01 Nov MVMT 08: Gospel church

Acts 11:19-26

¹⁹ Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, ²⁴ for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. ²⁵ So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ 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.

William Shakespeare writes this beautiful question that is often quoted. “What is in a name?” Does anyone know where this line comes from? Romeo and Juliet. The most horrible and tragic love story that I have ever read. It scars me for life. I blame my English teacher for it. But what is in a name? According to Juliet, it is nothing. A name is simply a name. It carries no weight. But we know that it is not true. A name carries a lot of weight. One day, Alexander the Great learned that there was a young soldier in his army that had the name Alexander as well. And not only that but his parents named him Alexander in hope that their son would turn out to be like Alexander the Great who conquered the world when he was just twenty-three years old. The problem was, the young Alexander was a coward. So, Alexander the Great called the young Alexander and said, “Is your name Alexander and are you named after me?” The young Alexander replied with trembling, “Yes sir. My name is Alexander, and I was named after you.” Alexander the Great looked at the young man and said, “Then either be brave or change your name. You cannot carry my name and be a coward!” In today’s passage, we find that the followers of Christ are named Christians for the first time. And this passage tells us what makes Christians, Christians. Christians are those who carry the name of Christ wherever they are.

I titled this sermon, “Gospel Church.” In this passage, we are introduced to my dream church. The church of Antioch is what I envision our church to be. It gives us a picture of what a gospel church looks like. If we want to know what a gospel church should look like, we should not begin by looking at the most successful churches around us today. Just because they are successful, does not guarantee that they are Biblical. If we want to know what a gospel church should look like, we must begin with the Bible. And in this passage, we can see some characteristics of a gospel church.

Let’s look at the mission statement of the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Jesus says that the gospel will spread from Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria and to the end of the earth. In the first 7 chapters, the gospel has yet to spread out beyond Jerusalem and Judea. All the gospel actions happen within the perimeter of Jerusalem and exclusively to the Jews. But starting in chapter 8, the gospel breaks out of Jerusalem and begin to spread like a wildfire. The church is on a mission. And from that point forward, Luke tells us how the gospel spread to the end of the earth. In chapter 8, the gospel transforms the city of Samaria. Who are the Samaritans? They are half-Jews. And in Acts chapter 10, the gospel transforms the house of Cornelius. Who is Cornelius? Cornelius is a Roman soldier who feared God. So, he is a gentile who believes in the God of Israel. Can you see the progression? It starts with the Jews then half-Jews, and then the non-Jew who believes in Jewish Scriptures. There is a common denominator in all of them. All these people already believe in the Bible to some extent. They are religious people. But in Acts 11, the gospel movement enters a new stage. In this passage, God shows that the gospel is not only for the religious people but also for the irreligious people. The people in Antioch has no context for the God of the Bible. They are gentiles who could not care less about the Jews and their belief. And God is showing that it is possible for the gentiles to hear the gospel and for them to believe in Christ and become part of the church without becoming Jews. Acts 11 is the beginning of a worldwide gospel movement. And God is using the church of Antioch to start it off. The church of Antioch is one of the most influential churches in the New Testament. It is the launching pad of a gospel movement to the end of the earth.

I have two points for my sermon tonight. The hand of the Lord; Barnabas and Saul. And then I will give you four applications on how we can be a gospel church.

The hand of the Lord

Acts 11:19-21 – ¹⁹ Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

Let me give you the historical background of the city of Antioch first as I think it would be very helpful for us. The city of Antioch is called the “Queen of the East.” It is the third main city in the Roman empire. Antioch is known as the business city. It is where people go to make lots of money, and it is always busy. Antioch is also extremely cosmopolitan. It consists of many people from many different nations. Their main population consists of Greek, Romans, Syrians, Jews, Arabs, Egyptian, Indians and Asians. Antioch is also a morally corrupt city. Just outside of the city, there is a park called “the Grove of Apollo” where people would gather and satisfy their sexual appetite. It is pretty much an outdoor brothel. With another word, it is a very dark influential multicultural city. Do you know what it reminds me of? Our city, the city of Sydney.

Let me tell you why this is important. There is a popular belief among many Christians that a church won’t thrive in a city like Sydney. Why? For all the reasons we mentioned earlier. First, the city is filled with diversities of cultures. Every culture has its own belief and traditions, and it is hard to reach out to them. Everyone is entitled to their own version of the truth. Second, the city is filled with sophisticated people. They are very innovative and logical and not attracted to faith. Third, the city is filled with social and personal brokenness. You will find a lot more brokenness in a city than in a suburb. So, they conclude that faith dies in a city. When people go to a major city and live there, they become very secular. Have you heard this train of thoughts before? All these arguments make logical sense. Except for one thing: historical facts. Historians will tell us and the book of Acts shows us that the bigger the city, the more wicked the city, the more Christianity flourished.

We were taught that more urban and wicked the city is, the less Christianity will flourish. The truth is, the more urban and wicked the city is, the more Christianity flourish. How come? Because the gospel shines brightest in the darkest space. We know this. There is something about dark space that makes our eyes attracted to candlelight. You can try to take your eyes off it, but you won’t be able to. Because whatever you see is affected by that small candlelight. That is the picture of Christianity. It is in the darkest city that Christianity flourishes the most. Listen to this. If Christianity dies in the city, then it is not a real Christianity. I have heard many stories of how people lost their faith in the major city. So, they grew up in a nice Christian family. They seemed like good Christians who obeyed God’s commandments. They were active in youth groups. But then they went to a city like Sydney for education and they lost their Christian faith. They no longer believe in the Bible. They said that the Bible is outdated, and they are too sophisticated to believe that someone could raise from the dead. They lost their faith. But I beg to differ. These people did not lose their faith. They never have true faith in the first place. And that’s what the city does to you. It reveals whether you have genuine faith or not. The church of Antioch, one of the most influential churches in Christian history is established in one of the darkest cities.

But here is where I want to draw your attention to. Who started the church of Antioch? We have no idea. It is definitely not one of the apostles. The church of Antioch is started by unnamed believers. And this is the same thing that we see in Acts chapter 8. Just like how the gospel invades the city of Samaria, the first time the gospel expanded to the gentile territories, it is not the apostles who preach the gospel but the normal Christians. The apostles remained in Jerusalem. It is the normal common believers that preach the gospel in the city of Antioch. Can you start to see the pattern here? The apostles are great. They will have a role to play soon after. But the gospel movement does not rely on the apostles. This is the way we say it. The widespread gospel movement happens not by the preaching of superstar pastor but when every Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit and gossip the gospel wherever they are. How do you gossip? You gossip naturally, enthusiastically and with conviction. When you gossip, you don’t plan to gossip. You don’t think, “Oh I am going to gossip about Yosi and his ten girlfriends to so and so.” Gossip is something that comes out naturally as you speak with other people. For the record, I don’t have 10 girlfriends. But if I do have 10 girlfriends, you will tell others without even planning to do so. That’s how we ought to share the gospel. We should be saturated in the gospel in such a way that it comes out naturally as we speak to other people.

Look at what happens. Acts 19:21 – And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The hand of the Lord is with them as they gossip the gospel, and a great number of people believe the gospel. Just think about it. There is no church in Antioch at the time. There is no mission program, no apostle, no church structure, no protocol, no support system. All they have is one thing. They love Jesus. They are captivated with the good news of Jesus Christ. They can’t get their mind off the fact that the God of the universe loves them. Not only he loves them, he sent his one and only son to die for them. So that whoever believed in Jesus would not perish but have eternal life. How is it possible that God would think so highly of a sinner like them? How is it possible that those who rebelled against God is now called the children of God and the heirs of the kingdom of God? These people are simply in love with Jesus and that is why they can’t help but gossip the gospel wherever they are. And as they do so, the hand of the Lord is with them. They see many people believe in Jesus through them. And the church of Antioch is birthed out of their love for Jesus. This is the first multicultural, multinational church we see in the New Testament. This is the church that will send missionaries all over the world to spread the gospel. And it is started by unnamed believers who love Jesus.

Barnabas and Saul

Acts 11:22-26 – ²² The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, ²⁴ for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. ²⁵ So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ 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.

So, the apostles heard about what happened in Antioch and they send Barnabas to Antioch. Who is Barnabas? This is not the first time he appears in the book of Acts. Barnabas first appears at the end of chapter 4. His real name is Joseph. But the apostles called him Barnabas, which means, son of encouragement. In those days, when people call you name that is not your own, it is not random. It’s not like me today being called by many different names which you randomly assigned on me. When people call you by a new name, it is because that name characterizes who you are. So, when the apostles called Joseph, Barnabas, it is because Joseph is an excellent encourager. One of the scholars called Barnabas, the man with the biggest heart in the church. If you flip to Acts 9, you will find that Barnabas is the man who welcomes Saul with an open arm. So, after Saul encounters God and became Christians, many disciples are afraid of him. After all, Saul was the man who passionately persecuted Christians. Just think of it like we have a leader of ISIS who repented and comes to RSI. Which MC leaders volunteer to take him to their MC? We would be afraid of him as well. But Barnabas is different. Barnabas puts his hand around Saul and welcomes Saul to the family. Luke is apparently very impressed with Barnabas. He describes Barnabas as a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. If the Bible calls you a good man, you must be very good.

You can see how good he is by what he does at Antioch. When he gets to Antioch, Barnabas is glad to see the grace of God working in Antioch. At first glance, we might not think much about it. But remember that Barnabas comes from the church in Jerusalem, the Jewish church with all the apostles. And he is now in Antioch, a wicked gentile city. We know that there is a strong tension that existed between the Jews and the gentiles. And not only that but the new believers in Antioch are also far from perfect. They are baby Christians. They are imperfect in many ways. The church in Antioch looks very different from the church in Jerusalem. They talk differently. They don’t use Christianize phrases. They dress weird. They have different customs and traditions. They are from different cultures. And they are trying to find ways to live together as followers of Jesus. I am sure it is a big mess. But Barnabas has the eyes of grace. Where many see imperfections, Barnabas see traces of God’s grace. He rejoices at the works of God amid the messes. And he uses his gift of encouragement to help the people in the church thrives even more. Do not think lightly of encouragement. It is through Barnabas’ encouragement that God increases the fruitfulness of the gospel ministry in Antioch. Barnabas is a man who sees the gospel bears fruit in the communities that are very different from the one he is accustomed too and he rejoices. What a man. I think RSI is blessed with many Barnabas in our midst. Let me just mention one. Edrick. He is such an encourager. There were times that I felt like I did not do a good job in delivering a sermon. I felt horrible on the inside, but I am an expert at hiding it on the outside. And he came up to me and said, “Good sermon. Thank you.” And those words immediately cherished my soul. He was able to see my imperfections in delivering the sermon and see the traces of the gospel in the sermon. That is the kind of man Barnabas is.

And because of Barnabas’ encouragement, the church in Antioch grows even more. The Lord adds a great number of people to the church. Now, if I am Barnabas, I’ll be very happy. I’ll be excited at the growth of the church. This is the chance for me to be one of those superstar pastors. I am the best thing that ever happened to the church of Antioch. I am their ‘go-to’ person. I am their leader. I am the smartest person in the room. I am the reason the church grows. I am the pastor of the first International church in history: ROCK Antioch International. And the people love me because I am such an encourager. What more could I ask? I would use the #BestPastorInAntioch. But not so with Barnabas. He does not seek platforms for himself. Barnabas realizes his limitation. He understands that he needs help to disciple all the new converts. He needs someone who can help these gentile believers grow in their understanding of the gospel. Barnabas is an encourager. But the church needs a teacher. And he remembers that many years ago, he met a man who is a gifted teacher. And not only a gifted teacher, but this man has a specific call from God to be his witness to the gentiles. So, Barnabas leaves Antioch and travels to Tarsus to look for Saul. Barnabas is a man who knows his limitation and is not afraid to seek help.

Now, let’s change the camera to Saul. The last time we see Saul is in Acts chapter 9, which is last week. So, for us, it’s only been a week. But for Saul, about 8 to 10 years have passed since his encounter with Jesus at the Damascus road. Think about it. 10 years. That is a long time. And we know nothing about what happened in those 10 years. If I were Saul, I would assume that after my glorious encounter with Christ, after he told me that I would stand before kings to share the gospel, it is my time to shine. But in reality, 10 years of silence. But those 10 years are not wasted. It is in those 10 years of silence that Saul’s theology matured. It is often during the time of silence that understanding and love for the gospel grow. God often does his best works in the time of unknown. Because Saul is about to get all the spotlight. From Acts 13 onward, Saul will dominate the book of Acts. He will be God’s number one tool to spread the gospel to the end of the earth. He will be the man who writes most of the New Testament letters and pen all the beautiful Christian doctrines. But before he gets the spotlight, 10 years of silence. God often does his best work in the years of unknown. So, as Saul faithfully lives in the unknown of Tarsus, one day he hears someone knocks on his door. He opens the door, and it is Barnabas. Barnabas invites Saul to join the ministry in Antioch and Saul agrees. And they leave for Antioch.

Acts 11:26 – 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. So now we have the dynamic duo. We have the great encourager and the great expositor. And they teach the people in the church for a whole year and radical transformation happens. It is in the church of Antioch that the followers of Jesus are first called Christians. Who called them Christians? It is not the believers who called themselves Christians. It is the people in the city of Antioch who called them Christians. The teaching of Barnabas and Saul bring stability and foundation to the believers in Antioch. It enables the root of the gospel to sink deep down in the heart of the people. And the more they understand the Bible, the more they understand the gospel, the more they live like Christ, love like Christ, talk like Christ. They are different from everyone else. They are Jews but they are not Jews. They are gentiles but they are not gentiles. They have unique values and unique lives. And they always talk about Christ. That is why the people called them, Christians.

Applications

I have four applications on how we can become a gospel church from this passage. First, every member evangelism. Or to put it in our phrase, reach wide with the gospel. Let me make something straight first. God does not need us to save the world. God is not looking for helpers to assist him in saving the world. We are not that important. God has the power to save anyone he wants as he did with Saul. The Bible is clear that salvation is of the Lord. It is the hand of the Lord that brought salvation. There is nothing we can do on our own to save anyone. There is nothing we can say on our own that can convince anyone of the gospel. It requires God to open their blind eyes for them to see the beauty of the gospel. Salvation is fully dependent on the works of the Sovereign God. We need to stop overestimating what we have to contribute. This passage tells us that it is the hand of the Lord that added a great number of people to the Lord. Now, let me tell you why this is good news. If salvation is of the Lord, then you and I can breathe. We can drop the weight of trying to convert people off our shoulder. We can’t save anyone, but God can save anyone. I think a lot of times the reason we are afraid to share the gospel with others is because we put too much weight on our shoulder. We think we have to say the right words. We need to have the magic formula. Otherwise, we would fail in our evangelism. Let me tell you. We can be the best salesman in the world and still won’t be able to save a single soul without the Lord. But because salvation is of the Lord, we can have confidence when we share the gospel. You are I are not the reason for salvation. We are simply the means of getting the message of salvation to people. It is God who does the work of salvation from the beginning to the end. God never commanded us to go and save the people for him; God called us to follow him as he saves the people through us. God does not need us, but he chose to do it through us.

And my friends, this is exciting. When we participate in the gospel movement, we get to witness firsthand how God brings salvation to different people. We get to see the unsavable get saved. And what’s more exciting is that we see the hand of the Lord brings people to the Lord through us. And yet at the same time, it is not about us. Jesus is the one who empowered us to share the gospel. Jesus is the message of the gospel. The glory of Jesus is the purpose of the gospel. And Jesus is the one who does the saving through the gospel. It is the works of Jesus from the beginning to the end. And he chose to do it through you. Through me. How exciting is that? And this is how we reach wide with the gospel. Remember that it is the unnamed believers that bring the message of the gospel to Antioch. Not the apostles. Praise God for the apostles. But it is the everyday common Christians that really make the difference. That is why we need to get rid of Christian celebrity culture. Do you guys know what I mean by it? It is when we invite a Christian celebrity to attract crowds. For example, to celebrate RSI 10^th anniversary, we invite Justin Bieber to sing at our church. Is that wrong? No, it is not. But it is not as effective. Plus, we can’t afford it. It is far more effective for every member of the church to gossip the gospel wherever they are. That is how we will reach wide with the gospel.

Second, we need truth and love. We need to be like Barnabas. We need to become great at encouraging one another. Let me explain to you what it means to encourage one another. The word encouragement comes from the Greek word, “parakaleo,” which means to come alongside. And if you look at different English translations, you will find that they translate this word differently. It means that there is no one single English word that can convey its meaning. The idea behind the word is an incredible mixture of truth and love. Not truth or love, but truth and love. We need to be people of truth and love. And this is incredibly hard. To be people of truth means that we must be able to speak the truth and take the risk of offending others with what we say. To be people of love means that we must be able to affirm others and be patient and kind towards them. And we need to be both, not one or the other. And this is extremely difficult. Because our natural temperament is to lean on one over the other. I am definitely the truth type. I lost count how many times I offended people with my words in the past. I was a bad counsellor. When people came and told me their problems, I just hammered them with Biblical truths. How many truth people we have in here? How many love people?

It is very important for us to be both and to be surrounded by people who are both. We have to be surrounded by people who are not people pleaser that they just affirm everything we do and not so impatient that they just continually beat us. In order to grow, we need to be surrounded by truth and love. Think about it. Why do we need truth? Because all of us are sinners. And all of us have many blind spots to our sins. We need other people to walk alongside us and confront us on our sins. We need people who can tell us that we are not walking in line with our faith. And we also need to be the kind of people who can tell others straight in their face, “you should not do that.” Without truth, we will never really change. Why do we need love? Because if all we have is truth, no one will listen to us. If all we have is truth and we are not patient, kind and understanding toward others, people will dismiss everything we say. We know this. If people send us a text message and tell us everything wrong about us and we do not feel love and kindness from them, it does not matter how many smiley face emoticons they put on the message, we shut them off. Right? That is why we need to be both. And this is why we must be planted in MC. Truth and love work best in a small community. Do not underestimate what truth and love can do. When we become people of truth and love, it increases the fruitfulness of God’s works in our midst.

Third, interdependent. Barnabas knows his limitation. He is not afraid to acknowledge it and seeks the help of Saul of Tarsus. Here is something that you might not realize. This story begins with Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas is mention first. But it will soon change. It will soon become Paul and Barnabas. From Acts 13 onward, Paul will have all the spotlight. And Barnabas has no problem with that. Barnabas understands his limitation and he realizes he needs the help of someone who has what he does not have to take the church forward. And when they minister together, the church of Antioch explodes. Here is what I am trying to say. Your pastor does not have it all. I am extremely limited in what I can do. The only thing I am okay at is preaching the gospel. I have so many weaknesses. That is why I need all of you. The truth is, if you are in Christ, you have been given a gift. You have a role to play in the body of Christ. And I need you to exercise your gift for us to grow as a gospel church. We are one body of Christ and every member of this church is a unique part of the body. We are one body, and we are dependent on one another. This truth is evident to me when I went on a run two months ago. So, I bought new running shoes and wireless earbuds to motivate me to run. And I went on my first run. Does anyone want to guess how long I managed to run without stopping? Less than five minutes and I was dead already. And that night I was fine. But the next day when I woke up, I was sore. It’s that feeling of when one part of the body hurt, the whole body hurt. And because of it, the second run is still coming until today. Listen. God has designed that we are dependent on one another as one body in Christ. And for us to grow as a gospel church, it requires us to use our gifts to build up the body. You have the gift that I do not have. I have the gift that you do not have. And together, we can take the church further than I could on my own.

Fourth, discipleship. Or to put it in our phrase, grow deep in the gospel. This is crucial. Growing deep in the gospel is an essential part of the gospel movement. Without it, the movement dies out. Barnabas understands this and that is why he seeks Saul’s help to teach the new believers. Truth matters. Doctrine matters. So yes, we must be a church that reaches wide with the gospel, but we cannot neglect growing deep in the gospel. One of the common mistakes of the modern church is trying to water down gospel truth to reach out to more people. They try to become relevant for relevance sake. We can’t and will not go there. The people of God need to be taught the truth in order for them to grow. Look at what happens in Antioch. Barnabas and Saul commit to teaching the gospel to the people for a whole year. And the gospel affects the believers in such a way that they are eventually called Christians. The gospel movement requires us to both reach wide with the gospel and grow deep in the gospel. Without discipleship, the movement dies out.

Let me close with this. How can we be a gospel church? We have a hashtag for it. For us to be a gospel church, we have to be #GospelPeople. There is no other way. What does it mean to be gospel people? Gospel people are those who continually look to the complete works of Jesus. Why do we reach wide with the gospel? Because Jesus has reached down to save us. Jesus left the comfort of heaven and entered this sinful world to reach out to us. So now we want to reach out to others. Why do we grow deep in the gospel? Because the works of Jesus is infinitely beautiful. The death, life and resurrection of Christ captivate our heart, and we are being transformed by it day by day. Why do we become people of love and truth? Because that is what the Holy Spirit does in us. The Holy Spirit continues to reveal our sinfulness to us. He guides us into all truth. He will not leave us content with our blind spots. But he also points us to the sacrifice of Jesus. Holy Spirit is arguing with our hearts, telling us to look at Jesus. Jesus has satisfied the wrath of God for our sins. Jesus paid the price of our sins so that today we can have confidence that we are fully loved by God. Why do we exercise our gifts? Because when the Holy Spirit dwells in us, he also gives us gifts to build up the church and bring glory to Jesus’ name. Without our gifts, the church cannot operate at its maximum capacity. Our gifts are extremely crucial for us to be a gospel church. Tonight, I am inviting everyone to stop being a spectator and start playing your part in the gospel movement. And together, we will become a gospel church for the city of Sydney.

Discussion questions:

1. What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Christians”?
2. What are some of the challenges you can think of to have a church in the city of Sydney?
3. If you are Barnabas and Saul gets all the spotlight instead of you, what would you feel? How does the gospel address the issue?
4. In your own opinion, is it harder to be people of truth or love? Why is it crucial for us to be both?
5. Explain the relationship we have with one another as one body in Christ and why the church cannot function well without you and your gifts.
6. What do we mean when we say we are #GospelPeople?