OPPOSITION TO THE GOSPEL Acts 13:1-12
FBCF – 9/2/20 Refresh
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Youtube videos of street preachers. Amazing to see how quickly people turn against them in violent, abusive way. People just totally lose their minds when the Gospel is being preached.
- Street evangelist in Portland
- Gay pride parade in Tel Aviv
- Preaching on streets in Toronto
Physically assaulted – spit on – flipped off nonstop – cursed at w/ the most vile profanity you can imagine – lewd acts performed right in front of them – laughed at & mocked – screamed at – interrupted by police & sometimes arrested – equipment stolen or broken.
Thinking about this a lot recently. Horrendously amazed at the level of evil that is pouring across our nation. And to see these Christian preachers striving to share the love of Christ in the midst of frightening, maddening circumstances is overwhelming.
The Lord gave me some insight into this. You don’t see people going nuts over Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus, or JW’s or Mormons. Reason? B/c their messages are not interfering w/ their unsaved sin nature. Why? The Spirit is not in their messages.
- No power in the Koran
- No power in the Book of Mormon
- No power in the corrupted NWT of the Bible
But when a born-again Christian preaches the Gospel or witnesses to an unsaved person, their unsaved sin nature (flesh) encounters the HS, & the BATTLE IS ON!!!
- DDAY – US soldiers could have just stayed way out in the English Channel, away from the Germans & their guns & everything would have been just fine. No fighting. No danger. No battle. No death.
o But when they hit the beaches, they were in enemy territory & the enemy went nuts! Battle raged & when it was over, thousands & thousand of soldiers dead on both sides.
Gal. 5:16-25 - Flesh & Spirit in opposition to each other.
Opposition to the Gospel has been going on since Jesus’ life & ministry, & since the birth of the Church.
- Mark 3:6
- Acts:
o 4:1-2 – 1st time Peter & John were arrested
o 7 – Stoning of Stephen
o 8:3 – Saul “ravaging the Church…”
o 12:1 – Herod Agrippa “laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.”
? Killed James
? Threw Peter in jail
Now Barnabas & Saul were about to experience opposition to the Gospel in chapter 13.
SET APART – v. 1-2 – Critical moment in the book of Acts & in the life of the Church. Up to this point, Jerusalem had been center of operations for the Church & Peter had been the principal leader. From ch. 13 on, Paul becomes primary personality & Antioch becomes the main center of activity for the Church.
- The beginning of foreign missions.
- Remainder of book of Acts emphasizes the ongoing fulfillment of the Great Commission & Acts 1:8.
- Paul begins here spreading the Good News across the known world of that day.
v. 1 – We see that the church at Antioch had prophets & teachers, but no one who was specifically called out to actively work & strategize to do outreach w/ the Gospel among unreached people. That was about to change.
v. 2 – In the midst of a time of worshiping & fasting (corporately), the Spirit spoke clearly to them & commanded them to set Barnabas & Saul apart to start this mission work.
- “set apart” – one Gk word – aphorizo – appoint, distinguish, define
o NLT – “Dedicate B & S for the work I have for them…”
- Isn’t it cool how the Spirit spoke during a time of corporate worship? HE STILL DOES!!!
- The Spirit had a work for them to do. He has a work for US to do!
SENT OUT – v. 3-4 – Look at how the Church sent them out – “After fasting & praying…”
- “fasting” – God uses fasting to bring His will into focus better in our lives. We deny ourselves certain things so that we will be more attune to His voice. And most of the time, as in this verse, it is connected to a time of intense prayer.
- “laying on of hands” – Nothing “magical” about this, but a solemn time of commissioning in which the church pledged its support to them. Provides a physical picture of the imparting of the HS to them.
- “sent them off” – apolyo – released them, loosed them, dismissed them
- “sent out by the HS” – different word that mean to send forth, to dispatch
o FD dispatch – sends us to a specific place, specific person, w/ a specific job to do
SHARE THE GOSPEL – v. 5 – So, being dispatched, they got to their specific place – Salamis – to the specific people – the Jews in the synagogues - & did their specific job – proclaimed the W of G, the Gospel.
STAND AGAINST EVIL – v. 6-8 – Didn’t take long (as it didn’t take long in the videos I watched) for the opposition to show up.
v. 6 – “certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus” – Most likely practiced occultic, demonic magic & used that the espouse his false, demonic beliefs. Had attached himself to a gov’t leader. Not surprising since Satan & his forces are eager to influence governmental leaders in any way they can.
v. 7 – Interesting that Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, actually had asked for Barnabas & Saul to come tell him about Jesus. He wanted to “hear the W of G.”
- No wonder the opposition came!
- V. 8 – “opposed” – resisted them, set himself against them, was hostile toward them.
- “turn the proconsul away from the faith” – pervert, mislead, distort, twist, make crooked
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE UP AGAINST TODAY!!!
SHUT HIM UP – v. 9-11 – IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT, Paul called him out, told it like it was, commanded him to stop, & miraculously shut him up & shut him down.
- Bar-Jesus had been causing rampant spiritual blindness. Now God struck him w/ temporary physical blindness.
- There is a time to be nice & cordial, & there is a time to take a bold, confrontational stand.
SEE THE RESULTS – v. 12 – God used the miraculous, powerful confrontation to confirm the validity of the teaching that Barnabas & Saul had brought to him.
- God used the miracle, but it was the “teaching of the Lord” that astonished him & moved him to trust Christ.
- Focus on the MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL! If God chooses to validate it w/ a miracle, that’s just lagniappe.
CONCLUSION:
- REALIZE THAT YOU’VE BEEN CALLED & SET APART TO SHARE THE GOSPEL
- GO! – Remember that you’re going into enemy territory – You’re about to storm the beach!
- EXPECT OPPOSITION (& expect it to grow!)
- TRUST THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS WITHIN YOU
o 1 John 4:4 – “Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world”
o “The Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit that lives in the world” (NLT)
- STAY ON THE MESSAGE – DON’T GET SIDETRACKED
- BE BOLD WHEN YOU NEED TO BE BOLD
- WATCH GOD WORK
