Many People Were Added to the Lord (Acts Pt. 26)
Recap
We spent the last few weeks in a Vision Series called “One Body, One Spirit, One Hope” about the Lord’s beautiful design and destiny for the body of Christ, the household of God, the CHURCH. We looked at Ephesians 4 for the blueprint of a healthy church where unity is present, gifts are in operation, and every member is finding their place of proper function in the Body of Christ. I AM MORE EXCITED THAN EVER about the power and potential of the local church! God is moving in our time, and I invited us to move into the future with 3 words that will define this season for us… PREPARE for Harvest, PARTNER in rebuilding, and PLANT what God has established. Who wants to be a part of a church that brings the life-changing love of Jesus to the world around us? When we are at our best, we are a spiritual family focused on bringing hope to the broken, redemption to the lost, and freedom to the afflicted. This is what we get to see in Acts as we jump back into our study through this incredible book of NT scripture.
Acts 11:19-30
19 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. 20 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. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 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, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 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.
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 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). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
The Church in Antioch
V. 21-24 // And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 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, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
The Hand of the Lord was WITH THEM
In ancient Near Eastern imagery, a ruler’s hand symbolized power, authority and action. Let’s take a look at a few examples in the Old Testament.
God’s hand symbolizes his sovereign ability to act in history.
Exodus 7:5 // “The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
God’s hand moves on behalf of His people to bring glory to His name and to accomplish His will on the earth, which is to bring people out of captivity and darkness. I believe we are seeing that right now in our nation.
God’s hand is also a sign of favor, provision and help.
Ezra 7:8-10 // And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
The Spirit is the helper, so the “hand of the Lord” in the book of Acts signifies the helpful empowerment of the Spirit to do more than men can do on their own.
We are unashamedly reliant on the helpful presence of the Holy Spirit. We need His power. We need His help. We need His ideas. We need His hand.
God’s hand is also seen in a prophetic context, where the Spirit of God is moving a prophet into visions, words, or symbolic acts.
Ezekiel 37:1 // The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
This past week, the hand of the Lord came upon us as a staff team as we worshiped and prayed on Tuesday… We began to boldly sing of FREEDOM for our land and we shouted loud songs of grace to those in bondage. It was special and powerful. New songs coming soon…
Church family, let us continually seek the power, favor and prophetic leadership of the Lord’s hand. With Him, we too will see a “great number” of people believe and turn to the Lord.
Faith and Repentance
True belief in Jesus requires a turning. This is the definition of repentance.
We get the honor of proclaiming Jesus and introducing people to His love, His way, and His Kingdom. But a moment comes where people must TURN TO THE LORD. Which requires a turning away of the old life.
Evangelism and Discipleship
With the hand of the Lord upon us, I want to spend the rest of our time encouraging, equipping and empowering us to proclaim Jesus and see a great many people ADDED TO THE LORD. Notice the emphasis there… to the Lord. Our heart and desire is not to add them to our church. It is not to add them to our congregation… it is to see ONE MORE PERSON meet the Jesus that we have met. This is what drives me day to day as a father and as a pastor. I desperately desire to see ONE MORE PERSON encounter Jesus and be transformed by His love. The Apostle Paul said, “The love of Christ COMPELS me!” He wasn’t driven by duty… he was moved by desire to see people meet Jesus.
Encourage
Acts 1:8 // “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
I want to encourage you with your identity as a WITNESS. This is not a gifting, this is not a preference, this is your identity as a Christian - to be a witness of what you have seen and heard.
When we embrace this fundamental identity, it takes so much pressure off of outreach and evangelism.
Equip
I want to equip us with some handrails that can make this so much easier, but it will always be a step of faith to walk it out. But let me expose something right now… have you ever seen a kid that was SO nervous to jump off the high dive? When they finally take the plunge, what happens next? They run back up and immediately jump off again because they realized that the fear they were feeling was amplified by the unknown. It felt SO HIGH and SO SCARY, but after the step of faith, they realized that it wasn’t that scary after all. This is similar to how Satan uses fear to keep us from taking the step of faith to share Jesus with someone.
Here is a sequence of questions that you can use to step over the tiny line of fear that Satan wants you to think is some huge wall.
Has anyone told you lately that God loves you?
Can I share with you what Jesus did on the cross?
He invites you to believe in Him and turn from your old life to follow Him. Are you open to that?
Empower
Here’s a completely optional challenge. 1-1-1. Ask this question to someone 1/week. Invite someone to church 1/month. Over the course of the next year, find 1 person that wants to learn about Jesus and teach them. We call that discipleship.
Did you notice what they did in Antioch? They went and got Paul, a trusted apostle, and they stayed there for an entire year because all the people that were ADDED to the Lord needed to be TAUGHT the way of Jesus.
This is a journey that takes time and intentionality.
Mention the “13 Lessons” resource
Model “process leadership” by asking for a volunteer who wants to grow as a disciple of Jesus over the next year
If you spend 3 years at this church, our dream is that you would walk away with 2 things and 1 love.
Encourage everyone to invite someone to the 10 year celebration
Response
What does boldness look like for you in this season? It may be saying yes to the +1 challenge. It may be something else God has called you to do. As we respond this evening, I want to invite anyone forward who would like to receive an impartation of boldness. This is something that comes from the hand of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and often comes through the simple laying on of hands. I’m going to invite a few people up that will simply join me in praying for anyone that comes forward.