Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The cities of this world
have all been indwelt by wicked men, and the concentration of
their populations has encouraged that innate wickedness which
we see manifested as the Lord destroyed the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah. The only just man that could
be found in that city was rescued out of it. He was just not because
of his morality, but because of the one who is the justifier
of his elect. There was nothing upright in
Lot's conduct in the ensuing days and nothing commendable
about his sin. Yet the Lord used his sin for
good as his incestuous liaison produced offspring from which
the lineage of Christ is traced. In this the Lord would show us
that there is no good thing in men. All of their righteousness
is that which is imputed to them by the Redeemer. So we find little
recommendation in the scriptures for city dwelling. Yet the Lord
calls His sheep even while they are in the midst of these ungodly
habitations. The city of Antioch is mentioned
18 times in the New Testament. The Lord had people in that city,
both Jew and Gentile, whom He would call out of darkness and
into the light. Thus he was pleased to send gospel preachers to declare
the unsearchable riches of Christ, that they might hear and believe,
even as the saints of old, who all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. But now they desire
a better country, that is in heavenly, wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them
a city. When many believers were scattered
in the days following the stoning of Stephen, some of them were
sent, unbeknownst to them, to the city of Antioch. At the first,
they, being Jews, only preached to the Jews of that city. The
Lord raised up many who believed the gospel of the glory of Jesus
Christ, and upon hearing of their faith, the church at Jerusalem
sent Barnabas to bear witness of them and to them. While he
was there, the Lord caused many of the Jews to believe. In time,
Barnabas left Antioch in search of Paul, and finding him brought
him back to Antioch. They both assembled with these
believers for a year, and the scripture notes that it was here
at Antioch that those who confessed to being the followers of Christ
were first called Christians. And when he had found him, he
brought him unto Antioch, and the disciples were called Christians
first in Antioch. This name, though probably bestowed
upon them in a derisive way by the unbelievers in the city,
was actually quite a mark of honor, for it indicates that
they were openly confessing those things that they believed and
walked in obedience to those precepts. We sadly point out
that this name has come to mean very little in the present day,
since it is applied to men in such a general way as to signify
nothing, and most claiming to be such can produce little evidence
in support of it. I know thy works, that thou hast
the name that thou livest, and art dead. These Christians in
Antioch sent monetary gifts for the relief of the suffering brethren
in Jerusalem, demonstrating their willingness to bear one another's
burdens. It was here in Antioch that the Lord was pleased to
move among the people to send Barnabas and Saul unto the work
which He had called them to do, in carrying the gospel to the
island of Cyprus. When they returned to Antioch,
they went to the synagogue, as was their custom as Jews, on
the Sabbath, that is, the seventh day of the week, and while there
declared the unsearchable riches of the crucified and risen Christ. Few of the Jews desired to hear
of this man, yet many of the Gentiles who gathered on the
fringes of that assembly desired to hear more of these things.
Thus Saul and Barnabas spoke to them on the following Sabbath,
and the multitude of the Jews made a mockery of them, but nearly
the whole city turned out to listen to this message. Here
we read of one of the most glorious and incontrovertible passages
in the Scriptures, which declares the sovereign electing grace
of God in the appointing of His people unto salvation. And when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word
of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. All of these things happened
in Antioch unto the glory of our blessed God and Savior, who
calls his own sheep by name and makes his people willing in the
day of his power. Have you heard and believed the
gospel of Christ's redemption? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net