Day 2 – Mission to Minister To The Persecuted Church
Schedule: Travel from Abu Dhabi to Chennai, India
Time: Depart Oct 15th at 5:50 AM CDT arrive Oct 15th 10:40 AM CDT (9:10 PM India)
Expect Opposition to The Gospel and Christianity
Acts 13 describes how Paul and Barnabas left from Antioch on their first missionary journey. When you read the biblical account it’s important to realize that God’s word doesn’t doesn’t tell us every detail about everything that happened on that journey. There are many details that are left out. The details that are included are important. In this first story God emphasizes that we should expect opposition to the Gospel.
The first stage of their journey is briefly described in Acts 13:4-12. They traveled to Cyprus and proclaimed the Word there. It doesn’t appear that they had a very successful beginning to their journey. The main thing that’s highlighted in the text is that they faced opposition. There was a man named Elymas who opposed them. Here’s what the text says,
6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
It shouldn’t surprise any of us to think we will be opposed when we try to do things for God. The world hated Jesus and killed Him, we should expect no less John 15:18. Christians in the two countries where we are going on our missionary journey face strong opposition. India is considered a hostile nation to Christianity and Egypt a restricted nation. Click here for more information.
Things turned out well for Paul and Barnabas but we can’t do what Paul did when we face opposition (He made Elymas blind). It’s probably a good thing we can’t do that. A majority of the country of India might be walking around blind if we had the same power as Paul had!
We can still learn from what happened. Here are three things we can learn about opposition to the the Gospel ministry from this story.
3 Observations About Opposition To The Gospel
- Even if God leads you to do something, you may still face opposition.
- Opposition to the Gospel is intentional. Some actively try to prevent other people from believing.
- There is nothing to be afraid about regarding opposition.
Do you face opposition for being a Christian? Don’t stop what you’re doing. Press on!
Most Christians in the USA don’t face opposition. We are spoiled in the USA. Opposition hasn’t been as overt as other countries. It is growing. We need to expect it and not let it slow us down at all. And of course, we need to be praying for our brothers and sisters who are suffering right now from opposition to Christianity.
Prayer requests for me and Caleb:
- safety in travel
- adjusting to the Indian time zone, 10 ½ hours ahead of the USA.
I am writing this from our airplane somewhere over Greenland! I love technology!
If you have a question or comment or just want to say “Hi” please do so below.
