Text: Acts 15:1-35<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. One way to learn how to handle various situations that arise in any congregation is to\nexamine similar situations\n A. Our problem will not be exactly similar, but what was done, how it was done and\nwhy it was done can be greatly useful.\n
B. Sometimes we think that the perfect church will be free from problems. <\/p>\n 1. Oddly, I don’t remember reading about any congregation in the New\nTestament that did not have some problem.\n 2. With Satan walking about as a lion, seeking to devour us, it is impossible\nnot to have problems – I Pet 5:8\n
II. Acts 15<\/p>\n
A. A great dispute arose in the church at Antioch – Acts 15:1-3<\/p>\n 1. Some came from Judea (Jerusalem in particular) teaching that the Gentiles\nhad to be circumcised in order to be saved.\n
a. Paul and Barnabas disagreed strongly with these teachers<\/p>\n
b. This has been a continuing problem for Paul – Gal 2:4-5, 5:1-4<\/p>\n c. The church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to\nresolve this issue.\n
2. Why Jerusalem? The disagreement was in Antioch<\/p>\n a. The source of the problem was members of the Jerusalem church –\nGal 2:11-13\n b. It was not, as some claim, because the Jerusalem church was the\nsource of doctrine for the church\n
3. Why Paul and Barnabas?<\/p>\n a. They were the most knowledgeable about the situation and why it\nwas wrong\n
b. The church’s aim was not compromise, but reaching the truth<\/p>\n
B. They were received by the apostles, the elders, and the church<\/p>\n
1. Notice this describes the whole group. It was not just the men.<\/p>\n 2. As they gave report of God’s work in the north among the Gentiles, some\nChristians who still belonged to the Pharisees interrupted\n
a. They insisted that these new Gentile Christians be circumcised.<\/p>\n b. They insisted that all Christians follow the teachings of the Law of\nMoses\n 3. Notice the contrast in reception between those in Jerusalem and those\nalong their journey – Acts 15:3\n C. The public forum stopped and a more limited one began composed of the apostles\nand elders with a large group listening.\n 1. Notice that the answer wasn’t clear. There was much disagreement among\nthis group\n 2. Notice to that the matter was not handled privately, but allowed all who\nwanted a chance to listen.\n 3. Notice that elders were involved in publicly defending God’s teaching\n(See Tit 1:9)\n
a. Too often we think this to be solely the realm of the preacher. <\/p>\n
b. Notice that preachers were not involved in this discussion group.<\/p>\n
D. Peter’s argument<\/p>\n 1. God, though him, chose the Gentiles who had not obeyed the Law to be\nchildren of his – Acts 11:14-18\n
2. This is not a recent event. They should have remembered their approval.<\/p>\n
3. God did not distinguish, why should we?<\/p>\n
4. We Jews know that the Old Law was difficult to follow, so why re-establish it?<\/p>\n
5. Gentiles and Jews are saved in the same manner.<\/p>\n
a. Later, Paul would write – Col 2:8-17<\/p>\n
E. Paul and Barnabas’s argument<\/p>\n 1. God has shown His approval by the signs and wonders done among the\nGentiles – Heb 2:3-4\n
F. James’ argument<\/p>\n
1. This matches what God has said on the matter.<\/p>\n
a. Similar to Hosea 2:23<\/p>\n
2. This is not a recent innovation, but something God has planned.<\/p>\n 3. Suggested a letter be sent stating their position that certain beliefs that the\nJews also find acceptable are to be followed by all Christians\n
a. Avoid things associated with idol worship<\/p>\n
b. Avoid sexual immorality – Gen 2:24<\/p>\n
c. Avoid things strangled and from blood – Gen 9:4<\/p>\n 4. All of these things predate the Old Law and are understandable by all,\nsince the Old Law has been taught widely for many years.\n
G. A letter was sent<\/p>\n 1. It was not a commandment from the church, but a clarification of the\ncongregation’s position.\n 2. They do not approve of requiring circumcision and they did not authorize\nanyone from their group to teach such things.\n
3. They support the work of Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles<\/p>\n 4. They explained some of the things they do require that happen to match\nthe Old Law.\n H. Men were selected by the apostles and elders with the whole church’s approval to\ntestify to the truth of the letter.\n
1. Notice that again the decision was not done by a limited group in isolation.<\/p>\n
2. Whole church includes the women – I Cor 14:23<\/p>\n 3. Does not imply that the women taught or exercised authority (I Tim 2:12). \nSince it was the whole church, it meant they had to remain silent (I Cor\n14:34-35)\n I. Judas and Silas, along with others, joined Paul and Barnabas in returning to\nAntioch.\n
1. Judas and Silas were prophets, spokesmen of God’s word.<\/p>\n
2. They encouraged the brethren with a lengthy message.<\/p>\n 3. After some time, they were sent back to Jerusalem, though Silas elected to\nremain in Antioch.\n
4. He joined Paul and Barnabas in preaching and teaching in Antioch<\/p>\n
III. Things to notice<\/p>\n A. Even though these men were gifted by the Holy Spirit. Even though the apostles\nwere among the people, they solved their doctrinal problem by the same method\nwe have available to us. They used commands, examples, and drew inferences\nfrom the things God had done.\n B. Even though there was no “Thou shalt not circumcised”, the beliefs they reasoned\nout were expected to be followed. It wasn’t a suggestion or considered a matter of\nopinion.\n
C. The elders were the defenders of the faith.<\/p>\n D. Decisions were made in public forums where the whole church could listen, even\nif they could not participate\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tActs of the Apostles\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Doctrinal Problems in the Church Text: Acts 15:1-35 I. One way to learn how to handle various situations that arise in any congregation is to examine similar situations A. Our problem will not be exactly similar, but what was done, how it was done and why it was done can be greatly useful. B. Sometimes we think…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10021,"menu_order":25,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10183","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3378,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-revelation-given-to-john\/introduction-to-the-letters\/","url_meta":{"origin":10183,"position":0},"title":"Introduction to the Letters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus' Messages to the Churches Introduction to the Letters The second major section of Revelation contains messages to each of the seven churches of Asia mentioned in the first section. Before we get into the letters, we should take note of some general characteristics of all the letters. Each congregation\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30491,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-corinthian-letters\/spiritual-gifts-worship-is-for-edification\/","url_meta":{"origin":10183,"position":1},"title":"Spiritual Gifts: Worship is for Edification","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Spiritual Gifts: Worship is for Edification Tongues and prophecy in the worship service\u00a0(I Corinthians 14:23-25) Paul transitions from comparing the use of tongues and prophecy in general to their use in the worship service. Worship doesn't happen all the time or by accident. Paul speaks of times when all Christians\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/resources\/meeting-other-members-of-the-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":10183,"position":2},"title":"Meeting Other Members of the Church of Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Meeting Other Members of the Church of Christ I have frequently been asked by single Christians how they can find other Christians. My first answer is that if you are looking for someone to marry, pray to the Lord about your needs. But even in prayer, God tells us that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3422,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-revelation-given-to-john\/the-message-to-the-church-in-laodicea\/","url_meta":{"origin":10183,"position":3},"title":"The Message to the Church in Laodicea","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The Message to the Church in Laodicea Revelation 3:14-22 Laodicea, located on the banks of the Lycos river, was a banking and financial center. It was at the crossroads of a major road between Sardis and Perga and another road between Ephesus and Mesopotamia. It also had a large clothing\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Laodicea","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Laodicea.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Laodicea.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Laodicea.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Laodicea.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":909,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/keys-to-understanding\/effective-rebukes\/","url_meta":{"origin":10183,"position":4},"title":"Effective Rebukes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Effective Rebukes \u00a0 \u201cIt is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.\u201d (Ecclesiastes 7:5) \u00a0 Few Christians enjoy confrontations. We desire peace and harmony, so we avoid displays of disagreement as much as possible. Yet, it is easy to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10128,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/growing-pains\/","url_meta":{"origin":10183,"position":5},"title":"Growing Pains","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Growing Pains Text: Acts 6:1-7 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The church took care of its own needy by members giving of their property - Acts 4:34-35 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet, as the church continued its momentous growth, complaints arose that the distributions were not fair and even-handed. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In particular it was claimed that the widows who were\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10183\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}