People of The Way Called Christians in Antioch
We're talking about the people of the way who were called Christians first in Antioch. By my holy
Speaker 2:name will humble themselves and seek my face if they pray. If they pray, if they pray and seek my face, I will hear. I will hear.
Speaker 1:We're going to the book of Acts. Five times in the book of Acts, it mentions the people of the way. These were the early Christians. We're gonna see what happened in Antioch when they were called first Christians. We're looking to, the book of Acts chapter 11 verse 18.
Speaker 2:When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Speaker 1:This is a big statement here because the church was first to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. And God has made a people out of people that were no people. He made a nation out of the Gentile people, a Christian nation, a spiritual nation empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. The key in a Jewish life was repentance. When they had the blowing of the trumpet and Rosh Hashanah, there was ten days between the blowing of the trumpet and when they had to stand before God and those were ten days of awe.
Speaker 1:That was ten days of repentance. Now the Hebrew word is teshuvah and that's where they made things right with people that they had hurt and they had forgiven people that hurt them. And it was just a very intense time. They called it an awesome time. It was a time of awesome healing.
Speaker 1:And it healed relationships. It healed families. This is the purpose that God created repentance from the foundation of the world. He gave it to the Jews first. In the book of Acts, there were Gentiles that were brought into the church, and they were granted repentance unto life.
Speaker 1:That means a wholesome holy life in this life, but it means life eternal, the resurrection. The Gentiles were granted repentance. And guess what? People that are listening to this podcast, you are granted repentance. Oh, you think that's not a great thing?
Speaker 1:No. It's a beautiful thing. It's a wonderful thing. It's a thing that will cleanse you, heal you, and prepare you for eternity in paradise. That's how that's how good this thing is.
Speaker 2:Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Pheniceph and Cyrus and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
Speaker 1:There was a persecution that took place in the beginning of the birth of the church. It didn't destroy the church. Folks, oftentimes persecution enhances and empowers the church. When people tell you you can't worship Jesus Christ, you're gonna say, I'm gonna worship him. I don't care what you say.
Speaker 1:Early believers were scattered abroad because they were targets of the government at that time to kill them. And yet they gathered together, many of them gathered together in a place called Antioch. And this was a very important place in history.
Speaker 2:And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch spake unto the Grecians preaching the Lord Jesus.
Speaker 1:So we're getting people of different locations that are being exposed to the gospel. So this is what our commission is as a church. Jesus said to go into all nations and preach repentance and remission of sins to all people. He says, I'm gonna gather people out of all tribes and kindreds. Maybe you people that are listening to this are gonna be part of that gathering.
Speaker 1:That's our prayer, that we can reach thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions we can reach with this message. The time is at hand. We can see by the things that are happening in the world that Jesus is coming soon. He's coming back for our people. I wanna be in that group.
Speaker 1:And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed and turned on to the Lord. When we speak the beautiful things of God to people, many believe, some don't believe, some mock, but there are some that will believe. And Jesus told his first apostles, gentlemen, I'm gonna make you fishers of men. You're gonna go out and preach this gospel and there are gonna be people, men and women that are gonna come to God and be great servants of the most high God. We don't know where they're gonna come from.
Speaker 1:Some are coming from prisons. Some are emptying out of bars. We don't know where where all of these people are gonna come from, but God knows.
Speaker 2:Then tidings of these things came on to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch.
Speaker 1:The leaders of the church in Jerusalem are hearing about this revival that's taken place down in this place called Antioch. They wanna send their best man there, one of the best, Barnabas. He was called the son of consolation. He would come to you and tell you, son, daughter, you've got what it takes. You can be a great servant of God.
Speaker 1:All you gotta do is have the want to. He encouraged many including the apostle Paul. He was a mentor to Paul. He even had a fight with Paul over Mark. Mark cut out of one of one of the trips with Paul and returned home, and Paul was mad.
Speaker 1:He spoke ill about Mark while Barnabas said, no. Mark is chosen of God. He's gonna be a great servant of God, so I'll take him with me. So Paul took Silas. And later on, Paul tells the people, oh, go get Mark.
Speaker 1:Get Mark for me. He's very useful in the kingdom work. So Mark proved himself. That shows that maybe you made a misstep. Maybe you weren't successful in something you tried to do for God.
Speaker 1:Don't give up. Keep at it. Keep at it and you're gonna be successful because God has called you. Who
Speaker 2:when he came and had seen the grace of God
Speaker 1:He saw what? The grace of God. He saw the grace of God moving. And these people, I'll tell you, when you turn your life over and you repent to God, God wants to pour His grace out upon you. The Bible says in Luke that when one sinner comes to repentance, all heaven rejoices.
Speaker 1:They have a party up there and they say, oh, man, look at that person repented. We can pour out the grace and mercy of God onto them. We can work with them. We can surround them with angels and we can empower them. Was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.
Speaker 1:Here's Barnabas talking to them. He exhorts them. That means he's encouraging them. He said, oh, man, you're you're in the purpose of God and all you gotta do is cleave at a conference, and a lady had a a little baby and that baby just wanted to cleave to mama. And that's the way we gotta be to Christ.
Speaker 1:We have to cleave to him. We have to be clingers. That's what he wants. Glory to God. For he was a good man.
Speaker 1:Barnabas was a good man. And maybe maybe in your life you haven't been such a good man, but God can make you into a good man. He can transform you into good. And full of the Holy Ghost. And he was full of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:This promise of power that God has given to men and women is available. It's available today. The power of the Holy Ghost. And that's what he wants to pour out upon all men and women.
Speaker 2:And of faith and purpose and much people was added onto the Lord.
Speaker 1:We see the power of the Holy Spirit working. And when the Holy Spirit is working through the lives of people, many are gonna be
Speaker 2:added to the kingdom. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul.
Speaker 1:There's Barnabas. He's going to get reinforcements to this warfare. And who is he going to? The one that was persecuting the church before. He was bound and determined and he even played a part of a person being killed, Stephen.
Speaker 1:And yet, he was hit in the head with a lightning bolt transformed for the service of God. And Barnabas became his mentor. And Barnabas told everybody, okay, he was a persecutor but now he's a servant of the Most High and he is usable. We need him. He's a scholar.
Speaker 1:He's brilliant. And now he's in the fold with us. So he's going to get him to bring him to Antioch.
Speaker 2:And when he had found him, he brought him onto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Oh, man. This is this is so powerful. You you read this sometimes we read a passage of scripture, we just go over, oh, yeah, he wanted
Speaker 1:to get Paul. Here we have two of the foremost people of faith at that time. Now, many scholars believe that Barnabas wrote the book of Hebrews. And this is one of my favorite books in the Bible. That's the book that talks about faith.
Speaker 1:Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen by whom the elders obtained a good report. All of this beautiful writing in Hebrews, and then Paul wrote all of these epistles. But we have a one year period where we have these two profound men teaching and ministering and exhorting. And what's happening here? There's such an anointing, there's such power that comes out that they're called Christians.
Speaker 1:What does that mean? Christ means the anointed one. In Hebrew, it's Yeshua Hamasaik. The anointed one that came. It was not only Paul and Barnabas, it was Jesus Christ right in the presence of these people and they're teaching and ministering and exhorting.
Speaker 1:Man, there's a power that comes out that extends throughout that whole known world. And they were called Christians, and these were the people of the way. And out of that came explosion, an explosion where the known world is converted to Christianity. And this is what he, Jesus wants to do with with you people. He wants to bring all of us together.
Speaker 1:He wants us to be discipled in the word. He wants us to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Go out and win many and created a Holy Ghost explosion. Praise God. Thank you for listening and God bless you today.