ACTS CHAPTER 13:48-14:20,
“Ministry And Persecution in
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we saw
how that the apostle Paul preached that through Jesus Christ were proclaimed
forgiveness and justification or freedom from all of the things in the Law of
Moses
1.1.1.
We saw how that this was
such an incredibly radical message for the Jews to hear since they were living under
the Law of Moses
1.1.1.1.Under the law of Moses there was never a sense of having your sins
forgiven or your conscience cleansed since every offering brought a remembrance
of previous sins
1.1.1.2.Living under any kind of legalism always placed a person ‘behind the
eight ball’ so to speak concerning his relationship with God since he was
always in a place of debt to the Lord
1.1.1.2.1.Even though one day you might work yourself to the bone doing works of
righteousness under the Law, you still had to wake up the next day and the next
day and just do the same
1.2.
Well, today we are going to
begin to look at the hardships that Paul and Barnabas began to endure in their
serving the Lord and being led of the Holy Spirit, and we will be both convicted
by their dedication and encouraged by their example to serve the Lord in the
way that He would have us to serve Him
1.2.1.
We are first going to take a
step backwards at the outset here and review the persecution that occurred
against Paul and Barnabas in
1.2.2.
In our study today, we will
be encouraged by Paul and Barnabas for not being deterred by their persecutions
from their calling to preach the gospel to the people in the cities to which
they went
1.3.
Since leaving the
1.3.1.
Most of the ministry that
occurred during this first missionary trip occurred in the region of Galatia
1.3.2.
The events of this first
missionary journey through the area of
2.
VS 13:48-51 - “48
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word
of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And
the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jews aroused the devout women of
prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution
against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they
shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to
Iconium. 52 And the disciples were
continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” - Paul
and Barnabas are persecuted by the Jews, the ‘devout women of prominence’, and
the leading men of the city
2.1.
What we see here in our study is the first real persecution that Luke
records concerning Paul and Barnabas in this first missionary journey. This occurred in Antioch of Pisidia.
2.2.
We also see that there is now a pattern that has emerged that will keep
repeating in the book of Acts with Paul in his missionary journeys, and this is
that when they came to a
2.2.1.
They have initial success with the Jews and ‘God-fearers’
2.2.2.
They begin striving with the people and suffering their rejection
2.2.3.
They end up being persecuted
2.3.
We see also in their journeys that typically there are many more of these
Gentile ‘God-fearers’ who come to salvation than of the Jews themselves, for
the Jews aren’t as easily convinced and tended to become jealous when they see
the Gentiles beginning to embrace the Messiah, and then though they were
initially interested in the Gospel message, they end up rejecting it because of
their jealousy, pride, and prejudice.
2.4.
Here we see that the wives of the Roman leaders and the leading men of
the city were aroused by the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia to see that Paul and Barnabas
were driven out of the city, and thus they were forced to leave.
2.5.
Jesus had told His disciples when He sent them out that if any city did
not receive their witness that they were to shake the dust off of their shoes
at the outskirts of the city as a sign to the people for rejecting God’s
message of salvation. Paul and Barnabas
follow Jesus’ command here and shake the dust off of their feet as they exit
the city.
3.
VS 14:1 - “14:1
And it came about that in Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews
together, and spoke in such a manner that a great multitude believed, both of
Jews and of Greeks.” - Paul and
Barnabas went to the synagogue in Iconium and preached the gospel
3.1.
The city of Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas had traveled to after being
persecuted by the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, was approx. 75 miles southeast of
Antioch of Pisidia (heading towards Tarsus), and Iconium was in or near the
province of Lycaonia.
3.2.
In this
verse, Luke comments on ‘the manner’ in which Paul and Barnabas preached
the gospel. Paul and Barnabas went into
the synagogue of the Jews in Iconium and they were empowered with the Holy
Spirit so mightily that when they spoke the gospel, ‘a great multitude
believed, both of Jews and of Greeks’.
3.2.1.
They spoke
the word with great conviction and authority, and a great revival began.
3.2.1.1.This is what churches need today. They need preachers, pastors, and teachers
who are so mightily empowered by the Lord that they “speak in such a way” that
multitudes come to know the Lord.
3.2.1.2.All Christians should seek the Lord in prayer for such
power for our testimony and witness in this world, and we should also exercise
a great amount of faith that the Lord will use our ministries in the lives of
those who are lost and without Christ.
4.
VS 14:2-3 - “2
But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles, and
embittered them against the brethren. 3 Therefore they spent a long time there
speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was bearing witness to the
word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.”
- Again we see the Jews who originally
had been interested in this new and revolutionary message being preached by
Paul and Barnabas, become jealous because many Gentiles were being converted
4.1.
The Jews were
always following only a step behind Paul wherever he journeyed. They constantly tried to stir up any crowd
against Paul and hinder his preaching of the gospel. Here Luke records that the Jews ‘embittered
them against the brethren’.
4.2.
The Jews
sought to hinder the work, yet a multitude believed in Christ, and thus Paul
and Barnabas ‘spent a long time there (in Iconium) speaking boldly with
reliance upon the Lord’.
4.3.
The Lord
showed to the multitudes in Iconium the genuiness of Paul and Barnabas’
ministry in that He granted at this time to perform ‘signs and words’ ‘by their
hands’.
4.4.
Pastor Ken
Ortiz points out that there are three facts about the gospel message which
was preached by Paul in the book of Acts:
4.4.1.
The message
always brought divisiveness and conflict
4.4.1.1.In Matt. 10:34-36, Jesus spoke of His own
ministry and said that He did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword, “34
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to
bring peace, but a sword. 35 “For I came 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 man’s enemies will be the members of his household.””
4.4.1.2.When we share the gospel message it polarizes people
for it brings them to a decision for or against Christ, and remember, for a
person to not decide for Christ is to decide against Him.
4.4.1.3.Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 2:16 that the message of the
gospel is for some a ‘savor of life unto life’, and for others it is a ‘savor
of death unto death’
4.4.2.
The message
of the gospel preached by Paul was a ‘message of grace’
4.4.3.
God confirmed
Paul’s message by signs and wonders
4.5.
The
opposition and persecution that Paul and Barnabas experienced did not daunt
them from fulfilling what the Lord had called them to do in preaching the
gospel and trusting the Lord to perform signs and wonders through their lives.
4.5.1.
We in the
church need to be encouraged by the perseverance of Paul and Barnabas despite
opposition and persecution which they continually faced. Paul and Barnabas simply went to the next
city whenever the persecution got so intense that their lives were in
jeopardy. They never let their
circumstances deter them from fulfilling what the Lord had called them to do.
4.5.2.
One of the
things that I have learned in life as a disciple of Christ’s is that if there
is ever anything that the devil is trying to hinder me from doing, then
whatever I do I better be sure to be faithful to not letting the devil deter me
from that very ministry or task.
4.5.2.1.If Satan is coming against us in some ministry, then
it must be happening because we are just where the Lord wants us to be, and
that God plans to use us greatly.
4.5.2.2.Spurgeon
once said, “Satan doesn’t beat a dead horse”.
4.6.
I supposed it
would be good for us to think deeply about what Paul and Barnabas were going
through in the book of Acts. Paul and
Barnabas were in peril for their very lives.
They could see that the Lord was using them in each city into which they
went, for people responded to the gospel message, and churches were often even
planted during their short stay. Yet, in
order for them to have the success that they had in this ministry, these men
literally risked their lives and they suffered the horrible pains and travail
of persecution. I have asked myself
whether or not Paul had a secret death wish, or a martyr complex where he
wanted to be persecuted, maybe as a penance for the sins he committed as a
non-believer when he persecuted the church?
After all, how could he get up from being stoned and left for dead after
being dragged out of the city and then just go on to the next city, or even as
in the case coming up in Lystra, go back into the same city? I think that most of us, myself included,
would experience just one of Paul’s persecutions and then decide that God must
not be calling us into this ministry, and then clean ourselves and our wounds
up and head back home. However, they
continued on undaunted. Why? What was their real motivation for doing
this?
4.6.1.
In Galatians
2:20, the book written to the people in this area of Galatia, Paul writes
about his motivations for his life and this touches on why he could be able to
endure persecutions as he did, “20 “I have been crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and
delivered Himself up for me.””
4.6.2.
In Acts
20:24-27, Paul wrote about how he didn’t consider his life as ‘dear unto
himself’ but he lived his life for the Lord and the calling that he had
received from the Lord, “24 “But I do not consider my life of any account
as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which
I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace
of God. 25 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about
preaching the kingdom, will see my face no more. 26 “Therefore I testify to you
this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 “For I did not shrink
from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.””
4.6.3.
In 2 Cor.
1:8-10, Paul writes to the Corinthians about this trip to Asia Minor saying
that they were ‘burdened excessively, beyond our strength’, but that they had a
sentence of death within them so that they would not trust in themselves but in
God who raises the dead, “8 For we do not want you to be unaware,
brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened
excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed,
we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust
in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who delivered us from so great
a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He
will yet deliver us.”
4.6.3.1.Remember Paul was probably very ill before any of the
persecutions even happened to them.
4.6.3.2.This affliction was a ‘pressing’ or ‘tribulation’ that
bore down heavily upon them and even brought much depression, for Paul writes
that they ‘despaired even of life’.
4.6.3.3.He was dead to self and Christ was living through his
life, and therefore he ‘had the sentence of death within’ himself.
4.6.3.4.Through this experience he finally had learned that he
was not to trust in himself but in God, for there is a great tendency in us as
people to trust in ourselves and our own ingenuity and finagling to get us out
of jams.
4.6.3.5.Paul writes that his trust was in God ‘who raises from
the dead’, and it is very possible that this experience of stoning of Paul’s
may have brought upon that out of body experience that Paul wrote about where
he said that he had gone up to the third heaven and heard words inexpressible,
etc.
4.6.3.6.Paul’s ‘hope’ or ‘confident expectation’ was in the
Lord who just kept delivering him from his persecutions. He was convinced that God would continue to
deliver him.
4.6.3.7.Just because we are going through struggles, having
heavy burdens and even being rejected by people doesn’t mean necessarily that
we aren’t just where the Lord wants us to be.
4.6.4.
In Philippians
4:11, Paul wrote to the people about how that he had learned in whatever
state that he was in to be content, “11 Not that I speak from want; for I
have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”
4.6.4.1.It is staggering to think of being content in the
midst of the type of persecution and suffering which we know that Paul
experienced on these missionary journeys of his.
4.6.4.2.Notice here that after being stoned that Paul didn’t
angry nor did he grumble and complain.
4.6.5. You see for the apostle Paul, living that ‘exchanged
life’ as a Christian where we die and Christ lives through us, was not
theoretical or a textbook truth, nor a long-range goal to someday perhaps
apprehend, rather it was a real life moment by moment experience, and in living
his life in this manner it did not matter to Paul what he might suffer along
the way, he was committed to faithfully following the Lord and His plans for
him.
5.
VS 14:4-7 - “4
But the multitude of the city was divided; and some sided with the Jews, and
some with the apostles. 5 And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and
the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to stone them, 6 they became aware
of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding
region; 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.” - The multitude of the city was divided between
the opinion of the Jews and the opinion of Paul and the good news he preached
to them
5.1.
The city of
5.2.
One thing the
unbelieving Jews and Greeks had in common was that they were united together to
try to ‘mistreat and to stone’ Paul and Barnabas.
5.2.1.
However, Paul
and Barnabas ‘became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and
Derbe, and the surrounding region’.
5.2.2.
When Paul and
Barnabas heard that persecution was awaiting them in Iconium by the unbelieving
Jews and gentiles, they fled into the next city in order to avoid this tragedy.
5.2.3.
Paul and
Barnabas would flee a city only if their lives were in danger, and then only
because if they fled somewhere else they could continue preaching the gospel.
5.2.3.1.We Christians need to realize that ‘the Lord does
not always want us to have to endure the treatment of persecution’, for if
there is a way for us to flee when heavy persecution is awaiting us, it is wise
to take that route of escape, just as Paul and Barnabas do all throughout the
book of Acts.
5.2.4.
In each of
these new cities where Paul and Barnabas went they ‘continued to preach the
gospel’.
5.3.
We Christians
must never be surprised when the gospel message that we proclaim is not
accepted harmoniously by all who hear it, for Jesus said in Matt. 10:34
that the gospel is ‘a sword’, “34 “Do not think that I came to bring
peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword”.
6.
VS 14:8-9 - “8
And at Lystra there was sitting a certain man, without strength in his feet,
lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man was listening to
Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze upon him, and had seen that
he had faith to be made well, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your
feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.” - Paul is used by God to heal a man in Lystra
6.1.
The city of
6.2.
According to Spurgeon,
there was a tradition that Jupiter and Mercury had once appeared in Lystra, and
at the gates of their city there was a great temple dedicated to Jupiter, which
was often used for worship. When this
multitude saw the man incredibly healed through Paul and Barnabas, the people
who were very superstitious concluded that surely Jupiter and Mercury must have
come again. They then fixed upon Barnabas, who was probably the elder and the
nobler looking man, as being Jupiter; and as Jupiter was always attended by
Mercurins, as a messenger, and Mercury was the god of eloquence, they concluded
that Paul must be Mercury. The people
then went to get the priest of Zeus to render a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas,
and when the priest heard of this healing by Paul and Barnabas, he looked at
this as an opportunity for profit and further credibility from the people.
6.3.
This healing
performed by God through Paul is very similar to the one performed by Peter in
chapter 3 of this book. Both of these
men had been lame from birth.
6.4.
The Lord used
a healing of a person who had been born lame to show that only the Lord could
have done the healing. If the person had
been lame only for a while, there might have been some sort of natural recovery
that people could have attributed the healing to.
6.5.
As Paul was
preaching, he had discernment from the Lord that this man had the faith
necessary to be healed. This man had
faith after hearing Paul’s preaching of the gospel, and we know that as Paul
wrote, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”.
6.5.1.
After staring
straight at the man’s face, Paul commanded him, ‘Stand upright on your
feet’. The man did not hesitate or
refuse to follow Paul’s command, but ‘leaped up and began to walk’.
7.
VS 14:11-14 - “11
And when the multitudes saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying
in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to
us.” 12 And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was
the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the
city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice
with the crowds.” - Having seen this
incredible healing firsthand, the people began to think that Paul and Barnabas
were gods come down from heaven
7.1.
Satan is so insidious in that if he can’t hinder people from believing
the gospel through Jewish persecutors, then when Christ performs an incredibly
powerful miracle through the church, Satan will even try to hinder the work by
getting pagan idolaters to worship the evangelists as gods.
7.2.
We in the
church need to realize that signs and wonders are used by the Lord to lend
credibility to the preaching of the gospel when it has none, and to draw the
interest of non-Christians, however, in and of themselves signs and wonders
never lead anyone to salvation. The
gospel must be preached and people must place their faith in Jesus Christ in
order to be saved.
8.
VS 14:14-15 - “14
But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes
and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you
doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the
gospel to you in order 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.”
- Paul and Barnabas try to get the crowd
under control and stop this crazy sacrifice from ever happening
8.1.
It might have
been awfully tempting for some people in this situation to allow the people to
make a sacrifice to them. Paul and
Barnabas could easily have rationalized the situation to themselves and decided
that if they let the people sacrifice to them that they could have been able to
say more to the people, and perhaps gradually lead them to the truth. However, Paul and Barnabas had the good sense
and character to cry out to the crowd, tear their robes, and keep the crowd from
making a very horrid mistake in sacrificing to them.
8.2.
Paul and Barnabas reveal their humility and tell the people that they are
just men with like passions as they have.
8.2.1.
This statement by Paul and Barnabas should keep us from placing these men
up on too high of a pedestal as we tend sometimes to do with the apostles and
prophets of the scripture.
8.3.
Paul and
Barnabas revealed the worthlessness of the peoples’ gods by saying of
themselves (whom the people thought were gods) that they were ‘also men of the
same nature as you’.
8.3.1.
The gods of
idolaters are just like them, they are not elevated above all of creation like
the true God who made all. Their gods
always had imperfections of character, as do people, and they were mere
projections of the peoples’ own character.
8.3.2.
Paul says
that the religion of idolatry of the people was “a vain thing”, as their gods
were not God.
8.4.
Paul says
that he and Barnabas came to preach the gospel to them and to tell them of the
real and true God who is above all, ‘who made the heaven and the earth and the
sea, and all that is in them’.
8.5.
We Christians
must always avoid taking any of the glory for ourselves for any good thing that
happens through our lives. When God
works, as He did in performing this mighty healing, then we Christians must
completely downplay our role in bringing any miracle about.
8.5.1.
When we
seriously think about the good things that the Lord does through our lives, we
have to realize that everything which we have is from the Lord.
8.5.2.
We are not worthy of any of the good things that
the Lord does through us, it is He alone who is worthy.
9.
VS 14:16-18 - “16
“And in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own
ways; 17 and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good
and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts
with food and gladness.” 18 And even saying these things, they with difficulty
restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.” - Paul and Barnabas restrained the crowds from
offering sacrifices to themselves
9.1.
In these
verses, Paul continues proclaiming to the people the greatness of the one and
true God whom they did not know. The
Lord allowed nations “to do their own thing” without Him, yet because of His
wonderful and great grace, He still blessed the people and, ‘did good and gave
you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food
and gladness’.
9.2.
Paul’s
argument to the people was barely good enough to restrain the crowds from
offering a sacrifice to him and Barnabas.
9.3.
Paul was used
to preaching the gospel to his believing Jewish brethren, however, we see here
the flexibility of Paul in that he preaches the gospel to this predominantly
Greek audience in the language that they will understand, Koine or “common
Greek”.
9.3.1.
Paul tries to
reach them with the light of understanding which they had.
9.3.2.
He preaches
to them about the good and providential things that happen to a man even though
he is a sinner.
9.4.
We Christians
need to be flexible enough to share the gospel and our testimony with people
who are lost, in such a way that they themselves can relate our story to
themselves and their predicament.
9.4.1.
The gospel
has so much power in reaching a lost person if they can really relate to the
life experiences of the one who is sharing the message.
9.5.
We Christians
need to realize that teaching people of God as creator may provide a platform
for further communication with them, however, without the preaching of the
gospel, people will never come to know God and be brought unto the salvation
Christ has procured for them.
10.
VS
14:19-20 - “19 But Jews came from
10.1.
We don’t know
here if Paul actually died and was brought back from the dead by the Lord, or
that He was just severely wounded by this stoning.
10.1.1.In Galatians 6:17, Paul wrote about how that he
bore in his own body the marks of the Lord Jesus, “17From henceforth let
no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”
10.1.1.1.These were probably the scars for His beatings,
stonings, etc. that he suffered from preaching of the gospel.
10.2.
Again, as I
mentioned, it is such an amazing thing that Paul got up and went right back
into Lystra after the Jews had stoned him, dragged him out of the city
(probably by his feet), and left him for dead.
10.3.
This story
also teaches us that God is sovereign and fulfills His own plans in the earth
and in our lives, and there are times that He allows His people who are
faithfully trying to serve Him, to suffer various things. Up until this point in Luke’s narrative in
Acts, Paul had always been forewarned and delivered before persecution befell
him, however here there was no forewarning as the Lord allowed him to be stoned,
dragged out of the city, and left for dead.
11.
CONCLUSION:
11.1.
You may
not be called to suffer persecutions of the type that Paul endured, but do you
consider that the promise of Romans 8:28 is true in your life, that ‘all things
are working together for good?’
11.1.1.Or, do you consider that the trials and sufferings
that you are going through are coming against you and hindering you, keeping
God’s best from you?
11.2.
God has a
purpose for all of the difficulties and tribulations that we Christians go
through, and through the eyes of faith we need to trust Him to protect us
through each of them, and thank Him even in the midst of the darkest of
difficulties, for we realize that God loves us so much that He is not going to
let us remain in the weak and compromised spiritual state that we may be in,
but through those trials He is going to perfect the beautiful work in our lives
of making us into the image of the Lord Jesus.
11.3.
Learn to
give thanks in all things and rejoice in the Lord always, as we are commanded