Steve, keep going.

 “They continued to preach the gospel.”

(Acts 14:1-7, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, July 1, 2012)

[14:1] 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.

Paul and Barnabas had been forced out of Antioch on the southern border of Galatia by some of the leading people in the city who had stirred up the populace against the message of Jesus Christ. The church in Antioch continued after Paul and Barnabas left. The apostolic messengers went on to Iconium where the same story was played out again.

Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue. They spoke boldly. The reaction was astounding. Many Jews and Gentiles believed. But once again, there was controversy.

[2] But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

As had happened in Antioch, here in Iconium there was vocal opposition that attempted to stir up the Gentiles against the Lord's servants. They poisoned people's minds against those that are called here “the brothers.” The church is a family with a mission. Enemies of the family wanted to sow discord among them.

Proverbs 23:17 says, “Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.” But an angry mob can seem so much more real to us than the Lord in heaven. We need to continue in the Lord's way, and not be dissuaded by those who hate the message of our King.

[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.

The opposition seemed to have won the initial battle. So what did these men do? Did they give up? No, they stayed there for a long time. There was work to be done, and they were still gaining a hearing from the people. They spoke boldly for the Lord, as we also ought to speak.

God did something too. He granted signs and wonders by their hands. The Lord was bearing witness to the word of His grace.

The message of Jesus Christ is a message of forgiveness for sinners because of the spectacular achievement of our Substitute, Jesus. This good Word is the message that some Jews hated. They felt compelled to convince others that men like Paul and Barnabas had to be stopped. They simply could not accept the concept that anyone could have peace with God through the suffering of a messianic Lamb of God.

But the Lord weighed in on this debate by granting these signs and wonders through the hands of the people that brought that good word. As always, this battle was a contest between a good word, a word of peace through the cross of Christ, and a false word, suggesting that peace with God could never have come through a man who died the way that Jesus died.

As had taken place in Antioch, the unbelieving Jews in Iconium cast their vote against the gospel, against Jesus, and against men like Paul and Barnabas. But God had a vote too, and He worked miracles through the hands of men that others had rejected as wrong and dangerous.

This battle did not dissipate but it increased. The city was divided. The question of Jesus Christ gripped all of Iconium. They recognized the undeniable importance of the issues of the faith. Remember the question of Jesus of Nazareth to Peter and the other disciples so many years before? “But who do you say that I am?” That question had to be answered in Iconium too.

Some sided with the Jews who rejected the claims of Jesus. To them He was not the Son of God. His death was an emblem of a failed messiah figure. Perhaps His miracles had been undeniable, just as the signs and wonders of Paul and Barnabas would have been difficult to ignore. But they did not change many of the Jews in Judea, and they were not persuasive to those in Iconium who had their own reasons for rejecting the best news that has ever been heard in this fallen world.

To the apostles and their followers, Jesus was the Lord of heaven and earth, the Savior of sinners, the eternal Son of the living God. His death was for them. His resurrection was the beginning of hope for all who would receive Him.

[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,

The difference between these two positions was very dramatic. On the question of Jesus, boredom cannot be anyone's choice. It is entirely irrational. Jesus had said, “I and the Father are one.” He had said to His disciples after His resurrection, “All power and authority has been given to me.” His final words to us in the Scriptures in Revelation 22 are, “I am the bright morning star. Surely I am coming soon.” No one is permitted to consider that a yawning matter. You are either for it or against it. You must either receive Him or reject Him.

Some were very much against Him in Iconium. They wanted to kill Paul and Barnabas. But they went on to Lystra and Derbe, where we will pick up the account of their message to the pagan cities and villages of Lycaonia in the verses that follow.

[7] and there they continued to preach the gospel.

Through it all, through the glories of preaching a message that initially was very well received, through the danger of mortal threats and the vicious attacks of those who hated the right understanding of the Word of God, through the signs of heaven that were coming from God through their lips and by their hands, through their quick departure to another location in order to bring the word of Christ another day to another place, they continued to preach the word.

They believed that Jesus was Lord. So they continued in the fear of the Lord no matter what others might do to them.

How do we wake up the world in our own day? I don't know the answer to that question. I do know that every day when I wake up, the Lord is pressing me on with the simple tasks of Word and prayer that He has called me to. “Steve, Don't give up. Keep on going.” The Scriptures continue to bring me life and hope. No matter what else may happen over the course of a life where the unexpected becomes fact, I know that my Redeemer lives.

I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. In a world that perplexes me and often discourages me keeping on going is my sign and wonder. Let's keep on going together.

1. What was the result of the preaching of the gospel in Iconium?

2. How did the unbelieving Jews respond to this work of God?

3. Why did Paul and Barnabas stay in Iconium, and how did the Lord use them there?

4. How can we endure opposition to the good work that God has called the church to do?

OT Passage: Proverbs 23:17

So long, now. Keep loving Jesus.

“The Lord be with your spirit.”

(2 Timothy 4:19-22)

19 Greet Prisca and Aquila,

Aquila was a native of Pontus, near the Black Sea, a Jew, who with his wife Prisca had been forced out of Rome through the edict of Emperor Claudius. During Paul's time in Corinth, he had met this fruitful couple. They were of the same trade as Paul, tent-makers, but more important than that, they were brothers in Christ building the New Testament temple of the Lord, the kingdom of God on earth. They had a church that met in their house. Later they returned to Rome again.

Timothy was in Ephesus when he received these letters. See 1 Timothy 1:3. What this means is that this couple spent time in Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus serving the Lord and His church. Like Paul and Timothy, their lives were a good example of 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

and the household of Onesiphorus.

The same could be easily said about Onesiphorus. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:16-18, “May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me—may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.”

20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter.

Erastus had traveled with Timothy in the past into Macedonia on gospel errands, sent on their way together with others by Paul. He was a city treasurer in Corinth. Trophimus was from the Roman province of Asia, today's eastern Turkey. He was with Paul in his travels back to Jerusalem that led to his arrest. Here we learn that he later became very ill and had to be left behind in Miletus, on the coast of Eastern Turkey.

These men were gospel family to Paul. They were fellow builders and warriors together with Him for the Lord's kingdom. Paul loved them, as he did also this son that he was writing to. He wanted them near. That's how we feel about beloved family members with which we have heavenly bonds. So he says, “Do your best to come to me before winter.”

Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.

We don't know anything about the others mentioned here let alone those that are simply called “brothers.” We know this: Christ gave Himself for them. So did Paul in his way.

22The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

There is much that is going on in this world. But Jesus is our constant, and our mission is the same as it was for this team of saints. We must follow the Lord, stay close to Him, and love one another as we serve the body of Christ wherever we may be. We know that the things that are seen are transient, but Christ and His heavenly kingdom, the things that are unseen, are eternal. The Lord be with your spirit wherever you go. Grace be with you.

Yesterday, Today, and Forever

A Body of Love

A Sermon for the Ordination of Pastor John Solie by the Rye Congregational Church

June 24, 2012

(Ephesians 4:7-16)

[7] But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

We are here to celebrate the unity that the Lord has given to Rye Congregational Church as the Lord has granted new vision for your congregation as you serve together here in this town and throughout the world. Our oneness comes from this important fact: There is one Head of the Body of Christ, Jesus.

The unity that we have does not mean that we are all exactly the same. In fact, we are all different, and that is part of what enables the Body to fulfill the mission of love that Jesus has given us. This diversity within the body is for the purpose of fostering a greater and better unity that God has in mind for us.

It is particularly appropriate for us to celebrate diversity in gifts when we come to a service of ordination. John Solie is being set apart here tonight by the laying on of hands in recognition of a work that the Head of the church has done in his life. The giftedness that John has is offered up to God for your sake. Using our gifts for each other is the way of love.

[8] Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” [9] (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? [10] He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

The body of Christ, the church, serves at the pleasure of Jesus, the Head of this body of love. The Apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 68, a psalm of David. In that psalm, someone is leading a large number of prisoners up a mountain. But these prisoners are not weary or despairing. They are singing and playing instruments. They are using their gifts to praise the Lord.

Paul helps us to see what this psalm is all about. We are the happy prisoners of the King being brought home to heaven. The One who leads us is the One who ascended into heaven for us. When He arrived in heaven, He gave gifts to us.

This One who ascended is the Son of God. Before He could ascend up to heaven, He had to first come down from heaven to work our salvation. The Son of God became the Son of Man in order to conquer death for us here below in these lower regions. After He made atonement for our sins, He was declared to be the victorious Son of God through His resurrection from the dead, and He ascended to heaven as the beginning of a new resurrection world. In that world He fills everything. John, and you and I, the whole church in Rye and the whole church in heaven and on earth is to be filled with the fullness of the resurrection Man, Jesus Christ, who fills all in all. He was the King of Love in His suffering death. He calls men like John and a church like Rye Congregational to follow Him in a life of Spirit-filled love. Our unity is in Him, our ascended Head.

[11] And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, [12] to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [13] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

This plan of living together in a community of resurrection love here in this dying world is the only reason why Christ gave the church apostles, prophets, and evangelists. It is the only reason why He gives Rye Congregational Church pastors and teachers. It is not so that we can be pleased with our own giftedness, or win popularity contests or prizes for speaking ability or Scriptural insight. None of that means a thing without the love that comes from Jesus Christ. The love that comes from Jesus is dying love, a love that suffers for the glory of God and for the good of the body.

John Solie is set apart as a shepherd and teacher by this body of faith today to love you. He will faithfully do the ministry of the Word as your pastor and teacher here as he has over these years. What is new in this is an increased awareness of your togetherness with John in Christ in this great enterprise of love. Together you are saying that you as a church recognize your role in Christ to say yes and Amen to God's use of this man as a shepherd of the flock. You have chosen what you are convinced to be the will of God above every other consideration, and so has John. You have chosen the way of suffering love for this community of faith. There is heavenly power and giftedness in that settled determination.

Your goal together is that you would be more and more like the Head of the body. That will come through God's Word and God's Spirit. God will use the giftedness of John to bring forth unity in the faith here, and a more mature knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This will help the church to grow up in ways that Jesus desires.

[14] so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. [15] Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [16] from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The old truths of Christ given to us in the inspired record of the Scriptures, these are the right truths for this congregation. These are the truths that John has been patiently teaching you since the Lord first settled him here some years ago. Today you say yes to those truths again, and perhaps in a more settled way than you have before. These are the truths of the One who died for your sins, and was raised as a vindication that His sacrifice was effective for you. These are the truths of the ascended Head of the church who gives gifts to His people. These are the truths of heaven and of eternal life.

There are other doctrines that whirl in and out a town claiming to be something new and fresh. Is there some teaching that stands against the Jesus of the Scriptures? Is there some new way of doing church that promises to be the only way for church to succeed in our generation? You know better than that. The more that you grow in the Word you know that Jesus will build His church His way. This church has unity not in some new methodology or in some new vision of a new Jesus. Rye Congregational Church, together with the whole church of the Lord Jesus, stands on Christ the solid rock. All other ground is sinking sand. John and Rye Congregational Church, stay with the Jesus of the Bible. Be the body of love that He has prepared you to be. The real Jesus is the same forever.

So how did that preaching go in the other Antioch?

 “A king's favor is like dew on the grass”

(Acts 13:42-52, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 24, 2012)

[42] As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. [43] 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.The apostles Peter and Paul preached the same message as we bring to you today. Even though there are differences that show up in Paul's preaching in synagogues and in open forums that relate to the understanding of those who would hear the Word, the point of the preaching is always Jesus Christ. The death and resurrection of Jesus are always central to the faithful ministry of the Word.

It is encouraging to know that when that message was spoken in a synagogue in southern Galatia, there were people who were begging to hear more the next Sabbath. When a congregation does not want to hear more about Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection, what are we supposed to do? But many Jews and Gentiles in this Galatian Antioch not only wanted to come back next week, they began to follow Paul and Barnabas right away. These men continued to speak to them. They recognized that their reaction to the message of God's grace was a work of grace in its own right, and urged them to continue in that grace.

If you love Jesus. If you think that the power that you need in your life comes from the cross and the resurrection, you have the grace of God, and I urge you to continue in the grace of God, no matter what anyone else may feel about the worth of the message that you have embraced.

[44] The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. [45] But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

If we do not have passion for Jesus and His message, what then? But they did have passion, and the whole city seemed to be at the synagogue the next week. Wow!

This was not the normal reaction that the Jews in Antioch received to their synagogue services. They were filled with jealousy and went straight to work on the Jesus-rejecting message that was found among so many who became consumed by envy. What is that Jesus-rejecting message? 1. Jesus is not the Messiah, 2. When Messiah comes, He will not suffer and die, and 3. What is all this nonsense about a resurrection?

What is the Jesus-receiving response to this? Here's the short answer: Jesus rose from the dead. Apparently you have decided to exclude yourself from those who want to rejoice in that news.

[46] 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. [47] 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. [49] And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. [50] 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.

There was much more to say for those who actually wanted to listen to the Scriptures. But not everyone has an open mind. For those who only wanted to revile the ambassadors of the Resurrection King of the Jews, Paul had this conclusion to their disputing:

We came to you first as the chosen people of God. That priority was appropriate and necessary. We brought you the Word of God, just as the prophets brought the Word to your forefathers. You have determined to reject your true King. You do not want to be covered by His death, because you reject the whole category of a suffering Messiah. You reject the eternal life that the King has for those who will hear Him, a salvation that is so vast that it is like the fresh dew on the morning fields of heaven. It is time for us to go to the others who will hear that message gladly.

This was not an entirely new plan. This was the eternal purpose of God recorded for us in the Hebrew Bible. See Isaiah 49:1-7. Jesus was deeply despised and abhorred by the nation of His people. Yet even kings from the other nations of the earth would see the Light of the world, the great King who is over all, and they would fall down before Him in worship. He is the chosen Servant of the Lord. He is the Messiah. He is bringing His salvation to the ends of the earth.

The non-Jews from the city of Antioch loved this message. But this was Paul's plea to the antagonistic element within the synagogue, the Jesus-rejecting Jews. What did they think of Paul's warning? They hated it, and they especially hated the fact that the Name of Jesus, and this word of His suffering love and resurrection victory was spreading throughout all of Galatia through the word of those who heard that message and brought it to others. So they began a more organized campaign of persecution, which drove Paul and Barnabas out of their district.

Their district. God owns every district all over the world. God had appointed people to eternal life. All who were appointed by God to that life believed. They trusted in the good news of the King. They received the Word of His ambassadors like the heavenly dew on the morning grass that it is. They wanted more and more of it. And the church throughout Galatia began.

[51] But they 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.

What now for Paul and Barnabas? On to the next city. Were the Christians feeling sorry for themselves? No, they had done what they should do. If the church preaches Christ, the cross, and the resurrection from the Scriptures, we do not have to feel sorry for ourselves no matter how violent or bored the opposition may become. The church was not destroyed by this vehement rejection of the Word by some. They were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

But if the ministers of the Word choose a different message. If they give people something else to fall in love with, a different Christ, a Jesus without a cross, or a hope that does not include a bodily resurrection, then we should hang our heads in shame no matter how popular that message may be. The non-Christ message, the non-cross Messiah, the non-resurrection victory is not the truth of the Word of the Lord. King Jesus will shake off that bone dry dust from His feet when He hears such a false Word, and there will be no freshness of heaven-sent joy to the hearers. We want the Word of the King. Only then will we find the peace that passes understanding. Only then will we have joy unspeakable and full of glory.

1. What was the content of the message that the people wanted to hear again?

2. How did the city respond to these events? How about the Jews?

3. How has Jesus brought salvation to the ends of the earth?

4. What was the reaction of the disciples to all these events?

OT Passage: Proverbs 19:12

Freed unto resurrection gladness

 “A Glad Father”

(Acts 13:32-41, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 17, 2012)

[32] And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, [33] this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,
“‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’

Our God is a Father who makes great promises to His children and keeps them. When Paul talks about God making promises to the “fathers,” he is referring to the ancient patriarchs of the Jews that we learn about in Genesis 12-50. We need to remember that those fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, had a heavenly father, just as we have a heavenly father.

Your Father is Israel's Father. He is glad about you. It is not because you or I have been especially wise sons. It is an eternal gladness that is built on a much more secure foundation than that. When God spoke from heaven about His only-begotten son, He said that He was well-pleased with Him. Jesus not only died for us. He was also a wise and perfectly holy Son of the Father for us. Because of Him, your heavenly Father is glad about you. That will never change.

This glorious gladness of your Father became visible in the resurrection of Jesus. About 1000 years before that resurrection, David wrote in Psalm 2 about a future day that he called “today.” “You are My Son, today I have begotten you.” This is the way, Paul says in the synagogue in the Galatian town of Antioch near Pisidia, that God spoke so long ago of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was a new beginning for the eternal Son of God. He was the firstborn from the dead. He was the first of the new sons of God. As He is, a resurrection Man, so shall we be. This resurrection tells us that the purposes of God to be a glad Father of many sons were on track. The Son who has become the Source of our righteousness has risen from the dead.

[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.’No matter how many ways God prepared His people for the resurrection of His Son, when it happened it was completely astounding. Most obviously Jesus Himself had told His disciples that He would rise from the dead on the third day, but even when two of His disciples had heard about an empty tomb in Luke 24, they were still discouraged, and He was the one actually speaking to them at that moment on the road to Emmaus, though they did not know it.

But long before the day of His resurrection, God had given testimony to this coming good news in the Old Testament Scriptures. One of the ways that He did this was to continue to speak about King David long after David had died. God had promised David Himself that one of His descendants would be an everlasting King. But it was in the later prophets who wrote hundreds of years after David's life that the Lord kept on talking about David. (Isaiah 9:7, 16:5, 22:22, 37:35, 55:3, Jeremiah 17:25, 23:5, 30:9, 33:15, Ezekiel 34:23-24, 37:24-25, Hosea 3:5, Amos 9:11, Zechariah 12:7-10, 13:1) Here Paul quotes from Isaiah 55.

“Incline your ear, and come to me;

hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you. (Isaiah 55:3-5 ESV)

Who was the “you” in this passage who would call a nation? We are among the nations that did not know Israel's God, and we have come running to hear the voice of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, because God has glorified Him. How did the Lord glorify Him? Through His resurrection from the dead. God gave His Son the glad blessing of resurrection life.

[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.

As we have already seen, a rich source of Scriptural promises concerning the resurrection of the Messiah came from the words of the actual old David Himself. Here Paul quotes another Psalm of David, Psalm 16, which reads “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”

David was not referring to Himself in this psalm. The later testimony of the Hebrew prophets confirmed this expectation of a coming Son of David, and here in Psalm 16, the original David wrote a song of a future Holy One of God, who though a Man, would not be given over to the grave forever. His body, through God raising Him up, would not see the normal pattern of corruption that happens in this dying world.

David himself fell asleep, that is he died, and he was buried. He saw corruption. But Jesus, the promised new David, did not see corruption.

[38] Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, [39] and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

The point of this entire message delivered in a synagogue in Galatia so many years ago was this: Through this Man, Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. The law of Moses could never free you from the debt of your sins. The law of Moses proclaimed to you your fault, your problem with God. It could not tell you how you could make your heavenly Father truly and eternally glad with you. Jesus has freed you from forever living under the condemnation that you have been a big disappointment to God. You are free from all that now in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His wisdom has been credited to you, and through the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of God is dwelling in you, making the Scriptures alive, and leading you in paths of righteousness.

[40] 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.’”
Now you know. You have heard the detailed preaching of the Apostle Paul. You have heard about the resurrection of the promised David. Do not scoff at this message. Believe. God has done something that you really need to take notice of. In Jesus, the resurrection age has come.

1. How has the good news that God promised been fulfilled?

2. Why is it significant that the Lord was raised, no more to return to corruption?

3. How is it that through one man, Jesus, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to many?

4. What work was God about to do that would cause many to scoff to their own destruction?

OT Passage: Proverbs 15:20a

Please don't tease the tiger.

14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm;

We cannot pretend that there are no troubles in the Christian life. But we also must not allow ourselves to think that the troubles that we face are beyond the overcoming power of the Lord. Also remember, that this power to overcome is now at work within you.

Alexander the coppersmith did the Apostle Paul great harm. People will do that. They opposed the Head of the church. They also turn against those who are ambassadors for Christ. It is in this context of harm from the world that true faith is vindicated. That is not a statement of pride in man, but glory to God, who is the Author and Finisher of true faith. He wrote the book on faith, and you are one of His living letters.

the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

God will not be mocked. Those who trouble the Lord by persecuting the church will be troubled by the Lord when he comes. But then we must remember the life story of the man who wrote this letter. God gives more grace.

Still, sometimes we make an error in minimizing the wrong that is out there and that is in us. Bad deeds are evil. They deserve repayment in this life and even eternal condemnation. But then we have found a way out of that condemnation which propels us away from the bad and toward the good, and we will not be ashamed of that message.

15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.

In the meantime, while we wait for the Lord and serve Him with our lives, we need to be as wise as serpents as well as being gentle as doves. Timothy needed to steer clear of this man. He was a rock under the surface ready to harm the vessel of the unsuspecting sailor.

This man strongly opposed Paul's message, just as there were those in Judea who strongly opposed the message of Jesus when He came to be the Lamb of God. The natural man does not agree with the preaching of the cross. He may imagine that there is some other way to peace with God. He may consider the Word of the gospel offensive.

Nonetheless, we preach Christ crucified, but we do not look for unnecessary trouble when we do so. That trouble will come without teasing the tiger.

The right message. Always.

 “A Tree of Life”

(Acts 13:13-31, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 10, 2012)

[13] 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. 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.”

In 2 Timothy 4:11, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” Paul did not always have that assessment of John Mark. Here we read that the young man left Paul and Barnabas and returned to Jerusalem. We later find out how seriously Paul took this decision. It was a dark moment of confusion in the kingdom.

In the face to face contact of human relationships and friendships, the Lord speaks His Word through all of us to one another. His prayers are voiced through our lips, and His mercy is expressed through our hands. As in family life, relationships are not always easy.

Relationship-based growth in communion with God was a part of synagogue life in the Jewish world, just waiting for the Word of the best of all relationships to come to us through the preaching of God made flesh, Jesus Christ, who saves us. The leaders in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia, expected the traveling religious teachers, Paul and Barnabas, to bring a word of encouragement. You and I have the best message to bring people courage for living. We have a Word of certain victory, the same Word that Paul had so long ago in Antioch Pisidia.

[16] So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. [17] 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.

This message was given to two groups of people who were both regular synagogue goers; the “men of Israel,” Jews who were living in Antioch Pisidia, and non-Jews who were worshipers of the God of Israel, “God-fearers” throughout the ancient world. Here Paul refers to them as “you who fear God.” This is a wonderful designator, and probably what we in the church need most in order to resist false ways of cynicism and scheming. We need to fear God, to recognize Him for who He is, to worship before Him, and to trust Him with all the relationships in our lives for which we cannot seem to find the answer. We need to listen to Him.

Listening to the God of Israel means becoming familiar with the history of His dealings with His people. This is God's testimony. Knowing someone's story is one of the ways that we grow in our relationship with a person. This also works with God. People need to hear God's story, and we have that recorded for us in the narrative portions of the Bible that lead us to the Messiah.

In Paul's sermon this testimony of God begins with the fact that God chose Israel. If they ever loved Him it was because He first loved them. God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and over the years of His dealings with them, through blessing and tragedy, He made them into the people that He intended them to be. He redeemed them from Egypt, the house of bondage, through the blood of the Lamb, and we have been rescued by the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He sustained them through a dry and weary land for forty years, and the Lord has brought us through many difficulties. His choosing us was not just a formality of getting our names on a list somewhere. It was a story of His daily provision for us, even through times when we wondered where He was. God brought Israel into the land of Canaan as their inheritance, and He has brought us to Jesus Christ, given us the down-payment of the Holy Spirit and promised us all the blessings of heaven.

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.

The God of Israel continued to work with His chosen people over many years of judges and over much wandering and disobedience. God did not give up on Israel. He had a plan very much in mind, a plan that involved not only the Jews, but also the non-Jews. That plan had at its very center the coming of a King.

The Lord even used His people's bad desire for the wrong kind of king to bring them first one king and then another. God's ways are not our ways, but He certainly knows what He is doing. He brought in Saul. He removed Saul, and He replaced that wrong king with the right king, David, a man after His own heart, a lover of God who was chosen by God, not only to be king at around 1000 BC, but especially to be the ancestor of the best King. That King, Jesus, is our message. He is the promised Savior.

[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.’John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to the Jews. This Chosen Man, Jesus, was not only a greater king than David, He was also a greater prophet than Elijah. John knew that. He said that he was not worthy to untie Jesus' sandals as the lowest slave in His house. But you and I are not only servants of this great Savior, we have become sons of God through His relationship with God.

[26] “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. [27] 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.

Jesus was not recognized by the Jewish leaders of His day. This also was part of God's story. He was despised and rejected by the leading men of Israel. In doing this they fulfilled the prophetic Scriptures regarding a suffering servant, Scriptures that they had not understood. In their work to see our sinless Substitute put to death, they were fulfilling the story of God recorded in advance in the Bible. What a mighty God we serve!

His cross has become for us a tree of life. Through His resurrection we have a life-giving message. This message was a privilege to proclaim to Jews and God-fearers in the first century, and it is an astounding Word for us to believe and to minister to one another throughout the world today. We have joined the original witnesses of the resurrection of the Son of God as we pass on the news to one another and see the fruit of it growing among us even in our darkest moments. “Jesus lives, and so shall I!”- The right message for capturing souls. Always.

1. Why would Paul have been invited to speak in a synagogue?

2. What was Paul's purpose in reviewing certain facts from the history of Israel?

3. Why does Paul quote from John the Baptist?

4. Of what importance is this apostolic message to our lives today?

OT Passage: Proverbs 11:30

How close should we be in the church?

Personal Concerns and the Kingdom of God

(2 Timothy 4:9-13)

9 Do your best to come to me soon.

The apostle Paul was a person, and Timothy was not only his professional associate and partner in the gospel, he was his friend, and even more, his son in the faith. The faith that we embrace causes us to have family connections with people. Our connection with Jesus brings us into a large extended family where personal concerns make a difference.

The church is not a business. Paul is not starting a pyramid scheme. He is one son of God among many who have a close connection with Jesus, the only-begotten Son of the Father. Paul cares about the man he is writing to, and he wants him near by.

10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

Paul feels the absence of Timothy all the more because so many of his other sons in the faith have found reasons to leave him without his normal Christian companionship. There are times when this must be, but we are looking for the arrival of a new day when we are together again in the fullest way.

11 Luke alone is with me.

Even when we feel like we are utterly alone, we should remember the One who has promised to be with us until the end of the age. Yet it is not just Jesus who is spiritually present with us. He who reigns over all has determined that in most circumstances of seeming abandonment, there is a Luke who is still with us after all. Thank the Lord for these special faithful gospel friends. They are a gift.

Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

Thank the Lord also that ministry conflicts can be repaired and camaraderie in Christ can often be reestablished. There was a time when John Mark made an untimely departure that had nasty shock waves among other Christian friendships. But now Paul wants him nearby. Apparently the breach has been repaired. We should look for that to happen. It seems odd to me that Christians should hold on to grudges for decades. Jesus heals. We all repent. We all forgive. Why should that be so hard?

We should be friends and co-laborers. There is nothing wrong with Paul noting that John Mark was useful to him for ministry. But if we just want to use people the church will not thrive in the love of Christ. We have relationship and a common endeavor in the Word, sacrament, and prayer.

12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

If we have to leave, we should be sent, like Tychicus. Don't running away from problems and frustrations, but serve together in a mission. That may involve going someplace for a season, but we will not be fully satisfied until we are all together with the Lord.

13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

Until then let us read together the letters and books that God has given us in the Word. And let us love one another with that love of Jesus that covers a multitude of sins.