Acts 14:24 – 15:4 Bible Teaching

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Okay we left off talking about the actions Paul, an apostle of the Lord took (with Barnabas and others) in helping set up the church in places where people accepted the Good News.

Let’s read from verse 23 (again) and on out to the end of the chapter.

Acts 14.24-15.1-4
December 11th 2016
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23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
24 And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
25 And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:
26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
28 And there they abode long time with the disciples.

Back to verse 23 for just a moment where it says:

“And when they had ordained them elders in every church, (which we covered) and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

The idea of prayer and fasting is an old one dating all the way back to the Old Testament. It was certainly practiced by Jesus – and commended by Him and it was practiced and commended by the apostles.

In the Old Testament the only fast required by the law of Moses was on the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32) and in the new testament this is fast is referred to as “the fast” Ac 27:9

The only other mention of a periodical fast in the Old Testament is found in Zechariah 7:1-7 and 8:19 from which it appears that during their captivity the Jews observed four annual fasts and most of them were in memory of some tragedy that befell them as a Nation.

Also some national public fasts (on account of sin or to supplicate divine favour) were sometimes held and are mentioned in 1st Samuel 7:6, 2 Chronicles 20:3, Jeremiah 36:6-10, and Nehemiah 9:1.

Old Testament scripture also mentions local fasts and then of course private personal occasions for fasting.

The most noteworthy Old Testament fast was Moses for forty days but this was also done by Elijah and then by the Lord, of course, who interestingly enough had both Moses and Elijah appear to Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.

It is humanly impossible to fast from water for forty days and so from this we have to decide that the OT description of Moses fasting (without food or water) was either a miracle or meant something different that we do not understand from the passage contents.

Most commentators suggest that being in the presence of God He was sustained by the Spirit and therefore no other support was required and this makes some good sense since God is the giver of life and if you are in his presence all life is sustained in and through Him.

The problem with such extremes is they have to be understood or they can lead to all manner of misinterpretation and lead to what we might see as “bad fasting.”

Aside from trying to go this long without water we get other insights into what we might call “bad fasting” through the Old Testament narrative.

For example in Isaiah 58 beginning at verse 1 we read where God says:

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. (Here God admits that his people are wayward then He says describing them)
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
3 “Wherefore have we fasted,” say they, “and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” (And here God says) Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors.
(What he says here is on the days when the fasts are called for, known as Holy-days, the nation was getting together and feasting in one way or another, and they extremes they served themselves was they even made their servants labor on these holidays.)
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
(in other words there was no humility among them, just appearances, and fighting and debating and the fast did nothing to lesson their sinfulness – which was part of its purpose. God goes on at verse 5 and says:)
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

This was the intent of the fasts- to afflict their souls (as Ezra says) and to drop themselves to the dust in sackcloth and ashes (as Leviticus says). We would suggest that it is to help die to the flesh and tune more in to the Spirit. But this was not the sole reason as God continues through Isaiah and says:

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness (That means to help the flesh die and the Spirit reign), to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

The idea from this is when the body is lacking nourishment it is weakened, and more attuned to God (who is spirit) we, lacking physical strength, ought to let our burdens go – drop them and then also let others (who are oppressed) free as a means to break every yoke.

Imagine the sight – there is a man who is laying on his couch fasting, trying to unburden himself from the flesh and cares of the world but all the while he is driving his slaves hard to serve Him. This seems to be the point.

And then get this – the LDS do this next part right as God says regarding His fast:

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

In other words, when you choose to abstain from food, as a means to unburden your cares, use the food you would have eaten to nourish and bless the lives of others who have less.

In this we discover that there is an application of fasting to the individual, then one to those who are associated with the individual (in those days, slaves) and then to the poor around the individual – so that in the fasters lack those lacking have abundance.

It’s all laid out right there.

But like all practices men undertake to please God fasts and fastings cannot become institutionalized. When they do the meaning is frequently lost through rote application and observance.

In time the Nation of Israel began to do most things without the heart of it being present. They performed, but God does NOT just want performance for performance sake. He wants people to fast so they can draw closer to the things of the Spirit over the flesh. He want’s them to want to unburden others. He wants his children to feed the poor and by and through fasting he established a means by which those lacking (the faster) could bless those who lacked.

But fasting is not a magic act. The Nation of Israel got to the point where God didn’t even recognize their obedience to the command and we read God say to Jeremiah (in Jeremiah 14:12)

“When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”

What happened was the fast was held in expectation of a result. It was not because they wanted to draw closer to God, or to overcome a sin, or to unburden others or feed them.

They were fasts unto themselves. So they could, so they could, so they could . . .

This caused God to say in Zechariah 7:6 –

“And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?”

There can be self-centeredness to all actions we take before God – whether it be offering up sacrifices, giving time or money or service, of fasting – self and pretense all have a way of making their way into the activity.

Jesus, in describing the Pharisees of His day, told his disciples (in the all familiar passages in Matthew 6:16)

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; (look like you always do)
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Now, the early Christians did participate in and observe corporate fasts (as this passage tells us) but it interesting that Jesus never appointed a fast yet He certainly fasted.

And so in this we have our directions – if you are struggling against the flesh, if you are lead by the Spirit to pay less attention to your carnal person, if you want to draw in closer to God through the spirit by hindering the commands of the flesh, fast. As led by God.

Make it beneficial not only to yourself but to others, and keep it to yourselves.

Okay, that only took me seven pages to address. Verse 24

24 And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

These are some of the places that they had visited before.

25 And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:

Another city apparently not visited before. (verse 26)

26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.

In other words they went home or back to the city that they were sent out into the world from (which we read about in Acts 13).

And Luke adds:

Where they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled, meaning, God’s favor and protection had been over them during their journeys and as a result they fulfilled the work they were sent to do.

27 And when they were come (when they arrived or got there), and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

And lastly verse 28, which I call the Asian passage:

And there they abode “long time” with the disciples.

For how long we don’t know but it is believed to have been around five to eight years which appear to be unaccounted for.

Before going on to chapter 15 I want to make a comment. If or since the commands of the Lord, as summarized in 1st John 3:22-23, are to believe in Jesus Christ and to love, it seems that all of our official corporate Christian actions and activities ought to somehow relate to these to primary acts.

When it comes to believing – faith – I see it as having two primary applications:

First, through missional efforts and second by and through the teaching of the Word to believers (as a means to fortify those who are in the faith).

Of all the things churches collectively do today in the cause of Christ I do not think there is any duty more important than missional outreach to the unsaved.

Sharing Jesus and the Good News with others who don’t know Him.

I want you to know that a great part of CAMPUS time and resources are in fact engaged in this very thing. It happens every Tuesday Night through a program called Heart of the Matter which typically, within six months time after airing, is seen by an average of about 25,000 people around the world and it is helped along through our archived materials and books.

Individually, if you are so inclined and led, I propose that the single greatest gift a Christian can offer another is the gift of Jesus Christ which comes by hearing. So share him.

That is to the unsaved. To the saved the single most important factor to faith or believing on Jesus is hearing the Word – which is another focus of CAMPUS.

Finally, there is the constant reminder that while we are sharing Him with the unsaved, and learning about Him as saved individuals, we aim to love, as He gave commandment.

I’ve wanted to put an exclamation point on missional outreach for a while and just found this time to be opportune.

Okay, onto chapter 15 of the book of Acts, which is also known as the Jerusalem Council. Verse 1
Acts 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Alright, back to verse 1

1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

These were men undoubtedly Jews who
were now converted to Christianity. And what we are seeing is what we have talked about was slowly happening as more and more Gentiles came to faith – a clash of culture, a clash between the Old and the New.

The fact that these men who had come down from Judea were willing to refer the matter in dispute to the apostles and elders proves that they had professedly embraced the Christian faith and what is to follow is a record for the first real recorded internal dissension in the apostolic church.

Up to this point the church was trying to survive attacks from the outside – the orthodox Jews, the Romans.

By this stage of the game the church had seen some violence but now it was in relative peace – especially in Antioch where there thrived a more open environment than what existed in Jerusalem.

The funny thing about human kind – saved and not – is after only so much peace, there are those who feel the need to stir something up.

In this case, whether it was out of concern or boredom, the uproar was in-house or among the believers. This first infight would continue on until this very day but in the apostolic church this was a palpable difficulty as circumcision was the main identifier of the people of God.

This is important because it shows the importance of the Apostles in that day and age for they were the ones who were ultimately confronted with deciding on how to address the problem.

In any case these men “came down from Judaea,” presumably to Antioch where Paul and Barnabas were residing.

And what did they do?

They “taught the (other Christian ) brethren, and said, “Except (or unless) ye are circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.”

Paul and Barnabas had been teaching gentiles – uncircumcised men – that Good News. Apparently these Jewish converts to the faith did not fully appreciate these uncircumcised heathens entering into a relationship with God through Christ without this ancient rite – and so they told them that unless they took part they could not be saved – “unless they were circumcised.”

From this we learn a few things. First, Paul and Barnabas were obviously not having gentile converts receive circumcision – and these who came from Judea discovered this and were in disagreement.

In all probability whatever non-Jewish believers that lived in Jerusalem were subject to the laws of Moses in a much more strict manner than what Paul was demanding of the converts he met in his missional journeys.

This idea is greatly illustrated in a story Paul tells involving Peter in Galatians chapter 2 where he writes:

But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
12 For before that certain came from James (meaning from Jerusalem and possibly sent from James), he (Peter) did eat with the Gentiles: (in other words when Peter came to Antioch he had no problem sitting and eating with the Gentile converts there) but when they were come (when the Jews from Jerusalem potentially sent from James showed up) he (Peter) withdrew and separated himself, (from his association with the gentile converts) fearing them which were of the circumcision.

This is an AMAZING revelation of Paul’s. In it he essentially relays the fact that he confronted Peter for his weak character in fearing having the Jewish converts witnessing him hanging out with the uncircumcised.

This is Peter! Even after being spirit filled. And what does it tell us? I think it confirms to all of us that even if we were elected apostles the sin nature, the weakness in the flesh, is always at the door – and we also see, once again, Peter’s fleshly nature erupt in living color – he seems to have had a keen fear for what people thought of him.

This of course was manifested in his three time denial of Jesus and was now popping up again in this situation with Paul.

It’s a fascinating little fact we have from the New Testament – that even after knowing, traveling with, and being trained by the Lord Himself; after witnessing Him perform miracles and then after performing miracles in His name himself; that after watching the Lord resurrect and ascend into the clouds, Peter was still fearful of what others thought about him.

This is not a mean-spirited assessment of the Man. It’s to show that he was a regular old human being with typical fears and failures and could and would fail – no matter what he had experienced or encountered in his life.

And we are not one whit behind him in our respective weaknesses. I’ll never forget a time when one of my own innate weakness was plainly revealed in living color.

All my life, with my dad being a firefighter in Los Angeles, I was warned about how to get out of building quick if there was ever a fire.

As an active Latter Day Saint and returned missionary, I also prided myself in possessing a selfless, magnanimous character – one that was almost heroic in nature – and of being brave and courageous in the face of danger.

When training to be a stockbroker in New York City I was rooming with a guy in a high rise hotel. He really drove me crazy and I wasn’t a fan of his person in the least.

One evening, while he napped on the bed with earphones in, I wandered down the hall of the old building to get some ice when suddenly the fire alarm sounded.

Immediately the halls filled with people rushing toward the staircase and I was confronted with a choice – get out of that building and save myself as quickly as possible, or push against the crowd, get to the room and warn my sleeping, ear-phoned roommate that the place was on fire and he’d better get out.

Now, understand, I believed the building was on fire. People were screaming it. And I knew my roommate needed to be told so he had the chance to escape.

What did I do?

I fled down the twenty two flights of stairs as fast as I could.

Standing out in the cold in bare-feet, with hundreds of people pouring out around me, I could NOT BELIEVE I was capable of such cowardice and callousness – that I actually left my roommate to his own devices when I had the opportunity to literally save his life.

After several minutes he came out and wondered what was going on. Within seconds it occurred to him that I left him and saved myself. The shame and guilt was beyond anything I had ever felt and remains with me to this day like a knife in my heart.

It was a false alarm. And within 20 minutes we were all filing back to our rooms but I went back a much different man than I left.

I went back not only fully aware that I was not what I thought myself to be but I also knew I could not trust myself to act as I imagined I would. I am convinced that this somehow played a role in my conversion to Christ some ten years later.

Anyway, back to Paul’s story in Galatians. Apparently, from what we will read in verse 13 the other Jewish believers followed Peter’s example insofar that even Barnabas was influenced by their cowardly behavior (as it says):

13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

So what does Paul do (verse 14)

14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, “If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles (if you hang out with them and eat their food, Peter), and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? (which apparently means, why are you acting like they need to be circumcised in order for you to think it’s okay to hang out with them).

Circumcision was the leading or the principal rite of the Jewish religion. To them it was an indispensable ritual to being a Jew. Any and all true proselytes to their religion were circumcised as well as native-born Jews as they held it to be indispensable to their salvation before the Lord.

No circumcision a person was considered part of Non-Israel, therefore not-of-the-people-of-God.

So obviously back to Acts 15 Paul and Barnabas were not commanding gentiles to receive the rite and these Jewish converts were not fans.

Paul was an interesting man. He possessed a great deal of fluidity in his outreach to others. After preaching again circumcision we will discover him actually circumcising Timothy not out of fear but as a means to keep uproars to a minimum.

He wisely wrote in 1st Corinthians 9 beginning at verse 19

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

Love this. He became all things to all men that he might win some. Obviously he had a keen understanding that its not our righteousness but Gods that saves.

Anyway, back to Acts 15. There was the request that all believers be circumcised “after the manner of Moses,” and they added that if this was not done they could NOT be saved.

Now, I want to stop and really think about this. What they were saying to these believers who trusted in the finished work of Jesus was that if they did not have the foreskin of their penis’s taken off they could not be saved (either from the coming destruction nor from hades and or the Lake of Fire).

Today, we kind of snicker at this. “Come on,” we say, “really? Is that what God wants or says?

Well to a Jews, that would be a grand, “Yes, that is what God says.” The demand was straightforward. And they took it seriously.

But this was when the Nation was under the Law. And if salvation was to come by the Law all elements of the Law had to be kept. All of them.

This is why James says:

(James 2:10) For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

And why Paul reiterates in Galatians 3:10

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

Under such in beliefs its no wonder that these Jewish converts to Christ still believed that God’s laws must still be kept, and in this particular case, circumcision.

But there is another side to this that these complainers were not aware –

Christ came and fulfilled the law – in total. And in fulfilling it He attenuated it physically but strengthened and applied it to all believers spiritually.

Therefore instead of mandating a physical circumcision Jesus taught the circumcision of the heart.

Instead of a day of the week physical observance He taught daily worship.
Instead of what we eat and drink He taught to beware of what comes out of the mouth in terms of words for they reveal the heart.

Paul ardently argues in his epistles against the precepts or acts of the Law having any place in the lives of Christians, saying:

Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

In the case of circumcision, as an act of Law, those who participate in it will proudly consider themselves better before God and will look at those without it as worse – two egregious sins in the eyes of God – and all because of the placement of this aspect of the Law.

And so when these Jews came arguing for it, there was a disagreement between them and Paul as we read:

2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

The word rendered dissension (the Greek is Zoo stay tay sis) and means deep discussion or long conversation more than it means a dissension the way we understand dissension.

And so what did they do?

They determined, due to the fact there was apparently little prospect that the controversy would be settled there, that the matter should be referred to the apostles at Jerusalem.

There are several reasons for this. First, this was the City of David, it was the hub for both Judaism and Christianity, and the original apostles were still coming and going in and out of that locale.

Additionally, as we see that both the Apostles and the elders were to be consulted the most seasoned elders would have also resided there.

And possibly those Jews who were challenging Paul did not respect him and his authority – but the authority in Jerusalem they would.

It is also probably that they believed they would have a greater chance of winning in Jerusalem as the Christian converts were still going to the temple, possibly observing the Sabbaths and doing a great number of things that Jews did before.

Being committed to elements of the Law as Christians it could be that these Jews and the apostles with them would have been appalled by the Gentile converts antinomian (lawless) ways and would have withstood Paul’s views.

So they went. (verse 3)

3 And being brought on their way (to Jerusalem) by the church (by other Christians), they (Paul, Barnabas and others) passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles (how many non-Jews that were accepting the Gospel): and they caused great joy unto all the brethren (this made the believers very joyous)

Last verse for today

4. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Pretty self explanatory – and leaves us ready to hear what happens . . . next week , as this debate over circumcision is presented to the first council of the Apostolic Church.

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