Life of Paul Part 12 - The Trappings of Power

Well, good morning, everybody.

Hey, it's wonderful to have you here. We want you to take a Bible and let's open it together to Acts chapter 13. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts.

Thank you, Don. Fifth book in the New Testament, Acts chapter 13, as we continue in our study of the life of the great man, the Apostle Paul. Now, you know, in just a couple of weeks, we're coming up here in Washington on the 29th anniversary of Watergate. And as we all know, Watergate, the activities there included burglary, wiretapping, breaking and entering the violation of campaign finance laws, sabotage, and using the IRS to punish political enemies, which I think was the lowest of all of them. And also, of course, as you know, President Nixon's seven closest aides were all convicted of various points of conspiracy and perjury and obstruction to justice and sent to jail.

And President Nixon himself resigned, the only president in United States history ever to do that, so that the word Watergate has kind of gone on here in our culture to become synonymous with the abuse of power and everything ugly and corrupt and dicey about power. And it reminds me of a quote by the British poet Percy Shelley. He said, power, like a desolating pestilence, pollutes whatever it touches, which led to Francis Bacon saying this, the highest proof of virtue is to possess power without abusing it.

I love that. That's an incredible quote. The highest proof of virtue is to possess power and not abuse it. Now, today, we're going to talk about a very Washington, D.C. topic because we're going to talk about power. We're going to see in the Bible a man who, because of his love of power, self-destructed his life.

And then we want to talk about how you and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, living in Washington, can handle power in a way that is healthy and wholesome and that doesn't produce the same result in your life and in my life. So let's look together here in Acts chapter 13. Remember now, of course, the background, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas were the pastors at this church in Antioch, and God stepped in and called them out to become the first missionaries in the history of the church and to begin what we know of as today as Paul's first missionary journey. And that's where we pick up beginning in verse 4. And the two of them, namely Paul and Barnabas, set on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. And when they had arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the Word of God in the Jewish synagogues, and John, this is John Mark, of course, was with them as their helper. Now, there are three things we learn from these verses about the beginning of the first missionary journey.

The first is we learn where it went. Let's get you a map and show you what's going on here. Yeah, okay, here's Antioch, the city where Paul and Barnabas were, Jerusalem, of course, down here, Seleucia, the little port, and they sailed over to Cyprus and landed here at Salamis, which is on the eastern side of the island of Cyprus. At this time, Cyprus was a major stopping point on the trade routes between the east and the west.

Salamis, of course, was the main port on the eastern side of Cyprus, and as such, it became a major commercial center. And this is where Paul and Barnabas landed to begin their missionary work. The second thing we find out from these verses is that John Mark was along with them as their helper.

And we're going to talk more about that next week because he figures very significantly in the events that follow. And the third thing we learn is that Barnabas and Paul, as soon as they landed, the initial place that they went to begin their ministry was to the Jewish synagogue, to the Jewish community. We know from the writings of Josephus, the Jewish historian, that there was a very large Jewish population in Salamis, and that's why the Bible says that they went to the synagogues, plural, because there were obviously more than one in light of the large number of Jewish people that lived here. Now let me stop for a moment and say that we need to understand that this idea of going to the Jewish community first, the synagogue, wherever the Jewish people were meeting, as soon as he arrived in town, became the lifelong strategy of the apostle Paul on his missionary journeys. Whenever Paul would enter a new city, the very first place he would look to go would be the local synagogue.

And you say, why? Well, there were two reasons. Reason number one is that because of their role as God's chosen people, Paul did this as a courtesy to them. Romans chapter 1, verse 16, I am not ashamed of the message of Jesus Christ, Paul writes, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then also to the Gentile.

And so Paul believed that as a result of the role that the Jewish people had as the chosen nation of God, in spite of their unbelief, they still deserve this courtesy, as they do today. Second of all, the second reason Paul went there is that because of their familiarity with the Old Testament scriptures, he figured he wouldn't have to start from scratch with these people. I mean, these people already knew the Bible. They already knew that there was one living and true God.

They understood monotheism. He didn't have to teach him about the fall of man or sin or creation or substitutionary atonement. He didn't have to teach him about a Messiah who was coming one day to be the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. He didn't have to do all that. All he had to do with Jewish people who already knew all this is show them how Jesus really was this Messiah that the Old Testament had promised. And he did this by going back into the Old Testament and showing people how the birth, the life, the ministry, the death and the resurrection of Jesus fulfilled every prophecy of the Messiah in the Old Testament. His expectation was that by going to the Jewish community, he could get a quick core of people to begin as believers in Christ because he didn't have to do much with them. And then he could use that core to begin reaching out to the city. Now, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. But anyway, that was his strategy.

We're going to see him repeat this strategy in every single city that he goes to. Well, what happened? Let's look. Verse 6. It says, And they traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. And there they met a Jewish sorcerer and a false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He also had a nickname, Elemis, same fellow, who was an attendant, who was an advisor to the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. Now, let's show you the map again and show you what happened. Here we've got Paul and Barnabas.

They're here at Salamis. And the Bible says they began going west across the island of Cyprus, right like this, until they arrived at the capital city of the island, the city of Paphos, which was on the west coast. Now, Cyprus had been a Roman possession since 57 B.C. And this was the capital city of the Roman possession of Cyprus and the Roman ruler, the proconsul, who was a civilian.

He was a professional politician named Sergius Paulus, lived in the city because this is where the capital was. And he had this attendant. He had this magician, this sorcerer, this necromancer, this soothsayer named Elemis. Now, this was common for rulers in the ancient Near East. If you read the story of Daniel, you know Daniel ran into these guys and had to deal with them in Nebuchadnezzar's court. If you read the story of Moses, you know Moses had to deal with these guys in Eulbrenner's court.

I mean, these were the guys who were there. And this guy has one, this guy named Elemis. Okay, well, look what happens next. Oh, and by the way, before we go on, let me just say, you know, a study was done on this man's life by Sir William Ramsay in the early 1900s. Sir William Ramsay was a professor of classical art and archaeology and linguistics at Oxford University, a wonderful believer, a very well-educated man, and he did a study among others on Sergius Paulus. And what he found is that this man's name appears in Roman records in various inscriptions. He came from a noble family who had a history of service to the Roman senate and empire, and that he found that this guy, Sergius Paulus, according to Roman records, was in Cyprus serving as the proconsul, according to those Roman records, exactly at the time that the Bible says Paul and Barnabas showed up, or roughly 49 AD. Isn't it interesting, the more we dig up, the more the Bible proves to be exactly the way it says it is, totally accurate. We know this guy was here not just from the Bible, but from Roman records. Okay, now, this guy, Elemis, look what happened next. Verse 7, and the proconsul, from the middle of verse 7, an intelligent man sent for Barnabas and Paul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

Wow, I love that. He heard these two itinerant preachers were coming across his island, and being an intelligent man, he said, I'd like to know what these people have to say. Bring them on in here and let's hear what they have to say about this God of theirs. So they came in, and the implication here is very clear. He was interested.

As they talked, he was really paying attention. You say, why? Well, look at the next verse, verse 8. But Elemis the sorcerer opposed Paul and Barnabas and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. As Paul and Barnabas are sharing with this guy, and he's about ready to make a decision, this guy, Elemis, jumps in and starts arguing against Paul, trying to convince the proconsul that this is dumb, this is stupid. Who are these beggars?

Get them out of here. And he made Paul mad. Now, Paul was not the right guy to make mad. Watch, verse 9. Then Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked straight at Elemis. Some other versions of the Bible say he fixed his gaze on Elemis.

I'm telling you something. Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and unhappy, would not be the guy you want to fix his gaze on you. You did not want to be in Elemis' shoes right at this moment. And look what he said. He said, You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right. You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Verse 11. And now the hand of the Lord is against you.

You're going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun. And immediately mist and darkness came over Elemis, and he groped about seeking somebody to lead him by the hand. Oh, mama, don't want to be in that position with Paul. Watch, verse 12. And when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed. Well, yeah, I guess so. If I'd have seen this, I'd have believed too.

You bet. He believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. You know, it's interesting to me here that Paul did not adopt our modern view of pluralism. Did you notice this?

We live in a world where our view is since there is no absolute truth, we have to be equally tolerant of every ism and every ology because we really can't be sure what's right and wrong. That wasn't Paul's attitude at all, my friends. Paul believed it when the Bible says it was God-breathed and inspired in absolute truth. Paul believed Jesus when he said, John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Nobody gets to heaven except by me. Paul believed, Jude 3, where Jude says that we are to contend earnestly. We are to contend earnestly for the true faith that was once for all delivered to the saints and as far as Paul was concerned, opposing somebody trying to come to Christ. Getting in the way of somebody trying to make a decision for Christ like elements did to the proconsul was actively trying to bring about somebody's missing heaven.

And he wasn't tolerant and he wasn't pluralistic about this. He said, wait a minute, pal, this is truth. And if you get in the way of this, guess what?

It's going to run you over. Now, we can be nice. We can be kind. We can be gentle and we can be respectful. But it doesn't mean we've got to be pluralistic when it comes to the truth of the Word of God. The truth of the Word of God is not intended to be pluralistic.

It's intended to be absolute once and for all. And we are intended to contend for the truth of the Word of God. We can do it nicely. We can do it respectfully. But we need to do it passionately and copy the attitude of the apostle Paul in our world today that says there is only one way to heaven and we need to contend for that truth in every way that's possible. We don't just go, well, you know, you go your way.

I'll go my way. That wasn't Paul, friends, and that ought not to be us. Well, whatever happened to our good friend, Sergius Paulus? Well, actually, we have records of church history that tell us what happened to this guy. Do you know he gave up being a Roman politician? And he turned out to give his life to the service of Jesus Christ.

And church tradition tells us that when Paul went to Spain towards the very end of his life, he took Sergius Paulus with him and as they were going through France, he commissioned him as the bishop of Narbonne, which is a city in southern France right on the Mediterranean coast, and left him there as the leader of the church in that area. So how cool is this? This guy ends up being the first bishop of the French Riviera. I mean, how cool is this? I think this is pretty cool, huh?

And that's what happened to our good friend, Sergius Paulus. Well, that's as far as we want to go today because we want to stop and ask a really important question. And you all know what that question is. So nice and loud. Here we go. One, two, three. So what?

That's right. You say, Lon, so what? I've never even been to the French Riviera. And frankly, I don't care who the first bishop of the French Riviera was.

What difference does this make to my life? Well, I think a lot. Let's see if we can figure it out together. You know, when it comes to behavior, I always think it's a good idea to ask the question, why? I mean, for example, why do dogs chase cats? You ever think about that? Why do they do that? Here's another one.

Why do people refuse to look at you when you're trying to merge into stop traffic? Why is that? Here's another one.

Why do Jewish people never pay retail? That's one. That's a good one to ask. Now, I got one more for you. Here's another one. Why did this guy, Elemis, oppose Paul?

I mean, people do things for a reason. Why did he do this? Why did he stand up and try to talk the proconsul out of believing in Jesus?

Man, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure this out. It was all about power. He had a power position.

He was the number one top dog chief spiritual advisor on the whole island of Cyprus. And even though he was a false prophet, he was smart enough to see, if you understand what I'm saying, that if Sergius Paulus became a follower of Christ, he was done. Sergius Paulus, if he became a follower of Christ, was going to base everything he did on the truth of the word of God, not stupid magic and stupid sorcery.

Elemis was done. And so he didn't oppose Paul because he was trying to oppose truth. This guy didn't even care about truth. All he cared about was power. And what he saw was that Paul and Paul's message was a threat to his power, pure and simple. And as a result of that love of power, look what happened to the guy.

Look at the self-destruction he brought on his life. Friends, in 2000 years, not a thing has changed. We live in a town where people still do this to themselves every single week. We live in a town where, for the love of power, people do things that are stupid and hurtful and unwise and bring all kinds of damage on themselves and the people around them.

It hasn't changed. And you know something about this town, because I've lived here almost 30 years, something about this town is you can come to this town not even wanting power. You can come to this town not even looking for power. And if you stay here long enough, the stuff's just like a smog that hangs over this town. It's amazing how much of it you'll find yourself absorbing and being given just by being here. It's really kind of scary. There are some of you sitting here today who have positions of power right now in government, in industry, in corporations, positions of power in education and other places that you never dreamed you'd ever have when you came to Washington, but you got it.

Now is anything wrong with that? No, power's wonderful. As long as we handle it properly. But if we don't, if we don't handle proper biblically, if we don't handle it righteously, power will corrupt our characters, power will warp our spiritual senses, and power will lead us to make stupid, disastrous decisions, just like this guy Elemis did.

It will do it. So my question as we close is, what can you and I as followers of Jesus do in this town to insulate our lives from the trappings of power? What can we do so that whatever power and influence God gives us, we can handle it without it destroying our lives? I got three suggestions for you.

Number one. Number one, if we want to handle power in a wholesome, healthy way so it doesn't destroy our lives, number one, we must see all power as a direct gift from God. Psalm 75 says this, not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south comes exaltation, comes power, comes influence.

God is the one who lifts one person up and puts another person down. You know, I saw a car not too long ago. I mean a power car. You know these things. You hear them before you see them.

You understand what I'm talking about. And I saw this thing. I was riding behind it and a guy driving it and he had a big old bumper sticker on the back. And here it just simply said this. It said, I earned it!

Exclamation point. Well, no, I'm sorry. You didn't.

No, you didn't. You might have worked hard and you might have earned the money to buy it, but the position, the authority, the opportunity to make that money and buy that power car is not about you and me. And friends, whatever position you've got today, it's not about you. It's not about your own effort, your own cleverness, your own smarts, your own capacities, your own toughness.

Let me tell you something. There are a lot of people in the world smarter than you, tougher than you and more capable than you, and they're not where you are today. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with God making a sovereign decision to put you where you are today. And that power you've got, that position you've got, that influence you got, it's a sacred stewardship that's been entrusted to you by Almighty God, that you hold only at God's pleasure and, my friend, God can take it away any time He's ready.

It's a stewardship, not an entitlement. And when a person begins to see power like this through the lens of the Word of God, as a stewardship, not as an entitlement, it makes a profound change in our attitude. Suddenly we're not arrogant about it anymore because we realize we didn't do it.

It wasn't us. It was God in His graciousness, in His kindness, picking me or you out of all the other people who, frankly, many of them are a lot more qualified than you and me and given us the positions He's given us, and that produces humility, not arrogance. And, friends, this is important because if the one thing more than anything else that you and I need to handle power without it killing us is humility. You look at every single person whose power is ever destroyed, and I can promise you one thing, they got arrogant, and that's how it happened. Humility comes from recognizing whatever power, influence, and authority we have, it's all at God's gracious gift.

It's not about you and me. It all comes from Him. Second of all, second suggestion is we must remain acutely aware of power's transient nature. Look at Proverbs 23 verse 4. Do not weary yourself to gain riches and power. Wouldn't that be a great life verse for this city? Do not weary yourself to gain riches and power.

Why? For they are quickly gone, the Bible says. They sprout wings and fly off into the sky like an eagle. I remember the story about Katharine Hepburn when she presented an Oscar to Rod Steiger.

She gave him a hug, and as everybody was clapping, she whispered in his ear, she said, enjoy it, buddy, because it doesn't last long. And if you don't believe that's true, you just ask every ex-Republican committee chairman in the Senate if you don't believe that's true. Man, it can be gone just like that. And now if that's the way it really is, then, friends, question, why would we compromise our integrity? Question, why would we hurt and damage people? Question, why would we lie and cheat and connive and deceive to get something we can't even hold onto?

Why would we do that? I believe there are people in this town who really think that power is something they can get, and once they get it, they'll never have to turn it loose. It's not what God says. What did God say? He said it's like it sprouts wings.

It flies off like an eagle into the sky. And being that that's true, and some of you know this, because there's nothing in our world deader than yesterday's executive. Some of us know this. Being that that's true, why would we prostitute our character to get something we can't even hold onto? If we see power biblically, it's not worth that trade. Third and finally, if we want to handle power in a healthy way, we must, third of all, learn to see the purpose of power biblically. I love the story. You remember when Jesus, when the disciples were all fighting about who was going to be the greatest?

Remember that? They all want to know who's going to have the most power. I love what Jesus said to him, Luke 22. He said, the kings of the Gentiles love to lord their power over those who are under them, just like you guys are talking. But as my followers, you are not to live this way. Whoever among you desires to be the greatest. You want power, fellas?

Okay, let me tell you something. Whoever among you desires to have power, he must be the servant of all. Just as I, Jesus said, the Messiah, I didn't come to be served. I came to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. Now let me stop for just a second and say if you're here and you've never trusted Jesus in a real and personal way as your savior, one of the reasons you may not have done that is because you don't really even understand why he came. I mean, if somebody had asked me 30 years ago, why did Jesus come? I'll give you $10,000 right now if you can tell me why Jesus came.

Folks, I could not have claimed the money. I didn't have a clue. I knew something about a cross and I didn't even know anything really about that. And it was only when I began understanding why Jesus came that it made sense to give my life to him. Why did Jesus come? He tells us right here, he came to serve us and give his life as a ransom for you and for me. He came to pay for your wrongdoing and my wrongdoing so we didn't have to pay for it. He came to open the doors of heaven so we could enter in freely because he's the ransom.

We don't have to be the ransom for our own wrongdoing. And now if you're here, you understand why he came. I just explained it to you and the deal that he offers is you trust him as your personal savior.

He will be your ransom and you can walk away free in the sight of God. Why would anybody in their right mind not take that deal? I don't understand. That is the best deal going in the universe.

Why would anybody not take that deal unless they don't understand it? Now you understand it and I hope you'll take it. I hope you'll think about it. But for those of us who are followers of Christ, Jesus' words still have impact regarding what we're talking about. Think about it now. How much power did Jesus have at his disposal?

Power. Say, Lon, what are you, nuts? I mean he said the blind people see and they saw. He said the deaf people hear and they heard. He said the lame people get up and they got up.

He said the dead people come alive again and they came alive again. What do you mean how much power did he have? He had power, unbelievable power. You're right. Now here's my question. Did Jesus ever use that power to benefit himself ever?

Can you think of one example where he ever used it to benefit him? I can't. What did he say here? He said I didn't come to be served. I came to serve you and that's all the power I've got at my disposal.

That's why it's here is so I can use it to help you guys. Folks, that's the biblical view of power, that God doesn't give us power to use on us. God doesn't give us influence and authority to benefit ourselves and see how much of a big shot we can become and see how many resources we can amass. That's a worldly view of power. That's a sinful view of power. The godly view of power is power and influence is given so that I can turn around, you can turn around and use it to help other people.

That's how Jesus used it. And it's only when we see power like this, only when we see it like this, that I believe we can handle power and not become the victim of it. You know, there's a wonderful article in Time Magazine several years ago by a fellow named Stephen Berkless. Stephen Berkless is a professor of psychology at Harvard.

Well, he is. Anyway, he did a study. The title of the article is, The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall. And he did a study on all the people, you and I recognize their names, who amassed enormous amounts of power and influence and wealth and then all self-destructive.

Imelda Marcos, Leona Helmsley, Donald Trump, even Betsky, Michael Milken, Jimmy Swagger, Jim Baker. I mean, all of these are listed in his article. And he tried to see as a psychologist what was it they all had in common, what was this thing that when they got to the top like that and had all this power, they made stupid decisions and self-destructive. You know what he found? He found exactly what we're talking about, that what led to their demise is that instead of seeing all that power and authority as an opportunity to serve others, all they tried to do is consume it on themselves. Listen to what he said. Ask at the end of the article what would have saved these people.

Here's what he said. He said, what is missing in these self-destructive people? Is deep community. See, the one thing, community, you got to serve others. You got to involve others. Deep community or religious activity that goes far beyond just writing a check to a charity.

I can't emphasize the importance of this enough, he says. Go, be part of a community. Subordinate yourself to a greater cause. Serve people with your power.

Serve people with your influence, he said. When we do that, we don't take advantage of people. We don't exploit people and we don't abuse power. Friends, seeing power as an opportunity to help and serve others instead of as an opportunity to benefit ourselves, this is the biblical worldview of power. This is the way Jesus exercised it and this is the only outlook on power that will keep us from becoming a victim of it. Can we go back and close with Francis Bacon's quote? The highest proof of virtue is to possess power without abusing it.

Unbelievable. And that's God's hope for you. That's God's desire for you and for me.

And I want to share something in closing with you. I hope you don't misunderstand my heart or take wrong what I'm about to say. But, you know, coming up this summer, I will have been pastor here at McLean Bible Church 21 years. And I'm hoping to keep going for a while. But I'm smart enough to know one of these days it's going to be over. One of these days the Lord's going to say, that's it, Lon, and he's going to take it away as fast as he gave it to me. I know that day's coming. And I've got some things that I cherish. I've got some aspirations that I cherish for when that time happens. I want to be able to get to that time without punching holes all in the side of my ship.

I want to dock the things safely. I want to stay faithful to my wife. I want to stay faithful to my children and faithful to my family. I want to stay faithful to this church and finish that way. I don't want to do anything that would disgrace Jesus Christ or lead people in this city to point at me and say, see Him. That's why I'm not interested in talking to you about Jesus.

These are some things I cherish. But I'll tell you one other thing I cherish that I'm very serious about, and that is when I'm gone I really hope that it will be true, that it will be authentic to people in this church can say, you know what, I really didn't like some of the decisions he made and I really didn't like the ties that he wore and I really didn't like this or that or the other thing. But one thing I'll say about that guy Solomon, he used the power and the influence God gave him not to advance himself, but he used it to try to help us. He used it to try to serve us. He used it to try to make our lives a little better, to make our families a little better, to help our children grow up to be men and women of God, to make our load a little bit lighter, to give us a little ray of hope.

I mean, he didn't go off trying to be a celebrity around the world. He served us with what God gave him. Folks, I cherish that because to me that's what this is all about.

It's all about using whatever God's given me or you, whatever God's given you to serve other people. And just think, wouldn't it be wonderful if when you retired from your company, wouldn't it be wonderful when you stepped down from your position? Wouldn't it be wonderful when you gave up your office if the people around you could say, well, one thing I'll say about her, one thing I'll say about him, he didn't use all that power on himself. He used it to help us. Can you imagine being paid a higher compliment than that?

I can't. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everybody in the House and the Senate, down on Capitol Hill, wouldn't it be wonderful if that was their attitude? Wouldn't it be wonderful if they said, hey, why don't we use all this power and this authority instead of worrying about getting reelected and worrying about what committee we're on and worrying about how much authority we can carry around and worrying about how much weight we can throw around in the restaurants? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we stayed and worked and saw what we could do for the American people from our heart? Wouldn't it be wonderful?

Well, I know there's a few people up there like that, but wouldn't it be great if they were all like that? Now, we can't change the lives of every congressman and senator in town, but we can change our own lives. And I want us, Jesus wants us, to be a model in this town of how you handle power right. Number one, we handle it humbly because we know it's not about us.

It's about God choosing to give it to us. Number two, we handle it with integrity because we know it's fleeting and it's not worth compromising our integrity to get it. And number three, we handle it as servants, realizing whatever power we've got, we've got it to benefit others, not ourselves. Friends, I'm hoping these three principles will change our life.

And you know what? If you and I live these three principles, then I can handle any amount of power God ever gives us and be safe. Let's pray together.

Lord, thanks for talking to us today about a real Washington subject, power, right down where we live. And Lord, I pray that you would give us through our message today a strategy to live in this town with all the trappings of power around us and be able to live a healthy, wholesome, right life and not allow power to corrupt and hurt us. God, change the way we think. Change our very value system. Change the way we act and the aspirations for our life because we were here today and we learned from the Word of God. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.