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September 23, 2012

Acts 14:1-28 / Key Verse 22

"Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God’, they said." -Act 14:22-

Anyang Aseo! Ni Hao! Asalaam Aleikum! Mbalamu Siza! Hamjambo! Good morning! How was the breakfast today? I hope you enjoyed it. This conference has been like a good dream to me. This was my first time to be in Kampala Uganda and I have loved it. I feel like I would like the conference to go on and on and on, don’t you feel so too? Unfortunately this being our last main lecture it is now time to conclude the conference. It has been so short!

Through this conference we have learned a lot. In main lecture one, we learned about our personal witness of Jesus as our Christ, the saviour. In lecture two, we learned that Jesus commissioned all of us to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Now, we want to learn how we can practically witness Jesus. From Apostle Paul’s life of mission, we learn that in order to be the witness of Jesus, we must go through suffering for his name's sake. In today’s passage we see Paul’s spiritual and physical suffering. May God help us to learn the spirit of witnessing of Jesus even through suffering!

Let us pray

Part One: Paul went through spiritual suffering (1-18).

In Acts 13, God set apart Paul and Barnabas for world mission. They travelled from Antioch through the regions of Cyprus, Pamphylia and Pisidian Antioch. In all these regions they boldly declared the message of the grace of God. In Acts 14, they reached the region of Iconium. Look at vs. 1-3 to see their mission in this area. At Iconium, as was his custom, Paul effectively spoke the message of the grace of God. So effective was the message to the Jews and Gentiles that a great number of them believed in Jesus. Some Jews however refused to believe and stirred the Gentiles and poisoned them.

Nevertheless, Paul and Barnabas were not intimidated by the unbelieving Jews. In fact, the Jews' poisoning words were an encouragement to them to witness Jesus

more. Instead of giving up and going to another town, Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there speaking boldly for the Lord, “You, foreigner, go away! Kingdom of God is near! Repent! You, blasphemer, go home! Jesus is the Christ!” When Paul and Barnabas showed determination in witnessing Jesus, The Lord confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.

What can we learn from this? It would be a good thing if we could witness Jesus and all men accept and believe the message in unison. But this is not always the case; practically wherever we witness Jesus, some accept the message and believe, while others reject and persecute us. But when we devote our hearts in witnessing the gospel, eventually God is the one who does his work in the midst of rejections and persecutions.

As Paul continued to teach, more and more people were converted to the team of those who believed. Soon the Jews realized that they could not keep people from believing in the grace of God by words only, so they resorted to more physical means. Together with their leaders, the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles began plotting to harm Paul’s team. When Paul and Barnabas heard of this plan, they fled from Iconium.

Now, were they running away from persecution for the fear of death? No, I do not think so. I believe that this was a decision of faith rather than running away from mission! I believe they saw that the local shepherds at Iconium needed to grow in faith through taking up the leadership responsibility! My colleagues! If our missionaries left, would you run away too?

Now, let's look at verses 6-7 to see Paul’s next mission centre. From Iconium, Paul and Barnabas travelled to the city of Lystra in the region of Lycaonia. There they continued to preach the good news. In vs. 8, while preaching Paul saw a man lame from birth that had faith to be healed. Paul called out to him, “Stand up on your feet!” Although the man had never walked before, he immediately jumped up and walked. It was wonderful work of God through one man's faith in Jesus! But what happened to the people of Lystra? Look at verses 11-12. The crowd mixed this sign from God with their traditional belief. In their own language, they shouted, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" "Miungu wametushukia kama watu!" (Sorry, that was in Kiswahili! Not Lycoanian) They called Barnabas ‘Zeus’ their chief god and Paul ‘Harmes’ his chief speaker. I guess it is because Paul was the one who spoke while Barnabas, who was taller, stood beside in silence.

How did Paul and Barnabas react to this? As men this would have been a very big

temptation. In their mission journey they had gone through a lot of rejection. Therefore deep in their hearts they could have needed some recognition and acceptance from people. Now, this naïve people of Lystra were welcoming them and even further they were worshipping them as living gods. (If I were there, I would have told them, "Why don't we leave them alone only for a few minutes! They are only honouring and appreciating what we have done for them!) So did they give in to this temptation?

Let us read together verses 14-15b. "But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15"Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. However strong the temptation was, the apostles did not give in to it. They remembered their commission was to witness Jesus not to seek for human recognition! So, they tore their clothes and ran into the crowds shouting, "Men why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you!" Here, tearing their clothes meant an extreme degree of protest -- zero tolerance! They had no hint whatsoever for seeking praise from men or gaining human glory. In vs. 15c to 17, Paul and Barnabas struggled to witness Jesus declaring the kindness of God to the people of Lystra. Through this struggle, they were able to keep the people from offering sacrifices to them.

What can we learn from Paul and Barnabas here? Through this example they revealed the most important attitude in witnessing Jesus: Being careful not to take any glory for ourselves. They were careful to keep their mission firmly focused on witnessing Jesus, and Jesus only!

My co-worker once told me that I have a wonderful voice and I speak English well. Do you agree? With this thought while serving announcements after Sunday worship service, I have had a desire that even more people would see and appreciate my voice. Because of this I have developed a proud heart while serving God, seeking human recognition and appreciation. I repent my proud heart and ask God to give me a humble heart that will serve him and him only.

Part Two: Paul's Physical Suffering to Witness Jesus (19-28)

Now, what happened next? Owing to Paul’s growing popularity and public influence, the Jews became greatly inspired to terrorize and finish him off completely. Let us read verse 19. Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. Imagine how painful it is to be hit with a stone! If anyone of you cannot

imagine how painful it can be, please ask the brother seated next to you hit you with his fist! I am sure the pain from the stone is 10 times more painful than of the fist! Now, imagine how Paul must have felt with stones coming at him from all directions. After the stoning he must have been knocked down with his face and body completely swollen. Also his clothes could have been soaked in blood and probably some bones were broken. No one could recognize him! Then, in this state, those who stoned Paul, dragged him and threw him out of the city thinking he was dead! They must have congratulated each other for successfully carrying out their mission.

But what was God’s plan? Look at verses 20-21. Some disciples came from the city to find Paul and probably prepare his body for burial. When they had gathered around him, God performed a miraculous work. Paul, who had been left dead, came back to his senses. Maybe his fingers might have tweaked first, and then his leg and finally his eyes could have opened. Then he could have tried to get up but could have fallen down, again and again. When his body failed, he must have crawled on his hands and knees back into the city probably preaching in pain: "Jesus is the Christ!" Yet the next day, he left for Derbe with Barnabas. And there he continued preaching the good news and won a large number of disciples. Wow! I am sure he wasn’t properly healed yet he still continued witnessing Jesus! His Spirit was witness Jesus to the last breath!

What can we learn from Paul about his witnessing spirit? When Paul was beaten to death, did he complain? When he awoke, was he scared and ready to give up mission journey ? No, it seems rather, he was more encouraged to continue his witnessing mission! How could he do that? He could do so because he had Jesus in his heart! He could do so because he remembered Jesus died for him. He could do so because he loved Jesus from heart! He could do so because he had resurrection faith! When we want to witness Jesus, we need to have Jesus deep in our hearts! We also should have resurrection faith!

Recently we had an opportunity to witness with this spirit. Usually in the Kenyan mission, each shepherd prepares some snacks for his sheep. This is a very great motivation for the sheep to attend the Bible study. One shepherd who was struggling to be self-supporting prepared and served his sheep with some delicious snacks during Bible study and the sheep was very happy. What the sheep did not know was that the money the shepherd had used to buy the snacks was actually the only money the shepherd had. That night, the shepherd had to sleep hungry. His dinner was a cup of water. His bed was his company’s office desk because he could not travel home. I thank God for such sacrificial shepherds.

Now, let's see how Paul took such spiritual and physical suffering? Let's read verse 21-22 together. “They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,' they said." Paul encouraged the believers saying, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God!"

Many African shepherds have gone through great suffering and many hardships in their early years. Because of this, we hate even to hear the words "suffering and hardship!" Yet Paul’s encouraging word is: "We must go through many hardships!” So why should we agree to go through many hardships? Paul encourages us to look at suffering and hardship in the light of resurrection faith. Suffering is a key to inheriting the great hope of the kingdom of God. We do not go through suffering because we love to suffer; no, we go through it in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore we can rejoice even in suffering. After this conference, I pray that we may have many African shepherds rejoicing in their suffering as witnesses of Jesus!

Finally after a long mission journey Paul came back to the Antioch church. Let us look at vs. 23–28. At Antioch, Paul called the church together in order to give his mission report. What was the content of his mission report? Did he emphasize how much he had suffered showing his broken nose and scarred face? Let us read together verse 27, "On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." Paul emphasized that God had done great work in Gentiles hearts to believe in Jesus. Paul emphasized that God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles that they may become a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. In fact, through this mission report, in chapter 15, the Jerusalem council made a decision that became great in church history for the Gentile believers to be accepted in Christian fellowship. Imagine, if Paul had reported suffering and pain of doing world mission work?

During my campus life, I experienced the power of God to overcome sin through faithful Bible study and testimony sharing. Through this and Jesus’ command to Peter to feed his lambs in John 21:15, I accepted the calling to be a campus shepherd. After university study, I had to struggle with self-supporting for more than three years without a stable job. Yet, during this time, I had to be a shepherd to my sheep; I had to come for Bible study, and attend Sunday worship service. It was a big struggle to witness Jesus during this time. Eventually, God granted me a job with the ministry of Lands greatly easing my self-supporting struggle.

Through the hardship experience I had, I have come to desire a calm and secure life. Even though our Kenyan prayer topic has been to send a missionary to a nearby country, I have had no thought to leave the calm and stable life that I live now. My desire has been that someone else, another shepherd will be the one to go as a missionary.

But Paul’s life and message to the elders and the believers is a reminder to me: That I must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. My calling is not to have a comfortable and secure life free from trouble; my calling is to witness the grace of God wherever there are lost campus souls. Even if it means giving up my job, giving up the easy life, and giving up my life in death, I have to witness to Jesus where he sends me. I pray that remembering the great promise of the kingdom of God, I may have the same sacrificial spirit of witnessing Jesus as Paul had.

When I was preparing this message, God touched my heart to pray to pioneer Rwanda or South Sudan. However, yesterday, I realized that those countries had been pioneered. God had gone ahead of me so fast. So, this morning, I have adjusted my prayer topic a little bit. If God wills, I want to pioneer Ethiopia or DR Congo. But again, based on Main lecture 2, I realized that Kenya has five public universities. But again, based on Main lecture 2, I realized that Kenya has five public universities that are not yet pioneered. I pray that I may pioneer one of them first as my Jerusalem. Then, I will obey him to go anywhere, at any time! Please pray for me to be a genuine witness of Jesus in this generation!

Let us read our key verse:

"Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God’, they said."

Related Article "North Eastern African Conf. Report"- http://ubf.org/content/north-eastern-african-regional-bible-conference-final-update-kampala-uganda