I love these old hymns. Glorious
things of thee are spoken. Zion, city of our God. He whose
word cannot be broken formed thee for his own abode. That's the church, isn't it?
It's the habitation of God by the Spirit. Made, made to be
the habitation of God. Builded together, Ephesians 2,
22 says. In verse 21 it says, in whom
all the building fitly framed together groweth unto one holy
temple in the Lord. In whom you also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Such is the glory of the Church. The Church bears the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church has the responsibility
on this earth to actually proclaim Him, the wonder of proclaiming
Him, who is sovereign, who rules over all, who came for His own
and successfully bought them out and redeemed them and draws
them to Himself. As we've said so often, these
works in Acts are very much the evidence of the promise that
the Holy Spirit would come and He would be the one who, by taking
the things of the Lord Jesus, builds this church. And gloriously
in this verse here we have the first reference to that word
Christians in the Bible. And it's only used three times
in the Bible, in the New Testament. It's used here in Acts chapter
11, it's used in Acts chapter 26 when Agrippa is not the first
of free will religion, but one of the first in the New Testament
era. He says to Paul, who had been
talking to him, and he spoke freely to him, and he spoke to
him about these things that happened to the Lord Jesus Christ, that
they weren't done in a corner, that the activities of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the displaying of him by God the Father is both
the fulfilment of all the Old Testament promises of God, but
also it is the fulfilment in a way which is such, so manifest
that everyone knew. And he says to him in verse 27,
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou
believest. And then Agrippa said unto Paul,
almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. He thought that
through the persuasion of men you could be a Christian. It's
not through the persuasion of men, it's through something far
more powerful as we'll come to see in a little while. But Peter
speaks, uses this same word Christian. He says, in 1 Peter chapter 4. We'll start at verse 12. He said, Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as
though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice inasmuch
as you are partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory
shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. For if ye be reproached for the
name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of
God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody
in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on his behalf. For the time is come that judgment
must begin at the house of God. And if it first begin with us,
what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely
be saved, Where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Wherefore,
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful
Creator. The promise of God is that people
will speak evil of you as they spoke evil of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The warnings of Scripture and the promises of Scripture
are there, played out so plainly before us. Also, the warnings
about the fact that, as Peter says in verse 18 there, if the
righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear? Now very evidently this word
Christian is now so commonly bandied about that it has, to
almost everyone, lost any sense of real defining meaning at all. I'm not sure how many so-called
Christians there are in the world, but the number must be close
to two billion. There are over a billion Roman
Catholics that the Pope's responsible for. And he carefully puts them in
the hand of a so-called Mary, who is no resembler of the Mary
of the Bible whatsoever. They delude and deceive so many. And there are so many others
that have a form of righteousness and are trusting in their own
righteousness. There is, throughout the scriptures, there is, just
warning after warning, that there are people who name the name
of God and would call themselves Christians who aren't believers. It's good for us to think of
Nation Israel with all of the varieties of all the denominations
and types of so-called people who are worshipping God, and
yet when the Lord Jesus Christ came, the very God that they
said they were worshipping, the very Christ that they were looking
forward to, the Christ whom they knew when he was coming, and
they knew where he was coming, and they knew where he was going
to be born, and they knew what he was going to do, and when
that Christ appeared, the one that they claimed to worship
and look forward to, when that Christ appeared, It wasn't as
if there were some groups in nation Israel, in that Christianised
nation that were saved and on the right track. All of them
were wrong. All of them were wrong. And such
is our God who never changes. Such is the nature of this world
that we live in. There are countless multitudes,
countless, countless multitudes, meeting the Lord in glory, the
Lord of glory right now as we speak around this world, and
going to Him with a confidence, a confidence about something
that they've done, a confidence about something to do with their
flesh. but people who do not know the
living God. This is eternal life, says the Lord Jesus Christ, that
you know Him. And you'll know Him through the preaching of
the gospel. You know Him as He is the one
who makes Christians. There is so much false faith,
isn't there? And people are relying on things
that the scriptures warn them again and again about. People
think that they're saved because they've had some religious experience.
King Saul had remarkable religious experiences. They think that
they're saved because they have great religious privileges, that
they're associated. And no, a number of people have
said to me when I've mentioned, they've asked me what I do, and
they've started to, I've mentioned something about being a pastor
or a preacher or something, and then they, The number of people
that come to me and say, well, I have a cousin, or my third
cousin twice removed is, it was a preacher or something. Somehow
they think you can have association with Christians and therefore
that makes you safe. You must know him personally.
Lot's wife had the most remarkable Christian association. She had
an angel take her by the hand and lead her out of Sodom. and
she perished and went to hell. People think that they're saved
because of their great religious works and all their zeal. The
Pharisees had all of that. In fact, their zeal and their
religious works were a hindrance to salvation rather than a help. Some people think that because
they have great feelings and convictions, Agrippa had great
feelings and convictions, we just read about him. Some people
think that because they live this clean life that they are
moral people, that God must look upon them and applaud their morality
and applaud their goodness and reward them accordingly on that
great day. Some people think that they're
saved because they have an orthodox creed. Some people think that
they've become closer to God because they've moved from being
one of those ignorant Arminians to being reformed of some sort.
That's why we try never to use those terms here because it's
not a matter of what creed you follow, it's a matter of whether
you know the Lord and cling to Him. In the Book of Acts we have
seen people thus far, like Ananias and Sapphira, who made great
sacrifices for the Lord and yet were lost. Some had great miraculous gifts
and they weren't saved. Who is a Christian? That's the question. Am I a Christian? That's a good topic, isn't it?
That's a topic that I'm interested in. I trust you are. There is
a principle of Bible study, it's not written anywhere in the book
of God, but it's actually very helpful and I think it proves
consistently there is a thing called the sort of principle
or the law of first mention. And so when the name is mentioned
first in the scriptures, if you're ever studying the Bible, you
go to the place where that name is first mentioned, you'll find
that there is opened up before you all sorts of interesting
insights into what that name means. So this is the first time
that word is used in the scriptures. Earlier, they had derivis, derisive
names used of them. They were called Nazarenes. The
sect of the Nazarenes, Paul was said to belong to, and they were
called Galileans. They called themselves people
of the way. They were They were seen to be
a people who was derided. We read about it in 1 Peter.
In fact, the apostles declared themselves to be the filth and
the offscouring of all things in 1 Corinthians 4. They were
the cast off. They were the rejected ones.
They were the ones outside of the way of conventional religion. But this name, they were named,
it was called Christians. That word means that they were
named. And there is a naming of the children of God by God
himself. They are called, they are named.
He says in Isaiah 62 verses 1 and 2, you'll be called by a new
name which the mouth of the Lord shall name. In chapter 65 it
says, for the Lord God shall call his servants by another
name. are called, they're named by
God. This is God's designation of his people. And just because
the world pollutes it as it does every other biblical term, there
is not one that is not polluted by the people of this world,
not one characteristic of God which is perverted by the people
of this world, and just because they're perverted, and just because
religion perverts the character of God, doesn't mean that we
should do anything other than esteem the names that he gives
us. It means to be anointed, as I
said earlier, to be anointed ones, to receive an anointing
from the Holy Spirit. It means to be consecrated, to
set apart, to be sanctified for sacred purposes. I love Hebrews
10, we read it often. You get to have favourite passages. I've got thousands of favourite
passages of scripture, but you get to have favourite ones, don't
you? The Lord speaks of his union with us, doesn't he? He says
in Hebrews 10, lo, in the volume of the book it is written me
to do thy will, O God. And then he says, above when,
he said, sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offerings
for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein which
are offered by the law. Then said he, lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified,
through the offering of the body of Christ once for all. That he who sanctifies and those
that are sanctified, they're all of one. They're all of one. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Sanctified One, He's the Anointed One, and they're all one with
Him. He wears the title Messiah, He
wears that title Anointed One. This means the Anointed of Jehovah. He was anointed, the Lord is
spoken of in Acts 4.27, is thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit
when the Holy Spirit came upon him at his baptism. He's anointed
from everlasting. He's anointed in time. And in his anointing in time
and in his anointing in everlasting, he is one with his people. Never
does the Lord Jesus Christ act alone. Always He acts with His
people, for His people. Psalm 89 is a glorious description. Psalm 89 verse 19. Then thou spakest in a vision
to thy Holy One and saidst, I have laid help on one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found David my servant. I have found David my servant,
and with my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall
be established, mine arm also shall strengthen him. He is the anointed one, and all
of us anointed him. He is that priest He was anointed
to be a prophet, he was anointed to be a priest, he was anointed
to be a king. Just as all the Old Testament
prophets, priests and kings were anointed. They are all pictures
of the anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ as prophet, priest
and king. That glorious description of
the Lord Jesus Christ in In Psalm 110, which was quoted by Peter
on the day of Pentecost, the Lord has sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever, after
the order of Melchizedek. He is a priest. He is a priest
for a particular people. He represents a particular people
before God. In that same psalm, it says,
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the
beauties of holiness from the worm of the morning, thou hast
the Jew of thy youth. And I love the prayer in Psalm
84 verse 9. May it be our prayer again and
again, brothers and sisters. He says in verse 8, O Lord God
of hosts, hear my prayer, give ear, O God of Jacob, Selah. And then the prayer is, behold,
O God, our shield. Behold, O God, our shield, that
which defends us, that which takes all the darts of the evil
one. Behold, O God, our shield, and
look upon the face of thine anointed. Our looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ gives us great peace, but really the source of that
peace is that God the Father looks to His Son. And we find
ourselves looking in the same place as God the Father does
for His satisfaction and for His name to be revealed in His
glory. We will find we will find that
the next verse is ours in measure. For a day in thy courts, when
God the Father looks on his anointed, who does he look on? He looks
on the Lord Jesus Christ and he looks on all of the Lord Jesus
Christ and his bride. For a day in thy courts is better
than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For
the Lord God is a son and shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. And how do you walk uprightly?
Next verse. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the
man that trusteth in thee. Christ and His Church, Christ
and His Bride, Christ and His Body are one. We wear His name. We have the
honour of carrying the name of Christ before this world. We
do quote those verses out of Jeremiah often and they're just
lovely, aren't they? The name of the Lord Jesus Christ
in Jeremiah 23.6, He shall be called The Lord, our righteousness. in his days, in the days of this
King, in the days of this Lord, Judah shall be saved. Not Judah
might possibly be saved if you do something in response. Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his
name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. There is no other righteousness,
is there? There is no other righteousness except the Lord our righteousness.
And in that day, and go over to chapter 33 verse 15, in those
days and at that time will I cause the branch of righteousness to
grow up under David and he shall execute judgment. and righteousness
in the land, he'll execute judgment and righteousness, in those days
shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, and this
is the name wherewith she shall be called." What's her name?
The Lord Our Righteousness. That's her name. Just like in
the Song of Solomon, she bears the name, doesn't she? She bears
the name of her husband. She bears the name of her husband. So how, how does that great salvation
come about? How do these people, how do these
sinners come to be called Christians? How do they come to bear his
name? To be married, as it were, to
him? To have him as their husband,
to have him as their saviour, to have him as their redeemer? What are the marks of a Christian
in Acts chapter 11? Well, let's just go through these
verses and be amazed and delighted. People keep saying, how on earth
do you get the gospel to people? We say that people cannot be
saved unless they hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
then people turn around and say, well, what about those people
in the jungles of Africa? What about those people trapped
in all sorts of other places of darkness in the world? Why
do we think God has a problem? If you look what's going on,
there is a problem in this city of Antioch, isn't there? Now,
they which were scattered abroad, they've been scattered abroad
for years by now, upon the persecution that rose about Stephen, traveled
as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word,
listen to this, they preached the word to none but unto the
Jews only. How often we're like that, brothers
and sisters, aren't we? We want to preach to people who
we think are going to be hearers. We want to preach to the easy
ones, the ones that have some knowledge. There is, by the hand
of our God, a means where he providentially brings people
to hear. Let's look at the next verse.
And some of them, Some of them, these Jews, were men of Cyprus
and Cyrene. which when they came to Eritrea,
some of these ones that were scattered on this persecution,
they were scattered to Cyprus, that island in the Mediterranean,
they were scattered to that Cyrene, there was the man of Cyrene who
carried the cross for the Lord Jesus on the day of his crucifixion. Cyrene is way up in Libya. So how do you get these people
to hear? How do you get these chosen Gentile
sinners in Antioch to hear the gospel? You bring a man across
the sea from Cyrene, from Africa. You bring another one from Cyprus,
which when they were come to Antioch, they spake unto the
Grecians. That's how they get to here,
don't they? God's arm is not shortened. He has the power.
He has the means. He will providentially bring
people to hear. Always He'll bring His people
by an act of His sovereign hand, by bringing His preachers to
be with those who He has chosen to save. Don't doubt it, brothers
and sisters. They will come. And they came
and they spoke unto the Grecians. I love that description of what
they preached. They preached the Lord Jesus. They preached
Him. They didn't preach about men
and their needs. They didn't preach about politics. They didn't preach about good
works. They preached about Him. They preached Him. It is the
same as in verse 19. It's preaching the Word. To preach
the Lord Jesus Christ is to preach Him in His glory. It's to preach
Him as the one who fulfilled all of the Old Testament scriptures.
It's to preach Him from the Old Testament prophets. All of the
prophets bear witness of Him. It's to preach that the Lord
Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ of God. The Christ of God. It's to preach
that he is the one who came and fulfilled all of the Old Testament.
Everything is completed in him and all the promises of the Old
Testament are yay and amen. We read them earlier out of several
passages in the Old Testament. Every time we read a shall and
a will, we know that our great God has performed it. He has written it in that covenant
of eternity. He has performed it. It's not
like this modern religious world. I had to write this down the
other day. I couldn't believe it. This came from someone who
would call themselves conservative, reformed, Calvinistic. Maybe
you need to know today. at that. God is searching for
you more than you are searching for Him. God loves you more than
you love yourself. God wants to spend forever with
you, no matter what you've done, no matter what you become. Every time someone uses the word
God and try, God and wants, God and desires in the same sentence,
you know that they're not talking from God. God doesn't try to
do anything. He speaks a word and a creation
comes into existence, a universe is formed. He speaks that same
word according to what we read in Hebrews chapter 1, and he
upholds this universe. And when he speaks another word,
this universe will be wrapped up. And when he speaks another
word, this universe will be unfolded again. There's a new creation
coming. He doesn't try to do anything. He doesn't have any
unfulfilled wants. He doesn't have any unfulfilled
desires. If He does, He's not God, because
someone is bigger than Him. And you better go and find Him.
Not our God, not the God of the Scriptures. To preach the Lord
Jesus is to preach Him as Lord. It's sovereign. It's to preach
Him as Jehovah. It's to preach Him as God over
all. It's a lovely thing to think,
isn't it? And it's in these verses here. It says, the Lord Jesus,
in the hand of the Lord was with them. They declared Jesus Christ
to be God. God has made this Jesus in Acts
chapter two. God has made this Jesus, both
Lord and Christ. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God. End of story, brothers and sisters.
Not God if, God. Jesus Christ is God. And this
Jesus Christ was put to death by wicked hands. But he was put
to death by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. The
death of the Lord Jesus Christ was promised in eternity in that
covenant of grace. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
was promised in all of the Old Testament scriptures. The death
of the Lord Jesus Christ was not an accident of any sort whatsoever. He set his face like a flint
to go to Jerusalem. He knew exactly what he was going
there for. He knew exactly what was going
to happen to him. He knew exactly what was going
to be the reward of it. He knew exactly what was happening
at every moment. He was the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was raised from the dead. And as we saw earlier in Acts
chapter 10, he was shown. He was shown by God. He is displayed in his resurrection
by God. Not to everyone. He was only
ever displayed in his resurrection to chosen witnesses. He only
ever appeared in his resurrection glory to his children, to his
bride, to his wife. He is the crucified, resurrected
God. And he reigns in heaven right
now. He sits on the throne of this
universe. He rules and controls all things,
the thoughts of men and the actions of men. He controls all things. That's his name. Again and again
in the book of Acts we read, that whosoever believeth on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ in John, in Acts 10.43, to him
give all the prophets witness that through his name, see to
his name is not just the Lord Jesus Christ, his name is all
of what those terms mean. For him to be the Lord is to
be the sovereign God. For him to be Jesus is to be
the man that we read about out of Hebrews earlier in chapter
10. For him to be the Christ is to
be the anointed one of God. For him to be the Christ is for
him to have a bride. For him to have a bride who bears
his name. And she bore his name. He bore
her name. in that great covenant of grace.
She'll be mine. I'll come and I'll redeem her. And I will make her holy, spotless,
unblameable. By my death on Calvary's tree,
I will take away all of her sins, so that before me, before the
holy God, before the law of God, she is perfectly justified. She
has no sin. She's perfectly fit to be a habitation
of God by the Spirit, that through His name, that through His name,
whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. There
is an object object to our believing, isn't it? There is a defined
character that we're believing. It's not believing in some wishy-washy
nonsense that so many people are believing in. It's actually
believing in Him as He's defined, as He defines Himself, as God
the Father defines Him, as God the Holy Spirit defines Him.
It's to believe in Him as the God that you will meet when you
leave here. John met Him, didn't he? This
is what happens when people meet Him. John met Him. He heard a
voice. I turned, Revelation 1-12, I
turned to see the voice that spoke with me and being turned
I saw seven golden candlesticks and in the midst of the seven
candlesticks was one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire,
and his feet were like undefined brass, as if they'd been burned
in a furnace. And his voice was as the sound
of many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. This is the Lord Jesus that Paul
met on the road to Damascus. And when I saw him, this is what
happens when God's people meet him. When I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. This is John, an old, old apostle
who had probably walked with the Lord for 70 odd years. When
he meets him afresh, this is what happens. I fell at his feet,
and what does he do? I love the next words. It's what
he does to all of his people when he comes and meets with
them. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear
not. You've had every reason to fear.
Now, because you've met me and have feared, you have no reason
to fear whatsoever. You have no reason to fear because
of a word that I say. Fear not, I am the first and
the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell
and death. You write them down, John. You
write this down. Write this down for us, so that
we'll know. To believe this great number,
in verse 21, this great number believed. They believed some
particular things. They believed what the scriptures
said about him. They believed him as he was described. They believed. They believed
that word of the gospel, whosoever believeth in him shall receive
remission of sins. He's able to save the chief of
sinners. He's able to save to the uttermost
sinners. He's able not only to save, but
he's able to keep that which is committed to him. To believe
is to commit to Him. Believe is to rely upon Him. To believe is to believe that
God is strictly just, that God is totally sovereign, that our
God is full of mercy, that our God is willing to forgive sin.
I love what the leper said, didn't he? That leper, full of leprosy. He said, Lord, if you'd be willing,
Lord, if you will." And he said, I will, and he reached out and
touched him. It's to believe that he's shed
his precious blood for sinners and that everyone he's shed his
precious blood for must and will be saved. that He is Lord and
He commands. And when He commands, He gives
the power to respond. He commands sinners to believe. He receives sinners. He always
receives sinners. He receives all sinners, all
sinners. He makes them sinners and He
receives them. He receives the harlots and the
tax collectors. He receives Mary. He receives
the Samaritans. He receives, He receives these
Gentiles. He commands. He says, come. He says, come, and his people
come. He says, look unto me, and his
people look, and they're saved. He commands them to repent. He
commands them to believe. A great number believed. They
did two things, didn't they, here? They believed, and they
turned. They turned, look what the phrase
says, they turned unto the Lord. It is another way of talking
about repentance, isn't it? To turn, but it's not quite the
same word. And it's used again and again
in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 15, verse 14, that turning is
a turning from vanities. Everything apart from him in
this world is vain. The word means empty, empty. Has God emptied this world for
you? That all of what you thought
was secure and solid and reassuring, has it been emptied for you? For believers, it's been emptied. In Acts chapter 15, it's a reference
to conversion, declaring the turning of the Gentiles the turning
of them, the conversion of them. Acts 15, 19 it talks about them
are turned. Paul's commission that he relates
to us in Acts chapter 26 talks about this people to open their
eyes, verse 18, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness
to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
the forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified."
I love this phrase from our Lord Jesus' lips, that are sanctified
by faith that is in me. We're sanctified by His faithfulness,
brothers and sisters. And by our faith that He gives
us, we lay hold of that. That's what deliverance is, isn't
it? Turning is a deliverance in verse 17 of that same chapter.
Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom
I now send you. Paul was to be sent, as we see
a little bit later on, Paul was to be sent to these people. It's
a turning. There are lots of people turning
in all sorts of things in this world, aren't there? People turn
from being filthy meat-eaters to nice, clean-living vegans.
People turn from being alcoholics to clean-living. People turn
from drugs to other things. People turn in all sorts of ways.
But there is one turning here that matters most of all, isn't
it? It's in that verse, isn't it? They turned unto the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1,
Paul speaks of how he came amongst those believers there. And for they themselves show
us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how you turned
to God. There's only one turning that
matters, and that's a turning to God from idols. What are idols? Turn to God from
idols. The obvious idols are there laid
out before us, aren't they? The world is full of all sorts
of idols. You can go to the churches around
here and you'll see idols. They have crosses as idols. They
have statues as idols. In India, the place was absolutely
full of idols. There were one on every corner.
You could hardly go and buy anything in a shop without having to be
there in the presence of idols. They had them on their cars and
their trucks and all over the place. The world is full of them. Asia is full of idols everywhere. But an idol is also something
that's meant to represent what is real, isn't it? You might
remember, recall the story of Aaron at the foot of Mount Sinai,
when he couldn't believe that Moses was coming back quickly
enough, and so what did he do? When they made that golden calf,
And he lied to Moses about it, that somehow it miraculously
popped out of the fire. But he didn't say, this is an
idol, this is a copy of an Egyptian god. What did he say? He said,
this is the god. This is the god that brought
you out of Egypt. An idol is anything that somehow
mimics the real god. and takes his place before you. The so-called Christian world is
full of idolatry. The Thessalonians turned from
the idolatry of Greek religion, but they turned to the Lord. If you turn to the Lord, you'll
be turned from idolatry. you'll be turned from religious
idolatry of all sorts, you'll be turned from the idolatry of
worshipping the things of yourself and your own activity, to be
turned. And how are these people turned?
There was a preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, there was
a providential meeting of a preacher and his people. The Christians
were people who met the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching
of the Word of God. They actually saw him. I was
amazed. I read a verse in Galatians, and I'm not sure that I actually
brought out as clearly as I should have when I spoke through it.
But in Galatians chapter 1, he says, O foolish Galatians, who
has bewitched you? Who has turned you back to idolatry?
Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? And
he gives a great description of preaching, a great description
of preaching. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ
hath been evidently set forth crucified among you. He doesn't
say before whose ears Jesus Christ was set forth. He so displayed
the Lord Jesus Christ according to the scriptures and according
to history that they actually saw him. It was as if they were
there as witnesses at the crucifixion. They heard the groans and the
cries, and they heard the prayers from the cross. They heard those people, those
dogs and wild bulls, as they raged against the Lord Jesus
Christ. Evidently set forth. That's preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian is someone who has
had the Lord Jesus preached to them. A Christian is someone,
according to verse 21, whose the hand of the Lord was upon
them. What a glorious description of
the power that is necessary for there to be preaching of the
Lord Jesus Christ with an unction from God, with an anointing from
the Holy One. The hand of the Lord, it's a
sovereign hand, isn't it? It's an omnipotent hand. He said, Behold the Lord. His
hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is ear heavy
that it cannot hear, Isaiah 51. His hand is revealed to his own. Who has believed our report,
says Isaiah 53.1, to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The arm of the Lord, the power
of the Lord, is revealed to his own. There is a preaching of
the gospel to make Christians. There is a turning and a believing
because there is a hand of God upon them. It's called the good hand of
God. When Nehemiah had to go back
and build the temple, build the walls of Jerusalem and Ezra and
others with the rubber ball, rebuild that temple, they said,
the good hand of the Lord is upon me. It's the hand of the
Lord for salvation, isn't it? You know the verses in John 10
well, but they're lovely to hear again, aren't they? He says,
my sheep, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them
and they follow me. They have him preach to them
and the hand of the Lord is upon them. My sheep hear and they
follow and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish,
says our sovereign God. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. They're in his hand. All of his
people are in his hand. My Father which gave them, all
of his people, are the gift of his Father. The precious gift
of his Father, the Christians are. My Father which gave them
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand." That's how secure God's children are. They're in the hands of the Saviour,
and they're in the hands of God. Who's going to get them? How
can you get out of there? It's the hand of salvation. It's
that hand that touches the unclean and they are healed. It's a gracious
hand. It's a hand that now bears the
nail marks, doesn't it? The marks of redeeming love are
in the hand of our Lord. It's the hand that moves men
to preach. It's the hand of the Lord that
moves men to hear. And when these people hear, there
is a noising about. Whenever people are saved, there's
a fame that is spread. It's not done in such a secret
way. God's people, the word gets out.
Verse 22, when tidings of these things came under the ears of
the church which is in Jerusalem, they sent forth Barnabas that
he should go as far as Antioch. It's evident, isn't it? When
someone is made a Christian, it's evident. It's evident because
the grace of God is seen. Barnabas witnessed the grace
of God. When the grace of God is seen,
when we see the hand of God upon other people, bringing them to
salvation, there's a gladness. There's a gladness. The joy of
God's people is the salvation of other sinners. And then He
exhorted them, this Son of Encouragement, this man Barnabas. He exhorted
them that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord. Christians are people who have
a set plan. They have a determination, a
purpose of heart. They lay hold of him. They cleave. To cleave is to be steadfastly
devoted to. It's a picture of marriage in
the Garden of Eden. The bride is to leave her family. She's to cleave to her husband. The Church cleaves to Him. They are made willing in the
day of His power. To cleave to Him, to hold on
to Him, means that He must be close enough for you to take
hold of Him. He must be known. to know him
and to know ourselves, to know our need. To cleave is to be
dependent upon. The bride in the Song of Solomon
comes up out of the wilderness, leaning on her beloved. She's
cleaving to her beloved. It's to know, to cleave to him
is to know his sufficiency and to know our nothingness. clinging
people, are dependent people. Christians are children, they
are dependent people. They that know thy name will
put their trust in thee, to lay hold of him by faith, and from
his fullness to receive grace for grace. to have his hand upon
you, to be turned to him and to believe, is to have the eternal
God. I love how Moses described the
saviour in his dying days. He says, the eternal God is thy
refuge, and underneath are everlasting arms. The furthest a Christian
can fall is into the arms of God. underneath our everlasting
arms. Are you an anointed one? Are these describing the things
of your life? And much people, much people
were added unto the Lord. They're added to him. They become
one with Him and they join with His Church. Added unto the Lord. All of the Christians are people
who are added unto the Lord. We might have to look at the
rest of this in the following week. for when Barnabas sought
Saul. Here is the providential hand. How do you get the apostle to
the Gentiles to come and minister to these Gentiles? You send the
son of consolation to go and get him. And what do they do? When they come together for that
whole year, they assemble themselves with the church. Christians are
people who are assembled with the church, and they taught much
people. Christians are people who are
taught, are taught people. To be a disciple is to be a learner. To be a learner is someone who's
happy to admit that there's so much more he needs to learn.
Our God is so big. When he is magnified and fills
this universe, there is so much to learn. Learners. We're called Christians first
at Antioch. Are you an Anointed One? Does
God's description of His Anointed One describe you and does it
describe me? If that's anything like the description
of your being brought and your being made, you're being made
by a hand of God to be a believer. to be turned to the Lord, to
be a recipient of the grace of God, then like Barnabas, like
Barnabas, God's people go away, knowing that their Saviour and
they are joined as one. and he's done all things well.
And he upholds them with his powerful hand. He holds them
and they can never be turned from him. See, believers find
it impossible not to believe. Believers find the character
of their God described in this book as so perfectly suited to
everything that they need. that is altogether wonderful. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
make your dear son precious to us. Cause us to see him on Calvary's
tree, shedding his life's precious blood for the sins of people
like us. And Heavenly Father, we thank
you for the promise that you'll gather your people together in
this world where we will encourage each other with the words of
the Lord Jesus Christ, with the wonderful descriptions of Him
and what He's done and what He is doing for His people, how
He gathers us together in churches, and these churches are the habitation
of God. And he makes his people willing
on the day of his power, willing to believe, willing to be turned,
willing recipients of the grace of God, willing worshippers of
our great and glorious Saviour. Heavenly Father, we thank you
that these things come by a sovereign hand and come in such a way that
we can cry, as Jonah did, that salvation is of the Lord. And we rejoice that it's so.
And we rejoice in the declaration and the description of that name
upon whom we have believed to the saving of our eternal souls. Make us Christians. Anoint us
and make us Christians, our Father, and cause us to be glad in our
great God and Saviour. For we pray in Jesus' name and
for his glory. Amen.