everyday language. We learn, first, that he was `a disciple'; secondly, that his mother was a `Jewess, and believed,

but his father was a Greek'; and thirdly, that he was `well reported of', not only in his own home town of Lystra, but

also in the adjacent city of Iconium. He was, therefore, likely material.

Timothy's more particularly spiritual qualifications we learn from Paul himself. In his first letter to Timothy,

giving him his `charge', the apostle writes: `This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the

prophecies which went before on thee' (1 Tim. 1:18).

We know that Silas was a prophet (Acts 15:32), and it may be that he was inspired to indicate the Lord's will

with regard to Timothy. Something of this sort would have been necessary in view of the defection of John Mark,

and Timothy's youthful and timid nature. At some time also - and probably at the time of his call - Timothy

received a spiritual gift, for we read:

`Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the

presbytery' (1 Tim. 4:14).

`Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my

hands' (2 Tim. 1:6).

Such gifts as these, together with `prophecy' and the `laying on of hands' do not properly belong to the Church

of the Mystery. They are referred to in the apostle's prison ministry as something carried over from a previous

dispensation and belonging to a special order of men who had pioneer work to do. They are not repeated, neither is

there any reference to this supernatural enduement found in the epistles of the present calling. Perhaps Luke was

constrained to omit the prophecies and the laying on of hands, and to concentrate attention upon discipleship, Bible

training, and good report, so that we might remember that the teacher should be `apt to teach' as well as `marked out

by prophecy'.

The fact that Timothy was a child of mixed parentage, was another qualification. He could sympathize with the

Greek, and he could also understand the Jew. In this connection the large-mindedness of Paul again shines out. A

smaller man, having won so signal a triumph regarding circumcision as Paul had done at Jerusalem, would have

hesitated before circumcising Timothy. Not so the apostle; to him circumcision and uncircumcision were nothing,

the glory of God was all. If Timothy could better serve the Lord in the synagogue by being circumcised, then let the

rite be performed at once. Spiritual gifts, prophecies, laying on of hands and a Jewish rite, all combine to fit this

young servant for his high office.

And so these three set out on their journey, delivering `the decrees for to keep'. As a result, we read firstly that

the churches were `established in the faith' - for the decrees made the imposition of circumcision upon the Gentile

null and void; and secondly, that they `increased in number daily' - for the susceptibilities of the Jewish believers

were now recognised and the causes of stumbling removed by the voluntary abstinence on the part of the Gentile

believers from those things that caused offence. We are now on the verge of the next great movement in the Acts,

and to this we must address ourselves in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 15

We now approach another section of the Acts, and a wider circle of witness. In the nineteenth chapter we have

the separation of the Church from the Synagogue, and in the sixteenth chapter the call of the man of Macedonia. In

response to this call the Gospel enters Europe. Such a chapter as this ranks in importance with Acts 2, 13 and 28.

We have given in the Appendix to The Apostle of the Reconciliation, an adjustment of the Structure of the Acts,

so that this vision may at least be noted, but at best the outline suggested was a reconstruction of the work of others

and cannot be allowed to take its place in this book. We therefore turn to the pages of the Acts afresh, examining

each step as we go. The result of this investigation is that the outline in the appendix to The Apostle of the