Focus: The Crisis Of Christ

Text: Act.11:26

"For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were CALLED CHRISTIANS FIRST at Antioch."

Luke tells us that "men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:20–21). The news of what these men did in bringing the Greeks to Christ got to the church in Jerusalem, and they asked Barnabas and Saul to see to it that they were instructed and guided in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

So Barnabas and Saul saw the evidence of the grace of God upon the new believers. They spent a whole year building up their faith and encouraging them to remain loyal to Christ. The people of Antioch watched them very closely and coined the term 'Christianos' for them. It became a sort of nickname for the believers in Christ. It means 'those belonging to Christ,' or 'followers of Christ.' 

It is possible that the believers were tagged 'Christians' as a way of insulting or ridiculing them, but there's nothing wrong with the name itself. It is simply a name that identified them with Christ, their Master. They mirrored and reflected Christ in Antioch. Before long, the name spread from Antioch to all other places. Luke reports that "Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" (Act.26:28). In his Epistle, Peter writes, "If you SUFFER as a CHRISTIAN, do not be ashamed, BUT PRAISE GOD THAT YOU BEAR THAT NAME" (1Pet.4:16). I love that! Peter says, "Praise God that you bear that name." Interestingly, Peter and John were victimized, beaten and brutalized by the Jewish leaders for Christ's sake, and Luke records that after they were released "they departed from the presence of the council, REJOICING that they were counted worthy to SUFFER SHAME for his NAME" (Act.5:41).

The name of Christ is crisis for all true followers of Christ. To decide for Christ means deciding against the world. To be a Christian is not bread and butter. It signifies trouble. His presence in our lives creates crisis for us. Christ says, "I am come to send FIRE on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?" (Lk.12:49). 

Christ comes into our lives with His fire.

Remember the fiery furnace of Babylon! It was made for believers in the God of Israel, who would never bow down to any image or idol. Christ also said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a SWORD" (Mt.10:34). In the first Scripture, it is fire - the fire of troubles and trials. In the second Scripture, it is sword - the sword of division and death. In yet another place, He said to His disciples, "Behold, I send you forth as SHEEP in the midst of WOLVES: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Mt.10:16). 

Just imagine sheep among wolves! Christians live in a hostile environment. Paul and John wrote, "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision." "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Rev.22:15). 

Our Christian faith turns us into the world's enemies. James declares, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (Jam.4:4). Our faith exposes us to the world's hatred and opposition. Paul testifies, "Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the FILTH of the world, and are the OFFSCOURING of all things unto this day" (1Cor.4:13).

Christians live differently. Our belief and value systems differ from those of the world. John says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world," and furthermore, he says, "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1Jh.2:16,17). 

This world is organized against God. Paul tells us, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Eph.2:1-3). 

The world is a messy place for those who bear the name of Christ. Our place in this world is to make it better for as long as we live in it, to reflect and represent Christ in it, to showcase the love of God, and commit ourselves to the ministry of reconciliation and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are not in this world to party with them nor to live a life of convenience and comfortability. Let us not forget why we are here in this world! Let us not be carried away by the fancies and vanities of this world! We are IN the world, but not OF the world. Paul says that "our citizenship is in heaven." Our home is where Jesus Christ is. The world may ridicule, insult and afflict us on account of our faith, but we possess what the world can never take away from us. Clarence Sexton tells us, "The Christian life is not slightly better, but completely different." Leonard Ravenhill says "a man who is intimate with Christ is not intimidated by man," and Martin Luther declares, "It is the duty of every Christian to be Christ to his neighbor." Feel no shame for being called a Christian, for we are indeed followers of Jesus Christ. We eternally belong to Him. Let us be assured that if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him, even as Paul himself had declared!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter