The Message of God’s Grace

now can you turn with me in your bibles to the book of acts acts chapter 14 in the church bible

Acts 14 · chapter mention

that's page 1 1 0 9 as we continue to gain lessons from the life of barnabas as we continue to follow

paul and barnabas on their mission we come to iconium this morning and let's again hear god's

words 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 but the jews who refused to believe

stirred up the other gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers 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 the people of the city were divided some sided with

the jews others with the apostles there was a plot a foot among both gentiles and jews together with

their leaders to ill treat them and stone them but they found out but they found out about it and fled

to the lycanian cities of lystra and derby and to the surrounding country where they continued to preach

the gospel i mean so this morning we're thinking about the message of god's grace as it comes to this

city this city that is then thrown upside down that begins to riot in some places sadly we've been

familiar haven't we in recent years with rioting cities we were in paris in the summer at the tail

end of those riots but as we watch our news and as we are sometimes there we see destruction we

recognize fear there are many causes sometimes it's racism sometimes it's an unlawful killing sometimes it's

political protest but there are many factors causing citizens to come onto the street and to see chaos

emerge well iconium stands quite different to that doesn't it because there is still riot and there is

chaos but its cause is quite different here we find barnabas and paul coming on their mission

a mission to speak god's grace to speak about god's love and god's kindness and god's forgiveness

and there's two very different reactions there's one group and they're united together in love for

this message and in love for the lord jesus as they come to discover him as the savior but then there's

this other group a mixed group are united by hate and by opposition there's an old saying i think

was the puritans that used to say the same sun that melts the ice also hardens the clay and we see that

same softening and hardening in those different heart responses to jesus back then and still we see it today

today we have a chance to slow down and to ask ourselves about grace what's so amazing about grace

what is it about the grace of god that would cause people in iconium to utterly change their lives to

gladly give up everything for the sake of following jesus what would cause john newton the former slave

trader to sing about it maybe the the world's most popular hymn why is it that 2 000 years after these

events do men and women and boys and girls still find joy and hope from the grace of god

that's what we're going to think about today we're going to get some encouragement remember barnabas his

name means son of encouragement here's how barnabas can encourage us today as we find ourselves in the

city of iconium which is right in the heart of modern day turkey barnabas is going to encourage us

to believe to believe to believe that god's grace really is amazing he's going to encourage us to

stand firm against bitter opposition and he's going to encourage us to boldly live for jesus

in a hostile world but we're going to spend most of our time thinking about barnabas encouraging us

to believe just how amazing god's grace is so back to our text verse one we are in iconium it's in the

the roman region of galatia and paul and barnabas they follow their usual pattern and they go first

to the jewish synagogue they begin speaking to religious people those who were looking to find

when their messiah would come but they don't just speak to the jewish religious folks they speak so

effectively that a great number of jews and greeks believed here we're seeing again that god's kingdom

grows that god's kingdom is wide they're a mixed group of people from different backgrounds and

cultures and religious backgrounds are being brought in to trust in jesus as lord now we're told they're

speaking effectively causing people to believe so we need to ask ourselves what was their message

and luke just gives us a summary sometimes we get details sometimes we get summary in verse one

and we did verse one we're told they spoke effectively in verse three we're told they're

speaking boldly for the lord who confirmed the message of his grace the message they bring

is of god's grace so that's what we need to think about today let's let's go by way of definition

first what is grace grace is one of those words that we hear a lot in church we also hear about it in

our world it's not an uncommon words biblically speaking grace is the love of god shown freely

salvation given freely through jesus to guilty sinners and that love comes freely not based on

our merit and that love that saves us despite our lack of merit so the grace of god is his love shown

freely to us and giving us salvation even though we are guilty sinners and it's not because we earn it

or deserve it it's because god chooses to be kind to us okay so that's grace and that's the message

that's doing two things in this city does always those two things in people's hearts it's it's

turning lives right side up because now there are people who are believing in jesus now they know god's

love now they're back in relationship with god it's what we're made for but it's also turning the city

upside down because some people fiercely oppose god and his grace and his works

i had a call with a missionary friend this week and we were talking about this and that and at one

point he stopped and he said you know what if if the city where i live if the society in which i am now

living if they would discover the doctrines of grace they would discover god's grace he said that would

change everything in this nation he was right god's grace is wonderful it's transforming we can think

about god's grace being like a precious diamond think about precious diamond it it does two things it

sparkles with beauty but we also know a diamond is is strong and powerful as we're going to think

about grace being like that diamond strong powerful and sparklingly beautiful and we're going to use

we don't have much as i said we've only got look somebody here in the book of acts we're going to use

a letter that i the people in iconium would have read the letter to the galatians to help us to

consider different faces of that diamond of god's grace that we might see and appreciate more of it so

paul just a short amount of time after these visits then wrote a letter to the churches in galatia

and iconium is one of those churches so we're going to turn to the book of galatians for a few moments

to think about how amazing god's grace is first of all we're going to go to galatians chapter 1

Galatians 1:3

verses 3 and 4 to recognize how amazing it is that in god's grace there is rescue there is great hope

and freedom from god so i'm going to read galatians 1 verses 3 and 4 which says to us grace and peace to

Galatians 1:3

you from god our father and the lord jesus christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the

present evil age according to the will of our god and father before we get to that text there's a problem

that you and i share and we share it with all of humanity and that problem is guilt and our sense of

guilt perhaps it's because of things in the past perhaps it's because of things in the present

but our conscience we know this our conscience will tell us

maybe our family or our friends will tell us of our guilt and certainly if we read the bible openly

and honestly it will tell us that there are parts of our life where all is not well

all is not right between us and other people and ultimately between us and our god

but the challenge that we have in our day is that while guilt still remains

a lot of people in our society have lost a sense of god the reality of god therefore have lost a sense

that there is a god who forgives and so we're losing a sense of forgiveness which i think is why

you're much more likely to hear about people being cancelled than debts being cancelled

where people are as likely to pursue revenge as they are to seek reconciliation

and so we have this problem of guilt and we need to discover where is freedom from guilt to be found

well if we take that problem to to the bible and to the message of the bible we need to discover

first of all who god is and we discover that god is our creator that god is utterly holy he is without sin

and he's called us to be holy too to be sinless to be perfect and again as we examine our hearts we know

that we fail that test that we miss those targets the bible calls that sin the bible calls it sin when we turn

our backs on relationship with god the bible calls it sin when we break god's law the bible calls it sin when we choose

to worship created things rather than our creator and so the truth that we all need to face up to

is that according to god and his word that guilt that we experience that guilt is real

that we do stand guilty we do stand under judgment that we carry that burden of guilt with us and the

question remains how can we be free of it

as i was thinking about this i was thinking about the difference between traveling by airplane

and a backpacking holiday or euro star so i i we took the euro star to france and the euro star is

wonderful but the one drawback of euro star is there's never a point where you get to put your

luggage on the carousel and wave it goodbye you know a wonderful moment of relief i always carry a

backpack that moment of there was never that relief so rather than that you have this burden that just

gets heavier especially when you come back from holiday bags always get heavier the burden remains

life can feel like that because of our guilt where can we lay our burden down where can we see it being

removed on the carousel and that's where god's grace comes in that's where galatians chapter one

comes in verse three grace and peace to you there is grace from god our father and the lord jesus christ

how does this grace come it comes because jesus willingly gave himself for our sins to rescue us

and that salvation that rescue that freedom from guilt comes because of the will of our god and father

god chooses to love us freely and to remove our guilt when we don't earn it or deserve it the father

wills to save us jesus's son wills to sacrifice himself to take our sin to bear our burden of guilt to pay the

price in full so that when we trust in him by grace that burden of our guilt and our sin

it is removed not just on a carousel it's thrown to the bottom of the ocean and so jesus speaks grace

of freedom and rescue he says come to me all you who are weary and burdened and i will give you rest

how does he give us rest by dying for our sins to remove our guilt to rescue us from spiritual slavery

so that's one way that grace is amazing because it gives hope and freedom of an escape from the guilt

that we feel the second face of that diamond of grace takes us to the idea of acceptance and to galatians

Galatians 2:16

chapter 2 verse 16 where paul says know that a person is not justified by the works of the law

but by faith in jesus christ

there's amazing security in god's grace an amazing sense of belonging and acceptance in the good news of what jesus has done

the story of your life and mine i imagine if we were to think about it in this way

is one where we're often seeking acceptance

that begins in childhood what behavior is acceptable

to my parents in a classroom

to this group of people i want to be friends with

that sense of seeking acceptance builds as we become teenagers

becomes really important to figure out really challenging how do i fit in

style matters music matters events matter

but it doesn't stop there does it it continues as adults

how do i fit in as i begin this new job as i try and find my place in the workplace

how do i find acceptance from my peers and in wider society

maybe we've discovered the problem that acceptance

can be really hard to win and at the same time really easy to lose

one false move

can be the end of a friendship

can mean exclusion from the group

can be a cause of real anxiety

what if i am unmasked

what if people discover something terrible about me and they want nothing

to do with me

and so we can find ourselves longing

for someone who knows us

who really knows us

but who won't walk away

who will see the worst but will stay committed to us

and that again is what god offers to us

in the gospel

because our acceptance is not based on us

it's based on our perfect savior jesus

we too have put our faith in christ jesus

that we may be justified by faith in christ

and not by the works of the law

how are we justified

how are we accepted by god

how are we approved of by a holy god

the good news is that it's not based on what we do

it's not based on our works

if it was we would have no hope

but it is based on what jesus has done

and our putting our faith in him

god's acceptance of us is not earned

it's not earned by your holiness

it's not earned by your religious efforts

that acceptance comes only by grace

the love of god freely shown to sinful people

who do not deserve it

and the good news is because it's grace

god's acceptance of us in christ

cannot be lost

even

even when believers sin

and we do sin

all of us

god's grace can't be lost

our approval can't be lost

because it's not about me

it's about jesus

and my faith in him

do we hear the

hear the strength of that truth

do we appreciate the beauty of that truth

when we're searching for acceptance

here is the voice of the king of the universe

here is the one voice that matters

here's the one audience to live for

and he says

if you're trusting in jesus

i love you

you're mine

you belong to me

and that's permanent

our friends and our families

maybe you've discovered this

when you become a christian

they may not approve

and that can be a hard

loss to bear

but to understand god's grace

and to understand the acceptance

that we have in jesus

that's a grace that can help to bear that

and any other loss

that we experience

one more face

in this diamond of grace

that we need to consider

and it's that of identity

galatians chapter 3

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

and verse 26

speaks to us

of our amazing privilege

so in christ jesus

you are all children of god

through faith

think about what this says

to our identity

but before we get there

we need to talk about taylor swift

for a moment

and i am not

let me just put it out there

i'm not a taylor swift fan

but i did discover

interesting fact

in her recent

i don't know how recent

two of the eras

16 wardrobe changes

in one concert

16 wardrobe changes

i doubt if i do that in a year

she can do it in two hours

amazing

do you know what it says

apart from the fact

she's good at changing clothes

it says the image

and identity matters

really matters

and we know

many of us

that that can be a source

of pressure

and confusion

and anxiety

again as we have lost

that sense

that we are made

in the image of god

as we've lost

that sense

that that's where

our identity

is to rest

even as christians

sometimes we forget

that we belong

to him through jesus

we can be profoundly

insecure

about our identity

and then we hear

the modern message

again and again

you can be anything

you want

you can be

anyone you want

you can be free

to redefine

your identity

over and over

in any way you want

a message

that is both

untrue

and really unkind

and so the question

then is

haunting our culture

what do my classmates

say is okay

this week

what do my colleagues

what does my culture

say is acceptable

this month

this year

so much anxiety

because of this question

of identity

think about what god's grace

has to say

to our sense of identity

in christ jesus

you are all children

of god

that's how we are

to see

ourselves

who am i

in christ jesus

i'm a child

of god

i live with god

he lives in me

if we had a spiritual

passport

it would say

child of god

citizen of heaven

that's who we truly are

above and beyond

anything else

that defines us

and that by god's grace

our prayer should be

that it would help us

to live out

that true

identity

so that when we struggle

with who we are

when we struggle

with what we see

in the mirror

that we would remind

ourselves of god's grace

that transforms

our identity

so that we become

new creations in christ

that we are loved

by our father

that we would tell

ourselves over and over

the story of the prodigal son

and the story

that jesus told

of the the son

who rebelled

against his father

wished his father

was dead

took his share

of the money

wanted to create

his own identity

living wild

and free

and made a wreck

and a mess

of everything

and came home

in shame

and disgrace

and confessing

his sorrow

how does his father

receive him

he runs to me

through his arms

around him

through a feast

for him

give him every sign

of honor

and welcome

that's grace

j.i. packer

a famous theologian

who died

just a year or two ago

he said

christians need to learn

to tell themselves

these truths

every day

to understand

our identity

i am loved

by my father

do we believe that

i am a child

of god

do we know

that's who we truly are

heaven

is my home

jesus

is my brother

and every christian

is my brother

or sister

grace is amazing

in the rescue

that we have

in jesus

in the acceptance

we have

in jesus

in the new

identity

we have

in jesus

it came to

iconium

changed everything

what about for us

today

has it changed

everything for us

are we believing

this to be true

are we resting

and receiving

jesus

and him alone

for salvation

are we enjoying

him today

barnabas encourages

us to believe

that grace is

amazing

very briefly

two more things

that barnabas

encourages us to

when we're going

back to iconium

in acts chapter 14

Acts 14 · chapter mention

he also encourages

us to stand firm

against bitter

opposition

iconium does

many things for us

it also reminds us

that the christian

life is a battle

ground

not a playground

that spiritual

opposition

is real

so we see

that the church

is working

that god's grace

is transforming

as the word

is being preached

but we also see

the devil

is resisting

what shape

did it take

in the first

century

in turkey

do we see

parallels

to our own

day

verse 2

the jews

who refused

to believe

stirred up

the other gentiles

and poisoned

their minds

against their

brothers

poisoned their

minds

see that

barnabas

and paul

they're false

teachers

that jesus

they're talking

about

he's not the

son of god

he's not the

savior

he's a false

messiah

they're really

narrow-minded

saying that the

only way to be

saved is through

faith in jesus

they're bad

members of

society

their values

don't match

up to

society's

values

they gang

up

on paul

and barnabas

the people

of the city

were divided

some sided

with the jews

others

with the

apostles

and there

was a

plot

to ill

treat

and to

stone

paul

and barnabas

so the

gospel of

grace

wonderfully

breaks down

divisions

within society

so jews

and gentiles

together

understand that

jesus is the

savior for

them

but the

gospel of

grace

also

causes people

to come

together

into a

mob

to try

and destroy

the message

and the

messengers

and so

barnabas

and paul

they had to

flee

according to

verse 6

they flee to

the lycanian

cities of

lystra

and derby

but notice

what they do

in verse 7

they continue

to preach

the gospel

they're running

for their lives

and they're

preaching the

message of

grace as

they go

barnabas

encourages us

to stand

firm against

bitter opposition

acts

can helpfully

be thought

of as

part 2

of

luke's

work

that we

find in

the bible

part 1

of course

is his

gospel

and in luke's

gospel

in part 1

of his

work

as we

discover

jesus

mission

of salvation

there

we also

discover

many times

jesus

warning

christians

warning his

disciples

to be

ready

for

bitter opposition

here's just a few

examples

luke chapter 10

Luke 10:3

verse 3

i am sending

you out

as lambs

among wolves

we don't need

to know too much

about the animal

kingdom to know

that means that

being a christian

can be

can be

scary

it can

mean

enemies

and opposition

chapter 12

verse 51

jesus said

do you think

i came to

bring peace

on earth

no

i tell you

but

division

exactly what

we see

in iconium

there is this

battle

raging

spiritual

battle

jesus does

bring peace

for his

people

but then

there are

others

who are

divided

and who

stand

against him

and ultimately

everybody is

either for

or against

jesus

and we all

need to decide

where we

stand

chapter 21

of luke's

gospel

verse 17

jesus puts

it very

bluntly

everyone

will

hate

you

because

of me

we just

need to

look at

what

happened

to

jesus

rejection

and

suffering

before glory

to understand

that that is

the pattern

that we can

expect in

the christian

church

too

and so

like barnabas

we need to

stand

firm

we need to

continue

to speak

and to

live

for jesus

how do we

do it

i think

first and

foremost

we need to

really believe

the gospel

of grace

if we don't

really believe

that we've been

rescued

we're accepted

by god

we got a

secure a

new identity

in christ

then maybe

we won't

take a stand

maybe we'd

be tempted

to give up

but when we

believe that

in jesus

we have

everything

that's the

first thing

we need

we also

need to

pray

we need

to pray

for help

and for

courage

that's what

we're going

to do

on wednesday

please join

us if you

can

we need

help

to stand

firm

we need

to rely

as the

apostles

did

on the

spirit

of god

remember

jesus

said to

his

disciples

when you

are

opposed

and when

you have

to give

an account

in front

of enemies

the spirit

will help

you to

speak

give you

words

when you

need

them

we also

need to

draw strength

from the

church

we need

to draw

strength

from one

another

not to

live in

isolation

because

opposition

is hard

and we

need to

have our

hope set

in final

victory

barnabas

encourages us

to stand

firm against

bitter opposition

and then the

last thing

that i want

us to notice

and again

this is just

brief

is that

barnabas

encourages us

to boldly

live for

jesus

in a

hostile

world

thinking

about

iconium

i got

to thinking

about

john g

paten

some of

you don't

know who

john g

paten

was he

was a

missionary

a scottish

missionary

in the

mid-19th

century to

what was

then called

the new

hebrides

which is

now called

vanuatu

and to

read

paten's

story is

to read

a story

of courageous

faith

because he

went to

work among

people known

to be

cannibals

man-eating

people

and he

was warned

before he

left

scotland

don't go

it will

literally

eat you

alive

you've got

a really

vital ministry

going on

here in

glasgow

why would

you go

over there

when you're

doing useful

things over

here

and what

you see

in paten's

life

is someone

who is ready

both to

live

and to

die

for the

lord jesus

to read

his story

he was

attacked

often

many of

the tribes

people tried

to poison

him

they tried

to use

black magic

on him

he could

tell story

after story

of being

hunted

by gangs

wielding

machetes

but paten

was a man

who boldly

lived

for jesus

and over

time people

became christians

and churches

were established

and one

historian

reckons

that paten's

influence

was such

in the

region

that towards

the end of

the 19th

century

one in six

of all

ministers

in australia

followed paten

in going

on

mission

that's

someone

living

boldly

for jesus

in a

hostile

world

that's the

pattern

of barnabas

and saul

and it's

always encouraging

i think

to see

this kind

of life

to read

those kind

of stories

to see

the impact

of men

and women

who have

faith

in god

and who

act

with courage

so verse

three

we see

that after

people have

been stirred

up and

after minds

have been

poisoned

against the

brothers

paul and

barnabas

spent considerable

time there

speaking boldly

for the lord

no one's

going to stop

them sharing

the good news

of god's

love

no one's

going to

stop them

talking about

god's grace

that saves

sinners

it's too

amazing

they won't

stop

verse three

we see them

boldly living

out their

faith

and god

confirmed

the message

of his

grace

by enabling

them to

perform

signs and

wonders

here's the

wonderful thing

god wants

people to

be saved

and so god

turned people's

hearts

by his spirit

working in

power so

miracles were

happening

to give

evidence that

yes people

should listen

to baul and

barnabas

and as we

saw in verse

seven even as

their lives are

threatened as

they're on the

run they

can't stop

speaking they

continue to

preach the

gospel

in romans

chapter one

verse 16

paul said

this and i'm

sure barnabas

would agree

i am not

ashamed of the

gospel for it

is the power

of god that

brings salvation

for everyone

who believes

barnabas and

paul saw the

power of god's

gospel at work

they saw lives

they saw

cities they

saw cultures

being transformed

do we believe

that the gospel

has that same

power today

do we believe it

for ourselves

that god's grace

can change me

from the inside

out

do we believe

that god can

change our city

and our nation

and the nations

of the world

to read the book

of acts to look

at the life of

barnabas and paul

is to be

encouraged

to be encouraged

to pray

that god would

work by his

power and

through his

grace to save

many

again come

on wednesday

pray do the

work of god

barnabas encourages

us doesn't he

to speak

to proclaim

jesus's good

news

to people who

are anxious

to people who

are confused

to people who

don't know

what the bible

teaches

and barnabas

encourages us

to practice

what we preach

to let our

light shine

so that men

might see our

good deeds

so as to

glorify our

father in

heaven

because the

world needs

the message

of god's

grace

we need

the message

of god's

grace

let's pray

together