In this episode, The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 comes into focus. The crew discusses the issues prompting the council meeting and seeing the leaders of the early church adhere to the Scriptures. Join us as we continue our journey through Acts.
In this episode, The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 comes into focus. The crew discusses the issues prompting the council meeting and seeing the leaders of the early church adhere to the Scriptures. Join us as we continue our journey through Acts.
Welcome to the Be Disciples podcast with your host, kyle Morris, dakota Smith and David Glavin. This is episode 101. As we continue our study in the book of Acts, we'll be in chapter 15 today. How's it going, guys?
Speaker 2:Hello, going well hey it's going great.
Speaker 3:Yesterday was a great day at church, was it not? It was a good day.
Speaker 1:It's always a good day when you get baptism, lord, supper, worship, good sermon, fellowship with other believers all those things are elements of Sunday service, so I think that to me, that always makes an exciting day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you look back on a Sunday like that and you say that was really fulfilling, that was really satisfying, that was you know, not every Sunday is perfect and everything is going to go extremely smooth like that. It was one of those days and I felt like everybody was comfortable in their role and, especially from a pastoral standpoint, I think all of us had highlights. David, your lead of worship yesterday was really amazing. I was thinking to myself when you were sharing the information about Martin Luther and you were just kind of coaching the congregation on that, I thought to myself, wow, he is really, really settling into this role and it was a blessing to see you continuing to grow in your position but also our church being blessed by it. So, like altogether Kyle, to see you Baptize Dalton, that was amazing. It was just a. And then leading communion, like all of us were just functioning in a strong way yesterday and it was great to see the church respond to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I thought it was just a really great day all around nice. Outside Breakfast was fantastic as always children running around, families hanging out, new people coming every week and that's not bragging. I'm bragging on the Lord on that. The Lord just keeps working in people's lives and keeps bringing them, and people keep wanting to hear the word and I'm excited for that. That's the most important thing that I see is people want to hear the word and just for us to be faithful to the word I think yesterday's sermon was a testimony to that you get to a passage that's difficult, a parable for one which parables are difficult, and it's a parable of the sower and so.
Speaker 1:But you were, you stuck to what the message says in the scriptures. You didn't move out of it, you didn't try to do something with it to make it seem fancy, you just preach the word and I think that's why people are coming, because we just want to be truthful, we want to be good stewards of what God's given us, and sometimes it's not always, like you said, perfect, but I think each and every day we can submit to that God is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and we just need to keep following Him.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it's a good reminder too, and this is something that I did not realize until now, having been in the role as senior pastor for the last couple of years If you want your church to become healthy, that's not going to happen overnight. Like all of the little steps of improvement that it takes to get to where you want to be. It's like a continued intentional not letting up, not giving into mediocrity, pursuing excellence to be pleasing to the Lord. And as you continue to just hammer that home and you work on one little thing at a time, suddenly your services start becoming fluid and start becoming a blessing to people and you can see evidences of the Holy Spirit working. And it's just like the long haul faithfulness. Over time, If you want your church to become healthy, it might take five years, but the point is is you have to start pursuing the Lord by giving Him your best and over time I think things start to mature. That's the word I'm looking for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we're about to transition a little bit in acts to where now the church is going to start having more issues, more questions, more you know how do we function from a theological standpoint to just you know, how do we continue to be obedient to God with? Yeah, we have Jewish people and Gentile people and Jews who are following Torah and Gentiles who never were, and I think you know we can relate to that today because we have similar issues. We have different cultures and backgrounds coming into the church and bringing all their stuff with them and having to then go to the Word and have these conversations. So I think acts kind of transitions here in 15 to this place where we're going to start seeing the travels, more of the travels of Paul, more of these issues going on, where they're addressing things with the church, and so that's where we're going to be today. So let's pray, guys, and we're going to dive into the book of acts.
Speaker 1:Father, I thank you for this day, this opportunity to be on a podcast. It's just been so much fun to sit down with my brothers and just be in the Word together, just as if we were meeting in the office without the microphones on or if we were at a coffee shop, that we were just opening your Word, reading the scriptures and having conversation. Lord, I pray for all those who are listening that they would just do the same thing with their friends, with their family, with a co-worker, with somebody that they randomly meet that just wants to learn more about the Bible. Lord, that we would be encouraged today by what you have to say. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 3:All right Acts, chapter 15, verse 1,. Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Then, when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue, therefore being sent on their way by the church. They were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders and they reported all that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up saying it is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the law of Moses.
Speaker 3:I think the first five verses are initial encounter. This bridges between the last chapter and then the present situation. I do find it interesting. Maybe just to note that I think the individuals raising the issue in verse 1 are different from the individuals raising the issue in verse 5. Right verse one says some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren. And then you have some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up and they said but they needed to say I do think it's two different crowds and we've addressed that in previous study.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think so as well. We're just showing that this isn't an issue amongst one group. This seems to be a common question amongst many groups, and I think that's good to know that. Maybe this question has come to Paul and Barnabas, but it's also in Jerusalem. It's also a question there, and so this is a widespread question, or a widespread belief, you could say, because it says they were teaching unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved, which that statement itself is a little interesting, because, well, where did circumcision start for one? Well, it started with Abraham right.
Speaker 1:Genesis 17. Right, as a sign of the promise. Right, and so it had nothing to do with salvation. It was a sign of the promise that he gave Abraham that would be passed down to generations to be reminded of what God has promised. And so, but it says Moses here, and that's a whole different situation that we're talking about. Well, what did Moses do? Why are they using Moses' name when the original purpose of circumcision was through?
Speaker 3:Abraham.
Speaker 1:So there's a little bit of a bunch of different issues within the issue here of what they believe about circumcision itself.
Speaker 3:Well, moses never circumcised anybody. He didn't even circumcise his own sons. His own wife had to do that for him, right? So it wasn't the circumcision of Moses. But you're right with the issue with Abraham, in that this was a sign of one's devotion. A circumcision back then wasn't even necessary to be saved. Why?
Speaker 3:Genesis 15, 6, abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. So he was described as righteous because of his faith prior to Genesis 15, the circumcision. And, by the way, females can't be circumcised. So then what? Can females not be saved? So, yes, there's a lot of issues. There's already a misconception or a misunderstanding over what salvation was, from Torah to begin with, and then the two voices. Between verse one and verse five there's actually two different opinions. One is unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. So it's just circumcision. The second statement says it is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the law of Moses, bringing two issues to the table. So, yeah, we've kind of regurgitated a lot from some previous study that we did over these couple of verses. David, why don't you jump in? You know we're kind of like fire, hosing all the information on this, but jump in and give us some initial thoughts and observations.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean the second part of the sign of the circumcision is being set apart, being different. And you look at the various ways that the early community is kind of in and of itself, as it's coming into, how do we function as a church and as a community of believers in Jesus Christ? They are being set apart in different ways. Earlier in Acts you see how they care for one another, how, as they share, none of their needs, none of them go without having their needs met. That even some of the conflict comes from.
Speaker 2:That Descension, the Jews and the Greeks their widows were being the Greeks felt that their widows were being overlooked and also even seats at the table as they would gather and communion together and eat. But the community is set apart in the way that they act, in the way that they talk, in the way that they care for one another. And I think that that is at the heart of what Christ has for the community of believers. And aside from circumcision, aside from the laws of Moses, jesus said well, love your neighbors yourself and the standards that Jesus said, above these there is no law there is nothing and that's the standard.
Speaker 2:that's kind of underpinning the apostles and the leadership that's trying to lead away from that strict adherence to the law of Moses. It's not about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they're also set apart by a person, and that's the Holy Spirit. So we also have God in dwelling in the believers, the work, the acts of the Holy Spirit working amongst the church to set them apart, to continue to grow them, strengthen them spiritually. And now we also see in numbers. So, yeah, we have the Jewish sect saying, hey, we need to what they need to legalize the whole thing, and pretty much that's the discussion that's going to be had here in these first five verses. We don't really have the discussion yet. We're just being kind of introduced to the players, with Paul and Barnabas going to Jerusalem and they're going to have a conversation, and there's going to be a council, and there's going to be a discussion around this issue. And what does Jesus say about this? And so that's what we're gonna get into.
Speaker 3:Well, maybe, before we dive into that, one more observation to note is in between verse one, in between verse five. The inclusio of verses one through five is the problem being brought up. But if you look in verse three, first of all, we see that they were sent on their way to Jerusalem by the church. That likely means that financial supporting in order for them to get there. Also, there's a lot of rejoicing, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles. They were bringing great joy to all the brethren. They were reporting all that God had done with them. So here you have a very organic, fresh movement of the Lord post-Pentecost. These guys are getting it, gentiles are being saved. But then you have people who are stuck in the past and they don't get it. They don't understand the new dispensation or a moment of administration that the Lord is currently working through. The Holy Spirit is now doing things in individuals that one's own flesh cannot do, just by trying to obey the law on their own.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and also just from a Paul standpoint. I think this is the second time since his conversion. He's at least mentioned in Acts. He's going to Jerusalem Because he went initially right to be introduced to the apostles, but then he went away for a while and now he's going back. And so we have to remember Paul isn't just like some nobody to the Pharisees man they know.
Speaker 3:Paul, they know him.
Speaker 1:And so when he's going to the council, when he's going here, he has relationships. He's has broken relationships, he's has new, like there's a lot happening within just the social sphere of Paul's life going before the council in Jerusalem and the ministry that he's doing. So it is a when you think of all those different layers of what's happening, we don't just have oh yeah, they're just going to go have a meeting. This is high tension stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So let's continue. Verse six, maybe through 11. Let's see, the apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. There had been much debate, or, after there had been much debate, peter stood up and said to them Brethren, you know that in the early days, god made a choice among you, that, by my mouth, the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they also are. Yeah, there's a lot to talk about in 6-11. Some initial observations, initial responses. What are you guys observing?
Speaker 1:Well, the first is the who's the originator of faith. Who's the originator of salvation is really what it's pointing back to. All right, guys, from the beginning let's talk about how people were always saved, so that's brought up right away. So how did people get saved by God? It's always been by faith. It's always been by grace. You know we're talking about again promises that were made to Abraham.
Speaker 1:Well, we have the sign of the promise, which is circumcision, but then we have the promises, and part of those promises is that there will be a blessing to all the families of the earth. It has always been for Jew and Gentile to have this blessing. That was through Abraham, chosen by God, that this message would go out, that by faith, even the faith of old and the faith of today, it's still by faith. That that hasn't changed. Now who you put your faith in. We have Jesus Christ now, but God, putting faith in God, was always the path of salvation. It wasn't these works, it wasn't additional things that we added on to be saved. So that's kind of the some of the argument that's taking place going back to the originator of salvation, which is God, and getting starting the argument there, rather than just going right into circumcision. So I think they start in the right place. Well, what has it always been? Let's be reminded of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, something else I'm noticing here. In verse nine it says and he made no distinction between us and them, meaning between Jew and Gentile but cleansing their heart by faith. Faith is what instigated the cleansing of the heart. Their heart was cleansed why or how? By or through faith. That's probably what's called the genitive, the aspect of possession in the Greek, and I think by the possession of their faith their heart gets cleansed. And you see that straight from the text.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm reminded of kind of the same I mean in a similar way, the same wisdom coming from Gamaliel in chapter five, where the apostles have been arrested or released and then arrested again and the council wanted to kill them, and Gamaliel stands up and says if this is God doing this, then we're going to be coming against God and if it's of man, it will dissipate as it has before. And I see some of that reasoning here in that Verse eight. And God, who knows the heart, testified to giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did also us. One of that same foundation of what God is doing something here. Why would we stand in the middle of that and put more on it? And also even to add, we and our forefathers couldn't even bear what you're asking them to bear. That's right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we also just need to recognize who's saying this, and it's Peter. So recognize the author, because we're going to have different people speaking throughout the council. The first individual we have here is Peter, which makes sense. Peter has done multiple sermons in the book of Acts. We've heard from him a lot, especially prior to the introduction of Paul and Barnabas. So Peter again is here, he's in Jerusalem, he's leading and he stands up and gives a simple gospel message. We have always been saved by faith. That's right, and so it doesn't seem to get too long-winded here. Now, I don't know he could have said more obviously, but it seems very simple, straightforward. He's not mincing words and there's a lot of he's making a lot of assumptions in the fact that all these people know these things already. So this is what I'm going to say they know what the faith of old is, they know where this comes from. So he's making assumptions that they know this stuff, even though some may disagree with him.
Speaker 3:Not only that, but I think he's asking a really good question in verse 10. Now, therefore, why do you and I think he's speaking to the sect of the Pharisees who had believed and stood up? Now, therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? I think he is addressing the fact that there has for a while, especially because of the Pharisees, been an understanding about the law which was legalistic in nature, when the law was never meant to save. The law was there to show you your need for a savior, but the law was also good in the sense that these moral principles were still to be things that you pursued in your walk with God and obeying him. And so I think what he's doing is raising a really good question, and no amount of efforts was able to do that to us before, to make us righteous. So why are you placing a false understanding of Torah upon these people? God has obviously done something, and Peter's the first witness of that.
Speaker 3:From Acts 10, cornelius and the Gentiles, peter is always, along with Barnabas and Paul. He's already been a witness of what God is doing among the Gentiles. So he speaks from experience. Let's continue, starting in verse 12. All the people kept silent and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating with signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they had stopped speaking, james answered saying brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first concerned himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for his name. With this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written. After these things, I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it so that the rest 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 long ago. So 12 through 18 guys. What do you think?
Speaker 1:Well, james speaks, and we're talking about James, the brother of Jesus. James, here he is, the, he's leading in Jerusalem. So that's for one that's super interesting for me, because you're talking about a brother, not necessarily an apostle of Jesus, but a brother of Jesus speaking up, somebody who could have easily said my brother, the Messiah, that's ridiculous and been somebody on maybe the side of the Pharisees in the situation. But he submits to the Lord and gives words to the church, specifically about the establishment of the church from the prophets of old. What is the function of the church, the purpose of the church? And says here that, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from old?
Speaker 1:The church is supposed to show the world what God has done in the past and what he is going to bring. So the church has a mission. We know that mission is the Great Commission right To go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them to obey the things that Jesus has taught. So you have James, reiterating the purpose of the church, the Great Commission, the purpose of the Gentiles. You know, though, israel has promises. The Gentiles have a purpose and God has chosen a people amongst the Gentiles, the church, to go do the work of God. And so James is affirming this that the Gentiles are people of God, that he has chosen to do the work that he wants to be done. So we've started off with what it means to be saved faith, and what is the purpose of the Gentile, what is the purpose of the Gentiles? What is the purpose of the Gentile? What is the purpose of the church?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, it's to call a people from every tribe, tongue and nation to complete the family of God, jew and Gentile. There's going to be a day where the time of the Gentiles reaches its completion by fulfillment of the Gentiles and time of the Gentiles I'm speaking to Gentile believers in the church and then that's when God is going to restore Israel from its hardened place Romans 11. So, absolutely, the call is to the Gentiles right now. And actually, if I could take a brief aside, this past Sunday, the very message I preached when Jesus hits Matthew 13 and he begins giving all the parables of the kingdom, he now does that as a transition to a new plan, so to speak, a new plan before their eyes.
Speaker 3:The first plan was to offer the physical coming kingdom to the people of Israel. They rejected, they said no, they blasphemed the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says okay, I'm going to give you parables now, and these parables are going to be giving you a clue into what the church age will be like and how people will be getting saved prior to my return, where I bring the kingdom again. So it's a transitional place. And then here, I think you see that very thing. I think you see God turning to the Gentiles, because of Israel's rejection.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on this matter, and this passage, I mean it's you talked about James being the leadership, being the leader of the Jewish community, and I mean he's making this an authoritative, conclusive sort of remark. I mean it says that there was, you know, there was much debate and much discussion than Peter spoke, and then again it says Paul Barnabas spoke and after that, you see, james is kind of this, this authoritative voice saying, having heard all of this, you know, in sort of a way. I agree, you know, and this is my advice, and this is where we stand and this is where we should go. To me it doesn't really give a concise look like there's no parliamentary procedure or whatever. You know as far as you know how many voices were heard on both sides, or anything but like this is conclusive, this is, we've talked through this and this is where we stand and this is where we're going to go. It's powerful to me.
Speaker 1:And I think it's important that it is Peter and that it is James, and it is the Jewish people, the Israelites, affirming these Gentiles are chosen by God. That's right. Like this isn't a group of Gentiles saying, no, God chose us too. Like this is Israel the leaders of the early church saying, no, these Gentiles are saved by faith. We have confirmation. Both Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James have all confirmed that these are true salvation by faith alone. And so and this is now the time of the Gentiles, the time of the church, Now, Peter, James, Paul, Barnabas are all part of the church. Now, right, Even though they are Jewish, they are part of the church because they are believers in Jesus Christ. And so, yeah, I think it's really cool that we have these guys saying and confirming that, yes, Gentiles are believers.
Speaker 1:This is what Jesus taught. Move forward, let's go. We've got work to do, We've got people to reach, and that spurs me on, because you can get the world telling you no, God doesn't, you know, really love you. You can get Jewish people saying, nope, you were never chosen. And there could be all these lies thrown at you. No, right here at the Jerusalem Council, these men stood and said this is what Jesus taught and this is why we're here, and that we should stand on because one it's God's word and it should just give us full confidence. Again, the leaders that Jesus put into place are saying, no, you are saved by faith. So that's really cool.
Speaker 3:Something that I really find interesting too is right after Peter spoke. Then James speaks up in verse 13. And then James refers to Peter as Simeon, probably his first Jewish name. Simeon is the word shimon, where we get the word shema, which means here and listen, like the famous shema prayer in Deuteronomy 6. Here O Israel, the Lord, our God, is one right. So here O Israel, shema Yisra'el. Shema means to listen, so like Peter's name means listen, and James is saying listen to the guy whose name means listen. This is really important.
Speaker 3:So it's almost like he's selecting do I go with Peter? Do I go with Sifas? Do I go with Simeon? Let's go with Simeon on this one. So it's emphatic to the claim that he's making. And then he's also quoting again from Amos 9, 11, which speaks about how God would come to the Gentiles. But after Amos 9 through 11, it directly talks about the restoration of Israel, right after that passage. So you see that James is saying guys, god is doing this. Now we even have the first testament to prove that. Let's not get caught up in this thing. Let God do his work among the Gentiles.
Speaker 2:Also, right right after they, they can Paul and Barnabas continue to talk about what God was doing, almost like let's not lose traction, let's not talk about this too long, let's not get hung up here. I think that's a lesson for the church today too. I think that we talk through and pray through issues, but I think the church can get hung up when we dwell too long on on issues in the church and it stands in the way of what the Holy Spirit's doing well, here we have these guys teaching the truth.
Speaker 1:That's we're not. We're not going to get bogged down by that. We already know that's not true. We're just going to talk about what's true, right? And they go straight to the point, right. They don't bring up all the issues and they seem to be just saying here's what God said. Yeah, here's what God is doing and here's what we will continue to do. Right, we're not going to address this ridiculous issue, right, that was never a thing in the first place.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and so it's no value, no weight, right, and so it's it's it's helpful circumcised, circumcision yeah but it helps us.
Speaker 1:Today, like when issues come up, is there a time to have conversation as leaders? Of course, but when you're addressing the church, yeah, sometimes it's like let's go back to what is true. Yeah, what does God's words say? What should we be doing? And let's move forward. And that's what they do here. I think it's a good formula to to learn from scripture about how we should, as leaders, handle issues yeah, I mean, if it comes down to this, here you have a conflict and what does James do?
Speaker 3:James relates what the word of God says. He quotes amus 9, and I think too often we get caught up, and I just mean I really just mean in in. In general, we get caught up with certain things and maybe we try to, like emotion, our way through what's the right and what's the best decision, but that's never how we should make decisions. How do we know what the will of God is? Well, we read our Bible and I'm really impressed with James because if you notice when James writes as a pistol, he's quoting the sermon on the mount like 40 plus times. If you notice when James is speaking here, what's he doing? He's, of course, quoting scripture.
Speaker 3:It was said that James was martyred by being thrown off of the top of the temple and then stoned to death because he did not die after that. It was also said that James had, you know, the knees that looked like a camel because he prayed so often. And if you think about the household that James grew up in, it would have been the same exact household as Jesus. So Joseph and Mary should actually be credited for individuals like James and, of course, jude, who wrote the pistol right before a revelation. That was another half brother of Jesus. They all seem to understand Torah really really well. One because of their brother, two because of their parents. So you see, a natural leader who wasn't believing at first, but now God has put forth a lot of investment into him and here he is. He's rising up at the first church council. That's a big deal all right.
Speaker 1:Well, let's continue. We have just a few verses as uh James concludes his statement. He says therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols and from sexual morality, and from what has been strangled and from blood for them. For from ancient generations, moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read by his, for he has read every Sabbath in the synagogues.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the completion of the statement. I think, uh, what James is saying is he's like look, we should not trouble them with anything additional. We should not trouble the security of their salvation by saying that they must add something to their faith, like they've already believed. Why must we add something? Um, but we should speak to them about issues concerning, maybe, wisdom, fellowship, right, um, what we don't want you to do is to engage in a lifestyle that was associative of your past. What we don't want you to do is to associate with things that are offensive to people who have been under the ceremonial law their whole life. So, like there are certain things we want you to die to. We want you to die to fornication, idols, meat strangled with blood, things like that. So I think James is saying like, look, don't trouble them with any more concerning salvation, but understand that there's still going to be some building relationships and building roots with those of the Jewish faith, and we've got to keep some of these things away, which I think are good requests.
Speaker 1:Well, there seems to be like this discerning factor where you have, as a Jewish if you're a Jewish individual who's following Jesus and you're discipling a Gentile you have to work your way through the things that you've done your whole life and say, okay, is this something that we practice still, or is this something that we don't need anymore? But we still follow the principle.
Speaker 3:Has it been fulfilled in Christ or not?
Speaker 1:Or not. And so I think that's what the Jewish people are having to do and that's what James is talking about here. We need to be careful, we need to discern well. And what does? James writes a book on the Beatitudes. Essentially, this is what how Jesus told us to live, and so there's going to be this continued education to Jewish people on how to disciple Gentiles and for Gentiles to take in the first Testament and say, okay, here's what Jesus fulfilled, here's what's been done, here's what the prophet said, here's Abraham, here's Moses, here's David, and learn all these things and to take all that in and to be able to live for Christ and not the old way of a sacrificial system, but to love God first and to love their neighbor and what that looks like from now, post Jesus resurrection, prior to his second coming.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, an interesting time. I mean, I can't imagine being a Jewish person living a certain way in this time prior to Jesus death and resurrection, and now having to make this transition over and go oh man, this is really, really hard. This is so difficult to make this transition because I'm so used to the festivals and all these things and not that they didn't, maybe still participate, but there was a different meaning. Now there's a different. They were looking to Jesus. They weren't just looking to the promises of the past, those some of those had been fulfilled. Now we're looking to the promise of the future again and Jesus's return. So what an interesting time to be a Jewish person who believes in Christ.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my mind kind of went here with those three things that James says hey, you should abstain from idolatry, fornication and meat sacrifice to idols with the blood still in it. All of that, all three of those can be found in temple worship of other pagan gods and goddesses. You'd go, you'd sacrifice the meat, the leftover meat would be sold in the marketplace. We knew where it came from. That can make people's consciences unclean. You'd go into the temple, you'd do your thing with the prostitute, you'd worship the idols.
Speaker 3:All of this was a big thing. James is essentially saying just make sure the Gentiles stay away from their old life. And then, on the Jewish side, you kind of sparked my mind for something. I don't know if you and I can really comprehend what that would have been like for a Jew to sit down with a Gentile. But maybe during the civil rights movement, if I can use a very sensitive kind of time in our nation's history if you had an individual from the white community and the black community sitting down and having a meal together, side by side, for the first time, and how new that would have been, how fresh and how great that would have been. But how new that would have been and how much they would have had to get to know each other and have a fruitful conversation. That would have been the kind of if I can use the word hurdle that individuals needed to get past.
Speaker 1:Well, that's why I love the movie Remember the Titans, that's one of my favorites One of my favorite movies.
Speaker 1:I love watching it at least once a year because I love the Julius and Gary Breteer relationship where it starts and where it ends. They love each other like brothers. And it gives me goosebumps right now because I just love that they set aside all of those things to care for one another, truly care for one another, and then meet each other's families and just start to blend these two communities that have never been blended before and to show that it can be done and that they can put those differences aside. So Jew and Gentile. It would have had to been very similar to that.
Speaker 3:What's the scene where they're in practice.
Speaker 1:You know strong side, left side, yeah.
Speaker 3:You know they finally they're hitting each other's pads and like at that moment. Then the team came together and that's one of the best scenes, I think, in movie history. It is amazing.
Speaker 1:Well, and like I love when Julius is going over to Gary's house and he's about to cross the street and there's a cop there and a white cop and but the white cop just says, hey, julius knows who he is and hey, you know, keep playing well, or whatever. And he's kind of like, oh, okay, and then he goes into the house and meets Gary's mom and just gives her this big oh hug, yeah, and just like that moment of like that barrier being broken by him going in their house and embracing her, there was, there was just something there that said like, yes, this is how we should be treating each other Right, this is how Jesus told us to treat each other Right, and I think that's what Jew and Gentile are having to learn.
Speaker 3:So in this passage, james essentially says we're not going to trouble them with anything additional for justification, but we want them to know a couple of boundaries for sanctification, david. Any final thoughts as we start to close up. We made it all the way to verse 21 today.
Speaker 2:Yes, we did, we did good, we did job.
Speaker 1:What are your final comments?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't clutter up the lines or anything.
Speaker 1:Just let you guys do your thing.
Speaker 3:It's okay. We love you, David. We'll give you a hug here after the show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have lots of deep thoughts, there's just no time, oh man.
Speaker 3:David's here, to start.
Speaker 1:David, only podcast where I left Dakota and Kyle out. And here are my thoughts.
Speaker 3:Three hours a day, three hours a day Seven days a week, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you all for listening to the Be Disciples podcast. We just pray that you would go out and make disciples, you'd open up your Bibles. Put that time on your calendar and show that, yes, I'm making following Christ a priority, and part of that is investing in other people and reaching the lost. We had unfопfun future a lot of years ago. You.