Acts 14:1

And it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, both of Jews and also Greeks, believed. However, the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil-affected against the brethren. Therefore, they abode a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who gave testimony unto the word of His grace and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

But the multitude of the city was divided; in part, they held with the Jews and in part with the apostles. When there was an assault made by both Gentiles and Jews, along with their rulers, to use them despitefully and to stone them, they were aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia, and unto the region that lies round about. There, they preached the gospel.

Let's pray. Father, as we now look into Your word, I pray that You would continue to transform us. Lord, just as I said, Your word does not return void. We thank You that Your word will accomplish that which You sent it forth to do—in our community, in our nation, and in our lives individually, especially, Lord. Jesus, You prayed there in John 17, "Father, sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."

I pray that as we look into Your word and study it, You would continue to sanctify us and cleanse us by the washing of the water of Your word. Transform us in such a way, Lord, that we would not be the same. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated.

I'll never forget what my good friend David Guzik has said many times. Every single time they have an orientation at the Bible school in Germany, and they have all these new students gathered, whether they be from America or from other European countries, he tells them that our primary goal here at this Bible college is to ruin you for the normal Christian life. I absolutely love that, and that really is one of my goals here at our church as well: that you, as the word of God is sown into your heart, whether it's on Sunday morning or Wednesday night, will be transformed.

Or with the women's ministry on Tuesdays or men's on Thursdays, whenever we get together to study God's Word, I want you to be ruined for the normal Christian life. I want you to be unable to live what we might classify as the normal Christian life, where you just come to church on Sunday for an hour, and then you leave and go about the rest of your life. I want God's Word to change you so profoundly that you would never be the same. I make no excuses about it; I want to ruin you.

As we see here in Acts chapter 14, and as we have already seen in prior chapters, we observe two individuals who are ruined by God's Word: Paul and Barnabas. They are continuing on their first missionary journey. In chapter 13, we saw that they were in the city of Antioch of Pisidia, but persecution arose, and they were essentially kicked out of the city. They dusted themselves off, just as Jesus had told His disciples to do in Matthew chapter 10 and Mark chapter 9, and they moved on to the next city.

On foot, they traveled a hundred miles east from Antioch of Pisidia to the region of Iconium. It says that they went together into the synagogue of the Jews. This was their normal standard operating procedure. In every city they visited, the first place they would go was the synagogue on the Sabbath day, because both Barnabas and Paul came from a Jewish background. Paul even had that Pharisee card; he could dress in Pharisee clothes and go into the synagogue, where everyone would say, "Wow, brother Saul, share with us." He would then stand up and preach the gospel to them.

Notice what it says in Acts chapter 14, verse 1: "They so spoke that a great multitude, both of Jews and also of Greeks, believed." They spoke in such a way as to elicit a response. They shared the gospel with these people, and it was so powerful. The words were so well-fitted to the people there, and God, by His Spirit, had prepared their hearts so that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed what they had to say.

Now, I want you to circle the word "believed" in verse 1 in your Bibles. "Believe" is a word that is often thrown around in Christian circles. We believe that belief is extremely important, don't we? Turn over in your Bibles, if you would, to Romans chapter 10, verse 9. This is a verse that many of you have read. We've talked about it before, and perhaps you've memorized it. Romans 10, verse 9.

The Apostle Paul says to the church at Rome, "If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be, what is it, church? Saved." If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.

But as important as belief is, we should have a good understanding of just what belief means. What does this word mean? Because a lot of times when we say "believe," in our modern-day culture, people typically just think of accepting something as true. It's just a mental belief. However, the word translated from the Greek, "pisteo," translated into English as "believe," has a much deeper meaning. Yes, it does mean to accept something as true.

A lot of times when we ask someone, "Do you believe in Jesus?" they will accept that there was a man named Jesus who lived 2,000 years ago. They might accept that he was a good teacher or that he was a prophet. They may even accept as true that he healed people. So they might say to you, "Yes, I believe in Jesus." But you should recognize what they're saying. They are saying, "I accept as true that there was a man 2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth."

The word "pisteo" in Greek means something much deeper. It not only means to accept as true, but it also means to place one's confidence in and to entrust oneself to. Perhaps the better question that we would ask someone is, "Have you trusted Jesus?" Asking a person, "Have you trusted Jesus?" elicits a different response than, "Do you believe in Jesus?"

We might want to replace the word "believe" with "trust" a lot of times as we look through the Scriptures. Here it reads that they so spoke that a great multitude of the Jews and the Greeks believed; they entrusted themselves to Jesus of Nazareth.

But notice what it says in verse 2. There was a group that was unbelieving. The unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles. This group of unbelieving Jews did not believe that there was a man named Jesus of Nazareth. Paul the Apostle was an eyewitness of Jesus of Nazareth, so surely they said, "Yeah, we accept that there was a man named Jesus of Nazareth."

Perhaps they even accepted that this Jesus of Nazareth performed miracles. They had probably even heard reports about that. But when we read that they were unbelieving, it doesn't mean that they didn't accept it as true; it means they refused to trust him.

What exactly was it that Paul the Apostle was preaching to them? We know from verse 7 that they preached the gospel. They were preaching that salvation comes only by Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection. He died on the cross for our justification, and he rose from the dead for our glorification. That is what Paul and Barnabas were preaching when they went into the synagogue at Iconium. Yet, there was a group of Jews that said, "No, we reject that. We refuse to yield to that. We are children of Abraham, and we have the Law of Moses, so we don't need Jesus." They refused to yield. They refused to follow this Jesus of Nazareth that Paul was preaching. Instead of following him, they rose up in persecution against Paul and Barnabas. They stirred up a group of Gentiles and made their minds evil affected, as it says in the King James Version, against the brethren, against these followers of Jesus. They stirred them up.

There is always opposition to the work of God. We've looked at this a number of times in the Book of Acts. In just about every chapter, there's a different form of opposition. Whether it was the persecution that Saul of Tarsus brought in Acts chapter 8 and Acts chapter 9, or it was the chief leaders in the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 4 and Acts chapter 5, or perhaps it was even the internal problems of Ananias and Sapphira at the beginning of Acts chapter 5, there is always opposition to what God is doing.

A lot of times, we wrongly assume that if God is working, then everything will be perfect. So when opposition comes, we say, "Oh, this must not be the road God wants us to take." It's hard work. But that's not the case. In fact, if you turn in your Bibles just a few books to the right in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, notice what Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 16:9 as he's finishing up his letter to the church at Corinth. He says in 1 Corinthians 16:9,

A great and effective door has been opened to me, and there are many adversaries. You see, for a lot of us Western Christians, when opposition comes, we often think, "Well, I guess this is just not what God wants me to do." I thought He wanted me to help with children's ministry, but those children—oh my goodness—God must not want me there. It's hard work. I thought the Lord wanted me to go on the mission field, but man, that's a difficult place. You might get malaria. God wouldn't want me to go there.

We wrongly assume that difficulty means God is not in this, but that's not what Paul says. He states that a great and effective door has been opened to him, and there are many obstacles. In Paul's ministry, there was constant opposition. In fact, it was at this point on Paul's first missionary journey that he began to experience what he refers to in the book of 2 Corinthians as a messenger of Satan, a thorn in the flesh. It was when Paul stepped out on this first missionary journey that he began to face these challenges, with opposition coming against him.

Now, we don't know what kind of opposition it was; he doesn't explain much in 2 Corinthians 12. Some people think it was some sort of physical infirmity, possibly related to his eyes. Others believe it was opposition from the Jews, which could very well be the case. Paul often faced opposition, and we will study it more as we go through his journey. He was beaten in Philippi with rods and imprisoned there. We will see that he was shipwrecked, whipped, and beaten, with various forms of opposition arising.

Opposition came from his own people, especially his Jewish brothers, who did not like what he had to say. This opposition often stemmed from jealousy. As we saw in Acts chapter 13, the Jews at the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia were jealous because many people began to follow after Paul and Barnabas. Not only did the opposition come from jealousy, but it also arose from zealotry. Remember that Paul, prior to becoming the apostle, was Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee. Because of his zealousness for the religion of his fathers, he persecuted the church. However, after he became a believer and an apostle, he also experienced persecution.

From zealous believers within Judaism, there's always opposition. Clearly, we don't like opposition. Many of us would raise our hands and say, "Nope, don't like it at all." As I already mentioned, we seem to think that smooth seas accompany great and effectual doors. I would challenge your thinking today and say that perhaps those obstacles and hurdles you're facing are an indication that God is in the work you're doing and that the enemy is seeking to destroy it. He doesn't want it to go forward.

We read that the opposition was coming from a group of unbelievers, those who withheld belief. They did not comply. Another translation says that they refused to believe. They were active and steadfast in their opposition. They had Abraham as their father and the law of Moses. In their minds, they didn't need this Jesus, so they sought to oppose Him.

In 2004, Gallup conducted a poll and found that 81% of Americans believe in heaven. This means that eight out of every ten people you talk with or interact with believe in some sort of afterlife. Every single one of them is trusting in something to get them into that fateful place. They have their faith; they have their confidence in something.

For the people in the synagogue in Iconium, these unbelievers placed their confidence in the fact that they were children of Abraham, that they had the law of Moses, and that they were circumcised. If you ask one of the 80% of Americans who believe in some sort of afterlife, "When you die, are you going there?" I guarantee every one of them will say, "Yeah, I think so. Pretty sure. I sure hope so."

When you ask them, "Well, why are you going to go there?" they often respond, "I'm a pretty good person." Really? You see, they are placing their confidence in their good works, just as these unbelieving Jews in Iconium were placing their confidence in their heritage and the law of Moses. Millions of people in America believe in some sort of afterlife and are likely trusting in their good works to get them there. Man is banking on his good works, yet the Bible...

Reveals that there's only one way, and it's not good works. Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father but by me." How many of you think that sounds a little bit narrow? You can raise your hand. How many of you think that sounds a little divisive? That's not all-inclusive.

Don't you realize we live in a pluralistic society? Don't you realize you can't talk like that? That segregates. It puts some people on the outs and some people on the in, and you can't talk like that. We're all accepted. We're all God's children. We're all going to heaven, right? Oh no, that's not what the Bible teaches.

As a result of what the Bible teaches, and your faith in what the Bible teaches, and the fact that you follow what the Bible teaches, there will be opposition. I believe that we're going to see a growing opposition in our nation. Notice that it says that these unbelieving individuals, those who were rejecting and refusing to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, made the minds of these Gentiles evil-affected. They tainted their minds against the Christians.

That's not happening today, is it? They tainted their minds against the Christians. They said, "Those people are narrow. Those people are wicked." They may have even called them prejudiced or racist, or whatever it may be. But they ill-affected, evil-affected the minds of these people.

Now, the interesting thing is this: Jews typically had absolutely no dealings with Gentiles and wanted nothing to do with them. Yet, their opposition against Christianity, their opposition against the gospel, was a uniting force with their normal enemies. People they would never associate with came together to get rid of the Christians. So, they gathered Gentiles together. But notice also what it says there.

In verse 2, but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil-affected against their brethren. As a result, did Paul and Barnabas say, "Man, we better leave?" No. In verse 3, it states that a long time, therefore, they stayed there, speaking boldly in the Lord, who gave testimony unto the word of His grace and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

The opposition at Iconium did not dissuade Paul and Barnabas from the work that God had called them to. If anything, it caused them to speak more boldly, as it should for us in our day. As these people came against them, they spoke more clearly, more boldly, and more loudly than ever about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And what did God do? God confirmed their message by showing miraculous signs.

We have seen this a number of times, both in the Gospel of John and now in the Book of Acts, that God often authenticates the message through miracles. Here, they began to perform miraculous signs and wonders, with God working through them. Notice that it says God granted miraculous signs and wonders. I am always a little leery of someone who claims, "I have the power of God, and I wield it; I can perform a miracle." No, no, no. Back up a little. God granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands to substantiate the message.

And what was the message? It says in verse 3 that it was the word of His grace. It wasn't the word or the message of Paul's miraculous healing ministry. It wasn't the word of the message of Paul the Apostle or Barnabas of Cyprus. It wasn't their words or their testimony. They were preaching the word of His grace, and that is the message that we preach and speak today as well. Because it is God's grace and God's work that saves men's souls. Not the work of Calvary, not the work of Emmanuel Faith, not the work of any other church. It is the work and the word of His grace.

Notice what the word of God and the word of His grace did. In verse 4, it states that the multitude of the city was divided. It caused division. The gospel of Christ, wherever it goes, brings division. That's exactly what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12, verse 51. He said, "Do you suppose that I come to bring peace on the earth? I tell you no."

But I come to bring division. Whoa, what? Isn't He the Prince of Peace? Yes, He is. Jesus came to establish peace between God and man. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ, as we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, states that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. They look at it and say, "This is stupid; this is foolish," and it causes division.

Jesus goes on to say in Luke chapter 12 that it causes division even within homes, setting father against son and mother against daughter. Some of you have experienced that in your lives as well. You became a believer and a follower of Christ. You trusted Him, and your family members said, "Man, you're nuts. We don't want anything to do with you. You're crazy." So we see that division.

The multitude of the city was divided; in part, they held with the Jews and in part with the apostles. When there was an assault made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, the politicians in the area got behind it too. The Jews and the Gentiles, who normally would never have anything to do with each other, came together in opposition against the body of Christ and the work that God was doing, and now it had political influence behind it.

At that point, things began to change. It says that they had a plan to despitefully use them and stone them. This isn't like the 1970s stoning; this is, "Hey, let's get big rocks and kill them with rocks." There was a plan, backed by political support, to stone Paul and Barnabas.

In verse 6, it states that when they were aware of it, they fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia, and to the region that lies roundabout. They fled to Lystra. Now, you may look at that and, at first thought, think it seems like a lack of faith. I would say, no, I don't think it's a lack of faith. I think it's an exercise of wisdom.

You see, the mixture of boldness and wisdom seen in the life of Paul and Barnabas is extremely important. Some of you might be able to relate to the fact that you've experienced what it's like to be bold and a little bit brash. Anyone? Eric. And yet,

Sorry, he raised his hand nicely. Yet, they exercised boldness and wisdom. They recognized that God was moving them on, and they likely did the very same thing that they did at the end of Acts chapter 13. They dusted the dust off themselves and said, "Hey, we're going on to the next cities."

It says in verse 6 that they moved on to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia. There, in verse 7, they preached the gospel. Would you highlight verse 7? There they preached the gospel, the good news. The disciples in Acts chapter 8, verse 4, when they were persecuted and scattered, went about preaching the word. The disciples in Acts chapter 11, verse 19, when they were persecuted and scattered again, went forth preaching the word.

It was Paul's manner; it was his custom. Acts chapter 17, verse 2, says that he reasoned from the Scriptures and preached the word. It was Paul's exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 2, where he said, "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; convince, rebuke, and exhort with all long suffering and doctrine."

The word "preach," or "preached," or "preaching" is found in 134 verses in the New Testament. It's found in 37 verses in the book of Acts. Acts is called the Acts of the Apostles, and one act more than any other in the book of Acts is preaching. So, what were the apostles about? They were about preaching the word of God.

Yes, they had the gifts of the Spirit. Yes, they spoke in tongues. Yes, they saw healings. All of those things are true, but their primary focus was the preaching of God's word. That should be the primary focus of every church because Jesus commissioned His church in Matthew chapter 28 to go and preach the gospel.

Some churches get sidelined. They get focused on a small aspect of what God has called us to. Maybe they get focused on the spiritual gifts. Maybe they get focused on social justice. Whatever it may be, if it's not preaching the gospel, it's not the primary focus of the church. All those other things are secondary.

And so, they preached the gospel. Psalm 40, verse 9, tells us that David, King David, was a preacher. You remember the book of Jonah? Jonah chapter 3, verse 2, shows that God commissioned Jonah as a preacher. Now, he was kind of one of those guys that didn't want to do it, but God got His way. John the Baptist...

Jesus was a preacher, as noted in Matthew chapter 3, verse 17. He continued to preach in Matthew chapter 4, verse 17. The disciples were also sent to preach, as we see in Matthew chapter 10, verse 7. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 and at Cornelius' house in Acts chapter 10. Stephen preached to his own death in Acts chapter 7, while Philip preached in Acts chapter 8. Paul preached in Damascus in Acts chapter 9 and throughout the rest of the book of Acts. These are great examples for us.

We also need to preach the word of God. You might say, "Amen!" That's what they say in Africa. We have a preacher who stands up there for an hour a week on Sunday mornings and preaches. However, it's not quite that simple. Notice what we read in Romans chapter 10. We already looked at verse 9, but let's look at verse 13. Paul says to the church there, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

He continues, "How then shall they call on him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they shall be sent?" As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things."

It's already 11 o'clock, and we're going overtime here. I know you can see that because I can see you fidgeting. But one last thing—though I know I say "one last thing" like five times—this is truly important. In just a few minutes, you will be sent out of the walls of this building, out of the doors of this building, to a people who think they've heard but have not truly heard the word of God.

Especially tomorrow, you will go to a workplace environment where I will never be able to enter. Some of you work in places where you have to scan a little security card; they won't let me in. You interact with people every single day, whether at work, school, the soccer field with your kids, or at the gym. These are people I will never see, and they will never hear from me. But God has brought you here so that you can hear the word of God and go out into the world, carrying the word of God as treasure in earthen vessels, so that they might hear. How shall they hear?

Without a preacher? It just so happens that God has called every single one of us here today to be that vessel, that preacher who carries the word of God out. It says, "How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the gospel." Now, I know that here in Southern California, most of you in this room today are wearing sandals, but we will all probably admit that feet are among the not-so-lovely things. They are not the features we take pictures of and put on walls. Wow, feet! Unless you work at Payless, feet are usually covered up. We normally put socks and shoes on them, and there are only a few people who say, "I really love feet. They're pretty."

Feet had a totally different connotation to the Jews in the Middle East in ancient times. They were dirty, vile, and viewed as the most disgusting part of a human being. It was the job of the lowliest servant to wash the feet. Yet it says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who carry God's word." God's word is so beautiful, so magnificent, and so awesome that it beautifies the dirtiest part of you when you carry it to other people.

You may say to me, "Listen, I can't preach God's word. I'm wretched, I'm wicked, I'm dirty." I say, yes, you are, and so am I. And yet God's word is so beautiful and awesome that it beautifies the vessel. Although it may be an earthen vessel, it beautifies the vessel, and God has called us to carry His word wherever we can. That's why we go to Africa, that's why we go to China, and yet that's also why, in a few minutes, we'll go out these doors to carry His word.

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts—Escondido, San Diego, California, the United States, the uttermost parts. Wherever God will take us, may we carry His word because the path is narrow, and there's only one way.

Let's stand and pray. Father, I thank You that although the path is narrow, You desire that all men would know where that path is. You have given us Your word, which is a light unto our feet to guide us in the way. As we prepare in just a few moments to leave this room, I pray that You would pour out Your Spirit upon each and every one here, equipping and empowering us to go out and take Your word.

To the highways and the byways, Your word of grace has transformed our lives. Lord, give us boldness even in the face of opposition. There is no way that we face the kind of opposition that Paul, the Apostle, did. So, Lord, with whatever opposition we encounter, would You give us boldness? For we ask it in the mighty and precious name of Jesus. We pray, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen.