Combating Opposition - Part II

Sharing the gospel is something we are commanded to do, making disciples is not a suggestion but a command Jesus gave His disciples and this same command falls to us today. As I have been thinking and preaching through the book of Acts and thinking about the spread of the church and the growth of the church, a question has arisen. If this is something the church must be doing why did Jesus have to command it. Well that is simple, because its not natural for us to do this. We are just like our ancestor Adam, we are very good at making excuses why we can't or shouldn't go out and make disciples. The thing is Jesus commanded this, "make disciples" is an imperative. So, when we come up with excuses or attribute blame to others for us not giving the gospel we are shirking our responsibility that was command to us by Jesus Himself. I know how hard it is for those who aren't gifted to make disciples, that is why when we look at the Scripture we find that God didn't leave us to just figure things out on our own. After Jesus' ascension, we have the birth and growth of the church in the book of Acts. Through this book we find time and again some helpful tools as to going out and sharing the gospel.

Now I know what you're thinking, Mike you don't know how tough it is to go to my neighbor and share the gospel with them. You don't know how tough people can be and how much other people influence them, they have so many good excuses and there is so much opposition out there. Well your right there is so much opposition out there but God has provided some helpful tools on how to handle opposition, especially those who are of the world and want to turn people from God. We looked at two of these components last week, two of these tools. We are looking at “Five components to combating Opposition.

Five Components to Combating Opposition

The first component we looked at was prayer

Prayer

The Antioch church was thriving and very diverse, from different races, to different social economic class, to different religious backgrounds and even different languages. All come together and serve God in God's growing church. Now we found the leadership of the church was very reliant on God. In verses two and three we find that they are fasting and praying. They are devoting themselves to God and seeking God's guidance in what to do. We have established that they are seeking His guidance by the response, the Holy Spirit speaks to them and tells them to, “set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So there is a specific task for these two men, and this task is spelled out by God through the work and power of the Holy Spirit. They only knew where God was leading them because they made prayer a priority in their lives. They spent time in prayer. They spent time in fasting which is a letting go of the worldly sustenance like food to focus your mind and strength on God alone. This was an important task they were seeking. They weren't seeking their own desire, they were trying to be in the will of God. This is the first tool to any kind of guidance from the Lord and I believe we take it for granted. We don’t make prayer enough of a priority and most of the time instead of seeking God's will in prayer we are trying to impose our will on Him. Prayer in all honesty is the first tool to anything, when it come to our salvation, what was the first thing you did. I know for me it was pray and asking for forgiveness of my sins. I prayed and acknowledged that I was a sinner and needed to be Saved. The first initial prayer of a follower of Christ is reliance on God and in essence a now what. Now that I am saved what do I do? Prayer does this for you, it is letting go of all that you have ever thought was reality and grabbing on to the reality of Jesus Christ as the God/Man, Judge and King. Now as I walk through this life when it comes to big decisions it is saturated in prayer. So when it comes to giving the gospel in a world that is filled with opposition your first tool is prayer.

The second component is Willingness

Willingness

The second tool we have is willingness. Remember this isn't just answering a call. We discussed on Wednesday night how for the most part when we have gone to Founder's Day, we were only answering a call not really having the willingness. Most of us as I thought about it sat under the canopy and we fellowship more so then willingly go out and gave the gospel. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of time to fellowship but we need to be out there more, this is the thing we need to be willing not just answering a call. Barnabas and Saul weren't just answering a call, they were willing to go out of their comfort zone and give the gospel. They didn't care what the opposition was they knew what was at stake and they went and followed the prompting of God's guidance and they willingly went out to tell people the good news, which is they are dead in their sins, but Jesus has provided a means for them to come alive. This is what we need to be willing to do, tell people about the life they can have in Christ. That is what Barnabas and Saul were willing to do.

Remember they went from Antioch to Cyprus. This was not an easy trek. They didn't have padded seats, they weren't on a luxury liner and when they arrived at the island they didn't rent the nicest fast most comfortable car they could find. No they walked from town to town, with no Holiday Inn with a continental breakfast. They just moved about with one cause on their minds, the gospel. They were willing to go across this little island to be sure the people heard the good news of Jesus Christ. They had willingness. Now we move to the third component to combating opposition, the third is humility.

The third is humility.

Humility

Let's pick up in verse 6, "When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God"

Here we meet the antagonist who is by no means humble. He is the epitome of pride. Look at the description of this man. He is a "magician," which more then likely means he was trained in the east. We have encountered a magician earlier in the book of Acts, Simon Magus, in Acts 8:9. These "magicians" had knowledge of science and were able to use this knowledge to in essence con people into thinking they were greater then they were. Simon Magus did this and so did Bar-Jesus. To the point that he was given a Greek name "Elymas" which means "magic." For the Romans, who were superstitious this was something that enticed them. We are not really sure what this magic entailed but knowing is not that important. What is important is that he is a false prophet. What is important is that this man used what he knew to sway people away from God. He, as far as Jewish religion and culture is concerned is no Jew. This man Bar-Jesus was not interested in truth but power. He only wanted to control and as we see he even worked his magic so well that he was able to sway Sergius Paulus.

Luke writes that Sergius Paulus is an intelligent man meaning he is not a weak minded individual who falls for all kinds of con men. The word here for intelligent also means he is a "man of understanding." He is someone who seeks out knowledge for the sake of processing it so that he can apply it to life. Bar-Jesus had a lot to offer Sergius Paulus in the way of knowledge. So Sergius Paulus brought him into his cabinet.

Sergius was a proconsul. A proconsul was a governor of a territory in the Roman Empire. They were generally selected for a temporary stay in an area were they didn't need an army. Cyprus was peaceful and they didn't need to use a show of force in order to keep order. So the Roman government would assign a proconsul to the area. Sergius Paulus was this proconsul and Paphos by the way was the capital of Cyprus. Even though he was a ruler he was a man who had a sense of humility. He was intelligent, this doesn't mean he was the smartest guy in the world but surrounded himself with those who had a lot of knowledge about different things. That is why he had Bar-Jesus in his cabinet. Bar-Jesus on the other hand worked his way into his cabinet for the purpose of having power. Bar-Jesus wasn't going to be a ruler but if he had the ear of a ruler he could influence the rulers decisions making Bar-Jesus a very powerful man. This fed his ego but on the flip-side it shows the humility of Sergius Paulus. He is the ruler yet he surrounds himself with people who have knowledge.

This specific word for intelligent is used three other times in Scripture, twice by Jesus and once by Paul.

Look at what Jesus says in Matthews Gospel

Matthew 11:25 NASB95

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

Jesus is praising God the Father that the religious leaders of the day had the truth hidden from them, because they were so puffed up on their own intellect, they knew it all. They understood everything. The truth will not sink in because they knew all there is to know of truth. Who sees the truth, who has truth revealed to them, infants. Why? Because infants trust without seeing, they are humble and know nothing and still need to learn. Right. Humility, is coming to God and listening to Him, and trusting Him at His word not coming to God and telling Him all you know.

Luke repeats this in his gospel, almost word for word.

Luke 10:21 NASB95

21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

Same scenario and same point, the proud know it all and the humble know nothing and want to trust and learn.

Now the next time we see this same word used it is by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. He actually uses it in a quote from Isaiah 29:14.

1 Corinthians 1:18–25 NASB95

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Notice how he opens up this argument, the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Meaning those who are in darkness those who are spiritually bankrupted hear the message of the cross and they think it to be foolishness. Oh but to us who are being saved, catch that "being saved." This is passive it is being done to us through and by the power of God, not of ourselves.

And Paul continues in this letter and this is his quote in verse 19, "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside." The word here for clever is the same word as the word we translate as intelligent. I guess another way to read this would be the intelligence of the intelligent will be set aside. Why? Well to answer that Paul continues and asks a litany of questions.

20 "Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" All the wisdom man thinks they have is nothing, the wisdom of the world is foolishness. This is funny because Paul is writing to a Greek church, these people were consumed with gathering wisdom. They were adept in philosophy which is the search for wisdom.

So Paul continues and says here, 21 "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed the Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;" So you see people search for wisdom apart from God, this is foolishness because searching for wisdom by examining the world and examining society and examining culture all ends in folly if God is absent from the equation. What is worse is when you examine eternity without God and you want to enter eternity without God and you think you have all the answers you, intelligent being you, it is actually folly and you will never receive the truth because you believe you are the benchmark for truth. That's pride right there.

Verse 24 -25 hammer it home, "But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Jesus' crucifixion is a stumbling block to the Jews who think they have all the answers. Yet to the Greeks they see the crucifixion as reserved for the lowest of the low, how could God use this as a means of salvation. This is exactly why and it is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified that God's power to save can be found and this is the wisdom of God, for a perfect sacrifice to take the place of a sinful human being. God's foolishness and God's weakness is far superior to man's wisdom and man's power.

So now back to Acts and this proconsul who is intelligent, who is a Roman and who is seeking wisdom, in any way he can find it. When I first read this I thought wow this man is so discerning and just seeking knowledge and understanding. Then after I looked into a little more I realized something. This man wasn't just seeking to know God he was just trying to fill his mind with knowledge. He is looking for wisdom like any other philosopher of his day. His humility doesn't come in the fact that he wants knowledge his humility comes despite the fact that he wants knowledge. He is just as proud as Bar-Jesus but there is something that is compelling him to want to hear the word of God, and it is not his pride. He is being prepared by God to hear the truth. In order to receive the truth of God's word whether it is the gospel message or any teaching of His truth there absolutely needs to be humility and this humility is a giving up of self for the sake of hearing or taking in something that is greater then you.

Sergius Paulus was in a humble state at this time but he is not the only one who was in a humble state. This is the recipient of the gospel message but the one providing the gospel message needs to be in a humble state as well. If you notice and I mentioned this last week, Barnabas is the one who takes the lead here not Saul. We always think of Saul as this incredible voice for the gospel. We tend to even think that after his conversion he just became this powerful leader in the church. Well it took a while before he did have this position.

Notice that from the time Saul came to Jerusalem after his conversion on the road to Damascus it was Barnabas who brought Saul to the apostles. When the Jews were poised to put Saul to death Saul was sent out to Tarsus, were he spent about 10 years or so giving the gospel there. It wasn't until Barnabas went to Antioch that Saul resurfaced but only because Barnabas went to get him. Then each time they are named, it is always Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas had taken the lead. This is big.

Look at what Saul says about himself to the Philippian church.

Philippians 3:4–11 NASB95

4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Notice that as Paul writes this in Philippians he is saying that we aren't to put confidence in the flesh. Meaning in our strength or our pedigree. Look at what he tells the Philippians. He says, 4 "although I myself might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:" If you want to have confidence in the flesh and in all your accomplishments already go ahead but if anyone has a right to put confidence in the flesh it is I. That is what he is telling them. Now he gives them his resume, his credential. 5 "circumcised the eighty day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless." Here is the man who is the Jews of Jews, he has every right to be proud and puffed up. He has every right to take the lead when it came to go through Jerusalem and the Roman empire giving the gospel. He didn't need to be Barnabas' second fiddle. But he was. Here is why he was Barnabas' second fiddle.

This is Saul's heart, 7 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." He has counted all things as loss. This goes back to when he was in Damascus and then in Jerusalem and then in Tarsus and in Antioch. Saul counted it all as loss. Do you know what is so important to giving the gospel, it is humility, letting go of everything. When you realize that all that there is in this world is meaningless without Jesus is when you come to humility. When you look at all you have and say even if I didn't have this but have Christ that is humility. It is self-denial. Saul shows us that he has this. He continues in verse 8, "More than that, I count all things as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, (skybalon) Dung, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." See, this is why Saul is second fiddle, because the cause of Christ is more then just where you have come from or what you know or how full your resume is. The cause of Christ is fully and completely wrapped in submission to Jesus and Jesus alone. In all honesty Saul wasn't second fiddle to Barnabas he was second fiddle to Christ and so was Barnabas.

Saul didn't put himself first, he put himself last. And this is where we need to be to fully accept the gospel and this is an important tool when it comes to giving the gospel.

Now we find the opposition in verse 8, look, "But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith." What ever was being said by Barnabas and Saul was taking hold of Sergius Paulus and it was obvious because Elymas was threatened by Sergius being converted. This would mean a loss of power for the guy so he starts to oppose the message of the gospel. Listen we will all face opposition when it comes to the gospel message. This is the nature of the gospel message. It causes rifts and it angers people. Jesus said He does not come to bring peace but a sword and this sword is one that divides and one that tears to the hearts of man.

Leon Morris says this in his commentary on Matthews gospel about this Matthew 10:34, he writes;

But, of course, his coming presents a challenge to which people respond differently. And emotionally, for some who oppose Jesus do so passionately, as do those who become his followers. And where strong and opposed feelings are held, conflict is inevitable.

Leon Morris

So we need to be ready for it because this kind of thing can happen when we are giving the gospel. It is the wickedness of the world and Satan who doesn't want the gospel to be proclaimed. So this makes it so important to have these tools and to put them into practice. Prayer, willingness and humility and once they are put into practice you are able to give the gospel and when the opposition comes up you know you don't have to worry about it, because if you have been praying, reliance on God’s guidance, and you are willing, seeking God's will on the earth and not your own, and if you are humble, submitting completely to God's will without looking back at anything in this life, then this fourth tool will come so easy for you in the midst of opposition.

Being Spirit-Filled.

Spirit-filled

Elymas is doing what he can to try and sway his buddy Sergius Paulus but when evil lurks it's ugly head well the only way to handle that is with the power that works mightily with in you. Look at verse 9, "But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him," Here is the humble servant of God taking the lead for the first time in this ministry. Notice from here on out Saul is no longer known as Saul but now goes by his Roman name Paul. This is not an indication that he is now a changed man that happened long before in Damascus. This is a name he has always had. When he was born on the eighth day he was given his Jewish name Saul, more then likely named after Saul the King of Israel. The interesting fact about Saul is that he was also a Roman citizen so he had to be given a Roman name as well. That is where Paul comes in. Now they are going from Synagogue to synagogue but at this very moment Paul is witnessing to a Roman governor, on an island that is Grecian, why would he go by his Hebrew name, he went by his Greek or Roman citizenship name.

So now we see that Paul is "filled with the Holy Spirit." What does this mean that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Well it doesn't mean that he was saved, that his sins were washed away that happened in Damascus. Once he trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior once the scales fell from his eyes he was filled with Holy Spirit, He was saved for all eternity. So what does this mean here to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It means the Holy Spirit was in control. He completely yielded himself to the power and the will of the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you this can very well happen without the first three tools, but not when it comes to combating opposition.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a denial of self just like Jesus taught His disciples;

Luke 9:23–26 NASB95

23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? 26 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

This is self-denial, this is looking at your life and counting it as loss not only for the sake of Christ but for Christ. When you are denying yourself this is humility and then you are giving yourself over to Christ and when you give yourself over to Christ you are giving yourself over to the control of the Holy Spirit. This is daily, it is work and it is understanding that what you have in this life is meaningless compared to Christ. Americans are very materialistic and extremely independent. We want to do everything on our own and we feel as though we are entitled to the best in life. That is all pride not humility and that is falling to the control of the world and Satan. We need to have the opposite attitude, when that is fixed on eternity not material desire and one that is dependent on God and God alone, not on “self.”

The book of Acts has on more then one occasion told us about people who were in prayer, who were willing to go to the grave for the cause of Christ and humbly submit to His will and face opposition and then deny themselves and yield to the control of the Holy Spirit. Peter in Acts 2 when he preached to the people who were saying they were drunk was filled with the Spirit when he proclaimed the truth to the naysayers. Again in Acts 4 when Peter stands before the religious leaders he is filled with the Spirit when he confronts them. Stephen was a man who was full of the Sprit, it was evident in his life that he was not in control but the Holy Spirit who resided in him was. Even as he stood before an angry mob with rocks in hand, Stephen looked up to heaven and being full of the Spirit saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at His right side. There is a man who denied self, one who wasn’t fixed on temporal things but on eternal things. Now we find Paul who has made prayer a priority, who was willing to follow God no matter where He took Him, who was humbly following the lead of God and Barnabas, now when he hears the opposition is filled with the Holy Spirit and relinquishes his control and the Spirit easily takes control.

The gospel and the defence of the gospel should never be a fight of the intellect. You can attack the intellect but the real issue is the heart. If you are going to speak to the heart you must let the Spirit be the One who does the speaking, because only One knows the heart and that is not you. All to often people use logic and they try to argue others into the kingdom, well as we looked at 1 Corinthians we found that the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world so it would be illogical to argue logic wouldn't it. That is why we have to be humble and allow the Holy Spirit to be in control of our hearts and minds and words.

We need to be allowing the Holy Spirit to have control of our hearts and minds first. Witnessing to people or telling people about Jesus Christ and who he is, has more to do with who is really in control of your life, God or "you." You know your not in control of anything right, that is just a lie Satan likes to tell you. So if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have the Holy Spirit, so why do you still let satan have a foot hold of your life. You need to let the Spirit have the control of your life. Letting the Spirit be in control is not easy, we have a combative nature. The Holy Spirit who has the right to us and our sin nature which wants to lead us back to being satisfied in our sin. That is why we need to be in prayer be willing and need to learn humility, because all of these elements are a reliance on God. They are a yielding to his control and when we are yielding to His control we have Him give the gospel through us and He is the One that comes to the defence of His gospel when the opponent rears his ugly head.

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