33 "Faithful Witnesses in a Hostile World" Acts 13:49-14:7 | Sunday, November 23, 2025

Let me invite you to take your Bibles

and turn to the book of Acts.

Acts chapter 13. We'll continue in our

Acts 13 · chapter mention

study this morning through the book of

Acts. In Acts, chapter 13. We'll close

Acts 13 · chapter mention

out chapter 13 and move into chapter 14.

And if you're willing and able, if you'd

stand as we give honor to God's word as

we read it together from Acts chapter

Acts 13 · chapter mention

13. Our text will begin in verse 49. And

then we'll continue on through chapter

14 and verse number seven. So let's read

together. Uh beginning in Acts 13:49,

Acts 13:49

Bible says, "And the word of the Lord

was published throughout all the region.

But the Jews stirred up the devout and

honorable women and the chief men of the

city and raised persecution against Paul

and Barnabas, and expelled them out of

their coasts. But they shook off the

dust of their feet against them and came

unto Iconium.

And the disciples were filled with joy

and with the Holy Ghost. And it came to

pass in Iconium that they went both

together into the synagogue of the Jews.

And so spake that a great number, a

great multitude, both of the Jews and

also of the Greeks believed. But the

unbelieving Jews stirred up the

Gentiles, and made their minds evil

affected against the brethren. Long time

therefore abode they, speaking boldly in

the Lord, which gave testimony unto the

word of his grace, and granted signs and

wonders to be done by their hands. But

the multitude of the city was divided,

in part held with the Jews, in part with

the apostles.

And when there was an assault made both

of the Gentiles and also of the Jews

with their rulers to use them

despitefully and to stone them, they

were aware of it and fled unto Listra

and Derby cities of Lyonia and into the

region that lith roundabout. And there

they preached the gospel. The title of

our message this morning is faithful

witnesses in a hostile world. faithful

[snorts]

witnesses in a hostile world. Let's pray

and ask God's help to understand his

word. Father, I ask you one more time

this morning to bless your word, to use

it to speak to our hearts, to challenge

our minds, to encourage us in the battle

for the souls of mankind.

And I pray that you would help us by

your grace to follow your instruction

today. I pray for those among us or

tuning in that may not know Jesus as

their savior that they would believe and

call on him today. We ask these things

in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for

standing as we honor God's word. You can

be seated.

[sighs]

Whenever we get injured, we always have

some kind of reaction. You ever jammed

your finger before? you know, playing

basketball and receiving a pass and you

hear that pop in your finger and you

usually shake your hand or you grab your

hand, you know, something like that. You

ever stubbed your toe before, kicked the

edge of the bed or the edge of a chair

or table or something like that, and

you're you're hopping around, grabbing

your toe, and doing an unhappy dance at

that point. Doesn't feel good, right? or

you break a nail and you let some squeal

or groan out at that time. I think about

when you watch sports and you see an

athlete that maybe tweaks an ankle that

they they try to walk it off and there's

a noticeable limp there for a little bit

as they try to fight off the stinger

pain or they might need to hop on a a

bike on the sideline and and try to work

that thing out. I like to watch hockey

and whenever you're watching hockey, you

know, it's amazing how well those

athletes can control their hockey stick

while they're skating at such high

speeds and making such sharp cuts and

stops and everything. But every once in

a while, somebody loses control of their

stick. And you usually know it because

you'll see a hockey player whose nails

tough as nails and they'll go, you know,

and just take it right in the mouth and

blood's coming out and it just hurts so

bad. Or it might be that they are

blocking a shot and they take it off an

unpadded spot and they just drop to the

ice like a dead person. You know, it

just hurts. And so every time we get

hurt, we've got some kind of of [snorts]

reaction,

some kind of response. As witnesses of

Jesus Christ, there are going to be

times when you get hurt. Times when you

get hurt.

When you try to share the gospel with

your lost family members at Thanksgiving

dinner this week, they might mock you,

ridicule you, they might shut you down.

They may even ask you not to come back

next week. That kind of situation hurts.

You love those people. You just want

them to know the lifealtering experience

of knowing and trusting in Jesus Christ

as your savior, but they kick you to the

curb. [snorts]

If you try to share the gospel at work

or out on Pearl Street, or if you set up

a booth on the CU campus trying to

engage students with the gospel, there's

probably going to be uh some who would

come by and would slander you and shout

you down. They may call you names like a

bigot or a racist or a homophobe just

because of the things that they have

been told without ever experiencing what

true Christianity is like. They turn

against you.

It might be that you're engaging someone

there and they're actually open to

talking to you. I can remember, I've

shared this story a couple of times that

uh early in the days of our church when

I was going door todo that that there

was a guy on his front porch and I was

across the street uh talking to his

neighbor and his neighbor was open and

interested and and and this guy across

the street just started yelling at him.

uh uh uh they're trying to sell you

stuff and and nobody cares and nobody

wants to know and just kick them off

your property, you know, and you're

you're trying to engage somebody that's

open with you and someone else is trying

to turn them against you. We're going to

face times like that. [snorts]

Sometimes

your safety can be threatened.

You might be sharing the gospel in a

rather rough part of town or might be

that someone online threatens you or

issues a threat to your church.

Right now in in America, it's important

for us to be aware that Islam is working

to turn America Muslim from the inside

out. I'm not saying anything new. I'm

not saying anything hyperritical. If you

go and you read uh you read from

different Muslim groups that are even

here in the United States of America,

that is their goal in America is to get

into our politics and to turn America

Muslim. And they want to establish

Sharia law. That is the desire of the

Muslim Brotherhood and of others who are

trying to turn America into an Islamic

country. And you might say that will

never happen. But let me tell you today,

every Islamic country today was once not

Islamic.

It's what happens.

And when that happens,

you can believe that just as Christians

in predominantly Muslim countries are

persecuted and threatened today, it will

come to America as well. I'm not trying

to be a fear-mongerer. I'm just trying

to be real with you.

What is a Christian to do?

What do you do when your family kicks

you to the curb?

What do you do when people turn against

you because of your Christian faith?

What do you do when they threaten your

safety

because of sharing the gospel or because

you believe in Jesus?

Well, first of all, said this many

times, don't be surprised.

Don't be surprised. The Bible says, "All

who will live godly in Christ Jesus

shall suffer persecution."

Jesus said, "This world hated me, it

will hate you also. If it persecuted me,

it will persecute you." you. And so

believer, don't be surprised by it. But

I'm also thankful that that Jesus

doesn't just tell us to be prepared to

face persecution. God's word also gives

us some wisdom for how we navigate

a hostile world as we try to be a

faithful witness.

Our text this morning describes how Paul

and Barnabas responded when they were

kicked out of a city called Antioch.

It tells us how they responded when

others turned against them in Iconium

and how we read of their response when

they were threatened to be stoned to

death.

The basic principle that we find is

simply this. When you're faced with

hostility,

be willing to do whatever the gospel

demands.

There is no cookie cutter response to

every situation of hostility.

But there are times that we may be

unwilling to respond in a way that God's

word calls us to respond. And what this

text does is it helps us understand that

certain situations are going to require

different responses and we need to be

willing to respond however the spirit of

God leads us according to the demands of

the gospel. And so as we look at our

text today, we're going to see that

there are some instances that require

you to simply move on.

There are some instances that require

you to stay put

and then there are others that require

you to get out.

And so let's see how this is in action

in Paul and Barnabas's life, but we're

also going to see how it might come into

action in our lives as well. Number one,

when you get kicked out,

be willing to move on. When you get

kicked out, be willing to move on. Paul

and Barnabas are expelled out of the

region of Antioch. It says in verse 49,

the word of the Lord was published

throughout the region. What we fi found

here in Acts chapter 13 is as Paul comes

Acts 13 · chapter mention

to the city of Antioch, he preaches that

God raised up a promised savior unto

Israel. And that savior's name is Jesus

Christ. That he died on a cross for our

sins. And he rose [snorts] again the

third day. And he said that whoever,

whether you're a Jew or you're a

Gentile, whoever will believe on Jesus

Christ can be forgiven of their sins and

receive the gift of eternal life. And so

the Gentiles, they desired to hear this

message again the following Sabbath day.

But the Jews began to stir up strife and

division and speaking against Paul and

Barnabas. And when they did, their

mission shifted toward the Gentiles.

That's what we've seen in the verses

leading up to here. And now it says in

verse 49, the word of the Lord was

published throughout all that region. So

the Jewish opposition could do nothing

to stop the spread of the gospel.

And so because it didn't, it says in

verse 50, but the Jews stirred up the

devout and honorable women and the chief

men of the city. And so they are

gathering together uh very influential

people in the city and they are inciting

them and they are inflaming them is what

the word means. They stir them up to

raise persecution against Paul and

Barnabas and they expelled them out of

their coast. The word expel literally

means to throw out. They didn't just ask

them to leave. They dragged them by

their clothes and chucked them out of

the city.

See, when they couldn't stop the spread

of the message, they decided to cut off

the voice of the messengers.

They kicked him out. But notice how they

respond in verse 51.

But they shook off the dust of their

feet against them and came unto Iconium.

What is that about?

Well, in that ancient world, of course,

they didn't have all these paved roads

like we have today. It was very dusty,

very dirty. They wore sandals and they

would get filthy as they're making their

way through that arid climate. And and

what would happen for the Jewish culture

is whenever they left a gentile city,

they would either take their sandals off

their feet and they would shake them off

like we do when you got mud clumped on

your shoes and they would shake off the

dust of their feet. Or they might just

do this symbolically.

And what they're doing is they're saying

this, not a speck of pagan dust remains

on me. It was a matter of separating

themselves from a particular group. But

in Jewish rebbitical context, what would

happen is when a Jewish rabbi went into

a city and tried to teach the Old

Testament scriptures and the audience

rejected it, then what he would do is

when he left their synagogue or when he

left their city, he would shake off the

dust of his feet as well as a testimony

against them to say, "I have declared

the message. You have rejected it.

Judgment is on you. I have done my part

and now the rest is on you. That's the

idea that was communicating. Well, in

Luke chapter nine and 10, when Jesus

sent his disciples to preach the gospel

in the cities, he told them, "Whatever

city does not receive you, shake off the

dust of your feet for a testimony

against them." That they were to do the

same thing. Their responsibility was to

go and to proclaim the message of Jesus

Christ. If they rejected the message of

Jesus Christ, they weren't to stay in

that city and continued to ram it down

their throat. Rather, they were to,

here's how we would say it, wipe their

hands clean. I've done my part. And now

the judgment falls on you.

And what we find here is that Paul and

Barnabas are simply practicing what

Jesus told his disciples to do. That if

the city rejects you, shake it off and

move on. That's what he told him.

[snorts] And so that's what what Paul

and Barnabas are doing here. They are

recognizing this fundamental truth that

God does not hold the preacher

responsible for the decision of the

hearer.

The preacher's responsibility before God

is to simply proclaim the message of

Christ. But we can do nothing to force

the decision of the hearer. They must

decide.

And so when they're kicked out, they

shake it off and move on. But notice

that instead of this bringing

discouragement,

it says in verse 52, "And the disciples,

those who remained at Antioch, were

filled with joy and with the Holy

Ghost."

See, God did not abandon the city

completely because there was a number of

Jews and Gentiles who converted to

Christianity and trusted Christ as their

savior. And God was capable of working

through those disciples who were filled

with the joy of the Lord and with the

power of the Holy Spirit to continue

ministering in that city. But for Paul

and Barnabas themselves, the demands of

the gospel required that they move on

and shake it off. See, when I've been uh

playing sports and high school,

sometimes you might make a good play and

sometimes you might make a bad play. If

you watched the CU game yesterday, there

was all kinds of bad plays all over the

field.

And so, you know, it might be an airball

of a free throw or it might be throwing

a wild pitch or could be fumbling a

football, but either way, when you go

back to the sideline, I remember having

many coaches that would just say, "Hey,

shake it off. Don't worry about it. Get

back out there. Do it again." and and

and that's the idea of what's going on

here with Paul and Barnabas is is that

that they are recognizing that hey we

have done everything that we could.

There's nothing left that we can do.

It's time for us to move on. And so they

shook it off and moved on. And sometimes

that's how it has to be in your life

personally.

That at times there going to be people

in in your life who are going to kick

you out. They're going to kick you to

the curb. And when they do, you've got

to be willing to move on. It could be a

lifelong friend or it could be a parent

or a a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a

son that because of the changes that

Christ has brought in your life or

because you are a faithful witness of

Jesus Christ, they may just be done with

you. They may say, "Look, I I don't want

to hear it from you anymore." It could

be a co-orker that you've tried to share

the gospel with and maybe at one point

in time they were open, but then now

they've just completely shut down.

They've said, "You know what? I want you

to talk to me about Jesus anymore. Am I

alone here? Does this happen in our

lives? If it's not happening, it might

be because we're not sharing the gospel.

Because it's inevitable that when you

share the gospel, people are going to

shut you down and people are eventually

going to kick you out. They'll kick you

to the curb.

But isn't this true that sometimes you

can feel like you're the only hope they

have? That you're the only gospel

witness in their lives.

that if you're not there to uh continue

to bring the message to them, then maybe

you'll bear some kind of responsibility

as the gospel witness to them. But

listen, friend, God does not hold the

preacher responsible for the decision of

the hearer.

If somebody rejects you and says, you

know what, don't talk to me about that

anymore. Don't even be in my life

anymore. That's not on you. And as much

as you want them to be saved, sometimes

you're continuing to force the message

upon them can actually only damage it

further by hardening their hearts and

keeping them uh angrier and more

embittered toward the gospel. And so

there are times that you got to step

back and just say, you know what, I need

to back off a little bit.

Or there are times that you need to say,

I need to move on. Because listen, just

as God was able to work through other

believers that remained in Antioch, God

is able to use other believers in your

loved ones life as well to keep the

message in front of them. God is not

bound by using your voice to reach other

people. And so, he can do that. So, what

I'm trying to communicate to you,

church, is that you don't have to feel

this sense of guilt when you've been

shut out and rejected. Of course,

there's sorrow. Of course, there's

frustration. You just love them and you

have passion for them and you want them

to just know and experience. you feel

like like we sang this morning, if they

could just taste and see, they would

find that the Lord is good.

But as much as you want that, understand

God is able to work through others to

continue to give them the gospel. And so

sometimes you've got to shake it off and

move on.

I think about missionaries.

Sometimes they might be blacklisted or

kicked out of a country for preaching

the gospel. and that missionary will try

everything they can do to get back in

and and they've been called to those

people. And so they try and they try and

they try and they struggle with not

being able to serve there anymore. But

sometimes they've got to shake off the

dust of their feet and they've got to

move on to wherever the gospel will take

them. I have a friend who was

blacklisted from China. He grew up there

as a missionary kid. He's fluent in

Mandarin. And when he went to Bible

college, I mean, he spent his whole

life, aside from his four years of Bible

college, his whole life was spent in

Beijing. And he goes back there to be a

missionary and there were some people

who turned in their churches and they

found out that he was a missionary and

they kicked him out and he had to come

back to the United States. Well,

although he's a United States citizen,

it's like a foreign country to him. It's

not the same.

And yet, when he tried to get back in

and couldn't, he shook it off. He moved

on. He's pastoring a church in Finley,

Ohio right now. And God is using them to

build a thriving work there. I'm just

saying that sometimes uh for the life of

a missionary that that they've got to be

able to and be willing. And that's the

key, folks. God's not always going to

call us to move on, but we've got to be

willing to move on and to trust him in

that way.

It's true for a missionary like Paul,

and it's true in your life when you're

kicked to the curb. [snorts]

But you got to be willing. you've been a

faithful witness and now it's on them.

When Paul and Barnabas were expelled

from Antioch, they move on to Iconium

and they keep preaching the gospel. But

what we find in chapter 14 is there in

Iconium, they meet hostility once again.

And that leads us to the second response

that when others turn against you, be

willing to stay put.

Sometimes you got to be willing to move

on, but other times you got to be

willing to stay put, to stay involved.

Paul and Barnabas, they continue

preaching in Iconium. It says in verse

number one, and it came to pass in

Iconium that when uh they went both

together into the synagogue of the Jews,

just like they always had, and they they

spake the gospel. It says that a great

multitude both of the Jews and also of

bloodborn Greeks believed. This is the

first time that it's been explicitly

spelled out that these were not

God-fearing Gentiles, but rather these

were pagan Greeks that have come to hear

the message and believe on Christ and

trust him as their savior. They

believed, but it says in verse number

two, the unbelieving Jews stirred

[snorts] up the Gentiles. Now, when it

uses the word Gentiles, it's referring

to those who would have been pagans.

This is the the ethnos, the different

ethnic groups that would have been

immersed in all of the mystery religions

of Greek mythology and and barbarian

religions, animistic religions. And and

so now they have they have stirred up.

So notice this, you have Jews

working with pagans,

those they would never typically

associate with to stomp out the

Christians.

They'll do whatever it takes. It says

they made their minds evil affected

against the brethren. The literal

rendering of this word is to poison the

mind.

How would they poison their minds?

Through slander,

through propaganda,

through through trying to twist words

and turn people against them. And so now

you've got a clearly defined movement in

the next town that just as they're

proclaiming the gospel and Greeks and

Jews are being saved in droves. There's

a faction of Jews who are stirring up

pagans to come against them and to to

slander them and to propagate against

them and turn others against them. And

yet notice their response this time in

verse number three. Long time therefore

abode they speaking boldly in the word.

It doesn't tell us exactly how long they

were there, but it wasn't a few days and

it wasn't a few weeks. They stayed. They

abode. That means that they they

remained. They set up shop. They they

firmly entrenched themselves here in

Iconium to continue proclaiming Christ

even as others were actively being

turned against them. And look what

happens.

It says, "The Lord which gave testimony

unto the word of his grace and granted

signs and wonders to be done by their

hands." You know what happens when they

faced hostility and they stayed put?

Christ worked.

Christ began to testify and bear witness

to the validity of what he calls the

word of his grace,

the message of God's grace in Jesus

Christ, that he is the son of God who

came to earth and died on a cross to

atone for the sins of mankind and he

rose again the third day and he ascended

into heaven and he offered his blood on

the mercy seat of God in heaven to atone

for all of our sins. And whoever will

believe on Jesus Christ can be forgiven

of all their sin. The slate can be wiped

clean. They can have eternal life. Not

by works of righteousness which we have

done, but according to his mercy, he has

saved us. This is what the Apostle Paul

says in the book of Titus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith,

and that not of yourselves, it is the

gift of God, not of works, lest any man

should boast. God when his son gave his

life on that cross in that brutal death

he will share the glory of salvation

with no one that includes me that

includes you. It is not by our own works

lest any man should boast. It's the

grace of God. And as Christ empowered

them by his spirit to perform signs and

miracles and wonders, it was the Lord

Jesus Christ himself validating the

Christian message. And no doubt many

others continued to receive Jesus

Christ. Friend, let me tell you, the

message of Jesus is true.

[snorts] He is who he claimed to be. He

did what he claimed to do. He did die

for your sin and mine. He did raise from

the dead the third day. He did ascend

into heaven. He is the only way of

salvation. And friend, the Christian's

responsibility is to simply present that

message to you. But the responsibility

to receive it falls on you.

Believe on Christ. Trust him to today.

Receive the message of Jesus. The word

of his grace. Christ was working through

these apostles to show that his word is

true.

What we notice here is that when others

turned against Paul and Barnabas this

time, instead of shaking it off and

moving on, they simply stayed put.

>> [snorts]

>> You know, in a city like Boulder,

a lot of people like to twist the

wordsate

that it's some kind of divisive,

violent cult.

Things like disagreement is hatred

and hatred should be destroyed.

There are politicians and college

professors and influential people in the

city who paint Christianity as an

unnecessary evil. That it is for the

crazy, the stupid, the weak, the

uneducated.

There are certain movements to turn

people against us. And the tendency can

be to look at a city like ours and say

why go there? Why plant a church in a

very secular, agnostic, non-religious

city like Boulder? As we traveled and

raised support for this ministry, we we

got this question all the time. Why in

the world would you want to go there? If

there are so many other churches who

have who have already left, why would

you want to go and try again? We've

heard it all. In fact, many have tried

to start churches here, but because of

the difficulty, because of the

hostility, many have closed up shop.

They've shook it off and they've they've

moved on.

But God doesn't always want us to move

on.

Sometimes the needs of the gospel demand

that we stay put.

Sometimes it it takes a long time. Even

when it's hard, even when it's

discouraging, even when it seems like

nobody cares and nobody will listen and

even when it seems like people are

hostile in some places for the truth to

break through, it requires some

longevity.

It requires some patience, some

determination, some some resolve like

Paul and Barnabas had a willingness to

stay and let Christ work. And so I want

to say to you uh today church that that

while there may be situations where you

need to shake it off and move on, there

are other situations where you need to

bear down and stay put.

This [snorts] is true in your life when

there are people that that that that you

need to be patient with, people that you

need to exercise some longevity with,

that you need to give Christ time to

work in you and through you to break

through in them.

Sometimes when you come to a church

plant like this in a city like this, the

growth can feel rather slow.

Some of you have been here for a number

of years. And I'm so thankful for you.

Sometimes you can feel like it's going

to take forever.

This church may not have the things that

other churches can offer. And the

temptation can be to think that Christ

is not working because the work is slow,

because it's struggling. The temptation

can be that maybe it's time to shake it

off and maybe it's time to to move on.

And can I be transparent with you? There

have been times as a pastor that I have

wondered that times that I have

questioned, Lord, how long are you going

to have us do Bible studies without any

visitors coming? How long do you want us

to stay here if it's clear that people

are so hostile to us? When we first

started up in North Boulder, it was like

every single week we were getting emails

and phone calls of people just spewing

hatred at us and spite for us. And there

were many times when I was like, is it

time to move on?

But a pastor is not the only way that

can think that way. Sometimes you could

as well.

But what this church needs and what this

city needs is some people who are in it

for the long haul. some people who will

abide for a long time, who will stick it

out and and stay put and be willing to

let Christ work in you, through you, to

reach this city for Christ.

In Antioch, it was time for Paul and

Barnabas to move on. But in Iconium, it

was time for them to stay put. And as

they did, people continued to be saved.

And a church continued to be planted and

disciples continued to be multiplied.

But you know what eventually happened?

Things got worse.

Things got violent.

Things got threatening. And they had to

get out. Which brings us to our third

point that when your safety is

threatened,

be willing to get out.

[snorts] The city, it tells us in verse

four, was split in half.

It says that part held with the Jews and

part held with the apostles.

And it says in verse number five, when

there was an assault made of both the

Gentiles and also of the Jews with their

rulers, to use them despitefully and to

stone them. The the idea here is to

physically abuse them. That's why it's

translated to assault them, but then to

stone them. A a way of capital

punishment. how they they they were

treating the apostles like murderers.

They were treating them like

blasphemers. They wanted to cast rocks

at them until they die. That was what

their intent was. And notice how they

respond in verse number six. It may be

surprising to you. They were aware of it

and fled unto Lististra and Derby,

cities of Lyonia, and unto the region

that lith round about.

Does that bother you? [snorts]

They fled.

A word that means they took refuge and

shelter elsewhere.

Does this mean that Paul and Barnabas

were chicken?

That they were unable or unwilling to

die for Christ?

Well, all you got to do is read a few of

Paul's letter to understand he was

willing to die for Christ.

In fact, we're going to see uh next week

in Lististra, he will be dragged out of

the city, stoned, and left for dead.

But what we notice here

is that while Paul was willing to die,

he did not actively seek death.

In fact, what we have seen thus far in

the book of Acts is that when Paul came

under threat in Damascus and a plot of

the the even the ruler of that city to

kill him, he escaped down the wall in a

basket.

When he went to Jerusalem and he began

to preach Christ and a plot was

uncovered by the Grecians to kill him,

he fled to Tarsus by ship. And now we

see here that in Iconium that when this

plot is uncovered to kill them that Paul

and Barnabas take off.

You notice that that they did not uh

they they did not seek out death. They

did not intentionally hazard their lives

in this situation.

See, while the believer must be willing

to give his life for Christ, he is not

called to seek death.

If death finds Paul, so be it. But when

their safety was threatened, they got

out. Why is that? Paul actually tells us

in some of his letters that he's willing

to die for Christ. He He said that I may

know him and the power of his

resurrection and the fellowship of his

suffering. He He knows that to be absent

from the body is to be present with the

Lord. And so Paul did not fear death. He

did not try to escape death from the

standpoint that he was unwilling to die

for Christ. He explain explained to both

the Philippians and to the Corinthians

that he had this internal battle with

him, desiring to be present from the

Lord, desiring to lay down his life for

Christ and yet knowing that it was more

needful for them

if he continued in this life.

It was more needful for the lost that

Paul continued to witness and to

proclaim Jesus Christ. In other words,

the demands of the gospel required that

Paul not seek death, but that Paul

escape death and therefore he fled.

[snorts]

Why

a dead witness

cannot witness at all?

And what this tells us is that when your

safety is threatened,

be willing to get out.

See, I think a danger that we can have

as Christians is because of the history

of martyrdom and because of the

persecution that is said that would come

our way is to almost uh glamorize the

idea of martyrdom

to almost make it as something that the

believer should should diligently

pursue. And we can become fatalistic and

we become su suicidal for the sake of

the gospel. But friend, that is not what

Christ has called us to do. Being a

faithful witness doesn't mean going to

Iran and walking up to the king's palace

and telling him, "Turn or burn

or going to a tribal witchcraft festival

on a Caribbean island and provoking the

villagers to spear you to death."

>> [snorts]

>> Now listen, we should be willing to go

to closed countries and we should be

willing to go to remote tribes with the

gospel. But if they kill you before the

gospel can ever be proclaimed to them,

then how have you served their gospel

needs?

[snorts] Rather, we must be careful

as we proclaim the gospel. In some

countries, it takes missionaries years

before they can even share the gospel

with one person. I know some

missionaries in in Morocco, which is a a

heavily Muslim populated country, and

Christianity is illegal there, and all

the churches have to be underground in

in Morocco. And and they said, we were

at this missions conference with them,

and they said, "We we have to understand

that it's going to take some time.

[snorts] They had to be willing to stay

put." They had to be willing to form

trustworthy relationships before they

can even share the gospel. They're still

in that process of cultural

assimilation. of learning the language

and building relationships with people.

And so some of that that takes time and

we've got to be willing to do that. And

sometimes in that kind of situation,

while you may not be seeking death,

death may find you.

Because we have Christians in Nigeria

and we have Christians in China right

now that are being hunted and hounded in

Nigeria by by Islamic extremist groups.

And then in China by even the government

where they are going doortodoor and

they're locating Christians and they're

railing them off into prison for three

years. That's happening right now. Read

an article about it this week.

>> [snorts]

>> And what happens is in the process of

living your life and sharing the gospel,

death may find you, but it doesn't mean

you have to seek it out. What we find in

the book of Acts over and over again is

that Paul modeled a ministry that would

never deny Christ. Listen, would never

deny Christ, but did not constantly seek

death for Christ.

There's a difference between a gun being

held to your head and saying, "I don't

believe in Jesus."

Or or refusing to deny him and saying,

"I do believe in Jesus." And you could

never take it away and ultimately losing

your life for your confession of Christ.

The Bible says we should never deny

Jesus Christ, not even the face of

death. But there's a difference between

that and intentionally putting yourself

in harm's way for the sake of the

gospel.

At times that will be inevitable. But

what we find is that Paul, while he

faithfully proclaimed the gospel, he did

his best to escape death for the sake of

the gospel.

And so when your safety is threatened,

be willing to get out.

>> [snorts]

>> See, we aren't asking ladies to put

themselves in dangerous situations by

going alone on a Friday night to the

hill and sharing the gospel with a bunch

of drunk and high college students who

can't think straight.

We're not calling for people to

necessarily go to a homeless encampment

where there's a bunch of methheads and

heroin addicts who can't think straight

and can snap at a moment and get very

violent. That's not what we're talking

about. Yes, we should we should try to

engage as many as we can with the

gospel, but sometimes the situation can

be very dangerous.

We're not calling on a woman to stay in

the home of an abusive husband for the

sake of winning him to Christ.

Sometimes for the sake of your safety,

you've got to be willing to get out the

safety of your children.

See, being a faithful witness doesn't

mean seeking out death. Listen, some

will die for their faith. Some will, and

many have, but most won't.

The the potential of anybody in here

truly dying for their faith in our

lifetime is is very minimum. Things like

what happened to Charlie Kirk is the

exception here in America.

But we should be faithful to proclaim

Christ, and we should utilize that

freedom to do so. But when it threatens

your safety, be willing to get out. You

don't have to have a fatalistic or

suicidal a thought process in dealing

with that. Paul is eventually going to

die for his faith in Rome, but all

throughout Acts, he's not seeking death.

He's fleeing death. Why? The needs of

the gospel demand it.

So, what we really find here

is that in these two cities,

there are three different responses.

When they're kicked out, they shake it

off and move on.

When they're turned against, they stay

put and keep preaching.

But when their life comes under threat,

they flee and get out.

What gives? I think it's communicating

this simple truth that whenever you're

faced with hostility,

be willing to do whatever the gospel

demands.

When the needs of the gospel demand that

you move on, then move on. When it

demands that you stay put, then stay

put. And when it demands that you get

out, then get out. You might say,

"Pastor, how can I possibly know when to

do which?"

God's given you the Holy Spirit. And

what we know is the Apostle Paul and

Barnabas were spiritfilled men and they

were spirit called men and spirit sent

men and spirit protected men. Whenever

the spirit of God moved them to leave,

they left. In fact, uh when you go to uh

I believe it's in either first or second

Corinthians, he's talking about the

moment when he's let down by the wall in

a basket in Damascus and he says

specifically in that letter that the

Lord told him to go. Jesus told him

Jesus is the one who uncovered the plot

and Jesus said, "Go on and get to

Tarsus." And he got out. The Lord will

tell you which one to do. Be sensitive

to his spirit. Be sensitive to his

conviction. If he tells you it's time to

move on, go and move on.

If he tells you it's time to stay put

and let Christ keep working, then stay

put. Let Christ keep working. But if he

says death and these threats are not my

plan for you, get out. Then follow

Christ. Do what he says.

God will not hold you responsible for

the decision of the hearers. But

believer, he will hold you responsible

for the proclamation of the gospel. We

cannot control how people respond,

but we can control the fact that we do

share it. What we've seen here is that

that they had to move on from Antioch.

They had to stay put in Iconium, but

eventually they they had to leave. But

even when they left for Lististra and

Derby, look what it says in verse 7. And

there they preached the gospel.

So whether they moved on, stayed put, or

got out, they kept preaching Christ. And

so must we.

That regardless of the response, we must

continue to share the gospel everywhere

we go. Why? Because every sinner in this

world needs forgiveness.

Every sinner needs the word of his

grace.

And God has chosen to use us

feeble

and fearful Christians

to declare the gospel that they might be

saved. So whatever the gospel demands,

be a faithful witness in a hostile

world.

[snorts] Friend, if you've never trusted

Jesus as your savior,

you've heard the gospel today.

Christ has done his part. He gave his

life on the cross for you. He rose

again. He ascended into heaven. He sent

his church to proclaim the gospel. He

has done his part. And this morning,

I've done my best to do my part to

simply declare the gospel of Jesus

Christ. Now, the rest is on you.

As believers, we can wipe our hands

clean and say, "We have shared the

gospel in our scripture readings, in our

songs, in our Bible preaching. We have

done our best to declare the gospel."

The question is, how will you respond

today?

Are you going to receive it with open

arms and trust Christ as your savior? or

will you put it from you and like those

at Antioch, judge yourself unworthy

of everlasting life?

Friend, trust Christ today.

Believe the gospel. Call on him to

forgive your sin and to be your savior

and receive the gift of eternal life

today. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,

thank you for the word of your grace.

Thank you for our savior Jesus. Thank

you for the salvation we've received

freely by grace through faith in him.

Thank you for incorporating us into your

people and into your mission of saving

the world from their sin.

I pray that you would help us with great

care

to navigate the proclamation of the

gospel in this hostile world.

that we would listen for your voice

when it's time to move on, when it's

time to stay put, when it's time to get

out. Help us to be wise as serpents and

harmless as doves as the Lord Jesus

said. May we faithfully proclaim Christ.

I pray for boldness and courage for your

people in this day and time. I pray for

those around the world who are suffering

immensely for the gospel

that they would be bold with their faith

but also careful in navigating the

hostility.

I pray for those under the sound of my

voice this morning that may not be saved

that they would believe and trust Christ

today. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.