Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19980315.htm

ACTS: THE LOCAL CHURCH AS GOD'S AGENCY FOR DISCIPLING MEN
Part XXXII: Functioning Wisely Under Opposition For God's Discipling Process To Advance
(Acts 14:1-23)
  1. Introduction
    1. Jesus said that He would build His Church and that the gates of hades would not prevail against it, Mtt. 16:18. That implies that the Church's development would be opposed, and that it would still progress.
    2. However, it is often difficult for the individual believer who seeks to be and live a witness or minister effectively to discern specifically what he is to do in the process of facing such opposition.
    3. Acts 14:1-23 reveals different responses of God's messengers to different kinds of opposition they faced so that the discipling process. It holds directives for answering these questions as follows:
  2. Functioning Wisely Under Opposition For God's Disicipling Process To Advance, Acts 14:1-23.
    1. God had sent out Paul and Barnabas from Antioch of Syria to do missionary work, Acts 13:1-3.
    2. When they completed their missionary service, they reported back to that sending church how God had used them to open a door of faith to the Gentiles, Acts 14:27.
    3. However, along the way they faced enormous opposition as follows:
      1. Being opposed by a sorcerer on Crete, Paul had to critique him in order to witness, Acts 13:8-10.
      2. Being opposed for jealously, Paul and Barnabas were expelled from Antioch of Pisidia, Acts 13:50.
      3. Being opposed by unbelievers, Paul and Barnabas struggled against character assassinations, 14:2,3.
      4. Being opposed by abusive unbelievers, they had to flee for their lives, Acts 14:5-6.
      5. Being cornered by abusive opponents, Paul was stoned and left for dead at Lystra, Acts 14:19.
    4. Accordingly, we examine the steps to God's advancing the discipling process while His servants faced opposition to learn directives for our facing such challenges today:
      1. Level One Opposition Intensity - When facing contradictions to what we teach or to our credibility, keep declaring the truth, letting God reveal other evidences to support us to others:
        1. When Paul was countered by the sorcerer, Elymas' efforts on Crete to combat the truth with falsehood, (1) Paul combated the falsehoods with truth and (2) had God sustain his stand with a supernaturally verifying miracle of blindness up on Elymas, Acts 13:8-12.
        2. When Paul and Barnabas were countered as to his personal credibility by the unbelieving Jews at Iconium, they (1) kept teaching, and (2) God supplied supportive supernatural signs, Acts 14:1-3.
      2. Level Two Intensity - When facing verbal or physical abuse, withdraw, looking for other opportunities of service, Acts 13:45-46; 14:4-7.
        1. At Antioch Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas were abusively slandered after a while, so they (1) turned away from the unbelieving abusers and (2) toward receptive Gentiles, Acts 13:45-46.
        2. At Iconium, when a plan came about to kill them, (1) Paul and Barnabas fled the city and (2) preached in Lystra and Derbe, 14:4-7. See 2 Timothy 3:1-5 for verification on such a reaction.
      3. Level Three Intensity - When facing INESCAPABLE verbal or physical abuse, let God's sovereign intervention go to work and look for open doors in spite of the trouble, Acts 14:8-23.
        1. At Lystra, a fickle Gentile community had to be restrained from sacrificing to Paul and Barnabas when Paul healed a life-long cripple, Acts 14:8-18.
        2. However, pursuing Jewish opponents from abusive groups in Antioch Pisidia and Iconium arrived, cornering Paul into being stoned and left for death by this fickle crowd, Acts 14:19.
        3. Paul could only (1) leave it to God to raise him up (14:20), and, finding God's provision to be helped this way, he (2) continued discipling with what doors were left open for him, Acts 14:21-23.
Lesson: When spiritually opposed in our ministries of witnessing or serving the Lord in the body, we must respond different ways to different situations as follows: (a) At level one intensities where what we say or our reputations are verbally cou ntered, we must continue asserting the truth and let God verify our credibility by outside evidences to our hearers. (b) At leve two intensity where others verbally or physically abuse us, we should withdraw, seeking ministry opportunities elsewhere. (c) At level three where our being abused is unavoidable, leave the trial with God and seek opportunities anyway!