Flying sparks of the Gospel (Acts 14:1-28)

[Stephan Choe]

September 1, 2023

Flying sparks of the Gospel

-Paul in Iconium, Lystra and Antiochia-

Leading verse 22: "(Paul and Barnabas) strengthened the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, saying, <we must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of God.>"

When we actively work for the gospel, we experience the saving power of God and at the same time the hindering works of Satan. For Satan becomes envious of the saving work of God and tries to prevent it. But God is the victor, and all who trust in God are victorious.

Today, based on the work of Paul and his co-workers, we want to strengthen our confidence in victory. To do this, let's look at three aspects of life as a gospel worker.

First, Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel freely and openly (14:3).

Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in Iconium in the synagogue of the Jews. And the gospel worked mightily, so that a great number of the Jews and Greeks became believers. Because the gospel worked powerfully, Satan became very envious and tried to prevent the saving work of the gospel. He used the Jews, who remained unbelieving, as his tools. These unbelieving Jews stirred up trouble and incited the souls of the Gentiles against Paul and his co-workers.

How did Paul, Barnabas, and the gospel workers behave in the face of obstacles?

Verse 3 tells us about their reaction:

"Nevertheless they remained there a long time, teaching freely and openly, trusting in the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace, and caused signs and wonders to be done by their hands."

The workers of the gospel are to know that Satan is jealous of the saving work of the gospel and seeks to prevent the work of the gospel. However, they are not to be discouraged because of the devil's resistance. Rather, they are to realize the devil's intention. The devil's intention is for Christians to become discouraged because of temptation and to stop sharing the gospel.

But Paul and Barnabas did not let themselves become fearful because they trusted in the Lord. And the Lord did not disappoint the two: He caused signs and wonders to be done by their hands, like this. Thus, the two became victors of the gospel.

We need to learn from Paul, Barnabas and their co-workers that we should boldly share the gospel of grace despite all obstacles and difficulties. In this way, we can save people from sin and give them eternal life. It is quite normal for the devil to become jealous when the gospel works mightily and saves people from sin and death power. Satan wants to prevent the spread of the gospel. He is rightly called the "Adversary." He does everything to prevent the spread of the gospel. But the Lord is stronger than any adversary and always triumphs over his adversaries.

We should be convinced of the Lord's victory and the power of the gospel. We are to remain courageous as gospel workers. We are not to be shaken by the attacks of the enemies of the gospel or by the difficult situation. We are to continue to preach the gospel unceasingly with confidence in the Lord.

Secondly, they kindled the gospel to many cities

The people in Iconium divided into two groups: One adhered to the Jews, the other to the apostles. When the apostles realized that the opponents of the gospel intended to mistreat and stone Paul and his co-workers, they fled to other cities and spread the gospel. Thus, they preached the gospel in Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe and their surrounding areas.

They recognized God's will in the persecution to preach the gospel to other cities. And they actively obeyed the will of God. And the Lord showed in the midst of persecution that He wants to spread the gospel to all the world and to spread the gospel to as many people as possible among the many nations. Outwardly, they looked like refugees. In reality, however, they were active, fruitful missionaries.

In Lystra, Paul healed the feet of a man who was paralyzed from the womb. Then people regarded Paul and Barnabas as gods incarnate, Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes, and wanted to offer sacrifices to the two. With great difficulty, the two prevented them from doing so.

But the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, stoned Paul and threw him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he stood up. He was a stand-up guy. We Christians are to be stalwarts, like Paul.

The enemies of the gospel tried to destroy the servants of the gospel to prevent the spread of the gospel. But God used their persecution to spread the gospel to the wider world. Paul and Barnabas fled persecution, but they actively spread the gospel to the wider world. They were sparks of the gospel. They were invincible workers of the gospel.

God is the Lord over all situations. He directs all events according to His will and spreads the Gospel to the world in order to give eternal life to as many people as possible throughout the world. We are to be like sparks of the bonfire.

These incidents teach us that we should look at apparent obstacles and difficulties of evangelism as a new opportunity for evangelism positively.

The Lord Jesus Christ is truly the Lord of all events. With Him, nothing is negative. He can make all things for the best for us. He used even persecution and obstacles as a spark of the gospel and spread the gospel everywhere. We should look at everything positively from God's point of view. We can then have the confidence of victory. We can recognize the providence of God and actively obey His providence. There is victory. There is eternal life. There is the glory of God.

Third: Christians should consider afflictions as normal

When Paul came to Lystra, he saw a man there who was paralyzed from birth. This man was listening to Paul's preaching. Paul noticed that this man had faith to be saved (and healed).

So Paul called out loudly, "Stand up straight on your feet!"

And this man jumped up and walked around. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they began to shout aloud:

"The gods have become like men and have come down to us."

They thought Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes because Paul was preaching the gospel. And the priest of Zeus brought bulls and wreaths to the gates and wanted to offer a sacrifice together with the crowd.

Barnabas and Paul tore their clothes, and said to the crowd, "What are you doing? We also are mortal men like you, and we preach the gospel to you, that you should turn from these false gods to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them."

Although they said this, they could hardly dissuade the people from sacrificing to them.

Then zealous Jews from Antioch in Pisidia and Iconium came to Lystra, persuaded the crowd and stoned Paul. Thinking that Paul was dead, they dragged him out of the city and threw him away.

But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city where he had been stoned. He was like a stalwart. The next day he went with Barnabas to Derbe to preach the gospel. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. Paul encouraged the disciples to persevere in the faith, saying to them:

"We must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations."

Paul did not mean that we should bring about afflictions on our own. Rather, he meant that we should reckon with Satan's attempt to prevent the spread of the gospel. Satan literally means "adversary." Satan does not sleep. He becomes jealous when God works mightily through the Holy Spirit to save people from sin. However, the form of the devilish opposition is different.

When I was in Korea in January 2007, I once visited the CMI church in Gongjoo and witnessed God's work in Germany. There, Pastor Peter Lee, the leader of the church in Gongjoo, introduced me to a Mrs. M. Lee. She had a son named S. Choi who was in the 10th grade. He would like to attend high school in Germany, if possible, to see the view of Europeans. He wants to fly to the USA afterward and attend university there. She asked me to introduce a believing family in Germany so that her son could live with the family and attend school. She told me that her husband had promised her before marriage to attend church and live a life of faith after marriage. However, he did not keep his promise. Much more, he persecuted her for her faith life. But she held on to her faith and also raised her son in faith, so that he also attended the church prayer meeting early in the morning. He was also a good student. She asked me to arrange for a believing family in Germany where her son could be housed. When I called Missionary Hudson Lee, he was ready to help him. So S. Choi came to Munich in March of that year and lodged with Hudson Lee.

Mrs. Lee stood firm in her faith despite persecution, raised her son in faith, and sent him to Germany and the United States. Through her son, the gospel was spread worldwide.

Like this believing woman, every Christian is a spark of faith. The devil tries to extinguish the fire of the gospel. But God is spreading the fire of the gospel far and wide through the scattered Christians.

Our God is alive and wants to save people from the power of death and give them His kingdom.