Acts Chapter 15
One of the enemy’s greatest tactics is to cause division amongst God’s people whether it is in the church or in a ministry or in a home. If he can get us to be against each other, divided, then he renders us ineffective for the ministry of Christ. In this chapter we will see several attempts of the devil to cause disunity in the body of Christ, but the early believers were wise in that they took to the truths of scripture and with the help of the Holy Spirit they were able to stop the attacks.
Let's Reflect
1. The first attack mentioned was from within the church, believers who thought they knew more than others. Some of the believers from the Judea area came down (actually traveled north) to Antioch to tell the Gentiles that their salvation was not valid. In what way did they think the Gentiles salvation was not valid?
2. They sent representatives of the church in Antioch (Paul and Barnabas and maybe others) back to Jerusalem to get clarity on this matter. As they traveled, they stopped at the churches they had ministered to previously. What was the spirit of the people who heard testimonies of God’s working?
3. The next attack of division came from a group who were religious leaders in Jerusalem and knew the Old Testament law distinctly. They too argued that the Gentiles must be circumcised. What was the name of this group?
4. In Jerusalem, the devil probably thought he was winning because there was much debate. But the Holy Spirit was much stronger, and He spoke through Peter. Peter was emboldened to address this great religious debate, and we know that it was the Holy Spirit speaking through him because of the result of his speech. What was the result? See verse 12.
5. We can learn an important lesson in the words that Peter spoke that day in regard to knowing if someone is a true believer or not. What did Peter say about that?
6. James, the half-brother of Jesus, who served as the chairman of the council spoke up. It was as if James spoke up to pronounce the decision of the church based on what had been discussed. In his speech he included scripture from Amos chapter 9, he reminded them that it says that salvation would come to whom?
7. James did think that there were things of scripture that they should remind the Gentiles that they should not partake in now that they were believers. This list is still applicable for believers today as a list of things we should abstain from. We should abstain from things polluted by idols, things that have been strangled, we should abstain from drinking blood and what other item was on the list?
8. The church sent a delegation back to Antioch to give their report. They sent Paul and Barnabas, and Judas (Barsabbas), and Silas. They sent a letter with their decision made in unity and it contained the truth that they had been guided by whom? See verse 28.
9. This show of unity brought encouragement to the church at Antioch. They spent some time together doing what?
10. The next division that occurred was between apostles. What was the division? I think the lesson we can learn from this last one, is that no church or ministry is perfect and there will be disagreements. The believers need to find a way to always put the ministry of the gospel of Christ as first priority, and personal disagreements need to be put down. And that is exactly what this early church did.
Devotionals
