Sermon Tone Analysis

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We will get in tonight’s text...

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We will get in tonight’s text...

A delegation is sent from Jerusalem to Antioch, some 300 miles or by some estimates a month's journey.

This is no small thing, the need to proclaim a true gospel to the most influential church in the region necessitates the effort.

Heading 1Text:

Background:

​English Standard Version Chapter 15The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “

All the time we hear of “Fake News”, people questioning the veracity of anything and everything they are being told.

Especially if it is not a message they want to hear.

You may have even seen the recent NYT piece on “Deep Fake” videos, that technology is getting close to producing a fictionalized news reel that we won’t be able to distinguish as fake w/o the help of technology.We know from Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica that he worries about such false letters:

Background:

​Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13–28 The Letter to the Churches (Acts 15:22–35)he suggests that a letter might come from someone, pretending to be him, saying that ‘the day of the Lord’ had arrived.

Don’t believe it, he says.

Look at my handwriting, and don’t trust a letter without it

​Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13–28 The Letter to the Churches (Acts 15:22–35)The question of where something had come from, especially an apparently official document or edict, was often a problem in the ancient world.

A delegation is sent from Jerusalem to Antioch, some 300 miles or by some estimates a month's journey.

This is no small thing, the need to proclaim a true gospel to the most influential church in the region necessitates the effort.

​Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13–28 The Letter to the Churches (Acts 15:22–35)For many people, this problem was resolved quite simply: a trusted intermediary would carry the letter, and would himself or herself report on the sender’s instructions and vouch for the authenticity of the content.

Thus Phoebe is sent to Rome with Paul’s greatest letter; Tychicus, himself originally from Colosse, is sent there with Colossians; and so on.

​Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13–28 The Letter to the Churches (Acts 15:22–35)In the present case, with the official letter from James and the Jerusalem church, there was a pressing need to make sure that the letter got through and was properly heard and understood.

We know from Galatians that people had been spreading rumours about Paul—that he was really a junior to the Jerusalem apostles, that he had muddled up the message he should have been preaching, that he normally taught that people should be circumcised but had simply missed out that bit of the message when he was in Galatia, and so on.

That’s why, in that letter, Paul has to spend such a long time explaining his personal movements and his meetings with the Jerusalem apostles, somewhat as Peter in Acts 11 had to give a blow-by-blow account of his visit to Cornelius.

Text:

So this very important message, which is in lock-step with what Paul has already been teaching is sent with two representatives of the Jerusalem church so all can know Paul has not written this letter himself and passed it of as an offical document.

So James and the others choose two of their number who would be trusted on all sides: Judas (‘Judas’, i.e. ‘Judah’, the name of the great royal patriarch, was very common, which is why this Judas is distinguished in verse 22 by his second name, Barsabbas) and Silas.

Judas and Silas will add the personal touch to a letter which is, frankly, a bit stiff and formal, more like a committee report than a personal message.

And they will be able to add further teaching to make sure that nobody is in any doubt as to the mind of the church.

​Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 1515:22 Silas Silas is mentioned here for the first time; he will accompany Paul on his later travels (Acts 15:40; 2 Cor 1:19; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1).

Text:

​English Standard Version Chapter 15The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.

28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.

If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Farewell.”

There are two important ways this letter seeks to address the parties involved:It addresses the church in Antioch as “brothers”.

They are acknowledging a familial relationship, a close tie a bond which transcends nationality, geography, or ritualistic practice.

“to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “

​Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13–28 The Letter to the Churches (Acts 15:22–35)The document is very clear that Paul and Barnabas, so far from being seen in Jerusalem as trouble-makers, are very much persona grata.

They are ‘beloved’, and they have risked their lives for the name of Jesus.

They are not, in other words, to be marginalized or regarded as holding unorthodox opinions.

In any case, the opening greeting demonstrates how matters stand.

The Gentile believers in Antioch and the surrounding districts are ‘brothers and sisters’, members (in other words) of the same family as James and the others, even though they have not been circumcised.

This already concedes the substantial point at issue.

And then comes the disclaimer: the people who went to Antioch from Jerusalem may have come ‘from us’ in the sense that they were part of the Jerusalem church, but we did not send them or commission them to say what they said to you.

All the time we hear of “Fake News”, people questioning the veracity of anything and everything they are being told.

Especially if it is not a message they want to hear.

You may have even seen the recent NYT piece on “Deep Fake” videos, that technology is getting close to producing a fictionalized news reel that we won’t be able to distinguish as fake w/o the help of technology.

We know from Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica that he worries about such false letters:

he suggests that a letter might come from someone, pretending to be him, saying that ‘the day of the Lord’ had arrived.

Don’t believe it, he says.

Look at my handwriting, and don’t trust a letter without it

The question of where something had come from, especially an apparently official document or edict, was often a problem in the ancient world.

For many people, this problem was resolved quite simply: a trusted intermediary would carry the letter, and would himself or herself report on the sender’s instructions and vouch for the authenticity of the content.

Thus Phoebe is sent to Rome with Paul’s greatest letter; Tychicus, himself originally from Colosse, is sent there with Colossians; and so on.

Thus the party sent from Jerusalem is a 1st century mark of authenticity on this letter of great importance.

In the present case, with the official letter from James and the Jerusalem church, there was a pressing need to make sure that the letter got through and was properly heard and understood.

We know from Galatians that people had been spreading rumours about Paul—that he was really a junior to the Jerusalem apostles, that he had muddled up the message he should have been preaching, that he normally taught that people should be circumcised but had simply missed out that bit of the message when he was in Galatia, and so on.

That’s why, in that letter, Paul has to spend such a long time explaining his personal movements and his meetings with the Jerusalem apostles, somewhat as Peter in Acts 11 had to give a blow-by-blow account of his visit to Cornelius.

So this very important message, which is in lock-step with what Paul has already been teaching is sent with two representatives of the Jerusalem church so all can know Paul has not written this letter himself and passed it of as an offical document.

So James and the others choose two of their number who would be trusted on all sides: Judas (‘Judas’, i.e. ‘Judah’, the name of the great royal patriarch, was very common, which is why this Judas is distinguished in verse 22 by his second name, Barsabbas) and Silas.

Judas and Silas will add the personal touch to a letter which is, frankly, a bit stiff and formal, more like a committee report than a personal message.

And they will be able to add further teaching to make sure that nobody is in any doubt as to the mind of the church.

Wright, T. (2008).

Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13-28 (p.

49).

London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

Then the letter goes into the restrictions that would be endorsed by the church in Jerusalem: “that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols”“from blood”“from what has been strangled”“and from sexual immorality”If you will recall from our discussion before the holiday these restrictions, though they may seem strange to us had a practical purpose.

15:22 Silas Silas is mentioned here for the first time; he will accompany Paul on his later travels (Acts 15:40; 2 Cor 1:19; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1).

The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.

28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.

If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Farewell.”

There are two important ways this letter seeks to address the parties involved:

Calling them out as “brothers” should not be overlooked.

They are acknowledging a familial relationship, a close tie

It addresses the church in Antioch as “brothers”.

They are acknowledging a familial relationship, a close tie a bond which transcends nationality, geography, or ritualistic practice.

“to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.

24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The document is very clear that Paul and Barnabas, so far from being seen in Jerusalem as trouble-makers, are very much persona grata.

They are ‘beloved’, and they have risked their lives for the name of Jesus.

They are not, in other words, to be marginalized or regarded as holding unorthodox opinions.

In any case, the opening greeting demonstrates how matters stand.

The Gentile believers in Antioch and the surrounding districts are ‘brothers and sisters’, members (in other words) of the same family as James and the others, even though they have not been circumcised.

This already concedes the substantial point at issue.

And then comes the disclaimer: the people who went to Antioch from Jerusalem may have come ‘from us’ in the sense that they were part of the Jerusalem church, but we did not send them or commission them to say what they said to you.

Then the letter goes into the restrictions that would be endorsed by the church in Jerusalem:

“that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols”

“from blood”

“from what has been strangled”