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 Acts 15:1-6: The gloves are off.

“Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’ ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church sent them on their way, and as they travelled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. 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 keep the law of Moses.’ ⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question.”NIV UK

Christian people can be unnecessarily contentious. All too often sincere believers savage fellow-believers (regularly in print) and the disagreements are over secondary issues. Brothers and sisters, this should not be. As I observed in a recent daily thought, we must not ‘major on the minors.’ However, there comes a time when you really do have to go into bat on an issue. This was one of those occasions for Peter, Paul and Barnabas. The question was, ‘What do you need in order to be saved?’ There were Jewish Christians who argued that you had to have faith plus circumcision; the apostles always insisted that it was faith plus nothing. Salvation is ‘by grace alone, through faith alone.’ It’s faith in Jesus that saves. It’s similar when Paul writes Galatians. He doesn’t hang around at the outset of the letter. Pleasantries are at a minimum. He gets right to it. He is at white heat.The gospel is at stake, and the gloves are off. Paul is facing pretty much the same question as the church in Acts 15. I don’t want to be a petty, petulant, argumentative sort, picking fights with people because they don’t see things the way I do. Nevertheless, may I not fail to go to war for truth when such a battle is required. At times it will be. Truth matters. Error destroys

Acts 14:21-28: Keeping on keeping on.

“21 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.”NIV UK .

‘The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success’ David Sarnoff.
‘Paul and Barnabas had the courage to retrace their steps so they could help and encourage the new Christians! And when they returned home, they told the church what the Lord had done, not what they had suffered. Paul and Barnabas put Christ first, others second, and themselves last’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.717.
It is striking that they returned home via the very places where they had faced such persecution; but they were more concerned for the welfare of the churches than they were for their own safety and comfort. (Notice, by the way, that the appointment of elders is a serious matter, to be undertaken prayerfully and not lightly: verse 23, compare with 13:3).
What you say carries more clout when your hearers know that you live the message (22). Paul and Barnabas didn’t dilute the sermon to taste; didn’t promise the new Christians an easy ride. They spelled it out that there would be blood, sweat and tears, and their own lives demonstrated courage, fortitude and perseverance in the face of great danger. Their experiences were visual aids for the message they were bringing.
Safely back in Antioch, they gave testimony to what God had done. In verse 11 we read about ‘’what Paul had done’’, but to the gathered congregation in Antioch they ‘’reported all that God had done through them…’’ (27). We are God’s co-workers. We get to be involved in this exciting dangerous adventure, but let’s make sure God gets all the glory.
(Compare verses 27b with Colossians 4:3 and 1 Corinthians 15:8,9).

PRAYER: Lord God, may it be obvious that you are at work through me, and I pray that you will receive all the honour. It is your due. But I do ask that you will work through my life, for you are able to do far more than I could ever ask or imagine.

Acts 14:8-20: The Danger of popularity.

PRAYER: Lord, give me an unconquerable spirit, an unquenchable love and a willingness to keep on keeping on in your cause.

Acts 14:1-7: Business as usual.

“At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. ² But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³ So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. ⁴ The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. ⁵ There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to ill-treat them and stone them. ⁶ But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, ⁷ where they continued to preach the gospel.” NIV UK

Business as usual for the early church combined great joy and great progress with great suffering. They were rarely out of trouble.

1. This is a story of custom: ‘’At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue’’ (1a). As we saw in the last chapter, Paul’s habit was to offer the gospel message about Jesus to Jews first (see for example 13:46). As he understood it, this was how things had to be.

2. This is a story of conversions (1b). In fact, a great ‘harvest’ was gathered in.

3. This is a story of conflict (2, 4-6). In the wake of the ‘revival’ the apostles found themselves in more trouble. The message of Christ does divide (4). Not everyone will respond warmly and well. Christian faith is reasonable faith, but some will not believe. They dig their heels in. They set themselves against the truth, and they are angry with it.

4. This is a story of courage. The little word ‘’So’’ at the beginning of (3) is not what you would expect. Let me try to paraphrase (2,3): ‘Paul and Barnabas saw a tsunami of hatred heading towards them, threatening to sweep them away. SO they stood still; they did not run away. They stayed put.’ Look what God did with their faithfulness:

5. This is a story of confirmation (3): The Lord affirmed His Word with signs following. ‘’But where we work with Him, and He with us, the results are beyond measure astonishing, and his alone.’’ F.B. Meyer.

6. This is a story of continuation (7): In spite of what I said earlier, there was a time to get out of town. When it came, the apostles recognised it, and it was not cowardice to move. However, they did not let earlier suffering, or the likelihood of its repetition silence them. They were unstoppable…even if they were always in trouble!

PRAYER: Whatever happens, my Lord, help me to keep going with the same kind of dogged resolve the first Christians showed.

Acts 13:42-52: Mixed response.

“42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: ‘We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘“I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honoured the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit”.NIV UK

Whenever the gospel message is preached you see the parable of the sower being worked out. There are mixed responses. But the seed falling ‘’on good soil’’ is accepted, and produces ‘’a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown’’ (Mark 4:20). All the antagonism aroused could not eradicate the seed which had been so generously scattered. The ‘’jealousy’’ (45) of the Jews is a part of the continuation of the story of Jesus. That envy towards Him, showing itself in violent hostility, is a key part of the gospel story. This is another indication that Jesus is alive and continuing His ministry in and through the church (Acts 1:1). As we saw yesterday, Paul’s sermon called for belief in Jesus, through Whom there is justification, the forgiveness of sins (38, 39). ‘The doctrine of justification by faith, so closely associated with the work of Paul, is here stated for the first time. In Jesus there is forgiveness. For those who trust in Him, past sins are absolutely put away, never to be named again, never to be brought up at any future judgment day. Our record is as clear as the sand which has been swept smooth by the ocean waves. We are not only forgiven, but justified. We are treated as though we had never sinned…It is a present fact. You may not feel justified or forgiven, but if you are trusting in Jesus, you are at this moment as certainly and as fully justified as have been the saints in Heaven.’’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’,p.492. That is great news; the very best news! If you are a believer, rejoice in your salvation today. If you’re not a believer, what is it that stands between you and saving faith in Christ?

Acts 13:13- 41: The big picture.

^“13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, ‘Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.’  ¹⁶ Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: ‘Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! ¹⁷ The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; ¹⁸ for about forty years he endured their conduct^[a] in the wilderness; ¹⁹ and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years.  ‘After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled for forty years. ²² After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”  ²³ ‘From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Saviour Jesus, as he promised. ²⁴ Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ As John was completing his work, he said: “Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”  ²⁶ ‘Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. ²⁷ The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognise Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days he was seen by those who had travelled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.  ³² ‘We tell you the good news: what God promised our ancestors ³³ he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:  ‘“You are my son; today I have become your father.”  ³⁴ God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, ‘“I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.”  ³⁵ So it is also stated elsewhere:  ‘“You will not let your holy one see decay.”  ³⁶ ‘Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. ³⁷ But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. ³⁸ ‘Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹ Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: ⁴¹ ‘“Look, you scoffers,                                                                                                                                         wonder and perish,for I am going to do something in your day that you would never believe,   even if someone told you.”’” NIV UK

When you are doing a jigsaw, individual pieces of the puzzle can appear, well…puzzling! You have to keep looking at the lid to try to see where they fit. You need the big picture to help you. It’s like that with the Bible too. Isolated readings (especially in the Old Testament) can leave you scratching your head. You need to try to understand how they fit into the whole.  Although Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, his bed-rock belief was that the gospel message is ‘’first for the Jew, then for the Gentile’’ (Romans 1:16). So his regular pattern was to visit the synagogue first. That was his course in Pisidian Antioch. Working with Jews, Paul started with the Old Testament. In evangelism, it’s good to start where people are; to scratch where they itch. Jews knew the Old Testament. In this sermon Paul shows them the big picture – what’s on the lid; and demonstrates how Jesus fits into the middle of it. He dominates the scene.We might well see verses 32 and 33a as his text for the sermon:

‘’We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus.’’

Nevertheless, the sermon is more than a description of how Jesus, the Messiah, has fulfilled ancient prophecies. It is a call to put one’s trust in Him and experience the wiping clean of the slate (38, 39). It is also a warning of a very real pitfall, described in Habakkuk 1:5. This is so marvellous you could miss out. It may feel ‘too good to be true’. In truth, it is so good and it is true!              Do you believe on Jesus?

PRAYER: Lord, this ‘big picture’ makes my heart burn with wonder and joy. I fall on my feet and say ‘thank you’.

 Acts 13:6-12: Intelligence needn’t be a barrier.

^“6 They travelled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰ ‘You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.” NIV

You don’t have to commit ‘intellectual suicide’ in order to become a Christian.                 ‘’The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God’’ (7b). His intelligence was not a barrier to seeking, or to belief (12). He was converted in the end.  For the last two mornings, while I have been walking on the treadmill, I’ve also been watching a lecture given by Professor John Lennox at Harvard, about the rationality of belief in the supernatural. John Lennox is a Christian, and a professor of mathematics at Oxford. He has an exceptionally brilliant mind, and he is living proof that Christianity is not incompatible with intelligence.(See http://www.johnlennox.org).  Of course, Satan will try to trip up those who want to know the truth about God (8), whether it is through an ‘’Elymas’’, or someone or something else. We must never forget that we are in a spiritual battle. Our enemy is resourceful and has many ‘spanners’ he can throw into the ‘works’. But he doesn’t have to win. I like this quote I saw recently: ‘A working knowledge of the devil can be very well had from resisting him.’ Flanerry O’Connor. When we engage in evangelism, at some level we will encounter the devil and his works. Nevertheless, the triumph of the gospel is assured. We will find ourselves coming up against a strong, but defeated foe.

PRAYER: Victorious Lord Jesus, whenever we see your enemy trying to interfere with our witness, help us to remember that you have beaten him at the cross. May we trust more firmly and fully in you.

Acts 13:4,5: Team work.

“4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.”NIV

From yesterday’s reading, it was obvious that the Antioch church was led by a team (1): a diverse team, composed of differing personalities and gifts. They sought God together, worshipped together and heard His voice together.They moved in harmony. Many church leadership teams spend a lot of time talking to each other; how many give quality time to listening to God?

In today’s short passage the team work continues. It’s a smaller team – just three this time (4,5): Barnabas, Saul and John Mark. We thank God for preachers and preaching. It’s crucial that the word of God should be ‘’proclaimed.’’ However, let’s not overlook those people who help practically in the background, and whose gifts help to ensure the smooth running of church machinery. If you can, ensure they are affirmed; that they know they are noticed and appreciated.

We are not to be spiritual ‘Lone Rangers’. Temperamentally, some are inclined towards solitude, while others are more social beings. If you belong to the first group (and I do) you need to ensure that you don’t ‘go it alone’; that you do honour the body of Christ. God often imparts His wisdom to us through others. Don’t be shy of asking for help or advice. Recognise that God is constructing the church in such a way that there is an inter-dependence. We all need each other. Everyone has something to give to others, and much to receive. That’s how it works and to strike out on your own is to go against the grain of the God-given church order.

Whatever we do though – even as a team – must be initiated by the Holy Spirit, otherwise we are wasting time. When these three set sail, they were being blown along by the Holy Spirit (4). When the divine wind is in your sails, it’s fun to be part of the crew! It may sometimes be dangerous, but with God’s Spirit in charge it will be an adventure.

 Acts 13:1-3: How’s your hearing.

^“1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. ² While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ ³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. It has been rightly pointed out that this season of fasting changed church history and world history. On this day in Antioch, a missionary movement was born that would bring the gospel to us.” NIV

Now it is true to say that Acts 13 describes what the church did without telling us we must do the same. But surely it is recorded for our example? Isn’t there an implication that we ought to learn and follow? I obviously think so. I know it is true that Christians who give time to fasting often seem to hear God speaking to them with sharpness and clarity. It’s a bit like ‘tuning in’ time: turning the dial on the radio until all the fuzziness, hiss and crackle disappears, and you get excellent reception. There are times when church communities and leadership teams need to come together in fasting. If we are to recover apostolic Christianity, we cannot afford to neglect this discipline. We shouldn’t become unbalanced – obsessive about it. Yet I suggest we are already unbalanced if this discipline has no place in our discipleship. In a self-indulgent culture like ours, we sometimes need to fight, to resist with weapons of self-denial. There definitely is a place for fasting, and who can say where it will lead? It may involve further sacrifice. It must have cost the church at Antioch to let ‘’Barnabas and Saul’’ go, but no-one in the church belongs to the church (or to themselves); they belong to the Lord, and He strategically moves the ‘chess pieces’ around the world ‘board’. However, the church does have a key role to play in recognising and affirming God’s call on those called to be missionaries.

PRAYER: May I be more hungry for you, Lord, than for anything else. I pray that I will not shrink from the spirit of self-sacrifice for your Name’s sake.