“A Tale of Three Cities”, with apology to Charles Dickens
who wrote the classic ,”A Tale of two
Cities” (1859), a historical novel which is set in London and in Paris and
the French countryside at the time of the French Revolution(1789).
Incidentally, this book has been
listed the second bestselling book in
the history of literature[1]
(The Bible, the all-time best seller,
and other religious or political
books excluded). Approximately 200 million copies have been sold.
The book begins with these famous opening lines: "It was
the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was
the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was
the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going
direct the other way…”
As I was researching
the “Tale of two Cities” on the internet, I saw that a book was in fact released this year with the title “A Tale of Three Cities” , written by Bettany Hughes. This book is about Istanbul, a famous city in modern day Turkey,
the Byzantion of the ancient past (660 BC) ; the Constantinople that
was the capital of the Christian Byzantine empire (330 AD)
and seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which then became the Istanbul of the Muslim Ottoman empire (1453 AD) -
three cities in one! The cities in both
books, London, Paris and Istanbul have
been associated with turbulent
times.
Turbulence ! This is
the word which we now wish to use as we observe
what the gospel does as it
invades these three cities, Iconium (14:1-7), Lystra (14:8-20) and Derbe (v.21). These cities in Acts
14 are all found in modern Turkey.
I draw your attention
to the key text
in verse 22 : (Paul
and Barnabas) strengthening
the souls of the disciples,
encouraging them to continue in the
faith, and saying that through
many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Here is
something that we need to settle in our minds today. We have somehow developed
the idea that the gospel must bring joy, peace and happiness and paradise into
the world. Where did we get that idea
from? Only shallow reflection can come to such a conclusion and our text certainly does not concur with such a
sentiment. And neither does the Lord Jesus.
Hear these words from Luke 12:49-53
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
John 15:18-23: 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has
hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love
you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of
the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to
you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they
will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21
But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do
not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would
not have been guilty of sin,[a] but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23
Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
Now it is undoubtedly true that the gospel brings joy, peace
and happiness to those that believe in Jesus, who are truly freed from their
sins, who have been predestined by God, loved, adopted, who have become co-heirs
with Christ and citizens of heaven. But
it is also true that this same gospel that liberates some also brings
hatred, division and unhappiness to those
that will not accept the gospel, and who will in fact come to hate and oppose the gospel. To Matthew Henry is attributed the saying, “The
same sun which melts wax hardens clay.[2]
And Spurgeon, citing this text adds, “the
same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their
sins” [3].
And so we observe from the testimony of
the Bible and from church history that the
kingdom of God comes with joy and it comes amidst sorrow, bringing about, as
Dickens said, the best and the worst of times.
That is the matter
which now consider as we take a brief look at Chapter 14, and I submit to you that this is a typical experience , one that we must expect also in our endeavours to
bring the gospel to this generation in its
many and varied contexts (family, friends, work colleagues, society at
large). This has been the pattern in the
book of Acts so far. In our previous chapter we had seen this. The Gospel which
Paul and Barnabas proclaimed had been accepted by Sergius Paulus the governor
of Cyprus, but resisted by Elymas the magician. (13:1-12). They had preached the gospel in Pisidian Antioch amidst great interest, but they were
driven out of the city by the Jews filled with jealousy, stirring up
persecution against Paul and Barnabas (13:13-52).
1. Iconium 14:1-7
And so we see the pattern continue in Chapter 14. The gospel is proclaimed in the Jewish
synagogue, and a great number of Jews and
Greeks believed. BUT the unbelieving Jews stirred up the gentiles and
poisoned their minds… (14:2) –
there you have it in one sentence. There
we find the effective preaching of the gospel and the immediate
poisoning of the minds of the crowd by the enemies of the gospel.
We further note that the message of the gospel is a word of
grace (14:3) and as such it should
have been accepted by everyone, BUT note what the gospel
accomplishes: The people of the city
were divided by the gospel (14:4).
Attempt was made by both gentile and Jew to mistreat and stone Paul and
Barnabas (14:5). This caused them to
flee to Lystra and Derbe some
75 kilometres to the east. Note
the number of times Paul and the apostles had to flee for their lives, simply
because of the gospel.
2. Lystra and Derbe (14:8-20)
Luke focuses on what
happens in Lystra and gives little
insight into what happened in
Derbe, but we believe that the patterns are typical.
The healing of a crippled man (14:8-10) almost sounds like a repetition of Acts 3:1ff , the story of the crippled man at the temple gate
called ‘ Beautiful’ in which Peter and John
were the agents of divine healing.
What is significant is the extreme reaction of the crowd in Lystra in
response to this healing. From
worshipping Paul and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus as being gods, they later stoned Paul – and again we must observe
,… for the sake of the gospel.
John Stott, in his
commentary gives some helpful insight into the mind-set of the people in
Lystra.[4]
About 50 years earlier the Latin poet Ovid had written a literary piece called “Metamorphoses”, relating to an ancient
local legend. The story goes that the supreme god, Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks)
and his son Mercury (Hermes) once visited the hill country of Phrygia,
disguised as mortal men. They sought
hospitality but were turned away a thousand times. At last they were offered
lodging in a tiny cottage, by a couple called Philemon and Baucis. Later the
gods rewarded them, but destroyed the homes of those who would not take them in
by a flood. It is reasonable to suppose
that the people of Lystra knew this story, and so they would have been
anxious not to suffer the same fate as
the inhospitable Phrygians.
It is interesting to note how Paul and Barnabas responded to
this false worship of them in vv. 15-17. This is
probably an excerpt from the message
that they spoke to these people. And
since these people were pure pagans, there is no reference to the Scriptures (as in Paul’s sermon in Ch. 13 in the context of a Synagogue) because these people didn't know the Bible. So
he begins where they are. He starts with general revelation. He establishes a
point of contact with them, and he begins by telling them about the Creator,
who made the heavens and the earth, the God who provides rain and fruitful
seasons, and who satisfies the heart with food and gladness. (14: 16,17). It is clear that in
Paul’s mind there is not different God in Lystra and another one in Jerusalem. There only one
God. But note, Paul is not able to get to the gospel of Jesus
before hostile Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and they persuaded the crowds. Paul is dragged outside of the city and he's
left outside of the city dead (14:19). So Paul and Barnabas were never enabled to finish their gospel presentation in Lystra on this occasion, but completed the work as they revisited theses cities on their return.
Isn’t it amazing that
Paul after having been stoned
was able to preach the gospel the
very next day in Derbe, and in this
instance it is reported that they
had made many disciples (14:21).
Did it not have something to do with prayer of faith in 14:20?
And then they retraced their steps back to Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, “strengthening the souls of the
disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that
through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (14:22). There we are - Gospel triumph and Gospel opposition. Both are marks of a biblical Gospel
ministry.
Summary and Conclusion
You may say, ‘I don't experience
such trouble and opposition and difficulties’. Let me ask you plainly then: Is
this it because you never speak about Jesus? Is this because your life says
nothing about Jesus, and is a challenge to no one?
I think that one of the major challenges for the modern
church and the modern Christian is that they want to be accepted by the world
so very desperately. They do not want to be different. They do not want to be counter cultural. The average modern Christian in our society
appears to want to blend in with the world and be the friend of the world.
When this happens we may in fact not see
much suffering for the sake of
the gospel in our ranks, for our
enemy the devil knows that he has you and your church in his possession. Makes you think, doesn’t it? Well, it mustn’t
just make us think. It must make us weep and repent and return to Christ’s
design for His followers, who were never called to enjoy a cushy life, but who
were designed for a life of spiritual fruitfulness. See how many converts as well as mental and
physical bruises Paul and Barnabas left
in their wake in this first missionary journey.
It is all part of our calling. And it will be part of our eternal reward
when we finally enter the kingdom of God.
Amen.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books#More_than_100_million_copies
. The best selling book in this category is Don Quixote ( approx..500 million)
[4]
John Stott: Acts ( BST series , IVP) , p. 230f
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