Jesus’ mission of good news to the world

God.

Please have seats.

So if you turn with me and you're my host, I have to ask chapter 11.

I'm going to think about another lesson from the life of Barnabas.

We're going to see Jesus' good news mission, which is unstoppable.

Chapter 11 is going to remind us that the true God is a missionary God.

In the year 2023, the year in which we love, here is the statistic, 360 million believers

in the Lord Jesus will face intense persecution and discrimination.

So that's one in seven of every follower of Jesus will face some form of discrimination

as governments, as other religions, as communities look to stamp out the message of Jesus.

But wonderfully, what we're seeing at the same time is that Christianity continues to grow

and often is growing most quickly in places where there is the greatest opposition.

This year also, here's another statistic, 47% of all Christians in the world are now living

in countries that would be described as non-Christian majority.

So about 100 years ago, 95% of the world that was Christian lived in what we would call Christian

countries.

That's changing because the church of Jesus is spreading and the good news is spreading.

People are more likely than ever before to meet someone in their lifetime who is a Christian.

So there's more opportunities for people to hear the good news.

Now, why is that?

We can think about global trends and phenomena, but we need to understand that behind all that

lies God's desire to reach the lost, God's desire that men and women and boys and girls

be reconciled to Him.

What we're seeing in chapter 11, and especially when you think about the life of Barnabas and

these early Christians in Antioch, is that Jesus' mission is going to keep on growing,

and that this is profoundly good news for us and for our world.

Because Jesus is on a mission to rescue and to restore, to pour out the love of God, to

bring grace that would heal great divisions in society.

So there's two things that we're going to think about today.

One that's going to take up the majority of our time, and it's this.

Jesus is good news for the world.

Okay, so before we get that to there, we'll go back to the beginning of the book of Acts.

Acts chapter 1, verse 8, Jesus says to His disciples, just before going back to heaven,

Acts 1:8

you will be my witnesses in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

And then the story of Acts, as Luke tells it, is the story of that mission of Jesus being

accomplished.

And you can trace out chapters 1 to 7, the message of Jesus spreads through the region of

Judea.

Then we get to chapter 7, and Stephen is the first martyr, the first follower of Jesus

who's killed for his faith.

That leads to persecution in Judea.

That leads to the church spreading.

Chapters 8 and 9, persecution spreads good news to Samaria.

And then chapters 10 and 11, persecution spreads good news to the Greeks, to the Gentiles, to

the non-Jewish world.

First, as Peter is led to the house of Cornelius.

And then, from verse 19 onwards in chapter 11, we discover what happens in Antioch.

So Antioch is in modern-day Turkey.

So three things to notice from verses 19 to 21 that we've just read.

The first is to notice Jesus' growing mission.

Verse 19, those who'd 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 Jews.

Some of them, however, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the

good news about the Lord Jesus.

So some things to notice.

First of all, notice that the killing of Stephen doesn't stop the church from spreading and

from spreading good news.

Fear doesn't stop them.

Notice as well that the slowness of some of the Jewish believers doesn't stop the message

of Jesus from spreading.

So there's obviously some Jewish Christians who are thinking, well, why would someone who's

not from our country need to hear about Jesus?

Isn't he just our Savior?

But despite their slowness, it doesn't stop.

The church continues to spread.

And notice that now it spreads to reach the Greeks.

So now the good news from God through Jesus has crossed languages, has crossed cultures.

And it's come to this place called Antioch.

So Antioch was a big city.

Actually, it was probably about the same size as Edinburgh, about half a million people.

It was the third city in the Roman Empire.

So you had Rome, then you had Alexandria, and then you had Antioch.

It was significant because it was a port city.

So it was a very busy commercial center.

It was known for being very diverse.

People from all nations setting up trade there, setting up home there, very cosmopolitan.

It was also known for the worship of Roman gods, especially Diana.

Her big temple shrine was just five miles away.

And it was known in its day for being a very immoral city.

So there's a little bit of background to remind us and to encourage us that the good news of Jesus

is believed by many in that city and into that culture, that hearts were won over, that ways of worship, ways of life were being changed.

People were worshiping.

Lots of people were worshiping pagan gods in Antioch.

And to worship a pagan god, what were you doing?

You were looking for someone who is the Lord, someone who would give you the good life.

And to get that good life, what you had to do was to offer sacrifices.

So you had a whole system of religion that was based on this.

But then the good news, the gospel of Jesus comes, and it's different.

Because these Christians will talk about the true Lord, who's not just Lord over some of the world,

but over all the world.

The good life that Jesus offers is eternal life.

It's the promise of knowing life with God.

And it's not on the basis of a sacrifice that a worshiper would make.

Life with God comes because of the sacrifice Jesus, the Son of God, makes.

And so the message found a good hearing,

because Jesus is what every heart is longing for.

However, they didn't know it, but when they heard about Jesus,

then they understood.

He's the one that we need.

He's the one we should worship.

So Jesus' growing mission.

The second thing to notice is that Jesus is the goal of mission.

I'm going to see this in verse 20 and 21.

And I think it's important for us to notice this,

because there could be a negative view of world mission today.

Sometimes you'll hear people negatively speaking about the spread of Christianity.

They'll have this false idea that it's a Western religion.

So how can the West impose their religion or impose their cultural values?

Let's not spread the Christian message,

because isn't it true that religion just causes war and it divides?

We'll set against that.

There's a very positive view of mission in these verses,

because the mission is focused entirely on the Lord Jesus.

Let's see that together.

Verse 20 and 21.

They began to tell them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

The Lord's hand was with them,

and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

You see how central the Lord is there?

He's the source of their mission.

When it talks about the Lord's hand was with them,

that means that it's the Lord Jesus who's giving power for mission.

He's motivating their mission, and he gives the success.

He's also the content of the mission.

Who do they go and talk about?

They go and talk about the good news that Jesus,

the Son of God, has come to be the Savior.

They're not saying convert to a set of practices,

to a set of cultural values.

People are being invited to know their Lord,

their Maker, their Savior.

And notice, too, that Jesus is the goal of the mission.

Success comes, end of verse 21,

when people turn to the Lord.

So instead of turning to an idol,

instead of turning to a statue or some created thing,

now they're giving their heart,

they're giving their loyalty and love and worship

to the Lord Jesus.

And as this happens,

one of the great barriers of the ancient world

is being broken down.

The barrier between Jewish people and Gentile people

is torn down by Jesus.

Because we are all one in Christ Jesus.

It's a message of good news for all people.

Why is it that the people in Antioch

are willing to believe?

Why are they willing to leave behind

their old way of life,

their old religious practices?

Why are they willing to count the cost

to become a follower of Jesus,

knowing it will likely mean opposition,

exclusion, hostility?

It's because they hear the call of Jesus

and God gives them the gift of faith.

They see the glory of Jesus

and they understand that Jesus is better.

So Jesus is the goal of mission.

Another thing we need to see

is that Jesus is the good news of mission.

So he's the content

and that content is good news.

And good news is meant to be shared.

So before we get to our text,

boys and girls especially,

let me just talk to you for a moment.

We got a new puppy this week.

Some of us know that.

It was a big surprise.

Actually, it was a bit of a surprise.

But it was a surprise to our boys.

So we got Teddy.

He's a little labradoodle.

And we had,

we knew on Monday that we were going to get him,

but we didn't tell the boys

until Tuesday afternoon.

That was so difficult for me

because I was with them all morning

and I desperately wanted to share

that good news

because I knew it would make them really happy.

And we all are.

But you know,

my question since then has been,

why don't I always feel like that

when it comes to sharing

the far, far better good news about Jesus?

I wonder if you can relate to that.

We gladly, readily share good news,

but sometimes we struggle

to share the good news of Jesus.

Think about what's happening in chapter 11.

Sometimes it's because the fear of opposition.

Maybe we're not sure

how the other person's going to respond.

Sometimes, perhaps,

it's because we're slow to see

that everybody needs Jesus.

By and large,

we live perhaps surrounded by people

who have plenty money.

They seem pretty content.

Maybe we can find it hard to see beyond that

to see people's spiritual need.

But sometimes,

I think perhaps it's because

maybe in our busyness,

we lose focus,

even as believers,

on the goodness of the gospel.

On how good Jesus is.

On the cost that he was willing to pay

for our rescue.

On the wonderful treasure

that we have for now and for eternity.

But that wasn't the case,

was it,

for these unnamed Christians

who boldly, courageously shared in Antioch.

So they've come to discover

Jesus was on a search and rescue mission

for the whole world

to bring people to God.

He knew Jesus was Savior

for all people in all nations.

They knew the story of Cornelius.

So they know this is too good

to keep quiet.

So what we're going to do

is we're going to use Acts chapter 11

Acts 11 · chapter mention

as a window for us

to remind us or to show us

that Jesus is really good news for us,

really good news for our world.

Whoever we are today,

Jesus is good news for us.

One aspect of the good news

that we need to recognize

is that in Jesus,

God saves.

This was actually the message

that Cornelius received.

So in chapter 11, verse 14,

he was told that Peter would come,

follower of Jesus,

and he will bring you a message

through which you

and all your household

will be saved.

So if you're new to Christianity,

maybe you wonder,

why do Christians talk about

being saved and salvation?

To make sense of it,

I think it's helpful for us

to go back

and to consider the big story

of the human race,

maybe especially to think back

to how our Bible begins,

Genesis 1 to 3.

We discover there

in the early chapters

of the book of Genesis

that God made

the first two people,

Adam and Eve,

they were made in His image,

and they were made to know God.

Indeed, the first people

were made to enjoy

perfect relationships

with one another,

with the world that God had made,

and with their God.

When we read about life

in the beginning,

we can understand

it's the world we all long for,

a world of perfect peace

and life and love.

But then,

something went wrong.

In Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

we discover Adam and Eve,

these first people

turning their backs on God.

And that explains to us

what we need to be saved from.

To understand salvation,

we need to understand

what's the danger,

what do we need to be saved from?

We need to be saved from sin.

Sin, as we see it from Adam and Eve

and in our own hearts,

is whenever we break

one of God's commands.

Sin is whenever we believe

the false promises of sin.

This says,

rejecting God is good,

following our own way is better.

Sin is rejecting the rule of God

to choose to live for,

to find our happiness,

to base our identity

and purpose in life

on something other,

someone other,

than the one true God.

And we need to be saved from sin

because the effect of sin

is separation.

So in the story of Adam and Eve,

as soon as they sin,

we find them hiding.

We find their shame.

We were made for life with God.

But our sin and our guilt

cuts us off from our God.

We were made to know God

living within us,

but now because of sin,

we only have self at the center.

And that's bad news

because it tends to make us selfish.

We need our God,

but by ourselves,

we cannot get back into the garden.

We cannot get our way back

to life with God.

So sin separates.

And sin and separation,

in the end,

leads to spiritual death.

Adam and Eve were told

that if you sin,

you'll die.

The Bible says

the wages of sin is death.

Because of sin,

physical death comes,

but so too

does spiritual judgment,

spiritual death,

the reality of hell.

And this is not the way

it's supposed to be.

We were made for life.

We were made for eternal life,

made for life with God.

But we have turned our back on that,

and that's what we need

to be saved from.

We need to be saved

from the power of sin.

Sin functions

like a drug addiction.

It kills us,

and it has a hold on us,

and we cannot break free from it.

Or it's like a snake bite,

and its poison is in our system,

and in the end,

it will destroy us.

And so as we understand

what the Bible says

about what do we need

to be saved from,

the question then becomes,

well, how can anyone be saved?

How can I be saved?

Where does freedom come from?

What's the cure?

Where's the good news?

And in Genesis 3,

we discover there's good news.

There's a promise

that Adam and Eve,

in their sin,

God promised

one from their family,

a seed

who would defeat their enemy,

who would crush

the head of the serpent,

who would bring good news.

And that promise is fulfilled.

Jesus,

he's the Savior.

And it's this good news

that comes to Antioch.

These Christians can say,

listen,

you cannot save yourself.

Your idols cannot save,

and they cannot give you

lasting happiness,

but Jesus can.

That problem of sin

that we all have,

the answer is found

in Jesus.

Jesus,

the substitute.

So Jesus comes,

the Son of God

becomes truly human.

And in his life,

he always obeys his Father.

He always pleases his Father.

He fulfills the demands

of the law,

the law that we break,

and he does that

on our behalf.

And then Jesus,

the substitute,

not only does he live for us,

he also dies for us.

He dies as a sacrifice,

and as he dies on the cross,

he is carrying

your sin

and my sin.

The Bible says

he is crushed

for our sin.

And in his sacrificial death,

he completely covers

over our sin

so that we can be declared

righteous.

The problem of separation

from our God,

the answer is found

in Jesus.

One thing we discover

as Jesus dies

on the cross,

as he has been

abandoned by his friends,

as he's been whipped

and beaten,

as a crown of thorns

has been pulled

onto his head,

as he's been nailed

to the cross,

the greatest pain

for Jesus

is that sense

of feeling

forsaken

or abandoned

by his Father.

My God,

my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Why does Jesus

go to that dark place?

Jesus feels abandoned

so that you and I

might be welcomed

as we trust in Jesus.

And then Jesus

sends from heaven

the Holy Spirit.

So now we're not

separate from God,

rather God

comes to live

in our hearts.

That God is here

right now

by his Spirit.

And the problem

of spiritual death,

that's also answered

through Jesus,

through his death

and his resurrection.

As Jesus goes

under the judgment

of God,

he experiences

hell on earth

for us

so that we can

enjoy heaven

by trusting in him

and his work.

He defeated death.

And having defeated death,

he gives the gift

of eternal life

and he promises

an eternal home

with him,

with our God

and King

in the new world

he will bring in.

In Jesus,

God saves.

That's good news

for the world.

And in Jesus,

secondly,

God blesses.

So there's this

really interesting

discussion

back in chapter 11

verses 15 to 17

between Peter

and some people

who are wondering

how could you go

to Gentiles

and speak to them

about Jesus?

And he says to them,

listen,

they have the same

Holy Spirit

as we do.

God has given

the same gift.

They share the same

Savior.

The church is one.

And again,

if we step back

to the beginning

of the Bible,

we discover,

just as in Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

there was a promise,

here is a seed

to be sent

and he'll save.

In Genesis 12,

a promise comes

to Abraham

that is a seed,

there's someone

from your family

who will bless

the nations

of the world.

And this is the good news

that Antioch hears.

Jesus isn't just

for people over there.

He's not just

for some kind of,

he's for all people.

Jesus is God's way

to extend blessing

and peace

and life

to all nations

and all kinds

of people.

That's still

the good news today.

It's good news for us.

Whatever nation

we are from,

whatever country

we come from,

whatever region

we're from,

Jesus would be good news

for us today.

There is one gift,

the Holy Spirit

for Jew and for Gentile.

So any believer

knows life

from God

and knows life

with God.

The power of God,

the love of God,

the friendship of God,

we have it

through Jesus

and by the Holy Spirit.

And again,

this blessing

that extends

to all nations,

again,

it means that Jesus

is tearing down

those dividing lines

that we often set up.

The lines that divide

different people

and different cultures.

When the message

of Christianity

is truly understood

and practiced,

it doesn't create war.

It doesn't bring division.

Rather,

it brings peace

and it brings healing

because Jesus forgives

and Jesus reconciles.

And so we see

this wonderful promise

being fulfilled

that Jesus will bless

the nations.

And we can look ahead,

Revelation chapter 7,

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

we have this promise

of what it will look like

when it's fulfilled.

In heaven,

there's this image

of Jesus on his throne

and he's being worshipped

by people

from every language

and every nation

and every people group.

We're all one

in Christ Jesus.

And when we understand that,

we understand

why these first Christians

were so excited

to share good news.

This is why we call

the message

of the Christian faith

good news

because it answers

the deepest human need

of our heart,

our sin,

and our guilt,

and our need

to be right with God.

We call it good news

because it's the way

into God's blessing.

God has sent Jesus

in order to fix

what is broken,

to give us entry

into the relationship

and the life

that we were made for.

We call Jesus good news

because his forgiveness,

his peace,

promises a better way

than division

and hostility

in the Savior

who reconciles

and brings peace.

And it's good news

because to receive it,

we don't say,

well, you have to become

a certain type of person

or you don't have to act

a certain kind of way.

You don't need to

make great sacrifices

or go on some

special journey.

No, you must believe

in the Lord Jesus

and you will be saved.

We must put our faith

in the Lord Jesus.

We must turn away

from whatever we trusted

in before

in order to trust

in him as our Lord,

to receive him

as God's wonderful gift.

So that's our first point.

Jesus is good news

to the world.

Our second point,

super, super brief,

but it's also really important

is that Jesus continues

his mission

through his church.

So we've emphasized

that vital truth

that it's Jesus

who gives the power

for mission.

It's Jesus

who is the content

of mission.

Jesus is the goal

of mission.

So truly and really,

it is all about Jesus,

but we also need

this other vital truth.

Jesus uses his people,

his church,

to achieve

his purposes

to carry out

his mission.

So our response

as the people of God

is not to sit back

and say,

well, Jesus has got this,

so I don't need

to do anything.

It's also not

to stress out

and say,

I need to save the world.

Our response

is to serve

our Savior,

Lord, and Master

with his help

motivated by his love

and grace.

We've already seen it

as these unnamed believers

continue the mission

of Jesus in Antioch.

It's not just apostles

who bring the good news,

who begin to cause

the church to grow.

Christianity grows

as these unnamed believers

boldly share.

And what happens next,

this is in verse 22

to 24,

the Jerusalem church

hears what's going on.

Verse 22,

news of this

reached the church

in Jerusalem

and they sent Barnabas

to Antioch.

So they want to validate,

find out what's going on

and they send

the perfect guy

for the job.

So we know that

Barnabas' real name

is Joseph,

but this is his nickname,

Son of Encouragement.

So we've been thinking

about how Barnabas

is an encouragement

and we're going to see

it again here.

Three very brief points

to notice

and some questions

to ask

about how Barnabas

helps to continue

the mission of Jesus.

First,

verse 23,

Barnabas encourages

new believers.

So look with me

at verse 23.

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.

He was glad.

Here is the power

of encouragement.

Again,

boys and girls,

I'm going to stick

with the puppy theme

for a moment.

if you've ever had

to help to train a puppy,

you will know

that what you need to do

is to encourage

and praise

and reward

good behavior

when and if you see it,

which with a puppy

doesn't always come

that often.

But the power

of encouragement

is what helps

a puppy be trained

towards obedience.

But you probably

also know,

and all of us,

I think,

know,

the power

and the beauty

of encouragement

in our lives.

Someone who's got

our backs,

someone who says,

you can do this,

someone who says,

I can see

that you're making progress.

The power of encouragement

is real.

Think about what Barnabas does

for these new Christians

in Antioch,

far away from the center

in Jerusalem.

He says to them,

I can see

that Jesus

has really changed you.

I can see

that God

has worked

powerfully in you.

I can say

that you belong

to Jesus,

you belong

to his church.

I can see

and I'm glad

that you're living

with faith

and obedience.

Now imagine

the difference

that that's going

to make

to these new believers,

to be encouraged

by an encourager.

So my question,

my challenge,

my invitation

to myself

and to all of us

is this,

who can you

and I

encourage

spiritually

this week?

Who can you say,

I'm so glad

to see your faith

and obedience

at work?

How can you

and I

do that

so that we

would follow

Barnabas

in encouraging

believers

in the mission

of God?

Second thing,

Barnabas encourages

perseverance.

Again,

verse 23,

he encouraged

them all

to remain

true to the Lord

with all

their hearts.

Faith,

as has often

been said,

is a marathon

and not a sprint.

It's not how

we begin

that matters,

it's how we run

the race,

it's how we finish.

Barnabas encourages

them to persevere.

Keep going

when trials come.

Persevere

by being

wholehearted

in your commitment

to Jesus.

Show your loyalty

to him

and not

to those

idols

that you

used to

trust in.

You may

have seen

on the news,

you may actually

have seen

on the streets

that there

is all kinds

of road

cycling world

championships

happening.

Perth,

Stirling,

Edinburgh,

Glasgow,

those big

long distance

races.

I don't know

if they need

water stations,

but they definitely

have water stations

at a marathon.

Think of a marathon,

think of those

water stations,

tired runners

come for a break,

think of those

water bottle

passers.

How refreshing

for that exhausting

journey to get

a drink of water.

Who can you

and I

refresh

this week

in faith

to encourage

someone to

persevere,

to keep their

eyes fixed

on Jesus,

to focus

on the

eternal

prize.

The last

way that

Jesus continues

his mission

through Barnabas,

verse 24,

Barnabas encourages

faith by

his witness.

Listen to this

wonderful testimony

from Luke

as to the

character of

Barnabas.

I imagine

for all of us

this is something

that we would

love people

to say of us.

He was a good

man,

full of the

Holy Spirit

and faith,

and a great

number of people

were brought

to the Lord.

So here's this

wonderful thing,

so Barnabas is

living out his

faith day by day

in Antioch.

He's speaking

and he's sharing

and he's encouraging

and the impact

is there's more

followers of Jesus.

Let's never

underestimate the

power of

lifestyle evangelism.

Let's not

underestimate the

power of every

day resolving

to live for

Jesus in our

family, our

workplace.

We go back to

school to work

hard and to

work well, to

be good

neighbors, to

be kind, to

be honest, and

to be ready to

speak about Jesus

when we get a

chance.

Robert Murray

McShane, who

was ministering

St. Peter's in

Dundee in the

19th century,

said this, he

said, a

Christian, love

this definition,

a Christian is a

person who makes

it easy for

others to

believe in

God.

A Christian is a

person who makes

it easy for

others to

believe in

God.

In that, Barnabas

is a wonderful

ambassador, isn't

he?

Is that what

people would say

of us as a

church?

That this church

makes it easy for

others to believe

in God and that

he's good news?

Is that what

people would say

of our lives?

Let's ask the

Spirit to be

convicting us, to

be showing us, if

there are areas

where perhaps we

make it difficult for

others to believe

in God.

That's because we'd

want others to be

seeing the goodness

of Jesus.

Acts 11 is a

wonderful lesson

that our God is a

missionary God, that

Jesus continues his

mission in the world,

and he does that

through people and

through churches like

us.

Through Christians

sharing the good

news of Jesus the

Savior.

As the grace of God

transforms lives and

works itself into

cultures, as the

words and lives of

everyday Christians

like us can be

used by God to

accomplish Jesus'

goal.

Because wonderfully,

our God is a

missionary God.

Let's pray to our

God briefly now.

Lord God, we thank

you that we have

good news.

We have good news

from you of Jesus,

the Savior for the

world.

Lord.