Paul’s Final Word: As we bring our biographical series on the life of the Apostle Paul to a close, it’s important to see how Paul “finished the race” of his life and ministry. Though he suffered many hardships, Paul’s confidence in Christ and his heavenly reward remained unwavering. Paul not only “kept the faith,” but entrusted the ministry of the gospel to the next generation. What a life! Will we be able to say the same thing at the end of our race? Recorded on Jun 25, 2023, on 2 Timothy 4:1-8 by Ted Selker.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Paul’s Power in Weakness: One of the most startling realizations for many Christians is that even with faith in Jesus, life can still be very, very hard. Tragedy can still strike. Godly people still suffer. The Apostle Paul knew this better than most. He endured great hardship during his ministry. What kept him going? What drove him forward? He learned the vital lesson that when you’re weak, grace is enough. Recorded on Jun 18, 2023, on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 by Pastor David Parks.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’ve focused on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re almost done with this theme. After today we only have one more week in our series on the life of Paul before we start our new annual theme, which is Finding Life in Jesus’ Name. For most of this next year, starting in July, we’ll be working through the whole gospel of John, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. And I can’t wait for that series! I’ve been working on this for months, and I can’t wait to share what the Lord has been showing me in John’s gospel. But as we finish our series on the life of the Apostle Paul, I do hope this series has been helpful for you. We’ve seen throughout this series that everybody needs Jesus, even enemies of Jesus like Paul. However, if you hear the gospel, put your faith in Jesus, and start to follow his way by the power of the Spirit, it doesn’t just make your life a little better — Jesus changes everything. We’ve seen this transformation in Paul’s life, going from a violent persecutor of Christians to the most effective Christian missionary in the history of the world. And we’ve seen this dynamic of change/transformation in the lives of many people and even whole cities as a result of Paul’s ministry. I suspect many of us could give testimony to the changes that Jesus brought into our lives, too. However, despite all this evidence of the power of God and the truth of the gospel, one of the most startling realizations for many Christians is that even when you trust in Jesus as Lord, even when you’ve been baptized and are obedient to follow his way, life can still be very, very hard. Tragedy can still strike. Godly people still suffer. And I’ve experienced this. I’ve been wounded, I’ve had broken relationships, I’ve struggled and suffered, and I’ve tasted the bitter wine of anxiety and depression and all manner of weakness, despite trying to be faithful to God. But my life has been relatively easy compared to Paul’s life. Paul suffered a great deal after becoming a Christian, as we’ll see today. My question is this: why did Paul keep going? From a biographical standpoint, why did Paul keep traveling, keep preaching, keep making disciples, and so on, when he so often faced such terrible and even violent opposition? What drove him forward, despite such hardship? The answer is that Paul was taught a lesson by Jesus himself that sustained him through it all. Not only did Jesus help Paul learn how to survive suffering, but he gave him a source of power, even in the midst of great weakness. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to 2Co 12:1. As you turn there, let’s do a quick recap of Paul’s life. Paul was born and raised in Tarsus and received the best Jewish education in Jerusalem. He became a Christian in Damascus and eventually helped lead the church in Antioch. From there, he went on three missionary journeys which led him as far as Corinth to the west, in which he helped plant dozens of churches. Paul wrote letters back to many of those churches, some of which have been included in the canon of Scripture. Paul would eventually spend the last few years of his life in prison in Rome before being put to death for his faith in the mid-sixties AD under the emperor, Nero. But here, Paul isn’t dead yet. He’s still alive and is writing back to his friends in Corinth in response to a distressing report that they are being confused and led astray. We’ll unpack this passage in three parts: 1. the highest of highs, 2. the lowest of lows, 3. Paul’s power in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:1–4 (NIV), “I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.” Ok! Let’s pause here. So, we’re coming into the middle of a longer passage where Paul has to defend his ministry to his friends in Corinth. He had stayed and ministered in Corinth for about a year and a half. But after he left, others came to Corinth claiming to be “super apostles.” Now, we don’t know much about who they were or exactly what they were claiming, but clearly, they were saying things that required a response from Paul. So here, when he says that he must go on boasting, even though there’s nothing to be gained by it, he’s doing something that he really doesn’t like to do. That is, he has to defend the validity of his ministry. He’s having to boast, as perhaps these so-called super-apostles had boasted, of his own authority/credibility because it was being questioned. But what Paul says in defense of his ministry is amazing. You see, whether it was because of their culture or religious background or some other reason, the people of Corinth were especially interested in more dramatic spiritual (charismatic) experiences in their church. The letter of 1 Corinthians addressed some of the chaos and foolishness that this was causing in their church. But then, along comes this group of “super apostles” who seemed to be more than willing to feed into that desire for the more extreme, perhaps claiming to have spiritual experiences or visions of their own. So Paul’s hand is forced, and he basically says, “Oh, so you want visions and revelations?? Well, no one has me beat on that front.” So he reluctantly says that fourteen years earlier, he was caught up to the third heaven, to the paradise of God. Now, in Jewish thought, it was understood that heaven was separated into different levels. The third heaven, the highest place, would be the throne room of God, a paradise of perfection and glory. And Paul says that he was caught up to the highest heaven and saw things and heard things that no one is permitted to speak of. Fourteen years earlier would place this as happening during the decade when Paul was back in Tarsus after becoming a Christian. In other words, this divine revelation happened during the time when Paul basically disappeared from the record of the book of Acts. I would guess Luke would’ve wanted to include it, but I imagine Paul resisting. The only reason he brings it up here is because he is being forced to defend the gospel that he preached to his friends in Corinth. Now, experiences such as this are fairly rare in the Bible, but they do happen from time to time. Two men were physically caught up to heaven in the OT, including Enoch (who “could not be found, because God had taken him away”) and Elijah (who went up to heaven in a whirlwind in a chariot of fire). Additionally, there were prophets who received dreams or visions from the Holy Spirit, which revealed some aspect of the heavenly realm as a message for God’s people. I think of Isaiah, who found himself in the throne room of God and saw the Lord high and lifted up. In the NT, Philip was physically transported by the power of the Holy Spirit to share the gospel with an Ethiopian man. But this sort of experience is rare. None of us will probably have this experience on this side of eternity. But even though Paul uses the third person to talk about this experience, saying that he knows a man in Christ who saw the highest heaven, it’s clear from the context that he’s talking about himself. And the reason he does this is not because he’s sharing this to make himself look cool or impressive. If these super-apostles wouldn’t have shown up, I don’t believe he would’ve even mentioned it for fear he would get the attention/glory instead of Jesus. Paul repeats that he doesn’t even fully understand how this experience happened, whether he was physically caught up or it was some sort of vision. He repeats this to emphasize the fact that he didn’t have this spiritual experience as a result of his wisdom, knowledge, faith, or power. This experience was 100% God. But even so, Paul experienced the highest of highs. Like Moses or Abraham in the past, Paul saw God. He received a foretaste of paradise. He heard inexpressible things. What a gift! What an incredible assurance of faith! Surely a man with an experience like that would be considered to be especially blessed by God, right? Surely a man like that had the favor of God on his life. Who wouldn’t want that? But in his very next breath, we’re reminded that this man who experienced the highest of highs also went through the lowest of lows.
2 Corinthians 12:5–8 (NIV), “I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.” Let’s pause here. We go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. From the heights of the throne room of God, from paradise, to a thorn in the flesh and a life marked in many ways by weakness — this is Paul’s story. He experienced surpassingly great revelations. But, in order to teach him humility, in order to keep him from becoming prideful or conceited, Paul says he was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of the Adversary, which was a source of torment. This is strong language representing real pain. And Paul says that he prayed and prayed and prayed, three times he pleaded with the Lord, but the Lord didn’t take it away. Now, we know that Paul suffered in many places and in many different ways. Let’s look at a passage in the previous chapter where Paul talks about this.
2 Corinthians 11:24–28 (NIV), “24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” Here’s the point: Paul suffered. There are no two ways around it. He lived an incredibly fruitful life but an incredibly difficult life. So in all this, what was the thorn in the flesh that he mentions in chapter 12? The OT speaks of enemies being a thorn in the side of the people of Israel. And we’ve seen that Paul certainly had enemies. But it isn’t clear if the thorn he’s referring to here is a person or people who are opposed to him or something equally difficult to deal with, such as an illness or affliction. One could imagine Paul suffering from a stubborn infection or a broken bone that didn’t heal properly from being beaten, stoned, or shipwrecked. The truth is, we don’t know, but it really doesn’t change the point. In fact, it broadens the point to include any condition we might face that could be considered a thorn in the flesh, a painful, unwanted hardship, or a time of suffering. But what was it that kept him going? What was the power that propelled him forward, first, from the highest of highs and, second, to the lowest of lows? Third, Paul’s power in weakness:
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV), “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” So three times, the mighty Apostle Paul pleaded with Jesus to remove this thorn in the flesh, whatever it was, this source of weakness, pain, and shame. And three times, Jesus said, “Not yet.” But that wasn’t all. I mean, that could have been enough. If God says “no” or “not yet” to our prayers, it’s the best thing for us, and we should accept that. But Paul says that Jesus told him something more. And friends, this will change your life if you understand this. Jesus told Paul that his grace is sufficient; his grace is enough; his grace is all we truly need. Why? For (because), Jesus says my power is made perfect in weakness. The power of God, the power of the King of heaven, is made perfect, it’s brought to completion, it reaches its intended goal…when? In our weakness! Now, to understand the power available to us in our weakness, we must understand what grace is. No other religion or philosophy today or in history has anything like the grace of God found in Jesus Christ. Grace is one of the aspects of Christianity that is totally unique. Every other way (Buddhism, Islam, or even secular humanism) says that “It’s what you do that saves you.” But this is the opposite of the gospel. The gospel says, “It’s not what you do, but what Jesus has done that saves you.” Christian salvation is not earned but is received as a gift. And that’s grace: grace is a gift. Grace is the free and unmerited favor, blessing, and love of God given in Jesus. Spiritually dead people can’t make themselves alive. So God sent his one and only son into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world, to give his life so that we might live, and to rise again so that we might rise. A grace-less religion results in people who are either exhausted from continually trying and failing to be good enough to appease God, or it results in people who are self-righteous and judgmental. Without grace, you’ll either be spiritually crushed, or you’ll be full of pride. Without grace, your identity is fundamentally unstable because it’s based on your moral or religious performance, which is inconsistent at best. Instead, because of the person and work of Jesus, we are given the forgiveness, blessing, acceptance, and love of God as a gift. We didn’t earn it, so we can’t lose it! And this identity is rock solid; it’s unshakable. But the truth is, if we were truly strong, we wouldn’t need the grace of God, we wouldn’t need the cross, we wouldn’t need a savior. But we are not strong. So it’s our weakness, our pain, our wounds, and our suffering that are the only contexts for grace. But you know what? Grace is enough. Because in our weakness, grace becomes a dynamic source of power. Paul says that this is why, for Christ’s sake, he delights in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties. Not because these things are good or fun. Paul went through some terrible things. But because it was in those moments when he was weak, then he was strong. Because only then did he fully rely on the grace of God. Why did Paul keep going in the face of hardship? What drove him on? What kept him going? It was the power of grace. It was the truth that when Paul was weak in himself, then and only then was he strong in Christ. So today, whether you’ve been experiencing the highest of highs or the lowest of lows or something in between, never forget this principle: When you’re weak, grace is enough. It was the secret to Paul’s life and ministry. And it will change your life if you let it. Let us pray.
Paul in Ephesus: Have you ever felt stuck? With something needing to change hanging over your head? We say it all the time: Jesus changes everything. But what can we do when change is slow in coming? The whole region was changed after the Apostle Paul spent a few years in Ephesus. We learn three essential elements from his time there for real and lasting change. Recorded on Jun 11, 2023, on Acts 19:1-20 by Pastor David Parks.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
So all year, we’ve been focused on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series on the life of the Apostle Paul as a case study for learning the way of Jesus. Now one of the things about the way of Jesus, and we’ve tried to make this clear throughout the last year, is that his way is a totally different way compared to the ways of the world or even the way of our lives if we chose our own way. And when you follow this different way of Jesus, all kinds of stuff changes in your life. But honestly, have you ever felt stuck? Have you ever felt like there was this thing hanging over your head that just never seemed like it would go away? I have. As a Christian, even as a pastor, I’ve had issues/struggles/doubts that took years to work through before I saw real change. Sometimes I felt embarrassed along the way, sometimes defeated. But then, in God’s timing and by his grace, I was able to see change and experience more of the fruit of the Spirit, more freedom in Christ, and more joy as a child of God. But what’s up with that? On the one hand, following the way of Jesus seems to change some things right away. But on the other hand, other things seem to take forever. I’ve talked with many people over the years who share this same perplexing experience. Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you ever felt stuck in an area of your life? We say it all the time: Jesus changes everything. But today, we’ll see how. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Acts 19:1. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well. But as we join the Apostle Paul in the city of Ephesus, we’ll unpack this in three parts, revealing three essentials for experiencing real life change: 1. The Gospel 2. Discipleship 3. Spiritual Power. So first, the need for the truth of the gospel…
Acts 19:1-7 (NIV), “19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.” Let’s pause here. So as we’ve said, the Apostle Paul was born Saul of Tarsus, a brilliant young Jewish man who was a violent persecutor of Christians, that is, until he met Jesus and became a Christian, which changed everything. By his early 40s, he was a leader of the influential church in Antioch. But then God called him out. So the church sent him out as a missionary to bring the gospel to other people/places around the Roman Empire. For the past few weeks, we’ve seen a few examples of his ministry (Philippi/Athens). If you missed either of those, you can watch online or listen to the audio podcast. Today, we’re considering one last city of his missionary journeys, arguably the most successful/fruitful place of his career, that is, the great city of Ephesus. Ephesus is located in modern Turkey and was a huge city in Paul’s day. It was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire, with around 250,000 people. Ephesus was wealthy and influential and had a theater that could hold up to 25,000 people. Just as the goddess, Athena, was closely linked with the city of Athens in Greece, in the same way, the goddess, Artemis, was closely linked with Ephesus. In fact, the Great Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, “the largest building in the Greek world” [Ephesus, New Bible Dictionary, p. 328], was so impressive it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. So in that day, Ephesus represented the power and influence of Greek culture and the Roman Empire — Artemis was their goddess, and Caesar was their lord. Luke writes that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. So we skipped over quite a bit of Paul’s life between Athens last week and Ephesus today. But Paul had spent about a year and a half in the city of Corinth, where he met a Jewish couple named Priscilla and Aquila, who were tentmakers, just like Paul. They became Christians and eventually sailed with Paul to Ephesus. Priscilla and Aquila stayed there while Paul went on to Jerusalem and then back north through Antioch and west through Galatia before traveling through the interior of Turkey to the western city of Ephesus. In the meantime, there was a man named Apollos, who was a powerful speaker and a bold man of faith, but who didn’t know the full story of the gospel. He only had a partial understanding of the truth from John the Baptist’s ministry. Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and instructed him in the fullness of the person and work of Jesus. Apollos received their teaching but then decided to travel to Corinth. So after Apollos left for Corinth, Paul made it back to Ephesus. Luke writes that Paul encounters twelve disciples who also had only a partial understanding of the gospel, including the news of Pentecost, that the Spirit of God had been given and a new age had started at the resurrection of Jesus. The fact that there were twelve disciples is intended to remind us of Jesus’ own ministry of calling people to follow him and then teaching them and modeling for them this new way of life. Luke says, in Ephesus, Paul was simply doing what Jesus did: teaching people who needed more information about who God is, what he had done (through his Son and Spirit), and how they might respond to him in obedient faith. The result was an echo of the Day of Pentecost, a physical manifestation of God’s presence and power in the Spirit. So in the story of Apollos, or the account of the twelve, and of course, in Paul’s own story, we see that in order to fully experience the life of God, in order to fully participate in the mission of God, people need the gospel. They need the full story of the person and work of Jesus. It’s a good start to want to repent/turn from your sins, which is what the baptism of John was all about. But John was only preparing the way for Jesus. People need to know what God has done in Christ, to forgive the sins of the world, and live by the Spirit. It’s good to have a sense of spiritual need, but in Christ, God fulfills that need. Only by faithful teaching/instruction will people hear the fullness of the good news of God. And this teaching might be in public, similar to what Paul was doing in the marketplace in Athens (or what I’m doing right now), or in a private setting like what Pricilla and Aquila did with Apollos. A modern example might be explaining in greater detail who Jesus is over coffee with a friend or in a community group at church. Either way, the first essential element that people need to experience real and lasting life change is the gospel. The second is discipleship. Let’s continue with v. 8.
Acts 19:8-12 (NIV), “8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” Let’s pause here. So I’ve been thinking a lot about why Paul’s ministry in Ephesus seems like it was so much more successful/fruitful than in other places. It wasn’t like he was a different guy or really had a different message. As we saw last week, the content of the gospel doesn’t change, even though the context does. And, of course, God can do whatever he wants to do anywhere and at any time, but we have a few clues in the text as to why Paul had such an impact in Ephesus. First, there’s the time Paul spent there. He stayed in Ephesus for 2-3 years, which is more time (and, in many cases, a lot more time) than anywhere else during his missionary journeys. He started out, as we’ve seen everywhere, with the Jewish synagogue before taking his message to the Gentiles. However, Paul is able to use, or perhaps rent, a lecture hall in order to meet with his disciples every day. They met and had discussions and no doubt Paul showed them how Jesus had to die and rise again according to the Scriptures. Paul showed them the new way of Jesus that would shape their lives, identity, idols, relationships, sexuality, money, and everything. He had plenty of time to both teach them and model for them what this new way of life looked like. With all that time focusing on discipleship, Paul could have a lot more influence. And his disciples started doing the work of discipleship as well. Luke writes, “This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.” And this is incredible. The message of the gospel and the way of Jesus started radiating out from Ephesus to impact the whole region! One example is a man named Epaphras, who Paul discipled who was sent out from Ephesus and who planted the church in Colossae. Later, Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, even though he hadn’t been there himself. No doubt, many other stories like this happened during this time, and we just don’t know about them. After Paul left Ephesus, Timothy, one of Paul’s closest friends and disciples, stayed there. Later, according to church tradition, the Apostle John ministered in Ephesus at the end of his life. But for two years, as Luke says, everybody heard about Jesus, and the power of the Spirit was evident. And this was another echo of the ministry of Jesus with Paul. Miracles were happening. And just as in the ministry of Jesus, these miracles were signs which validated the message of the gospel. People need the truth of the gospel. And people needed men and women to disciple them, people to look to and learn from how to follow the way of Jesus. But real life change isn’t only about what you know or who you follow (although those two things are essential). Third, and finally, real change requires spiritual power.
Acts 19:13–20 (NIV), “13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. 17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Now, I just love the story of the Seven Sons of Sceva. The name of Jesus must never be used like a magic spell or incantation. If you try it, you try it at your own risk. But as a result, the name of Jesus was only held in higher glory or honor. And the result of that is that people saw that the magic texts and spells that they had used in pagan worship had no power compared to the spiritual power of Jesus and the works done in his name. So many of the new Christians in Ephesus confessed their sinful practices of sorcery and burned their scrolls. And this was no small gesture; these scrolls were worth millions of dollars. Eventually, so many people in the region turned from pagan worship to worshipping Jesus that it had an economic impact to the point that it caused a riot. But none of this would have been possible if Christianity was simply a philosophy of man or simply a way of life. Throughout this passage, we see evidence that God is at work, that the Spirit of God is saving/healing/freeing people from all kinds of things. The gospel is only good news because God is alive and is active in the world that he has made. We need the truth. And we need people to help us learn the way. But at the end of the day, we would be lost without the saving grace of God and his powerful presence in our lives. So he gets the glory, he gets the honor, he gets the praise, for it is his spiritual power that brings real and lasting change in our lives. And all this leads us to our big idea today, which is this:
Jesus changes everything. We say it all the time, but it really is true. The result of Paul’s time in Ephesus is the dramatic change of a whole region of people. After 2-3 years of gospel preaching, discipleship, and spiritual power, their city has been changed, their worship has been changed, their way of life has been changed, and even their economy has been changed. They experienced a total disruption in the best way imaginable. But how did they experience this change? This transformation? How did they get unstuck or overcome the issues and struggles in their lives? Through the truth of God’s word centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ, by engaging in regular discipleship and receiving the spiritual power of God according to his wisdom and his timing. This is how it has always worked. This is how we can see change and experience more of the fruit of the Spirit, more freedom in Christ, and more joy as children of God. Discipleship is the process of learning the way of Jesus and helping others do the same. And this process might seem slow (remember, Paul spent day after day over years of time with the disciples), but as the people of God grow in their knowledge of the truth, their faith in Jesus, and their obedience to his way, it eventually results in real spiritual power — power to heal, power to set people free from bondage, and power over every other power, including dark/demonic forces. And what are the results? Darkness is overcome by the light. Goodness wins over evil. And all this is to the glory of God, as people grow in the fear of the Lord and faith in the name of Jesus. Now today, I would guess that every one of us has changes we would like to see God produce in our lives. But also, we are surrounded by people who need this same transformative work of God in their lives. And that is why our vision as a church is that the gospel of Jesus Christ will transform the people of the city in every way. How do we do this? Well, just like Jesus, just like Paul, just like Priscilla and Aquila, and so many others over the generations since this time, we make our appeal to people by our love for them, our conduct around them, and our words to them (especially about Jesus). And the Lord uses this appeal to draw others to himself, and to change them over time by the working of his Spirit in their lives. But he also does this work simultaneously in our lives, drawing us to himself as we point others to him. God draws us to himself/grace/truth/holiness/unity/wisdom, and toward the men and the women that he intends us to be. This is a slow work, and not one of us has fully arrived yet, but don’t give up and don’t lose hope, because God has promised to finish what he has started within you. You will not remain the same if you follow the way of Jesus. Everything changes because Jesus changes everything. Let us pray.
Paul in Athens: Have you ever been nervous about sharing your faith? In the first century AD, Athens was the center of Greek philosophy, religion, and cultural influence. The Apostle Paul had the possibly nerve-racking opportunity to share about Jesus with the Athenian elite. In his famous speech at the Areapagus, Paul demonstrates that the content of the gospel never changes, but the context does. Recorded on Jun 4, 2023, on Acts 17:16-34 by Pastor David Parks.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’ve been focused on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series on the life of the Apostle Paul as a case study for learning the way of Jesus. The Apostle Paul was born Saul of Tarsus, a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then, in his mid-twenties, Paul met Jesus, and he became a Christian, which changed everything. By his early 40s, he had served as a leader of the influential church in Antioch before being sent out as a missionary to bring the gospel to other people/places around the Roman Empire. Today, we’ll see that Paul takes a unique approach in the famous city of Athens. His normal pattern of ministry, and even how he talks about Jesus, is very different from other places. But how could this be? Does the gospel somehow change? That can’t be right, can it? But, remember, the Apostle Paul was the most effective missionary in the history of the world. So if Paul used a unique approach in Athens, we need to understand why. And the secret we uncover here can make anyone more effective in sharing their faith. Have you ever tried to share your faith, and it just didn’t go well? Or have you ever been scared to talk about being a Christian because you weren’t sure what to say? Then this message is for you. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Acts 17:16. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well.
Acts 17:16-18 (NIV), “16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.” Ok, let’s pause here. For the last few weeks, we saw how Paul started to bring the news of who Jesus is and what he accomplished to other people/places, along with a demonstration of spiritual power. He started with Barnabas in Cyprus and moved north into modern Turkey. And then, on his second journey, he went with Silas, Timothy, and Luke from Turkey to Philippi in Greece. This resulted in all kinds of people responding to his message, including men and women, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, and so on, because everybody needs Jesus. However, in addition to the spiritual fruit that he saw, Paul also faced spiritual opposition, which sometimes resulted in social upheaval and even violence. Let’s look at a map. From Philippi, in northern Greece, where Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned, they were chased over to Thessalonica, then to Berea, and then south to Athens, which is where we are today. After Athens, Paul would travel on to Corinth before heading back east to Ephesus, which we’ll look at next week. But today, we have the mighty Apostle Paul in the great city of Athens, Greece, and we find that Paul is really in his element. Remember, Paul was raised in Tarsus, a Greek city with its own history of philosophy. And even though Paul had received the best education in the Jewish Scriptures, as we’ll see, he was also familiar with Greek philosophers and poets. It’s no wonder to me why Jesus picked him to be the apostle to the Gentiles.
But our passage starts with the statement from Luke that “While Paul was waiting for them in Athens [meaning the rest of his coworkers who were still in Berea], he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.” Lit. Paul’s spirit was provoked within him by the idolatry he saw around the city. Now, it wasn’t that unusual for ancient pagan cities (or modern cities, for that matter) to have temples with idols where the worship of various gods/goddesses took place. But Athens was especially full of idols. They had multiple temples, which were some of the most beautiful and architecturally impressive buildings on the planet in their day. Athens had temples built to Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, and more. But none were more impressive than the Parthenon, or the temple built to Athena at the Acropolis, which had already stood for 400 years before the time of Paul. Temple worship, including various sacrifices, offerings, and festivals, defined this city. In fact, historians aren’t sure if Athena got her name from Athens or if Athens got its name from Athena. But either way, idol worship was so pervasive that it weighed on Paul. And not because he didn’t understand the appeal of the pantheon of gods to the Greek people or because he was prejudiced for some reason — but because if Jesus had risen from the dead, then it proved that he was who he claimed to be. And it proved that there was only one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Maker of the heavens and the earth. And therefore, the whole pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses was false. They weren’t real, and they didn’t have the power to help or save anyone. Matthew writes that when Jesus saw crowds of people, “he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36). I think Paul felt the same way. When he looked at Athens, this powerful and influential city famous for its wisdom and culture, Paul saw people who needed help, who needed the truth, and who were bound up in a system that held them in spiritual bondage. So he was moved to action. He couldn’t stay silent. He was compelled by the love of Christ toward these people. As he did everywhere, he started with the Jewish synagogue. Luke writes that, “he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks.” But also, and this seems to be unique to Athens, Paul reasoned “in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.” Now, the marketplace in Athens wasn’t just for shopping. It was a public meeting place, a public forum, where new ideas were exchanged and debated. And it was here that “a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him.” These were two of the most popular streams of philosophy of their day, which no doubt had a great impact on the thinking and way of life of many people in Athens and elsewhere. In many ways, the philosophy of the Epicureans and Stoics influences people in our culture to this day, even though most people aren’t aware of it. At any rate, we don’t know how long Paul continued this marketplace ministry before he started getting serious questions. Luke writes, “Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.” This was actually a very serious accusation. Over 400 years earlier, the famous philosopher, Socrates, was put to death in Athens, having been put on trial and convicted of advocating foreign gods. So, in an interesting parallel to Socrates, the Apostle Paul was to face his own trial in Athens.
Acts 17:19-31 (NIV), “19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Let’s pause here. Ok! So the Areopagus was the governing council of Athens which met on a rocky hill above the Parthenon, dedicated to Ares, the Greek god of war (known as Mars by the Romans). And it is at the hill of Ares (or Mars Hill) that Paul is asked to explain this new message he’s been teaching and defending day by day in their city. So Paul stands up, knowing there is a chance he could be facing his own Socratic death, and delivers a speech that is totally unique. His message on that day was very different from his recorded sermons elsewhere. Now, the logic of Paul’s argument, and its three implications, is rooted in a very Jewish understanding of who God is. Paul easily engages with Greek philosophy, but his reasoning is firmly rooted in the Hebrew bible. He stands up in the Areopagus and winsomely starts by referencing how religiously devout they are. But he challenges them, too. He says that even with all their wisdom and value of new ideas and philosophies, they still lack knowledge about the one true God. He uses their altar to an unknown God as an analogy of their ignorance but also as a way to show that he is not advocating foreign gods but is there to proclaim and reveal to them the God they already admit they don’t know. Paul says it is this God (not the gods, not Zeus, not Poseidon, not Ares, not even Athena), but the God of Israel, who is the Lord of the skies and the earth. He is the one who made the cosmos, including every human being — Jew and Gentile. Therefore, there are three implications of this truth. First, if God is the creator of all, then God doesn’t live in temples built by human hands (how could he?). Of course, this would’ve been a shock to the Athenians, who were literally surrounded by some of the most impressive temples anywhere. Second, if God is the creator of all, then he doesn’t need anything from us, including our offerings of worship. He is not dependent upon us; we are dependent upon him! Third, if God is the creator of all, then he cannot be represented by any created thing we can make, no matter how intricate or impressive, even if it’s carved from the most beautiful marble or made from a precious metal like silver or gold. As a result, Paul argues that the whole system of Greek worship, with its temples and its offerings and its images and idols, is all wrong. The whole system is based on a false understanding of who God is and is powerless to save.
Now, when the one true and living God had called Abraham to leave his family and his homeland in Ur, Abraham left behind a man-made Sumerian religion of many gods/goddesses. Through his relationship with Abraham and his family, God promised to bless all the nations/peoples/families of the earth. Ever since the fall to sin, human beings have unsuccessfully tried to figure out who God is (or who the gods are) and how we can earn their favor/blessings in life. However, the one true and living God, the Creator of the cosmos, the Lord of heaven and earth, cannot be fully known through his creation. We can know aspects of God’s character by what he has made, just as we can learn some things about an artist by a work of their art. But you can’t know someone personally simply by looking at what they have made. You need to talk to them; you need to meet them. And from Abraham on down, God has been revealing himself to people in order for us to know him and be known by him. In order for us to receive his favor/blessings freely as a gift of his grace. And in order for us to worship him truly and rightly according to his character and will. Here in Athens, the people of Athens are receiving the call once again, the calling of Abraham (and all people), to leave behind their false ways of worship, to repent, and to experience/enjoy the true favor/blessings of God which are freely given to all in Christ. So the creator God, who is transcendent over all and separate from his creation, is also near and can be personally known in Jesus. We see the result of Paul’s message at the end of this passage in v. 32.
Acts 17:32-34 (NIV), “32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.” So the result of this sermon (of which what is recorded here is probably only a summary), and despite being very different from other examples in Acts of Paul’s gospel proclamation, the result is actually very similar. Some people believed, and some didn’t. Some became Christians, including a few prominent people of Athens, and formed a new Christian church, while others rejected Jesus. I think because of Paul’s tact in his approach; he wasn’t thrown in prison or killed. Perhaps earlier in his life, things might have been different. But he was wise in his approach, and so he could find an open and receptive audience, even in what could be considered the capital of pagan worship and philosophy, and live to tell the tale. But how does this apply to our lives today? I’d like to leave you with one thought as we close:
The content of the gospel never changes, but the context does. Paul’s message to the Areapogus is something like this: You’re right to believe that God is real and is deserving of our worship. But God is the creator, and we are his creatures, not the other way around. He has made us; we have not made him. So not only does it not make sense to worship idols we have made, but it dishonors the true creator. To atone for this false worship, we must repent and trust the one God has appointed to judge the world, that is, Jesus Christ. The proof of this claim is the resurrection. If God raised him from the dead, then we can trust him and follow him, for he knows the path that leads to life. Paul’s message is about judgment against false worship, repentance, and faith in Jesus. Paul finds common ground in their desire to honor the gods (worship/idols), their desire to engage in new ideas (resurrection), and their culture (poets, justice). In other words, he starts where they are but then goes on to show how Jesus is the true fulfillment of all that they long for and need. The content of the gospel doesn’t change (especially the part about Jesus and his death and resurrection), but the context/audience/preconceived notions and expectations do change. To be effective in the joyfully exciting and eternally rewarding work of helping people come to faith in Jesus, we must pay attention both to the content and the context of the gospel. We must seek to understand where people are coming from, what they believe and why (without any disdain), and then gently but boldly point them to Jesus. Everybody needs Jesus. But the way we share Jesus must be motivated by the love of Christ, include finding common ground, and be handled with all wisdom by the Holy Spirit. If, by the grace of God, we share the gospel in this way, there’s no reason why we couldn’t see the same fruit as the Apostle Paul. This is the kind of church we want to be. And this is what we are called to do even today. Let us pray.
Paul in Philippi: As the Apostle Paul ventures into Europe on his second missionary journey, he encounters three very different types of people — a wealthy woman of status named Lydia, a spiritually oppressed slaved girl, and a Roman jailer. All three experience the saving power of God in Jesus’ name, highlighting a simple lesson: Everybody needs Jesus. Recorded on May 28, 2023, on Acts 16:11-34 by Pastor David Parks.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
The theme of our preaching ministry this year (which runs through the end of June) has been Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series on the life of the Apostle Paul. And we’re using Paul’s story as a case study for learning the way of Jesus. Because Paul was born Saul of Tarsus, a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then, when he was about 25, Paul met Jesus, and he became a Christian, which set his life on a completely different path. By his early 40s, Paul had served for a time as a leader of the vibrant, growing church in Antioch before being sent out as a missionary with his coworker, Barnabas, and their young helper, John Mark. They had a successful trip to the island of Cyprus (with the exception that John Mark bailed and went back home), but Paul and Barnabas continued into modern-day Turkey before coming back to their home base of Antioch. We saw most of this first missionary journey last week in Acts 13, and just a reminder that if you’ve missed any of the sermons in this series, you can always go back and watch on the Church Center App or on YouTube. Well, today, we’re picking up the story of Paul’s second missionary journey. But for the next few weeks, we’ll consider his work in several notable cities, including Philippi (today), Athens (next week), and then, on his third journey, to Ephesus. But today, in Philippi, we’ll see Paul and his team have remarkable success but also cause such a disruption they get beaten up by a mob and thrown into prison. Now, in some ways, this is just normal life for Paul. But through it all, we see a remarkable poise; we see that Paul has this unusual ability to have joy (and literally keep singing!), even as life seems to be crumbling around him. This joy, regardless of his circumstances, is exactly the theme of his letter to the Philippians Paul would write later — when he was in prison once again. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Acts 16:11. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well. But today, we’ll start with a little intro passage for context. And then we’ll encounter three people in Philippi who are saved by God: first a powerful woman named Lydia, then a slave girl, and then a Roman jailer. Let’s start with the intro:
Acts 16:11-12 (NIV), “11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.” So again, this is the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. But one detail we haven’t mentioned yet is that when leaving for this journey, Paul and Barnabas had a serious problem. At the end of Acts 15, Luke writes, “They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.” (Ac 15:39-40) Relationships are hard for everyone, even apostles. Perhaps it was Paul’s fiery temper that couldn’t handle John Mark bailing on them on the first trip. Or maybe Paul was being wise while Barnabas was foolishly being overly accommodating to his younger cousin. Or maybe something else happened. But sadly, they went their separate ways. Now, over the years, we know that Paul and John Mark reconciled and were close by the end of Paul’s life. But here, on his second journey, Paul traveled with Silas from Antioch north through Derbe and Lystra (where they added Timothy as a younger apprentice to their team). Eventually, they made it to Troas, where they picked up Luke, the author of Acts, which is why he starts saying, “we put out to sea,” “we traveled,” “we stayed,” and so forth. They sailed from Troas, stopping at the island of Samothrace before landing at Neopolis, the port of the Greek city of Philippi. Now Philippi was located on a major highway which meant it was vital for trade and likely fairly wealthy. Luke says was a Roman colony and a leading city of Macedonia. This was an important and strategic place for the gospel. Historically, we know that a number of the citizens were veterans of the Roman military. As such, there would have been a strong connection/allegiance to Rome and to the Emperor — potentially a dangerous place to preach that Jesus was the true King, deserving of our ultimate allegiance. So now the stage is set, let’s meet the first European convert to Christianity.
Acts 16:13–15 (NIV), “13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.” Let’s pause here. So, there don’t appear to be enough Jewish people in Philippi to support a synagogue. But there are people who are meeting on the Sabbath to pray. These aren’t necessarily all Jewish people but are worshipers of the God of Israel — people who would have possibly been open to hearing the gospel. One of these was a woman named Lydia. We’re told she’s a dealer in purple cloth or purple dye, which was a highly sought-after commodity in their day. Purple clothing was a status symbol because it was expensive to make. So Lydia was likely very wealthy and influential as a business owner and the head of a household. Perhaps she was divorced or widowed, but all this meant she had more autonomy than most women of her day. But it was this woman who heard Paul’s message about Jesus, who died for sins and rose alive as the King of heaven and earth. And Luke says that “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” And this is a picture of both grace and faith. The Lord opened Lydia’s heart by his grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. And she responded by believing and trusting in Jesus by faith. This is what a relationship with God looks like; God does his part, and we do our part. And following Lydia, her whole household believed and were baptized. Immediately, this wealthy woman of high status/privilege starts serving, offering her home to Paul’s team and then later offering her home as the meeting place for the church there in Philippi. It’s worth pointing out that generosity/hospitality are often signs that someone understands the generosity/hospitality of God in the saving work of Christ. We give because he first gave. We welcome people in because he first welcomed us. Ok! We’re off to a good start in Europe. Let’s continue and meet the second person, a woman of a very different status.
Acts 16:16–24 (NIV), “16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. 19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.” Let’s pause here. Now, this is such a funny but weird story to me. So Paul had already encountered forces of spiritual darkness during his first journey on the island of Cyprus. And here, there’s a young slave girl who has a “spirit by which she predicted the future.” But literally, Luke writes that she has a python spirit. In David Peterson’s commentary on Acts, he explains that, “Python was originally the name of the snake or dragon that inhabited Delphi (originally Pythia) and in Greek mythology was killed by Apollo. This snake became a symbol or representative of the underworld. Apollo was thought to be embodied in the snake and to inspire ‘pythonesses’ as his female mouthpieces. Plutarch…called such soothsayers ‘ventriloquists’ because they uttered words beyond their own control.” [David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, 2009).] The owners of this slave girl had made a great deal of money because they sold her oracles not for her benefit but to use her for their gain. But then, while Paul’s team was working in Philippi, this unnamed slave girl followed them for many days shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” Paul becomes so disturbed or annoyed by this that he turns to her and commands the evil spirit to leave her in Jesus’ name, and it does. She is set free from the evil spirit, but she is not yet free of her human owners. And what a contrast to Lydia! Lydia has a name, while this girl was unnamed. Lydia was the head of a household, while this girl was a slave. Lydia had a profitable business, while this girl was exploited by others for their profit. Lydia had options, while this girl had none. And yet they both needed to be saved, both needed to be set free from the power of sin and death, both needed Jesus, and both experienced the power of God. There’s much more I’d like to know about this girl. Did she follow Jesus after this encounter with his power? Did the church at Lydia’s house welcome her in? We don’t know because this incident caused a major disruption, and she seemed to be lost in the shuffle. When the owners realized that God’s power had disrupted their business, they whipped up a mob with the accusation that Paul, as a Jew, was advocating “customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” Now, this is ironic because, in many other places, the Jews accused Paul of advocating customs unlawful for them in welcoming Gentiles into the church because of Jesus. But in Philippi, the Gentiles were upset because they were disrupting their profit off paganism with the true power of God. Paul can’t seem to win. As a result, Paul and Silas are publicly stripped and beaten before being thrown into prison. But the story doesn’t end there. We meet the third person to respond to the gospel, an unlikely convert, but certainly not the last to come to faith in Jesus through Paul in prison.
Acts 16:25–34 (NIV), “25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.” What a crazy story, right? It’s funny to think that these are the people who made up the initial church plant in Philippi: a wealthy woman and her household, a slave girl, and a Roman jailer and his household. Probably not what I would be praying for in terms of a core team to start a church. But this is who God brought together. Praise God! But after the earthquake, the jailer was ready to kill himself either to punish his loss of honor for failing his duty (thinking all the prisoners had escaped) or he wanted to avoid the pain and suffering of being punished for his unintended failure. Paul seemed to know what he was thinking and intervened, reassuring him that he hadn’t failed his assignment. When the jailer realized what had happened and that Paul had Silas hadn’t run off, he asked the most important question anyone could ask. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And Paul, still bloodied from being beaten and filthy from prison, responded with a message he had shared no doubt many times, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” And wouldn’t you know it, the jailer and his whole household believed and were baptized. And similar to Lydia, he immediately starts serving. He washes their wounds and brings them into his home, and they share a meal together. And Luke shares this last detail, that Paul’s joy, the joy that never died even when Paul and Silas were in prison, was now shared around the table. This unnamed Roman jailer was filled with joy because of his faith in the Most High God and in Jesus, his Son. The jailer had a new King who held his allegiance above even his allegiance to Caesar. And his new King didn’t rule him by force/power or by honor/shame, but by sacrificial love and grace and truth. This man of rank and authority needed Jesus just as much as Lydia or the slave girl. And he experienced the saving power of God to set him free, just as they had. So what does this mean for us today? How do we apply this to our lives?
I’d like to close by making the case that we need this same saving power of God today. Every one of us. Everybody needs Jesus. Whether we are people of wealth and status or power and privilege, people with a name — or whether we are people with nothing. Whether we are people blessed to have many options in life or we feel like we have basically no options. Whether we are young/old, rich/poor, liberal/conservative, whoever we are, wherever we come from, and whatever we have done or has been done to us, everybody needs Jesus. The way of salvation is clear: hear the gospel, the good news that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose again from the dead. And believe in him. Trust in him. And learn to follow his way in life, and you will be saved. This good news is for you and all your household. It’s for everybody. And we are a church that is all about this good news. And we are a church that unites all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds for the glory of God. And this is what we long to see in the city of Appleton and beyond; men and women and even children experience the joy and the saving power of God, who sets us free and welcomes us to his table because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Let us pray.
Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles: The spiritual awakening at Antioch produced two things: generosity toward the poor and a heart for the lost. As a result, Paul and Barnabas were sent out to bring the gospel to other people and places. They traveled to Cyprus and then to Pisidian Antioch and shared the word of God with a demonstration of spiritual power — and both Jews and Gentiles responded in faith. Paul was sent by the Spirit with power from the Spirit to all peoples. Recorded on May 21, 2023, on Acts 12:25 – 13:48 by Pastor David Parks. (Apologies for the loss of about 10 seconds of audio!!)
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
The theme of our preaching ministry this past year has been Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series on the life of the Apostle Paul. Now, Paul’s story is fascinating, but for us today, it serves as a great case study for learning the way of Jesus. Because Paul was born Saul of Tarsus, a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then Paul met Jesus, which changed everything. He became a Christian and had to relearn everything in light of the way of Jesus. In our passage today, it’s about 15 years after Paul became a Christian. He’s in his early 40’s and has been serving the church in Antioch (about 450 miles north of Jerusalem) for a year with his friend, Barnabas, during a great period of spiritual renewal/awakening. We looked at this time last week, and we called it an unexpected outpouring of grace. For the first time, a large number of Jews and Gentiles had believed the gospel and started following Jesus. As we said, this doesn’t really mean anything to us, but in their day, this was a radical change. There was a wall of separation (social/cultural/ethnic/religious) between Jew and Gentile and now they saw themselves as brothers and sisters in the same church because of Jesus. Maybe the closest thing to this for us today would be hearing that there was a church where people on the extreme political left and right were actively loving each other and seeing themselves as brothers and sisters because of Jesus. That would be unusual, right? Maybe unusual enough to seem suspicious? I’m sure that’s how many people felt about Antioch. But that’s what God was doing. Well, today, we’ll see what happened next. And what happened next was that this gospel-centered, Jew and Gentile uniting, radically new thing that God was doing in Antioch — that started to spread. In fact, as it spread around the Roman Empire, the world would never be the same. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Acts 12:25. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well. But today, we’ll work through this passage in three sections. First, sent by the Spirit. Second, sent with power from the Spirit. And third, sent to all peoples.
Acts 12:25-13:3 (NIV), “25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark. 13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 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.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
Ok! Let’s pause here. So when Luke writes that Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, he’s referring to their delivery of the financial gifts that the church in Antioch had sent to Jerusalem in response to a prophetic word about a coming famine. We saw this last week as one of the things that an unexpected outpouring of grace produces. God’s grace produces good works, particularly for those in need. So when Barnabas and Saul returned, they brought a man with them named John Mark, who was a cousin of Barnabas. And this young man would prove to be very helpful to the Apostles over the years. He grew up in Jerusalem, was likely well-educated, and his mother, Mary, hosted a Christian church in their home. John Mark served as an assistant and perhaps as a scribe to both the Apostles Paul and Peter and eventually produced what would be known as the gospel according to Mark in the Bible, which is thought to be largely based on the testimony of the Apostle Peter. But here, he joins his cousin and this fiery man named Saul on their way back to Antioch.
Luke continues by saying that there were prophets and teachers serving as leaders in the church in Antioch, including Barnabas and Saul, of course, but also a few others, including Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch). A prophet is someone inspired by God to reveal God’s word (speaking/writing). A teacher is someone who helps explain and apply God’s word. And both roles were needed in this early church. Now, we don’t know much about these leaders in Antioch, but we have a few clues from this text about who they were. The fact that Simeon was called Niger, which means black in Latin, is taken by many to mean that he was dark in skin color, probably from somewhere in Africa. Lucius, another African, was from Cyrene, a Greek city in modern Libya. Finally, Manaen, raised with Herod the Tetrarch, the Roman governor of Galilee during the ministry of Jesus, would likely have been an older Jewish man. Herod was born in 25 BC, which meant that Manaen if he grew up with Herod, would have been in his mid-70s. Barnabas was a Jewish man from Jerusalem. And Paul was a Jewish man from the Greek city of Tarsus. I point these things out simply to show that from the beginning of the movement of Christianity; it was a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural movement. All kinds of people were coming to faith in Jesus and learning to follow his way. Praise God! But it was from this church context that one time, when they were worshipping with fasting and prayer, the Holy Spirit told them to “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So the church placed their hands on these brothers and prayed for them and blessed them, and sent them out to do the work that God was calling them to do. My first observation today is this: 1. Paul was sent by the Spirit. The Apostle Paul was chosen by God the Father from before the creation of the world and received a revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son, on the road to Damascus, and here, maybe 15 years later, was sent out from Antioch by God the Holy Spirit, the very personal power and presence of God. Now, notice that Barnabas and Saul weren’t sent out after a strategic planning session for how to grow the church. They weren’t sent out by some missional mastermind in Antioch. They don’t appear to even be talking about the mission of God. They were worshipping/praying/fasting. They were experiencing this spiritual revival that we saw last week. But it was from out of the outpouring of grace that the Spirit made clear that Barnabas and Saul needed to be sent out. In one sense, they were sent by the church, but only after God made it clear that this was his will. I said last week that one thing a revival produces — either in one person’s heart/life or in a church or in a city like Antioch — is good works, and especially for those in need. But the other thing revival produces is a heart for the lost. True revival produces evangelists who share good news and missionaries who bring good news to other people/places. So Paul was sent by the Spirit, with a blessing from the church and with his friend and coworker Barnabas and John Mark, their helper. And this scene marks a shift in focus in the Book of Acts. For the rest of Acts, Luke will follow Paul’s missionary journeys as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Let’s continue with part two, sent with power from the Spirit.
Acts 13:4–12 (NIV), “4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. 6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”
Let’s pause here. So first, let’s look at a map. There are a number of places mentioned in this passage, and it might be hard for us to picture what is happening. So we start in Antioch in the Roman province of Syria in the modern country of Turkey. They travel to the port at Seleucia and then sail to the island of Cyprus. They land at the city of Salamis and eventually make it to Paphos, where they encounter the sorcerer Bar-Jesus. And eventually, we’ll see that they’ll travel north through Perga to Pisidian Antioch. But isn’t this great? I love the boldness of the Apostle Paul. He isn’t arrogant here, but he is bold with the truth when he rightly discerns the dark and demonic influence of this sorcerer and false prophet, Elymas Bar-Jesus, against the message of the gospel. Perhaps Elymas realized that if Paul was right and Jesus was Lord, then he would lose his influence over Sergius Paulus, the powerful Roman governor of Cyprus. This would likely mean he would also lose his status as the spiritual advisor to a member of the elite. What happens is a reversal of a number of miracles that Jesus performed. In several places, Jesus opened the eyes of the blind as a picture of seeing the truth about God in him. Paul, in the power of the Holy Spirit, blinds Elymas as a picture of judgment against his deceptions about God. Nevertheless, Sergius Paulus was open to the Christian faith. He wanted to hear what Barnabas and Saul had to say. He wanted to hear the word of God. And this is so encouraging to me. Even in a dark and broken world, a world that is influenced by all kinds of spiritual forces of evil, there are still people who want to know God and who want to hear the truth about who God is and what he has done. The parable of the sower teaches us that not everyone is equally open to the gospel all the time, but some people are ready to hear the truth today. And Sergius Paulus was that day. So when he heard the gospel from Saul (and here is when Luke switches from using Saul, his Hebrew name, to Paul, his Greek name) and saw the evidence of the power of God over this false prophet, he believed. But Luke clarifies it wasn’t primarily the spiritual power that made him believe. That only testified to the truth of the claims of the gospel. He was amazed at the teaching about the Lord Jesus. The message of the gospel struck him like a thunderbolt. But this is just one example of what we will see over the next few weeks, of how God worked through Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. On Cyprus, Paul started in the Jewish synagogue but also shared the gospel with Gentiles like Sergius Paulus. He experienced spiritual opposition from the forces of darkness but also saw evidence of God at work in people coming to faith in Jesus. My second observation of this passage is this: 2. Paul was sent with power from the Spirit. Paul had spiritual power from God to endure, to speak the truth in love, and to face the spiritual forces of darkness. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes his ministry among them in this way. Listen to this. “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1Co 2:2-5) We see this in action on the island of Cyprus, too. Paul was sent by the Spirit, so would the Spirit not provide what Paul would need? So when Paul faced opposition, not just from a rival advisor to the governor, but from forces of spiritual darkness, from a deceiver, from a false prophet who was leading people astray and blinding people to the true light of the world, the Spirit provided a demonstration of power. So the gospel wasn’t received as a testimony to the brilliance of Paul but as a testimony to the power of God and the truth of God’s word about Christ. Paul was sent by the Spirit with power from the Spirit. Let’s finish with part three.
Acts 13:13–16 (NIV), “13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.” 16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!” Ok, I wish we had time to listen to Paul’s sermon here, but for the sake of time, we’re going to do what some of you wish you could do with me and just skip to the end. Let’s jump down to v. 42.
Acts 13:42–48 (NIV), “42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.” So Paul followed his pattern of ministry in Pisidian Antioch, sharing the gospel first with the Jews and then with the Gentiles or non-Jewish peoples. Paul was familiar with the Gentile culture, having grown up in Tarsus and having ministered in Antioch. But he also knew from when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus that he had a unique calling to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, and we’ll see this same pattern of ministry in the weeks ahead as we consider his work in Philippi, Athen, and Ephesus. But my third observation is this: 3. Paul was sent to all peoples. About 700 years earlier, God had said through the prophet Isaiah that his Messiah, the Lord Jesus, would be a light for the Gentiles so that his salvation would reach to the ends of the earth. Here, Paul understands his ministry/mission as a fulfillment of this promise. The gospel of Jesus, the good news of Jesus, and the saving work of Jesus wasn’t just for the Jewish people. Even though he was the Jewish Messiah, Jesus was the Lord of all, he was the savior of all, and his message was for every nation, tribe, and tongue. The gospel is for rich/poor, male/female, young/old. Everybody needs Jesus. And this is how I’d like to close today. I’m not the Apostle Paul, and neither are you. But as Christians, we have been given the Holy Spirit. And every single one of us is under the Great Commission of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations. And some of us, like Paul, might be sent to another people/place. And others of us, like the rest of the church in Antioch, might be sent not to another people/peace but to their own neighborhood and to their own city. But all are sent — this is part of our identity; this is who we are. And every Christian is sent how Paul was sent: sent by the Holy Spirit, sent with the power from the Holy Spirit, and sent to all peoples. God doesn’t show favoritism. Everybody needs Jesus. So today, do you know that you have been sent? Do you understand that you’re a vital part of a community/church/family that has been sent? Do you see the incredible meaning/purpose this gives us in life? Do you see that you have the word of God and the very power of God over the forces of darkness? Do you see that everyone matters to God (Jew and Gentile) and are united together as one new people in Christ? If so, then let’s go. Let’s live sent. And let’s join the work that God is already doing in the world for his glory and our joy and for the good of all people. Let us pray.
Paul and the Revival at Antioch: After Paul spent ten years in Tarsus, God was doing a new thing in the big city of Antioch — Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) were becoming Christians. Barnabas was sent to investigate and brought in Paul to help lead this new, unexpected outpouring of grace. Have you ever wanted to see a spiritual revival? This message is for you. Recorded on May 14, 2023, on Acts 11:19-30 by Pastor David Parks.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
Since last July, we’ve been focusing on Learning the way of Jesus. We’ve had sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount, the Epistles of the NT, and the Ten Commandments, all focusing on the unique way of Jesus. And we’ve seen that this way isn’t simply a list of things to know/believe but a way of life to learn and follow that impacts and transforms everything. Today, we’re continuing our final series under this theme on the life of the Apostle Paul. Now, Paul’s story is fascinating, but it also serves as a great case study for learning the way of Jesus. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians at the very start of the Christian movement. But then, Paul met Jesus, which changed everything. So, Paul the persecutor became Paul the persecuted for his bold preaching about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. He was initially met with fear and skepticism by the other Christians because of his past. But he had several faithful brothers who were willing to vouch for him, including Ananias and Barnabas. Three years after becoming a Christian, he had people who tried to kill him in Damascus, so he went back to Jerusalem. It wasn’t long before he had people trying to kill him there, too. So the believers put him on a boat and shipped him back home to Tarsus in Cilicia (modern Turkey). Paul disappeared from the Biblical narrative for about ten years as he lived and worked in Tarsus. But then, in Acts 11, he comes back into the story because of Barnabas, of course. A revival or spiritual awakening was happening in the city of Antioch, and no one was better suited to help than Paul. But in this chapter of his life, we learn some key principles about spiritual revival/awakening, or what I’ll call the unexpected outpouring of grace. If you’ve ever longed for revival, if you’ve ever mourned the brokenness/darkness of the world, or if you’ve ever wondered what it would look like for God to do a miraculous work, then this message is for you. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Acts 11:19. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well. But today, we’ll read through this whole passage on Paul and the revival at Antioch and then go back and unpack it together.
Acts 11:19–30 (NIV), “19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. 22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 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 all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. 27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.”
So just a reminder, the book of Acts was written by Luke, the physician, as the result of a careful investigation into the life and ministry of Jesus. Luke interviewed eyewitnesses and was present for at least some of the events of the Book of Acts. The book of Luke in the bible is all about Jesus, and the book of Acts is about what happened after his resurrection from the dead. Let’s start back at v. 19 to make sure we understand what this text means before we try and apply it to our lives today.
Acts 11:19–21 (NIV), “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to 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.” Let’s pause here. Three weeks ago, we considered the story of the death of Stephen and the persecution of the church led by none other than Saul of Tarsus. Saul was going from house to house, seeking to destroy the church. This resulted in almost everyone (except the Apostles) being scattered out from Jerusalem in Judea to Samaria and beyond. We saw back in Acts 8 that the believers preached the word wherever they went. Now, there are a lot of places mentioned in this passage. So let’s look at a map and see if we can get a little better picture of where these places are. The persecution started in Jerusalem, and the believers scattered as far as Phoenicia, north along the Mediterranean coast, to Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean, and to Antioch, perhaps the third largest city in the Roman Empire at the time and located in modern Turkey. Luke writes that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene, a Greek City in northern Africa (modern Libya), came to Antioch and started sharing the gospel with people who spoke Greek and were culturally Greek. Initially, the Jewish disciples of Jesus spread the word among other Jews. For hundreds of years, because of the destruction of Israel under the Assyrian/Babylonian/Persian/Roman Empires, the Jewish people were already dispersed in many places beyond Judea. By the first century AD, there were pockets of Jewish people in every major city around the Roman Empire. So when the Jewish believers were scattered from Jerusalem, there were many Jewish communities, perhaps with friends or family members, to run to. And wherever they landed, they started telling people about Jesus. But v. 20 marks a major turning point (I would say) in the history of the world. The gospel of Jesus started to be shared not just with Jews but also with Gentiles or non-Jewish people groups. And maybe most surprisingly, Luke says that, “A great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” Now, the reason this was such a shock was because, for centuries, the Jewish people had a number of beliefs/practices that set them apart from other people groups. They weren’t to marry each other, and they didn’t worship together or even eat together. It’s hard for us to really understand this today, but back then, there was a wall of separation between Jew and Gentile. So the fact that Greek people were coming to faith in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah and that apparently the Lord’s hand was with Gentiles, too, was a radical change to how many Jewish people saw the world at the time. Now, it shouldn’t have been such a surprise. God had promised that his Messiah would be a light to the Gentiles. But as is often the case, accepting outsiders is not easy. So what would people say? How would the Apostles respond? What impact would this have on the church?
Acts 11:22–26 (NIV), “News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they 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 all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Ok! Let’s pause here. So God is up to something new. When the news that Gentiles were responding to the gospel in Antioch, the Apostles sent someone to investigate what in the world was happening there. And who better than a brother like Barnabas? As we saw last week, Barnabas’ real name was Joseph, who was a man from the island of Cyprus. And he earned the nickname Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement,” because of his character. He was an encouraging guy. Here, Luke says he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. May that be said of us, too. But with a reputation like that, he was trusted to discern what was going on and what needed to be done in Antioch. But when Barnabas saw what the Lord was doing there, when he saw the unexpected grace of God among the Jews and the Gentiles, when he saw this spiritual revival/awakening, he was glad. He celebrated what God was doing; he wasn’t suspicious or critical of it. He wasn’t afraid of Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus. If this new thing was what God was doing, and it clearly was, then praise God! As Paul would write later in Romans 11, the Gentiles were like wild olive branches being grafted by the Holy Spirit into the tree of God’s people. And so the son of encouragement’s natural response was to encourage all the people, Jew and Gentile, to remain true, to remain faithful to the Lord with all their hearts. But with so many people coming to faith in Jesus, there was a ton of work that needed to be done in helping all those people grow in their faith in Jesus, in learning the way of Jesus. Some of you who’ve become Christians more recently or who have been going through a time of spiritual growth know how much work you’ve been through. As I said last week, you can come to faith in an instant, but to grow in your faith, to grow in your maturity and sanctification, is a process that takes the whole rest of your life. Barnabas knew he needed help. He knew that he needed someone to help teach/lead/counsel/equip these new believers. And he knew that, ideally, he needed someone who understood both Jewish culture and Greek culture. There was one man he knew like this. Barnabas knew he needed to go find his fiery friend, Saul. So he went to Tarsus and found him and brought him back to Antioch. And, Luke writes, for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. Some historians think Antioch is where Luke was from and worked as a doctor. We don’t know for sure, but as a Gentile himself from somewhere in this region, Luke would’ve deeply understood the social/cultural dynamic of life and ministry in a big city like Antioch. And what an exciting time/place to do ministry! Antioch was the first place where people were called Christians, which means “Christ people” or “Messiah people.” Before this, the Jewish disciples of Jesus were known as the Way because they followed the way of Jesus. But here, with the inclusion of Jew and Gentile peoples in the work that God was doing through the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, we see what would become the pattern of the Christian movement for the next two thousand years, which would utterly change the course of human history. Nothing would be the same after Antioch. God was calling all people, Jew and Gentile, to believe in Jesus as Lord and receive him as the Savior of their lives and to learn his way with his people by the power of his Spirit until his return. Barnabas saw it and was glad. Paul was brought in to help and was; I’m sure, glad as well. It’s an incredible honor to have a front-row seat to watch what God is doing in someone’s life. Let’s finish this passage.
Acts 11:27–30 (NIV), “During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.” So here, we find a number of interesting things. First, the believers (now called Christians) in Antioch saw themselves as united to a universal Church that transcended not just ethnic barriers but time and space as well. They saw the Christians in Judea as their own brothers and sisters in Christ who needed their help in a time of famine. This unity was what Jesus prayed for on the night before his crucifixion. And this unity is what we have today, being united by faith with other Christians all over the world. Sometimes, sadly, there is a spirit of competition or even of disdain for Christians from another church or another place, but this is not how it should be. Jew and Gentile, male and female, young and old, rich and poor, all are one in Christ. Second, we see that this spiritual revival/awakening resulted in radical generosity to the needs of the poor and those in need. And we’ll come back to this point, but for now, just notice that faith in Jesus resulted in generosity and good works. As a result, the Christians in Antioch entrusted their financial gifts to Barnabas and Saul to bring to the elders or leaders in the church in Jerusalem.
For the remainder of our time today, I’d like to close by briefly observing three principles of spiritual revival/awakening that we see in this passage that I believe is still true for us today. Do you want to see a revival in your lifetime? Do you mourn for the brokenness/darkness of the world? Do you long for God to do a miraculous work in our day?
Regular believers shared the gospel, and people responded in faith according to God’s grace. Remember that when the believers were scattered back in Acts 8, Luke says that everyone scattered except the Apostles. So it wasn’t the preaching or planning of the apostles that led directly to what God was doing in Antioch. This unexpected outpouring of God’s grace was happening because regular Christians were sharing good news with other regular people in their regular lives. No doubt, this included friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Regular believers shared the gospel, and people responded in faith according to God’s grace. As Paul would later say, he planted God’s word, and Apollos watered, but it was God who brought the growth. We can plant seeds of God’s word. We can share the story of what God is doing in our life. We can help point people to what is true. We can bring people to church. We can pray for people. But the results are completely up to God. Sometimes the fruit seems to be few and far between. Other times, according to God’s wisdom and timing, he pours out an unexpected amount of grace, and many people respond within a short period of time. The results aren’t up to us, but we must be faithful in sharing the gospel and trust the Lord to do his saving work in his timing.
Leaders taught and led the church, giving Spirit-led order and direction to the movement. The bulk of the ministry of the church is done by the people of the church. This was true in Antioch, and it’s true for us today. But leadership is needed for any organization to flourish for the long run, even a supernatural movement of the Spirit. As people were coming to faith, they needed to grow in their knowledge of the truth, which required Biblical teaching. They needed structure and organization, which required someone to make decisions and offer wisdom. They needed counseling and someone to model what mature faith looked like, which required men and women to lovingly lead. Christ is the head of the church, but he provides leaders for his church to equip the saints/people for the works of ministry. In this way, speaking the truth in love, the whole body is built up in unity, love, and maturity.
Vibrant, growing faith resulted in good works, particularly for those in need. Immediately after Luke describes this unexpected outpouring of grace, we have an example of radical generosity.
Paul the Persecuted: When Saul (Paul), a brilliant but violent persecutor of Christians, met Jesus on the road to Damascus — it changed everything in his life. His passion and direction in life were now running in the opposite direction: He wanted to tell everyone about Jesus! Of course, it wasn’t long before he started experiencing persecution himself. There is no in-between with Jesus. Recorded on May 7, 2023, on Acts 9:19-31 by Pastor David Parks.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series on the life of the Apostle Paul. And Paul’s story is fascinating, but it also serves as a great case study for learning the way of Jesus. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians at the very start of the Christian movement. But then, Paul met Jesus, which changed everything. So, as we saw last week, Paul the persecutor became Paul the Christian after seeing the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus and being baptized by Ananias. What would happen next? How would this zealous persecutor of Christians explain his conversion to Christ? Would his peers, friends, and family accept him or reject him? What would happen when he goes back to Jerusalem? Would the Christians accept him after his intense persecution of them, or would they be hesitant like Ananias was initially? One thing is sure, after meeting Jesus, Paul’s life would never be the same. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to Acts 9:19. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well. But today, we’ll read through this passage and unpack it as we go, and I’ll close with just one takeaway from Paul the Persecuted.
Acts 9:19–22 (NIV), “Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.” Ok, let’s pause here. So after his conversion and baptism, Saul stayed with his new Christian friends in Damascus. Given his incredible zeal and his education as a Pharisee, it shouldn’t surprise us too much to find that he immediately started preaching. But where did he start telling people that Jesus is the Son of God? At the synagogue. The synagogue was a congregation of Jews who gathered together to pray, read from the Hebrew Bible, sing songs of praise (usually from the Psalms), and live out their faith together. It would have been similar in many ways to our church today. But the synagogue was where Saul was most comfortable. Remember, he was raised by devoutly Jewish parents who traced their lineage to the ancient Israelite tribe of Benjamin and who sent him to school under the most respected rabbi in Jerusalem. But for Saul, becoming a Christian didn’t mean his Jewish faith no longer mattered. He saw Jesus as the fulfillment of his Jewish faith. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. He was the one the whole Hebrew bible was about. He was the one in whom Yahweh God was accomplishing his saving and redemptive work. Jesus was the true Adam, ruling and reigning over creation; he was the true Noah, providing salvation from judgment against sin; he was the true Abraham, in whom God was forming a people for himself; he was the true Moses, leading God’s people out of captivity to sin and death; he was the true and ultimate prophet, priest, and king. And the more Saul preached this message, the more astonished people were. Luke says they were baffled. Wasn’t this the one who raised havoc in Jerusalem? And now he won’t stop talking about Jesus! The force of Paul’s personality comes out a little with the description that he was proving that Jesus was the Messiah. Let’s keep going with v. 23.
Acts 9:23–25 (NIV), “23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.” Ok! The astonishment and bafflement eventually turns against him. Luke writes that after many days, but we know from Paul’s letters that it was about three years after he became a Christian that he had to flee Damascus for his life. He mentions this time period in several letters, but let me read you a section from his letter to the Galatians. “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas [Peter] and stayed with him fifteen days.” (Gal 1:13–18) So from that account, at some point during the many days Paul ministered in Damascus, he went into Arabia. We have no other information about that trip. But there are several theories for why he went into the desert wilderness. The most compelling to me is offered by N.T. Wright, in his biography of Paul. Wright thinks that Paul, influenced by Elijah’s trip to meet with God at Mount Sinai in 1 Kings 19, wanted to go meet with God himself. I think that’s possible, but we’ll have to wait until heaven to ask him ourselves. At any rate, Paul came back to Damascus and his new Christian friends before he had to escape in the dark of night. This wouldn’t be the last time he would face violent persecution. Paul’s ministry, just like Jesus’ ministry, would produce powerful enemies. v. 26
Acts 9:26–27 (NIV), “26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.” Again, despite his zeal and powerful intellect and education and all that, the mighty Paul still needed help. Paul had needed Ananias, and now he needed Barnabas. So Barnabas was actually a man named Joseph, who was a Hellenistic Jew from the island of Cyprus. That meant he was ethnically Jewish but was culturally Greek. He got the nickname of Barnabas from the apostles, which means “son of encouragement,” and that says a lot about what type of man he was. There are really two options when it comes to nicknames with guys. Either Joseph was the least encouraging guy in the group, in which case his nickname was ironic (like a big guy called Tiny), or it was a truly earned name based on his character. Given his commitment over the years to the fiery Apostle Paul, I think Barnabas was the kind of guy you would want to have in your corner. Luke writes of him that “He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (Ac 11:24) through his ministry later in Antioch. But when Paul arrived in Jerusalem after having been a Christian for three years and having done ministry in Damascus, still, no one trusted him in Jerusalem, and I wouldn’t have either. Three years is a long time, but not long enough to forget that Paul was there when Stephen was killed. Or that Paul was the one who went house to house seeking to destroy the church. The Christians in Jerusalem thought this was some sort of evil trick. But just as the Lord provided Ananias to vouch for Paul in Damascus, so he provided Barnabas to vouch for him in Jerusalem. We all need a Barnabas. Let’s finish our passage starting with v. 28.
Acts 9:28–31 (NIV), “28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Ok! So here, Paul is most likely in his late twenties. He’s been a Christian for a few years. And he’s back to Jerusalem, where he lived and received his education, and developed powerful connections with the Sanhedrin, including the chief priest. I could imagine that it might be tempting for him to just blend in, but that wasn’t Paul. Once he was accepted by the Christians in Jerusalem, Paul spoke boldly in the name of Jesus. Just as he sought to prove that Jesus was the Messiah in Damascus, he talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews in Jerusalem. Paul was about as subtle as a hammer. Soon enough, he had people who wanted to kill him in Jerusalem. And so (and I just think this is funny), the other believers took him down to the port at Caesarea, put him on a boat, and shipped him back home to Tarsus in Cilicia or southeastern Turkey. And did Luke do this on purpose? His next statement is that once Paul was shipped off, the church enjoyed a time of peace and growth. (Get Paul out of here!) Of course, this is not the end of Paul’s story. But this is the start of a period of about ten years where Paul disappears from the Bible. He doesn’t come back into the story of the book of Acts until the revival at Antioch, which we’ll look at next week. And who should go get Paul but Barnabas, of course. After a decade in obscurity, living and working and maturing in his faith, when Paul reappears, he’s still bold (that never changes), but he’s much more humble. It’s clear the Lord has done a major work in his life. Paul will still cause a disruption in many places during his missionary journeys. But going forward, it’ll be because of his message and not as much because of the messenger. And praise God! People aren’t argued or debated, or forced into the kingdom of God. Paul learned this eventually, and once he did, he became the most fruitful missionary in all of history. So how do we apply this story to our lives today? I’ll leave you with just one takeaway.
There is no in-between with Jesus. Jesus is either alive or he’s not. He’s either the King of kings and the Lord of lords or he’s not. There’s no in-between. C.S. Lewis famously wrote that Jesus is either a lunatic, a liar, or he is the Lord of all. And Paul knew this. If Jesus was who he claimed to be and did what he said he would do, then he is the Messiah, he is the Son of God, and therefore, he deserves the whole of our lives. But if Jesus isn’t who he claimed to be or didn’t do what he said he would do, then he deserves nothing. There is no in-between. When Paul realized that Jesus had, in fact, risen from the dead and was the Lord of heaven and earth, he knew he had to go from persecutor to persecuted. He had to turn all the way around and be willing to give up everything and anything that held him back from total obedience to Christ. If there’s no in-between to who Jesus is, then there’s no in-between to following him. Sure, Paul would continue to wrestle, as we all do, with the temptations of the flesh. He would continue to make mistakes. He still had some rough edges to his personality. He wasn’t perfect yet. But he knew he couldn’t be a Christian on Sunday and forget about Jesus for the rest of the week. He knew he couldn’t just silently accept Jesus in his heart and keep it a secret. Of course, no thinking person wants to be persecuted, but if Jesus was Lord, then Paul had to tell others, even if it cost him relationships or opportunities or even his life. Now, there was a time in my life when I was pretty sure that Jesus was Lord, but I knew that if I really believed that, then a lot would need to change. I don’t know if you ever had a time like that, but I was hesitant to give over all of my life to him. His authority in my mind only extended to the places I was comfortable giving him. I was scared that I would lose control. I was scared about what it might cost me. I was scared I’d have to give up things I thought I needed. But I knew on some level that if Jesus was real, then he deserved all of my life. But as Paul would later write, whatever I thought were gains apart from Jesus were actually losses. Because nothing compares to knowing Jesus and being known by him. So today, what about you? Where are you in your heart in relation to Jesus? Maybe you don’t know what you think about Jesus but haven’t put much thought into it. I would say, if there’s even a chance that he is who he claimed to be, then isn’t it worth it to find out? Don’t be passive. Dig in and see what you think. If he’s real, you have everything to gain. Or maybe you’re thinking about becoming a Christian. Then you need to know what you’re getting into. It’s a whole-life commitment. Jesus called all people to follow him but was constantly telling them to count the cost. If you want to find your life, you’re going to have to lose it first. If you’re ready to pay this cost, if you’re ready to love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, then you’re ready. Or maybe you are a young believer, like Paul in Damascus. Then maybe you need some time to learn and grow and mature in your faith. Don’t try and win arguments for Jesus. Arguing and debating aren’t helpful. Invite people into your life, love them, and let the whole church share good news with them. Be humble. Be a learner. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1Pe 5:6) Or maybe you are a mature believer? Then maybe you need to be like Barnabas and come alongside a younger believer. Help them. Encourage them. Put them on a ship and send them back home if they need it. You can come to faith in an instant, but it takes many years to grow and mature in your faith. Devote yourselves to this task for others. No one matures on their own. Finally, you might still ask the Lord to reveal any area of your heart or mind, or life that is not given over to the Lordship of Christ. If he is Lord, then he is Lord of all. There is no in-between with Jesus. But when he becomes the Lord of all, when he increases, and we decrease, when his Spirit bears his good fruit in our lives, it’s the best. There is nothing better. There is no better way. There is no better life. So today, may we enjoy a time of peace and strengthening. May we live in the fear of the Lord and be encouraged by the Holy Spirit. And Lord, if it be your will, may we increase in numbers for your glory and our joy and the good of all people. Let us pray.
Paul the Christian: Paul’s conversion experience on the road to Damascus is one of the most awesome and best-known conversion experiences in the Bible. But after he spends three days praying, we see an act of great faith on behalf of a local Christ-follower. Ananias is called to go visit a man that he knows is a violent persecutor of the early Church. But through his faithful obedience, Ananias helps to kick off the most prolific missionary ministry of all time. Recorded on Apr 30, 2023, on Acts 9:1-19 by Kyle Wagner.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Paul the Persecutor: We’re introduced to the Apostle Paul in the Bible as Saul, a zealous young religious leader at the killing of Stephen, a deacon in the early church. After this, Saul went from house to house, seeking to destroy the church. In the face of this intense persecution, the church scattered. Despite all this, God did miraculous works as the gospel spread throughout Judea and Samaria. Recorded on Apr 23, 2023, on Acts 7:54-8:8 by Pastor David Parks.
The Life of Paul is a new sermon series (mostly) from the book of Acts in the Bible. The Apostle Paul has a fantastic story. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who was a violent persecutor of Christians. But then he met Jesus, which changed everything. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who ever lived. Paul’s story offers a great case study of what it looks like to learn the way of Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series we started last week on the life of the Apostle Paul. We were reminded last week that everyone has a story. You and I have a story just as Paul had a story. And God has the power and intention to take our stories and shape them and mold them in incredible ways for his glory and our joy, and the good of all people. Paul’s story is fascinating, but it also serves as a great case study for learning the way of Jesus. Born Saul of Tarsus, Paul was a brilliant young man who, as we’ll see today, was a violent persecutor of Christians at the very start of the Christian movement. But then, Paul met Jesus, which changed everything. So, Paul, the persecutor, became Paul the Christian, which we’ll see next week. Eventually, Paul would become not only the preeminent Apostle to the Roman world but one of the most influential people who has ever lived. Throughout this series, we’re going to continue to ask: How did all this happen? How did someone so diametrically opposed to the Christian faith become the greatest missionary for Christ? How do you explain this? Well, today, we’ll consider the darkest chapter of Paul’s story, when, as a young man zealous for the religion of his ancestors — angry, violent, blaspheming, ignorant, and unbelieving — Saul of Tarsus waged a personal vendetta to destroy the followers of Jesus. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open to Acts 7:54. We’ll put the Scripture up on the screens for you as well. We’ll read through this whole passage, and then we’ll go back and unpack it together. And I hope you’ll see three things: 1. The Battle 2. The Believer 3. The Beauty of a God who saves by grace.
Acts 7:54-8:8 (NIV), “54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. 8:1 And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.“
So the book of Acts is actually the second of a two-part series that was written by a man named Luke. Luke was a physician who became a Christian, most likely through the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Luke did a careful investigation of Jesus, interviewing many of the eyewitnesses of the life and ministry of Jesus. The results of that investigation are the books of Luke and Acts in the bible. Now, the book of Acts basically asks the question, after the resurrection of Jesus, what happened next? But also, much of what we know of Paul’s story is found here in the book of Acts.
Acts 7:54-58a (NIV), “When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.” Ok, let’s pause here. So I tried to figure out where to jump into this scene, but it starts all the way back in chapter 6. So we’re coming in at the end. But what has been happening is this: Stephen was a deacon in the early church, which meant he was a leader who helped the Apostles with the ministry of the church. As the church grew, the responsibilities and supporting structures, and leadership needed to grow as well. The Apostles couldn’t do everything everywhere; they needed the help of godly men and women. Stephen was one of the first deacons chosen because he was known to be a man who was full of the Spirit, faith, and wisdom. This brother was full of God’s grace and power. But at some point after becoming a deacon in the church, despite his impeccable character, there were men in Jerusalem who stirred up trouble and brought false accusations against him because he was a Christian. So he was brought before the Sanhedrin or the Jewish ruling council. In Acts 7, Stephen delivers an incredible speech where he goes back through the history of the Jewish people, culminating with the fact that they had killed Jesus, the Righteous One, sent by God to be the savior of the world. He might’ve also mentioned that the Sanhedrin was standing in the line of people who had persecuted and killed God’s prophets and were resisting the Holy Spirit, which I’m sure they loved to hear. Then, before the whole counsel, Stephen has a vision of Jesus, high and lifted up, standing at the right hand of God. The members of the Sanhedrin were furious and counted this as unquestionable blasphemy, saying that the man, Jesus of Nazareth, the one they had killed, was not only alive but was himself equal to God. Blasphemy was deserving of death under the Mosaic Law, so Stephen was dragged outside the city to be killed by stoning. What an injustice! Stephen was a good man who was telling the truth, and, like Jesus, he would pay with his life.
Acts 7:58b-8:1a (NIV), “Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of their killing him.” On this dark day, we’re introduced to Saul of Tarsus as an enemy of the church. We don’t know exactly how old he was, but Luke says he was a young man. If he had been born around 10 AD, Paul would’ve been about 25 years old at this point. As Stephen was martyred, Paul guarded the possessions of those who killed him and approved of all this. I truly wonder how often Paul thought of this day later in his life, after his vision of Jesus, high and lifted up on the road to Damascus, after he became a Christian. On this side of eternity, Paul couldn’t go back and apologize to Stephen; he just had to live with what he had done in light of the forgiveness of Jesus. But at this time, it only got worse for the followers of Jesus.
Acts 8:1b-3 (NIV), “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.” Now, we’ve really never seen this level of persecution for our faith. Our culture has steadily become more secular for several generations now, but people aren’t being thrown in prison for being Christians. However, there are people around the world today who do face this level of persecution. And we should pray for them and help them if we can. But back then, after Stephen’s death, something changed in Jerusalem. And Luke writes that everyone except the Apostles were scattered throughout Judea (the region around Jerusalem) and Samaria (the region next door). Imagine knowing and loving Stephen as your brother, seeing him killed, and then having to flee with your family and just the possessions you could carry. Imagine the fear, uncertainty, and grief of that time. And Paul moved from a place of approval to a place of leadership against the men and women who followed the way of Jesus. Going from house to house, like the Nazis would do many years later looking for Jews, Paul hunted Christians, no doubt to find more blasphemers to put to death. Now at this point, if we ended our reading here, what would you predict would be the future of the Christian church? A brilliant young man in a position of power seeking to destroy the church. Not good, right? Pretty hopeless, it would seem. But it wasn’t hopeless. See what happened. See what happens when you scatter the people of God, full of the Spirit of God.
Acts 7:54-8:8 (NIV), “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.” This passage starts with one of my favorite verses in the book of Acts. “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” How incredible is that?? If we were scattered, would that be true for us? I pray it would be. But this whole situation wasn’t God losing control. After the resurrection, Jesus told his disciples that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and they were to be his “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Ac 1:8) But up until this point they had stayed in Jerusalem. When this terrible persecution started, and the believers scattered, they brought the gospel with them and told people about Jesus wherever they went. Saul and the enemies of God had tried to kill this early Christian movement, but God used their wicked attempts to make his story/message/mission go viral. This is the redeeming power of God. Later, Paul himself would become a man like this — one who would talk about Jesus wherever he went. But one of those faithful men and women who were scattered was a man named Philip. And Philip was a deacon just as Stephen had been. And in Samaria (and later elsewhere), Philip demonstrated the miraculous power of God as a sign which served to verify the authenticity of the gospel message. And despite the fact that Jews and Samaritans generally hated each other at this time, many Samaritans heard Philip’s message and experienced God’s healing power, and there was great joy in that city. Praise God! This is basically the whole book of Acts right here in this passage. Last week, we started The Life of Paul about twenty years after this time, when Paul could look back at his life before becoming a Christian and all the good things he had going for him and say all that was garbage compared to knowing Jesus. But here, we see that despite having the right family background and the right nationality, the best education, and being himself very smart and bold in his personality, he was lost. He was hopeless. He needed a savior. He needed Jesus. Could God save a man like that? The answer is yes. And the change was dramatic, as we’ll see in the weeks ahead. But for today, what lessons can we take from this chapter of Paul’s story? How might we apply this to our lives today? I have three brief thoughts. In this story, we see, first, the battle, second, the believer, and third, the beauty of a God who saves by grace.
The Battle: An important point to see here is that from the very beginning of the Christian faith, there is strong opposition. It wasn’t a neutral spiritual environment; it was a battlefield. This fits with what Jesus taught. You see, Jesus called men and women to follow him, but he constantly followed that calling with a warning to count the cost. If you follow me, you will need to lose your life to find it. If you follow me, the world will treat you as it treated me. If you follow me, you will experience pain and hardship; you will have trouble. But Jesus was clear, Christians shouldn’t lose their faith or hope when these hardships come. He would give us His Holy Spirit, we would have the truth of his word, we would have one another in the church, and he would be with us every step of the way. So not if, but when the battle comes, we should not be surprised or panic, but trust in him, stand up for the truth as Stephen so faithfully did, and leave the outcome up to our good Father in heaven. Now, I’m not talking about silly things like people saying happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I doubt that’s what was happening in the Book of Acts. I’m talking about real persecution, the type of persecution we see today in places like China or Egypt, or Nigeria, where followers of Jesus are imprisoned or killed. If you think that you’re following Jesus today in a neutral spiritual environment, you will be shocked when difficulties come. You shouldn’t be afraid because Jesus said, take heart, have courage, for he has overcome the world. But we should be prepared. We should be ready.
The Believer: In Stephen’s story and in Philip’s story, and in the stories of all the other men and women who were scattered during this time, we see what it looks like to be a believer in Jesus. It means that wherever you are and whoever you are with, you have been entrusted with the gospel. You have the word of God, which reveals who God is, what God has done, and what he is doing today through his Son and Spirit. You have the words of life which bring forgiveness for sin, reconciliation with God, the hope of eternal life and joy and peace, and so much more. Whether we live in relative peace and security or whether we, too, are scattered, we are responsible for sharing this good news with a world that is lost without Christ. And look at the power of God at work! Despite the battle, God is working powerfully among all peoples in bringing many people to faith in Jesus. Paul was not yet a believer, but he soon would be. And he, too, would join the work of the gospel. What we see in Acts is still happening today. In China, despite the fact that they are an atheistic state, if Christianity continues to grow at the rate of the last 50 years, there will soon be more Christians in China than people in the United States. God is still at work, and people are still being saved, and lives are still being transformed. This is how it was from the beginning and how it is today.
The Beauty of a God who Saves by Grace: Later in life, Paul wrote to his younger friend Timothy saying, in 1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NIV), “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” The story of the book of Acts and the story of Paul’s life is really a story about the grace and power of God. It’s a beautiful story. One where God is willing to rescue his enemies and make his enemies his own beloved children. One where he was willing to send his one and only son. One where Jesus the Son was willing to lay down his life for all. It’s a story worthy of all the glory, honor, and praise. It’s a story that will change everything about you if you let it. So today, we live on a battlefield as believers in Jesus. But we are people who have been wrecked in the best way possible by the beauty of a God who saves us by his grace. Let us never forget, let us never lose sight of this, let us never stop singing the praises of him who lived and died and is risen for us, his former enemies who are now his friends, and his brothers and sisters who will live forever in his kingdom. I can’t think of anything better. Let us pray.
