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November 27 - Acts 15 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it's a Wednesday.
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  It's the 27th of November and I am delighted to share this
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  moment with you today. I hope you're going well.
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  I hope that the end of the year is treating you kindly, that you
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  were getting a little bit of a moment to reflect on the
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  glorious, glorious time ahead as we celebrate the birth of Jesus
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  to come. But that's a little while off
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  yet. There still seems like a lot of
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  life to be live between between then and now, right?
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  And as we are reading through the book of Acts, we are now
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  coming into a really interesting part of the story where it seems
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  like there is a lot of focus on the church spreading into
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  Gentile territory and it not just being a religion for
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  converted Jews, but for Gentiles as well.
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  And if you cast your mind right back to chapter 1 to the
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  beginning of the book, you'll remember that Luke was writing
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  to his friend Theophilus. And Theophilus was certainly not
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  Jewish. He was a Gentile.
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  And so if you think this book is being written to a Gentile
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  believer, and one of Luke's goals in writing this book is to
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  make sure that his audience really understands that this
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  Church of Jesus is not just a Jewish movement, but it is for
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  everyone, particularly for his friend Theophilus and everyone
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  like him who is not Jewish. And well, that's me.
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  And I'm assuming that's a lot of you as well.
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  So this book is written to us to say that God's church that began
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  in that part of the world is certainly not an exclusive one
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  for anyone, people, group and everyone.
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  Everyone is welcome at God's table.
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  All we need to do is have faith in what Jesus has done for us.
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  So this is a blowing open wide of this Church of God's people
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  so that everyone can participate.
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  So let us hear the story about them going back to head office
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  in Jerusalem and saying things are changing, get on board and
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  how they manage that together. As we read together Acts chapter
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  15, while Paul and Barnabas were at
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  Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach
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  the believers. Unless you were circumcised, as
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  required by the Law of Moses, you cannot be saved.
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  Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently.
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  Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to
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  Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the
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  apostles and elders about this question.
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  The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped
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  along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers.
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  They told them, much to everyone's joy, that the
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  Gentiles too were being converted.
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  When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed
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  by the whole church, including the apostles and elders.
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  They reported everything God had done through them.
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  But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the
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  Pharisees stood up and insisted that Gentile converts must be
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  circumcised and required to follow the Law of Moses.
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  So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.
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  At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and
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  addressed them as follows. Brothers, you all know that God
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  chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the
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  Gentiles so that they could hear the good news and believe.
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  God knows people's hearts, and He confirmed that He accepts
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  Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us.
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  He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed
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  their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging
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  God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that
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  neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?
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  We believe that we are all saved the same way by the undeserved
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  grace of the Lord Jesus. Everyone listened quietly as
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  Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God
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  had done through them among the Gentiles.
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  When they had finished, James stood and said, Brothers, listen
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  to me. Peter has told you about the
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  time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a
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  people for himself. And this conversation of
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  Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted as it is
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  written afterward, I will return and restore the fallen House of
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  David. I will rebuild its ruins and
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  restore it so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord,
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  including the Gentiles, all those I have called to be mine.
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  The Lord has spoken, He who made these things known so long ago.
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  And so my judgement is that we should not make it difficult for
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  the Gentiles who are turning to God.
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  Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating
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  food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating
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  the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.
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  For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish
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  synagogues in every city, on every Sabbath for many
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  generations. Then the apostles and elders,
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  together with the whole church in Jerusalem, chose delegates
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  and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to
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  report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the
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  church leaders, Judas, also known as Barsabbas and Silas.
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  This is the letter they took with them.
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  This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in
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  Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile
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  believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.
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  Greetings. We understand that some men from
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  here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we
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  did not send them. So we decided, having come to
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  complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along
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  with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their
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  lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided
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  concerning your question, for it seemed good to the Holy Spirit
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  and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few
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  requirements. You must abstain from eating
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  food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of
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  strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.
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  If you do this, you will do well.
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  Farewell. The messengers went at once to
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  Antioch, where they called the general meeting of the believers
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  and delivered the letter. And there was great joy
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  throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging
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  message. Then Judas and Silas, both being
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  prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and
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  strengthening their faith. They stayed for a while, and
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  then the believers sent them back to the church in Jerusalem
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  with the blessing of peace. Paul and Barnabas stayed in
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  Antioch. They and many others taught and
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  preached the word of the Lord there.
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  After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, Let's go back and
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  visit each city where we previously preached the word of
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  the Lord, and see how the new believers are doing.
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  Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark, but Paul
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  disagreed strongly. Since John Mark had deserted
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  them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their
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  work, their disagreement was so sharp that they separated
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  Barnabas, took John Mark with him, and sailed the Cypress.
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  Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted
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  him to the Lord's gracious care. Then he travelled throughout
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  Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.
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  Ah Jesus, you know only too well
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  the trap that we often fall into.
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  That thinking that the old rules still apply.
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  That thinking that it's up to us to do better and to do more and
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  to try harder. And that through this effort of
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  ours, we will impress you enough for your saving grace to be
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  lavished on us. But Lord, let that lie never
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  take root in our heart, because it's not following all the rules
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  that gains your favour. No, it is Your love, Your love
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  that is so hard for us to get our heads around that You just
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  choose to lavish on us. It is Your grace, completely
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  undeserved but given freely to us, that makes us acceptable in
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  Your sight. My Lord, I pray that we would
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  not feel that we are more special than anyone else because
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  we have this love, but that we would live out this love and
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  share it with those around us so that everyone can get a taste of
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  your incredible, undeserved grace.
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  Thank you that you give this to us and Lord, continue to
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  transform our hearts so that Your grace can flow through us
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  into this broken world that so desperately needs not only to
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  know You, but to feel your love. So Lord, be with us.
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  Continue your work in US as we live in gratitude to you for all
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  you've done for us. And we pray this in your
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  incredible name, Amen.