Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon July 6, 2008
Now days, some of the new cameras have GPS chips inside them. This allows you to tag photos with precise GPS information. When you listen to a story, if you can visualize how the story unfolds on a map, it helps great deal.
So, here are some slides that will help you orient yourself as you journey through the stories in the book of Acts.
Slide 1
We’ve covered first 12 chapters from Acts and you can see the relatively small scope of the movement.
Now, beginning from chapter 13, the scope of Christianity begins to expand to a greater area. The center of movement is no longer Jerusalem, but now Antioch.
Slide 2
Here is another map that plots Paul’s first missionary journey. The church of Antioch is the sending church who sent out Saul formerly known and Barnabas along with Mark, Barnabas’s cousin.
They journeyed together to Seleucia a port city of Antioch. From there, they sailed to Salamis, an eastern city of Cyprus, and to Paphos, a far southwestern city of Cyprus. It is said that during this journey from Salamis to Paphos, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues (Acts 13:5-6). Today’s text focuses on an event that took place in Paphos.
From Paphos, they sailed to Perga. We will later learn that here at Perga John Mark left Barnabas and Paul to return to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). Now, without Mark, Paul and Barnabas continued on to the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.
Chapter 14:21-28 records their journey back to Antioch. They traced their journey back from Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, to Pisidian Antioch. From there they went back to Perga, then to Attalia, a place they had not visited yet. From there, they sailed back to Antioch, back to their sending church.
All in all, they traveled well over fifteen thousand miles in about two years. Mind you that their travel arrangements had no comforts of our modern day conveniences of air plains, trains, automobiles, nor luxurious cruise lines.
--Show a clip from 58:00 to 1:04 from The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. (Theoden semi-possessed and magically aged by Saruman, deceived and poisoned by Grima Wormtongue confronted by Gandalf and released from the bondage)
I wonder where J. R. R. Tolkien got his idea about a king being deceived and poisoned by Grima, also known as Wormtongue who fell in league with Saruman. His goal was to weaken the king and the kingdom through lies and manipulation. Where did Tolkien get his idea of power encounter between Gandalf and Wormtongue?
- The Power Encounter
Earlier in chapter 13, you read about Paul and Barnabas being set apart by the Holy Spirit, sent off by the Antioch church, sent by the Holy Spirit. And, Luke points out how Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 13:9. What we see in Paul and Barnabas is the people driven by God’s power of the Holy Spirit.
As they traveled from Salamis, east of Cyprus to Paphos, far west, wherever there were the Jewish synagogues, they proclaimed the word of God empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And, it is in the city of Paphos we see the power encounter. The main figure of the city is Sergius Paulus, the proconsul governing the island. But, there is this shadowy, evil and influential figure known as Bar-Jesus around the proconsul.
From the description given by Luke, unlike Paul and Barnabas who represented the power of God, Bar-Jesus or also known as Elymas a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet represented the power of lies, deceptions, manipulation of the adversary, the devil.
The prefix to the name Bar-Jesus means “son of,” so this shadowy figure’s name means “son of Jesus.” In the first century, the name Jesus was a common name and to refer someone as a son of so and so was also very common as well. But, in today’s story, the name is significant in that his name didn’t tell the true story of who he really was. He wasn’t defined by Jesus. Instead, according to Paul, he was a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right (verse 10).
From where did this man drive his power? As Wormtongue got his power from Saruman, Elymas exercised his power from the devil. How did he exercise his power?
Two phrases stand out to describe who this man truly was. Verse 8, we are told that he opposed Barnabas and Paul and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then, in verse 10, Paul exposed who Elymas really was, one who was “perverting the right ways of the Lord.” These two phrases from verse 8 and 10 both share a same Greek verb although translated differently. The Greek word diastrefw is translated in verse 8 with the idea to “turn away from” and in verse 10 to “pervert.”
In the movie clip, you saw Wormtongue whispering to the king, feeding lies after lies to counteract Gandalf who spoke truth to the king. In the story of Acts, the proconsul faired better than the king Theoden since he was not completely under the influence of Elymas, the false prophet and the sorcerer. We see this in verse 7; he was said to be an intelligent man who was able to exercise his mind. What he wanted to do was to hear from the word of God so he sent for Barnabas and Saul. But, when Elymas realized what he was up against, he did his best to oppose them by trying to turn away the proconsul from the faith and to pervert the right ways of the Lord.
You see an irony in his name. His name Bar-Jesus means in Aramaic “son of Jesus.” His name stood for Jesus, but in reality, he wanted nothing to do with Jesus, the truth. He was no son of Jesus; he was a child of the devil as Grima Wormtongue was the child of Saruman, an instrument of deception and trickery, one who opposed the truth by turning people from faith, perverting the truth.
Bar-Jesus, Elymas opposed Paul and Barnabas as Jannes and Jambres, the Egyptian court magicians opposed Moses in Exodus 7:11 (2 Timothy 3:8). Elymas opposed Paul as Alexander the metalworker opposed the gospel message as in 2 Timothy 4:14.
What Elymas was trying to do was essentially what we see in the parable of sower. Luke 8:12 reads, “Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” Here was the devil using Elymas to oppose Paul and Barnabas by trying to turn the proconsul from the faith and by perverting the right ways of the Lord, thereby leaving him unsaved.
When Paul pronounced God’s judgment upon Elymas, immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand (verse 11). Again, we see another irony here. Elymas tried to blind others from seeing the truth, but he was blinded by God, now he was the mercy of others to lead him by the hand. Would he want someone who genuinely sought to help him or someone who wanted to trick him?
We don’t know the outcome of Elymas if he repented, turned to God or rejected the truth of Jesus Christ. But, what is certain is that when this deceiver was taken out by the blindness of God’s judgment, we learn in verse 12 the proconsul believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
This story reminds us to be alert about the spiritual reality of power encounter. We should not naively write off the story of Elymas’s opposition against Paul and Barnabas as an outdated story from the antiquity; we should not think that the story has no bearing on how we ought to live out our Christian life today.
From the earliest day of the fall, the adversary, Satan, the devil has been opposing God. He thought he finally defeated God when he saw Jesus on the cross dead. But, it took only three days for him to realize that what he thought was his biggest victory over God turned out to be his worse defeat.
The devil deceives even himself thinking that he still has his chance against the Mighty. So, he goes on trying to frustrate God and the advancement of his kingdom. It is fitting that the apostle Paul who encountered the evil power behind Elymas reminds us today in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
So, We must take seriously Paul's call to you and me to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power in Ephesians 6:10.
This leads me to my second point.
- The outcome of power encounter is determined by how you behold the greatness of God in Jesus.
Going back to the Greek verb diastrefw, which is translated in verse 8 as to turn the proconsul from the faith and in verse 10 as “perverting the right ways of the Lord,” the same word is used in the gospel story of Jesus healing a boy with an evil spirit in Matthew 17:14-23 and Luke 9:37-42 with his reference to "perverse generation."
Right before these passages you read about the transfiguration account of Jesus. With Jesus were Peter, James and John. While they were up on a mountain, the rest of the disciples were trying to heal a boy with a demon, but couldn’t do anything for him. When the father of the boy asked Jesus for help since his disciples couldn’t heal him, this is what Jesus said, in Matthew 17:17, “O unbelieving and perverse generation… how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Here is the word “perverse,” which is translated from the same verb used in Acts 13:8 & 10.
When Jesus said the generation was “unbelieving” (apistos), he meant that current generation didn’t put their trust in Jesus as their Messiah. And when he said the generation was “perverse” (diestrammenos), he meant “they have become distorted in their evaluation of Jesus” because they willfully rejected Jesus’ call to repent and also because they were influenced by the religious leaders who opposed Jesus in unbelief. [1]
Having said this, Jesus rebuked the demon and healed the boy. When the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t do what he did, he said, in verse 20, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” And, if you look at the footnote to this verse, you see this remark, “some manuscripts… But this kind does not go out except by praying and fasting.” And, another parallel passage in Mark 9:29, you read, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
Faith, prayer, fasting… all focus to one thing, the greatness of God in Jesus Christ! D. A. Carson says, “what they need is not giant faith (tiny faith will do) but true faith- faith that, out of a deep, personal trust, expects God to work.”[2]
The question is, “Do we expect God to work? Did we really believe we serve God, the Majesty to whom nothing is impossible?
What Jesus is interested in his disciples is moving from having ineffective, defective, “little faith” to effective, working “faith.” When it comes to faith, the question is not how much faith do you have. It is not about the size of faith you possess that makes your faith effective. What really matters is how clearly do you see the object of your faith, Jesus? How well do you embrace him as the one who can do all things, to whom nothing is too difficult?
“Faith is confidence that we can do what God calls us to do… taking God at his word” [3] says Michael Wilkins. Again, the effective faith is about beholding the greatness of God in Jesus Christ.
In a parallel passage Luke 9:37-45, you don’t read about Jesus’ comment on mustard seed faith. What you find is people’s response to Jesus’ healing. Luke 9:43 reads, “And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.” Hebrews 1:3 & 8:1 refers God as “the Majesty.” God is called “the Majesty” because what defines him is his greatness.
Having said about what makes faith effective and seeing people amazed people, Jesus told his disciples to expect what was going to happen to him soon, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life” (Matthew 17:22-23).
If the act of healing revealed the greatness of God, how much more do the ultimate sacrificial death Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead reveal God’s greatness?
The greatest revelation of God’s greatness is seen in the greatest miracle of all, in the life of Jesus Christ, his betrayal, his suffering, his death, his resurrection from the dead.
The spiritual reality we face today is no different than what Paul and Barnabas faced in Acts 13. Today we must wake up and realize the power encounter. The ancient adversary, the devil is the deceiver who tries to pervert truth and tries very hard to turn us away from genuine faith in God to whom nothing is impossible.
It was said that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit. His prayer, fasting, all his spirituality focused on one thing, the great of God in Jesus Christ. To Paul, nothing should deter the greatness of God in Jesus Christ being expressed in his life and around him. When he saw Elymas opposing God’s greatness in Jesus Christ being embraced by Sergius Paulus, this got him really angry. You can feel his righteous anger in his strong rebuke against Elymas.
When you see debilitated, helpless, and sick Theoden poisoned by the evil lies and deceptions of Wormtongue, would you show your disdain and anger? Will you do something about it?
[1] Wilkins, Michael J. “The Healing and Exorcism of an Epileptic Boy (17:14 - 20)” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew. By Michael J. Wilkins, 596. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004
[2] D. A. Carson, EBCNT, Matthew 19-20.
[3] Wilkins, Michael J. “The Healing and Exorcism of an Epileptic Boy (17:14 - 20)” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew. By Michael J. Wilkins, 597. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004.
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