Monthly Archives: June 2019

TE BOOK OF ACTS – THAT WAS A CLOSE SHAVE!

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THAT WAS A CLOSE SHAVE!

“‘So here is my decision. We’re not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master. We’ll write them a letter and tell them, ‘Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols, to guard the morality of sex and marriage, not to serve food offensive to Jewish Christians — blood, for instance.’ This is basic wisdom from Moses, preached and honoured for centuries now in city after city as we have met and kept the Sabbath.'” Acts 15:19-21 (The Message).

All the heavyweights in one place, holding the future of church of the Lord Jesus Christ in their hands! Could they be trusted to make the right decision?

It was their responsibility to interpret and implement the yoke of their Rabbi to the infant church in the Roman world then and for all the generations of believers that followed them to this day. Their decision would either set people free or entangle them in the bondage of legalism and rob the cross of its power to save.

What would the New Testament have looked like for us had the decision gone the other way? Would it have become just another rule book for another powerless religion to enslave people and keep them from access to the God who yearns for the freedom and fellowship of His people?

Thank God for the Holy Spirit who was in them to guide their thoughts and understanding at this critical moment in the history of the church! The foundation was being laid for all the generations that followed. So Paul could write to Gentile believers with all the confidence and authority of the Lord Jesus and the backing of the church leaders:

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV).

All the circumcision and law-keeping in the world had not changed the hearts of the Jews. In fact, it had only made them worse because they thought they were above everyone else; they despised the Gentiles, calling them “dogs”; they would not associate with them, much less eat with them; they considered God their exclusive possession despite their rebellion and did not think it appropriate to share His word with “outsiders”.

But now all that had changed. God had to use drastic means at times, for example, Peter’s bizarre vision before he was persuaded to go to the house of Cornelius and share the good news with him; the shocking observation of the Holy Spirit coming on and manifesting Himself in the exactly the same way as He fell on them at Pentecost, to change the minds of these stubbornly prejudiced Jews.

How could they now come to any other decision than that the Message of life in Jesus Christ was for the whole world and not just for those who had undergone a small operation? That had served its purpose for a season but had now become obsolete with the coming of the Messiah to whom all these rules and rituals pointed. Never again did they need to peer through the dark at types and shadows because Jesus had ushered in the full light of day.

Anyone who adds anything to what He has done had gone backwards from light to darkness, from life to death and from freedom to slavery all over again.

THE BOOK OF ACTS = LET THE EVIDENCE SPEAK

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LET THE EVIDENCE SPEAK

“There was dead silence. No one said a word. With the room quiet, Barnabas and Paul reported matter-of-factly on the miracles and wonders God had done on the other nations through their ministry. The silence deepened. You could hear a pin drop.

“James broke the silence. ‘Friends, Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included. This is in perfect agreement with the words of the prophets:

“After this I’m coming back;

I’ll rebuild David’s ruined house;

I’ll put all the pieces together again;

I’ll make it look like new

So outsiders who seek will find,

So they’ll have a place to come to,

All the pagan peoples

Included in what I’m doing.”

“‘ God said it and now He’s doing it. It’s no afterthought; He’s always known He would do this.'” Acts 15:12-18 (The Message).

Jesus left His disciples with one commission: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation…” and one promise: “…And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will lay their hands on sick people and they will get well.” Mark 16:15, 17-18 (NIV).

So what was the big deal with these people? Were their tradition and their prejudice so strong that they had forgotten the Lord’s commission? What would it take to get it into their thick skulls that Jesus had sent them into the world, not to take the good news to the Jews only, especially since they were their fiercest antagonists, but to share the good news with all people, even those they had previously hated and avoided?

Those who obeyed Jesus’ instruction were amazed to see that He meant exactly what He said. Peter had watched while Gentiles received what the disciples had received on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit falling on them the moment they believed. Paul had seen Gentile people transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and not one of them had been forced to embrace Judaism first.

And the miracles Jesus had done through them were abundant evidence that He was actively confirming His word just as He had said.

All their arguing and rationalising fell away in the face of the overwhelming evidence of the prophetic word and their experience of its fulfilment. That had to convince them that the Gentiles were welcomed into God’s kingdom through faith in the finished work of Jesus, plus nothing, and that race and culture were obliterated by the new order God had established in His Son.

David’s natural dynasty failed to follow in their father’s footsteps, but God had promised that one of his descendants would reign on his throne in righteousness and truth forever. Jesus, the Son of David, fulfilled that promise and reigns over a kingdom that has no end and that welcomes all who repent of their rebellious independence and willingly come under the authority of God’s rightful king.

Over the centuries, man in his “wisdom” has reconstructed the superstructure of works that Jesus demolished at the cross, cancelling the grace by which we are saved. Where does that leave those who have mindlessly swallowed the lie and fallen into the trap of the devil? Right back under God’s judgment because any attempt to satisfy God’s perfectly righteous and holy standards by offering their own efforts, fails miserably.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and like wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:7 (NIV).

As the old hymn puts it:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

(Edward Mote, 1797 -1874)

THE BOOK OF ACTS – FOLLOW JESUS

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FOLLOW JESUS

“The apostles and leaders called a special meeting to consider the matter. The arguments went on and on, back and forth, getting more and more heated. Then Peter took the floor. ‘Friends, you well know that from early on God made it quite plain that He wanted the pagans to hear the Message of this good news and embrace it — and not in any second-hand or roundabout way, but first-hand straight from my mouth. And God, who can’t be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person’s thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as He treated us, beginning at the very centre of who they were, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed Him.

“‘So why are you trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as He did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?'” Acts 15:6-11 (The Message).

Thank God, someone had the good sense to examine the simple facts instead of formulating doctrines based on reason and not truth!

We don’t know what they were arguing about but, whatever it was, it got them nowhere until Peter came up with his story. It is dangerous to make experience the criterion for a doctrine; for example, we know that Scripture is full of stories of miracles that God did then, but we cannot say that God no longer does miracles today simple because He may not have done a miracle for us.

At the same time, when we match our experience with Scripture, we know that we stand on solid ground, because God confirms His word to us through experience.

Peter had the wisdom to match his experience with God’s Word to realise that the answer to their dilemma was right there for them. God Himself had supplied the answer by giving the Gentiles the gift of the Holy Spirit in the same way He had fallen on them so that they would be in no doubt about their salvation. This was God’s confirmation that salvation comes by faith alone and not by any additions to faith with which the Pharisees wanted to burden the Gentiles.

They themselves had not fully understood the complete and final work of Jesus on the cross; otherwise they would not have made this such an issue that it warranted a church council to settle it. In spite of the fact that it was settled there in Jerusalem in unity, the Judaisers continued to dog the footsteps of the apostles as they carried the gospel across the Gentile world.

It is still very much alive today and still robbing many people of the truth of Jesus’ simple invitation, ‘Follow me!’ He did not come to set up a new religion and He certainly did not burden His followers with the rules and rituals that we see in so many denominations today.

For example, for whole groups of people, the church is a building — not the people who are the temple in which God dwells by His Spirit, and is treated with superstitious reverence as though bricks, stones and mortar are somehow holy. Priests and ministers are the professionals and the laity subject to them and their superior knowledge and wisdom. Where do we find this in God’s Word? All God’s people together are a royal priesthood.

I suspect that many sections of the church are still enslaved to the old covenant with its rules and rigmarole; altars, sacred garments, dietary laws, symbols, etc., and have never stepped into the freedom of God’s grace, resting in Christ alone for His gift of righteousness which no amount of effort on our part can earn.

What a tragedy that the spirit of the Pharisees is still very much alive in the church and doing what the Pharisees tried to do to Jesus — kill the truth!

THE BOOK OF ACTS – THE CHURCH ON A KNIFE EDGE

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THE CHURCH ON A KNIFE EDGE

“As they were sent off and on their way, they told everyone they met about the breakthrough to the Gentile outsiders. Everyone who heard the news cheered — it was terrific news!

“When they got to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were graciously received by the whole church, including the apostles and leaders. They reported on their recent journey and how God had used them to open things up to the outsiders. Some Pharisees stood up to say their piece. They had become believers but continued to hold to the hard party line of the Pharisees. ‘You have to circumcise the pagan converts,’ they said, ‘You must make them keep the Law of Moses.'” Acts 15:3-5 (The Message).

This Jew/Gentile thing was a really sensitive issue in the early church. It was the subject of the first general church council recorded in Acts 15. The leaders of the infant church had to deal with issues as they arose, some of which were relatively simple matters of administration, for example, the neglect of the Greek widows in Acts 6, and some with far more significant matters of understanding regarding the work of Jesus.

Jesus had chosen twelve men to be with Him so that they could learn His yoke. It would be their responsibility to interpret and apply His yoke when He was no longer there, and that was what they were doing now. The Pharisees in the church in Jerusalem were speaking out of turn because they were not part of the original group of men trained by Jesus. They had not lived with Him intimately and understood His heart and the heart of the Father.

God’s intention, from the beginning, was to work through one nation whom He called into fellowship with Himself in a marriage covenant, to reveal Him to the whole world. He had taught them His Word, a way of life that would reflect His nature and requirements for people who belonged to Him.

However, the Jews misinterpreted God’s intention, believing themselves to be superior to the Gentiles, despising them and isolating themselves from them. The Pharisees in particular, hated Jesus because He showed them that God loved and accepted all people. They were so stuck on the letter of the Law of Moses, regardless of the fact that they didn’t obey it themselves, that they could not embrace the real meaning of God’s plan. He dealt with sin through Jesus’ sacrifice, once for all, so that all people, Jews and Gentiles, could come to the Father without having to do anything but believe.

It was important for the apostles to decide what the yoke of Jesus was in this situation — His interpretation of the heart and disposition of the Father which He both taught and practised. It was not a matter of thumb sucking, but of examining the evidence and reaching a conclusion based on what they saw and heard from Jesus as well as what was happening in their current situation.

There would be another important spin-off from the outcome of this meeting. It was imperative that the church remain united. It would be a serious matter if some were teaching one thing and others another. In the early days of the church they had worked hard to keep the unity in their relationships with one another. Now a far more serious and sinister issue had arisen — which had the potential to splinter the church around doctrines that hit at the very heart of their faith.

How relevant this is for the church today! Over the centuries the church has become fragmented over this very issue — what is the yoke of Jesus? Had church leaders only stuck to the criteria of Jesus Himself, His words and His ways, and a passion to keep the unity of the Spirit instead of allowing reason and opinions to dominate them, perhaps the prayer of Jesus, “that they may be one”, would be much nearer to being answered than it appears now.

THE BOOK OF ACTS – STICK WITH JESUS

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CHAPTER 15

STICK WITH JESUS

“It wasn’t long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised. ’If you’re not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can’t be saved.’ Paul and Barnabas were up on their feet at once in fierce protest. The church decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul and Barnabas, and a few others to put it before the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem.” Acts 15:1-2 (The Message).

Why the fuss? Such an insignificant matter! Who cares whether men are circumcised or not? What difference does a small surgical procedure make to their salvation?

A small matter but a very a big issue! It was big enough for Paul to write a letter to the Galatian believers to deliver a heated protest against a teaching which would undermine the very foundation of their salvation. It was serious enough for the church leaders to take action immediately, to nip in the bud a practice that would undo the finished work of Jesus for those who submitted to circumcision, and take them back into self-effort, slavery and failure.

A whole world of meaning was packed into Jesus’ final words on the cross: ‘It is finished.’ His death and resurrection put an end to all the demands of the Law as a way of being acceptable to God. Even if we obeyed God perfectly in every detail of what He expects of us from now on, (which is impossible anyway), we still have the problem of our past and the guilt we have incurred by disobeying God.

Jesus offered Himself up to God as an atoning sacrifice and His offering was accepted as the morally perfect Lamb who took our place because He had no sin of His own to die for. What He did was enough and complete, and we cannot and must not try to improve on it by adding anything to what He has done.

These Jews, who were insisting that Gentiles adopt the old covenant given to His people at Mount Sinai by being circumcised, were saying, in effect, that the sacrifice of Jesus was insufficient to satisfy God’s justice. To make His work effective, we have to add to what Jesus did by trying to keep the Law.

Whatever we add to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross nullifies His work and puts us back under obligation to fulfil all the requirements of the old covenant. We cannot pick and choose what we will do and what we won’t do. The agreement God entered into with His people at Mount Sinai was a package deal and demands perfect obedience to every detail.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who has let himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.” Galatians 5:1-3 (NIV).

What is your “circumcision” that you have added to Jesus’ complete work on the cross, to make His salvation effective for you? Do you have to carry out rituals, obey dietary laws, observe special days or seasons, “work for Jesus”, or do anything to get God’s attention or to win His approval instead of just being His son or daughter?

If you do, you are outside the reach of God’s grace. “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” Galatians 5:4 (NIV).

What is the real issue here? It’s the attitude of our hearts. Are we slaves or sons? Slaves have to work hard to please their master. Sons are free just to be sons. “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:6-7 (NIV).