The Bible records that Christians have been persecuted in many countries in every age since the First Century. They have been verbally abused, defamed, vandalized, with their property being stolen. The teaching and practice of their faith has been outlawed, their children taken, harmed physically, imprisoned and even put to death. What is it about the name "Christian"? Arnie and Fred discuss Saul of Tarsus, a notorious persecutor who became the primary teacher of the gospel to the Gentiles. We discuss what made one a Christian and what they did in the First Century. Finally we note when the name "Christian" first appeared in the Bible, what it means and it uses there. Take about 30 minutes to find out what the Bible says about the name 'Christian.
The Bible records that Christians have been persecuted in many countries in every age since the First Century. They have been verbally abused, defamed, vandalized, with their property being stolen. The teaching and practice of their faith has been outlawed, their children taken, harmed physically, imprisoned and even put to death. What is it about the name "Christian"? Arnie and Fred discuss Saul of Tarsus, a notorious persecutor who became the primary teacher of the gospel to the Gentiles. We discuss what made one a Christian and what they did in the First Century. Finally we note when the name "Christian" first appeared in the Bible, what it means and it uses there. Take about 30 minutes to find out what the Bible says about the name 'Christian.
This is a presentation of Woodland church of Christ meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at 10:30am, 5:30pm. We meet for bible study at 9:30am on Sunday and 7pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson. You can email Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net or to Arnie Granke at agranke440718@twc.com.
Arnie :Good afternoon. This is Arnie Granke and Fred Gosnell with Woodland church of Christ. This is What Does The Bible Say? And I think at near the end of the program, we'll leave you with our email addresses if you wish to write us about the program. If you wish to say if you disagree with something that'll be fine or if you have questions that you'd like us to discuss, we'll be glad to do that as well. So we'll try to save a minute or so at the end of the program for for that purpose. Fred, Christians have suffered persecution in many countries in every age since the first century. Being verbally abused, their reputation being defamed vandalism and theft of their property, the teaching and practicing of their faith being outlawed and that's that's happening right now in Canada as a matter of fact, in in, in Great Britain. Deprivation of their children, children taken away by the by the state, suffering physical harm in prison, and, and even death. So over the years, Christians have had a lot of tough times.
Fred Gosnell :Yeah, and as you noted that started early and in Acts 26, we have Saul or Paul, Saul of Tarsus, originally explaining to King Agrippa his, his past. And Paul, he was a notorious persecutor of Christians. And he admits that. Of course that was before he became a Christian. And he says in Acts 26, nine, beginning in nine, I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them, and I punished them oft in every synagogue and compelled them to the blaspheme, being exceedingly mad against them. I persecuted them even unto strange cities. So Paul was a was a vigorous persecutor ofChristians, a Pharisee before he obeyed the Lord.
Arnie :I think the thing that surprised a lot of people was that after he obeyed the gospel, after he obeyed the gospel, he became, he became a preacher of the gospel. Eventually, of course, also an apostle. And he would preach Christ everywhere, he'd preach Christ to anyone that he that he could. Luke reports the climax, I guess you say, of, of Saul's conversion. Of course, he had met the Lord on the road to Damascus. He'd been blinded. He had a brief conversation with the, with the Lord and the Lord instructed him to go into the city, and there be shown him what he must do. And so in Acts chapter nine and verse 10, there was a certain disciple in Damascus, named Ananias and he said, unto the Lord, and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias and he said, Behold, I am here Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth and has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. And then Ananias answered, Lord, I've heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints in Jerusalem. Here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on mthyname. And the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel. I will show him how great things he must suffer for my namesake and Ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him he said, brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus appeared, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as he had been scales. And he received sight forthwith and arose and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus, and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that He is the Son of God. The ah word straightaway means immediately. So there was no delay he knew all the facts about the, about the gospel already and of course he learned more eventually from from Jesus. But he's he's ready to preach and as he starts to do that without any kind of delay.
Fred Gosnell :,yeah, exactly. And what we find in the record is that we find that Christians when they were teaching someone they appealed to the scriptures and to prophecy and that's what Paul did. It acts 26 he's a he's a responding to king. king Agrippa. And he says to king Agrippa, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets. I know that believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. So men had a choice whether or not to become a Christian and in Judea, course, Paul, carried Christ's name to governor's and to kings. He was is a very busy teaching the gospel. And eventually, he ended up in Rome. In Acts 25:10 through 12, we find the record and he was being being tried, he'd spent some time in jail, and he was a Roman citizen. So so, Then said Paul, he said in Acts 25:10 to 12, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat were I ought to be judged. To the Jews have I done no wrong as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender or if committed anything worthy of death. I refuse not to die. But if there would be none of these things whereof these accuse me no man they deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. Then Festus when he had conferred with the council answered, Hast thou to appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar shalt thou go. So Paul, appealed to the laws that he lived under as a Roman citizen, the rights that he had. And of course note that he said if I be offender or committeth anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die. Paul understood that capital punishment was certainly a legitimate way to take care of an individual that's guilty of that kind of sin.
Arnie :That's That's correct. And and let me just give a little bit of background on on that statement that he made to to the governor there to Festus was his was his name Porschus Festus. He had been arrested and kind of a kind of an arrest and rescue both in the same in at the same time in Jerusalem when he'd been falsely charged with with having brought a Gentile into the into the temple. And and then he spoke to the Jews, he was given permission to speak to them from the steps of the fortress Antonia, and he did that and that resulted in a in a riot. So the the Roman soldiers there held him And eventually a plot was discovered to try to murder him. And so they sent him with several would be battalions of troops of cavalry over to Caesarea, which was the seat of Roman government at that time in Judea. And so that's why he appears before Festius and and then Jews came over and there were some lawyers that were trying to get the venue changed back to Jerusalem, of course, then he'd be available to be killed. And, and so Paul had appealed to Caesar in, in that regard. Peter was, was another one who, who of course, was concerned about the subject of, of persecution. As he's writing in first Peter, he discovers, he did, he did. He discusses a number of, of topics there and beginning in chapter four, and he begins to talk about the problem of suffering and persecution and that kind of thing beginning of verse twelve, Beloved, think it think not, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings. And when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. Now just pause there. The word happy there is the same word that the Jesus uses in the beatitudes when he said, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My name. Blessed is the same word happy. And, and, and that's what Peter is, is using there. So he says, Happy are ye for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part He is evil spoken of but on your part He is glorified. Let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busy body in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. Let him glorify God in this behalf, or liberally in this name. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house from God. And if it first began at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God. And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where Should the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffering according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their soul to Him in well doing as unto a faithful creator. There are a number of things that are notable about about this. This passage one of course is is that the name Christian appears there. By the way we didn't call attention to the fact that when that, that when Paul was teaching Agrippa, Agrippa said, Almost thou persuadedst me to be a Christian. That's one time that it appears This is the second time now that it that it appears in the Bible. The name Christian, of course, identifies those that were in the house of God. In that context. Each Christian has obeyed the gospel of God. Paul, or Peter makes or calls attention to their, to their obedience. When they're when they're persecuted, Christians suffer abuse, and not because of stealing or lying or violence or anything of that sort. They're suffering abuse as a result of believing in Christ and because of Christ's name. Judgment, Peter said, must begin at the house of God. That's the Christians. And it implies that there's a pretty dreadful end that awaits those who refuse to obey the gospel. What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel? It's not not a good situation. And and suffering, Christians are encouraged to trust their souls to God. As as unto a faithful creator. One of the things that that fascinates me about the Scripture is that The Holy Spirit gives these Bible writers the message that they're to contain. And it says a whole lot, in just a few words, gets the job done very economically, as far as word usage is concerned.
Fred Gosnell :Well exactly. and of course, we can depend on the words to that they are, in fact, true. So the persecution was what scattered the saints from Jerusalem there for a while, the only saints, the only Christians were in the church at Jerusalem. And then in Acts chapter 11. We're told beginning in verse 19, it says, Now, they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Steven traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only, and some of them were men of Cypress and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them; and a great number believed and turned to the Lord and tidings of these things came unto the ears the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas that he, he should go as far as Antioch, 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. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith; and much people was added unto the Lord.. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul. When they had found him he brought him to Antioch and it was 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's a number of things that are in, in this passage tells us that they went everywhere, preaching the word, and it names a number of the places there and and the church at Antioch was a was comprised of primarily Gentiles. And and notice the last thing it says that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. So many ran to the Lord. Barnabas encouraged them, and those that obeyed, they assembled with the church there. And the fact that they were called Christians first in Antioch, not any other place. Before this time they were called disciples and and never before no where previously was the name Christian used. There are some religions that we have around us that say that the word Christian was used in a number of other at a number of other times. But Luke tells us in Acts it was used first used in Antioch.
Arnie :People commonly believed that it not only had been a name that was used multiple times, in fact, maybe that it appears, dozens or even hundreds of times in the New Testament. It's it's not an Old Testament word. It doesn't appear in the Old Testament only appears in these three passages of Scripture in the, in the New Testament. Acts 26:28, First Peter 4:16, and in Acts chapter 11, verse 26, and nowhere else. And people have a lot of different ideas as to what the word Christian means. So let's, let's try to unravel that for them a little bit. as well. You see that it has the name Christ in there. And that the name Christ in the New Testament, which was written originally in Koine, Greek, it's a Koine Greek word that means anointed. It's the the equivalent of the Old Testament Hebrew word, Messiah. And so we're talking about the same individual whether we call it the Messiah or the, or the Christ. And the that the name Christian means that he's a follower of the anointed or he's an adherent of the Messiah. He's a disciple of Christ actually suggests the idea of discipleship. Just as the passage mentions that disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. The name Christian is a proper noun. It's never is never used in the Bible as an adjective. You don't have Christian meeting places or or Christian bookstores or something of that sort. The Christian is a person that's a name that he that he wears. It's not a bird, you can't Christian something. It's not an adverb. It's it's not a Christian thing to do. It's not Christian, Christian preaching. If you're preaching Christ, but it's not Christian preaching the word isn't used that that way. And it was only applied to Christ's disciples. It never applied to the church. It never was a Christian Church in the New Testament, and it was no Christianity either. By the way, you won't find that word in the, in the Bible. And an interesting thing about these three places. And I'll name them once again, Acts 26:28, First Peter 4:16, and Acts 11:26. Interesting thing about that is that the word Christian is closely associated with persecution and suffering of disciples. So if you want to say, Well, I'm a Christian, you better be prepared to take some hard times.
Fred Gosnell :That seems to be the history of, of the people of Christ. And notice that the last phrase there an Acts 11:26. It says, The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. The word called there has a particular definition. And it was given. It's not a derogatory term, even though there are some that teach that. It wasn't given to the Lord's disciples by His adversaries. But the name was given by God. And there are a number of prophecies that relate to this. Isaiah 56, four and five is one of them there says, For thus saith the Lord, unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant. Even unto them will I give in my house and within my walls, a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. A place and a name, a place and a name. And then in Isaiah 62, one and two. Then Isaiah writes in, he says, For Zion sake, will, I not hold my peace and forJerusalem's sake, I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth . And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which mouth of the Lord shall name. Now one of the things that we need to note here is that the word, the name Christian shows up in Acts 11:26, first time. But it shows up after Cornelius, the the first Gentile convert was taught in Acts chapter 10. And the situation was repeated by by Peter in Acts chapter 11. So Isaiah says that all kings, All kings thy glory and thou shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name. After the Gentiles heard it. So, so the new name according to Isaiah is the name, Christian. And then finally in Isaiah 65:13 through 15 there, Isaiah again writes so, Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry, Behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed. Behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen. Talking here to the Israelites here. For the Lord shall slay thee., and call his servants by another name. And of course, we understand the other name to be the name Christian, that God gave, named His disciples.
Arnie :Another thing I think that's important for us to remember is If I can take us back to Acts chapter nine, or Anand is was talking with the Lord, the Lord wanted to send him to Saul of Tarsus, and has as the Lord is speaking to him he said go by way, for he's chosen vessel of me. NET Now listen to what it is that he's going to have Paul do. He said to bear my name before Gentiles. That's why he came back to why he was fetch. Bye bye, Barnabas and came back to to Antioch, head King. That's why he wound up over in censorious and eventually in Rome, where he actually was on trial before, before Caesars and the children of Israel. So all of the it was Paul that was bringing the name that the Lord had named And bringing it back into, to the disciples there and in Antioch and and it was after that, that they were called Christians first in Antioch.
Fred Gosnell :And we need to note, the, if you have a lexicon, you can you can look up these words in the word for call there if you have a Strong's, it's at number 5537. And it's defined as to give a divine command, admonition warning or instruction to teach from heaven, to be the mouthpiece of divine revelations, to declare the commands of God. So the word called appears nine times in the New Testament. And it always involves a direct communication from God to man. So So, the name Christian was a name that the Lord gave His disciples and it's a specific name. And one of the one of the rules in understanding God's revelation to man is, when God gives us general instructions, there's some leeway for us in there to accomplish what He says. But when God specifies something, we can't change what His specification is, and and when He specified a particular name for his disciples, that's what they're called. And we can't change it. We can't we can't have denominational names for for God's people. God never gave those names. Those names have been constructed by uninspired man. So do a little bit of your own study. If you want to see make sure that this is true. Look up the word called and you'll note that God did the calling in the names Christian and it's always a noun and it refers to God's people in the New Testament, those who are in Christ.
Arnie :And that's even part of the definition now as as well of that, of that word. Maybe Fred a thing that we could talk about one time would be adding things and taking things away from God's word maybe that would be beneficial to everybody if we if we do that maybe down the road somewher but we don't know when we won't make any promises just we'll try to get to that. So so it was God who called the disciples Christians first atAntioch. We hope that you're one of Christ's disciples and hope that you're a Christian. And if not, we'll be glad to help you become one. You can reach Fred by email at fg ..What is it What's the next one?
Fred Gosnell :fgosnell@ftc-i.net
Arnie :I forgot how to spell your name there for a minute. And and I hope I remember how to spell mine. I'm agranke440718@twc.com. Please let us know we can be of any help to you. Thank you for listening to this afternoon. We wish you a great Lord's Day and hopefully we'll be with you again next Sunday. Transcribed by https://otter.ai