ACTS CHAPTER 14
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Act 14,1-21
(143d) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >>
The public >> Paul ministered publicly
Act 14,1-7
(100b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perseverance >> Persevere in preaching the
gospel -- These verses go with verses 19&20
(149d) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Compel them to come in >> Forceful persuasion –
Evangelism may be the most spiritual act we can do in this life. However,
there must be many things in place before evangelism can be effective,
beginning with the evangelist himself and extending all the way back to the
Church. We can’t have a broken-down church where the evangelist sends the
converts, because they won’t be properly fed and they will fall away from
the faith. At the same time, a healthy church is wasting its time sending
evangelists who are ill-prepared for the ministry. Therefore, much order must
be in the Church before people
can be saved. As it is, people are out of place; they’re
not fulfilling their ministry; whole bricks are missing making gaping holes in the
wall, and the bricks present are haphazardly placed atop each
other, and there is no mortar between them; the anointing is missing. God intends to fix all these
problems before He returns. He will do it in His way and in His time, which
will accompany great glory and profound achievement, so
millions of people will be saved. We could never squeeze them through the door
of the current Church, and nobody could have ever predicted it or even
imagined it until it happens. A Great Endtime Revival is coming that will restore
God's people, starting with their doctrines. See also: Great Endtime Revival (Harvest at the end of the age);
Rom 10,16-21; 223j
(242k)
Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Reacting to persecution >> Enduring
persecution – Perhaps a minor reason for God allowing
persecution was that Saul once persecuted the Church just as the Jews were
persecuting him. In fact he persecuted the Church at a time when no one else
dared, because they saw that God was protecting His people, such as bailing
out Peter from jail, performing miracles and humiliating and
perplexing their enemies. Although Saul knew the scriptures well
enough, yet in his mind Christianity could not
possibly be of God, but he was wrong. His misguided confidence
led him to persecute the Church. The bigger reason God allowed Saul
and the Jews to persecute the Church was that God had given man a will, and
people can do what they want; they can even persecute
His gospel. This is how much God respects our will; He respects us more than
we respect ourselves, being partly how He defines us as being made in His image. His gospel will go forth knowing that
all forms of resistance
will not amount to a drop in a bucket against His gospel and kingdom going
forward. The Jews may have been hindering Paul and his ministry, but their net
effect was negligible within the span of 2000 years.
Act 14,1-4
(24i) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Jews are envious of
the gospel
Act 14,1-3
(20m) Sin >>
Disobedience >>
Demonstrating unbelief in the validity of God’s word
(111h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Kingdom of God revealed >>
Word plus signs and wonders -- These verses go with verses 8-10.
Almost
everyone has met somebody who said something like this: ‘If I see a
miracle, then I will believe in God.’ Actually, what Paul and Barnabas were
doing was miraculous, speaking by the power of the
Holy Spirit with a charisma that was undeniable. They had such a persuasive
influence that their hearers could hardly deny the faith presented to them. Not just what they said, but the way they spoke
was actually more convincing than any miracle. The word of God, the
Bible we hold in our hand, is a miracle. With so many forces against it Satan
should have disposed of it centuries ago, but he couldn’t defeat the hedge
of protection that God placed around His word. Therefore, the words themselves
that Paul and Barnabas spoke to the crowd were miraculous, but they also spoke
by a Spirit that many of them had no choice but to believe. Con artists and telemarketers
hone their skills to a fine edge to
relieve people of their wealth. They get a
thrill from talking people out of their money, but the motive of Paul and
Barnabas was to win souls to the Kingdom of God, and they too got a thrill
from leading people to Jesus, the Holy
Spirit confirming that angels were rejoicing in heaven over those
who were being saved.
(117d) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >>
Let Him work on your circumstances
(123a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Boldness to speak the
word by the Spirit –
"Faith" is a gift that we receive from God, whereas confidence is an
expression of that gift that is linked to boldness.
The difference between them is, for example, the con artist tries to finesse
people into a lie, whereas boldness believes in Jesus with a belligerent confidence, showing
our enemies that nothing will ever dissuade us from our faith, holding the connotation of tenacity that those who don’t believe are
exposed as unbelievers in their own beliefs. Boldness tends to bowl over its
opponents and conveys to them that no matter
what they do, they will have no effect on our faith or our efforts to spread
the gospel of Christ, and that their unbelief is intrinsically wrong.
(240i) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Taking away the key
of knowledge >> Hindering people from entering
the kingdom
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Act 14-1
(121l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Confidence >>
Confidence in God >> Confidence in God as you
fulfill your ministry – Paul and Barnabas
could fill an auditorium and convince
the majority to believe in Jesus. It says they believed; that is, they didn’t have an altar call, nor did they sing any songs or lower
their voices and get somber to set the mood; they just preached Jesus and many
believed the message. He spoke to them with a confidence that the people had
never heard. Their confidence came from an anointing that convinced people of
the gospel by the truth and by their manner of speech.
(139g) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> We build the
temple through Christ – The synagogue was like a store,
and the people were raw materials, bricks of the temple that God would assemble
to make the Church of Iconium. Preaching Jesus to them and educating them in the ways of
God is the process of organizing the bricks, smearing mortar on them,
representative of the anointing to form the temple. Evangelism is the transport company that drives to a certain location and picks up a load of
bricks and hauls them to the construction site. Before the truck comes, the
shipment must be arranged by the logistics officer, the Holy Spirit, and paid
in advance by the blood of Christ, so when the truck arrives, the driver’s
only job is to back to the dock and offload his bricks. The Father
orchestrated Paul and Barnabas to come to the synagogue and preach Jesus to a large audience,
and many were saved. Paul said in
Col 1-13,14, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred
us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins.” Unity shines through His people who were once constituents of
the world, until they were transformed into bricks, designated for a certain place in
His temple. Paul and Barnabas physically stepped into the synagogue
and preached Jesus to the people, being the work of men, who anticipated doing
the
work of God.
(210j) Salvation
>>
Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles
included >> Fellow heirs with Israel (Spiritual Jew) >>
God welcomes the Gentiles to the promise of Israel -- This verse goes with
verse 14
(238b) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to
the Church >>
Born again >> Born of the Spirit by the will of
man –
The way Scripture speaks, those who believed were spiritually transformed
so they were no longer the same people. They didn’t just change their
minds but were converted. This is what it means to believe in Jesus: there is
both an immediate internal transformation and there is a life-long external
transformation that attempts to mimic the changes that happen internally. The
hearers of the gospel don’t just believe; they also receive the indwelling
Holy Spirit, and by that became new people. They are now people in possession of eternal life, and that change
will transform them from the inside-out. This transformation will never end
until their temporal life ends and they are taken to heaven, and their
transformation will be complete at the First Resurrection.
Act 14,2-7
(232a) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >>
Count the cost >> Don’t look back >>
Don’t look back to the past -- These verses go with verses 19-21
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Act 14,2-6
(163f) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used
by Satan to destroy the word of God >> Used to
destroy the mouthpiece of God -- These verses go with verse 19
Act 14-2,3
(7e) Responsibility
>>
Protecting the gospel >> God defends His own
word – These verses go with verses 19-21
(146k) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs
And Wonders >> Get peoples’ attention to hear
the word – The apostles and leaders of
the Church didn't
go around performing miracles at will, but God granted them,
suggesting there were other times when they didn't perform miracles. God
always has His reasons for performing miracles, who always seeks to
glorify Himself by spreading the gospel of Christ that more may be saved.
Healing the person is secondary; if He will not receive glory
for the miracles, He simply will not grant them, trusting that Paul and
Barnabas would use the miracles to point people's attention to Christ and not
to themselves. God cared
about the people who lived in the regions of Iconium and Lystra; He wanted
them to believe the message of the gospel and receive Christ,
so He allowed these miracles to furnish proof that Paul and Barnabas were
telling them the truth that people
can be forgiven their sin, receive eternal life and live with God forever in heaven.
Act 14-2
(18i) Sin >>
Twisted thinking >> Unable to distinguish between good and evil >> God’s
purpose is evil – The
previous chapter spoke about the
unbelieving Jews persecuting the gospel from jealousy. It is virtually impossible to persecute something they didn't
believe; they
knew the gospel was true but refused to believe it, condemning their
own hearts, and since they rejected it, they didn't want the gentiles to
have it either. They were in denial, refusing to accept the fact that these
things were written in their Old Testament manuscripts that they read every
week and claimed to
believe with all their hearts. They made decisions for people,
hindering some and persecuting others, yet God did little to stop them. They compartmentalized
their mind, partitioning the truth from their
consciousness, placing themselves in a closet and closing and locking the
door behind them with key in hand, essentially placing themselves under
house arrest just to avoid the truth. We know they knew the truth, because
they persecuted Paul for preaching it. Offbeat beliefs, ideas and sects
often emerged from Judaism, but
they didn't get this excited over them, but they hated Christianity because they
knew it was of God, and they figured they had already turned down the wrong
road when they crucified the Lord, not knowing God would still forgive them
if they just humbled their pride, and they could be cleansed of their sin, but they just couldn't believe it.
Therefore, they rejected Christ and persecuted the Church based on guilt.
Act 14-3,4
(219g)
Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >>
God chooses us as we choose ourselves >> God chooses us as we fulfill His
calling – The people were seeing signs and wonders
performed in their midst, yet they were divided. It seems that seeing a miracle
would end every dispute and cause people to line up to be saved, but it
doesn’t work that way. They were more convinced about their own thoughts than they
were about any supporting evidence to the contrary. They were incredulous and
suspicious and lived by the saying, 'I'll believe it when I see it,' yet
when they saw it they still didn't believe. There are
many things they believed that they had never seen, which proved their faith was
capricious, like picking an assortment of ideas from a basket, but for those who
believe in Jesus it is not something they have chosen on their own, but they
believe in Him according to the will of God. He
prepares certain people to believe in
Him and the rest are hardened. On the one hand man uses his will to believe,
and on the other, God has chosen them to believe, and both must happen for salvation
to occur. Jesus said in Mat 22-14, "Many are called but few are
chosen," so God calls many to believe but not everyone He calls will answer
the call, only those whom He has chosen to respond to the word
that He planted in good
soil. Paul
wrote to Timothy that God desires all to believe in Him, but He is
not about to violate the will of man to see that happen; He isn't interested in
having robots for worshippers. So, there seems to be a gap between God's will
for all to believe and His choice of the elect, and for some this seeming
conflict is hopelessly incompatible, while others wait
for an explanation that they can understand, even if they must wait for
heaven. This is faith.
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Act 14-3
(32b) Gift of God
>>
God is our Father >> Grace >> Word of His grace –
We wonder why we rarely see signs and wonders, but if we preached the
gospel the way the apostles did, we would see them again, especially if people
were getting saved. Signs and wonders do not cause people to get saved, but
disclosing the word of God by the demonstration of the Spirit, witnessed by
faithful people who were designated by God to receive the gift of eternal life
are the conditions for signs and wonders to occur. When people quit believing, God will not throw His pearls before swine. In the first
century many people were getting saved, and God was happy to perform signs and
wonders through the apostles to prove what they were preaching, but this generation is far more ready to receive a gospel that the Bible doesn’t
teach
if they believe anything at all. They mock God and complain that he never
performs signs and wonders for them, but He
is unwilling to reveal Himself to those who do not believe in Him.
(115g) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Laying on of hands >>
Seeing signs, wonders and miracles –
Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium and there preached Jesus in the synagogue of
the Jews, and many of them resisted and blasphemed, speaking evil against the
way, knowing they were lying, yet people were being saved
in spite of the opposition. If the gospel had no success, they would have
allowed Paul and Barnabas to spout until they got tired and went home, but many
were being saved, and the message of the gospel was spreading like wildfire. The
Jews interpreted the message of the gospel to be against the Jews in that they
rejected their own Messiah, yet God was ready to forgive them for
this and receive the Jews even before the gentiles, but they found the gospel impossible to
believe. The devil was at work bringing confusion, and Paul was trying to
untangle the mess, and he would have succeeded had the Jews listened to him,
but not enough did, so he gave up on them and turned to the gentiles, and
discovered a great harvest of souls, and many thousands were saved in the first
century.
(144h) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >>
Trinity bears witness of Jesus >> Word of God
bears witness to Jesus –
It was an uphill climb for Paul throughout his ministry, which was mostly based
on suffering. Signs and wonders are given to evangelists to help spread
the word of God, so they can enter spiritually ignorant places with the gospel among
people who have never heard about God's mercy in Christ Jesus and be saved. God
demonstrated His grace toward them through signs and wonders after the Jews
resisted him, who followed Paul wherever he went and tried to undermine his ministry. God has an uncanny ability to use just about anything
for His purposes. Paul asked God to remove these people and their evil influence
from his ministry, and God’s answer was, “My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2Cor 12-9).
God used these Jewish reprobates to assail Paul, forcing him back to God to seek
His grace to rise above these forces in his life. Paul
was the same kind of person as these Jews prior to his conversion to
Christianity, only he was worse. Once Paul received God’s strength to rise
above his enemies, he then used that same grace to perform signs and wonders
that God granted him to preach the gospel in power. See also: Suffering and evil does not originate from God; 1Jn 1-5; 17d
(147e) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Divine works of God >>
Signs and wonders –
We wonder why signs and wonders are rarely seen today. God always places His
signature on divine movements with signs and wonders, and we haven’t seen a
divine movement in a while. Signs and wonders are for the sake of unbelievers that they might see
them and believe in Jesus and be saved. However, if people saw divine works from
God today, it is questionable anyone would not repent because people are
rebellious, but a day
is coming when everything will be turned on its head in a moment’s notice, and
God will initiate a divine movement and reintroduce signs and wonders as a seal
of His works, proving that those who carry the gospel belong to Him, that they
are speaking His word and that people should listen to them and be
saved.
(227e) Dependence On
Jesus (Key verse)
(227i) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >> Dependence on Jesus >>
Depending on Jesus to impart His gifts into us >> He gives us what we give to the world
–
God accompanied His gospel with signs and wonders, and the people saw them and
believed in Jesus. It offered a new way of life, one that
people could live in peace with one another. If enough people believed, they
could initiate a time of peace in the world that was sustainable. Some say that all wars fought since the first
century stemmed from religion, insinuating that Christianity caused them, but
those responsible for war have no part in the Kingdom of Heaven. True believers
in Jesus were essentially hidden from history, unseen and unknown, yet they
remained the salt of the earth, incognito, and were able to change history with
a simple faith.
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Act 14-4
(65e) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Jesus brings division instead of
peace
Act 14,5-7
(81h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Pray without ceasing >> Preach the gospel
through continuous prayer
(92c) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way >> Trail of good works >>
Practice walking a straight line -- These verses go with verses
19-22
Act 14-5,6
(25c) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Murder >>
Persecution to the death >> Murdering for prestige
-- These verses go with verses 19&20
(89f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Deeds
of wisdom –
Before Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium they were at Antioch, having made
many converts there, but there were some who disbelieved, both Jews and
gentiles; they stirred up the crowd and agitated a persecution
against the evangelists. Instead of staying there and trying to defend
themselves or picking up swords and clubs and warring with their enemies, they
were wise and ran, after they
shook the dust off their feet and went to Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, and there
the same thing happened. Warring with our enemies is not the direction God
wants us to go. In the old covenant God raised up the nation of Israel and
brought them to the land of plenty (Canaan) and commanded them to annihilate its inhabitants, because they were polluting the world with their
sin. It would have
eventually ended in the destruction of the whole world in repeat of Noah’s
day, and so God was merciful and sent Israel to destroy them to preserve the
rest of mankind. The hope was that the world would learn the ways of Israel
and model after them; instead, Israel learned the ways of the world and
modeled after it. Then he created a new covenant, and
instead of going to war with his enemies, he inaugurated a gospel through His
own blood and went to war against His spiritual enemy, the devil, whom Jesus
defeated on the cross. No longer are we to fight against our fellow man for
the cause of Christ, but we are to fight the good fight of faith, which is a
spiritual war against demons that hold the human race in slavery to sin. It
was wise for Paul and Barnabas to flee and keep the war centered on satanic
forces of wickedness with the goal of saving souls and not digress with vengeance on flesh and blood. The goal is not to save every person on earth
but to save those whom God has chosen. We
don’t know whom God has chosen until they get saved, but He does, and He will choose them from the
world through the preaching of the gospel of
Christ. See also: Spiritual warfare (God is at war with the devil and man is in the
middle); Rom 8,1-3; 39k
(179d) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Stir up the crowd >> Stir up the crowd through
jealousy -- These verses go with verse 19. There
is a travesty in the world that has existed since the beginning of time: the
few ruin it for the rest. In this example, a handful of people who rejected the gospel instigated a persecution against
Paul and Barnabas and drove them from their region to keep those from hearing
the gospel who desired to be saved. Instead of God being angry, He was
satisfied with the number of people who were saved, and the Church grew very
quickly, and God was able to use the persecution to His own advantage. The
people were strong in the faith and realized they were being persecuted for
believing the truth, and so the persecution actually added to their faith and promotion of
God’s kingdom, but this does not excuse the few ruining it for the many.
(180f) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Wolves steal, kill and destroy >> Killing the
sheep -- These verses go with verses 19&20
Act
14,8-19
(58c) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> From being worshipped to being
stoned – Paul
and Barnabas did everything they could to keep the people of
Lystra
from
offering sacrifice to them. In one day Paul went from being
worshipped to being stoned to death, typifying the capricious nature of man. One minute they love you, and the next minute they hate
you; rich
and famous people constantly experience this roller coaster ride of hot and cold
emotions by their fans. Paul’s name was becoming known and he was
being treated like a celebrity in some ways, loved by the Church and hated by
the world. We can’t trust the world when they love us, because the next
minute they will hate us. This is not the kind of love that God has for His
people, and He wants us to be like Him and love at all times. God is pushing for consistency in the
Christian’s life, but the world will never be consistent.
Part of the reason for this is that they don’t know the truth, though they think they do,
which makes them hate us when we contradict their truth. Most dedicated Christians are not liked by anybody;
they are either loved or hated with very little in-between.
Act 14,8-18
(77f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Humility >> Refusing the glory of man >>
Rejecting the worship of men
(177j) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding the
circumstances
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Act 14,8-10
(107a) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Word creates faith >> Receiving unction from God
(111h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Kingdom of God revealed >>
Word plus signs and wonders -- These verses go with verses
1-3. This
man was lame from his mother's womb, making it a very persuasive miracle. He
lived in his community all his life and everyone knew him, so nobody could
deny that an authentic miracle had taken place. It was not a trick that Paul
performed, not somebody he and Barnabas planted and told to walk
on crutches until Paul gave the signal to throw them aside and be healed by the Oral Roberts method. If
anybody would be this fraudulent, his version of the
gospel would be just as fraudulent. We know these things were not part of Paul's ministry; rather,
he performed a genuine miracle through the power of God.
(121g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Hope >>
Expectation >> Expecting good things based on
God’s character >> Expectation based on His
word
(145d) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Healing >>
Jesus heals through the Church – Note that Paul never used the name of Jesus
when he performed this amazing miracle of healing. Rather, he said,
"Stand upright on your feet," and the man was made well. He didn't
say, 'In the name of Jesus;' He didn't make any mention of God at all; rather, God received the glory through Paul's
administration of the gospel. In other words, it is not the name of Jesus
that performs the miracle but the person of Christ. Heb 1-3 says,
"[Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His
nature, and upholds all things by the word of his power."
"The word of His power," not 'the power of His word,' this is key to understanding the power of God; it is not contained in
His word (or in His name); rather His word only speaks of his power and His
name only refers to the person in possession of it. The power is in God Himself who has given all power and authority to His Son, who
in turn has given all power and authority to us. We don't know
the location of heaven. We don't know if it is a million miles away or a billion miles or
if it is outside the universe. Maybe heaven is in another dimension, maybe right here, but
being in another dimension it might as well be
at the end of the universe. The Bible says that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in
His place, and He is the one who performs the works of God, so it was the Holy
Spirit who healed the lame man. When we speak the name of Jesus, we are
attributing the miracle to Him, so that God rightly gets the glory.
Act 14-9
(97f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attention >> Facing in the direction of the Lord >> Focusing your mind on God –
Paul said to the man in all confidence, “Stand upright on your feet” and
he was made well. Before Paul did this he saw that the man had faith to be
healed. Prior to that, Paul was preaching Jesus to the people, speaking the
word of God, and it filled the man with faith. So in the
man’s mind it was not out of the question that God could heal him, though
Paul’s discourse was probably not on the subject of healing. We know that Jesus healed a lot of people
throughout His 3½-year ministry, but He didn’t start healing people. He
started preaching the gospel of the kingdom, no doubt looking like just
another leader of a sect, but as He spoke to the people about God’s love, they
began to believe what He was saying, so when Jesus laid His
hands on the sick and healed them, He demonstrated God's love, but He
first had to create faith in them. In other words, He healed them through
their faith (Mat 9-22). However, this doesn’t mean that people
who are not healed don’t believe. Many things are involved in faith; it
happened that in Jesus’ ministry all the variables were in place, and the
same was true about Paul and the other apostles, but we don’t see many miracles
these days for two reasons: (1) the Church is not unified; everybody believes
something different; people are not collectively in agreement with God,
except possibly for this one statement, “Jesus came to save sinners.” Beyond
that, people diverge from each other with their own interpretation of the
Bible.
One believes this, another believes that, while the truth is standing
unattended waiting for someone to notice it. (2) Jesus started a
movement, and the apostles perpetuated it, and now 2000 years
later that movement has fragmented. When God starts a
new movement, such as the Great Endtime Revival that is coming, miracles, signs and wonders
will return, and people will once again come into agreement
with God and with His Truth.
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Act 14,11-21
(176j) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >>
Extremes >> Truth is never found in your conduct
on either extreme of any circumstance
Act 14,11-20
(18e) Sin
>>
False Judgment lacks evidence >> Presumptuous
speculation
Act 14,11-18
(19l) Sin
>>
Worshiping idols will twist your mind – The Bible teaches that we
are sinners, that if we are not continually renewing our mind in the word of God and prayer, we are
doomed to follow the ways of the world, the
flesh and the devil, but God has made a way to
rise above these worldly forces. To do so we must submit our
evil proclivities to God. Paul and Barnabas poured out their hearts to the people
of Lystra trying to help them understand the gospel, yet they made it look
very difficult to believe, though many young children around the world believe in
Jesus without a hitch. Adults find the gospel hard to believe, because they
have had many years of mental training in the ways of the world, which is
contrary to God and have created ruts in their thinking, so if they are not careful they will fall back into their old ways.
With the people
of Lystra, when they tried to worship Paul and Barnabas, the
evangelists could barely stop them. Behind every false deity is a demon, and
demons will never ask us to sacrifice our sinful passions and desires. This is how we
know we are worshipping the God of heaven, when we offer Him the idols of
our flesh in exchange for the freedom of Christ.
(171c) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Outward
appearance >> Vanity >>
Vain experience >> Things you do in the
absence of God – In these verses we see people not
listening
but doing just the opposite of what Paul and Barnabas were teaching them.
The people of Lystra had a long legacy of superstition, which is the basis
of worshipping idols, so they were merely following their natural instincts, but the fact that
virtually everybody worships idols in one form or another,
unless of course they are worshippers of God, makes their
behavior native
to this world. It is the
natural recourse of the flesh to want to offer sacrifice to a god and
worship a deity other than the God of creation,
because Jesus does not appeal to our flesh. In Romans chapter 12 it talks
about offering an acceptable sacrifice to the true God of heaven, Paul
elucidating the evil passions of our fleshly nature as our sin offering,
which is just the opposite of
what our flesh wants. The fleshly nature pretty much controls most people,
wanting to expand its freedom to continue sinning, whereas God wants to
expand our freedom to continue practicing righteousness.
(173f) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >>
Unholy sacrifice (Penance) >> Offering sacrifice without
God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the word
of God
(177k) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >>
Presuming the will of God >> Man’s knowledge
of God is based on presumption – Idol worshippers go from god to god. They believe
in one god, and then the land has a drought, so they worship another god to
deliver them from the drought, and whatever god they happen to be
worshipping at the time of the first rain is their god for a season, until
the next tragedy hits, and then it's on to another god if the one they are
serving doesn't immediately deliver them. This is the height of superstition.
Their god didn't fail them; sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn't. We
have all met people who claimed to have tried Christianity and it didn't
work for them, so they dropped their faith in Jesus; this is the epitome of
superstition and idol worship.
(195f) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Worshipping men >>
Idolizing men – Paul and Barnabas were trying to tell them
that God lived in heaven, and that Jesus is the Son of God, visited us and died for
our sins, and His Father raised Him from the dead, ascended to the right hand
of God and has sent His Holy Spirit in His place, who performed the miracle
they witnessed.
Paul and Barnabas simply believed in God, and this was the part they didn't
understand. Although they believed in gods too, they didn't understand
how the specifics of their faith could give a person the ability to perform miracles. Their minds went immediately to the
idea that the flesh of Paul and Barnabas were the essence of a god, and they
sought to worship them, offering sacrifice to their flesh. They struggled with the people
of Lystra,
because they didn't want to worship according to the pattern shown them in
the apostles.
Most people find the gospel unappealing,
because they are used to catering to their flesh. Some people
don't feel the need to serve Him, because their flesh is their god,
so when
they worship a false god, they are really worshipping themselves. We
either worship God or we worship demons, which is tantamount to worshipping
self. We attribute our self-worship to an idol of one kind
or another, so as to give the appearance of worshipping something greater
than ourselves, but we are just fooling ourselves.
Act 14-11
(195a)
Idolatry
(Key verse)
KJV
WEB
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Act 14,13-15
(173m) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Man’s Religion >>
Resisting the Kingdom of God –
Paul and Barnabas were trying to disclose the gospel to the people of Lystra, and it was obvious they were not even close to comprehending what
they were saying to them. This is the negative power of religion. To be able
to break through a person’s religion is one of the hardest things to do. Christians
are capable of understanding just about any religion, but not everybody can
understand Christianity. Is this because Christianity is so complicated? Does it have the
complexity of astrophysics or microbiology or organic chemistry? No, the
gospel is not difficult at all; so why can’t people grasp it? It is
because we live in a spiritual world, and there are demons afoot that work
against mankind to keep people from understanding the gospel. Satan is called
the prince of the power of the air in that he fills the sky with clouds from
horizon to horizon and blinds “the minds of the unbelieving so that they
might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God” (2Cor 4-4). Jesus called Satan the ruler of the world (Jn
14-30), and Paul talked about principalities and powers in high places (Eph
6-12). These spiritual forces of wickedness are active in the world and keep
people from understanding the gospel and getting saved.
Act 14,15-17
(151i) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >> Creation is evidence of God >>
No other source but God can explain the creation
(212a) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> He is the creator >>
The creation glorifies God >> The creation
exemplifies God’s sovereignty
Act 14-15
(193d) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Repent >>
Turn from your evil ways >> Turn from sin to God
Act 14-16,17
(201h) Man’s Will
Over God
(Key verse)
(201j) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Man’s will over God >>
God permits man to go his own way
Act 14-18,19
(54e) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Worshipping the flesh
KJV
WEB
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Act 14,19-28
(148j) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Obligation to preach the gospel >> Preach even
if it hurts – Paul was well on his way with his ministry to
the gentiles, but he found that preaching the gospel to them enraged the Jews
and made them jealous, so there was much pain and suffering that accompanied
his gentile ministry. There was a changing of the guard
that was transpiring from the Jews to the gentiles, who were being obedient to
the faith while the Jews became less faithful to the gospel until over time
they closed their minds almost completely to the word of God, not only to the
New Testament but also to their Old Testament teachings. Essentially, the Jews
have lost their way during the age of grace; they could find no way to
reconcile the gospel with their old covenant rituals and traditions, for if
they misinterpreted the old covenant, how could they expect to properly
interpret the new covenant? However, the gentiles are going the way of the
Jews, being difficult to find anyone who has a sincere faith in God anymore.
The Jews are waiting for God just like they did in Egypt when they were in
bondage to the Egyptians, only in their present distress they have enslaved
themselves in their own disobedience through unbelief,
which they would have seen had they been faithful
to the old covenant; then they would have accepted the the gospel and managed
its doctrines and direction, and the Catholic Church
would have never been born, which from its onset was the scourge of the
earth and it still is to today. The Jews, however, considered themselves
better than the gentiles, considering them dogs. This they perceived
through their old covenant doctrines, which they perverted over the centuries,
just like the Church is doing to its doctrines in the last days upon whom have
fallen the sins of all mankind since Jesus was crucified.
Act 14,19-23
(82c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Three elements of prayer >> Direction (Attitude) >> Who to pray for
Act 14,19-22
(92c) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way >> Trail of good works >>
Practice walking a straight line -- These verses go with verses
5-7. Miracles are not difficult to perform because we
are not the ones doing them. We don't need to strain; rather, we must subject
our flesh to the will of God to keep ourselves from getting in the way, which
in some ways is a miracle in itself. When God performs miracles and people see
us sinning, they might think they can sin too and we don't want to communicate
the wrong message.
(242b) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >> Martyrs
KJV
WEB
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Act 14,19-21
(7e) Responsibility
>>
Protecting the gospel >> God defends His own
word – These verses go with verses 2,3. Paul
was a slippery fellow, but they finally got him. It's not just a matter of
picking up a stone and hurling it at somebody; they had to set the stage so
they were not the bad guys for stoning him; first they had to defame his
character. To assume that he was dead highly suggests that Paul was in really
bad shape. They must have repeatedly hit him in the head and possibly caved in
his skull with blood gushing everywhere. He was in fact dead and God
resurrected him without a prayer. It says his friends were standing over him, mourning,
but there was no mention of anyone praying that God would resurrect him.
Normally God involves someone's faith in whatever He is doing, but
not in this case. God had a contract with Paul, a predestined agreement that
he would work for the Lord for a certain length of time and his time had not
expired, so He raised him from the dead and sent him back on his way to
complete his mission.
(38e) Judgment
>>
Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection
anointing
(40n) Judgment
>>
God is glorified >> God defends His truth
through judgment
(154e) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Witness that the world is
godless >> Witness that the world hates God
(162b) Works of the devil
>>
Carried away bodily
(189h) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Martyr >>
Dying to self through persecution
(231c) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery
of godliness >> God’s grace is the mystery of
godliness >> God working in you is a mystery
(232a) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >>
Count the cost >> Don’t look back >>
Don’t look back to the past -- These verses go with verses 2-7
Act 14-19,20
(25c) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Murder >>
Persecution to the death >> Murdering for prestige
-- These verses go with verses 5&6
(29c) Gift of God
>>
God is our advocate >> Delivered from death – It was during the time that he lay there dead
that Paul wrote about his experience in 2Cor 12,2-4, "I know a man in
Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of
the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third
heaven. And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body
I do not know, God knows--was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible
words, which a man is not permitted to speak." It was impossible for him
to relate or describe the things he heard in heaven, being the most amazing aspect of his experience. He heard
words that a man was not permitted to speak, because they referred to things that were beyond us. There will be a day when we
go to heaven and hear these words for ourselves and they will become part of
us and fill our souls. Paul saw Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and asked
him, "Why are you persecuting me?" This experience changed his life
forever, and now he has entered into heaven itself and brought back word
that it is glorious beyond description; he didn't even try to describe it. We
know this experience changed his life, though it doesn't say he underwent a
transformation like he did after his first encounter on the road to Damascus,
because that transformation pertained to going from death to life, a
transformation that is common to us all who are born of God. Once a person's
nature has been changed, there is nothing bigger to change about him, suggesting that when we get to heaven, much of our change
will be in our bodies, which will change us from the outside-in,
but in this life God's efforts are to change us from the inside-out.
(99f) Thy kingdom come >>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring our circumstances
Caused by other people
(100b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perseverance >> Persevere in preaching the
gospel -- These verses go with verses 1-7
(122k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Boldness in adverse
circumstances >> Go in places of adversity
(147g) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Raising the dead
(152c) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >> Apostles >>
Investment of their lives proves apostleship –
The Jews stoned Paul to death and then dragged him out of the city, possibly
dragging him for miles on the ground. His clothes would have worn off his
back after the first block, and after that it would have been bare skin on the
ground all the way to bone. He would have bled to death or contracted every
known bacterial infection and died if he wasn't already dead, yet Paul stood
to his feet and entered the city. How is that possible? It wasn’t possible; it was a miracle from God.
The body was mutilated; nobody had a prayer for him; they were
mourning their loss of him when he came back to life and started moving. It was not an answer to prayer that
Paul revived but the sovereign work of God that He should remain alive. Paul
was completely dedicated to His mission of bringing salvation to the door of
every home in the known world before his time ended in this life. Paul was a
great prophet; he said in Act 20-29, “I know that after my departure savage
wolves will come in among you,” so he knew that this had to be done in his
lifetime or else it wouldn’t be done at all. That is not to say great things
didn’t happen after his death; many strong believers lived throughout the
age of grace, who will be recognized in heaven for their great faith and
dedication to the cause and purpose of the gospel.
(180f) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Wolves steal, kill and destroy >> Killing the
sheep -- These verses go with verses 5&6
(216c) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> Compelled by the Spirit >>
God takes advantage of your love for Him >> He
forces you by your desire for His calling
(243k) Kingdom of God
>>
The eternal kingdom >> The indestructible
kingdom >> The head of the body is
indestructible >> The word of God is
indestructible – The Jews thought they defeated Paul and the disciples. They thought they would teach them a
lesson who was in control, but after they saw Paul alive a short time after
they killed him, it must have been very discouraging and belittling to his
murderers. He didn't preach the gospel upon reentering the town; his very life was a testimony who saw Him that to become a
Christian was a move in the direction of divine power. He went into homes and
encouraged the brethren to remain true to the Lord. This man had a zeal for
evangelism to fulfill God's predestined purpose and mission that far
outweighed any man before or since him, except Jesus Christ Himself. The Bible
teaches that 144,000 Jewish witnesses will grace this earth with their
presence in the last days, and they will all be zealous like
Paul. Imagine the changes they will make to this world!
Act 14-19
(163f) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used
by Satan to destroy the word of God >> Used to
destroy the mouthpiece of God -- This verse goes with verses 2-6. Paul
wrote about this experience in 2Cor 12,2-4, “I know a man in Christ who
fourteen years ago -whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do
not know, God knows -such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know
how such a man -whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God
knows - was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man
is not permitted to speak.” Paul wasn’t on the verge of death; he actually
died, and God brought him back to life, but while he was dead, he saw heaven
and was able to come back with a report. The media is flooded with accounts of
movies and books telling people’s near-death stories how they went to heaven for a couple minutes, what they saw and heard. People clamor to them, but what
about Paul’s recollection; is anyone interested in his account? Paul was a
man of God, a writer of the Bible, who had the utmost reputation for knowing
God. He would be the most competent witness of such an event, and what did he
say about heaven? He spoke only about what he heard, but even that he was “not permitted to speak.” He was able to understand
the meaning of what he heard well enough, but he could not convey the message
itself, because it was on a spiritual plane that required experience to
comprehend, knowledge too high to grasp. When he tried to convey his
experience, his words were empty.
(179d) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Stir up the crowd >> Stir up the crowd through
jealousy -- This verse goes with verses 5,6
KJV
WEB
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Act 14-21,22
(9h)
Responsibility >> Strengthened by
the sword of His Spirit >> Through His word –
Saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God,” is
like saying, ‘Cheer-up, it is going to get worse!’ What kind of
encouragement is that? Before we enter the Kingdom of God we need joy to endure our earthly trials. Christianity is cause for joy,
and joy in suffering accompanies confidence in God that we can endure our
circumstances for His sake. Everybody suffers, but added to
Christian suffering is persecution due to our faith. Jesus guaranteed
tribulation in this life (Jn 16-33), but He also promised His peace through it
all. There is even joy in tribulation, for it has a way of proving our faith,
lucidly revealing the Bible as truth. Someone could argue that people persecute us
because we make them feel guilty, but guilt is just more proof that
Christianity is true. Didn’t Jesus say the world is guilty of sin? People
think guilt is not real, but a person doesn’t feel guilty for nothing.
Tribulation, difficulties and persecution come to us as signposts of our
faithfulness toward God.
Victoriously passing through our fiery circumstances proves that we believe in
God, and it will lead us to a deeper understanding of the truth, forcing us to
seek Him all the more for endurance.
(139a) Encouragement
(Key verse) – Encouragement is
necessary in the manner that Christians relate to each other in spiritual fellowship. God has given us the awesome opportunity and responsibility of building the temple of God,
for we are the bricks of the temple. Encouragement is the primary means of placing each brick in its proper place within the temple and then mortaring them in place through the word of God and prayer.
However, it shouldn't surprise anyone that
the Church does a lot of just the opposite (division) as orchestrated by the devil who has the most to gain from keeping us off balance. If
the Church ever stood on its feet and grew in the likeness of her Master, Satan’s rule would come to an abrupt end.
(139d) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Encouragement >>
Encouragement strengthens our faith
Act 14-22
(98j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à
Suffering [Circumstances] à Glory [Victory]) –
These verses depict a three-part principle of Scripture that features: faith
> suffering > glory in that order. We repeatedly see this in the Bible,
and it suggests that we are willing to suffer in order to obtain our goal of
eternal life. In the first and second century, the Church was united, and
this afforded them an ability to suffer. They could come together and heal each other in body and spirit, but without unity
we suffer alone
as a Christian with nobody seeming to notice or even care.
Although this passage speaks of suffering and it sounds difficult to us, since
nobody particularly enjoys suffering, yet for the first couple of centuries it
was a way of life with rampant persecution and martyrdom, people stealing
their grain harvests or else setting their fields on fire. It wasn’t easy
and it wasn’t fun to accept those circumstances, yet they all agreed that
heaven was worth any amount of suffering they were called to endure.
(209d) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with
difficulty >> Righteous saved with hardship >>
Righteous saved with adversity – Paul can attest to entering the
Kingdom of God through many tribulations; he was just stoned to death and was raised from
the dead. His ministry wasn't over yet. God looked on His schedule and said,
'Looks like Paul's got more work to do; what's he doing laying down there
dead? I'm going to wake him up and tell him to get busy.'
Act 14-23
(72k)
Authority >> Hierarchy of authority
>>
Authority makes you accountable >> You are
accountable to the one who gave it to you
(189j) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Masochism
(Self-made martyr)
>> Fasting >> Fasting
simulates dying to self
Act 14-27
(210j) Salvation
>>
Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles
included >> Fellow heirs with Israel (Spiritual Jew) >>
God welcomes the Gentiles to the promise of Israel -- this verse goes with
verse 1
See
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