COUNCIL ANTAGONISTS

 COUNCIL ANTAGONISTS

Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. Galatians 2:3-5.

Introduction                                                                                                                                                 

Nobody likes a spy. Spies are despicable, unless, of course, they’re on your side! But even when they’re on your side they’re still sneaky. They go behind enemy lines. They gather intelligence. Perhaps the most famous fictional spy is Ian Fleming’s, James Bond. Then right after him must come Maxwell Smart of Get Smart fame. But then there are the real-life spies. One famous one from WWI was the Dutch woman Mata Hari. She used sexual exploitation and got men to whisper more than sweet nothings in her ear. Then she would report the information she attained back to the Germans.

There are spies mentioned in the Bible. There were those sent in to spy out the land of Caanan. Joshua and Caleb were two of them (Numb. 14:6). Rahab hid the spies Joshua sent in to spy out Jericho (Joshua 2). King David sent spies into Saul’s camp to case the joint (1 Sam. 26:4).

Whether a spy is good or bad depends on whose side he or she is on. We’re looking at some bad spies in the following. Paul wants the Galatians to hold fast to the truth of the Gospel. He doesn’t want them to give up the great freedom the gospel has brought them. He’s pointing to the spies that were at the council meeting in Jerusalem. He wants them to see that these are the same breed as those infiltrating Galatia.

I believe the Holy Spirit is giving us the following exhortation in this text: Don’t give an inch to antagonists of the Gospel lest you return to captivity.

The Spying

We need to note the false brethren in our text. They are pseudo-brethren. They had infiltrated the Assembly Meeting at Jerusalem. And they had begun infiltrating the church at Galatia. They have come into the church by stealth. They are spies. They are on a recognizance mission.

You’ve seen those “Stealth” airplanes that are designed to avoid radar detection? Well, the stealth bombers in our text have failed to avoid the Apostle Paul’s radar detection. How is it that he spotted them so easily? Well, it’s because Paul is a stickler for the purity of the Gospel. He also can recognize prison jargon as soon as he hears it. He knows how to speak jail-talk. You see, Paul used to be in bondage along with these spies. Paul used to be one – been there done that. So he knows how they operate. They operate by stealth.

So, what are these spies after? They’re collecting intelligence, aren’t they? Paul says in verse 4 that they “came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.” They plan to bring them into bondage. These spies are hunting down escaped slaves, aren’t they? They want the Galatians back on the Plantation, don’t they? But these Christians had been given their freedom papers. Christ the Abolitionist had set them free from their bondage to sin.

Christ the Emancipator had given them new citizenship. These Christians were now citizens of His kingdom of heaven. No longer do they have to make bricks without straw for Pharaoh. They’re now free to serve their new Master. i.e., a Master whose load is light. They could say the words of Martin Luther King and mean it, “Free at last, free at last, thank God I’m free at last!” But there were spies in the camp. They were spying on their God-given freedom.

Maybe you’re thinking what I thought? Why would the devil have to send in spies? You’d think he could just hide behind a tree and just listen. He is the master spy after all, isn’t he? He came to spy on the freedom Adam and Eve had in the Garden. He came to bring them into bondage. He came by stealth. He spoke through a serpent. He’s that sneaky that he’ll even pose as an angel of light. Darkness dressed up to look like light.

But the devil is not God. Nor is he omnipresent. He needs to collect intelligence. So he operates clandestinely. He is furtive. Surreptitious. Sly! So, he has his minions, his expendables, do his dirty work. The devil’s so sly that he has people doing his dirty work without their even knowing it. This, however, doesn’t give people any excuse if they are used by him. We can’t ever say, “I’m innocent. The devil made me do it!” Why? Because God holds each one of us responsible for our own actions.

As Christians, we need to be on our guard against the wiles of the devil. We need to be familiar with his devices and strategies. The Apostle Paul knew all about the devil’s tactics. Paul knew that “walls have ears”. Paul, it seems, knew that there is a time to proclaim the gospel in public. But he also knew there is a time to proclaim it in private. Back in verse two, we’re told he “communicated...[the gospel] privately to those who were of reputation”.

It’s all a bit “cloak and dagger”, don’t you think? But we should be reminded that there is an invisible war going on. The devil knows he is a defeated foe so he sometimes uses Kamikazes. Judas Iscariot was one of his Kamikazes. He was a spy. He operated by stealth. He pretended to be a disciple, one of the twelve. But alas he was just the devil’s lackey. And an expendable one at that.

The Lying

A spy lives a lie. Judas spent three years with Jesus and his disciples living a lie. He didn’t believe a word of what Jesus was saying. Not a word of it. At the end of his spy mission, he became a Kamikaze. He killed Jesus in his heart by kissing Him on the cheek. He went and hanged himself. He denied the Lord, and then he brought swift destruction upon himself.

Look at 2 Peter 2:1-3, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

Spies tell lies! Did you see that? “By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words...” “Deceptive words” NKJV, “feigned words” KJV, “stories they have made up” NIV. “Dirty black lies!” Neil McKinlay Version. Is it any wonder that those employed by the devil tell lies? According to Jesus, the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). So what we’re really talking about here is hypocrisy in the Church. We’re talking about people pretending to be something they’re not. We’re talking about people who pretend to be Christians. It doesn’t matter whether the person has deluded himself into thinking he’s a Christian when he’s not.

Just think about it, there are a few Judas Iscariots around. Think of all those who claim the Bible only “contains” the Word of God in our churches. Then they conveniently miss out on those portions of Scripture that they think are offensive, so that “Christians” can carry on practicing sodomy and lesbianism. Make no bones about it, these people are liars. And others call God a liar by saying that there are portions of the Bible God never wrote when God’s Word says He did. How many times do people have to be told that, “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God”? 2 Timothy 3:16.

The Spirit in the Book of Proverbs issues this warning, “Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar” Proverbs 30:6. Even my own Denominations has had its fair share of those who pick and choose from God’s Word as if they are at the salad bar in some restaurant – a little bit of this and a little bit of that. “Oh! I don’t want any of that on my plate. I don’t like this Hell stuff! And I don’t like this bit about homosexuality being unnatural.”

How did these people get into the Church? They came in by stealth. Which makes them every bit as much hypocrites as Ananias and Sapphira. They were zapped on the spot for their lies! “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit...you have not lied to men but to God” Acts 5:3-4. It was the same with Judas when he betrayed Jesus, “Then Satan entered Judas” Luke 22:3. They are Satan’s spies. They were in the church. And they still are. But God didn’t zap Satan. He zapped those who were lying to Him i.e., the Holy Spirit. Therefore we all have to accept responsibility for our actions.

Whether you’re conscious of your hypocrisy or whether you’re just plain deluded, it’s your responsibility to live and act in accordance with God’s truth and nothing else. This goes for all preachers too, for elsewhere in Philippians 1 Paul mentions men who “preach Christ for selfish ambition, not sincerely...” He was rejoicing in the fact that Christ was being preached regardless of what was going on in a man’s heart. But if there’s one thing the Lord Himself hates in His church it’s a hypocrite, hypocrites who want to bring everyone else into bondage with their lies.

In Matthew 23 Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees, “hypocrites!” at least seven times. In the same chapter, He calls them “Fools and blind guides” at least five times. And also, “Serpents, brood of vipers” at least once. So we get the distinct impression of the Lord’s righteous hatred of hypocrites in His church. And what is a hypocrite but one who wears a mask, one who acts?

There were spies in the church, and there are spies in the church today. While they are spying they are lying, but they are also tying!

The Tying

They lie in order to bring us into bondage. Everything they say has certain strings attached. They are puppets, or more correctly, marionettes, operated by the devil.

When we were kids one of my older brothers used to put on puppet shows. He used to charge a ha’penny or a penny or something to see the show. Then you got to see Judy punch the living daylights out of Punch! Or was it the other way around? Anyway, my dad got him one of those marionettes, you know, a puppet on a string! However, it lasted about five minutes! Before you could say, “Thunderbirds are go!” it’s strings were all in a tangle. It was impossible to loosen all the knots. Well, the spies in the church want to entangle us. They want to tie us in knots. They want to string us up. But look what Paul says in verse 5, “We did not yield submission for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” In other words, whether the spy is acting seductive like Mata Hari, r is acting as a smooth-talking James Bond. or even acting the clutz like Maxwell Smart, don’t be fooled.

Don’t give an inch. Be an Athanasius who stood against the whole world over one iota. That iota meant the difference between the church being in bondage to the heresy of Arius, i.e., whether Jesus actually was God or just like God. Be a Martin Luther who stood against the false teaching of Rome saying “Here I stand! I can do no other!” God honored Luther’s stand, didn’t He? Scripture says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” 2 Chronicles16:9.

If you stand firm on the truth of the gospel as did Paul, as did Athanasius, as did Luther, as did Calvin, as did Knox, as did all the Reformers, if you stand firm on the truth of the gospel and do not yield, even for an hour, what do you think God will do? Do you think the Lord will show Himself strong on your behalf? If you don’t think He would, then are you sure you’re not one of these false brethren? Are you sure you’re not an actor? A hypocrite?

What about the gates of Hades? Are they going to prevail against Christ’s church? No? What is it that stops the devil? It’s only “the truth of the gospel”. Paul knew it. Martin Luther knew it, for he wrote:

And though this world, with devils filled,

should threaten to undo us,

we will not fear, for God has willed

His truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim,

we tremble not for him;

his rage we can endure,

we know his doom is sure,

the Word of God shall fell him.

The devil has no ties on us. The Word of God has set us free. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. We, in the churches, are engaged in warfare, and Paul says to Timothy, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” 2 Timothy 2:4.

Are you an enlisted soldier in the Lord’s army? Or are you a spy? Surely no Christian wishes to hogtie the feet that carry the Good News? But how are we to know who’s who in the church? Jesus says by their fruits you shall know them. Would it help you to understand that if I changed the metaphor slightly and said, “By their strings, you shall know them”?

When we watched puppet shows as kids you could always see their strings. The idea of a spy is that he or she remains undercover. Once his or her cover is blown he or she has to use new tactics. It is surely some of these that John speaks of in 1 John 2:19, when he says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” Jesus said to His remaining disciples after many had deserted Him, “Do you also want to go away?” Simon Peter answered the Lord for all true Christians when he said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” John 6:68.

So, as we begin to tie things together (no pun intended), the gospel is the revelation of Jesus Christ which is all the Scripture. That if we know ourselves to be sinners and turn our backs on our sins, and believe in Jesus Christ and in everything He has done, we have eternal life in Him. To believe in Him alone for salvation is to be set free from your bondage to sin.

The spies in our text, and if there’re any in our midst plain and simply want you to compromise on the gospel. They sneak into the church by stealth. They even become ministers and elders. But you will spot them in our church at a hundred paces. It’s that easy. And it’s all to do with integrity.

As, I’m sure you know, or should know, that the Presbyterian Church of Australia traces its source back to the sixteenth-century Reformation, which, of course, was the time when the church in the wilderness got back to the Bible. At the Reformation, the Reformed churches formulated their creeds, ie., their “We the undersigned believe!” In the Presbyterian of Australia the “We the undersigned believe!” is, of course, the Westminster Confession of Faith. It’s been our church’s creed since it was compiled in 1647. To bring this home to you, you should know that every elder in the Presbyterian Church of Australia has been asked this question:

 

Do you own and accept the Westminster Confession of Faith as amended by the General Assembly and read in the light of the Declaratory Statement contained in the Basis of Union adopted by this Church on the 24th day of July 1901, as an exhibition of the sense in which you understand the Holy Scriptures and as a confession of your faith; and do you engage firmly and constantly to adhere thereto, and to the utmost of your power to assert, maintain and defend the same?

After answering in the affirmative, they sign their names to the “formula”. They are now under oath! I put it to you that it’s the easiest thing in the world to spot the hypocritical leaders in our church. You can see their strings a mile away. They are the ones who deny our Confession, i.e., our “We the undersigned believe!” They have sworn under oath to defend it. But they don’t! Therefore they are the spies with lies and ties! Or plain and simple, they have no integrity.

Did Judas have integrity? Did Ananias and Sapphira have integrity? Did the false brethren in our text have integrity? Yet I’m sure they all came across as nice, warm, loving, caring, compassionate Christian people. They moved among the people of God, but they were doing the work of the enemy, spying, lying, and tying. But we have to keep reminding ourselves of what the Scriptures are saying: Are the gates of hell going to prevail against the church?

Proverbs 11:3 has this to say, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” This verse could be applied to Judas, and Ananias and Sapphira, who were destroyed.

No one likes a spy. Spies are despicable. Don’t give submission to them, even for an hour! But stand firm, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you!

Conclusion

“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” Jude 3-4.