Filled, Fueled, and Faithful

Go ahead and have a seat. Grab your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 14 this morning. Acts chapter 14. Thankful to be in church this morning. And last week Pastor Tyler did a great job of taking us through Acts chapter 13. We saw Paul beginning his missionary journey. I feel like we spent a lot of time on Saul of Tarsus, this murderer, this persecutor of the chruch.

And on his way to Damascus, he is stopped by the presence of God and filled with the spirit of God. And God takes a murderer and turns him into a missionary to the Gentiles. And some fifteen years later Paul patiently waited. Paul grew in his faith and now finally his first missionary journey is off. And Pastor Tyler last week took us through his first message, his first missionary journey in Pisidia.

And as we saw as we jumped into 13 that it was not going to be smooth sailing as he jumped into his missionary journeys. Not everybody was a fan of Paul particularly. The unbelieving Jews were not a fan. The many Gentiles were saved, yet the unbelieving Jews began to stir up persecution against Paul and Barnabas. And chapter 13 ends where we will pick up today.

And as we jump into 14, we’re going to see some challenges as Paul takes the gospel into new territories. We’re going to see people get saved. We’re going to see some really great things happening in Acts chapter 14. But there’s a lot of opposition and hardship. And as you look at Acts 14, Paul seemingly is one bad mamma jamma for the kingdom of God. And it’d be really easy (I mean chapter 14 would be another great movie, great episode of The Chosen). And it’d be really easy to read chapter 14 and just marvel at the awesome bravery and strength of Paul, but that would be totally wrong. Because Paul was just a man, ok? Understand that? Paul was just a man.

And hear this this morning. You are just a man. You are just a woman. And Paul did not have what it takes to advance the gospel without the Spirit of God and neither do we. We are weak. We aren’t smart enough. We might think we are too smart. We’re not brave enough. We might have too much confidence in ourself. You do not have what it takes to move the gospel forward in the midst of opposition in this life that promises to come for every believer, but God.

And the big point for the message today, the big idea, is this. To continue in the faith, I desperately need the Holy Spirit. To continue in the faith, to continue in this thing called life that promises opposition and tribulation, I desperately need the Holy Spirit. And the remarkable results of Paul’s perspective and perseverance that we will see in chapter 14 today can all be summed up in chapter 13 verse 52. Just look at the verse right before chapter 14 begins, 51. So in Pisidia, the unbelieving Jews started to stir up persecution and it says that Paul and Barnabas in 51, they shook the dust off of their feet against them and went on to Iconium. That’s where they’re going as we jump into 14 today.

And to shake off the dust of their feet was kind of a customary thing for the Jews as they were in Gentile territory. They would shake the dust off of their feet because they didn’t want to take the filthy Gentile dust into their Jewish territory. And so Paul and Barnabas, they’re sharing the gospel to the Jews and the Jews are rejecting it. And it’s as if they’re saying, You stiff-necked Jews. If you’re going to reject this message of Jesus, this Messiah that you’ve waited for all these years, you can keep the dust of your unrepentant, rejecting selves. You’re no better than an unrepentant Gentile.

And sometimes that’s all we can do. Once we’ve done all that we can with the gospel, we just have to trust the Lord and move on to the next city. But I want you to look in verse 52. It says that the disciples both in Pisidia and now these disciples, Paul and Barnabas, as they go on to Iconium, they were filled with joy. They had joy in the persecution. They had joy in the opposition. They had joy as they had to head to the next city. They had joy in the midst of their trials and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

There is no power apart from the Spirit of God. And it was the Spirit of God that enabled the apostle Paul to be who he was for the sake of the gospel. And get this this morning. The same Spirit, the same Spirit that filled the apostle Paul, the same Spirit that was promised in Acts 1:8 when Jesus said, “I will send the promise of heaven,” the same Spirit that came at the day of Pentecost, the same Spirit and power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives inside of you as a believer. Oh, that we would rely on the Spirit of God alone and not what we bring to the table.

And if I can remind us of one thing as we read the incredible book of Acts, it would be this. I’ve said it before. Every morning that your feet hit the ground is an opportunity for you to say, “Come Holy Spirit. Fill me Holy Spirit fresh and anew. Speak Holy Spirit that I might not rely on my own strength, but that I might rely on the Spirit of God that fills me.”

To continue in the faith, I desperately need the Holy Spirit. And I think today as we read about the apostle Paul’s journey, this is like a one and a half, two year journey kind of summed up in chapter 13 and 14. And so it’s stretched out. A lot is happening. But the truth is the Spirit of God was an accompanying Paul all along the way. And it’s his sensitivity to the Spirit. It’s his strength in the Spirit. And it’s reliance on the sovereign work of the Spirit that we’ll see in Acts chapter 14.

So the first point today is this: Sensitivity to the Spirit enables effective gospel proclamation. Sensitivity to the Spirit enables effective gospel proclamation. We’ll just read the text as we go today, but let me read verses 1-7 to us so we can get what’s happening in Iconium.
Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel. Acts 14:1-7
Now as we look at these first 18 verses I believe you’re going to see Paul’s effectiveness for the gospel displayed in his sensitivity to the Spirit of God. Remember, Paul was a smart guy. Paul had a lot going on and he was an educated man. He knew his Jewish history. Paul grew up in Gentile territory. Paul spoke Greek. Paul had a lot going for him, which is why he was the chosen instrument to take the message of Christ to the Gentile, but Paul was just a man. And it’s his reliance on the Spirit that filled him that should be what we seek to model as believers.
Paul said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” And his imitation of Christ was simply a reliance on the Spirit of God that filled him, and so should it be with us. So in these first 18 verses I think we see five ways the Spirit helped the apostle Paul, five ways the Spirit helped the apostle Paul. I’ll give them to you on the screen.
The first one is this. The Spirit helped Paul make the good news sound good. The Spirit helped Paul make the good news sound good. Look in verse 1.
He spoke in such a way. He spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. Did you know that you can speak the gospel in such a way that people will believe what you have? That people will believe that what you’re saying is true, that people will respond in repentance and faith to this message. And if you can speak in such a way that people believe in the gospel, then you can speak in such a way that they would want nothing to do with it.
Paul has a definite challenge in this synagogue. He had deeply-rooted Jews and lost Gentiles. Both needed the gospel. Both had different challenges and barriers to the gospel. Yet Paul speaks in such a way that both parties begin to get saved. He must have made the good news sound really good.
And I think a problem is sometimes we make it look and sound depressing. Maybe we’re on the side of a corner. Everybody has been downtown somewhere where somebody is on the side of the street and they’re just kind of like angry and they’re yelling, “Repent! You’re going to hell! Hell is too long to be wrong!” And you’re like I don’t want anything to do with that guy. He’s kind of angry.
And now do we all need a prophet in our life to tell us that we’re going to hell? Absolutely. And yet sometimes we need to rely on the Spirit and not allow the gospel, the good news, to sound so angry. Other times maybe we make it sound depressing or moralistic. Like you’re working somewhere and your buddy says Hey, you want to come out with me on Friday night? And you’re like I’m a Christian. I don’t really like go out and do stuff. I’ve got a family at home. I’ve got church this weekend and I’m not going to do that.
And people are like Well, that sounds depressing. That sounds like a bunch of rules. I don’t want anything to do with that. That sounds moralistic. And that’s not what the gospel is! The gospel is the fact that God is holy and God is love and God is Creator and He created you. And yes, you’re sinful. And everything is probably not going smooth in your life because you think too highly of yourself. And yet God sent His one and only Son who was perfect. And Jesus died on a cross in your place as a substitute for your sins.
And because I’ve repented and believed, man, I now want to do things that glorify God. And He’s changed my life and He’s given me hope and He’s given me a reason for breathing and a reason for living. And that starts to shape my morals. That starts to shape the things that I do. And if you’re living that way, people will see the good news that has changed you and they will want what you have. They might want what you have.
Sometimes it’s our method that’s off. Maybe because our reliance is on what we’ve come to believe rather than on the Spirit of God. Paul is filled with joy and with the Spirit and the way he shared the gospel. He allowed Jews to see that Christ had fulfilled the law and was the Messiah they had longed for. He allowed Gentiles to see that their sins had been paid for by a loving God who sacrificed His Son for their sins. And both Jews and Gentiles are saved in the synagogue.
Are you making the good news sound good? Do you make the good news sound good? Do you live out the good news that has changed your life?
Now effective gospel proclamation, it always does bring division. That’s the second thing that we see that the Spirit does. Paul is making the gospel sound good, but the Spirit helps Paul draw a line with boldness. So there’s some unbelieving Jews who rise up and they start poisoning the minds of the people in the city saying that Paul is no good, that this message is no good.
And look in verses 3 and 4. So Paul and Barnabas, they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people of the city were divided.
Boldness is a result of the Spirit of God. Boldness comes when we are filled with the Spirit of God. And as the unbelieving Jews began to stir up trouble, Paul didn’t shrink in timidity, but began to preach with boldness. And in the power of the Spirit they did signs and wonders, authenticating the message that they preached. And the power of God that was said to save. And notice that the people were divided. Some sided with the unbelieving Jews who were poisoning people. Others sided with the apostles, or Paul and Barnabas.
Effective gospel proclamation always brings division. You understand that? Effective gospel proclamation always brings division. Hear this this morning. You’re either in or you’re out. You’re either a child of God or you’re a child of the world. You’re either heaven-bound or you are heading toward an eternity in destruction in hell. Those are two options. Effective gospel proclamation presents those two options in a good news way.
Because God is holy, God is love and God sent Jesus and you can repent and believe and be saved. It’s a good thing. And yet there’s only two options. And you either reject it or you’ll follow Christ. And no matter how good we make the good news sound, it’s the bad news that always leads to the good news that without the Spirit of God we will undoubtedly reject.
Hear this this morning. You are a sinner. You are not worthy to stand before a holy God. You are not enough. You are not a good person. But God, right? But God who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us has made us alive together in Christ Jesus. By grace you can be saved. Christ is your only hope of glory. Christ is your only hope of walking out a life that glorifies Him.
And apart from Christ you can do absolutely nothing. And this is the message that Paul gives in the synagogue as he relies on the Spirit and proclaims it in the midst of opposition. Some repented and believed. Others were angered and began to try to kill them. So in Holy Spirit discernment they went on to the other city, continuing to preach the gospel. They weren’t dumb. They didn’t stay there and allow these people to kill them.
I think about Pastor Alex in Kiev and much of his church fled the city of Kiev to go and find family, go and find shelter, go and find refuge. And yet the Spirit emboldened Pastor Alex in Kiev and he’s like I’m staying here. And he said this statement: “As long as we have Internet, power and life, the gospel will go forward in the city of Kiev.” That’s a reliance on the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God led him to stay in the midst of the persecution and to preach the gospel at whatever means necessary.
Now the third thing that we see in these first 18 verses, the Spirit helps Paul notice faith and meet needs. The Spirit helps Paul notice faith and meet needs. Look in verses 8-10. Now at Lystra (so they’re on to the next city) there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and began walking. (Acts 14:8-10)
That’s awesome. Now I admire the gift of interruptibility so much. As I read Scripture I see this in Jesus. Jesus was often interruptible. Jesus was always heading to do something important like heal Jairus’s daughter. And as He’s heading to heal Jairus’s daughter, the woman who was diseased, the woman who was bleeding for a long time, she reaches out and she touches his garment. He feels power go out of Him. And on His way to do something important He stops and He takes His time with this woman and He hears her story. He hears her testimony. And He physically heals her and He loves her.
Jesus was interruptible because Jesus had compassion on everybody. And Paul here is interruptible. It’s his intuneness with the Spirit of God that produces his interruptibility even as he’s preaching God’s Word. He’s preaching his heart out and he notices a young man in the back, a man in the back wrestling with his faith, internalizing his fatih, chewing on every single word. And Paul stops. The service doesn’t need to carry on. I’m going to meet this man’s needs.
This week on Tuesday morning I found myself sitting in a parking lot in my car. I was listening to a sermon and I was praying. And as I kind of had my head down (it was early morning) I saw this truck passing by. Maybe this guy is here today. And this truck was passing by pulling a trailer. And I saw him and he was looking intently at me through my car window.
And I kind of looked up and I was like That’s weird. It was like Paul looking intently at this man. And he parked ten spots down from me and stopped his car and he’s looking intently at me as I’m there. And I kind of looked over and put my head back down. I looked over again and he’s still looking.
And then he got out of his car and he came walking over to my car. And I like put my window down and I’m like, “Can I help you?”
He’s like, “You look familiar to me.”
And I was like, “Well I didn’t know if you were going to kill me or say hi.”
And it turns out he said, “Well do you happen to like do stuff at Gospel City Church?”
And I was like, “Yeah, I do.”
And he was like, “Well we’ve gone there a couple times.”
And I was like, “Well, why did you stop?”
And he said, “Well, I really didn’t know if I knew you, but the Holy Spirit prompted me to stop and to get out and to say something.”
And I was like, “I admire your sensitivity to the Spirit. What are you doing right now?”
And he said, “You know, I give the firstfruits of every day to go and evangelize to people. And so I take an hour a day out of work week. I’ve got my own business. I’m blessed by the Lord. and I take an hour out of my day And I go and share the gospel with people because there are a lot of people out here who would never step foot into a church. And I just give an hour to try to have gospel conversations because I believe God has called me to live sent in the world and take the Great Commission outside of the walls of the church.”
And I was like, “I admire your reliance and your boldness in the Spirit of God and your obedience to be interrupted on your way to evangelize to stop and say something to me. And because the Spirit told you to do that, you’ve now encouraged me.” And I was able to pray with him. And I think we both left that moment encouraged by the Spirit of God because of his obedience to be interrupted when the Spirit said, “Stop.”
May we be unhurried like this. May we be less fixated on our agenda and more in tune to what God is doing around us or in someone else. May we meet the needs of others as the Spirit prompts us to.
And Paul, noticing this man’s faith, he stops his sermon and he gives him physical healing because of the power of the Spirit that filled him. What needs can you meet today? What needs can you meet in the life of a young believer today? Someone who is wrestling with their faith? How can you show them Jesus by being interruptible?
Now sometimes when signs and wonders happen in the book of Acts, everybody gets saved. Lots of people get saved. Not in this case. Look in verses 11-13. So this man jumps up on his feet. And look at how the crowds respond.
And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. (Acts 14:11-13)
So these people think that this is Zeus and Hermes and they’re about to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas. Just a little history lesson for a moment, ok? There Was a story that one time Zeus and Hermes came down to the city of Lycaonia and they were disguised as human beings and there was no room for them in the city. There was no room for them in any of the houses, no room for them in any of the inns. Except for one elderly couple took Zeus and Hermes in and took care of them. And eventually Zeus and Hermes, the gods of the Greeks, the revealed themselves to the people. And they killed everybody in the city except for the elderly couple that took care of them.
That sounds a lot like Jesus coming down and there was no room for Him in the inn and they found a stable. And He was born as a humble lowly servant. And He revealed Himself to men all around the world. And yet instead of killing everybody, He killed Himself so that we might come to Jesus freely. Christianity is so much better than Greek mythology. Amen? Amen.
But number four, the Spirit helps Paul remain humble and point to Christ. The Spirit helps Paul remain humble and point to Christ. Verse 14.
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. (Acts 14:14-15)
The power of the Spirit helps us remain humble when man tries to elevate us. It’s the power of God within us that reminds us that we are nothing, that we are dust, and it is Christ who breathes life into us. Christ did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. And Paul here does not count his ability to heal a thing to be grasped. And you should not count your salvation a thing to be grasped. We humble ourselves and we are obedient to die to ourselves every day that Christ alone may be exalted over all.
Paul and Barnabas, they could have been like, Woah, this is cool. We’re getting a feast. They’re accepting us. You know, I don’t want to be worshiped. I know it’s Jesus, but I could at least us this as a platform. They wanted nothing to do with idol worship, because once you’ve come to know the God of glory you realize how far short you fall to the God of glory.
And so if somebody tries to elevate you, if somebody tries to worship you, you want to get on your knees and say, “I am just a man, but I can point you to the God who can save, and He is worth your time.” They point to Christ alone.
And the fifth thing that we see. The Spirit helps Paul contextualize his message. So he says, We have good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
Verse 16. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them. (Acts 14:16-18)
So these people, they’re rejecting the gospel. You see how detrimental a false religion is when people’s hearts are wrapped up in a false god. It’s a very hard thing to see them reject those gods and turn to the living God. But Paul here, he rebukes their idol worship and points them to a living God. And he’s sensitive enough to know his audience. He doesn’t use a bunch of “churchy” words. He doesn’t go into Jewish history because these were Gentiles; these were not Jews.
In Acts 13 he’s giving them all this Jewish history because it’s unbelieving Jews and they were waiting for a Messiah. But here the Greeks believed Zeus, the god of thunder, sent rain and made crops if they did enough right things to appease him. And so they would do heinous, sinful things to appease Zeus, the god of thunder, so that he would send rain and so that he would give them crops, he would make them grow.
That’s a horrible god to serve. I have to earn his approval so he’ll feed me. And Paul says, Hey, the God of creation, the God of glory, He’s always taking care of you. He’s always sent you rain. He’s always given you food and crops. He’s always loved you because He’s a God of love. And then He sent His Son Jesus to die so that you might turn from your sins.
Paul leans into the Spirit of God and he contextualizes his message to the beliefs and needs of his audience. And obviously Paul was educated. Paul knew their mythology. But he was sensitive enough to the Spirit to say the right things in that moment. How can you contextualize your message when you go into the workplace, when you go outside the walls of this church, when you meet believers or when you meet people who aren’t believers and who have never heard of Jesus? It’s hard in America because we’ve heard of Jesus so many times. And yet we need to be able to speak about the gospel in ways that people can respond.
Paul relies so much on the Spirit of God. The Spirit helped him make the good news sound good. The Spirit helped him draw a line with boldness. Notice faith and meet needs, remain humble and point to Christ, contextualize his message. But we’ll see that the opposition gets turned up as we continue. Point number two this morning is this. The strength of the Spirit ignites perseverance. The strength of the Spirit ignites perseverance. Let’s read 19-23 of chapter 14.
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (Acts 14:19-23)
Big idea: to continue in the faith I desperately need the Holy Spirit. Do you see the kind of perseverance for the gospel that Paul has? But remember, Paul is just a man. Paul was not Ironman. He was just man. And when man meets rocks, man gets squashed. And that’s exactly what happened to the apostle Paul. Here are three cities’ worth of an angry mob that come to the city of Lystra and they begin to stone the apostle Pual.
Stoning back in this day was serious. They’d push you off a cliff. They’d push a boulder down, throw a boulder down. I mean, it was painful. You’re getting smashed by rocks. And that was the apostle Paul. But with the power of the Spirit, our mission has been set.
What’s our mission? Acts 1:8: Be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. With the power of the Spirit, our days have been numbered. Acts chapter 9. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. The suffering had begun. But with the power of the Spirit, Paul could say and you can say and I can say, “If I’m not dead, then I’m not done.”
And Luke doesn’t tell us. I love the Bible. Paul gets up, heads back into the city. They’ve just stoned him. And the next day he walks 40 miles to Derby. And I love that Luke doesn’t tell us about his condition. Luke doesn’t tell us how sore Paul was. Luke doesn’t tell us how excruciating pain he might have had. Luke doesn’t tell us whether or not he had a concussion. He was a doctor; he could have.
Luke simply lets us end on Paul’s perseverance for the sake of the gospel that could only come through the power of the Holy Spirit. And in verse 21 after he had preached the gospel in Derby, which was 40 miles away, after he had been stoned, rather than taking the short road back to Antioch…He could have gotten on a boat and buzzed down to Antioch right there. He could have taken the land way. Tarsus was the next town over. He could have stopped and had a meal with his mom, given her a hug and kiss and then, you know, headed back down to the church at Antioch.
But rather than doing that, he retraced his steps into each city that wanted him dead so that he could strengthen the believers, so that he could encourage them to continue in the faith. And that kind of perseverance can only come by the power of the Spirit of God within you.
Notice what he says in verse 22. He encourages them to continue in the faith and then he says, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Hear it again. Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Gospel City Church, through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Were you hoping for good news this morning? Paul has good news for you. You can enter the kingdom of God. You get to enter the kingdom of God. A sinner can enter the kingdom of God. But the bad news it will come with many tribulations, many hardships, many trials, many stonings. But if you’ll continue in the faith, if you’ll persevere in the power of the Spirit, you will enter the kingdom of God.
What do you need to rely on the Spirit of God for today? What battles are you facing? What hardships are you walking through? Where do you need to persevere in order to continue in the faith?
Real life, my wife was texting me this week. You know, we’ve been praying and we have our own, you know, opposing things all the time. My wife has four kids at home three days a week and she’s homeschooling and pressing into them. And they don’t always want to listen and they don’t always want to do the things that she wants them to do.
And she texted me on Tuesday and I sent her back a text. I was in the middle of sermon prep so sometimes the husband thing and the preacher thing collide, and that’s usually not a good thing for me. And yet that day I was able to send this text. And here’s what I said. I’ll just read you the text. “I feel you. I’m sorry. The strength of the Spirit can ignite your perseverance. The Lord gave me that for point two this week. Paul was stoned and they thought he was dead, but he popped up and went back into the city and kept on preaching. You may have rocks being hurled at you and you may be trying to lead some stiff-necked sinners, but only the Spirit can help you, and it’s the same for me. Come Holy Spirit. Fill us up in opposition. Let your fruit come out that we might not be formed by feelings, pain or trial.”
Gospel City Church, I do not know what you are walking through and I don’t know what opposition you are facing. And I don’t know what insults or abuse or injustice or disrespect is being hurled at you. I don’t know where you’re tempted to give up. But I do know this. The Spirit of God can help you. The Spirit of God can help you to continue in the faith. The Spirit of God alone can help you to persevere when you want to give up. The Spirit alone can help you say what Paul said in Philippians 3:14. I want to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
And Paul as he relied on the Spirit and went forward in opposition, he was just imitating Christ. And what did Christ do? For the joy that was set before Him, he endured the cross. You’re the joy. You being saved, you being built up into a Body that He is creating, you being welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. The joy that was before Him, he endured the pain. He endured the hardship. He endured the cross for you and for me.
And Paul knew his purpose. Paul was full of the Holy Spirit. And so stoning, opposition, no pain could deter him. What’s deterring you in the face of opposition today? Why are you so quick to want to give up today? The Spirit of God is where the power lies and the Spirit of God is filling you this day. And you lean on Him alone and not your own strength.
Verse 23. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them. So they continued in the faith. They stopped by these churches that were formed. They prayed. They fasted. They brought together elders. Serious thing.
It took prayer, it took fasting, it took relying on the Spirit of God to bring forth godly leaders who would hold God’s Word high, who would hold the church together, who would be sensitive enough to the Spirit of God to give leadership and make calls and hold the Word high and serve the people of God and direct people.And then they moved on back to Antioch.
Number three this morning is this: The sovereign work of the Spirit is reason to praise. The sovereign work of the Spirit is reason to praise. Look in verses 24-28.
Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples. (Acts 14:24-28)
I want you to notice. Stay locked in. I want you to notice the vertical attribution and the expression of worship to God in this section. This is all the work of a sovereign God through the power of the Spirit in finite human beings carrying the message of Christ into the world. The sovereign work of the Spirit is our only reason to praise.
Verse 26 it says they sailed to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that had been fulfilled. Paul and Barnabas, they were faithful to the work but it was only by the grace of God to begin with. And as they were sent out in the first place, they were commended to the grace of God. It was as if the church said, “Lord, these men are available and these men will go and these men will persevere in power by the Spirit as your grace permits.” And it was the grace of God that carried Paul and Barnabas.
And so it must be with us every single day. And in verse 27 notice the two things that they did when they gathered the church together. When they arrived and gathered the church together, can you imagine? First sending church bringing back the sending missionaries that they had prayed for and longed for to take the gospel to different places. They get together. Can you imagine that service? The roof would’ve came off.
And they declared all that God had done. They declared all that God had done, all that God had done and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. They declared what God had done and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. May we never take credit for what only can belong to God.
Things are going well in your business? Give glory to God alone. You were able to share your faith with somebody this week? Glory to God alone. You crawled your way out of the pit of despair and you still desire to follow Christ? Give glory to God alone. Let’s never pat ourselves on the back for what belongs to Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God within us is helping us. The Spirit of God within us is the worship leader that points us to Jesus every single day. And so we don’t rely on our own strength. We rely on the Spirit of God.
They knew where to deflect the glory. This was the Lord’s doing and not the work of human hands. And if you are in Christ Jesus, you too are an ordinary person full of the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and God wants to use you. God can use you. God may be using you. Are you available? Are you giving Him all of the glory in the midst of your success? Are you relying on Him in the midst of the pain, in the midst of the brokenness for what only He can do?
C’mon, stand to your feet this morning. Imagine if we all just walked out of this place and said we were going to go share our faith on the streets for the next five hours and then we’re going to come back together tonight and we’re going to hear testimonies of the conversations that we heard and we’re going to sing songs and give God the glory? That would be a pretty cool service. I bet in five hours this many people carrying the Spirit of God outside the walls of this church, the Spirit could do some pretty cool things, right?
And then we would come back together and you wouldn’t say, “I really got this guy to come to Christ.”
No. You would say, “God used me to speak the gospel.” We’ve got a whole week before we’ve got to come together again, ok? And so what if we go out of this place? What if every week was a mission like Paul and Barnabas’ as they went to all these cities?
What if you left this comfortable church every single week and you were like Next week is the celebration service. Next week is the celebration. Next week we’re going to proclaim what God has done because I’m going to take the gospel so boldly and so effectively and so firmly and persevere through the midst of my trials because I’m just going to lean on the Spirit of God for the next seven days. And when I get with my family, I’m going to proclaim what God has done and it’s going to be beautiful and it’s going to be awesome because it’s all the work of a sovereign Spirit.
That’s how we can live sent. That’s how we can pick up where the apostles left off in Scripture. Take it with you. Let’s pray together.
Father God, we come and Lord we confess that so easily we rely on our own strength. Lord, I confess that easily I lean on my own understanding rather than in all my ways acknowledging and trusting in you. And God, I realize that it’s the Spirit of God that is pointing to Christ in my life. It’s the Spirit of God that’s illuminating truth in my life. It’s the Spirit of God that helps me to believe truth over lies. And yet the battle is real.
There’s a spiritual battle taking place every week that my mind might be won over by the world, byt the enemy. God, we say today that we will rely on the Spirit of God, that we might effectively share this good news, that we might make hte good news sound good, that we might be interruptible, that we might meet needs, that we might persevere in the midst of our trials and our struggles.
Lord, every day that our feet hit the ground would you remind us gently to say, “Come, Holy Spirit. Fill me afresh and anew. Send me out, Holy Spirit. Speak, Holy Spirit through the Word of Christ.” And may we as the Body always proclaim what He has done. Not what we have done, but what God has done. In Jesus’ name, amen.