Day 336: The Council at Jerusalem (2024)
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Happening father mgmt, and you're listening to the bible in the year podcast where we encountered god's voice and live life to the lands of scripture. The bible in the year podcast is brought you by a sentient using the great adventure vivo title and will read all the way from genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of elevation and full to now we fit and that story today, IT is day three hundred and thirty six.

We are reading from the xy possible chapter fifteen, from the first letter of same point to the grantham's chapters eleven and twelve, as well as proverb to twenty eight versus ten through twelve. As always, the bubble translation on reading from is the revised standard version. Second, catholic tion, i'm using the great adventure rebel from mission.

If you want to download your own bible in the year reading plant, you can visit a sententious press that comes flash bible in ear. You can also subscribe to this podcast, receive daily episodes and daily updates IT as day three thirty six, reading x fifteen first scenting chapters live in a twelve, as well as probably have twenty eight for six, ten to twelve. The act of the apostles les, chapter fifteen, the council atrium, salem.

But the men came down from judea, and we're teaching the brethren, and unless you are circumcised according to the custom of moses, you cannot be saved. And when paul and barnabas had no small deception and debate with them, paul and Barnes and some of the others were appointed to go up to jerusalem, to the apostles and the elders about this question. So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both fanni a and salaria, reporting the conversion of the gentle.

And they gave great joy to all the brethren. N when they came to jersey m, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles, les and the elders. And they declared all they got had done with them. But some beliefs who have belonged IT to the party of the fiery rose up and said, IT is necessary to circumcise them and to charge them to keep the law of moses. The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, brethren, you know that in the early days, god made choice among you that by my mouth, the gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And god, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the holy spirit, just as he did to us. And he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now, therefore, why do you make trial of god by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved to the Grace of the lord jesus, just as they will. And all the assembly kept silence, and they listened to barto us and paul as they related what signs and wonders got had done through them.

Among the after they finished speaking, James replied, brethren, listen to me. Simon has related how god first visited the gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And with this, the words of the profits agree, as IT is written.

After this, I will return, and I will rebuild the dwellings of David, which has fAllen. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set IT up that the rest of men may seek the lord. And all the gentiles who are called by my name says the lord was made.

These things known from a old. Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the gentiles who turn to god, but should write to them to obtained from the pollution of idols and from unchaste, and from what is strangled and from blood. For from early generations moses has had in every city, those who preach him free is red, every safe in the cinna's gus, the council's letter to the gentle believers.

Then IT seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them and send them to anti ac with paul and about us, they sent juice called bar service and silence leading men among the brethren with the following letter, the brethren, both the apostles and the elders to the brethren, n hare off the gentiles and antioch and syria and slyvia greeting. Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, IT has seemed good to us in assembly to choose men and send them to you with our beloved barnabas and paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our lord is Christ. We have therefore sent judas and silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word mouth, for IT has seemed good to the holy spirit and to us delay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things that you abstained from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is struggled and from a chasity.

If you keep yourselves from these, you will do, well, fair, well. So when they were sent off, they went down to anti oc, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they read IT, they rejoiced at the exportation and judice and silos who are themselves profits, exported the bathroom with many words and strengthen them.

And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers n to those who had sent them. But paul in Barnes remained in antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the lord with many others. Also paul and barnabas separate.

And after some days, paul said to barnabas, come, let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed at the word of the lord and see how they are. And the Barnes wanted to take with them, john called mark, but paul a best not to take with them, one who had withdrawn from them in panfillen, not gone with them to the work. And there a rose, a sharp contention so that they separated from each other.

Baraba took mark with him and sail the way to cyprus, but paul chose silence and departed, being committed by the brothers n to the Grace of the lord and he went through syria and cilicia a strengthening the churches. The first letter of same paul to the clintons chapter eleven be imitators ors of me as I am of Christ head coverings. I commend you because you remember me and everything and maintained the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is god. Any man who praise her prophesies with his head covered dishonor his head. But any woman who praise her prophesies with her head unveiled, this honors her head.

IT is the same as if her head was shaving, for if a woman will not bail herself, then he should cut off her hair. But if IT is disGraceful for a woman to be shown or shaving, let her wear a bail for a man ought not to cover his head, since is the image and glory of god, but woman is the glory of man. For men was not made for women, but women for men.

Now there was man created for women, but women for men. That is why a woman ought to have availed on her head because of the Angels. Nevertheless, in the lord, woman is not independent of men, nor men of women. For as woman was made from man, so man is now born a woman, and all things are from god. Judge for yourselves is IT proper for a woman to pray to god with her head uncovered does not nature itself teach you that for a man to where long hair is degrading to him.

But if a woman has long hair, IT is her pride for her hair is given to her for recovering if anyone is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of god abuses at the lords supper. But in the following instructions, I do not commend you, because when you come together, IT is not for the Better, but for the worse. For in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe IT, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized when you meet together.

IT is not the lord supper that you eat for. In eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk. What do you not have houses to eat and drinking? Or do you despise the church of god and humility, those who have nothing? What should I say you? Should I commend you in this? No, I will not.

The institution of the u. Quest for I received from the lord what I also delivered to you that the lord jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke IT and said, this is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me in the same way, also the choice after supper, saying, this chAlice is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink. IT in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drinks the chAlice, you proclaim the lord's death until he comes partaking of the u krist unworthily.

Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of preventing the body and blood of the lord if a man examine himself. And so eat of the bread and drink of the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without diverting the body, eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged, but when we are judged by the lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brother, and when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let them eat home less.

You come together to be condemned about the other things. I will give directions when I come. Chapter twelve, spiritual gifts now, concerning spiritual gifts, bathroom, I do not want you to be uninformed.

You know that when you were he, then you were legist ate to mute idols. However, you may have been moved. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking by the spirit of god ever says jesus be cursed.

And no one can say jesus is lord, except by the holy spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same lord, and there are varieties of working, but IT is the same god who inspires them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.

To one is given through the spirit, the uterus of wisdom, and to another, the uterus of knowledge according to the same spirit to another, faith by the same spirit to another, gifts of healing by the one spirit to another, the working of miracles to another, privacy to another, the ability to distinguish between spirits to another, various kinds of tones to another, the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same spirit, who portions to each one individually as he wears one body with many members, for just as the body is one, and as many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body. So IT is with Christ.

For by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, jews or greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit for the body. Does that consist of one member? But of many, if the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make IT any less a part of the body.

And if the ear should say, because I am not an I, I do not belong to the body that would not make IT any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an I, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as IT is, god has arranged the organs in the body, each one of them as he chose.

If I were a single organ, where would the body be? As IT is, there are many parts, yet one body, the eyes cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor, again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are in dispensable, and was parts of the body which we think less honorable.

We invest with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are tweed with greater modesty, which are more presentable. Parts do not require, but god has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honor, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individual members of IT and god disappointed in the church. First the puzzles. Second profits.

Third teachers, then workers of miracles and healers, helpers, administrators, speakers and various kinds of tones are all the postles are all profits, are all teachers, do all work miracles, do all possessed gifts of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret but earnest, sly desire, the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excEllent way. The book, a proverb shaped twenty eight versus ten through twelve, he who misleads the up right into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will have an excEllent inheritance.

A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor man who has understanding will find them out. When the rightest triumphed, there was great glory, but when the wicket rise, men hide themselves. Father and haven't give you praising glory.

You thank you so much for your word. We also thank you how the way in which your word chAllenges us, the way in which your word convicts us. We thank you for questions. We thank you for things that arrive in your word that are difficult rap, our minds around and difficile to understand.

We ask you in those moments, in these moments, to sender your holy spirit in the name of your son, jesus Christ, to give us hearts that are open to being taught, give us hearts that open to seeing things, the way you see them, the way the things are. Help us to trust you with everything, not just your word, but also your will in our daily lives. Help us to trust you in jesus's name, pray, a man and the name of the father of the sun and of the holy spirit.

en. So a fifteen is is a pretty critical chapter. Now, obviously a lot of things are critical, but what's going on? This is one of the things that saying paul is going to be writing about. He wrote about IT to the romance, he writes about IT to the efficient, he writes about IT to the glaze, writes about IT to crinkling a little bit. But it's this thing called the judy issuers.

Um so the judy issuers are what they were folks who have been cropped Christian we might to talk about this before, but they were juice to become a Christian and they held on to the idea of that, okay, if john, how are going to become a Christ? That's fine. If they are brought into the new convention, that's great.

They first have to be brought into the old conventional in order to be brought into the new convention. So because think about this, that is that all the first Christians came from came from the old covenant, right? They are part of the people of god that god established his covenant with in the old testament.

And so one of the ways in the way that if you're a man, you're bright into the old cover 的， you're brought in through circumcision. And so here are the judy others. And what they thought was, well, that makes sense if we're going to have joe tiles come into this new family in the new covenant, then they're brought in first like we were circumcised and optimised.

That's just that's the stage is that's how we did IT. That's how they should do IT. And the big question was, do those gentle convers have to first be circumcised before they are baptized? And you realize that they didn't? I mean, the postles didn't know jesus didn't say anything about this.

There's nothing about this in the old tesman. Effectively, if there's anything the text mani says, you got to be circumcised. And so they don't have an answer.

There is not an answer that god's said in his word. There's not an answer that god said through the person of jesus. So what do you do? In fact, IT says there are rose no little decently among them.

I love this in chapter fifteen for seven, he said, after there had been much debate, much debate, like they argued about this were fights, will say, we in my family, we call them discussions, were discussions, they were debate, they were fights here about, we need to get them circumcise. We don't need to get them circumcise, but who determines that? I mean, this is, this is the big question.

This is the reason why we need the church and not just an invisible spiritual church. This is the reason why we need the authority of the church. right? Think about this in this section.

In chapter fifteen, we have the first church councils called the council of jerusalem. We have the next charge council. We know we have council of nice ia, the council of effects.

We have the council of constant to open. We have the second batin council. Those church councils look exactly like chapter fifteen, the apostles, A, K, the bishops, their successors, and the pope, A, K, A, the successor of same Peter.

They come together, the debate, like, they argue about this there. They fight about this. In fact, there, there's legends.

And not sure if this is actually accurate, but there's legends that there was a great areas in in the three twenty five write arianism had taken over the world to this idea that jesus cries isn't fully god, but is only partly got like part god, part man, kind of like hercules situation and areas because there's some scriptures that indicate, well, maybe you know, jesus says the father later than I maybe that means, who knows what that means? Maybe doesn't me, he's fully good. And yet the orthodox belief is that, no, jesus is fully garden fully.

And so the council in I, C. And three, twenty five, there are stories of a ga name, jEllied c Nicholas, that say nick himself was at the council of nica and it's legend. Maybe maybe didn't have some people like that happened.

Something like IT didn't happen and i'm in the middle like this to tell the story. It's kind of fun. But the idea is here is, say, Nicholas as who himself would have been disfigured because he suffered for the faith. He he himself had been tortured because he believed that jesus crisis fully god and fully man. And he's debating areas yet one point.

IT says that he he punched him in the face, uh or slapped him I don't know one of those things and that's why I think just fun to know about jelly o say nicolas because you just you know who knows when to throw down with a hero like areas. But now IT wasn't established fully. Is jesus fully got fully? Man, yes, the Christians believe that.

But what about those problematic passages where jesus seems to indicate the father's greater than I, but he also says the father I are once that seems to be indicate equality and IT is is not resolved until when until the church comes to get came together with the bishops and the pope and they say, OK IT seems good to the holy spirit and to us, bam. Here jesus is fully got fully man later in council consent to apple that the father and the son and the holy spirit are one divine being in three divine persons like that. That's a thing that comes from the church, catholic arch, coming together and saying, this is the doctrine.

This is the dogma. And the first time we have that is here in chapter fifteen, the country of jurisdictions. We realize that if you don't have to get circumcised then yeah let's not do that um but if you do, then you are risking your entire salvation by not getting circumcised so the answer that they're going na come up with here Better be right right IT Better be infallibly right.

Or else everyone who is uncircumcised, even if they're appetizer, will not be able to enter heaven. And so thanks, beauty. god. God gave us this church. And this church actually can teach us things that that god himself didn't reveal through sculpture.

I didn't reveal in the person of jesus, but does reveal to the teaching of the church make sense is this is so important. And even though we know this, we know this, we know the church is imperfect. You think about this the very after this, and they are not as great news to to the gentle believer.

S, and they're so excited, pumped. And then paul burn, of us are going to go on another missionary journey. And barn of us wanted to to take john, mark and paul thought IT best not to take with them, one who had withdrawn from them and gone, not gone with them to the work.

And there there was a sharp contention between the two of them so that they separate from each other. Remember part of us, the sound of encouragement IT was, now, my gosh, I I actually like the right hand, hand of paul. Maybe there were each other, other's right hand.

I don't know with these brothers in the lord, right? Maybe I always pick to them as best friends, because is that going to day after day of this mission work that you hope and pray that they liked each other, you hope and pray that they live like brothers? But in this moment they disagreed.

So we amenity with each other about whether john mark come with them or not, that they separated from each other. He broke up the band. You go to know here, john mark, john mark was, this is cousin.

Now later on, we praise god. We praise god for this. Later on, they reconcile. Later on, polar rn are, are close again. Later on, paul even calls john mark is his son.

And yet, at this moment, here's the church that is imperfect and yet can teach accurate, can teach infallibly. And that is essential. Help them make sense.

Help them make sense. Just interject. Tive fifteen is highlights the need for the visible church to exist, and that only that, but that IT has the authority to teach us.

Some people say, I member paying people asking this, they say, where's that written? Where's that written down? Know, have to domain.

Where is that written down? And I would say, well, there there's a lot of the indication description, but a, why do you need to write down? Where would they have to be written in order for you to believe IT? Because IT can be written in in the bible.

That's great. We believe the vibes, the word of that, but could have also be written in church documents, could also be written by the church who gave us the new teston, who gave us the these seventy three books, could be written by that authority. And and you need to accept that authority.

Now, speaking of authority, moving on to first quantity and chapter eleven and twelve, here's our first chAllenging letter, first chAllenging section of same page when IT comes to men and women. And it's important understand that as we move into this, when same paul is talking about the head, he's not talking about Better sucking about source goes on. He says, I want to understand, head of every man is Christ.

Jesus is the source. Head of every woman is her husband. That husband's the source had a crisis.

God, that god, the father is the source. Now this is very important to get that right, right away. What you understand, head of every man is Christ head.

Every woman is her husband, head of crisis, god. Now we have to understand this last piece. The head of Christ is god question.

We just covered this a second ago, is jesus Christ less is the inferior to got the father? The answer, of course, is absolutely not. So jesus Christ is not inferior to get the father.

Is jesus Christ co equal coeternal with the father? absolutely. So they're both. God from god, light from light to god from two. Got right. So jesus Christ and god father are completely equal in honor, indignity and glory.

Are they the same? No, the father is not the son, the son is not the father, the holy spare not the son, the holy spirit not the father. They're all coequal one god.

So that's the context for everything comes after this. So when think paul says. Oh, the the husband is the head of the wife is he's saying that that means she's inferior to her husband. Well, no, unless he means also that jesus is inferior to the father and he does not mean that. Keep that keep this in mind, very important that what he's talking about, he's about order.

We believe that the trinity is a community to persons, father, son, holy spirit, loving each other, not the same, but loving each other with his fierce pouring out themselves in love, and also receiving that love and submit to one another that submitting to one another out of love. This is just it's incredible to even just begin to imagine what and who the wholly trended is and what samples imagining and vision ing he's right about this inefficient as well is visioning is the same kind of dynamic between husband and wife in in their marriage. Is that the relationship that dynamic is okay? Yes, not the same.

The man is not the woman. The woman is not the man. They're not the same. And yet they are co equal.

And so what do they do? They say, okay, let's have order here and the order that he's offering here is that the the husband, the head of the household, we essentially right now, what does that mean? Was that that mean? What doesn't mean that he to make all the decisions? That's not what that that means because obviously, scripture indicates and clearly revealed that men and women are equal, but they're not necessarily the same.

You might say people have apostles said, if the husband is the head of the household, the woman, the wife is the heart of the household. And just like some people go on to describe in later on in this next chapter, he said to you, the head and the heart can't say to each other I don't need you. The foot can say to the hand I don't need you that I can't say the era, I don't need you.

They're different, but they're equals. That makes sense. This whole context is all together. It's all united together.

And if we start to understand, we start to falsely believe, falsely understand, incorrectly understand. That's think paul's making a distinction is saying one is Better than the other. The idea of having authority does not mean superiority.

The idea of surrendering oneself as bitting oneself does not mean inferiority. That is not the context. We know this because of first three, where when same place says the head of Christ, head of jesus Christ is god, bright order, not inferiority and superiority.

We know this. Okay, so that make sense. We need to realism.

And because I know that there are some women who, when they heard this, they odd automatically shut down, or they put up the dukes, right? They like put up the walls and defensives on the community fight and throw down, talk about a nicking area fight. We're going to fight, father.

I like right here like, you know, so important and we know this again to it's reiterated because in verse eleven and twelve and said, nevertheless, the lord in the lord woman is not independent of man, nor men or women. We need each other for as woman was made for man speaking genoese chapter two. So now man is born of woman, and all things are from god.

So keep that in mind of this whole thing in mind is that we need each other. Now, the church was, hey, I mean, think, where do we even get the idea that many women are equal? We get that from the bible to judeo Christian world view is many women are equal.

The only place in the world, the only religion in the world, the only philosopher in the world that ever talk that is this, the books we've been reading, these seven or three books that we're reading in this one year. So keep that in mind. Keep that in mind.

Oh my gosh, he is so important for us. okay. Was he talking about head covering then? Well, in the ancient world, uh, a woman that went without her head covered was most likely a prostitute.

Just there to go. So so here's saying policy, you eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and lessons to lead somebody to see, see some women like in that case i'm taking off the veil covering. I don't have to go outside with this veil because i'm not living under the lady more.

I'm living in the spirit ah yeah but listen, that's gna be hurtful for most to other people. It's not actually very honoring because you're going to lead people to think that all the women were Christians going without bail head coverings are prostitutes. And so does that make sense? Okay, gosh, I should have spend less time on this, but abuse at the lord supper, so horrible, but same paul greater ates that jesus Christ is truly present in the u. quest.

That is, when we celebrate the mass IT is the party blood soil, the finality of jesus crist? So how do we know this because of this horrible thing? The same paul says in chapter live universe twenty seven, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup unworthily is guilty of profaning the body and blood of villard that is his body and blood, in fact, that idio profaning the body blood the lord means you're guilty of his murder.

And that's really important. That's one of the reasons why every single one of us has to go to confession before we go to communion. Aware of models in for, aware of serious in.

We have to go to confession before receiving holy union. You know? That's why there are debates like of of coming before the lord going to mass. And we seem like communion if someone is in public and abstinent a opposition to the commands of god that they may not receive holy.

And typically we just we place ourselves like i'm not going to go forward if I go forward and maybe cross my ms for my chest, receive a blessing. But but yes, it's tough because the same policies is why people dying even. And a big deal.

I spent too much time talking about the beginning of chapter eleven. I think it's important though, because our sisters, you need to know that you, we are equal, you know, the church. So I going to say this last, last word.

Not only that gives only spirit, how amazing is that tomorrow we're going to talk about the greatest of these is love. Okay, that would be amazing. But the gifts of all these spirit, you guys, we need to have these gifts.

okay? The world hated the church originally. why? Because the world said many women are different in churches.

Like, yeah, yeah, many women are different and they're equal in the world. Hated the church for that because we said many women are equal. Now the world says men and women are not different when men and women are the same.

And the world takes to the church again because the church still says many women are equal, but also many of women are not the same. There were, are not equal or complimented tary. And so is so interesting, right? How the world changes in at the church continues to be hated.

Church continues, be hated. But what can we expect? Jesus said, what happen? Okay, one day.

Sorry about that guys. Money in spite them. I brain for you.

Please pray for me. My money is father. My guy cannot wait to see tomorrow. Got bless.