Acts 14:1-28  We Must Through Much Tribulation Enter into the Kingdom of God

[Study Aired May 7, 2023]

Act 14:1  And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
Act 14:2  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
Act 14:3  Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Act 14:4  But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
Act 14:5  And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,
Act 14:6  They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
Act 14:7  And there they preached the gospel.
Act 14:8  And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9  The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Act 14:10  Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Act 14:11  And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
Act 14:12  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
Act 14:13  Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
Act 14:14  Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Act 14:15  And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Act 14:16  Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
Act 14:17  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
Act 14:18  And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
Act 14:19  And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
Act 14:20  Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
Act 14:21  And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Act 14:23  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
Act 14:24  And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
Act 14:25  And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:
Act 14:26  And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
Act 14:27  And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Act 14:28  And there they abode long time with the disciples.

I have a map I want to share with everyone to give us all a perspective of where Paul and Barnabas traveled on their first missionary journey:

https://www.conformingtojesus.com/images/webpages/pauls_journeys_map1.jpg

Here is a cut and paste from Biblestudy.org which gives us some perspective of the miles these two men walked:

biblestudy.org › home › maps › n.t. churches › derbe

The Via Sebaste ran through Pisidian Antioch to Iconium, a distance of about 93 miles (150 kilometers). It then ran from Iconium to Lystra, a distance of 18.5 miles (30 kilometers). From Lystra he traveled on an unpaved track of the road about 62 miles (100 kilometers) to Derbe (Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting, Volume 2, by Gill and Gempf, Chapter 10).

We are reviewing the first missionary journey the Lord gave to Paul and Barnabas.

In our last study they had just been thrown out of the city of Pisidian Antioch because the Jews had “stirred up the devout and honorable women and chief men of the city… and cast them out of their coasts.”

Act 13:44  And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Act 13:45  But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Act 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Act 13:47  For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Act 13:48  And 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.
Act 13:49  And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
Act 13:50  But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
Act 13:51  But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
Act 13:52  And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

“The “devout and honorable women” signify the church. The “chief men of the city” signify church leaders. It was the church of Paul’s day, the synagogues and the leaders of the synagogues, who most resisted the truth of the gospel and who were the chief persecutors of the Lord’s messengers. These events here in Pisidian Antioch are nothing more than a repetition of what Saul of Tarsus, now Paul the apostle, experienced right after his conversion at Damascus and then later at Jerusalem. It will be the same in every city Paul will preach in the rest of his life. The ‘great harlot’ does not appreciate being shown her own infidelity, and she passionately hates those who do so.

When Paul and Barnabas were “expelled out of [the] coasts of… Antioch”, they “were filled with joy” that they were “counted worthy to suffer with the Lord”, and they “shook off the dust of their feet against them [of Antioch], and came unto Iconium.”

Act 5:41  And they [the apostles] departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Act 14:1  And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
Act 14:2  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

Notice just how fickle our minds are. “A great multitude both of Jews and also of the Greeks believed,” and yet “the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds [the minds of the great multitude of believers] evil affected against the apostles:

Act 14:3  Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Act 14:4  But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
Act 14:5  And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,

When the Lord reveals to His followers that His word is being rejected, they never, ever resort to physical violence to silence their opposition, but that is exactly what will always take place when the lies of Babylon are revealed to this world in this present time. Those ministers who advocate violence are not “the voice of The Shepherd”, and we must “flee from them.”

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Here is what Christ and His Christ always do when they are rejected:

Act 14:6  They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
Act 14:7  And there they preached the gospel.

Once again, “the Jews with their rulers [plot] to stone [the apostles], and they once again patiently obey the Lord’s admonition to us all:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

“The cities of Israel” signify the Lord’s elect, and the statement, “Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come” means that our Lord has an “Israel of God” in every generation right up until the time of His appearing. There will also always be, in every generation, “those who say they are [spiritual] Jews [the Israel of God] but are not.” These will always be there to resist the Words of our Lord and His Christ:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Rev 2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Those who are “of the synagogue of Satan… say they are [spiritual] Jews”, and they truly believe that the Lord loves them and their doctrines. Those who know the voice of the True Shepherd, also know the false doctrines of strangers, and will flee from those false prophets and their false doctrines:

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [Christ and His Christ].
Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

“Know not the voice of strangers” means that they know that the voice they are hearing is not the voice of their True Shepherd, and they “will flee from [the false ministers of Satan].”

The day is coming when the whole world will know for certain who is and who is not loved of the Lord:

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name [AKA ‘the book of life’].
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Christ healed two men who could not walk – the man who was lowered to Him through the roof and the man at the pool of Bethesda. Peter at the gate that is called Beautiful healed a man who was born lame and was forty years old. These men signify our old man who cannot walk with Christ. Here at Lystra Paul is given to heal another man who was born lame and had never walked:

Act 14:8  And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9  The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Act 14:10  Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

The holy spirit revealed to Paul that this man “had faith to be healed” and inspired Paul “with a loud voice [to say] stand upright on your feet”, and when the man was healed, he “leaped and walked”.

Now notice the difference between how the heathen react to a miraculous healing versus how those react who are “the synagogue of Satan… those who say they are Jews but are not, but do lie”:

Let’s notice the reaction of the synagogue of Satan first:

Joh 5:6  When Jesus saw [the lame man] lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
Joh 5:7  The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
Joh 5:8  Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
Joh 5:9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
Joh 5:10  The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

Joh 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

Now let’s see how the Gentiles react to such a miraculous healing:

Act 14:11  And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
Act 14:12  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
Act 14:13  Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
Act 14:14  Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Act 14:15  And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Act 14:16  Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
Act 14:17  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
Act 14:18  And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

Nevertheless, the heathen are just as unstable and just as fickle as the Lord’s own apostate church:

Act 14:19  And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
Act 14:20  Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

The way this is written could lead one to believe that it was the day after proclaiming Paul and Barnabas to be gods that the Jews from Antioch and Iconium persuaded the very same people to stone Paul and leave him for dead. It was no doubt more than a single day, but it certainly did not take a long time to persuade the very people who thought Paul and Barnabas were gods to stone Paul, but the Lord raised him up, and he returned to the city of Lystra before ‘fleeing [“the next day”] to another city” (Mat 10:23), the city of Derbe.

It was a miraculous healing that gave Paul the strength to recover from a stoning which left him for dead, He was raised up that same day as the disciples stood about his body which was left for dead praying for him. He returned to Lystra and then began the 62 mile (100 kilometers) walk to Derbe the very next day.

It is here at Lystra, on his next missionary journey which began very soon after the conference in Jerusalem, that Paul and Silas will meet a disciple named Timothy, who will join them on their travels and will become as a son to Paul:

Act 16:1  Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
Act 16:2  Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Act 16:3  Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. [The letter to the Gentiles which resulted form the Jerusalem conference of chapter 15]
Act 16:5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

1Ti 1:2  Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

2Ti 1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

The fact that Paul saw fit to circumcise Timothy soon after the Jerusalem conference is one of many things Paul did which demonstrates that Paul agreed that he, being a Jew, must keep the law of Moses at that time, even as he was telling the Gentiles at Rome and at Corinth and in Galatia that they were spiritual Jews who must not keep the law of Moses:

Rom 2:28  For he [Roman Gentile Christians (Rom 1:13)] is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a [spiritual] Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Rom 1:13  Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

Gal 1:6  I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth [of the letter from the apostles at Jerusalem conference], before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
Gal 3:2  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? [The apostles had sent a letter to the Gentiles telling them they need not keep the law of Moses].
Gal 3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? [the law of Moses]
Gal 3:4  Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
Gal 3:5  He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

This is the first journey of Paul and Barnabas, and they did not meet Timothy or his mother on this trip.

Act 14:21  And when they had preached the gospel to that city [Derbe], and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Act 14:23  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Paul and Barnabas are now on their way back to Syrian Antioch to rehearse all the Lord had done through them. As they return through the cities they had evangelized, they “confirm the souls of the disciples, and exhort them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

It would be so much easier and so much more enjoyable to preach a gospel that said, “Jesus smiled” instead of “Jesus wept.” It would be much more acceptable to teach that Christ was a very popular man whose life was full of fun instead of having to teach that He was a man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief.

Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Joh 11:35  Jesus wept.

I am not saying that Jesus never smiled. I am sure He did. What I am saying is that the scriptures just simply do not once tell us that while He was here in a body of flesh that ‘Jesus smiled’ or was popular with the church of His day or that He had a lot of fun in this life. That simply is not the tone of the scriptures.

Life would be so much easier if we could prophesy only smooth things and preach the deceits of the ‘prosperity gospel’ and the gospel of a life of ‘coffee and doughnuts’ as opposed to having to teach the truth of the gospel, which is that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

“The time of reformation” of the law of Moses was under way, and the new church was growing exponentially here right after its birth. The powers that be, the rulers of the churches, the rulers of the synagogues, expelled the apostles, from every city they came to. Nevertheless, there were very many who believed the gospel. There were so many that Paul and Barnabas “ordained them elders in every church.”

Derbe is the last city in which Paul and Barnabas preached on this first journey before returning through all the cities they had evangelized; Lystra, Iconium, Antioch and Perga in Pamphylia. As they pass back through Perga we are told “they preached the word in Perga”, which we are not told they did when they first passed through that city. From Perga they travel to another seacoast city called Attalia, and from that city they sail back to Syrian Antioch, the city from which the Lord had first sent them out into His field, and into His vineyard.

Act 14:24  And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, [meaning Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch] they came [back] to Pamphylia.

They are traveling back through Pisidia, back through all the cities they had evangelized, including Antioch, and from there they will return to Pamphylia, where Perga is located.

Act 14:25  And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:
Act 14:26  And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
Act 14:27  And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Act 14:28  And there they abode long time with the disciples.

It is while Paul and Barnabas are back in Antioch, “[w]here they abode long time with the disciples” that certain men come down to Antioch from Jerusalem telling the Gentiles they must be physically circumcised before they can be saved. It is at this point, soon after the first missionary journey, that Peter and Barnabas both temporarily and hypocritically side with these false prophets “from Judea”. Paul rebukes them both before all. Peter and Barnabas are forced to face their own hypocrisy because they both had been eating with the Gentiles before those men came down from Judea pointing out that Moses said one must be circumcised:

Gen 17:10  This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

Gen 17:12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
Gen 17:13  He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14  And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

They no doubt felt that they had the Bible on their side, but both Peter and Barnabas knew the miraculous way the holy spirit had made it very clear that a reformation of the law was under way in and through Christ.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Heb 7:11  If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

That is what we will be dealing with in next week’s study in chapter 15, Lord willing.