CLEAVE UNTO THE LORD ACTS 11:19-

GOD OVERRULED!!!

AS THE BELIEVERS SCATTERED, THEY PREACHED CHRIST.

THERE WAS NOT AN AREA LEFT UNTOUCHED BY THE GOSPEL

WHEREVER THE BELIEVERS WENT, THEY SHARED CHRIST.

THE CHURCH WAS BORN THROUGH LAY BELIEVERS

THROUGH THEIR WITNESSING [VS 19] AND PREACHING [V20]

The Acts of the Apostles (King James Version) (A. The First Great Gentile Church: God’s Pattern for All Churches, 11:19–30) 2. The church was born by lay believers sharing Christ

with everyone, no matter who they were,

both Gentile and Jew

. Note that some believers witnessed to the Jews only (v. 19),

but other believers witnessed to the Gentiles in Antioch (v. 20).

The gospel of Christ is for the whole world.

It may have begun with the Jew,

but God is the God of the universe, of all men.

Therefore,

He longs for all men to know about the coming of His Son

into the world and to be saved through Him.

Note also the message preached: the Lord Jesus. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Is. 45:22).

The Acts of the Apostles (King James Version) F. A Worldwide Ministry—In Caeserea (Part IV): Gaining a Worldwide Vision, 11:1–18

“Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (

The Acts of the Apostles (King James Version) F. A Worldwide Ministry—In Caeserea (Part IV): Gaining a Worldwide Vision, 11:1–18

DS3

The Acts of the Apostles (King James Version) F. A Worldwide Ministry—In Caeserea (Part IV): Gaining a Worldwide Vision, 11:1–18

GOD OVERRULED

The Acts of the Apostles (King James Version) A. The First Great Gentile Church: God’s Pattern for All Churches, 11:19–30

3. The church was born through the hand of the Lord, by His sovereignty and control.

The Acts of the Apostles (King James Version) (A. The First Great Gentile Church: God’s Pattern for All Churches, 11:19–30) God overruled all the trials and opposition and caused the church to be born. ⇒ God overruled the persecution. ⇒ God overruled the fear and trauma of the believers who were having to flee for their lives,

to leave their homes and friends and businesses.

Discouragement, questioning,

unbelief, desertion, denial, silence,

and failure to witness

—all could have set in upon the persecuted believers who were losing all they had.

But God overruled and held them dear to His heart,

giving them a very special grace to endure and march

through all triumphantly, proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus. ⇒ God overruled the pleasure-madness and sins of Antioch. ⇒ God overruled and stirred the believers to witness and preach Christ

despite all the trials and opposition.

God caused the church to be born.

His sovereignty, His control, His power

—“the hand of the Lord was with them.”

The result: “a great number believed, and turned to the Lord.”

The first great Gentile church was born, and it was born through

God’s sovereignty.[GOD IS SUPREME]

HE POSSESSES ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY, POWER, AND KNOWLEDGE OVER ALL CREATION

AND NOTHING HAPPENS OUTSIDE OF HIS ACTIVE DECREE OR PERMISSIVE WILL

“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Lk. 1:79).