What We Know About God’s Work & Word

A missionary couple had just arrived in a remote village deep in the jungle. Determined to make a good impression, they brought gifts and supplies and set up a small church to spread their message. One of the first challenges they faced was the language barrier.

The villagers spoke a dialect that the missionary had only started to learn. Wanting to build rapport, the missionary decided to hold a special service to share a story from the Bible. To make it engaging, he brought along a chicken as a visual aid, planning to use it as an example of God’s provision.

He began his sermon, and with his limited vocabulary, he pointed to the chicken and said in the local language, “This chicken is a blessing from God!”

The villagers started to chuckle. Confused but undeterred, he continued.

He went on to explain (or at least thought he was explaining), “The chicken provides eggs for your family, food to eat, and even teaches us to work hard and care for God’s creation.”

By now, the villagers were laughing so hard that some were wiping tears from their eyes.

The missionary finished his sermon with enthusiasm, feeling that he had truly connected. Afterward, the village elder came forward, still chuckling, and patted the missionary on the shoulder.

"Great speech," the elder said through an interpreter. "But you should know… in our language, the word you used for 'chicken' also means 'gossip.' So you just spent 30 minutes saying that gossip is a blessing from God!"

The missionary turned beet red, realizing the mistake. But from that day forward, whenever gossip spread in the village, people joked, “Ah, another blessing from the missionary’s sermon!”

Historical/Cultural Context -

Luke was a physician and a travel companion of the apostle Paul. He wrote the book of Acts. The earliest possible date of Acts is immediately after the events that Luke recorded in, which would have been c. A.D. 62. Acts is addressed to “Theophilus,” about whom nothing more is known. Luke’s broader audience consisted primarily of Gentile Christians like Theophilus who had already “been taught” about Jesus.

Biblical Text -

Acts 12:25–13:12 NKJV

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark. Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - God’s Work Requires Everyone. Pray About Those That Come Against It, & Trust His Word Will Accomplish What He Send It To Do.

Life Point- God’s Work Requires All Of Us

Exegetical -

Acts 12:25–13:3 NLT

When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking John Mark with them. Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.” So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.

Homiletical -

Saul and Barnabas are done with their mission to Jerusalem and they come back brining with them Mark.

Notice the makeup of the leadership of the church at Antioch. They are a diverse group. The leadership is not all Jewish. This shows how the church was always meant to be for all nationalities. That the wall of division had been broken down

Galatians 3:28–29 NLT

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Also notice they brought back a young man named Mark. Mark is in need of mentoring, of discipleship. All new believers are in need of discipleship. Like I have said before, that looks like T.I.M.E, time. It means doing the Christian walk with other believers. It means reaching out when you notice someone is not here and you being an encouragement to others.

Someone is gonna say isn’t that just the pastor’s job? Actually no, it is all of our job.

Ephesians 4:11–16 NLT

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Notice verse 12, it says my job is to equip you to do his work and for you to build up the church, the body of Christ.

We, also, see here their are New Testament prophets and teachers at Antioch.

Ever met someone that just seems to be so close to God that whatever they pray their prayers seem to get answered all the time, whether yes, no, or not yet. We call them prayer warriors today. This is how I see most Christians were at the start of the church and especially in this passage.

In this small section of scripture we see that they did a lot of prayer and fasting. Not once, but twice we are told they are worshipping and fasting and praying and fasting. They wanted to make sure they heard Holy Spirit correctly. Because their is nothing more self-destroying than thinking you are hearing from God and you’re not. It is like you got gas and you think it’s God. These Christians wanted to be sure, sure that they heard right.

The Holy Spirit has called Barnabas and Saul to a special work. Namely a missionary journey. I think that’s why a lot of people are afraid to get close to God. They fear He is going to send them to some place like Africa or China or something. He could, but nine times out of ten I don’t think He does.

Although if He did, you can trust Him to accomplish His will through you. This reminds me of a story about Dr. Mark Rutland who was the leader of Global Servants. He kept sensing God telling him to go to Africa. But he didn’t want to spend what little money he had with no place to go.

This was the 70s so email wasn’t a thing yet. So he sent letters to various churches and nothing came back for months. But the call to go, got stronger. Eventually he booked that plane ticket and went with no idea of what he was going to do.

Unbeknownst to him there was a man who was praying for his village to have revival and he sensed God telling him to get into his car and go to the airport. So he did.

When Rutland landed he ran into this guy and struck up conversation and long story short, he was the man he had been waiting on. You know what happened? Revival struck that village and many were saved and baptised.

Illustration -

In a small town, a group of neighbors discovered that their aging community center was falling apart. They decided to host a potluck and rally their friends, each bringing a dish. As they shared laughter and meals, they also talked about fixing up the center. By the end of the night, not only did they enjoy great food, but they also formed work teams. Together, they painted walls, fixed leaky roofs, and renewed their space. Just like that, God’s work involves all of us, each contributing our unique gifts, even in the midst of a potluck!

Life Point - Pray About Resistance To The Gospel

Exegetical -

Acts 13:4–8 NLT

So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went down to the seaport of Seleucia and then sailed for the island of Cyprus. There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God. John Mark went with them as their assistant. Afterward they traveled from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He was trying to keep the governor from believing.

Homiletical -

So Barnabas and Saul, also known as Paul, had a way of presenting the Gospel when they went into a town.

They would first go to the synagogues, thats like Jewish churches. As a matter of fact early churches were loosely organized like a synagogue.

They would preach the Gospel there and, more times than not, they were kicked out of the synagogue and then they would preach to the Gentiles.

Why would they do that. Well there are a lot of explanations but the most likely one, in my opinion, is that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah they have been waiting for. So he wanted to get the word out to them first, before he preached to the non-Jews.

Romans 1:16–17 NLT

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

So they are literally preaching wherever they go and they run into this sorcerer named Bar-Jesus but in Greek his name is Elymas.

This guy keeps interfering with the Gospel news that is being proclaimed to the governor of the area and urging him to not believe Barnabas and Saul.

Well why would he do that?

The main reason is that this Elymas has the ear of the governor and it is a lucrative deal for him. He has money and power. If the governor believes in Christ then the sorcerer loses his income and influence. So, he keeps urging him to not believe.

Folks, you are going to run into similar situations when you start preaching the Gospel. I remember a time when a member of my family was starting to get close to Jesus, but the in-laws kept urging them away from it. Now this family member eventually stopped going to church do to the pressure that was being exerted upon them.

Do we give up on such a person. Well no, we don’t. We should continue in prayer and fasting for that person that one day they might either 1) come to know Jesus or 2) stop backsliding and return to Jesus. This is what we need to do.

We may just see a miracle happen in their lives.

Illustration -

Picture a farmer who always dreaded the harvest season because of the weeding he had to do first. One year, he jokingly said to his neighbor, ‘I think I’ll just pray for my crops to grow without doing any work!’ This brings a laugh, as we know that prayer is vital, but so is action. In our lives, we can resist the fruitful harvest of the gospel if we don’t ‘weed’ out distractions through prayer and dedication.

Life Point - God’s Word Will Do What He Intends It To DO

Exegetical -

Acts 13:9–12 NLT

Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord? Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him. When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

Homiletical -

Now this is a miracle right here. Paul gets filled with the Holy Spirit and has this showdown with the sorcerer because of his deceit, fraud and perversion of the true ways of the Lord. This won’t be the last time we see something like this happening either; Paul tends to get filled with the Spirit and then becomes very bold in God’s Word and God’s deeds.

Remember that our God is a truly just God. He will punish people. Yes God is love, but he is also justice and apart of that is punishment. Sometimes I think we forget that the God of the Old Testament is still the same God of the New Testament.

So what do you do when you have people actively trying to get others to not believe the Gospel?

When you do have detractors from the Gospel pray and ask God to remove them so that you can continue to do the work of Christ.

I like to pray three ways for people like this. 1) I pray for a change of heart 2) I pray for a change of address 3) “If need be, Lord, take them home.”

The Gospel must be our central focus above all other worries in this life. If it’s not, then we need to refocus our lives.

Notice what happens when the sorcerer is out of the picture. The Gospel message got through to the governor and he believed in Christ.

This only emphasizes the work of God in the proclaiming of The Gospel message. God’s message will not return to Him void.

Isaiah 55:10–11 NLT

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Illustration -

In the 19th century, a little-known missionary named William Carey famously said, ‘Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.’ He translated the Bible into over 40 languages! His faith in God’s Word empowered countless people to experience Christ firsthand. God’s Word, like Carey’s missionary work, is dynamic and transformative, ensuring it will fulfill its purpose no matter the challenges.

Life Principle– God’s Work Requires Everyone. Pray About Those That Come Against It, & Trust His Word Will Accomplish What He Send It To Do.

Call to Action – altar call….