“The Provision of the Lord”
[Acts 11:19-30]
April 11, 2010 Second Reformed Church
This morning we return to our look at the book of Acts, and we do well to remember where we are: Stephen was the first martyr of the Church, stoned to death for blasphemy for claiming that Jesus is God the Savior. A young, zealous Pharisee, by the name of Saul, stood by and encouraged the stoning. So zealous was he that he got permission to hunt Christians (who were known as “the people of the Way” at that time) in Syria. But on the way, Jesus confronted him and called him to faith and commissioned him to be the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Meanwhile, a great persecution of the Christians by the Jews raged, and many Christians fled Jerusalem to Egypt, Syria, Samaria, and Turkey. Thus, God began to fulfil the spread of the Gospel to the whole world.
Saul went into the desert for some time and was taught the Gospel by Jesus, and when he was ready, Jesus sent him forth, and he started preaching the Gospel in Syria, and many came to faith. But the Sanhedrin, which had commission Saul to go and hunt the Christians, were now amazed and appalled that he had become one, so the Jews began to hunt Saul.
Saul went to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles, but they were afraid of him. Barnabas, though, spent time with Saul and became convinced of the truth of his conversion, and introduced him to the Apostles, who decided it would be best for Saul to go home to Tarsus for a time for his safety.
Meanwhile, Peter, who was in Jerusalem, had a vision from God, who command him to eat foods which were forbidden for Jews to eat. He didn’t understand the vision until Cornelius, a Roman centurion who believe the Old Testament and worshiped God, sent for him to preach the Gospel to him and his family. Peter had believed that all peoples could come to worship the One True God, but he had not understood that they would also receive the gifts and indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. This is what happened to Cornelius and his whole family, so Peter returned to Jerusalem and argued that God had removed all of the ceremonial boundaries between the Jews and the Gentiles and they were now equal in the Lord.
We return in this morning’s Scripture, and we see that Antioch in Syria had become like a second Jerusalem: it was a center of preaching and teaching the Good News of salvation in Jesus Alone. The refugees from Jerusalem had traveled to Syria, and here we are told that some went to the island of Cyprus and others to Cyrene, which is in modern-day Lybia in North Africa, and some of them, those who spoke Greek, were going to Antioch to preach to the Greek-speaking Jews who lived there.
And we are told that the Hand of the Lord was on these lay people – these weren’t the Apostles, these weren’t trained missionaries – these were regular believers like each one of us – and through them, God turned a great number of the Greek-speaking Jews to faith in Jesus Christ. There was such a revival in Antioch, that word of it spread to Jerusalem, and the church sent Barnabas to go and see what was happening.
So, let us understand that God does accomplish His Plan. God works in His own time, but God does bring His Plan to pass. Here we see the spreading of the Gospel by God through His people, and as we have already said – God worked through the lay people. The work of spreading the Gospel is not just for those who have gone to seminary or been ordained to the ministry – every believer in Jesus Christ should be letting others know – through the gifts and abilities that God has given each one of us. God’s Word will not return void – if we tell other people about Jesus, God will accomplish His Purposes. Let us pray for opportunities to tell and show others that we are Christians and Jesus is the Only Savior for the world.
When Barnabas got to Antioch, he rejoice to see the Grace of God in so many believing savingly in Jesus, and he rejoiced, and he exhorted these new believers “to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” – to have their whole selves focused on Jesus – to follow Him and trust Him – even in such a dangerous time. And a great many more people believed in Jesus, and Barnabas realized he need help, so he went to Tarsus and brought Saul back with him to Antioch.
Saul and Barnabas spent the next year teaching and preaching to these new believers – helping them to grow in their faith and understanding. It was during this year that “the people of the Way” were first called “Christians.”
Let us understand, then, that when a person comes to faith in Christ, he or she is not a mature adult in the faith. And so long as any of us sin, we have not reached the end of our maturing – our sanctification – our becoming holy – in Christ. So it is necessary for the Church to preach and also to teach her people. Christianity is not merely a matter of the intellect – the mind – but we are to continue to learn and understand more as the Holy Spirit works in us and we hear God’s Word read and preached and taught. We are to provide opportunities for such teaching to occur and we are to take advantage of those opportunities in every possible way. Why? Because if we love Jesus and want to mature in Him, we will pursue our maturity vigorously – zealously. If we are true believers in Jesus, we ought to love Him and want to spend more time with Him, getting to know Him and becoming like Him.
That’s the main reason we have Sunday morning Bible study, and our occasional Wednesday evening studies, and our Saturday afternoon prayer meeting. It’s why we publish the newsletter and host a blog on the Internet. These are all designed to help us to grow in the faith – to fulfill our vital need to know Jesus and become more like Him. This occurs as we read our Bibles and other good books on our own, but there is a necessary added dimension in joining together to do things as the Body of Christ. Individuals come to faith in Christ, yet He died to save a people.
Another thing we ought to understand is that we ought to rejoice when anyone comes to saving faith – when even the person we hate believes in Jesus Alone for salvation. The Jews had been taught to keep themselves separate and to be repulsed by the Gentiles, but now, Jesus had put everyone on equal footing, taking down the ceremonial wall the separated them.
Now, you may say, “I don’t hate anyone.” Alright, well, picture the person you don’t like the most – that person also needs Jesus for salvation – and you and I ought to rejoice if that person comes to faith.
As we’ve seen before, we are not commanded to be best friends with every Christian, but we are commanded to be humble enough to worship Jesus with any and every Christian. Everyone who confesses Jesus Alone as their Savior is welcome to come and worship with us and join in this church. Don’t forget, there may be people who would not normally want to be seen with you, either.
Today, we don’t think twice about being called Christians, but when “the people of the Way” were first called “Christians,” it was mean to be an insult. “Christian” means “little Christ” – it was a way in which people made fun of those who believed in Jesus. But they quickly embraced the name, glad to be associated with Him and to suffer insult for Him. (Similarly, the name “Puritan” was an insult thrown at those Bible-believing people of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but they came to embrace the name as well.)
We are told that some of the prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch. (Let us remember that the New Testament was still being written at this time, so there were still prophets.) One of the prophets was a man named, Agabus, and the Holy Spirit told him to tell the people that a great famine was coming and that they should prepare for it.
Luke tells his readers that this took place during the reign of Claudius. Now, the reign of Emperor Claudius Caesar of Rome was from 41-54 A.D., and there were several great famines during his reign. We can narrow the date of this famine somewhat by noting that Herod Aggripa dies in the next chapter of the book of Acts, and he reigned from 37-44 A.D. So the famine that Agabus warned the Christians about was one that took place between 41-44 A.D.
Why did God send Agabus to tell the Christians in Antioch that there would be a great famine? Because the Lord God provides for our needs in many and various ways that His Purposes might be accomplished.
Remember: God worked miracles through Moses that the people of Israel might be delivered from Egypt. God provided manna in the wilderness when they had nothing to eat. God gave us Jesus when there was absolutely no way we could become right with God on our own.
So, here we see the provision of the Lord in warning the Christians that a great famine was coming so they would be prepared for it. God made provision for them so they would not be caught off-guard and all succumb to the famine and die. Why? Because God was working through them to spread the Gospel to the whole world. But there was at least one other reason:
Historians note that Jerusalem was the place hit hardest by the famines during the reign of Claudius. And Luke tells us that this was also part of Agabus’ prophecy, or they came to be aware of it when the famine hit, and they responded to this by “everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.”
The Christians in Antioch had been warned of the famine that was coming, and when it came, Jerusalem suffered greatly, so the Christians in Antioch determined to put together relief aid for those in Jerusalem. In thanks for the salvation that they had received from Jesus and in thanks for the warning that God had sent them to prepare for the famine, the Christians in Antioch – every one of them – according to their ability – gave the Christians in Jerusalem food and supplies – joyfully, abundantly, thankfully. And the gift was brought to Jerusalem by Saul and Barnabas.
Has the Lord provided for you? Are you filled with joy to know and understand that everything you have has been given to you by God – for your good? Are you willing to help others when they are in need and you are able? (Understand the example we are given here is not that we must do everything anyone in the church asks of us. It is that out of joy and thanksgiving for what Jesus has done, as we are able and when we are able, we contribute in various ways to help others.)
Of course, the most important way that we give to help others is through telling them about Jesus. And, as we have seen before, this is done in many and various ways: we can explain Who Jesus is to someone. We can give someone a book or a pamphlet. We can invite someone to worship, to Bible study, to our evening study, to prayer meeting. We can bake for someone. We can give someone a ride. We can talk to someone on the phone, listen, send cards. There are many things we can do – everyone can do something.
Let us purpose to do something this week to let another person know that God sent His Son to live, die, and rise again. Let each one of us do something. Invite someone to worship. Give someone a copy of the bulletin – even just drop it in their mailbox Just don’t do nothing.
Consider what Jesus has done to provide for you, and then respond accordingly.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we are amazed at all You have done to provide for all of our needs – each day – every day – and especially for providing Your Own Son to be our salvation. Help us to concentrate our whole selves, our whole lives on You, and then to respond in our lives, in our families, in our neighborhoods, and in our world in ways that are pleasing and glorifying to You and which reveal Jesus to be Who He is. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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