Advocate (def) to publicly support or recommend.
Acts 9:26-31 - Saul goes to Jerusalem and news of his conversion is doubted by all the disciples. They were still every afraid of him, so you can see his reputation was HUGE and his past dealings with the Jesus followers was causing them to doubt that he could really be saved. Someone stepped forward and became an advocate for Saul and that man was Barnabas. Barnabas went around with Saul and told Saul's story and put his name, and reputation, and life on the line by trusting what God had done in Saul's life. The disciples in Jerusalem then trusted Saul's conversion and he was able to walk around Jerusalem freely sharing the gospel. Then came the debates with the Grecian Jews. God was so powerful in Saul's life that it intimidated all he debated with and they either came over to his point of view or they hated him. Guest what happened next? They plotted to kill him. Duh!!
The Grecian Jew's intimidation was well warranted as Saul spoke to them, he spoke as a former hellenistic Jew himself and his connection to their past and present gave him a very favorable background for sharing the gospel from a position of wisdom. As you can see Saul was a very wide ranging disciple and God was using his conversion and background to reach out to new converts who might never have been reached by others. This scripture from 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 really starts to make sense as Paul was writing to the established church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone,to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
So when Barnabas became an advocate for Saul, he was freeing Saul to present the gospel as the man God had changed and called, and present the message freely. Saul used that freedom to reach many different people groups and the advocacy of Barnabas made that possible. As you can see his debate with Jews of any persuasion would result in them hating him and his message. That did not stop Saul though and he continued to preach Jesus and out of that message established churches in all the communities he traveled to. At every turn Saul was confronted by those who were not believers and their rejection of his message only spurred him on to tell more and more people. He built his resolve on their dismissal of the truth he was sharing and it grew his faith to huge proportions and boldness.
This is the lesson - In an apathetic church world like we have today, the burning desire to share the message of Jesus has been dumbed down to a minimum participation by many believers because they don't want to offend anyone. In truth, we are not the offending part of the message. The message is the offending part and the offense begins at the point of conviction. Conviction (def) - a formal declaration that someone is guilty of a crime. No one wants to feel conviction or believe they are convicted of their sinful condition. Conviction does cause a tumultuous sense of guilt and that guilt must be dealt with. For those who hear and accept the message of Christ they hear that Christ will deal with that guilt for them. For those that reject the message of Christ that conviction tears at their very being if they don't accept the forgiveness of Jesus. Jesus crucified the guilt of the conviction that comes with sin, but the only way to receive the reprieve is by accepting Jesus.
Romans 6:23 - For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved! Saved from what? The conviction of sin.
For those who know Jesus, conviction becomes a different thing in our lives. Conviction becomes the standard by which we live our lives. We are no longer convicted for our sin condition, but we are convicted about our individual sins and the desire to leave those sins behind as we live a righteous life. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The Holy Spirit being in our life compels us to deal with daily sins that creep into our lives in our desire to be more like Jesus. The Spirit compels us to seek for answers from God's Word and through an ongoing aggressive prayer life. As we seek God, we find Him, and doors of righteousness are opened to us. Jesus spoke to this very thing when he said in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." The freedom Saul felt in Jesus compelled him to share the message of Christ to those who were on the fringes and that freedom landed him in many threatening situations because of the convicting power of the message. The importance of the brothers in Jerusalem protecting him actually translated into protecting the message inside him. In the Acts 9 scripture they found out about a plot to kill Saul and rushed him to safety in Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus, his home town. But the work of God through Saul had been accomplished and in verse 31 it says, "Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord." The Holy Spirit grew them into a unified body of believers that were led by the Holy Spirit. This only further brings into reality the work of the Holy Spirit as Jesus said in John 14: 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
Are you an advocate for the ones who bring the message of hope to a lost and dying world, or are you a hindrance? It's time for the Barnabas attitude to be seen in the church and to allow God and his messengers the freedom to preach Jesus and see the church once again have unified peace in it's fellowship. Are you that person and will you stand up and be an advocate for those that God has called to preach His message of hope. Will you free them up and then see the Holy Spirit move or will you fight God like so many of the Grecian Jews of the day did? Time to figure out who's side you are on and get on the right side of the faith.
The Pilgrimage continues......
David Warren
No comments:
Post a Comment