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Acts 11
The delivery of the good news of Jesus to the uttermost parts of the earth began as a transaction between
just two men - the apostle Peter, and a Roman centurion named Cornelius. Cornelius was a God-fearer, a
follower of the God of Israel. Through his almsgiving and his many prayers, Cornelius had drawn near to
the true and Living God.

The Lord acknowledged the things that Cornelius did, viewing them as an offering to Him - but that
offering was lacking one essential element - Christ. So as Cornelius had drawn near to God, God now
drew near to Cornelius (Jas 4:8). He did so though Peter, whom he sent to Cornelius to offer him the words
of Life everlasting - how Cornelius, and all his household could be saved - through Jesus, the Messiah.

And Cornelius believed the word that he heard. In believing, Cornelius now had a complete offering to
present to God, the one, the only, that God could accept - His Christ. And the Lord accepted the offerer
with his offering, pouring out His Spirit upon him to show that Cornelius had been accepted in the Beloved
(Eph 1:6).

Cornelius was not the only Gentile accepted that day, for he had invited many of his countrymen to hear
Peter - and as many as believed his words also received the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The giving of
the Spirit was manifest by the speaking in tongues - foreign languages, unknown to the speaker. This
miraculous sign astounded the Jewish brethren who had come with Peter, and witnessed the event, for they
realized that the Lord had accepted the Gentiles into His church.

Afterwards, Peter had the new Gentile believers baptized in water by their Jewish brethren, as a public
testimony that they now belonged to Jesus. Peter then extended his stay at the home of Cornelius, during
which time he would have taught them more about the Lord, and opened up the Scriptures to them.

Meanwhile, word of what happened in Caesarea began to filter back through Galilee and Judea, eventually
reaching Jerusalem.

11:1-3 The members of the assembly in Jerusalem were all Jewish believers. This Jerusalem assembly
was made up of the apostles, as well as other disciples which included both common men as well as some
priests and some Pharisees, who had come to believe in the Lord, most after His death.

As the news concerning the conversion of the Gentiles reached Jerusalem, surely all of this assembly would
have been astonished, as the Jewish brethren from Joppa had been. But for some, their response would
have gone beyond astonishment, to horror - for in the details of the report, they would have learned that
Peter had entered a Gentile home, accepted Gentile hospitality, and even stayed with the Gentiles for a
period of days.

Now, who would this have been particularly upsetting to? Not to the apostles. They had spent four years
in the company of their Lord, who was no respecter of persons. They would certainly have been shocked
by the new development, but not horrified.

The ones who would have been horrified were those who were formerly Pharisees - those legalists, who
zealously went beyond the Law and interpreted it in ways that God had never intended. It was the
Pharisees who were consumed with the idea of ceremonial purifications, of keeping themselves separate
from all that was unclean - which above all, meant separation from Gentiles.
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For the believers who were formerly Pharisees, they would not even have gotten to the point of being
astonished at the Gentiles receiving the word of God; they would have stumbled simply over the horrifying
thought of Peter sharing a meal with them.

The term, Athey that were of the circumcision@ is simply a term used for referring to Jews, especially
when being contrasted with Gentiles, who were generally uncircumcised. Back in chapter 10 (v. 45), Athey
of the circumcision which believed@ referred to the believers from Joppa, formerly Jews, who had
accompanied Peter. Here in chapter 11 (v. 2), Athey that were of the circumcision@ refers to believing
members of the assembly at Jerusalem - most likely, those who were former Pharisees, since eating with
uncircumcised men would be their particular bone of contention.

Now, imagine you are a Jew back in Jerusalem in that day. All your life, you have been waiting for the
One who is the consolation of Israel - the Messiah - the One whom your Scriptures are all about. You
recognize the need of your people to be saved, and your need of that, personally.

Then you hear the good news concerning Jesus - that He is the Messiah - the hope of Israel - your hope.
And you have become persuaded that He is indeed the Messiah, who had come to save His people from
their sins - and you, from yours. You place your faith in Him - giving Him your life - and He gives His
Life to you - and gives you the Holy Spirit.

You begin to grow in His grace and knowledge, so that you have the mind of Christ. You begin to love the
Lord, in response to His love for you, which creates in you a heart that is willing to obey. And you love,
and are loved in return, by the brethren - by those others who have been joined to Christ in Spirit, and so
are joined to you. And what do those around you see? They see Christ - they see Christ=s life, lived out
through the many members of His Body.

Then, one day, you hear the news that the Gentiles have received the word of God - news that should make
you rejoice - but suddenly, things change. The brethren are no longer in agreement. They are arguing with
one another. Instead of seeing what God is doing, they are consumed over petty issues, over legalities.
Maybe one of those arguing is you.

What happened? You stopped having the mind of Christ. You had your own mind in the matter - your
own thinking, about something that is an issue with you - thinking that is sourced in the god of this world.
So you stopped receiving from God. You quenched the Spirit, so that the love was no longer flowing - in
its place, opinions - contention - division. Just like that.

And what do those around you now see? Not Christ - just people, without any power to be any different
from anyone else. People without any love in their hearts - just like the rest of the world.

It all starts in the thinking. God wants us to have His thinking on things - not our own. When we won=t
have His thinking, we can=t reflect Him - and this world desperately needs to see God - for it is wicked,
and it is perishing. It=s a choice - to let go of our own thinking, our own preconceived notions, our own
prejudices, our traditions, our rights, our ways, our will. And to have God=s will instead - which is good,
and acceptable, and perfect (Rm 12:2). And that will set us free.
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Jesus had commanded His apostles to make disciples of all nations, and to baptize them in His name; and
He had told them to instruct the new disciples in all things that He had commanded them in (Mt 28:19-20).
Isn=t that exactly what Peter had done? And the result, that the Gentiles received the word of God,
confirmed that God was in it.

Yet, in Jerusalem, there was contention - for like Peter, they had a stronghold in their thinking, concerning
the Gentiles. In Judaism, even the Pharisees proselytized among the Gentiles - but they still maintained
their separation from them.

The issue for some of the members of the assembly in Jerusalem was not so much that Peter had preached
to the Gentiles - it was that he had contact with them. This is borne out by their opening remark to Peter,
which came in the form of an accusation: AYou visited with uncircumcised men, and shared a meal with
them.@

But didn=t the Lord know that this would be a huge issue for some of them? Of course - that is why He so
carefully prepared Peter for his encounter with the Gentiles, through visions and the leading of the Spirit,
and why He so clearly demonstrated that the believing Gentiles were accepted by Him.

Having taken Peter through the experience, Peter could now be used to share that experience with the
brethren in Jerusalem, so that they, too, could see that the Lord was in this. This would restore the unity of
the Spirit, as they all chose to have Christ=s mind in the matter.

Now, do you think Peter knew what to expect when he returned to Jerusalem? You bet he did. He knew
all the way back when he was still in Joppa, when he realized what God was doing - that=s why he took six
of the Jewish brethren with him to Caesarea - to be witnesses. Later in the text, we will see that these men
accompanied him when he returned to Jerusalem.

So when Peter arrived, he was immediately charged by those of the circumcision with defiling himself
through his contact with the uncircumcised Gentiles. But Peter knew that the believing Gentiles had been
cleansed by the Lord just as the Jews had, and proceeded to lay out before the brethren in Jerusalem what
the Lord had done - just as it had occurred, from Peter=s perspective.

This is the third time that Luke is recording this incident, giving us an indication of just how momentous
and revolutionary this expansion of the gospel to the Gentiles was. Since we have gone over this incident
already in some detail, I=ll just be pointing out a few details in the record here.

v. 4-10 So Peter laid out the first circumstance that showed God=s hand in what transpired - the
mysterious vision that Peter had while he was in prayer with the Lord, repeated three times - a supernatural
vision. Notice how Peter revealed his own resistance in the vision to eating anything unclean, an objection
with which the brethren in Jerusalem would resonate.

v. 11 Here is the second circumstance that showed that God was in this - the coincidental appearance of
the messengers from Cornelius, precisely when the vision came to an end - supernatural timing. Notice
how Peter had spoken of the repetition of the vision - three times - and the number of men that came to see
him - three men. They are connected by Aand behold, immediately@. Peter was making the connection
between the men and his vision.
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v. 12-14 We have a third and fourth circumstance which showed the whole affair to be God=s doing -
supernatural instruction, from the Spirit, to accompany the men, and the another supernatural vision, given
to Cornelius, when the angel told him to send for Peter, and indicated where Peter was. It is in this passage
that we learn the detail that Peter would tell Cornelius how he and his house could be saved - something
that was essential for Cornelius, and undoubtedly a subject of his prayers.

v. 15 Peter recounted how the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles who believed, likening it to how the
disciples of Jesus received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost - they had received a visible
manifestation, speaking in other tongues, and had proclaimed the wonderful works of God. The same had
happened to the Gentiles, a sure sign that they, too, had received the Holy Spirit.

So here was the final, and most powerful circumstance that confirmed that this was all God=s doing - the
supernatural sign of speaking in tongues.

v. 16-17 Jesus had spoken these words to His disciples after He had risen from the dead. He had taught
His disciples for forty days, speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).

Just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus told His disciples to stay in Jerusalem, and wait for the promise
of the Father - the anointing for their ministry, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the gift which the Father
would give them, by which they would be clothed with power from on high (Lk 24:49). It was by that
baptism that they were empowered in their actions as the Body of Christ, their heavenly Head.

Now Peter brought together the manifestation of the Spirit in the Gentiles - the speaking in other tongues -
with the Lord=s words. Clearly the Lord had given the believing Gentiles the gift of the Holy Spirit - and
in parallel manner to how the Spirit was given on Pentecost; there was no difference. That meant that the
Gentiles had also received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, just as the Jewish disciples had; not as a separate
baptism, but the same baptism that the Jewish believers had received.

The Gentiles received that baptism when they were added to the Body of Christ, at the moment they
believed; and that was shown by the speaking in tongues. This meant that Jewish believers and Gentile
believer were members of the same body; the Body of Christ.

That is why Peter baptized the Gentiles in water. That physical baptism was a reflection of the baptism of
the Spirit that had already taken place within them. And that baptism placed them in the same body as the
Jews. That was the plan of God. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Paul wrote of the reconciliation of Jews and
Gentiles - through the blood of Christ.

[Ephesians 2:11-18]

v. 11-13 The nations rejected God at Babel, so God made a nation for Himself, to which He gave many
privileges, including His Law, and which would bring forth His Christ (Rm 9:4-5). In that sense, Israel was
near to God, while the other nations - the Gentiles - were far from Him, not having those same privileges.

But once Christ came, and the gospel went out to the Gentiles, they could now, through Him, draw near to
God - as could the Jews, for those who would believe in Him. This would then bring Jew and Gentile
together.
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v. 14 The middle wall of partition is an allusion to the temple wall, that excluded the Gentiles from the
temple proper, so that they could not enter in. The idea here is that the wall had been removed, and the
Gentiles, as well as the Jews could enter in to the true worship of God - through Christ.

v. 15-18 The ceremonial law, with its priesthood, sacrifices, and tabernacle service, was a picture of the
Coming Christ, and His work of redemption. Through the ceremonial law, God purposed to keep Israel
separated unto Himself - a holy nation.

But Israel had perverted the ceremonial law with the many traditions that they added to it, by which they
kept themselves separate from the other nations - which created an enmity between Jew and Gentile.

When Christ came, and redeemed mankind by His death on the cross, He fulfilled the Law. Once the
Reality had come, that which was only the figure became obsolete (Col 2:17).

In this way, Jesus abolished the source of enmity between Jew and Gentile - the Law - even as He fulfilled
it. He made peace, not only between men and God, but between Jew and Gentile; for in Christ, they are
reconciled to God, and to one another. They are one man, a new creation in Christ Jesus, a Spirit-filled
being.

[Return to Acts]

Now, do you think that the Jewish believers understood this, yet? I don=t think they did; but they did
understand that what had happened with Peter and the Gentiles was definitely God=s doing, and they
acknowledged it as such. Peter=s words must have rang true for them as well: Who were they, that they
could withstand God?

v. 18 That ended the contention. But understand that it was not a case that, in holding their peace, they
were keeping their disagreements to themselves - no. They had a change of thinking, for they now glorified
God for what had happened. And that change of thinking, to the Lord=s thinking, ended the dispute, and
reestablished the unity of the Spirit that prevailed among the believers.

Now they could see that God=s will for the Gentiles, that even they should be granted repentance unto Life
everlasting, was good - and acceptable - and perfect. Now, they had begun to look at the Gentiles as men,
no different from themselves - men who had been unclean in their sin, but upon hearing the gospel, had a
change of heart, and had turned from their sin, and embraced the One who could make them clean - the
Lord Jesus. And Jesus had embraced them right back - with Life everlasting.

What a marvelous thing to see - that God is no respecter of persons. He had chosen to enter into fellowship
with both Jew, and Gentile. How could they then fault Peter, for fellowshipping with those that the Lord
had cleansed?

The light had begun to dawn in the hearts of the brethren in Jerusalem - that an infinite God could not limit
His love to just one tiny little nation. God=s love desires the whole world, for whom He gave His only
begotten Son.
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This was just the beginning for the Jewish brethren, as they opened themselves to the idea of evangelizing
the Gentiles. And as always with the Lord, the timing was right early, for they were about to hear about a
Gentile development that would result in an expansion of the gospel, on a scale of which they would never
have conceived. With this development, Luke=s account will take a dramatic new turn - deep into Gentile
territory.

v. 19 The believers were scattered abroad by the persecution that ensued after the death of Stephen. Let=s
go back and look at that once again. Turn to Acts chapter 8. This took place directly after Stephen was
stoned to death by the Hellenist Jews and the Sanhedrin.

[Acts 8:1-4] Stephen himself had formerly been a Hellenist - a foreign-born Jew - and a leader in the
community of believers. The persecution was against the church in general, but would have been
particularly focused on the former Hellenists, since Stephen was a Hellenist. They would have been the
principle group that was scattered abroad throughout Judea and Samaria, and the ones who tended to
migrate further, as they were not native to the region.

The apostles stayed in Jerusalem; the church there would have retained mostly former Hebrews - the
native-born Jews, indigenous to the area. The Aeverywhere@ to which the believers went, preaching the
word, is picked up by Luke in our account in chapter 11.

[Return to Acts 11]

(See map) So the persecuted believers, principally former Hellenist Jews, continued to migrate northward
beyond Judea and Samaria, continuing along the Mediterranean coast, past Caesarea, to Phoenicia (KJV,
APhenice@), which was about 100 miles north of Jerusalem, and contained the trading ports of Tyre and
Sidon.

Some sailed by ship to the large island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, about 60 miles off the Syrian coast;
while others continued along the coast until they reached Antioch in Syria, which was about 300 miles
north of Jerusalem. In each of these places were large communities of Hellenist Jews, which were natural
places for the Jewish believers to settle.

We read that these disciples, who had been scattered abroad by the persecution, scattered seed as they went
- the incorruptible seed of the word of God (1 Pet 1:23), containing the message of eternal Life - the gospel.
But these former Hellenist Jews only thought to preach the gospel to their own people - to fellow Jews.
And what was the effect of the preaching? Luke is silent on the point.

v. 20-21 The first word of verse 20, translated Aand@ in the KJV, is a transition word; it is often
translated Abut@, and is used when something else is being introduced. Here, Luke was introducing a new
audience of the gospel - an audience other than the Jews. Who was this audience?

The KJV says AGrecians@, which is the word normally used for Hellenist Jews. Some Greek manuscripts
use this word, but others use the word for AGreek@, which is commonly used for Gentiles. Based on the
previous verse, and the transition word Abut@ being used, most agree that the meaning here is Gentiles - in
contrast to the Jews to whom the word was originally preached (v. 19).
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The preachers were men that were originally from Cyprus, the island just off the Syrian coast, and Cyrene,
in North Africa. These would have been Hellenist Jews, then - Greek speaking, foreign-born Jews, who
would have been familiar with cosmopolitan, Greek-speaking cities such as Antioch.

And Antioch was very cosmopolitan. It was the third largest city in the Roman empire, behind Rome and
Alexandria, with a population at the time of half a million people. Antioch was both a commercial hub as
well as a political center, serving as the capital of Syria, and the headquarters of Rome=s Syrian legion.

Antioch was a city of great opulence, as well as moral laxity. It was known for its pagan religious
diversity. In fact, all religions were well-tolerated in Antioch; the Jews there were able to worship freely.
Both Gentiles and Jews were accepted cultures in Antioch; in fact, the two groups were far less segregated
than in other cities.

This resulted in the Jews there being more accepting of Greek culture and ways. Conversely, there were
many Gentiles who became interested in the Jewish religion, with the result that Antioch had a large
population of proselytes - Jewish converts - and God-fearers - those who became followers of Jehovah
God, similar to Cornelius.

Now, as I mentioned before, the Hellenist refugees from Jerusalem had been preaching the gospel to only
the Jews in the cities they came to; but in Antioch, something caused them to begin preaching to the
Gentiles, as well.

Remember that there is no mention by Luke of any of the Jews to whom they preached turning to the Lord.
Could it be that none, or few, believed? This may have been part of the reason that they preached to the
Gentiles.

Also, the populations of Jews and Gentiles were so integrated in Antioch, that the disciples who were
preaching may have had mixed audiences, even in the synagogues - for the God-fearers and the proselytes
would have been in attendance there. Could it be that these God-fearers and proselytes turned to the Lord,
and encouraged the disciples to preach to more of their Gentile acquaintances - like Cornelius with his
friends?

At any rate, the response from the Gentile audiences was overwhelming - a great number believed, and
turned to the Lord. This would naturally have led to more preaching in Gentile quarters.

Why was the response among the Gentiles so great? Because in Antioch, these Gentiles were steeped in
pagan idolatry, and in worldly excess - they had drunk it to the dregs, and found no satisfaction in it. These
Gentiles were parched for Living Water - and when they encountered men filled to the brim with the Spirit,
who offered them the same satisfaction that they had found, they were ready to take it in - and found their
thirst entirely satisfied - in the Lord Jesus.

Notice that the disciples preached Jesus to these Gentiles as Lord (v. 20). To the Jews, Jesus was presented
as the Messiah, with whom they were so familiar, in their Scriptures. But the Gentiles knew nothing about
Jesus as Israel=s Messiah - and so to them, He was presented as the Lord - as God - a concept that they had
at least some understanding of, from their many false gods. The lawless Gentiles needed to be willing to
accept Jesus as Lord - as their Master.
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Whatever the other reasons might have been that the disciples began to preach to the Gentiles, there was
one reason above all - a divine reason. The hand of the Lord was with them. It was the Lord=s chosen
timing, and the Lord=s chosen place, for the gospel to go out into the Gentile world.

With Cornelius, the Lord had Peter use the key of the gospel to open up the kingdom of heaven to the
Gentiles. But the Lord used unnamed disciples in a faraway city to begin to bring those Gentiles into His
kingdom - so that once again, it could be seen to be all God=s doing.

The conversion of so many Gentiles was quite a phenomenon, and the news flew back to Jerusalem about
this development.

v. 22-24 Now, the church in Jerusalem had been prepared by the Lord for the evangelization of the
Gentiles through Peter and Cornelius. So when the brethren there heard the news about the Gentiles in
Antioch, they were receptive to it.

Previously, the church in Jerusalem had heard about Philip evangelizing the Samaritans, and they had sent
Peter and John as their representatives, to confirm the story. In the case of the Samaritans, the
empowerment of the Spirit was withheld by God until Peter and John laid their hands upon the Samaritans
(Acts 8:5-17).

In the current situation, the church in Jerusalem took similar action, sending a representative to confirm the
story - but this time, they did not send one or more of the apostles; they chose Barnabas. Why?

Well, those in Jerusalem had learned from the experience with Cornelius that the Spirit was not given
through the laying on of an apostle=s hands, or anyone else=s; that if God intended to give the gift of the
Spirit, He could do so without any help! Also, they recognized that the essential need in this case was for
someone who had some familiarity with the Gentile world.

Perhaps the church even surmised that the one whom they sent would need to remain for a time, to help in
the work. And who better than Barnabas, who just happened to be in Jerusalem at that time? This was
undoubtedly another of the Lord=s extraordinary workings of people and timing and events, brought to
coincide for His eternal purposes.

We first encountered Barnabas back in Acts chapter 4, learning that he was a Hellenist Jew, from the island
of Cyprus. Barnabas was actually a nickname, given by the apostles to reflect the character of this man
(Joses was his given name).

Barnabas means, Ason of consolation@, or encouragement. His act of encouragement at the time was to
sell his own property and give the proceeds to the apostles, for distribution among the impoverished
believers in Jerusalem (Acts 4:34-37). Here we see the generous spirit of Barnabas.

We later see Barnabas encouraging the young Saul, who had gone up to Jerusalem to fellowship with the
believers there, but found them all shunning him out of fear. Though others had closed their minds to Saul,
Barnabas had an open mind, and discerned that Saul had a genuine change of heart, believing in the Lord
Jesus. It was Barnabas who opened the door for Saul to meet with James and Peter there, and convinced
them of his conversion (Acts 9:26-28). In this, we see the bold faith of Barnabas.
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This was a believer of great character; a good man, because God, who is good, could work through him; a
man full of the Holy Spirit, because he was willing to yield himself to God; a man full of faith, because he
was willing to trust in God. Through such a man, God could powerfully work - and so we see Barnabas at
some of the critical moments in the book of Acts, through whom God is working His purposes.

And this was one of those critical moments. By divine Providence, Barnabas happened to be in Jerusalem,
or the vicinity. And the church in Jerusalem recognized that he was especially well-fitted for the work.

Some of the disciples who had evangelized the Gentiles in Antioch were from Cyprus, as was Barnabas.
Also, being a Hellenist, he was fluent in Greek, and would be at ease in a Gentile culture. His character
was proven; his open-mindedness and discernment had been demonstrated as well, in the incident with
Saul. He was just the man for the job - as the Lord well knew.

When Barnabas arrived, he discerned that the grace of God was abounding in this new work - a source of
great joy for him. Barnabas out-and-out rejoiced that the gospel was being received by the Gentiles - for
like God, he had learned to be no respecter of persons. Here were souls that were being won to the Lord in
droves. It was just exhilarating.

So Barnabas acted in accordance with his name - he encouraged the believers, exhorting them to be
steadfast with the Lord; to constantly, and faithfully, attach themselves to Him. And multitudes,
presumably most of them Gentiles, continued to be added to the Lord.

As time went on, Barnabas recognized that this work of God was growing beyond him. The new believers
needed to be taught; and the work was too extensive for him to handle alone, along with the other disciples
in the city. He needed help. And who was brought to his mind? Saul.

v. 25 It would have required diligent searching to locate Saul. It was several years ago that Saul had left
Jerusalem, after having spent only ten days there in the company of Barnabas, Peter and James.

You may recall that Saul had to be whisked out of the city, having roused the ire of the Hellenist Jews with
his preaching of Jesus. They had brought him down to Caesarea, and from there he was sent forth to
Tarsus, his ancestral home.

It is likely that Saul was disinherited in Tarsus for having become a disciple of Jesus (see Phil 3:8). He
may have become an itinerant preacher at this time. Saul=s own record in the Scriptures seems to indicate
that he began to evangelize the areas of Syria and Cilicia on his own during this period (Gal 1:21). This
work may have reached the ears of Barnabas in Antioch.

Although Barnabas only spent ten days with Saul in Jerusalem, Saul would certainly have made an
impression on Barnabas. As Barnabas listened to Saul preach in the Hellenist synagogues, he would have
seen the depth of Saul=s knowledge of the Scriptures, coupled with what the Spirit had taught him during
his three year tenure in Arabia. He would have seen the character of the man - with his zeal for God, that
had so recently been tempered with the Love of the Lord.
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Now, in the natural realm, it would not be surprising if Barnabas put the thought of Saul right out of his
mind. After all, having seen Saul preach, having seen the breadth of that intellect, having seen the depth of
understanding that the Lord had worked in, Barnabas would have recognized that it was entirely likely that
Saul would upstage him, in the work; that Barnabas would lose his position of preeminence over the
people.

But do you think that a man like Barnabas thought in the natural realm? The record in Scripture shows he
did not. Barnabas was heavenly minded. He had the mind of Christ; and in Christ=s kingdom, a preacher
or a teacher did not have preeminence over the people; that position was occupied by only One - Christ.

A preacher or a teacher is a servant of the people; and Barnabas would have desired Saul to be his fellow
servant in the work, for the benefit of the Body of Christ. The issue was not who was doing the serving in
the Body; it was serving in Love, for the benefit of the Body.

The addition of Saul would have benefited these young believers in another way. While Barnabas had been
graced by God more with the ability to exhort and inspire, Saul was graced more as a prophet and a teacher.
These differences between Barnabas and Saul, along with their unique temperaments, would all be used by
the Lord to create a more comprehensive understanding in these young believers at Antioch.

Finally, the addition of Saul ensured that there would be no attachment to a single person, and more of a
tendency to do as Barnabas had originally exhorted them - to cleave unto the Lord.

You can see it was a blessing, that Barnabas recognized his own limitations, and was willing to depend on
the Lord for the sufficiency of the work - for the Lord knew just the right man to come alongside of
Barnabas, and brought him to mind.

After a diligent search, Barnabas found Saul.

v. 26 For a year, Barnabas and Saul taught the new believers in Antioch, establishing them in the faith. It
would seem that the predominately Gentile assembly meshed well with the Jewish believers, probably
because of the cultural blending that already existed between the two groups in Antioch.

It was in Antioch that believers were first called Christians. The term means AChrist Ones@. Its exact
origin is unknown, but it was generally thought to have been a nickname given by outsiders to believers.
One theory is that it was a title similar to that formed on the analogy of adherents to a political party - the
Caesarians, the Herodians, etc.

The residents of Antioch were known for their propensity to ridicule, and the term AChristians@ expressed
their derision for this new group. By the second century, however, the Christians themselves decided to
adopt the title. Who would have guessed how long that nickname would last!

The church that had originated in Jerusalem assumed a very different character in Antioch, with its
predominantly Gentile assembly. But the last part of Luke=s account shows the unity of the Spirit that
existed between the two, for they were fellow members of the Body of Christ.

v. 27-30 This is the first mention of prophets in the book of Acts, as well as elders. Elders were mature
believers who began to oversee the assemblies. That they were becoming established in Jerusalem showed
a transition from the initial leadership of the apostles.
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# 31: 6-1-07

Prophets were those graced with speaking God=s words, as revealed to them by the Spirit; they were God=s
mouthpiece, so to speak. They were frequently the preachers, in NT times.

It would seem that the church in Jerusalem sent some prophets to Antioch to help in the work there. One of
them was Agabus, whose name means Aa grasshopper@. It is interesting that someone with that name was
used by the Lord to foretell of a great famine that would affect the Roman world!

In fact, several famines occurred within the decade, during the reign of Claudius Caesar, who was emperor
of Rome from AD 41-54. One famine that hit Judea particularly hard occurred around 45-46 AD, probably
about one or two years after this prophecy was made. We will meet Agabus again near the end of the book
of Acts, when he will foretell how Paul=s ministry will conclude (Acts 21:10-11).

What a remarkable response on the part of the brethren in Antioch! Before the famine was even a reality,
the disciples began to set money aside, based on their own prosperity, for the brethren in Judea. Why
Judea? Because they knew that these brethren would suffer the most, in that the church was impoverished
there, having been stripped of their property and livelihoods by the rulers in Jerusalem.

To an assembly 300 miles away, to people they had never met, with whom they did not even share a
common heritage, they gave their money. What was their motivation? Love - the love of the brethren. By
faith, they gave what was needed, before it even was needed. Faith works by love.

The brethren in Antioch also chose two of its most prominent members to administer the alms to the elders
in Jerusalem. You can see that the brethren considered this ministry as important. As for Barnabas and
Saul, they did not take it lightly either, but were willing to set aside their work in order to bring it to
Jerusalem. No ministry is insignificant, when it is the Lord=s - and when it is done in Love.

Over the summer - read Acts!