Acts 14:1-18

Read Acts 14:1-7

We see in these first couple of verses that Paul and Barnabas reach Iconium and there enter the synagogues again…and the Holy Spirit used them in a mighty way yet again, for we read that many Jews and many Gentiles come to faith…and even in the midst of this triumph discord is brought about by the unbelieving Jews…seeking to turn the people against the messengers of God we are told that they begin to poison the minds of people.

Why this response from the Jews?

Well realize this my brethren: we should not be surprised to see these things recorded here because we see the same thing today whenever the Word of God is obediently preached!! People respond to the truth by embracing it or hating it! And believe me whenever a preacher focuses on teaching the Word of God and stops worrying about what people think of him then both these responses will take place!! Because those whom the Spirit draws will respond with faith, the Believer will respond with joy or repentance, and the non believers in the congregation who are hardened will respond with annoyance and anger at a sermon that does not make them comfortable where they are at!!

So the response we read about here is commonplace even today where His Word is preached. Again, do not be surprised when people respond with anger to the preachign of the Word of God!

But look carefully at verse 3)
“Therefore, they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord…”

What does the “therefore” refer to?

I am convinced it refers directly to verse 2! What can we, what should we, learn from this?

If nothing else, we should be led to be bold ourselves!! Bold in our preaching of the Word and in our proclamation of the Good News! It means that little things such as opposition should not deter us!

Look now at 2 Timothy 4:1-2

Some would say that this is an example of prescriptive verses to pastors and teachers. I respectfully disagree with this view…I am convinced here that this exhortation is for all Believers in the sense that we are all to be about the business of God…we present the truth to our neighbors, to our family, to our friends, to our children! When you do it, do it like Barnabas and Paul did, without any thought to what the negative reaction might be! Be faithful to the presentation and then let God do the work of salvation! And when we do encounter opposition, all the more we should be willing to proclaim truth!

Look now again at the text)

The city is divided and physical harm is threatened…and they move on. But notice verse 7...”And they were preaching the gospel there”

You would think that Paul and Barnabas would begin taking it easy…but they do not.

Everywhere they go they encounter opposition…yet they don’t say to themselves, let us rethink how we are doing this…no they continue to preach the gospel…they did not need, with all due respect, to contemplate any 40 days of purpose…they did not need to canvas the communities to see what it was they would want included in any preaching done there…they did not need to spend some time learning and practicing oratory…no...all they needed they already had…the Holy Spirit! They went with one intent only…to preach the gospel that is Jesus the risen Lord!

Read Acts 14:8-18

I love this passage very much because of how indirectly Paul and Barnabas teach us to whom the glory must always go and how they so emphatically give credence to John the Baptist’s words “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30) But more on that later…

For now, look closely at the first couple of verses here:

We see the stage set here for the mighty response from the people…here was a man well known to be a cripple from birth…he had NEVER walked. There was no possible way that the miracle could be explained by any rational manner…Paul speaks to him and says stand up…and the man leaps up! And he walks…a man who from birth had never taken a step, this man jumps up and begins to walk…likely he did not just walk calmly but he walked quickly towards the apostles and thanked them and rejoiced…

Note now the reaction of those around…those who knew this man…those who would be in a position to know that this man was not faking his handicap…(read again verses 11-13)
Such is the amazement, such is the power of God before these people, that the apostles are proclaimed to be Greek gods!!!

But what is even more wonderful…what I so love about this passage, is how Barnabas and Paul react…(read again verses 14)

Do you understand this? Hearing themselves proclaimed gods because of the manifested power of God…they tear their clothes…they are wounded…they are filled with sorrow…and they quickly run in to correct this error as we see thru verse 17...

Brothers and sisters…this must always be our first and foremost desire…to reflect His glory…for His glory!

If you preach well, make sure you point to Christ…
If you teach well, make sure you point to Christ…
Anything and everything we do should point to Christ and never should we be tempted to boast in anything but our Lord who gives us the abilities that we have…

Listen closely brothers and sisters...any preacher, any teacher, any missionary, any deacon…if they are in it for their own exaltation then they are doing it for the wrong reasons!

Take pains, brothers and sisters, to make sure that all that we do points to Him and Him alone!

Amen?

Let us pray