Let Your Voice Be Heard!
Acts 14:1-20
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - May 2, 2007
*Life changing words: Hearing your boyfriend ask, “Will you marry me?”
*Answering “Yes!” or “No.” Both of those answers are pretty life-changing.
*Hearing your wife say, “I’m pregnant.” That’s life-changing. But the greatest life-changing words are the words of the Gospel. “God loves you. Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins. Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus will save you.” And Christians, we must let people hear this good new from us!
1. We must let our voices be heard, first of all, because many people will believe and be saved.
*We can see it happening here in vs. 1: “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.”
*Many believed. They trusted in the Lord, and they were saved, because somebody let their voice be heard.
-What an infinite blessing: To be saved, forgiven! To have eternal life!
-To be part of the family of God! To have a home in Heaven!
*Can you remember what it was like to be lost? Think of life without Jesus: life that is really not living, a two-dimensional shell of a life in a three-dimensional world. That’s what life is without Jesus.
-But we are saved! Because somebody let their voice be heard. And people all around us need to hear.
*A Barna survey recently found that 33% of adults in America are unchurched (Meaning they have not attended any type of service during the past 6 months). That is well over 75 million adults. (1)
-We must not believe that those 75 million people are unreachable.
*As Richard Pfeil once said:
“I wonder sometimes whether the myths in our heads are really true. The myths in our culture are that people don’t really want to hear about Christianity. People are satisfied with their lives. They have everything and they don’t need the Lord in their lives. They have another religion, and they don’t need us to convert them. I wonder if those words in our heads are a lie.
-When I look at the [early] church, they always professed Jesus Christ. Throughout the history of the church, people have discovered that they need him. People have listened and they will listen. People have responded and they will respond. They responded . . . in great numbers, and every time the church caught fire and talked about their faith, people began to listen.” (2)
*Bruce Larson gave this testimony about an unexpected conversion, a neighbor of his in Sanibel Island, Florida. Bruce said:
“I had a neighbor in his eighties who had been a vice-president for McGraw-Hill, one of the great publishing firms of our land. He was a brilliant businessman. He was a senior vestryman in the Episcopal church, on the city council in Sanibel, respected, and loved by all.
-One weekend, he went off to a [renewal] conference with a bunch of lay people who began praying with him and talking about Jesus. This beautiful man comes home transformed and says to his neighbors and friends, "I met Jesus."
-"What happened to you?"
-He says, "I don’t know. I fell in love."
-"He’s always been a good man," his neighbors said, "but now he’s a new man." (3)
2. Let your voice be heard, because many people will believe and be saved, and because blind people are poisoning minds.
*We see it happen in vs. 2-7:
2. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.
3. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
4. But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
5. And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,
6. they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region.
7. And they were preaching the gospel there.
*Those blind, unbelieving Jews were poisoning people’s minds in Iconium. Today many spiritually blind people do all they can to poison people’s minds. One of the most popular websites on the internet is “MySpace,” especially with young people. Today I looked at a just a few of the Religion and Belief groups at MySpace. There are 117,846 of these groups listed on 11785 pages. Out of the first 50 groups, about 15 were obviously Christian, but examples of other groups include:
-Universal Masters (Public Group)
All the Greatest Universal Self Realized Masters in this group. The only official myspace group that promotes all the Greatest Self Realized Masters. Enjoy your soul’s journey brothers and sisters!
Founded: Feb 25, 2006 - Members 35,715
-Atheist and Agnostic Group (Private Group)
Got Doubt? Join Group
Founded: Jun 13, 2004 - Members 31,517
-Occult Studies: (Magick, Metaphysics, Paganism, Religions, etc...) (Public Group) A place to come and exchange ideas on such things as spell casting, energy manipulation
Founded: Jul 12, 2004 - Members 28,917
-The Pagan Circle
Founded: Aug 1, 2004 - Members 28,438
-Unlock Reality UR Here (Public Group)
Unlock Reality (UR) explains the Construction of the Universe in simple terms that anyone can understand. Our Goal is to spread the UR Effect!
Founded: May 13, 2006 - Members 16,081
-Spiritual Awakening (Private Group)
All Spiritual Seekers and Paths Welcome: God Spirituality Meditation Mystics World Religions Scriptures Gnostic Hinduism Buddhism Sufism Christianity Kabbalah Taoism Sant Mat RadhaSoami Rumi Poetry
Founded: Dec 15, 2004 - Members 14,245
-Wicca (Private Group)
Wicca, Tarot Cards, Talismans, Astrology, Numerology, Zodiac
Founded: Nov 16, 2004 - Members 12,322
-DharmaSpace (Public Group) 1.) To unite the cyber-Sangha. In other words, to bring together people who are drawn by Eastern spiritual paths. 2.) To aid people in their voyage to the "further shore" (aka Nirvana, Moksh)
Founded: Jun 13, 2004 - Members 6,129 (4)
*Blind and lost people doing all they can to poison people’s minds. We see it in Monroe, as an “adult retail store" has opened right next to an elementary school in town. Maybe you saw the story on KNOE about two weeks ago. Owners of the new X-mart Adult Supercenter applied with the city for an occupational license as a simple retail store, but a city spokesman say the applicant didn’t disclose what they would be selling.
*The story went on to say:
"Store employees say this white fence was put up to try and ease tension between their business and a school playground, which is literally across the street, for elementary school students."
The school is Our Lady of Fatima, where nearly 200 kindergarten thru sixth grade students - all with curious minds - attend classes.
Monroe catholic schools spokeswoman Liz Craft says that’s reason enough for the store to shut its doors.
Craft says, "This is Monroe Louisiana, we value our children, we value our faith and I’m not so sure that having this kind of establishment right across the street is exactly what we need here." (5)
*I’m sure it’s the last thing they need anywhere, but as far as I know the store is still open.
*Blind people are poisoning minds. What should we do? The same thing Paul and Barnabas did here. They kept speaking out for the Lord everywhere and every way they could. When the unbelieving Jews started poisoning minds, vs. 3, says, “THEREFORE [Paul and Barnabas] stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.”
*And yes in vs. 5&6, under the leadership of the Lord, “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 Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region.”
*But in vs. 7, they kept speaking out for the Lord. “They were preaching the gospel there.”
3. Let your voice be heard, because blind people are still poisoning minds, and because God is just as big as He ever was.
*Back in vs. 3, the Lord “was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” Then in vs. 8-10, something else special happened:
8. . . . a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.
9. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,
10. said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!’’ And he leaped and walked.
*You may say, “I wish God would do stuff like that today.”
-I tell you that God is still doing stuff like that today, especially in places where Christians are going through the same kind of persecution.
*Our International Mission Board has a monthly e-newsletter for students called “The Task.” The Dec. 2001 issue gave this report:
“In the Western world, we often limit God to revealing Himself through sermons, Bible studies and the advice of godly counselors, but we discount dreams and visions as suspect. By contrast, many people in other countries, including most of the Muslim world, consider dreams and visions as standard vehicles through which God will speak to them.
Speaking at Two Rivers Baptist Church recently, Dayna Curry, one of the two women jailed by the Taliban for sharing Christianity, said that God is reaching Afghan Muslims through their dreams. Curry said that an Afghani woman she knew was under stress, wondering how to feed and clothe her 8 children. One night, the woman had a dream that Jesus walked into her home, placed his hand on each of their heads and told her "not to worry because I will be their father."
"[The woman] came to us and wanted to know how to get closer to Jesus," Curry said.” (6)
*Here’s part of a testimony from Campus Crusade for Christ dated April 25, 2000:
Again, I am in awe. Something is happening that defies human logic.
-In a very restricted and closed Middle Eastern nation, three Muslim men contacted a former Campus Crusade for Christ worker. Each man told of having experienced a powerful vision.
-They saw a man with a radiant face. He was clothed in a robe of pure white and surrounded by a brilliant light of glory. He told them, "I am Jesus. I am the way. You need to believe the Bible and believe in Me." And each man told of seeing the same vision for 17 days in a row.
-Together they went to their Muslim leader and asked for help. The mullah advised them: "I have my own firm views of Jesus. But if you want to know who He really is, you need to find a Bible and read it for yourselves."
-They followed the mullah’s advice, found a bible, studied it, discovered God’s way of salvation and gave their lives to Christ!” (7)
*Thinking all Christians came to Christ through visions, these new believers innocently asked the Campus Crusade worker, "When was the last time you saw a vision of Jesus?" And they were surprised when he told them that he had been a Christian for 25 years and had never seen a vision of Christ.
*Now we may never see a vision like that, but let me ask you this: How many of you know of something that happened to you or someone you know, and it just had to be a miracle? How many of you have seen an answer to prayer where you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that God had intervened? There was no way out if God didn’t intervene, but He did!
*But even if we never saw God intervene like that, if you brought your Bible tonight, you are holding a miracle in your hands!
*As Mark Schaeufele once said:
-My Bible tells me that Jesus said he would be crucified, and he was.
-My Bible tells me that Jesus said he would rise from the dead on the third day and he did.
-My Bible tells me that because Jesus rose from the dead, that one day I will rise from the dead, and I will.
-My Bible tells me that because Jesus rose from the dead I have victory in my life. And I do! (8)
4. Let your voice be heard, because God is just as big as He ever was, and because people are prone to bizarre ideas.
*The people of Lystra went way off track in vs. 11-13:
11. Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!’’
12. And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
13. 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.
*How did this happen? William Barclay helped us understand with this background:
-“The explanation of their being taken for gods lies in the legendary history of Lycaonia. The people round Lystra told a story that once Zeus and Hermes had come to this earth in disguise. None in all the land would give them hospitality until at last two old peasants, Philemon and his wife Baucis, took them in.
-As a result the whole population was wiped out by the gods except Philemon and Baucis, who were made the guardians of a splendid temple and were turned into two great trees when they died. So when Paul healed the crippled man the people of Lystra were determined not to make the same mistake again. Barnabas must have been a man of noble presence so they took him for Zeus the king of the gods. Hermes was the messenger of the gods and, since Paul was the speaker, they called him Hermes.” (9)
*Lot’s of people are about that far off today. “Gaia” was the Greek goddess who personified the Earth. And today there is a “Gaia Movement” of people far-out environmentalists who believe that the earth is a super-organism. In other words, they believe that the earth is alive. And this theory has gained much support in the environmentalist movement.
*I looked all this up when I saw an article from last Friday, which said:
“Visitors to the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa won’t find the Gideon Bible in the nightstand drawer. Instead, on the bureau will be a copy of ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ former Vice President Al Gore’s book about global warming.
-They’ll also find the Gaia equipped with waterless urinals, solar lighting and recycled paper as it marches toward becoming California’s first hotel certified as ‘green,’ or benevolent to the environment.” (10)
*When people reject the Word of God, they will turn to the most ridiculous beliefs, but notice what Paul and Barnabas did. In vs. 14-18 they passionately told people the truth. They tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying,
15. . . . "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 vain things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
16. "who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.
17. "Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.’’
18. And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.
5. Let your voice be heard, because people are prone to bizarre ideas, and because eternity hangs in the balance.
*Things definitely took a turn for the worse in vs. 19-20:
19. Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there [to Lystra]; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
20. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.)
*What would make Paul keep speaking the truth about Jesus Christ? What would make him be willing to even be stoned? What would make him willing to get up and go right back to the place where he was stoned?
*Well, of course, it was because Paul had such great love for the Lord and for the lost. But here’s another way to say it: Paul knew that eternity was hanging in the balance. No matter what happens in the next week or year or lifetime, nothing matters stacked up against eternity. Eternity is waiting out there for every soul. It’s going to be Heaven or Hell forever. And Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven, so Paul had to let his voice be heard.
*Lauren McCain was another one of the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) victims at VA Tech who let her voice be heard for Jesus Christ. Lauren was a freshman in international studies, and was so loved at her church, Restoration Church in Hampton.
-Like most of our young people, Lauren had her own MySpace page. And this is what she had written about the certainty of her faith:
"The purpose and love of my life is Jesus Christ. I don’t have to argue religion, philosophy, or historical evidence because I KNOW Him." (11)
Conclusion:
*Do you know Jesus? Most of us can joyfully say, “Yes!” And if not, you can receive Him right now. And you must, because your eternity hangs in the balance.
*Then just like Paul, just like Lauren, we must let our voice be heard.
1. (Barna Update 3/19/07) found in Church Leaders Intelligence Report - 05.02.2007
2. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon: “The Church You’ve Always Longed for: Captures the Heart of the Community” by Richard Pfeil - Acts 11:19-30
3. Bruce Larson, "What about Sudden Conversion?" Preaching Today, Tape No. 72. Found on Bible Illustrator, Topic: Change / Date: 4/1998.1282 / Title: Surprising Sudden Conversions.
4. May 5, 2007 MySpace search - Religion& Belief Groups - Pages 1-5 of 11785 pages - Total Religion & Belief groups = 117846
5. Online story by Mike McDaniel - April 20, 2007 - TV8 News, Monroe, LA.
6. (online - thetask_orgstudentseNewslettersFall01_12) (December 2001 - Welcome to the final IMB Collegiate eNewsletter for Fall semester 2001. What’s Inside: . . . Bible study: Dreaming of Jesus.)
7. Found online at www.whenistherapture.com/miracles.html. The testimonies are direct quotes from articles in the newsletters of "The Jesus Film Project" (A Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International; P.O. Box 72007; San Clemente, CA 92674-2007) (MUSLIMS SEE VISIONS OF JESUS - April 25, 2000 - Paul Eshleman, Director of The JESUS Film Project)
8. Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “A Walk to Remember” by Mark Schaeufele - Luke 24:13-35
9. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (Acts 14:8-18)
10. California Hotels Go Green With Low-Flow Toilets, Solar Lights - By Ari Levy and Carole Zimmer - April 27, 2007 (Bloomberg)
11. In Other Words April2007_3 (People, 4/30/7, p.66) (IN OTHER WORDS... began in 1991 and is produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry, Senior Pastor of the Westgate Memorial Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas. 6130 Barrington ~ Beaumont, Texas 77706 (800) 553-4697 www.iows.net)
