We're so grateful to have you back with us this week here on Encounter God's Truth from Whitcomb Ministries. I'm Wayne Shepherd, leading you into the conclusion of the first message from Volume 6 of our ongoing series, Acts, Witness of the Early Church. We've come to the end of Acts 15, where the apostles and early church leaders had gathered in Jerusalem to reach a consensus as to how first century Jewish and Gentile believers were to relate to each other and to the Law of Moses. Our purpose here at Encounter God's Truth is to share timeless truths for changing times. And you can hear all the programs in this series again at sermonaudio.com slash Whitcomb, where Dr. John Whitcomb's classroom remains open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to WhitcombMinistries.org to find a free commentary on the book of Acts by Dr. Whitcomb and Pastor George Zeller of the Middletown Bible Church in Connecticut, where Dr. Whitcomb first preached these messages at the Independent Fundamental Bible Conference. We ask you to stay with us now as Dr. Whitcomb finishes up his presentation on The Great Council at Jerusalem. He'll lead us right up to the final portion of this chapter where we'll learn of a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. So take your Bible now if you're able and turn with us to Acts chapter 15. Here's Dr. John Whitcomb. And I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up. Now, of course, Jesus had predicted the ruins, hadn't he? Remember, not one stone of this temple will stand upon another one. They'll all be torn down. It's all gonna be destroyed. And of course, in AD 70, it was. So James, I'm sure you'll agree with me, agreed with Jesus on that point. There's gonna be ruin here. But don't think for one minute that God has finished forever with Israel. And this was supposed to be an encouragement and comfort to the Hebrew Christians. in that stage of church history. And this is where it gets a little complicated, friends. At that stage of church history, before AD 70, it was still considered by God, through the apostles and James, perfectly appropriate for born-again Hebrew Christians to function in the temple services. Now that is hard to handle, see. Because was God through with the temple services? Yes. I mean the, what happened to the veil when Jesus died on the cross rent from top to bottom supernatural, which meant what, according to Hebrews, that now the way to God is open and you don't have to go through the temple system anymore. There's a new high priest taking over here. Okay. a Melchizedekian high priest. There's a whole new program. But it took years for the Jewish Christians to fathom the magnitude of this change, you see. And it would end in total disaster, total disaster for Jerusalem and the temple. But until the disaster came, here's our problem. During this first generation, Dr. MacLean, my theology professor, believed that in a certain sense, during this generation between the crucifixion of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem, there were sort of like occasional re-offers of the kingdom, especially by Peter in Acts 3 and so forth. Still more chance, more opportunity to repent, you see, and believe, and maybe even, you know, theoretically to have the kingdom established. The offer was genuine, but it was still contingent on the acceptance of the nation, which never happened, of course. But nevertheless, during this transition period, it was still legitimate to function as a Hebrew Christian in the temple services. But nevertheless, James saw in the distant future that that temple would be ruined, and Israel would be dispersed, But not forever. Someday, he says, even though Gentiles now are going to be legitimate believers without becoming Jews, someday Judaism is coming back again. You see, the temple will be rebuilt again. The sacrifices will be offered again to Zadokian priests, according to Ezekiel 40 to 48. There'll be 12,000 Levites will be chosen by God and identified in Revelation 7. There will be sacrifices and oblations, which of course, after three and a half years, the Antichrist will stop, but they'll be reinstituted when Jesus comes back at the beginning of the kingdom age. People are not gonna be saved by those animal sacrifices any more than they were in the Old Testament, but it's gonna be an Israelite theocracy again, okay? With certain changes, but nevertheless, it'll be an Israelite program. The church won't be on the earth. You won't be observing Christian ordinances anymore. It'll be Jewish ordinances again. And of course, this is a tremendous shock and offense to many theologians today, Catholic and Protestant, right? The idea that God is gonna remove the church and Israel once again will be restored. Okay, that's a very complex issue and I've copied off some papers I've done on that showing why and how the millennial sacrifices will be offered. I have them on the table there. It's called The Rapture, The Great Tribulation, and The Second Coming. Hope that will be of interest and help to you because this is very complex here, very complex. He is saying to his fellow Christians in Jerusalem, James is saying what? Bad things are ahead for us for a while. But then someday again, don't panic, someday again, I will return and build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up that the residue of men, the Gentile world, even in the kingdom age, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. So he's saying, well, it's no surprise, is it, folks here in Jerusalem, you Hebrew Christians? No surprise that God has a program for Gentiles now because he's gonna have one in the millennium, and he had one in the Old Testament, too. God intended Gentiles to be saved from the beginning of the world. So let's look at this in God's perspective. In fact, James sort of ends the whole thing by saying in verse 18, known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. You can take that in a negative sense, like men, this is so difficult to think through and to act in the light of consistently, but trust me, God knows what he's doing even if we don't. Don't you like Deuteronomy 29, 29? The secret things belong to the Lord. I mean, what is he doing with these Gentiles? How long will this go on? What's gonna happen to us Jewish Christians, Hebrew Christians here in Jerusalem? Well, we don't know, but God does, thank you. That's how Paul ends Romans 11, by the way. God's ways are what? Past, finding out. Now we can see certain things, but other things we're not quite sure about. But God says, trust me, I don't make mistakes, I know what I'm doing, just follow me, okay? Therefore, verse 19, my sentence is that we trouble not them. Thank you, Lord, says Paul and Barnabas, which are from among the Gentiles that have turned to God, but that we write unto them. that they abstain from, and here's a little compromise, just for the sake of what? We can act in freedom to build a bridge of communication and fellowship. Now, these are not laws, they're just suggestions of how to appreciate one another. within the body of Christ, go out of our way to sacrifice some of our freedoms. You see, in order to win others, Paul makes a big issue that doesn't in first Corinthians nine says, uh, I'm not in bondage to my freedom. I'm in bondage to help people. And if I have to sacrifice from some of my God given freedoms in order to win a Jew, I'll become a Jew. And to win a Gentile, I'll become a what? A Gentile. That in all things, God may be glorified. I mean, I'm not here to serve myself into glory and my liberty. I want to do everything possible to build bridges to everybody legitimately for the sake of the gospel. That's not easy always to implement, is it, friends? How far do you go to accommodate somebody in order to win them to the Lord? Okay? Now, here are four things. Just tell these Gentile Christians, be careful, don't unnecessarily offend your Jewish neighbors, because they're everywhere, there are millions of them. Just abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. We're going to touch on this when we get to verse 29 in a little more detail. But let's do this, because Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. In other words, friends, it's hard to overestimate the influence of Judaism in the Roman Empire at that time. There were synagogues everywhere, I mean, everywhere Paul went. Practically everywhere he went, it was a synagogue. Amazing, okay? Millions of Jews. Hmm. So it's inevitable, he says, that wherever you Gentile Christians, where the Gentile Christians are, you will find Jews as neighbors. Win them, see? Sacrifice some of your freedoms for the sake of winning them to the Lord, okay? Verse 22. Then it pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church to send certain chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. We're going to have extra witnesses here of what give them the Jewish perspective of what happened at this great conference in Jerusalem. So they sent Judas, surname Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren. And as we'll see, Silas, of course, will join Paul on his second missionary journey. He was a godly, great servant of the Lord. And they wrote letters by them after this manner. Quote, the apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Why? Where did you get believers in Syria and Cilicia? Well, apparently Paul, during the years that he was up there in Cilicia, his home province, had been going around winning people to the Lord, apparently, and there were churches up there, too. That's interesting, isn't it? For as much as we have heard, and I'm sure that the Pharisees that were legalists cringed when they heard these words about themselves, We have heard that certain, that is, certain men which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying you must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment. They lied to you to the extent they said they were official representatives of me and the church here in Jerusalem." Wow. They were completely repudiated and silenced for a while. Now we're gonna find out in a later chapter, friends, that these men were just temporarily subdued, these false teachers, okay, because they're just, they're convinced that something has been compromised. that's precious to God, and they just are very subdued unwillingly because of it. I'm just thinking out loud here, okay, because we're going to see in a later chapter, it crops up again, this problem, okay? So, verse 25, it seemed good to us. being assembled one accord to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul." Oh, isn't this a great statement? Our beloved Barnabas and Paul. What an encouragement that was to those two men, friends, who had suffered so much. not only being attacked by godless Jews all over Asia Minor, but what? By Christian Jews as well, okay? Our beloved Barnabas and Paul. You know, Peter said the same thing of Paul later himself. Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him. 2 Peter 3.15, great men of God, men who have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul even lost his life at Lystra through a stoning. And we have sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, isn't that a nice arrangement there? Nice way to state a conclusion of a congregational business meeting. It seemed good to God and us to lay no greater burden upon than these necessary things. Four of them here, now watch carefully. Abstain from meats offered to idols. That's based on Leviticus 17, 7. And some Gentiles, Christians, were careless about this. And from blood, that's 17, 10 of Leviticus, three verses later. Don't eat anything with blood. Blood to God was a symbol of something precious, namely what? Life. The life of the flesh is in the blood, and of course, anticipating the blood of Jesus. And from things strangled, improperly That is, drained of blood, that's five verses later, Leviticus 17, 15. And from fornication, which must have been illicit marriages based on what? Closer relationships than God permitted. You can't marry a first cousin, you can't marry, I mean, there are limits, you see, that God laid down in Leviticus 18, verse 6, as to whom you can marry. I think that's probably what is meant here. Because fornication, I mean, every Gentile Christian would know that's not the will of God. So this is a special Jewish perspective from Leviticus 18 on intermarriage with relatives, see, that is not permitted. From which if you keep yourselves, ye shall do well, amen. End of the letter. End of the Great Jerusalem Conference. Thank you, Lord. Would you like to hear what really happened? I'm quoting from an excellent commentary here. It's been very helpful to me, at least. The effects of the decision were far-reaching. In the first place, it freed the gospel from any necessary entanglement with Judaism and Israelite institutions. though without renouncing the legitimacy of continued Christian activity within them. See? It said it's OK for Jews to be fulfilled Jews, OK, and to be faithful Jews, not for the purpose of gaining merit with God, but because the institutions God committed to them were precious, okay, if they were used properly, understood properly. The law of God was not evil, see? Now, the Jewish laws. Thus, both Paul's mission to the Gentiles and the various Jewish Christian missions were enabled to progress side by side without conflict. Second, Attitudes to Paul within Jewish Christianity were clarified. While some of the Jewish believers probably became even more opposed to Paul, others, such as, listen to this, John Mark, seemed to have become more reconciled to him. John Mark was listening to this whole thing and said, you know what? I like Paul. I like Barnabas. I'd never seen them in such a clear light before. Thank you, Pastor James, for showing us what these men are really doing for God. I think I want to identify with them. I'm going to join their trip, their next ministry. Okay. Also, as a result of the council, some felt happier in a Gentile ministry than being in Jerusalem, such as Silas. Now that had to be a major change in his thinking to join himself with Paul in the second missionary journey to win Gentiles to Christ, to be a part of it himself, see? Now here's the shocker, the third result of the Jerusalem Council. Third, the decision of the council had the effect of permanently antagonizing many Jews. unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem. From this time onward, the Christian mission within the nation, within Israel, in Jerusalem, particularly in and around Jerusalem, faced very rough sledding. And when coupled with the zealotism of within the nation during the next two decades. In other words, for the next 20 years, Jews are going to be more violent against Roman government officials, killing soldiers, doing everything they can to throw off the Roman Empire, yoke upon them, see? When coupled with the zealotism within the nation during the next two decades, the antagonism proved fatal to the life and ministry of the Jerusalem church. As a result of this council, Theologians have come to this conclusion. James made a magnanimous choice. It was one of the most marvelous concessions in the history of the church, but it ended in the final destruction of the church of Jerusalem. Say, really? What were they supposed to do? What should they have done? We thought this was the will of God. You mean the will of God was to destroy the church of Jerusalem? That's a very heavy question, because you know what happened when the Jews became suspicious, that is the godless Jews of Jerusalem, a million of them, more, became suspicious that these Christian Jews are really sort of compromisers, who were sort of pro-Gentile, okay? we will destroy them. Okay. I mean, if we're going to destroy the Romans, we'll destroy these compromisers too. And when Jerusalem collapsed in 80, 70, the Christian Jews fled to another area to escape with their lives. And the church in Jerusalem disappeared and has never recovered to this day. Wow. Well, Lord, I don't know. Teach me what you want me to know about this. Verse 30. So when they were dismissed, that is Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Judas, They came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle, which they, when they had read, they rejoiced at the consolation. And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, I mean, they had direct access to God's mind in what they pronounced and preached and proclaimed. They exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles, and then they went back to Jerusalem. Silas staying, however. Now, Paul also and Barnabas, verse 35, continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. The church in Antioch is in good hands, in good hands. And some days after, Paul said to Barnabas, I mean, they're not having a vacation here, but they just have not had a foreign mission outreach for a while. They've been focusing on the Church of Antioch. See, they didn't need a second calling, a second commission to launch out on another journey. So Paul says to Barnabas, let's go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do. That's wonderful. That's essential. Thank you, God, for laying that upon Paul. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. I mean, John was ready. John was attached to these men. John was a cousin, a young cousin, by the way, of Barnabas. They were related through that famous Christian lady in Jerusalem named Mary, you remember, from Acts 12. And so Barnabas determined to take with him John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work. Paul said, you know what? This is a dangerous place for a proven failure to go with us again. This is not right. And God willing, this afternoon, we shall see the amazing result of that disagreement. Let's pray. Father, now, amazing indeed are the things you've recorded in this book that we will probably never fully fathom till we meet you in heaven above, Lord Jesus. And there we will understand because we will be like you when we see you as you really are. And now we see through a mirror dimly, but then face to face, eye has not seen or ear heard the things that God has but he has spoken to us of these things in his precious word I thank you father for the hope of someday an adequate sufficient if not total understanding of everything you've ever written in this book I thank you in Jesus name and for his sake amen That's the voice of Dr. John Whitcomb closing our message in prayer and reminding us again that God's Word is true from the beginning to the end. I'm Wayne Shepherd and you're listening to Encounter God's Truth from Whitcomb Ministries. You can stay up to date with all our work at facebook.com slash Whitcomb Ministries. Once again we want to thank Middletown Bible Church for allowing us to bring these messages to you. And we also want to thank all the radio stations and internet outlets that carry our broadcast. And special thanks to you, our listeners, for whom we prepare and present this ministry of classic Bible teaching. We appreciate you and pray God's best for you. Please join us again next time for another dynamic encounter with God's truth.