Sunday, October 8, 2023 AM

The Christian Name and the Call to Gather

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for arranging everything that needed to happen today for us to be here. In all the little ways that you provided that we didn't notice, we thank you.

We feel the absence of our brothers and sisters who are sick or traveling, who are in need. And Father, we pray that you would provide for them in a special way today in their absence. Healing and safety and confidence and your love for them and ours as well.

We thank you for these hymns and spiritual songs and psalms that we've sung today that have taught us and admonished us in Christ. The love that we have for one another, the unity that we have together in Him.

Father, we pray now that you would bless us with your Holy Spirit, that the truth of your word would find a resounding amen in our lives. That we would rejoice together in Christ. And it is in His name and for His sake that we pray.

Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 11. And we'll begin reading in verse 19. Acts chapter 11 and verse 19. Throughout the book of Acts, we have heard of those who are born again, those who follow Christ.

We've heard them described as the brethren, as saints, as followers of the way. They have been described as the church. And it is here in our passage where we are told that it was in Antioch that they were first called Christians.

Christians. What a good term. What an excellent name. What a proper way of describing the people of Christ. Let's read about these Christians. Let's read about our spiritual ancestors, shall we? Please stand with me if you are able.

And we will read together Acts chapter 11 beginning in verse 19. This is the word of the Lord. 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.

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. And the hand of the Lord was with them. And a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

Then the news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them, encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

And a great many people were added to the Lord. Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. 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. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. What about that name Christian? The term is not so much in favor today, is it?

I know some of the brethren would desire to use a different descriptor. Oh, we'd rather be called followers of Jesus. We think that's a little bit more clear. Or call us something else. Why is the term Christian in disfavor?

Is it something the Bible said? No, it's something that our culture has said. Something that haters of God have complained about. And there's a great concern about the term Christian. In many places, in many times, it is used with little meaning or perhaps the wrong meaning.

Perhaps it is used in ways that it ought not to be used. Perhaps there are meanings that are given to the name that don't belong. But you know, the Bible says the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth.

So ought we not clarify the meaning of the name Christian rather than abandon it? Leave it behind? And besides the fact, there is no point in trying to please the revolutionaries, by the way. Each wave beheads the group that came before them, as France well knows.

The same group that complain about the use of the word Christian are the ones who are complaining about the use of the term mother. So, good luck pleasing that crowd. We, as Christians, however, are free.

We have liberty. We are not enslaved by the fear of death and we are not ensnared by the fear of man. And we, unlike others, do not have a thousand different masters that we must please, just one. Oh, what a joy it is to just have one Lord to serve.

It's liberating. So who are these Christians described for us in Acts 11, 19 through 30? What are they all about? We see that they go, verses 19 through 21. That's what we looked at last time, that Christians go.

They go on, even when they're persecuted. They go out preaching the good news and they go out with power. In verses 22 through 26, we see that they gather. This is what Christians do. They gather. And also at the end of the chapter in Acts 11, we see that they give.

They give. Now, that's not all that Christians do. But these are true descriptions of who Christians are and what they're about. In the King James Version in 1 Peter chapter 2, we are called God's peculiar people.

The meaning of the term there is not simply, you know, how odd, how strange or awkward. That's not really the meaning of the term peculiar there as it was intended. Particular, set aside, made other than.

There's a set apartness to Christians. And we see that those who are the people of Christ are to look like Christ, to value the things that He values, to stand against the things that He stands against.

Christians not only go, they gather. And we see this in verses 22 through 26. Those who have gathered in Jerusalem send Barnabas up to those who have gathered in Antioch. You see that. When He gathers with them, He's encouraged by what He sees and He wants to be a blessing to them.

And then He goes and He grabs Saul, who used to be the number one persecutor of the church, but by the grace of God now he's the number one defender of the gospel. And so Barnabas goes to Tarsus and gathers with Saul.

And he says, we've got to go back to Antioch, the Lord's doing the work there. So they come back to Tarsus and there they gather with the church there for an entire year. You see what's happening? Christians, they gather and they gather and they gather some more.

And then out of the gathering comes other things, the growth of the church, the giving to those who are in need and so forth. Gathering. But I want us to back up to verse 21, the last half of verse 21, because I think that we moved a little too fast through that second half of the verse.

And I really want us to see the basis for why we gather. What does verse 21 say about their going and their preaching and so on? Verse 21 says, Encouraging, the hand of the Lord is with us and who can be against us?

Notice the second half of the verse. And a great number believed and turned to the Lord. A great number believed and turned to the Lord. Now look at those two key words, believed and turned. That reminds me of the essential called for response to the preaching of the good news.

In Mark chapter 1, Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, saying, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. See, repent means to turn. In Acts 11, we read that they turned to the Lord.

Jesus says, believe in the gospel. We see that a great number believed in the Lord and they turned to the Lord. This believing and this turning, this faith and this repentance, these speak of the gracious coin of conversion.

A gift from God that has two sides. And each side speaks of the other. Faith and repentance. Each one speaks for the other. You'll find one mentioned by itself here. You'll find the other one mentioned by itself over there.

But each one necessarily speaks of the other. And each one speaks of Christ. What does it mean to repent and believe? What does it mean to turn and to have faith in Christ? It means that with one's inner person down to the soul of who you really are, that you turn aside from every other God, every other hope, any other trust.

You lay aside all of the excuses. And you lay yourself out bare before the God who made you, calling upon the only One who can save you. You see that faith is already necessary to repentance. And that if you're turning to Christ to believe in Him for your salvation, you must necessarily turn away from any other Savior.

Any other agenda. To repent and believe. You make a pile of all of your bad deeds. You make a pile of all of your good deeds. And you turn from them both for Christ and Christ alone. Turning and believing.

These go together. Now in verse 18, just three verses earlier here in Acts chapter 11, what had just happened? Peter had gone and preached the gospel to a bunch of Gentiles at Cornelius' house. He comes back to Jerusalem and they want to know what in the world is going on.

And he tells them what went on. And then in verse 18, when they heard these things, they became silent. They didn't have any more complaints, didn't have any more concerns. And they glorified God saying, then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.

Praise God. Look at them. They are rejoicing and they are glorifying God. And just after we hear that, here's a story of the same thing happening in Antioch. As brothers, as saints, as Christians from Cyrene and Cyprus took their skill in the Greek language and began to preach to the Gentiles of Antioch and God granted repentance and faith to them as well.

So in verse 21, we are reminded of that called for response to the gospel. Repentance and faith. But we're also reminded of a second truth here in verse 21. Notice that there was a great number. At a certain point, they stopped counting.

Early in Acts, they were still counting. And at a certain point, they just stopped. Luke, of course, is reporting all the things that happened. And I think it's great that they just stopped counting. There's just too many of them.

And yet, there's still a specific number. There's still a specific number. I was mentioning to my brother the other day. God didn't say to Peter, count my sheep. He said, feed my sheep. Now, we know who counts the sheep.

We know who counts the sheep. And he's the one who counts us. And he has the number in mind. But we don't have to necessarily count. But there was a great number. But notice, they believed and turned to the Lord.

What's interesting to me is that this city of Antioch, third largest in the Roman Empire, at the gateway of the east, where you have the confluence of a variety of different cultures, where there's something of a melting pot, they're all treated in the singular.

The verbs believed and turned, singular. The great number singularly believed. They singularly turned to the Lord. There were many. But they made up one number. They had a hundred ways of dividing themselves.

A hundred ways of getting into conflict. A hundred ways to divide themselves. Perhaps by ethnicity or experience. Perhaps by class or by calling. Perhaps by gender or genetics. Perhaps by color or by culture.

Perhaps by age or by ability. And yet they are one number. Why? Because they have believed in the Lord and they as one have turned to the Lord. This does not mean that God despises distinctions. Have you seen His creation?

It doesn't mean that He's against differences, that they are bad and must be erased. God has a lot to say to us in the Bible about differences and how they bring Him glory. God loves the tribes and the fact that they're not all the same.

God loves men and women. The poor and the rich. The elderly and the young. It is only when those who are made in God's image turn away from their Creator to worship the creation. It is only when we become idolaters that these distinctions become so divisive.

All of the distinctions which are so idolized and or demonized in pagan cultures are actually put into righteous effect when in orbit around the brightness of Christ. These two observations that we see in verse 21 leads us to a third, which is fairly obvious.

That believing in the same Gospel and that turning to the same Lord means that these believers, these saints, these Christians are turning towards each other at the same time. Turning to the same Lord, believing in the same Gospel, being indwelt by the same Spirit not only objectively makes us one, but these graces draw us together as one in our experience, in our actions, in our affections.

There is the truth of the matter about our salvation, is there not? There is the objective reality that I am reconciled to God by the merits of Christ, that positionally I am located in Christ at the right hand of God, justified, not guilty, fully accepted before the face of God.

That's a fact. I stand upon that fact. But then, how do I then know that unreserved smile of my Creator down to the marrow of my soul? It is when I abide with Him. When I commune with Him. Likewise, we confess our union together in Christ knowing our fellowship by this principled belief that we are one in Christ.

There is the fact of the matter, but notice that this turning to the Lord and this confession that we are one in Christ, that this extends beyond the conversion experience, beyond simply meditating upon the doctrine, to an actual gathering.

An actual gathering. By turning to the Lord, you see we all turn toward each other. Christians, you see, they gather. They gather. Now, I think this is something that we need to reflect upon. We see all the gathering going on, not only in this passage, but in the rest of the New Testament.

Why all the gathering? What's the importance of gathering? Why gather? Why should Christians gather? Why do Christians gather? And we're asking this question standing at a point in time we call the digital age.

Why gather? With everything to be afraid of, why bother to gather? What if there's another virus? What if there's another state-mandated emergency? What happens? Why bother to gather? If I'm too weary, if I'm too old, if I'm too awkward, if I'm too hard of hearing, if I'm handicapped, if I've been going for decades, if I haven't come in decades, why gather?

Why gather? That's what Christians do. Why? Why? Who Christians are. Bound together in Christ. That's why we gather. Now, why gather? There's three different reasons to gather in our passage, and that's just this passage, so there's a lot of other passages with even more reasons, so don't think this is an exhaustive list.

But we can tell from this passage by itself here in Acts 11 that why Christians gather is first to establish the work of the Lord, secondly, to encourage the work of the Lord, and thirdly, to expand the work of the Lord.

Just so you know, we're not going to make much headway on that outline. To establish the work of the Lord. Notice in verse 22, then news, news of these things. What things? That a great number of Gentiles are believing and turning to the Lord by the preaching of men from Cyprus and Cyrene.

News of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem. And they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. See that? When he came and he had seen the grace of God, he was glad. The news travels.

The good news causes news. The good news is not a dud. The good news is not a firework lit, but undetonated. The good news is not a half-written work unpublished. The good news makes news. The word travels all the way to the church in Jerusalem.

It comes to their ears, and they begin to hear about these things going on up in Antioch. And what is their response? They want to know what's actually happening. We've got to send somebody out there.

We've got to find out what this report actually means. What a novel concept, rather than just believing something you're told, going and finding out for yourself. Isn't it godly? Isn't it godly to come down and arrive among and to be there and to see?

How many times do we read that God doing that in the Scriptures, not least in the Incarnation? What more reason do we need to gather together than that we are named by Christ who is Emmanuel, God with us?

Isn't it godly to gather? To be among one another? This report, the word reaches the church in Jerusalem. What goes on here? Well, here's some news amidst other news. Now, when we keep track of Paul's autobiographical notes in the rest of his letters, and we read Luke's account here in the book of Acts, we begin to stitch together the timeline with the secular reports that we have from other historians of the era like Josephus.

Do you know what's going on in Antioch right now? In Antioch right now, there is ethnic violence. Gentiles are a little fed up with the Jews. You have a community just outside of Antioch over to the southeast portion of this city.

They kind of keep to themselves. They kind of do their own thing, and they're probably a little bit grumpy about matters. We want to do things our own way. Violence begins to break out, and Gentiles begin to kill Jews.

It doesn't look like the civil magistrates are doing much to stem the tide of the violence, and it looks like the Jews are getting slaughtered, and there's no justice, there's no pushback from the civil magistrates.

And so, the Sanhedrin down in Jerusalem who has been charged with authority over all Jews throughout the Roman Empire by Caesar, the Sanhedrin says, we've got to do something to protect our citizens, and the chief priest sends thousands of soldiers up to Antioch to defend the Jews, and they start killing a bunch of Gentiles in Antioch.

Chaos is breaking out in Antioch. Tensions are rising in the kingdom. Now, the emperor at the time, is he up to the job of this tumultuous era? The emperor's name is Caligula. And if you know anything about Caligula, you may be reminded that he tried to get his horse installed as a senator.

You see, there's nothing new under the sun. So, Caligula only begins to make matters worse. Things are teetering on civil war. And it is at this time that news from Antioch comes to Jerusalem. But this is like a sunburst piercing a cold gloom.

This isn't more reports of violence. This is a report of the gospel breaking through, and the Gentiles who have been killing the Jews are coming to faith in Christ. And so, they send Barnabas to Antioch.

They send Barnabas to Antioch to see what is going on. Do we see that the gospel has real world impact? The church is gathering in Antioch. The church is growing in Antioch. The men from Cyprus and Cyrene who had lately been chased out of Jerusalem by the persecutions of Saul of Tarsus are now preaching the gospel, have established a church in Antioch.

And given the civil emergency, not gathering would seem to be the best policy. But what did the early church do? Gather. Gather more. What's going to bring an end to the civil emergency, do you think?

Other than an example of Jews and Gentiles loving one another in the front of everybody. When the seed sprouts in good soil, Jesus says the result is 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. When the good news is warmly received, there's a gracious amen that echoes back as even more good news.

When the gospel sounded in Samaria and in Joppa and in Caesarea, the resounding praise reverberated out. It makes an impact. You can't miss it. Christianity is not a mystery cult. Christianity is not some personal, pietistic experience.

Christianity is not a spiritual mistress you keep hidden. Christianity is not a private showing. Christianity plants the flag of Christ in the marketplace and in the oeropagus, in the amphitheater, and in the Colosseum.

Christianity turns the world upside down. It is disruptive to the demonic. It is dangerous to every deceit. The Lord saved me when I was five years old. I didn't know hardly anything. I just knew I needed Jesus.

And I went, of course, it was kindergarten, and I went to class. I went to school. That very next week, my parents had us enrolled in the local public school there and out in the boonies of Oklahoma and FOIL public schools.

And I couldn't shut up about what happened. I just had to tell everybody. I started hopping around and telling all my classmates about how I became a Christian and what that meant. And my teacher at this school, an upstanding member of First Baptist Church, Claremore, Oklahoma, shut me down right quick.

That was 1987. It wasn't even 1984, right? 1987. You know, I've met a lot of five-year-olds, and they're not scary. Five-year-olds are not scary. I've never been intimidated by a five-year-old. I don't know about you.

Well, what was so scary? The Gospel of Jesus Christ was what had gotten her disturbed. Out there, in the public, who knows what might happen if I let this go on. Jesus Christ, you see, He's good, but He's not safe.

You'll have to lose your life. Take up a cross and go in a whole new direction. Jesus is not safe. The Gospel is not quiet. You know, Jochebed couldn't keep Moses quiet. How much more difficult to keep Jesus quiet?

Moses was laid in a basket and revealed with a cry. Jesus was laid in a manger and revealed with choirs of angels, hollering shepherds, and an astral spotlight. Public, loud, unmistakable. What is your report?

What news sounds forth from your life? The report goes out. They send Barnabas up. What is the reason that Barnabas goes when he hears this report? Remember that the apostles went down to Samaria to see what was happening there when Philip had preached the Gospel.

And Barnabas himself checked up on what happened to Saul up in Damascus and vouched for him when they came to Jerusalem. Peter brought six brothers with him to witness the preaching of the Gospel to Cornelius and his Gentile household.

And those brethren of the circumcision from Jerusalem grilled Peter on what he had done up in Caesarea when he returned to Jerusalem. So time and time again, what do we see? Discernment was used to confirm the truth of each situation.

That's been the pattern we've seen so far. It makes sense that the church in Jerusalem would commission Barnabas to travel to Antioch and establish the truth of what went on there. 1 John 4, 1 says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

But this discernment was not the main, main reason for the visit. Christians just want to know how things go on with one another. We want to hear how each other gets on. We want to know each other's needs.

We want to know each other's blessings. We want to establish the work of the Lord in one another's lives. To know it. To appreciate it. To amen it. Philippians 2 .19. Paul writes to the church in Philippi,.

But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. He wants to establish what is the work of God in the lives of the saints in Philippi.

Colossians 4, 7 -9. Tychicus, a beloved brother, a faithful minister, a fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brethren, who is one of you.

They will make known to you all the things which are happening here. To establish the work of the Lord in one another's lives. Tell me what the Lord is doing in your life. A question my wife often asks of others.

I think her father taught her to ask that question. One more passage over in Romans 1. Romans 1, verse 10. Talking about a prayer request. Romans 1, verse 10. Making a request, if by some means, now at last, I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

Paul wants to gather with the saints in Rome. He wants to gather with his fellow Christians in the church gathering in Rome. Why? Why? For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established.

That is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. Why gather? To establish the work of the Lord in one another's lives. To hear about it from one another. To give an amen to that work being done in one another.

To know how to pray for one another because of what the Lord is doing in one another's lives. This is an essential reason to gather. It is not the only reason to gather. There is a richness of the reasons to gather together as Christians, but what about this one?

This one is a loving reason to gather because I'm not coming that you may think well of me. I'm not using religion as a covering to look good. I'm going to use religion as communion to love God. And I'm going to gather together with you and I want to hear about you, not me.

I'm not here to tell you about me. I'm here to hear about what the Lord is doing in your life. I want to rejoice in that together with you. This kind of gathering to establish the work of God in each other's lives is definitely a confirmation to your own soul of the work of God, but also confirmation to theirs.

This should be normal for the life of the church. Normal that we gather together to establish the work of the Lord in one another. That should be the norm, the regular life of the church. And it should be occasional in the greater communion of the saints.

Did you know that we're not the only church? It's true. We're not the only ones out here. You know, Elijah was wrong. Here is some ways that we rejoice when the work of God is established in the lives of others.

Isn't it an encouragement when you go on a mission trip and go see the work of God someplace else? Isn't it an encouragement when our missionaries that we support come and they visit with us and tell us what the work of the Lord is in their mission fields?

Why do we do that? Because we're Christians. Several of you have mentioned opportunities that you've had to see the work of God established in other churches. It was a blessing to have Jerry Jackson and his family from Christ Reformed Church in Shawnee come here and hear how his work is going and how the work here is going.

He was encouraged. Some of you just visited at Bartlesville Southern Baptist Church Pastor Danny Daniel. You saw the work of God going on there. And they were encouraged to hear what goes on here. We sent out our sister Sam Danilova to Grace Community Bible Church in Dyersburg, Tennessee.

And I talked with Nathan Glomsky, the pastor there. And he was rejoicing in the work going on in our church and what goes on there. David Caston, when he's away, often will visit with the church at Pecan Creek in Denton, Texas Pastor Trey Talley.

And they encourage him and he encourages them. A couple of weeks from today, Brother Marty at Heritage Baptist wants me to come preach in his pulpit to cover while he's away. Why do we do these things?

Because we're Christians. And we gather. And we want to establish the work of the Lord. And we want to rejoice in what God does not just simply in our small orbit, but also in other places as well. To recognize that it is the Lord's work.

Notice that Barnabas, Acts 11, verse 23, when he came and had seen the grace of God. What did he look at? He saw a great number of Gentiles and some Jews assembling together, rejoicing in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And when Barnabas got there, he looked at that gathering of people and he said, that is the grace of God. It's the Lord's work. It's what the Lord does. This wasn't the manipulations of men. This wasn't the deceit of devils.

This is the grace of God. This was not like the fig leaf activity of the old covenant temple. Busy, busy, busy, but no fruit. A fig tree which Christ cursed. This is the fruit bearing vine of the new covenant temple.

Wherein there is real, genuine life. By this all men will know that you are my disciples by the love that you have for one another. Look at the difference of the Gentiles and Jews in Antioch who love one another because of Jesus of Nazareth who is Lord.

Versus the Jews and the Gentiles who are trying to kill each other in the chaotic empire where Caesar was Lord. What a difference. What a change. The acts of the risen Lord Jesus Christ look like Him.

They further His kingdom. They assert His authority. They press His claims. And those who are affected by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, changed by His power, by His grace, look different. The grace of God can be observed because the Gospel changes the world.

Let us not make a mockery of our blessed Savior. Let us not subject the good news to personal preferences and political spin. And to say that Christianity looks like this, or looks like that, or the real Gospel must do this or must do that.

Jesus Christ is Lord. He tells us what it looks like when there's new life. He tells us what the fruit actually is that bears upon His vine. I'll give you an example. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul writes to the Corinthian church and he references the fact that some are seeking to have influence in their church and from their church by written letters of commendation.

Credentials, essentially. And in verse 2 of 2 Corinthians 3, Paul says, to the church, you are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly, he says, you are an epistle of Christ.

What, Jesus wrote something? Yes. Ministered by us, notice, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God. Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is of the heart. See what Paul's saying there?

He's saying that Christ writes Himself upon the hearts of those who are His and the impact, the results of it, are something that can be read by everybody. I like the illustration that Paul Washer uses about conversion and coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

He says, if I arrived here late today and you all were annoyed because I wasn't here when I was supposed to be and I ran up here to tell you, oh, I'm so sorry, I was trying to drive here, but I had to get out and change a flat tire and the semi-truck ran me over and that's why I was late.

He says, well, sir, I don't see any evidence that you've been run over by an 18-wheeler. He says exactly which is more impactful that you would be run over by an 18-wheeler or that you would be born again of the Holy Spirit, come to faith in Jesus Christ.

How can you tell me that there's no difference in your life? No change in your life. And yet you're a Christian. So there is a genuine change that occurs. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 8. Paul says, For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place.

You see, the good news causes news. Your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything. There's a genuine impact. There's not something you can hide. And Barnabas, having looked upon the grace of God, seeing the real impact, what does he do?

He rejoices. When he came and had seen the grace of God, Acts 11, verse 23, he was glad. He was glad. We live in a time, I think, amongst Christians who desire to be faithful to the Word and so on. We live in a time, I think, where we spend a great deal of our energy looking at the work of the Lord in other places among other people.

And very often, what I see happening is that the desire is to look out and see where other Christians are falling short. Oh, look. They haven't figured out X, Y, and Z. Time to complain. I don't think that this church in Antioch had it all together.

I bet that they were really immature compared to some of the work that was going on in Jerusalem. You know, all these Gentiles, I bet they didn't really have a deep bench when it came to understanding the Hebrew Scriptures.

I bet that they were young, that they were immature, and they had really shallow ideas. But you know, when Barnabas showed up, he saw the grace of God, and what did he do? He rejoiced. He rejoiced. Oh, we should rejoice as well.

Here's a vibrant work of Christ 300 miles north of Jerusalem in a notoriously unholy city lately renowned for murdering Jews. And here we have a fast-growing church without deep reference to Jewish culture and perhaps little appreciation for the formative sacrifices of the Jerusalem church.

So much opportunity for jealousy. So much opportunity for rivalry. So much opportunity for spite. And yet, because Barnabas is looking upon what the risen Lord Christ is doing, seeing the grace of God, thus he can rejoice.

Rejoice. Oh, this gathering. This gathering so as to establish the work of God. You need it. I need it. The Good Shepherd knows we need it. And that's why He's arranged things in this way. That we would be gathering together.

Your fellow church members need this. Those who know the Lord. Those who you know are weary in gathering need to be reminded of it. What a blessing that we can gather to establish the work of God in our midst.

Let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for Your Word. I pray that You would help us to take this to heart. Lord, we know what it's like when we have to miss and not come together because we are sick or because we are distant or because we're caring for others who are in dire need.