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In the Bible room today, we continue reading the book of Acts with Session 7, the summaries of chapters 14 and 15.

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Acts

Session 7

Chapter 14. Tribulation

At Iconium, many Jews and Gentiles hear the word and believe:

However, the unbelieving Jews try to embitter the Gentiles;
They poison their minds against the disciples;
So, the disciples need to stay there longer than expected,
With the Lord performing signs and wonders to help believers;
Most of the city remains divided: some supporting the Jews,
And some are supporting the apostles;
But when the opposing Jews and Gentiles become violent,
Threatening to stone the disciples, they must leave the city;
They move on to preach at Lystra, Derbe, and the region;
At Lystra, there is a crippled man who has never walked;
He hears Paul speaking, and Paul can see him watching;
He can see that this man wants to believe, and has faith;
In a loud voice, Paul tells him to stand on his feet:
Which he does, then he is walking and leaping;
When the people see what has happened to this man,
They are exclaiming loudly: “The gods have come down to us
In the likeness of men.” They call Barnabas Zeus,
And they call Paul Mercury;
At the gate into Lystra there is a temple to Zeus,
So, the priest of Zeus brings up oxen wearing garlands;
He intends to sacrifice these animals before the people;
Hearing about this, Barnabas and Paul are shocked;
They run among the crowd telling them they are not gods,
They are ordinary men; the people must avoid such vain things;
And they should turn to the living God who made the heaven,
The earth, the sea, and everything in them;
At earlier times God allowed the nations to have freedom;
And He blessed them with rain and good harvests of food;
Then the nations started sacrificing to these things;
Jews from Antioch and Iconium come to Lystra,
And persuade the crowd to turn against Paul;
They stone him, drag him out of the city, leave him for dead;
But when the disciples get to him, he’s alive, then stands up;
He goes back into the city, and he and Barnabas leave;
They get to Derbe where they preach and make many disciples;
Afterwards, they return to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch;
They minister to the disciples there to strengthen them, and
Encourage them to remain strong in the faith in tribulation;
In every church, with prayer and fasting, they appoint elders;
Then, they move on to Perga in Pamphylia to preach there;
From there, they go down to Attalia, and from there,
They sail back to Antioch where they had seen great success;
They report to the church all the things they had been doing;
And that God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles;
They stay there with the disciples for a long time.

Chapter 15. Letter

Some men from Judea have come down to teach the law of Moses:

They are telling believers they must be circumcised to be saved;
Paul and Barnabas have a serious disagreement with them;
They decide that Paul and Barnabas will go to Jerusalem,
And settle this question with the apostles and elders;
On their way, they pass through Phoenicia and Samaria;
They tell the believers there of the conversions of the Gentiles;
At Jerusalem, they report what God has been doing with them;
A sect of the Pharisees who had become believers, rebel:
They say the law of Moses must be kept, therefore,
Circumcision is required in order to be saved;
The apostles and elders come together to consider the issue;
After much debate, Peter stands before the group to speak:
He reminds them that he had given the word to the Gentiles,
And many believed and, by faith, received the Holy Spirit;
God made no difference with them, purifying their hearts;
Now, he asks, why do some want to test God,
By adding an additional requirement?
He says everyone shall be saved in the same manner,
Through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ;
The crowd falls silent then as Barnabas and Paul start speaking:
They relate how many miracles they saw among the Gentiles;
Then James takes the floor, tells the people to listen to him:
He recounts how Peter tells of God working with the Gentiles;
He says this is what the prophets had foretold:
That God would have the temple rebuilt,
So that all people, including Gentiles, could come worship;
James says they should not criticize the Gentile believers;
Rather, they should encourage them in their new faith;
So, the church decides to send a letter to the Antioch church;
They will send it with Paul and Barnabas, Judas Barsabas,
And Silas, who are all leading men in the church;
The letter reads: Greetings to our fellow believers among the
Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: We have heard about
The men who came to you from here, troubling you with
Unsettling words that you must be circumcised and keep the
Law; We did not command them to preach this to you;
So, we assembled ourselves, and decided to send these good
Men to you, men who will affirm what we are saying:
We do not place any additional requirement on you, except
We encourage you stay away from things offered to idols,
And from blood, and strangled things, and fornication. Keep
Yourselves from these, and you will do well, Farewell;
The men take the letter to the church at Antioch;
When the church reads it, they are very pleased;
Judas and Silas, who are also prophets, encourage the church;
Silas, Paul, and Barnabas keep a lengthy stay in Antioch;
And, along with others, continue preaching the word of God;
Then, Paul and Barnabas decide to visit other cities where
They have seen converts, and they can check on them;
Barnabas says he wants to take John Mark with them;
Paul objects, saying John Mark left them earlier at Pamphylia,
And did not participate in their prior preaching tour;
This disagreement becomes severe so they separate:
Barnabas and John Mark sail off to Cyprus;
Paul and Silas travel through Syria and Cilicia, visiting
Churches, and encouraging believers.

End of Session 7 of the book of Acts.

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