will be in Acts chapter 13 tonight. Now we know that God has an elect
people whom he has chosen purpose to save out of, out of all corners and people
of this world. and He'll save them in Christ
Jesus the Lord. This was the Lord's Word to Abraham
way back when He first came to Abraham back in Genesis 22, 17. The Lord God said, In blessing
I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore.
And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy
seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed." The scriptures foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham. The gospel was preached unto
Abraham. The gospel of Christ the seed was preached to Abraham.
He said, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
And Paul tells us in Galatians, that seed is Christ. The promise
that the Lord made unto Abraham was of a sure and certain salvation
of him and of all his people. the true children of Abraham,
the spiritual children of Abraham. And this promise that God made
to Abraham is the same promise that He made to Christ Jesus
the Lord, His Son. And so this word to Abraham was
as sure and certain and steadfast. It was ordered in all things
and sure, as David said, because this was a promise God made to
God the Son. And it was in through Abraham
that he would be born and he would come into this earth and
he would save his people. And this gospel of Christ the
seed was preached unto Abraham and this same gospel shall be
preached to all God's elect scattered throughout all the world. The
very wisdom of God which chose his people in Christ, the very
wisdom which accomplished the work whereby the truth righteousness,
justice, was poured out. And yet at the same time, God
is found to be merciful. Where they met in the wisdom
that purpose to satisfy justice and at the same time be merciful.
All in Christ Jesus. That same wisdom is the wisdom
of God which chose that the instrument he would use to proclaim his
gospel would be his church in this world. Just sinners saved
by grace. He would use sinners saved by
his grace to go to other chosen sinners. And using one worm speaking
to another one, he'd call out his sheep. That's the reason that the believer
who is perfectly complete in Christ. He's perfectly fit to
be God the Father has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
with the saints in life. We're fit to go to glory with
the saints now. But He would have us remain in
this world for this purpose of bearing witness to His Son, to
preach the Gospel of grace in Christ Jesus, the glory of God
in the face of Christ Jesus, to other sinners, and thereby
call out his sheep. It says, for after that, in the
wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed. In
our text tonight, we have the account of how the Lord faithfully
sent forth Barnabas and Saul to the Gentile world. Now here's
what I want you to get from this tonight. Just as the work of
election, the work of redemption, the work of regeneration is the
work of our triune God, even so the work of raising up and
equipping the vessels of mercy is the work of our Lord. God's
ambassadors are called of God. God gives his saints a heart
to recognize his messengers and to support them in God's work.
God separates them to the work He would have them to do. God's
messengers are filled and led by the Spirit of God. And they
go forth preaching the Gospel of Christ and Him crucified.
The emphasis in our text tonight is upon the Holy Spirit and the
work He performs. So tonight our message is titled,
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. The Person and Work of
the Holy Spirit. The person of the Holy Spirit
will be our first point. And secondly, the work of the
Holy Spirit. Let's begin reading here in Acts
12, 25. And Barnabas and Saul returned
from Jerusalem. Why had they been to Jerusalem?
Look back over there, Acts 11. Acts 11, verse 29. We saw how that there was a famine
in Judea. In Acts 11.29 it says, Then the
disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to
send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also
they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas
and Saul. Now Acts 12.25, And Barnabas
and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their
ministry, or their charge. and took with him John, whose
surname was Mark. 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 Mannan,
which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. And as they ministered to the
Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and
Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had
fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them
away. So they, being sent forth by
the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia, and from thence sailed
to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis,
they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews,
and they had also John to minister. Now, when I say the person of
the Holy Ghost, I mean by that, that we see here that the third
person distinctive from God the Father and God the Son, the third
person in the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. The person of the
Holy Ghost is set forth here by action, by action, by taking
action as that which a being, a person does, performs action. The Holy Ghost takes the action
of speaking. Verse 2 says, The Holy Ghost
said. The Holy Ghost takes the action
of commanding. Verse 2, He commanded, Separate
me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work. The Holy Ghost takes the
action of calling. He says there in verse 2, The work whereunto I have called
them. The Holy Ghost takes the action
of sending. Verse 4 says, so they being sent
forth by the Holy Ghost. And notice the personal pronouns
that are used here. Genesis, I'm sorry, verse 2 says,
separate me, that is for me, for the work whereunto I have
called them. A person takes action and a person
is made known by the use of personal pronouns. And so the Holy Ghost
is declared here as a person, the third person of the Trinity
with a distinct office. And then furthermore, this person
of the Holy Ghost is declared here to be God. His Godhead is
set forth here. Look with me. Scriptures declare
plainly that only God calls and ordains His servants. That's
what Scripture says. We saw of the high priests, when
we were in Hebrews 5 and verse 4, it says, No man taketh this
honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. And then we know that Scripture
declares plainly that Christ Jesus is the Son of God. The
Lord Jesus Christ, when He ascended, gave His messengers to the church. He's the one who gave messengers
to the church. Paul said to the Ephesians, He
gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers. Look over at Acts 9 with me.
Acts 9, verse 15. When the Lord sent Ananias to
preach to Saul, The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he
sent Ananias to preach to Saul, he said this, Acts 9, 15. But
the Lord said unto Ananias, he was having some problems. He
didn't want to go to Saul, scared of him. But the Lord said, go
thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before
the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I'll
show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
So we see God the Father calls and ordains His messengers. We
see God the Son is the one in the Godhead who does this, who
gives His messengers. But then look right here what
Ananias said when he came to Saul. this work would be performed
through the person and power of the Holy Ghost filling Saul.
And so when Ananias reached him, this is what he said, verse 17,
Acts 9, 17. And Ananias went his way and entered into the
house. And putting his hands on him
said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus that appeared unto thee
in the way as thou camest has sent me that thou mightest receive
thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. So here in our
text, Back there in Acts 13, verse 2. We find this work is
here attributed to the Holy Ghost alone. Separate me. Separate for me, He said. The
work whereinto I have called them. So we see here that we're
being shown that He's one with God the Father and God the Son
and the Godhead. He's God. God the Holy Ghost. And so He He's one with God the
Father, eternal and powerful even as God the Father and God
the Son. And then we're told something here of the service
to which the Lord separated and called and sent forth Barnabas
and Saul, and it's said to be for the Holy Ghost. It's said
to be His service. It's not said here to be the
service of God or the service of Christ or the service of the
church, though Barnabas and Saul were the servants of them. But
this service is described by the Holy Ghost as a separation
for me in the work whereunto I have called them. Being God,
the third person in the Trinity, the work of the Holy Ghost is
in perfect harmony and one with the work of God the Father and
God the Son. What did the Lord say through
John? He said, the Comforter, the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send." God the Father is the comforter.
He calls Him in one place, I'll send forth another comforter.
God the Father is the God of all comfort. Christ Jesus is
our consolation. And the Holy Spirit is said to
be the comforter. And when He shall come, of the
Father, He'll send Him in my name, the Lord said, in the name
of Jesus Christ. He'll teach you all things and
bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you."
So you see, He's a distinct person in the Godhead, the Holy Ghost
is. He is eternally powerful, as God is. And He's one with
God the Father and God the Son. Here's the point I want you to
get here. by God the Holy Spirit calling and ordaining Barnabas
and Saul, the eternal power of the Holy Ghost, the third person
in the Godhead is set forth. He's God, even as God the Father
and God the Son. The oneness of God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Spirit is declared here. And the specific
work of the Holy Spirit is set forth as being the administration
within the church for the edifying and gifting of the saints and
for the preaching and glorifying of Christ Jesus the Lord. In
sovereign power, the Holy Spirit works within each saint. And
the Holy Spirit acts within the church, particularly giving unction
to the ministers of His Word. And we're under His power, His
appointment, His service, and thus we take the action and speak
the words which the Holy Spirit sovereignly moves us to act and
speak. Now let me show you a verse of
Scripture. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7. And this will lead us from this
point of the person of the Holy Spirit into the work of the Holy
Spirit that we see revealed here in our text. in 1st Corinthians 12, 7. But the manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man to profit with. For to one is given by the Spirit
the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the
same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit. To another,
the gifts of healing by the same Spirit. To another, the working
of miracles. To another, prophecy. To another,
discerning of spirits. To another, different kinds of
tongues. To another, the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh
or worked by that one and the self-same Spirit. And He divides
to every man severally as He will. And He does it that we
may profit by Him, by His Word. I had a friend in college who
had grown up in a church where the emphasis was on the person
of Christ Jesus the Lord, where they preached Christ and Him
crucified. And he was leaving that church and going to another
church that put the emphasis on the Holy Spirit. And his reason
for doing so was that the church where he was put too much emphasis
on Christ and not enough on the Holy Spirit, as if they're contrary
one to the other, and as if the Holy Spirit is one to be praised
and glorified for something as the Redeemer. And that's not
the case. That's not the case. We read
this, listen. The Lord said, when He, the Spirit
of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall
not speak of Himself. But whatsoever He shall hear,
that shall He speak, and He'll show you things to come. He shall
glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto
you. All things that the Father hath are Mine. Therefore said
I that He shall take of Mine and show it unto you. God the
Father and God the Holy Spirit are pleased that God the Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our Lord and our Savior be exalted,
that He might have all the preeminence. And they're one in this. So it's
not a division in the sake of being divided. It's a division
in the sake that He is a person. He is one with God, but He is
a distinct person in the Godhead. Declared by personal pronouns
as having a work that he's calling these men to as having a specific
Administration our office to perform work to perform now.
Let's look at that work the work performed by the Holy Spirit
now first one says there were in the church that was at Antioch
certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and and Simeon that
was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaan, which
had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. How did
these men get to the church at Anya? How did they get there? We know this, that God chose
from before the foundation of the world a people and put them
in Christ, and Christ redeemed them. He made atonement for them.
He purged them of all their sin. And we know that, as the Lord
told Nicodemus, sinners, dead and trespassers in sin, must
be born of the Holy Spirit. We must be born again, regenerated,
rebirthed, By the holy spirit for he said that which is of
the flesh is flesh that which is born of the spirit is spirit
is spirit marvel Not that i said under the under the you must
be born again The wind bloweth where it listeth and now here's
the sound thereof but you can't tell where it's coming from or
where it goes So is everyone that's born of the spirit. It's
irresistible and he saves in power And so it is also by this
same effectual working of the Holy Spirit that Christ sends
forth his messengers and pastors after his own heart. This is
how he brings them to his people. It's by this same spirit. It's
by the working of the Holy Spirit. that His messengers are raised
in His church and they come forth with one message. And this message
is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's why the Holy Spirit was
sent forth, to testify of Christ, to create within a sinner a heart
to be in love with Christ and to acknowledge Himself as nothing
and as Christ as all, as everything. Before any messenger can preach
the total depravity of sinners, he's got to be brought by the
Holy Spirit to understand that he fits the bill to a T. That
in his flesh dwells nothing good. That there's no power in him
to perform that which is good. Not any in his flesh. And until
a man's brought to that point by the Holy Spirit, when he stands
up to preach, you know what he'll do? He'll give men something
that they can do. He'll give men the impression
that by their will, by their wisdom, by their strength, they
can come to God. Before any messenger can preach
the sovereign grace of God, he must be first made to see by
the Holy Spirit that there's nothing in him. God had no respect
under His person whatsoever, good or evil, when He chose him.
He chose him freely by sovereign grace. It was God's choice to
do so. If he's not been brought to see that, if he's not been
brought to see what he is by the Holy Spirit, then God's choice
of him God's favor towards him will be by something he's done.
If not before his conversion, after his conversion. He'll be
brought into better favor with God and tell you, you're brought
into better favor with God by your obedience, by something
you've done. That's a total denial that grace
is sovereign, it's free, it's unmerited. It can't be works
in grace. Before any messenger can declare
the sovereign irresistible power of God's grace. by the Holy Spirit. He has to experience it in his
heart. He has to be taken from his idols
and from his vain religion and from everything that he valued
as being something worthy. And he has to be made to see
that it's idolatry. No matter if he calls it Christianity,
if he calls it by some denomination that he clings to, whatever it
is, he got to be brought to see Christ as everything. And then
his idols will be made to be seen what they are. And the Holy
Spirit does that. The Holy Spirit does that. If
we watch, if we go through scripture and read, we will find that this
is God. That's the point I want you,
this is God working. And when a man has been brought
to see that God the Holy Spirit doesn't save in half measures,
He doesn't save partly halfway and then partly depend upon a
sinner to do something. He saves him fully and freely.
And when He does, that sinner cannot blaspheme the Holy Ghost
anymore. He cannot stand in a pulpit and
blaspheme the Holy Ghost anymore. And that's exactly, John Gill
said, The blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is purposely opposing,
contradicting, and denying the operation wrought and the doctrines
revealed by the Holy Spirit. It is to lessen the glory of
God and gratify fleshly lusts. And such was the sin of the scribes
and the Pharisees. That's exactly why they said
what they said. They didn't know this power.
They didn't know this power that converts in judgment and in righteousness,
that saves in truth and in spirit. But when a man's brought to see
it, brought to understand it, he's sent forth. He's sent forth. He's not fit to be a witness
before then because he don't know what he's talking about.
Whether it's a man that's come out of a pew or a man that's
in a pulpit, it doesn't matter. He does not know what he's talking
about unless he's experienced this sovereign grace. Not superior
grace. Sovereign grace. There's a difference. And so it was with these men
in the church at Antioch concerning Saul. We saw in Acts how the
Holy Ghost worked irresistibly within this man. He was on the
road to Damascus. He wasn't seeking God. He wasn't
looking for God whatsoever. He was worshiping an idol he
called Jehovah. That was the name his idol went
by. That was the name he had given to his idol. And his idol
did whatever it was that he wanted him to do. And he was on this
road when Christ arrested him on that road. And he had stood
with the Pharisees for years and years and years in the synagogue
with the Word of God. And he had prayed and prayed
and prayed with them. And for the first time in his
life, Christ the Lord said, Behold, he prayeth. First time he'd ever
done it. And it was when God arrested
him, and when the Holy Spirit worked effectually in his heart,
blinded him from everything he thought religion looked like,
so that he could see Christ Jesus the Lord. And then the Lord said,
Behold, he prayeth now. He's casting all his care on
me now. He got no flesh to cast it on. And then Paul said, that's what
made Paul say, when the commandment came, sin revived in I, all my
so-called righteousness. I, my flesh, I died. I died. And he said, straightway he preached
Christ in the synagogues, that He's the Son of God, that He's
the very Christ, the Messiah. the anointed of God, the one
who accomplished the redemption of His people. And the Holy Spirit
calls Paul to say, and I count those things before as being
my conversion, as being the place where I was in when I was converted.
No, I count them done, he said. I count a dong that I might win
Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." That's what
the Holy Spirit, that's what God causes a man to do. Either
he does or he don't. Either he is or he ain't. Either
he's all powerful and sovereign to do that or he's not. It can't
be two-way. There's no middle ground with
this God. He's either light, Are He no light at all? People
fall back on that thief on the cross and say, well, the thief
on the cross didn't know all the... How do you know he didn't
know anything? How do you know what he knew? Maybe he knew exactly
what John the Baptist knew when he was filled with the Spirit
in the womb of his mother and leaped with joy when he heard
the Word of Christ mentioned. I don't know. But I know this. God in power made that man Faithful
to Christ. Made him believe on Christ. And
he saw Christ high and lifted up just as surely as Isaiah saw
Him high and lifted up. Because that's how God saved.
And it says, Barnabas was here. And we saw in the book of Acts
that his obedience was credited to the work of the Holy Ghost
working within him too. We saw back in Acts 11.24, he
was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. And
concerning these other men at Antioch, we saw that upon the
persecution of Stephen, the Holy Ghost brought men as far as Antioch
doing one thing. Acts 11.20 says, Some of them
were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to
Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who they came preaching.
That's who they came preaching. There's enough about our Lord
Jesus Christ. that America spent all his days
preaching about Christ and never even scratched the surface of
His glory. And the man who has been given
a heart and is constrained by the love of Christ, he's taken
up with Him. As they said of of Ralph Barnard. He has a sweetheart love for
Christ. He's just in love with him like
young sweethearts are. They just can't get enough of
one another. That's how the believer is, went
with Christ. And so it was by the irresistible
power and work of the Holy Spirit that the church in Antioch was
well provided for. They were well provided for.
And that's what we're told here. It says here in verse 1, Now
there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets
and teachers. These were men excellent at interpreting
scripture and capable of teaching because the Holy Ghost had made
them so. And he brought them all to this place. Barnabas and
Simeon, that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manian,
which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul.
We learned something here about this man which had been brought
up with Herod the Tetrarch. It speaks something to us about
the rest of these men. He was a man raised in the same
house or by the same mother as Herod. And he stood to have much
gain if he stayed in that house, like Moses. But he had counted
it done. He had left it behind and joined
himself to the cause of Christ, for the glory of Christ, because
he trusted Christ and he had a heart for the Lord's people.
And so had the rest of these men, by God's grace. And so we
see here that through God the Holy Spirit, even though he's
now calling two men to go to another place, he had provided
for the church. He had well provided for the
church, and He had taught them in spirit and in truth, and enabled
them to preach the Word in truth, and the church at Antioch wouldn't
be left without. They wouldn't be left without.
The triune of God of glory. Listen now. He will not leave
sinners to provide for themselves in some aspect by themselves. Just won't happen. Just won't
happen. He provided men. that would teach
His people in spirit and in truth the gospel of Christ before He
removed Saul and Barnabas to another place. Now, notice three
things here. The power of the Holy Spirit
in making known who He'll use for this specific work or for
His specific work. That's what I want you to see
here. And then I want you to see that the power that He gives
to His saints or He exercises in His saints to give them a
heart of unity. for that which He's going to do. And then His
power to send them to the work whereunto He's called them. It's
right here before our eyes, Acts 13, 2. As they ministered to
the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas
and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when
they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they
sent them away. Now, as they ministered to the
Lord and fasted, We do an injustice to this Scripture if we limit
this to a specific hour. Now listen to me. The church at Antioch was meeting in several different
places. They were meeting in several
different locations. And the Spirit of the Lord was
working in them simultaneously as they met at these various
locations and worshipped. And there's no doubt that at
a specific point in time, the Holy Spirit put it into their
hearts. It says here He spake to them.
I don't know if He spake to them audibly or not, but I do know
He spake to them in their heart. We do know that. And at some
point in time, He did speak to them into their heart so that
they knew these were the men. Saul and Barnabas were the men.
But now look what I want you to see. They ministered to the
Lord and fasted. as they ministered to the Lord
and fasted, as they gave themselves to the work which they had been
entrusted with up to this point. This includes the work of a faithful
teacher of the gospel, ministering unto the Lord and fasting. We've
looked at this fasting before. Christ's servants minister unto
the Lord. Those who Instruct Christ's people serve
Christ by preaching the gospel of Christ and by praying to the
Lord for the Lord's people Both are included here in this
phrase as they ministered unto the Lord and it says and they
fasted they had separated themselves from the world and They had humbled
themselves and denied themselves. They had learned to endure hardness,
even denying themselves their necessary bread at times, that
they might give themselves to the responsibility laid upon
them by the Spirit of God. As they ministered and fasted
over time, the Holy Spirit worked in Barnabas and Saul and proved They were men who were faithful
and faithful to the work they were given to do. At first, in
the beginning, Barnabas did what he could do with where God had
placed him, with what God had given him to do, and we found
the first mention of him was he had some land, and he sold
it, and he gave it to the apostles to distribute to the brethren.
And then when the saints determined to send somebody down to Antioch,
When they had heard the Gospel had gone to Antioch, they asked
Barnabas. They beheld Barnabas was a good
man, that he was full of the Holy Ghost and faithful. And
they asked him, would he go down there? And he said, I'll go.
Not before they had asked him. When they asked him, he said,
I'll go. And he went. And he was one instrumental in
bringing Saul there to Antioch. And then later, over this period
of time, when the saints determined to send relief up to Judea, The
Holy Spirit put it into their hearts to send Saul and Barnabas,
and they went up there. And so the Spirit of God is proving
all along these men are faithful. They fulfilled the charge given
to them. They ministered unto the Lord and separated themselves
from the world. And as they did this over a period
of time, they may have been gathered together actually worshipping
the Lord, separating themselves from their necessary food and
from the world and actually worshipping when the Holy Spirit did this.
He did this over a period of time. He showed them faithful,
proved them faithful, so that when the time came that He actually
put it into the hearts of these ministers that were there, these
other faithful preachers that were there, and the saints there,
they gladly received it. They understood that these men
indeed were obviously the men the Lord was going to use. And
it says here that He says, "...separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the
work whereunto I have called them." Now, this word seems to
be directed to these faithful ministers and to the believers
in the church at Antioch. He addresses Barnabas and Saul
as them. And so he's preaching to, he's
speaking to these ministers, these other men here that were
very capable of being sent. No doubt about it. But they weren't
the ones God chose to send to the Gentiles. Saul and Barnabas
were. And these saints here who no doubt would not want to see
them go. But the Holy Spirit put it into their hearts and
he said separate me these two men and when the spirit of God
does that and he reveals that he's chosen these men and he's
made it clear that they were set for the gospel of Christ
separated from the world and he makes it known that these
are the men he's going to send he gives a heart of unity he
gives a heart whereby whereby the other ministers and the saints
realized these are the men. And they agreed. They agreed
and they acknowledged it. And now notice the order and
obedience which the Spirit worked in these ministers and these
brethren at Antioch. Verse 3, And when they had fasted
and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
They fasted and prayed. These ministers and brethren
at Antioch didn't just lay hands on these men suddenly. That's
more to that than a ceremony. They're more to laying hands
on a man. It's choosing a man. It's acknowledging a man. It's
trusting a man. It's readily acknowledging that
this is the man for the hour. This is the man God has chosen.
Instead of rashly Grabbing these men and and saying well, we believe
they're sent for the work. They fasted and prayed over this
thing they separated themselves from the world and took time
to get along by themselves and prayed over this thing and Asked
the Lord the Lord's wisdom asked for his will to make it clear
in their hearts that these were indeed the man This thing was
serious to them and the Spirit of God worked this in them spirit
of God gave them this heart Otherwise, they'd have been foolish. They
reacted rashly and And these were two pillars in
their church, and they'd be leaving and going to the Gentiles. This
was a serious thing to them. And it was a time, like all others,
when they cast all their care upon the Savior in prayer. Both
for God's will in this matter, for the Lord to continue to provide
Him for the church at Antioch, and for His grace to be upon
these men that would go forth. And when they had fasted and
prayed, they laid hands on them. When they had fasted, when they
had taken time and prayed, didn't they lay hands on them? Didn't
they actually chose these men and said, we see, God has chosen
you. You're the men. You're the men
to go. And it has more significance than just actually laying hands
on men. They may have actually physically
laid their hands on them as a symbol, a token of what the Holy Spirit
had done to these men Himself. But what seems to be of more
significance to me is that this was a ready acknowledgment that,
indeed, these are the men. And they made it known to the
men, we believe you are the men for the hour. And so then they
sent them away. Listen, look at Acts 14, 26.
It tells us that this was the case. When they had gone through
this missionary journey, it says, "...thence they sailed to Antioch.
From whence..." Now look here what had happened there. "...from
whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work
which they had fulfilled." You see, that's what was taking place
here. They were, by these men fasting and praying, and then
laying hands on them and sending them away, they were being recommended
to the grace of God for the work by these ministers and brethren
in the church. You know, sometimes, I don't
know that If the Lord had made this clear to Saul and Barnabas
already, they may have known they were chosen for this work
first. I need to look into that a little
bit more. If when they were in Jerusalem,
perhaps that was where they received the commission from James and
Peter to go into the world. But whether they knew it beforehand
or not, sometimes the Lord reveals it to the brethren before He
reveals it to His messenger. I have a friend up in Oregon,
a pastor. And he told me the story one
time. We were sitting and talking.
He went up. The church was in need of a pastor. And he went
up there and met with them, preached the gospel to them. And rather
quickly, they asked him, would he come up and be their pastor?
And he said, well, I don't know you, and you don't know me. He
said, let's spend some time here. I'll come up and preach the gospel
to you, and let's just take our time and pray about this and
see what the Lord would have happen here. And so my friend
kept going up there and preaching. He said, this went on for a year,
into the second year. And he was going up every week,
I think, and preaching for these folks. And so finally he came
around and he said, he said, he said, I believe the Lord has
given me a clear understanding that I'm supposed to be your
pastor. And he said he was surprised
the people said, the Lord gave us that understanding a long
time ago. We've just been waiting on Him to give it to you. But
that's, when the Holy Spirit's at work, that's what happens.
The Lord's people, It causes them to be patient and to wait,
to wait on Him. And He makes Christ, the Spirit
makes Christ the plumb line. The plumb line. You know what
a plumb line is? When you're building something
and you take that line, it'll have blue, it'll have some kind
of chalk on it. You thump that line and it makes
a straight line. Everything's not in line with
that line, it gets cut off. It gets cut off. The Spirit makes
Christ the plumb line. And he brings his ministers and
his saints in line with him. And he makes us willing to cut
off everything and everyone that does not give all the glory to
Christ alone, even if it's our closest relations. You know who
chooses the believers, friends? God does. God does. When God makes His will known
in the hearts of His people through His Spirit, He creates within
them a willingness and He brings them in line with His will of
glorifying His only begotten Son. That has to happen. Now let me give you an application.
By God's grace, by the Holy Spirit working in each of us right here, my prayer, and I ask you to make
it your prayer, is that in all things, that we be brought by
the Spirit of God in line with that which is glorifying Christ
our Lord. I'll give you four M's. Four
M's. The message. The message. It was evident to the saints
at Antioch that Paul and Barnabas had one message. They preached
the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Ruined by the
fall. absolutely ruined by the fall. It's got to be preached. If a
man, if a sinner's going to be shut up to Christ, he's got to
be constantly reminded that he was ruined by the fall. He cannot,
by his obedience, sanctify himself. Paul said, having begun in the
spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Can't happen. Redeemed
by Christ's blood. That's what's got to be preached
ruined by the fall redeemed by Christ's blood when we were enemies
We were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more
being reconciled. We shall be saved by his life
and regenerated by the Holy Spirit ruined by the fall redeemed by
the blood and regenerated by the spirits got to be declared
and Wherefore I give you to understand, no man speaking by the Spirit
of God calleth Jesus accursed. No man that is speaking by the
Spirit of God says Christ is a failure. He does not say that
Christ wanted to do something he didn't accomplish. He does
not call him accursed. He can't, because God won't let
him. Could Christ speak a lie? Well,
can His Spirit in a man allow a man to speak a lie? If he's
speaking by the Spirit of God, he can't call him a curse, Paul
said, and he can't say that he's Lord but by the Holy Ghost either.
Now, the message. That's the message. Got to be
preached. The three R's. Got to be preached. Secondly,
the motive. The motive. Look at 2 Corinthians
5. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 12. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 12. We got one motive. One motive. This is it. Paul said there,
we commend 2 Corinthians 5.12. For we commend not ourselves
again unto you, but give you occasion of glory on our behalf,
that you may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance
and not in heart. In other words, we'll tell you
what to tell those that are glorying in the appearance. Here's what
you say about your pastor, your messengers. For whether we be
beside ourselves, as they say we are, it is to God. Or whether
we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth
us, because we judge. That if one died for all, then
were all dead. And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him which died for them and rose again. The church at Antioch
was persuaded that Saul and Barnabas knew that they were dead. And
that Christ gave his life and laid down his life for them.
poured out His own blood, His own precious blood and redeemed
them and bought them that they might have life eternal. And
they knew that Saul and Barnabas knew that. And therefore, their
motivation, their motive was that very love of Christ that
He had for them. They knew it. They had it in
their heart by the Spirit of God and that was their motive
in everything they did. So they couldn't preach man,
they couldn't preach the will of man, they could not do that.
They couldn't do anything to glory in the flesh, to glory
in appearance, to appeal to the carnal, they just couldn't do
it. Because they were set for the defense of the gospel, for
the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. Because love of Christ
constrained them. So the message and the motive
got to line up with Christ. And then the method. The method. Some think the more folks they
can constrain to be baptized, the more folks will see their
numbers and they'll follow them. And so they're always trying
to get folks to be baptized. I've had folks talk to me since
I've been here about baptism. And if it was any other minister who's pressing and pressing
and pressing upon baptism, they would have already been in the
water by now. But Paul said this, he said, Christ sent me not to
baptize. He did, he did, but that wasn't
his motive. That wasn't his method. Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom
of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
The Pharisees were engaged in a religion of flesh, all carnal,
and therefore the methods they chose were impressive to the
carnal eye. But Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, 2, we have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty. not walking in craftiness, not
trying to do some crafty, cunning way of getting sinners to make
a decision, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully, but
by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. What did they do when
they got to Cyprus? They did one thing. Look there
in verse 5. When they were at Salamis, they
preached the Word of God in the synagogue of the Jews. That was
their method. And later we'll see Paul, when
he was filled with the Holy Ghost, he did a mighty act to an enemy
of the Gospel. He did a mighty act to him. And
the deputy, Sergius Paul, saw it and believed, but Scripture
says, the thing which astonished the deputy was this. Look there
at verse 12, at the end of it. Being astonished at the doctrine
of the Lord. That's what he was astonished
about. This is an astonishing doctrine. So we don't have to
use any kind of astonishing methods. Just preach the astonishing doctrine. You want to astonish somebody?
Preach the gospel. When the Holy Spirit works a
work of grace in their heart, they'll be astonished. All those
things that they were impressed with won't impress them anymore.
They'll see Christ and they'll see that His methods are truth
and power and they'll be astonished. And then here's the message,
the motive, the method, and the music. The music. Paul and Barnabas
were as consistent in abasing man and glorifying the Lord Jesus
Christ in song as they were in the gospel they preached. The
words we sing, we can't sing every song. We can't sing every
song. We can't sing every song in these
hymn books we got. because it gives glory to man. It puts the
work of salvation in man's hands. We can't sing that. Paul said,
speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. So the message was
set on Christ. Their motive was the love of
Christ. Their method was the simplicity,
the singleness of the gospel, which was the astonishing doctrine
of Christ. And their music was set on Christ. And all abased man, every bit
of it. And if the message sounded an
unclear note, the Church of Antioch couldn't have sent them. If the
methods would have been catering to the will of faith, they could
have sent these men. If the music that they delighted in was catering
to the faith, they could have sent them. But because these
three were in line, they had some indication that the motive
was right in the heart. It was the love of Christ. And
who receives the glory for this work? Who received all the glory
for this work? Look at verse 4. being sent forth by the Holy
Ghost. Well, I thought the folks in
Antioch sent them forth. So they, being sent forth by
the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia, and from this they
sailed to Cyprus. This is the work for which the
Father and Son sent forth the Holy Spirit, and this is the
work He performs. This work right here. And this
was the day in which the Lord began bringing the Gospel to
Gentiles, just like you and me sitting here tonight. Aren't
you thankful? Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad
that we can just, by His Spirit, we can just wait on Him? We can
wait on Him and He makes it known in our hearts. And just like
He did here, He makes, whether it's moving forward to another
location, whether it's something different in the service we do,
whether it's sending forth missionaries, whatever it is, we can wait on
Him and He'll give us a heart. When somebody asks you something,
you don't have to answer right away. Just say, let me think
about it. And go separate yourself from
the world and cast yourself on God's grace and ask Him. And as we'll see next time, when
the Spirit of God sends forth His messengers, we can expect
great, great success, great results. And even the gates of hell can't
prevail against us. And we'll see that next time.
And I pray, I do pray that God will be pleased to work this
very same grace in our midst. And that He'll create this unity
and this oneness of mind and heart. He'll make us to line
up everything with the plumb line, with Christ our Lord. All
right, amen.