Acts 14:1-7

Introduction:

If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of Acts chapter 14.

If you do not have a copy of God’s word slip up your hand and one of our church members is coming down the aisle now and would be glad to bring you one.

God spoke creation into existence with a spoken word, “Let there be light.”

And ever since God’s first act of creation…. by God’s design…, words are powerful.

Words change the trajectory of people’s lives.

The Bible likens the tongue to that of a spark that starts wild fires,

a small rudder that controls a large ship,

a small bit in the mouths of large horses that steer them right or left.

Words are powerful

And God commands that we speak words.

We speak what the author of Acts calls the “words of God’s grace.”

Words that communicate God’s plan to provide grace to undeserving sinners.

forgiveness to the guilty

eternal life to the dying

hope to the hopeless

The Christian mission is a simple one.

We speak true words about God’s grace.

The text we turn to this morning is a highlight summary of Paul and Barnabas’s word ministry… this time in the city of Iconium.

And as we read their story, I believe its God’s aim that we receive encouragement and instruction for what our mission as Christian people should look like.

Let’s begin with verses 1 through verse 7.

Acts 14:1–7 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. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 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. 4 But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.

Lets Pray

Acts 14:1 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.

New city, same pattern.

At the end of chapter 13, we saw that Paul and Barnabas were driven out of Antioch in Pisidia and they shook the dust from their feet and continued the journey.

Now after over a 100 mile journey they arrive to Iconium, and they start again with no change to the strategy.

They entered together into the Jewish synagogue and they spoke in such a way that a great number believed.

New city, same pattern.

I want you to recognize this this morning… the pattern is not accidental.

It is a strategy.

It is intentional.

It is a plan of attack.

This is the first truth that I want to draw out this morning.

Truth #1 We are Called to Speak the Word With Intentionality

Paul and Barnabas have chosen to begin their word speaking ministry at the local synagogue on purpose.

We spoke about this a little bit with their approach in Pisidia.

- The word of grace is that Jesus fulfills all the promises to the Jewish people recorded in the Old Testament.

- The synagogue was where Jews gathered to read aloud those promises and study the Old Testament.

- And the synagogue invited well studied teachers of the law like Paul to speak to the congregation.

- The synagogue was a strategic and intentional starting place in very city for Paul and Barnabas.

I think we are meant to see their pattern and to at least be encouraged in our attempts to speak the word.

Intentionality with the mission is modeled for us.

I think we are meant to examine our lives,

our opportunities,

our church,

and the spaces where God has given us a voice

I think we are meant to strategically pursue those spheres of influence so that we can speak the word of grace.

So lets pause:

Where is that for you?

God gave Paul favor because of his background to have a voice in synagogues throughout the Roman Empire.

Where has God given you a voice and an opportunity?

Are you uniquely placed in a neighborhood or an apartment complex where a little bit of strategic and intentional hospitality would go a long way?

Are you uniquely placed in an office or a profession where relationship building with co-workers would be an easy and natural way to invite them into spiritual conversations?

Look around, are there people here that you don’t know but you smile and not at every week?

Do you know their story?

Do you know whether they know Jesus?

Do you know if they need someone to meet with them and explain to them the words of God’s grace?

I am afraid that too often we go about our lives in a kind of passivity waiting for evangelistic moments to accidentally come upon us….,

Waiting for discipleship relationships to fall into our laps,

waiting for our children to catch the gospel by osmosis,

waiting for some mystical future day where we grow in the lord…

but take note, our mission is to speak the word of grace, and to do so intentionally.

Paul and Barnabas do this once again in Iconium and a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.

That means a great number of people from 1st century Iconium are in heaven today worshipping in the presence of their savior and forever enjoying grace upon grace upon grace.

Why?

Intentional word of grace speaking.

Of course acceptance was not the only response.

It never is.

Just like before, opposition arises.

Look with me at verses 2 and 3.

Acts 14:2 ESV

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

I want you to take special note of the characters in verses 2 and 3.

The Jews are the highly religious people, but in all of their religiosity they actually miss the message of the one true God.

They reject Jesus in favor of their tradition, their power, and their influence.

They refuse to humble themselves.

Remember that in Pisidia, the Jews were jealous of the influence of the apostles, and they stirred up opposition.

This time, the Jews not only reject the message of Jesus, they begin to proactively work against the word of grace.

They poison the mind of the Gentiles.

Don’t miss how backwards this is.

The Gentiles were pagan Romans who worshipped multiple gods and participated in the imperial cult.

They did not know God.

The Jews were supposed to be a light to the nations.

They were supposed to point the Gentiles to the one true God.

But instead, the Jews actively poison their minds.

To poison the mind is to preemptively corrupt someone’s thinking.

How did they do that?

They gossiped.

They slandered.

They lied.

They misrepresented.

So that by the time Paul and Barnabas could share the good news with someone in Iconium, the Gentiles already had a poisoned view of the missionaries and the message they were sharing.

the so-called religious people were actually working against the evangelistic effort.

They were sowing the fields with salt before Paul and Barnabas could spread the seed of the gospel.

Ministry in Iconium, therefore, was not easy.

Evangelism was not easy.

But their world was not incredibly different than ours.

We should not expect to face a different circumstance than those of the early Christians.

We often minister among people with poisoned minds.

We minister among people pre-disposed to reject the word already because of the influences, and the experiences, and the messages they have already heard.

No one starts off neutral In their thoughts about God and his word.

There is an enemy actively blinding the minds of unbelievers and he uses anything and everything that he can.

When you look at this scenario in Acts 14, which characters do you identify with?

Are you like the Gentiles in Iconium?

Have you allowed false teaching,

bad examples,

and the sinfulness of religious leaders poison your mind to the truth before you have really given the truth a chance?

Or perhaps worse, are you like the Jews in Iconium?

Are you poisoning the minds of others with your life, your gossip, your slander, your hypocrisy, or your witness?

Would other people reject Christianity because of your example of it?

Paul and Barnabas are faced with the task of speaking the word of God to a people already set on rejecting It…, but that doesn’t stop them.

Look at verse 3 And 4.

Acts 14:3 ESV

3 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.

Truth #2 We are Called to Speak the Word with Boldness

Despite the opposition.

Despite the hostility.

Despite the difficulty of evangelizing poisoned minds.

The text says Paul and Barnabas stay for a long time

they speak the word of God’s grace boldly.

Now lets be clear:

Boldly does not mean angrily.

Boldly does not mean arrogantly.

Boldly does not mean loudly.

“boldness” means “without fear”

They are confident and clear in speaking about Christ.

Their speaking was not contingent upon whether people responded favorably or not.

And just from this text, you can chalk their boldness up to two reasons.

firstly, they were speaking “for the Lord”

notice the language of verse 3.

Acts 14:3 (ESV)

So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord…

It’s true that we speak the good news of salvation to others because we love them and we want them to respond in faith so they can be forgiven….

But even more ultimately than that,

we speak the good news of salvation to others FOR the Lord.

We speak boldly in the midst of difficult situations because the God of the universe loves us, saved us, forgave us, transformed us, and commanded us to speak.

Even if no one ever responds positively to us,

we are freed to speak boldly because ultimately we speak as an act of worship for our Lord.

And secondly, we can speak with confidence because we speak trusting that it is the Lord who actually bears witness to his own word.

Look at verse 3 again.

Acts 14:3 (ESV)

3 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.

Who is it who is bearing witness to the word of Grace?

The Lord is bearing witness to his word!

As Paul and Barnabas are sharing the word in Iconium.…,

God chose to confirm their word,

to bear witness to their word,

by granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

Now notice, that the miracles are not the focus.

The word of God’s grace being boldly proclaimed is the focus, and the signs and the wonders are playing a supporting role.

We aren’t even told what those signs and wonders were in Iconium.

What is emphasized for us, is that God is sovereignly choosing to confirm the legitimacy of his word in this way As Paul and Barnabas speak.

It’s not that miracles can’t happen or never happen today, but the signs and wonders described in Acts are somewhat unique to the apostles who were directly commissioned by Jesus.

As the apostles are pushing the good news of Jesus into new territories for the first time, God uses miracles to bear witness to the truthfulness of the message being preached.

But the signs and wonders are not the norm for second generation of Christians immediately following after the apostles.

The way God continues to bear witness to his word through the second generation believers was through their transformed lives.

We see language like this in 1 Thessalonians.

They believe the message of Paul, and then watch how God confirms or bears witness to the word through them.

1 Thessalonians 1:4–9 ESV

4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

God bore witness to the truthfulness of the word through the Thessalonians not through apostle like miracles…,

but through the power of their transformed lives.

they didn’t serve idols any more!

They had faith.

They spoke the word with boldness.

This was a work God was doing in transforming the Thessalonians so that the truthfulness of his word was confirmed throughout Macedonia and Achaia.

How is it that Paul and Barnabas could go on speaking fearlessly in the midst of hostility and opposition?

They spoke boldly primarily for the Lord.

AND they trusted that it was the Lord who would ultimately bear witness to the word they were speaking.

We are not responsible for the results of the word of God

we just share it

And God does the work of bearing witness to his own word.

Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic monk who began to recognize that the practice and teaching of the Catholic Church in his day had drifted significantly from the Bible’s teaching.

He watched as the common people were taken advantage of with doctrines of penance and offerings and purgatory and relics.

The people were kept in a place of fear, giving their offerings trying to free loved ones from purgatory.

They were kept from studying the Bible.

Luther saw the corruption of the priesthood

he felt the crushing weight of a works based salvation.

But he gave himself to the study of God’s word rather than simply the traditions of men, and he began to understand the meaning of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.

He began to teach the Bible.

He began to speak boldly the words of God’s grace.

Listen to what he wrote after a history changing reformation began to sweep through the world.

I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf,…. I did nothing; the Word did everything. - Martin Luther

Truth #2 We are Called to Speak the Word with Boldness

Now, when I say speak boldly for the Lord,

I am afraid that too many Christians think about the task of evangelism like that of wall you run through.

You amp yourself up, you pray, you get a running start, you run through it awkwardly and loudly in a conversation, and then you kind of move on glad that it’s over.

Or perhaps you envision Paul and Barnabas kind of breezing through city to city standing on a street corner and yelling out the good news only to quickly be rejected and move to the next street corner.

But thats not the picture we have of Paul and Barnabas’ ministry.

Notice the emphasis on the long-suffering of their evangelistic work.

Acts 14:3–7 ESV

3 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. 4 But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.

Truth #3 We Are Called to Speak the Word with Perseverance

Notice the author’s emphasis.

They remained for a long time.

The ministry in Iconium was not a one off sermon or an awkward conversation.

They spoke and they spoke and they spoke.

They built relationships and they had conversations

And they labored and they labored.

We don’t know how long a long time was, but it was long enough to call it a long time.

And at the end of that long time still some people in the city sided with the Jews, while others accepted the word and sided with the apostles.

And they kept sharing the word until they were about to be stoned to death,

and then they fled to the next place,

they fled to the smaller town of Lystra, but look what they did next.

Acts 14:7 ESV

and there they continued to preach the gospel.

Until we see Jesus face to face on the last day, we aren’t done speaking the word of grace.

Circumstances may change.

Locations may change.

Results may vary.

But as the great Kobe Bryant said after going 2-0 in the finals… “Jobs not finished”

We can be at peace with the changes in our environment, and with the oppositions we face and the difficulties we face, when we know all we are supposed to do is be faithful with the task God has appointed us.

#1 We speak the word with intentionality

#2 We speak the word with boldness

#3 We speak the word with perseverance

And we trust God to bear witness to his own word, and to do the work only he can do.

Now as I close, I want to ask the question, why is this sermon particularly relevant to us this morning.

Well firstly,

Every week I know that there are people in the room who quite possibly do not believe this word.

Let me speak to you briefly and encourage you to consider the words of grace.

God created you.

He loves you.

But you have sinned against him Throughout your life as we all have.

He made a way for his people to be forgiven.

He sent Jesus, God the Son in human flesh to life the perfect life,

He sent Jesus to take the penalty of sin on himself at the cross.

And he sent Jesus to overcome the penalty of sin death itself.

God’s grace is offered freely to you if you turn to Jesus and trust him as Lord and Savior.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Secondly, This is especially relevant to our church at such a time as this.

We are working toward our goal of expanding God’s kingdom by sending our a church planting team to Metairie.

Some of you are wrestling with whether you should go

Some are wrestling with what church life will be like for those who stay.

For those who go…, you will speak the word intentionally, boldly, and with perseverance in the bridgedale community And you will trust God to do the work.

For those who stay…, you will go on speaking the word intentionally, boldly, and with perseverance in the St. Rose community and you will trust God to do the work.…

In fact, if our church is able to send a group of 25 or 30 people to help start Bridgedale Community Church…,

I have no doubt that God will have sovereignly created space in this room for us to reach 25-30 more people with the words of Grace out of the 7,000 people that live right here in St. Rose.

There are residents of Antioch Pisidia, Iconium, and Lystra around the throne of God today because of the words spoken through Paul and Barnabas, and because the church at Antioch faithfully sent them on mission.

May there be residents of the Bridgedale neighborhood and of St. Rose, and of Luling, and of Uptown and of Southeast Asia around the throne of God forever because of the words spoken through you and because St. Rose Community Church faithfully gives, and goes, and prays, and sends sacrificially for the mission of God.

Let’s pray to that end Together.