["Ode to Joy"] What's up everybody Galatians chapter 2 beginning in verse 11 Paul and Peter have a discussion Paul opposes Peter Now Paul has just been finished saying that he had the approval of Peter and James and John the influential ones in the church in Jerusalem As they recognize that the Lord has called Paul and the message he is preaching is true, he wanted to have affirmation on that just so there would be union and unity among the church. And now he has this confrontation. But when Peter, Cephas, came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter, Before them all, if you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" Now remember the issue in the church is Do Gentiles have to become like Jews? Paul has already said, I went to Jerusalem. They didn't change anything. They had a Jerusalem council. The Gentiles don't need to be circumcised. They don't need to pick up all these Jewish traditions and all this kind of stuff. So much so that Peter's enjoying this. Peter comes to Antioch, a Gentile territory, and he's hanging out with the Gentiles, right? And he's, before the men from James arrive, Paul's hanging out with the Gentiles, excuse me, Peter's hanging out with the Gentiles, having a good time, eating the meat that they are eating and sitting at the table with them and enjoying the life that they live and the freedom he has in Christ, their freedom and their union together, right? He's enjoying all that stuff and the freedom that comes from knowing Christ and the union that comes from a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that we share with each other, that fellowship that John would refer to in 1 John 1. But he says, when certain men came from James, one of the apostles, a leader, the Lord's brother, seems to be the same James that he references in the beginning part of chapter 2, the end of chapter 3. One, he says, listen, this James, when they came from James, Peter was eating with the Gentiles. But when they got there, he drew back and he separated himself from the Gentiles. He was afraid of the circumcision party. He was afraid of what these men might think of him. Peter was. Now, this is not something that should surprise us about Peter. I mean, after all, Peter's the one who denied the Lord Jesus Christ on the night he was betrayed. He goes to three different occasions. He's asked, aren't you one of the disciples? Peter says no every time. Right. Peter has a healthy, he has an unhealthy, excuse me, an unhealthy fear of man. Not a healthy enough fear of God, but an unhealthy fear of man. In other words, he is so afraid of the perception that others have of him. He is so afraid of the treatment that others would have of him. He is so afraid of those things that he is not willing to stand firm in the freedom of Christ. And so he pulls back, he's afraid of what the perception of the historical Jewish Christians would think of him. And the other Jews acted hypocritically along with him. So much so that they left my man Barnabas astray. Now Barnabas was the guy who went with Paul and said to everybody, hey look, this guy is good. He is preaching, he is teaching, and the Lord is at work. And Barnabas is the one who vouches for Paul when they get to Jerusalem. And Barnabas is a good friend. His name means friend, right? Son of encouragement. And so he was led astray by Peter's actions. Sometimes that can happen, can't it? It can happen in your life, it can happen in my life. We get around people, we get afraid of what other people's perception is, and we kind of lean in that direction. We make changes when they show up versus... who we are when they're not there. And then when other people see us make those changes, they come along with us and they will lead them astray with us. Or maybe we get led astray with someone we respect who makes changes in different circumstances. And Barnabas is led astray. And Paul says, I had to confront Peter on this. I had to confront Peter. If you, a Jew, live like Gentiles and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? In other words, if you don't have a problem hanging out with the Gentiles and eating with the Gentiles and being with the Gentiles, why are you going to try to act like now you're going to force the Gentiles to become Jews and go through this circumcision and go through and adopt all these things from the heritage? What is wrong with you, Peter? Paul is not afraid of Peter. But that's a great question for us to ask ourselves. Do we understand freedom in Christ and are we willing to live in that freedom? And do we recognize that our only hope comes from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and faith in him? And are we willing to give others the same freedoms that we enjoy? Or are we hypocrites? Do we act differently in different groups? If so, then the problem's with us. If we're hypocritical, then the problem's with us. We're either too afraid of other people and what their perception of us might be and their opinions of us, or we're living an unholy lifestyle. And when we get around holy people, we have to change. Either or, that's an issue of sin in our life. We need to confess that, bring it before the presence of God, and recognize that we are the people of God, we are free in Christ, and we are united together. You guys have a great day, God bless you. I'll catch you next time. you on the path of dawn, may you