(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Here at the beginning it says, it came to pass in Iconium that they went both together into the synagogue, that's of course referring to Paul and Barnabas, which we saw at the end of chapter 13, it says 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. So they basically walked into the synagogue, which is the place where the people who are not saved, they're not Christians, they're basically Jewish, I guess you could say, they're worshipping who they think is the God of the Old Testament, but basically they were believing in a false religion, most of them, they had been basically corrupted and influenced by the Pharisees and the Sadducees who had taught them all kinds of false doctrine, they were totally not saved, not trusting in the Lord, but they claimed to believe the Old Testament, so they figure okay we're going to go in and preach to the Jews here and see if we can get someone to save, so they go in and preach, and it says that they spake, they so spake, that a great multitude, both of the Jews and also the Greeks believed. There were a lot of Greeks there listening too, and a whole bunch of them got saved. Why did they get saved? Because of what was said, because of what was preached. It says they so spake that multitudes believed, and look at verse 3 and it explains how it was that they spoke. It says, long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, do you see that? Which gave testimony unto the word of his grace and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hand. You see, bold preaching is what gets people saved. It says they so spake that a multitude believed, and it makes a point to tell us they preached boldly, and today we have too much weak, watered down, limp-wristed type preaching, and that's why people can go to church for years and not be saved, not hear the gospel, clearly, boldly preach. We need to go out and preach it boldly, and when we're out door-to-door, we need to make it clear, and not beat around the bush with people, and not be afraid to tell somebody you're not saved, not be afraid to tell somebody hell's the real place, not be afraid to tell them that if they don't believe on Jesus Christ, hell awaits. You know, that's the kind of bold preaching that we need, not a watered-down, softened-up message. That's not what's going to get people saved. That's not what's going to get the job done. According to the Bible here, it's bold preaching is what we need, and so they preached boldly. A whole bunch of people got saved, but look what happened in verse 2. The unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil-affected against the brother. It's the same pattern pretty much every chapter. The Jews who don't believe on Christ are always the enemies of the apostles. They're always the ones who are trying to get them arrested or killed. It's always the unbelieving Jews. Now, according to the Bible, the Jews that are not saved are the enemies of the gospel. Go to Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter number 11. Now, a lot of people will accuse you of being a racist for saying this, and really, nothing can be further from the truth because, you know, Judaism is not a race. It's a religion, okay? And it's a religion that's of the devil, according to the Bible, because the Bible says, who is a liar but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ, he is Antichrist who denied the Father and the Son. And so, we're not against a race of people here. We're against a religion, okay? And the people that follow this false Judaism of the Book of Acts here, rejecting Jesus Christ, but following the religion of the Pharisees and the religion of the Sadducees, which is basically just today's Judaism. It's the same thing. Christ rejecting, Bible rejecting, so-called Judaism, okay? They were always the enemy in the Book of Acts as far as they were always subverting people, trying to get the Christians arrested. They were the ones doing the persecuting of believers. It's funny because most people think of the Romans persecuting believers. But yet, I don't see that in the Bible anywhere. I'm not saying it didn't happen. You know, maybe it happened after, okay, like after the Bible was written. You know, we see history books telling us that, you know, in the second and third century, there's all kinds of persecution of believers. But I'll tell you right now, you're not going to fight it in the Bible. I mean, the Romans tried to deliver Jesus, and the Jews yelled, crucify him. He has blood beyond us and on our children. I mean, you see the Romans freeing Paul from angry mobs, constantly, in the Book of Acts, as the Jews tried to tear him literally in half and literally rip him apart, okay? And again, nothing to do with race here, nothing to do with someone's ethnicity. And in fact, that's actually played out in Romans 11. It says in Romans chapter 11, it's a great chapter, I'd love to read the whole chapter. Let's start in verse 26. This is an obvious verse here and misunderstood. It says in verse 26, And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away on God in this. Jacob, a lot of people will say, see, every Jew is going to get saved someday. No, that's false. God does not decide who gets saved, by the way. The Bible says God's not willing to any share of errors, but that all should come to repentance. And so this Calvinist garbage that says, well, one day all the Jews will just magically get saved during the tribulation. Folks, they rejected Jesus Christ the first time and they're going to reject him the second time because they do not believe and they will accept the antichrist as their savior according to the Bible. But the thing is, you know, people will abuse this verse and say, well, all the Jews are going to be saved someday, basically taking the personal choice out of salvation. Taking out the, and they say, well, it's because they'll see Jesus. Hey, they saw him the first time. They saw him 2000 years ago. Get the context, keep your finger in Romans 11, go back to Romans 9. I'll show you why it says, and so all Israel shall be saved, because if you come back to chapter 9, it says in verse 6, not as though the word of God had taken that effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. So the Bible tells us here that when he's referring to Israel, he's not referring to just a physical child of Abraham there. He says, nope, they're not all Israel, just because they sprang from Abraham, just because they're the children of Isaac and Jacob and the patriarchs. He said, nope, and he goes on to explain, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but an Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, meaning the physical seed of Abraham, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. The reason he said all Israel shall be saved is because the Bible teaches us that we as believers are spiritual Israel in the New Testament, because he clearly stated in Romans chapter 2, which, you know, no shock here, when you're reading Romans 11, you should have already read chapter 2, because it goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Okay, so if you get in chapter 2, it says he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, Romans 2, 28, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Philippians chapter 3 says to Gentiles, we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Those who are trusting Christ Jesus are the true circumcision, are the true Israel, according to the New Testament. Not just the physical seed of Abraham, John the Baptist told them not to be deceived and think just because Abraham was their father that they were going to heaven. Galatians 6, you don't have to turn there, but this is Paul preaching again to Gentiles, and he says in verse 16, as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy and upon the Israel of God. And so the Bible's clear here that he's talking about the spiritual Israel, and nope, not all Jews are part of that, only if they believe in Christ. That's what the whole Romans 11 is about, when it explains how, you know, the natural branches are broken off from the olive tree of Israel, only when they believe on Christ are they are they grafted. But now that we got through that confusion, let's keep going in the chapter here. It says, so all Israel shall be saved. See how somebody can just take that one statement out of context and teach a bunch of confusion and nonsense, when if you read the whole chapter in really 9 through 11, it's really clear here what he's saying. But let's keep reading. It says, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, talking about Jesus Christ, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. Did you get that? As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. But as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief, even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy, they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. And so what he's saying here is that he says they're enemies of the gospel. He said up in verse number 28, but he said as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. What is the meaning of the word beloved? Well, just cut off the B-E, and it's just loved. Beloved just means you're loved. So does God still love the unbelieving Jew? He still loves him, okay. We're not saying that we don't love them, but they are the enemies of the gospel. Those who are preaching Judaism are the enemies of the gospel. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, it's not that God doesn't love them. It's not that we don't love them. It's just that they're the enemies of the gospel. But he said, you know, they're in unbelief now. They can still believe and get saved. We saw in chapter 14 that a whole bunch of them turned to Christ and did get saved. So it's nothing against the people, but they need to believe on Jesus Christ to be saved. And if they continue in unbelief, the Bible's clear in Romans and elsewhere, if they abide in unbelief, they will be on their way to hell, of course, just like any other unbeliever. God's not this God up in heaven that just gives one race some kind of preference above another and says like, oh, just because you're physically a Jew, you somehow get a pass or I love you more or I'm gonna do more for you. Yeah, that's just not true. This is a lie, okay. God has made all nations of the earth the one blood and today in Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek. There is no difference, the Bible says. And if people wanna talk about special treatment for the Jews, why does the Bible say there's no difference? Why did he say, well, there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek? I don't know, what could be more clear than that? If there's no difference, then it doesn't matter. And why, if it's so important whether somebody is physically a Jew or not, then why did he say avoid genealogies? Because if it meant something to somebody, because I've had people try to tell me, like Messianic Jews try to tell me, well, we're the children of Abraham, we're the children of Israel, we still have to follow a lot of this Old Testament laws that you Gentiles don't have to follow. Wait a minute, probably there are tons of people today who don't even know whether they're Jewish or not. There are a lot of people who think they're Jewish that are not. There are other people who probably have no clue that they're Jewish and yet they have a Jewish ancestor. They have a lot of Jewish blood in them. God said avoid genealogies because they're vain, because they're meaningless. So if we don't need genealogies, that means it doesn't matter what race we are or who we descend from, because if it mattered who we descended from, we would need genealogies to check that out, wouldn't we? And look, is the Old Testament filled with genealogies? Absolutely, okay. But is the New Testament about checking a genealogy? No, so let's get in the New Testament here and understand where we're at, because God took the kingdom of God away from the Jews and gave it to a nation, bringing forth the fruit thereof. That's a fact. And so it's not hard to defeat this false doctrine here of this Jew worship or somehow thinking that they get a free pass. The Bible teaches actually that they were the enemies of the gospel and I believe still are today. We still love them. We still want them saved. But, you know, that's a false religion. That's a wicked religion. And don't ever call me Judeo-Christian. This isn't Judeo-Christian. It's how about just Christian? Amen. Okay. And so let's just keep it with that, because I don't believe that I worship the same God that Judaism worships, because the God that I worship, his name is Jesus Christ, okay? And so that's who I worship, the Lord Jesus Christ, the name that's above every other name. But back to Acts 14 where we were, we saw the unbelieving Jews came and started this anger and hatred toward the believers. Look at verse 4 of Acts 14. But the multitude of the city was divided and part held with the Jews and part with the apostles, okay? It says in verse 5, And when there was an assault made, both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitely and to stone them, they were aware 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. So basically, the Jews stirred up a bunch of the Greeks too. So now you have an angry mob of the Jews and the Greeks assaulting the Christians, assaulting the believers, and trying to stone them with stones They get a warning just in time. They get out of there, okay, and flee to these other cities. Now you say, well, did they just lack boldness? You know, there's nothing wrong with, you know, you've heard the saying, he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. There's nothing wrong with making a retreat. The problem is, most people just never do any fighting in the first place. You know, that's the real problem. I mean, anybody knows that there's a place like, for example, in warfare, for example, in the military, and I've studied a lot of history. I really like history. I've studied a lot of war history, of time past, you know, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, just read a lot about the battles. You know, there's a time for retreat, okay? It doesn't make you a coward if there's a retreat that's needed, okay? And like I said, he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day, not just he who just runs away all the time, okay? And see, the apostles here, they stood up and boldly preached. They had the boldness to preach what needed to be preached. But when there's an angry mob coming, of hundreds and hundreds of people that are going to stone them to death, it's probably time to shake the dust off and move to the next town. You know, they're just using their break. And I mean, even Jesus. You'll see Jesus retreating throughout the gospels. In Matthew chapter, I was just reading Matthew chapter 12, that the Pharisees were going to kill him. He said, my time has not yet come in the book of John. In Matthew 12, he withdrew himself into a desert place and retreated, okay? Not fleeing in fear, but just a retreat. It makes sense. The Bible says, when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another. Matthew chapter 10. Nothing wrong with that. But they preached boldly. And you know, sometimes you have to flee. Sometimes, you know, if you're out in the woods and a bear is attacking you or something, you know, you might just need to flee. You know, it doesn't necessarily make you a coward. It just depends on the situation. There's a time to fight, and there's a time to flee, okay? But what we need is boldness, okay? Not a person who's just afraid of anything. They're afraid of their own shadow. And the Bible says, the wicked flee when no man pursue it. But the righteous are as bold as a lion. And so I just wanted to make that distinction and help you understand that. So eventually, it gets too ugly. They have to flee, you know? So that's what they do. They flee into another city. Verse 8 says, and there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple. Impotent basically just means lacking power. There's no power there. So he basically has no strength in his feet. Being a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. I mean, this guy has never walked. His feet have no power. They're just limp. So he can't even stand up on his feet because there's no muscle there. The same heard Paul speak, who steadfastly beholding him, and receiving the faith to be healed, this is Paul speaking, said with a loud voice, stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. There's a guy who's never walked. And you know, even when people have problems with their muscles and their feet, if that problem is corrected, they still have to learn how to walk. You know, you've seen people have physical therapy where they have to learn how to walk. And a lot of people try to explain away the miracles of the Bible. Like Jesus just had some tricks or something, and Paul had, you know, they'll say that when he spat on the ground and took the mud and put it on the ice, you know, there was something in the soil that actually could heal eyesight. You know, they'll try to make everything a physical explanation. You know, there was a cold spot in the fiery furnace. You know, when the Red Sea parted, it was really just only three feet deep and all this kind of garbage. You know, that's why I think God gives us these kind of details and says, like, hey, he never walked. Because even if there was some miracle cure to give this guy some pill or something, he's not just going to be leaping and walking around, okay, if he's never walked. So this is just showing the power of God here that this is a total miracle. And God gives it... Have you ever noticed how God gives those kind of details? Like one of the details I noticed when he turns the water into wine. It makes it clear how big the pots were and that they were filled to the brim. Just so somebody wouldn't say he just did a little coupe packet or something. You know, did a little additive. He says, look, it's a huge thing of water and it was filled to the brim. So there's no way he could have just added some kind of a, you know, wine concentrate or something into it. And so the Bible always is exalting these miracles, showing us that it's the supernatural. You know, it's not just something you can explain away. So basically, this guy's leaping and walking. Watch this in verse 11. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, basically speaking the local dialect, they were basically in Greece here. The gods are come down to us in the Lyca cement. So they basically look at Paul and Barnabas and say these guys are gods, right? These guys are gods. And they call them Jupiter and Mercury, you know, because that's some of their false gods that they worshiped in Greece. And it says, you know, in verse 13, then the priest of Jupiter, which was brought for their sake. So he's like, oh, okay, you know, I'm the priest of Jupiter. If this guy's Jupiter, you know, I guess I'll take over the service here, you know. So this guy steps in, and he's got all kinds of garlands, and he's gonna do an animal sacrifice here. And it says in verse 14, which when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of, they rent their clothes. Rent means tour. And ran in among the people, crying out and saying, sirs, why do ye these things? Why, we also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are there. One time, I would just love to see the pope, like when people are bowing down and worshiping the pope like they do, I wanna see him just run in among the people. You know, like that's what it says, they ran in among, I wanna see him rip his clothes, okay. I wanna see the pope just tear up in his clothes and run in and say like, what are you doing bowing down to me? Get up off your feet. Why are you worshiping me? I'm just a man like you. But that's not what he's gonna say. He's gonna stand there and do it. You know, he'll put out his big toe for people to kiss it and everything, and kiss his ring and all this stuff. He's not anything to do with the biblical Christianity year of the apostles. Paul and Barnabas, Peter, they didn't let people worship them, and yet the pope allows all kinds of people to bow down to him, and he eats it up, he loves it. I wanna see him rend his clothes like whole cobra, and run in among the people, and start shouting, and stop them from worshiping him, or else I say that he's an antichrist and a fraud, which is what he is. And so that's what happened here. They ran in and stopped him. He says you need to turn from these vanities, Jupiter, Mercury, those aren't real gods. He says you need to turn to the living god, the true god, who in time past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. And he says, who in time past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. You know, all throughout the Old Testament, there were all kinds of preachers. Jeremiah preached in every nation under heaven. There were all kinds of preachers who went around the world. And by the way, the world population was a lot lower back then. There weren't seven billion people in this world. A lot lower population, and the prophets of the Old Testament preached all over the world. And Daniel and Esther decrees went out to the entire world, preaching God's word and speaking of his power and might and so forth. And so people definitely knew about the God of the Bible throughout history. They always heard about it. They always had it available to them. In the days of Esther and Mordecai, many of the people around the world, actually, in the 127 provinces of Asherah's kingdom, they became Jews, the Bible says, for the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. And so a lot of people joined up with the nation of Israel when they were worshiping the true God and actually believed on the Lord and called upon his name, which, you know, he was revealed unto them by the name of Jehovah, God Almighty, and they called upon that name and were saved in the Old Testament. And so we see that also, the Bible's explaining here, that they're also without excuse because the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made even as eternal power to God is so that they're without excuse. And so he said he gave them all the natural things. He gave them food, rain, sunshine. You know, he showed them his majesty through the heavens, and the Bible says the heavens declared the glory of God and so forth. And so they basically stopped these people. They almost did a sacrifice unto Paul. They just barely stopped them from doing that. Now, this is amazing to me. Stop and think about this. What just happened? A whole crowd of the town is literally bowing down and worshipping Paul and Barnabas saying, these are gods, because they saw them do that miracle. These are the gods, and they're almost doing a sacrifice unto them. Watch what happens right after verse 19. And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew them out of the city supposing he could die. So right after, they're saying, oh, it's God. The next thing, these Jews come from this other city, tell a bunch of lies about the apostles and get people angry at them. They take Paul out and stone him to death. You know, this is where they basically throw rocks at you until you're dead. That's what it means to be stoned. Now, do you find it a little bit odd that from one verse to the next these people are worshipping him, and then the next verse, they basically kill him. I mean, he was barely alive. They thought he was dead. I mean, they stoned him and said, okay, he's dead. They left, and then he was still barely alive. Do you find that a little bit odd, that change? But you know what? That's how the people of this world are. Because if you look at it, remember when Jesus was on trial? Just a few days before, he entered Jerusalem on Paul's Sunday, and they were saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord and laid down palm branches, and then a few days later, what are they shouting? Crucify him. But you see, that's how easy it is to sway the masses. And that's the problem that we have today in our country, is that everybody thinks, oh, democracy is the answer, but hold on a second. When you put all the power in the hands of just the people, the problem is that whoever can basically get the ear of those people and persuade them whatever is going to control those people. Because most people are just sheep and followers. And the problem here is you've got all these people, and one second the priest of Jupiter is telling them, oh yeah, we need to worship these guys. They're all on their faces worshiping him. But then the next thing you know, somebody else is talking into their ear, telling them, you need to be killed. Okay. Then they pick up stones and kill them. Or at least try to kill them. Do you see what I'm saying? And so what happens today, we have the TV. And whoever gets on TV and tells people, oh yeah, this is what's going on, then a lot of people are just going to go with it. And how many times have you seen people flip flop on their opinions? Haven't you? I mean, we as believers in Christ, we ought to be found on the rock right here. We ought to just never change. I mean, the only time we should change is if we were just mixed up on something and then the Bible straightens us out on it just because we didn't read like we should have. But you know what? We ought to be founded firmly. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. He doesn't change. And so if we're founded upon a rock, David said, I've set the Lord always before me because he has set my right hand. I should not be moved. He said, look, God isn't going to move and I'm at his right hand. I'm not going to move. And so we shouldn't just be going tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and carried about with all the deceit and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive us. We ought to be founded upon the rock, but the world out there that's not a Bible-believing Christian, they're not founded on anything. And so they are just basically easily swayed. I'm not talking about every single unbeliever, but I'm talking about the majority. The masses are easily swayed and you see people flip-flop. And let's just get into politics for a minute. I'll get into whatever I want in this church because you know what? I'm a Bible-believing preacher and the Bible talks about every subject and I'm going to preach what needs to be preached on every subject. You look at whoever... Let me just get into politics for a second. You look at whoever's in power, because it just goes back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans, right? Whoever's in power, everything that they do, their party will say is right. And everything that they do, the opposition will say it's wrong. Even though they were doing the same thing when they were in power. You know what I mean? It's like when the Republicans are in power, basically everything Bush does, they're going to defend it. Whether it's warfare, whether it's total socialism and prescription drug program, whether it's war in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, the Republicans are going to support it and the Democrats are going to be against it. Then as soon as the Democrats get in power, they do all the same things. They fight all the same wars, all the same socialism. They build up more troops in Afghanistan. And then what happens? The Republicans basically will criticize anything Obama does, but the Democrats are fine all of a sudden with torturing people. All the things that the Democrats were supposedly against, when the Republicans were in power, the Republicans are torturing people and they're like, how can you torture people? And the Republicans are like, yeah, torture them. And then as soon as the Democrats are in power, now the Republicans are like, man, you can't torture people. And the Democrats are like, we got to fight this war on terror and just torture people. You see what I'm saying? It's just the masses are just brainwashed by whoever's controlling them. It's these political parties and media people. Just tell them, oh, I know you guys were against the war when Bush was in charge, but now you liberals are supposed to be pro-war, so just shut up and go along with the war in Afghanistan because Obama's doing it. And I know that you liberals were against torture and Obama was against torture, but shut up and go with the Patriot Act. Shut up. Go with torture. Guantanamo Bay is fine because now Obama's doing it. And indefinite detention and all this stuff. It's a bunch of garbage. And we don't have any choice in this country. Both political parties are both controlled by the same person. Same. And it's just all about torturing people and warfare and murdering children and murdering babies and stealing all our money and spending us into oblivion so that all the money can go to the bankers who basically are getting all the interest on our debt. But people are so dumb that they just go with it and the same people who were anti-war under Bush are now okay with the war under Obama because that's what they're being told. And they just follow orders. See, a real person who thinks for themselves, they have their own opinion. And even if you don't agree with me, that's fine. But you should have your own opinion about the war in Afghanistan, not just, oh, well now I'm supposed to be foreign or why don't you have your own opinion about whether it's right for our government to torture people when the, not the Bible, but the Bill of Rights says that cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted. Now I don't know what people don't understand about that, that torture is wrong and that every government who's ever tortured anyone always ends up torturing their own people. Whether it's the Soviet Union, the Nazis, whatever, they're going to torture their own people eventually. And all of these things are wrong. And I think the Bible is against lying. And when we promise people, hey, we're not going to torture, we make all these treaties with other countries and promise and say, hey, I won't torture you, you don't torture me. That's what we had done in these conventions, these treaties. And then we break that and torture people. Either that's okay or it's not. If you think that's okay, fine. But have a reason why you think it's okay, just because, well, Obama authorized it, so I'm okay with it. I'm okay with the Patriot Act because it's Obama. But when it was Bush, it's not okay. Well, guess what? It wasn't okay when it was either one of them. It's all garbage. And so the bottom line is the masses are easily swayed. Whatever that stupid television tells them, whatever their little radio host and talk show tells them, they're just going to believe it. If they tell you that Paul and Barnabas is God, well, 90% of people are going to fall on their knees and worship Paul and Barnabas and say, okay, he's God. And then the same day or the next day, oh, these guys are bad, they need to be killed. Okay, let's kill them. And it's just the same human nature of today. And that's the problem with democracy, my friend, because you just put the power in the hands of whoever's talking into the masses here. So really the people who run our country is people who run the TV and the radio. That's who runs the country because they control the minds. But we need to let this book control our minds. And if you don't understand anything I'm talking about, then read the Bible and you'll figure out the right opinions on these things from God's Word. And don't just be a mindless, just follow the crowd. Whatever they're doing, let's just go with it. And if our party's in power, they can do no wrong. And if the opposition's in power, it's funny, Obama does all the same stuff as Bush did, and the Republicans will criticize him for doing it. It's like, that's what your guy did too. It's the same thing. But they don't see it because they're brainwashed, because they're just sheep. And that's exactly what we see happening here and other places in the Bible, just a crowd just being manipulated by one person and then by someone else, doing two opposite things back to back. Isn't that interesting? So it says in verse number 20, how be it as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up. So basically Paul is stoned, and they think he's dead. So all the disciples get around him, and they're like, oh man, Paul's dead, and they're sad, and he just wakes up and gets up. So this guy just would have died. And I don't know whether God did a miracle here or if they just should have thrown a couple more rocks if they really wanted to finish them off. But there have been some people who've survived some crazy stuff. There have been people literally who've fallen out of airplanes and survived. I mean, it's true. And then other people, the smallest little thing will kill them. So I don't know whether this was a miracle here or whether he was just a really tough guy and he just handled it and just stayed alive. Because there have been people who've been through a lot and survived, so who knows? And other people have gone through, they died from the sniffles or something. But it says in verse 21, it says, the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby. So he left the next day. I wouldn't call him a coward for that. But he did leave town the next day. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra. Now that was kind of a weird thing to do. But they came back to where he had been stoned. And to Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. And that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God now. Here's one of those verses that you're never going to hear in most churches, 99%. And that's why I love the fact that on Wednesday night we just preach through the Bible verse by verse. We're not avoiding anything. We're not hiding from anything. You know, let's just preach it all. And this verse, I've never heard this preached. Because people want to trick you about what the word tribulation means. So really 90% of the verses that use the word tribulation, you'll never hear preached or read. Because they want you to believe, oh the tribulation is when God pours out his wrath on this earth in the seven years and the trumpets and the vials. That's false. Because 90% of the time, tribulation is talking about believers. Who did he say must go through much tribulation before they enter into the kingdom of God? Who is he talking to? He said, we do, the believers. Jesus Christ said in John 16, 33, these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. He said, look, in the world you will have tribulation. John 16, 33. He said in Matthew chapter 13 about people who believe in Christ but they're not rooted down. They have no root. He said, which doerth for a while yet having no root in himself. He said, when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he's offended. So the Bible says in Matthew 13, which is the first time the word tribulation is ever used in the New Testament, he said, believers receive persecution and tribulation because of the word. John 16, 33 said, you're going to go through tribulation in this world. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, Paul said, for verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, he said, as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounded by Christ. I've lost my train of thought here. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, he said, oh yeah, verse 3, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted in God. So he said, we're comforted by God in our tribulation, 2 Corinthians 1, 3. He said, all throughout the Bible, all these different places, Romans chapter 8, not, I'm sorry, Romans chapter, I'm getting the numbers wrong, but I'm quoting the verses right. Romans chapter 6, verse 3, he said, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. Romans 8 says that we're going to go through tribulations. And he said in Revelation chapter 7, these are they which came out of great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. John himself, in Revelation chapter 1, said, I, John, who also am your brother and companion in... Tribulation. Thank you. Revelation 1, right there, he said, I'm your companion in tribulation. Revelation 7, these people came out of tribulation. We will go through tribulation if we're believers in Christ. Yea, in all that live godly in Christ, Jesus shall suffer persecution. But yet, people don't want you to see that tonight. They've got this other theological thing and they've got a chart that shows the seven year period known as the tribulation. Show me one place in the Bible that says the seven year tribulation. My Bible says after the tribulation, the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky. Now, Christ will come in the clouds. Hey, that happens at the opening of the sixth seal. That's not seven years into it. That's not even close. There's way more stuff that happens after that still within the framework of a seven year period. And so, don't let any man deceive you, my friend, as it says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Tribulation is something that we as believers will go through. He didn't say maybe. Look down at your Bible in Acts 14 where we are. He said, confirming the souls. Confirm. Firm means what? What does it mean to be firm? Strong, steadfast, unmovable. He said, I want to strengthen you guys. I want to confirm you and exhort you to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation, we must through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. He said, listen, you need to toughen up and strengthen up because you are going to go through tribulation so you better be tough about it and confirm and handle it. I'm warning you about it. And Jesus said, I've spoken these things to you that you might not be offended. He said, they're going to scourge you. They're going to beat you in the sin of God. You're going to be hated of all men for my name's sake. And he said, I'm warning you about that. And you know what? We need some men in this country that would toughen up a little bit and understand that being a believer in Jesus Christ might mean that you might endure some criticism. You might endure some tribulation. You might endure some persecution. Hey, man up and take it and don't be a baby. I don't know if I can keep doing it, you know. People at work, you know. Grow up and be a man. I'm afraid to take my Bible to work. Put the Bible in the lunch box and pull it out and read it on the lunch break like a man. Be afraid. What do you also have the same brand of shoes as everybody that you work with do? So you can be cool? I mean, are you a little kid? Are you a junior higher? Be ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes it, to the Jew first and also the Greek. I'm not going to sit there and be ashamed of it and try to fit in with the world. Hey, if I'm going to be persecuted, then bring it on! Because we need to stand up for what's right, whether there's persecution or not. You know, I remember when I was a kid in school. There were times when you'd get made fun of. For being a believer. For being a Christian. I was made fun of in public school. I had kids circle around me and mock me and throw things at me and call me Christian brother. You know, and mock me one time. You know, so what? I stood up for Christ. I didn't say, oh, well, you know, I'm not really a... I stood up and said, you're going to hell! You know what I mean? That's the truth. I'm not going to sit there and hide what I believe because I got made fun of somewhere. And you know what? Very few people make fun of me, by the way. Because you know what? There's nothing funny about the gospel. And there's nothing funny about heaven and hell. And if you really live a serious Christian life, most people will take you seriously. They're not really going to make fun of you. Now, people will make fun of you if you're a phony and you're half in and half out. They might make fun of you more. But if you get serious about it and stand firm and tall, you know, you're not going to get made fun of. They might stone you with stones. They might try to throw you in jail or beat you or kill you like they did to Paul. Well, that's funny at least, right? Maybe I'll stick with being made fun of. But anyway, let me get back to the chapter and finish this up. In Acts 14, we need some firmness. He said we're going to confirm the souls. Hey, get firm. Firm up, guys. Be strengthened. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. Stand firm. What's the opposite of being firm? Soft. Soft Christians, right? Like a jello kind of a Christian instead of firmness, strength. You know, let's say men, your muscles, you know, you want your muscles to be firm, right? That means they're strong. And muscles that are not strong are weak. You know, sometimes you have little kids or a little girl. You know, I said to Miriam, wow, you have a big muscle. You know, flex your muscles, Miriam. And she flexed her muscle, you know, there's not firmness there. Okay. Now, if a man flexes his bicep, there's some firmness there, right? And the firmer it is, the stronger it is. And God is telling us that confirmation is a strengthening. It's making them strong. And part of how He made them strong was by telling them, hey, you're going to go through some persecution. You're going to go through some, be ready for it. You know, stand strong in the Lord and the car was might. So He says in verse number, I lost my page here, one second here, Acts chapter 14. Is that the chapter word in that? No, I'm just kidding. Anyway, Acts 14, it says, verse 23, when they had ordained them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. Now, this is interesting. Basically, they ordained elders, you know, a bishop, pastor, an elder, those three terms were used interchangeably throughout the Bible. Very easy to prove that. I've done it many times. Elder, bishop, pastor, all synonymous. And they ordained these guys in each church and then they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. They basically just said, okay, guys, you're on your own, you know. It's you and God. You know, and I don't believe that they had this denominational structure, like they try to pass off today, you know. And here's the thing. When we send out somebody to start a church, we should, once they're ordained as that elder, you know, just, you know, commend them to the Lord on whom they believed. Just cut them loose. Cut that umbilical cord. Now, we'll see a lot of things in the Bible that are a little different because back then there were apostles. We don't have apostles today. Paul was clearly the last apostle in 1 Corinthians 15. And just because Paul or Peter seemed to exert a certain authority over people everywhere they went, hey, it's not because they were the president of the denomination. It's because they were apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They had a different calling. They had a different ministry. But the Bible is very clear that churches should be independent. They should be having Christ as their head, not some organization in some distant city controlling them. And you don't even see Peter and Paul controlling people. You know, and there's nothing wrong if I were to send somebody out of this church and they went out and started a church and we prayed for them and laid hands on them and we sent out somebody, right? And then, you know, we went there and gave them advice or preached to them or helped. But you know what? There shouldn't be a control. There shouldn't be like, well, they take orders from us, okay? Churches should be independent. And the reason why is because every pastor should be a man of God who basically has his own walk with God and his own Bible reading, his own spiritual leading, and that's what he's got to follow. God. Directly. Directly. Not following someone else, okay? Because there's going to come a time, if you're following man, there will be times when man wants you to do something different than what God wants you to do. And you got to follow God. And today we have denominations all over America condoning homosexuality. And then you'll talk to the pastors in those denominations, oh, I don't condone a bit. Yeah, but wait a minute. You're part of this organization. You're putting your money into this thing. You're tied in with this. You're associated with this. And it really gives you a bad name. You know, because when I run into somebody who says they're a United Methodist pastor, you know, I'm thinking of all the homos that they're ordaining and all the perverted things that they do, and oh, I'm not a part of it. Well, yes you are because you're a United Methodist, you know? And that goes with Southern Baptists. That goes with whatever. Whatever the denomination, you're yoked up with a bunch of liberals if you're in the Southern Baptist Convention. You're yoked up with the wrong Bible version. You're yoked up with all the wrong things. And if you're in the Lutheran church, you're yoked up with a church with the evangelical Lutherans who basically condones of homosexuality, the evangelical Lutheran church, you know, and ordaining homos and whatever. You're yoked up with all this stuff. That's why it's important to be independent, you know, free from all this baggage and just totally independent, just answer to God. And that's a whole sermon in and of itself. But it says in verse number 24, and after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia, and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Atalia and then sailed to Antioch from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they would come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how He had opened the door of faith under the Gentiles and there they abode long time with the disciples. Again, we see that they did everything through the local church. Churches are important. And they ordained different elders in these different churches and they have all these churches. And you notice that when they went back through to cities they'd already been to and confirmed the souls, they confirmed the souls at church. That was clear back in Acts 11. You know, they're in church and really the best place to confirm people and to get people strengthened in their faith is in church. You know, it's really hard to really get somebody to grow a lot in the Lord when they're not in church. And I can go to their house and show them stuff in the Bible and have a Bible study. But you know what? Being here in this church, hearing and preaching for three hours a week, you're going to learn so much more. And I'm sorry, I can't spend three hours a week in everybody's house. I mean, I can't spend three hours. There's not even that many hours in the week for me to spend three hours at everybody's house. Even just everybody goes to our church. I'm just going to spend three hours in the week. There's not enough time in the week. It wouldn't even be humanly possible to eat and breathe and sleep and to do it. It's not even possible. That's why we have church, the assembly, you know. And if people want to get confirmed, they need to get in church. And people who criticize us for not discipling, hey, we do a lot of discipleship right here. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Get here. Get down here. Get discipled as far as that word of prayer. Father, we thank you for this great passage in the Bible, dear God, this great story about Paul and Barnabas that they had the boldness to preach. They kept being thrown out of one town after another, stoned to death, but yet they get up and keep going and preach the gospel. And God, thank you for the boldness of Paul and Barnabas and the confirmation that took place. Help us also to be bold and to be strong in your power, dear God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.