When Did Believers Become Christians?

Tom: This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment. We’re in the Book of Acts 11, and, Dave, we’re going to get right into Acts:11:19Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
See All.... If somebody has their Bible and would like to follow along with us, that would be great. Of course, we’re not referring to those who are driving somewhere, that would not be great.

Dave: I hope not!

Tom: Verse 19: “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.”

Dave: Well, Tom, I find it interesting, they’re scattered then abroad…well, the persecution… So I guess God had to allow persecution. Again, we get into this thing—man’s will and God’s will, and God’s foreknowledge and predestination, and so forth. But He doesn’t rob us of our will, but he knows what’s going to happen before it happens. 

But anyway, He allowed this persecution to scatter these people. He had said to them the Great Commission: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel. Begin at Judea and Jerusalem and Samaria, and then go into all the world,” and they were staying home. They were too comfortable in Jerusalem. So many thousands were coming to Christ—wow! This is a megachurch, and we’re practically going to take over. So some persecution arose, and that scattered them. So now are they holed up in the catacombs, or, you know, secret service Christians? No, they are preaching the Word, and that’s wonderful, because now they are going to begin to do what Christ told them to do, and they will win others to Christ.

Tom: Dave, why does it say in v. 19, “…preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only”? Seems like Peter’s been instructed, those at Jerusalem were instructed, but is this just those who hadn’t heard yet, or hadn’t gotten the Word from Jerusalem and from Peter and so on?

Dave: Well, it’s the same mode that Peter was in, remember? And God had to let a sheet down from heaven. Not only that, an amazing experience, but he had to explain it in an audible voice. And I suppose maybe it was easier to preach to Jews, and you’re still feeling that you’ve got to be separate from them. You couldn’t go in their home, they still think. The Jews were despised by the Gentiles, but the Gentiles were despised by the Jews. It was a two-way street. I guess it might be easier in that environment to try to reach Jewish people. 

Furthermore, Jesus was a Jew, and the gospel is based upon the Scriptures. It is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, so, you know, naturally you would think you would go to the Jews.

Tom: Yeah, people who already had at least some understanding, just as Paul, although he was the apostle to the Gentile, his way was to go into a synagogue first. You know, “the gospel to the Jew first, then to the Greek.”

Dave: Absolutely, but now we are going to have a change, because some, when they came to Antioch, they preached to the Grecians, preached the Lord Jesus to the Grecians. And v. 21: “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” Wow! So here are Gentiles in great numbers—not just Cornelius’ household, but great numbers of Gentiles coming to Christ. 

And so, what do they do? “…tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.” So now the church in Jerusalem, apparently they didn’t all flee the persecution, they just scattered, maybe kept the lower profile. I don’t know, I kind of doubt that. I think they were willing and ready to die, but this is where the apostles remained, as we will find when we get to Acts 15. This was kind of the headquarters, and so…

Tom: This is where the name “Christian” was first used to these followers of the way.

Dave: Right.

Tom: Verse 23: “Who, when he,” that is, Barnabas, “when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. [And this is what I just mentioned earlier] And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Dave: Yeah, a Christian is not a name that the disciples took upon them, but it identified them as the followers of Christ. These are the followers of the way, and you know the old saying: “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would they have enough evidence against you to convict you?” These people were obviously followers of Christ, and I think probably it was an epithet; it was just a derogatory term—“Christians,” you know—but it’s a common term today. A lot of people call themselves Christians who certainly are not born-again Christians. 

But, Tom, this is really interesting about Barnabas. He’s sent from the elders in Jerusalem to go down to Antioch: “See what’s going on down there, and see if you can help out.” And he could have been the hero, you know, and taken all the credit for it, because he sees the grace of God. It’s marvelous what God is doing here, but he calls…he goes back and goes to Tarsus, and he says, “Saul, come on. Let’s get over here. God is doing great things.” 

Saul at that point was not really accepted by the church. They don’t know him. All they know is they’ve heard of this persecutor of the church. They are afraid of him. And so it was Barnabas who kind of brought him into the fold. 

And just a couple of chapters ago, Acts:9:26And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.
See All..., it tells that when Paul came to Jerusalem (this is just after his conversion), he wants to join himself to the disciples, but they’re afraid of him, and they think he’s deceiving them. He’s going to come in as a spy, pretend to be one of them, and then have them all arrested. And v. 27 says: “But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.” 

So Barnabas again comes to the fore in relation to Paul, and he says, “Paul, I want to get you in on some ministry where God is really blessing.” It shows his unselfish character. Sadly, Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over John Mark…

Tom: It was a family thing.

Dave: Yeah, but at this point, very commendable what this man did. You know, “I got a big campaign going on here. And boy, a lot of souls are being saved, and I don’t want to take all the credit for this. Hey, come on and join me! Get in on this.” He’s trying to help Saul of Tarsus, who is now Paul, get a real start in the Christian church. And I don’t imagine that he knew that Paul would be the chief apostle. But we give Barnabas credit for that, and we ought to help others.

Tom: Here’s a nice criteria for it, Dave: “For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith.” That’s what we need, because we’re going to be led of the Spirit, and we’re going to see much fruit in our lives.

Dave: Right. Yeah, I love this story. I love the Book of Acts, because it’s telling us, you know, how the church got started. It’s telling us a bit how they functioned, some of the mistakes, but God is blessing them. People say, “Why can’t we have that kind of blessing today?” Well, there are a number of reasons we’ve probably talked about it in the past, but there’s a lot of disobedience in the church, a lot of unbelief, a lot of sin. We have some supposed great evangelists who are actually homosexuals. We have horrible stuff going on, and God is not going to bless us like He blessed the overall church. But there are pockets of real blessing here and there.

Tom: And, Dave, we also see that in attempt to make the church grow, to make it more popular, we’re turning to the ways of the world, the ways and means of the world, to bring about God’s kingdom. It just can’t be; it’s rebellion under the guise of people thinking they are doing something for the Lord.

Dave: Yeah, it’s a tragedy of our day.