James – Acts 15:13

Is there anyone here tonight who understands all the REFERENCES TO JAMES in the New Testament? If there is, I will gladly sit down and let you lead us in a good Bible study. Anyone? I’m not sure that anyone can dogmatically answer all the questions that I have about...

The Apostle’s Creed – Acts 15:11

Our church, like many other churches, has something that we call our “Statement of Faith.” It outlines most of the things that we believe. It would be much simpler, and yet correct, to say that we believe the Bible from cover to cover. We even believe the...

A People for His Name – Acts 15:3-18

This is our eighth message from Acts 15. The primary theme of the chapter is the council at Jerusalem, And the subject of that theme was the salvation of the Gentiles. We’ve looked at the Peter’s relationship to that meeting and also James’ and Paul’s. We made a quick...

The Tabernacle of David – Acts 15:13-18

This evening we review the theological aspect to James’ comments: He said: Peter said, Paul said, Amos said, God did and God knows. Peter described the salvation of the Gentiles to whom God had sent him. “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the...

Those Who Have Turned – Acts 15:19-21

The first half of Acts 15 deals with the question of the salvation of the Gentiles. What is it that people who are raised in heathenism and idolatry must do in order to be delivered from their sins and received as sons by the most holy God? This is an extremely...

The Council in Jerusalem – Acts 15:2

For a couple of weeks, I have called the meeting described in this chapter “The Council in Jerusalem.” But I’ve done so with some degree of hesitancy. Having been raised in a Protestant church, the word “council” raises images within me that it...

The New Testament Prophet – Acts 15:24-35

Several years ago a preacher came to me with a grave warning about another pastor. I was told that this third person was a terrible heretic, a trouble-maker, and a potential a church wrecker. It was recommended that I have nothing to with the man. One of the things...

They Rejoiced for the Consolation – Acts 15:30-31

I need to correct one of my unthought-out comments uttered a time or two over the last couple of weeks: I referred to Silas or Judas reading the letter that their church had sent to Antioch. Even though these two verses are filled with half a dozen confusing pronouns,...

The Mystery of Providence – Acts 15:26-41

If we had a quiz this morning on the geography of the United States, I wonder how well we would do? If I asked you to name the capitals of the fifty states, how well you would do? If I asked you to visualize the location of the state of Rhode Island, would you get it...

The Quarrel – Acts 15:36-41

When medical students are learning their trade, they use two primary methods: First they study how things ought to be; They study text books about health and anatomy, and they examine systems that are working properly. But then they go on to also study disease and...