Bible Study: October 13, 2021

In which I... Okay, so last time, last week, we... the Neses got through the bulk of Acts 15. The pivotal chapter in the Bible was, as the New Testament church begins, it based some real questions as the Gentiles began to come into the church, and they had to... they had to adopt the principles of the church, and the Jews had their ideas as well. And so we spent some time last week talking about what Acts 15 did, how the... how the apostles came together, Paul and Barnabas came, and we worked through that whole process of what happened as the church came together.

I won't take the time to recount all that now, because as we begin here tonight, we're going to go through a letter that the apostles put together to send out to the Gentile churches, but then we'll recount a little bit of what we talked about last night, but not last night, but last week. But just to bring you up to speed, you remember that the purpose of the... the purpose of the conference in Jerusalem was to discuss circumcision and how it applied to the Gentiles.

They brought some other subjects as well, and after much discussion, much discussion, there's nothing wrong with much discussion, God led them to the appropriate and to the correct answer, you know, and what the... what his decision on circumcision was. And so we talked about that. In addition to circumcision, you remember that the council enjoined four other things on the Gentile churches there to tell them to abstain to...

to abstain from. So as we begin, any questions? Anything that someone has lingering from last week that you wanted to talk about or discuss or anything that wasn't clear that we might spend a little bit of time on or... Okay. Okay, well, you know what, let's pick it up then in verse 23. Like I said, we'll recount some of this stuff because the letter is going to recount what the decision of the Jerusalem Council was. So in Acts 15, now verse 23, you know, one of the things I think I've mentioned last week was it's a beautiful thing when you see people come together.

And when God's Holy Spirit is with people and it's in the people that are gathered together, it always leads to unity. It always leads to one accord. And I've mentioned before that one of the themes I think of the book of Acts is one accord. And we're going to see that here in the letter that the apostles sent to the churches and of the Gentiles.

But one of the things to remember, when God's Spirit is there, there may be discussion. There's nothing wrong with discussion. We have to work things out, you know, and look at the Bible. God will lead us to an outlook on things, the correct answer, the correct decision, the correct path that we should follow. It'll always end in unity. When there's not the Holy Spirit, there is the the the the discord, the division.

Sometimes people wanting to go off and do their own thing because they just don't they simply don't want to agree. But where God's Spirit is, it results in unity. So in verse 23, it talks about the letter that they're going to say.

It says, they wrote this letter to the Gentiles. The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cecelia. So it's a nice little nice little greeting. They bring the whole church into it. The apostles that are that met in Jerusalem, the elders that met in Jerusalem, and the brethren in Jerusalem all agree to what's going to be put in this letter.

It wasn't just the decision of one or two people. It was the entire church came together. They all approved of what was going on. This was clear to them that this was the decision that God wanted made in this instance. And they say, greetings. Since we have heard that some went out from us, since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, you must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such command.

Let's stop there again. This is a very good letter. They addressed the situations that are at hand there. And in that first paragraph, they say some things that would be a comfort to the churches that are receiving this. First of all, they'll address that there are some, not people that were sent out by the Jerusalem Council, not sent out by ministers to go out and tell these Gentiles.

These people went out on their own accord. They decided to take it upon themselves and start telling the Gentiles, you need to do this, you need to do that, you have to be circumcised, there's no salvation without circumcision, the whole nine yards. And the apostles are setting them straight. We did not do that. You know, it's a lesson to all of us. If we have questions or if we say something that, you know, we look in the Bible and say, well, you know, we have a question on that, we shouldn't go out and start telling other people that are, bring it, bring it to the ministry, bring it to someone and talk about it.

Look at the consternation that the people who went out on their own and started giving their own ideas. And they were, you know, they were well-founded ideas. That's what the Jews were raised in. They had to be circumcised. That was one of the identities that the Jews had. To be a Jew meant you were circumcised. And it was, that was kind of their thing. So what they were saying was of their understanding, but they should have gone to the ministry first. They should have gone to someone first and said, we don't understand that, why aren't the Gentiles being taught this, etc, etc, etc.

That's the appropriate way to do things. When they went out and started creating this unsettling, as it says in the letter of the people there, that's what, that's what, when we do things out of line, that's what happens, right? I have to appreciate the word that the apostles used there that's translated, unsettling, because that's exactly what happens.

You know, when there's discord in our lives, when there aren't people that are coming together, when we have different ideas, they're competing ideas, you know, we have this feeling of not being settled, you know, we wake up at night and we think about things, the consternation that goes on between us or some idea that we haven't even voiced to someone, you know, it can be a troubling thing. And if that happens, there needs to be discussion, there needs to be seeking of what God's way is to reconcile that settling.

Keep your finger there in Acts 15. Let's go back to 1 Peter 5 for a moment.

You know, sometimes as you read through the book of Acts and you see certain words that are used, it'll draw you to some of the later writings of the apostles. Now, this is a foundational and educational time for them as well, as they dealt with this circumcision issue and the Gentiles being called into the church. And they learned things as they saw the effect of God as things were put together. And Peter might have been thinking about this when he signed off in his first letter, his first epistle here in 1 Peter 5, because he uses a word that I've always taken comfort in when I read this of Peter and see the words that he used to comfort the people there. It's in verse 10 of 1 Peter 5, it says, When we are doing God's will, even in the time of trials and whatever we feel, settle. There's that peace that Paul, that peace that surpasses all understanding that Paul talks about in Philippians. It's what Paul, what Peter is talking about. It just settles our souls. We know it's God's will. And when we know it's God's will, we know that we're living under his guidance and grace, and he has a purpose for all of us. And we are comfortable that we're walking with him and not being in contrast to him. Our souls are settled. And as they wrote this letter there to the Galatian churches in Acts 15, we see that word used. The people that went out to try to stir up trouble in those Galatian churches, they were there to unsettle souls. Right? And everything.

So this letter is going to seek to settle the souls, and we'll see that it does, once we get a little bit later here in Acts 15. So they go on and say, you know, it seems good to us, since we heard all this happened, it seems good to us being assembled with, there's that phrase of Acts, one accord, seemed good to us being assembled with one accord to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul. So as he said, Barnabas and Paul, back out to the Gentile churches. They're all also going to send Judas and Silas out there. So they have Barnabas and Paul, they're giving them the pat on the back, they're showing their support for the ministry that they've been doing, for what they've been preaching to the Gentile churches. The Jerusalem church approves of it, so the Gentiles that are out there in those areas know we approve of what Paul and Barnabas are doing. And hey, just as witnesses, we're also going to send along Judas and Silas. We're going to see that they have a real purpose for being out there in the Gentile areas as well as they go out there as this letter is being taken back. So it says we're going to send Barnabas, we send our beloved Barnabas and Paul back to you, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes? You know, it said to be circumcised and keep the law. What law he's speaking of? Ah, okay. Tell me where you're at. At 15, about the circumcision and keep the law, the circumcision, and to keep the law. Oh, okay. Yes, yes. Okay, first one, actually, yes. Yeah, we talked about that last week too. So what he's talking about, you must be circumcised and keep the law. As we talked, you know, as we talked last week, many people will say, oh, it's the law, the law of Moses that's spun away with. We don't need to keep that anymore, and that the Jerusalem Council did away with that.

And in essence, you know, they didn't. That was a question that came up. But as we went through Acts 15, the first part, you know, when they came to their decision down there in verses 19 and 20 and 21, here's what they said to the Gentiles. So this is the decision they made to the Gentiles. We won't trouble them. We won't trouble the Gentiles who are turning to God. The circumcision, of course, not necessary, right? We talked last week at length about physical circumcision versus spiritual circumcision and circumcision of the heart. But they had them abstained from these four four things that are listed there in verse 20, also listed here in the letter in verse 29.

These four things, and those four things that they asked them to abstain from, were key elements of the pagan life, right? I mean, those were just things that were as natural to the pagans and the pagan way of life as breathing air, right? And these are things that are diametrically opposed and contradictory to what the way the God says to live. So were they, you know, when they would have these festivities with the idols, they would have meats, and they would sacrifice to the idols, and they would eat those meats, and that was just part of what they were doing. In their mind, it was like these meats are sacrificed or approved by their gods, etc., etc., etc.

So they said, don't do that. You got to come out of that. That's a whole different mindset, Gentiles, that you need to come out of. We don't eat meat polluted by idols. It also involves their festivities that they did, and the festivals that they were attending to, from sexual immorality because it was rampant to the pagan. It was all legalized. Basically, anything that anyone could imagine they could do. They had the temple prostitutes. They had all these things set up that anything that your imagination could conjure up, it was legal for pagans to do. A whole different lifestyle when you come into the Christian faith. So that was one thing. They knew they were going to have to work hard to come out of that from things strangled because the strangling of meat leaves the blood in it. God gave the way to kill the meat so the blade blood was strained out. God says, don't eat the blood, which is the next one there. So all these things that they had to pay attention to, that was complete change of life for them. I mean, we can't even imagine the change of life that they had to go through in order to leave all those things behind and adopt the way to live and to eat the way that God said.

But then in verse 21, the apostles said, Moses, Moses, you know, we talked about Moses when we see Moses. Moses is read in every synagogue, every Sabbath, it says. And when the Bible talks about Moses, we showed last week, even Jesus Christ would say, you know, if you believe Moses, you have to believe me. It's talking about the first five books in the Bible because it's commonly believed that Moses wrote the first five books in the Bible. So what they're saying is, Moses, Moses, go to the synagogue. Listen to the law that's there. Listen to the law that's there because that's what is going to be preached. In a few minutes, I'm going to go to some more verses that show this. But what the law that they're talking about in verse 24 is this ritual law, the sacrifices and everything else that was done away with when Jesus Christ was sacrificed. He's the ultimate sacrifice and that whole sacrificial law is gone. That's right. Yeah. Okay. Verse 26. We were talking about Paul and Barnabas risking their lives. You know, we can think back. We don't need to turn back to a few chapters. But you remember how Paul and Barnabas, when they went into places like Lystra, Derby, Iconium, the Gentile churches, I mean, they were ushered out. Paul was even stoned. They left him for dead at that time. I mean, they really did risk their lives to go and preach the gospel and they weren't worried about it. They had complete faith in God that he would see them through everything. And Paul lists all the beatings that he had to endure, being thrown into prison and everything else like that. And the people in Jerusalem knew it. They knew it wasn't an easy life. They lived, but they did it with faith in God and to preach the gospel the way they were commanded. So in verse 27, it says, We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. So they're sending a delegation out. This is the decision of the council, Jews and Gentile representatives, ministers, and apostles all in one room that have come to report. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit. It is God's Spirit that leads us into understanding. It is God's Spirit that leads us into unity. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things, that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. A very concise, right-to-the-point letter. Here's the decision of the council, the Jerusalem council. This is what happens.

Now let me, you know, before we leave that, I do want to address the part of the law again, and for those that, you know, many of the churches in the world will say, you know, the law is done away with, you don't have to keep the Ten Commandments anymore, that's part of the law of Moses, the da da da da. And it's not, you know, that's not so. Even when you look at the Ten Commandments, many of the Ten Commandments, though, the last five especially, are all, you know, laws on the books of mankind. But there are verses back in the law, right, that tell us that that can't be. If Jesus Christ is the head of the New Testament church, the church that he started, and we know that he is the God of the Old Testament, not saying that God the Father wasn't involved in it, he certainly was, we can go back to the Old Testament and see that there is no way God would have told the Jews, you have to keep this law, but Gentiles, you don't. It would be contrary to what God had set up, and we see that in several places in the book of the law, if you will, that Jesus validated when he was on earth, and he said, I didn't come to do away with the law or the prophets, I came to fill them up, and so it's not just physical adherence, but also spiritual adherence, the interiors that we do the law now. There's places in the Bible where he specifically addresses that. Let's go back to Exodus 12. Exodus 12, the verse 14. And remember, remember that the only scriptures that they had at this time was the Old Testament. That they didn't have, they didn't have the book of Acts to read. They didn't have Paul's epistles at this point. They didn't have Peter's and James and Jude's epistles. They had simply the Old Testament. These were the scriptures that they were living by that the council said Moses is read every week, go to the synagogue, and we read that the Gentiles came to the synagogue to hear just as well as the Jews did. But in verse 49, a scripture that we read probably every Passover says this. It says, One law shall be for the native born and for the stranger who dwells among you.

Same law. Not a different law for the Jews and a different law for the Gentiles. Not a different law in this Old Testament time for the native born Israelite versus the one who would say I want to become part of Israel and live under their law. One law. The same law everyone abides by the same by the same law. And God says it not just once. He says it several times as he often does, so that sticks in our mind in the book of Leviticus. And in chapter 24, that is stated again. 24 and verse 22 says, You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country. For I am the Eternal your God. Same law. Not two different laws. Everyone is held to the same standard because it's a God-given law that was given to mankind to live from the time that man was created. And so the same law for everyone. And then finally in Numbers 15 and verse 29, he says it again. So, you know, looking at the... I'll read Numbers 15, 29 first. Verse 29 says, You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native-born among the children of Israel, for the stranger who dwells in Longbell. Now, with those scriptures three times, and there's one in Deuteronomy as well, with those three scriptures in the Bible, the Old Testament, and at the Jerusalem Council, with Peter there, 12 apostles there, people who knew the Bible better than you and me, they would be able to recall chapter verse. They didn't have chapter and verse, but they would know exactly what it said. One law for the native-born, one the same law for the stranger, one law for all of mankind. There is no way that the Jerusalem Council would have been able, would have gone forward and felt the blessing of God or the unity of God, that, okay, well, the Jews are going to continue under this, but hey, let's just do away the law for the Gentiles. Let's not hold that.

Let's not hold that to them, okay? So it's unconscionable. It's not even...

it's not even that we can even imagine that that would happen, because they would know descriptions and say, absolutely not, absolutely not. If they were worried about circumcision, some were going out there saying, hey, the law says that a native-born Israelite needs to be circumcised. They certainly weren't going to agree to, you don't have to keep the Ten Commandments or anything that's written in the law of Moses. But beyond that, there's one other thing, I think, as we look at the Bible today. And we find that if we go back... and again, anyone has any questions or comments at any time, but let's look at Acts 15 and verse 28 again.

Yes, sir? Yes, I was just thinking as you were going through that at the Jerusalem Conference, you know, James was a huge figure, and James wrote himself about the perfect law of liberty in chapter one and two, and then laid out, you know, and the perfect, that word perfect, meaning something that doesn't need to be amended. And just like when it says, don't add to or take away from my law in Deuteronomy, and he causes the law of liberty, and then he lays out several of the Ten Commandments just so that you know exactly what he's talking about. So he certainly doesn't mind anything.

Yeah, absolutely. And Christ himself, right? I mean, he validated the law and everything that he said. He often referred back to the Old Testament. Those were the scriptures that he was looking at. So now that they were looking at, you know, another one to look at is here in Acts 15 verse 28. It gets back to these words that are used, even in the English language, that we can pick up, we can look at, and it'll trigger another thing in our mind, right? In 1st 28 of Acts 15, it says, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and for us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things. Okay, so it's like, you got to abstain from idol, you got to abstain from offered idols, sexual immorality, things strangled, etc, etc, etc. They were considering that a burden. But if we look at the later writings, the Apostle John, who would have been there at this Acts conference, he used that same word when he was talking about God's commandments.

In 1st John 5, 1st John 5, and beginning in verse 1, he says, whoever believes, and remember every time, every time you see that word believes in the New Testament, just about every time you see it, it's that Greek word, the stoyo, and all that that Greek word, the stoyo, means whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God, and everyone who loves him who begot also loves him who is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this, verse 3, is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. So, you know, when you see the words there, you say, well, there's no way they would have sent a letter if they were trying to indicate that the commandments were a burden, and then have John, who was sending there, you know, the last living of the original 12 apostles, to say his commandments aren't burdensome. The commandments aren't a burdensome, it's everything that the Jews attached to the adherence to those commandments that was burdensome. You know, you can't carry more than this on the Sabbath day, you can't walk this more than this many steps, everything that they did to take away from the joy of the Sabbath, where people were just focusing on, you can't do this, and you can't do that, and you can't do this other thing. So, you know, this is this letter, this letter is a foundational event, a very good letter that they sent out there, that also ties into the rest of the Bible. You can't read the Bible, and you can't read the New Testament even, and come with the conclusion that the Jerusalem Council did away with the 10 commandments, or any other part of the law, except the sacrificial part that Jesus fulfilled. You can't, unless that's what you want to do, and that's unfortunately what so many of the churches want to do. So the commandments are not a burden. I think we would all agree to that, right? Right. In fact, Brother Shady. Yes, sir.

We'll piggyback on what Brother Ginn and you were saying. When we go back to what you read last week from Galatians 2, Paul stated that people were spying out the liberty or freedom that they have in Christ. So, hence, it shows that there's a difference between liberty, the perfect law of liberty, and what they were trying to force on the people. Yep. Yeah, it all ties together. When you read the book of Acts, and then you go back and read some of the epistles of Paul and Peter, you can see how the same thoughts are flowing through their epistles later. They have, you know, they explain it more fully in everything, just as we do as we come to understanding of things.

But yeah, it's all there. I wanted, before we move on to the rest of chapter 15 there, to also go back to Galatians 5. I think it was Xavier last week who had us, reminded us, and had us read Galatians 2 that talked about circumcision. And how physical circumcision, as you recall, we talked about doesn't benefit anything. When we look back at ancient Israel, they were physically circumcised, even in the wilderness, as we talked.

They weren't circumcised for some reason while they were born in the wilderness, but before they could keep the Passover, as they moved into the Promised Land, God had Joshua go back and have all those Israelite men circumcised. But the physical circumcision never, never resulted, or never was an assistance or an aid or a help to Israel to obey God. It just had no effect on them whatsoever. Every chance they had, they yielded to the nations around them.

They followed pagan gods. They did all these things. The physical circumcision didn't do anything for them. And there's lessons we learned from that. Of course, in the New Testament time, it's circumcision of the heart that God is looking for.

In Old Testament times, physical circumcision, given at birth, identified that child as a child of Jacob, if you will, of Israel. But today, God's people are not. It's as adults that we make the choice to come into God's Church. And when we do that, when we believe, we repent, we're baptized, we receive God's Holy Spirit. It's circumcision of the heart. And that's what identifies in the Christian era, in the Christian era, and to become a Christian.

You know, when the Gentiles were coming into the church, they weren't joining Judaism, right? Judaism is not what the New Testament Church is. It's different. Judaism is similar in their beliefs. But it's Jesus Christ who is the Savior. And the people who are in the Christian Church are marked by repentance, baptism, and being led by the Holy Spirit. Circumcision of the heart. It's Judaism, Jews that were marked by the physical circumcision. So now it's going somewhere with that.

Let me think here for a minute. Oh, Galatians. Galatians 5. You know, again, it wouldn't be bad as you do your personal Bible study. As we go through the book of Acts here, we're going to see, you know, things that Paul was involved in, things, you know, Peter, we're not going to read about Peter much here anymore in the book of Acts. But to go and look at the epistles of Paul, for instance, because you can see the effects of this Jerusalem Conference on their writings.

Because from here on out, when Paul and Barnabas go back out, they're going to be teaching. They're going to be teaching this to the Gentiles and to the Jews, because here's the decision that's been made. Here's how the church is going to work going forward. And Paul is addressing this to the Galatian church here in chapter 5. So I just want to read a few words of those in context of this letter that's out and the fact that Paul and Barnabas are going back out to Derby and Lystro, we're going to see here, two of the three Galatian churches.

Verse 1 of Galatians 5. Now this is how he would write to them, but this is how he would have talked to them about this letter as they took that back out to them and explained to the churches what happened. He says, verse 1, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and don't be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

We know what the yoke of bondage that he's talking about is. Indeed, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. Christ will profit you nothing. Now what he's saying is he's not saying the physical act of circumcision is wrong. He's just saying it doesn't lead to salvation. The Jews thought it was a mark of salvation. You had to have it in order to be saved, if you will, but that is not the case.

And he's saying if you're going to rely on circumcision, then absolutely nothing, then you really have rejected Jesus Christ. He proffered to nothing. It's faith in him, right? Indeed, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.

He's saying if you believe that, if you're going to do that, and you're going to adopt the Jewish faith, if you're going to take their beliefs and run with what they say, if you become circumcised, then you need to keep the whole law, because that's what's part of the Old Testament law, not the Christian law, not the New Testament law that's there. You need to do it all. You need to do it all, he says.

Now verse 4, he pretty much lays it out. If you do this, you've become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen from grace. So he's saying be very careful about what you are attaching yourself to. Be very careful about what you're doing. Don't trust in circumcision. Be circumcised to the heart, because that's what God is looking for. And if you're going to trust in this physical thing, you become estranged from Christ, and you've fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love.

So he lays out the case there. This is the type of thing that he would have gone back into the churches and taught them. Because again, just like it took a lot of discussion in Jerusalem to come to the conclusion, the churches out there in the gentile areas would have wanted to discuss this more. And he would have, you know, there was, I'm sure, a significant amount of time that was there explaining what this was and how it was of God and fit with the scriptures. Verse 7, to finish that, it says, you ran well, Galatians. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? What did you start obeying? What did you start obeying? Who did you start listening to instead of the truth of God or what was being preached to you? So, you know, there's others of Paul's epistles, too. As you read through that, you can think back to what we're looking at here in Acts Acts as the churches is beginning and God is leading it in the doctrine and everything and everything that is there. So let's go with that. Let's go back to Acts 15 then.

Acts 15. So the letter is sent. The letter is sent. Verse 30. So Paul, Barnabas, Judas, Silas, they head off for Antioch. So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. Verse 31 is a beautiful, another beautiful verse. When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.

The churches there, as they read the letter, you know, when it's of God, it brings peace, it brings joy, it brings the encouragement. The people there could see the wisdom in that letter, and God's Spirit working in them was exactly the same Spirit and the men who were gathered there in Jerusalem put the letter together who came to that conclusion and they could see the wisdom in it that only could have come from God on how you marry two completely different sets of people into one church and the one church, right? So, you know, it's just a beautiful thing. When we see the wisdom of God, you know, I think back when I read that verse to what happened in Acts 15 when they were doing all the disputing, if you recall, about over what they should do, and then Peter, Peter recalls what happened with the centurion, with Cornelius, and he's talking about it and he realizes God gave them the Holy Spirit without Cornelius ever being circumcised. It must not be that that must not be a salvation issue for for the for Cornelius or for the Gentile. And the entire congregation just was quiet because when you come to conclusion, you just realize that's the will of God. And as the letter was read there in the Gentile in Antioch, the people could see this is of God. This is of God. So verse 32. So Judas and Silas, or now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words.

So we begin to see why Judas and Silas were sent out there. Yes, they were they were representatives from the Jerusalem Church to say, yes indeed, this is what the church has enjoyed. This is the this is the doctrine going forward, but they were prophets also. And you'll remember back from a few Bible studies ago that were probably more than a few weeks ago, we talked about we talked about the order of things. If we go back to 1 Corinthians 12, you know, they were prophets. It says they were prophets also. There were prophets there in the Antioch Church. But as Paul recounts, you know, the offices of the church in chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians and verse 28, Noah also mentions that Ephesians 4 and around verse 11 or 12 in that area. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 28, he says, God has appointed these in the church. First, apostles. Second, prophets. Third, teachers. After that, miracles, gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues, etc., etc. So you can see that prophets and, you know, today when people hear prophet, they think of someone who's foretelling the future, right? This is prophecy. This is what's going to happen, you know, and that, of course, is part of the Bible. Third, the Bible is prophecy, but that's not all prophets did. Paul explains, you know, what a prophet is in chapter 14 in verse 3. He says, He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. I mean, these are people who understand the Bible, who are able to teach the Bible, who are able to help people understand what the Bible says, who are there to encourage and to strengthen the church. And by their words and expounding on the verses of the Bible, people have a deeper understanding, always with the purpose of leading them to what God's will is and leading them to Jesus Christ. So when we look in Acts 15 and we see that Judas and Silas were there, verse 32 tells us what they were doing, right? Judas and Silas themselves being prophets also. Hello? Yes. Okay, sorry. Going back to 1 Corinthians where it says that they were given first apostle, second prophet, and in Father Don is his being gifts of healing. Now, we know that men, other than doctors, I guess you can say, they don't have the gift of healing today as they did. So did that die off with the apostle?

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know that, you know, God has not opened that gift of healing today. I don't know if it died. I think that it's still there in the New Testament. I think at a future time we might see that happen, but we don't see that today. God still heals, right? We never doubt that God healed. Yeah, I know that. Yeah, so that doesn't mean there's not healing today. Maybe not someone who has the gift of healing, like Paul was able to go out and he has such tremendous faith. If you just say, be healed and Peter, and that may come somewhere down the road, but apparently not today. Maybe a function of our, you know, lack of faith too.

Pastor Shaby, I guess, here it says sometimes too, if God thinks people are, you know, they've finished the race, so to speak, that they're, you know, they're really very converted, very faithful, that He'll allow them to die if He thinks they're ready for the Kingdom. Do you think that makes sense? That when He allows them to die, they're ready for the Kingdom? I mean, pastors, for example, or people, certain people, they might die young, or they might, if God doesn't always heal people, it may, in His mind, He may be thinking that they're where they need to be character-wise. I don't know. I just wonder about that a bit, you know? I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying, and, you know, everything happens for a reason, right? God knows, and He doesn't promise us we're going to live forever in these physical bodies. And, you know, God does. There is a time where it says, now I know, and you have to wonder, it's like, now I know this person is never going to turn against me, so I hear what you're saying. But I think we have to be careful about what we judge and how we judge. God? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I agree, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay, how about we go back to Acts 15.

Okay, so we have Judas and Silas. There are prophets there that have come back with Barnabas and Saul, and we can see part of what they were doing as they were there. Barnabas and Baal bring back this letter. They read the letter from Jerusalem, but Judas and Silas are out there, they're teaching it, if you will. It says there in verse 32, they're doing exactly what prophets do.

They're exhorting the brethren. They're teaching them. They're encouraging them. They're showing them from the Bible, from the scriptures. Remember, they have the Old Testament scriptures. Look what God has shown. You know, even in Deuteronomy, remember, it's circumcision of the heart. As mentioned in Deuteronomy, that's what God even said and inspired Moses to write back in Deuteronomy. What I'm looking for is circumcision of the heart. So they could turn to those verses, and so that's what God is looking for today. He was, circumcision was just a physical sign, right? So they would exhort. That's what prophets did. They strengthened the church. When we preach the Word of God, and when we teach the Word of God, and people understand the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit is working in the one speaking as well as the one hearing, it strengthens the church. We rely on God. We trust in Him more. We know His words, and we live by them. So they were exhorting. They were strengthening. And notice what it says, with many words. You know, some of you will think, oh, my minister, my minister has way too many words, right? But look, they exhorted, and they strengthen with many words, because sometimes it takes those words in order to help explain and to cover the areas of it, to make it clear to what people need to believe. So what Judas and Silas were doing was very valuable. The church needed to hear this. They read the letter. They rejoiced over it, but they needed to see how it fit into the Bible, too, in God's Word. And it wasn't just the ideas of a group of men, but it had the biblical backing of it. The same thing that you and I should do today, when we look at doctrines, it's got to be in the Bible. And, you know, when we go to church, when we go to Bible studies, when we read things, you know, that's the same thing as the exhorting, strengthening, and sometimes, you know, the many words to help us understand and to go back into the Bible and see how it all fits together. Brother Shibi? Yes, sir?

Weren't they also a type of witnesses? Yeah. Because if Paul and Saino Bárvos just brought the letter, okay, that's fine, but they sent two men separate from them, two witnesses, and the mode of two or more. Yep. And then they continued to confirm what was written from the Scripture. Right, exactly. They were there for that purpose as well. They had to confirm this is exactly what was said in Jerusalem. Yes, I agree. Okay, verse 33. After they had stayed there for a time, so they did just come in for a weekend and disappear, they stayed there for a time. They were making sure people were educated and they're among the people. After they stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. So after a while, when their job was finished, the people understood the Jerusalem directive, the doctrine, they went back, people were happy to see them, and they went back. Now verse 34 is an interesting verse. It doesn't appear in the original manuscripts, right? For some reason, the translators added this verse, and in some of the newer translations, it'll just skip over 34 and go from 33 to 35. But it says, however, it seems good to Silas to remain there. And I think it's referencing to later on when Paul and Silas, you know, depart to go to the Gentile churches. But, you know, what is there for? I don't know. The original Bible goes from 33 down to 35. Judas and Silas, it says, go back to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. And you remember from when we were in Antioch before, there were other prophets and ministers there as well. So they continue in Antioch. That was where the first Gentile church was. That's where Paul and Barnabas spent some time. They're doing that now to, you know, work with the Antioch church.

After their prayer for a while, you know, Paul has a good thought. He says that after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let's now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we've preached the word of the Lord and see how they're doing. So that would be a natural thing. You know, we have many people who were converted, and we have churches in these cities in Galatia. We have them. Let's go back and see how they're doing. We left them behind. Let's see what happens. They need to hear this word and this doctrine from Jerusalem as well. A reasonable thing. The Antioch church now is stable, is settled. They understand. They understand the word of God. They understand how they're going to be bond together into one family in the church, both Jews and Gentiles. It doesn't mean it happened perfectly. When we get into the book of Romans, we see that there's still some tension there, but they knew what the what the mission was and how God was going to put them together. And so when we come to verse 37, we see something. We see a couple interesting things here in the next few verses. Here, Paul and Barnabas and the apostles of Jerusalem have had this very uplifting and I think an inspiring meeting in Jerusalem where they have all come together in one accord. They've dealt with a difficult issue. God has given them the basis for the unity in the church and going forward. And then as they're leaving to go out to visit these churches, they kind of run into a disagreement Barnabas and Paul. It says Barnabas in verse 37, he was determined to take with them John called Mark. John with his surname being Mark. But Paul insisted that they not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. So we have this disagreement all of a sudden. Barnabas says, yeah, yeah, let's go back. You know, John Mark, he was here with us. You remember, you know, back in Acts 13, I know there's just a couple of j purgah, then Pamphylia, and John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. It doesn't tell us why. Doesn't, you know, if there was a sickness in the family or if he just didn't want to do it anymore, but he just left. And the Bible doesn't tell us why. But Paul still remembers that. It wasn't that long ago. And basically, he says, I don't want to take John Mark. I don't want to take him.

Maybe he saw something in him that he thought, I don't trust that he wouldn't do it again. And he'll be with us. We'll start on it. And then he'll just go back to Jerusalem again. We don't know what it was. But Paul says no, he would rather take Silas with him, right? We're not going to take John Mark. And I'm wrong chapter, chapter 15. The contention isn't just a few words. It's not just a little innocent disagreement. It elevates into something between Paul and Barnabas. This is, then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And when you look up, that became so sharp in the Greek, in the Greek, it indicates that this was a really, a really divisive time. They were, they were both, they both had dug their heels in. We're taking Mark. Paul, no, we're not taking Mark. And there was a sharp, the sharp disagreement between them, so much so that it led to them parting ways. Okay, says that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark, and he sailed to Cyprus. Well, Cyprus is where Barnabas was originally from. So he went back there, he took Mark with him, and we don't hear anything else about Barnabas in the book of Acts. So I don't think he left the church. I don't think he started his own church or anything like that. It was just he went back, and he worked in Cyprus. Apparently, John Mark must have been with him for at least a period of time. But Barnabas goes back. But Barnabas goes back. We don't hear anything of him anymore. And the rest of the book of Acts, we're going to see Paul working with the Gentile churches. But Paul chose Silas, and he departed being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches. Now, it's interesting there, because as you read those verses, Barnabas leaves.

God doesn't say anything negative about Barnabas. We don't have any indication that Barnabas ever left the church unless someone knows something in the Bible that I haven't seen. But Paul goes forward. And the church supports, I guess if I can say that in the right word, they commend. It says, the brethren commend him to the grace of God. Yes, Paul, go forth and do the work. Our prayers are with you. Go forth to the churches that you're going to visit. And then he goes throughout Syria and Cilicia, and he strengthened the churches. So what he did was God's will. He was doing it the way that God said to do it. A very positive thing that God said. Now, this is a little bit of a change from Acts 14. If we go back there for a moment, as Paul and Barnabas are beginning to work with some of the churches in this Galatian area. In verse 6, we say that they were there in Lystra and Derby. And verse 8, Lystra, one of those Galatian churches, remember that Paul did a healing. And the Gentiles there thought, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, this is of God. And they kind of likened Paul, it says, in verse 12 to Hermes. But Barnabas, they called Zeus. They looked at the two of them and said, Barnabas is the head guy. He's the leader of the group. He's like Zeus. He's the supreme one. Paul is the spokesman. Okay, not negative about either one of them. But when they perceived who was the head, if you will, or the greater of the two, if I can use those very human terms that I hate to use, but I don't know what else to do, they looked at Barnabas and said, he's it. He's it. He's Zeus. He's the supreme. Paul is the one who does the talking. He's like Hermes. He's the chief speaker, it says. But then when we come to the end of chapter 15, after the Jerusalem conference, it's like it has flipped. The church, when they look at Paul and Barnabas, and they look at them, it's as if the church sees God working through Barnabas, I'm not sorry, working through Paul. And so they commend him and send him off with the grace of God and with the prayers. And Barnabas just leaves, right? Not that anyone disliked him. There was no problems with him, what he he fulfilled his mission. And when I read that, I, you know, there's so many times I think back, you know, to John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, and John the Baptist, of course, prepared the way for Jesus Christ. And he had a following. People followed him. He was preaching the gospel of repentance. He would baptize. And then Jesus Christ came to be baptized. And you remember John's followers would say, hey, hey, some of our people are going over to follow Jesus Christ. And they were doing, you know, kind of what humans do. Wait, we don't want them to go over there. And John said, no, no, no, it's okay. It's okay. He must increase, and I must decrease. It's the will of God. And it was very humbling, a very humble John that was able to say that. And we see the same thing happened here. Barnabas served his purpose well. Barnabas was the one who, when Paul came to Jerusalem, and then the apostles wanted nothing to do with him because of his past history and his reputation, it was Barnabas who took him under his wing, put his arm around him, and was his supporter. Right? He was the one who said, you know, listen to him. I've listened to what he has to say. I've heard him preach. He is, he is of us.

And Barnabas, the encourager, you know, he did his job very well. And he accompanied Paul through those things. Barnabas, in a way, is doing the same thing here with John Mark. Whatever mistake or whatever reason John Mark left them back in Pamphylia, Barnabas isn't willing to give up on him.

You know, Paul was and said, there's a character in effect, I guess, you know, I don't know what it is, you know, I don't want to, I don't want, I don't want John Mark as part of our party. But, but Barnabas said, no, no, no, let me work with him. He's a good guy. And Barnabas was always there to defend and support. He always gave people the benefit of the doubt. It's a very noble characteristic to have the church needs, the church needs that, and people to work with that, work it. Barnabas did it. But going forward, it's Paul. Going forward, it's Paul. We don't read of Barnabas anymore. God has chosen Paul. He's been through years and years and years of training. He's no longer the Paul that he was back at the time, you know, that he was persecuting Christians. He has learned a lot about how to deal with people. He's been through a lot. He has proven to people and God and himself that he is going to be loyal to God no matter what. He's learned a lot, and God has developed them into the person that he is now to take the message forward. So as we go into chapter 16, Mr. Shavey. Yes, ma'am. But before you leave, this is an off-the-ball question. John Mark, is he the same as one of the gospel? I'm sorry, same as what? One of the four gospel. Yes, yes, he is. Oh, he is. Yes. Oh, okay. That's what we believe. So yeah, yeah, Pastor Shavey. I found an interesting thing here about John Mark's relationship to Barnabas, and it says in Colossians chapter 4, I risk the crest my fellow prisoner, Seleucio, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas. So, Barnabas's affection for his nephew, it seems, you know. Yeah, could have been a factor there.

Yeah, is that in Colossians 4 you said? Colossians 4 verse 10. Okay. The Marcus was her sister's son to Barnabas. Now, this is in a commentary, so be careful with it, I guess. Oh, yeah, actually, yeah. It does say that. Eris Darkus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark because of the Barnabas. Okay, yeah, so there was a family, a familial relationship. Yeah, yeah, yeah, very good. I didn't pick up on that, so.

Yeah, Brother Shibi, it shows that with God's help, Mark didn't grow spiritually because he became very useful. He wrote Mark as the sister just pointed out. Right. And also, later on, Paul says it directly in, was it Timothy? Second Timothy, that he is useful to me. Bring him. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And it took part of this, right? Paul is ready to dismiss it, but part of us worked with him and he became very useful in the church. So, again, it shows that there's someone that could be the kind of the mentor and help bring people along. Paul, you know, Paul didn't have that, well, for where Mark was concerned, he didn't have that affinity with him.

Yep, Barnabas is a son of encouragement. Exactly. And he did it. He did his job well, so.

Okay, chapter 16. We'll just we'll get through a few verses here before we end here tonight. Chapter 16. So Paul, Paul comes to Derby and Lifestra, those are two of the Malaysian churches, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy. We all know who Timothy is. Paul, we have two of his epistles to Timothy that we read often. A certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed but his father was Greek. So here we have someone who is part Jewish and his, you know, we'll turn over to the second Timothy and see what Paul said about him. His mother and his grandfather, even mother and grandmother, even though Timothy's father was Greek, they raised him very well. He was raised with the scriptures, right? So in second Timothy 1 verse 4, Paul says, you know, I greatly desire to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, Timothy, which dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded in you also. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you to the laying on of my hand. So it was Paul who worked with Timothy, baptized him, apparently laid hands on him so that he received the Holy Spirit. So here we have Timothy. He's been raised in the church, if you will, even though his father was Greek. Mom and grandma did a really good job of raising this young man, and it's a valuable thing. You know, sometimes I wonder if our second-generation Christians understand the benefit of being raised with the Scriptures. And if parents of second-generation Christians appreciate the responsibility they have to raise their children with the Scriptures, it's a very valuable thing to be able to grow up knowing the truth of God, to be familiar with the Scriptures of God. That's been part of your life the entire time. It's part of the responsibilities that God gives us as parents, and to have that, to have that, and to know that's just your life. That's what you've grown up with. That's what you do. Not that you do it perfectly, and there comes a time that it becomes your responsibility and your religion and your responsibility, but it's a very valuable thing. And Paul sees that in Timothy. Eunice and Lois did a tremendous job with him, and Timothy is a fine young man who knows the Scriptures, who's walking according to it, even though his father was Greek and apparently not a believer, if you will.

So Paul sees this. Paul sees this in the young man, and he sees the value of it. Here's a man who's Greek, part Greek. He's also Jewish. He's raised in the Scriptures, and he's living that way. In verse 2, it says, he was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. The churches knew this young man and said, man, this is he's a good young man. He's got the right spirit. He's got the right attitude. He knows what he's doing. He lives according to God. We like everything about this young man. So Paul's looking at him, and Paul says, this is a potential minister. This is someone who could be living the way of God. It takes to be living the way of God in order to teach the way of God. So Paul takes him under his wings, if you will, writes the Scriptures to him. If you go back and you see the meeting between the two and see the letters that Paul wrote to Timothy, you can see the affinity and the love between the two and how he's bringing him along and mentoring him. Perhaps Paul saw, when he died, Timothy would continue with his ministry because he says, as he talks to him, that he's run his race and to encourage him to go forth and to go forth. Never to be ashamed about the gospel. If you read through those epistles and you relate it to the first meeting they had here and what it says about Timothy as their met, helps you understand a little bit more about the relationship of those two and how God put the two of them together. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. No issue with Timothy. He's a good guy. Someone you would work with. Verse 3 is an interesting verse that we have to pause and think about. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. He already has Silas, but yes, Timothy, I want you to be working with me too. I want to train you. I want you with me by my side. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. Now that's an interesting verse to have in the Bible, and an interesting decision for Paul to make in light of the letter and Acts 15 that we just read about. There was certainly no reason for Timothy to be circumcised. Paul absolutely believed that circumcision, physical circumcision, was unnecessary. There was no reason for Timothy to be circumcised in order to become a minister. He already had the gift of the Holy Spirit, at least I believe he did at that time, for Paul to see him and start working with him. But for some reason, Paul and Timothy both agreed it would be best for Timothy to be circumcised. It wasn't a one a Paul decision, but Timothy wanted it as well. And it tells us in verse 3, because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

Well, the Jews in that region also were highly, highly complimentary of Timothy. It wasn't as if he was an unknown quantity. We like the young man. We see God working in him. We see his spirit.

So why would you think perhaps that Paul and Timothy would have decided?

If you look at him, he thinks this is a perfect teaching opportunity. Here's Timothy. He grew up in the church. He's Greek. I don't know if it was a standard question in those days to say, were you circumcised or not? I mean, that seems kind of a little weird to me, but it's a different society at a different time, different religious things that were going on at that time.

It would have been a perfect teaching opportunity for Paul to explain the letter of Acts 15, and yet he didn't. And yet Timothy was circumcised. I don't know if there's any thoughts on that. Mr. Shady.

Yeah.

Then we'll go next after him. Yeah, Floyd.

I think he'll be muted.

I never looked at it this way, but he was upset at me now. Can you hear me now? Yes, uh-huh. Okay, okay. No, I was wondering. I never looked at it this way, but he was upset at...

He was...

He was sitting with the Gentiles, and then the Jews can't...

Oh, I don't know why that... you can't hear me?

We're hearing some of the words, but not all the words.

I know where you're going. You're going to the incident where Paul or Peter came, and then he disregarded the Gentiles when he sat down for dinner.

So I was wondering why Paul was upset at Peter for doing that, but here he wanted him circumcised. That came to mind. I don't understand.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're saying. Yeah, the Shavie. Yes, I am.

It's one of the few parts in the Bible where God shows that Paul dropped the ball.

Because he did the same thing also when they told him to go to the temple and do an offer with him.

He knew the temple worship was a god.

And what happened when he went there? Chaos. Trouble.

So it's one of those scenes where he says, you know what, I'm a piece then, just because I want him and I know he'll be profitable. So I'm going to do it. And he agreed with it.

But he knew it wasn't necessary at all. But he just got caught up in that moment.

Yeah, I want to tell you this later on, we're going to get to Acts 21 where we see Paul do something that we scratch our head over too. So yeah. Mr. Shavie, sorry, go ahead.

Yeah, I see Dave lit up. I don't know who else was talking, but go ahead, Dave, and we'll look at the next one. Oh, I was going to ask, could it possibly be the difference between Acts 15 and with Timothy? Those were all pure Gentiles. Timothy was half Jewish. And could the fact that he was raised, his mother was Jewish, have something to do with it as well?

Could be, I suppose. I'm guessing. I don't know this for sure. But I'm guessing back in those days, it was the father lineage determined it, and he wasn't circumcised because dad was Greek, right?

And father determined your lineage, I suppose. But could be that, that they said, you know, he is part Jewish, and so he needs to be circumcised. I don't know. I don't know if that.

Yes, ma'am. Okay, you reckon it could have been a medical issue? Because I remember a few weeks ago we were talking about this, that my brother, younger brother, once, he was about four or five years old, and he couldn't have made water. He couldn't make urine. So my dad had to rush into the hospital to get him circumcised before he could urinate. Really? So it's possible that it could have been a medical issue. I guess that's possible. I guess that's possible, but would it occur right at that time when Paul is going to take him along with him? I mean, yeah, I guess anything's possible. We've got, you know, the only reason it gives us here is because of the Jews who are in that region. Like, I want to appease the Jews. I don't want to deal with this issue. So hey, we'll just circumcise them, right? It's kind of the impression it gives us here. So...

Is it, yeah, I was wondering, is it around what he was doing? He's trying to be a peacemaker. Is he compromising his faith and doing that? I was wondering. Could be. Just didn't want to deal with it. Thought, you know what? This is going to create a lot of conversation. Let's just get right to the point of what the gospel is and take that away. Make the Jews happy. You know? That's kind of the idea that I have, because basically Paul didn't want stumbling block. You know, and if they would look at that right now, this way with circumcised, they're going to open arms. But if he's not, there's always a question in the back of their head. See, he'd removed a stumbling block through Timothy. It wasn't about salvation. It was about using him to forward the gospel without that stumbling block being there. That was my idea. Yeah, I'm comfortable. It wasn't about salvation. They weren't thinking that. They were just trying to take away an issue to not talk about, right?

Is what it was. Devin, I see a hand up there. Were you wanting to say something?

I was, but between David's comment and the last comment that was made, those are pretty much my thoughts, too. In fact, it didn't even occur to me that since Timothy was half Jewish, that might have been part of the reason. But I was thinking of the verse in Romans 15. I'm pulling it a little out of context here, but where he says, we then were strong not to bear with the scruples of the weak and not to please ourselves. I mean, they may have sent that letter out to the church and have come to that conclusion about circumcision in Acts 15, but that doesn't mean that everybody accepted it any more than everybody in the church accepts whenever some doctrinal study paper comes out these days. So I tend to think it was probably just, in this instance, Paul was realizing that he may be, you know, there was still a sensitive issue and he probably just wanted to give one less thing for the Jewish brethren to necessarily have contention over. Yeah. Put your hand down, by the way. I've never actually used it.

There's something at the bottom of the screen where you can put your hand out. I have to look at how I just there. Okay, got it. Thanks. Okay, anyone else? Any thoughts on that or anything? Yeah, I had one. Okay. I don't see it in the surrounding verses where it really passes judgment on the act, whether it's looked upon as good or looked upon as bad or really just give a lot of room for it, which I guess talking about it too much, the thing that occurred to me is for views, maybe the one Focusing message thinking it is but No, we're missing part of it, Robert. I don't know if it's my computer. So can everyone else hear? Is it just my computer? I know. I only heard your faces.

Okay, can you hear me okay now? Yes. Okay.

It doesn't seem like it passes judgment.

You know, it only says because of the Jews, so I kind of speculate maybe because the Jews were being distracted by the fact that he wasn't circumcised. They just started expediting it to do so, and it's not a salvation issue, obviously.

So maybe that was the purpose behind it. They just want them so focused on the fact that he wasn't circumcised that they couldn't preach them out.

Have you heard?

Yeah.

I have one comment as well. Based off of something that David said about, and I think you then mentioned as well, the bloodline going through the father, and Judaism is actually the opposite. It goes through the mother, so they would have considered him Jewish because his mother was Jewish.

They would look at the mother, not the father, so it might have been an issue with him because they considered him Jewish for that reason.

Okay, that's a good point. Yeah, that's a good point, which makes you wonder why his mother didn't have him circumcised, but dad must have insisted, or I don't know, who knows why.

But, Shibi, that again shows that the Jews created their own tradition.

Yeah. Everywhere in the Bible it shows you are what your father is.

Yeah.

If Isaac was of Isaac, but yet his people became a different people.

Yeah. And you are who your father is according to God's eyes.

So in Timothy was a Greek, though he had a Jewish mother.

Yep.

It doesn't mean that his mother wasn't Jewish and he does not have Jewish genetics, but in the eyes of God he was a Greek until he became a saint, where it doesn't matter.

Because he's not bloodline or anything. Yes. John Chapter One.

Yeah.

Well, I think it's a very interesting thing to have happen. If there's any more comments on it, in light of everything there, that Paul would have made that decision. I don't know, God doesn't condemn Paul for doing it.

In fact, if we go on to Chapter Four and Five, or not Chapter Four and Five, verses Four and Five and Acts 16, it says, as they went through the city, they delivered to them the degrees to keep. So Paul was talking about this letter. I mean, he was talking about it again. It was a perfect, perfect talking opportunity, you know, for him there.

They delivered to them the degrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders of Jerusalem.

And God blessed what he was doing. The churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in number daily. We're going to stop there for tonight. But you know, as I thought about this, there's one verse that came to my mind, thinking, you know, why would Paul have done that? Is there any other clue anywhere in the Bible that might help us understand what his thought process was and how he approached it with Timothy? And the only one that could come to my mind was in 1 Corinthians 9.

And again, as we read the epistles of Paul and the same thing with Peter and James and John and Jude, we learn some of what's in their mind. In 1 Corinthians 9, you know, I don't think any of us without the Paul had preaching the gospel in his heart.

His mission was to bring people to Jesus Christ, to help them understand who Jesus Christ was, that he was the Savior. He was not looking for a following after himself. There was nothing about self in Paul's ministry. He was willing to do anything, sacrifice anything. He just wanted to preach the gospel, and he wanted people to bring to Jesus Christ.

So in chapter 9, verse 19, 1 Corinthians, he says, Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more. He's talking about winning more for Christ, right?

To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews.

And I look at that and I think, well, you know, we're going to the Jews. They're going to have an issue with their, was it in his mind? You know what, Timothy? This is not going to be pleasant, but maybe we should just become as a Jew here.

So that we don't have anything between us and them that would just distract them from the truth. We don't want them just focusing on the fact that you're a Jew, your mother was a Jew, you should be circumcised, you're not, right? We want to just have them think about that, right?

To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law, those would be the Jews, right? The Jews who are still in Judaism. To those who are under the law, as under the law.

He knew his pistols are clear. He didn't believe you should be under the law, but he kind of worked with them in that. He was going to go as far as you can go, and I struggled to find where it would be the comparison of what we would do today in that. But it was a different age and with Judaism. To those who are under the law, we're going to actually kind of see that in Chapter 21, when we get to that later on as well. To those who are under the law, is under the law that I might win those who are under the law, to those who are without law, so forth and so forth. First, 22, to the week I became his week, that I might win the week. I become all things to all men that I might by all means say some.

His overall writing purpose in life was to preach the gospel and bring people to Jesus Christ.

We may not understand his reasoning behind everything he did, but his overall reasoning was there. So that was the only thing I could come up with. So why don't we, why don't we, I have no idea what time it is now, okay? Why don't we stop there for tonight?

And if there's any questions, any comments, or anything, we can wrap it up here. I've got only one thing, nor do I do, before we end here for tonight, so just a very brief thing.

Hi, Mr. Shavey.

Yeah, Mr.

Who is it? I'm usually Bob on my screen.

Now Bob?

Yes. Okay, hey Bob.

Well, concerning the circumcision in verse 3, I think because they were talking about the geographical location, I think Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit because if you go to verse 6, the Holy Spirit did not permit them to spread the word to Asia.

So he's wondering about them.

So it's just about geographical location. So Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to circumcise Mark because of the Jews in those parts.

Oh yeah, because of Timothy, they're going to those parts. But in verse 6, the Holy Spirit did not permit them to go to Asia. So it was the Holy Spirit working through them to spread the word. So by inference, I think it's the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul to circumcise Timothy.

Yep. Yeah, I mean, one day we'll know for sure, but there's a reason. There's a reason for it. I think that that's a good observation as well.

By the way, Bob, it's good to see you looking so well, you and Annette, both with smiles on your faces. I'm glad to see you feeling well.

Okay, anything else?

I'll tell you what I'm thinking about. Next week, you know, next week we'll continue with chapter 16. But I think that maybe, you know, we've been through a lot. Last time we had a review, kind of like an intermittent review, some review questions was back after chapter 8.

I'm thinking that maybe next week we'll do the regular Bible study, look at first chapter 16, give me some time to put together some review questions that take us through Acts 15. Is that something people would be interested in, that we do something like that? Okay, okay, we'll do that. So next week, we'll come back together. We'll continue a little in chapter 16. And there's some other things we might look at as well in conjunction with all of this. But by next week, I'll be able to send to you, if it's not before the Bible study right after the Bible study, some review questions that'll, some review questions that'll take us through Acts 15 anyway. Okay. Okay, anything else? Anyone?

Okay, well, very good. I want to thank you all for being here tonight. I'm going to see some of you on Sabbath and everything that I mentioned time. It's just Jacksonville 1130, Orlando 130, YouTube, YouTube for Orlando. We're going to send out a link for anyone who wants to join Orlando Services Live, Zoom for Jacksonville, and that has set up for you as well. Okay.

So it was good seeing some new faces, I was going to say as well. Some, rather than having joined us before also. Okay. That's really good too. Yeah. Good to have you all with us. Yeah. See Emma? Hi Emma.

I see Emma LeCordolou down there, yes. So how's your, how's your grandmother doing, by the way?

They're getting better. They're still really weak, but they're the bad part of it. So that's good.

Okay. Okay. With that, I'm going to say good night, everyone. Okay. Have a good rest of the week and savagery. Thank you very much. Good night. Good night.