Acts 14:19-23
You can be seated. Please turn
in your copy of God’s word to the book of Acts. Acts chapter
14 verses 19 through 23 will be our passage for today. We’ve
taken a couple of weeks break to look at God’s covenant with
his people, God’s covenant with families. We’ve had a couple
of baptisms. So now we’re back in Acts, we’ll be here for a
couple of weeks and then around Thanksgiving, we’ll look at a
Psalm of Thanksgiving and then through the weeks leading up
to Christmas in December, we will look at some of the great
themes of God’s work of redemption, anticipating the coming of Jesus,
our Messiah, our Savior, and then it’ll be 2023, won’t be
long. Let’s look to our God in prayer
before we read his word, pray with me. Lord, your word is a lamp to
our feet. It’s a light to our path. It shines brightly, showing
us the way. But our minds are filled with
so many things today. Our hearts are tubbed in so many
directions. Our hands are fidgety. So Lord,
by your spirit, help us to be still and to know that it is
your voice, the voice of the great shepherd speaking. Let
us give attention to your word. May we lay it up in our hearts
and put it and to practice in each of our lives for your glory,
the good of neighbor and our own growth in grace. This we
pray in Christ’s name, amen. All right, this is the book of
Acts chapter 14, verses 19 to 23. But juice came from Antioch
and from Iconium. And having persuaded the crowds,
they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing
that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered
about him, he rose up and entered the city. And on the next day,
he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel
to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra
and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the
disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying
that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of
God. When they had appointed elders for them in every church,
with prayer and with fasting, they committed them to the Lord
in whom they had believed. Amen. This is the word of the
living God for us. May it strengthen our faith in
him. You’ve probably heard the saying,
or at least received the message of the modern day church. And
it goes something like this. Come to Jesus and all your problems
will go away. Oh, what a what a gospel that
is. That’ll sell papers, won’t it?
That’ll put people in the seats. Come to Jesus and all your problems
will go away. Well, that’s that’s partially
true. Maybe not in this life, but in the life to come. When
God calls us home into glory or when the trumpet sounds and
Jesus returns, he promises to make all things new. And so,
yes, come to Jesus and all your problems, well, down the road
will go away for eternity. But Paul says something in this
passage in his ministry to the early church that ought to trouble
us, but also encourage us. He says, through many tribulations,
we must enter. the kingdom of God. Now, that’s
not exactly the popular message you may hear today in our comfortable
21st century American church. It won’t draw crowds. But remember
our commission from Jesus, it is not crowds we want. It is
followers of Jesus who will deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow him. Now think for a moment about
where we are in our study of Acts. It’s been a few weeks and
so we need a brief refresher. Remember Paul, after he’s converted,
spends a little time in Arabia meeting Christ, learning his
doctrine, building on what he learned in the faith as he grew
up under Gamaliel as his teacher. And at some point in time, he
and others are in Antioch on the mainland. They are set apart
and sent to go across the Mediterranean sea. They’re going to go to a
different Antioch. So don’t get the two Antiochs
confused. And on their way across the sea, they stop at Cyprus
where they minister all the way across the island. Remember there
was his rebuking of the guy that wanted to prevent him from preaching
to the leader of that island and some other dark events happened. So they leave Cyprus and they
sail over to the other Antioch, Antioch of Pisidia. So if you
follow your map in the back of your Bible, they go across and
then across again. And now they’re going to go from
west to east across. a small region of the Mediterranean
sea. Well, they, they go to Antioch,
they go to Iconium, they go to Lystra and they go to Derby and
then back again to Antioch, back down to the seacoast and then
back to the Antioch, the first Antioch that sent them. So this
is a little missionary journey. We’re, we’re on the second half
of it, if you will, in chapter 14. Next time we’ll see them
go back to Jerusalem and report, go back to Antioch and report
what God has been doing for his church in the world. But nevertheless,
Paul has been set apart and sent. And ministry hasn’t been easy.
In some cases, it has been glorious. It’s been fruitful. And I want
us to think today about a couple of truths that come from this
passage, both for the servant of God, missionaries, ministers,
maybe elders and church servants, but also think about some truths
that apply to the Christian faith. The context is the apostolic
development of the early church, but also in this context, also
in this setting, in this story are real people who come to a
real faith in Jesus and suffer real hardships because of that
faith in Jesus. I want us to think about three
things today. What is true, what is realistic,
and what is necessary. First, think about what is true.
What is true in our passage is that following Jesus sometimes,
well, oftentimes brings trouble. We love this idea of a utopia.
You know, we get our, our mail and we get our Southern livings,
right? And we look at house plans. We look at how to decorate it.
We look at how to build it. We look at how to, how to have
a dreamy home and a dreamy life. Right? And so you get that perfect
home, that perfect life. Well, and then sin happens. We,
we, we love utopia. And so we, we, we go to all the
places on church street that, that make our gray go away. They
make our, that’s our hair, right? They make our yellow go away.
That’s our teeth, right? They, they, we go down church
street and we, we do all the, we go to all the places along
the way that will fix us and give us utopia. So we got our
Southern livings. We got our church street boutiques
that help us along the way. And then the problem is it doesn’t
matter how much you do, how much you try, how much you plan. We
left the garden due to sin. And we went east of Eden into
the jungle. And life is full of sin. It’s full of thorns.
It’s full of briars. It’s full of sweat. It’s full
of relational struggles. It’s full of so many things that
the hardships stack up. And not only that, it’s a dark
culture. It’s a dying world. It’s a crooked
and depraved generation, the Bible tells us. It’s an anti-God
world. And so we think about how this
is true in creation. Just think very quickly how soon
after the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sin, things went from
bad to worse. Adam and Eve sin, Cain killed
Abel, the tower of Babel was built or the generation of people
in Noah’s day were so wicked that God could only destroy them
and begin again. It’s such a dark and difficult
world. We see it in creation. We see
it also in Paul’s day, his ministry across the island of Cyprus.
He ran into all kinds of darkness and even sorcery. He goes across
the sea again up to Antioch and then Iconium and Lystra and Derby.
And here in our passage, he gets he gets stoned and left for dead
by religious people. So what is true? There’s trouble. in this world. It’s true in creation. It’s true in Paul’s life. And
I know it’s true in your life as I stand here today and look
out over your faces. I know the things we spoke about
during the week, your sicknesses, your diagnosis, your your prayer
requests, the things that you’re facing in your body and your
relationships, maybe in your your own economy and other difficulties. What is true? Well, this life
is full of trouble. And we don’t know what we’ll
face as Christians as we increasingly live in a post-Christian world.
But we’re sure that because of our faith, there will be censorship.
We’re sure that because of our faith, it will lose friendships
or we will endure hardships. What is true? There’s trouble
in this world. It’s due to sin. And we remember
the promise, the prophecy that God gave to Eve when God was
doling out the curses to Satan and to Adam. to Eve and even
to the earth. He told Eve that there would
be a constant and lifelong age-long battle between her offspring,
Jesus, and the serpent. The seed of the woman and the
seed of the serpent will continue to fight and struggle against
one another. And the Bible tells us, God tells
us, the serpent will nip at the heels of God’s people. That’s
a snake bite, right? But what will Jesus do? He will
come and crush the serpent’s head. That’s our hope. That’s
our longing that God will come. And as Paul says, I think it’s
at the end of the Romans, come and crush Satan under foot. That’s what we hope for. What
is true? There’s trouble. Where did it
come from? We have a pretty good understanding. And so in our passage, we see
rabble from Antioch and Iconium. They come and they stone Paul.
They presume he’s dead. And can you picture it? They
drag his lifeless body, Paul, the apostle out into the street
and leave him for dead. That sounds like something we
see on the news in a third world country. But these were the elite. These were the people of all
people. These were God’s people. Yes,
they had rejected God. And now they rejected his servant
who had brought good news to them. And they hated him. So
can you imagine what went on in the hearts and the minds of
the people around them? Lord, he is the one. He is the
one to carry the gospel. Will the gospel continue to go
to the ends of the earth? But what do they do? They gather
around him. They pray and Paul gets up and he carries on in
ministry. So what is true? Well, there’s
trouble in this world. It’s due to sin. And yes, God’s
servants like Paul will experience it. But yes, you God’s servants
will experience it as well. Well, the second question from
our passage, not only what is true trouble, what is realistic? What is realistic? The Christian
life is difficult. That’s what’s realistic. And
so when we say to people, come to Jesus and all your problems
go away, we should change that message. Shouldn’t we come to
Jesus? And you’re going to have some new problems in this life,
but in the life to come, your problems will indeed go away
for God will make all things new. The lion shall dwell with
the lamb. The child will play by the hole.
of the adder and not be bitten. And we long for that day of the
new heavens and the new earth. But until then, what is realistic?
Well, the Christian life is difficult. The Christian life is not easy
peasy. Now, we think about our wonderful
TV preachers. You know, they wear expensive
suits, they fly on private jets, they stay in the nine thousand
dollar a night suites. Right. They never are without
because you are faithful to send in your money and you get your
prayer cloth and all that. That’s kind of the culture we
live in, isn’t it? We don’t want God’s servants to suffer. And
so a sign of God’s favor is that you don’t suffer. And that’s
the exact opposite of what Paul is saying. He’s saying through
many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. So is the message come to Jesus
and all your problems go away or is it through many tribulations? We must enter the kingdom of
God. Not all is neat and packaged up nice with a bow on top. No,
we understand creation. We understand the fall and we
understand the redemption that has started and will come to
full fruition at the second coming of Jesus. God, in a sense, has
given us some down payment on the glory that is to come for
those of us who love God and eagerly await for his appearing.
We are new creations in Jesus. We have the blessings of the
church. We have the truth of the Bible. We have some spiritual
blessings from the heavenly places that are ours now. But no eye
has seen nor has any ear heard of how great and glorious The
heavenly places, eternity will be. And so there are some things
in the Christian life that are not yet. And we have little bitty
down payments on those glorious things now. One of my favorite
books that gives me a dose of this question, what is realistic? The Christian life, Christian
ministry is difficult, is a book on second Corinthians called
New Life in the Wasteland. And it’s a, it’s a phrase taken
from some piece of literature. I can’t recall which, but in
Jesus Christ, the old has gone away. The new has come. If anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation. So we are new creation people.
We are heavenly beings living out of the living in the realities
of heaven on earth in this wasteland. We suffer all around us. The
effects of the fall, the effects of sin, the effects of, Satan’s
temptation and Adam’s fall. And so we live as new creations
in Jesus, but in a wasteland that will one day be made new.
It’s why Romans 8 is such an important passage for us. It’s
why we understand and can’t wait for the redemption of this world.
We’re like the earth in Romans 8, groaning under the travails
of the weight of sin and curse. The earth is creaking under the
weight of sin. And Paul says in Romans chapter
eight that all creation eagerly awaits the adoption of the sons
and the daughters of God, because in our redemption comes the redemption
of this earth. God will make all things new.
But what is realistic? Well, the Christian life serving
Christ in this world is difficult. Our preaching, our gospel presentation
is a stench to those who are perishing. It’s an aroma to those
who are being saved. Our Christian ministry is turning
back darkness, deep darkness. I don’t know if you’re people
watchers, but go out in public sometime, look at people’s eyes,
look at their facial expressions, look at the weight on their shoulders.
And you can tell a lot about their worldview. You can tell
a lot about their situation in life just by people watching.
There is great deep darkness in this world and in the lives
of many individuals. And it’s wonderful to think of
that Christmas hymn that we will sing in maybe a few short weeks. Jesus comes to make his blessings
known as far as the curse is found. And so what is realistic
is not forever. The Christian life will be difficult,
but not forever, not for eternity. Well, the third question is an
important one. It may be the most practical
for us. The first one, what is true? There’s trouble. Second
one, what is realistic? It’s a difficult world. It’s
a difficult time to be a Christian. Third question, what is necessary?
What can we do? What is necessary? Well, what
is necessary is that we press on. What is needful is that we
press on. What is required is that we press
on. There’s a secular song I hear
from time to time on the radio, and I’m sure you know it, please
don’t start singing it, but it says something like this, when
I get knocked down, I get back up again, right? I think some
of y’all are already humming it in your head. Well, okay,
that’s neat. That’s secular though, right?
What do the scriptures teach us? What does God’s word tell
us? Yes, we’ll get knocked down again, but it’s Jesus who picks
us up. It’s the spirit’s strength and
power that makes us able to press on in the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul says in another place in
the book of Colossians, he says this very interesting phrase
that we ought to know and remember as Christians and as Christian
ministers or servants, and it is this. Paul says, I am filling
up what is lacking in the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and in my body
I bear his wounds. Where is Jesus? Well, he’s in
heaven. Who represents him on earth?
His people, his church. Do people still hate Jesus in
the same way they did while he was on earth? So much so they
sent him to the cross and killed him. The answer is yes. So if
he’s in heaven and his church is here, who is gonna receive
his wounds? Who is gonna receive his sufferings?
It’s us. Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of
God. It is not easy to be a Christian. It is not easy to be a Christian
servant, but it is the way of the master. If Jesus suffered
on earth, who says it should be easier for us? We follow in
his footsteps, denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following
him. And so our passage tells us of
some duties of the Christian way. We see them in Paul’s actions
as he gets up from the dead, as he gets up from his stoning,
as he gets up from the place where they dragged his body outside
the city and left him. for the birds of prey and the
duties we see in the rest of this passage. What does Paul
do? Well, he continues on establishing the church. He goes on to preach
the gospel. He continues on to make disciples.
He carries on to strengthen converts. He presses on to encourage them
for the bumps in the pathway to heaven that will surely come.
He appoints elders as they establish the church in these various cities.
And as they carry on in ministry and service to God, they fast
and they pray. And so what is true? It’s a world
full of trouble. What is realistic? If you’re
a Christian, a Christian minister, it’s gonna be difficult. What
is necessary? Press on doing the basics of
the church, preaching the gospel, making disciples, encouraging
the saints, strengthening the converts, readying them for the
bumps and the hardships of life, appointing elders, fasting, and
praying. You know, in our day and time,
I mentioned Church Street, and you can get your teeth whitened,
you can get your hair colored, you can get all the rest, and
that’s what people want today in a Christian celebrity minister. Have you noticed that? You look
through what the church is offering to the world, and it’s not a
Paul, it’s not a Saul. Remember, Paul was unimpressive. He was short, he was stubby,
he was bow-legged, he was bald-headed, he probably had crooked teeth,
he didn’t have white teeth, He had all these black eyes. He had busted knuckles from tent
making. That was his trade and the way he provided for himself.
He was often homeless. He was, as Hebrews 11 says, often
destitute. God’s servants, God’s people
don’t always have the whitest teeth and the most beautiful,
perfect hair and all the rest. And it goes on. God’s servants,
if they follow him, if they press on in this difficult task and
in this trouble filled world, would not only have busted knuckles
and spiritual pains and emotional wounds and relational strains. That’s what God promises. That’s
what comes. Friends, we are in good company, not with just the
apostle Paul, but I think of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
think of what is told to us in Revelation chapter five. This
is a vision of heaven that God gives to John, the apostle, who’s
the pastor at Ephesus, exiled on the Isle of Patmos. John sees
into heaven and he sees a cry go out into heaven that says,
who is worthy to open up the scroll? And the scroll is described
is having something written all across the front, all across
the back, no space left on it. It’s rolled up and it’s sealed.
And when this scroll is opened up, it’s unsealed, then the end
times will unfold. God will fulfill what we have
had a down payment on already. And he will make all things new.
He will redeem all things. He will bring us to our heavenly
reward. But the cry goes out in heaven.
Who is worthy to open up the seal? Who is worthy to take up
the scroll to open its seals and to usher in the promises
of almighty God? And there’s silence in heaven.
And John tells us that he begins to weep because no one is worthy
to take up the scroll to open its seals. And one of the elders
comes to John and says, weep no more for the lion of the tribe
of Judah is here and he is worthy to open the scroll to release
the seals. And behold, there is Christ standing
in the heavenly places. And this is the description.
I saw before the throne of God, a lamb looking though it had
been slain and all of heaven is singing on their knees worthy
is the lamb to open up the scroll and to open the seals and to
make all things new. So yes, come to Jesus and in
heaven, all your problems will go away. But for now, with our
eyes on Jesus, we live in a world of trouble and difficulty, but
we must press on. Eyes on Christ, longing, for
eternity. Let’s pray together. Our Lord,
we thank you for clearing up our vision today, showing us
what’s true, what’s real, and what is our duty, but also giving
us a glimpse into the future of our eternity with you in heaven.
We pray with the saints of old, come Lord Jesus, come quickly
and come make all things new. Come take away the pain Take
away the sorrow, take away the hardship, take away the tears,
and make all things bright and beautiful. Through Jesus we pray,
amen.