Sermon Tone Analysis

Through many tribulations

Through many tribulations

, “ Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.19

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

20 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 Derbe.

21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening 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.

23 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.

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.27

And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.28

And they remained no little time with the disciples.”

18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.19

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

20 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 Derbe.

21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening 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.

23 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.

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.27

And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.28

And they remained no little time with the disciples.”

23 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.

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.

27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.28

And they remained no little time with the disciples.”

Through many tribulations... we must still rise!

The people of Lystra were so awestruck by the miracle of the lame man walking for the first time that, even though Paul and Barnabas gave them a disclaimer of their divinity and then propose to them a clear challenge to turn away from vain things to the living and true God.

They still had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing and worshipping them.

There pagan superstition moved the Lycaonians to offer misdirected homage to the visitors until some other Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over.

Verse 19a says, “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds...

You see the passions of these antagonists Jews can be measured by the fact that they travelled more than a hundred miles just to oppose the missionaries and were unimpressed by any attempt to turn the pagans of Lystra to the worship of the God of Scripture.

Once again, unbelieving Jewish opponents were able to persuade unbelieving Gentiles to join them in hindering the progress of the gospel, remember,

, “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 their district.”

Now in , “...They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.”

Look at this in a quick reversal of their praise and worship of Paul and Barnabas these unbelieving Jews and unbelieving Gentiles convinced these, Lycaonians to stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city.

They stone him so harshly that they were sure he was dead

Stoning is a method of execution during which a group of people, usually peers of the guilty party, throws stones at the condemned person until he or she dies.

Death by stoning was prescribed in the Old Testament Law as a punishment for various sins.

Both animals and people could be the subjects of stoning.

, “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.

But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner had been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.”

Stoning seems to have been associated with sins that caused irreparable damage to the spiritual or ceremonial purity of a person or an animal.

Stoning was the method of execution chosen by the unbelieving Jews who persecuted the early Christians.

Stephen, the church’s first martyr, was stoned to death outside of Jerusalem by the Sanhedrin.

On that occasion, a young man named Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, held the coats of those who cast the stones.

, “Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him.

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of the God.

And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him.

Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.

And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “ Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stoning is a horrible way to die.

That particular manner of execution must have been a strong deterrent against committing the sins deemed offensive enough to merit stoning.

God cares very much about the purity of His people.

The strict punishment for sin during the time of the Law helped deter people from adopting the impure practices of their pagan neighbors and rebelling against God.

The wages of sin is death, and Israel was given a stern commandment to stay pure: “You must purge the evil from among you.”

This physical attack was presumably directed at Paul alone, because he was the one who had healed the lame man and had called for an abandonment of their traditional gods, called for him and the others to turn away from vain things.

But Paul how was Paul able to handle such a vicious attack from these people.

Well, praise God that this was not Paul’s first rodeo, he had be attack before, Look at , “24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.25

Three 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;26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.28

And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” ().

From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

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Paul was the type of servant that could take a licking and kept on ticking.

Ministry is fraught with trials and tribulations, but Jesus tells us that we must be of good cheer because He has already overcome the world.

God places tests and hinderances along the way so that we might discern God’s will.

, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

So, pastor why does God test us?

When we ask why God tests us or allows us to be tested, we are admitting that testing does indeed come from Him which is a great first step.

When God tests His children, He does a valuable thing because it is through testing that we learn to rise to the occasion.

David sought God’s testing, asking Him to examine his heart and mind and see that they were true to Him (; ) and after testing he rose to the occasion.

When Abram was tested by God in the matter of sacrificing Isaac, Abram obeyed () and showed to all the world that he is the father of faith and Abram rose to the occasion.

().

In both the Old and New Testaments, the words translated “test” mean “to prove by trial.”

Therefore, when God tests His children, His purpose is to prove that our faith is real that they might rise to the occasion.

Not that God needs to prove it to Himself since He knows all things, but He is proving to us that our faith is real, that we are truly His children, and that no trial will overcome our faith and that we will rise to the occasion.

In His Parable of the Sower, Jesus identifies the ones who fall away as those who receive the seed of God’s Word with joy, but, as soon as a time of testing comes along, they fall away.

James says that the testing of our faith develops perseverance, which leads to maturity in our walk with God ().

James goes on to say that testing is a blessing, because, when the testing is over and we have “stood the test,” we will “receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” ().

Testing comes from our heavenly Father who works all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called to be the children of God ().

It is through trials and testing we are compel to rise once again through our faith.

The testing or trials we undergo come in various ways.

Becoming a Christian will often require us to move out of our comfort zones and into the unknown.

Perseverance in testing results in spiritual maturity and completeness.

This is why James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” ().

The testing of faith can come in small ways and daily irritations; they may also be severe afflictions () and attacks from Satan ().

Whatever the source of the testing, it is to our benefit to undergo the trials that God allows.The account of Job is a perfect example of God’s allowing one of His saints to be tested by the devil.

Job bore all his trials patiently and “did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” ().

However, the account of Job’s testing is proof that Satan’s ability to try us is limited by God’s sovereign control.

No demon can test or afflict us with beyond what God has ordained.

All our trials work toward God’s perfect purpose and our benefit.

There are many examples of the positive results of being tested.

The psalmist likens our testing to being refined like silver ().

Peter speaks of our faith as “of greater worth than gold,” and that’s why we “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” ().

In testing our faith, God causes us to grow into strong disciples who truly live by faith and not by what we see ().

When we experience the storms of life, we should be like the tree that digs its roots ever more deeply for a greater grip in the earth.

We must “dig our roots” more deeply into God’s Word and cling to His promises so we can weather whatever storms come against us.