GOSPEL MEDITATION # 46

The Jerusalem Council, part two

Acts 15:12-21

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer

4     Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.

5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Peter recounts the Holy Spirit being given to Cornelius,

a Gentile, who was saved in the same manner they were.

8. Silence came upon the church at Jerusalem. Then Paul

and Barnabas speak of the conversion of Gentiles also.

9. James, the half brother of Jesus, who has risen to a place

of authority in the Jerusalem Church, makes a statement.

10. James, referencing Peter (Simeon), admits that God has

visited the Gentiles, a truly revolutionary understanding.

11. James quotes Amos 9:11-12 which talks about “Gentiles

who are called by my name.” The prophet Amos points to

the inclusion of Gentiles into the family of God.

12. James then makes a judgment, based apparently on what the

church is coming to acknowledge, that Gentiles will be

welcomed in, but with certain considerations to be met.

13. Gentiles are not to be troubled but a letter should be written

that outlines four things they should abstain from: one, things

polluted by idols; two, sexual immorality; three, what has been

strangled; four, blood.

14. His reasoning is that from ancient times Moses, the Law of

Moses, is read every Sabbath in synagogues.

15. Commentators think the reason for this is that Jews and Gentiles

might then be able to have fellowship together and there not be a

separate “branch” of Christianity.

16. The meanings of the four items mentioned by James are not

easily interpreted or understood.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 45

The Jerusalem Council, part one

Acts 15:1-11

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer

4     Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.

5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. The apostle/missionaries return to their home base, the church at Antioch of Syria.
8. “Some men from Judea” arrive from the Jerusalem church—these are Jewish Christians, sometimes known as Judaizers, who are convinced Gentiles must conform to the laws of Moses, beginning with circumcision, in order to receive salvation.
9. Notice Paul and Barnabas had ”no small dissension and debate” with them. All was not peaceful and wonderful in the early church, and nothing has changed since then.
10. Paul and Barnabas, along with others, are commissioned to go to Jerusalem to settle the issue.
11. The two travelled south toward Jerusalem and visited “brothers” in Phoenicia and Samaria indicating churches were already established in those areas by AD 49.
12. In Jerusalem, the “apostles and elders” welcomed them; Paul and Barnabas then described their missionary tour and the conversion of Gentiles.
13. The “party of the Pharisees” interjected that these Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.
14. The leaders of the Jerusalem church then convened to consider the matter. Peter spoke about his being called to Gentiles (Cornelius) and present the Gospel to him and other Gentiles. Peter also witnessed the working of the Holy Spirit coming upon those Gentiles.
15. Peter sees no reason to place the yoke of the law upon them.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 44

Acts 14:8-23

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra & Paul Stoned at Lystra

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. From Iconium the missionaries travel some 90 miles to Lystra, a city in the province of Galatia.
7. A man who had never walked is healed; Paul somehow saw, or realized he had been healed, was being healed, or would be healed. Paul asked the man to stand. He did and the viewers were shocked and impressed. They thought the gods had visited them, Zeus and Hermes. (Roman Jupiter & Mercury.)
8. The citizens of Lystra though it right to honor these gods who had become men. The priests sought to offer sacrifices.
9. Paul & Barnabas, likely at first misunderstanding the Lycaonian (Latin) language, rushed to halt the process.
10. Paul uses the event as an opportunity to preach. This Graeco-Roman audience is not prepared to hear of the great O.T. themes so Paul speaks about General Grace or God’s care of humans by way of the natural order. He does the same at Athens and speaks of it in Romans 1:18-23.
11. “Walk in their own ways” (verse 16) and “overlooked” in Acts 17:30 is in sharp distinction with Romans 1:18-23)—or so it would seem. The answer to this lies in the mystery of God.
12. Those who would repress the preaching of Jesus arrived from Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium. Paul is then “stoned” and whether to death or not is not known. Paul refers to this in 2 Corinthians 11:25—“Once I was stoned.”
13. Back the apostles go through the cities where they had preached the Gospel. Very courageous journey indeed!
14. In the very young churches they appointed elders to care for the congregants. Thus an historical precedent is set.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 43

Acts 14:1-7

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Rather than retreat after their experience at Antioch of Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas head 90 miles east to Iconium.
7. Again they visit a synagogue and proclaim Jesus; many Jews and Greeks believe.
8. As usual there is opposition, underscoring the reality that what one believes and identifies with will not go unchallenged.
9. Luke does not detail what the persecutors did exactly, but he does report that the “minds” of the Gentiles were “poisoned.” Luke, the physician, uses a word that describes a very potent, even dangerous influence.
10. Then Luke says, “So they remained for a long time” when it would be expected Paul and Barnabas might go elsewhere.
11. “Speaking boldly”—courageous at minimum and driven by love for those lost without a Savior. Their main theme was the “word of his grace.”
12. The “granting” of “signs and wonders”—“by their hands”— we wish we had more information. Were these healings? Were hands laid on? Luke assumes the reader understands.
13. Division was developing, some sided with the apostles while others were against them. Things have not changed from that day to this, which creates a tension, at minimum, for those who preach the Gospel message.
14. Once the political rulers become involved, the way is clear for the mistreatment of the apostles. Indeed it is now possible to stone them to death.
15. Paul and Barnabas hear of the plot against them and escape.
16. They travel south to Lystra, then east to Derbe. As they go they continue to preach the Gospel throughout the region.