The Tenacious Apostle (Acts of the Apostle) (Christ Church)

INTRODUCTION

Having departed from Antioch, Paul and Barnabas came to Iconium, another significant town in Galatia. The ministry here was one of the most successful missions that they engaged in, and the results were predictably tumultuous. But in the course of this passage we learn a few things about how gospel proclamation ought to go. How the gospel was preached had a significant impact on the results.

THE TEXT

“And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which 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: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: And there they preached the gospel” (Acts 14:1–7).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

So Paul and Barnabas arrived in Iconium, still in the province of Galatia. They went to the synagogue, and there spoke in such a way that a large number of Jews and Greeks both believed (v. 1). But the Jews who had not believed agitated some Gentiles and turned their minds against them (v. 2). Nevertheless, they ministered there for a long time, speaking boldly. That boldness provided additional testimony to their words, and they also performed signs and wonders (v. 3). As a consequence, the city at large was divided—one half with the Jews and the other with the apostles (v. 4). We are not talking about a handful of people—one estimate of the city’s population at the time was between 30 thousand and 50 thousand people. But a time came when there was a concerted assault on the apostles, coming from unbelieving Gentiles, unbelieving Jews, and their rulers (v. 5). Paul and Barnabas had some advance warning of the attack, and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities in the neighboring province of Lycaonia (v. 6). They then preached the gospel there as well (v. 7).

BOLDLY

One of the signature marks of the Spirit’s presence in preaching is the element of boldness. The Sanhedrin took note of the boldness of Peter and John (Acts 4:13). Barnabas testified to the boldness of Saul in Damascus (Acts 9:27). Saul also preached boldly in Jerusalem (Acts 9:29). They spoke boldly here in Iconium (Acts 14:3). Apollos spoke boldly, even though he required further instruction (Acts 18:26). Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue at Ephesus over the course of three months (Acts 19:8).

And after Peter and John were threatened, their request was for boldness (Acts 4:29), and the request was granted (Acts 4:31). When Paul requests prayer for his preaching, this is one of the great things he asks for (Eph. 6:19-20). In Scripture, boldness really is a big deal.

We are told here that the mere fact of their boldness lent testimony, a witness, to the word of grace they were preaching (v. 3). We are also told that this manner of speaking was one of the reasons why they were so effective in the first place. We are told in v. 1 that they “so spake . . .” They spoke in such a way that a large number believed. How they spoke mattered. How they spoke was used by God.

PREACH IN ORDER TO WINNOW

But notice that this effective ministry split the city of Iconium clean in two. The messengers with a gospel of peace were in fact the instruments of a significant amount of tumult in the town. This is because the representatives of genuine peace will always be at odds with the priests and mavens of a false peace.

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:34–36).

The perennial temptation that confronts evangelicals is the temptation to strive for universal winsomeness, universal niceness. When that happens, and this false view takes root in the seminaries, the result is that men start preaching for consensus. But the appointed task is to preach for decision.

But when you preach for decision, people decide in different directions and then you have division. Now boldness is a direct threat to the first approach, and it is an essential ingredient in the second.

SONS OF THUNDER

George Whitefield, a great preacher of the eighteenth century, once said this: “I love those who thunder out the Word. The Christian world is in a deep sleep! Nothing but a loud voice can awaken them out of it.”

When the Lord Jesus called James and John, His nickname for them was Boanerges, sons of thunder (Mark 3:17). James was the first apostle to be martyred, which is not surprising, and John was apparently the last one to die, which perhaps is. Men with this temperament will sometimes have to be steadied a bit, or admonished. “You do not know what spirit you are of . . .” (Luke 9:54-55). That is true enough, but it is far, far better to have to say whoa than to have to say giddyup.

PRAYING FOR REFORMATION AND REVIVAL

We have been praying for a great work of the Spirit for decades now. But it is essential that we realize that what we are praying for is boldness in our preachers, and as a consequence of that, tumult in our towns.

Now the professionally winsome will of course have arguments, some of them good arguments.There will be those who call themselves friends of the revival who cause division through the simple expedient of being jerks. They are affirming the consequent. If this is a dog, it will have four legs . . . but having four legs doesn’t make anything a dog.

It is not possible for a culture as far gone as ours is to be called back to faithfulness without massive disruption. And the reason winsomeness is so attractive to so many evangelical leaders is not that they are so nice. It is that they are disruption-averse.

As you have heard me say before, it is Christ or chaos. But there is another sense in which we must also say that it is Christ and chaos. This is not recognized the way it should be because too many Christian leaders are unwilling to be chased to Lystra and Derbe.

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INTRODUCTION

We are here given an outline of the sermon Paul preached in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch. The sermon was preached to Jews and Gentile God-fearers both. Remember that by this point in history, the faith of Israel was mighty attractive to many Gentiles, and they admired it from their seats in the back row. But circumcision and keeping the entire law was a real barrier to full entry, and the message brought by the Christian evangelists was therefore electrifying.

THE TEXT

“But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it . . . (Acts 13:14–41).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

They left Perga and came to Pisidian Antioch, and went to the synagogue on the sabbath, and sat (v. 14). After the Scripture reading, the synagogue rulers invited them to speak to the people (v. 15). Paul stood, motioned with his hand, and addressed both the Jews and the God-fearers (v. 16). The God of Israel chose “our fathers,” and exalted them with a high arm by bringing them out of Egypt (v. 17). He then put up with them for the 40 years in the wilderness (v. 18). After destroying the seven Canaanite nations, He divided the land up for them by lot (v. 19). He gave them judges for 450 years (v. 20), until the time of Samuel the prophet. When they sought a king, He gave them Saul, a Benjamite, for 40 years (v. 21). After He removed Saul, He raised up David instead. God testified concerning David, that he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14), and that he would fulfill all God’s will (v. 22). From David’s seed, God fulfilled His promise by raising up a savior for Israel, this Jesus (v. 23). Before He arrived, John came first, preaching repentance (v. 24). And as John finished his ministry, he denied that he was the one, and that he was unworthy to untie the shoes of the coming one (v. 25). You children of Abraham, and you God-fearers, this word of salvation is for you (v. 26). The residents of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Him, or the voices of the prophets that they themselves fulfilled (v. 27). There was no guilt in Him, but they demanded Pilate execute Him anyway (v. 28). After all was fulfilled, they took Him from the tree and laid Him in a sepulcher (v. 29), and then God raised Him from the dead (v. 30). He was seen over the course of many days by many Galileans, who can bear witness (v. 31). And so Paul declares to them about the promise God made to the fathers (v. 32). God fulfilled that promise by raising Jesus, as was promised in the second psalm (v. 33). Once raised, Christ was placed beyond the reach of corruption, receiving the sure mercies of David (v. 34). He said this in yet another psalm—the Holy One would not see corruption (v. 35). But David himself did see corruption (v. 36). But the one raised did not see corruption (v. 37). They should therefore know that through this man there is forgiveness of sins (v. 38). Those who believe are justified from all things, things the law of Moses could not touch (v. 39). But the prophets who predicted all this also issued a warning (v. 40). Despisers are called to be astonished, and then to die—because God was going to do something that they would in no way believe, even if it were to be spelled out to them (v. 41).

UNTOUCHED BY DECAY

Paul walks through a history of Israel, doing so in order to highlight David, the one through whom all the promises would be fulfilled. He comes to David in v. 22, the one through whom everything would come together. But even though God was extraordinarily kind to David, it was nevertheless true that David died and decomposed (v. 36). This means that the promise in David’s psalm (Ps. 16:10)—that the Holy One would never see decay—had to be talking about someone else. That someone was the Son of David, the Lord Jesus.

FIRSTBORN FROM AMOUNG THE DEAD

A glorious declaration is made in Psalm 2— “I will declare the decree: The LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” (Psalm 2:7). Someone who held to the heretical belief that the Son is a created being might point to this and say, “See? Today I have begotten you.”

But Paul tells us in our text that this was fulfilled when Christ was raised from the dead. “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee” (Acts 13:33). This is not saying that Jesus is the first created being. It is saying that He was the first one to be raised from the dead.

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” (Revelation 1:5).

THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID

The phrase “sure mercies of David” (v. 34) comes from Isaiah (55:3), and we are told that this is also about the resurrection. This is about the resurrection, but what is the resurrection about? It is about the forgiveness of sins (v. 38). It is about a free and complete and unalterable justification (v. 39). Just as the body of Christ can never decay, so also is it impossible for your justification ever to decay. That justification is perfect forever.

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

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INTRODUCTION

We are now accompanying Paul on his first missionary journey, together with Barnabas and their associate minister, John Mark. Now remember the theme of the book of Acts—that being the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem at one end to the uttermost parts of the earth on the other. We are engaged in the arduous process of including the Gentiles in the Christian church, and we have now come to the first giant step.

THE TEXT

“Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away . . .” (Acts 13:1–13).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We begin with a description of the leadership at Syrian Antioch, made up of prophets and teachers. There was Barnabas, an encouraging man we already now. There was a black man named Simeon (his nickname gives him away). Lucius was from Cyrene, located in the eastern part of modern-day Libya. Manaen was likely a noble, having been raised together with Herod the tetrarch. And there was Saul (v. 1). As they ministered before the Lord (the word is leitourgeo, from which we get liturgy) and were fasting, the Spirit directed them to set apart Saul and Barnabas for the mission work He was calling them to (v. 2). So they fasted and prayed, ordained them to the task by laying hands on them, and sent them off (v. 3). Seleucia was the port city for Antioch, so they went there and then sailed for Cyprus (v. 4), sixty miles west, where Barnabas was originally from (Acts 4:36). Arriving at Salamis, the main port of Cyprus, on the east side of the island, they preached in various synagogues, and John Mark was their associate minister (v. 5). Paphos was a city on the southwestern coast of Cyprus, and when they arrived there they encountered a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-jesus (v. 6). This false one was somehow attached to the Roman proconsul named Sergius Paulus, an intelligent Gentile who was open to the gospel (v. 7). But Elymas (Bar-jesus) opposed his interest and tried to turn him away from the faith (v. 8). So then Saul (or Paul) was filled with the Spirit, fixed his eyes on him (v. 9), and called him a bunch of names (v. 10). He said Elymas was filled with trickery and villainy, a child of the devil, and an enemy of righteousness. “When are you going to stop your perversions?” And then Paul with a word struck him blind for a season, and Elymas began groping in a dark mist, looking for a hand (v. 11). So Sergius Paulus, astonished, believed in the Lord (v. 12). They then sailed north to the city of Perga in Pamphylia (modern Turkey), and John Mark abandoned them there, returning to Jerusalem (v. 13).

A GENTILE COLD CALL

To date, the book of Acts has been slowly inching toward the deep end. We can hear the overture of this theme in the sermon of Stephen to the Sanhedrin—God was not going to safely contained in their holy box. But the initial forays are all Jewish adjacent. The Samaritans are included, but they were at least partly Jewish (Acts 8:14). The Ethiopian eunuch was saved, but he had just been worshiping in Jerusalem (a clear God-fearer), and then he had the good grace to disappear back to Ethiopia (Acts 8:39). Then there was Cornelius, a Roman centurion, but he was a God-fearer also, and had a reputation as such among the Jews (Acts 10:22). So he was included also, but there was disputing over it. The road was starting to get bumpy.

The conversion of Sergius Paulus was the first recorded Gentile convert straight out of paganism.When Saul and Barnabas were ministering in the synagogues of Cyprus, John Mark was right there, serving as their assistant. But then when they presented the gospel to a man who up until ten minutes before had had a sorcerer as part of his entourage, this was a bit much for John Mark. He headed back to Jerusalem at the first opportunity.

SAUL BECOMES PAUL

This significant moment—going straight to a Gentile as a pagan Gentile—is where Luke starts calling Saul Paul. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11), and as we accompany him discharging that office, we start going by his Gentile name. Paul goes by Paul for the remainder of Acts. The only time the name Saul is used after this is in a reference to the first king of Israel (Acts 13:21), and in Paul’s testimonies where the Lord calls him Saul (Acts 22:7; 26:14), and when Ananias does (Acts 22:13). Paul is the great apostle to the Gentiles.

ETHNIC CHALLENGES, THEIRS AND OURS

It is the easiest thing in the world to be suspicious of people who are different, and this includes suspicions created by trivial differences—clothing styles, how much spices flavor the food, and so on. But it is also the easiest thing in the world for liberals to pretend that this is the nature of all ethnic differences by definition, and consequently that ethnicity (and citizenship and borders and so on) shouldn’t matter to anybody at all, for any reason.

But ethnic differences can be adiaphora (as noted above), with some cultures using a lot more nutmeg than is proper. At the next level up, differences can be substantive, but not overtly moral (education, literacy, artistic, etc.). And there are also ethnic differences that are directly moral. When the Jerusalem Council made their determination, one of the things they required was that the Gentiles avoid fornication (Acts 15:29). And remember that the new members class at Corinth had to contain the reminder to stop visiting prostitutes (1 Cor. 6:15). But because people are the way they are, these three levels get all jumbled up together, such that some people start thinking that the nutmeg is a dog-whistle for fornication.

So keep your eye on the ball—

“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).

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