And So Spake

Acts of the Apostles (31)

Introduction

Having departed from Antioch, Paul and Barnabas came to Iconium, another significant town in Galatia. The ministry here was one of the most successful missions that they engaged in, and the results were predictably tumultuous. But in the course of this passage we learn a few things about how gospel proclamation ought to go. How the gospel was preached had a significant impact on the results. 

The Text

“And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: And there they preached the gospel” (Acts 14:1–7).

Summary of the Text

So Paul and Barnabas arrived in Iconium, still in the province of Galatia. Here we are becoming acquainted with the people who gave their name to the epistle to the Galatians. Paul and Barnabas went to the synagogue there, and they spoke there in such a way that a large number of Jews and Greeks both believed (v. 1). But the Jews who had not believed agitated some of the Gentiles who had not believed and turned their minds against them (v. 2). Nevertheless, they ministered there for a long time, speaking boldly. That boldness provided additional testimony to their words, and they also performed signs and wonders (v. 3). As a consequence of all this, the city at large became divided—one half with the Jews and the other with the apostles (v. 4). We are not talking about a handful of people either—one estimate of the city’s population at the time was between 30 thousand and 50 thousand people. But a time came when the bad guys organized a concerted assault on the apostles, that attack coming from unbelieving Gentiles, unbelieving Jews, and their rulers (v. 5). Paul and Barnabas had some advance warning of the attack, and so they fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities in the neighboring province of Lycaonia (v. 6). They then preached the gospel there as well (v. 7).

That Word Boldly

One of the signature marks of the Spirit’s presence in true preaching is the element of boldness. The Sanhedrin took note of the boldness of Peter and John (Acts 4:13). Barnabas testified to the boldness of Saul in Damascus (Acts 9:27). Saul also preached boldly in Jerusalem (Acts 9:29). They spoke boldly here in Iconium (Acts 14:3). Apollos spoke boldly, even though he required further instruction (Acts 18:26). Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue at Ephesus over the course of three months (Acts 19:8). Boldness in the gospel is consistently held up for us as praiseworthy.

And after Peter and John were threatened, their request was for boldness (Acts 4:29), and the request was granted (Acts 4:31). When Paul requests prayer for his preaching, this is one of the great things he asks for (Eph. 6:19-20). In Scripture, boldness really is a big deal.

We are told here that the mere fact of their boldness lent testimony, a witness, to the word of grace they were preaching (v. 3). Boldness adds an appointed weight to the words of God. We are also told that this manner of speaking was one of the reasons why they were so effective in the first place. We are told in v. 1 that they “so spake . . .” They spoke in such a way that a large number believed. How they spoke mattered. How they spoke was used by God.  

Preach in Order to Winnow

But notice that this effective ministry split the city of Iconium clean in two. Boldness not only attracts true disciples . . . it also attracts true adversaries. So the messengers with a gospel of peace were in fact the instruments of a significant amount of tumult in the town. This is because the representatives of genuine peace will always be at odds with the priests and mavens of a false peace.

The perennial temptation that confronts evangelicals is the temptation to strive for universal winsomeness, universal niceness. They want to augment truth with treacle. When that happens, and this false view takes root in the seminaries, the result is that men start preaching for consensus. But the appointed task is to preach for decision. When you preach for consensus, the coming compromise is already baked in.

But when you preach for decision, people decide in different directions and then you have division. This is why boldness is a direct threat to the first approach, and it is an essential ingredient in the second.

Sons of Thunder

George Whitefield, a great preacher of the eighteenth century, once said this: “I love those who thunder out the Word. The Christian world is in a deep sleep! Nothing but a loud voice can awaken them out of it.”

When the Lord Jesus called James and John, His nickname for them was Boanerges, sons of thunder (Mark 3:17). James was the first apostle to be martyred, which is not surprising, and John was apparently the last of the apostles to die, which perhaps is surprising. Men with this temperament will sometimes have to be steadied a bit, or admonished. “You do not know what spirit you are of . . .” (Luke 9:54-55). That is true enough, but it is far, far better to have to say whoa than to have to say giddyup.  

Praying for Reformation and Revival

We have been praying for a great work of the Spirit for decades now. But it is essential that we realize that what we are praying for is boldness in our preachers, and as a direct consequence of that, tumult in our towns.

Now the professionally winsome will of course have arguments, some of them good arguments. There will be those who call themselves friends of the revival who cause division through the simple expedient of being jerks. They are affirming the consequent. If this is a dog, it will have four legs . . . but having four legs doesn’t make anything a dog. Causing a riot is not an ironclad indication that a man is preaching as he ought. There are other way to cause riots.  

But it is not possible for a culture as far gone as ours is to be called back to faithfulness without massive disruption. And the reason winsomeness-no-matter-what is so attractive to so many evangelical leaders is not that they are so nice. Many times the niceness is only for public consumption. The real cause of their reluctance is that they are disruption-averse.

As you have heard me say many times before, it is Christ or chaos. But there is another sense in which we must also say that it is Christ and chaos. This is not recognized the way it should be because too many Christian leaders are unwilling to be chased off to Lystra and Derbe.