Acts 13 1:12

The book of Acts presents for us the standards and the patterns and the blueprint for the church by way of example.
Acts 13 marks a great division in the book of Acts. The first 12 chapters is the ministry of Peter.
From 13 through 28 is the ministry of Paul.

Beginning in 13 is the Gentile church, the pagan church, the church that reaches the world. Up until this time the Jewish character of the church has dominated, but now Jewishness fades. It still will appear from time to time, but it is not that same dominate theme that it was in the early chapters.

John 4:21? Jesus said, “There is coming a day when you will neither worship God in Jerusalem or in this mount referring to Gerizim, where the Samaritans worshipped, but the one who worships God will worship Him in spirit and in truth.

And so Jesus predicted a time when Judaism would fade, where Judaism would cease to be the prevalent issue.

Before the church has much effect on the world it must be strong in itself. As best as we can tell, it was seven years after the founding of the Jerusalem church that people were first sent out from there, first sent out toward Antioch.

There’s been time for Antioch to get strong, and as Antioch has become solid and strong it’s ready to move out and establish new beachheads elsewhere in the pagan world. The church is to grow strong in the Word of God. It is to grow solid and then when it grows solid then it can have an effect on its world and it moves out from there sending out equipped and trained men to establish new beachheads.

Why are some churches dynamic, some churches aggressive, some churches making an effect, and other churches just there?

11:21, “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” The church started with real believers, but you’d be surprised how many churches are devoid of real believers, even in positions of leadership.

verse 25, “Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus to seek Paul. When Barnabas found Paul he brought him unto Antioch and it came to pass that for a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught many people.”

Verse 26 says, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” So in Antioch the church got off on the right foot. They had two important ingredients: love and sound doctrine.

Some say that many years had come before this commissioning of Paul and Barnabas. They had time to mature, to be strong.

Antioch becomes for us a kind of a blueprint. They just grew strong at home, they waited and prayed. They never invented a program, they just waited and prayed and the Spirit of God moved in and said, “I’m ready to go and here’s what I want you to do.” But the home base needed to be strong.

What is it in the church that makes one church powerful, dynamic, and effective and another church even if it’s small or large or middle sized, that isn’t the issue, but what makes one effective and one not so effective?

The church that reaches the world, the church that is effective will be a church that is Spirit controlled.

That sounds obvious, but it is not, to many churches are not operating under the control of the Holy Spirit. You know what happens when you don’t operate under the control of the Holy Spirit? The church becomes carnal.

The church at Antioch is talking about two key leaders, Barnabas, he was righteous, and full of the Holy Spirit. Then Saul, also called Paul, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, to begin with the two leaders of the church at Antioch were filled with the Holy Spirit. That simply means they were under His control. “They ministered to the Lord, and fasted, and the Holy Spirit led them and said, ‘Separate for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work under which I’ve called them.’

The Spirit of God said send Paul and Barnabas and so the church said go. That says that was a Spirit controlled body as well as a Spirit controlled leadership.

1 Corinthians 12:7–13. “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit.” Verse 11, “But all these worketh that one and very same Spirit.” Verse 13, “For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, bond or free, we’ve all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

The church is the combination of the ministries of the gifts of the Spirit. All it is, is the interaction of the Holy Spirit through human vessels.

The Spirit of God is the energy that makes a church operate.

All the features of the life of the church depend on the Holy Spirit, the building of the body, the nourishing of the saints, the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, instruction, loving, sharing, praying, giving, everything is in the energy of the Spirit,

The control of the Holy Spirit is the issue, whether you’re talking about an individual or a church, it must be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

How does the church get there?

There is only one way to be under the control of the Holy Spirit, that is obey His instructions.. He gives the orders, you obey. There is only one way to obey His instruction, one must know His instruction. The only one way to know his instruction, is to know the Word, His Word.

Any church that is not preoccupied with the saturation of its people in the Word of God will produce carnality. 2 Peter 1:21, “The prophecy came not, time passed by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by The Holy Spirit.” The church that does not teach the Word of God is going to be carnal.

The church that saturates its people with the mind of the Spirit will be a church controlled by the Spirit.

To be controlled by the Spirit I must yield to His instruction. To know His instruction I must learn the Word.

The commitment must be to get into the Word.

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch, this is in Syria, certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
Strong spiritual men were at the heart of this church It says in verse 2, they ministered to the Lord and fasted.

These men are called prophets and teachers.

Prophets in the New Testament were very important men. They were ranked right next to the apostles. You remember in Ephesians 2:20, Paul said that the church was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, their words practical instruction for the church. They did not transmit what we know as Scripture, but yet they spoke directly from God in the area of practical instruction for the church.

They gave insight into already given information. Their ministry was really that of edification, building up the saints by giving them the things that God wanted them to hear.

Though prophets do not exist today, the gift of preaching still exists, their ministry was primarily to edify the church on a practical basis whereas the apostles were dealing in theology.

Barnabas, was a Jew; he’s a Levite from Cyprus. He the kind of a guy to hold down a wild hair like Saul and be the kind of companion to bring the soft side into everything that happened. And then there was Simeon, interesting who was called Niger. Niger means black. Simeon, called black and Lucius of Cyrene. If it is true that the Cyrene goes with Simeon also it may be that Simeon was from Cyrene. Cyrene is in Africa, Simeon being a black man in Africa and having come to Antioch. Here’s another interesting footnote: the man who carried the cross of Jesus had the same name, Simeon of Cyrene. It may well be this is the same man. We don’t know. Nevertheless, isn’t it interesting at the very heart of the early church there was absolutely no racial discrimination. Here is a black man ministering with Jews and Gentiles in the leadership of the church at Antioch. That’s the kind of church God designed from the very start.

Lucius, also of Cyrene, which is in Africa, may be the same Lucius of Romans 16:21, we don’t know, and then Manaen and he’s an interesting character. The others were maybe commonplace people, but Manaen was right from the upper crust who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch. Now the term brought up means foster brother and it was a term used for little kids who were raised in the court along with the princes of the court.

Now Herod the tetrarch is not to be confused with Herod who just got eaten by worms last week, obviously. But see I told you were a lot of Herods popping up all over everywhere. After all Herod the Great had ten wives and there are just little Herods all over everywhere. So one of these Herods, this is Herod Antipas here. Herod Agrippa was the one we studied last time. So Herod Antipas when he was raised he was the son of Herod the Great, Manaen was raised along with him. He was raised in the king’s court. He really was a well to do character. So here are the churches again a motley and beautiful combination of Jews and Gentiles, two Jews Saul and Barnabas, three Gentiles, one of them black, probably one of them very common and one of them very wealthy, a beautiful picture of the leadership of the church. The motley arrangement the Spirit of God designed from the very start. So beautiful! Five spiritual men; a perfect beginning for an effective church. They ministered to the Lord and fasted.

The word originally meant to discharge a public office. If you got elected to an office publicly, you were to carry out your job. When they had been placed in leadership in that church they fulfilled the office God gave them.

All of our service that we do in the ministry and all of the service that you do is seen as a sacrifice offer to God. The term ministry here is also a term used in terms of priestly service to God. They saw their ministry; as an offering to God, to Jesus Christ himself.

1 Peter 2:5. Peter talking to the believers says, “You also as living stones are built up a spiritual house.” A holy priesthood.” you know you’re a priest, and your role is offer things to God.

As a Christian everything you do in your life is an offering to Jesus Christ.

What kind of sacrifices are you, the believer priest, offering? Do you see your life as a priesthood to God? And do you see every deed that you do in your life as an offering, which you take into the holy of holies and offer to Jesus Christ? If you don’t it should change the way you do some things.

Do you see the ministry that you afford the church in that way as an offering presented to Jesus Christ?

If you don’t you’re not looking at it correctly.

All their ministry was seen as a sacrifice to Christ.

In Malachi this is illustrated by what Israel offered God. “You said behold what a weariness.” They were saying that this religion was a drag, that stuff going on in that temple. “And you have sniffed at it.” Religion, what a waste. “But you went through the motions and you brought that which was torn, and lame, and sick.” What were they to bring to God. God says if you’re going to bring Me and offering, don’t bring me a cripple or corrupt one. You bring Me the best you’ve got or don’t bring Me anything.

Christian, we are priest. Everything you offer is service to God. They ministered to the Lord.

So many people ask about fasting.

A lot entertainment in that day was eating.

“Moreover when you fast, be not like the hypocrites,” Matthew 6, “of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast.”

Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to fast. Jesus said in Luke 5:33 that critics came to Him and they said, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?” It was fasting time and John’s disciples were fasting and the Pharisees and Jesus’ guys were really eating and having a great time. “He said unto them, ‘Can you make the sons of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?’ ” He says, you don’t fast at the wedding and the bridegroom is here, nothing to fast about. And I love this: “But the days will come,” verse 35, “when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them and then shall they fast in those days.”

Jesus said there’s coming a time when I leave and they’ll fast why? Because they’ll have spiritual battles to fight, spiritual struggles and I won’t be there visibly present and they’ll be on their knees and they’ll be in agony over these things. No Jesus never commanded Christians to fast, but He assumed that they would be lost in spiritual struggle and that they would fast, sometimes totally.

The church goes out from Antioch with great leaders, a great people of the church who were led by the Holy Spirit.