Leavener
  • Home
  • About
    • Director
    • Elders - Board Members
    • Why Leavener?
    • Blog Entries
    • Privacy Policy
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Disaster Relief
    • Journal
  • Community of Believers
    • Sundays at Pinheads
    • Teachings
    • Live
    • Small Groups
    • Student Camp
    • Israel Trips
    • Dad & Daughter Dance
    • My Identity in Jesus Christ

Acts 14:1-28

10/6/2019

 
Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Acts

Rusty's Notes

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Acts 14 ( 47-48 AD)
GROWTH AND PERSECUTION IN ICONIUM
  • As the blood dries on their backs, Paul and Barnabas travel 90 miles southeast to the frontier town of Iconium. (still modern Turkey).
  • This is roughly a five-day walk.
  • The two men take the Roman military road called the Via Sebaste (Sebastian Way), which will eventually lead them to Lystra and Derbe.[1]
  • The Via Sebaste was built under Augustus in 6 BC. It connected six military colonies, including Antioch of Psidia.
1 In Iconium
  • Greek city that speaks Greek & Phrygian.
  • Some Romans had begun to settle here.
they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.
  • Faith is not based on miracles.
  • Miracles support faith.
4 But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and others with the apostles.
  • As the apostles continued their witness, the city became more and more polarized into those who supported them and those who opposed them.
  • It is noteworthy that Luke used the term “apostle” here to refer to Paul and Barnabas.
  • Here and 14:14 are the only places where he applied the term to anyone other than the Twelve disciples.[2]
5 When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat and stone them,
  • This was more a mob mentality rather than an official city decision by authorities like in Antioch.
6 they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside. 7 There they continued preaching the gospel.
  • Another “church” was started in Iconium.
 
MISTAKEN FOR GODS IN LYSTRA
  • Paul and Barnabas take the Via Sebaste and travel eighteen miles southwest to a Roman colony called Lystra.
  • Lystra is a very primitive town that is built on a small hill.
  • The old Lyconian language is still spoken here, as well as Greek.
  • Since Lystra is a Roman colony, the language of the courts and the Roman soldiers is Latin.
  • There is no synagogue, indicating there are hardly any Jews present.
  • There is an old legend that says that the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes once visited Lystra (as told by the poet, Ovid).
  • They appeared as humans looking for a place to stay.
  • After they were rejected by the people, an elderly couple took the gods into their home.
  • The gods turned their home into a palace.
  • That palace became the temple of Zeus.[3]
8 In Lystra a man was sitting who was without strength in his feet, had never walked, and had been lame from birth. 9 He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!” And he jumped up and began to walk around.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes (herald, messenger of the gods), because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.
14 The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting: 15 “People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own way, 17 although he did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.
19 Some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 - Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.[4]
20 After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town.
  • Timothy being one of those who watched and gathered.
  • 2 Timothy 3:10-11 - But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, 11 along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured—and yet the Lord rescued me from them all.[5]
  • Timothy’s faith came through his mother Eunice and his Grandmother, Lois.
  • 2 Timothy 1:5 - I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also. [6]
  • These women are both Jews but Timothy’s Dad is Greek.
  • Acts 16:1 - Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek. [7]
  • Paul was miraculously healed but deeply scarred.
  • Galatians 6:17 - From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.[8]​
  • If the Bible says, “the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy.”, it doesn’t matter if it is referring to the Pharisees or the evil one.
  • The intent is to “steal, kill and destroy” with the root of that evil coming from the evil one.
  • Paul is doing all things good (sharing the Gospel) but comes to the edge of death.
  • Miraculously he survives… but the scars remain.
  • Ever been there?
  • Do you have scars as a result of your goodness?
  • Maybe you’re still in the midst of being wounded.
  • Maybe you’re in the midst of healing.
  • Don’t ever give up on your faith, your calling… your goodness that comes from the Lord.
  • Near death… miraculously healed… got up and went and got their “stuff” and then…
The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
  • Another “church” was started in Lystra.
  • The two apostles head 60 miles southeast to a tiny frontier town called Derbe.
 
CHURCH PLANTING
21 After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples,
  • A convert is made in the town whose name is Gaius. (mentioned in Acts 20:4)
  • Another “church” was started in Derbe.
  • After preaching the gospel in Derbe, Paul and Barnabas retrace their steps.
  • Despite the fact that they have been driven out of these cities.
they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” 23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
  • In each city, they meet with the church briefly to strengthen, encourage, and warn them of the trials that lie ahead.
  • After prayer and fasting, the apostles identify the older men in each church that have matured the most.
  • They acknowledge these men as “elders.”
  • After commending each church to the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul and Barnabas depart.
  •  If we take into account their travel time, Paul and Barnabas spend only three to five months planting each Galatian church.
  • This is a pattern that holds throughout Paul’s entire ministry.
  • He will spend a short amount of time laying a solid foundation for an infant church.
  • Then he will abandon it for a long period of time without human headship or designated leadership.
  • Two years will pass before Paul will return to see the Galatian believers.
  • Most of the converts in South Galatia are heathen Gentiles.
  • There are some God-fearers and some Jews among them.
  • The new converts in South Galatia do not have any Bibles. The NT has not been written yet.
  • Possibly a Jew in one of the four churches has one or two scrolls of some OT Book. But it is highly doubtful that any of the churches in South Galatia have a complete OT.
  • Yet even if every convert had an entire Bible, it would profit them little. For only five to ten percent of the population in the Roman Empire are literate.
  • Letter writers, stenographers, occasional poets, and legal scribes make up only four percent of the population at best.
  • Those who can write become farsighted by the age of forty. Thus they will need a secretary that serves as a professional scribe to pen their letters.
  • For this reason, Paul needed a scribe to write his epistles (e.g., Romans 16: 22). Yet with his own hand he would sign the last part of each letter to confirm its authenticity (Galatians 6: 11; 2 Thessalonians 3: 17; 1 Corinthians 16: 21).
  • The average life expectancy for a male is 45. The average life expectancy for a female is 38. (Of all humans born in the Empire, half die before age five.)
  • Women usually marry in their early teens and raise families until they have passed child-bearing age. Very little birth control is practiced.
  • Twenty-five percent of babies do not survive their first year.
  • Half do not live past the age of ten. Three of every ten Jewish children die before the age of eighteen.
24 They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 After they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
  • Now 49 AD
27 After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent a considerable time with the disciples. [9]
  • Meanwhile, back in Rome, Emperor Claudius issues a decree expelling all the Jews from the “Eternal City” (Rome).
  • According to the historian Seutonius, the Jews are rioting over their various views about Christ.
  • Since Christianity is viewed as a sect of Judaism in the eyes of the Greeks and Romans, all Jews—including Christian and non-Christian—are forced to leave the city.
  • Many of the banished Jews flee to the Greek city of Corinth.
  • A Roman Jew named Aquila and his wife Priscilla are among them.
  • Because Rome has expelled all Jews, Gentiles in all the Roman colonies throughout the Empire regard Jews with even greater suspicion and disfavor than they had before.
 
  • For most of the population, first-century Galatia is a thankless, loveless, horrible place to live.
  • This is the world into which two apostolic workers from Syrian Antioch come to establish the church of Jesus Christ.
  • Keep in mind that these new Galatian churches are surrounded by Gentile immorality and idolatry. Also, there are Jews in their towns who hate the new faith.
  • After their brief revisiting trip, the new Christians in Galatia will not see the hair of an apostle for almost two years.
  • But the gospel that Paul and Barnabas preach will be rich and high enough to cause the Galatian churches to survive without any outside help.
  • What Paul and Barnabas preach cause these once heathen, superstitious, selfish, miserable Gentiles to fall in love with one another, to sing, to smile, and to glow with the joy of Jesus Christ.
  • Like the Twelve before them, they were called, trained, and sent.
  • And they preach an indwelling Christ that will sustain them through the pressures of life.
  • They eat together, work together, greet each other with a holy kiss, raise their children together, take care of one another, and bury one another.
It is this joy and love that the Galatian Christians have one for another that will shake the Roman Empire to its very foundations.[10]

[1] The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Gide to Understanding the New Testament, Frank Viola, Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2004. Chapter 9
[2] Polhill, J. B. (1992). Acts (Vol. 26, p. 311). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[3] The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Gide to Understanding the New Testament, Frank Viola, Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2004. Chapter 9
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Co 11:24–25). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Ti 3:10–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Ti 1:5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 16:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 6:17). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 14:1–28). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Gide to Understanding the New Testament, Frank Viola, Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 2004. Chapter 9

Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All
    12 Tribes
    1 Corinthians
    1 John
    1 Kings
    1 Peter
    1 Samuel
    1st Missionary Journey
    1 Thessalonians
    1 Timothy
    2 Corinthians
    2 John
    2 Kings
    2nd Missionary Journey
    2 Peter
    2 Samuel
    2 Thessalonians
    2 Timothy
    3 John
    3rd Missionary Journey
    4th Missionary Journey
    Aaron
    Abide
    Abraham
    Accountability
    Acts
    Adam & Eve
    Addiction
    Amos
    Angels
    Anxiety
    Apostles
    Ascension
    Assurance
    Atonement
    Baptism
    Barak
    Barnabas
    Bathsheba
    Behavior
    Bible
    Bible Stories
    Bible Stories
    Blessings
    Blood
    Boaz
    Camp
    Child Of God
    Children
    Chosen
    Christmas
    Church
    Church Discipline
    Circumcision
    Clean
    Colossians
    Comfort
    Community
    Confess
    Conscience
    Contentment
    Courage
    Covenants
    Creation
    Crowns
    Crucifixion
    Daniel
    David
    Day Of The Lord
    Deacon
    Death
    Deborah
    Demon Possession
    Dinah
    Disciples
    Discipline
    Division
    Divorce
    Easter
    Elders
    Elect
    Elijah
    Elisha
    Emotions
    Employer/Employee
    Encouragement
    End Times
    Enoch
    Ephesians
    Esau
    Esther
    Exchanged Life
    Exodus
    Expectations
    Ezekiel
    Ezra / Nehemiah
    Faith
    Faithfulness
    False Teachers
    False Teaching
    Family
    Favoritism
    Fear
    Finances
    Flesh
    Flood
    Focus
    Forgiveness
    Freedom
    Free Will
    Friendship
    Fruit Of The Spirit
    Galatians
    Genesis
    Gentiles
    Gideon
    Giving
    Glory
    Godliness
    God's Will
    Goliath
    Gospel
    Gospels
    Government
    Grace
    Hannah
    Happiness
    Healing
    Hebrews
    High Priest
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Spirit
    Hope
    Hosea
    Humanity
    Humbleness
    Hurting
    Husband
    Identity
    Immorality
    Integrity
    Interviews
    Isaac
    Israel
    Jacob
    James
    Jeremiah
    Jericho
    Jesus
    Jewish Feasts
    John
    Jonah
    Jonathan
    Joseph
    Joshua
    Joy
    Jude
    Judges
    Justification
    Kings Of Israel
    Lamentations
    Lawsuits
    Law Vs Grace
    Leah
    Leavener
    Legalism
    Leper
    Leviticus
    Life
    Listen
    Lord's Supper
    Love
    Luke
    Malachi
    Mark
    Marriage
    Martyrs
    Matthew
    Melchizedek
    Mental Health
    Mentoring
    Mercy
    Messianic Miracles
    Micah
    Ministry
    Mission
    Money
    Moses
    Mother's Day
    Mystery
    Names Of God
    New Covenant
    New Creation
    New Testamant
    New Testament
    Noah
    Numbers
    Old Covenant
    Old Testament
    Old Testament
    Onesimus
    Overseers
    Parables
    Parenting
    Passover
    Patience
    Paul
    Peace
    Pentecost
    Perfect
    Perseverance
    Peter
    Philemon
    Philippians
    Physical Body
    Plagues
    Poverty
    Power Of Sin
    Prayer
    Predestination
    Pride
    Promised Land
    Protection
    Proverbs
    Prunes
    Psalms
    Rachel
    Rahab
    Rebekah
    Redeemed
    Relationships
    Repentance
    Resurrection
    Rich People
    Righteousness
    Romans
    Ruth
    Sabbath Rest
    Sabbath Rest
    Sacrifice
    Salvation
    Samson
    Samuel
    Sanctification
    Saul
    Sermon On The Mount
    Servant
    Sex
    Shepherds
    Sin Nature
    Small Groups
    Sodom & Gomorah
    Solomon
    Soul
    Sovereignty
    Spirit
    Spiritual Body
    Spiritual Gifts
    Spiritual Maturity
    Spiritual Warfare
    Spiritual Warfare
    Stephen
    Storms
    Submit
    Suffering
    Tabernacle
    Teen Challenge
    Temple
    Temptation
    Ten Commandments
    Testimony
    Thanksgiving
    Thessalonians
    Timothy
    Titus
    Tongue
    Transformation
    Trials
    Trinity
    Trust
    Truth
    Unity
    Victory
    Walk By The Spirit
    Widows
    Wife
    Wilderness
    Wisdom
    Wise Men
    Wive
    Women
    Works
    Zacchaeus

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Teachers

    Rusty Kennedy
    Keith Tyner
    Terry Cooper
    Matt Tully
    Wes Cate
    Dan Luedke

    RSS Feed

About
Director
Board Members
Why Leavener?
Blog Entries
​Privacy Policy



Ministry Aspects
Crisis Intervention
- The Burke House Project
Disaster Relief
- Journal
Community of Believers
- Teachings
- Live

Community
Garage
Small Groups
Contact
E-mail - [email protected]
Phone - 317-841-8825

© Copyright 2023 Leavener