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| Chapter 11 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God. 2 And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the Circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, "Thou wentest in to uncircumcised men and didst eat with them." 4 But Peter reviewed the matter from the beginning and expounded it in order unto them, saying, 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. A certain vessel descended as though it had been a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even to me. 6 And when I had fastened my eyes on it, I considered it and saw four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things and fowls of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, ’Arise, Peter; slay and eat.’ 8 But I said, ’Not so, Lord, for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, ’What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.’ 10 And this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, immediately three men had already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. 12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house. 13 And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, who stood and said unto him, ‘Send men to Joppa and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, 14 who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all of thy house shall be saved.’ 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He did unto us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 19 ¶ Now those who had been scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose on account of Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the Word to none but unto the Jews only. 20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke unto the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 And when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, 24 for he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And many people were added unto the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas departed to Tarsus to seek out Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that for a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught many people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. 27 ¶ And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up, and signified by the Spirit that there would be a great dearth throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. 29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren who dwelt in Judea. 30 This also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. |
We must realize that God will never change, but His plans, as they develop, will cause changes to Man. We must be prepared to follow these changes. All changes must be examined to make sure they are of God, but then God's people must be open to these changes, remembering that they may also effect their life directly. In the previous chapter Peter was shown by God to make changes to his life forever, any prejudices he had to Gentiles were broken down, Cornelius was now a brother in Christ. v1 As soon as Peter returns from his life changing experience the Jewish believers were wanting to take up the matter, v3 "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them" Jewish believers were holding onto their past, they felt that they must still keep all the Jewish laws to be "good Christians" so Peter now has to explain His actions. v4-10 Peter tells his story to the people, he puts the facts, as they happened, before the Jerusalem believers. As he tells the story he emphasized the actions of God in the events, Peter shows that God Himself designed the visions and the events which followed. v16 Peter finishes his story with a reminder of the words of Jesus "ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." v17 Peter now brings on the main point of his story - "If God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I think that I could work against God?." Peter has shown them the plan of God, now they have to step out in faith and follow Peter or refuse the truth and so turn their back on God's way. v18 As they hear the facts the believers go quite, then turn to glorifying God as they see the grace of God. This story reminds us that we must be open to any changes God has as part of His plan's but we must also examine them to make sure that any changes are of God. The Message spreads v19 As a result of the persecution after Stephen's death many of the believers have left Jerusalem, preaching as they went, they had reached Phoenicia (Tyre, Sidon), Cyprus and Antioch but were only preaching to the Jews. v20-24 Then they started preaching to the Greek and God blessed their work, a great number coming to know Jesus as their Saviour. The church at Jerusalem hears of this outreach and decides to send Barnabas to help in this work and give encouragement to the believers in the area. (It was Barnabas who supported Saul before the Jerusalem church Acts 9:27-30). v25 Barnabas goes to look for Saul in Tarsus and brings him to Antioch. Up to now the believers had been called "Followers of the Way" now they became known as "Christians." v27-30 During the year that Barnabas and Saul worked in Antioch a prophet comes from Jerusalem. The Spirit had given him a warning message that there was soon to be a famine in Palestine. Claudius Caesar was Emperor from AD 41-54. In the year AD 46 Palestine was hit by a bad famine. The people of Antioch decide to make a collection of money to help the Jewish believers. We are not told how long they took to put together the collection before they sent it with Saul and Barnabas to Jerusalem. |
Easy English Translation
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