Acts 11:19-26

Two weeks ago we stopped at the end of Acts 11:18.

Before picking up from here, I want to point us to that last part of verse 18...”Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

You will recall that these words of Peter are uttered in what is called a defense of God’s grace. God had shown Peter through a vision that the Gentiles were to be admitted into the fellowship…and Peter would not stand in the way of God. This brings to mind Romans 9:15, in which Paul reminds us that God Himself says “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” You see, it was not for Peter to limit God’s grace…no more than it was Jonah’s call to refuse to go to Nineveh. As Peter asks, “who was I that I could withstand God?” The answer to Peter’s rhetorical question is, “nobody.”

Peter was not one to withstand God…
Jonah was not one to withstand God…
and brothers and sister…we are not entitled to withstand God.

Know that there is not one race of man that is excluded from the grace of God, there is not one culture, not one nationality, not one ethnic group that we may exclude from our witnessing efforts. Think about it, how often, if ever, have we met someone that we are reluctant to tell of Jesus…not out of nervousness but because we simply don’t want to…perhaps we think they are not worthy of His grace…but simply put, NOBODY is worthy of His grace!

There is a hymn that I love which sums up how we often are towards God and how we should desire to change.

“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Bought me with His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

This song reminds me that we Believers are indeed prone to wander…and by His mercy and grace alone we are kept until the last day…

Let us, however, move on to today’s text and begin reading:

Read Acts 11:19-26

In the first two verses here we are reminded again that it was the persecution of the Believers that led to the scattering that resulted in the Word of God being preached throughout the land and beyond it…all the way to Antioch in modern day Turkey and Cyprus, the island of the coast of modern day Syria and Turkey. I, for one, cannot help but think how truly awesome God is…and how truly foolish are those who think they will hinder the work of God. I have said it many times and I will say it many a thousand times again…God is never in danger of being defeated, and if we dare to think such a thing, then we need to spend some more time reading His Word, that we might be reminded of the character and nature of God!

We see also in verse 19 that those Jews proclaiming the Word were doing so only to other Jews, but in verse 20 we are told that there were some who preached to the Greeks. Now in some translations this verse says Hellensists, which refers to Greek speaking Jews, but I prefer the translation of Greeks because it better supports the context being used here, which ties in verses 19-23 (discuss if necessary).

Whether these disciples had heard of Peter’s vision or not, it seems that they were led by the Spirit to preach not just to Jews but also to the Gentiles. And the Spirit does a mighty work in this area because the Word tells us that “a great number believed and turned to the Lord.”

Here I must once again take my soapbox and say to you brothers and sisters that if you read carefully the Word of God you will note that the duty of the Believer is always the proclamation of the Word of God…its end result, however, is always the work of God.

John Kennedy, a Scottish preacher in the 1800’s, wrote an amazing denunciation of what he called Hyper-Evangelism. I recently read this powerful work and was astounded that he warned of a time which I can sadly confess has come upon us…a time when the purpose of evangelism becomes focused on methods and number of converts rather than on the glory of God. He warned that a time was coming when the nature of God as Judge and deliverer would be left out of evangelism; when the purpose of evangelism would ignore the aspect of His glory in the salvation of man and focus on the sinner as being the bold conqueror reaching out for his salvation. Indeed, he warned of a time when sinners would be encouraged to profess faith but no effort would be made to expect their obedience to the faith they profess…a time when antinomianism would be rife because the church cared more for numbers than for true repentance to the glory of God!!

Brothers and sisters…tell others about Christ because of your immense love for Him…and because of your desire to see many hearts turned to Him in worship and praise…do not do it because you want to add another notch to your belt. This type of witnessing leads to false conversions and un-discipled babies who do not grow because nobody is there to help them…indeed, the church today seems to think there is no real need to disciple, for why should we spend our time doing that when the glorious work of converting them has already been done? God forbid I ever remain in a church that believes this lie!

Now in verse 25 we see Saul re-enter the story…as Barnabas goes to Tarsus (in Acts 9:30 we are told that is where Saul had gone) and teams up with Saul. Together, they go to Antioch and apparently begin teaching and preaching…and so we see in verse 26 that the followers of Jesus begin to be called Christians. Now, whether they began to call themselves this or whether others called them by this name is an interesting question but an irrelevant one, for it does not impact any doctrine or truth whether it be one way or the other. But let's look at what some have said:

Matthew Henry was of the opinion that the name was one the Believers gave themselves…and of verse 26 he says the following:
“[T]hose who before their conversion had been distinguished by the names of Jews and Gentiles might after their conversion be called by one and the same name, which would help them to forget their former dividing names, and prevent their bringing their former marks of distinction, and with them the seeds of contention, into the church. Let not one say, “I was a Jew;” nor the other, “I was a Gentile;” when both the one and the other must now say, “I am a Christian.” [3.] Thus they studied to do honour to their Master, and showed that they were not ashamed to own their relation to him, but gloried in it; as the scholars of Plato called themselves Platonists, and so the scholars of other great men. They took their denomination not from the name of his person, Jesus, but of his office, Christ - anointed, so putting their creed into their names, that Jesus is the Christ; and they were willing all the world should know that this is the truth they will live and die by."

Similarly, Albert Barnes wrote the following regarding this:
“It is…an honored name - the most honorable appellation that can be conferred on a mortal. It suggests at once to a Christian the name of his great Redeemer; the idea of our intimate relation to him; and the thought that we receive him as our chosen Leader, the source of our blessings, the author of our salvation, the fountain of our joys. It is the distinguishing name of all the redeemed. It is not that we belong to this or that denomination; it is not that our names are connected with high and illustrious ancestors; it is not that they are recorded in the books of heraldry; it is not that they stand high in courts, and among the frivolous, the fashionable, and the rich, that true honor is conferred upon men. These are not the things that give distinction and speciality to the followers of the Redeemer. It is that they are “Christians.” This is their special name; by this they are known; this at once suggests their character, their feelings, their doctrines, their hopes, their joys.
This binds them all together - a name which rises above every other appellation; which unites in one the inhabitants of distant nations and tribes of men; which connects the extremes of society, and places them in most important respects on a common level; and which is a bond to unite in one family all those who love the Lord Jesus, though dwelling in different climes, speaking different languages, engaged in different pursuits of life, and occupying distant graves at death. He who lives according to the import of this name is the most blessed and eminent of mortals. This name shall be had in remembrance when the names of royalty shall be remembered no more, and when the appellations of nobility shall cease to amuse or to dazzle the world.”
There is much truth to his words, and I believe in many ways Henry was paraphrasing Paul who wrote in Galatians 3:28 that “there is neither Jew nor Gentile…for we are all one in Christ Jesus.”

In other words, if we, the followers of Jesus are known as Christians, and there can be no false divisions between us…then truly we are brothers and sisters. Remember this when we are tempted to be like the world and divide ourselves by race or ethnicity…none of those foolish things should mean anything in the church, or to the church! Indeed, nothing saddens me more than to read from professed Believers their opinions regarding nationalities other than their own…to hear from their own mouths negative comments about another race. Too often we as Believers are so caught up in the political situations of the world that we forget that our first allegiance belongs to God…that any other allegiance cannot supercede our obedience to His Word…and He says that we are to preach the Word, in season and out of season…because that is what ultimately matters and what is of eternal significance.

Ask: questions or comments?

End in Prayer