“The Christians of Antioch”

Scripture: Acts 11:19-30

For the past three weeks, we have seen how the Lord can bring life changing ways to the lives of the most unusual people. Peter, a crude fisherman, was changed, first at Pentecost, and again when he visited Cornelius in Caesarea. Saul, a ridged Pharisee, was changed dramatically during his journey to Damascus, where he would continue his persecution of Christians, and his change brought him to become one of the foremost evangelists for Jesus.

Our Almighty God has been in the life-changing business since the beginning of time, and will continue to do so until time is no more. He has changed your life and mine, and will continue to reveal his never changing will to us until the day we join him in Paradise. Today, we begin a series to examine the changes that came to the people who Paul witnessed to in a number of cities throughout Gentile territory.

Today, our journey with Paul takes us to Antioch. The faith was already beginning to take hold in the city before Paul arrived, but the hope that grows in those who choose to follow Jesus Christ knows no bounds.

Read Acts 11:19-21

There are a few lessons that we need to learn from this passage.
First, The Word of the Church was being spread because of persecution. In recent past messages, we have discussed this incredible truth – that peace and contentment are the enemies of our faith, and that, strangely enough, opposition to the faith seems to be its greatest promoter! There’s an old saying that "the Lord comforts the afflicted, and afflicts the comfortable" – the point being that our Almighty God has no need of our contentment; that he will always work in the most powerful ways when his Church is under attack, and when his besieged people open their lives to him in faith.

Second, the very ones who were spreading the good news of Jesus Christ are unnamed. The unfortunate tendency that lives within each of us is that we like to be acknowledged for the good things we do. It’s not necessarily out of pride (although it certainly can be, and at times, it absolutely is!), but more likely, it’s that we want to know if we have made a difference. Either way, we want to know if others were blessed by our actions, or at least that they have noticed that something new has occurred. This is the problem, that it is all about what we have done, and not what the Lord has done through us. It’s all about who is going to get the credit, who is to be glorified. Anonymity in mission must always be our best friend!

Third, the Word of God was being shared with both Jews and Gentiles. Chronologically in the Book of Acts, this comes after Peter and Paul began to understand the importance of allowing Gentiles into the faith. But if we consider the timing associated with the stoning of Steven versus the more than three years of preparation that Paul needed, we discover that this would have begun a few years before Paul’s mission. So inclusion of Gentiles into Christ’s Church began, in all probability, right here in Antioch.

And Fourth, Antioch would probably be our last choice for a mission trip. It was cosmopolitan, it was pagan, it was a large city involved in international trade, and it was immoral in the extreme. Not an especially easy place to be a witness for Christ, but it was the most fertile mission ground that will ever be found! It would become a home for the missioners, an opportunity for growth in the faith, and a constant source of opposition to the truth of Christ for many years to come.

Antioch would be a precursor to all that the Church would experience and endure for the rest of time.

Read Acts 11:22-26

The Council heard that Gentiles were being welcomed into the faith, so they sent Barnabas, the “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36), to investigate. He recognized two facts right away: he saw that the Holy Spirit had been working in mighty ways within this largely Gentile city, and he also saw that this new church needed a strong leader to provide focus and coordination for these evangelistic efforts.

He approved of the witness that was at work, and encouraged the faithful to continue in their work of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. He not only had no concerns that Gentiles were coming to Christ, he saw it as a miracle at work.

But something was lacking – a single and central source of guidance was needed, and the Council of Jerusalem was too far away to contribute to this task. But, remember that Barnabas would be the one who stood by Paul when he came to the Council, and who seemed to have the most trust in this new apostle. He knew the strength of Paul’s resolve and the truth in his new found faith in Christ, and he recognized the man as the ideal person to lead the church in Antioch. And it didn’t hurt that Paul was as comfortable in dealing with Gentiles as he was with the Jewish community.

And believers would begin to be called “Christians”. But just as John and Charles Wesley’s Holiness Club members would be called “Methodists”, both terms were intended to be slighting nicknames. “Methodist” implied a disdain for the strict adherence to form in the Holiness meetings, and “Christian” came from a Latin word meaning “Those Christ folks”. While both were meant to be jokes, they would be claimed by the movements, and have come to mean far more than simply a humorous pun.

More and more persecution came against the faith, but by the power of the Spirit, hatred was turned into hope, ridicule was turned into joy, old and little gods were replaced with trust in the One and Mighty God – and all because persecution chased people out of their comfort zones!

Maybe we all need to have our “pots of contentment” stirred up a bit!

Read Acts 11:27-30

The Church was growing, but why would Prophets be needed at this time? Why not the Apostles from Jerusalem?
The Apostles were responsible for the faith – to ensure that false teaching was caught early and then corrected. But the concern of the Prophets was to reveal and open understanding of what was to come by faith. Agabus was one who came to help the Church in Antioch, by revealing that a famine was on the way. Now while this verse may seem to be disconnected from what follows, it isn’t.

The city of Antioch was situated on a major river, and they might have survived the famine easier than other areas of the empire. So the important issue here is how the Church of Antioch responded to the needs of others. They apparently didn’t even wait for the famine to grow in its intensity – they began making plans immediately to help the faithful wherever they may live. They were living out the call of Christ to love one another as he had always loved. (John 13:34-35) They saw themselves as a part of the greater Church, and they were ready to live in unity with the rest of believers, regardless of what that may require of them. (Ephesians 4:11-15)

The Church of today could learn some vital lessons from the Church of that day. Unfortunately, all too many people think we should forget the past, that it’s irrelevant, and that we should strike out in a whole new direction. But the truth is that it isn’t only God who never changes, it is also the Church that must stay true to the historic ways of the Lord’s truth, and to the call he has placed on each and every one of us.

Yes, we must reach out in new ways, but not in new theology.
Yes, we must proclaim Christ in ways that the current culture will understand and celebrate, but not with cultural and societal standards.
Yes, we must search for new ways to express our faith, and to worship in our faith, while never sacrificing the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The Christians of Antioch would withstand persecution, and opposition, and false teaching, but through the leadership of men like Barnabas and Paul, they would stand firm and live in the faith that Jesus had established.

May we do as well as they did.