“The Holy Spirit Builds Churches” Acts 11:19-30

One of the many things I like about Baptist life is the associational and convention relationships. As Baptists, we recognize that every church is an independent body of believers. That means that no one person or group of people can dictate to us anything about our church. As Baptists, we believe that each person in the fellowship has the same Holy Spirit within them, and that that Spirit will guide each person in decision-making and service in the local church.

That said, we also recognize that there is strength in numbers, and that we have a responsibility to support other local churches in their ministry. We also recognize the need to work together in a geographical setting to further minister to those in our area. Towards that end, we have developed associations throughout Baptist life.

And it extends to the state and the national setting. As Baptists, we recognize that it is possible to be a part of an association and a state and a national convention. We can also choose to be a part of an association, but not be a part of a state and/or a national convention. We decide with whom we will fellowship and minister with.

This passage of Scripture we look at today shows the seeds of cooperation being planted between the Jerusalem church and the new church in Antioch.

Background

The early days of the Church were not all honey and roses. There was controversy and the sorting out of things. We saw it with the rise of the deacons to assist in the ministry of the church to the membership. And we see it in the confusion arising as the Holy Spirit reached out into the Samaritan and Gentile worlds.

When Peter returned from his visit to Cornelius’ house, he was immediately met with a storm of criticism and condemnation. Specifically, the main charge against him was, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them” (11:3).

Peter was forced to defend himself, and the only way he knew to do it was to tell them exactly what had happened. He gave his testimony of how God had used a dream to show Peter not to call any person unclean. He told how God sent the messengers to him, and how they returned to Cornelius’ home. He told how the Spirit had entered the household gathering as Peter spoke, and he told them that he concluded they deserved to be baptized, just as any Christian should be.

After Peter spoke, the criticism ended, and the reaction to his testimony was: “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life” (v. 18). It may be reading too much into the phrase “even the Gentiles,” but it does come back to haunt the Church during Paul’s mission work and on into the early centuries of the Church.

With the realization that God was willing to save “even the Gentiles,” the Church was entering into the next phase of its mission. No longer was the Church confined to one city in Judea, nor was it confined to Judea. Instead, the Spirit had demonstrated that salvation could come to any who repented, and the work of the Church was about to become transformed.

Central Truth: As the Gospel spread, the Spirit built fellowships.

Salvation Continues to Spread (19-21)

When Stephen was stoned and the great persecution of the believers in Jerusalem began, it was probably the hope of the Sanhedrin that it would soon quash the Jesus movement. They failed to heed Gamaliel’s warnings and wise advice. They ignored the fact Gamaliel had said if the movement was from God, there was nothing they could do to stop it, and they would only wind up fighting against God. Still, it was their hope and probably their deep conviction that the Gospel would be stopped soon.

Instead, like the dandelion seed spread by the wind, the scattering of the Church into all parts of the Middle East only served to spread the Gospel, not kill it. Here and there, wherever the followers had gone, small groups of new believers were coming to know Christ as Savior, and slowly but surely new ministries and churches were becoming established.

In v. 19, the Bible tells us the first efforts were to limit the message to the Jews in the areas. This was probably the decision of the Jewish followers, because v. 20 tells us believers from Cyprus and Cyrene were willing to speak to Gentiles, as well. This was all probably taking place during the time Peter was being sent to Cornelius.

Regardless of the reasons, the Gentile world was not only hearing the Gospel, but they were responding in a big way. They were hearing for the first time that sins could be forgiven, that hope was found in Christ Jesus and that there was a better way to live. A life of faith was offered them, and they readily accepted.

The Holy Spirit was moving, and the Gospel was being shared. The result was the conversion of more and more people. Churches were forming and growing, and there arose a need to make sure the new converts were staying true to the word.

Support is Sent (22-24)

News of the Antioch church reached the leaders of the Jerusalem church. Whether it was a desire to make sure God really was saving Gentiles or fear the Gentiles would pollute the message or even a genuine concern for the well-being of the new converts, Jerusalem decided to send an envoy to Antioch.

The man they chose was ideal for the job.

They chose Barnabas.

Barnabas is mentioned a few times earlier in the Acts. We read about him first in Chapter 4. The practice of the Church was to take personal possessions, sell them on the market and bring the money to the Church to be distributed to those in need of support. In v. 36, we are told of Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, who sold a field and laid the money at the apostles’ feet. This Joseph was given a name—Barnabas—which means Son of Encouragement.

The next time we read of Barnabas, he is standing as a guarantor for the new convert from Damascus, Saul. When Saul had begun sharing the Gospel in Damascus, there arose a plot to kill him. Saul was whisked away in the dead of night and wound up in Jerusalem. He tried to meet with the leaders at the church there, but everyone was afraid to meet him, thinking it was a trick to arrest them. Verse 27 says, “But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.” As a result of Barnabas’ intervention, Saul became an accepted part of the church at Jerusalem.

And now we come to Barnabas being sent to Antioch. We know from his efforts with Saul that Barnabas was a respected member of the Jerusalem church. Perhaps it was his Cyprus background that made him a good choice, but for whatever reason, Barnabas was sent to Antioch for reasons unknown.

What we do know is that this “son of encouragement” came to Antioch and realized very quickly the church there was vibrant and growing and in need of guidance, which he was more than willing to provide. The Bible describes Barnabas as a “good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith,” and as he ministered to the Antioch church, it continued to grow and in numbers and awareness.

The “First” Christians (25-26)

There comes a point in time in a church’s history, if it is a church growing in numbers, that the need will arise to add to the staff of the church. It’s not that the church decided they don’t like the pastor as much anymore, but that the work becomes too much for just one person. That was the case with Antioch. The church was adding to its membership daily, and soon the work was becoming too much for Barnabas. He had to do something. And so he chose the one thing that made sense to him.

Barnabas went to Tarsus, looked around, found Saul and brought him back to work at the Antioch church. They spent a year together ministering, teaching, preaching to the growing fellowship of believers there.

It is to their credit, as the Holy Spirit was leading these two men, that the church was being true to God with all their heart. I think one of the greatest lines in the Bible is found in v. 26, and it’s almost as if it’s a throwaway line, an interesting bit of trivia. What it really is, though, is a strong testimony to the faith of the Antioch Church. The line? “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch” (26b).

As the church was taking off in Antioch, it was inevitable that people in the community would hear about it, and, like in Jerusalem, opposition would arise. There is no indication that the opposition arose to the level that the Sanhedrin took, but there were those in Antioch who did not like these new people. And so they decided to give them a label that would mock them. They called them Christians.

“Christian” was a term that meant either “little Christ” or “like Christ.” It was meant to belittle those given the little. The intent was to remind them that they were nothing like what they pretended to be. Remember when Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle had their vice president debate in 1988? Quayle mentioned that he was the same age at that time that Jack Kennedy was when he was elected president. Bentsen’s response was a classic. “Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy.” That’s sort of what was intended with the mocking name of “Christian.”

But what that name did was confirm that the Church was doing what God intended it to do. These men and women, newly come to Christ, were devoting their lives to living out Jesus’ teachings and ministries. They were giving themselves fully to the Lord, and letting Him live through them. They were living their lives in such a way that everyone who saw them knew they were Christians.

Nowadays, we have to tell people we are Christians. We have to remind them of that, instead of them telling us. There is something wrong with a Church that has to tell the world Who’s we are. We should be living our lives in such a way that others will know that we are Christians by the way we walk, the way we talk, the way we care, the way we share.

The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Antioch Helps Jerusalem (27-30)

The ministry is going well as Barnabas and his assistant are ministering and teaching. Antioch is becoming a major church in the Christian world.

While they were growing, they received a visit from some prophets out of Jerusalem. One of the prophets, a man named Agabus, was led by the Holy Spirit to tell of a coming famine in the Roman Empire.

There was no mention from Agabus that the famine would be localized, but that it would spread throughout the empire. It would affect the people of Antioch as well as the people of Samaria, Judea and Jerusalem.

Remember that Barnabas had devoted himself to the ministry in Jerusalem for some time, and that he was first introduced as someone who laid his money at the apostles’ feet. Barnabas was no doubt aware of the struggles that were special to the Jerusalem church, and it would be reasonable that Barnabas would share with his new church of what was taking place in Jerusalem. There is no record in the Bible that such things transpired, but it is not out of reason to supposed Barnabas did mention the special needs of Jerusalem.

What we do know, what the Bible says, is that each member of the Antioch church determined to give something to the Judean churches. It is highly reasonable to see the Spirit working in them to lead them to this conclusion. Just as the Jerusalem church had given help and support to Antioch through the gift of Barnabas, now it was Antioch’s turn to offer help and support to the believers in Jerusalem and Judea.

And so they did. The gathered up an offering, and then entrusted it to Barnabas and Saul. And the seeds of association are planted and the church continued to grow and spread as the Holy Spirit continued to direct those who had faith in Jesus.

Conclusion

It is easy to overlook this passage. It comes between some interesting things. There’s conflict in the church at Jerusalem, where Peter has to defend himself for eating with Gentiles. There’s Peter’s later arrest and rescue from prison by an angel. There are all sorts of things, and then there’s this little report of a church getting its feet under it and learning to grow and walk in the Lord.

But when we take a closer look, we see how the Holy Spirit is using His people to extend their ministry beyond the local church. We see the beginning of global ministry as the churches of Jerusalem and Antioch learn to support and encourage each other.

And we learn what it means to live our lives in such a way that others call us Christian.

There’s a hymn in our hymnal that has the chorus, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

Are we living in such a way that others know we are Christians? Do our words and our actions reflect a genuine desire to be like Him?