Acts 11:25

He was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and many people were added unto the Lord. And then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught many people. And the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch... Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also they did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

What made the believers at Antioch the first to be called "Christians"—and what does it take to raise children and disciples who actually live like Christ?

A Good Man on Father's Day

We finished last week with verse 24 of Acts 11, but I thought it good to return to it, because today is Father's Day. We read of Barnabas that he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. When we think of "good" in the Bible, we often think of morally pure or righteous on some spiritual level. Yet the word translated "good" here means that he was of a good disposition, agreeable. When it comes right down to it, Barnabas was just an all-around good guy—and he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith.

We aren't told whether Barnabas was a father, but we certainly need dads like this today: Spirit-filled, faith-filled, good men. This week I went with a friend to a maximum security youth correction facility in Chino—the most secure youth facility in California—for an evangelism outreach. About 50 young men ages 17 to 25 gathered. There are around 500 in that facility, 60% of them sex offenders. Talking with them, I found many had lousy examples in their fathers—drug dealers, pimps, gangbangers, or men who had nothing to do with them.

We are in a time when our nation most certainly needs fathers who are good men, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. The example and counsel of godly fathers is extremely important in raising children. The breakdown of society begins with the breakdown of the home and the family, and we have seen that breakdown in recent years. Yet every year on the third Sunday of June—now for 101 years—we celebrate fathers. So before we go deeper into Acts 11, I want to consider what the Scriptures say as a charge to fathers.

My First Father's Day

This is my first Father's Day as a dad. It was a blessing this morning to sit in the lobby during worship and feed my son Ethan. But I have to be honest: before Andrea was pregnant and Ethan was born, I was scared to death of being a father. Being senior pastor of this church was much less of an issue to me than becoming a dad. I'd look around at the godly fathers in our fellowship and say, "Lord, I have a great example—I just don't know if I can do that." But I'm thankful that God, by His Spirit, enables us.

The charge to fathers is given a number of times in Scripture. In Ephesians 6:4, Paul says:

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

We often read this as a warning against stirring our children up. But the original word can be translated, "do not promote your children unto anger." When I read it, I think of it differently: by not training and bringing up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, you are preparing and promoting them to one day stand before God for wrath. So Paul says, do not promote your children unto wrath, but rather bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Three Institutions for Righteous Living

God created three institutions to prepare people for godly living. The first, all the way back in Genesis, was the family. He made Adam and Eve male and female, joined them as one flesh, and gave them the command, "Be fruitful and multiply." In Malachi 2, God says He hates divorce because He desires from this union a godly heritage, godly offspring. One of the primary reasons God instituted marriage and the family is to raise up godly offspring.

If that doesn't happen in the home, God created a second institution—the church—where children can be reared in righteous living through teaching and discipline. And if neither family nor church is there, God instituted government to execute righteous judgment and stir people toward righteous living. But if a man is not corrected by family, church, or government, he will one day be promoted unto wrath, standing before God for judgment. This is why Ephesians 6 is so important: bring your children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived beside our Lord, said in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way that he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it." That training is the same Paul speaks of—discipline and instruction in the way of the Lord—and it is called upon fathers as the priests of the household.

Do Not Withhold Discipline

Solomon also wrote in Proverbs 23:13, "Do not withhold discipline from your child." Just this week, my wife and I began teaching our eight-month-old son the word "no." It's not easy. I was working at our kitchen table when Ethan scooted his walker over and grabbed the computer power cord. "Ethan, no." He looked up with those cute eyes and that precious smile—he smiles at everybody—then grabbed it again. So I took his little hand and tapped it. He looked at me as if to say, "What in the world was that?" The next day, he scooted toward the TV stand cords, and Andrea said, "Ethan, no." He looked over, smiled, reached out his hand, and touched the stand as if to ask, "Is this okay?"

Discipline is a hot topic in our nation right now. A well-known mom was photographed spanking her child, and commentators insisted you're not supposed to spank children. But notice what God says in Proverbs 23:13: "If you strike him with the rod, he will not die." Elsewhere Solomon says to strike with the rod and not spare for his tears. People appeal to man's wisdom—Dr. Spock or whoever—but God's wisdom says, discipline your children; strike with the rod, and he will not die.

We are to discipline out of love, with the purpose of correction, not out of anger. If tempted to discipline in anger, Scripture makes clear you should withdraw. But the correction still belongs there, and it is a display of love. Proverbs 13:24 says, "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him"—or, in another translation, disciplines early. Why? Because foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction drives it far from him.

Discipline as the Father's Love

Ask my mom—there was foolishness bound in my heart, and she and my dad exercised the rod of correction. I didn't enjoy it at the time. As Hebrews 12 says, no discipline is enjoyable for the time, but it ultimately yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Hebrews also says that whom the Lord loves, He disciplines. Our God is our Father, and He disciplines us because He loves us. Throughout Scripture, God's punishment is always for the purpose of purification, and our discipline of our children should be for the purpose of correction. Write that down if you're taking notes.

It's far better to receive the chastisement of an earthly father or of God here and now than to stand before Him one day for judgment. I saw this played out recently. A few weeks ago I received a letter from Jordan Kinney—Pastor Pat's son, about my age—asking us to support his missions trip to the Philippines. That may sound ordinary, but you didn't know Jordan. For many years Pastor Pat watched his son walk away from the Lord, rebel against everything, and get into all kinds of trouble. But God has done a powerful work, and now Jordan is going to the Philippines and helping with the men's ministry at his church. Why? Because God's Word is true: "Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Sometimes the seeds of God's Word take a while to germinate. Sometimes it takes the fire of trials to break them open. Perhaps you're sowing the Word into your children right now and it seems to get worse—like water on an oil fire. But God's Word is true. So the charge to fathers is: bring up your children in the instruction of the Lord, train them in the way they should go, and do not withhold discipline. You may say I'm just a young whippersnapper with an eight-month-old. You're right—I know very little. The only thing I know is what the Scriptures say, and I'm thankful God has given us instruction.

A Prayer for Fathers

Father, on this Father's Day we pray for the fathers in our fellowship. We give thanks for You, our heavenly Father, and also for the earthly fathers You've given us—some may not have been the best examples, yet You allowed them in our lives for a purpose. Lord, pour out a blessing on the dads here. Give them strength to be men of integrity in the workplace and godly men in the home. Give us wisdom to exercise discipline rightly, to train our children, to be good examples. Pour out Your Spirit on the men of our fellowship to be good dads, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith, that we might see a transformation in our nation. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Barnabas Goes to Find Saul

Continuing in Acts 11, when Barnabas—this good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith—went to Antioch, many people were added to the Lord. His evangelistic work produced great fruit, and he wanted to make sure these fresh converts didn't remain babes in Christ. So verse 25 tells us he departed to Tarsus to seek Saul—about 85 miles away.

Remember Saul: the man who persecuted the church in Acts 8 and 9 before he was converted on the road to Damascus. When he came to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, they were afraid of him and did not believe he was a disciple (Acts 9:26). They shunned him and assumed it was a trick. But verse 27 says, "Barnabas took him," brought him to the apostles, and declared how Saul had seen the Lord and preached boldly at Damascus. Barnabas took a step of faith and went where no one else would go.

Now Barnabas goes to Tarsus again, because the church had earlier sent Saul home to quiet things down when people wanted to kill him. But with Gentiles coming to faith, Barnabas knew he needed Saul. Though Barnabas was a godly man of the tribe of Levi, I believe his command of the Old Testament Scriptures was nowhere near Saul's. As we'll see through the rest of Acts and the epistles, Saul knew the Word of God like nobody in the early church—how to use it, how to instruct and disciple the body of Christ.

Teaching That Makes Disciples

Verse 26: "And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught many people, and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." One of Jesus' departing commands was to go into all the world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19), baptizing them and teaching them all things He commanded. The early church at Antioch, led by Saul and Barnabas, was a church that was being taught.

Sadly, the modern church is often more focused on making converts than disciples. It's vital to bring people to Christ, but you can't leave them there as babes in Christ. Saul and Barnabas focused on equipping and teaching, and as a result the believers began to be called Christians—followers of Christ. The unbelievers of Antioch looked at them and said, "They are different." What changed? They were being taught the Word of God.

My wife is taking an online sociology class right now. She asked me to read one of her forum posts, and I thought, "That's a strange worldview." It turned out the assignment articles had a heavily slanted perspective, and every student was just spewing back exactly what they had read. It struck me that what they were receiving was more indoctrination than instruction—telling them what to think, not how to think. The worldview being pushed was that American capitalism is evil. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't—but it should at least be thought through, not simply swallowed.

Many churches do the same thing—handing out what people should say or know instead of teaching them how to live. It has been said from this pulpit many times that we are here to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Our desire is that you would not simply know what the Bible says but know how to apply it—so that knowledge becomes wisdom in your life.

All Scripture Is Profitable

In 2 Timothy 3:14, Paul tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned, knowing from childhood the holy Scriptures that are able to make him wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Then come the familiar verses:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Hold fast to the Word, Paul says, because it is God-breathed and useful in four ways. First, it is profitable for doctrine—it tells us what is right and wrong, the plumb line, the way to walk. Second, it is useful for reproof—it exposes when my life moves in opposition to God's calling. Third, it is useful for correction—bringing me back in line with the right direction. Fourth, it is profitable for instruction in righteousness—showing me how to keep walking that direction.

Put these together and verse 17 says the man or woman of God may be complete, mature, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Ephesians 2 says God prepared good works for us to walk in before the foundation of the world. How can I be equipped for them? The Word of God is essential. That's why we are committed to teaching it line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse and chapter by chapter—because the Word of God transforms lives.

Discipleship Takes Time

In 2 Timothy 4:1, Paul charges Timothy before God and the Lord Jesus Christ to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all longsuffering and doctrine." Notice that Saul and Barnabas taught the church at Antioch for a year. This kind of instruction does not happen overnight.

Discipleship is a labor, like farming. Before you can plant, you have to prepare the ground—remove the rocks, break up the fallow soil, add the nutrients. Then you plant the seeds, but it doesn't stop there. You weed, you water, you tend, so that one day you receive a fruitful harvest. Discipleship takes time, and it takes those who will come alongside and pastor the flock of God. Ultimately we'll see about five pastors overseeing the fellowship at Antioch, ministering together so the body would grow and be fruitful.

Their work paid off: the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. The word "Christian" appears only three times in the entire Bible—twice in Acts and once in Peter's letters. A change had taken place because they faithfully taught the Word of God. This idea of teaching to produce fruit runs through Scripture: "O God, you have taught me from my youth" (Psalm 71:17); "I have not departed from your judgments, for you have taught me" (Psalm 119:102); "I have taught thee in the way of wisdom" (Proverbs 4:11). Jesus taught with words, parables, miracles, and example, then commanded His disciples to teach others, who told others to teach others still (2 Timothy 2:2).

What Is a Christian?

There are over 300,000 "Christian" churches in America today, and when pollsters call, 75% of Americans say they are Christians. But here in Acts 11 the body of Christ was first called Christians. So I wonder: are people called Christians merely because they associate with a church that calls itself Christian, or because the unbelieving world looks at their lives and says, "That's a Christian"?

What set the Antiochians apart? They were clearly separate in the way they lived. You would not find them at the theaters, watching the gladiators, at the Temple of Diana, or mixed up in the orgies and wicked practices of the day. The people said, "That's a Christian." So I ask myself, and you can ask too: Am I different than an unbeliever? When people hear my speech and watch my conduct, are we different?

Do I react the same way when cut off or put down? "Be angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (Ephesians 4:26). Do I engage in dirty jokes for a cheap laugh? "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying" (Ephesians 4:29). Do I take things that aren't mine from my employer? "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour" (Ephesians 4:28). Do I cover my mistakes with little lies and half-truths? "Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour" (Ephesians 4:25). Do I hold anger and plan revenge? "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger... be put away from you" (Ephesians 4:31). Do I display God's love even toward my enemies? "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35).

Empowered by the Spirit, Instructed by the Word

These are hard questions, and they can't be answered by my own strength or determination. But as followers of Christ, we have become new creations with the indwelling Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live as God has called us. Peter says in 2 Peter 1 that God has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness—everything we need to live in a godly manner.

Here's the problem: many Christians in America don't know what is pleasing to God. They have the power of the Holy Spirit but don't know what pleases Him. Where do we find that? In the Word of God. You'll never know what is pleasing to God—even though Revelation 4:11 says that is the very reason we were created—apart from His Word. That is why the teaching and study of God's Word is essential, and not just on Sunday morning or Wednesday night. We must determine to study to show ourselves approved, day in and day out.

If you say, "I don't know how to observe and interpret it," that's okay—we'll teach you, whether through our inductive Bible study class or our school of discipleship, how to draw from Scripture what to believe, what to do, and how to do it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice that the disciples weren't called Calvinists or Arminians, Presbyterians, Baptists, Lutherans, or Calvary Chapelites. They were called Christians—followers of Christ—because people saw the life of Jesus of Nazareth lived out in them.

The Marks of a Giving Disciple

Their transformed lives are revealed in the next section. Verse 27: prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch, and one named Agabus signified by the Spirit that a great famine would come throughout the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Someone may say, "Weren't all the prophets until John the Baptist?" God did anoint certain people in the New Testament with a prophetic gift—a word of knowledge—as we'll see again with Agabus in Acts 21. But the Old Testament kind of prophet is not evident in the church today. When someone tells me, "I am a prophet of God," my antenna go up, and I ask if they'll submit to the test of a prophet in Deuteronomy: if your prophecy fails, you're put to death. Generally they say, "I am not a prophet." No, you're not.

When Agabus foretold the famine, what did these well-taught, Christlike disciples do? Verse 29: "Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea: which also they did." A follower of Jesus becomes a giving person, because God is a giver. Let me preface this: I'm not asking you for money. As we go through the Word verse by verse, we simply come to passages that deal with giving, and here we see four things.

First, the giving was done by the disciples—the followers of Christ. Second, they gave "every man according to his ability"—out of the proportion of what they had. Some had little and gave little; some had much and gave much. Third, they "determined" to give—they decided beforehand. This is crucial. If you don't decide ahead of time, before you pay all your bills, you'll likely find you have nothing left. In my household, giving is the very first thing that comes out when I get paid.

Fourth, they actually "did" it. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Plenty of people say, "I planned to give—if I win the lottery, I'll give." But these disciples determined according to their ability and then fulfilled it, sending relief to the elders in Jerusalem by the hands of Saul and Barnabas.

When, Who, How, and Why of Giving

There are many passages on giving—Acts 11, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians—but we'll close with one. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Paul addresses the collection for the saints and gives the when, who, how, and why all in one verse. When: "upon the first day of the week." Who: "let every one of you." How: "lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him"—in proportion to what you have. Why: "that there be no gatherings when I come."

You may say, "I'm not able to give much." That's okay. Nobody is going to look it up on a computer or check it. It's between you and Jesus. We don't give out of constraint; we don't twist arms or hold up a thermometer saying, "We're almost there." It's in your hands with God. And I'm not saying this because we're running out of money—God has been gracious and blessed this church abundantly. At our mid-year budget review, we were ahead of projections, which is amazing in the midst of a great economic downturn. I know pastors of Calvary Chapels who are 40% below budget this year.

This is a very giving church, not just monetarily but in time—over 150 people serve every week in children's ministry, cleaning, nursing homes, ushering, greeting, sound, worship, security, and more. God is doing a great work. Why? I believe it's directly related to the teaching of God's Word, just as we see in Acts 11.

Closing Prayer

Father, what great grace You've given us. Thank You for giving us Your Word, teaching us and instructing us how to live—so that we would know what is righteous and what is not, see our lives in light of what Your Word says, and walk pleasing to You by Your Spirit and Your Word. I pray for my brothers and sisters as we depart, that You would fill us to overflowing with Your Spirit. Help us to be good men and women—agreeable, pleasant, joyful—full of Your Spirit and full of faith, shining brightly in a dark world. I pray again for the fathers of our fellowship, that You would fill them, equip them, and make them bright examples. And wherever we go, may people know that we are followers of Christ—not because we wear a "Not of This World" sticker, but because we display You. We praise You and thank You, in Jesus' name. Amen.