Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:11] Acts, chapter 13.
[00:00:15] We're just going to kind of walk through the story line by line, as we did last week. I'm going to catch you up a little bit on the overall context of the book, but before I do that, I do want to just present a theme to you that I would like us to talk about through the text. And the theme is enchantment.
[00:00:30] Okay? So enchantment, amazement, awe is that thing that you and I experience and feel when we're in the presence of something bigger than we are.
[00:00:42] Okay? So it's like being in the mountains. It's like standing at the foot of the Grand Canyon. It's looking out across the ocean. It's looking at the sunset or the sunrise, having that first cup of coffee in the morning, whatever. The thing is that you and I just thoroughly enjoy.
[00:01:00] These are opportunities to experience this thing called enchantment. Okay, but here's the reality, friends. We live in a very disenchanted age.
[00:01:09] We live in an age of disenchantment. Everything is material.
[00:01:14] Nothing extends beyond the material. We don't think or talk about beauty often.
[00:01:21] And. And I think part of that is because we. We're so inundated and distracted and bombarded with so many things from the outside. We have the whole world at our fingertips every moment of the day, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep. We're. We're hearing about all the bad things going on in the world all the time, constantly being inundated by that.
[00:01:43] And so because of this, it's become very difficult for you and I, as followers of Jesus, the one who is the very embodiment and source of all truth, good and beauty, to experience this thing called enchantment, being wrapped up in something bigger and more beautiful than anything else, being fully present in that moment. And as a result of that, worshiping God. This is enchantment. And so when we get to the end of our text, I think you'll see why and where this fits in. Of where can. How can you and I find enchantment in the midst of a disenchanted age? Does this make sense? So let's look at the text together. Acts, chapter 13. There's a lot that's happened in the book so far. We've. We've said that you can really summarize the book of Acts through Jesus words in chapter one, verse eight, where Jesus tells his followers, he says, you will be my witnesses.
[00:02:36] Right? So remember, we've talked about the difference between someone who simply proclaims Something proclaims something that is true. And a witness, okay, a witness isn't someone who merely knows something about someone. A witness is someone who's experienced it.
[00:02:50] Okay, so the apostles, they didn't just know Jesus had risen from the dead. They saw him. They saw him alive. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, I'm so glad you're here. I have the privilege of telling you that we don't worship a God on the basis of blind faith, but historical reliability.
[00:03:07] Hundreds and hundreds of people saw this man risen from the dead.
[00:03:11] So you have to reckon with the reality of what will you do with that?
[00:03:16] Will you receive him or will you reject him? There's no third option. There's no one foot in, one foot out. You have to make a decision.
[00:03:23] He's alive. What will you do with him? Will you receive him or will you reject him? Over 400 people saw this man, Jesus of Nazareth, alive in the first century after he had been crucified under Pontius Pilate. They saw his body. They heard him speak, they heard him teach. They felt his hands, they felt his embrace. Living, breathing Jesus, after he had been crucified, had come back to life. And so Jesus tells them, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, where it all starts in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And all throughout the book of Acts, we see God in a very loving, gracious, but militant way, advancing his kingdom through these imperfect apostles.
[00:04:09] Miracle after miracle, people being raised from the dead, the gospel going forth, the good news of Jesus, people getting saved. The Gospel moves from the center of Jerusalem and begins. Begins to move out into the Gentile world. And so in Acts, chapter 11, we get the first Gentile convert. And then the gospel begins to spread into these outer regions beyond the borders of Jerusalem. In chapter 12, Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, this is Luke Part 2, as some would say, takes us back to Jerusalem and says, this is what's going on in the church of Jerusalem. The first disciple or apostle is killed at the hands of Herod. This is James, the brother of John. Herod kills James. And you think when you're reading this narrative, oh, my gosh, like, Herod is going to get the last laugh. He's going to get the last word. And then by the end of chapter 12, what happens to Herod? He gets up and he gives this amazing speech, and everybody calls him a God and says, he's amazing. And he doesn't give glory to God. And so God strikes him dead in A moment. God always gets the last laugh.
[00:05:09] God always gets the last word.
[00:05:11] Psalm 2 says that the nations rage and the people's plot in vain. But God sits in the heavens and he laughs. That's how in control he is.
[00:05:20] That's not a like flippant, silly laugh. That's a I am in total control. And the fact that these mere mortals think that they are is a laughable thing.
[00:05:31] It's how much confidence you and I can have in who God is and his control over all things. And so now we make it into chapter 13.
[00:05:41] And there are a lot of things that run through this passage that I want to just kind of read through it again section by section, and we'll talk about a few things along the way under this kind of umbrell of enchantment, which we'll talk about at the end.
[00:05:54] So let's look at verse one.
[00:05:57] Chapter 13, verse one says, now there were in the church at Antioch, prophets and teachers. So remember, Antioch is about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. So the gospel has traveled a long ways geographically to get from Jerusalem to Antioch. And Antioch is a cosmopolitan city. It's very dark, lots of idols, lots of pagan worship. And Christianity, the good news of Jesus is spreading like wildfire through this cosmopolitan city. The first Christians ever are the Christians in Antioch. Okay, so it says in the church in Antioch there were prophets and teachers.
[00:06:34] Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene Mana, and a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch. That's crazy.
[00:06:43] And Saul, also known as Paul. So quick note on this. Okay? Saul did not change his name to Paul because he got converted.
[00:06:53] A lot of us think there's this like, massive difference between, well, he was Saul and now he's Paul. Paul was his Roman name. Saul was his Aramaic name. Does this make sense?
[00:07:04] Probably pointless for you to know that, but just for your. For your reference. All right, so Saul. So the first thing to take note of in this passage is the diversity of the leadership in the church at Antioch.
[00:07:14] Think about this grouping of people. This is something only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can do. You have this church. The church is led by, he says, prophets and teachers. This is as the church, the local church was being established over time. Over time you're going to get elders, you're going to get deacons. All of these kinds of things are going to establish the local church. But at the time, you had prophets and you had teachers, and then he names them. And it's a radically diverse group of people from all over the place.
[00:07:41] You have Barnabas. You have Simeon, who is also called Niger from Africa. You have Lucius of Cyrene and Mana and a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch and Saul, a Pharisee. It says 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 let me. Let's talk for just a few moments around this scene and what's happening here. You have the leaders in the church at Antioch, diverse group of people who had been saved by grace through faith in Jesus. You have the Christians in Antioch, in this local church. And it says that it's while they're worshiping in and praying or worshiping and fasting that the Holy Spirit speaks to them.
[00:08:32] There are a couple of things to take note of here. Number one, fasting is never something that Christians are to do in isolation from prayer and worship. Fasting always serves to the greater end of the worship of God. And it's while the people of God were gathered together worshiping God that it says the Holy Spirit spoke to them. We don't know how the Holy Spirit spoke to these Christians.
[00:08:54] Okay? We don't know if it was an impression that simultaneously all of the leaders of the church and the church collective said, this is what the Holy Spirit's saying. We don't know if it was through the mouth of the prophets. Could have been that we'll get into prophets and prophecy in the weeks to come.
[00:09:09] We don't know how the Holy Spirit spoke. My assumption. I'm just going to give you my assumption is that this wasn't an audible speaking. The Holy Spirit didn't audibly speak. And the reason I think this is because it says this after the Holy Spirit spoke and said, set apart from me, Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them. In verse three, it says, then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. I don't know of any other instance in the Bible where God audibly speaks and the people have to set aside and say, okay, let's fast and pray about what we heard. Does this make sense?
[00:09:39] All right, so if the Holy Spirit audibly spoke to them, my assumption is they would have said, let's do that right now, okay? But that's not what happens. And so the Holy Spirit speaks in a different way. So much so that the church collective gets together and says, hey, we're going to continue to pray and fast to discern if this is what the Holy Spirit is saying. Does all this make sense so far? And here's the decision they're making, friends. They're making a decision on whether or not to send Barnabas and Saul off into the mission field.
[00:10:06] This is going to be the first overseas mission trip in the history of the church.
[00:10:10] Awesome. To think about overseas missions is awesome.
[00:10:15] Paul and Barnabas are going to be sent from where they are to over the, over the sea to a place called Cyprus.
[00:10:25] But before they go, it's necessary for the church collective, after hearing from the Holy Spirit together to validate or confirm that calling Barnabas and Saul had already been called by the Holy Spirit to go.
[00:10:40] But prior to Barnabas and Saul going on this first overseas mission trip, they were confirmed or validated by the church. And so by point of application, I do want to make an encouragement.
[00:10:51] Number one, there are people in this room that God might call to go.
[00:10:55] And that would be awesome.
[00:10:58] That would be awesome.
[00:11:01] Like, I wonder how many of us live with open hands like that.
[00:11:06] God, are you calling me to go?
[00:11:10] Maybe going doesn't mean overseas, but maybe it does.
[00:11:14] Maybe going means going into vocational ministry.
[00:11:17] Maybe it means going to seminary. Maybe it means going across the street and sharing the gospel with your non Christian neighbor.
[00:11:24] Could mean a variety of things as it pertains to gospel ministry. But I wonder how many of us live with open hands like that or if we're even mindful of these kinds of things throughout the course of our day or if we just kind of live our day. And I don't I mean this in a pastoral way because man, it is guilty as charged on my end. But so many of us friends live like functional atheists.
[00:11:46] We just kind of live our life for. We just kind of do stuff. We wake up and we just do stuff.
[00:11:51] We're not really thinking in terms of kingdom mindedness. We're not thinking about gospel advancement. We're not thinking about the glory of God. And this isn't again to shame us. This is just to remind us of what we've been called into. You have been called into gospel ministry of some kind.
[00:12:08] Whether it's being a missionary at your workplace, a missionary in your home with your kids, whether it's going across the street in the neighborhood that you live in and inviting your neighbor over, whether it's your family, whether it's going overseas for some of you, whether it's going into pastoral ministry for some of you brothers who are in seminary, whatever the case is, you're called to gospel ministry of some kind.
[00:12:29] And there are handful of these things, of these various callings that some of us might feel. And my encouragement to you through this text is to see the theme that you see run through the New Testament, that calling isn't merely an individual desire.
[00:12:45] Calling is validated and confirmed by the body of Christ, by the people of God.
[00:12:51] So some of us feel called to certain things. Does the church agree with that?
[00:12:56] It's a beautiful design that we see the Lord thread all throughout the New Testament and we see it specifically in the story with Barnabas and Saul. They had been called by the Holy Spirit and then the Holy Spirit, just to make sure Paul and Barnabas knew this is what I've actually called you to do, confirmed that to the body and then the body, after discerning this is what the Holy Spirit said. Send Barnabas and Paul off, laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and they sent them off.
[00:13:19] When I think about my own calling to ministry, I don't know why H E B is always the backup plan for me if I ever think like, what would I do if I weren't a pastor? I don't know why. It's weird.
[00:13:30] Always like I'll just go work at H E B.
[00:13:33] But when I think about those moments, when I have those. Those hard days in ministry, I don't think about the individual call that I felt walking out of the the math, technology and science building of Angelo State University, which is where I believe the Lord subjectively called me into ministry.
[00:13:52] I remember the day. I remember where I was. I remember what verse came to mind. I remember the burning in my soul that I felt to preach the word of God and to pastor. I remember that day. But I don't stay in ministry because of that day. What keeps me in ministry is the day that the elders of the Paradox Church laid their hands on me and sent me out.
[00:14:11] That's the day. Does this make sense?
[00:14:15] The body of Christ affirms and validates calling and that is for your good.
[00:14:22] That's for the good of the church as a whole.
[00:14:25] There are too many rogue maverick people in ministry that were never affirmed by the church and they're bringing devastation to the body of Christ.
[00:14:38] So the church hears from the Holy Spirit.
[00:14:41] They agree. This is what the Holy Spirit's saying. However, the Holy Spirit spoke and then they lay their hands on Paul and Barnabas and they go, how much more confidence might Paul Barnabas have felt from that moment on?
[00:14:54] So let's keep going.
[00:14:55] Verse 4.
[00:14:57] So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
[00:15:05] When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed, 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. Okay, so let me highlight two more things here as the story progresses. Okay?
[00:15:26] Paul and Barnabas have been called to ministry. They've been called the Gospel ministry. They've been called to specifically missions. They were taking the Gospel from where they were, were to this island called Cyprus overseas.
[00:15:39] They're affirmed and validated by the church. And then what do they do when they get there? This is what ministry is, friends. Ministry is the Word.
[00:15:49] They didn't go and do social justice stuff.
[00:15:52] Not saying it's bad.
[00:15:54] They didn't go and, and, and do what, whatever, whatever else, whatever, whatever other good endeavor thing that they could have gone and done. It says that they went about proclaiming the Word.
[00:16:04] This is what the church is called to. We do a lot of things. I'm not just talking about rhc, but the church as a whole does a lot of things.
[00:16:11] Christians start hospitals, they start orphanages, they start, they do all of these amazing necessary things. But the primary thing that the Church of Jesus Christ is called to do, that people, men and women in Gospel ministry are called to do, is the proclamation of the Word.
[00:16:24] So they went to the Jewish synagogues and they proclaimed the Word. They proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how we understand this book. And I want you guys to really tune in here. The Bible is not a collection of 66 random stories.
[00:16:38] The Bible tells one story that goes like this.
[00:16:42] God is the Creator of all things.
[00:16:46] He's sovereign over all things. He created us to live in a loving relationship with Himself and with one another.
[00:16:52] And we blew it.
[00:16:54] We turned away from God and we ran after idols. And so that fractured everything good that God had made in the beginning. But God is love. And the whole Old Testament tells the story of God in love, pursuing his lost bride over and over and over again until the day that it culminates in the person of his own Son. God is a life giving spirit. God is not a taker. He's not a demander. God is a giver. And we know that because he gave the most precious thing imaginable for you, His Son.
[00:17:32] He gave His Son for you.
[00:17:35] Jesus Christ, empowered and filled by the Holy Spirit, lives A perfect, beautiful life in perfect obedience to God the Father, fulfilling the law of God, the law of Moses on our behalf. And then he goes to the cross and he dies a criminal's death. He becomes sin. And then on the third day, by the power of God, he's risen back to life. So that through him and through faith in him, you and I, sinners though we are, might become the righteousness of God in him. This is the word of God that Paul and Barnabas went to proclaim that they gave their lives for.
[00:18:06] And so they go around the Jewish synagogues and they're preaching that message. That message, by the way, friends, is how you understand the Bible. That's what all of the Bible's about.
[00:18:16] Creation, fall, redemption, restoration or consummation. When the. When Jesus returns and makes all things new, this is what the whole Bible's about.
[00:18:24] And so they go about proclaiming this message in the synagogues, and it says this that they come upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar Jesus. There's so much irony in this story, it's ridiculous. Okay, Bar Jesus, okay, so the name Bar Jesus means son of Jesus or Son of Salvation. That's what his name means, Son of Jesus or Son of Salvation. So we don't know much about Bar Jesus other than we can assume he's probably going around telling people that this is who he was.
[00:19:01] I'm the Son of Jesus. I'm the Son of Salvation. He was a very crafty man. As a matter of fact, the name Elemis, which Luke goes on and tells us that this is what his name means. The name Elemis means.
[00:19:13] It means expert.
[00:19:16] So Bar Jesus, in other words, was an expert of deception and unrighteousness.
[00:19:24] Wasn't some goofball that sometimes, like I imagine when I read these stories, like he's just a dark, gloomy looking fella. He's real skinny and he's kind of following around the proconsul like, no, he was an expert in what he did, is very good. He's very convincing in what he did.
[00:19:39] And so with this call to ministry, Paul and Barnabas are called by the Holy Spirit to take the gospel to Cyprus, to this island off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea they go. And their mission is to proclaim the word of God.
[00:19:54] That's the mission of gospel ministry, to proclaim the word of God. And as they go, they meet opposition.
[00:20:00] Because, listen, this is true for the life of a Christian and especially for those of you in the room. And I hope all of you who say yes to gospel ministry.
[00:20:10] There will be opposition.
[00:20:12] There will be opposition. You don't often see Satan's name mentioned in the Book of Acts, but he's. He's threaded. His work is threaded all throughout the Book of Acts.
[00:20:22] John, specifically in the Gospel of John, and in first, John always carries this theme of darkness and light, just this theme over and over again of darkness and light. Where light advances, darkness opposes, and darkness opposes in some really profoundly powerful ways.
[00:20:41] Okay? And so as a Christian and I, I encounter this a lot with new Christians, with new Christians who receive Jesus, they put their faith in Jesus. And within a few days, few weeks, few months, they come back and say something like, life has gotten harder.
[00:21:00] Like, yeah, it's gotten harder.
[00:21:03] It's gotten harder. For this reason, when you're a non Christian and for some of you in the room who are not yet Christians, you have one enemy. You know who your enemy is?
[00:21:13] God.
[00:21:15] If you're not yet a Christian, you have one enemy and it's God.
[00:21:20] But that enemy is love.
[00:21:23] And he's bent to save. And he wants your good and your flourishing.
[00:21:28] He longs to save. He loves to save. The angels in heaven rejoice when he saves.
[00:21:34] That's who God, that's who your enemy is now. That enemy is just and he's righteous and he's holy, and he will execute justice on the day of judgment for all who have not repented of their sin.
[00:21:49] Okay? But when you become a Christian, when you say yes to Jesus, you now have three enemies.
[00:21:56] The world, the customs and ways of the world, the flesh, that indwelling sin that still plagues you, and the devil.
[00:22:06] And all three of them hate your guts.
[00:22:11] I think bar Jesus, though he's a real historical man, is also a.
[00:22:20] A symbol, if you will, of Satan.
[00:22:24] He's crafty, he's deceitful, he's very convincing.
[00:22:31] He's powerful.
[00:22:33] He's an expert at what he does.
[00:22:36] And he wants one thing of you.
[00:22:40] He wants one thing. This is Satan's whole game.
[00:22:43] So if you and I, by the grace of God, can understand his game plan, then we'll know, by the grace of God, how to fight. Does this make sense?
[00:22:53] Because you are called to fight, as we'll see Paul do in just a moment.
[00:22:58] Here's his game plan.
[00:23:00] Lead you away from Jesus. That's all he wants to do.
[00:23:04] It doesn't. He doesn't care how he does it.
[00:23:08] He doesn't care if it's through adultery.
[00:23:11] He doesn't care if it's through drunkenness.
[00:23:13] He doesn't care if it's through addiction.
[00:23:16] He doesn't care if it's through bitterness of just refusing to forgive someone who's wronged you.
[00:23:25] He doesn't care what it is. He's got one objective.
[00:23:30] He's an expert, but he's very predictable.
[00:23:34] Lead you away from Jesus, lead you away from eternal life, Lead you away from the forgiveness of sins. Lead you to think that you can be saved or justified or reconciled to God through the law.
[00:23:48] This is what he does, and he's doing it all. Throughout the New Testament, every time the Gospel advances the believers, the Christians are facing opposition. Here's Paul's opposition.
[00:24:00] He just came across the wrong guy this time, Bar Jesus did.
[00:24:03] Paul's not the guy you want to come across and say these kinds of things. So let's read what Paul says. Let's take note of it as followers of Jesus so that we can know how to fight the enemy who wages war against our souls, says 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. Remember, that's the objective.
[00:24:39] Turn him away. Turn him away from the faith.
[00:24:42] Proconsul's interested. He's like, I hear about this gospel, this good news of the risen Jesus. I'm interested in that. I want to hear from Paul and Barnabas. And Bar Jesus is like, can't happen.
[00:24:53] So he wants to turn him 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?
[00:25:19] And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you. Not a good place to be for Bar Jesus at this moment.
[00:25:29] And you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.
[00:25:34] And then it says this. Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.
[00:25:44] Now you'll recall, this is interesting. Paul experienced something very similar, didn't he?
[00:25:49] In Acts, chapter eight and nine.
[00:25:52] It's on the road to Damascus.
[00:25:54] And then Jesus appears from heaven and he calls Paul out of darkness and into his kingdom.
[00:26:03] You're mine now.
[00:26:05] Paul spends the rest of his life preaching and proclaiming the love and grace of Jesus.
[00:26:09] As a former persecutor of the church. But in the meantime, it says that Jesus blinds him, doesn't it? Paul has to be led aside by the hand, by another.
[00:26:21] So Paul would have known intimately what was happening here to bar Jesus.
[00:26:27] But the opposite of what happened to Paul is happening to bar Jesus. What was happening to Paul was salvation. What's happening to bar Jesus is judgment, darkness and scales fell over his eyes. I want us to think about Paul's statement because, I don't know, maybe we read that and an initial response is like, gosh, it's not very nice, you son of the devil, you worker of all, or you, you opposer of all. That's righteous.
[00:27:02] That's a, that's a, that's a really intense, harsh thing to say. But take note of this. Brothers, brothers, sisters.
[00:27:09] It says, but prior to Paul saying this, what does it say?
[00:27:12] He was filled with the Spirit.
[00:27:16] Paul didn't say that out of the flesh.
[00:27:19] He said it by the Spirit.
[00:27:22] It was like Paul got a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit.
[00:27:25] Holy Spirit filled him with not just courage and boldness to say something true, but to oppose evil.
[00:27:35] There is a time and a place for that kind of comment, for that kind of tone.
[00:27:42] We, we kind of.
[00:27:44] We live in two extremes, don't we?
[00:27:48] On one extreme, we have like the ultra nice category. Christians are ultra nice. We are only called to be nice, be nice, say nice things, don't raise your voice, don't have a bad tone. Don't say that, because that could offend people and you could lose the relationship. Like that, that kind of perspective. And then on the other side, we have a perspective that only knows that kind of tone and that kind of statement all the time.
[00:28:15] So anything that you perceive as opposition, anything that you perceive as, as whatever you, you're like, well, Paul did it. You're not the apostle Paul.
[00:28:26] Okay now, but here, here's the, here's the. Just another bit of good news. You have the same spirit that the apostle Paul had.
[00:28:34] Paul wasn't superman.
[00:28:37] He wasn't some kind of, like, extra human being.
[00:28:41] Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit. You are filled with the Holy Spirit if you belong to Jesus. And the Holy Spirit is the one who prompted and led and empowered Paul to make the statement. We see Jesus do this, don't we?
[00:28:55] The flipping of the tables in the temple. Matthew, chapter 25. When Jesus looks upon the Pharisees and he says, woe to you over and over and over again. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites you make your converts twice as much a child of hell as you are. Not only are you going to hell, but you're sending other people to hell. Woe is you like. We see this kind of tone, this kind of verbiage from the mouth of our Lord and we hear it through Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit. There is a time and a place for this kind of righteous anger. When is that time and place? Well, it requires wisdom.
[00:29:33] It requires wisdom.
[00:29:35] Walking with Jesus, spending time in his word, in prayer, that there are going to be times and places where you as a Christian are going to be called to make a stand for truth, no matter what it costs you, and to be confident in it, not shirking back from it because you don't want to sound mean.
[00:29:56] Niceness is not a fruit of the spirit. Kindnesses, and they're not the same.
[00:30:04] Niceness as one pastor told me one time, is rooted in the fear of man.
[00:30:08] Often kindness is rooted in the fear of the Lord.
[00:30:12] They're different things.
[00:30:15] There was a situation that I was in many months ago where I was at a cookout with some friends, some dear friends who were Christians. And there was a guy there who was one of their friends.
[00:30:31] And he and I ended up getting into a long conversation and come to find out he is, he is, he is of a different religious faith.
[00:30:41] And so the conversation started really well and cordially. And then I come to find out that his family, him and his family are in this long line of people that propagates this faith of, of a false Jesus. They claim to be Christians, they claim to believe the Bible, they claim to believe the Gospel, but they teach a works based salvation. They don't believe Jesus is God. They're sorts of things that were deeply problematic about what this guy was saying. And as we continued to talk, he began to share with me. Well, yeah, like I teach this, we put out publications, we put out DVDs, we do all these things. And then the conversation goes to. He's actually trying to like semi convert my friends who are followers of Jesus.
[00:31:20] And at one point I felt such indignation in this. Not like I want to punch him in the face, kind of like unrighteous anger stuff, but like I felt so mad and, and I, I struggle with unrighteous anger, with sinful anger. I struggle with that. This didn't feel that way.
[00:31:39] This felt more controlled. It felt more centered on the kingdom of God and less about me.
[00:31:45] And I just, I felt compelled to look at him in the eye and I Said, you're a heretic.
[00:31:50] You're a heretic.
[00:31:52] You're spouting damnable lies to my friends. You're a heretic. You need to stop. You need to repent. You're going to be judged.
[00:31:59] Jesus is going to judge you.
[00:32:01] He got really mad.
[00:32:04] And, and, and I got a call, like, I got a call later that night from my friends. Like, what did you say?
[00:32:13] I said, dude, I called him a heretic. Stop talking to that guy.
[00:32:18] There's a time and a place for that. Don't be more nice than Jesus is.
[00:32:26] The world needs Christians who tell the truth. Tell the truth.
[00:32:31] It's more important to tell the truth than to keep the relationship. And I'm not telling you to intentionally harm the relationship. It's not what I'm saying. Be kind, be loving.
[00:32:41] Pray for them. Love them, serve them. Tell the stinking truth.
[00:32:47] Tell the truth about what the Bible says about marriage. Tell the truth about what the Bible says about gender. Tell the truth about what the Bible says about abortion. Tell the truth.
[00:32:56] Tell the truth.
[00:32:58] The truth will set them free, not your capitulation to cultural lies.
[00:33:04] The truth.
[00:33:05] Tell them the truth.
[00:33:07] So many of you do. And I get to hear those stories and I love it.
[00:33:11] I love hearing stories of people from RHC telling the truth to people and seeing the Holy Spirit work through that. What's the Holy Spirit going to do in this passage? Let's find out.
[00:33:21] Paul told the truth.
[00:33:24] He said something really hard to a really bad guy.
[00:33:28] And the Lord brings judgment upon Bar Jesus. And let's see what happens as we. As we close.
[00:33:37] Immediately, mist and darkness fell upon him. And he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Verse 12.
[00:33:44] Then the proconsul believed.
[00:33:48] The proconsul believed when he saw what had occurred, for he was.
[00:33:58] Now we get back to our theme.
[00:34:00] He was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
[00:34:06] Paul told the truth.
[00:34:10] He called someone who belonged to the devil. He told him he belonged to the devil. That was true.
[00:34:17] He rebukes him.
[00:34:19] He calls judgment upon him. So Paul serves as a prophet in this story.
[00:34:25] Mist and darkness come over his eyes. He can't even see where he's going. And so people have to lead him by the hand. Looks like a fool.
[00:34:32] And yet Bar Jesus, we would assume from the text, like still had an opportunity to repent and believe.
[00:34:38] There's no indication Luke gives us that he ever did that.
[00:34:41] But God didn't kill him.
[00:34:43] He blinded him.
[00:34:46] And so they lead him off by the hand. And then it says that the Roman Leader.
[00:34:51] He saw what happened and he wasn't astonished by the miracle that had happened, by the way. What was he astonished at?
[00:34:59] The teaching of the Lord.
[00:35:03] The miracle scales and darkness falling over his eyes, blinding a man who could formally see only served the purpose of exalting the thing. The message by which you and I are to be absolutely awed by.
[00:35:20] The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the teaching of the Lord, the grace of God for sinners.
[00:35:29] If you want to know how to cultivate enchantment in your life, spend some time meditating on the grace of God.
[00:35:38] Whatever news you get this week, and I hope it's not bad for anybody in the room, you and I can still be enchanted.
[00:35:49] We can still be enchanted that the God of the universe in love, sent his Son for us.
[00:35:57] That Jesus, in obedience to the Father, fulfilled the law.
[00:36:01] That he took all of your sin and mine upon himself on the cross. And he bled out and died.
[00:36:08] Was. Was buried.
[00:36:10] On the third day, the tomb rolled aside and he walked out of it.
[00:36:16] And he's in heaven. He's alive, he's well, he's coming again one day to judge the living and the dead and to make all things new. To wipe away every tear from our eyes.
[00:36:26] Be astonished at the grace of God.
[00:36:29] There's nothing more transformative in the world than the grace of God. If you're a non Christian, you need the grace of God.
[00:36:37] That's what you need.
[00:36:39] You don't need more money.
[00:36:40] You don't need a new job, you don't need a spouse. You need the grace of God.
[00:36:46] And if you're a Christian in the room, you need to be reminded of the grace of God.
[00:36:51] What is it that takes a rageful man and over the course of a lifetime makes him more gentle and more kind? It's the grace of God.
[00:37:04] What is it that takes someone who struggles with cowardice and the fear of man and makes him bold to stand in the face of evil and not just reject it, but rebuke it in the name of Jesus? It's the grace of God.
[00:37:23] There's nothing more transformative in life than the grace of God. Friends, be enchanted. Be enchanted by the grace of God.
[00:37:32] Amen.
[00:37:33] Amen. Let's pray.
