WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:24.920 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:31.520 for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.219 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me, actually, to know, as I'm preaching, how to 00:01:04.219 --> 00:01:07.760 deal with the types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:18.859 Let's just bow our heads in prayer for a moment. Father, thank you so much that we can gather in 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:23.760 your presence. I thank you that you really are present. We really are in your presence, 00:01:24.219 --> 00:01:29.760 that Jesus is here, that the Holy Spirit is moving and at work. And we ask, Father, that your Holy 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:37.659 Spirit would gently bring the words of this text of Scripture deep into our hearts, that you might form 00:01:37.659 --> 00:01:43.980 us, Father, at a very deep level, and that you might guide us and help us to live each day for our good, 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:48.659 for the good of this city, and for your great glory. And we ask these things in the name of Jesus, 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:57.420 your Son, and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated. So for those of you who aren't aware, we have an 00:01:57.420 --> 00:02:03.120 eight o'clock service, which is just before this. And sometimes people who've just come to this service 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:07.800 for quite a few times come to the eight o'clock service, and they're sort of a big shock. The eight 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:14.319 o'clock service has maybe a dozen people on a good day. I do the whole service from down there. 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:20.579 There's a little booklet. There's no screen. There's no singing. We use the ancient, an old Book of Common 00:02:20.579 --> 00:02:29.719 Prayer service from 1662, which is basically unchanged from 1552. And they sort of get half a sermon. 00:02:30.139 --> 00:02:36.439 Anyway, so one of the things I did the eight o'clock service today is I said, I gave an opening. I said, 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:42.939 by the way, this is a pretty lame opening. If one of you have a better opening, could you tell me 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:47.379 after the service so I could use your better opening? So this is the better opening. It comes 00:02:47.379 --> 00:02:53.300 from Barbara Allen, who is very well known at the eight o'clock service. She said years ago, 00:02:53.740 --> 00:03:02.460 they had the basement, and there was this area of the basement that her mom never went into. So her dad 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:07.820 was going off on a trip, and the dad and the mom had often complained about the fact that the basement 00:03:07.820 --> 00:03:14.200 really needed tidying. And so she decided, Barb's mom decided, that what she would do is, as a sort of a 00:03:14.200 --> 00:03:20.080 gift for her husband, that she would tidy the basement. And so she tidied the basement, threw a 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:27.480 whole pile of stuff out. And so she, her husband comes home. She's ready with a really, really big smile, 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:34.500 expecting that her husband's going to be really happy about what she's done. But he's not happy at 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:39.179 all with what she's done, because it turned out she threw away a whole pile of stuff that was really 00:03:39.179 --> 00:03:45.599 precious to him, that he was specifically saving. So we have this situation where she's expecting 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:51.560 smiles reciprocated, but in fact, you get the complete opposite reaction. And maybe you have an even better 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:57.620 story than that, and you can share it over coffee. All the thing, one side expects big smiles, and what 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:02.360 you get from the other side is, in fact, great unhappiness. And that's what it's, that's one of 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:07.319 the things which drives the beginning of the text of the scripture that we're going to look at. Very 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:12.980 human problem situation. So if you turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 11, that's what we're 00:04:12.980 --> 00:04:20.060 going to look at this morning. Acts chapter 11. And if you're maybe here just tuning in for the first 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:23.980 time, we're here for the first time, we generally preach through either books of the Bible or big 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:30.699 chunks of the Bible. Over the summer, we did a couple of things. But we did Acts for a while, 00:04:30.699 --> 00:04:35.259 and we took a break, looked at Jude, looked at the Psalms, a few other things. And now we're going back 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:41.920 to the book of Acts, and it's here, chapter 11. I'm going to give you the context in a moment. Let's 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:48.040 just plunge in right away to look at what this, how the text begins. Acts chapter 11, beginning at verse 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:56.240 one. And it begins like this. Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:02.780 heard that the pagans also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, 00:05:03.379 --> 00:05:09.140 the circumcision party criticized him. Just sort of pause here. I'm reading from the English Standard 00:05:09.140 --> 00:05:14.080 Version, and this is going to sound like a bit of an odd problem, but one of the problems with the 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:19.500 version is that sometimes it's too literal. So they've translated it very, very literally. But 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:27.180 it's a colloquialism just for Jewish people, who in Judaism, the men have to be circumcised, right? 00:05:27.219 --> 00:05:36.039 It's just a, so it's sort of needlessly, it's almost like a bit pedantically correct. I know some of us 00:05:36.039 --> 00:05:42.000 are prone to being pedantically correct, so maybe you like this, but it just means Jewish people. I'll read 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:47.420 it again. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the Jewish people, the Jewish people who are now 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:54.740 Christians, criticized him, accused him, saying, you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. 00:05:55.500 --> 00:06:02.759 Now just sort of pause here for a second. A couple of things about this. So what's just happened before 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:11.740 this is that Peter, it's a very, very dramatic story. Peter has gone to the home of Cornelius, 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:19.539 a pagan general in the Roman army who's a centurion and in charge of what we would call the Italian 00:06:19.539 --> 00:06:26.740 brigade. And he's gone there. There's been a whole pile of very, very spectacular miracles that God did. 00:06:26.740 --> 00:06:32.860 And as the result of that spectacular set of miracles, this particular person by the name 00:06:32.860 --> 00:06:40.160 of Cornelius and the other pagans in his house have become Christians. And that's sort of why Peter 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:45.840 would be going up with a big smile, just as you would be. I mean, I don't know, maybe you have 00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:50.939 spectacular, miraculous things happening in your life all the time, but if you'd had a series of visions, 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:57.019 if you had God speak to you directly, if you just began to do something and God poured down the Holy 00:06:57.019 --> 00:07:01.019 Spirit and a whole pile of remarkable things happened, you'd probably be living off that for 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:06.800 years to come. And it might be in Christian circles, people would take you out for supper for years to 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:11.300 come to hear the story. And so he's coming back with a big smile, but they've already heard about it, 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:19.300 and all they have are accusatory fingers. And so one of the things that you see, so the book of Acts 00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:29.319 is an eyewitness-based history, written when eyewitnesses were still alive, that tells the 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:36.699 first 30 to 35 years, maybe 33 years, depending on how you count it, but roughly that number of years, 00:07:36.780 --> 00:07:43.660 it tells the history of the first days of the Jesus movement. It takes up with just a few days 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:49.720 after the resurrection of Jesus, 40 days after the resurrection of Jesus, and it tells you the 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:58.040 first 30-ish so years of the Jesus movement. And it's an eyewitness-based history. And one of the 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:04.000 things that the book of Acts recounts is how the gospel, the Christian message, goes from something 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:10.260 that just some Jewish people in Jerusalem come to believe, and how it extends beyond those people 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:17.039 to other Jewish people, and then how it crosses linguistic divides to Jewish people who are in 00:08:17.039 --> 00:08:24.459 fact fundamentally living like they're very at home in a pagan world. They're more at home in a pagan 00:08:24.459 --> 00:08:29.539 world than they would be living in a Jewish world. It would be a little bit as if you're maybe a Jewish 00:08:29.539 --> 00:08:35.120 person today living in Manhattan or Ottawa, and you might find it very uncomfortable living in 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:40.320 Jerusalem, especially if it's in a neighborhood with Orthodox Jews. You become very acclimatized to 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:48.220 living amongst, you know, in a different culture. So Acts is describing all these powerful moves whereby 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:59.200 linguistic divides, cultural divides, racial divides, ethnic divides are being bridged, and ancient hostilities 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:04.879 are being bridged. And this is sort of one of the final things before it continues on, because 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:10.640 there's, you know, pagans aren't all the same. There's lots of different types of pagans. And so this is 00:09:10.640 --> 00:09:18.480 what the book of Acts is talking about in general. And so why are they fussed about the fact that 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:22.879 Peter went in and ate with people who were pagans? 00:09:25.680 --> 00:09:26.000 Well, 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:35.360 some of you are older. And it's actually so hard to live in Canada now to remember when Canada was a 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:42.639 little bit different. But even just before COVID, a couple of years before the lockdowns, 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:48.159 I think if I was preaching on this story, I'd really have to try to emphasize, like people would just be 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:54.480 really puzzled. Because believe it or not, ancient history of Canada, like eight years ago, 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:00.559 most Canadians would have just assumed that the right thing is that people all just get together. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:06.159 Like that it's a good thing if you saw a group that was multi-racial, multi-linguistic, 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:12.399 multi-ethnic, that that's in a sense what Canada should be. And in a sense, there were fewer divides. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:18.079 There were always divides, but there were fewer types of divides. We've become a vastly more 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:23.200 divided age. So in some ways, today we can understand this a little bit better than Canadians 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:27.759 could have eight years ago. And by the way, the reason that most people in the world, 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:34.000 many increasing number of people in the world, sort of think that people should just get along, 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:38.560 that's something that they got from the Bible. I mean, it might, they don't realize that it went 00:10:38.560 --> 00:10:42.400 from the Bible to Christians to their neighbors to their neighbors to their neighbors to their 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:48.480 neighbors. But in the ancient world, people wouldn't have problems with this. Like if you were to read 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:54.079 this maybe in Iran or in China, I mean, they'd have to translate it, but they'd understand maybe why 00:10:54.079 --> 00:10:59.919 Chinese people wouldn't want to hang around with non-Chinese people or, you know, why Shia wouldn't 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:04.720 want to hang out with another type of Muslim. Like that would just be obvious that those are things. But 00:11:05.680 --> 00:11:10.879 for a lot of Canadians, it's not obvious, but it's become a more fractured society. So the closest 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:18.960 analogy I can come is what I've gathered from reading articles and talking to people is, let's say you 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:27.120 meet somebody online because you want to start dating somebody and you meet them and you discover early 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:33.920 on in the conversation that they're a big fan of Pierre Polyev. And then you, you know you're going to vote 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:39.919 for Jagmeet and there won't be a second date. Like that just stops it right there. 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:45.199 And in fact, maybe in an American context, you're going to meet finally after having some 00:11:45.199 --> 00:11:52.240 conversations online and you're a big Harris supporter and the date comes wearing a MAGA hat 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:56.959 and you probably wouldn't even acknowledge that you were there to meet them. You would just quietly 00:11:56.959 --> 00:12:02.959 leave. There's these huge divides that have come in our culture around certain culture-breaking issues. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:07.920 And so all I can say is that even though the Jewish people are a conquered minority 00:12:07.920 --> 00:12:14.240 under pagans, it had become a very important thing for them. It's not that the Old Testament 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:18.879 tells you that you can't go and have food in a pagan's house, but it's become a very, 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:24.639 very big divide for them. It's become what we would call a wedge issue and it's deeply ingrained. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:30.720 And so they're just completely offended that Peter would do it. It might just be, once again, 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:37.679 if you were a MAGA family and you found out that your son went to eat and spend time with a Harris 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:42.960 supporting family and you just, you might feel like disowning them. Like, not that you folks would, 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:49.360 but I'm just telling you that's maybe the type of thing. And so there's this huge divide. They're very, 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:57.519 very, very, very offended by it. So what does Peter do? Well, there's this fellow who's been dead 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:05.039 now for a few years. He has a wonderful phrase. He talks about how what God did to break this divide 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:14.240 was that God delivers four hammer blows to break up that which was stuck. Four strong hammer blows 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:20.000 to break things up. And that's what we start to see now when Peter tells him what happens. Look what, 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:25.600 he begins like this in verse four. Now, by the way, it doesn't tell you whether Peter got really mad or 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.360 whether he got blushed, you know, but the blush or anything like that, it just describes what he does. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:34.320 Doesn't describe his emotions, just what he does. Verse four. But Peter began and explained it to them 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:41.200 in order. Here's what he says. And really what he's doing is he's summarizing Acts 10. He says, 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:49.200 I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance, I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:56.480 being let down from heaven by its four corners. It came down to me and looking at it closely, 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:03.520 I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:10.960 saying to me, so it's not just a vision with his eyes, but it's also a vision that is audible. He hears 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:20.480 a voice speaking to him and the voice says, rise, Peter, kill and eat. But I said, back to the voice, 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:27.040 by no means, Lord, he understands it's come from God, by no means, Lord, for nothing common or unclean, 00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:33.600 and it's just two basically words to say the same thing for emphasis, nothing common or unclean has 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:41.120 ever entered my mouth. But the voice answered a second time from heaven, what God has made clean, 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:46.960 do not call common. Now this happened three times. So three times it happened. Every time, 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:52.000 even the second time, the voice says, rise, Peter, kill and eat. And Peter says back to the voice, 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.720 I've never done things like that. And then the voice says, what God has made clean, do not call common. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:02.240 Peter's pretty stubborn. The third time it happens, he still says the same thing. So you can see that on 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:12.080 one level, Peter accepts this ancient divide, this wedge issue between Jewish people and non-Jewish 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:20.480 people. It's very close and dear to his heart. And then verse 11, and so that, by the way, is the 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:28.800 is the first hammer blow. This very, very powerful, this very, very powerful, 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:36.159 three-fold, three-time vision. Now here we need to just pause for a second. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:44.879 One of the things which is very, very plain in the Book of Acts, which we need to get our minds around, 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:51.200 is that the Book of Acts really does claim to be a work of history. It really does claim to be a work 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:57.279 of eyewitness history, carefully researched. If you go back and you read the beginning of the Book of 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:02.080 Acts, which is a sister book to the Book of Luke, and you read it, and that's the specific claim which 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:09.200 is made. And one of the things is that it doesn't use symbolic language like the Book of Revelation. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:15.759 It doesn't use allegorical language like the Pilgrim's Progress. It doesn't use once upon a time 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:22.320 fairy tale language. It doesn't say, once upon a time in a city far away there once was a soldier who 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:27.040 went by the name of Cornelius. It doesn't use that type of fairy tale language either. And it doesn't use 00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:32.000 the language of myth. It uses, in a sense, the type of language you'd see in a work of history, or you'd see 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:37.040 in a newspaper article which is recording something which has happened. That's the literary genre, and that's what 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:42.000 Luke is claiming. He's claiming that these things happened. And the second thing about it is if you 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:48.799 go back and you see even in this story that the writer of Luke gives, he doesn't give footnotes, 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:54.959 but what he does is he wants you to know for the eyewitnesses who are still alive that other 00:16:54.959 --> 00:16:59.919 people hearing this can go back if they want to check it out. So he doesn't just say, if you go back 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:06.159 and read Acts chapter 10, he doesn't say, oh yeah, there was a city nearby with a soldier, and these 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:13.680 things happen. No, no, no. Peter says that he's in Joppa, which is beside what is modern-day Tel Aviv. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:20.160 He says that he's going to go along the coast to Caesarea, which is a major city, but not huge. 00:17:20.560 --> 00:17:25.840 And he's not just going to go find some random soldier. He's going to be led to a soldier by the 00:17:25.840 --> 00:17:33.120 name of Cornelius, and he gives his rank. He's a centurion, and it gives the brigade that he's part of. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:40.239 He's the head of a cohort, which is like a brigade, a battalion, and he gives all of that type of 00:17:40.239 --> 00:17:44.159 information. He's going to tell you in a moment that he travels with six people. He's going to 00:17:44.159 --> 00:17:47.599 tell you all these things. It's one of the things that goes on all the way through the book of Acts. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:53.359 It's one of those things that if you were a skeptic and you got the early copy of this in the year 66 or 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:58.399 67 AD, you could go to Caesarea and you could check it out. You could go, or you could even go in the 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:03.360 Jewish community and find who the six other men were who were witnesses. So this is all something 00:18:03.360 --> 00:18:12.320 which is claiming to be very, very, very naturalistic in the sense of that it's actually history. But the 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:19.119 other thing about the story is it's extravagantly supernatural. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:24.639 Extravagantly supernatural. 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:30.639 You have a vision from God. You're going to go on and you're going to hear about 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:35.919 the Holy Spirit falling on people. You're going to hear about angels. You're going to hear about 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:41.519 other types of directed speech. And if you read the book of Acts as a whole, this is a feature of the 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:47.440 book of Acts. There's times upon the normal types of planning and eating and travel and the normal 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:52.640 types of things, things which are visions and miracles which happen all the way through the story. 00:18:53.680 --> 00:19:01.759 And so you have this odd combination of an author who was very, very concerned with historical 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:10.240 accuracy. And he was very, very concerned to give historical benchmarks so people could check it out. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:15.279 So he's very concerned about the truth and he talks about miracles. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:18.960 Now, I'm not going to defend miracles. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:24.879 Christianity teaches that God does miracles. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.360 angels. It teaches that angels exist. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:34.320 I'm not going to make a case for it. But I am going to say for people looking at it, if you're 00:19:34.320 --> 00:19:39.760 sort of trying to figure out the Christian faith, this is a key inescapable feature of Christianity. 00:19:39.760 --> 00:19:43.120 A concern for truth, a concern for historical accuracy, 00:19:45.840 --> 00:19:50.320 and acknowledging that it's not that you have miracles all the time. It's not like paganism where 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:56.399 gods and goddesses do things all of the time, but God does miracles. That's the genre which is going on. 00:19:56.399 --> 00:20:01.039 So if you go to some people who are getting deconstructed from the Christian faith or 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:05.759 becoming ex-evangelicals and they try to tell you that these things aren't, the Bible isn't making 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:12.159 these claims, they're just wrong. They might honestly believe somebody, but somewhere along the line, 00:20:12.159 --> 00:20:16.240 people are talking, they're just blowing it out their butt. It's wrong. It's just, 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:23.680 this is a very historical work. Deal with it. But by the way, in my, I was only ordained about eight 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:29.120 days. This is when I was in the Anglican Church of Canada and our synod, the gathering of all the 00:20:29.120 --> 00:20:37.039 Anglicans. We had this famous guy at the time called John Shelby Spong come to speak to our synod. He 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:42.960 got multiple standing ovations and I was the only person in the room who didn't stand and clap. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:50.559 You could have seen, I was just a bright red. I'm not a brave person. I was bright red. And there 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:56.319 were probably literally streams flowing from my armpits with nervousness, but I didn't stand, 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:00.480 I didn't clap, and I actually asked him a challenging question. And he said that basically, 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:06.160 one of his basic message is that miracles don't happen. Nothing in the Bible happened. And it's just 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:10.400 all metaphor and myth and all of those other types of things. And when I came back and they asked my 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.880 my church, I don't think I'd been there to date eight days. And a week after that, they asked me 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:19.280 about my reaction to synod. And I just said, listen, if I came to those beliefs, I would stop being a 00:21:19.280 --> 00:21:24.080 Christian because I'm not a Christian. And I don't understand why somebody would want to be a bishop 00:21:24.080 --> 00:21:29.759 and say those things. Like if you believe that, stop being a Christian. And I don't want you to stop 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:36.720 being a Christian because miracles happen. But don't let anybody tell you that the Book of Acts is some 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:41.839 type of work of metaphor or myth. It's history. But it frankly is also very miraculous. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:48.640 So what's the second hammer blow? Well, let's continue. Verse 11. It goes like this. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:56.079 And behold, at that very moment, so the vision stop, at that very moment, three men arrive at the 00:21:56.079 --> 00:22:02.720 house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. Acts 10 tells you that it's from Cornelius. He doesn't 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:11.519 tell you that here. And the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, told me to go with them, making no distinction. 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:17.839 These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house. That's the second 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:25.200 hammer blow. He had a very clear direction and message from the Holy Spirit that he was to go with 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:34.480 these pagans who've come from a pagan centurion who's part of the conquering, the group that's conquered 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:42.799 Judea. They're their overmasters. And he's to go with them to meet this guy, Cornelius. That's the second 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:48.240 hammer blow. And once again, there's six other brothers with him. So there's not only the two people. If you went back 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:52.640 in time, I mean, if those people at that time, they could go ask the other brothers. They could ask the men who came. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:23:01.060 But then it continues with the third hammer blow, which is verse 13 and 14. And he told us, he gets to the man's 00:23:01.060 --> 00:23:06.820 house. He doesn't tell you that it's Cornelius, but that's his name. And he told us, Cornelius, how he had seen the 00:23:06.820 --> 00:23:15.460 angel stand in his house and say, send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter. And he will declare to you a 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:20.960 message by which you will be saved, you and all your household. Just pause for a second. 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:30.840 In Canada, if you were to say, okay, basically, if you were to go on late night television, 00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:37.360 and the comedian came out and began by, are you saved? How would the room react? They'd all burst 00:23:37.360 --> 00:23:45.540 into laughter. You can't be more uncool and hokey than using the word saved. Brothers and sisters, 00:23:45.539 --> 00:23:56.659 be prepared to be uncool and hokey. It's a wonderful word. It's a Bible word. It's a God-spoken word. 00:23:57.319 --> 00:24:04.859 Anyway, here's the third hammer blow. And that third hammer blow is that God, so God has actually 00:24:04.859 --> 00:24:12.539 worked in a way to prepare Peter with the vision. And then he sends Peter to Cornelius. And Cornelius, 00:24:12.539 --> 00:24:20.980 this pagan centurion who's the head of the Italian battalion, he's been prepared because God had 00:24:20.980 --> 00:24:26.279 earlier sent an angel to him. That's the third blow. And what's the fourth blow? That can be seen in 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:32.000 verses 15 and following. Look what it says. As I began to speak, so Peter begins to speak. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:40.619 By the way, as a bit of an aside, this shows that Peter knows Greek. 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:51.759 Jesus knew Greek. Jesus would have regularly taught in Greek. And Peter obviously knows Greek. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:59.500 Greek. Because you know what? If you're the over-mensch, if you're the overpowering above 00:24:59.500 --> 00:25:06.879 soldiers, you don't bother learning native languages. They learn yours. That's just the way it works. 00:25:08.180 --> 00:25:13.619 You come in, like, let me tell you, if Russia came in and conquered Canada, they wouldn't bother 00:25:13.619 --> 00:25:18.259 learning English. We'd have to learn Russian, right? That's just the way it works. So Peter knows 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:21.319 Greek. Anyway, sorry, back again. Verse 15. Sorry, that's a bit of an aside. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:28.980 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as on us at the beginning. 00:25:30.379 --> 00:25:35.480 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be 00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:43.519 baptized with the Holy Spirit. If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:50.579 believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who was I that I could stand in God's way? And so what he's 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:57.960 describing is this. It's called the pagan Pentecost. And it's at the fourth hammer bowl. He just begins 00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:02.420 to speak. He says a few introductory words about Jesus. And while he's speaking, all of a sudden, 00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:11.299 the room breaks into ecstatic, speaking other languages, just as happened in Acts 2. 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:18.379 God just does this remarkable thing. Four hammer blows. And Peter just has to realize, 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:27.019 oh, what Jesus said was going to happen just happened. And if God sent the Holy Spirit upon 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:31.139 them as a sign that they had given their hearts to Jesus, and he's come in to be their Lord and Savior, 00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:37.319 and the implication, by the way, is he baptized them all, which, by the way, also means he would have 00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:45.179 baptized infants. But that's a whole other topic of conversation. Because Peter's just gobsmacked by it. 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:52.099 So you can see, by the way, on one hand, that when he goes back to Jerusalem, he can, on one hand, 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:56.899 understand why people are mad. Because he didn't want to do this. God had to send the vision three 00:26:56.899 --> 00:27:03.379 times. But on the other hand, he's just completely blown away. Angels, God speaking, visions, the falling 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:09.480 into the Holy Spirit. God just does this remarkable work. It's all God. And that's what he says to the 00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:14.820 people. And here's the next bit, verse 18. There's an older Christian who was sort of well-known. His 00:27:14.820 --> 00:27:20.360 name is F.F. Bruce. He was well-known in the middle of the 20th century. He has a wonderful line to describe 00:27:20.360 --> 00:27:30.080 what happens. The accusation stops, and the worship begins. Isn't that something we can always pray for, 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:34.699 if that ever happened in our conflicts? The accusation stops, and the worship begins. Look 00:27:34.699 --> 00:27:39.759 what happens. Verse 18. When they heard these things, they fell silent, and they glorified God, 00:27:40.059 --> 00:27:46.199 saying, then to the pagans also God has granted repentance that leads to life. Hallelujah! 00:27:47.659 --> 00:27:50.759 John will get up stage. We're going to start singing. No, I mean, they didn't have that. Whoever 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:55.179 their John was, you know, they start singing psalms and stuff like that. And probably being Jewish 00:27:55.180 --> 00:28:00.200 people, they do some dancing. If you want to see Jewish people really worship, go to the wall in 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:07.620 Jerusalem on the Shabbat. They're all dancing and singing and shouting. That's what happens. 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:16.820 Accusations stop. The worship begins. Now, just a couple of things. There's a really big overarching 00:28:16.820 --> 00:28:21.720 story. If you could put up the point right now. I have a big point for the whole chapter. The second 00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:27.059 half of the chapter we'll go through quicker. And that's this. It's, and that's the overarching 00:28:27.059 --> 00:28:33.799 point of all of chapter 11. The Lord can steal the scene. The Lord can work behind the scenes. 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:41.380 But the Lord is always on the scene. So you can teach and witness and act and give with humble 00:28:41.380 --> 00:28:46.680 confidence. That's what you're going to see. In this first story, the Lord is the scene stealer, 00:28:46.680 --> 00:28:54.480 the show stealer. He just comes and he's the whole actor. He just takes over and he's the scene stealer. 00:28:54.840 --> 00:29:00.920 What we're going to see in the next story is the Lord, all of his working is behind the scene. 00:29:01.580 --> 00:29:06.120 And the big point of the whole chapter is sometimes the Lord will steal the scene. He'll just show up 00:29:06.120 --> 00:29:11.700 and do everything. Other times he works behind the scenes. But the confidence that the text wants you 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:20.000 and me to have as Christians is that the Lord is always on the scene. You know what? The Lord is 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:29.460 present with us this morning, brothers and sisters. Some of you might really feel him. Of others, 00:29:29.700 --> 00:29:35.680 don't feel him at all. But he's here. God is present in our midst. The Holy Spirit is moving, 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:45.660 whether you feel it or not. And if he's not present on the scene making a difference, 00:29:46.100 --> 00:29:52.680 everything I do is a complete and utter waste of time. But brothers and sisters, the God of the 00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:58.019 Bible, the God who speaks the Bible, he wants us to understand. Sometimes he's on the scene. Other 00:29:58.019 --> 00:30:02.299 times behind the scenes, he's always on the scene. I mean, sometimes he's still, but, and that's why 00:30:02.299 --> 00:30:05.600 you can teach others about Christians. You'll see that in a moment. You can witness. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:11.980 And you can act. And you can give money with humble confidence. See, here's the thing about 00:30:11.980 --> 00:30:16.560 Christianity. It's part of the reason why I was emphasizing about this, the book of Acts. On one 00:30:16.560 --> 00:30:24.640 hand, you know, in fact, I was just reading something the other day showing how, documenting how Luke, 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:29.960 in his language in the beginning, shows familiarity. Because by the way, the person who wrote this 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:36.980 gospel is a pagan who becomes a Christian sometime after the death and resurrection of Jesus, 00:30:37.500 --> 00:30:42.980 he becomes a Christian. In fact, he becomes a Christian in Antioch, probably. And he's a very 00:30:42.980 --> 00:30:48.819 well-educated man. And he shows in his language that he's familiar with the rules of writing history 00:30:48.819 --> 00:30:55.779 in the ancient world. And yet, in his history, we have these mystical and miraculous things. You see, 00:30:55.779 --> 00:31:01.160 sometimes Christians, when I talk to people, and when I read things and I see how people react to 00:31:01.160 --> 00:31:05.460 the Christian faith, it's as if sometimes people say that the Christian faith is too mystical. 00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:12.339 And other times they say that it's too ordinary. Sometimes they say it's too hidden. Other times 00:31:12.339 --> 00:31:18.859 they say it makes it look like it's too in-your-face. Sometimes they say it's too simple. Other times they 00:31:18.859 --> 00:31:24.240 say it seems to be too complicated. Sometimes they talk about it being too authoritative. Other times they 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:29.319 talk about it having too much freedom. I'm thinking of a time I was in a cab and a Muslim asked me what 00:31:29.319 --> 00:31:34.140 I was doing going to the airport. I told him I'm a pastor and I'm going to this thing where I'm going 00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:39.120 to meet other pastors. And then he says, out of the blue, does your Bible forbid drinking of alcohol? 00:31:39.579 --> 00:31:44.920 And I said, well, no, it doesn't. Sorry if you're some Christians listening, but it doesn't forbid the 00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:48.859 drinking of alcohol. And he said, well, the Koran does. That's one of the reasons the Koran is better 00:31:48.859 --> 00:31:55.000 than the Bible. The Koran forbids alcohol drinking. And I said, do you drink alcohol? He said, yeah, 00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:07.639 I drink alcohol all the time. Okay. Maybe the Bible's wise about how it talks about alcohol. Anyway, 00:32:08.199 --> 00:32:13.059 you know, but sometimes it's too authoritative. Sometimes it gives you too much freedom. 00:32:13.059 --> 00:32:17.480 You know, sometimes it's too word focused. Sometimes it's too prayer focused. You know, 00:32:17.579 --> 00:32:22.980 some, you know, and people will make all of these contradictory types of complaints and criticisms 00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:30.059 of the Christian faith. But maybe the issue is that it is exactly right. And you and I are out of whack. 00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:41.359 In fact, maybe it is because if we're honest with ourselves, human nature and human life is a riddle 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:47.459 and in a mystery and an enigma. And maybe you need something that is exactly like the Christian 00:32:47.459 --> 00:32:52.500 faith that sometimes seems too miraculous and other times seems not miraculous enough. Sometimes 00:32:52.500 --> 00:32:57.419 seems too mystical. Other times not mystical enough. Sometimes too ordinary. Other times not ordinary. 00:32:57.559 --> 00:33:04.119 Like all of those. Maybe it's because the Bible is describing the exact shape that fits the human heart 00:33:04.119 --> 00:33:08.000 and only the Bible. Only the gospel. 00:33:10.179 --> 00:33:17.279 Well, what happens? The flip side of God being the scene stealer is the ordinariness. Look at this. 00:33:17.339 --> 00:33:19.539 I have to do this sort of a bit quicker. Verse 19. 00:33:20.939 --> 00:33:27.519 Now, those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far 00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:33.240 as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews, Jewish people. 00:33:33.579 --> 00:33:40.039 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists, 00:33:40.420 --> 00:33:46.660 or Greek-speaking pagans, also preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:48.799 and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:53.399 Now, if you're like me, you're going, whoa, whoa, whoa, Cyrene, boo, boo, boo, boo, boo. 00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:57.740 Okay, just pause for a sec. Just sort of pause here for a couple of simple things. 00:33:58.940 --> 00:34:02.559 This shows already the growth of Christianity within just a few years, 00:34:02.639 --> 00:34:06.399 because this has been told probably about 10 years, 11 years, 00:34:06.779 --> 00:34:09.279 maybe 10 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:34:09.980 --> 00:34:12.159 And Cyrene is what we now call Libya. 00:34:14.900 --> 00:34:16.739 Cyprus is what we now call Cyprus. 00:34:16.739 --> 00:34:20.859 Phoenicia is what we now call Lebanon. 00:34:21.919 --> 00:34:23.319 And Antioch is in Syria. 00:34:24.539 --> 00:34:24.659 Okay? 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:28.239 And so a couple of chapters earlier, a couple of years earlier, 00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:31.899 there was an intense persecution centered in Jerusalem. 00:34:32.199 --> 00:34:35.579 And as a result of this intense persecution of Christians, the first one, 00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:38.239 many ordinary Christians scattered. 00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:39.699 And that's just what it's describing. 00:34:39.799 --> 00:34:42.339 They went traveling to different places looking for safety. 00:34:42.340 --> 00:34:48.100 They were what we would now call refugees looking for a new home to flee persecution. 00:34:49.100 --> 00:34:53.500 And some of them, as they go, all of them, many of them, as they go, tell others about Jesus. 00:34:53.640 --> 00:34:55.039 And many people become Christians. 00:34:55.240 --> 00:34:59.320 In an ironic way, a paradoxical way, the persecution spread the Christian faith. 00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:03.360 If they'd really wanted to contain it and put it out of, they would have, they would have, 00:35:03.539 --> 00:35:05.900 I don't know, give them meals and kept them in the city. 00:35:05.900 --> 00:35:08.680 But instead, they scattered them and they told others about it. 00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:10.380 And here's this wonderful thing. 00:35:10.500 --> 00:35:17.139 And this is this wonderful behind-the-scenes work that some of them go. 00:35:17.820 --> 00:35:24.740 So Luke is telling a story that goes both earlier than what's happened and later than what's happened. 00:35:25.260 --> 00:35:28.059 And some of them go to this place called Antioch. 00:35:28.099 --> 00:35:29.559 And they tell people about Jesus. 00:35:29.680 --> 00:35:30.639 And they're pagans. 00:35:30.720 --> 00:35:32.200 And the pagans become Christians. 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:36.119 But here's the remarkable work of God. 00:35:37.339 --> 00:35:40.679 These people in Antioch who are pagans who become Christians, 00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:46.219 that happens organically or naturally after Cornelius 00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:51.379 and after the church in Jerusalem has come to accept that pagans become Christians. 00:35:52.779 --> 00:35:55.299 That's something that couldn't be organized. 00:35:56.259 --> 00:35:57.739 I just want to share with you something. 00:35:57.739 --> 00:36:03.699 Just within the last couple of weeks, an organization that I was involved with, we had a meeting. 00:36:04.539 --> 00:36:07.279 And one of the things that, there was a couple of things that we talked about in the meeting. 00:36:07.359 --> 00:36:08.839 And one of them, of course, was the need for money. 00:36:09.319 --> 00:36:14.099 And one of them was for the need of a person to come along with a particular type of expertise. 00:36:14.679 --> 00:36:18.559 And a particular name came up and all as to whether we should approach this person. 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:22.219 And the response was, this person would never take it. 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:23.500 He's way too busy. 00:36:24.460 --> 00:36:26.860 And as soon as the meeting, and we prayed about all of this. 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:31.480 And as soon as the meeting finished, one of the people in the meeting decided that they would call up the person we mentioned. 00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:35.719 And he listened and he said, 00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:38.539 I've been thinking about this. 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:41.199 And I'm open. 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:47.599 And as soon as that was like a six or seven minute conversation, he hung up and the phone rang. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:49.779 And the phone rang. 00:36:50.019 --> 00:36:51.099 I am not making this up. 00:36:51.819 --> 00:36:54.719 By somebody saying, I'm sitting in a meeting. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:56.679 It was in a city quite a few miles away. 00:36:56.899 --> 00:36:59.919 And we were talking about the organization I'm talking about. 00:37:00.099 --> 00:37:01.699 And we'd like to give you some money. 00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:04.279 He called from the meeting. 00:37:04.859 --> 00:37:06.579 You can't organize that stuff. 00:37:06.579 --> 00:37:14.539 Now, many people will just say that's synchronicity. 00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:16.380 But synchronicity is a cheat word. 00:37:17.500 --> 00:37:21.299 There's no such thing if the world is just empty of God. 00:37:22.259 --> 00:37:27.239 It's only if there is a God, as described in the Bible, who's active in the world, 00:37:27.319 --> 00:37:29.380 that you can have something like synchronicity. 00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:32.960 And the real Christian word is called providence. 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:41.480 Synchronicity is an attempt to sneak the triune God into your language 00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:46.500 without using the language of the triune God, which is providence. 00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:53.920 So here we see the Lord moving pieces and acting all behind the scenes. 00:37:55.820 --> 00:37:58.360 And one of the really neat things as well, by the way, here, 00:37:59.199 --> 00:38:02.240 I have to watch my time, in verse 21, 00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:06.840 Oh, no, it comes up in the next bit here. 00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:10.199 There's this really neat thing that comes up in this next bit. 00:38:10.220 --> 00:38:10.980 Look at verse 22. 00:38:11.099 --> 00:38:14.360 The report of this, that the pagans had become Christians, 00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:16.340 comes to the ears of the church in Jerusalem. 00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:18.639 Now, they've already heard about Cornelius, 00:38:18.740 --> 00:38:20.599 so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 00:38:21.260 --> 00:38:22.099 And verse 23, 00:38:22.099 --> 00:38:25.280 When Barnabas comes and saw the grace of God, he was glad, 00:38:25.460 --> 00:38:28.900 and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:30.880 Now, listen to this, verse 24, 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:35.740 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. 00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:36.619 Just want to pause. 00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:40.700 If all you get out of this sermon today is one thing to pray for, 00:38:41.340 --> 00:38:44.160 I would like to be like Barnabas. 00:38:47.200 --> 00:38:49.559 And if you're a woman, you can say that too. 00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:52.360 I would like to be a woman described as being full of the, 00:38:52.519 --> 00:38:58.139 that I'm a good woman, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. 00:38:59.719 --> 00:39:02.099 Pray that, brothers and sisters, for yourself. 00:39:02.779 --> 00:39:04.900 And that's, in fact, a thing that you can pray if you're married. 00:39:05.059 --> 00:39:06.139 Pray that for your spouse. 00:39:07.019 --> 00:39:11.559 That your spouse would be a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. 00:39:11.639 --> 00:39:12.940 That your wife would be like that. 00:39:13.059 --> 00:39:14.079 That's a good thing to pray. 00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:16.779 Pray for your kids, that they will grow into that. 00:39:16.780 --> 00:39:19.500 And here's the cool thing. 00:39:20.019 --> 00:39:21.780 And a great many people are added to the Lord. 00:39:21.980 --> 00:39:24.519 And this is one of the weird things about the original language. 00:39:24.680 --> 00:39:26.540 That word, a great many people are added to the Lord. 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:31.380 That makes it sound like they become Christians and they're added to Jesus. 00:39:31.700 --> 00:39:35.120 But the act also can be equally translated as saying, 00:39:35.300 --> 00:39:39.580 and the Lord added a great many people to the Christian faith. 00:39:39.740 --> 00:39:41.340 So it's the Lord doing it. 00:39:41.640 --> 00:39:42.880 Here's the thing, folks. 00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:46.220 Notice, every conversion is a miracle. 00:39:47.500 --> 00:39:51.980 There is no person here who's a Christian who can say that they've never seen a miracle. 00:39:52.460 --> 00:39:54.400 If somebody says to you, have you ever seen a miracle? 00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:55.900 You can say, I only know of one. 00:39:56.079 --> 00:39:56.340 Oh, yeah? 00:39:56.420 --> 00:39:56.900 What was it? 00:39:57.680 --> 00:39:58.820 Me becoming a Christian. 00:40:00.579 --> 00:40:01.420 That's a miracle. 00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:03.240 Only God can do it. 00:40:03.420 --> 00:40:07.440 And it's just as much a miracle if you gave your life to Christ when you were a little kid 00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:08.640 and you're not even conscious of it. 00:40:08.660 --> 00:40:09.480 It's still a miracle. 00:40:09.480 --> 00:40:13.320 God doesn't have to have you be conscious of it for it to be a miracle. 00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:15.719 In fact, that's what parents pray for. 00:40:16.440 --> 00:40:19.119 Christian parents pray that God will do a miracle in their children 00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:21.639 and that their children will never know a time when they don't know Jesus. 00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:26.639 You're a walking miracle if you've given your life to Christ. 00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:35.000 Just very, very briefly have to wrap it up. 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:36.859 Verse 25. 00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:39.480 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. 00:40:39.980 --> 00:40:42.420 And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. 00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:44.579 And for a whole year, they met with the church. 00:40:45.699 --> 00:40:46.980 In other words, they taught the church. 00:40:47.279 --> 00:40:49.179 And they also taught a great many people. 00:40:49.279 --> 00:40:53.319 It's implying that they go out of the doors and do evangelism and apologetics. 00:40:53.320 --> 00:40:57.340 And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians. 00:40:57.580 --> 00:40:58.880 And just one other pause. 00:40:59.660 --> 00:41:01.860 Antioch was known as the gateway to the east. 00:41:02.600 --> 00:41:12.080 Archaeological and anthropological evidence shows that people from China, India, and Persia lived in Antioch. 00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:20.980 And Antioch is to become the center of the great Christian missionary encounter with the pagan world. 00:41:20.980 --> 00:41:28.980 Friends, can you pray that we can have a season of a new missionary encounter with Canada? 00:41:28.980 --> 00:41:35.539 Now, in those days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 00:41:35.599 --> 00:41:41.119 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Holy Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world. 00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:43.559 This took place in the days of Claudius. 00:41:43.980 --> 00:41:47.559 So the disciples determined, according to his ability, to send relief. 00:41:48.139 --> 00:41:49.219 Here's this wonderful thing. 00:41:49.280 --> 00:41:50.240 These are pagans. 00:41:50.239 --> 00:42:04.159 See, that's why this text is saying the Lord can steal the scene. 00:42:04.239 --> 00:42:05.419 He can be a scene stealer. 00:42:05.939 --> 00:42:09.519 And he can work behind the scenes, like he does in this text. 00:42:09.899 --> 00:42:11.579 But he's always on the scene. 00:42:11.579 --> 00:42:15.719 And that's why you can teach the Christian faith. 00:42:16.079 --> 00:42:19.279 And you can bear witness to the Christian faith outside of these doors. 00:42:19.599 --> 00:42:21.440 And you can act as a Christian. 00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:23.639 And you can take initiative. 00:42:23.940 --> 00:42:27.259 And you can give money for the furtherance of the gospel. 00:42:27.460 --> 00:42:29.559 And you can do that with humble confidence. 00:42:29.559 --> 00:42:32.980 Because the Lord is always on the scene. 00:42:33.679 --> 00:42:34.440 I invite you to stand. 00:42:34.440 --> 00:42:34.519 Stand. 00:42:34.519 --> 00:42:43.119 Let's bow our heads for prayer. 00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:49.679 Father, I ask that you would make me more and more like Barnabas. 00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:52.420 I ask, Father, that you would make me a good man. 00:42:53.300 --> 00:42:56.099 That you would make me full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. 00:42:57.019 --> 00:43:02.179 And I ask, Father, for my brothers and sisters here in this church and for those online and downstream, 00:43:02.179 --> 00:43:05.299 that, Father, you would make them like Barnabas. 00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:12.559 That you would make them a man or a woman who's good and filled with faith and filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:43:13.819 --> 00:43:19.379 And, Father, if there are any here who do not yet know Jesus as their Savior and Lord, 00:43:19.500 --> 00:43:22.159 that you might help them, that you might work in their lives. 00:43:22.239 --> 00:43:24.500 You might turn their heart, that they might know Jesus. 00:43:25.879 --> 00:43:30.940 And I ask, Father, that you know how we can get down and we can be depressed and all. 00:43:30.940 --> 00:43:36.659 And we thank you that there are times like this on a Sunday morning when we can not only remember through the Lord's Supper, 00:43:36.840 --> 00:43:41.900 what Jesus did for us on the cross, but we can remember through your word that you are with us. 00:43:42.860 --> 00:43:44.300 You are on the scene. 00:43:45.559 --> 00:43:51.019 And that we can pray and act and bear witness, Father, knowing it's not our actions that do anything, 00:43:51.159 --> 00:43:52.700 but that you still move and act. 00:43:53.519 --> 00:43:55.099 Grow in us that humble confidence. 00:43:55.099 --> 00:43:58.860 Grow in us a patience. 00:43:59.380 --> 00:44:03.119 Deliver us from our impatience with you, but deliver and grant us patience, 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:05.139 knowing that you are acting. 00:44:05.940 --> 00:44:09.579 And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. 00:44:10.259 --> 00:44:10.579 Amen. 00:44:10.579 --> 00:44:11.019 Amen. 00:44:11.019 --> 00:44:11.039 Amen. 00:44:11.159 --> 00:44:11.900 Amen. 00:44:11.900 --> 00:44:12.219 Amen. 00:44:12.219 --> 00:44:22.319 Amen. 00:44:22.360 --> 00:44:22.819 Amen. 00:44:22.819 --> 00:44:24.840 Amen. 00:44:24.840 --> 00:44:24.920 Amen. 00:44:24.920 --> 00:44:28.920 Amen. 00:44:28.920 --> 00:44:29.659 Amen. 00:44:29.659 --> 00:44:30.219 Amen. 00:44:30.219 --> 00:44:30.940 Amen. 00:44:30.940 --> 00:44:33.179 Amen.