Aug 18 2010
Sermon: God’s Presence with us
Acts 15:5-21
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 ”‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’
18 that have been known for ages.
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
When the early church was faced with a problem, they met together to seek answers in the Scriptures, in discussion and in prayer.
Here in Acts 15 we have one of the early problems in the church. It’s the question about who can be saved.
Salvation, in those days, as it still is today, was much more than just the fact that you will be “saved” from judgment (by the atoning death of Jesus). Salvation means that you are saved from the inevitability of the direction of your life. Because of sin, inherited, imputed and real, each person born into his world is headed for destruction.
Although God initiated this destruction because of original sin, it has never been what He really wants. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read that “God does not want anyone to perish, but rather that everyone would come to repentance.”
Repentance is about “turning around”; it is about recognizing that the path ahead is fraught with danger. It is about finding Jesus as the Way of salvation.
So here at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, we are witnesses to a debate. There are those who think that the way of salvation is found only through God’s promise to Abraham and through the customs taught by Moses.
And then there are those who think that salvation is for those to whom God has given the Holy Spirit.
At this time, James, the brother of Jesus, is the leader of the Church. He listens to the various arguments and then he turns to the Scriptures and quotes a fairly obscure Scripture from the prophet Amos about God rebuilding David’s fallen tent and rules, on the basis of this, that God has decided to save the Gentiles too, and that would be wrong to force them to comply with all the rules and customs of Moses.
We so often read things in the Bible without thinking about what they mean – that’s why Bible Study is more important that Bible reading.
So what is David’s fallen tent and why do James and the Council of Jerusalem use this argument to justify God’s wider grace.
To understand we must go back to 2 Samuel 6.
2 Samuel 6:1-17
David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 2 He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.
6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
8 Then David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.
9 David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household.
12 Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD.
Saul, the first king of Israel is dead, David has conquered Jerusalem and his desire is to bring the Ark back to the city.
The Ark was the sign of God’s Presence – God had a place above the Mercy Seat (the lid of the Ark), between the Cherubim. It was God’s symbolic throne, even more than that. It was where the Moses and the High Priest met with God on the journey from Egypt in the Exodus.
After the arrival in the Promised Land, the Ark had been somewhat neglected during Joshua’s Campaign to occupy the land. Through the period of the Judges, it was not treated with much significance. It did however have a place at Shiloh, which was where the most senior of the Judges resided. The most notable of these was Samuel.
During this time, it seems that the enemies of Israel attached more significance to the Ark than did Israel itself. They captured it several times, convinced that it had some kind of magic which would give them victory. However, every time they captured it, that “magic” brought problems and the Ark would end up in Israel’s hands again.
Finally, the Ark found a home at Abinadab’s home. He became the keeper of the Ark and he prospered greatly – his fields were lush, his cattle were fat and his sheep were plentiful. Clearly the Presence of the Lord brought great blessing to Him.
And so David wanted to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, the new capital city of the Promised Land. He set out with thirty thousand chosen men to fetch it and a new cart to carry it. (2 Samuel 6:1)There were musicians aplenty and David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might – until they reached the threshing floor of Nacon.
The oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark and suddenly he was struck down dead. David was confused and angry and afraid – He left the Ark right there at the home of Obed-Edom and went home.
Then he heard that Obed-Edom was being blessed by the Presence of the Ark. And no doubt David did a bit of research about the Ark because when he went back to fetch it three months later he didn’t bring a new cart but the Levitical Priests, who were the only ones authorized to carry the Ark.
They heaved it onto their shoulders and set out – six steps and they stopped to make a sacrifice. David wanted to make sure that everything was right. The Bible doesn’t exactly say that they made more than one sacrifice but the implication is that they made a sacrifice after every six steps (2 Samuel 6:13 says “When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf”) – if that’s the case it would have taken a long time to get to Jerusalem. David certainly wanted to do it right!
And then at last we get to Jerusalem and the Ark is placed inside the tent which David had pitched for it.
Aha! Here is David’s tent at last. The one which James referred to at the Council of Jerusalem which extended God’s grace to the Gentiles.
And its not like the Tabernacle at all. The Hebrew word for the Tabernacle is “mishkan” but this tent is an “a-el”. This kind of tent is simply a shelter – a roof whose walls were only lowered for protection. It was like a Bedouin tent.
David has read the Pentateuch – he knows how the Ark is to be treated. He knows who is to carry it and how it is to be treated. He has, perhaps gone a bit overboard in the number of sacrifices and extent of praise which he offers, but he’s done everything right – except for one thing, and its crucial. The Ark is to be kept in a special kind of tent – an enclosed tent, a “mishkan”.
Instead, he puts it into an “a-el”. David’s tent has no sides to it, no barriers – just a roof. Its open to the world, and the Ark is put there. God’s Presence is placed right in the midst of the people. There’s no walls like the Tabernacle would have had – no inner chamber, into which only the High Priest could enter. Its not like the Temple which David’s son, Solomon was to build – there’s only a roof over the Ark. Anyone who wants to come to God has complete freedom.
And that’s what James and the council at Jerusalem realized.
In Jesus and by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God had come amongst His people. There were now no more barriers. God had started a new initiative – He had come to us. And anyone who turned to God would find Him.
There were no constraints, no barriers, no limitations. There was no particular door you had to pass through, no special title or privilege you needed in order to find yourself in the Presence of God.
God was now with us.
Acts 15:8 tells us that “God, who knows the heart, has given the Holy Spirit to everyone who turns to Him”.
As I have been saying through this series, it is the Presence of God with us which sets us apart – which makes us God’s own. And the Holy Spirit within us is the mark of that Presence.
On the day of Pentecost, after Peter had preached, the people cried out ,”What must we do?” And Peter responded, repent and be baptized and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
God has taken away the barriers – all He wants is for us to come to Him. In repentance we leave behind all the things which we have created as barriers – our sin, our pride, our self-centeredness – and we come to God “within the veil, into that Holy Place” of His Presence.
