A Church that Rocks the Boat - Acts 13:1-12

“A Church that Rocks the Boat”

Acts 13:1-12

©Copyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, August 10, 2003

There is a humorous adage that says: some people make things happen, others watch things happen, and still others are left wondering what has happened. This is certainly true in the church. Some churches reach out and look for ways to proclaim the gospel to others. Others watch from the sidelines and hope to copy what other churches are doing. Still others do not have a clue.

The Christian community has been in turmoil and in the spotlight this week because the Episcopalian Church ordained a divorced, openly and practicing homosexual bishop. I want you to know up front that I believe the only way to do this is to completely ignore what the Bible clearly states. As a result of this act many Biblical Christians have raised their voices in protest. Many of these protestors have been vilified as narrow-minded, puritanical, antiquated, simple-minded, hypocritical and so forth. They are attacked because they have dared to say there is a standard of truth that no man has a right to transgress; the Word of God.

As we continue our study in the book of Acts we see a church that was active in proclaiming the gospel. The church was taking a stand in a foreign and hostile world. As Chapter 13 begins, a new chapter in the life of the early church begins as well. Up until this point the proclamation of the gospel had been rather localized. From this point forward the church will deliberately proclaim the good news of God’s love and salvation to other lands.

The home base for this missionary outreach is Antioch. It’s important that we keep in mind that this outreach was going on from several different fronts. The book of Acts only records the missionary work of Paul. Many of the other disciples went into other lands. There are several things we can learn from this historical passage.

WE ARE CALLED TO CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

Notice that everywhere Christians are, the church is. God has called us into a community of believers. A maverick Christian is one who will soon be in error. We need each other for strength and for growth. Notice some characteristics of this community.

It is a diverse community. We are introduced to the leaders of the church in verse one. These seem like insignificant names to us, but if we ponder these names we see how diverse the church was. We know that Paul and Barnabus were both Jews who had become Christians. Simeon is called Niger, which means “black”. It may indicate that Simeon was dark skinned, perhaps from Africa. Lucius was from Cyrene which was from North Africa. Manaen was a man who “had been brought up with Herod”. We don’t know whether he was a relative of Herod Antipas or someone “adopted” into the family or whether he was related to someone who worked for Herod. It doesn’t really matter. What we need to see is a group of leaders who are racially diverse, socially diverse, and ethnically diverse. I believe it is safe to conclude that this would have been true of the church as a whole as well.

This is always the way the church should be. In a world where there are walls of division everywhere, the church should reveal the power of the gospel in the way they ignore those walls. The followers of the Lord are those who see beyond the superficial things of life. We come into this place as equals. We are all sinners in need of God’s grace and mercy.

It is a worshipping community. We are told the church was fasting and praying. There is no indication that they were fasting and praying because of any crisis . . . they were simply seeking and worshipping the Lord.

Let me be blunt. There are many “churches” that are not true churches. They do not worship and serve the God of scripture. They meet in sanctuaries but they meet to discuss contemporary issues and gather as a social club. They have a jolly good time but pay no real attention to the God of the universe. These people are not worshipping.

I went to Boston for a seminar when I was in seminary. We went to a “historic church” on that Sunday morning. This so-called church replaced the great testimonies of the hymns and confessions with watered down phrases that declared a great confidence in the goodness of man. They sang the doxology (praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise Him above ye Heavenly host, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) but changed the words to the reference to the Trinity! It was an anti-church.

It is easy for the church to get sidetracked from its main job: to glorify and worship God. Certainly we are to proclaim the truth, we are to help the hurting, and we are to serve God in many ways. However, all of these things should be done from the foundation of worship. They should be done because of our love for the Lord and not because of our love for our “cause” or our “church”. We must remember that we do not play to the crowd . . .we play and serve before an audience of One.

It is a community that reaches out. We are told that this church gladly “set apart” Barnabus and Paul for the work of reaching into new lands with the Gospel. Isn’t it interesting that God sets apart His best teachers to be missionaries to other lands? Remember, Barnabus and Paul had been the main teachers in the church since it’s beginning. God was asking for the established leaders of the church!

The ceremony of the laying on of hands was symbolic. It is drawn from the practice of Jews placing their hands on the head of the lamb that was to be slain. They identified with the animal and it became a substitute for them. The laying on of hands was a way for the church to show that they “stand with” these men in their new ministry. They were behind this work of God.

There are many churches that don’t want to reach out to others, (even though they would never say so). There are a number of reasons for this.

1. They may not truly believe the message of salvation. If you don’t believe the message there is certainly no urgency to share it with others.

2. They desire to maintain the status quo. In other words, they like things they way they are. When churches reach out, new people inevitably enter the church. New people bring new ideas and (perish the thought) don’t know who sits where!

3. They are afraid. They are afraid to stand up for the gospel because they know it may bring criticism. They are afraid they don’t have the answers. They are afraid that people won’t like them any more.

4. They are selfish. They don’t want to reach out to other lands. They want all their money to stay local. They want to feel they are getting some benefit from the funds raised. However, the strong church is the one that is eager to reach any people, in any land, with the message of life and salvation.

The true Christian Community is one that is eager for God to open doors for ministry with those who are outside the church. The true Christian Community gets excited when they see people coming to a new relationship with Christ. The true Christian community is more concerned about bringing people to Jesus than they are introducing people to their particular church.

THE CHURCH IS EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT

The church realized that its strength was not in human ingenuity or skill. It’s a lesson we easily forget. We are saved by grace but for some reason, even though we know this fact, we try to be effective by our wits and programs. We are living at a time when publishers market all kinds of devices to help the church grow. If you apply a certain program, adopt a certain methodology, or attend a certain seminar, we are told we can be successful. Do you see the fallacy here? The focus is not on God’s power, but on our ingenuity! The early church understood that the greatest investment of time they could make was to pray and to seek God’s direction.

There is a repeated phrase in this passage that is instructive. When they were fasting and praying the Holy Spirit spoke to them (v.2). We are told that Barnabus and Paul went on their journey in the power of the Holy Spirit. (v. 4) When Paul confronted Elymas we are told that he was “filled with the Holy Spirit”.

The power to stand against the world is not going to come from our training, our programs, or our arguments. The true power we desire can only come from God. To find this power we must seek Him in prayer and through a study of His Word. It’s not really that complicated. God wants to direct our paths. He wants to guide our lives. We are the ones who resist.

Have you ever tried to help someone with a project they didn’t want help on? It is a waste of time. If the person doesn’t want to listen to instruction you only irritate them if you continue to give it. If a person doesn’t want your help they only resent you if you persist. It’s the same way with the Lord. He will not force Himself upon us. But, if we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him and He will lead us.

THE SPIRIT POWERED COMMUNITY WILL FACE CONFLICTS

Barnabus, Paul and John Mark all took off for Cyprus, an island in the Great Sea. Cyprus was Barnabus’ homeland, which may have been the reason they went there first. They traveled from one end of the island to the other most likely stopping in most villages to share the gospel with those who would listen. We aren’t told much about this visit. It is possible that this group did not meet with a great deal of success right off the bat. What we do read about is a conflict at Paphos.

The one thing that is true of every church seeking to live by God’s Spirit is that they will face conflict. In John 3:19 we are told, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather the light.” In Matthew 10:22 Jesus told us “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” In 1 John we are warned, “Do not be surprised if the world hates you.”

The world will hate the message of salvation. They hate that message, and its messengers for several reasons,

1. The light exposes sin. The gospel says there is a standard for right and wrong and that stand is not public opinion, it is the Word of God.

2. The message of salvation makes us responsible for our actions. We live in a society fond of making excuses for everything. Any bad thing that happens is someone else’s fault. That kind of thinking will not stand before God. We must accept responsibility for our sin.

3. The message of salvation says men and women are helpless to save themselves. People don’t like that feeling of helplessness. We want to be independent, self-sufficient, and the masters of our own fate.

Do you understand why the message of the gospel brings opposition?

The opposition of Elymas (also known as Bar-Jesus or “son of Jesus”) was more than natural human opposition. Elymas was a sorcerer. He was a magician that used his arts to supposedly give guidance to the proconsul. Elymas was troubled by the proconsul’s interest in the gospel. If Sergius Paulus responded to the gospel, Elymas would lose his influence and possibly his job. He had every reason to be afraid.

We are told that the apostle Paul was filled with the Spirit and declared Elymas to be not the son of Jesus but the son of the Devil! Paul said Elymas was doing the work of Satan himself. It is a reminder that our foe is not just human opinion but the Devil himself!

In Ephesians 6:12 we are told, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” In other words, we are fighting the Devil’s army. This is another reason for us to pray and to pray fervently.

Kent Hughes put it very well.

A major battle was inevitable. Spiritual warfare is not a fantasy of over-imaginative theologians or novelists. It happens today, and it happened to Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark then—a bare-knuckle, heart-thumping confrontation. The truth is, life is difficult, and sometimes even more so when you choose to follow Christ. Corrie ten Boom would never have ended up in the concentration camp at Ravensbruck if she and her family had not chosen to consistently obey Christ by sheltering fellow human beings from genocide. G. Campbell Morgan would never have cried out, “During these two years, I have known more of visions fading into mirages, of purposes failing of fulfillment, of things of strength crumbling away in weakness than ever in my life before” if he had not obeyed Christ and pastored (then liberal) Westminster Chapel.

There is a cost to sincere service for Christ. Never share your faith and you will never look like a fool. Never stand for righteousness on a social issue and you will never be rejected. Never walk out of a theater because a movie or play is offensive and you will never be called a prig. Never practice consistent honesty in business and you will not lose the trade of a not-so-honest associate. Never reach out to the needy and you will never be taken advantage of. Never give your heart and it will never be broken. Never go to Cyprus and you will never be subjected to a dizzy, heart-convulsing confrontation with Satan. Seriously follow Christ and you will experience a gamut of sorrows almost completely unknown to the unbeliever. But of course you will also know the joy of adventure with the Lord of the universe and of spiritual victory as you live a life of allegiance to him.[1]

CONCLUSIONS

There are several final lessons I hope you take away with you.

First, though becoming a Christian is a personal matter, living the Christian life is to be done in the community of faith. We need each other. If you aren’t consistent in your involvement in a church home you need to become consistent. Paul told us “Do not forsake meeting together as some are in the habit of doing.” (Heb. 10:25) We need each other.

Second, we are reminded that we are not left alone. God has given us His Spirit. It is our job to seek the Lord, to wait for His direction, and to walk in His power. Maybe you and I need to MAKE time to pray. We need to do more than give God a list of our requests. We need to ask God for direction and to wait for Him to give it to us. We need to go into His presence and seek His strength rather than trusting our methods.

Third, we are reminded of the noble work of reaching out to others. It’s possible that there are some here today that God is calling to some mission field. Perhaps you are being called to some foreign field of service. If so, know that your work is an important work. We want to support you in that work.

Your mission field however may not be in a foreign land. Perhaps your mission field is a school campus, a secular and godless work environment, a hostile household. Perhaps God is calling you to work with the disadvantaged, the broken and those who feel abandoned. If you are called by Him (ask others to pray with you to make sure) do what He has called you to do. Be bold in stepping forward in His strength and power. God may use you to change the world.

Finally, we are reminded that God does not promise us ease in the journey, He promises that that journeys destination will be worth any obstacles we face along the way. Perhaps you are facing opposition in your work for the Lord. Stand in His strength my friend! The Bible reminds us that “he who is within us is greater than He who is in the world.” God’s Spirit is more powerful than anything the world can throw at us.

As we read on in the message of Acts we will see Paul and Barnabus beaten, rejected, arrested, and left for dead. However, they kept going. They kept going because the message they shared was a most important message. They understood that even though the darkness hated them, they were the only hope the darkness had. So, they endured.

I don’t know what the future holds for you and me. I don’t know what kind of conflict we may face as our society turns more and more hostile to the things of God. I don’t know how much more corruption we will see enter the traditional church. What I do know is that God is looking for men and women who will be faithful. I want to be one of those people and I want this church to be one of those churches. I hope you do too.

©Copyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, August 10, 2003

[1]Hughes, R. K. (1996). Acts : The church afire. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.