No Change in Message or Methods

Transcript

GR 1606
05/29/11
No Change in Message or Method
Acts 11:19-30
Gil Rugh

We'll be in Acts 11 in your Bibles. The expansion of the church to include Gentiles was the subject of Acts 10:1-11:18. Up until that point the church had been comprised of Jews from its beginning in Acts 2. Then it had reached out to the Samaritans in Acts 8, which remember, are mixed-blood Jews as a result of intermarrying Jews with non-Jews. But they still had the Jewish connection. Now with Acts 10 and the first part of Acts 11 the gospel has been carried to Gentiles as Gentiles. They have clearly experienced God's salvation apart from converting to Judaism. They received the Spirit when they believed the gospel that Peter presented to them. This is a momentous change.

Come over to Ephesians 2. Some of these passages we have become very familiar with, we have returned to on several occasions. In Ephesians 2 Paul reminds the Gentiles of their condition apart from the saving work of Christ. And verse 11, therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision which is performed in the flesh by human hands. So the reminder of circumcision and circumcision was that physical sign that marked the Jews as part of the covenant people of God in distinction from all others. Remember, verse 12, that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. That's the condition. In the days of Abraham 2,000 years before Christ down until the coming of Christ and His finished work, that's the condition of the Gentiles. There were a few Gentiles saved, but by and large they are few. And what did they do? They converted to Judaism because the Gentiles as Gentiles were excluded from, verse 12, the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise. And thus they had no hope, they were without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both into one, both groups, Jews and Gentiles, into one. And broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in His flesh the enmity which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.

The barrier had been established by God. We've talked about it in Acts, we've talked about it in Romans. But the Mosaic Law with all of its commandments served to separate Israel from the surrounding nations and non-Jewish peoples. Put a barrier up, excluding them. Now that barrier has been removed and salvation is available to all through faith in Jesus Christ.

Verse 16, and that He might reconcile them both, Jew and Gentile alike, in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. So the message comes to Gentile and Jew alike. For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. So now Jew and Gentile alike join together in one body as God's household, as God's temple where He now dwells.

Come back to Acts 11. So the events here have been momentous. It will take time for the Jews to absorb this. There will be times when they revert to their old ways. Even Peter will stumble as Paul records in Galatians. He had to rebuke him because Peter withdrew from the close fellowship with Gentiles when there were some Jews who came from Jerusalem. Easy to fall back to the old ways, but the change has come about. The clarity of God's salvation now, not just for Jews but open to all wherever they are, as the people they are. Whether they are Gentiles, whether they are Jews. The nationality now is not an issue because this saving grace of God is available to the Gentiles.

So when you come to verse 19 and down through the end of the chapter, what Luke is going to do in his record of the history here is record something of the expansion of the ministry to the Gentiles now. We've had that focal response and the acceptance and recognition of the fact by the Jewish leadership in the church at Jerusalem, the apostles and those joined with them in the church at Jerusalem, which is the center of the new church. They have recognized God's grace going to the Gentiles. Verse 18, they said when they heard Peter's account of how God had saved the Gentiles, well, then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance to life. Repentance of sins, involving that turning from sin to Christ and faith in Him, which brings the life of God into the life of that individual. They recognized that God has granted repentance to life to the Gentiles.

Now we're going to see the gospel carried to other Gentiles. In verse 20 we're going to read about men from Cyprus, Cyrene who came to Antioch and they preach to Greeks also. So you see now it's beyond. It's not just Peter but now others carrying the gospel out so the Gentiles would hear. And verse 21 will tell us the hand of the Lord was with them and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. So now we have an influx of Gentiles into the church. And we'll see other matters here in this section, which prepares the way for Paul's ministry, which we'll pick up in Acts 13, and carrying the gospel specifically to Gentile parts of the world.

Let's pick up with verse 19. Verses 19-21 talk about the evangelization of Antioch. We connect back to the scattering of believers as the result of the persecution of Stephen. So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen, made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

You come back to Acts 8 for the connection. Stephen was stoned in Acts 7 under the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem for his preaching the message of Christ. Then Acts 8 opened up talking about Saul's agreement in putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

So now we pick up in Acts 11:19, so then those who were scattered because of the persecution in connection with Stephen. So we're telling how these believers ended up out in these places. Now between Acts 8 and where we are in Acts 11, Saul has been converted himself and Peter has been used of God to bring the gospel to Gentiles. And that's in a context where the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem has been prepared to accept as part of the plan of God the salvation of Gentiles as Gentiles, not requiring their conversion to Judaism to be acceptable before God. So these who were scattered made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. Phoenicia is over on the coast of the Mediterranean, Tyre and Sidon, we're familiar with those biblical cities, are in Phoenicia. Cyprus is the island out in the Mediterranean there. And then Antioch is up to the north, you go up through Palestine all the way up and then you would make the bend there where the land goes around, southern Turkey today. Antioch is up just before you would make the bend.

There were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene. Men from the island of Cyprus and Cyrene. Interesting, Cyrene is in modern day Libya, so you get an idea of where that is. But these believers who have been scattered in different places come to Antioch. They are out in different parts of the world. Now we see in verse 19, they had been preaching to no one but Jews alone, because as they had been scattered out of Jerusalem they had no understanding. They had been prepared for it and Christ had told them to go and make disciples of all the nations, but they hadn't comprehended that, yet. So they are preaching to Jews. But in the plan of God in verse 20, there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus, the good news concerning the Lord Jesus.

Now Antioch is going to become a key city here. It's going to become a focal point of the ministry of expanding the church to a broader number of Gentiles. Just a little bit about Antioch, it's a strange place for the Lord to pick. We are in now a non-Jewish city. It at this time in the Roman Empire was the third largest city in the Empire, after Rome itself and Alexandria in Egypt. So it's a significant city. Estimated by some, it's hard when you go back that far, to be perhaps 500-600,000 people with a large community of Jews, relatively large but a small portion of that overall number. It was a commercial center, it was a political center and it had a reputation for being a very vile and immoral city. Some of you are familiar with a Roman writer of the time, Juvenol, and he said that the filth from Antioch was having a polluting influence on Rome, which was 1300 miles away. So that's how a Roman writer of the time saw Antioch. It's such a vile, filthy city that the filth of that city even has a polluting influence on Rome. And you are 1300 miles from Rome in Antioch and you didn't have the ease of travel and back and forth as we have today. And yet this is the city that's going to become the base for the Apostle Paul to carry the gospel to Gentile parts of the world. Amazing how God works.

We sometimes look at places that are exceptionally vile and seem consumed by sin. We think that's the last place we want to be. But God often selects those places to do marvelous work. So here you have people who have come and are bringing the gospel to Greeks in the city of Antioch. And the hand of the Lord was with them. We see a constant emphasis in the book of Acts that God is sovereign in the work of salvation. Their ministry is effective not because they were so brilliant, so persuasive, the hand of the Lord was with them. It was His power. He is what is bringing about the results. And a large number who believed turned to the Lord. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that salvation is not of yourself, it's the gift of God. Not as a result of works lest any man should boast. The hand of the Lord was upon them and you have a large number who believed, that turned to the Lord.

Now here you have a connection of expressions. They believed, they turned to the Lord. Sometimes you'll have believed used without turning, sometimes you'll have turning to the Lord used to express their salvation. It's part of the work of God. When a person truly believes, they turn from their sin, they turn from their rebellion, they turn from their rejection and turn to the Lord. And so turning to the Lord is connected to salvation. That's not a separate work, as though you are adding works to salvation. That's part of the package of salvation when by grace an individual believes, they will turn to the Lord. So sometimes you can talk about their salvation as being a turning to the Lord.

Turn over to I Thessalonians 1. Paul is talking about the salvation of the Thessalonians and their saving response to the gospel when he brought it to them. And verse 9, for they themselves, those who have heard and witnessed the testimony of the Thessalonians. They themselves report about us, what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to the God. See there is that word, you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. You see that turn. They turned to God from idols, they turned from their rebellion to serving Him, turning from a rejection and a refusal to believe in Him to anticipating His return from heaven. So they turn.

Come back to Acts 3. Peter preaching the gospel here, his second sermon after his sermon on the Day of Pentecost. And he has presented the gospel. Verse 14, you disowned the holy and Righteous One, asked for a murderer to be granted to you. You put to death the Prince of life, the One whom God raised from the dead, the fact to which we are witnesses. Verse 17, now, brethren, I know you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also, but the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, has been fulfilled. Therefore, repent and return. That word return, same word we have, turn. So that your sins may be wiped away. Here repent and return. That change of mind with a change of action. So you turn from your rebellion and rejection. It's part of saving faith. Just like repentance is part of saving faith, the package of salvation. When a person is truly saved, they've truly repented; when they've truly believed, they've repented; when they've truly believed, they turn. You don't continue the same pattern, you don't continue on the same course. You turn. Some people say, I trusted Christ. I continued in my same religious pattern, I'm still part of the same apostate church. Wait a minute, people who are saved turn from their old religious ways, their old life. That's part of the power of God in a life.

Acts 9:35, and all who lived and Lydda and Sharon saw him and they turned to the Lord. There you just have the word turned, expressing their salvation. They turned to the Lord. What does that mean? They believed in Him. So they turned from their rejection of Him to their faith in Him, from their worship of idols or whatever to the worship of God and so on.

Over in Acts 15, which we haven't gotten to yet. Here we'll be at the Council of Jerusalem where there is further discussion and resolving of the differences between Jewish believers and Gentile believers. Verse 19, therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles. They are turning to God from among the Gentiles, they are placing their faith in Christ. They are turning from their rebellion, from their rejection, from their sinful ways and so on. They are turning to God. That's God's work in salvation, that's not something we do to change our life and clean up our life. That's something the power of God does in us when He makes us new creatures. That's part of that work. I wouldn't place my faith in Him if I didn't repent and change my mind about who He is and what He has done, if I wasn't turning from my rebellion to submission.

Acts 26, Paul recounting his testimony and what God intended for Him to do. And God's hand would be upon him to protect him and to use him in the proclamation of the gospel. Verse 17, Paul says that God says He would protect him from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you. Verse 18, what is he to do with the Gentiles? To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may received forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. Our salvation is by faith, but saving faith, part of that is turning from darkness to light, turning from the dominion of Satan to God. My eyes are opened, I realize He is the Savior. That means I am turning, I'm trusting in Him. Down in verse 20, Paul said he was not disobedient to this heavenly vision, but verse 20, he kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, then in Jerusalem, then throughout the region of Judea and even to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds or works appropriate to repentance. Life has changed. If you've really turned from darkness to light, turned from the realm of Satan to the dominion of God, naturally they you will perform deeds appropriate to a life that has turned.

One other passage, then we have to get back to where we were. Acts 28, quoting from the prophet Isaiah. The heart of this people has become dull, verse 27. With their ears they scarcely hear, they have clothed their eyes, otherwise they might hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and return. And I would heal them. You'll note that statement, understand with their hearts and return. That word translated return is the same translation of the Greek word to turn, to turn. They would understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. When a person turns from their sin to God, trusting in the salvation He has provided, God heals them spiritually. Therefore let it be known this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. They will also listen, they'll respond, they will turn and be healed.

So come back to Acts 11. It's important we understand these expressions are not additions to the gospel. They are declaring salvation, using different terminology. But it's all part of God's work. It is a result of the work of God on a heart that brings them to faith, it's a result of the work of God on a heart that causes them to turn, that causes them to repent and so on. But these are not separate, these are part of the package of that salvation. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that salvation is not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. So part of the work of God.

So in Acts 11:21, when it says and the hand of the Lord was with them and a large number who believed turned to the Lord, the last part of that is tied to the first part. The hand of the Lord was with them, His sovereign power is at work as they are giving out the gospel. And a large number who believed turned to the Lord. The manifestation of that is the turning.

So verse 22, and verses 22-26 we'll talk about the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in Antioch. Verse 22, the news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem. So the church at Jerusalem. Interesting now, here the identification. It's not just the apostles at Jerusalem, but it's the church at Jerusalem because it's more than just the apostles, even though the apostles of course will form the core of leadership there. But there are elders in the church as we'll see.

When the news reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. They hear this response of the Gentiles to the gospel in Antioch, so they select a trusted member, Barnabas, who had been part of the church from the early days. Wee saw him back in Acts 4, we've seen him with Paul already, Saul. They sent him to Antioch. We want you to go up and check out the work. But they've already been prepared for this, they already understand, according to Acts 11:18, that God has granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life. But now they send a representative to go and report what is taking place.

They sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced. I love that, you witness the grace of God. How do you witness the grace of God? You see the result of God's grace working in a life, right? Another reminder of the transformation brought about. God's grace works on a heart, that is unseen as He moves on the heart and mind of a person. But you see that grace in the way you see the salvation, the life is changed. He sees Gentiles here, now, worshiping God, manifesting the work of the Spirit in their life, responding to the truth, hungering to know the Word of God. So when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced. He rejoiced. And what's he going to do? He encourages them. Remember Barnabas, the Encourager, the Son of Encouragement. And here he carries on that ministry. He encouraged them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. So he's challenging them to have that firm, unshakable commitment and continue to follow through with it, that you indeed have believed the truth. But he knows there will be countless kinds of pressures upon them to turn back to their old ways, to their old religions. Family pressures are great, pressure of friends, the pressure of the city around them. This is a godless city, these are people who live and work in a very godless city. That's why we mentioned something of the character of this city. Barnabas encourages them to stay firm, to continue to be true to the Lord.

Why did he do this? For he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. What a testimony. He was a good man, he partakes of the character of God, who is good. He was full of the Holy Spirit. He lived his life under the control of the Spirit of God and he has strong, unshakable faith. You know interesting how the Lord works. We know Barnabas well by name. All we know about some of these men like the men of Cyprus and Cyrene in verse 20 is that they came and preached to the Gentiles. And the Lord's hand was upon them and multitudes are saved. But we don't identify them out by name. But they were used mightily by God. They don't have the prominence that a Barnabas is going to have, but they are used greatly. The hand of the Lord was upon them. A reminder, it's not just the prominent people in Acts that are used greatly by God in accomplishing His work, but it's those that are not known. But here Barnabas, marked out in a special way—a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. I take it that these men who were there preaching the gospel to the Greeks continue, and now Barnabas joins with them and he can nurture the new believers and he also would continue to preach the gospel.

Back to Acts 9. This is where we've last seen Barnabas. Saul was converted, remember. Then when he went to Jerusalem, the believers in Jerusalem and the church at Jerusalem were reluctant to accept Saul. Maybe this is a trick to infiltrate the church and identify believers more clearly and accelerate the persecution. But verse 27, but Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and so on. There you see Barnabas with Saul, stepping up to seek out Saul and befriend Saul and bring him and gain him an acceptance with the apostles in Jerusalem.

So come back to Acts 11:25, we're told he left for Tarsus to look for Saul. I'm going to get a map sometime between now and Acts 28. But we're here in Antioch, if you just go up around the Mediterranean and jog over, you would come to Tarsus. So Barnabas leaves Antioch to go look for Saul. Interesting, the appreciation that Barnabas has for Saul. Some time has passed since the events of Acts 9, but he is confident that Saul could play a major role here in the ministry of this new church in Antioch. Interesting, he is another Jew. We're dealing with large numbers of Gentiles being saved, but he thinks Saul will have a role to play here and is familiar somewhat with the Lord's appearance to Saul on the Damascus Road because he could relate to the apostles in Jerusalem what the Lord had done and appeared to him and so on.

Anyway, he goes to look for Saul. The word to look denotes somewhat of an intense search. He didn't know exactly where in Tarsus he was, so he goes and hunts him down, searches him out. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers. A church has been established at Antioch, people have believed. What is God's intention in this day? That believers be joined together as His church in that place. So we have a church here in Antioch. And you have a whole year with Barnabas and Saul as the teachers of these new believers. And you can be sure the evangelistic activity continues on. So the church would grow and be established.

Considerable numbers have been brought to the Lord. And we have that same thing said in verse 26. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The church is growing, maturing and getting a recognition. The disciples are first called Christians in Antioch. It's a common title for us now, the word Christian. But here we have it used for the first time. Probably by the outsiders who would identify this new religious group. What do you call them? Well, they are ones who belong to Christ. It's the word, as we have it, Christ with an ending on it. Those belonging to Christ, associated with Christ, identified with Christ is the idea. The word disciples will fade from its use and they'll be called believers. The word Christian doesn't become a dominant word. In fact it's only used two more times in the New Testament letters. Over in Acts 26 when Paul is sharing the gospel with Herod, Herod will say, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. And then Peter says in I Peter 4:16, if any of you suffer as a Christian, you're not to be ashamed. But here we have the word that over time for us has become the dominant identifying word of one who is a follower of Christ. He is a Christian, he is one identified with Christ, who belongs to Christ.

Now at this time. So we have a break here because it's not a totally new subject because it's connected. Because what we're going to see is the unity of the church. The church at Antioch is going to be clearly identified in a spiritual bond with the church at Jerusalem. So the connection there, and this is crucial because Barnabas being there will bring that connection as well. Saul has already had a meeting with some of the apostles in Jerusalem so that the doctrine stays connected, the apostolic doctrine.

We have some prophets who came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. So the prophets, those who were receiving direct revelation for the church. They are like Old Testament prophets, but they are different. These are New Testament prophets, and what they are receiving is revelation from God regarding His plans and purposes for the church. Because there is no New Testament Scriptures. So what is God doing now? So these prophets can come and bring special messages from God.

And one named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would be certainly a great famine over all the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius, the Roman Emperor Claudius. That help us. Claudius was Roman Emperor from 41 A.D. to 54 A.D. He succeeded Gaius who had been assassinated. So we're in that time period from 41 to 54 A.D. During his reign there will be a famine over all the world. And they can trace the famine, and it spread around the world. It's known that Judea, the region where Jerusalem is, which is of particular concern here, suffered a severe famine somewhere between the years 45 A.D. and 48 A.D. So we know when that famine is going to hit the church in Jerusalem. We are sometime before that.

So the plan of the church in Antioch. Verse 29, in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. So there is going to be a famine over all the world, but this is prophesied by Agabus so that those in Antioch can know what is going to happen to the church in Jerusalem. So they are going to send a contribution for the relief of the believers who will experience this famine in an intense way in Judea, the church at Jerusalem.

And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders. So we get an idea here, it's been called the church there in Jerusalem, verse 22. The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem. And now we're told in verse 30, this church in Jerusalem has a certain structure, it has elders. The church at Jerusalem is where the bulk of the apostles have resided and maintained their identity. But there are elders overseeing the work of the church in Jerusalem. So the church at Antioch gathers money to send to the church at Jerusalem. What are they doing? They are recognizing the place that the church at Jerusalem has had in their lives, the place that it has in their continuing life as the center of apostolic doctrine and truth. Barnabas has come to them from the church in Jerusalem, they have received that benefit. And now they have opportunity. This is a prosperous city, Antioch, it's a major commercial and political center, there is lots of money here. And that would have its impact on the church at Antioch, to be sure. At any rate they take a collection and send it to the church at Jerusalem. What are they doing? They are recognizing their tie to Jerusalem, not because of its Jewishness but because of the apostolic leadership that comes out of the church there. Again, we see the connection so that the church remains unified, built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians. And so that you don't get a Gentile church out here, developing its own strange doctrine and twists and the Jewish church in Jerusalem with a different set. No, there is a unity. So they send this.

Over in Acts 14 you'll see elders. Paul will establish this pattern of establishing elders when he travels on his missionary journey and founds churches where he goes. He has been through the region of Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, verse 21, preached the gospel, people have been saved. Then he retraces his steps back through, verse 22, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, telling them that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, they prayed, commended them to the Lord. And they move on. You see elders appointed for the leadership.

And then over in Acts 20:17, from Miletus, and this is talking about Paul, he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. So even in its early stage, there are godly men appointed who have the responsibility of the oversight of the flock. Not to be dictators, but they are going to be those as Acts 20 goes along to tell, they are responsible for protecting the flock, for ministering the truth, for guarding it against the infiltration of error and so on. So the church at Jerusalem has a structure with elders. It is recognized as the center of the church, even though now Antioch will become its own center. For Paul's ministry will be built out of Antioch, not Jerusalem. But there will be no difference in the doctrine between Paul and the apostles in the church in Jerusalem. So Antioch is going to become a center but not independent in that sense, not cut off from Jerusalem. So this gift somewhat ties them together, somewhat the way we do when we give money to others in other places in ministry. We tie together with them in ministry. Here there is a special part in this in recognizing the place the church at Jerusalem has in keeping the church unified.

Two things I want to note here with the expansion of the church, and we keep emphasizing this because remember we are part of the history of the church. We are just about 2,000 years further down the road. But in this expansion of the church we have moved out from just the Jews to the Samaritans and now to Gentiles and to large numbers of Gentiles. But both the methods and the message are unchanged. What do they do? Verse 19, those who were scattered, the end of the verse, made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word. Speaking the word. And some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, came to Antioch, speaking to the Greeks also. Preaching the Lord Jesus. That's what they are doing. What does God use? Giving out the gospel, giving out the message of Christ. What's the method we use? Speaking out the message. Nothing changes. We have a lot of discussion trying to disassociate the methods from the message. We don't change the message, we change the methods. Well, it's the message of the gospel which is God's power for salvation. So what other methodology can there be but speaking the message, telling them the gospel. So here we come to a vile, polluted Gentile city, a large city. What are they going to do to reach this city? This is different than trying to evangelize Jews who have a background in the Old Testament. Nothing changes. They are speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And that word preaching is the word we have associated with the gospel, euongelion, the good news, bringing the good news of the Lord Jesus to them.

So it ought to encourage us. We want to follow in the history of the church. What do we do? We tell people the message of Jesus Christ. Yes, but these people are intellectual, these people are, these people are. Well we give forth the message and it will be the hand of God being upon us and upon the message to bring about the salvation of souls. Nothing changes. Superficial things change, but nothing changes. What are people going to have to do? They are going to have to believe, they are going to have to turn from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to the dominion of God. They have to repent, they have to believe in the Savior. Here is the message, respond to it. What is your response to Jesus Christ? I don't know, who is He? Why should I respond to Him? I must tell them and then supernaturally by the power of God, lives are changed, people believe, churches are established. And the process goes on. And that's the way God has worked in the world for 2,000 years and by His sovereign revealed plan, that's the way He'll work until Jesus comes.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for this history of the early church. And Lord we are blessed as we consider we are part of the history that is unfolded down through the centuries of time. We are reading how it began, how it expanded in those early days. And Lord, we are reminded that we are part of your sovereign plan in the world today. We have been entrusted with the message that we heard and believed and now we have been established as a church in this place as a light in the darkness, a place from which the gospel goes out, a place where your people are nourished and nurtured and encouraged and strengthened so that we might go out throughout our city and other places and tell people the truth concerning the good news, Jesus Christ the Son of God suffered and died and was raised from the dead. They can be forgiven their sins, they can experience the power of your salvation. Lord, use us to that end in our lives and service for you in the days of the week before us. We pray in Christ's name, amen.