Acts 11-12, The Breakthrough

Chapter 11 and 12. Hear the Word of the Lord. Now the Apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcision party criticized him saying you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.

But Peter began and explained it to them in order. I Was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance I saw a vision something like a great sheep descending being let down from the from heaven by his four corners and it came down To him to me.

Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air and I heard a voice saying to me rise Peter kill.

And eat.

But I said by no means Lord for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth. But the voice answered a second time from heaven what God has made clean do not call common. This happened three times and all was drawn up again into heaven and behold at that very moment Three men arrived at the house in which we were sent to me from Caesarea and the Spirit told me to go with them Making no distinction.

These six brothers also accompanied me and we entered the man's house and he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say Send a Joppa and bring Simon who was called Peter. He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved you and all your household.

As I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning and I remembered the word of the Lord how he said John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

If then God gave the gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who was I that I should stand in God's way? When they heard these things they fell silent and they glorified God saying then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch 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 Hellenist Also preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of 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 in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God He was glad and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.

For he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith and a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul and when they and when he had 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.

Now and 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.

So the disciples determined everyone 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. About that time Herod the king laid violet hands on some who belonged to the church.

He killed James the brother of John with a sword and when he saw that it pleased the Jews He proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread and when he had seized him He put him in prison Delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out on that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and centuries before the door were guarding the prison and behold.

An angel of the Lord stood next to him and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him saying get up quickly and the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him dress yourself and put up put on your sandals and he did so and he said to him Wrap your cloak around you and follow me and he went out and followed him.

He did not know that he was being that what was being done by the angel was real But thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard they came to the iron gate leading into the city.

It opened for them on its own accord and they went out and went along one Street and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said now I'm sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.

When he realized this he went to the house of Mary the mother of John whose name whose other name was Mark where many were gathered together and Were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.

Recognizing Peter's voice in her joy. She did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her you were out of your mind, but she kept insisting that it was so and they kept saying it is his angel.

But Peter continued knocking and when they opened they saw him and were amazed but motioning to them with his hand to be silent he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and He said tell these things to James and to the brothers and then he departed and went to another place.

Now when day came there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become a Peter and After Herod searched for him and did not find him. He examined the sentries in order that they should be put to death.

Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there. Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon and they came to him with one accord. Having persuaded blast us the King's Chamberlain.

They asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes took his seat upon the throne and delivered an oration to them and the people were shouting the voice of a god not of a man.

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory and he was eaten by worms and breathed.

His last.

But the Word of God increased and multiplied and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem where they had completed their service bringing with him John whose other name was Mark Made the Lord at his blessings the reading of his Holy Word.

It's graduation season though. Graduations aren't gradual. You don't you don't find people are half graduated, right? I mean you may be a certain way along but you're not. Half graduated. Graduations are our breakthroughs.

You either graduated or you are not. You've been studying and taking tests and doing projects and gradually gathering credits one class at a time when suddenly You're a graduate getting to the threshold of graduation.

Graduating was slow. One step at a time the actual graduation is a breakthrough. Ever wanted to break through a sudden achievement and it advance a victory you're tired of slowly trying to make progress.

Pecking away like a woodpecker. Maybe like a glacier. That's what you feel like slowly moving toward your goal. But you're hardly ever seem like you're never getting there. I'm like you're like a kid gathering pennies.

And a piggy bank you never seem to get rich. You want a breakthrough? Rather than a Woodpecker you want to be like a chainsaw cut right through that tree on a volcanic eruption. You want a rapid river gushing out financially.

You want a windfall? Right. You want one of those offers of Nigerian princes of millions of dollars to be true. A lot of people will tell us it doesn't happen like that. You you have to be patient a little bit every day, you know one step at a time.

It whatever it is you're trying to achieve doesn't come slowly. That's true. Kind of but it's not the whole truth. When I was an athlete, I noticed that progress would often come in spurts. Unlike what's expected, you know, you know, I'm sure I would have to be patient and consistent and disciplined to keep training.

Even when for months there didn't seem to be any improvement. I Was supposed to stay at it, of course in the hopes that I'd gradually get faster. Maybe shave a few seconds off of my time, you know every every now and then.

But in my experience it didn't happen that way. Sometimes the progress would come Just dramatically. I'd run a race and suddenly I'd be 20 seconds faster than my previous time. It was a few, you know, few second half a second at a time.

I'd have Breakthroughs just dramatic advances. In about three weeks We'll be marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and that was kind of a breakthrough for months. The Allies had trained and gathered men and material in England.

To invade Nazi held France and then suddenly they burst forth into the beaches of Normandy. But we often forget that for almost two months after the D-Day invasion the Allies were basically stuck. Just a few miles of captured territory.

Into France from the from the beach the original plan called for the Allied forces to capture the French city of Khan on D-Day Itself June 6. It's only nine miles inland nine miles from the beach. But it took them into July 20th.

Remember they invaded on June 6. It took them nine mile it took them excuse me till June 20. July 20th To get to Khan get nine miles down the road over six weeks later. It took them over six weeks To get nine miles.

That's about two-tenths of a mile per day. Probably all of us here have walked more than that just today since we've woken up. So for almost two months, they were stalled with little progress until suddenly in August General George Patton punched through the German defenses and.

And before that they were barely gaining ground, but then suddenly Patton takes Almost all of France at least south of Paris almost the entire country. In about three weeks. It was just amazing. They called it the breakout.

So, which is it is it is it slow steady gritty Determined kind of gathering of territory one inch at a time, you know, just trudging through. Is it getting grades just one test and one project one paper at a time is athletic prowess just one workout at a time getting Gaining money getting wealth.

Is it just one penny at a time or is it is it that gradualism or is it a breakthrough a sudden? Dramatic Gains you you graduate or you work for years to break the five-minute mile and then suddenly you just blow past it like it Was nothing you're 445 or something like that.

You are barely able to to make your business survive for years. You're just hanging on Trying to avoid bankruptcy and then you get a big contract something happens and you're just now suddenly you're booming.

Is it slow and steady? Or is it sudden and explosive? Well, it's both really it's both as they say make haste.

Slowly.

Keep working at it and then suddenly You'll find yourself there. Here Jesus has given the church a mission. Remember at the beginning of Acts chapter 1 be my witnesses. Jerusalem Judea Samaria. To the ends of the earth.

But here we're over one-third of the way through the book of Acts. We're almost halfway there the whole through the book and they're still in Israel. Not only they still in Israel. They they don't even have any conception the beginning of chapter 11 here that they should even be reaching out to people outside of Israel.

To non Jews. Anyway, they need a breakout like like Patton if over one-third of the way through Acts. They still haven't even accepted the idea that they should be preaching to the Gentiles. How are they going to get?

To the end of the earth. Their progress is is too slow. At this rate, they'll never make it at the beginning of these two chapters of the church in Jerusalem thinks it's shocking. That they could even think of the idea of baptizing Gentiles, you know, it's just it's a controversy beginning of chapter 11.

Allow these Gentiles to be part of the church. But you know, how are they gonna make it to the ends of the earth, but they're ready.

They're poised.

For a breakthrough.

We see that here and four different kinds of people the Gentiles second the Christians third the martyrs and fourth the tyrants. Well word has gotten out that Peter had a group of Gentiles baptizing Capernaum.

That was just revolutionary. Just it doesn't even seem to be something they had even considered a possibility. This wasn't on the map at all for them. It's shocking to some of them. So when Peter got back to Jerusalem, they wanted that they want to have a we will have a word with you Peter.

He won't mind a group of them later called later called Luke calls him here the circumcision party. That's almost certain a title that name that came later and now he's describing it to them. This is probably their origin.

They believed that Jesus was the Messiah for the Jews. If you wanted the benefits of Jesus you had to become a Jew and that meant if you're a man like Cornelius You know that Roman officer that Peter had baptized you had to be circumcised and if you tried to you tried to reason with them.

You know say hey, wait, wait, that's for the Old Covenant. Now things are different. They would probably pound their fist on the table say no. It's a command of God. It's not our place to lower his standards just to allow more people in where you have to trust and obey no compromise.

Peter had plainly Desecrated baptism by allowing people to be baptized who haven't kept the law yet who haven't been circumcised for all we know. They're still you know, they could even can you they're probably still eating pork and shrimp.

Can you believe that? That's just if you could imagine such a thing and we're supposed to consider them our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Disgraceful.

Probably something like that. We can hear stuff like that today, right? Peter comes back to Jerusalem with the news that the Gentiles had converted to Capernaum and instead of hallelujahs. Right, they're aghast.

I mean you can almost hear the tone of their voice in verse 3 You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. It was probably more like you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. Yuck, what's wrong with you Peter?

So Peter explained it to them. He recounts the vision For us again and in here again Luke records it. Luke could just say he recounted the vision and we would could go back to chapter 10 and read it again if We we wanted to but he recounted Luke himself recounted again for us here.

So we have to read it again. He's trying to teach us something by that repetition mother of learning. We're forced to think about this Again that God gave this vision about how important it is to God to include all kinds of people so we've accounts the vision a sheep thing like thing comes out of heaven and Peter says I looked closely at it.

That's kind of added from last time. He looked closely saw all kinds of animals. A voice said to me rise Peter kill and eat. But Peter saying but I was like you. You know, I said, you know, I'm gonna eat that stuff.

No way Lord for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth, but the voice came back to me. What God has made clean do not call common this happened three times and Then at that very moment Three men arrived from Caesarea.

Inviting me to go with them the Holy Spirit. He says in verse 12. So he's already got this vision the Holy Spirit told me to go with them making and Peter makes it clean plain. They're making no distinction.

Get the theme and he says his six brothers accompanied him. So six plus him that would be seven seven witnesses. Like a Roman document had to have seven seals to be official like an official will seven witnesses.

More than you just need for the law, but a seven like the perfect number you can't you can't criticize that. Peter tells of how the Roman officer had had an angel tell him to send for him and then he began to speak.

Now that brief message we looked at last week. Just just beginning Peter says he just started to make his Comments he intended to make that Jesus wasn't just another prophet that he is Lord of all remember He's the judge of all people.

That he's the one that you have to believe in for your sins to be forgiven and as he's saying this apparently obviously. They believed we know they believed because they showed signs.

With.

They demonstrated their faith with signs and they were the same signs Peter says that we showed. When we received the Holy Spirit Peter says in verse 15 the Holy Spirit fell on them. Just as on us at the beginning.

Same signs same Holy Spirit of being filled with the Holy Spirit is experiential. Not inferential. It's something that can be seen in your life. It's not just a theological conclusion you you come to you because you claim you've accepted the right doctrine.

Therefore you must have the Holy Spirit can't feel anything different. But must be because that's what that's what the pastor guy tells me. No, it's just something you experience. Peter saw that they have received the Holy Spirit and he remembered what the Lord Jesus said in chapter 1.

John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And he says when we saw that they had been baptized with the Holy Spirit to they've been baptized in the Holy Spirit already. Before their water baptism, so conversion comes first.

I contrary to what some people teach you had to you only get converted through baptism. Conversion comes first. You see the Holy Spirit first then baptism. So he concludes in verse 17. He then he Peter says if then God gave the same gift to them to these Gentiles as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he did right get the same gift then who was I? That I could stand in God's way. Well, they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit to not baptize them in water is to stand in God's way. They have been included by God to not include anyone that God has included.

It's to stand in God's way and if you stand in God's way. You're likely to get run over so with that in verse 18, it's a key verse. Verse 18 is a key verse in. In the book of Acts perhaps in the whole New Testament.

It's a turning point for the church. It's a breakthrough verse 18 when they heard these things and You have to hand it to them as much as I kind of mocked them earlier. They were open enough teachable enough that they could change at least most of them.

They changed they accept the Apostles particularly. Because this is totally contrary to their upbringing. This is revolutionary for them. They're willing to accept this make this change says a lot about them.

They're too teachable if they've got when they heard these things that Peter had patent desecrated baptism but that God had baptized these Gentiles who and and and will baptize. God will baptize all kinds of people in the Holy Spirit when they heard that.

Says they fell silent. They say fell silent about their criticism. They stopped criticizing and began worshiping they glorified God and said then to the Gentiles. Also, God has granted repentance that leads to life.

There it is.

There's the breakthrough for the church. This is how they're going to get to the ends of the earth. Here we are in chapter 11. They finally understand it to the Gentiles also. God has granted repentance that leads to life.

That's the breakthrough. Notice how they put it. A Lot of Christians today think that repentance and faith are kind of the two cents that we add to our salvation. To finally activate it. I was. God is just the salvation out there.

And if we want it we have to. We have to muster up our own repentance and faith. Like flipping a switch to make the lights come on, right. The power company may do all the hard work generating the electricity putting up the wires to get it to our house.

But it's still up to us to flip the switch. They think many people today the same salvation is the same way. Christ is okay. He's done all the hard work. We get that but it's still up to us. They think to gin up repentance and to muster up faith in order to turn that salvation on.

But that's not what the Apostolic Church believed. Is it right here? Chapter 11 verse 18 to the Gentiles. Also, it's shocking as much as a mental breakthrough that is for them to them also God has Granted you just say made available repentance and faith.

Repentance says God has granted. He's given it it has been bestowed on them already repentance that leads to life. Saving repentance true repentance is a gift of God. If we've really repented if we've turned from our sinfulness to faith in Christ, that's not ultimately.

Because we made the right decision. Because we were noble enough to see what what we ought to do. Well, others aren't weren't so we're we can kind of thank ourselves a little bit for that, right? No. It's because God graciously gave us the ability to do that.

God grants repentance that leads to life. Understand a lot of people are only aware of their decisions. I mean you can understand that they aware of their prayers. They pray this may be sinners prayer or whatever prayer and that they were they aware of their repentance and their faith.

They they can understand they remember when they believed and so they assume that. You know, I guess what the correlation is causation or something like that but they assume that when they repented when they believed when they said the prayer and.

And they were at the same time saved. They kind of think well my My prayer my repentance my faith caused that salvation. That's the way many people kind of assume it's like a person maybe go out and sees the Sun rising in the east in the morning and then setting in the West in the evening and.

Sure, we don't feel I don't feel like I'm moving to you. Don't feel like didn't feel like the ground underneath going anywhere. So it must be all revolving around us. We're still and everything is revolving around us people kind of think the same way of God.

Right. God is God had something against me now He doesn't and because I said this prayer maybe I'm making him. Hey, I'm making him move. What what they need to see what the Bible here tells us that if we repent and believe it's not because our Decisions are moving God.

But that God is moving our decisions.

We need a breakthrough and.

Seeing how God is in control of all things. Especially our salvation. First is the Gentiles that group of people the Breakthrough realization that God is granting them repentance in life, too. But they still haven't begun to To do anything they realize it in the whole thing with Cornelius was God's doing right?

He sent the angel to Cornelius. He sent a vision to Peter. The church hasn't begun to do anything deliberately. To reach these Gentiles know that now they are just now realizing that the God is granting repentance to so for that.

Second thing second group of people there's there's the Christians starting in verse 19. Those who fled the persecution in Jerusalem when Stephen was killed. They took the gospel with them. They went to Phoenicia what we probably what we would call modern Lebanon today Cyprus what we call Cyprus today and Antioch, which is the big city up in Syria.

But but they in keeping with their culture their upbringing remember their mindset. Jesus is only for the Jews. They only spoke to the Jews. Now they made a lot of converts. They tried to a lot of new believers, but they were all still from our kind of people.

But some anonymous believers in Antioch Didn't give their names but they didn't see why they were thinking of themselves. Why should we keep it to only our kind of people? Let's hey, there's these Greek speaking Gentile.

Let's let's share with him. Maybe they'll like it that they realized instinctively What it took a vision and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit to teach Peter. So they shared the gospel with the Greeks.

The Gentiles to just preaching the Lord Jesus in verse 20 the Lord blessed them. And it says a great number who believed Turn to the Lord in verse 21. Notice how many times Luke puts things about thinking about salvation.

That's just totally different in the way we talk about it. Notice those that phrase those who believed Turn to the Lord truly believing causes you to turn to the Lord. He changes your life. Suddenly, there's a though.

There's a breakthrough in Antioch. To Gentiles the church is actually now Deliberately reaching them so news gets news of this gets to Jerusalem where Peter has accomplished a he's already accomplished this worldview breakthrough.

So that now they see that God intends on bringing salvation to all kinds of people. So they don't criticize what's going on in Antioch before they were they were thought what are those people doing up there now?

They understand what God's doing. So they send Barnabas this his name means member the son of encouragement. They send him up there to encourage them in verse 23 Barnabas comes it comes to Antioch and notice it says he saw.

The grace of God.

Another interesting way to putting things.

How do you see grace?

Well, you can't because grace makes changes you can see. He could see God's grace and these transformed believers in Antioch. It says he was glad. Got a feeling he was the kind of guy that was glad a lot, but he was glad particularly here.

You know saying this is great. Wow, we love this all these new people coming in. They're Gentiles. So what they're used to eating, you know barbecue pork. And when I go to check her pig for lunch, so what?

Oh, I don't know. I'll go with that. He exhorted you encouraged them to remain faithful to the Lord. Notice that with steadfast purpose. Continue. He's telling them to discipline yourself be disciples to seek the Lord to learn his ways to read his word.

To go to church go to meetings, you know. Keep studying the the Bible which at that time is only the Old Testament. Even if even if not every not ever gathering not every time you pray and not every time you read it.

There's some mountaintop experience and some breakthrough. Okay, you're not gonna have a breakthrough every time. But you just keep at it make haste.

Slowly.

Barnabas is telling them be patient show that slow steady gritty determination of a disciple. And maybe you'll have breakthroughs from time to time. He encouraged them to keep at it and he did that in verse 23 because he was in verse 24 a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

Think of Barnabas here. He's described in the word. That's that's his description and the eternal Word of God. How would you like that for a reward? It's pretty good award. And a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith in other words, though.

He encouraged them. By being the kind of man he was he's good spirit-filled faithful. That's what literally a full of faith means in it. Faithful so a great number believed and turned to the Lord before before Barnabas arrived and now with him there cheering them on.

Says in verse 24 a great many people were added to the Lord. Think of that phrase a great many people.

Were added.

To the Lord. It's an interesting sentence, right? It's a passive. It means it leaves the subject the one who was doing the adding unnamed. So who? Added those great many people to the Lord who was doing the adding.

Barnabas. No, he may be the he may be the agent the instrument the tool that God used to add. But only God can add people to the Lord. So here the Lord adds people to the Lord. Think of that the Lord is adding people to the Lord and when we see that that's the way it always is when anyone is added to the Lord the Lord adds to the Lord.

And when we see the Lord adding to the Lord that he is both the subject and the object and the one being added to and the adder. The source and the goal when we see that. We we have to repent of our self-centered kind of self-confident strategies for evangelism as though evangelism depends on on our work our Techniques our tactics having the right mood music our programs.

It doesn't. We need the Lord to add to the Lord we need the Lord to grant faith and give repentance so people will believe and Turn to the Lord.

That's what we need.

Here they have that and they have a breakthrough. The Lord is adding to the Lord in Antioch and he's doing it so much that Barnabas knows he needs help. He's just and he knows just the man He wants to help him.

He remembers. I remember that guy that brother. Remember that guy we sent off got in from the cold in Jerusalem when the rest of the church was scared of him. Sent him off to Tarsus because he had so aggravated some of the some of the zealots around here.

So I'm gonna go get him Barnabas thing he was he was useful he was good. He'd be good to you that that guy was the name Saul his name. Yeah, he might have a future. He just might have a future part of us things.

So Barnabas goes up to Tarsus looking for Saul soon to be called Paul and he recruited him to help him handle this breakthrough in Antioch. Barnabas is the one who starts Paul on his ministry. To be the Apostle to the Gentiles.

If you think of all that Barnabas did I said this on a Wednesday night, it's amazing man. He often not recognized to be recognized here is a good man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. He's a spot. Barnabas is the one response.

He's the Barnabas is the one humanly speaking who gave us Paul the Apostle Paul. He's also the one that salvaged mark. So you could say that all of the old all of the and of course Paul gave us Luke. So Barnabas gave us Luke since Barnabas gave us Paul who gave us Luke so Barnabas gave us the gospel of Mark and Luke.

The book of Acts all the letters of Paul. That's quite an accomplishment. Is it for what man?

Anyway.

That's what God used Barnabas for any book. Barnabas starts Paul in his ministry to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul becomes the The general pattern of Christianity the one that leads the breakout.

For a whole year Barnabas and Paul are meeting with an explosively growing Church in Antioch teaching a great many people the church gets so big. And is so distinct from the Jews. They realize now this is not just a another synagogue of the Jews.

This is something entirely different. They're talking about Christ all the time. And so the whole city is pretty big city. One commentary says that five hundred thousand people. It's about a half a million.

This is big city a lot of people and the news gets out that they talk about Christ.

The.

These people believe in Christ his name Christ gets so common that the people of Antioch start calling this new group of people by that name. These are the people they're pointing at them those people.

You know that Barnabas and Paul or Saul guys still Talked about Christ all the time. They're followers of Christ. They're Christians.

Christians.

The unbelievers of Antioch Made up that name and the believers go like yeah. Yeah, I like that that works that fits. We'll take that we're Christians. Yeah, the new name Christians is it just for the believers in Antioch as though they're different.

They're detached. They're separate from other believers like in Jerusalem. They're all connected. And so when prophets come from Jerusalem to visit the church in Antioch and one of them named Agabus. Foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over that region.

The word there and it says world in verse 28. The Greek word probably means that the region not like the whole planet had a famine. And so they they planned and they committed to save up and help send help to their poor fellow Christians in Judea.

Mostly Jews there now, they're mostly Gentiles, but they're one. Right, they're stick. They're connected. They sent Barnabas and Paul their pastors to deliver their relief. What the believers in Antioch prove what's what's the purpose of this prophecy is that Christians look out for each other.

Dave Ramsey says that generosity is God's way of creating community. But by giving to help their poor fellow Christians and Judea the Christians in Antioch mostly Gentiles Christians in Judea entirely Jews.

Showed that they they cared about them that they're they're connected. That all this talk about one Lord one body where the family of God just kind of talk talk talk. That it's not just talk. It's for real.

We show we are Christians by our love and then the Christians in Judea realize. Man he's just sent this money or grain or whatever they sent or both and these Christians in Antioch really do care about us those Gentiles up there.

You know, I was the one scoffing at them. Well, how can we they're uncircumcised their agenda? We can't accept it and now they send money to us. That's amazing. So they feel connected to them. It's not as though they feel indebted.