Acts 11

Introduction

Last week we were studying chapter 10 and the story of how Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile, received a vision from the Lord to tell him to send men to Joppa to fetch Peter. And the next day, Peter also received a vision from the Lord which made clear to him that he shouldn’t call anything impure which the Lord has made clean. And while the vision was on one level about what food the Jews were permitted to eat, on another level it was about Jews and Gentiles. The Jews at that time regarded the Gentiles as unclean and they wouldn’t associate with them in any way. But the Lord was showing Peter that if he, the Lord, is willing to accept Gentiles, then Peter and his fellow believers should accept them too.

And so, when Cornelius’s men arrived at the house where Peter was staying, Peter went with them to Cornelius’s house, where he preached to a roomful of Gentiles about the Lord Jesus Christ who died and who was raised and who is coming again; and how everyone who believes in him receives the forgiveness of sins through his name. And as he was speaking, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. And since they had received the Holy Spirit, just as the believing Jews had received him in chapter 2, and just as the believing Samaritans have received him in chapter 8, Peter gave orders for them to be baptised as members of the church of Jesus Christ, which the Saviour is building on the earth.

And so, I made the point last week that salvation and everlasting life in the presence of God is for everyone who believes in the Saviour. It’s not for one type of person. It’s not just for Jews and it’s not just for people who come from one particular nation or who speak a certain language or who look a certain way or anything like that. Salvation and eternal life in the presence of God is for everyone who believes in the Saviour, because God’s mercy is infinite and it extends to people in every age and in every place. His love embraces the whole world and he gives salvation and eternal life to everyone who believes in his Son.

And since that’s the case, then we should welcome every believer who comes into our church, no matter where they’ve come from. Since God accepts people from every nation, then we must accept them too and welcome them in Christ’s name. And one day we’ll stand with them in glory and we’ll join with them to worship God and the Lamb who is our Saviour and the only Saviour of the world.

That’s what we were thinking about last week. Today we come to chapter 11 which can be divided into two parts. In the first part, which runs from verse 1 to verse 18, we have some follow-up to last week’s chapter. Peter goes to Jerusalem and reports on what happened in Cornelius’s house. And in the second part, which runs from verse 19 to verse 30, we hear about the church in Antioch. And while these two parts seem to have no connection to one another, it seems to me that they are connected, because the two parts show us that the church of Jesus Christ is both diverse and united. It’s diverse, comprising all kinds of people. But all these diverse people are united under Christ and they care for one another.

Verses 1 to 18

Let me go through the passage first of all, beginning with verses 1 to 18 where we read that the apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

The apostles and the brothers in Judea are the believing Jews. And so, these believing Jews in Jerusalem heard what had happened in Cornelius’s house in Caesarea. And when Luke says that the Gentiles had received the word of God, he means that they had been converted to faith in Christ. They received the word of God in the sense that they believed the word of God which they heard from Peter about Jesus Christ who is the only Saviour of the world. They heard it and believed it and they trusted in him for salvation.

And you’d think this would have been a cause for rejoicing. ‘Isn’t this fantastic news! Isn’t God’s mercy wonderful! God has shown mercy to Gentiles. Wonderful! Brilliant!’ And perhaps there were many who did rejoice. But Luke tells us in verse 2 about these circumcised believers who criticised Peter.

It’s not exactly clear to whom he’s referring, because, of course, every Jewish believer in those days had been circumcised. But whatever the exact identity of this group, they weren’t pleased with Peter and they criticised what he had done. They complained because Peter had gone into the house of uncircumcised men to eat with them. As I’ve already said, Jews in those days regarded Gentiles as unclean and they would not associate with them. So, a conscientious Jew would not go into the home of a Gentile and eat with them, because they might be served food which was unclean according to Jewish law at that time.

And so, these people criticised Peter and complained about him. But, as is often the case with complainers, these ones didn’t understand what they were criticising and if these men knew what the Lord had revealed to Peter, then they wouldn’t have complained. And so, Peter went on to explain to them what the Lord had revealed to him.

And he begins with the time when he was in Joppa and he was praying. And that’s when he received a vision from the Lord. And in the vision, he saw a large sheet which was let down from heaven. And on the sheet were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him to get up and kill and eat what was on the sheet. But since at least some of these creatures were unclean, Peter protested, because until that time he had never eaten anything impure or unclean. And the voice told him not to call anything impure which God has made clean. This happened three times and then the sheet was pulled up to heaven and the vision came to an end. We’re familiar with the vision from last week’s chapter.

And Peter went on to explain that men arrived at the house from Caesarea and the Holy Spirit told Peter to go with them. Six of Peter’s companions went with him and they entered Cornelius’s house, where Cornelius told Peter that he has received a vision from the Lord in which an angel told him to fetch Peter, who will bring them a message through which he and his household will be saved.

And as Peter began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on the Jewish believers at the beginning. Peter is referring to what happened on the Day of Pentecost. On that Day, the Holy Spirit came on them and they were enabled to speak in different languages. And that’s what happened to Cornelius and to the people he had invited to this meeting.

And Peter adds something to his narrative that we didn’t know before. He says in verse 16 that he remembered the words of the Saviour who said, while he was on the earth, that ‘John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ He’s referring, of course, to John the Baptist who baptised people in the River Jordan. John baptised with water. And all he could do, like ministers today, is make people wet with water. And that’s because water baptism is only a sign. It’s only a sign and it’s not the real thing. But it’s a sign of what Christ does.

And what does Christ do? He’s the one who baptises his people with the Holy Spirit. He pours out his Spirit upon his people to enable them to believe the good news of the gospel. And whoever believes the good news of the gospel is pardoned. The guilt of their sins is washed away for ever. And then the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of Christ’s believing people to renew them in God’s image and to enable them to walk in his ways and to do his will.

But it begins when Christ the Saviour pours his Spirit on his people to enable them to believe the good news. And water baptism is a sign of that, because just as water washes away dirt from our bodies, so Christ the Saviour washes away the guilt of our sin.

And Peter says that he remembered the words of the Saviour about how his people will receive the Spirit. And that’s what happened at Cornelius’s house. Christ the Saviour poured out his Spirit on Cornelius and on the people with him.

And Peter concludes his explanation by saying that if God gave Cornelius and his fellow Gentiles the same gift of the Spirit as he gave to the Jews who believed, then who was he to oppose God? Since God had accepted them, then so should he. And he was willing to baptise them as members of the church which Christ is building throughout the earth.

And when they heard this, they had no further objections. They could see that this was from God. And they rejoiced because God had granted the Gentiles repentance unto life. Please note that repentance is a gift from God. He’s the one who enables sinners to repent. We might say that we have decided to follow Christ, but the reason we decide to follow Christ is because he first of all gave us repentance. He enabled us to repent. He enabled us to turn from our old life of sin and unbelief and to turn to God for eternal life, trusting in Christ for forgiveness.

Verses 19 to 30

Let’s move straight on to the second half of today’s passage, which is verses 19 to 30.

Luke refers us back to what we read at the beginning of chapter 8 and how, after Stephen was killed, the believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. And wherever they went, they made known the good news of salvation. And here in chapter 11 he tells us that they even went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch. These places were in Gentile territory to the north of Judea However, even though they were in Gentile territory, Jews also lived there. And according to verse 19, the believers only told the message of the gospel to the Jews. However, some of them eventually began to speak to Greeks also. That is to say, they spoke to Gentiles about the Saviour. And the Lord’s hand was with them. When Luke refers to the Lord’s hand, he’s referring to the power of the Lord Jesus. The Risen and Exalted Lord Jesus Christ was working powerfully through these witnesses so that a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord for salvation.

The church in Jerusalem heard about this and the believers there sent Barnabas to Antioch to see what was happening. We’ve come across Barnabas before. He was mentioned in chapter 4, where we were told that he was originally a Levite from Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the proceeds to the church to be used to support the needy members. He was also the man who helped Paul when Paul first went to Jerusalem. The other believers were afraid of Paul, given his reputation for persecuting the church. But Barnabas, in a sense, took Paul under his wing and persuaded the others to welcome him. And now he’s been sent to Antioch to see what was happening there.

And according to verse 23 when he arrived he saw the evidence of the grace of God. So, it was clear to him that what was going on there was from God and that the Lord had indeed worked in the hearts of Gentiles in Antioch to enable them to repent and believe the good news. And so, Barnbas was glad and he encouraged the new believers to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He encouraged them to serve the Lord faithfully.

And Luke adds that Barnabas himself was a good man who was full of the Spirit and faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord. That suggests that even more people were converted after Barnabas’s arrival in Antioch.

Barnabas then decided to go to Tarsus, which was nearby, to look for Saul or Paul as he’s better known now. And when he found him, they returned to Antioch and remained there for a year. During that time they met with the new church that had been planted and they taught great numbers of people.

And Luke tells us that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. The word Christian is a mixture of the Greek word ‘Christ’ and ‘ianus’ which in Latin indicates a group. Christians are that group of people in the world who trust in Jesus Christ for salvation and who love and serve him.

And Luke finishes his record about the church in Antioch by telling us in verse 27 that some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them, a man called Agabus, stood up and revealed to them by the Spirit that a severe fanine was going to spread over the entire Roman world. And Luke includes a little note that this indeed took place during the reign of Claudius, who was the Caesar of Rome from AD 41 to 54.

And since this was the case, the disciples in Antioch decided to provide help for their brothers living in Judea. When Luke refers to their brothers living in Judea, he means their fellow believers: their brothers and sisters in the Lord. They had never met these people, but they had no doubt heard about them from Barnabas who had come from Jerusalem and also from the believers who had been left Jerusalem after Stephen’s death and had first told them about the Saviour. And they decided to provide help for them. Luke tells us that they did so ‘each according to his ability’. So, they didn’t all give the same amount, but they gave what they could afford: some giving more, some giving less, but all of them giving whatever they could. And then they sent their gift to the elders in Jerusalem by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Application 1

And so, that’s today’s passage, which begins with a summary of what happened in Cornelius’s house in Caesarea and which ends with an account of how Gentile believers in Antioch sent money to help Jewish believers in Judea.

And, as I said at the beginning, this one chapter show us that the church of Jesus Christ is both diverse and united. It’s diverse, comprising all kinds of people. But all these diverse people are united under Christ and who care for one another.

The story about Cornelius shows us that the church is diverse, because it’s not for one kind of person only. The complainers in Jerusalem probably thought that it was for Jews only and that Peter shouldn’t be mixing with Gentiles. And when we get to Acts 15, we’ll hear about some believers who thought that Gentiles who want to join the church must become like the Jews. And so, they must be circumcised and they must obey the law of Moses about clean and unclean foods. So, they believed that unless the Gentiles become like the Jews, they can’t be part of the church.

And perhaps some Christians can make people feel that they have to be just like them to be part of Christ’s church. Some Christians may look down on other believers if they’re not interested in doing the same things as they are. And young people in churches may feel at times that they must become just like the older members of the church and look the same way and do the same things and like the same things. And if they don’t, then they don’t really belong.

But the Lord made clear that he’s willing to accept anyone who believes in the Saviour no matter who they are or where they have come from or what they look like or what they’re like.

God has made us all different and he’s given us different interests and abilities and skills and passions. He didn’t make us all the same, but he has made us all different. And our differences don’t exclude us from the church, because the only entrance qualification for the church is faith in Christ the Saviour. And as one theologian has said (Bavinck), the only thing the Lord opposes in the world and in his people is sin.

And so, I can say to all of you that you can go out into the world and develop the skills and abilities and interests and passions that God has given you; and don’t feel that you have to do what everyone else does. Take the abilities and interests God has given you and develop them and grow them and use them for God’s glory in the world. And in this way, you will enrich the world around you by making use of what God has given you.

Salvation from our sins and eternal life in the presence of God and membership of Christ’s church is not for one kind of person only. We don’t all have to be the same. The Gentiles in Caesarea and in Antioch did not have to become Jews to receive forgiveness and eternal life and to become members of the church. All they needed was faith in Christ. And what was true for them is still true today, because what matters most about us is that we believe in the Saviour and that we want to live our life for his glory.

Application 2

And so, the church of Jesus Christ is diverse, comprising all kinds of people. But all these diverse people are united under Christ and they care for one another. And we see that in the second part of today’s passage where the believers in Antioch were willing to provide what they could to help their fellow believers in Judea. They didn’t know these people. They had never met them. They had only heard about them. But when they heard of the potential hardship they faced because of the coming famine, their hearts went out to them and they did what they could to help.

And they were willing to help those people in Judea because, like themselves, the people in Judea were believers and they were members of Christ’s one, universal church which he’s building on the earth. And since they had that in common with the people in Judea, the ones in Antioch felt an obligation to help them.

I’ve mentioned before the chapter on the communion of the saints in our church’s Confession of Faith which makes the point that we’re united with Christ by his Spirit and by faith. So, the Holy Spirit enables us to believe in the Saviour and we’re therefore united with Christ through faith. And since we’re united with Christ through faith, then we receive all the benefits of his life and death and resurrection including justification, so that we’re pardoned and accepted; and adoption, so that we’re adopted into God family as his children; and sanctification, so that we’re renewed in God’s image and we become more and more willing and able to obey him. And there are many other benefits we receive now that we’re united with Christ through faith. He shares these good things with us and with all his people.

But then, the Confession goes on to say that not only are we united with Christ, but we’re united with one another in love. He binds us together as his people and he commands us to love one another. And since that’s the case, we’re obligated to perform such duties — public and private — as promote our mutual good in both spiritual and temporal concerns. In other words, we’re to help one another in spiritual ways and in practical ways. We’re to build one another up in the faith; and we’re to help one another in the daily troubles and trials of life. And we’re to do this according to our ability just as the believers in Antioch did. And we’re to do it for people who are near us — believers in our local congregation — and for believers who are far away from us, as we have the opportunity to do so.

Conclusion

The church is both diverse and united. It’s diverse, because it’s made up of all kinds of people who differ from one another in lots of different ways. But all these diverse people are united under Christ. And because we’re united under Christ, then we’re obligated to love one another and to help one another.

Sin turns differences into division. So, wherever you go in the world, you’ll find people who are divided from one another and who oppose one another and who fight against one another because they’re different from one another. But the church of Christ is to be different from that, because Christ our Saviour brings together all these different kinds of people and he unites us together as members of his one, universal church, which he’s building throughout the world. And he commands us to love one another just as he has loved us. This is his will for us and by doing his will we bring glory and honour to his name.