On to Antioch

A lot to unpack in this passage

It may appear that there is something of a disconnect between v. 26 and v. 27, but I see it otherwise

The background of this begins back in 8:1, with the martyrdom of Stephen

Acts 8:1 (ESV)

And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

It’s where we met Saul, and see the persecution begin with believers fleeing in all directions

Should you hear the word “diaspora,” this is it

The term is passive …those who WERE SCATTERED…not a voluntary thing

But, as so often, what man has planned for evil, God has used for good!

We’ve seen any number of things happen within the realm of Judea…but now we’re headed to northern Asia—Antioch of Syria (one of five cities to share the name—roughly 300 miles to the north of Jerusalem; close to the modern city of of Yalvaç, in west-central Turkey

A large and politically important city to the Romans

The time frame is sometime in the reign of Claudius—between 41-54 BC

It is quite probable that the events in Antioch were just slightly after the events at Cesarea

The events with Peter in Samaria, Joppa and Cesarea seem to be an interlude in Luke’s telling the story of Saul

After Paul’s conversion (c. 33 AD) and his travels as described in Gal. chapt 1

We have a church—a new movement—not yet 15 years old and it had already spread 300 miles

Not just a trickling of information; an entire movement

It was here that the term “Christian” was coined: one who is associated with Christ

Dominantly, this was a term assigned to the Christians by the Greeks, to distinguish them from the Jews; the Jews called them Nazarenes or Galileans

Likely that the term was used somewhat dismissively, pejoratively—not complementary; but certainly in recognition that this was a distinctly different thing than Judaism-

Founders of the Work

Believers were spread to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, sharing the Gospel along the way

Most only shared their newfound faith with Jews only

Some, however, opened up to Greek-speaking Gentiles,

Some scholars suggest that the news of the events of Cesarea prompted this change in behavior—cannot be proven by any accurate dating method

Critical note: Nothing here indicates that any of those in this dispersion were specifically commissioned or authorized to preach the Gospel

Not Apostles, not the first “deacons” as was Philip the Evangelist

Just Laymen

Keep that fact in mind!

The went PREACHING! proclaiming the Gospel

Acts 11:21 ESV

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

Again, we see that the conversion was an act of God, NOT an act of any man

Followup of Others

Good news traveled quickly and the church at Jerusalem sent them Barnabas—the Son of Encouragement; (in Acts 14 14 we find him called an apostle—something for another day)

The text calls him a “good” man—the underlying word having a broad range of meaning with my include “valuable, loyal,” we could tease it out to “loyal to God”

The thought behind his mission was: find out what’s happening, determine if it’s real, find out what they need, make it happen

He saw the grace of God—the salvation that comes by grace—and we’ll chose to believe he saw manifestation of the Holy Spirit in their works—though not necessarily with the signs that appeared in Cesarea

The steadfast purpose is actually with heart-purpose—think that through for a moment

He saw that the people had turned to the Lord—the thought of repentance as a turn or change in direction from the pure heathens they had been

We see that after some time there, he exhorted—the underlying word, parakaleo, the people… and then went to find Saul

The need for exhortation was hard to envision—think of new, not yet fully-taught believers living among the culture from which the had just turned…Barnabas needed back up!

Together they met with the church and taught the people

We might take this to mean that Barnabas helped to stabilize the church and then Saul came and taught in greater depth

With them now team-teaching, we have some new arrivals—prophets arrived from Jerusalem

Family Concerns

One of the prophets, Agabus…about whom we hear more later....prophesied a great famine; this was between 45 and 48 AD

His prophecy is the only one mentioned that is fore-telling; as opposed to forth-telling: pronouncing the Word of God, making it clear, preaching and teaching

His prophesy was a famine “over all the world” which appears to be a bit of hyperbole since other historians restrict it the area of Palestine

This new church, seemingly without any coaxing or pressing, made up its mind to help out the home church, or mother church of Jerusalem; maybe the first noted case of a body of believers in one region, setting in motion a plan to help out other believers in another region

Our Lessons

Evangelism is NOT just for the few

There is no Biblical warrant to restrict this task of sharing the Gospel to the few specific people who are called to ministry

We could make the case that the job of the pastors is to described…maybe even limited…by Eph 4 12

Ephesians 4:12 (ESV)

...to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Putting that into context, God gave the specifically called people to build up everyone in the church, to strengthen and build the church

So a serious question, a pointed question is

What are you doing to build the body of Christ?

My experience has shown that though the people with whom we share the Gospel may never darken the door of the our church or any other church, God will reward our faithfulness in some way, bringing someone else in

Great Commission work is for all

Their actions were truly in line with “as you are going...’

It was just a part of what they did as they were finding their way to new homes

The folks who went to Antioch understood the “as you are going...”

Be ready to do the follow up work

This works both ways:

Be ready to be the one who does the follow-up

Be very aware that different people need different things

Be ready to be the one who needs back-up

No one of us has all the answers

Whether the initial work or the follow-up work, it should be done with steadfast…HEART…purpose

Take care of the family

There are believers all over the world who have needs

Be informed, pray, support as you feel lead to do so

Part of the giving of our church is to the Southern Baptist Convention—as we are part of this global organization

Through its many sub-groups , e.g., Send/Relief. Disaster Relief

If you’re not interested in SBC connections, there’s Samaritan’s Purse, a host of other solid, Bible-based organizations that do the same thing

Now, it’s family time—the time when we gather around the Lord’s table...