Walking Through Acts

We pick up right where we left off sometime in the Fall. If you’re relatively new to

UCC, we began this series, “Walking Through Acts” the Sunday after Easter. The

purpose of course being, that we understand the mission and purpose of the

Church as given to us in Scripture. A word that exists to describe the nature and

structure of a Church is ecclesiology. There are different denominations out there

that base their ecclesiology on various things such as tradition or a governing

body that has authority over multiple congregations and perhaps there are other

factors that determine a Church’s ecclesiology, but this is not the case for Union

Christian Church. Our ecclesiology, the nature and structure of our Church is

based off the examples and teachings we find in Scripture, namely the New

Testament and primarily from the book of Acts when the Church as we know it

today was instituted. The Bible is our Authority.

Today we will be finishing out chapter fourteen which will wrap up Paul’s first

missionary journey. Do any of you remember where Paul and Barnabas were sent

first at the start of their journey? It’s an island and it starts with a C. The first

location Paul and Barnabas were sent was the island of Cyprus. The image for our

sermon series, is a photo taken of the coast of Cyprus.

Some of you may be wondering why I teach while I preach. Here’s the thing. The

reality of the world in which we live does not concern itself very much with

learning the Bible. This applies to many Christians today. They would rather sit

through a sermon that feels good rather than sit through one that makes them

think. So the goal is for you all to retain the content within these messages that

are filtered through the reality that biblical literacy is at an all-time low. This would

be the perfect time for me now to challenge you all to read the entire Bible this

year. Some of you in here read through the entire Bible last year. If this is you, its

time to begin again. If you have yet to read through the entire Bible, start today

and it only takes 15 minutes of reading per day for the slow reader like myself to

make it through the entire Bible in a year. There’s no better investment of time

one can make. Just 15 minutes/day. That’s it.If you haven’t caught on to the grand plan, one of my hopes for Union Christian

Church is to be a Church that knows their Bibles. The Bible is our authority. How

can it be our authority if we don’t know what it says? I love this quote that I

reference often.

“If you want to hear from God, read your Bible. If you want to hear from God

audibly, read your Bible out loud.”

And so as we jump right back in to our series in Acts, we aim to grow deeper in

our knowledge for what the Bible teaches. Knowledge is not the end we are

striving for, but it is a deeper love for God and His Church and the world that

Christ died for. How can we do these things, if we don’t know what His Word says?

Allow me to provide the setting and circumstances of today’s text. Last time we

were in Acts, Paul and Barnabas were thought to be the Greek gods Zeus and

Hermes as Luke, the author of this book records. And because of this, the people

were preparing to worship Paul and Barnabas and were making preparations to

have a feast in celebration for the return of the gods to their town. But Paul and

Barnabas exclaimed right away, we’re men just like you! Don’t do this! We are not

the ones you should be worshiping. Yet, the text says that the people could

scarcely be kept from worshiping them. Now in between verse 18 and the verse

we will begin with today, verse 19, some time had elapsed. How do we know this?

The previous cities Paul and Barnabas were just in were Antioch and Iconium

where they received intense persecution. They were even under the threat of

death. That’s why they find themselves now in Lystra. News would have traveled

fast that Paul and Barnabas were being celebrated as gods and this may have led

to an even stronger pursuit from those who wanted them dead. That is the Jews

and others who were in opposition to the spread of the gospel.

Acts 14:19

19 But 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.Reece,

“Persecutors often exhibit more zeal for an evil cause than Christians do for His

cause. These enemies of the Gospel came a distance of over 100 miles in order to

continue their active opposition to Paul and Barnabas and to keep the Lycaonians

from becoming involved in this new religion.”

Have you ever felt so strongly about something that you’d travel 100 miles to see

something through? In this case it’s the continued efforts to prevent the gospel

from being spread. Some of you may feel this same intensity regarding certain

things in your life and the question I am leading us all into is this. Do you feel this

same intensity about your faith? Do your convictions determine your actions?

What is the thing in your life that animates you, that gives you a reason to get up

in the morning, to get dressed, to go to work or to go and serve somewhere?

What is your motive for doing such things? In Acts chapter 9 we see that Paul who

was Saul at the time (prior to his conversion), was breathing threats against

Christians. He knew his purpose and he was dead set on accomplishing it no

matter how far it took him. Can you say the same for your faith?

And so these zealous Jews from Antioch and Iconium came all the way to Lystra

and were successful in persuading the locals to consent to the stoning of Paul.

Isn’t that crazy? A few days or weeks before they were ready to worship them.

Now they give permission to let them be stoned. This also should bring to mind

the very thing that happened to Jesus. In the closing days of Jesus’ earthly

ministry, there were shouts of Hosanna! And they quickly turned into shouts of

“Crucify!”

The Jews, by stoning Paul, were simply carrying out the requirements of their

faith. Paul was going around preaching that men were saved by grace rather than

deeds of Law. This sounded to the Jew like blasphemy against the Law.

The Bible tells us that Paul was drug out of the city. Either by the hands or by the

feet, Paul’s body was drug along the ground to a place outside the city walls

where it was left like the carcass of a dead animal to be left to the elements of

nature.The Bible tells us that his persecutors supposed he was dead. There are many

different trains of thought on this. Perhaps Paul was playing possum is one

position. Perhaps Paul was actually dead and was revived miraculously. Perhaps

Paul was on the brink of death and only appeared to be dead because of the

severity of his injuries. Now the correct answer to this is not that important, as

long as we do not diminish the miraculous event that takes place in the next

verse.

Acts 14:20

20 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.

Just as we have seen in previous chapters, it was very common to have a group of

disciples who accompanied those who were on mission. And so these disciples

gathered around the body and Paul rose up. I’m sure they were terrified at first,

but after that momentary instinctive response of fear, came along with it a sense

of great awe and reverence for God. You cannot witness such an event and leave

unchanged by it. And so the faith of those who witnessed this recovery of Paul

was strengthened. Some scholars seem to believe that Paul’s recovery was due to

the care shown by Timothy’s family in the hours after the stoning had occurred.

However, this is all irrelevant as the Bible tells us that his recovery was complete

and instantaneous.

The man had just been stoned either to death or to the brink of death and what

does he do? He goes right back into the city he was stoned in. Now, the main

perpetrators had since left, but man, considering what had just happened to him,

you would think he was entitled to some PTO or something. But Paul, being a man

of God continued his calling despite the persecution he endured. And he went on

from Lystra to go and preach in the city of Derbe.

Acts 14:21-22

21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples,

they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 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.Reece,

“It would take no little courage for the apostles to return to these very cities

where they have been persecuted and stoned, yet in the face of danger they

return. Why? One of the most important points of Paul’s missionary method

comes into view at this time. Not only are men to be won to Christ, but the

converts must be conserved! The welfare of the infant churches was considered to

be more important than their own physical safety.”

This is in keeping with what I preached in my sermon on Discipleship. Christians

were not just called to make converts. In keeping with the great commission given

to us in Matthew 28:19-20, we are to go and make disciples. That’s why, whenever

there is a baptism here at UCC, we as a congregation should come alongside them

and support them and encourage them in their faith. That baptismal is not the

end for the Christian, it is just the beginning.

In verse 22 we see this “strengthening” of the disciples.” Some older translations

render this word as “confirming.” As you can see, both words can mean the same

exact thing in its proper context. However, they can also mean very different

things in different contexts. That’s why, when we do our own study, we must

consult a concordance whether it’s a physical copy or online to see what the

actual Greek says. That way things do not get lost in translation. So if your Bibles

use this word “confirming”, it has nothing to do with confirmation as is the

ordinance in Catholicism and a practice used in the Lutheran Church as well. The

correct sense of this word is that of encouragement or appointing. At UCC, we

believe a person becomes a full member of the Church at the time of their

baptism as the Bible teaches. I’m not talking about local membership at a

particular location. That’s something different. What I’m talking about is

membership of the body of Christ.

Acts 22 is the first instance in Acts of the tribulations that believers must be

prepared to face. What is it that I say every Sunday leading into our invitation

song? “The life of a Christian is not an easy one, but it’s a good one.”

Do you find it uncomfortable knowing that we must undergo these tribulations to

enter the kingdom of God?2 Timothy 2:10-12

10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may

obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is

trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;

Now, I am not saying that going through tribulation is a requirement for salvation.

What the text says clearly though, is that your life of a Christian will have

tribulation. You can’t escape it. That’s likely a foreign concept for most 21st century

American Christians today. Most of us don’t want tribulation. We don’t want

things to be difficult and challenging. We tend to want things easy. We want easy

sermons, easy coffee, easy mission fields where there is little to no difficulty

winning new converts. We somehow have gotten to a point where some people

think that becoming a Christian is synonymous with ridding themselves of the

difficulties of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. Once you bear the

name Christian, you’ve put a target on your back for Satan to pursue. Yes, we have

a God who pursues us, but we also have an enemy who knows his days are

numbered and desires company in misery.

Acts 14:23

23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and

fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Here we notice that where Paul preached, there was formed a Church that

comprised of these newly converted believers. One thing that gets missed by

many today is that Church is not important in the life of a Christian. Some have

said that they don’t need to go to Church to be a Christian. That’s not the biblical

view however.

Reece,

“As far as the New Testament teaches, there is absolutely no concept of salvation

outside of the church. The church is the body of Christ and a man cannot be aChristian without being a member of His body. Not any more can a man be a

Christian without being a member of a local congregation, than can a fish live

outside water. Before God created the living things in the beginning, He already

had an environment for them. Before God created you as a new creature, He had

an environment ready for you, the Church. Everything that God created has to fit

in with and correspond to the environment and atmosphere God made for it. Put

a man under water, and he dies. Take a fish out of the water, and it dies. Pull up a

tree, and when the roots break contact with the ground, the tree dies. When you

become a new creature in Christ, your environment and atmosphere is the local

church in your home community. If you get away from that environment, you die.

These Christians made on the first missionary journey were not just left to go it

alone, but were brought together into local congregations.”

The text also says that there were elders (plural) in every Church. Some Churches

have one ruling elder and that is not biblical. In 1 Timothy 3:6, Paul gave one of

the following qualifications for an elder. “They must not be a new convert.” Why?

1 Timothy 3:6

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and

fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Do you see why I bring this up in light of today’s message? Newly formed

churchers, new converts to Christianity being and some of these new converts

being made elders of these churches. You may have thought to yourself, well

there’s a contradiction in the Bible right there. Paul is breaking his own rules. Well,

again, one must think about this more critically.

McGarvey,

“It must be remembered that, although these disciples had been but a

comparatively short time in the church, many of them were in character and

knowledge of the Scriptures the ripest fruits of the Jewish synagogue; and they

need only the additional knowledge which the Gospel brought in order to be

models of wisdom and piety for the churches.”No special consideration is given to any prospective elder today as the gospel has

been around for nearly 2,000 years.

Appointment of elders like Paul and Barnabas are doing here, was important for

the permanence of the life of the church, but there can be a congregation without

having such leaders. This leads to the thought that it is not wise to select men to

be elders or deacons who are not qualified. It is better to have a church without

elders and deacons than it is to have a church with those positions filled with men

who are not qualified.

What Paul and Barnabas are doing is preparing these Church plants to be self-

sufficient. He is entrusting the appointed leaders to lead their congregations well

apart from them being there. For many of us, we know how difficult it is to entrust

something of great value to someone, especially someone we hardly know, let

alone a church that is the bride of Christ. This was a time of great apprehension

for Paul and Barnabas and perhaps for the local congregation themselves. Will

they be okay without Paul and Barnabas’s leadership? How will they know they’re

doing what they’re supposed to be doing? And so there was prayer and fasting.

Acts 14:24-28

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they

had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they

sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the

work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church

together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened

a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they remained no little time with the

disciples.

The Church at Antioch (of Syria) was where they were first commissioned to the

mission field. The text says they had been commended to the grace of God for the

work that they had fulfilled. These men had done all that the Holy Spirit had

intended for them to do. In our own lives, many times, it is the things that we

have left undone that we are ashamed of. How about us? Are we fulfilling the

ministry that God has called us to do or have we been stagnant? Have we been

inactive in the parts of our lives that God has called us to take action? I’ve heard itsaid before that the modern day church is becoming less and less militant and

becoming more and more impotent. That is… powerless, weak, ineffective.

Piano to play here.

In Ephesians 6, we are told to put on the whole armor of God. The life of the

Christian is that which is called to conquest. A conquest of leading those to Christ

who otherwise would be lost to the kingdom of darkness. There’s no need for

armor for the one without a desire to leave their comfort to take part in the

battle. And because of this mindset, atrophy of the soul leads to a limp wristed

faith. And today, now more than ever our world needs more than that. The world

needs the gospel which has been entrusted to us to bring to it. It’s not just my job

to be the sole evangelist. Everyone has been called to this. I’m just here to rally

the troops and to encourage you and to remind you of the purpose for which we

have been called.

Now that it’s the beginning of a new year, this would be the perfect opportunity

for me to remind us all of our 3 year plan called One. It’s all about making

disciples. Reach One, through evangelism, Teach One through discipleship and

Lead One, through coming alongside the next generation as they grow or perhaps

start out in their faith. Our discipleship pathway is out in the connect area. Take an

inventory of where you’re at in your faith journey. At the bottom of our

Discipleship Pathway is Matthew 4:19.

19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

This week, let us consider the examples of Paul and Barnabas and their boldness

and resilience and seek ways that we can live our lives in a way that walks in step

with God’s calling for us.