◄ Acts 11:21 ►
The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
Study Bible
The hand of the Lord was with them,

This phrase signifies divine favor and empowerment. In biblical context, "the hand of the Lord" often represents God's power and presence actively working in the lives of His people (Exodus 9:3, Isaiah 41:10). Here, it indicates that the success of the early Christians in spreading the Gospel was not due to human effort alone but was a result of God's intervention. This aligns with the broader narrative of Acts, where the Holy Spirit guides and empowers the apostles (Acts 1:8). The phrase also echoes Old Testament instances where God's hand led Israel to victory and deliverance, suggesting continuity in God's redemptive work through Jesus Christ.

Luk 1:66 And all who heard this wondered in their hearts…
Ezr 7:9 He had begun the journey from Babylon…
Neh 2:8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s…

and a great number of people believed

The phrase highlights the effectiveness of the Gospel message when accompanied by divine power. The term "believed" implies more than intellectual assent; it denotes a deep, personal trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. This belief is transformative, leading to a new identity in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The "great number" suggests a significant movement, indicating that the Gospel was breaking cultural and religious barriers, fulfilling Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). This growth is a testament to the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting hearts and drawing people to faith.

Act 14:1 At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual…
Act 4:4 But many who heard the message believed…
Act 17:12 As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few…

and turned to the Lord.

This phrase emphasizes repentance and conversion, a turning away from sin and a turning towards God. In the cultural context of the early church, this often meant leaving behind pagan practices and idolatry, as well as a reorientation of life priorities. Turning to the Lord involves a commitment to follow Jesus and live according to His teachings (Luke 9:23). This transformation is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the nations coming to know the Lord (Isaiah 2:2-3). It also reflects the early church's mission to spread the Gospel beyond Jewish communities, as seen in the conversion of Gentiles in Acts 10 and 11.

1Th 1:9 For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us,…
Luk 1:16 Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back…
Act 26:18 open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness…

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Early Believers
These were the followers of Jesus who were scattered due to persecution. They traveled to various regions, including Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, spreading the message of Jesus Christ.

2. Antioch
A significant city in early Christianity, Antioch became a central hub for the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles. It was here that the term "Christian" was first used to describe the followers of Christ.

3. The Hand of the Lord
This phrase signifies God's power and favor. In the context of Acts 11:21, it indicates divine support and blessing on the efforts of the believers as they shared the Gospel.

4. Conversion of Gentiles
The event of Gentiles turning to the Lord marks a pivotal moment in the early church, highlighting the expansion of the Gospel beyond Jewish communities.

5. Belief and Turning to the Lord
This describes the response of many people in Antioch who accepted the message of Jesus and committed their lives to Him.
Teaching Points
The Power of God's Hand
Recognize that the success of any ministry or evangelistic effort is dependent on the presence and power of God. We must seek His guidance and blessing in all our endeavors.

The Importance of Evangelism
The early believers were committed to sharing the Gospel, even in the face of persecution. We are called to be bold in our witness, trusting that God will work through us.

Inclusivity of the Gospel
The conversion of Gentiles in Antioch demonstrates that the Gospel is for all people, regardless of background. We should strive to reach out to diverse communities with the message of Christ.

Faith and Repentance
True belief in Jesus involves a turning away from sin and a commitment to follow Him. This transformation should be evident in our lives as we grow in faith.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the phrase "the hand of the Lord was with them" encourage you in your personal ministry or evangelistic efforts?

2. In what ways can we, like the early believers, effectively share the Gospel in our own communities today?

3. How does the inclusion of Gentiles in the early church challenge us to think about inclusivity in our own churches?

4. What are some practical steps you can take to ensure that your faith is accompanied by genuine repentance and transformation?

5. How can the growth of the early church in Acts inspire us to pray for and work towards revival in our own time?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Acts 2:41
This verse describes the early church's growth as many were added to their number, similar to the growth seen in Antioch.

Isaiah 59:1
This Old Testament reference to the "hand of the Lord" emphasizes God's ability to save and His active involvement in the world.

Luke 24:47
Jesus' instruction that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached to all nations, which is being fulfilled in Acts 11:21.
Sermons
Conversions DesiredC. H. Spurgeon.Acts 11:21
The HandS. Jenner, M. A.Acts 11:21
Christ All in All to His ChurchK. Gerok.Acts 11:19-21
Christianity At AntiochD. Thomas, D. D.Acts 11:19-21
How the Manifold Gifts of Christians Contribute to the General UseLisco.Acts 11:19-21
Primitive ChristianityW. Arnot, D. D.Acts 11:19-21
Primitive ChristianityJ. Parker, D. D.Acts 11:19-21
Success of Preaching ChristW. Kent.Acts 11:19-21
The Church At AntiochJ. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.Acts 11:19-21
The Diffusive Tower of the GospelA. J. Parry.Acts 11:19-21
The Essentials of Successful WorkK. Gerok.Acts 11:19-21
The First Preaching At AntiochA. Maclaren, D. D.Acts 11:19-21
The Spread of the GospelSermons by the Monday ClubActs 11:19-21
The Spread of the GospelM. C. Hazard.Acts 11:19-21
A New Center of Evangelistic Work. AntiochR.A. Redford Acts 11:19-26
Founding of the Church At AntiochE. Johnson Acts 11:19-26
The Many Ways and the One Work of GodW. Clarkson Acts 11:19-26
People
Agabus, Barnabas, Christians, Claudius, Cyprians, Cyrenians, Grecians, John, Peter, Saul, Simon, Stephen
Places
Caesarea, Cyprus, Cyrene, Jerusalem, Joppa, Judea, Phoenicia, Syrian Antioch, Tarsus
Topics
Believed, Faith, Large, Lord's, Power, Turn, Vast
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Acts 11:21

     1265   hand of God
     6175   guilt, removal of
     6627   conversion, nature of
     6733   repentance, nature of
     7027   church, purpose
     8020   faith
     8151   revival, corporate
     8443   growth
     8465   progress

Acts 11:1-22

     7241   Jerusalem, significance

Acts 11:19-21

     2426   gospel, responses
     8025   faith, origins of

Acts 11:19-23

     7953   mission, of church

Acts 11:20-21

     5424   nationalism

Library
April 27 Evening
A new name.--REV. 2:17. The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.--Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.--They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.--Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Exhortation of Barnabas
[Footnote: Preached before the Congregational Union of England and Wales.] '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.'--ACTS xi. 23. The first purely heathen converts had been brought into the Church by the nameless men of Cyprus and Cyrene, private persons with no office or commission to preach, who, in simple obedience to the instincts of a Christian heart, leaped the barrier which seemed impassable …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

A Nickname Accepted
'The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch' --ACTS xi. 26. Nations and parties, both political and religious, very often call themselves by one name, and are known to the outside world by another. These outside names are generally given in contempt; and yet they sometimes manage to hit the very centre of the characteristics of the people on whom they are bestowed, and so by degrees get to be adopted by them, and worn as an honour. So it has been with the name 'Christian.' It was given …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Peter's Apologia
'And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 3. Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. 4. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, 5. I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The First Preaching at Antioch
'And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they ware come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.'--ACTS xi. 20, 21. Thus simply does the historian tell one of the greatest events in the history of the Church. How great it was will appear if we observe that the weight of authority among critics and commentators sees here an extension of the message of salvation …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Repentance unto Life
By "Repentance unto life," I think we are to understand that repentance which is accompanied by spiritual life in the soul, and ensures eternal life to every one who possesses it. "Repentance unto life," I say, brings with it spiritual life, or rather, is the first consequent thereof. There are repentances which are not signs of life, except of natural life, because they are only effected by the power of the conscience and the voice of nature speaking in men; but the repentance here spoken of is …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Completion Op the Fifth Continental Journey.
1849-50. The disorganized state of Germany presented a serious obstacle to John and Martha Yeardley's resuming their labors on the Continent. FROM JOHN YEARDLEY TO JOHN KITCHING. Scarborough, 6 mo. 23, 1849. We spent two days at Malton with our dear friends Ann and Esther Priestman, in their delightful new abode on the bank of the river: we were comforted in being at meeting with them on First-day. On Second-day we came to Scarborough, and soon procured two rooms near our own former residence. The …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

From the Ascension to the Church at Antioch.
Acts Chs. 1-12. The Book of Acts. The book of Acts is the only purely historical book of the New Testament. It is as a continuation of the gospel of Luke. It follows the fortunes of the infant church and gives us all the light we have in regard to its further organization and development, but it does not claim to be a complete history of the work of the early church. As a history it is as remarkable for what it omits as for what it narrates. The central theme is the triumph and progress of the gospel …
Josiah Blake Tidwell—The Bible Period by Period

Repentance
Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.' Acts 11: 18. Repentance seems to be a bitter pill to take, but it is to purge out the bad humour of sin. By some Antinomian spirits it is cried down as a legal doctrine; but Christ himself preached it. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent,' &c. Matt 4: 17. In his last farewell, when he was ascending to heaven, he commanded that Repentance should be preached in his name.' Luke 24: 47. Repentance is a pure gospel grace. …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Some Associated Questions
A BRIEF reference to some of the other difficulties, which have been found in Luke's references to matters of contemporary history, will form a fitting conclusion to this study. In some cases all that is wanted to solve the difficulty is proper understanding of Luke's words. That, for example, is the case with Acts 11:28, where the statement, that in the days of Claudius there was famine over all the world, has been misinterpreted to imply that harvests failed and a famine ensued in every part of …
Sir William Mitchell Ramsay—Was Christ Born in Bethlehem?

What God Hath Cleansed
'There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2. A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Breaking Out of Discord
'And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. 2. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. 3. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Rome Protects Paul
'And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the Temple, I was in a trance; 18. And saw Him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me. 19. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on Thee: 20. And when the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Knowledge and Obedience.
"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father."--COL. i. 9-12. The Epistles …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Other New Testament Names for "Being Filled with the Spirit. "
That we may see how full the New Testament is of this blessing, and that we may the better understand what it is and how it is obtained, let us just glance at some other terms used by the Holy Ghost when speaking of it. 1. "Baptized with the Holy Ghost." "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence" (Acts i. 5). See also Acts xi. 16, Matt. iii. 11, Mark i. 8, Luke iii. 16, John i. 33. Now, though "baptized" and "filled" are sometimes convertible terms, it is instructive to note …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

Luke.
Lucas, Evangelii el medicinae munera pandens; Artibus hinc, illinc religione, valet: Utilis ille labor, per quem vixere tot aegri; Utilior, per quem tot didicere mori!" Critical and Biographical Schleiermacher: Ueber die Schriften des Lukas. Berlin, 1817. Reprinted in the second vol. of his Sämmtliche Werke, Berlin, 1836 (pp. 1-220). Translated by Bishop Thirlwall, London, 1825. James Smith (of Jordanhill, d. 1867): Dissertation on the Life and Writings of St. Luke, prefixed to his Voyage and …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

For if they be Urged from the Gospel that they Should Put Nothing By...
31. For if they be urged from the Gospel that they should put nothing by for the morrow, they most rightly answer, "Why then had the Lord Himself a bag in which to put by the money which was collected? [2572] Why so long time beforehand, on occasion of impending famine, were supplies of corn sent to the holy fathers? [2573] Why did Apostles in such wise provide things necessary for the indigence of saints lest there should be lack thereafter, that most blessed Paul should thus write to the Corinthians …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

As it Is, However, They, against the Apostle of Christ...
27. As it is, however, they, against the Apostle of Christ, recite a Gospel of Christ. For so marvellous are the works of the sluggards, hindered that they want to have that very thing by Gospel, which the Apostle enjoined and did on purpose that the Gospel itself should not be hindered. And yet, if from the very words of the Gospel we should compel them to live agreeably with their way of understanding it, they will be the first to endeavor to persuade us how they are not to be understood so as …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Whether Chrism is a Fitting Matter for this Sacrament?
Objection 1: It seems that chrism is not a fitting matter for this sacrament. For this sacrament, as stated above (A[1], ad 1), was instituted by Christ when He promised His disciples the Holy Ghost. But He sent them the Holy Ghost without their being anointed with chrism. Moreover, the apostles themselves bestowed this sacrament without chrism, by the mere imposition of hands: for it is written (Acts 8:17) that the apostles "laid their hands upon" those who were baptized, "and they received the …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

How Does it Come?
How does the Filling of the Spirit come? "Does it come once for all? or is it always coming, as it were?" was a question addressed to me once by a young candidate for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. There are many asking the same question. We have considered how the Fullness is obtained, but now we proceed to consider, How does the Fullness come? In speaking of the blessing of being filled with the Spirit, the New Testament writers use three tenses in the Greek--the Aorist, the Imperfect, and the …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

The Ministry of Angels.
1 High on a hill of dazzling light, The King of Glory spreads his seat, And troops of angels stretch'd for flight, Stand waiting round his awful feet. 2 "Go," saith the Lord, "my Gabriel go, "Salute the virgin's fruitful womb,[1] "Make haste, ye cherubs, down below, Sing and proclaim the Saviour come." 3 Here a bright squadron leaves the skies, And thick around Elisha stands;[2] Anon a heavenly soldier flies, And breaks the chains from Peter's hands.[3] 4 Thy winged troops, O God of hosts, Wait on …
Isaac Watts—Hymns and Spiritual Songs

As That, "Take no Thought for the Morrow...
29. As that, "Take no thought for the morrow," and, "Take therefore no thought what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or what ye shall put on." [2344] Now when we see that the Lord Himself had a bag in which was put what was given, [2345] that it might be kept for necessary uses as the time should require; and that the Apostles themselves made much provision for the indigence of the brethren, not only for the morrow, but even for the more protracted time of impending dearth, as we read in the …
St. Augustine—On Lying

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