Through many tribulations... Love

Acts 14:8-28 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.

²⁴ They passed through Pisidia and came into Pamphylia. ²⁵ When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶ From there they sailed to Antioch, from which they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished. ²⁷ When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ And they spent a long time with the disciples.

In today’s text we see the fickleness of the response of the world to the message of the gospel. In one moment the people were treating Paul and Barnabas as gods because they had performed a great miracle of healing. In the next moment, influenced by others:   they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.     This is not that different than the way Jesus Himself was treated in His last days. He was celebrated and worshiped as He entered Jerusalem, Matthew 21:9 says:  The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!"      A week later, Mark 15:13-15 says:  “Crucify him!” they shouted.

 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”  Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.   Jesus says:    “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  He who hates Me hates My Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.  But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

The world will be both fickle and predictable in its response to the gospel and those who declare it. Some will receive the message with joy and it will have an immediate and lasting impact, effecting change in their lives. Others will also receive the message with joy, they will respond well to the positive things they see and hear but will still be influenced and swayed by the world, even to the point of turning against those who declare the gospel. Still others will not open themselves at all to the gospel or the evidence of it, even the signs and wonders of God they will explain with the philosophies and wisdom of man or by false religions. In today’s text it says:  , they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,  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.”     We too must understand and even expect that we will face many trials, tribulations and persecution at the hand of others as we proclaim the gospel and the kingdom of God. Knowing the fickleness of people’s response to the gospel message, even to Jesus Himself, we should not base our actions and our words, what we do and what we say, on how the world will respond, whether they will like us. In Acts 5:29 when they were questioned for continuing to declare the gospel in the face of threats and persecution Peter and the apostles said:  "We must obey God rather than men.”   In Galatians 1:6-10 Paul says:   I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;  which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

If we fashion our methods and our message around the purpose of “seeking the favor of men” we will run the risk preaching a gospel contrary to the gospel of the kingdom, contrary to what we ourselves received, believed and effected change in our lives. If we prioritize the favor of men we will jeopardize the favor of God. James 4:4 says:   do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.        1 John 2:15-17 says:   Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.      The will of God is that He is: not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.(2 Peter 3:9)      “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.(John 3:16)   God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8)

As followers of Christ we are to love the world as God does, as Jesus does. It is to be like theirs an unconditional love. Unconditional love is as Romans 5:8 says: while they are yet sinners. But unconditional love also is not dependant on or even concerned with their response to us, with whether they like us or what we say. Jesus says:    “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;  and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.  “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.    If we place a higher value, if we make the love and acceptance of others a priority over the cross of Christ, the cross which the world may find offensive and unloving, we are not worthy of Him who bore that cross for the sins of all.

Some will say that it is cliché, disingenuous to say that we are to love the sinner but hate the sin. In truth though that is exactly what God does, it’s exactly what Jesus did. The demonstration of God’s love was that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He suffered and died not that we would feel good about our sin, but that we could be redeemed, reconciled and restored, through the love of God, to the love of God. He died, and was rejected even on the cross, that none should perish but all should come to repentance.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May my life and my words be pleasing to You.   Amen