Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, let's take our Bible and turn to the Book of acts, chapter 14.
[00:00:10] Acts, chapter 14.
[00:00:31] So we've looked at acts, chapter 14 recently as we've gone through our study in acts. And of course, the missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas is coming to a close. Lord willing, we'll finish that tonight when we look at the final kind of leg of the missionary journey. Actually, by our standards, his missionary, Paul and Barnabas's missionary journey was rather brief.
[00:00:57] It's tough to tell exact dates and how long they were gone from Antioch and Syria, but most of the commentators and things that I've read said that they were gone about a year or two. And you think of a missionary tour in our day is about four years. And so this is a brief missionary tour. But I wouldn't say that it was ineffective. When we look at all the things that Paul and Barnabas were able to accomplish, the people that were saved as they went from when they sailed, they went to Cyprus, and then they went first to Antioch, the main place, Antioch in Pisidia, which is in modern day Turkey. And from there they went to iconium and then listra and then finally derby, as we see in verse number 19.
[00:01:49] Verse 19 says this. And there came thither, certain Jews from Antioch in iconium who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city. Supposing he had been dead. Now, we know this goes right on the heels of what has just happened with them, deifying Paul and Barnabas, saying Paul was Mercurius, the speaker, and Barnabas was Jupiter, who is like Zeus, the equivalent, roman equivalent of Zeus. And so they were just a minute ago trying to worship them because of this miracle that they performed on this lame man. And now, because of the Jews persuasion, have tried to kill Paul. What's interesting, just as a side note, is how much differently the Gentiles responded and interpreted this miracle than the Jews did.
[00:02:47] All the miracles we've seen up to this point have been done with Jews. And how did they respond? They respond most of the time they ignored it because their hearts were hardened.
[00:02:57] But at no point did they ever deify the ones that did the miracle, be it Peter or anyone else. In fact, in the life of Christ, when he did miracles, they would say things like, well, to God be the glory. In other words, they would recognize that God had done it. But at no point did they think that it was an indicator that the person performing the miracle was divine.
[00:03:18] But the Gentiles are totally different because they're coming from a totally different world.
[00:03:23] And you can see the effect of that. And I guess it reminds us that we should tailor make what we say to match the audience that we're talking to when we're talking to people about the Lord. So in verse number 20, the Bible says, howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and came into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby. Now, Derby is just the next place down, about 18 miles away. So they're continuing the missionary journey.
[00:03:55] The Bible says verse 21. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Listra and to iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended rather them to the Lord on whom they believed. All right, let's pray together.
[00:04:30] Our father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the people that you've brought here. Lord.
[00:04:39] Lord, it's my desire to help your people this morning. And, Lord, I can't do it. I pray for your spirit. You said, lord, if we pray for your spirit, that you would give it.
[00:04:51] And you said that if a child asked his father a piece of bread, would he give him a stone or a fish, would he give him a serpent? And so, Lord, we ask you, Lord, for the spirit of God to be with us, to speak to us, to convict hearts, to teach us, to exhort us, as these verses say.
[00:05:14] And, Lord, you know what our needs are and the heart and condition of each and every person here. So, Lord, bless your word, Lord, especially as we look at it, that I'd get out of the way. And, Lord, that your people would hear only what your word says plainly.
[00:05:26] Bless our time together, and I pray that you would do some great things among us today, but also in the days to come.
[00:05:34] And we ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:05:43] So the apostles Barnabas and Paul are now they've reached the end of their missionary journey. They've reached Derby all right. Now what they're going to do is they're going to turn around and they're going to city hop from place to place where they had been, where in their wake they had left a group of christians. Now remember, a church is not just a group of christians, but a church. At its core is a group of believers. Right? That's what it's about. A group of believers, and we just did a baptism is baptize believers. And so this is part of the great commission. So they preach the gospel and they've gotten to the end of their journey. And I don't know why. I don't know why they decided they were going to return. I thought, as I was thinking about it, maybe it had something to do with the injuries that Paul had sustained in Listra. He had been stoned and they continued on some 18 miles, another day's journey to Derby. Maybe Paul wasn't feeling good. Maybe he was still recovering from that. I don't know. It could be that, of course, they had prayed about it and God had just directed them that way. Another idea. It could be, and this is not anything I've read, but when you get into chapter 15, there's a dissension going on that we're going to talk about in the church, because this is an important matter. And the roots of these ideas that there's something to be added to the gospel are starting to pop their head up. And maybe Paul had started to run into that. You remember all these times that he had been persecuted by the Jews, and now there's going to be Jews that come from Jerusalem and say that you have to be circumcised and keep the law in order to be saved in addition to the gospel.
[00:07:30] Maybe Paul started and Paul and Barnabas started to hear that, and they knew. Maybe there's something they needed to deal with back in Antioch. I have no idea. They have no idea. But whatever the case, the Lord is directing them, and now they're going to go back because these churches of these new christians, they need some additional help. It's not enough to just lead them to the Lord and say, well, have a good life. They're going back to confirm, and this won't be the last time they go to these places, especially. Paul, in his later missionary journey, spends more time in Galatia. This is mainly in the province of Galatia and Lykeonia and other parts of these roman provinces.
[00:08:14] But in verse number 20, I'm sorry, verse 21, the Bible says, and when they had preached the gospel to that city in Derby and had taught many, they returned again to Listra and to iconium and Antioch. You see, Paul did not want the work that he had put in to his ministry to fail.
[00:08:39] And again, it's not about Paul, but how many of you have ever done a job only to have it just vaporize in front of your eyes?
[00:08:49] Again, it's not about Paul's reputation. Or his name. But the work he had given to God, he did not want that to be erased because there was no follow know. We tried to visit yesterday, we tried to go visit Carlos, and on Friday, it was a Friday morning. I think Brother Ari was contacting Tyrone. Why? Because they're trying to follow up, trying to keep on, keep after know, even when somebody gets saved, to keep going, keep working.
[00:09:23] Because, listen, this process is not automatic. The Lord needs us to be working, and that's what this is all about. Even in your life? Even in my life, the Lord has to do maintenance on us at all times, right? He has to continually be working in us. And the reality is, the moment he stops, our spiritual progress stops, and we are liable to fall at that moment. And the only reason we don't is because God keeps us. That's it. But you know, what? He's chosen to use means to do that, to help us to grow, to help us to go the next step to progress in our christian life and our life as a disciple.
[00:10:04] And so that's what's happening here. They're going to. And verse 22 says, confirming this is what they were doing as they city hopped back to their origin, confirming the souls of the disciples. Confirming the souls of the disciples. Now, some might look at this verse and say, well, this is where you get the idea of confirmation. The protestant doctrine of confirmation, where there's a ritual or a rite, you go through a series of lessons, and that's what they call confirmation.
[00:10:40] What I wrote down is this. In protestant churches, it involves a course of study and to make a public profession of faith, you're like, hold on.
[00:10:51] To be confirmed is to go through a course of study and make a public profession of faith. Well, they got this all backwards.
[00:11:01] It is often seen as a milestone in a young person's journey of faith, where they take ownership of the beliefs and commitments made at their baptism, often as an infant. I don't know about you, but I've never seen an infant make any commitments at their baptism.
[00:11:17] That is not what this is. This is not a ritual. This is not a rite to be performed.
[00:11:23] Paul was confirming them not performing a ritual. And the word confirm all, it means confirm with strength. It means to re strengthen, to re strengthen or strengthen the disciples words.
[00:11:44] In other words, there was something in their faith that lacked, and that's actually in Romans. That's exactly what Paul says. He wanted to see the people in Rome so that he could add to their faith and supply that which is lacking in their faith. Listen, when we first, get saved. Every one of us lacks a lot in our faith. And even at this moment, no matter how mature you and I might be in our faith, there are things that lack.
[00:12:16] There are points in our lives that are weak. How many of you would raise your hand and signify, yes, I have points in my life that in my life as a disciple of Christ, where it's weak, it needs help. Yes, it's feeble.
[00:12:34] That's why you and I need confirmation again, not a process to put you through, and you get a certificate and they do whatever, but where you become stronger than you were in the Lord.
[00:12:53] Because the fact that they confirmed the souls of the disciples indicates that there was something unfinished about the disciples faith and life. As disciples, the work wasn't done. They had not, as Philippians says, they had not already attained, but they followed after. There was weakness in there that needed to be stronger, that needed to be ever stronger. Listen to this verse in Isaiah 35.
[00:13:27] Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees.
[00:13:35] Confirm the feeble knees. You think about somebody who's, who's exhausted, who is weak. You think about these churches who have just come through this turmoil, right? Right after they get saved. Listen, I'll just be honest with you. A lot of people don't get saved in conditions like this because at the very moment they get saved, they're going into turmoil.
[00:13:58] A lot of people get saved. And then when turmoil comes, they fall away. What I mean by that is they cease to follow the Lord because it's hard.
[00:14:06] These people, by trusting in Christ, by repenting of this idolatry, they have been involved in lycer in particular, they are going into turmoil.
[00:14:18] They're choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy sin for a season.
[00:14:26] You know what? Over time, and I'm sure you've understood this as well, as you've gone through difficult things, those things wear on you, whether it be health problems or problems in your family or persecution, over time, those things begin to wear on you where your strength fails.
[00:14:43] And I'm sure these people, just being people of like passions, like us, were no different.
[00:14:50] But let me ask you a question. In verse 22, how were these disciples, the souls of these disciples confirmed, how was this done? Now hold your place here and look at acts 15.
[00:15:03] We'll look at this verse several times. Acts 15, verse number 32.
[00:15:12] The Bible says this. And Judas and Silas, being prophets, also themselves. Now, Paul's here. What's a prophet? We've already studied this before. What's a prophet.
[00:15:24] We would call it a what?
[00:15:27] It's a preacher, one who gives forth the word of God, nothing more. That's what it is. And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. Look at verse 41.
[00:15:43] Verse 41 says this. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. So this becomes a practice with Paul.
[00:15:52] He's not just teaching them the gospel and leading them to believe in Christ. He's coming back. It's part of his ministry. And really, as we go, and I'll talk about more about this tonight, but as we go into our missions conference, that's really the bread and butter of a missionary. That's a huge part of what a missionary does and is supposed to do, strengthening those, because if there is no strengthening, listen, the strength that is in that new believer is not enough for the journey. It's just not. And it wasn't enough for you when you first trusted in Christ, and it won't be enough for them. Look at chapter 18, verse number 23.
[00:16:41] Same word here. This is the only four times this word is used in acts. And after he had spent some time there, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia, that's where we are, and Phrygia, that's the neighboring province to the north, strengthening all the disciples. Again, this is a huge part of Paul's work.
[00:17:04] Huge part of Paul's work, making the disciples strong, y'all. Tell you something, this same thing is a huge part of the way I see my work as the know pastor's work involves, of course, visiting people, being involved in the ministries, evangelism, all those things. But at its core, it's about you all being stronger.
[00:17:34] It's about you all being confirmed, getting restrengthened.
[00:17:41] That's what it's all about. And you know what? Just like we saw in acts 15, I'll just read it just as a reminder. And Judas and Silas, being prophets, also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. How are these disciples confirmed? How is this church confirmed? Listen to me, please.
[00:18:01] By the word of God taught and preached to you, that is how it was done.
[00:18:12] That is how it was done.
[00:18:14] Paul and Barnabas and others with Paul went back to these other places and gathered them together and preached the word to them and taught them methodically through the word to strengthen their faith, to strengthen their endurance, to use the weapons and tools of the word of God to build up their faith so that it became stronger, so that when he was not there, they would continue. They would have strength to continue. And that's essentially what we try to do every single Sunday. That's what it's about.
[00:18:47] It's about you and about me as disciples of Christ, going on for God in our everyday, every moment, minute by minute life, living for God and having the strength and the wisdom and the understanding to do that. That's what church is about.
[00:19:05] And we do a lot of other things for fellowship. We do a lot of other things for encouragement, to spend time with one another. We pray with one another. All those things are essential.
[00:19:16] But the confirmation of the disciples is one of the main reasons we have church at all.
[00:19:23] Now let's look at another thing. In acts 14, it says, and exhorting them to continue in the faith.
[00:19:31] And I'll add this, exhorting them that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God.
[00:19:40] Exhortation.
[00:19:42] Exhortation.
[00:19:45] Here's what exhort means. This is not a word we use very often, but it means to admonish earnestly, to urge, to encourage, to warn and to comfort, to urge, by stimulating words to good conduct. All right, so here we see in this verse, our verse here, that Paul and Barnabas went back and exhorted the disciples to continue in the faith. And they exhorted the disciples that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God to persevere in the midst of trouble.
[00:20:23] Now, what is this exhortation?
[00:20:26] It's essentially, it's very similar to what I just got done saying. This is what we call preaching.
[00:20:34] When the word of God is used to urge you, to encourage you, to sometimes warn you, and even at other times reprove you, and often comfort you in your life as a disciple of Christ. It brings the word of God up to you and says, this is the will of God. This is what God wants you to do in your life. This is what God wants us to do corporately, as a body. Let's do it. And if you're not doing it, you should be doing it.
[00:21:09] This is all in the word exhort.
[00:21:12] Again, this is what church is all about.
[00:21:15] Did you know that historically, I mean, this is not just something we pulled out of thin air all the way, going back to the early church. In church history, the main core of the service was when the word of God was preached and taught.
[00:21:30] Everything led to that point. Even in the earliest days, where there's records in the church fathers that talked about their order of service, that is what it was about. It wasn't about ceremony. It wasn't about ritual. It was about giving God's people God's word and urging them to do it.
[00:21:51] Exhortation. And here's the thing.
[00:21:56] We all need exhortation.
[00:21:59] Just like with confirmation implies there's a weakness that needs strengthening. Exhortation implies that we need to be reminded and urged.
[00:22:12] We need that encouragement, because without those things, we will falter.
[00:22:19] Our obedience will become less and less frequent, and sin will slip in, and temptation, one by one, will begin to kind of wear away and weather our faith and our obedience. We need somebody to say, hey, look, this is what God says. I'm reminding you of it, even though most of the time what we talk about on Sundays and on Wednesdays is things you already know, right? We very rarely cover anything new, right? Because there is nothing new outside of the Bible here. So we just stay in the Bible. But you know what? How many times has God pricked your heart about something you already knew? That's all he does. It seems right. Oh, yeah. I've let that slip. I should have been doing that. I got to get to praying more. I got to get to reading the Bible more. I got to be a better witness. But you already knew to do that.
[00:23:09] So, listen, this idea that, well, we don't need to hear what we've already heard, that's false.
[00:23:15] We need to be exhorted to do it. Because here's the thing. We all know this, what you and I know, we don't always do right.
[00:23:25] If we did everything that we know to do, then we would need exhortation. But exhortation is about doing right. Exhortation is about obeying. It's that urging to do to good conduct, and I need it. And that's one of the difficulties with pastoring and being involved in ministry, where you are doing the exhorting is that because you're doing the exhorting, you're not hearing much exhortation. And I think the Lord makes special provision by giving you exhortation from the word, which you in turn give. To give to God's people, we need stimulation. Hebrews 1322 says this. Listen now, suffer. That means to allow. I know you're thinking, yeah, suffer. That's what it's like. We have to listen.
[00:24:18] But it means to allow. Suffer. The word of exhortation. The word of exhortation, that is preaching, teaching and preaching the Bible with a call to obedience in acts 15. I revert back to that just because we just covered it.
[00:24:40] Verse 32 and Judas and Silas, being prophets, also themselves exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. You see, their exhortation and confirmation appear together, just like in our verse in acts 1422. They occur together. That's how it's done. The church. The disciples are confirmed and strengthened by the exhortation.
[00:25:09] Why am I saying this?
[00:25:12] Now? Let me hasten to say this.
[00:25:17] The Bible also says that every one of you should be able to exhort one another, right?
[00:25:26] Where you encourage and urge, sometimes warn and sometimes reprove and sometimes comfort your brothers and your sisters in Christ. You say, well, I'm not the preacher. That doesn't matter.
[00:25:45] You are called, and I am called to do that with one another. We are all brethren. There is no hierarchy here. We're all here, every one of us, including the speaker. We're here. So we all should be able to exhort and encourage and sometimes warn and if need be, reprove one another. That is biblical, thoroughly biblical. But some people take that and say, well, I'll just meet with a christian friend at the coffee shop. Whoa, hold on, hold on.
[00:26:15] You can't use this idea as an excuse to exclude or minimize the church. And you'll see what I'm saying in just a minute. Look at Hebrews ten. You know where I'm going to go with this, but it's right down. I would be remiss if I didn't point this verse out to you. Hebrews ten, verse 24.
[00:26:40] Actually, go back to verse 23.
[00:26:46] Now. Think about what we just read. In acts 14, it says this. Acts 14 says, they confirmed the souls of the disciples and exhorted them to continue in the faith and that we must, through much tribulation, enter to the kingdom of God. Verse 23 says, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.
[00:27:10] You know what that is? That's an exhortation, for he is faithful, that promised, and let us love. Let us consider one another, rather, to provoke unto love and to good works. You know what that is? That's exhortation, setting an example and encouraging each other to love one another and to do right. Right.
[00:27:35] This is very simple. This is basic. Okay? Verse number 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.
[00:27:51] And so much the more as you see the day approaching, notice what it says. Exhorting one another. That's you exhorting your brother, you encouraging him to follow the Lord. But you can't do that if you're not following the Lord. You can't do that. If you're not doing the will of God.
[00:28:06] But that's something we can all do with one another.
[00:28:11] So we're not denying that fact and saying, well, all that should be done at the church. No, you could do that on an individual level with one another. However, notice in verse 25, exhorting one another is in the context of the assembly of the church. You see that not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.
[00:28:35] I know people. Listen. I know people. Look at this verse. This is a command. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. The Lord has commanded us not to forsake the church. The assembling of the church. We're not going to make any bones about that. But what's the heart of it? We need exhortation. We need to hear the word of God. We need it. We will falter if we don't get it. And often our spiritual life kind of stagnates because we don't have somebody else saying, hey, God said to do this. Are you doing it?
[00:29:10] So we stagnate.
[00:29:14] And this exhortation is found in the context of the gathering of the church.
[00:29:21] The Bible says, first, thessalonians 511, wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another.
[00:29:29] So I want to ask you this.
[00:29:32] I'm going to be done here in just a minute.
[00:29:37] What does this verse in acts 14, what does this verse then say about the role, the importance, and the significance of the church in the life of a disciple of Christ? You know what it says, number one, your soul as a disciple needs the ministry of the church.
[00:30:03] That's why it's here. It's here not to tickle ears, not to make you feel good about everything. It's here to help you grow, to help you be strong.
[00:30:17] It's not about, listen, the church is not about appearance or anything like that. All right. Number two, the second thing we learn about this verse, the confirmation. The exhortation is that you, as a disciple of Christ cannot attain, cannot take advantage of this benefit on your life as a disciple. If you are not here, you have to be here if you are going to get that exhortation.
[00:30:52] And as I said last Sunday night, this should be a priority in our lives. Other things should be lowered in precedence so that we can seek God. That's why I use this terminology often. You'll hear me say it. We seek God corporately, together, collectively in the church. It's my individual heart. Following the Lord is what brings me here and has brought me here since I became a believer.
[00:31:20] It's not about the way I look or checking attendance sheets or numbers or anything. It's about I want to follow God, and I need the word of God to be taught to me. I might not recognize it in this day or that day, but I need it. And you know what? You need it, too. And for somebody to be. Listen, for somebody to be negligent, intentionally negligent. Listen, I trust you understand, we're not talking about people who have health problems.
[00:31:49] I'm talking about to be negligent on purpose.
[00:31:55] To be a part of the meetings of the church demonstrates a level of pride in which we think, well, that's not really something I have to have. I can do without it. But listen, our spiritual life as a disciple of Christ are being confirmed, our being strengthened, our being exhorted, and our obedience will depend to some degree upon our hearing the exhortation that comes at the church.
[00:32:35] The Lord commands us, gather, give the word, so that God's people can be exhorted.
[00:32:49] Now, listen, I'm not going to be able to get to the rest of what I want to say, but I know sometimes people take hebrews 1025 and beat you over the head with it.
[00:33:03] That's not what I'm trying to do at all.
[00:33:07] What I'm trying to say is the good spiritual things that happen at a good Bible preaching church help you as a disciple of Christ.
[00:33:21] You need it.
[00:33:24] I need it because we are weak and prone to fail, and we need God's reminders a lot, not just occasionally.
[00:33:37] And this is why we should make the decision. You know what? This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to seek the Lord in this way, just like I seek him reading my Bible, just like I seek him in prayer, I'm going to seek him in this way. It's going to be a priority in my life.
[00:33:54] You know what the Lord will do. Listen, barring some extenuating circumstances, you do not see believers in Christ disciples growing up to maturity without the church, without their involvement in it. You don't see it when you see someone aloof, that person is not going to be growing. But when you see people that grow up in the Lord, you'll find them in a Bible preaching church where they're exhorted and they're taught, because that's where the growth happens. That's how it happens.
[00:34:32] And listen, I need it as much as you.
[00:34:36] You see by this example in acts 14, these apostles are setting the example. This is what the church is about, you see in verse 23, and when they had ordained an elders in every church, you know what that is? Organization. That's leadership. So they didn't just kind of get together at the coffee shop? No. People say, why don't like organized religion? Well, this is exactly what they're doing. They're organizing the disciples, and they prayed with fasting. They commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. You know what? That's the core, this thing about church attendance. Again, I repeat myself, but just bear with me. Is not about.
[00:35:20] It has nothing to do with numbers. We don't even count. Okay? We don't even count. We don't know how many people are here.
[00:35:26] I think at one point we were, but it was usually early in the service, so it wasn't very accurate when people came in late or whatever.
[00:35:33] But we're not keeping tabs or anything like that. It's not about the way that you look or how respectable you or I look. It has nothing to do with that.
[00:35:44] It's about end of verse 23. The Lord. That's all it's about being commended to the Lord.
[00:35:54] The Lord is working in us, and so we want to follow him in every way we can. That's all it's about.
[00:36:03] You know what? Your being here, seeking the Lord has secondary benefits. It helps other people. It encourages them and it strengthens them. It's a byproduct of being together. Of being together.
[00:36:17] And so the Lord has established in this part of acts just exactly what the purpose of the church is there, that we might all be strengthened together. Let me just ask you, as we close, what is your commitment level to the Lord like and how does that relate to your heart's desire to follow the Lord, the Lord who died for you.
[00:36:47] How has that affected. Ask yourself, how has it affected your personal growth and your personal life as a disciple, either positively or negatively? I just encourage you. Listen, what I'm doing today is no different than what we just read. I'm exhorting you, make it a priority.
[00:37:11] Follow the Lord, get in with both feet.
[00:37:15] Do the will of God for your own strength, for the growth of your own faith. Let's pray.
