What are you doing it for?
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning,
Today we are continuing our series in Galatians and our passage today is Galatians 2:11-14. This is the last part of the autobiographical portion of Paul’s letter to the Galatians and while he does this, he uses it to move into the main body of the letter. He uses this incident between him and Peter to lead into a rebuke of the Galatian churches for the same reason. But before we begin let’s open with a word of prayer.
Pray 3+
If you would please open your Bibles with me to Galatians 2 and I will be reading verses 11-14. If you are using a pew Bible we are on page 1075.
Galatians 2:11-14 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?””
So the best way to preach through this book, would be to preach through it as a unified whole. That is how this was written and it was how it was intended to be read. This is in fact a letter, it did not come to these churches with the verse numbers or chapters and upon receiving it the church would have done just that. It is highly improbable that the people Paul was writing to would do like we do today. So while I am breaking each of these parts down and we are going through just a small section at a time, remember that all of these are part of a continuous message and had an overall purpose. I encourage you to read through the book of Galatians throughout the week, if you want you can read through the book each day.
This will help as we will not be getting through much over the next few weeks. We will start in Galatians 3 on the first of November and I want to make sure we spend some time focusing on some of the theological points Paul is making but again Paul is using this section to show them the fallacy of trying to add the law back into the Gospel. There are several parallels in the two rebukes that we will see. Paul uses strong language both here and in Chapter 3. Peter is not obeying the truth of the Gospel and we read in Galatians 3:1 this is the same thing that the Galatian churches are doing.
O thoughtless Galatians, who did bewitch you, not to obey the truth—before whose eyes Jesus Christ was described before among you crucified?
There are some other parallels as well, so I really do encourage you to read this letter throughout the week, it will be incredibly helpful as we continue through the book.
Since I went on my small rant there, I am going to read the opening verse of our passage again. Galatians 2:11 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”
We are not given many details in the letter as to the purpose of this trip that Peter is on, but we see that during his time in Antioch Paul had to oppose Peter. We see again this week that at times, it is necessary to stand against another for the sake of the Gospel. Paul does not mince words here. Paul opposed him because he stood condemned. I am not going to lie I struggled with this word this week. If you are in a KJV or a NKJV it says, “ he was to be blamed,” if you have an NLT it says “what he did was very wrong.” This is not the whole idea that Paul is giving here. Keep your fingers in Galatians, but turn with me to Deuteronomy 25 verse 1 and I will be putting it up on the screen.
“If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty,
And before you start yelling at me saying, “The Old Testament was written in Hebrew!” That is true, but in the Septuagint or the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word is here is the same one we find in our passage. It also appears again in the New Testament. In first John we have the only other New Testament uses of the word.
for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
Paul is using this in the legal sense of the word. Paul is pronouncing judgement on Peter. However, Peter’s heart should have been condemning him as well. Remember in Acts, Peter was already given the freedom to eat with Gentiles by God. In Acts chapter 10, God gives Peter a vision of a sheet coming down from heaven with unclean animals on it and God tells him to, “Get up Peter. Kill and eat.” This happens three times, because, like myself, Peter is rather stubborn and he tells God, this is a Jad paraphrase, You must be mistaken Lord because I have never and would never eat anything impure or unclean.
And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
What exactly is the problem?
What exactly is the problem?
Galatians 2:12-14 “For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?””
We see here that Peter was eating and having fellowship with the Gentiles, but at some point these men came from James. This does not necessarily mean that they were sent by James and what happens here in Antioch was probably not intended by James. We know that it was not likely because of the meeting in our previous passage, just as Peter should have known this. Remember that these men had given Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, demanding nothing additional of them and Gentile believers, other than they remember the poor. However, when these men arrive, Peter begins to separate himself. The language used in this passage indicates that the way Peter does this is more like a slow withdrawal from the Gentiles.
Now I want to say that, it is understandable that Peter does this. We do this all the time. We separate ourselves from different stuff or people all of the time. We each have different reasons for doing so. Some of us do it to protect our kids, others do it to protect ourselves, it is a natural tendency and in some instances it can be necessary. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33 tells us:
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
There is a quote, most often attributed to Jim Rohn, that says, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with,”. Society is starting to catch up with the Bible. This is good. If all the people we spend time with, are wicked and sinful we tend to start behaving like them, if we surround ourselves with those who are godly and are striving to be more like Jesus, we tend to start living more like them. Not always, but more often than not.
However, this is not what is happening here. Peter is deliberately separating himself from the Gentiles, not because they are having any affect on his walk with God, but he does so out of fear. He fears the circumcision party. He fears those who believe that the Gentiles need to become Jewish before they can be fully Christians. Paul understands this and he stands up to Peter for this. Paul sees that their conduct was not in step with the Gospel of truth.
How are your decisions made?
How are your decisions made?
We see here that Peter reacts out of fear, so how are we making decisions? This is a question we each must ask ourselves as we interact with others. Fear can be both good or bad.
We can make decisions based on fear in one of two ways. I am not talking about fear of a dangerous situation, depending. We can either decide based on the fear of man or the fear of God.
#1 The fear of man
#1 The fear of man
This is what is played our in our passage in Galatians. Peter fears the circumcision party and backs away from the Gentiles. I can do this when I feel called to share the Gospel with someone and keep silent. I have worked in several secular jobs since I have been a Christian. There have been multiple occasions when I have had the opportunity to share my faith with others, but I kept silent for different reasons. There have been times I was friends with people and I did not want them to look down on me, or I wanted to avoid being reprimanded for my views. These are all for fear of man. There are times that I have made decisions just because it was the easier path. I felt as if God was leading me one way but I knew that there would be opposition and I would have to deal with conflict so I just did what everyone wanted. This is fear of man. Anytime we know what God would have us do, but choose to do something because men will judge us, have conflict with us, or anything else, we are showing a sinful fear. I do understand that in work situations there is a time and a place for it, and you are not to be constantly talking to people while you are being paid to work.
#2 The fear of God
#2 The fear of God
Turn with me to Daniel chapter 3. This is one of my favorite stories of what the fear of the Lord looks like. King Nebuchadnezzar built this massive golden statue and commanded that all of his officials come to the +dedication of it and worship it.
Daniel 3: 4-6 “And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.””
The instruments play and three men do not bow to the image. Then the king is told about it and he is furious, this was an offense that he said was punishable by death. But look what happens.
Daniel 3:13-18 “Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up.”
They are then thrown into the furnace and God saves them, but I love their response. Their first fear is the Lord and they accept that He may or may not act to save them.
If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up.”
We read in Proverbs, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Look what Jesus says in Luke 12 about fear.
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
Luke 12:6-7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
Jesus is talking to the disciples as He is saying this, so Peter was taught this. So if we fail in this point, I want to tell you and myself we are in good company. It does not give us the excuse though. It does not make it OK to make decisions out of fear. Jesus tells them in Luke 12:7 “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” It goes on from there.
Luke 12:8-9 ““And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
And Paul writes in Romans 1:16-19 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.”
This is truly the fear of the Lord. Knowing that He is the one to whom worship belongs despite the consequences. We have that same hope, we have the opportunity to serve the same God. He is the one who offers salvation from death.
If you turn back to Galatians, we see how Peters reaction out of fear affected those in the church of Antioch.
Galatians 2:13 “And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.”
Peter’s fear and behavior had an affect on more than just himself. His behavior had an affect of the whole body here. Peter had pulled away, the Jews were acting hypocritically, and because of this we have two thing happen. The first was led astray by their hypocrisy. Essentially he was deceived into behaving contrary to the Gospel he had just been preaching.
Those who where once solid in the Gospel, began to be led astray. This more than anything else was why Paul opposed Peter so openly. Paul tells Peter,
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Paul opposed Peter before them all because this had affected the whole body in Antioch. This was not a simple Peter only sin. Peter’s sin was causing others to stumble.
Are you causing others to stumble?
Are you causing others to stumble?
Very often our sin, has an affect on everyone around us. This is most apparent in leadership. If I am behaving in an unbiblical way, you all see it and it can become an acceptable behavior. If I am always critical, that risks becoming the acceptable behavior. If I engage in gossip, it runs the risk of becoming OK. We see this in organizations all of the time. We see the leadership make decisions and people follow. We saw this in Peter as he pulled away from the truth of the Gospel. If you read the Old Testament, you can see this throughout Israel’s history. As their kings seek other gods, so would the nation.
This is true for each one of us as well, unless you are some sort of hermit who never leaves the woods, in which case you cannot hear this message anyways. Each of us have people who are looking to us to see what it is like to live the Christian life. What it is to live our lives as brothers and sisters in Christ. What does the love of Christ look like in the lives of His People as they spend time together? This is played out within the body as we approve of or do not stop behaviors that we know are wrong, as we say one thing to our children about God and His word but then live a completely different way.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I want to leave you with two questions and a quote
Are you making decisions based on the Fear of God or the fear of man?
Are you causing others to stumble?
This is a quote by a famous atheist Penn Jillette. He is one of the two of the magical duo Penn and Teller. And it greatly illustrates fear of God vs Fear of man. As well as how we can cause others to stumble.
“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me along and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?
“I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”