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Acts 11:19-30 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Just take your copy of God's Word, which I hope you have with you today, and turn to the book of Acts chapter 11.
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While you're getting there, let me say that I am thankful for the imperfections of this world in so far as they point us to the perfection of the world to come.
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One day the earth will be lit by the radiance of Christ, and I'm confident that Wes' guitar will be fueled by Jesus' glory.
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Amen.
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This morning we are returning to our verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Acts, but before we do, I'd like to do two things.
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Number one, I'd like to clarify what is meant by exposition.
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Simply put, to exposit a text in a sermon is to make the main point or points of the sermon to be the main point or points of the text.
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It's simply to explain what a text means.
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Verse-by-verse exposition is a systematic working through a book or chapter or passage.
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This is our general habit.
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That's where we find ourselves in Acts chapter 11, having taken a break from our verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Acts.
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Topical exposition begins with a particular topic in mind and then works out from a particular text concerning that topic what the Bible has to say about that particular topic.
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Please do not be narrow in your understanding of expositional preaching.
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There is a time and a place for both verse-by-verse exposition and for topical exposition.
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But either way, true preaching is Bible preaching and therefore true preaching is expositional preaching.
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Secondly, because it has been a number of weeks since we have been studying Acts together,
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and because some of you weren't with us when we began our study,
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I think it wise to give a brief summary of what we have learned so far in the second account written by Luke.
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Luke's first account is the account of the life and ministry of Jesus on earth.
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You know it as the Gospel of Luke.
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Luke's second account is the account of Jesus' ascended ministry.
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How it is that He is now building His church is the account that we find before us.
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Remember that this book is our history.
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It's our family history.
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This is the church in its early days.
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And we have in the telling of this story a lineage that's found within it,
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which means it's incredibly precious for us.
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In chapter 1 in the book of Acts, we see that Jesus ascends to the Father,
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but not before promising to send the disciples the Holy Spirit,
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the Helper that He had promised to them at the Lord's Supper.
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In chapter 2, they receive the promised Spirit,
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and the church is born through the preaching of Christ,
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primarily through Peter.
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And we saw the fellowship of the early church
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and their devotion to the ways of the Lord.
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The church expands in chapter 3,
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after a famous beggar is healed,
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and Peter preaches at the temple to the gathered crowd.
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In chapter 4, Peter and John are arrested for teaching the people
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about the resurrected Christ,
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and they speak the Gospel boldly to the Sanhedrin.
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Later in chapter 4, Luke records the sale of a field
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and the donation of the proceeds by a man called Barnabas,
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which we'll talk more about today.
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In chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira, a married couple,
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also sell a field, but they are struck dead by the Lord
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for withholding a portion of the proceeds and for lying about it.
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Then, but later in chapter 5,
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the apostles are arrested again by the Sanhedrin.
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They're beaten, and they're charged not to preach Jesus any longer.
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In chapter 6, the church selects deacons,
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one of whom is a man named Stephen.
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Stephen serves the church meals,
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and he preaches the Gospel,
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the latter of which finds him arrested again by this council called the Sanhedrin.
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In chapter 7, Stephen defends his preaching
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and indicts the Sanhedrin as being set against God,
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which infuriates them,
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and they have Stephen stoned, the first Christian martyr.
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Stephen's stoning is overseen by a man named Saul,
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who continues to persecute the church in chapter 8,
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which scatters the believers from Jerusalem.
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This is all held within the walls of Jerusalem.
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Scatters the Gospel forth from Jerusalem.
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They go about preaching.
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We can think of it as gossiping the Gospel everywhere they go,
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and the Gospel begins to expand to other ethnicities
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through the preaching of Philip.
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In chapter 9, Saul encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus.
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He is converted,
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and he begins to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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In chapter 10, a centurion named Cornelius, an Italian,
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so this is outside the ethnicity of the Jews,
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sends for Peter.
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Peter is given a vision that informs him
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that the Gospel is not just for the Jews.
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Peter travels to Cornelius,
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and he, being Cornelius and his household,
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is converted and receives the Spirit.
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And in the beginning of chapter 11,
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Peter reports what happened with his vision
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and the conversion of Cornelius' house
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to the church in Jerusalem.
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And the church in Jerusalem declares,
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in verse 18 of chapter 11,
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then to the Gentiles also,
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God has granted repentance that leads to life.
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And so chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11
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are these kind of hinging chapters.
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The story up to this point,
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beginning in chapter 2,
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has been primarily about Peter
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as a minister to the Jews,
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and we're transitioning across some chapters
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to what the rest of Acts really is about,
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which is Paul as a minister to the Gentiles.
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We've got these chapters that transition
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between the two.
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And so that's where we find ourselves this morning,
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beginning in verse 19 through verse 30.
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So Acts 11, verses 19 through 30.
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Now those who were scattered
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because of the persecution that arose over Stephen
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traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch,
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speaking the word to no one except Jews.
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But there were some of them,
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men of Cyprus and Cyrene,
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who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists
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also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
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And the hand of the Lord was with them,
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and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
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The report of this came to the ears
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of the church in Jerusalem,
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and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
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When he came and saw the grace of God,
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he was glad,
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and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord
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with steadfast purpose,
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for he was a good man,
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full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
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And a great many people were added to the Lord.
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So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
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and when he had found him,
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he brought him to Antioch.
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For a whole year they met with the church
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and taught a great many people.
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And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
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Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch,
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and one of them named Agabus stood up
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and foretold by the Spirit
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that there would be a great famine over all the world.
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This took place in the days of Claudius.
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So the disciples determined everyone according to his ability
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to send relief to the brothers living in Judea,
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and they did so sending it to the elders
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by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
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Beloved, this is God's Word to us.
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It was written for His glory and our good.
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We would all do well to listen to it this morning
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in order to believe its promises
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and to obey its commands.
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Now as we're looking at historical narrative in this way,
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Luke is a physician, but he's also a historian.
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He's writing down an account of what happened.
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This narrative form is not expressly meant to teach us,
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as you might in one of the epistles.
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I much prefer preaching an epistle.
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One of Paul's letters are expressly,
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the intent of it is that he's going to correct doctrine,
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he's going to give application of doctrine.
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And narrative is not necessarily that way,
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but it has massive value as biography does,
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because we get to peer into the lives of early Christians.
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And if you read biography generally,
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into the lives of Christians,
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and we get to look at the way they followed Christ,
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and we get to emulate the way that they followed Christ.
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And so there are a number of characters in our text this morning,
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and we would do well to pay attention
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to the way that they live their lives,
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and to consider how it is we should conform to their pursuit of Christ.
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And so to do that this morning,
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I would like for us to note four things about four characters in the text.
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And the first is the proclamation of the gospel.
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You see this in verse 19 through 21.
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People had begun to travel, right?
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The persecution of Stephen launched this advancing of the gospel.
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You see verse 19 says,
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Luke reminds us,
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now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen,
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Stephen was the catalyst that began this work,
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traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch.
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And if you can picture the Mediterranean Sea in your mind,
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up in the far right corner of the Mediterranean,
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this is where these things are.
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Cyprus is an island, Phoenicia is a region,
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Antioch is a city up in that corner.
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A good distance they had traveled already.
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And verse 19 tells us that,
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in large part,
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the disciples were just preaching Jesus to the Jews.
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But verse 20,
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some of them,
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some disciples from Cyprus and Cyrene,
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which is a region in Africa,
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what they've gone north for,
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I'm not really sure,
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but there they are.
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So disciples from Cyprus and Cyrene go to a city called Antioch,
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and they proclaim the gospel to the Hellenists.
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Now Antioch is the third largest city in the Roman Empire in this day,
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second only to Rome itself and Alexandria.
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It was a center of culture for the region.
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There's also a vile place full of pagan worship and sexual immorality.
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And it becomes,
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and we're going to see through the book of Acts,
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an incredibly strategic place of gospel advancement.
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It becomes kind of a home base for Paul's missionary journeys
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as he takes the gospel far and wide amongst Gentile people.
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So in Antioch,
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these disciples of Cyprus and Cyrene have begun to expand gospel proclamation,
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be gone just those who are Jewish,
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to the Hellenists.
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Who is Luke referring to when he talks of the Hellenists?
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Now back in Acts chapter 6,
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you may remember this title.
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Acts 6.1 says,
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Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number,
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a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews
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because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
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So the Hellenists are believers.
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These are new converts.
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They're part of the church.
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And there's a problem because the widows of the Hellenists are not getting food.
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The footnote,
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if you have an ESV or maybe another translation,
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if you have an ESV,
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look at the footnote from 6.1,
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and it says of Hellenists,
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that is Greek-speaking Jews.
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So the Hellenists here,
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as defined by the translators of the ESV,
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or whomever added the footnotes to it,
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calls the Hellenists Greek-speaking Jews.
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Well, that seems inconsistent then, doesn't it?
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Because isn't what Luke's saying is that
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the disciples who went forward for preaching to the Jews,
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except for some guys that weren't preaching to,
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the Hellenists,
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they were preaching to the Hellenists,
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they weren't preaching to Jews.
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Now, if you look back in Acts chapter 11,
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the footnote says,
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instead,
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if you have an ESV,
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or Greeks,
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that is,
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Greek-speaking non-Jews.
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So in one place,
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just a couple pages over,
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they say that is Greek-speaking Jews,
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or the Hellenists,
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and in another place,
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that is Greek-speaking non-Jews.
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Isn't that fascinating?
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And it really made me scratch my head,
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because I said,
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well, how in the world did they arrive at that conclusion?
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How did the translators of the ESV Bible say,
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in one place,
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these are Greek-speaking Jews,
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and in another place,
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these are Greek-speaking non-Jews?
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And to be totally frank,
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I'm not sure how they arrived at it,
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but I think this is how they arrived at it.
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Let me draw your attention here
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to a transition in language.
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The phrase that we find in our text today
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is that they were preaching the Lord Jesus.
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And for us,
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we might read right past that, right?
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We understand Jesus to be the Christ.
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We understand Jesus to be the Lord.
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But there's a difference in the way
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that Christ is being presented.
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Luke is very precise here.
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They're not preaching Jesus as the Christ.
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They're preaching Jesus as Lord.
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Acts 8.5
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An example here.
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Philip went down to the city of Samaria
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and proclaimed to them the Christ.
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He went to a people who were not ethically Jewish,
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or kind of a mixed crowd,
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but followed Judaism,
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and he preached to them the Christ.
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They understood.
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The Old Testament spoke of a promised one,
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a deliverer who would come
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and take away their sins.
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So they're preaching Jesus as the Christ to Jews
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because they had a context of understanding for that.
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But these Hellenists,
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these non-Jew Greeks,
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would have had no idea
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if you came to them and said,
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hey, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ.
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They would have said,
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what are you talking about?
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The Christ?
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Who is this?
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Messiah?
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We have no frame of reference
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for what you're talking about.
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But they would have understood Lord.
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They would have understood Jesus as Lord,
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King,
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Ruler of all things.
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And it's important to note this
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as we're talking about gospel proclamation
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because this is the first place
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we see contextualization.
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Not that the message changes.
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They didn't change who Jesus is,
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but they spoke very specifically
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about who He is.
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They spoke the language of the people
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that they were going to
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in order to present Christ
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to them appropriately.
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Jesus is Lord,
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and let us show you now
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how He's the fulfillment
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of Old Testament Scripture,
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which you've not had prior to
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us bringing it to you.
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So it's a precious truth to see here,
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and it's why I think
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they can arrive at this idea
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of Hellenists used two different places.
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These are non-Jews
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that they have now begun
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to preach the gospel to.
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Jesus as Lord.
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And verse 21 says,
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And the hand of the Lord
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was with them,
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and a great number who believed
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turned to the Lord.
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Beloved, we drove this last week.
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If you were here with us,
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we talked about gospel commission
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and the charge that's placed
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on the shoulders of all believers.
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If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ,
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it is your work to make disciples
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of Jesus Christ.
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We are meant to be proclaiming
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the good news to everyone.
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You talk about what you love.
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No one's excluded from this.
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Some are particularly gifted at it,
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but no one is excluded
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from the call to preach the gospel
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and see people converted to Christ.
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This is a responsibility
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laid on all our shoulders.
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But it is never effective
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if the hand of the Lord
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is not with us.
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It is God who works
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in our gospel proclamation
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to bring about conversion
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in the souls of men.
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So, the question is asked, right?
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If these people were meant to believe,
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these Hellenists in Antioch
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were meant to believe,
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would they have believed
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apart from the gospel proclamation
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of these particular disciples
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of Cyprus and Cyrene?
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And my answer is yes and no.
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I do not believe
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that they would have believed
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had someone not proclaimed
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the gospel to them.
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I do believe
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that God intended
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to save these people
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and would have saved them
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by the gospel preaching
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of someone.
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Someone would have come
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and preached the gospel
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to these people.
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It was to the disciples
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of Cyprus and Cyrene's
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great benefit
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that they were the ones
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who did it.
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They joined in the work of God
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amongst these peoples
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in this place called Antioch
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and they got to see Him
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convert people,
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a great number of people,
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to faith in Christ.
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And this is where
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we find ourselves.
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God does not need you,
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but He loves you
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and He wants you
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to be involved
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in His purposes in the world.
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There's no greater reward
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than to be caught up
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in the things of God
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in this world.
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So a great number believe.
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Because they're preaching
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and the hand of the Lord
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is with them,
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a great number believed
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and turned to the Lord.
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A great number who believed
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turned to the Lord.
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And we see a picture here
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of repentance and faith.
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And this is what Luke
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is trying to communicate to us.
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Not just mentally ascending
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to the idea of Jesus as Lord.
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Not simply saying in their mind,
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that seems true,
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but they actually have faith
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that Jesus is Lord
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and they turn to Christ.
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They turn away from sin.
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They turn away from the vileness,
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from the sexual immorality
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of the city in which they live
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and they turn to Jesus as Lord.
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These two things are inseparable.
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The gospel is proclaimed.
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People repent.
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And they believe
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because the hand of the Lord
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was with them.
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So we see these disciples
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and their gospel proclamation.
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And we should note that carefully
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this morning.
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Secondly,
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we see the life of Barnabas.
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The life of Barnabas.
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And we get to learn more
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about Barnabas later on
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in the book of Acts.
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I'm thankful for that.
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But here we can get this picture,
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this glimpse of the life of Barnabas
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verses 22, 23, and 24.
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This is the same Barnabas
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from chapter 4
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that I mentioned to you
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in that very brief summary.
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His name is Joseph.
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You see in chapter 4,
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Joseph,
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who they also called Barnabas.
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I'm not sure if it was
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another name.
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It seemed a lot of people
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in this day had multiple names
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or if it was a nickname.
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It could have been.
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Because it means
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son of encouragement.
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It's very possible
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that the way in which
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Barnabas lived amongst
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those early disciples,
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they had given him a nickname.
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And they called him Barnabas,
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the son of encouragement.
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And it should be
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no surprise to us
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that when he comes
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to these believers in Antioch,
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he's sent to them
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by the church in Jerusalem,
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that he exhorts them.
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He exhorts them.
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The word exhort
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can be a bit foreign to us.
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It means to encourage.
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It means to call to one's side
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as if to say to someone,
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come and walk the way I'm walking.
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Come and be drawn to my side
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and walk along with me
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in the way of Christ.
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And this is what Barnabas does
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when he comes.
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He exhorts the church.
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In verse 24, Luke reports
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that he was a good man.
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He was full of the Holy Spirit
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and of faith.
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Why was he a good man?
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Because he was full
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of the Holy Spirit
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and of faith.
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And if Luke wanted to focus
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on the divine enabling
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of Barnabas' life,
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he could have said
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the key to him being a good man
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was that he was full
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of the Holy Spirit.
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Or if Luke wanted to focus
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on the human side,
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he could have said
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the key to him being a good man
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was that he was full of faith.
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Luke rightly says both.
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He says that for him
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to be a good man,
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he must be enabled
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by the Holy Spirit.
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And for him to be a good man,
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he also must have faith.
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There's both a human element
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and a divine enabling
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in Barnabas' status
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as a good man.
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And this speaks to our
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gospel identity, doesn't it?
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Who we are in Christ
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and the way in which
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that motivates
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the way that we live.
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Over the past five weeks,
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we've been talking about that.
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We've been talking about
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these four different C's.
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Conviction, community,
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character, and commission.
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I told you it was going
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to come back up
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and you're going to get
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so sick of hearing it.
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But I hope it changes
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the way that you live.
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These areas of our life
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that we throw ourselves into
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and by the enabling power of God
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we're made more perfect by them.
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I want to show you those things.
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Right here in this text,
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these four areas of Barnabas' life
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that we're also meant
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to be excelling in.
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So, quickly,
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Barnabas' gospel conviction.
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Verse 23,
21:57
when he came and saw
21:58
the grace of God,
21:59
he was glad and he did what?
22:01
He exhorted them all
22:02
to remain faithful to the Lord
22:04
with steadfast purpose.
22:09
Barnabas knew who God was
22:10
and that the ways of God
22:11
were more excellent
22:12
and so with steadfast purpose,
22:13
he continued to draw them
22:14
to the ways of God.
22:18
He also recognized
22:19
that he needed
22:19
a greater element of teaching.
22:22
Barnabas knew
22:22
that he was not an apostle.
22:24
So, who does he appeal to
22:25
to come and help teach
22:27
this early church in Antioch?
22:29
Verse 25,
22:31
Barnabas went to Tarsus
22:32
to look for Saul.
22:34
We're not really sure
22:35
where he's been.
22:36
He is Saul of Tarsus.
22:38
So, Barnabas heads
22:39
to his hometown,
22:40
which is not very far
22:41
from Antioch.
22:42
And when he found him,
22:43
he brought him to Antioch
22:44
for a whole year.
22:46
They met with the church
22:47
and they taught
22:48
a great many people.
22:51
Barnabas recognized.
22:52
He held deep convictions
22:53
and he recognized
22:53
that other Christians
22:54
needed to hold
22:55
deep convictions as well.
22:58
Barnabas,
22:58
in the area of gospel community.
23:01
Verse 22,
23:02
he was part of a church.
23:04
The report of this,
23:06
the conversions in Antioch,
23:07
came to the ears
23:07
of the church in Jerusalem
23:08
and they sent Barnabas
23:10
to Antioch, right?
23:12
He was part of that fellowship.
23:13
He had proven himself
23:14
amongst that fellowship
23:15
and he was sent
23:16
to help the church
23:17
in Antioch
23:18
because he was part
23:19
of the church
23:20
in Jerusalem.
23:23
Verse 23 says,
23:24
when he came
23:24
and saw the grace of God,
23:27
he was glad.
23:29
He was relishing
23:31
in the fact
23:32
that God had been gracious
23:33
to another people, right?
23:35
He came amongst
23:36
a new church
23:38
and it brought him joy.
23:42
Look at his character.
23:45
You can pick this up
23:46
in multiple places, obviously.
23:48
Luke has called him
23:48
a good man.
23:50
Let me give you
23:50
another example.
23:51
Verse 30,
23:52
there's some raising
23:53
of funds
23:54
for a future calamity,
23:57
a famine that's going
23:58
to happen.
23:59
So they raised funds
24:01
and they sent it
24:04
and they did so,
24:05
sending it to the elders
24:06
by the hand
24:07
of Barnabas and Saul.
24:10
Barnabas was a
24:11
trustworthy individual.
24:12
They could send
24:13
this great sum of money
24:14
with him to travel
24:15
to the elders in Judea.
24:18
And then Gospel Commission,
24:19
verse 24,
24:20
the last part of it,
24:21
and a great many people
24:22
were added to the Lord.
24:24
So as Barnabas
24:25
is amongst them,
24:26
exhorting them,
24:26
he's also proclaiming
24:28
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
24:30
We can learn much
24:32
from the life of Barnabas
24:33
as we observe it
24:34
just in this text,
24:35
much less in many
24:37
other places.
24:39
So we see the proclamation
24:40
of the gospel
24:40
by these disciples.
24:41
We see the life
24:42
of Barnabas.
24:44
Thirdly,
24:44
we see the leadership
24:46
of Paul.
24:47
the leadership of Paul.
24:51
Mentioned a moment ago,
24:52
right?
24:53
Barnabas sees a need,
24:55
recognizes he's not an apostle,
24:57
he goes to Tarsus,
24:58
looks for Saul,
24:59
brings him back,
24:59
and for a year,
25:01
they met with the church
25:02
and they taught
25:03
a great many people.
25:07
Now, in our text,
25:08
Luke calls him Saul.
25:11
You're familiar,
25:11
I think most of us
25:12
are probably familiar
25:13
with this transition
25:13
of name.
25:15
This apostle Saul
25:16
becomes the apostle Paul.
25:19
Does anybody remember
25:19
how that happens?
25:23
This isn't a
25:23
God comes and changes
25:24
his name situation.
25:28
Saul was Paul's
25:30
Jewish name.
25:33
This is his Jewish name.
25:35
Acts 13.9.
25:36
Here's the transition.
25:38
Saul becomes Paul.
25:39
Acts 13.9.
25:40
Simply Luke records,
25:41
but Saul,
25:42
who was also called Paul.
25:46
This is just after
25:48
Saul has been sent
25:50
with Barnabas
25:51
to the island of Cyprus.
25:53
Barnabas' home place.
25:56
Just after this,
25:57
you see this change
25:58
in the way Luke records.
26:00
And I'm fairly confident
26:02
that what's happened
26:03
is again,
26:05
Paul has contextualized.
26:06
He's now changed,
26:08
rather than been calling Saul
26:09
by his Jewish name
26:10
as he's been turned out
26:12
as a missionary
26:13
to the Gentiles.
26:14
He now goes by Paul,
26:17
which is his Roman name.
26:19
It's his Gentile name.
26:22
So he'd be more accepted
26:23
amongst them
26:24
to say to them,
26:25
I am part of Rome.
26:27
He's Jewish,
26:28
but he's also part of Rome.
26:30
And we can see in our text
26:31
that his leadership
26:32
was lengthy
26:34
and that it was expansive
26:36
for a whole year.
26:38
And they taught
26:39
a great many people.
26:41
And we can also see
26:42
that his leadership
26:43
was effective.
26:48
Then the verse 26 says,
26:50
And in Antioch,
26:52
the disciples were first
26:53
called Christians.
26:55
Now, why would I suggest
26:58
that his leadership
26:59
was effective?
26:59
Simply because in Antioch,
27:01
the disciples were first
27:02
called Christians.
27:04
This is because,
27:05
prior to Antioch,
27:07
Christians were called
27:08
followers of the way.
27:11
This is the standard thing
27:12
that Christians were called.
27:14
You can call yourself that today
27:16
if you'd like to.
27:17
People scratch their heads.
27:18
They might think
27:19
you're part of a cult.
27:21
Followers of the way.
27:24
It was in Antioch
27:25
that they began
27:26
to call them Christians.
27:28
And to be Christian
27:29
is simply meant
27:30
to be of the party of Christ.
27:33
To belong to Christ.
27:36
And in Antioch,
27:37
it was meant
27:38
as a term of derision.
27:41
This was not a positive thing.
27:42
This was a persecuting thing.
27:46
Unbelieving people in Antioch
27:47
were beginning to make fun
27:48
of those who claimed
27:49
to follow Christ
27:50
by calling them Christians.
27:53
They were beginning to suffer
27:55
for the name of Christ,
27:57
which means
27:58
they were following Christ faithfully.
28:01
So under Saul's leadership,
28:03
Paul if you prefer,
28:05
here it is
28:06
that these early Christians
28:07
are beginning
28:08
in greater effort,
28:12
broadening effort,
28:13
to be persecuted,
28:14
to be called Christian.
28:16
Praise God,
28:18
the term Christian
28:19
was meant
28:21
as a term of derision.
28:21
It became
28:22
a badge of honor.
28:24
Peter writes
28:25
in 1 Peter 4.16,
28:26
Yet if anyone suffers
28:27
as a Christian,
28:30
let him not be ashamed,
28:31
but let him glorify God
28:33
in that name.
28:35
The name of being
28:36
a Christian.
28:37
Belonging to Christ.
28:38
Being of the party
28:40
of Christ.
28:42
Christ.
28:43
Now,
28:44
no one in this room
28:45
or anyone today
28:47
is an apostle.
28:49
I'm not suggesting
28:50
that we look at the life
28:51
of Paul
28:52
and lead the way
28:53
Paul led.
28:55
No one here
28:56
is or ever will be
28:58
or will ever know
28:59
an apostle.
29:01
That is an office
29:02
that has been closed down.
29:05
But we are all still
29:06
meant to lead
29:07
in some form
29:08
or some fashion.
29:08
Some the way
29:10
I'm leading now
29:11
and give leadership
29:12
to a church.
29:13
Some in leading
29:14
a faithful friend
29:17
to Christ.
29:17
Some in walking
29:19
before their co-workers
29:20
in a way
29:20
that is an example.
29:22
We are all meant to lead
29:23
and we can look to Paul
29:24
as an example in that.
29:26
So we see the proclamation
29:27
of the gospel
29:28
by the disciples,
29:29
the life of Barnabas,
29:30
the leadership of Paul,
29:32
and fourthly,
29:33
the generosity
29:34
of the church.
29:36
So our fourth character
29:37
is the church
29:38
in Antioch.
29:39
And we see this
29:40
in verse 27-30.
29:45
So we see in these days
29:47
prophets came down
29:49
from Jerusalem
29:50
to Antioch.
29:51
Now Antioch is north
29:53
of Jerusalem,
29:54
but in these days
29:56
everything came down
29:57
from Jerusalem.
29:58
Both because it was
29:58
the center
29:59
of Jewish life,
30:01
but also because
30:02
it was on a hill.
30:03
So if you come down
30:04
off a mountain,
30:05
you're not very concerned
30:06
about the cardinal direction
30:07
that you came down.
30:08
But you would say,
30:08
I came down
30:09
off the mountain.
30:10
So this is what
30:11
they're talking about.
30:12
They traveled north,
30:12
but they came down
30:13
from Jerusalem
30:14
to Antioch.
30:16
And a man named Agabus
30:18
stands up,
30:19
foretells by the Spirit,
30:20
gives a prophecy
30:21
that there's going to be
30:21
a famine
30:22
over all the world.
30:23
And Luke includes for us
30:24
that this did in fact happen.
30:26
It took place.
30:27
The famine took place
30:28
in the days
30:29
of Claudius.
30:30
And as a result
30:32
of this prophecy,
30:33
the disciples decide
30:34
together
30:35
that they're going
30:36
to take up a collection
30:37
in order to alleviate
30:38
the suffering
30:39
of the brothers
30:40
living in Judea.
30:42
And they send it
30:43
by the hands
30:44
of Barnabas
30:45
and Saul.
30:46
There's much debate
30:47
over the gift
30:49
of prophecy today,
30:50
but wherever you may
30:51
come down on that matter,
30:53
which we won't get into
30:53
today for the sake
30:54
of time,
30:56
the gift was in fact
30:57
active at the time
30:58
of the church
30:58
in Antioch.
30:59
We can see that
31:00
to be clear here.
31:01
Somebody came
31:01
and they prophesied
31:02
that an event would happen
31:03
and it did in fact
31:04
happen.
31:06
So wherever you are
31:07
on that,
31:08
it did happen here.
31:10
And as a result
31:11
of that,
31:12
the disciples
31:13
were generous.
31:16
The disciples decided
31:17
that they should
31:18
take it upon themselves
31:19
to alleviate
31:20
the suffering
31:21
of their family members.
31:24
2 Corinthians 9.7
31:27
Wes quotes this
31:28
loosely to us often
31:29
as he talks about
31:30
our offering here.
31:32
Each one must give
31:33
as he has decided
31:34
in his heart,
31:35
not reluctantly
31:37
or under compulsion,
31:39
for God loves
31:40
a cheerful giver.
31:43
And you can see here
31:44
these disciples
31:45
determining everyone
31:47
according to his ability
31:49
to send relief
31:50
to the brothers
31:51
living in Judea.
31:54
Beloved,
31:55
we far too often
31:56
look for satisfaction
31:57
in this world
31:58
by things that we
31:59
purchase,
32:00
that we can have.
32:02
And I can promise you this,
32:04
that what you drive,
32:06
or the house
32:06
that you live in,
32:08
or the designer clothes
32:09
that you wear
32:09
will never satisfy
32:11
your soul.
32:12
We look far too often
32:14
fiscally
32:15
to satisfaction
32:16
that will never
32:17
ever come.
32:19
The other day
32:20
at dinner,
32:22
Judah announced to me
32:23
that he was going to live
32:24
a really,
32:25
really long time.
32:26
And I said,
32:27
really, Judah?
32:27
How do you know that?
32:29
And he said,
32:29
because every time
32:30
we go out on Papa's boat,
32:31
so his grandparents
32:33
on Sam's side
32:34
have a pontoon boat,
32:36
every time we go out
32:37
on Papa's boat,
32:38
I do this.
32:43
I said,
32:44
why does that mean
32:45
you're going to live
32:46
a long time?
32:47
And he said,
32:47
because we need air.
32:50
And I get lots of it
32:51
on Papa's boat.
32:57
I didn't correct him.
32:59
I just was cute.
32:59
We just laughed about it.
33:03
But he's seeking
33:04
to fill himself
33:05
with something
33:05
that he thinks
33:06
gives him life,
33:07
right?
33:07
And certainly air
33:07
does do that very thing.
33:09
But there's so much else
33:10
that brings life
33:11
to his little body.
33:13
Am I right?
33:15
In the same way,
33:16
we stand gaping
33:17
looking to satisfy
33:18
ourselves with so much.
33:20
And what you will be
33:21
ultimately satisfied with
33:22
when it comes
33:23
to your resources,
33:25
when it comes
33:25
to your money,
33:26
is generosity.
33:28
Richness toward God.
33:31
And I would suggest
33:32
that as we look
33:33
at this early church,
33:34
we think about
33:34
what we're holding on to
33:36
that we really ought
33:37
to let go of
33:39
for the sake
33:40
of the kingdom of God.
33:41
That we look at
33:42
how we can store up
33:43
treasure above
33:44
and not harbor
33:45
treasure here.
33:47
You're not taking it
33:48
with you.
33:50
There's a Charles Spurgeon
33:50
quote on the front
33:51
of your bulletin.
33:52
He said,
33:52
Giving is true having.
33:55
As the old gravestone
33:57
said of the dead man,
33:58
I really love this,
33:59
what I spent,
34:00
I had.
34:01
What I saved,
34:03
I lost.
34:04
What I gave,
34:06
I have.
34:08
So I would encourage you
34:09
as we consider that,
34:10
what can you give?
34:11
Even those of you
34:13
who are young
34:13
and in college
34:14
and working part-time jobs,
34:16
you have more
34:16
than many people
34:17
in the world.
34:18
How would God
34:19
have you be
34:20
more generous
34:22
in the kingdom?
34:23
So we see the proclamation
34:24
of the gospel
34:25
by the disciples
34:26
of Cyprus and Cyrene,
34:27
the life of Barnabas,
34:29
the leadership of Paul,
34:30
and the generosity
34:31
of the church.
34:33
And if we will stop
34:34
and be introspective
34:36
and consider,
34:37
right,
34:37
God's word to us
34:38
and what he means
34:39
for us to do with this.
34:41
There are many,
34:42
many applications
34:42
of such a text.
34:45
Lots of things
34:46
for you to consider
34:47
as you hold your life up
34:49
to the lives
34:50
of these people.
34:53
How does your life
34:54
measure up?
34:56
Are you regularly
34:58
and widely proclaiming
35:00
the gospel of Jesus Christ?
35:03
Are you full
35:05
of the Holy Spirit
35:06
and of faith?
35:07
Are you giving leadership
35:10
to others?
35:13
And are you generous?
35:14
Let's pray together.