Lesson #19

• MEMORY VERSE: ISA 52:7

• IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER OF ACTS, PAUL BEGAN HIS FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY. THE DATE IS ABOUT 45 AD. FROM THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, HE AND BARNABAS SAILED TO THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS, THEN TO THE MAINLAND OF TURKEY.
• IN THIS CHAPTER OF ACTS, WE PICK UP PAUL’S STEPS AS HE HAS LEFT ANTIOCH PISIDIA IN TURKEY AND ARRIVED IN THE CITY OF ICONIUM IN A TERRITORY OF TURKEY CALLED, GALATIA.
• IT IS TO THESE CHURCHES IN THESE CITIES OF GALATIA THAT PAUL WROTE HIS LETTER TO THE GALATIANS. (THE BOOK OF GALATIANS)
• THE RELIGIOUS ATMOSPHERE OF GALATIA:
• PAGANISM WAS THE DOMINANT ENTRENCHED RELIGIOUS PERSUASION IN GALATIA. THIS ATMOSPHERE PROMISED A VERY DIFFICULT MISSION FIELD FOR PAUL. IN FACT, THE MOST DIFFICULT MISSION FIELD OF HIS MINISTRY.
• PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIANS IS THE MOST SEVERE OF ALL HIS LETTERS, AND HE VISITED THESE CHURCHES MORE FREQUENTLY THAN ANY OTHERS, PROBABLY BECAUSE HE FELT THESE PEOPLE NEEDED A STRONG REIN TO KEEP THEM ON TRACK.
• HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF GALATIA:
• THE PEOPLE WHO INHABITED THIS ROMAN PROVINCE WERE BLOND ORIENTALS CALLED, GAULS. THE CELTIC PEOPLE THAT INHABITED FRANCE WERE ALSO GAULS.
• THESE WERE VERY MOBILE, WAR-LIKE PEOPLE WHO RAIDED EVERYWHERE AND EVERYONE.
• THEY FINALLY SETTLED IN THIS TERRITORY OF TURKEY ABOUT 189 BC.
• GALATIA WAS MADE A PROVINCE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE WHEN ROME EXTENDED ITS KINGDOM TO THIS AREA.
• CAESAR SAID, “THE INFIRMITY OF THE GAULS IS THAT THEY ARE FICKLE IN THEIR RESOLVES, FOND OF CHANGE, AND NOT TO BE TRUSTED.”

• READ ACT 14:1-7 PAUL’S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY CONTINUES
• ICONIUM:
• IT WAS 90 MILES ALONG A ROMAN MILITARY ROAD FROM ANTIOCH PISIDIA TO ICONIUM.
• THE INHABITANTS OF THE CITY WERE GRECIAN GENTILES, A FEW ROMAN SOLDIERS, AND A SOME JEWS.
• PAUL’S AUDIENCE:
• NOTICE THAT PAUL FIRST WENT TO THE SYNAGOGUE AS HE ALWAYS DID TO PREACH FIRST TO THE JEWS.
• HOWEVER, VERSE 1 TELLS US THAT BOTH JEWS AND GREEKS (GENTILES) WERE THERE IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
• THESE GREEKS WERE GOD-FEARING GENTILES INTERESTED IN JUDAISM BUT NOT YET PROSELYTES.
• A LARGE NUMBER OF JEWS AND GENTILES BELIEVED IN JESUS CHRIST.
• PAUL’S OPPOSITION:
• THE NON-BELIEVING JEWS STIRRED UP SOME TROUBLE AMONG THE GENTILES AGAINST PAUL BUT NOT ENOUGH SUPPORT YET TO DRIVE THEM OUT OF TOWN.
• THE VERIFICATION OF PAUL’S PREACHING IN ICONIUM:
• PAUL’S PREACHING WAS VERIFIED BY GOD WHO DID MANY MIRACLES AND HEALINGS AMONG THE PEOPLE THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• THE INDICATION IS THAT PAUL’S PREACHING CAME FIRST, THEN THE MIRACLES.
• THE MIRACLES WOULD GAIN THE INTEREST OF THE GENTILES SO AS TO STEM THE TIDE OF JEWISH OPPOSITION.
• REMEMBER THAT MIRACLES DO NOT PRODUCE FAITH IN THE HEART. FAITH COMES BY THE WORD OF GOD. (ROM 10:17)
• READ GAL 3:5
• AS PREVIOUSLY IN ACTS, MIRACLES SERVE TO ADVERTISE THE GOSPEL. THEY ARE NOT AN END IN THEMSELVES.
• A TOWN DIVIDED: (4)
• WHAT WAS THE SOURCE OF THE DIVISION IN VERSE 4?
• THE CONTROVERSY WAS OVER WHETHER THE MIRACLES WERE FROM THE GOD, JEHOVAH, OR NOT.
• THE JEWS SAID THEY WERE NOT FROM GOD.
• THE PEOPLE WHO HAD EXPERIENCED THEM SAID THEY WERE FROM GOD.
• FINALLY THE NON-BELIEVING JEWS STIRRED UP SO MUCH TROUBLE AMONG THE PEOPLE THAT A MOB SCENE RESULTED AND THE TOWNSPEOPLE THOUGHT TO STONE PAUL AND BARNABAS.
• PAUL AND BARNABAS FLEE TO LYSTRA AND DERBE.

• READ ACT 14:8-18
• LYSTRA:
• LYSTRA IS 18 MILES SOUTH OF ICONIUM ON THE SAME ROMAN MILITARY HIGHWAY. IT IS GENTILE CITY.
• THE HEALING OF THE LAME MAN:
• EVIDENTLY THERE WAS NO JEWISH SYNAGOGUE IN THIS TOWN BECAUSE THERE WERE NO JEWS THERE.
• WITHOUT A GATHERING AT A SYNAGOGUE, PAUL HAD NO READY-MADE AUDIENCE FOR HIS PREACHING.
• THE HEALING OF THE LAME MAN BRINGS TOGETHER A CROWD TO HEAR THE GOSPEL.
• THE PAGANISTIC BELIEFS OF THE PEOPLE OF LYSTRA:
• THE PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT THEIR GREEK GODS HAD COME TO VISIT THEM AND HAD BROUGHT HEALING.
• THEY BELIEVED THAT PAUL WAS THE GREEK GOD, HERMES (MERCURY), AND BARNABAS WAS THE GREEK GOD, ZEUS (JUPITER).
• THE ROMAN NAMES FOR HERMES AND ZEUS ARE MERCURY AND JUPITER.
• A ROMAN POET WROTE HOW MERCURY AND JUPITER HAD ONCE VISITED THE PEOPLE IN THIS SAME AREA IN HUMAN FORM.
• ZEUS WAS THE CHIEF GREEK GOD WHO HAD FATHERED ALL OTHER GODS AND MEN.
• ZEUS WAS CALLED, “BEL” IN BABYLON AND “OSIRIS” IN EGYPT.
• BARNABAS MAY HAVE BEEN A LARGE MAN WITH A STRONG BEARING HENCE THE MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
• HERMES WAS THE ELOQUENT MESSENGER GOD OR SPOKESMAN WHO ACCOMPANIED ZEUS TO THE EARTH. HE WAS ALSO THE GOD OF FOOD DISTRIBUTION.
• PAUL WAS THE ELOQUENT SPOKESMAN FOR THE MISSIONARY TEAM.
• WHY DID PAUL AND BARNABAS GET SO UPSET IN LYSTRA?
• THE PEOPLE OF LYSTRA WERE PREPARING A SACRIFICIAL CELEBRATION TO ZEUS AND HERMES. PAUL AND BARNABAS BARELY ESCAPE THIS BLASPHEMY.
• HOW DID THE PREPARATIONS GET GO FAR ADVANCED BEFORE PAUL AND BARNABAS CORRECT THE SITUATION?
• THESE PEOPLE IN LYSTRA SPOKE A DIFFERENT DIALECT THAT PAUL AND BARNABAS DID NOT AT FIRST UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE PEOPLE’S REJOICING.
• PAUL AND BARNABAS TEAR THEIR CLOTHING.
• THIS IS THE LAST TIME THE BIBLE MENTIONS THIS OLD TESTAMENT JEWISH PRACTICE TO INDICATE SUPREME HORROR AT SOME ACT OF BLASPHEMY AGAINST GOD.
• THE SERMON IN LYSTRA:
• PAUL PROBABLY SPEAKS THIS SERMON.
• HE TELLS THEM TO TURN FROM WORSHIPPING EMPTY IDOLS (ZEUS) TO WORSHIP THE LIVING GOD WHO IS THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING. (15)
• THE WORD PAUL USED FOR “GOD” IN VERSE 15 WAS NOT THE HEBREW WORD ELOHIM FOR THIS IS A CROSS-CULTURAL WITNESS TO PEOPLE WHO DID NOT KNOW THE NAME, ELOHIM. PAUL USED THE WORD “THEOS” WHICH IS “GOD” WITH A SMALL g.
• THIS IS A WORD THOSE PEOPLE WOULD UNDERSTAND.
• THERE WAS A TEMPLE TO ZEUS IN LYSTRA TO WHICH PAUL POINTED WHEN HE SAID, “EMPTY IDOLS”. (INDICATED BY A MASCULINE PERSONAL PRONOUN IN THE GREEK)
• NOTICE THAT PAUL SAYS THERE IS ONE GOD WHO CREATED THE HEAVEN, THE EARTH, THE SEA, ETC.
• THESE PEOPLE HAD MANY GODS EACH HAVING A LIMITED REALM…A GOD OF THE SEA, A GOD OF THE EARTH, ETC.
• LYSTRA IS TIMOTHY’S HOMETOWN. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT 15 YEARS OLD AT THIS TIME. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THE TIME WHEN TIMOTHY GOT SAVED.
• TIMOTHY BECOMES CLOSE TO PAUL LATER. PAUL WROTE THE BOOKS OF FIRST AND SECOND TIMOTHY TO THIS YOUNG PASTOR.
• IN THE SERMON TO THESE PEOPLE, WE LEARN MUCH ABOUT OUR GOD.
• WE LEARN THAT OUR GOD IS A LIVING GOD.
• OUR GOD IS ONE GOD.
• OUR GOD IS THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING.
• OUR GOD IS A PATIENT GOD.
• OUR GOD ALWAYS PUTS A WITNESS ON EARTH OF WHO HE IS.
• EVERYTHING IN NATURE IS A WITNESS TO OUR GOD.
• OUR GOD IS A LOVING GOD WHO DESIRES TO PROVIDE FOR HIS PEOPLE.

• READ ACT 14:19-28
• WHO IS FOLLOWING PAUL AND BARNABAS EVERYWHERE THEY GO?
• A GROUP OF JEWS FOLLOWED PAUL AND BARNABAS FROM ANTIOCH PISIDIA TO ICONIUM. THEY PERSUADED A FEW MORE JEWS IN ICONIUM TO JOIN THEM AS THEY FOLLOWED THE MISSIONARY TEAM OVER 100 MILES TO LYSTRA.
• WHY WOULD A GROUP OF JEWS BE SO INTENT ON FOLLOWING PAUL AND BARNABAS? WOULD NOT THEY HAVE BEEN CONTENT TO CHASE THEM OUT OF THEIR CITY?
• THESE ARE ORTHODOX JEWS WHO HAVE THE SAME ZEALOUS SPIRIT OF KEEPING JUDAISM PURE AS PAUL DID BEFORE HIS CONVERSION TO CHRIST.
• THEREFORE, THEY STIR UP THE POPULATION AGAINST PAUL UNTIL A MOB STONES HIM AND TAKES HIS BODY OUT OF THE CITY. .
• THE QUESTION USUALLY ARISES AT THIS POINT AS TO WHETHER PAUL REALLY DIED OR DID THEY JUST THINK HE WAS DEAD.
• MANY BELIEVE HE REALLY DIED AND GOD RAISED HIM UP AGAIN.
• READ 2COR 11:25
• HOWEVER, PAUL MENTIONS THE STONING IN 2COR 11:25 BUT HE DOES NOT INDICATE THAT HE REALLY DIED.
• READ 2COR 12:2-4
• HOWEVER, THIS MAY BE PAUL’S EXPLANATION OF THIS EXPERIENCE IN LYSTRA.
• WHETHER PAUL ACTUALLY DIED OR NOT, IT IS A GREAT MIRACLE FOR HE ROSE UP AND WALKED AWAY. GOD HEALED HIM OF HIS LETHAL WOUNDS.
• THE BIBLE DOES NOT SAY WHY BARNABAS WAS NOT STONED AS WELL.
• DERBE:
• PAUL AND BARNABAS LEAVE LYSTRA FOR DERBE, 30 MILES FURTHER DOWN THE ROMAN HIGHWAY.
• THEY CITY OF DERBE HAD A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE THAT THEY SUCCEEDED IN CONVERTING ALL OF THEM TO THE LORD WITHOUT OPPOSITION.
• WHY DID PAUL AND BARNABAS RETURN AGAIN TO LYSTRA, ICONIUM, AND ANTIOCH PISIDIA?
• FROM DERBE, THE MISSIONARIES COULD HAVE GONE ON TO TARSUS WHICH WAS PAUL’S HOME. INSTEAD THEY RETURN BACK THE WAY THEY HAD COME, THROUGH THE CITIES WHERE THEY HAD EXPERIENCED HOSTILITY. WHY?
• THROUGH PAUL’S WRITINGS, IT IS OBVIOUS HE HAS A GREAT LOVE AND CONCERN FOR THE CHURCHES HE HAS PLANTED. IT IS THIS LOVE THAT DRAWS HIM BACK THE WAY THEY CAME.
• THEY SEE THAT THE PEOPLE ARE ENCOURAGED IN THEIR FAITH.
• THEY SEE THAT ELDERS ARE APPOINTED IN THE NEW CHURCHES.
• THEY WARN THE NEW CHRISTIANS OF SUFFERING TO COME.
• THE MISSIONARIES RETURN TO PERGA WHERE PAUL PREACHES.
• PAUL AND BARNABAS HAD COME THROUGH PERGA AT THE START OF THEIR OVERLAND JOURNEY, BUT PAUL DID NOT PREACH THERE FOR SOME REASON.
• FROM PERGA THEY TAKE A SMALL SIDE TRIP TO THE CITY OF ATTALIA ON THE COAST OF TURKEY. FROM THERE THEY SAIL BACK TO THEIR HOME CHURCH IN ANTIOCH SYRIA.
• PAUL AND BARNABAS COVERED SOME 1400 MILES AND WERE GONE ABOUT 2 YEARS. (45-47 AD)
• PAUL REMAINS IN ANTIOCH WITH BARNABAS FOR 2 MORE YEARS. (48-49 AD)

• APPLICATION:
• WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT HUMAN NATURE IN THIS CHAPTER?
• ALL THROUGH THIS CHAPTER WE SEE THE FICKLENESS OF THE HUMAN NATURE.
• PEOPLE WERE HAPPY TO RECEIVE MIRACLES AT THE HANDS OF PAUL BUT THEN WERE EASILY PERSUADED TO THREATEN PAUL WITH DEATH.
• PEOPLE WERE EASILY PERSUADED TO FALL FOR ANY DOCTRINE THAT CAME THEIR WAY, THEN CHANGE BACK THE NEXT DAY.
• READ GAL 3:1
• THE GALATIAN PEOPLE ARE PRIME EXAMPLES OF THIS FICKLE ASPECT OF HUMAN NATURE.
• HUMAN NATURE IS MOST EVIDENT IN MOB SCENES.
• PEOPLE FIND IT EASY TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE CROWD RATHER THAN TO TAKE A STAND TO BE DIFFERENT.
• THIS GROUP OF JEWS THAT FOLLOWED PAUL THROUGH GALATIA STAYED AND CONTINUED TO PERSUADE PEOPLE BACK TO JUDAISM. THEY ARE THE JUDAIZERS OF WHOM PAUL WARNS THE GALATIANS AGAINST IN THE BOOK OF GALATIANS.
• THE FICKLENESS OF HUMAN NATURE IS EVIDENT IN OUR OWN SOCIETY:
• PEOPLE ADORE MEDIA HEROES, POLITICAL FIGURES, AND SPORTS HEROES ONE DAY AND THE NEXT DAY THEY ARE READY TO TEAR THEM DOWN AND REPLACE THEM.
• WITNESSING:
• IN THIS CHAPTER WE SEE VARIOUS RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL:
• INTEREST, ANTAGONISM, ACCEPTANCE, OPPOSITION, VIOLENCE.
• PAUL PERSEVERES THROUGH ALL THE VARIED RESPONSES.
• THIS SHOULD BE OUR ATTITUDE.
• ASPECTS OF WITNESSING:
• WHEN PAUL SPOKE TO JEWS, HE USED THEIR OWN OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE TO PERSUADE THEM TO CHRIST.
• IN THIS CHAPTER, WHEN PAUL AND BARNABAS SPEAK TO GENTILES, THEY USE THE PEOPLE’S KNOWLEDGE OF CREATION AROUND THEM TO PERSUADE THEM TO THE CREATOR GOD. (ROM 1:22)
• THEREFORE, WHEN WE WITNESS TO PEOPLE, WE MUST FIRST DISCERN WHERE THEY ARE COMING FROM SPIRITUALLY. THEN, USING THEIR OWN BACKGROUND AS A BEGINNING, WE CAN BRANCH OFF OF THAT TO TURN THEM TO NEW CONCEPTS, WHICH LEADS THEM THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR TO CHRIST.
• CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL WITNESS:
• PERSEVERANCE
• PAUL DID NOT GIVE UP DESPITE PERSECUTION.
• BOLDNESS (3)
• A WISE USE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS (3)
• A CONTINUAL COMMUNICATION WITH GOD (9)
• HUMILITY (15)
• FOLLOW UP (21)
• PAUL AND BARNABAS RETURNED TO THE CITIES WHERE THEY HAD PREACHED.
• FOLLOW-UP PRINCIPLES: (22-23)
• CONFIRM PEOPLE IN THEIR FAITH
• EXHORT PEOPLE TO GROW IN THEIR FAITH
• ORDAIN ELDERS
• COMMEND THEM TO GOD IN PRAYER
• GIVING GOD THE GLORY FOR WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED (26)

HOMEWORK
ACT 15
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION FOR ACT 14
• WHICH OF PAUL’S EXPERIENCES IN THIS CHAPTER SEEMS TO HAVE A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR YOUR LIFE?
• WITNESSING TO THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE GOSPEL:

• WITNESSING TO THOSE WHO ARE IGNORANT OF THE GOSPEL:

• WITNESSING TO THOSE WHO ARE OPPOSED TO THE GOSPEL:

• WITNESSING DESPITE SUFFERING AND PERSECUTION:

• PREPARATION FOR ACT 15
• READ ACT 15:1-41
• WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM THAT AROSE?

• HOW DID THE ANTIOCH CHURCH DISPOSE OF THE PROBLEM?

• WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS POINTS IN PETER’S ARGUMENT?

• WHAT DOES THE PASSAGE TEACH ABOUT THE WAY OF SALVATION?

• WHAT WAS THE FINAL SOLUTION AND RECOMMENDATION? (28-29)

• WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT DEALING WITH DIFFERENCES OF OPINION AND DIVISION IN THE LOCAL CHURCH?

MEMORY VERSE: ROM 12:3