Acts 14:1-7 \"The Poison of Unbelief\"

Not quite as spry as I used to be, nor as spry as I will be one day. Well, please take a Bible and open it to Acts chapter 14, Acts chapter 14, as we continue in the book of Acts. I was looking for an illustration that might show some of the, you know, here, I'll use the 25 cent word.

Antipathy. And you go, ooh, that is a 25 cent word. Yes, indeed. Or we could just say the hatred, the anger that the world has for believers. And I thought it fitting because we see this every single day now.

The harder the world becomes, the more prideful it gets in its sin. The more it expresses anger, sometimes even violence toward believers. So I thought I'd go back in time because I like to quote R .C. Sproul.

And this is a story he tells about a professional golfer. He's out one day and it's a pro-am thing, a professional and amateur event. So in this foursome, this doesn't include R .C. by the way, this is a friend of his.

But in this foursome is Jack Nicklaus, who some of you will know. The rest of you just think he was Tiger Woods before Tiger Woods. Great golfer. One of the best ever. The president of the United States.

He doesn't name him, but I'm going to guess it's probably Nixon. Maybe Ford. So it's old. And this other professional golfer whom he doesn't name. And the fourth in this group was Billy Graham. So R .C.'s friend watches this foursome tee off and then he leaves.

And at the end of the round, he goes back to his friend, the professional golfer. And says, tell me what it was like playing golf with Billy Graham. And this golfer snaps at him. Says, just about bit his head off.

Says, I don't need to have that guy trying to jam his religion down my throat. My friend, R .C. says, patiently stood there and watched him till the guy cooled off a little bit. And then he says, so Billy really came on strong to you, huh?

The golfer sighs, puts his bag down and turns and he says, no, not actually. He goes, Billy never said a word. I just had a bad round. So what's going on there, R .C .S.? He says, this guy was very uncomfortable to be in the presence of Billy Graham.

Billy never said a word to him. But everybody knew what Billy Graham stood for. And this man was very uncomfortable in his presence. And probably would have gone home and said something to his wife like, Billy Graham's just one of those holier-than-thou people.

And I have to finish the quote because my wife will like it. Talking about Billy Graham saying that he's self-righteous, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's the quote from R .C.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

When sinful, I guess we could say it this way. I'm not stretching it the same. When people who hate the Lord, they hate the truth. And when they come into contact with the truth, with people who represent Christ, it happens.

Kind of a co-mingling, kumbaya sort of moment. Not typically. And this morning we're going to see an illustration of exactly that in Acts 14, verses 1 -7. Let me read our text. 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.

But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 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.

But the people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia, and the surrounding country.

And there they continued to preach the gospel. Now in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas were set apart, if you recall, by the Gentile church in Antioch. One that grew from persecution in Jerusalem and slowly built up.

If you recall, Barnabas was sent there by the apostles in Jerusalem to sort of check it out. And after a while, the church in Antioch got so big that he realized he couldn't handle it all by himself. So he went, found, then Saul, brought him back to help him disciple this church in Antioch.

But now, in Acts 13, the church had gotten so big that it was ready to send out missionaries. And they set apart Saul and Barnabas. And they went to the island of Cyprus, which is just off the coast of Asia Minor.

If you remember, John Mark went with them. And they crossed the whole southern side of the island, preaching the gospel as they went. And they get to the capital of Cyprus. They see the governor there, they're enabled to see him.

And they watch him as they preach the gospel with him come to Christ. Despite the opposition of a magician whom the Lord caused to be struck temporarily blind. And if you recall, then they go back to the mainland, only they're on the other end of the island now.

I'm just kind of visualizing it. How many of you are visual learners? How many of you do that? I mean, everything I do, I just kind of picture it in my head. And you know, that's a real bummer for some of us like me.

Because you know what that means too? It means when I read things, I try to picture them visually. Which means I listen to them audibly. Which means I read very slowly. I don't know if you're like me, but that's how I do things.

Sorry.

So, I'm just closing my eyes and leading you along here through the southern side of the island. They get to the capital. And so then they cross back into the other side of Asia Minor, the other side of Turkey.

And that's when John Mark goes back to Jerusalem for reasons that aren't given to us. And Paul and Barnabas, as you recall, they kind of take the trek. They follow this river up this mountain pass. Which was dangerous.

Robbers and all kinds of things there. And they go to Pisidian Antioch. Church of Antioch winds up sending them to Pisidian Antioch. As I said, there were 16 cities in the ancient world named Antioch.

I don't need to go through all that again. But once they get to Pisidian Antioch, they went to the synagogue. And if you recall, they were invited to share an encouraging word. And I'm sure it took them about half a second to think, what's the most encouraging thing we can give people?

The gospel. So they explain the gospel. Paul does. Preaches the gospel. Then there were issues there. Much like here. So they move to Iconium. And that's where we pick it up today. So this morning, as we go through this passage, I have four questions.

Kind of drawn from the text. But they help us do a couple things. One is they're going to help us understand conversion. What happens in conversion? And you know, just kind of, in case I don't summarize it better, I'll just do it now.

It takes the mind that's hostile to God, an enemy of God, and makes that mind, that soul, that person, a friend of God. It takes a soul at enmity with Christ, with God, and brings him to peace with God.

But we're also going to see, as we look at these four questions, we'll understand the aversion to Christ, the aversion to the Holy, and really, as I said, the poisoned minds of unbelievers. So number one.

Does God Cure the Poison of Unbelief?

First question. Does God cure the poison of unbelief? Does God cure the poison of unbelief? And it is a poison, an infection, a disease. It infects us. We know this. Even if we just think about passages like Ephesians 2.

We're born dead in our sins and trespasses. We think about Romans 5. We are at enmity with God. Naturally, because of the fall of Adam, we are enemies of God. So, does God cure the poison of unbelief?

And the answer is, he does when he chooses. And we know that, even if we think back to Acts 13, way back to verse 48. And it says this, And when the Gentiles heard this, when Paul says, we're turning from the Jews to the Gentiles, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.

And as many, listen, as were appointed to eternal life, believed. We talked about that. How God appoints from before the foundation of the world. Pastor Mike was talking about election last week. Those who believed in Pisidian Antioch, were those whom God had appointed or chosen or elected, before the foundation of the world.

So, Paul and Barnabas, when they get to Iconium, now you might think, I mean, I would think, let's see, we showed up at Pisidian Antioch, and we did this synagogue thing, and things didn't turn out so well for us, so maybe we should try something else.

But if we just think about Romans 1, verse 16, Paul writes that the gospel is the power of salvation. Unto whom? Unto everyone, right? To the Jew first, and then the Gentile. There's a pattern of their ministry.

The pattern is they go to the synagogue first. So this is what, and by the way, I should say this, because I want to say this. I'm teaching through Galatians on Friday night. And I just find it so interesting, because where we are right now, in the book of Acts, is in Galatia.

So as we think about him making this trek up the mountains, and you know, all the things he's going to go through here, in this chapter, we think, or we should be thinking this way. These are the people that he's later going to write, and say, you foolish Galatians who has bewitched you.

Why are you so quickly abandoning Christ for the law, for regulations, for rules? These believers are special to him. Just think if you had labored, risked your lives, done what Paul is doing here among these people, and then to see them turn to this false teaching would break your heart.

Now again, thinking back to chapter 13, when we get to the end, didn't they shake the dust off their feet at the idea of the Jews? In fact, it's right there in the text. Verse 46, he says, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, talking about the Jews.

Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. But that doesn't stop Paul. I talked about that last time, how much he loved the Jews. Even if we think about Romans 9, he says that he would consider himself, if he could, he'd consider himself accursed.

In other words, he would give his salvation for theirs. Now, it doesn't work like that. But I mean, sometimes if you're a parent or a grandparent, don't you think, I would endure the fires of hell if only my child would be saved, if only my grandchild would be saved, if only my spouse would be saved.

But as we see from their actions, the unbelieving Jews in Pisidia and Antioch, that the shaking off of the dust was only against them and not against the believers, not against Jews in the big picture.

So when they get to Iconium, straight to the synagogue they go. That's the pattern.

That's the norm.

So why the emphasis on preaching the gospel in synagogues? One commentator lists these reasons.

He says,.

Paul's desire to see his kinsmen, according to the flesh, come to Christ. Good, right? We've talked about that. Then he says, some Jews would be thrilled to learn that the long-promised, long-awaited Messiah has finally come.

They may not have heard of Jesus of Nazareth, who perfectly obeyed the law, who perfectly fulfilled all the prophecies of the Old Testament. Then he says, Gentile converts to Judaism and God-fearing Gentiles would also be in the synagogue, and the message of the gospel would appeal to them because it wasn't for Jews only, but for Gentiles as well.

And then commentator Steve, one of my favorite commentators,.

Says,.

This was the best location, the synagogue, the best location the ancient world had for mass evangelism. When you think about it, how hard is it to find a place where you could preach to dozens or hundreds of people at a time?

It's not that common. And when you get that opportunity, you want to take it. And so they had this opportunity to go into the synagogue, which really, you know, when you're living in a world where there isn't a church on every corner, but there's this vague belief among the Gentiles of God, and there's a wrong belief in the Jews because they have this idea of salvation through obedience.

So you go to a place where you're going to be heard and where people are going to eagerly listen to you. So that's why. And look again at verse 1, talking about Paul and Barnabas,.

Says,.

And spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Gentiles believe. Now when you read that, don't you think, man, I wish Luke would have included that sermon. That would have been good for me to hear.

I'd like to see a sermon where it's just so intriguing, so inviting, so good, that many, many people come to faith in Christ. But we don't get that. But when we read one of his sermons, like we had in 13, we notice something, or even in Acts 17, whenever you read one of Paul's sermons, you don't think, that is the most,.

I mean,.

There are amazing features in it and everything else, but that's like nothing I've ever heard because we hear it. It's not about soaring oratory.

In fact,.

When Paul wrote the Corinthian church,.

What did he say?

1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 to 5,.

He said,.

What's he saying? He's saying, I didn't have this really great sermon prepared that I knew I could just come with full confidence, have you hanging on every word so that you're almost compelled to believe.

Verse 4,.

And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. In other words, I don't want to talk you into the kingdom.

I want the Word and the Spirit, the conviction of the Holy Spirit to bring you into the kingdom. I want you to hear the gospel and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I want the Holy Spirit to so work in you, to grant you a heart of flesh and take out your heart of stone.

That's what gospel preachers do. One man said this,.

He said,.

Paul and Barnabas preached with such force, warmth, unction, and assistance of the Spirit. And there's the key. I mean, you could be the best preacher of all time without the Holy Spirit attending the sermon.

It's all for naught. But we know the basics. That through Jesus, who was wrongfully crucified, then raised from the dead by God, forgiveness of sins is offered to all who trust in him alone. Sola fide, sola gratia.

These things don't change. Everyone who came to Saving Faith in Iconium had left home that morning, gone to synagogue on the, I don't know why I want to say synagogue, synagogue on the Sabbath day, as they did every Sabbath day.

And they had no idea when they went there that day that they were going to hear about Jesus or that the Holy Spirit was going to change their lives.

They didn't know.

They didn't have to know. God knew. So that's question number one. Question number two. Do miracles cure the poison of unbelief? Now, immediately as I say that, or as I ask that question, you should be saying no.

And I mean, there are a myriad of reasons why you know that the answer is no. You know that the answer, yeah, okay. First, it's important to note that not everybody at the synagogue was saved, right? If it was the power of miracles that saved, everybody who saw those miracles would be saved.

But look at verse two.

But the unbelieving Jews, in other words, the Jews who were not converted, stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. Unbelief, as we were saying in Sunday school, right? There's a switch all of us have, an on-off switch.

When you believe, God sets that switch on belief.

No one,.

No one can switch that thing off. If you believe, you believe. What God has done cannot be undone. And by the way, you can't throw the switch to belief. No amount of effort on your part can cause you to believe.

But unbelief is the natural setting of all mankind. We come out of the womb in a state of unbelief. Now I found it interesting this week, I was just reading that, you know, Ligonier does this study every year.

And this one is like a jugular attack. 74 of Americans, that's just general Americans, believe that we are born innocent. That is to say, without a sin nature.

74%.

Now you think, okay, surely, among evangelicals, that must be much, much lower, right? Well, it's not much lower and don't call me Shirley. Listen, 64 of evangelicals agree with that. And you think, well, what about original sin?

What about Adam's fall? If your church doesn't teach about original sin, if your church doesn't teach that the first Adam failed, why would you believe in it? You see those cute little babies? Innocent.

No.

Sorry.

Sorry, parents. And the unbelieving Jews in Iconium responded as many do to the Gospel today. Not with indifference, not with, I'm glad that works for you, but with anger. Like that golfer. They're angry because the Gospel message.

Opposes their religion of works.

You mean to tell me that all I have to do is trust in this man who was put to death in Jerusalem on a cross? That's all I have to do? That nothing I do matters to God? That my whole life up to this point has been useless, worthless in God's sight?

Well, no, it's much worse than that. Because what you've done up to this point has just brought condemnation upon you. It's not that it was valueless. It was worse. Way worse. And this is basically a carbon copy of Pisidian Antioch.

The verb there translating unbelieving, or translated unbelieving, is actually disobedient. And that's the essence of unbelief, is to be disobedient, to be rebellious against God. Kistenbacher says, just as the believer expresses his faith in honorable deeds, right?

We want to obey the Father. We want to live a life of gratitude that shows the fruit of the Spirit. We want to be obedient kids, children. So the unbeliever communicates his defiance in evil deeds. And I thought, man, we live in a day where people are proud of their evil deeds.

But these Jews do not debate the Scriptures with Paul and Barnabas. I mean, that would be reasonable, right? We understand what you guys are saying, but what about this passage? And what about that passage?

They want to run these two preachers out of town. They lack the political power to do it themselves, so they recruit the Gentiles. They're the minority.

Gentiles are the majority.

So they recruit these Gentiles to help them out. Now just as an illustration of the antipathy to gospel preaching, years ago, I've shared this story in various settings before, but it was on Valentine's Day, and I had the opportunity to go to the homeless shelter in Los Angeles and preach the gospel.

Still living out there, still working for the L .A. County Sheriff's Department.

And if I recall correctly,.

I was preaching from Acts 17. And I went in. There were two areas. There was one where they had the women, and then they would eat, right? It was preach, then eat. Kind of like today. So there's a room filled with ladies, and there were probably about 70, 75 ladies in there.

And I'd been told before I went by a jail chaplain. In other words, he was a volunteer who came in and worked with the inmates, and he was a friend of mine. I'd been told by him, and I had this friend, he's still my friend, he's been out of jail here for a while, but he was my trustee in the jail.

And they both said, Steve, when you go there, you've got to let them know that you're a deputy sheriff, because a lot of them have been in the system, and they'll be encouraged that a police officer, on Valentine's Day, left his wife at home, and came to preach to them.

He said, that'll be an encouragement to them. So, okay. So I'm in there with the ladies, and I told them that, and they were like, oh, that's great.

Lovely.

I mean, they were actually very nice, and everything was fine. So I go into the room with these men, and there's probably about 200 or so in there. And I tell them, and now, you know, when you're speaking, you can still kind of hear things.

I mean, I hear like a baby cry, or I hear somebody cough, or I hear somebody whispering. By the way, stop that. So I hear this murmuring coming from the back of the room, and it starts getting louder, and they're starting to move, and they're coming my way.

And I'm going, this is it. This is where I die, right here. There was a chaplain there, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Seminary, and I'll never say anything bad about Southwestern Baptist Seminary.

Not ever, because of this occasion. Because he stands up, and he says,.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Let's hear what the brother has to say.

They stopped. They listened, and everything was fine from then on. But for those few seconds, with my life flashing before my eyes, I thought, I don't know if I ever want to do this again. I don't know if I could, really.

So I don't know, well, actually, I do know, if I were Paul and Barnabas, and I'd already seen this in Pisidian Antioch, how people turned against me. And now I was starting to get this vibe in Iconium.

I'd run for the hills, I'm just being honest.

But look at verse 3.

They don't do that. In fact, the way this is set up, I mean, it's controversial. Scholars come up with all kinds of explanations about why this verse is here, and they try to put it other places, whatever.

But look,.

So they remained for a long time. They know there's this division, and they stay. And look what they do, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

They don't abandon these new believers at Iconium. They stay with them. They teach them. They disciple them. They pour their lives into them. How long, we don't know, but it's for some time. Eventually, we can think of it this way, that there would be some men at Iconium who would be able to evangelize unbelievers and disciple new Christians themselves.

Why?

Because they'd been evangelized, and they'd been discipled. They were fulfilling the Great Commission. And in the midst of this, they wind up doing signs and wonders. And we would do well, as we see that, to think about it like healings.

In other words, God was doing miracles in their midst.

Well, why?

We know the answer. If we just think about Acts, first of all, it's a narrative. It's a history. These are things that actually happened. What it's not is a how-to book. In other words, should we go today, for example, and do evangelism at synagogues?

We could, but we're not compelled to. Should we expect signs and wonders? Miracles?

No.

These are special acts of God that confirm the messengers and the message. In other words, the people who knew about these miracles, which would be believers and unbelievers, should receive Paul and Barnabas and what they're preaching because God is affirming them.

Why don't we have signs and wonders today? Because God, he tells us in Hebrews, has given us his final word, and that is his Son. There's no need for signs and wonders. We have the Word of God, the Holy Spirit.

We know what the truth is. We know what the gospel is. So are signs or miracles a cure for unbelief? When God puts his power on display, does it change the unsaved mind? We'll look at verse 4. But the people of the city were divided.

Some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. So the answer is no. It doesn't convert them. It doesn't change their minds. Now, the people, the believers, would be encouraged. The unbelievers might be mystified, but it doesn't change their hearts.

Even as we think about John 3, we think about Nicodemus. Lord, we know that you are from God.

Why?

Because no one can do the things that you do.

It's not,.

I believe you. It's like, who are you? If we think about the Jews who crossed on dry land through the Red Sea, did they all come to faith?

No.

I mean,.

The most glaring example of miracles not converting is Judas Iscariot. Day after day after day, watching Jesus do these things. The heart of stone needs a divine work done upon it. It needs to be transformed.

It doesn't just need to observe the power of God. It needs the power of God. Commentator Peterson said this,.

He says,.

Neither miracles nor persuasive argument can affect conversion without the secret work of God's spirit, which is called regeneration. You must be born again, Jesus told Nicodemus. But as Paul and Barnabas continue their work in Iconium, the city becomes divided.

But notice there, isn't it interesting that Luke calls Paul and Barnabas apostles, and you say,.

Well,.

What's the big deal?

Paul himself said he was an apostle of Christ.

Well,.

Because Barnabas isn't one of the twelve, he didn't go through the whole ministry with Jesus. So what's this all about? Luke is using apostle,.

The word,.

In his most basic sense. They were authorized messengers sent by the church, sent by the Lord, the Holy Spirit, with an authorized message. That's what apostles did. Apostles weren't just limited. That word wasn't just made up for the twelve.

It existed. It was kind of co-opted by the church to describe who these twelve men were, but it suits.

Now,.

Don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying Barnabas is one of the twelve. I'm saying in this setting, he was a messenger of Jesus Christ.

So,.

Number one, does God cure the poison of unbelief?

Sometimes.

Number two, do miracles cure the poison of unbelief?

No.

Number three,.

What are the symptoms of the poison of unbelief? What are the symptoms of the poison of unbelief?

Well,.

We've already seen the bitterness and envy of the unbelieving Jews,.

Right?

That's what the problem is. They're envious that so many of their fellow Jews and some Gentiles are starting to follow Paul and Barnabas. And they're so bitter about it that they start recruiting the more numerous Gentiles to join with them in opposing the fledgling church.

And it reaches its peak right here in verse 5, when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers. In other words, they've even got the authorities again involved to mistreat them and to stone them.

Now,.

If we just think about Jesus for a moment and we think,.

Well,.

Why was he crucified? There were some in the Jewish leadership who thought that if they killed Jesus, that would mean an end to his movement.

In fact,.

Why did they post guards at the grave? Because they thought,.

They said,.

Well,.

We don't want his disciples going in there and getting his body and saying that he rose from the dead because he said he would raise from the dead. And in Iconium, the Christian haters decided to put an end.

To the leaders of the church.

They wanted to put an end to Paul and Barnabas, probably in the hopes,.

Again,.

Of stamping out the church.

Now,.

That word there, to mistreat.

I mean,.

This is like insult, to scoff at,.

You know,.

To mock. And you think,.

Well,.

Paul and Barnabas could probably deal with that. But stoning? Stoning as what happened to Stephen,.

I mean,.

Paul knows what that's about because he stood there and held the cloak while they stoned Stephen to death. That was a, or is, because it still happens in some places in the world. It's intended to be a slow,.

Brutal,.

Painful death. And it has one advantage, let's just say, for those who wanted to do it. And that is this, that let's say,.

You know,.

Paul being this Roman citizen, so let's say the Roman government gets upset that one of its citizens is being stoned to death.

Well,.

They could commission an investigation to find out what happened.

Well,.

Somebody stoned to death, they couldn't fingerprint,.

Oh,.

Never mind fingerprints. I was going into the police procedural thing. They would have plausible deniability because it's basically the mob killed them. They just threw stones at them and there's no way to know who was responsible.

So they've got that plausible deniability there. And as I thought about,.

You know,.

The antipathy,.

The anger, the hatred, what did Jesus say in John 15?

He said,.

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. If they showed up and just were preaching sunshine and lollipops, nobody would care.

But when they say, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, there's a problem. Question number four. How should believers respond to the poison of unbelief? We know that unbelievers have their switch off.

We know that they are at enmity with God and because they hate the Lord Jesus Christ, they will oftentimes express that.

Hatred towards you.

So what do you do?

Look at verse 6.

They, being Paul and Barnabas, learned of this plot to stone them to death and they fled to Lystra and Derbe. So the answer is, go to Lystra and Derbe.

No.

But you don't have to be foolish. And as I was thinking about this, and as we go through Acts, just think about this. We see that Stephen gets stoned to death, but Paul and Barnabas get through a lot.

How?

Well, we could say by applying common sense, but obviously it wasn't their time to die. We'll even see later on in chapter 14, Paul gets stoned and is thought to be dead, but he's not. So they use their common sense, their God-given capacity to reason, and they leave.