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Well, you can turn back to the 
book of Acts, to Acts chapter 11. We're reading through it 
consecutively in our morning worship. We're preaching through 
it consecutively in our morning worship. And this morning, we're 
gonna look at Acts chapter 11, verses 19 to 30. Remember the last two chapters 
or chapter and a half, the conversion of Cornelius and his household. 
We see Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God. Gentiles 
do not need to be circumcised and believe. They simply need 
to believe by God's grace, the truth as it is in Jesus, and 
they are included. They are baptized, added to the 
church. Of course, word gets out to Judea. and the people in Jerusalem asked 
Peter to give an account for what had occurred. And that's 
what Peter does in verses 1 to 18. And now the scene shifts 
to a church in Antioch. So I want to read beginning in 
chapter 11 at verse 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. 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. And the hand of the 
Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to 
the Lord. Then news of these things came to the ears of the 
church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far 
as Antioch. 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. For he 
was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great 
many people were added to the Lord. Then Barnabas departed 
for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he 
brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year, 
they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. 
And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 
And in these days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then 
one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the spirit that 
there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, 
which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the 
disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send 
relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did 
and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." 
Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for the written word. Thank you that it's given by 
inspiration of God. that it's profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. 
And we pray that you would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work, 
that you would cause us to reflect upon the early church, to see 
the strengths exhibited in a passage like this, and may we by grace 
seek to emulate and imitate such things in our own church. Do 
forgive us again for our sins and our unrighteousness as we 
come now to the Word of God. And may the Holy Spirit guide 
us and lead us and direct us And may He encourage us at this 
snapshot of what happened in the apostolic preaching in the 
church. And we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
Essentially, as we've seen, the emphasis has been primarily on 
Peter. It will return to Peter again 
in Acts chapter 12. There is some persecution that 
breaks out in the church in Jerusalem. And then in Acts 13, the scene 
shifts a bit, and Paul the apostle will ultimately dominate the 
spotlight for the latter half of the book. It follows the outline 
in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. Jesus said, you will be my witnesses. 
first in Jerusalem and then Judea, Samaria, and then to the ends 
of the earth. And that is exactly what is happening. 
They're going according to plan. And in this particular section, 
we see first the church at Antioch in verses 19 to 26, and then 
secondly, this relief or famine relief in Judea in verses 27 
to 30. That's essentially what we're 
gonna look at this morning. And with reference to the church 
at Antioch, I wanna consider three particulars. First, the 
preaching of the church in verses 19 to 21. Secondly, the investigation 
of the church. In other words, the Jerusalem 
apostles here, what's happening in Antioch. So they dispatch 
Barnabas to go and verify and confirm and check this out. So 
that's the investigation of the church. And then finally, the 
ministry of teaching in the church in verses 25 We see Saul and 
Barnabas continue there for a year, teaching them Christian doctrine. 
But with reference to the preaching of the church, notice the origin. 
Verse 19 tells us, now those who are scattered after the persecution 
that arose over Stephen. If you go back for just a moment, 
that's why I read that bit in chapter eight, verse one, it 
says, at that time, a great persecution arose against the church, which 
was at Jerusalem. At this point, they had pretty 
much stuck to their guns there in Jerusalem. This persecution 
comes, and now the disciples are scattered. They are dispersed, 
and when they are dispersed, they go preaching the gospel. 
This was a means under God to get these people out of Jerusalem 
into first Samaria, that's where Philip goes, according to Acts 
chapter eight. As I said, we see the conversion 
of Saul of Tarsus in chapter nine, and then we see the conversion 
of these Gentiles, Cornelius and his household in chapter 
10. And now the narrative picks back up and links to this scattering. It links to this time when there 
was this persecution against the church, and then it records 
for us in chapter 11 at verse 19 the northward expansion of 
the church. It tells us that they went as 
far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. Now, Phoenicia was the 
Mediterranean seacoast area of Syria and Tyre and Sidon were 
its primary cities. Cyprus was an island to the south 
of Asia Minor. It was about a hundred miles 
west of northwestern Syria. That's where Barnabas originally 
came from. There was a large Jewish population 
on that island of Cyprus, but the emphasis is here in Antioch. 
Now, Antioch was a very important city at this particular time. 
It was third in size only to Rome and Alexandria. It was an 
important place for commerce, for trade. It was a bustling 
hub within the Roman Empire. As well, it was the home of many 
idols. And also there was a great moral 
laxity. In fact, it was a very wicked 
city. It's not the case that only our cities today are wicked. 
When we look at the cities in the New Testament, Old Testament 
time, they were wicked too. Sin is sin. We may hear about 
it more. We may engage or see people engage 
in it more, but sin has always been there. And the church has 
had to function in that capacity. The church has had to be faithful 
in the midst of faithless people. The church has had to do what 
she's supposed to do, even when all around her is opposed to 
God Most High. It's one of the beauties of church 
history, one of the beauties of the book of Acts. We see real 
people living in real situations, functioning as real believers 
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. They were 
able to do that because God is sovereign. We are able to do 
that because God is sovereign. We are able to persevere in a 
faithless generation because God is with us and God has given 
us all the resources necessary vis-a-vis His Word and His Spirit 
to protect us, to guard us, to watch over us, and to keep us 
from compromise with that wicked world. And so this city of Antioch 
was a great location for a church. Now notice the particular preaching 
of that. In verse 19 at the end, it says, 
preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. So as they 
expand into Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, they initially only 
preach to the Jews. But according to verse 20, they 
now preach to the Greeks. Look at verse 20, it says, 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. Hellenists there is better translated 
as Greeks, Grecians, as the old King James has it. The distinctiveness 
is not, or the distinction is not they preach to some Jews 
and then they preach to more Jews, but it's they preach to 
Jews and Gentiles. They preach to Jews and Greeks. 
So again, Cornelius was sort of the open ceremonious sort 
of inclusion of Gentiles into the covenant promises of God, 
but we see these Gentiles now coming in. We see the preaching 
of the gospel targeting that. So initially they preach only 
to Jews and now they are preaching to Gentiles and they are preaching 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. That message needs to 
go to every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. That message is absolutely 
crucial to the salvation of sinners. If persons do not hear this, 
they will be dead in their sin. They will be cut off from God. 
They will end up in hell. That's why you see the emphasis 
in the early church on preaching. Going, therefore, making disciples, 
baptizing those disciples, and teaching those disciples everything 
that Christ had commanded. Because they understood all too 
well that not all roads lead to heaven. God is not a pluralistic 
being. It's not the case that if you 
just try hard and you happen to be a Jew, or you just try 
hard and you happen to be a Muslim, and you just try hard and you 
happen to be a pagan, well then everything's going to be okay. 
No, Romans 1 tells us that men have enough light through general 
revelation to be damned, but they do not have enough light 
in general revelation to be saved. That's why Paul says in Romans 
1 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of 
God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first 
and also to the Greek. Why? He says, for in it, for 
in that gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith 
to faith, that as it is written, the just shall live by faith. 
I would submit, brethren, that this early church understood 
the life and death dynamics involved in preaching and in teaching. 
They weren't about entertainment. They weren't about therapy. They 
weren't about group hugs. They were about the proclamation 
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what the church needs 
to be about. When we come to this book of Acts and we're in 
the 11th chapter, isn't this the constant refrain? I probably 
sound like a One Note Johnny every Sunday morning that we 
meet here, because I keep emphasizing that reality. It's Paul's last 
corporate command to the church. Preach the word. Be ready in 
season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all longsuffering and teaching. Again, that's the one job that 
has been given to the church. And so often we abandon it. So often we are occupied with 
entertainment. We are occupied with just sort 
of this horizontal dimension. We need to be occupied with Christ 
and Him crucified, and that is precisely what we see in the 
passage. Some of them were men from Cyprus 
and Cyrene who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the 
Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus. Not preaching a better life, 
preaching a happier existence, preaching principles on how to 
be a better you, but preaching the Lord Jesus, the second person 
of the Trinity, the Son of God who is incarnate for us, who 
for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. He assumed 
our humanity with all the essential properties and the common infirmities 
thereof and yet without sin. They preached the Lord Jesus 
in his offices as prophet, priest, and king. They preached the Lord 
Jesus in his great sacrifice as both priest and victim, the 
one who died to save his people from their sins. That's what 
occupied the early church. That's what led to this northward 
expansion. It wasn't the sorts of things 
that we often try to use to get people in. Preach the word of 
the living God and God will do the rest. That's what scripture 
tells us. We're not to be innovative, we're 
not to be creative, we're to be obedient and follow the apostolic 
example of preaching the Lord Jesus. That's where they grew. That's why God adds in both instances 
concerning God's sovereignty. He adds a great number, a great 
many people. Notice, there's this progress 
report in verse 21. Luke does this all throughout 
the book of Acts. There's all these sorts of reports 
at various places of the progress concerning the word, concerning 
the church, concerning additions to the believers. And here in 
verse 21, it says, and the hand of the Lord was with them, and 
a great number believed and turned to the Lord. The emphasis here 
is, again, not on their ingenuity, Not even on their preaching per 
se, but on the power of God working through their preaching. It was 
the hand of the Lord that was with them. It was that mighty 
arm of God Most High. It was His power. It was effectual 
grace. It was what we call irresistible 
grace. It was what David celebrates 
in the Psalter, that God makes men willing in the day of His 
power. It was the hand of Yahweh with them that brought this success. And in verse 21, that's the emphasis. The hand of the Lord was with 
them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. The word 
was preached, but sinners ultimately believe. Why? Because sinners 
are smart? No. Because sinners are wise? No. Because sinners always make 
great decisions? Absolutely positively not. They 
believed and turned to the Lord because the hand of God was with 
them. You have to see the connection. 
It does not depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but 
upon God who shows mercy. Paul says, I planted and Apollos 
watered, but who gives the increase? It's God. And the sovereignty 
of God is conspicuous here at verse 21, and then again at verse 
24. 1 Corinthians 3.6, I planted 
a Paulist water, but God gave the increase. It's a beautiful 
statement concerning God's purpose in the church. Again, before 
we move on, this is what we should be doing, preaching the word, 
praying that God will bless it, asking God to come at these times 
of public worship, such that when persons come in that are 
not saved, they would be saved, not because of them, not because 
of the preacher, but because of the hand of God is with us. 
That ought to be the primary thought in our prayer lives on 
Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. We don't want to witness just 
a nice worship service. We don't want to just get sort 
of our religious fix. We don't want to just get our 
batteries sort of topped off. We're not iPods. We're not iPhones. 
We need the hand of Yahweh to be amongst us. That's what matters. Remember Moses' complaint to 
the living God? If you don't go with us into 
the promised land, I don't want to go. In other words, what makes 
the promised land good? It's the presence of God. What 
makes the journey good? It's the presence of God. What 
makes heaven heaven, brethren? It's not the gold, it's not the 
pearls, it's not the beautiful gems and all that. It's the darling 
of heaven, even Jesus Christ. That's why we sing, the Lamb 
is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. You see, we want God to 
come to worship. We want God to be in this place. 
And we have precedence here in the church in Antioch. Now notice, 
secondly, in terms of the investigation of the church. Verse 22, Then 
news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, 
and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. Remember, 
the apostles in Jerusalem were pretty much overseeing all of 
the church planting that's going on. When Philip goes to Samaria, 
and Philip preaches the gospel there, and sinners get saved, 
the apostles do the same thing. They send Peter, not because 
Philip was second rate, not because Philip didn't earn his wings 
yet, but because the apostles went to confirm and verify that 
this was in fact of God. And the same thing obtains here. 
They hear what's going on in Antioch, and so they send Barnabas 
on this journey. Barnabas we meet in Acts chapter 
4, verses 36 and 37. He's a good man. He's full of 
the Spirit. He's full of faith. He's a man that took his own 
property, he sold it, and he takes the proceeds and drops 
it at the feet of the apostles so they can disperse it. He's 
also the man that vouches for Saul of Tarsus in the church 
in Jerusalem, according to Acts chapter 9. Remember when Saul 
wants to go to a worship service and they're all, wait a minute, 
I'm not sure that he's okay to be here with us. Barnabas greased 
that wheel. He says, no, he is good. He's 
been converted. He met Christ on the road to 
Damascus. So Barnabas, not an apostle, 
he's called an apostle in chapter 14, but not the apostle like 
a 12. There might be a little a use 
of apostle in some contexts, and Barnabas is one of them. 
So he's an apostle of the church, but not an apostle in the same 
way that the 12 were that were picked by Jesus. So that's what's 
happening. They're not suspicious that, 
wow, we can't believe anybody else. They want to send Barnabas 
to not only investigate, but as well to encourage them and 
to teach them further. Now, the typical pattern is that 
they would send men out in twos. So when Barnabas goes to get 
Saul, probably that was at the behest of the Jerusalem apostles. 
Oh, and by the way, go get Saul at Tarsus and bring him there 
to Antioch. And then Barnabas and Saul take 
up that one year preaching ministry there in the church in Antioch. So they are in control, not in 
some dictatorial way. They're not tyrannical men, but 
they are the overseers of the church at this particular time. 
They hear about this work in Antioch, and so they send Barnabas. 
Now notice what happens when Barnabas gets there. Verse 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. For those of you who saw me take 
my watch off, that was not to tip my hand that we're going 
to go for hours. Just was kind of bugging me, so I took it off. 
So if you saw, oh, he dropped his watch. I have a clock right 
there and it yells at me, you know, every time I start to get 
close to 1230. Not so much when I get close to 1245. No, I'm 
just kidding. But notice what it says concerning 
Barnabas's visit. He saw the grace of God. Now 
the grace of God isn't a vapor, it's not a chemical, it's not 
a fluid, it isn't something tangible that you can see or touch or 
feel or taste. You cannot empirically verify 
the grace of God. So when it says he saw the grace 
of God, I think it means he saw the effects of the grace of God. Whenever you have a group of 
people that have believed on the Lord and turned from their 
sins to the Lord, you can be sure that grace is there. because 
persons don't do that unaided by or given the ability by the 
grace of God. So Barnabas comes to Antioch. 
He sees these persons, Jews and Gentiles together, worshiping 
the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
And he concludes and sees that the grace of God is in this place. 
Remember, Jacob makes that reference. He says, and I knew that the 
fear of God was in that place. There is evident manifestation 
of God's grace wherever there are persons that at one time 
were dead in their trespasses and sins and are now alive together 
with Him, you can conclude that God's grace has been there. Now 
notice as well what happens with Barnabas. He sees God's grace 
and what happens? He's glad. He's not upset. He's not jealous. He's not, you 
know, reproving them. It is gladness to the heart of 
the redeemed when they see other redeemed. It is gladness in the 
heart of the people of God when they see each other. That's why 
we sang this morning and why we quote Psalm 122. I was glad 
when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. 
You know, that section of Psalms there in the Psalter, they're 
described as songs of ascent. They are ascending to the temple 
of God. They're going to corporate worship 
on Sabbath. And together, these pilgrims 
are marching, they're chanting, and they're singing these songs 
of ascent. And when they sing 122, they 
say, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house 
of the Lord. Now, I get that there's times 
where there's sluggishness. I get that there's times where 
there's a coldness of heart. I get that there are times when 
we have all of the spiritual vitality of a cold fish, but 
the overarching concern of the people of God ought to be joy 
when they go to the house of God. It ought to be joy when 
there's public worship. There ought to be joy when we 
get to see each other who have been conquered by that grace, 
especially when we see new believers, when we see people getting baptized, 
when we see people added to the church by the strong hand of 
the Lord. We should be a happy people when 
we see God's grace. We should be a rejoicing people 
when we see God's grace. And that's what Barnabas is. 
But notice as well, he encourages the church. He functions in accordance 
with his name. In 436, it tells us that Barnabas 
is translated son of encouragement. And note the particular encouragement 
he gives them in verse 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. Now this 
is a relatively new church at the time. And what Barnabas does 
here is genius. What Barnabas does here ought 
to be done hopefully every Sunday in every church that names the 
name of Christ. What Barnabas does here ought 
to find its way in the preaching of God's word. We need to be 
exhorted that with purpose of heart we continue with the Lord. 
Why is that? Because there are a multitude 
of enemies. You've got the world that is 
in opposition. I mean, brethren, we have been 
praying in our prayer meetings with reference to the federal 
election. It ought to grieve us that what Paul writes in Romans 
1 is so blatant and so conspicuous. We are witnessing persons who 
worship and serve the creature rather than the creator. They're 
more concerned about the climate than with image bearers in the 
womb. They're more concerned with hugging 
trees and eating berries than they are with the true and living 
God, the one whose throne is marked by justice and righteousness. We have seen just an animosity 
and an enmity expressed increasingly so here in the Western world 
against Christianity. We are being marginalized. We 
see an increasingly secularized state. Well, they had all that. 
You think the Roman Empire was favorable toward Christ? You 
think the Roman Empire was all about Jesus? No, the Roman Empire 
was profligate. It was wicked. It was vile and 
wretched. One of the most quoted, the most 
quoted or alluded to Psalms in all of the New Testament is, 
the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make 
your enemy your footstool. I've always thought that to be 
a very intriguing sort of motto text for the early church. But 
it's true, isn't it? Where's the Roman Empire today? 
It's no longer the Ascendant One. Where are those who have 
risen up against the Lord and against His Christ? They're ultimately 
put down. But anyways, this is a great 
encouragement for the people of God because we've got the 
world against us. We've got the devil against us. 
I don't think we should give the devil as much credit as they 
do in some other sects or religious expressions of Christianity, 
but he is a real adversary. He roams about like a roaring 
lion, seeking whom he may devour. But we don't need to have incantations. 
We don't need to have spells. We don't need to go to conferences 
on how to cast out the devil. You know what James and Peter 
tell us with reference to the devil? Resist him and he will 
flee from you. Isn't that sublimely excellent? 
You don't have to buy the DVD set. You don't have to subscribe 
to the newsletter. You just have to resist him. 
But then there's the flash. That perennial problem, you're 
swimming through that river Jordan just about to land in the celestial 
city. The world may leave you alone 
at that point. The devil may have other things he's got going 
on. But guess what you still have? We still have us. We still have that proneness 
to wander, that proneness to leave the God that we love. So 
Barnabas' exhortation for the church in Antioch is peculiarly 
appropriate for them as a new church. It's appropriate for 
us as a not-so-new church, with purpose of heart, single-minded 
focus, devotion to giving yourself, allegiance, that principle in 
Matthew 6. Seek first the kingdom of God 
in His righteousness, and then these things will be added to 
us. We need to have this purpose of heart, and then specifically 
they should continue with the Lord. What's the alternative? 
What's the contrary? Apostasy? Defection from the 
faith? Of course we want to continue 
with the Lord. But in order to do that, we need 
the Lord. We need His grace. We need to be able to resist 
the devil. We need to be able to resist this world. We need 
to be able to resist that remaining corruption. And when we do fall, 
and when we do sin, it's still the Lord that we need. We say 
with David, if you should mark iniquities, who could stand? 
But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. We 
always stand in need of God. We always stand in need of our 
of our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is a most 
excellent and a most necessary exhortation. Poole puts it this 
way, firm and fixed resolution that come what can come, tribulation 
or distress, life or death, they would keep close to the profession 
of the truth of Christ. See, ultimately, brethren, that's 
what we have. We have the Holy Spirit, to be 
sure. We have the Word of God. If we stray from those God-ordained 
means, we are vulnerable. We are opening ourselves up to 
a whole host of temptations and problems and difficulties. We 
need to make sure that church attendance is high on our priority 
list. We need to make sure that private Bible reading is high 
on our priority list. We need to do this, not because 
Pastor Butler's gonna come and ask you, did you go to church? 
Did you read your Bible? But because Jesus says, sanctify 
them by thy truth. Thy word is truth. In the context 
where he's praying to God to have us protect it. I don't ask 
that you take them out of the world, but keep them while they 
are in the world. What's one of the means? It is 
familiarity. with the word of the living God. 
We need to keep close to this truth. This is what provides 
protection. Now notice, with reference to 
Barnabas, why at the end? It doesn't tell us at verse 22, 
they sent Barnabas because he's a great guy. No, it tells us 
that Barnabas saw grace, Barnabas was glad at that grace, and then 
Barnabas exhorted them and encouraged them. And then it tells us about 
the suitability of Barnabas in verse 24. It tells us something 
of his character. He was a good man. He was full 
of the Holy Spirit and of faith. We already know his conduct because 
he gave, he sold his property, he gave the proceeds to the apostles, 
he vouched for the apostle Paul. He was a good man. But notice 
what we find at the end of verse 24, and a great many people were 
added to the Lord. Here's what I think the close 
connection is. God is absolutely sovereign. 
Nobody will ever deny that, that has a Bible. I mean, Arminians 
and Pelagians might get close to saying that, but yeah, I guess 
they do. I shouldn't say nobody. There are weirdos out there that 
will deny anything in the Bible, so strike that remark. But anybody 
that has eyes and can do any bit of exegesis at the textual 
level cannot deny what the Psalter so clearly affirms. Our God is 
in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases, 
right? That's not up for debate. But 
one of the things that I think we miss is that God uses means. Remember that statement, 1 Corinthians 
1.21, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom 
did not know God, Socrates didn't bring them to Yahweh, Plato didn't 
bring them to Yahweh, neither did Aristotle bring them to Yahweh. 
For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did 
not know God, it pleased God through what? Through the foolishness 
of the message preached to save those who believe. So we see 
in this first expression that the hand of God was with them, 
that God saved a great many of them. It's in conjunction with 
the preaching of the Word. Here it's in conjunction with 
the preaching of the Word through a good man named Barnabas. In 
other words, we ought to pray that God will raise up Barnabas-like 
men. We ought to pray that God will 
raise up Saul of Tarsus-like men. We ought to pray that God 
will raise up Apollos-like men. That God will raise men up who 
will cry aloud, who will spare not, and who will prosecute his 
truth all over this earth. Brethren, Barnabas was faithful. 
God blessed him and God used him and worked through his ministry 
to the saving of a great number of people. That's the connection. Barnabas was a good man, full 
of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people were 
added to the Lord. Just to make sure that we don't think it's 
because of the persuasive powers of Barnabas, just because he 
was a good man, that's why all these people have now flocked 
to the Lord. No, it was the Lord working in and through him Nevertheless, 
he doesn't minimize the reality. We're going to see that later 
in Acts chapter 13, and then in Acts chapter 16, there's statements 
concerning the absolute comprehensive sovereignty of God. Acts 13, 
48, everyone appointed by God believed. Acts 16, the Lord opened 
up the heart of Lydia to heed the things spoken by Paul. But 
in Acts 14, 1, They, apostles, so spake that a great multitude 
believed. It almost sounds like it was 
their power, it was their persuasion, it was their oratory, it was 
their giftedness. No, God works through means. God works through 
the proclamation of truth. God works through preaching. 
And in this instance, he worked through Barnabas to continue 
to add to the church. Now notice finally, in terms 
of the church at Antioch, the ministry of teaching in the church. 
verses 25 to 26. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus 
to seek Saul. Turn back for just a moment to 
chapter 9. just so we can see how Saul ended 
up at Tarsus. Remember, after Saul gets converted, 
he starts to preach the gospel, he starts to preach the word. 
And in Acts 9, at verse 26, it says, when Saul had come to Jerusalem, 
he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him 
and did not believe that he was a disciple. Him standing there 
holding the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death might 
have scared them, and rightly so. He was the guy that they 
gave their cloaks to as they were executing Christ's martyr. 
But Barnabas, verse 27, took him and brought him to the apostles, 
and he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, 
and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly 
at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, 
coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name 
of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they 
attempted to kill him. It's an intriguing turn of events. 
Very ironic, isn't it? Saul of Tarsus begins the chapter 
with marching orders to go to Damascus and find men and women 
Christians, drag them out of their places of worship, take 
them back to Jerusalem, and either have them imprisoned or executed. 
And now it's him preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ who is 
being threatened with death by these Hellenists. Then verse 
30 tells us, when the brethren found out, they brought him down 
to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. So that's why Saul 
is in Tarsus at this particular time. And remember that this 
is Saul's original city. This is where he hails from. 
This is where Saul comes from. And so now Barnabas shows wisdom 
for sure. In other words, if you're Barnabas 
and you need to teach the people in Antioch for a year, you want 
to have somebody by your side that is very capable and very 
competent. So there is wisdom expressed 
by Barnabas in fetching Saul. But as well, it shows us his 
humility. Barnabas doesn't say, well, I want to be the big cheese 
here in Antioch. I want them to have t-shirts 
with my picture on it. I want them to have Barnabas 
cups. I want them to see me as celebrity. No! Saul is a polished, 
gifted man. Paul the Apostle knows the Old 
Testament. He knows now how it all terminates 
in our Lord Jesus. He knows that Christ is the yea 
and amen of all the promises of God. He's already shown himself 
as a faithful, excellent preacher. But that doesn't matter with 
reference to Barnabas. Barnabas says, I need help instructing 
the people here. So he goes and he fetches Saul. The two men already knew each 
other as Barnabas had vouched for Saul at the church in Jerusalem. And then we ought to see and 
appreciate with reference to verse 26. And when he had found 
him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year, 
they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. 
You see that again? Preaching of the Word in order 
to the salvation of sinners. It's the first leg of the Great 
Commission. Go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations. How do you do that? Not by telling 
them to put on suits and ties, but by preaching to them Christ 
and Him crucified. That is the power of God unto 
salvation for everyone who believes. But the Great Commission doesn't 
stop there. There's this drivel that has 
been sensationalized by some preachers out there. Well, you 
get saved here, but if you want to grow and learn and mature 
in your doctrine, you're going to have to go somewhere else. 
That is to neglect, resist, and reject the great commission as 
Jesus gave it. You make disciples and then what? You baptize those disciples. Those men, those women, those 
boys and girls that profess saving faith in Jesus Christ, they get 
immersed, they identify publicly with the triune God, but it doesn't 
stop there. And then teach them, not just 
teach them, but teach them to observe all things that I have 
commanded you. And Jesus assures us of his presence, 
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Isn't 
it beautiful to see the church take that seriously? And the 
church do that? They're making disciples through 
the preaching of the gospel. They're baptizing those made 
disciples, and then they teach them. Well, what is it that they're 
teaching them? They're teaching them Christian 
doctrine. They're teaching them the law of God. They're teaching 
them the prophets. They're teaching them the writings. 
They're teaching them expositionally what God's Word has to say. Brethren, 
again, this is absolutely crucial for our maturation in the Lord 
Jesus. Turn to Ephesians 4 for just 
a moment. We have the Great Commission, 
and then we have the Apostle Statement in Ephesians chapter 
4. Notice at verse 11. Ephesians 4.11, and he himself 
gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and 
some pastors and teachers. There's a threefold reason for 
this according to verse 12, for the equipping of the saints, 
for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. 
Now notice what he goes on to say in verse 13, till we all 
come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son 
of God. See, for the Apostle, no man left behind. He wants 
everybody to learn, he wants everybody to grow, he wants everybody 
to be mature. Paul simply would not approve 
of you saying, well, you know that doctrine of the Trinity, 
that's for those guys that like to get up early on Saturday morning. 
Or that doctrine of justification by faith alone, that's for those 
people that have a keen interest in the Protestant Reformation. 
It's for each and every one of us. That's why, hopefully, your 
beloved pastor nags you as often as he does. Again, it's not for 
attendance. It's not for getting a star next 
to your name. There's no perfect attendance 
sort of prize here. I remember when I worked at Northrop 
Grumman, they had perfect attendance if you were there every day out 
of there. You're supposed to be there. Why would you give 
somebody an award for doing what they're supposed to do? So there's 
no perfect attendance award. You don't get an FGBC hat. You 
don't get the t-shirt, the cup, whatever. You get doctrine, you 
get training, you get taught, you get to actually comply with 
2 Peter 3.18. Grow in the grace and in the 
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is simply 
no excuse for you to continue to perpetuate immaturity. You're 
supposed to grow. There's that bit in Romans chapter 
14 where Paul is dealing with Christian liberty. He talks about 
weaker brethren and stronger brethren. They both have responsibilities. But if you were to ask the Apostle 
Paul, should the weaker brother try to get stronger? I think 
he'd say, yes, absolutely. And in this particular passage, 
we see the same emphasis. Verse 13, till we all come to 
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness 
of Christ. Now notice in verse 14, that we should no longer 
be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every 
wind of doctrine. Paul's not anti-child. Paul is anti-adult 
acting like child. Like if I were to say to somebody, 
to a man, you're acting like a five-year-old little girl, 
that should not reflect poorly on five-year-old little girls. 
I really don't have an ax to grind against five-year-old little 
girls. I have ax to grinds with 50-year-old men acting like five-year-old 
girls. So when Paul talks about children 
here, he's not mocking, he's not speaking ill, he's just saying 
in terms of our Christian life, It is not the right way to constantly 
be immature. It is not the right way to constantly 
be weak, to constantly be childish. You have to grow. God has supplied 
the resources for your growth, but we can't physically open 
your mouth and shove it down there. Part of it is your responsibility 
to pick up your Bibles, to show up at church, to come to the 
supper, and to do the things that God has sanctioned in his 
word that are legitimate means for Christian growth. Now my 
nagging is almost over, so just hang on with me. Verse 14, that 
we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried 
about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the 
cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. Now, I'm not suggesting 
that in Ephesus this wasn't a real problem. I'm not suggesting that 
in Ephesus there was just, you know, everybody toed the line 
doctrinally, but I am suggesting that with social media, With 
computers, with, and this isn't an anti-computer social media 
tirade, it's an encouragement to be careful. Do you realize 
that every YouTube video that claims to be the biblical doctrine 
of whatever isn't necessarily right? I know it's strange, but 
there are some wackos out there. and it's prevalent, and it's 
available, and we as a church would frown greatly upon any 
man or woman who was caught looking at internet pornography. But 
internet heresy is bad, too. Internet heresy is terrible. 
One of the blessed things that we have in the context of our 
church is a confession of faith. Again, it's not a straitjacket, 
it's not to bind us in, it's to protect. It's parameters, 
it's a hedge of protection, because we are prone to wander, we are 
prone to leave the God that we love. And there are crafty men 
out there, there are tricksters out there, there are charlatans 
out there. Some of them are blatant and 
obvious, Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, but others aren't. Others are 
a little bit more difficult to detect. Brethren, test the spirits 
is what John tells us, and we are to pay close attention to 
what Scripture teaches and what our confession of faith teaches 
so that we don't go off the track. It is a blessed thing, not a 
bad thing, to have these things. Notice in verse 15, "...but, 
speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him 
who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and 
knit together by whatever joint supplies, according to the effective 
working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the 
body for the edifying of itself in love." See, that's the reason 
why he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to 
be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers. Not to entertain 
you, not to make you therapeutically well, but to preach to you and 
teach. And that is precisely what they 
do in Antioch for that year. And then that beautiful statement 
in 1126, and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 
I've always thought that'd be a great, great Jeopardy question. 
City where the believers were first called Christians. What 
is Antioch? This is where we got the title. 
It's only used two other times in the New Testament. So we're 
not sure if they used it of themselves or it was used derisively of 
them. That happens. Puritan. We like that particular 
word, but when it first was used against our brethren, it wasn't 
meant in a nice way. It wasn't meant as a commendation 
of their chosen lifestyle. No, it was derisive. So we don't 
know if it's being utilized here, Or how? The word basically, and 
it's in the famous dictionary, basically means one who is associated 
with Christ. Christ, partisan, Christian. 
You perhaps have heard it said, little Christ. We're not little 
Christs. Sorry, we're just not. Christ is Christ and we are his 
disciples and his followers. We are associated with him. We 
are partisans toward him. We are Christians. That's what 
we are. And then I just wanna quickly 
look, and you'll see why this section in 27 to 30 is important. 
Famine relief in Judea. The famine relief in Judea. I 
almost don't wanna rush through this because I think it's important 
that we focus on, well, let's just try. I'm looking at the 
clock, I'm being mindful here. We've got some time. But notice 
this famine relief in Judea versus 27 to 30. This is likely the 
visit that Paul took in Galatians 2, 1-10. There's some question 
among commentators about Acts 11 and this trip that Paul and 
Barnabas make to Jerusalem at this time, and then Acts 15 with 
reference to the Jerusalem Council. So when we get to Acts 15, Jerusalem 
Council, we'll do a little bit more in terms of trying to substantiate 
what I'm just gonna suggest here, that Galatians 2, 1-10 is Paul's 
second post-conversion visit to Jerusalem in this famine relief. So do with that what you will. 
But right now, notice these prophets in the church. Verse 27, and 
in these days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Now 
Christ said, just prior to the Olivet Discourse, that he would 
send prophets. He would send wise men. He would send scribes. 
He would send these people and they would be ultimately cast 
off by the religious leadership. We see these prophets mentioned, 
excuse me, in Acts here, Acts 13, again in Acts 15, and then 
in Acts 21. You see prophets referred to 
in 1 Corinthians, and then we just saw it there in Ephesians 
4. He gave some to be apostles and 
some prophets. Now, I take the overwhelming 
evidence of the New Testament to suggest this, that the prophets 
in the New Testament functioned in a manner similar to the prophets 
of the Old Testament, but they exercised their prophetic ministry 
under the direction and the guidance and the supervision of the apostles. That's why I think it says apostles 
before prophets. It's pretty conspicuous in each 
of these passages that the apostles were the main men. And again, 
not some oligarchy, not tyrants, not dictators, but they are foundational 
with reference to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. So 
there was this prophetic ministry in the New Testament church. 
If we ask the question, why? Because they didn't have the 
written records yet. They didn't have the New Testament 
documents. So you had tongue speakers, who 
weren't speaking in gibberish, it wasn't babble, it wasn't some 
made-up phrase to make themselves feel better, but it was actually 
revelation from God given to the church. Prophets functioned 
in the same way. Now, there are some persons out 
there that try to redefine prophecy in the New Testament to fit in 
a charismatic interpretation. We don't have time to deal with 
that, but suffice to say, I think they're wrong. Agabus here functions 
the way that Isaiah functioned. He functions here the way that 
Jeremiah and Ezekiel functioned. The prophet engaged in two specifics 
with reference to God. They foretold and they foretold. foretold the future. The predictive 
prophecy element is there in the Old Testament prophets. It's 
here in Agabus with reference to this famine, and it will also 
be evidenced in chapter 21 when he takes Paul's belt, binds his 
own hands, and says, the Holy Spirit has shown me that the 
man who owns this belt is going to be bound in Jerusalem. So 
Agabus foretold, he predicted. But the prophets also foretold, 
they told the Word of God as it had already been given. And 
that's how Agabus is functioning in this particular instance. 
Now notice the particular prophecy that he makes. Verse 28 says, 
then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the Spirit 
that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, 
which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Now, again, 
the type of prophecy is predictive, and the reality of this prophecy, 
it's intriguing. It tells us specifically, Claudius 
Caesar. Claudius Caesar reigned from 41 to 54. By all accounts, 
he was a good administrator. By all accounts, he was, you 
know, a pretty decent man that way. But by all accounts, he 
got bad providence in terms of water, in terms of rain, in terms 
of things necessary to keep everybody fed and watered. In fact, one 
man says that famine hit in the first, second, fourth, ninth, 
and eleventh years of Claudius's reign. So that's just bad. I mean, bad for Claudius, but 
Agabus tells them this. He tells them, he predicts this. 
He foretells what's going to happen, but he does it by the 
Spirit. Notice again in verse 28, Agabus 
stood up and showed by the Spirit. This wasn't according to the 
stars. It wasn't according to his own ingenuity. It wasn't 
just because he saw that, you know, with Claudius, there might 
not be as much rain. Calvin says, Luke doth plainly express that 
the Spirit of God was the author of this prophecy, that we may 
know that it was not a conjecture taken by the stars or some other 
natural causes. Again, that Agabus did not play 
the philosopher after the manner of men, but he uttered that which 
God had appointed by the secret inspiration of the Spirit. So 
Agabus prophesies that this is going to happen. The church in 
Antioch recognizes that it's going to happen to the churches 
of Judea. And so the people in Antioch, each according to their 
ability, set money aside to provide for famine relief. It shows us 
something of this church. They put their money where their 
mouth was. It shows us something a little 
different from what we see in Acts 2 and 4. In Acts 2 and 4, 
all the people sort of sold their stuff and put that money into 
a common fund. That's not what's operative here 
in Antioch. Each according to his own ability. 
Paul uses this same language in 2 Corinthians 9, 6 and 7. 
And you can understand why. I can't give you a million dollars. 
It's not according to my ability. but I do have something and I 
should be coughing up. And that's precisely what we 
find in the church in Antioch. They know there's a need, they 
have compassion about that need, and then they express tangible 
charity toward that need. In fact, at another instance, 
the Apostle Paul highlighting The kindness of Gentile churches 
in providing to the Jews says in Romans 15, 27, for if the 
Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their 
duty is also to minister to them in material things. So you'll 
see this as we move throughout Acts. You'll see this in the 
pages of the New Testament. After Paul mentions his meeting 
with these apostles in Galatians chapter 2, he tells us in verse 
10 that they extended to him the right hand of fellowship. 
They understood that he was the apostle of the Gentiles. And 
then they said, only remember the poor. And Paul says, the 
very thing I was eager to do. Well, the poor were poor because 
of famine. The poor were poor because of 
a lack of rain, and it affected Judea, it affected the church 
in Jerusalem. In Acts 21, the apostle Paul 
visits Jerusalem, and he's got loads of money to present to 
the elders and the apostles there. Why is that? Because they were 
paying tribute to Mother Church? No, because they were feeding 
starving brethren. There was this solidarity amongst 
the people of God. There was this kindness amongst 
the people of God. There was this love amongst the 
people of God. If we knew that someone was hurting, 
we would give our money to try to alleviate the downtrodden 
and the poor. So that's what Luke tells us 
here in verses 27 to 30. So they take the money, they 
take what they have, the resources they're able to spare. And then 
in verse 29, the disciples, each according to his ability, determined 
to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they 
also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and 
Saul. Now this was about a 310 mile 
journey for Barnabas and Saul, but it's intriguing. This is 
the first time elders are mentioned in the book of Acts. Why is that? because they knew the apostles 
wouldn't live forever. They knew these men were going 
to die. And so there was this transition. There was this office 
put into place. We see deacons in Acts chapter 
6. We see elders referred to here. The elders worked alongside 
of the apostles until such time that the apostles are dead. It's 
the elders who have oversight of the local churches under their 
charge. It's a beautiful thing that Scripture 
details for us. It's very simple and very sublime, 
but it shows us God's concern for His churches. That's why 
we pray for Vernon. You can be a church, you can 
have being as a church without a pastor, but you need pastors 
for well-being within the context of the church. That's why we 
pray for Vernon, that God will send a man that is, you know, 
work hard in the word and in doctrine. And so the elders here 
are responsible to take this money and to distribute it among 
those in their midst. Well, I just want to close. There's 
no watch there. Just want to close with a couple 
of thoughts. In the first place, I want to see the characteristics 
of this particular church. In other words, if we boil all 
this down about Antioch, what do we see with reference to this 
church? What do we see with reference to this church in Antioch, how 
churches in Chilliwack should function? How Free Grace Baptist 
Church should be? Do we see any parallels? Do we 
see things that we need to work on? Do we see things that we 
ought to improve upon? Well, let's just look at the 
characteristics that Luke sets out for us concerning the church 
in Antioch. First, it was evangelistic. It was evangelistic. Verses 19 
to 21, they preached the gospel. They preached the Lord Jesus. 
See, we need to be in churches to grow in the grace and in the 
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We need the teaching 
ministry of a Barnabas and a Saul among us for a year. We need 
to be shown the law, the prophets, the writings. We need to be shown 
exposition and accurate application of that word. We always need 
gospel. Gospel's not just for the unconverted. I know you guys, 
I know my brothers and sisters here, I have never heard, thankfully, 
oh, you only ever preach the gospel. I don't know how anybody 
could say that without fear of imploding or dying or burning 
up or something. What do you mean you only preach 
the gospel? I mean, come on. That's what it's supposed to 
be about. I determined to know nothing among you except Christ 
and Him crucified," the Apostle Paul says. Now, I get that there 
can be a myopic approach, there can be an imbalanced approach, 
there can be that approach of the man that I mentioned earlier. 
Well, you're just going to get saved here. If you want to grow 
in doctrine, you're going to have to go anywhere else. Can't we do 
both? Can we teach the Bible and preach 
the gospel in one sermon? Can't we instruct and doctrine 
and bring to the forefront the glory and the beauty and the 
supremacy of Jesus? I like to think so. In fact, 
I think that's mandated for the church. Preach the word, all 
of it. The apostle Paul will later say, 
I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. 
Well, he doesn't always preach the God. He always preaches the 
gospel and he always preaches the truth. There's no incongruity 
there. There's no disparity. A church 
that is faithfully and accurately preaching through the Word of 
God should be preaching the gospel a lot. So it was evangelistic. Secondly, it was a converted 
membership. It was a converted membership. 
What does Barnabas see when he arrives? He sees the grace of 
God. He sees sheep. He sees those 
who have believed and who have turned to the Lord. He sees the 
grace of God evident and manifested in the fact that these people 
in the church in Antioch were converted. Thirdly, it was doctrinal. It was doctrinal, verses 25 to 
26. You had Barnabas and Paul teaching 
you the Bible for a year. You know, would you have said, 
well, you know, I don't want to go. I'm going to watch this. I'm going to do that. I'd like 
to think we'd all be there. I'd like to think that if Paul 
the Apostle was hosting a Bible study on a Wednesday night, you'd 
show up. I'd like to think that. I mean, 
they were doctrinal. They wanted to know the Word 
of God. Brethren, that's not something that is only consolidated 
to a few of the people in the context of a church. But I fear 
that that's what we've been told. I fear at times, you know, women, 
you might say, well, you know, I'm never going to be a preacher 
or teacher in a church. You've got kids. If you can't preach 
and teach them about justification by faith, you need to bone up. You need to study. You need to 
read. That's the emphasis in Scripture. It's not just a handful 
of God's people that grow in the grace and knowledge of the 
Lord Jesus. It's all of them. Fourthly, it was Christ-centered. 
What are they called, according to verse 26? Social justice warriors? revolutionaries, tax evaders, 
zealots. They're called Christians, associates 
of the Lord Jesus, partisans to Christ. That title, that identifier 
is most blessed. most expressive. It's unfortunate 
now you've got a, you know, Christian can mean just a whole host of 
things, so we have to say we're Reformed and we're Baptist, and 
that goes back to the Particular Baptist, and we have the 1689 
Convention. It's like we have to give this, you know, long 
sort of definition, and that's not always bad, brethren. It 
hopefully will weed out, you know, some of those things that 
we're not. We ought to be able to affirm what we're not. We're 
not Charismatics. We're not Pentecostals. We're 
not Arminians. We're not Pelagians. That's okay. There's an aspect where we need 
to be able to do that. But the title Christian is so 
sublime, it's so glorious, and it's so wonderful, and it's so 
identifying of what they were about. They were associates of 
Christ. That's what they ought to be 
able to say about us. A fifth characteristic is that 
it was charitable. Charitable they heard about this 
famine relief or they heard about this famine that was gonna come 
in the days of Claudius Caesar And they didn't just get to their 
prayer meeting and said God. I hope everything works out for them. 
I hope they're okay. I Hope they survive. I hope they've 
stockpiled. I hope they've got oats. I hope 
they've got beans I hope they got big pantries. I hope they've 
got you know water stores and all no they gave from their own 
resources as according to their ability They put their money 
where their mouth was. They weren't deadbeats. They 
weren't those sorts of people that were, you know, an Ebenezer 
Scrooge sitting huddled over their funds. They gave it freely 
to alleviate the problems facing the church in Judea. They were 
charitable. See, that always goes into the 
people of God. We love Jesus. We love God. We 
are supposed to love one another and be kind to one another. We 
saw that last Sunday night. We know that we have passed from 
death to life if we have love to the brethren. And at times 
that might be the only thing that keeps you going. I know 
I love the brethren, therefore I must conclude the grace of 
God is there. I hope it's not that miserable. 
You get the point, right? There's a charity, kindness. 
And if you don't have it according to your ability, you don't have 
money, you can't do that. Are you praying? Do you care about 
what's happening outside of our church? A brother this morning, 
we read through many prayer letters, prayer requests concerning the 
persecuted church. And he made the observation that 
it's like we get to tour the world in that hour. We get to 
tour the world. We're so bent on our own thing, 
we're so stuck in our own rut, we're so little-minded with reference 
to everything else. We need to hear Jesus say, lift 
up your eyes, look at the fields, they're white unto harvest. Think 
about these poor people that are suffering. I mean, we have 
issues, and I see that we have increasing problems, and when 
we have a government that is opposed to Christianity, we better 
be on our guard, and we better be watchful. But brethren, we 
prayed this morning for somebody that we've been praying for for 
20 years, who's been functioning, laboring in the Far East, that 
has to make some serious decisions now about leaving. because it's 
increasing. The oppression is severe. It 
is harsh. I mean, the thought of the Chinese 
government taking little children out of their homes, putting them 
in government schools to indoctrinate them in communism. I mean, praise 
God we're not there, but pray to God for those who are there. Because what a horrific and ridiculous 
and terrible thing to be taught from your youth. To worship the 
state, to give honor to the creature rather than the creator. This 
is happening. So you may not have the money, 
you may not have the ability, the means to send, but you can 
pray each and every day. You can pray for the world. You 
can pray for those who suffer. You can pray for those who are 
being, you know, tortured to death for the cause of God. They 
were charitable. And then finally, it was established 
by God Almighty. This wasn't the work of men. 
This was not the work of men. God is at work 21 and 24. It's the hand of Yahweh that's 
with them. And it's because of God's presence that a great number 
believed and turned to the Lord. So we need to think through these 
things. Now there's obviously other things we can mention in 
terms of the New Testament on what a church should look like, 
but it should certainly look like this. We ought to be evangelistic. We ought to have a converted 
membership. It ought to be doctrinal. It ought to be Christ-centered. 
It ought to be charitable. And it ought to be appreciated 
that we're here because of the grace of God. We're not here 
because of us. We're not here because of our 
wisdom. We're here because of what we see in verses 21 and 
24. The hand of the Lord was with 
them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. Verse 
24, and a great many people were added to the Lord. Notice in 
both instances a great number, many. This wasn't just a couple 
here and there. And I'm not saying God always 
works this way. God is sovereign. He does according to what he 
purposes and plans and pleases. But it ought not to shock us 
if God does save a great multitude. It ought not to shock us if there 
really is a great multitude that is in heaven that no man can 
number. You know, at times within the 
Reformed community, we just think there's going to be this handful. 
Well, brethren, there are passages that emphasize that broad is 
the way that leads to destruction and narrow is the way that leads 
to life. But I'm not convinced those passages on their own are 
teaching how many people are going to be in heaven. There's 
an ethical impression that Christ is making in those passages. 
Christ is exhorting people to consider where they're at relative 
to the kingdom. He's not telling us there's going 
to be a handful of people in heaven. The book of Revelation 
tells us it's a great multitude that no man can number. Later 
on in the book of Matthew, the Lord Jesus says, this is my blood 
which is shed for the remission of the sins of many. Brethren, 
I'm not suggesting that if we don't have 500 people in the 
first year, we ought to close down shop. But I am suggesting 
that if God, in His grace, power, and sovereignty, is pleased to 
save a great many, we ought to rejoice in Him, we ought to praise 
Him, and we ought to thank Him. for those blessed additions. 
Well, I want to end on this note. If you are not a believer here 
this morning, the way of salvation is through the Christ that was 
preached. Notice in 1043, we saw this passage 
when we were considering Cornelius and his household. 1043, Peter 
ends his sermon by saying, to him, all the prophets witnessed 
that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive 
remission of sins. And then here, specifically in 
chapter 11 at verse 20, It says, they preached the Lord Jesus, 
and then in verse 21, and the hand of the Lord was with them, 
and a great number, notice, believed and turned to the Lord. It's 
justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ 
Jesus alone. You're not going to get to heaven 
based on your good works because you don't have any. You're not 
going to get to heaven based on your perfect keeping of God's 
law because you ain't got it. The only way to get to heaven 
is through the mediator, through the Lord Jesus, through that 
priest who who is both priest and victim, who offered himself 
for the sins of his people, so that we could have forgiveness 
and so that we could have a righteousness that will ultimately avail with 
the Father. And he will say to us, by virtue 
of the fact that we're in union with Christ, well done, good 
and faithful servant. Never let it creep into your 
head that you're gonna hear that pronouncement from the Father, 
apart from your union with Jesus Christ. It ain't gonna happen. 
It is by virtue of union with Him. And the way to Him is to 
believe, to believe on Him, and you will have everlasting life. 
Well, let us close in a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank 
you for this glimpse.