The Misunderstood Missionaries – Acts 14:1-20
Misunderstanding = Failure to understand people so as to disagree with them. Many misunderstandings lead to quarrels, conflicts or failure to show love to one another.
Illustration:Army Law: An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.
P. Dickson, The Official Rules, p. 5.
Illustration:
The following series of advertisements reportedly appeared in a daily newspaper:
Monday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who lives with him, cheap."
Tuesday: "We regret any embarrassment caused to Rev. Jones by a typographical error in yesterday’s paper. The ad should have read: ’The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap...Telephone 626-1313 and ask for Mrs. Donnelley, who lives with him after 7 p.m.’"
1. Aim: To lead the people to know they can overcome people who choose to misunderstand the truth of God’s word.
2. Explanation of the Aim: People and adults struggle to overcome people who choose to misunderstand the truth of God’s message. Paul and Barnabas faithfully preached the gospel but encountered stiff opposition from many of the Jewish religious authority figures.
Instead of becoming discouraged by people who chose to misunderstand God’s truth, Paul and Barnabas endured the suffering and continued to complete God’s will for their lives. There will always be critics who oppose godly people and their ministries. However, Paul and Barnabas give us great examples of how not to be defeated by opposition, but to how to allow God to use trials for God’s greater purposes.
3. The Bible Story – (Acts 14:1-20) People who choose to help move the kingdom of God forward will encounter terrible opposition. Paul and Barnabas showed great faith in refusing to give in to their fear of threats, intimidations and stoning from the opposing religious leaders of their day.
Godly people are willing to take up their cross and follow Christ even if it means suffering greatly for God’s will to be done. Paul and Barnabas learned how to overcome the temptation to give in to pride and persecution in this lesson. Those who expect to be greatly used of God will have to learn how to deal with both success and adversity with graceful dependence on the Holy Spirit.
4. Prepare to Teach: The INTRODUCTION helps the people explore some of the problems of pride and persecution. Ask the people to how success often tempts us to become proud, self-sufficient and boastful of our own accomplishments.
Find out from the people what are some of the reasons why people often surrender to the opposition from people who try to hinder the advancement of the gospel’s ministries. Give examples of how Paul was able to resist the temptations to become too proud or to surrender to fear, during his life as a missionary.
THE BIBLE STORY explains how Paul and Barnabas were able to work through all of the problems of being misunderstood by important religious authorities because of their firm faith in God and His will for their lives.
The MEANING FOR OUR LIVES gives the people an opportunity to decide how they will follow the fine examples of Paul and Barnabas in resisting the temptations to surrender to the pride of success or the sufferings involved with adversity.
INTRODUCTION
What are some of the problems people face in dealing with pride and persecution? Ask the people how success often tempts us to become proud, self-sufficient and boastful of our own accomplishments. You might want to use Saul as an example of how pride went before destruction.
Find out from the people what are some of the reasons why people often surrender to the pressures and opposition from people who try to hinder the advancement of the gospel’s ministries.
You might give an example of how Demas deserted Paul during one of his most grueling missionary journeys. Give examples of how Paul was able to resist the temptation to become too proud or to surrender to fear, during his life as a missionary.
Application: Ask the people how they can be more humble and more persevering when they are talking about Jesus with their friends.
The Bible Story
Our lesson helps us see how the Lord helped Paul and Barnabas through times of success as well as in the horrors of being abused. Godly people need the strength to overcome the temptations to become too proud when the Lord gives them success and the perseverance to press ahead when they are pressured to quit.
Either way people of God need to know how to overcome situations where they are misunderstood. Paul and Barnabas speak boldly about the Lord Jesus in the Jewish synagogue at Iconium and see many place saving faith in Christ.
In addition the Lord allowed the apostles to do miraculous signs and wonders which stirred up the opposition to their ministries. Any time we see success we should expect jealous people to criticize our ministries. God used the persecution to catalyze the advancement of the gospel to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra. The Lord is always able to use all things together for good if we will love, trust and obey Him.
Illustration:I read a story recently that made me smile and set me to thinking. One dark rainy night a salesman had a flat tire on a lonely road. But to his dismay he had no lug wrench. Seeing a nearby farmhouse, he set out on foot. Surely the farmer would have a lug wrench, he thought. But would he even come to the door? And if he did, he’d probably be furious at being bothered. He’s say, "What’s the big idea getting me out of bed in the middle of the night?" This thought made the salesman angry. Why, that farmer is a selfish old clod to refuse to help me. Finally the man reached the house. Frustrated and drenched, he banged on the door. "Who’s there?" a voice called out from a window overhead.
"You know good and well who it is," yelled the salesman, his face red with anger. "It’s me! And you can keep your old lug wrench! I wouldn’t borrow it is it was the last one in the county."
Daily Bread.
In Lystra the Lord used Paul to heal a crippled man who was lame from birth. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted,
“The gods have come down to us in human form.” Fortunately, Paul and Barnabas refused any attempt on the part of the crowd to be worshipped with sacrifices of animals. The apostles said, “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.” Even then, some of the people chose to misunderstand the apostles’ message and still wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
No matter what you do, some people will always misunderstand what a godly person is trying to communicate. Thank God and know that whatever you have done in faith and obedience in line with God’s purposes will be rewarded.
Eventually, some of the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd in Lystra over to their side. They quickly stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing that he was dead. However, when the disciples assisted Paul, he recovered and went back into the city to continue preaching the gospel.
The next day, Paul and Barnabas departed for another ministry opportunity in Derbe. Godly ministers persist in carrying out the full will of God regardless of the intensity of the opposition.
Paul said, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)
Application: Let us trust the Lord to give us the humility and endurance to complete everything God has asked us to do with the help of Christ who gives us the power.
Ask the people the following questions:
1. Why can we be confident that God will complete the good ministry in and through our lives that He has begun? (Phil. 1:6)
2. How can we be confident that God will infuse us with the Christ like love that is necessary to remain humble and persevering amidst the hardships of life?
3. How does the Spirit of God promise to buoy us up with supernatural strength when we are feeling discouraged and misunderstood? (Zech 4:6)
4. How does the Spirit of God inject us with comfort when we are being afflicted? (2 Cor. 1:3,4)
5. How does the Lord motivate us to continue in serving Him when we face great opposition? (I Cor. 15:57,58)
6. How does the word of God encourage us to persevere when we grow weary in well doing? (Gal. 6:9,10)
7. How does God’s promises remind us of all the rich resources that are available to us through Christ Jesus our Lord throughout the scriptures? (2 Cor. 1:20)
8. How does the Lord give us extraordinary wisdom when we just do not know what to do? (James 1:5)
9. How does God use trials to conform us more to the image of Christ likeness? (James 1:2-5)
10. How is the Lord capable of bringing friends along who will encourage you during times of misunderstanding and sorrow? (2 Cor. 1:7,8)
11. How can we follow the good example of Paul who persevered to the end? (2 Cor. 6:7-9)
Memory Verse – I have learned to be content with much or with little. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:12,13)
Response
Song: “Just when I need Him, Jesus is near. Just when I falter just when I fear. Ready to help me, ready to cheer. Just when I need Him most.”
Prayer: Ask the Lord for the grace to remain humble in success and the endurance to persevere through adversity.
At Home: Ask your parents how they deal with times of success and times of opposition to the will of God in their lives.
Famous Trial Lawyer Clarence Darrow: "I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a lot more if I had been understood."
C. Swindoll, Three Steps, pp. 25ff.
The following series of advertisements reportedly appeared in a daily newspaper:
Monday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who lives with him, cheap."
Tuesday: "We regret any embarrassment caused to Rev. Jones by a typographical error in yesterday’s paper. The ad should have read: ’The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap...Telephone 626-1313 and ask for Mrs. Donnelley, who lives with him after 7 p.m.’"
Wednesday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones informs us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of an incorrect ad in yesterday’s paper. It should have read: ’The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap. Telephone 626-1313 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who loves with him.’"
Thursday: "Please take notice that I, the Rev. A.J. Jones, have no color TV set for sale; I have smashed it. Don’t call 626-1313 anymore. I have not been carrying on with Mrs. Donnelley. She was, until yesterday, my housekeeper.’"
