Text: Acts 11:19-26
Theme: The Hand of God and the Gospel Work
Greetings: The Lord is good and His Loved endures forever!
Introduction:
The early church experienced the Spirit of God and the Hand of God in their daily routine life. The church had gone through the persecution but they never stopped the preaching of the good news, so the church had seen enormous growth in midst of Persecution, all because of the Hand of God was with them. In the Old Testament the phrase the Hand of the Lord meant two things. First, it spoke of God's power expressed in judgment (Exodus 9:33; Deuteronomy 2:15; Joshua 4:24; 1 Samuel 5:6; 7:13). It also referred to God's power expressed in blessing (Ezra 7:9; 8:18; Nehemiah 2:8, 18).
Today, I would like to leave with you three spiritual lessons we can learn from this passage, Persecution, Proclamation and Progression of the early Church with the sovereignty of the hand of God.
1. PERSECUTION by the State
The early Church Tertullian declared that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” certainly it rings true to the narrative of Acts.
After the stoning of Stephen to death (Acts 7), “a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1). Those who were scattered “went from place to place, proclaiming the word” (Acts 8:4). The persecution of Acts 8 occurred about AD 35 and the events in Acts 10-11 about AD 43. The scattered Jews continued preaching the word (Acts 8:4b).
Persecution (more literally = "tribulation") (thlipsis comes from the word thlibo, which means to crush, press together, squash, compress, or squeeze; thláo means ‘to break’). The English word persecution expresses sheer, physical pressure on a man. But the word ‘Thlipsis’ is a strong term which does not refer to minor inconveniences, or mild discomfort but to real pains and great hardships. Medically thlipsis is used to refer the pulse (pressure).
Thlipsis conveys the idea of being squeezed or placed under pressure or crushed beneath a weight. On the breasts of the guilty heavy weights were placed and were pressed and crushed to death.
Thlipsis means of being under pressure and was used of squeezing olives in a press in order to extract the oil and of squeezing grapes to extract the juice.
The English word "tribulation" is derived from the Latin word tribulum. It is drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff. As believers experience the "tribulum" of tribulations, and depend on God’s grace, the trials purify us and rid us of the chaff.
Martin Luther who had gone through afflictions wrote "Whatever virtues tribulation finds us in, it develops more fully. If anyone is carnal, weak, blind, wicked, easily angered, haughty, and so forth, tribulation will make him more carnal, weak, blind, wicked and irritable. On the other hand, if one is spiritual, strong, wise, pious, and gentle and humble, he will become more spiritual, powerful, wise, pious, gentle and humble."
The Japanese art of Kintsugi is an art of repairing the broken pottery of porcelain into a beautiful costly vessels by joining them with the powders mixed with gold, silver or platinum, and becomes a costly vessel. Likewise we are made up of a costly vessel in Christ.
What is your state today in Christ? Are you weak or strong through your sufferings, sicknesses and problems, failures or became stronger and stronger. Romans 8:35-39- who will separate us? What can separate us from the love of Christ?
2. PROCLAMATION of the Gospel:
The proclamation of the good news (euaggelizo: eu = good or well, aggéllo = proclaim or tell; means to announce good news concerning something).
Euaggelizo in its original sense could be used to refer to a declaration of any kind of good news, but in NT it refers especially to the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God and of salvation obtained through Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. It was a spirit driven church, Christ-centred preaching.
Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Spirit guides the followers of Jesus to bear witness first in Jerusalem, when they are scattered by persecution, then in Judea and Samaria, and now to the ends of the earth, or throughout the Roman Empire.
The martyrdom of Stephen is the inception of the mission of the Gospel spreading to the Gentiles! (John 12:24). Philip proclaimed the gospel in Samaria and to an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:5-40). Paul explains in his letter to the Thessalonians "our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
The Mission of the church had three steps of the ladder. First, Philip preached to the Samaritans who were half Jewish. Second, Peter accepted Cornelius who sought the Christian Church. Third, in Antioch the Church did not go to people who were Jews or half Jews, nor wait to be approached by Gentiles seeking admission; of set purpose and without waiting for the invitation, it preached the gospel to the Gentiles. In this way, finally Christianity has launched on its world-wide mission. (Barclay's Daily Study Bible).
Most of the churches established, and most of the missions are pioneered by the unknown. They were nameless among men but not before God. Faceless but not faithless nor fruitless.
Romans 1:16-17 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.”
1 Corinthians 9:16 “Woe, unto me if I don’t preach the gospel”.
William Barclay, ‘It has always been one of the tragedies of the Church that men have wished to be noticed and named when they did something worthwhile. But there are a few people who never care who gains the credit for it so long as the work is done. Their names are not in books of history but in God's Book of Life.’
“We live in a day when many evangelical churches seek to build their attendance through gimmicks and entertainment.” (Rev. Martin Lloyd Jones).
Are you witnessing for Christ through your simple lifestyle, care and love extended to your neighbourhood? We have to proclaim every where through our life style, words and deeds.
3. PROGRESSION of the church (Development):
Organising, feeding, nurturing the new converts and the church is a must. There will not be any progress without proper teaching and pastoral guidance.
The church in Jerusalem understood the need of such a ministry in Antioch. Therefore, they sent an able man named Barnabas, who was known for his generosity and encouragement (Acts 4:36-37). Barnabas was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith (Acts 11:24). Barnabas rejoiced when he saw the grace of God at work in Antioch. He exhorted the believers to remain faithful to the gospel (Acts 11:23). Barnabas’ heart was to seek the glory of God through the building up of His church, rather than to seek a name for himself.
So, he realised that the work in Antioch was more than he could handle. He understood that he did not have all the gifts that were needed to lead, cater the church to progress further.
Hence, he left Antioch and travelled 100 miles to Tarsus to search for a Jewish convert Saul. Barnabas was not afraid of bringing this gifted man to Antioch to take up the leadership in Antioch. So, Barnabas traveled to Tarsus brought Saul to Antioch, where for an entire year they met with believers there and taught them (Acts 11:25-26). Then the church progressed well.
In fact, three times Luke emphasised the word “the large numbers” (Acts 11:21, 24, 26). But the reason for this church experienced such remarkable growth was not that the leaders employed the latest church growth principles. They didn’t study the demographics of Antioch and come up with a strategy to market the church to the masses. Rather, the reason for the growth was simple: “The hand of the Lord was with them” (Acts 11:21).
David Guzik: ‘No ministry can’t turn people to the Lord unless the hand of the Lord is with them. We can turn people to a personality without the hand of the Lord. We can turn people to a social club without the hand of the Lord. We can turn people to a church or an institution without the hand of the Lord. But we can’t turn people to the Lord without the hand of the Lord.’
The city ANTIOCH was founded about 300 B.C. by Seleucus I, one of the inheritors of Alexander the Great’s empire. He liked to make a city and name it after his father, Antioch. Antioch was about 300 miles (480 kilometers) north of Jerusalem.
“One might say that Jerusalem was all about religion; Rome was all about power; Alexandria was all about intellect, and Athens was all about philosophy. Adding to that, one might say that Antioch was all about business and immorality.” (Daivd Guzik).
This city became a hub of evangelism among gentiles, it became a mother of world missions. It had a missionary focused church with Saul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1-3).
CHRISTIANS:
The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26). Earlier they were known as disciples (Acts 1:15), saints (Acts 9:13), believers (Acts 5:14), brothers (Acts 6:3), witnesses (Acts 5:32), followers of the Way (Acts 9:2), and Nazarenes (Acts 24:5).
This designation Christians was given by those outside the church and was meant be derogatory, Even King Agrippa meant it the same way (Acts 26:28).
F. F. Bruce imagines a group of two or three of the unofficial missionaries in the streets of Antioch, with a small group gathered around them, listening to the gospel. Someone watching asks another bystander, “Who are these people?” The other answers, “O, these are the people who are always talking about Christos, the Christ-people, the Christians.”
While Jesus’ disciples did not understand themselves as departing from Judaism, apparently others began to regard them as a distinct group of “Messianists.”
In Latin, the ending ian meant “the party of.” A Christ-ian was “of the party of Jesus.” Christians was sort of like saying “Jesus-ites,” or “Jesus People,” describing the people associated with Jesus Christ. They were called “Christ-ones.”
Today, we must strongly establish the word and character of Christians. Instead of claiming as Roman Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostals, Charismatic, Brethren, and Laymen etc.,
Conclusion:
Illustration:
Eusebius, the famous early church historian, described a believer named Sanctus from Lyons, France, who was tortured for Jesus.
As they tortured him cruelly, they hoped to get him to say something evil or blasphemous. They asked his name. He replied, “I am a Christian.”
“What nation do you belong to?” “I am a Christian.”
“What city do you live in?” “I am a Christian.”
His persecutors began to get angry: “Are you a slave or a free man?” “I am a Christian”.
No matter what they asked about him, he only answered, “I am a Christian.”
This made his torturers all the more determined to break him, but they could not, and he died with the words “I am a Christian” on his lips. (Eusebius, Church History).
