August 1931
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Christ (cf. 1 Pet. 2 :2) ? Is this ministry often neglected? V. 23. In the local churches, who were appointed to assist in the work of the up-building of believers in the faith? Golden T ext Illustration John Cennick, after preaching to a large group in a street meeting, an nounced that he would preach there again on the following Sunday, and that his text would be Revelation 12:11: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” As soon as he had made this announcement, two butchers who were notoriously bad characters came forward and cried out: “Oh, you shall have blood enough 1” During the week, these men collected a large quantity of blood; and on the next Sunday, as soon as Mr. Cennick be gan to speak, they started to pump blood upon him from a water engine, until he was literally covered with blood and filth. The act was accompanied with blasphem ous language. But the judgment of God fell upon these men in a most signal manner. In the course of a week, one of them was suffocated by his own blood, after the bursting of an artery. The other suffered the rupture of a blood vessel in his head and died as did his companion. Memory Verse: “They therefore de parted from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name” (Acts 5:41). Approach : Paul and Barnabas went from one city to another, preaching and teaching and healing the sick. Sometimes the people listened to them gladly, but Some M issionary A dventures A cts 14:8-23
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his judgment in the case (vs. 19-21). He recounted what had been said, and which agreed with Scripture, concerning the pur poses and methods of God in fulfilling His will in the world, in the past, the present, and the future. He declared that God had been dealing in a special and pe culiar manner with Israel as a nation, but that the Jews, by their rejection of Mes siah in the person of Jesus Christ, had forfeited, for the time being, their unique position among the peoples of the earth. God at this time was dealing with the whole world, taking out of it a people for His name. This work continues in our day. James went on to say that later God would return to Israel, and would restore her to the place of privilege and blessing that He had promised to give. It should be clearly held in mind that this judgment or sentence of James was not his own idea, but it was the judgment of the Holy Spirit given through him. It contains, therefore, a vital message for the church in every age. There can be no proper understanding of gospel truth as it relates to our own day without a work ing knowledge of this important chapter. In the decision reached at the council at Jerusalem, several facts should be noted. I. T he D ecision W as U nanimous (A cts 15:22). The apostles, elders, and the whole church were of one mind concerning the matter. The brethren who had argued that the Gentiles should be brought under the law were now seeing eye to eye with those who had taken the opposite view. The Holy Spirit had brought them into a condition of unity and harmony. There was no further desire on the part of any Christian to insist that the Gentile believers should be governed by the Mosaic law. It is unthinkable that the Holy Spirit, in an important matter which involved all fu ture generations of believers, would per mit such a decision to be made if it were in error. II. T he D ecision E xposed the F alsity of T he T rouble -M akers (A cts 15:23, 24). The council wrote letters to the Chris tians at Antioch and elsewhere, stating the findings of the Jerusalem meeting. These letters were sent by the hands of Judas (surnamed Barsabas) and Silas, who accompanied Barnabas and Paul, and who repeated in their own words the contents of the letters, so that there could be no misunderstanding whatever. Since the chosen ones were “chief men among the brethren” there could be no doubt in the mind of any one regarding the authorita tive character of the decision of the coun cil. We should remember that such a procedure would be unnecessary and out of order today, for we have the full Word of God, which these early Chris tians did not possess, because the New Testament was not then written. The letters stated very clearly that the teachers who had gone from Jerusalem to Antioch, and who had taught that the Gentiles should be circumcised and should keep the law, had evidently posed as bona fide representatives of the church at Jeru salem, which they were not. The Jerusa lem leaders declared that they had given “no such commandment.” When writing to the Galatians about these false teach-
city” ; and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And so they went on through the cities, preaching the gospel. After they had gone to a great many places, they came back again to visit the same cities, meeting together with the Christians and strengthening them in the faith. They had had to suffer; and they knew that these Christians must suffer, too. But they also knew that God would be with them through it all, and they were happy because, in spite of the suf fering, the gospel was being preached to all peoples. SEPTEMBER 20, 1931 The Council in Jerusalem Lesson-. Acts 15:1-35; Galatians 2. Lesson Text-. Acts 15:22-29; Galatians 2:1, 2, 9, 10. Golden Text: “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not lib erty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13). * * * The fifteenth chapter of the Acts is most important and should be carefully studied before attempting to teach the portion assigned for today’s lesson. It is essential that this chapter be understood, if one is to have clear views concerning the history of the church and the breadth of the gospel. The chapter contains the record of the first church council ever held. The occasion for it was this: The gos pel had been preached in Antioch where many had come under its influence, and large numbers had believed. Then cer tain teachers had appeared who had taught the new converts that, if they would be saved, they must be circum cised and must keep the law of Moses in addition to having faith in Christ. *Against this teaching, Paul held firmly to the truth that nothing but faith in the Lord Jesus was necessary in order to ob tain salvation. After much disputing, it was decided that a delegation should be chosen and sent to Jerusalem to present the whole question to the church there. This delegation was composed of Bar nabas and Paul and other individuals who held opposing views. When the delegation arrived at Jeru salem, the whole church was called to gether. A meeting was held at which both sides of the question were presented. After considerable debate and waiting up on the Lord for wisdom, and after Bar nabas, Paul, Peter, James, and others had delivered speeches upon the subject, it was left to the president of the council to render the decision. As spokesman, James made a great address in which he summed up the findings of this, the first church council, in the memorable words of Acts 15:13-18. Following this, he gave
s o m e t i m e s they would not listen at all. Lesson S t o r y: Once Paul and Bar nabas traveled up to a town called Lystra. There they healed a lame man. This man had been lame ever since he was born. W h e n the people saw him
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walking about like other people, they thought it very wonderful indeed. They thought thatPaul and Barnabas were more than men. They believed that they were gods, and they wanted to worship them. But Paul and Barnabas could not let them do this. They explained to the people that they were just ordinary men like themselves, and that they had come to them to tell them about the living God. And even then, the people wanted to wor ship them. Just at this time, along came some of the Jews from the cities where Paul and Barnabas had preached, Jews who had made trouble for the missionaries. And the people who, one minute before, had wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas, listened to these Jews and immediately turned around and started to stone Paul and dragged him out of the city. There they left him, supposing he was dead. “But as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and entered into the
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