[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to expound, our
verse-by-verse study of God's Word. Our goal is to expand your
knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the Word of God
in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and congregational. Lord, You know the
events of our day. You know the thoughts of
our mind, those distractions or legitimate good
thoughts that we've had, and how we process them. You know how we feel about
You, about people around us. You know the kind of
depth of relationship that we have with You. You know all things. So when we come to
you when we pray, we're not pulling
anything over your eyes. You see us clearly. And You know us better
than we know ourselves. As the Psalmist said,
You know our thoughts before we even think
them in their origin. So we simply come,
and humbly come, and ask you to give us insight
through the next almost hour, as we sit, and we give
ourselves to the teaching and the stories of the
apostles in the early church. Help us, Lord, to know why
the Holy Spirit preserved these stories, and what the
importance is for us today. Here we are, after 2000
years, examining something that excites us, because
Jesus Christ, the one that is the center of attention,
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So we're thankful. And we commit this time
to You, in Jesus' name. Amen. If you were ever to go that
way out of this building, toward the south
entrance, the south doors, which, at one time, was
the main ingress and egress to this building, before
we reconfigured it and got property to the east. At one time, everybody
entered and exited on the south part of
this Osuna campus. In the courtyard, as
you leave, inscribed on the walls, the
only name that's inscribed in stone on this
place, is Jesus' name. And it's a quote out of
Mark, chapter 16, verse 15, where Jesus said, "Go
into all the world, and preach the gospel." And the reason we
put that up there is so that, when
people, at one time, used to leave out that
courtyard, they would look up, and that would be their
reminder as they leave church. They're leaving a place where
we have gathered together, and we had good feelings
and good instruction, and we've worshipped,
but now, the salt shaker is being emptied,
and we're going out. And as we go out, we're
reminded of our mission, to go into all the world,
and preach the gospel. So we have always looked
at preaching the gospel as the family business. God the Father saved us
through sending his Son, Jesus. He is now our Heavenly Father. It's His family, the
Bible says, from which all of the family in
heaven and earth is named. And the family has
a family business. And the family
business is the gospel. And our part in
the family business is to preach the gospel
to every creature. And Paul, as we remarked
on, this last weekend, saw that as a partnership. When he wrote to the
Philippians, and he said, "I thank my God upon
every remembrance of you always, in every prayer of
mine, making requests for you all with joy for
your partnership." The NIV says, "your
partnership in the gospel, from the first day until now." So we're in a family business,
and we have a partnership to preach the gospel. Now that happens to be the theme
of the book, the book of Acts. In the first chapter of the
book of Acts, the eighth verse, Jesus said, "You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
uttermost parts of the earth." That's the theme of the book. And we have seen the
gospel go to Jerusalem. We have seen it go to
Samaria through Philip. We have also seen, last week,
in the previous chapter, chapter 10, how Peter went to Joppa. And when he was there,
and on his way there, a couple of miraculous
things happened. And while he was
at Joppa, staying at the house of a guy
named Simon the Tanner, it was lunch time, and he was up
on the roof, just hanging out. They were cooking lunch for him,
and he could smell the smells. He goes, "Man,
that smells great." He's getting hungry. He fell into a trance. And he saw this vision
from heaven of a sheet being let down, with all
sorts of unkosher critters, creeping things, all
sorts of creeps on it. And the voice from heaven
said, "Rise, Peter. Kill and eat." And Peter, being the compliant
one that he always was, said, "Not so, Lord." And he rebuffed the idea of
eating anything unkosher. And God said, "Whatever
I have cleansed, don't you call
common or unclean." Well, that happened three times. Until finally, he was
instructed to go to Caesarea, right up the coast. And I always like to
point out-- and you'll see it, if you come to
Israel with us-- that's the first day of our tour. We start in Caesarea. That's the first stop. And at Caesarea, there
was a man named Cornelius, who is a centurion, who had been
prepped, when an angel appeared to him in his own
house, and told him to go get Peter
who's at Joppa, at Simon the Tanner's house. So he brought him, and Peter
shared the gospel with him. So, beginning in chapter
13, the focal point is going to be on Paul, the
Apostle, Saul of Tarsus, who will become
Paul, the Apostle. And the majority
of the book centers on the exploits of Paul. However, as the gospel goes
from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, it is now going to travel north. Now here's why
this is important. Most people, most
Christians, don't realize that the second most
important city in the New Testament, after Jerusalem,
is the city of Antioch, because that becomes
the place for all of these internally-displaced
believers from Jerusalem. Because of the persecution,
they are forced northward. Many had already
gone to Damascus. Saul of Tarsus took them to
task, or was planning to. There's still an enclave there,
but they go up to Antioch. A lot of those
persecuted believers will relocate to
Antioch of Syria. And you'll see that
mentioned in our text. And from there, that's
where Paul and Barnabas, and then Paul and Silas-- the missionary
exploits of Paul-- will be dispatched from, not
Jerusalem, but from Antioch. So Antioch will become the
second most important city, especially in this book of Acts. Now, it was called
Antioch of Syria, and in antiquity, it was
in the country of Syria. Today, it's just over
the border of Syria, and it's in the far
southeastern corner of Turkey. So it's modern-day Turkey, and
in antiquity, it was Syria. I'm bringing that
up, because we're dealing with the very cradle
of the Christian movement. And what's ironic is,
today, in the cradle where Christianity began,
especially in Syria, most Christians have been
forced out, or put to death. And I'm talking about
just in our lifetime, in the last few years. So, you can find articles
like this all over the place. But one article that I found
said, up until recently, 30% of the Syrian
population was Christian. That is, these
are Christians who still speak the
language of Jesus, Aramaic, that ancient language. Syrians who have
fled as refugees are estimated to be
at least 2.5 million, but many more, some 6.5
million, who have been displaced within the war-ravaged country. One of them speaks,
"We, as Christians, don't have any impressions
that we are guests in this part of the world. Christianity started
in the Middle East, and so, Christians
want to remain there. They don't want to
leave their land." One source put it this way, "We
were founded by the apostles Paul and Barnabas--" and you're
going to read that-- "in AD 42. It is considered the largest and
most ancient Christian church in the east." That is, the Christians of
this area, of Antioch of Syria, and the Syrian Christians. So, we're going to read about
the founding of this church through Barnabas and Paul. He said, Paul and Barnabas. It was Barnabas
first, and then, Paul. But, let's get into it. Chapter 11, verse 1. Now, the apostles and
brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had
also received the word of God. Now stop right there. Wouldn't you think
that the response would be, oh, hallelujah. That's awesome. Well, you should think that way. But unfortunately, many
in the early church didn't think that way, which was
never God's original plan, as I want to explain, even
for the Jewish nation, that learned to
see other nations-- other nations, that is,
non-Jewish people, Gentiles-- as possible converts. That's how God wanted
them to be seen. They saw them as a nuisance. They regarded them as
defiled, as worthless. You see, to ancient
Jews, 2000 years ago, there were two types of
people, Jews and Gentiles. Jews, chosen people. Gentiles, everybody else. Though God's original plan
was that Israel become a light to the world,
they became very closed over a period of time. And their rabbis
taught things that were never part of the heart
of God, or plan of God, or will of God, or word of God. For example, if you're
a Jewish person, and you walk down
the street, you would hold your
robes close to you, or your dress close you, lest
you brush up against a Gentile. If you touched a Gentile,
if your clothing just rubbed against a
non-Jewish person, you were considered,
not by the Bible, but by rabbinic
tradition, to be defiled. And either your clothes
had to be burned, or you had to go through
ritual washings, just to get clean again. You were defiled. So the non-Jewish
people, the Gentiles, were regarded as other than
chosen, other than we are, marked by God, even,
for destruction. Did you know that
eventually, the rabbis used to say that the reason God
created the Gentiles was just to keep the fires
of hell burning hot? Just to keep hell hot,
that's why they were made. You gotta put somebody
there, and so it's not us, because we're sons and daughters
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So if you're a Gentile person,
hell was created for you. That was their ideology. Well, some of that ideology has
filtered into the early church, because, after all, we are
all products of our tradition, are we not? I would venture to
say, in your life, if you grew up in
a religious home, you have the traditions
of your past. That can be good,
but they can be bad. They can be baggage. And you have to get
reoriented by the scripture. One of the great things
about my wife's upbringing is, she was raised an atheist. You say, well, how is that good? Because she had no
weird, church-y baggage. When she got saved, she
knew what darkness was. She knew she had been
on her way to hell. Now, she's saved,
and it was full-on, full bore, not dress it up with
religious window dressing, just a fresh, clean start. Saved out of paganism,
saved out of the world. But the early church had
some adjustment to do. There are some
legalists within it. It says, when Peter
came to Jerusalem those of the circumcision--
they're believers, but they're legalistic Jews--
contended with him, saying, "You went into the uncircumcised
men, and you ate with them." Instead of going, "Hey,
Peter, how'd it go? Man, did they open
up their hearts? Did they receive Christ? Well, how did they take
the sharing of the gospel?" All they worried about is,
"You hung out with them. You got, like,
defiled, and stuff. You got, like, Gentile cooties,
man, all over you, Peter. You actually ate with them." There were, in Jerusalem,
those of the circumcision, legalistic in their
background, products of their tradition--
not the heart of God, not the will of
God, not the word of God-- products
of their tradition, who just saw this as taboo. You've got to keep
something in mind, though, before we get
too heavy on them. I mean, it was wrong,
and they'll adjust. You'll see it. But they didn't have the
benefit, like you and I have. They didn't know the
difference between God's plan for the Jew and the Gentile,
the church and Israel, all the stuff that we know. They didn't have the book of
Romans, the book of Hebrews, the book of Galatians,
the book of Ephesians. We do. We've been trained. We get it now. They didn't have that. It was just brand
new stuff to them. So, many of the people
of the circumcision were priests, levitical priests
of the temple, because it says, many of the priests
had come to Christ. But they're still
priests, and they have that baggage,
and that background, and all the years of
training on what is defiling and what is not. So with that, they contended. Notice the word, verse 2,
they contended with Peter. It's a very interesting word. It's the word diakrino,
or dia krino, in Greek. And diakrino means to
separate, to discern, to judge, or to make a difference. And that really is the
heart of the meaning here. They made a difference
when they looked at people. If you were Jewish, you were
very different than if you were non-Jewish. If you were Gentile, whole
different set of parameters than if you were Jewish. That whole ethnicity
thing had them make a difference, clean
and unclean, right? But Peter had been learning
a lesson, from that vision. He's about to tell
them the vision, and what God has learned is
that voice came from heaven and said, "Peter,
whatever I've cleansed, don't call common or unclean." And then he meets
Cornelius, as if to say, whoever I have cleansed, you
cannot call common or unclean. If I cleansed food, and
said, "Eat it," eat it. If I cleansed a
Gentile, then you can't call that Gentile
common or unclean any longer. But in Jerusalem, they
didn't have that vision. They didn't have the
experience Peter had just had. Peter, himself, was
reticent to change. But now, he's back home. They contend with him. They make a difference with him. And so, it says in verse 4,
Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning. Now he's just going to
tell them the story that we had read last time. He says, I was in the
city of Joppa, praying. And in a trance, I saw
a vision, an object descending like a great sheet. It was let down from
heaven by four corners, and it came to me. When I observed it
intently, and considered, I saw four-footed animals of
the earth, wild beasts, creeps or creeping things,
and birds of the air, and I heard a
voice saying to me, "Rise, Peter, kill, and eat." But I said, "Not so, Lord--" at
least he's honest with them-- "for nothing common or
unclean has, at any time, entered my mouth." But the voice answered
me, again, from heaven, "What God has cleansed,
you must not call common." Now this was done three times. And all were drawn
up again into heaven. At that very moment, three
men stood before the house where I was, having been
sent to me from Caesarea. Then, the Spirit told me to go
with them, doubting nothing. Now, he conveniently
leaves out the fact that he goes, "Who are you guys? Why do you want me to come?" His doubting. He just said, "The Lord
told me not to doubt. " Moreover, these six
brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. And he told me how he had
seen an angel standing in his house, who said to
him, "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon,
whose surname is Peter." Now, just a little
clarification. Simon is his Hebrew name. Shimon. Shimon means to
listen or to hear. Funny that was his birth
name, because he wasn't really good at listening or hearing. He was good at talking. He was good at jumping
to conclusions. But he didn't really live
up to his Hebrew birth name. Jesus renamed him
Petros, the Greek word for a small, little stone. So, he took his birth name,
but gave him a nickname, Jesus-like nickname. "I'm calling you Rocky." So Shimon, whose
surname was Petros, whose surname was
Peter, will tell you words by which you and all
your household will be saved. Now, he's just telling
them the story. Here's a guy who
wants to be saved. He saw an angel, sent for me. And so, yeah, you
heard that I went into unclean, uncircumcised
Gentiles, and ate with them, but let me fill you in on why. Because an angel spoke to this
guy, and a voice from heaven spoke to me. And he says this, "As I
began to speak--" verse 15-- "the Holy Spirit fell upon them,
as upon us at the beginning." The beginning being
the day of Pentecost, the birth of the church,
the Holy Spirit descending, the speaking in tongues,
the utterance in tongues, the praising God. "Then I remembered the word
of the Lord, how he said, 'John, indeed,
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with
the Holy Spirit.'" Notice, in retelling the story to
the critics in Jerusalem, he brings three
lines of evidence. First of all, in
verses 5 through 11, the vision that he saw from God. I got a vision from God. I didn't just go into
somebody's house. I got a vision from God,
and a voice spoke to me. Second line of evidence, the
witness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was
doing something. The Holy Spirit
actually came upon them. They were different people. Man, they were powerful people. We heard, we saw. So, his own personal
experience and his vision from God, the witness
of the Spirit, and then, finally, in verse
16, the witness of the word. This is what Jesus said. "John baptized with water. You will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit." So Jesus predicted it, the
Holy Spirit gave witness to it, and I experienced it. Those are his three
lines of evidence that he brings to them. If, therefore, verse
17, his conclusion-- if, therefore, God
gave them the same gift as he gave us, when we believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I
could withstand God? In other words, look, I
know how you feel, guys. I'm Jewish too. I was reluctant. I was reticent. I was hesitant. I wanted to withstand God. I wasn't into this. I kept saying, this is not cool. I even told the guy,
it's unlawful for me to even be in your house
or to eat with you. But he said, if
the Lord did this, then who am I to fight
against what God was doing, to withstand God? Now, look at this. When they heard these
things, they became silent. And they glorified
God, saying, "Then, God has also granted to the
Gentiles repentance to life." So, yes, they were legalistic. Yes, you could say they
were narrow-minded. Yes, they were products
of their past tradition. But, they were reasonable men. In hearing the evidence, given
by Peter, they go, "Well, OK. I didn't think it's possible. But--" and this, I've
underlined this part-- "God," verse 18, "has also
granted to the Gentiles repentance to life." I wonder if you realize what
a shocking admission this is in Jewish history. For a Jewish priest, the
hierarchy of the temple, a legalistic, a law,
Torah-minded Jewish person to say, "Wow. My admission is, I
am now admitting, that God has given eternal
life to non-Jewish, non-chosen people based on their faith,"
is an incredible and shocking admission. However-- something I mentioned
at the beginning of this study-- it was God's plan all along. God didn't create
the nation of Israel, so that they could be closed,
and just hoard their blessings, and just secure themselves
in their own little blessing, being under the spout
where the glory comes out, but to share it. God said, I've ordained you
to be a light to the Gentiles, a light to the world. Way back, when God
called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he
said, leave your family, leave your house, leave your
people, leave your country, and go to the land that
I'm going to show you, for I'm going to bless you. I'm going to make
you a great nation. And in you-- Genesis
12 says-- in you, all the families of the
earth will be blessed. You see, I'm bringing
you out of your country, and I'm planting you
in a land, and I'm going to make you great. But the purpose for which
I am making you great, the purpose for which
I am choosing you, Abraham, and then Isaac, and
then Jacob, and then 12 tribes, and then the
thousands and millions of the people of Israel,
the reason I'm doing that, is for a greater purpose. So that, in you, all the
families of the earth, not just your family,
not just Jewish families, not just Israeli families,
but all the families, all the nations, will be blessed. Ultimately, that's a promise
that speaks of Jesus. Because any person, in any
family, in any country, with any language,
with any background, for the last 2000 years
since the Messiah came, anyone who believes
in Jesus, will receive the blessing of God. They'll receive the
salvation from God. They'll receive the
forgiveness of their sins. They'll be given a
free ticket to heaven. The whole package. A package deal. So in you, all the families
of the earth will be blessed. That was always his intention. Now they're waking
up to the reality that this was God's
plan all along. God has also granted to the
Gentiles repentance to life. Verse 19. Now those who were scattered
after the persecution that arose over Stephen,
traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cypress, and
Antioch, preaching the word-- notice this-- to no
one, but the Jews only. You remember the
persecution that we saw back in chapter 8, chapter 7? Stephen preached. He was killed, martyred. Chapter 8, a wave of persecution
brought on by Saul of Tarsus. He went up to Damascus. But all those people in
Jerusalem were stirred up. And so, the theme
of the book of Acts is Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. You'll be filled
with the Holy Spirit. You'll be my witness in
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost
parts of the earth. That's the theme. But, if you decide to
practice Acts chapter 1, verse 8, the result in your life
will be Acts, chapter 8, verse 1, which says, at that
time, a great persecution came against the church, and
all who were in Jerusalem were scattered,
except the apostles. So, if you obey Acts 1:8,
you can expect Acts 8:1. That's the formula. All who live godly in
Christ Jesus will suffer-- anybody know it-- persecution. That's a promise. You like to underline
the promises of God? Underline that one. Live godly, suffer
the consequences. Not everybody is
going to like it. You'll get persecuted. You'll get laughed at. You'll be marginalized. So that's the persecution
that it refers to. That's the theme. Those who were scattered
after the persecution that rose over Stephen-- now watch this-- they
traveled as far as Phoenicia. Now, Phoenicia is
the Lebanese coast. Lebanon is ancient Phoenicia. Cyprus is that island
out in the Mediterranean, off the coast of
Israel, off the coast of ancient Syria and Phoenicia. And Antioch, that's the Antioch
of Syria that I just mentioned, that second important
city in Christendom, the birthplace of the journeys
of Paul, that's Antioch. So, get this. What was at one time a small
group of believers in Jerusalem had grown to a little
bit larger, but still a small group that
went up to Damascus. And Saul of Tarsus thought,
I can nip this in the bud. I can stop this movement now. It's early enough. The cancer hasn't spread. I can kill it off in Damascus
before it spreads any further. And I'll leave my brothers
down here in Jerusalem to do the dirty work here. We can stop this thing. And, at one time,
they thought they could contain it and
stop it, but now, it's become uncontrollable. Now, it's just everywhere,
all these other places. So, here's what's cool. And this is what persecution--
this is what happens. Persecution is like a
guy trying to stomp out a fire with his foot. Let's say you have a
campfire, and so, it's time for you to go. And you just put
your foot in it, and go like this,
like a big lug. Well, if you do that, your
foot could create a draft. And some of those little
embers of the fire could be launched
upward and outward, and other fires could start. You could start a forest
fire by trying to put out a fire the wrong way. So here is Saul of Tarsus
trying to stomp out the movement with his foot,
and so little fires start here, and now, on-fire
Christians are everywhere. It's burning bigger. It's out of control. But notice, they preached
to no one but the Jews only. He says, "But some of them,
men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had
come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists,
preaching the Lord Jesus." Now, let me tell you a
little bit about Antioch. And I have to explain this
now, because later on, you could get confused. There wasn't one Antioch. There's another Antioch
you're going to read about in a couple of chapters. It says Antioch, but
it's a different Antioch. You go, well, why
would people do that? Well, there is a Cuba
that's an island off the coast of Florida. But if you come here to
New Mexico, there's a Cuba. Why did they do that? Or, you go west to Nevada,
and you go to Las Vegas. But if you come here, you
could go to Las Vegas. So, it's not unusual to have a
couple different places named the same thing. Antioch was a city
in Syria named by one of the four generals
of Alexander the Great, named Seleucus, who named it
after his father, Antiochus. So it was named after him. Antioch was positioned
on a river called the Orantes River,
which communicated with the ocean, so it was
a perfect trade route, and it ran on a main
highway, as well, that connected ancient
kingdoms together, as well as the waterways. So it was a very metropolitan,
cosmopolitan city. The population, at
the time of Paul, was about 500,000 people,
with a mixed population of Greek, Roman, Jew,
and some from the Orient. They all lived in Antioch. It was just a place where,
it was a melting pot of different cultures. So that's Antioch of Syria. There would be
another Antioch later on called Antioch of Pisidia. We'll make reference to
the difference again. But, verse 20, it says, "But
some from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had
come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists,
preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the
Lord was with them, and a great number believed
and turned to the Lord." Now, if you just read through
this, you go, yeah, yeah, OK. But, there is an in-house debate
among believers about the word Hellenists, in verse 20. See the word Hellenists? Now the debate is,
was Luke, here, referring to
Greek-speaking Jews, or was he referring
to non-Jewish Greeks? You see, the word
Hellenistas in Greek could refer, and has referred,
in ancient literature, to either Greek-speaking
Jews or non-Jewish Greeks, just plain Gentiles. It would seem that though Luke
has used the word Hellenists before to refer to
Greek-speaking Jews, in chapter 7, here, he
uses the term differently to speak of non-Jewish Greeks. Why? Because of that
little word "but." Now, notice at the
end of verse 19, they spoke to no one
but the Jews only, but some came from
Cyprus and Cyrene, and when they had
come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists. I believe he's speaking
to, not Greek-speaking Jews, but non-Jewish
Greeks, just Gentiles, complete unbelievers with no
Jewish background whatsoever. Why do I believe this? For this reason. if the word "Hellenists" here
meant Greek-speaking Jews, like it did in chapter 7,
it wouldn't be a big deal. So what? That already happened. It happened in
Jerusalem with Stephen. Stephen preached in the
synagogue of Hellenists. It wouldn't be that big
of a deal to bring up. Number two, they're going
to send investigators from Jerusalem to check
what happened out, just to make sure these people,
whoever they are, are OK. If they were Greek-speaking
Jews, like in Acts, chapter 7, they wouldn't have
brought investigators, because there were
many Greek-speaking Jews in Jerusalem,
Hellenistic Jews who were in Jerusalem
who were saved. You don't have to send
somebody to check that out. But the fact they sent
somebody up there, just to make sure these
guys are kosher, well, OK, and to nurture them,
leads me to believe that, here's another change. He's not just speaking to Jewish
people of a Greek background, but complete pagans,
complete Gentiles, with no Jewish
background at all. So, just keep that in
mind, as we follow along. Verse 22. Then, news of these things
came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and
they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came, and had seen
the grace of God, he was glad. And he encouraged them all
that with purpose of heart, they should continue
with the Lord, for he was a good man, full
of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great many people
were added to the Lord. They sent Barnabas all the way
up to Syria, all the way up to Antioch. They sent him up there,
though he was not an apostle. When the gospel went to Samaria,
they would send an apostle up to check it out. They sent Barnabas
up, who was not an apostle, had no apostolic
credentials at all, but he was a generous,
big-hearted believer. And you know of him. I'll just refresh your memory. Back in Acts, chapter four. His name wasn't
Barnabas originally. That's a nickname. His name was Joses,
J-O-S-E-S, like Joseph. But it says, the
early church named him Barnabas, which means
the son of encouragement. Why? Because in Acts, chapter 4-- he had land, he was a
Cypriot, he was from Cyprus-- he had land in Cyprus,
he sold the property, and gave the money, and laid
it at the apostles feet. So he encouraged the
church with finances. They called him son
of encouragement. What an encouragement
this guy, Barney, is, man. He sold that land in Cyprus. That's going to
really help us out, and especially, the poor
brethren here in Jerusalem. He was an encouragement
with his finances. Financial encouragement. In Acts, chapter 9, he
provides encouragement again. By this time, they call
him Barnabas, not Joses. They just refer to him
as the new name, Barney. And in Acts, chapter 9,
he was an encouragement to Saul of Tarsus, because,
you remember, Saul of Tarsus, he was saved on the
way to Damascus. He was in the city of Damascus. He left Damascus. He went down to Arabia. Three years later, he
comes back to Damascus, preaches boldly,
gets in trouble. They let them down over
a wall in a basket. He goes to Jerusalem,
but it says, he tried to join to the church,
to the brethren in Jerusalem. But they did not believe
that he was saved. They wouldn't let him
come into their assembly. But it says, Barnabas
took Paul and brought him to the apostles, and
testified how boldly he had proclaimed Yeshua,
Jesus, up in Damascus, that he was, indeed, saved. He stood for him. So, he encouraged, in
chapter 4, with his finances. Now, he is encouraging, a second
time, with his friendship. Man, I'm his friend. I was with him. I'll stand up for him. Now, he is encouraging
the church with follow-up. He's going to go up there
and fellowship with them, and follow up on the
decision that they've made, and make sure that
they stay that way. So, notice what it says
that he told them to do. He encouraged them--
there's that word-- that they all, with
purpose of heart, should continue with the Lord. His message was
basically, don't quit. Don't give up. You made the right choice. Life's going to get
hard around here. It's not going to be
easy following Jesus. I just want to warn you now. It's sort of like
Winston Churchill. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up. And they needed to hear that. Because, any relationship, even
a relationship with the Lord himself, can have issues, can
have problems, can be tested, can have difficulties. You know, a relationship
with the Lord is sort of like a relationship
between a husband and a wife. At first, they're
overcome by emotion. It's all feeling. And oh, the sun's brighter, and
the colors are more awesome. But, if you expect to
feel exactly the same way that you did on your wedding
day, you're in for a surprise. Am I right? I feel wonderfully
toward my wife. I'm more maturely in love with
her today, but it's different. It's better, but it's different. And so, if you think that
your walk with the Lord is always going to wake
up feeling, "Wow, man." And sometimes, you see
others getting all excited, and you go, "I don't feel all
that excited about the Lord." Don't be surprised by that. Don't be shocked by that. Don't think that you're less
of a believer than that. At first, it could
just be pure feeling. Wow, this is awesome. Following Jesus is amazing. But you're not always going
to have that peak level of emotional output or feeling. That's where you need to
hear the commitment message. Stay with it, man. Don't give up. Don't quit. With purpose of heart,
follow the Lord. Keep watch. Keep at it. Because some people
will say, "Yeah, yeah, I'm just, sort of, not
into Jesus anymore. I used to come to church
and read the Bible, but it's, like, the
feelings have waned." Oh, really? And you thought they
would never wane? That's like a husband and
wife saying, "Yeah, you know we were so madly in love. But, you know, I've
lost the feeling." So, get it back. Be committed. Watch what happens when
you live by commitment. And watch how the feelings
will follow the commitment that you make. This is where the gift of
encouragement is needed. Now, the old King James
says that he exhorted them. The new King James,
that I'm reading from, says, he encouraged them. That's a better translation. It could be
translated, either/or. But when you hear the
word "exhortation--" he exhorted him-- it conjures up the
idea of the gift of exhortation, which can be to
stimulate a person into action. But encouragement
is a little bit different than just telling
a person, stay with it, get right. Encouragement, it can take
you all the way through. So, here's an example. I had a friend who was
an expert outdoorsman. He became a forest ranger. He went to school for it,
and he loved the outdoors. And he loved to backpack. And one day-- Jerry was his
name-- he talked me into backpacking into
Death Valley, California. And I loved it. I had a great time. But, his idea of hiking
was to start at the base and climb up to the peak. So, in theory, that was good. In theory, good, I'll do that. I like that. I put a backpack on. I started following. Jerry was not only
an expert backpacker. He was an expert encourager. Because just a few steps,
and I'm already complaining. Hey, are we going to camp here? Oh, no, no, no. We keep walking. Well, to where? Up to the top. Top? Oh, man. This is hard already. And then, as minutes went
by, and hours went by, and the legs are burning,
and I'm huffing and puffing, Jerry just poured on. You can do it, man. It's not that much further. We'll take a rest just right up
here, up at that little area, but just keep-- and
he just encouraged me all the way up to the top. So, you encouragers, if you
have that gift, if you're that person, keep at it. We need you desperately. Find those brothers and sisters
whose hands are hanging down and knees are weak, and get
behind him, and give him a second wind. Encourage them that,
with purpose of heart, they should continue
with the Lord. It says, he was a good man. He was full of the Holy Spirit. That was his gift. And he was full of faith. "And a great many people
were added to the Lord. Then, Barnabas departed
for Tarsus, to seek Saul. And when he had found him,
he brought him to Antioch. So it was, that
for a whole year, they assembled with the church
and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first
called Christians at Antioch." OK, so picture this. In Tarsus, there's
a man waiting. In Antioch, there's
a man thinking. In Tarsus, the
waiting man is Saul. He's thinking thoughts like, OK. The first prophecy I
ever got, in Damascus, was from Ananias,
who told me that I'm going to be a witness
before kings, Gentiles, and the children of Israel. That was 10 years ago. I've been waiting 10 years. I spent three years in Arabia,
tried to go to Jerusalem, got kicked out. I'm here in Tarsus. I've been waiting for a decade. Nothing. That's the waiting man. In Antioch, is a thinking,
praying man, Barnabas. Barnabas is thinking
thoughts like, huh, this is a very unusual city. We have a mix of Jewish people,
Greek people, and Roman people. Who would be the best leader
to bring to this city? He thought, I know. That guy, Saul, who's over
in Tarsus, not far away. Because Saul, you
see, was Jewish, Hebrew, a Hebrew of
the Hebrews, knew all the traditions and
rituals of rabbinic Judaism. But he was also
Greek by culture, being a Hellenistic Jew,
Greek-speaking, Greek-culture Jew, in that part of the world. In fact, when he will stand
on the areopagus in Athens, he will quote Epiminedes, a
Greek writer, a Greek scholar, and Aratus of Soli,
another Greek writer. He'll just quote them. He knows Greek thinking, Greek
speaking, Greek literature. So he's Jewish, and trained
in rabbinic Judaism. He's also Greek by culture,
but he's also, third, a Roman citizen. And you know how he will pull
out his Roman citizenship, and say, I'm free born. I was born. I didn't buy this. My father was a Roman citizen
and passed it on to me. So Jew, Greek, and Roman. Saul of Tarsus, perfect guy. So, once again, Barnabas the
son of encouragement, risks life and limb to find Saul
in Tarsus, and bring him to Antioch for a year. You know what? Had he not done this,
half the New Testament would not have been written. That's how important Barnabas
is, just took that finding him, encouraging him. He was the perfect guy to
find him and encourage him. Saul of Tarsus,
Paul the Apostle, will go on to write 13 of
the 27 New Testament books. If you count
Hebrews, as some do-- there's dispute--
that's 14 out of the 27. So about half the New
Testament books, he wrote. What Saul of Tarsus is
discovering, after a decade, is the power of
applause, an applause. It goes so far. One of my favorite stories
from Newsweek magazine is an editorial
by Deborah Shouse. She said, "When I was growing
up, I envied Sally Culver. Though she was
five years younger, she had somehow managed
to get herself a fan club. It began one summer
evening, when Mrs. Culver brought her
one-year-old daughter, Sally, to our house. 'I want to show you the
most remarkable thing,' Mrs. Culver told my mother. She set the baby
down on our driveway, and Sally, diaper
rustling, took a step. 'Bravo!' Mrs. Culver
said, clapping. 'Wasn't that just marvelous?'
she asked, turning to me. I was standing back,
my jump rope in hand, wondering why anyone would make
such a big deal over walking. 'Weren't her legs just the
straightest things you've ever seen?' Mrs. Culver gushed to my mother. 'Her posture is
exceptional,' my mother said. I took a breath and
stood up straighter. My mother didn't notice. Sally took two steps
before she plopped down. Again, applause. This time, my mother joined in. I untangled my rope and
jumped 10 times in a row without missing. No one noticed. My mother was too busy clapping
and cheering for Sally. It was my first experience
with the power of applause." It is powerful, when
it's appropriate. It's powerful to come and
encourage someone in the Lord. You can do it, man. I'm with you. I'll stand with you. I'll stand next to you. We'll do it together. And that's what I see here. So, for a whole year,
they taught many people. That's where Saul cut
his teeth in ministry. It says, "And the
disciples--" now this is one of the most
important verses in the book-- "the disciples were first
called Christians in Antioch." The word "Christian"
was not a friendly term. It was not a term used by Jesus. It was not a term used
by the early church. It was not a term
used by Jewish people. It was a term used by
unbelievers in Antioch first. Now, it's not a common
term in the New Testament. It's used three
times, I believe. The other time it shows
up in the book of Acts-- I can read it to you--
is in Acts, chapter 26. Paul is in Caesarea. He's standing trial. He goes through three trials. And he's standing before
King Agrippa, Herod Agrippa, and Paul says, in Acts 22-- I'm reading out of verse 26-- "For the king, before
whom I also speak freely, knows these things. For I am convinced that
none of these things escapes his attention,
since this thing was not done in a corner." Paul goes on and he
says, "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do believe." And King Agrippa said,
"Paul, you almost persuade me to
become a Christian." Now, the better
translation is, "Do you think, in such a
short time, that you would be able to persuade
me to be a Christian?" "And Paul said, I would to God
that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become
both almost and altogether, such as I am, except
for these chains." So, the term "Christian"
shows up twice, on the mouth of unbelievers. Jesus called his
followers disciples. He called them friends. He called them, my children. The early church referred
to Christians, not as Christians, but as believers,
as saints, as beloved. The Jews would never use
the term "Christian," because Christ means
Messiah, and they did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. So that would not be a term
they would be favorable to use. But it was a term
used in Antioch, and what's interesting,
is that Antioch-- I mentioned nicknames,
Jesus used nicknames, the early church used them-- Antioch was sort of
famous for names, and coming up with
nicknames for people. For example, it was in Antioch,
where the emperor Julian was nicknamed "the goat." And that's because
he had a goatee. He had a long beard
that came to a point, so they just nicknamed him,
fondly, our emperor, the goat. And so, it's interesting that
the term "Christian" shows up on the lips of
unbelievers, in a city fond of coming up with names,
nicknames especially, and they were first called
Christians in Antioch. Now the last time it is
used, it is used by Peter, and by now, it has become a
very standard, common term to call believers "Christians,"
even by believers. So this, now, is in 1
Peter, chapter 4, where he says, "If you are reproached
for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for
the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part, He is
blasphemed, but on your part, He is glorified. But let none of you suffer
as a murderer, a thief, or an evil doer, or as a busy
body in other people's matters. Yet, if anyone suffers
as a Christian, let him not be
ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter." Now, let me tell you
about the word Christian. "Christianos" is the Greek term. Christianos. And that little suffix,
-ianos, was a common suffix, to refer to, first of all,
a slave in a household. For instance, if
you were a slave in the household of
Caesar, they would call you Caesarinos, a slave
in the household of Caesar. Or, if you were a follower of
a leader or a political party, they would use the
suffix, -ianos. So, if you were of
the Herodian party, they'd call you, Herodianos. So it meant a slave
or a follower. My question, Christian, is,
does that describe your life? Are you a slave of Jesus Christ,
one that follows Jesus Christ, personally? Not just, I think there's
a God up there somewhere, and I hang out at
church once in a while. Are you a slave of Jesus,
and a follower of Him? That would imply
that you follow Him, and you take orders from Him. He is the Lord. You are not. You are the servant. And somebody once said, some
folks have a hard time obeying Jesus Christ, because they
have a hard time taking orders from a stranger. It could be that
Jesus, personally, is a stranger to you. And though the term
Christian is widely used, to label anybody who has
any kind of affiliation with the church, are you a slave
of, and a follower, of Christ? Because that's the original
term that was used, Christianos. They were first called
Christians at Antioch. Well, let's finish out the
chapter, and the evening. Verse 27-- "In
these days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them,
named Agabus, stood up and showed by the
Spirit that there was going to be a great famine
throughout all the world, which also happened in the
days of Claudius Caesar." A prophet was either
a forth-teller, that is, spoke predictively
about the future, or a foreteller of God's word,
spoke forth the word of God. He was a forth-teller, spoke
forth, or a foreteller, spoke in advance. A prophet could have
the gift of anticipating the future,
predicting the future, or simply, proclaiming truth. Both of them were seen, in the
first couple of hundred years, as having a prophetic gift. Now, there was a problem
that happened with prophets. Agabus was a prophet that
could predict the future, and he does here, and he
does later on, with Paul. You'll see, he'll show up again. So he predicted that there would
be a famine, which, by the way, happened. Antiquity shows there were four
famines throughout this time, two in Rome, one in
Greece, and one in Judea. Judea was the most affected. It was the worst
of all the famines. And that is the
one he predicted. So ancient records
bear testimony that there was a famine
during this time. Here was the problem
with the prophets. The prophets would
travel around, and they would speak forth, or
they would foretell the future. But because they were unattached
to any one particular assembly, they lacked a rooted
accountability. Just like somebody
comes to you, the Lord sent me to give you a message. Well, how do you test that? I mean, what group
do you belong to? I don't belong to any
group, just me and Jesus. Well, you could be a
fruitcake and say that. And many fruitcakes are
in abundance, by the way. I could write books, just on
the fruitcakes of my life. They seem to be unending. There's an unending supply of
weirdness in the name of God. So because it became a
problem in the early church, around 100 AD,
there was circulated what was called the
Didache, the teaching of the apostles on
church order, including, what's a true prophet
and a false prophet. That aside, Agabus
was a true prophet, predicted something would
happen, a famine, and it did. It says, "Then the disciples,
each according to his ability, determined to send
relief to their brethren dwelling in Judea." That's that worse famine in
antiquity, from 41 to 54 AD. That's the reign
of Claudius Caesar. "This, they also did, and
sent it to the elders, by the hands of
Barnabas and Saul." Now, note that. Mark that, as we close this
chapter, and close the evening. It's Barnabas mentioned first,
and Saul, mentioned second. You'll see that for awhile. But you'll also read, soon
enough, in the chapters ahead, where that changes
to Paul and Barnabas. And the leader becomes
subservient to one that he has trained
and encouraged, and Paul will take the lead. I love the story of
Barnabas, and as we leave, just let that ministry
sink into your hearts. Because when we think
of great people, we fail to think of what's
behind the great person. You think of Charles
Lindbergh, what a great person to
make that long flight across the Atlantic in 1927. But nobody speaks about Claude. Who? His mechanic, who made sure
that his airplane, called the Spirit of St. Louis,
was in working condition. He couldn't have made that
flight without Claude. We all know Martin Luther, and
the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg door in 1517. Martin Luther, the Reformer. But nobody mentions
Melanchthon, his assistant, who helped translate the
New Testament for Luther. People know of Billy
Graham, but nobody talks much about T.W.
Wilson, or Grady Wilson. Those great friends
and encouragers who, in the dark moments,
pushed him onward. So, in God's sovereignty,
the gift of encouragement, is so needed. Now, again, King James
says, "exhortation." But I know a lot
of people who go, I have the gift of exhortation. And what they mean is, I have
the gift of condemnation. There is no such
thing as that gift. It ain't a gift,
not on any list. Well, I have the gift
of pointing fingers at people, telling them where
they err, and they're wrong. Now, there's a gift
of discernment. But that gift of condemnation
and finger pointing, it's not in the text. The gift of encouragement,
however, is. You say, well, maybe
I'm not so soft spoken. Think of it this way. A kick in the pants,
though just a few vertebrae removed from a pat on the back,
is miles ahead in results. So, a pat on the back. That's what I meant to say. A pat on the back, though
it's a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants,
is miles ahead in results. So a few more pats on the back,
a few less kicks in the pants. Some need it, I
understand it, but maybe not as much as you think. Let's be gracious. Let's understand
the grace that God was trying to get
through to Peter when He said, "What I have
cleansed, don't call common." Let's be gracious with each
other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
Christ has forgiven us. Father, thank you for this time. Thank you for the
instruction from your Word through your Spirit, through
a flawed human instrument, to our hearts. May we take it to
heart, and may we be Christianos,
slaves and followers of the most worthy
one in the universe. It's in His name we pray. Amen. For more resources from Calvary
Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig, visit calvaryabq.org. [MUSIC PLAYING]
