WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CHRISTIAN? - Acts 11:19-26

All right, if you have a Bible or an

app, let's open it up. We're going to be

in the book of Acts this morning. The

book of Acts, chapter 11. We're going to

Acts 11 · chapter mention

be looking at a couple of verses

beginning in verse 19 and walking all

the way through verse 26. If you've been

with us for a while, we are actually in

sermon number 33 regarding the book of

Acts. And I thought a great way to

remind us on why we are taking um a

little over a year to walk through the

book of Acts is because the story of

Acts is just not history for us to know

and understand. Um but we are part of

what God began back in Acts chapter 1 on

Acts 1 · chapter mention

the day of Pentecost. If you remember

when the Holy Spirit indwelled believers

and granted them power and authority to

take the kingdom of God and his gospel

message and begin to push it forward and

proclaim it to the world at large, what

what God began there and then through

the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

I hope that we understand and that we

step into and embrace this truth that

God is continuing to do that today,

right here, right now. I've said it

often and I'll say it again this

morning. We are currently living in

prophetic

fulfillment. The word prophetic is not a

word that we like to use a lot,

particularly in the Baptist circle, but

it rings true nonetheless. If you look

at what the prophets prophesied all

throughout the New Testament about the

coming Messiah, the lamb of God, uh the

lion of the tribe of Judah, who would

come and take away the sins of the

world, and how God chose the nation of

Israel by which the Messiah would be

born, who would live, who would die, who

would resurrect um from the grave, who

would ascend to the father, and who one

day will return. and how how God chose

that the nation of Israel would serve as

the people by which the Messiah would

come. We're we're also given this

glimpse and this insight in the New

Testament and we discover the reality or

the in the Old Testament discover the

reality in the New Testament that the

gospel is for all people. And you look

at the prophet Jeremiah, you look at the

prophet Isaiah and how they both allude

to and declare that salvation will reach

the ends of the earth. that there is no

boundary, there is no border, there

there is no culture, there is no

tradition, there is no history, race or

ethnicity that keeps the gospel bound.

But but rather the gospel is for all

people. And right here, right now, we we

are living in the prophetic fulfillment

of what has been declared from the

beginning. And the gospel will continue

to push forward. the kingdom of God will

continue to advance as people are

invited to be part of God's family. And

so we'll get to this eventually in our

Acts series, but but let me just share

with you from Acts chapter 28 verse 31.

Acts 28:31

Um remember Acts does not have an

official conclusion.

There's not a moment in the book of

Acts, particularly here in his final

chapter, Acts 28, where we can read and

then therefore determine what God has

done there has finally concluded.

Actually, the ending of Acts is

open-ended. And it's open-ended for a

purpose. So that us right here, right

now, even so many thousands of years

removed from what God was doing then, we

would read the story and realize that we

have been invited into it. That their

story is our story. Their mission is our

mission. Their purpose is our purpose.

And Paul, as he is under house arrest

and as he continues to write letters to

the churches throughout Israel, here's

what Dr. Luke, the author of the book of

Acts, tells us that that Paul lived two

years at his own expense and he welcomed

all who came to him. In verse 31, here's

what he writes. that he was proclaiming

the kingdom of God and teaching about

the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness

and

without

hindrance. I've said from the very

beginning that that the gospel is a

message that goes forward

unhindered. That doesn't mean that we

won't encounter complications as we

proclaim the gospel. that we won't

encounter moments and issues and and

circumstances that that may attempt to

derail our mission and our purpose. And

and though that's the reality of the

broken world that we live in, in the big

picture, the gospel will be proclaimed.

The gospel will go forward. Nothing can

stop it. Nothing can seize it. It is

indeed a truth that goes forward

unhindered. And as we get to Acts chap

11 this morning, if you've been with us,

you know that over the last couple of

weeks, we've been looking at how the

Holy Spirit has been unleashed upon all

people groups. That the Holy Spirit

doesn't just indwell the people of

Israel. But now, the Holy Spirit is

indwelling anyone who calls upon the

name of Jesus. We read how Peter went

into the house of Cornelius, a Roman

centurion, a gentile. And at that point

in Israel's history, that was unheard

of. Peter, who had grown accustomed to

Jewish traditions and and Jewish history

and and Jewish law, would never have

gone into the home of a non-Jewish

individual. he would never have gone

into the home of a Roman centurion who

at that point in the story was the enemy

of the nation of

Israel. And yet through a vision of God,

Peter begins to

understand the call, the mission, the

purpose. As a child of God, Peter as a

leader of the New Testament church will

walk in obedience and fulfillment of the

great commission to go and demonstrate

to the then known world that indeed the

gospel is for everyone. Cornelius and

his household, they are saved. the

Christians in Jerusalem, they rejoice as

they now see the big picture that the

gospel is indeed for

everyone. And as we get here to our

passage beginning in verse 19, what what

Luke does is Luke now that he has

painted this picture of Holy Spirit

explosion not just with the Jewish

nation but now with the Gentiles,

everyone else in the world. He now takes

a step back and and Luke is now going to

draw our minds to six years earlier all

the way to the martyrdom or the murder

of Stephen. You remember when we read

about that in Acts chapter 6, he draws

Acts 6 · chapter mention

our minds back to what took place with

the martyrdom of Steven because Steven

being murdered became the catalyst by

which people began to leave Jerusalem.

If you remember back in Acts chapter

1:8, what did Jesus say prior to his

ascension as he is there on the hill as

he is speaking to his disciples, he

tells them, "Here is the mission. You

are to take the gospel forward." A

mission that still exists today, by the

way. You're to take the gospel forward,

beginning here in Jerusalem, then out

into Judea, into Samaria, and to the

ends of the earth. Well, how is that

going to be accomplished? Luke begins to

tell us here in our passage how it was

going to be accomplished. So in verse

19, here's what the great doctor

writes. Now those who were

scattered, why were they scattered? And

who are those that he is talking about?

He he begins to explain because of the

persecution that arose over Stephen. Now

you remember Steven's introduced to us

in Acts chapter 6. In Acts chapter 7, he

Acts 6 · chapter mention Acts 7 · chapter mention

is actually murdered. What happened?

They saw the murder of their friend of

of one of the church leaders and and out

of fear for their life, they begin to

scatter away from Jerusalem. Well, where

did these individuals go? Luke tells us

they traveled as far as Phoenicia and

Cyprus and

Antioch, speaking the word to no one

except Jews. I love this. We'll dive

deep deep deeper into this here in just

a moment. But notice here how in verse

19, Luke Luke is very purposeful with

his words. He talks about a scattering

that takes place. A scattering that was

the product of persecution that arose

against the Christians. Do you know

where this persecution came from? It

didn't just come from the Roman Empire.

It came primarily from the Jews.

The Jews began to persecute the

Christians. The Jews began to speak

against the Christians. The Jews were

the ones who murdered Stephen. And so

they go to Phoenicia. Phoenicia is 100

miles north of Jerusalem. They find

themselves in Cyprus. Cypress was an

island in the Mediterranean Sea, 150

miles east of Jerusalem. They find

themselves in Antioch. Do you know how

far Antioch was from Jerusalem?

300 miles north. In modern day society,

that doesn't sound like a great

distance, but in biblical times, it was.

And we can see that God uses persecution

to plant the seeds of

proclamation. That it was through

something that appears to be wrong,

evil, and bad that God would utilize

that as the very catalyst to take his

gospel forward. Our message is really

not focused on this, but I think it

it it's worth

mentioning that no matter what season

you find yourself in, no matter how

difficult of a circumstance you are

facing, no matter how dark your moment

might be, yes, in the midst of it, it's

difficult. In the midst of it, we might

go through a range of emotions of

bitterness and anger and pain and doubt.

And we may even lament before the Lord

like we see throughout the book of

Psalms. But let me tell you this. For

the son and for the daughter of God,

here's the truth that is declared that

all things good and bad will work out

for the glory of God and for the good of

his people. And we see this play out

right here in verse 19. through an evil

act from a group of people that were

persecuting those who were proclaiming

the truth. God utilizes that in order to

bring about his plan, purpose, and will.

Let's go to verse

20.

But I love this what's happening here

because this begins the

transition. Notice the transition here

in verse 20. But there were some of them

men of Cyprus and Sirene who on coming

to Antioch spoke to the Helenists also?

Preaching what? Preaching the Lord

Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with

them. And a great number who believed

turned to the Lord. The report of this

came to the ears of the church in

Jerusalem. They sent Barnabas to

Antioch. When he came and saw the grace

of God, he was

glad. And he exhorted them to remain

faithful to the Lord with steadfast

purpose. Let me pause uh real quickly

here. I want you to notice something.

What is Luke doing? Luke is taking us

back six years. He's taking us back to

the moment Steven was martyed and how

people began to scatter throughout the

then known world and proclaim the

gospel. What did Luke tell us earlier in

Acts chapter 10 in the beginning of Acts

Acts 10 · chapter mention

11? That Peter had received this vision

from God. So you have the gospel being

proclaimed on two fronts.

You have the martyrdom of Steven being

the catalyst by which the gospel is

taken upwards of 300 miles north to the

city of Antioch which will later become

a headquarters for Christian ministry

throughout the missionary journeys of

Paul. And then at the same time you have

Peter receiving this vision from the

Lord who will go to the places of Japa

and Cesaria port cities in order to

extend and proclaim the gospel of Jesus.

So you have Antioch that is this hub of

culture people from all different walks

of life really a true melting pot of

people. And then you have Peter going to

Japa and Cesaria proclaiming the gospel

so that through the port cities there

the gospel will then be taken we learned

this a couple of weeks ago across the

Mediterranean into Asia and Europe. Do

we see how God is extending his hand of

glory, mercy, and grace to the world

around us. And now here Luke begins to

bring the timeline up to speed with

where we finished last week with Peter

and Corelius. So when he came, when

Barnabas came and saw the grace of God,

he was glad. He exhorted them all to

remain faithful to the Lord and with

steadfast purpose. That's going to be

key here. We'll talk about in just a

moment. Verse 24. for he Barnabas was a

good man full of the Holy Spirit and of

faith. I pray that would be said of us

men in particular. I I I pray that when

people look at your life, they would see

you as a man of God, full of faith and

full of the Holy

Spirit. I think one of the biggest

biggest reasons uh western culture is

where it is spiritually or rather

because of lack of spiritual

spirituality is because men have failed

to be men of God.

For far too long, we we've taken a back

seat and and we've let everyone else

lead around us. And yeah, we may have

good jobs and we may provide well for

our family and and and we may

participate in little league and and all

these things. Praise God for all of

that. Yes and

amen. But all of that must never be done

at the expense of your greatest role and

your greatest responsibility, which is

to be the spiritual head and the

spiritual leader in your home. For far

too often, people have piggybacked off

of the faith of their wife, off of the

faith of their pastor, off the faith of

their Sunday school teacher, or off the

faith of a trusted friend. I'm kind of

getting outside of what we're focusing

on today, but I think it's worth

mentioning. We need people to stand

strong and stand firm so that when they

gaze into our lives, they see this in

verse 24. He was a man of God, full of

the Holy Spirit, and of faith. Luke

continues, "And a great many people were

added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to

Tarsus. Who's in Tarsus? You remember

Paul. Paul back in Acts chapter nine had

been sent to Tarsus after he had been a

couple of years with Peter in Jerusalem.

Do you remember why he was sent to

Tarsus? Because people still question

Paul's devotion. Do you remember what

they said about Paul? Isn't this the

same guy who would murder Christians?

And now he is here proclaiming Jesus.

So Galatians tells us that after Paul

was saved by Jesus himself that he goes

to the Arabian desert and he spends

three and a half years there growing and

learning about Christ and his word.

After that he finds himself in Jerusalem

and he begins to grow and learn under

the leadership and the mentoring of Paul

people or of Peter and people are still

not believing Paul's conversion. And do

you remember what we read about Barnabas

back then? Barnabas was the one who

interceded on behalf of Paul and said no

I know Paul. I know Paul's heart. I know

he has been genuinely transformed and

changed and God has indeed done a work

in him. And the disciples then send Paul

to Tarsus. So Barnabas goes to

Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he had

found him, he brought him to Antioch.

And I love this. For a whole year, they

met with the church and taught a great

many people. And in Antioch, the

disciples were first called Christians.

And all God's people said, "Amen." Lord,

would you bless your word? Holy Spirit,

would you stir our

hearts? Some beautiful pictures that are

taking place here. I love it because

we're giving a living portrait into how

the gospel brings change to people's

lives and how the gospel works on

multiple fronts. And if we look at just

history, we look at biblical history,

church history, gospel proclamation,

missionary history, we see this indeed

to be true. This is the way it plays out

that the gospel is not just proclaimed

in one place, but it's proclaimed across

the world. This is why gathering with

the household of faith on a Sunday

morning is so beautiful because we're

not just gathering here in this place,

but our brothers and sisters across town

are gathering worshiping the name of

Jesus. Our brothers and sisters across

359 in the next town over are gathering

together worshiping the name of Jesus.

Across the state, across the nation,

across the world, millions of people are

meeting right now. Sure, we may be

separated by geography. We may be

separated by denominational

distinctives. And we may be separated by

third tier open-handed issues. But you

know what? We are not separated by we.

We are not separated by the banner of

Jesus. That's what unites us. That's

what brings us together. This is what we

are seeing demonstrated here that the

gospel moves forward on all fronts. We

are seeing this beautiful picture that

is framed by disciplehip moments in the

life of Barnabas and the life of these

men from Cyprus and Sirene who went to

proclaim the gospel. So here's what I

want to do with our remaining time. I

want us to go back to our passage and I

want us to look at this picture Luke is

painting for us. It's a picture where

the setting is focused on the gospel and

within that picture we get some insight

to what it means to be a Christian.

And so my challenge, my my prayer for us

this morning is that as we sit, as we

listen, as we grow, as we take notes,

that we would be challenged to apply

these things to our life that we would

ask ourselves, am I being the type of

Christian that is reflected here in this

passage? the type of Christian that

regardless of what's happening,

regardless of where I'm located, I will

stop at nothing to ensure that the

mission of God is fulfilled. So, if

you're taking notes, five that we're

going to look at this morning, here's

the first one. We see that Christians

are evangelistic. Did you pick up on

that? I love how Luke paints this

picture of of God inviting us into his

work.

The father in heaven by way of the son

through the indwelling power of the holy

spirit has invited you into his work. I

think this is one of my favorite

moments. Go back with me to verse

20. What does Luke write? He says there

were some of them men of Cyprus and

Sirene who on coming to Antioch spoke to

the Hellenists also preaching the Lord

Jesus and the hand of the Lord was with

them and a great number who believed

turned to the Lord. So in a moment Luke

shows us the power of the gospel. The

power of the gospel brings people far

from Jesus to Jesus. But what's the

catalyst? Did you pick up on that? It

took men preaching the gospel. It wasn't

just casual conversation. It wasn't just

working it in throughout the day. I love

how Luke uses the specific word

preaching the Lord

Jesus. This is taken from the Greek word

which means to herald, to announce. In

other words, these these men were were

so in tune with the mission of the

gospel, were so planted, so firmly

established in the mission God had

called them to that it became normal for

them to preach the gospel. This wasn't

just a church invitation. Praise God for

those. This wasn't just a, hey, can you

read this Bible verse for me? Praise God

for those moments. But this was an

intentional moment of gospel

proclamation. Paul will write this in

his letter to the church in Rome. He'll

say, "How beautiful are the feet," and

he's quoted the Old Testament of those

who proclaim the good

news, those who would go forward and

tell people about their story and how

Christ transformed and changed their

life and how they would understand the

evangelistic mission to invite people

in. And here's what he says. He says,

"People believe and come to faith

because someone was sent to them.

And if someone is sent to them, that

means someone is going to tell them

about Jesus. Let me show you what else I

love about what Luke writes

here. Notice that he doesn't name names.

He simply says men of Cyprus and

Sirene. He doesn't give title. He

doesn't give an indepth background. He

doesn't say anything more about these

individuals other than what they were

there to do, which is preach the Lord

Jesus. Do you know what that tells us?

That tells us that every single one of

us who calls upon the name of Jesus, you

are a minister of the

gospel. And as a minister of the gospel,

there is an expectation laid over your

life. From the oldest of us to the

youngest of us, from the most mature to

the most immature. If you are a son or a

daughter of our father who is in heaven,

there is an expectation placed over your

life to proclaim the gospel. It's not

just for pastors, for Sunday school

teachers, for evangelists or the

revivalists. It is for every child of

God. We read that the Lord's hand was

with them.

And I love that because what Luke is

saying is it's not just

effort. Effort's beautiful. Effort's

great. But if all we ever do is white

knuckle grip our faith and our hold on

the gospel, then then we miss it.

Because it's not just effort. It's being

empowered. And we're not empowered by

our accolades. We're not empowered by

our education. We're not empowered by

our wealth. We're not empowered by the

things that we've attained and

accomplished this side of heaven. Who

are we empowered by? The spirit

himself. God dwells in us and empowers

us for the evangelistic mission at hand.

A Christian is someone who refuses to

keep the gospel to themselves.

I think one of the things that we run

into particularly in Western culture

that because there is so much

polarization in our world

today. We just came off an election

season and we we were upfront witnesses

on the polarization that exists in our

country today. And that polarization

extends beyond political boundaries. It

extends into the church. It's either you

are or you're not. and the pendulum

swings so far to the

extremes. And so because there's this

polarization that exists in our world

today, what ends up happening is we

don't stand firm, we don't stand

strong, we don't stand on truth,

less we are ashamed or we're

embarrassed. And we need to be so so in

love with

Jesus that he overflows in every part of

our life.

that we can't help but just share the

gospel. Not because we're being pushy,

but because we're

transformed, because we've tasted and

seen the goodness of God, and we want

others to be invited in. So, this is a

picture of Christianity that we see. We

see that Christians are evangelistic,

but it doesn't stop there. Going on to

verse 23, what does he tell us? What

does Luke tell us? That Christians

rejoice at the work of God.

Not only does does God invite us into

the work that he's doing and choose us

as frail and sinful and and weak as we

are to accomplish his work. When we are

invited into his work, we rejoice at his

work. Did you see that? Verse 23.

when he came and saw the grace of God.

Remember Barnabas goes to

Antioch and he sees a movement of God

who when he's witnessed it as as John

will later write in his letter first

John when he tastes and sees and

experiences a movement of God what does

it say he was glad. I believe Luke is

doing several things. First, I believe

Luke is painting a stark contrast to

what we read earlier in Acts chap 11. Do

you remember Peter goes to Cornelius, he

preaches the gospel. There's an

outpouring of the spirit. Cornelius and

his household and by extension, the

Gentiles are welcomed into the kingdom

and the family of God. Peter gets back

to Jerusalem, right? The uncircumci or

the circumcised party, right? a

particular portion of the Jews begin to

confront Peter and they say, "How? Why?

What happened? They're not like us. They

They don't look like

us. How could you have gone in there and

proclaimed the gospel to them?" And on

another gospel front, what do we have?

Barnabas, who's seen the work of God in

Antioch? Let me tell you a little bit

about Antioch real quick. Antioch was a

melting pot of people. Different

cultures, different religions, different

traditions, different backgrounds. You

had people from all over the then known

world come to the city of Antioch. This

is where they traded. This is where they

they did life. This is where they

intermarried with other ethnicities and

other races. It was a true melting pot.

And so it's it's beautiful when you

understand that that the gospel explodes

in Antioch because it paints a picture

of what God's kingdom is of what God

what heaven is going to be like. A place

where there's no distinction of

language. No distinction of race, no

distinction of culture, no distinction

of background. Why? Because we're all

united. One under the banner of Jesus.

All our

differences, traditions, culture,

background, they don't take away from

how Christ unifies us. They amplify how

the gospel unifies us. Barnabas

recognizes this. And what does it say?

He was

glad. He doesn't see flawless

programs. I'm contextualizing it for us.

He doesn't see perfect doctrine, though

we should shoot for having God-honoring

doctrine. He doesn't see

preference-based ministries. He He

doesn't see one translation of the Bible

and aim at that. What does he see? He

sees the grace of God poured out on

people. He sees the mission of God

moving forward. And he's glad.

That word here means deep

spiritborn joy. It wasn't just surface

happiness. It was a joy, a gladness that

is rooted in what God does. So what does

this tell us? It tells us that

Christians should rejoice at the work of

God. We don't look to the church down

the street and become envious at their

success.

We don't look to our brothers and

sisters in the Lord and become jealous

because things are going well for them

and they're being blessed. We come

alongside them and we rejoice and we

lift them

up. Could you imagine what it would look

like? My wife Crystal came to me and

shared her blessings with me on what God

is doing in her life and how God is

moving and lifting her spirits and and

and calling her to greater devotion in

Christ and rather than rejoicing and

saying let's get after it boo that my

response was one of envy and jealousy

doesn't work right be idiotic to think

that way and yet so many Christians

operate like that with one

another well Roland and I'm not married

to that other Christian. No, but you're

unified by the blood of

Jesus. And the greatest relationship far

above any earthly relationship is being

united by the blood of Jesus himself.

Christians rejoice at what God is doing.

We don't we don't get to decide where

God moves. We don't say here or there.

But what we get to do, we get to be

invited into and recognize and rejoice

at what God is.

doing. So, Christians are evangelistic.

Christians rejoice at the work of God.

Here's number three. Christians

encourage other

Christians. I love this because right

there at the end of verse 23, Luke not

only tells us that Barnabas sees the

work of God and rejoices and he's glad,

but what does he do? He steps into the

work of God. Did you see that? What does

he say in verse 23? He exhorted them to

remain faithful to the Lord with

steadfast

purpose. Barnabas doesn't stop at

celebration. He doesn't stop at

rejoicing. He steps into what God is

doing and exhorts him to remain faithful

with steadfast purpose. Let me focus on

that word exhort for just a moment. Let

me make sure that I pronounce it

correctly. It's the Greek word paricleo.

What that means is is it's not just

surface level

encouragement. It's actually coming

alongside someone. It's this picture of

walking shouldertosh shoulder, hand in

hand. Hand in hand. Well, not not ham.

Maybe you're having ham for lunch, but

not hand in ham. Hand in hand. And

that's this is why we'll we'll we'll say

this phrase often here at the Grove is

we want you to lock arms with

us because that's what this picture is.

We get to exhort one another. We get to

walk us alongside one another.

Encouragement right here in in the

biblical sense is not just being nice.

It's not flattering someone. It's not

stroking their ego. It's it's offering

spiritfilled strength. It's it's helping

others remain rooted in their faith. I

think for some of us, it could be easy

to be evangelistic. I'll be open and

very transparent with you. As a as a

pastor, this is an upstream issue for

me. What do you mean by upstream? Up.

When you swim upstream, it's a little

more difficult. When you swim

downstream, it's a little it's a lot

easier. Some of us, we have downstream

moments in our life. If it's real easy

to do something in our Christian walk,

others maybe you relate here. This is an

upstream issue. If it's an upstream

issue, that doesn't mean that you step

away from it, that you don't participate

in it. It just means you have to be a

little bit more intentional. You have to

set up some things in your life that

remind you of the importance of what God

is calling us to do. But I think here

for number three, I I think for most

people, this could be an upstream issue.

And I tell you why. Because when we step

into people's

lives, we're making a commitment to step

into their

brokenness, to step into the

junk, to step into the moments that

hurt. We live in a culture that is

framed by

convenience. It is human nature to

choose the path of least resistance. And

so if something's difficult, we don't do

it. Which is why anything that's

difficult, not everybody does it.

Because it takes a very extreme amount

of discipline to ensure that we're

moving forward. And when we are called

to come alongside other believers, that

means that we step into the pressures

with them. We step into their vices,

into their temptations, into things that

will threaten to pull them away. And

what are we called to do? who were

called to dig deeper with them, to walk

alongside them in grace and in truth,

not in judgment, not in a holier than

thou attitude, but in the love of

Christ, like Psalm 40 tells

us that he comes into the muck and the

mire of our lives and he pulls us out

and he sets our feet on the rock and he

makes your footsteps firm. And the song

that we sing is not the song of our

former passions, but the scripture says

a new song that God himself places in

our mouth that is rooted in a heart

that's been changed and transformed.

Here's the fourth thing that we see.

Christians have a godly character. I

think that goes without saying, at least

I hope it is, but it remains true

nonetheless. Go with me to verse 24.

The scripture tells us this about

Barnabas that he was a good man full of

the Holy Spirit and of faith. I love how

Paul takes a moment. It's almost like in

the midst of of what Luke is showing us

about the gospel moving forward, he he

takes a moment to hit the pause button

and says, "I want you to recognize

Barnabas." Not for the sake of Barnabas,

but so that we would recognize how God

works through

people, how God can work through you.

Don't fall into the trap, if you're

anything like me, of reading these

moments of history in the New Testament

church and thinking, "Yeah, but that

that's them. That's not me."

How God used Barnabas, how God used

these men from Cyprus and Sirene, how

God uses individuals throughout the

scripture to proclaim his word and call

people into his kingdom is the same way

God uses you and me. It's the same way

God moves and and works

today. So, here's a

challenge. Have a gut check. Take some

inventory and ask yourselves, could this

be said of you? He was a good man full

of the Holy Spirit and of

faith because these are the sorts of

people God uses to usher and shepherd in

revival to bring about change and

transformation. Again, men, can this be

said of you in your home? He was a good

man, full of the Holy Spirit and of

faith. A Christian's

power doesn't come from his charisma,

doesn't come from his attitude, doesn't

come from the things that he

likes, from the fads, or what's popular

or what he engages in. No, those things

are the overflow of a character that is

rooted in the truth of the gospel.

Here's the last one. Christians grow

spiritually. Right here in verse 25 and

26.

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for

Saul. And when he had found him, he

brought him to Antioch. For a whole year

they met with the church and taught a

great many people. And in Antioch, the

disciples were first called

Christians. I love how we see this

beautiful picture of what it means to be

a Christian or what it looks like to be

a Christian. how Christians are

evangelistic, how we rejoice at the work

of God, how we encourage other

believers, and how we're to be molded

and transformed by the character of God

himself so that exudes and overflows in

all areas of our life. But you know

what? All that's for

not if it doesn't come from spiritual

growth. If it's not rooted in what is

solid, true, and unchanging. And let me

tell you why I say that. Because we see

this constantly throughout the ministry

of Jesus. We see a religious group known

as the Pharisees who were

evangelistic. They rejoiced at the work

of God, but it was only the work of God

within their own group. They encouraged

other believers, but the way they

encouraged them was towards legalistic

standards and not gracefilled truth.

They operated in godly character, at

least on the surface. They gave to the

temple offerings. They they they fasted

and they prayed several times a week.

They they were good traditionalists.

They followed the rules and the

standards of their belief system. But do

you remember what Jesus told them? He

said, "You are children of the devil."

May not sound like a big cut down to us.

May not sound like a big powerful moment

to us, but that was raw and honest in

the time of Jesus. He said, "You're

whitewashed tombs. They look good and

put together on the outside, but

underneath is corruption, is death, is

deceit, an adulterated and polluted

truth. You're not building on the truth

of God. You're building on the lies of

the devil. Why? Because there was no

roots. There was no spiritual death.

There was no spiritual growth. This is

what Luke gets to. Barnabas went to

Tarsus. He got Saul. He said, "Come to

me with Antioch, the place where I've

seen the gospel explode and I've

rejoiced and I've encouraged." And Paul,

we need to stay with these individuals

because they need to be trained. They

need to be built up. And they stayed

with them a whole year. And it's there

that they were first called Christians.

Let me

just let me just say this that that

phrase Christians by what we know

traditionally from the history of

Antioch was used as a title of mockery.

Antioch because it was a melting pot of

nations became a place that was known

for its sarcasm. Some of us our love

language is

sarcasm. That was

Antioch. Antioch was not glorifying what

God was doing. The people of Antioch

were mocking the believers. Oh, look,

there come those Christians which

translate it means little Christs,

Christ

followers. But the gospel does a mighty

work. The gospel does something

incredible. And believers in Jesus took

hold of that and said, "Yeah, you know

what? We are little Christs. We are

followers of Jesus. Bring it on." And

they grew

spiritually. Fruit in your

life sustains your spiritual

growth. And the way that you grow fruit

in your

life is through a constant growth and

maturing in the Lord.

And so Christians, we are called to

share the good news of the gospel. We

are called to rejoice at the work of

God. We are called to

encourage. We are called to grow

spiritually. We are called to have a

godly character. And I pray that that

what we read and what we know isn't

something that we leave here when we

walk out these doors, but something that

brings genuine change and transformation

to our lives. Would you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for

today. We thank you for this moment. And

we thank you that in you and through you

and by

you, we would continue to experience the

sort of life

change that our passage

details. So Lord, maybe

today is a day that the one that does

not know you as Lord comes to know you

as Lord.

Maybe today is the

day that we finally

choose to get off the sidelines and step

into your work and your

mission to share the gospel, to rejoice

at the work of God, to to take envy and

bitterness and lay it at the foot of

your

throne. Or maybe for some of us today

that we choose to say, you know what,

I'm going to grow

spiritually. I don't want to be a a

Christian by proxy any longer, but I

want my faith to be my

own. God, would you do a work in Jesus

name we pray? All God's people said,

"Amen.