Rev. David Holwick U Galatians sermon series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 9, 2000
Galatians 2:11-16
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I. Is anything worth fighting for?
A. Churches seem to think so.
Church fights can be particularly nasty.
[Unnamed to protect guilty] Baptist Church in Ohio, 1989.
Pastor used to give revivals in my first church.
He was removed as pastor by a secret business meeting.
He held his own meeting, declared himself Pastor-for-Life,
changed the locks and excommunicated the malcontents.
The executive minister of Ohio Baptists only became aware of
the conflict when the State Police contacted him.
The police were afraid of an armed confrontation.
#1347
B. Gen. Alexander Haig, President Reagan's Secretary of State,
noted that some things ARE worth fighting for.
1) What are those things?
2) How do you fight for them?
3) Today's passage gives some insight.
II. Peter caves in - again.
A. Peter is visiting Antioch, in what is now Syria.
1) It is the center of the Gentile mission.
a) Maybe he wanted to check out Paul's report.
2) He is fellowshiping with Jewish and Gentile Christians.
B. Antioch church began to be infiltrated by outsiders.
1) They claimed to be from James, the leader in Jerusalem.
a) He later denies it. Acts 15:24
2) They taught a very Jewish form of Christianity.
a) Had to become a Jew first - circumcision.
b) Had to follow Jewish habits - don't hang around
Gentiles.
3) They hounded those who didn't follow this.
C. Peter caves in.
1) He is afraid of the Judaisers.
2) He withdraws from daily fellowship with Gentiles.
3) He influences others, so even Barnabas withdraws.
III. Paul's rebuke.
A. He did it publicly.
1) What about Jesus' teaching of graduated rebuke?
a) This sin was public, rebuke had to be public.
2) A foundational issue was at stake.
B. He rebukes what Peter did, not who he was.
1) He acknowledges Peter's position.
2) He notes that Peter also believed in grace and God's
acceptance of Gentiles. Acts 10
3) Peter's behavior was at fault, not his doctrine.
a) He was caving in to a small pressure group.
b) His hypocrisy was contagious.
C. How Peter's withdrawal contradicted the gospel.
1) Both Paul and Peter agree justification is by faith in
Jesus, not by human effort or goodness.
2) There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile in their
sin or their means of salvation.
3) If God justifies both on the same terms, we cannot
withhold fellowship from one group.
a) We cannot impose conditions which God does not.
4) Peter's own lifestyle was non-kosher concerning food.
D. Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 backed Paul up.
IV. Hypocrisy is still with us.
A. Believing one thing, doing another.
Our society gives us so many great examples.
In February, Darva Conger agreed to be one of the 50 women
participants in "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire."
She said she just wanted to enjoy a free trip to Las Vegas
and to get to be part of the taping of the show.
Darva never dreamed that she would end up being selected by
Rick Rockwell to be his bride.
But she was. And she said, "I do."
Days later, of course she got an annulment.
"I committed an error in judgment," Conger says.
"I have worked my whole life to be a credible person,
a person of integrity, and unfortunately in two hours
I destroyed much of that credibility...
I'd like it back."
Conger said she felt trapped during the ceremony and decided
to play the role.
"I wish I would have had the moral fortitude at that point
in time to just walk away, but it was an incredible
amount of pressure."
Darva Conger claims to be a Christian.
How is she dealing with her moral fortitude today?
She is posing for Playboy...
#5402
B. Anyone can succumb.
1) Barnabas was a good guy, and he fell.
a) Ananias & Sapphira donated property to the church
(but held some back). Barnabas gave the full amount.
b) He stood by nephew John Mark at conclusion of first
missionary journey; Mark later became a great help
to Paul in his final days.
c) Barnabas was so decent his nickname means "Son of
Encouragement."
2) No one is immune. Not even you.
a) Check your motives, consistency, beliefs, actions.
b) Is there an area where you need to get in line?
c) Your beliefs may be pure; are your actions?
C. Hypocrisy's motivations have not changed.
1) Like Peter, we fear criticism and rejection.
2) We need to re-discover moral courage.
a) In many ways, the issue at Antioch remains with us.
1> We still want to add extra layers to the gospel.
b) A concrete example: Evangelicals and racism.
1> We have always prided ourselves on how we have
stood up for the truth of the gospel.
2> But we haven't always lived that truth.
Back in the early 1960's, the white people of New Orleans were
scared. So were the black people.
A federal judge had ordered the city to open its public schools
to black children.
The white parents decided that if they had to let black children
in, they would keep their children out.
They let it be known that any black children who came to school
would be in for trouble.
So the black children stayed home too.
Except Ruby Bridges.
Her parents sent her to school all by herself, 6 years old:
the first, and for a little while, the only black child to
learn a lesson in a white New Orleans school.
Every morning she walked alone through a heckling crowd to an
empty school.
White people lined up on both sides of the way and shook their
fists at her.
But every morning at ten minutes to eight Ruby walked, head up,
eyes ahead, straight through the mob.
Two U.S. marshals walked ahead of her and two walked behind her.
Norman Rockwell did a famous poster of the situation.
She didn't just walk to school alone.
Spent the whole day alone, with only a few teachers.
Harvard professor Robert Coles was curious about what went
into the making of courageous children like Ruby Bridges.
He went to their home to find out.
Coles talked to Ruby's mother and, in his book "The Moral Life
of Children," tells what she said:
"There's a lot of people who talk about doing good,
and a lot of people who argue about what's good and
what's not good,"
but there are other folks who "just put their lives on
the line for what's right." #1976
V. How we can handle hypocrisy.
A. Know how to recognize it.
1) Identify it clearly, like Paul did.
2) Major in the majors.
a) Is gospel at stake, or just minor issue?
b) Major issues we need to defend today:
1> Authority of Bible.
2> Validity of its moral teaching.
3> Uniqueness of Jesus for salvation.
c) Major issues we need to live today:
1> Being as accepting of people as God is.
2> We face a great struggle in our society over
moral issues.
We have to stand up for what is right, but this
does not excuse us from being compassionate.
B. If issue is critical, unmask it publicly.
1) We tend to shirk controversy.
2) We want people to like us, more than a concern over peace.
3) Do you care enough about gospel to get mad?
C. Believe that people can change.
1) Hypocrisy is forgivable.
2) Apparently Peter got back on the straight-and-narrow.
a) In his final letter he calls Paul "our dear brother
Paul." 2 Peter 3:15
3) Wholeness and unity need to be our goal.
a) Don't be "right" in the wrong way.
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John Stott's commentary, "The Message of Galatians" (IVP) was used
extensively in this sermon.
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#1347 Personal knowledge of Rev. Holwick.
#1976 "A Pretty Good Person," by Lewis Smedes, quoted in Leadership
Journal's "To Illustrate..." by Bob Campbell of Lima, New York.
#5402 "She Married The Millionaire," Help4sunday@psst.com, March 23,
2000; quoted from abcnews.com, February 23, Chat Transcript;
also more current updates.
These and 15,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=======================================================================
John R.W. Stott, "The Message of Galatians," IVP,
'The Bible Speaks Today' commentary series
I. Dramatic episode.
A. Takes place in Antioch, where Gentile mission began.
B. Both Peter and Paul are Christians and apostles.
C. Paul rebukes Peter.
1) Problem is not Peter's teaching, which agrees with Paul's.
2) Issue is his conduct.
II. Peter.
A. What he did.
1) At first he ate with Gentiles.
2) He was confronted by men "from James."
a) James denied they had his authority. Acts 15:24
b) Therefore they only claimed to have it.
3) Peter discontinues table-fellowship with Gentiles.
a) "Words describe the cautious withdrawal of a timid
person."
B. Why he did it.
1) He did not believe it was wrong to eat with Gentiles.
a) His vision of the sheet/Cornelius was convincing.
b) There is no indication in Galatians he changed his mind.
2) He acted in insincerity, not from personal conviction.
a) He was afraid of a small pressure group.
b) He still believed the gospel but was afraid to
practice it.
C. What happened as a result.
1) His hypocrisy influenced others like Barnabas.
2) If Paul had not taken his stand, the whole church could
have been split in two.
3) Paul's courage preserved both the gospel and the
international brotherhood of the church.
III. Paul.
A. What he did.
1) Opposed Peter to his face.
a) He acknowledges Peter's position.
b) The showdown was public because the scandal was.
2) Churches avoid this at all costs today.
B. Why he did it.
1) Not due to an argumentative nature.
2) He was deeply concerned about the underlying principle.
a) He had to stick true to the truth of the gospel.
b) He will not tolerate deviations from it.
1> The Judaisers had taught against it.
2> Peter had behaved against it.
3) How Peter's withdrawal contradicted the gospel.
a) Both agree justification is by faith, not works.
b) There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile in their
sin or their means of salvation.
c) If God justifies both on the same terms, we cannot
withhold fellowship from one.
1> We cannot impose conditions which God does not.
d) Peter's own lifestyle was non-kosher concerning food.
C. What happened as a result.
1) Result not given in Galatians, but in Acts 15.
a) The issue of the Judaisers instigated the council.
2) Circumcision was not required of believers.
IV. Conclusion.
A. The issue remains current.
1) It takes different forms today.
B. Two applications:
1) We must walk straight according to the gospel.
a) We must believe the gospel.
b) We must preserve it.
1> There is a place for church discipline.
2) We must oppose those who deny the gospel.
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