Evidence Of The Grace Of God

He went through chapter 10, you should look at that and you should think one of those thoughts that you think, I'm sure, a lot of times as you're reading Scripture and you read through a lot of that and you go, why did God put this here? It's either so repetitive, you know, why did He put it there? And we've learned, hopefully, we're learning as believers that when God repeats Himself, it's for a reason. Number one reason is we're too dense to pick it up the first time.

And so He has to repeat it over and over for us to be able to get a handle on it. And this is what's true with these first 18 verses. Now, why does Luke record these first 18 verses almost verbatim from chapter 10? Well, the first thing is to understand that Peter's being called on the carpet, he's being called to account here by the believers in Jerusalem.

And remember, the church initially was Jewish. The first church was Jewish. And these Jewish believers now have heard that Peter has gone to a Gentile's house, the Cornelius' house, and they're calling Peter on the carpet for that. Tell us what happened. Why did you go there?

That's the marker that Jesus said that by this will all men know that you are my disciples if you can repeat the Ten Commandments in order, if you can say the Apostles' Creed, if you can repeat the 23rd Psalm, if you can say I led ten people to the Lord, if you can have perfect Sunday school attendance, if you can sing in the choir, if you leave somebody, you dedicate a piano that has a bronze plaque with your name on it, none of that stuff. If you have love one for another. And so God is showing us that his love is broader than ours. We love conditionally, God doesn't.

And God is expressing that, and he wants us to get to a point so he has Luke write this section again. Now, just to give us some first century understanding of when this was written, this was written on a scroll. Luke would have written this on a scroll. Most scrolls were no longer than 35 feet long. Why? Because if you roll that puppy up, it's going to be heavy.

You roll the thing together from both ends and you try and pick that up any longer than 35 feet, you aren't going to be able to carry it anywhere. And so they had to put just what was necessary on those scrolls. So as God's inspiring Luke to write this again, to put this down again, it's definitely for emphasis that we realize that God loves the Gentiles. God loves the unlovable.

God loves the unlovable. And when our hearts are surrendered to him, that love attitude is going to be evidenced through us. And that means God is going to place you in circumstances where you are continually around the unlovable. And thus in our sameness, we're fighting for this place of comfort and stability, and we're finally getting that job or that place in school or whatever that we've always wanted.

And what happens? God sticks somebody there that just is a thorn in your flesh and you get mad at him and you argue with him. Why'd you do that? Don't you know I've been fighting to get this and I get it finally and now I got this person to put up with. And God goes, I know, that's why I put you there. Why do you think you're where you are? Why do you think you have the unlovable people around you that you have?

Because God wants to love them through you and demonstrate his grace so that when they see you, they see the evidence of God's grace. And they won't be able to theologically tell you that or say back to you, God's riches at Christ's expense, but they'll be able to say, there's something in you that's different and I don't know what it is, but I want that. There's a peace that you have that I can't find and I want that. There's a love that you have that's beyond tolerance and I can't tolerate that far and I want that.

And that's God's grace. It's evident in a heart that's surrendered to the Lord and when our hearts are surrendered to him, that love attitude will be evident. Now when our hearts aren't surrendered to him, then God's grace won't be evident and what will be evident is the things of the world, which is a self-centeredness.

And so wherever you are, if there's that tinge of feeling in your heart about whoever that you're around, you're experiencing exactly what Jesus condemned in the Pharisaical part of the faith. Now if you're pierced with that, that's okay because we all need to be because we're all that way. We're in process. We're learning about God's grace. We're letting God's grace flow through us to a greater extent and thus experiencing

God's grace to a greater extent. And that's all wrapped up in that area of love, loving one another. Grace is really seen in Peter's statement here in verse 17 where Peter says, "...so if God gave them the same gift that he gave us," and he's referring to the Holy Spirit, "...then who was I to think that I could oppose him?" How could I oppose God? That's an evidence of Peter's a bigot and God is really in the process of breaking Peter down.

Just because Peter is an apostle, you know, doesn't mean he's got it all together. And we're going to find out he's got some still the bigoted Pharisaical ideas a little bit later on and Paul has to rebuke him for that. That's okay. He's in process. But for Peter to say, who was I to oppose God? That's a surrendered heart. Who am I to oppose you, Lord? As Finney said, grace is evident in the lives of those who see God in everything and yield

to him. He's not arguing with the Lord. That's what God wants to do. That's what God wants to do.

and you've got to get together with them after church today because it's Memorial Day.

Repentance unto life and you realize God's grace. You realize God's love and that's the love that he wants to love through you to other people. God loves... I love that song. It goes through my head. God loves people more than anything. More than anything he wants you to know that he loves you so because God loves people more than anything. And as he does that through you, his grace is evident.

And you can't seem to define it or put your hand on it, but you can feel it. You know it's there. And that's one of the things that Barnabas saw. And it wasn't exactly the way that they thought it would be, and that's most of the time how God works. Most of the time it's not going to be the way that you thought it was going to be. We talked about that before.

But praise God. That's not what I had in mind, but praise the Lord. Let me ask you this morning, does God have the freedom to do something different as he works in your life? Does he have the... By that I mean, are you giving him the freedom to say, yes Lord, you can do with me as you will? Does he have the freedom to do that even if, you know, in your own mind you're going, don't

send me to Africa, don't send me to the coast, don't send me to a big city, you know, don't give me warts, whatever. Does God have the freedom, though, to do something in your life that's different or move a different way in your life? Does he have the freedom to do that with you this morning? That's a heart that surrendered to him. If you see his hand in everything, then you can trust him.

See, it's all a matter of trust. You can take your hands off. Remember the first time, you parents, that your kid was learning how to ride a bike, and he went from, maybe it was just jump right from the trike to the bike. You went through the time of training wheels, and you go from that time then of taking the training wheels off, and you got them going, and you're kind of running along with them, and you let the wheels, you let go of the seat, and they're on their own.

You see, that's the attitude that I'm talking about this morning. This is your life. Do you trust God enough this morning to just take your hands off of it and say, Lord, whatever? See, that's a surrendered heart, and that's a heart through which grace is evident. Secondly, look at verse 19. Now, those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far

as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to the Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord, Jesus, and the Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Now, just as grace is evident in a heart that surrendered to the Lord, when a heart is surrendered

to where it bends over, and here's Egypt, the northern part of Egypt, and on over a little bit past the, I think it's the Nile that comes down through here, there's Cyrene. Cyrene is several hundred miles from Jerusalem, as is Cyprus, and they're both a tremendous distance from Antioch. But God moved the people from Cyprus, Barnabas was from Cyprus originally, had some land holdings there. Simon, who helped Jesus carry his cross, was a Cyrenian, was from Cyrene, and so as the gospel hit those two places, they ended up having a burden on their hearts to tell others about Jesus, and so they went to Antioch because they had a burden on their hearts that people know Jesus.

Now, how about us this morning? Are we riveted in our sameness, so that we don't want to get out of our sameness, out

But do you have a burden on your heart to tell others about Jesus? They had a burden on their hearts to tell others about the Lord, and they came to Antioch, and it says, they began to speak to the Greeks. Now we're reading that, or they began to speak to the Greeks. That's great. Well, let's put it in modern vernacular, and where you live. They began to speak to the heathen unbelievers.

If you're a laborer in a plant, and they began to speak to their foreman, they began to speak to management. Or if you're in management, they began to speak to the common laborers, to those in the mail room, or at the other end of the factory. Or how about this for some of you? They began to speak to the freshman, or to the sophomore, the heathen, the unbelievers,

God will always honor his word no matter who shares it, and no matter how they share it. So that should take a big burden off of your shoulders because the number one reason that people don't share their faith is they feel intimidated. I don't know enough, and I just know a few things, and I can't speak, I can't talk to

You have enough. I don't know many of you very well, but I know if you love the Lord, you have enough. You have God and his word, and that's all you need, and his grace will be evident in your heart when you have a burden to tell others about Jesus. Your heart's surrendered to him, and he puts you in that place where the unlovable are. The only thing that they really need is to know the Lord, and they'll know him as you

begin to minister to them, and you don't have to start quoting scriptures. Just begin to serve him. It'll drive them nuts. Begin to do kind and good things unto them. Minister to them. They just want to know, why are you doing that? Well, because I'm a Christian. What's that? Oh, God, help, you know? And he'll take it. He'll go. He'll run with it, and he'll always honor his word.

Look, in verse 11 and 12, the Lord's hand was with them, and the grace of God was with them. great number of people believed and turned to God. The guys from Cyprus and the guys from Cyrene didn't go to Jerusalem, you. They didn't go to Paul's school of theology. They just had the basic gospel and they ran with it. And God's hand was with them. That's all you need. God's hand was with them. And he honored his word. And a great number of

people believed and turned to the Lord. Third, look at verse 22. News of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. And when he arrived, he saw the evidence of the grace of God and he was glad. And he encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And a great number of people were

brought to the Lord. And then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. And so for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. And the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Third, first of all, grace is evident in a heart that's surrendered to the Lord. And

it will be evident through the love that God loves through you, through that surrendered heart. Secondly, grace is evident in a heart that has a burden to tell other people about Jesus. And thirdly, where there is an abundance of grace, listen to me on this one, where there's an abundance of grace, there will be an abundance of encouragement. Where there's an abundance

want to find people that I can complain with, that understand my complaints, and they criticize that person, or that thing, or that place. And that's from the pit of hell. God's grace, rather, fosters an attitude of encouragement, always. Where grace is, there's that encouragement. Rather than being quick to speak critically or to point out somebody's faults, one is quick to speak that

which is good unto edifying. One finds something that they can just begin to lift. And rather than pointing out all the faults all the time, you're not getting this right, you're not getting that right, you're not getting this right, you're not doing that right, you're doing this good. Let's keep that up. Let's follow that. Teaching skills are teaching that. That's how teachers teach.

That's how motivators motivate and inspire. It's not psychological. It's biblical. Now, how's that function at your house? How's that function this week in your life? Which side are you on? Which side weighs heavier this week? What has your mouth spoken? What attitude have you reflected the most this week? Have you been quick to be critical, quick to complain,

quick to condemn? Or have you been quick to seek that that builds, that speaks unto edifying? Hebrews 3.13, a verse that was used in our school musical, the musical was called Words, and this verse was emphasized. Hebrews 3.13 says, "...but encourage one another daily as long as it's called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Ephesians 4.29, "...do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, where grace is evident." That type of encouragement flows. Barnabas is a nickname we found out in chapter 4. His real name is Joseph. Remember

that? Barnabas is a nickname. It means son of encouragement. Why did they give him that? Because that's evidently how he was. Things would be real downer, and then Barnabas would walk in,

little things anymore. They didn't have any more habits. They didn't wear their hair too long or too short or whatever was proper or improper. They had it all together. They were spit and polished, cut and shorn Christians. No, but they had evidence of the grace of God. They weren't perfect, just forgiven. What did Barnabas do? He'd get up there and go, you can't eat that,

you can't dress like that, you can't go there, you can't do that, you can't do that, you just can't do that. He didn't do that. It says he encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. You hang with him, the stuff that's unnecessary will drop off. God seems to take care of that. Pastor Chuck Smith did that in the Jesus Movement with the early Calvary

Chapel, and they were witnessing on the beach, and the hippies started coming in right off the beach, and they came in with their bathing suits on and their bare feet, and they had sand still on their feet, walking in and sitting down on the floor, and some of the others came to Chuck and said, they can't do that, they're not dressed right, and the sand's going to chew up the carpet, and their suits are wet, and they're going to stain the carpet. And Chuck said, you're absolutely right, rip up the carpet. He didn't go to correct everything. That's God's job. You hang on the Lord,

and the Lord will trim everything off that doesn't need to be there. Point them to the Lord, encourage them to the Lord. You hang on to the Lord. If you have a heart that's surrendered to the Lord, and you want to tell others about Jesus and encouragement's flowing from you, God's grace is indeed sufficient to take care of the junk. And he went and he got Paul. We're

going to go ahead and change his name because it changes in the next couple of chapters. Anyhow, he went and got Paul from Tarsus so that he could bring Paul back and encourage these believers, teach the believers. And it says that the number of people brought to the faith in the Lord increased, even a greater number as a result of this, as a result of encouragement. Listen, discouragement entraps people. Discouragement snares people, but encouragement

frees them and releases them. How do your words, how does your attitude make people feel? How are they? Are they entrapped? Are they snared? Or are they released? Are they freed to follow after the Lord? Fourth and finally, quickly, we'll wrap it up. Verse 27, during this time, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over

the entire Roman world. This happened during the reign of Claudius. And the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. And this they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul or by Barnabas and Paul. Fourth, and some of you aren't going to like this, where there is grace evident, there will be

generous hearts. There will be hearts surrendered to the Lord, hearts with a burden to tell people about Jesus, hearts filled with encouragement, and hearts that are generous. Agabus comes, comes, it says, comes down from Jerusalem. That's because Jerusalem sits up on top of Mount Moriah, sits up on top of a mount, and they come down from Jerusalem to go anywhere. But they went up

north then to Antioch, and Agabus comes, he's a prophet we'll see later on in Acts as well, and he comes prophesying, telling about a coming famine, it says there, that would hit the entire Roman world. Well, where else is included in the entire Roman world other than Rome? Antioch is part of the Roman world. So where they're at, there's a famine coming. Now, knowing that,

that there's a famine coming to the entire Roman world, and Luke comments there that it happened, it's in parenthesis, it happened during the reign of Claudius, to show us that it was an actual event that actually transpired in history, historically recorded. Luke shows us that that was a prophecy confirmed, and evidently was already hitting Jerusalem. Agabus came from Jerusalem and evidently said that it's hitting there pretty hard, and it's going to hit the entire Roman world. Now, without God's grace evident, your attitude would be, me, myself, and mine, and I'm going to hoard food, and I'm going to get my gun, and I'm going to protect it, and I'm going to keep others out. But a heart filled with the grace of God says, what I have,

I give. Freely I receive, freely I give. And that's what they did. They're in the midst of the place where the famine is going to hit them as well, but it says that the disciples each, according to his own ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. Now, they gave of themselves, they gave of their finances to help with the famine. Now, you may say, well, now, wait a minute, you're always talking finances. Pastors are

always talking about finances. Well, if you've been here any length of time, you know that we only bring it up when it's in the Word. We don't just bring it up, you don't hear it otherwise, and it's there. They each decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. And you say, well, what about time and talents? It doesn't have to always be resources. Well,

it says in the next part of the verse, verse 30, this they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. Now, I don't know how they'd send time, or I don't know how they'd send talents by Barnabas and Saul. They sent resources. They sent money. We're always trying to weasel out of giving, don't we? We use the excuse the church is so hypocritical and they're

so all fired up on finances and giving that you never know where it's going to go anyhow, so I'm just not going to give. You realize, whatever happened to tithing? Somebody out there is going to sit there thinking it went out with the Old Testament. Hardly. You misunderstand then. Jesus said, I didn't come to do away with the law. I came to fulfill it. And now Paul tells

us that we should give, pressed down, shaken up, running over, joyfully, cheerfully, on and above the tithe. The tithe should be the lowest we give. We should give on and above it. You ever think about what that means to be shaken up, pressed down, running over? Well, see, we like to give. If you think about giving, think about giving dollar bills in a burlap bag. You stick dollar

bills in the burlap bag, you stick them in loose and so the bag's filled up to the top real quick and you give them. But now think about taking those same dollar bills, put them in the bag, pressing them down so you get more dollar bills in the bag, pressing them down so you get more dollar bills in the bag to where you can't press them down any farther and they're running over. That's what that scripture means. Not just giving something, sort of, kind of, it's giving

giving, the average percentage of your annual income. You know what the average was that was given last year to charitable organizations, including churches? 3.5% of annual income. That means some gave more than 3.5%, some 4%, some 5%, and some very few, maybe 10%, and some way out in the distance there on the other end of the spectrum, maybe more than 10%.

That also means there was a goodly number that gave less than 3.5%, some 2%, some 1%, a whole bunch out here that gave nothing. If God's grace is evident in your heart, it will be evident in your pocketbook. It will be evident in the area of your finances and you will want to give freely when you hear about need in certain places. Now you can't give to everything, everybody's got need. But you listen to the Lord and God's going to prompt your heart at times and

you're going to say, I don't know how I'm going to do it, Lord, but I'm going to help that missionary. I'm going to help this particular need that's been brought up. You don't have to tell anybody, just between you and the Lord. You're not going to ask 10 people to raise their hand and promise to give $100 in the next year or whatever. That's bogus. But a heart that's filled with God's

grace is a heart that's sensitive to the Lord and willing financially to reach out and minister and to help and be obedient to the Lord with that. The tithe is a proving of God. Prove me herewith, prove me with this. It's mine anyhow. You prove that it's mine by giving it back to me and then watch me bless. Donald Barnhouse wrote, The true calling of a Christian is not to do extraordinary

things, but to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. For the most trivial things can be accomplished in a noble, gentle, and regal spirit which overrides and puts aside all petty, paltry feelings and elevates all little things. It's not doing extraordinary things, brothers and sisters. It's doing just the ordinary in some extraordinary ways. It's loving the unlovable. It's burdened to tell others about Jesus. It's flowing forth with

encouragement and it's giving. That's all it is. It's more than that, but those are some basics that when those are happening, it's evident. I think that's what Barnabas saw when he came to Antioch. Father, help us.