Sermon Tone Analysis

“Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, „Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.‟

Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”1

Outsiders often ridicule the thought that God can speak to mankind; and even we who are Christians are sometimes dismissive of what we see as naïve claims by believers who maintain they have heard the voice of God.

Nevertheless, the Word of God assumes that God not only can speak, but that He does speak to His own people.

No sensible preacher would claim that God routinely speaks in an audible voice to His people.

God can speak audibly, if He wishes to do so—He has done so in the past and undoubtedly He shall do so in the future.

However, God, by His Spirit, speaks to His people as they spend time in quiet mediation and reflection, as they read the written Word which the Spirit gave to His servants, as they wait in prayer and as they hear the Word preached.

It is likely that the failure of Christians to know that God does speak is because they are unprepared to hear His voice—the still, small voice that asks, “What are you doing here?”

The text before us clearly states that the Holy Spirit communicated the mind of the Lord.

Moreover, those who received this communication appear to have known that it was God who spoke, and they responded with alacrity and full compliance to His revealed will.

What is important for our study today is the context in which God spoke.

It was “while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting” that the Holy Spirit spoke.

Join me in a review of this text and in thinking about this matter of when God speaks.

PARTICIPANTS IN THE DRAMA — I believe it is valuable at the outset to take a moment to note the prophets and teachers to whom we are introduced.

The congregation at Antioch had at least five prophets and teachers.

I take it that this list is complete and there were no others.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that there were others who are not named.

However, from these that are named, we can glean quite a bit of valuable information.

The first mention of Antioch is in ACTS 6:5, where we read of the selection of servants for the Jerusalem church.

Among those chosen was a man named Nicolaus, who is identified as “a proselyte of Antioch.”

After the Christians in Jerusalem were scattered because of the persecution generated by the enraged rabbi, Saul of Tarsus, some came to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch.

Listen to the divine account, noting the manner in which God worked.

There were among those who had been scattered, some who were “men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.

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

The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” [ACTS 11:20-23].

The significance of this pericope is that we are given an account of how the Faith came to the Gentiles.

Antioch was the first Gentile congregation, though there were certainly Jewish believers in the church.

Evidence of the cosmopolitan nature of the congregation is seen in the prophets and teachers that are named.

Barnabas is known to be from Cyprus and Saul was from Tarsus.

Simeon, also called Niger, a Latin name meaning “black” or “dark,” is assumed by many scholars to have been a black man, and thus an immigrant to the region.

There was also Lucius, identified as coming from Cyrene.

Then, there was Manaen (Menahem?)

who had an unusual background.

Manaen had been a childhood friend of Herod Antipas.

Children of the same age as a prince would be invited to live with him, play with him and be trained with him as companions.2

Therefore, Manaen was of the social elite before his conversion to Christ.

Though it is possible that these five were not the only prophets and teachers for the congregation, I see no reason to believe that there were others.

Moreover, the text intimates the role each of these men performed in the congregation.

The Greek particle te is not translatable.

However, “it was used in antiquity to connect word pairs, co-ordinate clauses and similar sentences, thereby often distinguishing one set of co-ordinates from another.”

On this basis, it is probable that we should understand that Barnabas, Simeon and Lucius, introduced by the first te were prophets, and Manaen and Saul, introduced by the second te were teachers.

“Prophecy,” in this instance, would be understood to be what we know as expository preaching, and “teaching” having to do with defining the Old Testament relationships and implications.3

Take one moment longer to think about the forgotten discipline of fasting.

People sometimes imagine that fasting is simply the outgrowth of becoming so engrossed in what you are doing that you forget to eat.

However, it is presented in the Word of God as a deliberate act when those fasting seek to know the mind of the Lord.

I believe that these prophets and teachers were thinking of how to fulfil the commission given by the Risen Lord.

They knew they were responsible to spread the Gospel, making disciples throughout the entire world.

I cannot help but believe that they were thinking of how to fulfil this responsibility.

Notice that they did not form a planning committee; rather, the leaders served God and fasted.

They voluntarily, deliberately forewent food in order to focus on the will of God until it was revealed to them!

Think with me how this may have played out.

Paul knew he was to be a missionary to the Gentiles.

Perhaps he didn‟t use those words, but he knew the mind of the Lord.

Remember, when Ananias was sent to him, the Lord specifically said of Saul, “He is a chosen instrument of Mine to carry My Name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” [ACTS 9:15].

It is easy to see how Saul, understanding the call of the Lord in this matter, could have been impressed by the Holy Spirit to prepare to leave the safety of the Church at Antioch.

Undoubtedly, if this is the case, he had discussed this with his fellow elders, asking for their input.

In a decision of such importance, the congregation did not want to act without consulting the mind of the Lord, and so the prophets and teachers had committed themselves to fasting as they sought the will of God.

Perhaps the church shared this sense that now was the time to begin to penetrate the darkness with the light of the Gospel.

So, as the leaders of the congregation continued their service before the Lord, they fasted.

This was a solemn act as they endeavoured to know the mind of the Lord—and God honoured their search by giving them the answer they sought: “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

I note that Barnabas and Saul appear to have been the more accomplished—the most able—of those individuals named in the text.

We do not hear again of Simeon, Lucius or Manaen, but Barnabas and Saul are central to the account of the advance of the Faith in the First Century.

If this is the case, then it is a rebuke to modern church life.

We imagine that most seminarians will pastor a church.

If they are especially capable, they will pastor large churches.

Should the seminary student be exceptional, we imagine he should be a professor of theology.

Adopting the biblical view, we would appoint the average students to be instructors in seminary and encourage the most capable among those studying for divine service to fulfil a role as a missionary or a church planter.

The most brilliant should be the one to engage the culture.

There is another aspect of God‟s call and appointment that must be stated as I pursue this diversion.

It was not merely that God appointed whom He willed to this demanding service, but the leaders of the congregation concurred enthusiastically.

Surely, they must have thought, “But, these are our two most capable preachers.

Couldn‟t God choose someone else?”

We think in terms of finding someone we can spare; but God wants our best.

If we witness God raise up capable men from within our assembly, we should rejoice when God appoints them to His service.

We work with those whom God is raising up to ensure that He has our best!

Let me point out a final truth from this text before I return to the subject at hand, which is worship.

If any work is to succeed, it will need to be the Lord‟s work.

Thus, we read the Spirit saying, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

God appoints, not man; this is His work, not ours.

God communicated His will clearly; and it is apparent that He communicated the same truth to multiple individuals.

I assume that Barnabas and Saul were aware of His call on their lives, but the text indicates that the Spirit of God communicated the mind of God to Simeon, Lucius and Manaen.

He spoke so clearly and so convincingly that all five were united in obeying the revealed will of God.

When the people of God wait in the presence of God, seeking to know His will, there will be unity of purpose and unity in implementation.

When the people of God politicise church labour, there will ultimately result conflict and chaos.

Whether we experience harmony or conflict depends upon whether we seek the Lord or pursue our own will.

THE CONTEXT IN WHICH GOD SPEAKS — “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting…” The text asserts the context in which God spoke to these early believers in the Risen Saviour.

To be certain, the text implies that those present were “prophets and teachers.”

Frankly, if those who purport to be teachers of the Word do not know the mind of God, they are disqualified from teaching.

If they have never known the awe of standing in the presence of the Living God, they are incapable of leading others into His presence.

However, the text does not permit us the luxury of imagining that suddenly God interrupted their busy lives to speak with them.

They were attuned to hear the voice of the Lord because they lived in His presence.

“Worshipping” translates the Greek word leitourgéō, a word normally used to refer to the performance of a public service or which spoke of service performed in a public office.

In biblical use, the word speaks of the service performed by priests and Levites [e.g.

HEBREWS 10:11], refers to the various ways in which a religious person serves God (teaching, benevolences or prayer as in our text), or it speaks of service in general [e.g.

ROMANS 15:27].4

Note that it was while the prophets and teachers were serving God that He spoke.

Doctor Luke deliberately adds the information that in addition to serving the Lord, these men (at least) were fasting.

What is not clear is whether these five were all together in one place, engaged in prayer or preparing to perform their public responsibilities, or whether they were each fulfilling their separate appointed duties when the Spirit of God spoke to them, so that they received the same knowledge of the will of God and later conferred.