Commissioned for the Calling- Acts 13
Acts: God's story continued... • Sermon • Submitted
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Prayer--- Matthew 24:7-8 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; & again 1 Timothy 2:4 “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Comfort your peoplt.
Introduction
Introduction
The Office
Our first missionary Journey from 2013 to 2015 was wrought with trials and eventually a bout with depression for me. Looking back on that time Annie and i say that there were 2 things that got us through it…
God’s Steadfast Love that would simply not let go and secondly, the TV series “The Office”
Declare Bankruptcy
“Creed Bratton has never declared bankruptcy, when Creed Bratton gets into trouble he transfers all of his debt to Willliam Charles Shneider.”
Creed goes on to say, “Bankruptcy is natures do over. A fresh start. A clean slate.”
What if I told you there is an eternal offering similar to Creed’s understanding of declaring bankruptcy?
A spiritual or eternal “do over, a fresh start. a clean slate.” “A Transfer of all your debt” but little hint… it isn’t to William Charles Schneider.
That’s what I hope to primarily show in our passage today. So here’s a roadmap.
The Commission
The Conflict and Cost
The Content
Read Acts 12:25-13:4
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.
Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
The Commission
The Commission
Context
Acts 13 picks up where Acts 11 left off. Paul and Barnabas have returned from Jerusalem, and back with the church in Antioch.
And this church was so healthy. Not only had they initated the programatic evangelization of the Gentiles, they were about to formalize it with cross-cultural missions.
They also had a healthy plurality of leadership.
Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger (which was Latin for “dark”) insinuiting that their leadership had racial diversity as well! Lucius of Cyrene (which was in North Africa) and Manaen (a roman socialite raised in the same home of King Herod, who we looked at last week), and of course Saul.
And while the church was worshiping the Lord and fasting the Holy Spirit commanded them to
Acts 13:2 “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.””
Comissioned by the Holy Spirit
Comissioned by the Holy Spirit
God is always the initiator and the Comissioning that took place here was led and initaited by the Holy Spirit.
Comissioned by the Church
Comissioned by the Church
vs. 3, so after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
This laying of hands isn’t some magical transferrence of power. Instead it is a symbol of identification.
Here, when the church lays hands on Barnabas and Saul they are saying, “We are with you. As you go, we go.” We are fully identified with you.
Most of us have heard of William Carey. Known as the father of Modern Missions.
But few know the name Andrew Fuller. Andrew Fuller, was a dear friend of Carey’s but did not feel “set apart” to go to world missions.
So before Carey departed, he told his dear friend Andrew Fuller, “I will go down into the Pit, if you will hold the rope.”
Fuller spent the rest of his life founding and serving the Baptism Mission Society traversing the British Isles constantly raising funds, awarenses, and prayer for missionaries like Carey.
Fully identitfied. Simeon and Lucius and Manean weren’t set apart for that particular work, but they along with the entire congregation laid hands and said, “we will hold the rope.”
So they are commissioned by the HS, and the Church, but for the work to which they are called.
Comissioned for the Calling
Comissioned for the Calling
What is this work? Because before we move any further we have to have cyrstal clear clarity into the substance of their calling… and for that we turn to the primary source. Paul himself.
To Ananias God said, Acts 9:15 “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”
Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,”
1 Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel,
Galatians 1:15-16 “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles
Their Work was to preach the Gospel. They were set apart, and comissioned to make known the Good News of Jesus Christ.
so they are sent out (vs. 4) and make the 130 mile sail from Seleucia to Cyprus (the home of Barnabas), a natural place to start.
But when they got there, we see point #2. Their Calling comes with Conflict and a Cost
The Conflict & Cost
The Conflict & Cost
Read Acts 13:4-12
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Conflict
Conflict
They arrive at Salamis, and engage in what will become their consistent pattern as missionaries.
They start in the Synogagues. And Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of salvation to everyone who believes, to the jew first and then to the gentile. In every location, he begins in the local synogagues and offers the gospel to the Jews First.
They follow this pattern, all across the Island until they reach Paphos (90 Miles on foot).
And it was in Paphos they have some conflict.
Bar-Jesus
Barnabas and Paul were evidently sharing the Gospel with the Proconsul, or Governor of Cyrpus… but someone stood in the way.
A magician and false prophet by the name of Bar-Jesus.
Bar- Jesus means “Son of a Savior”, and this man had a lot of sway over the proconsul.
He was a charlatan, and that business was a lucrative one.
Bar-Jesus loved the financial gain he had from the Proconsul, and not wanting to lose his best client, sought to “turn the proconsul away from the faith.”
But Paul, full of the Holy Spirit looks intently at him and says,
“You aren’t the son of a savior, you are the son of the devil! An enemy of all righteousness.
Full of lies and deceit and you are making crooked the straight paths of the lord.
In essence, this man Sergius Paulus is walking straight to salvation, but you are perverting it! Just like your Father the Devil does!
Church, preaching the Gospel is an engagement in Conflict… a spiritual battle.
2 Corinthians 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Satan is busy bliding the minds of others, but the gospel is the light that penatrates their blindness!
But for Bar-Jesus, his consequence was to be blinded. His physical state would now mirror his spiritual state.
And the miracle was so moving, that the Proconsul had heard and seen enough… and believed in Jesus on the Spot!
The calling brought conflict, but he always leads us in triumphant procession.
But we also see a Cost in the Calling.
The Cost
The Cost
Read Acts 13:13-14 “Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.
This was a 175 mile sail. And apparently the plan was to land in Perga--- only to make their way to Antioch in Pisidia. This isn’t the same Antioch of Syria. And the journey from Perga to Antioch in Pisidia was approximately 100 miles on foot over the substantial Taurus Mountain Range.
At this, the cost was just too great for John mark. He had had enough.
Rather his silver spoon upbringing hindered his ability to endure.
Or the look in paul’s eyes with Elymus scared him.
Or just the difficulty of the terrain…
John mark abandoned them. And that’s exactly how Paul felt and was a deep offense to Paul.
And becomes a point of serious contention between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15, although there is eventual forgiveness and restoration in Colossians 4:10.
The point though is that this is costly work.
The work of preaching the Gospel, anywhere, but especially cross culturally is riddled with costs. And Jesus would say that you’d be foolish not to count it… but church the privelege of joining God in His work far outweighs the cost of following HIm!
So instead of thinking of the cost it would cost you to share the gospel, maybe consider the cost to you and others if you don’t.
But Barnabas and Paul come into Antioch in Pisida…
Read Acts 13:14-16 “but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.”
And Paul, enages his calling and begins to Preach the Gospel to Jews and God fearers alike, but let’s really look at the Content of the Gospel.
The Content (20 min left)
The Content (20 min left)
Read Acts 13:17-25 “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold…”
Content begins with God
Content begins with God
The opening of Paul’s preaching of the Gospel begins with God.
Everything here in the first 8 verses highlights the faithfulness of God, inspite of the faithlessness of Israel.
God elected Israel.
God led them out of Egypt.
God Put up with them! Literal translation = he endured their manners.
Their golden calf; their grumbling, their rejection of Moses.
God gave them the land.
God gave them judges.
God gave them a king, even though he warned against it.
God raised up David. David was a special expression of God’s love, because it was to him that a special promise was given.
Acts 13:23 “Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.”
The content of the Gospel begins with God.
God who has created you, who formed you in your mother’s womb. God who has made you fearfully and wondefully.
God who created you with the strength of your body, the abilities of your mind, and the gifts of your tempermants and personalities.
God who provides all your needs. Who gives rain and sun on the righteous and the wicked. God who gives you your daily bread. Who gives you a job. Who provided that home you sleep in. The car you drive.
God who puts up with you, like he did the people of Israel!
Romans 1:21, that although you know, even if it’s just deep down, you know there is a God, yet you do not honor him as God or give him thanks!
Instead you view all the provision of your life, a result of YOUR hard work and like Romans 1:25, you worship yourself the created creature and not the creator.
Instead of living accountable to God who created you, you live for your own pleasures like Romans 1:32, you know morally, in your conscience, of God’s righteous decrees but break them and you give approval to those who break them too.
And He has watched you do this over and over and over again, and has put up with you.
He hasn’t just put up with us, He goes further as we see in vers 23, he has brought us a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised throughout the OT.
Content Centers on Christ
Content Centers on Christ
“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,
“ ‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’
And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,
“ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
Therefore he says also in another psalm,
“ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
Christ was Condemned
vs. 27-28 This message of salvation in Christ starts with the Condemnation of Christ
to be Condemned = to be DECLARED guilty in a court of law.
That means when Christ was brought into the Natural court of law with Pilate, but also the Supernatural court of Law with God… each DECLARED HIM GUILTY.
VS. 28, ALTHOUGH there was no guilt in him. He was totally clean. Sinless. Yet DECLARED guilty.
Guilty like a criminal… like a curse and consequently hung on a criminal’s cross to die and laid in a tomb.
vs. 30, but God raised him and for 40 days appeared to his witnesses.
vs 32, and Paul says, “AND WE BRING YOU THIS GOOD NEWS… the Gospel.
Why is this good news!? All you’ve told us thus far is that a guiltness person was declared guilty and wrongfully punished! It’s not good news! It’s unfair! It’s Wrong!
But let’s look at vs. 38, “Let it be known to you therefore brothers, that through this man, (this condemned man), forgiveness of sins is declared to you and by him everyone who believes is freed.”
You are Justified
Here lies the good news… In His Condemnation, is Your Justification.
This is where Creed Bratton can really help us here. In Justification, you get to transfer your debt, not to William Charles Schneider, but to Jesus Christ! and your debt is forgiven.
But for this to actually be good news, you have to realize that you are in actually in debt. You have to own the fact that you owe God a debt that must be paid.
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
All. Does that include you?
You are short of God’s standard.
And Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death,
So the wages you owe. The price to be paid for your admitted sin is death. Your payment of your debt is death.
So Creed comes to you in this spiritual debt and says, “Hey cuz, heard you’re having debt problems. I’ve got your answer. transfer your debt to somebody else.”
This is what happens in Christ’s Condemnation and in Your Justification.
Again, Condemnation is the legal term = to DECLARE guilty.”
Justification is the legal term = “to DECLARE forgiven.”
So Christ, who was guiltless, was declared guilty on your behalf. = He was condemned.
You, who are guilty, are declared forgiven on His behalf. = You are Justified.
Jesus has borne the condemnation you deserve, so that through faith in him you can have the justification you don’t deserve.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteouesness of God.”
HOW! How can this be?
Romans 3:23-24 justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
Grace.
IN the words of Creed Bratton: The Gospel of Jesus Christ---- heaven’s do over. A fresh start. A clean slate. A Transfer of debt, but not to William Charles Schnieder, but to Jesus Christ.
The Content of the Gospel begins with God, Centers on Christ, and illicits a Response.
3. Content Requires a Response
3. Content Requires a Response
Acts 13:40–47 (ESV)
Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
“ ‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”
As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
First a Warning… BEWARE.
Beware that you arent like the scoffers who hear this Good News and NOT BELIEVE.
Acts 13:38-39 says this tranfer is proclaimed to you, and available to everyone who believes.
We saw in Romans that we are justifed by his Grace. A Free Gift.
That Means you can’t earn this. You don’t have enough funds to pay this debt. The debt is too great!
This is where so many get themselves into deeper trouble.
When you become aware of all your debt due to sin, we feel bad. So what do we do, we start spinning our wheels trying to right all their wrongs.
Hoping to tip the scales and achieve some level of acceptable balance before God.
Church you can’t…
The only thing you can do is humbly embrace the humilitation of your debt… And acknowledge you can’t do it. You need somebody to save you. You need a William Charles Schnieder!
It is Pride that keeps so many from the freedom of forgivenss.
So BEWARE that pride isn’t keeping you believing.
Becuase unfortunately in verse 44 many of the Jews and Gentiles reject it. They Scoff. They Don’t Believe.
They Rejecet the Gospel and without faith they will be eternally rejected.
Second an Invitation… BELIEVE
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
But some didn’t scoff… the Gentiles specifically, when they heard the Good News of the Gospel was for them… glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
And the result of belief, the result of undeserved forgivness is JOY and the HOLY SPIRIT.
vs. 49 and the Word of the Lord continued to spread throughout the whole region!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Paul and Barnabas were comissioned by the Holy Spirit and the Church for the work in which they were called.
And that work was to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
It will come with conflict and it will come with a cost,
but the GOOD NEWS is to good. The Privelege outweighs the Price.
And they proclaim it boldly.
That Christ was condemned though guiltless, so that you may be guiltless though condemned.
And the only way to attain this Transfer is faith.
Application
Church, if you have believed in this Gospel, do you glorify this Word like the Gentiles here in ACts 13?
Are you filled with Joy, knowing your sins are forgiven?
Are you spreading that Word throughout our entire region?
But for some of you, most of you here today, you haven’t believed...
BEWARE. Scoff no longer, the forgivness of your sins is proclaimed to you today.
Believe and be freed from your guilt.
Pray
Sinner’s Prayer?