LESSON 66

THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM PART 3

Acts 15:13-20 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Peter^[a] has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. ¹⁵ And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written: ¹⁶ ‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house^[b] of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it, so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord, including the Gentiles— all those I have called to be mine. The Lord has spoken— ¹⁸ he who made these things known so long ago.’^[c]19 “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.

1. JAMES ADVICE V. 13-18
2. EXACTLY AS PREDICTED V. 15
3. JAMES JUDGMENT V.19-20

1. DO NOT: EAT FOOD OFFERED TO IDOLS
2. DO NOT: ENGAGE IN SEXUAL IMMORALITY
3. DO NOT: EAT MEAT FROM STRANGLED ANIMALS
4. DO NOT: CONSUME BLOOD

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF MEN’S RULES OF CONDUCT FOR CHRISTIANS

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LESSON 65

THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM PART 2

Acts 15:7-12New Living Translation (NLT)

⁷ At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. ⁸ God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. ¹⁰ So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers^[a] with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? ¹¹ We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” ¹² Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

1. THE MEETING: LONG DISCUSSION V. 7a
2. PETER’S ADDRESS V. 7b-11

1. PETER’S COMMISSION AND ADMISSION V.7b
2. PETER’S TESTIMONY V. 8-9
3. QUESTION: WHY BURDEN GENTILES? V. 10
4. STATEMENT OF FAITH FOR SALVATION V. 11

1. EVERYONE LISTENED V. 12

THIS MEETING SETS THE STANDARD FOR CHURCH MEETINGS.

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LESSON 64

THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM

 

Acts 15:1-6 New Living Translation (NLT)

15 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers^[a]: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted. ⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. ⁵ But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.” ⁶ So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.

1.   FALSE TEACHING V. 1

2.   DEALING WITH FALSE TEACHING V. 2-3a

3.   THE GOOD REPORT V. 3b-4

4.   BAD NEWS MIXED WITH THE GOOD? V. 5-6

WHEN GOD IS DOING AWESOME THINGS, THE ENEMY ALWAYS TRIES TO TWIST IT

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LESSON 63

PAUL STONED IN LYSTRA

Acts 14:19-28 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁹ Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. ²⁰ But as the Believers^[a] gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. ²¹ After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, ²² where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. ²³ Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. ²⁴ Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia.²⁵ They preached the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia. ²⁶ Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed. ²⁷ Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, too. ²⁸ And they stayed there with the believers for a long time.

1.   THE STONING AND RESULTS V. 19-20

2.   CONTINUING THE JOURNEY V. 21-22

3.   APPOINTING ELDERS: THE PROCESS V. 23-25

4.   RETURN TO ANTIOCH OF SYRIA V. 26

5.   THE REPORT TO ANTIOCH V. 27-28

A MIDST HARDSHIP COME GLORIOUS VICTORIES!

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