The Ends of the Earth in Acts

~ Jim ~ 1 Comment

Given the challenges of sharing the Gospel today, continued reflection on Scripture seems key. I’ve often pondered the expansion of the church in Acts as Jesus described it, from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the Earth, and sought lessons to apply for today. In particular, the opening of doors to the Gentiles, the “ends of the Earth”, seems significant, and is worth understanding this better.

For example, when did the breakthrough to the Gentiles happen, and who was involved? Were the Apostles involved, such as Philip’s foray outside Judea? Were the Samaritans the start because some considered them Gentiles? Obviously Cornelius is a breakthrough case, but no more is mentioned until the Hellenists in Antioch, and were they Gentiles or just more Diaspora Jews?

The following represents some initial investigations into these questions, concluding that the breakthrough happened in Antioch, by unnamed disciples who were not part of the leadership.

Regarding Philip, there was an early church tradition that the Apostle and the one chosen as one of the Seven were the same person, and some have continued that view since there is no explicit statement of a difference in Luke. However, it seems most modern commentaries consider them to be two different people — the Apostle who was one of the Twelve, and the Evangelist who was one of the Seven. Although it seems impossible to be sure, I tend to agree with the latter view since Scripture says the Twelve did not want to deal with serving tables, so the fact that one of the Seven does exactly that seems to indicate they are different people.

This means that it was not one of the Apostles who went into Samaria initially; they followed later to validate the work.

Regarding the nature of the Samaritans themselves, it appears they were mostly thought of as a form of Judaism. It appears they worshipped Yahweh and shared roughly the same Pentateuch, and Josephus described them as Jewish apostates. Some ancient rabbis felt they were Gentile, but the predominant view now seems to be that they were a type of Jew, not Gentile.

I think there are a couple other reasons that evangelizing the Samaritans was not the same as reaching the Gentiles.

First, a big deal is made of the conversion of Cornelius as demonstrating that the Gentiles were accepted by God. Seems like this wouldn’t be a big deal if they had already worked through that with the Samaritans. Yes, it was also a big deal to reach the unclean Samaritans, since the Jerusalem church sent Peter and John to see what was going on (Acts 8:14), but I think that’s a separate big deal than reaching the Gentiles.

Second, Jesus’ sequence in Acts 1:8 specifically lists Samaria as different from the “ends of the Earth”. Although the latter term does sometimes mean just distant lands, it’s interesting that Isaiah uses that very phrase in relation to Gentiles in Isaiah 49:6, and Paul quotes that passage when “turning to the Gentiles” in Acts 13:46-47.

Thus, Cornelius is probably the first true Gentile convert but interestingly, nothing really happened as a result of that. God used the event to teach that Gentiles were accepted, but it doesn’t appear that anyone acted on the teaching. In addition, Cornelius wasn’t a pure Gentile in the sense that he was described as a God-fearer (Acts 10:2) and was physically still in Samaria. After this, Gentiles aren’t really in view again until the believers get to Antioch in Acts 11:19.

So Cornelius represented a theological or spiritual breakthrough, but not the next step in the mission. If Jesus and Paul were pointing to Gentiles when they used the phrase “ends of the Earth”, so that it really represented the next stage in the mission, then maybe that really happened at Antioch, when the Hellenists were reached in Acts 11:20.

But who were those “Hellenists”? Did they represent Gentiles or a different group of Jews?

Regarding the term “Hellenists” in Acts 11:20, it seems pretty universal to consider them as Gentiles. Some ancient transcripts actually have “Greek” in that verse, and many translations use the word “Greek” instead of “Hellenist”. Some commenters say the term really refers to the language, and perhaps some culture, adopted by the people being described. So in Acts 6, they are Jews who speak Greek, while in Acts 11:20 they are Syrians who speak Greek. In any case, it would appear that the new group being reached were Gentiles.

So, it seems that those initial events in Antioch represent the real start of the Gentile mission, the first real encounter with the “ends of the Earth”. It may be that some Gentiles were encountered elsewhere before that, but Scripture doesn’t describe that.

An interesting picture emerges when we bring these points together. Top spiritual leaders (the Apostles) stayed primarily in and around Jerusalem. Then the lower-level leaders (the Seven) reached into Samaria. The final breakthrough, to the Gentiles, was led by unnamed believers in Antioch.

It’s interesting how much commitment there must have been in those unnamed believers to break through to the Gentiles; clearly they were taking Jesus’ “go” command seriously. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised though, given the example prayer in Acts 4:23-20. It is a prayer for boldness to continue proclaiming the Gospel, right after some of them had been locked up for doing so! Clearly, proclaiming Jesus was seen as vital to believers at all levels of the church.

Now, what spiritual principles might we draw from this picture, and how would they apply today? That will be the subject of a future post.

The Spirit Empowering Evangelism

~ Jim ~ 1 Comment

A key Christian truth is that we are to proclaim the gospel. This often seems daunting, especially in today’s increasingly skeptical world. For me, looking at Scripture reveals an encouraging truth about the Spirit’s role in this. The following collection of passages explores this a little, starting with Jesus’ own teaching.

When Jesus sent out the 12, He told them not to worry about what to say when they were brought before leaders and Gentiles:

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Matthew 10:17–20 (ESV)

Although Jesus was talking to His disciples, it seems this applies beyond that context based on the mention of persecution and Gentiles. In other words, it seems that the principle of being empowered by the Spirit for evangelism, including explicitly those at the ends of the Earth (Gentiles), is a general principle.

In fact, this very thing seems to be pictured at Pentecost. The believers were given the Holy Spirit, then began to speak in languages that the listeners recognized:

And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

Acts 2:8–11 (ESV)

They were speaking in foreign languages as a result of the Spirit’s influence, then Peter got up and gave a sermon that resulted with many being saved. Although the focus here is still on Jews, this clearly seems to be what Jesus described — the Spirit speaking effectively through the believers.

Believers seemed to understand that they needed the Spirit to continue this work as they prayed later on:

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:29–31 (ESV)

They prayed for boldness to proclaim the truth, and God responded by not only granting them that, but also filling them with the Spirit. Given the picture at Pentecost and Jesus’ statement, it seems reasonable that they were empowered to speak effectively. The success of the early church would seem to confirm that. But this picture of Spirit empowerment for effective speaking is even clearer in Paul’s writings.

Paul’s request for prayer in Ephesians reflects the idea that we are empowered to speak effectively:

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ephesians 6:18b–20 (ESV)

Not only asking for boldness, but specifically for words to be given him to speak the gospel, almost exactly what Jesus had said.

It’s interesting that this request comes right after describing our weapons of spiritual warfare, echoing his teaching in 2 Corinthians that our war is waged with spiritual tools, not according to the flesh. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Speaking according to the Spirit’s leading certainly falls in this category!

Of course, Paul had written to the Corinthians earlier that we hear truths from the Spirit and share them in words taught by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), echoing in yet another way Jesus’s words and the picture at Pentecost.

In a sense, Paul describes the practice of these principles as becoming whatever is needed to share the Gospel:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

1 Corinthians 9:19–22 (ESV)

It seems this was essentially letting the Spirit empowering him to speak, and a review of his ministry in Acts supports that. But it also seems the case that Paul was not the only example. Consider various ways the Spirit led people in different contexts:

When Paul talked to intellectuals on Mars Hill, he spoke with Greek poetry. But when he addressed Jews in the synagogues, he argued from Scripture.

As noted above, when Peter preached to the devout Jews at Pentecost, he spoke from Scripture about Christ. But when he spoke to Cornelius, he spoke of current events that they both knew about.

When Jesus preached to crowds in rural Palestine, He used simple examples from their daily lives. But when He talked with the Samaritan woman, He spoke of her life, her beliefs, and from the world at hand.

Over and over throughout Scripture, the Holy Spirit led believers to share spiritual truths in ways that their listeners could understand. Not just the languages that they spoke, languages of their ears, but in the languages of their hearts. The listeners heard things they cared about, in ways they could relate to.

These examples provide a narrative description of the Spirit’s empowerment that parallel Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings and also the prophetic picture at Pentecost.

Now, it is commonly recognized in secular communication that we need to know our audience and craft the message appropriately. So in a sense this insight is nothing new, but I think there’s a difference with evangelism. In the natural world, we learn of the listener’s perspective by getting to know them, taking surveys, etc. Could it be that in God’s work we determine what to say by asking Him? It seems that is what’s taught in these passages.

In that case, we need to let the Spirit speak through us, but what does that mean? The fact that Paul requests prayer for this very thing implies that Jesus’ statement is not necessarily something that happens automatically. Instead, I think that we need to actively seek the Spirit about proclaiming the gospel and for myself, this involves focused prayer, a plan to walk through Scripture with an eye towards this principle, and applying what I learn to Whole Reality and Kelvin’s Clouds.

About This Blog

~ Jim ~ Leave a comment

This blog is my personal journey to understand how to share the gospel with a growing number of people who don’t seem to be reached through common evangelism techniques. In many cases, these are people who feel they already know enough about religion and who are comfortable relying on the natural world. Often, this is because of the growing success of science and technology in explaining the world and providing solutions. In many cases they are atheists with no interest in Christianity, while in other cases they are people who are spiritual, but have become disenchanted with Christianity.

Using Jesus’ Acts 1:8 statement as a metaphor, it seems to me that most evangelism occurs fairly near existing religious structures — in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, often by inviting people into existing Christian contexts.

However, a growing number of people are at the ends of the Earth, requiring deliberate efforts to go to them even though physically they are all around us. So, this is an exploration of ways to go into that spiritual darkness and proclaim Jesus in ways that fit those distant contexts.

The exploration works through both prayerful reflection on Scripture and prayerful, listening awareness of what’s going on in the world. The former involves listening to the Spirit, while the latter involves listening to the hearts of the lost.

The results of this exploration are documented in this blog; comments welcome.