Acts 11
Notes
Transcript
The Work of God Grows...
The Work of God Grows...
Good morning my friends, I hope you’ve had a good week.
Do you remember the question I asked you last week?
I asked you if you knew the difference between a good week or a bad week?
I told you last week it was simply this: Its our attitude, because our attitude shapes our perspective and outlook on the day.
So how has your attitude been this week? You know the answer, and so does the Lord.
Today we come back to the book of Acts and we are looking at Acts 11.
Now some might say, well there isn’t much happening here in this chapter, but historically, for the church, it is rich in meaning. Rich in sharing the work of God as the church grew.
And we are going to look at this today as we move forward with the move of Christianity across the world here in the book of Acts.
So lets begin with this first thought today…
1. An Accounting of God’s Work...
Lets start with this thought: We must be careful about exercising judgment or when we feel or want to be critical about the work of God that isn’t always traditional in a sense.
Lets look at our text and see what is happening in verses 1-3
1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
So word spreads fairly quickly about the work of God in Caesarea,.
Remember from last week, Peter and faithful men from Joppa traveled with Cornelius servants to meet and minister to Cornelius and those with Him.
Now the big issue was this… Peter was a Jew, I assume those from Joppa with Peter where Jewish men who had had previously lived according to all the law, but now were saved and baptised followers of Jesus.
And remember, Jews do not, I repeat they do not associate with Gentiles. But God has orchestrated this meeting and Peter knew God was at work with them.
So work had spread quickly and so did criticism from some.
Now Peter traveled back to Jerusalem to tell the others, Apostles and disciples what God did in their midst.
But upon arriving some of the circumcision party criticized Peter, .... You went to the home and ate with a gentile… oh Peter, how could you????
There is always someone who will criticize something, amen. That’s just the way they are, all baptized in pickle juice, they are as sour as the day is long.
Hearing that God was at work with the Gentiles, which matches the Great Commission of Jesus in Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
If you followed the progression of movement Jesus outlines here, pretty soon you would be ministering to a Gentile world. But some do not understand the importance of ministering every where.
Church we are called to minister here, and there..
But lets move on… Acts 11:4-10
4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven.
So upon hearing the criticism, Peter explains to them what took place… Let me share these things with you...
1.) So Peter tells them of God’s revelation him while he was in Joppa. While he was praying at mid-day, God lowered a great sheet with representatives of all the animals of the earth including reptiles and birds and the command of God for Peter to rise, kill and eat....
Now Peter rejected that command, for fear of breaking the dietary restrictions God had commanded for the Jews.. Yet as Peter rejected the call, God told him to never all unclean or common if he had declared it clean.
2.) Now while Peter was pondering over this vision, 3 gentiles show up at the house he was staying in Joppa and they related to Peter why they had come to him.
Gentiles were calling for Peter to to them… and instead of rejecting, instead of pushing this away he understood that God was at work even when he didn’t understand it all, but he knew he should be obedient.
Wow… there is a call my friends, When we know God is at work. be faithful even when we don’t understand or can see the whole path. Trust that God will take you through it all.
Consider Abraham my friends, when God called Abraham to come and follow Him, Abraham couldn’t see or understand all this journey would entail, but he believed God was faithful and trusted Him.
At times you may sense that God is at work in your life, leading you... and you might say I cannot do this or that, Are you sure?? I believe God is able to take your life and accomplish where He is leading.. Do you believe that my friends?
I do.... It may not seem easy, it may sem scary, but will we trust self or will we trust God..
Peter recounts all that God was doing in His midst, and in the midst of others from Joppa.
Now listen to verses 11-18 Acts 11:12-18
12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Now let me point out something to you… when all this conversation began, those of the circumcision party were not asking about the salvation of these people, nor their baptism, But they were more concerned with Peter’s table fellowship them.
They focused on the minor things instead of the major…
There is an old saying, Keep the main thing, the main thing!
What is the main thing? It is to see people come to faith in Christ. Then to help them become responsible disciples who seek to see others saved too.
We are to make disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples.
Now move forward, the last thought for this first point...
Do you see verse 12,
3.) Peter says the Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit told him to go…
The Spirit told him to go and upon arriving, Cornelius says the angel told him that Peter would tell him all he needed to know to be saved....
And as Peter told them, as they are saved the Holy Spirit fell on them.
Then verse 17 sums up the work of God beautifully, Acts 11:17-18
17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
The accounting of God’s work is that all were to hear the word of God, both Jew and Gentile. Aren’t you thankful that the word of God has now come to the whole world so that all people can be saved...
I was saved, you were saved and we are praying for many more to know the Lord Jesus...
God desires to be at work in your life, He desires to use your life… Will you let Him?
Now, let move on to our second thought for today…
2. Faithful Brothers...
Now we know from previous chapters, the early church experienced persecution. One such time was during the days of Stephen, who martyred for his faith.
It was so bad, Christians fled Jerusalem and the surrounding areas and traveled to far away places like Cyprus, Cyrene and Antioch.
Lets look at our text… verses 19-26
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Consider this, times were so rough, circumstances so fearful that they crossed both land and sea looking for safety. Antioch was about 300 miles from Jerusalem, Cyprus was almost 500 miles and Cyrene was over 800 miles
And even in these new placed they were skeptical to talk to anyone except the Jews, whom they had a strong background with...
But there were some faithful brothers from Cyrene and Cyprus who after coming to Antioch bore witness to the Greek speaking community (Hellenists) who lived at Antioch as well.
And what can I tell you about these men… and how can we identify with them in 2023...
A.) The Lord was with them…Verse 21. The Lord power and favor was upon them as they carried His message to the lost.
The Lord Jesus has promised that He would never leave us or forsake us. And when we are on mission with His mission, He walks with us and His Spirit will help us.
B.) They witnessed to those in Antioch, the Greek or Gentile men. Now this is really important considering they were in Antioch. Antioch was called the Queen city. It was an important city and there was a lot of cult prostitution around the worship of the Romans gods of Daphne and Apollo.
The people needed Jesus and these men while continuing to witness among the Jewish community also carried the message to these Gentiles.
They were faithful where they where… did you hear that my friends, They were faithful where God had them, we need to be faithful to carry the message of Jesus not only in distant lands, but we must be faithful where God has placed us.
So think of that....
Carry Jesus were God allows you to work...
Carry Jesus where God allows you to play
Carry Jesus to your peers
Carry Jesus to everyone
C.) A great number believed… listen, they were faithful, God’s hand was with them and they saw the results of their witness.
And then the church at Jerusalem heard that many were being saved at Antioch, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to see what was happening.
And Barnabas was glad!
Barnabas was glad because the Scriptures say he witness the grace of God and even more people coming to faith in Christ.
Wow, And he cheered them on....
Man, when you see God at work, it may not be exactly what you thought God would do, but if the name of Jesus is exalted, and people are being saved. Give God the glory.
Barnabas did.. He cheered them on all the more...
Now just one last thought for today my friends, are you ready.
3.) The Work of the Church...
The most beautiful part of this entire chapter is seeing the work of God, in His church as it grew day by day.
The good news of Jesus Christ, was turning the world upside down. It did then and friends it continues to today.
But lets look at the church at Antioch.
Remember from verses 23 and 24, we see that a great many people were added to the Lord. They came, believed and were saved, baptized and received the Holy Spirit.
Now here is the problem, but its a good one.
With so many new believers being added to the church we see Barnabas knew he needed help discipling these new believers.
You see that is the next logical step for a born again child of God. They are taught, the goal is to help them become responsible disciples, able to disciple others in the future.
So what did Barnabas do, He sought out Paul who was close by...
Look at Acts 11:25-26
25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Now this is important.
These knew believers needed to be taught the Scriptures. They needed to know all that God had done in times past, literally the Old Testament, but they needed to know how Jesus was the fulfillment of all God had done in the history of humanity to redeem them.
They needed to be discipled, again, so they could be responsible members and in turn help others be discipled.
So they(Barnabas and Paul) were there for a year teaching and helping the church be established and strengthened.
And the end of verse 26 tells us something special, it was there, at Antioch that those members of the way, the church was first called Christians.
Wow....
Now as the church grew, not only did they ensure they were strengthened, but they also sought to help meet the needs of others around the world.
Look at verses 27-30 Acts 11:27-30
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
So here you have a prophet of God, and he foretold of a coming hardship, a natural disaster coming all over the world, and especially to a portion of the world in the Middle eastern areas.
Verses 29-30 sums it up wonderful, the church saw this as an opportunity to serve their brothers and sisters in other areas.
The disciples there in Antioch determined to give as liberally as they could to help bless and provide for Christian brothers living in Judea.
They saw a need and worked hard to help as they could. Why, we are one, what is happening there was also happening to them.
They are one body and each should seek to help as they can to provide the needs of others.
And what they collected, Paul and Barnabas took the offering to the in need in Judea.
My friends, when we see information like this we know the church has a great deal of responsibility still to build each other up, discipling believers so they can serve God.
We seen the efforts of faithful brothers who risked it all to serve Jesus and tell others about His sweet name. It reminds us all the more that we that we must be faithful, we must be a witness, so that the church can continue to grow.
And finally, we are reminded to be ready to help as best we can when other believers are in need.
There is so much for us to do as part of the body of Christ day in an day out, and we must be faithful that the Kingdom of God so that it can grow and God be glorified.
Friends I would ask you a simple questions today.
Are you a born again child of God? Just like people of every age and time from the days of Christ, it is necessary that people make personal decisions for Christ in hope to have eternal life.
If you haven’t made that decision I would hope that you would my friends..
And, for others being a born again believer, ask yourself, what can I do differently in my life and actions for the Kingdom of God.
Today there is always room for change, ask God what can I do for His glory..
Let’s pray...
