Acts 11:27-30. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 23, 2023.
We are going to look at the issue of benevolence among God's people. Galatians 6:10 instructs us in such giving. It says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." Though he gives a command of general good, the context is specifically talking about helping with material needs, whether by giving goods or by simply giving money.
The church at Antioch was filled with new believers that had not grown up hearing the word of God. It is a mixture of Jewish and non-Jewish people. Thus, it was ethnically very different from the Jerusalem church, which was comprised of Jewish believers.
Perhaps you did not grow up in a strong family. It is becoming rarer and rarer for people to have experienced family that helps one another. Those people will need someone to come alongside of them and help them learn to be a brother, and a sister to other believers because that is what we are. On the day you were saved, you joined a large family with a long history.
Not all of that history is good. In fact, you may have had some run-ins with cranky, older siblings in the Church. This is where we need a strong relationship with Jesus and our heavenly Father. No matter what another believer may say or do, they cannot change God's love for you. You are just as much a part of His family as they are. If you ask, the Father will help you through it. By keeping our eyes upon Him and hearing Him tell us that we are His own, we can learn to love and bless all of our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The modern world uses the phrase "intangible religious benefits." It simply means that any benefits are not clearly connected, or directly connected. Let us be clear that we should not be benevolent in order to obtain benefits from God directly. Of course, we know that He will bless us if we serve Him. But we are not to do good things thinking that God owes us. He died on the cross for you and gave you His all. He doesn't owe us anything, but He does love to bless those who put their faith in Him. In truth, our benevolence should flow directly from a heart of gratitude to God for His blessings to us. He has blessed me so much. How could I not give all that I can?
Let's look at our passage.
In our passage, we have a word of prophecy that is given to the Christians in Antioch, which will prompt them to send aid to the church in Jerusalem. However, we should deal with this aspect of prophets in general before we look at this specific prophecy.
We are told that some prophets from Jerusalem come to Antioch. If you step back and look at Luke's narrative, we see that he describes several waves of God's grace in the form of people arriving in Antioch who came from Jerusalem.
The first wave was Jewish Christians who had made their way to Antioch due to Saul's persecution of the believers in Jerusalem. Their arrival begins the presence of any "Christians" in that town. On top of this, they freely spoke with Gentiles about Jesus. This caused a rapid growth of the church in Antioch.
The second wave was led by Barnabas. The Jerusalem church wanted to help and strengthen these scattered believers. Barnabas was full of the Holy Spirit and gifted by God. Thus, the church in Antioch saw even more believers coming in. On top of this, Barnabas retrieves Saul from his nearby hometown of Tarsus. Both of these men are powerful ministers of God's Spirit and Word and generally from Jerusalem.
The third wave of God's grace is in the form of some prophets who arrive in our passage today. Let us just stop and recognize that God is blessing the cities and regions around Jerusalem, but Luke focuses in on Antioch because of the role it will play in taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. God was really blessing this city.
There is no reason given why Antioch should be so blessed. Yet, we should suspect that God's purpose was not to favor Antioch, but rather, to help extend His favor to cities farther away.
Some people are not comfortable with the talk of prophets and prophecies, or they are only comfortable if it stays in the Bible. Ephesians 4:11-12 mentions that prophets are given by God as a spiritual gift to help equip His Church for ministry. God especially works through prophets to give a timely word about things past, present, and sometimes about things in the future. Part of our discomfort comes from the many abuses that have happened in this area. It can be deemed as "safer" simply to shut it down completely. However, it is our duty to become a mature group of believers who are able to deal with false prophets and false prophecies when they come.
Some people grew up within Christian communities that didn't allow any of this. They will typically teach that prophets and prophecy were only for the first century. However, God's Word doesn't say that.
So, what is the answer to uncomfortable things? First, we should remember that the presence of fakes does not mean that nothing is real. In fact, it is the fact that there is something that is real that gives fakers power over others.
Think of it this way. Do you quit using real money because someone somewhere counterfeits it? Of course, my apologies go to those who would retort that none of our "money" is real and that the government is the counterfeiter in chief. Please go with me on this example because it makes an important point. You don't throw your money away because there are counterfeits "out there." Instead, your dealing with actual dollar bills helps you to spot and recognize fakes (to some degree). Often, people instinctively know that something is off about counterfeit bills.
Why would we take the "safe" route when it comes to prophets and prophecy? We do so because it is easier on us. However, I warn you that it is not actually the "safe" route. If you shut every prophet down on principle, then you will eventually shut down a true prophet of God. You will be found resisting and rebelling against the Spirit of God. God says that He uses prophets, so it is our job to learn what that looks like.
This is the truly safe route. Just like we use money, but keep our eye out for fakes, so the Church today should expect that God will give us true prophets, while watching out for fakes. We won't be perfect, but God will bless us because we are walking in faith and seeking to be led by Him. Basically, I am describing spiritual maturity. We don't ask the new baby to be in charge of security for the family. However, the adults are always vigilant in keeping the home secure, especially for those most vulnerable ones among us.
You cannot speed up spiritual maturity. However, we can cooperate with God by humbling ourselves before His Word, and praying for His help. In fact, the more time you spend prayerfully reading the Bible (which was written by mature prophets of God) the better you will get at recognizing the real thing. Too many of our churches are weak in this area because of one of two mistakes. They either foolishly accept every prophet that comes along, or they shut it all down completely. Neither is the way of God's Word.
In our passage, we have a group of guys who are not completely unknown actors walking into the church. Though they would be unknown to most, they are proven prophets from the Jerusalem Church for whom Barnabas could vouch.
Now getting to the specific prophecy that Luke relates, we see that a particular prophet, named Agabus, prophesies that a great famine was coming. This is most likely the same Agabus that is mentioned again in Acts 21:10, who prophesied that, if Paul went to Jerusalem, he would be seized, bound, and delivered into the hand of the Gentiles.
Luke does not seem concerned with describing the day to day ministry of these prophets. Rather, he brings up a specific prophecy that has to do with a great famine that would come on "all the world." This is most naturally a reference to the Roman world of that part of the world.
Why would God be warning them? We can think of Joseph and Pharoah's dream. On one hand, they would be enabled to prepare themselves and stock up so that the times of difficulty would not be as difficult as they could. We should be careful of consuming everything when we are in good financial times. God may be supplying for you in advance for hard times to come.
Yet, there is another hand. Egypt became a blessing and a help to all the lands around them. In other words, the prophecy was not just for them to save their own hides. God does not supply for His people in a "equal" measure. He expects us to care for one another as needed out of wisdom and love.
The Jerusalem church had started out doing well. In fact, Barnabas himself was one of those men who sold property in order to help the Christian widows in Jerusalem. However, over time, they became poor as people moved away and persecution sapped their resources. A famine on top of this would be particularly hard on the Jerusalem Church, and Antioch knew this, or were told this by men like Barnabas at the least.
Luke is writing this after the fact, so he inserts the comment that this happened in the reign of Claudius Caesar. It is historically recorded that there was a series of difficult famines that happened throughout the Roman world in the early AD 40's. Jerusalem was hit particularly hard, as well as Alexandria, Greece, and Rome. It wasn't all at once, but seem to hit in one area and then another over the course of three to four years. It was particularly devastating upon Jerusalem.
Luke states that Agabus "showed by the Spirit (or by the means of the Spirit)." It seems that he was not just relating this. Rather, it was given to him for the church while it was gathered. This faithful prophet of the Lord has no agenda, but to speak what God gives him to speak.
There is a problem in modern Pentecostal circles. When you invite a "famous" prophet to come and speak at your church, there is an expectation that they will have a prophecy, and often one for everyone who comes forward for a personal prophecy. God's prophets are not fortune tellers giving people some secret knowledge about their future. God does not give prophecy on demand. What if God doesn't say anything to the prophet? Think of how the undue pressure to "perform" can mislead even an honest prophet to always "hear something from God." We can be in danger of operating the spiritual things of God with the natural mind. Many of us pastors are pastoring out of the natural mind rather than letting the Lord lead us in this work that is just as spiritual as prophesying.
Let me just say this. I want to hear from the Spirit of God and not the spirit of a man.
The church at Antioch "determined" to send relief to their brethren in Judea. Two things stick out here. One is that they would likely be touched by such a great famine themselves, and yet, they determine to help others. God's work in our life is not always about what will happen to me. We need to prayerfully respond to the needs around us.
The second thing that sticks out is that they are concerned specifically with Jerusalem. Are there not other people? Of course, there are, but these are the ones who come to their mind. Again, this calls for being a person of prayer so that our giving can be directed by God and not our natural mind.
Of course, we can be guilty of the old "I will pray for you" problem. It is easy to say you will do something and then never get around to doing it. Don't just intend to pray for people, or intend to help them financially, physically, etc. Ask yourself this. How will I do it and when? In fact, there is no time like the present. If you can't do it right away, then mark it on your calendar, or tell others, or do something that will ensure you follow through.
Antioch is being used of God to set an example for the greater Church among the Gentiles. If you pay attention throughout the book of Acts, and the epistles of Paul, it becomes clear that Judea becomes a church that is not plump with money, and often in need. They had been quick to give, but soon they came to a time when they were running out of people in Jerusalem who could meet the increasing needs.
The book of Acts will make it clear that after Antioch's help here, Paul would later stir up the Gentile churches of his missionary journeys to also send offerings of help to Jerusalem. Paul was able to point to the generous example of the Christians of Antioch.
We should note that it is one thing for Jews to send money back to help their countrymen, but it is quite another for people of very different ethnic groups to help these Jewish believers. We should not overlook that this was unheard of. This is part of the world seeing how amazing the love of believers for one another was.
The typical walls between ethnic groups were being torn down by the message of Jesus. Yet, was it Utopia? Of course, not. They had their fair share of false teachers, false prophets, correction, church discipline, and in short, discipleship issues. However, God was moving!
We are told that each gave according to their ability, which implies that some may not have been able. It is good to recognize that there should be no compulsion, or undue pressure, put upon people in this area. Yet, we all need to learn to become givers. When you look at your bank account and it only has $100, it is safe to say that you do not have the ability to give $1,000.
Yet, ability is not always about our amount of funds. Some people who have plenty of money are very stingy with their money. They do not lack funds, but rather they lack compassion, and most likely faith as well. Later, Paul would instruct the Corinthian church this way. "Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7. There is always "necessity" behind the people who are in need. However, Paul speaks of the person giving. We should not give under duress. Our only obligation is the obligation of love.
God wants us to be givers, but He wants us to be a certain kind of giver, i.e., a cheerful giver. People who are forced to give are pretty much always grumpy about it. If you always give in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and as an act of faith in Him, then the need of the person no longer becomes a pressure upon you. You are free to look at your bank account and determine what you would like to do. Can we displease God by the amount we give? I believe that we need to be careful here. There is no sense of this in Paul's inspired word to the Corinthians. Giving in faith is not just about God continuing my supply; it is also about knowing that He is pleased that we gave.
This is important for givers and receivers. If God hasn't supplied through me, then He has someone else. Receivers cannot look to a person as their supply. It is God's Spirit moving on that person. Similarly, givers should not be manipulated into giving to a particular need.
Giving $1,000 dollars is a powerful act of faith, or it could be an ego inducing action of the flesh. Let us be careful in this area. Spiritual maturity is the answer.
We are also told that they sent the relief funds promptly. There seems to be no hesitation in it. They pulled together funds for the Judean Christians and sent it right away. This may be a simple act of faith that the famine will come. It is also possible that there was already trouble with the crops that season. Jerusalem may have already been hurting, and now they knew it would only get worse.
Regardless, promptness requires a certain amount of faith. Second guessing, as well as laziness, are two factors that can slow down (even shut down) our giving of benevolence to others.
Lastly, we are told that they sent the money by the hands of trustworthy men who put it into the hands of elders in Jerusalem. Do you remember my earlier question? When will I do it and how? They did it immediately and used Barnabas and Saul to deliver the funds for them because they were trustworthy men.
Am I a trustworthy man or woman? Can I be trusted to take someone else's money to another person? Do I expect to be paid for such work? Saul and Barnabas had many spiritual gifts, but the blessing they were that day was being a "mule" for Jesus. This is not about station or greatness. It is simply about being a servant of the Lord and His people. They were demonstrating to the church at Antioch how to do humble work. "Load me up; I'll take it to Jerusalem!"
The elders in Jerusalem may be the apostles, and it may be the deacons who had earlier been put in charge of caring for the widows. Regardless, they were proven men who could be trusted not to embezzle for their own pleasures. We can be caught up in titles like "elder." However, the early Church was more focused on function.
Being an elder is not about a title or position. It was a function that God had created in certain ones. An elder is a spiritually mature Christian within the body of Christ. There is no time parameter per se. Instead of worrying about becoming an elder, focus on faithfully growing in the Lord and being, becoming, a trustworthy person. One day you will be looked to as an elder in the Church of Jesus if you have been faithful. How do we get there? We do so through a lot of little steps, following Jesus all along the way!