A Study of the Book of Acts
Sermon # 21
“Staying the Course”
Acts 14:1-28
You may not remember from our previous study but Paul and Barnabas had set out on what was to be their first missionary journey. On Cyrus they had preached the gospel, with no response except indifference. In Paphos they finally had a convert, but only after a fierce battle with a wizard. They had set sail for Asia Minor, but this proved to be to much for John Mark who returned home. In Pisidian Antioch they again preached with great effect (13:42-52), which also brought great persecution, so they finally shook the dust off their feet and headed for Iconium. Through all the ups and down, successes and reversals they had maintained a unswerving devotion and singleness of purpose in following Christ. Now in Chapter 14 we find Paul and Barnabas completing what they had begun, the first missionary journey. They traveled through three cities, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe before returning to their sending church in Antioch of Syria. The conditions and receptions were different in each city to which they came. And in each city Satan used a different strategy to try to stop the spread of the gospel.
ICONIUM (14:1-7)
“Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.”
In setting up their witness in the major city of the area, the two missionaries followed a pattern Paul would continue to follow – establishing his work in the major population centers. At Iconium the missionaries met with immediate success and immediate opposition. When they came to the synagogue they found an immediate response. When the gospel is genuinely preached we can expect to see changed lives. But as surely as the preaching of the gospel will generate results it will also arouse opposition.
(v. 2) “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.”
Dr. Luke says that certain of the Jews were “unbelieving.” Literally the word is “unpersuadable.” They not only disbelieved the gospel, they would not give it a chance or even consider its claims. In fact this same verb is translated as “disobedient” in Romans 10:1 and 1 Peter 2:7,8 & 3:20. Here they were not met with outright open opposition that they had faced in Antioch. Here it was a subtle, whispering, deceitful, poisonous propaganda that is spread against them and it had its effect.
(v. 3) “Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. “
When their enemies stirred up hatred against them, what did Paul and Barnabas do? We might have expected this verse to read, “Therefore, they spoke cautiously.” But instead we read that danger prompted boldness rather than timidity in these men. Undeterred by this resistance, or even because of it these men stayed around and for a long time and continued to speak out boldly. These men had spunk. Great men of God have always manifested this trait. “It was reported that John Wesley once encountered a village bully when their carriages met upon a narrow road. The bully knew Wesley and disliked him and would not give him any leeway, staying in the middle of the road. John Wesley cheerfully gave the man the entire road, even though he had to turn into the ditch. As they passed, the bully said, ‘I never turn out for fools,’ and Wesley all of five foot two – retorted, ‘I always do.” [As quoted by R. Kent Hughes. Acts: The Church Afire. Wheaton, ILL.: Crossway Books, 1996) p. 183.]
This verse rises a good point. If there is nothing about you as a Christian, which cannot be explained in terms of your personality, your background or education or something else, then you really have nothing more to offer to your neighbors and friends than any other person would.
(vv. 4-7) “But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. (5) And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, (6) they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. (7) and they were preaching the gospel there.”
As the apostles continued their ministry the populus became more and polarized into those who supported them and those who opposed them. Jesus said that the message he preached would divide men (Matt. 10:34). One of the marks of the preaching of the gospel is that those who are affected by it are divided. They are either for or against. It is not possible to be neutral when the gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit.
When the word of God comes into a dark area whether it is a human heart or a darkened community; it does what light always does. It causes things to grow; in the case of the gospel it produces a warming of the heart. It also dispels darkness and causes those who prefer the darkness to scatter. (John 3:19)
They wanted to stone the missionaries. Paul and Barnabas were brave but they were not foolish. They were born again but they were not born yesterday. The Lord wants to protect his children, but he wants us to use common sense. So the missionaries departed.
LYSTRA (14:8-20)
“And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. (9) This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, (10) said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.”
Paul’s was preaching – probably for several days in a row - sitting in the market place was a man who had never walked. To illustrate just how hopeless man was we are told in three different ways of his condition, “he was without strength in his feet, he was cripple from birth, and he had never walked.” This man was evidently well-known throughout the city , having lived there all of his life. He was sitting nearby as Paul taught, who heard the teaching of Paul. The verb “was hearing” is (imperfect indictive active), which means “he kept on listening intently” to Paul. Because he was listening so intently he came to believe what he had heard about the power of Jesus. Paul looked at him and on whose face must have manifested not only, a keen interest but the presence of faith, a faith sufficient to both save and heal him. Paul said to him, “Stand up right on your feet.” And the lame man though he had never walked in his life, made the effort to obey. I want you to note, that he had faith enough to try, and the moment he began to obey, the power to obey was given.
vv. 11-18
“Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” (12) And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. (13) Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.(14) But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out (15) and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, (16) who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. (17) Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (18) And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.”
When the people saw how lame man jumped to his feet and start to walk around, the crowd started shouting excitedly in their own language, “the gods have become as men and have come down to us.” Quick as a wink Satan began to pervert the situation so that these people would not hear the word. Instead, he twisted and distorted the people’s perception, and laid the groundwork for a further attack against the apostles. We are told that these pagan people began to cry out, “Why, the gods have come down to us!” What a subtle attack, flattery. Here Satan appealed to the ego of the apostles. Imagine going into a strange city and being welcomed as a god.
This sudden change is hard to understand if we do not take the time to understand where these people are coming from. According to the Roman literature of the time, there was ancient myth that Zeus (the main god) and Hermes (his messenger) had come down to this region disguised as mortals. The community except for one couple, Philemon and Baucis – rejected them. The two gods had sent judgment on the region except for the old couple who were rewarded. When the people saw the miracle that had been performed on the lame man the people thought that Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes. They were taking no chances this time. They would extend to Paul and Barnabas the welcome befitting gods. When it dawned on Paul and Barnabas what was happening they were horrified.
They did everything in their power to explain that they were just men.
When Paul and Barnabas understood what was happening they rushed into the crowd, rending their garments as protest against the intended sacrifice. Once they had gotten the crowds attention, the explained their protest in the form of a mini-sermon (vv. 15-18).
(v. 19) “Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.”
If the people could not fit Paul and Barnabas into their neat little idolatrous preconceptions, they would do away with them. The gospel has often been welcomed in history because it was misunderstood, and then resisted when its meaning and implications are made known. So it was in Lystra. When flattery to be worshipped was resisted by the apostles, then Satan shifted tactics to the old tried and true, violence. Notice how quickly the crowd changed. The ministry here concluded with the same crowd who tried to worship Paul and Barnabas turned against Paul and attempted to stone him to death.
(v. 20) “However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.”
In an act of mob violence, they dragged Paul out of the city and stoned him and left him for dead. As soon as the crowd left, the believing disciples gathered around Paul’s prostrate form. As they did so it says the Paul, rose up. There is no need to think that Paul had been dead and was now brought back to life. They had simply not killed Paul and now he got up. Luke the physician indicated in verse 19 that “they supposed him to be dead.”
How easy it would have been for Paul and his companions to simply continue the journey but instead they turned back, returning to the cities they had previously evangelized. He got up and went back into the city. What supreme bravery. What a witness. This was more effective than a thousand sermons. Paul, caked with blood and dirt, must have been quite a spectacle. Nothing could deter Paul and Barnabas from bravely preaching Christ. What an example. Interestingly, Lystra will be the city from which Paul will recruit Lois and Eunice and their young grandson/son, Timothy.
DERBE (14:21-28)
They Discipled the Believers (vv. 21-22)
“And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, (22) strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
The Christian life is more than just being saved; it is growing in Christ. It is going on to be what God intended you to be in Christ. The discipling process has three distinct aspects,
(1) They taught “strengthened the souls of the disciples”
(2) They exhorted “exhorted them to continue in the
faith”
(3) They enlightened them about the nature of suffering, the cost of discipleship. “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. The Greek word for tribulation, thlipsis, is from the ancient threshing instrument which separated the chaff from the wheat.
After leaving Derbe they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. Lystra was where Paul had been stoned and left for dead. Antioch and Iconium were the cities where those who stoned him were from.
They Organized the Churches (v. 23)
“So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
In each of the churches elders were trained and appointed to shepherd the church. The Greek word in v. 23 for elders is presbuterous, building on the Hebrew model after the model in Jerusalem. At Ephesus and Philippi, they were called the episkopoi, bishops or overseers. At Rome and Thessalonica they were called proitimenoi, leaders. But regardless of what they were called the elders were mature believers who were put in charge of the spiritual life of the congregation
They Reported To Their Sending Church (vv. 24-28)
“And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. (25) Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. (26) From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. (27) Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. (28) So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.” (NKJV)
Since Paul and Barnabas considered Antioch as their home base, their sending church, they wanted to report back to the believers that had sent them out all that God had done. They had, by the grace of God, fulfilled the work God had given them to do. That is a great thing to be able to say. The victory is not to those who start but to those who finish. The amazing thing about their accomplishments is that they did it all with any of the modern means of transportation or communication that we possess today. As Dr. Bob Pierce of Youth for Christ use to say, “Others have done so much with so little, while we have done so little with so much.” [As quote by Warren Wiersbe. Be Daring; Acts 13-28 (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1989.) p. 20.]
Think of the waste of wealth of American believer’s alone which invested in world evangelization might lead to the salvation of millions.
Then the missionaries have the joy of reporting the blessing of the work back to the church family. This is perhaps the first “missionary conference” in church history, and what a conference it must have been.
Let me close by telling what Winston Churchill once said, “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.” [As quoted by R. Kent Hughes. Acts: The Church Afire. Wheaton, ILL. : Crossway Books, 1996) p. 189.]
