Written ~ 06-20-2024
Read Acts Chapter Fourteen
Acts 14
When I read chapters like this one, I often wonder what it must have been like for Paul and Barnabas. They were sharing a Gospel message that had never been heard before, they did miraculous wonders that had the people absolutely bewildered. They were the patriarchs, the forefathers, of our Christian faith. They were the ones who had the difficult task of breaking down barriers of tradition and godlessness. They persevered mightily through great opposition and because of the endurance of these apostles and many, many more who would follow, we have the very same Gospel message today.
Paul and Barnabas had a message of freedom, forgiveness, healing and salvation. They were not going to be stopped, even when confronted by angry mobs or by having stones hurled at them.
Makes me wonder if you and I have the same tenacity to get the message of Jesus Christ out to everyone we come in contact with. Do our lives represent the Christ we follow or do our lives more closely follow the dreams and desires of the world?
As we read about Paul and Barnabas in Acts chapter 14, we will see very clearly that they represented Christ in everything they did and said.
Acts 14:1…
1“The same thing happened in Iconium. Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers.”
God’s message pierces a hungry soul when His Words are being preached. When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Iconium, their message was well received and many became believers. Everything was going very well until some Jewish leaders stepped in and tried to divert the attention off of Paul and Barnabas.
Acts 14:2…
2“Some of the Jews, however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas.”
In the New Living Translation it says that the Jewish leaders “…spurned God’s message…”
Let’s see what the dictionary has to say about the word “spurned”…
- To reject with disdain or contempt
- To tread sharply
- To trample heavily upon
- To reject or dismiss
- To reject something disdainfully
- To disdain something means to regard something as unworthy or inferior
I honestly cannot imagine the state of those Jewish leaders hearts – to be so hardened against the Word of God! But in a way, I guess I can imagine it just by looking at the world today and witnessing the lack of respect and honor given to the Word of God. Unfortunately, it seems very much the same. Verse 14:2 also says that the Jewish leaders poisoned the minds of the Gentiles. Do you have someone in your life who tries to poison your mind against believing the Word of God? Or do you follow a scattered belief system that the world tries to offer as truth?
Even though these two Apostles came against all sorts of opposition, did they shrink back, give in or stop what they were doing and saying?
Absolutely NOT!
Acts 14:3-4…
3“But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4But the people of the town were divided in their opinion about them. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.”
It says here that the people were “divided in their opinion.” Are you divided in your opinion about the Word of God? Do you ever sit down with the Lord and read the Scriptures with doubt in your heart? Then that doubt winds up turning your focus away from Him? Does something happen in your day that makes you so angry that the first thing you do is place blame on God and you push Him away?
Essentially, that’s exactly what an angry mob of Gentiles and a group of Jewish leaders did to the message of God that Paul and Barnabas were preaching.
Acts 14:5…
5“Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them.”
Luckily, that’s not what God had instore for Paul and Barnabas. They were alerted that an angry mob was headed their way and managed to get out of town before any harm could come upon them.
Acts 14:6…
6“When the apostles learned of it, they fled to the region of Lycaonia—to the towns of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area.”
In a new region, in new towns, the Message of God continued…
Acts 14:7…
7“And there they preached the Good News.”
Something very puzzling happened to Paul and Barnabas while they were in the town of Lystra. After the miraculous healing of a crippled man, the crowd decided that Paul and Barnabus must be Greek gods.
How would that look today? What if you highly esteemed a proficient God fearing man, a servant of the Lord who only preached the Good News of Jesus Christ and you put him on a pedestal above the Lord? Guess what? You are no different that those people in Lystra who wanted to make Paul and Barnabas Greek gods. You have completely missed the point of the message he is proclaiming. He is just a vessel that the Holy Spirit is using to get the Word of the Lord out to the nations. We must be very careful not to place such a high esteem on a person that we begin to see them as greater than the Lord.
The people in our story from Acts 14:8-13 were doing just that. They wanted to worship and sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas as gods. Now luckily, Paul and Barnabas took this news with great dismay and grief, they tore their clothing as they mourned the actions of the people who were trying to sacrifice to them (Acts 14:14).
This could have turned out to be a completely different scenario had Paul and Barnabas accepted their praise and worship. Good thing they did not. I think this could be why prominent leaders “fall from grace,” because they accept the praise of the people instead of turning the focus back on the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas were shocked and deeply appalled over the actions of these people…
Acts 14:15-18…
15“Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16In the past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways, 17but He never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness. For instance, He sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” 18But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.
But even after they tried to turn the hearts of the people back to the message of the Lord and the purpose of God, it says in verse 14:18, “But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.” Here we have Paul and Barnabas trying so hard to bring the focus back on Jesus and the people were not listening to anything they were saying. And look what happens next…
Acts 14:19-20…
19“Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. 20But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.”
I would say… Most of us will never have to go through everything Paul and Barnabas had to contend with, but we do have our own troubles and trials that can easily throw us off our game. Let’s learn from these two men. They never gave into the temptation of being worshiped. They never backed down when the Word of the Lord was being compromised. Even with the threat of physical harm they carried on. When the message of Jesus was rejected, they moved on to the next town and with every breath they proclaimed the Good News of Salvation.
In every town the went to and revisited, their message was the same – Good News…
Paul and Barnabas strengthened the believers in each town they visited and they encouraged them to continue in the faith (Acts 14:22). Troubles and hardships may come, but the trust we have in the Lord must never fade away. Everywhere Paul and Barnabas travelled, they preached the Word of God. We too, should always have the Word of the Lord in every breath.
When we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, He is right there beside us, helping us every step of the way… Look back at Acts 14:3b, it says, “…the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders…” When we invite the Holy Spirit to be a part of every aspect of our lives, things happen. The power of the Lord is witnessed and the message we are proclaiming will be received.
The whole reason I sit down everyday and put my thoughts to “paper,” is because I want the message of Jesus Christ to be received! I want to strengthen other believers to be strong in their faith and to encourage them to persevere even when calamity strikes. I don’t compare my life to the lives of Paul and Barnabas because their hardships were very much different and much more harrowing than mine. BUT our message is the same.
Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead so that we may have eternal life, when we believe, accept and never turn back, our lives will forever be changed and our lives will take on an abundant joy that cannot be explained. Paul and Barnabas knew this joy. Through each obstacle, they saw joy. With every hurled stone, they saw joy. In the rejection and disdain, they saw joy. HOW? Why? Because through it all, people were coming to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! That’s what kept them going… that’s what catapulted them along to the next town and to the next and to the next, that’s what energized their spirits. With the power of the Holy Spirit, the message will forever continue.
~AMEN~