Forward Together Across Galatia

Acts: Forward Together  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  52:14
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Review

Turn to Acts 14.
Acts chapter thirteen revealed that it is God’s owner’s manual on local church reproduction. It showed us that God’s heart is for people to believe on Jesus Christ for salvation and for more Bible-preaching churches to be planted. That is exactly the methodology that Paul and Barnabas used as they travelled from Antioch and across to Cyprus and then to modern day Turkey.
They loved the Lord Jesus.
They preached the Lord Jesus.
And they planted churches that would exalt the Lord Jesus.
That’s our vision. That’s our desire. That’s our mission as a church as we continue into the years ahead.

Message

Today we are going to continue following Paul and Barnabas and their team on their first missionary journey.
Next slide here: ministry in Cyprus
After sailing from Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas began traveling in the Roman province of Galatia. Its borders adjusted over time, but it seems to have included portions of Lycaonia, Phyrgia, and Pisidia. Some of these regions are identified on the map.
Next slide here: map of Perga, Antioch Pisidia, etc
Does Galatia sound familiar to you? It should, because Paul would later write a letter to the Galatians.
The churches that Paul and Barnabas would start on this missionary journey would later be the recipients of that letter. In fact, because of the problems that Paul deals with in the letter, it seems that it was written in between Acts chapters 14 and 15.
I’ve entitled today’s message Forward Together Across Galatia.
Next slide here:
Forward together, enduring resistance - Acts 14:1-7.
Read Acts 14:1-7.
As Luke guides us through the history of Paul’s ministry, he presents the facts so candidly that I’m afraid we can miss the deep emotion, the gravity, and the significance of what happened in just the first seven verses of this chapter.
We’re used to modern journalists who, when they tell a story about something, they color it with emotion, bias, and opinion. Luke, on the other hand, simply gives the facts as they happened and leaves it for us to put ourselves in their shoes.
The tests of faith that Paul and Barnabas experienced here would have provided enough material for best selling autobiographies. As they traveled on their first missionary journey, they endured test after test. This would be Paul’s experience for the rest of his life. He gave a summary of these things in 2 Corinthians 11.
2 Corinthians 11:24–27 KJV 1900
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Although much is left unsaid, these were the types of things that Paul and his team was experiencing as they travelled and preached the Gospel.
As they attempted to go forward together across Galatia, one word can be used to summarize what they felt with every step, every day: RESISTANCE!
For most of Acts chapter thirteen, we read about their ministry in Antioch of Pisidia but towards the very end, Paul and Barnabas are forced to depart and travel to Iconium, where Acts 14 picks up the story.
Iconium was an old city. It claimed to be older than Damascus, which is first mentioned all the way back in Genesis chapter fourteen. Iconium was a within the borders of the Roman Empire, but it was governed by a local assembly of citizens. Paul and Barnabas began to preach at the synagogue and many Jews and Gentiles believed on Jesus Christ. God allowed them to perform many miracles as confirmation that the Gospel message was backed by the power of God. But the resistance to their ministry quickly became strong as hearts and minds began to turn against them. The unbelieving Jews managed to get the ruling class on their side. The assembly of citizens was a Greek democracy where the will of the majority overruled the minority. In this case, the apostles and the new believers became the minority. The unbelievers instigated a riot, mistreated the apostles and would have stoned them, but they fled for their lives to Lystra and Derbe. There, they started the process all over again and began preaching the Gospel.
Based on what Paul says in his letters to the Corinthians, I imagine that they asked themselves whether it was worth it. I’m guessing they wondered deep within themselves if they really wanted to keep going forward. I think it’s safe to assume that they counted the cost and asked themselves if they were willing to pay the price of serving Jesus Christ!
Luke doesn’t tell us if they had those thoughts here, but he does tell us this: they endured the resistance and kept going forward! They moved on and kept preaching the Gospel! They didn’t quit and go home!
Application: Christian, how much resistance does it take to stop you? When you are faced with any form of resistance as a Christian, how quickly do you wave the white flag and quit on God? How easily do you stop believing the promises that your Heavenly Father has made to you?
I’m not sure what resistance you are facing, Christian, but I doubt I have to name it. You probably know exactly what it is.
How much resistance can you take? How much pressure can you endure before your faith breaks and you cease to trust God?
Proverbs 24:10 KJV 1900
If thou faint in the day of adversity, Thy strength is small.
I have no doubt that you can look back at your life since you’ve been saved and you can think of different seasons of resistance that you have endured - different seasons where you were under intense pressure and where many times you felt like caving under that pressure.
For my wife and I, seeing God lead us through ministry transitions has been one of those times. Saying “goodbye” to everything you have known and loved - everything that you count on for stability in life - and leaving it behind is hard. Getting a rental one week before we were scheduled to start up here was hard. You discover in that moment that God is your one unchanging Rock. But seeing God bring us here and do it all over again is far better than living outside the will of God.
Kaylee’s stay in NICU was another one of those times of pressure - especially for Jana. It was only for a few days, but when you’re under the pressure it feels like eternity.
Waiting for a year a half on God to provide a house was another time of feeling that resistance. Waiting that long wasn’t our first choice. Neither was it Paul and Barnabas’ choice to get kicked out of these cities!
I mention these personal experiences not for point of comparison. The Bible says that if we compare ourselves among ourselves we are not wise. Don’t compare your trials with someone else’s. My point is this: if you are a Christian, you will face resistance like Paul and Barnabas did. You must endure!
2 Timothy 2:3 KJV 1900
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
If you don’t endure the resistance, you cannot move forward and do greater things for God! If Paul and Barnabas did not endure, the first missionary journey would have ended at Iconium and Lystra and Derbe would have been left unreached. Furthermore, there would be no first and second Timothy in our New Testament. We’ll see this later on in the book of Acts, but Timothy was from Lystra.
Christian, you must endure resistance in all its forms.
As Paul and Barnabas moved forward together across Galatia, they moved forward together, enduring resistance.
Secondly…
Next slide here:
Forward Together, trusting the living God - Acts 14:8-20.
Read Acts 14:8-20.
Next slide here: map of Perga, Antioch Pisidia, etc
One day these pagans are worshipping Paul and Barnabas as gods, the next day they are throwing stones at him. They may have stoned him to death. Shows you how fickle and degenerate human beings can be.
Paul and Barnabas face even greater resistance, but notice what they tell the pagans to do. They tell them to turn unto the living God! Paul and Barnabas basically say, “Hey! You need to do what we’re doing! You need to start trusting the living God! He’s the one that showers mercy and goodness upon us! We’re just men! We can’t do much in our own strength, but He’s the giver of life! He is all strength!”
Application: If you want to endure resistance, you must turn to the living God! He must be your hope and confidence. Choose to trust God through the pressure!
Isaiah 40:29–31 KJV 1900
He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.
Oh, God absolutely loves to see His children press on and trust Him in spite of all resistance! It puts a smile on His face! Nothing pleases God more than when His children exercise their faith and trust Him no matter what!
Years after this, the Lord Jesus would write to the church at Ephesus these words in Revelation 2:2-3.
Revelation 2:2–3 KJV 1900
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
God notices every time you endure resistance. So endure it, Christian. I don’t mean grit your teeth and try harder to do it yourself. That wouldn’t have worked for Paul and Barnabas. They would have broken under the pressure and so will you and I. I mean you make the choice today, “I am going to trust God no matter what. I don’t have to understand. I don’t have to see the big picture. Today I am choosing to trust my Father who sees the big picture.”
And then you make that choice tomorrow.
And the day after that.
And the day after that.
Christian, you want to finish strong? Then keep trusting the living God. That is how Paul and Barnabas moved forward together across Galatia.
Thirdly…
Next slide here:
Forward Together, encouraging the believers - Acts 14:21-28.
Read Acts 14:21-28.
Next slide here: map of Perga, Antioch Pisidia, etc
Verse 21 is where they started to backtrack and returned to all the cities where they had planted churches. This is where their ministry turned from one of church planting to church growing. They went back and discipled all of the believers. What was their message of encouragement? Verse 22 tells us.
Paul and Barnabas told them to “continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
Wow! Isn’t that encouraging! Not exactly a Joel Osteen message, is it?
Tribulation: a pressing together, pressure, affliction, distress
It wasn’t necessarily an encouraging message, but it was the right message for these believers. Paul and Barnabas worked hard to confirm their souls. It means to establish or to make firm their faith.
To summarize, they discipled the believers in the Word of God so that they would choose to trust God more fully.
That’s one of my objectives every time we open the Scriptures here. It is that you will hear what God has revealed about Himself so that you will grow to trust him more!
They discipled the believers and they appointed elders or pastors in every church that they had started. Those pastors would now provide the churches with leadership so they could continue on. Then they entrusted the churches to the Lord and set sail for Antioch.
Thus concluded the first missionary journey.
Application: A critical reason for coming together is to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ to continue walking with God. You don’t have to be a pastor to do it, but it does require that you be more concerned about other’s needs rather than your own.

Conclusion

As Paul and Barnabas began planting churches across Galatia, it was quickly seen that Christianity would have to endure great resistance. The Christians would have to trust the living God. They would need each other and they would need to actively encourage each other. So long as they followed this formula, they would go forward together across Galatia.
Church family, let’s follow their example. Let’s boldly throw off every trace of this easy Christianity that pervades America today! Let’s embrace the hardship that is a vital part of our growth as Christians! Let’s take up our cross and follow our Savior.
If we do this, we will indeed move forward together.
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