In 2009, Pastor Fred Winters of First Baptist in Maryville, IL, was shot and killed during a worship service by a disturbed young man. As you can imagine, the shock hit the church and family hard. Cindy Winters (the pastor’s wife) was interviewed the following week. When she was asked about her husband’s killer, she said she held no hatred or even hard feelings towards him. She went on to say that her family had been praying for him. She finished her thoughts with this: “We are not angry at all, and we really firmly believe that he can find hope and forgiveness and peace through this, by coming to know Jesus. And we hope that that happens for him.” (Source: cbsnews.com, March 16, 2009)
Paul is faced with a similar life and death situation in Acts 14; however, he miraculously survives – and does not hesitate to finish this missionary journey and then go on two more mission trips! We find hope in the gospel to continue serving Jesus.
THE STRENGTH OF THE HOSTILITY
People from Antioch and Iconium came to hinder this mission team’s work. The cities were acting together. Some had traveled no less than 130 miles to get to Paul and Barnabas!
In recent years, we have seen large groups of people bused into cities for political protests. They are brought in to stir up momentum. In some cases, these travelers aided in destroying city blocks. Burning buildings, smashing windows, and looting stores became their occupation. We have seen that a mob mentality can very much get out of control quickly.
Make no mistake, the opposition to the true message, the gospel, is real and it is significant. Some will shun you; some will end friendships, some will lie and gossip to turn others away from listening to the gospel, some will engage in intimidation tactics (yelling, profanity, threats of violence), and in some countries a gospel preacher can be jailed or executed.
THE SUDDEN CHANGE
The people are now persuaded to do harm to Paul. They went from wanting to worship him to wanting to destroy him! This change is startling, but this change is NOT UNIQUE!
o This type of change also happened in Melita (Acts 28:6).
o This type of change also happened in Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 21:9; 27:22
So, what happened that brought about this sudden change? The people of Lystra were barbaric & superstitious. If Paul & Barnabas were not “gods in the likeness of men,” then they might be sorcerers or even demons! The mode of operation for the Jews was to use fear (these teachers are demonic) to stir the people to a fury of panic. The mode of punishment, stoning, also seems to point to the Jews. This was the punishment they had employed before with Stephen in Acts 6 &7.
It was October 25, 1964. Vikings defensive end, Jim Marshall scooped up a fumble and ran 66 yards – in the wrong direction! He ended up scoring 2 points for the 49ers that day. It was said that Marshall was surprised that no one was chasing him. To say Jim Marshall was confused is obvious.
The people in Lystra are very confused.
A false god culture is easily manipulated and cultivates insecurity, confusion, and fear.
It is the gospel that gives genuine hope in breaking the chains of sin and clears away the confusion. It is the gospel that gives hope in providing peace that passes understanding. It is the gospel that gives hope in real forgiveness. If leaders want to easily manipulate or intimidate society to a desired end, a biblical world view must be absent. If the church wants to impact politics, impact social issues, and affect genuine peace in society, the church must lift up the gospel. We must live the gospel believing the fields are white unto harvest (just as Jesus said in Matthew 9:37-38). We must live the gospel believing the Word of God is powerful (Rom. 1:16; Heb. 4:12). We must live the gospel believing the Holy Spirit convicts the heart (Jn. 16:8) and enables the mind with the clarity of truth (Jn. 14:26; 16:13).
THE SUFFERING
This time of persecution stood out in Paul’s life as unique (II Cor. 11:25). This was not an “every city, every gospel sermon” type of event. However, this time of persecution stood out in Paul’s mind at the end of his life (II Tim. 3:11). Paul had a jarring experience, but he kept going!
So, how does a Christian keep on going when persecuted? The gospel itself has the answer. Here are 4 gospel truths that help a Christian continue on for Jesus:
1. Love & Forgive. You & I were the enemy of Jesus before we had a relationship with Him. In fact, we have made sinful choices that required judgment. Jesus chose to take our judgment in our place. Jesus. Died. For. Me…and You. His blood covers our sin – this is love! We ought never “get over” this gift, this amazing forgiveness through Jesus. A bitter spirit restrains. A forgiving spirit moves on with a tender view towards others. Such transforming life experience drives us to share this relationship with others.
2. Humility. This is when we truly realize we do not deserve God’s goodness, but He showers us with His blessings anyway! He has not forgotten us (Ps. 23:4), He pours His mercy on us (Ps. 86:5; Lam. 3:22-23), He is ever with us (Heb. 13:5), and He loves us with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3). We were a slave to sin, in bondage, but the Redeemer bought us at great personal cost! Humility drives us to follow our Redeemer.
3. Purpose & Time. Joseph told his brothers that God had a purpose in what they did to him even though they meant it for evil (Gen. 50:20). Later on, Paul will tell the Romans that all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). Yes, this is very hard, but it is also temporary (I Pet. 5:10). What we are living for has no end! How we lived the gospel is the mission we will account for at the judgment seat of Christ!
4. Truth. The disciples of Jesus were scared men at Christ’s arrest in the garden; however, they became bold preachers of the gospel after Christ’s resurrection. Why? Because they realized they had the truth! They had experienced true love in Jesus, true humility because of Jesus, and now they had true purpose. They were utterly convinced that Jesus is the promised Savior that would take away the sins of the world…just as the Old Testament prophets foretold!
Last month I was looking around our home for a zipper pouch of Focus on the Family Radio Theatre CDs. I looked in every cabinet, bookshelf, and closet in the house. I could not find them anywhere! I even contacted my siblings to ask if we had by any chance loaned them out to one of them and just forgot about it. I also contacted all our children and asked if they might know where the CDs would be located. All my efforts came up dry. However, later in the month all our children came for a Saturday visit. One of kids walked in the house, said hello, and then looked for the CDs for about 60 seconds – and found them! Ugh. I was looking in all the wrong places.
We tend to look for hope in the wrong places. We will often look at circumstances and ourselves (inward and outward) when searching for hope amid hard times. Yet, genuine hope is found in God (upward). The gospel is love. The gospel is humility. The gospel is purpose. The gospel is truth! We find hope in the gospel to continue serving Jesus.