Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.) During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.
I was trying to find an effective way to shorten today’s scripture reading. It’s certainly much longer than I typically present. But after a moment of reflection, it dawned on me that the more prudent decision would be to cut short my commentary, because this passage is too rich to miss. We need every word of it. This presentation predates Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals, or any other organized Christian group. It is an account of the actual legacy of the Church of Jesus Christ. Today we give homage to the original Antioch. The place where the term Christian originated.
When you study the origin of Christianity you find the Church has two separate functions. One is sharing the Gospel. The other sharing our love. The result of proper Church balance should result in Sustainable Christlike Communities. It’s that lack of attention to design details that is hurting the church so desperately. It’s our continued neglect in following the intricate patterns in which Christ has provided perfect instructions for the management and care of his Church.
In just a few words let’s recap the progression of this historic account. Please note that the Apostles initially shared the Gospel with Jews only. It was only after upheaval, trials and tribulation did they disperse and begin to widely share with non Jews. The prophecy given by Joel and quoted by Peter (the Spirit would fall upon all flesh) came to grand fruition in Antioch. The line of demarcation was reestablished in that place. And also note that it wasn’t lead by one of the Apostles or speakers of great reputation, but by Barnabas; a good Spirit-filled man. And he understanding the enormity of the job and his own limitations sought a gifted (yet highly controversial) newbie (Saul of Tarsus) to assist him.
We could stop here and that would probably be plenty to discuss for today. But let’s just add one additional caveat. The atmosphere in Antioch was obviously so inviting that it drew gifted people from various ministry groups, including prophets. And one prophet, named Agabus offered a word that caused Antioch to move ahead of catastrophe and bless the Apostles and folk back in Israel that at one time didn’t even want to share this Gospel with them. Look at God.
In looking at the sequence of events of this dynamic move of God, you can’t help but note it’s correlation with the pattern described by the newly appointed Apostle Paul (formerly Saul) in his writing to the Christians at Ephesus. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13 See the similarities? The apostolic authority?The work of prophecy? The evangelism? The preaching and teaching?
Saints of God, as you see, all these gifts were present and accounted for. That is the order of God. That is the truest legacy of the place called Antioch. I only ask, where do you see yourself fitting in? Do you see yourself as a decadent of a place called Antioch?
God Bless
