Acts chapter 14. Acts chapter
14. Look at verse 1. And it came
to pass. It came to pass. It came to pass. Though ungodly men and devils
oppose the cause of God and truth in Christ, God's purpose, God's
cause cannot fail. They ran them out of one town,
And God ran them right back into another town, and they went right
on preaching the gospel of Christ. And it came to pass. There is
nothing uncertain and doubtful in the gospel purpose of God
to save, to call out His people with the gospel to the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, All that the Father
hath given me shall come to me. And all those that come to me,
he said, I will in no wise cast out. They were run out of Antioch.
A number of God's elect were called out and believed the gospel.
They ran out of Antioch and were run out of that town and they
ran right into Iconium. And God had a number of people
there too. A number of his elect who heard the gospel and believed
the gospel. It's no accident. When you're
confronted with the gospel of God's grace, it's by the provident
purpose of God that He sends the gospel where He sovereignly
does, in these different cities and in here. You look back at
how this ministry got started, and it's a miracle of God's grace
that God raised up a gospel witness here. This didn't happen. God
purposed it. God brought it to pass. God had
an elect people. And he's going to call them with
the gospel of God's grace. Now look at verse 1 again. Acts
14, And it came to pass in this city of Iconium, they went both
together, and here's their same method. They went right back
into the teeth and into the camp of the enemy. These Jews hated
the gospel of God's grace, and yet they went right back into
their myths And they're right back at, I like this phrase here,
and they so spake. They so preached the gospel so
clearly, so boldly, with the power of God, with the wisdom
of God upon them. They said, as Paul said there
to the Corinthians, my speech, I didn't come with you with excellency
of speech or of wisdom, but declaring unto you the gospel of God, the
testimony of God. They so spake. The gospel of
Christ setting forth God's purpose, God's redemption, God's salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They so spake the gospel. I'd
like to be able to do that. To so preach the gospel, to have
God bless the gospel to the hearts of His people in such a great
and glorious way that a great multitude, how about just one,
Oh, I'd be most happy if God be pleased to save just one.
Just one. Just one sinner. But here, a
great multitude. It doesn't say how many. On several
occasions prior to this, we've read that 3,000 on one occasion
believed the gospel. 5,000 on another occasion believed
the gospel. Oh, God is able to save a multitude,
is He not? Thank God for His powerful grace. A great multitude, both of these
self-righteous Jews and these ungodly pagan Gentiles. Now we see something about them.
They went about to worship these men later on, being totally ignorant
of the true and the living God. But a great multitude of these
self-righteous Jews that so trusted their tradition, their ceremony,
they were brought out of that bondage. And a great number of
these pure, pagan, Gentile idolaters, they were brought out of that
idolatry, and they believed God. Miracle. Miracle. Who are these
that believe God? Turn back to chapter 13, verse
48. Who are these who believe the gospel? Acts 13.48 says,
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. They heard the gospel by God's
sovereign decree, and by God's sovereign decree, He granted
life and faith in Christ Jesus. God hasn't changed. The gospel
hasn't changed. God's ways of saving and calling
His people hasn't changed. He's still calling out His sheep
with the gospel and still saving His people by the pure and sovereign
grace of God. One old writer said, preaching
is a chariot that carries Christ to the sheep. It's a chariot
that carries Christ and the message of Christ to His sheep. Thank
God for that chariot. The gospel faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ as much as in me as I'm ready to preach
the gospel to you who are at Rome. He said, I'm not ashamed
of that message. I'm not ashamed of that gospel.
It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes God's
gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. A great multitude. Believe. What a miracle. Do you believe
God? Do you believe the gospel of
Jesus Christ? If you don't, ask God to give
you faith in Christ, to believe Him. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Believe the gospel. Look at verse
2. What's going to happen now? Here's
a great multitude. Here's a revival broke out in
this city. A great multitude believed. Well, here's this unbelieving
crowd. The unbelieving Jews, what are
they going to do? They're going to stir up trouble.
That's what the ungodly do. They stir up trouble. They stirred
up the Gentiles. I believe he's talking here about
those who didn't believe. These pagan idolaters who didn't
believe. They stirred them up somehow
and they brought opposition against Paul and Barnabas and they made
their minds They stirred up the evil that was already there in
their heart. It says they made their minds evil, affected against
the brethren. Now, they already had evil in
their hearts. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. The heart is desperately deceitful
and desperately wicked. Who can know it? But here, these
old self-righteous Jews, they took advantage of these pagan,
ignorant Gentiles and they stirred up They're already evil, but
they brought out that evil. And they turned them against
Paul and against Barnabas. They turned them against the
gospel of Christ. And that's what the pagan, false
idolater, that's what the religious man does today who doesn't know
God, he's always saying evil things against God's grace and
trying to evil affect those who believe the truth. You mean that
God is God and God has mercy on whom He will? When someone
hears that who doesn't believe the gospel, that God will be
sovereign and He'll show mercy to whom He will? Well, that's
just not right. They'll try to evil effect your
mind. They'll try to turn you against
the gospel of God's grace. I've seen that happen time and
time again. But we're to stand fast for the gospel. So what's
Paul going to do? Look at verse 3. Now he knows he's got opposition,
but he also knows that God blessed the message to the salvation
of a multitude. So what's he going to do here
in Iconium? He's going to keep right on preaching. Long time. He was a long time preacher. One time he preached so long,
he preached past midnight and there was one man sitting in
a window who fell asleep and fell out of the window. He was a long time preacher.
Preach for hours and hours. You know, we can't sit still
for 30 minutes. Shame on us. Sometimes I try to hurry to get
through, so I don't wear your patience. Shame on me. We ought to sit still long time. We ought to meet all day on Sunday.
We ought to. Long time, therefore they abode
speaking Not complaining. Oh, you know, they're against
us. Oh, you know all this. But long time speaking boldly
in the Lord. How do you speak boldly in the
Lord? How do you speak boldly in the
Lord? It's not the manner of speaking. It's the message. Remember what we read in 1 Corinthians
2? He said, I came not with excellency of speech, but declaring unto
you the testimony of God. I determined to know nothing
among you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And my preaching
and my speech and preaching was not
worth enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and in power, that your faith should not rest in
the wisdom of man, but in the truth of God. To speak boldly
in the Lord is to tell the truth. Tell the truth about sin. That's
what we are. That's what I am. I am sin. I am sin. You are too. There's
none righteous, no not one. It's to tell the truth about
Christ, that he is God. that he came to save his people
from their sin. It tells the truth about salvation,
that salvation is all of God's grace. It's to tell the truth
about God, that God is God, beside him there is none other. They
spake boldly of the Lord by his power, the gospel of God, and
he gave, notice what it says there, who gave testimony. He gave testimony to the word
of His grace. The gospel of God is the word
of His grace. It's the word of His grace to
His people. Grace, grace, grace. Oh, to grace how great a debtor. Turn to Acts chapter 20. Oh,
to grace how great a debtor daily I am constrained to be. Acts
chapter 20, when Paul is getting ready to depart from Ephesus,
And he has the elders around him in Acts 20 verse 32, And
now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his
grace, the word of his grace which is able to build you up
and to give you inheritance among all them that are sanctified,
set apart in Christ. So he gave testimony to the word
of his grace. And God granted signs and wonders. Salvation, my friend, is all
of God's grace. Turn to Acts 15, verse 11. Acts
15, verse 11. We believe through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they. God's
going to save the Jew the same way He saves every sinner, Gentile,
by the grace of God. We believe by the grace of God. And we preach this word of His
grace. Salvation is all of grace. And
God granted these men at this time special credentials when
they came to town. And they said that we speak for
God. We have His testimony. Well, how did they know that?
Well, He granted special signs and wonders granted at their
hand by the power of God to convince these people that they were sin
of God. They had special credentials
given of God. And they did these miracles,
and we're going to read about here in just a minute, by the
power of God. And it caught the attention of
these who were hearers, knowing that God had sent them. Now,
look at verse 4. Acts 14, verse 4. But the multitude,
the multitude of the city was divided. They were divided. What were they divided about?
They were divided over the gospel. They were divided over whether
salvation was by works, ceremony, or salvation by grace and Christ
alone. There was a division. Several
times throughout the book of John we read there was a division
because of Him, because of Christ. The city was divided over the
gospel. You know, there's no difference today. There's no
difference today when the gospel is clearly declared. It separates
the sheep from the goats. It does. The gospel divides. Unbelievers from believers. It divides. Now, read this scripture
here. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The gospel of God's grace divides. It unites the believers, but
it divides the sheep from the goats. 1 Corinthians chapter
1. Verse 21, For after that, in
the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Please
God, by the foolishness of preaching, assay them that believe. For
the Jews, they require a sign. The religious people, they want
a sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom, the wisdom and philosophy
of men. But we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews, it's a stumbling
block. Under the Greeks, it's foolishness,
but under them which are called, both Jew and Gentile, Christ
the power of God and Christ the wisdom of God, to those who are
called. You see, the gospel is not a
stumbling block, it's not foolishness, it's the power of God unto salvation. You see what he's saying here?
Now look back at Acts 14 again. The multitude of the city was
divided, part held with the Jews, and part held with the apostles,
preaching the truth, preaching the word. Verse 5. Now, here
is trouble brewing. When there was an assault made,
both the Jews and the Gentiles with their rulers. Now, you've
got to think who these people are now. These are the self-righteous,
goody-goodies, I'm holier than thou. And here they're plotting
and planning just like they did in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They went out and held a council how to kill him. And that's exactly what these
so-called religious pious people are trying to do to these messengers
of God. They made, and there was an assault
made, both of Jews and Gentiles with their rulers to use them
despitefully and to kill them. They're going to kill these men.
God's servants. That gives a lot of light to
this scripture right here. Find, if you will, 2 Timothy.
2 Timothy chapter 3. Look at this here. 2 Timothy
3. 2 Timothy 3. But thou hast fully known my
doctrine, manner of life, purpose of faith, longsuffering, love
and patience. 2 Timothy 3.11 Persecution and
affliction which came unto me at Antioch. We talked about that
last week. And Iconium. That's where we're
at right now. And Lystra. He was actually stoned
and drug out of the city, dead at Lystra. What persecutions
I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Now read on. Yea, all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You take
a stand for the gospel, an uncompromising stand for the gospel, and you're
going to have trouble. I guarantee you. Don't expect
an easy road. If you take a stand for the gospel,
God-haters will come after you. They can't get at God, but they'll
come after you. They'll come after you. So they
were going to stone them. Now look at verse 6. They wisely
fled. Our Lord said in Matthew 10,
if they won't receive the gospel, flee to another city. They were
made aware of it. God protected them, and they
fled now to Lystra and to Derbe, the cities of Lyconia, under
the region that lies round about. Look at verse 7, and here they're
right back at their business. Right back at their business.
Run out of town, threatened with death. And they flee right to another
city, out of Lyconia, into Lystra, and there they preach the gospel.
There they preach the gospel, right back to their business,
preaching Christ. Paul says, what will it do to
me if I preach not the gospel? I have to preach the gospel.
And there they preach God's message. Remember, Paul said, I'm separated
unto the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. There
they preach the gospel. Now, what's going to happen here
at Lystra? Well, here we're at this city here of Lystra. In
verse 8 down through verse 10. Here we see a miracle, one of
the miracles that God granted by the hand of Paul in Barnabas. And here's a crippled man. Verse
8. There sat a man, a certain man,
at Lystra, impotent. That means no power. He's impotent. He's no power at all. He's impotent
in his feet. They're gnarled and crippled
and spinely and deformed. He's a cripple, and he was born
crippled. Never walked. Was unable to walk. I'm sure that he tried to walk,
and I'm sure he desired to walk, but he couldn't. He's crippled.
This man heard the gospel. You see what it says in verse
9? He heard Paul speak. God saved this sinner. Made him
a new creature in Christ. He saved him spiritually. Made him a new man in Christ.
And then he healed his body. Because it says here that Paul
perceived that he had faith. Where'd he get that? God gave
it to him. God gave it to him. Paul, steadfastly
beholding him, perceived He had faith. Just as Peter perceived
Simon Magus was a hypocrite, said your money perished with
you, you're in a gall of bitterness in the bond of iniquity. They
had a discerning spirit of perceivement somehow. They perceived who believed
and who didn't. Paul perceived this man was true.
He was granted faith, given life and salvation in Christ. And
God was determined to heal him. So Paul said in verse 10, We're
at the command of God. Stand up on your feet! I don't
think he whispered in his ear. This was a public meeting, a
public gathering. And I think he said it so everyone
in there could hear. Here's this old, dirty, beggar,
cripple. Get up and walk. Look what it
says. He leaped and he walked. You know that got some attention,
didn't it? That got somebody's attention. Hey, this man, and
it did here. This man sent from God. And the people saw what Paul
had done, and they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech
of these Laconians, the gods are come down to us in the likeness
of men. We see two things here. We see
the power of God to save sinners, and we see something else here.
we see the total darkness and ignorance of man by nature. A
glorious example of God's sovereign mercy given to this cripple.
Isn't it most interesting when Peter and John begin their ministry,
you remember in Acts chapter 3 when they went to the temple
and they set that cripple? When they began their public
ministry, There was a cripple that God healed, and he went
leaping and praising God. Now hear Paul and Barnabas beginning
their ministry, and the same thing happens. You see, he's
not the God of confusion. He's a God of order. He does
all things on purpose. All things on purpose. For no
for certain, it was no accident that this cripple here is sitting
where he's sitting and listening to Paul. God brought this to
pass, and their paths cross on purpose. God purposed from all
eternity to call this man, to save him by his grace, and to
make him a new creature in Christ Jesus, knowing unto God are all
his works from when? From the beginning. God set His
love, His affection on this man in eternity. He chose him in
that covenant of grace, gave him to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He died for his sin at Calvary Street, and in time He called
him by the gospel and made him a new creature in Christ. Not
only healed his soul, but healed his body. Set him free. Free indeed. He said, You shall
know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. As God had
mercy on this cripple, what's that a picture of? Huh? Picture of God saving this cripple,
God saving that cripple, that cripple, by His power and by
His grace. You see, my friend, I was born
just like this man from my mother's womb. I was born crippled. My case was even worse. I was
dead in sin. dead, graveyard dead, dead in
sin. I was born dead and Adam all
died. I was born spiritually dead in
sin and trespassers. When I got here and I was totally
impotent, totally unable to walk, unable to believe, unable to
come to God, but he brought the gospel to me. He crossed my path. I heard God speak the gospel
of His grace in Christ Jesus. One day God sent me a gospel
preacher with a gospel message. And God took that message and
burned it in my heart and made me a new creature in Christ.
Changed my want to. Changed my desire. Gave me a
love for things I once hated. Called me by His grace. And as
Paul said, at the command of God, stand up on your feet and
walk. And at the command of God. That's
how he saves sinners. You see, my friend, the gospel
is not an invitation. Not an invitation. It's a command. A king doesn't invite people
to his table, does he? He commands them to come. And
my friend, God saves sinners by His purpose and by His grace. At His command, we live, we walk,
we move, and we have our being in Him. You see what he's saying
here? It's a picture of salvation. This is how God saves sinners.
Is this how He saved you? Huh? Are you trusting something
you did? Something that happened to you
in the past? Or are you looking to the Lord Jesus Christ right
now by His grace? Well, here's the second thing
that happens. When this leper, or this lame man, this cripple
was healed, and he went walking and leaping and praising God.
I just know he did, just as the man did in Acts chapter 3. He
went walking and leaping and praising God. Here we see the
total ignorance and darkness of lost sinners when the people
saw what Paul had done. Now, did Paul make that man live?
Did Paul give that man, make his legs strong, his feet straight? Did Paul do that? No, God did
that. God did that. But they thought
Paul did that, and Barnabas did that. When they lifted up their
voices saying in their native tongue that, God, they'll come
down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Paul, Barnabas,
Or they called, excuse me, they called Barnabas Jupiter, and
they called Paul Vicarious because he was the chief speaker. Then
the priest of Jupiter, which was before the city, brought
oxen and garland. They were going to put a crown
on their head, and they were going to sacrifice unto them.
And what a dumb sacrifice! When Paul and Barnabas heard
of this, they rent their clothes and ran among the people, cried
out, saying, We're sinners. Don't do this. Don't worship
us. You look to the living and the true God. Look at verse 15. We are also men of like passion
with you and preach unto you that you should turn, turn from
these vanities, turn from these idolatries, turn from these vain
thoughts of worshiping men and turn to the living God, turn
to the true God which made heaven and earth and is seated in all
things therein. You turn to God. Look to Him. Here's an illustration of total
depravity and the awful darkness of a human heart, born in sin,
dead in sin. They were totally ignorant of
the true and the living God. They were ready to sacrifice
unto Paul and Barnabas and crown them and to worship them. How
ignorant we are left to ourselves. Now I'm going to shock you here.
Hold your seat. Hold on! Sinners today are just as dumb
and ignorant of the true and living God. That's so. Because they think, now stay
with me, they think salvation depends on them. That's idolatry. If you think
God's done all He can do, And he's waiting on you to do something,
you're an idolater. Because you've got more power
than God does. That's right. You've got a peanut idol. You
don't worship the true and the living God. You see, salvation
is not determined nor dependent upon the creature, is it? No,
it's determined, dependent, and accomplished by God Almighty,
and He gives that to whom He will. I'm telling you the truth.
Salvation is of the Lord. Men, by nature, are ignorant
of God. Totally ignorant. They do just exactly what these
poor, dumb people did. They worshiped the creature,
not the Creator. That's true. That's the truth.
I'm telling you the truth. And I'm going to do exactly what
Paul and Barnabas did here. You look to the true and the
living God. You look to the true and the living God. He said,
we are men, we are like passion, we are sinners, saved by God's
grace, and we preach to you, we tell you that you should turn
from these vanities. Free willism and free will religion
is a religion of devils. That's right. It's a religion
of devils. He said, I will ascend. I will
do this. I will be like the Most High
God. God said, no you won't. I'm God. You're not. Turn from
these vanities unto the Living God who is the Creator, who made
heaven and earth and all things therein. Turn to the living and
the true God. You see, he points them away
from vanities and idolatry to the true and the living God.
And my friend, I point you to God who is God, the sovereign
of the universe. He's not in your hand. You're
in His hand. He can save you or damn you at
His pleasure. He's God. He said, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. The only place where a sinner
will worship as at the throne of the sovereign king. The only
place that you really worship is at the throne of God who is
God. Paul declared, don't worship
these idols, you worship the true and the living God. Totally
dead sinners need a living God, an almighty God, an absolute
sovereign God who has all power to save. Now, if I'm dead in
sin, I don't need an idol. Do I? If I'm dead in sin, I need
someone who is almighty to give me life in Christ. Thank God
I have an almighty Savior who is God. who is able to save to
the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever lives
to make intercession for us. Well, look at verse 18. With these sayings, they were restrained, and they
didn't do sacrifice unto them. And I pray God would restrain
us I pray God he would restrain us with the gospel and cause
us to look to the Lord Jesus Christ for everything in salvation.