Paul and Barnabas Are Wild

So our guys Paul and Barnabas have been on a pretty wild trip. Have you ever been on a trip and things just aren’t going well? It seems like anything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

Like National Lampoon’s Vacation… (Old movie that came out in the 80s)

That’s kind of how their mission trip is going. Let’s look back at our mental photo album…

show map

So it’s been a rough trip, at least that’s what those looking from the outside might think. But what was the purpose of their trip? To make disciples, and they have done that every where they have been!

They press on through the difficulty and dangers because they understand the importance and feel the burden and weight of the calling that Jesus gave to them in Acts 1:8. They understand the assignment and they accept that mission, and they press on.

read verses 19-28

Making disciples can be risky, but God calls us to do it with Him anyway.

pray

Suffering for the advance of the Gospel

“Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom”. I think Paul was learning that and teaching it to these young Christians at the same time.

Guys from the last two places they’ve been, where they were going to stone them, show up and convince everyone to stone Paul! They think he is dead, but they gather around, surely they’re praying for him, and he wakes up and goes back into the city! Then they go to Derbe and return back through the cities of the people who stoned Paul!

Y’all know Milo’s sweet tea? Did y’all know Milo’s is actually a restaurant? A burger joint in Alabama. I ate there for dinner one time when I was in college. It wasn’t bad. They have this special sauce, a little sweet and tangy. They also put this little piece of triangle meat on every burger… But that night after I ate it I woke up with what I still say is the worst stomach ache I have ever had. My stomach was torn up, but what was worse was the pain from the cramps. I was rolling around in my bed, I really thought I was going to have to get one of my room mates to take me to the ER. I have not had Milo’s since. Almost 20 years.

Here’s Paul and Barnabas, Paul has just been stoned in Lystra and they were about to be stoned in Iconium before that and they say, “Hey, let’s go back to Lystra and Iconium!”

Why would he do this? It would have been so easy to cut the trip short and head back home through his home town…

He understood the importance of what God has called us to do.

Mark 12:30–31 ESV

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

And because he understood that, it changed his outlook on life.

Philippians 1:21 ESV

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

To those outside the church it looks like Paul just has no regard for his life, but to us who know Jesus we understand how being saved changes the way we look at life! If we live we honor Christ by being obedient to Him. If we die we get to see Him face to face! It’s not that Paul doesn’t care about his life, it’s just that what he treasures is different!

So at risk to his life, he goes on building up the churches and equipping elders to lead the churches…

Fasting…

We all have a role in this mission. I doubt many of us will face danger like Paul did. Maybe God is going to call some of you to be a missionary to a place that is hostile towards Christians and this story will become very real to you.

But for most of us, we won’t face opposition like this. We just have to worry about people not liking us or talking bad about us. Maybe being passed over for an opportunity. It won’t be easy, but God is with us. We have the same Spirit that Paul and Barnabas had. We have each other for support and encouragement and prayer. All that we need to be faithful to the call we have received in Jesus.

Paul and Barnabas continued on that call.

Celebrate what God has done

When we are faithful to be his witnesses, we will have the privilege and blessing of seeing God at work, and when we get to see that, we need to celebrate it! That’s what they did with their church when they finally got back home!

Have you ever been on a trip that was really great and you couldn’t wait to get home and tell your friends about it? The Esteses went to Yellowstone National Park this summer. While they were there they saw a couple bears. Hayes couldn’t wait to get back and tell Parker about the bears that he saw hugging in the park!

They got home and they got their church together and had a share service! The celebrated what the Lord had done through Paul and Barnabas. This is good! This is what they do in Heaven!

Luke 15:10 ESV

Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

It’s because it’s a big deal when someone is saved. When someone puts their faith in Jesus. Moves from death to life because of Jesus! So we need to join with the angels in celebrating!

This is partly what baptism is…

With that in mind, I want to ask all of you a question here: Have the angels celebrated over you?…

Gospel

Revelation 7:9–10 ESV

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

And God is using us to get them there! This is the invitation. The mission. The adventure God has called us to. It’s not always safe. But that can’t stop us because we are called to love others, and their eternity hangs on whether or not they know Jesus. Whether they are across the world or across the street.