Onward Christian Soldiers!

“Onward Christian Soldiers” was written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865. It was written in the little town of Horbury, England.

Sabine was searching through his hymns for a martial type hymn for children who would march though the village to the neighboring town for a Sunday school rally.

Sabine wanted to give them a marching song for their trip.

He said later about the song, “It was written in great haste, and I am afraid some of the rhymes are faulty. Certainly, nothing has surprised me more than its popularity.”

For almost the last century and a half “Onward Christian Soldiers” has been extremely popular.

It is a hymn of exhortation given to all Christians to take the gospel to the world and fight the good fight of faith.

Sabine Baring-Gould wrote,

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before!

Christ, the Royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle, see His banners go!

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before!

At the sign of triumph, Satan’s host doth flee; on, then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!

Hell’s foundations quiver at the shouts of praise; Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise!

Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before!

We learned last week that the Holy Spirit spoke to the church at Antioch and told them to separate to Him Barnabas and Saul for the work that He had for them.

Barnabas and Saul were called by God to go on mission for Jesus. They obeyed the voice of the Lord.

You and I would do well to obey the voice of the Lord to “Go!” He hasn’t rescinded the call to the church to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.

Years ago there was a great missionary rally in the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.

During the meeting a clergyman turned to the Duke of Wellington (the “Iron Duke,” whose armies had defeated Napoleon) and the minister said, “My lord Duke, do you believe in missions?”

The Duke asked, “What are your marching orders?”

The clergyman said, “Of course, the Bible says to ‘go into all the world.”

The Duke replied, “Then you have nothing to say about it. As a soldier you are to obey orders.”

As soldiers of Jesus Christ we are to obey orders.

Sadly the theme song for many in the church is not “Onward Christian Soldiers,” but an anonymous paraphrase of that song entitled, “Backward Christian Soldiers,” which goes:

Backward Christian soldiers, fleeing from the fight with the cross of Jesus nearly out of sight.

Christ, our rightful master, stands against the foe but forward into battle, we are loathe to go.

Like a mighty tortoise moves the Church of God, brothers we are treading where we’ve always trod.

We are much divided, many bodies we, having many doctrines, not much charity.

Crowns and thorns may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, but the Church of Jesus hidden does remain.

Gates of hell should never ‘gainst the Church prevail, we have Christ’s own promise, but think that it will fail.

Sit here then ye people, join our useless throng blend with ours your voices in a feeble song.

Blessings, ease and comfort, ask from Christ the King, with our backward thinking, we don’t do a thing.

God forgive us when we don’t do a thing! We have been called by God, equipped by God, guided by God, and we are to glorify God!

Christianity is warfare and we are to be engaged in the battle for the souls of men, women, boys, and girls!

Luke declared the path of the missionaries, the preaching of the missionaries, and the problem before the missionaries.

The church of Jesus Christ can always expect withstanding by Satan when we are standing for the Lord.

Are we on mission with Jesus Christ? Are we encountering opposition by the enemy? Have we gone A.W.O.L from the battle? Are we Christian Soldiers marching on with the cross of Jesus going on before?

This passage shows us some us insights into the spiritual struggles of Christian soldiers.

Let’s take a look first at …

I. The Travels of the Missionaries (4-6)

Luke writes down the chronicles of the first missionary team that was sent out from the church at Antioch.

After the church had prayed for them, placed their hands on them, and parted with them, the missionaries traveled down about 15 miles to the port in Seleucia.

There travels had just begun. They were on mission with the Lord.

From Seleucia, Luke tells us that they boarded a ship to sail to Cyprus.

For Barnabas they were going back to familiar ground. They were beginning the missionary movement in the home land of Barnabas. (Acts 4:36)

The journey from Seleucia to Salamis would have been about 60 miles through the Mediterranean waters.

Salamis: was a chief port city and commercial center on the isle of Cyprus.

Cyprus was about 100 miles long and 60 miles wide.

Cyprus was the third largest island in the Mediterranean and was a center of worship of the false god Zeus for the Greeks.

Salamis was on the northeast side of Cyprus.

This city is where the missionary crew landed.

The Bible tells us that the missionaries would travel through the land of Cyprus, but Luke specifically mentions two cities. Salamis and in verse 6 Luke tells us that they had gone through the island to Paphos.

Whereas Salamis was the chief port city and commercial trade center for the island, Paphos was the capital of the island.

The missionaries hit the major cities as they went with the gospel. They went to the heavily populated areas. They went to where the people were.

Paphos was a very wicked city. It was the center of worship of Venus, the goddess of love, also called Aphrodite.

These missionaries were busy. They wore out a lot of sandal leather.

One commentator said the modern day equivilant in America would be like the missionaries coming to port in New Orleans and making their way traveling west to Las Vegas!

This is where they traveled. Luke also tells us of the preaching of the missionaries.

II. The Preaching of the Missionaries (5)

The missionaries were not sent out to make friends or raise finances, or to have fun. They were sent to spread the word and share their faith.

They were on mission for the Lord Jesus Christ armed with the word of God.

I’ve heard it said that a church that is growing is a church that is going.

As was the custom of Paul and the missionaries they would

take the word first to the Synagogues to preach to the Jews

and then to the streets and preach to the Gentiles.

They kept the main thing the main thing. They preached the word of God!

“Preached” - the word Luke used means to proclaim, declare, speak of, teach.

We’ll not win the lost by our programs, redoubling our efforts, or by marketing.

We don’t reach people with programs, but with relationships.

Jesus never said the lost would come to us. But He always said GO to the lost.

The “build it and they will come” mentality might have worked better a generation or two ago, but in today’s post-Christian culture, not so much.

Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

We’ve learned of their preaching of the Word, we also see:

John Mark was their assistant. The Gk word means to “row under.”

He was a helper. In our modem day vernacular we would say that he was a ministry intern.

He was there with Barnabas and Saul to help them in any way necessary. He was to help with any needs that the missionaries might have.

He was a part of the work of the Lord Jesus. What he was doing is not insignificant.

Those who do behind the scenes work enable those who preach, teach, and reach out with the gospel.

Every part of the work of Jesus Christ is important.

We cannot minimize the importance of the work of John Mark in helping the missionaries.

Every church, every missionary worker needs helpers that are an invaluable part of the team.

Luke reminds us that the task of the missionaries was to preach the gospel. That was their work! That is our work and our task as well.

After telling us of the travels of the missionaries and the task of the missionaries, Luke then tells us of:

III. The Trials of the Missionaries (6-12)

First we see the opposition of the enemy (6-8)

The fact is that when we set out to do the will of God and declare the word of God there will be opposition to the work of God.

1 Corinthians 16:9 says, “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”

Luke tells us that Barnabas and Saul found a certain sorcerer. Bar-Jesus or “son of Joshua”

￫Remember Paphos was the capital city, but it was also a corrupt city.

￫Paphos was a prominent city of Cyprus, but it was also a perverse city in Cyprus.

Luke tells us of the opposition that arose against the Christian soldiers. The missionaries sought to take the gospel to the world and they face opposition for it.

Anytime we get busy serving Jesus there will be opposition from the enemy.

Luke tells us that this man was bound in the demonic and occult.

He was a sorcerer.

Sorcerer: magos, mag’-os; a Magian, i.e. Oriental scientist; by implication a magician-sorcerer, wise man.

Not only was he a sorcerer, but he was also a false prophet.

What did he do? (7-8)

He had attached himself to the governor, who the Bible says was an intelligent man.

He called for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

But the sorcerer didn’t like it. So he withstood them.

He opposed the men of God and tried to hinder the word of God.

One author wrote: “Here we find someone who wishes to hear the gospel and someone who wishes to hinder the gospel. When opportunities present themselves, they seem to always be accompanied with opposition.”

Specifically this man tried to keep the proconsul from getting saved. He tried to turn Sergius Paulus from the faith.

John MacArthur said, “It was no accident that this man had attached himself to the Roman proconsul. The kingdom of darkness is eager to influence those who rule.”

John G. Butler wrote, “There are many folk like Elymas who seek to stop others from believing. Unfortunately, many of that kind are in our churches. They oppose most programs to expand and improve the outreach of the church with the Gospel.”

God helps us never to oppose the work of God and the word of God.

Herschel Ford said, “It often happens that when the Spirit works with a man Satan steps in and seeks to divert that man and to keep him from being converted. A man hears a sermon, the Spirit convicts him, and when the invitation is given someone sitting next to him decides that it is time to leave. He pushes out and the man’s attention is diverted, his line of thought is broken. The invitation is soon over and he goes back into the world, lost. Or a man may be listening to a sermon and as the Holy Spirit seeks to convict him, someone near him begins to talk and he is diverted. Or, when he is convicted Satan says to him, “Look at that man up near the front, he is a hypocrite.’ Or, when the man is just about to go forward, Satan says, ‘You have plenty of time, enjoy your sin a little longer. You have a long time to live and before you die you can be saved.’ Yes, Satan does his best to keep men from being saved.”

So what did the missionaries do? (9-12)

They opposed the sorceror.

When the enemy tries to withstand the work of God and the word of God we must withstand the enemy.

How do we overcome the opposition of the enemy?

We cannot rely on the arm of the flesh, or the carnal mind, but we must be filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the source of our power.

The Apostle Paul had had enough. This man was not going to get away with attacking the gospel and turning this man away from saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul was not intimidated by the forces of darkness because he was filled with the Spirit of God.

We do not have the power in and of ourselves to withstand the enemy, but when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are mighty warriors for the Kingdom of God!

As the song says,

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before!

Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle, see His banner go!

Then Paul rebuked him.

Paul declared to Elymas that he who tried to keep others in darkness would be plunged in darkness himself.

The proconsul saw what happened to Elymas.

His mouth was shut, his eyes were shut, and his opposition was stopped.

We do not know if Bar-Jesus ever came to saving faith in Jesus, but God gave him time to repent.

He went around seeking someone to lead him about.

He was helpless against the power of God.

Then we see the salvation of the governor.

The work of God against Elymas led to the further work of God on Sergius Paulus.

The proconsul believed the gospel.

Sergius Paulus became a Christian that day!

Archaeologists findings confirm what Luke reports.

In his book “Growth of the Body” Ray Stedman wrote, “Sir William Ramsay reports that inscriptions bearing Sergius Paulus’ name have been found on Cyprus confirming that he was a Christian and that his entire family became Christians.”

When we are on mission for the Lord as Christian soldiers may we never forget that we are in a spiritual war against the forces of darkness!

Another commentator reminds us, “Leading someone to Christ is not merely an academic exercise, nor is it a matter of making a successful sales pitch. Rather, it involves all-out war against the forces of hell. Saul and Barnabas battled Bar-Jesus for the soul of Sergius Paulus.”

Are we battling anyone for someone else? Are we on mission with the Lord sharing His gospel?

Are we going onward with the gospel? Are we staying faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we filled with the Holy Spirit and fighting the enemy in His power?

Do we have courage, boldness, and power to proclaim the word of God?