ACTS 14:1-22 HANDLING OPPOSITION TO GODS WORK2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 14:1-22 Handling Opposition To Gods Work

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. As we begin the book of...

Acts chapter 14, not beginning the book of Acts, but beginning chapter 14 of the book of Acts. We'll look at the first part of the chapter this evening, working our way through about verse 22. But let's begin by just looking at verses 1 through 7 and reading through that passage. Acts chapter 14 verse 1 says...

Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren."

Verse 4. Verse 5.

And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia and to the surrounding region. And they were preaching the gospel there.

Here as we jump into chapter 14 of the book of Acts, we're jumping into the middle of Paul's first missionary journey. And we started that in Acts chapter 13 as he was sent out from the church of Antioch. And we got to see the work that happened as God moved Paul from kind of a secondary role to the leading the missionary trip. And we got to see the work that happened as God moved Paul from kind of a secondary role to the leading the missionary trip.

as they crossed over the island of Cyprus, and we got to see the work that went on as he was preaching at the synagogue, and the gospel message being clearly declared and proclaimed. And now as we continue on in chapter 14, there's kind of a theme that presents itself in chapter 14, and that is opposition. As he's continuing on to preach the gospel, to bring forth this message of hope and life,

They encounter a lot of opposition to that gospel message. And so I titled the message this evening, Handling Opposition to God's Work. As we look at the example of Paul the Apostle and the message that he shared, the work that he did, we've been

reminded over the past several weeks that it's not a unique work to him, but that every one of us are called to the same work. That is, we're all called to make disciples. We're all called to advance the kingdom of God and be part of the kingdom work. And the gospel is God's work. It's a work that's been assigned to us. And so as we think about our lives and our mission and the things that God has set before us,

we can understand that there's going to be opposition and how to handle that opposition. Well, Paul gives us a good example for that and we'll consider those things this evening. Now, also just want to throw out there that anything that God calls you to do is God's work. And so, you know, you might be thinking, well, I don't preach the gospel that much, which, you know, maybe that's something that you need to be praying about and considering. But also, I would just encourage you that

You know, Pastor Tom was sharing on Sunday, I really liked that illustration he used of, you know, coasting down the river and the Holy Spirit tells you to get out and, you know, do this, do that. When God calls you to do stuff, whenever God puts upon your heart, that's God's work.

And you're going to experience opposition in those things as well, not just in the making of disciples, not just in, you know, the specific telling of the gospel message, but in everything that God calls you to do. It's God's work. It's what he's set before you, and there's going to be opposition. And so we can learn some valuable lessons on how to handle those things and how to handle those attacks that come.

As we get started, I'd like you to consider this quote from Warren Wiersbe. He, in talking about chapter 14, says, Paul and Barnabas put Christ first, others second, and themselves last. They had a job to do, and they were determined by God's grace to do it. And then he asked the question, how much does it take to move you out of the will of God?

I think that's a good question for us to consider because as we see, they go to different places in chapter 14. They hit obstacles. They experience opposition, but there's a determination. There's a perseverance that they continue to do what God has set before them. And it's a good question for us to consider. Do we follow that example?

They truly did put Christ first, he says, and others second and themselves last. That even if it was at their own expense, their own pain, to their own detriment, they would fulfill the will of God.

And I think many times it's so easy for us to be comfortable and we let things move us out of the will of God because, well, it's uncomfortable, because it's painful or difficult or hard or costly. And it's a good question for us to consider. How much does it take to move you out of the will of God? Will you be able to handle opposition to God's work in your life?

And so there's three points we'll highlight as we work our way through the passage this evening. As we begin looking at chapter 14, verses 1 through 7, the first point is speak the word boldly amidst accusations. The first thing that we see happen is there's these accusations that are brought against Paul and Barnabas, and yet they respond by speaking the word boldly. Looking again at verse 1, it says, Now it happened in Iconium...

Now, a quick look at the geography just to kind of catch us up to speed on this mission trip that they've been involved in. They left out of Antioch. That's there on the right. They were there at the church. The Holy Spirit said, set them apart, send them out. They got on a boat. They went across to Cyprus, ministered all across the island, went up.

from there to Asia Minor. And from there, John Mark jumped ship and, you know, got on another ship back to Jerusalem. So he took off, but they continued north, went to the other Antioch there, and then now over to Iconium. So they were driven out of Antioch at the end of chapter 13. And so because of that persecution, they were not welcome anymore. Now they're pushed over to Iconium. And

And that's where we find ourselves in verse 1. It says, it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews. And so they're going to begin ministering in that region now. And then as we go forward in chapter 14, they'll go from Iconium to Lystra to Derbe and that whole region. So they're going to be focused for this chapter on that region. And then towards the end of the chapter, they'll make their way back to Antioch.

back to their hometown and share what God did. So that's where they're going to be at. We won't spend a lot of time looking at the geography this evening, but just wanted to kind of catch us up to speed on where they were. Pay attention again in verse 1. It says, it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews. And we see this is Paul's pattern throughout his ministry. As he goes into a new area, he goes first to the synagogue and

And he begins to minister and bring forth the gospel to the Jews in line with, you know, the things that he declared in the previous chapter, but also we looked at in Romans, that the gospel, he's not ashamed of it because it's the power of God for salvation.

to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles, that there's that order that God has set because they are his people. And so he brings forth the opportunity to the Jewish people to be saved. He brings forth the opportunity to them to believe. And then inevitably they reject it. And then he goes from there to the Gentiles of the area. And we see that unfold here in verse one because a multitude, both of Jews and of the Greeks,

And so he's ministering to the Jews. He's also ministering to the Gentiles there in Iconium. But then in verse 2, he begins to experience some opposition. It says, So as he is sharing the gospel there in the region of Iconium, a great multitude, it says, is believing. They're receiving the gospel. There's a great work that's happening, but they're

The Jews are not happy about this. And so they're trying to turn people against Paul. And I like what it says. It says they poisoned their minds against the brethren. They began to do subversive work against Paul and Barnabas and the ministry there. They began to not try to counter or contradict the doctrine necessarily, not try to, you know,

prove that Judaism is the way, the truth, and the life. They didn't try like a straightforward approach, but they tried kind of an underhanded approach in poisoning the minds and turning people's minds against Paul and Barnabas. But what's really interesting about this, that's not so surprising because we've seen that from the religious leaders throughout the ministry of Jesus, as well as the book of Acts, is

But what's really interesting to me is there's a kind of an interesting combo that happens. If you look at verse 2, the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. And then you go into verse 3, therefore they stayed there a long time. I think that's an interesting combo. They poisoned the minds against the brethren. So therefore they stayed there a long time. Paul and Barnabas, as they are ministering there in Iconium,

It connects these two ideas together that because there is this subversive attack, because there is this kind of below the surface, this perverting of the minds, the poisoning of the minds, these accusations that are brought against us,

The Christians, they're in Iconium. Because that is going on, therefore, they stay there a long time. And they don't just stay there, but it says in verse 3, speaking boldly in the Lord, who is bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. As this poisoning is taking place, literally it means to make their minds evil against them.

So that's it, you know, would be the idea if I see two people who are friends and I go talk to one of the friends and I try to change their mind and make them think that their friend is evil. That's the idea. That's what's going on. So the Jews are going and they're trying to convince people that

Not so much that this doctrine is not true, not so much that, you know, this is that or that is this, but that these people are twisted and evil. It's slander that's being brought against them. It's poison changing their mind so that now they want evil for these people and not good.

And it doesn't say exactly how they were doing this, but perhaps they were questioning their motives. Perhaps they were hurling accusations. Perhaps, you know, they had all kinds of conspiracy theories about what their real agenda was, that it wasn't, you know, about this gospel message or whatever it might be. But they're working kind of behind the scenes, trying to poison people's minds, to make their minds evil against Paul and Barnabas. And directly because of that,

Because there was that kind of accusation attack, because there was that kind of attack of slander against them, because of that, they stayed there a long time. Now, you know, I could easily imagine that.

That would be a great encouragement for me to stay there a short time, right? Well, there's all these people against me. There's all these people trying to, you know, speak evil of me. There's this slander. There's these accusations. And so it would be likely for me to kind of avoid and I'll just kind of hurry and move on then because there is this attitude. There's this air of animosity against me. But Paul and Barnabas were not deterred by this type of campaign.

The Jews were slinging mud, you know, trying to taint their reputation and twist the minds of the people. But because of that, it says they stayed for a long time speaking boldly in the Lord. I think it makes a good point for us to consider. When lies are being told, God's people need to speak the truth boldly.

There needs to be that stand for truth, regardless of the attacks that might come, regardless of the accusations that might be there, and the things that might take place behind the scenes, or the air of disapproval that we might feel, or the rejection that we might experience. Whenever there is that kind of rejection and that kind of campaign going on,

Perhaps God would have us to follow the example of Paul and Barnabas and stay there for a long time because of that and not move on because, well, there's this campaign against us. Dave Guzik says, why did Paul and Barnabas decide to stay a long time if there was opposition arising? And he answers the question saying, because they knew that these Christians would need all the grounding they could get to stand strong in a city with much opposition.

For the sake of those new believers. Notice in verse 1, a great multitude has already believed. And so you can imagine Paul and Barnabas kind of rationalizing or reasoning in their heads. It's not comfortable for us here. There's this campaign against us and people are looking at us as if we're evil and they want evil for us.

But if we take off now, then who's going to take care of these brand new believers? Who's going to help them stand strong in this kind of environment? They're going to be susceptible to, well...

The attacks that come and they're going to be unable to handle them. We need to help them. And so they speak boldly in the Lord. They stay for a long time to help establish the truth and put a foundation for their faith.

They speak boldly in the Lord. And the Lord confirmed his word. He was bearing witness with signs and wonders. And so God was establishing the work there as Paul and Barnabas stuck it out. And they continued to be bold amidst accusations. Now, in order to be bold in the middle of accusations and slander and people questioning your motives and your intentions and all of that,

In order for us to have that kind of boldness, there needs to be an integrity in our hearts. There needs to be a genuineness of us in our pursuit of God and our walk with God. Consider what Peter says in 1 Peter 3.

Verse 15 is familiar to us. We know it. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. That's a verse that we know that we need to be ready to share why we have hope and why we rejoice in the Lord. But then in verse 16, he goes on to say, having a good conscience is

that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. Here's Paul and Barnabas having good conduct in Christ there in Iconium. And there's people defaming them as evildoers, poisoning their minds against Paul and Barnabas. And so Peter addressing this kind of situation says, look, when you're in that kind of spot, you need to have a good conscience, right?

So that when they defame you as evildoers, well, the people who defame you will end up being ashamed. It requires a good conscience, though. It requires for us to be genuine in our relationship with God.

to really be turning from sin, to really be repenting of sin and not continuing on in things that we know are not of God. It requires a good conscience for us to be ready to give a defense and to give an answer for the hope that we have within us. And that's what Paul and Barnabas were doing. They're modeling for us these men of character, these men of integrity who loved God and pursued God genuinely and

They were able to stand strong in the midst of this mudslinging storm, in the midst of these accusations and this defamation that was being brought against them because they had a good conscience and they were there to bring forth the word of God. And so they spoke boldly amidst accusations. Going on into verse four, it says, "'But the multitude of the city was divided, "'part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles.'"

And so the city was divided. There was people choosing sides because, well, there was this campaign by the Jews against the apostles. And so it was forcing people to choose sides, but it didn't go quite as well as the Jews hoped in that, you know, not everybody was on their side, but the city was divided. There was these clear dividing lines between, well, you believe in Jesus or you don't believe in Jesus. And so this division was happening everywhere.

Some were siding with the Jews, some were siding with the apostles. Verse 5, And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia and to the surrounding region.

So here they are. There's this great division. There's this, you know, tension that's going on. You can imagine what's happening, kind of like, you know, politics within a workplace or within a family. You know, like there's this drama. There's this tension. There's this animosity. There's all this, you know, hush-hush talking and the secret things and the defamation that's going on. In the midst of that, Paul and Barnabas are there speaking boldly the word of God. But now there's a violent attempt against their life to abuse them, to stone them, to put them to death.

And here it tells us something very interesting in verse 6, as they become aware of it. What do these bold men of God who are preaching the word of God amidst these accusations do? They run for the hills. They flee to Lystra and Derbe. I think it's interesting. Sometimes what God wants us to do is to stand boldly

and face the accusations, amidst the accusations. But you know, sometimes God also wants us to just run, just get out of there, just flee. And how do we know which is which? Well, we need to be in communication with the Lord. The commentator William McDonald says,

He says there's not a neat explanation, not just a simple explanation that we can give. He says the great controlling principle in Acts is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These men lived in close, intimate communication with the Lord. And that's the key. That's what we need. Sometimes, even though there's great accusation and mud being slung and defamation happening, sometimes

We need to stand boldly and preach the gospel clearly in the midst of that environment. And sometimes we just need to take off and move on to the next place where God wants us to be. In verse 7, it says they were preaching the gospel there. They didn't abandon the work of God. They continued to boldly preach the word of God and to speak the word of God, but they just changed location. And that is sometimes what God wants us to do as well.

So as we work on handling opposition to God's work, we need to speak the word boldly amidst accusations and yet be willing to move on when God calls us to move on. Now, connecting this, just one quick example for our day, aside from whatever God might be speaking to your heart right now. You know, there are some people who are afraid to speak the word boldly because of what people are saying about Christians.

So the whole, you know, tension and drama that's going on with, you know, the whole conversation about homosexuality and marriage between, you know, two men or two women or what, all those things. There's a lot of people who, you know, are slandering and defaming and talking about Christians, hating, you know, all these kinds of people. And because of that, because there's this movement and there's this mudslinging going on, there are a lot of Christians who are

holding back and not boldly speaking the word because of that campaign that's happening against Christians, against believers in general, saying, you know, there's this hatred, there's this animosity from Christians to homosexual people. And it's caused some people to not speak the word boldly. I think it's something for us to consider. We need to speak the word boldly amidst accusations.

to learn to, hey, we have to stand up for what's right and bring forth a clear message, and especially because there is that campaign against. Now, we might think in our heads, well, there's this campaign against. It's not really popular. There's all these ideas that there's this hatred, and so, well, I'll just be quiet for a little bit, and then later on, maybe I'll have the opportunity to share something more clearly, and I'm not saying that we have to, you know, bash people or thrust the

But there needs to be that bold, clear communication of the word of God, even in a very hostile environment, even when there is these kinds of campaigns going on, whether it be national things, worldwide things, or things happening in your personal life. Speak the word of God. Be a man or woman of integrity. Have a clear conscience and be ready for the opportunity to bring forth the word of God as he sees fit to give you that opportunity.

Well, moving on to point number two, we're going to look at verses 8 through 18. And here, the point is, refuse glorification attempts. Opposition to God's work sometimes takes different forms. It's not always kind of that subversive attack. Sometimes it comes in the area of promotion and praise and glory, right?

And that's what we see happening here in verse 8. It says, So Paul, as he moves out of Iconium, now he's in Lystra.

And what is he doing? He's preaching the gospel. He's continuing to speak the word of God boldly. And while he's speaking, and we don't know if this is at the synagogue or exactly what's happening, but he's speaking and there's a certain man who's lame, who's part of the congregation there. As Paul is teaching, he's like, wow, this guy's really, everybody else fell asleep, but man, this guy's really engaged. He's paying attention. He's like really engaged in the work that's happening here. And it says, Paul's observing him intently.

As he's paying attention, he's watching him. He's saying, this guy's really believing. Not only is he believing in Jesus, but he has faith to be healed so that he will not be lame any longer. There's a work that's happening here as Paul is speaking. The Holy Spirit is leading Paul and connecting Paul with this person, giving Paul faith to pronounce boldly what he's about to pronounce, giving him discernment to where the guy's at and where his heart's at,

The Holy Spirit is prompting Paul and leading Paul, connecting him with this guy. And so that he says, stand up straight on your feet, boldly in a loud voice, it says. You have faith to be healed. So stand up. He calls people to do what's on their heart to do. You see, Paul didn't give this guy faith. He didn't give this guy something different than what was already on his heart. He saw you have faith to be healed.

And so we just gave him opportunity to exercise that faith and said, stand up straight on your feet, get on up. You can be healed from that condition. That's what we're called to do. We're called to recognize the work that God is doing in people's lives and hearts and help them engage in that work.

That's what God wants of us. And again, it goes back to being led by the Holy Spirit, having that communication with God and seeing those opportunities that he wants to use us to help them engage with him and step forward in the things that he has set before them. Well, verse 11 says,

We see the response. Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Laconian language, the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men. And Barnabas they called Zeus. And Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. So God does this great work.

I mean, can you imagine being in that church service, right? It would be, you know, just awesome. But then there's this kind of wrench thrown in the whole thing when the response to this event is, let's worship some false gods. Let's praise and glorify these men who are here who have done this work. When it says, when they saw what Paul had done,

Now, this is something that was familiar to them. Because there, you'll notice in verse 13, it says,

There's a reason why the temple of Zeus was in front of their city. That was, you know, kind of a special place in their minds for Zeus. In fact, they had legends and myths, you know, and their beliefs that Zeus and Hermes had visited their city before. But when they showed up, nobody paid attention to them except for one older couple.

And they were the only ones who paid attention to them and hosted them. And so Zeus and Hermes were angry with that region. And they wiped everybody out except for this older couple who paid them attention.

This was, you know, what they believed. And Zeus, you know, the temple of Zeus was right there. As a result, they wanted to be welcoming to Zeus and pleasing to Zeus. And so now as they have this happen, they're like, well, look, it's Zeus and Hermes here again, just like our legend said. And so now they attempt to worship Paul and Barnabas as Zeus and Hermes. Verse 14 says,

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in amongst or among the multitude crying out and saying, men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.

Paul and Barnabas don't recognize what's happening at first because it says they're speaking in the Laconian language. And so they're not speaking in Greek, which they were probably speaking with before. But now, you know, hey, this is personal to us. This is our region. This is our, you know, and they're having this communication and saying, we need to worship these guys. They're here as, you know, Zeus and Hermes. But

But when they started to see, oh wait, they're bringing stuff to make sacrifices. When they understood now what was happening, they rush in. It says they tore their clothes and they ran among the multitude. They wanted to make sure it was abundantly clear this cannot happen. This should not happen. Don't do this. He says, we're men with the same nature as you.

We're just like you guys. We're not any different. We're not to be worshipped. We're not to be, you know, adored or honored in that way. Instead of worshiping,

practicing these things, we're preaching to you to turn from these things. I like what he says, turn from these useless things to the living God. And we've talked about that, that exchange, right? The fountain of living waters versus broken cisterns. Turn from the useless things to the living God, to the God who created the heavens and the earth. Last week, as we talked about the gospel,

I talked about the importance of the bridge in the gospel message, connecting that message to the people that you are sharing with. And here Paul does that again, but with a different method. He's not talking to Jews, so he doesn't go through the history of the Jewish people. What does he do? He connects to them with the whole concept of creation. He says, the living God who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,

the creator of the heavens and the earth. In verse 17, he says, nevertheless, he did not leave himself without witness, and that he did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. He looks at God as the creator, as the provider, the one who continues to provide rain from the heavens and fruitful seasons. And so he uses that as a connection to say, look, this is the God that we're calling you to worship. Not men, not us, not me and Barnabas, but

but calling you to worship the God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Dave Guzik says Paul did not preach to these pagan worshipers the same way he preached to Jews or those acquainted with Judaism. He doesn't quote the Old Testament, but instead appeals to natural revelation.

And so kind of piggybacking on last week's point on building that bridge, sometimes it's the scripture, sometimes it's our testimony, sometimes it might be creation itself, which is used as a bridge to connect the gospel message to the people that are there in front of us. But once that bridge is built, the call is turn from useless things to the living God. Verse 18 says,

And with these sayings, they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. And so you get the picture here, like they had to work really hard. They had to be incredibly persuasive. They had to be absolutely bold. And with all the might and boldness and persuasiveness that they could muster, they just barely restrained the people from sacrificing to them. They

They had to work incredibly hard at it. They had to do their best to make sure, no, don't do this. And they didn't end up doing it, but it took everything that they had. That's kind of the idea that is being pictured here. And this is where we get the point. Refuse glorification attempts. They refuse to be glorified. They didn't walk away and say, well, you know, if they want to worship or whatever, whatever.

They're not listening to us. We tried to tell them. They didn't give up, but they were insistent. No, you can't do this. They refused to accept glory. They refused to accept the honor for what had been done. And that is really important as we talk about God's work.

Whether that work could be ministering to people one-on-one, whether that work could be ministering to people in a group setting like this, whether that be getting out of the boat in one form or fashion or in another form or fashion, whatever God's work is that he's set in front of you, there needs to be a purpose in our hearts to refuse the glory for whatever God does.

We need to make sure that we do not accept glory for the work of God, and that we are willing to even refuse it, and not just say, you know, well, thanks, but you know, it's okay. You know, it's not really me. It's the Lord. No, no, no. It's you. No, no, no. We need to be willing to go the distance, and give every effort, and refuse the glory for the work that God does. Now,

People may not try to run up to you and say, you're Zeus. You know, you're come down. You're God in human form. I can't believe. Dave Burnt, man. Godly physique you got there. That's amazing. And so you must be, you know, people probably don't call you or name you after Greek gods. But they do offer glory in other ways. And it's something that there's a balance too. So, you know, please understand I'm not saying we can't.

encourage or compliment each other. But at the same time, we need to be careful because there is, well, one of the things that happens, you might remember Paul the Apostle dealt with this with the city of Corinth. The church there in Corinth, they were divided. Some saying, I'm of Paul. Others saying, I'm of Apollos. And others saying, I'm of Cephas. And then others saying, well, I only follow Jesus. And there was these divisions over these guys as if these guys were the ones who did the work. It's God who does the work.

And there's a temptation to pick our favorite ministers. There's a temptation to pick our favorite people and say, well, Jerry's not very encouraging, but when Pastor Cisco shares, man, he's just really encouraging, really anointed and gifted, and wow, that's great. And if that's you, great. Learn Spanish and go over there. You can be encouraged by Pastor Cisco and come here in English. I'll discourage you. It's my gift. I'm just kidding. But, you know, we can pick and choose, and there is...

And it's not necessarily always intended this way, but there is sometimes this intention and sometimes this idea that builds in our minds. Yeah, you know, I do lead worship better than Ronnie. Yeah, I am pretty good, you know. And that is an opposition to the work of God just as much as the subversion, the accusations, the blaming of the previous point. That

accepting of credit, of glory for what God is doing is a dangerous road to travel. God will not share his glory with any others. He's been very clear about that all through the scriptures. And we can easily go down that path. Glorifying any man is always an opposition to God's work. Glorifying any man is always an opposition to God's work.

We have our favorites, and we like those people that have ministered to us, but we need to understand. We need to recognize they are people just like us, and it's God who does the work. We can be grateful. We can be thankful, but we need to glorify God. William MacDonald, the commentator, says, for a successful Christian worker, a greater peril than persecution is the tendency for people to center their spiritual attention not on Christ, but

but on his servant. Here's the danger of glorification. And here's why this is so important, because it shifts the focus from the Lord to a person. And that, it's idolatry. Now, again, you might not bow down to Dave Byrne, but if your heart is reliant upon him, if your spiritual life depends on him, there's something wrong. I don't know why I'm picking on him, but...

He's really happy he showed up tonight. There's something wrong. When the focus is shifted from Christ to a person, it's in opposition to the work of God. And so we need to refuse glorification attempts. Now, another form that this might take is, maybe you've had this happen. Someone hands you a book. You have to read this book, right? Now, again, there's balance. I want to say, you know, there's really great books and books we ought to read.

But at the same time, they can develop this mentality, this idea, you have to read this book. And you do these 37 points that are found in this book. And man, your life will be changed. And you're going to have an amazing marriage and all that stuff. Now, here's the thing. For the person handing you that book, here's the reality. That book really did impact their life. And for you, if you've been impacted by a book, great. But listen, you need to understand, it could have been any other book just as easily.

It's not so much about that particular book, but it's about the work that God did. It's God's timing working that message, your preparation, your decision to grow, to respond to God, and the timing of God. It's the Holy Spirit working all these things together to do the work in you. And he could have easily used a very different book or a teaching or a message. And so sometimes we get caught up on the messenger message.

And we think, well, it's because that messenger, they're just funny. And so they present the Bible in a way that I just really can receive it and enjoy it. It's so great. And we glorify the messenger. This book was so powerful, you know, really just cut through all the riffraff stuff and really got to the point. And that's why, man, you got to read this book. And we can tend to glorify the messenger instead of recognizing that it was God who was working.

The reality is there's only one book that you have to read, and that's the scriptures. That's the Bible. All the other books that are based on that are good and can be helpful and can be used by God at any time in your life. And so it's not that we have to be opposed and say, well, no, I only read the Bible. I'm of Paul. I'm of Apollos. No, no, I only follow Jesus. It's not that we have to take that approach. Again, there's balance. But at the same time, as we receive Jesus,

Whether it's written or verbal or however we hear that, you know, receive that communication, we need to recognize it's God working and we're just the messengers. And flip that around, whenever God uses you, there's going to be temptation to receive the glory, to accept the glory and say, you know,

Yeah, I did teach a pretty good message because I studied really hard and I think I'm a little bit smarter than Jerry. And so, yeah, I think I deserve this. You know, it makes sense that this message was so good because, you know, of this and that. And there's that subtle temptation for us to accept the glory. But here you see a good example from Paul and Barnabas. Refuse that glorification attempt. Don't let that sit. Don't let that settle. Don't accept it.

Well, finally, verses 19 through 22, we have point number three, and that is persevere through physical attacks. Verse 19, it says,

Here in verse 19, the Jews catch up with him. It says Jews from Antioch. Now that's not from his home church or hometown where he was sent, but the Antioch that he was in, you know, just a little bit earlier. But still, some of them have traveled perhaps up to 100 miles to catch up with Paul to bring this destruction on him. It says they come from Antioch, from Iconium, and now they're there in Lystra, and they persuade the multitudes. There's this

mudslinging again. There's this uproar again. And the result is Paul gets stoned. And that's not with anything illegal. That's with rocks that were thrown at him. And that was their typical method of putting someone to death. Okay. So that was their method of execution. And so they put him to death. They stoned him. And then they dragged him out of the city and figured he's dead because we executed him.

But then in verse 20, however, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas and two derby. So here's some interesting things to note about the apostle Paul. He's executed. Now, stoning is just like what you picture probably when you think of the idea of stoning. People pick up rocks and they throw them at you till you stop breathing. That's stoning. Now, I mean, if I just fall off the stage...

It's likely that, you know, I'm not going to be around for a couple of days. I'm going to be laying in bed at home, you know, because I got hurt. Here's Paul. He gets rocks thrown at him, and not like he's dodging them. They land, so much so that he is thought to be dead. Possibly he did die in this event. You might remember in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, he talks about

being caught up into the third heaven and he says you know I don't actually know if I was alive or dead I don't really know but I was in this kind of like state where I was caught up into heaven and I don't know if it was just a vision or if I actually died and went there this is believed to be the occasion where Paul had this experience where he was caught up into the third heaven and in this state where he's not really sure if he was alive or dead and

And the people here, they thought he was dead. So he's beaten. He is bloodied. He has, you know, been crushed by rocks and beaten, dragged out of the city. And it says he gets up and he goes back into the city after the believers gather around him. There's a miraculous work going on here. But the interesting thing about Paul is he rises up and goes into the city.

Remember all those guys who just threw rocks at me? Let's go talk to them. Now, it doesn't say he actually talked to them, but he goes into the place where he has just been executed. There's a perseverance here that Paul is demonstrating. And then the next day, he departs to Derby. Now, I think it makes sense, right? If it was me or you, probably that day we would have departed for Derby. Okay, let's get out of here. I just got stoned.

But Paul says, let's go hang out in the city. He stays the night there. And then the next day he moves on. And then verse 21, when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. So Paul goes from there. He preaches the gospel.

They're in Derby. And then he says, hey, let's go back to Lystra again. Remember the place where I got executed? Let's go back there. And what do they do there? They strengthen the souls of the disciples. Then they also go on to the previous cities, Iconium and Antioch. And they're going back. So this is the beginning of the return trip. Now they're going to make their way back to their home fellowship at Antioch. And so as they make their way back, though, their stopping points, one of them is the place where Paul was executed. And so they're going to make their way back to their home fellowship at Antioch.

And the message that they're bringing forth is, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. I mean, Paul was probably a very radical visual illustration of the message he was preaching to those believers. What an encouraging message, right? Here's Paul, all beaten up and bloodied, saying, we have to go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God. We must persevere. There's going to be physical attacks.

There's going to be emotional attacks. There's going to be rocks thrown at us. There's going to be difficulties. There's going to be hardships. If we're going to enter into the kingdom of God, it's going to be through tribulation. Set your mind on that already. Don't let it be a surprise to you when you suffer. Let it be expected because you know we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. We need to expect to suffer in this Christian life.

We need to expect it and not be so shocked that people are against us, that there is opposition, that there is, you know, attacks and difficulties. We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. William MacDonald said, "'Persecutions and tribulations do not have any saving value. However, those who enter the kingdom of God by faith at the present time are promised that the pathway to future glory is filled with tribulations.'"

This is a message that we need to take to heart so that we persevere through physical attacks. Many times we get incredibly depressed and discouraged when there is hurt and pain and difficulty because we weren't expecting to suffer.

There needs to be not a doom and gloom that we have to walk around like Eeyore, but to understand that, you know, Paul said, hey, the tribulations that we go through are accomplishing an eternal weight of glory in eternity for us. There's a glory that's being established for us, but it comes through the tribulations that we face. Jesus says, don't be surprised when the world hates you. It hated me first. And so we need to understand and expect that.

that there is going to be opposition. There's going to be difficulty. There's going to be dislike. There's going to be slander and mudslinging. There's going to be these kinds of things. That's part of the Christian life. And if you signed up for the gospel, which says, you know, I get to go to heaven and be comfortable in this life and get everything that I want and never have to suffer and always, you know, just do things that I really want to do and enjoy doing, you know, that's not the gospel. That's a different message.

But to enter into the kingdom of God is going to be through much tribulation. There's going to be difficulty, but God will be with us in the difficulty. But we've got to persevere through these attacks as we do God's work. Again, sharing the gospel or anything that God calls you to do is God's work.

I'm going to invite Ronnie to come up and close this in a couple songs. And as he comes up and gets ready, I want to share a couple quotes with you for just kind of some closing thoughts for us to consider. And the first one is what I read at the beginning from Warren Wiersbe. Paul and Barnabas put Christ first, others second, and themselves last. They had a job to do, and they were determined by God's grace to do it. How much does it take to move you out of the will of God? I would ask you to consider this.

this evening. What has God put upon your heart that you are not doing, that you have been avoiding because you haven't put Christ first and others second and yourself last, but you've put yourself higher up on the list. And so you're not doing what God has put upon your heart. You're not doing what God has called you to do, the work that he has set before you. How much does it take to move you out of the will of God? I would encourage you to just seek the Lord on that.

I don't know what God's put upon your heart. I don't know what God's speaking to you. It's not a message of condemnation, but a message of, hey, let's learn from this example and get back in the will of God. Get back to where God wants us to be with Christ first, others second, and let's die to ourselves and take up our cross and follow Christ. A similar quote from Dave Guzik said a slightly different way. What will it take?

As we embark in doing the will of God, we need to understand there will be opposition and to not back down because it's hard or painful or costly.

We need to do the work that God has set before us and allow nothing to stop us. What will it take for you to back down? If your parents disavow you or disown you, if your neighbor still rocks at you, if you lose your job, what will it take for you to back down and not do God's will, not do what God has set upon your heart, not do the work that he has set before you? What will it take? Can we be like Paul and Barnabas?

Say, it doesn't matter what it costs. It doesn't matter how much it hurts. It doesn't matter if rocks get thrown at me, if there's a slander campaign against me. I'm going to do the work of God. And listen, maybe the work of God for you is just showing up to church. And you feel like, I can't show up to church. There's a slander campaign against me, man. They're slinging mud. Hey, come. Do God's work. Speak the word of God boldly. Don't let those things push you back and back you down. You stay faithful to do what God has called you to do.

And so Ronnie's going to lead us in a closing song or two. And let's just take this time to seek the Lord and allow him to speak to our hearts about his will for us. What does he want from you? What does he want to lead you into? What has he been speaking to you about that you've been avoiding? And let's let God do the work that he wants to do in us as we turn from our selfish ways and pursue what he has set before us, putting him first, others second, and ourselves last.

Let's worship the Lord and allow Him to work in our hearts.