Through Many Tribulations
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Big Idea for the Series: In the book of Acts, we see God advancing his Kingdom by his Spirit through his Church.
FCF: When God’s people are on fire and on mission for his Kingdom, they will face many hardships. But, God, his people, and his message will prevail.
Today’s passage brings us to the end of Paul’s first missionary journey. His first journey was probably about two years, spanning from c. A.D. 46–47. He and John Mark and Barnabas started off at Antioch in Syria, where Paul and Barnabas were commissioned as apostles (Acts 13). Antioch was their sending church. They went from there by boat to Cyprus, where they encountered Elymas the magician.
Then they sailed on to the mainland of Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey. And they’ve toured Perga, Attalia, Pisidian Antioch, speaking at the synagogues and wherever they could get an audience. They’ve been driven out of just about every city they’ve been to under threat of persecution, so they’ve just been driven out of Antioch (in Pisidia) and now they’re arriving at Iconium. They’ve got three stops they’ll make in our passage today before they head back along the same route to return to their sending church at Antioch.
1 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.
8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.
11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.
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.
Prayer
What we see in this passage closely mirrors what we have seen all along in Paul and Barnabas’ missionary journeys, and in the entire book of Acts.
The Gospel divides.
The Gospel divides.
1 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.
When the true gospel is preached, it divides. It unifies true believers, but it will divide believers from unbelievers.
Jesus warned us about this:
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Some of you don’t believe this. The overwhelming majority of your family are believers, it seems that most people in your circle are believers, you don’t experience persecution for your faith or even much rejection, and life is pretty good. Praise God!
Now, there are two possibilities:
Perhaps the reason that you’re not experiencing any hardship for the gospel is because you’re not sharing the gospel. When is the last time you shared the gospel with someone outside of these walls? If you’re not sharing the gospel, then you’re not going to face this kind of opposition. If you’re not seeing bullets whiz past, maybe it’s because you’re not engaged in battle with the enemy.
When was the last time you were on fire for Jesus and ready to storm the gates of Hell? If that’s not right now, then you need to draw closer to God through prayer and through his Word. God hasn’t gone anywhere. If you’re not engaged in the fight, sharing the gospel and looking for opportunities to disciple those around you, then you might not be seeing spiritual opposition. If this is you, you need to pray and repent and get back in the battle.
But it’s also possible that you’re in a season of respite. We get the highlights in the book of Acts and in Scripture, so usually that’s the interesting stories. But there were times of relative peace and calm, and there will be in your life as well. There are lulls in the battle, seasons of peace and calm.
But, you need to understand that even if all is well right now, it may not always be that way. There may come a day when someone in your family or circle abandons the faith, or rejects the faith, or distorts the plain teaching of Scripture so badly that it’s clear they are not a believer, but they want to keep up appearances.
So, even if you’re not feeling the sting of that division right now, you very likely will at some point. It’s a wonderful blessing if you don’t have to choose between following your Lord and your relationship with your family and loved ones. But Jesus has not promised us that.
The gospel divides. The Word of God is a sword, it pierces the heart, it cuts to the soul, it divides believers from the world. So don’t be surprised when it does.
Satan incites.
Satan incites.
At Iconium, they are almost stoned and have to flee to Lystra. (v. 5)
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
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.
We don’t know exactly how the Jews got the Gentiles and Gentile rulers to get angry with Paul and Barnabas.
The conspiracy between these Jewish leaders and Gentile rulers reminds us, though, of the conspiracy that the Pharisees and Sadducees used against Jesus. In that case, they persuaded and pressured Pilate to execute Jesus as a threat to the wellbeing of Rome.
In other instances, we know that Gentiles found the gospel offensive because it threatened the economy that was built around pagan idol worship, so it could be something like that.
In the previous passage, Acts 13:50, the apostles are driven out of Perga and seem to be actually expelled by official decree.
50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
The Roman Empire did not practice freedom of religion. Worship of Roman deities was believed to be the primary source of Rome’s good and wellbeing, so to forsake the Roman gods was to forsake the good of Rome and invite destruction upon Rome. Jews had a special exemption to practice their religion. It was an officially sanctioned religion.
So, when Christians were a part of Jewish synagogues, they received protection as part of an officially sanctioned religion. But, when they were expelled from the synagogues and it became clear they were distinct from Judaism, then they were viewed as a threat to Rome and its wellbeing.
We’re going to see that this becomes more and more of an issue as the gospel goes out and the new Church becomes more and more Gentile, and as the separation between the former ways of Judaism and the new ways of Christianity grows larger.
20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”
6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
So, sometimes Satan stirs up people to view Christianity as a threat to the good of their nation or way of life.
Other times, he takes a more flattering approach...
At Lystra, they’re hailed as gods after healing a crippled man. (v. 11)
11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
It’s always amazing to me how Satan can take the message of the gospel and twist it so that what people hear is not the gospel at all, but some perversion of it.
Paul and Barnabas had been preaching the gospel, and then performed this miracle of healing the crippled man. But the crowds interpret this not as a sign that the gospel is true, but as a sign that these men are gods.
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
And here, Paul and Barnabas have a serious temptation. The crowds, for maybe the first time ever, love them! They’re thrilled! They’re flattering them and praising them. But Paul and Barnabas know better than to accept that praise.
So, they lay out the gospel and call the people to repentance. Even then, the people aren’t listening.
When they finally do listen and understand, the mood changes quickly. Jesus said in Luke 6:26 “26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” It’s funny how the same group of people that were just praising them as gods suddenly turn on them and try to kill them.
Then, when they refuse the glory and point people to God, Paul is stoned. (v. 19)
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.
See, the world has no issue with the healing Jesus. The world loves the Jesus that heals their physical ailments and makes life better for them.
But if you preach the true gospel—a Jesus who demands your allegiance and loyalty, a Jesus who is King over all, a Jesus who expects repentance and will one day judge those who refuse to bow—then the world wants nothing to do with Jesus.
15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
And when you preach that gospel, Satan will incite people to revolt against it.
But the good news for us is that...
God prevails.
God prevails.
The Kingdom advances through the gospel.
The Kingdom advances through the gospel.
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...
God still had more work for Paul to do, he wasn’t done with him yet. And until God says its time, we will go on living and proclaiming the gospel. It isn’t a promise that no harm will come to us, but we do know that God is sovereign and nothing comes to us except what he allows for our good.
Tribulation only brings us closer to the Kingdom.
Tribulation only brings us closer to the Kingdom.
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.
When you struggle and you endure difficulty because of following Jesus, you are taking steps closer to heaven.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that there’s a purpose in our suffering:
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
I don’t know what you’re going through, but know that there’s a reason for it. God uses the hardships in this life to discipline us—that’s the process of being a disciple. Disciples must be disciplined.
The Lord cares for his people through his Church.
The Lord cares for his people through his 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.
I know firsthand how difficult it is to entrust a new or immature church to the Lord’s care and then sail off into the sunset—I’ve done it. Every pastor or minister who has served at more than one place has had to wrestle with this.
Paul had only been with these believers for a short while. Some of them were brand new believers. Then, they have to appoint brand new elders. These guys didn’t get seminary training, they got thrown into the deep end to learn how to swim.
But Paul knew that Jesus wasn’t going to let his church fail. Jesus loves his churches, he takes care of them. So, they entrusted these churches and new believers to the Lord.
This isn’t a main point in this passage, but I do want to point something out since it’s here in this passage—part of how Christ ensures his churches are cared for is through the elders of those churches. And, you’ll notice that here it says that they appointed “elders (plural) in every church (singular).”
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.
Now, nowhere in the New Testament does it demand or prescribe that every church must have more than one elder—I think the Scripture stops short of demanding this prescriptively.
But, it does seem like it was the pattern of the early church. This passage isn’t the only place where multiple elders are referred to in a single church.
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you...
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And there are some practical reasons why it’s helpful. We’ll see in the next chapter that the elders have to convene to settle an important doctrinal issue. It’s helpful to have multiple sets of eyes when you’re making decisions like that, rather than just one guy.
And even though all elders are required to be able to teach, each elder has a slightly different set of spiritual gifts. There are areas that I’m weak on; and while I will strive to work on those and grow, I’ll never be as good at some things as an elder who is actually gifted in that area.
I understand the logistical and financial obstacles this entails. This isn’t a hill I’m willing to die on, and I’m not going to say that churches with only one pastor are being disobedient to the Lord or the Bible. But, it does seem to me that if a church is able to have more than one elder—even if one is part time or even a volunteer—that is more ideal and better for the church in the long run.
So, for now, I want you to think about it and just pray about it, and be open to how the Lord might lead us as a church in this area.
Missionaries and their sending churches give mutual support and encouragement.
Missionaries and their sending churches give mutual support and encouragement.
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.
This brings us to the end of Paul’s first missionary journey. He has traveled around 1,600 miles over the course of two years (c. A.D. 46–47). During this time, he’s proclaimed the gospel in multiple cities, made dozens if not hundreds of converts and disciples, been chased out of just about every city he’s gone to and even stoned once.
He’s got some stories from the mission field to tell! So, he and Barnabas go back to the church at Antioch in Syria, which was where they had first been ordained or commissioned to give a report on all that had happened.
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.
We have a tendency to get inwardly focused on what God is doing in our little corner of the world. Visits and reports from missionaries helps jostle us awake sometimes and reminds us that there’s a whole world of people out there that need Jesus.
I want to encourage you, if you have forgotten, to pray for our missionaries. Pray for our IMB missionaries all over the world, and pray specifically for our missionaries that we support in SEA. I can’t say their names or country, but their most recent newsletter is posted on the bulletin board in the hallway for you to read if you like.
If you’d like to be subscribed to their newsletter, let me know and I’ll get you connected.
Missionaries and their churches have a symbiotic relationship. They need our prayers and financial support, but you need them as much as they need you. You need to get out of your little world every now and then and be reminded that the Kingdom of God is a lot bigger than Clinton, AR! You need to hear their stories. You need to be connected to what God is doing around the world. And yes, they need you as well.
Conclusion: Missionaries help remind us what we often forget. The Kingdom of God comes with challenges and opposition. Satan loves to stir up division and opposition to the work of God. But, God always wins. Whatever you’re going through today, know that God is in control, it is not a surprise to him, and he is working it all together for your good and his glory.
Reflection Questions:
How does the gospel cause division? What division have you personally seen caused by the gospel?
What strategies does Satan use to oppose the spread of the gospel?
How can we better prepare ourselves for potential hardships when sharing the gospel?
When is the last time you shared the gospel with someone outside of church? Who might you be able to seek an opportunity to share the gospel with this week?
What steps can you take to support missionaries and remind yourself of the global church?
