The Mission: Look for Ways to be Involved (Acts 11:19-26)

Jonathan Douglass

Acts: The Mission of the Church • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Acts 11:19–26

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TITLE: Look for ways to be involved

DEVELOP THIS THEME!!!!

The book of Acts is unique because it doesn’t follow a single character. Instead it follows the message of salvation as it spread across the world from approximately A.D. 30 to A.D. 63. Luke followed different story threads as his subjects travelled to various places. Sometimes the main characters crossed paths and their stories became intertwined.

(SLIDE: Map)

Our passage is directly connected to Stephen’s martyrdom back in Acts 7. Many events and many days took place between chapters 7 and 11. The camera, so to speak, was focused on the Jerusalem church then in today’s passage, Luke zoomed the camera way out to highlight the worldwide spread of the Gospel northward into the region of Phoenicia, across the Mediterranean ocean to the island of Cyprus, and into Antioch which was the capital city of the nation of Syria. The church in Antioch, which was founded in Acts 19, became a key church in the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

(IMAGE OF CIRCLE w/ 4 BLANKS)

Acts 11:19-30 reveals a pattern to the spread of the Gospel. This pattern was not new. We find it present during Christ’s life and it will continue to be relevant until Christ returns for the church. We find four major points in this cycle. One event leads to another and eventually the cycle begins all over again. The first event on this cycle is....

1. Persecution (11:19)

...and we find this event in Acts 11:19 where we read that, “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.”

(SLIDE: Map)

Persecution arose because Christians were actively involved in their local church and that involvement overflowed into their community.

As we have already learned, that massive event caused a huge number of believers to flee Jerusalem to the surrounding areas. We need to remember that those who scattered were real people. People who were just like you and I. The left homes, wealth, friends, family, and for them the separation would have been far more significant than it is for us. They didn’t have modern communications to stay in touch. Their fears, worries, anxieties about life, health, children, money, were much the same as our fears today.

Luke was showing us how people like you and I faithfully obeyed God. God used their obedience to grow His church and God used the terrible things of life to continually produce good in His people for His kingdom.

(SLIDE: Scattering) God used the horrific persecution to spread the Gospel at a world-altering rate. Persecution caused the second event to occur: scattering

2. ---> Scattering (11:19-20)

(Ignore this line) The places:

Verse 19 lists three places North of Jerusalem where people fled: Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Antioch is the focal point of these verses which is why Luke recorded that Northward dispersion here. Antioch was just over 400 miles north of Jerusalem and was about the distance from Randolph to Cincinnati. Luke was also reminding us that Jesus’ disciples had been obediently taking the Gospel to the world.

Please note that though they were scattered, their mission did not change.

The mission:

At the end of verse 19, we find the phrase “those who were scattered were speaking the word to no one except Jews.” Then in verse 20 we find they also spoke the Gospel to the Hellenists also. That just means they spoke the Gospel to traditional Jews and also the Jews who had adopted Greek culture.

We have just read in Acts 10 that salvation had come to the Gentiles, so were these Christians who scattered from Jerusalem being stubborn? Were they living in sin? Were they refusing to preaching the Gospel to every creature? No. Remember Luke was using a flashback so he returned to a point in time before salvation was available to the Gentiles. Why waste time speaking to Gentiles about the Gospel if it would not result in their salvation? SO the scattered people were faithfully about their Father’s business.

Please catch this key thought: Though they were persecuted and scattered, they didn’t stop acting like Christians! They didn’t mope about what they had lost. They couldn’t. They had counted the cost and were in love with Jesus. Love compelled compelled them to act like Christ.

Please catch this too. What had these people lost in the scattering? (PAUSE) Friends and loved ones. They lost their local church. Remember that these people LOVED being connected with other Christians! They lost fellowship for a period of time. They didn’t think, “Hey I have free time today since there is no church!” They thought, “I need to use the time I was in fellowship with believers to spread the Gospel and start a new church family!

Christians should always be excited about the Gospel and always looking for opportunities to spread it’s message. These believers were faithfully proclaiming the Good News to those they encountered. They were involved. Ministry didn’t happen around them. Ministry happened because of them. The mission must succeed.

We also need to consider the timing of this scattering. The timing of the scattering.

The timing:

And to do this, we need to consider a couple of verses. If you flip back to Acts 4:31 you will find a verse we are already very familiar with. It says...

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

The scattering did not take place until the Christians in the community had grown in their faith. They grew by counting the cost. They grew by being more and more committed to pray for each other. They grew more committed to settling disputes among themselves. They grew in boldness and courage because the Spirit compelled them that the mission of spreading the Gospel was urgent. It wasn’t until 4 chapters later in Acts 8:1 when..

There arose on that day a great persecution against the and those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

God’s timing is always perfect! God didn’t create fish without first creating the bodies of water for them to live in. He didn’t create flowers and plants until after He created the earth for them to grow in and God did not allow the Jerusalem believers to be scattered until they were fully equipped for that trial!

By the time persecution came, believers were fully equipped, they were strong and of good courage, and very willing messengers. God knew what He was doing. These believers spoken of in verses 19-20 defeated the temptation to run and hide. They were able to bear the difficulty because they very clearly knew the Lord’s hand was on them! God is only good all the time.

(Slide: Missions) Those who scattered were appropriately discipled, they were a full, white dandelion, prepared to fly away and bear fruit with the Gospel’s seed.

3. ---> Missions (11:19b-26, also 27-30)

“Missions” is not a profession or an organization. “Missions” is the word that has always meant as Jesus stated, “I must be about my father’s business.” Missions is anything you or I do when we about our Jesus’ mission. Missions is reflecting God’s goodness and blessing to people who believe God is an oppressor. Missions is speaking out for Christ in the face of persecution. Missions is taking the name of Jesus with you to to school, the shopping centers, to work, to the shooting range, to family gatherings. Missions is listening to Gospel-centered music to keep the soul focused on God all day long so. Missions is always being prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within us.

How did ordinary people who were like us complete their mission? Please follow along in...

Acts 11:20–26 (ESV)

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.

Verse 21 is critical. Without the hand of the Lord in our lives it will be impossible to glorify God in our lives and therefore impossible to have Gospel conversations everywhere we go. How do we know who to speak the Gospel to? How do we know who God has called to salvation and who will spend eternity in hell? I think verse 21 means two things.

What does “and the hand of the Lord was upon them” mean? (v21)

If you reference your message notes, point 1a, I think it means two things. First, this is a simple, general statement telling us that these people...

They were living in obedience to the Lord moment by moment.

The hand of the Lord, was on them and blessing them because sin was being defeated moment by moment in their lives. Nothing was holding them back. There were no stumbling blocks in their path. They were not caving to sin, but were looking for ways to be involved through missions opportunities in their new community.

“With God all things are possible.” If it had not been through the empowerment of the Spirit, missions would not have taken place here, nor at any time in all history. A person must be completely full of the Spirit… this is why believers were told by Jesus to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit.

One does not say, “I am going here and doing such and such for God. The Spirit alone empowers ordinary people to be missionaries.When that happens, the Lord can only continually bless them. The hand of the Lord will be upon our lives when we fully submit to His will. The Lord wants to continually bless us. He wants to continually produce abundant fruit and cause that fruit to remain as Jn 10 teaches, and that is what was happening in these verses.

“The hand of the Lord” also means something specific. In your notes, Point 1b, It means...

They were urged to speak the Gospel at a specific time to a specific person.

Acts 4:28 tells us that God did

whatever (His) hand and (His) plan had predestined to take place.

Remember Phillip? The Spirit was upon him urging him to speak the Gospel specifically to the Ethiopian. In Acts 8 Stephen was full of the Spirit’s power. He boldly spoke the gospel to those who needed to hear it’s message. Some of those people eventually came to faith, others needed to hear the Gospel so they would harden their hearts, causing the great persecution to scatter the Gospel.

Other examples are recorded for us. In Acts 2-7 God continually led the apostles to specific people whom the Spirit had specifically prepared to hear and obey the Gospel’s message.

When I was sixteen years old, I was a camper at AWANA Scholarship Camp in Slippery Rock, PA. The Lord had been growing a friendship with me and another young man, Mark, in my cabin. It was during one message, maybe on a Thursday night, that I was sitting by Mark and the main speaker was sharing the plan of salvation to about 200 of us campers. As I was praying for God to soften my fellow camper’s hearts.

When the message had concluded, the speaker asked everyone to close their eyes and as he spoke, I felt an urge to open my eyes and look at my cabin mates. I was an obedient youth, so opening my eyes when I was not supposed to was out of character for me, but when I opened my eyes, Mark was next to me, gently rocking back and forth. Not only was I an obedient youth, but I was terrified of speaking to other people, but the Spirit urged me to speak to Mark. I said something like this, “Mark, do you know for sure that you will go to Heaven?” He continued gently rocking so I said, “Mark, if you do not know know for sure, you need to respond in faith to Jesus. I will go forward with you.” Mark stopped rocking, looked at me, and said, “Ok, but I don’t need you to go with me.” He placed his faith in Christ that night.

I think of the hand of the Lord was on me that moment.

When “the hand of the Lord is with us” he moves us to speak the Gospel at a specific time to a specific person. Remember that there were no churches in Antioch when the scattered Christians arrived. Establishing churches was an urgent task. Believers could not afford to waste time, the Lord led them to specific people, and according to verse 21, “a great number” of specific people “who turned to the Lord.”

The field was ripe for the harvest!

They needed help!

Point 2, they needed help.

Word came to Jerusalem, “The Antioch church needs help!” and they sent Barnabas! This is exciting because this is yet another time when a local church cared for the global church! By the way, the Antioch church were not just accepting help, they also were giving help through missions, and you’ll have to read of that in verses 27-30 at some point this week.

Luke already introduced us to Barnabas in...

Acts 4:36 ESV

36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus,

Barnabas was a man full of fruit of the Spirit. He was a “Son of encouragement” and in our text this continued to be true about him. Acts 11:23 says Barnabas “urged” “encouraged” or “exhorted” the Antioch Christians.

Read on in Acts 11:24.

Acts 11:24 ESV

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.

Men and women of God should have the reputation of Barnabas: Spirit filled people who are full of and overflowing with God’s goodness will bless God’s church!

This is also exciting. The mission was too great for the Antioch Christians even with Barnabas’ help. Barnabas needed a ministry partner. What does our text say he did? He knew where Saul was, so he traveled North West to Tarsus.

Missionaries NEED ministry partners. Your pastor needs ministry partners. All Christians need ministry partners. Paul was specifically named as Barnabas’ ministry partner but the entirety of the Antioch also seems to be fully partnered with each other. Look at verse 22. The church members submitted to each other. They were in agreement with each other. They had the same purpose and direction. They were community minded and they were committed to something else… our next event on the circle.

(Slide: Discipleship) Missions resulted in salvation but these new believers needed to grow in their faith so they too could become partners for the Gospel. We call this discipleship.

4. ---> Discipleship (11:23-26)

Discipleship can happen in spite of us. This happens when people are appalled by the sin in someone else’s life that it drives them to seek truth from the Word on their own. This is “accidental discipleship.”

The best kind of discipleship is intentional discipleship which is what we see in Acts 11:23-30. The church sent for Barnabas to help them be a better witness to their community. New believers needed to learn how the Gospel should impact their lives practically. Let’s see what verses 25 & 26 have to say:

Acts 11:25–26 (ESV)

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.

It seems that the Antioch believers were witnessing to their community and Paul and Barnabas were discipling those believers. “They met with the church and taught a great many people for a whole year.”

Missions and discipleship are two sides of the same coin. People who are discipled need to make disciples by going out and proclaiming salvation.

Discipleship is not about getting comfy in church. Discipleship is about getting uncomfortable because the lost need Jesus. (repeat)

There is no point in being a Christian if we don’t actively, daily share our faith.

To make the point, consider these facts:

1. Both the Jerusalem (2:41, 47; 5:14) and Antioch (11:24) congregations add to their numbers.

2. Both the Jerusalem (2:42) and Antioch (11:26) congregations devote themselves to the teaching of their leaders.

3. Both the Jerusalem (2:44–45; 4:32–37; 6:1) and Antioch (11:29) congregations express their concern for the needy by giving aid, and Barnabas plays an important role in each congregation’s decision to share its possessions (cf. 4:32–37; 11:30).

Discipleship produces people who are passionate about being blessed by the hand of the Lord. It produces people who act radically different than the culture around them.

Please look at the end of verse 26.

And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Why did this group need a name? 1. Our text states two different times that “a great number of people were turning to the Lord” The first time was pre-Barnabas in verse 21 and the second time was in partnership with Barnabas in verse 24. Turning to the Lord is the focal point here. We call this repentance. Discipleship happened so that repentance could occur. The group needed a name because the group was huge. As a side note, the Antioch church became significantly influential in the worldwide spread of the Gospel.

2. The group needed a name because they were definitely not of Jewish faith. These people clung to the works of teaching of Christ. These people lived counter-cultural lives. These people were not at home in this world but were “just a passing through.”

Up to this point, what were followers of Jesus know as? (Pause)

They were known as “disciples.” “Disciples” is a generic term. It means someone who follows someone else. It is like going to work and doing good. People notice you doing good. People know you are following someone’s good teaching, but they don’t know who you follow. They can’t connect your actions to with Christ.

Being called “Christians” is significantly more powerful. These Antioch “Christ-followers” were loudly and boldly proclaiming that it Christ was the one who made the difference in their lives. Christ was producing much fruit in them.

Their new name, “Christians” was an honor. They bore the name of Christ and acted like Christ. Being identified as “Christians” was about to become an honor in another way.

“Christians” were known not for their belief but for their action. (repeat)

The Jewish beliefs were protected by the Roman government, but “Christians” became a significant threat to Rome. Rome was strongly opposed to people who bowed to another king - the King of Kings. Rome was opposed to people who took bold and public stands for truth. It made them look bad - Roman authorities were corrupt. “Christians” reminded people of God’s holy standards. People who have hardened hearts cannot stand the brilliant and glorious light of the Word. Deep sea creatures love pure darkness found in the deepest parts of the ocean.

(SLIDE: Persecution) What then is the solution? Persecution! the cycle has come around full-circle. Let’s wipe out all these people who remind us of Christ’s standards. If the church is doing what it is supposed to be doing, persecution is guaranteed to come.

1. ---> Persecution (Acts 12)

Antioch Christians were becoming excited about the real life ramifications of the Gospel. Christianity was becoming a threat to Roman Empire and as we will see next week from Acts 12, persecution was the next event on the cycle.

The Gospel should dramatically change the way we live. We should be boldly proclaiming the life-altering news EVERYWHERE we go. This causes tension today and it caused tension 2,000 years ago. Employers, lawmakers, school teachers, neighbors, coworkers, friends, social groups will have one of two responses. They will either be drawn to Jesus’ message or they will be strongly opposed to it’s message. When others they hate Christ’s message, persecution will come.

This cycle has continued for 2,000 years. The Sanhedrin hated the Gospel, they persecuted the Christians thereby fanning Christianity into a great flame. Nero hated the Gospel and persecuted Christians. Christians scattered into other places in the world where the Gospel had not yet been taken. Early Catholicism hated the Gospel and persecuted the church causing the printing press and printed Bible to explode throughout the world. Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin hated the Gospel and persecuted Christians and Jews alike causing the Gospel to explode throughout Europe and Russia. And guess what? Our culture hates the Gospel. Persecution is yet to come.

Do you consider it an honor to be called a Christian or is it a burden to you?

(Slide)

Christ didn’t call people to fill pews. He called people to fill shoes.

...to go forth and carry the His message of hope wherever we may go. We need to answer some hard questions because of these truths.

Growth Questions:

Am I willing to lose my health, spouse, pets, status, and even my life for the sake of the Gospel? What am I afraid to lose?

Am I willing to embrace persecution, even pray for persecution so that I too might bear stripes as Jesus did?

If I was scattered because of persecution right now, would that cause me to: 1.) lose my faith 2.) be silent and hope it passes me by or 3) be emboldened to spread the Gospel?

Is the Lord’s hand on me?

Do I live for time in the Word? Am I grieved when I miss time in the Word? Am I grieved when I miss time with God who should be my best friend?

Do I live for time in prayer? Do I pray without ceasing? Do I love communicating with my best friend who is in Heaven?

Do I live for time in fellowship with my fellow believers? Do I love the same people Jesus loved and gave himself for? Do I give myself for this body of believers God has led me to?

Who might God specifically be calling me to witness to?

Do I want the church to grow around me or do I want the church to grow because of me?

What am I intentionally doing contribute to the overall health of the church? What are you doing to intentionally teach 1.) those who are saved (discipleship) and 2.) those who are unsaved (witnessing)?

Spirit-filled people are used by God to proclaim truth to both saved and to the unsaved. It is not this or that. It is both and. Christians are missionaries. Christians are proclaimers of God’s truth.

Am I known as a Spirit-filled person like Barnabas was?

Am I deliberately partnering with someone in ministry?

Please don’t throw your message notes away. I urge, no I beg, no, I plead for you pray over these questions this week. The answers to these questions will and your following actions will significantly impact our community. We must look for ways to be involved. Every believer has a role to play. Every believer in this morning’s passage had a role to play. They answered hard questions such as these and those answers drove them to be increasingly involved in their local church, but if you read verses 27-30 you will also see that they were increasingly involved in the universal church.

Andy is on his way up to lead us in a hymn that reminds us that we are to be about our Father’s mission. “This World is Not My Home.”

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