35. Wrong Worship!
Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsWorship belongs to God alone, we reserve none for ourselves.
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Lesson
Lesson
Vs. 8-10
Vs. 8-10
Recap
Paul and Barnabas fled away from Iconium, where do they find themselves in vs. 8? (Lystra)
Map of Lystra
- Hilly country surrounded by mountains
- Small country town
- Military post for the Roman army (One guy says it was like the retirement place for Romans)
- Timothy’s hometown
- No Synagogue, predominantly Gentile. There was a pretty heavy Greek influence there. And if you’ve heard anything about Greek Mythology, the gods in their beliefs are pretty immoral, plus there’s plenty to chose from.
Our scene is set here in Lystra with a guy that’s familiar to earlier passages in Acts…
Paul and Barnabas meet a men in vs. 8, what’s wrong with him? (Crippled, feet don’t work. This guy never walked in his life…)
8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.
Parents realize the baby has been crawling for suspiciously long…
This guy is sitting near Paul and Barnabas wherever they were, probably in a public square. And he’s listening to Paul speak… things are clicking in his mind, and he’s really liking what he’s hearing.
His eyes are locked onto Paul, and every word of Paul’s he is soaking right in.
9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,
What does Paul notice in vs. 9? (The man had faith he could be healed)
Can we see faith? Am I able to take a peek into Felicia’s soul? “Oh yeah, she’s got faith!” (No, we cannot see peoples souls, so we have to figure out what’s going on here)
Does our body language have a way of showing what’s on the inside? (YES!)
How might that look like? (Eyes locked, nodding, not distracted)
Maybe this is what told Paul this man had faith to be healed.
So, what does Paul do in vs. 10? (Get up!)
10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked.
Stand up straight on his what? (His feet! The exact thing that was crippled!)
Pretty amazing stuff…Once again someone is healed.
If you’re in that crowd, who do you recognize ultimately did this miracle? (God)
But most didn’t see it that way…
Vs. 11-13
Vs. 11-13
How did the crowd react in vs. 11? (Worship them)
11 Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”
Picture the scene…
- Public square…maybe by the temple
- See the miracle, faces shocked
- People chattering
- Someone speaks up in the native language, “THE GODS HAVE COME DOWN AMONG US!”
- You know what that sounded like to Paul and Barnabas though? (Speak gibberish)
- Paul and Barnabas are a bit confused but keep going…
They only clued into what was happening two verses later…
These people are going bonkers thinking they’re in the presence of gods.
Ewoks & C-3PO
They’ve figured out which guy is which god, what gods do they think are Paul and Barnabas in vs. 12? (Zeus & Hermes)
12 And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
Why do they think Paul was Hermes? (Chief speaker, which makes total sense…)
Why do they think Barnabas was Zeus? (We don’t really know. Zeus was the chief god, he was the one who supposedly created all things)
They may have thought this because of Barnabas’ build; tall & dignified… Maybe? Not sure.
Regardless, as soon as they believe these two are gods, they waste no time. In vs. 13,
13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.
Everyone went straight to worship who they thought were gods. There’s an amazing story that I think motivaded these Gentiles to worship them.
In these pagan religions, the gods were mean and incredibly selfish. There’s a myth told that one day, the gods descended to earth disguised as mortal men looking for hospitality. They asked at 1000 homes, yet no one let them in.
Everyone rejected the gods except for one poor couple (Philemon and Baucis). They welcomed them into their cottage made of straw and reeds and prepared a banquet for them with whatever little ressources they had. The gods rewarded them for their kindness, transforming their house into a beautiful temple and making them the guards of it.
And instead of dying, this old couple became an oak tree and a Linden tree. They punished everyone who denied them by destroying their houses with an awful flood.
This story had to be in the back of their minds. Here is Paul and Barnabas, two men who just did a miracle. They must be the gods come down in human form.
With that story in mind, why would they want to make sure they worshipped Paul and Barnabas? (Save their skin!)
They didn’t want to recreate what the others did in the past. So, to save their skin from another flood, they immediately worship Paul and Barnabas.
This scene is so interesting!
I imagine Paul continued speaking to the people even though they were frantically speaking in their own language.
- Crowds make room
- Hear the noise of loaded carts
- See a priest dressed up in garments…
- Behind him a bunch of carts carrying oxen draped in wreaths and things used for sacrifices.
- Paul and Barnabas pause for a second. “Hey, do you have an idea what this is all about?” “No, not really. There must be some sort of festival going on in town.” This is when it dawns on them, “UH OH! THEY’RE COMING FOR US!!!”
Vs. 14-15
Vs. 14-15
How do Paul and Barnabas react to all this in vs. 14? (Tear their clothes)
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out
Why would they tear their clothes? Like soccer players after a goal, “YEAH! Look at me!!”
We see this happening a lot in the Old Testament, people tore their garments and wept in sackloth and ashes… What did that mean?
Tearing clothes..
Sign of mourning
29 Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
Distress
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
Protest against perceived blasphemy
63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?
This is their way to repudiate the worship given to them. They’re showing everyone that they clearly don’t accept the worship and want them to stop immediately.
What would’ve been the easy thing to do if you were worshipped? (Take it)
Herod did that exact thing, then he was eaten up by worms!
15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
How does Paul prove his humility here in front of these people? (We are just like you)
What would your average pharisee have said? (I am better than you, I deserve a bit of praise)
But Paul’s desire was that the people would worship God alone.
Not only that, but he says,
15and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God,
“Guys, we’re just like you, and we’re here to tell you to stop false worship, not do it!!”
3 For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.
4 But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel,
The purpose!
even so we speak, not as pleasing men,
Pleasing who? (men)
but God who tests our hearts.
5 For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness.
Vs. 16-18
Vs. 16-18
Paul talks about the goodness of God in creation at the end of vs. 15. He made the earth, the sea, everything there is.
And verse 16 we get God’s mercy…
16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.
And then verse 17 we get God’s goodness again.
17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
This serves as a sharp contrast to the peoples gods and goddesses!
What were Greek gods like? (Cruel, selfish, immoral)
God cares for all people, He provides for them.
Creation itself is a witness to all of us of the goodness and mercy of God. Romans 1 shares that creation reveals God’s wrath, His invisible attributes, and even His eternal; power and Godhead. Nobody has an excuse when it comes to belief, we all have proof right before our eyes that God is real.
All that is to say to the Gentiles, you have no excuse anymore, “I’ve come to witness to you, so be careful how you receive this message!”
Even after all this, how did the crowd react in vs. 18?
18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.
They could barely keep them away!
Vs. 19-20
Vs. 19-20
But then the Jews from Antioch and Iconium come around…
Iconium to Lystra = 40 km
Antioch to Lystra = 145km
Just one verse ago the people were about ready to worship Paul and Barnabas. And now look at what they were about to do in vs. 19…
19 and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
Talk about a flakey croud!
20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
He gets up amazingly…
Were there consequences for Paul not accepting the peoples worship? (Absolutely! But it was worth it. God alone is to be worshipped)
Application
Application
God alone deserves worship
When people praise us, we cannot keep that for ourselves
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