Acts 14:19-28

Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

Verse 19

The same angry mob in Iconium from verses 5-6 make the journey of more than 100 miles that Paul and Barnabas just did to persuade/win over the multitudes to join in their hate and violence. It wasn’t enough for them to kick Paul and Barnabas out of their region, they wanted to make sure everyone else was as mad at them as they were. We might call it an early form of cancel culture.
So they stoned Paul and dragged him outside of the city.
Do you know what the word fickle means?
Fickle = : marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness
One minute these people from Lystra are ready to make sacrifices to worship Paul & Barnabas as Zeus and Hermes and the next they are killing Paul simply because a group of people who hated Jesus and the gospel preached by Paul and Barnabas and thus also hated Paul and Barnabas and want to see Paul killed for preaching Jesus.
Many believe that Paul is talking about this very experience in 2 Corinthians when he says...
2 Corinthians 12:1–4 NKJV
1 It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
He goes on to say...
2 Corinthians 12:7–10 NKJV
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
BTW that word thorn is far less than a thorn from a bush and in the Greek is much more like a tent stake. The idea is that this thorn wasn’t a slight inconvenience that Paul dealt with from time to time, but rather a constant painful reminder.
This has led many Bible scholars and teachers throughout history to believe that the thorn was an injury or injuries that Paul sustained during the stoning that brought with it a permanent physical pain and infirmity for the rest of his life.
We don’t know for sure since Paul doesn’t specify, but it sure sounds like the event he record there in 2 Corinthians 12 is in reference to this event.
Paul also said...
Galatians 6:17 NKJV
17 From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
And he referenced this event directly in...
2 Corinthians 11:25 NKJV
25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

Verse 20

I love this!
Notice who is gathered around Paul! The disciples. - Who are they?
They are a combination of the company that came with Paul and Barnabas and those who had believed upon Jesus at their preaching.
Even in the midst of the confusion about Paul and Barnabas being Hermes and Zeus & the lies from the Jews that followed them from Iconium to cause this stoning, the Holy Spirit still captured the hearts of many to make them free from paganism so that they are now disciples!
In regards to Paul rising up some will say that all that occurred was that Paul had been knocked unconscious by a rock and then woke up.
I don't see how that could be the case though.
Don’t forget we had an angry mob that is dead set on killing Paul for preaching the gospel that they rejected. A message that at it’s core is offensive to those who don’t believe it.
That many angry men all throwing rocks in a fit of rage would not stop until Paul was dead. They would not stop even after the person they were stoning fell on he ground and looked to be passed out.
I've seen video footage of a stoning in the middle east that would make you sick and I can tell you that there was no stopping even long after death had occurred!
Paul rising up was every bit as much a miracle as the man who was without strength in his feet from his mothers womb who had never walked from verse 8 who by faith was miraculously healed in verse 10.
It was every bit as miraculous as the man at the gate beautiful who was lame from birth that Peter by faith grabbed by the hand and lifted up and the Bible say that man "leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple (for the first time) with them...walking, leaping, and praising God (Acts 3:8)
Once Paul is revived he doesn’t limp or run the other way he simply goes back into the city he was stoned in and dragged out of and the next day after he has had time to pack and give instruction to the church in Lystra he and Barnabas set off for Derbe to continue with their mission trip knowing that the people there needed to hear about Jesus and that they had been separated unto the Lord and called by Him to bring the gospel to those people.
Was is interesting to note is that on Paul’s 2nd missionary journey he returns to Lystra and picks up a young man named Timothy. We wonder if Timothy saw the stoning or at least saw Paul as he went back into the city that day...
Acts 16:1–3 NKJV
1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.
So Paul was raised up and healed and filled with boldness to the point of walking right back into town and that would only further the gospel message he and his companions were preaching!
That's what you call preaching and witnessing with power! Just like Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1:8!
Acts 1:8 NKJV
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
So now Paul and Barnabas leave Lystra and head about 58 miles southeast to Derbe which is the last stop before backtracking through the places they hit on the way out returning to the Antioch they left from in the beginning of Chapter 13.

Verses 21-22

Notice that the work they were separated and sent out to do is continuing to be accomplished through the power (dunamis) of the Holy Spirit despite the last 3 cities which treated Paul and Barnabas poorly.
Now they go back through all the places that you or I might want to avoid.
Remember that:
In Lystra - Paul was stoned and left for dead
In Iconium - Paul and Barnabas were warned about violence planned against them and they got outta there just in time.
In Antioch - they were kicked out of town after a great persecution rose against them
Paul would later write to young Timothy that we will meet in chapter 16 who is in Lystra in regard to the way people will act in the days that it sure seems to me we are living in, and what we are to hold onto in the midst of it - the Word.
2 Timothy 3:10–17 NKJV
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
No wonder Paul says what he did to the churches in verse 22! He had personal experience in that area already!
Before we get to that exhortation please take note of why Paul and Barnabas went back through those cities and regions.
They went to:
strengthen the souls of the disciples, by giving them exhortation.
Exhorting is sort of an instructive encouragement.
You see Paul and Barnabas weren’t just out trying to get people saved and then leave town. They were out fulfilling the great commission which Jesus gave to all of us. That great commission included evangelism and discipleship....
Matthew 28:18–20 NKJV
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
But notice with all of that being said what words Paul used to exhort these new Christians...
Paul exhorted them by saying...
“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God”
Aren’t you glad Paul was honest and direct and not like the majority of preachers on TV!
Too many preachers try to make the gospel a sales pitch. That sales pitch essentially says that if a person will come to Christ they will have nothing but good days, lots of money, good health and everything in their life will just be great and they’ll never have any trouble in life.
The problem with that is that when the new believer has their first bad day or first trial or first spiritual battle they either think t=something is wrong with their faith or wonder whether they were ever saved at all or else they get mad at God because they were told everything would be good and never difficult or bad.

Verse 23

Notice the love and concern that Paul and Barnabas have for all those new disciples of Jesus Christ!
1st - they appoint elders in every church Why?
For longevity of course - a church can't exist very long without leadership or it will get weird or out of control.
Some would question weather it was a safe or smart thing for Paul and Barnabas to appoint such young believers in Jesus Christ as elders, but those who would question that weren't there and have no idea what the Lord revealed to them Paul and Barnabas as they prayed and fasted.
Also these weren't just completely immature believers, these were committed followers of Christ Jesus!
How do I know that? - They continued in grace to follow Christ even after seeing the way Paul and Barnabas were treated because of Jesus
2nd - they prayed and fasted and that shows us that they didn't just haphazardly do this on the way through town, they were totally committed to Jesus and being fully led by the Holy Spirit.
3rd - They commended or entrusted them to the Lord Jesus because that's who they were disciples of.
Paul and Barnabas weren't making disciples of themselves - if that was their goal they would not have stopped the people in Lystra from worshipping them.
They were fully committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ alone, and they were content with His ability to grow and keep those new disciples.

Verses 24-26

Map slide
Now Paul and Barnabas had completed their first missionary journey taking the good news of Jesus the Christ/Messiah to the Gentile regions and have made it back to their home church of Antioch in Syria!

Verses 27-28

I love that the report they give is of the beautiful work God did and not all about their hardships!
PERSPECTIVE!
Paul would later tell the church in Philippi
Philippians 3:12–14 NKJV
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Altar Call
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more