|
I Spy Something... You might remember the horrific accident that took place on a movie set back in the 1980's. Vic Morrow, of "Combat" fame, and two Vietnamese children were killed as a helicopter fell on them following an explosion. The preliminary hearing delved into whether the explosive devises used could cause a piece of bamboo to fly up into the rotors and bring the helicopter down. An FBI explosives expert said "No," and a UCLA engineering professor said "Yes." Who was right? Which theory was true? Two experts, looking at the same evidence, drew two totally different conclusions. Both operated on the same information—so who was right? Today, many are so intent on redefining truth, that it just doesn't even seem to matter. But it does! Virgil Hurley once wrote, "There must be a source of authority in this world, beyond which we cannot go, beyond which we cannot appeal, whose word is final and perfect, whose judgment is infallible, whose decision is unassailable, which can discern between all the claimants to truth to ascertain the one, single truth that exists. For if truth exists at all in the parts, it must have its origin in the united whole. It is nonsense to say truth can exist only where we claim it. If there is truth anywhere, in anything, it came from Someone in particular, somewhere specifically." But how can we see truth? Do you remember the game, "I Spy?" One person would look around and say, "I spy something…purple!" The other person would then look around and try to guess the object the first person was referring to. Spiritual truth can be known and seen, but it must be spiritually discerned. In the game, both people must be able to physically see colors in order to play. In life, if it is to be spiritual, spiritual eyesight is mandatory. While we can see this in virtually every story in the Bible, let's turn to Acts 9: 23-31 in order to…"spy this thing out." Saul, a Pharisee, who had set out to destroy Christianity, had just been converted himself. Saved on the road to Damascus, he was then baptized in Holy Ghost and fire as Ananias laid hands on him and prayed. Immediately, he began to preach the faith he had persecuted. Due to this immense change in Saul, who was about to receive the new name of Paul, many of the Jews hated him with a passion and came up with a plan to kill him. Verse 24 tells us, "But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him." But, Praise God, "the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket." (vs. 25) Talk about spying!—sounds like a bit of early church espionage, doesn't it? But that escapade was only to save his physical life; his spiritual life would reveal the true test. The next verse tells us, "And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples…" "Assayed," in the Greek, means to attempt and to test, as in "testing the waters." It comes from a word that means to "pierce through." You see, this would not be easy, for the disciples, "were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple." (vs. 26b) And with good reason—the very one who had been out to kill them, was now one of them! I spy something…suspicious! Think about it! What would be a better way of capturing more Christians than faking a conversion and spying on them from the inside? No wonder they were fearful—but in steps the encouraging Barnabas. He took Saul, and "brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus." (vs. 27) Imagine! That settled it! There was no arguing, no debating—not even any question! If Barnabas had said so, it was so. But if the disciples, and, Ananias, before them, were leery of the truth concerning Saul, why wasn't Barnabas? Where did his truth come from? There is no indication of Jesus speaking directly to him, or even seeing a vision—how could Barnabas be so sure that Saul's conversion was indeed true? Good old-fashioned spiritual discernment! The Spirit of God that was now within Saul identified with the Spirit of God that was within Barnabas, and so he knew that Saul could be trusted—he was true because the Spirit within him was true. Now, I'm not talking about basing everything on a warm fuzzy feeling, or about justifying something because I want to believe it. No, I'm talking about "a knowing" that comes from an inner witness that also agrees with the Holy Scriptures. The Holy Spirit had taken him deeper into the heart of God and had given him a special discernment at a very particular and special time. And what kind of a time was that? Verse 31 tells us, "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." That is to say, a very unusual time of peace and prosperity was upon the church. The Greek refers to a joining together that can only come from being set at one again. What a picture of what the Body of Christ is to be!—a veritable menagerie of people reconciled to a holy God through the blood of Jesus Christ, and not just reconciled, but joined to each other in a body—sticking like glue to each other and their Lord in the Body of Christ. And not just for the purpose of friendship, or even service, but in order to edify—literally, in the Greek, a house builder; one who constructs and conforms. Imagine—a church on the rise—not through Madison Avenue mega-marketing or a compromised message of physical prosperity, but through the Master Carpenter and His message of conformity to His image—that is spiritual prosperity! And this "rest" is not just an "easy-chair Christianity," but it is vitally connected to a walking in the fear of the Lord. This is especially important to realize in a day when many, even within the "church," are calling for "No Fear." According to these, Jesus is to be a buddy or a pal—just throw your arm around Him, and away you go! Oh, how we need more Barnabas' today—people who can see what is right because they are willing to stay close to the Lord and His people—and all of it His way! In Acts 11, when a persecution flared up in Antioch, "they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord." Mr. Hurley was right—if truth exists in the parts, as it did in both Saul and Barnabas, it has its source in the whole—the fullness of the Holy Spirit, being expressed throughout the Body of Christ. It is indeed nonsense to pick and choose what is true, for "if there is truth anywhere, in anything, it came from Someone in particular, somewhere specifically." And that "Someone," of course, is the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that "somewhere," is within the heart of the overcoming Body of Christ. I spy something…amazing! In subsequent chapters, we find the two, Paul and Barnabas, commissioned by the Church, to go together on a missionary journey. In Acts 15, we find Barnabas wanting to take Mark on the next journey, but Paul disagrees, due to Mark leaving the first trip before it had ended. This difference of opinion is labeled a "sharp contention."(15:39) So, who was right; who was wrong? Well, in the Greek, this sharp contention doesn't have to mean an angry dispute; it can also refer to "an incitement to good." You see, the truth is, this "disagreement" produced two missionary teams out of one—Paul and Silas AND Barnabas and Mark. While Satan would have loved to use the situation for evil and destroy the unity of the Body of Christ, God intended a great good to come out of it. And, by the way, the Scriptures never blame or condemn either man; it just states that both Paul and Barnabas continued their work for God with His blessing and grace. I spy something…merciful! What do you spy? What color do you see? Will you believe Satan's lie that we are to see all things as gray—no blacks and whites, no absolutes, no rights and wrongs? The world today is always putting forth that there are two sides to every story, and that the situation must be fully known in order to determine the ethics. No—the ethics can be found in God's Holy Word, and the situation is to be judged by that unassailable truth. The world will always have a plethora of experts, who, when looking at the same evidence, can draw many different conclusions. Who will be the judge? Not you, not me, not anyone in this world—only the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is often the One being left out of the loop. Let the world see it as it wants to; it has no spiritual discernment. You, on the other hand, can have all you want. Seek Jesus! Copyright (c)
2005 Christ Our Rock Bible Church. |
