A Power Encounter

SERMON: 2013-09-01--ac13105--a-power-encounter-part-1 SOURCE DURATION: 00:42:45.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: The recording begins with a review of previous scripture study (Acts chapter 13) and continues through theological exposition, application, and concluding challenges, all characteristic of the main sermon content. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: none ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: no ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: none Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- It's been a couple of weeks since we looked last at Acts chapter 13, allow me to just briefly review what we have covered in our previous study of these first 12 verses in Acts chapter 13. So far we've looked together at three of four major story elements. Let me run them by you just very quickly. The first is this, Paul and Barnabas are called to start their missionary journey by the Holy Spirit. Verse two, "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting," that is the prophets in the church at Antioch, "the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" And when we talked about that in some detail a while back, I pointed out that every so often the Holy Spirit will communicate directly to God's people what it is that he wants them to do. Our job is to listen and try to obey. I love the words of Jesus in John 10 verse 27, "My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me." Second story element that we've looked at is that having heard the voice of the Holy Spirit calling them to mission work, they now use their sanctified common sense to plan their journey. We read in verse four, "The two of them sent on their way by the Holy Spirit went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus." We talked about that a little bit. Why Cyprus? Because Barnabas was from Cyprus. And because the church in Antioch was founded in part by preachers from Cyprus who began to proclaim the gospel not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles and that's how this Gentile-based church came about. And so while sometimes the Holy Spirit very specifically directs us, there are other times when he just invites us to use not just our common sense, because that's always dangerous, but our sanctified common sense to show us how to work out the details of what he has called us to. That prevents what I said last time is the paralysis of analysis. Sometimes you get so caught up in knowing what does God want me to do that you fail to do the obvious that is right in front of your nose. We don't need revelation from heaven necessarily to know what socks to put on or even what to do in our lives unless God clearly directs us otherwise. So Paul and Barnabas are called by the Holy Spirit. They use their common sense to work out the details and then of course they encounter spiritual opposition. Chapter six, they traveled through the whole island and you can see it on the map there until they came to Paphos in the southwest corner. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and a false prophet named Bar-Jesus who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The story then goes on to relate that Sergius Paulus was very interested in the gospel, invited Paul and Barnabas in, but Elimaz or Bar-Jesus tried to dissuade him from coming to faith. That sets the stage then for what it is that we want to talk about this morning and really the fourth element of this story that we need to take note of and that is the fact that this opposition elicits what I have chosen to call a power encounter. Listen again to how the story continues. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elimaz and said, "You are a child or a son of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right. You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, will you never stop averting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You're going to be blind and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. And when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. A power encounter, as you can well imagine, is an encounter where two forces or two persons go head to head and toe to toe. And if you watch current action movies, then you'll discover that most action movies are built around power encounters and I've often noticed that if you watch that kind of a movie, it starts out with the good guys over here and the bad guys over here and they continue to shoot and to fight and to fend each other off until at long last all the underlings are dead or gone, have you ever noticed that? And then at the end, the two protagonists remain. And then they duke it out to see who is the stronger. And you know what always gets me about those kind of movies is the three quarters of the time in movies, one little punch will knock somebody out and he's out of commission. But then when you get to these exciting, dramatic conclusions, they beat the snot out of each other. You know what I'm saying? They just go at it and at it and they keep getting resurrected and keep getting resurrected until finally at long last bloodied and wounded, somebody is the victor. Isn't that true? Why are those themes so popular? Because they tap into a cosmic longing for good to triumph over evil. And in this story before us, the battle on a human level, of course, is between Paul and Elamaz or Bar-Jesus, but on a cosmic level, it is between God and Satan. Because you see, the universe and the history of the universe is one long power encounter. God wants to build his kingdom. People who love him, people who serve him, people who do his will. The devil is also trying to build his kingdom, tries to get people away from God, tries to keep them from obeying God. And so before God's kingdom can come, Satan's dominion and Satan's power has to be broken. And so throughout biblical history, at crucial times in redemption history, you have these great power encounters where God establishes his authority and his victory once and for all. I want to take you just a few moments to walk you through some of the major power encounters in scripture just to show you how big a theme this is and why it is that sometimes in your life and in my life and in the life of the church community, as we go forward with God, we find ourselves set about by difficulties and challenges that we can't even begin to figure out sometimes where they come from and why they are so persistent. First power encounter that I find in scripture is at the very dawn of history in the creation story. Who here remembers how Genesis chapter 1 begins? Most of us would. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The waters there represent the waters of chaos and the waters of chaos in scripture are Satan's domain, which is why in the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, when you get to the end of the Bible, apart from the sea of crystal before the throne of God, there is no sea because Satan's power will have been completely annihilated. Likewise, darkness is the domain of darkness and so as creation begins, as the spirit of God broods over these original waters of chaos, he has to drive back the darkness and he has to drive back the waters. And so God says let there be light and then God says let there be separation of the waters and let there be separation of dry land from the sea. In biblical language, that is a power encounter where God uses his power to bring order out of chaos because wherever Satan reigns, there is chaos and if you want to see what that looks like, then look at what is happening in the Middle East and you'll get a feeling for the horror of evil when that is released. On the second major power encounter, and there are many more in scripture than what I'm referencing this morning, is the story of Elijah, or rather the Exodus from Egypt. And you will recall how in the Exodus, for God to set his people free, he has to break the power of Pharaoh and allow his people to go to the promised land. Pharaoh is not very anxious because Pharaoh in that story represents the power of evil and their slavery is symbolic of all our slaveries in the natural to Satan's power. And so you have that power encounter between Moses and Aaron on the one side and Pharaoh on the other and you have all those ten plagues that come over Egypt until at long last, Pharaoh's power is broken and he lets his people go so they can go to the promised land. Years later, the psalmist put it this way in Psalm 105, "He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy, he gave them the lands of the nations and they fell heir to what others had toiled for." Well still a third power encounter in scripture and one that most every Sunday school child knows really well is the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The nation of Israel had fallen into spiritual decline. They were serving Baal. Elijah wondered if he was the only one that was left. Jezebel was in power. The priests of Baal had the power and the victory over the people. And so for God's people to be set free, Baal's power had to be broken. And you know the story how Elijah invites all the prophets of Baal up onto Mount Carmel and there he says, "Let's test this out, who is really God? Is it Baal who is the God of the harvest and the God of prosperity and all of that sort of thing or is it Yahweh, the God of Israel?" And he proposes to build an altar and he says to the priests of Baal, "If Baal answers by fire then he will be the greater and if Jehovah or Yahweh answers by fire then he is the God." And to the people he says this, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, follow him." You know how the story unfolds, the prophets of Baal cut themselves, they dance, they get themselves all into a frenzy but Elijah jokes with them and he says maybe, and that's not very clear in most English translations, but he really says to them maybe Baal has gone to the bathroom because Baal is just not there to be had. And then of course he calls on the Lord after having dumped lots of water on the altar so that nobody can say that he stuck fire in there and fire came down from heaven. And the story concludes with verse 39, "When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord, He is God.'" The Lord, He is God. Don't you wish kind of that periodically the Lord would do more of that in our lives and before the nations of the world to make our evangelism a lot easier, wouldn't it? But we also know from scripture that unless people's hearts are in the right places, all the signs and wonders mean diddly squat because it doesn't convince anybody who doesn't want to be convinced. In the New Testament we have Jesus being spoken to with approval by God the Father and what did the unbelieving Jews say happened? They said it thundered because they couldn't recognize the voice of God. Well quickly one more from the New Testament. In the New Testament where do you think you find most of the power encounters of scripture and that of course is in the ministry of Jesus. First thing that happens when Jesus begins his public ministry is there's a demon in the synagogue who tries to take him on or who at least recognizes his power and then Jesus takes on both the political and the religious systems of his day and ultimately in his death on the cross and by the power of his resurrection he defeats sin and the devil and hell once and for all and Paul writing about that later in the book of Colossians says having disarmed the powers and the authorities he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross. That's why I like that last song so much that we sing you are stronger you are stronger sin is broken you have saved me it is written Christ is risen Jesus you are Lord of all. He's got the name above every name and the Bible says that anybody that calls in the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved. So that's what happens then here in the story before us we have a similar power encounter between Paul and Elamaz the sorcerer. For Paul surges Paulist to come to faith the power and the influence of the false prophet over his life has to be broken and so Paul filled with the Holy Spirit takes him on headlong calls down the disciplining judgment of God on Elamaz who leaves the room blinded by the judgment of God and the result of the story as we know is that surges Paulist who is the top Roman government official on the island of Cyprus comes to faith and you can imagine the implications of that for the rest of the population. So here's the question this morning we read stories like this and what kind of lessons do we learn and how can we apply that to our lives and situations this many years later. Well there's a number of them and we'll see how far we can get in the time that remains this morning lesson number one listen to this carefully whenever we are part whenever we are part of a kingdom advance we can expect opposition let me talk about that a little bit what do I mean by kingdom advance whenever we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus or whenever we are instrumental in helping somebody else come to faith or grow in the faith we can expect opposition from him that opposition can take many different forms it can come in the form of people as in this story who oppose us or who oppose our message it can come in the form of circumstances that come against you that try to dissuade you or make life almost impossible or difficult it can come in the form of emotional and spiritual turmoil it can be a combination of all three the purpose and the point being how can Satan dissuade us from following after God I don't know if there's ever been a time in my own life when I try to take the next step spiritually that I didn't encounter opposition of one sort or another and I've seen many times in church communities like this when somebody comes to faith when somebody wants to make profession of faith or somebody wants to be baptized or somebody wants to step into a new area of ministry or somebody wants to rededicate themselves their families or their businesses to God almost inevitably it is so common almost inevitably there is a wall of resistance that goes up I remember years ago one young man gave his life to Christ came out of a nominally Christian family I thought his family would have rejoiced that he wanted to become a member of the church and publicly professes faith in Christ and I was astonished they were more troubled over his commitment to join the church than they had previously been about his drinking his womanizing or his other carousing and I said there's something here that doesn't compute where's this coming from and you've often heard to say when people come forward to make profession of faith we're always encouraged and invited to pray for them in the weeks leading up to it because resistance can come from the strangest places and and if ever you've tried to enter into those new realms then you will have discovered sometimes as I said it's people sometimes it's circumstances sometimes it's just inner turmoil and you wonder what in the world is going on and what have I begun anybody here identify with what I'm talking about how many of you know what I'm talking about there are spiritual battles that come our way and I'll tell you something the more God's purposes are on your life and the bigger a danger you represent to the kingdom of darkness and the more determined you are to follow Jesus the greater will be the resistance and the greater will be the struggle at least by season and I emphasize that this morning not to scare us not to dissuade us but to prepare us because because one of the problems with the Western Church is that we have become so comfortable in our comfort that we have lost sight of the fact that the more our society moves away from God the greater and the more public will be the resistance towards the things of God I found out just this past week last November a group of people anonymously published a new edition of the Bible called the Queen James Bible not the King James Bible anybody here hear this it was in a mailing from Focus on the Family just this past week but it happened last November already it's put out by a gay community that has identified what they say eight passages in the Bible that are used to critique the homosexual lifestyle and so what they have done is they have revised those eight passages so that they cannot be interpreted from a homophonic homophobic point of view it's really quite a fascinating editing job in order to get there and you say why the Queen James Bible well because they allege that King James was a bisexual and that to his friends he was known as Queen James and so it's no longer the King James version of the Bible it is the King or the Queen James version and I mention that not to critique or to you know write off the homosexual community that's a whole other subject in and of itself I'm only saying that the more our society moves away from biblical values the more politically incorrect we become as we try to follow the way of Jesus and if nothing else we at least need to be prepared I love the way Peter puts it he says in 1 Peter 412 dear friends do not be surprised at the painful trial you were suffering as though something strange were happening to you and Paul writing to the Thessalonians in chapter 3 the verses 2 and 3 says we sent Timothy who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that no one would be unsettled by these trials you know quite well that we were destined for them we need to understand that running into opposition whatever that may look like is a normal part of being a Christ follower because if we're not prepared for that then we will question the goodness of God and whether or not he has abandoned us in the midst of the challenges of life the early church knew they were at odds with their society and they knew that the society that crucified Jesus would also crucify them if they got half a chance but they were willing to suffer through it not because they didn't like comfort not because they they liked suffering but they kept their eyes on the reward who for the joy that was said before him it says about Jesus suffered the cross and all of it shame and today is at the right hand of God so we need to expect opposition as we move forward into the things of God we don't have to elicit it we don't have to go looking for it all those who live a godly life in Christ Jesus says the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy are going to suffer persecution but secondly and this is the second lesson that we learn here I think to get through all of that we need to walk closely with the Lord we need to walk closely with the Lord it's very interesting in this passage I think that as the Apostle Paul prepares to take on elements the Bible says he was filled with a spirit and to be filled with the spirit is to receive a fresh anointing of God's Holy Spirit to equip and to prepare him for this power encounter and I believe and let's see if we can get through this and then we'll quit this morning but the infilling of the Holy Spirit in this passage does three things for Paul and will do three things for you and me when we find ourselves in similar situations first of all the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and discernment I don't know if you've ever thought about this but the problem with problems is that it's not always easy to interpret who they're coming from or how we should respond to them because the Bible makes it very plain that sometimes trouble can come from Satan but sometimes interestingly enough God is also the author of our trouble and he closes doors and the Apostle Paul's ministry in the book of Acts is a very good example of this listen to what he writes to the Thessalonians in chapter 2 verse 18 he says we wanted to come to you certainly I Paul did again and again but who stopped us Satan stopped us isn't that interesting Paul says I wanted to come see you devil didn't want me to and he actually succeeded in stopping me repeatedly but Acts chapter 16 verse 7 gives a whole other perspective when they came to the border of Missia this is Paul and his companions they try to enter Bithynia if you look at that on the map that's all part of what is now Turkey the spirit of Jesus would not allow them and so on the one hand we have the devil who is stopping them on the other hand we have the spirit of Jesus who is stopping them you understand with me do you know on that where the opposition comes from makes a huge difference in how we respond because if it is God who says no what ought our response to be we submit to that if it is the devil what do we do we fight it we resist it James puts the two together beautifully in James chapter 4 verse 7 he says submit yourselves then to God but resist the devil and he will flee from you and so we need the discernment of the Holy Spirit what is God saying to me in this situation I'm struggling in my marriage does this mean God is saying to me the marriage is over we ought to close the chapter get on with our lives or do we stay in the middle of this duke it out until God willing we come into a resurrection place I'm having an unhappy time in my job the boss is on my case I don't like him I don't like my fellow workers do I walk away from my job quit it find another one or does God want me to duke it out until I come into a new and broad place once again you can multiply that example over and over you get challenges in your business or you have challenges in relationships is God closing the door and saying no more of this or is Satan saying don't you dare think you're gonna get through that door because I have a vested interest in keeping you in captivity do you understand what I'm saying so we need to pray the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to us in the context of community to give us wisdom what is God saying I can tell you from personal experience over the years as I have sought to lead God's people into the purposes of God the hardest thing for us to get our heads around is when do we stand and fight and when do we lie down and submit what is God saying what is the devil saying submit to God but resist the devil not only that but we need the Holy Spirit to give us courage and strength to act in obedience to the will of God because again I find it interesting in this little story that after Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit what does he do next the Bible says he looks straight at LMS he looks straight at LMS now I don't want to read more into that than what the Bible allows but I take that to be a sign of courage he's not afraid of him he is taking him on headlong and that's no minor matter because elements the sorcerer is not some illusionist he is not some slight of hand magician he is one who is in tune with the powers of darkness he is close friends with the governor or the proconsul so to speak because remember worldly political powers are backed by spiritual powers and if you've ever found yourself in a situation in life where you've had to confront evil whatever it looked like you will know it can scare the pants right out of you isn't that true I mean if you've ever been in a situation where you've had to stand up against a boss who had the power to fire you and leave you penniless in the street or if you've ever had to go contrary to your spouse because the values that were being espoused were not the values of God or if you've ever been in a situation where you have been confronted by circumstances that threaten to undo you you will know what fear is I mean just look at what happens when we get a letter from the tax people saying they want to do an audit about our finances I mean that's enough to put most of us in a sleepless night or two isn't it I mean all those slips that you got filed away that you don't remember where they are it takes courage and strength to stand for what is right when everybody everywhere is selling out and placing their own comfort ahead of biblical truth and biblical principles I find it interesting just in doing a quick survey this past week of the New Testament 11 times in the New Testament we find the phrase directed to God's people stand firm just two verses very quickly 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 13 be on your guard stand firm in the faith be men of courage be strong the Bible doesn't know anything about this wimpy masculinity that has no ability to stand up for what is right and it's a place for men and for women to be strong in the Lord and to make a difference in their families and in their world and in a similar vein in the earlier chapter 1 Corinthians 15 58 therefore my dear brothers stand firm let nothing move you and then very quickly there's a third reason why being filled with the spirit is so important because it is the Holy Spirit who reveals the appropriate strategy now listen to me carefully put yourself in Paul's shoes he's trying to preach the gospel to Sergius Paulus who is about to become a believer LMS the false prophet stands there doing everything that he can to try to drive a wedge between the two of them and trying to keep Sergius Paulus from becoming a believer with all of the implications that go along with that now put yourself on Paul's shoes what is the Christian thing to do ever think about that do you turn the other cheek do you turn spiritual and say well I better pray about this do you invite elements politely to sit down and shut up and get out of the way do you strike him dead that's what Peter did with Ananias and Sapphira what do you do and how do you know what it is that you want to do because whatever it is that you're going to do God better be on the same page as you are because God has got to do it so what does he do well he's filled with the spirit and because he's filled with the spirit he is in tune with God he's in tune with the heart of God and he doesn't go wimpy he takes him on head to head and toe to toe and what he says I think is just fascinating you are a child of the devil I wonder if you catch the play on words there what's this dude's name in Hebrew Bar Jesus what does that mean son of Jesus remember he's a false prophet he is professing to be on the right side of things what does Paul say you're not a son of Jesus you're not a son of God you're a son of the devil not mincing any words now is he an enemy of everything that is right you were full of all kinds of deceit and trickery will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord the hand of the Lord is against you you're going to be blind and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun immediately mist and darkness came over him he groped about seeking someone to lead him by the hand and there you have the story he takes him on gets him out of commission and the result is that Sergius Paulus comes to faith huge implications about this we'll have to stop here we'll come back to it Lord willing next time and then we're going to look at still a third lesson that we learn about knowing our authority in Christ and what exercising that authority looks like because while on the one hand we are to submit to the mighty hand of God trusting him to use the nasty things of life to make us more like Jesus there are also places where the Lord says don't put up with it be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might because God wants to use us for his kingdom to come and I don't know where you find yourself this morning individually or even where we find ourselves corporately sometimes all I know is this if we're serious about following Jesus if we're serious about making an impact in our community if we're serious about making an impact on the world it's not going to be without trials it's not going to be without suffering that doesn't have to discourage us that doesn't have to make us afraid because what did Jesus say to the Apostle Peter the gates of hell will not prevail against the Lord in his anointed so we call on the Lord we invite him to make us strong in the might of his spirit and we trust him to lead us forward for the purposes of God to be accomplished in our lives individually and collectively [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:42:39.800; remove through 00:42:45.000] are you on board are you willing to step forward into the purposes of God. 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