Transcript

Charlotte Elliot was born in Clapham, England in 1789. As a young person she lived a carefree life, gaining popularity as a portrait artist and a writer of humorous verse.

By the time she was thirty, however, her health began to fail rapidly, and soon she became bedridden. With her failing health came feelings of great despondency.

In 1822, a noted Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar Malan, visited the Elliot home in Brighton, England. His visit proved to be a turning point in Charlotte’s life.

As he counseled Miss Elliot about her spiritual and emotional problems, Dr. Malan impressed upon her the truth that “You must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

Throughout the remainder of her life, Miss Elliot celebrated that day every year, when her Swiss friend led her to a personal relationship with Christ. It was her spiritual birthday,

In 1836, fourteen years after her conversion, it is apparent that she never forgot the words of Dr. Malan, for they form the very essence of the hymn she then wrote, “Just as I Am.”

“Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!”

This simple, well-known song about finding salvation through Christ and His shed blood, and that He bids anyone to come to Him, has been powerfully used by the Lord.

Because God’s invitation to be saved through Christ truly is for any and all who come to Him, just as you are, the Apostle Paul took this saving gospel to the nations of the world, proclaiming the truth that anyone can be reconciled to God by faith alone in Christ.

And in the many places he took the gospel of grace, it sometimes led to revival and many trusting Christ as their Savior. And one such place was Iconium.

Acts 14:1-2: “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.”

During his first apostolic journey, Paul had come to Iconium after recently being driven out of Antioch in Pisidia. Acts 13:50-51 reads,

“But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.”

Iconium was about 80 miles to the southeast from Antioch. Paul went there to make a fresh start with the gospel of grace.

It’s said that Iconium was “a garden spot, situated in the midst of orchards and farms, but surrounded by deserts. Iconium, too, owed its bustling business activity to its location on the main trade route connecting Ephesus with Syria and the Mesopotamian world, as well as its orchard industries and farm produce.”

Iconium was a city of commerce and agriculture situated near a mountain range on a high, fertile plateau that was well watered by large streams. Because of its location on a major trade route, it was a culturally mixed city.

“Iconium” comes from the Greek word for “image,” and its name was tied to idolatry and Greek mythology. It was a pagan and spiritually dark place in Paul’s day.

Yet the powerful gospel light was brought to this dark place by Paul and Barnabas and delivered many from the power of darkness and gave them true hope in Christ.

When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Iconium, as their custom was, “they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews.”

The leaders of the synagogue in Antioch had just forcefully run and expelled Paul and Barnabas out of that city. Yet when they came to Iconium, they boldly began their evangelistic efforts by again preaching in the synagogue.

Paul went to the synagogue first because of his love for his countrymen and desire for them to be saved. But also, Paul found God-fearing Gentiles there. This verse shows that as a result of his preaching in the Iconium synagogue, BOTH Jews and Greeks believed.

Likewise, when Paul stood up to address the congregation in Antioch in Acts 13:26, he said, “Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, AND WHOSOEVER AMONG YOU FEARETH GOD, to you is the word of this salvation sent.” Those among them that feared God were Gentiles in that synagogue.

And after his message in that synagogue, Acts 13:42 states, “the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.”

Also, if Paul had begun in a new city by going to the Gentiles first, this might’ve isolated the Jews and they likely would not have permitted Paul to preach in their synagogue.

So Paul went to the synagogue first to gain an audience with both Jews AND Gentiles and to proclaim the open arms of God’s grace to them all.

Although the content of their preaching is not stated here, we can be sure that, like Paul did in Antioch, they proclaimed Christ risen from the dead, and “that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).

And according to verse 3, we know that Paul “gave testimony unto the Word of His grace.” In accordance with the message revealed to him, the theme of Paul’s preaching was always the grace of God and the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

And as Paul and Barnabas spoke the Word of God and the gospel of grace in this synagogue, by the working and power of the Spirit, it resulted in a revival, and “A GREAT MULTITUDE of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.”

It was apparently a considerably large synagogue because a great multitude had believed.

And the fact that BOTH Jews and Greeks believed shows that Paul preached the same message to both groups. That message was the gospel of the grace of God that salvation is in Christ alone, by faith alone in Him. A great multitude believed this and was saved.

However, verse 2 begins with a term of contrast, “But.” Belief here is contrasted with unbelief. Believing Jews and Greeks are contrasted with the attitude and actions of the Jews who did not believe the gospel.

And because unbelief likes company, the actions of the unbelieving Jews were that they stirred up the unbelieving Gentiles in Iconium, and turned the city against the believers.

What you see so clearly in Acts is that when the gospel is faithfully preached and souls are saved, the devil does not sit idly by. In the unseen realm, he stirs up opposition and brings persecution against those who faithfully declare God’s Word and His truth.

This is what happened also in Antioch, where we learn that “the Jews STIRRED UP the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and RAISED persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts” (Acts 13:50).

However, the opposition took a different form in Iconium. Whereas in Antioch there was an outright, open opposition against Paul and Barnabas, here in Iconium there was a subtle, whispering, deceitful, poisonous propaganda that was spread against them.

This kind of opposition can be just as devastating. And it had an effect on the Gentiles. Many were turned away from Christ and turned against Paul and Barnabas.

Verse 2 states that these unbelieving Jews “made their minds evil affected against the brethren.” Making their minds evil affected against the brethren means that they caused their minds to think evil, or to embitter or poison their minds against them, causing them to think badly about believers.

Jack Andrews writes this, “Almost all poisonous snakes have what we call hemotoxic poison. Hemotoxic poison goes straight to the blood stream and attacks the blood. There is one snake that is different and he is kin to the old serpent, Satan.

“The King Cobra snake has what we call neurotoxic poison. When a King Cobra bites an animal or a person the poison goes to the mind. It poisons the mind and paralyzes the mind and the nervous system. And it affects the whole person!”

Satan used the unbelieving Jews to strike the Gentiles in Iconium and by their venom they poisoned their minds against the brethren.

Their whispers and slander led to a smoldering bitterness and hatred, and there was a slow polarization taking place within the population against the Iconium believers.

We each do well to be aware of the warning that Paul gave the Corinthians, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your MINDS should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (11:3).

Satan attacks the mind. And by this example of poisoning of the mind, we can see the devil at work here against the ministry of Paul and the progress of the gospel of grace.

Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that “we are not ignorant of his [Satan’s] devices.” Satan’s devices, his schemes and strategies, haven’t changed much.

And this evil speaking and poisoning of peoples’ minds against the brethren, against the church, the Body of Christ, still takes place to this moment.

By his subtle influence, he stirs up people against believers, who in turn poison the minds of others, and all this turns into a smoldering bitterness and hatred, that eventually can explode. We need to be aware and not ignorant of this scheme of the devil in our country.

Acts 14:3-4: “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.”

A turtle was crossing the road when he got mugged by two snails. When the police show up, they asked him what happened. The shaken turtle replied, “I don’t know. It all happened so fast.”

It didn’t happen fast, it took a while for the smoldering resentment and hatred of the unbelieving in Iconium to unfold, finally reveal itself, and explode against Paul and Barnabas. Thus, verse 3 says that for a “long time” they spoke “BOLDLY” in the Lord.

So when their enemies stirred up hatred against them, what did Paul and Barnabas do? We might expect this verse to read, “Long time, therefore, abode they speaking cautiously.”

Instead, undeterred by resistance against the gospel, these men stuck it out, and stayed for a long time, and continued to speak out boldly for Christ. They did so out of a love and care for lost souls.

The word “therefore” in verse 3 is a great and inspiring word when you compare verse 2 with verse 3. Verse 2 says, “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.”

Then verse 3 says: “A long time THEREFORE abode they speaking boldly.” When opposition grew and the tension rose in the city, and the unbelieving stirred up others against the believing, THEREFORE, Paul and Barnabas stayed, and they stayed a long time in Iconium, and as they did, they spoke boldly.

This showed their faith, faithfulness, grit, and determination. Instead of the opposition intimidating these men, it had the opposite, seemingly paradoxical effect of inspiring them!

And they dug in and would not back down because they knew these believers in Iconium needed all the grounding they could get to stand strong in a city with much opposition.

And how they were able to speak boldly and do it for a long time is because they did it “in the Lord” verse 3 teaches us. In the Lord, in His strength and power, they were enabled to face the opposition and boldly make God’s truth known.

We need Paul’s kind of faith and determination in our culture and our time, as more and more peoples’ minds are being poisoned against the Church.

People need the Lord, and because we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us, like Paul, we can speak boldly for Him, and we can do it over the long haul.

As Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly “in the Lord,” they “gave testimony unto the Word of His grace.” By their Spirit-enabled work and God’s Word, they were God’s gospel mouthpieces. And as they preached, they made known a grace-based message.

Every person needs grace. And God’s grace is about what God alone can and does freely give to those who don’t deserve it and can never earn it. We can only receive what He gives by grace as a gift. And by God’s grace, as a free gift, among many other things, we receive the forgiveness of all our sins, eternal life, and the very righteousness of Christ.

Paul gave testimony to the gospel of grace which had been revealed to Him to make known to the world. And Paul gave testimony to God’s grace, because he experienced it firsthand. He, the chief of sinners, had been saved by the grace of God. And it was by the grace of God that God put him in the ministry and called him as an apostle.

And the Word of God’s grace that Paul made known is what angered the Jews who rejected that Word in lieu of the Word of His Law.

As Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the Word of His grace, God “granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” These miracles, these acts of divine power through Paul and Barnabas affirmed that they spoke for God as His spokesmen.

And God confirmed the truth of Paul’s message of grace for sinners by these signs and wonders and showed that it was truly from God.

These miracles were done during the transition period of Acts, before the Word of God was completed, “to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God” (Rom. 15:18-19).

Thus, in order that the Gentiles might be “obedient” and believe, “by word,” Paul made known the Word of God’s grace.

And in order that the Gentiles might be “obedient” and believe in Christ, “by deed,” Spirit-empowered signs and wonders were done by his hands.

There was no solid authority to which Paul could point and, like we can today, say, “See, we’re preaching truth. You can check it in the Word of God!”

There was no completed Word of God and Paul was still receiving truth and revelation for the Body of Christ from the Lord within the revelation of the mystery.

So God enabled Paul to perform wonders and signs to validate his ministry and message. They were like an “exclamation point” authenticating the gospel of grace Paul had proclaimed to them. But these wonders and signs faded as God’s revelation was completed.

The result of Paul and Barnabas’s ministry was, as verse 4 states, that “the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.”

The proclamation of the truth of Christ and God’s grace resulted in division between believers and unbelievers, between those Gentiles who stood with the unbelieving Jews and those Gentiles who stood with the apostles, meaning, not the twelve apostles, but Barnabas and Paul.

Later in this chapter, Barnabas and Paul are called apostles as well. Verse 14 reads, “Which when the APOSTLES, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes.”

Paul’s message of the Word of His grace and the signs and wonders did not impact everyone the same way, it produced a division of receivers and rejecters.

It’s been said: “One of the marks of true evangelism is always that those who are being affected by it are divided. They are either for, or against. No neutrality is possible when the gospel is preached…You either accept it, or you reject it. There is no middle ground.”

Verse 4 demonstrates this fact that there is no middle ground with the gospel, as part held with the [unbelieving] Jews, and part with the [believing] apostles.”

There is no neutrality regarding the Gospel. If one claims to be neutral or they delay their decision, it means they are rejecting Christ.

This division between believers and unbelievers reminds me of 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, where Paul wrote, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

“For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?”

According to this verse, when the knowledge of Christ and the gospel is made known we ALWAYS triumph in Christ. We never fail. God is most pleased with faithfulness in making His Son known to this world.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14, Paul gave testimony to the fact that Christ “maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place.” That’s a great testimony to have. Paul was faithful to make Christ known everywhere he went. And we see that verse lived out by Paul in Acts 14 as he made the knowledge of Christ known in Iconium.

And as a result of preaching Christ in Iconium, “to the one” Paul was a savor or fragrance of death unto death, and “to the other,” he was a fragrance of life unto life.

The knowledge of the gospel of Christ always has a twofold effect. To those who trust it, it is a pledge and fragrance of life unto life and a glorious future, but to those who reject it is an omen of doom and a message of death unto eternal death and condemnation.

One continues on the path to destruction and death, and hopefully they trust Christ before it’s too late. But to those who believe, their salvation immediately changes their eternity and it will lead each one on to glory and life eternal.

We see this clear division between life and death, faith and unbelief in Christ in Iconium.

Acts 14:5-7: “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.”

The smoldering opposition to Paul eventually exploded. A vigilante mob of unbelievers now formed intent on unjust treatment, even murder.

Ephesians 2:2 says of the prince of the power of the air, who is the devil, that his spirit works in the children of disobedience. And the devil was a murderer from the beginning.

Thus, the goals of the unbelievers who rose up against Paul and Barnabas were influenced behind the scenes by their father the devil. He was the catalyst behind it all.

The words “an assault” means “a rush, a forward motion.” It signifies a violent motion or an impetuous impulse. What this means is that there was a strong movement.

An unruly movement of unbelievers formed and they were bent on moving forward to assault and do harm to Paul and Barnabas.

We see a progression with the reaction to the preaching of the gospel in Iconium. It began with division between those who believed and rejected the gospel, then opposition set in through evil speaking and poisoning people’s minds against believers, and then finally outright hostility set in.

Due to the strong, hostile movement against Paul and Barnabas, the mob that formed was made up of Gentiles, Jews, and Jewish rulers.

Their desire was “to use them despitefully” or to treat them shamefully.

And this same phrase is used by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:2 and is translated as “shamefully entreated”: “But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi” (cf. Luke 18:32).

Their shameful treatment in Philippi was to have their clothes torn from them and be publicly beaten and given many stripes in the marketplace.

We can be sure that the desire of these enemies of the gospel in Iconium was to abuse and shamefully mistreat Paul and Barnabas in much the same manner. Their purpose was through violence to publicly and openly humiliate them in Iconium.

And not only that, they further intended to then kill them by stoning them. The mob’s desire to stone them shows that the unbelieving Jews were the instigators and were leading this mob, because stoning was the Jewish form of execution.

But this was not a formal, legal attempt at execution, it was to be an act of mob violence.

It’s not stated how, but Paul and Barnabas became aware of this strong, violent movement that had formed against them.

Paul later wrote Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:11: “Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, AT INCONIUM, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.”

The word “persecutions” comes from a word that means “to put to flight” and here we see Paul being put to flight and the Lord delivering Paul out of this persecution.

It was obvious that it was time to move to a new territory where the gospel was needed.

In fleeing this danger, they lived to preach another day. As one commentator put it, “Paul and Barnabas were brave but not foolish. They were born-again, not born yesterday.”

Threatened with public disgrace and stoning, in an act of prudence, not cowardice, Paul and Barnabas left Iconium for Lystra, 20 miles away, and Derbe, 40 miles from Lystra.

The men of God were forced to flee for their lives as a result of the persecution that came from preaching the gospel. But then the very next thing they do after they are forced out of Iconium and they come to Lystra and Derbe is that “they preached the gospel.”

Their courage is inspiring. And this was courage based in love. As Paul wrote the Corinthians, “For the love of Christ constraineth us.” The love of Christ drove Paul forward in ministry and drove him to share the love of Christ and His love for sinners. Christ died for every person. Every person is valued and loved by God.

This drove Paul from place to place to share the good news that Christ died for our sins and rose again, and by faith alone in Him we are reconciled to God and have eternal life.

Have you believed the gospel?