Review:
Prov 24:16
Get Up!
- You have lost people to Evangelize! (Acts 14:21)
- You have believers to Encourage! (Acts 14:22-23)
- You have a testimony to Share! (Acts 14:24-28)
Matt 16:24 | John 13:16 | John 15:20
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
00:00-00:05
Open up your Bibles with me please to the book of Acts and chapter 14.
00:05-00:11
Now, certainly, certainly Harvest You is my highlight of last week.
00:11-00:24
It's a little taste of heaven because you're with people from all tribes and nations all over the world and you're coming in one place to worship Jesus Christ and it is a little preview of heaven.
00:25-00:27
So that was certainly my highlight from last week.
00:28-00:37
But you know what is my second highlight last week is I went to the toy store and I bought something for my youth.
00:37-00:37
Do you want to see it?
00:39-00:43
How many people remember or had one of these things when you were a kid?
00:43-00:45
How many people had one of these when you were a kid?
00:45-00:47
A lot of you did, okay.
00:47-00:54
Now, we had this, but this one has Ninja Turtles on it.
00:54-00:55
This is the deluxe model.
00:55-00:59
For those younger people here, you're asking, where do you plug it in?
01:00-01:02
Where do the apps go on this?
01:02-01:05
No, this is a real toy, kids, okay?
01:05-01:11
This isn't one of your finagled iTunes store toys or whatever, your Google Play whatever.
01:11-01:13
This isn't an Xbox.
01:13-01:14
This is a real toy.
01:15-01:16
This is a bop bag.
01:17-01:25
And this sophistication of technology has water in the base, And you're like, well, Pastor Jeff, it just looks like a balloon.
01:25-01:27
Okay, it kind of is just a balloon.
01:30-01:32
But this is the deluxe model, as I started to say.
01:32-01:36
It's got -- on the front, it's got the Ninja Turtles, so you can train with them.
01:36-01:39
And on the back, it has the bad guy.
01:39-01:39
What's his name?
01:41-01:41
Shredder. Right.
01:42-01:42
You guys knew that one.
01:43-01:45
Either way, I was talking to Darren about this.
01:45-01:48
We had one of these when we were a kid, but it didn't have, like, cool superheroes on it.
01:48-01:54
It had like, I don't know, like a clown or like an emergency room surgeon or something.
01:54-01:55
I don't know what it was on ours.
01:55-01:59
But we didn't have anything near as cool as this.
01:59-02:01
And some of you are like, well, what does it do?
02:01-02:03
Well, here's what the bop bag does.
02:04-02:09
You punch it, and it comes right back to life.
02:10-02:10
Isn't that amazing?
02:12-02:16
Some of you are smiling ear to ear because you're reliving your childhood with me.
02:16-02:26
And some of you are looking at me like, "Wow, you are easily amused." But no matter how many times you punch this thing, it just keeps getting back up.
02:28-02:32
Well that is until you let my brother play with it and then he'd punch it really hard a couple of times and get a hole in it.
02:32-02:39
But I'm saying the way it's designed, this thing is to get up no matter how many times you punch it.
02:40-02:47
And if I stood up here for an hour and just did this, you would get very bored.
02:49-02:54
But this thing would keep getting up over and over and over.
02:56-03:09
The reason I bought that, the reason I brought that today, to go with our text in the book of Acts, this thing is a picture of what it means to be a follower in Jesus Christ.
03:12-03:22
Proverbs 24:16 says, "For the righteous falls seven times and rises again." This is the Christian life.
03:24-03:27
You're going to get knocked around from all angles.
03:27-03:28
You're going to be hit.
03:29-03:30
You're going to be slapped.
03:30-03:33
You're going to get knocked down through the circumstances of life.
03:35-03:42
The righteous falls seven times This is again Acts 14.
03:43-03:44
We're going to be picking up in v. 19.
03:44-03:45
Are you there?
03:45-03:48
Just to get us an on-ramp to where we're heading in this text.
03:49-03:53
Recall Paul and Barnabas and Mark were on this mission trip and they went to Antioch.
03:54-03:57
Or they left from Antioch, excuse me, and their first stop was Cyprus.
03:57-04:07
And after Mark deserted them in Perga, heading back to Jerusalem, the disciples went to Antioch in Pisidia, a different Antioch to preach the Gospel.
04:08-04:14
and they went to Iconium, and they went to Lystra, where we stopped last week, and in Lystra, remember, the people tried to worship them.
04:16-04:26
Despite all the obstacles, the Gospel didn't lose any steam, because that's what we're discovering in the book of Acts this year, is the church is unstoppable.
04:28-04:30
Look at verses 19-28 with me.
04:33-04:37
It says, "But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, having persuaded the crowds.
04:40-04:46
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
04:48-04:56
And when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.
04:58-05:16
When they had preached the Gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, saying that through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God.
05:17-05:26
And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
05:27-05:31
Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Amphylia.
05:33-05:37
And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Italia.
05:38-05:48
From there, they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.
05:50-06:01
And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
06:02-06:06
They remained no little time with the disciples.
06:08-06:20
So if you recall the passage we looked at last week, and look at the passage this week, the Apostle Paul went from being worshipped to attempted murder.
06:21-06:22
That was a long day.
06:24-06:29
And the truth is, life's going to knock you down.
06:31-06:34
Maybe for you it's not going to be stoning.
06:35-06:39
Maybe getting pelted with rocks isn't the thing that's going to put you down.
06:41-06:42
Maybe for you it's a health issue.
06:43-06:46
Maybe it's some health issue that you're dealing with that has you down.
06:48-06:56
Speaking from experience, maybe it's the health issue of somebody close to you that has you put down.
06:58-07:04
I've shared with you before struggles that we have with children on the autism spectrum.
07:06-07:18
I know how that can put you down and keep you down. Maybe that's not your issue. Maybe you've recently experienced a job loss which has resulted in financial problems.
07:20-07:23
I know you weren't hit with rocks but you feel like you're down and out.
07:23-07:26
Maybe you feel like you rather would have been hit with rocks.
07:29-07:34
For some of you, maybe it's the death of a loved one.
07:37-07:39
Like, you know, Pastor Jeff, that's the thing that put me down.
07:39-07:43
I never quite recovered when this person in my life passed away.
07:44-07:47
I never really got back on my feet after that.
07:49-07:59
Maybe you had a relationship that went bad, a close friendship or a family member that were so close and what happened?
08:01-08:07
Speaking in general terms, you know, for some and I fall into this category a lot, for some people it's just discouragement.
08:09-08:18
You know, you're working so hard and it seems like you take four steps forward and then you're taking five steps backwards and it's it's discouragement.
08:20-08:23
For some, maybe it's just full-on depression.
08:25-08:27
You know what, Pastor Jeff? I am down.
08:27-08:30
And guess what? I really don't care that I'm down.
08:30-08:35
I have no intention of getting back up.
08:37-08:39
I don't care. I don't care.
08:42-08:43
What is it for you?
08:43-08:47
What is it in your life right now that you are getting pelted with?
08:47-08:52
What are the metaphorical rocks that you are getting pelted with that could keep you down.
08:54-08:54
What is it for you?
08:56-08:56
You've got something.
08:57-09:01
Every single one of us in here has something that could keep you down.
09:04-09:08
And like Paul in this story, there might be people gathered around you watching.
09:10-09:15
It wasn't funny at the time, I'm sure, but I can't help but smile a little bit when I read this story.
09:16-09:20
Because here the Apostle Paul, he's stoned, he's dragged out of the city.
09:20-09:21
What do you think he looked like?
09:23-09:26
Bloody, gory, he was probably a mess.
09:26-09:29
He looked so bad that his closest companions thought he was dead.
09:30-09:31
That's how bad he looked.
09:33-09:40
And in this passage, Paul's laying outside the city where they dragged him and the Bible says they're all kind of standing around him looking.
09:40-09:42
And you had to be wondering what's going through their minds.
09:42-09:44
Like, the preacher's dead.
09:44-09:52
I don't know how we're going to tell them back home, They're just like standing there looking at him, wondering now what?
09:54-09:56
You might have some of that going on in your life.
09:56-10:04
Whatever it is that's pelting you and knocking you down, you have people around you looking, going, "Is he going to stay down?
10:05-10:06
Is he defeated?
10:06-10:15
Is he done?" When I was looking at this passage the last couple of weeks, I was thinking, "You know, What if Paul never got up?
10:16-10:17
What if he never got up?
10:17-10:19
I mean, he survived, obviously.
10:19-10:21
It didn't kill him, even though they thought it did at first.
10:22-10:26
But I just mean spiritually or emotionally, what if Paul never got up from that?
10:27-10:32
What if he was helped to his feet and walked, but he walked away?
10:33-10:34
And he said, "Forget it.
10:35-10:36
It's not worth it.
10:36-10:37
I've had enough.
10:39-10:41
You know, I've only been a Christian for a short time.
10:42-10:44
I didn't deal with any of this stuff when I was a Pharisee.
10:44-10:45
You know that?
10:46-10:48
People actually liked me and respected me.
10:48-10:51
Ever since I became a Christian, everybody's taken a shot at me.
10:54-11:02
Like Paul, some of you have been the victim of something horrible.
11:03-11:07
You see, it'd be one thing if it was a sin that was committed that has you down and out.
11:07-11:09
That's called consequences for sin.
11:10-11:11
and always has consequences.
11:13-11:13
Right?
11:14-11:17
But you see, in this passage, Paul was a victim.
11:19-11:23
He was treated mercilessly at the hands of others.
11:24-11:25
And that's happened to some of you.
11:26-11:29
The thing that has you down and out is of no fault of your own.
11:30-11:32
You are the victim of somebody else.
11:32-11:36
And I am not minimizing the hurt.
11:38-11:42
I'm not minimizing how horrible it is.
11:44-11:46
But here's what I am saying this morning.
11:47-11:49
God does not want you to stay down.
11:51-11:53
Like, well, what does staying down look like?
11:54-12:01
You know, metaphorically, if you're talking about we're pelted with these metaphorical rocks and we're down, what does staying down look like?
12:01-12:06
Well, for some people, staying down means you're just going to complain.
12:09-12:14
Whatever it is that has you down, the way you've chosen to deal with it is just to complain about it.
12:15-12:19
And that's just your only conversation you can have with people.
12:19-12:20
Complain.
12:22-12:26
"Oh, how are you doing today, Jeff?" "Well, you know, autism.
12:26-12:36
Let me tell you about that again." You're like, "Okay, like you did the last 25 times we talked." complaining. That's staying down.
12:37-13:05
Another way you stay down is by lamenting. Or to put it in another term, it's having the constant pity party. You know, woe is me. Nobody understands the pain that I go through. All the challenges that I face. Nobody understands. Nobody gets Maybe my life is so miserable, that's staying down.
13:08-13:12
For some, maybe staying down is by choosing to be afraid.
13:14-13:16
You know, once bitten, twice shy, right?
13:17-13:20
I'm not going to stick my neck out again.
13:22-13:22
Bitten there, done that.
13:23-13:25
That is the last time I trust somebody.
13:27-13:31
That is the last time I get involved with a group like that.
13:33-13:34
And you're afraid.
13:34-13:35
You're afraid.
13:35-13:38
You're afraid because trusting means you're going to make yourself vulnerable.
13:41-14:25
But for a lot of people, you choose to stay down by making whatever this thing is that has you knocked down, whatever this thing is that's afflicting you, you choose to stay down by making this thing your identity. You know, what if Paul did that? Let's just mark up this tree for a second. What if the Apostle Paul, after, I mean, it's mentioned in passing almost in this passage. You know, there's no details. You would think an event like this would have like three chapters of your Bible dedicated to it. It's almost like a passing phrase, like yeah, they stone Paul dragged him out of the city and he went back to preaching.
14:27-14:27
Like, what?
14:29-14:31
Like, did you even know this happened to Paul?
14:31-14:45
I think he mentions at one time, like in what, in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 25, he mentions it, but imagine if he made this his identity.
14:47-14:53
You know, instead of preaching the gospel, the apostle Paul says, "I'm going on a speaking tour." And there's posters up all over town.
14:53-14:56
stoning victim, Paul of Tarsus.
14:57-15:00
And there's like a picture of him with rocks coming at him.
15:00-15:03
He's like, "Ahh!" Like, that's his thing now.
15:04-15:15
And he travels around and he tells people, "I was a stoning victim, and you were a stoning victim, and we can get over this together." And what if he made that his whole thing?
15:17-15:18
The gospel wouldn't have gone very far, would it?
15:20-15:26
What if every conversation Paul had after this got back to stoning, right?
15:28-15:40
Like, "Paul, what do you want for dinner?" "Well, I don't want any of that bread that you served yesterday, because those things were hard as rocks." And speaking of rocks, did I ever tell you about the time that I got stoned?
15:42-15:44
Only every time you open your mouth, Paul.
15:44-15:46
Let me tell you, that was horrific.
15:47-15:48
Oh, no, here we go again.
15:50-15:52
That's what happens when you make these things your identity.
15:54-15:55
Paul goes on a book tour.
15:56-16:04
You know, I wrote a book about the horrors of being stoned and how I survived and don't be a victim.
16:06-16:07
He didn't do that.
16:08-16:13
Nor should we allow whatever trial we're going through to become our identity.
16:14-16:17
Your identity is in Jesus Christ.
16:19-16:24
You are an adopted, born again, child of God.
16:26-16:28
The Bible says you are an overcomer.
16:31-16:33
What knocks you down cannot become your identity.
16:36-16:40
Because truth be told, it's not even the trial that usually knocks people down, or keeps them down.
16:41-16:44
Usually it's people's attitudes about the trial.
16:47-16:54
So today, I want you to take a page out of the Ninja Turtles book.
16:55-16:57
You're going to get knocked down, right?
16:59-16:59
But you're going to get up.
17:00-17:02
You're like, why should I get up?
17:02-17:04
Well, I'm a preacher.
17:07-17:08
So you know what's coming.
17:09-17:11
There's three reasons, alright?
17:11-17:14
There's three reasons why you should get up.
17:14-17:16
All straight from the text.
17:17-17:19
Number one, get up.
17:20-17:22
You have lost people to evangelize.
17:23-17:25
You have lost people to evangelize.
17:26-17:28
I'm not going to re-read this whole section again.
17:29-17:31
We just read it, but I want to highlight a couple things.
17:31-17:32
Do you see?
17:34-17:38
Ok, so he's stoned, dragged out of the city, they think he's dead, the disciples are gathered around.
17:38-17:50
He goes on in verse 20 and says, "He rose up and entered the city, and on the next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe." When they had preached the Gospel to that city, this is crazy.
17:51-18:04
The man was just publicly executed unsuccessfully, but he gets up, dusts himself off, and he's like, "Let's get back to work." What are you still doing standing around?
18:04-18:05
We've got people to preach to.
18:06-18:21
There's people that are lost near the gospel. Why are you just standing here? Well Paul we thought you were dead. I'm not! Let's go. It says that they went back to Iconium and Antioch.
18:22-18:47
Do you see that in verse 21? They went back to Iconium and Antioch. Why is that such a big deal? Well look back at verse 19. The Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and those were the people that initiated the stoning. This is the place the murderers came from. Okay, Paul, where do you want to go? Opposite direction, right? He goes, no, we got more work to do back this way. And they go back to the place where the attempted murderers came from.
18:50-19:03
He could have made a thousand excuses, and quite frankly, I would have accepted any of them, why he shouldn't have gone back there. And we can make excuses why why we should stay down.
19:05-19:07
I want people to like me.
19:07-19:10
I don't want to face rejection.
19:10-19:12
My life is already hard enough.
19:15-19:22
But when we choose to stay down, we choose to be so self-focused that we forget the mission.
19:24-19:31
The mission of Jesus Christ tells us My life is more than about me.
19:33-19:37
Your neighbors, your co-workers, your unsaved family members, they need the Lord.
19:39-19:44
They are heading on a path to hell apart from the salvation of Jesus Christ.
19:44-19:45
Do you believe that?
19:45-19:47
Well, yeah, we believe that.
19:47-19:52
I guarantee you, if we pulled everybody in this room, that's the answer.
19:52-19:53
Yeah, I believe what the Bible says.
19:53-19:57
Yeah, I believe the message of the Bible, Do you care?
19:58-19:59
Do you care?
20:01-20:12
People are waiting for an invite to church, but they're not going to be excited about the invite you give them if you're a person that stayed down instead of a person that gets back up.
20:14-20:15
What do you mean by that?
20:15-20:17
Well, imagine this is your testimony.
20:18-20:19
You're witnessing to people.
20:19-20:21
You're witnessing that neighbor or co-worker.
20:21-20:23
And this is what they hear from you all the time.
20:23-20:25
"My life is miserable.
20:25-20:33
"Oh, it's me. Don't you feel sorry for me?" Oh, by the way, do you want to come to my church with me and know the joy of Jesus like I do?
20:34-20:34
Like what?
20:36-20:38
Do I want to go to church and be like you?
20:38-20:42
No, I sure don't, because no offense, sir, but you look quite unhappy.
20:45-20:49
That's what you're communicating when you choose to stay down and let the trial become your identity.
20:51-20:54
Is staying down more important to you than the Great Commission?
20:55-20:59
fear or hurt a greater power than the Holy Spirit and the Gospel.
21:01-21:02
You're still breathing.
21:04-21:05
So that means your work isn't done.
21:07-21:08
See, the mission is clear.
21:11-21:13
And God supplies the power.
21:14-21:16
What you need to do is get up.
21:17-21:18
Get up.
21:19-21:20
You have lost people to evangelize.
21:23-21:27
Another reason you need to get up - You have believers to encourage.
21:29-21:30
You have believers to encourage.
21:30-21:43
Not only did they go and share the Gospel again, but they went back to the cities where they had previously shared the Gospel to encourage the disciples.
21:43-21:45
Look at verse 22 again.
21:46-21:49
"They returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch." That's verse 21.
21:49-21:51
What were they doing there? Verse 22.
21:51-21:54
You're strengthening the souls of the disciples.
21:57-21:58
That's done with the Word of God.
21:58-22:00
Do you want to be strong in your faith?
22:00-22:02
You've got to get in the Word of God.
22:03-22:05
Then it says encouraging them.
22:07-22:11
That word "encourage" can also be translated "exhort." What does "exhort" mean?
22:12-22:16
"Exhort" means you teach somebody how to apply the Word of God.
22:17-22:18
That's exhortation.
22:21-22:24
Here's some Bible facts in case you're ever on Jeopardy! and New Testament is one of the categories.
22:24-22:25
You'll be ready to run the category.
22:26-22:31
It's not like Bible FYI. Exhortation is understand how to take the Word of God and apply it.
22:31-22:33
What does the Word of God look like in my life?
22:33-22:35
You know, Monday morning at work.
22:35-22:38
What does the Word of God look like in my life? Saturday afternoon with my kids.
22:38-22:41
What does the Word of God look like when I apply it?
22:41-22:44
That's encouraging. That's exhortation.
22:46-22:47
What did they exhort them to?
22:47-22:52
Do you see in verse 22? Encouraging them to continue in the faith.
22:55-22:56
How do you think that message came across?
22:58-23:05
Did you imagine Paul showing up and he looked completely different than he did last time he was in town, didn't he?
23:06-23:09
Last time he looked pretty fresh, just from the salon.
23:10-23:14
This time he looks like an extra from a zombie movie.
23:14-23:15
How do you think he looked?
23:16-23:18
Battered and bloody and swollen?
23:20-23:28
And here he shows up and he says to these believers, "Listen, you guys have to continue in the faith." Why would he preach that?
23:28-23:29
Because it's hard.
23:31-23:32
That's why. It's hard.
23:34-23:35
Who said it was going to be easy?
23:36-23:41
Where did you get this idea that following Christ was going to be easy?
23:41-23:47
How did you get this idea that as long as I'm a worshipper of God, my life is going to be easy?
23:47-23:49
Who gave you that idea?
23:49-23:50
Was it Abraham?
23:50-23:52
Did you read that about Abraham in the Old Testament?
23:55-23:57
Was it Joseph in the Old Testament?
23:58-24:01
Was he the poster boy for having an easy life following God?
24:02-24:02
What about Moses?
24:03-24:04
Did you read that for Moses?
24:06-24:10
Was Moses the example of, Here's how a faithful man always has everything easy.
24:12-24:14
David? Did you learn it from David?
24:14-24:16
Oh, I know. You learned it from Jesus.
24:18-24:20
That doing the right thing was going to be easy, right?
24:24-24:34
Jesus promised us in John 16.33, He said, "In this world you will have trouble." And you see, that's the same sermon that the apostles were giving here.
24:36-24:44
in verse 22, it says, "encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying," here it is, you have to memorize this next part.
24:44-24:45
You're like, I don't memorize.
24:45-24:46
You're going to start memorizing.
24:46-24:47
You have to memorize this part.
24:50-24:57
"Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God." It would do you well to memorize even just that part of the verse.
24:58-25:14
It's a part of the verse that I say to myself many times when life is hard, When ministry's hard, when evangelism, discipleship, small groups - when it's hard, I remind myself with many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God.
25:14-25:16
Nobody said it was going to be easy.
25:17-25:28
And we're not doing anyone any favors by trying to persuade them to become a follower of Jesus by saying that it's the easy road.
25:29-25:31
By the way, Jesus never did that, right?
25:33-25:35
Jesus never said, "Follow Me. It's easy.
25:36-25:54
Follow Me. Everybody's going to love you." Jesus said things like Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross." You must say no to yourself and be willing to die.
25:56-25:58
John 13, 16; John 15, 20.
25:59-26:01
Same book of the Bible.
26:02-26:14
couple of chapters apart, same discourse. This is the upper room before Jesus' crucifixion. He says it twice. He says a servant is not greater than his master.
26:16-26:30
In John 15, immediately following that statement, he said if they persecuted me they're going to persecute you. Did they persecute Jesus? Absolutely. So what makes What makes us think that our lives are going to be easy?
26:31-26:36
What makes us think - well, they hated the leader of the kingdom that we belong to.
26:36-26:38
They hated him, but they're going to love me.
26:38-26:39
No.
26:41-26:43
A servant is not greater than his master.
26:43-26:45
They persecuted Christ.
26:46-26:48
They're going to persecute us as well.
26:51-26:52
People need encouraged.
26:53-26:54
I love that.
26:54-27:07
The Apostle Paul could have gone back to any of these cities, between his legs and said, "Look guys, I need you to encourage me right now "because I'm hurting." And I'm sure that he did receive encouragement.
27:09-27:13
But he seemed of a mindset that he needed to go encourage others.
27:15-27:31
One of the best ways for you and for me of not dwelling on our problems, of not dwelling on the things that knock us around in life, one of the best ways of not dwelling on those things is to get invested in other people, because you're not the only one that's suffering with something.
27:32-27:35
We're not playing the who's suffering the worst game here, OK?
27:36-27:40
Because I know we're all dealt a hand, right?
27:42-27:43
You have problems, and I have problems.
27:43-27:46
And I'm not saying that my problems are any better or any worse than yours.
27:47-27:49
And we shouldn't be evaluating each other that way either.
27:50-27:51
Like, oh, he has an easy life.
27:51-27:52
She has a hard life.
27:53-27:54
We all have our share.
27:55-27:55
We all have our share.
27:57-28:01
But other people are going to suffer as you have.
28:02-28:11
And you can either close yourself in, you can stay at home, you can lament life, or you can get invested in other people.
28:13-28:19
You can get a small group to encourage people and to be encouraged.
28:21-28:23
that is life, have you knocked down?
28:24-28:24
Get up.
28:26-28:28
You have believers to encourage.
28:30-28:31
You can't teach what you don't model.
28:33-28:34
People need encouraged.
28:36-28:38
And that should be a motivator for you to get up.
28:38-28:41
There's other people in this church that are counting on me.
28:42-28:45
I can't sit in a puddle of my tears and lament my problems.
28:45-28:47
There's people in this church that need me.
28:48-28:49
Get up.
28:50-28:53
And finally, number three, get up.
28:54-28:56
You have a testimony to share.
28:57-28:59
Look at verse 27 with me again.
29:01-29:05
It says, "And when they arrived..." This is back to home base.
29:05-29:09
This is back to Antioch where they had started this journey.
29:10-29:13
"When they had arrived and gathered the church together..." I love this.
29:13-29:24
"They declared all that God had done with them and how He had opened the door of faith Gentiles. One of the greatest motivators for you to get up is your testimony.
29:25-29:38
Imagine, I mean, you went on this trip with us, right? Imagine if the first sign of trouble that these disciples encountered, they just went back home. So what was the first sign of trouble? You remember when they ran into Bar Jesus?
29:38-29:53
Remember that guy? That Jewish occultic guy that kept contradicting them and trying to stop them from sharing the gospel with the pro-council? Remember They're like, "Okay, we're in town to share the gospel, and here's Bar Jesus.
29:53-29:58
Don't listen to them, they're crazy!" They're like, "Ah, okay guys, let's just go home.
29:59-30:10
We failed." And they go back to Antioch, and they're like, "What are you guys doing back already?" We ran into a guy named Bar Jesus, and he said some hurtful things, and our feelings got hurt.
30:11-30:13
And just forget it, it's not going to work.
30:16-30:16
Their testimony.
30:18-30:22
when they finally got back, their testimony would have sounded something like this.
30:23-30:24
Yeah, we faced opposition.
30:25-30:29
We had this occultic guy named Bar-Jesus opposing us.
30:29-30:31
And he was struck blind.
30:31-30:31
How about that?
30:32-30:34
And then Mark deserted us and went back to Jerusalem.
30:34-30:36
We were reviled. We were persecuted.
30:37-30:39
This one day, we had these people trying to worship us.
30:39-30:42
They thought we were like Zeus and Hermes and that was really crazy.
30:42-30:45
And then there were people trying to kill us.
30:45-30:47
They had Stone Paul driving him out of the city.
30:47-30:50
and a bloody heap of himself where all thought he was dead and he got up and went right back to preaching.
30:51-30:56
And then we did the circuit on the way back home to encourage all the people we just shared the gospel with.
30:57-30:59
All the stuff that happened, God still used us.
31:01-31:03
That sounds like a much better testimony, doesn't it?
31:05-31:07
Then we turned tail and ran at the first sign of trouble.
31:10-31:15
And for you, church, people are watching your life.
31:17-31:19
They need to know this about following Jesus.
31:20-31:22
They need to know this.
31:23-31:24
Is it just a religion?
31:26-31:28
Is it just a moral standard?
31:30-31:32
Or does it really make a difference?
31:34-31:41
In other words, to boil it down in the simplest phrase, people are wondering - when they find out you're a Christian, they're wondering, does it work?
31:42-31:43
Does that really work?
31:45-31:48
Is this really the power of God within?
31:49-31:51
Does that really work?
31:53-32:07
And when you choose to stay down, what you communicate is, "Well, it doesn't work for me." Or, maybe, it doesn't work for you.
32:10-32:11
So I want you to think of your testimony.
32:12-32:13
Think of your testimony.
32:14-32:17
and think of how you are representing the faith.
32:18-32:22
The people in your life that know you're a Christian, they know you one of two ways.
32:22-32:23
Are you a victim?
32:25-32:26
Or are you a victor?
32:27-32:32
You're like, yeah, she's a Christian, but she sure seems to be down all the time.
32:33-32:35
Or they say, you know what?
32:36-32:39
That guy would have every right in the world to complain.
32:40-32:41
But he never does.
32:42-32:48
It just seems that no matter what happens in his life, he shows up with a smile on his face.
32:49-32:51
It seems like his faith is really strong.
32:52-32:54
It seems like that's working for him.
32:55-32:56
Are you a victim?
32:58-32:58
Or are you a victor?
33:00-33:00
Which one?
33:02-33:04
Which testimony do you want?
33:06-33:08
Yeah, life - here's your options.
33:08-33:09
Life defeated me.
33:10-33:11
I knew it was going to be hard.
33:13-33:14
And one day I got knocked down.
33:16-33:17
And I never got up again.
33:19-33:20
Is that the testimony you want?
33:20-33:26
Or, option two, yeah, yeah, I got knocked down.
33:27-33:28
I got knocked down hard.
33:28-33:30
I got knocked down hard several times.
33:31-33:32
But I got up.
33:33-33:35
Because the mission was too important.
33:36-33:40
Because the people who were counting on me was too important.
33:40-33:47
And because my testimony in Jesus Christ was too important, so I got up.
33:49-33:54
Father in Heaven, we thank You for the example that You've given us in Your Word.
33:55-34:00
And it's crazy for us to think - I know if something like this happened to me, I'd probably talk about it a lot.
34:02-34:07
By the power of Your Spirit, it just seemed like the Apostle Paul open the road.
34:09-34:11
Father, I pray for that kind of faith for myself.
34:13-34:14
That I wouldn't be lamenting.
34:17-34:23
Father, that I wouldn't be so self-absorbed that I've paralyzed myself for what you've called me to do.
34:25-34:31
And remind me, and remind my brothers and sisters here that the mission is still ongoing.
34:33-34:39
And you are still equipping and empowering us by your Holy Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission.
34:41-34:45
And there may be seasons where we need ministered to.
34:45-34:51
There may be seasons where we need to take a step back and rest and recover.
34:53-34:58
And I pray, Father, that none of us would be knocked down and stay down.
35:00-35:09
Father, let us consider the lost, the people that you put in our lives that I need to hear the Gospel, I need to see the Gospel alive in us.
35:10-35:24
Father, help us to consider the other people in this church, the people in our small group, the people that are going through hard times themselves, that I pray there would be a mutual encouraging thing happening here.
35:26-35:27
We're building each other up.
35:29-35:31
Father, help us to consider our testimony.
35:32-35:42
None of us want to walk around with our head down with the testimony of "I have been defeated." Because we know, Father, that in Christ there is victory.
35:43-35:56
We want to be a people, Father, who no matter what has happened to us, whether it's been our fault through sin, or whether we are purely the victim of somebody else's malicious intent.
35:59-36:21
Father, we want Your power so on display in our lives that people look at us and say, "There's only one way that that person's still standing, that's because the power of God is mighty within them." Father, glorify Your name by helping us all in those times that we get knocked down, Father.
36:23-36:24
Give us the strength to get up.
36:25-36:26
We pray in Jesus' name.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Acts 14:19-28
"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Why isn't this message preached more often in churches in America? Why is this an important part of the message to encourage believers?
How does giving testimony of the Lord's work encourage others (Acts 14:27)? How do your hardships make for an effective and powerful testimony?
Breakout Questions:
What, in your life, could have you "down and out", tempted to stay down? What motivates you to get up?