8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that
way from birth and had never walked. 9 He
listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he
had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up
on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in
the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”12 Barnabas
they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief
speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was
just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he
and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
For us today, just the idea of being used by God to heal someone is overwhelming. Certainly an expectation is that people who witness this would praise God! Yet, they do not. How frustrating this has to be! Paul and Barnabas preach Jesus and they walk in
the Spirit, but when they heal someone, it’s a problem when it should be a
celebration. Then the people do not honor and
glorify the Lord, but instead they assign idol worship to the missionaries as though they are gods. This is a horrible insult to Paul and
Barnabas. I also believe it scares them to death because they know that God is a jealous God and they had been taught since birth to never blasphemy.
Many people either believe or don’t believe in Jesus because
of another Christian. We need to be sure
that we are always pointing people to Jesus, not people. Men and women will fail and when they do, unfortunately someone who is relying on them as an example for their faith will lose heart. Everyone must look to Jesus for their
salvation and depend only upon Him. When
another Christian fails, it should be a time for prayer and hopefully
repentance and reconciliation if that Christian chooses it (not all do). Our faith, nor anyone else’s, should be based
on the actions of other people. Society is really bad at this. They too quickly point to pastors who have sinned and declare that Christianity has no merit. The merit is in the follow through, but no one sticks around long enough to see that. The merit of Christian fellowship is in the repentance of the sinner, the forgiveness of the Savoir, and the recovery with the saints.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this,
they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends,
why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing
you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the
living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and
everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all
nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left
himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from
heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and
fills your hearts with joy.” 18 Even with these words,
they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and
Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him
outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But
after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into
the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.
They plead with the people to not consider them as gods but
that there is only one living God whom they serve, yet the people won’t accept
it. Then those who ran them out of the
other cities come there and incite a riot to kill them. They are such fickle people. One day they are declaring them to be gods
and the next they are seeking to kill them.
Paul is actually stoned, but lives.
Paul, who had oversaw the stoning which resulted in the death of
Stephen, is now stoned for preaching the same message that Stephen
preached. Paul is reaping what he had
sowed. Another miracle happens. If Paul wasn’t dead and came back to life, he
would at the least have been injured severely from the stoning. However, he gets up and goes into the
city. That’s a miracle.
What an incredible series of events. People can look to their left and see a man who was lame from birth miraculously physically healed. Yet, in their right hand they hold a stone to throw at the man who was used to heal him. How can that be? It is an example of mob rule and how people will follow a mob and do things they would not do if they could gather their thoughts for a moment and act rationally. Then, once someone has committed a brash act, it is very difficult for them to back away from it and out of it. It becomes a snare that traps a person. It's a slippery slope.
Again, Paul and Barnabas flee to another city.
Paul has just been stoned for preaching Jesus as the Son of the living God. Yet, he gets up and goes to another city to ... preach Jesus as the Son of the living God. He is not deterred. He will suffer much more also for the sake of Jesus, just as Jesus has already shown to him.
How much have you suffered for Jesus? A popular phrase is to ask, "What has serving Jesus cost you?" What have you quit doing for Jesus because the world resisted the Message of the Gospel? Are you willing to get back up and go to another city? Have you quit serving God?
Rise up dear Christian! God is not dead! You are still needed today! Onward Christian soldier!
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