How to be Effective in Service

Published by Stanley Pouw in 2016 · 4 December 2016

Coming Acts 14, we study the continuing story of Paul and Barnabas, who are on their first missionary journey to the Gentiles. What really makes somebody effective in the service of Jesus Christ? Here Paul and Barnabas just in their ministry make it obvious what are the qualifications and the qualities. This is not a lecture; it is a living illustration. And there are at least eight qualifications of effective service.

The first quality of an effective missionary was they were ministering using their spiritual gifts. We saw at first four prominent gifts. They both exhibited the gift of preaching or prophesy. They also had the gift of teaching in verse 21. They had a third gift, exhorting in verse 22, “Strengthening the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith." Then a fourth gift in verse 23, the gift of administration.

1 Peter 4:10 says, “As every man has received the gift, so let him minister the same as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Really effective Christian service then begins with the ministry of your spiritual gifts. Pray about it, ask God about it, be filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God will automatically do it through you, if you're available. God wants you to know your gift and He wants you to minister.

The second thing we saw in effective ministry was boldness in verses 1 to 7. They knew there was brewing a persecution. Verse 2 says, “Unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.” Well, they knew this was going on, but it never deterred them because they were bold. It never hindered them from preaching the gospel. They didn't hesitate to declare what they believed to be true.

The third thing that is so necessary and basic to Christian service is divine power. They did everything in the power of God and we saw the illustration of the healing of the lame man in verses 8-10, how Paul spoke and he was healed. God's power flowed through Paul in the area of preaching, teaching, exhorting and administrating as he ordained the elders. They didn't do it in their own strength.

Ephesians 6:10 says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” Where do we get that power? Ephesians 3:16 says, “you would be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” In other words, the strength for that is the Spirit in the inner man.

Paul, as he was filled with the Spirit of God, saw power flow in his life, and it flowed unrestricted. Now, this power you get it when you get saved. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given you a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind.” God gives you His Holy Spirit but the power doesn't flow until you live under the control of the Holy Spirit. Some people are like a big automobile engine, but they are unable to locate the ignition switch.

Let's go to the fourth thing and let's pick it up where we left off last time. You take somebody whose gifts are really functioning and who has boldness and divine power really flowing and you know what the temptation is? It's very easy to be tempted to be proud. It is difficult sometimes to acknowledge that it is all totally God's power.

So the first thing you have here is a great illustration of humility. And every really effective ministry is a ministry of humility. It has to be that way. Now humility isn't something where everybody walks all over you and you go around saying, "I'm nothing." Humility is simply this, it is knowing that everything that happened for the good was God, and everything that happened for the bad was you.

God resists the proud and He fights them. But what does he do for the humble? James 4:6 and 10, says, “God resists the proud, gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves before the Lord and in the right time, He will lift you up." Jesus said in Matthew 18:4, “Whosoever shall become as this little child, shall become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Humility is a necessity.

Here comes the temptation. Verse 11, “Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” They believed an old story in Lystra for many years. One time, Zeus and Hermes, two gods, came to earth in disguise, to the town of Lystra, and they asked for a place to stay and something to eat, and everybody refused them.

Except two people: an old man Philemon and his wife Baucis. They fed them, kept them, so forth. And the whole town was punished by those two gods, they killed everyone. But Philemon and Baucis were made the guardians of a beautiful temple and when they died, they had the honor of being turned into two great trees. Now that story was the tradition of Lystra.

Now, here come two guys and they do that miracle and immediately everybody thinks, "Uh-oh, Zeus and Hermes are back. We are not going to blow it this time." Verse 12-13, “And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.”

Paul and Barnabas didn't know what was going on. The Spirit puts a footnote in verse 11, "saying in the Lycaonian language" because Paul and Barnabas couldn't speak Lycaonian and they did not know what was happening. Satan is so subtle. In the town before, he wanted to kill them. This time, he wants to make them a god. Sometimes pride is more devastating than persecution. Pride ruins all evangelical efforts.

Well, they finally found out what was going on. Verse 14-15, “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things?” Outside the city was the temple to Zeus and if the gods had descended, they were to be honored, and so they brought the oxen, to get them ready for sacrifice.

When they discovered that the town was planning a ceremony to honor them as gods, they really got upset. They didn't want any of the world's fame. They saw that as blasphemy. How do we know that? Because it says Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes. That was a Jewish thing, a sign of desecration. That was a token that something was blasphemous. They showed that they were not false teachers.

Do you know how to tell a false teacher? Inevitably, a false prophet wants to build a cult around himself that exalts him and you see that all the time. Jesus said there's a test for that. In John 7:18 He says, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true.” Jesus said in John 7:28-29, “I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.

Well, Paul cried out further in verse 15, “We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.” You know who they worshiped? Paul says, "Stop worshiping useless things and turn to the living God who created everything that exists."

Verse 16, “Who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.” In other words, God did not fully pour out judgment on the Gentile nations because they did not have the same revelation Israel had and the principle is to whom much is given much is required (Luke 12:48). So in the Old Testament, we see Israel being judged. Now at times we see Gentile nations being judged, but they were not judged harshly.

Some say, “They don't know that God." No, they do, here it says that everyone knows that God. Any person in this world is responsible for the knowledge of God, for God has written it in their conscience, God has revealed it in the creation, and God continues to reveal it in providence.

Verse 17, "Nevertheless, He left not Himself without witness in that He did good, and gave rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Romans 1:19-20 says, “Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

So Gentiles didn't have the written law, but some lived up to the conscience that God had placed within them. But a person can also say, "I reject the God whose knowledge is innate” and then he/she has to accept the consequence. So this is the first example of Paul's Gentile sermons. Well, what happened in result of the sermon? Verse 18, “And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.”

What were the characteristics then of Paul and Barnabas? First of all, a ministry of gifts, boldness, power, humility and one more persistence. This is the "never say die" attitude. Well, they apparently hung around Lystra for a while. And then verse 19 says, “Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.”

There was enough Roman law to scare them, so they thought Paul was dead after they had crushed him with stones. This indicates that the Jewish people did the execution because Gentiles didn't stone people. He looked like he was dead, so they hauled him out to the dump and threw him there, hoping nobody would find his body.

The same bunch that threw the rocks at him was the same bunch that was saying these are gods. How soon they forgot the miracle. Disillusioned fanatics are easily led into contradictory action. Disillusioned people grow sullen and bitter, and usually they take out their resentments on the one who spoiled their illusion. It was real mob violence.

But look what happened in verse 20, “However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.” Where did the disciples come from? From fruitful ministry. Do you know who three of them were? "There's no names there." Yeah, but the names come later: Lois, Eunice and Timothy. They were saved out of that community (Acts 16:1-2).

"When the disciples gathered around him, he rose up." Was that a miracle? Definitely! But what is more amazing is the next statement, “And he went into the city.” That is persistence. He was not finished yet. The slight interruption had only delayed him a matter of a few hours and he had apparently communicated to these disciples about courage or they would have been afraid to stand out there with him either.

“And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.” Wow, anybody else would need at least a couple of days to recover, but not Paul. The next day he went; no time to waste. Barnabas couldn't believe it probably. Paul, you've just been stoned yesterday. It's a 30-mile hike to Derbe. But they went the next day. Now that is real persistence.

Verse 21, “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and taught many, they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch.” He didn't rest at all, because when God raises you up, He also restores you completely. Derbe was the first city they'd been to they hadn't started a riot, so God did give him a bit of a rest. There's something wonderful about that, because Paul never lost a day.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Spiritual maturity has a lot to do with how you use your time. "To redeem" is in the middle voice which means "buy up for yourself, time." Not chronos, clock time, but kairos, opportunity. We call a man a fool who throws away money. The Bible calls a man a greater fool who throws away time.

I know people who have said, "I would like to teach something." And they do it for a short time and then I hear from them, "I can't come at that hour, or I don't have time for that." What happens to persistence? Where is that "never say die" commitment that says, "No matter what happens, I believe God wants me here. I'm going to go against all odds. I give it my all."

Well, Paul never got side-tracked, he just redeemed every opportunity. It didn't matter if he was stoned till he was almost dead. Philippians 4:11-13 says, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” How about you? Are you learning from the example that Paul sets for us? Three more attributes we need to learn next week. Let us pray.