Hey friends, welcome back to the Semi -Seminary,
and as we continue our Bible study series, which
we're calling the Bible for Grownups, we're now
looking at the Acts of the Apostles in part 2.
six of our message. We're going to concentrate
on just two chapters, 13 and 14, as we examine
what's called the first missionary journey of
Barnabas and Paul. And we're going to see Christianity
as it evolves from a Jewish messianic sect into
a global religious movement. I'll see you on
the other side. Set the scene for our discussion
tonight by looking at where we dropped off last
time. One of the things that as we looked at
that initial expansion outside of the city of
Jerusalem, one of the things that we discussed
the last time we were together is how really
Luke, the writer of the narrative, really shows
us a literary genius that he has, the way that
he's able to tell the story of this initial foray
outside of Jerusalem and into Judea and Samaria.
while weaving in stories of the apostles like
Philip and Peter at the same time, kind of keeping
us in the loop as far as what's going on with
regard to Saul, who will become Paul as he initially
begins persecuting the church, eventually on
his way to Damascus has a conversion moment,
and instead of persecuting the church now becomes
one of its most famed. evangelists writing one
-third of the New Testament by the time it's
all done. And what we're seeing here, of course,
again, is a promise of Jesus at the very beginning
of Acts that he explains how the expansion will
go out from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and
then eventually to the ends of the earth. And
we are going to tonight begin looking at the
missionary journeys this represents. very poorly
drawn, the first missionary journey of Barnabas
and Paul. Your text may still invariably refer
to Paul as Saul, but at this point going forward,
I'm just going to use Paul. Not that you would
be confused, but I do want to just explain for
the sake of not having to switch back and forth
and at what point. And it's in these two chapters
tonight that actually the text will begin to
refer to him as Paul. and not Saul. 13 and 14,
but we're actually going to begin looking, when
we do begin to look at Scripture after the introduction
here, we're going to begin looking at Acts chapter
9, verses 19 through 24. Then we'll jump to 13.
That's a good few verses that will just kind
of place us. Again, tonight is a geography lesson
as much as it is a Bible lesson. And so Luke,
with his literary genius over the last time,
shows us, interweaves some of these stories.
We know about the introduction of Christianity
into Samaria, a place that hasn't historically
gotten along with their cousins, Semitic cousins,
the Jews. And so when Christianity reaches Samaria,
the apostles in Jerusalem are a bit skeptical
and they send Peter. to go and check it out.
And sure enough, we have baptized people who
have yet to receive the Spirit. If you recall,
we talked in that story about Simon the magician
who asked for the Holy Spirit, but not asked
for the Holy Spirit for himself, but rather the
power to grant the Holy Spirit. We also looked
at Philip as he goes to Gaza, which is in southern
Israel. And he meets the eunuch in the chariot,
the royal official of Candace, the African queen.
And he's baptized. Paul ends up being converted.
And if you recall, when we dropped off last time,
he was beginning to argue with the same people
that had made Stephen, the first martyr, upset.
These Hellenized Jews, these people who were
religiously Jewish. politically and culturally
and socially had accepted a Greek way of life.
Of course, the group that is, and this isn't
oversimplification, but for our... purposes.
We're not going to hold exams on this subject.
For our purposes, this simplified explanation
will suffice. And to say that these Hellenized
Jews were dominated mostly by the Sadducees,
one of the ruling political parties within the
Jewish leaders, and the Sadducees were particular
in their belief in that they did not believe
in bodily resurrection. So the idea that the
Messiah was Jesus, who had resurrected himself
from death, didn't jive for them. Also, they
were the group that controlled the temple. And
if we recall, with the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, the body becomes the temple. Those are
two things that generally Sadducees would disapprove
of. And so we see that argument. I'm not going
to answer that phone. I'm trying to. Peter and
Cornelius. Cornelius is recognized within Acts
as the first of the Gentile or non -Jewish converts
to Christianity. He was someone that was considered
proselyte. Someone who did believe in a monotheistic
God, who did believe in Yahweh, but wasn't a
convert to Judaism. We recall that that involved
a vision of Peter when he receives a vision from
God in which a sheet comes down and all different
types of animals are laid out and God instructs
Peter to arise and eat. And Peter, stating what
any good Jewish boy would, he can't because these
animals are unclean. God admonishes him saying,
what God is, what I've considered clean, what
I've called clean, it's not your job to call
unclean. And we see that symbolism making a profound
difference in the theology of Peter in that he
now understands that it's God's desire that all
peoples, Gentile and Jewish alike, be brought
into the fold of followers of God. Peter goes
to Cornelius' house, a house of a man that he
would have considered unclean, gets there, and
it's full of people. So a house full of unclean
people, and they all end up being converted and
baptized. Theologically, Christianity has now
become a multicultural, multi -ethnic religion.
But now we're going to see this actually begin
to come true. geographically, not just theologically.
So let me just say real quickly about Antioch
here in Syria. Antioch is where we're going to
have a focus shift from Jerusalem, at least for
these two chapters in this first missionary journey,
a focus of attention away from Jerusalem to this
city in modern -day Syria, or Turkey, called
Antioch. And it's the third largest city in the
Roman Empire at the time. It rivals only Rome
itself and Alexandria in Egypt. It was founded
by one of Alexander the Great's generals. It
was a nexus point between the Silk Road, which
ran east and west to Asia, here to the Mediterranean,
from the Mediterranean over to Europe. The city
of Antioch was also a huge port city. So it might
be considered, say, an ancient Near East San
Francisco. If you could think of San Francisco
at the turn of the 20th century, a city that
was very diverse ethnically and religiously.
This was a melting pot of all different types
of people. So let's begin tonight. And this is
where we're going to find our two heroes, Barnabas
and Paul, when we pick up our story. But before
we pick up our story looking at 13 and 14, let's
step back to Acts chapter 9, just so we can hear
some place names and get ourselves geographically
familiar, beginning with verse 19. Now those
who'd been scattered by the persecution that
broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as
far away as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. spreading
the word only among the Jews. Some of them, however,
were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, and they went
to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks also,
telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number
of people believed and turned to the Lord. News
of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and
they, the apostles, sent Barnabas to Antioch.
When he arrived and saw what the grace of God
had done, he was glad and encouraged them all
to remain true to the Lord with their hearts.
He was a good man. He was full of the Holy Spirit
and faith. And a great number of people were
brought to the Lord here in Antioch. Then Barnabas
goes to Tarsus, which is Paul's hometown, to
find him. And he brings Paul now back to Antioch.
So for a year, Barnabas and Saul met in the church
here and taught a great number of people. And
this was where the disciples were first called
Christians at Antioch. Now, that's how we get
both Barnabas and Paul to this city, Antioch.
So now let's flip to chapter 13. And we're going
to look at chapters 13 and 14 tonight. Now, in
the church at Antioch, there were prophets and
teachers. Barnabas, we're going to name some
off here. Barnabas, and then there was Simon
called Niger. That's Latin for black or dark
-skinned. Lucius of Cyrene. Manin, who was brought
up with Herod the Tetrarch. Now, remember, in
our story, the gospel accounts, we have Herod
the Great at the beginning of Christ's life.
Then later in his life, we have Herod Antipas,
and that's to whom he is sent the first time
from Pilate, right? Herod Antipas. And then Antipas'
son was also named Herod the Tetrarch, the third
Herod. And he's the one that ends up dying in
our story last week. Well, come to find out that
Manian was friends with Herod the Tetrarch as
they grew up. And Saul. Paul, while they were
worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit
said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for
the work to which I have called them. So after
they fasted and prayed, they placed their hands
on them and they sent them off. Now, before I
say anything else about this discussion between
Barnabas and Paul, I would like to point out
that the placing on their hands of their hands
here is not to confer upon them power. Or it's
not to grant them authority, right? Because the
Holy Spirit actually grants them authority here
to be apostles. Laying on the hands by these
disciples in Antioch is their agreement with
the Holy Spirit. Now, I'd like for you to turn
with me. I think you guys are going to like this.
We're going to do this a couple of times throughout
the night tonight. I think you're going to learn
some stuff perhaps about these characters that
are going to be familiar to you, but you didn't
know this. At least I didn't until I began to
really study this kind of stuff, but I think
this is really great stuff. So turn with me to
Mark 15, and we're going to look at chapter 21.
The Gospel of Mark, Matthew, Mark, the second
gospel. The 15th chapter, the 21st verse, and
beginning at the 21st verse, where we find ourselves
within the narrative of the gospel account, according
to Mark, is Christ on his way to Golgotha. And
so Mark, John Mark, says these words. Mark 15,
chapter 15, verse 21. Mark describes this scene
within that story. A certain man from Cyrene,
Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was
passing on his way in from the country, and they
forced him to carry the cross. We all know the
story of Simon of Cyrene, right? Now, when writing
this part of the account, why do you suppose
Mark would have mentioned his sons, Alexander
and Rufus? It's because they would have been
known by the church by the time John Mark wrote
his gospel. Remember, the gospel writers don't
have to tell us anything, and if they do tell
us something, it's for a reason. Alexander and
Rufus are particularly mentioned here in the
gospel account because these are two men who
would have been recognized by the reader of this
account once it was written. So Simon of Cyrene,
Alexander, and Rufus would have all been known
to members of the church. These aren't names
that Mark just decided to throw into his account
to up his word count. They're there on purpose.
So all of these men were known by the later church.
Now turn with me to Romans, the letter of the
Romans in chapter 16. Mark 15, Romans 16. Just
one sentence. As a matter of fact, you don't
even have to turn to Romans 16 if you want because
I'll just tell you what it says and you can kind
of stay close. I forget. Let's say 5. What does
Romans 16, 5 say in your Bible? No! Paul says
in his greetings, oh, I'm sorry, verse 13. It's
in the little superscript. And I'm old enough
now that sometimes I read stuff and can't see
real small print. Sorry, 13. Rufus. Greet Rufus.
He says, hey, Roman friends, meet Rufus. Chosen
by the Lord and his mother, who's been a mother
to me too. It's supposed that the reason why
Paul says this is because Rufus and his family
was whom he lived whenever he went to Antioch.
So when we find the Apostle Paul in Antioch,
we find him living with Simon of Cyrene, who
is the man who carried the cross for Jesus Christ.
Isn't that interesting? A little interesting
tidbit of... Trivia there. And it is supposed
that the reason why he says Rufus and his mother,
who was also a mother to me, is because she showed
him hospitality whenever he stayed with them
there in Antioch. So on to Cyprus. Verse 4, back
to Acts 13. The two of them, oh, and you know
what? Let's pause right here as you flip back
to 13. I want you to notice that in verse 2 of
chapter 13, you'll notice that the Holy Spirit
says specifically, set apart for me, number one,
Barnabas, and then number two, Saul. That will
come back here in a second as important. The
two of them, verse 4. Sent on their way by the
Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed
there from Cyprus. And when they arrived at Salamis,
which is actually right there, Salamis, they
proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.
John was with them as their helper. Now, John,
we know, isn't John the Baptist. John the Apostle,
the son of Zebedee, because John was killed when
we finished in chapter 12 last time. So this
is another John. This is John Mark. The John
Mark of whom it's supposed the mother owns the
house in which the upper room is found. This
is also the John Mark who writes the book of
Mark. So, John Mark is who this is. And I believe
perhaps that maybe we call John, John now because
John, the son of Zebedee is not dead. There's
no more confusion about who John is. So John
Mark gets to go back to be called and get to
be called John. I don't know if that's true.
I'm just saying it's interesting that we often
see Mark or John Mark, but we never really see
John Mark referred to as just John, except here.
So they travel through the whole island. So they
came to Paphos. And there they met a Jewish sorcerer
and a false prophet named Bar -Jesus. Now what
do you suppose Bar -Jesus might mean in Aramaic?
The son of Jesus. Actually, it would mean technically
the son of Joshua. So the son of Jesus. who was
an attendant of the pro -council Sergius Paulus.
Now, the pro -council is going to be the Roman
who's in charge of this island. He's not necessarily
a governor, but he would be like the district,
the person who's in charge of a district. The
pro -council, he's the guy who's in charge of
dispensing the law on this particular island.
His name is Sergius Paulus. The procouncil, an
intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Paul because
he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elamus,
the sorcerer, for that's what that name means,
Elamus, means sorcerer or magician, opposed them
and tried to turn the procouncil from the faith.
So the procouncil, the head Roman, wants to hear
this. They're stirring up all kinds of hubbub
here on the island. I want to hear what these
guys have got to say. Send for these two guys.
I want to hear their story. And then Bar Jesus
says, no, you don't want to hear their story.
These guys are a bunch of nuts. Why would he
say that? Because he's already got a corner on
the advising religiously market for the procouncil.
Bar Jesus, or Elamus, is the guy who is his religious
advisor. That's his job, right? Then Saul, who
was called Paul, there we go, filled with the
Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elamus and said,
You are a child of the devil and an enemy of
everything that's right. You're full of all kinds
of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting
the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the
Lord is against you. You're going to be blind
for a time, not even able to see the light of
the sun. And immediately, mist and darkness came
over him. He groped about, seeking someone to
lead him by the hand. When the procouncil saw
what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed
at the teachings about the Lord. Again, the procouncil
has got this religious thing figured out. Remember
that in a poly... Theistic, many gods. Polyreligious,
many religions. Time and place of which this
part of Asia Minor would have been completely.
This part in the first century would have been
wholly polytheistic and polyreligious. All kinds
of gods. We have Roman people living in Greek.
uh areas right well they even have their own
gods for the same gods right zeus and and uh
hermes i think i've got that right it's the same
thing as jupiter and uh mercury greek gods roman
gods same gods just different named gods based
on who they were um so in this time When Christianity
begins to make its inroads, religion is a dime
a dozen. But Christianity was already proving
here to be something different altogether. And
I think that's indicative here of why Bar -Jesus
was so incredibly opposed to the pro -council
hearing the good news. Because Bar Jesus was
a smart guy and knew there's something different
about Christianity. If it would have just been
any other of these religions just coming down
the pike, they could have all sat around and
listened to it and had a laugh. But I think Bar
Jesus knew the difference. And that had a lot
to do with why he was so incredibly opposed to
the pro -council coming in contact with him.
Scholars have often wondered why Paul traveled
there. during his first missionary journey. Some
have suggested that perhaps the Roman procouncil,
Sergius Paulus, was converted at Cyprus, and
he had requested Paul visit Pisidian, Antioch.
This is where we're going next. This is the area
we're talking about. And so what I, sorry, what
I meant to say was, some people wonder why Paul
makes the trip here to this place. It's supposed
that perhaps the procouncil down here had family
up here. And so he perhaps may have even been
the sponsor of this leg of the journey, go talk
to my family up here in Pisidia, Antioch. So
after leaving Cyprus, Barnabas and Paul travel
roughly 110 miles. This is about how far that
is. They might have traveled. Some people say
that they might have traveled along a Roman highway
that would have been in this area, which would
have been constructed in 6 BC, which connected
the interior of Asia Minor with the coast. This
Pisidian Antioch is the site of Paul's first
recorded sermon in the book of Acts. And as we're
going to find out, it doesn't take our traditional
Jewish friends to oppose his message. Barnabas
and Paul left Pisidia Antioch for Iconium here.
This is not to scale because this is about 80
miles away. And the people left behind there,
however, were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
This is the first city to have a fully Gentile.
Christian community. So picking that story up,
let's go to, let's see, we're in 1313. So from
Paphos, Paul and his companions. Now, if you
recall from chapter, the beginning of the chapter
where I had said, I wanted you to notice that
the Holy Spirit had called out Barnabas and Saul.
By the time they get to here, It's no longer
Barnabas and Saul. They're now described as Paul
and his companions. It's kind of an interesting
thing. I think it ends up kind of leading to
some later tension. It sailed to Perga in Pamphylia,
where John, John Mark, left them for Jerusalem.
Now do me a favor, put your finger right there,
and skip over to Acts 15, and I'd like to look
at verse 36. Beginning at verse 36. Sometime
later, this is later on. Guys, this is, they'll
be back in Jerusalem, or the focus will return
back to Jerusalem here in 15. Okay, so this is
after this is all done. Okay, but this is a description,
a later account of where we're at presently in
our story. Sometime later, Paul said to Barnabas,
let us go back and visit the believers in all
the towns where we preach the word of the Lord
and see how they're doing. And Barnabas wanted
to take John, also called Mark. This is John
Mark, with them. But Paul didn't think it was
wise to take him because he had deserted them
in Pamphylia and had not continued with them
in the work. And they had such a sharp, sharp
disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas
took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul chose
Silas and left, commended by the believers in
the grace of the Lord. Now, do we know a relationship
between Barnabas and John Mark? They are cousins.
They are cousins. And it's interesting that the
way we see a change in the name from Barnabas
and Saul to Paul and the other boys. might have
been a reason for the reason why John Mark said,
I'm not following this guy around. I can't stand
this guy. I'm going back to Jerusalem. That's
one theory. It could be that he was just a flake
and he ran away. Could be. Seems like John Mark,
the other examples of John Mark, the accounting
of his life in scripture seems to tend to think
that he was more reliable than less reliable.
So I think this Barnabas, Paul thing has a little
bit of weight to it from Perga they went on to
Pisidian Antioch and on the Sabbath they entered
the synagogue and sat down okay so let's just
stop right there because that actually tells
us something about how they are evangelizing
they're still evangelizing by going to the synagogue
speaking to the Jewish people and the proselytes
right those that were Greek but had in in various
ways converted or connected to Judaism. So you
have in these Greek cities, you will have in
modern day Turkish cities, you'll have Jews.
Then you'll have people who are Jewish converts
who weren't ethnically Jewish. And then you're
going to have Greek speaking people who are proselytes.
In other words, they believe in God. They dig
this whole Jewish thing, but they're not fully
converted Jews. Because more than likely they
would at this point be observing dietary law.
If these proselytes, these proto -converts, if
they were taking dietary law, regular dietary
law, they wouldn't have been allowed in the synagogue.
They'd have been ceremonially unclean. Right?
So more than likely, yeah, you're exactly right.
These are people who have converted all but probably
circumcision. And so, this is how they do it.
They go to the synagogue first, and they speak
on the Sabbath. Now, after reading from the Law
and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue
sent word to them saying, Brothers, they're saying
this to Barnabas and Paul, Brothers, If you have
a word of exhortation for the people, please
speak. Now imagine, the Jewish, the non -Christian
leaders of this synagogue have just invited Paul
and Barnabas to stand up and speak for themselves.
A decision that they will soon regret. So, standing
up again. This is the first sermon of Paul. That's
correct. Back in 13. chapter, verse 13, 16. Standing
up, Paul motioned with his hand and said, fellow
Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God.
Okay, that's the proselytes. Listen to me. The
God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors.
He made the people prosper during their stay
in Egypt with mighty power. He led them out of
that country for about 40 years. He endured their
conduct, which I think is an absolutely wonderful
way to describe God's patience with them during
that time, in the wilderness, and he overthrew
seven nations in Canaan, which we can learn about
if we turn to Deuteronomy chapter 5, giving their
land to his people as their inheritance. All
of this, Paul says, took about 450 years. After
this, this is... That's the 400 years in captivity.
That's the 40 years in the wilderness. And then
that's the 10 years after the transit of the
Jordan River, the crossing over the Jordan River.
But Joshua and the people stayed there 10 years.
After this, God gave them judges until the time
of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked
for a king and he gave them Saul, the son of
Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. And I think this
is Paul being Paul, if you know a lot about Paul,
because his name is also Saul. And he's also
of the tribe of Benjamin. I think it's kind of
Paul going, oh, look, man, I'm a Benjamite too.
I think there are times when he uses the fact
that he is both a Pharisee. And a Benjamite?
Yeah, to kind of, you know, really pump up his
stature. So Saul, the son of Kish, the tribe
of Benjamin, Saul rules for 40 years. And after
removing Saul, he made David their king. And
God testified concerning him, saying, I found
David, the son of Jesse, a man of my own heart,
and he will do everything I want him to do. Now,
does God mean that David's going to be perfect?
Nope. God means David will create a lineage that
I'm talking about in Hebrew scripture that whenever
Jesus comes along, you're going to be able to
see I fulfilled that promise when we talk about
it in the New Testament, so to speak. So he says
this prophecy in the old Hebrew scripture, the
first testament, if you will, right, to make
that as a signifier. So when this happens, when
Jesus comes, and he comes by way of the prophecy
of the Hebrew scriptures, you're going to know
it was me and not just something somebody made
up. Right? And that's exactly what happens. And
from this man, Jesus' descendants, God has brought
Israel, the Savior Jesus, David rather, sorry,
as he promised before the coming of Jesus. John,
that John the Baptist, preached repentance and
baptism. As John was completing his work, who
do you suppose I am? I'm not the one you're looking
for, but there's one coming after me whose sandals
I'm not worthy to untie. So I basically, as Paul
in my first sermon here, have recapped the whole
history of the Hebrew people. And now comes the
so what part of the sermon. So he looks at these
men in the synagogue and says, fellow children
of Abraham and you God -fearing Gentiles, it
is to us, all of us, that this message of salvation
has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and their
rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning
him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets
as read on the Sabbath. Though they found no
proper ground for a death sentence, they asked
Pilate to have them executed. When they carried
out all that had been written about him, they
took him down from the cross and laid him in
a tomb. But God raised him from the dead and
for many days was seen by those who traveled
with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are
now his witnesses to our people. We, Barnabas
and I here, we tell you the good news. So, if
you kind of wonder, what was the gospel message?
What was the good news? What was the thing that
these apostles, these evangelists, what did they
tell people to convince them to become Christians?
Here's Paul's version of the good news. This
is Christianity boiled down to a sentence per
Paul. What's the good news, Paul? It's this.
What God promised to our ancestors, He's now
fulfilled for us, their children, through Jesus.
As it's written in the second psalm, for you
are my son today, I have become your father.
God raised him from the dead so that he will
never be subject to decay. As God has said, I
will give you the holy and sure blessings promised
to David. So it will also be stated elsewhere,
you will not let your holy one see decay. Okay,
I just want to stop right there because Paul
has now repeated this same concept twice. What
is he driving at? Now, when David had served
God's purpose in his own generation, he fell
asleep. Now, what does Paul mean there? He died.
David, for everything he was supposed to be,
did not hold the power over life and death. And
his body is worm. His body is gone. It has decayed.
Power of life and death has come to us through
Jesus. And if you believe that, forgiveness of
sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him, everyone
who believes is set free from the sins you know
you commit. Every sin. Well, what does Paul mean
there? What is Paul telling these Jewish and
proselyte people in the synagogue? What's the
big problem with the law? The big problem with
the law is when you know you've screwed up, you
can go offer repentance and be forgiven, right?
But you also know, and you don't have to follow
the law for very long to know that there are
going to be times when you're going to break
God's law and it's not even going to occur to
you. There are going to be times when you are
going to sin by breaking the law where you recognize
it and you go offer a sacrifice of atonement.
And then there are going to be times when you're
going to break the law and you're not going to
realize it and you're not going to be atoned
for it. That means you're not going to be forgiven.
Now, does God say that you can get to Jewish
heaven as long as you atone for the sins that
you knew about and said? gave atonement for no
so you can't break any of these rules even if
you don't realize it you're still guilty that's
the problem with the law and that's paul's argument
here because paul is saying through god's grace
jesus has taken away that stumbling block not
of the law for the sins for which you know you've
committed and you follow the religious to be
forgiven, but you're actually the stumbling block.
That's not the stumbling block for us. The stumbling
block is, as humans, we're going to break the
law even when we don't even realize it. And Jesus
provides a justification away from those sins.
That's what Paul is teaching them here. This
is what's different about Jesus, he's saying.
And how is it different? And how can I tell you
that there is supernatural, otherworldly power
involved with this new system? Verse 37. But
the one whom God raised from the dead did not
see decay. How do we know this is from God? Everybody
we have ever known... As from the patriarchs
forward, no matter how great they were, Moses,
the lawgiver, died and rotted away to dust. David,
the man after God's own heart, died and rotted
to dust. Jesus Christ died and was raised from
the dead and whose body did not decay. This is
proof of God working in the world through Jesus.
It's Paul's argument. This is what makes Jesus
so different. He says, therefore, I want you
to know that through Jesus, the forgiveness of
sins is proclaimed to you. Through him, everyone
who believes is set free from every sin. A justification
you weren't able to obtain under the law of Moses.
Take care that what the prophets said don't happen
to you. Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish,
for I'm going to do something in your days that
you would never believe even if someone told
you. Paul is saying, I'm the someone telling
you. Don't discount. Don't push away. Don't blow
off God working supernaturally in our world,
in our lifetimes. Because there are people our
age who not only have heard the story, but saw
it with their own eyes. As Paul and Barnabas
were leaving the synagogue, the people invited
them to speak further about these things on the
next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed,
Many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism
followed Paul and Barnabas and talked with them
and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered
to hear the word of the Lord. Is this a Jewish
city? This is a Greek city. Is the synagogue
now filled with people who are not Jewish? That's
exactly what's going on. You think you get upset
whenever you come in on Sunday morning and someone
is sitting in your pew? Imagine how these guys
would have felt. These guys aren't even Jews.
They have swarmed the synagogue. You guys have
got to hear what these guys are saying. Because
they're talking about God not just being for
these Jewish guys, but for us too. So on the
next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered
to hear the word of the Lord. And when the Jews
saw the crowd, guess what? They were filled with
jealousy. And they began to contradict what Paul
was saying and he abused upon them. Then Paul
and Barnabas answered them boldly. We have to
speak the word of God to you first, to you Jews
first. Where does righteousness and justice come
first? To the temple. God, the entire time. Of
humanity. Throughout the entire relationship,
God holds his chosen accountable first. Right?
And then justice goes out. When the word of Christ
is spread, it goes to the Jewish people first.
Righteousness and justice start at the temple
first. Okay? So we had to come to you, Jewish
friends. to talk to you first. But since you
rejected it, and you do not consider yourselves
worthy of eternal life, we have now been instructed
to tell it to everybody else. Because we didn't
make this up, Jesus told us, I have made you
a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation
to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles
heard this, they were glad. They honored the
word of the Lord. and all who were appointed
for eternal life believed. The word of the Lord
spread throughout the whole region, but the Jewish
leaders incited, and I love this, this shows
how smart these guys actually are, but the Jewish
leaders incited God -fearing women of high standing
and the leading men of the city. You want to
get these guys to shut up? You go get their wives
to hassle them, which is basically what's happening.
They stirred up persecution against Paul and
Barnabas and expelled them from the region. So
they shook the dust off their feet, right? And
we know where that language comes from. That's
advice of Jesus when he sends out his disciples.
If you're rejected, shake the dust off your sandals,
right? And then they went to Iconium, down here.
And disciples were filled with joy with the Holy
Spirit. So we've moved towns. We've come out
of Pisidia, Antioch. Iconium, as we begin chapter
14. At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went, as usual,
to the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so
effectively, a great number of Jews and Greeks
believed. But the Jews who refused to believe
stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their
mind against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas
spent considerable time there. So they're in
Iconium for a considerable amount of time. Right?
speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the
message of his grace by enabling them, that's
Barnabas and Paul, to perform signs and wonders.
So they're there for a long time. They're preaching
and they're teaching. Essentially what's happening
is the longer they preach and teach, the more
divided the community becomes. The more staunchly
Christian the Gentiles become and the Jewish
people that reject the message. the more defensive
they become. But in this considerable amount
of time, one thing that everybody has to acknowledge
is Paul and Barnabas are performing all kinds
of miracles in the city. The people of the city
were divided. Some sided with the Jews, others
with the apostles. There was a plot afoot amongst
both to mistreat them and stone them. But then
they found out about it and fled to the Laconian
cities of Lystra and Derbe. And to the surrounding
country where they continued to preach the gospel.
Now this is one of these super cool things that
if you don't know, if you don't realize this,
I think this is really one of those things that
puts things together. Okay, so we're following
the story in Acts and we followed it from the
very beginning. And when we start out the very
beginning, Jesus is still on the scene. And then
we see Pentecost and the church begins to grow.
And we see the conversion of Gentiles. We see
the conversion of the eunuch. Then we see the
conversion of Paul. And now all of a sudden we
see Christianity coming up here to Turkey. And
as we have followed in our study, we have followed
Christianity from its very beginnings as a church
to where we are now. This is a chronology here.
Now, what's really interesting is we stop and
you just stay right there because I'll come back
to 14 real quick. But if you stop and you flip
your Bible over to Galatians chapter 3, what's
Galatians? The Galatian letter is a letter by
the Apostle Paul to Christians in a place called
Galatia, to Christians who lived in churches,
who lived there and went to churches Paul had
founded, right? Where is Galatia? That's Galatia.
Whenever Paul is writing to the Galatians, these
are the people to whom he is writing. And Galatians,
a little bit later, after this church has been
formed, right? Chapter 3, we've got a problem
because Peter comes along and tells these folks,
oh, you guys love Jesus? Me too. Love Jesus.
You've got to get circumcised. Remember? Right?
And Paul goes, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Forget that stuff. It's circumcision of the heart
now. Lucky you. No, no, no, no, no, no. It's
okay. Right? And this is his letter to them explaining
that. Chapter 3, he says, You foolish Galatians,
who bewitched you? Peter. Right? Before your
very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed
as crucified. I'd like to learn just one thing
from you. Did you receive the Spirit by works
of the law or believing what you heard? Are you
foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit,
are you trying to finish by means of the flesh?
Have you experienced so much in vain, if it really
was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you
the Spirit and work miracles among you by works
of the law? Are you believing what you heard?
When he's recalling to the Galatians that moment,
That's where we are in the story. He's converting
the Galatian people to whom he'll write to which
you know the letter of the Galatian church. There's
no Galatian church here, but this is where it's
founded. It's kind of interesting. It may not
be to you. So continuing on in chapter 14, we're
now in Lystra here. And listen to what they said,
a man who was lame. This is going to be a story
that's going to recall very much the story of
Peter and John as they go to the temple one day.
There was a man who was lame. He'd been that
way from birth and had never walked, just like
the other gentleman. He listened to Paul as he
was speaking, and Paul looked directly at him,
saw he had faith to be healed, and called out,
Stand up on your feet, just as Peter did. At
that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When
the crowd saw what Paul had done, this is where
the story turns different, though. They shouted
in the Lycanian language, the gods have come
down to us in human form. Barnabas, they called
Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he
was the chief speaker. 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.
So I think this is just an incredible image here.
As Barnabas and Paul perform miracles, the people
of Lystra think, of Lyconium think, it's the
Roman gods. They're the Greek gods. They have
showed up. And Paul and Barnabas are like, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're regular dudes
just like you. Our story continues. They tore
their clothes, rushed out into the crowd, chanting,
friends, why are you doing this? We too are only
human like you. We're bringing you the good news,
telling you to turn from these worthless things
to a living God who made the heavens and the
earth and the sea and everything in them. In
the past, he let all nations go their own way.
Yet he has not left himself without testimony.
He's 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.
Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping
the crowd from sacrificing to them. Now why would
Paul, trying to explain God to them, use this
language? He has given you rain from heaven and
crops in their seasons. He's provided you with
plenty of food and he fills... Hearts with joy.
The reason is these other gods, these Roman and
Greek gods, the default was they were always
angry. You didn't serve these gods out of pleasure.
You served them to keep them from punishing you.
That's a fundamental difference here between
monotheistic Yahwehist thought and polytheistic,
polyethnic religious thought. God is a God of
love God provides you these things because he
loves you you don't serve God because you're
scared of him you serve God out of thanks because
he loves you these people did not understand
that concept That's why even whenever they said
it, they still couldn't grasp it with their heads
and still wanted to offer sacrifices. It shows
us something about the thought of the Gentile
people here at this time. That the way that they
thought of God was not that he loves us and created
us because he wants to have a relationship with
us. It's that these gods hate us. And if we don't
do things for them, they will punish us. Fundamental
dichotomy. in theological thought between Gentiles
and Jews. Then some Jews came from Antioch, this
is the Pisidia Antioch, and Iconium, and won
the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged
him outside of the city, thinking he was dead,
but after the disciples had gathered around him,
he got up and he went back into the city. The
next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. This
is... what's considered the frontier here of
Galatia. They preached to the gospel in that
city, won a large number of disciples. Then they
returned back here to Lystra, right? And then
they went to Iconium and to Antioch. And what
Luke is saying here is they get all the way out
here to Derbe and they just basically retrace
their steps. Remember, this is a trip that took
a year out. This is a trip that will take a year
back. So whenever they go back to these places,
in many situations, things have heated up because
the churches have really begun to fire off. In
places where maybe the kitchen was a little too
hot, in some areas they had cooled back down
and they were able to pass back through these
cities without any further persecution. But they
end up making their way back here to Atalia,
right? From there they sailed back to Antioch,
where they had committed to the grace of God
for the work they had now completed. On arriving
there, they gathered the church together and
reported all that God had done through them,
and how he had opened a door of faith to the
Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with
the disciples. So they had made it back home
two years later. At the end of chapter 14, we
have what some people will consider the end of
part one. Part one of the Acts of the Apostles
has this serious problem of how Jewish people
and Gentile people are to get along being brothers
and sisters in Jesus Christ. Because we have
this concern that you're supposed to be Jewish.
We have this belief that it doesn't have anything
to do with Jewish law anymore. And through the
first half, these chapters 1 through 14, this
is a constant. and consistent source of tension.
Chapter 15, which we will focus on solely next
time, just one chapter, 15, is going to be our
intermission. Chapter 15 is going to set a clear
boundary marker between what Christianity and
its expansion was like at the beginning and what
it's like at the end. In between, we have the
council at Jerusalem. where we have to decide
how are we Jews going to live with Gentiles in
peace and harmony. And we're going to see one
of my favorite characters of the whole of the
Christian Bible, James the Just, or James the
Righteous, Jesus' brother, is going to lead this
council. He's going to send a letter to our newly
minted Christian friends up here telling them
how we're to live together in harmony despite
our ethnic differences as far as our backgrounds
are concerned. Well, there you have it. I hope
that that was as interesting for you to listen
to as it was for me to prepare for. Before we
go, I invite you, however it is that you access
your podcast, if you would take the time to rate
us and review us, it helps to get our name out
there to more people. And next week, I hope that
you'll join us as we begin to focus on what's
called the Council at Jerusalem in chapter 15
of the Acts of the Apostles. But until then,
friends, be blessed and be a blessing.