Mt. Carmel to Mt. Sinai – Acts 15:1-5

Elijah, the Tishbite, was going through a very interesting period in his life and service for the Lord.

He had been commissioned to announce to the King of Israel that there was a 3½ year famine coming.

That famine fell on the land like a prairie wild-fire.

But the Lord met the needs of His prophet by employing ravens to bring him food.

Then he was sent to Zerephath where God used him to miraculously meet the needs of a widow & her son.

When that little boy suddenly died, Elijah was instrumental in restoring him to life.

At the end of 3½ years, the Lord called for a show-down between Elijah and the servants of Satan.

At the top of Mount Carmel, God’s lone servant confronted hundreds of the enemy.

The challenge was to call down fire from heaven – something which the heretics were unable to do.

But God not only ignited the offering that Elijah had prepared,

But then after roasting it for some time, He opened the windows of heaven and poured rain down on the embers.

Unfortunately, this defeat of the false prophets, didn’t produce repentance among the royal family;

It led to a contract for the murder of the man of God.

So one minute Elijah was on the top of the world, basking in the glory of the victory of God,

And the next minute he was running for his life, being chased by a suicidal depression and an insane woman named Jezebel.

Eventually, Elijah ended up at Mt. Sinai, where the law had been given to Moses.

He went from victory and glory amongst the clouds on Mt. Carmel, to cowering in terror, hiding in a cave on barren Mt. Sinai.

That proximity of victory and defeat; elation and dejection is a common phenomenon in life and in the service of God.

On his recent missionary junket Paul saw victory after victory,

With multitudes of people saved by the grace of God.

The prophets of Baal were openly defeated at Perga and Galatia.

And God poured His life-giving rain upon Paul just outside gates of Lystra.

So when the missionaries returned to their home church, they couldn’t have been happier.

But then came the Satanic attack of the Judaizers.

The word “Judaizer” is used to identify those false teachers who wanted to make Gentile Christian behave like Jews.

Certain men came down from Judea teaching the brethren that unless the non-Jewish believers started practicing the rites and ceremonies of Moses, they couldn’t be the children of God.

I hope that you can hear the ironic parallel between Acts 5:1 and I Kings 19:2:

“Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying,

So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.”

“Elijah, I’m going to make you just as dead as my own prophets.”

The Judaizers were trying to make sure that their Gentiles were just as spiritually dead as they were.

Fortunately for us, and for Christianity in general, Paul did not run and hide.

In a very proper, scriptural and respectful manner, he lead a counter-attack.

Paul was among a delegation from the church in Antioch which went to talk to the Apostles and the pastors of those Judaizers.

As we shall see, the leaders of Jerusalem agreed with Paul and declared that the Gentiles were NOT to be encumbered with the rites and laws of Moses.

However, as has always been, there were many who did not listen to the instruction of their pastors.

The harassment of the Gentile believers continued in Antioch, but more especially out on the mission field.

All of this resulted in the Book of Galatians.

Paul wrote a letter to the converts in Lystra, Derbe and other communities in what is now central and northern Turkey.

He repeated the suggestions of the other apostles, and tried desperately to strengthen his friends against the heresy of the Judaizers.

After much debate with myself, I’ve decided to briefly analyze the Book of Galatians before we move any farther into Acts 15.

As I look at Galatians I see several highlighted verses.

Perhaps the theme of the book is summarized with Galatians 5:1:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

There are several other verses whose theological significance place them among the most important verses in all the Word of God.

Galatians 6:14 – “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

Galatians 4:4-5 – “But when the fulness of the time was come,

God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Galatians 3:24 – “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

Galatians 3:10-11 – “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse:

For it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

Galatians 3:22 – “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”

Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Among these verses, the one which gives us our text this morning is Galatians 2:16:

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,

Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ,

And not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

I’d like us to think about the HERESY, the TRUTH and the APPLICATION of that Truth.

First, the HERESY.

It was the declaration that by the WORKS OF THE LAW sinners are MADE RIGHTEOUS before God.

“And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.”

There is an almost incidental word in Acts 15:1 which I think needs to be highlighted before we move on.

The Judean visitors were trying to spread their heresy among “the brethren.”

As far as the historian Luke was concerned, and as far as Paul and Barnabas were concerned, the people who were being targeted were already brothers and sisters in Christ – brethren.

Nevertheless, these false teachers were saying that the BRETHREN had to practice the rites of Moses, or they couldn’t remain “brethren.”

But Galatians 2:16 says:

“Knowing that a man is NOT justified by the WORKS of the law, but by the FAITH of Jesus Christ,

EVEN WE have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ,

And not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED.”

The word “justified” is an old theological and Biblical word which needs to be understood by every man, woman and child on earth.

We need to know this word because it speaks of the relationship between human beings and their God.

You see, we are all going to spend eternity either with – or without – the blessings of God;

YOU are going to spend eternity in either Heaven or the Lake of Fire;

And this word is related to that relationship.

To be “justified” is to be DECLARED RIGHTEOUS by the holy and absolutely righteous God.

It ultimately boils down to what is generally called “salvation from sin.”

You and I are sinners, because ALL human beings are sinners in the sight of God.

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

“There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.”

We might properly rephrased that scripture to say, “There is not a JUSTIFIED man upon the earth.”

And as such we all deserve to be eternally judged and punished for our sins.

We DESERVE to spend eternity in Hell.

But to be “justified” is to be DECLARED RIGHTEOUS by God.

To be justified is to be delivered from the punishment that our sins deserve.

Coupled to that declaration of righteousness comes forgiveness and the atonement of our sins.

It involves the new-birth – the regeneration of our sin-dead spirits;

It involves the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

To be justified is essentially to be given all the wonderful and glorious aspects of salvation.

The heresy being taught was that unless people obeyed the laws of Moses, they could not be justified.

What makes this study so important, is that this heresy is still being taught today under various disguises.

It should have been forever silenced by the council at Jerusalem and by Book of Galatians, but it hasn’t been.

In his letter Paul says that this is heresy no matter WHO is teaching it.

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, & would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

If an angel of God – if Gabriel or Michael the Archangel – came preaching that by our works or our obedience sinners can be delivered from their sins, let him be accursed.

If any man, whether an apostle from Jerusalem or a demon-possessed priest of Jupiter came preaching anything but the gospel of God’s grace, let him be accursed – “anathema.”

It is sinful human ego to think that there is anything that WE can do to UNDO our sins before God.

I am not saying that the Law of Moses is evil or a waste, nor did Paul ever say such a thing.

But obedience to the Ten Commandments and all of the other laws or ceremonies which God gave to Moses can remove our sins against the Lord.

“Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Wherefore law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

The Law of God, which includes rites like circumcision, as well as all the demands and prohibitions, was primarily designed to PROVE our sinfulness.

It was designed to PROVE or sinfulness not REMOVE our sinfulness.

The law of God was given to Moses to push us to the Saviour that we might be justified by faith in Christ.

THAT is the TRUTH which stands opposite the heresy.

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,

Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ,

And not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Israel had the law for about 1500 years before Christ and failed miserably at keeping it.

Even if the law COULD justify man before God, there was not found a man good enough to keep it.

“So – when the fulness of the time was come,

God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

This was Paul’s message throughout Cyprus, Pisidia and Galatia.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Salvation comes about by the unmerited, unearned grace of God.

“I do not frustrate the grace of God (and neither should anyone else): for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” – Galatians 2:21.

And this grace of God is enjoyed by the sinner through faith.

Galatians 2:16 – “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 3:6 – “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”

Those poor Judeans who thought that they knew the Law of God so well – missed the point of the law.

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world to bear the brunt of the law on behalf of His people.

He was cursed by the law on our behalf and was crucified to meet the demands of the law.

It was Jesus’ obedience to the Law and by His sacrifice under the Law that sinners are saved.

Galatians 3:22 – “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

Wherefore law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

The heresy of those people was that sinners could be SAVED BY THEIR OBEDIENCE to the law of God

Sometimes people talk about keeping the Ten Commandments,

And sometimes they talk about circumcision, keeping the Passover, or keeping the Sabbath.

Today they talk about baptism, about communion, about church membership and attendance.

But all the details of law only prove that we are sinners who are incapable of complete obedience.

“Whosoever keepeth the whole law and yet offendeth in one point is guilty of all.”

The truth is that the law cannot deliver someone from his nature as a sinner or from the sins that he has already committed.

But once a person is convinced by the law that he is a hopeless sinner,

THEN he is in a position to recognize the solution to his problem.

That solution is in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

Christ died as a substitute for that sinner.

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

So what is the APPLICATION of this truth?

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

When those men come down from Jerusalem, from Rome, from Nashville or from Hell,

Telling you that ye must be circumcised after the manner of Moses,

You tell them to take a hike.

Tell them that they have no idea what the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is.

Tell them that you have been saved by the grace of God and that you received God’s grace by faith – that you believed God.

Tell them that you are striving to honour God by obeying his Word, but that your obedience is not in order to be justified, because you have been justified by the grace of God.

Tell them that your obedience to the will of the Lord is an effort to glorify your Saviour.

Tell them that justification is something that only God can do, and so your trust is in the Lord.

Paul concluded his Galatian letter by saying:

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but new creature.”

Circumcision and all the other rites and ceremonies of Israel are unrelated to anyone’s salvation.

What matters is the new creature – a new creation.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

All this boils down to two very important questions:

First, what is YOUR relationship to the law of God?

Are you trying to obey God enough to force Him to open the doors of Heaven for you?

It will never happen.

“For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

And this makes the second question that much more important:

What is your relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Jesus is the Saviour – the only means of salvation and deliverance from your sins.

If you have never and are not now kneeling before His cross then you are lost.

If your faith is not in the shed blood of Christ to cleanse you of your sin, you are lost.

If you are not trusting Him for spiritual life, then you are dead in your sins.

If you do not love Christ, then it is proof that you are not loved by Christ.

Come to the Saviour this morning.

Throw aside the filthy rags of your self-righteousness and your imaginary obedience to the law.

You need Christ Jesus.

Won’t you repent of your sin and trust the Son of God this morning?