God Leaves Himself a Witness

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Introductory information

Paul and Barnabas have been on their first missionary journey since Acts 13 traveling across Cyprus and southern Turkey

Now in a town called Lystra, Paul had just healed a man who had been lame since birth (covered in the last lesson)

It was an incredible miracle, very similar to the one that had stunned the crowds in Acts 3 with Peter and John

We are about to see how the people in Lystra respond to this miracle...

READ

Question to consider as we read:

Why do we miss what God is doing?

Acts 14:11–20 CSB

11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice. 14 The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting, 15 “People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way, 17 although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them. 19 Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. 20 After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

EXAMINE

What are the key points in this passage?

#1 | The people responded to the miracle out of their habits and traditions

They were used to attributing the power of God to lesser beings, like the greek gods (1)

Acts 14:11–13 “When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted... “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ...[they] brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.”

The Greek religion was based on gods that were more like humans - they lied, cheated, were selfish, were flippant, could be tricked and thwarted, etc.

When the people saw a miraculous healing, their instinct was to assume Paul and Barnabas were the some of the Greek gods

They totally failed to connect what Paul had been preaching about God, to the event they just witnessed

#2 | Paul and Barnabas point the people higher

They try to get the people to understand how different and unique God truly is

Acts 14:15 “People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.”

God isn’t like a human - weak, flawed, selfish, limited, etc.

God isn’t like their limited gods - who only ruled certain aspects of the world - God made the whole world and reigns supreme over everyone and everything in it

They try to help the people understand that God had been revealing Himself to them

Acts 14:16–17 “In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way, although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.”

Any good things or blessings in life that people experience, are God’s “bread crumbs” meant to lead them back to Him

But these people, like many others, had continued to attribute the blessings of God to lesser things that fit within their understanding, and frankly, within their control

Consider Romans 1:20–23 “For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.”

It was a change of perspective that was difficult to make

Acts 14:18 Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

We can see ourselves in the Lycaonian people

We become so accustomed to understanding the world a certain way, that it blinds us to what God is doing and how He is revealing himself - and it’s difficult to change

#3 | Paul and Barnabas’ hardships and rejection keeps intensifying (2)

The Jews who had rejected and fought against Paul and Barnabas in the previous two cities, followed them here

Acts 14:19 “Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.”

Paul and Barnabas refuse to let the resistance and persecution turn them back

Acts 14:20 “After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.”

APPLY

Explore and apply the passage with these questions:

[These questions must be focused, yet very open-ended. Allow the conversation to go where people take it - we want to encourage everyone to share and explore the topics of the passage. You don’t have to ask all these questions. Sometimes a group may only get through one or two questions. Select the questions you think are right for the conversation. Then, as it comes time to wrap up, refocus the conversation to “land the plane.”]

How are we guilty of the same mistakes the Lycaonians were making? i.e. attributing the work of God to lesser things we can understand?

Why are people inclined to worship “lesser gods” (i.e. things they can relate to) instead of God?

How can we learn to see where God has “left Himself a witness” - both in our lives and the lives of others?

Where we want to “land the plane”

We must correct the “Lycaonian error” in their own lives, so we are ready to help others see where God has “left Himself a witness” in their lives.

REFLECT

Prayer Points for Today

Ask the Lord for a revelation of His work in our lives and the lives of others

Devotional Question for the Week

One of the reasons humanity has historically been drawn to idolatry is because a god of our own making, is a god that we can control. How might a desire for control be causing you to miss where God is at work in your life?

FOOTNOTES

The response of the Lycaonian folk was one of pagan credulity. Because the people spoke in their native language, Paul and Barnabas could not understand what they were saying. Attributing deity to Barnabas and Paul probably can be traced to a legend about Zeus and Hermes visiting an aged Lystrian couple named Philemon and Baucis, who were abundantly rewarded for their hospitality. Zeus was the chief god and Hermes the messenger equivalent to the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury, respectively. Why then would Barnabas be referred to as Zeus when Paul was the leader? The answer is that Paul was the spokesman and would therefore be called Hermes and Barnabas, the more retiring of the two, would be seen as Zeus, the dignified, behind-the-scenes god. Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 391–392. The fact that they called out in Lycaonian on this occasion is mentioned by Luke for two reasons: first, Paul and Barnabas recognized that this language (though they did not understand it) was different from the Phrygian speech which they had heard on the lips of the indigenous population of Pisidian Antioch and Iconium; second, the crowd’s use of Lycaonian explains why Paul and Barnabas did not grasp what was afoot until the preparations to pay them divine honors were well advanced. F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 274.

Once again some Jews proved to be enemies of the gospel of grace, and turned the crowd, which had just tried to make Paul and Barnabas gods, against them so they stoned Paul. This is the second of five times a crowd was incited because of Paul’s ministry (cf. 13:50; 16:19–22; 17:5–8, 13; 19:25–34). Whether or not Paul was dead is not stated; probably he was unconscious and at death’s door (cf. 2 Cor. 12:2–4). At any rate his recovery was so rapid as to be miraculous. The reference to Paul’s stoning (2 Cor. 11:25) undoubtedly had this incident in view (cf. 2 Tim. 3:11). Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 392.