Here is a teaching on chapter 14 of the book of Acts. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
First I want to say quick prayer... Lord I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up our eyes to see the truth of your words. I pray that you open up our mind to know and understand exactly what it is that we're reading. And I pray that you give us wisdom to implement it in our daily lives and to make an impact in other people's lives. Lord I pray that you open up our heart to receive the love that you give us and for us to give love to others. And I pray that you just continue to lead, guide, and direct us through every aspect of our lives. I love you with my whole heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Acts Chapter 14:
1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the good news.
In verse 2 these Jews that refused to believe had hatred in their heart and they tried to deceive and corrupt the Gentiles. So these Jews saw that other Jews and Gentiles were believing and they were full of wickedness, lies, and deceit, so they wanted to turn these Jews and Gentiles that started believing in Jesus Christ against these apostles and make them not believe. In verse 3 we see that Jesus Christ allowed his apostles to do miraculous signs to confirm the message of his grace so that others might believe in him. In verse 4 some of the people believed in Jesus Christ and they sided with the apostles and then some sided with the Jews that had hatred in their heart and that were full of wickedness, so the people were divided. Then we see in verses 5-7 that some of the Gentiles and Jews had plotted to mistreat and stone the apostles. But whenever the apostles found out about it they fled to Lystra and Derbe and continued to preach the good news there.
Like we saw in our Bible study from last week in chapter 13 of the book of Acts, God protects his people. Whenever we're spreading the gospel and letting other people know about Jesus Christ we are going to go through hardships, we are going to face tough times, persecution, and we're going to have people that are going to hate us. Just like people hate Jesus, he suffered hardships while he was on this earth, and he died on the cross to forgive us of our sins. But when we're letting the Holy Spirit guide us, we're staying faithful and obedient to the will of God the Father and the calling that God has placed in our hearts, we're following Jesus, and we're spreading the gospel, God will protect us and nothing will ever be able to stop the gospel from being spread. We will have that hedge of protection over us so we have to stand firm in our faith and stay obedient no matter what. And we have to always remember that the most important thing is having a relationship with Jesus Christ and spreading the gospel to help other people have a relationship with Jesus so that they may be saved and go to heaven also. This world is only our temporary home. Our true home is in heaven and we want to make sure that everyone that we know and come across has the opportunity to be saved and go to heaven also.
8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame 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 like the Lycaonian language, "The gods have came 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.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and 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.
In verses 8-10 Paul had looked directly at this crippled man that had been lame from birth and he had never walked in his life and Paul saw that he had faith to be healed. So he called out and he told him to stand up to his feet and this man jumped up and he began to walk. This healing power that Paul had is a gift from the Holy Spirit and because of Paul's faith in Jesus Christ and in the name of Jesus this man that had never been able to walk in his life was able to walk. But we see here in verses 11-13 that after the crowd saw what Paul had done they thought that their gods had come in human form. With Greek mythology it was common for the gods to come in human form, so that's what these people thought were happening. And they called Barnabas Zeus and Paul they called Hermes because he was the one that was always speaking boldly about Jesus Christ and he was the chief speaker. So the priest of Zeus brought bulls and wreaths and him and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas because they thought that they were Zeus and Hermes. These people were so set in their ways and with their beliefs that they couldn't even fathom that this miraculous sign would happen because of Jesus Christ or anyone other than the gods that they worshiped and their gods that they thought were real.
Then we see in verses 14-18 that the apostles were trying to explain that they were only men and they were trying to turn them from these worthless things to the living God, to God the Father, our creator, the Almighty, the Most High. God the Father made all things, he created us, he created this earth and everything in it, and he cares for us. He provides for his people and even whenever we do things that we're not supposed to, when we stray away from him and we try to do things on our own, he's still always there for us, always caring for us, and showing us so much mercy, love, and grace. But even though Paul and Barnabas were saying these things to these people they were still trying to offer sacrifices to them and they weren't changing their mind about God.
Then in verses 19 through 20 some of the Jews from Antioch and Iconium that were against Paul and Barnabas and the other apostles had come and won the crowd over. They had poisoned their minds with these lies, deception, and trickery because they had hatred in their heart and they were full of wickedness, and they didn't want these people to believe in God and believe in Jesus Christ. So these people stoned Paul and they dragged him out into the city and they thought he was dead. But the disciples gathered around him and he got up and went back into the city and then him and Barnabas left for Derbe the next day. This just goes to show that God protects his people and whenever we have people surrounding us that are God-fearing people that are Christians and believe in Jesus Christ and are praying for us, supporting us. and helping us, then that hedge of protection stays over us. We have to make sure that we're not straying away from the hedge of protection, but we are staying under that hedge, we're letting the Holy Spirit guide us, and we're surrounding ourselves with God-fearing people, we're praying, we're spreading the gospel, we're studying our Bible, and we're doing these daily things to make sure that we have as close of a relationship to Jesus as possible and that we're keeping ourselves covered in the protection of God the Father.
21 They preach the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. 23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25 and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
26 From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Alright so those are all the verses of chapter 14 of the book of Acts, but I'm going to discuss these verses with the guys here. So in verses 21-22 Paul and Barnabas had preached the good news in the city of Derbe and there became a large number of disciples there. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch and they were strengthening the disciples and they were encouraging them to remain true to the faith. As disciples and believers of Jesus Christ we're going to have hardships, and we have to make a decision every single day, no matter what battles we're facing, to stay faithful and stay obedient to the will of God the Father and the calling that God has placed in our hearts. And we have to stay faithful to spreading the gospel and following Jesus no matter what happens and Paul and Barnabas were trying to prepare the disciples for that. They knew from experience the hardships that you have to face when you're spreading the gospel, believing in Christ, and following Jesus, and they wanted to encourage these disciples to remain true to their faith, to stand firm, and to not let anything get in the way of their mission to spread the gospel and help other people be able to be saved and go to heaven also. In verse 23 we see that Paul and Barnabas had appointed elders from each church and committed them to the Lord so these elders would be there for support for the disciples to help them remain true to their faith, to stay faithful, obedient, and to live their life for the Lord.
In verses 26-28, after they went to a few other places they went back to Antioch, they gathered the church together, and they reported all that God had done through them and how he opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Whenever we're letting the Holy Spirit guide us, we're staying faithful and obedient to the calling that God has placed in our hearts, and we're spreading the gospel, God's grace will overflow and we will be blessed and so many amazing things will happen. The people that are meant to believe will believe and we just have to make sure that we're doing our part in following Jesus, spreading the gospel, and letting as many people as we possibly can know about Jesus, how amazing he is, and how he's changed our lives so that they may be saved and have eternal life in heaven with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Acts Ch 14 Study Guide
In verse 2, why did the Jews stir up the Gentiles against the brothers?
Why did the apostles flee to Lystra and Derbe?
In verse 11, why did the people in Lystra think that Paul and Barnabas were their gods?
How did Paul have power to heal the crippled man?
Why did Paul and Barnabas have difficulty getting these people not to sacrifice to them?
Why did the crowd stone Paul?
Like they said in verse 22, what must we face to enter the kingdom of God? Why?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
So that concludes this Bible study on chapter 14 of the book of Acts. Next week we're going to go into chapter 15, so make sure you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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