I saw the start of a new series of Race Across the World.
!
I'm leaving TV.
The book of Acts is the Race Across the World.
The book of Acts is the story of the gospel going from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
The story of Acts is a tiny little group huddled together in a room at the start of Acts and at the end of Acts, a worldwide global movement.
It's a race across the world.
And the first series of the Race Across the World is this missionary journey of Acts 13 and 14.
It takes six minutes to read.
The journey lasted about three years.
46 to 48 AD.
Before Paul and Barnabas set out, there are no Christian congregations in Asia Minor.
Within a decade, there are Christian churches in every major city.
Come with me to the end of Acts chapter 14.
And there's a summary verse.
And they report back at the end of this race across the world.
And they say, verse 26, where we sail to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they'd fulfilled.
And when they arrived, they gathered all the church together.
They declared all that God had done with them.
And how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
Chapter 14 is God in action.
It is God opening a door of faith to those who are not Jews, to the Gentiles.
We have a picture here of how God opens the door wide for people like you and people like me.
How God sets an opportunity before his people.
But it is very different from what we might expect.
If God is really opening a door of faith, wouldn't you expect things to go really well?
If we had a missionary who came to us and said, well listen, and the door of faith is opening wide in this area of the world, we would expect success stories.
We would expect for things to come together.
For there to be some level of safety and security.
You would not expect all sorts of opposition and hostility.
But what we find in Acts 14 is very different.
Paul and Barnabas, remember, they are run out of Antioch.
Run out of Iconium.
They are stoned.
They are left for dead in Lystra.
Four years later, the apostle Paul is writing to his sidekick, Timothy.
To one of the young men who had come to faith when Paul preached in Lystra.
And Paul reminds him of this first visit.
He says, you followed my teaching, my conduct.
My aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and my sufferings.
All that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Acts 13 and 14.
All the persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
That is your picture of God opening a door of faith.
And there is an idea out there in lots of churches, and even in churches like this,
that if you follow the Lord Jesus, and if a church is obedient to the Lord Jesus,
then all its problems will disappear.
And what Acts 13 and 14 teaches us is the opposite of that.
Remember Paul and Barnabas, they're coming from Antioch in Pisidia,
and there's a map, there's two Antiochs.
There's Antioch on your right,
and there's another Antioch, isn't there, on the top left, Pisidian Antioch.
And Pisidia and Antioch is really this kind of trendy city.
It's the trendy place of London, wherever that is.
Greenford.
Hanwell.
It's where the media are, artsy people, influences, key people on the arts,
on the board of trade, and they've turned against Christianity and the gospel.
And yet the Christians, they remain joyful and full of the Spirit.
And what do you do when you've been thrown out of a city for preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus?
What do you do?
Do you go back to home base?
Do you lick your wounds?
Do you go back to safety?
Do you take a holiday on the med?
Do you rethink the strategy?
Do you think, let's take some of the nasty bits out of the gospel?
Let's not tell people about the wrath of God, or the judgment of God, or repentance.
Let's not do that.
Well, what do they do in chapter 14?
They take courage in their hands, and they do what is unsafe, and they do what is massively risky and unconventional.
There are three episodes in the chapter, and I want to look at one at a time.
Verses 1 to 7, they come to Iconium.
Can you see the risk of faith?
They do the same thing.
They go to this place, Iconium, and they do the same thing they did in Antioch.
They go to the synagogue, and they preach as they've done again and again.
Look at the emphasis.
What do they do?
Verse 1, they speak.
Verse 3, they speak boldly.
Verse 7, they preach.
How does the gospel go forward?
How do churches get planted?
God's word is preached.
That is the way that the risen Lord Jesus brings salvation to people, through a message, through the preaching, proclaiming of the gospel.
How many verses does it take for persecution to break out?
The answer is 1.
Verse 2, some from Antioch come, and people's minds are poisoned, and Christianity is seen as a pernicious threat.
So what do Paul and Barnabas do?
Verse 3, they remain there a long time.
They speak boldly for the Lord.
They bear witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
But the people of the city are divided.
The Christian message comes to a city, and the city is divided.
Some side with the Jews, some side with the apostles.
What's going on here?
God is showing stunning and remarkable kindness to the people of Iconium.
He's sending them, these messengers, these apostles, who are preaching to them the good news of the Lord Jesus.
He confirms the truth of which they're preaching by signs and wonders.
And God gives strength to Saul and Barnabas.
And when the tide changes, and suddenly things go against them, they don't suddenly run away when it gets difficult.
They don't lie down in front of the lies, but they speak openly, boldly, clearly.
Which means that clearly, there's some physical threat, isn't there?
You don't speak boldly, unless there is some threat.
And the gospel that they are preaching, we're told, is the word of God's grace.
And the Iconians don't deserve this.
But God, in his mercy, is offering to them eternal life through his Son.
And he's offering to them forgiveness of sins, and the hope of glory,
and the transforming presence of his Holy Spirit through the gospel, as he does today.
Wherever the gospel is preached, it is divisive.
The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, for some people, is like a breath of life.
It's like fresh, life-giving oxygen.
But to others, the gospel of the Lord Jesus is poisonous cyanide.
And it's the hearing of the gospel that always has this paradoxical effect on its hearers.
The gospel of the Lord Jesus always brings about unity, and it always brings about division.
And whenever God truly reveals his Son through the preaching of the gospel,
it creates unity and division.
It did in the life and teaching of Jesus, didn't it?
It did in the life and teaching of the apostles, and it will do so in your life and in my life.
The Bible is thoroughly realistic.
And division is not nice.
And division is a miserable reality.
It shows our terrible perversity.
That the gospel of God, which ought to be the source of such true unity and true joy,
becomes the object of such division.
But I want you to see that the division it causes doesn't show that Paul and Barnabas were defective in their work.
It wasn't that Paul and Barnabas needed to learn to speak in a more gracious, more relevant way.
Exactly the opposite is true.
Paul and Barnabas were being true to the word of Jesus Christ,
and that is why the division took place.
As a church, we cannot serve Jesus Christ,
and be at peace with the world.
Or as the apostle James says to each one of us,
do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity, it's war with God?
Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world,
makes themselves an enemy of God.
So when these threats rise to abuse and physical violence,
what do Paul and Barnabas do?
Do they flee?
Do they look for a quiet and easy spot?
Well, no, they continue preaching the gospel.
Verse 7, God is here opening a door of faith.
It's very interesting to see when the apostles stay in Acts,
and when they speak boldly,
and when they get up and move on.
And I think what governs their choices is clear in the second episode.
So let's look at verses 8 to 20.
8 to 20.
And the first thing that happens in Lystra is a repeat.
It's a repeat of what we've seen in Acts before.
This miracle is a carbon copy of the miracle that Peter did at the temple.
Do you remember when he was there with Peter and John?
Silver and gold I don't have,
but this is what I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Get up and walk.
The apostle looks at him, orders him up, and he leaps.
The reaction is very different here, isn't it?
In Jerusalem, Peter was arrested.
But in Lystra, can you see?
What's the reaction?
Well, they want to make Paul and Barnabas gods.
They want to make them gods.
I have never had that response to my preacher.
Geoff Thomas has been preaching the gospel for 60, 70 years.
60 years, we'll say.
I suspect he's never had this response.
Reuben might have, but I haven't.
They say, don't they, that gods have come down to us in human form.
They're called Barnabas Zeus, Paul Hermes.
The priests go off, they get cows and garlands.
You might think that's an unusual reaction.
But there's a legend in the area.
And the legend in the area is that decades before,
Zeus and Hermes had assumed human form.
They'd visited the town of Lystra, the people of Lystra.
They'd looked for hospitality.
And Hermes and Zeus came house after house,
and they were not welcome.
They received no hospitality.
They visited a thousand homes,
until finally one poor elderly couple brought them in,
fed them, and gave them hospitality.
And Zeus and Hermes then took them out onto their veranda
and destroyed all their neighbours with fire
and transformed their hovel into a local temple.
So you could see, at this point,
with that legend that has grown up,
that the locals are motivated towards hospitality.
Now, I imagine
that there are many church leaders
that would have loved this.
They would have loved to have seen this local religious expression.
They would have received the garlands
and overlooked the sacrifices
and gone home to their hotel that night
thinking things have gone very well.
There's things to learn,
but things are marvellous.
They write the email.
They send it off to their supporters.
They say it's remarkable.
But Paul and Barnabas,
they see the sacrifices
and they spring literally into action.
Verse 14,
they tear their garments.
Why are you doing this, man?
We are men of like nature,
like you.
We're just like you.
And we bring you good news
that you should turn from these vain,
empty things to the living God
who made the heavens and earth
and the sea and all that is in them.
You don't tear your clothes
unless you're in the presence of blasphemy.
And Paul and Barnabas do not say,
what you're doing is wrong.
Ah, ah, ah.
This isn't wise.
They tear their clothes.
More than that,
they rush into the crowd
and they physically try to stop the crowd
from offering sacrifices.
It's the second time
in the first missionary journey
that the gospel has come
into confrontation
with non-Christian religions.
And both times are really helpful to us
because they help us think,
how are we to think of other religions?
And the truth is this,
they are not neutral exercises.
Other religions are not harmless expressions
of a universal spiritual impulse.
According to the Bible,
they are futile
and they are blasphemous
because they steal glory
from the true and the living God.
And the apostle,
he's got no regard
for how ancient
and well-established
these beliefs are.
He regards the religions
as false,
empty,
spiritually hazardous.
And verse 15,
the aim of the gospel
is to turn people
away
from these vain
and empty things
to the living God.
It's not kindness,
is it?
To say,
keep going for a moment
with these vain
and empty things.
They're dead,
they're worthless.
They cannot bring you
eternal life,
they cannot bring you
forgiveness
and grace.
What you need to do
is turn away
from those things
and those rituals
to the transforming hope
that we have
in Jesus Christ.
And I think
what's really striking
about this episode
is we are given
a glimpse
into the heart
of Paul and Barnabas.
We are given
a glimpse
into this man.
What motivates
this man?
What motivates
Paul and Barnabas?
It is not so much
results
and it's not so much
numbers.
it's not even
so much
his love
for these people
that he's never met.
Those things
are present
but what burns
brightest
in the apostle's
heart
is a love
and a zeal
for the glory
of God.
And he cannot
bear it
and they cannot
bear it
when they see
God's name
soiled.
And he's
filled with
jealousy
that God
should be
treated as God
and his name
would be treated
as holy.
It's a personal
injury to them
when they see
God dishonoured.
And that's why
they do this
incredibly dangerous
thing.
And I'm aware
today
and we live
in a city
don't we
that is
rightly
nervous
of religious
fanaticism.
But we need
to remind
ourselves
that zeal
for the glory
and the name
of the living
God
is a defining
mark
of all
who belong
to the living
God.
Do you remember
what it was said
of the Lord
Jesus?
He said it
of himself
in the words
of the psalm.
He says
zeal for your
house
our Lord
consumes me.
The insults
that should
fall on him
fall on me.
So in verse 15
we hear this
first Christian
sermon
ever preached
to out and out
pagans
possibly illiterate
people
probably illiterate
people
who've never
heard of the
Old Testament.
They've never
heard of Jesus
Christ.
They've been
speaking of Jesus
but now they go
right back to
basics.
I don't have
time to go
through it fully
but look at
verses 15
to 17.
There's four
points to
this sermon.
He tells them
first of all
God is your
creator.
He made you.
He's transcendent
above all things.
Number two
he is sovereign.
God rules
every person
and every nation.
Thirdly
God has
revealed himself
and God
wishes
to be known.
And fourthly
God is full
of goodness.
Full of mercy
and full of
kindness.
and he
doesn't just
satisfy your
stomach but
he satisfies
your heart
with gladness.
It's a lovely
message isn't
it?
A lovely
message.
God made
you.
God rules
over all.
God has
revealed himself
and wishes
to be known
and God is
full of goodness.
What's the
response?
Verse 19
and 20
it's monumental
fickleness.
The same
people who
want to make
them gods
turn and
very quickly
try to kill
Paul
by stoning
him.
They think
he's dead
so they
drag him
outside the
city.
Somehow
Paul survives
and the
next day
he goes on
to preach
the gospel
in Derby.
I wonder
if you were
writing a
letter to
the folks
back home
an email
update
I wonder
if you
would say
God had
opened a
door for
the gospel.
We come
to the
third
point
and the
last
section
verses
21
to
28
is
very
important.
After
two years
of
pioneer
missionary
work
there's
one final
thing
to do
and that
is to
ensure
that the
door of
the gospel
remains
open.
Let me read
three of the
verses.
Verse 21
and when
they preached
the gospel
to that
city and
had made
many
disciples
they returned
to Lystra
to Iconium
to Antioch.
Can you believe
it?
They went
back to
these places
strengthening
the souls
of the
disciples
encouraging
them to
continue
in the
faith
and saying
that through
many
tribulations
to write
we must
enter the
kingdom of
God.
And when
they'd
appointed
elders for
them in
every church
with prayer
and fasting
they committed
them to the
Lord in
whom they
believed.
It's
interesting
isn't it
that when
we want
to bring
the gospel
to a
place
what has
often been
done
is they
have a
mission.
That's
what the
evangelical
church has
done.
They have
a mission
in an
area.
It's
interesting
that isn't
what the
apostle Paul
does.
He
establishes
churches.
At the
end of
two years
work in
Galatia
province
what does
the
apostle
leave
behind?
Churches.
Churches
are the
flower of
the gospel.
And not
missionary
organizations
not
parachurch
organizations
but local
churches.
And so
the question
that I'm
asking at
the end
of Acts
14 and
you should
be asking
too is
how on
earth can
these
churches
survive?
I mean
there's not
a believer
in Galatia
who's known
the gospel
for more
than two
years.
And these
new
congregations
they are
the definition
of fragile
and they're
facing bitter
and vicious
physical
opposition
and persecution.
How are
they going
to keep
going?
How can
Paul leave
them on
their own?
Surely he
needs to
establish a
head office
or something.
And so I
want us to
see as we
close
in three
ways
churches
that the
apostle
provides
for these
churches
to enable
that the
door of
faith
remain open.
Three
things he
does.
Three
gifts he
gives them.
Three
foundations
to make
sure that
churches
not only
survive
but
churches
thrive
and grow.
So here
are the
three
foundations
for growing
churches.
Number one
the
apostolic
teaching.
Notice
!
Notice
verse 21
and they
go around
and what
are they
trying to
do?
They're
trying to
strengthen,
encourage
and exhort.
And they
know that
the natural
drift of
their hearts
and my
hearts
is to
slide
back.
And they
know that
you and
I go
lukewarm
very,
very quickly
and so
what do
they do?
They
encourage,
they
strengthen,
they exhort,
continue in
the faith.
Do not
give up.
And through
the New
Testament
this
phrase
keeps
being
used
to
continue
in
the
faith,
the
tradition
is another
way of
put it,
the deposit,
the faith.
It's a
recognisable
body of
teaching.
We say
it in
the
creed.
What do
you say
to these
people who
have
received
this
teaching
and face
violence?
What do
you say
to people
who have
watched
the
Apostle
Paul
being
beat
into
unconsciousness?
Paul
says
verse
22,
through
many
tribulations
we must
enter the
kingdom
of
God.
And I
think that
really is
the summary
verse of
the whole
chapter.
Through
many
tribulations
we must
enter the
kingdom of
God.
Want to
see what
it's like
for a
door to
open for
the faith?
Through
many
tribulations
we must
enter the
kingdom of
God.
If I
can put it
like this
there are
two sides
to following
Jesus.
On the
one side
God has
opened a
door for
us and
we will
enter
through that
into the
kingdom of
God.
The path
that you
walk as
a follower
of the
Lord Jesus
today and
the path
that I
walk
each day
takes us
a day's
march nearer
home to
the kingdom
of God.
And we
will be with
Christ and
we will be
with one
another and
there will
be no
pain and
no sickness
and no
death and
no sorrow.
And we
will see
him face
to face
with renewed
redeemed
restored
resurrection
bodies.
Every day
is a
day's
march near
a home.
It's a
path of
joy but
there's
another
side to
the path.
And that
path that
we walk
towards the
kingdom of
God it
is full
of well
you know
it's
done to
you trials
and tribulations
and setbacks
and sorrows
and difficulties.
And not
just one
not just
two but
many
tribulations
isn't it?
And do you
notice that
in Iconium
it's not
just the
apostle who
is the
target of
opposition
and persecution
verse 2
it's the
brethren
they face
the persecution
too.
The
Christians
in Iconium
who are
going to be
misunderstood
and mistreated
and in
verse 20
in Lystra
it's really
interesting
where they
drag
Paul's
body
out
it's
written in
such a
way
literally
that the
disciples
don't gather
round Paul
once the
danger
has passed
but at the
same time
as the
danger
after he
passes out
to kind of
literally it's
this picture
of a
protective
ring around
the apostle
Paul
and this
too is a
door of
faith
here is
the thing
what the
apostle is
teaching
them and
us
is that
these very
tribulations
through which
God is going
to bring us
into the
kingdom of
God
it is
glory
through
suffering
he's going
to bring us
to heaven
those who
have trusted
Christ
but the
path to
heaven
every single
one of us
faces sorrows
and difficulties
and I
don't know
what your
sorrows and
difficulties
and tribulations
and trials
are right now
for some
those
tribulations
will be an
opportunity
for massive
self-absorption
and bitterness
but for others
they are the
path
that leads
to joy
in heaven
he puts
it more
boldly
for some
these
tribulations
are a
path
for hell
and for
some
they are
a path
to heaven
this is
the apostolic
teaching
and it's
the foundation
of the
church
second
thing
I think
is a
little bit
surprising
and it's
this
the second
foundation
is pastoral
oversight
look at
verse 23
how do
churches
survive
well
verse 23
the apostle
appoints
elders
so that the
gospel will
continue being
preached
the apostle
does not
impose people
from outside
the congregation
they are
appointed from
within
he does not
appoint one
elder for one
congregation
it says in
every congregation
they appointed
elders
as corporate
leaders
some will
work full
time
some will
work part
time
the word
appoint has
two meanings
it means to
put your
hand up to
vote
and to put
your hand
down to
lay hands
on someone
so I
take it
what
Paul and
Barnabas did
they didn't
come into
the congregation
and say
well this guy
looks good
let's make him
an elder
can you see
there is
both
congregational
involvement
and there is
outside
authority as
well
which lays
hands on
them
later on
when Paul is
writing to
Timothy
he says
these are
the qualifications
that men
need when you
look to
appoint elders
they must be
people who
have
demonstrable
moral
integrity
they must be
people who
are loyal
to the
apostolic
words
they must be
people who
are able to
teach others
so I want you
to see this
church
government
matters
and I would
argue that the
form of church
government
matters
Paul leaves
the church
with apostolic
teaching
pastoral oversight
and the third
and final thing
here's the
most important
thing at all
he offers to
them the
protection of
God
can you see
what he does
he prays
and he commits
them to the
Lord
the most important
thing we can say
about the church
is that it's not
a human invention
every church
this congregation
has been created
by God
sustained
by God
ruled by God
through his word
and humanly
speaking
it is just
absurd
for you to
think that we
can continue
on without God
as it was
for these
congregations
and ultimately
their protection
and our protection
does not come
through legal
or structural
means
the gospel
moves forward
through tribulation
as the gospel
is preached
and Christians
encourage one
another
and strengthen
one another
to face the
suffering
and pray
for the
blessing of
God
so this is
what it looks
like
for God
to open up
a door
of faith
it is risky
it is unsafe
it is even
frightening
but it is
through many
tribulations
that we must
enter the
kingdom
of heaven
and the
church in
this country
particularly
in the UK
is very
cautious
and churches
like ours
have become
very risk
averse
and careful
and prudent
and I think
Acts 13
and 14
calls for
risk
and it
calls for
boldness
last Sunday
Christchurch
Lincoln
began
this Sunday
Grove Chapel
Camberwell
joined
next Sunday
there is a
new minister
coming to
Emmanuel Brentford
Ian Clements
and these are
really really
encouraging days
for us
but remember
Acts 13
and 14
at tribulation
trials
are coming
will come
have come
and the idea
that there is
going to be a
time when
everything is
going to be
safe and
secure
and then
we'll act
and then
we'll risk
well it means
that God
isn't actually
adequate for us
because it is
through many
tribulations
that we must
enter the
kingdom of God
so do not
be the spirit
do not be
surprised
do not be
dismayed
do not be
deterred
let's pray
thank you
Thank you.