Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: evangelism

An Antioch Blueprint of Church Evangelism
Antioch – a Crossroads Church of the Gospel

And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Acts of the Apostles 11:26 ESV – [CLICK HERE for other versions]

‘Christians’ – an all-too-familiar label ‘christians‘ don’t understand

Hundreds of disciples of Jesus Christ were first mocked in Antioch as ‘Christians.’ The Church now claims this defining label as our connection to Christ.

You know this Scripture concerning the label ‘Christians.’ But do you know the significance of Antioch, this place where the church was first called ‘Christians?’

Gentiles and Jews Regenerated in the Holy Spirit

IF you have been following our series in Acts from Luke’s historical account of the first century Church you will have noticed a new testament of the Holy Spirit beyond Jerusalem.

The resurrection of Jesus becomes a New Testament of Good News to the world; grace to gentiles in various places — fellow sinners who now identify in Him and by the power of the Holy Spirit with a regenerated remnant of faithful Jews who worship their Messiah Jesus.

Let us continue in Acts of the Apostles where we left off as Peter defends his actions in Jerusalem.

Can anyone withhold Baptism from Gentiles?

“..who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” – defense of Simon Peter in ACTS 11:17b NASB

Acts 11: continued in Antioch
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Listen to a very Jewish glance at this same response of Simon Peter to the Jews. (Of course Peter is a jewish disciple of Yeshua [יְהוֹשׁוּעַ].)
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17 “If then Hashem gave the same matanah to them as also to us after believing in Moshiach Adoneinu, who then was I to stand in the way of Hashem?”
Gevurot 11:17-30 [LINK to: NASB;KJ21;OJB;SBLGNT]
Orthodox Jewish Bible
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Did you get that, you goyim 'christians' who did not know the significance of Antioch in calling you Christians along with our remnant saved by our Messiah? 

JESUS came in Person, was sacrificed on a gentile Roman Cross and rose from the grave in Body and Spirit for YOU as well! 

You gentiles are also CHOSEN! Simeon Petros has witnessed this amazing new sign.

So from Antioch -- we too proclaim Christ to the Nations and your world as well.
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When they heard these things they fell silent.

And they glorified God, saying,

“Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Acts of the Apostles 11:18 ESV
Ἀντιόχεια (Antioch)

A Roman crossroads of cultures

Antioch was third largest city in the Empire, behind Rome & Alexandria

It’s population is estimated to be a half-million people (some free and some slave)

Comparabl population to 21st c. Atlanta GA US or

Latur India 501,664

Xuancheng China 500,734
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This Ancient Roman road connected Antioch and Chalcis.
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Diaspora, (Greek: “Dispersion”) Hebrew Galut (Exile)

Seleucus founded a number of new cities during his reign, including Antioch (300 BC), Edessa and Seleucia on the Tigris (c. 305 BC), a foundation that eventually depopulated Babylon. (source: wikipedia)

The Jews of Israel (Samaria) culturally had changed since its defeat eight centuries Before Christ.

The Jews of Judah (Judea) also changed culturally when forced east six centuries before Christ.

Before Rome, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Egypt and especially various Greek empires influenced Jews living throughout the world.

Kingdoms of Alexander the Great
356-323 Before Christ included:

Macedonia, Egypt, Persia & Asia
Cultural History of 323 BC

This is RECENT HISTORY to the JEWS of every land, including Hasmonean Judea under the rule and control of the powerful military of Rome. The tolerance of culture in Antioch looked back to the golden age of Alexander much in the way as any city in the US would look back to our recent cultural history, including those with similar populations such as: Atlanta, Kansas City, Mesa, Sacramento, Omaha, Colorado Springs, Raleigh and Virginia Beach.

Put your witness as Christians into this parallel context to Antioch:
- AD 40 – Peter in Antioch (AD 2022)
- Jesus earthly ministry (AD 2010’s)
- 323 BC – Death of Alexander (AD 1600’s)
  - (The 1600’s in the US include familiar cultural history like: Jamestown VA Colony (of England), Hudson River exploration by Dutch; various wars between European empires and local native nations; several colonies and cities founded; Harvard University founded by a Congregational minister; Salem witch trials by the Puritans)
Antioch, at the crossroads between the nations, stood as the place where Christians could take the Gospel in any direction into all the world.
Talk of Jesus .com

The Church in Antioch

.. and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts of the Apostles 11:25b NASB

The Cultural Richness of Antioch

ACTS 11:

19 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia [21st c. Lebanon], [island of] Cyprus, and [in 21st c. Turkey] Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene [coast of 21st c. Libya], who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks [Hellenists or Greek-speaking, racially and culturally gentiles traditionally separated from jews] as well, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus.

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

The Antioch Blueprint

An Antioch-like church gets involved with people. We must learn how to live with and speak winsomely to unbelievers.
Tony Merida – LOVE YOUR CHURCH + 8 Great Things about being a Church Member
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Due to the doctrinal importance of this Antioch model for the Church, I will quote extensively at this juncture from LOVE YOUR CHURCH [also linked above] and CHRIST-CENTERED Exposition - EXALTING JESUS IN ACTS also by Tony Merida. - RH
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- Gospel Intelligibility – verse 20
“We don’t read here about ‘Christ Jesus,’ ‘Messiah Jesus,’ or ‘the anointed King Jesus.”

Why? This isn’t a Jewish crowd. This is a Gentile crowd, unfamiliar with the promises that God made.. to send his anointed Messiah King.
Tony Merida – LOVE YOUR CHURCH; p. 146
- The title kurios,Lord, was commonly spoken in Antioch
  - The titles Messiah or anointed King (Christ, in Greek) only spoke to Jews familiar with Scripture.
- The Lord’s Sovereignty – verse 21
The Lord Jesus is the hero of the (gospel) message.. and the source of power.. Jesus was building his church right in hedonistic Antioch.
CHRIST-CENTERED Exposition – EXALTING JESUS IN ACTS; p. 159 – Tony Merida
- Accountability – verse 22
22 The news about them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.
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Note that accountability comes before encouragement in the Apostolic model of the Church.
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- Encouragement – vs. 22-24
They weren’t Jewish. Antioch had no Apostles to lead them. So the Apostles sent Barnabas, a trusted and faithful disciple of the Apostles’ teaching to Antioch and he could verify the faith of these gentile believers of the Lord Jesus.

23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

And considerable numbers were added to the Lord.
- Instruction (Teaching or Doctrine) – vs. 25-27
25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.

Barnabas, a Levite familiar with priestly Jewish Law and resident of nearby Cypress, seeks out Saul, an expert in Jewish Pharisaical teachings of the Law and Prophets who he had earlier encouraged after Paul encountered the risen Jesus on his way to persecute disciples of The Way in Damascus.

And for an entire year they [Barnabas & Paul] met with the church and taught considerable numbers of people
Acts 11:26b – NASB

Jews discipling Gentiles! In Antioch, a huge hedonistic Roman city!

Teaching is a critical component of disciple making. Listening to music alone will not disciple new believers. Neither will merely attending church services. Christians need to know and learn how to apply Scriptures. Each of us needs faithful instruction in God’s Word.
Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, p. 162

ALL came to know that these growing crowds of Antiochians who gathered with Barnabas and Saul spoke of the Lord Jesus. Yet these new gentile disciples came to understand this Lord as the same Christ Jesus, King of the Jews (as Pontius Pilate had said).
- Fruit – v. 26
‘The saints in Antioch so identified with Jesus that fellow Gentile observers called them, “little Christs.”
- Does anyone, my fellow follower of Jesus, call you a ‘little Christ?”
Tony Merida points to this key ‘turning point’ in history: [p.162–3]

The followers of Jesus were so different from the culture around them that citizens had to develop a third classification of people — something new beyond the Jew or Gentile distinction..

The church in Antioch was like an embassy of the kingdom of God.
Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary, p. 163

ACTS 11:26c
..and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
July 2, 2022
What hinders me from being baptized?
“Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

It’s a life-changing question the Kandake’s official asks Philip after reading about the Messiah Jesus from Isaiah.

Perhaps you have asked yourself this same question about conversion to Christ.

ACTS of a Queen’s servant on the road to Gaza

If you have not read our previous scene from Acts 8, click here.

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

Kandoc’i – Servant of the Queen of Ethiopia

Philip joins this official (not named in Acts) of the Candace or Kandake of Nubia on the Nile (referred to Ethiopia in Acts).

Two Men Talk of JESUS
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NOTE: I choose to identify this representative of the Queen with an Ethiopian sounding name based on my personal experience and previous conversations with Ethiopian friends.

Philip's encounter with this Ethiopian eunuch must have been life-changing for both.
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36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said,

“See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

37 Then Philip said,

“If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 8:37b NKJV – The Ethiopian responds to Philip from his heart to be baptized for Christ

38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still.

This scene of Baptism

Let’s pause here for a moment to consider what our black brother has asked this Hellenist deacon of a Hebrew church back in Jerusalem.

No matter your background, no matter your sin, it makes us the same: Listen:

Let’s go down, down, down to the river (You will leave changed)
Let’s go down, down, down to the river (Never the same)
Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go down in amazing grace [x2]

What does it mean to be BAPTIZED?

Religious doctrine of your past could easily sidetrack our discussion of baptism here, but prior to continuing on our mission trip with Philip from Acts 8, allow me to point our talk of JESUS toward both definition and evangelism.

Baptized defined:
- Start here: “baptized“ occurs 51 times in 44 verses in the NASB20.
  - βαπτίζω –
    to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)
    to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one’s self, bathe
    to overwhelm
  - Learn more: From a derivative of βάπτω (G911)
We have already addressed this in the early chapters of Acts in this series, but here is a brief example from an earlier post:

Stronger in the LORD

May 19, 2014 Talk of JESUS.com post with several references from ACTS

One other series from the Gospel of John and discussion of John the Baptist. [Click below]

God’s Love Through John: A God-sent Baptist

Sep 18, 2018 from TalkofJESUS.com from brief series about Gospel of John

Returning to Talk of JESUS between Kandoc’i & Philip

and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
ACTS 8:38b – the moment Philip baptized the Ethiopian official of the Queen in the Name of Jesus Christ

Now here’s something you will NOT experience at any baptism (but remember with God all things are possible and the Lord had a purpose here to evangelism beyond this event on Philip’s mission).

39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
ACTS 8:39 – Yet another sign, this to the just baptized Ethiopian official who had proclaimed:
“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

The eunuch no doubt continues his long journey home up the Nile in Africa, where the Gospel will travel with our brother, Kandoc’i, who will in turn preach Jesus Christ in this first century mission field and court of the Kandake of Ethiopia.

Philip the Evangelist

But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 8:40 NASB

places along the mission journey of Philip the Evangelist

We cannot be certain if Philip running to catch up to this official, Kandoc’i of Ethiopia in his royal chariot was akin in any way to a sign of Elijah running ahead. [Read more.] However after the Ethiopian in the chariot was baptized, the Spirit of the Lord snatches Philip away!

One more sign for the evangelist to preach and one more miracle for our Ethiopian brother Kandoc’i to witness to his queen and all of the officials of his country far beyond Jerusalem.

We find Philip next in Azotus Ἄζωτος (Ashdod), a distance by air of over 100 km (<60 miles)! From there we learn that the evangelist will settle in the important Roman port city of Caesarea, a place with which we will become more familiar on the mission journeys of ACTS of the Apostles.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
February 12, 2022
Philip: Evangelizing Christ’s Sheep Beyond Gaza
How important is Gaza to Philip’s Evangelizing Mission?

What does Gaza have to do with,

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” and evangelizing Christ Jesus?
Quote of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark 16:15

We’ll talk of JESUS’ evangelism model begun in the Apostles and now a command to Philip, one of Jerusalem’s first seven deacons in a moment. But first let’s review the setting of this semi-familiar scene of Philip baptizing an Ethiopian eunuch in (of all places), Gaza.

Acts of Evangelism by Christ’s disciples from Jerusalem’s Church

8: At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Philip: Preaching to Good and Bad Samaritans

This is Philip who served with Stephen in Jerusalem
- 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
- 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
  - (We will get back to the contrast between Samaria and Gaza in a moment.)
- The Apostles in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to those evangelizing the towns of Samaria.
- .. they [Peter & John] returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
An Angel of the Lord commands Philip: GO to Gaza

We don’t want to dismiss too quickly who sends Philip on his way from the big city of Samaria (then called, Sebastia (when rebuilt by Herod the Great) with its six thousand souls, to an uninhabited Gaza along the road from Jerusalem.

Two routes to the Gaza road along the Mediterranean shore

Luke does not use this description of just anyone.
- Now an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah [Priest of the LORD and father of John the Baptist] was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. – Gospel of Luke 1:11-12
- And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. – Gospel of Luke 2:9 – from the nativity of the shepherds near Bethlehem .. (also not too far from here)
We know these instances well; however in Luke’s second account of the Acts of the Apostles the Angel of the Lord initiates some important ACTS of disciples of the Risen Christ Jesus.

Previously, our history of the Apostles imprisoned in Jerusalem has already witnessed one of these appearances of the Angel of the Lord. A praying church is astounded to see Peter and John released from prison and then returning to the Temple to preach the Gospel.

Arrested AND Released

They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said, “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple area the whole message of this Life.”
Acts of the Apostles 5:18-20 NASB20

Philip Goes to Gaza – ACTS 8

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying,
“Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)
Acts of Philip, disciple of the Apostles, 8:26 NASB20

27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning.

Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

The Kandake, Queen of Ethiopia

Amanitaraqide appears to be the subject of a brief reference in the New Testament (Acts 8:27)

Amanitaraqide held the title of Kandake in the Kingdom of Kush during the years 21-41

Source – Wikipedia
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Nubia is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between Aswan in southern Egypt and Khartoum in central Sudan. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa, with a history that can be traced from at least 2500 BC onward, Kerma culture, and was home to several empires, most prominently the kingdom of Kush, which for a while even ruled over Egypt. 

Before the 4th century, and throughout classical antiquity, Nubia was known as Kush, or, in Classical Greek usage, included under the name Ethiopia (Aithiopia).

[MAP above of this region along the Nile & descriptions: Source] 
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Αἰθίοψ – Ethiopian = “black”

The eunuch, wearing expensive robes of a court official, rides in a royal chariot (reserved for only the highest officials of Rome and independent powerful kingdoms), would seem unapproachable by an ordinary man like Philip. For it seems this royal official would have been in Jerusalem on some important diplomatic mission as the queen’s personal representative.

If you think back to the status of Daniel in Babylon or even further back to this region of the Nile and the earned status of Joseph serving Pharaoh, you will get a good picture of the importance of this man to the highest leaders of his country.
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Even in this A.D. 21st century most men like Philip (and you) would know very little about this distant country in Africa far from Jerusalem and further from Rome and the new world beyond the great ocean.
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Ethiopia, like many lands, must hear the Gospel in many languages.

Graphic source: Oromo Bible Society
O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!

No, the Ethiopian court official is not like Philip.

As a diplomat with power to travel the world on behalf of his queen, he will play an important role in the spreading of the Gospel. So after Philip obediently travels to Gaza, he discovers that this man is a brother, a Jew who studies Scripture! And here in Gaza he is returning home to Kush from worship of the LORD in Jerusalem.

(That’s right, the same Jerusalem from which Philip has fled; initially north to the city of Samaria, but now southwest of Jerusalem into the desert lands of Gaza.)

Studying Isaiah with a ‘missionary’ to Gaza

ACTS 8:

29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

(Philip is on foot and has walked this distance from Samaria, but this is now a second command of the Spirit as he reaches the Gaza road.)

30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah

30 وَعِنْدَمَا رَكَضَ فِيلِبُّسُ إلَى العَرَبَةِ، سَمِعَ الرَّجُلَ يَقْرَأُ كِتَابَ النَّبِيِّ إشَعْيَاءَ. فَقَالَ لَهُ فِيلِبُّسُ:
ﻋﻤﺎﻝ ﺍﻟﺮﺳﻞ 8:30
Arabic Bible: Easy-to-Read Version

“Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

Philip traveled in style for a while as they read.

Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

Isaiah

נִגַּשׂ וְהוּא נַעֲנֶה וְלֹא יִפְתַּח־פִּיו כַּשֶּׂה לַטֶּבַח יוּבָל וּכְרָחֵל לִפְנֵי גֹזְזֶיהָ נֶאֱלָמָה וְלֹא יִפְתַּח פִּֽיו׃
מֵעֹצֶר וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט לֻקָּח וְאֶת־דּוֹרוֹ מִי יְשׂוֹחֵחַ כִּי נִגְזַר מֵאֶרֶץ חַיִּים מִפֶּשַׁע עַמִּי נֶגַע לָֽמוֹ׃
Masoretic Text Isaiah 53:7-8, quoted in ACTS 8:32-33
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Or perhaps the Ethiopian official traveling from Jerusalem through Gaza back to Egypt would have held a Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. ..dated to the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt (285-246 BC).. 
(READ more about ancient Egypt and Ethiopia from Source link: biblearchaeology.org)
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πάντες ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν ἄνθρωπος τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ ἐπλανήθη καὶ κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ταῗς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν
Yeshaiya (Isaiah) 53:6 :: Septuagint (LXX)

In reading all of Isaiah 53 he would have just read in verse 6:
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All we like sheep have gone astray; 
we have turned every one to his own way; 
and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [KJV]
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34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

Our chariot journey with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, to be continued..
February 9, 2022