SERMON NOTES FROM LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER 2020 am
Acts 13 verses 1 - 5
This is Reformation Sunday when Martin Luther nailed the thesis to the cathedral door. That man changed the face of Christendom. Thank God for the man who stepped out, took the word of God into a lost and darkened empire. The thought of Acts 13 is the various movements of the church of Jesus. The disciples who gathered in the Upper Room were filled with Holy Spirit, they then went out onto the streets of Jerusalem and preached the gospel. Persecution began and the church began to spread out. The commission of the Lord was to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. They were not to go using their own ability or intellect, it was not of what they would do but what Christ would do through them. The church is still the same today - that we can do something for him through the Holy Spirit. "not by might nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts." (Zechariah 4 verse 6) Luke 24 verse 49 "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." Before they took the commission into the world the Lord told them to tarry in Jerusalem. Why were they to tarry? Until they would "be endued with power." Then we read in Acts 1 verse 8 "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." That was the great commission and the power to carry that commission. "without me ye can do nothing" (John 15 verse 5)
The acknowledgement God makes - God accepts this fellowship. Brings it to our attention because he is going to stir up this fellowship for the furtherance of the gospel of saving grace. How is he going to do that today? He stirred up the heart of the early disciples to go forth with the gospel. God hadn't to be told about this little church. God had knowledge of this fellowship. God sees and knows, he is not someone who sits afar off and sees nothing. It is God who looks into the heart of man. "Man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16 verse 7) He knows every name in the fellowship, he has intimate knowledge of everyone. God knows them - "separate unto me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them." God knows our heart today. He knows all that is going on in your life right at this moment in time. Sometimes we like to take a back seat and God knows that. Think of Acts 16 and the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip was told to go to a certain place. God knew all about this eunuch, that he had been in Jerusalem and was now travelling home. He needed help. Philip knew nothing about him. The God of heaven knew where he was and the position he was in. He sends Philip down to where he was. Cornelius in Acts 10 was sitting praying and pleading with God. God came to him. God sent his angel down to where he was with a message for Cornelius "send for Peter." Cornelius didn't have to ask where Peter was. God knew exactly where Peter was - in Joppa. God knows everything about me. God has such wonderful knowledge - Psalm 139 "thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off ... such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." God knows what we are thinking at this very moment in time. God knew the heart of Martin Luther back in the 1500's. He saw a man seeking after God, a relationship with God. He could not find it in the monastery he lived in. He prayed on his knees until they were calloused. He fasted and whipped himself but he still could not find a relationship with God. It was only found in God himself. God saved that man, set him apart, sent him into the world to change it at that time. He wrote a commentary on the book of Romans, a preface to the book of Romans based on the phrase "The just shall live by faith." John Wesley was reached by that commentary. Jesus stood one day in the midst of a man with a withered hand. Jesus asked "is it right to do good or is it right to do evil on the sabbath day, is it right to heal him on the sabbath day or leave him alone." The Lord looked on everyone that was there. He was 'grieved at everyone of them because he saw the hardness of their hearts." (Mark 3 verses 1 - 5)
The assessment that God makes. As God goes into the fellowship what does God see? He sees the disciples that are willing to exercise their gifts of ministry. Acts 13 verse 1 thy were gathered together and serving the Lord. God sees a people using their gifts that the Holy Spirit had given them. Are you using the gift God has given to you? Have you found how and what that gift is? In this church there were prophets and teachers, they were showing the people the scriptures. Wouldn't it be awful to stand before Christ one day and have empty hands? Simply because we never discovered what our talents are. Service for God should be all we have. Think of the man with one talent. He hid his talent - why "I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid ..." (Matthew 25 verse 24) Paul of Timothy 1 Timothy 4 verse 14 "neglect not the gift that is in thee." Paul knew there was a danger of leaving his gift to one side and not using it. Maybe you have been frightened, scared of being laughed at.
The access God has. God speaks here to the fellowship. It is the Holy Spirit speaking. The Holy Spirit actually does speak. The third person of the Trinity. Have we an ear to hear what he has to say to us? In Revelation 3 Jesus spoke to the little church of Laodicea in Asia Minor. This church was doing really well, they stood in need of nothing. In Revelation 3 verse 20 the Lord is seeking access in to the church but the door was firmly closed. They didn't want to listen to the Lord. Can it be said of us that we don't want to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to us. We need to seek God for his work, pray that we might be better used to use the opening he gives to us. Are we prepared to serve the Lord? The Lord had 2 disciples in mind and he names them. He didn't just say "separate unto me 2 disciples", he had 2 distinct characters for the task he had in mind. He wanted Barnabas and Saul to do the work. God knows your name, your heart, whether you are saved or not saved today. He is speaking directly to you today. He calls out your name today as he did Samuel of old. Maybe God is challenging you today.
Notice the answer God receives - "then sent them away." God had access to this fellowship, spoke to the fellowship, they took it seriously and set about doing what he wanted them to do. Sometimes we feel if God is calling someone out into the work, we are nearly afraid to send them forth, afraid to let them go. Let's be serious today. Pray for one another in the fellowship. First for yourself that God would revive your heart before he speaks to anyone else.
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