Obstacles to Serving God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Thesis: In life, you will face opposition and abandonment by others, but they should not discourage us from our calling.
Text: Acts 13:4-13
Anytime someone sets out to do right and serve God whether its church ministry or raising your family to glorify God or just day to day living, there are going to be obstacles that pop up in our path. Life doesn’t always seem to want us to be successful and for the believer, we have more enemies fighting against us then we can even imagine. Dealing with our own selfish, fleshly desires is hard enough, but then you add the pressures from the world to conform to their image and the attacks of Satan and his hosts and life can seem to smother us. Often times these attacks which are spiritually motivated take the form of opposition.
In our text, God has clearly called Barnabas and Paul into the ministry and right out the gate, they face opposition. Opposition is not a sign that your on the wrong path; in fact, opposition can be a sign that your are doing the right thing. Paul and Barnabas were doing what God had called them to do. They were in the right place.
Facing opposition wears down on a person and we can get discouraged and think about quitting, but in life, you will face opposition and abandonment but that should never discourage us from doing what God has told us to do.
Opposition from Without vs 4-12
Opposition from Without vs 4-12
In Vs 4, their first stop on their ministry journey is Cyprus the home country of Barnabas. The following story shows them visiting two major cities on the island of Cyprus. The first Salamis is the capital city on the eastern side of the island and then they travel preaching all the way to Paphos on the southwestern side of the island. Paul and Barnabas have just been called and now they are setting out on their first day in full-time ministry. I don’t know how many preachers remember their first day. Our first day in India was pretty rough. When we arrived in India, we did not speak the language and the man who was supposed to meet us and get us settled decided to take a missions trip to the jungle the same week we were arriving. Somehow there was a miscommunication. We were to stay with another missionary lady that we didn’t know how to contact. Chloe had thrown up oreos all over on our way up the mountain and our jeepnee driver didn’t speak English. I tried to have him take us to a hotel we had picked out and he dropped us off instead at a run down hotel without power. Those first few days were a struggle for us. I don’t tell you this story to discourage you from serving God, but to show that sometimes we face difficulties right away, but God is there for us. Eventually, we made contact with the missionary lady because someone knew where she lived. We got settled into our apartment. God gave us many friends over there and began to do a work in our lives and those we knew. God let a Bhutanese girl to live with us thus opening the door to minister to the people we were there to work with. God led a young man to come be mentored under me in the ministry. We were privileged to begin working on translation projects into Dzongkha with my language assistant. But if we had been deterred by the obstacles at the very beginning, we would never have seen the blessings that came afterwards.
Paul and Barnabas face opposition first of all from without. A man named Bar Jesus opposes them. The name is almost ironic because it literally means Son of Jesus or Joshua. But this man according to vs 6 was:
a Jew
a magician- emphasis on communicating with the dead
a false prophet- telling the future
a con artist- the word mischief in vs 10 speaks of beguiling by trickery.
To Elymas, his other name, the message of Paul and Barnabas was a threat to his authority. He had the ear of Sergius Paulus the proconsul or political ruler of the area. Sergius Paulus had shown interest in the faith, but Elymas seeks to turn him away from the faith in vs 8. There is a movement within atheism today among what are called the new atheists who are trying to evangelize people away from Christianity. They undermine the faith of professing believers and promote deconversion or deconstructing one’s faith. The problem with the deconstructing movement is they never try to rebuild what they have torn down. It merely looks at all the arguments against Christianity and never looks at the evidence for the Faith. But these type of people are not satisfied themselves to not believe, they must get others to join them in their unbelief.
So we end up with a showdown in vs 9-11 where God smites him with temporary blindness and had to be led around. This curse was temporary: for a season. But it was enough to convince Sergius Paulus to believe in vs 12.
This event shows how a Jew who should have received the gospel rejected it and yet a Roman Gentile believes. Sometimes those we would expect to be all for us and support us are not the ones to do so. They can sometimes be the ones who oppose us the most. Paul and Barnabas faced opposition from a non believer that could have made them turn back, but they didn’t.
Types of opposition:
Types of opposition:
doubts- wet blanket- Every new work is going to face opposition from someone because people are creatures of habit. They want to do things the same way they have always been done. Usually, the main plan of attack will be to cast doubt that something will work. They usually have never tried that course of action, but they are sure it can’t succeed. And rather than come up with a solution, they would rather you do nothing. Because it is uncomfortable. We call this throwing a wet blanket on something because there is a group of passionate on fire people wanting to do something for God, but this source of opposition wants to put the fire out.
criticism- Opposition most clearly takes the form of criticism. Usually, those who are the most critical are those who are sitting on the sidelines doing nothing. Decisions have to be made and you don’t know all the factors that go into the decisions that are made. Those who are uninvolved are really in no place to criticize.
rejection- We face opposition when the world rejects us. It is a passive rejection in a way but most of Christianity does not want anything to do with a Christianity that promotes holiness and stands against worldliness. When everyone else is going one way and you are going another; you will often be rejected. There is a strong pull within Christianity to conform to what everyone else is doing. This is none other than the fear of man. What should matter most is what does God expect of us.
slander- Opposition can take a more direct approach in the form of slander and gossip. People standing on the sidelines judge your motives or criticize your decisions without knowing all the facts; so they take it a step further, they malign you to other people. Just like Bar Jesus they are not happy with just being against you, they have to turn others against you as well. This is how church splits happen. People are unhappy about something and want to leave, but they can’t do it quietly, they have to take others with them. Don’t you see how this is just a campaign of slander.
Here me clearly, I don’t think we have any of these problems in this church right now; but when you set out to do something for God, you will face opposition from without.
Opportunity and opposition usually go together; and the greater the opportunity, the greater the opposition. “For a great and effective door has opened to me,” wrote Paul, “and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:9).
Warren W. Wiersbe
Hardship of life vs 13a
Hardship of life vs 13a
Paul and Barnabas also faced the hardships of ministry life. The ministry God called them to was an itinerant ministry. They didn’t get to settle down for long periods of time. Not only had they just travelled the whole island of Cyprus, but now they are travelling to Perga in Pamphylia. According to historical records, Sergius Paulus had family in this region. So most likely they had been requested to go there and preach the gospel. But the very nature of their ministry meant they had to keep moving.
Living for Christ adds its own pressures. Going to Church multiple times in a week, extra time reading your bible and praying, trying to teach your kids the word of God. Sometimes you probably just feel like you need a break.
I recently read an article on the micro-stresses that Pastors face by Thom Rainer where he gave this illustration.
Illustration: 1967 Silver Bride over the Ohio River collapse from micro fractures in the bridge over time. A small fracture formed in the bridge which left it open to degradation from salt and water in a load bearing component of the bridge. The load shifted to other parts of the bridge which eventually overloaded the bridge and caused it to give out. 46 people died from this accident and it changed the way that bridges are inspected from that day forward.
But we all face micro stresses from day to day: (Pastors and Regular people)
Dealing with children who whine and fight all day long.
Worry about paying our bills
Being emotionally present when you are an introvert can be a micro stress on our lives.
Deadlines at work
Dealing with criticism from others
Being pulled different directions by different groups.
Worry about how things are going to turn out.
Living for God isn’t always easy. Doing ministry can wear down on you. Its not that anything is wrong, but the stresses of the work and life push you down.
Abandonment and Betrayal from within vs 13b
Abandonment and Betrayal from within vs 13b
Paul and Barnabas faced another form of opposition: Abandonment and Betrayal. The end of vs 13 tells us that John Mark leaves them and returns to Jerusalem. On its own this verse does not seem to be a condemnation of John Mark. Maybe he had only committed to going with them to Cyprus where he knew people, but when we get to Acts 15:37-39 “And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;” we see that John Marks actions were not neutral but negative.
The word departed literally carries the idea of abandoning. John Mark had left them in the lurch. He had forsaken and abandoned them. To Barnabas, he was family.
Psalm 27:10 “When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take me up.”
Not everyone is going to stand with you when you choose to do what is right. Are you going to let that deter you from following the Lord?
When every one else abandons us, God is our refuge. Psalm 142:4-5 “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, But there was no man that would know me: Refuge failed me; No man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge And my portion in the land of the living.”
It is at these moments that we need to fall back on the Lord. He has said He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Conclusion
Conclusion
1. God’s plans and purposes will prevail despite the obstacles that we face. Elymas stood against Paul and Barnabas, but really he stood against God. Those who oppose the work of God should seriously consider who it is that they are actually standing against. Our first consideration should always be is this the will of God. If it is the will of God, it doesn’t matter how impossible it seems; God can do it. We can take comfort in knowing that God will accomplish His will. I don’t have to make this work. I don’t have to be defeated by those who oppose it. Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”
2. Remain steadfast- In that confidence, I must remain steadfast. Don’t give up. Don’t quite. Things might get hard, but endurance takes work. 2 Tim 2:3 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Many people miss out on the blessings that God has in store for them because when things get hard they quite. Serving God is not always easy.
3. Trust God’s guidance. God will take care of you. When you feel like the world is against you, remember who told you to do what you are doing. God had called them. Do you think He knew that the first thing they would face was opposition from Bar Jesus right away? Trust that God knows what He is doing. The difficulties of life are intended to grow us and make us better. Remind yourself of what God led you to do and don’t allow yourself to slip into doubt and despair.