Barnabas and Paul - Part 4 (Acts 14:19-28)

Welcome & Announcements

Special Business Meeting today after AM Worship.

Free movie night on May 26th at Daniel and Natalie’s home at 7pm. We’ll be screening The God Who Speaks (2017). Drinks and snacks will be provided.

On May 21st and May 28th, we’ll be joining New Beginnings Baptist Church at 183 Logan St. in Osceola Mills for worship at 9:30am. There will be a free luncheon after the May 21st service; and there will be no morning worship at 110 E. Pine St. in Philipsburg.

Giving Reminder

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 84:10-12)

Our Call to Worship this morning finishes off Psalm 84, which is a psalm written by the Sons of Korah as a psalm of praise. Please stand and read Psalm 84:10-12 with me, I’ll read the even-numbered verses, please join me in reading the odd-numbered verse. Afterwards, please join me in reciting the Apostles’ Creed.

Psalm 84:10–12 ESV

10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty

Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ,

God’s only begotten Son,

Our Lord,

Who was conceived of the Holy Ghost,

Born of the virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, died, and was buried;

He descended into hell.

On the third day he rose again;

He ascended into heaven,

He is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,

From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The one church

The communion of the saints

The forgiveness of sins,

The resurrection of the body

And the life everlasting. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Old Testament Reading

Genesis 25:19–28 ESV

19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” 24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. 27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

New Testament Reading

Matthew 5:21–26 ESV

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Congregational Singing

Come, Behold the Wondrous Mystery (184)

When Trials Come (79)

Preaching of God’s Word (Acts 14:19-28)

Introduction

If you have your Bible with you this morning, please turn it to Acts 14:19-28.

While you’re turning there, let me get you caught back up to where we are in the book of Acts. Over the past month or so, we’ve been working through Paul’s first missionary journey, which has taken us from Paul and Barnabas leaving Antioch as sent missionaries of the local church to spread the Gospel throughout Cyprus, the other Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. We’ve seen how Paul and Barnabas have proclaimed the Gospel throughout these cities with some repenting and believing in Jesus, most rejecting Jesus, and a few utterly opposing Jesus and the Gospel. Where we’re coming in this week, vv. 19-28 of Acts 14 continues the account of Paul and Barnabas in Lystra before they head back to the original Antioch. Remember, this is the same city in which a lame man is healed and the people of the city mistakenly think that Paul and Barnabas are Greek gods.

They do a somewhat good job at convincing the people that they aren’t Greek gods—though v. 18 says that even with them arguing that they weren’t Greek gods, the people still tried to offer sacrifices to them; and that’s where we’re coming in at in vv. 19-28.

Remember, that up to this point in their travels, the Jewish leadership has been in that small group that absolutely and utterly opposed the Gospel, which is the message that Paul and Barnabas are proclaiming. And the Jewish leaders are essentially keeping tabs on Paul and Barnabas to the extent that they keep stirring up strife as Paul and Barnabas continue their missionary journey in just about every city that they preach in—and that’s what’s about to happen in Acts 14:19-28.

As we study this passage together, we’re going to break it into two section: (1) The Gospel Proclaimed (19-23) and The End of Their Journey (24-28). What we see in these verses is two-fold: we see the commitment of Paul and Barnabas to proclaim the Gospel despite severe persecution and we’re reminded that Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journey wasn’t a journey they took by themselves—it was a journey that they took on behalf of the local church. And really, what we’ll learn from this text is two-fold: first, we’ll learn that the Gospel is absolutely worth dying for and second, we’ll see that the proclamation of the Gospel is worth celebrating.

Prayer for Illumination

The Gospel Proclaimed (19-23)

Our text starts in v. 19 by telling us the result of everything that happened after Paul preached in Lystra, the people assume they’re Greek gods, and Paul and Barnabas have to emphatically tell them otherwise.

It makes sense that Paul and Barnabas would be so emphatic about this because they know that they’re mere men. They aren’t Greek gods, they’re no one special whatsoever—in fact, they would argue that they’re nothing more than representatives or ambassadors for the true King.

The moment that people started to worship them, of course, they’re going to fight against that.

And this is a common sentiment amongst people and even angels who are mistaken throughout the Bible for something more than what they actually are.

So, of course, there’s a bit of a rift there, where the people want to worship Paul and Barnabas despite them telling them that they aren’t Greek gods.

But it isn’t that rift between the people and Paul and Barnabas that causes the most trouble, it’s the Jews from Antioch and Iconium who cause the trouble that we see in vv. 19-28.

“Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.”

Typically, when the Bible utilizes the term Jews like this, it’s typically referring to the Jewish leaders who are charged with leading the nation of Israel.

With that in mind, note how unjust the whole situation is—the Jewish leaders are basically stalking Paul and Barnabas through various places as Paul preaches the Gospel and they’re instigating people or stirring them up against Paul and Barnabas.

If Paul and Barnabas had actually done something wrong, then the Jewish leaders are still acting in unjust ways—because this isn’t how decisions were to be made according to the Law of Moses.

And yet, the Jewish leaders stir up the crowd, stone Paul, and drag him out of the city because they assume they killed him.

What a bleak reception to the good news of Jesus Christ that was caused by the sinfulness of the Jewish people.

Again, consider just how unjust and unrighteous all this is.

Even if Paul and Barnabas were doing something wrong by preaching falsehoods, the way the Jewish leaders handled it was also sinful because they were disobeying the Mosaic Law and how God had taught them to handle issues that they perceived to be sinful.

The fact that they willfully tried to kill Paul goes against the simple command not to murder others; and the methodology where they didn’t bother with a trial and they didn’t bother to gather witnesses goes against Deuteronomy 19.

Of course, we know, despite being stoned, Paul didn’t die; in fact, vv. 20-22, tells us that Paul got back up “and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. [and] When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations they must enter the kingdom of God.” Let’s pause here.

Paul is at the brink of death at the hands of the Jewish leaders—he literally had stones thrown at his body.

He’s bruised, he’s in pain, and he’s sore. You would think that after experiencing this, he might just give up; at the very least, he would maybe take a few days off to rest.

And yet, Paul doesn’t. The very next day, he continues on his journey with Barnabas and he continues to preach the gospel to yet another city.

He goes and proclaims the truth to yet another city despite facing tremendous hardship from the previous city.

He proclaims the truth and he strengthens the souls of the disciples, he encourages them to continue in the faith, and then he gives them a bit of a warning:

That they will face many tribulations as they enter the kingdom of God.

Instead of allowing the tribulation that he faced to discourage him or prevent him from doing what God had called him to do—what does he do?

He continues to proclaim the Gospel.

He strengthens the souls of the disciples, which probably refers to teaching or discipling these believers.

Before encouraging them to continue in their faith.

What does he do? He tells them to continue fighting the good fight and he reminds them that there will be trials and tribulation, but they need to keep persevering and following Jesus.

It is after this that v. 23 tells us that they “appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

Or in other words, before just leaving the new believers in this new city, they made sure that they had good leaders to keep them on the right path.

Note that they didn’t pick just random people for this task. Knowing that this is the same Paul who later writes to Timothy and Titus a pretty important list of qualifications for elders, we can rightly assume that he’s applying those standards to the men they’re appointing as elders in each church here.

In addition, we could rightfully assume that despite the passage not telling us they prayed through the decision-making process, if they take the time to pray and fast when they commit them or ordain them, it’s almost assuredly true that they were praying and fasting before this.

They chose who ought to lead their church and they prayed about it and they fasted about it before ordaining them for the work of the ministry.

The text then ends with five verses that essentially show us the last leg of their journey. It seems almost as if we’re just given a bunch of random details about where all they went as their journey closed, but let me point out something that’s worth noting in the last five verses. Let’s read them together:

The End of Their Journey (24-28)

Acts 14:24–28 ESV

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they remained no little time with the disciples.

In vv. 24-26, we’re told essentially of their directionality—that they passed through Pisidia, then Pamphylia, and Perga before sailing back to the original Antioch that had commissioned them to go on this missionary journey.

In a very real sense, everything is coming full circle.

The same church, which sent them is where they end the missionary journey. And what we see as they make it back and they start to gather the church is this statement that this is the church that sent them to do the work that they’ve now fulfilled or accomplished.

So, they give a report to this church, “they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”

Essentially, what we’re seeing is Paul and Barnabas giving a report to the people in Antioch and really, I think in this report, we see the church in Antioch celebrating what all God had done. Now, you might hear me say that and wonder where exactly I’m getting that idea, so let me explain:

First, the fact that they describe their missionary journey as fulfilling what they had been commissioned or commended to do speaks of a celebratory occasion.

They didn’t fail, they succeeded in what they were sent to do.

Second, in describing all that happened, the Bible says that they “declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door.”

Meaning, there’s a focus here on all that God had done while they were on this journey. They were speaking in light of God’s providential moving in the hearts of the Gentile people.

And they weren’t trying to hide anything or beat around the bush about it—they were very firm in the idea that God did these works.

Meaning, there’s something to celebrate because God did something.

And third, the last verse, “They remained no little time with the disciples.”

Or in other words, after explaining all that God did through them, they spent time with the disciples—a significant amount of time.

That might seem like a minor detail, but think of it like this—if the church in Antioch was unhappy with how Paul and Barnabas did on the first missionary journey—do you think that the disciples in Antioch would want to spend a lot of time with them?

Or do you think that they would send them away as soon as they possibly could?

They’re celebrating all that God did while Paul and Barnabas were on this missionary journey—so they’re hospitable to Paul and Barnabas and Paul and Barnabas stay to chat for a significant amount of time.

David Peterson, “Reviewing their experiences, Paul and Barnabas were able to see the hand of God in everything that had happened. In particular, what God had done through them . . . was to bring many to faith, so that churches were planted and patterns of leadership established over a wide area.” (David Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 416).

This brings us this morning into our application. Remember how I started this sermon by stating that this passage teaches us two very important things? It teaches us that the Gospel is worth dying for and that the proclamation of the Gospel is worth celebrating. And that’s precisely where our application stems from.

Application

We see the idea of the Gospel being worth dying for in the first section vv. 19-23. In this section, we see the Jewish leaders rile up the crowds to the extent that they literally try to murder him—they stone him and drag his (I’d imagine limp) body to the outside of the city and they leave him supposing that he’s actually dead. We then see him get up and the very next day, he’s back to proclaiming the Gospel in various places.

There is literally only one reason why someone who suffered such tremendous physical pain would continue to do what caused these people to abuse him in such a way.

Only someone who thinks that what he’s doing is worthwhile will go through something as heinous and horrendous as being stoned to near death will then go back and do the very same thing again.

We often point out as validity for the resurrection that if the disciples were lying about the resurrection, they’d just recant the moment someone told them that they were going to die if they didn’t.

Likewise, if Paul didn’t think the Gospel was worth proclaiming despite nearly dying, he wouldn’t have continued preaching it.

There are a plethora of examples of this working out in people’s lives and deaths—if you want to see these examples, pick up a copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs or check out Voice of the Martyrs.

There are literally people dying every day because they believe the Gospel is worth proclaiming even in war-torn, persecution-heavy, anti-Christian countries and cities.

There are literally people dying today because they refuse to stop proclaiming the Gospel.

Now, let’s turn this inwardly. I think we would all readily admit that the Gospel is worth dying for in word, but what about in deed?

I think we would all say that we would die for the cause of Jesus Christ because we understand that the Gospel is worthwhile, but let’s consider how we act and react when our lives aren’t in danger.

For instance, how many of us don’t even bother proclaiming the Gospel when there is no threat of physical pain, suffering, or death?

How many of us don’t even bother to talk with others about Jesus let alone how Jesus has worked in our lives to save us?

How often is the reasoning for refusing to speak the truth in love simply out of a misguided fear of man? We’re more concerned with what people think about us or what they would think of us the moment that we mention anything about religion?

We say that the Gospel is worth dying for, but the moment the possibility of us proclaiming the Gospel might be uncomfortable, we clam up and we don’t say a word.

The reality is, the majority of self-proclaimed Christians cannot say Romans 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel.” and actually mean it.

The reality is that the majority of self-proclaimed Christians act ashamed of the Gospel because they place more concern in what others think than in proclaiming the truth.

Or in other words, they say that the Gospel is worth dying for, but they aren’t even willing to live for the Gospel let alone die for it.

Our application is actually rather simple—the Gospel is truly worth dying for. If you believe this, then live like it.

In the second section, we see Paul and Barnabas return to the church in Antioch to give their final report. They tell the church about the work that God accomplished in them and through them by opening the door to the Gentile people. And what we see is this local church essentially celebrate all that God had accomplished in and through Paul and Barnabas.

The reality is, anytime the Gospel is proclaimed, it’s worth celebrating.

And I quite literally mean anytime—just about every sermon I preach, I tie the Gospel in. I try to make it abundantly clear in every sermon that I preach that every person is in need of a Savior and Jesus is the Savior who saves. All you need to do is repent, believe, and follow Him.

That simple Gospel presentation is worth celebrating, but you don’t need to stand behind a podium or pulpit to make a Gospel presentation worth celebrating.

Any instance that you, as a believer, open your mouth and try to proclaim the simple, Gospel truth is worth celebrating—even when people don’t respond to the truth.

You are called to proclaim the Gospel, but you can’t control how people respond to it.

The local church in Antioch celebrated the simple truth that Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the Gospel to everyone they possibly could while they journeyed as missionaries. Anytime the Gospel is proclaimed, it’s worth celebrating.

And I quite literally mean anytime—you don’t need to be a missionary for your Gospel proclamation to be worth celebrating. You don’t need to travel to unknown lands and learn foreign languages for your proclamation of the Gospel to be worth celebrating.

Any instance that you, as a believer, open your mouth and try to proclaim the simple, Gospel truth is worth celebrating—even when people don’t respond to the truth.

Paul proclaims the Gospel and is stoned to near death and then he gets back up and continues to proclaim the Gospel. Anytime the Gospel is proclaimed, it’s worth celebrating.

And I quite literally mean anytime—you don’t need to face near death situations as the result of your proclamation of the Gospel.

Any instance that you, as a believer, open your mouth and try to proclaim the simple, Gospel truth is worth celebrating—even when people don’t respond to the truth.

Do you get it? Our application is rather simple—the proclamation of the Gospel is worth celebrating. Celebrate every instance that the Gospel is proclaimed.

Put simply, what we learn from Acts 14:19-28 is two-fold. The Gospel is worth dying for and the proclamation of the Gospel is worth celebrating—so you need to live like the Gospel is worth dying for and you need to celebrate every time the true Gospel is proclaimed accurately and in live.

The Gospel is worth dying for—don’t just say it, but live it; and celebrate when the Gospel is proclaimed.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

At the Cross (284)

The Lord’s Supper

At this time, we’re going to partake in the Lord’s Supper together. Let me just explain a few details before we pass out the elements:

This is the Lord’s Supper and at Grace & Peace we practice an open communion, which simply means that regardless of your membership status here—whether you are a church member or you aren’t, you are more than welcome to partake with us just as long as you have genuinely repented from your sins and have believed in Jesus Christ. Of course, parents, you are free to determine whether your children ought to partake, but let me encourage you to stray on the side of caution if you’re uncertain.

The Lord’s Supper is meant to be a somber reflection or memorial of the death of Jesus Christ to atone for your sins. As such, there is a warning that Paul gives to those who partake in the Lord’s Supper.

He states in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 that anyone who takes part in the Lord’s Supper needs to first consider their own hearts. He warns that if you are to partake in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, you’ll be guilty concerning the body and blood of Jesus Christ. He states that some who have taken the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner have gotten physically ill and some have even died.

We understand partaking in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner to mean that you either partake in the Lord’s Supper despite knowing that you’re in unrepentant sin or you take it flippantly.

So I would encourage you to seriously consider your heart—repent of any sin that you may be holding onto, and take the Lord’s Supper seriously.

We’ll have two people passing out the elements and I can assure you that neither one of them are watching to see if you partake—this is truly between you and God.

As we pass out the plates, you’ll notice that every cup is really two cups that are stacked on-top of one other. You will need to take both cups, as the bottom cup holds the bread and the top cup holds the juice.

When you receive the elements, please hold onto them and wait for everyone else to receive their elements so that we can partake in the Lord’s Supper together.

At this time, we’re going to take a about a minute to quietly pray, to reflect, and to repent if necessary—we’ll then pray corporately before the elements are passed out.

Tom, can you pray for the Lord’s Supper?

“On the night [that our Lord Jesus] was betrayed [He] took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

“In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Congregational Singing

Psalm 23 (168)