1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,440 Second Peter chapter #3 Second Peter chapter 3 in the Word of 8 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,440 God, if you would, and when you have found that, if you would 9 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,080 put your ribbon in Galatians chapter #2 if your Bible happens 10 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,760 to have one of those newfangled ribbons that are out there now, 11 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,160 that would be a good thing to turn to Galatians chapter 2, 12 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:43,520 'cause we're going to go over there in just a few moments, but 13 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,440 we are in Second Peter chapter #3 as we've marched through 14 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,960 first and second Peter over the last couple of years. 15 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,680 And you can see that, boy, we are really, really close to the 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,680 end. In fact, so much so that by the 17 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,120 time we are done with the message today, we will only have 18 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:03,440 one verse left in Second Peter. So Galatians chapter #2 is where 19 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,760 your ribbon will be. But then turn to Second Peter 20 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,080 chapter #3 and that's where we will start today. 21 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,360 But Speaking of all those things and finishing up the series and 22 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,320 all that, we're not just really finishing up the series. 23 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:16,640 In many ways, we're finishing up Peter's life, aren't we? 24 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:18,840 I mean, because these are the final words that have been 25 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:23,560 inspired of the Holy Spirit. And the shadow of death is 26 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,720 looming across the pages here as we're in this last chapter. 27 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,200 And the shadow of death is in the shape of an upside down 28 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:35,640 cross because history tells us that is how Peter will die, That 29 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,960 he was told that he was to be crucified, but desired not to be 30 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:42,520 crucified in the way that Jesus was because he did not believe 31 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,000 himself to be worthy, to be sacrificed in the way that Jesus 32 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,360 was. And so crucified up died down is 33 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,000 what history tells us that he was. 34 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,800 And we've seen Peter now for a long time, haven't we? 35 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,200 We've seen him from the Gospels when he was a rough and tumble 36 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,400 fisherman. We saw him when he was the 37 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,840 disciple who had the foot shaped mouth, you know, the one that 38 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:03,960 always said the wrong thing at the wrong time. 39 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,640 It's one of the reasons why so many of us, we feel like we 40 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,960 identify with Peter so much because of how erratic he was 41 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,240 and how he said things that he usually regretted later. 42 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,000 And so we saw him in that way in the Gospels, turned into almost 43 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,960 elder statesman by the time you get to the book of Acts and his 44 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,840 life changes as the Holy Spirit really doesn't work within his 45 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,440 life. And then through first and 46 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,680 second Peter, you see a growth and a maturity in him that never 47 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,520 could have fathomed, that you never could have imagined when 48 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,360 you first read the Gospels and were introduced to this 49 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,920 character named Peter. Well, here in today's message, 50 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:40,720 as we look at these final verses, well almost all of the 51 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,520 final verses of the book of Second Peter, I want us to look 52 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:49,840 at perhaps the greatest sign of spiritual maturity in Peter's 53 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:51,600 life. You say, well, well, what could 54 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,320 that be, pastor? Was it the fact that he preached 55 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,120 so powerfully in the book of Acts compared to his denial of 56 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,280 Christ in the Gospels? You might say it was his 57 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,320 boldness that we find later on in his life compared to the 58 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,160 brashness that he exhibited before. 59 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,480 You could say maybe it was his leadership that he exemplified 60 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,880 as the church began to grow compared to his impetuousness 61 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,240 when we first found him in the Gospels. 62 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,320 There's a lot of different things that you could look at, 63 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,520 but perhaps my answer to this morning from God's Word is one 64 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,360 that could be surprising to you. And the fact of Peter's 65 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,600 maturity, the fact that we see that Peter has grown over the 66 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,360 years compared to the man that we first met in the Gospels, is 67 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,000 this. Are you ready that he was able 68 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,680 to get along with others? The fact that we can see Peter's 69 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,320 spiritual maturity is exemplified here in Second Peter 70 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,560 chapter #3 in these final closing verses was that he could 71 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:52,760 get along with others. And then maybe if I could add 72 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:53,800 something to it, it would be this. 73 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,520 And then he enjoyed it because many of us can get along with 74 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:02,160 others, but we do it with teeth grit and fists clench. 75 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,440 Boy, it's quiet this morning. Let me tell you, I'm already 76 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,160 seeing it is so quiet this morning. 77 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,200 And there's sometimes it's because you're tired and 78 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,320 sometimes because, you know, oh, I think he's talking about me. 79 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,280 Well, listen, I'm not trying to talk about you and I'm not 80 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:16,440 necessarily trying to talk about me. 81 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,560 It just may be the Holy Spirit reminds us that although we know 82 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:22,520 that we're supposed to be Christians, other Christians, 83 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,880 and that we're supposed to be the right type of church member 84 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,320 with other types of church members, getting along with 85 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,320 Christians isn't always the easiest thing. 86 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,720 And by the way, it might just be that we're not the easiest ones 87 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:36,800 to get along with all the time either. 88 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:39,480 And so as we look at these verses, I want us to look at 89 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,160 spiritual maturity in the light of Peter's life and the fact 90 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,640 that one of the ways that we know that he has grown so much 91 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,680 is the fact that he got along with others even when things 92 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,080 were difficult, and he learned to like it. 93 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:52,920 Would you please stand for the reading of God's Word? 94 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,560 And second, Peter chapter #3 we'll begin in verse #14 and 95 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,560 we'll actually read into verse #18 the final verse, but we'll 96 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,240 stop short of finishing the book. 97 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,760 The Bible says this. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that 98 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,680 you look for such things, be diligent, that you may be found 99 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,440 of Him in peace, without spot and blameless. 100 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,280 An account that the long-suffering of our Lord is 101 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:19,320 salvation, even as our beloved Brother Paul also, according to 102 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,280 the wisdom given unto Him, hath written unto you, as also in all 103 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:26,880 his Epistles, speaking in them of those things in which are 104 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,160 some things hard to be understood, which they that are 105 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,880 unlearned and unstable, rest, as they do also the other 106 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,200 Scriptures, unto their own destruction. 107 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:40,600 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware 108 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,160 lest ye also being LED away with the error of the wicked, fall 109 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,080 from your own Steadvatis. And we'll end with these first 4 110 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:54,400 words of verse #18. But grow in grace in light of 111 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,520 always seen. Paul is going to end, or Peter, 112 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,640 rather, is going to end this epistle with an appeal to grow 113 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,680 in grace. And we'll look more at that last 114 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,920 next week or the next time we are together in our set text. 115 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,080 But I do want us to consider that everything we're going to 116 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,560 see is because Peter has learned to grow in grace, so he's able 117 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,280 to show some spiritual maturity to others as well. 118 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:14,800 You'll be seated. Let's pray together. 119 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,040 Heavenly Father, do pray to you be with us here today. 120 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,320 Help me as I present your word to be able to present it in such 121 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:25,240 a way that's understandable that it's helpful. 122 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:27,680 Lord, help us as we deal with others. 123 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,160 And it's not always easy. And Lord, we're not always easy 124 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,200 to be dealt with. And so I pray that you help us 125 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,720 to learn to grow and to be able to be the church that you have 126 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,480 called us to be. And we do ask it in Jesus name, 127 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:41,600 Amen. Well, what's interesting here is 128 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,840 we look at Peter's life as we see that Peter is now going to 129 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:49,200 mention Paul in these final words of his epistle. 130 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,200 And again, we've recognized the last several weeks that when you 131 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,720 get to the end of someone's life or you get to the end of 132 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,840 someone's record of testimony, that the final things they say 133 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:00,920 speak volumes about them and it speaks volumes about what's 134 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,920 important to them. So the fact that Paul is 135 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,680 mentioned by Peter in our text here is 1. 136 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,960 Not a mistake because well this Bible that we have in front of 137 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,920 us is inspired by the Holy Spirit. 138 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,200 But I believe it is Peters very heart to be able to mention 139 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:16,960 Paul. And when he mentions Paul he 140 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,040 mentions them in some pretty glowing terms doesn't he? 141 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,640 He speaks very high of Paul. We know first of all, he speaks 142 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,360 highly of him because in verse #15 he calls him this, our 143 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,560 beloved brother are beloved brother. 144 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,560 Now remember, sometimes we call people around here brother or 145 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,720 sister. And it's a reminder that we find 146 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,480 in the Word of God that the brethren that when they were in 147 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,160 church, that when they were around other believers 148 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,800 oftentimes called each other brother and sister. 149 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,520 And by the way, it's not some kind of weird cultish thing. 150 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,360 It's just the idea is that when you get saved, you got a new 151 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,400 family. When you get saved, we're not 152 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,640 saying you replace your old family, but we're just saying 153 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,360 this, that you have gained a new family in Christ. 154 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,400 I'm thankful for the family that I have in Christ here at Liberty 155 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,400 Baptist Church that many times are closer to me than my own 156 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,200 blood family. I don't have much family to 157 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,480 speak of. What I have is extended family 158 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,040 and fairly extended family. But what's left is my father 159 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,080 and, and really well, I have an uncle and an aunt that live a 160 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:12,760 little bit away, but I'm an only child. 161 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,880 And so I don't have a lot by way of family, but I have God's 162 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,040 family and I'm thankful for God's family. 163 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,160 So I'm thankful to call brothers and sisters in Christ that. 164 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,800 Yes, you are. And so here is Peter saying our 165 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,880 beloved brother Paul, that he's not just calling brother, but 166 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,360 he's beloved. And listen, we may have brothers 167 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,040 and sisters in Christ here, but we don't always call them 168 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,039 beloved. Let that sink in for a second. 169 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:38,919 Yeah, that's how some of you want to say that, but you 170 00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:39,559 couldn't. All right. 171 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,799 But, but, but one man had the boldness that nobody else did, 172 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:44,400 right? We don't always call him 173 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:48,160 beloved, but he says, no, they are my he's my beloved brother. 174 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,200 And he acknowledges the wisdom that was given unto him. 175 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,640 He says Paul is beloved. He's my brother, He's wise. 176 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,800 There's wisdom that has been given unto him. 177 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,960 And then in verse #16 he says there's been some detractors. 178 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,400 There have been some people who have tried to twist the 179 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,120 scriptures that he's written. And he acknowledges that Paul's 180 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,840 writings are the Scriptures. I think that's an important 181 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,000 thing for us to realize that here is Peter who is talking 182 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,000 about the copies of the Word of God that have been made and 183 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,880 disseminated throughout Asia Minor that time and beyond. 184 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,880 And here is Peter saying that those copies of the Word of God 185 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:21,680 have been preserved and they're the scriptures. 186 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,320 And it reminds us that God is in the business of preserving his 187 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,360 scriptures. By the way, he still preserves 188 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,720 the scriptures today. The fact that we can know that 189 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:31,680 we have the word of God, that you don't have to worry about 190 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:34,800 what you have in your hands today, that you can have hold of 191 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,760 the very words of God inspired by the Holy Spirit and preserved 192 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,080 throughout the generations. Isaiah 40, verse 8, the grass 193 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,920 withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall 194 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:48,680 stand forever. And thank the Lord that we can 195 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:52,800 know we have God's word. And so here is Peter and he's 196 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,240 talking about Paul. He says he's beloved and he's my 197 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,600 brother and he's wise. And he kind of comes to his 198 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:00,920 defense and he says, there's these false teachers that are 199 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,240 out there and they're twisting Paul's words and they're trying 200 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,920 to take his words in the Scriptures and to make them into 201 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,760 something or not. And Peter's devoting his some of 202 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,920 his last words, the last part of his parchment, the last ink that 203 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,080 he has to write here by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 204 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,960 as this way of talking about his beloved brother Paul. 205 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:23,000 And I don't know what some of you were thinking this morning. 206 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:23,840 You're thinking something like that. 207 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:30,200 Well, big deal. So Peter knew Paul, Paul knew 208 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,920 Peter, they were friends, they liked one another. 209 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:34,920 What's the big deal about that, pastor? 210 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,480 Well, the big deal about that was this, that Peter and Paul's 211 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:44,520 relationship wasn't always rosy, that Peter and Paul didn't 212 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,400 always get along. You say, well, where? 213 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,000 Where could we find that in the Word of God, believe it or not, 214 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,280 where your ribbon is? Galatians chapter #2 So turn if 215 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,480 you would save your spot here in Second Peter chapter #3 but go 216 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,840 to Galatians chapter #2 and I want to go pick it right up 217 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:02,000 because you've already got it saved. 218 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,080 Galatians chapter 2. Let's look at verse #1 It says. 219 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,320 Then 14 years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with 220 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:10,520 Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. 221 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,400 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that the 222 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,680 gospel which I preach under the Gentiles, but privately to them 223 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,760 which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or 224 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,320 I'd run in vain. Neither Titus, who was with me, 225 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,640 being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 226 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,520 And that because of false brethren unaware is brought in, 227 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,640 who came in privilege to spy out our liberty which we have in 228 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,360 Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage to whom we 229 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,520 have placed by subjection. No, not for an hour that the 230 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:41,640 truth of the gospel might continue with you, but of these 231 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,000 who seem to be somewhat whosoever they were, it maketh 232 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,280 no matter to me. God accepted no man's person, 233 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,960 for they who seem to be somewhat in conference added nothing to 234 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,040 me. Verses #1 through 6. 235 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,000 And we'll stop right there. Introduce a great debate that 236 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,840 was taking place in the church during that time. 237 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,600 And that great debate was this was that obviously that when we 238 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,560 look at the Gospels that the gospel was being being preached 239 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,280 to the Jews that we find that very rarely were there gentiles. 240 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,280 Sometimes there were Samaritans and there was a Syrophoenician 241 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,680 woman, the Bible says, who would have been a Gentile, but for the 242 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:18,480 most part that Jesus earthly ministry based in Judea would 243 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,080 have been to the Jews. But it was never the fact that 244 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:23,640 it was only supposed to stay with the Jews. 245 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,160 Acts chapter one verse 8 tells us the gospel is to go to 246 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,400 Jerusalem, Judea and to Samaria and yes, to the uttermost parts 247 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:32,160 of the earth. Paul will write later on in 248 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,040 Romans chapter one verse 16, he says for the power, for I'm not 249 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:38,760 ashamed of the gospel of Christ for is the power of God and the 250 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,160 salvation to everyone that believes to the Jew 1st and also 251 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,960 to the Greek being the Gentile. And so the gospel had gone to 252 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,840 the Jews first, but now Gentiles are getting saved. 253 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,040 And by the way, they're getting saved in very, very large 254 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:53,720 numbers. But that means that these 255 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,680 Gentiles are coming into the church and they're bringing in 256 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:59,400 with them their practices. They're bringing in with them 257 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,400 their ways of living that are not Jewish ways of living. 258 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,320 Well, the Jews, the males would have been circumcised For the 259 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,280 Gentiles, that would not have been the case. 260 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,320 For the Jews, they would have eaten in a way that we would 261 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:14,000 call similar to kosher today, and to the Gentiles, they would 262 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,840 not. And so there was this culture 263 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,680 shock that was there within those local churches where the 264 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:22,160 Jews had lived a certain way, the Gentiles had lived a certain 265 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:23,800 way. And now they're coming in 266 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,520 together and the Jews are saying this in the church. 267 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,080 Well, if the Gentiles come in, shouldn't they live like the 268 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,880 Jews? And the answer to that was this. 269 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,200 Well, no, that's not the way they were supposed to live. 270 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:37,040 They were supposed to live in Christ. 271 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,360 That when Jesus Christ had died on the cross and his blood was 272 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,520 shed, that the Bible says the veil was rented to in the 273 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,520 temple, and that the old Sacramento way of living had 274 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,760 been abolished because there was a new, better way of living in 275 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,520 Jesus Christ. The perfect sacrifice. 1 276 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,560 Sacrifice for all mankind for all time. 277 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:59,400 That those things were put away of the sacrifices of the bulls 278 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,360 and the goats and the types of eating in those types of things. 279 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,680 None of those were ever necessary to save a person 280 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:07,640 anyway. That that wasn't what God was 281 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:09,680 using those for in the 1st place. 282 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,520 All of them were figures to point to a future redemption. 283 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:15,880 And so here are the Jews that say, well, we've always lived 284 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:17,760 this way. And here's the Gentiles who are 285 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,960 coming into the church and they had this question about the 286 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,640 Jews. Should the Gentiles live like 287 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:25,560 us? And there's friction and people 288 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,400 are not necessarily happy with one another. 289 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,680 You find this in Acts chapter 6. You find Peter deals with it 290 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,880 when God calls him to go talk to the Gentiles, and he has to put 291 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,440 a vision in front of him so that he understands that, yes, it's 292 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,640 OK to preach the gospel to a Gentile. 293 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,640 And so for you and I, we don't think that's a big deal today. 294 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,160 I look around and we see all different shades of color. 295 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,160 We see people who talk different language and we realize, listen, 296 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,240 listen, this is the way God intends it. 297 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,640 I'll say that again. This is the way God intends it. 298 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:55,280 That's the way heaven's going to be, Amen. 299 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:57,760 That we're going to have different people's shades and 300 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,400 different languages and different places, but yet that 301 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,160 God has united us all through our commonality in Jesus Christ. 302 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,680 And aren't we thankful for that? But they were struggling with 303 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,240 this in a very different way with the Jewish and the Gentile. 304 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,360 And there was this great debate, but then they came to a great 305 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:14,560 decision. Come to verse #7 Look with me. 306 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,320 It says this, but contrary wise, when they saw that the gospel of 307 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,400 the uncircumcision was committed unto me as the gospel, the 308 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,720 circumcision was unto Peter, For he that wrought effectually, and 309 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:27,800 Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was 310 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:29,360 mighty and me toward the Gentiles. 311 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,400 And when James Cephus and John, who seemed to be pillars 312 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:36,160 perceived that the grace that was given unto me, they gave to 313 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,960 me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go 314 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,240 into the heathen and and they under the circumcision only that 315 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,800 they would only they would that we should remember the poor and 316 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,120 the same which I also was forward to do. 317 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,640 So this great decision was this was they said, well, there's 318 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,440 missionary work that needs to be done. 319 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,880 There's people that need to hear in the great beyond. 320 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,360 And So what they decided to do was that that Peter was going to 321 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,800 have the realm of influence that he mostly was going to preach to 322 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,920 the Jews and that Paul's realm of influence is he's going to 323 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,840 mostly to preach to the Gentiles. 324 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,800 Now to make clear, Peter preached Jews and Gentiles, Paul 325 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,080 preached to Jews and Gentiles. Acts chapter. 326 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,760 Well the book of Acts makes that abundantly clear. 327 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:18,480 I'm not going to give you 1 chapter because the whole book 328 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:20,800 of Acts makes that clear that they preach to everybody. 329 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:25,280 Listen, if they had a beating heart and a sinful soul, then 330 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,600 they were going to be preached to by either Peter or Paul. 331 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,400 But we would say that Peter's fear of influence was going to 332 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,560 be to the Jews and Paul's fear of influence was going to be 333 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,600 more to the Gentiles. And they had decided on this and 334 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,240 there would not be a problem. But they all came to the 335 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,280 decision that, listen, we're all one in Christ, then we're going 336 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,680 to come together in church, Jew and Gentile. 337 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,040 And our identity in church is this Jesus Christ, not our 338 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,720 ethnic or any other type of background. 339 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,000 We identify in Jesus Christ. And so everything is great. 340 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,760 Listen, Paul's got his sphere, Peter's got his sphere. 341 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,440 They both are leaders in these early churches. 342 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,240 And so everything seems to be going great. 343 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:07,000 But there's not just this big decision, there's going to be a 344 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,280 big debacle that's going to take place. 345 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:11,680 There's a very big problem. Someone could check on that. 346 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:13,720 That would be great. All right, that sounds, that 347 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:15,119 sounds good. As long as someone saw in the 348 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:16,480 building in half, all right, we're fine. 349 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,800 So I was trying not to acknowledge what was going on, 350 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:20,359 but I see everyone looking around. 351 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:21,359 Everyone sit down. We're OK. 352 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:23,520 We're OK, but we got people that are looking into it. 353 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,480 All right, thank you. But it was a great debacle. 354 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,320 What is that debacle? Well, here it is in verse #11 355 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,400 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I was stood him in the 356 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,680 face. That doesn't sound good, does 357 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,240 it? When Peter was come to Antioch, 358 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,600 I was stood into the face, because he was to be blamed for 359 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,240 before the certain, before that certain came from James, and he 360 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,920 did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were come he 361 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,440 withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the 362 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,640 circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled 363 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,160 likewise with him in so much that Barnabas also was carried 364 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,760 away with their dissimulation. You say what exactly is 365 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,120 happening here? Well, Peter comes to visit Paul 366 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:07,480 and some of the others like Barnabas there in Antioch. 367 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:11,720 And Antioch is a Gentile church, and so they're having a meal and 368 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:13,760 they had to have been Baptist because they're having a meal 369 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,320 together in the church. There's no doubt in my mind is 370 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,480 the First Baptist Church, Antioch, because they're having 371 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,440 a potluck and everyone's together and everyone's having a 372 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:22,680 good time. And here is Peter. 373 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,720 Now, what is Peter's sphere of influence? 374 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:26,520 His sphere of influence was the Jews. 375 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,560 Now he preached to Jews and Gentiles, but his sphere of 376 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,320 influence was the Jews. And here he is at this potluck 377 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:36,800 in this church in Antioch, and he's sitting with a bunch of 378 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,720 Gentiles. But look at this. 379 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,440 A group of Jews show up and they sit down at a different table. 380 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:49,160 And Peter looks at them and whether it's embarrassment, 381 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,920 whether it's shame, whether he feels like he is being peer 382 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:59,280 pressured into it, he gets up from his table with the Gentiles 383 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:03,520 and goes and sits with the Jews. Now why is that a big deal? 384 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,040 Because in that moment he is showing the Jews that he's 385 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,840 ashamed of the gentiles. He's showing the Jews that he 386 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:17,120 does not stand with or sit with those gentile believers. 387 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,480 So why is that a big deal? What could you imagine our day? 388 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,040 Let's say we had a potluck around here and maybe 3 or 4 389 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,200 homeless people came in. Now by you said what we do, if 390 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,480 homeless people came in and we had a potluck, we would feed 391 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,520 them. I mean, I don't even know what 392 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:33,520 the question would be about that. 393 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:36,600 And so they sit around a table and you're sitting at the table. 394 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,200 But then maybe one of your friends comes in and you could 395 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,080 see by the look on his face, he is not pleased that you would 396 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:43,320 sit down with those homeless people. 397 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:46,320 They've not cleaned themselves lately. 398 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,200 They maybe aren't acting in a way that's socially appropriate 399 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,840 with everyone else. And you look at your friend and 400 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,960 you look at those homeless people and you say, guys, I got 401 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,400 to go. And you walk up from the table 402 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:03,040 and you leave. What message would you be 403 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,480 sending? To the church, what message 404 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:08,080 would you be sending to the other people? 405 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,440 You'd say, you know, these people aren't valuable, but this 406 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,960 person is. That's basically what Peter did 407 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,120 here. He felt the peer pressure of 408 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:22,520 these Jewish believers who came in and he walked up and said, 409 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,680 well, guys, I'm, I'm done. And he walks away. 410 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:27,640 He said, well, I don't see what the big deal is. 411 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:29,560 The Bible says there was dissimulation. 412 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:31,640 Do you know what that means? It was a mess. 413 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,800 His friend Barnabas, Paul's friend. 414 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,520 Barnabas got up and followed Peter. 415 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:40,360 By the way, this isn't my message. 416 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,720 But when you make decisions, other people will follow you. 417 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,080 You think you're the only one that affects the decisions you 418 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,280 make. When you make decisions, other 419 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,120 people follow you, parents follow you, children follow you, 420 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,880 grandchildren follow you, church members follow you, workers 421 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:57,880 follow you, leadership follows you. 422 00:20:57,880 --> 00:20:59,920 You say that doesn't seem like it works like that. 423 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:04,880 You'd be surprised. Your decisions are never made in 424 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,960 a vacuum. And so Peter gets up and other 425 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,960 people start getting up, and Paul says, hold on here a 426 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,040 second. And the Bible says this. 427 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:21,400 He withstood him to the face. Now, you don't have to really be 428 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,200 a Greek scholar to know that withstood him in the face means 429 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:25,840 this. They have words. 430 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:28,480 They had words with each other, didn't they? 431 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:29,920 Now, Paul didn't always act like that. 432 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,360 In fact, in the beginning, during this great debate, it 433 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:34,800 says that he met with the leadership privately, that he 434 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,160 wasn't publicly going out and being a crusader. 435 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,640 He was talking to the Jewish leadership privately, making 436 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,200 sure that the Gentiles had the help that they needed. 437 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,320 And so he was, he was fine working privately. 438 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,960 But there are times that public sins call for public rebuke. 439 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,840 Because if he did not stand for those Gentiles there in that 440 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,280 moment in their own church, He knew that it was going to cause 441 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,120 great harm to the cause of Christ. 442 00:21:58,320 --> 00:21:59,880 He knew there was going to cause great harm. 443 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:03,440 And so he goes up to Peter and he stands up to him, and in his 444 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,600 face he rebukes him. Now, I don't know about you, but 445 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:11,320 I kind of wish that didn't stop there in verse #13 and 14. 446 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,880 I wish we had the whole conversation written down, don't 447 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,200 you? I want to know what Paul said. 448 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:18,840 I want to know how Peter responded. 449 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,200 But here's what I know. If this is Peter from the 450 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,880 Gospels, they're throwing fists, man. 451 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:30,680 If this is Peter from the Gospels, Paul may not have an 452 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:35,400 ear anymore. This is, this is not a good 453 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,080 situation. This isn't a good situation at 454 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,120 all. But listen, Peter needed to be 455 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:41,360 rebuked. He was wrong. 456 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:46,320 And by the way, he was very wrong and Paul withstood him in 457 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,800 the face. By the way, you can tell someone 458 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,000 they're wrong in love. You can tell someone they're 459 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:57,120 wrong without having a spirit of superiority or having a spirit 460 00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,920 of I'm a better person than you. The Bible even tells us that 461 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,840 there are times that brothers and sisters in Christ, the book 462 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,320 of James talks about this. We need to go one another to try 463 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,840 to convince them and to help them and love them. 464 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,880 If we do so, we gain a brother. And so here is Paul. 465 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,400 He said, I can't let this go. I've got to tell you, Peter, 466 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,840 right now, in front of these people, because you're causing 467 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,520 great harm to this room. I've got to tell you what you've 468 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:25,360 done here is wrong, and it is wrong in every degree. 469 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,600 Now, listen, Peter and Paul were as different as people could 470 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,760 get. If you wanted to find people on 471 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,640 the opposites of the spectrum, it would be Peter and Paul. 472 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,040 Paul was educated, Peter was not. 473 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,360 Paul's writing style is more technical and Peter wrote more 474 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,520 in a way that would be understood by the common man. 475 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,040 Paul was a Pharisee. Well, we know Peter had very 476 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:55,800 little regard for the Pharisees, didn't he? 477 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,240 Paul lived with a socially elite at one point in his life. 478 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,480 Peter was never considered one of the social elite. 479 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,760 You know Peter walked with Christ, Paul did not. 480 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,840 These are two men that were as different as different could be. 481 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,320 And I would submit to you that here at the end of James or 482 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,880 Janet James, Genesis, Galatians, there's the one. 483 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:20,880 All right. I thought I'd get it on the 484 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,400 third try here at the end of Galatians chapter #2 these two 485 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:29,640 men could have been, you go your way and I'll go my way. 486 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,560 You're my brother, but you're not a beloved brother. 487 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,520 Now, do we know exactly what happened here after the rebuke 488 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:38,480 took place? We don't. 489 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,480 But I would say to you this this morning, and I believe this is 490 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,200 true just by the way we see Paul or Peter rather take his posture 491 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,120 in second Peter chapter #3 The fact of the matter was this that 492 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,680 Peter had grown up enough to be able to take the rebuke and 493 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,760 still consider the one who rebuked him a beloved brother. 494 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,640 He said, well, Peter, Peter was like that right before. 495 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,560 Do you read the Gospels? Him and John all the time were 496 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,120 like this, well, I want to be the greatest. 497 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:13,480 And Peter didn't like that. And then you got ready for the 498 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:15,680 crucifixion, and they're still asking about who's going to be 499 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,880 the greatest. And then you have after the 500 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:22,880 crucifixion that Peter is running towards the the tomb and 501 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,040 John is running faster and gets there first. 502 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,040 And John stands in front of the tomb and Peter says, forget 503 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,680 this, I'm going into the tomb. And then they go out fishing. 504 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,960 Remember that. And then Jesus has this rebuke 505 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:34,840 for Peter. He says, do you love me, feed my 506 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:36,560 sheep. Do you love me, feed my sheep, 507 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,800 Do you love me, feed my sheep. And Peter is just so heartbroken 508 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,200 by the fact that Jesus is rebuking him over what had taken 509 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:47,480 place just a few days ago when Peter denied Jesus Christ. 510 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:52,240 And then Peter is given this proclamation, this prophecy 511 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,680 about the remainder of his life. And Peter in this moment with 512 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,800 Jesus, this intimate moment with Jesus, he looks at John and 513 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:05,040 says, Jesus, but what about him? This is the Peter we're looking 514 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:09,200 at. This is the Peter that we would 515 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:13,560 expect in Galatians chapter 2, but it's not the Peter that we 516 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:19,520 get in second Peter chapter #3 Why, I would say to you is for 517 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,320 this reason and this reason only, and I'm saying to the last 518 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:29,000 four words of the book, but grow in grace. 519 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,560 He grew in grace and in spiritual maturity. 520 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,480 Something changed in his life. He realized this. 521 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,760 He says part of being spiritually mature, part of 522 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,560 growing is being able to get along with other believers. 523 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,760 Hey, pastor, this is a very strange message for a church 524 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,960 because maybe you think this, I've not been at church very 525 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:57,120 long. But, I mean, part of the thing 526 00:26:57,120 --> 00:26:59,680 about church is that everybody loves each other and gets along, 527 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:08,520 right? And my answer to that is, OK, 528 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:14,360 well, is it supposed to be that way? 529 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,600 Is it supposed to be that way? Is it that way? 530 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,480 No. There's a story about 6 men who 531 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,080 were stranded once on a desert island. 532 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,120 Two were Jewish, two were Catholic, and two were Baptist. 533 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,240 The two Jews got together and they founded the temple 534 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,800 Emmanuel. The two Catholics got together 535 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:33,640 and they established the Church of the Holy Name. 536 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:37,000 The two Baptist form two different Baptist churches and 537 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:38,920 thought over who was going to call it First Baptist. 538 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:46,840 That is satire, but based totally on reality. 539 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:53,360 Because when we are together as a family, what do families often 540 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:55,280 do? Fight. 541 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,120 We'll call it squabble to be nice. 542 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,960 But they fight, don't they? Family has blood in common, but 543 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:06,560 they still fight. They have experiences in common, 544 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,560 but they still fight. And if we're not careful, as a 545 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,200 church family, we have everything in common in Jesus 546 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:17,040 Christ and we can still. Why? 547 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:19,440 Well, because there are times people need to be corrected. 548 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,320 They don't want to be corrected. There are times that sometimes 549 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,400 people feel superior and they shouldn't feel superior. 550 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,200 There are times people feel like they have a position of 551 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,400 authority and want to hold that over other people. 552 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,240 There are times that people get this idea that they want to be 553 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,800 prominent or preeminent at the expense of the other people. 554 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,880 There are 100 or 1000 different reasons that people can squabble 555 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,000 and have difficulties in church. But here's what I know. 556 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,400 That Peter who was once an impetuous man, Peter who once 557 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,560 was at loggerheads at any given time with John, got to the place 558 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,240 where once the Holy Spirit was truly in control of his life. 559 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,320 That even when a man like Paul would publicly withstand him, a 560 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,760 man that he had nothing in common woman with, but he got in 561 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,680 his face, he says, Peter, I love you, but what you did was wrong. 562 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:12,880 That Peter not only took it, but he called that man at the end of 563 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,600 his life, my beloved brother, a man of wisdom. 564 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,240 And he says that some of you are messing with him and his 565 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,080 scriptures and I want you to knock it off because he's my 566 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,440 brother. It's a powerful thing. 567 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,840 There's a lot of opportunities for churches to get in bad 568 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,280 places with each other. Church members. 569 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,280 I was reading an article by church researchers, name's Tom 570 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:46,000 Rayner, and he put together 25 of the craziest things that he'd 571 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,840 ever heard in his church research of why churches had 572 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:50,160 fights. Now, I'm not going to read all 573 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,000 25, but consider some of these here. 574 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,800 Here's some highlights. An argument over the appropriate 575 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,920 length of the pastor's beard. I've solved that for you all by 576 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:03,240 being clean shaven. All right, A church dispute of 577 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,160 whether or not to install stall dividers in the restroom. 578 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,880 A church argument to vote to decide if a clock in the worship 579 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,880 center should be removed. A 45 minute heated argument over 580 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:21,200 the type of filing cabinet to purchase black or brown, 2-3 or 581 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,040 four drawers. And it says here in parentheses 582 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,840 that it took two meetings to figure out a big church argument 583 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,040 over the discovery that the church budget was off by $0.10. 584 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,520 Someone finally gave a dime to settle the issue. 585 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,160 Business meeting arguments about whether the church had purchased 586 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,320 a weed eater or not. Two different churches reported 587 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,840 fights over the type of coffee. Now, that one I get. 588 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:49,720 I mean, the others are crazy, but that, I mean, we got to take 589 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:51,040 a stand, right? You know what I'm saying? 590 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,680 An argument on whether the church should allow deviled eggs 591 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:57,440 at the church because of the name. 592 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,000 A disagreement over the use of the term potluck, instead 593 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,800 suggesting the term pot blessing, like not using the 594 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,520 word luck. An argument over which has the 595 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:12,520 authority to buy postage stamps for the church. 596 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,360 Some church members left the church because one church member 597 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:16,760 hid the vacuum cleaner from them. 598 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,040 It resulted in a major fight and split. 599 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:21,640 For me, I'd say, well, I don't want to vacuum, I guess that's 600 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,120 great. A dispute over whether the 601 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,440 church should allow people to wear black T-shirts, since black 602 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,400 is the color of the devil. An argument over whether fake 603 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:32,560 dusty plants should be removed from the podium. 604 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,360 You see that, you say? Those are some of the most 605 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:37,720 ridiculous things I'd ever heard. 606 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,480 And the answer is yes, they absolutely are. 607 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,560 But I would also say to you this morning this if we were not 608 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,200 careful, that we can take our own personal preferences, 609 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,560 issues, and even sometimes very legitimate things that take 610 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,160 place in the church, and we can turn them into things that God 611 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,280 never intended them to be. Why? 612 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,640 Because like the old saying goes, church is a great place to 613 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,520 be a Christian. I'll let you chew on that for a 614 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,400 second. Church is a great place to be a 615 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,320 Christian. Meaning this We as Christians 616 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:15,920 ought to act like Christians. We when we go in the House of 617 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,960 God have to understand that we have different personalities, 618 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,960 that we come from different walks of life that that that we 619 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,600 have different jobs, different income levels, different 620 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,040 families, different ethnicities, different abilities, different 621 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,960 marital statuses, different upbringing is different 622 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,440 everything. But yet even in those 623 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:40,400 differences, that God has called us together to be brethren and 624 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:46,080 sisters, that God has called us together to be 1 church, to be 1 625 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:51,560 body, to get along in such a way that that God is honored and God 626 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,440 is glorified. Can I tell you what the issue 627 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,440 often times with church difficulties and the difficulty 628 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:05,160 with church fighting comes down to 5 letters. 629 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:15,240 PRIDE in the moment. Peter could have said, Paul, who 630 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,120 are you to tell me off? Were you there with Jesus for 631 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:23,160 three years? Were you there when He did the 632 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,160 miracles? Were you there when he ascended 633 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,280 into heaven? Were you there on the day of 634 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,120 Pentecost? Listen, Peter could have even 635 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:33,600 gone low and said something like this. 636 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,800 Who was holding the coats when our brother died? 637 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:41,440 Steven, who are you to say anything to me? 638 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:46,160 Do you know who I am? Do you know what I've done? 639 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,080 Do you know what we've sacrificed? 640 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,320 And you come in the Johnny come lately after the 12 of us and 641 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,880 then the eleven of us. We're together for three years 642 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:57,680 and we're there in the establishment of the church. 643 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,440 And now you come along and you're the one that everybody 644 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,600 likes and you're the one that's going out everywhere. 645 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:04,400 You're the one that's making all the news. 646 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,120 You say, pastor, it doesn't say any of that in the Bible. 647 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,440 Just use your imagination. This very well could have been 648 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:10,679 said. These are real people. 649 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:12,239 We're not talking about Bible characters. 650 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:17,120 Bible characters are real people with real emotions. 651 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,800 And Peter, in that moment could have cast it back into Paul's 652 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,560 teeth and listen, the church could have been irrevocably 653 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:27,840 harmed. The church at Antioch could have 654 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,040 split wide open. You say that doesn't happen. 655 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:35,560 It happens all the time when Christians won't act like 656 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,920 Christians. Are there real things we have to 657 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:40,360 hash out? Oh yeah. 658 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,600 Listen, that was a real thing in Galatians chapter 2. 659 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,679 If Paul didn't address it, it would have caused a whole other 660 00:34:47,679 --> 00:34:52,120 host of problems because Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ. 661 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:54,719 By the way, the Bible says we're of one blood. 662 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:57,600 This whole idea. Well, well, this and that. 663 00:34:57,600 --> 00:34:58,840 And I come from here, I come from there. 664 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:03,000 Listen to this. We all belong to the Lord and we 665 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,240 might as well start getting along now. 666 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:09,440 Amen. This whole idea of well, well, I 667 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,760 come from here and I come from there and I do this and I do 668 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:13,560 that. Listen, we were of one blood. 669 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:15,680 We all have the same common ancestors. 670 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,880 I think we all go back to Adam. We're all related somewhere. 671 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:23,040 And so Paul had to put a stop to this. 672 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,800 He was right what he did, but Peter was mature enough to be 673 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:31,360 able to take it. He said this, Paul's a lot 674 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:35,120 different than me, that we share almost nothing in common, but we 675 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:38,000 share the only thing in common that matters, and that's Jesus 676 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,720 Christ. And so because that he's my 677 00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:45,520 beloved brother, say, Pastor, why are you hitting this so hard 678 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:47,320 today? Is there some problem that 679 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,120 you're trying to root out? Well, I hope you know me well 680 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:51,760 enough that there's a problem that need to be rooted out. 681 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:52,960 It wouldn't be done from the pulpit. 682 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:56,480 It will be done privately unless it was done publicly in a way 683 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,320 that it had to be withstood publicly. 684 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:03,040 But no, this is not a brush back pitch against anyone or any 685 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,080 issue or, or something that I see is a problem here in Liberty 686 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:07,360 Baptist Church. I don't at all. 687 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:09,960 But I will tell you this, I am passionate about this for this 688 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,840 reason. It only takes a little bit of 689 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:18,960 dissension to take what God has done here and to totally ruin 690 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,520 it. We have a beautiful spirit here 691 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:23,080 at Liberty Baptist Church. I'll be honest with you. 692 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,560 It's it's one of the most unique things I've ever seen as a 693 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:27,360 church. We're not the biggest church in 694 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:28,520 the world. I know that's a surprise. 695 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:29,960 Some of you, we're not the biggest church in the world. 696 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,600 We're not. But I'll tell you this, I feel 697 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:35,040 like we're the most blessed church in the world. 698 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:38,800 It's the kind of church where it's like, you know, it's, it's, 699 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,440 it's getting times like, OK, the people you want to go, like you 700 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:43,320 want to go and it's time to go home, right? 701 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:45,520 And nobody wants to go home because they're fellowship with 702 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:47,440 each other, enjoying being around each other. 703 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,560 What a blessing that is it. I will never complain about 704 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:51,840 that. That's a great thing. 705 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:57,040 But be sure about this, the blessedness that we have here at 706 00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:59,640 Liberty Baptist Church, Satan despises. 707 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:05,480 He despises it. And he will find any way to worm 708 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,760 his self into this building, into this assembly, and to be 709 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:13,320 able to take the blessedness that we have and turn it into a 710 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:15,600 curse. So what do we need to do? 711 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:20,920 We need to guard ourselves. And if we're to go back to 712 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:23,920 Second Peter chapter #3 just go there quickly if you can. 713 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:28,720 What do we see? Verse #17 yet therefore, 714 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:32,280 beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest ye 715 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:37,040 also being LED away with the air of the wicked fall from your own 716 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:38,560 steadfastness. What are we supposed to do? 717 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,400 Be steadfast. Don't. 718 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:45,120 Don't be LED away by wicked intentions of others. 719 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,640 Don't be LED away by the way the world handles things. 720 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:50,560 How does the world handle things? 721 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:55,000 It handles things with a buzz saw and that's why we have a lot 722 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:56,440 of the problems we have out in this world. 723 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:02,040 Why do we handle issues with the scalpel of God's Word, with the 724 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:05,880 antiseptic of the Holy Spirit? And as we do so, what does God 725 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,480 do? He blesses and he helps and he 726 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:12,280 grows. But you cannot be this type of 727 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,760 Christian unless you're willing to grow in grace. 728 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:20,880 Well, they, they don't, they don't deserve. 729 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:24,400 They don't deserve it. Well, that would be the very 730 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:29,800 definition of grace receiving what is not deserved. 731 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,800 Again, I'm not saying that problems should just be washed 732 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:35,240 away like they didn't even happen. 733 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:37,800 Stick your head in the sand. There's no problems here. 734 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:39,200 No, no. That we handle them like 735 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:41,880 believers and that we love one another. 736 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:45,920 And that if you're the one that has the problem, Matthew chapter 737 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,000 18, you handle it in a godly way. 738 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,800 If you're the receiver of the problem, that you receive it in 739 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:55,320 a godly way and that in all of it, God would be glorified. 740 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,240 I will tell you this. It is one of the true marks that 741 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:00,880 you have grown as a believer. And of all these other things 742 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,800 that Peter grew in his preaching, his boldness, his 743 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:09,360 leadership, maybe the greatest mark of how much he grew was the 744 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,800 fact that he took a brother who was stood in the face in public 745 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,160 and rebuked him. And he said, that's my beloved 746 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:18,160 brother. And you don't mess with my 747 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,920 beloved brother because we both belong to Jesus Christ. 748 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,320 So this week, as we add to our faith, let's be the type of 749 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:28,800 person that can work well with others and actually enjoy it. 750 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,520 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 751 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:35,440 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 752 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:38,920 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 753 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,520 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 754 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:48,320 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 755 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:51,160 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 756 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:52,360 grow in His Word.