"Jesus Is Enough" | Pastor Steve Gaines

if you have your Bibles turn with me to Acts chapter 15 we'll be there momentarily we'll look at verses 1 through 35 today years ago even before I met Donna I was in college I just started living for the Lord and I was with a friend at a revival and this girl and I had gone to high school together and again this is before I met Donna okay all right but we went to a revival meeting and at the end of the service the preacher had preached and the choirs at sung and they gave the invitation people came forward and gave their hearts to Christ and I noticed this girl getting a little antsy and I said what's wrong she said why are they not baptizing them I said well they're going to get baptized don't worry they just got saved they said no no no they can't get saved unless they get baptized now I didn't know a lot of theology but I knew that was wrong and I said well I believe if they get Jesus they get saved now what that girl was dealing with is she didn't think Jesus was enough she wanted to add something to Jesus it's not just Jesus it's Jesus plus baptism with all due respect I don't believe that I believe that if you come to the point in your life where you believe that Jesus is the Son of God you repent you turn from your sins by the help of the Holy Spirit and you trust him then you believe that what he did on the cross is sufficient to pay for your sin debt and you believe that if that you believe that him rising from the dead is enough to give you eternal life and you receive him you accept him you invite him to come into your life I believe at that moment man you're saved and if for some reason you don't get to go to a baptismal site and get baptized guess what if you died on the way to the baptistry you'd still go to heaven amen I'm not mad at anybody and I'm not going on a tear there but I just I just know that people some people don't think Jesus is enough well today we are looking at a text the fifteenth chapter of the book of Acts it is the pivotal text in the book of Acts what you've got here in the Acts 15 is you've got some Jewish people who've gotten saved but they believed that unless you were circumcised as a man and you converted to Judaism if you're a Gentile you can't get saved unless you become a Jew first in other words in order to become a Christian a Gentile has to become a Jew and submit the circumcision and obey all the Old Testament laws and then receive Jesus they didn't believe Jesus was enough and if the church had not dealt with this then the rest of Acts would have never been written because Paul you're going to see is going to launch out again at the end of chapter 15 into the second missionary journey and chapter 16 is incredible all the miracles that take place on his men but none of that would have ever happened the rest of the book of Acts wouldn't be there we might not be here today because we're just a bunch of Gentiles that got saved if you had to convert also to Judaism to become a Christian most of us wouldn't be in here and so this is a pivotal moment for the church they're wondering do you really have to become a Jew to become a Christian and you know we look back we say well obviously not but it was a major issue at this point let's look at acts 15 and let's see how these early Christians came to the conclusion that when it comes to salvation Jesus is enough number one we see in this text that many believe that Jesus is not enough and that leads to disagreement look at verse 1 some men came down from Judea that is Jerusalem and began teaching the Brethren there at Antioch is where they are unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved we'll see momentarily that they were not people who had been officially sent from the church at Jerusalem they were doing this on their own they said that salvation demanded Jesus plus circumcision and plus adhering to all the laws of the Old Testament the custom of Moses now Paul and Barnabas disagreed look at verse 2 when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with him that's the most polite way I've ever seen is Paul and Barnabas got really mad alright the believers at Antioch knew something had to be done and so they had not been requiring any of the Gentile converts that were being saved there at any off to be circumcised door to keep the law and so they say hey we've got to figure this out so they decided to send some emissaries up from the church at Antioch to the church at Jerusalem the Mother Church to settle the matter look at verse 2 it goes on and says the Brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others we don't know who of them should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and elders concerning this issue therefore being sent on their way by the church they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and were bringing great joy to all the brethren in route to Jerusalem Paul and Barnabas and these others were telling Jewish Christians about all the Gentiles that had been saved on their first missionary journey and all of these Jewish Christians along the way to Jerusalem were rejoicing that had to be great encouragement to Paul and Barnabas then the Bible says in verse 4 when they arrived at Jerusalem they were received by the church and the Apostles and the elders they reported all that God had done with them but some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed these were real Christian they believed in Jesus you say well I just can't believe a Pharisee would believe in Jesus Oh friendless and a lot of Pharisees believed in Jesus and here you see that many of them did they stood up though they said it's necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the law of Moses everything went good until they got to Jerusalem and they met some more people like the ones who had stirred up the trouble at Antioch saying oh no in order to become a Christian these Gentiles have to first become good Jews they did not agree there was disagreement you know we still live in a day when well-meaning people will tell you well I know that you're saved but you just don't have quite enough first time I ran into this and listen I love everybody that loves Jesus so in no way am i slamming anybody all right but I was about 18 years old and I'd really gotten turned on to the Lord and I was reading my Bible and I was growing and all just going around and I met some guys though that told me Steve you're saved but you don't have the Holy Spirit yet I saw why I thought I did no no no you've got to be baptized by the Holy Spirit you've got to speak in tongues now look I believe in all the spiritual gifts okay but I want to say this to you even at the age of 18 I knew something about that wasn't right and part of it and I'm not saying that everybody believes that has this spirit but part of it was the Spirit that they had here's the spirit the head we know something and we have something that you don't know and you don't have and bless your heart gains we know you're turned on to the Lord we know you're out here witnessing we know you're reading your Bible and we know all that but maybe just maybe you'll come up to where we now that may not be what they were saying on the outside but that's what I was hearing on the inside amen I felt like a second-rate Christian I felt like they were talking down to me I felt like they were condescending in their manner they were they were being nice about it but they were a little bit smug about it too if those two can go together and so I started reading the Bible that's a great place to get your theology is it not and I read in the Bible in Romans 8:9 however you're not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you but if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he doesn't belong to him it shows you right there if you don't have the Holy Spirit you're lost it's not that you're not spiritualist that you're not saved because when you get saved you get the Holy Spirit that's what Paul said in first Corinthians 6:19 and 20 do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God you've not you're not own you're not your own you've been bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and then I came across this verse which is the only definition of spirit baptism in the whole Bible first Corinthians 12:13 the Bible says for by one spirit we were say the next word out loud with me all we were all what baptized all baptized and then he addresses the point here into one body whether Jews are Greek slaves are free and we have all been made to drink of one spirit it's the picture of what happens when you get saved it's not talking about something happens after you get saved it says all of us have been baptized by one spirit into one body the body of Christ and once we got in there Jesus drowned us in the Holy Spirit we were open to our hearts up and he filled us we were all baptized into one body and they were all made to drink of one spirit so even at an early age I realized I love everybody I'm not mad but I have the Holy Spirit because I have Jesus Jesus is enough now let me just say in recent years I've had another group come along and we kind of the same way gains we know that you love the Lord we know that you like to win people to Jesus but you need our five points oh you need to come up a little bit sir you you know and and and they I'm telling you I don't even think they mean to do it something and not all of them do it but some give this idea that we know something and we have something that you don't know and have less the Lord all I have is Jesus and Jesus is bigger than five points and JC means Jesus Christ not John Calvin amen just a thought I'm not if you're a Calvinist I'm not mad at you but look at me you don't have any more of Jesus than I have if you're a charismatic I'm not mad at you but look at me you don't have any more of Jesus than I have Jesus is enough say with me Jesus is enough amen let's give the Lord praise that he is enough amen you don't have to put Jesus plus baptism Jesus plus the Book of Mormon Jesus plus Mary Jesus plus the Pope Jesus plus speaking in tongues Jesus plus five points Jesus is enough as right because he's the only Son of God he is the only one born of a virgin only one lived a sinless life the only one that died for our sins the only one that rose from the dead never to die again only one sitting on the throne of God right now making all of God's enemies a footstool for his feet and he is the only one preparing heaven for us the only one pardoning Center is the only one who's coming back I wish you'd come back today don't you oh the Lord Jesus is so precious and he is all you need Martin Luther the founder of the Protestant Reformation said we believe that the very beginning and the end of salvation in the sum of Christianity consists of faith in Christ who by his own blood alone not by any work of iris has put away sin and destroyed the power of death if today whoever you are whatever sin you've committed if you will come to Jesus Christ if you will repent of your sin turn from your sins by the help of the Holy Spirit and turn away from your sin turn toward the Lord and and believe that he died for those sins that he paid for those sins on the cross and if you will then receive him into your life ask him to come in your life I'm telling you Christ will not only save you he'll forgive all your sins he'll prepare a place for you in heaven he'll write your name down in the Lamb's Book of Life and it's all in Jesus he is enough many believe that Jesus is not enough they live in disagreement with those who believe he's enough but you know I believe most Christians believe secondly that Jesus is enough now we may have to debate about it sometimes with some folks but Christians just believe that Jesus is enough Paul and Barnabas along with their other delegates from the church at Antioch travel to Jerusalem and had this big meeting they had a big business meeting at the church there including the apostles and once they began to discuss and debate the matter there were three reasons that they realized Jesus was enough and that Gentiles did not need to be converted to Judaism before they became converted to Christ and Christianity first of all the Spirit shows that Jesus is enough if you have the Holy Spirit's because you got Jesus you got saved look at verse 6 the Apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter after there had been much debate Peter stood up he said to them brethren you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe what is Peter referring to well if you've been in this series or if you know your Bible he's referring to what happened in Cornelius house back in Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10 Peter goes up he's waiting on lunch and he goes up on the rooftop to pray he has a vision he goes into a trance God talks to him God is lowering a sheet with non kosher food on it something that Jews would need but God says now Peter arise in eat and Peter said ah this is a test I'll pass this one no Lord I've never eaten anything that's unlawful God did it three times and God said what I have cleansed don't you call unholy what's that mean Lord all of a sudden semi knocks on the door what's going on somebody had been sent there who they've been sent from a guy named Cornelius who is he he's a Roman centurion meaning he's a Gentile he's a god fear but he's not a Christian yet and God appeared to him and says you're giving your alms and your prayers have ascended as a memorial to God and I want you to send some folks over to Peter's house he's down there by the seat job at a Tanner's house named Simon and he's going to he's going to pray for you and tell you how you can get saved and so he sends these people down there and those people knock on his door right after Peter has the vision he goes down they tell him what's going on he said ah now I realized what the vision is about he goes to Cornelius house and he presents the gospel to them and guess what they all get saved how does he know they get saved because they received the Holy Spirit just like the Jews had done on the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God was proof that Jesus is enough and so Peter preached about that and told them about that he said in verse 8 God who knows the heart testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did also to us and he made no distinction between us and them that his Gentiles and Jews cleansing their hearts by faith now therefore why do you put God to the test well we don't do that by placing upon the neck of the disciples of yoke which neither we our fathers nor we have been able to bear boy he's being honest there but we believe that we are saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in the same way as they are also this is a WoW moment for the gospel of Jesus Christ we're saved by faith we're saved by grace in Christ by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone not through anything else and the way we know it is because we know that God saved these Gentiles at Cornelius house because he gave them the same spirit the spirit shows the presence of the Spirit of God in your life shows that Jesus is enough but there's a second thing that shows it and that is the signs the miracles that they were experiencing showed that Jesus is enough God was working great miracles among the Gentiles look at verse 12 we don't hear all about it but just summarizes it all the people kept silent they were listening to Barnabas and Paul these missionaries as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles they were talking about oh let me tell you about that Elemis guy that that that magician who was trying to stop us from witnessing to the pro counsel there on the island of Cyprus and we started sharing the gospel and Sergius all of Scott's aid when God blinded Elemis the magician and shut his mouth because he was opposing us he listened to the gospel because of the signs that he saw and let me tell you about what happened at Lystra god healed a man who was lame from birth and many people got saved they got so mad at me Paul said but they stoned me and I believe they stoned him until they killed him but God the elders got around they laid hands on me and they prayed for me and God raised me up I believe they raised it God raised him from the dead and he got anything I just went back in town started preaching to him can you imagine a stone in somebody thinking they're dead and he comes back and said hey let me tell you the rest of the story how did that happen how could that have happen if God wasn't blessing that and let me tell you everywhere we went people got healed people got set free from demonic strongholds the signs are everywhere God is saving the Gentiles they don't have to become Jews before they become Christians because we have seen the spirit and the signs among them but you think that was enough but there was one more thing that showed Jesus was enough and that was the scriptures oh yeah the scriptures now James is about to speak he's the senior pastor the church at Jerusalem he's the brother of Jesus verse 13 after they had stopped speaking James answered saying brethren listen to me is Simeon that's an affection and that's his that's Peters Jewish name a very affectionate word there has related how God first concerned himself about taking from among the Gentiles of people for his name with this the words of the prophets agreed just as it is written in any quotes from Amos chapter 9 verses 11 and 12 Amos is one of my favorite prophets in the Old Testament look at verse 16 after these things God says I will return I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen I will rebuild its ruins I will restore it the tabernacle of David they're being rebuilt was a prophecy that was prophesying the coming of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ that Christianity is going to replace Judaism you get to God now not through obeying the rules of Judaism you get to God through them Jewish Messiah and that is Jesus Christ and now Christianity is replacing Judaism there's going to be this restoration the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David and then he goes on to say in the Book of Amos it's going to include the Gentiles look at verse 17 so that the rest of mankind not just the Jews but the rest of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles he gets specific who are called by my name says the Lord who makes these things known from long ago James gets up and he preaches Peter has preached and testified that the Spirit shows that Jesus is enough Paul and Barnabas say the signs show that Jesus is enough and now James the senior pastor says hey the scriptures say that Jesus is enough and then in a beautiful act of conciliation James says but we want to to make sure that the Jewish Christians don't you know that they don't think we're coming too hard down you don't have to gets saved you don't have to become a Jew to get saved but I want you Gentiles to give a little to not you don't have to do these thing to get saved but we want you to do some things that will help these Christianese Jewish Christians out a little bit verse 20 we write to them that they might abstain from things contaminated by idols that is don't eat meat offered to idols Paul talks about in the book of Romans stay away from fornication stay away from sexual sin stay away from that which is strangled that is meat with blood in it and he goes on and from blood for Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him since he has read in the synagogue's every Sabbath you not saying you have to do those thing to be saving he said hey look now that you're safe why don't you just give a little bit and help these Jewish brothers along a little bit but Jesus is enough and I want you to know today Jesus is enough the same proofs that are given in the Bible show us today that Jesus really is enough we know that he's enough because if the Spirit of God is in you that shows you that Jesus was enough to give you the Holy Spirit if you have seen miracles in your life you've seen answers to prayer you've seen God change somebody's life you've seen God save somebody you never thought could have been saved you've seen God change somebody in some other way heal somebody whatever you see those miracles you say ah that's proof that Jesus is at work and then the Scriptures every day is you live in the Word of God you say these scriptures are talking to me they're reading my mail they're speaking to me they're reading me even though I'm reading them that's the Spirit of God upon the scriptures and it's proof that Jesus is enough so there needs to be no debate about it Jesus is enough many believe that Jesus is not enough they disagree but we as Christians believe that he is enough so we have to lovingly debate them but at the end of the day guys listen to me none of this really matters if we don't do this last thing everyone must hear that Jesus is enough enough with the disagreement enough with the debate let's get about declaration let's start telling people about Jesus Christ once the decision was made once the Church of Jerusalem had made its decision they put it in writing they sent it back with these images back to the church at Antioch and they gave everybody the good report that Gentiles don't have to become Jews in order to become Christians Jesus was enough look at verse 22 then it seemed good to the Apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas Judas called barsabbas and Silas Silas we're going to see him on the next missionary journey with Paul in Acts chapter 16 Paul and Silas were the ones that were beaten at Philippi and put in prison when God sent the earthquake Silas has a Roman name Sylvain as you'll see it in the letters of Paul they were leading men among the believers verse 23 and they sent this letter by them the Apostles and the brethren who are elders to the Brethren in Antioch in Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles greetings verse 24 since we have heard that some of our number now listen to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you in other words those guys that came up and told you all that stuff that those guys that came up there and told you that you Gentiles had to become Jews to become Christians we did not send them they were on their own and they were disturbing you with their words unsettling your soul it seemed good to us having become of one mind to select men to send you with our beloved Barnabas and Saul men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ therefore we have sent Judas and Silas who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth where it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials that you have stain from things sacrificed to idols from blood from things strangled and from fornication that is sexual sin if you keep yourselves free from such things you will do well that was not a requirement for salvation but for sanctification if you want to live for Jesus do these things and don't be offensive to your nun Tyl brothers your Jewish brothers in Christ us they've got this joy-filled letter in hand and these emissaries go back to Antioch from Jerusalem and they report the good news look at verse 30 so when they were sent away from Jerusalem they went down to Antioch having gathered the congregation together they delivered the letter and look at verse 31 when they read it they rejoiced because of its encouragement Judas and Silas also being prophets themselves encouraged and strengthened the Brethren with a lengthy message and they after they had spent time there they were sent away from the Brethren in peace to those who had sent them out but it seemed good to Silas to remain there but Paul look at this last verse look at verse 35 but Paul and Barnabas stayed on in Antioch teaching and preaching with many others many of them lost the word of the Lord the word just went right on and they said you know what this is great glad that everybody now knows that what we said was right you don't have to become a Jew if you're a Gentile you don't have to become a Jew to be a Christian you don't have to obey the laws in the Old Testament in order to be a Christian you don't have to be circumcised you don't have to go through all those rituals you can just come to Jesus because Jesus enough now that's great we've debated it and all that but now we're going to declare it and now you see in verse 35 they're going out and once again they're just telling people about Jesus Christ I was at a wedding two nights ago in Atlanta and I was close to a man that I have thought about many times I've known him for years and I didn't know whether or not he was saved I didn't think he was but I'm sitting there at a wedding reception and I had my glass of iced water in my hand which is rare nowadays at a wedding reception and I was drinking my water and I asked him I said I I just felt this overwhelming urge to ask I mean the man is older he could die you know any of us could die at any moment but this guy is older and so I was thinking about his soul and I I know that was the Lord that was the day you know the devil wasn't telling me the witness of that man and so I just I just said to him I said do you mind if I talk to you about what's your relationship with Jesus Christ that's a great question by the way what's your relationship with Jesus Christ do you mind me asking you that and we had a great conversation I shared my testimony I shared the whole gospel with him did he get saved no not on the spot but you know what I believe God put gospel barbs in him and I believe that that gospel is going to take effect and I'm just believing for a salvation fact let's pray for him right now father I pray in the name of Jesus that man will be saved and I ask you by faith that you would convict him of sin and righteousness and judgment he will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved and I receive it and thank you for it in Jesus name and if you agree with me say in now look at me you say well you're a preacher you all do that no no that's your job - that's your job - you're supposed to be telling people about Jesus the great founder of Methodism John Wesley said this you have but one business on earth Christian to save souls what else matters I mean people are lost and going to hell what does it matter if you win an argument with him what you need to do is tell them about Jesus if they have wronged you forgive them don't worry about that thinking eternity are they lost or saved I need to tell them about Jesus dr. Roy fish my mentor and evangelism he's gone to be with the Lord now he's at Ellison seminary he said hey guys you can't serve Jesus with a zipped lip I love that man and then Chuck Kelly president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary I heard him say one time if Jesus is in your heart sooner or later Jesus will come out of your mouth amen and if he's in there Jesus said Matthew 4:19 follow me and I will make you fishers of men hey if you ain't fishing you ain't following if you're not fishing for the souls of men you're not following Jesus as closely as you should I took my grandbabies fishing while we were gone I said the key to fishing is to fish don't just talk about fishing don't just talk about don't just bait the hook get the hook with the bait out in the water you got to keep the bait in the water because the fish are in the water and if you don't have your fish if you don't have your pole ready to go if you don't have your I love the little bobber don't you get excited when a bobber goes on there I'm telling you is that not awesome I admit I may not excite you that excites me I got a little bobert just jiggled I just hop up there they are right there pull let that big fish you say do you keep them if he ate my bait I keep them amen I throw them all back everybody but that's the way we are with men and women we go out and we say what's the what's the thing we're giving them we're not giving them the bait we're giving them the gospel and you're never going to catch any fish if you don't sow the seed if you don't give them Jesus I pray I want to ask you who are you praying for that's lost Paul said my heart's desire my prayer for them is that they might be saved who are you praying for that's lost I've got about 20 people I pray for him this morning I got up and got on an elliptical machine and I was praying for these people earlier this morning and some other people that aren't lost but I pray for probably about 20 long I'm not trying to brag I'm just trying to I don't want to tell you to do something I don't do it if you you need you say what do you pray I pray that God will convict them of sin and righteousness and judgment I pray that they will call upon the name of the Lord and I pray that God will send them a contact I'm willing to be their contact conviction conversion and a contact who are you praying for who who are you sharing Jesus with don't say well I give my mind the church for y'all to do that that's not going to cut it at the judgment seat man you need to get in there and start telling people about you know what to do well just tell them how you got saved just tell them your testimony and then just tell them it's the greatest thing in my life just talk to people about Jesus has gospel conversations everywhere you go I want to tell you something you'll find out when you get out there and start talking to people they come up with all these excuses and everything else you just tell them hey I may not answer all your questions but I want you to know I found out one thing Jesus is enough maybe I'm talking to the young person that you're trying to live for the Lord in a world that has gone sexually crazy you're trying to be morally pure look at me Jesus is enough maybe I'm talking to a college student out there and you say brother Steve I want to hang on to my faith these professors are wearing me out with their ungodly atheistic thinking look at me college student Jesus is enough maybe I'm talking to somebody out there and you're a young person you say I want to marry somebody godly they won't lead me away from the Lord but they lead me to the Lord all I want to tell you Jesus will help you that Jesus is enough maybe I'm talking to somebody you just got married you about to have kids I can't be a parent oh yes you can Jesus is enough maybe I'm talking to somebody and you've got teenagers a teenager is an attitude connected to a mouth amen and and and and you and you think I may get a letter on that one all right okay I'll give it to drew drew you get those buddy all right okay great Jesus is enough even when they're teenagers amen and Jesus is enough when they go off to college and you're hearing that guy's saying the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon you're all crying all esta Jesus is enough and Jesus is enough when they get married and they have babies Jesus is enough when you get sick and Jesus is enough when you're lonely and Jesus is enough when you get fired and Jesus is enough when people talk about you and Jesus is enough when you're tempted to sin and Jesus is enough when the whole world seems to be going crazy Jesus is enough when you don't have enough money to pay your bills Jesus is enough when your spouse of many years dies Jesus is enough when you're in the nursing home and then when you take your last breath Jesus will be enough and then when you stand before God and you see how glorious he really is and it scares you a little bit because you know how sinful you are guess who you're going to see standing next to the right hand of the Father Jesus idea what I'm gonna say I'm with him he's enough he's enough in the morning when I rise in the morning [Music] when I rise o in the morning when I rise give me G let's all stand up and sing give me Jesus give me G Jesus give me Jesus Iza you can have this whole give me a mint oh and when I when I when I easy give me ji Iza give me G [Music] Jesus you can have and when I come when I when I give me [Music] give me give me oh you can all this let's take it again the chorus and give me [Music] if it [Music] you can give me let's give our praise to Jesus right now amen [Applause]

Channel: Bellevue Baptist Church

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Id: Vv4r-c6VXPs

Length: 40min 35sec (2435 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 02 2017