Title: The Growth of the Church in Antioch
Contents
1. Words that begin
Some people who suffer from various kinds of suffering, including suffering from the global economic crisis, are self-righteous, self-deprecating, or even commit suicide because they think they are unhappy. However, sometimes we think that happiness is unhappiness and unhappiness is happiness. Therefore, we should not be intoxicated with our own happiness, nor should we prematurely get caught up in our unhappiness.
It is unfortunate that Stephen was thrown out of the city after preaching the gospel and was martyred by the stoning of the crowd. However, it can be said that it is happiness that Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, had a wonderful spiritual experience at that time to see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The spiritually ill or spiritually dead Jews, especially the Jewish religious leaders, persecuted the Jerusalem church extensively after the murder of Stephen.
2. God was with the scattered church members
It was very unfortunate that the church members in Jerusalem were scattered in all directions because of persecution. God might miraculously prevent persecution, but in reality it was not. The church members fled to Phoenicia, the then trading port and intermediary trading center, to Cyprus, the present-day island of Cyprus, and to Antioch, the capital of the Syrian state.
This unfortunate event was a happy one in that it was a evangelical mission that changed human destiny from eternal destruction to eternal salvation. Most of those members mistakenly believed that only Jews who obey the law are saved by believing in the Lord Jesus, and they preached only to Jews. However, some of those members from Cyprus and Cyrene, that is, North Africa, also preached the Lord Jesus to the Greeks.
Some church members must have felt sad that God was turning away from them even when they were being persecuted, and they must have been skeptical about the word that God protects and protects them. However, God did not ignore them, but was with them, protecting them, and guiding them. Not only did he protect and guide them while they were together, but he made them the greatest work of the gospel, which is to give eternal life to spiritually dead humans and to make people who are going to hell to become people of the kingdom of heaven. Acts 11:21 says, “The hand of the Lord was with them, and many believed and returned to the Lord.” “The hand of the Lord” means “the power of God” or “the help of God” or “the grace of God.” As a result of God's power and God's grace being with the church members who fled because of persecution and tribulation, many people repented and believed in Jesus as their Savior.
Everyone! Isn't that surprising? Because the Lord God is with us, the winds of tribulation that Satan has created have played a role in carrying the seeds of the gospel to all directions. Dear all! Are there times when you feel like nothing because of Satan's schemes, and there are times when you feel like you're useless? Believe me, the eternal wisdom of God has a plan for me, and the infinite power of God works for me. In Zechariah 4:6 we read, “He spoke to me and said, ‘This is what the Lord said to Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord of hosts, not by might, not by might, but by my spirit.”
Suffering should not be viewed only as suffering, and unhappiness should not be viewed only as unhappiness. If you look at hardships and misfortunes with the eyes of faith, you will find not only different things, but also treasures. In Psalm 119:71 we read, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes; the law of Your mouth is to me more precious than a thousand thousand gold and silver.” In Zechariah 4:7, it says, “What are you, great mountain? You shall become a plain before Zerubbabel, and when he lays out the headstone, the crowds will cry out, Grace, favor be with him.” It is that the barriers of seals that block the way, like Mount Tai, become a smooth plain in the sight of God's people. A disease like a mountain that blocks work becomes a flat land that prospers in the presence of those with whom God is with him. But, everyone, do you worship God every time you have no choice but to be with him, and do you pay attention to prayer and the Word in any circumstance whenever, wherever, and obey?
3. Barnabas sent from the church in Jerusalem
The church members who fled from persecution in Jerusalem are preaching the gospel to even Greeks from all over the Gentiles, and the hand of the Lord Jesus was with them. . The church in Jerusalem was shocked in two ways. First, I was shocked to hear that you can be saved only through faith in the Lord Jesus, regardless of the works of the law. Second, I was shocked at preaching to Gentiles who had not received the Law and had not been circumcised. So the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas, a Jew from Cyprus, to Antioch.
Antioch was a city located on the banks of the Orontes River with its back to Mount Oron, 27 km east of the Mediterranean Sea. Antioch, the capital of the Syrian province, was the second largest city after Rome and Alexandria at the time, with a population of over 500,000. The grandeur of this metropolis Antioch can be guessed from its nicknames, “Queen of the East” or “Rome of the East. This great city of Antioch, like most large cities, was like a hall of sin. In particular, this metropolis was a showcase for the excellence and evil deeds of the pagan religions of Rome and the East. However, this Antioch became the center of the Gentiles' church as the escaped members became the tools of God's mission. At the beginning of the 2nd century, the bishop of this Antioch church was the famous martyr Ignatius. This is God's wonderful providence.
The most important thing in evangelism is that neither the missionary nor the object of mission is, but God's hand is with us. God's hand was also with Barnabas when he arrived in Antioch. Barnabas was a person who had no choice but to be with God.
First, Barnabas was a good man. The original word for “good”, agatos (?γαθ??), means ‘good’ or ‘right’. Barnabas is not a person who does good or behaves rightly according to his interests, nor is he a person who does good or does righteousness according to ethical norms that can be good or evil according to time and place, God is the source of good. He was a good and righteous man who conformed to the will of the
Second, Barnabas was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He was truly a man of the Holy Spirit and a man of faith. It was a great blessing for the Antioch church to meet such a person. Who is the church member? He is a person who is a blessing to meet. We hope that all of us will be a blessing in meeting our families, church members and neighbors.
We must imitate three things from Barnabas.
First, Barnabas rejoiced when he saw God's grace. It is easy to receive and rejoice in receiving God's grace, but it is by no means easy to rejoice in seeing others receive God's grace. Even in the spiritual world, there are church members who feel sick to their stomach when their cousins buy land. But Barnabas rejoiced when he saw God's grace in allowing the believers who fled persecution to evangelize by boldly loving their souls. Also, I rejoiced when I saw the grace of God that allowed many Jews and Gentiles living in Antioch to hear the gospel and be saved by believing.
Second, Barnabas urged all members of the church to stick to the Lord with a strong heart. Prosmenein (προσμ?νειν), the original word for “stay attached”, means “stay together”, “stay together”, “live together”, etc. As important as the grace to receive salvation by hearing the gospel of Christ and believing in it is to stay and live with the Lord Jesus. A life that walks with the Lord Jesus is the way to overcome tribulation and persecution, pride and humiliation, spiritual warfare and all kinds of sins, and it is also the way of sanctification.
A church with workers like this Barnabas has no choice but to revive.
Third, Barnabas knew how to use people. As the church in Antioch grew more and more because of Barnabas, who was good and full of faith and the Holy Spirit, there was an urgent need for leaders to teach and lead new believers. So Barnabas searched for Saul, or Paul, and went to Tarsus, about 50 ri away, and brought him to Tarsus while inquiring here and there. Clearly, as the group of Christians other than Jews grew, the non-believers in Antioch gave them the nickname “Christians”.
4. Conclusion
Happiness is unhappiness, and unhappiness is happiness. Therefore, we should not be intoxicated with our own happiness, nor should we prematurely get caught up in our unhappiness. As children of God who have been saved, we must be intoxicated with God's will and be entangled in God's mission. May all of us have the heart of the Lord Jesus and be filled with faith and the Holy Spirit to become the workers of church revival.
(Pungseong Methodist Church. Books: Complete Commentary on New Testament Volume 27/ Commentary on difficult scriptures/ Prayer of Prosperity/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Understanding Paul’s Humanity/ Sermonbook 18. T. 426-3051)