Acts 14 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Acts chapter 14 verse 1.
2. 0:03In Iconium, they entered the synagogue
3. 0:06of the Jews together and spoke in such a
4. 0:09manner that a large number of people
5. 0:11believed, both of Jews and of Greeks.
6. 0:15But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up
7. 0:18the minds of the Gentiles and embittered
8. 0:21them against the brethren.
9. 0:24Therefore, they spent a long time there
10. 0:28speaking boldly with reliance upon the
11. 0:30Lord
12. 0:32who was testifying to the word of his
13. 0:34grace, granting that signs and wonders
14. 0:37be done by their hands.
15. 0:39They had great opposition, so they spent
16. 0:42a long time there.
17. 0:44But the people of the city were divided
18. 0:46and some sided with the Jews and some
19. 0:49with the apostles.
20. 0:51Do you remember Jesus said I did not
21. 0:52come to bring peace but a sword? And I
22. 0:55will divide.
23. 0:58Sometimes when the truth comes, it
24. 1:00separates. It causes division. That's
25. 1:02not the fault of the truth. That's that
26. 1:04we love our sins because our deeds are
27. 1:06evil.
28. 1:09But the people of the city were divided
29. 1:11and some sided with the Jews and some
30. 1:13with the apostles.
31. 1:15And when an attempt was made by both the
32. 1:17Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers
33. 1:19to mistreat and to stone them, they
34. 1:22became aware of it and fled to the
35. 1:24cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe
36. 1:29and the surrounding regions.
37. 1:32And there they continued to preach the
38. 1:34gospel.
39. 1:36At Lystra, a man was sitting who had no
40. 1:39strength in his feet,
41. 1:41lame from his mother's womb, who had
42. 1:43never walked.
43. 1:45This man was listening to Paul as he
44. 1:47spoke, who when he had fixed his gaze on
45. 1:50him
46. 1:52and had seen that he had faith to be
47. 1:54made well,
48. 1:56said with a loud voice, "Stand up right
49. 2:00on your feet."
50. 2:01And he leaped up and began to walk.
51. 2:06When the crowd saw what Paul had done,
52. 2:08they raised their voice saying in the
53. 2:11Lycaonian language, "The gods have
54. 2:14become like men and have come down to
55. 2:17us."
56. 2:19And they began calling Barnabas Zeus and
57. 2:21Paul Hermes because he was the chief
58. 2:24speaker.
59. 2:26The priest of Zeus, whose temple was
60. 2:29just outside the city, brought oxen and
61. 2:32garlands to the gates and wanted to
62. 2:34offer sacrifices with the crowds.
63. 2:37So, they wanted to make burnt offerings
64. 2:39and sacrifices
65. 2:41when kill the oxen for Paul and
66. 2:43Barnabas.
67. 2:44But when the apostles, Barnabas and
68. 2:47Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes
69. 2:51and rushed into the crowd crying out and
70. 2:54saying, "Men,
71. 2:57why are you doing these things? We are
72. 3:00also men of the same nature as you and
73. 3:03preach the gospel to you that you should
74. 3:05turn from these vain things to a living
75. 3:08God who made the heaven and the earth
76. 3:11and the sea and all that is in them."
77. 3:14In the generations gone by,
78. 3:17he permitted all the nations to go their
79. 3:19own ways.
80. 3:21And yet, he did not leave himself
81. 3:24without witness
82. 3:25in that he did good and gave you rains
83. 3:28from heaven
84. 3:29and fruitful seasons satisfying your
85. 3:32hearts with food and gladness.
86. 3:35Even saying these things with
87. 3:37difficulty, they restrained the crowd
88. 3:39from offering sacrifice to them.
89. 3:44But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium
90. 3:47and having won over the crowds, they
91. 3:49stoned Paul and dragged him out of the
92. 3:51city, supposing him to be dead.
93. 3:55So, they probably seized upon this
94. 3:58terrible moment that Paul and Barnabas
95. 4:00stopped, and they probably fed the crowd
96. 4:03that Paul and Barnabas wanted it or
97. 4:05something. That's
98. 4:07likely why Luke is connecting it in this
99. 4:10way. But, they supposed Paul to be dead,
100. 4:13and they left him. But, while the
101. 4:14disciples stood around him, thinking
102. 4:17he's dead,
103. 4:18he got up and entered the city.
104. 4:21Let's go back in and finish what we
105. 4:22began.
106. 4:23The next day, he went away with Barnabas
107. 4:26to Derby.
108. 4:27After they had preached the gospel to
109. 4:29that city and made many disciples, they
110. 4:32returned to Lystra
111. 4:34and to Iconium and to Antioch,
112. 4:37strengthening the souls of the
113. 4:39disciples,
114. 4:40encouraging them to continue in the
115. 4:43faith,
116. 4:45and saying,
117. 4:46"Through many tribulations,
118. 4:49we must enter the kingdom of God."
119. 4:53You think he knows what he's talking
120. 4:54about? He's just been stoned.
121. 4:57He's been rejected.
122. 4:58And he says,
123. 5:00"We are going through hard things,
124. 5:03but if we will keep going, we will enter
125. 5:05the kingdom of God."
126. 5:08I want you to notice that
127. 5:10he is urging the disciples,
128. 5:13strengthening the souls of the
129. 5:15disciples, by telling them
130. 5:18that their persecutions are going to
131. 5:20lead to the kingdom of God.
132. 5:23He's saying, "What you're going through
133. 5:25has a purpose.
134. 5:27The betrayal, the lies, the stupidity,
135. 5:30the stonings,
136. 5:32it can actually move you closer toward
137. 5:35the dominion of your king."
138. 5:39This is the same Paul who would later
139. 5:40tell us that God's power can be
140. 5:43perfected in our weakness, or God would
141. 5:46tell him that.
142. 5:48He tells them to continue in the faith.
143. 5:53That is not a modern easy believism that
144. 5:57once you have belief, everything's
145. 5:59sealed. He urges them to continue. Faith
146. 6:03is a path that you must continue in.
147. 6:07Faith is not a moment in time only.
148. 6:10It's a journey.
149. 6:12It's a faithfulness.
150. 6:14It's a path of the righteous that is
151. 6:16like the first gleam of dawn shining
152. 6:19ever brighter to the full light of day.
153. 6:21And it also has stonings along the way.
154. 6:24And it also has misunderstandings and
155. 6:26persecutions along the way.
156. 6:28But that full light of day is the
157. 6:30kingdom of God. So, continue in it.
158. 6:33When they had appointed elders for them
159. 6:35in every church,
160. 6:38having prayed with fasting, they
161. 6:40commended them to the Lord in whom they
162. 6:43had believed.
163. 6:45They passed through Pisidia and came
164. 6:48into Pamphylia.
165. 6:50When they had spoken the word in Perga,
166. 6:52they went down to Attalia. From there,
167. 6:56they sailed to Antioch
168. 6:58from which they had been commended to
169. 7:00the grace of God for the work they had
170. 7:02accomplished.
171. 7:04So, he said they came back to Antioch
172. 7:06where they had been appointed as
173. 7:07apostles for this work. They came back
174. 7:11having done what God asked them to do.
175. 7:14When they had arrived and gathered the
176. 7:15church together, they began to report
177. 7:19all things that God had done with them
178. 7:23and how he had opened a door of faith to
179. 7:27the Gentiles.
180. 7:28And they spent a long time with the
181. 7:30disciples.
182. 7:32So, this is what it means to continue in
183. 7:35the faith. It means to work and walk and
184. 7:38preach and witness and serve and live in
185. 7:41such a way that you can come back to the
186. 7:44church and not talk about what you did,
187. 7:46but what God did through you.
188. 7:49That's not those aren't works that you
189. 7:52can take credit for. So, nobody can
190. 7:54accuse you of a works versus faith
191. 7:57theology. When you're moving in faith,
192. 8:00when you're continuing in faith,
193. 8:03God is getting the credit.
194. 8:05"Let your light so shine before men,"
195. 8:08Jesus said, "that they may see your good
196. 8:10works, but give the glory to your Father
197. 8:13who is in heaven."