The First Missionary Journey – part 3
Acts 13:1-12 (5-8)
October 14, 2012
Well, as you know, we have recently been looking at
The first ever missionary journey and how it began.
We are studying the beginning of this church at Antioch,
And have learned some very encouraging things in regard to
The type of church that God uses to be missionaries to this dark world.
And we have already seen several aspects as we have looked at this church.
1) THE CHURCH (1-2a)
We have said it several times, but it is worth repeating,
That God has a vision for the church.
Matthew 16:18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
The church is to be God’s evangelistic agency on the earth.
There is really no other reason for her to be here.
• Worship could be better done in heaven
• Fellowship could be better done in heaven
• Holiness would be much easier in heaven
BUT EVANGELISM CAN ONLY BE DONE HERE
And so we saw the church.
And this particular church impressed us.
• They were committed to the proclaimed word of God.
• They were committed to true worship.
(2a) “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting”
And we talked about the foundation of a great missionary church
Is not one that seeks out missions, but one that seeks out God.
2) THE CATALYST (2b)
And of course the catalyst was the Holy Spirit.
He is the One who directed the mission trip.
He is the One who called out the missionaries.
We don’t plan trips, we don’t plan missions,
We simply seek God because He plans missions.
That happened for this church.
And last week we saw a third aspect of this church’s missionary journey.
3) THE COMMISSIONING (3)
This church didn’t just let Paul and Barnabas go, this church sent them.
• They fasted again to confirm the leading they had heard from God.
• They prayed again offering requests and seeking guidance.
• They laid their hands on them, indicating that through Paul and Barnabas they would all be faithful to the great commission.
• They sent them away.
And we learned that in order to be faithful to the great commission,
A Christian really only has two options.
You either must be the one going, or you must be the one sending,
But you must do one or the other.
And this church was faithful not only to let Paul and Barnabas go,
But to actually send them.
And then the mission started.
4) THE COMMUNICATION (4-5)
And we really on were able to start this point last week,
So I want to pick up on it a little more here tonight.
We see again that Saul and Barnabas sailed to Cyprus.
• One it was close
• Two it was predominantly Jewish
• Three it was Barnabas home
It made sense to go there.
(5) “When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.”
And we talked about this important aspect.
“they began to proclaim the word of God”
And we were reminded that a trip is only a mission trip
If the gospel is presented.
• Humanitarian aid is nice and can be beneficial.
• Construction is nice and can be beneficial.
• Cultural exchange is nice and can be beneficial.
But if all those things occur, but the gospel is not preached,
It is not missions.
The gospel is central to missions.
In fact, the proclamation of the gospel to the whole world
Is the one uncompleted task our Lord awaits before He returns.
Matthew 24:14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
And so you wonder why we are here…
You wonder why He delays His return…
The answer for both is the same.
We are here to preach the gospel.
He waits to return until the gospel is preached to the whole world.
It is really all about preaching the truth.
Romans 10:9-14 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
And that really makes it clear to us doesn’t it?
• In order to be saved men must call on the name of the Lord.
• In order to call on Jesus, they must first believe in Him.
• In order to believe in Christ, they must hear the gospel.
• In order to hear the gospel, someone must preach it to them.
There really is no substitute for the proclamation of the gospel,
It is central, and it is of the utmost importance.
And we find this encouragement everywhere.
I’ve always loved Paul’s final admonition to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
The admonition is clear that Timothy must preach the word.
• He must do it at all times, whether popular or not.
• He must do it with endurance
• He must do it with conviction and accuracy
But it is not just in church where Timothy must preach.
Paul concluded by also telling Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist”
While preaching to the congregation is essential and beneficial,
Simply preaching to the redeemed does not fulfill our entire calling.
We must proclaim the gospel to the lost.
And of course this was Paul’s heartbeat.
Romans 15:20-21 “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; but as it is written, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.”
And make no mistake about it,
As Paul traveled it was all about the gospel.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
And don’t misunderstand that.
Paul priority of preaching the cross did not mean that Paul was some sort of simple preacher who preached the same message over and over.
Acts 20:25-27 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”
PAUL PREACHED IT AND HE PREACHED IT ALL
The gospel mattered to him.
LET ME SHOW YOU WHY THE GOSPEL MATTERS SO MUCH.
TURN TO: Romans 1:14-23
It is vitally important that you open this section
Understanding Paul’s statement, “I am under obligation…”
WHAT DOES HE MEAN?
We read last week as Paul told the Corinthians, “I am under compulsion…woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”
In our state, if you are driving down the road and the car in front of you veers off the road and crashes in the ditch, you are required by law to stop and render aid.
You have a moral obligation.
WHY?
Because you were there, and because you saw the wreck.
This also explains why Paul was under obligation.
Ephesians 3:1-3 “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.”
Paul had been entrusted with the truth.
To the Galatians he wrote:
Galatians 1:11-12 “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Paul knew the truth and so he was obligated to preach it.
(We have that same obligation don’t we)
So Paul was obligated to preach, and preach he did.
(16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
But why the gospel?
Because the gospel “is the power of God for salvation”
WHY?
(17) “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
So Paul says that the gospel holds the power of salvation,
Because the gospel reveals the righteousness of God,
And more specifically than that.
The gospel reveals how to achieve righteousness, which is “faith”.
WHY DOES MAN NEED TO ACHIEVE GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS?
(18) “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
The reason you need God’s righteousness
Is because God will judge the unrighteous.
WHY WILL GOD JUDGE THE UNRIGHTEOUS?
(19) “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
See it’s not just an issue of being ignorant.
Man isn’t ignorant he is rebellious.
He was told about God, but adamantly chose to rebel against God
And verses 20-23 explain how man knew about God’s eternal power and divine nature, but rebelled anyway.
READ 20-23
• So man rebelled and is under God’s wrath.
• In order to escape wrath he needs to be made righteous.
• And only one thing tells you how to obtain God’s righteousness.
WHAT IS THAT?
THE GOSPEL.
And that is why the gospel is central and not humanitarian aid,
Or construction, or cultural exchange.
• Giving a kid shoes will help their feet but it will not make them righteous and help them escape the wrath of God.
• Renovating a hospital will certainly help improve the health care in a country that needs it, but it won’t help those people escape God’s wrath, in a day when people are asking mountains and hills to fall on them to hide them from God.
• Teaching English as a second language will help people function in an English speaking world much easier, but it won’t put them on the right side of the Judge during the judgment.
The only thing that will help them is the gospel.
• That Jesus Christ became flesh and dwelt among us.
• That He lived a sinless life thus being acceptable to God.
• That He died upon the cross to appease God’s wrath on sin.
• That He rose from the dead proving His righteousness and conquering death.
• That He ascended to heaven and intercedes for the saints.
• And that when men believe in Him and call on His name they will be forgiven of
their sins and be justified in God’s sight.
It must be the gospel!
And that is the beauty of Saul and Barnabas.
“they began to proclaim the word of God”
They did it first in the synagogues
Because the gospel was for the Jew first, but they preached.
• So we have a church that sought God to give Him what He desired.
• When God said He wanted Saul and Barnabas this church sent them.
• And when these men went, they were faithful to preach the gospel.
This is how it is supposed to work.
The Church, The Catalyst, The Commissioning, The Communication
#5 THE COMPETITION
Acts 13:6-8
Now this is not a fun reality, but it is reality none the less.
(6-7) “When the had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.”
So at this point Saul and Barnabas have traveled
From the northeast corner of the island to the southwest corner.
They literally covered it all.
And there was a “proconsul” there (a governor) who was “a man of intelligence.”
And “This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.”
So in all their traveling and preaching they run across a man
Who likes to learn new things.
God is setting up here another divine appointment.
However, in going to find this man
They encountered someone else.
“a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus”
That is an interesting name, it means “son of Jesus”
And this man was “a magician”
We’ve already come across one man like this.
Acts 8:9-10 “Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, ” This man is what is called the Great Power of God.”
And so now we have another man of the same mold
And it is not too far-fetched to assume that this man
Is trying to ride the coat tale of Jesus’ popularity with miracles.
He is using smoke and mirrors to wow his audiences
And then to preach to them a false doctrine.
And when Saul and Barnabas approach the proconsul
This man jumps in the middle.
“But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”
“Elymas” was the Greek translation of his Hebrew name, but we are dealing with the same guy.
And this “Elymas” or “Bar-Jesus” “was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”
And it really couldn’t be clearer what this man is about.
He simply wants to make sure
That the governor goes “away from the faith”
And so for the first time we now have opposition to the mission.
We have someone who is competing for the souls of men.
And while this is certainly not pleasant, it is necessary.
Opposition is a sure fire sign of effectiveness.
Philippians 1:27-30 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”
Paul actually used opposition as a way to encourage the Philippians
That they were in fact on the right path.
And we should know this, for Jesus clearly taught us:
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”
And the simple truth is that if Satan is not working against you
Then you must not be irritating him.
Satan only opposes those who threaten his dominion.
He is the god of this world and our job is literally
To snatch those from his control and lead them to faith in the true God.
Jude 22-23 “And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”
And that is what we are doing.
• We are trying to snatch people from the fire.
• We are trying to correct people in such a way that they will come to their senses and escape the devil’s snare.
Do we suppose that he will easily
Give up his control of those that are his?
Absolutely not.
Let me remind you this evening exactly who we are dealing with.
I’ve always thought one of the most telling verses on the plan and course of Satan is seen in the book of the Revelation.
TURN TO: Revelation 12:7-12
Now this passage obviously speaks of a future event
In which Satan is permanently bound from heaven.
We know he lost his position back before the fall, but we also know that in some mysterious way he still has an access to God.
(We see this in the book of Job)
But on this future day, Satan is permanently removed.
And then verse 9 gives really I think
The best description of exactly who the devil is.
You will actually notice four names given for him.
• “the great dragon”
• “the serpent of old”
• “who is called the devil”
• “and Satan”
“the great dragon” is a term referencing his power throughout the ages.
Look back at verses 1-4
• The woman there is Israel (not Mary)
• Her child is the Messiah.
We see the woman about to give birth
And the dragon waiting to devour the child.
But notice the description of the dragon.
“seven heads and ten horns”
We know that the seven heads represent 7 kingdoms,
All of which were under the control of the dragon.
(Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media/Persia, Greece, Rome, Anti-Christ.)
And all of those kingdoms had the same desire,
Which was to either kill the woman or kill the child.
And so we first learn of Satan of his great power throughout the ages and that his power is the power of destruction.
So he is a destroyer.
He is also called “the serpent of old”
And we understand this reference.
It comes from the garden in which Satan did what?
He deceived.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field”
And so not only is Satan a destroyer, but he is also a deceiver.
In fact later in this very verse it says he “deceives the whole world”
He is a liar and the father of lies.
He is called “the devil”
DIABOLOS in the Greek which literally means “accuser”
He is a condemning witness.
Sometimes his witness is false, sometimes true, but he always accuses.
• We listened as he accused Job.
• We listened as he accused Joshua.
• Even in this text we find in verse 10 he is “the accuser of our brethren” and that he “accuses them before our God day and night.”
So he is seeking to deceive, destroy, and condemn.
And then we get his fourth name.
“and Satan”
“Satan” is a Hebrew word that means “adversary”
He is simply the one who is opposed to everything.
He doesn’t have a position until he finds out God’s position.
And so you understand who we are dealing with here.
A destroyer, who deceives, condemns,
And simply opposes everything God wants to do.
WHAT IS THE POINT?
With him on the loose, would you really expect to go out on mission for God and not face opposition?
• We seek to reveal the truth.
• We seek to save men from condemnation and destruction.
• We seek to submit to the will of God.
Our model prayer is “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
And that is totally in opposition to the devil.
We should expect that he will be opposing us.
If he isn’t, then we might need to rethink our mission.
And this is why we love this church at Antioch.
• Not only did they seek God wholeheartedly…
• Not only did the willingly submit to God’s revealed will…
• But as they sent those whom God was calling, these men went out and ministered in such a way that Satan was forced to do something about them.
This church wasn’t playing games.
This church wasn’t going through the motions.
They understood that we are in a war for the souls of men…
They understood that we are on a military mission…
And this is such an important step,
I really fear that we are often tempted to stop short here.
• We seek God…
• We listen to His plan for a trip…
• We may even go…
But so often as we go, our prayers, our preparation, our focus
Is less on how to be faithful, and more on how to stay out of trouble.
Our Sanyati group can attest.
As we prepared we had different groups preparing all sorts of information packets for us to prepare us for the trip.
About 10% of it was actually about sharing the gospel.
The other 90% was about how to not offend the local government
Or the local culture, and thus to stay out of trouble.
Now you all know me well enough to know that I am not a man who seeks out pain; I’m not looking for persecution.
Yet, we learn from this church
That we have to be more focused on obedience, than safety.
And let me give you one more comforting thought here.
Remember Jesus’ intercessory prayer for us in John 17?
Notice what Jesus prayed.
John 17:11-15 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”
• Jesus is focusing on your deliverance.
• Jesus is focusing on your security.
• Jesus is focusing on your safety.
He is praying for those things.
• You focus on obedience.
• You focus on the mission.
• You focus on what He has sent you to do.
And we see this church doing that.
Obeying God and obeying in such a way
That Satan felt the necessity to try and stop them.
They are a good example.
• They sought God
• They submitted to God
• They sent the missionaries
• They spoke the word
• They stirred up Satan
This church has it figured out.
