GLORY BE… HE LET’S US SEE
ACTS 14:8-31
Intro: Wycliffe Bible translators have released a 400-page volume called Ethnologue. According to its editor, Barbara Fr. Grimes, the new publication is an updated edition of an important reference work on the world’s languages. Editor Grimes said the book brings together the best information available on the world’s languages, and provides where possible, alternate names, locations, number of speakers, linguistic affiliation, dialects, bilingualism of speakers, Bible translation status and the Christian agencies working in the language or tribe. She also said the Wycliffe has available reliable information on about two out of every five languages in the world. Paul and Barnabas could have used this work!
Today we face this challenge: the whole Bible is available in the languages of 90 percent of the world’s population. Another 5 percent has some portion of the Bible. The task we face now is supplying the necessary Bible study helps as quickly as possible. The world is gradually becoming more and more literate. It is said that 100 people learn to read every minute, a million a week and 52 million a year.
I) SEEING GOD IN HIS POWER
8-10 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk Lystra was without a Synagogue, so Paul went to the Marketplace (14:13) and preached open air. The crippled man was in a sad state. Scripture repeats his condition three times, powerless in his feet, crippled from birth, and he had never walked. This triple emphasis draws attention to the magnitude of the miracle. Paul’s message would have been a recapping of the promises made by God, and how Jesus is the fulfillment. He most likely spoke about the miracles Jesus performed, possibly including some of the apostolic miracles as well for good measure. The healing of the lame man in vv. 8–10 has many features in common with Peter’s healing of Aeneas (9:32–35) and particularly with his healing the lame man at the temple gate (3:2–10). They both had been lame from his birth. Both leaped up and walked about when healed. In this instance the lame man showed a glimmer of faith (v. 9), which is the main difference. Paul exercised the gift of discerning of spirits. We are told that when the apostle looked directly at the man, he was able to tell that he had the faith to be healed. Paul observed the man who kept watching him and noticed that he had faith to be healed. The term healed is from the verb ‘sodzo’ which can mean rescued from danger, restored, healed or made whole (freed from the demonic). Perhaps it was in response to Paul’s speaking; he may well have been bearing testimony to the gospel. In any event, the healing is told with the utmost brevity. Paul directed him to stand, and the man immediately jumped to his feet and began to walk about. There is no mention of the name of Jesus or the power of God, but the reader of Acts has had sufficient examples by now to know that it is indeed through the divine power that the miracle was worked (cf. 3:16; 4:30; 9:34).
10 Looking directly at him, Paul orders/commands the man to stand up, which stirring his faith to be healed. The word we translate stand means ‘become erect’ on your feet. The response is stunning, as the man shows no hesitation and leaps up on his feet. Not only did he find himself erect on his feet, he also found himself walking. This is powerful on a number of fronts, when we compare this healing with the man at the Gate Beautiful. Peter had to encourage this man to walk by taking him by the hand and pulling him upright. In this healing, the man responded by getting up, as he acted on the word of command given Paul, through the Spirit. Upright (ὀρθός/orthos). Only here and Hebrews 12:13. Compare made straight, Luke 13:13. Leaped (ἥλατο/helato). Better, as Revelation, leaped up. Note the aorist tense, indicating a single act, while the imperfect, walked, denotes continuous action.
11 In the speech of Lycaonia. The apostles had been preaching in Greek. The fact that the people now spoke in their native tongue explains why Paul and Barnabas did not interfere until they saw the preparations for sacrifice. They did not understand what was being said by the people about their divine character. It was natural that the surprise of the Lystrans should express itself in their own language rather than in a foreign tongue. Any time we minister, it is important to make sure that we are understood, and that we understand.
II) SEEING GOD CLEARLY
This miracle made the people mistake the apostles for the gods, to which their mythologies gave examples of the gods disguising themselves as men and walking among them. There were two local legends about this very thing happening, one in which a town was destroyed, and another that is told by Ovid, where the same gods visited a pious couple in this same region who properly entertained the gods and were rewarded. The events that happened here drives home for us the importance of the Pauline prescription for establishing churches in towns with Synagogues first, as these people had no advanced warning about the nature of the One True God. God Fearers new the standards and the stories. Communities with Synagogues new that God worked through men of ‘like passion,’ as in Moses and Elijah. The Lystrans had no such luxury and interpreted the events through their pagan cultural norms.
14:3 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 granting signs and wonders. John MacArthur says that these ‘acts of such divine power confirmed that Paul and Barnabas spoke for God.’ God also enabled the men to perform signs and wonders as their “credentials” that they were indeed the servants of the true God (see Acts 15:12; Galatians 3:5; Hebrews 2:4). Faith should not be based on miracles (Luke 16:27–31; John 2:23–25), but faith can be bolstered by miracles. The important thing is “the word of His grace” that performs the work of His grace (Acts 14:26).
11-13 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13The 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. It stands to reason that the crowd that had begun to gather at Paul’s preaching now began to magnify and increase, as they saw Paul command the cripple to rise. His loud command would have captivated their attention. The crowd reacted with loud and giddy excitement, as they reverted to their native language, even though it is apparent they understood the Greek language Paul was using in his preaching. This is a common practice among those who are bilingual. Even Jesus did this when He hung on the cross and quoted Psalm 22:1 in Aramaic, the language of His youth, over Hebrew or Greek. The crowd, when excited, spoke in their native Lycaonian language. The language barrier may in part explain why the people so easily misunderstood the apostles’ message and why the apostles had so much trouble discouraging the sacrifice (18), and why Barnabas and Paul were so slow to understand what was going on.
I think that this passage is an important one for Charismatic studies, particularly when the issue of speaking in tongues is examined. One of the main arguments against the modern usage of tongues is in its application. Many theologians assume that those who spoke and interpreted tongues, used the gift in preaching, thus allowing a cultural bridge to be built. Glossolalia is a form of speech that does not directly correspond to any known language, while akolalia describes that phenomenon in which the speaker uses one language and the audience “hears” the words in (a) different language(s). Xenolalia refers to one speaking in a known language that the person has not learned by mechanical methods (Journal of Evangelical Society). One of the most spectacular phenomena of the Christian faith during the past century has been a resurgence of an early church practice called “speaking with tongues.” This phenomenon is purportedly a divinely-given ability to speak in a language unknown to the speaker (Grace Journal/Seminary). In Acts 2:5–7 the Jews from every nation heard the speakers in their “own languages (dialektōi) from where we were born” (v. 8). Thus the tongues were in the actual languages of men (Grace Journal).
Acts 10:46 Grace Journal says that when the Gospel began to go to Gentiles Peter was sent to evangelize a Gentile named Cornelius. When he preached to him, Holy Spirit came upon the hearers, so that the believing Jews were astonished, “For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.” The following facts should be noted: In the context Peter identifies this as the same phenomenon that they had received in Acts 2, so that this also must have been with human languages, even though strange to the Apostle and his party. When the early Church first experienced glossolalia (Acts 2:4–11), it was heard as actual human languages not known to the speakers, but this may have been a miracle of hearing rather than of speaking (Eerdmans Bible Dictionary). Without being disrespectful to our contemporary or deceased scholars, I do not think this position is plausible.
Let me pose a theological question to you, if the gift of languages in Acts 2 & 10 were ‘in the languages of men,’ with the gifted people understanding and recognizing the language, why didn’t Paul and Barnabas understand the Lystran language, particularly following Acts 13:52 proclamation that, the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit, and with them doing miraculous signs and wonders?
12-13 ‘Chief speaker’ literally meant ‘the leader/guide of the Word/logos. It is important in that it shows us that Paul was more than the demonstrator of the works of God, he also was the main speaker. Notice that in the two verses in which they are identified that Barnabas is shown to be the lead person even though he was not the primary speaker. This was in accordance to the mistaken identities. The people of Lystra took what they thought to be appropriate action, as they approached the priest of their temple who brought the costliest sacrifice that could be made, bulls.
In human form (ὁμοιωθέντες ἀνθρώποις), having become like to men. A remnant of the earlier pagan belief system held that the gods visited the earth in human form. Homer, for example, is full of such incidents. Thus, when Ulysses lands upon his native shore, Pallas meets him “in the shape Of a young shepherd delicately formed, as are the sons of kings. A mantle lay Upon her shoulder in rich folds; her feet shone in their sandals; in her hands she bore A javelin.” Odyssey, xiii., 221–225. Again, one rebukes a suitor for maltreating Ulysses: “Madman! what if he came down from heaven and were a god! The gods put on the form of strangers from afar, and walk our towns in many different shapes, to mark the good and evil deeds of men.” Odyssey, xvii., 485
III) SEEING GOD’S ACTIVITY
14-19 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. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet 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.” 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. In the excitement and the shouting, Paul and Barnabas did not realize what was happening until the robes were placed over their shoulders, and the wreaths were in place. Either someone explained to them in Greek what was happening, or they figured it out by the activities. We should not think that Paul’s reaction was extreme or unwarranted, as he was always quick to remind his converts that “no flesh shall glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:29).” He understood the absolute corruption that idolatry had brought to this present evil age, and he wanted nothing to do with it. It probably did not hurt that what happened to Herod would have been a fresh memory (Acts 13:23).
Paul’s exhortation had to do with the vanity of their worship. Paul exhorted them to abandon this vain worship and turn to the one true and living God, the source of all that truly lives. This was the main theme of the sermon—the living God. Three things are said about God. First, he is Creator of all life. Paul’s second point deals with God’s tolerance and mercy. In the past God had not left himself without a witness apart from the Law. He had revealed himself in his works of natural providence. This was Paul’s final point (v. 17). Ideas of divine providence would not have been strange to the ears of the Lystrans. They were often expressed by pagan writers in speaking of the benevolence of the gods. What was new to them was Paul’s message of the one God. The apostles evidently worked for a while in Lystra as is indicated by the presence of disciples there (v. 20a).
19-20 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. 20But 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. The Opposition John Wesley once encountered a village bully when their carriages met upon a narrow road. The bully knew Wesley and disliked him and would not give him any leeway, staying in the middle of the road. John Wesley cheerfully gave the man the entire road, even though he had to turn into the ditch. As they passed, the bully said, “I never turn out for fools,” and Wesley—all five foot two of him—retorted, “I always do.” In 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 Paul wrote of himself and his kind: We are hard-pressed on all sides, but we are never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we are never deserted; we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out! (Phillips) You would think that Lystra would be particularly receptive, given its mainly Gentile population and the fact that they had even taken the apostles for gods. But crowds are fickle, especially when their expectations are not fulfilled.
After a considerable time had passed, their enemies finally divided the Demos, the town council, and decided to do what they never would have attempted if the Roman rule had been strong enough—they wanted to stone God’s missionaries! Many scholars believe that Paul was describing this near death experience in 2 Corinthians 12:2-5. It is possible that when Paul rose up and went into the city, he was actually raised from the dead. At the very least, he was miraculously healed, because the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
Recent neurological research has uncovered something fascinating: the brain is incredibly lazy. Given two options, the human brain will always take the easy way out. It’s a combination of many things, and much of it has to do with conservation of energy. In fact, when faced with too much stimulation, the brain will often “fill in” information it’s not getting from the eye, to create a picture based on something similar we’ve seen before. What’s this got to do with creativity? Simple. The brain wants the easy way out. As a result, our perceptions, our ideas, and our creativity will take the low road, unless we intentionally stimulate it otherwise. Simply put – force your brain to see new things, encounter new experiences, and consider new ideas. Bombard it with new experiences. While some people are “born creative” we can all enhance and elevate our creativity, but we have to be purposeful about it. Take a trip. Visit a museum. Encounter new people. Consider new ideas. Do something you’ve never done before. Break the routine. Grow.
21-25 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22strengthening 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. 23Paul and Barnabas appointed elders[a] for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. 24After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. In each of the churches that they revisited, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders (see 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and Titus 1:5–9 for the qualifications they looked for) and committed them to the task with prayer and fasting, just as they themselves had been set aside for their task by the church in Antioch (13:1–3).
24-28 After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, 25and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 27On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
