Now, back to the book of Acts. Chapter 11 of the book of Acts,
and we're going to look at verse 19 down through verse 26. Acts chapter 11, verse 19 down through
verse 26. And we see in these verses, the
first gospel church raised up among the Gentiles located in
this city known as Antioch. Antioch. This church, according
to secular history, this church at Antioch stood for the gospel
for 500, 500 years. This was a gospel preaching church. This church, hold your place
there, turn to Acts chapter 13 verse 1, this church in Antioch,
this group of Gentile believers, they were the first to send out
missionaries, the Apostle Paul. In Acts chapter 13 in Barnabas
now, verse 1, now there were in the church that was at Antioch
certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, which is called
Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Mananaon. which had been
brought up with Herod the tetriarch, and Saul. And they fasted, and
they ministered to the Lord, and fasted. As they ministered to the Lord
and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had
fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and set them
away." They sent them out preaching the gospel. And Paul used this
church at Antioch as a base, as a base. Those three trips
that he took, and you can look at those maps that they do, and
they're quite helpful. Those three trips that he took,
he always came back to the home church. He always came back to
Antioch. But they were a missionary-minded
church, interested in preaching the gospel all over the world. And the Apostle Paul did that
throughout the Roman kingdom, as well as Barnabas and Silas
and others. They were at this church, as
it says in verse 19, they were called Christians first at Antioch. Now look at verse 19. We see the Lord's purpose when
they were scattered abroad upon persecution at the stoning of
Stephen. We see God's purpose in that,
because they were scattered everywhere, and as they went, they went preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now turn to Acts chapter 8, Acts
chapter 8, verse 1, and Saul was consenting unto his death,
that is, the death of Stephen, and at that time there was a
great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem.
And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria, except the apostles. You see, the purpose of God in
scattering the gospel out was to preach the gospel to God's
elect, to preach the gospel to all men. And through that preaching,
he called out his elect. This trouble God sent on purpose. It was for the furtherance of
the gospel, wasn't it? This persecution that arose against
the church at Jerusalem, it was to disperse the gospel. You know,
they would have stayed right there in that comfort zone, wouldn't
they? But God drove them out of there. And they went everywhere
preaching the gospel. Even though they had been persecuted
in the past for preaching Christ, they continued preaching the
Word. Look at what it says in verse 19 and verse 20. They went preaching, preaching
the Word. preaching the word. They had
not learned the whole commission of the Lord to go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. It says there,
to none but unto the Jews only, but they did go preaching the
gospel. And that's so important. I pray
that the Lord will continue to call out and to bless men and
to gift men and send them out preaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus, to preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season,
preach the Word, preach the Word, preach Christ, preach Christ.
Now look at verse 20, and some of them were men of Cyprus. That was Barnabas' home nation,
Cyprus. He was from that island. And
Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, they spake unto
the Grecians. They preach the gospel to the
Gentiles. Here they're reaching out further.
They're reaching out to the Gentiles in Antioch. Preaching. Preaching again. Notice what
it says. Preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Preaching, preaching, preaching. Preaching the Word. Preaching
the Lord Jesus. It involves them telling who
He is. Who He is. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's God. God manifest in the flesh. To preach the Lord and to preach
the Word is to preach what He accomplished. What He accomplished? He came to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. What is it to preach the Word
and to preach the Lord Jesus Christ? It's to preach where
He is now, victorious and exalted at God's right hand. When He
by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of
God. Why did He sit down? You know,
I sit down when my work is done. And that's the reason he sat
down. His work was finished, accomplished. And they preached the Word. They
preached the Lord Jesus, who He is, what He accomplished,
where He is now exalted. And they preached salvation in
no other. They preached salvation in no other. No other name under
heaven. given among men, whereby we must be saved. And the constant
preaching of the gospel, when blessed of God," notice the results,
verse 21, "...and the hand of the Lord was with them." Who
sent them? Why did they go preaching? The
hand of God providence. brought it to pass. The hand
of God's providence led them. By the hand of God's power, they
were able to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
hand of the Lord was with them. What about this hand of the Lord?
You know, if you're bigger than I am and stronger than I am,
I used to tell my boys that you can't stay in my hand when they
were little bitty fellows. I can't tell them that anymore.
Because they can whip the old man. But when they did it little
bitty fellas, I used to tell them that you can't stay in my
hand because I'm bigger than you are. You know what the scripture
says about the hand of God? In Daniel chapter 4 verse 35,
that He does according to His will in the army of heaven and
among the heavens of this earth, and none can stay His hand, His
arm, His power. He does whatever he wills to
do with whom he will when none can stay his hand. You see, he's
almighty. This is not the hand of Peter.
This is not the hand of John. This is not the hand of the church
in Jerusalem. This is the hand of God. The
hand of the Lord was upon them and blessed them, and they preached
the gospel with the hand of God. I desire that in the preaching
and in the hearing. May the hand of the Lord be with
us. May his power bless us. His grace
grace us and help us to exalt Christ in the preaching of the
gospel. The hand of God's providence,
power and love and grace was upon them in a mighty way. And
the result of that preaching and the result of God's power,
they heard the word. They did hear the word. But not
in word only. They heard the word in power. It was blessed of God. The hand
of the Lord was with them who heard it, with them who preached
it. And the result of that was this, a great number believed. A great number believed. How much power does it take to
save one sinner? It takes the almighty sovereign
power of God to raise a man out of death and darkness and ignorance
and to give him life in Christ. And if he saves one or if he
saves ten thousand, it takes the same power, the power of
God. A great number believe the gospel. How does a man do that? How does
a man believe the gospel? Find Ephesians chapter 1. And
this is what I try to write back to that young man who asked me
about, how can I know if I'm one of God's elect? How can I
know if He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the
world? Well, it's to hear the gospel and to believe it and
to love Christ in your heart. Ephesians chapter 1, look at
verse 19. What is exceeding greatness of
His power to us who believe? How do you believe? Look what
it says there, according to the working of His mighty hand, His
arm, His power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him
from the dead. Now, how much power did that
take? To resurrect the dead body of the Lord Jesus, that took
a lot of power, didn't it? It took the same power to resurrect
and to bring forth a man who was spiritually dead into spiritual
life. which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power.
A great number believed." What did they believe? They believed
what they heard. You see the necessity in preaching
the gospel? A man can't believe what he's
not heard, and he can't hear without a preacher, and a preacher
can't preach unless he's been sent of God. with the message
of God. A great number believed, and
the result, again, they not only believed, but it was evidenced
by this, they turned. Salvation is regeneration. It's
a new creature. Regeneration, and then what's
involved in regeneration? God giving life, and the result
of that is conversion. There's a turning. You turn from
your old idols, your old false profession, your refuge of lies,
you turn from those things and you turn to the Lord. That's
conversion. Turn to Him. This is the result
of God's mighty power working in us and it's demonstrated by
counting all things else but loss. that we might win Christ
and be found in him. You see how this is God's blessing. This is the Lord fulfilling what
he says in Matthew 16, I will build my church. And when he
builds it upon Christ the rock, the gates of hell cannot stop
the work of God. You see the hand of the Lord
was upon them. and they believe the gospel and they turn to the
Lord. It's a great turning, turning. It's a looking to Him and running
to Him and believing Him and coming to Him. Now, look at verse
22, Acts 11, 22. When tidings of these things
came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, Jerusalem
they heard of these Gentiles being converted, and unlike the
story when they heard of the conversion of Cornelius and his
house of Gentiles through the preaching of Peter, when Peter
came back to Jerusalem and they heard of that, remember last
week they contended with him? Here, the fight's gone. They're
no longer contending, they're rejoicing. Look what it says.
Then tidings, good news of these things came to the ears of the
believers in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas. Barnabas,
you go up there and help those people. Go up there and help
those preachers. That he should go as far as Antioch. Verse 23. Who? Barnabas. When he came. When he came to
Antioch. If you look at your map, from
Jerusalem to Antioch is a long, long journey. Several hundred
miles. Difficult miles, especially in
this day. But when he got there, by the
hand of God's providence, by the hand of God's power, when
he came and had seen God's grace, or the grace of God, He was glad. He rejoiced in heart. He was
glad. And then he exhorted them all
with purpose of heart that they would cleave to the Lord. Cleave
unto the Lord with purpose of heart. He saw what God's grace
had done to these pagan idolaters. Now, these people were pagan.
This is a Roman colony, a Roman city, and they're just flat pagans. They know nothing of God. Nothing
of truth, nothing of the gospel. These were growth-based idolaters. And now he sees these people
believing the Lord Jesus Christ and loving Him and worshipping
God in spirit and in truth. And when he saw God's grace manifested,
he rejoiced in heart. He rejoiced in heart. Doesn't
it bless you? and encourage you when you hear
good news from a far country, when someone you hear of, or
in some church is being raised up, or someone believing the
gospel of God's grace. Doesn't it rejoice your heart?
And that's what Barnabas experienced here. And he's seeing all these,
this is a great multitude of believers. I would be astounded. Oh, he was glad. He gave thanks
unto the Lord. And he continued to preach the
gospel to them. He exhorted them all that with
purpose of heart, purpose in your heart. You see, salvation
is a heart work. Sets your affections, sets your
heart on things above, and that's what a believer does. He has
to live here and exist here, but his heart is set on things
above in Christ. That with purpose of heart, boldness
of heart, liberty of heart, with a believing heart, that you get
a death grip. He's only saying here, persevere,
continue in the faith. You have belief, well keep on
believing. And believers will because they're kept by the power
of God. But this is an interesting word here, lay hold on eternal
life and don't let go. You imagine this morning, out
here in this river, say little Aaron right here. got out there
and playing around in that old muddy water when the water was
still high, and got caught up in that current and started going
down. And Dave, you'd run out there
and you'd get a, what would you do? You'd get a death grip on
his hand, wouldn't you? You'd cleave to that boy and
you wouldn't let go, would you? Wouldn't let go? That's exactly
what he's saying here. With purpose of heart, you cleave,
get a death grip. on the Lord Jesus Christ. As
old Jacob said, I won't let go till you bless me. Brother Montgomery
used to say, hug up to Christ. Don't let go. And you won't if
you're a believer. You won't. But the encouragement
here is with purpose of heart. In your heart. In your heart.
Salvation is a matter of the heart. Cleave to the Lord. Verse 24. It describes something
about God's servant Barnabas, and I believe this is true of
all God's people, all who believe the gospel. It says here he was
a good man. He was a good man. How can he
be a good man? He's a sinner. There's none good,
no, not one. Well, I'm not talking here about
his justifying righteousness before God. But it's talking
here that this grace of God that was manifested in his heart,
he was an honest man. He was an obedient man. In God's
sight and in Christ, he was a good man. That's what he's saying
here. He was a good man made. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good work. In himself, he's nothing. But
in Christ, he's an honest, obedient servant of the Lord. And that's
a good description of God's people. They're a good people. And you
know what I mean by that. They're good in Christ. But not
only that, they're just black good folks. They're honest, loving,
kind, gracious, generous, willing to do anything to help you out. He was a good man and he was
full. Barnabas was full. Wasn't full of pride. Wasn't full of unbelief. Wasn't
full of a covetous spirit. He was full of God. He was full
of the Holy Spirit. And that's true of every believer.
We're full of God's Spirit. He dwells in us. Christ in you. The hope of glory. And he was
not only full of the Spirit of God, but he was full of faith.
He was a believer. Now you listen to Scripture. Without faith, Hebrews 11, 6,
without faith, it's impossible to please God. Why is it impossible
to please God without faith? A man without faith is a man
without Christ. A man without Christ is a man
without life. A man without life has no justifying righteousness
before God. And much people, look at verse
24, and much people, much people, much people was added added to
the Lord. Much people believe. Turn over
to Acts 13. Who are these that believe? These
much people who believe God and believe the gospel. Look what
it says here in Acts 13, verse 48, speaking of these Gentiles
here where Paul and Barnabas had been preaching. And when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word
of the Lord. And as many believe, were ordained
to eternal life." Uh-oh. Preacher misread that. I did
on purpose. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed God. This religious world turned that
verse on its head. They got it backwards. As many
as were ordained. It says there that many believed
a great number and turned to the Lord. They were added. They were added. Added. Added as members of his body. Made one with Christ. Union with
Christ. Verse 25, then it says that Barnabas,
he went to Tarsus. Now, Tarsus is a neighboring
city of Antioch. You can look at your map there.
And he goes and he finds his friend in the gospel, his brother. Turn back to Acts chapter 9.
Look at this. Acts chapter 9. It says in verse 29 of Acts 9.29,
Now why is Saul in Tarsus? Well, it's his home city. But
why is he there? Because he was persecuted for
the gospel. Acts 9.29, He spake boldly in the name of the Lord
Jesus and disputed with the Grecians. But they went about the killing.
Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea
and sent him forth to Tarsus, a place of safety. Sent him back to his home people.
What do you reckon he did when he got down to Tarsus and he
got among his family and his brethren? You know what he did. He told them the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I have no record of any of them.
Scriptural record of any of Saul of Tarsus, his brothers, sisters,
mom, dad, family, any of them believers, I don't know. But I bet, let me rephrase that,
I pray that God would have mercy on some of his family and bless
those. Now notice verse 26. When he
found him, when he found him, I'm sure that Saul of Tarsus
was down there in that city preaching the gospel. And he found him
about the Lord's business, but he said, let's go to Antioch. There's a great number of people
there who believe, and you can be a great help to those people.
He brought him to Antioch, and it came to pass that whole year,
one whole year, they assembled themselves with the church. with the church. That word church
means called out. Those who have been called out
of darkness to light. They assembled with those who
love God and love the gospel. What a blessing God has given
us to assemble together as the Lord's people, as His body, as
His church. And they taught. Notice who they
taught. They taught much people. Well, there was a lot of folks
in that church, a lot of folks in that congregation. and they
taught much people. And they were called Christians
first at Antioch. They put such an emphasis upon,
and the reason they were called Christians, they put such an
emphasis upon the doctrine of Christ. They put such a strong
emphasis upon preaching Christ, the doctrine, singular, of Christ,
His blood, His sacrifice, His person. The unbelievers in that
city, that large city, referred to them Well, those folks over
there, they're followers of Christ. They're Christians. And it means
anointed followers of Christ. Anointed followers of Christ.
Before, these believers had been called Nazarenes. You remember Jesus of Nazareth.
And his followers were known, as it says in Acts 24, 6, that
these were Nazarenes. And Paul was the ringleader of
that sect of the Nazarenes. And then in chapter 2, on that
day of Pentecost, when the apostles and those people
started preaching the gospel in other languages, they said,
well, these men are drunkards. They're Galileans. The followers
of that wine, they were from Galilee. And here, the unbelievers
in this city referred to them as Christian followers of Christ. The name was used not to honor
them. The name was used to mock them and to despise them. You remember in Acts chapter
26, when Paul preached to Agrippa, he said, he said this, he said,
you almost persuaded me to be Christian, to be a follower of
Christ. Now, listen to me carefully.
I don't want to confuse you, but I want to sound a warning
here. God's people throughout the Word of Truth are called
by many names. Now listen to me carefully. They're
called servants. They're called saints. They're
called sinners. They're called disciples. They're
called brethren. They're called the elect. They're
called the sheep. They're called the called out.
They're called the church. They're called believers. They're
called the servants of the Lord. You never find in Scripture one
time in the Word where a believer called himself a Christian. Now
check me out on it. Paul and Peter and John, none
of them in Scripture called themselves a Christian. They called themselves
servants of the Lord, lovers of Christ, believers, followers
of the Lord. But they refer to themselves
as a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. He didn't say, well, you know,
I'm a Christian. You know, I never, you'll never
hear me refer to myself. Have you? As a Christian. Let's refer to one another as
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you why. This term
today that's thrown around, Christian, it's meaningless. Absolutely
meaningless in this day. We have what's called as Christian
music. What is that? Well, most of it's
trash. We talk about Christian radio.
How do you do that? Talk about Christian TV stations.
Well, most of that, you know what that is. Nothing but trash. Talk about Christian businesses. I don't want anything to do with
that. Talk about Christian schools. And even some go so far as to
say that we live in a Christian nation. I know that's not true. We live in a pagan nation. There
are some people by God's grace are called to believe the truth
and to believe the gospel. These who take the name Christian
with music and business and schools and nations, they hate the doctrine
of Christ, I'm telling you the truth. Now they do. What then makes for a true believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, what is described in these
verses. They're called believers. They're called here in this text
those who have turned to the Lord. They're called those who
have purpose in heart, cleaved to Him. They are full of the
Holy Spirit. They're full of faith. They are
those who have been added to the body of Christ. And they assemble with the church.
I think one verse sums up what a believer is. And let's use
that term because, as I said, you'll never find any believer
in the Bible, Paul or John, you check me out, refers to himself,
I'm a Christian. Not there. Not there. Look at John chapter 10. I believe
this sums up a believer, a believer. You see, everybody calls themselves
a Christian today, don't they? They don't have a clue, most
of them, who the true Christ of God is. They've got a counterfeit
Jesus. They refer to Him as sweet Jesus. That makes me sick. I could almost
throw up when I hear that kind of talk. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the Savior. He's God, my
Savior. John chapter 10, Luke verse 22. And it was at Jerusalem, the
Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter. And the Lord,
now Scripture can call Him Jesus, the Savior, walked in the temple
in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about
Him and said to Him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
you be the Christ, you tell us plainly. And He answered and
He said, I told you, I told you the truth. You don't believe
me. You don't believe me. You believe not. The works that
I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, and you believe
not. Now get a hold of verse 26. You
believe not because you're not of my sheep. You don't believe me because
you're not one of my elect. As I said unto you, my sheep,
they hear my voice. I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life." You see, the sheep hear
His voice, and they know Him, and He knows them. He loves them,
and they love Him, and they follow Me. They have that death grip
on Christ. And I give unto them eternal
life, they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand,
I and my Father are one." That's a good description of a believer,
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.