Acts 14

1. And it came to pass in Iconium, that 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. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, they were ware 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. 8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: the same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: who in times 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. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. 19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, 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. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia: and thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were 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 unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the disciples.

STILL, as at first, through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven. To that end even our glorious Leader, the Captain of our salvation, is “made perfect,” not in the infinite and eternal perfection of his nature, but in the perfectness of his condescending incarnation and mediatorial sympathy—made perfect “through suffering.” Sublime mystery of God! Gracious wonder of our redemption! Why should we complain of the sorrow that we ourselves, by our disobedience, have created? of the sorrow that ends, not begins, our real misery? the sorrow that is as much the needed pathway and natural preparation of the joy of immortality with our Lord—joy that no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived—as the night is the needed preparation of the morning, or hardship the natural path from the wilderness of the far country to the peace of the Father’s house? F. D. H.

1-4. The district of Lycaonia extends from the ridges of Mount Taurus and the borders of Cilicia on the south to the Cappadocian hills on the north. It is a bare and dreary region. Of the whole district, Iconium was properly the capital; and the plain round Iconium may be reckoned as its great central space, situated midway between Cilicia and Cappadocia. This plain is spoken of as the largest in Asia Minor. H.—Iconium was a populous city on the western border of Lycaonia, on a main line of communication between east and west. It has had a signal history since, and still exists as Konich. Its extended connections and intrinsic importance led the apostles to remain for some months, until driven away by the persecuting Jews. (See map, p. 94.)

As at Antioch, the missionaries preached for a “long time” in the synagogue at Iconium. By the grace of Christ (here and throughout the Acts referred to as the Lord), they were enabled so to speak that a great multitude believed. More than this, the

Konich—Ancient Iconium.

same Lord, in testimony of his presence, confirmed their words by miracles “done by their hands.” Only here, and some years after at Ephesus, was this special confirmation of many miracles granted to Paul’s ministry. In each of these cases, as in every single miracle, there was special call and fitness.

5-7. The wide division of sentiment among the entire population, which followed the long-continued faithful preaching of the apostles, shows what great results that preaching had wrought. Here the Jews succeeded in engaging the rulers and influential Gentiles in the persecution of Paul and Barnabas. Warned of the purpose to assault and stone them, the apostles fled to Lystra, in the interior wilds of Lycaonia. They fled, not from fear, but in obedience to their Lord’s direction to continue their work elsewhere. But the seed was largely sown in Iconium. In some hearts it was left to grow; in others, the very persecution that drove the apostles away led to questionings and stirrings of conscience. So opposition helps, as well as hinders, a good cause. At Lystra, and afterward in Derbe, where were no Jews (therefore no synagogue), and but few of the more cultivated Greeks, “they preached the Gospel” for another considerable period. (See map, p. 94.)

8-10. Healing of the Life-long Cripple at Lystra.—Like the man at the Temple gate, similarly healed by Peter, this one had never walked. Aside upon some thoroughfare, he was sitting—not begging, for he asked no alms. At that point, among others, Paul chanced to preach. The man not only heard, but his heart was opened, like Lydia’s, to receive the words spoken by Paul. This the apostle saw, when his attention was drawn by the man’s intent gaze. And it was in response to the faith in Christ which he discerned in the man’s soul, that Paul, in the very spirit and manner of the Master, and under His inspiration, bade him test his faith by the attempt to stand upright. The test was sustained, and the man not only stood, but leaped and walked. The miracle was twofold: The withered members were made perfect, and without any previous practice he instantly put them to their highest exercise and use. So the man’s faith led to the healing of the body, in addition to the saving of the soul. It was one of Christ’s own familiar works, only done invisibly, through the instrumentality of his honored apostle.

11-13. Worship offered to Paul and Barnabas.—Besides the beneficent effects of the miracle upon the man himself, and in the assurance afforded to the new disciples, it greatly excited the rude superstitious people. Their gods were only deified men; and Jupiter, the mightiest among them, was the tutelary or protecting deity of their city. As was customary, they had honored him by erecting either temple or statue, or both, outside but near the main gate. Mercury was the frequent companion of Jupiter in his expeditions to the earth. According to a then current legend (given at length by Ovid), these two divinities had visited in disguise Lycaon, from whom the name of the district was derived. It was natural, therefore, that this people should think that Jupiter and Mercury had come again to them in the likeness, or disguised forms, of Barnabas and Paul.

14-18. The Missionaries’ Intense Repulsion of such Worship, and Paul’s Fervid Address.**—Rending their garments, as the strongest, most convincing expression of grief and horror, they ran in among priests and people. Then, as soon as attention was gained, Paul first earnestly expostulates, and then preaches such a gospel as they could understand. “We, too, are but men like yourselves, subject to all manner of suffering and disease, and to death! We come not here to receive divine honor, but to tell you of the true God!” From their unreal gods—“their vanities”—he turns their thoughts to the one Jehovah. To these ignorant, uncultured heathen, who deified certain forces of nature, or counted as gods imperfect men, he declares a personal God. This God he reveals as living and life-giving—the architect and builder of the visible universe, the patient ruler and wise disposer of nations, the gracious author of providence, the giver of every good gift. Nature and providence “witness” to the being, the working, and the bounty of such a personal, creative God. This, as Paul afterward wrote (Rom. 1 : 18-21), left them without excuse for their atheism. To no further statement or appeal were they susceptible. No knowledge had they of the Jewish Scriptures. Nor with these rude people could Paul’s reasoning upon the facts of natural religion take even that broader grasp with which afterward he sought to reach the more cultured Athenians. Yet, with all that the apostles did and said, they with difficulty checked the proposed offering of sacrifice.

19,20. The Stoning of Paul and the Departure from Lystra.**—The same Jews who had driven the missionaries out of Antioch and Iconium, hearing of their successes, followed them to Lystra. Here they accomplished what they had failed in doing before. Easily persuading these credulous and fickle Lycaonians that the apostles were deceivers, and thus securing their participation, these Jewish emissaries stoned Paul in the streets of Lystra, dragged his supposed lifeless body through the city gate, and cast it forth without the walls. At Iconium, where many miracles were wrought in confirmation of their teaching, they were protected from stoning. Here the one miracle, which had occasioned the paying of divine honors, was followed by this dishonoring treatment, as if to stamp a deeper conviction of the mere humanity of the man they would have worshiped.

They stoned Paul—not Barnabas. Signally is the controlling spirit and fervid zeal of the great Apostle manifest in this exclusive direction of the Jews’ fury against Paul. In that affecting summary of his experiences (2 Cor. 11 : 25) he includes this: Once was I stoned! B.—Once he stoned another, and once he was stoned himself. What a crowd of memories must have rushed up when he felt his spirit swooning away under the stone shower! This would seem the echo of his own dread act. Stephen’s heroic death must have left its mark deep on the heart of the converted Paul. Arnot.—As the disciples gathered, in grief and doubt, about his ruthlessly handled body, Paul rose up; and, for their confirmation in faith and courage, went with them again into the midst of his foes. That this was a merely natural recovery from so severe a stoning, is scarcely credible. Only God’s special shielding protected that frail body from many a vital stroke. And only a supernatural restoration could instantly give back their use to the fearfully bruised members.

In this word, disciples, we have the first mention of converts in Lystra. Among these disciples, and probably one of Paul’s converts at this visit, was Timothy. This we learn by comparing Acts 16 : 1 with 2 Tim. 3 : 10, 11, and 1 Tim. 1 : 2.

21-24. Conclusion of the First Missionary Journey.**—Derbe, whither they went from Lystra, was the farthest eastern point they visited. Here they rested long, and preached in peace. And Paul’s reference in 2 Tim. 3 agrees with the absence of any note by Luke of persecution in Derbe. After making many disciples, they returned homeward on the identical route of their previous journey as far as Perga. They could have taken the direct and much shorter route into the low plain of Cilicia, descending through the pass known as the “Cilician Gates,” and have sailed from Tarsus to the Syrian Antioch. But the new disciples needed instruction, comfort, encouragement, and especially organization. Therefore they retrace their steps, and go again to the scenes of their persecution, to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch (in Pisidia). B.—Their specific task this time was different. They set themselves on this occasion to confirm the souls of the converts, and exhort them as to their subsequent course. The Christians in those places were already born, but they needed to be nourished into strength. The first necessity is to see that they are in Christ, and the next to see that they grow strong in the Lord. Corresponding with their specific object, the burden of the missionaries’ preaching this time is, “Continue in the faith.” And for the rest,

(Lystra is identified with the ruins Bin-bir-Kilisseh, at the base of a conical mountain of volcanic structure, named the Korradogh. S.— The present ruins extend over a space of a mile in length and about three quarters of a mile in breadth. Besides a countless number of ruined houses, the ruins of more than twenty large buildings may be counted. Some of these are not seriously injured. It is plainly evident that all these buildings were constructed from the materials of a still more ancient city, and one of great splendor. This home of Timothy is unique for situation, as it must have been beautiful. The view across the plain to the walls of Iconium is extremely picturesque, and the disciple of Paul had but to climb the cliffs above his own house, to enjoy a splendid view of Lycaonia and parts of Cappadocia. L. H. Adams, 1871.)

the warning word rings clearly out, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Arnot.

This return journey through Pisidia and Pamphylia is memorable for the first record of the appointment of permanent officers, here called Elders, for the teaching and guidance, the comfort and government, of the churches. We have already had an incidental mention of such officers, even in the churches of Judea. Much more did the newly planted churches which Paul and Barnabas were leaving to themselves need to have the means of edification and order complete within themselves; and so they ordained them ELDERS in every church. S.

this view of the gospel was of no less vital moment to the Jew than to the Gentile. If the Jewish believers were thrown back on the Jewish law, and gave up the free and absolute grace of God, the Law became a mere burden, just as heavy to the Jew as it would be to the Gentile. The only hope for the Jew was in a Saviour who must be the Saviour of mankind. S.