Acts 14 - The Effective Combination of Words and Works!
In Iconium
14 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the gospel.
Paul and Barnabas spoke effectively. The Word of God never returns void, especially when it is preached effectively. The result of their effective preaching and teaching was that many Jews and Gentiles came to faith. But again it is the Jews who tried to turn the new believers against Paul and Barnabas. Whenever the gospel is being preached effectively, those who oppose it will try to worm their way in and effect people. They usually do it by cutting down the preacher.
The Lord enabled Paul and Barnabas to do signs and wonders, which only validated the Word they were preaching. They were not just empty words, but God's Word, which came with great supernatural power through the Holy Spirit. Notice too it was the message of grace. If there is no grace in our message than it will not be effective. It is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion. When the Jews and Gentiles started plotting to hurt Paul and Barnabas, they knew it was time to leave town.
In Lystra and Derbe
8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
Paul continued to perform signs and wonders, as he preached. A man lame from birth was listening intently to Paul. Paul's gaze turned to the man and said to him "Stand up on your feel!" The man jumped up and began to walk. Instead of giving glory to God, the Lycaonians took them to be gods in human form. The offered sacrifices to them in the name of Zeus.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
Barnabas and Paul were mortified at this and ripped their clothes as a sign of protest. Paul begged them to see that the message they were giving them was to turn from their worthless idols. Paul reminded them that they were only human, and the very essence of their message was to turn from worthless and powerless idols and turn to the living God they could know. But the crowd was still intent on sacrificing to them.
19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.
But some angry Jews came down from Antioch and Iconium and stoned Paul, leaving him for dead. But God was not finished with Paul yet. He had a lot more work to do in spreading the gospel. The disciples gathered around him, and I think it is safe to assume they prayed over him and gave him healing and strength. The next the two left for Derbe.
The Return to Antioch in Syria
21 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
As they preached in Derbe, even more came to faith adding to the growing number of disciples. They returned to the previous cities and strengthened the disciples there. Many times people come to faith but if they are not followed up with, they can go back to their old ways. When someone becomes a Christian, they need to be surrounded by other more mature disciples to encourage them and teach them what a disciple of Christ looks like. There are many people who have been converted but without discipleship and teaching, they can easily get discouraged or tempted to go back to their earthly ways.
Mature disciples of Christ should always be looking for younger men or women to disciple. If would be safe to say that everyone in the church should be discipled and should be discipling someone else. We are a sheep from the front and a shepherd from behind.
26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Finally, they went back to Antioch where they had started. I'm sure it was a mixture of joy seeing people converted and exhaustion from their travels. They had faced resistance and were probably depleted emotionally, physically, and spiritually. But God gave them the strength they needed to do what He had called them to do. You can bet the church there was thrilled and encouraged to hear how God had opened a door for more Gentiles to come into the kingdom, despite opposition from the Jewish men.
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