Chapter Fifteen: More Open Doors (Acts 15:36–16:40)
The Book of Acts and the epistles give sufficient data for a sketch of Saul’s early life. He was born in Tarsus in Cilicia (), a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” (see ; ), the “son of a Pharisee” (), and a Roman citizen (; ). He was educated in Jerusalem by Gamaliel () and became a devoted Pharisee (; ). Measured by the Law, his life was blameless (). He was one of the most promising young Pharisees in Jerusalem, well on his way to becoming a great leader for the Jewish faith ().
Saul’s zeal for the Law was displayed most vividly in his persecution of the church (; ). He really thought that persecuting the believers was one way of serving God, so he did it with a clear conscience (). He obeyed the light that he had and, when God gave him more light, he obeyed that and became a Christian!
In what ways did Saul persecute the church? He “made havoc of the church,” and the verb here describes a wild animal mangling its prey. When Christ spoke to Saul on the Damascus road, He compared him to a beast! () The stoning of Stephen, which Saul approved, shows the lengths to which he would go to achieve his purpose. He persecuted both men and women “unto the death” (), entering both houses and synagogues (). He had the believers imprisoned and beaten (; ). If they renounced their faith in Jesus Christ (“compelling them to blaspheme”—), they were set free; if they did not recant, they could be killed.
In later years, Paul described himself as “exceedingly mad against them” (), “a blasphemer [he denounced Jesus Christ], and a persecutor, and injurious [violent]” (). He was a man with great authority whose devotion to Moses completely controlled his life, and almost destroyed his life. He did it “ignorantly in unbelief” (), and God showed him mercy and saved him. Saul of Tarsus is the last person in Jerusalem you would have chosen to be the great apostle to the Gentiles!
Persecution does to the church what wind does to seed: it scatters it and only produces a greater harvest. The word translated “scattered” (diaspeiro, , ) means “to scatter seed.” The believers in Jerusalem were God’s seed and the persecution was used of God to plant them in new soil so they could bear fruit (). Some went throughout Judea and Samaria (see ), and others went to more distant fields ().
The Samaritans were a “half-breed” people, a mixture of Jew and Gentile. The nation originated when the Assyrians captured the ten northern tribes in 732 B.C., deported many of the people, and then imported others who intermarried with the Jews. The Samaritans had their own temple and priesthood and openly opposed fraternization with the Jews ().
We have no reason to believe that God permitted this persecution because His people were negligent and had to be “forced” to leave Jerusalem. The fact that Saul persecuted believers “even unto strange [foreign] cities” () would suggest that their witness was bearing fruit even beyond Jerusalem. Nor should we criticize the Apostles for remaining in the city. If anything, we should commend them for their courage and devotion to duty. After all, somebody had to remain there to care for the church.
Because of the witness and death of Stephen, it is possible that the focus of the persecution was against the Hellenistic Jews rather than the “native” Jews. It would be easier for Saul and his helpers to identify the Hellenistic believers since many of the “native” Jews were still very Jewish and very much attached to the temple. Peter was still keeping a “kosher home” when he was sent to evangelize the household of Cornelius ().
Philip was chosen as a deacon () but, like Stephen, he grew in his ministry and became an effective evangelist (see ). God directed him to evangelize in Samaria, an area that had been prohibited to the Apostles (). Both John the Baptist and Jesus had ministered there (; ), so Philip entered into their labors ().
The word for preaching in means “to preach the Gospel, to evangelize”; while the word in means “to announce as a herald.” Philip was God’s commissioned herald to deliver His message to the people of Samaria. To reject the messenger would mean to reject the message and rebel against the authority behind the herald, Almighty God. How people respond to God’s messenger and God’s message is serious business.
Philip not only declared God’s Word, but he also demonstrated God’s power by performing miracles. It was the Apostles who had majored on miracles (; ), yet both Stephen and Philip did signs and wonders by the power of God (). However, the emphasis here is on the Word of God: the people gave heed to the Word because they saw the miracles, and by believing the Word, they were saved. Nobody was ever saved simply because of miracles (; ).
Great persecution () plus the preaching of the Gospel resulted in great joy! Both in his Gospel and in the Book of Acts, Luke emphasizes the joy of salvation (; , ; ; ; ; ). The people of Samaria who heard the Gospel and believed were delivered from physical affliction, demonic control, and, most important, from their sins. No wonder there was great joy!
The Gospel had now moved from “Jewish territory” into Samaria where the people were part Jew and part Gentile. God in His grace had built a bridge between two estranged peoples and made the believers one in Christ, and soon He would extend that bridge to the Gentiles and include them as well. Even today, we need “bridge builders” like Philip, men and women who will carry the Gospel into pioneer territory and dare to challenge ancient prejudices. “Into all the world … the Gospel to every creature” is still God’s commission to us.
A Clever Deceiver—Simon the Sorcerer ()
It is a basic principle in Scripture that wherever God sows His true believers, Satan will eventually sow his counterfeits (, ). This was true of the ministry of John the Baptist () and Jesus (, ; ), and it would be true of Paul’s ministry also (; , ). The enemy comes as a lion to devour, and when that approach fails, he comes as a serpent to deceive. Satan’s tool in this case was a sorcerer named Simon.
The word translated “bewitched” in and simply means “astounded, confounded.” It is translated “wondered” in . The people were amazed at the things that Simon did and, therefore, they believed the things that he said. They considered him “the great power of God.” Simon’s sorcery was energized by Satan () and was used to magnify himself, while Philip’s miracles were empowered by God and were used to glorify Christ. Simon started to lose his following as the Samaritans listened to Philip’s messages, believed on Jesus Christ, were born again, and were baptized.
What does it mean that “Simon himself believed”? () We can answer that question best by asking another one: What was the basis of his “faith”? His faith was not in the Word of God, but in the miracles he saw Philip perform; and there is no indication that Simon repented of his sins. He certainly did not believe with all his heart (Acts 8:37). His faith was like that of the people of Jerusalem who witnessed our Lord’s miracles (), or even like that of the demons (). Simon continued with Philip, not to hear the Word and learn more about Jesus Christ, but to witness the miracles and perhaps learn how they were done.
It is important to note that the Samaritans did not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit when they believed. It was necessary for two of the Apostles, Peter and John, to come from Jerusalem, put their hands on the converts, and impart to them the gift of the Spirit. Why? Because God wanted to unite the Samaritan believers with the original Jewish church in Jerusalem. He did not want two churches that would perpetuate the division and conflict that had existed for centuries. Jesus had given Peter the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” (), which meant that Peter had the privilege of “opening the door of faith” to others. He opened the door to the Jews at Pentecost, and now he opened the door to the Samaritans. Later, he would open the door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 10).
Remember too that the first ten chapters of Acts record a period of transition, from the Jew to the Samaritan to the Gentile. God’s pattern for today is given in Acts 10: the sinner hears the Gospel, believes, receives the gift of the Spirit, and then is baptized. It is dangerous to base any doctrine or practice only on what is recorded in Acts 1–10, for you might be building on that which was temporary and transitional. Those who claim we must be baptized to receive the gift of the Spirit () have a hard time explaining what happened to the Samaritans; and those who claim we must have “the laying on of hands” to receive the Spirit have a difficult time with Acts 10. Once you accept Acts 1–10 as a transitional period in God’s plan, with Acts 10 being the climax, the problems are solved.
The wickedness of Simon’s heart was fully revealed by the ministry of the two apostles. Simon not only wanted to perform miracles, but he also wanted the power to convey the gift of the Holy Spirit to others—and he was quite willing to pay for this power! It is this passage that gives us the word simony, which means “the buying and selling of church offices or privileges.”
As you study the Book of Acts, you will often find the Gospel in conflict with money and “big business.” Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives because they lied about their gift (). Paul put a fortune-teller out of business in Philippi and ended up in jail (). He also gave the silversmiths trouble in Ephesus and helped cause a riot (). The early church had its priorities straight: it was more important to preach the Word than to win the support of the wealthy and influential people of the world.
Peter’s words to Simon give every indication that the sorcerer was not a converted man. “Thy money perish with thee!” is pretty strong language to use with a believer. He had neither “part or lot in this matter” (“this word”) and his heart was not right before God. While it is not out of place for believers to repent (see Rev. 2–3), the command to repent is usually given to unbelievers. The word thought in means “plot or scheme” and is used in a bad sense. The fact that Simon was “in the gall of bitterness” (; ) and “the bond of iniquity” would indicate that he had never truly been born again.
Simon’s response to these severe words of warning was not at all encouraging. He was more concerned about avoiding judgment than getting right with God! There is no evidence that he repented and sought forgiveness. A sinner who wants the prayers of others but who will not pray himself is not going to enter God’s kingdom.
This episode only shows how close a person can come to salvation and still not be converted. Simon heard the Gospel, saw the miracles, gave a profession of faith in Christ, and was baptized; and yet he was never born again. He was one of Satan’s clever counterfeits; and, had Peter not exposed the wickedness of his heart, Simon would have been accepted as a member of the Samaritan congregation!
Even though the persecution was still going on, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the Gospel in “many villages of the Samaritans” as they went their way. They lost no opportunity to share the Good News with others now that the doors were open in Samaria.
A Concerned Seeker—an Ethiopian ()
Philip was not only a faithful preacher; he was also an obedient personal worker. Like his Master, he was willing to leave the crowds and deal with one lost soul. The angel could have told this Ethiopian official how to be saved, but God has not given the commission to angels: He has given it to His people. Angels have never personally experienced God’s grace; therefore, they can never bear witness of what it means to be saved.
D.L. Moody once asked a man about his soul, and the man replied, “It’s none of your business!”
“Oh, yes, it is my business!” Moody said; and the man immediately exclaimed, “Then you must be D.L. Moody!” It is every Christian’s business to share the Gospel with others, and to do it without fear or apology.
Philip’s experience ought to encourage us in our own personal witness for the Lord. To begin with, God directed Philip to the right person at the right time. You and I are not likely to have angels instruct us, but we can know the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our witnessing, if we are walking in the Spirit and praying for God’s direction.
Late one afternoon, I was completing my pastoral calling and I felt impressed to make one more visit to see a woman who was faithfully attending church but was not a professed Christian. At first, I told myself that it was foolish to visit her that late in the day, since she was probably preparing a meal for her family. But I went anyway and discovered that she had been burdened about her sins all that day! Within minutes, she opened her heart to Christ and was born again. Believe me, I was glad I obeyed the leading of the Spirit!
This court official did not come from what we know today as Ethiopia; his home was in ancient Nubia, located south of Egypt. Since he was a eunuch, he could not become a full Jewish proselyte (); but he was permitted to become a “God fearer” or “a proselyte of the gate.” He was concerned enough about his spiritual life to travel over 200 miles to Jerusalem to worship God; but his heart was still not satisfied.
This Ethiopian represents many people today who are religious, read the Scriptures, and seek the truth, yet do not have saving faith in Jesus Christ. They are sincere, but they are lost! They need someone to show them the way.
As Philip drew near to the chariot, he heard the man reading from the Prophet Isaiah. (It was customary in those days for students to read out loud.) God had already prepared the man’s heart to receive Philip’s witness! If we obey the Lord’s leading, we can be sure that God will go before us and open the way for our witness.
Isaiah 53 was the passage he was reading, the prophecy of God’s Suffering Servant. Isaiah 53 describes our Lord Jesus Christ in His birth (), life and ministry (), substitutionary death (), and victorious resurrection (). should be connected with ; with ; with ; and with , .
The Ethiopian focused on , which describes our Lord as the willing Sacrifice for sinners, even to the point of losing His human rights. As Philip explained the verses to him, the Ethiopian began to understand the Gospel because the Spirit of God was opening his mind to God’s truth. It is not enough for the lost sinner to desire salvation; he must also understand God’s plan of salvation. It is the heart that understands the Word that eventually bears fruit ().
The idea of substitutionary sacrifice is one that is found from the beginning of the Bible to the end. God killed animals so that He might clothe Adam and Eve (). He provided a ram to die in the place of Isaac (). At Passover, innocent lambs died for the people of Israel (Ex. 12); and the entire Jewish religious system was based on the shedding of blood (Lev. 17, especially v. ). Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of both the Old Testament types and the prophecies (; Rev. 5).
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (). The Ethiopian believed on Jesus Christ and was born again! So real was his experience that he insisted on stopping the caravan and being baptized immediately! He was no “closet Christian”; he wanted everybody to know what the Lord had done for him.
How did he know that believers were supposed to be baptized? Perhaps Philip had included this in his witness to him, or perhaps he had even seen people baptized while he was in Jerusalem. We know that Gentiles were baptized when they became Jewish proselytes. Throughout the Book of Acts, baptism is an important part of the believer’s commitment to Christ and witness for Christ.
While Acts 8:37 is not found in all the New Testament manuscripts, there is certainly nothing in it that is unbiblical (). In the days of the early church, converts were not baptized unless they first gave a clear testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ. And keep in mind that the Ethiopian was speaking not only to Philip but also to those in the caravan who were near his chariot. He was an important man, and you can be sure that his attendants were paying close attention.
Philip was caught away to minister elsewhere (compare ), but the treasurer “went on his way rejoicing” (see ). God did not permit Philip to do the necessary discipling of this new believer, but surely He provided for it when the man arrived home. Even though he was a eunuch, the Ethiopian was accepted by God! (see )
Philip ended up at Azotus, about twenty miles from Gaza; and then made his way to Caesarea, a journey of about sixty miles. Like Peter and John, Philip “preached his way home” () as he told others about the Saviour. Twenty years later, we find Philip living in Caesarea and still serving God as an evangelist ().
As you trace the expansion of the Gospel during this transition period (Acts 2–10), you see how the Holy Spirit reaches out to the whole world. In Acts 8, the Ethiopian who was converted was a descendant of Ham (, where “Cush” refers to Ethiopia). In Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus will be saved, a Jew and therefore a descendant of Shem (). In Acts 10, the Gentiles find Christ, and they are the descendants of Japheth (). The whole world was peopled by Shem, Ham, and Japheth (); and God wants the whole world—all of their descendants—to hear the message of the Gospel (; ).
In October 1857, J. Hudson Taylor began to minister in Ningpo, China, and he led a Mr. Nyi to Christ. The man was overjoyed and wanted to share his faith with others.
“How long have you had the good tidings in England?” Mr. Nyi asked Hudson Taylor one day. Taylor acknowledged that England had known the Gospel for many centuries.
“My father died seeking the truth,” said Mr. Nyi. “Why didn’t you come sooner?”
Taylor had no answer to that penetrating question.
How long have you known the Gospel?
How far have you shared it personally?
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the leading persecutor of the Christians, was perhaps the greatest event in church history after the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. The next great event would be the conversion of the Gentiles (Acts 10), and Saul (Paul) would become the apostle to the Gentiles. God was continuing to work out His plan to bring the Gospel to the whole world.
“Paul was a great man,” said Charles Spurgeon, “and I have no doubt that on the way to Damascus he rode a very high horse. But a few seconds sufficed to alter the man. How soon God brought him down!”
The account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus is given three times in Acts, in chapters 9, 22, and 26. According to the record before us, Saul experienced four meetings that together transformed his life.
When you look at Saul on the road (), you see a very zealous man who actually thought he was doing God a service by persecuting the church. Had you stopped him and asked for his reasons, he might have said something like this:
“Jesus of Nazareth is dead. Do you expect me to believe that a crucified nobody is the promised Messiah? According to our Law, anybody who is hung on a tree is cursed []. Would God take a cursed false prophet and make him the Messiah? No! His followers are preaching that Jesus is both alive and doing miracles through them. But their power comes from Satan, not God. This is a dangerous sect, and I intend to eliminate it before it destroys our historic Jewish faith!”
In spite of his great learning (), Saul was spiritually blind () and did not understand what the Old Testament really taught about the Messiah. Like many others of his countrymen, he stumbled over the Cross () because he depended on his own righteousness and not on the righteousness of God (Rom. 9:30–10:13; ). Many self-righteous religious people today do not see their need for a Saviour and resent it if you tell them they are sinners.
Saul’s attitude was that of an angry animal whose very breath was dangerous! (see ) Like many other rabbis, he believed that the Law had to be obeyed before Messiah could come; and yet these “heretics” were preaching against the Law, the temple, and the traditions of the fathers (). Saul wasted the churches in Judea () and then got authority from the high priest to go as far as Damascus to hunt down the disciples of Jesus. This was no insignificant enterprise, for the authority of the highest Jewish council was behind him ().
Damascus had a large Jewish population, and it has been estimated that there could well have been thirty to forty synagogues in the city. The fact that there were already believers there indicates how effective the church had been in getting out the message. Some of the believers may have fled the persecution in Jerusalem, which explains why Saul wanted authority to bring them back. Believers were still identified with the Jewish synagogues, for the break with Judaism would not come for a few years. (See , where “assembly” is “synagogue” in the original Greek.)
Saul suddenly found himself on the ground! () It was not a heat stroke or an attack of epilepsy that put him there, but a personal meeting with Jesus Christ. At midday (), he saw a bright light from heaven and heard a voice speaking his name (). The men with him also fell to the earth () and heard the sound, but they could not understand the words spoken from heaven. They stood to their feet in bewilderment (), hearing Saul address someone, but not knowing what was happening.
Saul of Tarsus made some wonderful discoveries that day. To begin with, he discovered to his surprise that Jesus of Nazareth was actually alive! Of course, the believers had been constantly affirming this (; ; ), but Saul had refused to accept their testimony. If Jesus was alive, then Saul had to change his mind about Jesus and His message. He had to repent, a difficult thing for a self-righteous Pharisee to do.
Saul also discovered that he was a lost sinner who was in danger of the judgment of God. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (, NKJV). Saul thought he had been serving God, when in reality he had been persecuting the Messiah! When measured by the holiness of Jesus Christ, Saul’s good works and legalistic self-righteousness looked like filthy rags (; ). All of his values changed. He was a new person because he trusted Jesus Christ.
The Lord had a special work for Saul to do (). The Hebrew of the Hebrews would become the apostle to the Gentiles; the persecutor would become a preacher; and the legalistic Pharisee would become the great proclaimer of the grace of God. Up to now, Saul had been like a wild animal, fighting against the goads; but now he would become a vessel of honor, the Lord’s “tool,” to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond. What a transformation!
Some thirty years later, Paul wrote that Christ had “apprehended him” on the Damascus road (). Saul was out to arrest others when the Lord arrested him. He had to lose his religion before he could gain the righteousness of Christ. His conversion experience is unique, because sinners today certainly do not hear God’s voice or see blinding heavenly lights. However, Paul’s experience is an example of how Israel will be saved when Jesus Christ returns and reveals Himself to them (; ; ). His salvation is certainly a great encouragement to any lost sinner, for if “the chief of sinners” could be saved, surely anybody can be saved!
It is worth noting that the men who were with Saul saw the light, but did not see the Lord; and they heard the sound, but did not hear the voice speaking the words (note ). We wonder if any of them later trusted in Christ because of Saul’s testimony. He definitely saw the glorified Lord Jesus Christ ().
The men led Saul into the city (), for the angry bull () had now become a docile lamb! The leader had to be led because the vision had left him blind. His spiritual eyes had been opened, but his physical eyes were closed. God was thoroughly humbling Saul and preparing him for the ministry of Ananias. He fasted and prayed () for three days, during which time he no doubt started to “sort out” what he believed. He had been saved by grace, not by Law, through faith in the living Christ. God began to instruct Saul and show him the relationship between the Gospel of the grace of God and the traditional Mosaic religion that he had practiced all his life.
Ananias was a devout Jew () who was a believer in Jesus Christ. He knew what kind of reputation Saul had and that he was coming to Damascus to arrest believers. It was up to a week’s journey from Jerusalem to Damascus, but some of the Jerusalem Christians had gotten to the city first in order to warn the saints.
It is interesting to note in Acts 9 the different names used for God’s people: disciples (, , , , , ), those of the way (), saints (, , ), all that call on God’s name (, ), and brethren (, ). We use the word Christian most frequently, and yet that name did not appear on the scene until later (). “Disciples” is the name that is used most in the Book of Acts, but you do not find it used in the epistles. There the name “saints” is the most frequently used title for God’s people.
Ananias was available to do God’s will, but he certainly was not anxious to obey! The fact that Saul was “praying” instead of “preying” should have encouraged Ananias. “Prayer is the autograph of the Holy Ghost upon the renewed heart,” said Charles Spurgeon (, ). Instead of trusting himself, Saul was now trusting the Lord and waiting for Him to show him what to do. In fact, Saul had already seen a vision of a man named Ananias (Hananiah = “the Lord is gracious”) coming to minister to him; so, how could Ananias refuse to obey?
is a good summary of Paul’s life and ministry. It was all of grace, for he did not choose God; it was God who chose him (). He was God’s vessel (), and God would work in and through him to accomplish His purposes (; ). God’s name would be glorified as His servant would take the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles, kings and commoners, and as he would suffer for Christ’s sake. This is the first reference in the Book of Acts to the Gospel going to the Gentiles (see also ; ).
Once convinced, Ananias lost no time going to the house of Judas and ministering to waiting Saul. The fact that he called him “brother” must have brought joy to the heart of the blinded Pharisee. Saul not only heard Ananias’ voice, but he felt his hands (, ). By the power of God, his eyes were opened and he could see! He was also filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized, and then he ate some food.
The King James Version of conveys the impression that it was necessary for Saul to be baptized in order to be saved, but that was not the case. Saul washed away his sins by “calling on the Lord” (; ). Kenneth Wuest translates , “Having arisen, be baptized and wash away your sins, having previously called upon His name.” In the Greek, it is not a present participle (“calling”), but an aorist participle (“having called”). His calling on the Lord preceded his baptism.
Saul tarried with the believers in Damascus and no doubt learned from them. Imagine what it would be like to disciple the great Apostle Paul! He discovered that they were loving people, undeserving of the persecution he had inflicted on them; and that they knew the truth of God’s Word and only wanted to share it with others.
Before we leave this section, we should emphasize some practical lessons that all believers ought to learn.
To begin with, God can use even the most obscure saint. Were it not for the conversion of Saul, we would never have heard of Ananias; and yet Ananias had an important part to play in the ongoing work of the church. Behind many well-known servants of God are lesser-known believers who have influenced them. God keeps the books and will see to it that each servant will get a just reward. The important thing is not fame but faithfulness ().
The experience of Ananias also reminds us that we should never be afraid to obey God’s will. Ananias at first argued with the Lord and gave some good reasons why he should not visit Saul. But the Lord had everything under control, and Ananias obeyed by faith. When God commands, we must remember that He is working “at both ends of the line,” and that His perfect will is always the best.
There is a third encouragement: God’s works are always balanced. God balanced a great public miracle with a quiet meeting in the house of Judas. The bright light and the voice from heaven were dramatic events, but the visit of Ananias was somewhat ordinary. The hand of God pushed Saul from his “high horse,” but God used the hand of a man to bring Saul what he most needed. God spoke from heaven, but He also spoke through an obedient disciple who gave the message to Saul. The “ordinary” events were just as much a part of the miracle as were the extraordinary.
Finally, we must never underestimate the value of one person brought to Christ. Peter was ministering to thousands in Jerusalem, and Philip had seen a great harvest among the Samaritan people, but Ananias was sent to only one man. Yet what a man! Saul of Tarsus became Paul the apostle, and his life and ministry have influenced people and nations ever since. Even secular historians confess that Paul is one of the significant figures in world history.
On April 21, 1855, Edward Kimball led one of his Sunday School boys to faith in Christ. Little did he realize that Dwight L. Moody would one day become the world’s leading evangelist. The ministry of Norman B. Harrison in an obscure Bible conference was used of God to bring Theodore Epp to faith in Christ, and God used Theodore Epp to build the Back to the Bible ministry around the world. Our task is to lead men and women to Christ; God’s task is to use them for His glory; and every person is important to God.
Saul immediately began to proclaim the Christ that he had persecuted, declaring boldly that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the only place in Acts that you find this title, but Paul used it in his epistles at least fifteen times. It was a major emphasis in his ministry. The dramatic change in Saul’s life was a source of wonder to the Jews at Damascus. Every new convert’s witness for Christ ought to begin right where he is, so Saul began his ministry first in Damascus ().
It is likely that Saul’s visit to Arabia () took place about this time. Had Dr. Luke included it in his account, he would have placed it between and . We do not know how long he remained in Arabia, but we do know that after three years, Saul was back in Jerusalem ().
Why did he go to Arabia? Probably because the Lord instructed him to get alone so that He might teach Saul His Word. There were many things that would have to be clarified in Saul’s mind before he could minister effectively as an apostle of Jesus Christ. If Saul went to the area near Mount Sinai (), it took considerable courage and strength for such a journey. Perhaps it was then that he experienced “perils of robbers” and “perils in the wilderness” (). It is also possible that he did some evangelizing while in Arabia, because when he returned to Damascus, he was already a marked man.
The important thing about this Arabian sojourn is the fact that Saul did not “confer with flesh and blood” but received his message and mandate directly from the Lord (see ). He did not borrow anything from the Apostles in Jerusalem, because he did not even meet them until three years after his conversion.
When Saul returned to Damascus, he began his witness afresh, and the Jews sought to silence him. Now he would discover what it meant to be the hunted instead of the hunter! This was but the beginning of the “great things” he would suffer for the name of Christ (). How humiliating it must have been for Saul to be led into Damascus as a blind man and then smuggled out like a common criminal (see ).
Throughout his life, the great apostle was hated, hunted, and plotted against by both Jews and Gentiles (“in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles”—, NKJV). As you read the Book of Acts, you see how the opposition and persecution increase, until the apostle ends up a prisoner in Rome (, ; ; , ; ; , ; , ). But he counted it a privilege to suffer for the sake of Christ, and so should we. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” ().
He Met the Jerusalem Believers ()
There were two stages in Saul’s experience with the church in Jerusalem.
Saul rejected (v. ). At first, the believers in the Jerusalem church were afraid of him. Saul “kept trying” (literal Greek) to get into their fellowship, but they would not accept him. For one thing, they were afraid of him and probably thought that his new attitude of friendliness was only a trick to get into their fellowship so he could have them arrested. They did not believe that he was even a disciple of Jesus Christ, let alone an apostle who had seen the risen Saviour.
Their attitude seems strange to us, for surely the Damascus saints had gotten word to the church in Jerusalem that Saul had been converted and was now preaching the Word. Perhaps Saul’s “disappearance” for almost three years gave an air of suspicion to his testimony. Where had he been? What was he doing? Why had he waited so long to contact the Jerusalem elders? Furthermore, what right did he have to call himself an apostle when he had not been selected by Jesus Christ? There were many unanswered questions that helped create an atmosphere of suspicion and fear.
Saul accepted (vv. ). It was Barnabas who helped the Jerusalem church accept Saul. We met Joseph, the “son of encouragement,” in , and we will meet him again as we continue to study Acts. Barnabas “took hold” of Saul, brought him to the church leaders, and convinced them that Saul was both a believer and a chosen apostle. He had indeed seen the risen Christ (). It is not necessary to invent some “hidden reason” why Barnabas befriended Saul. This was just the nature of the man: he was an encouragement to others.
There seems to be a contradiction between and . How could Barnabas introduce Saul to “the apostles” (plural) if Peter was the only apostle Saul met? Dr. Luke is obviously using the word “apostle” in the wider sense of “spiritual leader.” Even calls James, the brother of the Lord, an apostle; and Barnabas is called an apostle in and . In his epistles, Paul sometimes used “apostle” to designate a special messenger or agent of the church (; ; , original Greek). So, there really is no contradiction; it is the leaders of the Jerusalem church that Saul met.
Saul began to witness to the Greek-speaking Jews, the Hellenists that had engineered the trial and death of Stephen (). Saul was one of them, having been born and raised in Tarsus; and no doubt he felt an obligation to take up the mantle left by Stephen (). The Hellenistic Jews were not about to permit this kind of witness, so they plotted to kill him.
At this point, we must read . God spoke to Saul in the temple and reminded him of his commission to take the message to the Gentiles (). Note the urgency of God’s command: “Quick! Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about Me” (, NIV). Saul shared this message with the church leaders, and they assisted him in returning to his native city, Tarsus. The fact that they believed Saul’s testimony about the vision is proof that he had been fully accepted by the church.
We will not meet Saul again until , when once more it is Barnabas who finds him and brings him to the church at Antioch where they ministered together. That took place about seven years after Saul left Jerusalem, about ten years after his conversion. We have every reason to believe that Saul used Tarsus as his headquarters for taking the Gospel to the Gentiles in that part of the Roman Empire. He ministered “in the regions of Syria and Cilicia” () and established churches there (). Some Bible scholars believe that the Galatian churches were founded at this time.
It is likely that some of the trials listed in occurred during this period. Only one Roman beating is recorded in Acts (), which leaves two not accounted for. Likewise, the five Jewish beatings are not recorded either in Acts or the epistles. Luke tells us about only one shipwreck (Acts 27), but we have no record of the other two. Anyone who thinks that the apostle was taking a vacation during those years is certainly in error!
is another of Luke’s summaries that he regularly dropped into the book (; , ; ). Note that the geographic locations parallel those given in . Luke is telling us that the message was going out just as the Lord had commanded. Soon, the center would be Antioch, not Jerusalem, and the key leader Paul, not Peter; and the Gospel would be taken to the uttermost part of the earth.
It was a time of “peace” for the churches, but not a time of complacency, for they grew both spiritually and numerically. They seized the opportunity to repair and strengthen their sails before the next storm began to blow! The door of faith had been opened to the Jews (Acts 2) and to the Samaritans (Acts 8), and soon it would be opened to the Gentiles (Acts 10). Saul has moved off the scene, and Peter now returns. Soon, Peter will move off the scene (except for a brief mention in Acts 15) and Paul will fill the pages of the Book of Acts.
God changes His workmen, but His work goes on.
And you and I are privileged to be a part of that work today!
Acts 9:32–10:48
What is the greatest miracle that God can do for us? Some would call the healing of the body God’s greatest miracle, while others would vote for the raising of the dead. However, I think that the greatest miracle of all is the salvation of a lost sinner. Why? Because salvation costs the greatest price, it produces the greatest results, and it brings the greatest glory to God.
In this section, we find Peter participating in all three miracles: he heals Aeneas, he raises Dorcas from the dead, and he brings the message of salvation to Cornelius and his household.
A Great Miracle—Healing the Body ()
The Apostle Peter had been engaged in an itinerant ministry () when he found himself visiting the saints in Lydda, a largely Gentile city about twenty-five miles from Jerusalem. It is possible that the area had first been evangelized by people converted at Pentecost, or perhaps by faithful believers who had been scattered far and wide during the great persecution. No doubt Philip the evangelist had also ministered there ().
We know very little about Aeneas. How old was he? Did he believe on Jesus Christ? Was he a Jew or a Gentile? All that Dr. Luke tells us is the man had been palsied for eight years, which meant he was crippled and helpless. He was a burden to himself and a burden to others, and there was no prospect that he would ever get well.
Peter’s first miracle had been the healing of a crippled man (Acts 3), and now that miracle was repeated. As you read the Book of Acts, you will see parallels between the ministries of Peter and Paul. Both healed cripples. Both were arrested and put into jail and were miraculously delivered. Both were treated like gods (; ), and both gave a bold witness before the authorities. Both had to confront false prophets (; ). No one reading the Book of Acts could end up saying, “I am for Paul!” or “I am for Peter!” () “But it is the same God which worketh all in all” ().
The resurrected Christ, by the authority of His name, brought perfect soundness to Aeneas (see , ; ). The healing was instantaneous, and the man was able to get up and make his bed. He became a walking miracle! does not suggest that the entire population of Lydda and Sharon were saved, but only all those who had contact with Aeneas. Just seeing him walk around convinced them that Jesus was alive and they needed to trust in Him. (See for a similar instance.)
You can be sure that Peter did much more in Lydda than heal Aeneas, as great and helpful as that miracle was. He evangelized, taught and encouraged the believers, and sought to establish the church in the faith. Jesus had commissioned Peter to care for the sheep (), and Peter was faithful to fulfill that commission.
A Greater Miracle—Raising the Dead ()
Joppa, the modern Jaffa, is located on the seacoast, some ten miles beyond Lydda. The city is important in Bible history as the place from which the Prophet Jonah embarked when he tried to flee from God (). Jonah went to Joppa to avoid going to the Gentiles, but Peter in Joppa received his call to go to the Gentiles! Because Jonah disobeyed God, the Lord sent a storm that caused the Gentile sailors to fear. Because Peter obeyed the Lord, God sent the “wind of the Spirit” to the Gentiles and they experienced great joy and peace. What a contrast!
It seemed so tragic that a useful and beloved saint like Dorcas (Tabitha=gazelle) should die when she was so greatly needed by the church. This often happens in local churches and it is a hard blow to take. In my own pastoral ministry, I have experienced the loss of choice saints who were difficult to replace in the church; yet, all we can say is, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” ().
The believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in the area, and they sent for him immediately. There is no record in Acts that any of the Apostles had raised the dead, so their sending for Peter was an evidence of their faith in the power of the risen Christ. When our Lord ministered on earth, He raised the dead; so why would He not be able to raise the dead from His exalted throne in glory?
We usually think of the Apostles as leaders who told other people what to do, but often the people commanded them! (For Peter’s “philosophy of ministry” read 1 Peter 5.) Peter was a leader who served the people and was ready to respond to their call. Peter had the power to heal, and he used the power to glorify God and help people, not to promote himself.
It was a Jewish custom first to wash the dead body, and then to anoint it with spices for burial. When Peter arrived in the upper room where Dorcas lay in state, he found a group of weeping widows who had been helped by her ministry. Keep in mind that there was no “government aid” in those days for either widows or orphans, and needy people had to depend on their “network” for assistance. The church has an obligation to help people who are truly in need (; ).
The account of Peter’s raising of Dorcas should be compared with the account of our Lord’s raising of Jairus’ daughter (). In both cases, the mourning people were put out of the room; and the words spoken are almost identical: “talitha cumi: little girl, arise; Tabitha cumi: Tabitha, arise.” Jesus took the girl by the hand before He spoke to her, for He was not afraid of becoming ceremonially defiled; and Peter took Dorcas by the hand after she had come to life. In both instances, it was the power of God that raised the person from the dead, for the dead person certainly could not exercise faith.
As with the healing of Aeneas, the raising of Dorcas attracted great attention and resulted in many people trusting Jesus Christ. During the “many days” that he tarried in Joppa, Peter took the opportunity to ground these new believers in the truth of the Word, for faith built on miracles alone is not substantial.
It was a good thing Peter tarried in Joppa, because God met with him there in a thrilling new way. God’s servants need not always be “on the go.” They should take time to be alone with God, to reflect and meditate and pray, especially after experiencing great blessings. Yes, there were plenty of sick people Peter might have visited and healed, but God had other plans. He deliberately detained His servant in Joppa to prepare him for his third use of “the keys.”
It is significant that Peter stayed in the home of a tanner, because tanners were considered “unclean” by the Jewish rabbis (see ). God was moving Peter a step at a time from Jewish legalism into the freedom of His wonderful grace.
The Greatest Miracle—Winning Lost Sinners ()
Chapter 10 is pivotal in the Book of Acts, for it records the salvation of the Gentiles. We see Peter using “the keys of the kingdom” for the third and last time. He had opened the door of faith for the Jews (Acts 2) and also for the Samaritans (Acts 8), and now he would be used of God to bring the Gentiles into the church (see ; ).
This event took place about ten years after Pentecost. Why did the Apostles wait so long before going to the lost Gentiles? After all, in His Great Commission (), Jesus had told them to go into all the world; and it would seem logical for them to go to their Gentile neighbors as soon as possible. But God has His times as well as His plans, and the transition from the Jews to the Samaritans to the Gentiles was a gradual one.
The stoning of Stephen and the subsequent persecution of the church marked the climax of the Apostles’ witness to the Jews. Then the Gospel moved to the Samaritans. When God saved Saul of Tarsus, He got hold of His special envoy to the Gentiles. Now was the time to open the door of faith () to the Gentiles and bring them into the family of God.
There were four acts to this wonderful drama.
Preparation (vv. ). Before He could save the Gentiles, God had to prepare Peter to bring the message and Cornelius to hear the message. Salvation is a divine work of grace, but God works through human channels. Angels can deliver God’s messages to lost men, but they cannot preach the Gospel to them. That is our privilege—and responsibility.
Caesarea is sixty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem and thirty miles north of Joppa (Jaffa). At that time, Caesarea was the Roman capital of Judea and boasted of many beautiful public buildings. In that city lived Cornelius, the Roman centurion, whose heart had tired of pagan myths and empty religious rituals, and who had turned to Judaism in hopes he could find salvation. Cornelius was as close to Judaism as he could get without becoming a proselyte. There were many “God fearers” like him in the ancient world () and they proved to be a ready field for spiritual harvest.
It is interesting to see how religious a person can be and still not be saved. Certainly, Cornelius was sincere in his obedience to God’s Law, his fasting, and his generosity to the Jewish people (compare this to ). He was not permitted to offer sacrifices in the temple, so he presented his prayers to God as his sacrifices (). In every way, he was a model of religious respectability—and yet he was not a saved man.
The difference between Cornelius and many religious people today is this: he knew that his religious devotion was not sufficient to save him. Many religious people today are satisfied that their character and good works will get them to heaven, and they have no concept either of their own sin or of God’s grace. In his prayers, Cornelius was asking God to show him the way of salvation ().
In many respects, John Wesley was like Cornelius. He was a religious man, a church member, a minister, and the son of a minister. He belonged to a “religious club” at Oxford, the purpose of which was the perfecting of the Christian life. Wesley served as a foreign missionary, but even as he preached to others, he had no assurance of his own personal salvation.
On May 24, 1738, Wesley reluctantly attended a small meeting in London where someone was reading aloud from Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans. “About a quarter before nine,” Wesley wrote in his journal, “while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed, I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” The result was the great Wesleyan revival that not only swept many into the kingdom, but also helped transform British society through Christian social action.
God sent an angel to instruct Cornelius and, in true military fashion, Cornelius immediately obeyed. But why send for Peter, who was thirty miles away in Joppa, when Philip the evangelist was already in Caesarea? () Because it was Peter, not Philip, who had been given the “keys.” God not only works at the right time, but He also works through the right servant; and both are essential.
Peter also had to be prepared for this event since he had lived as an orthodox Jew all of his life (). The Law of Moses was a wall between the Jews and the Gentiles, and this wall had been broken down at the cross (). The Gentiles were considered aliens and strangers as far as the Jewish covenants and promises were concerned (). But now, all of that would change, and God would declare that, as far as the Jew and the Gentile were concerned, “There is no difference” either in condemnation () or in salvation ().
Why did God use a vision about food to teach Peter that the Gentiles were not unclean? For one thing, Peter was hungry, and a vision about food would certainly “speak to his condition,” as the Quakers say. Second, the distinction between “clean and unclean foods” was a major problem between the Jews and the Gentiles in that day. In fact, Peter’s Christian friends criticized him for eating with the Gentiles! () God used this centuries-old regulation (Lev. 11) to teach Peter an important spiritual lesson.
A third reason goes back to something Jesus had taught Peter and the other disciples when He was ministering on earth (). At that time, Peter did not fully understand what Jesus was saying, but now it would all come together. God was not simply changing Peter’s diet; He was changing His entire program! The Jew was not “clean” and the Gentile “unclean,” but both Jew and Gentile were “unclean” before God! “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy on all” (). This meant that a Gentile did not have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian.
Even though Peter’s refusal was in the most polite terms, it was still wrong. Dr. W. Graham Scroggie wrote, “You can say ‘No,’ and you can say ‘Lord’; but you cannot say ‘No, Lord!’ ” If He is truly our Lord, then we can only say “Yes!” to Him and obey His commands.
God’s timing is always perfect, and the three men from Caesarea arrived at the door just as Peter was pondering the meaning of the vision. The Spirit commanded Peter to meet the men and go with them. The phrase “nothing doubting” () means “making no distinctions.” You find it again in , and a similar word is used in (“contended with him”=“made a difference”). Peter was no longer to make any distinctions between the Jews and the Gentiles.
Explanation (vv. ). The fact that Peter allowed the Gentiles to lodge with him is another indication that the walls were coming down. Peter selected six Jewish believers to go along as witnesses (), three times the official number needed. It would take at least two days to cover the thirty miles between Joppa and Caesarea. When Peter arrived, he discovered that Cornelius had gathered relatives and friends to hear the message of life. He was a witness even before he became a Christian!
How easy it would have been for Peter to accept honor and use the situation to promote himself; but Peter was a servant, not a celebrity (). When he announced that he did not consider the Gentiles unclean, this must have amazed and rejoiced the hearts of his listeners. For centuries the Jews, on the basis of Old Testament Law, had declared the Gentiles to be unclean, and some Jews even referred to the Gentiles as “dogs.”
The remarkable thing in this section is Peter’s question, “I ask, therefore, for what intent ye have sent for me?” () Didn’t Peter know that he had been summoned there to preach the Gospel? Had he forgotten the commission to go to “the uttermost part of the earth”? Today, we can look back at developing events in the church and understand what God was doing, but it might not have been that easy had we been living in the midst of those events. In fact, the Jerusalem church questioned Peter about his actions (), and later called a conference to deal with the place of the Gentiles in the church (Acts 15).
Cornelius rehearsed his experience with the angel and then told Peter why he had been summoned: to tell him, his family, and his friends how they could be saved (). They were not interested Gentiles asking for a lecture on Jewish religion. They were lost sinners begging to be told how to be saved.
Before we leave this section, some important truths must be emphasized. First, the idea that “one religion is as good as another” is completely false. Those who tell us that we should worship “the God of many names” and not “change other people’s religions” are going contrary to Scripture. “Salvation is of the Jews” (), and there can be no salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ, who was born a Jew. Cornelius had piety and morality, but he did not have salvation. Some might say, “Leave Cornelius alone! His religion is a part of his culture, and it’s a shame to change his culture!” God does not see it that way. Apart from hearing the message of the Gospel and trusting Christ, Cornelius had no hope.
Second, the seeking Saviour () will find the seeking sinner (). Wherever there is a searching heart, God responds. This is why it is essential that we as God’s children obey His will and share His Word. You never know when your witness for Christ is exactly what somebody has been waiting and praying for.
Third, Peter certainly was privileged to minister to a model congregation (). They were all present, they wanted to hear the Word, and they listened, believed, and obeyed. What more could a preacher ask?
Proclamation (vv. ). There can be no faith apart from the Word (), and Peter preached that Word. God is no respecter of persons as far as nationality and race are concerned. When it comes to sin and salvation, “there is no difference” (; ; ). All men have the same Creator (), and all men need the same Saviour (). does not teach that we are saved by works, otherwise Peter would be contradicting himself (). To “fear God and work righteousness” is a description of the Christian life. To fear God is to reverence and trust Him (). The evidence of this faith is a righteous walk.
Peter then summarized the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Cornelius and his friends knew about Christ’s life and death, for “this thing was not done in a corner” (). Peter made it clear that Israel was God’s instrument for accomplishing His work (), but that Jesus is “Lord of all,” and not just Lord of Israel. From the very founding of the nation of Israel, God made it clear that the blessing would be from Israel to the whole world ().
The public at large knew about Christ’s life, ministry, and death, but only the Apostles and other believers were witnesses of His resurrection. As in his previous sermons, Peter laid the blame for the Crucifixion on the Jewish leaders (; ; ), as did Stephen (). Paul would pick up this same emphasis ().
Having finished this recitation of the historical basis for the Gospel message, Christ’s death and resurrection, Peter then announced the good news: “Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sin” (; see ). His hearers laid hold of that word “whosoever,” applied it to themselves, believed on Jesus Christ and were saved.
Vindication (vv. ). Peter was just getting started in his message when his congregation believed and the Holy Spirit interrupted the meeting (). God the Father interrupted Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration (), and God the Son interrupted him in the matter of the temple tax (). Now, God the Spirit interrupted him—and Peter never was able to finish his sermon! Would that preachers today had interruptions of this kind!
The Holy Spirit was giving witness to the six Jews who were present that these Gentiles were truly born again. After all, these men had not seen the vision with Peter and come to understand that the Gentiles were now on an equal footing with the Jews. This does not suggest that every new believer gives evidence of salvation by speaking in tongues, though every true believer will certainly use his or her tongue to glorify God (). This was an event parallel to Pentecost: the same Spirit who had come on the Jewish believers had now come on the Gentiles (; ). No wonder the men were astonished!
With this event, the period of transition in the early history of the church comes to an end. Believers among the Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles have all received the Spirit of God and are united in the body of Christ (; ).
These Gentiles were not saved by being baptized; they were baptized because they gave evidence of being saved. To use to teach salvation by baptism, or to teach salvation by the laying on of hands, is to ignore the transitional character of God’s program. Sinners have always been saved by faith; that is one principle God has never changed. But God does change His methods of operation, and this is clearly seen in Acts 1–10. The experience of Cornelius and his household makes it very clear that baptism is not essential for salvation. From now on, the order will be: hear the Word, believe on Christ, and receive the Spirit, and then be baptized and unite with other believers in the church to serve and worship God.
Peter tarried in Caesarea and helped to ground these new believers in the truth of the Word. Perhaps Philip assisted him. This entire experience is an illustration of the commission of . Peter went where God sent him and made disciples (“teach”) of the Gentiles. Then he baptized them and taught them the Word.
That same commission applies to the church today. Are we fulfilling it as we should?
Acts 11
Acts 11 describes how the church in Jerusalem related to “the saints below,” the Gentiles in Caesarea and Antioch who had trusted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. Having fellowship with the Gentiles was a new experience for these Jewish Christians, who all their lives had looked on the Gentiles as pagans and outsiders. Tradition said that a Gentile had to “become a Jew” in order to be accepted; but now Jews and Gentiles were united in the church through faith in Jesus Christ ().
Acts 11 describes three responses of the Jewish believers to the Gentile Christians. As you study these responses, you will better understand how Christians today ought to relate to one another.
Peter no sooner returned to Jerusalem when he was met by members of the strong legalistic party in the church of Judea (“they that were of the circumcision”) who rebuked him for fellowshipping with Gentiles and eating with them. Keep in mind that these Jewish believers did not yet understand the relationship between Law and grace, Jews and Gentiles, and Israel and the church. Most Christians today understand these truths; but, after all, we have Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Hebrews! There were many converted priests in the church who would be zealous for the Law (), and even the ordinary Jewish believer would have a difficult time making the transition (). It was not only a matter of religion, but also of culture; and cultural habits are very hard to break.
The phrase “contended with him” comes from the same word translated “doubting nothing” in and . It means “to make a difference.” These legalists were making a difference between the Gentiles and the Jews after Peter had demonstrated that “there is no difference!” God had declared the Gentiles “clean,” that is, accepted before God on the same basis as the Jews—through faith in Jesus Christ.
Peter had nothing to fear. After all, he had only followed orders from the Lord; and the Spirit had clearly confirmed the salvation of the Gentiles. Peter reviewed the entire experience from beginning to end; and, when he was finished, the Jewish legalists dropped their charges and glorified God for the salvation of the Gentiles (). However, this did not end the matter completely, for this same legalistic party later debated with Paul about the salvation of the Gentiles (Acts 14:26–15:2). Even after the Jerusalem Conference, legalistic teachers continued to attack Paul and invade the churches he founded. They wanted to woo the believers into a life of obedience to the Law (; , ). It is possible that many of these legalists were genuine believers, but they did not understand their freedom in Jesus Christ ().
In his personal defense in Acts 11, Peter presented three pieces of evidence: the vision from God (), the witness of the Spirit (, ), and the witness of the Word (). Of course, none of these men had seen the vision, but they trusted Peter’s report, for they knew that he had been as orthodox as they in his personal life (). He was not likely to go to the Gentiles on his own and then invent a story to back it up.
The witness of the Spirit was crucial, for this was God’s own testimony that He had indeed saved the Gentiles. It is interesting that Peter had to go all the way back to Pentecost to find an example of what happened in the home of Cornelius! This suggests that a dramatic “baptism of the Spirit” (), accompanied by speaking in tongues, was not an everyday occurrence in the early church. Peter could not use the experience of the Samaritans as his example, because the Samaritans received the gift of the Spirit through the laying on of the Apostles’ hands (). Cornelius and his household received the Spirit the moment they trusted Christ. This is the pattern for today.
“What was I, that I could withstand God?” asked Peter; and to this question, the legalists had no answer. From beginning to end, the conversion of the Gentiles was God’s gracious work. He gave them the gift of repentance and the gift of salvation when they believed. In later years, God would use the letters of Paul to explain the “one body,” how believing Jews and believing Gentiles are united in Christ (Eph. 2:11–3:12). But at that time, this “mystery” was still hidden; so we must not be too hard on those saints who were uneasy about the place of the Gentiles in the church.
Christians are to receive one another and not dispute over cultural differences or minor matters of personal conviction (Rom. 14–15). Some of the Jewish Christians in the early church wanted the Gentiles to become Jews, and some of the Gentile believers wanted the Jews to stop being Jews and become Gentiles! This attitude can create serious division in the church even today, so it is important that we follow the example of and the admonition of , and receive those whom God has also received.
They Encouraged the Gentiles ()
When the saints were scattered abroad during Saul’s persecution of the church (), some of them ended up in Antioch, the capital of Syria, 300 miles north of Jerusalem. (Don’t confuse this city with Antioch in Pisidia, .) There were at least sixteen Antiochs in the ancient world, but this one was the greatest.
With a population of half a million, Antioch ranked as the third largest city in the Roman Empire, following Rome and Alexandria. Its magnificent buildings helped give it the name “Antioch the Golden, Queen of the East.” The main street was more than four miles long, paved with marble, and lined on both sides by marble colonnades. It was the only city in the ancient world at that time that had its streets lighted at night.
A busy port and a center for luxury and culture, Antioch attracted all kinds of people, including wealthy retired Roman officials who spent their days chatting in the baths or gambling at the races. With its large cosmopolitan population and its great commercial and political power, Antioch presented to the church an exciting opportunity for evangelism.
Antioch was a wicked city, perhaps second only to Corinth. Though all the Greek, Roman, and Syrian deities were honored, the local shrine was dedicated to Daphne, whose worship included immoral practices. “Antioch was to the Roman world what New York City is to ours,” writes James A. Kelso in An Archaeologist Follows the Apostle Paul. “Here where all the gods of antiquity were worshiped, Christ must be exalted.” Not only was an effective church built in Antioch, but it became the church that sent Paul out to win the Gentile world for Christ.
When the persecuted believers arrived in Antioch, they did not at all feel intimidated by the magnificence of the buildings or the pride of the citizens. The Word of God was on their lips and the hand of God was on their witness, and “a great number” of sinners repented and believed. It was a thrilling work of God’s wonderful grace.
The church leaders in Jerusalem had a responsibility to “shepherd” the scattered flock, which now included Gentile congregations as far away as Syria. Apparently the Apostles were ministering away from Jerusalem at the time, so the elders commissioned Barnabas to go to Antioch to find out what was going on among the Gentiles. This proved to be a wise choice, for Barnabas lived up to his nickname, “son of encouragement” ().
gives us a “spiritual profile” of Barnabas, and he appears to be the kind of Christian all of us would do well to emulate. He was a righteous man who obeyed the Word in daily life so that his character was above reproach. He was filled with the Spirit, which explains the effectiveness of his ministry. That he was a man of faith is evident from the way he encouraged the church and then encouraged Saul. New Christians and new churches need people like Barnabas to encourage them in their growth and ministry.
How did Barnabas encourage these new Gentile believers? For one thing, he rejoiced at what he saw. Worshiping with Gentiles was a new experience for him, but he approached it positively and did not look for things to criticize. It was a work of God, and Barnabas gave thanks for God’s grace.
He emphasized dedication of the heart as he taught the people the Word of God. The phrase “cleave [cling] to the Lord” does not suggest that they were to “keep themselves saved.” The same grace that saves us can also keep us (; ). The phrase reminds us of Joshua’s admonition to Israel in . To “cleave to the Lord” includes loving the Lord, walking in His ways, obeying His Word, and serving Him wholeheartedly. It means that we belong to Him alone and that we cultivate our devotion to Him. “No man can serve two masters” ().
There were two wonderful results from Barnabas’ work in Antioch. First, the church’s witness made a great impact on the city so that “many people were added to the Lord” (). When the saints are grounded in the Word, they will have a strong witness to the lost, and there will be a balance in the church between edification and evangelism, worship and witness, teaching and testifying.
Second, the growth of the church meant that Barnabas needed help; so he went to Tarsus and enlisted Saul. But why go so far away just to find an assistant? Why not send to Jerusalem and ask the deacon Nicolas who was from Antioch? () Because Barnabas knew that God had commissioned Saul to minister to the Gentiles (; ; ). You recall that Barnabas befriended Saul in Jerusalem (), and no doubt the two of them often talked about Saul’s special call from God.
Saul had been converted about ten years when Barnabas brought him to Antioch. The New Testament does not tell us what Saul did back home in Tarsus after he left Jerusalem (), but it is likely he was busy evangelizing both Jews and Gentiles. It may have been during this period that he founded the churches in Cilicia (, ; ), and that he experienced some of the sufferings listed in . As he witnessed in the synagogues, you can be sure he would not have an easy time of it!
What Barnabas did for Saul needs to be practiced in our churches today. Mature believers need to enlist others and encourage them in their service for the Lord. It was one of D.L. Moody’s policies that each new Christian be given a task soon after conversion. At first, it might be only passing out hymnals or ushering people to their seats, but each convert had to be busy. As previously mentioned, he said, “It is better to put ten men to work than to do the work of ten men.” Many of Mr. Moody’s “assistants” became effective Christian workers in their own right and this multiplied the witness.
It was at Antioch that the name Christian was first applied to the disciples of Jesus Christ. The Latin suffix ian means “belonging to the party of.” In derision, some of the pagan citizens of Antioch joined this Latin suffix to the Hebrew name “Christ” and came up with Christian. The name is found only three times in the entire New Testament: ; ; .
Unfortunately, the word Christian has lost a great deal of significance over the centuries and no longer means “one who has turned from sin, trusted Jesus Christ, and received salvation by grace” (). Many people who have never been born again consider themselves “Christians” simply because they say they are not “pagans.” After all, they may belong to a church, attend services somewhat regularly, and even occasionally give to the work of the church! But it takes more than that for a sinner to become a child of God. It takes repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins on the cross and rose again to give us eternal life.
The believers in the early church suffered because they were Christians (). Dr. David Otis Fuller has asked, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” A good question! And the answer is a matter of life or death!
They Received Help from the Gentiles ()
The foundation for the church was laid by the Apostles and prophets (), and then both eventually moved off the scene. After all, you don’t keep laying the foundation! The New Testament prophets received their messages from the Lord by the Holy Spirit, and delivered them to the people, sometimes in a tongue. The message would then have to be interpreted, after which the people would evaluate the message to make sure it came from God (note ; ; ).
The New Testament prophets received their messages from the Lord immediately, but ministers and teachers today get their messages mediately through the Scriptures. We today have the completed Word of God from which the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us. ties together the gifts of prophecy, discernment, and tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Of course, the Spirit is sovereign and can give to a believer any gift He desires (), but the passing of Apostles and prophets from the scene, and the completing of God’s revelation in the Word, suggest that a change has taken place.
There are people today who claim to receive special “words of revelation” or “words of wisdom” from the Lord, but such revelations are suspect and even dangerous. “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (). “Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you,” warned Jeremiah. “They make you vain [fill you with false hopes]; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord” ().
The Spirit told Agabus (see ) that a great famine was soon to come, and it did come during the reign of Claudius Caesar (A.D. 41–54) when crops were poor for many years. Ancient writers mention at least four famines: two in Rome, one in Greece, and one in Judea. The famine in Judea was especially severe, and the Jewish historian Josephus records that many people died for lack of money to buy what little food was available.
Agabus delivered his message to the Antioch believers; and they determined to help their fellow Christians in Judea. The purpose of true prophecy is not to satisfy our curiosity about the future but to stir up our hearts to do the will of God. The believers could not stop the famine from coming, but they could send relief to those in need.
An important spiritual principle is illustrated in this passage: if people have been a spiritual blessing to us, we should minister to them out of our material possessions. “Let him who is taught in the word share in all good things with him who teaches” (, NKJV). The Jewish believers in Jerusalem had brought the Gospel to Antioch. Then they had sent Barnabas to encourage the new believers. It was only right that the Gentiles in Antioch reciprocate and send material help to their Jewish brothers and sisters in Judea. Some years later, Paul would gather a similar offering from the Gentile churches and take it to the saints in Jerusalem (; and see ).
It is important to note that a change had taken place in the Jerusalem church. At one time, nobody in the church had any need (), nor was it necessary to ask others for help. Those early years were “days of heaven on earth” as God richly blessed His people and used them as witnesses to the unbelieving nation. They were “times of refreshing” from the Lord (). But when the message moved from the Jews to the Samaritans and the Gentiles, the Jerusalem “sharing program” gradually faded away and things became more normal.
The pattern for Christian giving today is not and , but , “every man according to his ability.” It is this pattern that Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 8–9. The practice of “Christian communism” was found only in Jerusalem and was a temporary measure while the message was going “to the Jew first.” Like God’s care of the Jews in the wilderness, it was a living exhibition of the blessings God would bestow if the nation would repent and believe.
The fact that the church elected Barnabas and Saul to take the relief offering to Jerusalem is evidence that they had confidence in them. The men had been working together in the teaching of the Word, and now they joined hands in the practical ministry of relieving the wants of the Jerusalem believers. No doubt they also ministered the Word along the way as they made the long journey from Antioch to Jerusalem. In a short time, the Spirit would call these two friends to join forces and take the Gospel to the Gentiles in other lands (), and they would travel many miles together.
Another significant result from this ministry was the addition of John Mark to their “team” (). It is likely that Mark was converted through the ministry of Peter (). His mother’s house was a gathering place for the Jerusalem believers (), and she and Barnabas were related (). Even though John Mark failed in his first “term” as a missionary (), and helped cause a rift between Barnabas and Paul (), he later became an effective assistant to Paul () and was used of God to write the Gospel of Mark.
The word elders in has not been used before in Acts, except to refer to the Jewish leaders (, ; ). In the church, the elders were mature believers who had the spiritual oversight of the ministry (; ). When you compare and , and and , you learn that “elder” and “bishop” [overseer] are equivalent titles. The elders/bishops were the “pastors” of the flocks, assisted by the deacons; and the qualifications for both are found in 1 Timothy 3.
Wherever Paul established churches, he saw to it that qualified elders were ordained to give leadership to the assemblies (; ). In the Jerusalem church, the Apostles and elders gave spiritual oversight (, , , ). The delegation from the Antioch church did not ignore the spiritual leaders in Jerusalem, but delivered the gift to them for distribution to the needy members. This is an important principle and should be heeded in this day when so many organizations want to get support from local churches.
Was it a humbling experience for the Jewish believers to receive help from the Gentiles? Perhaps, but it was also a beautiful demonstration of love and a wonderful testimony of unity. Sir Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” It was an enriching experience for the churches in Jerusalem and in Antioch, for there is blessing both in giving and receiving when God’s grace is in control.
It is unfortunate when individual Christians and local churches forget those who have been a spiritual blessing to them. The church at Antioch is a splendid example of how we as believers ought to show gratitude in a practical way to those who have helped us in our Christian life. Phillips Brooks was asked what he would do to revive a dead church, and he replied, “I would take up a missionary offering!”
Sincerely thinking of others is still the best formula for a happy and useful Christian life, both for individuals and for churches.
Acts 12
Imagine waking up to a miracle and having an angel for your alarm clock!
That’s what happened to Peter when he was in prison for the third time, awaiting trial and certain death. Years later, when he wrote his first epistle, Peter may have had this miraculous experience in mind when he quoted , “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (). That quotation certainly summarizes what God did for Peter, and it reveals to us three wonderful assurances to encourage us in the difficult days of life.
“The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous” ().
God watched and noted what Herod Agrippa I was doing to His people. This evil man was the grandson of Herod the Great, who ordered the Bethlehem children to be murdered, and the nephew of Herod Antipas, who had John the Baptist beheaded. A scheming and murderous family, the Herods were despised by the Jews, who resented having Edomites ruling over them. Of course, Herod knew this; so he persecuted the church to convince the Jewish people of his loyalty to the traditions of the fathers. Now that the Gentiles were openly a part of the church, Herod’s plan was even more agreeable to the nationalistic Jews who had no place for “pagans.”
Herod had several believers arrested, among them James, the brother of John, whom he beheaded. Thus James became the first of the Apostles to be martyred. When you ponder his death in the light of , it takes on special significance. James and John, with their mother, had asked for thrones, but Jesus made it clear that there can be no glory apart from suffering. “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” He asked (). Their bold reply was, “We are able.”
Of course, they did not know what they were saying, but they eventually discovered the high cost of winning a throne of glory: James was arrested and killed, and John became an exile on the Isle of Patmos, a prisoner of Rome (). Indeed, they did drink of the cup and share in the baptism of suffering that their Lord had experienced!
If it pleased the Jews when James was killed, just think how delighted they would be if Peter were slain! God permitted Herod to arrest Peter and put him under heavy guard in prison. Sixteen soldiers, four for each watch, kept guard over the apostle, with two soldiers chained to the prisoner and two watching the doors. After all, the last time Peter was arrested, he mysteriously got out of jail, and Herod was not about to let that happen again.
Why was James allowed to die while Peter was rescued? After all, both were dedicated servants of God, needed by the church. The only answer is the sovereign will of God, the very thing Peter and the church had prayed about after their second experience of persecution (). Herod had “stretched forth” his hand to destroy the church, but God would stretch forth His hand to perform signs and wonders and glorify His Son (). God allowed Herod to kill James, but He kept him from harming Peter. It was the throne in heaven that was in control, not the throne on earth.
Please note that the Jerusalem church did not replace James as they had replaced Judas (). As long as the Gospel was going “to the Jew first,” it was necessary to have the full complement of 12 Apostles to witness to the twelve tribes of Israel. The stoning of Stephen ended that special witness to Israel, so the number of official witnesses was no longer important.
It is good to know that, no matter how difficult the trials or how disappointing the news, God is still on the throne and has everything under control. We may not always understand His ways, but we know His sovereign will is best.
“And His ears are open unto their prayers” ().
The phrase “but prayer” is the turning point in the story. Never underestimate the power of a praying church! “The angel fetched Peter out of prison,” said the Puritan preacher Thomas Watson, “but it was prayer that fetched the angel.” Follow the scenes in this exciting drama in Acts 12.
Peter sleeping (vv. ). If you were chained to two Roman soldiers and facing the possibility of being executed the next day, would you sleep very soundly? Probably not, but Peter did. In fact, Peter was so sound asleep that the angel had to strike him on the side to wake him up!
The fact that Peter had been a prisoner twice before is not what gave him his calm heart. For that matter, this prison experience was different from the other two. This time, he was alone, and the deliverance did not come right away. The other two times, he was able to witness; but this time, no special witnessing opportunities appeared. Peter’s previous arrests had taken place after great victories, but this one followed the death of James, his dear friend and colleague. It was a new situation altogether.
What gave Peter such confidence and peace? To begin with, many believers were praying for him (), and kept it up day and night for a week; and this helped to bring him peace (). Prayer has a way of reminding us of the promises of God’s Word, such as, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for Thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety” (). Or, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness” ().
But the main cause of Peter’s peace was the knowledge that Herod could not kill him. Jesus had promised Peter that he would live to be an old man and end his life crucified on a Roman cross (). Peter simply laid hold of that promise and committed the entire situation to the Lord, and God gave him peace and rest. He did not know how or when God would deliver him, but he did know that deliverance was coming.
Peter obeying (vv. ). Once again we behold the ministry of angels (; ; , ) and are reminded that the angels care for God’s children (). The angel brought light and liberty into the prison cell, but the guards had no idea that anything was going on. However, if Peter was going to be delivered, he had to obey what the angel commanded. He probably thought it was a dream or a vision, but he arose and followed the angel out of the prison and into the street. Only then did he come to himself and realize that he had been a part of another miracle.
The angel commanded Peter to bind his garments with his girdle, and then to put on his sandals. These were certainly ordinary tasks to do while a miracle is taking place! But God often joins the miraculous with the ordinary just to encourage us to keep in balance. Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes, but then commanded His disciples to gather up the leftovers. He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, then told her parents to give her something to eat. Even in miracles, God is always practical.
God alone can do the extraordinary, but His people must do the ordinary. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but the men had to roll the stone from the tomb. The same angel that removed the chains from Peter’s hands could have put the shoes on Peter’s feet, but he told Peter to do it. God never wastes miracles.
Peter had to stoop before he could walk. It was a good lesson in humility and obedience. In fact, from that night on, every time Peter put on his shoes, it must have reminded him of the prison miracle and encouraged him to trust the Lord.
This deliverance took place at Passover season, the time of year when the Jews celebrated their Exodus from Egypt. The word “delivered” in is the same word Stephen used when he spoke about the Jewish Exodus (). Peter experienced a new kind of “exodus” in answer to the prayers of God’s people.
Peter knocking (vv. ). As Peter followed the angel, God opened the way; and when Peter was free, the angel vanished. His work was done and now it was up to Peter to trust the Lord and use his common sense in taking the next step. Since it was the prayers of God’s people that had helped to set him free, Peter decided that the best place for him would be in that prayer meeting at Mary’s house. Furthermore, he wanted to report the good news that God had answered their prayers. So Peter headed for the house of Mary, mother of John Mark.
When you remember that (a) many people were praying, (b) they were praying earnestly, (c) they prayed night and day for perhaps as long as a week, and (d) their prayers were centered specifically on Peter’s deliverance, then the scene that is described here is almost comical. The answer to their prayers is standing at the door, but they don’t have faith enough to open the door and let him in! God could get Peter out of a prison, but Peter can’t get himself into a prayer meeting!
Of course, the knock at the door might have been that of Herod’s soldiers, coming to arrest more believers. It took courage for the maid Rhoda (“rose”) to go to the door; but imagine her surprise when she recognized Peter’s voice! She was so overcome that she forgot to open the door! Poor Peter had to keep knocking and calling while the “believers” in the prayer meeting decided what to do! And the longer he stood at the gate, the more dangerous his situation became.
The exclamation, “It is his angel!” () reveals their belief in “guardian angels” (; ). Of course, the logical question is, “Why would an angel bother to knock?” All he had to do was simply walk right in! Sad to say, good theology plus unbelief often leads to fear and confusion.
We must face the fact that even in the most fervent prayer meetings there is sometimes a spirit of doubt and unbelief. We are like the father who cried to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!” () These Jerusalem saints believed that God could answer their prayers, so they kept at it night and day. But, when the answer came right to their door, they refused to believe it. God graciously honors even the weakest faith, but how much more He would do if only we would trust Him.
Note the plural pronouns in : “They … opened the door and … they were astonished.” I get the impression that, for safety’s sake, they decided to open the door together and face together whatever might be on the other side. Rhoda would have done it by herself, but she was too overcome with joy. It is commendable that a lowly servant girl recognized Peter’s voice and rejoiced that he was free. Rhoda surely was a believer who knew Peter as a friend.
Peter declaring (v. ). Apparently everybody began to speak at once and Peter had to silence them. He quickly gave an account of the miracle of his deliverance and no doubt thanked them for their prayer help. He instructed them to get the word to James, the half brother of the Lord, who was the leader of the Jerusalem assembly (; ; ). James was also the author of the Epistle of James.
Where Peter went when he left the meeting, nobody knows to this day! It certainly was a well-kept secret. Except for a brief appearance in Acts 15, Peter walks off the pages of the Book of Acts to make room for Paul and the story of his ministry among the Gentiles. tells us that Peter traveled in ministry with his wife, and suggests that he visited Corinth. There is no evidence in Scripture that Peter ever visited Rome. In fact, if Peter had founded the church in Rome, it is unlikely that Paul would have gone there, for his policy was to work where other Apostles had not labored (). Also, he certainly would have said something to or about Peter when he wrote his letter to the Romans.
Before we leave this section, it would be profitable to consider how Christians can best pray for those in prison; for even today there are many people in prison only because they are Christians. “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them” commands . In other words, pray for them as you would want them to pray for you if your situations were reversed.
We ought to pray that God will give them grace to bear with suffering so that they might have a triumphant witness for the Lord. We should ask the Spirit to minister the Word to them and bring it to their remembrance. It is right to ask God to protect His own and to give them wisdom as they must day after day deal with a difficult enemy. We must ask God that, if it is His will, they be delivered from their bondage and suffering and reunited with their loved ones.
“But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” ().
If the account had ended with Peter’s departure, we would find ourselves wondering, “What happened to the prison guards and to Herod?” We do not know at what time the angel delivered Peter, but when the next quaternion arrived at the cell, imagine their consternation when they discovered that the guards were there but the prisoner was gone! If the new watch awakened the old watch, it was certainly a rude awakening for them! If the old watch was already awake and alert, they must have had a difficult time explaining the situation to the new watch. How could a chained prisoner escape when there were four guards present and the doors were locked?
If a guard permitted a prisoner to escape, Roman law required that he receive the same punishment that the prisoner would have received, even if it was death (see ; ). This law did not strictly apply in Herod’s jurisdiction, so the king was not forced to kill the guards; but, being a Herod, he did it anyway. Instead of killing one man to please the Jews, he killed four and perhaps hoped it would please them more.
“The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead” (). This truth is illustrated in the death of Herod. While God does not always bring retribution this quickly, we can be sure that the Judge of all the earth will do what is right (; ).
The people of Tyre and Sidon, who depended on the Jews for food (see ), had in some way displeased King Herod and were in danger of losing this assistance. In true political fashion, they bribed Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bed chamber, and thus a trusted official; he in turn convinced the king to meet the delegation. It was an opportunity for the proud king to display his authority and glory, and for the delegates to please him with their flattery.
The Jewish historian Josephus said that this scene took place during a festival honoring Claudius Caesar, and that the king wore a beautiful silver garment in honor of the occasion. We do not know what Herod said in his oration, but we do know why he said it: he wanted to impress the people. And he did! They played on his Herodian ego and told him he was a god, and he loved every minute of it.
But he did not give the glory to the Lord, so this whole scene was nothing but idolatry. “I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another” (; see ). Instead of Peter being killed by Herod, it was Herod who was killed by Peter’s God! Perhaps the same angel who delivered Peter also smote the king. Herod contracted some affliction in his bowels and died five days later, according to Josephus. This was in A.D. 44.
This event is more than a slice of ancient history, because it typifies the world and its people today. The citizens of Tyre and Sidon were concerned about one thing only—getting sufficient food to feed their stomachs. To be sure, food is essential to life, but when we pay any price to get that food, we are doing wrong. By flattering the king and calling him a god, the delegation knew they could get what they wanted.
I cannot help but see in King Herod an illustration of the future “man of sin” who will one day rule the world and persecute God’s people (2 Thes. 2; Rev. 13). This “man of sin” (or Antichrist) will make himself god and will command the worship of the whole world. But Jesus Christ will return and judge him and those who follow him ().
The world still lives for praise and pleasure. Man has made himself his own god (). The world still lives on the physical and ignores the spiritual (see ). It lives by force and flattery instead of faith and truth, and one day it will be judged.
The church today, like Israel of old, suffers because of people like Herod who use their authority to oppose the truth. Beginning with Pharaoh in Egypt, God’s people have often suffered under despotic rulers and governments, and God has always preserved His witness in the world. God has not always judged evil officials as He judged Herod, but He has always watched over His people and seen to it that they did not suffer and die in vain. Our freedom today was purchased by their bondage.
The early church had no “political clout” or friends in high places to “pull strings” for them. Instead, they went to the highest throne of all, the throne of grace. They were a praying people, for they knew that God could solve their problems. God’s glorious throne was greater than the throne of Herod, and God’s heavenly army could handle Herod’s weak soldiers any day or night! The believers did not need to bribe anyone at court. They simply took their case to the highest court and left it with the Lord!
And what was the result? “But the word of God grew and multiplied” (). This is another of Luke’s summaries, or “progress reports,” that started with (see ; ; ; ). Luke is accomplishing the purpose of his book and showing us how the church spread throughout the Roman world from its small beginnings in Jerusalem. What an encouragement to us today!
At the beginning of Acts 12, Herod seemed to be in control and the church was losing the battle. But at the end of the chapter, Herod is dead and the church—very much alive—is growing rapidly!
The secret? A praying church!
Missionary Isobel Kuhn used to pray when in trouble, “If this obstacle is from Thee, Lord, I accept it; but if it is from Satan, I refuse him and all his works in the name of Calvary!” And Dr. Alan Redpath has often said, “Let’s keep our chins up and our knees down—we’re on the victory side!”
God works when churches pray, and Satan still trembles “when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”
Acts 13–14
We usually identify the preaching of the Gospel with the quiet rural villages of Palestine where the Lord Jesus ministered. For this reason, many Christians are surprised to learn that the church in the Book of Acts was almost entirely urban. Historian Wayne A. Meeks writes that “within a decade of the crucifixion of Jesus, the village culture of Palestine had been left behind, and the Greco-Roman city became the dominant environment of the Christian movement” (The First Urban Christians, p. 11).
The church began in Jerusalem, and then spread to other cities, including Samaria, Damascus, Caesarea, and Antioch in Syria. At least forty different cities are named in Acts. From Antioch, Paul and his helpers carried the Gospel throughout the then-known world. In fact, the record given in Acts 13–28 is almost a review of ancient geography. About the year 56, the Apostle Paul was able to write, “So that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ” (). What a record!
In these two chapters, Dr. Luke described Paul’s ministry in six different cities, beginning and ending at Antioch.
That sainted missionary to India and Persia, Henry Martyn, once said, “The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions, and the nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we must become.” Paul (Saul) and Barnabas had that experience as they ministered in Antioch and were called by the Spirit to take the Gospel to the Roman world.
Until now, Jerusalem had been the center of ministry, and Peter had been the key apostle. But from this point on, Antioch in Syria would become the new center (), and Paul the new leader. The Gospel was on the move!
Luke listed five different men who were ministering in the church: Barnabas, whom we have already met (; ; ); Simeon, who may have been from Africa since he was nicknamed “Black”; Lucius, who came from Cyrene and may have been one of the founders of the church in Antioch (); Manaen, who was an intimate friend (or perhaps an adopted foster brother) of Herod Antipas, who had killed John the Baptist; and Saul (Paul), last on the list but soon to become first.
These men were serving as “prophets and teachers” in a local church. The prophets helped lay the foundation for the church as they proclaimed the Word of God (; ). They were more “forth-tellers” than “foretellers,” though at times the prophets did announce things to come (). The teachers helped to ground the converts in the doctrines of the faith ().
God had already called Paul to minister to the Gentiles (; ), and now He summoned Barnabas to labor with him. The church confirmed their calling, commissioned the men, and sent them forth. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, working through the local church, to equip and enlist believers to go forth and serve. The modern mission board is only a “sending agency” that expedites the work authorized by the local church.
Barnabas and Paul took John Mark with them as their assistant. He was a cousin to Barnabas (), and his mother’s home in Jerusalem was a gathering place for the believers (). It is likely that it was Peter who led John Mark to faith in Christ (). John Mark no doubt helped Barnabas and Paul in numerous ways, relieving them of tasks and details that would have interfered with their important ministry of the Word.
It was logical to go first to Cyprus, for this was the home of Barnabas (). Luke gives us no details of the ministry in Salamis, the great commercial center at the east end of the island. We trust that some people did believe the Gospel and that a local assembly was formed. The men then moved ninety miles to Paphos on the west end of the island, and there they met their first opposition.
Paphos was the capital of Cyprus, and the chief Roman official there was Sergius Paulus, “an understanding man” who wanted to hear the Word of God. He was opposed by a Jewish false prophet named “Son of Jesus [Joshua].” It is unusual to find a Jewish false prophet and sorcerer, for the Jews traditionally shunned such demonic activities. The name Elymas means “sorcerer” or “wise man” (cf. the “wise men” of Matt. 2).
This event is an illustration of the lesson that Jesus taught in the Parable of the Tares (, ): wherever the Lord sows His true children (the wheat), Satan comes along and sows a counterfeit (the tares), a child of the devil. Paul recognized that Elymas was a child of the devil (), and he inflicted blindness on the false prophet as a judgment from God. This miracle was also evidence to Sergius Paulus that Paul and Barnabas were servants of the true God and preached the true message of salvation (). The Roman official believed and was saved.
is the first place you find the familiar name Paul in the New Testament. As a Jewish Roman citizen, the apostle’s full name was probably “Saul Paulus,” for many Jews had both Jewish and Roman names.
Why did John Mark desert his friends and return to Jerusalem? Perhaps he was just plain homesick, or he may have become unhappy because Paul had begun to take over the leadership from Mark’s cousin Barnabas (note “Paul and his company” in ). Mark was a devoted Jew, and he may have felt uncomfortable with the saved Gentiles. Some students think that John Mark’s return to Jerusalem helped start the opposition of the legalistic Judaizers who later opposed Paul (see Acts 15 and the Epistle to the Galatians).
Another possibility is the fear of danger as the party moved into new and difficult areas. But whatever the cause of his defection, John Mark did something so serious that Paul did not want him back on his “team” again! () Later, Paul would enlist Timothy to take John Mark’s place (). John Mark did redeem himself and was eventually accepted and approved by Paul ().
During my years of ministry as a pastor and as a member of several mission boards, I have seen first-term workers do what John Mark did; and it has always been heartbreaking. But I have also seen some of them restored to missionary service, thanks to the prayers and encouragement of God’s people. A.T. Robertson said that Mark “flickered in the crisis,” but the light did not completely go out. This is an encouragement to all of us.
Antioch in Pisidia—Disputation ()
Paul and Barnabas traveled 100 miles north and about 3,600 feet up to get to this important city on the Roman road. As you follow Paul’s journeys in Acts, you will notice that he selected strategic cities, planted churches in them, and went on from the churches to evangelize the surrounding areas. You will also notice that, where it was possible, he started his ministry in the local synagogue, for he had a great burden for his people (; ), and he found in the synagogue both Jews and Gentiles ready to hear the Word of God.
This is the first of Paul’s sermons recorded in the Book of Acts, and it may be divided into three parts, each of which is introduced by the phrase “men and brethren.”
Preparation (vv. ). In this section, Paul reviewed the history of Israel, climaxing with the ministry of John the Baptist and the coming of their Messiah. He made it clear that it was God who was at work in and for Israel, preparing the way for the coming of the promised Messiah. He also reminded his hearers that the nation had not always been faithful to the Lord and the covenant, but had often rebelled. Every pious Jew knew that the Messiah would come from David’s family, and that a prophet would announce His coming beforehand. John the Baptist was that prophet.
Declaration (vv. ). As Paul addressed both the Jews and the Gentile “God-fearers” in the congregation, he changed his approach from third person (“they”) to second person (“you”). He explained to them why their leaders in Jerusalem rejected and crucified the nation’s Messiah. It was not because they had not read or heard the message of the prophets, but because they did not understand the message. Furthermore, the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth was even promised in the prophets. (Peter took this same approach in his second message, .)
It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ that was the crucial event: “But God raised Him from the dead” (). (See , , and note that “raised” in means “brought.”) Paul has declared the Gospel to them, “the word of this salvation” () and “the glad tidings” (). Christ died, He was buried, and He arose again!
Since Paul was addressing a synagogue congregation, he used the Old Testament Scriptures to support his argument. In , is quoted; and note that it refers to the resurrection of Christ, not to the birth of Christ. The “virgin tomb” () was like a “womb” that gave birth to Jesus Christ in resurrection glory.
Then he quoted , referring to the covenant that God made with David, “the sure mercies of David.” God had promised David that from him the Messiah would come (). This was an “everlasting covenant” with a throne to be established forever (, ). If Jesus is the Messiah, and He died and remained dead, this covenant could never be fulfilled. Therefore, Jesus had to be raised from the dead or the covenant would prove false.
His third quotation was from , the same passage Peter quoted in his message at Pentecost (). The Jews considered Psalm 16 to be a messianic psalm, and it was clear that this promise did not apply to David, who was dead, buried, and decayed. It had to apply to Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Application (vv. ). Paul had declared the Good News to them (), and now all that remained was to make the personal application and “draw the net.” He told them that through faith in Jesus Christ, they could have two blessings that the Law could never provide: the forgiveness of their sins and justification before the throne of God.
Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ. It has to do with the believer’s standing before the throne of God. The Jews were taught that God justified the righteous and punished the wicked (). But God justifies the ungodly who will put their faith in Jesus Christ ().
The Law cannot justify the sinner; it can only condemn him (; ). God not only forgives our sins, but He also gives us the very righteousness of Christ and puts it on our account! This was certainly good news delivered by Paul to that searching congregation of Jews and Gentiles who had no peace in their hearts, even though they were religious.
Paul closed his message with a note of warning taken from (and see ). In Habakkuk’s day, the “unbelievable work” God was doing was the raising up of the Chaldeans to chasten His people, a work so remarkable that nobody would believe it. After all, why would God use an evil pagan nation to punish His own chosen people, sinful though they might be? God was using Gentiles to punish Jews! But the “wonderful work” in Paul’s day was that God was using the Jews to save the Gentiles!
What was the result? Many Jews and Gentile proselytes believed and associated with Paul and Barnabas. The Gentiles were especially excited about Paul’s message and wanted him to tell them more, which he did the next Sabbath. The people had done a good job of spreading the news, because a great crowd gathered. They were probably predominantly Gentiles, which made the Jews envious and angry.
Paul’s final message in the synagogue declared that God had sent the Word to the Jews first (; ), but they had now rejected it. Therefore, Paul would now take the Good News to the Gentiles; and he quoted to back up his decision. (note also .) He was ready to go to the ends of the earth to win souls to Christ!
gives us the divine side of evangelism, for God has His elect people (). The word translated ordained means “enrolled,” and indicates that God’s people have their names written in God’s book (; ). But is the human side of evangelism: if we do not preach the Word, then nobody can believe and be saved. It takes both (see and ).
The unbelieving Jews were not going to sit back and let Paul and Barnabas take over. First, they disputed with them, and then brought legal action against them and expelled them from their borders. The missionaries were not discouraged: they shook off the dust of their feet against them (; ) and went to the next town, leaving behind them a group of joyful disciples.
This city, more Greek than Roman, was in the Roman province of Galatia. Paul’s ministry in the synagogue was singularly blessed and a multitude of Jews and Gentiles believed. Once again, the unbelieving Jews stirred up hatred and opposition, but the missionaries stayed on and witnessed boldly for Christ. (Note the “therefore” in .)
God also enabled the men to perform signs and wonders as their “credentials” that they were indeed the servants of the true God (see ; ; ). Faith is not based on miracles (; ), but faith can be bolstered by miracles. The important thing is “the word of His grace” that performs the work of His grace ().
The result? The city was divided and the Christians were threatened with public disgrace and stoning. Obedient to their Lord’s counsel in , they fled from that area into a different Roman district and continued to minister the Word of God.
Lystra was in the Roman province of Galatia, about eighteen miles southwest of Iconium. This was the first of three visits Paul made to this city, and an eventful visit it was! On his second missionary journey, Paul enlisted Timothy in Lystra (); and he made a visit to this church on his third journey as well (). We should note four different responses during this visit.
The crippled man’s response to the Word (vv. ). Both Peter and Paul healed men who were lame from birth (Acts 3). Had their lameness been caused by disease or accident, the cure might have been attributed to a sudden change in their health. As it was, the cure was obviously miraculous.
The word translated “speak” in means ordinary conversation, though it can refer to formal speaking. It is likely that Paul was simply conversing with some of the citizens in the marketplace, telling them about Jesus, and the lame man overheard what he said. The Word produced faith () and faith brought healing.
The crowd’s response to the crippled man (vv. ). Miracles by themselves do not produce either conviction or faith. They must be accompanied by the Word (). This was a superstitious crowd that interpreted events in the light of their own mythology. They identified Barnabas as Jupiter (Zeus), the chief of the gods; and Paul, the speaker, they identified with Mercury (Hermes), the messenger of the gods. Jupiter was the patron deity of the city, so this was a great opportunity for the priest of Jupiter to become very important and lead the people in honoring their god.
The Apostles’ response to the crowd (vv. ). How easy it would have been to accept this worship and try to use the honor as a basis for teaching the people the truth, but that is not the way God’s true servants minister (; ). Paul and Barnabas opposed what they were doing and boldly told the people that the gods of Lystra were “vanities.”
Paul’s message was not based on the Old Testament, because this was a pagan Gentile audience. He started with the witness of God in creation (see ). He made it clear that there is but one God who is the living God, the giving God, and the forgiving God. And He has been patient with the sinning nations () and has not judged them for their sins as they deserve.
The crowd quieted down, but when some troublemaking Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, the crowd followed their lead and stoned Paul. One minute, Paul was a god to be worshiped; the next minute, he was a criminal to be slain! Emerson called a mob “a society of bodies voluntarily bereaving themselves of reason.” Often this is true.
The disciples’ response to Paul (v. ). There were new believers in Lystra, and this was a crisis situation for them. They were a minority, their leader had been stoned, and their future looked very bleak. But they stood by Paul! It is likely that they joined hearts and prayed for him, and this is one reason God raised him up. Was Paul dead? We are not told. This is the only stoning he ever experienced (), but from it came glory to God. It may have been this event that especially touched Timothy and eventually led to his association with Paul ().
Antioch in Syria—Declaration ()
On their return trip to Antioch, the missionaries were engaged in several important ministries.
First, they preached the Gospel and made disciples (“taught many”). It is difficult to understand how they got back into the cities from which they had been expelled, but the Lord opened the doors.
Second, they strengthened (“confirmed”) the believers in the things of Christ and encouraged (“exhorted”) them to continue in the faith. Continuance is a proof of true faith in Jesus Christ (; ). Paul made it very clear that living the Christian life was not an easy thing and that they would all have to expect trials and sufferings before they would see the Lord in glory.
Third, they organized the churches (). The local church is both an organism and an organization, for if an organism is not organized, it will die! Paul and Barnabas ordained spiritual leaders and gave them the responsibility of caring for the flock. If you compare and , you will see that “elder” and “bishop” (overseer) refer to the same office, and both are equivalent to “pastor” (shepherd).
The word translated ordained means “to elect by a show of hands.” It is possible that Paul chose the men and the congregation voted its approval, or that the people selected them by vote and Paul ordained them (see ).
Finally, they reported to their “sending church” on the work God had done (). They had been gone at least a year, and it must have been exciting for them and for the church when they arrived back home. They had, by the grace of God, fulfilled the work God had given them to do; and they joyfully reported the blessings to the church family.
This is perhaps the first “missionary conference” in church history, and what a conference it must have been! A church officer once said to me, “I don’t care how much money you want for missions, I’ll give it; but just don’t make me listen to missionaries speak!” I felt sorry for him that his spiritual temperature was so low that he could not listen to reports of what God was doing in the difficult corners of the harvest field.
As you review Paul’s first missionary journey, you can see the principles by which he operated, principles that are still applicable today.
He worked primarily in the key cities and challenged the believers to take the message out to the more remote areas. The Gospel works in the population centers, and we must carry it there.
He used one approach with the synagogue congregations and another with the Gentiles. He referred the Jews and Jewish proselytes to the Old Testament Scriptures; but when preaching to the Gentiles, he emphasized the God of creation and His goodness to the nations. His starting point was different, but his finishing point was the same: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He majored on establishing and organizing local churches. Jesus had the local church in mind when He gave what we call “The Great Commission” (). After we make disciples (“teach”), we must baptize them (the responsibility primarily of a local church) and then teach them the Word of God. Merely winning people to Christ is but fulfilling one-third of the Commission! It takes the local assembly of believers to help us fulfill all of what Jesus commanded us to do.
He grounded the believers in the Word of God. This is the only source of strength and stability when persecution comes, as it inevitably does come. Paul did not preach a popular “success Gospel” that painted a picture of an easy Christian life.
The amazing thing is that Paul and his associates did all of this without the modern means of transportation and communication that we possess today. Dr. Bob Pierce used to say to us in Youth For Christ, “Others have done so much with so little, while we have done so little with so much!” The wasted wealth of American believers alone, if invested in world evangelization, might lead to the salvation of millions of lost people.
Paul and Barnabas announced that the “door of faith” had been opened to the Gentiles.
That door is still open, to Jews and Gentiles alike—to a whole world! Walk through that open door and help take the Gospel to others.
Be daring!
The progress of the Gospel has often been hindered by people with closed minds who stand in front of open doors and block the way for others.
In 1786, when William Carey laid the burden of world missions before a ministerial meeting in Northampton, England, the eminent Dr. Ryland said to him, “Young man, sit down! When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine!” More than one Spirit-filled servant of God has had to enter open doors of opportunity without the support of churches and religious leaders.
Paul and his associates faced this same challenge at the Jerusalem Conference about twenty years after Pentecost. Courageously, they defended both the truth of the Gospel and the missionary outreach of the church. There were three stages in this event.
It all started when some legalistic Jewish teachers came to Antioch and taught that the Gentiles, in order to be saved, had to be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses. These men were associated with the Jerusalem congregation but not authorized by it (). Identified with the Pharisees (), these teachers were “false brethren” who wanted to rob both Jewish and Gentile believers of their liberty in Christ (; ).
It is not surprising that there were people in the Jerusalem church who were strong advocates of the Law of Moses but ignorant of the relationship between Law and grace. These people were Jews who had been trained to respect and obey the Law of Moses; and, after all, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews had not yet been written! There was a large group of priests in the Jerusalem assembly (), as well as people who still followed some of the Old Testament practices (see ). It was a time of transition, and such times are always difficult.
What were these legalists actually doing and why were they so dangerous? They were attempting to mix Law and grace and to pour the new wine into the ancient brittle wineskins (). They were stitching up the rent veil () and blocking the new and living way to God that Jesus had opened when He died on the cross (). They were rebuilding the wall between Jews and Gentiles that Jesus had torn down on the cross (). They were putting the heavy Jewish yoke on Gentile shoulders (; ) and asking the church to move out of the sunlight into the shadows (; ). They were saying, “A Gentile must first become a Jew before he can become a Christian! It is not sufficient for them simply to trust Jesus Christ. They must also obey Moses!”
Several important issues are involved here, not the least of which is the work of Christ on the cross as declared in the message of the Gospel (; ). God pronounces a solemn anathema on anyone who preaches any other Gospel than the Gospel of the grace of God found in Jesus Christ His Son (). When any religious leader says, “Unless you belong to our group, you cannot be saved!” or, “Unless you participate in our ceremonies and keep our rules, you cannot be saved!” he is adding to the Gospel and denying the finished work of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Galatians to make it clear that salvation is wholly by God’s grace, through faith in Christ, plus nothing!
Another issue involved was the nature of the church’s missionary program. If these legalists (we call them “the Judaizers”) were correct, then Paul and Barnabas had been all wrong in their ministry. Along with preaching the Gospel, they should have been teaching the Gentiles how to live as good Jews. No wonder Paul and Barnabas debated and disputed with these false teachers! (, ) The Antioch believers were being “troubled” and “subverted” (), and this same confusion and disruption would soon spread to the Gentile churches Paul and Barnabas had founded. This was a declaration of war that Paul and Barnabas could not ignore.
God gave Paul a revelation instructing him to take the whole matter to the Jerusalem church leaders (), and to this the Antioch assembly agreed (“they” in ). The gathering was not a “church council” in the denominational sense, but rather a meeting of the leaders who heard the various groups and then made their decision. Though the “mother church” in Jerusalem did have great influence, each local church was autonomous.
It appears that at least four different meetings were involved in this strategic conference: (1) a public welcome to Paul and his associates, ; (2) a private meeting of Paul and the key leaders, ; (3) a second public meeting at which the Judaizers presented their case, and ; and (4) the public discussion described in . In this public discussion, four key leaders presented the case for keeping the doors of grace open to the lost Gentiles.
Peter reviewed the past (vv. ). We get the impression that Peter sat patiently while the disputing (“questioning”) was going on, waiting for the Spirit to direct him. “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (, NKJV). Peter reminded the church of four important ministries that God had performed for the Gentiles, ministries in which he had played an important part.
First, God made a choice that Peter should preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (). Jesus had given the keys of the kingdom to Peter (), and he had used them to open the door of faith to the Jews (Acts 2), the Samaritans (), and the Gentiles (Acts 10). The Apostles and brethren in Judea had censured Peter for visiting the Gentiles and eating with them, but he had satisfactorily defended himself (). Note that Peter made it clear that Cornelius and his household were saved by hearing and believing, not by obeying the Law of Moses.
Second, God gave the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles to bear witness that they truly were born again (). Only God can see the human heart; so, if these people had not been saved, God would never have given them the Spirit (). But they did not receive the Spirit by keeping the Law, but by believing God’s Word (; see ). Peter’s message was “whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (, NKJV), not “whoever believes and obeys the Law of Moses.”
Third, God erased a difference (, ). For centuries, God had put a difference between Jews and Gentiles, and it was the task of the Jewish religious leaders to protect and maintain that difference (; ; ). Jesus taught that the Jewish dietary laws had nothing to do with inner holiness (), and Peter had learned that lesson again when he had that vision on the housetop in Joppa ().
Ever since the work of Christ on Calvary, God has made no difference between Jews and Gentiles as far as sin (, ) or salvation () are concerned. Sinners can have their hearts purified only by faith in Christ; salvation is not by keeping the Law (). We would expect Peter to conclude his defense by saying, “They [the Gentiles] shall be saved even as we Jews,” but he said just the reverse! “We [Jews] shall be saved, even as they!”
God’s fourth ministry—and this was Peter’s strongest statement—was the removing of the yoke of the Law (). The Law was indeed a yoke that burdened the Jewish nation, but that yoke has been taken away by Jesus Christ (see ; ; ). After all, the Law was given to the Jewish nation to protect them from the evils of the Gentile world and prepare them to bring the Messiah into the world (). The Law cannot purify the sinner’s heart (), impart the gift of the Holy Spirit (), or give eternal life (). What the Law could not do, God did through His own Son (). Those who have trusted Christ have the righteousness of God’s Law in their hearts and, through the Spirit, obey His will. They are not motivated by fear, but by love, for “love is the fulfilling of the Law” ().
Paul and Barnabas reported on the present (v. ). Peter’s witness made a great impact on the congregation because they sat in silence after he was finished. Then Paul and Barnabas stood up and told the group what God had done among the Gentiles through their witness. Dr. Luke devoted only one summary sentence to their report since he had already given it in detail in Acts 13–14. Paul and Barnabas were greatly respected by the church (see ) and their testimony carried a great deal of weight.
Their emphasis was on the miracles that God had enabled them to perform among the Gentiles. These miracles were proof that God was working with them (; ) and that they were God’s chosen messengers (; ). “Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the Law, or because you believe what you heard?” (, NIV) They had preached grace, not Law; and God had honored this message.
If you will review the record of the first missionary journey (Acts 13–14), you will see that the emphasis is on what God did in response to men’s faith. See , , , , ; , , . Note also the emphasis on grace (; , ). God opened for the Gentiles “the door of faith,” not “the door of Law.” For that matter the Antioch church, which commissioned Paul and Barnabas, was founded by people who “believed and turned unto the Lord” () and experienced the grace of God (). They were saved the same way sinners are saved today, “by grace, through faith” ().
Both Peter and Paul received from God special visions directing them to go to the Gentiles (; ). However, it was Paul whom God set apart as the apostle to the Gentiles (; ; ). If Gentile sinners had to obey the Law of Moses in order to be saved, then why did God give Paul the Gospel of grace and send him off to the Gentiles? God could just as well have sent Peter!
Peter reviewed God’s ministries to the Gentiles in the past, and Paul and Barnabas reported on God’s work among the Gentiles in that present day. James was the final speaker and he focused on the future.
James related it all to the future (vv. ). James was a brother to Jesus (; ) and the writer of the Epistle of James. He and his brethren were not believers in Christ until after the Resurrection (; ; ). James had strong leanings toward the Law (there are at least ten references to law in his epistle), so he was most acceptable to the legalistic party in the Jerusalem church.
The key idea in James’ speech is agreement. First, he expressed his full agreement with Peter that God was saving the Gentiles by grace. It must have startled the Judaizers when James called these saved Gentiles “a people for His [God’s] name,” because for centuries the Jews had carried that honorable title (see ; ; ). Today, God is graciously calling out a people, the church, from both Jews and Gentiles. In fact, the Greek word for “church” (ekklesia) means “a called out assembly” (kaleo = to call; ek = out). But if they are called out, then their salvation is all of grace and not through the keeping of the Law!
The Judaizers did not understand how the Gentiles and the Jews related to each other in the church, or how the church fit into God’s promise to establish a kingdom for Israel. The Old Testament declared both the salvation of the Gentiles (; ) and the future establishing of a glorious kingdom for Israel (Isa. 11–12; 35; 60), but it did not explain how they related to each other. The legalists in the church were jealous for both the future glory of Israel and the past glory of Moses and the Law. It seemed to them that their acceptance of the Gentiles as “spiritual equals” jeopardized the future of Israel.
We today have a better grasp of this truth because Paul explained it in Ephesians 2–3 and Romans 9–11. Saved Jews and Gentiles are both members of the same body and “one in Christ Jesus” (). The truth about the church, the body of Christ, was a “mystery” (a sacred secret) hidden in past ages and revealed to the church by the Spirit. God’s “mystery program” for the church does not cancel His great “prophecy program” for Israel. Paul makes it clear in Romans 9–11 that there is a future for Israel and that God will keep His “kingdom promises” to His people.
James stated that the prophets also agreed with this conclusion, and he cited to prove his point. Note that he did not state that what Peter, Paul, and Barnabas had said was a fulfillment of this prophecy. He said that what Amos wrote agreed with their testimony. A careful reading of reveals that the prophet is describing events in the end times, when God will regather His people Israel to their land and bless them abundantly. If we “spiritualize” these promises, we rob them of their plain meaning and James’ argument falls apart.
Amos also prophesied that the fallen house (“tent”) of David would be raised up and God would fulfill His covenant with David that a king would sit on his throne (see ). This future King, of course, will be Jesus Christ, the Son of David (, ; ; ) who will reign over Israel during the kingdom. In fact, the only Jew alive today who can prove His genealogy and defend His kingship is Jesus Christ!
God revealed these truths gradually to His people, but His plan had been settled from the beginning. Neither the Cross nor the church were afterthoughts with God (; ; ). The Judaizers thought that Israel had to “rise” in her glorious kingdom before the Gentiles could be saved, but God revealed that it was through Israel’s “fall” that the Gentiles would find salvation (). At the time of the Jerusalem Conference, David’s house and throne indeed were fallen; but they would be restored one day and the kingdom established.
The leaders and the whole church (), directed by the Holy Spirit (), made a twofold decision; a doctrinal decision about salvation, and a practical decision about how to live the Christian life.
The doctrinal decision we have already examined. The church concluded that Jews and Gentiles are all sinners before God and can be saved only by faith in Jesus Christ. There is one need, and there is but one Gospel to meet that need (). God has today but one program: He is calling out a people for His name. Israel is set aside but not cast away (); and when God’s program for the church is completed, He will begin to fulfill His kingdom promises to the Jews.
But all doctrine must lead to duty. James emphasized this in his epistle (), and so did Paul in his letters. It is not enough for us simply to accept a biblical truth; we must apply it personally in everyday life. Church problems are not solved by passing resolutions, but by practicing the revelations God gives us from His Word.
James advised the church to write to the Gentile believers and share the decisions of the conference. This letter asked for obedience to two commands and a willingness to agree to two personal concessions. The two commands were that the believers avoid idolatry and immorality, sins that were especially prevalent among the Gentiles (see 1 Cor. 8–10). The two concessions were that they willingly abstain from eating blood and meat from animals that had died by strangulation. The two commands do not create any special problems, for idolatry and immorality have always been wrong in God’s sight, both for Jews and Gentiles. But what about the two concessions concerning food?
Keep in mind that the early church did a great deal of eating together and practicing of hospitality. Most churches met in homes, and some assemblies held a “love feast” in conjunction with the Lord’s Supper (). It was probably not much different from our own potluck dinners. If the Gentile believers ate food that the Jewish believers considered “unclean,” this would cause division in the church. Paul dealt clearly with this whole problem in Romans 14–15.
The prohibition against eating blood was actually given by God before the time of the Law (), and it was repeated by Moses (; ). If an animal is killed by strangulation, some of the blood will remain in the body and make the meat unfit for Jews to eat. Hence, the admonition against strangulation. “Kosher” meat is meat that comes from clean animals that have been killed properly so that the blood has been totally drained from the body.
It is beautiful to see that this letter expressed the loving unity of people who had once been debating with each other and defending opposing views. The legalistic Jews willingly gave up insisting that the Gentiles had to be circumcised to be saved, and the Gentiles willingly accepted a change in their eating habits. It was a loving compromise that did not in any way affect the truth of the Gospel. As every married person and parent knows, there are times in a home when compromise is wrong, but there are also times when compromise is right. Wise Samuel Johnson said, “Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.” The person who is always right, and who insists on having his or her own way, is difficult to live with happily.
What did this decision accomplish in a practical way? At least three things. First, it strengthened the unity of the church and kept it from splitting into two extreme “Law” and “grace” groups. President Eisenhower called the right kind of compromise “all of the usable surface. The extremes, right or left, are in the gutters.” Again, this is not doctrinal compromise, for that is always wrong (). Rather, it is learning to give and take in the practical arrangements of life so that people can live and work together in love and harmony.
Second, this decision made it possible for the church to present a united witness to the lost Jews (). For the most part, the church was still identified with the Jewish synagogue; and it is likely that in some cities, entire synagogue congregations believed on Jesus Christ—Jews, Gentile proselytes, and Gentile “God-fearers” together. If the Gentile believers abused their freedom in Christ and ate meat containing blood, this would offend both the saved Jews and their unsaved friends whom they were trying to win to Christ. It was simply a matter of not being a stumbling block to the weak or to the lost ().
Third, this decision brought blessing as the letter was shared with the various Gentile congregations. Paul and Barnabas, along with Judas and Silas, took the good news to Antioch; and the church rejoiced and was encouraged because they did not have to carry the burdensome yoke of the Law (). On his second missionary journey, Paul shared the letter with the churches he had founded on his first missionary journey. The result was a strengthening of the churches’ faith and an increase of their number ().
We today can learn a great deal from this difficult experience of the early church. To begin with, problems and differences are opportunities for growth just as much as temptations for dissension and division. Churches need to work together and take time to listen, love, and learn. How many hurtful fights and splits could have been avoided if only some of God’s people had given the Spirit time to speak and to work.
Most divisions are caused by “followers” and “leaders.” A powerful leader gets a following, refuses to give in on even the smallest matter, and before long there is a split. Most church problems are not caused by doctrinal differences but by different viewpoints on practical matters. What color shall we paint the church kitchen? Can we change the order of the service? I heard of one church that almost split over whether the organ or the piano should be on the right side of the platform!
Christians need to learn the art of loving compromise. They need to have their priorities in order so they know when to fight for what is really important in the church. It is sinful to follow some impressive member of the church who is fighting to get his or her way on some minor issue that is not worth fighting about. Every congregation needs a regular dose of the love described in 1 Corinthians 13 to prevent division and dissension.
As we deal with our differences, we must ask, “How will our decisions affect the united witness of the church to the lost?” Jesus prayed that His people might be united so that the world might believe on Him (). Unity is not uniformity, for unity is based on love and not law. There is a great need in the church for diversity in unity (), for that is the only way the body can mature and do its work in the world.
God has opened a wonderful door of opportunity for us to take the Gospel of God’s grace to a condemned world. But there are forces in the church even today that want to close that door. There are people who are preaching “another gospel” that is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Help keep that door open—and reach as many as you can!
Be daring!
Acts 15:36–16:40
For the Apostle Paul, the church at Antioch was not a parking lot: it was a launching pad. He could never settle down to a “comfortable ministry” anywhere as long as there were open doors for the preaching of the Gospel.
Paul would have agreed enthusiastically with the words of Robertson McQuilken from his book The Great Omission: “In a world in which nine out of every ten people are lost, three out of four have never heard the way out, and one of every two cannot hear, the church sleeps on. Could it be we think there must be some other way? Or perhaps we don’t really care that much.” Paul cared—and so should we.
There were several new elements in this second journey that indicated that God was still at work, in spite of the seeming obstacles and personal difficulties that arose.
Paul and Barnabas agreed on the importance of the trip, but they could not agree on the composition of the “team.” Here were two dedicated men who had just helped bring unity to the church, and yet they could not settle their own disagreements! Disturbing and painful as these conflicts are, they are often found in church history; and yet God is able to overrule them and accomplish His purposes.
That Barnabas would champion John Mark is certainly no surprise. He and Mark were cousins (, NASB), and the family ties would be strong. But even more, Barnabas was the kind of man who eagerly tried to help others, which is why the early church named him “son of encouragement” (). He was ready to give John Mark an opportunity to serve the Lord and to prove himself. Barnabas “kept on insisting” (WUEST) that they take Mark along.
But Paul was just as adamant that they not take Mark! After all, on the first missionary journey, John Mark had deserted them to return home (); and this was a mark of weakness. The ministry was too important, and the work too demanding, to enlist someone who might prove unreliable.
As the discussion continued, it turned into a real argument (the word paroxysm comes from the word translated “contention”); and it seemed like the only solution was for the friends to divide the territory and separate. Barnabas took Mark and went to his native Cyprus, and Paul took Silas and headed for Syria and Celicia (note ).
Who was right? It really doesn’t make much difference. Perhaps both men were right on some things and wrong on other things. We know that John Mark ultimately did succeed in the ministry and that Paul came to love and appreciate him (see ; ; ). Good and godly people in the church do disagree; this is one of the painful facts of life that we must accept. Paul looked at people and asked, “What can they do for God’s work?” while Barnabas looked at people and asked, “What can God’s work do for them?” Both questions are important to the Lord’s work, and sometimes it is difficult to keep things balanced.
Paul selected a new partner, Silas, a chief man in the church, a prophet (, ), and one chosen to take the Jerusalem Conference decrees to the churches (). “Silas” is probably a Greek version of the name Saul. He was coauthor with Paul of the Thessalonian epistles, and he was the secretary for Peter’s first epistle (). Like Paul, he was a Roman citizen ().
God changes His workmen, but His work goes right on. Now there were two missionary teams instead of one! If God had to depend on perfect people to accomplish His work, He would never ever get anything done. Our limitations and imperfections are good reasons for us to depend on the grace of God, for our sufficiency is from Him alone ().
Paul and Silas approached their destination from the east, so they came first to Derbe and then to Lystra, just the reverse of the first journey (). The preachers went from church to church, delivering the decrees and helping establish the believers in the faith. The result was fruit from the witness of the believers so that the churches increased in number daily (see ). It was certainly a most successful tour, but I wonder if any of the believers asked about Barnabas? And what did Paul tell them?
Perhaps the best thing that happened at Lystra was the enlistment of Timothy to replace John Mark as Paul’s special assistant. Timothy was probably converted through Paul’s ministry when the apostle first visited Lystra, for Paul called him “my beloved son” () and “my own son in the faith” (). Timothy’s mother and grandmother had prepared the way for his decision by being the first in the family to trust Christ (). Young Timothy undoubtedly witnessed Paul’s sufferings in Lystra (; ) and was drawn by the Lord to the apostle. Timothy was Paul’s favorite companion and coworker (), perhaps the son Paul never had but always wanted.
Because he had a good report from the churches (), Timothy was ordained by Paul and added to his “team” (; ). Paul’s next step was to have Timothy circumcised, an action that seems to contradict the decision of the Jerusalem Conference. However, there was an important spiritual principle behind Paul’s decision.
The decision at the Jerusalem Conference was that it was not necessary to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul did not allow Titus to be circumcised lest the enemy think he was promoting their cause (). The battle in Jerusalem was over the truth of the Gospel, not over the fitness of a man to serve. Paul’s concern with Timothy was not his salvation but his fitness for service.
Timothy would be working with both Jews and Gentiles in the churches, and it was essential that he not offend them. That was why Paul had Timothy circumcised (see ). Again, it was not a matter of Timothy’s salvation or personal character, but rather of avoiding serious problems that would surely become stumbling blocks as the men sought to serve the Lord (). It is a wise spiritual leader who knows how and when to apply the principles of the Word of God, when to stand firm and when to yield.
In the years that followed, Timothy played an important part in the expansion and strengthening of the churches. He traveled with Paul and was often his special ambassador to the “trouble spots” in the work, such as Corinth. He became shepherd of the church in Ephesus () and probably joined Paul in Rome shortly before the apostle was martyred ().
In this section, we see three wonderful “openings.”
God opened the way (vv. ). After visiting the churches he had founded, Paul tried to enter new territory for the Lord by traveling east into Asia Minor and Bythinia, but the Lord closed the door. We don’t know how God revealed His will in this matter, but we can well imagine that Paul was disappointed and perhaps a bit discouraged. Everything had been going so smoothly on this second journey that these closed doors must have come as a great surprise. However, it is comforting to know that even apostles were not always clear as to God’s will for their ministries! God planned for the message to get there another time (Acts 18:19–19:41; see ).
In His sovereign grace, God led Paul west into Europe, not east into Asia. It is interesting to speculate how world history might have been changed had Paul been sent to Asia instead of to Europe. At Troas, Paul was called to Macedonia by a man whom he saw in a night vision. “Nothing makes a man strong like a call for help,” wrote George MacDonald, and Paul was quick to respond to the vision (compare ).
Note the pronoun we in , for Dr. Luke, who wrote the Book of Acts, joined Paul and his party at Troas. There are three “we sections” in Acts: ; ; and 27:1–28:16. Luke changed from “we” to “they” in , which suggests that he may have remained in Philippi to pastor the church after Paul left. The next “we section” begins in in connection with Paul’s trip from Macedonia. Luke devoted a good deal of space to Paul’s ministry in Philippi, so perhaps he was a resident of that city. Some students think Luke may have been the man Paul saw in the vision.
From Troas to Neapolis, the port of Philippi was a distance of about 150 miles, and it took them two days to make the journey. Later, the trip in the opposite direction would take five days, apparently because of contrary winds (). Philippi lay ten miles inland from Neapolis, and the way Luke described the city would suggest that he was indeed one of its proudest citizens.
Philippi was a Roman colony, which meant that it was a “Rome away from Rome.” The emperor organized “colonies” by ordering Roman citizens, especially retired military people, to live in selected places so there would be strong pro-Roman cities in these strategic areas. Though living on foreign soil, the citizens were expected to be loyal to Rome, to obey the laws of Rome, and to give honor to the Roman emperor. In return, they were given certain political privileges, not the least of which was exemption from taxes. This was their reward for leaving their homes in Italy and relocating elsewhere.
God opened Lydia’s heart (vv. ). Paul and his friends did not plunge immediately into evangelizing the city, even though they knew God had called them there. No doubt they needed to rest and pray and make their plans together. It is not enough to know where God wants us to work; we must also know when and how He wants us to work.
The Jewish population in Philippi must have been very small since there was no synagogue there, only a place of prayer by the river outside the city. (It required ten men for the founding of a synagogue.) Paul had seen a man in the vision at Troas, but here he was ministering to a group of women! “It is better that the words of the Law be burned than be delivered to a woman!” said the rabbis; but that was no longer Paul’s philosophy. He had been obedient and the Lord had gone before to prepare the way.
Lydia was a successful businesswoman from Thyatira, a city renowned for its purple dye. She probably was in charge of a branch office of her guild in Philippi. God brought her all the way to Greece so that she might hear the Gospel and be converted. She was “a worshiper of God,” a Gentile who was not a full Jewish proselyte but who openly worshiped with the Jews. She was seeking truth.
Paul shared the Word (“spoken” in means personal conversation, not preaching), God opened her heart to the truth, and she believed and was saved. She boldly identified herself with Christ by being baptized, and she insisted that the missionaries stay at her house. All of her household had been converted, so this was a good opportunity for Paul and his associates to teach them the Word and establish a local church. (We will deal with “household salvation” when we get to .)
We must not conclude that because God opened Lydia’s heart, Lydia’s part in her conversion was entirely passive. She listened attentively to the Word, and it is the Word that brings the sinner to the Saviour (). The same God who ordained the end, Lydia’s salvation, also ordained the means to the end, Paul’s witness of Jesus Christ. This is a beautiful illustration of .
God opened the prison doors (vv. ). No sooner are lost people saved than Satan begins to hinder the work. In this case, he used a demonized girl who had made her masters wealthy by telling fortunes. As Paul and his “team” went regularly to the place of prayer, still witnessing to the lost, this girl repeatedly shouted after them, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who show us the way of salvation!” Paul did not want either the Gospel or the name of God to be “promoted” by one of Satan’s slaves, so he cast out the demon. After all, Satan may speak the truth one minute and the next minute tell a lie; and the unsaved would not know the difference.
The owners had no concern for the girl; they were interested only in the income she provided, and now that income was gone. (The conflict between money and ministry appears often in Acts: ; ; ; .) Their only recourse was the Roman law, and they thought they had a pretty good case because the missionaries were Jewish and were propagating a religion not approved by Rome. Moved by both religious and racial prejudices, the magistrates acted rashly and did not investigate the matter fully. This neglect on their part later brought them embarrassment.
Why didn’t Paul and Silas plead their Roman citizenship? (see ; ) Perhaps there was not time, or perhaps Paul was saving that weapon for better use later on. He and Silas were stripped and beaten (see , ) and put in the city prison. It looked like the end of their witness in Philippi, but God had other plans.
Instead of complaining or calling on God to judge their enemies, the two men prayed and praised God. When you are in pain, the midnight hour is not the easiest time for a sacred concert, but God gives “songs in the night” (; also see ). “Any fool can sing in the day,” said Charles Haddon Spurgeon. “It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but the skillful singer is he who can sing when there is not a ray of light to read by … Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of men.”
Prayer and praise are powerful weapons (; ). God responded by shaking the foundations of the prison, opening all the doors, and loosening the prisoners’ bonds. They could have fled to freedom, but instead they remained right where they were. For one thing, Paul immediately took command; and, no doubt, the fear of God was on these pagan men. The prisoners must have realized that there was something very special about those two Jewish preachers!
Paul’s attention was fixed on the jailer, the man he really wanted to win to Christ. It was a Roman law that if a guard lost a prisoner, he was given the same punishment the prisoner would have received; so there must have been some men in the prison who had committed capital crimes. The jailer would rather commit suicide than face shame and execution. A hard-hearted person seeking vengeance would have let the cruel jailer kill himself, but Paul was not that kind of a man (see , ). It was the jailer who was the prisoner, not Paul; and Paul not only saved the man’s life, but pointed him to eternal life in Christ.
“What must I do to be saved?” is the cry of lost people worldwide, and we had better be able to give them the right answer. The legalists in the church would have replied, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (, NKJV). But Paul knew the right answer—faith in Jesus Christ. In the Book of Acts, the emphasis is on faith in Jesus Christ alone (; ; , 37; ; ).
The phrase “and thy house” does not mean that the faith of the jailer would automatically bring salvation to his family. Each sinner must trust Christ personally in order to be born again, for we cannot be saved “by proxy.” The phrase means “and your household will be saved if they will also believe.” We must not read into this statement the salvation of infants (with or without baptism) because it is clear that Paul was dealing with people old enough to hear the Word (), to believe, and to rejoice ().
So-called “household salvation” has no basis in the Word of God—that is, that the decision of the head of the household brings salvation to the members of the household. The people in the household of Cornelius were old enough to respond to his call () and to understand the Word and believe (; ; ). The household of Crispus was composed of people old enough to hear and believe God’s Word (). There is no suggestion here that the adults made decisions for infants or children.
It is touching to see the change in the attitude of the jailer as he washed the wounds of these two prisoners who were now his brothers in Christ. One of the evidences of true repentance is a loving desire to make restitution and reparation wherever we have hurt others. We should not only wash one another’s feet (), but we should also cleanse the wounds we have given to others.
What about the other prisoners? Luke doesn’t give us the details, but it is possible that some of them were also born again through the witness of Paul and Silas and the jailer. Some of these prisoners may have been waiting for execution, so imagine their joy at hearing a message of salvation! Paul and Silas thought nothing of their own pains as they rejoiced in what God did in that Philippian jail! No doubt the jailer later joined with Lydia in the assembly.
The city officials knew that they had no convincing case against Paul and Silas, so they sent word to the jailer to release them. Paul, however, was unwilling to “sneak out of town,” for that kind of exit would have left the new church under a cloud of suspicion. People would have asked, “Who were those men? Were they guilty of some crime? Why did they leave so quickly? What do their followers believe?” Paul and his associates wanted to leave behind a strong witness of their own integrity as well as a good testimony for the infant church in Philippi.
It was then that Paul made use of his Roman citizenship and boldly challenged the officials on the legality of their treatment. This was not personal revenge but a desire to give protection and respect for the church. While the record does not say that the magistrates officially and publicly apologized, it does state that they respectfully came to Paul and Silas, escorted them out of the prison, and politely asked them to leave town. Paul and Silas remained in Philippi long enough to visit the new believers and encourage them in the Lord.
As you review this chapter, you can see that the work of the Lord progresses through difficulties and challenges. Sometimes the workers have problems with each other, and sometimes the problems come from the outside. It is also worth noting that not every sinner comes to Christ in exactly the same manner. Timothy was saved partly through the influence of a godly mother and grandmother. Lydia was converted through a quiet conversation with Paul at a Jewish prayer meeting, while the jailer’s conversion was dramatic. One minute he was a potential suicide, and the next minute he was a child of God!
Different people with different experiences, and yet all of them changed by the grace of God.
Others just like them are waiting to be told God’s simple plan of salvation.
Will you help them hear?
In your own witness for Christ, will you be daring?