Date:   08/26/07

Text:   Acts 14:1-28

Title:   The Portrait of A Witness

Theme: : Since Christ has empowered us with the Holy Spirit, we are to witness for Him with distinct characters.

Introduction:

  Let's play an association game. When I say Engineers, Lawyers, Doctors, Nurse, 1960's IBM employees, pastors, missionaries, AA flights between Austin and San Jose, you say_______.

  In our study of the Acts, we learned that all of us, every follower of Christ, is to be His witness. What do we associate witness with? We may know what to do—which is to: share with others the good news of Jesus Christ. But how about some distinctive traits? The Scriptures are not like the Merck Index, spelling out all the details. However, from a study of how 1 st century apostles and disciples go about being witnesses for Christ, we can catch a glimpse of their unique distinctives.

In the passage we read today are records of Paul and Barnabas's 1 st Missionary Journey. They were in the cities of Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. These records, though not in great detail, provide us with very helpful insights about some essential traits of a witness.

I.   A Bold and Wise Witness. 1-7

  Let's first take a look at what happened at Iconium. 1-4, “ 1 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.” They preached the word. And God worked miracles through them. It is good to remember that the preaching of the word always comes first. The miracles are to authenticate what the apostles preached. As a result of their preaching ministry, many Gentiles and Jews came to know Christ. At the same time, there were oppositions. Wherever the gospel goes, it always causes division. Some welcome the message and others reject it. You see, once you've encountered the kingdom of God, one cannot remain neutral anymore. We also learn that in spite of the opposition they remained there for a long time. We don't know how long, but they continued to preach and be witnesses in Iconium. This tells us about their courage and boldness in an unfriendly and hostile environment.

  5-7, “ 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.” Opposition in this city started to expand and violence escalated, They were planning to stone Paul and Barnabas, with the intent to kill. What did Paul and Barnabas do? Yes, they were bold but here we read that they fled to Lystra and Derbe. Yes, they were bold but also wise.

  I still remember when I first came to this country in 1967. One time in the lab, I was talking to a fellow graduate student. When the conversation turned to Jesus, he immediately went into a rage and said, “if this Jesus comes again, we'll crucify him again.” I had never seen someone so angry at Jesus. I was totally intimidated. I have to admit that from that day on, I dared not talk to him about Jesus. I was neither bold nor wise. Recently I heard of an incident in a city in china. A group of Christians was arrested because they were passing out gospel tracts on the street. Yes, they were bold, but wise? Very doubtful.

  I also think of a time when I first came to Houston. I began to meet regularly with David Wu over lunch at different restaurants in China town. Frequently, by the time I got there, David was talking to someone. I was so impressed that he knew so many people. Then he told me that he had met them just a few minutes prior to my meeting him there.. He was able to strike up a conversation and talk to strangers about Christ. David was a bold witness for Christ. Several years ago, David passed away in Israel while serving as a missionary there.

  To be bold means not to be intimidated by people who are hostile or antagonistic towards the Christian faith. To be bold is to speak out about our faith at the right time, in a right way, even in an unfriendly environment.

II.   A Humble Witness. 8-18

  Paul and Barnabas left Iconium and went to Lystra. 8-10, “ 8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.” They healed a person who was born lame. The healing process was very much like Peter's healing a cripple in Acts 3. Again we notice that Paul preached the gospel message, then there was the healing. The crowd then treated Paul and Barnabas as gods and wanted to worship them with sacrifice. There was a historical reason for this response. There was a story about Zeus and Hermes who once visited a valley near Lystra. They went from door to door but no one invited them in. When they came to a poor man's house, they were received and treated with a meal. The next morning Zeus and Hermes took this man and his wife up the mountain. The gods showed them that they had flooded the valley and were drowning everyone. However, they had transformed the poor man's house into a great temple with a glittering gold roof. So with this background, residents in Lystra wanted to treat Paul and Barnabas like the two gods: Zeus and Hermes.

  What did the apostles do? 14-18, “ 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.” They did their best to stop the crowd and then pointed them to the creator God. What do we see here? The crowd saw the apostles' power and wanted to worship them as gods. However, the apostles knew it was not their power, but that it was the power of Jesus Christ. They were Christ's witnesses; they were his messengers. They could have taken advantage of the situation and make a name for themselves. But they knew that the focus was not on the power of the messengers, for they had none. Instead, it was God's power. A witness is a humble person.

  It's like when FedEx delivered a long awaited and important package. We are certainly glad to see the truck and the delivery person. But even more so, we are thankful to the sender of the package.

Very often I hear people tell me this, because you're the pastor, or the senior pastor, therefore what you say carries weight and people will listen to you. This certainly boosts my ego, yet this is wrong, right? We really don't have and shouldn't have any power. The only power we, pastors or senior pastors, have is to help you submit to the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our primary responsibility is to help you to submit to Christ and his teaching. The attention should never be on pastors, for we are just God's messengers, witnesses just like you.

We are to remember that whenever we share Christ with others, when they come to know Christ, we do not claim credit for ourselves. We are just witnesses, pointing them to the power, love and grace of God.

III.   A Persistent Witness 19-21

  At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas were threatened with stoning and thus fled. 19-21, “ 19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch .” Here at Lystra, their opponents came from out of town, incited the crowd and actually stoned the two. They thought the two had died and left them alone. But they were still alive. What did they do? They went back to the city and the second day continued the journey and ministry. what would you have done? I may just take the first flight out and come home. But not Paul and Barnabas. They were persistent.

  While in China , I met a young minister in his early 30's. In one of our conversations, we talked about suffering for Christ. In a very matter of fact way, he said he had been arrested and jailed several times. This hardship did not deter him from serving the lord. This is persistence.

  To be persistent requires us to endure our difficult situations. Even though it is tough, don't give up.

IV.   A Caring Witness. 21-23

  After staying in Lystra for another day, Paul and Barnabas went to Derbe. Again, they preached the gospel and many became disciples of Jesus Christ. And then they returned to the cities they had visited. Looking at these verses, it shows us the caring side of the apostles. You know sometimes it is easy for us to go to different places to share the gospel and then move on. It's a one- time encounter. But here we see Paul returning to the same cities he had visited. What did he do?

1•  Strengthening the believers' faith. 22 , “ 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples..” The apostles went back to visit the new believers and help their faith continue to grow. From Paul's later writings, we know that this strengthening process included teaching them to know what they believed in. There would be instructions on how to live in harmony with each other in a Christian community. They had all come from a society where each was watching out for his/her well being. But in the Christian community, in the community of the redeemed, we are to live in harmony, loving one another, bearing each other's burdens and accepting each other. And there would be teaching on living a life transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. It is a life that is controlled by the Holy Spirit, manifesting the fruit of the spirit and Christ-likeness.

Some of us have come to faith in recent days, weeks or months. Many of us are also instrumental in helping these new believers coming to Christ. It is important to remember that we not only help others to come to know Christ, but also to help them grow. Sometimes we feel that our responsibility is to bring others to Christ then we have done our part. Bringing someone to Christ and helping the person to grow go hand in hand and cannot be separated.

To those who are new Christians, we need others to help us to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ. We need to study God's word personally and with others in the context of Bible study and SS. We are to be a part of a fellowship or small group so we learn how to live in harmony with each other.

2•  Encourage the new believers. 22b, “ encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God .” Paul not only strengthened their faith but also encouraged them. By his own example, he had shown that it was not easy to be a follower of Christ. There will be plenty of hardships: insults, persecutions and physical harm. So Paul urged them to keep their faith, don't give up when they face difficulties.

This is still the same today, right? Many have shared that life events have not turned better because of faith in Jesus. At times there are still job problems. All kinds of difficulties and challenges in marriage and family. We still get really sick just like everyone else. Once a person asked me, how come I still have so much problem with finding a job even though I have believed in Jesus. Or why am I sick all the time since knowing Christ?

We learn that we do not put our faith in what will or will not happen. We always put our faith in the faithful and sovereign God. Even in hardships, we believe that he is good and is still in control. Yes, there will be hardships in following Christ, but our God is always there with us, walking with us through those dark times in life. This is how we encourage one another.

3•  Organization. 23, “ 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” We also learned that at those cities, Paul also appointed elders to care for them. He helped the new community or the church to organize.

V.   A Witness who completes his mission. 26-28

  After visiting these cities and establishing churches in them, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch . In vs.26, “ 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch , where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And there remained no little time with the disciples.” The church had sent Paul and Barnabas on this 1 st missionary trip. And now, having completed their mission they returned. There is a very simple and poignant point here. They were given a task and they completed it by the grace of God. They began and finished well. Not only did Paul finish this mission, he completed the 2 nd and the 3 rd Missionary Journeys. Towards the end of his life, he said, 2 Tim 4:7, “ 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ”

A brother once said to me, Pastor, I would like to show you my new basement, but it is full of projects that I have started but not completed. It is embarrassing. It is relatively easy to start a ministry or a task, but finishing it is a different story Isn't it true we have seen many projects and ministries begun with great enthusiasm, yet half way through, the interest began to fizzle?. Or sometimes we have the 5 minute fever over a project, and then immediately forgot about it ? We would say, “God is leading me to do something else, or I don't have a burden for it anymore.” I remember seeing some unfinished projects in a certain mission field. I felt sad in the wasted financial resources.

We are to finish well. There was a time many of us were fervent in sharing the gospel with others. You remember the days when you went out to visit and brought others to Christ. Or we were active in serving in various ministries in this church. Where are we now? You have started very well, don't stop now, finish well too.

Conclusion.

  When I think of the portrait of a witness, Billy Graham inevitably comes to mind. I first heard of him in the 1950's. and ever since I have been closely following his ministry. Lately there are many articles about him in major magazines, such as Newsweek and Time. There are also several interviews on the national news network. There is a new book called, “The Preacher and the Presidents” by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. He is often called the pastor-in-chief, pastor to the presidents, and the spiritual gift to all.

  Yes, he admitted that he made some mistakes over the years in his relationship with one or two presidents. In the 50's, he insisted that his crusades would be integrated. He was bold and wise to bring the gospel message to countries that were unfriendly or even closed to the Christian faith. He was bold in telling the presidents what they needed to do to go to heaven and when they sinned. He was humble. In interview after interview, he repeatedly claimed that he was just a messenger, telling the world of God's love and man's need for him. Therefore, as a messenger, the attention was never on himself but directed to the one who sent him. Now his health is deteriorating and he has stopped all his preaching ministry. He started well, and certainly he is finishing it very well indeed.

We may say that we are not Billy Graham, nor are we Paul. I will be the first to voice this. There is no way I can be bold and wise, humble, persistent and caring. It is so unlike me. But wait a minute, what did we study in Acts 1:8? “ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria , and to the end of the earth.”" It is the Holy Spirit that empowers Paul and Barnabas and other apostles/disciples to be his Witnesses. It is the grace of God that enabled Paul and Barnabas to complete their mission. Likewise, the same spirit will also empower us to preach the gospel with boldness, humility, persistence, caring and completing the mission entrusted to us.

  And lastly, you know what? As we take a look at these traits again, isn't this also a portrait of our lord Jesus Christ? He was bold, humble, persistent and caring. When he was on that cross, he cried out, It is finished!!!. He came with a mission and he completed it. He is the Witness par excellence. Our comfort and encouragement is that the Holy Spirit will enable us to develop these traits: boldness, humility, caring and persiste