Encouraging The Family Of Faith
Text: Acts 11:19-30
Introduction
1. Illustration: An elderly widow, restricted in her activities, was eager to serve Christ. After praying about this, she realized that she could bring blessing to others by playing the piano. The next day she placed this small ad in the Oakland Tribune: "Pianist will play hymns by phone daily for those who are sick and despondent--the service is free." The notice included the number to dial. When people called, she would ask, "What hymn would you like to hear?" Within a few months her playing had brought cheer to several hundred people. Many of them freely poured out their hearts to her, and she was able to help and encourage them.
2. Two of the great truths in life; everyone needs encouragement and everyone can be an encourager.
3. Our text today gives us three ways we can encourage one another...
A. Reaching Out
B. Lifting Up
C. Helping Up
4. Let's stand together as we read Acts 11:19-30.
Proposition: We need to build one another up in Christ.
Transition: The first way that we can be an encourager is by...
I. Reaching Out (19-21).
A. Began Preaching To The Gentiles
1. It's easy to stay in our comfort zones and do what comes easiest to us, but as followers of Jesus we are called to step outside of our comfort zones in order to benefit others.
2. The church had just reached a major turning point in accepting the fact that God accepts Gentiles who repent. However, old habits die hard.
3. This is illustrated in v. 19, which states, "Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews."
A. Though the Jerusalem apostles and believers accepted the fact that Gentiles in Caesarea were saved and had become part of the Church, this did not excite them very much.
B. There was no rush to go out and win more Gentiles to the Lord. In fact, even Peter continued to consider his ministry as primarily to the Jews (Gal. 2:7-9).
C. So Luke turns our attention to an ethnically mixed congregation in a new center for the spread of the gospel, the capital of the Roman province of Syria, Antioch, located on the Orontes River, over three hundred miles north of Jerusalem.
D. It was a great trade center, the largest city in Asia Minor, having a population of half a million.
E. Founded about 300 B.C. by Seleucus I Nicator, its importance was recognized by the Romans, who made it a free city in 64 B.C. But it was full of evil.
F. Verse 19 makes a connection with Acts 8:1, 4 . Up to this point the examples of what happened had been taken from Judea and Samaria.
G. Now we see that the wave of traveling evangelism did not stop there. But, as always, Luke does not try to cover everything.
H. Instead, following the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he selects one direction this evangelism took and presents it as an example of what went on as the believers were scattered in many directions.
I. There was a special reason for choosing the direction toward Antioch, however. It forms a link with the apostle Paul and prepares for the account of his journeys, which takes up the major portion of the rest of the Book of Acts.
J. Even outside of Palestine, however, those who spread the gospel preached the Word only to Jews. This may not have been entirely due to prejudice.
K. The Jews had the Old Testament Scriptures and knew the prophecies.
L. These evangelists based their message on the fact that God, through Jesus, had fulfilled prophecy.
M. Most Gentiles had no background for understanding this. But these evangelists were missing the fact that many Gentiles had lost confidence in their idols and were seeking something better (Horton, 213).
4. Thankfully, they weren't the end of the story. Luke tells us, "...some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. 21 The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord."
A. Fortunately, these believers had the courage to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus outside of the confines of Judaism.
B. When these believers spoke, the power of the Lord was upon them, and large numbers of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.
C. Evidently, this small beginning turned Antioch into a place where the believers aggressively preached to the Gentiles.
D. Philip had preached in Samaria (8:5), but the Samaritans were part Jewish. Peter had preached to Cornelius, but he already worshiped God.
E. Believers who were scattered after the outbreak of persecution in Jerusalem spread the gospel to other Jews in the lands where they had fled.
F. Finally, the believers began actively sharing the Good News with Gentiles, with great results (Barton 512).
G. The men are not named, but "the Lord's hand was with them."
H. This expression is often used in the Bible to mean the power of the Lord or even the Spirit of the Lord.
I. Certainly, the miracle-working power of the Lord was supernaturally evident, confirming the Word as in Samaria (Acts 8:5-8); "a great number... believed and turned to the Lord."
J. This means they turned away from their pagan customs and worldly ways to follow Jesus.
K. We can be sure also that like the household of Cornelius, they were all baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. As Peter said, "'God does not show favoritism'"
(Horton, 214).
B. Take The First Step
1. Illustration: During a practice session for the Green Bay Packers, things were not going well for Vince Lombardi’s team. Lombardi singled out one big guard for his failure to "put out." It was a hot, muggy day when the coach called his guard aside and leveled his awesome vocal guns on him, as only Lombardi could. "Son, you are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. As a matter of fact, it’s all over for you today, go take a shower." The big guard dropped his head and walked into the dressing room. Forty- five minutes later, when Lombardi walked in, he saw the big guard sitting in front of his locker still wearing his uniform. His head was bowed and he was sobbing quietly.
Vince Lombardi, ever the changeable but always the compassionate warrior, did something of an about face that was also typical of him. He walked over to his football player and put his arms around his shoulder. "Son," he said, "I told you the truth. You are a lousy football player. You’re not blocking, you’re not tackling, you’re not putting out. However, in all fairness to you, I should have finished the story. Inside of you, son, there is a great football player, and I’m going to stick by your side until the great football player inside of you has a chance to come out and assert himself."
With these words, Jerry Kramer straightened up and felt a great deal better. As a matter of fact, he felt so much better he went on to become one of the all-time greats in football and was recently voted the all-time guard in the first 50 years of professional football.
2. God can use you to change a person's life simply by making yourself available.
A. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
B. Life isn't easy, and living a Christian life is often more difficult.
C. It's easy to become discouraged and lose heart.
D. But it is easy to encourage someone.
E. A phone call, text message or email can make a difference in a persons day, and maybe their life.
F. Satan wants us to feel as if we are in this by ourselves.
G. But we are in this together!
H. As God's family we should stand beside one another, pray for one another, and encourage one another.
Transition: We can also encourage each other by...
II. Lifting Up (22-24).
A. He Encouraged The Believers
1. It takes great wisdom to look at a situation and recognize, "hey, there going to need help." That was the situation with these new believers in Antioch.
2. Luke tells us in vv. 22-23, "When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord."
A. When news of the conversion of these Gentiles in Antioch reached the Jerusalem church, they recognized that this great spread of the gospel among Gentiles was an important new development.
B. Antioch itself was significant, since it was the third most important city in the entire Roman Empire, exceeded only by Rome and Alexandria.
C. So they "sent Barnabas to Antioch." The choice of Barnabas is important.
D. It shows that the Jerusalem church (not just the apostles) were concerned about this new assembly in Antioch and sent out their best encourager to help them.
E. His name means “Son of Encouragement” (4:36), and he lived up to it as he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord (Barton, 512).
F. He was sent literally "to go through as far as Antioch" (Gk. dielthein heōs Antiocheias), which means also that he was to preach the gospel and encourage assemblies of believers all along the way.
G. Barnabas "saw the evidence of the blessing of God." These outwardly observable expressions of the Spirit's gifts made him rejoice.
H. He accepted these Gentiles just as Peter accepted the believers at the house of Cornelius.
I. Barnabas then lived up to his name by continually encouraging them all to purpose openly from their hearts "to remain true to" (or, "continue loyally with") the Lord Jesus.
J. Barnabas knew that difficulties, persecutions, and temptations lay ahead. Persistence in a close walk with the Lord would be needed (Horton, 215).
3. Then Luke tells us more about Barnabas's character than his name indicates. He wrote, "Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord."
A. Three things were said about Barnabas: he was a good man, he was full of the Holy Spirit, and he was full of faith.
B. Luke wrote this description of Barnabas after the confrontation between Paul and Barnabas, recorded in 15:39.
C. Since Luke was Paul's traveling companion, this statement about Barnabas must have been Paul's assessment as well (John Walvoord and Roy Zuck, ed., The Bible Knowledge Commentary: , Under: "b. The Confirmation of the Church (11:22-26)".
D. Barnabas's life, not simply his preaching and teaching, made him a most effective witness: "a great number" of believers were "brought" to the Lord (Jesus).
E. That is, they became part of the body of Christ, the Church. A "great number" had already been added (v. 21). Now a large crowd is added. "The rate of growth had evidently increased as a result of Barnabas's ministry" (Horton, 216).
F. This shows how big a difference can be made when we lift people up instead of tearing them down.
B. Lift Up, Don't Tear Down
1. Illustration: Your encouragement can have great power. One reason why is because everybody needs to be encouraged. The night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre, he was carrying:
-Two pairs of glasses.
-A small velvet eyeglass cleaner.
-An ivory pocketknife.
-A large handkerchief with "A. Lincoln" stitched in red.
-A tiny pencil.
-A brass sleeve button.
-A fancy watch fob.
-And a brown wallet with a Confederate five-dollar bill.
But Lincoln also carried 8 newspaper clippings that he had cut out and saved. All of those clippings praised him. Everybody needs encouragement.
2. Build people up instead of tearing them down.
A. Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)
Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
B. The old saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me," is false!
C. Words hurt and they can crush a person’s spirit.
D. Instead we should speak words that lift a person up.
E. Words that encourage and not discourage.
F. Words that bring hope instead of despair.
G. Words that bring life instead of death.
Transition: We can also encourage by...
III. Helping Up (25-30).
A. Decided To Send Relief
1. Another way that you can encourage people is to help them up when they are down. Barnabas was very good at helping people realize their purpose and help them when they are at their lowest point.
2. This is illustrated when "Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)"
A. This growth in numbers made Barnabas see that he needed help to teach and train the new converts. He did not, however, send back to Jerusalem to ask them to send someone.
B. Led by the Spirit we can be sure, he went about one hundred miles up the coast to Tarsus to search for Saul. Since Barnabas was the one who had earlier taken the time and effort to find out about Saul and introduce him to the apostles in Jerusalem, he obviously knew what God had said about sending Paul to the Gentiles.
C. Now it was God's time for Saul to begin this ministry. This search for Saul probably took some time. When Barnabas found him, "he brought him back to Antioch" (v. 26, NLT).
D. The two of them then became the chief teachers of the church, gathering the believers together and teaching "great numbers."
E. At Antioch, the disciples, also called the saints, first received the name (and were publicly called by their fellow citizens) "Christians."
F. Up to this time the believers were practically all Jews. The Gentiles, and even the Jews, considered the believers simply as another sect of Judaism.
G. In fact, their lifestyle was hardly more different from the Pharisees' lifestyle than the Pharisees' was from the Sadducees'.
H. But now there was a large, well-established, growing assembly of believers composed chiefly of uncircumcised Gentiles.
I. Obviously, these Gentile believers could not be identified by a Jewish name, nor could they any longer be considered a sect of Judaism. They needed a new name.
J. Soldiers in the Roman army often took the name of their general and added "ian" (Lat. iani, Gk. ianos) to indicate they were a soldier and follower of that general.
K. So the people of Antioch began to call the believers "Christians": soldiers, followers, of Christ. Some believe the name was first given to mock them, but there is no great evidence of this.
L. The believers did not reject the name. They were indeed in the Lord's army, clothed with the full armor of God. It should be noted, however, that the term "Christian" is used elsewhere in the New Testament only in Acts 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16.
M. For the most part the believers continued to refer to themselves as disciples, brothers, saints, those of the Way, or servants (slaves) of Jesus (Horton, 216-217).
3. You can always spot an encourager, because they are the ones that are there when things get bad. Luke tells us, "During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28 One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)"
A. The various assemblies of believers continued to keep in touch with each other. After Barnabas, others came from Jerusalem to encourage the believers at Antioch.
B. In fact, about the time Saul's first year in Antioch was up, several prophets "came down from Jerusalem."
C. The Holy Spirit regularly used men and women in the ministry of the gift of prophecy: for edification, strengthening spiritually and confirming faith; for exhortation, awakening, encouraging, and challenging believers to move ahead in faithfulness and love; and for comfort, cheering, reviving, and encouraging hope and expectation.
D. Their ministry in this way dealt with the needs of the believers to whom they ministered. Sometimes they reinforced their exhortations by foretelling the future.
E. But this was the exception rather than the rule. Prophecy in the Bible is always primarily "forthtelling," speaking for God whatever His message may be, rather than foretelling the future.
F. However, on this occasion Agabus ("Grasshopper"), one of the prophets, "stood up and through the Spirit predicted [a manifestation of the gift of prophecy given directly by the Spirit in their own language] that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world."
G. And as Luke indicates, the famine took place "during the reign of Claudius" Caesar (A.D. 41-54). It was especially severe in Judea in A.D. 45-48 (Horton, 218).
4. So when things get bad encouragers start encouraging. As Luke tells us, "So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. 30 This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem."
A. Because the disciples (both Jewish and Gentile believers) in Antioch felt gratitude for the blessings and teaching brought them from "the brothers and sisters... in Judea," they decided that each one would contribute "according to his [financial] ability" (lit. "as he was prospered") and send relief.
B. This they did, sending it not to the apostles but to the Jerusalem "elders," by Barnabas and Saul.
C. This was done probably about A.D. 46, when Judea especially was hard hit by famine (Horton, 219).
D. Just when the church in Judea needed them most Saul and Barnabas were there for them.
B. Giving
1. Illustration: Mark Twain revealed awesome wisdom when he said, ‘Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great’.
2. True encouragers are there when you are down to get you back on your feet.
A. Hebrews 10:25 (NLT)
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
B. We come to church not just to be ministered to, but to minister to others.
C. People come to church after a really bad week, month, or year, and God wants to use you to help them up.
D. God wants to use you to encourage them.
E. God wants to use you raise them up out of their difficulties and help them get their feet back on solid ground.
F. But God can't use you if you're not here.
G. God can't minister to you if you aren't available.
H. So make yourself available!
Conclusion
1. "A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success."
2. Our text today gives us three ways we can encourage one another...
A. Reaching Out
B. Lifting Up
C. Helping Up
3. Are you in need of encouragement?
4. Are you available to encourage someone in need?
