I'm pleased the Lord to be with
us and help us as we continue our meditation. In the Acts of
the Apostles, chapter 15, and this evening we'll think upon
the verses from 13 down to verse 21. From 13 to verse 21, in the
15th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we'll read it together. It's an actual fact we've, last
week, we considered the things that the Apostle Peter was able
to speak to the synod as they gathered together to consider
the matter of circumcision in Jerusalem. And he having given
his statement, we now have this statement by James from verse
13 to 21. So we'll read it together. And
after that, and after they had held their peace, James answered,
saying, men and brethren, hearken unto me. Simeon hath declared
how God and the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them
a people for his name. And to this agree the words of
the prophets, as it is written. And after this, I will return
and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down,
and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.
The residue of men might seek after the Lord. And all the Gentiles,
upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all
these things, known unto God are all his works from the beginning
of the world. Wherefore my sentence is that
we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned
to God, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollution
of idols and from fornication and from things strangled and
from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them
that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath
day. So we have in these few verses
those words which the Apostle James wrote. It is the Apostle
James, the same one that wrote, of course, his epistle later
on in the New Testament. And it's important, if we stand
back and take an overall view, we see how both Peter and James
were very gentle, really, in the way that they spoke to the
Gentiles and to the Jews especially in that situation. They were
aware of their background and they were aware of their concerns
and therefore they didn't cut them off but they spoke very
gently and very kindly to them. And so here we have James is
answering and he addressed them, men and brethren hearken unto
me. He says Simeon and we may be
perhaps wondering why is it Simeon? Well I understand that Simeon,
of course, is Peter. And Simeon is actually the full
Hebrew name for Peter. But generally speaking, it was
shortened to Simon. So we have here then what the
apostles is speaking, referring to Peter. And he reiterates the
situation. He says, Peter has declared how
God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them
a people for his name. Now Simon is of course referring
or rather James is referring to Peter's
statement when he came to Cornelius and how he was privileged to
declare the gospel to those Gentiles which had gathered together at
that time and so he was able to refer to that. Peter was able
to speak from first-hand knowledge because he'd been a witness to
it. James was not a witness, he was only referring to that
which Peter had spoken about. But then he comes and says, and
to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written, after
this I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David,
which is fallen down, and I will build again the ruins thereof,
and I will set it up." Now, of course, there were many, many
references in the Word of God to this truth which had occurred. And quite rightly, James was
not able to refer to it directly, but he was able to refer to the
word of God and in particular he makes reference to a chapter
in the book of Amos and he speaks of it like this he says in the
ninth chapter he says towards the end in that day when I raise
up the tabernacle of David that is fallen and close up the breaches
thereof and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as
in the days of old." Well, when the apostle was addressing the
people here, he was referring to that particular prophecy. And of course, the situation
was very sad in Jerusalem. That which had come from David
had really petered out. There was not that wonderful
following as there had been of king upon king. But now we see
there is a greater king, and that king, of course, is the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And here it is, of course, who would rebuild. And this I will
return and will build again the Tabernacles of David, which is
fallen down. And I will build again the ruins
thereof, and I will set it up." Well, we know that the condition
and situation of true religion before the Lord came was in a
very low state. We're thankful to know that when
the Lord came and he brought about the wonderful deliverance
of the children of God by his death, and all those prophecies
were to be fulfilled in that which Christ had done, And so
very clearly here the Apostle is proclaiming the name of the
Lord Jesus and speaking about him and how true it was and is
that he does still today build his house and build the tabernacle. We're thankful for it. And the
Apostle goes on, that the residue of men might seek after the Lord. And the residue of men, he's
speaking there of course, the small company really of those
who are chosen, not the vast multitudes in the world, but
those whom the Lord has ordained to eternal life, those whom the
Lord has a particular blessing for, the residue of men, might
seek after the Lord. And all the Gentiles, upon whom
my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things."
How clearly The Apostle states that this is the work of God. It's not the work of man. It's
the work of the Lord Jesus. It's the work of the Holy Spirit.
It's something we cannot produce ourselves. And so here, in these
New Testament days, the Apostles are directing the people so very
clearly to this great and wonderful truth that it emanates from Almighty
God. The residue might hear it. and
men might seek after the Lord. How important it was then, how
important it is today that we seek after the Lord, that people
are directed to seek after the Lord, to seek for His mercy,
to seek for His blessing, to seek for His grace, to seek for
His favor. How important it is that men
and women, boys and girls, might seek after the Lord. And all
the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord, who
doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. You see, God knows everything. God knows all those things which
have been done. He knows all those things which
are to be done. And it's all his work. It's all under his
control. How important it is that we're
able to lift up our God to greatness and to honour and power and glory.
He is a great God. And may we know this, known unto
God therefore all his works. He knows everything. Nothing
happens by chance in this vast world. Nothing happens by chance
in your life or my life. And surely that should be a wonderful
consideration that he knows. He knows the way we take. He
knows the details. He knows all our down sittings. He knows all our uprisings. are
all ordained by Almighty God. So the Apostle comes on and says,
wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from
among the Gentiles are turned to God. You see those of the
Gentiles who were turned to God who were not operating what the
Jews thought to be the right way, that way of circumcision.
And so the Apostle speaks in this way, that they should not
be troubled, that we trouble them not, which from among the
Gentiles are turned to God. But he realized there were some
things that they weren't doing rightly, and those things they
needed to be pointed out. And so he recommends that this
course is taken. that we write unto them, that
they abstain. Then he gives a little list. Pollution of idols. They were
clearly not bowing down to idols, but here they were told to abstain
from pollutions of idols and from fornication. You see, the
Jewish people understood very clearly the wrongness of fornication,
but it was often apparently carried out amongst the Gentiles. therefore
it was necessary that they should be written to and pointed out
the wrongness and the evil of that situation and from fornication
and from things strangled and from blood. They were not allowed
to partake of those things and at that time and in order to
not cause any offence these things were spoken against, things strangled
and from blood. And then finally the Apostle
says, for Moses of old's time hath in every city them that
preach him been read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. So we see
here that of course the Old Testament was still being read as indeed
the Word of God, which it was, but the fact was that the ceremonial
law was still really being attended to, because that was what was
being read every Lord's Day. And he tells them, for Moses
of old hath in every city then that preach him being read in
the synagogues every Sabbath day. So although these things
were read every Sabbath day, yet there wasn't license to carry
on in that situation, but nonetheless He didn't deal harshly with them
and said, well, they must now all leave the synagogue and they
must all therefore stop going to the synagogue and stop hearing
these things being read because they might take a wrong inference
from them. You see how the apostle deals
graciously with them. And this was a tremendous change
in the life of the Jewish people. A tremendous change, wasn't it?
Now they'd been under the law of God, carrying out as best
they could the ceremonial law. And now these things were done
away in Christ. And it was a tremendous change.
And it's really, you see, when people are born again in the
Spirit, when they've been in the world, there's a change.
We don't see everything immediately. We don't see all the light. Sometimes it's quite dim. And
therefore the Apostle was gracious to these people, pointing out
what they'd been under, how they'd been worshipping, and how they
were still continuing to worship, but not acknowledging that it
was anything which was right, but pointing out that still Moses
was being read, and still they were listening to it, and therefore
there was some understanding why they might have been taking
and following that which now was done away. Well, we need
much grace as these apostles needed as they came to Jerusalem
to debate this situation and now they were giving their view
as to what was to be done. And it's good for us today when
we follow the examples that we have in the Acts of the Apostles.
This was the early Christian church, a time of great change,
a time of great blessing, a time of great instruction. And you
and I, my friends, need to ponder these things and to consider
them as they have a reference to our own situation in the day
and age in which we live. But we're thankful, are we not,
that we do have examples in the Word of God directing us to the
truth of these things. Well, may the Lord bless His
Word. For Jesus' sake, amen.