11:1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,

3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.

8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.

9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

10 And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

11 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.

12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:

13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;

14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.

16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.@Normal:

All right, Acts chapter 11, verse 1: “And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.” Now I’m going quickly through here, not because we’re behind time, but because everything that I’m going to read now from verse 1 to 17 is repetition. That is, everything I’m reading in Acts 11 is what took place in Acts 10.

“And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.” Now, you see how Peter had that in his craw a little bit later when Paul had to straighten him out. He never did get over that, although he got over it this time.

“But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa...” we’ve covered this “...praying: and in a trance I saw a vision.” Folks say, “Why do you pray, if you’ve covered it, why do you read over it again?” Because every word of God is pure. And man shall not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So we’ll read every word.

“A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. And, behold, immediately there were three men.” So the unclean animals represent three Gentiles. “...already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren...” six and three is nine “...accompanied me.” That’s ten. In chapter ten. That’s the number of the Gentiles.

“And we entered into the man’s house: And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.” Then he was not saved in the New Testament sense till Peter preached the gospel to him.

“And as I began to speak,...” Peter was just getting warmed up “...the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning,” Acts 2. “Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost” and fire! Right? WRONG! There’s no “fire” to it. No “fire” to it. That “fire” is a baptism to damnation in Matthew chapter 3.

“Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift.” See, it isn’t earned. They didn’t have to get baptized to get it.

“Gift, as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?” That’s a good way to back out of it!

“When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” Now that verse is used by Calvin to prove that if God doesn’t repent in your place, you can’t receive Christ. God has to grant you repentance.

Which is a pretty scurvy way to do business. He isn’t talking about an individual. He’s talking about all the Gentiles as a group of people, like Romans chapter 11. They are simply saying, “Well, then, God has allowed the Gentiles to repent.” Which He has. And give them a chance. But that doesn’t mean that God has to get in you to repent for you. That’s that hyper-Calvinistic stuff.

QUESTION: Didn’t the Lord make an allowance in the Old Testament for a Gentile to repent, strangers in the camp?

ANSWER: Yes. Sure did. Even more than that in the Book of Romans; He ordained them to eternal life, but they were following their conscience.

All right, now I had a fellow over there in New Orleans; we didn’t have much of a meeting over there numbers wise. Small church, a building about half this size, I guess. But the brother’s been doing a good job, though; he’s got a lot of the deadwood out, and a lot of bright, sharp young people there now, doing something for the Lord. And the congregation is about twice the size as it was a year. The bills are all paid, and there’s money in the bank. So he’s doing good.

We had a 65-year-old man saved there Friday night. He was really tore up, and he really got things fixed up, too. But then there was a fellow who came down every invitation to get assurance. Been on drugs before, and wanting to know if he repented right, he didn’t think he repented. “You believe and trust?”

“Well, yeah, I believe and trust, but I just — but when I trust, do I believe, or do I have receive — how do you receive if you believe? Or if you believe, how do you receive?”

All that stuff, man! He kept saying, “Every guy who comes here says something different. One fellow says, ‘Trust.’ One fellow says, ‘Believe.’ One fellow says, ‘Receive.’”

I said, “If you have received, you have believed, and if you believed, you have trusted, and if you have trusted, you have received.”

And he said, “Yeah, but I just feel like this and that, and so forth, and I’m not, ain’t it all —”

And I said, “All you’re trying to do is live a sinless life and have a rough time. Ain’t that about it?

And he said, “Well, I just sick and tired of doubting God, and this and that...”

I said, “No, you want to live a sinless life. And that’s good, see?” But I said, “You never will till you’re dead!” I said, “The day you drop dead, you’ll get victory over your sin, and not before.

All right, you can get proud, you know, that way, and the devil will work you over there. I mean, I’m not saying you ought to just yield to your sin, surrender to your sin. But if you think, if you think going down to an altar and praying through, that you’ve made such a great repentance, that when you get up you’re going to be sinless evermore, you’re just kiddin’ yourself. Because you’re not. You’re going to have to repent every day of your life. Paul said, “I die daily.”

I saw a cartoon in the New Yorker this week. I liked to have fell on my chair laughing at it, you know. I guess it’s kind of irreverent, but it sure was human, man! It’s a cartoon, about ten strips, shows a guy up in Easter Island bowing down before one of those stone images, those gods. And the first cartoon shows him going up and taking a guy and knocking him down with a club. And he goes and bows down in front of the image and says, “Please forgive me, I’m very sorry.” Looks back his shoulder, and this guy is getting up, back behind him. So he goes back and takes the club and knocks him down again. And really blams him flat that time! Then he goes back and bows down and says, “I’m so sorry I did it! Please forgive me!” He looks back again, and the guy is getting up again. And the last picture shows him going back there, just clubbing with both hands, just mashing him into mincemeat, man.

Well, that may be kind of irreverent, but that sure is human, you know that? I mean, “Forgive me for killing him...Uh-oh! I didn’t kill him! I better do it again,” you know.

I mean, the idea is, “I can’t really repent of my sin of killing him until he’s dead,” you know.

That’s human, boy.

11:19 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.

20 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.

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

22 Then 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.

23 Who, 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.

24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:

26 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 the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Twenty-two: “Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church.” There’s a good verse to prove the church is not a building. Look at that! The tidings came to the “ears of the church.” Did you ever see a building with ears on it? You might have seen one that had wings, but not ears.

“The ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.” Now, I skipped something here, didn’t I? Let me go back to 19. “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice,...” Gentile “...Cyprus,...” Gentile “...Antioch.” Antioch shows up again.

Now from here on you’re going to run into it. Verse 19, “Antioch.” Verse 20, “Antioch.” Verse 22, “Antioch.” Verse 26, “Antioch.” Verse 27, “Antioch.”

All right, back to verse 20: “And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene.” That’s North Africa, and the island north of North Africa.

“...which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.” Now they begin to witness to Gentiles. In verse 19, it was to nobody but Jews. But some of the converts in North Africa and Cyprus began to deal with the Gentiles, “preaching the Lord Jesus.”

“And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” So here’s the basis and beginning of a real Gentile work en masse. Now, in Acts chapter 8, you only have one Gentile saved, and he disappears into Ethiopia. So there’s nothing much going on there. And in Acts 10 you have one Gentile and his family getting saved in Caesarea, and you don’t read much more about it. But, boy, when you get to 11:19,20 and 21, there are hundreds and thousands of those Gentiles getting saved up in Antioch of Syria, and they’re forming a Gentile church.

Verse 22: “Then 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. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God,...” They were getting saved by grace through faith, brother! No water baptism to it. “...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.” The Bible says there are none that doeth good. But Barnabas is called a good man, but he’s only called a good man in the context of the rest of the verse: “full of the Holy Ghost.” I mean, as you’re full of the Holy Ghost, to that extent are you any good.

And, “he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was...” underline it: “...added unto the Lord.” You got that? There’s a Body of Christ back there in Acts chapter 11 that’s added to the Lord, like the one in Acts chapter 4. Cornelius Stam tries to get around that and says, “That really means they came to the Lord’s side.” Yes, but naughty, naughty! You shouldn’t alter the word of God to prove something that isn’t so. They’re “added to the Lord.”

You know who wrote that thing right there, Acts 11:24? Luke wrote it. Did you know, when Luke wrote that, he had Romans, and 1 and 2 Corinthians on the table in front of him. He knew all about the Body of Christ. He was traveling with Paul all over the Mediterranean on board ship.

Twenty-five: “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.” First mention of Bible teachers in the New Testament is right there. Bible teachers after the Resurrection of Christ are in Acts 11:26.

“And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” That’s the first time the word shows up in the Bible. “Christian.” Verse 26. Up till there, there are no Christians. There are only disciples and brethren. But in verse 26 the disciples are called “Christians.” And they’re not called “Christians” in Jerusalem. They’re called “Christians” in Antioch.

So, the first time they’re called Christians is in a Gentile situation outside the land of Palestine. And that’s very important when we study manuscript evidence. Because, you can see by now, if you want to find a Christian Bible, you sure wouldn’t find one in Alexandria or Jerusalem; you’d find it in Assyria of Antioch; Antioch of Assyria.

QUESTION: Where do they get the teaching on the Body here? Do they get the doctrine from what they have?

ANSWER: Yeah. Somebody now has got to go through the Old Testament to straighten that whole thing out without any written revelation. Somebody’s got to explain how a man is saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ, without any New Testament books to teach from. Those are your Bible teachers. They’re teaching Isaiah and Genesis and Psalms — they’re digging, they’re digging — boy, they’ve got to dig.

All right, we’ll take a break there, at the end of verse 26.

Acts chapter, what, 11? 11:27.

11:27 And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:

30 Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Now, in the context here, you’re in Antioch of Syria. You should know where this is. Now, from your previous maps on David, you remember Syria was up here. David was down here, and he went to recover his boy at the river Euphrates. From archeology, you ought to know where Euphrates is. This area here is called Syria. And Damascus, where Paul got saved. And now the disciples are assembling here at Antioch of Syria. That place is right there, at the mouth of Ontes River. It comes out into a seaport, Antioch. And it’s one of the main gateways to the East. It and Constantinople are the main cities that go into Asia — back in those days. And when the Crusaders fought, they fought mainly against Constantinople and Antioch. And that’s the key to the whole seaboard — coastal plain comes on down here.

Now, this is the place where the disciples are first called Christians — Antioch of Syria. That’s the place that has the first Bible teachers. And, where you’re getting ready to read right now in Acts 11:27, that’s where the disciples are assembled. Thatprimarily a Gentile church.

Acts 11:27: “And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth...” it’s a famine “...throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.”

“Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief.” And that’s the modern government word, is from that word. Except when you speak about people today being “relief,” you talk about them being out of work. But when they send relief, they’re sending food and money down there. And, to this day in a modern law court, when they petition somebody in a law court, they say the complaintant, or the respondant, or the co-respondant, or whatever it is, begs or prays, they say — prays — that’s what the official documents say. They say, “Pray the court for relief.” That’s the wording.

“Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.” All right, here’s a collection, taken up here, to go down and help the saints down in Jerusalem. There are several things significant about that, and the first thing is this. If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, what are these apostles doing down in Jerusalem starving? How come they can’t get any food? Well, they’ve stoned Stephen. And after Acts chapter 7, there isn’t another miracle performed in Jerusalem. Nobody’s healed; now they’re starving. And the Gentile churches have to help them out.

The next thing about it is, it goes to show you that the missionary church, again on its feet. And it shouldn’t always a matter of the home church helping the home church. The missionary church will get on its feet to the place where sometime it can help the home church.

Now, let’s go to Romans 15 on this. Romans 15:25. Romans 15:25. Romans 15:25. Romans 15:25: “But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.” That’s saying if a missionary gets the benefit of the gospel, and the gospel goes overseas, that the churches overseas should show their appreciation for what’s been done by sending help back to the home church. Boy, how’s that one? How’s that for a turn in the way things are going? That’s how it’s done here.