Christ is Life Podcast

We've been in this life in the Spirit message series for a while now, and today, as we continue and we look at chapter 14, we're going to see two of the biggest obstacles to the gospel of grace. We're going to see two of the things that are major blinders to some people, to seeing the reality, the truth about who God really is, and what this whole Christianity thing is about, what the church is about, and how that affects those of us even in the church today. But before we dive into Acts chapter 14 and see what Luke is saying to us here, I think it'd be a good time for us to do a quick review. We missed last week because of Easter, and so some of you may not have even been here the week before. And so it's been a while, and I want to make sure that we're all on the same page before we just pick right up in chapter 14. And I'll go all the way back to the beginning and just make it really brief. You can go all the way back to Acts chapter one eight, and see a summary of the entire book of Acts. This is what Jesus says to His disciples after His death, after his resurrection, and just before his ascension back to heaven. And he meets with them, and
he says, you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And then, after telling them this, they wait. And then on Pentecost, in Acts chapter two, we see that this happens, that the Holy Spirit does fall on them. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell them, and they do receive that power. And in that particular moment, Peter, emboldened, now with the power of God dwelling in him, the same resurrection power that rose Jesus from the dead that we talked about last week on Easter, was now dwelling in Peter, and so he stood up, and that power was expressed through him in such a way that 3000 people in Jerusalem come to know Jesus. They believe in him. Their lives are transformed and changed, and they become part of the church. The early church, they begin praying together, serving together, eating together, worshiping together. This is life in the Spirit as the church and as they continue to do, life in the Spirit in the church, they continue to be His witnesses in this Jerusalem area that Jesus said would happen. And so even more people come to know the gospel and respond to it. And the church is growing and growing and growing. And as you read the first several chapters of Acts, that's what it's all about, how the church continued to grow in Jerusalem. But at some point the church, even though there was a lot of great things happening, they began to experience real persecution. And it was such a big opposition and persecution that it caused them to scatter, we're told. And so they were scattered from Jerusalem and into Judea and parts of Samaria. And what we saw then, through the Scriptures, through Acts, is that even though this was a work that the enemy was trying to do to destroy the church and disrupt the church, that God, in
His sovereignty, can even take
those things and work it for his good.
And so now he's moved them into these areas so that those people can hear the good news of Jesus. And now that those people who were in the church are there. They're emboldened by the Holy Spirit. They share the Gospel.
People come to know Him.
New churches are planted within this area. And it's exactly what Jesus said was going to happen. And so this was beginning to happen. And then one of the truly most miraculous things happen in Acts chapter nine, we begin to see this guy whose name was Saul, who was primarily
responsible for this major
persecution, was trying to kill Christians. Jesus encounters Him, and He reveals Himself to him, and he doesn't show up and get revenge on Saul, at that time for persecuting his church, he offers him the same grace, the same forgiveness that He purchased for him and for you and for me and everyone on the road to Damascus and
Saul, the persecutor of the
church, comes to know Jesus. His life has changed forever, and then the Holy Spirit. It's power, same one that we read about here in Acts, one is beginning to work in and through him to
the ends of the earth.
One of the things that we saw a couple of weeks ago in Acts chapter 13 was how Saul, whose name is also Paul, and what he goes by, or what Luke refers to him by, throughout the rest of Acts Now were set apart. The Holy Spirit said set Paul and barnas apart at the church at Antioch, the gospel had spread into this local area and set them apart for the work that I have called them to, and they sent them out on their first missionary journey. And so, so this was going to the ends of the earth, just like Jesus said it would happen. So here's what happened. This is down here is where
Jerusalem and. And then Judea and
Samaria, and it was moving into the
ends of the earth. There
was a church in Antioch. They laid hands on them, they sent them out. And this is where they traveled to, to the island of Cyprus. And you can read about how they were sharing the gospel with those there, and some people responded, and there was opposition to it, and all the above. But then from there, we're told that they went north up into modern day Turkey, and they began to share the gospel with people there. Were also told that John Mark, who was with them, deserted them in that moment, and fled all the way back to Jerusalem, but they kept going and made it all the way to Pisidian Antioch, and that's where we were in chapter 13, and they were sharing the gospel with those there, and people's lives were being transformed and changed, but they also experienced opposition to the gospel, and we're told that that opposition expelled them from that region. And at the end of chapter 13, which is where we left off a couple of weeks ago, we were told that they left Pisidian Antioch and went to Iconium, which is this green line, and where they were at then. And so now, when we pick up in 14, chapter one, Luke says at Iconium, right? And so this is where he had told us they went. And now he's going to tell us what happens in that area. But this is Acts one eight. The gospel has been spread to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and now we're going to the ends of the earth, as the Holy Spirit works in Paul and Barnabas and through them to share the good news with those in different areas. So here's how Luke starts off. In verse one, he says at Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went, as usual, into the Jewish synagogue, and there they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believe. Now this way it's written, makes it sound like boy Paul and Barnabas are just such effective speakers. Man, if you just give the right speech in there, people will really respond. But of course, we just read Acts one eight, the Holy Spirit will come upon you empower you to be able to carry this out. And so it's the Spirit's work in and through them to captivate people with God's love, mercy and grace, and they come to believe and know him. But again, just like we see over and over, some people's
hearts are open, they receive the
grace, and other people
oppose it, and that's what we begin to see next. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds. We're told against the brothers. Now we're not exactly told what it was that they were poisoning their minds with, but it was a significant deal. It was a contrast, right? There were some who believed, but those who didn't believe began to stir things up, and they were poisoning the minds of the people in the area and within the church. But we can see from our context clues what it is that they were poisoning their minds with as we go on so in verse three, as a result of them having their minds poisoned, look what it says. So as a result of that, Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there speaking boldly for the Lord who confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. So what were they poisoning their minds with? They were poisoning their minds against his message of grace. And so therefore the Lord was having to work in and through them, to keep them around, to confirm that this was the truth, that the gospel, the good news of Jesus, is a message of grace, which then tells us what their minds were being poisoned with, was religion, legalism. I mentioned up front that we were going to learn two of the biggest obstacles to the gospel of grace, and this
is the first one religion.
Guys, religion is always one of the biggest obstacles to Christianity, because Christianity is a gospel of grace. It's, it's, it's the message of, I can't, but God can. I'm a sinner. That what we just sang about. God's holy, he's He's pure, he's the Almighty, and I'm not. I don't stand a chance before him. I'm a wretched sinner. It's, it's I can't do enough good steps, do enough good things in order to get
on his level and merit salvation.
And because of that fact, it's humbling ourselves in that way, realizing the truth and saying, But Jesus came here, and he died on the cross for my sins, and He offers me that forgiveness and salvation as a gift. It's something to be received. Religion says, no, no, that's too easy. It can't be that easy.
You can't just receive something
and get it. You gotta, you gotta work at it.
You've gotta put the work in.
You gotta achieve a certain, a certain level of morality. You've gotta. Get to a certain place where you are a good person. In order to merit salvation, in order to go to heaven, you gotta do certain things, get certain steps done, accomplish religious duties. You gotta earn your way through keeping God's law and working the steps.
Guys, religion will always be
an obstacle to God's
grace in receiving his unmerited
favor. And that's
what we see here. And we've seen actually, a
number of times, the problem
is not just that it's in one of those things
that is in opposition
to it and that causes people to refuse it. It's the kind of
thing that people get enraged
by, like, like, God's grace is so scandalous that they can't just
say, you know, I'm not really buying into that.
I mean, It enrages people who are religious, those who are legalist. And that's the kind of thing that we continue to see happen here. Look, in verse four, says the people of the city, after stirring these things up, poisoning their minds, were divided. Some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. But now listen, there was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and the Jews, together
with the leaders, to mistreat
them and stone them. No, no, no, we don't. We're not really buying into this whole thing. It's no, no, you've got to die. Like this message that you're promoting is so scandalous, we can't let you continue to preach this message. You've got to die. So they've got a plot to to mistreat them and to stone them, put them to death. But the Holy Spirit revealed it to them, but they found out about it verse six, and fled to the lyconian cities of Lystra and Derby and the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the gospel and so. So even though they experienced this opposition, the Holy Spirit made them aware of it, and when they get to the next place now they begin to share the gospel with those there. Look what happens in Lystra. Verse eight. In Lystra, there sat a man who was lame. We're told he had been that way from birth and had never walked. Luke says he listened to Paul as he was speaking preaching, and Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed, and called out, stand up on your feet. And at that, the man jumped up and began to walk this amazing miracle that if you were here
whenever we started this series
many months ago, or you've just
read the book of Acts, may sound very familiar to you. It's very familiar because it's a miracle that was referenced in Acts three, that was done by Peter. Well, really, it was done by Jesus, but it was through Peter, and him and John were on their way to the temple and and going to have prayers and and there was a man, a beggar, sitting at this gate called Beautiful, and he asks them for money. And he says, Man, we don't really have money, but what we have, I'm going to give you. And in the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, walk. And same thing. This man had been lame since birth. He stands up and he begins to walk. And now we see Paul doing the same thing. The reason that we see this, and the reason it's so similar, is because Peter, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was already seen as a leader. He was the leader of the church, but now we have this new guy, this guy, Paul, who Jesus said, is going to be his instrument to the Gentiles. But listen, he killed people. I mean, he was this one responsible for the persecution. Can we really trust this guy? And so now the Holy Spirit works and puts him in situations and empowers him to be able to heal someone in the same way that Peter did, so that now, when people hear about it, they go, Oh, that's the same thing Peter did. And the Holy Spirit's obviously at work in Peter, and he's one of our leaders, and so it gives him credibility.
He's a leader. He's in
he's in authority over us.
And so this is one of the things that we see Jesus doing in and through him. Now this is where it gets crazy. Y'all are still awake, right, still paying attention. Give somebody an elbow and tell them that was in the name of Jesus. Verse 11. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the lycaonian language, the
gods have come down to us in
human form, Barnabas, they called
Zeus and Paul. They called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.
See, I told you it
was going to get crazy. I mean, that's that's not your typical response. Whenever someone's preaching about the gospel and they do something, you know, like he does here, and it seems kind of random, you're like, Why in the world would they respond that way? Until you learn a little bit more about this culture. See in Lystra, this area that they were in, there was this legend, this legend that had been passed down
over and over from ancient times.
And the legend said
that. Zeus and
Hermes, who they're referencing here, actually came down, but they disguised themselves in human form, and they went to this area called Lystra. Now they were in the city, they were in the area, and they were looking for people who would be hospitable to them, who would treat them well and and host them into their homes. And no one. Everyone was rude. Everyone turned them away, except for two people. And so Zeus and Hermes got so mad at the people in this city. Again, the legend says that these so called Gods destroyed, I mean, just killed, every single person in Lystra, except for those two people who were hospitable to them and they blessed them abundantly beyond their means, with special blessings. So this is a legend that had been passed down over and over again. Now they see Paul and Barnabas,
who were just two human dudes doing
supernatural things, and
their mind goes, Oh,
we've heard about this. We've heard about the Zeus and Hermes visiting people and look just like human beings. And so that must be what's happening here. We're not going to do the same thing. We're not going to make the same mistake that those in the past did. And so they were trying to be hospitable to them. They were going to really what we'll see next is they offer offer sacrifices to them, and continue to treat them like their gods. Verse 13, the priest of Zeus, whose Temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he had the crowd, because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them again these if this is Zeus and
Hermes, we want to treat them the way
that they didn't treat them before, so that nothing bad happens to us. Let's see how Paul and Barnabas respond verse 14. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes. Why did they tear their clothes? Well, this was a common Jewish way of reacting to blasphemy, to blasphemous words that people were were saying, and so, so they're calling them Gods, and they're going blasphemy with the physical demonstration. This is not true, right? So, so they tore their clothes and and rushed into the crowd, out into the crowd, shouting, friends, why are you doing this? We, too, are only human like you. We are bringing you good news. So we're
bringing you the gospel. We're here to bring you good news.
Now, before we
read some of this, remember what
we've seen Peter do what we've seen Paul do in certain contexts when sharing the gospel. They've usually been in the context of a synagogue and with Jewish or God fearing Gentiles. And so they'll start with all the things in the Old Testament and all the things that were said and the prophecies to be filled, and Jesus is the Messiah and all of that. But we're not in a synagogue. We're around
people who have cultic gods. I mean, they're
calling them Zeus and Hermes, and so
he can't really go, hey, you know God? Yahweh, you know God. And I mean, he's got to start with a different context, which is really the same way we all have to when God puts us in situations with different people to share the gospel, he's not going to lead us to do it the same, because people are in different places, and so look at what he does. We're here to share good news. First of all telling you to turn from these worthless
things, these worthless idols
and these worthless gods that you say so turn from them
to the living God,
the one true God who
made the heavens and the earth
and the sea and everything in them. Now in the past, he says he that God, the living God, let all nations go their own way. Yet He has not left himself without testimony. He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops and their seasons. He provides with you plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. And so he acknowledges that the one true living God chose to reveal himself, first and foremost, to the Jews, to this nation that he built through Abraham, but it was through that nation that he would reveal himself to all people. And so he's acknowledging that in the past, you may not have seen the specific revelation of God, but you've got this general revelation of God, this one true God who provided for you. He sent rain. He's providing fills your hearts with joy all the above, but these people are steeped in idolatry in this culture that they're in. And so verse 18, even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing
to them, like,
like, that's the other obstacle.
The two big obstacles that we're seeing in
today's passage were those who are religious people. No, no. You got to earn your way. You got to follow through with the steps. We've got to be able to justify ourselves by the things that we're doing are going
to be the biggest oppositions to God's grace,
and then those who are in
idolatry and seeking and worshiping other again, so called Gods. Now. Well, again, when we talk about this in our culture today, we we don't see people necessarily referring to Zeus and Hermes, right, but we have a lot of people who will tell you that they're very open to spiritual things, that they're
spiritual, they're spiritual people, right?
But a lot of times when you
start talking about Jesus, they go, Yeah, I like Jesus. Jesus is
spiritual and and he's one
of many ways, and one of the people that I look to for guidance in my spirituality, among many other things. But the moment that you start talking about Jesus being the one, true God, being the one was the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father, except
through him. I mean, you can't go there.
We're not going to have that. We're going to oppose you with everything that
we've got, because we can like Jesus,
but we can't go that far
with things. And so we see this is a major roadblock, even in our world today. Now this is going on. They're having difficulty. They're steeped in idolatry, and they are only getting to a certain place with this. Now, watch what happens, though, with the legalist. Watch what happens you think, oh yeah, this is terrible Zeus and Hermes and all of that. Nothing on those who are, who are Legalist and who are steeped into religion, because look at what happens next.
So then some Jews from
Antioch, some religious
Jews, those who had not believed, those who were legalists, you got to earn your way through it. Came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. I don't know how they found out about it. I don't know they heard they were over there and whatever was going on, but they hear about it and they they stir the crowd up and win them over again. We're not just talking about hey, we need to convince them otherwise. We should need to tell them what we think is the truth. No, look as it goes on.
They stoned Paul
and dragged him outside the
city thinking that he was dead.
The Gospel of Grace
is scandalous,
especially to those who are steeped in religion,
those who are looking for ways to justify themselves before God through the things that they are doing. They need something to hang their hat on in that area, and so they're stoning him. They drag him outside of the city, thinking that he was dead, but God saves him, verse 20. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. Now I know it doesn't technically say that God saved him, that God healed him. It says that the disciples gathered around him. But
if the verse before this
says that they threw so many stones at him that they believed that he was dead, that
looking at the blood coming off of his
head that it looked like
he was no longer breathing, like this guy is dead, you don't just gather around someone and help them stand
up and then walk around right back into the city.
I've never seen that happen, right? And so a miracle happens here. We just don't really have it put in that particular way, but the Holy Spirit had to be at work in this way. And notice he goes right back into the same city that he had just gotten stoned in. Paul is not very smart, or the Holy Spirit has made him super courageous.
It's what it is. Now he goes, but
the Holy Spirit does lead them away as we continue verse 20 the next day, he and Barnabas left for Derby, and they preached the gospel in that city, and want a large number of disciples.
And so once again,
we see that some people are open to it, and others oppose it with everything that they've got. And I just want to quickly mention like, like, we could see this in this summary statement, it's in a simple thing, and just read that they preach the gospel in the city and want a large number of disciples
and move on. But I think it's important
sometimes that we pause
and remember exactly
what Luke is saying happened here.
He's saying that when he went into Derby and they preached the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, what is that message he was preaching, that they were sinners before a holy and a just God who can't just turn a blind eye to sin, but that the God of the universe came into this world, fully human, fully God, had no sin to pay for himself, and was willing to take on their sin, pay the penalty for their sin, receive God's wrath upon himself for those sins as a just God, and then offer to them as a gift, as a gift, not even anything they had to earn that forgiveness that He purchased for them on the cross and the eternal. Life and for them to be called disciples. Now that means that they put their faith and trust in Him, and they received that free gift, which means that in that particular moment, the same Holy Spirit that Jesus referenced in Acts one came to
dwell in them. And in that moment, they
went from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. They went from being sinners by nature to now having a godly nature. They went from being spiritually dead to born again. They were completely regenerated, made new creations in Christ, and now they were in union with Jesus and in a spiritual union with one another, where they became part of the church and have every spiritual blessing that there is to possibly have in Christ. That's the way the Apostle Paul put it in Ephesians chapter one. So we can't skip over this and just go, Oh, cool. A couple of people, or a large number of people, joined the church that day. A large number of people had their lives transformed and changed forever that day. That's what that says. And so when we read it quickly and we don't stop and pause, we go, oh, well, that's not this is when we acknowledge that happened to them. We're acknowledging and reminding ourselves what happened to us. We don't always feel like that to be true, but we've got to preach the gospel even to ourselves, and remind ourselves that we are not who we once were,
and that is what he's saying here, even
if he says it in a very simplistic way.
Now they finished doing that, things are going great, and the Holy Spirit prompts Paul. Now, you know what? I've got a great idea. You are persecuted in all these cities on this missionary journey that you just went to for the first time. Why don't you go back to them? Okay, that's what he does. Look verse 21 continues, then they return to Lystra Iconium and Antioch. Why? Why go back.
Well, look, we're told right here,
strengthening the disciples, this is what they were doing, encouraging them to remain true to the faith and acknowledging, saying we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.
Now I can tell
what Paul's not saying there. He's not saying that that this is something that you need to do in order to merit salvation. You need to go through really hard times, and the more you persevere and suffer through those things, and you get all the way through it, then you're going to finally get to be a Christian one day and know that you have eternal life in him. It's a gift you receive it. There's nothing you can do to earn it. What he's saying is that those of you who have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ will go through he's trying to make sure they know the reality. Will go through hardships before you get to officially enter the kingdom of God when He comes back one day and be with Him in glory and in
heaven for ever. So they've
they've been through all these cities.
They share the Gospel. They're transformed and changed. They finish and get to this point and go, You know what they need to know? I don't know if we were clear, they need to know that they are going to suffer, that they that people will oppose them, that religious people will oppose this gospel of grace with everything that they have, and may even try to stone them and kill them. So we're going back to make sure that we strengthen them, that we encourage them to cling to Jesus, to cling to the gospel of grace, and don't give up, even when people oppose you in that gospel of grace with everything that they have. And so that's what Paul and them do. They go back to make sure they're prepared and they're equipped for what is probably coming their way, for being part of the church.
Verse 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders
for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust. So they go back to strengthen them, to encourage them, to make sure they're aware of the opposition, and then they make sure that they're equipped before they left. And they just go, All right, well, we told you now bye, we're out of here, it's going okay, you're going to need some leadership. You're going to need some structure to this. And so they took people who they saw were responding to the gospel well, they were beginning to mature and grow in their faith, and they had the gift
of leadership, and they entrusted
the church to them, you know,
they they were like, Okay,
it's out of our hands.
Now we're praying over you, and we're committing you to the Lord, and then we're moving on, because we're on this missionary journey. And what we are called to verse 24 after going through Pisidia, they came to PAMP into Pamphylia, and when they had preached the Word in Perga, they. Went down to Attila. From Attila, they sailed
back to Antioch,
where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. So where did Paul and Barnabas get launched from Antioch, right? So this is the end of the first missionary journey. In two chapters, we hear about their first missionary journey, and we think, Oh, well, he named a bunch of
places and whatever, and this happened in a matter of days.
This what we just read about in two chapters, took place over about two years, almost a two year time span. They traveled over 700 miles on land, 500 on sea, all to make sure that no one missed out on the grace of God. They put themselves in danger, at risk, people opposing them, stoning them. They didn't give up, because the Holy Spirit kept giving them what they needed again to make sure, hey, set Paul and Barnabas apart for the work or the ministry that I've called them to, and then lay hands on them and go, and now
they're back, and they've completed that
work that God did in and through them. And that's the way that they write about it. As he finishes up the chapter on arriving there at Antioch, back at the church that sent them out, they gathered the church together and reported. Look at this language, all that God
had done through them, and how
he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, and they stayed there a long time with the disciples. So so once again, I mean, you're, you could be tempted to go, man, look at what all Paul and Barnabas. Did I mean 500 miles in sea, 700 over land, opposition and stoning and all these new churches that were planted in and around that area. But as they reported back, they were going look at what all God did in and through us.
It really is grace.
It's a gospel
of grace. Grace The Christian life is receiving. They were the branches. God's the vine, the life giving stuff was flowing through the branch to produce fruit, and all the things done in them and through them, they received grace for salvation, and they lived the Christian life and on mission by and through grace.
This is Christianity.
This is the message,
and this is what they were proclaiming in the way that they were living their daily lives. So now that we see this happen, and what
all Paul tells us
here in this missionary journey, and what happened in chapter 14. What does that mean for us today? The first thing that it could mean for you, if you're here today, is the two things that we've said were major things that oppose the
gospel of grace and are a roadblock
for many people are religion and idolatry,
and so maybe you've missed the
grace of God because of one of those two things, or a combination of both of those things. Maybe you've missed the
grace of God because you've been so
focused on the seven
steps that you need to accomplish
to become a better person, a
better you all the moral things that you're hanging your hat on, the things that you're justifying your own
life, when you're comparing yourself
to other people, or maybe
it's the idolatry of money, sex or power, or a number of other idolatrous things that we're trying to find life in outside of Jesus. One of those two things, you've completely missed the grace of God, whether it's your first few times being in church and really understanding what this thing is all about, or maybe you've grown up and been in church, and you complete, completely missed it all along the way. You bought into the religious duties and the checklist. And so the way it applies to you is, is learning the truth that that Christianity is the good news of Jesus is grace. It's a gift that you receive, and you live by him and his life giving stuff that's in you and through you. And so your response, if that's you today, is to not miss it for one more second. If you can't remember a point in time where you've put your faith and trust in Jesus and been transformed and changed by him, you take that step of faith today and say, Jesus, you're the Way, the Truth and the Life. And there's no one that comes
to the Father except through you.
But what about those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus and are part of the church today where, here's what Paul
said, Life in the spirit
means that we in the church will face hardship. Paul went back through every. Single church, making sure that they knew when they were discipling people, that they knew they were going to face hardship before they would enter the kingdom of God. The same thing is true of us, those of us who are in the church today, those of us who have received his
grace. And I know that we don't
live in the first century. I know that the context is a little bit different. We're in the United States. It's 2026 compared to other parts of the world and the times that we were looking at today. But the reality is, there are people who will still oppose the gospel of grace today, and that means that they will oppose you as being part of the church who is living by that grace and offering other people that same grace. And oftentimes, that opposition will come just like we saw today through religious people, religious people outside the church and listen,
religious people who were in the church.
I'm telling you guys, the scandalous message of grace enrages self righteous Legalist and sometimes those self righteous legalists are in the church, and they might proclaim Jesus is good and that it's by His grace that you're saved. But then they're quickly going to pivot to, yeah, that grace was good for salvation, but now it's Jesus plus the law. It's Jesus plus making sure that you're doing X, Y and Z, and all the things that you got to do to prove that you're really saved and that this is how you
actually live the Christian life.
And when they hear someone talking about grace and how you're saved by grace and you live by grace, in their minds, they go license to sin, false heresy. And so they're going to stand up and they're going to yell and they're going to scream and they're going to pose and they're going to threaten people who preach and teach and proclaim this scandalous message
of grace, that you receive salvation
by grace and you live the Christian life by grace.
Some of the meanest people
that I've ever met in 10 years of being a lead pastor of a church have been Legalist people who are in the church,
in the church,
who are mean and nasty and ugly and call names and then leave and then and then proclaim and scandalize your name and this church's name all throughout the community, because again, you got to have something to prove that you're right.
It's, it's self righteousness.
So I've got to make sure
that I'm justifying what I'm doing by putting them down, and they're going to hear the brunt of everything that they're unleashing on us. And so here's, here's what I think that Paul's saying through this, he goes back to these churches, and he's saying, don't be surprised when hardship comes, like when you're preaching grace, when you're preaching this scandalous message of grace, and people come to oppose you. Here's what this doesn't mean. It's not a sign
that you're doing something wrong.
It's not a sign that you need to change the message and begin to teach something different in that way, because people are leaving, because they're opposing you, because they're calling you names in any way he's saying, it means you're doing something right, because hardships are coming. You can't be surprised by this.
We didn't have time to dive into this, but as
we get ready to close this,
this whole region, when I showed you the maps earlier that Paul was in, is in the area of Galatia. That may sound familiar to you, because there's a letter in our Bibles called Galatians that Paul wrote. And most people believe that Paul wrote Galatians not very long
after he had visited all of
these places. Can I show you one thing before we leave today, the one of the opening things in the letter. So Paul gets through this whole area opposition from all of these legalists who are pressing things into them in this scandalous message of grace, He comes back, and then he writes a letter, and this is what he says,
y'all still paying attention, right?
Paul says, I am astonished.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting
the one who called you to
live in the grace of Christ, and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. I'm amazed. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion. They're opposing the gospel of grace. They're trying to pervert the. Gospel of Grace. But listen to this. This is strong words, but even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let them be under a curse. He says, As as we've already said, and now I'm saying again, if anybody is preaching you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under a curse. Paul's not saying, hey, if people are opposing you because you're teaching this grace, then you probably aren't. You probably need to teach something else. These people were starting to do that. They started with a Jesus plus nothing equals everything kind of gospel. And then they started teaching Jesus plus gospel because people were opposing them and perverting the gospel that they had. And he goes,
cursed.
Be cursed if you begin to preach, it's not even another gospel.
They're not both true.
This is the Christian life. And so guys, there is no other gospel than grace. And so we cling to it, we proclaim it, we live in it, and we live by grace, and we share his grace with others. And even if we face hardships from other people who oppose the gospel of grace, we realize that by His grace we still have joy and comfort in peace and assurance in abundant life, because no one can take that away from us if we're in Christ. And so we're ready, we're ready to face hardship, and we're going to continue to preach the truth of the gospel of grace, because Paul says, Don't let anyone convince you that there is another gospel. Let's pray.