Tag Archives: Acts of the Apostles

Oct 16 2012

Acts 15 – The Jerusalem Council

Despite Peter’s vision, and the fact that the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles in chapter 10, the acceptance of Gentiles in the church was still meeting resistance. In Acts 6:7, we are told of a significant number of priests that believed and were added to the church.  Many of these would be of the Pharisaic party referred to in verse 5.  There were people being taught that all had to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses, causing Christianity to be looked upon as a sect of Judaism (and to some, a sect that had gone very wrong).  The time had come to deal with this issue once and for all.

Paul had been given his revelation on the matter, as the Lord had told Ananias in Acts 9:15 that “he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles…”  He and Barnabas and others were appointed to go to Jerusalem to speak to the apostles and elders about the matter.  In verse 3, we have them passing through Phoenicia and Samaria, bringing great joy as they describe the conversion of the Gentiles.

Peter spoke to the council in verses 7-11, reminding them of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Then Paul and Barnabas related the signs and wonders God had done through them on their journey.  James, the Lord’s brother, then affirms by quoting Amos 9:11-12 in verses 16-18.  The apostles then chose men to go with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, and sent a letter with them, affirming with one accord that the Gentiles were not to be burdened with the requirements that the circumcision party was trying to impose.  The stipulations referred to in verses 20 and 29 were to make clear that they were to abstain from behavior that would make them  appear to the world as the idol-worshipers that were so common (sexual immorality was a predominant theme in idol worship).

Pamphylia hill country, Turkey, a small Roman province in southern Asia Minor during Paul’s time. Paul preached here on his First Missionary Journey. Later, John Mark left Paul and Barnabas and went home.

Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch (of Syria) preaching for a while, then prepared to re-visit the cities where they had been.  Verse 39 describes “a sharp disagreement” between the two.  Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them.  But verse 38 says that “Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.”  Separating, Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus, and Paul took Silas and went through Syria and Cilicia.  The Scripture does not elaborate on this, but it has been pointed out that the disagreement had the end result of making their efforts doubly fruitful.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 7 2012

Paul and Barnabas Week \ Week 39 summary posted

Derbe is southeast of Lystra some thirty miles, in modern Turkey. In the Lycaonian District, this town was at the extreme edge of cities considered “Galatian”. The town was small, but the work of Paul and Barnabas yielded a number of followers. Among them, Gaius was converted and much later joined Paul’s team on the Third Missionary Journey.

Last week, in just five chapters of the book of Acts, we saw so much growth and movement in the Lord’s church.  Now things are starting to happen quickly; and this week will be no different.  By the time we end chapter 11, more than a decade will have passed since Saul was converted.  We’ll see more integration of Gentiles into Christianity –  Apostles arrested, stoned and even killed.  Then we will end the week with what will come to be known as the Jerusalem conference.

Summing Up

Each weekend, I am now posting a small PDF of one week of chapter summaries (on the website’s “Summaries” page), current to the beginning of the previous week.  I have posted the summary for Week 39 September Week 4) of the schedule I am following.  This short PDF document contains condensed comments about Matthew 27, 28, John 20, 21, and Luke 24, with hyperlinks to the ESV version of each chapter for listening or reading, and joins the summaries for other weeks already posted there.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
image © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Oct 5 2012

Acts 10 – Peter’s Vision

The book of Acts just continues to present us with such momentous occasions; and chapter 10 is clearly one of special significance.  Cornelius of Caesarea was a Gentile soldier of an Italian cohort.  a cohort could consist of from 600 – 1000 men, with 6 centurions in charge.  A centurion was paid anywhere from 5 to as much as 20 times as much as the average Roman soldier, so Cornelius was likely considered wealthy.  Identified in several verses as a God-fearer, he would have been attached to a synagogue and a believer in God, but not circumcised.  An angel came to him in a vision telling him to have Peter brought to him, as well as where to find him.

Joppa, today called Jaffa, was once the seaport for Jerusalem. Hiram sent cedar logs from Lebanon to King Solomon for the Temple, floating them to Joppa (2 Chronicles 2:15). From Joppa the prophet Jonah ran away from God ( Book of Jonah), sailing from there toward Tarshish. Here Peter raised Tabitha, or Dorcas, from the dead (Acts 9:36-42). Later he was staying here at the house of Simon the Tanner when he saw a vision of unclean animals, which led him to visit Cornelius’ house in Caesarea and win him to Christ. This is the traditional site of the home of Simon the Tanner.

Meanwhile, on the housetop at the home of  Simon the tanner, Peter had a vision of his own (verses 9-16) that was perplexing to him at first.  The vision occurred three times of all sorts of animals descending from heaven that he was commanded to eat – some of whom were unclean by Jewish law.  Peter argued at first, but the voice said to him “What God has made clean, do not call common.”  Peter would come to understand that this landmark vision was not referring just to animals and food, but also to men.  While he was still sorting through this, the Spirit told him about Cornelius’s men who were now at his gate – that he was to go with them.

Being led by the Spirit, Peter judiciously took some of the brothers with them for witnesses of what was to occur.  When they arrived from Joppa into Caesarea, Cornelius had gathered his friends and family and fell at Peter’s feet.  Whatever was in Cornelius’ heart, Peter knew it was wrong to allow that sort of worship, and rebuked him in verse 26.  In verses 28-29, Peter acknowledges that under Jewish tradition, coming to the house of a Gentile (let alone, eating with them) would make one ceremonially unclean, but says that God has told him that he “should not call any person common or unclean.”  So, he asks why Cornelius has sent for him.

When Peter visited the Roman centurion Cornelius, this important soldier fell at Peter’s feet.

So Cornelius tells him of his vision and that all present were commanded to hear what Peter has to say.  With that, Peter preaches to them about Jesus and forgiveness of sins through His name.  It was then that the Holy Spirit fell upon all present.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit had previously been done directly from God to only the apostles, with it given to others only through the apostles laying on hands.  But now, to the amazement of all circumcised believers who had come with Peter (verse 45), this second baptism was being poured out even to Gentiles.

Peter, acknowledging the gift that was given to them, then commanded that they be baptized with water as well.  Peter’s perspective had changed forever concerning non-Jews.  Now the Lord’s Kingdom would grow even faster!  But this new perspective would not come without some resistance to change.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.