Acts 14:1-28
Blessings out of Buffetings
Intro:
The Christian life is an Amazing life.
A)Forgiven, Justified, New
Purpose, New relationship - New
Destiny.
B)Amazing life but not an
easy life.
V.21-22
Anchor Text
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made
many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening
the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and
saying, "We must through many
tribulations enter the kingdom of God." {Repeat last
line
We
don’t like that do we?
A)Thru many perpetual days
of happiness we enter the …….
Thru many days of great
blessings……..
B)Many tribulations – that
is not what I signed up for!
1)Infact
there are some in the Church today who preach a message – Christianity is all
blessings.
C)If you are suffering – it
means that you are doing something wrong – there must be sin in your life or
something.
1)That is not
what Paul experienced or taught!
Not
suggesting that God wants us to be poor miserable and sick – not suggesting
that God doesn’t want us to be happy
A)I believe that happiness
comes from following Jesus
B)Happiness
is a fringe Benefit – Christianity is about walking with Jesus in all seasons { Sky blue / Dark / Sunny
and stormy - Not just being a fair
weather believer.
C)Parable of the builders –
Storms will Come{ Sand Vs Rock
1)Your foundation is Key.
D)Paul went thru some storms
-
Paul
had his share of Bad days
A)You know it's going to be a bad day when:
* You wake up face down on the pavement.
* You call suicide prevention and they put you on hold.
* You see a 60 Minutes news team waiting in your office.
* Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the
candles.
* Your twin sister forgets
your birthday.
* You wake up to discover that your waterbed broke and
then realized you don't have a waterbed.
*
Your horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you
follow a group of Hell's Angels on the
freeway.
Lets
consider the Backdrop for this statement found in v.22 It is Paul’s first
missionary Journey
A)When you read what Paul
went thru – in his first missionary journey it is surprising that there was
ever a 2nd or 3rd – BRUTAL!
B)We
saw last time where booted out of Antioch Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas now headed
elsewhere.
C)They
went southeast some eighty miles through rolling countryside, until they came
to a beautiful plateau surrounded by fertile plains a city known as Iconium.
D)More trouble awaited them
– It seemed like wherever Paul went – resulted in Revival or Riot – sometimes –
Both
Now it happened
in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke
that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. 2 But the
unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the
brethren.
E)Here
we see that Paul & Barnabas met with immediate
success { Great
Multitude of Jews & Greeks Believed.
1)ALSO immediate opposition. unbelieving Jews stirred up the
Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.
Those who were
opposed poisoned the mind of the others by speaking evil things against them.
James 3:6 NLT
“And the tongue is
a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire
body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell
itself.”
Jon Courson Commentary – tells the story of
During
a freak electrical storm, a couple was gossiping on the telephone. The storm
caused a scramble in the electrical signals and sent their conversation from
the phone line to a cable TV line through which close to one million people
heard their conversation.
A)Would we say the things we do if we thought our conversation would be
transmitted through the TV set? THE LORD HEARS
B)Is our
conversation honoring to the Lord? Or does it grieve Him as it short-circuits
ministry and hinders His work?
C) So it is Déjà vu – Once again there is Persecution. – Paul was not
surprised!
1)Jesus promised Persecution: John 15:18 "If the
world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”
2 Timothy 3:12
“Yes, and all
who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
There is a promise we do not like to
claim!
A)The Circuit
riding Preacher John Wesley
believed in this Promise – so much so – 3 days no persecution – Sinned –
backslidden.
1)Prayed Lord forgive me
……. Brick Persecution
B)Paul was of the same
Caliber { Didn’t run - V.4 “Therefore they stayed there a long
time, speaking
boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting
signs and wonders to be done by their hands.”
Note: They Stayed
a long time! SPEAKING BOLDLY! WHEN?
A) When the adversaries of the Gospel get radical it is NOT time for
the believers to be timid.
B) When the flesh would grow
faint, THEN God will give boldness.
An old seaman said, "In
fierce storms we can do but one thing. There is only one way (to survive); we
must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there."
C)God was bearing witness of their word – with signs and wonders
1)Result the whole city –
Got saved right ?
4
But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part
with the apostles
A)Jesus brings Division –
Friends – get saved or Bail on you!
Matthew
10:34-36 NLT
34 "Don't imagine that I came to
bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
35 'I have come to set a man against
his father, a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law.
36 Your enemies will be right in your
own household!'
B)Jesus
is not being Downer or Divisive – He is being real –
1)You
will get saved and your life might get worse for a while – Abandoned.
2)Husbands
left wives – friends abandoned
C)So the City was Divided! -
5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and
Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, 6 they became aware of it and
fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. 7
And they were preaching the gospel there.
After
staying there a long time - When it got to the
point where there lives were in Danger – they left and headed for Lystra.
A)Caesar
Augustus made LYSTRA a Roman colony in 6 b.c.,
establishing it as the easternmost of the fortified cities of Galatia.
B)Lystra was sort of a
frontier outpost.
1)Hicksville
– People were backwards – uneducated
NO SYNAGOGUE THERE { RD V.8-13
That is quite a
reaction: There was a reason for this reaction though
A)The people around Lystra told a story that
once Zeus and Hermes had come to this earth in disguise.
B)None in all the land would give them hospitality until at
last two old peasants, Philemon and his wife Baucis, took them in.
1)As a result
the whole population was wiped out by the gods except Philemon and WIFE who
were made the guardians of a splendid temple and were turned into two great
trees when they died.
C)So when Paul healed the crippled man the people of Lystra
were determined not to make the same mistake again.
1)Barnabas had a
noble presence so they took him for Zeus
the king of the gods.
D)Hermes was the messenger of the gods and, since Paul was
the speaker, they called him Hermes.
Temptation
– Lets go with this for a while – Kind of nice change of pace – from
persecution – milk it
A)Satan’s tactics –
Persecution wasn’t discouraging these guys – so lets try Flattery.
B)Your life – Persecuted –
stand in your face- Your rise up – more
bold study more.
1)Satan says – persecution
isn’t working. – Lets try flattery!
Someone comes along and says You are so wise
– you know so much about the Bible – I feel better talking to you.
A)Satan whispers in your ear
– You are the man – you are God’s man!
B)He knows that Pride goes
before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
1)His story
C)He wants to suck you into
it!
D)Well Paul and Barnabas
don’t fall for this -
RD V.14-19
Talk
about Fickle – They go from
Worship to War – Stoned and left for dead!
A)That is the way of people.
B)Paul stoned – presumed dead
– disciples are hovered around – praying - He wakes
up -
C)If I die don’t pray for me
to come back – Hunt you down –
C)Paul gets up goes back
into the city – AMAZING!
1)Next day – moves on “lets
keep going more cities….
D)Storms will come – Your
foundation will determine how you handle the storms.
Leo
Tolstoy 4 views of life!
#1 Life is all bad so get
drunk and forget it.
#2 Life is all bad struggle
hard against it.
#3 Life is all bad and by
way of suicide we can try and remove ourselves from it.
#4 Life is all bad and yet
we live on irrationally accepting it as it comes.
Let
me offer a 5th Point of view: There is a God who despite the worst
tragedy can bring good out of Bad.
A)That is not to say that
God will make Bad good – because Bad is Bad
B)But it does mean that He
can work Good out of the bad –
Romans 8;28 “And we know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
C)It is a process – I don’t
see the good you say.
1)Maybe a month from now you
will see some Good.
Another month – more good –
six months even more
D)A year from now – ok that
is what God was doing
1)Eternity it will all make
sense.
In
Closing today I want to give 4 reasons why we face adversity and how God brings
Blessings out of our Buffetings.
#1 Adversity levels us and
keeps us humble.
Prosperity
has a tendency to make people proud and self sufficient
A)When things are going
great – Good Salary – great Job – promotion
B)Buy bigger house – nice
car – Toys – WE TEND TO FORGET GOD!
C)But when the economy
collapses – the Stock market crumbles – house burns – we turn to God. – 1)We
get serious – We go deep
God
warned the Israelites when they were going into the land of Promise – not to
forget about Him – Weird –blessings – we forget God.
A)So God allows adversity to
keep us humble and dependent upon Him
“God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
C.S.
Lewis ‘The problem of Pain” pg (91)
B)Sometimes we are just not
listening – He whispers in our pleasures – He speaks to our Conscience - -not
listening –
1)Sometimes – He has to
Shout
Psalm 119:67 “Before I was
afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.”
#2
Adversity teaches us eternal truths – that we would have otherwise not have
learned.
A)Our basic objective in
life is to avoid pain at all cost – we live to be comfortable. RIGHT?
B)Even dentist know this –
offer pain free Dentistry
OXYMORON
1)Offer Novacain – Laughing
gas – Gel on Gums
C)Not
going to feel a thing – breaks out -Huge Needle poke my Brain – THE Drill – ouch
C)We want to avoid pain – we
want to get into shape but we don’t want to sweat –
1)100’s of diet plans –
advertise – no exercise
D)NO
pain no gain – True of Getting in Shape – true spiritually
Pain
is an indication of a deeper need!
A)Hunger pains – Hunger –
get some food down here.
B)Pain of life reminds us of
a deeper need – our need for God!
C)God wants to plant his
flag in your rebel soul.
1))God allows us to go thru
the valleys to teach us things that we could never learn on the MT tops
#3
God lets us go thru adversity so we can have compassion on others who are in
Pain.
A)Preach to hurting pp never
lack for an audience!
B)Sometimes when everything
is going great in your life – You can alienate others.
C)How is life: Great – Just
got a promotion – buying a bigger house, new car, - kids are 4.0 Harvard
1)Voted
the sexiest man alive – How about you?
D)Lost my job – moved into
an apartment – Kids haven’t graduated HS – 30yr
1)Voted the ugliest man
alive – 5th straight year
E)Disconnect – But when you
are going thru tough times it makes you more relatable and compassionate
2 Corinthians 1:4-
God allows us to “comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort
with which we ourselves are comforted by God. “
Corrie Ten Boom “If God sends us
on stony paths, he provides strong shoes.”
#4
Adversity brings an eternal perspective.
A)Paul’s vision: Many
believe that Paul actually died here at Lystra –
B)This is the Scene of 2
Corinthians 12 { Turn
Now
I am not suggesting that you are going to have a vision of Heaven
A)But I will say this
affliction – causes us to see things Clearly.
B)Adversity often brings
things into perspective – realize – Eternity is what Matters
C)Life was all about –
pursuing stuff – getting
1)Life is about Knowing God
D)Life is about His Kingdom
We learn – Grace is
sufficient
Heaven
is temporary – Eternity with God or Separated
Your Choice!
Storms inevitable ? With Him
or Alone ?
YOUR CHOICE