What is the Bible? What do you think of it? How do you approach it?

Many want nothing to do with it. They might respond to such questions by saying, “The Bible – that’s old and out of date. It’s not relevant for today. If I’m going to read something hundreds of pages long, I want it to be fresh, new, written for this time period, and informed by all the recent advances in knowledge. Why should I spend time looking at that old book?”

Others might see historical or sociological value in the Bible: “Oh, yes, the Bible is an interesting record of a number of the spiritual encounters of great men and (a very few) great women. Perhaps some of those encounters have a basis in a supernatural being intervening in this world. In addition, the Bible has been esteemed by millions of people over the years; it has had a major influence on this country’s history and literature. Indeed, we can’t understand the US today without understanding the Bible. So, yes, I read it, I have studied it – as history, as an important core document of several religious traditions.”

Yet others might say more: They value the Bible for personal spiritual benefits: “Yes, the Bible has had a profound influence on me. Jesus is an amazing figure, as are Moses, Elijah, Daniel, David, and others. Jesus surely was a great teacher who was closely in touch with God. He is my example; I try to live like him. There is much we must learn from the Bible. But today, we can’t even know what the Bible originally said. The church may well have massaged the text to make it say what it wanted. And, in any event, the Bible is a pre-scientific account of origins and human psychology. We’ve learned so many things that make the Bible’s worldview archaic and obsolete. So, yes, it’s very interesting, impressive, and helpful – but today we must pick and choose what topics, what passages still make sense.”

Do those attitudes sound familiar to you? Do you yourself agree with one of them?

Consider the difference between those three attitudes toward the Bible and the psalmist’s attitude, expressed in Psalm 119:169-174:

Let my cry come before you, O LORD;
give me understanding according to your word!
Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.
My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.

The psalmist knows that God has revealed Himself in His Word. He submits to that Word, and longs for God to help him understand and apply it. He praises God for what he learns through the Word. He delights in the Word, for it tells him of God’s way of salvation.

The Bible claims to be God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. The infinitely powerful, infinitely good, infinitely wise God is so far beyond us that we could never possibly figure him out on our own. But He has chosen to communicate to us who He is. And He is wise enough to communicate all we need to know in this book, despite the limits of human language and the challenges of explaining His infinite qualities.

If the Bible is truly what it claims to be – the one and only written revelation of God to man, breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16) – then we had better pay attention to it. As Peter writes,

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. . . .  19 And we have something [even] more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:16, 19)

Peter says we are in darkness. But God has given us a lamp. That lamp, the Word, is our light, shining, showing us the truth. We can walk in darkness and ignore it; we can pretend that it’s not really a light exposing truth, instead it’s just, say, a movie projector displaying falsehood – but whatever we pretend, it is the true light. We must pay attention to it. Only God’s Word is able to make us wise unto salvation.

That’s the Bible’s claim. I don’t know where you are this morning. But if your attitude toward God’s Word is more similar to one of those first three than to the psalmist’s, I want to say two things:

First: I’m delighted you’re here. God intends His Word to be sung, to be prayed, to be read aloud together, and to be preached or heralded. Please listen. Pay attention. I pray that God would display Himself to you in His Word.

Second: I encourage you: Try approaching the Bible with a submissive attitude. Say something like, “God, if You are there: I want to be a truth seeker. I do not want to turn my back on the only light that shines in the darkness of this world. So if this is really Your Word, show Yourself to me in it. Give me understanding according to Your Word.”

We have been making our way through the book of Acts on Sunday mornings. Today we are in chapter 13. As we saw last week, the church in Antioch – in what is now Syria – has sent Barnabas and the Apostle Paul out on the first missionary journey. They have preached in the island of Cyprus, where even the proconsul, the Roman governor of the island, believed, despite Satan’s opposition.

Today’ we’ll look at chapter 13, from the thirteenth verse to the end of the chapter. Paul and Barnabas travel to what is now Turkey. This passage includes the longest sermon by Paul recorded in Acts, though even that is undoubtedly a brief summary of what he said. But the major theme of this sermon and the surrounding chapter is the Word of God.

So I pray that as we consider this part of God’s Word, He might establish us that much more firmly in His Word, deepening our understanding of its centrality in our lives, so that we might pay attention to it, as to a lamp in a dark place.

There are six themes in this section, all related to God’s Word:

God’s Word in History
God’s Word Incarnate
God’s Word in Prophecy
God’s Word Offered
God’s Word Rejected
God’s Word Accepted

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. Acts 13:13-14a

Paul and Barnabas leave Cyprus, and sail to the port of Perga in the coastal region of Pamphylia. John Mark – the author of the Gospel of Mark – deserts Paul and Barnabas here (we’ll learn more about that in chapter 15). The apostles then make the difficult journey from the coast up into the mountainous region of Pisidia, as they travel to one of its most important cities, Antioch (Note that there were many Antiochs in those days – this Antioch in present day Turkey is obviously a different Antioch from the city in present day Syria, where Paul and Barnabas started).

And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” Acts 13:14b-15

The apostles decide to visit the synagogue, to speak first to the Jews. This will become Paul’s normal method of operation whenever entering a city with a synagogue. He will speak first to those who share the foundational assumptions of Old Testament teaching.

There is a significant Jewish community here and in many Roman cities. But the synagogues also included a number of proselytes – Gentile converts to Judaism – and “God-fearers”, those Gentiles who have an interest in learning about the Hebrew Scriptures, but have not yet fully embraced its tenets.

God’s Word in History

In the first part of his sermon, Paul – like Stephen in chapter 7 -  recounts some of the history of the people of Israel. But he tells this history in an interesting way. Listen carefully. Who is the subject of almost every verb?

16  So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. Acts 13:16-23

In this passage, God is subject of almost every verb. He acts, and accomplishes His purposes; He is in control.

• Verse 17: GOD chose our fathers; GOD made the people great; GOD led them out;
• Verse 18: GOD put up with them;
• Verse 19: GOD destroyed the seven nations; GOD gave them the land;
• Verse 20: GOD gave them judges;
• Verse 21: God gave them Saul after they asked for a king;
• Verse 22: GOD removed him, and GOD raised up David; GOD testified that David was a man after His own heart, who would do His will;
• Verse 23: GOD has brought from his offspring Jesus, the Savior whom HE promised.

The history of the people of Israel is the history of GOD acting powerfully to accomplish His purposes. And His purposes culminate in the long-promised offspring of David, Jesus Himself.

Paul now puts John the Baptist at the end of this history section:

24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ Acts 13:24-25

It’s interesting that Paul seems to assume that these Jews in Antioch know all about John the Baptist. He’s recognized as a prophet – the first prophet in centuries.

Remember that Jesus Himself said, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). Yet Paul notes that this well-known, great man considered himself NOTHING compared to Jesus.

God’s work in the Jewish people over the centuries, as recorded in the written Word of God, culminates in the coming of the Incarnate Word of God – Jesus Himself.

God’s Word Incarnate

Paul has already mentioned the coming of Jesus as the promised offspring of David in verse 23. Note that Jesus is promised in two senses: First, God promised David his offspring would reign forever. Second, ALL the promises of God to His people – including the promise of the land as an inheritance, and the promise that they will be His people and He will be their God – depend on the work of His Messiah.

Verses 27-31 elaborate on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and show how He fulfilled the promises. Once again, ask yourself as you hear: Who is in control?

For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. Acts 13:27-31

Note: Those in Jerusalem read the prophets in the Scriptures every week – but were blind. They were deaf. They claimed to be waiting for the Messiah – and the One promised in the Word stood right in front of them, and they didn’t recognize Him. But though they were blind and deaf to the Scriptures, they fulfilled those very Scriptures by condemning and executing Jesus (verses 27, 29)! Do you see? Even what God’s enemies did was in God’s plan.

Now God acts decisively: God raises Him from the dead – and raises Him in such a way that many, many people witness His resurrection body (verse 30).

God’s Word is faithful. God’s Word is reliable. God’s word is mighty. What God said would happen, happened – even through the actions of those blind to His Word.

He is in control. And all His promises are fulfilled in Jesus

God’s Word in Prophecy

In verses 32 – 33a, Paul summarizes and drives home what he has said so far. I don’t think the ESV captures the preacher’s intensity here, so let me read my own translation:

“We preach to you this Good News: The promise to the fathers has come! That is, God has fulfilled this promise to their children – to us! – by raising Jesus!” Acts 13:32-33a

This is the joyous news – what Luke earlier called the news of great joy for all peoples. Jesus is the point of all prophecy! All promises are now fulfilled! Jesus is risen!

Paul knows this conception of the Jewish Messiah is different from what most expected. Jesus is not an earthly king, and He did not overthrow Rome. These Jews surely didn’t expect their Messiah to be killed.

So Paul here shows the Old Testament justification for Jesus being the Son of God:

As also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ 34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ 35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Acts 13:33b-37

This part of Paul’s sermon is quite similar to Peter’s sermon at Pentecost. In verse 33, he quotes Psalm 2 to show that the Messiah must be the Son of God. He then quotes Isaiah 55 to show that the blessings promised to David come through the Messiah. Verse 35 then quotes Psalm 16 to detail those blessings – including the blessing that the Messiah’s body would not molder in the grave. This promise could not possibly have been for David himself, for his body did molder in the grave. Only Jesus, risen from the dead, can fulfill this psalm. And, note carefully: He had to DIE to fulfill that prophecy! No one’s body sees this type of corruption before death. Thus, the Messiah must die.

But there is no tragedy in this death. He died. His body was in the grave. But God raised Him! He lives! He is still mighty – mightier than He would have been as a reigning earthly monarch.

So Paul shows once again that God’s Word is faithful. Jesus was killed according to God’s Word. Jesus was raised from the dead according to God’s Word.

God’s Word Offered

Paul begins the offer of God’s Word back in verse 26, before telling us of Jesus’ life:

“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

The offer continues in verses 38-39: This is now Paul’s point of exhortation. Let me once again depart from the ESV in an attempt to capture the preacher’s passion:

Therefore, this must be known to you, brothers! Through THIS RISEN ONE forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you! BY THIS RISEN ONE, everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could never justify you! Acts 13:38-39

All these Jews of the dispersion would try to go to Jerusalem at some point and offer the required sacrifices at the temple; they would try to participate in some of the annual feasts, such as Passover, and the Day of Atonement. They would perform all these pictures of being made right with God.

But those sacrifices never satisfied God’s requirements. They were all pictures of the coming, single sacrifice that would pay the penalty for all the sins of all who believed in Jesus. As the author of the book of Hebrews states, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

In order to be justified before God – in order for God to declare you righteous – you must believe in the Risen One! THIS is the one and only way to forgiveness of sins.

So Paul says: “Come to Him! Believe! Trust Him! You know the Old Testament. You know that God created mankind for His glory, but we have all rejected Him. You know we deserve His just punishment. Jesus’ death on the cross is the only sacrifice that pays that just penalty. And the benefits of His death are YOURS – if you believe in the RISEN ONE. Then God declares you righteous before Him – He credits you with Jesus’ perfect life. So believe!”

This is the Word of God. This is the point of the entire Bible.

How do Paul’s listeners respond? In two very different ways:

God’s Word Rejected – in accordance with God’s Word

Paul ends his sermon by warning them that God’s Word tells us that many will reject this free offer of forgiveness:

Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: 41 “‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’” Acts 13:40

He says, “Don’t be like these scoffers! Accept this free offer! There’s nothing you must do! There’s nothing you must perform! Just believe! Trust! Turn! Don’t be a stubborn fool and reject the Word of God!”

But despite his pleas, many do exactly that.

There seems to be a very positive response to this first sermon, and the people beg Paul to tell them more the next Sabbath. So word gets out, and a huge crowd, almost the entire city, shows up the next week. But this sparks jealousy:

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. Acts 13:45

Note: These people do not have a genuine intellectual problem with what Paul is saying. Instead, they are jealous. They argue to try to sow confusion and to discredit Paul; they are not seeking after truth. (This is a common tactic today – frequently people will pose their issue with the Gospel as an intellectual problem, when in reality the issue is with their heart). So these folks are saying something like, “Paul is misinterpreting Psalm 16 and Psalm 2. They don’t really mean what he says.”

Paul was well able to argue from Scripture, as he shows in his epistles. He could have done that here. But since these opponents are just arguing as a diversion, just grasping at any possible way to turn Paul’s listeners away from the Word of God, he rebukes them directly.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. Acts 13:46

Hear this: They thrust aside the Word of God. They judge themselves unworthy of eternal life. These are harsh statements. Yet they are true.

Do you see what God has done for them? Throughout the history of the people of Israel, God showed He was working towards sending His Messiah. He sent prophets and psalmists to proclaim what that Messiah would do. Then He sent Jesus Himself, God’s Word in the flesh, who fulfilled every prophecy. Now He offers them His Word of forgiveness: “Believe and have a relationship with Me!” If they will only believe, they will be His people, and He will be their God.

All this is offered to them freely! There is nothing they must do, no duty they must perform.

And in response, they quibble and say, “That’s not what Psalm 2 means.”

Do you see how that is thrusting aside the Word of God? Do you see how that statement is an implicit judgment on themselves that they are unworthy of eternal life?

Let me tell you a true story to illustrate this point. A young woman is serving overseas as missionary. She gets to know a young man, also a missionary. They spend time together, and get to know each other – but neither says anything about feelings for the other. His term comes to an end; he returns home, 8,000 miles away.

Then one day she returns to her apartment to find it full of flowers. Through a recording, he tells her he loves her dearly. Then, much to her surprise, there he is, in the apartment with her! He falls to his knees before her, and asks, “Will you marry me?”

Imagine that she had responded to all that by saying, “That word “love” – What does it really mean? And anyway, how do I know you’re really sincere?”

To speak in that way would be to pronounce judgment on herself; she would be unworthy of marriage to a man who would fly 8,000 miles and arrange every detail to display his unbounded love for her.

My friends, that is what these folks in Antioch have done. God has graciously orchestrated all of history in order to bring a people to Himself. They hear the offer; they hear of His grace. And rather than being overwhelmed, they quibble.

Don’t do the same. Don’t quibble with the Gospel. Don’t quibble with the Word of God.

What God has done for you is far more costly, and required far more arrangements, that what the man in the story did for his beloved. So be overwhelmed by the enormity of what God has done! Take even a glimpse at God’s orchestrating all history to offer you, His enemy, an eternity of joy with Him. Look at His Word – and embrace it. Don’t thrust Him aside.

In Antioch, the Jews eventually kick Paul and Barnabas out of the city – probably with whips and beatings.

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. Acts 13:50

They persecute the very apostles who preached to them God’s love, and offered them His free grace. That’s tragic.

But note: This rejection of God’s Word is in God’s Word! God’s Word is fulfilled – even through the tragedy of their rejection of it.

God’s Word Accepted – in accordance with God’s Word

But not all reject God’s grace. Look back at verse 43, right after Paul’s sermon:

And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. Acts 13:43

And at end of verse 46, Paul and Barn explain that they are turning to the Gentiles:

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:47-48

Many reject God – according to God’s Word. But many accept God – according to God’s Word.

Paul quotes from Isaiah 49 to show that Jesus was a light for ALL nations, not only for Jews, and to show that God would glorify Himself by bringing those from EVERY tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

And so the Gentiles rejoice! They’re not second-class citizens. God loves THEM. God sent Jesus for THEM. THEY TOO can have eternal life.

Note: Most of the Jews in Antioch thrust aside the Word of God. But many of the Gentiles glorify the Word of God. They praise God. And they joyfully accept God’s promise, God’s work.

These Gentiles fulfill God’s Word in two ways: Not only do they fulfill the prophecy that salvation would reach to ends of the earth, but they also fulfill God’s word of decree: Those appointed to eternal life believe.

Friends: God is really sovereign. And man is really responsible.

Do you see how this passage presents both of those truths? Those who thrust aside the Word of God do what they most want to do – and condemn themselves in the process. Those who believe the Word do what THEY most want to do – and then find that God was at work already in their hearts, bringing them to Himself. So they acknowledge that apart from God’s mercy and grace, they never would have believed.

Finally, note the reaction of Paul, Barnabas, and the new believers to the persecution:

But [Paul and Barnabas] shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:51-52

The word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. Acts 13:49

Nothing can take away the joy of these new believers. Paul and Barn are gone – but they know Jesus! They have eternal life! God is their God! They are His people!

Paul and Barnabas state through their actions, “You have rejected the Word of God. We have fulfilled our obligation. Your blood is on your own heads.”

There is no note of sorrow at their expulsion from the city. There is more to do. There are more people who need to hear the Good News.

God’s Word then spreads like wildfire, from the mouths of Paul and Barnabas as well as the mouths of the new believers – all to the glory of God.

Conclusion

So where are you?

Do you accept God’s Word? Or do you thrust it aside?

God’s Word is our light.

God breathed out this book so that YOU could know Him, so that YOU could love Him, so that YOU might have forgiveness of sins through the risen One.

Don’t thrust aside the Word of God!

Learn it. Lean on it. Love it.

This is God’s Revelation of Himself, God’s offer to you of Himself.

• This and nothing else tells us who God is.
• This and nothing else tells us who we are.
• This and nothing else tells us the way to joy.
• This and nothing else tells us the way to life.

Acknowledge your temptations to thrust God’s Word aside,

• To ignore it,
• To let it sit on the shelf,
• To set yourself up as judge over it.

Submit to God’s Word – and it will come alive for you.

Beg God for understanding according to His Word – and He will answer.

Believe God’s Word – and so believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

He is risen! He reigns! And you can be with Him for all eternity.

Believe His Word – Believe the Gospel – and so treasure Him above all.

There is more suffering in the true Christian life than you ever thought you could handle.

There is more joy in the true Christian life than you ever thought possible.

Those are the two main points of Acts 14. We’ll come back to them. But now: Suppose you knew you were about to die. What would you say to those remaining behind?

When the Apostle Paul wrote 2 Timothy, he knew he was about to die by execution. Recall that Timothy grew up in Lystra (Acts 16); Paul met him there for the first time in the visit recorded in today’s passage (Acts 14). Near the end of his life, he wrote:

You . . . know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,  11 persecutions, sufferings– what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.  12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,  13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,  15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Paul says “Timothy: Follow me as I follow Christ – and following Christ means suffering. Everyone who lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And you know very well what happened to me in your hometown.”

As described in today’s text, Paul suffered horribly in Lystra – and he had the scars to prove it. Timothy too will suffer if he continues in the faith.

But Timothy is not to respond to this prediction of future suffering with fear! Instead, Timothy is to take encouragement from Paul’s own suffering. Paul says: ‘You will suffer – like I have suffered. So you must be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus! – like I was strong in His grace. You must continue – because you know me and my faith (and the faith of your Mom and grandmother), and you know the Word – this Word that makes you wise to salvation, and thoroughly equips you to suffer and endure.”

As we saw last week:   We must continue in the WORD – we must learn it, lean on it, love it. THIS is God’s revelation to us – and we will never get through times of suffering without it

But 2 Timothy is a letter neither of sorrow in suffering, nor of simply endurance through suffering. Paul shows himself to be full of joy in suffering. He goes on to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day.”

Suffering – yet joy.

Just so in Acts 14: Tremendous suffering. And tremendous joy.

Let’s turn to that passage now. I want to read it in its entirety, just making a few comments along the way, and then reflect on what this passage tells us about suffering in the Christian life, and the accompanying joy.

Recall that in Acts 13 Paul and Barn had traveled to Antioch (in the middle of what is now Turkey). They had preached, and had seen a large response, especially among the Gentiles, but some leading Jews had become jealous. They then persuaded the leaders of the city to persecute them. They were probably beaten or whipped, and then thrown out of town.             But Paul and Barnabas shake the dust off their feet and go on. Those who had come to know Jesus in Antioch rejoice, because they are now in Christ. There is suffering – and there is joy. !

The apostles leave Antioch and travel to Iconium, about 90 miles away by road.

Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel. Acts 14:1-7

Note that Lystra was about 20 miles from Iconium. We’re not sure of the location of ancient Derbe – it was somewhere between 35 and 50 miles further away.

There is no synagogue in Lystra, so Paul and Barnabas begin their ministry in a different way than in Antioch and Iconium:

8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. Acts 14:8-10.

Note that the lame man hears the Word from Paul. The Holy Spirit then enables Paul to discern that this man believes the implanted Word. Paul also is confident that the Holy Spirit now will heal this man physically, providing the people with a physical picture of this man’s inward spiritual healing.

Realize that this man had never walked. And when he is healed, what’s the first thing he does? He jumps! He doesn’t experience a gradual learning process. He is fully healed, immediately. And he rejoices!

Now to understand the next section, you have to be familiar with a local legend. As related by the Roman poet Ovid in a poem published about four decades before these events, Zeus, the chief god of the Greek pantheon, and Hermes, his spokesman, once had come to a town in this region disguised as humans, and no one had taken them in except one poor couple. Zeus ends up honoring the couple, but wreaking vengeance on everyone else, destroying the town. The people of Lystra remember this legend when they see two men walk into town and one performs a supernatural act of healing. They think, “Here they are again – let’s treat them right this time!”

Remember, Paul and Barnabas don’t speak the local language, Lycaonian, so they don’t understand what the people are saying.

11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them. Acts 14:11-18

This is the first message Paul speaks in Acts to a totally Gentile crowd – people who have no knowledge of the Old Testament. So note the points he makes: “We are men like you – not gods in human form! We are preaching Good News to you! This Good News consists in your turning AWAY from these worthless, powerless, useless, dead idols, and turning TO the LIVING, POWERFUL God! He is the Creator God, the source of all living. You haven’t yet heard of Him because He was leaving every nation to go its own way. But though you had not heard of Him orally, through the centuries you did have witness of Him, for He is the source of all that is good: Your rain, your crops all come from Him. He gives you your heart’s desire: joy and sustenance.”

Paul will expand on these themes when he preaches in Athens (chapter 17) – we’ll look in more detail at these point at that time.

So at this point what has Paul done in Lystra? He healed a lame man. He did not let them treat him as a god. He has been humble and helpful. But that doesn’t keep opposition from arising. His enemies in earlier cities are so intent on getting rid of him, they find out where he’s gone and follow him. Their goal: his death.

19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. Acts 14:19-20

Luke relates this very briefly and with matter of fact simplicity. They throw stones at him – like those Paul witnessed thrown at Stephen.             They cut him. They knock him out. He is bleeding, and unconscious. His breath is so shallow they don’t notice it. He is hurt so badly they think he is dead. They drag him out to the city dump and leave his body there.

So their praise of him has turned to anger. As in the case of Jesus, where the praises of Palm Sunday turn to “Crucify! Crucify!” five days later, the crowd is fickle.

The believers find him, circle round him, undoubtedly crying. And while they wonder where to bury him, he sits up. And goes back into the city. The next day he begins walking dozens of miles to Derbe.

Note that from Derbe, the shortest, safest way home would be to head south to the coast – actually, right to Tarsus, Paul’s home town. Instead, what do they do?

21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 ¶ Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they remained no little time with the disciples. Acts 14:21-28

Let’s now look at this chapter under two headings: The Fact of Suffering and The Response to Suffering.

The Fact of Suffering: Faithfulness inevitably leads to opposition and suffering

At the end of his journey, Paul returns to the three cities where he had been persecuted. He comes back to encourage the believers, and to give them a particular message: “It is necessary for us to enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations.” He says suffering is the necessary path, the only path to the kingdom.

Picture the scene in Lystra. The last time they saw him, his wounds were still open. He was near death. The Jews from Antioch and Iconium had traveled hours to get to him; another stone or two would have finished the job. So when Paul comes back to Lystra, the scars from the stoning are standing out on his face. He’ll have these scars the rest of his life. Indeed, he may have been referring to these scars when he wrote sometime later to these very churches, “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). What a powerful witness!

At the end of his life, Paul reflects on this experience in 2 Timothy, saying as we read earlier, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Faithfulness inevitably leads to opposition: Opposition from Satan, and opposition from men. This is as true for us as it was for Paul. Whenever we step out in faith, there will be suffering – both suffering that is directly the result of our witness – persecution – and suffering that is indirectly related – such as the separation from families that many missionaries experience.

Listen to these words of our Lord:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  . . . 16:1 ¶ “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.  2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.  3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.  4 ¶ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. John 15:18-19, 16:1-4

Could the message be clearer? If Jesus chooses you out of the world, the world hates you. He tells us that will happen so that it won’t surprise us, so that we’ll remember.             Yet we continue to be surprised.

Paul later will write:

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:16-17

Note that our suffering is with Him. We are united with Christ. And a key part of our identification with Him is our suffering.

Those faithful to the Word suffer for it. This is true biblically, and true throughout Christian history. The way in which believers suffer differs in different ears, under different governments, but suffering continues.

Further, every great movement of God’s Spirit leads not to peace but to division and suffering.

Are you praying for revival? I hope so. But expect suffering to accompany it.

Perhaps some of you came to faith in Jesus through the witness of those who say, “Come to Jesus,you’re your problems will be solved!” Your most important problem is solved for sure: You were under God’s condemnation, but there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Amen.

Furthermore, problems resulting from your rebellion against God will be solved once you are no longer in rebellion. Once again, praise God.

But upon becoming a believer, you’ll have a whole new set of problems. You will experience new types of suffering in this life. Paul makes clear in Romans 8:18 that these sufferings can’t even begin to compare to the glory that will accompany our future life with Christ. But that doesn’t mean the sufferings in this life are insignificant.

Yet our hope is not only for the life to come. We have great hope in this life – hope in the midst of sufferings. So let’s now turn from the fact of suffering to our right response to suffering.

Our Response to Suffering

We’ll look at four subheadings under this theme:

1) Respond with boldness

In Iconium, Acts 14:2 tells us that the unbelieving Jews stir up the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. How do the apostles respond? Do they say, “Oh no, opposition! We’d better leave, or at least quiet down!” No. Look at verse 3: “So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly.”

As John MacArthur said when preaching on this passage: If you always back off whenever you face opposition, you will never accomplish anything for God. For Satan will always oppose any step you take in faith.

Consider how much boldness Paul exhibits in this passage. He is stoned and left for dead – then when he revives, he doesn’t go hide in a cave somewhere, but goes right back into city where people want him dead. Then he continues on to Derbe to preach the same Gospel that got him stoned. Then he returns through Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, taking the long way home, putting himself at risk once again.

Now some of you may wonder whether or not Paul and Barnabas really exhibit boldness in verse 6, when they flee Iconium. Note carefully: The apostles did not act boldly in verse 3 and then fearfully in verse 6. They continue to preach the Gospel boldly – and Paul gets stoned. And, of course, they eventually return to Iconium.

Courage sometimes means staying, and sometimes means going. They apostles fled not out of fear, but out of a desire for effective witness. Sometimes the most effective witness comes from staying and suffering – even dying. Sometimes the most effective witness comes from fleeing, and never returning. Sometimes – as in this case – the most effective witness comes from fleeing for a time, then returning. The concern of the true disciple is not how to avoid suffering – the concern is how to have the most effective witness.

So however God leads us in witness, must be bold! We must have courage! We must take heart! For our Lord says, “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart – I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

2) Lean on God’s enabling power and wisdom

In Iconium, as verse 3 notes, when the apostles spoke boldly, God bore witness to the word of his grace. When we speak boldly despite opposition, there are many occasions for God to bear powerful witness to His Word. He does this at times through miracles – as in this case – and through giving his people yet more boldness and courage and confidence.

In Iconium, Paul’s ability to see into the lame mans’ heart as well as his healing power were all granted by God. Even the decision to leave Iconium was undoubtedly the result of their leaning on God for wisdom, through prayer.

Then, look down at verse 23. When they are concluding their journey, what do they do? They are leaving baby Christians surrounded by murderous opponents! “With prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” They leaned on god’s power and wisdom.

Christ has overcome the world. God is sovereign. He is our shepherd, and He will guard and protect us.             He protects us not from suffering in this life. Instead, He protects us in that when we are tempted, He will always provide a way out, He will always give us a power we never knew we had. As Paul writes in Romans 8, the Spirit will even pray for us when we don’t know how to pray. He will work ALL THINGS together for good for those whom He has called, for those who are in Christ. And every single one He calls will be glorified – none will be lost along the way. Nothing will separate us from his love.

You’ve got to remember that the same man who was left for dead in Lystra is the one who wrote Romans 8! This man suffered more physically than anyone in this room has suffered – likely more than any of us ever will suffer. And he endured it all by leaning on God’s gracious, enabling power and wisdom.

As we sang earlier today:

Man may trouble and distress me;
Twill but drive me to Thy breast.

3) Lean on one another, especially on your elders/pastors. Follow their example and pay close attention to their teaching.

Why did Paul and Barnabas appoint elders in every church? And why does Luke record that here?

Because elders are specially charged to do what Paul and Barnabas are doing here: Prepare God’s people to respond to opposition, to suffer, with bold confidence in God.

Note how the apostles accomplish that: They return to these three cities, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them, exhorting them to continue in the faith (verse 22). It is the God-breathed Scriptures which thoroughly equip the men and women of God for every good work, including boldness in the face of opposition. So, in his last letter, after reminding Timothy of that, Paul goes on to say, “Reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience teaching all doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). That’s how God’s people are equipped to face opposition, to continue in the faith.

Remember Acts 6: The Apostles, leading the Jerusalem church, say they must focus on the ministry of the Word and prayer. They must not be diverted from these two central tasks. Paul appoints elders for these churches who will do exactly that – who will then open up the Word and who will lift up the church before God in prayer. So when, in verse 23, they commit the church to the Lord, they are doing that in part through the ministry of the elders they have appointed.

Jesus says, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). We must endure. We must be exhorted to endure. We must be encouraged to endure – through the Word, through prayer, and through example. That’s the special responsibility of elders – so to teach, so to pray, and so to set and example, that the church is bold and courageous, enduring all that Satan throws at them. Together, we can endure. Isolated, we most often will not. We need elders, and we need the entire local assembly.

When we go through rough, spiritually dry times – and we all go through such times – Satan tempts us to back off, to back away from the church, to neglect meeting together. That is the worse thing you can do (and Satan knows it). When you act that way, you are playing into Satan’s hands. You need the body in those times – and you especially need elders then. You need those who will love you enough to exhort you, to rebuke you. You will fall prey to Satan on your own.

So, respond to suffering and opposition by leaning on one another.

The final way to respond to suffering and opposition:

4) Respond with joy

If Paul had been like you and me, how might he have responded to his stoning? He might have said, “Oh no! I’ve lost my looks! When I preach, people will just stare at these scars! I wonder if there is any cream I can buy that will cover them up?” Or: “Poor me! Why doesn’t anyone ever stone Barnabas? Why do I always have to go through the worst trials?”

Or consider the new Christians in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. They could well have thought, “Look what they did to Paul! We’d better shut up!” But instead, as we saw at the end of chapter 13, the word of God spread throughout the entire region because of their witness, and these new believers are filled with joy.

We are to respond to suffering with joy.

This truth comes out powerfully at the end of chapter 14, when Paul and Barnabas report on their work to their home church. Their friends undoubtedly noticed Paul’s scars. But the apostles don’t focus on their suffering – indeed, there is no mention of their suffering in these verses. Instead, what do they focus on? The joy of doing God’s work!

Verse 26 reminds us that before they set out, they had been commended to the grace of God for the work. And they had fulfilled it. So in verse 27 they declare “all that God had done with them.” That’s an unusual way to speak; we might expect Luke to say, “all that God had done through them.” And, indeed, that’s the way the NIV renders the phrase. But this is not the normal Greek preposition for “through,” and Luke presumably had a reason for using it. I think the idea here is that God did this work with them in the sense that He did it “in their presence.” They went out for the sake of His Name, they spoke, and then God worked mightily in their presence. They had the great joy and privilege of seeing Him open the door of faith to the Gentiles – that is, they say Him do exactly what their sending church had fasted and prayed for. That is great joy indeed!

We can respond to opposition and suffering with great joy because we know God will do away with all suffering in the life to come, and because right now God is working all things together – even my suffering – for his glory and my good.

Paul knew this. He knew that His suffering in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra was for his good and for the glory of God. So, as we read at the beginning, he reminded Timothy: “Remember what you saw as a teen of my persecutions. Follow me – as I follow Christ. Be ready to suffer. Be ready to endure. Be ready to exhort others to endure. And rejoice throughout at the work and wisdom of our sovereign, gracious God!”

Thus, the main point of the passage: There is more suffering in the true Christian life than you ever thought you could handle. And there is more joy in the true Christian life than you ever thought possible.

At times you will feel lonely. You will feel misunderstood. You will feel great physical pain. You will lose friends. Those you depend on will let you down. Your own body will let you down.

But take heart! Jesus has overcome the world.

• He has given you His Word
• He has given you His Spirit
• He has given you elders
• He has given you each other.
• He has given you Himself
• And He suffered Himself. He died horribly. He rose from the dead.
• Furthermore, His suffering buys your pardon.

You deserve your suffering for rejecting the purpose of your Creator God.             But His suffering pays the penalty YOU deserve – if you only acknowledge your guilt and confess that He is Lord, that He is Savior.

So rejoice! Suffering will come. Pain is inevitable.

But believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved

Then: Be bold. Lean on God. Lean on each other. And rejoice that He is king.

Can a person be saved apart from calling on the Name of Jesus?

Last week we looked at Acts 3. Peter and John go to the temple to pray. There they encounter a lame man, a beggar asking for money. God heals him through Peter. This man is more than 40 years old; he has been begging for a long time, and  thus is well known at the temple.  The people are astonished.

Peter takes the occasion to proclaim the Gospel, saying,

And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ name, his very name has made this man- whom you see and know- strong. The faith that is through Jesus has given him this complete health in the presence of you all. Acts 3:16 NET

Peter makes four things clear:

1) Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises

2) His listeners are in the covenant!

3) They are murderers: They deserve to be cut off from God’s covenant people

4) They have a choice: If they call on the Name of Jesus, they will be saved.

So Peter is saying that this man was healed by the Name of Jesus, that this healing is a picture of spiritual salvation, and that there is spiritual salvation in that Name.

But could there be salvation through any other name or in any other way?

While Peter doesn’t directly answer that question in chapter 3, he does provide us with hints:

• He calls Jesus the author of life in verse 15. Could there be another author?
• He calls Jesus the promised Christ, the promised Messiah.
• He says Jesus is the descendant of Abraham through whom all nations are to be blessed
• He says Jesus is the prophesied Prophet like Moses – and that those who don’t listen to Him must be cut off from God’s people.

All these hints suggest that there is salvation through Jesus alone. But the question remains: Could there be some alternative way, some means perhaps for those who are not descendants of Abraham, who aren’t part of God’s covenant people?

In our day, as in the time of Peter, there are many who believe there is no existence past death, and thus no salvation. But the majority of people then and now believe in an existence after death; they even believe that there will be rewards and punishment meted out for what we do in this life. Many believe in a coming judgment (though most reserve that judgment for terrible people unlike themselves), and a coming salvation for all who are sincere, who try, who are regular participants in religious activities of any kind.

In this country today, a large number believe in this salvation by sincerity. They reject as repulsive the idea of a God who would condemn sincere adherents of any religion. They say, “I could never worship a God who would condemn such people!”

But the question is not: what you are willing or unwilling to believe. You are not the judge. You are not the authority.

The question is: Who is God? What has He revealed about Himself? Who are you? Where do you stand before Him? Is there any way you can be put right with Him?

In this passage, Peter gives one of Scriptures’ most powerful statements about the exclusive nature of salvation in Christ. There is one way of salvation, and one only. Salvation comes through believing in Jesus. That’s it. Those who don’t believe in Jesus are lost. But anyone may believe. And all who believe are saved.

We will go through the text in order, seeing the overall thrust of the passage, then circle back and look more closely at Peter’s claims about the exclusivity of salvation through Christ.

The Story

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. (Acts 4:1-4)

Remember, Peter and John arrived at the temple at about three in the afternoon. They healed the lame man, and he began leaping and praising God, while sticking close to Peter and John. A large crowd gathers and Peter preaches. The authorities hear the commotion. Always concerned about Roman reaction to events in Jerusalem, they send the guards to deal with the situation.

Remember the pretense for the crucifixion: Jesus was accused of setting Himself up as a king, as a political Messiah, and thus as a threat to Rome’s rule. Perhaps particularly because of this Messianic claim, the Jewish authorities worry that if this claim of His resurrection is widely circulated, the Romans will clamp down and they will lose their power, their position, their privileges.

So they are concerned. And they are annoyed: They thought they were done with this man when they arranged for His execution, but now they face more problems. And this is happening in their temple, on their grounds, where they have more authority than anywhere else in Judea. (Remember, the events at Pentecost took place elsewhere in Jerusalem).

The guards arrest Peter and John, and hold them for trial the next day since by this time it is almost evening. But the church continues to expand, despite the authorities’ best efforts. Many believe. While the meaning of verse 4 is not completely clear, at a minimum there are now 5000 believers. The church has grown by at least 2000 in the short time since Pentecost.

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:5-7)

Morning comes. Caiaphas is the High Priest, John is his brother (and a few years later will serve as High Priest himself). Annas, their father, is a former High Priest and most likely still wields the greatest authority. Alexander is unknown.

They ask Peter and John a similar question to the one they asked Jesus after he had cleansed the temple:

“Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.”

(Luke 20:2)

The main idea is: “This is our temple. We are in charge. God gave us this charge. You can’t act this way, you can’t speak this way in our temple apart from our permission.”

The question they ask is rhetorical. They are not asking for information. They are not curious. In their view, they represent God. They are the only persons who could grant authority for speaking this way in the temple. So they are trying to cow Peter and John, to impress them with their own authority. They don’t expect and answer. After a pregnant silence, they plan to pronounce their punishment.

But they don’t reckon on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead–by him this man is standing before you well. (Acts 4:8-10)

The Holy Spirit fills Peter with special power for this task, just as at Pentecost. The Spirit prompts Peter to answer them as if they had asked a genuine question about how they accomplished the healing.

But Peter does more than answer the question. Note that the Greek verb for “save” is ambiguous. It can mean “save from eternal punishment” or, alternately,  “save from disease.” So in verse 9, when Peter says, “If you are asking by what means this man has been saved,” he uses the ambiguity of the term to move from a discussion of physical healing to a discussion of spiritual salvation.

Peter used this word in a spiritual sense twice at Pentecost: when quoting Joel in Acts 2:21, and then in his exhortation in Acts 2:40: “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” So Peter, empowered by the Spirit, wisely takes the occasion of their asking about physical healing to discuss their need for spiritual salvation through Jesus.

Verse 10 in today’s text is not strong enough in our English translations. The verb is an imperative, meaning something like this: “It must be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel . . .”

What must be known?

That the name of Jesus saved this man physically! That He is the source of life! That He is the source of salvation! That these very authorities crucified Him, yet God raised Him from the dead!

So notice that the Jewish authorities, while trying to use their authority to silence the message about Jesus, are hearing the same message applied forcefully to them.

Peter goes on:

11 “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.  12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12)

Peter alludes to Psalm 118, saying their rejection of Jesus was prophesied. He then completes the transition to a discussion of salvation by saying that Jesus alone provides salvation. This is Peter’s main point; we’ll come back to verse 12 after looking at the rest of the text.

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.  14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. (Acts 4:13-14)

They thought these poor, uneducated fishermen would be overwhelmed by their presence. They surely had heard something about what happened at Pentecost, how these men proclaimed that Jesus was alive. But they also knew that when they had sent soldiers to arrest Jesus a few weeks ago, all these guys fled. They suppose that when these ignorant men stand in their presence, they will be cowering and silent.

So they are amazed and astonished at Peter’s bold witness to the name of Jesus, and at his forthright accusation, calling them murderers.

Sometimes preachers make a big deal of the priests’ statement, “They recognized that they had been with Jesus,” drawing the implication that we too should spend time with Jesus and we too will be bold. But remember: Judas was with Jesus. And after three years with Jesus, Peter ran away and denied knowing Him. Three years with Jesus did not make Peter bold.

What made the difference? The power of the Holy Spirit! The baptism and subsequent filling of the third Person of the Trinity! The Jewish authorities can’t see this. They don’t understand that the point is not the time they spent with Jesus in the past, but that Jesus is an indwelling presence now!

At this point the council goes into private session:

15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,  16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.  17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.”  18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:15-18)

Notice the willing blindness of the council. They acknowledge that the miraculous healing is a sign. But they have no desire to see the truth behind the sign! Instead they are thinking, “We have authority from God. We are in charge of the temple. This teaching might upset that authority. So we will stop them.” They close their eyes to the truth right in front of them.

19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,  20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”  21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.  22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. (Acts 4:19-22)

Peter cuts right to the root of their command. The authorities assume that they, as leaders of the Jewish people, as priests of the temple, are speaking for God. But Peter distinguishes between God’s commands and their commands, saying, “This truth must be known to all the people of Israel – All must know the one way of salvation. This message of salvation is from God. He has given it to us, and we must proclaim it, by His authority. So judge: Should we obey God, or you all – you who have rejected and killed God’s Messiah!”

At this point all the Sanhedrin can do is threaten. The healed man is standing right there. Everyone knows him. The miracle is obvious. The authorities certainly can’t put Peter to death for healing his man. So they let them go.

That’s the narrative. Next week we’ll look at the prayer Peter and John offer after being released.

Let’s now return to the main point of the passage, asking, What does this text tell us about salvation? Is Jesus the only way?

No Other Name

Consider verses 9-12 again. Follow the flow of Peter’s argument. At the end of verse 9, he asks, “Do you want to know by what means this man is healed/saved?

This must be known to you and to all the people of Israel!”

Why must this be known? He answers that in the rest of his speech. Peter says, “By the Name of Jesus this man is standing before you well. You must know this – because you crucified Him! You rejected Him! You need salvation!”

Verse 11 alludes to Psalm 118:22. The way Peter changes the wording is interesting. Let’s put the verses side by side so you can see the change:

Psalm 118:22  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Acts 4:11  This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Consider the image. Clearly Jesus is the stone. Who are the builders? Peter makes clear that the builders are the Jewish council – along with all who reject Jesus as Savior.

What is the importance of the cornerstone? The cornerstone is the foundation were two walls come together. That stone must be exactly square and completely stable. Otherwise the walls will separate, crack, and ultimately the entire building will fall. Builders must choose the cornerstone carefully.

So in the image of Psalm 118, the builders look at, consider, and reject a particular stone. They say, “That stone could never serve our purposes.” But as it turns out, the builders are wrong. And furthermore, no other stone will do. That’s the right stone. The perfect stone. The builders tried to use a substitute. But the resulting house fell.

That’s what happened to these Jewish leaders. They tried to substitute their tradition, their personal righteousness, for Jesus Himself. But there is no hope in those substitute cornerstones. Their house fell. All such houses fall.

Peter is explicit in verse 12:

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

That is, “There is no hope for salvation apart from this Jesus, this cornerstone you have rejected. You yourselves are the builders who rejected the one and only cornerstone.”

Then Peter explains why there is salvation in no one else. He begins by saying, “There is no other name . . .” Surely this means, in part, that there is no other saving power.

But it means more than this. For today some try to say, “There are those saved by power of Jesus who don’t explicitly believe in Him.” Peter rules that out. He says, “You can’t call on any other name and be saved through the back door. You can’t call on Buddha and in effect call on Jesus. You can’t call on Vishnu and be saved by Jesus. Salvation comes from calling on the Name of Jesus!”

At Pentecost, Peter had said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” Jesus is the LORD. There is no one else to call on. There is no one else to depend on. There is no other power.

Peter goes on to say there is no other power under heaven. He thus makes clear that Jesus is not unique solely in Jerusalem. He is not unique solely in Judea and its surroundings. He is not unique solely in the Roman Empire. There is no other name under heaven. There is no other name throughout the earth.

He also says that there is no other name given among men. “Men” clearly includes Jews. If there was any other way to be saved, it would be available to these Jewish leaders. Theirs is the Law, theirs is the temple, theirs are the sacrifices. God has been working among them for centuries. But there is no other name than Jesus for these Jews.

But he is speaking not only to Jews. He is speaking not only to Israelites and to those who live nearby. He is speaking to all men. And he says there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Or, more awkwardly but more literally, “by which it is necessary us to be saved.” That is, “If anyone is to be saved, it is necessary to be saved by THIS NAME.”

If there were any other way for these people to be saved, Peter and John would have been fools. There would be no reason for them to risk imprisonment, to risk their very lives, in order to give their listeners another option.

But Peter knows that the only hope for these builders who rejected the chief cornerstone is to repent, to acknowledge that Jesus is that cornerstone, and to come to Him.

Conclusion

Two questions in conclusion:

First: Do you share Peter’s urgency to proclaim the Name of Jesus?

Everyone you meet who does not call upon the name of Jesus is not saved. Now, many of these are nice people, pleasant people. They are your friends. They are your colleagues. Many are excellent employees and good neighbors. But apart from calling on the name of Jesus, they have no hope.

At least these folks live in a society where the Gospel is available through radio, through books, and through believers. But consider: Everyone worldwide who does not call upon the name of Jesus is not saved – even those isolated from such sources.

As John writes,

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

Do you believe that?

If so, you must share Peter’s urgency. You must long for Peter’s boldness. You must be willing to make similar sacrifices.

For people do not call upon the name of the Lord apart from the proclamation of the Gospel. As Paul says,

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 ¶ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:13-15)

Brothers and sisters: We must send. We must go. We must proclaim the Gospel cross-culturally, to those who have no witness in their culture – that’s missions – and we must proclaim the Gospel within our own culture, to those who have not yet called on His Name – that’s evangelism.

Do you share Peter’s urgency?

Second question: Have you called upon the Name of Jesus?

Apart from calling upon Him, you have no hope

For you were created by God in His image to display that image, to show what He is like. Yet you have rejected that purpose. You have chosen to pursue other purposes:

• Perhaps exalting your own reputation

• Perhaps pursuing pleasure
• Perhaps pursuing comfort
• Perhaps pursuing the reputation, pleasure, or comfort of another person: A friend, a husband/wife, a child.
• Perhaps pursuing some goal: Political accomplishment, a social good            .

Some of these pursuits are fine in and of themselves. But none of these is the purpose of our creation. God made you to display His character, His glory. Every one of us has failed to do that. We thus deserve His wrath and judgment.

But God sent Jesus as the fulfillment of all His prophecies, as the one in whom He would fulfill all His covenant promises. Jesus WAS the perfect Israelite, the one who lived up to Israel’s covenant obligations. He lived to fulfill those obligations and He died on the cross to pay the penalty we deserve for failing to fulfill those obligations.

And If you call on HIS NAME – if you acknowledge your sinfulness, your need for Him – if you say, “I have no hope apart from your death and resurrection,” then you will be saved. You will be united with Him. All the promises of God will be YES to you in Christ.

And this is true no matter what you have done. No matter how terribly you have sinned. No matter what you have thought. No matter what you have considered.

You can have full forgiveness in Christ. You can have HIS perfect righteousness credited to your account.

If you call on His Name.

So call on Him! And then proclaim His Gospel, proclaim His Name to the ends of the earth.

Imagine that you are engaged in a personal ministry. You are confident that you are following God, and it seems that you are having some success. Then, suddenly, there’s a huge obstacle in your path,

• It might be a failure on your part,
• It might be a rejection or betrayal by former colleagues,
• It might be a financial barrier,
• It might be opposition, or threats from others.

How do you respond?

In Acts 4, that’s the situation Peter and John and all the apostles find themselves in.

Jesus was killed just a few months ago. That itself had seemed to be the end of their hopes. But God raised Him from dead. Jesus opened their eyes to Scripture and to His own prophecies to see that the crucifixion had to happen, to see the role of Christ’s suffering in God’s plan. The apostles now know that Jesus is living, active, still at work.

He then sent the Holy Spirit on them with power at Pentecost, baptizing them and filling them for their special task. These apostles saw three thousand saved that day – and they themselves baptized every one. They’ve seen more come to faith day by day.

Then God worked through Peter and John to heal a man who was lame from birth. A crowd gathered, and Peter preached; once again, thousands more were saved.

It would be understandable if, at this point, the apostles thought, “Wow! Look at God work! What success! Everything is just going to get better and better!”

But things didn’t get better and better.

As we saw last week, the Jewish authorities arrest Peter and John. They threaten them, warning them not to speak any more in the name of Jesus. Peter speaks boldly in their presence, saying there is no other name by which men must be saved, saying that they cannot but speak about what they have seen and heard, saying they must obey God rather than men. But the Jewish authorities just threaten all the more. They release Peter and John, but make their point absolutely clear: “If you continue to speak in the name of Jesus, watch out. We’re here. You know what happened to Jesus. If you love your families, if you want to see your children grow up, you had better keep quiet.”

This is the first serious challenge to the young church.

Put yourself in their shoes: These are not supermen. They have families, worries, and cares. If they are put to death, there are no food stamps, there is no welfare, there is no social security for their children. They must be facing a strong temptation to be quiet. Satan undoubtedly tempted them in these terms: “Think about how many are already saved! Let’s just teach them. Let’s just live together and enjoy each other, be family to each other. We can stop this proselytizing. For it’s this speaking in public that will get us in trouble. Indeed, maybe this is a sign from God –we’ve been spreading the Gospel, and we’ve had our success. Now maybe we’re supposed to stop and focus on deepening our joy in Christ.”

Imagine what would have happened if apostles had done that. That would have been the end of the church. Or, possibly, the church would have been a tiny enclave, a minor sect within Judaism. In other words, that would have been disastrous.

So how do the apostles fight this temptation? How can we, facing our own obstacles, fight the temptation to quit, to change, to adapt in ways that destroy our ministry?

Peter and John fight in four ways that are applicable to us:

• Acknowledge your weakness
• Know the truth
• Trust the truth
• Ask for God’s enabling

1) Acknowledge Your Weakness

The apostles begin by acknowledging their weakness. That is, they don’t get themselves pumped up, and do a rah-rah football cheer, saying, “Those chief priests are wimps! We can take them on! Be strong! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

No. They realize this is a serious threat. They know that they face the temptation to give up. They know that they are weak

Peter will later write,

Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Consider: How much chance does an unarmed man have if he goes one-on-one with a lion – no matter how pumped up he might be?

So what do Peter and John do? They acknowledge their weakness in two ways:

a) They acknowledge they need other believers

Verse 23 tells us, “they went to their friends” – presumably to a church meeting in a home. They went to their fellow believers and reported the threats of the Jewish leaders.

God doesn’t intend for us to face battles against temptations, against persecution, against Satan, against spiritual forces on our own. Indeed, Satan tries to isolate us, to keep us from sharing our trials and troubles. He is happy if we are isolated, regardless of whether we are all bravado or all worried and concerned. God gives us one another to support each other, to hold each other up.

b) They acknowledge they need God’s help

Though they need each other, even altogether they cannot stand against the powers arrayed against them. So the believers go to God, and seek His power, His assistance.

They lift up their voices “together” or “with one accord.” They unite in prayer, crying out to God. They know they need God

Do we know the same?

Most all of us would answer that question “Yes” on an exam. But do we live it out? When faced with temptations and trials, do you turn to other believers for help, and then together turn to prayer? On issues facing us as a church – such as our venue, and the church budget – are we praying together? Are we fervent in prayer together for this weekly service, for sanctification, for outreach?

For me personally, it is very easy to go through the motions of prayer, but deep down to really think that I can do it. What about for you?

May we push each other to depend together on God, acknowledging our weakness through prayer.

2) Know the Truth

After acknowledging their weakness, the gathered believers pray an extraordinary prayer. They are in personal and corporate crisis. They are in danger. They face the temptation to abandon the community, to go back to being regular Jews. So they are dealing with deep relational issues – their relationship to each other and well as their relationship to God. They are dealing with a crisis that could fracture their community.

So how do they pray?

They pray a doctrine-filled prayer.

We’re going to detail the doctrines they cite shortly. But first: Note how contrary this is to our present culture. Prominent forces within the church today say,

“Doctrine divides! We want relationships, not doctrine!”

“Doctrine is for the head! We want our hearts to be moved!”

“We’re not interested in propositions, in truth claims – we’re interested in genuine experience!”

Such statements would be nonsensical to the apostles.

When their community is tempted to fall apart because of temptation, they depend on doctrine in their prayer to God.

When fearful, they turn in prayer to doctrine to settle their hearts.

But this is not in contrast to experience – the experience that results from this doctrinal prayer is powerful.

So let’s look at this prayer and note twelve doctrines they cite or allude to. We don’t know who spoke this prayer, though clearly all present agreed with it. Peter may have been the speaker, and I’ll refer to him as such.

Acts 4:24 “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

a) The doctrine of the existence of God. They address God. He must exist.

b) The doctrine of the sovereignty of God: They call Him, “Sovereign Lord.” The Greek word is the root of our word “despot.” It means absolute master. They will elaborate on God’s sovereignty later in the prayer:

c) The doctrine of creation: God created all things, seen and unseen. He even created us, and all human beings! He thus has the rights of a creator over us.

v25a who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

d) God speaks! The doctrine of revelation. Thus Peter rules out deism, the idea that God created the world, set it in motion, but then left it to operate on its own. He rules out the idea of God as an impersonal force. And he rules out any notion about God as unknowable. He tells us about Himself, so He must be knowable.

e) The doctrine of inspiration: God speaks through men moved by the Holy Spirit

At this point in his prayer, Peter quotes Psalm 2:1-2. Let me read this psalm in its entirety, for Peter surely expects his fellow believers to have the context of his quotation in mind:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

What doctrines come out in this psalm?

f) More on God’s sovereignty: No human power is a threat to God. For how does God respond to all these kings and rulers plotting against Him, and against His Christ? Y Verse 4 tells us He laughs at them! All they do is “in vain.” They have no power to thwart His purposes. Have you ever seen a two-year-old shake his fist at an adult? Many two-year-olds assert their power and authority. But the adult is perfectly capable of maintaining control. The two-year-old has much less power than the adult, no matter how much he expresses his anger. It’s always helpful to remember that the difference between us and God is much greater than the difference between a two-year-old and an adult. And while some parents, unfortunately, seem to take the threats of two-year-olds seriously, God never takes out threats seriously. We are no threat to Him. Whatever nations, whatever forces are arrayed against Him, He’s not frightened. He is in control. He laughs at His enemies.

g) Psalm 2 abounds in the doctrine of the person of Christ:. Just note a few points

• He is God’s chosen Messiah, verse 2.
• He is God’s chosen king, verse 6,
• He is the ruler of every nation, of all the earth, verse 8.
• He is the one who will destroy God’s enemies, verse 9.
• He is God’s Son, verses 7 and 12.

h) The psalm hints at the doctrine of salvation in verses 10-12, as the psalmist calls these rebels to repentance. These kings must see the Son as the Lord; they must serve Him and rejoice in Him. And if they do so, they will be saved, they will have a refuge. The alternative is judgment and condemnation.

Let’s go back to Peter’s prayer in Acts 4:

4:27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

i) Peter elaborates on the doctrine of the person of Christ. He calls Jesus God’s holy servant. Like David, He is God’s servant as the anointed King who does the will of God. This title is also an allusion to the “servant songs” in the book of Isaiah, particularly to Isaiah 52 and 53, which prophesy the suffering of the servant.

j) The doctrine of prophecy. Peter applies Psalm 2 to recent events, including Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. So: God spoke centuries before Christ about events that would happen during His life.

k) The doctrine of the covenants. Look at verse 27. Peter alludes to the first sentence of the psalm, “Why do the nations (or “Gentiles”) rage and the peoples plot.” In the psalm, the words “nations” and “peoples” are in parallel; both words refer to all ethnic groups other than Israel. Peter says those gathered against Jesus include kings and rulers, as mentioned in Psalm 2:2 – that is Herod and Pilate. Then Peter mentions Gentiles or nations – non-Israelites. But then note what Peter says: Those gathered against God include not just the “peoples,” in parallel with nations; instead, Peter calls them the peoples of Israel! Those gathered against the Messiah, against the Davidic ruler, include the peoples of Israel! Instead of being God’s people, the people of Israel have conspired with the “kings of the earth” to fight against God’s anointed Messiah.

Peter had said this might happen in Acts 3:23. He is speaking of Jesus as the prophet who is to come:

23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

The prophet like Moses is coming: All who don’t listen to him will be cut off from the people. Thus, to reject Jesus is to be cut off from true Israel. He is the true Israel. Only those united to Him are in God’s new covenant.

There is much more we could say: But for today, just note that Peter brings up the doctrine of God’s covenant with His people.

l) Peter elaborates on the doctrine of God’s sovereignty over all that happens. These kings and rulers are gathered against Jesus, rebelling against His authority. Yet verse 28 tells us that they are doing exactly what God predestined to happen. Each of them is following his own desires, each is making choices, doing whatever he perceives is in his own self-interest; each is responsible for those choices; and yet each is doing exactly what God, centuries earlier, had predestined would happen. This is always the case with every opponent of God. He is in control, even of the evil deeds of evil men.

Do you see the depth of doctrine Peter depends on here? We could outline an entire semester of Systematic Theology from this prayer!

All this doctrine is either true or it is not true. If it is not true, it provides these believers with no basis for their upcoming appeal. If it is not true, it gives them no basis for their relationship with God or with each other. But it is true. They know it is true.

So clearly, this doctrine doesn’t divide! This doctrine isn’t for the head only! This deep doctrine is exactly what these believers need in this crisis.

So let’s see how these very doctrines then spur the Jerusalem church to bold witness in the face of persecution:

3) Trust the truth

Overarching all the doctrines we’ve seen is the name Peter chooses to use to address God: Sovereign Lord. Peter highlights God’s sovereignty – for trust in God’s sovereignty is key for the church at this point. If they are to risk their lives, to risk their income, to risk their families, they need to have confidence in the great truth of God’s sovereignty. They need to know that just as God planned the crucifixion of Jesus, God planned the arrest of Peter and John. God created these Jewish leaders, and He laughs at their resistance to His Christ. God will use their evil acts for His good purposes, just as He used the crucifixion for His good purposes

So they not only need to know the truth. They need to trust the truth.

So do we.

Doctrine is central. But one can have correct doctrine and be completely impotent. These great truths about God and Christ transform us when we know them and trust them – so that when we face trials and suffering we trust that God is in control. When we face dangers, we trust that God will permit only what is for our good and His glory.

We can then say with the psalmist,

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 43:5)

4) Ask for God’s Enabling

But Peter does more than recall great truths about God and trust in those truths. He asks God to do three things. Listen for these three in verses 29-30:

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

a) Look upon their threats

In Psalm 2, God sees the opposing kings and laughs at them. That’s what Peter is asking God to do here: To see their threats and to respond in such a way that they are frustrated in their plans to attack God and His people.

This may seem trivial – why ask God to do what He always does? Why ask the all-seeing god to notice what is happening? Indeed, Peter’s request may even seem to imply that God is not already taking notice. He needs our prompting or He’ll fall asleep on the watch!

That’s clearly not the case. But note that in Scripture God’s people frequently pray this way.

Consider Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple:

2 Chronicles 6:40 Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

Or Hezekiah’s prayer when the Assyrian king Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem:

Isaiah 37:17 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.

Or Daniel’s great prayer asking God to fulfill Jeremiah’s prophesy of returning the people to Jerusalem after exile in Babylon, despite their continued rebellion:

Daniel 9:18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name.

Thus, God wants us to know His character, and to call upon Him to act in accordance with that character. Far from demeaning Him, that is to His glory.

He is the all-seeing God. So we say, “Lord, look upon the evil around us. Look upon the suffering. Act, for the good of Your people and the glory of Your Name.”

That’s Peter’s first request. The next two requests ask that God act in particular ways as He sees those who threaten the early church. Let’s jump to his third request, and then come back to the second:

b) while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

That is: “Act miraculously to establish the truth of Your word, to show that our bold words are true.”

Do you pray like that? Is it right to pray like that? Does God work miraculously today?

God performs a mighty miracle every time He brings someone to Himself, every time He replaces a heart of stone with a heart of flesh – every time He takes a spiritually dead person and makes him spiritually alive.

Furthermore, He is sovereign! He is creator! He always works to the glory of His Name, and is well able at any time in any place to act with signs and wonders.

Biblically we see signs and wonders concentrated in specific periods:

The time of the Exodus

The time of Elijah and Elisha

The time of Jesus and the apostles

So it’s not surprising to find that such signs and wonders are rare in many places and at many times. In addition, we know that such signs and wonders are not in and of themselves central to salvation.

But God has used them in history, particularly to verify the truths spoken by His messengers, and He does seem to be doing that today, particularly when the Gospel is spreading to new people groups who have been enslaved to false religion for centuries.

So don’t be reluctant to pray this way. Always pray for God’s glory to be shown. You can suggest ways that He might act. And then trust Him to magnify His glory.

c) grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness

Peter and John spoke God’s Word boldly before the council. They now face serious threats. And they ask that they and all the believers might continue to speak boldly, forthrightly, with confidence and courage. They pray that they might continue to proclaim the hard points – such as saying, “This Jesus, whom you crucified” – not fearing the results, but trusting God with whatever might happen, knowing that God laughs in derision at His opponents! He is sovereign! So, says Peter, “Let us act in knowledge of your sovereignty. Give us boldness!”

Do you pray this way?

Or do you simply say, “I’m not a bold person. I just witness in quiet ways.”

Of course we differ in personality. Of course we differ in giftedness. So did those in the early church. But note that Peter didn’t say, “Grant to your apostles to continue to speak with boldness.” He said, “Grant to your servants, your slaves.” That’s you. That’s me. Every believer is a slave of God.

Every one of us is called to be bold in our witness for Christ. And every one of us needs God’s power if we are to be bold and courageous and effective in our witness.

So pray for boldness!

And when you have been bold – like Peter and John – pray for more boldness! Don’t take for granted that you will be tomorrow.

When you’re frightened, and you know you shouldn’t be, don’t just be quiet. Don’t just say, “Maybe God won’t notice how frightened I am of this threat.” Say, “Look on this threat, O God! Frustrate their plans! Give me your Holy Spirit! Enable me to hold firmly to Your truth, to proclaim it through my words and through my life!”

Pray for boldness!

Conclusion

What happened as a result of this prayer?

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

God manifested His presence among them. They knew He was there. He gave them a special filling with His Holy Spirit. And, despite obstacles, despite threats, they spoke the Gospel with great boldness.

And we are here today as a result.

We opened by asking you to imagine an obstacle you face in ministry, a roadblock that seems to keep you from continuing. Sometimes we should change direction as a result of an obstacle – for sometimes God puts obstacles in our way to cause us to change. We will see some examples of that later in the book of Acts. He’s sovereign after all.

But when faced with such obstacles, always ask:

Is this God’s command to all believers, and it’s simply hard to do? There’s no surprise in such difficulties! We are to persevere through hardship.

Or is this God’s specific calling to me, that I must follow, regardless of the obstacles?

If the answer to either question is “yes,” go forward just as Peter and John went forward! Follow the same steps they took:

Acknowledge your weakness – before other believers and before God. You will not fulfill God’s purposes on your own.

Know the truth! Love God’s Word; meditate on it day and night; learn God’s character. Don’t be swayed by the latest fads and winds of doctrine.

Trust the truth! Look to God’s sovereignty, His goodness, His mercy, and step out in confidence.

Pray for His enabling! Pray that God would fulfill His character in Your life. Pray that you might so trust His character that you are bold, courageous, winsome, and wise.

The Sovereign God, the Creator of all things, calls to Himself rebellious sinners who deserve hell, forgiving them through the death on the cross of His Son Jesus. All who turn to Jesus, all who repent and trust Him as Savior and Lord, become God’s children, Christ’s witnesses, God’s ambassadors.

Are you His child?

Are you His bold witness?

Are you His ambassador – by His power?

This sermon on Acts 1:6-26 was preached 9/14/2008. For a version that is easier to print, click here. The audio is available here.)

Do you ever dream that you’re in school, sitting down to take a test, and realize, “I never studied! I never even went to class!”

Or perhaps you dream that you are about to begin an athletic event – and realize you never practiced.

How do those dreams make you feel? Do you feel that way when you are called upon to be a witness to Jesus? Do you think, “I don’t know enough! I need years of study to properly witness! I can’t possibly make these people listen!”

Last week we began our series in the book of Acts. We saw that this book is not really the Acts of the Apostles. Only two apostles are prominent, but it is not a synopsis of their lives either. Instead, Luke opens by saying that his first volume, his gospel “dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” Acts then deals with what Jesus continued to do. Acts tells of the continuing work of Jesus.

We saw last week that:

1) Jesus assigns the apostles a task: “Speak of what you know! Be witnesses to the truths you have seen! Proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins! And take this message to all nations!”

2) Jesus also promises the power to accomplish the task through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, in fulfillment of what He calls the “promise of the Father.” We looked at three Old Testament prophecies that Jesus might have been referring to:

• From Joel: God promises that He will pour our His Spirit on all flesh. This distinguishes the promised future event from the way His Spirit worked in Old Testament times, falling on a subset of the people, particularly leaders who must fulfill a great task.
• From Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36: All God’s people have a new heart of flesh, God’s Law is written on their hearts. And Paul notes that this is fulfilled in his day: he tells the Colossians that they have Christ in them.

So Jesus assigns a task, and promises His apostles the power to fulfill the task. Then the rest of the book of Acts shows God at work, saving, sending, and judging – even working sovereignly through the evil acts of evil men. The result: The Word of God increases and prevails mightily.

This morning: We’ll look more closely at those to whom Jesus assigns this task. Jesus speaks here to His remaining eleven apostles after the death of Judas. What are they like? What do we know about these apostles? Are they great men, highly accomplished?

No. If anyone had nominated one of them for a position on the Jewish ruling council, the response would have been: “He is unqualified! He is inexperienced! He doesn’t have enough education! Furthermore, he’s not from Jerusalem – he’s just from some rural backwater!”

That response would result in part from prejudice against those from Galilee. But even seen through our generally sympathetic eyes, there is not much to commend these men. Indeed, Scripture does not present these apostles as great men. Yes, in the gospels they occasionally show tremendous insight. For example, Peter responds to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” by replying, “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God!” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus then says Peter is blessed, for God the Father revealed that central truth to him. God gave Peter tremendous insight into the most important truth of all.

But lest we think highly of Peter, in that same passage he shows tremendous stupidity. Jesus predicts His suffering and death – and Peter rebukes Him. Jesus says He will die – then Peter says, “This shall never happen to you!” (Acts 16:22)

These are the people Jesus has to work with. These are the people to whom Jesus assigns His task. What hope is there for that task to be fulfilled?

In today’s passage, Luke highlights both the limitations and the potential of these men. We’ll look this morning under 3 headings:

• Weakness and Ignorance
• Sufficient Knowledge
• Overwhelming Power

Much of what I will say about the apostles applies directly to you and me. We too are weak and ignorant. But we too have sufficient knowledge – yes, even the brand new Christian – and we too have access to overwhelming power. So listen – and then fulfill the task.

Weakness and Ignorance

Consider how much weakness and ignorance these 11 apostles showed just in the previous two months:

• Peter denied Jesus three times – to servant girl.
• All scattered and ran when Jesus was arrested.
• After the crucifixion, they were hiding behind locked doors out of fear (John 20:19).
• Jesus Himself calls the larger group of His followers, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25)
• And then there’s Thomas: After being told that the risen Christ had appeared to the other disciples, he said, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25).

These are not exactly strong qualifications for leadership.

But even from here on out in Acts, we see the humanness, the fallenness of these men:

• Acts 15: Barnabas and Paul disagree sharply about whether to take John Mark with them on their missionary journey, since he abandoned them during the previous one. They actually split over this disagreement.
• Acts 16:7 In this curious verse, Paul attempts to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Whatever it means, Paul was trying to do something God did not want him to do

So there is not much to commend these eleven apostles.

Today’s text adds to our reasons for doubt about their qualifications. Here, they display three weaknesses:

A Fundamental Misunderstanding

Acts 1:6  when [the apostles] had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus has just promised that they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The apostles know the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Spirit, including those we looked at last week. They know that in Joel, just four verses after God says He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, He says “I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem” (Joel 3:1).

So at the level of interpreting the text of Joel, theirs is a good question. The book of Joel – and other Old Testament Scriptures – speak of the coming of the Spirit and the restoration of the kingdom together.

But given all that Jesus has said to them, all that Jesus has taught them, and even given other Old Testament prophecies, the question highlights their weakness: They haven’t really been taking to heart what Jesus has said.

If Jesus is to restore kingdom now, many questions arise:

• When are all men going to hate the disciples (Mark 13:13)?
• When are they be persecuted for His sake (Luke 21:12)?
• When is the Gospel going to be preached as a testimony to all the nations (Matthew 24:14)?

The question displays a fundamental misunderstanding of what God is doing at that time. The Eleven do not here understand their calling, and will not apart from Holy Spirit working in them. They desperately need the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus tells them:

“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7)

That is, “It’s better for you not to know.”

Kids: How do you feel when you ask your parents a question, and they reply, “You’ll understand that when you’re a little older.” Doesn’t part of you think, “I’m old enough! I can know NOW!” Yet there are things that we cannot comprehend until we reach greater maturity.

That is what Jesus is saying here: “There are things you need to know, and things you don’t need to know. You don’t need to know the timing of the restoration of the Kingdom. You do need to believe it will happen. Your role is not to have secret knowledge of God; don’t desire that. Don’t think of yourself as particularly wise or insightful. You don’t know many things. That’s fine. Indeed, that’s good. Focus on what you do know, and communicate that.”

So the first weakness of the apostles is a fundamental misunderstanding of their role in God’s plan.

A Diversion from the Task

We see the second weakness in verse 10. Jesus ascends into heaven. Then what do the disciples do? They stand around, gazing into heaven.

The angels ask:

“Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

Do you hear the rebuke in those words? The angels are saying, “You’ve been given a task. Your task is not to speculate about when Jesus will return. Your task is not to think back nostalgically about the time Jesus spent with you. Your task is not to focus on the privilege of being present at the ascension. Until Jesus returns – He has work for you! Do it!”

Indeed, Jesus has told them in Luke 12 that those servants are blessed whom their Lord finds doing His work when He returns. They need to apply themselves to the task.

Getting Ahead of God

We see the third weakness in the story about finding a replacement for Judas, verses 15-26.

This story shows both positive and negative aspects of the apostles. Note that my interpretation is somewhat controversial – a number of commentators don’t find anything wrong with the actions that Peter takes. So consider what I say, and search the Scriptures to see if these things are true.

Jesus has told apostles not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father – that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

They don’t depart. They meet together with other believers – including Mary (and, by the way, this is the last reference to Mary in the Scriptures). While they meet, they pray.

In addition to the excitement they feel about Jesus’ resurrection, and ascension, they experience pain associated with Judas. Remember, Judas was their friend, their companion. They trusted him. No one suspected him. Judas betrayed Jesus – but he also betrayed THEM. As they meet together, few in number, they feel him missing.

Struggling with this, Peter does the right thing: he searches the Scripture. He finds that David himself had been betrayed, and that those betrayals foreshadow Judas’ acts.

This is a comfort to Peter, as he sees that all that Judas did was part of God’s plan. So he preaches on this topic from Psalms 69 and 109 to the gathered followers. This was good, right, and proper.

Peter also sees in Scripture that the office of the betrayer should be filled with someone else. He applies this to the present situation. Once again, he is right.

But gets the method and the timing wrong.

The Holy Spirit is coming. The apostles ill be filled with power from on high. And God will fill the role of Judas by a method and in a time and place of His choosing. Peter, instead, chooses the wrong method and time.

Method: There is no need for the apostles to cast lots. They are reverting to a method used in ancient Israel for discerning God’s will. But the New Covenant is about to arrive! They will all know the Lord, from the least to the greatest  (Jeremiah 31:34). Never again will lots be used in Scripture.

Timing: Years later, when Jesus appears to Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul becomes the apostle “abnormally born” (1 Corinthians 15:8 NIV). Thus, in a book that focuses on God reaching the nations, the apostle God chooses to replace Judas is the apostle to the nations.

So the apostles once again display a weakness: Getting ahead of God. They do not understand where they are in redemptive history; they don’t understand the importance of the coming of the New Covenant, the centrality of their new relationship to the Holy Spirit. Indeed, they don’t understand their task.

So the apostles are weak and ignorant.

Is the task hopeless then? Does Jesus just need to get rid of these guys, and come up with others who will be better qualified, more competent?

No. These are the men Jesus has chosen. They WILL accomplish His task.

How will they do this, when they are weak and ignorant?

Sufficient Knowledge

They are ignorant, yes. There are indeed many things they don’t know.

But they have sufficient knowledge to spread joy in Christ.

Remember the threefold purpose of the church:

• To express joy in Christ: Worship
• To deepen joy in Christ: Discipleship.

These first two continue for all eternity. The third purpose, however, is fulfilled in this age:

• To spread joy in Christ

So what does Jesus tell them? Remember, He told them initially to remain in Jerusalem until they are clothed with power. But He says in verse 8:

You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Luke 24:47 is even more explicit: They must preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations.

They don’t have tremendous knowledge. But they do know what is most important:

• They do know that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah, the Son of the living God.
• They do know Jesus lived a perfect life.
• They do know what Jesus taught.
• They do know Jesus died on the cross, according to God’s plan, taking on Himself the penalty for all the sins of those who would believe in Him.
• They do know Jesus rose from dead, according to God’s plan.
• They do know Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father the Almighty.
• They do know Jesus is coming again, just like He left them, according to God’s plan.

They don’t have special insight. They don’t know all they would like to know. They can’t answer every question.

But they are witnesses. They know Jesus. And they will be His witnesses,

• Not only in this city of Jerusalem, but in their entire nation
• Not only in their nation but among the surrounding peoples who despise them
• Not only among those who are nearby, but to the very ends of the earth

They are weak and ignorant – yet they have sufficient knowledge to fulfill their task.

Overwhelming Power

Consider again the extent of the task God gives these weak, ignorant apostles: They are to take the message of salvation and joy through Jesus to the end of the earth.

What does He mean by “end of the earth”?

Jesus is alluding here to Isaiah 49:6. Paul will later allude to this same verse in a sermon (Acts 13:47). The verse in Isaiah concerns the coming Servant, Jesus Himself:

It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

The “end of the earth” surely includes the concept of geographic distance – the disciples are to go to all places where people live. But there is an even stronger emphasis on cultural distance. For the Scripture says He will be a “light to the nations.” The word “nations” refers not to “political entities,” but to peoples, people groups, cultural entities.

In Acts 13:47, Paul makes this explicit: Since the Jews have rejected his teaching, he is going to the non-Jews. He then remains in the same geographic area, but takes the message of the Gospel to the other nations, the other ethnicities around him.

How in the world is God going to use Jewish fishermen and tax collectors to reach all the nations? Simply to travel will be difficult. But then how will they communicate the Gospel:

• To malicious, death-threatening Jewish leaders?
• To hateful Samaritans?
• To pompous, oppressive Romans?
• To intellectual, philosophical Greeks?
• To wild, unpredictable barbarian tribes?

Can these weak, ignorant apostles do that?

Yes.

The task is impossible – apart from God’s power. So God promises overwhelming power: The power to change enemies. The power to replace hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. His power. Power that He then displays in Acts chapter 2: An overwhelming power that, when He chooses, no one can resist.

Lessons for Us Today

1) Acknowledge our weakness before men

We are still weak. We are still ignorant of so much – to some extent because of our own fault, in that we too are “slow of heart to believe all the Scriptures have spoken”, and to some extent because still it is not good for us to know all things.

You do not have to pretend you have an answer to every question – because you don’t! That’s not necessary. Be willing to admit your weakness and ignorance.

2) Acknowledge our weakness before God

• We cannot reach the nations apart from His power.
• We cannot build the church apart from His power.
• We cannot live Christian lives apart from His power.

Now, we can do some things on our own:

• We can organize people to go throughout the world, doing good deeds.
• We can build large organizations that have “church” in their names.
• We can live lives that look good to those around us, and thus gain the admiration of others.

But we cannot spread joy in Christ, deepen joy in Christ, or express joy in Christ apart from God’s power. We must be on our faces, pleading with God for power, acknowledging our weakness, acknowledging our sinfulness, our daily need to appropriate the cross, our daily need for forgiveness by the blood of Jesus.

We are responsible, yes, to study, to learn, to strategize about how best to fulfill the task.

But God will glorify Himself among the nations through His weak followers. He will be glorified in the result, and He will be glorified in the means, as weak followers go out in conscious, active dependence upon Him.

3) Proclaim what we know is true

We proclaim the Gospel. And the Gospel fundamentally is a simple message.

There is a place for scholarship. There is a place for deep study.

But we are all called to be witnesses. Speaking the Gospel is not only for experts, not only for those with doctorates in New Testament theology or apologetics. We all have sufficient knowledge of this simple message to glorify God through proclamation.

4) Trust His great power toward us who believe

We are weak, but He is mighty.

On our own, we can do nothing, but by His power, we can do all things.

He will work through our failures and in spite of our successes.

He will work to bring His Gospel to every nation.

He will give His church, His ambassadors, the words and the strategy to complete the missionary task.

We go in personal weakness.

We go with much ignorance.

We go with considerable sinfulness.

This is true whether we go to our neighbor or to another continent.

But our God is mighty to save.

He breaks down barriers. He overthrows kingdoms

And He will bring all the nations, all the peoples to Himself – through people just like you and me.

Indeed – through you and me.

So trust His power. Know He is at work.

Be His witness – to the end of the earth.

(This sermon on Acts 1:1-5 was preached 9/7/2008. For a version that is easier to print, click here. The audio is available here.)

Think of an important historical figure. What was his or her greatest accomplishment?

• For Thomas Jefferson, perhaps authoring the Declaration of Independence.
• For Abraham Lincoln, keeping our country together.
• For Martin Luther, taking his stand on the Word of God, and returning much of the church to biblical authority.

Some of you may be thinking of scientists, missionaries, authors, or explorers. Different men, different women, different fields of endeavor – but for all their varied accomplishments, the question makes sense.

Now: Consider Jesus: Can we ask the same question about Him? What was Jesus’ greatest accomplishment?

I hope when you hear that question you’re somewhat uneasy. For if we were to judge Jesus’ accomplishments on the same basis as the others we’ve mentioned – frankly, there’s not much there. For a period of time shorter than one US presidential term, he traveled around with a dozen men, in a backwater province of the Roman Empire; He taught publicly, and made some pretty outrageous claims. He healed people, a few rather dramatically. Perhaps during His lifetime as many as 200 people believed He was the promised Messiah. But one of his closest associates turned Him in to authorities for a few thousand dollars. The Roman governor executed Him.

That doesn’t sound like much of an accomplishment compared to Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, or Isaac Newton, does it?

But there’s a huge difference with Jesus: His death is not the end of the story.

We celebrate what Jefferson, Lincoln, Luther, and others accomplished prior to their deaths. For Jesus: We celebrate what He accomplished in His death, in His resurrection, and what He continues to do after death.

We begin today a series on the book of Acts. This is the second volume written by Luke, the traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. This volume was written about 30 years after the crucifixion. Each volume begins with a note to a man named Theophilus, who seems to be a prominent Roman official who has heard much about Jesus, but needs assurance of the truthfulness of the reports. So Luke says he writes: “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4).

Luke opens the book of Acts with these words.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,  ² until the day when he was taken up

This is a pretty strange statement. Imagine two-volume biographical study of Lincoln, written decades after his death, with the second volume beginning, “My first volume dealt with all that Lincoln began to do until his assassination.”

That makes no sense for Lincoln. Why does it make sense for Jesus?

To speak this way implies that Jesus is still at work.

John Wilkes Booth’s bullet ended Lincoln’s accomplishments. But the cross did not end Jesus’ accomplishments. The cross was only the beginning.

The Gospel of Luke records much of great importance:

• Jesus’ birth and  perfect life;
• His teaching on sacrifice, on leadership, on the kingdom, and on money;
• His predictions of His own death – He knew He came to die;
• His predictions of His resurrection on the third day.
• It also records the fulfillment of all these predictions: He is arrested, tried, condemned, crucified dead and buried.

But that’s not the end. Jesus rose from the dead and showed Himself to His disciples. They saw Him. They are eyewitnesses.

Acts 1:3 emphasizes this

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

The risen Christ is not an illusion. He is not a vision. He eats fish. The disciples touch Him. They interact with Him. He is alive.

And He continues His work to this day.

This is the message of the book of Acts: Jesus began His work during His earthly life and He is still completing it.

This book records the continuing acts of Jesus Christ.

This morning, I want to introduce the book by considering what Jesus does in the first five verses, and then looking briefly at what He does throughout the book. Our outlinje will have three headings:

Jesus Assigns a Task to His Followers

Jesus Promises Power to Fulfill the Task

Jesus works!

I pray that by the time we finish, you will have confidence that today we have the same task, the same power. I pray that you would have no doubt that the same Lord continues to work – as today we complete the works of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Assigns a Task to His Followers

He was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. (Acts 1:2)

What commands had Jesus given His disciples? At the end of Luke we read:

Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  48 You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:47-48).

Note the nature of task: Jesus is not instructing them to go and accomplish a great, challenging deed – to climb the highest mountain, to discover electricity, or to invent a car that gets 100 miles per gallon.

Instead, the task is this: “Speak the truths you know to others. You are witnesses, so bear witness! Tell others of their need for repentance. Tell others that God created man in His image to show what He is like. God created us so that we might love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. Yet we rebelled against that purpose. From the very beginning we sinned against the infinitely holy God, and thus deserve infinite punishment. But,” continues Jesus, “tell them also that God sent me, His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, paying the penalty for sin. Tell them that God raised me from the dead, proving the penalty was sufficient, proving that I remain alive and active. Tell of the opportunity to find true forgiveness in me, if they repent and believe in My Name. And tell this to all nations, all people groups, including your enemies and oppressors.”

This is task: His disciples are to bear witness to all peoples: “Jesus died for your sins! Jesus is risen from the dead! He reigns! Repent! Trust! Believe! Have eternal life! Fulfill the purpose of your creation!”

Jesus Promises Power to Fulfill the Task

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;  5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5)

Jesus here clearly associates the promise of the Father and baptism with the Holy Spirit. Luke 24:49 contains same idea, using somewhat different language. Jesus first says, “I am sending the promise of my father upon you.” Then He says they will be “clothed with power from on high.” So the promise of the Father concerns the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives power.

But what promise is Jesus referring to? Where in the Scriptures of Jesus’ day, the Old Testament, did God promise the Holy Spirit?

Let’s look at three passages that allude to this promise. First, Joel 2:28-29, which Peter will quote at Pentecost explaining what happened that day:

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

In this prophecy, God says that He is going to do something different in the last days. Note carefully: What is different? What is unusual about this prophecy?

The difference is not that the Holy Spirit is active. Many times in the Old Testament, individuals are filled with the Holy Spirit. Recall Fred’s first sermon on Gideon several weeks ago. Judges 6:34 (NIV) says “The Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon” (NIV). Elsewhere in book of Judges alone, we find similar statements about Othniel, Jephthah, and Samson.

So what is Joel prophesying that is different?

The difference is that God promises to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. His Spirit will not only come upon important individuals called to great tasks, but will be on all of His people.

The prophesy then elaborates on this point, detailing some of the many categories of people: sons and daughters, old men and young men, male servants and female servants – all types of people.

As we make our way through Acts we will see the fulfillment of this prophecy. In this book, God’s Spirit falls on both women and men, both old and young, both free men and slaves, both Jews and Gentiles. God indeed pours out His Spirit on all flesh.

The second Old Testament passage that contains the promise of the Father is the promise of a New Covenant, found in Jeremiah 31. God says this covenant will not be like the one that the people broke:

³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

So do you see the difference with the previous covenant? In the New Covenant, the Law, instead of being an external set of rules as it was for so many of the Israelites, will be internal. It will be written on the hearts of all the people.

And note the picture of intimacy: Every one of God’s people, from the least to the greatest, will know the Lord – unlike the Israelite community, in which many, many were stiff-necked and hard-hearted. Knowing God is now the defining mark of the people of God. Ancestry is not important. Ethnicity is not central. Knowing God is central.

This writing of the Law on the hearts of the people, this intimate knowledge of God, can only result from the work of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the New Covenant, then, is the promise of the Father – the promise of baptism with the Holy Spirit.

The final Old Testament passage that points to the promise of the Father is found in Ezekiel 36:25-28. Note that God is speaking to “the house of Israel” in these verses, and that the word “you” is always plural in this passage, thus referring to the entire house of the true Israel:

²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  ²⁶ And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  ²⁸ You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Here again is the promise of the Father. God’s covenant people would no longer have hard, stony hearts that resist God’s work. Instead, God gives them a new heart, a new spirit – a spirit that is soft, compliant, willing to follow Him, willing to serve Him. Indeed, God gives them His own Spirit who – in words similar to Jeremiah 31 – will enable them to obey Him, to walk in His statutes, to obey His rules. Thus they truly become God’s people.

This is the promise of the Father. The days of God’s people being rebellious and stiff-necked are over. He will send His Spirit on all His people – and they become truly His.

In Colossians 1:26-27, Paul makes the same point after Pentecost, after the promise of the Father has been fulfilled. In this New Covenant time, Paul speaks of:

the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.  ²⁷ . . . which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Paul says, “Christ is in all of you! Every true believer has God dwelling in Him. The Spirit has come. The promise of the Father is fulfilled.”

So this is the promise of the Father: The Holy Spirit within us, Christ within us. And this is what John the Baptist refers to when he speaks of Jesus baptizing us with the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of Joel 2, Jeremiah 31, and Ezekiel 36. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is what Paul looks back on in Colossians 1: Union with Christ. The Spirit of God in you, Christ in you, giving you power to obey His commands, giving you power to know Him, and giving you power to complete the task He assigns.

So we’ve seen the task, and we’ve considered the promised power; finally:

Jesus Works!

The book of Acts displays this truth clearly. God has given the disciples a task, and has promised them power. In the narrative, again and again and again Luke shows clearly that God is the one at work, even while Peter, Paul, John, Philip, and Silas are traveling, preaching, and suffering.

Consider four ways God acts in the book.

1) God saves

In Acts 2:47, after Pentecost, Luke notes:

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Note: The Lord added to their number. Salvation is God’s work, not the work of the apostles.

In Acts 13:48, Paul and Barnabas are preaching in Antioch of Pisidia, in what now is Turkey:

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.  (emphasis added)

Who appointed them to eternal life? Only God could do that. He saved them. They believed – by the power and grace of God.

In Acts 16:14, Paul is in Philippi. The text refers to a woman named Lydia:

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

In the text, this is almost an offhand comment. But God had to open her heart. God was the one at work. Paul spoke – the Gospel had to be proclaimed! Thank God for Paul’s faithfulness to his calling  But God is the one who uses the proclamation of His Word to open Lydia’s heart. God saved Lydia.

In Acts 18:9-10, Paul is in Corinth, where he faces significant opposition:

⁹ And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,  ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

This is more than a promise of protection. God promises that He has a purpose for Paul in this city; God will save His chosen people through Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel. God will bring it about. Jesus Christ is continuing His work. God saves.

God not only saves, but also:

2) God sends

God does not depend on His apostles figuring out where to go. He guides and directs their steps.

In chapter 8, God tells Philip, one of first deacons, to go down to the desert road. Philip obeys, and finds a royal official from Ethiopia reading Isaiah. Philip explains the meaning of the passage, and God saves the official. Then, after Philip baptizes him, verse 39 tells us “the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away” to another place where he continues to preach.

In chapter 10, God gives Peter a vision three times. Then the Spirit tells him to go with the Gentile servants who have just arrived at his house. The result: The servants’ master, Cornelius, and his entire household is saved.

In chapter 13, Paul and Barnabas are serving in the church in Antioch:

2 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.”  3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:2-3)

Philip, Peter, Paul, Barnabas: In each case, Jesus continues His work. God calls. God directs. God sends.

3) God judges

In chapter 5, many in the early church are selling property, then giving the proceeds to the church in order to help the poor. A married couple, Ananias and Sapphira, sell a piece of property, and give money to the church. They claim to have given all the proceeds, but they lie. They have retained some for themselves. God kills them both.

In chapter 12, Herod has put the Apostle James to death; he then arrests Peter, planning to execute him also. God saves Peter miraculously and then, while Herod is exulting in the crowd proclaiming he is a god, the one true God strikes him down. And Luke notes that his body was eaten by worms.

Jesus continues to act – in part, through exercising judgment.

4) God sovereignly works through evil acts of evil men

Virtually every chapter has an example of this. We’ve already seen that God worked through Peter’s arrest and his miraculous release. Paul’s conversion when he is headed to Damascus to destroy the church is another example. The arrest of Paul and Silas in Philippi is another, for God saves the Philippians jailor and his family.

But let’s look in more detail at chap 4. The church is praying, marveling at God’s sovereignty. This is part of that prayer:

“There were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,  28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:27-28, emphasis added)

The crucifixion – the most evil of all acts – was planned and predestined by God and used for His very good purposes, even our salvation. Indeed, God uses this evil act to save some of the very priests who plotted against Jesus.

Do you see the overall picture here? This book is not the Acts of the Apostles. This book is the Acts of Jesus, the Acts of God, the Acts of the Holy Spirit. God is the one who saves, who sends, who judges. God is the one in control – even when it looks like evil has the upper hand. God acts. He is sovereign.

The Result of Jesus’ Work

Five verses scattered throughout Acts highlight the result of God’s work. The church faces many challenges in these pages. But through it all – through dissension, through persecution, through trials and difficulties – God’s Word prevails:

Acts 6:7: After the resolution of the dispute over the care of widows, Luke records that “the word of God continued to increase.”

Acts 9:31: After the persecutor Paul is converted and sails to Tarsus:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Acts 12:24: After Peter is miraculously released and Herod has been eaten by worms:

But the word of God increased and multiplied.

Acts 16:5: After the decision in Jerusalem that Gentiles need not culturally become Jews to be saved:

So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

Acts 19:20: After Paul performs miracles in Ephesus, and former magicians burn their paraphernalia:

So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

This is the result of Jesus’ work. The Word of God multiplies and prevails; the church increases. God is at work. Nothing can stop His plan.

Jesus is risen. He builds His church. And the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

Conclusion

This is the message of the book of Acts: Jesus continues His work.

• No enemy can thwart Him
• No barrier can stop Him
• No people can resist Him

He is mighty! He prevails! He destroys all opposing powers!

And this almighty God, this conquering King calls to you. He invites you to Himself. He says: “Come to me – I will comfort. I will forgive. I will restore. Come to me! Why be stubborn, resisting, to your own destruction? Turn! Turn and be saved!”

He calls to you. So throw yourself on the mercy of the ever-living, ever-active, crucified and risen Lord! Trust in His saving blood.

And then: Having been saved by His blood, will you fulfill His task by His power?

That’s the question this morning for all who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have a task. You have His power; His Holy Spirit is within you.

Will you play your role? Will you be His witness?

He has proven Himself alive – to us.

He has given the promised Holy Spirit – to us.

He has given the task – to us!

Will you fulfill the task?

(This sermon on 2 Timothy 4:6-8 was preached 8/24/2008. For a version that is easier to print, click here. The audio is available here.)

Many expected the Beijing Olympic marathon to be slow, as runner after runner would succumb to the pollution on top of high heat and humidity. So when this morning the leaders took off at close to world record pace, a number of runners – including the top Americans, Dathan Ritzenheim and Ryan Hall – decided around three miles that that was suicidal, and backed off, hoping to run a slower, more even pace, and pick off stragglers. Such tactics had worked well in a number of past Olympic marathons.

But not today. Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya had other plans. He had prepared for these conditions. When the day dawned quite clear for Beijing, he was confident he could run a fast pace all the way to the end.

And he did. With a little over two miles to go he picked up the pace – and immediately dropped his last competitor. Running smoothly, relaxed and strong, he entered the stadium with a large lead. The crowd roared, cheering him on. He celebrated as he ran the last quarter mile on the track. Sammy Wanjiru finished well.

Our question this morning: Will you also finish well?

To get the gold medal, you have to finish the race. The marathon is 26 miles 385 yards. If you stop at 26 miles, 384 yards, you do not win – no matter how far ahead you are at that point.

The 1954 Commonwealth Games are remembered not only for the Miracle Mile between Bannister and Landy that I mentioned two weeks ago, but also for a case of NOT finishing well. The WR holder for the marathon, an Englishman, Jim Peters, set a pace in hot and humid conditions no one else cared to match. He entered the stadium with a huge lead – at least 10 minutes. He had run more than 26 miles. But with only half a lap to go, he collapsed. He got up and fell six times. He tried to crawl. But he did not make it to the finish line. He was rushed to hospital – and though he recovered his health and lived until 1999, he never raced again.

For the last several weeks we have been considering the biblical images of running the race of faith.

We have seen that we must first decide: Am I a runner? If so: We must be consistent and disciplined in our training.  We must battle our besetting sins, whatever they may be. We must stay alert to the unexpected temptations and hindrances that Satan throws in our path. Yet we must not focus on dealing with sin – we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as our joy, as the one with power to help us complete the race, and on his return. We also must work hard to rest in Christ, actively depending on Him always. Jesus doesn’t want our toiling. He wants our trust. So that is our main work. Our tasks are then done in dependence on Him; we pull the yoke by His power. He is responsible for the outcome.

Today, as we finish this series, we look at the finish line, using 2 Timothy 4:6-8 as our text.

Paul writes this letter from prison. He knows he will die soon. He is finishing his leg of the race, and is passing the baton to Timothy. So, reflecting on his own life, he concludes with these thoughts about finishing the race:

I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.  7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8

We’ll look at this text under 3 headings:

• Maintain Good Form to the End!
• Remember the Medal!
• Join the Cloud of Witnesses!

Maintain Good Form to the End

You are at the end of a hard race. Your legs feeling heavy; your muscles are feeling tight. Fearful thoughts enter your mind: “I can’t do it! I’m falling apart! I can’t kick! I can’t finish well!” As those fears increase, your form begins to fall apart: Your shoulders tense up, raising your forearms, thereby shortening each stride; your face and neck become tight. You are no longer relaxed. And consequently, you slow down.

Most runners slow down at the end of a race in part because of fear, not solely because of tired muscles. This aspect of slowing down is completely in control of the runner.

How can you fight that? How can you teach runners to finish well?

The key is maintaining good running form all the way to the end. Much training at the elite levels aims to enable the athlete to do just that. Through mimicking conditions at the end of a race, the runner learns to respond rightly. A good coach will give his runners lots of practice in dealing with those feelings of fear. His coaching will become so ingrained in his athletes that they will finish well. This is true for me even today, many years after I last ran a serious race. If when finishing a hard run, I start to feel my legs tighten, without even thinking I’ll check my shoulders and my jaw, focus on the elements of my stride, and work to maintain good form to the end.

Thus, instead of feeling fearful when tiring, a well trained runner will have just the opposite sense. At the end of the race, as he feels tightness in his legs, he’ll think, “This is it! This is what I’m trained for! All my opponents are hurting at least as much as I am. And I KNOW that I can dig down for that final sprint. I’ve done this thousands of times in practice. OK. Here’s where I break the race open. 1 2 3, Hit it!”

Just so in the race in faith. We are to maintain form. Paul says: “I have fought the GOOD fight.” The word translated “good”  does not mean “morally upright.” Paul surely was morally upright, but that’s not what he is communicating here. He is saying, “I fought well. I ran the race well. I maintained my form to the end.”

What does maintaining form mean in the race of faith mean?

It means to do all that we have talked about in the past four weeks:

• Be consistent, be disciplined
• Keep going through the pain
• Rejoice in the Lord always
• Be alert to unusual temptations
• Focus on Jesus
• Strive to rest
• Rest while striving

That’s all part of maintaining good form.

And if, like a runner, you have trained yourself for godliness, the right response to crises will be ingrained into you. When a challenge comes that tempts you to lose form, you will respond by focusing on Jesus, resting in Him, rejoicing in Him. You will tell yourself, “It’s natural to panic. But Jesus has prepared me for this. I have his Word. I have the examples of those who have gone before me. I know He is faithful. By His grace, I can do this – and I can endure and rejoice in Him to His glory.”

This is what Paul did. That’s why he could say, “I have fought the good fight.” Consider his life (we’ll do much more of this in months ahead as we journey through the book of Acts):

Paul and Silas praised God in the Philippian jail;

• he was beaten and shipwrecked, but continued to be faithful to his calling;
• he proclaimed the Gospel boldly even when he knew that would result in persecution.
• He was afflicted, persecuted, perplexed, and struck down, but never in despair.
• He never acted ashamed of the Gospel,
• he never lashed back at his persecutors,
• he was never quarrelsome.
• He kept his good form, focusing on the Lord Jesus Christ, rejoicing in him, despite all the challenges the world could throw at him.
• He ran the good race.

So he summarizes all these points by saying, “I have kept the faith.” There are two aspects of this keeping faith we should note. First, Paul lived out the faith – that’s what we’ve just seen. He set an example; he showed what having good form means. Second, he guarded and protected the faith. As a teacher, he had to watch his own teaching, and he had to refute those who taught wrongly – as we saw in our series on Galatians. So Paul taught the faith well, he taught the whole counsel of God, and he argued effectively with those who tried to distort it.

Thus, in keeping the faith, Paul was fulfilling the instructions he gave Timothy in his first letter: “Watch your life and doctrine closely” (1 Timothy 4:16). He lived out the truth, and he guarded the truth. He kept the faith.

Think for a minute about good form in the race of faith. Good form is what enables you to run well, to run fast, to get you to the finish line first. Good form does not necessarily imply that you will look great to others.

For most of the Beijing marathon, the eventual 3^rd and 4^th place finishers looked a lot better than the eventual silver medalist. But there are no style points in running – whoever gets to the finish line first is the winner, not the runner who looks best. Good form only matters if it helps you fun faster.

Just so in the race of faith: The opinions of others only matter as they reflect biblical truth, and as they help you to live out biblical truth. The key is to focus on Jesus, to rest in Him. The key is not any particular way of doing that which has worked well for someone else.

So we are to maintain form. And we are to maintain it to the end.

• For the marathoner, that means maintaining form all the way to the finish line, all 26 miles, 385 yards.
• For the sprinter, that means running well all the way through the tape – not letting up don’t at the end.
• For the race of faith, that means maintaining form all the way to death.

How often do you contemplate your death?

Our society pretends there is no death. But the Bible teaches just the opposite:

• Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days.”
• James 4:14: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Regularly contemplate your death. It may come tomorrow. It may come decades from now. But unless Jesus returns before your death, you will die. So prepare for it – like a runner training for the end of the race.

Paul has done that. He has contemplated his own death many times. So he writes in today’s text, “I am already being poured out like a drink offering” – an apt image for one whose head will be cut off.

But note how Paul talks about his death. Does he say, “I’m really fearing the executioner raising the ax!” No. Like the runner confident in his final kick, Paul looks at his forthcoming death positively.

Notice the words he uses:

Verse 6: “The time for my departure has come.” Death is a departure. The ship is leaving port, departing one country, heading towards another. This is a common event, simply a time of transition.

So Paul’s first word picture is a neutral image of death: It is a change. It is normal.

But then in verse 8 he gives not a neutral but a positive view of death. This leads us to our second heading:

Remember the Medal!

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day

Understand the image. The word “judge” here does not picture a courtroom. Instead, Paul is continuing his running image. Paul is running his race. Jesus is at the finish line. Paul is looking to Him, keeping Him in his sights, running to Him.

But Jesus is not only the goal, but also is the finish line judge. Earlier in this letter Paul had written,

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. (2 Timothy 2:5)

So the 2^nd and 3^rd place finishers in the Beijing men’s 200 meters were disqualified by the judge. They stepped on the line on the curve. They didn’t compete according to the rules.

Jesus is the finish line judge. And Paul is confident that he has competed according to the rules, that he will not be disqualified, that he will finish the race by God’s power, and thus that he will receive the victor’s crown.

So do you see the positive image of death? Death is not a negative. It is a necessary step toward the crown. It is the last 100 of the race.

Now, Paul is very clear that this crown is not something he earned. In all his letters, he tells us, “I didn’t earn this by my merit, by my work. It’s all of Him. I was the chief of sinners. I rejected His plan, His Gospel, His Way. He created me for His glory, but I turned my back on Him. So I deserved His just condemnation. But He sent His Son to die on the cross, and He opened my eyes to see Jesus as my Savior and Lord. Through faith, the benefits Jesus gained at the cross are credited to my account. He brought me to Himself. He has enabled me to run the race. He will bring it all to completion. He will give me what I don’t deserve.”

So as Paul approaches that final finish line, Jesus, the finish line Judge, declares, “HE IS MINE! He has My righteousness! He forever will be My beloved! He will forever have My character! He will forever be My delight! He together with all believers of all times places will be My precious bride: Holy, spotless, perfect.”

This is what is coming. So the Word tells us again and again:

• “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13
• “If we endure, we shall also reign with him” 2 Timothy 2:12
• “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

So maintain good form to the end. Remember the medal. The crown of righteousness, and all that implies, will be yours.

Join the Cloud of Witnesses

Paul writes 2 Timothy not as autobiography. He’s not trying to record his feelings, he memoirs. He doesn’t tell Timothy about fighting the good fight and finishing the race to record a fact about his life. Instead, he is exhorting Timothy and all subsequent readers: “Do this! Run the race! Maintain YOUR form! Keep the faith!”

He makes this absolutely clear in the last half of verse 8: This crown of righteousness will be awarded “not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

Paul is saying, “Timothy, long for Jesus’ appearing! Focus on Him, on His return! You can do this by His grace! Look to Him! This crown will be yours too! Endure to the end!”

Do you see what Paul does here?

Even as he is entering the stadium, finishing his race, completing his marathon, he is encouraging Timothy to run HIS race, to complete HIS marathon.

In effect, even while he is still alive, Paul has become part of the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12:1. Do you remember that image?

“Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses . . .  let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

We noted that these people are witnesses in two senses. First, they bear witness to Jesus’ faithfulness. Second, they look at us, they encourage us to lean on Jesus, to depend on Him.

That’s what Paul is doing here: He joins the cloud of witnesses encouraging Timothy and us to run the race.

This is a key complement to the racing image. The race of faith is not run alone. Right now, we are together, running the race together, all together headed to the finish line. And right now, we can be part of that great cloud of witnesses.

God puts us together to do this for those like us, who are going through similar struggles, as well as for those NOT like us, who can help by having a different perspective on our struggles:

• Older to younger: What a blessing it is to those of you in your teens, twenties, and thirties to have in this same church older folks, several decades ahead of you, to tell you of God’s faithfulness over the course of their lives, to speak of their running the race, to describe their challenges and God’s faithfulness to them.
• Younger to older: Again, what a blessing to the older folks to have you all who are young in age and young in the faith in the same body. You remind us of the enthusiasm of newfound faith, and you display the marked change in life after God’s miracle of new birth.
• Across cultural and ethnic differences: What a blessing to see the same faithful God working through the same Word, with people who are completely different from each other.

We are all running the race together. Right now, we are to be part of that cloud of witnesses for each other, as we bear witness to the grace of God

Conclusion

Let me expand on that image in conclusion:

Picture now the race of faith in all its glory. Millions of runners, from all times and places, representing every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Men, women, boys, girls, young, old, healthy, sick, black, white, Asian, African – All called by God’s grace, all looking to Jesus, all running the race to Jesus. Satan is there too, tempting the runners, trying to divert them, to throw obstacles in their path, to get them to pick up objects that will weigh them down.

In this great race, some have finished. They stand with Jesus at the finish line, bearing witness to His faithfulness. They cry out, “He enabled me! You can do it too! He is faithful!”

Others are quite near that final line, and, like Sammy Wanjiru this morning, they are running well. They too cry out, like Paul, “I’m closing in on the finish line. I’ve run a good race by God’s grace. I’ve kept the faith. You can too! Keep those eyes fixed on Jesus! Endure to the end!”

Then there are others, perhaps stumbling like Jim Peters, collapsing close to the finish, or sitting on the side of the road, massaging a sore calf muscle, weeping – they’re not even half way, and they’re wondering if they can possibly make it.

They need your help. You need theirs.

Will you cry out, “God is faithful!”

Will you massage that stiffened calf, to get your fellow runner back in the race?

Then there are those on the sidelines, telling you you’re foolish, that the Beijing pollution will kill you, that you can’t run that fast to the end, that you’ll never make it.

Will you both focus on Jesus – and exhort them to enter the race? Will you complete the team, bringing in all the number of the redeemed?

Ahead of you are many hills, along with many twists and turns. Not only heartbreak hill, but betrayal hill, cancer hill, loneliness hill, abandonment hill.

But on all these hills, throughout the course, there are thousands and millions who have gone before, crying out to you through the Word, through history, through those alive today: “He is faithful!”

And there are thousands and millions behind you who need to hear your faithful witness: “He is faithful!”

Your final 385 yards may be straight up a mountainside. Or it may be easy and downhill. But whatever it may be:

Keep the faith. Fight the good fight. Finish the race. Hit that final sprint.

The crown is ahead. So run to Jesus! And praise Him – together with all the saints – for all eternity.

(This sermon was preached August 17, 2008. For a version that is easier to print, click here. The audio is available here.)

No one in the history of mankind has run 100 meters as fast as Usain Bolt did yesterday. And yet – did you see the head-on shot of his race? He looked completely relaxed.

This coming Saturday night, watch the men’s marathon. Ryan Hall will run over 26 miles, averaging well under 5-minutes per mile. That’s fast. Indeed, looking around, I don’t think there’s anyone here this morning who can run one mile that fast. Yet while making that long, sustained effort, his stride will be fluid and his face relaxed.

Are these two anomalies?

No: All good coaches teach their runners to relax.

When trying to run as fast as we can, we have a natural tendency to grimace, to tighten the mouth, the neck, the shoulders. But all that is counterproductive. All that slows you down.

In order to run fast, you must relax.

Why is this? It is actually quite logical, for two reasons.

First, if I am going to use every ounce of energy to achieve my goal, I must not waste any of that limited supply of energy on something irrelevant. Now, I don’t run with my jaw, or my fists, or my shoulders. So those must all relax, they all must use no energy, so that all of my energy can be focused on those parts of my body that must work hard if I am to run fast. To achieve the supreme physical effort, we must relax every part of our body not necessary to that effort.

But tightening other muscles not only wastes scarce energy, it also hinders us from running faster. When we run, our leg muscles are alternately contracting and relaxing. Tightness in one part of the body easily leads to tightness elsewhere, hindering the necessary relaxation, and slowing the runner. Tightness in the shoulders also has a direct slowing effect, as we’ll see next week.

So we have a paradox: running fast is hard. It requires a great deal of energy. We must work hard if we are to run fast. And yet, we must relax in order to run fast.

Is there a parallel in the Christian life?

By all means. During the service we read passages from Hebrews 4 and Matthew 11, that say, in part:

Make every effort to enter God’s rest!
I will give you rest – Take my yoke upon you!

On the surface, these sentences don’t seem to make much sense. The first sounds something like: Work real had to go to sleep! Many of us know from experience that this is counterproductive. Then Jesus promises rest – right before telling us to act like beasts of burden.

What is He talking about?

He’s talking about a central truth of the Christian life – what Ray Stedman calls a “revolutionary new principle of human behavior.”

This morning we want to look at these two passages, and learn about this paradox of work and rest. We’ll do this under two headings, one for each passage:

Hebrews 4: Striving to Rest

Matthew 11: Resting while Striving

Striving to Rest

Hebrews 3 and 4 is a lengthy, sustained, complicated argument focused on this theme of striving to enter God’s rest. Sometime in the next couple of years I hope to preach through Hebrews; at that point we will look at this text in detail. This morning, I only want to help you understand the main point, and why it is so important.

In chapter 3, the author quotes Psalm 95, saying, in part:

Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness. . . .  As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” (Hebrews 3:7, 8, 11)

This psalm tells of the Israelites who, on their way to the promised land, displayed their lack of faith in God through disobeying Him. They grumbled against Him, they wanted to return to Egypt, they refused to enter the promised land, fearing the giants.

But Psalm 95 is more than history. It also contains a promise. The Holy Spirit, speaking through David, says: “Believe! Trust! Don’t harden your heart like they did! And you will enter my rest!”

With that in mind, then, let’s read Hebrews 4:9-11

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,  10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.  11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

So: Entering God’s rest involves resting from our works. And we must work hard to rest from our works. We must strive to rest.

Entering God’s rest clearly pictures eternal salvation: Entering His presence, dwelling with Him forever in the new heavens and new earth. To enter God’s rest is thus more important than anything else we can imagine.

But it would be a mistake to think of our entering God’s rest as only something future. We enter His rest NOW, in this life.

David surely understood that. Remember Psalm 23?

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

This is a picture of living a life resting in God. Who is the actor in this psalm? God – again and again and again. David trusts in God’s promises, while God leads and guides, showering His love on His servant all the way into eternity.

When we enter God’s rest, we trust in His work, we lean on Him, we depend on Him.

So listen: Striving to enter God’s rest today is working hard to trust in God’s promises, every minute of every day.

We trust initially, through believing the Gospel: that God created us for His glory; that we all reject that purpose and rebel against Him; that He sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all who would believe in Him hereafter; that the benefits of that sacrifice accrue to everyone who will repent and believe this Good News.

Subsequent to salvation, we continue to trust every minute of every day. Because in this life we are ALWAYS tempted to lean on our own resources, to lean on our own understanding. We must acknowledge that we CANNOT save ourselves, nor can we make ourselves into the type of person we desire to be, nor can we accomplish ANYTHING for God through our natural resources.

We can never merit salvation through good deeds, nor can we ever merit God’s commendation through acts we do in our power.

So when we enter God’s rest, we confess to God: “I am a sinner; You are the Savior. In my natural self there s no good thing, only darkness – You are all goodness and light. I can ONLY become what I want, I can ONLY become what YOU desire, through Christ in me: changing me, working out His purposes in me. So may my work apart from Your power cease. May your power take over.”

As Ray Stedman says:

We do not have what it takes, and we never did. The only one who can live the Christian life is Jesus Christ. He proposes to reproduce his life in us. Our part is to expose every situation to his life in us, and, by that means, depending upon him and not upon us, we are to meet every situation, enter into every circumstance, and perform every activity. We cease from our own labors.

But this is not easy. We must strive to depend continually on God. We always are tempted to act in our natural selves, apart from God’s power. So we must strive to enter God’s rest by continually checking ourselves:

• When your spouse speaks in an angry tone, and you’re tempted to lash back in kind: Pray, seek God’s power, turn to the Word (“A gentle answer turns away wrath”); speak words of peace.
• When you’re complimented over something you’ve done, and are thus tempted to exalt yourself, to think how great you are: Pray, seek God’s power, turn to the Word (“Apart from Me you can do nothing,” “he who humbles himself will be exalted.”)
• When a challenge is presented to you at home or at work, and you must plan a response, and you’re tempted to rush right in and figure out solution using your own resources: Pray, seek God’s power and insight, and turn to the Word (“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”)
• When faced with moral failure in your own life, and you’re tempted to say, “I can overcome this! I will discipline myself, I will improve myself!” Pray, seek God’s power, turn to the Word (“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”)

Striving to enter God’s rest is to live a life of active dependence upon God, disciplining yourself to turn to God, to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit, to lean on Him.

As John Piper says:

Do you see the great lesson here? The Christian life is a life of day by day, hour by hour trust in the promises of God to help us and guide us and take care of us and forgive us and bring us into a future of holiness and joy that will satisfy our hearts infinitely more than if we forsake him and put our trust in ourselves or in the promises of this world. And that day by day, hour by hour trust in God’s promises is not automatic. It is the result of daily diligence.

A marathon runner must continuously monitor himself, asking: “Is there some tightness in my jaw? Relax! Are my shoulders coming up a bit? Drop them!”

Just so, we too must monitor ourselves, saying, “Relax! Relax! Relax! Don’t flex a single unnecessary muscle. Relax! Strive to enter God’s rest!”

Resting While Striving

Hebrews 4:11 tells us to work hard at entering God’s rest, at depending upon him. If I stopped the sermon here, you might conclude that there is no hard work in the Christian life, other than the hard work of making sure we enter God’s rest.

But other passages tell us to work hard for God – yet to rest in Him in the middle of such work.

For example, in Colossians 1:29 Paul says, “I toil.” He toils! And he is not here discussing the toil to enter God’s rest. He’s discussing the toil he faced in spreading the Gospel.

There is no doubt that Paul worked hard. He details in his letters many of the obstacles he had to overcome: Beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, death threats, rejection, exposure to the elements – and eventually execution.

So Paul worked his tail off.

But what is the difference between Paul and, say, the rich young ruler? The rich young ruler, remember, tells Jesus he had kept all of God’s commandments from his youth. We might be tempted to laugh at that – but he is unquestionably sincere and, undoubtedly, those looking at his life would conclude that he was an upright, honorable man.

But he has a nagging feeling that all that obedience isn’t good enough. He feels that he needs to do something more.

So he asks Jesus: “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” He WANTS TO toil for God! He says, “Give me some task to do – I’ll do it!”

How does Jesus reply? Jesus does not tell him to go do some great feat requiring perseverance, danger, or hardship. Instead, He tells him to do the easiest thing in world. Indeed, all he has to do is to give one command to a servant, and it’s done.

And yet this easiest task in the world is exceptionally hard.

Jesus says, “Get rid of everything that you think shows that you are important. Give it away.” And Jesus does NOT say next, “Then you’ll be worthy of the task I give you.” Instead He simply says, “Then FOLLOW me.”

Jesus doesn’t want your striving. He doesn’t need your toiling. He wants your trust.

Those who don’t have faith in Christ strive to live up to some standard, and fail. They then either fool themselves into thinking they are what they aren’t, or they justify their failures – “I’m only human” – or they feel overwhelmed, finding it impossible to live up to their own standards.

What about Christians? What happens when we strive, apart from God’s power?

We too become burdened. We are so busy, we are working so hard, we are toiling and striving – and all the joy of the Christian life has left us. We get caught in a fog of unbelief, through which we can’t see God – so we go through the motions, saying all the right things, doing all the right things, but we’re not really trusting God. We are not striving with His power; we are flailing away with our own power. And so we are weary, burdened, wondering how in the world God’s work can go on without us.

To such people Jesus calls out:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  (Matthew 11:28)

Rest! That sounds wonderful!

But look at Jesus’ very next words:

Take my yoke upon you.

Try to imagine that you have never heard these words before. What would you expect Jesus to say after “I will give you rest”? You surely would not expect Him to say, “Now work like a beast of burden!”

So we might respond: “God, I’m burdened! I need rest – not a yoke! I can’t handle more hardship, more effort, and more hard work!”

What does Jesus say to this? He first of all goes on:

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me.”

He is the one who can teach us how to take up work and rest at the same time. For Jesus rested – and He worked.

And He goes on to say:

For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)

So when faced with a task that must be accomplished, we are not to grit our teeth, saying, “Yes, I can! I can do it.”

We must admit: “I cannot do this! I am unable! In my natural self, I will fail!”

And turn to Him. He is our yokemate. It is HIS yoke. We are paired with Him. And He pulls. So when we pull – it’s really by his power.

That is how Colossians 1:29 continues: Paul says,

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

This is the difference between the rich young ruler’s toiling and Paul’s toiling. Christ wasn’t at work in the rich young ruler. He as at work in Paul. And He works in us!

For, as Paul says earlier in Colossians, this is the mystery of the Gospel, the mystery hidden for ages, now revealed to all: Christ in you, the hope of glory.

As a runner relaxes every muscle except those involved in running, we must relax from our won efforts, and so that God works through us.

• So do you need speed? Someone with more speed than Usain Bolt dwells in you, and is empowering you.
• Do you need endurance? Someone with more endurance than Ryan Hall dwells in you and is empowering you.

And you need Him – every minute of every day. You need Him – at every task. At every task.

We have a tendency to think of God as our ace in the hole. We’ll pull Him out in desperate conditions, but outside of those relatively rare occurrences, we are fine, thank you. We consider ourselves reasonably bright, fairly well-read, somewhat talented, sufficiently educated, and overall pretty nice, good people who can accomplish quite a bit on our own. But we know that crises may come into our lives which we couldn’t handle – a death, a disability, a loss – and we know that eventually we will face that final crisis, our own death. We certainly acknowledge that we need God at those points. But the rest of the time? Our attitude is, “I’m ok. I can handle it.”

When you say that, you are like a runner talking back to his coach: “I run better when I clench my jaw. It feels natural for me to tighten my shoulders!”

You can’t run that way – and you can’t live the Christian life that way.

Every runner should trust his coach, even though that coach is fallible. But In the race of faith we have the perfect coach. And He tells us: “You do not have the resources to run this race. Don’t think you only need Me for the final five yards, to help you across the finish line. You can’t start without Me. You can’t accelerate without Me. You can’t maintain your speed without Me. Apart from Me you can do nothing. So look to Me! I’m pulling with you, making My yoke easy. You are not working for Me. I am working in you and through you, for My glory.”

Friends, this was revolutionary for me in the mid 1980’s when God first opened up these truths to me. I had thought of the Christian life as devoting time and energy to God’s cause. And I considered myself able to do much for Him. God first shattered my self-assurance by showing me I couldn’t even succeed in marriage apart from His power. Then he gave me a series of excellent teachers who explained, in somewhat different ways, these key biblical truths.

I have studied these truths time and again, and since have taught them repeatedly.

But listen: I still struggle with this!

When running the race of faith, I still clench my jaw and tighten my shoulders. That is, I still keep stepping out under my own power. I still fall too easily and too often into a prayerless striving, acting as if my hard work will accomplish God’s purposes.

Back when I used to run marathons, Beth and I would plan for her to drive to different sections of the course. I wanted not only her cheers, but also her observations, telling me if she noticed any tightness: “Your jaw is tight! Drop those shoulders!”

I still need similar reminders from you – “Rest in God! Trust Him! Lean on Him continually! Pray without ceasing!”

Conclusion

Where are you in this? My friend, you need these reminders too.

We will conclude with two final exhortations, two final reminders, to three types of people:

First: Are you striving to please God, hoping He’ll let you into His presence? There is no way you will ever impress God. There is no way you will ever please Him – apart from His work in you. Jesus says: “Come to me! Enter my rest! Stop all this counterproductive activity.” Admit that though God created you for His glory, You’ve toiled to glorify yourself. Admit that you are thus a sinner, deserving God’s judgment. Trust in Christ and in His death on the cross to cover your sin. Come to Him! Enter His rest.

Second: Are you saved, but caught up in the trap of trying to live up to the ideal Christian life on your own?

Or third: Do you – like me – have a right understanding of the biblical doctrines of salvation and sanctification, yet you keep leaning on yourself and not on God?

To these two groups, Jesus says the same:

“My yoke is easy. My burden is light. Depend on Me. Turn to Me for the strength to pull on this yoke. Rely on my Word. Trust My promises. I have begun a good work in you – I will complete it.”

Make every effort to enter God’s rest. And then: In the work He gives, lean, lean, lean on Him.

Trust His promises. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Even if you walk through the valley of shadow, He will be right there. In the daily temptations to anger, to annoyance, to lust, to pride – He is there, providing a way out.

So follow Him. Trust Him. Delight in Him. Relax. And work hard – by His power – in the race of faith.

The Ray Stedman quote is from What More Can God Say? (Regal, 1974), p. 52-53. It can also be found online at www.raystedman.org. The John Piper quote is from his sermon on Hebrews 4:1-11, which is available online here.

What do you expect from a pastor?

What do you expect from an elder?

Consider this description of the perfect pastor found in various forms on the internet:

The perfect pastor works every day from 7am until midnight and is a wonderful family man. He is content with a salary of $100 a week, wears stylish clothes, drives a late-model car, buys plenty of books, and donates $100 a week to the church. He is 29 years old and has 30 years pastoral experience. He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He is enthusiastic about missions, but never encourages anyone’s child to live the rest of his life overseas. He makes 5 visits daily to members’ families, visits shut-ins and the hospitalized, spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched, never misses a committee meeting, and is always in his office when anyone calls. That’s the perfect pastor.

People tend to have high expectations of pastors – and they are often disappointed. Some end up hopping from church to church, trying to find someone who fits their ideal. Others work hard to get rid of each inadequate pastor who comes to their church, expecting to be able to find someone better. But then after a few months or a few years, the next man proves just as disappointing.

Surely God doesn’t intend us to church hop, nor does He intend us to trade in our pastors for a newer model every two years.

How should you handle disappointment in pastors and elders?

This is the last sermon in a series on church leadership entitled “God Gave Pastors and Teachers.”

Last week, we discussed how the congregation should honor and esteem their pastors and elders, imitating their faith, and submitting to them joyfully and willingly:

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,  13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17)

But we also saw that the congregation, in the end, is responsible for the church maintaining right doctrine, and is responsible for the church displaying the Gospel in its corporate life through its unity and purity.

• How do these ideas go together? How can the congregation maintain right doctrine, and submit to its elders, if the elders are beginning to teach wrong doctrine?
• How can the congregation maintain purity in the church and condemn sin if an elder sins and he is telling them to be quiet and submit to him?

Furthermore, what should you do as a church member if you are disappointed in an elder/pastor? You don’t think your disappointment is the result of unrealistic expectations. You realistically expected him to act one way, and now, he is acting another. When should you be quiet? When should you say something? To whom?

The Bible gives us some guidelines here, beautifully balancing our responsibility to submit with our responsibility to protect.

Last week, we briefly gave part of the answer, in saying that Hebrews 13:17 does NOT mean: “Do whatever your elder/pastor says at all times.” Instead, we summarized the right attitude toward elders with John Piper’s words:

a church should have a bent toward trusting its leaders; you should have a disposition to be supportive in your attitudes and actions toward their goals and directions; you should want to imitate their faith; and you should have a happy inclination to comply with their instructions.

We’ll explore these issues much more deeply today. Once again, there is not one passage that says it all. So we’ll be looking at a number of texts today. I encourage you to go back, look at the context of each, pray over the Word, take them all to heart.

We’ll look at this topic under three headings:

1) The Accountability of the Pastor/Elder: Five principles from 1 Corinthians 3 and 4

2) Dealing with Unfaithful Elders

3) Dealing with Disappointment in Elders

1) The Accountability of the Pastor/Elder: Five principles from 1 Corinthians 3 and 4

Paul has been discussing factions in the Corinthian church. Some folks have been lining up behind different leaders, including himself and a teacher named Apollos:

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.  6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Principle 1) Leaders are ultimately only important because God uses them

Leaders are useful to the church ONLY because God supernaturally takes their words and ideas and Infuses them with power. The true church is not built because of leaders’ program ideas, personalities, talents, or experience. It is GOD’s choice to work through them. So the fundamental question about any leader: Is he yielded to GOD? Is he seeking GOD’s face? Is he asking God  to work through him?

No one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw–  13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.  14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.  15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.  3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.  4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.  5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. (1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

Principle 2) God will test each pastor/leader’s work on the Last Day

THAT is the pastor’s primary accountability. His accountability is not primarily to the congregation (“Tell me what you want me to do!”) nor even to himself (“This is how I know I can serve best!”) but to God (“This is how Scripture describes the Gospel ministry.”)

Principle 3) Elders/pastors are servants of CHRIST, not servants of the church

This principle is closely related to the second. Elders do indeed SERVE the church – they exist to benefit the church! – but they are not UNDER THE AUTHORITY of the church. Now, that doesn’t mean the congregation should refrain from communicating to pastor or elders how they may be helpful. He may well need to listen to that advice. But both the pastor and the congregation must realize: The congregation does not have authority to tell a pastor/elder how to operate his ministry.

Principle 4) God’s judgment of a man’s ministry will depend in large measure on factors that others cannot see.

1 Corinthians 4:5 says that God will bring to light what is hidden; He will disclose heart issues, such as: Is this man seeking God’s glory or his own? Is he praying, seeking God’s power, or depending on his own efforts? Since these unseen heart issues are so important, Paul says don’t judge. God will do so, with all the information, at the proper time.

Principle 5) Pastors/elders are stewards of the Gospel – and they therefore must keep the Gospel front and center

This is what Paul means when he says they are “stewards of the mysteries of God.” Not that they have some secret knowledge they guard that no one else has. But they have the GOSPEL! And it is precious. They must make it known. In Colossians 1:26, Paul makes clear that the central mystery of God is now revealed to ALL believers. He defines this mystery as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” That is: God created man for His glory, but from the beginning the first man and woman rebelled against that purpose, setting themselves up as the measure of right and wrong. They and all their descendants were therefore subject to God’s just condemnation. But God sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty we all deserve for this rebellion. All those who trust in Christ’s blood alone for their standing before God are credited with the benefits of His death, and can live for all eternity, fulfilling mankind’s original purpose: To bring glory to God.

Pastors and elders must communicate the cross, the Gospel, through teaching, through preaching, through the way they live. That’s their responsibility.. That’s how God will judge them. EVERYTHING they do must be tied in to the Gospel.

Do you see how these principles free you?

In general, you are not responsible to judge your pastor’s performance of his responsibilities. It is not your responsibility to fix him, or to improve him. God may well use you in his life. There are things you may need to say to him that will be helpful.

But there’s much you don’t know. God knows all, and will judge all. Barring overt obvious sin, you are to leave the judging to God.

You are to honor, esteem, joyfully and willing submit, speak up when appropriate, live out the Gospel yourself, and trust God to work in him and through him to His glory.

2) Dealing with an Unfaithful Elders

God sets a high standard for elders:

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:  2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;  3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.  4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. ( Peter 5:1-4)

He warns not only elders and pastors but all teachers:

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.  2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. (James 3:1-2)

Furthermore, we know that elders can and do fail, as Scriptures show:

(Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders) 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;  30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.  31 Therefore be alert. (Acts 20:29-31, emphasis added)

Indeed, Paul makes provision for the public rebuke of an elder:

Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. (1 Timothy 5:19-20)

Therefore, we can never say “Obey your elders, whatever they may say.” The congregation must live out the mandates discussed last week: They are responsible for the church maintaining right doctrine; they are responsible for the church displaying the Gospel in its corporate life through its unity and purity.

While the congregation not responsible for fixing or improving pastors, it IS responsible for rebuking or dismissing a pastor for clearly wrong doctrine or for clear, obvious cases of sin.

In A Display of God’s Glory, p. 40-41, Mark Dever lays out a helpful categorization of matters facing churches. He divide issues on two criteria: Importance and clarity. All issues will fall into one of four quadrants; he then asks, What is role of the congregation and the elders in each?

For those matters that are unimportant and clear or unimportant and unclear, the church is free to decide any way it likes. The matter is unimportant!

For those matters that are important and unclear – such as, Is now the time to plant another church?          What should the next sermon series cover? – there is considerable need for input and discussion, but in the end, the congregation must trust its leaders and follow them.

For those matters that are important and  clear – such as what is the Gospel? What is sin? – the congregation has great  responsibility. THESE are areas the congregation needs to be united around. If elders go astray here, the united congregation must step in and rebuke them. This should not take place over ambiguous, unclear issues or possible sins, but when there is a clear violation of the Gospel, or of the church’s statement of faith, or clear, obvious sin, the congregation must assert its authority.

Every church should have mechanisms in place to deal with such problems. Every church should have:

1) A system of financial accountability, separating pastoral and financial roles;

2) A covenant, in which members and elders explicitly agree to be subject to the church’s discipline;

3) Clear guidelines to follow on avoiding even the appearance of sexual impropriety.

If you’re a visitor, and your church doesn’t have such mechanisms, and you’re worried something wrong is going on, your first step should be to try to get accountability and transparency in place. Make that argument biblically. If the leadership is not willing to be accountable – that is, their disagreement with you is not over a specific method of accountability, but over having any accountability at all – then you should leave that church, even if nothing wrong is going on at present. That is a recipe for disaster.

But assuming such mechanisms are place: How does one deal with serious moral or doctrinal failure in an elder?

I can only mention but can’t discuss two important types of issues for time’s sake:

1)    Criminal acts: Make sure you follow the law. Don’t cover up a crime. Don’t try to handle a crime on your own.

2)    An elder who is overstepping his bounds, giving commands in your personal life, such as telling you to take a certain job, to marry a certain person, to live in a particular place.

Instead, we will focus on cases where an elder is clearly undermining the Gospel, either doctrinally through violating the church’s statement of faith, or in his life through clear, obvious, non-debatable cases of sin without repentance. In such cases, the church must rebuke the elder publicly, as we saw above in 1 Timothy 5:19-20. Consider also Matthew 18:15-17:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Note that right after this, Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” And Jesus answers, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” Jesus is not telling us to avoid forgiveness. He is telling us to rebuke sin.

Note also that in Matthew 18 Jesus must be referring to obvious sin. For He assumes you are right in accusing your brother of sin. It must not be a matter of opinion. Jesus doesn’t even hold out the possibility that your brother explains what happened, and you’re now convinced no sin was involved. Jesus is here talking about cases of clear, obvious sin, such that when anyone else knows the details, they will agree that serious sin is involved.

If this sin is not so obvious and clear, or if the sin looks obvious to you, but others informed of the facts don’t agree with you, then Romans 14 come into play. The judgment is a matter of opinion:

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;  11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”  12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.  13 ¶ Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. (Romans 14:10-13)

Do you see the importance of the sin being clear? The purpose of church discipline is to communicate the Gospel. The purpose of discipline is to enable the church to fulfill its threefold Gospel purpose: to express joy in Christ, to deepen joy in Christ, and to spread joy in Christ. That purpose is UNFULFILLED if there is clear wrong teaching, or clear wrong living by an elder. So discipline is intended to UNITE the church BEHIND THE GOSPEL, not to DIVIDE the church over matters of opinion and judgment.

Thus, the church should never attempt to discipline a member or elder over a matter of opinion, or over a debatable matter of interpretation.

But when clear sin is taking place, when there is clear false teaching, when there is no repentance, then, “Let him be to you as Gentile or a tax collector.” In such cases we are to treat the guilty, unrepentant person as an unbeliever, removing him from the church – and from any church ideally – hoping to push him to repentance. That is the goal.

Many churches and elders have experience in exercising godly, biblical discipline. It is wise for any church facing such an issue, particularly concerning a church leader, to seek the help, advice, wisdom, and guidance of such experienced pastors.

What if you’re in a church where false doctrine or obvious sin are going unpunished. And you can’t get rid of the erring elder – either because there is no mechanism to do so, or because the mechanism fails? That’s the time to leave.

So pastors/elders will be judged on the Last Day by God, and are accountable to Him. But pastors/elders who clearly deviate from core doctrines, or who engage in obvious sin, must repent or be removed by the congregation.

3) Dealing with Disappointment in Elders

What if you are disappointed in an elder, but the issue is not serious doctrinal error or obvious sin? Such disappointments might arise from:

• The direction the church is headed
• The way Sunday School is conducted
• Issues in the service, or in the building,
• The way pastors/elders allocate their time,
• Doctrinal issues not in the church’s statement of faith
• Possible sin which is not criminal and not obvious

Three points to remember:

1) Remember as we saw that the pastor/elder is GOD’s servant, not YOURS

2) Remember your responsibility is not to fix the pastor/elder, but to help the church achieve its purpose through its staying faithful to central doctrines and through its purity and unity.

3) Remember to be humble. In particular, remember that you don’t understand your pastor’s calling, his responsibilities, and his challenge in balancing those responsibilities as well as he does. Your pastor/elder probably has thought long and hard about how to serve well. He probably knows the Word well, and has studied the relevant passages about pastoral ministry in depth. He probably is well aware of his faults, limitations, and sins, and is trying to deal with them. So be humble! Acknowledge in your heart and verbally that you could be wrong. Look again at 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 and Hebrews 13:17. Ask yourself the questions from Piper’s summary of the congregation’s attitude towards its leaders. Make sure that both in intent and in outcome you are working to build up the church.

So, having remembered those things, if you are still disappointed, ask yourself:

Is it time forbear, or time to speak? We should be more likely to speak to an elder or pastor about matters that concern us in his life than with the typical church member. For the elder should be mature, and thus should be able to take criticism, even invalid criticism, and sort through it. Virtually every pastor I know welcomes responds positively to respectful, healthy criticism.

So don’t go to your pastor/elder saying, “You need to do X, Y, and Z much better!” Or, “I’m fed up; I’m leaving.” Indeed, never leave a church without seeking the prayer and counsel of the church’s pastors/elders, and going through an extended period of time praying for the elders.

Instead, use words something like these:

“Here are some issues we’re facing. We expected X to happen. What we see is Y. Help us here. Did we have wrong impressions? Is there a gap between your own goals and reality? Can we help to improve things in this area? (Note: Sometimes what frustrates us most about church is the very area where we should be serving.) “Know that we are committed here. But this is an important issue to us – important enough that if it is not resolved, we’re going to be quite uncomfortable. We want your prayers, your counsel, and your input. ”

If the issue is specifically related to the pastor/elder’s job performance: “We know that we only have an inkling of what it’s like to be a pastor. So take this advice knowing that we trust you to hear and to put what is right and possible into effect.”

That’s a way to communicate disappointment in a humble, submissive way. Churches benefit greatly if that type of communication happens.

If you communicate in this way and, in the end, must leave the church, you most likely will go with the prayers and blessings of the leadership. And that is the best way to leave a church.

Conclusion

God gave pastors and teachers. They are His gifts to His church. They are servants of Christ and stewards of the Gospel. A church must have Gospel-centered pastors and elders if it is to fulfill its purpose of expressing joy in Christ, spreading joy in Christ, and deepening joy in Christ.

But the church is made up of wandering, stupid sheep, and thus elders will disappoint members for two reasons:

1) Because the flock is made up of sheep with unrealistic expectations for leaders;

2) Because leaders themselves are sinful, limited, sheep.

So don’t be surprised at disappointments. If you’re not disappointed with Fred and myself today – you probably will be at some point soon.

But listen carefully: Every disappointment is an opportunity to display God’s glory. We are put in community in part so that we can live out forgiveness and forbearance when we do sin. God will use even our failures, even our limitations, even our sins to display His glory through is church.

Then we will see the cross that much more clearly. Then we will display the mysteries of God that much more fully. Then the world can see repentance, and faith, and love in new, different ways. Then those around us can see that we are far from perfect, but we are forgiven – and we forgive others – through the blood of Jesus.

That’s what we want to build here: Not a group of perfect pastors, elders, and members – we’ll never achieve that in this life. But a group of forgiven sinners, continuing to sin to our dismay, but continuing to point to the cross, repenting and seeking His face together, confessing and forgiving and loving each other and building each other up – so that even through my sins and failures, even through your sins and failures, we might all be built up in love, being equipped for the work of the ministry, being built up as the body of Christ, growing up into Him who is our head, until we all attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

That’s our calling. That’s our goal. That’s our destiny.