Missions Paul

Happy Church

Acts 15:31 “The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message”.

At last the people are glad.

The message freed them from those who were laying regulations of circumcision and other things on them. They had been coming under a weight of performance that they just could not accomplish.

Then they read the letter and they were relieved, they were happy.

Let the Church be glad today. There is no guilt nor condemnation because there is no law.

They were glad because they were saved.

It might seem trivial perhaps. But perhaps there should be such happiness in every Church.

May there be the joy of our salvation within the heart of the Church again.

 

Send carefully

Acts 15:30

So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter.

The team arrive into Antioch and hand over the letter from the Jerusalem Church.

The letter has gone.

The email has been sent.

Whatever we write we need to make sure that once it has left our hands we have no regrets over anything that we have written. The tip is not to write in any state of high emotion.

Whatever we write we need to make sure that we give the correct letter to be delivered and to prevent any 2017 Oscar mishap when the wrong winner was announced!

Whatever we write, check it first. This last week a Columbia University sent out emails to 277 students accepting them onto their Masters programme. Then 75 minutes later they had to email again to apologise to say they were in error. The New York Times called it ‘the dumbest mistake ever’.

In finding that story above I have just waded through a whole bunch of articles on websites for ‘what to do when sending the wrong email’ ‘how to recover your ground when posting the wrong letter’. It would seem there is a whole business out there for when business goes wrong because of lack of concentration or a heated moment! All these sites give examples of apology letters to send. I never realised this happened so frequently!

These last few years one major thing I have learnt in my communication is this: sleep on it. Do it tomorrow if it so urgent that today I could get it so wrong.

So before you send anything today, think, let someone else read it, walk away from it and come back to it because once it has gone it has gone.

Actually there are stacks of websites dedicated to retrieving the email or the letter wrongfully sent. But sadly the only guaranteed way is to go to the house of the recipient and attack the postman before he delivers the letter or also you could break in to the house and hack into the recipients email accounts and then delete the email.

Takes a bit of effort though.

My recommendation is sleep on it.

 

 

Not Goodbye but Farewell, do well.

Acts 15: 29

“You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. “

This is not a compromise with circumcision. The letter from the Jerusalem HQ was not saying ‘if you do the following then you won’t have to be circumcised’.

In fact the vocabulary is far less than a commandment, ‘you will do well’.

However, the whole point is that they aim for unity. Jerusalem and Antioch must not part company. The circumcision issue must not divide. If these Gentile believers paid attention to these practices associated with idolatry then it will make for an easier relationship with Jerusalem.

It is a lesson for us all. Do not let your actions cause division. Even if you feel totally free to take such an action, do not offend your brothers and sisters.

Farewell. Let it go well with you. May you be blessed. The sign-off is good, it is wholesome and it is for their benefit. Jerusalem want Antioch to prosper. That’s how we should address each other too. That’s how we should end the conversation. That is how we part company. We leave no room for any escalation of division.

I have had to say goodbye to many in my life. Some couldn’t come with me and some didn’t want to. Others left me and I couldn’t go with them. I know I will face in the near future the same situation –

But as I reflect back I ask myself did I say farewell? Did I bless them? I think of them as I write this and I wonder how they are doing. I hope they are doing well.

 

The Spirit is here

Acts 15:28

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements”

The most beautiful line in the New Testament showing the partnership of the Spirit with our lives has got to be this very verse.

The letter is being read out to the Antioch believers and the Jerusalem church is saying that after much discussion over the topic of circumcision they had decided it was not a means or evidence of salvation and that this seemed good to them and also to the Spirit.

“Thus says the Lord” is often what we are used to.

As a young person I struggled because I wanted to be able to say that but I was so uncertain over the will and purpose of God. I have grown wiser over the years. I no longer view the Spirit who gives me orders that I have to obey. The Spirit is with me, alongside me, leading me yes but He is ‘for me’ more than anything. He wants me to succeed. He wants me to influence, to make good decisions, to bring changes and to protect His works where no change is needed.

How did this phrase really take shape? How do we know what seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us?

It could be through a prophetic word, vision or dream or through the use of Scripture shedding some light on to the topic.

And to us? That could be unity of discussion within the group. There is strength in numbers. We benefit by including people.

The Holy Spirit and to us.

Partnership.

Together.

Let us thank the Spirit for His presence in our lives today.

 

 

Arrange that meeting

Acts 15:27

“Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing”.

The men who we chose to send with Paul and Barnabas are Judas and Silas, they are men who have risked their lives for the gospel. We are sending you the best.

Sometimes an issue is so important that an email/text/messenger is not enough. The quickest route is not always the correct route.

Face to face. It takes time, sometimes painfully slow, but the correct route can be the longest.

There may be issues in your life today that need your attention. The best option for you is maybe to write a letter as it takes longer than the normal way of communication or it may be to arrange a meeting over coffee. Go long that’s the point. The more effort is revealed the greater the impact.

 

 

Risk

ACTS 15:26  ^“men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

The letter continues to the Antioch believers from the Jerusalem church continues. “We sent you chosen men to deal with this circumcision issue. These were not just men they were men who had risked their lives for carrying the name of Jesus as the Lord of their life.”

We must listen to those who have given up everything for Jesus.

Like the Imam in one of our Elim nations who recently lost his wife, children and his cows on his conversion. We need an audience with him.

 

We must listen to those who do not play it safe because they want comfort for their lives.

Like our church planters in the Himalayas who through the use of helicopters and trekking the dangerous mountain areas bring the gospel to those who have never heard.

 

We must listen to those who serve under the only name they know, that of Jesus.

Like the women who stay behind with the broken and damaged women caught up in the sexual violence of the civil war of the DRC bringing hope and healing to those who have been robbed of everything.

 

That’s who I listen to and whose stories I hear and tell every day. That’s who I love to be with. I don’t have the will or the desire to listen to anyone who talks from a position of safety. Risk doesn’t need any more theorists.

Whilst that may seem far removed from you and me. We too can speak more, give more and ultimately risk more in our world.

 

Will you?

Acts 15:25 “So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul.”

Some men were chosen. These were the believers in verse 2 who were appointed to go with Paul and Barnabas. They were part of the team to go and challenge the circumcision law makers.

Men chose men. Forget the gender that is not my point. My point is that these men were chosen by God surely? Yes. But they were chosen by men.

I recently was discussing with an overseas friend about their possible ordination. They were battling because they said they didn’t need man to ordain them, God ordained them. I was able to share with them that ordination is connected to their credibility because others know the person has been tried and tested. These men from Jerusalem would never have been received by Antioch if they had not been sent by the Jerusalem church.

You see, it is a positive thing to be chosen by others for a task.

For man to see in you something that can be used.

For others to recognise gifts and skills suitable for the task.

You don’t need to wait for God to ordain you or commission you or be the One who solely uses you. It can be simply your Pastor, leader, mentor and friend who says, ‘will you?’ It is okay to say ‘YES’ to that. You don’t need some divine revelation from God that it is God leading you.

So today if you get asked to do something and you want to do it then do it!

 

 

Some people …

Acts 15:24  We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.”

So the letter is read out to the Gentile believers from the Jerusalem apostles and elders.

What is not clear is whether some leaders had left the Jerusalem church to visit Antioch in secret and they did it with their Pharisaic spirit or that they in fact were sent by Jerusalem but they overstepped their remit and began to bring their rules that had never been laid out by Jerusalem.

Some people have a personal campaign, an untested and unchallenged voice. They are the lone rangers of the church.

Some people can be within a gracious Church but come out as law enforcers. Being within grace doesn’t mean grace is within you.

Some people speak with authority without being under authority.

Some people when they speak disturb and steal peace and think this is what God does to His children.

Some people go further and do more than what was expected or asked of them. They may have an entrepreneurial passion and belief and be willing to take risks to make it happen. But breaking from the whole doesn’t mean they are right.

Some people are just some and not everyone. It can be fixed.

 

Who are you?

Acts 15:22

“Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.”

I found out lots about Silas. He would spend lots of time with Paul as a fellow missionary. He would help plant churches in many places. He is mentioned by Paul on three occasions. It is clear that Silas was an important leader of the Jerusalem church who has the confidence of Paul and the other missionaries.

I found out nothing about Judas Barsabbas except that he was chosen with Silas to go with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch after Peter and James had convinced the Jerusalem church to send them. They would tell the Gentile believers what had been decided by the mother church that they did not need to be circumcised.

Then nothing.

Some people’s names are passed down through the generational lines for amazing exploits ie Peter, James, Paul, Barnabas, Silas.

Some people’s names are known only by researching and then only a few details are mentioned ie Judas Barsabbas.

Some people are not even named, but in their own generation they are among a group of people who changed history in some way ie those people who were simply known as the apostles and elders.

Friends it doesn’t matter if in the years to come after you have long gone that the world is talking about your name. In any case sometimes their version of events is often exaggerated or sketchy or assumed.

But you can serve God in your generation, you can make a huge impact and influence now. Whether or not you are later known is not important as right now you can influence decisions, change people’s thinking and powerfully impact someone’s destiny. You can be part of a group of people who do that. In fact you already are, it is called the Church. You belong to the Church and belonging to the Church means that you share the life-changing, shape-creating landscape of the many. Maybe in 50 years or 2,000 years if Christ has not returned you will be mentioned or not.

However, today, you belong to the Church and your world knows your name. You are here not for fame but to follow the lead of the Spirit as the Church changes history.

Grace will be difficult

Acts 15:21
For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

James in standing against circumcision for the Gentiles as evidence of salvation has been showing that it was the intention of God that they be saved. But also that there should not be hindrances placed upon the Gentile to observe the law of Moses such as the food laws etc.
Then in closing we have this sombre verse.
Sombre because James is simply saying ‘this is going to be difficult’. ‘For many years the law of Moses has been preached in every city and right up to their present day it is read in the synagogues every week’.
Basically it is inherent and it is widespread. ‘This is going to be tough to keep the Gentiles in grace’.
Things haven’t changed in our generation.
Fight for grace.
The Pharisees are all around us.
Law is taught and law is digested.
Grace-killers are everywhere.
I hear of Pharisees who applaud the community projects of the church but who would rather the community didn’t come in and spoil their church.
I hear of Pharisees who point fingers at sinners but ignore their own sin.
I hear of Pharisees who know exactly what God wants and does and thinks and what He doesn’t. They know so much about God they sound higher than Him.
‘This is not the way we do things around here.’
‘I will not be moved on this.’
The laws of history can kill the grace of today.
Law is needed for no one wants lawlessness. We need discipline. We need rules. We need accountability. We need all this but NOT for the reason of proving to man that we are acceptable to God.
The fight for grace is the fight against performance.
We have a tough battle before us.
Let’s make a start today.