Paul's Introduction to the Church of Jerusalem

Introduction

Do you remember those days when you were just a visitor at Harvest Hills? What did that feel like? In what ways were you welcomed? I want you to remember that feeling that you had your first time here. For new people coming into church it is a strange experience unless they grew up in church. The terminology is different. We sing weird songs they have never heard and what are those hymn books. Most people don’t know how to read music. They don’t know when to stand or when to sit. They may feel awkward because we pass a plate around for offering.

I remember when our family first started coming to Harvest Hills. We had had a bad experience in our previous church and needed a place of healing. Harvest Hills was that place for us. Part of what made it easier for us coming to HHBC for the first time was the fact that we already had friends who were attending here. Now we didn’t join right away. We were a little skid-dish about making a decision like that again. I believe it was almost a year of attending before we actually joined. What made it easier for us was the relationships we had here.

I. The Example of Barnabas

Within the church of Damascus, it was natural for them to receive Saul into their midst because they had been witness to his salvation and transformation. Saul was so transformed that the Jews in Damascus made him their primary target and sought to kill him. Acts 9:23 “And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:” These disciples had received Saul so thoroughly into their midst that when this plot was known to Saul, they assisted him in escaping the city. The next verse makes a jump in the plot-line. Saul goes to Jerusalem. The text doesn’t tell us why he went there, but it can be assumed that he was returning home. As he returns to Jerusalem, we see a church hesitant to believe in his conversion because of everything he had done. On arrival to Jerusalem, Saul tried to join the believers there but notice the response in vs 26 Acts 9:26 “And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.” They were afraid of him and did not believe he was truly a Christian. This was a church that was standoffish and understandably so because of everything they had gone through. But at the root, they were not a welcoming, receiving church.

The key to this text is to highlight how Saul became accepted into the church, but it provides an example for us as well when other believers join our assembly. Barnabas pretty early on began to raise in the ranks of the church. In Acts 4:36-37 “And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” We see three things about this man that I believe influenced how he would respond in our text:

He was a giving man- people who are giving often show selflessness, a concern for others

He was an encourager- “the son of consolation”- Barnabas was a man who came along others and encouraged them to go on, to keep going, and not to quite.

He was a leader- In our text, we see a man who was willing to do what was right even when others were afraid to do so.

These characteristics all mad Barnabas the man that he was: a man willing to receive even the worst of sinners, upon their faith into the fellowship. According to Acts 9:27 “But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.” Barnabas did three things:

He took him- the idea here is to seize someone to assist them or taking them under your wing. Barnabas saw what Saul’s need was and he sought to help.

He brought him to the apostles- Barnabas sought to build connections between Saul and others of the church. Specifically in this text, the apostles: the leaders. According to Gal 1:18-20 “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.” Paul actually only met with two of the apostles: Peter and James.

He spoke on his behalf- Barnabas interceded not just in his introductions, but he helped carry on the conversation that needed to happen.

II. Assimilation

Barnabas serves as an example of what we call assimilation in the church. FF. Bruce in his commentary calls Barnabas a Sponsor of Saul. I like that term because it carries the idea of someone who personally takes on a visitor to the church and seeks to help them transition into the life of the church.

Before someone becomes a member at a church they have to see themselves as having the potential to belong here. No one joins a church on purpose where the people are unfriendly, uninviting and distant. They must believe that they can have a family here. While there is some definite growth I think we can experience in this area at HHBC, overall HHBC is generally a friendly church. This process of bringing visitors into the life and culture of the church before and after they become members is what we call assimilation.

Before Joining the church

1. Greeting visitors- example CFA

2. Talking to visitors

3. Inviting them out to coffee

4. Inviting them to church activities

5. Witnessing to them- In the case of Paul and Barnabas, Paul was already a Christian, but the believer’s in Jerusalem did not believe he was. Clearly, before someone can join the church they must be saved.

After joining the Church

1. Discipleship programs

2. Building friendships and relationships- some of this begins before membership, but there will always be a barrier if someone is not willing to join the church. In a way, the message they are sending is “I don’t trust you or I don’t want to be part of you.” Maybe they have been hurt in the past and need some time. We understand that, but the message is still the same, “I don’t want to be a part of you yet.”

3. Involving in ministry opportunities: nursery, ushering, soulwinning, church projects, choir, children’s church

The goal of assimilation is to see souls saved, become a part of the church and grow into mature believers fully functioning within the church. According to 1 Cor 12 every member of the church should be a productive, serving, mutually edifying, growing member of the congregation. So the goal of the assimilation process should be to get every member to this point in their spiritual growth. Everyone will be on a spectrum along this journey.

Different churches have different models for how they view assimilation and church membership. Traditional churches follow what we call a bounded-set model.

In a bounded set, certain people belong and others do not. The easiest illustration to help us understand this philosophy is a rancher and his cattle. Back in the day, Ranchers used to let their cattle roam free on the the range, but as farmers moved into town it became important to keep your cattle in your area so fences were erected. This is a bounded set model. Within the church, there are some people who are members and others who are not. The biblical basis for a bounded set model can be found in passages like

Acts 2:47 “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

The downside to a strict bounded set model is that we can send out a message that those outside the membership don’t belong here and never will.

In recent years, there was a movement called the “emergent church” which had an impact on many churches in America. In these churches, they adopted a Centered-set model where Christ becomes a central focus in the church and we just try to draw people to him. There is no membership persay everyone can belong and is on this journey to draw closer to Christ. The illustration used to show this model involves that same rancher. If that rancher has a lot of land, it would be very difficult to fence all of it in (although we still would today) so what he does it place wells, cow ponds in strategic areas that will draw the cows onto his property and where he wants them.

The centered set model, seems to have some positives because it exalts Christ as the centerpiece. Didn’t Jesus himself say John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” However, this model ignores biblical teaching on membership, doctrinal purity, community of the believers.

A better model is a bounded set model that seeks to draw men to Christ and into the fellowship of the believers by lifting up Christ in their midst.

III. The Results

Because of Barnabas’s efforts, Saul continued with the church at Jerusalem and preached powerfully among the Grecians (Greek speaking Jews). According to the text the result of the church receiving Saul into their midst was five fold:

Acts 9:31 “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”

the churches had rest- the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, one of the greatest persecutors of Christianity brought rest because he was no longer persecuting the church. As well, I can imagine that Paul put the Jews on the defensive because he had been one of the Sanhedrin; he was a skilled speaker and knowledgeable about scriptures.

The church was edified- This ties into what we talked about from 1 Cor 12. Saul was an essential member of that church just as everyone else is and his addition to their membership edified the church. We all have something to give in the church. No member is insignificant, but Saul because he was submitted to the will of God was able to do so much that the text says the church was edified because of his presence.

They walked in the fear of the Lord- study this more

Comfort of the Holy Ghost

the church was multiplied- Early in the book of Acts, we see multitudes saved. In Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” we see that three thousand people were saved and the church grew. This is what we call addition. However, as we get to chapter 6, the church begins to not just add but to multiply. What is inherent in the idea of multiplication? The same phrase is used here as a direct result of Saul’s conversion and joining the church in Jerusalem.

Conclusion