Acts  Sermon Series

Wheelersburg Baptist Church 8/11/02 Brad Brandt

Acts 14:1-20 "When the Going Gets Tough"**

When it comes to running, there are runners, and then there are runners. Given enough time most people in decent health can run 100 yards. And there are a lot of people who could run a mile or two, if they wanted to, of course. But there’s a big difference between a person who could run a mile if he wanted to, and a real runner.

I used to be a runner—notice the past tense. Today I’m just a casual jogger. When I ran Cross Country for four years as a member of the Big Orange Cross Country team, a team that won the State Championship for three of those years, running was serious business. Eight, ten, twelve miles a day workouts were not uncommon. And you never stopped running until you crossed the finish line, no matter how badly you hurt.

But that was then. Now is now. Today if I feel like stopping during a morning workout, I stop. There’s no coach to object. For that matter, if I don’t feel like running on a particular day, I don’t run. I’m no longer a real runner. I’m a casual jogger.

If we’re honest with ourselves, there’s a sad parallel between this illustration of running and notions many tend to have about the Christian life. Simply put, there are Christians, and then there are Christians, if you know what I mean. There are those who are serious about running the race for Christ, and there are others who view the whole thing as an optional stroll through the park.

How can you tell the difference between a casual "Christian" and a real Christian? The answer is not all that difficult. Simply put, throw a hill in the picture. Allow me to explain what I mean.

It always used to amaze me how similar the runners would look before a Cross Country race. As we gathered at the starting line, we all looked pretty similar. Everybody had a uniform on. Everybody looked pretty serious about the venture that was about to begin. Then the gun went off. And for awhile everybody continued to look about the same. Even the "rabbit" who took the early lead often faded. You simply couldn’t tell who the real runners were. Until the hill came.

There was a huge, steep hill at the halfway point of our home course. There was a standing rule on our team, one our coach drilled into us from day one. "We never stop on a hill. To the contrary, we lean forward and go faster. The hills provide a great opportunity to pass the opponent."

If you want to find out who the real runners are, throw a hill in the picture. I hardly ever saw a runner quit going down a hill, but I’ve seen a lot of them stop going up. The hill is a revealer. The hill shows what you’re made of.

If you want to tell who the real Christian is, watch what happens when the hill comes. And believe me, the hills will come.

Paul put it bluntly in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷ No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

There’s no substitute for perseverance. If you want to experience the fruit of the Christian life, you must persevere. You must learn how to handle the hills. Granted, the ability to persevere is made possible by the grace of God, not our innate strength. But the person who fails to persevere is in great danger. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me (John 10:27)."

"Just what do these ‘hills’ look like?" you ask. "And how do you persevere when you feel like quitting?" Our text addresses those questions for us.

Know this up front. This is not a message about how to become a Christian. This is a message about what will be true of your life if you are a Christian. We see two examples of perseverance in Acts 14:1-20. The accounts give us valuable instruction on what to do in ministry when the going gets rough.

Iconium was located about 100 miles southeast of Antioch, situated on an important crossroads in the central plain of the province of Galatia. The modern name is Konya. It was an honorary Roman colony. The story begins when…

A. The missionaries entered the city as outcasts (1-5). They literally were outcasts. According to the end of chapter 13 they were kicked out of Pisidian Antioch just prior to coming to Iconium. What happened when they arrived at their new post of ministry? Luke tells us in verses 1-5:

"At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. ² But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³ So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴ The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. ⁵ There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them."

There’s an apocryphal story about Paul that supposedly occurred at this point. A man named Onesiphorus went out to meet Paul on the road from Lystra to Iconium. Here is how he portrayed Paul: "…a man small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged, well-built, with eyebrows meeting, rather long-nosed, full of grace."

What happened at Iconium fits the pattern Paul followed nearly everywhere he took the gospel. Notice five steps they took to impact this city. We can learn from it.

Step #1: Make contact (1a). They went "as usual" into the synagogue. Why did they go there? Because that’s where the people were. They went to the people. There is no impact without contact.

Step #2: Communicate the Word (1b). Luke says they "spoke effectively." What did they say? We’re not told here. We can assume they emphasized similar truths as recorded in the message in chapter 13 while in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. They probably used the Old Testament to lay a foundation and then told them about its fulfillment in Messiah Jesus.

What intrigues me is the word "effectively." They spoke effectively. Belief in God’s sovereignty in salvation doesn’t cancel out the need for effective communication. We have no right to avoid preparation and merely dump truth on people, naively thinking, "Well, God’s going to do what God’s going to do anyway." Yes, God is going to save His people. But God has ordained the means as well as the end. He commands us to deliver His Word to people. To do that we must know His Word, know our audience, and know how best to connect the two.

The effect of this message was evident. "A great number believed," including both Jews and Gentiles. That’s the goal of our speaking, not to get intellectual assent ("Yea, I agree with what you are saying"), but life-changing, genuine belief. "Yes, I believe that what you are saying about Jesus and His atoning work is true, and I accept this truth. I accept Him and give Him my allegiance."

Step #3: Be prepared for conflict (2). Not everyone believed in Iconium. The Jews who didn’t believe tried to poison the minds of the Gentiles. How? By showing that the teaching wasn’t true? No. Luke says they "poisoned their minds against the brothers." They engaged in character assassination.

We mustn’t be surprised when we likewise feel the attack of those blinded by Satan. Remember, this is war, spiritual warfare! That being the case…

Step #4: Commit yourself to the long haul (3). How long did the missionaries stay? Verse 3 indicates they spent "considerable" time there. How long is "considerable" time? Weeks? Months? We’re not told. We do know they didn’t run when the opposition started. Rather, they kept speaking for the Lord—and did so "boldly."

We might expect a very different response. If you took the good news to people and they began to attack you, you’d probably feel like leaving town. But Paul and Barnabas stayed.

It takes time to grow Christians. Ministry is more than dropping tracts, or having a big speaker come for a three day conference—both fine, but not enough. There is no substitute for the consistent, bold proclamation of God’s Word if growth is to occur.

I’m convinced we miss out on fruit too often because we give up too quickly. If we want to be effective in reaching people we need to commit ourselves to the long haul.

But you say, "I’m too weak. How can I hang in there when I don’t feel like it?"

Step #5: Depend on the Lord in the combat (4-5). It actually got nasty for Paul and Barnabas. They found out about a wicked plot involving a coalition of Gentiles, Jews, and city leaders intending to stone them.

Know this. A Christian that does nothing doesn’t need to worry about spiritual combat. He will not encounter opposition. Satan doesn’t waste his effort on A.W.O.L. soldiers. But get on the front lines and you’ll feel the heat of the battle. What can keep us going? The same thing that kept Paul going? We must depend on the Lord, moment by moment, and we must persevere.

Ironically, the missionaries who entered town as outcasts left the same way…

B. The missionaries left the city the same way (6-7). "But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, ⁷ where they continued to preach the good news."

They didn’t leave over the verbal abuse in verse 2, but with the threat of death in verse 5, they did. In fact, Luke says they fled. They’d now been booted out of two cities, back to back. But they kept going. They didn’t leave like whipped pups with tails dragging, but with a sense that God was at work. If anyone ought to be optimistic about life, it’s a person who believes in the sovereignty of God.

One preacher described an optimist as an eighty-five-year-old man who marries a thirty-five-year-old woman and moves into a twelve-room house next to an elementary school.

I see a couple of important principles here for us.

1. We can’t avoid hardship. Paul and Barnabas didn’t see opposition as something strange. It certainly wasn’t evidence of God’s displeasure or that they had done something wrong. Actually, they expected it. They actually made a return trip to Iconium later and had this message for the believers there (14:22), "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." Later, when speaking to the Ephesian elders, Paul offered this conviction in Acts 20:23, "I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me."

The Scriptures make it very clear that we can’t avoid hardship. Listen to Jesus:

Matthew 10:34-39 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn "‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— ³⁶ a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ ³⁷ "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸ and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Luke 14:25-27 "Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

No, when it comes to doing the work of evangelism, we can’t avoid hardship.

2. We can keep doing what God told us to do. Paul and Barnabas changed locations, but not focus. The mission remained the same.

Someone has well said, "Never doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light." When we face hardship we need to go back and review the instructions our Commander-in-Chief has given us. When the going gets tough is the perfect time to keep doing what God has told us to do—by His strength, of course. It’s the hill that reveals the true condition of the runner.

Do we ever feel like quitting the race? Let’s be honest. We all do.

Kent Hughes describes what happened to one servant of God who decided he’d had enough, "Some onlookers thought it was unusual, but few noticed when the pastor wheeled into the church parking lot in a borrowed pickup truck. But everyone's eyes were upon him when he backed the truck across the lawn to his study door. Refusing comment or assistance, he began to empty his office onto the truck bed. He was impassive and systematic: first the desk drawers, then the files, and last his library of books, which he tossed carelessly into a heap, many of them flopping askew like slain birds. His task done, the pastor left the church and, as was later learned, drove some miles to the city dump where he committed everything to the waiting garbage. It was his way of putting behind him the overwhelming sense of failure and loss that he had experienced in the ministry. This young, gifted pastor was determined never to return to the ministry. Indeed, he never did." 

What makes this sad story even sadder is the fact that it happens all the time. And disillusioned pastors aren’t the only ones who abandon their posts.

That’s why we need to keep the model of Paul before us continually. It is possible to endure hardship. We can make it when the going gets rough. But it takes perseverance. Luke records a second example of perseverance in verses 8-20.

Next stop for Paul and Barnabas was Lystra. Typically, Paul went to large cities to do evangelism. Lystra, like Derbe to follow, was an exception to the rule. LaSor comments, "It was neither large nor important."

Though a Roman colony, Lystra was an outpost. Hughes suggests it had a sort of "old-west"flavor. Most of the people were half-barbarous, uneducated Lycaonians who had their own language. Barclay observes, "The further Paul and Barnabas went the further they moved from civilization. In the more civilized cities their lives were at least safe because Rome kept order; but out in the wilds Paul and Barnabas were ever under the threat of mob violence…"

So Paul and Barnabas made the eighteen mile trek from Iconium to Lystra. By the way, lest we think God doesn’t do great things in out of the way places, know this. Lystra was the home of Timothy, the man who would be Paul’s #1 junior partner.

Three things happened in Lystra.

A. There was a miracle (8-10). "In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. ⁹ He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed ¹⁰ and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk."

God takes us to points of opportunity. Part of the reason He allowed the door to shut in Iconium was because He had other people waiting for Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, as He did for them everywhere they went. The same is true for us.

Paul came upon a crippled man in Lystra. There was something special about this man. As he listened to the preaching of the Word, he really listened. And he had faith, a God-given faith so real Paul could see it.

So Paul told him to get up, just like Jesus had done (and so had Peter in Acts 3). And the man jumped to his feet and began to walk. Why did Paul initiate this miracle? In the Bible miracles substantiate the ministry of the Word. They get people’s attention. They open doors for ministry. They validate the message of Christ. That certainly happened in Lystra. Unfortunately…

B. There was a misunderstanding (11-18). Notice verses 11-13, "When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" ¹² Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them."

To understand the reaction of the crowd we need to realize there was a legend in Lycaonia. The people around Lystra told a story about the gods Zeus and Hermes, saying they once made a trip to earth in disguise. No one would give them hospitality until finally two old peasants, Philemon and his wife Baucis, took them in. As a result the whole population was wiped out by the gods, except for Philemon and Baucis. The gods made these two guardians of a splendid temple.

That helps to explain the reaction of the people at Lystra when they saw Paul and Barnabas heal the man. They were determined not to make the same mistake again.

Please notice how the people interpreted the event they saw through the grid of their world view. We all do that. But when a pagan sees God work or hears God’s Word proclaimed, he will inevitably come to wrong conclusions. He is blind. His heart is darkened. He needs help.

Just imagine the scene. The crowd was yelling with excitement. They call Barnabas the Greek god "Zeus" and Paul "Hermes" (because he was the chief speaker). Then they brought sacrifices to them. In short, they treated them like gods.

These missionaries have the audience eating out of their hands. They could make them do whatever they wanted. The keys to the city were theirs for the taking (that must have been quite a temptation after being kicked out of the last two cities!).

Paul and Barnabas could have easily milked this situation for personal benefit. But they refused to do so. In fact, they worked hard to stop the nonsense. You see, Satan loves confusion. If he can’t prevent people from hearing God’s Word, he’ll do all he can to create distractions and lead people to draw wrong conclusions. In doing evangelism, we must correct three wrong perceptions, as did Paul and Barnabas.

1. We must correct wrong views of us (14-15a). "But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ¹⁵ "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you." In ding ministry, don’t bring attention to the messenger but to the Author of the message.

2. We must correct wrong views of our message (15b). "We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God." According to verse 15 what did they misunderstand about Paul’s message? This. The gospel is a message of repentance. "Turn from these vanities unto the Living God," is how the KJV renders Paul’s charge.

There’s a big difference between attracting a crowd and building a church. Most people wouldn’t mind hearing about Jesus if you told them that salvation is merely "adding Jesus to your life" (which, sadly, is what many do preach). But our message involves repentance, too. We tell people they must turn from worthless things to God.

3. We must correct wrong views of God (15c-17). Notice what Paul emphasized about God to this group of pagans: "…Who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. ¹⁶ In the past, he let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷ Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."

In essence, Paul is saying, "Whoa! You’ve got it all wrong! We’re not "gods." There is only one true God. He’s the Creator of all things. He’s the One who sends you rain and gives you your food. Turn from your ways and worship Him alone!"

How did the crowd respond? Verse 18, "Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them."

Was Paul’s message successful? It depends what we mean by "successful." If you mean did Paul get lots of "results," the answer is probably no, as we’ll soon see. But if we define "success" as doing God’s work God’s way, then Paul was very successful. Paul’s message actually kept people from making a false, premature commitment to Christianity. He prevented people from signing up for Christianity for the wrong reasons. He wasn’t interested in uninformed, shallow decisions. He sought for true disciples. As a result Paul not only lost the crowd, but he gained something else…

C. There was a mob (19-20). Verse 19 states, "Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead."

Crowds are so fickle, so easily swayed by the latest opinion polls. In one scene the crowd worships Paul as a god. In the next they blast his body with rocks until its lifeless, then drag it outside the city and leave it for the vultures. One moment he’s a "god," the next he’s a hated criminal.

Who stirred up this mob anyway? Luke says that Jews from Antioch and Iconium did. Amazing. These men not only ran Paul out of their towns, but traveled over 100 miles to discredit him in another. Some folks, quite frankly, thrive on controversy. They won’t walk across the street to help someone in need, but they’ll travel fifty miles to stir up trouble for others.

In 1858 the Illinois legislature--using an obscure statute--sent Stephen A. Douglas to the U.S. Senate instead of Abraham Lincoln, although Lincoln had won the popular vote. When a sympathetic friend asked Lincoln how he felt, he said, "Like the boy who stubbed his toe: I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh."

I’m sure Paul felt like that many times. What he experienced in the very cities we’re studying had a profound effect on him. He was still thinking about it some twenty years later while awaiting execution in a Roman dungeon. Here’s what he wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:10-13:

"You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

Was it hard? Yes. But he persevered. Notice verse 20, "But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe."

John Wesley once gave the advice, "Always look a mob in the face." And Paul did. He got up, dusted off his clothes, and went right back into the city to face the people who tried to murder him. That act, no doubt, made more impact than dozens of sermons. The would-be killers must have asked themselves, "Where does this fellow get his courage? He means business. Maybe we’d better listen to him."

No, Paul didn’t leave Lystra under the cover of darkness as a coward. He left when he chose to leave, the next day. Mission accomplished.

This is key. If we’re going to persevere, there are two facts we must never forget.

1. We’re not responsible to be successful. Rather…

2. We’re responsible to be faithful. The goal isn’t "results," but faithfulness. What a difference it makes when we’re shooting for the right target!

Parents, our job isn’t to make our kids "turn out." It’s to be faithful in parenting according to the Scriptures. The same is true in every pursuit. The goal is faithfulness.

Have you faced any "hills" lately in your Christian marathon? Perhaps you’re on one right now. Maybe you’ve been thinking about quitting.

Former heavy-weight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma who fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa. "I got off the bus with two cardboard suitcases under by arms in downtown Chicago and stopped in front of the Sears Tower. I put my suitcases down, and I looked up at the Tower and I said to myself, 'I'm going to conquer Chicago.' "When I looked down, the suitcases were gone."  

There are times when a life of obedience to Christ, quite frankly, seems overwhelming. What then? When the going gets tough, it takes more than good intentions and strong will. We need to do what Paul did in Acts 14, three things…

1. We need to put our focus on God in our successes. When the crowd cheered, Paul put the focus on God. So must we.

2. We need to put our trust in God in our setbacks. When the crowd threw rocks, Paul renewed his trust in God. So must we.

3. We need to put our lives in God’s hands in all situations. Whether cheers or rocks, whether reception or rejection, the fact remains. We are in His hands. Let’s keep on keeping on. It will be worth it all.

Acts  Sermon Series