Key Priorities of a healthy church
Part four:
Acts 11:27-30
6 April 2003
INTRODUCTION:
Over the past three weeks we have brushed off the dust from God’s journal on the early church. It has been an exciting adventure to see from the Antioch Church what we have called: Key Priorities of a Healthy Church. In this short study, we have seen the first priority of a healthy church is Evangelism. The second is Encouragement. The third priority is Edification. Now as we turn the page of God’s journal we see the final priority of a healthy church and that is: Body Life. What is body life – it is the process where each believer needs to learn how to care for one another.
BIG IDEA: WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN,
THEY WILL BE ARMED WITH A TOWEL.
1A. BODY LIFE BEGINS, WHEN WE EXERCISE OUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS (27-28)
Luke describes what occurred after Paul had a year with these new believers, teaching, training, and equipping them to understand and apply the Scriptures. At this point, God sends some prophets down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Wait a minute? I thought you said last week Antioch was north of Jerusalem. So, how could they come down to Antioch from Jerusalem? Isn’t that some kind of error? Well, on the surface, I can see how one might think that. But when you compare the elevation of Jerusalem and Antioch, you will notice that Antioch is lower in elevation than Jerusalem. So when they wanted to communicate one’s travels as such, they would phrase in such a fashion, “came down,” indicating they were descending from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Now, one of the prophets is named, Agabus. This is the first of two times he is mentioned in Acts and both times Paul is present when this man arrives on the scene. The other time he is mentioned is when Paul is going to Jerusalem, and Agabus prophecies that Paul will be imprisoned. You can read more about that in Acts 21:10. But this first mention of Agabus gives a different prophecy… (read verse 28 again). The prophecy suggests a world wide famine. Is this provable? I mean did this really occur? Fortunately, Luke gives a giant hint when this occurred. Notice the last phrase of verse 28, “this took place in the reign of Claudius.”
According to one scholar, the reign of Claudius took place from A.D. 41-54, and Roman Historians refer to a string of bad harvests and famines during that reign. Most scholars place the Judean famine about A.D. 46 so we should find our place her in Acts 11 just prior to that. If we place the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in A.D. 30, we can place the founding of the church in Antioch approximately fifteen years later. Since events in Acts cover a period of about thirty years, we are approximately halfway through the historical time period Luke intends to cover in this book.
Luke calls it a severe famine, for in varying degrees it affected the entire Roman empire. Egypt sold grain for the benefit of the people in famine stricken Jerusalem. Cyprus supplied figs, and the Christians in Antioch sent aid to the believers in Judea. Different parts of the Roman empire suffered famines. Therefore, we interpret Luke’s description, “a great famine all over the world,” not in a literal but in a broad sense.
So, Agabus gives a prophecy of a famine that will affect the church in Jerusalem. Now, I don’t mean to impersonalize this issue, but when I say the word “Church,” I am not referring to brick and mortar. I am referring and only referring to people. You cannot have a church apart from people and when we speak of fellowship community, we are speaking of and only speaking of you and me.
But in this Antioch church, they must have been equipping them to understand spiritual gifts, because how else do we explain the acceptance of Agabus’ prophecy? If someone came to speak at our church, like Ricardo did some weeks back. We accepted him, Why? Because we knew his gifts are in the area of preaching and teaching. We also know he has the gift of evangelism. Why did we accept him? Because you have been equipped to know about spiritual gifts.
Where we need to grow is having our very own class or classes on spiritual gifts. This could be done in a small group or a Sunday School Class as well as from the pulpit. But for now, let me introduce you to 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. Within all those chapters, you will read and understand various spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit gives to believers. For me to spend much time today on this, would be an injustice. But we will return to this subject. Suffice to say, this is an area that we need to grow in, because it is vital for body life, and that makes it a key priority for a healthy church.
After Agabus spoke of this famine, we notice a cause/effect relationship occurring. What is that cause and effect? The cause is the announcement of the famine. The effect is found in verse 29 that tells us the second attribute of a Body Life.
2A. BODY LIFE DEEPENS, WHEN WE SACRIFICE FOR OTHERS(29)
Here we see the key to NT giving. Notice they were not coerced to give. Luke says, “…each of them determined…” This makes it clear the NT church did not practice some form of socialism. The amount of their gift was individually determined. The other principle I see from this passage is they gave according to their means. No one was telling them the amount they were to give. Their gift was “in proportion that any of the disciples had means…” which tells me some were not able to give while others were able to give a lot. The final principle I see from this passage is they gave for a purpose. They took this offering “for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.” The word, “relief” is very interesting. It means, aid, support, and distribution. The word will be very recognizable to you. It is the word, diakonivan. This is the same word used by Luke in Acts 6 when he refers to the six selected to “serve” the tables.
Therefore, we see the monetary gift given to the saints in Jerusalem by the church in Antioch was a service of love. Paul calls it a “labor of love” in 1 Thessalonians 1.
To illustrate this, let me use my marriage. No, really it’s ok. I checked with Kelly. This week was Kelly’s birthday. We went out to dinner and then I had planned to purchase her a birthday present, but I wanted her to choose it, so I’d be sure she would like it. Well, we went to a few different stores and then we remembered we wanted to purchase a small fire pit for a patio. That’s when I remembered there was an inexpensive one at Fry’s Marketplace. Well, when we got there, we just weren’t sure we wanted the one they had. So, then Kelly found two patio chairs she liked. We were about to purchase them, when the store manager pointed out some items on clearance. It was at this moment our eyes caught this wooden bench, the kind the seat lifts up for storage. The manager said, “you can have it for $25.” Then she pointed out the matching chair, and said, “you can have them both for $30.” I looked at Kelly and we both seemed to agree this was a deal we couldn’t pass up.
I then approached the manager and said, how about both for $25? She looked at me, almost with bewilderment. But then she said, “ok.” I couldn’t believe it, and neither could Kelly. We walked out of Fry’s Marketplace with matching chair and bench for $25. And you know what? When I saw the joy it brought to Kelly, it gave me joy! This is what the Antioch church must have felt, when it decided to give financial assistance to the church in Jerusalem. When the love of God is abounding in your heart, helping others just comes supernaturally!
There are some incredible lessons for us to learn from this church in Antioch about giving.
1. The people themselves initiated the relief effort on the basis of what they learned from Agabus. The word “determine” means to have a firm resolve.
2. Participation depended upon one’s ability to give
3. Whatever theological differences might have still existed between Jerusalem and Antioch, they posed no barrier to sharing with other Christians in a time of need.
4. Although Jerusalem did not ask for assistance, Antioch was more than eager to help, spontaneously and immediately!
5. Barnabas and Paul didn’t lead this love gift. This tells me the people were being “equipped” (Eph 4:11ff). In a healthy church, body life will be led by the people within the church, not the professionals (if you will allow me to use such a word).
Paul in Galatians 6 demonstrates how this works out practically for us. let’s turn there and discover how we can deepen our body life (read Gal. 6:2-10). From this passage I learn at least two observations:
Paul tells us that there are some burdens people have in their lives that overwhelm them. That’s the word for “burden” in verse 2. In contrast, the word “load” in verse 5 refers to those loads we as individual believers are responsible to care for on our own. So the first observation I learn is God does allow things into believers lives that are overwhelming for the purpose of enhancing body life amongst us. Overwhelming burdens are God’s invitation to the body to become involved in the lives of fellow saints.
Paul also tells us by getting involved in such lives is doing exactly what Christ would be doing, if he were here on earth, which leads to our second observation. Second, by giving sacrificially to the needs of others, we are fulfilling the law of Christ, which is love.
Beloved, we are under the law of Christ – love – to enhance body life within fellowship community by sacrificing for other believers within the body of Christ, and notice, to do so, whether we know them or not!
At fellowship community, Body life begins when we exercise our spiritual gifts; body life deepens when we sacrifice for others, and…
3A. BODY LIFE PERSISTS, WHEN WE PRESERVE OUR UNITY (30)
We have now come full circle. The prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch and now the church in Antioch sent their best teachers up to Jerusalem. By doing this they preserve the unity of the church, regardless of their differences.
Why is preserving the unity of the Spirit so critical? Simple: it is the trademark of a true follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus on the night he was betrayed, prayed to the Father that we would be “one”
John 17:11
"I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
John 17:20-21
"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
In fact, Paul gives clear direction to the church in Ephesus that we are called to do such
Ephes. 4:3
being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
This is exactly what Paul mentions to the church in Rome…
Romans 15:27
Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.
The church in Antioch sent there foremost teachers to deliver the financial gift. While we might consider sending your foremost teachers to carry a financial gift to another church a waste of their time and gifts, we need to remember, this is about unity. Unity requires our best. Unity requires we make sure what we began with excellence is finished as such. Unity is the paramount attribute of Body life. For in our unity, as Jesus said, “the world may believe that You sent Me.”
Too often believers are quick on the draw to separate from other believers. During times of conflict, we need to recall the words of Augustine who said,
In the Essentials, unity
In the non – essentials, liberty
In all things, charity!
Conclusion:
As we celebrate the Lord’s Table today, let us consider where God is challenging us: is He asking us to begin body life by exercising our gifts? Is He challenging us to deepen our body life by sacrificing for others? Or is he stretching us to persist in body life by preserving the unity of the body?
During communion –
1. Exercising spiritual gifts begin to be exercised by understanding them. Read those passages again, prayerfully asking the Lord to reveal His gifts he has given to you. The other way to discern our gifts is to allow the body to affirm them in you as you serve.
2. Sacrificing for others – the best way to meet a need is when you see one, fill the need. When you see the need, meet the need spontaneously, immediately, and generously!
3. Preserving the unity – above all else, remember we are all indwelt by one Spirit and it is one Lord we serve, love and worship. Differences we have, but none so much that would cause division. In addition, here is something else to remember about ministry…
In 1765 John Fawcett was called to pastor a very small congregation at Wainsgate, England. He labored there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so meager that he and his wife could scarcely obtain the necessities of life. Though the people were poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm fellowship.
Then Dr. Fawcett received a call from a much larger church in London, and after lengthy consideration decided to accept the invitation. As his few possessions were being placed in a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye. Once again they pleaded with him to reconsider.
Touched by this great outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett exclaimed, “O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here.” “God has spoken to my heart, too!” he said. “Tell them to unload the wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship.”
This experience inspired Fawcett to write a hymn. “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love! The fellowship of kindred mind is like to that above.”
