Explore the Bible Lesson Preview May 29, 2016 Extraordinary Background: Acts 11:19-12:25

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1 Explore the Bible Lesson Preview May 29, 2016 Extraordinary Background: Acts 11:19-12:25 Lesson: Acts 12: 7-12, 16-19Motivation: What makes a missionary church? Spirit-filled leadership and willing follow ship are key components. A missionary church is an evangelistic, sending, reaching, caring and giving church. Missionary spirit doesn t depend on size, location or wealth. Any church can and is called to be a missionary church. (Eph. 3:9-12) Examination: I. Helping New Christians (11:19-21) A. Missions Work in Antioch (11:19-21) 1. Aftermath Those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one except Jews. (19) The persecution documented in 8:1-4 resulted in the seed of the gospel being scattered over a wide area. Jews from Jerusalem naturally witnessed to other Jews. 2. Anonymity But there were some of them, Cypriot and Cyrenian men, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Hellenists. (20) William Barclay, Acts of the Apostles, p. 88: In restrained sentences these few words tell of one of the greatest events in history. Now, for the first time, the gospel is deliberately preached to the Gentiles in Antioch the Church did not go to people who were Jews or half Hews, nor wait to be approached by Gentiles seeking admission; of set purpose and without waiting for the invitation, it preached the gospel to the Gentiles. Christianity is finally launched on its worldwide mission. (Acts 2:5-11) 1 / 13

2 Here we have a truly amazing thing. The Church has taken the most epoch-making of all steps; and we do not even know the names of the people who took that step. All we know is that they came from Cyprus and Cyrene. They go down to history as nameless pioneers of Christ. It has always been one of the tragedies of the Church that men have wished to be noticed and named when they did something worthwhile. What the church has always needed, perhaps more than anything else, is people who never care who gains the credit for it so long as the work is done. These men may not have written their names in men s books of history; but they have written them forever in God s Book of Life. (Acts 9:15; 26:1-2, 16-18; 27:24; 28:28; Rom. 1:15-16; 9:22-10:4; 11:17-26). 3. Antioch Increasingly the focus of Acts turns from Peter and Jerusalem to Paul, Barnabas and Antioch. This city becomes the jumping off point for world evangelization. Antioch was the third most important city in the Roman Empire next to Rome and Alexandria. Unfortunately, like Corinth, Antioch was famous for immorality. Worship of the goddess Daphne took place in a temple near Antioch and involved cultic prostitution. The fact that God used Antioch as a center for changing the world should remind us that He can use anything or anyone, no matter the reputation, if people are willing to be obedient and give Him the glory! 4. Advancement a large number who believed turned to the Lord (21). This process of becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ is explained in Explore the Bible Commentary (Fall, 2000), p. 92-3: The process of growing in Christ can be captured in three words: incoming, indwelling, and outworking. (Gal. 2:20) The incoming of Christ expresses the beginning of the Christian life. The choice to open one s heart to the Christ who knocks faithfully at the door results in His coming into the person s life. The sure promise of Revelation 3:20 undergirds the truth of Christ s incoming. The indwelling of Christ expresses the truth that living as a Christian requires the ongoing, inner presence of Christ by His Spirit in the inner person. Christ in you (Col. 1:27) not only forms the basis for a person s hope of glory but also provides the dynamic for living as a Christian in this present world. The outworking of Christ is one way of describing the life of service by which a believer becomes Christ s instrument of doing His continuing work in the world. This working out of salvation (Phil. 2:12) gives outward, observable expression to the reality of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. (Eph. 2:10; James 2:17) 2 / 13

3 B. Ministry of Barnabas (11:22-24) 1. Barnabas the Emissary... they sent out Barnabas... (22) The success of this entire mission hinged on sending God s person. Had the church erred and sent a close-minded legalist, the Spirit may have been quenched. Remember: Even Peter was reluctant to openly associate with Gentiles at Antioch. (Galatians 2:11 ff) But big-hearted Barnabas, himself a Cypriot like the evangelists, was the perfect choice to confirm the Gentile believers. 2. Barnabas the Encourager...encouraged all of them... (23a) Barnabas means Son of Encouragement and he lived up to his name: a. Encouragement of the Church - Acts 4:37 b. Encouragement of Paul - Acts 9:26-27 c. Encouragement of John Mark - Acts 15:36-40 His encouragement was not just a hearty handshake but was directed: encouraged all of them to remain true to the Lord with a firm resolve of the heart. (23b) The Christian life is not a brief sprint but rather a marathon. We are to continue with a firm resolve. 3. Barnabas the Evangelist And large numbers of people were added to the Lord (24). Barnabas had a dual relationship: a. He was honored by men he was a good man (24) You ll not find this said about very many people in the Bible. Jesus said to the rich young ruler: 3 / 13

4 Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is God. (Matthew 19:17). The point here is that Barnabas had a good reputation and relationship with others. Any evangelist must have a walk to back the talk; otherwise What you do speaks so loudly that I can t hear what you re saying. b. He was honored by God. The good results were based on the fact that Barnabas was f ull of the Holy Spirit and of faith (24). He didn t look around and see an immoral city where hardly anyone was a Christian; instead he saw through eyes of faith a city in which virtually everyone was a prospect for Christianity! Since Satan comes against us so often with discouragement, to be effective evangelists, we must be full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. (Eph. 5:18; II Thess. 1:3; I Peter 1:7-8) C. Teaching Ministry of Barnabas and Saul to the First Christians (11:25-26) 1. Barnabas Was Willing to Give Away Ministry Then he went to Tarsus to search for Saul (25) Barnabas was the Senior Pastor in Antioch. He was the undisputed leader. But he had the wisdom to acknowledge his limitations and the graciousness to share leadership. Perhaps the hardest thing for any Adult Life Bible Study Teacher to do is to bring aboard an associate teacher with plans to begin two classes from one. Hard as it is, it is also the most productive thing we can do in reaching new people. 2. Barnabas Was Willing to Disciple New Believers For a whole year they met with the church and taught large numbers (26) Discipleship doesn t happen by accident. It requires steadfastness (Acts 2:42, 46). It also doesn t happen overnight - they continued meeting an entire year. 3. Barnabas Was Willing to Be Known The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch (26). Early on, Believers were treated legally and socially as a sect of Judaism. To become identified as followers of Christ rather than Jews removed their legal protection and ultimately resulted in widespread and vicious persecution. But the early Christians took upon themselves a name that was first used in derision and spread that name around the world and through the centuries. They were not ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16) but were willing to be known as Christians. 4 / 13

5 II. Returning Other s Help (11:27-30) A. Prophet...prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch (27) Prophecy was one of the signs and wonders that validated the early church until the completion of the canon of Scripture. Agabus later foretold Paul s imprisonment (21:10-11). B. Profit So each of the disciples, according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea (29). Although age old animosity existed between Jews and Gentiles, the predominantly Gentile church of Antioch considered the overwhelmingly Jewish church of Jerusalem, brothers. They didn t just talk about love but put their money where their mouth was and sent an offering, each as they were profited. C. Probity sending it to the elders by means of Barnabas and Saul (30) These two church leaders were such men of honesty and integrity that the church sent them off with the entire offering (even though they were both foreigners ). III. Imprisonment of Peter (12:1-4) A. The Players - William Barclay lists the cast of Herods in his Acts of the Apostles, p 93-94: The first of the New Testament Herods is Herod the Great who reigned from about 41 B.C. to 1 B.C. He is the Herod of Matthew 2, who was in power when Jesus was born, who received the Wise Men from the East and who massacred the children. Herod the Great was married ten times. Those of his family who cross the pages of the New Testament are as follows: (1) Herod Philip the First. He was the first husband of the Herodias who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist. He is mentioned, under the name of Philip, in Matthew 5 / 13

6 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19. He had no official office. He was the father of Salome. (2) Herod Antipas. He was the ruler of Galilee and Peraea. He was the second husband of Herodias and consented to the death of John the Baptist. He was also the Herod to whom Pilate sent Jesus for trial ( Luke 23:7ff.), (3) Archelaus. He was ruler of Judaea, Samaria and Idumaea. He was a thoroughly bad ruler and was deposed and banished. He is mentioned in Matthew 2:22, (4) Herod Philip the Second. He was ruler of Ituraea and Trachonitis. He was the founder of Caesarea Philippi which was called after him. In the New Testament he is called Philip and is mentioned in Luke 3:1, (5) Herod the Great had another son called Aristobulus ; his mother was Mariamne, a princess who was descended from the great Maccabaean heroes. He was murdered by his own father but he had a son called Herod Agrippa. This is the Herod of our present passage in Acts 12, (6) To complete the list we may note that Herod Agrippa was the father of (a) Agrippa the Second, before whom Paul was examined and before whom he made his famous speech ( Acts 25 and 26). (b) Bernice who appeared with him when Paul was under examination. (c) Drusilla, who was the wife of Felix, the governor before whom Paul was tried ( Acts 6 / 13

7 24:24). B. The Purpose: Herod Agrippa was a direct descendant of the Maccabaean heroes and a stickler for keeping the Jewish law. Because of this, he was extremely popular with the Jews and saw the persecution of Christian leaders to be another way of increasing his approval ratings. By directly attacking James and Peter, Herod took the persecution to a new level. Up until this time, the Apostles had been relatively safe in Jerusalem. (8:1) IV. Deliverance (12:5-10) So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church. 6 On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, Quick, get up! Then the chains fell off his wrists. 8 Get dressed, the angel told him, and put on your sandals. And he did so. Wrap your cloak around you, he told him, and follow me. 9 So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what took place through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him. (12:5-10) Believer s Study Bible, p. 1562: 12:4-11 Herod (Agrippa I) imprisoned Simon Peter after seeing how pleased the Hebrews were with the execution of James, and he tried to make Peter s escape nearly impossible. In Roman military procedure, four soldiers comprised a quaternion or squad. Herod assigned four squads to watch Peter; this meant that Peter was under the charge of sixteen soldiers. There were four watches of three hours each throughout the night. Four soldiers were on duty at all times. Two were probably stationed in the prison, the other two at the door. This tight military control over Peter renders the miraculous deliverance by an angel of the Lord convincing. As the delivering angel and Peter passed through the outside gate, Luke tells us that the gate opened of its own accord. The word is automate 7 / 13

8 (Gk.) or automatically. God ordered Peter s journey, every step of the way. A. Prayer prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church (5) If we can learn one thing from the early church it should be their dependence on God as evidenced by prayer: constantly in prayer (1:14), devoted themselves... to prayer (2:42), going up to the temple at the time of prayer (3:1), They raised their voices together in prayer to God (4:24), give our attention to prayer (6:4), appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commit them to the Lord, (14:23) and many others. 1) ceaseless prayer earnestly, 2) concentrated prayer to God, 3) concerned prayer for him, and 4) church uniting prayer by the church. B. Peace Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said Quick, get up! (7) Picture this: Peter was in prison, chained between two guards, under penalty of imminent death but was sound asleep! His sleep was so deep and peaceful that the angel s appearance didn t wake him nor the light from heaven! The angel s detailed instructions Get up.. get dressed..put on your sandals...wrap your cloak around you follow me are just the sort of things you say to a person who s having trouble waking up. What was the source of the peace? See point 1. C. Power the chains fell off his wrists... (7) After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate 8 / 13

9 ...which opened to them by itself (10) The rescue of Peter is the dramatic picture of God s power to deliver. He breaks our chains of sin, leads us out of prison, and breaks down the gates of hell. What Peter experienced physically, each believer experiences spiritually. V. Delight (12:11-12) Then Peter came to himself and said, Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected. 12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many had assembled and were praying. A. Awake Then Peter came to himself (11) It took a while, but finally Peter woke up, realizing it was not a vision (9). B. Aware he went to the house of Mary (12) Even though he had been miraculously delivered, Peter understood that he was not bulletproof. He wisely sought safety and shelter among the saints. VI. Determined (12:13-17) Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded. 17 Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. Report these things to James and the brothers, he said. Then he departed and went to a different place. A. Response of Rhoda He knocked at the door in the gateway, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Peter s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gateway. (13-14) 9 / 13

10 Notice that the Jerusalem church did not have a building, they met in the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. We ve already speculated that her home may have also hosted the Last Supper as well as the prayer meeting prior to Pentecost. Rhoda may have been a servant whose duties included keeping the gate; her recognition of Peter s voice and joy at his release (escape) indicate that she was a part of the church. The late hour, surprise visit and her own emotions combined to turn her from her task (opening the gate) and toward to the praying congregation for a surprise announcement, leaving Peter knocking at the gate. B. Response of the church You re crazy!...it s his angel (15) Notice that ceaseless, concentrated, concerned and church uniting prayer is not necessarily a prayer of faith! It s somewhat encouraging to me that the early church was not filled with superheroes who had it all together on every issue. Their effort was sincere; they were obviously having a large all-night prayer-meeting for Peter s safety and deliverance. Their lack of faith is first seen in their disbelief of Rhoda and then their speculation that Peter has already been martyred. God s graciousness is seen in that He answered their prayers even though they had little faith. (Matt. 13:32) Another interesting note: James and the brothers (17) were not present in the church prayer meeting. The work of the church is God s work and doesn t require an ordained minister to be present for it to happen. The leadership of the Apostles was well documented; but the work of the church went on whether they were leading or not. William Barclay comments on the role of James ( Acts of the Apostles, pp ) This is the brother of our Lord. There is a certain mystery about him. In the East it would have been the natural thing for the next brother to take on the work of an elder brother who had been killed; but from the gospels we learn that Jesus brothers did not believe in Him ( John 7:5) and that they actually thought him mad ( Mark 3:21). During His lifetime James was not a supporter of Jesus. But the Risen Christ made a special appearance to James (I Corinthians 15:7). The Apocryphal Gospel according to the Hebrews tells that after the death of Jesus, James made a vow that he would neither eat nor drink until he saw Jesus again; and that Jesus did appear to him. It may well be that what the life of Jesus could not do his death did, and that when James saw his brother die he discovered who he really was and dedicated all his life to serve him. The change in James may well be another great example of the power of the Cross to change the lives of men. C. Response of Peter Peter, however, kept on knocking... (16) Peter s banging on the gate in the middle of the night would have been humorous had he not been in so precarious a position. He realized that Herod would be furious when he learned of Peter s escape (19). So Peter s priorities were to 1) get off the street, 2) inform the church, and 3) get out of Dodge 10 / 13

11 (17b). VII. Disturbance (18-19) A. Response of the Soldiers (18) The great commotion among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter reflected the customary punishment of guards when a prisoner escaped. B. Response of Herod he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. (19) Escaping prisoners were proving to be quite a problem with this church! First Jesus escaped from his tomb, and then Peter and the Apostles escaped prison in 5:19. The heavy security provided for Peter probably reflects Herod s fear of another escape. C. Death of Herod (12:19b-25) Explore the Bible Commentary (Fall, 2000), p : The Jewish historian Josephus also wrote of Herod's death. The historian described Herod's royal robe on this occasion as a garment woven completely of silver so that its texture was wondrous. He added that the sun illuminated the silver garment so that its glitter inspired fear and awe in those who gazed on it. When the people responded to the speech by shouting that Herod was a god, the king did not rebuke them or reject their flattery. According to the historian, shortly afterward Herod looked up and saw an owl perched on a rope over his head. He understood the owl s appearance to signal his death. Earlier in his life, Herod had been for a time imprisoned in Rome. While in prison he had seen a vision of an owl. A fellow prisoner told him the owl signaled the good fortune of release from prison. However, the prisoner had warned him that if he ever again saw the owl he would have only five days to live. Josephus added to his account that when Herod was stricken with pain, he was carried to his bedchamber where he died five days later. In the concluding two verses we have a summary of the church s growth (24 is similar to 6:7 and 9:31). Barnabas and Saul were sent to Jerusalem with the Famine offering of the church at Antioch (11:30). John Mark, in whose mother s home the Jerusalem church met (12:12), accompanied the two prominent church leaders. Application: 11 / 13

12 1. Peace is possible in the most trying circumstances. (John 14:27) 2. Prayer is powerful even if we fall short in our faith. (Matt. 17:20) 3. Pride is poisonous. (Prov. 16:18) Leader Pack Item 4: Timeline: Acts 1-12 Illustrator: no article Notes: **You may access David s Lesson Preview in MP3 format at: g ; also, the Highpoint Bible Study (Downtown) is available on MP3 at the HFBC site under the Highpoint link/downloads. Dates: /29 AMP/WIRED Sunday; 6/3 Summer Kickoff at the Loop; 6/3-4 5 th grade Launch at the Loop; 6/5 Promotion Sunday (all campuses); 6/5-9 Elevate Choir Tour; 6/6 7/5 Pastor Gregg s Sabbatical; 6/12-15 Camp Intersect; 6/18-25 HUB Intl. Mission Trip; 6/19 SPF Father s Day Lunch; 6/25 Men: Serve; 6/ / 13

13 Loop only family night on 6/ / 13