Okay, today we're looking at
Acts chapter 11 one more time and I'm taking the title for
the message from what is said in verse 26. And when he had found him, that
is Barnabas, seeking for Saul of Tarsus, he brought him unto
Antioch. And it came to pass that whole
year They assembled themselves with the church. Now, that's
important. Our Lord said, where two or three
are gathered together in my name, I'm with you. They assembled
with the church, but the Lord met with them. That's the blessedness
of our meeting together. The Lord's with us. Say, well,
I don't see him. I don't feel him. He didn't say
we'd see him or feel him. He said, believe my promise.
Where I am, there, where you meet together, I'm in the midst. And the whole year, they assembled
themselves with the church, the Lord's people, and taught them.
God's people need to be taught the truth. They taught much people,
and I'm sure the Lord added to the church there in Antioch,
and I'm sure the Lord blessed his word to the hearts of the
people, and they were called Christians first. It's the first
time we read of this word here in Antioch. The disciples were
called Christians. Before they were called disciples
of Christ, believers, servants of the Lord, saints, sinners
saved by grace, brethren, the elect, the church, the called
out, the sheep, the jewels of heaven. But here these people
in Antioch came up with something new and novel. These people met
so much IN THE NAME OF CHRIST, PREACHING CHRIST, WORSHIPING
CHRIST, THEY SAID THESE PEOPLE ARE CHRISTIANS LIKE THE CORINTHIANS
IN CORINTH. THESE PEOPLE ARE IN CHRIST. NOW, YOU NEVER FIND A BELIEVER
IN THE WORD OF GOD REFERRING TO HIMSELF AS A CHRISTIAN. Now that may sound strange to
some of you. Believers in the Word of God
refer to themselves as sinners, the chief of sinners, saved by
the grace of God, a believer in the true grace of God, but
never do we read in the Book of Acts or any other place where
believers refer to themselves as Christians. The word is used two other times
in scripture. In Acts 26, Agrippa said to Paul,
you almost persuaded me. Remember, he said, you almost
persuaded me to be one of those Christians. In 1 Peter 4, 16,
here's the other time, it's used three times. Yet if any man suffer
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify
God on this behalf. Now, I never refer to myself,
and if you do, that's your business. I'm not gonna criticize you for
it, but I never refer to myself or to other people who are believers
as Christian. And the reason I don't is because
the term in this day has become meaningless. I refer to others
in the church who believe the gospel as believers or as brothers
in the Lord, not as, well, is that man a Christian? Well, that
means a whole lot of different things to different people. WHOLE
LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. NOW, I HOPE TO ANSWER
THAT QUESTION FROM WHAT IS SAID IN THESE VERSES IN DESCRIBING
WHAT A REAL BELIEVER IS WHO SOME PEOPLE CALL CHRISTIAN. NOW, SADLY
TODAY, THE WORD AND TERM CHRISTIAN HAS BECOME ABSOLUTELY MEANINGLESS. THAT'S WHY I DON'T USE THE WORD,
BECAUSE IT MEANS SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. LET
ME GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES. We have Christian schools, they
say. We have even what they call Christian
radio stations, whatever that is. They even have what they
call Christian TV stations. There's nothing on those stations
about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about
the flesh. We even have what they call Christian music. Sounds
to me like a whole lot of rock and roll music that I used to
listen to back in the 60s. And America is often called a
Christian nation. Now, I pray that there is some
believers in this nation, but this nation is anything but Christian. For the most part, full of infidels
and ungodly men. who hate God and the true gospel
of God. So I don't call this nation a
Christian nation. There are some believers in this
nation, and I'm thankful the Lord has given us the freedom
we have to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
what is a Christian? Well, I would say a Christian
is a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, one who is a disciple
of his teachings, a disciple of the word. But it includes
much more than that. It includes those, a Christian
are those who are in Christ. You see, in Him we live and move
and have our being. We are believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, we see the Gospel Church
being established among the Gentiles in this city of Antioch. Now that city is located in what
is modern day southern Turkey, right on the Syrian border. And
it's no longer called Antioch, it's called Antioch, Antioch. And it's about 700 miles from
Jerusalem. History record, the church was
established there in the early days by these preachers of the
gospel, and that it stood there for 500 years. preaching the gospel of God's
grace. Of course, now it is gone. No longer is there any gospel
being preached here as far as we know. Now it's all Islamic,
Muslim, everywhere. The church here in Antioch was
one of the first to send out gospel missionaries. We're gonna
see that in chapter 13. The people of that city gave
to the church, the people who gathered in the name of Christ,
they gave them this name, Christian. They never made this name for
themselves. Others who were outside of the
church called them this name, Christian. All those in that
church in Antioch preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
talked about the Lord Jesus Christ, and said that salvation was in
Him. Therefore, those people of that
city said, these people must be called by Christians. Now, in these verses, verse 18,
down through the end of that chapter, I think we see a biblical
description of those who are believers and one in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Give you a good example, right
off the top here, they were granted repentance unto life. That's
what God does for his elect. who were made believers, new
creatures, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice verse 19,
20, and 21. They were scattered abroad because
of persecution that arose when Stephen was stoned, and they
traveled as far as, and I see this is north of Jerusalem and
Cyprus, which is an island out in the Mediterranean, and then
they went as far as Antioch, 700 some miles, preaching THE
WORD OF THE LORD. NOW LET ME SHOW YOU THAT AGAIN. LET'S TURN BACK OVER HERE TO
ACTS CHAPTER 8. AND WE'LL SEE THIS ONE MORE TIME. You would think that the church
there in Jerusalem being persecuted and being scattered abroad, that
it would be a bad thing. Well, it was bad to experience
those things, but really, in the long run, it was a good thing. It was by the good and sovereign
providence of God. Acts chapter 8, verse 1, And
Saul was consenting unto his death, and at that time there
was great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. They were scattered abroad throughout
all the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation
over him. As for Saul of Tarsus, he made
havoc of the church, entering every house and hailing men and
women, arresting them, committing them to prison. Therefore, They
that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching, preaching,
preaching the word. So there we see that persecution
came, and it was a trial, it was a heartache, but it was for
the good of the people because the gospel went everywhere. They
were scattered abroad because of persecution, but they went
preaching the gospel. You see, my friend, the point
I'm making is that all things were together for good to them
who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
I'm sure those people at that time, they thought they were
being persecuted and hounded and the hardships they endured.
Some of them probably thought, well, this is not fair, this
is not right. But believers, I know they said,
this is the will of God concerning us. The Apostle Paul wrote this
in Philippians chapter one, what things happen to me, And he knew
something about persecution, heartache, and trial. Those things
that happened to me happened unto the furtherance of the gospel. So a believer, a true one who
is in Christ, are those who are loving the providence of God,
the good things that God brings into our life for our good and
his glory. For example, Joseph was sold
in the Egyptian bondage by his brethren, remember? They hated
him because he was Jacob's favorite. But Joseph, when he was made
known to his brethren, he said to them, you thought evil against
me. And they did. But God meant it
for good. You hated me. You sold me off
into slavery. And you meant it for evil. God
meant it for good to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save
much people alive. And we know the story, how God
blessed those, even though they were in bondage for 400 years,
how God brought them out with a high arm by the blood atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ. These believers were scattered
throughout the region because of persecution, but they went
everywhere preaching, preaching, preaching the word of the Lord.
Look at verse 19, they were scattered abroad, but they went preaching
to Antioch, Cyprus, and Pharnacia, preaching the word of the Lord,
preaching the word, none but to the Jews only. And some of
them were men of Cyprus, Cyrene, which when they were come to
Antioch, spake unto the Grecian, preaching the Lord Jesus. the Lord Jesus. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Peter preached this same Jesus
whom you crucified. He spoke Lord and Christ. Believers are those who have
been granted repentance. Believers are those who have
heard the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and have submitted
unto his Lordship. That a true use this word biblical
word a true Christian for those who are bowing to the sovereign
will of the Lord Jesus Christ and verse 21 and the hand of
of the Lord was with them. This is his sovereign, omnipotent
hand. The hand of the Lord was on them,
and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. That is the life and case and
experience of a true believer called Christian. THE HAND OF
THE LORD WAS UPON THEM, THE MIGHTY HAND OF GOD. THEY'RE CALLED THE
PEOPLE OF HIS PASTURE AND THE SHEEP OF HIS HAND, AND A GREAT
NUMBER BELIEVED." What do they believe? What do believers believe? They believed the word of the
Lord, everything revealed in his book. In the book revealed,
I see the Lord Jesus Christ. A great number believed. That
is, they were granted repentance, but they were also granted faith.
Through the preaching of the gospel, God granted them faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of the Lord, and true repentance and true faith
causes us to turn to God, and when we turn to God, or we are
turned to Him, as one prophet said, turn me, Lord, and I shall
be turned. As we're turned to Him, we turn
away from every other thing that would hinder us. We say with
Paul, when Saul of Tarsus was converted At one time, Saul the
Pharisee said, I was a Pharisee, a Pharisee, zealous of the tradition
of my father. My mother was a Hebrew. My daddy
was a Hebrew. I was circumcised the eighth
day. He had all these things. That's Saul of Tarsus. But when
the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he was granted faith
and repentance in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance toward God,
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he bowed into submission, and
he counted all but loss, that I may win Christ and be found
in him. That's turning to the Lord, turning
away from everything else, and turning to the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. FOR ALL OF SALVATION, GRACE ALONE,
CHRIST ALONE, FAITH ALONE, THE WORD OF GOD ALONE, THAT'S WHAT
A TRUE BELIEVER IS. THE HAND OF GOD IS UPON THEM,
THEY'VE BEEN ADDED TO THE LORD, AND THEY'VE TURNED TO THE LORD.
THE LORD ADDED MUCH PEOPLE, IT SAYS IN VERSE 24. THE HAND OF
THE LORD WAS UPON THEM. Look at verse 22, Then tidings
of these things came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem,
and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Now remember before when we studied
the earlier part of this chapter, when Peter went down to the house
of Cornelius and preached to those Gentiles there, And God
granted them faith. God granted them repentance.
And they believed. They turned to the Lord and turned
away from everything else. And when the news came back to
the church leaders there in Jerusalem, some of them got upset. And they
contended with Peter. And Peter declared unto them
what God hath cleansed, and God hath made whole." Don't you call
that common or unclean. God made them new creatures in
Christ. God had granted them repentance and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, when tidings of these things
came into the ears of the church of Jerusalem, they were no longer
contending but rather rejoicing in the good news of the gospel.
And they sent forth Barnabas, faithful Barnabas, that he should
go as far as Antioch, 750 miles away from Jerusalem. Who, when
he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and exhorted
them with purpose of heart, they should cleave to the Lord. Now,
remember when we met this man, Barnabas? Turn back here to Acts
chapter four. When we first met him, the early
church there, remember they were selling out all their possessions
and selling out all their good and bringing everything into
one storehouse. And this man here, Acts chapter
four, Verse 35, and they laid them down at the apostles' feet,
and distribution was made unto every man according as he had
need. Verse 36, and Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed
Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation, the son
of comfort. He was a Levite, and of the country
of Cyprus, having land, sold it. brought the money, and laid
it down at the apostle's feet. Here's a man totally sold out
to the cause of God and Christ in the gospel. He was a man full
of faith, full of the Holy Ghost. It says there in the next part,
they sent, verse 22, Acts 11, and they sent Barnabas that he
should go as far as Antioch. I love what it says here in verse
23, who when he came, he came to this city where the gospel
had been preached and he had seen the grace of God, he was
glad. Now, how do you see the grace
of God? How do you see the grace of God?
Well, you see the grace of God manifested in the lives of sinners
who were saved by the grace of God. I'm looking out among you
who believe the gospel, and I've seen the grace of God. Some of
you who one time did not believe the gospel, now you do, and I
visibly see the grace of God in your heart, in your life,
in your testimony, what you say. And you can say with the apostle,
I am what I am now by what? This grace of God. Seeing the
grace of God, God saves every sinner he saves, wisely saved,
by his purpose, by his grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. It's eternal grace. He's seen
the grace of God and was glad. NOW, GRACE MAKES US GLAD. WHERE
THERE'S GRACE, THERE'S HAPPINESS. WHERE THERE'S GRACE, WE REJOICE
IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. ALWAYS. AND AGAIN, I SAY REJOICE. WE HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE
FLESH, DO WE? BUT WE'RE GLAD BECAUSE OF THE
GRACE OF GOD. GOD, BY HIS GRACE, HAS CHOSEN
TO SAVE SOME MISERABLE SINNERS FROM THE WRATH TO COME AND MADE
US NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST. AND NOTICE WHAT IT SAYS HERE,
And again, this is a description of what a true believer is. He's experienced the grace of
God in his heart. And he's glad, he's always rejoicing
in the Lord. And Barnabas exhorted them all
that with purpose of heart, you see that verse 23? That with
purpose of heart they would cleave, cleave unto the Lord. Now I love that statement there,
two things, purpose of heart, purpose of heart that they would
cleave unto the Lord." Now, that word cleave there has reference
to laying hold of the Lord Jesus Christ. With purpose of heart,
lay hold upon THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HOW DO WE LAY HOLD UPON
HIM? NOT SOMETHING WE DO PHYSICALLY, IS IT? IT'S SOMETHING WE DO BY
FAITH, LOOKING UNTO THE LORD JESUS. LISTEN TO WHAT THE APOSTLE
PAUL WRITES TO TIMOTHY, THAT THOU, O MAN OF GOD, FLEE THESE
THINGS, AND FOLLOW AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS AND GODLINESS, FAITH, LOVE, PATIENCE,
MEAKNESS, FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, LAY HOLD OF ETERNAL
LIFE. or unto thou also are called
and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give you another scripture
where that word cleave is used. Let love be without assimilation,
Romans 12, 9. Abhor that which is evil and
cleave to that which is good. Now, there's none good but God.
Lay hold of Christ by faith. Cleave unto him and don't let
go. Persevere in the faith. Now,
I looked this word up because I was interested in how many
times it's used in Scripture. You know, the first time it's
used in the Word of God, all the way back in Genesis chapter
2, when it talks about the man to leave his father and mother
and to cleave unto his wife. and they shall be one flesh. Now, when Paul quotes that verse
over in Ephesians chapter five, showing that relationship between
a husband and a wife and Christ and his church, how he loved
the church and gave himself for it. And then he quotes that verse
from Genesis chapter two, but he says, this is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and his church. We cleave unto
him because we are one with him and in him and Christ in you
is a hope of glory. With purpose of heart. With purpose
of heart, God's given us a new heart. And the purpose of that
new heart, being made a new creature in Christ, is to set our affection
on things above, not on the things of this earth. And we can enjoy
the things that we have on this earth, but we don't set our heart
upon those things. We set our heart upon Christ.
He is our hope. With purpose of heart, they should
cleave unto the Lord. And that's what a true believer
does. He lays hold of Christ and will
not let go. Now, I thought of this example
too. You remember the story of Ruth
and Naomi? the Moabitess woman named Ruth,
and Naomi, her mother-in-law, when all the boys died off, and
the husband died off, Elenalech, and Naomi was going to head back
to Jerusalem from the land of Moab, and the other girls, they
left, and Ruth said this, I entreat thee, Naomi said, you go back
to your own family, go back to your own people. She said, no
way. Here's what she said. Entreat me not to leave thee,
or to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest,
I will go. Whither thou lodgest, I will
lodge. Thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God." That's cleaving to the Lord with purpose of heart.
Furthermore, she said, where you die, that's where I will
die. There will I be buried, and the
Lord do so to me and much more, if aught but death part thee
and me." Ruth was determined to cleave with purpose of heart
to Naomi. That's a fit and good description
of a believer laying hold of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith
in him. Furthermore, look at verse 24.
It says that Barnabas, he was a good man. He was a good man. Now, wait a minute. How can he
be a good man? Just one way. There's none good,
no, not one, right? There's none righteous, there's
none that seeks after God. So anytime the word of the Lord
said he was a good man, HE WAS ONLY GOOD AS GOD VIEWED HIM IN
CHRIST, IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THAT'S HOW ANY OF US ARE GOOD.
WE ARE IN CHRIST. GOD SEES BELIEVERS IN THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST. GOD SPEAKS FROM HEAVEN AND SAYS,
THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I'M WELL PLEASED. And God says
that of every son of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called sons of God. That's a good description of
believers. Good man, good in Christ. Also he says in verse 24, he's
full. He's full of the Holy Spirit.
He's been filled with the Holy Spirit. It's only by the Holy
Spirit conviction that we see anything of our need of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Had he not convicted us of our
sin, we never would have turned to the Lord by his grace. And
this again is a fit description of a true believer. They've been
filled or convicted and converted and regenerated by the Spirit
of God. and much people. He was full
of the Holy Ghost and full of faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. A man without faith is a man
without Christ. That's why it is impossible to
please God without faith. Faith, we know, is a sovereign
gift of God. And much people was added unto
the Lord. Now, they didn't add themselves
to the Lord. You remember what we read over
here? Let me see if I can find it, read it to you. Because it
says, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved. Now who adds to the Lord? He does. He chooses by his grace,
he called by his grace. Again, fit description of those
who believe the gospel. Then departed Barnabas, to Tarsus
to seek for his old friend Saul. He's still known at this time
by Saul of Tarsus. And we found him, he brought
him to Antioch, and it came to pass the whole year that they
assembled themselves with the church. That, again, is a description
of what a true believer is. They assemble together with other
believers to worship a true and living God. They assembled themselves
together with the church and they taught the people. Again,
we have a fit description of what believers really are. You know what they are? They're
taught of God. They're taught of God. No man
can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him. All those
who have heard and have learned of the Father, they come to Christ. Believers are those who have
been taught They've been taught the Word of God by a faithful
gospel preacher, and God takes that Word home to your heart
by the grace of God, purpose of God, and then you cleave unto
Him as all of your salvation. And the disciples were called
Christians there at Antioch. So summing this up, What is a
true believer? One who has been granted repentance
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. One who has heard and believed
the gospel and has been added to the body of Christ. Those
who are saved by the grace of God alone. Those who with purpose
of heart, you see salvation is a hard work. With the heart,
man believeth unto salvation. With the mouth, confession is
made unto salvation. With purpose of heart, they cleave
to the Lord by God-given faith. And they're made good in Christ.
They're sons of God by his grace. And they're full of faith, looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And believers, verse 27 down
to verse 30, believers are those who care for one another. When
they heard of the need in Jerusalem, believers starving in need of
food and relief, they opened their pocketbook. Believers are
those who not only experience the grace of God and know the
grace of God, but they're gracious to others. Now, the question for you this
morning is, am I a believer? Well, you can go through all
those things and you can put yourself, that's something that
you must do. Examine yourself, whether you
be in the faith. I know this, true believers are
always coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're always looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. They continue in faith. They
say with Peter, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the word
of the eternal life. We believe and we are sure thou
art that Christ, the Son of God.