They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none save only to Jews.
But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord.
And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch:
Who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord:
For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
And he went forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul;
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were gathered together with the church, and taught much people, and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Now in these days there came down prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.
And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great famine over all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius.
And the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judaea:
Which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Let us look to the Lord in prayer.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for giving us the privilege of being with Thee at Thy table. We thank Thee for the privilege of communion with Thee, with Thy blood, and with Thy body.
And Lord, we do praise and thank Thee that we are here, gathered in Thy presence. And Lord, we expect Thee to speak to us through Thy Word, by Thy Holy Spirit.
We commit this time again into Thy hands and trust in Thee to do the work. In the name of our Lord Jesus and for His glory. Amen.
I find it a little bit difficult to begin. The reason is that, for some time in the past, we began to consider together the life of the church, the Body. I am afraid, probably, you have forgotten what we have shared.
Let me just remind you that the church, the Body of Christ, is not a human invention. It is not a historical consequence. It is a divine conception. It has its origin in God, even before the foundation of the world.
We find in Ephesians 3:10-11 especially that God has purposed in His own Son, even before the world’s foundation, that there should be a church—a helpmeet, a bride to the Bridegroom, who is none other than God’s own beloved Son.
Therefore, the church is not something that is conceived by man; it is conceived by God, even before the foundation of the world. Therefore, if we want to know what the church is, we cannot just look to history. We have to go back to the Word of God. We have to see what is in God’s mind concerning His church.
The success or the failure of a church is not measured by man. It is measured by how close, how near, it is to God’s concept of what the church is.
We also shared in the past concerning the birth of the church. We find that the church is born through the travail of the Triune God. God the Father travailed in giving up His only begotten Son. Christ, our Lord Jesus, travailed on the cross in giving up His life. The Holy Spirit travailed to bring forth the church on earth.
So the church is never something that man can organize. It has to come by birth. Basically, it depends upon the travail of the Triune God. Together with His travail, there needs to be travailing prayer from those who are the Lord’s.
Just like on the day of Pentecost, the one hundred and twenty believers travailed in prayer for ten days, and that is how the church on earth was born.
The Lord Jesus said:
I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
The church is not something that man can build. It is Christ Himself who builds. It is God who builds the city with foundations.
How does God build His church? The church is one, universal. It includes all God’s people, from the first who believed in the Lord Jesus to the very last who trusts in the Lord. It is universal; it is one.
Yet the way that God builds His church is by building churches in every locality upon this earth. We find that the first church built on earth was the church in Jerusalem, but that was just the beginning. That was not the end.
Because we remember our Lord Jesus said, “Ye shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
In other words, God is building His church by building His churches everywhere upon this earth, as long as this age of grace continues.
We already shared on the life of the church in Jerusalem. We find that in the beginning there were only one hundred and twenty believers—those who followed the Lord and were faithful to the Lord when our Lord was on earth.
They gathered in that upper room, praying together and waiting for the Holy Spirit to come to them. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and in one Spirit they were baptized into one Body. That is the beginning of the church on earth.
But thank God, on that very same day three thousand were added to the Lord—those whose hearts were pricked, those who repented, were baptized, and received the promise of the Holy Spirit. They persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread, and in prayer.
Then, at the end of Acts 2, in verse 47, you find that daily the Lord added people to the church. When you go to Acts 4:4, you find that after the cripple at the gate called Beautiful was healed, a great multitude gathered around Peter and John. They preached the gospel to the multitude, and many believed and came to the Lord. The brethren in Jerusalem came to around five thousand people.
Then you remember that something happened in the church. Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive, to cheat, the Holy Spirit. Discipline came upon them very swiftly, and because of them the fear of the Lord was among God’s people. You find that many were added to the Lord because of that incident, both men and women.
Then, in Acts 6, you find that after seven were appointed to take care of the tables, the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. The Lord greatly blessed them, and many came to the Lord. Even many priests came to the Lord.
So very soon, you find that in the church in Jerusalem there were probably about twenty thousand believers, including women and children. In spite of the great number, they were together. They broke bread from house to house, worshiped the Lord, and continued in fellowship.
The church in Jerusalem had a glorious beginning.
Now, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, fellowshipping together, were so happy with their fellowship. They enjoyed the Lord, and they enjoyed one another so much that somehow they forgot that the Lord had told them, “Go. Be My witnesses in Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to all Judaea, Samaria, and even to the end of the world.”
So they stayed together instead of going out. Instead of the testimony of Jesus spreading throughout the whole earth, they just wanted to be together because they enjoyed the Lord so much and enjoyed one another so much.
Probably this continued on for about eight years. So finally, the Lord had to do something. The Lord sent persecution to the church in Jerusalem.
It started with the stoning of Stephen, one of the seven who served the tables. We find that, especially under Saul the Pharisee, the persecution greatly increased.
So much that all the believers, the disciples, began to disperse and leave Jerusalem. Only the apostles remained there.
Now, these who left Jerusalem because of persecution went to all Judaea and Samaria, not just trying to flee from persecution. Actually, the Lord sovereignly sent them out to all Judaea and Samaria.
So when you come to Acts 9, you find that all the churches in Judaea and Samaria grew in the Lord and had peace. But that was not the end.
When you come to Acts 11, you find that some of those who left Jerusalem because of persecution traveled even further out. They went through the country to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Now, Antioch is in Syria.
When they entered into these places, they announced the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus. For those Jews who were scattered, somehow they were still bound by their Judaism, so they spoke only to the Jews dispersed in these foreign cities.
But there were also Cyprians and Cyrenians. They began to speak to the Greeks also.
Now, brothers and sisters, we remember that on the day of Pentecost Jews from every part of the world gathered together—not only Jews who lived in the promised land, but Jews in the Dispersion. They were Hellenistic Jews. Together with these Hellenistic Jews, there were also a number of Gentiles who were proselytes to Judaism.
So they were also there in Jerusalem. They were Greeks; they were Gentiles, but they were converted to Judaism. Even when you read Matthew 27, you find that the one who helped our Lord to bear His cross to Calvary was a man by the name of Simon a Cyrenian.
You also remember that Barnabas, whose name formerly was Joseph, was a Levite from Cyprus. So you find that not only Hebrew Jews, but a number of Hellenistic Jews, were there on the day of Pentecost, and even some Gentiles who were proselytes to Judaism.
When these people were dispersed to foreign countries, the Hebrew Jews probably spoke only to the Jews. But the Hellenistic Jews were not so bound by Judaism. Especially those Cyrenians and Cyprians who became believers would, of course, speak to their own countrymen.
So you find that the gospel began to be preached to the Greeks also in Antioch. Many believed and turned to the Lord. The hand of the Lord was there.
One thing you notice: the church in Antioch was not started by any apostles. It started very differently from the way it started in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, the apostles played a leading role; but in Antioch there was no apostle, only those unknown believers.
As they preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to their countrymen, the hand of the Lord was there. It was the work of God, and many came to the Lord.
So in the Scriptures, you find there are two different ways that a church can begin. It may begin by the preaching of the apostles, or it may begin simply by the witnessing of God’s people who happen to be in other places.
It is not necessarily true that without an apostle a church cannot begin. We find that the church in Antioch was started by unknown believers. They were unknown to the world, but they were known to God.
So many came to the Lord, and the news traveled back to Jerusalem. When the people in Jerusalem heard about it, they sent Barnabas to visit them.
Barnabas traveled all the way until he came to Antioch. He saw the grace of God in that place, so he exhorted them, with purpose of heart, to abide with the Lord. He was a good man, full of faith, and many more came to the Lord.
Now he realized that he could not do the work by himself; it was beyond him. So he went to Tarsus to find Saul.
You remember Saul, who was the persecutor of the believers, turned to the Lord on the way to Damascus. He was on fire for the Lord. When he came to Jerusalem, he was just too hot, and he had to be sent back to Tarsus. Probably he had already stayed there several years.
But now Barnabas went to seek him out, brought him to Antioch, and the two of them ministered to the believers. For a whole year they met together, teaching them the Word of God.
The Bible says that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Now, that is history.
We believe that the reason why the history of the churches in the early days is recorded in the Word of God is because God has something to teach us through these churches, that we may learn the life of the church through what God had done in them.
So this morning, we would like to learn what God wants to teach us concerning the church in Antioch.
First of all, we believe that this is a new move of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit made His first move on this earth, and the church in Jerusalem appeared. It had a glorious beginning.
But we must remember that the church in Jerusalem was composed mainly of Jews. Almost all were Jews, except perhaps some proselytes—either Hebrew Jews or Hellenistic Jews.
Being in Jerusalem, the center of Judaism, you find that somehow they were not able to be freed from the tradition of the fathers. Somehow, they were tied to Judaism.
That is the reason why, in the beginning of church history, the Roman Empire did not persecute the church. They considered the church as just another sect of Judaism, and Judaism had a legal status with the Roman government.
So you find that in the beginning the testimony of the church in Jerusalem was not that distinct. It was somehow bound up with Judaism. The Lord had to make a new move to separate the church from Judaism.
The church in Antioch is a new move of the Holy Spirit. You find the Holy Spirit beginning to move in Antioch, a Gentile city. Even though there were Jews there, the church in Antioch was composed mainly of Gentiles.
It was not bound by Judaism. That is the reason why, when people looked at the church in Antioch, they did not know how to call these people. They could not consider them as a sect in Judaism.
So first of all, we find that this is a new move of the Holy Spirit. Even in the Book of Acts, we find that the Holy Spirit made a number of moves. He was not bound by anything.
Not only did He make a new move in Antioch; later on, we find that He made another new move in Ephesus. Finally, He made a move in Rome.
Brothers and sisters, throughout church history, you find that the Holy Spirit is always moving forward. There will be new moves of the Holy Spirit from time to time. Whenever something begins to be bound by tradition, the Holy Spirit will make a new move, because He is seeking for a pure testimony.
This is one thing we need to remember. Otherwise, we will just be bound by tradition. We think everything that is old is always better, but the Holy Spirit is always looking for something that is new.
That is actually more ancient than whatever is old, because it is always moving back to God’s original purpose and concept. That is the first lesson we need to learn. Because of this, we need to be open to all God’s moves by His Spirit, back to God’s original concept.
Number two: as we look at these believers in Antioch, who were they? What was their spiritual condition?
First of all, we find that they turned to the Lord. Of course, this is the first thing. Formerly, they were idol worshipers, but now they turned to the Lord with their whole heart. They believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They accepted the Lord as their Savior and as their Lord. They turned to the Lord.
But they not only turned to the Lord. You find that they were exhorted by Barnabas that, with purpose of heart, they should abide with the Lord.
Now, brothers and sisters, to turn to the Lord is one thing. That is just the beginning. To turn to the Lord is to abide with the Lord. What is the sense of turning to the Lord if you do not abide with the Lord, if you do not continue with the Lord, if you do not remain with the Lord, if you do not grow in the Lord, if you are not rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus?
This needs a purpose of heart. Oftentimes we find that God’s people, by the grace of God, are saved, but they do not have a purpose of heart. They do not purpose in their heart that they will abide with the Lord.
In other words, many are saved, but they do not seek the Lord with their heart. That is the reason why we find so much weakness among God’s people.
You remember in the Old Testament Daniel, how he purposed in his heart not to be polluted even by the king’s food and wine. He would rather live a pure, simple, common life than be polluted by something luxurious, something royal, something great in the eyes of man. Now, that takes purpose.
Brothers and sisters, we who believe in the Lord Jesus, do we have such a purpose? Since we are the Lord’s, are we purposed to follow Him all the way?
Do we remain in Christ Jesus? God has put us in Christ Jesus, but do we make Christ Jesus our home? Do we stay there, or are we just drifting in and out? We do not have a purpose. We do not set our heart to the Lord.
The Bible says:
My son, give Me thy heart,
And let thine eyes delight in My ways.
Oftentimes we find that God’s people do not delight in God’s way. They think God’s way is too difficult, too hard, too unreasonable. The reason is because you have not given your heart to the Lord.
If you give your heart to the Lord, then you will delight in His way. You will find that His way is perfect, His way is acceptable, and His way is good.
So, dear brothers and sisters, you find these believers, with purpose of heart, abiding with the Lord. They continued on. They sought the Lord. They grew in the Lord. They loved the Lord. They persevered.
Then you find that for a whole year they were being taught in the Word of the Lord. How necessary it is that we be taught in God’s Word, because there is only one way that the church can be built, and it is by the Word of God.
These people really came and learned the way of the Lord by the Word for a whole year.
I always remember back in 1942, when I was in India. I went to Madras, and the brothers and sisters in Madras had started to meet just a year before that time.
I was told that during that whole year, every day they met twice. Before they went to work, they came together to be taught in the Word of God. After work, they came together again to be instructed in God’s Word. This happened for a whole year.
When I was there, it was during wartime. People began to disperse, and there was blackout in the evening. Yet when I saw these brothers and sisters, only a year old, I saw how they loved the Lord.
Sometimes we think that anything other than the Lord’s Day is just too much. We think it is a waste of our time. We have so many things to do.
But, brothers and sisters, one thing is needed. We need to come together and be instructed in God’s Word.
Because of this, you find that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. They were true disciples.
Brothers and sisters, believers are disciples. There should be no distinction between believers and disciples. Unfortunately, we find today that believers and disciples are two different persons. You can be a believer without being a disciple. But in the early days, there was no such thing.
If you believe in the Lord, you are a disciple of Christ. If you receive Him as your Savior, then you accept Him as your Lord. If you let Him come into your heart, then you allow Him to rule in your heart.
So you find these believers in Antioch. They were Gentiles such as we are, but they turned to the Lord. With purpose of heart, they abided with the Lord. They were daily taught, and they were true disciples of the Lord.
When the world looked at them, they did not know how to call them. They could not call them the sect of the Nazarenes, a sect in Judaism, because these were Gentiles.
You know, the world feels very uncomfortable if they cannot label anything, because by labeling something they feel secure. So when they looked at these people, who were they?
They gave them a nickname, and the nickname was “Christian.”
Now, brothers and sisters, remember: Christian is a nickname given by the world. You do not just call yourselves Christians. It is the world that recognizes you as Christians.
In the beginning, as you read the Book of Acts, you find that those believers were either called believers, or called disciples, or even called the people of the Way, because there is a way of life that is so different from any way of life on this earth.
But now, in Acts 11:26, you find that these disciples in Antioch were first called Christians by the world. Why were they called Christians? What do you mean by Christians?
Christians simply means “Christ-men.” Why did they call them Christ-men? Because here they found a people who were centered upon Christ.
They believed in Christ. They prayed to Christ. They praised Christ. They gathered together in the name of Christ. They sang songs to Christ. They worshiped Christ.
They mentioned the name of Christ, and they lived for Christ. In other words, here you find a people who were obsessed by Christ, fully occupied with Christ. Nothing seemed to matter to them anymore. Nothing was more important than Christ Jesus.
They not only heard Christ from them; they saw Christ in them. Brothers and sisters, this is Christian. The world recognized it.
Now today we call ourselves Christians, but when the world looks at us, do they see us as Christians? Or do they see us as the same as they are, or even worse?
How often we hear people say, “Well, these so-called Christians, they are not as good as we are.”
Remember, Christian is a name that needs to be earned. It is not just a name you call yourself. You have to earn it from the mouth of the world. Do they see Christ in your life, or do they see yourselves—no different from the world?
In the Bible, the word Christian is only used three times. Once in Acts 11:26, and the second time is in Acts 26:28.
You remember Paul, when he was before Agrippa. He was given the chance to defend himself, and instead of defending himself, he defended Christ. He preached Christ to them.
Agrippa said to Paul, “With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.” In other words, Christian was a despised word.
The governor said, “Paul, thou art mad.” You are given a chance to deliver yourself, and you are mad. You try to preach Christ instead.
Oh, a Christian is madly in love with Christ. Now, that is a Christian.
The third time the word Christian is mentioned is in 1 Peter 4:16:
But if a man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name.
Brothers and sisters, a Christian is one who is willing to suffer for the name of Christ. Are you willing to suffer for Christ, or are you ashamed of His name?
These are the only three times Christian is mentioned in the Bible. Thank God, today we take it as an honor. If anyone can say that you are a Christian, brothers and sisters, it is an honor. You earn it.
But if people look at you and can hardly see you as a Christian, it is a shame.
Another thing we learn from the church in Antioch is the interrelationship between churches.
Brothers and sisters, when the news that many came to the Lord in Antioch came to Jerusalem, you find that the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem were concerned.
Even though Antioch was in Syria and Jerusalem was in Judaea, even though those believers in Antioch were Gentiles and they were Jews, when these believers in Jerusalem heard that those Gentiles in Antioch had believed in the Lord, they were interested. They were concerned.
So they sent Barnabas to visit them.
You find in Acts 11:18, the verse before we started reading this morning, that because of what God had done in the house of Cornelius, the Lord had somehow removed some of the prejudices of these Jewish believers.
They had to acknowledge that indeed God had granted to the nations also repentance unto life. They had to agree that God granted repentance unto life to the nations.
So when they heard that the nations had believed in the Lord Jesus, it was not a total surprise. They were, in a sense, prepared for it. They were interested because they considered those Gentile believers as their brothers and sisters in the Lord, in the same Body.
So they sent a messenger to visit them. Now notice this: whom did they send? They sent Barnabas.
Now, who is Barnabas? We already mentioned Barnabas. He was a Hellenistic Jew, a Levite, but he came from Cyprus. He was not a person who was bound by the traditions of Judaism.
They did not send an apostle. They did not send Peter and John to Antioch. If they had sent Peter and John to Antioch, that would have given the impression that they were sent out to put the church in Antioch under the wing of the church in Jerusalem.
In other words, they would have come to control. No, they sent out a believer—a Hellenistic Jew, a man with a big heart, who was sympathetic to the Gentiles who turned to the Lord.
He was sent out not to bring them under the control of the church in Jerusalem as the mother church and to make the church in Antioch a daughter church. No such thing.
He was sent out for fellowship.
Brothers and sisters, this is a very important principle in the Word of God. Every church on earth is independent in government. In other words, every local assembly is directly responsible to the Lord Himself.
There is no such thing as a headquarters, no such thing as a mother church or daughter churches, no such thing as central control, no centralization, no central government. Every church is independently dependent upon the Lord.
Yet all the churches are in fellowship in the Spirit. In other words, no church is so independent that it stands by itself. You find that there will be fellowship between churches, but it is fellowship in the Spirit. It is not fellowship in administration; it is in the Spirit.
One is concerned with the others. One wants to help the others, and vice versa. So this is the interrelationship between churches.
Not only is there an interrelationship between individual members of the Body of Christ, but there is also a relationship of fellowship among churches that God has built on earth.
So here you find Barnabas going out to Antioch to fellowship, to encourage, to exhort, to help—not to control.
But fellowship is always two ways. You find the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to help the church in Antioch be built up. The church in Antioch, when they heard that there would be a great famine upon the whole earth, responded.
These Gentile believers were more well-to-do than the Jewish believers at that time. So you find that the church of Antioch sent financial help to the churches in Judaea.
It is a two-way street, not one way. Fellowship is always two ways.
The Gentile believers received spiritual help from the Jewish believers, and now you find the Gentile believers responded with love to those Jewish believers who were in need.
This is the interrelationship between churches—a very important principle to remember. The reason why you find Christianity as it is today is because they have deviated from the Word of God.
Now finally, another lesson. When you come to Acts 13, you find that in the church of Antioch there were five prophets and teachers.
Now, the church in Antioch was not started by any apostle. Even at that time, there was still no apostle there. But thank God, He raised up among them five prophets and teachers.
These five prophets and teachers ministered the Word of God locally—locally. They did not depend upon some apostle to come and minister to them. You find that God raised up in their midst five prophets and teachers, and locally they ministered the Word of God.
It is not one man’s ministry, nor is it all men’s ministry. This is another principle we need to remember.
It is not one man’s ministry, as we find in Christianity today. Nor is it all men’s ministry. It is true that everyone can exhort one another, but to minister the Word of God as prophets and teachers, brothers and sisters, it is not all men’s ministry. God chooses. God gives these men to the church.
So you find five prophets and teachers, including Barnabas and Saul and three others. If you read very carefully, you find that their backgrounds were all very different. One was a black man, and one was raised up with royalty. All kinds of people were there, and yet they ministered together.
For notice: when they ministered to the Lord with prayer and fasting, the Holy Spirit began to speak.
You know, before you can minister to man, you need to minister to the Lord. These men knew how to minister the Word of God because they ministered to the Lord. They waited upon the Lord. They sought the Lord’s face. They waited for God’s will to be revealed to them.
As they ministered to the Lord, they were ready, and the Holy Spirit said:
Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
That was apostolic work.
So you find that instead of a church being started by an apostle, apostles were born through the church.
How do God’s workmen come forth? Not by going to a seminary, but by being raised up in the church.
You find that as brothers are together, helping each other, growing together in the Lord, learning the Lord together, at a certain time you find that out of that established church will come forth God’s workmen. That is the way God trains His workers.
So out of Antioch, you find apostles were produced.
Brothers and sisters, these are a few lessons we need to learn from the church in Antioch. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for showing us in Thy Word what happened in the church in Antioch. Thou truly hast done great things there, and Thou art doing the same thing even today.
Lord, we pray that Thou wilt open our eyes, that we may see the way of the Lord with the church, that we may follow Thee. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.