Call Us Christians (Acts 11:19-31, Jeff Kliewer)

The five or ten minute biography of someone that I find to be helpful for us to know about. Before we dive into the text, I want to begin by telling you about John Witherspoon. Anybody here familiar with Witherspoon?

Let me get a show of hands. I wasn't really familiar with him, but I realized having learned about him that I was really missing out. This brother was the sixth president of Princeton University. He was the one that really put Princeton on the map, that brought it from an ordinary college to one of the elite schools in the country.

He's the guy that mentored James Madison when he went on to be a president of the United States. And he was the only clergyman, the only minister, who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was in that Continental Congress and one of the leaders of the nation.

As well as a pastor, he was a political leader. He was one of the people that convinced the young clergy in the nation that their cause was right and just. He preached a sermon called the Dominion of Providence over the Passions of the Name.

And that sermon in May of 1776 was instrumental in solidifying the cause of the colonists to become a nation. John Witherspoon was an amazing politician. He was a great leader. But I want to focus on seven marks of his life that we each need to learn from.

Seven Marks of a Christian from John Witherspoon

Because in the same way that Witherspoon was marked by these seven characteristics, every Christian should be marked by these characteristics. So as you hear of him, you can evaluate your own life. And as we get into the text, we'll see these seven things unfold in Acts chapter 11.

So number one, Witherspoon was evangelistic. He was evangelistic. He told men to attend to their souls. Although he was leading and part of the leadership of the country that brought the Revolutionary War to be.

He was not, first of all, concerned about physical prosperity or liberty or the chance to live in comfort without oppression from a government. Listen to his words. He says, Behold, now is the accepted time.

Behold, now is the day of salvation. Suffer me to beseech you, or rather to give you warning, not to rest satisfied with the form of godliness, denying the power thereof. There could be no true religion till there be a discovery of your lost state by nature and practice, and an unfeigned acceptance of Christ Jesus, as he is offered in the gospel.

Unhappy they who either despise his mercy or are ashamed of his cross. Believe it, there is salvation in no other. There is no other name under heaven given amongst men by which we must be saved, unless you are united to him by a lively faith.

Not the resentment of a haughty martyr, but the sword of divine justice hangs over you, and the fullness of divine vengeance shall speedily overtake you. I do not speak this only to the heaven-daring, profligate, or groveling sensualist, but to every insensible, secure sinner.

To all those, however decent and orderly in their civil deportment, who live to themselves and have their part and portion in this life, and find to all who get in a state of nature, for except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Now listen to this conclusion. The fear of man may make you hide your profanity. Prudence and experience may make you abhor intemperance and riot as you advance in life. In other words, you may be good enough, you may look good, and resist your temptations and look good on the outside.

One vice may supplant another and hold its place. But nothing less than the sovereign grace of God can produce a saving change of heart and temper, or fit in for His immediate presence. First of all, John Witherspoon preached grace, and he preached the message of Jesus Christ.

Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, says Witherspoon, the words of Jesus. Number two, he was ecclesiastic. Now last week I used a big word in the pulpit, and someone audibly said, what?

What was that word?

Well, if we define our terms, then I guess we can use some big words. Ecclesiastic just means of the church. Ecclesia, the called out ones, is the church. And so we get the term ecclesiastic. John Witherspoon was huge in organizing the Presbyterian church in America.

Next, third, he was joyful. Is your life marked by joy? He delighted in the providence of God and the purposes of God. In one sermon on 1 Peter 1 .12, John Witherspoon spoke about how there is emotion and joy that comes through palpably in the text of Scripture.

Whenever an author of the Bible writes about redemption, it's overflowing with joy. You think of the words of Paul to the Philippians. And even a tasteful and upright citizen who doesn't believe these things can notice that in the text.

He says, anybody who reads the New Testament can see that these writers are overflowing with joy. But here's what he says to the Christian. He says, happy, happy, and only happy. That soul who from an inward approbation can receive, relish, and apply those glorious things that are spoken of the name, character, and undertaking of the Savior of sinners.

Anybody can look at the Bible as a scholar or as an impartial observer and notice that these men had joy. But happy, happy, only happy are those who can appreciate it and relish it and apply it and look at the Savior with joy.

Part of being a Christian means you find the light in Jesus Christ. And as our worship leader was saying, coming to church is not a matter of rote obedience, checking a box. You should have joy in the presence of the Lord.

You should have joy because the Christian life is marked by joy. It's a second fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, faithfulness, self-control. Next, goodness, as we just spoke of.

Witherspoon talked about the chance for this country to be something great. And he said, unless it is first of all good, it can never be great. The Christian must be good, have integrity, not be hypocritical, but to stand for the very things that he lives out.

Fifth, biblical.

My favorite part of that sermon I mentioned, it's called the Dominion of Providence over the Passions of Men. My favorite part of that sermon is when he explains to those who were suffering and who were about to go through war.

It was May of 1776. Two months later, the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence would be in full swing. July 4th, 1776, you know the date. He explains that the anger of the tyrants who were ruling over them and the unjust treatment was not apart from the providence of God.

But that God had a plan, even in the wicked schemes of man. And he uses the Bible to prove that point. He goes to Acts chapter 4, and he shows that there are four groups that are conspiring against the Lord Jesus.

Pontius Pilate, Herod, the Jews, and the Gentiles all conspired to do a wicked thing, to crucify the Son of God. And yet, chapter 4, verse 28 says they did whatever God's hand and His plan predestined to take place.

Witherspoon taught doctrine from the Word of God. He was biblical to the core. Biblical was the fifth characteristic of a Christian. Number six, he was spiritual. This is a man who fasted regularly with his family.

The last day of every year, they would not eat any food, but devote that day to prayer. He would spend time with his family, discipling his ten children. Five of them lived to adulthood. Five did not, which was common at that time.

He was a man of prayer, waking up every morning early to spend time with the Lord. In fact, he recounts some pretty amazing spiritual experiences he had just before the Revolutionary War. Right here in Princeton, at Lake Carnegie, he was walking along the side of the lake and says that he was visited by an angel that came like an orb of fire and then spoke some words of encouragement to him.

I don't know what to make of that, because I've never experienced something like that. But reading from his journal and seeing his relationship with God, it was not just a book. Although the scripture was the key driving force in his life, he was also alive to the Spirit.

He was praying and seeking God, and he had some spiritual experiences that motivated him in his life. Lastly, he was loving. After the war, he gave almost all of his possessions to rebuild Princeton and to help those who had been devastated.

He was a loving person that gave of himself.

So why do I bring this up?

Why do I start my sermon with John Witherspoon? These seven marks of a Christian are in our text today, and we'll see those. But this week, I went and met a friend at Princeton. And there on the college campus, there is a statue of John Witherspoon that stands about 20 feet tall.

He has a Bible in one hand, and his other finger is pointing like this. And as my friend and I were having lunch, we decided to evangelize them and began to talk to people. And one of the ways we started a conversation was to ask them, how do they view Christians?

Because the word Christian was on my mind. In the text today, Christian is the first time it is used. It's given to them in Antioch. As we began to talk to people, we met many Christians, and their view of Christians was very positive.

Christians are loving. Christians are evangelistic. Christians love the Bible. But just as many people found Christians to be intolerant and hateful, nationalistic, bigoted, there was hostility against Christianity just as much as there was favor for it.

All of this was happening in the shadow of John Witherspoon. That's where we stood as we evangelized.

Here's the point.

Brothers and sisters, our lives need to be marked by Christ. And if we are walking with Christ, we will be marked by those seven things I mentioned. We will be evangelistic, and we will be of the Church, gathering with the Church.

We'll be joyful people and good people, biblical people, spiritual people. We will be all of those things. But we will not be regarded that way by this post-Christian culture. We will be marked that way, but we will be seen differently, and we must be willing to endure the reproach that others will bring to us.

If we are evangelistic, some will call us extremist. If we are ecclesiastic, some will call you exclusive. If you're joyful, some will call you juvenile. If you're good, some will call you goofy. If you're biblical, some will call you bigoted.

If you're spiritual, some will call you strange. If you're loving, some will call you losing. We are introduced to seven key characteristics of a Christian, and I want you to evaluate your life by those things.

In 2 Peter 1, there's a list of attributes that we are to add to our faith. Virtue, knowledge, self-control, brotherly love, and agape love, above all. We're told that if we have these characteristics, and follow this, if they are increasing, then we gain great assurance in the faith.

We are to make our calling and election sure by adding these qualities to our lives. So as we go through the text now, I want you to take an inventory of your life, and do so humbly, do so honestly. Are you evangelistic?

Are you ecclesiastic? Do you build the church as the passion of your heart?

Are you truly joyful or not?

Are you good?

Are you biblical?

Spiritual?

Are you loving?

Above all. 2 Peter 1 tells us to be those things. Now turn with me to Acts 11. We're only taking 19 to 30 today. Take them in parts, a couple verses at a time. The first mark of a Christian is that you are evangelistic.

You are talking about Jesus. If you have a Savior who bled and died for you, and rose from the dead, you have a message that you cannot keep to yourself. If you believe that there is one who is the Lord of all, without which no one will see the Father.

Because he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by me. If you believe that is true, you'll speak of him. Verse 19 and 20. Acts 11, 19 and 20. Now those who were scattered, the word there is diaspora.

The scattering, the spreading out of believers. Why? Because of the persecution. Remember, Stephen, that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking, mark that word, speaking the word to no one except Jews.

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, also preaching the Lord Jesus. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. What's truly in your heart will come from your mouth.

And here, they didn't need to be told to go evangelize, did they? This is the natural outworking of their hearts. They're speaking wherever they go. At first it's only the Jews, but now, because of what we saw in Acts 10 and 11, Luke arranges this to show us that the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile has now been torn down.

We're not to call any man unclean. And now they're preaching not just to Jews, but to Gentiles. Doesn't seem that they even knew what Peter went through, but the Spirit is doing this work in them.

Who do you think these guys are?

Verse 20, men of Cyprus and Cyrene. Can't know for sure, but I have a guess about who one of them is. The man who helped Jesus carry the cross.

Simon of Cyrene.

What did he do after that day when he bore the cross and saw the Savior crucified and heard that he rose from the dead? I wonder if he's not one of these Cyrenians from Africa going forth preaching the Lord Jesus.

That word preaching in verse 20, it's not caruso as in heralding, but we do according to 2 Timothy 4 as preachers, we herald the gospel, we proclaim it. This is the word for evangelize. They're evangelizing wherever they go, evangelizing the Lord Jesus.

All of us are called to this work of preaching the Lord Jesus. So the first way that we will be known is by our words. Mark this, the more vocal you are, the more critical people will be of you. Mark that, it's true.

If you're not receiving criticism for having preached the truth, you're probably not speaking loudly enough or often enough. If they persecuted Christ, they'll persecute us. I have a friend named Tim Hurd who went out street preaching.

Excuse me, my words are getting tangled. He was out street preaching and somebody yelled,.

Be quiet, you Bible-thumping wingnut.

He was taken aback by that. But as he thought about it, he was encouraged by it. And he named the website that he began at that time, Bible-thumping wingnut. In the same way, Christian here was often used as a derogatory term.

The more you preach Christ, the more you're going to be called a Bible-thumper. The more you're going to be called an extremist. But it marks the truth of your life. That you preach the one who saved you.

You speak about the one you love. You can't keep it in, you can't hold it in. Verse 21 and 22, the second mark of a genuine, growing Christian. A mark that's increasing in you. Doesn't mean any of us have this all figured out, but these are things that we have and yet we are striving to have more of.

Verse 21, and the hand that the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed, turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church, the ecclesia, the called-out ones in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

Notice in verse 21, they believed. That's invisible. That's something that happens in their heart when they know with certainty that Jesus is the Christ. That happens on the inside. But we're told here, those who believed did something.

What did they do?

They turned to the Lord. They turned to the Lord in such a way that their new faith is visible.

How so?

If you look at verse 21, they believed and they turned to the Lord, and a report of this is able to come to the ears in Jerusalem. That means it's noticeable, it's identifiable, it's within a community.

To turn away from the world and to be called out to the ecclesia, into the church, means that you become identified with Christ in a community. In verse 23, when Barnabas shows up, he sees the grace of God.

These are not people who pray a prayer and then disappear. These are people who pray a prayer and then join the church. They're there to be seen.

They're genuine believers and they're in the church.

Here's my question for you. Is the building up of the church a priority in your life? Barnabas is sent from Antioch to come and encourage what's happening there. It's all part of one worldwide community and it's growing.

Brothers and sisters, as we gather here today, we're part of a worldwide fellowship of believers that's growing by leaps and bounds all over the world. We gather here as our brothers and sisters gather all over the world.

The Lord is adding to our number day by day. The third mark, and analyze yourself here, the third mark of genuine Christianity is joy. I love the words of John Piper, that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

A joyful heart in response to a wonderful Savior. We're told here, Barnabas, this good man, when he came and saw the grace of God, he was what?

Glad.

This is what delighted him. He wasn't living for that next HBO program.

That's not what he thought about all day long.

This is what delighted him. And he encourages the believers. Likewise, he says he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. My buddy Tim Hurd says, why is an incoherent term within a godless world?

The only way that there can be any purpose in this life is if there is a God who made it for a reason. If we are just space dust, that's evolved from some primordial soup. There is no purpose in our lives.

There is no meaning. There's no basis for morality. There's nothing but chemicals interacting. Why, in that case, would be an incoherent term. There would be no why for anything. But Barnabas encouraged the saints to remain faithful to the Lord with a steadfast purpose.

What is your purpose? When you wake up in the morning,.

What are you thinking?

What gets you out of bed with passion? What are you living for? For Barnabas, his joy was founded in the steadfast purpose of Christ and his church. Joy is coming from this relationship with God. Number four, we learned in verse 24, Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord.

Genuine Christians are good people. That needs to be qualified. Because Romans chapter 3, verse 12, says that no one is good. In fact, you'll hear this a lot. Just in casual conversation, you might be talking about somebody that you know in common.

You might be having a friendly conversation,.

And you say, oh, you know him? Yeah, he's a good guy.

Have you heard people say that?

He's a good man.

And by that you mean he's not a murderer. He doesn't beat his kids. He goes to work and works hard and does what he needs to do. But listen, the only way anybody is good in the sight of God is through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Here's how the process works. A wretch like me is given a righteousness that I don't deserve. I'm credited as good, not because of anything that I've done, but on account of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

By placing my faith in Christ, I have been connected to Him. His righteousness is imputed to me. My sin has been taken by Him. Imputed to Him. If that transaction has happened, then there's a real change that takes place and follows that change.

There's a real difference it makes in my life. So Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, we know that verse, for it is by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God,.

Not of works,.

So that no one can boast. But the very next verse says, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the works. So the person who has come by faith to the Son of God is credited with goodness, and from that moment on becomes more and more good.

Begins to do in practice the things that a good person does. Over time, as the Christian walks with God, this becomes noticeable. People begin to see that you are different than other people. That you don't slander.

You don't gossip. You don't hate.

You truly care,.

And you are the same person in your home as you are in the church. People begin to know that you are a person of integrity. There's nothing separate about you, but you're integrated as one.

You are good,.

And that's what characterizes Barnabas. Now we wouldn't be surprised by this, but remember when we first were introduced to Barnabas in Acts chapter 5? He brought a gift and laid it at the disciples' feet.

He sold a field and gave it. Ananias and Sapphira attempted to do the same thing, except they lied about what they were doing, and they dropped dead. Barnabas was a good man, and we'll see in the text how he demonstrates that.

Verse 25 and following. Christians, a genuine Christian, is biblical. You are a learner who is hungry to hear the word of God and to teach it to others. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. You see that goodness there?

It'd be real easy to say,.

Oh yeah, whatever happened to that Saul guy?

Remember when he was run out of Damascus, lowered in a basket, and ran for his life? A lot of Christians have been sitting around thinking,.

Oh yeah, whatever happened to Saul?

It's been eight years.

He's still up in Tarsus. Barnabas is a good man and the Spirit working in him. He goes to look for Saul.

Verse 25.

And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.

For a whole year,.

They met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians. This is where I get the title for my sermon,.

Call Us Christians.

It was probably a term of derision. These are little Christs. It's really a combination of Christos, which is the name for Messiah in the Greek, and a Latin Indian. So just as a follower of Pompeii would be a Pompeian with that Latin Indian, now they're saying a Christian is a follower of Christ.

So it's a good designation for us. We do follow Christ. We do belong to Him. They were first called Christians. Can you imagine what it would have been like to live in Antioch for that year? Barnabas comes down with Saul, who's been spending time in the Scriptures and is ready to teach the believers.

And for a whole year, he teaches them.

Verse 26.

For a whole year,.

They met with the church.

And taught. There's only three occurrences of this word taught in the New Testament. It's right here. It's also in Acts 20, verse 20, and 2 Timothy 2, 2. In Acts 20, 20, that's where Paul has gathered the elders on the beach, and he reminds them that all the time that he was with them, he taught them in public, in a setting like this, and from house to house, like our community groups that we have throughout the week.

He taught the Word of God. In 2 Timothy 2, 2, the word didachsi, teach, is a qualification of an elder. In order to be an elder, you must be able to teach. That's what's different about the qualification for elder and the qualifications for deacons.

An elder must be able to uphold the Word of Truth, to refute those who contradict it, to teach the Word of God. This word didachsi, teaching, marks a Christian. Not that everybody has that place as an elder in the church, but everybody is under the authority of the Word.

There's a hunger to hear the Word of God. There's not rebellion against preaching, the heralding and teaching of the Word of God. There's the desire to know what the text says. Genuine Christians are mindless.

The Word itself is something that you grow to love, and it doesn't happen just like that. When you first get saved, you just want to read the whole Bible. I've seen that, by the way. One person I knew, a guy named Todd, as soon as he got saved, he read the entire New Testament that first week.

But it's something that often grows in us. If it's not there at all, there's a concern.

But if these qualities are in you,.

And they are increasing, you gain great confidence in the faith. So in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians. Now there's two more characteristics, and I have to say they're a bit interesting.

Verse 27 and 28. In these days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, and one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world. This took place in the days of Claudius.

This is an example of a spiritual gift operating in the Church. It's not the same kind of prophecy as we have in the Old Testament, because we saw that the Old Testament prophets were until John the Baptist.

And then Jesus comes and fulfills all of their speaking and writing. Hebrews 1. In the past, God spoke to the prophets in various times, various ways. In these last days, He's spoken to His Son,.

Through His Son.

And yet, there's still some kind of prophetic gift operating in the New Testament Church. It has a purpose. Agabus stands up and foretells by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world.

Christian, you're marked as different in this world.

By who you talk about,.

By how you gather on Sunday morning.

On the Day of the Lord,.

By the joy that's unexplainable.

To the rest of the world,.

By your goodness, by your love for the Bible.

But you are also marked by the Holy Spirit of the Living God. You have within you the Spirit of God. And the gift things that He puts in each one of us are different. Some will have a teaching gift, others will have administration.

And helping gifts.

There's many different gifts, but in this case, it's a prophetic gift. He's able, not just to foretell, but in this case, I'm sorry, not just to foretell, but to foretell things that are to come.

It has a purpose.

Look at verse 29 and 30,.

And this is the final mark. They will know that we are Christians.

By our love. Does Nate want to sing that song?

So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers.

Living in Judea.

And they did so,.

Sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Christians are marked by love. Knowing that this famine was coming, they began to store up wealth and send it by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

To Jerusalem,.

Where the famine and where the need was the greatest.

So, in conclusion,.

These are marks of a Christian. Ask yourself, am I marked by these things? And if not, now is the day of salvation. Today is the time of His grace offered to you. Do you have these marks in your life?

Perhaps it's today that His grace would so work in your heart that you would turn away from sin and believe in the Son of God. And if you have believed in Christ,.

But you say,.

Look, these don't necessarily describe me, ask Him now for more grace to be characterized by these things. Be willing to go with Jesus outside the gate. Jesus was not welcomed in the temple. He was kicked out and dragged out.

And paraded out.

And up that hill.

Outside of the gate of Jerusalem.

He suffered and was scorned, a crown of thorns put on His head. And if that's how our Savior was treated, how do you think we will be treated in this world when we truly stand for Him? Christian, in a post-Christian culture, will become a term of mockery and scorn.

More and more.

I saw it in Princeton.

You can see it on TV. Christian used to describe most people in this country. Not any longer. I'm not sure what the genuine faith was of people even back in the day. We don't know that.

But I know this.

The more you stand for Christ, the more you will be persecuted. Are you willing to go with Him outside the gate and bear the reproach that He endured? Bear the name Christian. Let's be marked by these characteristics of a true and genuine Christian.

So let's close in prayer. I'm going to ask the worship team to come on up.

Get set.