May 27th
Acts,
11
Peter
reports back to Jerusalem
1: And the apostles and brethren that were in
Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2: And when
Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended
with him, 3: Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with
them. 4: But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by
order unto them, saying, 5: I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance
I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let
down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: 6: Upon the which
when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the
earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 7: And I
heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. 8: But I said, Not
so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
9: But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that
call not thou common. 10: And this was done three times: and all were drawn up
again into heaven. 11: And, behold, immediately there were three men already
come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. 12: And the spirit
bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied
me, and we entered into the man's house: 13: And he shewed us how he had seen
an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and
call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14: Who shall tell thee words, whereby
thou and all thy house shall be saved. 15: And as I began to speak, the Holy
Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16: Then remembered I the word
of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17: Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift
as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I
could withstand God? 18: When they heard these things, they held their peace,
and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted
repentance unto life.
The Antioch church
19: Now they which were scattered abroad upon
the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and
Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20: And
some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to
Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21: And the hand of
the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
22: Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in
Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
23: Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted
them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 24: For
he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was
added unto the Lord. 25: Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:
26: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to
pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught
much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. 27: And
in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28: And there stood up
one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be
great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of
Claudius Caesar. 29: Then the disciples, every man according to his ability,
determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: 30: Which
also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
The conversion of Cornelius caused a great
upset in the thinking of the Jews at Jerusalem. They felt that Christianity was
their exclusive thing and they were not going to share it with Gentiles. They
found fault mostly with Peter because he had go in to a Gentile home to eat
food with them. Peter recounted the whole story from the beginning and he
introduced the six Jews that accompanied him to verify the whole thing. He said
the angels message was that Peter will tell you words whereby you will be
saved. v14 (Clearly he was unsaved before Peter came even though he was devote man
who feared God and his charity acts were recognised by the Lord) And then the
visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit coming on them was evidence of their
conversion. Peter asked because they received the Holy Spirit when they
believed how am l to resist GOD? The Jews of Jerusalem were silent and they
glorified God.[1] The
disciples that had escaped persecution travelled as far as Phenice Crete now
called Lutro, Cyprus and Antioch (southern Turkey) and Cyrene (Libya in North
Africa). They were only preaching to Jews because they thought that their
message was only for them. However some of these preachers preached to the
Greeks of Antioch and there were many Greeks converted there. When this news got
out Barnabas was sent to investigate. Barnabas was pleased with what he found
and he encouraged them to slay close to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man full
of the Holy Spirit and faith. Eventually because Antioch was near Tarsus
Barnabas set out to bring Saul back to Antioch to teach the new believers. For
a year Barnabas and Saul taught the believers in Antioch. It was at this time
and place that believers were first called Christians. At this time a prophet
called Agabus prophesied that there would be a failure of the crops due to lack
of rain throughout the Roman world. This happened in the days of Claudius. So
these Greek Christians send money to their fellow Christians in Judea and Barnabas
and Saul delivered it to the Apostles in Jerusalem. This would unite in heart
and mind the whole church.
[1] The company of the
disciples were all Jews, apart from Cornelius, so the church at this time was
wholey Jewish and the message preached was the same as had been preached by
John and Christ - The Gospel of the kingdom, which was a general call on Israel
to turn back to their God and added to that was Christs life death and
resurrection. It is difficult to say when the church emerged as the Gentile
church that we know today. Certainly until Paul had the revelation of the
Mystery of the Church as the body of Christ. The concept of a church made up of
believers of every nation was unknown. These things were not written in
scripture until after Pauls missionary journeys and while he was imprisoned.
The Church during the life of the Apostles took on a great harvest of souls
from the heathen nations. In Acts 15 we have the possibility of a split between
Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity this was avoided by the Council of
Jerusalem. During the Acts of the Apostles the Apostles continue to preach the
Gospel of the Kingdom to Jews wherever they are scattered. However in AD 70 the
Roman legions move into Palestine and 1,100,000 Jews are killed and the Jewish
state destroyed as Christ predicted. With the martyrdom of the Apostles closes
40 years in which the Gospel of the coming Messianic kingdom was preached to
Israel. And what was left was a church gathered from every nation, mature and
having the scriptures. Many years later the Jewish synagogues declare that the
Messiah is still to come thus refusing the Jesus of Nazareth and so the Synagogues
move into the dark ages.
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