Through Many Tribulations We Must Enter the Kingdom

Almost one year ago now, our family was at Universal Studios Resort in Orlando. As everyone knows, the best part was the roller coasters. For some reason we have fun when we put our lives in the hands of someone we’ve never met who will take us on a life-threatening journey with twists and turns and heart stopping drops from incredible heights. But when it comes to real life, it can also be like a roller coaster, but we consider that less fun.

But we have fun in a theme park ride because we know that the person who designed the ride understands all the forces at work to make you feel thrilled and keep you from dying at the same time. If you can learn how those forces work for yourself, it can lead to a joyful experience on the ride.

We have been looking at the community on mission with Jesus in the book of Acts and learning to walk in their footsteps. As we’ll see today, being on mission with Jesus can be a lot like a roller coaster with big ups and downs, twists and turns, and it can feel dangerous. But when we understand that our leader understands all the forces at work on this journey, we can take joy in it and have opportunity to see some amazing things.

The truth is, life is like a roller coaster for all of us. But it can either be a purposeless ride with a very anticlimactic ending, or it can be leading us to fruitful life, joy, and wholeness in the kingdom of God.

Today, we’ll seek to understand three forces Jesus uses that bring us through a dangerous mission, safely into the kingdom of God. The first force at work is...

When God Works, Expect Opposition

Similar to “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” when God acts, there is a reaction from other forces in our world. We see this in our passage,

Acts 14:1–2 (ESV)

Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

We see both a great number of people believing the gospel, and the unbelievers stirring people up and poisoning their minds against Paul and Barnabas. As soon as God starts working in someone’s life, you can expect opposition. When you truly want to love God with a whole heart and follow Jesus obediently, and be filled with the Holy Spirit, you should not expect the world, the flesh, and the devil to like it very much.

Where do we see this in our own lives? We see someone begin to truly follow Jesus. God grants them repentance and faith and the Holy Spirit. And immediately there are problems in their family, their health, their job. Satan is trying to pull them off course.

Or we might see God open a door for the word to us with someone. They express interest in a discovery Bible study. Then they can’t seem to find time in their schedule, and eventually the interest is crowded out.

We can learn two helpful lessons, that are opposite sides of the same coin. One is that when you really begin to listen for God’s voice to obey Jesus, you can expect a hard journey ahead. So, set your expectations accordingly. We should not tell people that following Jesus will make everything better and your life will be easy.

But the opposite side of the coin is this: that if you are following Jesus and it feels like everything is a roadblock right now, don’t be discouraged. Set your expectations accordingly too. This is exactly what you should expect. You should expect that walking by faith is way harder than some people make it look. And if everything is hard right now, you should also expect that God is at work doing something good, so keep your eyes open for that.

This is what we see Paul and Barnabas doing. Verse 1 tells us about the success of the gospel. Verse 2 tells us about the personal opposition. Verse 3 tells us, that even in the face of that opposition,

Acts 14:3 (ESV)

So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

God had some big things He was going to do to confirm the power of the gospel. And if Paul and Barnabas had packed up at the first sign of trouble, they would have missed the whole thing.

But it finally becomes clear it is time to move on. Whey they hear that they are about to be stoned, they discern they can be more effective if they move on. They leave at a low point on the ride, the forces of opposition driving them on, and immediately get raised to an incredible high. At their next city, Lystra, we see another force at work.

When Everybody Loves You, Get Ready to Fall

People in Iconium want to stone Paul and Barnabas. Everyone in Lycaonia want to worship them. God uses them to heal a man who had been crippled his whole life. Everyone immediately thinks their gods, Zeus and Hermes, have come down to them. They are ready to offer them sacrifices. But as the proverb says,

Proverbs 27:21 (ESV)

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

When you are at your height of success, and everyone loves you, it’s okay to anticipate the drop that is coming on the other side. We can remember what happened to Herod when the people praised him as a god. (He was eaten by worms and died.) But Paul and Barnabas pass the test. They run directly to the gospel.

Acts 14:15 (ESV)

“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

It is at this moment that the naysayers arrive. Maybe poor timing. If there are religious Jews already angry with you for preaching Jesus the Messiah, and they were to arrive the moment some Greeks are trying to offer sacrifice to you as a god, their temper is probably going to flare.

And as per usual, the love and affection of a mob is pretty fleeting.

Acts 14:19 (ESV)

But 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.

The Jews from Antioch and Iconium persuade the crowds to stone Paul and drag him from the city to leave him for dead.

So this may be a practical lesson more than a spiritual one. When everybody loves you, give it a minute. There is something very wrong. The people that can be so easily swayed to fall in love with you one minute can be just as easily swayed against you. Better to not listen too much to your own press, good or bad.

But this new trial shows us a twist in this roller coaster ride for Paul and Barnabas.

Acts 14:21 (ESV)

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples,

Many more people are following Jesus in Derbe because Paul was stoned in Lystra. And next Paul will explain the main force at work, gravity itself.

Through Many Tribulations We Must Enter the Kingdom of God

Acts 14:21–22 (ESV)

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 we must enter the kingdom of God.

Luke links these three concepts, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Are these three concepts linked in your own understanding of how you follow Jesus?

Our long history in the west of favor for Christians from our cultural institutions may have eroded our ability to see the connection. We may think that I am strengthened in my soul and encouraged in the faith by going to church. And there is truth in that. Or we may think that strength and encouragement comes from my daily devotions. And there is truth in that. But apparently there is a link in the mind of Paul and Barnabas between being strengthened and encouraged in the faith and tribulation.

In fact, it’s more than a link. It is a necessary element.

Acts 14:22 (ESV)

strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Or as Paul says later,

1 Thessalonians 3:3 (ESV)

that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Or as Jesus Himself said,

John 15:20 (ESV)

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

This is where we see our forces line up. Force 1: When God works, expect opposition. God wants to do big things in your life. He wants you to be consumed in His reality. Which means you have to give up the realities of this world, and the world won’t like it. He wants you to find your life in Christ. And the flesh won’t like to give up the created things it used to find life in. And He wants to direct you into His kingdom and His righteousness, and the devil, the ruler of this world won’t like that. So, you will find opposition at every turn if you really want to enter the kingdom of God.

Force 2: When everyone loves you, you’re about to fall. And as Jesus said, if the world hated Him, we should not expect the world to love us. So if all your press it good, there’s something wrong.

Following Jesus is the same whether you lived in first century Rome or twenty-first century America. Jesus Himself entered the kingdom of God through tribulation, and He calls us to follow where He leads. And His tribulation opened the door for us to enter also. His tribulation on the cross provides forgiveness of sins for anyone who believes. But He then calls us to walk the way of the cross after Him. Because the Christian life is a journey into the kingdom of God, and it requires a death to self to find our life in Christ.

I believe if we do not suffer tribulation at the hands of the world, we can still enter the kingdom by participating in the sufferings of Christ the same way Paul did. By giving ourselves in service for the gospel, we die to self and find ways to lay down our lives so that others may live in Christ. You can see that a little bit in the end of our chapter. Paul and Barnabas head back to Antioch in Syria, where they started. But instead of taking the short route back, they retrace all their steps around the circle they’ve been travelling to strengthen the disciples they had made and appoint leaders for the new churches.

When was the last time you went out of your way to strengthen the faith of another Christian? When have you inconvenienced yourself for the sake of someone else?

One way or the other, tribulation is the only way into the kingdom of God. But here is our hope. We follow Jesus into the kingdom of God. And Jesus promised that we could have peace and tribulation at the same time.

John 16:33 (ESV)

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

In the world we have tribulation, but in Him we have peace. So we take heart. He overcame the world. How? His death was a death to this world and its power, and His resurrection is new life in the kingdom of God here and now.

Communion

Questions for Discussion

What have been your ups and downs this week?

How have you learned to cope with those ups and downs?

How does following Jesus enhance, or in some other way affect the roller coaster ride life?

In what ways have you seen opposition to God’s work in your life? What have you learned from dealing with that?

What have we learned from the book of Acts that is helpful when faced with opposition to evangelism?

What do we learn from Acts 14:22?

How do we take strength and encouragement from the fact that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God? How have you seen this happen in your life? How would you explain this to someone else?

How does the gospel help us understand how tribulation is the way we enter the kingdom of God?

How does that motivate us to be on mission with Jesus? What is the role of community on mission with Jesus as we undergo many tribulations?

How will you respond to this passage this week?