Sunday Sermon
sunday morning 5th July 2009
acts 14v8-20
Intro
Gospel adaptation.
Paul and Barnabas usual mission strategy was to go to the synagogue first and then reach out to the rest of a place from there.
This time the situation is different. In Lystra there is no mention of a synagogue.
In fact it would seem that Lystra had no Jewish population.
So how were they to bring the gospel to this people?
1) A Gospel opportunity v8-13
· they create an opening v8-10.
Luke notes there was a paralysed man listening to the message v8.
As Paul speaks the message he takes note of the man and heals him v9-10.
There may have been no synagogue but there were people who listened to the message!
The message is testified to by the healing!
· the gospel opening explodes v11-13
Perhaps only a few people listened to the message but when the miracle takes place the whole town is alerted!!
P&B are thought to be Zeus and Hermes, the very gods that they idolatrously worship.
In their myths that gods had come down before and destroyed those who did not recognise them, so here they take no chance. They seek to worship straight away!
APP
The gospel is a message, it is news that has to be heard!
Without hearing the truth there will be no salvation.
Thus we need to create gospel opportunities.
How are we to reach the people with the message? That is the question we need to ask.
2) Paul tries to use the situation to preach v14-18
a. they humble themselves, rend their clothes
b. note they are but men, that these gods are useless and proclaim the living God – the Maker of Heaven and Earth.
Their message is contextualised – these people have no biblical knowledge.
c. say that God has let them go their own way for a while v16
d. Yet God not stopped witnessing to them through common grace, seasons, food and joy.
Having done all this the crowd still try to worship them v18!!!
App
In seeking to reach out we need to willingly humble ourselves.
We are not seeking to promote our own glory but the Glory of Jesus.
The people we seek are no less idolatrous today than days of old.
Thus we need to bring the message at an appropriate level.
Find out what people worship and then point them in the right direction.
For those who have never heard maybe the starting point is that we tell them there is a God who has made the world and who cares for us now!
3) then the opposition kicks in! V19-20
The Jews who probably had followed P&B get the crowd to try and kill Paul!!!
Through their manipulation they win the crowd over!
App
a. Need to be aware of the work of the evil one in trying to oppose the message.
The devils work is to manipulate people away from the truth!
That is what he has been doing from the very beginning, with Adam and Eve.
Here he uses the Jews to manipulate / persuade the crowd away from Jesus.
The evil one has manipulated the majority of our nation into thinking that they simply do not need God anymore!
b. Recognise when to move on. There is a time to sow the seed and then a time to move on.
We are called to be faithful to the moment we are in and simply see where that leads.
sunday evening 5th July 2009
Col 2v16-23
Last week we saw the whole wonder of salvation was the fact that we have been brought to new life. We were dead, but God made us alive again.
In order to bring us that life He dealt with all our sin, taking it away from us and nailing it to the cross. Also He defeated all the evil forces that kept us trapped in death.
Thus we have life, and we are called to live fully in that life.
Which is what Paul goes onto explain in the remainder of the chapter.
1) the shadow and the body v16-17
The Colossians are given firm instruction not to let anyone judge them, about food issues or religious celebration issues!
All these things were markers in the past that set people apart as Jews or from one kind of religion or another. It was all outward appearance.
Paul notes that all these things once had their level of importance – they were the shadow.
That is they pointed to the ultimate reality: that is Christ.
He is the substance, he is the body.
That is Jesus is the main event: HE is the Real Issue.
App
a. For the Christian everything pales by comparison to Christ.
Christ should be our all consuming passion because He is the Real thing. He is it.
b. You have life in Christ, everything else is of secondary importance.
How often we take the secondary issues and make them the most important thing: how?
By thinking what will people think of me if they see me do this or that.
Rather than living in Christ for his glory.
Or we judge others by what they do, rather than looking at the heart of the matter, which is their relationship to Jesus.
2) the danger is decapitation v18-19
Now it may seem that still holding onto the shadow is really not a very important matter!
But in fact the problem is serious, the problem could lead to death!!
Not eternal loss of soul, but the loss of life here and now that we have been given in Christ.
We are called to live. We have been given life, but the danger is we may not live it.
The Colossians could be cheated / disqualified / defrauded out of the prize/reward, the life!
How? by turning from Christ to other things on offer.
Things brought to them by people who have already been decapitated!
Taken their eyes off Christ and thus lost connection with the head!
They seem very spiritual – humility (false), angel worship, visions!
But all of that has simply served to take them from Jesus!!
App
a. We have been given life in Christ but are we living it or have we taken our eyes off Jesus?
There must be more to the spiritual life than Christ we are tempted to think.
There must be more I can do.
There must be some experience that I need!
Thus books about death experiences and seeing heaven etc become top sellers.
But the great danger in seeking something else is that we take our eyes off of Jesus and thus we wither and die!
b. He has to be our Vision. We need to look to him for all things.
If we feel needy or at a loss, seek him! Not new ideas or experiments etc.
c. Don’t get impatient! It is God who causes the growth.
Our task is to stay close to Him. He is the life source.
3) you have new life, so forget human regulations!! v20-23
The Colossians need not bother with any impressive stories/ ideas/ or people who take them away from Jesus.
They have already died with Christ. That is their sinful nature is gone buried!
Thus Paul wants to know why they are even bother by earthly rules and regulations?!
All these things are going to perish, pass like the shadow.
Every rule and regulation that comes from man is a waste of time! Will perish.
Such human commands appear reasonable and even wise, but ultimately they cannot change the heart, which is the source if the human being.
And besides they do not need to change their hearts!
They already have the new heart, the new life!
App
a. Worldly spiritualities seek to condition the outward behaviour.
AA is a great example of a ‘spirituality’ that is able to change the outward ways.
But none of these things get to the root of our human problem, which is the heart.
Only in Christ do we get a new heart, a new life.
It is the outworking of this new life that has to be the focus of our spirituality.
b. The new life we have in Jesus is world affirming.
Everything for the Christian can be received in faith and thanksgiving.
c. But the danger we face is going to the extremes.
On the one extreme we use Christian liberty to run into licence.
On the other hand we get into legalistic bondage and forget our liberty.
· What are we to do then?
We are to do all we can to stay close to Jesus.
As we do that we will have life and peace and freedom.
Straying from him will either lead to licence in sin, or bondage to law.
But life is the great aim.
· Question: does this passage rule out the traditional spiritual disciplines?
Only in so far as we are using them to bring us new life. If we think that by them we will get the life, then they are useless. But if they are used to help keep us close to Christ then they are of great value indeed.
