perish." The possibility of perishing lay ahead of them for refusing to believe the gospel

instead of realizing the sure mercies of David. What was the result; did they heed that

warning? Look at verse 45: `But when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with

envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and

blaspheming." How often this was Israel's attitude, opposing God instead of thankfully

accepting the role He had planned for them! It didn't seem to have the slightest effect

upon this people. What a dreadful state they must have been in! And yet God's

longsuffering waits. What a marvelous thing this is! "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed

bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to

you" (verse 46). Why? Why must they have the message first? Because the divine plan

is still possible at this point for the Jew to be the centre of blessing to the whole earth if

only they will repent and believe the gospel. "In thee shall all families of the earth be

blessed." If that is so, they must have the message first; they must be right with God

first if the world is going to get the blessing through them and God is going to work that

way. Now that is what Peter said in chapter 3: "Unto you first", he said to the people

of Israel. So both Peter and Paul, in their public ministry, show that the Jew has not been

cast aside by God but that they are still in the centre of this plan. They must have the

message first, and God is graciously waiting upon their response. Paul goes on to tell the

Jew, "But seeing ye have put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting

life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles". Some have thought that this is the point where Israel is

rejected. But this cannot be true, because we shall find that every new place Paul goes to,

the first thing he does is to go to the Jewish synagogue. So it was only a local turning

away at Antioch. Note chapter 14: 1: "And it came to pass in Iconium that they went

both together into the synagogue of the Jews", so back he is again with them although he

had said "lo, we turn to the Gentiles". Again we see the opposition of this people: `But

the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and

raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts." The

warning was unheeded.  The nation still persisted in their fanatical opposition and

We come now to chapter 14: and will take bigger steps and just get the drift of

God's revealed purpose in this book. In doing so we may have to pass over much that is

interesting. We now have another miracle of healing. Peter had healed a crippled Jew

and now Paul heals one. Israel were a people of type and symbol. In the O.T., their

prophets sometimes had to `act out' the truth in front of them. So here, what God could

do physically He could do for this people spiritually. Israel were crippled with unbelief,

in no position to go to the ends of the earth with the message. The man, we are told,

leaped up and walked (verse 10), and that shows, typically, what God was prepared to do

for this nation if they would only repent and believe.

Now we come to chapter 15:; this is a very important chapter. We are told that

"certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be

circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved". Now here is one of those

awful half-truths; this rite of circumcision was part of God's law in the O.T., there is no

doubt about that.  If anyone did not observe it they were cut off from covenant

relationship with God. But here we have got a mixture of two opposing things, and when