A Study in The Book of Acts

Part 13

 

This is an interesting time in the Book of Acts. It is chronicling the growth of the Church, the spread of the Gospel. We will be going between chapter 11 and 13 as Antioch is mentioned in both.

 

Let’s start in Acts 11:

Acts 11: 19-24: 19.  Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.  20.  But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus.  21.  And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.  22.  Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.  23.  When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.  24.  For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

 

The City of Antioch was in the Roman Province of Syria. It was north of the province of Judea where Jerusalem was located. Antioch of Syria was one of many Greek cities established by the leaders who rose after the death of Alexander the Great. It is interesting to me to discover that there is another Antioch north east of Antioch of Syria, Antioch of Pisidia, which is what we know as Galatia.

 

Antioch of Syria is where a great number of the persecuted Christians from Jerusalem fled after the death of Stephen. These persecuted Christians were mainly Jewish and when they arrived in areas, preached and shared the gospel with mainly other Jews. As we can see from the verses above, when the remnant of The Church in Jerusalem heard about the church in Antioch, they sent Barnabus to investigate. He saw how God was moving in the new church and encouraged them in the Lord.

 

Acts 11: 25.  Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul.  26.  And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

 

So as discussed in previous lessons, Barnabas saw the new Believers in Antioch, taught and encouraged them, then he went to Tarsus to seek Paul to bring him back to Antioch to teach the new believers. They were there a year. This is where we begin Acts 13.

 

Act 13: 1.  Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

 

There were several strong prophets and teachers living and teaching in the Church of Antioch.

Let’s take a minute to look at the two different roles of prophet and teacher.

 

1 Corinthians 12:  4.  Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  5.  There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord... 10.  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  11.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.  12.  For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

 

Pastor has been teaching on the gifts of the spirit. I am only going to touch on these two gifts.

 

Ephesians 4: 11.  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12.  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

 

Jesus embodied all the gifts. God as set the gifts in the church which as we see above is one. The church, as well as individual members of the church, are to be equipped for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body. The church is to edify or teach new believers, to train them, to nurture them, and to teach them to spread the gospel to all.

 

So, what is a prophet?

A prophet is chosen by the Holy Spirit to guide in His Word and to confirm His word to others. It is an Ascension Gift to the Church, meaning it was manifested in the church after Christ ascended. A prophet is chosen by the Holy Spirit. The prophet ministers to the entire body, not individuals or individual churches.

 

Old Testament prophets were to guide the Jews and to write infallible Scriptures. They wrote down what God told them for the edification, correction of the Jewish nation, which has gone astray. They also prophesied regarding the coming Messiah. They often heard the voice of the Lord, in dreams or visions, or by the Urim and Thumin, because the Holy Spirit was not available to them. They were used to prophesy the coming of the Messiah, which was foreordained from the beginning of time.

 

New Testament prophets ordain or tell the church what to do, rather they gave them the Word God had given them and the believers responded.

 

We must remember that we are all “Sons of God.”  Romans 8: 14.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

 

We as believers are to be led by the Spirit of God speaking to us through the scriptures, prayer and meditation in His Word. We do not seek prophets to guide us, as we all are capable of being led by the Spirit. (The Old Testament population had to rely on the prophet as he was the only one God spoke to and through.

 

Prophets in the New Testament did not write scripture, God used the Apostle for this. We need to remember that we are to seek God and guidance through prayer, fasting and reading His Word.

 

Some of the New Testament prophets told of upcoming events, such as Agubus prophesying regarding the upcoming famine. He did not follow the prophecy with written word on what to do. Rather the church leaders sought the Lord and determined to send relief to the Jerusalem church.

 

Teachers is a New Testament Office. It is one of the Ascension gifts and ministering gifts. To teach and edify, to bring the church to maturity. Prophets, evangelists proclaim the Gospel. Teachers break down the Word of God to edify or build up the church to be strong and to continue the work it is called to complete.

 

This church is Antioch had several strong leaders. Barnabus, we know, a strong leader from Jerusalem. He is described as a good kind man. He had a reconciling ministry. He brought people together. He brought Paul to the church in Antioch recognizing that Paul, having been a well-educated Pharisee, knew the scriptures and how to expound on them.

 

Simon and Lucius were both African. Simon was of Niger, but it is pronounced “Nee-jer”. He is probably a black man. He was learned and a leader of the Antioch church. Manaen was a foster brother to one of the Herods

 

Lucius was from Cyrene, on the northern African Coast, east of Egypt. Now known as Libya. He was probably also a black man. So, the church in Antioch was a well-rounded church, where the members were full of the Holy Spirit.

 

In Acts 13:1 we see the church leaders “ministering to the Lord and fasting.” What does that mean? I believe they had been fasting and praying and seeking the Lord on His plans and what they were to do. It is important to seek God, before you make a major decision, lifestyle chance or anything. I know I have been guilty of saying, “let me pray about something…” when I had already made up my mind and was just telling God to bless my decision. I think many of us have been guilty of this. Or sensing a call on our lives and expecting things to manifest immediately. Again, in my immaturity, I have been guilty of this.

 

I think one of the signs of Christian maturity is patience. Waiting on the Lord. We cannot make anything happen. There are two things I want us to take away from this. One is we should not run to and fro seeking guidance from known prophets. I think many of us instead of doing our due diligence which is spending time in the Word, spending time in prayer and the presence of the Lord. Praying, especially in tongues, to attune our spirits to hear and understand what the Holy Spirit is saying. We want to God to “give us a word..”. I have been blessed to be reassured by a Word from God in a personal time of desperation. But I believe God prefers us to spend time with Him daily, not hunting for the Word of the moment.  And when God did give us, a word, it was after we had spent time in prayer, weeping and seeking. We were rewarded with an answer that gave us peace.

 

The second thing is God has prepared a way for the church to mature. To grow it it’s corporate and individual relationship with Him. We need to understand this plan and adhere to it. We see a church today that has huge numbers, but no substance. Great attendance at scheduled meetings, but no attendance or small attendance in offerings by the church in, in depth studies for individual growth. We need to pray for God’s will to be done. What is His will. To see as many people let to Jesus and then led into maturity as possible. As someone once said,

“We need to decimate hell and populate heaven.” This is our mission and goal. We need to pray for ripe fields. For God to show us what our role is in planting and harvesting this field. Time is short.