Acts 14

Acts 14:1

14:1, 2 In Iconium, as in other places where there was a synagogue, Paul and Barnabas were permitted to preach, in accordance with the custom prevailing among the Jews at that time. The Spirit of God accompanied the word with such power that a great number of Jews and Gentile proselytes accepted the Lord Jesus. This aroused the ire of those Jews who refused to obey the gospel, and they in turn stirred up the Gen tiles … against the brethren. In the Book of Acts the unbelieving Jews were the instigators of much of the persecution of the apostles, though they themselves did not necessarily administer the punishment. They were masters at persuading the Gentiles to carry out their wicked purposes. 14:3 Although they knew trouble was brewing, the preachers continued to speak boldly in the name of the Lord, who confirmed the divine nature of the message by empowering them to perform signs and wonders. Signs and wonders are two different words for miracles. The word sign simply means that the miracle conveys a lesson, whereas the word wonder suggests that the miracle creates a sense of awe. 14:4-7 As tension built up in the city, sides were naturally formed. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. Finally the unbelieving Gentiles and Jews made a determined rush to assault the apostles. To escape stoning, they fled to LYSTRA (lis’-tra) and DERBE, both cities of LYCAONIA (lye-kay-own’-ia), a district in the center of Asia Minor. With no lessening of ardor, they continued preaching the gospel in that entire region. When Paul and Barnabas were threatened with stoning, they fled to Lycaonia. At other times in their missionary labors, they seemed to remain in a place in spite of danger. Why did they escape at some junctures and stand their ground at others? There does not seem to be any neat explanation. The great controlling principle in Acts is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These men lived in close, intimate communion with the Lord. Abiding in Him, they received marvelous communications of the divine mind and will. To them, this was the important thing, rather than a well-arranged set of rules of conduct. 14:8, 9 In Lystra the missionaries came in touch with a man who had been a cripple from birth. As he listened to Paul speaking, he evidenced an unusual interest. Paul somehow realized that this man had faith to be healed. Although we are not told how Paul knew this, we do believe that a true evangelist is given the ability to discern the state of souls with whom he deals. He is able to tell whether they are only mildly curious, or whether they are in actual soul trouble because of conviction of sin. 14:10-12 As soon as Paul commanded the man to get up on his feet, … he leaped and walked. Since the miracle had been performed openly, and since Paul had undoubtedly attracted considerable attention by speaking with a loud voice, the people were greatly impressed. In fact a popular movement began with the purpose of worshiping Barnabas as Zeus, and Paul as Hermes. The people actually believed that their gods had paid them a visit in the person of the two missionaries. For some reason not stated, they looked on Barnabas as being the chief god. Because Paul had done the speaking, they designated him as Hermes, the messenger of Zeus.14:13 Even the priest of Zeus became convinced that a divine visitation had taken place; he rushed out of the temple that was at the gateway of their city with oxen and garlands for a great sacrifice.

This entire movement was a more subtle form of danger to the Christian faith than all the other forms of opposition recorded. For a successful Christian worker a greater peril than persecution is the tendency for people to center their spiritual attention, not on Christ, but on His servant. 14:14, 15a At first Barnabas and Paul did not realize what the crowd was up to, because they didn’t understand the Lycaonian vernacular. As soon as it became clear to the missionaries that the people were about to worship them as gods, they tore their clothes as a public expression of protest and sorrow. Then they ran in among the multitude, and with impassioned words they warned them against such folly. Instead of being gods, they were men with the same nature as the Lycaonians. Their object was simply to bring the good news that the people should turn from lifeless idols to the living God. 14:15b-17 It is noticeable that Paul and Barnabas did not quote the OT to these Gentiles, as they did to the Jews. Rather, they began with the story of creation, a subject of immediate interest to Gentile peoples in all countries and in all ages. The missionaries explained that in bygone generations God allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Even then, however, they had evidence of the existence of God in creation and in providence. It was He who lovingly provided rain … and fruitful seasons for them, filling their hearts with food and gladness. This latter expression is a figurative way of saying that in providing food for their bodily means, God filled their hearts with the gladness that comes from the enjoyment of food.14:18 The message had its desired result. The people reluctantly desisted from their intention of sacrificing to these servants of the Lord. 14:19, 20 Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium caught up with Paul and Barnabas in Lystra. They succeeded in turning the Gentile populace against the missionaries. The same crowd that wanted to reverence them as gods now stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that they had killed him. Kelly’s comments on this section are most apropos: And why? That very refusal of homage, which the Lystrans were ready to pay, is most offensive to man, and disposes him to believe the most odious misrepresentations of those he was about to worship. Men exalt themselves by human adoration; and to be balked of it soon turns to the hatred and perhaps death of those who seek the honour of the only God. So it was here. Instead of changing their minds like the Maltese (who from a murderer regarded Paul as a god, Act_28:6), they listen to Jewish calumny though ordinarily despised, and stone as a false prophet him to whom they had been so lately wishing to sacrifice, leaving him dragged without the city as a dead man. Was Paul actually dead as a result of the stoning? If this is the incident referred to in 2Co_12:2, he himself did not know. The best we can say is that his restoration was miraculous. As the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went back into the city with them. The next day he departed with Barnabas to DERBE. 14:21 Considerations of personal safety were not uppermost in the minds of the missionaries. This is seen in the fact that when they had preached the gospel at Derbe, they returned to LY STRA, the scene of Paul’s stoning. This illustrates what has been called the power of comeback and quick recovery.Although Timothy is not mentioned here, he may have been saved at this time through the preaching of Paul. When the apostle next visited Lystra, Timothy was already a disciple, and was highly regarded by the brethren (Act_16:1-2). However, the fact that Paul later spoke of him as his true child in the faith (1Ti_1:2) does not necessarily mean that Paul had won him to Christ. He may have been a true child by following the example of Paul’s life and service. When their work at Lystra was completed, the missionaries revisited ICONIUM and PISIDIAN ANTIOCH, where churches had already been established. Their purpose at this time was what we call follow-up work. They were never satisfied merely to preach the gospel and see souls won to the Savior. For them, this was only the beginning. They then sought to build up the believers in their most holy faith, especially by teaching them the truth of the church and its importance in God’s program. Erdman points out: A proper missionary program has as its aim the establishing on the field of self-governing, self-sustaining, self-propagating churches. This was ever the purpose and the practice of Paul. 14:22 The exact nature of their follow-up work was strengthening the souls of the disciples and establishing the Christians in the faith by instructing them from the word of God. Paul described the process in Col_1:28-29 : We warn everyone we meet, and we teach everyone we can, all that we know about him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ Jesus. This is what I am working at all the time, with all the strength that God gives me (JBP). Second, they exhorted them to continue in the faith, an exhortation especially timely in view of the widespread persecution then prevalent. With this exhortation went a reminder that we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. This refers to the kingdom of God in its future aspect, when believers will share Christ’s glory. A person enters the kingdom of God in the first place through the new birth. Persecutions and tribulations do not have any saving value. However, those who enter the kingdom of God by faith at the present time are promised that the pathway to future glory is filled with tribulations. If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Rom_8:17 b). 14:23 At this time, the missionaries also appointed elders in every church. In this connection, several observations should be made:

1. New Testament elders (presbyters) were godly, mature men who exercised spiritual leadership in the local church. They are also spoken of as bishops and overseers.
2. In the Book of Acts, elders were not appointed when a church was first founded. Rather, it was when the apostle revisited the churches that this was done. In other words, during the intervening time there was opportunity for those who had been made elders by the Holy Spirit to become manifest.
3. Elders were appointed by the apostles and by their delegates. At this time the NT was not yet written to give explicit instructions concerning the qualifications of elders. The apostles knew what these qualifications were, however, and they were able to single out the men who met the scriptural requirements.
4. We do not have apostles today to appoint elders. However, we do have the qualifications of elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Therefore each local assembly should be able to recognize those men in it who meet God’s requirements as undershepherds of the sheep. After Paul and Barnabas had prayed with fasting, they commended the believers to the Lord. It seems extraordinary to us that assemblies could be started in such a short time, that they should receive such brief periods of instruction from the missionaries, and yet that they should go on brightly for the Lord, functioning as autonomous churches. The answer ultimately lies in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit of God. However, the power was manifest in the lives of men like Paul and Barnabas. Everywhere they went they exerted a mighty influence for God. People detected reality in their lives. Their public preaching was backed up by the example of their own lives, and the influence of this twofold testimony was incalculable. Verses 21 to 23 give the apostolic patternpreaching the gospel, teaching the converts, and establishing and strengthening churches. 14:24-26 After they had passed through the district of Pisidia, they traveled south to PAMPHYLIA. There they revisited PERGA, then they went down to the seaport city of ATTALIA where they boarded a ship and sailed to ANTIOCH in SYRIA. This brought them to the end of their first missionary journey. It was from Antioch that they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had just completed.14:27 What a joyful time it must have been when they gathered the church at Antioch together to hear an account of the missionary labors of these two great men of God. With becoming Christian modesty, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. It was not what they had done for God, but what He had been pleased to accomplish through them. 14:28 They stayed in Antioch a long time with the disciples. Estimates vary between one and two years.

EXCURSUS ON MISSIONARY STRATEGY It is thrilling to see how a small group of nondescript disciples living in an obscure corner of the world were imbued with a glorious vision for the evangelization of the world and how they carried it out. Each one felt directly involved in this task and gave himself or herself to it without reserve. Much of the evangelism was carried on by local believers in connection with their everyday duties. They gossiped the gospel in their own neighborhoods. In addition, the apostles and others traveled from country to country, preaching the gospel and planting churches. They went out by twos or in larger companies. Sometimes a younger man went out with an older; for instance, Timothy with Paul. Basically there were two methods personal evangelism and mass evangelism. In connection with the latter, it is interesting to notice that most of the preaching was impromptu, and arose from some local situation or crisis. Nearly all the preachings that took place as recorded there (in Acts) were under circumstances which precluded any possibility of the preacher preparing his discourse; every one of these occasions was unexpected. As E. M. Bounds has said, their preaching was not the performance of an hour but rather the overflow of a life. The apostles and their associates were guided by the Holy Spirit, but this guidance was often confirmed by their local church. Thus we read that the prophets and teachers at Antioch laid their hands on Barnabas and Paul and sent them off on the First Missionary Journey (Act_13:2). Again we read that Timothy had the confidence of the brethren at Lystra and Iconium before he set out with Paul (Act_16:2). And Paul and Silas were recommended to the grace of God by the church at Antioch prior to the Second Missionary Journey (Act_15:40). It is commonly taught that their geographical strategy was to go into large cities and plant churches so that those churches would then evangelize the surrounding territory. This is perhaps an oversimplification. Basically their strategy was to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whether to a large city or a small one. The Holy Spirit led Philip from revival in Samaria to a single man on the road to Gaza (Act_8:26-40). And He led Paul to Berea (Act_17:10), which Cicero called an out-of-the-way city. Frankly, we do not see a fixed, inflexible geographical strategy in the Book of Acts. Rather we see the sovereign Spirit moving in accordance with His own will. Local churches were established wherever people responded to the gospel. These assemblies gave permanence and stability to the work. They were self-governing, self-financing, and self-propagating. The apostles revisited the congregations to strengthen and encourage the believers (Act_14:21-22; Act_15:41; Act_20:1-2) and to appoint elders (Act_14:23). In their missionary travels the apostles and their associates were sometimes self-supporting (Act_18:3; Act_20:34); sometimes they were supported by gifts from churches and individuals (Phi_4:10, Phi_4:15-8). Paul worked to provide not only for himself but for those who were with him (Act_20:34). Though they were commended to the grace of God by their local church, and supported by local churches, yet they were not controlled by local churches. They were the Lord’s free agents in declaring all the counsel of God and in holding back nothing that was profitable (Act_20:20). At the conclusion of their missionary journeys, they returned to their home church and gave a report of how the Lord had worked through them (Act_14:26-28; Act_18:22-23). This is a good pattern for all missionaries to follow in every age of the church.