Acts Part 18 - The Mission to Pagans

7/31/2019 Acts Part 18 - The Mission to Pagans

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the mission

to pagans

R W GLENNDATE: 4.29.2012

SCRIPTURE: acts 14:1-28

SERIES: acts series #18


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IntroductIon

Success costs you something. Youve probably heard that beore. To climb the

ladder or success in the world, its not going to come easy. I dont know who

said this. Id like to think I did. You have to pay the price i you want the prize.

The same is true when it comes to success in Christian ministry. I you look at

the history o the spread o the gospel it is ull o setback and suering. The

more the good news o Jesus has gone out into the world, the more it makes

headway, the more you can expect opposition, persecution, and suering. The

Christian mission simply cannot be accomplished without it.

And as we come to Chapter 14 in our study o the book o Acts, the reality

o the cost o the missions success hits us squarely in the ace. Turn with me

there.

To this point in the book o Acts, weve seen EXAMPLES o suering, which

by implication are meant to show us that suering is a non-negotiable or the

Christian lie, but weve not yet seen an EXPLICIT declaration that suering is

NECESSARY. This is the rst time we see this in the book o Acts.

Lets read the chapter together.

Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and

spoke in such a way that a great number o both Jews and Greeks believed.

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds

against the brothers. So they remained or a long time, speaking boldly

or the Lord, who bore witness to the word o his grace, granting signs

and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people o the city were

divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. When

an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to

mistreat them and to stone them, they learned o it and fed to Lystra and

Derbe, cities o Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they

continued to preach the gospel. Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who

could not use his eet. He was crippled rom birth and had never walked. He

listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that


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he had aith to be made well, said in a loud voice, Stand upright on your

eet. And he sprang up and began walking. And when the crowds saw

what Paul had done, they lited up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, The

gods have come down to us in the likeness o men! Barnabas they called

Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chie speaker. And the priesto Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and

garlands to the gates and wanted to oer sacrice with the crowds. But

when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard o it, they tore their garments

and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, Men, why are you doing these

things? We also are men, o like nature with you, and we bring you good

news, that you should turn rom these vain things to a living God, who

made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past

generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he

did not leave himsel without witness, or he did good by giving you rains

rom heaven and ruitul seasons, satisying your hearts with ood and

gladness. Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people rom

oering sacrice to them. But Jews came rom Antioch and Iconium, and

having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out o

the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered

about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on

with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city

and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium andto Antioch, strengthening the souls o the disciples, encouraging them to

continue in the aith, and saying that through many tribulations we must

enter the kingdom o God. And when they had appointed elders or them

in every church, with prayer and asting they committed them to the Lord

in whom they had believed. Then they passed through Pisidia and came to

Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down

to Attalia, and rom there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been

commended to the grace o God or the work that they had ullled. And

when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that

God had done with them, and how he had opened a door o aith to the

Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.

There it is in vese 22:


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strengthening the souls o the disciples, encouraging them to continue

in the aith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the

kingdom o God.

Put very simply, in order to enjoy all the blessings o the abundant lie thatbegins now and is going to continue orever when Jesus comes back to x

all the brokenness thats in you and all around you, you MUST experience

diculty.

You should take that as a huge slap in the ace to the idea that Christianity

is Your Best Lie Now! What a slap in the ace to the prevailing idea that

Christianity is merely a psychological cushion or weak-minded! And what a

slap in the ace to the idea that becoming a Christian means your problems

will just evaporate!

This text couldnt be clearer. thgh ma iblais MuSt ee

he kigm G. The door to the palace o the kingdom is composed o

afiction, distress, persecution, and trouble. There simply is no other way in.

And more than that, and in keeping with the overarching point o the book

o Acts, there is no other way the mission will be accomplished. The kingdom

advances through suering. It is through many tribulations that the churchgrows and the world is transormed.

So i we as Redeemer Bible Church are going to succeed in ullling our role

in the mission to the Twin Cities and to the world, we should not expect it to

come easy. It is hgh ma iblais ha MuSt ee he kigm

G, Redeemer, so buckle up! Its going to be a bumpy ride!

It certainly was or the Apostle Paul and Barnabas. They had incredible

success. And with it, intense suering. Theyre together.

Notice how the passage highlights both their success andtheir suering. Look

at verse 1: Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue

and spoke in such a way that a GREAT number o both Jews and Greeks

believed. Theres the success.


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They hit the synagogue rst (which was their standard practice); that is,

they went right to where all the religious people were. And in this case, the

religious olks were Jews and Greeks (non-Jews who believed in Israels God).

And what does the text say happened? Look at it. It says, They spoke in such

a way that a great number o them believed.

And as we mentioned when we were back in Chapter 13, the such a way

in which they spoke to religious people was very similar to the way youd

speak to a lot o people right here in the Twin Cities. You may recall that the

Twin Cities has more mega-churches per capita than any other city in the

United States. A mega-church is one with over 3,000+ in a weekend. Its real

churchy here in the Twin Cities.

And how do you speak to religious people? Well, think o how I speak to you

every week! Because youre religious, your greatest temptation is to think

that your acceptance with God is based on your religious commitments. Or I

could put it like this: as religious people, your greatest temptation is to think

that Christianity teaches you to amass a resume and bring it to God so he will

accept you.

Its why you eel insecure all the time. Its why theres a nagging question in

the back o your mind: Did I do enough? Am I morally pure enough? HaveI accomplished enough? And because o this insecurity, you also eel the

need to comort yoursel by appeals to how much better you are than the

train wreck sitting next to you, or in your amily, or at work. You eel insecure

because your understanding o Christianity is to amass a resume; you know

your resume is not that good and rather than going to Jesus, you look to how

much better you are than the person sitting next to you. Thats how religion

unctions.

Christianity does not teach that you amass a resume and bring it to God so he

will accept you. Christianity teaches that Jesus amasses a resume FOR you,

gives it to you as a git when you give up on yoursel, and, on that basis alone,

welcomes you to the amily. Its called graceor as you can see in the middle

o verse 3, the word o his grace.

Thats Christianity. And thats what Paul and Barnabas preached to the


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religious people in the synagogue at Iconium.

And what was the result o their preaching in this way? Read verse 1 again. It

says, A GrEAt nuMBEr bh Jews a Geeks believe.

The result was success. Wild success.

And yet, the success would not come easy. Read vese 2-7.


against the brothers. So they remained or a long time, speaking boldly

or the Lord, who bore witness to the word o his grace, granting signs

and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people o the city were

divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. When an

attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat

them and to stone them, they learned o it and fed to Lystra and Derbe,

cities o Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country.

Heres what happens: they preach, its wildly successul, opposition comes (so

much opposition that their lives are threatened), and so they fee. And more

than this, even ater Paul and Barnabas fed, these people who were creating

all these problems FOLLOWED them and ollowed them 100 miles, which inthe ancient world, was ridiculously ar DAYS away. Check out vese 19:

But Jews came rom Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the

crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out o the city, supposing that

he was dead.

They travelled 100 miles or a lynching! They are motivated! And to lynch

him by stoningwhich doesnt mean take the pebbles youd skip across Lake

Minnetonka and start throwing them at Paul. It means go nd the biggest rock

you can and bash the guys head in with it. And i that doesnt work, go get

another one.

He must have been barely conscious, a bloody mess. No wonder the crowds

were supposing he was dead! Thats what I call suering! So theres success


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great success ollowed by great suering. And you might even say that the

general principle is the greater the success, the greater the suering.

SuffErInG LEAdS to SuccESS

And more than the suering FOLLOWING the success, it seems that the

suering LEADS to success. Thats what is remarkable. Isnt that the idea o

verse 22? It is tHrouGH ma iblais ha ee he kigm

G.

You can see this back up in veses 5-7:

When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to

mistreat them and to stone them, they learned o it and fed to Lystra and

Derbe, cities o Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they

continued to preach the gospel.

What caused the gospel move to Lystra and Derbe? Persecution! The

persecution got so hot that the people o Iconium were threatening their

lives. So the apostles FLED (according to verse 6) to Lystra and Derbe, cities

o Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, where they did what? Verse 7:thee he ie peah he gspel.

Did you see that?! The suering doesnt just ACCOMPANY the success, it

actually ACHIEVES it! That is so counter-intuitive.

We think that setbacks, well, setusback. Well, NOT in the hands o a

sovereign God! In His hands, setbacks ACHIEVE success. He uses the setbacks

to accomplish his missionary purposes.

So the setbacks dont set us back AT ALL! It means we are moving orward. It

means the gospel is spreading and the kingdom is advancing.

Its just that you cant see the story that Jesus is writing. Youre a character

in it. And as a character, you cant jump out o the story into the mind o the


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author. You can only know what the author chooses to reveal to you as the

story unolds. Its only ater the act that you realize that the suering HAD to

happen in order to get to just the right place God wants you to be.

And the Lord is so wise in this. We think that because he never gives us thespecics o our suering, that somehow were at a loss. But in reality, you and

I are so weak, that i you knew precisely what you were going to ace youd

avoid it like the plague. And yet, your avoidance o the suering is actually the

thing that will hinder what God is doing in your lie.

So knowing the kind o people you and I really are, the Lord keeps us in the

dark about the details. Its actually BETTER or the mission i you dont know.

Theres a scene in Tolkiens Fellowship o the Ring where a council has been

convened by the great el, Elron, to gure out how to destroy the evil ring o

power and who will travel with Frodo (the ring-bearer) to destroy it. And at

the conerence, Frodos riends Merry and Pippen volunteer to accompany

with him on the dangerous journey:

There remain two more to be ound, said Elrond. .O my household I

may nd some that it seems good to me to send.

But that will leave no place or us! cried Pippin in dismay. We dont wantto be let behind. We want to go with Frodo.

That is because you do not understand and cannot imagine what lies

ahead, said Elrond.

Neither does Frodo, said Gandal, unexpectedly supporting Pippin. Nor

do any o us see clearly. It is true that i these hobbits understood the

danger, they would not dare to go. 1

And thats us! Were hal-lings, pint-sized Hobbits, who i we knew precisely

the dangers that aced us we would not dare to go. So the Lord, knowing our

weakness, doesnt give us the details. But what he does say can comort you:

setbacks are the ROAD to success. So when they come up (and you dont

know when), you dont eel like youre ailing. Youre on the right road.

So then, what have we seen so ar in this passage? Just one thing really: that

success and suering go together in the cause o the Christian mission. Not

1J R R Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (Ballentine, 1955), 331.


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only does suering accompany success, it actually works to achieve that

success.

And you might think that this would make Paul and Barnabas a little gun-shy

when it comes to ullling their role in Jesus mission to the world. Its onething to say, that suering is a necessary evil on the road to success, but its

quite another to run TOWARD the suering that youre acing. And yet, thats

exactly what Paul and Barnabas do three times in this text. They actually run

toward it.

EMBrAcInG tHE SuffErInG

Youre still in the rst paragraph o our text. So check out vese 3 or the rst

example o embracing the suering.

So they remained or a long time, speaking boldly or the Lord, who bore

witness to the word o his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by

their hands.

Did you notice how the verse started with the word so? Its actually the word

thereore. So read vese 2 gehe wih vese 3.


against the brothers. THERFORE they remained or a long time, speaking

boldly or the Lord, who bore witness to the word o his grace, granting

signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

In other words, the REASON Paul and Barnabas remained in Iconium or a

long time is because o verse 2 because unbelieving Jews stirred up the

Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. They said, We need

to stay longer. Crazy when you think about it, isnt it? Its like, Oh, man, these

people are really hostile! We should stay and preach BOLDLY!

Theyre embracing the suering. Theyre not passively accepting it, theyre

embracing it.


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The second example o embracing the suering is ound in vese 20-21, ater

Paul has been stoned and let or dead. Check it out.

But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the

city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When theyhad preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they

returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.

Here in verse 20, Paul has just been stoned almost to death. He decides that

hes going to get up and go BACK INTO the city that he was stoned, and then

the next day, venture out on a 60-mile trip. Now let me ask you a question:

Would you have done this? I dont think I would have. Id want to take a

vacation! Id be like, Dudes, I need some downtime! But Paul gets up, goes

BACK INTO the city, moves on to that multi-day trip, and goes RIGHT ON

preaching the gospel.

The third example o embracing the suering is also ound in verse 21. Read it

with me.

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many

disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.

Do you see what this is saying?! What happened in Lystra? Paul was stoned!

And what happened in Iconium? The unbelieving Jews and Gentiles stirred up

the people and poisoned their minds against the apostles and wanted to stone

both o them. And what happened in Antioch? Well, look up to 13:50.

But the Jews incited the devout women o high standing and the leading

men o the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and

drove them out o their district.

So when you read in 14:21 (you can turn back there) that Paul and Barnabas

RETURNED to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch read this: THEY RAN RIGHT

BACK INTO THE FIRE.

Can you imagine the conversation that the Christians in these cities would


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have had with Paul and Barnabas? What on earth are you guys doing? Paul,

you still look terrible! Are you crazy? People want to KILL you. People tried.

People almost succeeded! Go home. Get out o here.

Isnt that what you would have said to them? I mean, Id be in TOTAL shockthat theyd be back.

But they would answer dierently. What would that answer be? Well, veses

22-23 seem to give us one.

[They returned there,] strengthening the souls o the disciples, encouraging

them to continue in the aith, and saying that through many tribulations we

must enter the kingdom o God. And when they had appointed elders or

them in every church, with prayer and asting they committed them to the

Lord in whom they had believed.

So why did Paul and Barnabas return? Because they were committed to the

mission, because they cared about these people, because Paul and Barnabas

were the only guys who could get them on a trajectory to participate in

the mission themselves? Yes, yes, and yes. But that still doesnt answer the

question.

At least, not or me. I want to know what would motivate them or the whole

project? I want to know why, knowing that it is through many tribulations that

we must enter the kingdom o God I want to know WHY they would run

toward the trouble, the persecution, the diculty, and the suering. What

would give them the courage to do it?

Well, the answer is ound in the paragraph that Luke (the author) deliberately

squeezed in between the persecution that we read about in paragraphs right

beore and right ater it. Read veses 8-18 with me.

Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his eet. He was

crippled rom birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking.

And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had aith to be made

well, said in a loud voice, Stand upright on your eet. And he sprang up


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and began walking. And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they

lited up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, The gods have come down to

us in the likeness o men! Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes,

because he was the chie speaker. And the priest o Zeus, whose temple

was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gatesand wanted to oer sacrice with the crowds. But when the apostles

Barnabas and Paul heard o it, they tore their garments and rushed out into

the crowd, crying out, Men, why are you doing these things? We also are

men, o like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should

turn rom these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the

earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all

the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himsel without

witness, or he did good by giving you rains rom heaven and ruitul

seasons, satisying your hearts with ood and gladness. Even with these

words they scarcely restrained the people rom oering sacrice to them.

tHE GEnEroSIty of God

Now when you read this passage, youve got to ask the question, Why would

these people be so quick to call Barnabas, Zeus (king o the gods o the

Pantheon) and Paul, Hermes (messenger o the gods)? And why would theybe so quick to worship them? It seems bizarre and over-the-top.

Well, the answer to this question is ound in a local legend, recorded or us

by the ancient historian, Ovid. The story goes that Zeus and Hermes came to

their city beore. They visited their city disguised as ordinary men. No one in

the city would show them hospitality except one older couple. So because this

older couple showed kindness to the gods, they destroyed everyone in the city

EXCEPT that couple.

So when the people see the Apostle Paul heal a man CRIPPLED FROM BIRTH,

see that he has come with a traveling companion, see Paul doing most o the

speaking, they gured this was a second visitation o Zeus and Hermes, only

this time, they were going to get it right! This time they were going to pay the

gods the homage they were due vese 13:


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And the priest o Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city,

brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to oer sacrice with

the crowds.

From here, the apostles are totally appalled and launch into a presentationo the gospel crated specically or their audience. These are not people

youd nd in church. These are not aithul attendees at synagogue. These are

people who dont have any apparent connection to the God o the Bible.

So rather than doing what he does in synagogue and reerring his audience

to the Bible, he makes his appeal on the basis o nature. They may not have

common ground in a common Bible, but they do have common ground on

common ground.

Now there is a ton I could say about this approach to preaching the gospel,

which I hope to do when the Apostle Paul takes the same approach later in

Acts 17 when hes with the intellectuals o Athens. But I dont want you to lose

the orest or the trees o whats really happening here.

This is not the whole sermon that Paul preached. None o the sermons in the

book o Acts are entire sermons. This is Lukes abstract o that sermon. So

the material that Luke includes is meant to convey the essence o the sermon.Think o it as a sermon clip that captures the essence o the message. Or the

movie trailer or the sermon.

I you keep that in mind, you wont be let scratching your head about why

Jesus death and resurrection isnt explicitly mentioned in this passage.

The reason its not explicitly mentioned is that its ASSUMED. Youre meant

to combine this with what youve already seen or 13 chapters. But more

than that, its not explicitly mentioned because Luke wants to emphasize

something SPECIFIC about this sermon; NAMELY, that the true and living God

is TOTALLY dierent rom the gods you invent.

In the case o the Lycaonians, why did they oer worship to Barnabas and

Paul? Do you remember the story? The last time Zeus and Hermes showed

up they killed everybody except the people who honored them. So why do


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they want to worship Barnabas and Saul? Because theyre AFRAID! Theyre

TERRIFIED.

I dont just say that because o the legend, I say that because o the

Lycaonians about-ace in verse 19. It says that they scarcely restrained thepeople rom oering sacrices to them but in verse 19, Jews came rom

Antioch and Iconium and they persuaded the crowds to stone Paul and drag

him out o the city. So one moment the Lycaonians are worshipping Paul and

Barnabas and the next, stoning them. How do you account or that?

Its because their worship was born out o ear. Once they came to realize

Paul and Barnabas were just ordinary men, ear gave way to hostility. That is

always how it works. Its like nally coming to realize that you can beat up the

bully. Beore, you paid him homage rom ear. You gave him your milk money

because you didnt want him to clobber you. But now that ear is gone, you

can retaliate and have your revenge or all the misery that he caused you.

The reason the Lycaonians changed their tune so quickly is precisely because

they were motivated by ear. Their gods are hot-tempered. Theyre capricious.

Theyre ready at a moments notice to wipe out your entire existence. To use

a psychological category, they have Borderline Personality Disorder. They are

the gods with BPD. They change their expectations in such a way that theirworshippers eel they can never do anything right. They have rightening,

unpredictable rages that make no logical sense. Theyre anxious and irritable

most o the time. You have to walk on eggshells around these gods. 2

But Paul is saying the God o the universe, the God and Father o the Lord

Jesus Christ is not like that AT ALL! Look especially at vese 17.

Yet he did not leave himsel without witness, or he did good by giving you

rains rom heaven and ruitul seasons, satisying your hearts with ood and

gladness.

So what kind o God is the true God? Hes a generous God. Hes a loving God.

That is the kind o God he is. He did good by giving you rains rom heaven

and ruitul seasons, satisying your hearts with ood and gladness.

2Paul T Mason, Randi Kreiger, Stop Walking on Eggshells (New Harbinger, 1998), 17-18.


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In other words, Paul is saying, The true God is not like Zeus and Hermes!

He loves to be generous. Everything around you proves it. Or as one

commentator puts it: The pleasures o lie are an encouragement to believe

in a benecent Creator. 3 Benecent = charitable, generous, benevolent. The

pleasures o lie encourage you to believe.

Do you want to know what the one true God is like? Look around. See his

generosity. Hes not like the gods o your own imagination! Not even close.

But wait, you say, I dont worship alse gods. To which I say, Either youre

new to Redeemer, or you dont understand the nature o idolatry. Idolatry is

very simple really. Your idol is whatever you say this about: I need _________

plus Jesus in order to be happy.

Ahappymarriage

Obedientchildren

Arewardingandsuccessfulcareer

Six-packabs

Peoplesapproval

Recognitionforthecontributionyouremaking

Abreakfromthehassle

Myownhome Asecureretirement

Tim Keller gives a very helpul explanation in his book, Countereit Gods,

which includes an illustration rom The Lord o the Rings:

When most people think o idols they have in mind literal statues or

the next pop star anointed by Simon Cowell. Yet while the traditional idol

worship still occurs in many places o the world, internal idol worship,

within the heart, is universal. In Ezekiel 14:3, God says about elders o Israel,

These men have set up their idols in their hearts. Like us, the elders must

have responded to this charge, Idols? What idols? I dont see any idols.

God was saying that the human heart takes good things like a successul

career, love, material possessions, even amily, and turns them into ultimate

things. Our hearts deiy them as the center o our lives, because, we think,

3David G Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles (Eerdmans, 2009), 410.


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they can give us signicance and security, saety and ulllment, i we attain

them. The central plot device o The Lord o the Rings is the Dark Lord

Saurons Ring o Power, which corrupts anyone who tries to use it, however

good his or her intentions. The Ring is what Proessor Tom Shippey calls a

psychic amplier, which takes the hearts ondest desires and magniesthem to idolatrous proportions. Some good characters in the book want

to liberate slaves, or preserve their peoples land, or visit wrongdoers with

punishment. These are all good objectives. But the Ring makes them willing

to do anything to achieve them, anything at all. It turns the good thing into

an absolute that overturns every other allegiance or value. The wearer o

the Ring becomes increasingly enslaved and addicted to it, or an idol is

something we cannot live without. We must have it, and thereore it drives

us to break rules we once honored, to harm others and even ourselves

in order to get it. Idols are spiritual addictions that lead to terrible evil, in

Tolkiens novel and real lie. 4

Are you ready or this? Anything can be an idol anything at all.

And what the Apostle Paul is saying here to the Lycaonians is this: Dont go

there. Move away rom there! Vese 15:

Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, o like nature withyou, and we bring you good news, that you should turn rom these vain

things to a living God.

TURN rom these vain things to a LIVING God.

Idols are not like that. They are like the Ring o Power. They want to destroy

you. They ARE out to get you. Theyre EXACTLY as the Lycaonian legend says

they are. They are ready to destroy you at a moments notice.

How do they do this? How do the idols o your heart do this?

Well, the idols o your heart will rob you o the joy that God wants to give you

by breaking their promise to you AND raising the bar on you.

Your idol keeps telling you that i only you have ________, you will be truly

4Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the

Only Hope that Matters (Dutton, 2009), xiv-xv.


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happy. But now that you have it, you eel totally disillusioned: Is this it? And

then, as youre asking this question, your idol answers and says, O course

this isnt it. But you promised, you say. Look, itll say, true happiness is

ound up one more rung on the ladder. Just go up one more. And as you

move between exhaustion and disillusionment, your idol laughs as the lie issucked right out o you.

This is not the Christian God. Here is what the Christian God promises: true

satisaction and true joy the true satisaction and true joy thats ound only in

a relationship with Jesus Christ and he delivers! He delivers on this promise.

He will never break a promise. He will never raise the bar.

All you have to do is look at lie! How generous and loving and kind must

this God be?! The wonderul smell ater a spring rain. The basket o resh

strawberries. Dark chocolate. French pastries. The cheeseburger at 112 Eatery.

A sunrise. Dinner with good riends. U2. Jimmy Stewart. John Coltranes solo

on Flamenco Sketches. Italian ood ALL o it.

I mean, God didnt have to make the world like this! He didnt have to. He

could have operated rom a completely utilitarian standpoint. He could have

nourished us simply by taking an odorless, tasteless pill. But he didnt. This,

Paul is saying, is a demonstration o Gods grace.

So why would you worship at any other altar? They cant do that! Run to Jesus

Christ! Run to Jesus Christ. RUN TO JESUS CHRIST! God is so gracious and so

generous and so good that he gave you even more than all o those wonderul

things he gave you HIS SON. He MUST be generous i he gave the most

valuable commodity in the UNIVERSE (and OUTSIDE the universe).

And what Luke is saying by locating this message in the context o suering is

this: The only way you and I will be able to suer well is to remember that the

suering is coming rom the hands o a generous, loving GOD.

Its not coming rom the hands o a violent, capricious, wicked, oul,

unapproachable, miserly deity. It is coming rom the hands o the God who is

GENEROUS and whose generosity is on display every moment o every day in

every part o the world.


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This was really brought home to me very strongly recently as Ive been

suering with a herniated disc in my neck. Its been going on or about ve

weeks, but the rst three were just excruciatingly painul. Id wake up in the

middle o the night, night ater night, writhing and crying out in pain. It was

almost unbearable.

And one o those nights as I woke up again, I decided I was going to put Jesus

on trial. I said, What gives? What are you doing? Why are you doing this to

me? What is the problem? I was just so rustrated and so uncomortable.

And then, almost immediately, I remembered what happened last summer to

my three-year old, Isaac.

We were out to dinner and aterward, Ike was running around the table and

he tripped over my daughters eet, and his head hit squarely into a wooden

booth in the restaurant. The blood was fowing rom the center o his head

rom a gash about an inch-and-a-hal long. O course, we rushed him to the

hospital.

By the time we got there, the pressure stopped the bleeding, but he was

going to need stitches. So the nurses wrapped him in a bed sheet like a

mummy, then strapped him into a stretcher thats used or people with neckinjuries, put him on a gurney, and with the nurse, Gayle and I basically laying

on top o him while the doctor began to close the wound.

The kid went BALLISTIC. Even though the nurse (and doctor) had numbed the

spot on his orehead, somehow he elt the pressure o each o the six stitches

going in and out. And the whole time that he was oaming at the mouth, and

gagging, he was saying to us, Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop.

And because hes only three, all we could say was, Itll end soon. Youre going

to be alright. The doctors going to make you all better.

And the memory o that experience, the memory rushed into my mind as

I suered on my bed, and I thought, Jesus is not smiting me. Jesus is not

a sadist. My ather is not being cruel and unusual. Hes my loving heavenly


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ather ar more loving a parent than Gayle or me COMBINED. I we could

be that compassionate and tender with Isaac, how much more tender and

compassionate is my heavenly ather toward me.

The lesson here is that what enabled me to go through the suering was theknowledge o Gods generosity and love. That he is not a Zeus or Hermes who

cant WAIT to wipe you o the ace o the earth. Hes the God whos given you

all good things to enjoy, NOT LEAST, his only son, Jesus Christ, to come to

rescue you.

concLuSIon

So the mission is ull o peril. Success means suering. And as scary as it

sounds to know this, the reality is that you have the resources to endure it,

even to embrace it i you remember what your heavenly ather is like. Hes not

like so many idols that live only to destroy you. Hes the God who only wants

to do you good.

So dont be araid. But trust. Trust in the God who not only gives you all

good things to enjoy, but who gave you his son. He couldnt have been more

generous.

r W Gle

Pemissis: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in

anyormat provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a ee

beyond the cost o reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is

preerred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Redeemer Bible Church.

Please include the ollowing statement on any distributed copy: By R W Glenn. R W Glenn.

Website: redeemerbiblechuch.com


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Acts Part 18 - The Mission to Pagans

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