Some Believe; Some Don't   

 Acts chapter 14  

     "At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. The Lord...confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders." 

    "The people were divided." In Lystra, "They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But, after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city." 

(C)  Those who commit themselves to Christ's lordship...can expect trouble in this world. Living in a hostile world, they must engage in spiritual warfare. Only the lukewarm and compromising "believer" will find peace and comfort. 

     Meanwhile, the hope of believers is "stored up ... in heaven" (Col. 1:5) and will be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1.5). Their hope is not in this life nor in this world, but in the appearance of their Savior. 

No Yoke?

Acts chapter 15  

     "Peter addressed them, 'Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.'" 

(C)  The crucial question at the Jerusalem council was whether circumcision and obedience to the law of Moses were required for salvation. Delegates concluded that Gentiles were saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.

     God's program for this age is to take from among all the nations a people separated to him...the bride of Christ.