In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.My Understanding: As I read through this passage of scripture this morning, the Lord brought my attention to the preparation involved in being set apart by the Holy Spirit for Christian ministry, as well as what is involved in the ministry itself that qualifies it to be of God or not of God. So, I will prayerfully examine these two aspects of ministry this morning: 1) The Preparation and 2) The Proclamation.
The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper…
Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit…
“Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about 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 was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people…
“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses…
On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region…
The Preparation
As I read through this passage of scripture, the Lord helped me to see several prerequisites to involvement in Christian ministry:
Worship – The scripture states that it was while certain prophets and teachers (named) were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to set apart Paul and Barnabas for the work to which God had called them. Worship involves adoration, love, reverence, and devotion to God Almighty, but not in form only. True worship is lifestyle worship of God. And, I know of no better Biblical description of what it means to truly worship God than is found in Romans 12:1-2, where it states that the offering of our lives to God as living sacrifices to him, holy and pleasing to him, is our “spiritual act of worship” towards God. Involved in that is that we are to no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. As well, John 4:22 states that true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in truth, “for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” So, true worship is of the heart, must be truthful, must truly honor and glorify God, and must involve the forsaking of this world and its sinful pleasures and an embracing of the cross of Christ in our daily lives, living lives holy and pleasing to God.
Fasting – Fasting is normally associated with the concept of abstaining from food for a period of time, as Jesus did when he was tempted in the desert by Satan just prior to the beginning of his public ministry. Yet, it is possible to fast from food for religious reasons and yet not be in a right relationship with God to where we can hear him speaking to our hearts. Isaiah 58 gives us a prime example of this. God’s people were rebellious against God and were involved in living sinful lifestyles and yet they were seeking God out, seeming eager to know his ways, as if they were a people who were doing what was right and had not forsaken God’s commands. They even fasted and prayed, and expected God to hear and to answer them. And, they wondered why God did not seem to notice. God said that on the day of their fasting, though, they did as they pleased.
So, God let them know the kind of “fasting” he had chosen: To loose the chains of injustice, to set the oppressed free, to share their food with the hungry and to provide shelter for the poor wanderer, to clothe the naked, and to not turn away from the needs of their own relatives. Then, they could call on the Lord, he would hear them, and he would answer them. Obviously this is not an exhaustive list, yet the point is made. True fasting before God and true humility before God is self-sacrificial and is willing to give up whatever God would require us to give, or to give up, in order for us to ultimately meet the legitimate needs of others. Again, this involves a willingness to lay our lives down on God’s altar as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our spiritual act of worship.
Prayer – According to Isaiah 58, true humility before God, exemplified by lives willing to give up whatever earthly pleasures or possessions he might require of us in order to meet the legitimate needs of others, is a prerequisite to having the kind of prayers that God will hear and that he will answer. In Isaiah 59 we learn that if we are holding on to sin that our sins will separate us from perfect fellowship with God to where God will not hear our prayers. Jesus often spoke against prayer that was only for the purpose of show. We are also taught to pray in the name of Jesus, which means to pray according to his will, which is exemplified in the model prayer Jesus gave to us as is recorded in Matthew 6 where it calls for the will of God to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. As well, we learn in James 4 that we may not receive of God what we ask for in prayer if we ask with the wrong motives. So, prayer must be truthful, humble, seeking God’s will (not our own), come from a heart willing to obey God, and must have the right motivation of heart at its root.
Of God and Willing to Obey – This passage in Acts 13 states that as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting that the Holy Spirit of God said to set apart these men for the work to which God had called them. Christian ministry, if it is to be blessed by God, must originate with God. We cannot pick and choose what we want to do for God and then expect him to bless it, especially if we are operating in the flesh and/or we are working for the approval of men. We must find out what God wants us to do and we must be willing to do whatever he requires of us. That is what jumped out at me from this passage about King David. He was a man after God’s own heart who would do everything God wanted him to do. David was human, and we know he sinned against God greatly, yet he repented of his sin and God chose to continue to use him. And, God can use any one of us no matter our past sins, yet we must humble ourselves before God, we must repent of our sins, and we must be willing to obey God in doing whatever he wants us to do.
The Proclamation
Once these men of God had truly worshiped God, had fasted and prayed, were called of God and set apart for specific ministry, originating with God, and they had responded with hearts that were willing to obey God in doing whatever God wanted them to do, then they were sent off to do the ministry to which God had called them. When we understand all that was involved in their ministry and what it took for them to do what God had called them to do, then I think we understand more fully the importance of this preparation prior (and continuing daily) to being sent off, because many a ministry will fail (in relation to God’s plan and will for the ministry) when opposition and persecution arise, because the ministry did not originate with God and/or the people themselves were not adequately prepared spiritually for what they were to face as they were sent out. And, this spiritual preparation must be continued on a daily basis or we cannot operate in the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and when opposition arises, we may want to flee rather than persevere.
Once Paul and Barnabas were called of God and were set apart for the ministry to which God had called them and they were sent off to do the work of the ministry, they began their ministry of proclaiming the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ in the synagogues. Yet, they encountered much opposition and persecution from the Jews, and God gave them the wisdom and the strength and power to know how to address the opposition and how to continue in the work to which they were called in the power of the Holy Spirit within them.
They shared the gospel message of how Jesus, God the Son, was sent to the earth, became a man, was sinless, though tempted as we are tempted, was crucified on a cross for our sins, he was buried in a tomb, yet he was resurrected, and all this was to fulfill what had been written about him in the prophets. As we know, when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world so that when he died our sins died with him, and when he was buried our sins were buried with him, yet when God the Father raised him from the dead, he left our sins buried and he triumphed over them via the cross and via his resurrection so that we, who put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin, and so we could go free from the control of sin over our daily lives. This is the Good News! We don’t have to be controlled by sin any longer, but we can be free now to live and walk in fellowship with our Lord, in obedience to God, and in victory over sin and over Satan. Hallelujah! Jesus set us free!
They shared this good news of the gospel, yet they also warned of judgment of God on those who refused to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah, and this, too, is part of the gospel message of salvation. We need to recognize that judgment awaits those who refuse God and who refuse His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. Yet, God is calling us to obedience, to repentance, and to faith in Jesus Christ and to the work of the ministry to which he has called each and every one of us to do in the wisdom and power of the working of the Holy Spirit of God within each one of us, as we daily continue in him.
When I’m With You / An Original Work / April 22, 2011
When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me
Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/when-i-m-with-you
YouTube video of song at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYi_-8oW8TI
http://www.godcares.tv/video/1148/When-Im-With-You
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