Text: Acts 13:4-12, Title: The Battle for Souls, Date/Place: NRBC, 4/27/08, AM
A. Opening illustration: Talk about Satanic Saturday Nights
B. Background to passage: the church at Antioch has just released Paul and Barnabas at the direction of the Holy Spirit after a powerful worship service in which God moved. And the account before us today is the account of their first ministry experiences in Cyprus. Now, Acts 11:19 indicates some evangelistic activity on the island prior to their arrival. But this was Barnabas’ hometown, so it was a logical place to start their ministry. But as with any sort of obedience and moving of the Spirit, resistance and spiritual warfare would be present.
C. Main thought: In the text we will see the four (of the five, gawkers being the fifth) parts in a battle for the souls of men in the Kingdom.
A. The Supernaturals (v. 4, 10)
1. The Holy Spirit is the one who “thrust out” these missionaries from Antioch. He is concerned about the mission of God in the world to spread the fame of His Name through the gospel. He is always involved in the spreading of the gospel home and abroad. His duties include sending missionaries, empowering the gospel message proclamation, conviction of the heart, opening the eyes, speaking to the heart, and actually being born again. But there is also another. His name is mentioned because his children are present in this account. But don’t read more into it than is already there. Remember your demonology. We do not serve a good God with a bad equal in Satan. But even though he is a lackey to Christ, Satan does play a role in deception and hindering the gospel in the minds of unbelievers.
2. Luk 12:11-12, John 15:26, 16:8, 2 Cor 4:4-6,
3. Illustration: The New York Times reported a study about the diminishing belief in the devil among Americans. Two-thirds of Americans do not believe in the devil as a living entity. In a randomly selected survey of over 1,000 Americans, pollsters asked whether they agreed that Satan is “not a living being, but a symbol of evil.” Sixty-two percent agreed with the statement--nearly 149 million Americans, A woman bought a extravagant dress, and the husband asked why did it have to be so extravagant, She said the devil made me buy it, The husband asked, why didn’t you say get behind me Satan?, The woman said, I did and said it looked as good in the front as it did in the back, so I bought it, video at UT about evangelicals…
4. The Spirit uses different methods and means to kick us out of our comfort zones. And most of them are not pleasant to us, but our comfort is not His primary goal. The Spirit will not only send you out, but will empower you, give you words to say, and minister to the unbeliever as you witness. And usually He will start you close to home. And success in witnessing is being faithful, for conversion is also the Spirit’s job. This is all the more reason to witness and share—you can’t fail, unless you forsake. If you are witnessing to others, don’t get frustrated when they don’t get it. Satan has blinded them. Pray that God will remove the scales as you are faithful to share. If you are hear today, and you are not born again, you are being deceived by Satan. There are only two sides with Jesus. And Satan has you right where he wants you, comfortable in your false religion, and not willing to sell out, take up the cross, and follow Jesus.
B. The Prophets (v. 5, 9)
1. These three men “preached” the gospel to the Jews in the synagogues. The gospel is to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles. The word used is a different word that means to proclaim loudly. They were telling the story with boldness under the influence of the Spirit of God. They preached the life, death, resurrection of Jesus, as well as an appeal to repent and believe.
2. Mar 7:27, Rom 1:16, Eph 5:18-21, Col 3:16,
3. Illustration: tell about my experience with Witnessing Without Fear, Bill Bright in college,
4. There are a lot of things called evangelism that are not really evangelism. But we are all called to be sharing with those around us. We may not all be preachers, or evangelists, or missionaries, (although my earnest weekly prayer is that God calls forth a myriad of you from our church to do give your lives to vocational ministry, pray that!), but we are all commissioned to be about the business of sharing our faith with others around us. And if you will stay in the Word, in prayer, and renew your mind daily, the Spirit of God will fill you to serve the Kingdom in this fashion. And we are all commanded to be filled with the Spirit. And the norm for that in the NT is evangelistic encounters. And we must be reliant on the Spirit as we witness, for we ourselves cannot open the eyes of the blind. MacArthur’s comment about not sleeping.
C. The Seekers (v. 7, 12)
1. Again this was another testimony of the accuracy of Luke’s testimony as proconsuls were found in senatorial provinces of the empire, where no troops were needed. There are several examples of extra-biblical notations about men named Sergius Paulus. But this man sought Paul and Barnabas out to hear the Word of God. He was seeking. God was already working in his life. Time to do some theology, lest we get carried into unbiblical practices to seek out seekers and design everything in our church to suit them and make them comfortable.
2. 1 Cor 2:14, Rom 3:10-18, 23, 8:7, Eph 2:1-3, John 6:44, Luke 19:10
3. Illustration: In genuine, authentic worship, observers see real people connecting powerfully with the real God." "Unfortunately, the current seeker-sensitive model - at least as many churches have practiced it - has led to a weak and anemic view of worship and prayer. That has led to weak and anemic relationships, both with God and with other believers. Their goal was to make visitors feel welcome and comfortable by alleviating the need to locate a Bible, by diminishing the stressful expectation that they will have to use that Bible during the church service, and by softening the negative image that may be associated with a Bible-toting congregation.
4. Much has been made of “seeker-friendly” and “seeker-driven” churches. Doctrine of the Church is that our primary reason for meeting corporately is worship. Therefore our services’ goal is actually to lead primarily believers to worship Jesus in truth and Spirit. Also that in Spirit empowered and led worship sinners will be at least a bit uncomfortable among so many people who love this Jesus so that they sing with everything they have and receive the word with joy. And conviction of sin is not fun! Doctrine of man is that he is sinful, does not seek God, love God, want God, nor submit to God. In fact, he can’t! So we do not have to have services that in any way drum up or manipulate people into making “decisions.” This is not to say that we shouldn’t go out of our way to be friendly, accessible, and meet needs. We beg the Spirit to draw people to God. And if you are here today, and are not a believer, if you are really seeking God in pure motives, God is working in you already. Open their eyes, Lord! Repent and believe! Doctrine of Christ—He is the only true seeker. But this seeker was “astonished” at the teaching of the Lord. He wasn’t just impressed, but struck upside the head with the heart-opening, darkness-abolishing power of God.
D. The Stoppers (v. 8-10)
1. The word for magician or sorcerer was the same word used for the wise men in the Christmas story. But this prophet was overtly standing in opposition to the gospel. (By the way, this is not wise). The motivation was probably self-preservation, rather than rejection of the gospel. But in this case, they are both the same. Remember there are only two sides in this battle. Paul clarifies for us what this son of Satan, whose name is son of Jesus is doing. He is full of deceit and fraud. He is an enemy of all righteousness. As mentioned earlier he is doing the biding of his father. He is obstructing the path to God. And God judges him like Ananias, Sapphira, and Herod. And yet, mercy, because of temporary.
2. John 8:44, Mar 9:42, Eph 2:15, James 4:4,
3. Illustration: as an nominally religious individual in HS I used to argue with my little “bible-thumpin” classmates about God, For those of you that remember the movie “Caddyshack,” there is a scene toward the end of the movie in which a golfing enthusiast priest is playing the round of his life. As he makes his way around the links, the weather turns. The movie depicts the scene as a battle between this priest in search of nirvana through a golf game and an insensitive and spiteful god that would thwart the priest’s quest for that perfect game. The scene ends with the priest defiantly raising his putter to the violent heavens and being struck down by a well-placed bolt of lighting.
4. If you are not for Him, you are against Him. If you are not pointing others to Him, you are pointing others away from Him. You may not be doing in actively, but passively. You are putting yourself in a dangerous position. You are setting yourself up as an enemy of God (which by the way is what you are anyway if you are not a Christ-follower). Jesus promises judgment if you lead others away from Him. You see that it is against all righteousness to withstand the hand of God. That would put a different spin on our business meetings! Righteousness, right standing with God, only comes through trusting, following, and loving Jesus.
Closing illustration: BethAnn’s Battle - From Darkness to Light
I have a testimony of a great love. I will tell of how God loved me at a time in my life when I felt unlovable and hopeless. I had become very depressed. Rather than turning to God, I turned away from God. I turned to drugs. This had been a pattern I developed as a young teenager. I self medicated to numb and void out pain and suffering.
I Wanted to Die
To make a long story short, I remember the exact moment when I realized there was a very real battle going on for my soul and God truly saved me from myself. I had the intent to overdose. I felt that I would never overcome my guilt, fears and addiction. I wanted to die. I felt truly hopeless and unworthy.
I remember looking in the mirror telling myself, "I hate you," over and over. The battle raged. I fell to my knees and begged God to help me, to save me -- and He did.
The doctor could not believe that I was alive after the amount of drugs that were in my system. He told me I was lucky to be alive, but I knew at that moment I was blessed.
Everything I Need
That was six years ago and I credit each day of my recovery to the Lord -- not myself -- for He is the One who gives me everything I need each day to stay clean. The Lord saved me. He transformed me from the inside out. He placed a light in me where there once was darkness.
I am no longer the same person I was. I have gratitude and thankfulness for each day He brings to me. I know He saved me for a reason. I look for ways to honor and glorify His precious name.
A.
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
