Acts 14

Introduction

We read in chapter 13 last week that the Holy Spirit told the believers in Antioch to set apart Paul and Barnabas for the work to which the Spirit had called them, which was to go on a missionary journey and to proclaim the good news of the gospel to the people they met.

And so, they sailed to Cyprus and went around the island, preaching Christ as they went. And then they sailed to Perga. And from there, they went to Pisidian Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas preached about Christ in the Jewish synagogue. And after the service was over, they were invited to come back the following Sabbath to say more about these things. And when that day came, almost the whole of the city — Jews and Gentiles — turned up to hear what they had to say about the Lord Jesus.

And do you remember? Luke told us that all who were appointed for eternal life believed. That is, all who were appointed by God or all who were chosen by God for eternal life believed the good news. The only reason any of us is able to believe the good news is because God first loved us and chose us and appointed us for eternal life. Our salvation is God’s work from beginning to end, because first — and before the world was made — he chose us in Christ Jesus for salvation; and then he sent his Son into the world to accomplish our salvation by his life and death and resurrection; and then he sent his Spirit into our lives to enable us to believe the good news and to receive salvation through faith in his Son. Our salvation is God’s work from beginning to end. And that means we should be continually thankful to God for his grace and mercy towards us in Christ.

But the Jews who did not believe that day stirred up trouble for Paul and Barnabas and they were required to leave that place and to move on somewhere else. And that brings us to today’s chapter, where Luke records for us the places they went after Pisidian Antioch.

The text

And so, if you have your Bible open at Acts 14, you can see from verse 1 that they travelled to a place called Iconium, where they once again went into the Jewish synagogue. And Luke tells us that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed their message. But once again, the Jews who did not believe stirred up trouble for them and Luke says they poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas.

The NIV begins verse 3 with the word ‘So’, which seems out of place. ‘Nevertheless’ may be a better translation. Luke is saying that the Jews poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against them. Nevertheless — and despite the opposition from the Jews — Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, trying to persuade the Jews and Gentiles to believe the good news. And Luke adds that the Lord confirmed the message of his grace, which Paul and Barnabas were preaching, by enabling them to perform miraculous signs and wonders.

I’ve said before that the miraculous signs and wonders which the Lord Jesus performed himself when he was on the earth and which he enabled the apostles like Paul and evangelists like Philip to perform were a foretaste of what the Lord will do for all his people when he comes again in glory and with power. When he comes, he will raise the dead and he will set us free from every disability and weakness and sickness and disease which we suffer from in this life. He will set us free from everything that troubles us when he comes again. And as a foretaste of that, he enabled the apostles and some others to heal the sick and even to raise the dead.

But the Lord also enabled them to perform miraculous signs and wonders to make clear that they had really been sent from God. Every time the Lord enabled them to heal the sick, he was making clear to the people that these were his servants who had come from him. And since that’s the case, they should listen to them. And so, the signs confirmed that they were from God.

But even though Paul and Barnabas were enabled to perform these signs and wonders, the people in Iconium were still divided. Some sided with the Jews against Paul and Barnabas whereas others sided with the apostles. And according to verse 5, the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles — who were normally divided — were united in their opposition to the gospel. They plotted together to ill-treat and stone Paul and Barnabas. And so, when they heard about the plot, Paul and Barnabas decided it was time to leave that place and to move on to Lystra and Derbe.

And what did they do when they went there? Look what verse 7 says. They continued to preach the good news about Jesus Christ, who is the only Saviour of the world. That’s what the Holy Spirit called them to do and that’s what they continued to do.

And Luke then tells us about what happened in Lystra. Paul was preaching the good news about the Lord Jesus and he noticed one man in particular in the congregation who was listening intently to the message. This man, we’re told, had been lame from birth and had therefore never been able to walk. And somehow Paul knew that the man had faith to be healed. Actually, the Greek word which Luke uses means ‘to be saved’. The man had faith to be saved. He believed that the Lord Jesus Christ was able to save him from his sin and misery in this life. And being saved from his sin and misery in this life included being saved from his disability. And so, Paul called out to him, telling him to stand up on his feet. And even though the man had been lame from birth and had never been able to walk, he was able to not only get up, but to jump up and walk.

It was wonderful. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they began shouting in their own language that the gods had come down to them in human form. It seemed to these pagan people that Paul and Barnabas were gods, because look what they were able to do. They thought Barnabas must be Zeus and Paul must be Hermes. And Luke tells us that the priest of Zeus, whose temple was nearby, brought bulls and wreaths and he was all set to offer sacrifices to them.

The commentators refer to a legend which the Roman poet Ovid recorded of a time when Jupiter and Mercury — the Roman equivalents of Zeus and Hermes — appeared in human form to the people of a nearby city. No one welcomed them apart from one elderly couple. The gods destroyed the homes of the people who did not welcome them, but they rewarded the elderly couple who did. And it could be that, because of that legend, the people of Lystra didn’t want to provoke the wrath of the gods by not giving them a proper welcome.

When Paul and Barnabas realised what was happening, they were horrified. They tore their clothes and shouted at the crowd that they are not gods, but only human; and they have come to tell them to turn away from worthless things like their false gods and to turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

Instead of turning to the one, true and living God, their minds remained darkened and they continued to believe that their false gods were real and had come down to them in the form of men. But if only they had believed the good news which Paul and Barnabas had been proclaiming to them about the Lord Jesus Christ, who is indeed God in the flesh: God who has come down to earth as one of us to give up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and to make peace for us with God. If only they had believed in him, then their lives would have been transformed and they would’ve known the joy of forgiveness and the hope of everlasting life in the new and better world to come, where no one will be lame and no one will be sick and where they will be no more death or sorrow or sadness, but only perfect and eternal joy and happiness in the presence of the true and living God.

And Luke tells us that some Jews from Iconium turned up. We don’t know if they turned up for personal reasons or if they came deliberately to turn the people against Paul and Barnabas. But that, in any case, was the effect of their arrival. They turned the people against Paul and Barnabas and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city and dumped him there, thinking he was dead. He wasn’t dead though. And the next day he and Barnabas travelled to Derbe.

And in the final verses of the chapter, we read how they preached the good news in Derbe and won a large number of disciples. That is to say, a large number of people believed. And then they began to make their way back to Antioch, where this missionary journey began. On the way, they visited the places they had been to strengthen the new disciples and to encourage them to remain faithful and to warn them to expect trials and tribulations on the way to eternal life. And they appointed elders in each church to oversee the Lord’s people. And eventually they ended up in Antioch, where they reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened up a door for them among the Gentiles.

Application 1

When we begin to think about the lessons we can learn from today’s passage, I want to turn your attention back to verse 15 and to what Paul said to the people in Lystra, where he said something about what makes us humans different from God.

Take a look at verse 15, where Paul said to the people, ‘Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you.’ More literally he said: ‘Men, why are you doing this? We also are men of like passions with you.’ He’s saying to the people of Lystra that we’re not gods, but we’re just like you, because we are people with passions. Or as the theologians might say: we are passible. That’s passible with an ‘i’ and not with an ‘a’. Passable with an ‘a’ means we’re good enough to pass a test. Passible with an ‘i’ means that we’re affected by things in the world. So, if someone hits us, it hurts us. Or when it rains, we feel miserable. Or if it’s too hot, we feel thirsty and in need of a cool drink, Or if we haven’t eaten enough, we feel hungry. And if someone praises us, we feel good. How we feel changes all the time depending on what happens to us or depending on what people do to us. That’s true for all of us, because every human person is passible. We’re all affected by things in the world.

And Paul is telling the people in Lystra that he and Barnabas are not gods, because he and Barnabas are passible, whereas God, the true God, is not passible. He’s not affected by things in the world. He’s not affected by anything outside of himself. God is eternally happy and there is nothing we can do which will diminish his happiness in any way.

People sometimes tell children that if we sin it will make God sad or unhappy. But we cannot make God sad or unhappy. We cannot hurt God. God is eternally happy. Even when he’s angry, it’s not as if he’s overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of passion which he cannot control, because God doesn’t ever lose control of himself and he’s never overwhelmed by fits of emotion which come and go. And so, his wrath is not so much an emotion, but it’s his decree to punish those who remain unrepentant. Or when it says in the Bible that God is grieved by something we do, it’s telling us that our actions are sinful. And when it says in the Bible that God takes delight in something we do, it’s telling us that what we have done is according to his will. So, he’s not overwhelmed by some emotion which comes over him because of something we have done. What we do doesn’t affect him. God is always the same and he’s always happy.

And that’s one of the things that makes him great and glorious. And it’s one of the reasons we should praise him. We should praise him because he’s not like us. We’re affected by all kinds of things and all kinds of things make us unhappy. But our God is eternally happy.

And we should also praise him because he promises his people eternal happiness in his presence in the life to come. For now we suffer trials and tribulations and there are many things that make us weep. But one day we’ll become like God and we’ll be happy for ever.

And the reason we have this great hope is because of the wonderful good news of the gospel and how God the Son was willing to come to earth as one of us. And as one of us, he was willing to suffer for us and for our salvation when he paid for our sins with his life. As God, he cannot suffer, but as one of us, he was able to suffer for us and to take the blame for what we have done wrong in order to reconcile us to God. And now, he gives to all who trust in him the hope of everlasting happiness in the life to come.

Application 2

The next thing I want us to think about is what we read in verse 17. Paul has been saying to the people in Lystra that he is bringing them good news about the Lord Jesus and how they should turn from worthless false gods and turn instead to the living God. God is the living God because he has all life in himself; and because he gives life to all his creatures; and because he gives eternal life to all who trust in his Son. And he’s the one who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that they contain. Furthermore, in the past he let the nations go their own way. However — and this is verse 17 — he has not left himself without testimony. That is to say, he has not left himself without witness.

So, while he revealed himself in a supernatural way or in a saving way to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and to their descendants, he did not reveal himself in that way to the other nations. He did not give them his word. He did not send them prophets. He did not appear to them as he appeared to the Israelites in the wilderness in a pillar of cloud and fire. He did not reveal himself to them in a supernatural way or in a saving way. Instead he let them go their own way.

However, he did not leave himself without witness. So, he may not have revealed himself to them in a supernatural and saving way, but he did reveal himself to them in a sense. As Paul goes on to say in verse 17, he revealed his kindness to the nations. He revealed his kindness to them by giving them rain from heaven and crops in their season. He caused the rain to fall on their fields so that their crops grew and could be harvested and turned into food. And so, he revealed his kindness to the nations by providing them with plenty of food and by filling their hearts with joy. None of us deserve these good things, because we’re sinners who sin against the Lord continually. But because God is kind to all, he provides us with these good things. And he gives these good things even to the pagans who don’t know him or worship him. And by providing these things, God reveals his kindness to the nations.

This matches what we read in Romans, where Paul says that since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. So, by means of his creation, God reveals to every single person in the world that he is real and that he’s powerful and that he’s kind and good. He has revealed these things to everyone. He has borne witness to everyone about these things. Everyone therefore knows that God is real and he’s powerful and he’s kind and good.

And yet — Paul tells us in Romans 1 — because we’re sinners, we’re sinfully inclined to suppress what we know about God. Or we repress it, the way people repress an unpleasant memory. They push it out of their thoughts. And because we’re sinners, we’re sinfully inclined to push God out of our thoughts. And instead of worshipping the one true and living God, we worship false gods and idols. And so, in Lystra, the people were worshipping Zeus and Hermes instead of the true God who revealed to them every day that he is real and he’s powerful and he’s kind and good.

And what’s the significance of this? Firstly, if you’re a believer, then you should again give thanks to God for his kindness to you, because he did not leave you in your unbelief. Instead he revealed himself to you in a supernatural and saving way through the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he enabled you to believe in Christ for salvation. If it were not for God’s kindness to you, then you would still be in your unbelief and sin. But he had mercy on you and he revealed himself to you through his word and by his Spirit and he gave you the hope of everlasting life.

But then, secondly, Paul’s words here show us that even before a person hears the good news of the gospel, God has already been at work in that person’s life, because God is continually bearing witness to everyone that he’s real and he’s powerful and that he’s kind. And though they’re repressing the truth, the truth pops up from time to time. One theologian (Van Til) compares it to someone who tries to hold a beach ball under the water. He’s constantly pushing it down, but every so often the ball pops up above the surface. And every so often in a person’s life, the knowledge of God pops to the surface. Something happens to them or they hear something or they see something and they come face to face with the truth that God is real and he’s powerful and he’s good.

And since that’s the case, then we should pray for our unbelieving friends and neighbours and for the people who live around this church and who don’t yet believe, asking God to cause the truth about him to pop to the surface of their thoughts. We should ask God to bring the knowledge they have of him to the surface of their conscious thoughts so that they will begin to think about him and to acknowledge him and to seek him for themselves.

That’s what we want, isn’t it? For God to work in their lives and to prepare them to hear and to believe the good news of the gospel about Jesus Christ. So, that’s something for you to pray about.

Application 3

And the third thing I want to mention is to remind you of what Paul and Barnabas reported when they got back to Antioch. According to verse 27, they reported all that God has done through them.

I remember reading an article in a Christian magazine which was about two churches which had been planted. And the article was really an interview with the ministers of both churches. And the difference between the ministers was remarkable, because one spoke about all the things that they have achieved; and he gave the impression that any success they had was down to their own ability and to their programme of activities which they were running. On the other hand, the other minister spoke about his surprise and delight because of all the wonderful things the Lord was doing through them.

And, of course, the second minister was following the example of Paul who understood that God is the one who builds his church and who extends his kingdom throughout the world. God is the one who does it. And when God is at work through his people, it causes surprise and delight, because God has called his people to do something really very foolish. He calls preachers to preach the cross of Christ. And as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, that’s a foolish message and it’s a weak message. And preaching itself is a foolish thing to do, because we wonder who in their right mind wants to listen to a preacher?

And God wants the rest of us, as we have opportunity, to tell people about the cross of Christ. So, when someone asks us what we believe, he wants us to tell them about the suffering of Christ. And who is going to be impressed with a message about a suffering servant?

And if someone comes to church, what will they think of us because we’re singing these old psalms and hymns and we’re praying to a God we can’t see and we eat little bits of bread and we drink little cups of drink. And it all seems bizarre and foolish to those who don’t believe.

But this is what God has called us to do. And the amazing thing is that God is able to use these foolish and weak things to do something wonderful. He’s able to use these foolish and weak things to change the hearts of men and women and boys and girls and to restore their lives to what they’re meant to be, so that they’re able to live good and upright and kind and generous and useful lives for the glory of God.

That’s what God was doing throughout the Roman Empire. When Paul went to a place and preached the cross of Christ, some thought it was foolish and some thought it was weak and some despised the message and tried to stamp it out. But God used this foolish message and method to build his church and to extend his kingdom and to transform lives for his glory. And we should pray to him to do the same thing among us and all to the praise of his almighty power and glorious grace.