LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLD’S MOST WICKED CITY WHEN THESE GUYS TURNED UP

 LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLD’S MOST WICKED CITY WHEN THESE GUYS TURNED UP

At our recent evangelism conference, Dr. Malcolm Gill, from the Sydney Anglican Cathedral, shared how the early Christians targeted the most vile, evil, cities in the world as places where the gospel needed to be taken. The three largest cities in the world during the time when the Church being birthed were: Rome, Alexandria (in Egypt), and Antioch. Of these three, Antioch was among the most vile, dangerous, evil, debauched cities at that time. It was a violent, promiscuous city where every imaginable form of sexual immorality was common. To make matters worse, Antioch was one of the world’s major slave trading centres. I wonder how many Christians today would choose to move to such a city in order to raise their families? Not many I suggest. But in the first century, several brave Christians moved to Antioch to share the gospel and what happened as a result literally changed the course of human history! And what they did should encourage us to see how God might use the gospel through us to transform our cities! 

¶ 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.
Acts 11:19

Dr. Gill explained in his conference session that in order to understand what happened to Antioch after the gospel arrived, it was necessary to understand what this ‘gospel’ was. To do this he unpacked Paul’s epistle to the Romans.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord
Romans 1:1-4

From the opening four verses of Romans Dr. Gill highlighted that this epistle was an explanation of the gospel. At the heart of the gospel is Jesus Christ. The gospel is not merely a collection of ideas or just a wonderful story; it is a miraculous and supernatural message that has been invested with divine power. This, Dr. Gill stated, made God “the Prime Evangelist”. It is a message that invokes the power of the Holy Spirit to transform spiritually dead people into new-life-infused believers. The proof of its divine power and spiritually transformative outworking was evidenced by the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ who was revealed to be the Lord. Paul goes on to describe how all people wilfully stand alienated and estranged from God in their rebellion to God’s will (Rom. 3:10; 23). Despite this enmity with God, God initiated a rescue plan to redeem every sinner (Rom. 5:10). God now offers forgiveness, spiritual cleansing, reconciliation, and divine adoption to all those who accept His gracious offer (Rom. 6:23). But only those who confess their sinfulness, seek and accept God’s offer of salvation, and confess that Christ is their Lord will enter into the blessing of the gospel (Rom. 10:9-10).

THE REDEMPTIFICATION OF ANTIOCH

After Dr. Gill described the historical background of the city of Antioch, he drew on the account in Acts 11 where it describes how the persecution of Christians increased which led to many believers “being scattered”. What Dr. Gill highlighted was that it was ‘some men’ who went to Antioch and shared with Jews and ‘Hellenists’.

¶ 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. 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.
Acts 11:19-20

‘Some of those who were scattered’ where just ordinary people. They were not apostles. They were not pastors. They were not Bible College trained. They were simply ordinary people who knew Jesus and obediently shared the gospel with others. As people accepted the gospel they turned to Christ and they too shared with their friends and family about Jesus. This was the result-

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
Acts 11:21

As these ordinary believers testified to the Antiochians, the Holy Spirit did what only the Holy Spirit can do and miraculously began to transform people. The Holy Spirit then oversaw the strengthening of the work in Antioch by sending one of the world’s most encouraging men – Barnabas – to establish these new believers into a church.

The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Acts 11:22

Barnabas may not have been an evangelist. We know from Acts 4:36 that Barnabas was actually his nickname. His name was Joseph. He was a Levite from Cyprus. He was the perfect choice to go to Antioch to encourage his unnamed fellow countrymen who had found success in their evangelism. Barnabas’s role in the transformation of Antioch was critical. God may not have equipped you to preach or minister as an evangelist, Dr. Gill pointed out, but He may have enabled you to strengthen those who do. Barnabas my not have felt like he was anyone special or that he was doing anything particular special, but as he encouraged the believers to continue in their outreach, he also encouraged those who had recently to the Lord. Note what happened as a result –

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, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
Acts 11:23-24

We see from Barnabas’s observation of what was happening in Antioch that it wasn’t because these unnamed believers were anything special or particularly gifted individuals. The reason these few ordinary believers had been able to lead so many Antiochians to Christ was “the grace of God” (Acts 11:23). It’s a fair assumption that when these believers arrived in Antioch and saw how dark and hard this city was that they turned their faces to the Lord in prayer and beseeched Him to turn the heart of the Antiochians to Christ. The fact that God did answer their prayers was an act of His grace. Based on James 4:2 (“You do not have, because you do not ask”) one biblical scholar has noted, “You have a far greater chance of having your prayers answered if you actually pray!”

 

THE TRANSFORMATION OF ANTIOCH BEGAN WITH EVANGELISM

Evangelism begins with prayer. Evangelism leads to discipleship – helping someone committed to learning about God and His Word and living it, Dr. Gill said. But Barnabas couldn’t do it all by himself. He needed help so he took a calculated risk –

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 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. 
Acts 11:25-26a

Despite the darkness, despite the spiritual hardness, despite the lack of fellow believers – the few Cyprian Christians who dared to tell someone about Jesus experienced the grace of God and saw hundreds of people, who were previously seemingly a million miles away from God, surrender to Christ and be utterly transformed. The result was that Antioch itself was transformed. So profound was the change in the spiritual climate of Antioch that it was in Antioch that followers of Christ first became known as Christians –

For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Acts 11:26b

Dr. Gill concluded his session at our Evangelism Conference by reminding us of two important truths drawn from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and the account of the church at Antioch being planted. Firstly, it is God who saves people! He is the “Prime Evangelist”. We can therefore trust God whenever we share with someone about Jesus. Secondly, God uses ordinary people – you don’t have to know all the words — you just have to know the Saviour!

As we read through Acts we realise just how special the church at Antioch must have been. It became the Apostle Paul’s home church. It became the first church to send out missionaries and, as a result, all of the churches addressed in the New Testament were planted! And it all start because some unnamed ordinary guys prayed and shared and saw God do what only God can do. Perhaps we can too! 

Pastor Andrew Corbett

Please leave your comments below.

CHRISTIANITY HAS NO ADJECTIVES

 CHRISTIANITY HAS NO ADJECTIVES

Followers of Christ were first called ‘Christians’ in Antioch – “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” (Acts 11:26). Antioch was a major city in northern Syria which was largely populated by slaves. (In fact, in the first century, the Roman Empire was comprised of 40% slaves!) Some time after the first-century, the famous preacher, John Chrysostom (known as “Golden Mouth”) described the rich people living in Antioch as owning between 1,000 to 2,000 slaves each! In a city of around 250,000 people (and some estimates claim that it had a population of 500,000), that meant that there were possibly as many as 200,000 slaves living in Antioch. These slaves became identified with the name of their owner and the suffix “ian”. (If I had owned a slave during this time by the name of Pericles, he might have been known as Pericles Corbettian.) Thus, the burgeoning Christian community in Antioch soon became identified as slaves of the Christ, which is why they were referred to as Christians. The Apostle Peter would also choose this word to describe why followers of Christ who suffer for the sake of Christ should also regard them as slaves of Christ when he wrote – 

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
First Peter 4:16

 

THE EARLIEST DEFINITION OF A ‘CHRISTIAN’

The early Christians needed no adjectives (describing words) in addition to their description as – Christian (‘a slave of Christ’). But over time, as the spread of Christianity grew around the known world, Christians began to designate themselves by their different perspectives. The first of these was the schism between east and west (AD 1054). Christians to the east (based in Constantinople) adopted the designation, Orthodox, and the Christians to the west (based in Rome) adopted the designation Catholic. Both classifications of Christians continued to subscribe to the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds which affirmed the Triune God, the incarnation and virgin-birth of Christ, the atoning death/resurrection/ascension of Christ, and His role as the judge of mankind at the end of time. They both affirmed the divine inspiration of the Scriptures resulting in the formation of the ‘Canon’ (the Bible’s 66 books which is the uniquely authoritative written Word of God revealing God’s plan of redemption culminating Christ’s substitutionary death for all those who put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Saviour). About 500 years after this schism, another designation of Christians arose when Martin Luther raised 95 ‘theses’ (protests) to what had become Roman Catholic teaching which he considered to be either directly or indirectly condemned by the Scriptures. This led to another designation – Protestant. But, again these Protestants also affirmed the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds which affirm most of the core beliefs of a Christian. Therefore, while these designations arose, there was still general agreement that a Christian was a devoted follower of Christ (a ‘slave’ or ‘servant’ of Christ) who believed in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

THE NICENE CREED

WE BELIEVE in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before
all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation,
came down from heaven, and, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made
man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third
day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right
hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose
kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the
Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who
spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge
one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of
the world to come. Amen.

This surrender to Christ’s Lordship was publicly demonstrated by being water baptised as one of the first steps of obedience to Christ who commanded that His followers be baptised (Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 6:1-4). Tom Holland, in his book, Dominion – The Making of the Western World, points out that as Christianity grew it became a cultural-political identity rather than a personal commitment to Christ and His community of the faithful. This gave rise to term Christendom. Thus, if one lived in Christendom he or she would consider themselves “a Christian” even though their allegiance was not primarily to Christ, but to a church official. This distortion of Christianity largely succeeded because 95% of the general population was illiterate (Hedlun 2017, 46). This meant that they were unable to verify or confirm what their church leaders were telling them about what it meant to be a genuine Christian. But from the 15th century this began to dramatically change when the moveable type printing press was developed and the Bible became available in the language of the common people who were increasing able to be taught how to read. However, not everyone accepted what the Bible taught about how to become a Christian. And as the rise of printing increasingly led to the spread of critical ideas about what the Church had claimed the Bible taught (such as Galileo and Copernicus challenging the Church’s claim that the earth was the centre of the universe) criticism was focused on the Bible’s supernatural claims and therefore the claim that the Bible was the divinely inspired word of God.

 

THE INVENTION OF ADJECTIVISED CHRISTIANITY

In the Enlightenment period of the 1800s, theologians (especially German theologians such as Rudolf Bultmann) taught that the Bible was not divinely inspired and that the miracles of Christ were actually ‘myths’ later added to the text of the New Testament. These theologians wanted ‘liberate’ (free up) the bible from its ‘myths’ which is why they became known as ‘liberals’. They denied Christ’s virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, and His resurrection. They also denied that there was an actual Adam and Eve and therefore any such thing as the ‘fall of man’ into sin. While not denying the existence of God, these liberals viewed Christ as merely an example of a good man whose mission was to care for the poor and marginalised. They therefore regarded Christianity as continuing that tradition rather than being about evangelism (calling sinners to repentance and acceptance of Christ as their Saviour from sin) and discipleship (guiding these followers of Christ into Spirit led and enabled obedience to God’s Word). They even distinguished themselves from Christians by adding the adjective ‘liberal’ to the term ‘Christian’ and thus manufactured the term- ‘liberal Christians’.

Eventually, liberal-Christians infiltrated many once great Christian denominations and rose to senior leadership roles (such as bishops, moderators, presidents) within them and then hijacked their classical Christian view of the Bible, God, Jesus, salvation, sex, life and death. These various denominations have been in a steady decline since this began. The pastor of New Life (the largest Uniting Church in Australia) Pastor Stuart Cameron (a Uniting Church minister, pictured left) publicly lamented about the now largely liberal Uniting Church that there were now “more staff working for the Uniting Church than there are congregants attending Sunday services!”

Because the term Christian had become adjectivised with the adjective liberal many classical Christians have felt the need to respond with counter adjectivised term evangelical Christian (one who believes in the Bible, the Nicene Creed, the fallenness of mankind, the need for a Saviour, and that Jesus of Nazareth is that one and only Saviour to whom all people must surrender in faith in order to be saved). But I suggest that we should resist adjectivised Christian labels and continue to uphold the true definition of the precious word, Christian.

 

BE CAREFUL ABOUT THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIAN BUT USE AN ADJECTIVE WHICH SHOWS THEY ARE NOT

Jesus actually gave a warning to His followers about those who claimed to be His followers, but didn’t obey Him –

And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:23

And – 

¶ He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the tares (weeds) appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Matthew 13:24-31

A picture of wheat and tares courtesy of Nazareth Village – www.nazarethvillage.com The wheat head is on the left.

The parable of the wheat and tares is clever. To the untrained eye, wheat and tares look remarkably similar. One of the differences, I’m told, is that when they reach maturity the head of wheat ‘bows’ while the head of the tare remains upright. But the biggest difference between them is that only one of them can be milled into flour and thereby provide sustenance. “Tares look like wheat as they are growing but it is a poisonous weed not fit for eating. Tares are also known as Lolium temulentum or bearded darnel, a species of rye-grass. To eat tares would make you feel intoxicated, giddy and sick. You would have vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhoea. It is not until the seeds appear near harvest time you can clearly see the difference between wheat and tares. The seeds of wheat turn golden brown while the seeds of the tares turn black” (from www.Nazarethvillage.com).

A true Christian is one who has the implanted seed of the word of God in their soul which produces faith in Christ to turn away from a lifestyle of idolatry (worship of self or anything other than God). This moment of conversion is a deeply spiritual transformation that reshapes a person’s heart, mind, and inclinations. It is celebrated in their act of obedience to be publicly baptised in water as a visible declaration of their invisible transformation. Their new commitment to Christ is like one of a servant to a master and brings them into a community of fellow believers as “fictive kin” — or, family whereby they now relate to their fellow Christians as brothers and sisters (Hedlun 2017, 49). 

 

HOW A FORMER ZOEGIRL GOT LURED INTO ‘PROGRESSIVE’ CHRISTIANITY

Alisa Childers was recently interviewed by the Colson Center. They write, “As a young woman, Alisa Childers was an award-winning Christian recording artist, a faithful churchgoer, a student of the Bible, and someone who practiced her faith daily. After a pastor began teaching progressivism, she found herself navigating new doubts and confusions, eventually undergoing a major re-evaluation of her worldview. According to Childers, this became a “journey from unreasoned doubt into a vibrant, rational, and informed faith.” In Another Gospel, Childers tells her story with wit, insight, and solid theological teaching…While Alisa uses her own story as a framework, Another Gospel is more than just a personal story of her doubts and return to orthodoxy. This book offers a thorough expose and dismantling of progressive Christianity, with a sound and orthodox defense of essential Christian doctrines. Like others before her, Childers argues that Christianity without orthodoxy ceases to be Christianity. What progressive Christianity preaches is, in fact, another gospel, one that is culturally palatable but ultimately without substance and without hope. I think you’ll enjoy and benefit from Childers’ insights.” You can watch a bit of her story below –

Progressive Christians reject most of what classic Christianity has always been. They regard the God of the Bible as harsh and judgmental. They claim that Jesus revealed God to be a God of love who wants all people to make love their highest goal. But their definition of love is starkly different to what Jesus or the apostles described. Their concept of love is whatever makes a person happy. In essence, rather than making God of love their God, they have made their love their God (even if it means disobeying what Christ taught). In considering this adjectivised attempt to redefine Christianity, I have penned this pithy memes. Enjoy:

Progressive Christians are deeply concerned with pleasing people and making them happy. Christians on the other hand are deeply concerned with honouring Christ and bringing Him joy. This should be a sombre reminder to any Christian who rises to a position where popularity is important (such as political leadership). Christians have an audience of One. It was Christ Himself who demonstrated the greatest example of this kind of leadership which sharply contrasted with the people-pleasing leadership of Pilate who condemned Him and gave the people what they wanted. When you’re a Christian politician, your allegiance to Christ will always result in the best welfare of all people and promote what Christ promotes.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10 

Christianity that is supernaturally generated in the heart of a sinner that causes them to be born-again, Spirit-filled, Word-informed, and Christ-transformed, needs no adjective and no larger audience than an Audience of One. 

 

Your pastor,

Andrew

DANIEL, ANTIOCH, AND THEIR COMMON GREATNESS

Recently our Prime Minister reinstated imperial honours. People who are Knighted or Damed in Australia are now receiving the highest accolades that Australia offers. The world awards many prestigious honours, but none of them can compare with highest earthly honour: to have the Bible list you as one of the greatest people to have ever lived! And only three people have ever attained to this most prestigious honour.

What qualifies a person for the Biblical honour of "greatness"? And why haev so few people attained it? Since Biblical greatness is no longer attainable, does the Bible give principles for attaining regular greatness?

The Bible ranks Daniel as one of the three greatest men to have ever lived.

Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 14:14

What made Daniel great?

you are indeed wiser than Daniel;
no secret is hidden from you;"
Ezekiel 28:3

Daniel was taken from his home and family while a teen. As Judah's invaders, the Babylonians, first stormed Jerusalem, they looked for, and took, the brightest and the best to serve the King of Babylon. Daniel was selected. As a boy he was different. He had a keen sense of God. When parents taught him how to read, he listened attentively because this would enable him to know more about God through reading the Scriptures. From a young age, Daniel became a reader - in an age when most boys his age just wanted play games and fool around and didn't want to read. Daniel's parents showed their son that the Scriptures should be read often, privately, publicly, aloud, reflectively and especially prayerfully. Later, at an age into his eighties, the once boy Daniel maintained this habit and was able to prayerfully deliver his countrymen from their captivity in Babylon (cf. Dan. 9).

¶ As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Daniel 1:17

Daniel's prayerful reading of Scripture as a teenager opened him up to supernatural experiences with God. Not only was Daniel well read on matters of science, philosophy, and politics (as we note in Daniel chapters 1 and 2), he was firstly a reader of Scripture. But he quickly became Scripturally spiritual as well. That is, as he prayed to God in response to the Scriptures he was reading his spiritual discernment (his spiritual "ears") became sharper. Thus, we read of him hearing from God in extraordinary ways and able to prophesy God's Word with startling accuracy. What makes this all the more remarkable is that Daniel did this with little to no support - and in fact, often had to maintain such high spiritual disciplines in the midst of hostile opposition.

Few of us will ever face the opposition that Daniel had to face in his lifetime. He had an entire government adminstration passing legislation directed at indicting him with criminality (remember the 'Lions Den'?). Yet he maintained his happy devotion to God through Scripture reading and prayer! Daniel was horribly and repeatedly slandered. Most people who commit their lives to love and serve God will discover (initially to their surprise) that they will have others spread slanderous untruths spread about them. The Enemy often knows where we are vulnerable to hurt. Accuse a Bible teacher of lacking mercy and he will be put out - but accuse of being 'false' and 'lying' and you will be putting a virtual dagger into his heart. Accuse a pastor of being disorganised and he might be upset (he might even agree with you) but accuse him of not 'caring' or providing 'pastoral care' and you'll wound him deeply. Daniel was accused of disloyalty, treachery, and virtual witchcraft - you can begin to imagine how he must have felt in the midst of this slander (at least he could put faces to his slanderers. Today with the internet, slanderers can be 'faceless' - even on the ironically called: Facebook.)

Daniel displayed the traits of greatness from the earliest age. A simple trust in God. An undivided devotion to God. A commitment to be a daily reader of Sripture. A person of prayer. But many people start well. What sealed Daniel's greatness is that he finished well. As an old man he had a simple trust in God, an undivided devotion to God and a commitment to daily Scripture reading and prayer.

Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
Daniel 6:3

Added to this was Daniel's grand vision of what worship was. He saw not only these spiritual disciplines as worship. He saw his diet, his work, and his leisure as expressions of his worship. Thus, he strove for 'excellence' in everything he did, not to be merely 'professional', but to worship God.

¶ But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.Daniel 1:8

Where are the Daniels today? If you are a 'Daniel', we need you.

What lessons can we learn from Daniel? I personally find Daniel one of the most inspirational people the world has ever hosted. He is listed alongside Noah and Job as among the greatest men to have ever lived and rightfully so. The principles which governed his life and qualified him for greatness are still the same today. But I also wonder whether they are translatable to an entire church - a congregation of local believers? As I pondered this great question I was led to reflect on the church at Antioch. If ever a church exhibited the qualities that Daniel did, it was Antioch! In the church at Antioch we observe greatness. I'm sure if you ponder why the church at Antioch is honoured in the Book of Acts as the greatest local church in its day, you'll soon see that it is possible to reproduce it today. Surely Antioch was a "Daniel" type church and equally as surely we need more Daniels and more Antiochs today - for greatness' sake!

¶ Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
Acts 13:1

Ps. Andrew