ACTS 13
It is interesting that in the end of chapter 11 and in chapter 12 we see two powers acting that the world knew nothing about. The Spirit of God foretells to the church the famine which was to affect the whole world, and next we see prayer made by the church to God for Peter who was to all appearance fully in the grip of Herod, and Peter is delivered.
In these two things, therefore, the famine and the sword, we see special forewarning and help for those who were dear to God’s heart down here.
The church was let into God’s mind by the Spirit — the secret of the Lord being with them that fear Him; and you get the same idea in connection with Abraham when the Lord says, “Shall I hide from Abraham?” etc.
Then in chapter 12 we see how the persecution produces exercise; and prayer as a result is made by the church without ceasing for Peter, because he really was bound up with God’s testimony, and so Herod is foiled in his plans, and Herod himself comes to a most ignominious death. Herod was a crafty Idumean, and yet he pandered to the Jews (chapter 12: 3), making nothing of the testimony of God, and God interferes in the matter Himself. It is a dangerous thing to interfere with God’s testimony, and Peter represented God’s testimony; it was, as it were, bound up with Peter. It is a remarkable expression at the close of chapter 12, “the word of God grew and multiplied” — God took care of His testimony; the heart of the Christian should be bound up with God’s testimony. Prayer was made for Peter, but the reason was that God’s testimony was bound up with him. The testimony of God is always bound up with individuals as we get in 2 Timothy: “the same commit thou to faithful men”; the Spirit works by living men. The heart of every saint ought to be bound up with the testimony. The moral testimony of the church is needed to support the public testimony.
Ques “Be not thou ashamed of the testimony of our Lord”. Is that the gospel?
FER Yes; the gospel really sets forth things as they are. The vain show of this world will not last for ever, that is the great point of the gospel, to set forth things as they really are. It is the truth of the glad tidings, that is, things as they really are. One important thing in chapter 12 is that John Mark comes into view, his mother’s house is mentioned as a gathering-point for prayer. Care has been taken that we should know something of the writers of the four gospels. We have details of Levi as well as Mark, Luke and John. J.N.D. used to connect the scripture “knowing of whom thou hast learnt them” with the thought that God had given us some details of the men who wrote the gospels. Chapter 12 closes up God’s testimony to the Jews. In chapter 13 the Gentiles and Antioch come before us. It was needful for a time that Jerusalem should be the centre. Antioch now becomes a kind of centre, and at the close of the Acts we find Rome really the centre of the Spirit’s activities for the Gentiles. How real the Spirit’s presence is made for the church — the Spirit “said”, and “they were sent forth by the Spirit”. In the early church I do not see that there was any officialism.
You will never have a repetition of what occurred in the early church. In the early church all was regulated by the Spirit. Brethren have tried to build up a system on scriptural lines and I think it will prove a complete failure.
Ques What is meant by “ministered unto the Lord”?
FER All ministry is really to the Lord, though it was to the saints it was really to the Lord. Paul [p. 468] here traces the history of the children of Israel down, but skips over Solomon entirely; he passes directly to David’s true seed, even to Christ. The ark was carried away into the land of the Philistines, the glory was departed from Israel, but then it was that David sang of mercy in Psalm 136. His mercy endures for ever, and mercy brings in the thought of the sovereignty of God; and David brings up the ark to mount Zion, which all speaks of mercy.
God blessed Abraham in connection with the world to come; he was told to come out of this world. Israel in David’s time lost the ark which was their glory, and it was carried away because of their unfaithfulness — the staves, Beauty and Bands are broken, and God comes in on the ground of mercy.
David prepared for the house which Solomon was to build for God; Christ, while here on earth, prepared for the building of the house of God in the hundred and twenty who were there ready at the day of Pentecost for the coming down of the Holy Spirit.
What marks the present time is that the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles that they may receive the promise of the Spirit; that is the reconciliation of the world.
Faith comes by the report and the report gives us things as they are. The Head of every man must be in heaven; no man on earth is or could be big enough to be the Head of every man. We get this thought really in what the apostle quotes here from Isaiah: “I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, and for salvation to the ends of the earth”. If the sun were on earth, it would not be seen: it must be in heaven that nothing may be hid from the heat of it.
The mercies come out chiefly in connection with David because he it was who had sinned so that there could only be mercy for him.
With regard to the life practically of a Christian, it [p. 469] is not really righteous for a Christian to live any other life than by Christ; for his natural life is forfeited — is gone.
If a man takes up an encumbered property, he takes up all the encumbrances with it; so God in redemption took up all the liabilities which lay upon man.