WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:32.799 Many of you have commented from time to time over the last few months that we are moving very quickly through Acts. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:38.399 And we're not getting to spend much time in some of these texts. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:39.520 And that is true. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:47.439 There is so much in Acts that we can't get into a lot of the details in many of these passages. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:53.600 The goal here is to give us an overview of how God worked in the book of Acts. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:00.240 And to do that, we need to move rather quickly, especially this morning, because I have five sections to cover. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:03.359 And I want to keep you with me through it all. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:09.920 Last week we examined the beginning of the first mission trip from a local church. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:21.280 Paul and Barnabas, at the beginning of Acts chapter 13, were sent out from Antioch in Syria to take the good news of Jesus to other locations. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:30.400 And Luke established the setting of that trip within the boundaries of the Word of God. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.040 We need to understand that first and foremost. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:42.879 That the mission trip is subordinated underneath the ministry of the Word of God. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.200 Let me show you what I mean. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:54.239 In Acts chapter 12, verse 24, Luke recorded for us that the word of God was increasing and multiplying. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:11.280 When Paul and Barnabas went out and landed on the island of Cyprus, they ministered there to the governmental proconsul Sergius Paulus, who sought to hear the word of God. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:24.319 His response was not to this amazing miracle of Paul and Barnabas blinding a false prophet, their response was astonishment at the teaching of the word. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:26.800 They go on. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:38.240 They travel on into Asia Minor, where almost the entire city of Antioch in the region of Pisidia gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:53.199 And now in our text for today, in chapter 13, verse 48, the Gentiles, as they began hearing the word of the Lord and coming to faith in Christ, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:03:00.800 Everything that Luke is telling us surrounds the word of the Lord. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.759 It is increasing. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:08.240 People are responding positively to it. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:17.599 This morning we join this travel story of Paul and Barnabas in chapter 13, verse 48, near the middle of their journey. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:29.120 The gospel goes first to the Jews, but it's the Gentiles, the non-Jews, who are most likely to respond positively. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:38.479 We'll look more closely here in a moment at these five units from chapter 13, verse 48, all the way through chapter 14. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:46.560 But first, we need to notice how Luke shifts his focus ever so slightly. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:57.919 You see here this statement, the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord, over and over and over again until we get to chapter 14, verse 3. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:10.639 In chapter 14, verse 3, it says, They remained for a long time speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:16.560 And he granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:22.959 For some reason, Luke interrupted his flow of the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.399 And as you get to the end of this section in chapter 15, guess what? 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:29.839 He returns to the word of the Lord. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:37.439 But right here in this section, everything is a little bit different. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.040 It's the word of his grace. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:47.199 This section is especially connected to the word of God's grace. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:51.680 So we have to ask the question, what is the word of God's grace? 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:53.360 I'm glad you asked. 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:54.800 I'll give you the answer. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.720 First, we need to understand grace. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.920 We need to understand grace. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:06.079 If we're going to answer the question, what is the word of God's grace? 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:08.319 We have to ask, what is grace? 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:24.959 And in our church connections and our church circumstances, we often oversimplify the concept of grace by by saying it's God's unmerited or undeserved favor. 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:28.480 And that's not wrong. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:32.560 That's not wrong, but it is oversimplified. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:38.319 At its core, the word grace means gift. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.000 It's something that's given. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:49.680 So a grace gift, you'll hear me use that term to help us understand what's going on here. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.079 A grace gift is not earned. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:01.120 Although gifts often came with strings attached in the ancient world. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:08.079 A grace gift could could come with expectations, much like God's covenants with Israel. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:16.959 He gave them promises that were unconditional promises, but they came with expectations of obedience and faithfulness. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:23.680 In a pagan world, a grace gift held another connotation. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:30.160 In the pagan world, gifts were given to the deserving. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:33.279 To the deserving. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:40.160 So a ruler might come and give gifts to his loyal subjects or supporters. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:46.319 They were deserving because of their loyalty or because of their efforts done on his behalf. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:56.079 It was shocking to provide gifts to the undeserving. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:14.560 And Luke may be hinting at that notion that God gave gifts to the undeserving, overturning the traditional concepts and expectations. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.800 I think, though, that we can narrow Luke's intention even more. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:29.360 I mentioned here that this word of God's grace is found here in chapter 14, verse 3. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.519 Luke uses it one more time in chapter 20. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.319 Only two times in the book of Acts does he use this phrase, the word of God's grace. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:43.839 In chapter 20, Paul is commending the elders at the church of Ephesus. 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:48.959 But before he does that, Luke reports what Paul says to those men. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:51.199 Here's what Paul says to those men in Ephesus. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:56.079 He says, I do not account my life of any value or as precious to myself. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:00.879 He's learned that after being stoned and shipwrecked and all those nasty things that happened to him. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:08.879 If only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, what is his ministry? 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:19.040 To testify, to bear witness to, to speak about the gospel, the good news of the grace of God. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:28.959 And a few verses after that, in chapter 20, he uses this phrase again: the word of God's grace. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:38.960 Friends, the word of God's grace is the good news of eternal life in Christ as found in the Word of God. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:46.080 It is a divine gift given especially to the undeserving. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:51.919 Luke wants us to see that the good news of Jesus is grounded in God's word. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:59.840 The Apostle Paul almost always began his explanation of the good news of Jesus in your Old Testament. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:08.960 The word of God, the word of the Lord, from beginning to end is the expression of God's voice. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:17.919 It's the content of God's good and gracious gift from a good and gracious king. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:41.919 So Paul grounds the entire mission trip in these chapters, in God's word that God has given to people as a gracious gift of his good news that people receive through the proclamation and the teaching of this word. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.240 Now, why all of that introduction? 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.159 Because it colors everything that we see. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:59.519 We must see, hear, and believe that no power is more effective than the word of God's grace. 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:14.799 No power for God's work, no power for ministry, no power for your speaking to your family or your friends or your neighbors or your coworkers is more powerful, is more effective than the word of God's grace. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:21.600 Look with me then at five effects of God's grace from these five sections. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:23.679 I told you we can't cover everything. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:34.159 We're gonna hit the high points here to help us see how Luke incorporates this concept of the word of God's grace being effective. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:46.559 The first that we find in beginning in chapter 13, verse 48 through the end of the chapter, is that the word of God's grace brings God's people to eternal life. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.039 Verse 48, when the Gentiles heard this, heard what? 00:10:51.279 --> 00:11:00.960 Well, going back to verses 46 and 47, that because the Jewish people rejected the gospel, Paul and Barnabas were now going to the Gentiles. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.840 And the Gentiles are happy and celebrating about that. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:12.000 And they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:16.240 And so the word of the Lord spread throughout the whole region. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:28.080 Now, verse 48 here details the shift from Jew to Gentile, being the primary receptor of the word of the Lord. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.399 And they receive it with joy. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:41.120 The reason for that, the reason they're receiving it with joy and glorifying the word is because as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:54.080 One of the reasons that I believe that consecutive expository preaching is the best, is because we can't skip sections like this. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:58.720 Otherwise, I will hear about it from you and you will ask me, why did you skip it? 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.440 And I would say, because it's hard. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:09.200 This is a problematic clause for some people to receive. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:18.159 So let's take a moment and consider it piece by piece so we can observe what Luke put down and what we need to take away from it. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:21.919 So the first half of the sentence is, I think, self-explanatory. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:28.480 The Gentiles heard this shift from the Jew to the Gentile, and they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:35.759 It's the second half of that sentence that we need to grapple with a little bit. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.240 It's that part that can trip us up. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:41.039 So let's break it down into three parts. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:45.279 As many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.120 What is that talking about? 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:56.879 It's a little problematic because to make it smoother in our English, translators switch the parts of it around. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.360 Here's the way that Luke wrote it. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:04.399 Instead of putting the believing at the end, he puts the believing at the beginning. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:12.799 He starts it with, and believed as many as were appointed to eternal life. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:21.039 So believed is the last word in our English translations, but it's the first word after the word and in Luke's Greek. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:29.039 So Luke wants us to note that the Gentiles responded to the word of God's grace in Antioch. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:34.240 Some believed and some rejoiced. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:37.039 How many? 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:39.039 As many as. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:41.440 As many as. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.480 That's what comes next in Luke's statement. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:46.000 How many believed? 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.360 As many as. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:49.919 I need to start employing that answer. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:56.799 In other words, he says, not everyone, not all of them, but some. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:03.840 He doesn't give us a specific number, but he suggests that several folks believed. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.480 Okay, who believed? 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:12.080 Those who were appointed to eternal life believed. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:32.159 From the time of the Greek philosopher Plato, writing in classical Greek to the time of the New Testament in Koine Greek, common Greek, this word for appointed meant to assign someone to a particular classification. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:40.879 It meant that there's somebody who's determining what kind of class, what kind of group a person is going to belong to. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:45.279 You see this all throughout many, many centuries of its use. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.080 Let me give you some examples. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:56.799 Romans chapter 13, verse 1 speaks of God assigning the governing authorities of the world to their respective positions. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:02.399 That we are to listen to them and obey them because God has appointed them. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.039 He's assigned them to their position. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:10.320 In Luke chapter 4, verse 8, Jesus encounters a centurion. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:15.519 And Jesus says, Okay, I'll come to your house and I'll heal your servant. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.879 And the centurion says, Oh, no, no, no, no, no, don't come. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:21.039 Just say the word and it will happen. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:22.399 You're familiar with this. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:30.960 The centurion says, Because I'm a person who's been appointed to a place of authority, and so I say to somebody, go and he goes, and so on. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:37.600 He's been assigned to a particular classification within the military of centurion. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:46.080 So Luke's grammar tells us that God assigned these people to eternal life. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:57.679 That's the classification, that's the category, in eternity past, and the effect upon them in the present is that they believed. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:08.000 God assigned these people to the category of people inheriting eternal life, and at the proper moment, when they heard the word of God's grace, they believed. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:20.159 Now, regardless of how you feel about theological presuppositions or theological categories, that's what the text says. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:25.600 But Luke doesn't get all wrapped up over that. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:29.840 Instead, he wants to notice a reaction. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.639 Notice the opposite response to the word of the Lord in verse 49. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:40.960 The word spreads throughout the region as people appointed to eternal life believed. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:46.799 But the unbelieving Jews, beginning in verse 50, cause a commotion. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.519 We can use Barney, right? 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:57.600 Son of encouragement, so we can be friendly with one another. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.399 They start pushing them out of town. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.839 The word of the Lord brought those assigned to eternal life to faith. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:09.440 They believed. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:18.160 But it incited hatred and violence in those not appointed to eternal life. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:23.920 And Luke summarizes this for us with bookends. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:27.839 You can look back a little bit before where we started. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:32.079 His book ends. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:37.759 In 1345, the Jews saw the crowd, they were filled with jealousy. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:46.319 So the unbelieving Jews who were not appointed to eternal life who did not believe are incited to jealousy and persecution. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:48.160 But look at verse 52. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:57.440 The disciples, those who have believed and have become Christians, were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:59.839 You see those opposites? 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:06.559 The word of the Lord causes division. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:15.119 Now, while the intensity of the reaction might alarm us, we we shouldn't be surprised by the antagonism to the gospel. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.000 That isn't unusual. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:26.000 If you were with us long enough and you were patient enough with me, you heard me preach all the way through the book of Matthew. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:31.920 And Jesus said there, anybody who follows me should expect the same kind of treatment that I got. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:35.680 He said, Do not be surprised when you're persecuted. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:41.680 Paul will later say, Everyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.319 That's not the surprise, brothers and sisters. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:46.960 We should expect that. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:54.720 What is remarkable, what is astounding, is the power of God's word. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:06.160 It gives eternal life by bringing people out of rebellion and into rejoicing, out of persecution and into joy. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:12.880 God assigned a particular set of people to a specific end, eternal life. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:19.039 And he determined the means to that end, the word of God's grace. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:29.279 This is why later Paul would write to the Romans that everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and who calls on his name will be saved. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:33.119 But he goes on and he says how that should happen. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:38.319 He says, How will they ever believe in him of whom they've never heard? 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:43.920 How could the people in Antioch ever come to faith in Jesus if they never heard? 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:44.720 They can't. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.400 They need a preacher. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:55.039 They need Paul and Barnabas to come and proclaim the word of God's grace. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:02.960 My friends, it's not your eloquence that brings people to faith in Christ. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:10.960 I can't tell you how many times I've heard over the decades, I can't witness to people. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.400 I don't know what to say. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:15.519 Great, you're the perfect person. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.720 Because that's what God uses. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:27.200 It doesn't take eloquence, it doesn't take wisdom, it doesn't take power, it doesn't take being able to stand up and speak in public. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:34.319 It's not our vocabulary, it's not our personality, it's the power of the word of God. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:40.559 Scripture is God's determined means to bring people to faith in Christ. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.559 That's why Eric Beltz does what he does. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:55.440 He trains pastors to proclaim the word of God because that's the means that God uses to bring people to faith. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:07.440 We cannot pass by this section of Scripture without being impacted by the power of the Word of God's grace, which brings people to eternal life. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:14.160 But we see a second effect in the first section of chapter 14, verses 1 through 7. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:20.880 The word of God's grace, as we've already seen, divides the obedient and the disobedient. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:23.200 It brings division. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:26.960 The scriptures divide by necessity. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:35.119 If God uses his word as the effective means to bring people to faith, it is going to divide people. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:42.000 So Paul and Barney were forced out of Antioch, and they traveled to Iconium next. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:54.960 As usual, they took the gospel first to the Jews in the synagogues on their regular gatherings, and it tells us that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed in verse 1. 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:59.759 So again, we see the effectiveness of the word of God's grace, but it's effective. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.400 Effectiveness is twofold. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:08.960 It brings some to faith and it spurs others to antagonism. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:10.960 Look at verse two. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:20.559 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:28.480 So they provoked the Gentiles to think poorly of Paul and Barnabas. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:40.640 Nevertheless, they remained there for a long time, verse 3, speaking boldly, testifying to the word of God's gift to these people. 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:47.599 And that gift of God's grace was confirmed through miracles that God did. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:58.480 Now here is where Luke firmly turns to that concept of the word of God's gift, his gracious gift. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:06.480 A gift that the Jews don't want to receive, but they don't want the Gentiles to have it either. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:11.440 Luke calls them unbelieving. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:16.799 But the unbelieving Jews stirred them up. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:23.599 This word that's translated unbelieving, however, means means disobedient. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:27.680 It's not your normal word for disp for unbelieving. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:29.920 It's the word to disobey. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:40.240 And Luke intentionally chose it to connect these unbelieving Jews to the unbelieving Jews in Israel's history. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:50.160 Because the term is used throughout the Bible to refer to those who disobey God, particularly those within God's chosen people, Israel. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:53.359 Let me give you just a couple of quick passages to show you what I mean. 00:23:53.519 --> 00:24:03.039 In Deuteronomy chapter 9, Moses says, When the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you, then you rebelled. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:03.920 It's the same word. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:10.720 Then you disobeyed the command of the Lord your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:18.799 Notice how this term here is connected to the idea of faith, of believing and responding. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.400 Isaiah 63, verse 10, speaking of the same group of people. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:27.039 They rebelled, they disobeyed. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:31.839 Same word that Luke uses in chapter 14 of Acts, and grieved his Holy Spirit. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:38.720 Therefore, God turned to be their enemy and himself, God himself fought against them. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:52.319 So there's a kind of disobedience that is related to a lack of faith, to not believing what you ought to believe. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:25:00.880 Now, here we have to remember the Lord's words from John chapter 6, verse 29, responding to the Jews who desired to do the work of God. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:04.480 The Lord Jesus said, This is the work of God. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:06.480 You want to do the work of God? 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:07.759 Great, wonderful. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:10.480 Believe on him in whom he has sent. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:12.559 Believe in me, he says. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:28.240 So Luke connects those disobeying the gospel in Iconium with those who refuse to believe and trust God in the Old Testament. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:32.319 This is a disobedience of faith. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:46.640 The people of Iconium refused to do God's work, which is to trust in the word of his grace about the gift of his son and eternal life in him. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:52.880 Let me put that in terms for us. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:13.759 Those who have been given the scriptures throughout life, maybe it's by growing up in church, having been taught the gospel in an accurate way, and understand what God has said and what God has done. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:27.759 And they grow up and they come to understand a little more fully and a little more clearly about what God has done and who God is and what Christ has done and who Christ is, and yet they refuse to put their trust in Him. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.279 They are disobeying God. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:34.799 They are disobedient. 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:41.039 Because God has said, here's what you need to do. 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:44.640 Believe in my Son. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:50.160 And if you don't, you're disobedient. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:57.680 So the best way, friends, to lead people to Christ is to lead them to face their eternal reality. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:07.359 Bring them face to face with their need to receive God's grace gift of eternal life by believing in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:11.200 That's what Paul and Barnabas were doing. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.599 But the Jews refused to believe. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:20.400 And the result of this division is mistreatment and even attempted stoning in verse 5. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:24.319 But Paul and Barnabas heard the plans and fled. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:30.480 Keeping on, proclaiming the good news of God's gracious gift. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:39.759 Do you know God's, one of God's ways of making sure that other people hear the good news of God's grace gift? 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:42.480 It's by forcing you to move. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:47.519 Maybe it's by losing your job. 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:52.079 Maybe it's by having to move because of a family member's illness. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:57.839 Maybe it's because, like Paul and Barnabas, you get chased out of town. 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:07.119 That's God's grace to make sure that the gospel keeps moving. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:12.880 So chapter 14, verse 8 brings us to a new location: Lystra. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:24.400 And in this community, we find a third effect of the word of God's grace, where it restores the broken while also confronting the gods of this world. 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:29.440 I'd love to spend an entire sermon just on this text, but we can't. 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:40.799 Paul and Barnabas's entry into this new community mirrors Peter and John's entry into the temple in chapter 3. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:46.000 If you don't remember that, Peter and John were going to the temple to pray. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:50.960 And they saw a lame man by the gate called beautiful. 00:28:51.920 --> 00:29:00.960 That lame man was healed by the word of the Lord, and now a lame man, a man lame from birth is healed at the gate of Lystra. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:13.680 Friends, Paul and Barnabas were commissioned for the work of God's grace, including preaching and teaching and places where the broken would hear. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:23.680 Now you remember how I said that in the pagan world gifts most often went to the deserving? 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:31.200 But here is a man who has never stood. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:35.599 He's never used his feet. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:40.640 He can do nothing deserving. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:43.759 He's a beggar. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:47.440 He is entirely dependent on others. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:50.559 He's reliant on the good graces of others. 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:53.039 He could do nothing deserving. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:59.119 That makes him the ideal person to hear the word of God's gift. 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:00.319 Is it not? 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:11.039 Upsetting the traditions of cultures. 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:16.559 Luke describes the man as listening intently to Paul. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:21.039 Not just listening for a few minutes, but listening over a course of time. 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:27.680 And Paul, probably with divine enablement, could tell that the man possessed faith to be made well. 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:30.319 That's what the ESV says. 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:33.599 That's what most translations say, to be made well. 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:42.160 But Luke uses the word here in verse 9 that is saved. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:47.200 He possessed the faith to be saved. 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:53.200 Now the word for saved can be translated many ways. 00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.960 Its basic sense means to be rescued. 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:05.599 And so it's very natural for translators to say this man was rescued from his natural physical condition. 00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:12.480 He'd been in this position since birth, and so he had faith to be rescued from it. 00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:21.359 However, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, this term saved often implies something more than physical rescue. 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:26.319 And I wonder if this isn't one of those times. 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:38.799 Because Paul is preaching the word of God's grace, a gift of good news in Jesus Christ. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:45.599 That good news came to them through special messengers with confirming power. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:53.599 And I think Paul could tell that this man was believing in the word of God's gracious gift, and he could somehow see that. 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:55.039 He could tell that. 00:31:55.839 --> 00:32:03.279 And that faith is then confirmed by God who saves this man from his physical condition. 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:09.440 The man who had never walked because he was lame from birth. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:14.079 And Paul tells him, hey, dude, stand up. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:23.680 Now that's either cruel or miraculous. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:30.079 That's either cruel and devastating or saving. 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:39.839 And it seems to me that both physical and spiritual salvation are happening here. 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:46.960 Paul commands the man to do what he cannot, demonstrating that this is a divine work. 00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:56.960 And the confirmation of the healing is essential because the word of God's grace confronts the gods of this world. 00:32:57.200 --> 00:33:01.839 It reveals them as vain or worthless, as he says in verse 15. 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:05.039 We proclaim good news to you. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:12.400 This gracious gift from God is good news so that you should turn from these vain things to a living God. 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:18.160 The false gods of Greek and Roman religion could do nothing for this man. 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:25.200 This community was ready to worship Zeus and Hermes at the drop of a hat, and they could do nothing for the man. 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:31.920 But in comes the news of God's gracious gift, and the world is turned upside down. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:36.960 History records a legend about this region. 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:47.680 Legend has it that Zeus and Hermes once visited the area around Iconium and Lystra. 00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:54.319 The legend reports that they wandered around and nobody recognized them. 00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:07.359 Nobody recognized them till finally one meager couple realized these are two of our gods. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:16.880 So the gods then supposedly killed everyone who did not recognize them and made the couple who did recognize them priests to Zeus. 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:20.159 That's the legend. 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:25.760 Enter Paul and Barnabas. 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:35.840 Paul and Barnabas enter to tell them about the one true creator, God, and immediately heal a man who is born lame. 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:54.400 And so propelled by fear of not recognizing the gods yet again, the people proclaim them Zeus and Hermes, and the local priest leaps into action to guide the people in worshiping and adoring them because nobody wants to die. 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:01.599 Now, Paul and Barnabas rightly consider that blasphemous. 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:06.480 So they do everything they can to convince the people not to do it. 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:15.360 But notice in verse 14, Luke calls Paul and Barney apostles. 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:17.360 Apostles. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:23.519 We saw that same word back in verse 4, in a generic sense without a name attached to it. 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:39.280 But here in verse 14 is the only time, the only time that Luke refers specifically to anyone other than the 12 apostles with the qualification that they are apostles. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:44.320 It's the first time he calls, the only time he calls Paul an apostle. 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:48.079 It's the only time he calls Barnabas an apostle. 00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:54.800 We often think that the designation of apostle means someone's been sent. 00:35:56.400 --> 00:36:02.079 Because the Greek word for to be sent is apostelo, to be sent. 00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:08.639 But Greek scholar Don Carson has rightly shown that that's a root word fallacy. 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:13.039 That means you come to a wrong conclusion by looking at just one thing. 00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:29.360 He reminds us that in the New Testament, the term apostle means messenger, specifically a messenger as a unique representative of someone who is greater in authority or power or position. 00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:34.400 Now, someone who is a messenger has been sent. 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:38.960 So we can't separate those two things. 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:47.599 But we must remember that someone is an apostle because they represent someone more significant in power or position. 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:57.519 And Luke calls Paul and Barnabas apostles here in Lystra for a very purposeful reason. 00:36:57.840 --> 00:37:05.760 They are not gods in the flesh because there is only one God, the Creator God, and they represent him. 00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:12.639 They carry his message confirmed by miracles. 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:17.920 Therefore, only the Creator God must be worshipped, not the messengers. 00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:32.480 So Paul and Barnabas come in and they confront the impotence of the world's gods and prove them to be frauds by the word of God's grace. 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:40.000 The word of God's grace brings salvation, the ultimate restoration of God's creatures to Himself. 00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:45.920 And at the same time, it confronts the gods of this world and the people who worship them. 00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:49.760 Do you want to make a difference for Christ in your world? 00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:52.800 Talk about the word of his grace. 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:56.639 Talk about the word of his grace. 00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:00.320 It will bring some to eternal life. 00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:06.400 It will highlight the disobedience of others, and it will confront the gods of this world. 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:15.840 Ironically, as Paul and Barnabas entered the city of Lystra, people wanted to sacrifice to them. 00:38:16.719 --> 00:38:21.679 In the end, people want to sacrifice them. 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:26.159 Verse 19. 00:38:26.960 --> 00:38:37.039 Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:48.079 Disciples gather about him, he gets up, he goes into the city, and the next day he went on to Derby. 00:38:49.760 --> 00:39:01.119 Unbelieving, disobedient Jews travel 110 or so miles from Antioch and 20 miles from Iconium to turn the people of Lystra against the Word of God's grace. 00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:03.119 That's dedication. 00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:10.320 They stoned Paul thinking he was dead, and that leads us to the fourth effect of the word of God's grace. 00:39:11.840 --> 00:39:16.400 It strengthens and encourages through trouble. 00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:30.159 Paul and Barnabas left Antioch and Pisidia, shaking off the dust from their feet in verse 51 of chapter 13. 00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:34.800 Chapter 14, verse 6, they fled from Iconium. 00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:38.559 And Paul was stoned at Lystra. 00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:44.400 We aren't told the extent of Paul's injuries, but they thought he was dead. 00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:49.840 Perhaps he was hit in the head with a rock and knocked out. 00:39:50.159 --> 00:39:51.199 Who knows? 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:55.679 Maybe he was stoned terribly and God restored him to life. 00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:57.119 We aren't told. 00:39:57.519 --> 00:40:06.719 But friends, something happened because the man who they thought was dead got up and walked into town, and the next day he started on a three-day journey of 60 miles to the city of Derby. 00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:10.480 You don't do that if you're half dead. 00:40:11.519 --> 00:40:16.400 I don't know what happened, but pay close attention to what Luke records in verse 21. 00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:25.199 They get to Derby when they had preached the gospel in that city and had made many disciples. 00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:36.880 So let's let's retrace Paul and Barney's steps. 00:40:37.119 --> 00:40:41.920 They're chased out of Antioch because of an unspecified persecution. 00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:46.159 They left Iconium because of an attempted stoning. 00:40:46.639 --> 00:40:49.280 Paul was stoned at Lystra. 00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:58.719 And after making disciples in Derby, they turn around and they go back to each of those communities in which they had been harassed, persecuted, and stoned. 00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:00.400 Would you do that? 00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:08.400 The answer to that is yes, you would. 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:15.039 God has not given you the grace for that now because he's not called you to that. 00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:23.199 But the word of God grace enables you to do exactly what he calls you to do in the moment that he calls you to do it. 00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:34.800 And so they were able to go back through each of those communities to strengthen the disciples, to encourage them as they return back to where they were sent from. 00:41:36.639 --> 00:41:41.599 The more significant the opposition, the bolder Paul and Barnabas seemed to become. 00:41:41.760 --> 00:41:50.320 That is because the work of God is to grow us through tribulations and troubles. 00:41:53.039 --> 00:41:54.320 Verse 22. 00:41:55.039 --> 00:42:04.239 He strengthened 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. 00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:05.760 He emphasizes it here. 00:42:05.920 --> 00:42:17.360 He says, through many hardships, through many troubles, through many trials, that's the path, that's the road that God has designed for us to ultimately reach being with Christ. 00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:30.559 The pressures and the trials of following Jesus are designed to strengthen and encourage us until we reach the goal of being with our King in whom we have believed. 00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:40.719 And Paul ensures that that strengthening and that encouraging will continue because they appoint elders in every city. 00:42:40.960 --> 00:42:50.159 There's enough disciples in each place that they appoint some elders to guide them, to strengthen them, to support them, to sustain them, to keep on teaching them. 00:42:52.960 --> 00:42:55.760 And I'm out of time, so let me get to our fifth one. 00:42:56.400 --> 00:43:00.239 The word of God's grace confirms God's sovereign work. 00:43:00.639 --> 00:43:03.599 Beginning in verse 24, they go home. 00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:06.559 They've completed their journey. 00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:12.000 They're going to make one or two more stops and speak the word, verse 25. 00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:21.599 So they pass through Pisidia, that's the region of these areas, and they come down to the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, to Pamphylia. 00:43:22.239 --> 00:43:24.000 They speak the word in Perga. 00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:25.599 They go down to Italia. 00:43:25.760 --> 00:43:34.800 From there they sail back to Antioch and Syria, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 00:43:35.599 --> 00:43:42.480 They declared all that God had done, how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 00:43:44.159 --> 00:43:46.079 That's Luke's summary. 00:43:46.880 --> 00:44:01.519 So chapter 13, verse 2, the Holy Spirit told the church in Antioch and Syria, set apart Paul and Barnabas for me to the work to which I have called them. 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:07.679 They went out, they proclaimed God's gracious gift to the undeserving Gentiles. 00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:14.880 And God fulfilled his word and his work through them, which the skeptical and the disobedient rejected. 00:44:15.360 --> 00:44:18.719 And by returning them home, God confirms it all. 00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:24.639 The Holy Spirit has done this from beginning to end, confirming his work. 00:44:26.559 --> 00:44:28.960