Turn to Acts chapter 13. Acts
chapter 13. This passage, it's one of those
passages Obviously been there for a long time. I just never
saw it like this so I pray the Lord bless what I'm gonna say
it to your heart and Think about some things that are being said
think about today think about your life your life in the future
as you go to work as you try to get ahead or pay bills and
But don't be too ambitious. That's the sign of, I think,
the sign of a worldliness. Always looking for something.
Always, as I may remember, grass is always greener on the other
side. And it's not. It's not. You know, Bruce could
tell you the same thing. There's jobs that we'd enjoy.
There's jobs that we had. There's jobs that we had to have
to take care of our families. But there are some things, it's
not worth it. It's not worth it. If it takes
you away from the gospel, if it takes you away from the gospel,
the first question I'd ask is, why am I doing this? Why am I
doing this? I don't care if it's, I don't
care how long it is. Why am I doing this? And I've
got this written in the back of my Bible, and I've quoted
this before by Matthew Henry, in all our choices, This principle
should overrule us. That is best for us is that which
is best for our souls. It doesn't mean that you don't
know the Lord, but the Lord, there's protection in gathering
together with people of like mind. There's protection in being
amongst God's people. Acts chapter 13, one verse. So
I don't know how long this is gonna be, but it doesn't really
matter. Nathan always tells me it doesn't
matter. Now, there were in the church
that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and
Simeon, that is called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene and Menaean,
which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. Now let's go a few more verses.
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, and the Holy Ghost
said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I
have called them. And when they had fasted and
prayed, they laid hands on them, and sent them away. Now, historically,
what's going on here is the church had always been in Jerusalem.
Historically, the church seems to have moved out of Jerusalem
to Antioch, to Antioch. The missionary journeys of Paul
would be initiated from this church now. And that's kind of
important. Why is the church, and I'm not
gonna go into this, but I've read about everybody I could
read on this passage. And one of the writers, Gil or
somebody made a comment, it may have been Adam Clark again, he's
really been good lately. He said, the church is the ground
and pillar of the truth, what scripture says. And missionaries,
they go out from a church. The church supports them, but
it's a local body. They just don't go and do their
own thing. And that's why a lot of this
stuff on the internet or social media, and even before then,
people just going out, oh, I feel like I'm called, and they're
just going out. They've got no support, nobody behind them,
and no church, no true church behind them. That's not scriptural.
God's ways are going to be blessed. And obviously, this is the beginning
of the New Testament church. It was at Antioch, not necessarily
Jerusalem. Why? Well, one writer said, and
I kind of think the same way, They initiated from this church,
they're being ordained and sent out from this church at Antioch.
Why Antioch? Well, this is a Gentile church.
Perhaps, says one, and I agree with this, the exhortation that
Christ said to the disciples to go out and witness to all
the world, perhaps was taken better at this church and at
Jerusalem because they were Jews and they're in Jerusalem, and
they're still, and they're under persecution, but the Lord's moved
this, his, not his church is wherever he plants it. This church
was still in Jerusalem, but this is a new, this is a transition,
transition period, which acts as a lot of that, but they're
going out from Antioch. So they're sending the missionaries
out, but they're sending them as representatives of this church. Whatever the reason, Whatever
the reason, we begin to see less of Peter and more of Paul, the
disciple to the Gentiles. And a lot of that in Acts is
that. He never forgets those whom he
foreknew. But if they were being persecuted, if the church in
Jerusalem was hesitant, the Lord said, you gotta do this. And
so they're doing it. They're doing it. Whatever the
reason, we come upon certain men gifted, obviously in verse
one, that's what we're gonna look at, certain men gifted by
God's grace to carry that one and only message of the grace
of God and the glory of God into the known world. You know, Paul
and Barnabas, and they get Mark and John, and they're gonna go
out and they're gonna preach the gospel. And as I looked at this verse,
My mind, I look at him like, who is this Menaean? In verse one, who is this guy?
Obviously we know a little bit about Barnabas. We know a little
bit about Simon that is called Niger and Lucius. But who is
this Menaean? And I got just fascinated. I
was just like, the Lord brought it to my mind and my attention.
This one brother called Menaean. And this is all that is said
about him here in Acts 13.1, but what an amazing tale he could
tell. What an amazing tale he could
tell. This lesson, this story about
this man, like anyone here who understands the grace of God,
is a story about salvation, all of grace. It's a story about
sovereign electing redemption. It's a story about distinguishing
mercy received. And it's a story about gifts
from the Holy Ghost to be used to the honor and edification
of the Lord Jesus Christ and his early church. They sent him
out, had been brought up with Herod, the Tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord
and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, set me out a couple. But these
other men, this Simeon, and Lucius, and Mananiac, but we don't know
anything about those others, but we know something about this
man. And it speaks volumes. Notice with me a few things.
It says that this man was brought, which had been brought up with
Herod, the Tetrarch. Now look at the marginal reading.
Look at the marginal reading in your Bible. This was Herod's
foster brother, okay? And oftentimes in the Jewish,
or in the community back in then, back in those days, like Hagar,
you know, you had somebody, Moses, was brought up, Pharaoh's brought
up in the same household. Okay, and so this is what Manan,
this is him. He is, his mother is in the household of Herod the
Tetrarch. Now that word Herod, there's
three or four different Herods. So this is specifically, we know
something about him in the scriptures too. So, as our margin reads,
Herod's foster brother was this man, Manan. I'm sure, I have to guess, like
Moses, he was brought up in luxury. Would he not have been? This
man, Herod, was being groomed, and Matter of fact, a lot of all
the writers said that this Menaean, it said that certain prophets
and teachers, and they said he was a prophet and a teacher,
and he prophesied that Herod would become king. His foster
brother would become king. That's all the writers said that.
I don't know. I do know that he was brought
up with Herod, the Tetrarch, or Herod Artippus is who this
specifically is. He was brought up in luxury.
And you children need to listen to this too. Brought up in fine
clothes, and I'm sure he had wholesome
delicacies. I don't know if we want for anything
here. I know a lot of times us Americans don't. And you children,
I'm sure there's the things that your folks would not like you
to do, but it's no big deal, so you get to do them anyway.
But we know Herod's lineage, His dad was the murderer of hundreds
of children under two years old. Remember that? We don't have
to turn there. Matthew chapter two, verse 16 through 18. That's why
Joseph and Mary fled, because two years and under. This man's
relation, Herod Artippus, his relation killed, because he was
worried that there was going to be a king that was going to
take his throne. According to historians, This Herod, Antipas,
was a blemished administrator and character. I quote, spoiled,
sly, ambitious, selfish, and destitute of principle. Ahasuerus
was a Jewish historian, he wrote that. Well, if he didn't write that,
Our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 13, 32 calls him a fox. Sly. Our Lord is speaking about this
heretic, calls him. So whether that's true in history,
and we believe history sometimes, but whether that's true or not,
our Lord calls him a fox. You go tell them that fox what
you've seen and what you've heard, Luke chapter 13. Minayan would have had most everything
the heart could desire at that age. Probably wasn't told no,
maybe he was. I'm sure he had fine clothes.
He had all the things that aristocrat would. When God removes his hand
upon somebody like that, upon any sinner, but especially those
who are rich and have all human comforts, their characteristic is usually
sly, blemished, spoiled, ambitious, selfish, destitute of principle.
That's usually what happens. If you have a lot of money and
you don't ever have to worry about anything like that, when
the Lord takes his hand off of them, that's usually how, that's
usually the property takes over. That's why in James, which we
were, we're gonna, we're there. That's why James says in James
chapter two, we haven't been there, we'll be there this week.
Hearken, my brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world,
rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised
to them that love him? This is Acts chapter two, starting
in verse five, verse six. But you have despised the poor.
Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment
seats? They were extremely corrupt back then, and they're extremely
corrupt now. Do they not blaspheme that worthy name by the which
you are called? Yes. And he also, our Lord warns
us in Mark chapter four and verse 19, the cares of this
world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other
things entered in, choked the word, and it became unfruitful. That's the parable of the sower.
The deceitfulness of riches, and I've been reading, it seems
like every person on these daily devotionals seems to be hammered
on the deceitfulness of riches. It's not riches. It's not the
gun that kills, it's the person behind it. But if you have the
ability to get anything you want at any time without any exception,
without any necessary consequences, your lust, the riches are going
to deceive you. They're going to deceive you.
It's the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things.
Entering in, choke, that's what happened to Herod, the foster
brother of Manan. And may I remind you that this
Herod was the one who beheaded John the Baptist. This here is
the one who beheaded John the Baptist. So, that was the household that young
Manan was brought up in. But look at Acts 13. The Lord
raised him out of that mess and was a help to the early New
Testament church. Now, this is the second point I want
us to look at. Yet you have here our brother,
Manaan. Oh, the wonder of sovereign grace. One was let go his own way, Herod. The other snatched from the fire. One all manner of idolatry, wickedness,
and surplus. The other cast his lot in with
the lowly and downtrodden." Same as Moses. You have this with
Moses. You have this with Ruth and her
sister-in-law. She said, you know, we're gonna
go with, your God's gonna be our God. And then they went a
little way, and then another one went back. Never hear any
more about her. Exodus says God put a separation
between the redeemed and the judge, between the Egyptians
and Israel. God does that. So what did this guy do? What
made him so special? He was raised the same mother,
the same father. They both nursed from the same
breasts. Yes, all these different historical
facts back then. They did this. They both did
it. Yet one Lord redeemed, and the other one he let go. It's
all by God's grace. It's all by God's grace. Now,
the reason why I talk actually with the children is, without
the murders, this guy, this Herod's pretty, I'd like to live like
that. I'd like to be able to go outside and pick my choice
of six or seven different cars, not have to worry about this
or worry about that. You know, have a tutor do my
homework for me. I'd like to have all that stuff.
Would you? At the expense of your soul? This is all we know about this
man. But like I said, it tells a lot. He went from the court
to the tent, this man dwelling with the people of grace in Jesus
Christ. He let ambition go. and was rather
willing as Moses to suffer with the people of God. And he, Manan,
by divine and sovereign salvation and grace, selection, now loves
his Lord because his Lord first loved him. Manan, which had been brought
up with Herod, with Herod, he lived in court. He would have
been a fine, well-educated man. He would have had all the pleasures
and all the access to the same thing that Herod had. He lived
in court. He would have heard of John the
Baptist and perhaps heard John's message. He knew of John, was then in
prison, and he was probably heard of as beheading. It says he was
brought up in court. then he might have known Joanna. You look this up, the wife of
Chusa, Luke chapter eight, verse three, and Luke chapter 24, verse
10, who ministered to Christ. This woman ministered to Christ
is what it says in the scriptures. And was there with Mary at the
resurrection site. He knew this woman. because he
was brought up in court. He was brought up in court, perhaps
at the crucifixion where Christ was set at naught. But now he,
not his foster brother, is in the Lamb's Book of Life. Sometimes
privileges are not blessings, they are cursings. In this case,
it is. Now He is being used in the early
church at Antioch. Now he is together with the saints
in light and having great gifts for the furtherance of Christ's
everlasting gospel, to be used of Christ. That's my desire for
all of us here, children, adults, to be used for the glory of God.
Now, Manet is a soldier of the cross, set in defense of the
very truth that his favored, worldly speaking, foster brother
despises. He despises. What an amazing
story. What a marvel of the grace of
God. I ask myself and I ask you, who
do you wish to resemble? Who do you wish to resemble?
Do you wish to have all that this world can give you? and
be destitute of the truth? Scripture says, what is the proper
man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? You see, you're
not going to hear this in school. You're going to hear, go, go,
you've got the world by the tail. And then you figure out, no,
the world's got you by the tail. You don't have the world by the
tail. You hear all these things, all these promises of success. Yes, it makes easier. We struggle
with finances or whatever. It's like, yes, it makes life
easier. But it's better to be poor with
the gospel than it is to be rich without it, because riches are
deceivable. It helps pay the lights, but
that's why we gather together. We congregate together. And what does grace and the blood
of Christ do for a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl? Well, this
man, Manan, his name means consoler, comforter. That's what he's doing. That's what he's doing with the
church. Every time he gets together, if he's a teacher and he speaks
or if he prophesies of something in the future, it's to comfort
and to console God's people. He, by the enabling of the blessed
spirit, uses his gifts to the benefit of the church. I'm sure
his neighbors were better for it, This is specifically talking
about the church at Antioch and what he's doing for them. He
renounces worldly ambition, he renounces worldly wealth, and
he renounces worldly applause. That's what he found in court.
That's all the court could give him. It couldn't give him spiritual
life. But Christ did. Christ can. And
he can do the same with those who hear and submit to the gospel. He stands with his brethren who
themselves were also called freely by God's sovereign grace found
only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what this
book says about the worldlings and the believers? It says this, of whom the world was not worthy. of whom the world is not worthy.
It doesn't, it shouldn't fill you with pride because if we
have the grace of God, if we have Christ, we understand Christ,
he's made us to differ. He's chose us, we didn't choose
him. But this world, did the court keep having surplus and
everything the heart could wish? Exactly, because this is the
second. There was three or four Herods And then I read the history
about this man. You know, it's like he served
out and then he had to flee because somebody was trying to kill him.
And then he had to do this. And then the people, you know,
and the Herod before him, the insurrection, murders, coups,
all these different things. You want that? The world's not
worthy. The world's a rat race, as we say. The world is not worthy of the
believer. So this man came out of court, was brought up in court,
went out, and sought those who were like-minded, who he could
fellowship with. So I close. May we be found,
even as this man, Manaan, was a new creature in Christ Jesus. Because yes, you have to make
a living, but if you're Christ's, He says he's given people for
you. He's going to take care of you.
There's no question about that. We question that, but there's
no question. But this man, like Moses, had it all, luxury, anything
the heart could wish for. But if God's creatures are not
satisfied with what this world can give them, There's a void.
And I pray that the Lord would bring a void in our hearts. That
we would, we just, you know, friendship kind of with the world
and understanding this and that. And I know we got to speak the
truth to them, but at a distance. The world is going to go on whether
you're here or not. The world, the jobs are still
going to be here, whether you're the best, the best person at
that job or not. That's not what it's about. Menaean,
he sought out and was found by Christ. Christ found him. Destitute,
all the world could offer, didn't satisfy him. Why? Because of
the grace of God. I pray that for us. And don't
think once the Lord saves you, this is, I'm okay. No, the world, the world tugs
and tugs and tugs. May we, by God's grace, follow
his example and be useful to this church, this place, and
his cause. Matt, would you close this, please?