Do Not Stop Sharing the Gospel

Do Not Stop Sharing the Gospel

Acts 14:1-28

LaFayette Baptist Church

07/28/2024

By: Jacob Winters

Introduction

Scripture

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

14 In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders. 4 But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them, 6 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside. 7 There they continued preaching the gospel.

8 In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth. 9 He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.

11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.

14 The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting, 15 “People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.[a] 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way, 17 although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

19 Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. 20 After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

21 After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the[b] disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” 23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

24 They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent a considerable time with the disciples.

Context

This week we are coming back into our regular sermon series through the book of Acts. This is where I expect we will be for the rest of the year, at least up until advent/Christmas time. As I mentioned before, This week, next week, and the following week (when Emily and I will be out of town for her graduation) will be bigger blocks of scripture than usual. So, it would be a good idea for you to go ahead if you haven’t already to read chapter 15 and the first bit of 16 as well on your own.

It’s been a little while, so it’s important to remember some important context of this book of The Bible called Acts, or your bible may say The Acts of Apostles. This of course is the historical account of what happened with the Apostles and the Early church after Jesus’ ascension back into heaven. This book was written by Luke to an early Christian named Theopholis, to whom the Gospel of Luke was written as well. So close and intertwined are these two books (Luke and Acts), that many very old Bible’s included them together as one large book instead of the two separate we have today.

Acts has three sort of grand divisions of theme within it. These themes are: The gospel going to Jerusalem (the folks nearby for the early church), the gospel going to Samaria (the folks like us in many ways but are a little further away), and the Gospel going out to the ends of the World (that is, it being shared and spread as far is it could go. We are sort of newly in the final division, of it going out to the ends of the world as in chapter 13, Barnabas and Paul were called out and set aside by the Holy Spirit for a Special work at doing. Now, in chapter 14, we get to continue to read about what they did as they surrendered to God’s call to go and do so.

One thing to know, is that even though these two apostles/missionaries were called to go on a particular and special mission, all believers are called on mission by God. This mention is of course to go and spread the good news of Jesus yourself. We, you included, myself included, are all told to go and make disciples (followers of Jesus). Not all of us will go among the nations, but we all have neighbors, we all have friends and family, we all have stores we go to, and we all have various work places or appointments to make. As you go, all throughout the bible their is the clear expectation for the believer that he or she would share Jesus to the best of their ability. This of course, is not easy. It’s not supposed to be easy, it may give you joy, yes, but it is hard and you will have hardship in doing so. Just look at Paul and Barnabas, two of Jesus’ apostles who’s very actions are recorded time and time again, are enduring hardship, persecution, attacks, and even death threats. We can reasonably expect that while in the US for now, we will not have the worst of those, but we should expect some difficulty. What i’m saying is that, An on task believer will receive and should expect many hardships as they share the gospel. None the less, when you share the Gospel and have hardship and persecution, keep going, don’t give up, Do not stop sharing the Gospel; even when it seems like you have a lot to lose or you don’t want to rock the boat. So, let’s dive in and From the text, I want you to see and understand these truths as you share The Gospel.

Message

The first truth to see and understand is that: Persecution Doesn’t Mean Stop (1-7)

At the end of chapter 13, Paul and Barnabas were in the town of Antioch. As would become and unfortunate theme, the Jews (who should have accepted and thought of Paul and Barnabas as friends and family) rejected this good news of Jesus because it included salvation for the gentiles (meaning anyone who wasn’t a Jew by birth). Paul and Barnabas made disciples there, but were kicked out by the Jews and moved on to Iconium. Unfortunately, much the same happened in Iconium. Yes, many Jews and gentiles were converted, but it’s clear from the text that their was at least a good sized group that rejected this message. This was of course an outright rejection of God, as The Holy Spirit had even allowed for Paul and Barnabas to do miracles before the people. So, the town was divided between those that did believe in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus and those that rejected it. The side against, had the evil of Satan and his many lies fill their hearts and they, they hatched a plan. They (the unbelieving Gentiles, Jews, and rulers) would beat them and stone them. Paul and Barnabas would learn of this, and left to go to the towns of Lystra and Derbe. Pay attention to what the last verse says after all this happened to them, it says, “ 7 There they continued preaching the gospel.”

I trust each and every one of us here has come across a traffic light before right? What do we usually call them instead of traffic lights? Red lights. Now it goes without saying, but there isn’t just a red light at traffic lights. There are two others, green lights (meaning go), yellow lights (which mean either proceed with caution or be prepared to stop depending on the state you live in), and of course the name sake red light (which means stop). Even though sometimes we may not want to follow them, we all know that lights are given to protect us from wrecks and direct traffic flow. They tell us what to do and the best way to proceed.

Paul and Barnabas understood, and you have to as well, that receiving or though of receiving hardship, is in no way a red light when it comes to sharing their faith and telling others the good news about Jesus. In fact, most of the time it is still a green light, sometimes it could be a yellow light. That yellow light, by the way doesn’t mean stop, it just means adjust what you are doing. For them, they stayed with the green light as long as they could, then the very threat of death was a yellow light, which for them meant adjust so they went to new towns, where they continued preaching the gospel. By the way, that word preach here, doesn’t mean preach like I’m doing right now, this word means to evangelize or share the gospel. Hardships don’t mean stop….. They mean either keep going or adjust what you are doing, but it never means stop. So believer, you have to know, it is normal to be scared to share the gospel, it is normal to rock the boat, it is normal to experience discomfort, arguments, and a turning against you by the people that Satan has a hold of. So, don’t let this discourage or keep you from sharing the gospel with those that you are afraid to. Know that An on task believer will receive and should expect many hardships as they share the gospel. Enduring it, is part of your calling as a child of God. Do what you must if you have adjust, but Do not Stop Sharing The Gospel. Persecution doesn’t mean stop.

Another truth to see and understand is that: Evil Will Not Stop (8-20)

While in Lystra (which by the way is the town that Timothy and his family lived in) Paul saw a man who could not walk who had faith to be healed by them, and because of His faith in the Lord Jesus was made well. The crowds saw this, this miracle, and for lack of a better term, they went crazy. They believed that two of their most important so called gods had come to visit them. As folklore stories told them, Zeus and Hermes had visited the town once before, and those that took them in and cared for them, those that paid homage to them were blessed. And all of these people, wanted that special blessing from their so called gods. So, they praised Paul and Barnabas and tried to offer sacrifice to them. As we would and should expect, Paul and Barnabas were deeply grieved by this and did their best to calm down the crowd, telling them they were not gods, there is only one God, and by the way let me tell you about Him. Then, just as they were about to get to good part, before they could give the gospel presentation, they were stopped. You see, angry and hate filled Jews from their previous two visits of Antioch and Iconium had followed them, looking to bring harm to them. They stirred up the crowds and had Paul dragged out of the city stoned until they thought he was dead. The disciples that were there with them, thinking he was dead, gathered around them and in a miraculous way Paul stood up and went into to town again, stayed the day and then went to another town called Derbe.

Satan, Sin, Evil, will not stop at their task of keeping people from hearing the good news of forgiveness of sin from Jesus, making a mockery of God, and keeping glory away from Him. Unfortunately, this very week on a global scale we saw that in huge fashion for all the world to see. I am talking of course, about the reenactment of The Last Supper by drag queens and children dressed in drag. This of course, was done to mock Jesus in a way that everyone world wide would understand. And the people looked on, the crowds cheered, and the cameras rolled. Even on the most visible levels, Satan does not shy away from hiding himself. He lurks both in the shadows of the room and the well lit center of it, so you must keep your eyes open for the enemy at all times.

The Enemy, Evil will not stop. In Paul and Barnabas case, it led people to walk on short notice at minimum 20 miles, in some people’s case almost 100 miles to see and cause harm to the apostles. Driving, that isn’t so impressive. But walking for 100 miles means a minimum of 24 hours if you keep a good pace. We can assume more because they needed provision. In our current day example, we knew it took at minimum months or years of planning. For you, we know we may endure a life time of alienation from family members that you love because Satan has influenced their heart against you as a child of God so much, you may endure financial hardships for long periods of time because you refused lie/cheat/steal in your job even though others do, you may endure drunken or inebriated phone calls so that go something like this, “You think you’re better then me don’t you? Because of all that God stuff.” Your chief sin and vice will poke you at the worst time and bring you down. Believers should expect these things all through their life. You should expect these things all throughout your life, because Evil Will Not Stop. Keep going though beloved, and know An on task believer will receive and should expect many hardships as they share the gospel. What you feel, your fear, and your flesh fighting against you is normal, but the Holy Spirit will enable you to overcome it all; So Do Not Stop Sharing The Gospel.

The next truth to see and understand is that: Hardship Will Not Stop (21-28).

After all that, look at what verse 21 says, it says, 1 After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,. Yep, what did they do after evangelizing in Derbe… They. Went. Right. Back to those towns that rejected them and tried to have them killed. That’s defiantly what the fleshful person would not do. So then, why did they do it? So that they could strengthen the disciples and teach them in their faith. They taught them that, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” As they just had. And they strengthened and appointed leaders for the young churches that started with the believers in those towns. After doing this, they passed through the region heading back to the sea, sharing the good news as they could until they sailed back to Antioch where their missionary journey started in Antioch, ending what many scholars believe was a 4-10 or 6-9 month, at most a year long journey that saw many new believers come to faith and several young churches planted. When they returned, they shared everything with the church in Antioch which they were sent from. They shared all the good reports, how the gospel was shared with gentiles and Jesus was honored and glorified. There, they stayed for a time. They knew of course, and had come to expect, that hardship will not stop and not long after hardship would find them in Antioch.

It’s natural to not want hardship, to not want things to be difficult. But a mature person knows that at any point in life some kind of hardship is just around the corner even if you are in the thick of things. We used to have saying where I grew up when something bad happened, and that was, “Get ready, these come in 3’s.” Meaning, you have this one, another one is coming, and there is another one behind that one as well. To not believe that you are in or are about to not be in some kind of hardship, is foolish and something that only exists in ignorant or wishful dreams. Now, the hardship may be different or in varying degrees of your ability to handle cope and handle it, but it’s foolish to believe that so long as we lived on this Earth that is covered by curse of sin that any kind of peace be it personal, national, or global is long lived.

Paul and Barnabas taught on this to the believers in Antioch, and they leave a rich warning for us to remember today, that Hardships Will Not Stop. That is, not until your life ends or Jesus returns for the person that has put their faith in Christ. For the person that has not, then they will face an eternity of hardships and punishment beyond our own ability to understand. So believer, know that the hardships that you are in or that are before you are temporary, remember what taught us and the disciples he sent out in Matthew 10, “8 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Don’t fear other people no matter what they may do, don’t fear what they can or will do you. Fear Satan and the punishment for sin, the punishment for a person that has not turned to Jesus; eternal separation from God and eternal hurtful and burning punishment. Know that when you take that risk believer, when you take that risk to share the good news of Jesus Christ death paying the penalty for your sin if you accept His offer of forgiveness, every time you share that; your heavenly Father is looking on at your happily and proud of you, son or daughter, and at the end of the day, all that matters for the believer is hearing those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But you, are more than just a servant, you are a well loved and adopted child of the God. Until that day, until you see Him in the fullness of His Glory, know that Hardship will not Stop, so An on task believer will receive and should expect many hardships as they share the gospel. So, go and do and understand just that.

Conclusion

Beloved, it doesn’t take much to see that being a Christian is scary work and a difficult thing. That’s because it’s not supposed to be, and doing so isn’t supposed to be pleasing. Jesus taught us to go the narrow way, to enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. None the less, a few or as many as will find, it is our jobs each and every one of us, to give people to the information that they need to find the path. That is, to share the good news of Jesus with them. While you do that though, know you will come across hardship and difficulty, but remember these things that Paul and Barnabas showed us as they fulfilled their missional calling that, Persecution Doesn’t Mean Stop (1-7),Evil Will Not Stop (8-20), Hardship Will Not Stop (21-28). Know that Do not stop sharing the Gospel, it is your calling.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.