Acts 14:19-28
Acts: The First Missionary Journey • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 41:42
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Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of Acts chapter 14.
If you don’t have a copy of God’s word just slip up your hand and one of our church members will be coming down the aisle now with extra Bibles.
The Apostle Paul's first missionary journey covered more than 1,200 miles.
Acts chapters 13 and 14 only give us a short highlight reel of some key moments on that journey.
They don’t give us all the details.
They don’t tell us the kind of meals these missionaries had to eat along the way
or how often they went hungry when supplies ran low.
They don’t tell us how many blisters Paul and Barnabas developed with all the walking…
Or the calluses that Paul formed on his hands from making tents.
The Scriptures don’t tell us about the late nights where they planned to sleep in the open air only to be surprised by a thunder storm Or by the threat of bandits.
They don’t tell us about sun burns or bug bites or cricks in the neck from sleeping on the ground.
What we do have in the bible are highlights from what was certainly a long, difficult, painful, glorious missionary journey.
If we aren’t careful, we can read too quickly and not grasp the reality of what it looks like when a human life is being poured out for the glory of God…
19 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. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 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. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they remained no little time with the disciples.
Lets Pray
This text this morning is one of the primary reasons I wanted to study Paul’s first missionary journey at such a time as this in the life of our church.
This text summarizes what I believe to be some of the most essential components of the missionary task God has called us to.
This morning we are going to look at four what I will call missional essentials for task God has called us to
Missional Essential #1
#1 Endure Tribulation
#1 Endure Tribulation
19 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.
Luke doesn’t take the time to describe for us what this scene must have really looked like.
He simply assumes that the reader is familiar enough with the concept of stoning that when the reader sees that word…
they feel the weight of it.
Most of us, however, don’t adequately feel it when we read the phrase, “they stoned Paul”.
We have never found ourselves in the midst of a violent mob shouting and jeering and spitting.
We have never felt the sting of the first stone that pelts us in the back, to be followed by another, and then another....
We don’t know what its like to give up our running away to cover our head and face doing everything we can to avoid a lethal landing of a stone.…
We don’t know what its like to slowly come back to consciousness after having been drug out of the city and left for dead.
This verse doesn’t tell us the whole story,
IT doesn’t even describe it for us …but what this verse represents is ugly.
It’s beyond what most of us have ever scene in person, much less experienced ourselves.
Questions naturally flood the mind of any person who endures such suffering…
What did Paul do so wrong that he deserved such treatment?
What was his misstep so that his life led to stoning?
The natural mind screams…, Surely he has been unfaithful somehow....
Surely he has failed somehow.
But Here is the striking thing about this story and others like it in the book of Acts.
Paul was not stoned because he did something wrong.…
Paul was stoned because he preached the message of Jesus.
He was stoned because was pursuing the mission of God.
He was doing exactly what God had asked him to do.
He was doing exactly what the church at Antioch had sent him to do.
He was doing what all Christians are called to do.
And he was stoned for it.
in verse 19, Paul’s body was dragged out of the city and left for dead...
I don’t know about you, but I would need some time after such an event.
I would need to do some soul searching.
I would need to re-evaluate my life choices.
But verse 20 tells us what happens the very next day.
20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.
Luke emphasizes that the next day Paul rose up, went back into the city, and then continued the missionary journey.
He continues preaching the good news of Jesus…
In fact, he begins his journey back to the cities they had already visited…,
Cities that he had already faced persecution in…
The cities that these men who stoned him were from.
and at least one of the things he wanted to do in re-visiting these cities, was to warn the disciples that such suffering is not outside the bounds of living for Jesus.
Look at verses 21-22
21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 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.
Paul goes back to the believers in Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch Pisidia.
and I want you to Zero in on that last phrase first.
Paul went back to these places in part to prepare the believers with this truth:
“that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Now imagine the power of Paul’s broken, bloodied, and bruised body limping back into these towns where he first shared the gospel and where first experienced persecution…
And then teaching them that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
The takeaway is clear:
If you want to engage in the mission of God be ready to Endure Tribulation…
Faithfulness will require endurance through a variety of hardships.
Paul actually reflects on his stoning in Lystra in his second letter to the Corinthians as just one among many of his tribulations.
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
And after all that and more I love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:15.
2 Corinthians 12:15 (ESV)
15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls…
You see, Paul believed that God was working through the tribulation.
Your hardship,
your suffering,
your uphill battle,
through soarness,
and sickness,
and sorrow….
All of this IS the God-glorifying path to the eternal kingdom of God.
God is doing something in the spending of our lives for the accomplishment of his mission.
He is working something beautiful through the Pain of it all.…
He is the kind of God who brings salvation through crucifixion.
He turns the darkest of moments imaginable for the most ultimate kind of good and glory for his children.
Nothing is wasted.
For the rest of the book of Acts, this truth will become clear over and over again.
Whether it be persecution, or relational strife, or ship wreck, or snake bite…,
No great gospel advancement occurs for the rest of this book without the endurance of God’s people that is necessary to expand God’s kingdom.
Missional essential #1
#1 Endure Tribulation
#1 Endure Tribulation
Paul understood this was the task, but he also recognized that if the Christian movement was to keep going…
The people who had come to faith in Jesus in all the cities he had preached, would also have to be prepared for this.
They needed to be discipled.
Paul’s mission was not just to proclaim Jesus to get converts in every city he visited.
The job was not finished when someone professed faith and was baptized.
They may be eternally saved by their faith, but they still have to live their Christian lives in this hostile world.
Missional essential #2
#2 Make Disciples
#2 Make Disciples
Take note of the ministry that Paul does when he returns to each city.
21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 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.
No one can become a disciple unless they hear and believe the good news of Jesus..
But that only begins their journey of following Jesus.
They need to be discipled….
They need the ministry that Paul labors for in these verses.
They need soul strengthening work.
How does one have their soul strengthened?
A soul is most strengthened when its roots are deepest in the Word of God.
A soul is most strengthened when someone is grounded in their deepest beliefs despite the chaos of their surroundings.
A soul is strengthened when their eyes are set on things that are above, things that are eternal.
Thats the kind of work Paul set out to do.
IT was soul strengthening work through equipping the believers with the word of God.
It was a faith encouraging work.
We disciple when we encourage one another to continue in the faith…
And how do we encourage one another to continue in the faith… we speak words to one another, we remind one another of true things, we love one another, and support one another.
Paul does not want these new disciples to turn and run at the first sign of hardship.
He wants them to continue in the faith
and to be prepared for the many tribulations ahead.
Again, this is discipleship.
This is the mission Of God.
This was the kind of ministry Jesus had with the 12.
Through the course of every day life,
He prepared his disciples for the ministry they were called to.
And this is the every day ministry of all Christians
Paul writes to the Colossians in chapter 3:16 urging all believers to teach and admonish one another.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Its this kind of work that Paul urges every believer in every stage of life to participate in.
To the women in the churches of Crete, Paul writes..
3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,
4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,
To the men he writes,
6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.
7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,
Take just a moment and praise God for the people who have done this kind of ministry for you, or who are presently doing this for you.
Who has taken the time to strengthen your soul with their words?
Who has intentionally tried to encourage you to continue in the faith?
Who has tried to warn you and prepare you for tribulations to come?
Take a moment and praise God if he has graciously brought people into your life who gladly spend themselves for others.
You need that.
But, also, Take a moment and reflect upon who you are doing this for?
Who is stronger because of their relationship with you?
Who is encouraged to continue in the faith by your regular words of encouragement?
Who is more ready for the tribulations ahead of them?
Who are who spending yourselves for?
Take a moment to praise God not just that someone discipled you…,
but praise God that God might include you in this kind of work.
This is the missionary task.
This is the Christian task.
#2 Make Disciples
#2 Make Disciples
But the mission is not just to make disciples.
There is a particular context in which disciples are made.
There is a mechanism designed by God for expanding the kingdom through this ministry.
And that mechanism is the local church where we get to do this together.
Look at verse 23.
Paul does this in every city that he visited…
23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Paul and Barnabas did not consider their work in a town or city complete until their was an church in the town with appointed elders doing the work of overseeing, and teaching, and setting an example for the church.
If your new to the language of “elders”… that is another word for the office of pastor or overseer.
Paul and Barnabas were not just making converts or doing randomized discipleship Bible studies.
They were busy doing the work of planting churches where that ministry would continue beyond their influence.
Missional Essential #3
#3 Plant Churches
#3 Plant Churches
Paul understood something very important.
If the Kingdom of God is to expand to the ends of the Earth, it will not be through the preaching of an individual person…
He understood that he and Barnabas were never going to make it to 21st century New Orleans, Louisiana.
The Kingdom of God would expand only through the establishing of local churches where people can grow in the Lord together in a community under the teaching ministry of pastors.
That is the mission Paul and Barnabas were on.
They were sent by a local church… the church in Antioch… to start new churches with new pastors and new disciple-making ministries.
And when the work was done, Paul and Barnabas actually return to the church that had sent them.
I want you to see how beautiful all this was.
The first missionary journey began in a worship service at the church in Antioch.
This is where we began our study 10 weeks ago.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
A lot has happened since this moment.
A lot of people have come to faith in Jesus.
Churches have been planted.
And now at the end of chapter 14… look at where Paul and Barnabas return.
24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.
25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia,
26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.
Luke describes Paul and Barnabas’ return to Antioch as a return to the church where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had fulfilled.
And when they arrived they gathered the church together…
What a day this would have been…,
I want you to imagine it…
I want you to feel it…
These members had sacrificed much.
They sent their best teachers.
They certainly gave sacrificially to provide for the journey.
They have prayed.
They have fasted.
They have hoped that they did the right thing.
They have longed to see the Kingdom expanded.
They have missed their good friends and mentors Paul and Barnabas and wondered if they are ok.
When the members of the church at Antioch showed up to the gathering… there stood there beloved brothers whom they had sent away with prayer and fasting.
Feel the joy and the unity of a room like that.
The smiles, and the long embraces, and the laughter, and the concern at the new scars on Paul’s body.
When the commotion of the reuniting settles down.
Paul and Barnabas start to share.
27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
28 And they remained no little time with the disciples.
Paul and Barnabas planted real local churches with pastors…, because it was a church who had sent them for the work.
It took a whole church praying, and fasting, and supporting, and sending for Paul and Barnabas to be able to do the work God had called them to do.
Only the two men were sent on this missionary journey… but the whole church at Antioch participated in this missionary journey.
And as such, every member of the church at Antioch got to not only join the work but they got to celebrate the fruit of what God had done.
That is the mission of God we get to take part in.
Every member of St. Rose Community Church is a participant of the kingdom expanding work of God.
Some of you will be missionaries, some of you will be on church planting teams, some of you will stay here in St. Rose and hold the ropes.
You will pray and you will fast and you will give…, and you will celebrate the work of those we commend to the grace of God in other places around the world.
That is the work we give ourselves to.
We are a people, like the Antioch church, who want the landscape of the surrounding region to look very different 10 years from now…, not because of the preaching of one individual…,
but because of the discipleship ministry of every church member that expands into a church planting ministry in the surrounding region.
Thats the work we want Julio Marques to be busy with on the island of Timor Leste.
Thats the work we sent him and Becky to do.
They are busy strengthening the souls of disciples,
and encouraging them to continue in the faith…,
but Julio’s long term work is to appoint elders and to plant churches both in the city and in the mountains of Timor Leste so that the name of Jesus may be worshipped in communities of faith from that little island in Southeast Asia and beyond.
And one day, I hope he gets to visit back here, and I hope we get to enjoy one of those moments of joy, and laughter, and long embraces, and I hope we get to hear all that God has done.
Thats the work we want Joshua Winton to do in the Bridgedale community.
We want him to evangelize, yes,
we want him to disciple, yes,
but we also want him to appoint elders and to plant the church in Bridgedale and beyond Bridgedale.
and whether you go with him or not, we all get to participate in what God will do.
This is the missional process:
Endure Tribulation
Make Disciples
Plant Churches
But there is one more very important essential to the missional process.
#4 Trust God
#4 Trust God
Notice how Paul appointed elders in every church.
23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
How did Paul do the work of enduring,
and discipling and church planting,
and pastor appointing?
He did so
with prayer -
Prayer is the declaration of dependence on God for all things.
Charles Spurgeon once said,
“Prayer is the breath of faith. Prayer meetings are the lungs of the church.” - Charles Spurgeon
We are a people who trust God to do the work, therefore we pray.
How did Paul appoint elders in every church?
He did so with fasting - the physical symbol of a yearning and a hunger for God to do what only God can do.
How did he appoint elders in every church?
He did so by committing them to the Lord…
There came a point where he had to fully and totally entrust the new church and the new elders into the hands of Jesus the chief shepherd.
There is no debate in Paul’s mind who really leads the missional process.
Look one more time at how Paul articulated all that happened on this missionary journey.
Acts 14:27 (ESV)
27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
How did you become a Christian?
God opened the door of faith in your heart.
Ministry in the first century had to be all kinds of messy.
it was not a clean nice system of disciple-making, and budgets, and buildings, and programs, and church planting calendars…
It was a chaotic whirlwind of battling false teachers, and persecutors, and pagans.
It never went exactly as planned.
The book of Acts is not about the brilliance of Paul’s strategic leadership.
It is not a highlight reel of his successes.
Its a story of tribulations
Its a story of opposition.
Its a story of persecution.
Its a story of storms and shipwrecks.
Its a story of imprisonments and detours.
Its a story of God’s sovereign hand doing the work through finite people spending themselves for the mission of God.
Conclusion
If you are here this morning and you are bit overwhelmed by the ministry God has given you…
perhaps overwhelmed by the lack of response…,
by the kinds of tribulation your enduring…,
If you feel detoured, derailed, distracted, and stuck.
Hear the emphasis of the word of God in this text.
Commit it all to the Lord in whom you have believed.
Trust God.
Trusting God is how you become a Christian.
Its the way into relationship with God.
You have to trust God that he made a way of forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
You have to trust God, that his promise of eternal life for a sinner like you is true.
And just as you become a Christian by faith in God….
You live the Christian life and pursue the Christian mission by the same principle with which you began.
You trust God.
Church lets do this together.
Lets endure tribulation.
Lets make disciples.
Lets plant churches.
And lets trust God.
Lets pray