Amen. Let's pray. Gracious and heavenly Father, Long ago, your servant Samuel, when you called him by name, he said to you, Lord, speak. Your servant is listening. Tonight, give us the spirit, same spirit that you gave to your servant Samuel. so that each and every one of us, as hearers of your word, would say, Lord, speak to us. Your servants are listening. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Tonight, as we set apart install a brother, Pastor Malakou, to the office of a teacher. I would like us to consider the church of Antioch that is mentioned in Acts chapter 13. By the way, the church in Antioch was a church known for its generosity. I don't know how many of you know that. But this church was a giving church. This church would give to the work of God's kingdom without any reservation and with a cheerful heart. During Paul's missionary journey, this church was known for her generosity. It was a giving church. But tonight, I would like to focus on the quality and the excellence of this church as a sending church. What a privilege for us, Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church, to join these churches, one of them was the church in Antioch, to send a man from among us to serve God's kingdom and his church as a teacher of the Word of God. In the Bible, this church is described as a sending church. And when we look into the life and the ministry of this church, her faithfulness, As Ascending Church, we see three marks of Ascending Church. If you and I, as the Church of Jesus Christ, desire and if we would like to be Ascending Church, we need to hear this message tonight. What we have in our text tonight are maybe more, but three marks of ascending church. As ascending church, the church in Antioch was a diverse church. It was a teaching church. And it was a worshiping church. You see, a diverse church, a teaching church, a worshiping church, always end up in being ascending church. Because this church has all the qualities that the church needs to send men to the gospel labor and work. So let's consider this church as a diverse church. In verse one, we have five men being mentioned by name. One of them, the first one is Barnabas. Do you know who Barnabas was in Acts chapter 4? You would learn that Barnabas was a Levi from Cyprus. He was from the tribe of Levi, a priestly tribe. He was also from the island of Cyprus. in the Mediterranean Sea. He was not from Israel proper. He was a Jew, but he was familiar with Greek culture. In Acts chapter 11, you will see the apostles in Jerusalem sending Barnabas to Antioch. And when Barnabas went to Antioch, He became one of those men who played a significant role in establishing the church in Antioch. That was Barnabas. Then Simeon and Niger. Niger means black. This man was a black man from Norse Africa, from the area where Libya is located. And then Manin, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch. This Herod was responsible for the execution of John the Baptist. And then we have Saul. Saul here is, he's the Apostle Paul. Saul was converted by the power of the Holy Spirit. God turned this man from being a persecutor to a missionary. So all these five men from different backgrounds in one church, the church in Antioch, all of them were prophets and teachers in Christ's church. The power of the gospel made them one, and they had one vision, to take the gospel to all people who were living outside of Christ. Now, as we think about these five men, let's think about Antioch. where these five men found themselves. Antioch was the third most important city in the Roman Empire. After Rome and Alexandria comes Antioch, a population of half a million people. But in Antioch and in the church in Antioch, You will find Asians, you will find Greeks, you will find Romans, and you will find people, even Jews, people from all walks of life, from all backgrounds, in one church. You see the diverse of this church. All these people from all nations, all backgrounds, as members of Christ's church. Now, you might think this actually happened by chance, by accident. It didn't happen by accident. Acts 11, listen to what Luke tells us in the book of Acts 11, beginning from verse 19. It's amazing how this church came into being. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists. The Hellenists are Greek-speaking Gentiles. They spoke to them the word of God. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. This is how this church was born. Since its inception, It was ascending church. It was a mission-minded church. How come the gospel, the power of the gospel brought all these men from all walks of life, from all backgrounds into one church to become ascending church as one body? The power of the gospel, its message, called them to put their mind, their heart, their will, and their passion on missions. That was the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul would tell you, that was not my work. Barnabas would tell you, that was not me. But the Holy Spirit does it. First you see brothers and sisters in Christ, their light shined locally and it went beyond of the walls of their church. Missions starts at home and as one body redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, the power of the gospel The gospel grows by sending men for the mission of the gospel. In Ephesians 2, 14, Paul tells us, Paul said, For he himself is our peace. This is Jesus, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Jews and Gentiles. He made them one. People who never liked one another at all. People who never wanted to labor for the glory of God, for the furtherance of the gospel. The Holy Spirit, through the blood of Christ, made them one. Is this what you want for your church, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we send our brother to serve God's people here and in Ethiopia? Is this the desire of our hearts? Is this where we are as believers, even as a church? Secondly, This church was a teaching church. Listen to what Luke tells us in verse 1. Now, there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers. Prophets and teachers. Again, in chapter 11, the book of Acts 11, beginning from verse 25, So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, for Paul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. He needed help. Barnabas went to Antioch, and he saw the mission field. He saw the need for the gospel, especially for the teaching of the Word of God, for the instruction of God's Word. Now listen to what happened. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, one year, they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians. So for one whole year, Barnabas and Paul were teaching the people in this church the Scriptures, the Word of God. Imagine Paul staying with us here at Redeemer for one whole year teaching us the Word of God. Think about that. Imagine that. But remember, it's not Paul, it's the Word of God. It's the Holy Spirit working through the teaching of God's Word. How is this related to the sending of a man to the work of the gospel? How is this related to us? Well, if we want to become ascending church, if we want to understand what it means to be ascending church, we need to dwell in the Word of God. We need to be grounded in the teaching of God's Word, sound and healthy teaching of God's Word. We need to love the teaching of the Word of God, you see, brothers and sisters in Christ. the whole year they taught the Scripture. You see, it was through the preaching and the teaching of God's Word that people see and appreciate God's plan of redemption for all people. All people, all nations. That's what we see in chapter 11, verse 19 and 20. Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. Because those were the people whom they knew. The people with whom they were comfortable, they were Jews. But then suddenly the Holy Spirit caused them, no, no, no, no, you also must speak the word to others. All people need the gospel. Not only the Jews, but even the Greeks, Gentiles, they need the gospel. And they spoke the word of God. to the Hellenists. And God was with them. The Holy Spirit was with them. And many were converted to Christ. Beloved, the heart of their message was the Lord Jesus Christ. In Acts 11, it tells us they preached Jesus Christ. The heart of their message was Christ. It was not to be a good person, it was not to love and care for the poor, it was not medical service. All these are good, they are helpful, but that was not the heart of their message. I don't know how many of you know this story, true story. Donald Duff was one of the OPI missionaries who was sent to Eritrea. And when he started the medical service in a place, in a small town, Ginda, when he started the medical service, there were people from the church who started questioning the motive of his heart. Why are you doing medical service? We sent you to do the preaching of the Word of God. So you need to justify your work in Eritrea. Do you know what his response was? Donald Dove said, brothers, the medical service in Eritrea, is a picture of Jesus' healing ministry, the healing of the soul. We are healing the sick only to point them to Christ who came to the world to heal their soul. This is the heart of the message. The Lord, you know, God blessed Donald Duff. He knew why he was in Eritrea. He knew why the church sent him. He was saying, the heart of my message is not medical service, medicine, just to cure them physically, but to give people the medicine for the soul through the preaching of the Word of God. That's what our brother is going to do in Ethiopia when he trains men for gospel ministry, when he teaches the Word of God to the congregations. Thirdly, this church was a worshiping church. Do you know when exactly God spoke to this church to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work of the gospel? While they were worshiping. Listen. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers. And he mentions the five. And verse two, while they were worshiping, the Lord, and fasting, praying. The Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them." Where did God come? Through the Holy Spirit? Do you see what happened? The Holy Spirit, the third person of Trinity, came upon this church while this church was worshiping. and fasting and praying. It was a worshipping church. God uses a worshipping church for the sending of preachers. While they were worshipping, the church in Antioch had a heart for God. They have a heart for God. And the heart that they had for God was was expressing itself in worship. How do we express our heart of worship? By worshiping God. Now notice how many times the worship is mentioned in our text. Two times. Have you noticed that? Before the Holy Spirit came and told them to set apart Barnabas and Saul, and then after they were being told to set apart the two men for the work of the gospel. Two times. They worshiped and they prayed. Before and after. They prayed before and they prayed after. They worship it before and they worship it after. They have a heart for God. When it comes to, you know, having a heart of worship, glorifying God in praying and fasting, preparing yourself for a season of ministry. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our good example in the Gospel of Luke chapter 4. First, you know, we see Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness to be tested by the devil. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. He was fasting and praying. But then notice what happened in verse 16, and he came to Nazareth after fasting, praying, spending his time with his father, being empowered by the Holy Spirit. We don't see a church sending our Savior, but his father was sending him. So he fasted, he prayed, and then he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up and read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Even Jesus was sent after he prayed and fasted. So this church was a worshiping church, a praying church. What it means is they were relying on God and the power of the Holy Spirit as a sending church. And you and I need to pray for our own church, beloved. that also God would work these marks in us and within us so that we would become ascending church in this way. The privilege that God has given us tonight as Christ Church to send our brother as a teacher. Not only to serve among us, but also to serve among the saints in Ethiopia. What a privilege. What a privilege. This is not a small privilege. It's unique. It's a wonderful privilege. To become a saint in church is a blessing. So I also want to charge you as a congregation tonight, as we set apart our brother as a teacher, we need to pray for him. We need to support him with our prayers, with our love, with words of encouragement to him, to his wife, to his children. We're sending him, but we are sending him as a sending church. What I mean by that is as a teaching church, as a worshiping church, as a church that loves missions. What is the mission of the church, beloved? Missions. The mission of the church is missions. Next to worship, we worship, we go. And we go in sending men from among us to the harvest to teach and proclaim the gospel. so that sinners would repent and put their faith in Christ for eternal life. May the Lord grant us His Holy Spirit, not only to be ascending church in this way, but also to be on our brother's side. in prayer, love, and support. Let's pray. Gracious God, Lord, thank you for the message of your word. Use it for the glory of your name, for the advancement of your kingdom. and for the encouragement of our brother in your church. In the name of Christ we pray, amen. Let's respond to the preaching of the word of God by singing 422. We rest on thee 422 as our brother, Pastor Ivy comes here. to give the charge to a brother, Pastor Malakou. 422.