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The Holy Spirit Leads, Rebukes, & Saves (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #20) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

The Holy Spirit is the personal Spirit of the Father and the Son. He is not an impersonal force. He leads the Church in fierce and zealous obedience. He is God’s fiery love and fellowship, and the center of His power is in the Word.

The Text: “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul…” (Acts 13:1-13)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Luke records five men who were prophets and teachers in Antioch, and as they ministered to the Lord, the Holy Spirit made it clear that Barnabas and Saul needed to be sent out to preach (Acts 13:1-2). The Holy Spirit sent them first to Seleucia and Cyprus, through the prayers and laying on of hands of the church in Antioch (Acts 13:3-4). They took John Mark with them, and they preached in the synagogues until they came to Paphos where they encountered a Jewish sorcerer named Bar-jesus, the attendant of the Roman proconsul (Acts 13:5-6). As they preached to Sergius Paulus, the sorcerer (also called Elymas) argued against them, until Paul, full of the Holy Spirit, rebuked him and cursed him with blindness (Acts 13:7-11). And the proconsul believed, being particularly astonished by the teaching of the Lord, and they continued their ministry into Pamphylia, although John Mark returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:12-13).

THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

While the Bible teaches that there was a unique ministry of prophets during the times of the writing of Scripture and the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20, Heb. 1:1-2), this does not mean that the Holy Spirit no longer speaks to God’s people. The Holy Spirit still speaks, primarily and centrally in His Word, but also through the ministry of the saints and providential needs and opportunities. Even here, while there may have been a more supernatural word from the Lord, the commissioning of the church is described as the Holy Spirit sending Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:3-4).

REAL SORCERY

As we saw last week, God’s ministers are active in this world, and likewise, the Bible is clear that there are evil spirits and powers in the world. Satan is probably a fallen seraph (since he appears as a serpent/dragon), but Ezekiel 28 seems to be alluding to him as a fallen angel of Tyre and there he is called a cherub. It may be that there is more overlap between seraphim and cherubim than we realize, or it may be that the fallen angel in Ezekiel 28 is not Satan. 

Regardless, beginning in the Garden, we know that there are demonic beings in the world. The Egyptian magicians apparently tapped into some dark powers, and the Israelites were forbidden all sorcery and necromancy. While idols really are lifeless blocks of wood and metal, without hands and eyes, the Bible indicates that sometimes demonic powers gave some plausibility to the superstitions (e.g. Dan. 10:13). It’s striking that when Jesus came into the world, He regularly faced demons. In fact, in Israel, if you wanted to find a demon, synagogues were a good place to look (Mk. 1:39). So we should assume that Bar-jesus/Elymas probably had some true connection to dark powers. And while the resurrection of Jesus has fundamentally changed the gravity of the world (we have no reason to fear demons if we are in Christ, Js. 4:7), we should not be surprised if there is a growing demonic presence in lands where Christ is rejected. 

HARSH WORDS FOR FALSE TEACHERS

Paul’s rebuke of Elymas strikes many modern evangelical ears as harsh, or else, many simply assume that since he was an apostle he could say things that we cannot. But that’s simply not true. The Bible teaches that “open rebuke is better than secret love” (Prov. 27:5) and “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools” (Eccl. 7:5). Paul instructs Timothy not to ordinarily rebuke an elder, but if there are two or three witnesses, rebuke him in front of the whole church (1 Tim. 5:1, 20). This is a particular calling of ministers: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2, cf. Tit. 1:13, 2:15). Sharp correction of those in defiant sin or teaching false doctrine is love (Heb. 12:5, Rev. 3:19). 

Calvin: “Such was the vehemency of holy zeal and of the Spirit in the prophets, which if dainty and soft men judge troublesome and raging, they consider not how dear and precious God’s truth is to him.”

APPLICATIONS

This world belongs to Jesus Christ (not to Satan or demons). Lewis says somewhere that Satan probably most enjoys the extremes: those who completely ignore dark spiritual forces and those who are completely infatuated with them. We need not see demonic powers behind every bush or terrible policy decision. But neither may we be ignorant or naïve about the possibility. But regardless, we must have no fear. The Holy Spirit of Christ in us terrifies the demons. But the way to remain fearless and full of the Spirit is to be full of the Word. Stay in the Word, listen to the Word, apply the Word. And that really is the astonishing thing to unbelievers. 

Remember the distinction between refugees from the world and apostles of the world. Apostles of the world need to be rebuked and held at arm’s length. Refugees from the world should be welcomed, while offering lots of teaching. Refugees and apostles might initially look or sound the same, but the difference is real humility and obedience to the Word. And that Word is Christ crucified for sinners and raised to grant repentance to all men. 

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That Passes Understanding (
Philippians #15)

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INTRODUCTION

Paul is following his typical pattern here. He loves to conclude his epistles with a set of rapid-fire exhortations, which is what he is doing here in our passage. The two larger themes to take away from this would be peace and purity—the peace of God, and purity of heart. These are the two main points to take away with us today. God wants His people protected from anxiety, and He wants them to cultivate purity of mind. 

THE TEXT

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:4–9). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Christian has a solemn obligation to live a life of joy (v. 4). Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord all the time, and then he anchors the point a second time—rejoice (v. 4). He then says that Christians are to be steady people, and that their steady moderation should be visible to others (v. 5). Why? Because the Lord is at hand. One of the things that interferes with joy is anxiety, and so he then says to be anxious for nothing (v. 6). Rather than be anxious, he says that we are to present our requests to God with “prayer and supplication”—with thanksgiving. If you do this, then the peace of God—beyond our understanding—will protect your hearts and minds through Christ (v. 7). Thus protected, what are we supposed to do then? We are to set our minds to run a particular course. We are to think (logizomai) on certain objects. What should those objects be like? They should be true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, if there is any virtue or any praise. Pay attention to how wide ranging this is. Look at the “whatsoever” and “if there be any.” Those descriptions should be applied across the board. Paul then pronounces a blessing on those who do what they have learned, received, heard, and observed (v. 9). If they do this, then the peace of God—the guardian of their hearts and minds earlier—will accompany them. 

FREEDOM FROM ANXIETY

Worry is a basic challenge that many Christians struggle with. One of the reasons we have so much trouble is that we have a tendency to take this verse and pull it inside out. We have an anxiety and so we pray and pray and pray. What we are doing actually is worrying on our knees. This happens because we imagine the peace of God to be down inside us somewhere, and we try to arrange and configure our hearts and minds so as to protect that deep, inner peace of God. But this is exactly backwards. Notice that Paul says the peace of God protects our hearts and minds, not that our hearts and minds protect the peace of God.

The peace of God is the armor we must put on. The peace of God is the helmet that protects your head. The peace of God is the breastplate that protects your innards. Your head is not the helmet. Your stomach is not made of bronze. 

So how do we put the armor on? Paul tells us the basic steps here. 1. Don’t exclude anything. If it is big enough to trouble you, it is not too small to bring to God—“in every thing.” 2. Present your requests to God. Lay them all out. 3. With thanksgiving. This is often the missing piece. When you are done laying out your worries before God, find a place where you can sing a hymn of thanksgiving. You don’t simply thank God after He answers your prayers. You should thank Him, really thank Him, before He does. Remember that you are dealing with two things here—your prayer about “the issue,” and your “anxiety about the issue.”

TRUE AND LOVELY

Now this next part of the passage—whatever is true, whatever is lovely—applies to absolutely everyone here. We all must take it to heart. But I want to take a moment to address you young people on this topic. This is because you have been flattered into thinking that none of this applies to you, and yet it actually applies especially to you.  

If your Spotify playlist has at least one song that has that explicit warning attached, then you are not nearly as wise as you think you are. And this applies more broadly as well. It applies to the books you read, the TikTok videos you watch, the movies you take in, and the web sites you visit. And of course it applies to porn and almost porn. It is a bad business for someone to gunk up his brains at any time of life, but your brains are still growing into a particular shape—the concrete is still wet. Do you really want a patio with that many dried waves in it? And whether or not your folks were too careless in letting you run feral in cyber-space, you are still Christians with your own set of responsibilities before God. Stop putting dog doo in your salads, and then feeling virtuous because you know how to eat around the worst bits.  

C.S. Lewis made the point this way:

“Literature exists to teach what is useful, to honour what deserves honour, to appreciate what is delightful” (The Discarded Image, p. 214).

CHRIST IS THE PEACE OF GOD

In verse 7, it says the peace of God will do its guarding of our hearts and minds through Christ. We are told in Ephesians to put on the full armor of God. The helmet of salvation—well, Christ is our salvation (Eph. 6:17; Is. 59:17). We are to have the belt of truth (Eph. 6:14). Well, Christ is the truth (John 14:6). Our breastplate is righteousness (Eph. 6:14; Is. 59:17), and Christ is our righteousness (Jer. 23:6). Our feet are shod with the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15), and Christ is the gospel. We have the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16), and we are saved by the faith of Christ Jesus (Gal. 2:16). When we put on this armor, we are putting on Christ. When we walk in this way, we are walking with Christ, who always accompanies us. 

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