Today’s passage: Acts 15:22-35

Helpful thoughts:

• The churches who had been troubled by the false teaching of the Judaizers received this letter from the entire Jerusalem church.
• The churches who received the letter were asked to keep these requests in verse 29 not in order to get saved, but to love their Jewish neighbors.
  • It may seem strange that the Jewish believers thought they would need to ask the Gentile Christians not to commit fornication…but when we remember that fornication was a component of the idol worship that these Gentiles were saved out of, it makes more sense.
    • The Apostles, elders, and all the Jerusalem church were calling the Gentile believers entirely out of their pagan idolatry, which they were happy to do!
• Some manuscripts contain an additional bit of information (Verse 34), “However, it seemed good to Silas to remain there.”  This may have been included to help explain how Silas was still around to join Paul later in the chapter.

Questions to consider:

1. Whether it is religious legalism (The Judaizers) or pagan idolatry (The Gentiles), when we are saved by the grace of God through Christ, we are called out of our past beliefs and idolatrous practices.  What are the false beliefs you held before coming to faith in Christ?
2. What may be some commonly held beliefs that have crept into the faith of many people in our day who claim to be “evangelicals”?  What are some things that cause people to think they’re a Christian today outside of the gospel?  What are some things people say today in a phrase such as, “If you don’t ________, then you’re not a Christian?”
3. What is the message that we receive which encourages us to be certain of our faith?  How can this letter to the Gentile Christians in the first century call us (21st century Christians) to trust in the gospel alone?

Today’s passage: Acts 15:1-21

Helpful thoughts:

• The idea that circumcision be required prior to salvation should have been eliminated with the conversion of Cornelius’ household in Acts 10.
  • Peter brings this fact up in verse 7.
• Romans 2:25-29
• Not only did Peter argue against requiring Gentiles to follow the Law, he also reminded the Jews that their circumcision did not save them either! (Verses 10-11)
• The final verdict was this: No one is required to keep the law in order to be saved!  Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
  • These requests James gives are not rules to follow in order to be saved.  Instead, he was asking the Gentiles to conduct themselves this way in order to help reach the Jews in their cities with the Gospel as well.

Questions to consider:

1. If these “Judaizers” (As they were called) demanded the Gentiles keep the law in order to be saved, what had they forgotten about the gospel?  Had any of them kept the law to God’s standard?  Were they saved because they kept the law or because Christ fulfilled it on their behalf?
2. How would this passage speak to any form of works-based salvation?  If these former Pharisees were being saved the exact same way the formerly idolatrous Gentiles were, is there anyone who is going to heaven because they are good enough?
3. Why might verse 11 have offended these believing former Pharisees?  How can traditions, past efforts and memories cloud our vision of God’s plan of salvation?

Today’s passage: Acts 14:19-28

Helpful thoughts:

• Paul did not die, but he must have been close.  They were able to drag his body of the city.
  • A miracle seems to have taken place.  He went from looking dead, to getting up and walking right back into the city, to being ready to travel the next day to preach some more!
• Paul and Barnabas went back through these cities on the way to their home base in Antioch.  They risked the same treatment all over again to ensure local churches were established, seeing elders appointed in each one. (The words bishop, elder and pastor all speak of the same office in the New Testament)
• The church at Antioch had an incredibly important role in the ministry of Paul and Barnabas (And those who had traveled with them).
  • These men needed to receive ministry and rest!
  • The church probably benefited just as much, if not more, from being able to hear these stories and to serve their missionaries.

Questions to consider:

1. If you had just been stoned and dragged out of the city, where direction do you think you would walk after you got up?  What if you knew your mission was of grave importance and your ability to rise up was a miracle from God?  Will God’s servants die before God is done with them here?
2. When we see elders/pastors being appointed in each church in the New Testament, it’s always in the plural (Never just an elder, always elders).  What benefits do you see to having more than one elder/pastor in every church?
3. In what ways can we as a local church encourage our people to go preach the gospel to the nations?  How can we as a church be an encouragement to the missionaries we support?

Today’s passage: Acts 14:1-18

Helpful thoughts:

• Stoning was a Jewish form of execution.  When stoning was threatened against Paul or other Christians, it is pretty clear who was behind the threats.
• Miracles are shown again to not be the deciding factor in bringing people to faith.  When the people of Lystra saw a miracle, they attributed it to the gods of their choice.  Things got worse, not better.
• To run into this frenzied crowd to stop them from worshiping false gods was dangerous.  In one city, Paul and Barnabas left at the threat of violence.  In another, they ran straight in.
  • The difference seems to be the opportunity for ministry.  In Iconium, they had been able to preach the gospel.  In Lystra, the people had not yet heard.

Questions to consider:

1. What method did the unbelieving Jews employ against the Paul and Barnabas in Iconium?  Did they have a legitimate argument for their beliefs or was it something else?  If we were to see persecution from others today, should we expect it always to be a direct attack at the gospel message?  What issues could be used to poison the minds of people against Christians today?
2. What pattern are we starting to see in the cities Paul and Barnabas visit?  What do Paul and Barnabas want to make sure they accomplish in each place?  What happens in each place once the message is shared?
3. How did Paul and Barnabas respond when the people started worshiping them?  What did they want more than anything else for the people in Lystra (And everywhere else)?

Today’s passage: Acts 13:42-52

Helpful thoughts:

• The Jews at Antioch were motivated by envy.  Their joy was not in pointing people to God, but in gathering a crowd of followers for themselves.
• Those who were persuaded to “continue in the grace of God” were Jews and proselytes who had truly been saved by faith in the coming Messiah, who now upon learning of the Messiah who had come continued in the grace of God.  Had they rejected Jesus, they would have shown their faith was not in any savior at all…only in keeping the rules (Legalism).
  • This is the underlying theme of the book of Hebrews.
• Paul quoted the Old Testament in order to rebuke these Jewish men.
  • Read Isaiah 49:1-7 to get the context.
  • The “preserved of Israel” were to take the gospel to the nations.  Paul and Barnabas were doing just that.  In quoting this passage, these others Jews who rejected the gospel were being told who they were as well  (Not the preserved!).
    • When Jews would leave Gentile cities in those days, they shook the dust off their feet to show their contempt for the heathen people.  Paul and Barnabas were shaking the dust off their feet toward the unbelieving Jews.

Questions to consider:

1. Who put their faith in Christ (“Believed”) on this occasion at Antioch? (Verse 48)  Why should this give us confidence to share the gospel with others?  In what way are we guaranteed success?
2. What did Paul and Barnabas signify by shaking the dust off their feet?  Who are God’s people?  Who are the heathen?  (Be careful, the answer is not Jews or Gentiles…Our blood does not save us!)
3. In the midst of opposition and being chased out of town, what emotion did these disciples feel? (Verse 52)  How can this encourage us today to obey the Lord in making disciples?

Today’s passage: Acts 13:13-41

Helpful thoughts:

• John Mark’s departure, so early in this journey, would become a source of contention later on between Paul and Barnabas.
• Paul quotes Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 55:3, Psalm 16:10 and Habakkuk 1:5.
• Those who rejected Jesus in Jerusalem did so in accordance with the scriptures and were guilty of rejecting God.
  • God is sovereign and all-knowing.  Man is responsible for our sinful choices.

Questions to consider:

1. Who was Paul sharing this message with?  What did he share with them?  How did he share the gospel?
2. What was the climax of Paul’s telling of the Bible’s narrative?  How should this shape how we read the Old Testament as well?
3. How did Paul conclude his address?  What were the listeners required to do with what they had just heard?

Today’s passage: Acts 13:1-12

Helpful thoughts:

• Chapter 13 begins a new section in the Book of Acts.  The gospel is now going toward the ends of the earth.  The narrative will follow Paul’s ministry more closely from this point on.
• John, their assistant (Verse 5), is John Mark.  He is the writer of the Gospel of Mark.  John Mark at different times served alongside Paul, Barnabas, and the Apostle Peter.
• Bar-Jesus’ name means “Son of Jesus.”  Paul calls him instead, a son of the devil.
  • Jesus Christ obviously didn’t have any biological sons.  But, there were many men with this name at that time.
  • Bar-Jesus and Elymas are the same man.
• Bar-Jesus, as a false prophet, did not cease speaking the name of God.  Instead, he “did not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord.”
  • Satan is a liar and deceiver.  Some of his best deceptions are those labeled as “Christian.”
  • “Satan’s greatest weapon is man’s ignorance of God’s Word.” – A.W. Tozer

Questions to consider:

1. What was different about this moment of the Holy Spirit speaking to these leaders and what we might see from someone writing a book about God talking to them today?  How many people were present and involved in hearing this instruction?  What was the point of God’s message?  Was it to reassure their felt worth and value or to accomplish His will?
2. What truly astonished the proconsul?  Not what do we assume astonished him…what does this passage tell us truly astonished him (Verse 12)?
3. How important is the truth we find in 2 Timothy 3:16-17?  When we might be tempted to hope for a special revelation from God, what do we want Him to tell us?  What has He already given us through the completed, authoritative Word of God?  If we want something more than what God calls “complete” or to be equipped for more than “everything,” what are we revealing about our view of Scripture?
4. What was most important about these men, that they heard this call or that they were ready and willing to obey it?

Today’s passage: Acts 12:20-25

Helpful thoughts:

• Herod did not have to believe in God to be held accountable for not giving Him the glory He deserves. (Romans 1:18-25)
• Josephus the historian gives account of Herod wearing a robe made of silver on this occasion and then enduring terrible pain for five days before he died.
• In the midst of political upheaval, Paul, Barnabas and the church kept focused on the task at hand.  They weren’t ignorant of what was going on around them, but they weren’t ruled by it either.

Questions to consider:

1. How should the Christians in 44 A.D. have viewed King Herod?  To whom was he responsible ultimately (Just the Caesar or Someone higher)?  How can this help us to think correctly about politicians and politics in our day and in this country?  What do presidents and governors need more than our vote?  How do our responses and criticisms help or hurt the cause to which Christ has called us?
2. How can Herod’s responsibility before God also bring us peace in the midst of political or governmental uncertainty and turmoil?  Who is in control? (Proverbs 21:1)  Regardless of who is in office, who is God defending? (Romans 8:31-39)
3. What ministry would God have us fulfill right now?  How can we keep the main thing the main thing? (Matthew 28:18-20)