Christ is Life Podcast

We're going to continue in worship now by diving into God's Word together. And so if you have your Bible, you have a device with a Bible app on it, we're going to be in Acts chapter 11, starting in verse 19, in just a moment over the last couple of weeks, as we've continued in this life in the Spirit message series, where we've been going verse by verse through the book of Acts, we were we were in chapters 10 and 11, very important, significant chapters because of the events that happened there. And if you were here last week, the basic thing you remember is that we learned that the gospel is open to even the Gentiles, as the way Luke would write things and in through the Holy Spirit, reveal those truths to Peter and the rest of the church. Up until that point, we had only really seen the gospel spreading to the Jews, the Jewish people, these were Jewish believers in Christ, and they were only going to other Jews, but they began to reach out to those who were half Jews and in Samaria, and then we saw him reach out to corn or Cornelius, this Roman Gentile soldier who put his faith and trust, and his family did as well, and Jesus and and we saw the Holy Spirit fall on them. And it was just this, this incredible moment, like again, where they realized, wow, the gospel really is even for the Gentiles. But today, as we continue to finish out this chapter and build upon what the Lord showed them and us there, we continue to see some pretty incredible things. How God's going to move, not just from one Gentile and his family, but how does that impact the whole church and local churches in different areas, and so that is what we're going to be able to see. And really, as we begin to start today, I want to take you all the way back to Acts chapter one, because this is just a continuation of what Jesus said would happen all the way back at the very beginning of Acts, whenever he was meeting with the disciples after His resurrection and just before his ascension, you remember he says this to them in Acts one eight, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And so Jesus tells them this is what's going to happen when the Holy Spirit comes. And then the book of Acts is just writing about how that actually happened. And we've seen it happen in Jerusalem. We've seen it happen throughout Judea and Samaria, and now we really are beginning to see it go to the ends of the earth. And so with that in mind, look at how Luke starts in 11. Verse 19, he says, Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among the Jews. So as as Luke begins this section, after talking about Cornelius and him and his family coming to know Jesus. He takes us all the way back to Stephen, which you may remember was in Acts chapter seven. He was the first Christian martyr. And it was after this great persecution, or this persecution, that broke out, I'm sorry, after the martyr Stephen was killed, he became the first Christian martyr. We're told that everyone began to to scatter. Now this was in Acts chapter seven that we learned all about his death and what was happening there. And then in chapter eight, we're told about what he references right here. You may remember this, but right after telling us about Stephen and the persecution that broke out, Luke says this in Acts 84 those who had been scattered preached the word wherever it is that they went. And so there was this persecution. They had to scatter and flee, but wherever it is that they end up, they preach the gospel. And now, as Luke is picking up in chapter 11, verse 19, he's just picking up on that verse from chapter eight, verse four, in giving us more details about those people who were scattered and how they began to share the good news with other people. Now, initially, we see that as they traveled to these areas of Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch that Luke is clear to mention that they, as we've already talked about, just sought out other Jewish people and shared the gospel, the good news with them, and that they responded to it. And so the church was growing, but it was still, even though it was in those areas, just Jewish believers, the same thing he was kind of doing in Jerusalem, until we see what Luke says Now in verse 20, some of them, some of these men who were scattered and preaching the gospel among the Jews. However, men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks, also telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. Now, when he says Greeks here, obviously that's a reference to those who are are. Gentile. And the thing that we want to recognize about this here, because it doesn't say it but, but if you were thinking about what we just read, this would kind of stand out, because when we talked about Cornelius, and even though Cornelius was a Gentile, he was described as what
God, a God fearing Gentile. He was someone who believed in the God of the Jews. Was trying to follow their customs and laws. He hadn't fully converted to Judaism and through circumcision, but he was someone who was seeking after God, following his ways. And so even though he was a Gentile, at least he was open to it, and that was a huge thing, but he was taking steps in that direction and seeking out their God. When we're talking about speaking the gospel, sharing the gospel to Greeks here in this area, we are talking about people who are not God fearing, who were not believing in the God of the Jews, who were not following their customs or laws in any way. Not only were they, I mean, they were like Cornelius and the fact they were a Gentile, but they were far away different from him through their lifestyle and their behavior and not really pursuing them. And so we're told that they were sharing the gospel. Now, the other thing that we need to know, that we wouldn't know necessarily today, but other early readers would have picked up on, is this was an Antioch. Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire. I mean, it's only behind Rome and Alexandria and and what we're told about Antioch is that there were a lot of diverse people. There is a major trade hub and for commerce, and so a lot of people from different cultures were were there represented? But what we're told in the ancient literature about Antioch is it's kind of like the Las Vegas of today, and was known as Sin City. I mean, this was a a vile city. This is where people were acting out and who were engaging in gross immorality. There were, there was a temple where there were prostitution, was involved to to worship false gods and a number of other things that were just abhorrent to the Jewish people. And so when we're talking about sharing the gospel with the Gentiles, even though Cornelius was a Gentile, I'm talking we're going way above and beyond that now, because at least he was God fearing and open to it. And this and that these people were involved in some major things, but they were telling them about how Jesus had died on the cross for their sins, and so let's see how they respond to it. In verse 21 we're told that the Lord's hand was with them, and that a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. The Lord's hand was with them. Means that God's power, the Holy Spirit, was at work in and through them. There wouldn't have been a number of great people that came to believe in Him if it hadn't been for the Lord, if it hadn't been for the Holy Spirit. This is not something that's up to us. It's a work of the Spirit in and through us, and we need to even remember that today, 2000 years later, and so with God's power working in and through them to share the gospel, a great number of people believed. These Greeks, people that were involved in a very different lifestyle, believed and came to the Lord. Now let's also think about what that means. If this means, if this is they experienced salvation, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in them and change them. This also means that what they were incorporated and added into God's family and the early church. And so now we have these Jewish people who had been scattered from their homes having grown up under all the food laws, all of the moral laws, all of the things about Gentiles in general. And now they're in this area, and they're sharing the gospel with them, and these people are coming to know them, and Lord knows, the kind of things that they were open to and that they were engaged in, as far as their sinful behaviors. And now they are a part of the church. In other words, there's there's this diversity that we see in the church, and the fact that the gospel really is for everyone, and we need to know that. I mean, the gospel really is for everyone. Do not ever let Satan convince you that that you are too far gone because of the life choices that you have made in your lifetime. Don't ever let him convince you that Jesus isn't for you because of where you come from, or the kind of family you grew up in, or the mistakes that you've made in life the church. God is for all people. God's family is made up of all kinds of people. We have Jews. We have half Jews. We have Gentiles who are God fearing, Gentiles who are involved in all kinds of sin. And so this is what we begin to see in the early church, of course, has application for us today. We must recognize that when we see this kind of thing, the Holy Spirit at work in and through us. And was one of his local churches,
that the church is for all people.
It is for black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, all cultures, it's for rich, for poor, for white collar, blue collar, drug addicts, porn addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, gang members, anyone who will turn in faith to Jesus Christ as the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE,
will have their sins forgiven. The
Holy Spirit will come to dwell in them, and they'll become our brother or sister in Christ, which means they're welcome in our church.
Amen. Verse 22 Luke goes on and says,
news of this reached the church in Jerusalem. I mean, this is a big deal, right? Cornelius, and now we're seeing all these people living in Antioch. I mean, they're coming to know Jesus too, and and so they sent Barnabas to Antioch to check it out and and look at verse 23 when he arrived. When Barnabas arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. And then he describes Barnabas. He was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Notice that when Barnabas arrived, that we're told that he saw what the grace of God had done like he witnessed, what the grace of God had done. He had taken Jewish people and Gentile Greeks living in Antioch again, no less, and merged them together as one in Christ. Can you imagine Barnabas walking into that scene and seeing all of them living in community together in an overflow of what the Holy Spirit was doing in and through them to lead them into that kind of early church Acts two community that we saw the Spirit leading them into and so, of course, when he saw the grace of God working in and through them in this way to all be a part of the church together. He was glad. Would you be glad if you walked into our church and saw the same thing happening today? If we're walking in the power of the Spirit? We would because this is an appropriate response based on the character and goodness of God and the truth of what we see in Scripture, to lead us in this way if we ever become irritated because our church is changing and because people who aren't like us are showing up and getting involved in things and their lifestyle hadn't been like ours. They don't dress like ours, or speak the same language as us, or any of the other things we don't have in common, and we start to get a little bit irritated about some of those things, then we've got to recognize that that is, of course, from our flesh, that's not from the Holy Spirit, and renew our minds to the truth about the gospel being open for all people, and that we are family, and even if we don't have anything else in common, we have Jesus in common, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and through us, uniting us together as his family. Notice that it says that after he arrived and saw the grace of God, and he was glad and things were going great in this particular area, that he encouraged them to remain true to the Lord with their hearts. This word right here remain, is related to the word that Jesus uses in John 15, when he's giving the vine and the branch illustration. And he's he's talking about how he's the vine, and they were the branches. We're the branches. And our job, then is to be a receiver, to just remain as a branch and receive from the life giving vine flowing in us and through us. And so he was like, Listen, I've seen the grace of God to do the work in your lives that only he could do, to reflect you guys being a part of the church. So just keep on remaining, abiding, receiving the way you've been receiving, and allow him to do the overflow of that. And if you continue to abide and remain true and just focused on on who you are in Christ and all that you have in Him, and not turn towards these other things in the direction that that the enemy is trying to distract you with, then things will continue to go well. He'll. Continue to produce fruit in and through you, and you will experience the abundant life that you have in Christ.
Now, as he did that, we're told that
other people were noticing that he was sharing the gospel, probably with other people, because not only was he encouraging them, but even more people, like a great number of people were brought to the Lord. So even more people were being brought into the church, which, of course, can get a bit overwhelming for one person to minister to them all. Hence verse, 25 and 26 then Barnabas took, or went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. Now, you of course, remember Saul. We refer to him as as Paul today, and he's known as Saul from Tarsus a lot of times, but the last thing that we read about him was his Damascus Road experience and how he had been persecuting the church and and he had this encounter with Jesus, and he began to preach the gospel immediately, but then he received persecution and and the disciples helped rescue him. And the last thing that we were told is that he went to Tarsus. Now we see just a few chapters later that he goes to get him here, and we think, Well, this just all happened within a matter of weeks. But we may have mentioned this last time from what we learn in Galatians chapters one and maybe part of two, is that that Paul spent probably seven to 10 years here, probably just continuing to sit under the spirit and and have him pour into him and share the good news with those around Tarsus and prepare him for what he had called him. Because remember what Ananias was told by God as He was sent to Saul when he was having this encounter with Jesus and was blinded, he said, Go, because this man is my what chosen instrument to proclaim the good news to the Gentiles. He's the one I'm going to work in and through, to continue to go all the way to the ends of the earth, acts one eight. And so Barnabas is at work, and he's, he's seeing Gentiles now come to know Christ and be added more and more, and go, Oh, you know that Saul guy was the chosen instrument to take the gospel to the Gentiles. And I need help. Maybe, maybe now would be a good time to go get him. Of course, Holy Spirit was behind all of this, and so he does go to get him and look what they spend their time doing when they get back in the second half of verse 26 it's so for so for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. In other words, once Saul shows up on the scene with Barnabas, they spend an entire year discipling the new believers in the church. Here's what happened to you. The Holy Spirit lives in you. You became a new creation in Christ, and as you remain and abide in Him, He produces fruit in you and through you, and you're now part of our family. And here's what this means. And I mean all the things they had to break down from the Jews and the Gentiles and things, and they're just spending time and relationships and discipling them because they were further along down the road with them, and so this was the kind of thing that they were doing, was discipling the believers. And as they discipled them, people in the community began to notice that there was something different about them, that this fruit really was being produced. Because look at what we're told in the last part of verse 26 the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Christians means Christ once. It basically is a term that says those Jesus people, you know, the Jesus people in Antioch. They were like, what we notice is that they belong to Christ. They were being discipled. The Spirit was working in them and and through them. And they were, they were seeing the fruit of this new activity. And so the people at Antioch were like, we'll just call them the Jesus people, the Christ ones, because they were witnessing Jesus in and through them. But that, of course, is what Jesus said would happen in Acts one eight, right? You're going to be my witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes on you in these different areas. And now Jesus, through the Holy Spirit was in them. So no doubt people were seeing Jesus through them. And that's why they would call them that, because they were seeing Christ in them and through them, they stood out in Sin City as the Jesus people. Verse 27 during this time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, one of them named. Agabus stood up and through the Spirit, predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. And Luke in searched this parenthetical remark to let us know that did happen. This happened, he says, during the reign of Claudius. And so no doubt the Holy Spirit, and we see this kind of thing even in the Old Testament, where there were temporary indwellings of the Holy Spirit to reveal certain things in and through people to a group of other people. The spirit was at work even in the early church, in this way from time to time. But then look at what we're told in 29 and 30 the disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. They This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. So look at how the Jesus people responded whenever they found out that there was going to be a need. They responded like Jesus. I mean, all throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus giving to people, serving people, providing for people, and now Jesus is dwelling in them. They hear about this need, this prophetic word from Agabus about what's going to happen there. And their hearts are broken for the their family, the family that live in a whole different area that they're connected with spiritually that runs deeper than anything else, right? And they're going the we're going to act like Jesus, because it's how Jesus would act. And of course, he was living in and through them to prompt them in this way. Notice that when they found out this need that we are told by Luke, I mean, no telling how many people are in the church at this time, because a great number of people keep being added all the time. But look each one, each one in the church, was prompted by the Holy Spirit to give to those in need. Now each one as they were able, meaning they didn't all share the same resources. They didn't all give the same amount. Those who had more gave more. Those who had less gave less. But it was spirit guided. He's the one who guided them to give out of what it is that they had, he had he had provided for them, the resources he had provided to give towards what it is that he was doing for those that were going to be living in need. And so as we we see that kind of thing here, and we kind of close this section out, and we see what life in the Spirit looked like for them. And now we begin to transition into well, what does life in the Spirit look like us for today, this seems like a great place to start, since we're ending with that. And so life in the Spirit means that we will each give according to our means. If the Holy Spirit has adopted us into His family, the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit, dwells in each one of us. Then as we make ourselves available to him, he will prompt each one of us to give out of our means. Notice there's not a percentage that we're talking about. We're not talking about a duty. We're not talking about, you know, something that you need to do in order to be blessed. We're not talking about something that you need to do in order to prosper one day. We're just talking about grace giving. We're talking about remaining true to the Lord, and our hearts being focused on him, and all that we have in Him, and all that he's providing for us, and that he wants to use us in His Kingdom work, and even the resources that he's given to us to play a role in those things that he's doing here, and so as we keep our eyes fixed on Him, the Holy Spirit will guide us to give and empower us, enable us to actually give. And this is the kind of thing that's been going on in this particular local church for the last 40 plus years. There are still some charter members who are part of our church today, and those charter members who felt guided by the Holy Spirit to plant this church here were prompted to give so that they could build this building. You and I are sitting in this building gathered for worship today because the Holy Spirit put it on their hearts to be a part of His kingdom work that he wanted to do in and through this church. And we are getting to see the blessing and the privilege because someone else gave and we're still continuing to see what the Holy Spirit is doing, and we're still in this building, because people are continuing to give to maintain the building and to gather for worship and grow in grace together and invite people in our community to hear the gospel here and gather with us in these ways. And His Spirit is at work anytime we give with his kingdom work to be put. Participating in things around the world, things in our church,
many times you guys don't get to see the
reaction of people when we get to tell them that we as a church can bless them during their time of need, because people have been prompted by the Holy Spirit to give. And I always get to tell them that there are people who don't even maybe know who you are, but because you're their brother and sister in Christ, they love you so much, and they've walked through seasons of time where they needed help that they gave so that in this moment those funds would be there to give for you and provide. And the tears just flow. They can't believe it that Jesus is providing for them in and through their their family, the relief, the joy, the blessing they love, the love that they get to feel and so. So this is part of what living life in the Spirit means. We each come before him. Spirit, what are you guiding us to give? Will you empower us to give according to our means. The other thing that we already talked a lot about, I won't spend much time on it, but I just want to highlight it here, since we talked about it earlier, life in the Spirit means diversity in the church.
It's what we saw in Antioch.
It'll show up in Acts chapter 13, in the beginning, few verses there and reference of people who were there, and you'll see even more diversity that was in the church to really bring it out for you. And so one of the things that we should expect is, if this gospel is for everyone of all cultures, of all races, of all different kinds of backgrounds, that the Spirit then will lead us to share the gospel with all cultures and all people who have different kinds of backgrounds and welcome them into our family as a representation of the church all around the world. The apostle Paul in Colossians three says there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free. But Christ is all, and is in all. As we keep our eyes fixed on Him, He will lead us in that particular way. The last thing that we saw is life in the Spirit. Means We will encourage and disciple new believers. We saw him, the Spirit working in and through Paul and Barnabas in this particular way. They spent a whole year doing that, and that is what the Spirit will lead us to do as well. We've been talking a lot about evangelism and sharing the gospel with unbelievers and building relationships, because that is what we see over and over and over again in the early church, the Spirit at work to reach more and more people, and as we've even gathered together on Wednesday nights to learn more about how to share our faith with others, it's one of the things we talked about there, that through all the things about building the relationships and how to share the gospel, that if someone comes to know Christ, We don't just go, Hey, congratulations, you're going to be in heaven one day, and then move on to the next unbeliever and focus all of our attention on them. We built a relationship with this person to share the gospel with them. And so now on the other side of salvation, the Holy Spirit life and the spirit means we're going to be available to encourage them, to disciple them, to help them grow in their faith and to welcome them into our family as well. So again, life in the Christ, life in the Spirit, means that he's going to lead us to give according to our means. He's going to lead us to be a diverse church and to share the gospel with people from all cultures and all backgrounds, and welcome them into our family, and that we're going to be a church who will make sure that we're discipling people in their new life in Christ in a way that we do it together, but also as individuals. And then, and then finally, I don't have it written down here, but I mean, we keep seeing over and over again the Lord added to their number those who are being saved. And so maybe that's where you're at today. Maybe you haven't taken that step of faith, but the gospel is for everyone, including you, no matter who you are, where you've been, what it is that you've done. Jesus loves you. He sent Jesus die on the cross for you so that your sins could be forgiven and he could have eternal life in him. It's a gift, but just like any gift, you have to receive it, and the way that we receive it is through faith. And so we want to give you a chance to respond if the Lord is leading you to take that step, even today