise itself,

because Abram's name was changed no longer from Father, but the Father of many nations.

So we have this situation where the people are trying to hold on to their Jewish

identity and trying to require Christians to maintain and keep a Jewish identity, which is not required.

Christ alone singularly will be the seed. That's interesting too.

When Paul speaks about Christ as the seed, not seeds plural,

but the seed, the fulfillment of the promise of circumcision.

It ought to be observed that the fruition of Abrahamic covenant was dependent

on walking blamelessly before the Lord. No one could do that until Jesus came

and he walked blamelessly for us.

And now in the blameless work of Jesus Christ, we stand free.

We stand free from all of the obligations to which we might have done under the law.

Paul says this in Galatians, he says, you have become estranged from Christ,

you who attempt to be justified by the law, you have fallen from grace.

For we through the spirit eagerly wait for the hope of the righteousness by faith.

Verse six, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails

anything but faith working through love.

There is nothing we are able to add to the work of Jesus Christ,

whether circumcision or uncircumcision or any keeping of the law or anything else.

But only in Christ, blameless righteousness do we stand.

Paul uses it as a supreme example.

He says, blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are

covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not or does not impute sin.

Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only or also the uncircumcised?

And we read that story where he said, it comes by faith in Jesus Christ alone,

by faith in Jesus Christ. This is the only means by which we receive liberty and freedom.

And I want to mention this by way of closing, and this is where I want to keep

the ecclesiology here together with the theology. It's interesting to note that

it comes through the church of Jesus Christ.

The church of Jesus Christ. Now, that's ironic because if I would say to you,

today I'm proclaiming to you liberty and freedom. This is our 250th anniversary,

right? Liberty and freedom.

You'd say, yay, America. And I'm all excited. Most Americans think liberty and

freedom means I can do whatever I want.

I'm free. No one tells me what to do. Ask most 18-year-olds.

They turn 18. They're like, yeah, I can do what I want to do. I'm free.

Hallelujah. I'm free. Well, it's ironic, actually, that this,

proclamation of freedom in this council and every day in churches that are faithful

to the word of God, it's ironic that the proclamation of freedom comes to us

not in some democratic convention,

or some meeting of the anniversary of the republic.

In fact, it's deeply ironic because as Americans, we threw off a king, didn't we?

We threw him off. I may have been maybe the only American a few months ago that

when King Charles II came, I didn't appreciate it.

I needed what my grandpa, my grandpa used to have this thing that he called

a TV brick. It was made of foam, looked just like a brick.

He used to throw it at Walter Cronkite.

Those of you guys don't even remember him, but he used to say,

that guy's a liar. Well, I wished I would have had a TV brick when Charles II

was on there because I didn't appreciate having a monarch come back to my nation

and tell me what to do when we kicked those guys out 250 years ago, right?

And I might add, that tends to be the way Americans think. Like, we don't need a king.

We're a democratic republic. We're free people. We're independent-minded.

In fact, I think it actually characterizes Christianity in America,

this whole idea that we are free, independent thinkers.

There's a good book I would like to recommend to you, for those of you who read

the books I recommend, But it's called The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan Hatch.

He covers like 1780 to 1845, basically the second Great Awakening period in

America where most Americans became extremely independent.

And the one institution that they wanted to throw off very quickly wasn't just

the monarchy, but it was the church.

The Church of Jesus Christ. Guys who would have shown up at revival meetings

with this thing on, a robe, might've gotten kicked out.

This is in fact the time when robes went out of fashion in America between 1780 and maybe the Civil War.

Before that, everybody wore a robe, some kind of a robe, Protestants, Catholics, everybody.

But now pastors don't want robes, why? Because robes symbolize some kind of

authority, which they should.

Neutrality, I hope. But once in a while, I squeeze in my King Charles things, you'll forgive me.

But on the whole, the pastor is supposed to preach the word of God neutrally

and with authority, so that by the end of it, something that he said,

some way should be connected to, thus says the Lord.

You must do these things. You must believe these things. It's not democratic at all.

You don't get a vote on it. The church, by the way, is not a democracy. It is a monarchy.

Our king rules the church. When we talk about ecclesiology, when we talk about

what's happening in Acts, we can go all the way back to the beginning, to the ascension,

when Jesus was disappearing and vanishing in that great glory cloud presence

and ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

And then he said, wait, and I'll send you this Holy Spirit. And they did.

And from there, they began to move out with genuine authority.

No one voted on Jesus.

And you don't get to vote on Jesus either. He is the King of Kings and the Lord

of Lords. And from there, he has sent the apostles to establish a church.

He sent the church to have elders and councils and other things.

It is a religion and it's organized under a monarch, King Jesus.

Not only in the time period when Hatch was outlining, the whole idea of Americans

thinking that they should be the ones who, let me quote from Lorenzo Dow,

a famous Methodist minister.

He said, this is, this is the 1820s, this is the age of inquiry in which individuals

have to learn to think for themselves and take matters into their own hands,

like Americans do, right?

Independent individuals think for themselves and they certainly don't need a

church telling them what to do or a bishop or a pastor telling them what to

do because they wanna be free.

But here in our text, we see that freedom comes with organization and order

and submission to each other and listening to the words of the apostles and

following the Word of God and making your conclusion from the Word of God only.

That theology, by the way, I knew when I grew up as a kid, I was basically told

once, your own destiny is your own vote.

That's right. You've got the right to vote. You can vote, go to heaven. I mean, think about it.

You can vote for heaven or vote for hell. It's like you are in charge.

You'll notice that was not ever the message of the apostles.

They didn't go around pleading for Jesus, for people to accept Jesus into their

heart as their personal savior.

They proclaimed Jesus Christ. They always went through that.

Jesus came, he died, he rose again, and he's ascended.

Now repent of your sins and follow him and believe in him.

No votes, no democracy. It was a monarchy. King Jesus through the church,

telling the people of the world to repent of their sins and come to him.

And there you'll find freedom.

That's the only place you're going to find freedom, in Jesus Christ.

And ironically, it comes through a king, through his church to the people,

and it's liberating and it's freeing.

Jesus Christ, if we're going to talk about ecclesiology and what's happening

here in the story, of the book of Acts, it starts with a king.

Sends the Spirit to the apostles, to the church, and they, with that Spirit,

go out and organize churches and plant churches and raise up lampstands and

lightstands where the light of Christ can shine forth to the world through churches.

If I haven't said it enough over and over again, the Church of Jesus Christ

is absolutely necessary, absolutely necessary for our freedom.

It's not a binding institution where, gee, I have to join, or the elders are

going to tell me what to do, what's going to happen.

No, if you want freedom, freedom, come to Jesus Christ and come to his church

and submit to his church and serve his church.

And therein you'll find freedom because Jesus is the king.

And by the way, you'll notice the apostles are rejoicing by the end of it.

And when someone says yes to Jesus Christ, they also say yes to the church.

And by the way, as we sort this out, we'll talk about the difference between

a true church and a false church and other things.

But we can assume here in Acts chapter 15, this is the true church.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

This is the apostolic church meeting in council and proclaiming liberty to the captives and freedom.

We're no longer under any bondage, any laws that we have to fulfill in order to be saved.

And ironically, it's not a democratic situation. It's a monarchy.

You want true freedom? Come and worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That's what happens.

The revelation, we're reminded here, it says, I saw a mighty angel proclaiming

with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

Who could do this for you?

Who could give you your liberty? Who could give you your freedom?

Who could forgive your sins? No one except Jesus.

He's looking around. He says, these are the scrolls of life and death.

These are the scrolls of heaven and hell, the scrolls of judgment,

the names in whom the book of life, your name is either written or not.

Who can do this? Who can open it? No one in heaven on earth or under the earth

was able to open the scroll or to look into it.

So he said, I began to weep loudly because no one was worthy to open or look into the scroll.

But then one of the elders said, weep no more for behold, the lion of the tribe

of Judah, the root of David has conquered. It's exactly what the apostles are teaching, isn't it?

Look, brothers, we don't have to be Jewish. This is not a Jewish thing anymore.

This is a worldwide phenomena where the root of David, the rod of Jesse has come.

The one who fulfilled circumcision itself has come to us and has conquered so

that he now can open the scrolls.

Of course, the response was what? Praise and worship and thanksgiving.

Thousands upon thousands say, worthy is the lamb who was slain.

It is through his blood and through his cross that we find liberty in him.

And that comes through the church. It's an institution.

And the church of Jesus Christ in heaven is now singing, worthy is the lamb

who was slain to receive all power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

And every creature in heaven and on earth and under the sea was saying,

to him who sits on the throne, to the lamb of God, be blessing and honor and

glory and might forever and ever.

Amen. Let's pray.

Lord, how we thank you for Jesus Christ. We thank you that Christ has given us a church.

Where would we be without your church? Oh, Lord, thank you for the church.

Thank you for giving your church, your Holy Spirit and your word.

And as your word is proclaimed from this church and many other churches across

this land, may you bless your church and bless the people here,

oh Lord, our God, with a hope of forgiveness of sins through the lamb who was

slain before the foundations of the world.

We praise you and thank you for how you even will feed us now in this Lord's

Supper as those who are forgiven in Christ. In whose name we pray, amen.