First Called Christians

The church was birthed in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem, when the Holy Ghost fell on disciples of Jesus.

They where there huddled together in prayer obeying the words of the master to tarry in Jerusalem until the were endowed with power from on high.

Acts 2 vs 1-4 gives the account.

They were all gather in one place and in one accord when suddenly there came the sound as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the place where they were sitting.

Then there appeared unto them cloven tongues as of fire that sat upon each of them and they all were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And the Christian church was born.

It didn’t stop there, but as they were worshipping and glorifying God their prayer meeting spilled out onto the streets. Now don't think that all this shouting and tongue talking went unnoticed. (It never does)

When the passers by saw them drunk in the spirit and heard them speaking in tongues some mocked and said they're drunk. They must have only spoken one language, and all the tongue talking sounded like gibberish to them. Others recognized that these Galileans were speaking in their language from all over the ancient world. And they wondered and reasoned to themselves. They knew that alcohol could do a lot of things to people but it didn’t cause you to learn a new language.

But Peter stood up with the eleven lifted up his voice and began to tell them. These are not drunk as ye suppose seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that; which was spoken of by the prophet Joel that in the last days God would pour out of his spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.

And Peter preached Jesus to that day and the Bible says that there was about added to them about 3,000 souls.

In one day the church was born in a Holy Ghost outpouring and then immediately conducted the first 1 day crusade and 3000 people were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. But they where not yet called Christians.

At that time they were simply known about Jerusalem as the disciple of the Nazarene.

It was a disparaging moniker because of a regional prejudice concerning the poor area of Nazareth. You see it when Phillip tells Nathaniel “come and see we have found the one who Moses and the prophets wrote of Jesus of Nazareth” to which Nathaniel replies can any good thing come out of Nazareth? So as a means to slander the early disciples the rulers of Judaism would call them the “disciples of the Nazarene.” Not Christians.

Islamist still marks the home of Christians with the “mark of the Nazarene”

As persecution hit the church in Jerusalem following the stoning of Steven, the disciples scattered into the country side of Judaea and Samaria teaching as the went converting mostly followers of Judaism, as the went synagogue to synagogue preaching and teaching Jesus.

Phillip takes the gospel to the city of Samaria where the entire town is converted baptized in Jesus name, and filled with the Holy Ghost after Peter and John lay hands on them. It's the first account we have of the reaping evangelist coming into a city and holding a Holy Ghost crusade. The Bible says that the entire city turned to God but even that wasn’t enough for them to be called Christians.

That is Acts ch.8. In Acts ch.10 a man named Cornelius is visited by an angel.

The Bible says of Cornelius that he was a devout man that feared God, gave much alms to the people and prayed always. But that in itself wasn’t enough for salvation, so the angels tells him to send to Joppa and find a preacher named Peter.

They find Peter fasting and praying on the roof being visited by God and receiving instructions from God to go to Cornelius home and preach to them Jesus. Because God was about to do something that rocked the Jewish church! He was about to extend grace and salvation to the gentile people.

Peter and six other disciples follow the men to the home of this Italian centurion. The Bible says that Peter began to preach to them Jesus.

And as the words were still coming out of his mouth, he hadn’t even given the altar call yet the Bible says that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.

Now the Bible says in Acts 10:45 that the men who were with Peter where astonished because they heard these gentiles speaking in tongues and glorifying God, and they saw them baptized in the name of Jesus. And that didn’t even make the people in the area call them Christians.

By this time they had become known as the followers of “the way”. Jesus said I AM the Way! They had become known not only as the disciples of the Nazarene but now they were followers of the Way. However They were not yet called Christians.

It has become a term we use almost flippantly in modern couture. In today's vernacular the term Christian has come to mean anyone who believes in Jesus for salvation. It crosses denominal lines and transcends geographic location. In this word today anyone who professes salvation through Christ has come to be called Christian.

In the more original sense the term Christian not only meant to claim Christ but you had to also be like Christ because “Christian” means to be Christlike.

No doubt the earliest church in Jerusalem that poured out onto the streets and changed a city would qualify as Christian under today's use of the word. They were the original church and came out of the upper room unmarred by the centuries of battling a two front battle against complacency and false doctrine that make up much of church history.

Trace their track from Jerusalem to Samaria and to the home of Cornelius and you will find the bases for all that we do in the modern church.

From the crusade of Pentecost, the preacher Phillip going to the city Samaria with a burden for the people and building a church, to Peters home bible study small group that lead to the conversion of Cornelius the DNA of the modern church is evident.

For good measure God allowed us to see that even Apostles sometimes called in evangelist to help push the church past the edge and into full blown revival, when Peter and John are called to help Phillip get the people of Samaria prayed through. It's all there in the first 10 chapters of Acts. From city wide revival in Samaria to personal evangelism with Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch and Ananias and Paul the blueprint and pattern of the church is all laid bare.

But not one time is it recorded that the world looked at one another and pointed at the church and said, now “they are Christlike”.

Anytime I see a first in scripture it peaks my interest.

In bible study its called the law of first mention. What that means is , if you want a good grasp on what a particular word means or what a particular practice is about find the first place it is mentioned and it will help you get a good understanding of the original intent of the word or practice. (It's really more of a rule of thumb that law)

Another helpful practice of bible study is 20-20 reading. To help you understand the context of a verse read the 20 previous verses and the 20 following verses and you’ll generally be able to understand the context that the scripture was written in.

So in Acts 11:26 we have a first mention recorded.

Acts 11:26 (KJV) And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Two more times the term Christian is used in the Bible once more in Acts 26:28 when Agrippa tells Paul he almost persuaded him to be a Christian and again in 1 Peter 4:16 when Peter tells us if we suffer as a Christian not be ashamed of our suffering put glorify God because of it. So that leaves the question as to why they were first called Christians at Antioch. And why Luke was led to record and pinpoint that Antioch is where the name came from.

I believe that all scripture is inspired by God and therefore reject the notion that Luke was just leaving us question for the Sunday School trivia games.

So what was it about this church at Antioch that made everyone also look to the people of it and determine that if Christ where here he would be like to congregants of the church because they were Christlike. If you were to read the previous verses and chapter to follow the first mention in Antioch you will discover that this church was not like all the other churches of that day.

Acts 11:22-26 (KJV) 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:

26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

There was a man named Barnabas that was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost.

Who when he saw the grace of God in this group of people left and found a young man the Jews called Saul but the gentiles called Paul. Paul was a converted radical terrorist. He had killed and captured the disciples as blasphemers of the Jewish law because they worshipped Jesus as God.

After his conversion on the road to Damascus the disciples didn’t want anything to do with him. Acts 9:26 the disciples wouldn’t go to Saul because the were afraid of him a doubted his conversion. This was the man that would write most of our New Testament but the holy rollers wouldn’t go near him because of fear and doubt. (Not much discernment to be found, but they did have the gift of suspicion operating)

Then one day a man named Barnabas comes to Damascus and finds Saul and take him back to Antioch. They didn’t want nothing to do with him in Jerusalem but within a year of the people accepting Paul in Antioch the community started saying those people are Christlike.

You’re no more Christlike than when your reaching for others.

If you read through the book of acts you will learn that the church in Jerusalem was an inward focused church. They had revival but it was a revival “their” people. It was a revival in the temple and the synagogues. The only thing that pushed that gospel outside the walls of Jerusalem was the church fleeing the persuasion after Steven was stoned.

They had let the great commission of preaching the gospel to every creature great and small and making disciples of every nation become the great omission.

They were called Christians at Antioch because they weren’t inward focused but outward focused. They didn’t exist for themselves but Antioch existed for others!

It was their focus on others you read of in Acts 11:29. After Agabas prophesied of a great dearth coming upon the world the disciples at Antioch sent relief to the brethren that dwelt in Judaea.

Read of the 3 Missionary Journeys of the Apostle Paul and you will find that they had a common beginning and ending point in Antioch.

Jesus told the disciple that the world would know they were his because of their love one for another. But in the city of Antioch when the people saw the church, they didn't stop at saying they followed Jesus but they said those people are becoming like Jesus.

You're never more like Jesus than when your reaching for someone else. You’re never showing the world that you're becoming more like him than when your focus moves from self to a focus on reaching a lost and dying world.

The revivals that would cause the men of Philippi to opine that these were the men that have turned the entire world upside down had its roots in a group of believers that came from a church that had gotten its eyes fixated on the call of Jesus to the fields for they are white already to harvest.

Read the gospels and find the heartbeat of Jesus earthly ministry. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Whether it was a lost lamb, a coin, or a son…

Lepourus or lame… with a mind issue, a blind issue or a blood issue…

The ear of Manchus, the eyes of Bartimaeus, or the body of Lazarus…..

a smoking flax or a bruised reed… Jesus’ life and ministry was always about someone else.—unsure of the original author.

You can lift up somebody because the world puts down everybody- Bishop EG Keller

This world is an equal opportunity offender. It puts the wealthy and the poor under the same bondage of fear and anxiety. Our world is looking through dimly lit souls searching for someone or something to help lift them out of the quagmire of life. Their looking for someone that can help build them up. Someone that can shine the light that only hope in God can give on a dark world.

You can be that someone today. You can become Christ to someone today, both acting and reacting in a Christ like manner. Let us go forward making a difference in a lost world and earn the moniker we’ve been given, Christian.