Perseverance, Miracles, and the Call to True Worship

"Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore, they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands." [00:00:16]

"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude crying out and saying, 'Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.'" [00:02:16]

"Again, O Lord, we ask that You would give us ears to hear, hearts to understand and embrace the truths that were proclaimed in Lystra and Derbe by Barnabas and Paul, and that we may learn from this narrative that You've included in sacred Scripture those things we need to know for our edification and those things from which we must every day flee with all of our might." [00:03:19]

"So, the story goes on here in chapter 14 with the same kind of reaction. But we are told in verse 3 that in spite of this opposition, 'Paul and Barnabas stayed there for a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to His word of grace,' by doing what? 'Granting signs and wonders by the hands of the apostles.'" [00:05:38]

"Now again, this is a theme that redounds in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament that the chief purpose of the performance of miracles in the early church was God's way of authenticating His spokesmen, His agents of revelation, even as He had done for the prophets in the Old Testament." [00:06:07]

"Now in England, there was a noted scholar of historical studies and biblical studies, Sir William Ramsay, who had been trained in nineteenth century liberalism. And he wanted to undertake physical, empirical studies of the so-called facts set forth by Luke in the book of Acts. And so, he made a journey to Palestine and then to Asia Minor, following the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, going to every region, every city that is mentioned in the book of Acts." [00:08:21]

"And using the archaeologist's spade, it seemed like every time he turned over a shovel of dirt, he found something that would verify the historical accuracy of Luke. Now, he went there as an unbeliever, as a sceptic, trying to disprove the Bible. And he came to this passage in Acts, where everybody knew it was an error because the two cities of Lystra and Derbe were not in the same province." [00:09:03]

"And he senses that this is a man who is about to respond in faith, and he gives the command, 'Stand up,' and the man leaps to his feet. But what follows is also central to the narrative. As a result of this miracle, multitudes of people are overwhelmed and they are convinced that they have now just seen a new visitation of the gods from Mount Olympus into the midst of their community." [00:11:52]

"But we also notice that in the ancient world that the Olympian gods and goddesses each had specific functions to take care of among the people. There was a god of war, a god of peace, a god of love, a god of wisdom, a god of the harvest, a god for this, and a god for that. And you would think that by later history that would all disappear once Christianity conquered the paganism of the ancient world." [00:13:58]

"All of this is rooted and grounded in two things, friends, idolatry and superstition. And I don't want to be unkind to the Greeks or to the Romans or even to the Roman Catholics, because this tendency and proclivity for superstition and idolatry is one of the most deeply rooted defects in the fallen, corrupt human heart." [00:15:42]

"And so, these gods are maltreated until they come to this elderly family. The husband's name was Philemon, the same name as we find in the runaway slave that Paul writes to later on in the New Testament. But this elderly couple, not knowing who they were, welcome them into their humble abode, share the meager substance that they have with their visitors and show great hospitality." [00:18:45]

"Again, why do people do that? They did it because in their hearts they were idolaters from the beginning, because the preference of fallen humanity is to exchange the truth of God for a lie and serve the creature rather than the creator. And they did it because they're superstitious." [00:22:51]