Antioch: Gateway to the Ends of the Earth

Introduction:

It seems amazing that with intense persecution, the church flourishes. In 1949, China has just one million Christians, and in 2010, there were and estimated 58 million Protestant Christians. By 2030, at that rate, China will be have the largest Christian population in the world. While here in the United States, Christianity has seen a steady decline from about 69% of the population in 1948 to just under 40% in 2017. The difference is China is an atheist nation and the United States is considered a Christian nation.

The Church at Antioch:

The early church experienced a great persecution, and it also experienced tremendous growth because of that persecution. I suspect there may have been some complacency along the way though that brought the persecution on. In the early chapters of Acts, we see the Church experience an initial growth spurt that was quite rapid. Because of that persecution by the Jewish community increased which brought about the execution of Stephen, and Saul comes along and starts dragging men and women from their homes in Jerusalem in order to take them to prison. This catapulted the church into the outer lying regions of Judea and Samaria which was followed by more growth.

We can logically deduce that once the gospel spread to the outer areas of Judea and Samaria, the Jewish population of converts started to become very thin, and we see that the gospel reaches the gentiles for the first time by the conversion of the Roman Centurion Cornelius and his family. This event began the spread of the gospel into the gentile culture, and this is where the book of Acts starts to change course.

Acts 11:19–30 ESV

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. 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. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 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, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 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 in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 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). So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

About Antioch:

Antioch in Syria was a city founded approximately 300 BC by Seleucus I. It was one of sixteen Antiochs in the region. It sits about 310 miles north of Jerusalem in what is now Turkey. Like most other Greco-Roman cities, there was a deep presence of pagan worship. It was home to the groves of Daphne which had a sanctuary to Apollo in which they would hold religious orgies as a type of worship to the gods.

With the execution of Stephen, Christians soon infiltrated the city, and it held quite a large population of Christians at the time, and some would say that Antioch was the first missionary sending church because it is where Paul’s second missionary journey began and ended, would be the starting point for his third missionary journey as well.

The gospel extends to all people of all cultures (vv. 19-21)

In the first part of our passage this morning, we read how the Christians got to Antioch, and that was because of the execution of Stephen and the persecution that arose from that incident (v. 19). We also see in verse 19 that they were speaking the gospel to “no one except Jews.” In verse 20, we read of some men from Cyprus and Cyrene that spoke to the Hellenists. The Hellenists were another way to say gentiles. They were Roman citizens, and as opposed to Hellenistic Jews, they had not converted to Judaism, so what we see here is that people that once did not have any knowledge of the one true God, are now coming to faith as the gospel is being shared with them, because verse 21 says, “and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”

Apostolic Accountability (vv. 22-24)

Once the apostles heard what was going on in Antioch, they did as an good church leader should: they sent a representative to check on the church. This was not in a malicious way to set them straight, but I believe more to make sure those that were tasked with sharing the gospel were teaching the proper gospel. We must remember that this was a time in the history of the church when doctrine was still being formed and many questions probably arose on a regular basis. So the apostles sent Barnabas (his name translates “Son of encouragement”) to Antioch. When he gets to Antioch, he sees the good things that are going on, and encourages them to keep heading in that positive direction (v. 23).

The Church is identified with Christ (vv. 25-26)

After Barnabas checks on the church at Antioch, he then goes to Tarsus to get Saul, which helps us determine how long of a time span this is all taking place in. Form chapter 9 to chapter 11, a good estimate of time would be about fourteen years. How do we get that, now is where we have to look at the whole of scripture:

Galatians 1.16-

Galatians 1:16–18 ESV

was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

Galatians 1:15–18 ESV

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

Paul is converted in chapter 9, and he stays in Damascus about three years (cf. ) when he finally leaves Damascus and goes to Jerusalem (9.26-30). After he left Jerusalem, he wen back to his hometown of Tarsus and presumably preaches the gospel there, and that is where Barnabas goes to get him (remember that Barnabas was the one that vouched for Paul’s conversion). When they get back to Antioch, and Barnabas and Saul preach there for a year and when we look back at Galatians in chapter 2, we see the events leading up to the council of Jerusalem which we will read about in chapter 15 of Acts.

Now that we have pieced the story back together, we read the last part of verse 26 that says, “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”

Most Greek dictionaries will transliterate this word as Christians, but when we look at the word deeper, it literally means “little Christ.” Most scholars agree that this was probably a derogatory term given to Christians at first, and many of the Christians actually welcomed the title bestowed on them, because the ultimate goal is to be identified with Christ.

Sharing and relief efforts of the believers (vv. 27-30)

In the last part of this passage, we read how the church gave when need came. There was a person named Agabus that prophesied there would be a famine over all the world (v. 28). When the believers heard that, we read that they gathered financial resources together to send to those living in Judea. One thing we should note in verse 29 it says, “every one according to his ability...” Basically, those that had more gave more, and those that had little gave little. This falls in line with what the church in Jerusalem had been doing from the beginning when need came up. Those that had the extra resources gave out of their personal abundance to those that had a greater need, and then the last part of verse 30, after they had taken up the collection, they sent it to Judea by way of Barnabas and Saul, which will put them back in Jerusalem when they Apostles convene the council in chapter 15 to talk about whether Gentile were required to be circumcised once they came to faith in Jesus Christ.

What it means for us today:

Now, we face the question, “how does this apply to us today?” The bottom line for all of this for us is, when the Lord graciously extends his saving power to all people, we should seize the opportunity to first identify with His name personally and invest in His eternal plan, and there are several points that we can take away from that:

Encourage all people to come to know Christ

If the gospel is available to all people of all cultures, then it should stand to reason that we should share the gospel with those people that we are uncertain if they have a relationship with Christ and encourage them to come to know him by placing their faith in him. It is not a complex arithmetic problem to lead someone to saving knowledge of Jesus, it is simply a matter of presenting the gospel to them and reminding them that acceptance or rejection of the gospel has eternal ramifications, not just here on earth, but for all eternity. Acceptance of the gospel assures us a place in heaven, while rejecting the gospel will keep us mired in our sin and assure us that we will never see the kingdom of heaven eternally.

The gospel is a personal decision, I cannot make it for someone and someone cannot make it for me. It has to be done within the individual, and it carries eternal consequences for each individual according to his or her response.

Rejoice that the gospel is moving forward

we may look at other churches and think, “Man, I wish we were more like that church.” They may be growing by leaps and bounds, and we may feel that growth is stagnating in our congregation. Ultimately, the work of the kingdom is not a competition. Trust me, I have to remind myself of this all the time. I get that it’s hard to not question the what and why things are the way they are, but ultimately, God has placed each congregation in its own particular context so that they may pursue the ministries that God is setting before them, and ultimately, this is what moves the gospel forward and what grows the body. we should always be quick to rejoice when others are reaching the lost and do what we can to jump in where we can to do our part in the work of the kingdom.

Model the character of Christ

Many times, we often focus on the do’s and don’ts of Christianity. We focus on the things we do instead of how we act toward others. When we speak of walking like Jesus, we must understand that it’s not all about DOING, but BEING as well. Just because we live life a particular way, we tend to drift to extremes. One extreme says, “Jesus was God and I can’t do the things Jesus did, so I have to separate myself from ALL sinful events, actions, places, etc.” These people tend to focus on how people perceive them. While it is a good thing that people can stay away from what they perceive as sinful, that can take us to a dangerous extreme where we find ourselves with nobody in our lives that doesn’t know Christ, and we end up in a “holy bubble” because we are afraid that they will influence us in a negative way. While that is an honorable way of living, it becomes unproductive for the Christian. There has to be a balance in our lives where we start to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us safe from the temptations that we face when we have people in our lives that don’t know Christ.

Then you have another group of people that say, “Well, I can’t even come close to living like Jesus so I’m just not going to try.” In that case, the devil wins, and you are taken out of the battle because now, you look just like everyone else in the world, and they respond, “You’re no different than I am, why should I join your beliefs when I am happy and content right where I’m at.” This is just as dangerous as a separation mentality, and it will get us nowhere.

Identifying with Jesus goes beyond saying, “I’m a Christian” or “I go to church.” It means modeling the character of christ. We always quote passage that justify our positions, like when we quote we say, “Do not be conformed to the world...” and just top there. Don’t stop at the comma to justify why you do or don’t do something, finish the verse. In fact, let’s put that in its proper context right now:

Romans

Romans 12:2 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

There is a command here, and it’s probably not where you think it is. The conjunction “but” presents a contrast, and the imperative follows the comma. The command for us is to “be transformed.” So this passage isn’t telling us to stay away from worldly things necessarily, but there is a transformation that we must undergo, and that transformation is brought on by renewing our minds, and that gives us the mind to examine (test) what the will of God is and what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Being like Christ is more about portraying His qualities than it is about how He acted and lived. But this is what happens: when we start to gain more and more of the character qualities of Christ, then those qualities will change how we act, speak, and think, and it is that that causes our actions to change. When we focus on Christ and His character, then our actions will follow suit.

Be ready to share with all Christians in need

The early church really grasped this concept. They help to take care of each other, and I think to a certain extent, the modern church has lost sight of this point. The early church would do what they needed to do as the members had means to, to take care of one another. They didn’t act selfish and start looking out for number one, they didn’t rely on the leaders to find the resources other members needed, they pulled together when a need arose and did what they could to take care of that member’s needs. I think many times today, we just don’t want to get that involved in the lives of others that we just leave church and forget about the other members. There may be someone sitting here that is struggling and you have no clue they have struggles because you see things like that as the pastor’s job or the deacon’s job to take care of those needs. The truth is, God places leaders within the church to handle the spiritual needs of the members and to guard the flock from false teachings, and the members are called to help take care of each other. That is what it means to be a “diakonos” or a servant of the body. All members are called to serve each other and fill needs when they arise.

Conclusion:

Some of you may disagree with me on these points, but the truth is this is what scripture calls us to do. We are a body, we are called to share the gospel, to be the image of Christ to the world, and to serve each other, and these are non-negotiable. This all stems from the character qualities of Christ, and I urge you today, if you don’t know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior to ask him into your life right now. Don’t wait, because if you wait too long, you may not get the opportunity to do so.