Participants: Jim & Mark Howard
Series Code: ABOTB
Program Code: ABOTB00016B
00:02 Welcome back to Books of the Book.
00:03 Before the break we were looking here in Acts chapter 14 at a 00:08 miraculous story of healing by the Apostle Paul in the city of 00:13 Lystra. You know, Mark, we read through this story but there are 00:18 a couple points that are very important to take a look at. 00:23 In verse 9, it says that when this lame man, this cripple who 00:27 was crippled from his mother's womb heard Paul speaking, Paul 00:32 observed him intently. Now first of all, this kind of speaks to 00:38 the fact that Paul is always watching and looking for the 00:41 heart of his hearers, looking for the response of those, 00:44 that's right, looking for signs of conviction, looking for those 00:48 who may be open to the truth that he's sharing. And he looks, 00:52 and he's observing this crippled man intently and it says that 00:56 from an observation, it says, And seeing that he had faith to 01:01 be healed said with a loud voice Isn't that fascinating. He's 01:06 speaking and the Bible says... 01:08 Sometimes you get the impression in the New Testament that it's 01:11 up to the apostles who they heal. I'm going to pick this guy 01:14 I'll pick this guy and I'll just heal them but... 01:16 That's right. But it didn't seem that way. He was intently 01:19 looking and he saw probably from the words that he was speaking 01:23 and the openness that he could see, perhaps the longing eyes of 01:28 wanting something better and he was looking at this man... 01:31 Perhaps tears in his eyes as he heard about Christ and his 01:35 crucifixion... And it says he saw that he had 01:39 faith to be healed. It makes me think of a story in the gospels. 01:43 I want to look at a story in the gospel of Luke and chapter 5 01:47 where it says the same thing about Jesus. If you look in Luke 01:53 chapter 5 and verse 17. It says, Now it happened on a certain day 01:59 as he was teaching that there were Pharisees and teachers of 02:02 the law sitting by who had come out of every town of Galilee, 02:06 Judea and Jerusalem and the power of the Lord was present 02:10 to heal them. Then behold men brought on a bed a man who was 02:14 paralyzed whom they sought to bring in and lay before him. 02:17 And when they could not find out how they might bring him in 02:21 because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him 02:25 down with his bed through the tiling in the midst before Jesus 02:29 So here you see this paralytic and he's got four friends who 02:33 see that Jesus is an opportunity for him to be healed and so they 02:38 come to the home and there's no room for them. There's too big 02:41 of a crowd and you would think that they would walk away, that 02:44 that would be it. We can't get in, there's no way to get in. 02:49 But they had such confidence that Jesus could heal and they 02:53 had such desperation in a sense that the only hope for this 02:57 paralytic was Jesus that they climbed up on the roof and they 03:01 removed some of the tiles and they lowered the man down and 03:05 the Bible says in the next verse in verse 20, When he (that is 03:10 Jesus) saw their faith... You know we think of faith as an 03:16 internal belief, but it is visible when acted out in our 03:21 life and Jesus could tell by the fact that these men went to such 03:27 pains to bring this man in. He knew that they must believe that 03:31 he was able to heal. And faith, if it is real and genuine, will 03:36 always lead someone to action and we see that all throughout 03:40 the Bible. And here we see it in this story where Paul observes 03:44 that this man had faith to be healed. We don't know exactly 03:48 what it looked like but we know that it can be seen, it can be 03:51 visible because we saw that in the story of Jesus. But after he 03:54 heals him and he's walking and leaping just like the man did 03:57 in Acts chapter 3, it's fascinating to me that these 04:02 Gentiles in Lystra say the gods have come down to us in the 04:07 likeness of men. The gods have come down to us in the likeness 04:12 of men. It's the gospel even though they didn't understand 04:17 it. In fact, Jesus is God and Jesus did come in the likeness 04:23 of men. They almost say it in a disbelieving way and yet we know 04:29 that it's true that Jesus did come in the likeness of men. 04:33 But unfortunately the record says... 04:35 Well you know, Jim, it makes me think of Daniel chapter 2 when 04:41 the magicians of Nebuchadnezzar when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream 04:45 and he wanted to know the dream they said the only one who 04:49 knows the dream are the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh 04:53 In other words, for them the gods don't have anything... 04:56 You know we are not worthy of their notice. 04:59 That's right, that's right. And we recognize that even for those 05:03 who were understanding of the true God that the Bible says in 05:08 John chapter 1 and verse 11 that he came to his own but his own 05:12 received him not. So God did come to his own and this is a 05:18 primary distinction between true Christianity and all false 05:23 religions and these were pagans. They had understanding of false 05:27 religion which gives you a sense that if you want to be accepted 05:32 by the gods you need to go to them. You need to somehow 05:38 improve your behavior to be brought into their favor or, as 05:44 you remember when the prophets of Baal danced around the altar 05:49 on that day when Elijah stood on Mt. Carmel, that they were 05:53 crying out to the gods and cutting themselves thinking that 05:57 they had to do something that would show their dedication and 06:01 sacrifice in order to cause the gods to look favorably upon 06:05 them. And you look at the different religions of the world 06:10 Islam and the eastern religions Hinduism and the like. The 06:15 deities involved all are seeking for humanity to do something to 06:21 gain favor, whereas in Christianity God did come, God 06:26 did come in the likeness of a man. He came after us instead of 06:30 us having to reach after him. 06:31 And we see that actually picked up as in the response of the 06:35 apostles. In verse 14 it says, When the apostles, Barnabas and 06:39 Paul, heard this they tore their clothes and ran in among the 06:42 multitude. Now this was a Jewish custom of tearing the clothes 06:46 which was expressing rending the heart, deep, intense anguish and 06:51 in this part it says, They ran among the multitude crying out 06:56 saying, Men why are you doing these things. We also are men 07:02 with the same nature as you and preached to you that you should 07:07 turn from these useless things to the living God who made the 07:12 heaven, the earth, the sea and all things that are in them. 07:17 Now first of all, I think back just a few chapters where Peter 07:21 was delivered from prison and the angel touched him and woke 07:24 him up. And at the same time the angel touched Herod and struck 07:29 him. Herod was vaunting himself and the people said, He is a god 07:33 and how men like that praise. What an honor. But Paul and 07:37 Barnabas are not looking for that. They're wanting to direct 07:42 the attention to the God of heaven and they bring a few 07:44 interesting things up about him. First of all, he is the living 07:48 God, not like these other gods. He made the heaven, the earth, 07:51 the sea and all things that are in them. That's characteristic. 07:54 He's the creator God. Then it's interesting in verse 16 he says, 07:58 Who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in 08:02 their own ways. Nevertheless, he did not leave himself without 08:07 witness in that he did good, gave us rain from heaven and 08:10 fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness 08:12 and with these things they could scarcely restrain the multitudes 08:16 from sacrificing to them. Now I just want to touch on that. 08:20 God allowed the nations to walk in their own ways. God never 08:24 forced anybody to serve him, but he always left a witness of 08:28 himself and notice what he says, He gave us rain, fruitful 08:32 seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness. 08:33 It's interesting that there are many people today who say well 08:36 I can't believe in God because of all the evil in the world. 08:39 Well what about the good in the world? What about the blessings? 08:44 You know, if we're going to tag God out because of the evil then 08:48 we've got to give him the same credit for the blessings and 08:50 what the Bible is saying here is... And the fact of the matter 08:53 is the Bible tells us that he's not the author of the evil, but 08:56 he is the author of the blessings, of every good and 08:58 perfect gift. The apostles say here that he did not leave 09:02 himself without witness. We've got the evidence of his 09:06 creatorship, we've got the evidence in the good that we see 09:09 in the rain, the providence we have, the food on our tables, 09:13 etc., that the Lord is seeking to bless and wanting to draw us 09:17 to himself. You know, I see in that verse 09:19 also, in verse 16, Who in bygone generations allowed all nations 09:22 to walk in their own ways, but you get the sense that he's 09:25 saying, But not anymore. I mean the gospel is going to the 09:29 Gentiles now and there's this clear sense that there's a 09:34 message coming that they need to now respond to. He's allowed 09:37 them in bygone generations, but now the times have changed. 09:40 That's right. And of course they are just not pleased with this 09:44 message. So much so, it says, that they take... Having 09:47 persuaded the multitudes, it says, the Jews from Antioch 09:50 and Iconium came there and persuaded the multitudes and 09:52 they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing him to 09:56 be dead. Wow! That's incredible! You know 09:59 you look here in verse 18. It says that they could scarcely 10:03 restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them and yet 10:07 these Jews come down and stir up the crowd again. This is a 10:12 continual theme. And they persuade the multitudes, so much 10:17 so that they stoned Paul and dragged him supposing him to be 10:21 dead. I mean that's miraculous. In verse 20 it says, However 10:25 when the disciples gathered around him, as if to say, Oh our 10:29 beloved Paul is gone It says, He rose up and went, where? Back to 10:34 the city. I can't even believe it. It says, And the next day he 10:38 departed with Barnabas to Derbe. Business as usual. I mean it's 10:43 incredible in verse 20. He is stoned, dragged out, and he goes 10:47 back in just for good measure before he leaves the next day. 10:50 Just say I wasn't intimidated by it. I'm moving on. I've got a 10:54 mission. So in verse 23 it takes us on to the fact that, it says, 10:58 They appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting 11:01 we saw that earlier in chapter 13 when he and Barnabas were 11:04 sent out with prayer and fasting They commended them to the Lord. 11:07 They moved on through Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga, Italia and 11:11 then they come back to their home church in Antioch, report 11:14 what's happened and the Bible says there they stayed for a 11:17 long time with the disciples. And so they complete that first 11:20 missionary journey and what a powerful ministry. 11:24 Amen, amen. You know there's a couple verses that we passed 11:26 over there that we need to focus on there as we bring this to a 11:29 close. In verse 21 it says, And when they had preached the 11:33 gospel to that city, okay, Derbe and made many disciples, they 11:38 returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch strengthening the souls 11:42 of the disciples. Now at first reading that just sounds kind of 11:47 like a common verse. They returned to Lystra, Iconium and 11:51 Antioch. But look at where they actually returned. You look at 11:56 chapter 13, verse 50. That's Antioch. After Antioch it says 12:00 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and 12:03 the chief men of the city and raised up persecution against 12:07 Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. So they 12:10 are going back to Antioch where they were expelled from. Then 12:14 if you look at chapter 14 verse 5, it talks about what happened 12:18 at the end of Iconium. And when a violent attempt was made by 12:21 both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone 12:25 them they became aware of it. So back in Iconium there was a 12:29 plot to abuse and stone them. They went back there. And then 12:32 if you look at verse 19 of chapter 14, we just read it. 12:36 The Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having 12:39 persuaded them they stoned him. So these three places where they 12:43 were clearly kicked out or stoned or plotted against are 12:47 the exact placed that Paul went back to. And that's why it says 12:51 in verse 22, there, Strengthening the souls of the 12:54 disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying 12:58 we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom 13:01 of God. Wow! You know, the thing I like about the Apostle Paul is 13:06 he practiced what he preached. He said, you know what? It's 13:09 through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of 13:14 God. And friends as we look at this passage in Acts chapter 14 13:19 and we think about the difficulties that we experience 13:22 and the challenges in our own Christian life, we have to 13:25 remember that they are all preparing us. That tribulation 13:29 is producing perseverance and character and hope and we can 13:32 be sure that God will see us through just like he did the 13:35 Apostle Paul. We'll see you next time on Books of the Book. |
Revised 2014-12-17