Study #40: The first Gentile Christian Assembly was started in Antioch of Syria (Acts 11:19

Study #40: The first Gentile Christian Assembly was started in Antioch of Syria (Acts 11:19 - 30)

Acts, Chapter 1.5: God elected special Gentiles to hear the Gospel and be saved (9:32 - 12:24)

§Complement Introduction: God used Peter to heal a paralyzed man and raise a woman from the dead (9:32 - 43)

¶Opposite Peter healed a paralyzed man at Lydda (9:32 - 35)

¶Opposite Peter raised a woman from the dead at Joppa (9:36 - 43)

§Complement Body: God led Peter to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time (10:1 - 11:30)

¶Unique Peter received a vision from God to prepare him to meet with the Gentile Roman Cornelius and his family (10:1 - 23a)

¶Complement Peter met with Cornelius and his family to preach the Gospel to them (10:23b - 48)

¶Complement Peter met with the church at Jerusalem to explain the sequence of events that led him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (11:1 - 18)

¶Opposite The Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch, and the converts became the first church of the Gentiles (11:19 - 24)

¶Opposite Agabus the Prophet prophesied of a great famine, which led the church to send relief to the Christians in Judea (11:25 - 30)

§Unique Conclusion: The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from death, and killed king Herod (12:1 - 24)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from being slain by king Herod (12:1 - 17)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord smote king Herod and killed him for his pride (12:18 - 24)

Comments: In this study, we will look at the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the Body Section.

Our Bible study covers the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the Body Section of Chapter 1.5 of Acts.

Remember from the previous study that the Apostle Peter had preached the Gospel to Gentiles, which was the first time in 2,000 years that God had sent the Gospel specifically to the Gentiles, since God called Abraham (a Gentile) to faith in Himself.

Galatians 3:8 “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached before the Gospel to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all nations be blessed.””

Since the time of God’s covenant with Abraham about 2,000 B.C., God had dealt with mankind only through the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his children (i.e. the children of Israel). God dwelt personally (through the Shekinah glory) in the Tabernacle of Moses (about 1,500 B.C.); then in the Temple of Solomon, and later, in the Temple of Herod until the atoning death of Christ on the cross put an end to the need for animal sacrifices for sin.

So, under the Old Covenant, if any Gentile on Earth wanted to meet with the one true God Jehovah, they had to go to Jerusalem to the Temple to offer an animal blood sacrifice (a type of the Christ who would come) according to the Law of Moses; and then they could be reconciled to the one true God (saved) and have fellowship with Him. But this action would also mean that the Gentile would become a convert to the faith of Israel; in other words, they would become an Israelite (or a Jew, depending on the period of history) by conversion. They would become a Jew by faith, but not by DNA.

So Israel was the center of worship on Earth for the one true God, Jehovah, from the time of Joshua until the atoning death and resurrection of Christ. There was no other place on Earth for 1,500 years that you could meet with the one true God and offer a sacrifice according to the Law of Moses during the Old Covenant!

But in the first century A.D., God moved the worship of the one true God from one fixed location on Earth to many locations on Earth, centered on groups of baptized believers in Jesus Christ. And these groups [also known as Assemblies or churches] could be of any skin color or nationality, not just Jews! This is the New Covenant faith of Jesus Christ: who is the one true God, walking in a Temple of sinless, perfect human flesh.

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This [Jesus] is the true God, and Eternal Life.” 1 John 5:20

“And the Word became flesh, and Tabernacled among us; and we beheld his glory: the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

The Bible text arranged with the Golden Ratio design of “UCC-OO”.

¶Opposite The Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch, and the converts became the first church of the Gentiles (11:19 - 24)

Unique Now they that were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the Word to none but to the Jews only.

Complement And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they came to Antioch, spoke to the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Complement And the hand of the Lord was with them; and a great number believed, and turned to the Lord.

Opposite Then news of these things came to the ears of the Assembly in Jerusalem; and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

Opposite Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. And he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would continue with the Lord: for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith; and many people were added to the Lord.

Comments: Remember that the Golden Ratio design is one Unique (U), two Complements (CC), and two Opposite (OO), or “UCC-OO”. I don’t believe that I need to explain how that works in this paragraph, as it is easily seen.

The Assembly in Antioch was the first congregation of Gentile Christians in history, but thankfully, not the last. Today, there are millions of churches all over the world that claim to represent the faith of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of them do not represent the Biblical faith of the Apostles; but instead, their religious doctrines are foreign to the Bible and are a reproach to God and not a blessing as they should be. The Gospel message of the Apostles has been abandoned in most churches around the world, except for a remnant of faithful believers whom God has reserved to Himself. In the United States, we call them Fundamental, Independent Baptist churches.

“Fundamental or Fundamentalist” means that a certain set of basic Bible doctrines are extremely important (or Fundamental) to the Christian Faith and must not be compromised:

1) The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ

2) the Atoning, Substitutionary Death of Jesus Christ

3) the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ

4) the Deity of Jesus Christ

5) the inerrancy of and literal interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, the Bible

6) The Triune nature of the one true God, Jehovah

Unless a person believes in this set of doctrines, which are clearly set forth in the Bible, he or she is not a Bible-believing Christian; and, most likely, has never been born again into the Kingdom of God. Any denial of these points makes you a liberal and a Bible-denier. Affirmation of these points of doctrine makes you a “Fundamentalist” in today’s terminology, although the Apostles never used that term; but it doesn’t matter, because they believed the same basic doctrines as Fundamentalists do today. Fundamentalist Christians today are the true representatives of the faith of the Apostles.

It is also true that Fundamentalists disagree among themselves over other doctrines which many call “non-essential”. These other doctrines (such as the mode of water baptism, the correct Biblical structure of a church, etc) are not essential to the salvation of a soul, so they are not included in the “Fundamentals of the Faith”.

But I argue that, while these other doctrines are not essential to salvation, a correct Biblical understanding of them is essential to obedience to God and personal spiritual growth. This is what I try to provide in these Bible studies.

Now there are other, smaller groups with similar core doctrines and practices who do not call themselves Baptists, such as Fundamental Presbyterians and Fundamental Methodists; but these are increasingly rare.

To keep this study short, I am omitting a detailed discussion of the many permutations of “Fundamentalism”. Personally, I consider myself a “Biblicist”, which is a much stronger version of a “Fundamentalist”; but if a Christian at least believes in the central core doctrines of the Christian Faith, at least they are going in the right direction theologically.

If you want to find a church that preaches the doctrines of the Bible without compromise and seeks to truly follow Jesus Christ, you must seek out an Independent, Fundamental Baptist church; or perhaps, a Fundamental Baptist missionary in your area. If you need help with this search, please contact me through Facebook or my email (editor@phibible.org), and I will help you.

Beware of false religions that pose as “Christian”, such as the JWs (or “Jehovah’s Witnesses”) and the Mormons! There are actually tens of thousands of religious cults that falsely claim to be Christian; the JW’s and Mormons are only the largest of them.

Only a strong knowledge of the Bible will protect you from their harmful doctrines and practices. Regular attendance at an Independent, Fundamental Baptist church will help you to lay a good foundation of Biblical knowledge and understanding that will help you to grow in your faith in Jesus Christ.

I will spend more time explaining the various types of churches and religions in future studies.

The Bible text arranged with the Golden Ratio design of “OO-CCU”, the opposite of the previous paragraph.

¶Opposite Agabus the Prophet prophesied of a great famine, which led the church to send relief to the Christians in Judea (11:25 - 30)

Opposite Then Barnabas departed to Tarsus to seek Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.

Opposite And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the Assembly; and they taught many people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Complement And in these days Prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.

Complement And one of them named Agabus stood up, and signified through the Spirit that there would be great famine throughout all the world; which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

Unique Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren who dwelt in Judea; which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Comments: The Golden Ratio design in this paragraph is two Opposite (OO), two Complements (CC), and one Unique (U), or “OO -CCU”. I don’t believe that I need to explain how that works in this paragraph, as it is easily seen.

Notice the opposite nature of these two paragraphs: the Jews from Judea preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch vs. the Gentiles in Antioch sent relief to the Christians in Judea.

¶Opposite The Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch, and the converts became the first church of the Gentiles (11:19 - 24)

¶Opposite Agabus the Prophet prophesied of a great famine, which led the church to send relief to the Christians in Judea (11:25 - 30)

In the next study, we will look at the Conclusion Section of this Chapter, which is the end of Part 1 of the Book of Acts.

Conclusion: If you want to know the one true God, you must know the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only true Mediator between God and humanity.

“for there is only one God, and only one Mediator between God and men: the Man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all mankind, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6

But in order to know the Lord Jesus Christ, you must REPENT of your rebellion and unbelief against the one true God, and turn to Him in faith, asking Him to forgive your sins and come into your life to save you.

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: NO MAN comes to the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” John 10:1

“Then Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the Door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them.” John 10:7-8

The Bible says that there is no other way to be saved, except through Jesus Christ and his Finished Work of salvation on the cross:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

“But as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become the children of God: even to them that believe on his Name” John 1:12

“for [it is written], “whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

Would you like to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and know that you are saved and have Eternal Life? You can do it right now. Use this prayer as a model for your own words:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook or email me at editor@phibible.org and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.