Acts 14
Messenger dox
Call to worship: Exodus 20.1-17
Pastor Brett eckel
song:
Come behold the wondrous mystery
Historical reading:
apostles creed
pastor bobby Owens
song:
His mercy is more
Confession & pardon:
pastor Michael champoux
song:
Doxology
song:
See the destined day arise
Sermon:
dr. alex loginow
acts 14
Introduction
As I was preparing this sermon these last few weeks I was reminded of when I was younger – my parents have friends who would take short-term mission trips. I remember one trip was to Ukraine, but they would take these trips and when they returned they would come over our house and we’d watch a slide show of the trip. Each picture accompanied by a story – maybe funny, or sad, or hopeful about how the gospel was at work in whatever region of the world they had just visited. I was reminded of that preparing this sermon because that’s kind of what’s happening in Acts 13-14.
This will be the 3rd week now that we’ve been looking at Paul’s 1st missionary journey and we’ve not been given every detail of what happened on this trip, but the Holy Spirit has given us different snapshots – certain pictures – that are necessary for us to understand the story of Jesus and redemptive history. As we have continually seen throughout the book of Acts, chapter 14 tells us the story of how King Jesus, from his throne in heaven at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, is bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth through his apostles by the preaching of the gospel and the planting of local churches. The Lord Jesus is the main character of this story and his mission is to glorify himself through his Spirit-filled followers preaching the gospel to the nations and planting local churches.
Picture #1: The Gospel (vss 1-7)
If you have an ESV bible you see that the editors have helpfully divided chapter 14 into the 4 organic pericopes – verses 1-7 they’ve labeled “Paul and Barnabas at Iconium;” verses 8-18 “Paul and Barnabas at Lystra;” verses 19-23 “Paul stoned at Lystra;” and verses 24-28 “Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria.” We know that the chapter and verse divisions in Scripture were added later and while helpful are arbitrary. So how do we know where the text organically, or should we say, intentionally or providentially, divides? The editors of the ESV Bible notice transition words or phrases or a change of setting, or characters, or content.
Verse 1 of chapter 14 begins, now at Iconium…Now is a transition word and there is a change of setting – Iconium. The same is true in verse 8 – Now at Lystra…In verse 19 we see the word but and then new characters. In verse 24 the transition word then and a change of location. Faithful Christians who divided up chapters and verses and edited translations, and added headings like we see here in chapter 14 have done the hard work for us so we don’t have to worry too much about it, but it is helpful for you to see why the text is formatted so and how the sermon is drawn directly from the text.
So for the purpose of this sermon our 4 points will be drawn from the 4 organic pericopes in the chapter but we will label them differently. In these 4 pericopes we have 4 pictures, or snapshots, in the slideshow of Paul’s 1st missionary journey. The 1st picture in verses 1-7 is the gospel, or to elaborate more, the Lord bears witness to his Word, which elicits only 2 responses. We mentioned only a minute ago that the ascended Lord Jesus is the main character of the story of the book of Acts; like Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs he is only visible for a terse time, but the story is his. Did you notice in verse 3 that St. Luke tells us explicitly that the Lord (he means Jesus, of course) bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by [the apostles’] hands.
The Lord Jesus is the main character of the book of Acts. Jesus is the one bearing witness to his word. Jesus is the one performing signs and wonders through the apostles. Jesus is the one saving people. Jesus is the one establishing churches. This is all about how Jesus is taking his gospel to the ends of the earth.
And not only is the Lord Jesus the main character of the book of Acts, He is the main character of the entire Bible. He is the main character of redemptive history. As the gospel has moved foreword covering the globe for the last 2,000 years of church history, it has been the doing of the ascended Lord Jesus. When he saved me, when he saved you; Jesus has been working and Jesus will continue to work until the last elect sinner is saved, until the last church is planted, until his last sheep hears his voice and returns to the Good Shepherd. Don’t buy into the modern Western naturalistic view that just because you can’t see him, the ascended Lord Jesus isn’t alive and well and ruling and reigning and spreading the gospel.
And Acts 14 reveals to us that the gospel of Jesus elicits only 2 responses – faith or denial; humility or hardening; repentance or rejection. There is no neutral response to the good news of Jesus; either you repent and believe or you deny and reject. The same sun that melts the snow hardens the clay. We see in verses 1-7 that there are both Jews and Gentiles who believe the gospel and Jews and Gentiles who reject the gospel.
It is imperative that we always make clear what the gospel is. If you have not been listening so far, I forgive you, but please listen to what I’m about to say. It is the most important thing in the whole world. The gospel is the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The gospel is good news because without it we have nothing but bad news. The bad news is that there is one true holy God who created you and you have sinned against him. You have broken God’s Law in thought, word, and deed and so you rightfully deserve eternal conscious punishment in hell. Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death.
The good news is that the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God became man in the incarnation. Pastor Bobby led us earlier as we confessed in the creed that the Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. His name is Jesus of Nazareth and he lived a truly human life, yet without sin. Jesus never broke God’s law in thought, word, or deed, by what he did, and he never left anything undone. Jesus always loved God with his whole heart; Jesus always loved his neighbor as himself.
And when he died on the cross Jesus offered his righteous life in the place of God’s elect as a penal substitutionary sacrifice. Jesus was our substitute and paid the penalty for sin as the true and final sacrifice. Because Jesus endured the full wrath of God against the sins of his people, Jesus accomplished what theologians call the great exchange – Jesus exchanged his righteousness for our sin. So now when God looks at the church he sees the righteousness of Christ.
After Jesus suffered he died and he was buried for 3 days. Jesus experienced the curse of death in our place, not for 3 minutes, or 3 hours, but for 3 days. But death could not hold Jesus because Jesus is righteous and so on the 3rd day Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead inaugurating his kingdom and the new creation and he ascended to heaven, to the right hand of God the Father almighty where he has been in session reigning with the church triumphant for 2,000 years. And Jesus will return to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new.
This is the good news; this is the gospel. Do you believe this good news? Do you have faith in Christ alone? The Reformed tradition has long defined faith in terms of 3 facets – knowledge, assent, and trust. I have just given you more than all of the knowledge you need to understand the gospel. Do you assent to its validity – do you acknowledge that this message is true? And beyond that, do you trust Jesus? Are you resting in the person and work of Jesus to save you from your sin?
If you do genuinely have faith you will repent of your sin. To repent of your sin means to confess your sin and turn from your sin. It means to acknowledge that you are guilty of breaking God’s Law and asking God to forgive you. It means after you confess you turn away from your sin and follow Jesus in obedience. Repentance is the result of faith, which is a gift from God. If you don’t have faith in Jesus ask God to give you faith. There is nothing more important for anyone who has ever lived than to repent and believe the gospel.
Picture #2: Idolatry (vss 8-18)
That’s the 1st picture we see in chapter 14 – the Lord bears witness to his Word, which elicits only 2 responses. The 2nd picture in the slideshow of Acts 14 is verses 8-18 – Idolatry, or more explicitly, there is a temptation to idolize leaders, especially those who preach the gospel, but God alone is worthy of worship. After preaching the gospel in Iconium, which is modern day Turkey, Paul and Barnabas head to Lystra where they find a believer crippled from birth and Paul commands the man to stand up and he stands up. These miraculous healings administered by King Jesus through his apostles fulfilled Old Testament prophecies, which declared that when Messiah came he would heal the blind, lame, and sick. Jesus inaugurated this fulfillment healing people in his ministry, which we read about in the gospels and these healings point forward to the day when King Jesus returns to wipe away every tear from our eyes, and make everything sad untrue.
But the miraculous healing ministry, which was unique to Jesus and the apostles doesn’t merely look forward to Christ’s eschatological kingdom in new creation – no! It is also a picture of the spiritual healing that happens when Jesus saves a sinner. When St. Paul commands the crippled man to stand the Greek word is Ἀνάστηθι, which can also be translated as, “rise.” It is a cousin to the Greek word ἀνάστασις, resurrection. The rising of this crippled man through faith reveals to us that by faith our dead hearts can be raised. When God grants the gift of faith spiritual resurrection occurs by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.
But as we mentioned before the gospel is not neutral; it produces either humility or hardening. The response of the crippled man is faith but the response of the crowds is idolatry. The crowds respond by worshipping Paul and Barnabas, misidentifying them as the Greek false gods Zeus and Hermes. Paul rebukes them and calls them to worship God alone, who is the creator of heaven and earth and who providentially cares for his creation and his creatures.
Pastor Brett called us to worship this morning from the Law of God – the 10 Commandments. The 1st Commandment, which really is the umbrella under which the other 9 fall, is the warning against idolatry: You shall have no other gods before me. The crowds at Lystra practiced explicit idolatry, worshipping the apostles as Greek gods. Our idolatry may not be so overt, but we are just as guilty. Whenever we give anyone or anything ultimate meaning in our life, whenever we say without this person or this thing life is not worth living, whenever we do that with anyone or anything other than Jesus, we are practicing the sin of idolatry. We are breaking the 1st Commandment. Dr. Tim Keller has a great book on this very subject called Counterfeit gods. If you have never read it, I cannot recommend it enough.
What’s more is that for some reason we have a tendency to idolize people in leadership or celebrity – movie stars, musicians, athletes, politicians, definitely presidents, and for many Christians there can be a tendency to idolize those who preach the gospel. Don’t get me wrong, I believe we should have reverence and respect for pastors, in fact, I think the culture and even Christians have abandoned a healthy respect for pastors. Man, growing up I never heard my dad say one bad word about any of our pastors. There was nothing but respect and reverence toward the man of God. Even now I want to have a godly respect for my pastors, for these other 6 men who give their lives to shepherd me, my family, and my church. Especially Pastor Kevin who has pastored here for 29 years; who has been my pastor for 25 years. Thank you God!
But that respect must not morph into idolatry. How many churches have you seen or heard of that end up worshipping the pastor? “He can do no wrong. Everything he says is true and from God.” Pastors become cult leaders who can never be challenged. Much sin has been harbored, much abuse covered up, many lives destroyed, the name of Christ blemished because of pastor worship. Paul was not worthy of worship; I am not worthy of worship; Pastor Kevin or any other pastor is not worthy of worship; God alone is worthy of worship.
Picture #3: Tribulation (vss 19-23)
The 3rd picture in the slideshow of Acts 14 is found in verses 19-23 – Tribulation, or Christian faith and practice will face persecution, but it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. This scene turns quick for Paul – one minute the crowd is worshipping him and the next minute they stone him. But how does Paul respond? The other disciples help him up, they go to the next town, they preach the gospel, they make disciples, and they appoint elders in all of the churches.
Christian faith and practice will face persecution. For the apostle Paul here it was narrowly escaping death by stoning. Paul will eventually be martyred because of his Christian faith and practice. For us right now it may be losing relationships, losing a job, losing our reputation. For Christians around the world even today it may mean losing their lives.
But it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. That means that before we die or before Christ returns the church will face many tribulations and yet the work of gospel ministry must be done. Paul didn’t say, “I almost died, I better shut up and go home.” No! He preached the gospel, he discipled new believers, he appointed elders in these new church plants.
Regardless of whether the world is friendly to us or persecuting us; regardless of whether Christian doctrine and ethics are viewed as unfriendly, or immoral, or even illegal, we must obey Jesus. And what does Jesus want us to do? He wants us to preach the gospel. He wants Christians to be discipled. He wants a plurality of qualified elders shepherding each local church. Our sojourn to the heavenly city will be filled with tribulation because we follow Jesus and the pattern of Jesus is death and resurrection. There can be no resurrection without death but take heart because our shepherd walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death, be it physical death, emotional death, relational death, financial death, Jesus experienced it all and he will never leave us nor forsake us.
Picture #4: Ministry (vss 24-28)
We have now come to the 4th picture in the Acts 14 slideshow of Paul’s 1st missionary journey. Picture number 1 in verses 1-7 was the gospel, or, the Lord bears witness to his Word, which elicits only 2 responses. Picture number 2 in verses 8-18 was idolatry, or there is a temptation to idolize leaders, especially those who preach the gospel, but God alone is worthy of worship. Picture number 3 was tribulation, or Christian faith and practice will face persecution, but it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. And now in verses 24-28 we see the 4th picture – Ministry, or to elaborate, there are different seasons for specific kingdom work, which is always connected to and supported by the local church.
In the closing verses of chapter 14 Paul and Barnabas return to their starting place in Antioch – modern day Syria – and they declared to their sending church how Jesus was saving the gentiles. What a sweet reminder to us that there are different seasons for different kingdom work but that the work of Christ’s kingdom is always connected to and supported by the local church. Maybe there is a season of your life where you care for babies in the nursery, or teach children’s Sunday school, or serve teenagers in youth ministry, or minister to the elderly. Maybe there is a season where you lead bible studies or open your home in hospitality for small groups. Maybe there is a season where you can uniquely and strongly give financially to the church.
Maybe there is a season where you spend a lot of time ministering to the homeless or those in prison or serving pregnant mothers or battered women. Maybe you’re in a season as a mom at home with young kids. Maybe you’re in a season of study at seminary. Maybe you’re an elder or a deacon or you aspire to be one someday. Regardless of where you are in your Christian service do it unto Jesus. It will change. God calls us to different tasks at different times. Wherever he’s got you right now give your best for Christ and his kingdom.
Conclusion
Acts 14 tells us the story of how King Jesus, from his throne in heaven at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, is bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth through his apostles by the preaching of the gospel and the planting of local churches. The Lord Jesus is the main character of this story and his mission is to glorify himself through his Spirit-filled followers preaching the gospel to the nations and planting local churches. This is the slideshow we see in Acts – we’re seeing the expansion of the kingdom of Christ. And we see it through the rest of the New Testament as the epistles go out to churches all over the western world. And we see snapshots of it throughout church history as the gospel continues to spread all over the globe and down through time.
And Jesus is still doing that today. Do you understand, Christ Community Church, this is why we’re here?! Because Paul and the other apostles took the gospel north and west; because they took the gospel to the gentiles. This is still the mission of the church – to make disciples of all the nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to teach them everything that the Lord Jesus has commanded us.
This is why we gather every week around the Word and sacraments together. This is why we preach the gospel to our lost neighbor. This is why we catechize our children. And we see snapshots now of how Jesus is continuing to save, continuing to build his church. We see snapshots with every baptism, with every new member who joins our church. We see pictures of God’s saving grace with every Christian wedding and every baby dedication, and every child raised in the church that confesses faith in Christ. We see a slideshow of God’s grace with every Christian funeral of a precious saint who finished the race.
Can you imagine when the story is finished – when the slideshow is complete? When the Lord Jesus returns to earth to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new, when the last elect saint is converted to faith in Jesus and the story of redemption is complete? Can you imagine the snapshots of grace that we will see when the victory of King Jesus is consummated and Satan’s head is fully and finally crushed? Can you imagine? I hope you realize that the story we’re reading in Acts – this story of the victory of the ascended Lord Jesus – is also your story. May the pictures we take with our thoughts, words, and deeds, glorify Jesus as we cultivate this slideshow of salvation history!