Continue in the faith... “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Acts 14:8-23 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page)

⁸ At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹ This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, ¹⁰ said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk. ¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” ¹² And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out ¹⁵ and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶ In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; ¹⁷ and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸ Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹ But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. ²⁰ But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. ²¹ After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” ²³ When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

As I reflected on today's text I couldn't help but to think of how fickle the masses can be, how easily crowds of people can be moved to different responses. In todya's text the crowds went from responding the miracle that they witnessed by worshipping Paul and Barnabas, to hearing the truth, then they were persuaded to turn on them, stoning Paul and leaving him for dead. We see this same type of swing in the mindset of the masses when Jesus entered Jerusalem prior to His crucifixion.

We read in Matthew 21:8-10:   ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹ The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

¹⁰ When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

This same crowd of people, less than one week later was persuaded to respond very differently to the same Jesus they worshipped here.  We read in Matthew 27:22-23:    Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Crucify Him!" 23And he said, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they kept shouting all the more, saying, "Crucify Him!" 

Sadly we see the same type of response and reaction by crowds and mobs depicted almost daily in the news. Crowds or mobs of people being motivated to do unthinkable evil to other people. The news outlets will never mention the true source of such evil. We need though to understand it so we can prepare ourselves for what we may face daily as we live for Christ like Paul and Barnabas in today's text.

While what we do and say may be heard or viewed publicly and people may be persauded to respond to things in groups or large numbers, a true revelation of Jesus as Lord and Savior only happens in one heart at a time. Crowds and mobs on the other hand can be influenced by spirits other than the Holy Spirit. Crowds are easily motivated by the evil spirits of anger, hate, prejudice and violence. It is the presence and the influence of these spirits that can turn a peaceful crowd into a violent mob. Most often as we saw in the scriture texts, both in the case of Paul and with Jesus, the stirring and manipulation begins with a few people who are filled with and motivated by those spirits of anger, hatred and prejudice.

What can we learn from this and how can we apply it in our lives and our interaction with society and our present culture? First we need to recognize that a majority opinion does not neccessarily mean it is a right opinion. Right and wrong, truth and falsehood are not arbitrary, relative and subject to the changing whims of society. God establishes right and wrong. Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life....(John 14:6)  Malachi 3:6 says: "For I, the LORD, do not change"  and Hebrews 13:8 says: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.    We need to guard our own hearts from the influnce of the masses. We need to not let ourselve be led or influenced by popular opinion. There are many voices and many spirits who would seek to change our minds. There is only one who will always lead us to the truth.

 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. ¹⁵ All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.(John 16:13-15)

He will guide you into all truth...He will take of mine and will disclose it to you. The Holy Spirit will reveal the truth about the Truth.

We also need to be encouraged. Even though the majority opinion may mock and ridicule us, even persecute us for what we say and what we do, our witness and our testimony works through the Holy Spirit to change the hearts and minds of individuals. God wills that none should be lost but all should come to repentance.(2 Peter 3:9) The revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior happens one heart at a time

In today's text we read:  After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” ²³ When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Even in Lystra, where the crowds had turned on Paul, there were those who received and believed the revelation of Christ. Even in our workplaces, our neighborhoods, perhaps even in our families, the majority may mock and ridicule us, they may even turn against us, but if we will follow the Holy Spirit and speak and testify of the truth about the Truth, Jesus Christ, there will be some who will receive and believe.

I encourage you today, as Paul did, to continue in the faith, even though it may be true that,  “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”  He will never leave us or forsake us. Join with the psalmist and say:

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.(Psalm 18:2)

Amen.