Lechem Panim #184 “The Dangerous Three” (Acts 15:19-20) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim! Today we will be continuing to look at Acts chapter 15, which tells of group of Judaizers (or Jew-makers) who had come to Antioch and began causing some major dissension by trying to impose the Jewish practice of circumcision on the Gentiles who had come to faith in Jesus Christ. And the Gentiles (understandably) were very taken aback by this; particularly by the idea that they might not yet be right in God’s eyes; that there was a work they needed to perform (an actual operation they had to undergo) if they were going to be able to be followers of Jesus. And really this issue could have created a lot of division and might even have split the Church. And it was about more than just circumcision, but had to do with the issue of whether or not gentiles ought to keep the Mosaic law. And there was a lot of debate on this; but in the end the Jerusalem Council agreed that the Spirit of God was leading them away from placing that burden of the Law upon them, seeing as the Gentiles already had in their lives the marks of being believers. And so James, the head of the Jerusalem council, saying in…

Acts 15:19-20 (NKJV)— 19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God {(And [The Gr. word for “trouble” means “to throw something in the path of someone to annoy them.”])}, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.

Polluted by Idols— And so Gentiles who have come to faith in Christ are not to be put under the weight of the Mosaic system. However, we see that they are asked to abstain from certain practices out of loving courtesy to their Jewish brethren in order to preserve the fellowship. And the first of these is that they are asked “to abstain from things polluted by idols”. Now the eating of food that had been offered to idols was a huge issue in the Early Church, which is why we see the issue discussed again in 1 Corinthians. And what the situation was was that the pagan gentile world of that time would worship idols, physical statues/images that represented spiritual beings. And in places like Corinth (to which 1 Corinthians was written) what people would do was they would take an animal into a pagan temple and offer that animal to the idol. And the “spiritual” god represented by the physical idol would eat the “spiritual” animal. And then you could use the actual physical meat however you wanted. Well, people were very clever about this. They would take their best animals for sacrifices and then (after the supposed god had eaten the spiritual animal) they would sell that meat in the meat markets at those pagan temples. You see it was quite different from Judaism, where you actually had to offer the physical animal (not just the spiritual one).

Hell Money— When I was visiting my parents in China a number of years ago, my dad took me to kind of a Chinese funeral home. And they had a whole lot of normal items you would buy in everyday life, except they were paper. Paper houses (mansions), paper cars, paper watches, purses, you name it. And what you would do is you would buy and burn the paper item so that your loved one could have the real item in the afterlife. And you can actually buy money (they call it hell money) that (when you burn it) your loved one supposedly receives it in real money in the afterlife and they can then buy what they want. Now, I don’t know if they have gift cards. If they do, and I die, do me a favor and burn a few paper Best Buy and Amazon gift cards for me, will you? Now, in all seriousness, it seems to me that if you really believed in this, you would put your money where your mouth is so to speak and burn real money. But you don’t, just like in these pagan temples you don’t burn the animal; no you just offer the spirit of the animal. How different this is from Judaism, where you give God (truly give Him) the animal.

The Offense— But what you need to grasp from all this is that because of all this, the place to buy the best meat was at those heathen temples because that is where people had come to offer their best animals and (consequently) to then sell their best meat. So if you wanted to buy the best steak; the filet mignon; the porterhouse; the New York cuts, you would go to the pagan temples to get it. Now the Gentiles were not offended by this practice because they had always bought their meat at these markets. However, for the Jewish Christian who had been brought up knowing what God said about idolatry (Ex. 20:3; 34:17; Deut. 5:7), they would avoid anything to do with idols, including meat that had been offered to those idols (1 Cor. 8:1-13). And so the thought is that if a gentile were to have that Jewish Christian over for dinner, he would not offend his Jewish brother by offering that food that had been offered to that idol. And this is key for us to understand because (as we have already said) this request given by the council was not an attempt to put the Gentiles under the Mosaic Law, but was rather a request that they not do anything that might harm the unity between them and their Jewish brothers.

Paul’s Stance— And it ought to be noted that later we will see that Paul seems to have taken [a more liberal approach to the issue of food offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 8, which was written six or seven years after the council (c. A.D. 55), and perhaps in Romans 14, which was written eight years after the council (c. A.D. 56).] In certain contexts that may be okay. But they needed to be sensitive to the scruples of their Jewish brothers and sisters and abstain when necessary in order not to wound them. [This is the stance that Paul takes in his discussions in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8. He recommends sensitivity to people’s consciences, to the weaker brother, and to putting a stumbling block in the way of someone else. {And so} Our convictions must always be tempered by love. Love will make us do things that we have fought against legislating.] In fact we will see that Paul (after all this) will have Timothy circumcised in order to not alienate Jews who might otherwise be open to the Gospel.

Sexual Immorality— Now next we see that the council requests the gentiles to abstain from sexual immorality. And interestingly, this is the one that it markedly different from the other three. It’s the only one that wasn’t a dietary restriction and the only one that seems to be an explicit evil in itself. And once again, we need to understand the background of what was happening at that time to see why this is specifically mentioned. What we are talking about here is likely the kind of orgies that were associated (once again) with the pagan worship the Gentiles had up until this point been a part of. This kind of immorality was so common among the Gentiles, to the point where their consciences had become completely numb to it. It was a part of the pagan religious system. And so these new gentile Christians who are coming out of that pagan background have to be told explicitly not do something that to us might seem obvious. But you know, in America we have been slowly yet steadily moving back to that way of doing life. The sexual revolution in the 70’s played a major part in that. And the ironic thing is that many today think that to cast off all sexual restrictions or boundaries is progress. But this “new morality” or “progressive thinking” is really nothing more than old-time paganism dressed up in new language. And in any culture where immorality has been allowed to pervade and the sexual lines crossed, that culture has crashed.

Purity & Revival— This week I read a devotional by Dr. Dennis Kinlaw in which he says this: There is an important link between our purity in physical relationships and our vitality in spiritual relationships. It is quite clear biblically that God’s purposes for us are tied up with our sexuality. He can only accomplish his purposes in human history, in human society, and in human lives if his followers use their sexuality according to his design and plan. I have noticed a startling truth in the history of the church: the Holy Spirit has a particular affinity for people who are very careful in the sexual aspect of their lives. You will have a difficult time finding an outpouring of the Holy Spirit among people where there is substantial sexual laxity. For some reason, purity and revival are linked inseparably together; God seems to have a particular sensitivity for protecting his creation in this way. Perhaps human sexuality is especially important to God because it is a prime symbol of the depth of intimacy that God desires with each human person. God uses most effectively those individuals who are committed to personal holiness and purity, and he seems to have a special blessing for groups who are committed to corporate holiness and purity. In our day, when such holy behavior is an anomaly, we need to set our course by his standards and not by the standards of the world. Whether you are married or single, young or old, are the thoughts, imaginations, and actions of your heart as pure as Jesus would have them be? If there is any impurity in you, you can expect spiritual impotence.]
    And you know, he’s absolutely right. And that is why we find here the council taking such a strong stand against sexual immorality. They knew that the power and effectiveness of the Church and it’s ability to be filled with and used by the Holy Spirit was largely dependent on their remaining holy before God. And that is something we need to remember in our day and age as well.

Things Strangled & Blood— Now after this they also add that the gentiles ought to abstain from things strangled, and from blood. This, once again, was a matter of courtesy to the Jewish Christians, who refrained from eating such things and who were careful to cut their animals in such a way so as to drain out all the blood; because God had specifically commanded them not to eat blood.

Where The Lines Are— Now you and I are always interested in knowing where the lines are. We want to know what we are and what we are not allowed to do. And that is good; and is what the Gentiles needed to know. But (and I think the Jerusalem council was aware of this), it isn’t always about what you do as much as how that action might affect your relationship with God or your brother or sister in Christ and their relationship with God.

Susannah Wesley’s Definition of Sin— For this reason, I have come to really appreciate how Susannah Wesley defined sin. This was how Susannah Wesley defined "sin" to her young son, John Wesley. She said: "If you would judge of the lawfulness or the unlawfulness of pleasure, then take this simple rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things—that to you is sin.”

​Let’s Evaluate— Now I love that definition because it puts the focus right where it needs to be; on our relationship with God. How might the action I am considering affect the communion I share with God and (consequently) with other people? Will it nourish me? Will it enhance my love for Jesus and keeps me centered in His will and in love for those He loves? Let us learn to evaluate all things by that standard. Let’s do so. Amen.