GOD’S CHURCH IS CALLED CHRISTIAN
Acts 11:19-26 - May 6, 2002
19Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
In the church of God the early believers were called disciples; and the men whom God had chosen to carry out His message were first called apostles, ones who were sent out. We go back to the term disciples and we find the meaning of that term to be a learner or a scholar. So it was that the early Christians were scholars, or they were people who studied God’s Word. Yet, if you noticed in our text, it made no difference what they called themselves or how much they studied God’s Word or listened to it; but what would determine their title and what they were called would be by their actions. It has not changed over the centuries. People look at what people do and often give them a title or a name or something else because of what they see them do.
So it was at the very end of our text. In the city of Antioch we find that the people of God were first called Christians, not because they were scholars, not because they were learners; but because of their actions--that they had followed Christ, the Teacher of the Way. It reminds us of Matthew when he writes: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven"(MATTHEW 5:16). So here it happened that as these people had lived according to the teachings of Jesus, as they had followed Him and believed in Him because of His resurrection, they were called Christians.
That is our theme--God’s Church, His people, are called Christians. What does that mean? It means a number of things: I. The Christian church is given and provided with good news for all; and II. The Christian church is also provided with a ministry for all.
I. The Church is given good news for all
We learn how the church of God spread. Our text began by saying: "Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled." Stephen was the first person, at least that the Bible records for us, put to death because of his faith in Christ. He wasn’t called a Christian yet, but that comes a little later. But he was a disciple, a learner, and a studier of God’s Word. Because he spoke about Jesus’ death and resurrection and accused the crowd of putting Jesus to death, he too was put to death. Because of that, the church faced great persecution; and they left. Jerusalem and the surrounding area wasn’t a pleasant place to live anymore. They left behind their families and their friends. We are told, because of their persecution, they trav-eled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, Phoenicia to the northwest, Cyprus (an island) even farther away, and Antioch (a great town of civilization). Antioch was second only to Rome and Antioch in size, wealth, and power.
What did they do? They left behind their families and friends and traveled that far telling the message only to the Jews. They took with them the message of salvation. These Jews, these believers now, had been in Jerusalem. They saw Jesus come in on Palm Sunday, and the crowds shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" They saw Jesus before Pilate. They saw Jesus on the cross, and they saw Him laid to rest in the grave. More importantly, they saw Him come back to life. Now they were able to go to those places, to places where the believers had not been in Jerusalem, and tell them all these things, the good news that was for them.
It wasn’t just for the Jews then either, was it? Our next verse: "Some of them, however, men from Cy-prus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news of the Lord Jesus." Those who were not considered not to be believers, those who were really untouchables according to the laws of the Jewish nation, were now hearing the good news. They were hearing the good news that the Messiah, who had been promised, came. He was put to death and came back to life again. Was God displeased because they took the message to someone else? Was he displeased because they went beyond what we would call the normal walls of the church into the world? We are told: "The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." There was no greater blessing for these people than to carry on that good news to others. No greater blessing because we are told than the Lord’s hand was with them. The Lord’s hand gave them success.
When we stop to look at our lives, it is the very same with us. There is no greater blessing for us than to understand that the Lord’s hand is with us. Oh yes, we might be tempted to grumble and complain and say, "Our lot in life is not fair." We would like it to be better, to be easier. Yet, when we look at these believers, what happened? Here they had been in their hometown, in their home church (because the temple was in Jeru-salem); but the government became so bad against them that it persecuted them until they left. Maybe they felt that wasn’t fair. Again, what happens? The Word of God spreads, because the Lord’s hand was with them. So from time to time when we might think of ourselves as being treated unfairly or life treating us unfairly, re-member the Lord’s hand is with us. In the Book of Hebrews we are told what that it truly means for us as be-lievers: "God has said, ’Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ’The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’"(HEBREWS 13:5b,6). The Lord’s hand is with us, and it is with us because He has given us the good news to take to the ends of the earth.
First and foremost, He has given us the privilege, the opportunity to understand what the good news is--that Christ came into this world to save sinners and as Paul would add: "Of whom I am the worst." We have to confess that, too, of ourselves. We’re the worst of sinners, but He has provided us with the good news of salva-tion--that Christ has died to take away all of our sins, that He has paid the price that we could not pay, that He has suffered the death which we could not suffer, and He has even gone into hell where we never, ever want to go to proclaim His victory over the devil. It all began at His birth, didn’t it, where even angels came and told there was good news, not just for believers, not just for a few people, but also for all people? Those familiar words of the angels in the Gospel of Luke which says: "But the angel said to them, ’Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord’"(LUKE 2:10,11).
This is good news for all people; and this was the simple news that the angels came to pronounce, which we have learned to love and cherish and know and believe in hearts and lives, is the same message--"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord." That’s the good news, the good news, which the angels first announced on the hills of Bethlehem, the good news that we have in our hearts today, which is the good news for all people. This is the good news of comfort, the good news of strength, and the good news of encouragement.
People in this world all around us are suffering, have heartache and have trouble by the affairs of this world wondering what to do next. Society today is wondering what is going to happen next. We hear of das-tardly deeds of terrorism. We hear of people who would put bombs in mailboxes in Iowa and Nebraska. What is going to happen next? So some people are scared and frightened, because they concentrate on that so much--the things of this world and what we see around us--that they forgot the simple message of the good news that God is concerned more with our salvation and our eternity. This is the message that we need to focus on, the message from prophet Isaiah: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed"(ISAIAH 53:5). He says, "Yes, there are frightening things in this world and scary things that we don’t know what will happen in the fu-ture; but for us as believers we know that heaven is our home. This is because Christ has done all these things for us, paid for iniquities, our transgressions, and our sins. That is the good news that others need to hear, not to be overly concerned about this life but focused on what is yet to come. We are able to do that because the Lord’s hand is with His church.
God’s people, God’s church is called "Christian," because it has the good news for all. As we see in our text as it continues, there is a ministry for all also in the Christian church.
II. God?s Church has a ministry for all
Great things were happening even though the believers had been driven away from what we would call the "mother church" at Jerusalem. They took the Word of God with them, and they spread it to those who were not so close to Jerusalem. Many people turned to the Lord, because the Lord’s hand was with them. What hap-pens? "News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch." So the people that were still in Jerusalem heard what was happening, and they sent Barnabas to help them. They called Barnabas in other words. Who is this Barnabas? We are given a little bit of a description of Barnabas. "Barnabas was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord." This is just a short sentence but filled with lots of meaning--a good man, one who could be trusted. It tells us why. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. He, too, had come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he, too, would come to encourage these new believers.
That is exactly what he did, didn’t he? "When he arrived (in Antioch) he saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts." He was happy to see such joy. He was happy to see the good news being preached to those who had not heard the good news. He reminded them to be united one in faith and with the joy that was in their hearts. Then we find out that evi-dently the church is growing by leaps and bounds, because we are told: "Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch."
Let’s think about that a moment, how the whole chain of events all of a sudden comes full circle. The church had left because Stephen had been put to death. The conditions and the atmosphere for worshipping Christ were not very good in Jerusalem anymore. If you go back to the beginning chapters of the Book of Acts, you can read very closely about the death of Stephen. Stephen’s death was a beautiful example of faith. Even though they were stoning Stephen, he says, "Father, forgive them." You read the next few verses and you find out, "and the people who were stoning Stephen to death, put their cloaks at the feet of a man named Saul." Saul was there consenting to Stephen’s death. Later on, Saul feels his call from God is to wipe out those people who were called "followers of the Way, followers of Christ." Yet, we know what happens. God appears to him on the way to Damascus and changes Saul’s life forever, and Saul becomes a disciple of Christ. He becomes a fol-lower of Jesus. Here we find Barnabas going to Tarsus to Saul’s hometown and get Saul to encourage the be-lievers, these believers that he once tried to destroy. You have to remember a number of years passed, because the Lord realized Saul needed lots of training. Saul needed to hear God’s Word over and over again, before he would be called. About ten years had passed in between Stephen’s death and the time that Saul comes as not a persecutor, but a helper of Christianity. "So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."
Saul who really consented to the death of the first Christian, Stephen, now was called a Christian, a fol-lower of the Way, a follower of Christ. There was a ministry in God’s Christian church for Saul, the persecutor and who realized his entire life that he was the worst of sinners. He was now proclaiming salvation. God works wonders in His church, and He would call men and women to serve Him.
In our church body May is a special month for a number of reasons. One is it is the time that is known as "Call Day" for our teaching college at New Ulm, Minnesota, which sends out teachers to their first places, men and women to serve God. A few days later the seminary at Mequon, Wisconsin, sends out pastors to their first parishes that they might serve the Lord, that they might preach the good news. For all of them there is a ministry in serving God. They come from all kinds of backgrounds, some from pastors’ households, some from farms, some from factories, some as a second career--they lived their life and found no fulfillment in their life as much as being able to serve the Lord. So in their fifties or even later, they come to learn and study and be trained to go out and preach God’s Word. There is a ministry for all. In Ephesians, Paul lists the number of people that are given titles to and lists the purpose also. "It was he (God) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up"(EPHESIANS 4:11,12).
There is room for ministry for every believer in God’s Christian church, for you and I, no matter whom we are. No matter if we are given the title of pastor or Sunday school teacher or whatever, each one of us has a ministry in God’s church, don’t we? God has first of all called each one of us to be believers, believers in this world and as believers in His church. We live lives of service to Him, so there is a ministry of preaching and teaching. There is a ministry of caring and church repairing. There is a ministry of sowing God’s Word and mowing God’s lawn. Those are all services in God’s kingdom so that God Himself may be glorified. In the Book of Romans, chapter 12, he says there are all kinds of gifts and a whole list is given; he says: "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us...if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully"(ROMANS 12:6a,8). These are all ministry things that believers can do and ought to do. Every one of us can encourage people, can’t we? Every one of us can give generously. Every one of us can contribute sometimes in our life more than other times. But the Lord says these are things of the ministry each one of us can be anxious and excited to do.
Not listed in there is praying, which is something every one of us can do. We see Scripture always en-courages us to do even more praying. Serving the Lord is always to be done, not for ourselves, not that we might get the glory, not to say "Look what I have done;" but it is done because we say, "Look what God has done for us. Look at the sacrifice He has made. Look how He was rich and for our sakes became poor so that you and I through His poverty might become rich." We know we can spend our lifetime dedicated and devoted serving the Lord and still never, ever even come close to repaying Him for taking away one single sin. He takes away not one single sin, but all of our sins; and He daily and richly forgives us. So we live our lives as lives of gratitude in thanksgiving for the Lord. We live our lives that God may be glorified. From I Peter: "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever"(1 PETER 4:11).
The definition of disciples is to be learners or scholars or really studiers of God’s Word. I think that would be a better title for us, wouldn’t it? This is a title we could cherish even more as disciples as we continue to study God’s Word. We can continue to dig in it deeply and learn because we can never learn enough. In-stead, the outside world looks at us and the term "Christian" is used three times in Scripture and used by outsid-ers looking in at the church. It calls people God’s people, His church, "Christian." What a name that is--to be associated with Christ so that when people are looking at us they would see a bit of Christ the Savior.
Maybe with that term "Christian" we sometimes forget the responsibility that comes with that. There are lots of people in the world who call themselves "Christians," but they don’t act like it. Maybe we are the same sometimes. As a disciple, then we continue to study God’s Word. As a Christian, this may be a title that we are so used to we forget it?s implication. It is a precious title. It means that we are given the good news, which is to be given to others. It means that you and I have a ministry, which is to be a life of service to the Lord. It means that we have a responsibility.
Daniel, the Prophet from the Old Testament, gives us our result of that responsibility. When we are re-sponsible and true to that name "Christian" and we are not followers in name only but in lives and actions, he says: "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteous-ness, like the stars for ever and ever"(DANIEL 12:3). You are wise. We have been made wise in the salvation because God calls you "Christian." He says you are the lights in this world, which is darkened by sin, because you have been given the good news. You have been given a ministry; because simply you are God’s people. You are Christians. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
