Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

Our extended portion for today's devotional reading is a record of a meeting of the “church council” at Jerusalem about 15 years after Jesus had gone back to heaven.

Remember, just before He left earth from the Mt of Olives in Jerusalem, Acts 1, our Lord told His disciples that they were to stay in Jerusalem until they had received “power” and then they were to give the people of Jerusalem the gospel message of how they could be saved, and be prepared for here, and after death.

After Jerusalem they were to go to Judea and Samaria and then to the “uttermost parts” of the earth with this “gospel” message.

Peter, the preacher on the “Day of Pentecost” and a disciple of Jesus Christ, saw many results to his ministry and many Jews did get saved. But also remember, that it was Peter who went to Cornelius in Ceasarea and led this first Gentile to Jesus Christ as his Saviour.

Once converted, Paul also traveled around that region of the world and led many Gentiles to a salvation experience. With the conversion of these many Gentiles, some in the church in Jerusalem were concerned. They believed that a Gentile must first become a Jew and then a Christian.

Therefore, the church council in Jerusalem, with James, the head of the church, not Peter by the way, James called everyone together for this council. James had both Peter and Paul rehearse the exciting stories of Gentile conversions to Christ that they had witnessed and participated in during their traveling ministries.

The bottom-line result of this council meeting was that James stood and said, verses 13-18, that the scriptures agreed with what was happening. Salvation was, and is, for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. In fact, this is God's special program for today, "visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His names sake," verse 14.

Then James said, after God's plan for reaching Gentiles is complete, the Lord will return to build the “house of David” with Jesus returning to build His temple and then to rule and reign from it in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant.

Romans 11:25 says this is God's program, "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in". When the last Gentile gets saved, a number that only God knows, then Jesus will come back.

What an opportunity for each of us today, to witness to Gentiles as well as Jews. Just think, you could lead that last Gentile to Jesus, and then Jesus would come.