 Welcome once again to the study of the Book of Acts and we will pick up from where we stopped in the last class. So if one of us can lead in prayer, we will go forward from there. Who would like to begin? Father Jehovah, thank you for today. Thank you for the gift of life that you've given unto us Jehovah Jehovah. I commit our deeds to Nancy, as my fellow student-readers, to give me a word, take it to be a guide and a tool for us in our lives. We pray for the spirit of knowledge and understanding starting. Father, I pray that you provide for us a strong internet. And I pray that there is no interference in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Kennedy. Kennedy, are you keeping well? I see some messages in the chat. Were you unwell? I was unwell. I was under treatment. Okay. How are you doing now? I'm still under medication, but it's my prayer. It seems to be well. Okay. Sure, Kennedy, we'll keep you in prayer. Thank you for joining the class, despite your health issues. Right. Yeah. All right. So we were in Acts chapter 15. So we will go back to that passage. We saw how there were some men from Judea who created confusion through their teaching. And that was a very unpleasant thing. In fact, we are told that both Paul and Barnabas, they disputed with these men and they thought it best to meet the apostles in Jerusalem. And by that time, we also saw how the leadership in Jerusalem had developed from just the apostles to several other elders who had joined them. So they went to the council and then they give an explanation about the fact that Gentiles, God is working among the Gentiles and Peter stands up, he shares his experience. We can see how God worked in the heart of Peter to change his perspective about the Gentiles. So, you know, this is true for all of us. God works in our hearts. According to his purposes, according to his standards. So we see a very different Peter, who first is seen as such a devout Jew who would not do anything, you know, against the Jewish traditions. But, you know, he steps into a Gentiles house, he eats with the Gentiles. And that is something that he shares. And then, you know, we see that there are some Pharisees among the people in the council who are also unwilling to hear the message. But when these things are spoken, they're at least in a place where they are open to listening to what God is doing. So, you know, they flow with the move of God. And that is the positive thing about this Jerusalem council. Now, let's pick up from the place where James stands and speaks. So we said that this James, he is the writer of the book of James and he's also the half-brother of Jesus. He's not the Apostle James who was put to the sword by Herod earlier on, you know, in Acts 12, something that we have read. So now, let's pick up, I think we stopped. Okay, what we'll do is, let's read from 7. I think that will be helpful. So then, you know, there's some continuity in what we are discussing. So, yeah, okay, I'm just going to read from 7. There will be a little bit of overlap with last class, but that's okay. So it says, and when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, men and brethren, you know, that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us and made no distinction between us and them. Purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither, excuse me, which neither our fathers, now we were able to bear. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same manner as they. Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. And after they had become silent, James answered saying, men and brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And with this, the words of the prophets agree just as it is written. After this, I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins and I will set it up so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even at the Gentiles who are called by my name, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name says the Lord who does all these things. Known to God from eternity are all his works. Therefore, I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality and things strangled and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations, those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. Then it pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, who was also named Barcebus and Silas, leading men among the brethren. We shall read the remaining till verse 29 and then I will share some thoughts from here. They wrote this letter by them, the apostles, the elders and the brethren, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria and Silasia. 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 gain no such commandment. It seemed good to us being assembled with one accord to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by the word of mouth, for 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. We have seen with regard to the Jerusalem Council and their decision, a couple of things. We saw that there were leaders who went with what God was doing at that point and they stood by what is right. The right standard offered by the word of God for one to receive salvation and we know that, that is to put one's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on him, confess him and then go on to live a godly life, go on to discover the purpose of God for one's life and live it out fully. However, at this point, we've seen that God was touching new communities, gentiles, where one particular community that we saw God was ministering to very specifically. So the doors of the gospel had been opened up to the gentiles. Now, though the wrong teaching came in and this burden, so we see that the apostles looked at this teaching about gentiles needing circumcision for salvation as a burden. So when this wrong teaching came in, the important thing that needed to be done was an understanding. The leaders had to arrive to an understanding and make it very clear to the church. So you had Peter go by what God was doing, you had Paul and Barnabas state what God was doing among the gentiles. Now, hearing these matters, thankfully, the leader of the church at that time, who is James, he takes a positive step forward and he brings a conclusion to the matter. So we see how important it is for us to have clear standards because if there is confusion, what would happen is we might have some churches following this rule that circumcision is required for gentiles and then some other churches putting their faith in Christ, just receiving the grace of God, not so much, not the works of God. So there would have been a lot of confusion. But when it comes to leadership, leadership has to be clear about standards. So thank God, James was clear. He made a decision. He said we do not want to put any burden on the gentiles, particularly this matter of circumcision. And he was well-versed in scripture just the way Peter and some of the others were, where he states this truth about the tabernacle of David. And he says, look, when God spoke in the book of Amos about the tabernacle of David, he didn't mention that gentiles would come. So what we are seeing right now is the fulfillment of that scripture. So he is trying to justify biblically. And that's also important for leadership because we might tell people to do this and that, but what is the biblical basis behind it? That's the question. Thank God, James made a clear statement. He also did it on the basis of scripture. And he says, this is what we were told that the gentiles would come to know God and that is happening. And therefore, we should not stop them. And for the sake of respect of the communities and with this sensitivity to the communities in mind, there were still a couple of decisions that were made. So we will look at it. What were the decisions that were made? So here in Acts 15 verse 20, obviously, by now it's established that circumcision is not required. But what would be required? Verse 20, he says, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled and from blood. So circumcision, there was no biblical basis for circumcision to be put upon the gentiles. However, there were a couple of things that were requested of the gentiles. And these things were not to engage with things to do with idols. So they are being told, abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality and from things strangled and from blood. So why is it that the leaders give some instructions? It's possible that even though the gentiles accepted Christ, they were still walking in some of their cultural practices. It's possible that they had these as a part of their lifestyle. Maybe some did not understand the importance of cutting away from idols and to please the people, they probably were engaging in these matters in which the leaders were aware about. So that is the reason some rules and some instructions are still given to the gentiles. But these are not prerequisites for salvation. They are more cultural and you could say lifestyle related just so that the gentiles can keep their lives holy. That is one. Second is that they too can be sensitive to the Jews because obviously, you know, worship of idols, strangled things, blood, these are all practices which the Jews abhorred and obviously, we did not want a division between Jews and gentiles. So the rules that were finally given or spoken of by James were to honour God but also to maintain peace among the communities and that's how we look at this. And notice how once this decision was made, Paul and Bandimus had come from the church of Antioch and that is where this issue had been picked up. So the leaders want to send a clear message once again and one of the ways in which they could clarify was by writing a letter. So they're actually writing a letter and see how, you know, it follows a certain format. The apostles, the elders and the brethren and at verse 23 and it says to the brethren who are of the gentiles in Antioch, Syria and Silesia. So they are very directly addressing the issue in the regions of concern. So there's a lot of clarity. So we understand, you know, when we talk about leadership also, how do we lead, how do we instruct, how do we provide, you know, guidance to people. It's very specific and it's very intentional. So there is a letter being written. What are the reasons why this letter could have been written and so specifically, you know, from the apostles, elders and all to the churches here is so that the matter does not get diluted. Sometimes through word of mouth, we know that whatever is stated, let's say by a leader or someone, by the time it is carried to people on the ground, a completely different story would be understood by the people. But the apostles did not want that. They wanted the issue to be addressed in a very, very clear and a specific way. So how did they do it? They wrote a letter specifically to the churches of concern and they stated things as they were. Basically they had, you know, something to mention about sending two godly people with Paul and Barnabas. So the team is growing, the Antioch team. So you had Judas and Silas who went along with Paul and Barnabas. But they include this issue from verse 28 and they say, for 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. So very clear message. Okay, so those days they did not have email. Maybe they would have emailed or put it up on their website to clarify, you know, this matter about circumcision. But they wanted the issue to be resolved in a very clear way. So this is an apostolic way of dealing with things so clear. The issue came up. They looked at scriptures. They figured out, okay, is this scriptural? Is this outside of scripture? They determined and notice here, there's another point which we see. The letter says, for it seemed good to the Holy Spirit. So they, with their understanding could conclude that circumcision is not a prerequisite for salvation. But they also obviously were open to listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. And they were sure that the Holy Spirit also gave them confirmation, affirmation that, you know, the decision which they have made is the right decision. So on the basis of the word, on the basis of the work of the Spirit, they conclude and they instruct people clearly. So from that point on, it must have been easy for, you know, the people to follow the right thing. Okay, great. So we shall continue here. There is a little bit about, you know, how ministry, we are focusing on Paul. So Paul's ministry moves forward from this point. So from verse 30, I would somebody like to read please from verse 30 till verse 41. Verse 30 to verse 41. What? I can hear. Are you hearing me? Oh, yes. Yes, Tisha, I hear you now. Would you like to read? I was asking, which chapter are you? Okay, I'm in Acts 15. Okay, and you're asking us to read verse 30? Yeah, till 41. Okay, sure. I'll go ahead. Okay. So when they were dismissed, they came to, yeah, when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistles, which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. And Judas and Silas, being prophets, also themselves exalted, exhausted the burgeoning with many words and confirmed them. Verse 33, and after they had carried there a space, after they had carried there a space, they would go in peace from the burgeoning onto the apostles. Notwithstanding, it pleased Silas to abide there still. Paul also and Barnabas continued to enact Antioch teaching and preaching the word of God with many others also. And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, let's go again and visit our burgeon in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul taught not good to take him with them. Who departed from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work. And contention was so short between them that they departed one from the other. So Barnabas took Mark and sealed the Silas. Paul chose Silas and departed and commended by the burgeoning onto the grace of God. And he went through Silas and Pamphylia, confirming the churches. Okay, sure. Thank you, Taisha. So this is the end of chapter 15. This is the end of Acts 15. In the initial portion, we saw how the Jerusalem Council based on the scripture from Amos, Amos chapter 9, verses 11 and 12, based on that, that matter is settled. And after that, the letter is sent to the church of Antioch and a couple of other churches in the region. And we know that Judas and Silas came along with Paul and Barnabas. Now, talking about the church of Antioch, we said that it was a very important city by now. And a church which had gentiles and predominantly gentiles, we could say so, had thrived and grown and God was working through this particular church. Earlier we saw there were many teachers in the church. But you see how ministry by various men and women of God really strengthens the church. Now, though they had people within the church, they had teachers and we also have people like Paul and Barnabas who are teachers. The leaders of Jerusalem sent Judas and Silas. And what was the kind of ministry that Judas and Silas had to offer? They were prophets, we are told. So already there is a bunch of teachers. Now, we have prophets joining this beautiful multicultural church and pastoral team. And what do the prophets have to bring? They exorted and strengthened the brethren with many words. Now, we all understand about the gift of prophecy. Now, 1 Corinthians 14-3 where we know that prophecy is meant to edify, exalt, comfort. And that is why we read about the ministry of Judas and Silas that they exorted. Or they encouraged the believers. Not only that, the church was strengthened. So through every ministry, what's happening? The church is being strengthened. Antioch is this growing and strong church out of which God does mighty exploits. So that is what is happening right now in the church of Antioch. And we also learn verse 33, and after they had stayed there for a time, they were sent back with greetings from the brethren to the apostles. So it is estimated something like they say after the missionary journey, first missionary journey, it could have been about five years before Paul stepped out on the next missionary journey. Some people say that. So this is a long period of time when the Jerusalem council happened and then you have the prophets coming down to Antioch church, strengthening the church. And then they finally, Judas leaves. But Silas stays on. So one of the prophets decides to stay out. Verse 35, Paul and Barnabas also remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of God with many others also. So we notice more of a pastoral kind of a ministry, shepherding their flock, all that is continuing. Then verse 36, then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, so this is the decision of Paul to go on the next missionary journey. So he is telling Barnabas, okay, let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing. So we remember the first missionary journey, isn't it? We saw cities like Antioch of Sidia, we saw Lystra, we saw Iconium, Derby, all of these cities where Paul and Barnabas went, they spoke, there were some Jews who were willing. But eventually when the Jews were not willing, they ministered to the Gentiles and that's how this entire journey took place. Now Paul is concerned about these churches. Yes, we planted the churches but how are they doing? How are the people doing? So he never forgot about the churches that were planted and which is why he was telling Barnabas, let us go back into each of those cities where we preach the word and let us see how they are doing. Okay, again it's very apostolic, very pastoral to really care for the spiritual health of the people. But there was an unpleasant situation and what was that? Barnabas, he wanted to take along with him a young person known as John Muck. We talked about John Muck earlier and we said that he was from Mary's house. This is in Acts 12. But what was wrong with John Muck? We saw that John Muck actually left the missionary journey, the first missionary journey and he went back home. So this was in Acts 13-13, that's where we saw. And now Barnabas is insisting that he wants to take along with him John Muck. But this idea is not pleasing to Paul. And why is it not pleasing to Paul? We recognize that both Barnabas and Paul had very different personalities. While Barnabas was accommodating, you could even say forgiving, Paul was the zealous person who felt that John Muck failed them on the very first missionary journey that they undertook as a team. So he did not want a person with that kind of an attitude. And we don't know because Luke does not record the exact reason. Maybe John Muck was homesick or he was exhausted from the journey or he was just overwhelmed by this assignment of going and ministering to people. We don't know the exact reason why. But for Paul, whatever the reason, John Muck had failed and he had settled it in his heart that he would not involve this person anymore in the ministry. But Barnabas being an encourager, we also understand from some other passages in the Bible that John Muck was Barnabas' cousin. But Barnabas wanted to take John Muck along. It was 38 but Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Bambhalaya had not gone with them to the work. And look at this, it was 39. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Muck and sailed to Cyprus but Paul chose Silas and departed. And again being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Silesia strengthening the churches. So Paul and Barnabas, they probably argued contention. The word used there is contention, they probably argued. It was a sharp contention so they disagreed with each other. In the ministry there's a personality clash that's taking place. Who was right? Who was wrong? Luke doesn't write about that at all. And neither do the people comment on who's right and who's wrong because what we read is they disagreed. Paul picked Silas who had stayed on at Antioch. Barnabas picked John Muck and what did the people do? They just commended, they were happy with whatever decision was made and they just wanted Paul and Barnabas to continue on the missionary journey. So nobody is telling them who is right and who's wrong. Probably that was not even the question. It was just that they both had very different personalities and it could happen. Even as we serve the Lord it's possible that we find people who are different from us and the process matters in a way that we can't even imagine. But a lesson which we can learn here is we must really depend on the Lord and it is unpleasant for contentions to happen and disagreements to happen and it is sort of unfortunate that Barnabas and Paul had to part ways. What if they found a way of working out their differences? Maybe both of them would have gone on the second missionary journey together. We don't know. But that would have been better. Unfortunately, they did not do that. And thankfully it's in the Bible for us today and we can understand that there will be people with differing personalities who work with us but we've got to learn to work together for the sake of God's kingdom. So that is how this chapter ends and we will now read more about Paul and Silas ministering to churches through their second missionary journey. So verse 41 says, and he went through Syria and Silasia strengthening the churches. So let me see if I can share a picture of the second missionary journey with us and then we can talk about it. Yes brother. Do we have any record of the further ministry, later ministry of Barnabas in the history? Because we don't see read it in the Bible. It is Barnabas who introduced Paul to Apostles Jerusalem and then he goes to churches and brings Paul back to Antioch. So he was instrumental in bringing Paul to the mainstream. But about his later ministry, we don't read anywhere. Do we have anything in history about Barnabas further ministry after this point? Okay. About Barnabas, you do have a little bit of mention in the book of Corinthians and in other episodes you have a small mention about Barnabas. But I don't think we have details about his ministry. So for example in the book of Corinthians, first Corinthians 9 verse 6 the Paul states or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working. So he kind of talks about Barnabas as his co-worker. But we don't know where Barnabas went and what kind of ministry he engaged in. Those details are not there in the Bible. So we'll have to depend on some extra biblical reports and accounts. But then again, anything that's extra biblical, we are not very sure because it's difficult to affirm. I don't know if my answer was helpful at all. Because that's all that I can say. No further record, that's all. He might have truly ministered, he might have done a great ministry elsewhere but no record is available. That's what, that's what. And there's only speculation like even if you read about the book of Hebrews, people say that the style of writing is different from the epistles of Paul. But somewhere the content is similar to the epistles of Paul. So maybe one of the people who is thought to have written Hebrews is Barnabas. But we don't know, we don't know. Most theologians take it as Paul was the writer of Hebrews. But there are all these speculations. So Barnabas is one of the people who people say could have written the book of Hebrews. Others also say, you know, Apollos wrote it. So we don't know rather all this speculation. Thank you, boss. Thank you. But yeah, good to see how Barnabas did his task. I know it was not easy. He brought Paul on the scene and now Paul is popular. But Barnabas continues to do his work and he's being gracious to another young person who has seemingly made a mistake at Pamphylia, John Mark. But Barnabas is fine with his personality. And thank God that God gave Barnabas opportunity to serve him. So did he give Paul an opportunity to serve him. So that's how this whole thing went. So let's just go to Acts 16. I think I will show you the map once we come back. There is only six minutes left. So we can talk about Paul going back to the old regions. And what does Paul do? We'll see that. So Acts chapter 16. I will read it. I will read five verses. Then he came to Derby and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy. The son of a certain Jewish woman who believed but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. So he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region. For they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in faith and increased in number daily. So we see that in the cities where they had served during the first missionary journey, they find a young person who has a good testimony. Like one of those volunteers we talked about earlier who served the tables. They had a good testimony. People were filled with the Holy Spirit, good report, full of wisdom, full of faith. That is a description that we saw about those early volunteers in the Church of Jerusalem. Similarly, Timothy in Lystra, he is a young person with a good testimony. He is in the Lord. Now Paul sees potential in this young person to serve God. So this is something like, you know, when Jesus saw Nathaniel, he knew in his spirit, here is a man without guile where he could discern prophetically, you know, the kind of person that Nathaniel was. And when Jesus saw Peter, he said, you know, Peter, you are the rock. So he spoke his destiny, declared his destiny over him when, you know, Peter was nothing. Peter did not even know what his life would be like. But Jesus spoke prophetically, you know, about his future. In the same way, we believe that God would have given Paul that discerning to know the destiny of Timothy. You know, later on we know that he was the overseer of a very important church, the Church of Ephesus. But these were the initial days and somebody needed to see the destiny of Timothy to pick him and to begin to groom him. And that's exactly what Paul did. So again, you know, we've studied about this in Kingdom Builders and House of God, fathering, fathering and mothering. So what's happening? Paul knew that he needed to raise up many leaders for the kingdom. So here he notices Timothy, he picks Timothy, he takes him along on the journey. But he does one more very important thing for Timothy. What is that? We are told. Now where is this? Okay, verse 3. Paul wanted to have him go on with him 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. Okay, this is a little confusing. Here is Paul. We are told that they had a dispute with the men from Judea who taught about circumcision. Okay, circumcision is not required for salvation. That was the whole fight. That was the reason for the whole fight. End of Acts 14, Acts 15. But Acts 16, when we read this in the Greek, Paul says he took him and circumcised. So the understanding there is he forcefully took Timothy and got him circumcised. So we ask the question, Paul how could you do this? You were the one who was fighting against the tradition of circumcision for salvation. But you are picking a godly person and you are circumcising him. So what we recognise here is it was not about circumcision but it was more about Timothy's future. So Paul knew that his mother was Jewish but his father was Greek. And so as Timothy grows in his role as an overseer and also ministers to the Jewish community, what could happen in the future? So this is Paul's foresight. He is looking into the future and he knows that Timothy might face a lot of opposition. So he looks at an advantage in Timothy's background. His mother was a Jewess. So with that as an excuse, what he does is he circumcises Timothy. So when Timothy becomes a pastor later on and the Jews question him, Timothy how could you even preach to us and your father was Greek? The fact that Timothy is circumcised will make him more acceptable by the Jews. So you see how Paul is thinking way ahead for a young person whom he is now going to start grooming in the ministry. But you see the way one is looking into the future and helping a team member or a co-worker get ready for the future. So that was the reason why Paul circumcised Timothy. So we must understand the actual meaning here and not get confused that someone who spoke against circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation, that same individual is circumcising a young person. So let me just stop here. If you have any thoughts regarding this, I think we can come back and discuss. So let's take a 10 minute break and we shall be back. So we will meet at 10.01. Thank you.