Called Christians | Tyrone P. Jones | Book of Acts

Some of you might know the genesis of penicillin. It was a Scottish scientist who was actually working at a lab in London and he noticed something about some mold and some bacteria. He noticed that there was a particular mold that was keeping bacteria from growing. So he'd done more research on it and found some consistencies he shared it with other scientists. They'd done some stuff and found some consistencies and it was through that what we now have as penicillin was born. That was the genesis of it. At first it was just used among the Brits there in Britain. And then during the Second World War in 1944 because of what was, because of the battles, the wars, they started using our military people and we're still getting the same positive results. And from there what we now know as penicillin of course has went worldwide. But you know I thought as I was preparing this message what if they would have just made a decision which initially is what they were doing. That we just, this is something we've discovered we just want to use it for Brits or we'll just use it on military people. That would have been a tragic for the whole world to not experience something that has proven to be good for all of us. And this is what I know and I hope you agree when you have something that can save a life you don't want to keep that to yourself. When you got something that can save a life you don't keep that to yourself. The early church was kind of falling into that trap. They had the message of the gospel which proves to be life saving and they were getting very, very comfortable there in Jerusalem. And so it took some persecution for them to go beyond efforts. Well they just had the belief that you know God initially spoke to the Jews. He's the one that introduced himself to us. He gave us his covenants. He gave us the law. He gave us the word. It's through the Jews that the Messiah came who was Christ. Jesus was born in Jerusalem. Raised the Jew. And the disciples were, initial disciples was from Jerusalem. And so they just kind of first disciples were Jewish. So they just kind of had this mindset that this was a Jewish thing. But things started happening when persecution came which kind of fulfilled what the Lord was saying in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 when he said you're to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. By the time we get to chapter 11 they're doing some stuff in Samaria. But remember Samaria was primarily Jewish people anyway. They had just went into a lot of idolatry. And so when they have these enemies come against them they had to start scattering. They had

to start leaving Jerusalem. And they end up, some of them end up in this place called Antioch. And when they get to Antioch, Antioch something remarkable happens. They just start sharing their faith with people who are non-Jewish Jewish people. And those people start, they start seeing their lives transformed. Start seeing their lives changed. So much so that it was among those people in Antioch that they were first called Christians. First called Christians because they had to scatter from Jerusalem. Go to a place where they were people were not like them. Start sharing the gospel and lives get changed. I want you to stand with me. Take your Bible. If you don't mind standing let's go to Acts chapter 11. And we're going to read verses 19 through 26. Acts chapter 11 verse 19 through 26. If you have it will you say amen. Amen. Here's the word of the Lord. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch. And speaking the word to no one except Jews. So even when they first got there they just were just used to their own so they were sharing the word with them. But there were some of the men of Cyprus and Cyrene who oncoming Antioch spoke to the Hell in this way also preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number who believed turned out turned to the Lord. 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 the faith. A great many people were added to the Lord, so Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he had found them, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, they met with the church and taught great many people. And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians. Can you say, "Man," to the word, "You may be seated." This is what we know is that people everywhere have a problem that needs to be solved. We know that. We all have hit that spot where we've got a problem in our life that needs to be solved. And we know what the answer to that is. You can say the answer is a person, that person is Jesus, but we certainly know the answer to that problem that each of us hit that place, that spot in our life that needs solving.

We know that it's the Word of God, it's the gospel. There's a great progression through here that pushes the people of God from Jerusalem to be coming or outreaching so that they could take that message to other places. In Acts 1, as I noted, verse number 8, he said to go and be my witnesses, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, other parts of the earth. In Acts 8, when persecution became stronger after the death of Stephen, then they moved down to Samaria. And now we see in Acts 11, where they've now went to Antioch. Antioch is 300 miles north of Jerusalem. And it's not in Israel, it's actually in Syria. Now Antioch actually is the Turkish city, atelia, I think it's called, but it's in Turkey. But it's 300 miles outside. This is the first time that they're going outside of Israel for the gospel to be preached. But it wouldn't have happened, certainly not at this pace, if they wouldn't experience the persecution, if they wouldn't have had some pressure. One of the things unknown in life is pressure often produces purpose. There's things that we go through that we don't like, things that we go through that are tough, things that bring us to some pressure points in life. And if we don't get there, some of us will never begin to do the thing that God has purpose for our life. We can become very comfortable doing what we're doing. We can become very settled in our life. We can actually carve up a life that we like. And how many people know, if you had to write your own script of life and then present it before God, he'll take that thing in front of you and say phew, tear it right up. Because your script is not God's script. What you think is best for your life is not always what God thinks, is best. Pressure oftentimes produces purpose. These believers did not leave Jerusalem just because they wanted another place to stay. They just wanted to live in another city.

They weren't looking for a mission field. They had to do this because of safety. They traveled these miles because they needed to be away from a place where they were being killed and persecuted for their faith. And I want you to think about that for a moment. Sometimes it's some of the things that looks like a setback in life are the very things that God is trying to use to get you to where you want to be. Sometimes God uses that pressure to stir us and move us and direct us in the right place. You know how diamonds are brought about with carbon under pressure and heat. There's enough of that, pressure and heat that goes on for a number of years. And what comes out of that is things that most of us love and desire are diamonds. But it's the pressure that does that. It's the heat that does that. It's following the plan and purposes of God, not necessarily by choice. And I'm telling you, God has time and time again in all of our lives, circumstances that we would not have chosen is where God has fulfilled His purposes. Some of you would have never started your own business if you wouldn't have lost your job. You'd have stayed in the job that you had. You would have never started your own business. Some of you would have never married the person that you married that you love if you didn't go through that breakup. You'd have stayed comfortable in that relationship that you had. And what you thought was devastating has proved to be the best thing that Am I talking to the right church? One of the seeds that was part of me, even starting CTC, is when my grandfather passed. The pain and the agony of that that caused me to go before the Lord to hear what was the next best thing. I loved the church I was in on the north end of town.

My grandfather built that church with his blood, sweat, and tears. I'd have been there all my life. But when he died, God used that to stir me up, to start hearing what it is that he wants next. Are you following me? And so oftentimes it's those circumstances that we don't like, those things that are tough, those things that are hard. And I'm not minimizing that they are hard and tough. Nobody goes through tough things and sits up there and says, oh, this is feeling great, no. Matter of fact, you can be real honest. There's times in my prayer, I told God this things. I'm just gonna be straight up honest, God. I don't like none of this. And I know you say you're a good God and I believe you're a good God, but you ain't being so good right now. This thing's so good right now. But it's those kind of situations and moments that the Lord has got you to the purpose that he wants you to be, the place that he wants you to be, the situation that he wants you to be in. It's those kind of things that God has done. Now, what's remarkable about the folks here in Jerusalem, when they went to Antioch, what they actually did was begin to preach the gospel. Now, I say that Antioch was a major city. It would be like the Chicago of the US.

It was the third largest city in the Roman Empire. You had Rome, you had Alexandria, which is in Egypt, and then you had Antioch. Third largest, so it was a port city. I could tell you so many things about Antioch in the sense of the beauty, how it was designed. It was a well-planned city on how it was built. It was designed to draw people from all directions who just wanted to be in Antioch because of the port, because of the wealth, because of the businesses that was there, the beaches, the shores, just being in a place where you can enjoy life. At the same time, though, just like any other big city, everything that you shouldn't be doing was available in Antioch. So, of course, it was drawing people from all walks of life, and they were doing all kinds of things in life. It was very cultural, also very religious, but not all religion is good, as you know. They had a temple for Daphne, which was a sex temple, all kinds of corruption, just things that you would expect in any kind of city. Well, the Christians from Jerusalem that get there, now mind you, they're in a place that they don't want to be, but yet they determine the best thing for us to do since we're here in this city is to be who we are. And because we are Christians, then the best thing for us to do is to tell people about our Christian faith.

Are you following me? Since they're there. Now, that shouldn't be a novel thought, right? Because all of us know that no matter what you do, you're Christian first. No matter what you do, you're Christian first. Whether you're an attorney, you're Christian first. If you're a doctor, Christian first. If you're a plumber, Christian first. Elect Christian, Christian first. If you're a teacher, Christian first. If you're a coach, Christian first. So that no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, besides people seeing what you're given to do for whatever provision in this life, you also reflect who you are. So wherever I am, I'm not just telling people how great of a electrician I am. I'm also telling people how great my God is. Because we're Christian first. That's what they did. They went there and just started telling people about Jesus. And the scripture says because they did that, people's lives start getting transformed. Why? Because the gospel is the only thing that can convert people's life. That's the only thing that can change people's life. And the scripture, it's Romans chapter one, verse 16,

it says this, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek." It's the power of God. The power of God. The only thing that can transform a person is preaching the gospel. Now ask Christians, we all to love. But I want you to catch this. And I've heard Christians say this, you know, hey, is your brother a believer? Well, no, but I'm just showing him a love so he'll come to Jesus. You can show people love all you want to, but showing love don't change the heart. The only thing that transforms is the gospel. Of course we show love. You don't want to be a person that people don't want to be around. But so you want to be a gaver, you want people to be around you, but you want to be around folks and people around you so you can also be a feeder. And the best thing that we can feed people is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. People's lives being converted, people's lives being transformed. And it's the gospel that does that. And that transformation, folks, that transformation that takes place in people's life is not just an intellectual change. That's not enough. It's not enough. Conversion is not just them having a belief that there is a God or understanding some dogma

or getting past some emotional feeling. It's life altering, becoming a Christian, being converted as life altering. And that should be our hope, that should be our mission, Spurgeon says this. He said, "The church's objective is not merely to moralize, educate, or entertain society, but to see people completely transform in their relationship to God." That's our aim. If you don't have a mission statement, there is one right there. You ought to want your mission to be to see other people who are far from God, find life in Christ, to see people's lives transformed, to see people truly converted. And the gospel does that. The gospel does it. Now, can I just -- I don't want to call this fussing, but I just -- can I just challenge you for just a moment on something. Whenever we see people on this screen who have given their life to Jesus Christ and get water bath ties, can I tell you something? That testimony is more worthy of a little old golf clap. That's somebody's life being changed. That's somebody's life being transformed. And do you know how much courage it takes in front of folks to tell them what your life was like? I don't know none of these testimonies until I hear them. And I've heard some of them. They're like, oh, Lord, man, it's causing me to cringe. Thank God, we're going to finish this testimony as a security team got to escort them right out of here. But they got the courage to share what their life was like and how Jesus came into their life and what their life is like now. That is worthy of celebration. And I'm telling you, that is so encouraging and it's so right. And it's not hard.

You take your right hand, you take your left hand, and you do this. Hello. I'm going to keep doing this to you all. I'm looking at you, Gina, star clapping. That is worthy of celebration. It's somebody's life being transformed. Now, it's the power of God that does this. It's the hand of the Lord. Verse 21 says, it was the hand of the Lord that did it. Now, hand here is an anthropomorphic term. It's a human term to describe an expression of God. And basically, the word here is power. Whenever we see the word "hand" in the Scripture, it's just telling us the power of the Lord. It's by God's power that people's life has changed. It's also by God's power that God works in us to be a vessel of people's life being changed. It's the hand of the Lord that works. As a matter of fact, in New Living, which I think I have quoted here, it says, the power of the Lord was with them. And a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. The power of the Lord that does this by proclaiming the gospel message. Now, these folks that went to Antioch, they started sharing their faith, and such a revival broke out. So many people was getting saved. That Jerusalem, which was still a headquarters, now mind you, they've seen some progression. People in Jerusalem being saved, people in Samaria, even a God-fear Cornelius as we looked at in chapter 10. But remember, all of that is still going on in Israel. Now they're hearing about people getting saved in another country in Syria. So Jerusalem wanted to find out, okay, find out if these people really are coming to Christ. Has it really been real conversion?

Has it really been light-chained? So they send Barnabas down there. That's in verse number 22. They send Barnabas down to Antioch. And the Scripture says this about Barnabas, that he was a good man. He was full of the Holy Spirit. He was strong in faith. I'm gonna speak about Barnabas, so I won't say too much about him now. But he was a perfect fit because he came from Cyprus, which is where a lot of these Greeks and Hellenas came from. So he was familiar with them. But also he was very much a part of the folks from Jerusalem. He had been identified in the scriptures earlier in the book of Acts as being part of the family there in Jerusalem. So he was kind of a bridge builder. He could be one that could go down and see what was happening and speak their language. And at the same time represent Jerusalem well and the gospel. He goes down there and he encourages the people to cleave to the Lord. He sees what's happening. He's joyful about what's happening. Here's some other folks that's not like us, that's coming to Jesus Christ. And he encourages them to cleave to the Lord, to stay true to God, to hold on to your faith, keep going in the right direction, to love the Lord wholeheartedly. That was having such an effect

that people were given their life to the Lord. The scripture says added, the Lord was adding to the church daily. So much so that they were being noted among the community. That's why verse number 26 says, this is the first time that the believers were called Christians. Because they had to get a name for them. It was so many of them doing so many things that they thought, my goodness, who are these folks? So they called them Christian, Christ of course, meaning being people of Christ and IAN means belonging to the party of. So what they were saying is these folks belong to the party of Jesus, the party of Jesus. These folks belong to Jesus. Now, here's the concern I have about this. Nowadays, unfortunately, the Christian name, the word Christian has just lost so much significance. It really has. Now, people say that they're Christian just because they were born in a home that had a Bible on the coffee table. And they say they're Christian. Or because they're American, they're Christian. Or because they have to check off something that says what religion are you, you're Christian. Sometimes people say they're Christian just because they go to church. But folks, let me tell you something. Christians are defined in the Scripture on who truly is a Christian.

And that's people who have absolutely turned from sin, who've trusted Jesus Christ and received salvation by grace. It's not just something you name yourself. There's a change that's taken place in your life. There's an identity that's changed. There's a conversion. And many of us do not mind taking on Jesus as Savior. We want to be saved. Even if we don't really understand a whole lot about God, going to hell just don't sound good. So we'll choose the alternative. Well, what's the alternative? Well, just believe there's a God. Or just believe that Jesus died on the cross. Lordship is our issue. Lordship of our issue. And I'm telling you this, before you came to Jesus-- and for some, it may still be the issue-- but before you came to Jesus, I can tell you right now. I don't know how many of you are in here, but I can tell every one of you right now without question, without doubt, what your number one sin was before you gave your life to Jesus. You ready for it? Pride. All sin comes from pride. Because pride says it's my life. It's about me. I do what I want to do. The way I want to do it, that's who I am,

and I'm going to be me. When you give your life to Jesus, that should be broken. And the only way that can be broken is if you make not just Jesus your Savior, but if you make Jesus your Lord. There is no such thing to me as salvation without lordship. No such thing. No such thing. When I give my life to Jesus, I'm turning from a life of sin, and I'm recognizing that Jesus is Lord and Savior. If he's Lord, that means my life belongs to him. It don't belong to me. It don't belong to me. Christian, the name Christian, has just lost a lot of what's true, because we've messed it up. instead of being who God. We're just letting anything that just says, yeah, I believe in Jesus, be Christian. Now, don't get me wrong. We got a culture now that if some words are twisted and have a different meaning, people decide not to use them no more. No, not me. I'm still a Christian. Folks didn't messed up the name, but I'm still a Christian. Some black folks didn't messed up being black, but I'm still black. I'm still black, and I don't know why y'all Mexicans

laughing, y'all didn't messed up stuff too, but I'm just saying, you are still who you are. And so I'm still a Christian, but let's be Christians. Let's be who God called us to be. Let the power of conversion of what Christ has done by the Holy Spirit truly transform our life. And let's truly surrender our life to Jesus and let him be Lord of our life. Am I talking to the right church? Let him be Lord. Let him be Lord. What they saw in that community, I'll give you these three things real quick. What they saw is what caused them to call them Christians. Number one is they had a care for the people in their city. They had a care for the people in their city. This is a marvelous thing. They cared for the people in their city. How do we know that they cared for them because they came and shared with them the best message they could possibly give them? And they embraced the city. Not that they wanted to be there. Mind you, these folks left because of persecution. And you can kind of imagine the trauma of that. Just think. I mean, I don't know if any of you ever been in a case where you had to evacuate your home because of a fire.

First of all, you can just think about the trauma of that. But the second thing is you don't even know if you'll ever walk into that house again. You gotta go through the process. What do I take? Do I take the pictures or do I take the computer? Do I take the pickup or do I, you know, because you don't know if you'll ever go into it. Nobody leaves that situation hopping and skipping along with joy. Nobody does that. These folks down in the south that's gotta leave their place because of a flood or a hurricane. That's traumatic. So when you get to a place, of course, a lot of folks wanna be just like the children of Israel in Babylon when they had to leave because of the exile when Nebuchadnezzar came in killing folks and they went over to Babylon to I, which is our modern day, Iraq. When they got there, they stopped singing songs, they stopped reading the scriptures, their life they felt like was in the dumps. The Babylonians came to them and says, you folks are Hebrews, why don't you sing? Why don't you do the things you do? And you know what they said? Man, this ain't the kind of life we want. We don't wanna be here.

Well, the Lord came to him in Jeremiah 29, 7, and he says, listen, this is where I sent you. I think this will be on the screen. There you go. Pursue the well-being of this city that I have deported you to. I don't wanna shake you up. We're on the border. Deportation don't sound good. I'll leave that right there. This is where I've deported you to. What he goes on to say, pray to the Lord on this behalf for when it thrives, you will thrive. Why? He said, love the place that you are. I know you don't wanna be there, but just love it. And how do you love it? Being who God created you to be. So they go there and they share the gospel, even though they didn't wanna be there. But they wanted to love this city. It's one of the foundations of what we do here. We love our city, it's not just a slogan. It is who we are. We love our city. We love the people in Umarizona. I love the politicians of Umarizona. I love the firemen of Umarizona. I love the marines of Umarizona.

I love the teachers of Umarizona. I love the people in my city. And the best thing I can do for the people in my city is live my faith out loud and tell them about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Christians love their city and they care for the people in their city. Here's the second thing. Christians are willing servants. And team, you can come. Christians are willing servants. I'm hearing in my ear that the raiders are losing badly. Okay, Christians are willing servants. Notice what Barnabas, who said that? I'm about ready to throw you out. Notice Barnabas, when he goes down and checks on things, he realizes, man, listen, I'm gonna need some help here. So he goes to find Saul. Remember, we read about Saul in chapter nine who becomes Paul. This is about 10 years away, by the way. This is about 10 years away from chapter nine to chapter 11. But he goes to him, even though he has his life in Tarsus, and he says, man, I need help down in Antioch. People are coming to Jesus Christ. Saul willingly left, stayed one year in Antioch to teach the people about Jesus, making disciples. As Christians, we're willing servants. We wanna help the community of faith.

We wanna serve, we wanna volunteer. There's so many scriptures that tells us about every one of us have gifts. And those gifts are used for the community, for the good of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're used for us. I'm so grateful for CTC to operate, folks. It's over 400 volunteers that serve here every week to make things happen. Willing servant, yeah, that's worth your celebration. Over 400 volunteers that give themselves on a daily and weekly basis. But that's what we do as Christians. We have gifts that God has given us, and he's given those gifts. There is not one gift that God has given you that God has says, hey man, I'm gonna give you this gift, but you go ahead and do that with that one, whatever you want. Every one of the gifts that God has given us, whether it be teaching, whether it be generosity, whether it be faith, whether it be administration. Every one of those gifts, God has given those gifts to us for the community, for the good of the body of Christ, that we may serve the body of Christ. And I'm thankful, some of you in some of your vocations, not only do you do what you do, and you do well, but you also have used those gifts to help the church, and help the body of Christ in the areas that we need help. That's what Christians do.

We're willing servants. And am I, y'all doing all right? I got one more for you, and we'll wrap this Christians encourage other believers. They saw these folks down there in that community. They saw how they were loving people in Antioch that wasn't like them. They saw them just being willing servants, but they all saw that they were encouraging others. When Barnabas got down there, I think I shared with you that he celebrated what was happening, but he also encouraged them. And that's one of the things that we need to do for one another. First Thessalonians 5, 11 says, "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up." I pray as a Christian, as a believer, that you have more good days than bad days. I pray that you do, but how many know is true? You're gonna have some bad days. And it's a wonderful thing for someone to just come alongside you, or someone to, you receive a note in the mail, or a text. I told Second Service, I think, and this is no exaggeration. I probably get 70, 75 texts a day. Yeah, that's, it ain't a laughing matter to me, but anyway, but I get it. But I tell you the ones that mean the most to me. Pastor, I don't want anything.

I'm just saying hello, I'm praying for you. I hope you're having a good day. Those encouragement, we all need that. Yesterday, I had a wedding, the wedding was in the evening. And as you know, it was raining. And so before I left to the wedding, I knew, as an outdoor wedding, I knew this was gonna be a challenge. And so I figured when I get there, we're probably gonna have to figure out how we're gonna do this with the rain and the wind and all of that, so contemplating all of that. And then Lady V calls me to let me know that her flight had got canceled for the second time. And so I'm thinking, okay, I want my wife to get home. They're canceling all these flights. Of course, with storms going on, I'm thinking this may not happen at all. And then I get my car to head to the wedding, and I get a call from my mom's caregiver that they had to rush my mom to the ER. So I go to this wedding, knowing I gotta deal with that, how to get the wedding, what we're gonna do, the restructure of the wedding, worrying about Lady V being stuck somewhere. And then my mom. So I get there, I tell the groom, after we get everything settled, I say, man, listen, as soon as I finish, I'm sorry to do this. Not only is he a friend, but he's also my attorney.

I didn't want to do to sue me. So I said, listen, as soon as I finish this, I just gotta go. My mom is being rushed to the hospital. Well, John DeRazzo, who's here now, John must have heard me. So I finished the wedding. I go and say, goodbye to them. Walk to my car. And John comes up and he says, pastor, can I pray for you? You know what that meant to me at that time? (audience applauds) Just that. And he prayed a wonderful prayer. It's that kind of encouragement. People got life challenges. We all do. But I'm telling you, I've seen so many people get knocked out of the faith because tragedy comes in their life, tough stuff comes in their life, things come that just knock 'em off, they're sadder. And they just fall off the horse and never get back on track. It's our job to help people stay encouraged. It's our job to tell people God's promises are still true. I know this is a tough time, but you can have hope in him. He's proven himself over and over again.

And how many of us have went through things and thought this is the worst thing of my life, but you got through it, but you got through it. You know why you got through it? Because you were able to say the next time, this is the worst thing of my life and you got through it. It's people encouraging one another, telling them to stay close to God. Trust the Lord through this. Don't give up on Jesus. He died on the cross for eternity. And eternity for him doesn't end in the middle of your trial. It doesn't end in the middle of your tribulation. It doesn't end in the middle of your mess. His faithfulness is the faithfulness to the end. As a matter of fact, the scripture says, when I'm faith less, he's still faithful. He's still faithful. So we need to encourage people to stay in there, hang in there. Let's just be Christians. That's it, my goodness. I just sit up here and preach almost an hour. When that's all I was trying to tell you, is let's just be Christians. Let's love our city. Let's be willing servants and let's encourage one another. Everybody stand, if you would. Prayer team, you can come. We're gonna pray and they'll take us out.

And altars will be open. If you need prayer, they're gonna be here for you. Father, I wanna thank you now for this opportunity we've had to share the word, Lord, to encourage the people of God. And I ask Lord God that you would do just that. May we be strengthened. May we encourage one another. May we go out and love our city. May we be willing, willing servants of you. Let us encourage one another and may you be glorified. In Christ's name we pray. May the people of God say amen. God bless you, have a great day. [MUSIC PLAYING]