Acts (Session 10) Chapters 15-16

a small point too before we start we should it's very popular to call the book of acts the acts of the holy spirit or the acts of the apostles and that's all well intended but the truth of the matter is that not correct the principal person throughout this book is the lord jesus christ everything in it every person that's in one word relates to him and we want to nowhere will that be more evident than in this chapter we're about to get into so i'd like to okay i forgot to turn that on okay good now one of the most difficult things for us to grasp is the freeness of god's salvation we globally call it grace but to really embrace that requires the depth of understanding that we have to we need to work hard to get at it's the freeness of it the fact that he's the extremes that he's gone to on our behalf are hard to grasp here and the important thing for us to realize as we go forward there's nothing we can add to it to even try to add to it is a form of blasphemy it's interesting even the devil knows that a man will be saved if he will but leave and that's so staggering that a gift that's that profound is available to us that directly that simply not by anything we do by just accepting what he has done for us so a little background because about we find a very critical background here in galatians chapter 2. now peter of course is getting sensitive to all of this because we noticed that already back in chapter 10 how peter overcame his prejudices he was housed in a tanner's home and so forth he receives the cornelius so forth and uh so in any case though the apostles agree that peter is going to remain in jerusalem to minister to the jews peter visits antioch he fellowships with the gentiles there then he withdraws when legalistic jews visit from jerusalem and paul is going to call him on that he he's being hypocritical here on the one hand he he is uh learned presumably from cornelius in chapter 10 that the the law has been superseded uh that that's the thing of the past and yet when he's confronted with his contemporaries he gets back to being legalistic and paul and paul deals with that in galatians chapter 2. but the point is their tensions are mounting here we need to get the context of what's leading up to chapter 15. there's a real tension even peter through whom the door to the gentiles was opened in chapter 10 even he finds himself stumbling on this issue and so antioch the church in antioch in contrast to the church in jerusalem really becomes the headquarters the center for the outreach to the gentile uh the gentiles and what we might call gentile christianity and it all threatens to eclipse jerusalem as a home church so these are tones these are trends that are going we're going to discover what we call the council of jerusalem which is going to deal with two questions and i'm emphasizing this because i'm startled to notice how many commentators how many expositions of this chapter fail to address the second one that one of these questions are obvious and well dealt with but there's another one that often is missed completely by the observer are the gentiles under the law that of course is the critical one does a gentile have to become a jew to be saved we need to understand that practice had been in the old testament period that if a gentile gentile wanted to adopt the god of israel he proselyted to a form of judaism he put himself under the law with them and they were used to that that a gentile might proselyte to judaism to be part of the congregation so to speak what's going on here is the presumption of most jewish believers was that's what you still do if you want to accept the jesus messiah you became a jew you proselyted judaism and that's what's being contested here but that and that question is going to be dealt with very clearly in in chapter 15. but what most people don't pick up on is a more profound question for all of us and that is what about messian the messianic kingdom one of the things that lurks behind this whole discussion if a gentile does not have to become a jew to be saved what's the become of israel and that was a hard adjustment for the jewish believer to relate to because he's got a divinely appointed religion with defiantly appointed word with divinely appointed priests administering is that all for nothing is that all to be passed over i mean they have a tough time dealing with that and so the rest to raise israel going to be restored is the question is christ actually going to sit on a throne in jerusalem it may shock you to realize that there's probably not one church in 10 at least in america that believes that they all allegorize that rather than take it literally the idea that jesus is going to rule on the earth and rule the earth through israel i mean those are concepts well those old testament concepts no they're not we're going to get into some of that and is the church spiritual israel this is one of those heresies that is very prevalent the whole idea that the church somehow has replaced israel in god's reckoning here not at all the church and israel have different origins and different destinies and we need to really understand that if we're going to understand god's program so and these are vital issues not just then they're vital issues today the churches we go to many of them are really quite befuddled on their relationship with israel on the one hand and they're what they're aspiring to when the ma when the messiah comes on the other and so in fact in revelation 2 9 and revelation 3 9 jesus himself uses a pretty severe thing about those who say they are jews and or not and are of the synagogue of satan and false teachers will continue to be an issue even today and so we're going to be dealing with some tough stuff so we're going to call this the first apostolic council it was held in jerusalem about 52 a.d this is about 20 years after the ascension so the ascension's taken place we've had a couple of decades of fairly turbulent history going on here and now there's a lot of debate about whether this is really a governing body or not it's perhaps academic uh but clearly it is a body that they heard and came to some conclusions but there's a little bit debate behind the background because many they happen they end up agreeing with paul and so in that sense they're an apostolic counsel but it's my suspicion that if they hadn't agreed with paul it wouldn't have changed paul at all he would have gone on and done what he was set out to do so but i think we can easily recognize that the discussions we're going to have summarized here were pretty vigorous and and and central to their very being and so we'll get into that so let's take acts chapter 15 very key chapter the pivotal chapter in many respects in the book of acts and certain men which came down from judea taught the brethren and said except ye be circumcised after the manner of moses you cannot be saved this is a way of expression you don't mean just circumcised but that you become jewish in order to be able to accept the benefit of the jewish messiah that's their concept here when therefore paul and barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them they determined that paul and barnabas and certain order of them should go up to jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question so this turbulence is centered around antioch because that's been the center of of this gentile outreach and it had no small dissension no these arguments were vigorous and intensive and uh it's a you know it always amuses us when we're in israel and we see the israelis discuss something it always sounds like they're arguing and we discover that's just the style of the the uh that's there and it always sounds like they're disputing no that's just their intensity so when they are disputing let me tell you that turns the gain up a bit these are uh i like the very polite king james here they had no small dissension or disputation no this was intense stuff this was core stuff and so it was so serious that paul and barnabas and a group of others decide they'd go up to jerusalem to have it out over this issue this has got to be clarified so they're going up to unto the apostles and elders about this question okay and uh it's interesting that the leadership is acknowledged here both paul and barnabas are the representatives and titus will go along with him who's an uncircumcised greek and so and being brought on their way by the church they passed through finis and samaria declaring the conversion of the gentiles and they caused great joy unto all the brethren so it's a good thing they were excited about that in spite of the fact they obviously have some opposition here and when they were come to jerusalem they were received of the church and of the apostle and elders and they declared all things that god had done with them so understand we're getting a summary here but they went through all these the miracles and all the the the this responsive reaction of the gentiles that became believers and but there rose up certain of the sect of the pharisees which believed saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of moses notice these are pharisees that believe in the messiah these are pharisees which believe they're still pharisees in their outlook but they're believers but they jump to the conclusion which is natural for them saying that it was needful now to circumcise these new converts and to command them to keep the law of moses that was their understanding and this is part of the burden that paul and the others have is to explain to them that the law has been completed in that sense and the apostles and the elders came together for to consider of the matter and uh circumcision isn't is just idiomatically a symbol for the whole package and it's it's different today many of us are circumcised because we just happen they do that for hygiene in the hospital it's no longer uniquely a mark of the covenant with abraham obviously and when there had been much disputing peter rose up and said to them men and brethren you know you know how that a good while ago god made choice among us that the gentiles by my mouth should bear the word of the gospel and believe so of all people of course peter he's the one that was the that had the from acts chapter 10 that that whole business cornelius and so forth he and and so he says a good while ago that was actually 13 years before to give you a flavor of the time here then he continues and god which knoweth the hearts bear them witness giving them the holy ghost even as he did unto us and put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith now therefore why tempt you god to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear in other words it's so hard for us why are we putting this yoke on them he's arguing that's not needful and and i love the way he he peter is just being magnificent here he says we believe that through the grace of the lord jesus christ we shall be saved even as they pick up the inversion there that's a very clever rhetorical device that peter is indulging in here we believe that through the grace of the lord jesus christ we will be saved even as they in other words if we play our cards right we'll be as saved as they are so get the inversion there i think that's incredibly provocative and uh we should be saved as they and uh see one of the biggest arguments is implied here these gentiles were saved they weren't circumcised they weren't circumcised and this had been happening for years the gentiles were already saved why would they have to be circumcised see that's the reality that he's leaning on is the fade accompli here and uh and again this inversion fascinates we jews can be saved even as the gentiles are i love that and so peter here is magnificent and i want you to notice something we associate peter in the gospels he's always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time we always joke and say he's got foot and mouth disease peter always has a gift somehow of being talking when he should be listening and yet and here these these by the way are the last words that peter peter that are recorded in acts i think they're eloquent but i want you to notice how peter has changed since acts chapter 2. prior to acts chapter 2 peter is the guy that's bumbling fumbling saying the wrong thing at the wrong time from acts chapter 2 he is eloquent he is well organized you study his first sermon his second sermon in acts 3 you study peter you discover he's a changed person what's changed him the holy spirit he is spirit-filled and it's fascinating you can do an interesting study to study peter's communication skills prior to acts 2 and study his communication skills since acts 2 and you see a transformed human being and he's certainly filled with a spirit and so moving on to verse 12 then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to barnabas and paul declaring what miracles and wonders god had wrought among the gentiles by them and that was that was obviously very hard to refute here and notice how it stated here barnabas and paul why wasn't paul mentioned first he usually was because barnabas is better known to this group paul probably still had a cloud because he at one time attacked the church there's the so they're they're they're saying barnabas and paul these subtleties i think are are fascinating and relevant and after they had held their peace james answered saying men and brethren hearken unto me now here's the half-brother of jesus christ himself he appear appears to be the chairing this conference and he now having heard these discussions from peter and from paul and barnabas and so forth he's now going to talk and he's the brother of our lord jesus and there are four different james's so it's easy to get confused but clearly we know which james this is here and but here's something that surprised me and i think it's a way of underscoring what we're about to hear the scofield study bible which is certainly one of the most conservative in the in on the horizon says dispensationally this is the most important passage in the new testament wow that should get our attention because james is going to talk about something here that goes far beyond simply the issue of whether a gentile believer needs to be circumcised or not and so it he's going to outline the divine purpose of this age and for the beginning of the next and so let's pay real close attention here simeon hath declared how god at the first did visit the gentiles to take out of them a people for his name and to this agree the words of the prophets and uh the and and this the number of the by the way that this concept of the gentiles being called out paul has a special term he uses he calls it the fullness of the gentiles and he'll allude to that of course in romans chapter 11 several times and it's a don't confuse the fullness of the gentiles with the times of the times of the gentiles are the times of gentile dominion which started with nebuchadnezzar and finishes the antichrist the fullness of the gentiles is paul's term for the believing gentiles that are being called out supernaturally by god during this period to visit the gentiles take out a people for his name and so then he now what he's going to now quote is from amos chapter 9 verse 11 and 12. james is quoting that he says after this i will return and will build again the tabernacle of david which has fallen down and i will build again the ruins thereof and i will set it up for god to be speaking through amos chapter 9 when he says after this i will return that's a provocative phrase for god to use in order to return he must have left his place and indeed he did because he chose to become incarnate and enter his creation as our messiah but he says after this i will return and return from where he came and we'll build again the tabernacle of david which has fallen down and i will build again the ruins thereof and i will set it up and so he's quoting here amos chapter 9 verse 11 and 12. you want to make a note that in your in your notes and what james is doing he's answering the most pressing of the questions if a gentile does not have to come under the law what is the future of israel and he's nailing it here in a way that we need to understand many people say gee the kingdom and all that that's old testament stuff no james is quoting it here in acts 15 and applying it to our future we need to know that's part of what's coming here and the tabernacle of david is going to be rebuilt don't confuse that with the temple of solomon the temple of solomon was a priesthood place this is a palace of a king the tabernacle of david which has fallen down i will build again the ruins thereof and we'll set it up the tabernacle of david it's interesting to remember that in luke chapter 1 when gabriel visits mary to announce the birth of jesus he promises her that her child will sit on the throne of david that's a throne that did not exist during the roman period rome ran things around the world in those days no no this is something yet to be reestablished the throne of david and so this whole thing then underscores what we commonly call the davidic covenant and in isaiah 11 most of that chapter is in dealing with that jeremiah 23. it all goes back to second samuel uh 2 and luke chapter 1. the the uh the uh the the covenant that god makes with david and uh so the after this refers to the calling out of the gentiles after that god will return who jesus himself will return is the point this is all laying out what's coming in romans chapters 9 10 and 11 paul lays out the past the present and the future of israel nine is the past ten the present and a chapter eleven the future of israel and the church as we know it organizationally on the planet earth today in general is confused on this subject they have no real grasp of the future of israel in god's program and we have a briefing plan called the prodigal heirs which speaks of both the church and israel both prodigal in their way and it deals with these issues if you want to get into that but romans 11 25 israel will be blinded in part until the fullness of the gentiles become in that's paul's detailed instruction in romans 11 25. that means that there is a number that the fullest of gentiles nowhere do you find the numbers in the text but god is watching a counter and when that number is complete he's going to turn to the sun and say go get him and we have the harpazzo that's coming and we need to understand that and i think that's really fascinating because for me that concept really opened up an understanding that puzzled me during a lot much of my my scholastic life up to the bible because i was always puzzled if the the winning or losing was settled at the cross why is satan still at it if we have this assurance of victory because of christ on the cross why is satan so vigorously so vigorously trying to impede the progress of the gospel and one of the things i realized is that there is a prerequisite condition for the second coming of christ there's not a second there's not a prerequisite condition for the harpazzo the gathering of of the body of christ out of the world that can come at any moment it can happen before this hour is over it could happen there's no prerequisite condition required but for the second coming of christ we discover from hosea chapter 5 verse 15 is i will go and return to my place until they acknowledge their offense that's specific and uh and uh singular and that's the rejection of messiah and it's when israel acknowledges and petitions him to come back that he returns once i understood that i suddenly realized what satan's strategy apparently is because if he ca that's why he's so vigorously against believers especially jewish believers because in his mind that's his way he can impede the petition that will be a prerequisite to the king coming forward and so suddenly it became clear why satan is so vigorously anti-semitic in general and especially for the jewish believers it's also clear why he's trying to slow down that counter that's every time someone accepts christ that is a counter that gets incremented and suddenly i begin to understand what i think what i believe is his strategy and so the fullness of the gentiles that's the group of people that god in his foreknowledge has predestined to be in the church and and there are people uh it's possible that that last missing person is in our audience and if there's somebody out there that is on the threshold of accepting the lord jesus christ do it now because you might trigger that final number and we all can get out of here so and some people think i'm being facetious only in part i really think that that it's i think there is a number and i think we can also begin to realize that number is getting close to being full how do i know that because of romans 11 25 that israel is blinded in part until the fullness of the gentiles become in you know 10 20 years ago in this ministry we recognize that when when when when jewish believers migrate to israel they're advised by their friends to stay off lists and keep it a secret you can be a gentile in israel no problem you can be a jew in israel no problem but if you're a jewish believer you're singled out as an outcast and it used to be that you really had to operate somewhat underground i'm startled to discover now today as i understand it from those that are watching this there are over 350 messianic fellowships in israel it's now possible in israel if you're jewish to be a believer and not be as outcast as you were in the past there is a gradual softening of that there's a gradual awareness even under the rabbis that jesus is the messiah the funeral of itzhak kaduri a few years ago made history the most venerated ultra-orthodox in israel who admitted that the messiah that jesus was the messiah and that caused all kinds of ripples the point is that's beginning that that barrier is starting to break down and so that tells me that we're getting close to the end and in in something that we want to be very sensitive to and uh and of course in ephesians 3 if you're going to get into the study of these things ephesians chapter 3 talks about how the po the kingdom is postponed until the calling out of the church and that whole thing is a mystery that is something that was uniquely revealed to paul it was hidden in the old testament and ephesians 3 is your uh ground to do some research there if you will and then after this is the fullness of the gentiles and after this two things will happen the blindness is relief from israel and the return of jesus christ takes place and so that's on the horizon and that's exciting now that doesn't mean we should put our feet on the desk and say wow it's almost here no that's shortening the interval you have to improve your report card you can't add to your salvation jesus did the whole thing but if you're a believer in christ you're going to be raptured what happens next you're going to be at a place called the judgment seat of christ everybody there will be saved what will be measured is your fruit bearing and there's still a chance to improve your report card because every one of us are going to have a final exam what kind of fruit did we bear for our king and there's that's a whole study that i encourage you to take seriously because that's coming so the sooner the rapture comes praise god at the same time to the extent that the rapture may be closer than we think that should increase our urgency of what we do for our coming king and that's our that's where it leads now see the bible does not promise a conversion of the world at large quite the contrary only a remnant it's always just a remnant that are saved in the old world there were eight people that were saved on that uh noah and his three and his three sons and their four wives eight people that's really a remnant and if you study god's dealing throughout history it's always a remnant but a remnant and that's also going to be true of the world at large here and so the whole future role of israel is something you need to study you get in daniel 9 deals with that isaiah 63 is a dramatic description when jesus comes back he's going to be covered with the blood of his enemies and zechariah 12 and 14 deal with that obviously the whole summary of the program is in revelation chapter 12 and and of course isaiah 5 as i mentioned so you want to get into those passages and now if you understand god's word with respect to the future of israel that will keep you from some heresies that are widely present today one of those heresies is the kingdom now group the dominion theologists the reconstruct people who believe that it's the church's job to prepare the world for the second coming of christ that's utter nonsense no christ christ can deal with it his own and will his own way no that's not our agenda and you need to understand that and if you haven't read if you want to get into this i encourage you to read a book by hallens he called the road to holocaust it's a marvelous piece that gets right into these very issues like few people have remember the promise many people say well gee that's you're chuck you're talking about old testament kingdom stuff no the promise that gabriel gave mary in luke chapter one is that he her child would sit on the throne of david that is yet to happen it will happen and on we go so let's go on to verse 17. that the residue of men might seek after the lord and all the gentiles upon whom my name is called saith the lord who doeth all these things known unto god or all his works from the beginning of the world that's james wrapping up his quote from amos chapter 9 verse 11 and 12 and that the residue of men might seek after the lord and so on so then james starts to lay down the the decision of the council wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from among the gentiles are turned to god but we write unto them that they abstain from pollution of idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood some token gestures he's not talking about keeping the sabbath he's not talking about being circumcised he's not talking about them getting under the law of moses in the judicial sense but we have some concern we we want them to stay stay away from idols and from fornication which are clearly prohibited by god and from things strangled and from blood and so james is concluding that the gentile converts are not to be burdened with the yoke that israel has had to bear there's no reason for them to why because israel and the church are separate entities and the those issues are done away with with the completion the fulfillment the achievement of our messiah on that cross idolatry and fornication are are the two chief sins of the gentiles things strangled from blood are two things which would be particularly offensive to the jew so these are token gestures to show good faith so to speak the prohibition of eating blood anti-dated the law of moses by the way by almost 900 years that goes back to genesis 9. so those are more fundamental issues he's dealing with but notice what he's not including he's not talking about the sabbath he doesn't keep the sabbath day not talking about circumcision see he's not talking about the law of moses in that sense there is the allusion to blood and murder and that's a whole other discussion for moses of old time half in every city them that preach him being read in the synagogues every sabbath day and see this is a he's all this by james is ignoring one fundamental one fundamental fact and that is that the gentiles were already saved that was demonstrated so he's he's he's taking that for granted then pleased that the apostles and the elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to antioch with paul and barnabas namely judas surnamed barsabbas and silas chief men among the brethren so they've got a deputation put together they're going to go to antioch and and and and clear the air if you will and uh this this uh judas is not to be confused with judas the brother of james and so forth we don't know anything more about their background by the way silas of course is silvanus in the epistles uh he turns out to be paul's close companion on his second missionary missionary journey and so because barnabas and paul split up because of the mark thing so silas joins paul to be his partner and so forth and they wrote letters by them after this manner the apostles and the elders and the brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the gentiles in antioch and syria and society for as much as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your soul saying ye must be circumcised to keep the law to whom we gave no such commandment and the synagogue of satan term is the one that jesus uses in in revelation 2 for some of these things and circumcision here of course is of the heart and go far beyond the symbol of circumcision is commonly thought of and you may recall what jesus jesus really identifies these adversaries in john chapter 8. and uh sincerity's not enough they these enemies were also quite sincere now one of the questions that lurks here behind this whole study is is judaizing as we call it still or with us it absolutely is it's very interesting how many gentiles by studying their bible rediscover the the richness of the jewish festivals for example the seven feasts of moses in the in the old testament and when they discover that these things are not only commemorative historically they're prophetic looking ahead they get it it's wonderful stuff to study and get into that and and they get in love with re discovering our jewish roots in our faith but the minute you do that you'll discover that some of the jewish publishers will start drowning you with uh imploring you to okay now you've got to get under the law and try to now you know that you've grown that far you've got to start keeping the sabbath and so forth and they don't realize that many of the cr many gentile believers don't realize that observing the sabbath is a blessing of all kinds but keeping the sabbath as a duty under the law is trying to undo what christ did on the cross you're on very dangerous ground and that should be the way to get at that in your study is to study carefully the epistle to the galatians where paul hits that very very aggressively and uh no judaizers are still among us uh strangely enough and you want to be on your guard for that because you can inadvertently being trying to undo what christ did on the cross no he the law is done and we'll talk a little bit more about this as we go here james's letter continues it seemed good to us being assembled with one accord to send chosen men unto you with our beloved barnabas and paul men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our lord jesus christ we have sent therefore judas and silas who shall also tell you the same things by mouth for it seemed good to the holy ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things that you abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication from which if we keep your if you keep yourselves ye shall do well and fairly well good advice indeed so when they were dismissed they came to antioch and when they had gathered the multitude together they delivered the epistle which when they read it they rejoiced from the consolation indeed praise god and it's interesting rejoicing for several reasons not the least of which rejoicing a division within the church was avoided by this council praise god for that and judas and silas being prophets also themselves exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them and after they had tarried their space they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles notwithstanding it please silas to abide there still and paul also and barnabas continued in antioch teaching and preaching the word of the lord with many others also and some days after paul said to barnabas let us go again and visit our brethren every city where we have preached the word of lord and see how they do interesting he's going to double back and see how the churches they planted on the first missionary journey were flourishing and that's going to lead us to what we call the second missionary journey and time of course here is being summarized a substantial time amount of time goes by between these two verses 35 and because the 36 becomes what we like to call the second missionary journal journey and barnabas determined to take with them john whose certain name was mark but paul thought it not good to take him with who departed from them from pamphilia and went not with them to the work so paul is looking at marcus having betrayed them he's a quitter i don't want him with me that's sort of the attitude apparently and so john mark barnabas was his uncle so he of course sided with mark so the two of them go off but then paul picks up silas as his partner and they go on paul wouldn't give mark a second chance he will later on in his ministry but that's later on so the scripture says a brother offended is harder to be one than a strong city in proverbs 18. well that's sort of the mood here but aren't you glad that barnabas his uncle gave him another chance because he becomes the manuensis for peter to be his scribe and secretary to convert his aramaic to greek and so forth so he's uh he's uh he makes his mark for us all and the contention was so sharp between them that it's between barnabas and paul that they departed asunder one from another and so barnabas took mark and sailed unto cyprus paul chose silas and departed being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of god and they went through syria and cilicia confirming the churches and so barnabas now disappears from the record i'm sure he was fruitful but it's not it's not a part it's not part of the record here but now we're going to talk about strangely what some people call the invasion of europe and paul and his gang silas timothy and luke are the group that are together crossed the dardanelles and they changed the whole course of western civilization and they came to derby and lystra and behold a certain disciple was there named timotheus the son of a certain woman which was a jewish and believed but his father was agree and so the and back at lystra where remember paul had been stoned and as i say he may actually have been killed in the minds of some scholars and resurrected but anyway timothy from this time on will be closely associated with paul he almost becomes his understudy if you will and he's a convert from a previous visit probably he was 16 years old when he first accepted christ and his mother eunice was as well as her mother lois had instructed timothy in the scriptures from infancy we find out from paul's letters to timothy and his mother was jewish but his father was greek yet he was brought up in the scriptures and so uh two of paul's letters are addressed directly to timothy he calls him my own son in the flesh in the in the faith and so he's really his understudy if you will in six of paul's epistles timothy is joined in the salutation paul and timothy from so-and-so timothy was with paul on his second missionary journey as i mentioned and he will be at ephesus during the days of strife he'll be with him on his last journey to jerusalem and he'll be with them in his first imprisonment and he paul sent form in the loneliness of a second imprisonment and his son his child is comment in the in the fight is the way he's addressed and so let's continue here with uh acts 16. which was well reported by the brethren that were at lester and iconium him would paul have to go forth with him and took and circumcised him because of the jews which were in those quarters for they knew all that his father was agree so he gets timothy circumcised because it will help in the ministry titus who's not who will also join him is a gentile he doesn't have titus he doesn't see any need there's no constructive purpose there but he does do it to timothy so that he gets acceptance among his jewish friends iconium lister derby they were worshiped as god and stoned to death these were the galatians that paul deals with in his letter to the galatians it really helps to get that background as you read the epistle of galatians and so now he circumcised tim because not to offend the jewish prejudices and that wouldn't be he wouldn't do that if he was a gentile like titus and so okay and as they went through the cities they delivered from them decrees for to keep that were ordained of the apostles and the elders which were at jerusalem and so were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily now when they had gone throughout phrygia and the region of galatia and were forbidden of the holy ghost to preach the word in asia that's where they wanted to go and the holy spirit said nope now galatia would include iconium lystra and derby in this province the proscribed reason asia incidentally is where the seven churches of revelation are located that'll come later but they're forbidden at this time to go there and after they come to mazia they assayed to go into bithynia but the spirit suffered them not notice here the holy spirit is constraining them and closing doors there are places that the holy spirit doesn't want them to go at least not this time bithynia that's the southeast shore of the sea of memora the south shore of the black sea if you will and and they passing by mazda came down to troas now that's on the coast and a vision appeared to paul in the night there stood a man of macedonia that's across the ocean in greece macedonia and prayed him saying come over into macedonia and help us there are many people that believe that the man in the vision was was uh luke because when they cross over luke's start using he uses the word we he's part of the group and we pick up on that and that gives us the inference we may be wrong the inference that maybe it was luke that was in that vision if you will because this man in the vision says paul come on over to macedonia and so alexandria trojans is on the coast of mazia 30 miles south of the dardanelles and macedonia is across the dardanelles in greece it's what we would call europe if you will the dardanelles is the classic dividing line between asia that is the province of asia in the in the roman sense and what we call europe and after seeing the vision immediately we endeavored notice the we is the first place the week comes up we endeavor to go to macedonia assuredly gathering that the lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them and so this is this is where we get the we passage this is where we believe it appears that luke joins them and this is the first place in acts where the writer includes himself in the picture and so that raises the question was luke the man in the vision and i suspect he was therefore loosing from troas we came with a straight course to samuthracia and the next day to neapolis and south richard is the highest elevation of the northern eastern islands midway between troas and philippi and theopolis is the harbor of philippi it's the harbor there 10 miles inland favorable wind two days later it took it took them two days uh later it took five days so it's a it's non-trivial and from thence to philippi which is the chief city of that part of macedonia and a colony and we were in that city abiding certain days and it's interesting how paul seems to always focus on strategic centers and uh he he it's a smart strategy now he arrives about 20 years after the foundation of the church in jerusalem give you some feeling for here now philippi is the saint was the scene of the decisive battle of the roman republic you may recall that when brutus and cassius the murderers of julius caesar are defeated by the combined forces of mark anthony and octavian who later becomes emperor augustus and so because they they they have because of their assistance octavian then grants roman citizenship to these philippians when he became emperor so philippi has been favored by that incident in history here they're the first of the district the city of macedonia a colony amphipolis had been the had been the chief city and it's still a rival to some extent but philippi is a very very favored roman center and it's interesting when you realize how proud they are of their citizenship it adds a certain flavor when you notice paul's ellipsis when he writes a letter to the philippians he says our citizenship is in heaven so there's a contrast if you will with the pride that they have in being a thing let's talk a little bit about guidance you know you got to stand back and realize paul must have really been puzzled he wants to go someplace and the door closes he wants to go simply he he was quarreling with barnabas so they parted from him he wanted to preach the gospel so he passed through syria and celestia and then came to derby and lister where he met timothy he wanted to go on to pro-consular asia but he could not do it he was sick he was ill and infirmity of the flesh came upon him and he could not go and it was necessary that he should take another direction and he went to galatia and preached there then he turned back again there was no reason that he could understand it is a picture of cross currents of difficulty perplexity and darkness see we're seeing the summary by luke after the fact with hindsight let's understand that what might have been paul's mind as he faces this turbulence where he it's confusing then he felt the lure of bithynia he would go there no he must go west and so he went perplexed and then he came to the vision of the man of macedonia and we talked it over with luke in later days luke would write the story with the advantage of hindsight so we're seeing a summary after the fact if you will and uh so the spirit verbatim from preaching in asia the spirit of jesus drove him ever and ever on to troas and the guidance of the holy spirit is validated by the results that it occurred philippi thessalonika maria athens and corinth are are the results of this leading and so the gods of spirit was subsequently recognized by these men not always by flaming visions not by words articulate in human ears but how how does the holy spirit guide them by circumstances in part by commonplace things by difficult things by dark things by disappointing things these are often the instruments god will use to provide the guidance and the ma the man the spirit will guide is the man who is in an attitude in which it's possible for the spirit to guide him an attitude of life of loyalty to the lord of faith in the guidance of the spirit and constant watchfulness it is the watcher for the lord who sees the lord and that's our challenge that's our challenge let's move on to verse 13. and on the sabbath he went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was want to be made and we sat down as the we again we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither no men they're women here which means it's not a jewish minion takes ten men to make a minion ten adult male jews jews are needed to make a synagogue or a minion as they call it otherwise they usually met near a body of water for prayer fellowship worship ritual washings and so forth it seems that there was a woman's prayer group that the gospel it was through that that a gospel entered europe the gospel entered europe through a women's prayer group and a certain woman named lydia she's a sales rep a certain woman named lydia a seller of purple of the city of thyatira which worshiped god heard us whose heart the lord opened and she attended unto the things which were spoken of by paul and so the thyatira was known was celebrated for a kind of dye that was made from murex a shellfish it's even referred to by homer by the way and so in uh we have inscriptions in the gil of a guild of dyers that have been found at thyatira and thyrotar is one of the cities that paul had to omit on his way to troas if you will when she was baptized in her and her household she besought us saying if we have if ye have judged me to be faithful to the lord come into my house and abide there and she constrained us and you know that constrained the word constrained to the same word that was used at the mass road when they wanted to stay for dinner that night and it came to pass as we went to prayer a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us which brought her masters much gain by saying wow by divination okay a spirit or a python in greek mythology python was a serpent destroyed by apollo who was once who hence called pythius a priestess at the famous temple of delphi was called a pythonist if you will the term python became equivalent to a soothsaying demon in our in today's vernacular it's equivalent to the term channel in the new age your channeler and so forth and uh so it's interesting that she was she became a polish channel and see there's nothing new about the new age this is this this is the term we would use the term channel here and so forth the same followed paul and us and cried saying these men are the servants of the most high god which show unto us the way of salvation notice here is a prophetess pagan that is endorsing what paul is doing and paul does not welcome that and we need to be sensitive to that and so the occult is always motivated by its own self-interest so the fact that the occult says something is true doesn't make it good it makes us dangerous even truth is used to suck them in if you will and soon it'll be mixed up with error and so on and uh in each previous occasion of both mark and luke jesus commanded the acknowledgement acknowledging demon to silence and that's happened before and this did she many days but paul being grieved turned and said to the spirit i command thee in the name of jesus christ to come out of her and he came out the same hour and the word grieved there by the way really means annoyed or deeply troubled is really the term and so he he calls the demon the task here and see if infiltration doesn't work then direct depression will occur outright violence demonstrates that one of the enemy's strongholds was being attacked actually and so i want you to note is that her statements were true the occult is always motivated by its own self-interests and in this case it was her owner's monetary gain so even more insidious is that the occult is an arm an agency an organization which is under satan's command the damage here is take taking a bit of truth and slowly turning off course we need to be really alert to that by the way because the occult is going to be taking strange shapes on our horizon you're going to be hearing more and more about the transcendent man you're going to hear more and more about how technologies the technologies and genetics the technologies in robotics and artificial intelligence and nanotechnology are combining to give us the power to alter mankind to make people who are not only repaired with limits lost but stronger than before and to be connecting their consciousness to super computers and so forth these things will be very appealing to the secular mind very very dangerous in terms of their supernatural implications because those channels that get opened are two-way channels and the idea of the occult moving into our lives through very advanced technologies misapplied is going to be increasingly a hazard on our horizon as we go forward let's move on here verse 19 and when our master saw that the hope of their gains was gone they caught paul and silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers and brought them to the magistrate saying these men being jews do exceedingly trouble our city and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive neither to observe being romans and the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them this is a big mistake as you'll see for some reason they haven't done their homework here and the electors who attend the praters are carried rods or staves for the purpose and are called rod bearers if you will and when they had laid many stripes upon them they cast them into prison charging the jailer to keep them safely who having received such a charge thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks now they're in for a surprise because what they don't realize that these guys that included paul and paul was a roman citizen and that's going to terrorize them when they discover what that really means we'll move on here and at midnight paul and silas prayed and sang praises unto god and the prisoners heard them and notice by the way the terms here for adoration and worship they're not praying deliver your servants from all this no no they're just adoring the lord and you find that in obviously a number of the psalms and so forth that they're singing they're celebrating if you will and it was a concert that was so successful it brought the house down because see the other prisoners were attentively listening it says the other prisons were attentively listening and see suffering is part of the program that that paul will highlight to this letter to the philippians later and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were loosed now that's terrific for them it's a terror to the prisoner for reasons you may not be aware of and the keeper of the prison awakening out of his sleep and seeing that the prison doors were open he drew out his sword and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners had been fled what you need to understand is how they operated in their penal system in those days if you were convicted of a crime you were issued what was called a certificate of debt and that would bear a requirement that you own society so many years imprisonment or whatever and as you uh served your sentence that would be kept up to date when you served your sentence they would take that and sign it paid in full and and give it to you as your proof that you'd paid your debt to society that's where we get that phrase now if somehow you were sentenced to five years in prison and after two years you escaped the three years that you hadn't served become the burden of the prisoner of the the prison master that got the keeper of the prison so he would have to serve your missing debt so this guy here presuming that with his doors open and all these guys fled he was over he was literally ready to commit suicide because of of the results of their absence if they had left and of course you need to get that that tension there because it's crucial now the certificate of debt of course see the prison guards are responsible for the sentences of their of their prisoners and so now when you finished your time the court would issue the certificate of debt and it would sign it paid in full the term of the greek is telesty and the last words of our lord on the cross among the last words for the cross he says tetelestai. which is translated it is finished in your english translation the greek term there could just as equally been translated paid in full and paul was going to make reference to that in his letter to the colossians how you and i have our debt a certificate of debt nailed to the cross is the way he puts it paid it paid in full and uh so this guy was going to kill himself because he thought that all the prisoners were gone and he would thus have to fulfill all their sentences let's realize that jesus has already paid ours our certificate of debt is written painful to telesty verse 28 and paul cried with a loud voice saying do thyself no harm we're all here then he called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before paul and silas and brought them out saying sirs what must i do to be saved good question good question can you answer that question crucial for all of us it's interesting the stocks became their throne and the jailer lies supplement at their feet very interesting inversion going on here and he says sirs or lords the jailer is made the first convert in philippi he's the first in europe and some people somewhere was he the macedonian in the vision that's another speculation by some his household is saved when they believed they're not saved because he was they were saved because they also believed as he did let's not get that confused they said what do i have to be saved and they said believe in the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house and they spake unto him the word of the lord and to all that were in his house and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized he and all his straight way and so and when he had brought them into his house he set meat before them and rejoiced believing in god with all his house and when it was day the magistrates sent the sergeants saying let these men go and the keeper of the prison told us saying to paul the magistrates have sent to let you go now go and therefore depart and go in peace and i love paul he says not so fast buddy [Laughter] paul said to them they have beaten us openly uncondemned being romans and have cast us into prison and now they thrust us out privately nay verily but let them come themselves and fetch us out i love this paul realizes they're the ones that are as we might say in deep yogurt here because they didn't realize these are roman citizens and it was not lawful for them to go unaccused and untried into a prison and and and so forth they they had the protection of roman law and the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates and they feared when they heard that they were romans that carried weight there and so see roman citizens are entitled to a trial and should never have been beaten or imprisoned without due process imprisoning romans without due process exposed them all to jail or worse so the magistrates that are in career they got they got a career problem here and they came and besought them and brought them out and desired them to depart out of the city and they went out of the prison and they entered into the house of lydia and when they had seen the brethren they comforted him and departed and it's interesting it says that brethren other prisoners maybe who are listening in in the maybe they're the results of the women witnessing who knows and so in the letter to the philippians which is written from paul's roman prison later of course is full of triumph encouragement so it's very interesting to realize paul is in prison in rome and he writes what are called the prison epistles and one of them of course is the letter to the philippians where he's encouraged he's the one in prison but he's the one encouraging them i love the inversions that go here and they're easily lost if you don't pay attention to the context here and see paul left luke behind here he rejoins paul in the 20th chapter of acts and we get these inferences from the use of pronouns but it doesn't and because it doesn't show up in the english incidentally one of the questions we draw from just standing back from all this how does god guide you you have to realize in in the real life you've got to imagine that paul must have been perplexed trying to go left and right and always getting checked if you will so what's the problem how do you understand doctrine well one of the solutions is unanimous agreement that's what the result of the council of jerusalem okay no sense of direction what's the result what's what's the what's the solution persistent obedience just persistent obedience relationships with others what's the concern responsible concern responsible concern what about irreconcilable differences cordial separation cordial separation okay customs rituals what's your what's the problem solution is important principles decide what the principles are and stick with them what directions to take part of it is a sense of peace god will give you a sense of peace when you're on his path and how precious that is there's no peace like knowing you're right where god wants you to be it's pretty precious you got a major change of some kind a vision or call should be clear otherwise you'll bloom where you're planted well that is that sets us up for the next session again we'll tackle two chapters chapters 17 and 18. and with that let's stand for a closing word of prayer

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Length: 64min 19sec (3859 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020