What is the difference between God's calling out from Israel and His calling out from the Gentiles?
From Israel, the call required the whole nation to respond—every one—when Peter preached. From the Gentiles, God calls out a people for His name, saving some as a sampling from the masses, not the entire nation. This calling out forms the church, the body of Christ.
Les explains that in Acts 15, after Peter defended Paul by recalling Cornelius, the Jewish believers quieted. James, the half-brother of Jesus and moderator—not Peter, and not James of the Twelve, who had been beheaded—cited Simeon or Peter: God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. That first Gentile visitation came just after Saul’s conversion. Les points out the contrast: when Peter preached to Israel, every one had to respond; but when Paul goes to the Gentiles, it is saving some—a sampling out of the masses of Gentile people. This called-out people is the church, the body of Christ. James adds that the prophets agree, quoting Amos: “after this.”
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
What is the difference between God's dealing with Israel and God's dealing with the Gentiles in Acts 15?
In Acts 15, God's dealing with Israel required the entire nation to respond when Peter preached. His dealing with Gentiles is different: He is calling out a sampling from the masses—a people for His name, the church, the body of Christ—as James explains from Amos.
Who is the people God took out of the Gentiles for His name?
The people are the church, which is His body—predominantly Gentiles called out from among the nations during this age. Acts 15 records James explaining that God visited the Gentiles to take out a people for His name, and that people is the Body of Christ.