Go Fulfill the Great Commission: Global Impact! | Dr. John Ewart

Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Englewood

Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina.

Thank you so much for tuning into our podcast.

You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word

about important issues facing your life that can guide you

according to the Bible. Well, good morning, Englewood.

The first service, I said that in a different language and

everybody just stared at me. So I'm just going to go English

with you. So it's good to see you this

morning. Take your Bibles if you have one

and turn to Acts chapter 13. If you don't have a Bible, the

Acts 13 · chapter mention

verses will show on the screen. You'll be fine.

Thank you so much for being here.

We're so appreciative of you. If you're a guest, maybe you

came to see family member baptized this morning.

We're so thankful for that. Let me share just a couple of

words before we dive into Acts 13.

So it's also been nice. We have a couple of our our

overseas units back home visiting with us.

So we're very thankful for that. On that subject matter, Many of

you know that we've been praying for another one of our overseas

friends who has been in trouble, been in in prison.

And if you weren't here Wednesday night, you hadn't

haven't heard the word yet. They did that.

They did make bail. They're all at their homes there

awaiting. Sure you can clap, awaiting.

It's going to be about a two-month investigation.

There's a High Court meeting on November 10th, which would be

something to pray about. We'll talk a whole lot more

about this on Wednesday night at midweek, but but to just

continue to pray for them. It's not over, but at least

they're out of where they were, which was a which is a great

thing. Also just want to remind you

that toward the end of the month, we're going to have some

special guests preaching. You'll enjoy those weeks.

I won't be preaching. They'll be great.

You'll love it. So be back for that.

And then another serious note, we are watching as many of you

are the news about several things happening in our country

right now. Some of them, some of them are

affecting families. And some of those are going to

affect some families within our church and certainly our

community with some of the benefits that some people get

who need them to feed their families.

And we've had some of you as in our small groups and some of you

that individuals say what we're going to do about that.

If you all will let us do this, we're going to give it about 24

to 48 hours to see what happens. And the next day or so,

hopefully some changes will take place.

But we're also then going to send out an e-mail or some kind

of flyer to everybody to let you know if you want to give toward

our benevolence, we can do that. And we can steer that toward

ministries in town that will actually help people with food

and, and basic necessities that all make sense.

You good. All right, So just watch for

that. So when I preached earlier this

year from Acts chapter, chapters one through 13, I, I preached

this series called Come Join the King's Mission, where we learned

about why, who and what a biblical church and biblical

church member are supposed to be.

Then we, we, we started learning how to be more like Christ over

these last several weeks where we talked about come live, the

church's vision, the seven essentials of a disciple.

And, and these were just key foundational blocks that we were

laying down to going to give us a foundation we can now build

upon. We're going to keep building on

those 7 as as I've warned you before, we're going to do that

in all of our meetings at midweek.

For example, we have hundreds of people are showing up every

Wednesday night at 6:30 right in here.

And we're framing out two of those essentials. 1 is abiding

in prayer with dependence and anticipation.

And then the other one, which is a major part of what I'm

teaching now on Wednesday nights, is living out evangelism

with boldness and love. And so you really do want to

come back this Wednesday I'm going to teach us in a pre

evangelism method. How do I actually pray for my

lost friends and family? How do I lift them up before the

Lord? And how do I naturally

authentically develop a relationship with them to where

I can have a dialogue with them about spiritual things?

We don't want this to be fake, we want it to be real.

And so how can I have a real relationship with my lost

friend, my lost family member, my lost neighbor, classmate,

etcetera and eventually lead that conversation to Christ?

So you come back Wednesday night.

We're going to be talking a lot about that.

Then during our missions month in November, on Sunday mornings,

we're going to continue frame out last week's essential, which

is participating in missions with urgency and sacrifice.

We're returning to Acts Chapter 13 and following for the next

Acts 13 · chapter mention

couple of weeks. It's a very short series.

Then we're going to have our special guest come in.

We'll also be promoting some of our our missions offerings,

etcetera, down the road that we do every year.

And so if you remember you be ready for that.

And we're calling this little miniseries Go fulfill the Great

Commission very simply because we need, we need this focus

right now because of the huge number of unchurched and unsaved

people all around us. And who recognizes you?

Look back at the history of this church, like almost every

church, frankly, I've dealt with hundreds of churches, as you

know. And so if you look back at the

history of this church, people have left for various reasons.

People do that. Sometimes they've leftover what

we would have to call a church split.

Sometimes they leftover planting a new church.

And sometimes those two things were the same thing.

And so and so people leave for various reasons.

And then we also still have several inactive church members,

some of them who've been inactive for a very long time.

So what we're going to do at the end of this month, through our

reach strategy and our connect groups, we're going to have what

we call an H week where everybody works together.

So what percentage of participation am I looking for?

Yeah, that was just, that was so exciting.

So, 100% so, yeah. So everybody, we're going to

work together and we're going to reach out to all of our inactive

members just to touch base with them.

This isn't a mean thing. This is a loving thing.

We're just praying for you. We miss you.

Some of them are probably going to other churches.

We need to figure that out so we can leave them alone if we need

to, that all that kind of stuff. But we're also going to try to

reach out to everybody who's visited a special event at

Inglewood for the past two years.

There are a lot of those folks who've never really been

followed up on well, so we're going to do that.

So we need every hand on deck as we try to reach out to our

community. You'll hear a lot more about

that over the next few weeks. So you'll be ready for all that.

But we should not simply hope that they all come back or or

show up. So we're also going to have to

reach a lot of new people. And so evangelism and missions

have to be a key strategies for our proper disciple making path

forward. So I'm glad that you're here.

So the book of Acts has already taught us, if you have been here

at all. If not, don't worry.

The book of Acts has already taught us that there was a

series of what we would call power engagements between the

Holy Spirit and Satan who were fighting over the first church,

fighting over the spread of the gospel.

The devil doesn't want lost people to be saved.

The devil doesn't want inactive members restored.

He, he doesn't want visitors to be visited and he wants to

squash us, frankly. And he wants, maybe he wants to

squash you and he wants to just stop the spread of the gospel.

And so these are important things.

He's tried that here in the past and he'll try again, but just as

he has, even as as we've walked with some of our friends

overseas. But but God has a different plan

and God always overcomes. And so we pray for the new

church that is started in a prison overseas.

Now, one of the prayer requests we have from our friends is to

pray for a brand new church started in a prison.

Pray that some of those new believers will rise up and be

leaders of that new church. And it'll be fascinating one day

in a throne room with Jesus to hear about the story of how that

gospel spread because of what's just happened there.

So it's amazing stuff, but but church, nothing will happen here

until we desperately depend upon and are empowered by the Holy

Spirit. So we want to watch him move us

forward. And I just want to share as we

move into global impact, as we talk about the first missionary

journeys ever taken with Saul and today with Saul and

Barnabas. And over the next two weeks,

we're just going to look at these very quickly.

And then we're going to have a special missions time toward the

end of the month. So verse 1 of chapter 13, here

we go. Now there were in the church at

Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas Simeon, who was called

Niger, Lucius of Serene Manny and her lifelong friend of Herod

the Tetrarch and Saul. While they were worshiping the

Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me

Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I've called them.

Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them

and sent them off. So being sent out by the Holy

Spirit and then the verse. We'll look at the rest of it in

a minute. So I've got a simple 5 point

outline for you. It'll it shouldn't last more

than about 2 1/2 hours. So a good five point outline,

it's not that bad. If you're a guest, you're OK,

get you out in time for the buffet.

So the first thing I just wanted to see is that we're sent out.

We are sent out and, and, and that's something we need to see.

Paul and Barnabas were sent out. It was no small thing for that

to happen either. You really do need to

understand, slow down a minute and recognize the ramifications

of Saul and Barnabas being sent. These were the leaders of the

church. These were the primary leaders

who had helped start the church, had helped lead a lot of people,

the Lord who'd who'd been there to teach and to disciple.

And now the church was actually sending out the best of the best

to go reach the World to be illustrations of the teaching

that they had been conducting all this time.

So this is a really powerful moment, sacrificial moment for

the church because we can talk about discipleship, we can talk

about being a Christian, we can talk about living for the Lord.

But in the end, we need to live it out in a practical way.

So we need to be examples of what it means to be a true

disciple and staying within the walls of a church, even going to

get it done. We got to get out.

We got to go share. We've got to go minister.

We got to go love. So they were sent to impact

their world by their church and by the Holy Spirit.

That's the same thing that needs to happen here diligently to

seek the will and the power of the Holy Spirit, considering

what your destination needs to be, who you need to be reaching,

who you need to share the gospel with, what lost person you know.

I'm very thankful that last Sunday night we had our Global

Missions night and we introduced, had a good great

crowd, introduced our mission trips for 2026.

This church does a lot of mission trips for those of you

who are guests and we had over 150 interest forms filled out

for those mission trips. Now, those mission trip

opportunities are still out in the larynx, the narthex, the

vestibule, the lobby, the place you come into out there.

And you can still sign up. You can still check one of those

QR codes. If you don't know how to do AQR

code, just stop by the office. And you're not, you're not,

you're not committing yourself to anything.

You're just saying I'm interested in more information

about this trip and the dates of specific dates of the trips are

coming out. A lot of them will come out this

week. So I hope that you'll do that.

I hope that you'll be interested to see those tables.

Acts 134B. They went down to Seleucia and

from there they sailed to Cyprus.

When they arrived at Solomon's, they proclaimed the word of God

in the synagogue of the Jews, and they had John to assist

them. Don't miss that last part.

And so not only are we sent, but we're sent to share.

We're sent for reasons. There's reasons we go.

We're, we're not just sent haphazardly.

We're sent to share. They travel basically to

Barnabas's home. That's where they are.

They're at Barnabas's hometown and they preach the word of God

in the synagogue. Don't miss the context.

So they're preaching the Bible to Jewish people in their

synagogue and they knew how they could bridge the Old Testament

to to lead to Christ, to lead to the gospel as part of what we

call the meta or grand narrative.

So they knew how to do that. And and that because the whole

story of the Bible, believe it or not, is about Jesus.

It really is from about Genesis 3 on, we see where there's a

Messiah or Redeemer who's going to come.

This is, even though it's written over by many authors and

over many years and different languages from different places,

it really is a unified story all the way through.

And they knew that. So they were actually helping

them to understand how the whole Old Testament pointed to Christ.

And we're going to talk more about that on Wednesday nights

as well. How do I, how do I actually take

the Bible and lead people? How do I build bridges with

people of commonality, of common understanding so that it's we

can have a natural way to talk about gospel?

So how do I find common bridges and then lead that conversation

to Christ? So we share God's word with

others just like they did. And we also need to take others

with us when we do that, just like they did.

They had John Mark with him. Now, John Mark, don't miss him

because he's going to be important in a minute.

John Marks. John Mark is Barnabas's cousin

who lives in Jerusalem, and he comes along, there's a Greek

word describing him as a helper. He's kind of the rookie.

He's a young man. He's a rookie.

Acts 13, six. Let's dive into this.

So when they had gone through the whole island as far as

pathos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet

named Bar Jesus. He was with the proconsul

Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence who summoned

Barnabas in Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

But Elemus the magician, same guy, for that is the meaning of

his name, opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from

the faith. But Saul, who was also called

Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

and said, You son of the devil. And it's nothing like a subtle

message, you son of the devil, you enemy of all, all

righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy.

Will you not stop making crooked the straight pass of the Lord?

And and now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you

will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.

Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about

seeking people to lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul believed when he saw what he what had

occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

So the third thing, not only we sent, not only sent to share,

but we're sent to stand. Sometimes we're going to face

opposition. Not everybody appreciates us

trying to talk to them about Jesus.

I know that's shocking to you, but that's the truth.

So we must not just talk about God's Word.

We need to also live it. So Saul, notice what he's called

now, Paul. It's just a more Greek name.

So because of where they are, because of where they're going,

he's now called Paul and he engages a Jewish Magos.

It might sound like the word magi.

It should. So you see this Jewish sorcerer

who's basically becomes a advisor.

They were very popular with the Romans.

The Romans like these guys because they were mystical

spiritual advisors to these Roman leaders.

So they they like to keep them around.

And so that's what he was doing, probably making good money.

And you need to contrast Paul, who's filled with the Holy

Spirit, and Bar Jesus, who's full of deceit and fraud.

In fact, the word deceit in the original Greek language is the

Greek word for con artist. So this is a con artist.

This is a false prophet. There's no question about the

person's character. It's interesting too, because

it's like a bad joke. Bar Jesus means son of salvation

and Ellamus, his other name means wise.

So he's like the wise son of salvation.

I mean, this just kind of a twisted, almost a twisted joke

here. And so this proconsul, this

Roman who reported to the Senate ruled over the whole area.

This is a big wig. This is a powerful guy.

This is a real leader. And and he's listening.

You wanted to learn. But the false prophet stands in

the way to know the truth. But God's gospel forces a stand

to take place. Truth forces a stand.

Paul, the sent one stands firm in the Holy Spirit.

So don't miss the irony of what happened next.

So here's the evil sorcerer who's supposed to be a prophet

who stands against the word of God.

He's now blind, and the spiritually blind Pagan Roman

leader now can see spiritually, sees the light, and is saved.

The Bible says that he believes when he saw what had occurred,

for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Sometimes I wonder when people are going to be astonished at

the teaching of the Lord. So don't give up.

Even if somebody doesn't believe, even if somebody tries

to stand in the way, don't give up.

Don't give up on this broken world.

Don't give up on your family. Don't give up on your lost

friend. Don't give in to your depression

and anxiety and fear in this world.

Take a stand. Stand firm in the Holy Spirit

and believe. In fact, turn to somebody and

say, stand firm and believe. Be astonished at the teaching of

the Lord because there might even be a lost spiritually blind

leader out there, maybe even a leader who's waiting for you to

take a stand and tell them the truth right now.

Maybe that's who you are this morning.

Maybe you're here and you don't know the truth or you don't

believe the truth. You're just kind of enduring

this and you don't understand what the truth of the word of

God is. Will you hang in there?

You hang in there because you have an opportunity.

You're not here by chance. You're not here by accident.

God's LED you to this. Listen to this.

So I pray that that God would show blind eyes, the light of

truth, and that we would watch Him work just like we saw

overseas with our friends, that we would see God work here.

Look at verse 13. Now Paul and his companion set

sail from Paphos and came to Purga and Pamphylia and now

here. This is important.

And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on

from Purga and came to Antioch. This isn't the same Antioch that

came from this is a different Antioch in Pasidia.

And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.

And after the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers

of the synagogue sent a word to them saying, brothers, if you

have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.

So John Mark couldn't, couldn't keep standing with them.

He left and went home. Now we know more about this

story because later the difficulty that John Mark had

led to Paul and Barnabas actually separating, disagreeing

with one another and going different ways.

So even though we don't know why he left right here because of

Paul's reaction, we know it wasn't something positive.

So either it was too difficult or he didn't want to keep going.

And it was a hard journey over over tough and mountainous

terrain. Teresa and I have been there.

We've seen this. As we drove along, I commented

on the fact that how difficult that would have been to walk

that all that way. A friend of mine from another

seminary where I once taught wrote a New Testament

commentary, John Paul Hill, and he said this.

The area was so notorious for bandits, the Romans had

difficulty bringing it under control.

So this is a hard, dangerous, difficult journey.

But, but, but they couldn't be stopped.

So, so my challenge is, is what's stopping us?

What's stopping you? What are the what are the lost

people around us worth? What are the unreached peoples

of this world worth? What is one more person going to

heaven worth to you, your family member, your neighbor, your Co

worker, your classmate, what are they worth?

We are all on mission, we are all sent.

So this is a whole body responsibility for all of us and

and why God has brought us to this place at this time.

Believe that with all my heart. So they end up in Galatia in

their synagogue and the student of the great Rabbi Gamilia Paul

is asked to speak. I imagine that happened a lot

because they would have known who he was.

Because of his teacher, because of his mentor before he became a

Christian. And so it's interesting how God

uses everything for his glory. Even old resumes sometimes kick

in verse 16. So Paul stood up and motioning

with his hand said, men of Israel and you who fear God,

listen. And now for the next several

verses. What he does is he preaches a

long, contextualized sermon connecting the Old Testament to

Jesus Christ and the gospel, because again, it's just one

story, and he's doing that skillfully.

But let's pick it up in verse 28.

And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they

asked Pilate to have him executed.

Of course, he's speaking about Jesus now.

And when they carried out all that was written of him, they

took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead.

And for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him

from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the

people. And we bring you the good news,

that that what God promised to the fathers.

And then, and then let's hear the beginning of his conclusion.

Go to verse 38. Let it be known to you,

therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of

sins is proclaimed to you and by him.

Everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you

could not be freed by the law of Moses.

So he basically preaches the gospel to them.

The gospel Jesus is God Incarnate.

Jesus dies on the cross to pay for our sins because he's the

only one qualified to do it. That's one of the separations

between truth and untruth. Jesus is the only one qualified

to pay the price. So he has to die on the cross to

pay for my sin. Then he rises from the dead to

take care of death for us. He takes care of my sin problem,

takes care of my death problem. He shares the gospel with him

and you and he says to them, listen, the law couldn't do that

for you. He goes, grace is now on the

scene. So then check out what happens

during the invitation. Check out what happens after the

service. They're not just going by the

pastor in the foyer, the larynx, the the narthex, the lobby.

Good pastor, good, good sermon, pastor, nice sermon.

Thank you. Nice sermon.

They're not just doing that. See what really happens.

Verse 42, That's my invitation of all of you, by the way, no.

Verse 42 As they went out, the people begged that these things

might be towed to them the next Sabbath.

And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews

and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who,

as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of

God. They begged them, When's Rocky

Mount going to beg for the word of God?

When will this community beg that the Word of God be preached

even more? And notice what happens.

Many didn't just follow them physically, but they were

following spiritually. He could, they could urge them

to continue in the grace of God. In other words, they were

converting. They were believing, They were

trusting in the grace of God. And those who had only known the

law, this legalism, this tradition, we're now being

challenged to enter the faith by grace.

But Paul and Barnabas weren't done.

Word spread. People wanted to hear more.

So look at verse 44. The next Sabbath, almost the

whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

But but when the Jews saw the crowds, there's going to be a

lot of butts in these passages coming up.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with

jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul,

reviling him. I mean, I want you to catch

this. Almost the whole city gathered

to hear the word of the Lord. What will it take for the people

of the Rocky Mount air area to hunger for the Word of God like

this, to gather and to experience spiritual awakening?

When will the Rocky Mount harvest begin?

Who is he going to use to do that?

My prayers that as we reach out to hundreds of people at the end

of this month, that that we'll spend all of December with a

packed house with no empty chair in here.

That's my prayer as we celebrate the birth of Christ, as we honor

him and glorify him, that the city would recognize their need

to do this. But be warned, whenever the

gospel is successful, whenever somebody gets baptized and

testifies like they did today, there's always going to be

opposition. Somebody's always going to

refuse to believe that wasn't real.

That's not for me. I don't need that.

We'll hear that. And the religious in this story

didn't want to change. They despised and were jealous

of the new. They just wanted to complain and

argue. They didn't want God to work in

a way beyond their normalcy. They didn't want God to work in

a way beyond their control. And maybe you're here and you

don't think you need this. Maybe you're here and you don't

want to give God control. Maybe you spent your whole life

refusing to give God control. Well, you better be careful

because preferences and traditions that often fight new

are often fighting God himself. So Paul and Barnabas must have

just quit, right? I mean, that's what happened,

right? They just gave up.

This is too hard. People don't like us.

People don't agree with us. We're just going to quit.

Let's just give up. We can chase after John Mark.

I bet we can catch him. Let's just run home because

somebody doesn't like me. Somebody didn't agree with me.

Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me.

I'm just going to eat some worms.

I didn't like what they did. I didn't like what they said or

I didn't like what they didn't say exactly the way I thought

they should have. I didn't like how they looked at

me or I didn't like the fact that they didn't look at me.

I didn't like the temperature. I didn't like the song or I

didn't like something. So I just quit.

I want to fight. I'm going to withhold there are

people like that out there. How fragile is your faith

connection to the body of Christ?

How? How fragile is your relationship

to the body to one another? Look at verse 46.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly.

Did they give up? Did they run away?

Did they say that's it, nobody likes us, we're going to quit?

No, they spoke out even more boldly, saying it was necessary

that the word of God be spoken first to you.

But now listen to this. This is hard, this is dark,

since you thrusted aside and judge yourselves unworthy of

eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the

Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded

us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you

may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and

glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to

eternal life believed and the word of the Lord was spreading

throughout the whole region. So they didn't quit.

They spoke even more about, they stood, they took a stand and

spoke even more boldly. They quote Scripture, they obey

God. And those who rejected the

gospel here, who thrusted aside, who judged themselves unworthy

of eternal life, you got to understand there's some strong

language here. What it means in the original

Greek language is they made a conscious, willful decision to

reject this. This isn't just, I don't think

so. This is a willful rejection of

the gospel. I've known folks who acted that

way. Some of them I've seen God give

another chance to That's always a blessing.

Sometimes not. And and so some will respond to

our invitation, some won't. So when we reach out to this

community, some folks are going to be eager and excited and

thankful and others are going to reject it.

And I pray, if you're here today and you need the gospel, don't.

You willfully reject it today because one day you will be

reminded of this moment. I promise you, in judgment, you

were given a chance. You were given a moment and

appointed time. So Paul and Barnabas share of a

fulfilled prophecy from, frankly, the prophet of Isaiah.

Who, who, who talks about how the Hebrews were supposed to be

a light to the Gentiles. They weren't supposed to seek to

control access to God. They were supposed to be

examples and testimonies to the entire world.

And Gentiles were being saved now.

And look at what it says. And the word of the Lord was

spreading throughout the whole region.

So now it's not, it's not just almost the whole city, it's the

entire region. Think of what I need you to

understand. I pray for this every single day

with all my heart that this entire region would experience

spiritual awakening. It's one of the reasons why I

believe I stand here and I was called here to leave what I was

doing to be a part of you. I hope you understand.

I want us to reach thousands of people with the gospel here and

around the world. And I believe with all my heart

we're supposed to do that. But listen, God's plan will

happen with or without us. He doesn't need us.

I believe you'd love to use this, but God has created this

appointment for these people to believe.

And God will create that same appointment for us.

He's created it for you. If you're here today and you

don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, accept his

invitation. You're not here by chance.

You're not here by luck. God has brought you to this

place at this moment to hear this.

In fact, this word appointed indicates something that

happened in the past, but it continues now into the present

and future. So in other words, I was saved,

I am saved, I will be saved, I'm saved.

I know exactly what's going to happen to me the second I die.

My prayer, much to Teresa's chagrin, is that I drop dead in

a pulpit someplace. I always thought I would blow up

in a in in one of my travels. Spontaneous combustion has

always been my prayer. But, but, but, but that I would

just drop dead in a pulpit one day.

I thought it'd be dramatic, a dramatic point, you know, if I

did that. Guess not today.

So if that's the case, here we go.

So not now the whole city that everybody's coming.

And I'm praying for that. But listen, God has a plan and

he wants to use this. So God wasn't surprised by this.

God's not caught up off guard by this.

He's orchestrating this from before time.

He knows exactly what this is. But I told you that word

appears. Look at verse 50.

Very first word. But when the gospel is

successful, be ready for the enemy.

When you stand with the sender, and lost people are saved.

Satan's not going to tolerate it well.

But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the

leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and

Barnabas and drove them out of the district.

What a shame the whole region is getting saved and these people

drive them out. Are we ready to do enough for

God? Are we ready to do enough for

the gospel that it causes opposition from Satan and the

lost world? Does the enemy even know our

name or care? Surely being expelled stop them.

Surely that was enough. Paul and Barter's, that must

have been enough. We got kicked out of town that

that's where our reputations run.

I don't, I've lost followers online.

I'm not the influencer I once was.

I don't know if anybody's going to listen to my podcast anymore.

I'm not sure if my TikTok videos are going to be viewed anymore.

I just surely we're done. Got to be over with.

Surely they quit and gave up this time.

World doesn't like me, so all must be lost.

Look at verse 51. What's the first word?

But. But they shook off the dust from

their feet against them and went to Iconium.

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy

Spirit. Are you all crazy?

They were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit because #4 we're

also sent to sacrifice and to serve.

We're not just sent. We're not just sent to share.

We're not just sent to stand. We're sent to sacrifice.

We're sent to serve. So they moved on and focused on

those who wanted to hear. Listen, there were plenty to go

around. There were new churches that

needed to be started. The gospel needed to be shared.

It needed to be spread. We have plenty to go around here

too. More than enough to fill this

house. We won't have enough chairs.

We won't have enough seats. We'll have three worship

services, 4 worship services. You think parking's an

interesting thing now? And they were kicked out of town

and they were still filled with joy.

Peter talked about this in First Peter 314.

He said, but even if you should suffer for righteousness's sake,

you will be blessed. Have No Fear of them nor be

troubled. Listen my friends, one of the

greatest reasons people never share their faith.

In fact, statistically a lot of surveys are done.

You know, I, I taught this for a living.

So a lot of surveys done. Number one reason people don't

share is fear. And so we got to be careful or

we're going to drift off into idolatry here to where I'm more

afraid of a lost person than I am of God.

We need to be careful. Will we stand and be filled with

joy and the Holy Spirit even in the face of opposition, even in

the face of lostness? Think of our friends overseas

and what they've just been through.

Wait till you hear the testimonies of my friends who

are going to come and share with you these last two Sundays.

One of them testified before the United Nations just in powerful

people that God has used dramatically around the world.

You, I can't wait. One of them is in his 90s.

I can't wait for you to hear them.

Are you full of faith or you're full of fear?

God has a plan. He wants to use us.

How will you serve? What trip are you going to join

around the state, around the nation, around the world?

In what ministry are you going to commit to serve in this

church? Look at Acts 14, verse one.

We're getting close to being done.

It'll be all right now at Iconium, they entered together

into the Jewish synagogue. Don't miss that.

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 of 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 the Lister in Derby

cities of Laconia and to the surrounding country.

And there they continued to preach the gospel.

So even though they had been persecuted in a synagogue, look

where they went, right back to preach in another place.

So you see God's people obeying God's word, shared people being

saved as God works, and the enemy striking.

Don't, don't miss the pattern. In fact, my challenge to you is

to to serve and to stand in such a firm way that you purposely

seek to 'cause this pattern to happen.

Tim Keller once wrote this. He said the greater the

effectiveness of a ministry, the greater the resistance and

opposition. So.

So they get opposition. So again, it must be time.

Well, I can't do this. I can't stand this.

Somebody doesn't like me, I can't stand it.

It's time to give up. It's time to quit.

It's hard. I got to stop.

Instead it said they remained there for a long time, speaking

boldly for the Lord. So they stayed for the proper

time. They endured.

They taught, they saw miracles take place, and then finally the

time came for them to move on so that they would be able to

continue their ministry elsewhere.

And then they the Bible says, and they continued to preach the

gospel there. Look at verse 8.

Now at Lister there was a man sitting who could not use his

feet. He was crippled from birth and

had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking and

Paul looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be

made well, said in a loud voice. Stand upright on your feet.

And he sprang up and began walking.

So Paul again shares the gospel. He recognizes authentic faith

when he sees it, and he heals this lame man.

He tells him to stand. But he didn't just stand.

He springs up. He's walking in new life and his

new faith. And listen, friends, we can

either sit and be unused. We can sit idly and be unused.

Or we can believe in faith and we can spring up and we can walk

in a new way as Jesus uses us. But this also caused a response.

Look at verse 11 and when the crowd saw what Paul had done,

they lifted up their voice saying and Laconian, I was going

to do this in my best Laconian accent, but I don't know what

that is. So we'll do Oklahoman instead.

The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.

Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the

chief speaker and the priest of Zeus who is whose temple was at

the interest into the city, brought oxen and garland's to

the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

This interesting passage for me. I'm actually trying to write a

book about this. Sometimes I'm afraid that we're

guilty of idolatry in a different way.

Sometimes I'm afraid we're guilty of idolatry when we focus

more on the person doing God's work than God himself.

I'm always amazed, disappointed, amazed, perplexed.

Those are the nice verbs I can say when people choose or deny

their relationship, even to a church, and the way they're

going to obey or disobey God based on some human personality

rather than upon God himself. It's always interesting to me.

I'm also amazed at church leaders who appear to love that

spotlight a little too much. We need to make sure we're

following the right person. Thomas Constable, this a great

line. Listen to this carefully.

He says if Satan cannot derail Christian witness with

persecution, he'll try praise. They lifted Paul and Barnabas up

as gods to honor them. Now, you got to remember there's

a whole context behind this. This area had a legend where two

Greek gods would visit them and that's why they built that local

temple. I mean, it's an amazing thing

that God's orchestrating here. And so This is why the Pagan

priest even shows up to make a sacrifice.

They, they thought this was the fulfillment of the legend,

right? So look at verse 14.

But when the apostles, Paul, Barnabas and Paul heard of it,

they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd crying

out, men, why are you doing these things?

We also are men of like nature with you.

And we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain

things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the

sea and all that is in them. Then look at verse 18.

Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the people

from offering sacrifices to them.

So Barnabas and and Paul reacted strongly.

They rebuked them because they knew to whom glory and honour

was due, and it certainly wasn't them.

And my concern is that many church leaders and members today

seem to seek to be winners of some popularity contest.

Paul and Barnabas would have lost that contest.

They would never take credit for what God does.

So look at verse 19. We're getting close to the end.

So, but the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having

persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul.

Not just a threat this time, they stoned Paul and dragged him

out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and

entered the city. And on the next day he went on

with Barnabas to Derby. So the enemy wasn't done.

The enemy never gives up that easily.

Remember, Satan never sleeps. Satan never relents.

Satan never gives up. And he's not done with us here

at Inglewood either, Friends, the the crowd is so easily

twisted from praise to condemnation.

It's amazing how quickly that can happen.

But the Holy Spirit also never sleeps.

The Holy Spirit also never gives up.

The Holy Spirit also never relents.

And here's the key. The Holy Spirit always wins.

So God spared Paul, but man, I bet he was sore the next day.

He actually describes these experiences in his letter to the

Corinthians, Second Corinthians 11.

Listen to this verse 24. He says five times I've received

at the hand hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less 1/3 times I

was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, three times I

was shipwrecked, a night and a day I was adrift at sea on

frequent journeys. And dangers from rivers, dangers

from robbers, dangers from my own people, danger from

Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger

at sea, danger from false brothers in toil and hardship

through many a sleepless night. And hunger and thirst, often

without food and cold and exposure.

How faithful, how tough, how tenacious will your faith be?

Think of our friends again overseas.

Wait until you hear the testimonies of these coming to

meet you in a few weeks. Is the gospel worth it?

Are the lost worth it? Is one person you know being

saved who's lost right now worth it?

What will you do? What will you sacrifice?

What price will you pay? The disciples surrounded him.

They think he's dead. The people who stoned him, they

thought he was dead. Everybody thought he was dead.

He hops up and goes to the next city the next day.

Look at verse 21, when they had preached the gospel to that city

and had made many disciples. And see, there's so many stories

like, who are these people? I want to meet these people.

They returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.

Notice where they go back to the very places where they were

persecuted, strengthening of the souls of the disciples,

encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that

through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God.

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church,

with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in

whom they had believed. The last thing we see is that

we're also sent to strengthen. They saw God save many and then

they go back to the churches to visit these new converts.

And so these trips weren't just about evangelism.

These trips weren't just about church planting.

They were also about discipleship.

They were also about leadership development and church

development. Tony Marita, Pastor Marita

writes in his commentary, Paul wasn't interested in getting

decisions for Christ. He was interested in making

disciples for Christ. So risking the danger of

persecution, they, they knew the follow up was just too

important. So they taught, they prayed,

they fasted, they organized leaders.

So what are we willing to do to make real disciples?

When and where will Inglewood plant its next new church?

Which one of you will lead it? Who's going to serve as our new

deacons? Men, when you're asked, instead

of saying no, why aren't you saying yes?

Who's going to lead our next connect group?

Who's going to serve in our preschool and children's

ministry? Who's going to step up?

Verse 24. Then they passed through

Presidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the

word in Perga, they went down to Italia, and from there they

sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace

of God for the work that they had fulfilled.

And when they arrived and gathered the church together,

they declared all that God had done with them, and now He had

opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, and they remained no

little time with the disciples. They went home sharing the

gospel all the way, making disciples, helping people all,

all along the way. They go home to report to their

Sending Mother Church. Healthy missions will always

strengthen the sending church. Always.

So they carefully give credit to God for His work.

This was all a testimony to Him, not to them.

So they participated in missions with urgency and sacrifice.

It, it reminds me sometimes I often think about this when I

see these tragic, scary news stories.

A child's missing, maybe missing in the forest or the wilderness

or in the mountains. Every now and then somebody, you

know, some kid wanders off and you have a search party and, and

everybody, all the first responders, praise the Lord for

them all the first responder, but the entire community turns

out, it seems like and, and they'll form these search lines.

People will walk the fields together where they can see one

another. And as one line, they walk

together, search for the lost person.

And I often think when I see those stories that that's that

ought to be the church. Somebody's missing, somebody's

lost, somebody's in trouble. What are we going to do about

it? How frantic are we, How urgent

are we about the search? Or are we just checking off the

boxes of religion? Just checking off the boxes of

church about what will we frantically search?

An army sent out to help rescue the lost in the hurting.

Sign up to learn more about a trip, Surrender to full time

mission service. And maybe that's what somebody

here needs to do. Maybe somebody here is being

called out to be a missionary, to serve full time overseas

someplace or as a North American church plant.

Or maybe that's who you are. You need to surrender to that.

There's a harvest that's waiting.

Join us in in H week. Join us at the end of the month

to reach out to hundreds of people.

Be here a midweek to learn how to share the gospel with your

friend. Join the rescue team.

The harvest is waiting for us. It's it's already started with

people being baptized like we've seen today, like we'll see next

week. We need to trust in the one who

sins because the sender seeks to send and he wants to send us.

So I pray we'll surrender to him.

Father, thank you that you have a purpose for us.

Father, I often talk with people who don't know you, Lord, and we

talk about peace. We talk about purpose.

We talk about the reason we exist.

We, we, we talk about why we're here.

We talk about hope. We, we talk about assurance,

faith, strength, all these things, Father, and the source

of all that truth is you. So Father, I pray if there's

somebody here this morning in this room right now are

listening online who does not know you, they've never trusted

in Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

Maybe they've heard this story. Maybe they've rejected this

story. Maybe they've ignored this

story. Maybe they've been bothered by

this story. I Remember Me too.

I hated hearing it until I knew it was true.

And then you saved me. So Father, right now I pray

you'll Pierce the soul of that person.

That Father, they will know in their heart of hearts that you

are real, that you love them. You have a plan for them.

That you sent your son to die on the cross to pay for our sin

because he's the only one who could.

And the Father arose again to defeat death, to show us, to

prove to us who he was, and to show us our own victory over

death, that we might have eternal life with you.

That starts here in a relationship with you, where we

walk with you and serve you, honor you and glorify you and

worship you as a disciple. So, Father, I pray if there's

somebody here who needs to learn more about that, that as soon as

we begin to sing, they'd come and take a pastor by the hand or

they'd go to our next steps room and talk to someone.

Father, I pray they won't willfully reject this moment for

others here. They recognize I need to be

baptized. I need to join the church.

Maybe that's what I need to do. That's that's that's what the

Lord's leading me to do. I pray that they would come.

Others need to come and fill these steps as an altar of

prayer. Praying for lost friends, family

members by name, praying for the future of this church, praying

for the Rocky Mount area area that that the harvest would

begin. Whatever we need to do, we

surrender. Father, Lord, send us, move in

our hearts as we honor you and we respond to you in Christ's

name, Amen. I'm going to ask you to stand.

Our worship team is going to lead us.

There'll be pastors here. You can come talk to one of us.

You can come pray at these steps, or you can go right into

that room over there, the next steps room, and have a private,

discreet conversation with somebody who loves you, would

love to pray with you and help you to understand what God is

saying to you right now. Whatever you need to do, you

move as soon as we begin to sing.

Thank you so much for listening today, and I also hope that

you'll go to [email protected]

as well as our app and find many other resources that will bless

you and your families. Thank you once again.