Acts 14:1-7 Division
Good morning! Two Sundays in a row! Wow! It’s been a while!
We’re returning to the book of Acts this morning so turn with me to Acts 14:1-7, page 923 in the pew Bibles.
Last week we read Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch, the redemptive history of the Jewish People and God’s faithfulness to them. We also saw two groups formed in response to that message of forgiveness through faith in Jesus. One group begged that these things might be told them again the following Sabbath and followed Paul and Barnabas who urged them to continue in the grace of God, and a second group that was filled with jealousy and contradicted what Paul had been saying and reviled him stirring up persecution against them and drove them out of that district.
This same type of division is the subject of our text this morning. The disciples, full of joy and with the Holy Spirit, shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium, about forty-five miles to the Southeast.
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. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 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. 4 But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel. Let’s pray.
Last week I mentioned how there was a pattern that developed in Paul’s gospel ministry, here we see that pattern at work. The gospel is preached, some believe, some don’t, those that don’t stir up persecution and drive Paul and his companions out of town leaving the new believers behind gathered into churches.
That’s what happened in Pisidian Antioch, and that is what happened here in Iconium.
Without a wider view of the Lord working through this, it could come across as a failure, even a series of failures. Paul tried in Antioch but couldn’t convince enough people to believe so they drove him out, then again at Iconium- driven out, then Lystra- stoned and left for dead, and Derbe, then Perga, then Attalia… over and over.
Being run out of town is not usually a modern mark of success! But at the same time, if nobody is offended by the gospel we’re preaching, are we preaching the true gospel?
Bear with me here.
Was the gospel given to bring peace? Did Jesus come to bring peace?
The answer is yes, and no.
Peter said back in Acts 10:36, the word of that God sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all…
Paul would later write in Romans 5:1, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And later in verses 10-11, For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Sound like peace to you? We were enemies with God, but by faith in Jesus we were justified, saved, reconciled, we have peace with God.
John Calvin wrote, “Therefore, let us remember that God speaks to us in the gospel to this end, that He may reconcile Himself to us, and may testify that He is merciful to us.”
Was the gospel given to bring peace? Yes! …and no…
Jesus said in Luke 12:51-53,
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-46,
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Paul again would write in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17,
14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
The aroma of Christ, the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. I have always loved that image. To those who are being saved it is the fragrance from to life to life, the smell of heaven. But there is division. Not all who smell that smell smell life, some smell death.
Not everybody who hears the Word of the God, the gospel of faith in Christ Jesus is going to accept the truth that we are sinners in need of a Savior and that that Savior is Jesus who lived a perfect life and died a sinner’s death, the death that we deserve, and was raised to life again by God so that we too may have new life and live with Him eternally.
When some people hear that message pride shouts louder in their ears, poisoning their minds: “Who are you to judge, who are you calling a sinner?!”
The unbelievers in Iconium did the same thing, they rejected Paul and Barnabas, they rejected the gospel, they rejected Jesus, and that is what divided them. That’s the same division that Jesus said would come, dividing friends, dividing families, dividing sheep from goats.
It doesn’t sound like good news unless you realize that the Father offers salvation and forgiveness freely through faith in Jesus but the truth is, not everybody will. And that’s a terrible truth.
Paul and Barnabas were undeterred by this opposition because God’s faithfulness and His calling to them hadn’t changed. This story has so much to do with the faithfulness of God! It is really the exalted Redeemer Jesus who is at work here and in all things.
The apostles were His messengers just like we are called to be, servants of His grace, called to speak the gospel.
Jesus gave testimony to the truth of His Word through signs and wonders proving that He is the Author of them, not just allowing them to perform tricks to entertain or healing people to improve their temporary life here on earth. The signs and wonders were given to prove that the gospel is true and every sinner saved is another miracle!
Even the persecution that Paul and his companions faced served the Lord’s purpose. They were driven out of Pisidian Antioch after preaching the gospel and establishing churches, and came to Iconium and preached the gospel and established churches, after they were driven out of there they went to Lystra and Derbe and preached the gospel and established churches.
I knew a missionary family that was bringing the Word of God to a country and a people that were very unfriendly to Jesus and after years of work they were driven out by the government and are now in an even less gospel-friendly country doing the same work.
And God is using them there! I’m not even allowed to tell you where they are for fear that they will be thrown out, jailed, or even killed!
Persecution has been the number one cause of the spreading of the gospel throughout the history of the church and I believe it will continue to be because of the division that Jesus said He would bring, the division between sheep and goats, those who will be saved and those who will not by their own choosing.
Again, John Calvin wrote, “It is assuredly a miserable matter to see division among men. But as the unity is accursed with separates us all from God, so it is better that a few should depart a hundred times from the whole world, and, in the meantime, come in favor again with God, than that disagreeing with Him continually, they have peace with the world.”
The only unity of the Spirit and bond of peace comes from trust in the One Lord, One God and Father of us all.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
