THE KING’S BUSINESS
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true disciple o f Jesus Christ must be'willing to do even this (Luke 14:26). vs. 27-29. - "We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who (add, themselves) shall also (also shall) tell you the same things by (add, word of) mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered {things sacrificed) to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep your selves, ye shall do well {it shall be well with you). Fare,ye well.” It was not;their own decision on this great question that they were sending; it was the Holy Spirit’s decision. O f this they were perfectly sure (v. 28). It is also our privilege to know that our decisions are His when we put ourselves in a position where He will give us His decision, as He is ready to do (John 16:13; 14:26; 1 John 2:27). It was because they sought and obtained the mind o f the Spirit o f God that they were able to “come to one accord.” On the other hand it is because we oftentimes seek the wisdom of man rather than the mind o f the Holy Spirit that we are so often at variance with one another. There is great need of unity today, indeed, that is one o f the greatest needs o f the day, but the unity needed is the unity- that we find here, “the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4 :3 ). It is evident from what the Apostles say here that the one who insists upon the binding authority of the Mosaic law upon Christians, is opposing the H61y Ghost. Let the modern Judaizers lay this fact; to heart. Four points o f the Mosaic law and no others were adjudged necessary to be ohserved by Gentile believ ers: the Mosaic Sabbath is not one o f the four any more than circumcision was. vs. 30, 31. "So (add, they) when they wereJ dismissed, they (omit, they) came down (omit, down) to Antioch: and when they had ( having ) gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. Which when they had read .{And when'they had read it), they rejoiced for the consolation." There was great joy in Antioch when this
troublesome question was settled forever. 'There were two reasons for this jo y : pairn- ful division had given way to pleasant har mony, and moreover, the irksome bondage o f the lsw had given way to the joyous liberty o f the gospel. There is always great joy, when one comes out o f the bond age o f legalism into the glorious liberty o f a son (cf. Gal. 4:1-7; 5:1). i vs. 32, 33. “And Judas and .Silas, being prophets also themselves {themselves also prophets), exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them: And after they had tarried there a space {spent some time there), they were let go {dismissed) in peace from the brethren T unto the apos tles {unto those that had sent them forth).’’ Judas and Silas were much used by God in other ways than merely settling the ques tion about circumcision and keeping the Jewish' law. . They were Spirit-filled men and gave much profitable exhortation and instruction, confirming the believers in Antioch in faith and life. They are here called prophets and from this fact we see, as in other places, the"true significance of the word “prophet.” The prophet in Bib lical usage was the one who spoke for God, the one by whom “the Spirit o f the Lord spake,” the one into whose mouth God put His own words (2 Samuel 23:2). The ordi nary work o f a prophet is more in line o f exhortation and comfort than o f prediction. Judas and Silas lingered some time in Anti och and then returned to Jerusalem. Silas seems to have gone back to Jerusalem with Judas (see v. 34, R. V .), but he had become attached to the converts down in Antioch and was soon back there again. His tem porary commission as a delegate had tfiade him a missionary for life. The bad work o f legalists had resulted in good after all, it gave the church Silas as a missionary and gave Paul the companion he needed. Thus God is ever“ making “the wrath o f men to praise Him” (Ps. 76:10), and thus as always “all -things (including erron eous teaching and efforts to hinder and Upset the work of. a true servant o f God) work together for good to them that know
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