Am I My Brother’s Keeper Acts 15:19-35 Introduction

Page 1 of 11Am I my Brother’s Keeper?Acts 15:19-35Introduction:Since the beginning of time when the first man andwoman rebelled against God, mankind has beenseparated from God. Every person since that time hasbeen born into that rebellion and sin. Because of sin,people are separated from God and are unable tohave a right relationship with Him or each other.Ill. of evil and sufferingInside of every person is an emptiness and a sensethat something is wrong. People see the evil in theworld and they see the evil in the hearts of mankindand they perceive that the world is not the way itshould be.So through the centuries people have come up withreligions and philosophies in a flawed attempt toremedy the situation. Most religions of the world arebuilt on the false premise that people can becomegood by their own effort. They just have to tryharder. Most religions of the world teach that you canbe good enough to be right with God by doingreligious acts and good deeds. Religions that arebuilt on this false premise are man-made and leadpeople away from the one true God. There is noworks system; there is no amount of good deeds orreligious rituals that can be performed to earn a rightrelationship with God.

Page 2 of 11Ill. In Islam you have the 5 pillars.Belief or faithPrayerCharitable givingFasting during the month of RamadanPilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a lifetimeNot performing these mandatory acts of worship maydeprive Muslims of the chance of salvation.Ill. In some forms of Buddhism, redemption isinherent in the discipline of giving up attachments todesires.But the God who created us has not left it up tomankind to blindly stumble around trying to find away to Him. Because God loves every person that hehas created and He desires to have a relationship withus. God has always had a plan to save people fromsin and this evil world. He has made His plan ofsalvation known through the Bible.The Bible tells us that Jesus the Son of God cameand died a substitutionary death on the cross for thesin of all mankind. He rose from the grave andascended to heaven and he offers forgiveness of sinand eternal life to all who come to Him and trust Himas Savior and God.God's plan is by grace through trust in Christ’s oneperfect sacrifice for all sin. All a person must do isend his rebellion and come to Christ and receiveGod’s free gift of salvation.

Page 3 of 11Salvation must be by the grace of God because noone can be good enough to earn it.It is only through Christ because he is the only onethat ever died for the sins of the whole world.Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the giftof God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. NIVJesus Christ by His one perfect sacrifice hascompleted the work of salvation and thereforesalvation from sin and judgment is offeredabsolutely free because of God’s unmerited love toanyone that believes in Jesus.1 Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, therighteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. NIVHow a person is made right with God is a crucialissue because if you miss it you've missed everything.Life is meaningless without a right relationship withthe God that created you.In the first part of Acts 15, we are told of some menthat came to the church in Antioch, basically teachingthat salvation was by works. The apostles andpastors of the church answered the false teachingwith six proofs that salvation was by grace alone.

Page 4 of 11After it was made clear that the Gentile believersdid not have to keep the ceremonial laws of the OldTestament.James, who was one of the pastors (or elders) ofthe church in Jerusalem, addresses the issue ofrelationships (or fellowship) in the church. He givesthe Gentile believers four things that they shouldavoid for the sake of the Jewish believers in thechurch because they would be offensive.Acts 15:19 – 29 answers questions like, “Sincesalvation is by grace alone, does my conductmatter?” “Do I have a responsibility to considerothers as I make choices in the way I live?”Am I my Brother’s keeper?The Holy Spirit says to all these questions, “Yes”!Read Acts 15:19-35Look at Acts 15:29.Acts 15:29 “You are to abstain from food sacrificed toidols, from blood, from the meat of strangledanimals and from sexual immorality. You will do wellto avoid these things.” NIVActs 15:21 For Moses has been preached in every cityfrom the earliest times and is read in the synagogues onevery Sabbath." NIV

Page 5 of 11The first five books of the Bible are referred to asMoses because he wrote them under the guidance ofthe Spirit of God. Because the Jews were still beinginstructed to follow the dietary laws in thesynagogues, the Gentile believers were encouraged totry not to offend them.1. Abstain from food sacrificed to idols. Acts 15:29Here is an example of how this issue might comeup.A Gentile believer might serve a wonderful meal,and a Jewish believer might be invited. The Jewbeliever might say, “Where did you get this wonderfulcut of meat?” The host would tell him that he bought it atthe temple meat market where the priests sell the stuffthat's offered to idols.The Jewish believer would be deeply wounded in hisconscience. There would be a break in therelationship between the two believers.1 Corinthians 8:4 So then, about eating food sacrificedto idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in theworld and that there is no God but one.7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are stillso accustomed to idols that when they eat such food theythink of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and sincetheir conscience is weak, it is defiled. 8 But food doesnot bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do noteat, and no better if we do. NIV

Page 6 of 11Paul says, there's nothing intrinsically wrong witheating food that has been offered to an idol. The foodwas not changed into evil by the idol. The idol wasnothing. But not all believers understood that.So if doing it causes another Christian to bewounded spiritually, then it is better not to do it.2. Abstain from blood and from the meat ofstrangled animals. Acts 15:29Do not drink blood or eat animals that still have theblood in them. This practice was common in the worshipof idols and false gods. It is still practiced today.Under the Old Covenant that the nation of Israelhad entered into with God, it was wrong to do this.God gave certain rules to the nation of Israel to setthem apart from all other nations so they could be awitness to other nations. The rules were alsodesigned to paint a picture of the Messiah that wascoming.Jesus the Messiah established a new covenant withall believers in the church that superseded the oldmosaic covenant. Under that New Covenant, thereis nothing wrong with, eating meat with blood in itor even drinking blood.

Page 7 of 11Under the New Covenant, God put all peopletogether in the church. All races are made one in thechurch.God put Jews and Gentiles together so He removedthose dietary rules because Christ Jesus fulfilledthem all and God wanted all believers to be one.That is why a multi-ethnic congregation reflectsbest God’s true church.This was pictured in Acts 10. A sheet came downfrom heaven with all kinds animals on it. Peter, aJewish believer, was told by God to kill and eat.But James told the Gentile believers not to drinkblood or eat animals that still have the blood in them soas not to wound the Jewish believers spiritually.3. Abstain from sexual immorality. Acts 15:29Sexual immorality was a part of Gentile idolatry andworship. There were male and female prostitutesemployed by the pagan temples. The paganworshiper would engage in sexual immorality at thetemple.So James says, avoid any kind of pagan worshipassociated with sexual immorality. It is offensive andimmoral.T. S. You may be asking the question, “How doesthis apply to me?”

Page 8 of 11God wants you to limit your freedom for the sake ofyour love for others.You are your brother’s keeper!1 Corinthians 8:9 Be careful, however, that theexercise of your freedom does not become astumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone with aweak conscience sees you who have this knowledgeeating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eatwhat has been sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weakbrother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by yourknowledge. 12 When you sin against your brothers in thisway and wound their weak conscience, you sin againstChrist. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes mybrother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again,so that I will not cause him to fall. NIVLet me give you 3 principles that we need to followin all our relationships.1. Consider others as more important than yourself.The needs of others are more important than myfreedom.Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition orvain conceit, but in humility consider others betterthan yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only toyour own interests, but also to the interests of others.5 Your attitude should be the same as that of ChristJesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not considerequality with God something to be grasped, 7 but madehimself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, NIV

Page 9 of 11Ill. Paul was a committed Christian and he was inthe worship band. He rented a room from a singleyoung lady. They lived in the same house together, butthere was no sexual immorality. He referred to her ashis roommate. I asked him to consider his witness tounbelievers and to believers. God was already workingin his heart and so he moved out and got his own place.2. Build others up.Is what I am doing or not doing going to help othersgrow in their relationship with God or is it going to tearthem down?We are to build others up not tear them down.When you tear down a person, you are tearing downsomeone that Christ died for. You are sinning againstChrist when you tear a person down. We are toencourage one another to love God and obey Himby our life and our words.1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one anotherand build each other up . NIV3. Love one another.Am I doing what is best for others?John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love oneanother. As I have loved you, so you must love oneanother. 35 By this all men will know that you are mydisciples, if you love one another." NIV

Page 10 of 11Love is not a feeling, but an action. When you lovesomeone, you do what’s best for them.The Gentile believers were to do what was best forthe Jewish believers. We are to do the same.Those are the 3 principles that we need to follow inall our relationships.You can apply them to all kinds of questions aboutlifestyle, like: T.V., movies, video games, drinking,gambling, and a whole list of things.Ill. For example, some believers that do drinkalcohol have asked me about why I don’t drink?They point out that the Bible doesn’t say that abeliever can’t drink alcoholic beverages. It just saysnot to get drunk. (Ephesians 5:18) In fact, Paul toldTimothy in 1 Timothy 5:23 Stop drinking only water,and use a little wine because of your stomach and yourfrequent illnesses. NIVThese are some of the reasons I give them. I madethe decision not to drink after I became a Christian atthe age of 16 because I want to have a good witness tomy friends that were abusing alcohol. I also do notwant to cause someone that had a problem withalcohol to be tempted to drink because of myexample. There is always the possibility of ruining mywitness by drinking too much and becoming drunk. Itried to consider others and what was best for others.