In the book of Acts, chapters 8-13, God was breaking down cultural barriers and was beginning to move the church beyond the Jewish nation with all its rules and regulations, from the Old Covenant to the New. God was showing the disciples that there was no longer any distinction between the Jew and the Gentile.
Acts 13, is Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey - the beginnings of the mission’s movement to the Gentiles. But one thing we see consistently throughout the book of Acts is that in every town the disciples went there was always a mixed response, some received them gladly and others badly.
The gospel brought out the best and the worst of people, it united some and divided others.
There were many converts and then great opposition. Because not everyone desires light and truth in their lives, not everyone desires accountability to God and His Word.
But despite the opposition, the Word of God continued to spread, and many were converted and baptized. In the midst of the opposition a body of believers was left in place to maintain the witness in every city.
1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.
6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the gospel (Acts 14:1-7).
The Holy Spirit empowered them to:
Speak the truth with boldness
Stand against evil
Persevere in the midst of opposition
The Power To Speak The Truth With Boldness
Despite the opposition, Paul and Barnabas kept preaching with boldness and joy because they were full of the Holy Spirit. In each city they would go to the Jews first in the synagogue because they understood the prophetic promises about the Messiah from the OT.
Then after preaching to the Jews, they would go to the Gentiles. Paul used Greek philosophy and worldview to engage the Gentiles without compromising the Gospel.
But God is extraordinarily patient and does not want anyone to perish or be destroyed but desires that every person would turn to Him (2 Peter 3:9).
Jesus came to seek and save the lost and it is only through the work of His Holy Spirit that people’s eyes are opened to the truth.
But the message wasn’t effective because either of them were eloquent speakers or huge personalities; it was only by the Spirit’s power that they could preach. Paul said himself:
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Cor 2:4-5).
The early Christians learned how to live and thrive in the culture and at the same time not derive their life from it but only from the Lord. People were coming to faith in Christ, lives were being changed, churches were being formed and began sending out their own people to preach the Gospel. But while the Christian movement continued to spread, persecution was intensifying.
Stand Against Evil
But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers (Acts 14:2).
These Jews were unwilling to be persuaded, they rejected the truth about Christ that Paul and Barnabas brought to them.
While Paul and Barnabas were faithfully preaching and teaching the Word these unbelieving Jews went around and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles.
The Greek word for “poisoned” comes from the word “evil.” It means they systematically put something in the minds of the people that caused them to become embittered and angry against them.
And as they systematically poisoned the minds of the people, this changed some of the crowd’s perception about the apostles’ words and actions. They stirred things up - causing people to operate on an emotional level rather than on the level of reason.
We live in an unbelievably broken world, in a state of darkness and confusion and it is only this powerful message of God’s grace and redemption that can make a person and community whole again.
Paul and Barnabas were preaching this message of grace with such power and boldness that large numbers of Jews and Greeks were coming to the faith. Yet at the same time, the unbelieving Jews were poisoning the people’s minds against Paul and Barnabas and these new believers. They were stirring up fear and division through lies.
If we are not careful and exercising discernment, the devil can poison our minds even against members of God’s household and get us to do his work for him. That is why Jesus clearly instructs us through His Word on how to handle our disagreements, our differences, sin and failure in a way that avoids confusion and division but actually covers and brings healing in the church.
Jesus said that if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand (Mark 3:25). If we divide our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are just hurting ourselves.
To Persevere
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders (Acts 14:3).
Paul and Barnabas resolved to stay in Iconium, and the account tells us that it was for a long time, even after the people were stirred up and embittered. They determined to do what was right in the midst of opposition.
“These men were filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith and they were fearless!”
Luke tells us that they stayed for a long time and spoke boldly about the Lord. The word “long” implies until their work was done. Effective ministry takes time...we are to stay where God has placed us and for as long as God wants us! Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly - spoke freely, openly, fearlessly, without constraint. Why? Because what they were preaching was truth and it had the power to change lives forever! Paul wrote:
For you know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you has not been ineffective (fruitless, in vain), but after we had already suffered and been outrageously treated in Philippi, as you know, yet in [the strength of] our God we summoned the courage to proclaim boldly to you the good news of God [regarding salvation] amid great opposition.
For our appeal does not come from delusion or impure motives, nor [is it motivated] by deceit [our message is complete, accurate, and based on the truth—it does not change]. But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel [that tells the good news of salvation through faith in Christ], so we speak, not as [if we were trying] to please people [to gain power and popularity], but to please God who examines our hearts [expecting our best] (1 Thess 2:1-4 AMP).
Their motive for preaching the message was not to please people, gain status and popularity, it wasn’t for benefiting themselves.
They were approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel and their motive was to please God Himself.
Paul and Barnabas acted out of fullness, they were intentional in their interactions with the people in Iconium and with the time they were given, invested in the new believers. But in verses 5 and 6 we see that when the verbal abuse escalated to the level of physical harm and threat of death they decided to escape to Lystra and Derbe. Paul and Barnabas were brave but not stupid! In fleeing danger, they lived to preach another day.
They stayed until the Lord moved them and this is how the Gospel spread. They traveled to the neighboring region and continued to preach the good news, to do miracles, to strengthen and establish the hearts of the disciples and encourage them to stand firm in the faith.
It was God who confirmed their message, it was God who transformed the lives of those who heard it gladly.
“It was God who showed them that their ministry to people and the Word that they preached was not in vain. ”
If you have already received Christ as your Savior for the forgiveness of sins, then the Holy Spirit of God lives in you and has sealed your redemption. That same Holy Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, speaks the truth of God’s Word to your heart and will empower you to pass this good news onto the next generation.
Ask God how He would like you to use your life to speak truth to those around you. Ask Him to give you the power to stand against evil, and trust that He will give you the power to persevere in your situation.
