This is a November evening meeting, February 5, 1973, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry given by Stephen Kaung.
O Lord, we do come to Thee tonight, because Thou art the river of life. We come to drink and to live by Thee.
We ask Thee, Lord, that Thou wilt open Thy Word to us and open our hearts to Thy Word. May Thy Holy Spirit do the work that Thou dost desire to accomplish.
Lord, we are here not just to say something or to hear something, but we are here before Thee. We want Thee to finish Thy work of new creation in and among us, and among Thy people everywhere.
So, Lord, we do look up to Thee. We ask this tonight in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Please turn to Acts 15. We will read from verse 1.
And certain men came down from Judaea and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye have been circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and questioning with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
They therefore, being brought on their way by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed all things that God had done with them.
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses.
And the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider of this matter.
And when there had been much questioning, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Brethren, ye know that a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
And God, Who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did unto us;
and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
Now therefore why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as they.
And all the multitude kept silence; and they hearkened unto Barnabas and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through them.
And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Brethren, hearken unto me:
Symeon hath rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name.
And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
After these things I will return,
And I will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen;
And I will build again the ruins thereof,
And I will set it up:
That the residue of men may seek after the Lord,
And all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called,
Saith the Lord, Who maketh these things known from the beginning of the world.
Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God;
but that we write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood.
For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath.
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren.
And they wrote thus by them:
The apostles and the elder brethren unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting:
Forasmuch as we have heard that certain who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment;
it seemed good unto us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same things by word of mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well.
So they, when they were dismissed, came down to Antioch; and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle.
And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
And Judas and Silas, being themselves also prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them.
And after they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace from the brethren unto those that had sent them forth.
But Paul and Barnabas tarried in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
We mentioned that from Acts 6 through Acts 15, these chapters record the formative years of the body of Christ.
On the Day of Pentecost, the body of Christ came into being. Then, you find, it began to be formed according to the divine design. In the formation of this body of Christ according to the heavenly pattern, it went through a period of conflict.
It is through this period of conflict that you find it finally came into that new vessel, fit for the Master’s use. We may call it the pains of growth. Through the pains of growth, finally, you find it has taken its proper form.
During this period, God raised up a few key men to help direct this formation according to the heavenly pattern. We have mentioned five of them in the past.
Stephen was a pioneer of the heavenly vision. Through Stephen, you find the body of Christ, the church, began to break away from Judaism. Before that time, people often considered the church as part of Judaism—just another sect in Judaism.
But Stephen was one who had vision. In him, you find the beginning, as it were, of the break of this body of Christ, the church, from Judaism.
Then there was Philip. Through the ministry of Philip, the Samaritans were brought into the church. You know, there was no relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans.
On the Day of Pentecost, when the church was formed, it was mainly Jews. To the Jews, the Gentiles had no part in the grace and blessing of God. But here were the Samaritans, those despised by the Jews because they were half-Gentiles.
Yet through the ministry of Philip, the Samaritans were brought in. God purposely withheld the gift of the Holy Spirit until the apostles came and laid hands upon these believers. Then they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Why?
Because in the formation of this body of Christ, there would be only one body. In that one body, both the Jews and the Samaritans were drawn into one. The enmity between them was eliminated by the cross, and the Holy Spirit brought them together into one body—a further move away from Judaism.
After Philip, Saul was brought in. Saul was a symbol of Judaism, and God shattered his Judaism completely and made him a new vessel for the building of the body of Christ—a special lesson appointed by God.
Then we mentioned Peter, the apostle to the Jews. Yet God used him to open the door to the Gentiles.
Actually, Philip was probably in Caesarea; most likely he was. Yet God, as it were, set aside Philip, sent His angel to Cornelius, and said, “Send messengers to Joppa and get Peter here to tell you how to be saved.” Why?
Again, you find it was to keep the oneness of the body. Otherwise, you would have a Jewish church and a Gentile church. But because of this, you find the church is one.
After Peter, we find Barnabas. Barnabas was a man with a big heart. He was sent out to visit these churches that were beginning to be in the cities of Syria and Cilicia.
He came to Antioch. He saw the grace of God and rejoiced. He encouraged the brothers and sisters to cleave to the Lord. Seeing that the work was so great, he went to find Saul and brought him to Antioch. Together they labored, and the church was established there to such a degree that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.
Tonight, we come to the last person: James.
You know, it seems very strange that James should be the one used by God to finalize the whole thing. God has this strange way.
Now, who was James? This James was not one of the sons of Zebedee. You remember, among the apostles in the beginning there were two sons of Zebedee: James and John.
But this was not James, the brother of John, the son of Zebedee, because in Acts 12 you find James was beheaded by Herod.
Who was this James that you find in Acts 15? He was the fleshly brother of our Lord Jesus.
In Matthew 13, we are told that Mary, after she gave birth to Christ through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, bore by the natural course many sons and daughters. The brothers of our Lord Jesus were James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, with sisters also.
So this James was a brother of our Lord Jesus according to the flesh.
Tradition tells us—and we do not know exactly how true it is—that James, after he was born to Joseph and Mary, became a Nazarite.
You know how the Nazarite was described in Numbers. If anyone wanted to serve God, he could set himself apart as a Nazarite—that is, one who was separated and consecrated to serve the Lord.
We are told by tradition that James, from his childhood, was set apart to serve God. He was a most righteous person. He lived a very godly life and was deeply rooted in Judaism and in the tradition of the fathers.
He prayed so much that tradition tells us his knees developed calluses like a camel’s knees. He was such a righteous person that, even though he was not of the family of Aaron, he was allowed to enter into the temple.
He was admired by the Jews at that time, a most righteous person according to the law. He was deeply rooted in Judaism and deeply trained in the tradition of the fathers.
Therefore, he took the same position toward his brother in the flesh, Jesus, as the Pharisees and scribes of his time. He did not believe in the Lord Jesus.
He grew up with the Lord Himself. He must have seen everything about the Lord. He should have been the first one to notice the uniqueness of this Man, of his brother. Certainly he should. But, strange to say, he was blind.
On the one hand, he might have noticed something unique and unearthly in the life of his brother. Yet, on the other hand, because he was so deeply trained in Judaism, he could not help looking upon his brother as an impostor.
During the life of our Lord Jesus, there was no indication that James believed in Him. On the contrary, in John 7, you find one day the brothers of our Lord Jesus came to Him and said, “If You want to be famous, to be known by people, do not hide Yourself here in this hidden country. Go where the people are and show Yourself to them.”
The Lord said, “It is always convenient for you to go, but My time is not yet.”
Who were these brothers who mocked our Lord Jesus in such a way? Actually, they were ridiculing Him. They did not believe. Certainly James was one of them.
We have absolutely no proof that during the lifetime of our Lord Jesus, James ever believed. No proof at all.
Strange to say, at the death of our Lord Jesus, after His death, it seemed as if something happened. James, throughout the life of our Lord Jesus, failed to believe Him; yet at His death, something changed.
We do not know if James was at Calvary when our Lord Jesus was crucified. But one thing we can say: he must have heard what happened there.
He must have heard that the veil which separated the holiest of all from the holy place was rent from top to bottom into two at the death of the Lord Jesus.
Probably the death of the Lord Jesus in such a manner sealed his conviction, a conviction buried by tradition all those years.
Such a righteous person could not help noticing the life of the Lord Jesus. He could not help being touched by the life of our Lord Jesus. There must have been some conviction going on within him, but because he was so deeply grounded in tradition, he could not get away from it. He was held back, but the conviction was there.
When he heard of the death of the Lord Jesus and what happened in the temple, it was as if God was saying to him, “This is the Messiah. This is the One. It is through Him that the new and living way is opened.”
Probably the death of our Lord Jesus sealed that conviction in him and turned him around. Maybe that was the very reason why, after our Lord Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to James.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the Lord appeared to James—not the brother of John, but His brother according to the flesh. The Lord purposely appeared to him alone. He needed it.
He must have wondered. It was just as though he had rejected his brother; he had rejected the Lord. Now he knew that his brother was the Son of God, the Christ, and he sincerely believed in Him. But probably he wondered whether his brother would ever forgive him, whether He would ever accept him.
He needed assurance from the Lord. The Lord appeared, and since that time you find he was enlisted among the believers.
In Acts 1, after the Lord ascended, those who witnessed the ascension came back to Jerusalem because the Lord said, “You go back to Jerusalem and wait until you have received power from on high. Then you shall be My witnesses from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.”
After ten days, only one hundred and twenty were left. Among these one hundred and twenty were the apostles, Mary the mother of Jesus, some women, and the brethren—the brothers of our Lord.
Not only James believed in the Lord, but his other brothers also came to the Lord, probably through his influence. Eventually, you find two books in the New Testament written by two brothers of our Lord in the flesh: the Epistle of James and the Epistle of Jude.
So you find James was with the believers at the very beginning. When they were baptized into one body, James was one of the members of the body.
Though he was not listed among the original apostles, nevertheless, he was an apostle.
Then persecution began. You know, when the persecution after Stephen began, the disciples were scattered, but the apostles remained in Jerusalem.
Some people ask, “Why was it that this kind of persecution came to the church in Jerusalem? The disciples were scattered, and the apostles remained behind. Why?”
One reason was that when the persecution began, its target was not the Hebrew Jews, but the Hellenistic Jews.
The church in Jerusalem was composed of Jews of two kinds: Hellenistic Jews and Hebrew Jews. Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew. The persecution was started by the synagogues of the Hellenistic Jews.
Therefore, when the persecution first came upon the church in Jerusalem, its objective was mainly these Hellenistic believers. When they were persecuted, they went back home. They were scattered to Samaria, to Phoenicia, and to Syria, because that was where they came from.
The apostles remained in Jerusalem because they were not the main target of persecution.
But after the persecution, Saul became indiscriminate. He went into Hebrew Jewish homes and Hellenistic Jewish homes alike, dragging off men and women and putting them in prison. The persecution increased.
During that period of persecution, many Hellenistic believers had gone out. Therefore, the Hebrew Jews became the majority, perhaps even the overwhelming majority, of those who remained in Jerusalem.
During a period of persecution, you need some people who are very firm, strong, deeply rooted, and solid—people who can stand and lead. That was James.
During the time of persecution, Peter was a leading brother in the church in Jerusalem. Yet you can hardly imagine how the church could sustain that kind of persecution.
Naturally, during the time of persecution, it seems as if James, the brother of Jesus, began to be manifested as the leading brother in the church.
At Pentecost and during the first period, Peter seemed to be the leading brother. Of course, there were leaders, but Peter seemed to be at the forefront. Yet after the persecution, as you read the Bible, you find James coming to the front.
Why? Because James was a solid brother, very firm. Oh, we need people like James. We need people who are full in Christ. We need people who have spiritual stature.
We are told that James was not only loved by the believers in Jerusalem, but he was also admired by the Jews in Jerusalem. He had such a good testimony.
For a man with such a good testimony, God could use him to lead the church in Jerusalem against persecution. Probably that was one reason why James began to come to the front.
Of course, three brothers were pillars in the church in Jerusalem: James, John, and Peter. These three were great pillars through whom the church was supported.
But of the three, James seemed to become the leading brother in the church in Jerusalem. It was not a legal or official appointment. It was a matter of life, of spiritual life.
Peter, at one time, was ahead of the others; therefore, he was leading. Then you find James seemed to go ahead of Peter, and naturally he began to lead.
There was no argument and no strife. It was simply a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Because of that, there was no conflict between this brother and that brother. It was the Lord. He was the One who gave the spiritual life.
James was a man with such a background that, even after he believed in the Lord Jesus, he kept the law of Moses very strictly. You know, it was a transitional period.
On the one hand, he kept the law of Moses very strictly. On the other hand, he was the leading brother in the church in Jerusalem. It was quite a mixture because most of the believers in Jerusalem were Jews, and many of them had a very Jewish background—even priests.
Then some brothers in Jerusalem went out to Antioch. After they arrived at Antioch, they began to teach, “You must be circumcised. You must keep the law. Otherwise, you cannot be saved.”
Now, these believers in Antioch were mostly Gentiles in origin. Yet these Jewish believers coming from Jerusalem began to teach, “You have to be circumcised. Otherwise, you are not saved.”
Because of that, there was a commotion in the church in Antioch, and there was much discussion. Paul and Barnabas said, “No, this is not the truth of the gospel.” But these few men insisted that it was.
They could not settle the question. Finally, the church sent Paul and Barnabas, with some other brothers, to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders and solve this problem.
We mentioned that in Christ all natural distinctions are eliminated. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, neither barbarian nor Scythian, neither bond nor free; Christ is all and in all.
The Lord brought in the Gentiles and made them one. How could the Jews and Gentiles be one? Because when the Lord brought them in through the cross, the Jew was eliminated and the Gentile was eliminated. When they came together, they were no longer Jews or Gentiles, but they were one in Christ. That is the church, the body of Christ.
Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any standing in the body. The Jews were circumcised; the Gentiles were not circumcised. But when they came into the body of Christ, there was neither circumcision nor uncircumcision. Why? Because they were on the other side of the cross, in resurrection. It is the new creation.
The barbarians and the Scythians represent distinctions according to civilization. Some were considered barbarians. Commentators have different opinions about the Scythians. Some say they were the most barbarous of the barbarians; others say they were the most civilized people.
Whether they were more barbarous or more civilized is not the question. The question is whether you are civilized or uncivilized. That is in the world. God will bring in the civilized, and He will bring in the uncivilized; but when they come into the body of Christ, there is neither civilized nor uncivilized.
In the world, you have social structures: bond and free, masters and servants. But when they are brought into the body of Christ, there is neither bond nor free.
Because in Christ, it is Christ. In the formation of the body of Christ, they went through much conflict on these points: cultural differences, racial differences, educational differences, and social differences.
You find the Holy Spirit tending to break through all these distinctions. He eliminated them all and brought them together into the body of Christ. Brothers and sisters, that is glorious.
In the body of Christ, there is no distinction because it is Christ.
But that does not mean uniformity. Having no distinction does not mean everyone is alike. Why? Because it is the body of Christ.
As the body is one, there are many members. Look at the members of your body: they are all different. If all the members of the body were alike, you would have a lump of meat. You would not have a body anymore.
Brothers and sisters, how easy it is for us to swing from one extreme to another. One extreme is that we bring all the distinctions in the world into the church, into the body of Christ.
We bring our Jewish background, our Gentile background, our American ways, our Chinese ways, and all these things into the body of Christ. Then we divide and divide the body of Christ along these natural lines.
The other extreme is that, because all distinctions were eliminated, we must be uniform. Everyone must come out just the same. That is another extreme.
These Jewish believers—whether they were real believers or not, I do not know, because Paul calls them false brethren in Galatians—came and said, “If you want to be saved, if you want to be in the church, you must be circumcised just as we are. You must keep the law of Moses just as we do.”
“Unless you do exactly as we do, believe exactly as we believe, and follow us completely, you are out. You are not even saved.”
Did you hear such a voice today?
To have no distinction is one thing. To allow differences is another thing.
There shall be no distinction in the body of Christ, and yet there should be allowance for differences. We must be open to one another, tolerate one another, and bear one another.
Apart from the basic truths of the gospel that we must believe—concerning the person and work of our Lord Jesus—we must allow differences.
Why? Because there are differences in growth. Some feel they have to keep a day; others feel that every day is the same. Some feel they cannot touch meat; others feel they may eat meat.
It is true that those who say they must keep the day are weak in their conscience. But those who are strong are not to impose their conviction upon them. Rather, the strong should lower themselves to meet them on their level and try to lift them up.
In other words, brothers and sisters, in this matter of circumcision there was a difference of opinion. These Jewish believers said, “You must be circumcised.” But the Gentiles said, “We do not need to become Jews in order to become Christians.”
Because the body of Christ is a new creation, it is not Judaism. We do not need to join Judaism before we become Christians.
There are differences of opinion in secondary matters. To be circumcised or uncircumcised has nothing to do with salvation. Yet they made it a condition for salvation.
For the sake of preserving the truth and liberty of the gospel of grace, Paul and Barnabas would not yield.
Brothers and sisters, when God brings us together, thank God there is the unity of the Spirit, which we need to diligently keep in the bond of peace.
Why? Because we have one body, one Lord, and one Spirit.
Yet you cannot expect that when we start to come together we will have the same ideas, the same opinions, the same interpretations, and the same experiences in everything. You cannot do it.
It is bound to be that you have your experience of Christ and I have my experience of Christ. You have your understanding of the Bible, and I have my understanding of the Bible. You have some background, and I have some background. We have all these differences.
But remember: no distinction, but differences. Distinction is eliminated, but differences are permitted.
Do not try to impose your views upon your brothers and sisters. Do not try to make them a condition for salvation. Do not try to make people conform to you.
We are to be conformed to Christ—not to you and not to me.
We have to be open, openly discuss, and fellowship. Nobody should insist. We allow differences. If we tolerate one another, love one another, and fellowship with one another, do you know what happens?
Certainly, you discover that your opinion is gone. You discover that your view has changed. Now, who changed you? You do not even know.
Not only do you think differently, but your brother also thinks differently. Yet he knows he is not changed by you, and you know you are not changed by him. Who changes us?
Brothers and sisters, if we diligently keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and are open to one another, loving one another and fellowshipping with one another, do not be afraid of differences of opinion.
Do not be afraid of that.
As we fellowship and as we share, gradually what you experience becomes my experience, and I experience what you believe and understand. Gradually, because I experience it, I understand it.
That is what is in Ephesians 4: until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That is the secret.
Here, in the growth of the body of Christ, they came into this growing pain. Some people came and insisted upon their opinion, seeking to bring the brothers and sisters into bondage to the law again.
Finally, they went to Jerusalem. Why did they go to Jerusalem? Was Jerusalem the mother church, the headquarters? Not at all, not at all.
We mentioned this morning that in the Bible you have only sister churches. You do not have parent churches and child churches. All the local churches are sisters to one another.
They went to Jerusalem because the trouble came from Jerusalem. The troublemakers came from there. They could not solve the problem because these people came from Jerusalem, so they went to Jerusalem to solve it.
Remember this: these men came to Antioch without being sent by the church. They were not sent; they just came by themselves.
When they insisted that Gentile believers must be circumcised in order to be saved, James never taught such a gospel—not at all.
James himself kept the law of Moses very strictly. He was a very strict, practical man. Yet you never hear him say that a Gentile must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. He never did that.
Read the Epistle of James. Do you find anywhere in the Epistle of James that he insisted believers must keep the law of Moses? He was writing to Jewish believers, yet you do not find that.
Of course, Martin Luther said the Epistle of James was an epistle of straw. Martin Luther was fighting Catholicism with the doctrine of justification by faith. That was his sword. When he came to the Epistle of James, he thought it was straw, so that was his reaction.
But, brothers and sisters, be careful. Even though James wrote to Jewish believers scattered abroad, never in that epistle do you find that he commanded them to keep the law.
He said, “Keep the royal law, the law of liberty.” In other words, it is not the letter. It is the law of the Spirit of life.
If you have faith, you must prove your faith by your works. That was James’ emphasis. He had faith in the Lord Jesus and lived a godly life.
But James never insisted that Gentile believers must keep the law. Evidently, these false brothers probably saw that James was a person who kept the law, so they began to use James and his name.
They might even have said, “James says this. James says that. You must be circumcised, otherwise you are not saved.”
It often happens that way. Even Martin Luther never had a desire to form a party, yet he was made the founder of a denomination. John Wesley never had the idea of forming another denomination, yet followers made him the founder of another denomination.
Brothers and sisters, that is the tragedy of this world. Many great men of God had no desire to be party leaders. They had no desire to divide God’s people, but circumstances made them leaders of different parties.
Look at the church in Corinth. Paul went there and brought them to the Lord. Apollos went there and strengthened them in the Word of God. Peter went there and further reinforced the church.
But the problem was that some who were helped by Paul said, “We are of Paul.” Those helped by Apollos said, “We are of Apollos.” Others helped by Peter said, “We belong to Cephas.”
Then there was a fourth party that said, “You belong to Paul. You belong to Peter. You belong to Apollos. We belong to Christ”—as if the others did not belong to Christ. That is a spiritual party.
Paul, Apollos, and Peter had absolutely no ambition to form a party. They went to Corinth to build the body of Christ, the church. They did not go to Corinth to build the Pauline church, the Apollonian church, or the Petrine church.
No, they went there to build the church of Christ. They built the church of God there, the body of Christ. But you know, in the flesh there is always that desire to divide.
Thank God, when Paul noticed this, do you know what he did? Did he tell Apollos, “You shall never go to Corinth”? No. He asked Apollos to go.
Paul had no territorial concept: “This is my territory; do not come.” He encouraged Apollos to go. If people wanted to exalt him, he would encourage Apollos to come.
And how did Apollos react? Apollos said, “I will not go. I do not want to seize upon this opportunity and your offer and try to make something out of it for myself. No, I am not going.”
Brothers and sisters, what a freedom these apostles had above human selfishness and ambition. They were purely for the body.
But you see many differences today: “Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul—you go, Paul. Even if you do not ask me, I am going. I am going to take over. I have my followers there now.” No, especially not.
James had no desire at all to be a leader of a party. He had absolutely no notion of it. But these men who followed him tried to use him as a banner because they themselves were not great enough or big enough. You know, it often happens that way.
When they came to Jerusalem, Paul went there by revelation. He was sent by the church, but at the same time he went there by revelation. Why?
In order not only to keep the truth of the gospel, but also to maintain the unity of the body of Christ.
Humanly, it was a test of strength between Paul and James. If these two men had used their flesh, you know what would have happened? The church would have been divided right along that line. That would have been the beginning.
But thank God, James rose above the situation. Brothers and sisters, we have to give him credit for that.
These men were supposed to support James, but James would have nothing to do with them.
When Paul and Barnabas came to Jerusalem, they reported along the way everywhere they went what the Lord had done. All the churches rejoiced in the Lord. Why? They had no party spirit. They rejoiced in what the Lord had done.
When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the apostles and elders. Why the apostles? Because of the teaching involved. Why the elders? Because these men came from Jerusalem, and the elders maintained responsibility there.
It was not because Jerusalem was the headquarters of Christianity or the mother church. It was because there was a question of doctrine and teaching, so the apostles had to be involved. There was also a matter of discipline, so the church in Jerusalem had to be involved through the elders.
They came together and opened the whole matter for discussion. The apostles and elders did not immediately take sides.
Some of the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “They must be charged to keep the law of Moses and be circumcised.”
Then Peter rose up. Oh, thank God for Peter. He related how God had used him in the beginning to open the door to the Gentiles.
Peter went further and said, “Why should we put upon these Gentile believers the burden that we ourselves cannot bear? We are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as they are.”
In other words, it was not because they were Jews or because they kept the law of Moses that they were saved. They were saved just as the Gentiles were saved. The law had nothing to do with it. It was the grace of God.
So why should they put this yoke upon them? Thank God, Peter was delivered.
Then they listened to Paul and Barnabas relating what the Lord had done. Finally, you find James gave his judgment.
He was the leading brother, it seems, in that sense. Yet he made his judgment not according to the flesh. Why? He was a man who kept the law no less than anyone. He was admired, and here were people supporting him, saying, “You are our leader. We are standing with you.”
Yet James denied himself. He used the Word of God and said, “This is what the Lord says.” He was not afraid to displease his followers.
Many leaders begin by leading, but then they begin to be pushed. In the beginning, they lead the people; finally, they are no longer leading, but are being pushed by the people. They cannot stop.
But James feared the Lord. Even though he himself kept the law of Moses strictly, he said to the Gentile believers that in God’s original design, He had purposed to bring in the Gentiles.
Circumcision was for the Jews, for a purpose. But the original purpose of God, as the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David showed, was that all the nations should seek the Lord.
Therefore, the only things they should ask the Gentile believers to do were to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood.
These were not strictly the law of Moses. These were universal moral requirements. You can trace them to the covenant of Noah.
In other words, they did not put the Gentiles under the law of Moses. Of course, being believers, we are not above morals. That is true.
Finally, they wrote a letter and said, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us.” The Holy Spirit was able to be in charge of that decision.
This decision was given by James.
Here you find a man of law who nevertheless had the grace to understand that he must not put the yoke of law upon others.
He continued to keep the law because it was a transitional thing. Finally, God, in His sovereignty, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.
But even before that, James showed that you should not impose anything upon your brother, even if you keep it yourself. You should not be doing that.
In this way, the unity of the body of Christ was preserved. Therefore, we say that the formation of the body of Christ was finalized through James.
Very strange, humanly speaking. He should have been the opposite. Yet grace overcomes all human differences, rises above them, and joins us together.
So we do thank God. What is the body of Christ? The body of Christ is where there is no distinction and yet the ability to embrace all differences.
Thus, through fellowship, we may arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. That is right.
O Lord, do allow us to see what the body of Christ is, what kind of a vessel is this new man in which Thou art able to pour Thyself forth.
Show us what kind of a body Thou dost desire to continue to do and to teach.
O Lord, deliver us from that divisive, fleshly man. O Lord, enable us to rise above all this and really be fitted together and minister one to another in love.
That we may arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto the full growth, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
May it be so, Lord, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.