Acts 11 - Peter Reports The Conversion of the Gentiles to the Church - The Church in Antioch Grows and Helps the Church in Jerusalem During the Famine

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Peter Explains His Actions

Peter took a risk in reaching out to Cornelius, given he was a Gentile. Sure enough when he got back to Jerusalem, he was questioned by the circumcised believers, which we would assume means Jewish Christians. We would have expected this is of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, but not of the new believers. It shows that they were still holding on to the legalism of their upbringing. They were still seeing God through their previous lens. Ironically, the Old Testament had passages talking about the inclusion of the Gentiles in God's plan of salvation. 

But, after Peter recounted the whole story of his divine encounter with Cornelius, it appeased the believers and they even praised God that the mission had extended to the Gentiles. One of the key reasons for their acceptance was that the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit in the same way the Jewish believers did on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was the sign of God's work of salvation in connection with repentance and belief in Jesus. 

At the end of the day Peter said, "Who was I to stand in God's way?" What a great comment. We should always be asking the question, "Am I getting in the way of what God wants to do because of my preconceived notions?" 

The Church in Antioch

Stephen's martyrdom had the effect of spreading God's Word. It spread with the Jews as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch (Syria). But some of the men went to Antioch and reached out to the Greek speaking Gentiles. Through their preaching a great number of people came to know the Lord. The church sent Barnabas to check out what happened, and he came back with a good report telling them these people had turned to the Lord. Barnabas was described as a good man. "full of the Holy Spirit and faith." 

What a great definition of a good man or woman. A good man or woman is filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Notice again Luke's emphasis on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not just the invisible person of the Trinity, but the Spirit exhibited itself in every aspect of the life of the early Church. 

Then, they sent Barnabas to seek for Saul from Tarsus. The last we had heard of Saul, he had been teaching and preaching, yet heavily persecuted by those who were looking to kill him. In Acts 9:30, we see the church sent Saul back to his hometown of Tarsus. So Barnabas got Saul and brought him back to Antioch, where he spent a year teaching the new believers. 

As we know from reading Paul's letters, he was a brilliant teacher and developed much of the doctrine in the early church. People came to Christ and were filled with the Holy Spirit, but they still needed to be taught of the way of life in Christ Jesus. The same is true today. Conversion is only the beginning of the journey of faith. Jesus' in his Great Commission told the disciples to make disciples by teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded. 

It is still so important that we teach in the church today. So many of the problems we see in the church are due to a lack of sound biblical teaching the edifies the body of Christ! 

Finally, a prophet named Agabus, predicted that there would be a severe famine in Jerusalem. The church in Antioch gave money to help their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, each as they were able. Those gifts were given to Saul and Barnabas to bring back to the church. 

This is a great example of how the church is bigger than any one of our churches. The church in Antioch gave sacrificially so the church in Jerusalem could survive the famine. 

How can the church support the parts of the larger body of Christ, who are in need?