Marks Of The Messenger
Acts 14:1-28
Have you ever walked into a movie after it’s already started? Or perhaps you started watching a television series halfway into the season and you’ve missed a lot of the character development and plot lines that preceded that particular episode? I know for some of you, this is your first time here at LVBC. We are right in the middle of our verse by verse sermon series through the book of Acts. There are 28 chapters in Acts, and we’ve just reached chapter 14, so we’re about halfway through.
That’s our typical preaching approach here – it’s called expositional preaching. We take a book of the Bible and we go through it verse by verse. We take that approach for many reasons, not least of which is studying the Bible verse by verse enables us to understand what a verse, or passage is actually saying within its context. So instead of me giving you my ideas and thoughts and trying to find verses to support my suppositions, I preach through whole books and seek to communicate what the text actually says and means.
Well, this year we are in the book of Acts. Why Acts? Again, for those that are new, here’s another nuance of body-life here at LVBC. Each calendar year we have a particular theme and vision for the year. Our theme for 2015 is the title of this series: the church on mission. We desire to be, by God’s grace, in increasing increments, a church that is ON MISSION. That vision has been fleshed out in several different ways – through our increased frequency of short-term mission trips that are commissioned from this church; an increased focus on long-term partnerships with missionaries around the world; a greater exposure to God’s global activity through an annual missions conference; and a new process for financially funding missions through our faith commitment offering. This is an offering that our people have pledged to support to help fund all the different missions endeavors we believe God has called us to pursue.
The book of Acts is a powerful record of the early church on mission that serves not only as a DESCRIPTION of what they did, but in many ways, a PRESCRIPTION for what we should do.
Again, for those that are new, you’ve missed some of the character development and plot lines of this book. The book of Acts covers about 32 years of the early church history. Acts is a historical record of how the first Christians took the gospel forward. If you’re just joining us, you would do well to go read the first 13 chapters to catch you up to speed.
The theme of the whole book is found all the way back in the first chapter. Jesus gave this instruction to the early disciples who were gathered with him some 40 days after his resurrection: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
That’s not only the theme verse for the book of Acts, it's the theme verse for our church this year. It really serves as a basic outline for the book and a strategy for missions. As you go through Acts you see the expanse of the gospel through the church in those concentric circles from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. The text before us today is within that sphere Jesus referred to as “the end of the earth.”
In chapter 14 we are right in the middle of Paul’s first missionary journey. We saw this trip have its launch from the church in Antioch 2 Sundays ago. Paul and Barnabas were selected, set apart, and commissioned and sent.
Last week as we looked at the end of chapter 13, we studied their work in Antioch of Pisidia. Again, we saw a DESCRIPTION of how they shared the gospel and noted four things that are a PRESCRIPTION for us that we might be faithful in our presentation of the gospel. I would say these four things are the WHAT of witnessing, WHAT we are called to do:
I. Seize Opportunities
Faithful witnesses are always on the lookout for an opportunity to turn a conversation toward the gospel. We also noted that many opportunities don't just happen, we've got to be proactive and create opportunities.
II. Share Jesus
At some point in the conversation we've got to get to talking about Jesus. He's the sun - S-U-N around which the entire solar system of biblical truth revolves. We've not shared the gospel until we've shared Jesus.
III. Summon A Response
People need to be told how they must respond to the gospel. Paul told the people in Antioch of Pisidia, "Everyone who believes is freed."
IV. Surrender the Results
The results are not up to us, they're up to God. We trust God to bring forth the harvest. We are faithful to do our part and trust God to do his part.
That's what we looked at last week. If that's the WHAT of being a witness, Today we're going to look at "the HOW." Last week we looked more at methods, this week we’re going to look more at the mindset. We're going to focus more on attitudes and character traits of a faithful witness of Christ. That's why I've entitled this message "marks of the messenger."
My original intent was to cover all 28 verses in one sermon. But as I began to study and write I realized, there’s no way we’re going to be able to adequately hit all that’s packed in this chapter in one sermon. So, that’s why this is called “part 1” and Lord willing, next week we’ll look at part 2.
In this passage we’re going to notice three attitudes, three marks we see in Paul and Barnabas as they took the gospel forward.
I. They Were BOLD In Their PROCLAMATION
In case you weren't with us last week, here's how things ended in the previous city they were in - Antioch of Pisidia. Chapter 13 concludes by saying that the Jews stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
They were driven out of town on a rail by the Jews. "We don't want your kind around here so get!" They leave Antioch and notice how chapter 14 begins: Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke Come on Paul, come on Barnabas. You know in the last city you were in it was the Jews from the synagogue that incited the whole city against you. Couldn't you have come up with another plan instead of going BACK to a synagogue. Same song, second verse.
Why did they do that? They understood both theologically and practically, it was necessary to go to the Jews. Over and over again in his epistles Paul says the gospel goes out "to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." It was TO the Jewish people that Messiah was promised; and it was THROUGH the Jewish people that Messiah has come. So there's a theological reason for going into the synagogue, but there's also a very practical reason. The Jews already had a basis of understanding of the monotheistic God, the promises of deliverance, the necessity of atonement. A very practical reason for boldly proclaiming the gospel to them first.
Let's read the first 7 verses of chapter 14 and see what happens from their bold proclamation in Iconium: 1Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
3So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7and there they continued to preach the gospel.
If there’s one thing we CAN say about Paul with absolute certainty it is that he was a bold witness for Christ. In spite of what happened at the hands of the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, Paul boldly proclaims the gospel in the next city, Iconium. And when he gets to Iconium, where does he go? He goes right back into a Jewish synagogue. Now one might think, "Why go back to a similar setting that provided such hostility in the previous city?" Here's why, and it's the next point on your outline. They determine to...
A. Walk through the OPEN DOOR
they entered together into the Jewish synagogue
Now an open door of ministry, an open door of gospel influence does not necessarily mean there will be no difficulty, or no rejection, or no hostility. Sometimes I hear people describe their pursuit of God's will in terms of seeking to discern doors God is opening, and doors God is closing. That can certainly be helpful. However, here's a warning - don't seek to determine whether or not God is opening or closing a door based on the level of difficulty there is on the other side of the door.
In our gymnasium the breaker box which has the switches for the lights is about 30 feet from the door. No windows means it's pretty much pitch black walking that 30 feet. Multiple times I've received bruises on my chins because I've run into something, a chair or a volleyball poll, on my way to turn on the light. There's darkness and obstacles on my way to turn on the light, but that doesn't prevent me from walking through the open door.
Just because hardship and hostility are ahead; just because you know there's darkness and obstacles on the other side of the open door doesn't mean you don't walk through it. You absolutely walk through it and trust God in the process.
So they had an open door to go into the Jewish synagogue. Paul was a well educated Jewish Pharisee with impressive credentials. That provided an open door to speak the gospel boldly. They were well aware of the potential opposition that was on the other side of that door, they'd already experienced opposition. But they went through it anyway.
What open doors has God given you? It may be as simple as inviting someone to church. You know, we do this every Sunday unless there's 8 inches of snow on the ground. That's a wide open door. Will some reject the invitation? Yes. But that doesn't mean you don't go through the door. You absolutely walk through it, and trust God in the process.
Maybe the open door is bringing kids to our VBS last week. Here's some other examples: maybe you're in financial services and you have the opportunity to talk to a client about what real wealth it; maybe you're in the medical profession and you have the opportunity to pray for patients; maybe you're in education and you get questions from students about life that you know are only answered through Jesus. This method from Paul and Barnabas suggests for us to look for the open door. And don't judge it's openness by what potential difficulty or rejection may be on the other side of that door.
So HOW do we make bold proclamation? First, walk through the open door.
B. Speak the word of GRACE
speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace
Their bold proclamation was a word of grace. They speak a word of grace. Yes, we teach the whole counsel of God; yes that counsel of God includes the righteousness, the holiness, the wrath and justice of God. But the fundamental aspect of what we speak is a word of grace. Fundamentally what we have to offer people is the grace of God.
That should give us confidence to talk to others. Grace to know the one true God; grace to be forgiven of sin; grace to have eternal life. And if you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus, I want you to hear clearly that this is in it's essence - what we sing about, what we teach our children, you and adults about; what I preach about - it is the grace of God. We have a God who loves us, a God who sent his only son to die for us, paying the penalty for sin that he did not deserve, who died and rose again. That's the word of grace we proclaim boldly.
And we notice in verse 3 that God confirmed this word of grace through signs and wonders. Here's what I want us to understand about that: there was something especially unique in the apostolic age - this power given through the apostles to perform miracles. Now these miracles, though now perhaps less common are not less possible in our day. But notice the purpose of the miracles in verse 3: 3So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
The Lord granted signs and wonders to them as a means of bearing witness to the word of grace. What does that mean, that the signs bore witness to the word? They confirm the legitimacy of the word they spoke, the signs and wonders God granted authenticated their message.
Ill. On Monday I was downtown, had to swing by UTC to pick up some things. As I was leaving I looked down at my gas gauge and remembered, I needed to get gas. I knew I shouldn't chance driving all the way back to the Valley, - so I crossed Market St. bridge and got gas on the North Shore side. As I'm pumping my gas, a 20-something young man from Austin, TX with long dreadlocks, scraggly beard, headband came up and asked me if I could give him a few bucks. I told him my practice was not to give out money, but if he's hungry I'd buy him something to eat.
For the next 45 minutes I shared the gospel with him. He had an eclectic belief system where he believed in reincarnation; he believed that he was a son of God just like Jesus was the son of God. "We all come from the Source man, and we're going back to the source." Throughout the course of our conversation when he would put forward one of his ideas about spiritual things I would ask the same question, "What's your basis of authority on this? How do you know that's true? What confirms the reality of what you say you believe." He would just say, "I just know." One time he said, "God told me." I asked incredulously, "God told you."
As the apostles are revealing this new truth about God's purposes through Jesus, they could have been asked the same question - "What's your basis of authority? How do you know this is true? What confirms the reality of what you believe?" Remember, at this time not one line of the new testament had been written - they were living the New Testament. So God confirmed their message, he bore witness to the word of grace through signs and wonders. Though God can still perform signs and wonders through his servants - what is it that confirms our message? What authenticates what we say, what is our basis of authority? It is the Bible, the Scriptures confirm our message. So we base all we do, and all we believe on the authority of God's Word that has been preserved for us.
We like Paul and Barnabas speak the WORD of GRACE. Here’s the third thing about their bold proclamation of the gospel, they…
C. Anticipate a mixed RESPONSE
Some who heard the gospel believed it. Others who heard it hated it with every fiber of their being. Look in your Bible at verses 1-2 again:
1Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
As we have gone through the book of Acts, have you noticed this is the constant pattern? Over and over we see the gospel go forth. Some receive and believe it, others don’t just dismiss it - but they hate it.
Verse 4 describes the split response to the gospel in Iconium as succinctly as possible: But the people of the city were divided; The Greek word there is schizo – from which we get the words schism – a division; and schizophrenia – a mental illness, a divided mind. The city was schizo, it was divided over Jesus, divided over the gospel.
We can look at this and think, “Wait, shouldn’t the message of the gospel bring people together? Shouldn’t the message of the gospel bring unity? Can’t we tell others about God’s love for us expressed through his son Jesus and the world just come together and sing a song and we have one giant group hug?” It doesn’t work that way. The gospel of Jesus is divisive.
We see this all the way back at Jesus' birth, at the nativity. God reveals he would be one who would bring division. When Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the Temple, there was a devout man who had been praying for the consolation of Israel that took Jesus up in his arms and blessed him. And he gave this warning to his mother in Luke 2:34: And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed. Luke 2:34
How would you like that for a baby dedication? “What a precious baby. He will be source of great division! And many people will oppose him! Here’s a rose.” From the very beginning, from Jesus’ birth, he was destined to be a source of great controversy.
In Luke 12 we have one of the most difficult sayings of Jesus: 51"Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:49-53
Not everyone who hears the good news of Jesus believes it. Because the message is so strong, because the claims of the gospel are so resolute and final – it brings division. On this side of heaven we are going to see that the good news of Jesus brings some people together, and sets others apart.
Ill. Let me illustrate it like this. If you do any amount of traveling by air and you’ve been in a large airport like Atlanta, or New York, or Miami – you’ll see these smoking rooms. Smoking is prohibited indoors in most of our country, and so for people who smoke and they’re trapped inside an airport for an extended period of time awaiting a flight or on a layover, they will have the need to smoke. So many airports have these smoking rooms they’ve set up. Have any of you seen these? They just look miserable. You walk by and you see this glass window with 25 people on the other side, the whole room is all fogged up with smoke.
Now imagine if I told you, “Ok, I’ve got a mission for you. You need to go to all the smoking rooms in all the airports around the world and tell them they all need to quit smoking. That’s the message you have. Tell them how bad it smells in there, tell them it discolors their teeth, tell them how the smell attaches to their clothes, tell them how bad it is for their lungs. Tell them they need to quit now or they will face serious consequences in the future. That’s your message to go to all the smoking rooms in all the airports in the world. That is bound to be an unpopular message with many people. Now some will no doubt respond, “Yes, what you say is true, I ought to quit.” But others no doubt will say, “Get out of here, you can’t tell me how to live, I can do whatever I want to do to my body.”
We have a message that is divisive.
If you think that as a Christian you ought to be able to conduct your life and never have anyone hate you, you haven’t understood Jesus’ promise. We must embrace this reality - there will be division that results from our faithful declaration of the gospel.
As I conclude the first part of this sermon, to be continued next Sunday, here's the idea I want us to come around. The fact that the gospel they preached brought division to people was not an indication that they had failed; it was not an indication that their mission was a failure. Instead, because the city was divided it is a clear indication that they had succeeded in clearly presenting the truth; they were clearly presenting the claims of Christ. Now when we understand this fact that our message, by virtue of the claims our message makes, will be divisive, there are some different dangers we can tend toward. And in closing I want to warn you of those.
"The more divisive I am, the more faithful I am." Some think, the message is divisive, so I'm going to be as divisive as possible and that makes me more faithful to the message." A wrong and dangerous response would be to just put our head down and run headlong into division.
I've known some so-called Christian ministries who it seems their main goal is to get as many people mad and upset as possible. And they think the more people I get mad, the more faithful I must be to Jesus' message because after all, he said it would bring division.
These folks like to be in the middle of controversy, they thrive on the spectacle. The ultimate extreme of this is the group known as Westboro Baptist Church. You've heard of this group, right? They're the ones who picket the funerals of war heroes. Oh how I wish they didn't have "Baptist" in their name. I've heard they're already planning on picketing the funerals of the five servicemen who lost their lives on Thursday. They're obviously the extreme, but that's a danger that we can tend toward thinking the more divisive we are, the more in God's will we must be.
Another danger - and this is one that is perhaps most common, "The world hates us, so let's hate the world." The danger of developing a posture of anger and hostility towards the world; to view the world as the enemy. We can forget John 3:16 "God so loved" who? The world!
In my conversation with dreadlock reincarnation dude on Monday, he told me that everyday somebody argues with him about the Bible. I said, "Welcome to Chattanooga." One day he said he was talking with someone on Walnut Street bridge about the Bible, and he said, "I was done with the conversation so I started walking away, and the guy was running after me, yelling at me while I was trying to get away from him." He then thanked me for at leasing talking to him in a kind way. He didn't believe the message, and there was sharp division between what he believed and the truth.
But we can not develop the posture with the world of, this snarling, "You hate us, we hate you! DIVISION!"
But under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke records this episode here, and in many other cities they were in, for this very reason - that we would not be surprised when division comes. We need to see this pattern so we don't assume that there's something wrong with our message because people are rejecting it. And this really leads to the third danger I want to warn you about.
"The message is divisive, so let's adjust the message." This kind of approach is from perhaps big-hearted Christians that really care for others. They conclude that since the message of the gospel is rejected by some, we must alter the message. They see the need to take out the spiritual sand paper and wear down the abrasive parts.
This is often the way bad theology comes into the church. An aspect of the gospel message is difficult, hard, abrasive or offensive and so some take it upon themselves to amend or adjust the message.
In our focal text today they had in Iconium Paul and Barnabas. I would say they were a pretty solid preaching team. Paul was so well taught in Scripture that he wrote some of it. I would tend to think his message was very accurate. And Barnabas, he was the son of encouragement; he's the amiable, likeable guy. They rejected their message. That does not indicate there was something wrong with their message or even the way they presented it. This is a solid tandem who were biblically faithful to the message, and they were rejected harshly by some.
Remember, Luke records these instances of rejection in city after city so that we can see this is a distinct possibility for us; so we will not be surprised that the gospel causes division. We desire to live peaceably with all men, but not at the expense of truth.
We have a message that is to be spoken into a sinful world, filled with rebellious hearts. A message that says, "There is a holy God, you're sinful, you need a savior, you must repent of your sin and trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you will be forgiven of your sins." There's about 5 or 6 things in that one sentence that are controversial and divisive. But that's the message we have been given to proclaim.
Here's the conclusion of the matter for us today: they continued to preach the gospel. Acts 14:7 All of Luke's accounts of the missionary ventures of the early church have a similar conclusion, "The continue to proclaim, They spoke the word with boldness, they continue to preach the gospel."
We must resolve today, as a church, as a people, as individual Christians, that we will boldly proclaim the gospel, regardless of the response, regardless of the division it brings - we will boldly proclaim it. Let's pray.
