First Missionary Journey, part 4

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us: ​‘​I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, ​​That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” ⁴⁸ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ⁵¹ But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

 ¹ Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed^{. 2} But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. ³ Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

⁴ But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. ⁵ And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, ⁶ they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. ⁷ And they were preaching the gospel there.

^{Acts 13:46-14:7}

There is so much in Paul’s sermon that we won’t go into, but overall, the Old Testament is relevant to us today. It is amazing that the events in the Bible really happened. The Old and New Testaments are not just stories, but real events, and they have an influence on us today.

Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly (see 13:46 and 14:3). Knowing that the Bible, Old and New Testament, is filled with real stories of realpeople makes us grow bold in our speaking, in our actions, and in our faith. When Barnabas spoke to the fearful church about receiving the newly converted Saul, Barnabas told about “how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:27). Then in Jerusalem, Saul “spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 9:29).

And boldness comes not in the absence of opposition but in the very presence of opposition. There was violence in Antioch that caused Paul and Barnabas to go to Lystra and Derbe. Yet there Paul continued to speak boldly to the point where he would be stoned and left for dead. But that did not stop Paul.

The Apostle would later describe his motivation to speak so bold despite opposition, “But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.” (1 Thessalonians 2:2-3)

Notice that last line, and rephrase it in the positive: “Our boldness comes from TRUTH, HOLINESS, and HONESTY.”

I teach “Is Genesis History?” on Sunday nights and Diana Howell asked just last night after the class “What is the purpose of apologetics, is it to convince unbelievers or assure believers?”

I immediately told her, “The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The more we know and trust that God’s Word is true, the stronger our faith becomes.” And as Paul might would say, the bolder we become. The truth and sincerity of Paul’s belief emboldened him and whether we learn apologetics or learn more from this trip to Greece and Turkey about the historicity of the Bible, our faith will grow.

And as our faith grows, so will our boldness in speaking with others, but also in our prayer. Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Paul was bold in his speaking to others because he KNEW what he was saying was TRUE. And TRUTH, HOLINESS, and HONESTY will also give us boldness in our prayer. Have you thought that because you are going on this trip, the truth and faithfulness of Paul’s journeys and John’s exile to Patmos will strengthen your PRAYER LIFE? Truth emboldens us!

There was another source of Paul’s boldness. Look at Ephesians 6:19, where Paul pleads that the readers pray “for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

Pray for our pastor, and staff, and for us as we go on this journey, that as a result of the TRUTH and our PRAYERS we will return bolder in our proclamation and in our prayers. 

I know I ran long today, but one more thing: CS Lewis said "Prayer is not so much about changing God, but changing us." May I say that learning about why we believe is not so much about changing others but changing us. And this journey, as we learn more, will also be about changing us and our relationship with Christ.

Pray boldly before the throne of grace that God changes us.