COPC Acts 13:1-12 Proclaiming the Gospel and Defending the Sheep.

God Call Us into His Presence for His Worship to Bless Us.

Our Call to Worship ( From the Psalms)

Our Call to Worship is from Psalm 150:1-2

English Standard Version Psalm 150

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens!

2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;

praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Let us Pray

INVOCATION:

Father we now call upon you to be with us and be in our presence.

And illuminate our minds by your Spirit and Word.

We thank you Father in all things in Christ name Amen.

God's Greeting (From the New Testament)

Ephesians 1:1–2 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

LET US RISE FOR THE SINGING OF GODS WORD

Turn in your TPH to 448

*The Lord’s Prayer……………(read together) Trinity Psalter Page 894 #119

God’s Law .…………………………………………..………..…Romans 13:1–11 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,

4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.

7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

Confession of Sin Trinity Psalter Hymnal 51C Let us remain seated and sing 51C

Assurance of Pardon 2 Cor. 5:21

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Congregational Prayer…………………………………………(Led by Intern)

Congregational Prayer

We make our prayers to you, O Lord God, most merciful Father,

You have revealed your wonderful love to us in Christ,

and offered us pardon and salvation in him.

in your mercy, your Son, and your promises is our hope.

Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father. Be reconciled to us, and let the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse us from all our sins.

Take us for your children, and give us the Spirit of your Son.

Sanctify us wholly, shed abroad your love in our hearts and cause us to love you with all our hearts.

Make your face to shine upon your servants;

save us from our sins, and from the wrath to come.

We Pray for the Members of Covenant specifically ...

Father we Pray for _____________ and we ask for all these things in the powerful, glorious, majestic, and wonderful name of Jesus Christ Amen

Offerings - this is your opportunity to give back to the Lords Work as he has blessed you.

If the Deacons would please take up the offering

Please Rise for the singing of Gods Word

Psalm of Preparation 47A

Our scripture reading is from the New Testament

Scripture Reading is Acts 13:1-12 & later 16-41

Hear Now the Very Word Of God

Acts 13:1–12

English Standard Version (Chapter 13)

13:1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 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.”

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

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.

6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

The Grass withers the Flower Fades but the Word of Our God shall stand forever

I love the book of Acts.

Its the book for all who love action and adventure.

But more importantly we get to see the mighty acts of God in the First Century church.

We get to see how our Fathers in the Faith dealt with conflict with the threat of Death.

How they dealt with hostile unbelievers in their communities

How they handled the Word of God.

How they shared the Word of God with those who were interested.

with those who opposed the word of God.

And we get to see all these things but one of the most amazing things we get to see

Is How God through the foolishness of Preaching converts men in High places like proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence according to the word of God this morning.

Who had the power to summon men to himself

Who had the power to put men to death.

But who we will see God is Summoning Sergius Paulus,

Jesus Christ is calling him to himself the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Jesus is going to work a great work of Mercy in Sergius Paulus’s heart in our passage this morning.

Verses 1-4 So lets begin with the Calling and Sending of Paul and Barnabas

English Standard Version Chapter 13

13:1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 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.”

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

vs 1-3 The Holy Spirit directs the Elders of the church to lay hands on the apostles of the church because they are called to proclaim the Gospel and assist in building the church.

The Holy Spirit spoke and directed them to set apart Barnabas and Saul who were Apostles in the church.

There are not many times when the Holy Spirit speaks audibly to men.

And these men have been commissioned by God to assist in building his church on earth

Simeon a teacher and Lucius a teacher and Manaen a teacher /Elders in the church.

God used these men in a miraculous and yet ordinary way.

Miraculous because while they were worshiping God.

While they were fasting for the Lord.

Worshiping and Fasting

Ordinary ways Christ communicates to his people.

A miraculous thing happens.

The Spirit of God

The Holy Spirit Speaks to these Elders in the church. these teachers in the church.

And he says to them Set these men aside Barnabas and Saul for the work which I called them to.

Church the SPIRIT the Holy Spirit just gave direct revelation to who he would have lead his church.

And so we have it on the authority of Jesus who is the Word of God.

And the Holy Spirit who speaks and says set these men aside for my work of proclaiming the Gospel

They are to share the Good News that Jesus Christ saves sinners.

They are to speak about the promised Messiah and how he has the power to convert men who have been dead in their trespasses and sins.

If you ever question whether God directs the lives of men.

How long you will live.

Who you will marry.

If your a Christian

If you have been Born again

What you will do in the church.

If you will be a church officer.

We then have to think of how God works in the lives of men through providence.

We should think of WSC question 11

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Question 11)

Question 11

What are God’ s works of providence?

God’ s works of providence are, his most holy, (Ps. 145:17) wise, (Ps. 104:24, Isa. 28:29) and powerful preserving, (Heb. 1:3) and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. (Ps. 103:19, Matt. 10:29–31)

Psalm 103:19 “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.”

Matthew 10:29–31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

So we see that God is active always in his creation and in the text this morning to build his church and bring a sinner to repentance.

Call one of his lost sheep to himself.

That is Sergius Paulus

And he is active today and this morning to call any of you here this morning who only know of Christ —- —but have not been converted by the Word and his Spirit.

And it is only the Lord who can do this work in a mans heart.

And not something we muster up in our selves

Rather we wouldn’t want much to do with the church unless God calls us to himself.

And so lets continue to look how God unfolds the Gospel in Salamis as we are told in verses 4-5

Verses 4-5 Proclaiming the Word of God to all who would Hear.

English Standard Version (Chapter 13)

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.

Salamis - which is a sea port on the eastern shore of Cyprus

And this is obviously their first missionary journey together because they were just sent out.

And they go to preach immediately in a local synagogue of the Jews.

And these brothers worked as a team because they had John there to assist them.

That is the same John who wrote the book of John.

verse 5 tells us they proclaimed the Word of God in the synagogues of the jews.

They would have been proclaiming the Scriptures of the Old testament promises and prophesies that proclaimed the coming of the messiah.

That proved Jesus truly was who he said he was.

We are also told that John one of the eye witnesses of Christ’s life and death on the cross was there to assist them.

which some scholars have taken to imply that they availed themselves of his eyewitness knowledge of certain important details of the gospel story, in particular the passion narrative.

And we don’t have to wonder what they were teaching we are told just a little further down in detail in this chapter what they taught and proclaimed in another synagogue shortly after in verses 16-41

Which it would most likely be something similar if not the same since they were addressing Jews in both situations at the synagogues

and they would know the history of there people and the Old Testament.

I am going to read verses 16-41 because this is the Gospel or the Word of God that Barnabas and Paul were proclaiming in the synagogues in our text and verbatim in verses 16-41

Acts 13 Verses 16-41

English Standard Version (Chapter 13)

16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.

17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.

24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.

28 And though they found in him, no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

30 But God raised him from the dead,

31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers,

33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“ ‘You are my Son,

today I have begotten you.’

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption,

37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.

38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers,

be astounded and perish;

for I am doing a work in your days,

a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”

This is the message that the apostles kept proclaiming

That Jesus the long awaited Savior in the Scriptures has arrived

And has fulfilled everything the Word of God said he would do.

That Jesus would live a sinless life.

Be tortured and hung on a tree.

And Christ had to be crucified for your sins and my sins and all the sins of God’s Elect.

Christ would not see corruption.

Becasue brothers and sisters he was raised from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

Verse 41 of Acts warned that there would be scoffers.

And we see one Heinous scoffer in our text today.

In verses 6-12

Verses 6-12 Defending the Gospel and protecting the Sheep.

And in Verse 6 they come across A scoffer.

A Jewish Magician named Elymas

Who also goes by the name Bar Jesus

Elymas, the alternative name which Luke gives him, is probably a Semitic word with a similar meaning to magician; 24 it cannot be an interpretation of “Barjesus.”

So just to different terms to refer to the same man that is the magician in our text.

and verse 6 says

English Standard Version (Chapter 13)

6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

this False prophet Bar Jesus who is making his living doing that which the word of God forbids in Deuteronomy 18:10-12

Deuteronomy 18:10–12 ESV

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.

magic the dark arts, sorcery, are forbidden by the word of God.

So this Magician Elymas wants to keep his status with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus

The pro counsel a man of intelligence the text says wants to hear what the apostles have to say.

but verse 8 says But “Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

And what Faith is Elymus not wanting Sergius Paulus to turn from.

That of the Roman pantheon of Gods.

The faith that allowed Magicians and Sorcerers to give counsel to Kings and Rulers.

The Faith of Rome that opposed the True and living God.

And Elymas is not identified for just doing magic but being a “FALSE PROPHET”

Luke calls him a false prophet, not (probably) in the sense that he foretold things which did not come to pass,

but in the sense that he claimed falsely to be a medium of divine revelation.

He wanted to be the guy who directed the procouncel in spiritual matters.

He wanted to keep giving the advice which obviously had some kind of financial gain or status among the leadership of the Paphos.

But God will not be mocked.

And God uses the divine punishment of Elymas the magician for the procouncels conversion.

The very thing Elymas was trying to prevent.

He would be apart of Gods plan to bring Sergius Paulus to Faith in Christ.

Verses 9-11 is where “God uses a crooked stick to save one of his sheep.”

9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

Elymas sought to distort the Gospel.

And is struck Blind for doing so.

Paul and Barnabas do their duty they were sent to do

proclaim the word and make a defence for the true faith.

And Christ the Word of God

And the spirit Of God do the rest

Because Christ is our Prophet our Priest and our King

Those terms should echo in our ears as the WSC defines and expounds how Christ is our prophet and our priest and our King.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Question 24)

Questions 24 25 &26

Christ as our Prophet reveals to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. (John 1:18, 1 Pet. 1:10–12, John 15:15, John 20:31)

Christ is our priest in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, (Heb. 9:14,28) and reconcile us to God; (Heb. 2:17) and in making continual intercession for us. (Heb. 7:24–25)

And Christ is our King, in subduing us to himself, (Acts 15:14–16) in ruling, (Isa. 32:22) and defending us, (Isa. 32:1–2) and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. (1 Cor. 15:25, Ps. 110

1 Corinthians 15:25 “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

Elymas had a spiritual darkness because he was not one of God’s sheep.

He wanted to control the fait of one of Gods sheep.

But instead he heaped physical blindness upon himself along with his spiritual Blindness

And Gods sheep Sergius Paulus was brought to faith because of this demonstration of power by God and his Word and Spirit.

Christ called him justified him by his life and cross work and protected him because he is our mighty King.

Verse 12 States

Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Sergius Paulus believed what they said to him.

The Teaching.

That Christ lived a sinless life

Was crucified because of the Jews and Pilate.

But after dying rose from the grave.

Because the grave could not hold him.

Just as spiritual death cannot hold one sheep one of Gods elect that he has chosen before the foundation of the world.

Sergius Paulus believed and many other gentiles believed later in this chapter in verse 48.

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

So what have we learned about how God proclaims his Gospel and Defends his sheep.

That he calls sinful men to Faith

Sets some of them as leaders in the church.

Commissioned some as Elders and teachers and some Apostles by his word and spirit

To proclaim a gospel to a lost and dying world.

And to covert many more men and women boys and girls to Faith in Christ through the foolishness of Preaching.

And although men and women rulers in high places try to deter.

Try to promote other ways of communicating with God.

Even through Satanic ways God has forbidden and condemned.

God will bring their plans to ruin in not only drawing his sheep to himself

But defending them as our Prophet our Priest and Our King.

And we have his promise here and in Psalm 23

Psalm 23 (ESV)

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Let us go to the Lord in Prayer.

Father we thank you for this time to study and meditate on your Word

We ask that you would make this sermon meaningful in the minds of us your children.

Father we ask that we would be so on fire for you Lord that your Word and our time in it would be on our lips today

with our children and with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We ask for all this in Christs name Amen

LET US RISE for the Singing of Gods Word

*Hymn of Response 105C

LET us now turn in our TPH to page 851 thats page 851 to recite the apostles Creed together.

Apostles Creed (together ) page 851

Song of ThanksgivingTurn now to #62B For God Alone My Soul Awaits

WE ARE DISMISSED WITH GOD’S BLESSING

Let us Pray

Father in heaven be with and keep this your people throughout the week.

Father in heaven encourage these your people to discuss with their families the sermon and how they can apply this to the people who they run into through the week.

And father help them through your spirit to have a stronger walk with you and to make this word preached effectual in their lives.

In Christ name

Amen

Closing Hymn TPH 567 Doxology

Praise God from whom all Blessing Flow; praise him all creatures here below; Praise him above ye heavenly host praise Father Son ands Holy Ghost Amen.