Antioch of Syria

It is important to understand the setting so can understand the story, the situation, the scripture and there is much to see, learn about this mostly Gentile church located in Antioch of Syria.

The church had been persecuted and scattered (Act8:1)

Acts 8:1 NASB95

1 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

The church was growing (Act8:4-8, 9:31, 42, 10:48; 11:18)

Through the persecution and scattering (Samaria, Damascus, Arabia,Lydda, Joppa, Cesarea)

The church of Jerusalem heard and sent investigators.

To find out what was going on in the scattered church and had sent/dispatched people to check things out.

Peter to Lydda/Joppa/Caesarea

Today we will see Barnabas to Antioch of Syria

(Antioch of Syria Picture inserted here)

Antioch was approximately 300 mi north of Jerusalem

It was a great city founded during Grecian empire under Seleucus Nicator (about 300BC) who was one of Alexanders Generals. The city got it’s name from the name “Antiochus” the father of Seleucus Nictor.

It is on a waterfront on the river Orontes, 15 miles upstream from port city of Seleucia (which was named after Seleucus himself)

Population to be believed at about 500,000 and it was the 3rd largest Roman colony behind Rome and Alexandria. It was known as the “Antioch the Golden, Queen of the East.”

It was a busy port, a center for luxury and many came to retire there. It was a place of great welcome, commerce and political power.

It was a great fertile ground for the gospel to be preached. For it was also an evil city, some say 2nd only to Corinth. James Kelso in his book says

Antioch was to the Roman world what New York City is to ours.” then goes on to say “Here where all the gods of antiquity were worshiped, Christ must be exalted.”

A melting pot like New York City, people from Cyprus, Cyrene, Persia, India, even China there.

When the persecuted believers showed up with Jesus in their heart and the gospel on their lips there was a fertile field before them. And you can see the results (Act11:24). There is much we can learn from this passage tonight.

Acts 11:24 NASB95

24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.

OK, so just one verse, I will put in context shortly, but the persecuted, scattered church was effective and exampled.

The work, the witness and workers (Act11:19-26)

The word and the exampled action (Act11:27-30)

The work, witness, workers

The church scattered after the death of Stephen and there has been great results as the gospel was being carried out from Jerusalem and now it is 300 miles out. We can see the work, the witness and the works as well as the results in our passage.

I think that this is a long passage of scripture and we will briefly read through it, but then go back and break it down, so if you have your bible please be sure to be turned to Act11:19ff for tonight.

Acts 11:19–20 NASB95

19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Acts 11:21–22 NASB95

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.

Acts 11:23–24 NASB95

23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; 24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.

Acts 11:25–26 NASB95

25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?

Preach the Word

Scattered, persecuted preached to the Jews (Act11:19; Act8:1-4)

Acts 8:1–2 NASB95

Acts 8:3–4 NASB95

3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. 4 Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.

Others preached to the Hellenists (Act11:20)

Question: Look at (vv.19-20) what was being preached?

Acts 11:19–20 NKJV

19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. 20 But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.

The word was being preached (v.19)

Preaching Lord Jesus (v.20)

Question: What were the results of the preaching of the word, preaching Lord Jesus according to (v.21)

Acts 11:21 NKJV

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

Hand of the Lord was with them; a great number believed!

So the scattered, persecuted Christians arrived in Antioch and were not intimidated by the grand city or the pride of the people .They had the word of God on their lips and the hand of God was upon them and the results glorified God and a great number believed!

(Transition) Remember the church was born in Jerusalem, it was local and the hub of the church was there. The Apostles, the elders (leaders) had some personal responsibility to look out at the growth of the church and wanted to be sure to shepherd them, them being the scattered persecuted church, which now included Gentiles. In shepherding they sent out Barnabas to check things out, no better man, no better credentials than him and he lived up to his name “son of encouragement” (Act4:36)

(Below not on screen, nor in the outline notes; just quote it or partially quote it and reference it)

Acts 4:36 NASB95

36 Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),

Question: Barnabas shows up (v.23) what does he see, what does he feel, what does he say (instruct)?

Acts 11:23 NKJV

23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.

Barnabas sees the grace of God, he was glad, he was encouraged, and he encouraged them to continue.

Now in (v.24) it tells us the credentials of Barnabas again, something we have seen before back in Act4:37 and mentioned again in 6:5.

Question: Now still we need to see how God works things out, look at(v.24) what was the result of the Word and Jesus being preached?

Acts 11:24 NKJV

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.

A great many people were added.

Question: So, if people hear the message, believe the message, obey the message then what, what comes next?

Train them up, teach them to follow the commands, so help is needed.

Acts 11:25–26 NASB95

Barnabas after seeing Gods grace and encouraging them to keep doing what they are doing hits the road to find his friend, Saul.

Saul was previously in Jerusalem (Act9:26) but then went to Caesarea and out to Tarsus (Act9:30). He was connected with Barnabas in Jerusalem (Act9:27) and now Barnabas goes to look for him.

Question: When Barnabas finds Saul and brings him back to Antioch what did they do and what were the results (v.26)

They stayed for a year, assembled with the church, taught a great many, and they were then called disciples .

Interesting side point, the word disciple is only used in the New Testament three times (Act11:26, 26:28 and 1Pt4:16)

(Transition) There is still one more section to cover, but before moving on there are a few application points to make thus far.

Encouragement, Barnabas encouraged the church telling them the good he saw in them (we too can do the same thing today, can’t we?)

Encouragement,Barnabas demonstrated love by teaching them the word of God (hint, hint, hint).

Encouragement, Barnabas told them to continue with the Lord, in other versions it may say “Cleave” and that means to hold on to, to walk in His ways, to obey His word, and to serve Him wholeheartedly. To build on that, to cultivate that for you cannot serve two masters and Jesus said in Mt6:24.

Barnabas knew he needed help, he could not, nor should he do it alone so he recruited help

Barnabas set a great example that we can learn fro today, Mature believers need to enlist others and encourage them in their service to the Lord.

D.L. Moody once said “A new Christian should be given a task soon after conversion . . . each convert needs to be busy. It is better to put ten men to work than to do the work of ten men.”

They were first called Christian’s in Antioch, a name that signified that they belong to Christ, one who turned from sin, trusted Jesus, was saved by grace through faith, obeyed the gospel and walked obediently. In todays world there are many who claim the name Christian simply because they are not bad people, they try to do good. Maybe they go to a church, maybe even support the church, but they have not forsaken sin and accepted the righteousness of God through baptism. There is no repentance (turn from sin). The believers then were willing to suffer for for being a Christian as noted in 1Pt4:16

1 Peter 4:16 NASB95

16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

Dr. David Fuller said, and I have used this quote before.

“If you were arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

(Transition) - this leads to the last point for tonight

The word and exampled works

God has spoken in many fashions in many ways according to Heb1:1, one of the ways is through prophets and here we will see a modern day prophet speak up and it ends with some exampled works by the Church of Antioch.

God speaks (Heb11:1-4)

I was only going to give you (v.1) but it is such an important passage in context I needed to do that instead.

Hebrews 1:1–2 NASB95

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

Hebrews 1:3–4 NASB95

3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

Question: How did God speak before (v.1)?

Many portions, many ways, through the prophets

Question: How does God speak in “last days” (v.2)?

Spoken in His Son

God’s spokesmen (Eph2:20; Act11:27-30)

Ephesians 2:20 NASB95

20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

(Transition) The Lord gave to the Apostles, taught the Apostles and gave the Spirit to remind the Apostles of all truth and to lead them. The apostles and the prophets were given word immediately but today the ministers and teachers are given the messages mediately through the scripture. We have God’s revealed Word and we hold it in our hands. Now that leads us to our last section.

Acts 11:27–28 NASB95

27 Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

Acts 11:29–30 NASB95

29 And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. 30 And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.

What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?

Gleaning from the scripture.

Question: How did Agabus demonstrate (show) the authority given (v.28)

He stood up and showed by the Spirit.

Question: What was the prophesy given (v.28)?

There would be a great famine, in all the world, in days of Claudius Caesar.

Question: What was the results of the prophesy received (v.29-30)?

It is implied they believed, and they determined to send relief. They not only determined but did sent it by Barnabas and Saul.

A few things want to touch on.

There are people today who claim to have “words of revelation from God, who say ‘God spoke to me.” and that would be contrary to God’s Word and that would make God a liar and the scripture not truth.

Agabus was very specific in the prophesy and Claudius ruled from (41-54AD) History shows four familnes that happened

Two in Rome, one in Greece and one in Judea.

Josephus records of the severity of the Judean famine and that many died due to lack of money to buy from the little food that was available.

True prophesy was not always to tell of the future but to stir up the hearts of the people to do the will of God.

A good take away from this passage is if people have been a spiritual blessing to us, we should be a blessing in return.

Galatians 6:6 NASB95

6 The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.

The Jewish believers brought the gospel to Antioch and now they needed help, so they were willing not to just think and talk about helping, but to help.

Christian giving then and today is different, the culture and times are different and the command today is to give according to your ability as you can read in 2Cor8 and 9.

This church which would become Paul’s hub for his mission trips was

Established by evangelists

Endorsed by Barnabas

Educated with Saul

Exemplified good words

(Transition) we would do well if following the example of the Church of Antioch of Syria, we will read more about this church as we continue in the book of Acts.