Heights Church, how we doing today? Good? Anybody glad to be in church? Yeah? Okay, good. I'm in the right place. If you're new, welcome. We always want to slow down and welcome everyone online. You are part of our Heights family, and we love you and are so glad you're here. A couple things I need to let you know right off the bat is, one, me and my wife, Piper, just love y 'all so much. We pray for you constantly. We're down at our Prescott Valley Park collective location,
so we don't get to make it up here a lot. But just please know that you are loved and prayed over, not just by us, but our staff, and we just care for you greatly. The other thing is, is that Pastor John will be back next weekend. Okay? Yep. I already know some of you are like, thank you, Jesus. And that's okay. I don't take that personal. I feel that way too. I'm like, I'm so glad he's coming back. If you're new to Heights, Pastor John is our lead pastor, okay? And he's
been on a three -month sabbatical. And it's been a sabbatical of restoration, rest, and celebration because we want to create longevity for John. So he'll be here for decades to come. And so I'm sure you're gonna get to hear more about it when he speaks next weekend, okay? So I know I don't need to tell y 'all this, but when y 'all see him, y 'all let him feel the love, okay? Good, good. So have you ever been confronted
face -to -face? Have you ever felt the need like you needed to confront someone face -to -face? I actually had to do this a couple weeks ago in churches. It's not easy. These are hard conversations. They can be difficult. And the situation was, is we were at our home and it was early in the morning and our kids had got up earlier than normal. And it was 5 .30. It was one of those mornings where 5 .30 to 7 a .m. felt like 39 hours. I mean, we got a three and a two -year
-old. Kids are running around. Dogs are running around. Wife's getting ready. I see my two toddlers leave the kitchen table with half -eaten peanut butter jelly sandwiches disappearing. That's getting smeared somewhere. And I hear in their back room, I hear this very aggressive sound of my little girl Izzy going, no puppy, no puppy. And then you hear the distinct sound of nails on hardwood floor. And my dog runs around and
runs right past me down the hall. And my sweet little princess is right behind that dog with a toy kitchen kid's butcher knife chasing my dog. And doing this motion. I had to confront her. I said, you look crazy right now. You can't be acting like that. But my hope is, is that we all have people in our lives that can have difficult, face -to -face, honest conversations. You know, I hope we've had teachers, bosses,
mentors, friends. Spouses, one of the things my wife Piper does really well is after we leave whatever type of gathering it is, there are times in the car or at home, she'll go, hey, did you mean to come across like that? And I'll be like, huh? Because I don't see things in my life. I have blind spots. And if I'm being really honest, church, there's things I don't want to see. And so spouses are great, but church, we need more
than that. We need, I would say, anywhere from three to five people in our lives that we have given permission to, to have honest, hard conversations. So the question I want to wrestle with today, church, is do you give people the right to speak into your life? Do you give people the right to speak into your life? And we've been studying the book of Galatians, and we've been talking about, like, Paul's super direct with this church.
It's the early church. It's a young church. But he's not being direct just because they're messing up. He's also being direct because he loves them dearly, and he wants to see them grow, and he wants to see them to be able to mature. And we're going to continue with Paul's directness in Galatians 2, verses 11 and 12. When Peter came to Antioch, I, Paul, opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.
But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. Okay, so right off the bat, you hear words like circumcision group, Gentiles. So there was the Jewish people and anyone who wasn't Jewish was considered a Gentile. And the circumcision group were the Jewish people. But we see Paul
opposing Peter. This is the same Peter in Matthew 17 that was on the mountaintop with Jesus, James, and John and heard God say, this is my son with who I'm well pleased. This is the same Peter that said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God in Matthew 16. This is the same Peter who denied knowing Jesus three times in Mark 14. And it's the same Peter who walked on water with Jesus and then a few moments later began to sink. One of the things we do at night is
we love to tell. stories to our children. And my son loves Marvel comic stories and he loves Bible stories. And his favorite Marvel comic character is Spider -Man. Okay. And everyone knows his true identity is Peter Parker. And so one night we're telling this Bible story and I'm talking to him about Jesus walking on water and I'm telling him how Peter got to go out there and he is... Hearing this story, and he's in this deep thought, as much as a three -year -old
can be. And his face is squinched up, and I'm like, what is it, son? And he goes, Peter Paca can walk on water? Getting your genres mixed up, son. We got to keep those straight. But this is the same Peter who gave the first sermon in Acts 2 when the church as we know it was birthed. And it's the same Peter who got confronted by Jesus. And Jesus told Peter, get behind me, Satan. Because Peter was saying he wasn't going to let him die on the cross. You could call Peter the
apostle of extremes. One of my favorite things about the Bible is how it doesn't hide all the scars and character defects that God chooses to use. Because the story's not about them, is it? It's about God and his character and his interaction with humanity. But why do we have these peaks and valleys in our walk with Christ? Why are we still learning the same lessons today that humanity's been learning for thousands of
years? In 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 -24, it says, May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who calls you as faithful, and he will do it. So you hear, may God sanctify you through and through in your spirit, in your
soul, and in your body. We know as believers that the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and that he died on the cross for our sins, and it was the only way, to be in communion with God. The only way to pay for sin was through Jesus. The moment that happens, we're sealed with the Holy Spirit, it says. It's a promise in Ephesians. And we're covered in the blood of Jesus. And God sees us perfectly. It says we are without blemish. We can approach
him with confidence, church. But then you also still have your soul and body, and that's your feelings, your thoughts, your emotions. You ask any believer worth their weight in salt, they'll go, I'm redeemed in Christ. But this is a work in progress. We're continuously being worked on until the day we die, church, we should not stop growing. Because it's the age old question, how do people sinful by nature come to God who is holy by nature? See, it's not just a clash
between Paul and Peter. It's also a collision against Christ and culture because there's all these things that affect our feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Our environments can affect it. The people we're around can affect it. The traditions we grew up in can affect it. Our old way of dealing with problems and issues can come back in. And so we see that here in these verses as these Jewish Christians, and this is a church of believers.
So you have Paul, you have Peter, it says, People from James were sent, which means that these disciples were sent from the half brother of Jesus. So this is a church letter, right? I mean, these people are saved. We don't have any question whether or not Peter was saved. And yet we see him being pulled off center because of what's going on around him. And these Jewish Christians are saying, hey, I believe in Jesus. But man, I really think a lot of this other stuff is super
important and it helps keep me clean. And so we see where Peter starts to pull back from eating with the Gentiles. And in our Western fast food culture, we're like, Peter, go have a burger with them. What's the big deal? But to the Jewish culture, it was super significant. When you broke bread with somebody over a meal, you were saying, we're in alignment with God together. You have the Mosaic law where you had ceremonial washing of hands. No pork. You had a lot of other food
restrictions. No blood for the food. And so what you see is these believers who have accepted Christ start to pull in these old habits, these old traditions, these old religions. And when we do that, church, it becomes Jesus plus. Anytime it is Jesus plus, we are off center. When it becomes a what and not a who church, we have lost our center bearing in Christ. So how does that play out in today's culture? I mean, not many of us, if any, grew up within those Jewish
customs. But let me ask you this, church. Have you ever felt like God was disappointed in you because you weren't reading your Bible like you used to? You felt like God was frustrated with you because you didn't pray or give or serve as much as you did the month before. Anytime you've done that, you've brought yourself back under the power of the law, church. What about the flip side of that coin? We've been redeemed in Christ, but there's these things that used
to bring us relief. Whether they were chemicals or substances, or maybe we found our worth within a relationship or somebody we were dating. We found our identity within our bank account and our influence in the community. Church, all these things means we've taken our eyes off all that matters, which is Christ. In verses 13, 14, it says, the other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy so that by their hypocrisy, even Barnabas was
led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, you are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it then that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? I mean, it says right here that Paul confronted Peter in front of everyone. Church, I don't want this to be our get out of jail free card. This is something, there's one thing I want us to catch is in the previous verses that
said Peter began to draw away, okay? So this wasn't a one -time mistake. This wasn't a one -time slip. It had become habitual sin, okay? But the verse is also telling us sometimes it is required for us to confront someone face -to -face in a group setting, okay? But don't let it be our get -out -of -jail -free card. Have you ever heard someone say, I'm not being mean, I'm just being honest? Hmm. Probably being mean too. At least the times I've heard someone say
that. How about if we memorize Galatians 6? Someone who's caught in a sin, we gently restore them. How about we memorize that one? How about Matthew 18 when it says, if your brother or sister sins against you, it says, go to them in private, one -on -one and have an honest conversation with them. Then it says, if that doesn't work, bring a couple more. And then it escalates from there. There's a bunch of different ways to have
hard face -to -face conversations. What we ought to do is stay prayerful, always praying for God to let us know what to say and when to say it. What these do have in common, though, is they're all built in relationships. within community through honest conversations. Just as Jesus came full of grace and truth in 114 John, our conversations should be seasoned in grace and truth. Because God designed us to be in community churches.
He's a God of relationships. Before creation, God was in relationship with the Holy Spirit and the Son. And he's designed our church to be in a community that we're the body of Christ, built up of many parts and many giftings. Church, that's why we have Growth Track, so that we can get to know you and you can get to know us. And then you can step in somewhere to serve and you can have a smaller community within a larger
community. That's why we have life groups, so you can be part of a smaller community within a larger community. That's why we have local partners. That's why we just sent three teams across the globe. That's why with our online family, we have Baghdad and Paulding where people gather together in communities because church, we are better together. In 1 Peter 5, it says to be self -controlled and alert because your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour. What are the traits of a lion when it hunts? Don't they stand back and they look at and observe the herd and they see who's on the outskirts? They see who's unhealthy, who's sick, who's young, who's not paying attention. And then they break them off from the herd and devour them. Church, we are at our strongest when we are together. as a community centered on Christ. And we're at our weakest when we're isolated. Verses 15 and
16. We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law. Because by observing the law, no one will be justified. Okay, in verse 16, you hear justified three times. And I know we're familiar with these words, justification, sanctification, reconciliation. But sometimes I wonder, like,
how well do we really know those words? We're like reading through the Bible. We're like, I think I can figure out exactly what it means. But justification is declared righteous in God's sight. I mean, is that not the best phrase? declared righteous in God's sight. So I wanna reread verse 16 and I'm gonna replace justified with the definition. Know that a man is not declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law. but by faith
in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be declared righteous in God's sight by faith in Christ and not by observing the law. Because by observing the law, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight. Doesn't that have a different ring to it? I mean, think about it, church. In Genesis 2, we were given just one command. Don't eat of the tree of knowledge and good and evil. We broke that one. Exodus 20, we were given the 10 commandments.
We've broke those. The Israelites were given 600 laws in Deuteronomy, and they didn't do very well with those either. Does that make the law bad, church? Absolutely not. The law was sent by God. Paul goes, if I didn't know what coveting was, if I wasn't told what coveting my neighbor's things was, then how would I know about it? The law is good, but we were never ever gonna fulfill it. And it was never ever gonna be able to make
us clean. It was always meant to point us to something greater, a final sacrifice, a final answer. Because Jesus has perfectly fulfilled the law. We have utterly failed to keep it, church. So what Paul's teaching here within these verses is justification by faith. So declared righteous in God's sight by faith plus nothing, church. That's what we put our hope in. And that faith is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That in an instant, you can repent of your sins and ask God to forgive you and put your faith and trust and hope and a savior that came down to earth and died on a cross for your sins and my sins for all eternity. You just have to accept it. When we have salvation based off works, it's really our attempt to obligate God to save us based off our performance. But when you see works that are produced through grace and faith, that's
the fruit of a transformed heart. It doesn't say how Peter responded here in these verses. Reading about Peter, there's a good chance it might not have been a very good response, Paul calling him out, but that's nowhere in Scripture. So we're not going to focus on that. That's just a guess. But what do we know? For those of you that like to dig deeper, I want to encourage
you this week to read 1 and 2 Peter. And keep in mind, the Paul or the Peter rather, excuse me, that you read about in the gospels and that you read about here. And you tell me if that's not the fruit of a transformed heart that is being sanctified daily and growing in Christ. Church, we gotta look different than we did. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. Verses 17
through 19. If while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not. If I rebuild what I destroy, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God. Okay, so Paul's really delivering the same message in a different way, okay? Once you're saved, you can't go back under the power of the
law. Really verses 15 through 21, he's just hammering a point of what he just saw happen within this church setting. I think these verses really would have resonated with the Jewish Christians. It's like speaking Klingon to Klingons, okay? So he's just trying to get a point across because you have Jewish Christians, you have Gentile Christians. And I really believe these next ones are what's gonna resonate with us as a church. Verses 20 and 21. I have been crucified with Christ and
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live and the body I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. 13 years ago, church, I was crucified with Christ. I was saved from a 20 -year drug addiction and radically transformed.
And 13 years later, I'm still being transformed. I'm not as prideful as I was before Christ, but I still have a bunch of pride that needs to get out of me. I'm not as selfish as I was before Christ, but I have a lot of selfishness that needs to be removed from me because my emotions, thoughts, and feelings get off center all the time based off my surroundings. And I need the Holy Spirit to guide me and direct me and prune me. Why do we keep trying to resurrect our old
selves, church? The old person is buried in Christ. The only type of person you bury is a dead person, church. That means that addiction in Christ is buried. That means that crushing anxiety and worry has been buried. That means that need to control every aspect of your life or think you control your kids and your business and your family has been buried. It means the need to act sexually immoral and have anything sexual outside of how God intended it with a man and
a woman in marriage has been buried. It means that resentment That judgment, that unforgiveness, that gossip, that mockery has all been buried in Christ. We have to stop trying to dig up these things that are dead and have no power over us, church. Do you know what you call something when you get on the ground and you dig up something that was dead and you try to get it up moving around? They're called zombies, church. Nobody likes zombies. They're gross. They try to kill
you. They're not good for you. Church, let's stop digging up zombies. And every time we try to go back to that old way of living and try to dig up something that is dead. We are no longer a slave to sin, but a slave to righteousness. Every time we do that, we've lost sight of what Christ did on the cross and the power that is there. In church, every time we know we're saved by the grace of God and through Jesus on the cross, but go, that can't be all there is to
it. I have to, I need to, I need to be in this study more. I need to serve more. I need to, I need to give more. I need to pray more. And all those things are great, but there is no power in them of themselves. We have come back under the power of the law church. If this book right here, this Bible feels weighty to you and like its commands are restraining you, and they're a burden to keep, and you don't like them, I
would say you've come back under the law. Because Jesus' yoke is easy, and his burden is light, church. We get to live this book out. We get to obey these commands. We get to give, we get to serve. We get to forgive because of what Christ has done. Because it's no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. So what does this look like going through the weeks to come? If you go, all right, Ben, I'm on board with that. That all sounds good. How do we practically live
that out? We gotta know this book, church. We gotta know this book. Because there are so many things in our life that mess up our emotions, thoughts, and feelings. We have to have this word written on our heart. And what I mean by that is we have to have it memorized. We have to be able in a moment, no matter the stressful situation, no matter the difficult people, I can call on the word of God and the power of Jesus Christ. And I can declare these truths
over my life and over my situation. And I'll put my hope and trust in that and that alone. I will not let my circumstances dictate my mood. I will not match anger for anger or evil for evil, but to be a light in the world so that our deeds can be seen and that God can be glorified in heaven, church. And so I wanna declare some verses over you and they're gonna be up for a while. And if you wanna take a picture of them or write her down, you can, but I just wanna
declare these truths over you. In Christ, you are without blemish and free from accusation. You have been made holy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once and for all, church. There is now no condemnation for those of us that are in Christ Jesus. You cannot be separated from his love, church. We are without spot or wrinkle. We are holy and without blemish. We have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, church. And finally, the one we started with in 1 Thessalonians, the one who calls you as faithful and he will do it. These verses, church, are written in what's called a perfect tense. It means they were true. It means they are true. It means they will be true. This is our anchor. What Christ did is
what we put our faith in, not our works. Jesus said, truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. What I used to think Jesus was teaching was talking about kids' innocence. Then I had kids. They're just a bunch of little sinners running all over the place. Am I wrong? I mean, come on. You don't have to teach a kid to be selfish. You don't have to teach them the word mine. You don't have to teach them to lie.
They come by it honestly. Because you see the fall of humanity in a toddler. Honestly, I see the fall of humanity in me trying to parent. I'll tell you, though, what I have fully come to believe Jesus was teaching was that of a little kid is unapologetically dependent upon something else to provide for. It's food, it's clothing, it's shelter, it's protection, it's safety. Church, let's be unapologetically dependent. upon what
Christ did on the cross. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I come before you, Lord, just with a repentant heart of the times I've tried to do things out of my own power and my own strength. Lord, that you would ignite a fire within us as individuals and as a community, Lord, to be unapologetically dependent upon you. Lord, we were saved by you. We were saved through you. We were saved for you. Father, let us be reminded
of your goodness. Lord, let us have people in our lives that we trust, that can have honest face -to -face conversations. So Lord, there will be no division, but we will be a unified body together, supporting one another, lifting one another up, Lord. Father, that you would put people in our lives that would help carry us and that we could also help carry, Lord. Lord, forgive us for any time we have added to Christ. Lord, any time we have gone and tried to dig
up our old selves, Lord. Lord, that we would recognize those moments when our feelings, thoughts, and emotions are off -center, Lord. Lord, and we would be reminded of your word, Lord, that does not change like sand, but is steadfast and it is the truth, the way. You are the life and the light of the world. Father, open our eyes to that, Father. Father, if there is someone in this room right now that does not know you, Lord, that you would reveal yourselves to them,
that this... That we can be seen without blemish, that we can be forgiven of our sins. You don't hold these things against us, can be in a moment of accepting you. And what Jesus did on the cross, Lord, and everyone said, amen.