Introduction:
A. The classic joke or dig that preachers often endure is the one on this cartoon where the young man says, “When I grow up, I wanna be a preacher too…cuz you only work 1 day a week…”
1. Usually the preacher and the person laugh, because they both know it isn’t true and is just said in jest.
2. Most people are well aware of the fact that ministry is truly difficult and requires a lot of work and sometimes includes a good bit of criticism, sacrifice and suffering.
3. That is true for those in full-time ministry and is true for those who are ministry volunteers.
B. Few Christian leaders in any generation have suffered the criticism, attacks, and outright slander that Charles Spurgeon endured.
1. Some of this was inevitable, since Spurgeon was a world-renowned preacher. His critics attacked his teachings and his motives.
2. During one stressful period, he wrote a friend, saying: “Friends firm. Enemies alarmed. Devil angry. Sinners saved. Christ exalted. Self not well.”
C. Have you ever served and sacrificed to the point that you could say, “self not well”?
1. How much responsibility are you willing to shoulder for the sake of Christ?
2. How much time and energy are you willing to invest in doing the ministry of God?
3. How much of your money are you willing to sacrifice to support the work of God?
4. How much ridicule or criticism are you willing to put up with for the name of Christ?
5. These are penetrating questions, but important ones.
6. They either confirm that we are on track, or convict us for our lack of dedication in our service for the Lord.
D. It is helpful to be reminded periodically that Jesus made it very clear that the path of discipleship and ministry is difficult.
1. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Lk 9:23-24).
2. The questions we need to continually ask ourselves are:
a. Am I denying myself and taking up my cross?
b. Am I losing my life for Jesus?
c. Is Christ and his church really the center of my life? Or is it just one of the many things I am a part of that makes me who I am?
E. What I hope we can be reminded of today is this: Every person who is truly pleasing to the Lord, is a person who gives themselves to the Lord in faithful service, sacrifice and suffering.
1. I want to help us evaluate whether we are truly giving ourselves to the Lord.
2. To do so today, we will return to the life of Paul and will pick up his story in Acts 14.
I. The Story
A. If you remember from the sermons in the last two weeks, Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the Holy Spirit from Antioch of Syria on what is known ass Paul’s first missionary journey.
1. They sailed to Cyprus and did ministry on both east and west coasts.
2. Then they sailed to Perga and went up to Pisidian Antioch where they spent a few weeks in ministry before they were expelled from the region.
B. Today we pick up their journey.
1. They traveled about 90 miles south east from Antioch to Iconium.
2. In Acts 14, the Bible says: 1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. (Acts 14:1-4)
3. How interesting - they went as usual to the Jewish synagogue.
a. Even though they left Pisidian Antioch saying that they were turning their mission away from the Jews and focusing on the Gentiles, that didn’t mean they were leaving the Jews out completely.
b. Paul and Barnabas knew that in addition to having an effect on some Jews in the synagogue, they would also find many God-fearing Gentiles meeting at the synagogue.
4. We are told that they spoke so effectively, that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
a. But as you would expect, the Jews who did not believe poisoned the people’s minds against Paul and Barnabas.
b. Amazingly, in spite of that, Paul and Barnabas stayed there a considerable time, and spoke boldly and the Lord confirmed their message with miraculous signs, which was the purpose of signs and wonders.
5. This is a good lesson for us to learn, Paul and Barnabas did not run from the ministry challenges but stayed there in spite of them.
a. Henry Ford said, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”
b. We must learn to face our challenges in a way that transforms obstacles into opportunities.
c. A key to being able to do that is our attitude of faith.
d. When we awaken in the morning, we choose the attitude that will ultimately guide our thoughts and actions through the day.
e. And then, we make a choice every waking moment of our lives about what our attitude will be.
f. I believe that our best attitudes emerge out of a clear understanding of our own identity, a clear sense of divine ownership and purpose for our lives.
g. As we will see, it was that kind of remarkable attitude Paul and Barnabas consistently maintained that allowed them to overcome countless and extreme obstacles and faithfully stay focused on the goal of serving the Lord.
C. Now returning to the story, we will notice that the opponents made plans to stone Paul and Barnabas, but the Lord allowed them to discover the plan and escape.
1. Let’s pick up the story, the Bible says: 5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the good news. 8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. (Acts 14:5-10)
2. The Bible tells us that they traveled to Lystra, which sat just 18 miles southwest of Iconium.
3. So, in Lystra, Paul and Barnabas encountered a lame man, crippled from birth, who had never walked, and Paul saw the man had the faith to be healed, and so he healed him.
4. The man jumped up and began to walk – wouldn’t you have liked to witness that?!!
5. This episode is certainly reminiscent of the healings performed by Jesus and Peter.
6. Let’s see how the crowds responded to this miracle.
D. The Bible says: 11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. (Acts 14:11-13)
1. So, when the crowd saw what had happened, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form.”
a. One explanation for why the people of Lystra were so quick to give Paul and Barnabas the status of diety is found in the legendary history of Lycaonia.
b. The people of Lystra held to a story that years ago the gods Zeus and Hermes had disguised themselves and paid a visit to their town.
c. No one in the land offered them hospitality except two old peasants named Philemon and Baucis.
d. As a result the whole population was wiped out except the two peasants.
2. So, perhaps with that experience in mind, here come Paul and Barnabas doing miraculous good deeds, and what do the people conclude? Zeus and Hermes are here again!
a. The people of Lystra were not going to make the same mistake, so they begin to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas.
3. Before we move on to how Paul and Barnabas responded to this attempt to worship them, let’s pause and consider this potential danger in ministry.
a. What a tempting moment this was for a preacher, or for anyone doing any kind of ministry.
b. When we do something especially helpful in someone’s life, they can make the mistake of depending on us or treating us almost as if we are a god (little g).
c. When that happens, it is so easy to let that go to our heads and to start expecting and needing such adulation.
d. Not Paul and Barnabas, let’s see what they did.
E. The Bible says: 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. (Acts 14:14-18)
1. When Paul and Barnabas picked up on what was taking place, they quickly and adamantly explained that they were not gods, and that they should not be worshiped.
2. Paul then addressed the crowd, and it is interesting to see that he did not begin with OT scripture, like he often did in the synagogue, rather he started from nature and proclaimed a message about the God who creates and gives. The message is very similar to the one he will deliver later in Athens.
3. So Paul and Barnabas did the right thing, they didn’t welcome the adulation, but pointed people to the only true God.
4. Nevertheless, the people hardly listened and continued to try to offer sacrifices to them.
F. But here is another good lesson for us, popularity can be so short-lived.
1. The Bible says: 19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. (Acts 14:19-20a)
2. How quickly the crowd went from singing praises to slinging stones!
a. Welcome to the ministry!
b. One minute you’re taking a bow, and the next you’re dodging tomatoes, or worse, stones.
3. And isn’t it amazing that these enemies would go through so much effort to follow Paul and Barnabas and cause them trouble?
a. Some of them had come 130 miles that’s 6 or 7 days on foot!
4. The crowd stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, and left him thinking he was dead.
a. Why didn’t they also stone Barnabas? I don’t know, maybe they left him alone because Paul was the speaker.
b. Can you imagine being so hated that people literally pick up rocks and strike you with them repeatedly until they think you are dead?
5. Did the stoning of Paul actually kill him? We really can’t tell.
a. The disciples gathered around him, and my guess is they were praying for him.
b. The fact that he suddenly got up and went back to the city, sure has the flavor of a miracle.
6. Don’t you marvel at the courage and commitment of Paul? Would you have immediately gone back to the city you were just stoned in and dragged out of?
a. I think a deed like that would have more effect than 100 sermons, you know what I mean?
G. The story continues: The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. 21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. (Acts 14:20b-21a)
1. So the next day (after being stoned) Paul and Barnabas left Lystra and traveled to Derbe.
2. Even if what happened to Paul was not a resurrection from the dead, it is nothing short of miraculous that he had been restored to the point of traveling 60 miles to Derbe.
a. The journey would take several days.
3. As they preached the good news in Derbe, they had great effectiveness and a large number of people became disciples.
4. Isn’t that amazing, they kept on ministering without missing a beat!
a. They would not allow persecution or suffering to stop them from serving.
b. A ministry that is ultimately effective is one that perseveres through periods of enormous difficulties.
c. Servants of God who are effective aren’t fickle and they don’t need the applause of people.
d. Faithful servants reject being enshrined as deity and they do God’s work and deliver God’s truth no matter how jagged the edges or perilous the threats.
e. Faithful servants don’t throw themselves a pity party, nor do they retaliate, rather they entrust themselves to the God who called them to serve.
H. The first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas continues with these words: Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. (Acts 14:21b-23)
1. So Paul and Barnabas retraced their journey, spending time in each of the cities, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.
a. This is good follow up – new Christians must be nurtured, not dropped or ignored.
2. Notice Paul’s words in verse 22: “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
a. Don’t you think words like that would mean a lot coming from a follower of Jesus who had been run out of every one of those towns and stoned in one of them?
3. Those are words we must keep at the forefront of our thinking - We must remain true to the faith, and that means we are going to need to serve, sacrifice and suffer.
I. The first missionary journey ends with these words: 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. (Acts 14:27-28)
1. Upon returning back to Antioch of Syria, they gathered the church, and reported all the God had done.
2. Notice that the focus was on God and not on Paul and Barnabas.
a. It wasn’t about what Paul and Barnabas had accomplished, but about what God had done.
3. The church must always be ready not only to send people out for mission, but then to welcome them back and rejoice in all that God did through those who were sent.
4. We should be anxious to hear from the Bentleys in Tanzania, and from Hope Family Orphanage in Haiti, and from John Otis, who actually, just ended his time in Pennsylvania and has returned to New York to take care of his 92 year-old mother.
5. We should also be anxious to hear what God is doing with each of us in our daily lives right here where we live and work.
a. What is God teaching you?
b. How did God use you to minister to someone this week?
c. Did God open a door for a spiritual conversation?
d. Did you have opportunity to make an invitation for worship or study?
e. Did God answer some prayer of yours this week?
6. Let us rejoice together in the great works of God. These are the wonderful things we can share with each other in fellowship!
II. The Application
A. As we bring this lesson to a close, I want to remind us that ministry has its highs and lows, and its joys and sorrows.
1. Ministry can be very hard and demanding, but it is so worth it.
B. Someone said, “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” That is certainly true of heaven.
1. Theodore Roosevelt said, “There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.”
2. We must ask ourselves: I’m I trying to live the life of ease as a Christian? Am I trying to find shortcuts to heaven?
3. Do I really think that God will consider me a faithful disciple of Christ because I attend worship assemblies regularly?
4. No, true discipleship is so much more.
a. A true disciple of Christ denies himself, takes up his cross daily and follows Christ.
b. The daily life of a true disciple includes real attention to the Lord which will result in study, service, sacrifice and suffering.
c. But all of this is a labor of love, and fills us with joy; joy because we belong to Christ and are saved, joy because we can service Christ, and joy that we might suffer with and for Christ. Amen?
C. Let me share with you some powerful words written by E. Margaret Clarkson:
“So send I you - to labor unrewarded, to serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn, and scoffing, so send I you - to toil for Me alone.
So send I you - to bind the bruised and broken, o’er wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world a weary, so send I you to suffer for My sake.
So send I you - to loneliness and longing, with heart a-hungering for the loved and known,
Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one, so send I you, to know My love alone.
So send I you - to leave your life’s ambitions, to die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labor long and love where men revile you, so send I you - to lose you life in Mine.
So send I you - to hearts made hard by hatred, to eyes made blind, because they will not see;
To spend, though it be blood - to spend, and spare not, so send I you - to taste of Calvary.
So send I you. Lord, here am I! Send me!”
D. Paul and Barnabas heeded that kind of call, and they didn’t let anything make them quit ministering in Jesus name.
1. I hope that we will follow their example.
2. I hope that we will remain faithful in our service to the Lord even when the mission becomes difficult.
3. To do so, we must keep our eyes on the goal.
4. And we must remember that God doesn’t promise an easy Christian life or an easy Christian ministry.
5. What God does promise is that He will be with us and that He will reward us.
6. Let’s end with 1 Cor. 15:58: Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Resources:
Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit, by Charles Swindoll, Word Publishing, 2002, Chapters 10-11.
Sermon “Discipleship Includes Suffering” by David Owens, from the sermon series “The Church on
Fire – A Study of the Book of Acts.”
