Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Acts 11:19–30 (ESV)

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.

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.

Main Point

The gospel of Jesus Christ, preached by everyday Christians, creates local churches, which are animated by Christ’s Spirit, governed by Christ’s word, and motivated by Christ’s love.

Message Outline

The Lord Uses Unnamed Evangelists

The Gospel Created a Church

The New Church Confirmed and Exhorted

The New Church Taught and Organized

The New Church Showed Love and Generosity

Message

1) Unnamed Evangelists (v19-20)

Remember, persecution scattered Christians from Jerusalem.

The “persecution…arose over Stephen” (v19), who had been publicly accused, tried, and condemned to death in Jerusalem (Acts 6:8-7:60).

We were introduced to a man named “Saul” who “approved of [Stephen’s] execution” (Acts 8:1) and who was also apparently the instigator of “a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem” during that same time (Acts 8:1).

Luke specifically named “Saul” as the one “ravaging the church…entering house after house…dragging off men and women…to prison” (Acts 8:3).

Those who fled Jerusalem were (probably) mostly Greek-speaking Jews.

We talked about this in Acts 6, when were were introduced to two distinct cultures among Christians in Jerusalem at that time: (1) “Hellenists” (Acts 6:1; ESV) or “Hellenistic Jews” (NASB) or “Grecian Jews” (NIV84) and (2) “Hebrews” (Acts 6:1; ESV) or “native Hebrews” (NASB) or “Hebraic Jews” (NIV84).

Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew, and the Hellenists would have been the easiest targets of Jewish hostility… since they were obviously departing from traditional Jewish customs and rites.

Luke says that “all” the “church in Jerusalem” was “scattered… except the apostles” (Acts 8:1), but there were certainly many Christians still in Jerusalem later on (Acts 9:26, 11:2-3, 11:22, 15:2-4).

It seems best to understand Luke to mean that a great number of the church in Jerusalem were scattered (particularly those who were Hellenistic Jews), but the apostles (who were Hebraic Jews) and many other Christians like them remained.

Whatever the native culture/language of these scattered Christians, they “went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

Some of those Christians who fled Jerusalem came all the way to Antioch.

And most of them (the implication of v1) kept their gospel message aimed at Jews.

Though they “traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch,” they spoke “the word to no one except Jews” (v19).

Luke doesn’t tell us about how many Jewish converts turned to Christ through these evangelistic efforts.

But Luke is interested in telling us about what happened with the Hellenists.

The word translated “Hellenists” (ESV) or “Grecians” (KJV) or “Greeks” (NASB and NIV84) in v20 literally means “Greek-speakers.”

In the context of Acts 6, the focus was on distinguishing two different kinds of Jewish Christians - one that was culturally and linguistically Jewish and the other that was culturally and linguistically Greek or Hellenized.

In our context this morning (in Acts 11), the focus is upon distinguishing Jews and Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews).

Therefore, we are to understand that the “Hellenists” in view here are Gentiles, which has been Luke’s focus at least since Acts 9 (with Saul’s commission in v15 and Peter’s stay with Simon the tanner in v43).

The evangelists Christ used in Antioch were nobodies.

Luke says, “But there were some of them [i.e., some of those scattered by persecution], men of Cyprus and Cyrene [two Greek towns far away from Jerusalem and from Antioch], who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus” (v20).

We will study what happened more as we go, but let’s take a moment here to consider the encouragement and the challenge we see here.

Christianity is a religion of nobodies.

Brothers and sisters… There is no buying your way in… Your social status is nullified by the universal condition of sin and the universal dependence we all must have upon Christ… Even your political or national affiliation is overwhelmed by and subject to your greater citizenship in Christ’s kingdom, which has no earthly boundaries or limits.

This is why the Scripture says, “Here [i.e., among Christ’s people] there is not Greek and Jew… barbarian, Scythian, slave [or] free; but Christ is all, and in all” (Col.

3:11).

The gospel is a message to nobodies from nobodies about the greatest somebody in the whole universe.

This should free us from the fear of man.

When your friend hears the gospel and turns to Christ, this is not a reflection upon you… You’re a nobody; Christ is who they’ve come to know and love and worship.

When your friend hears the gospel and rejects Christ or reacts with indifference, this is not a reflection upon you… You’re a nobody; Christ is who they’ve rejected or ignored.

This should give us unconquerable confidence!

The person in front of you may have great social influence, he or she may be politically connected, and he or she may even have the power to cause you real harm or violence.

BUT, he or she is a nobody when compared with Christ!

We are all subjects of the King; and either we are submitting to the King or we are rebelling against Him… but Jesus Christ is the king… who offers grace and mercy to those who repent and believe, and who condemns to judgment those who remain in sin.

The gospel of Jesus Christ goes out by the mouths of everyday Christians… and what happens when everyday Christians preach the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ?

2) The Gospel Created a Church (v21)

These unnamed men preached the gospel.

Luke tells us that they “preached the Lord Jesus” (v20).

Luke does not repeat the same details at every point of gospel expansion in Acts, but he does use shorthand phrases to refer to that message which the Apostles and the early Christians proclaimed.

Luke recorded Peter’s message at Pentecost (at least a good bit of it) in Acts 2:14-39… and also Peter’s message in Solomon’s Portico in Acts 3:12-26.

Luke recorded Stephen’s message of judgment in Acts 7, which centers on the same claims that Peter had already made.

Stephen’s message, like Peter’s, emphasized God’s promise of the coming Savior or anointed one or “Righteous One” (Acts 7: 52), and also the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah or Christ which God promised.

Luke’s most common shorthand for the gospel message is to refer to it as “the word” (v19).

At Pentecost, Luke says that “those who received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41).

At Solomon’s Portico, Luke says that “many of those who had heard the word believed” (Acts 4:4).

When persecution was ratcheting up in Jerusalem, the whole church gathered and prayed that God would “grant [that] your servants…continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29).

And at each section break in the Acts storyline, when Luke wants to move the reader from one geography and people-group to another, Luke says that “the word of God continued to increase” (Acts 6:7) or “the word of God increased and multiplied” (Acts 12:24) or “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (Acts 19:20).

And it is that message of the word of God or the word about Jesus Christ which the unnamed evangelists proclaimed or “preached” in Antioch (v20).

God is the holy and righteous judge, and you are unholy and condemned… But God has sent Jesus to offer forgiveness and reconciliation… Therefore, repent (turn from sin) and believe this gospel!

And many in Antioch believed!

Because “the hand of the Lord was with them...” Luke tells us that there was “a great number who believed [and] turned to the Lord” (v21).

This is a principle and even a doctrine which we have seen repeated again and again in the book of Acts.

The gospel is the message of glorious and gracious salvation, and God (particularly the Holy Spirit) is the one who grants the gifts of repentance and faith to some of those who hear the gospel.

That is: The Holy Spirit (i.e., Christ’s Spirit) animates or gives life to or invigorates sinners, converting them from unbelief to belief and turning them from sin to discipleship (i.e., following the Lord).

Brothers and sisters… we beat this drum a lot here, but I think we must keep on beating it.

Everyone and everything else around us urges us to think and expect the opposite.

Do you want to see more of your friends converted?

Then learn this method of evangelism!

Do you want to see more kids and teens following Christ?

Then here’s how you can be relevant!

Do you want to see your membership numbers grow?

Then follow these steps to revitalization!

But the Scripture urges us to be faithful and trust the Lord with the results.

We should have gospel conversations with our friends...

We should teach and model for our own kids what it truly means to be a follower of Christ...

We should invite our unchurched friends and family to come along with us on a Sunday...

And we should pray that God will produce fruit from all these efforts… because none of us have the power to change anyone’s heart.

The believers in Antioch became a church.

Luke initially tells us only that there were a “great number who believed [and] turned to the Lord” (v21).

It’s not until v26 that the believers in Antioch are called a “church.”

However, I want to highlight the fact that this whole passage is a picture of the kind of progression which the whole New Testament assumes, exemplifies, and teaches… regarding gospel expansion, conversion, and discipleship.

Let me lay it out like this:

Gospel expansion begins with preaching the gospel (formally and informally), teaching people the gospel of Christ with the aim to persuade.

“believing” and “turning” to the Lord (v21) is New Testament language that carries with it the whole idea of conversion (which we often lose when we merely talk of “making a decision for Christ” or “getting saved”).

Conversion includes repentance, trust in Jesus as Savior, baptism (i.e., public profession of faith in / conversion to Christ), and a comprehensive life-practice of following Jesus (i.e., learning His words and doing what He says).

The report of conversions is cause for investigation before celebration.