Turning From Idols - Acts 14v8-28

Uh we're going to be in Acts chapter 14 today, Acts 14, starting at verse 8.

Acts 14 · chapter mention

But before I read, uh let me pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for our time together this morning.

Thank you for your word.

Lord, we pray that it would speak to us today.

We pray that it would speak to our hearts, give us ears to hear and to respond in faith.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

So I wanted to start by asking a very simple question.

Is the gospel good news for superstitious people?

Perhaps people who throw salt over their shoulder if they've spilt some to stop bad luck.

Or maybe people who worship ancestors, believing that the dead have the ability to influence the fortunes of the living?

Or what about people who believe that science explains everything?

The belief that there cannot be a God because he does not fit into the laws of observed science.

Or what about people who believe that the path to happiness is the size of their bank account?

Accumulating just a bit more is the route to joy and purpose.

Has the gospel got anything to say to these people?

And if it does have something to say, and if it is good news, and following Jesus is the best thing, what is life going to look like as we follow him?

We're going to see those questions answered today in our passage.

And spoiler alert, yes, the gospel is good news for superstitious people, for people who worship idols.

So today the Apostle Paul is continuing on his first missionary journey.

So if we could bring up, we have a map today.

So Paul started his journey in Antioch in Syria in the east.

He went to Cyprus and then he sailed to Perga and Antioch in Pisidia in Turkey.

And last week he was in Iconium.

And upon persecution he moved on to Lystra and Derby, which is where we are today.

So let's read verse 8 to 18 together.

So Acts chapter 14, verse 8.

Acts 14:8

Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet.

He was crippled from birth and had never walked.

He listened to Paul speaking, and Paul, looking intently at him and seeing he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, Stand upright on your feet, and he sprang up and began walking.

And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lyconian, The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.

Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowds.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, Men, why are you doing these things?

We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

So last week in our Iconium, Paul and Barnabas had the Jews and the Gentiles with the blessings of the authorities, seeking to mistreat them and stone them.

And rather than checking out and taking a two-week holiday, which was thoroughly deserved, they continued to preach the gospel in the next town, which was Lystra.

This was a town that had no synagogue, which is where Paul would normally start.

But Paul is presented with this crippled man.

And Luke, the author, wants us to know that this man isn't somebody who's twisted his ankle playing football.

He was crippled from birth and had never walked.

And clearly, this is somebody that would have been known in the town.

And Paul, seeing that he had faith to be made well, or that word can also be saved, looks intently at him and commands him to stand up.

And wonderfully, this man leaps up.

Have a look in verse 10.

He sprang up and began walking.

This was no ten-step miracle.

One moment he is crippled, having never walked, and the next moment he springs up.

An incredible creative miracle.

So our first point this morning is that Paul is God's man to bring good news to the Gentiles.

So I think Luke wants us to make some connections here.

In Acts chapter 3, Peter was going to the temple to pray, and he comes across a lame man from birth.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

And in that passage it says that Peter directed his gaze at him, an intent look, and he commands the man to rise up and walk.

Let me read Acts chapter 3, verse 8.

Acts 3:8

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

So here we have a man crippled from birth, an intent look, a strong command.

And before we think what that means, there is another person who at the start of his ministry heals and saves a paralyzed man.

Yes, Luke records this about Jesus himself in Luke chapter 5.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

Let me read you the climax of that story.

Jesus says to the crippled man, the paralytic, but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.

And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.

So the similarities are striking.

And I think Luke is showing us here that Paul is Jesus' primary representative to the Gentile world, just as Peter was Jesus' representative to the Jews, as demonstrated in Acts 3.

And why is that helpful?

I think that's helpful when we start asking questions about whether this miracle is something that we can expect in our church.

Would we not love it for our elders to walk into Queen's Hospital and to say to those people that have been lame from birth to rise up and that they would leap up and start praising God?

And God is well able to do these things, and we should pray for that.

But there's no promise here that this healing is normal Christian experience.

Indeed, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 12, speaking of his ministry, I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders, and miracles.

2 Corinthians 12:12

So this miracle is the sign of an apostle.

Apostles were eyewitnesses of Jesus, and Paul is Jesus' chosen representative.

He's a man given a unique job to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

Now I'd be happy to chat through more about that afterwards if you'd like, or maybe it's something to go through on Wednesday in the fellowship group.

But let's move on to our second point, which is good news.

The gospel brings freedom from superstition.

So back to the passage.

This healing has lit a match in Lystra.

Let me read again verse eleven.

And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lyconian, The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.

Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker.

And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance of the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

So this gentle gentile town has seen this supernatural miracle, and they've rightly got excited, lifting up their voices.

And I think Luke is saying that they did this in Lyconium, maybe because at first Paul and Barnabas thought that there was a revival happening, that they were directing their praise to the one true God.

But no, when they see the priest of Zeus wielding a knife, they understand that something else is going on here.

And in fact, there's actually a backstory as to why the people might have responded in this way.

So in AD8, about 40 years earlier, a Roman poet, Ovid, had written a story about Zeus and Hermes.

Now, in case you are wondering, this is about 800 years after Homer wrote the Odyssey.

And Ovid's work, Metamorphoses, makes references to the Odyssey.

But in Ovid's work, Zeus, the king of gods, and Hermes the messenger of the gods, came to a town close to Lystra in human form, and they were refused hospitality by a thousand homes.

However, there was a poor elderly couple, and they did show them hospitality.

And so after they revealed that they were actually these gods, this couple's home is turned into a temple, and there's a great flood that kills all of the people in the thousand homes who refused hospitality.

So you might understand why the people of Lystra were keen to show hospitality to Paul and Barnabas, who to them seemed like the gods Hermes and Zeus.

But rather than accept this worship, which is what Herod did in chapter twelve, Paul and Barnabas tear their clothes and cry out to the crowd, saying, No, we are not gods.

Let me read verse fifteen again.

Men, why are you doing these things?

We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

Now these are Gentile people with no knowledge of the Jewish scriptures.

And so, unlike in Antioch, where Paul appeals to the revelation of God in the Scriptures, here Paul is appealing to the revelation of God in nature.

The revelation that he's real and that we are accountable to him.

And this is something that he picks up in Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

So let me read Romans chapter 1, verse 20.

Romans 1:20

Paul says, For his, that's God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made, so they are without the excuse.

So Paul is correcting their idea of who God is.

He wants them to know that there's just one God and that he is good.

Now, why this emphasis on God being good?

Almost certainly this is because the worship of this pantheon of Greco-Roman gods was actually quite a miserable experience.

There were many gods, each responsible for different areas of life, and to seek good fortune, you would need to manipulate that god by offering sacrifices.

You can imagine how it worked.

You're a farmer, you have a bad year, you offer sacrifices, you have another bad year, and you offer more expensive sacrifices, and so the loop goes on.

Your life is consumed with superstition and appeasing the gods.

And Paul comes along and says, I bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who is good.

And I don't know if you found that something that's a strange thing to say, that if someone says that they bring in good news, you'd expect the next sentence to be, God has seen your religiosity, he's pleased with you, carry on.

But no, that's not what Paul is saying.

He's saying your superstition and idol worship are pointless.

But the good news is that you can turn from this to the one true God and the living God, the God who in his generosity has freely given good things like harvests and food and wine.

And maybe this is a good point to reflect on our own evangelism.

In particular, our evangelism might involve telling people that their ideas are silly or vain or pointless.

Our friends might not be worshipping Greek gods, but superstition and idolatry are alive in our context.

Perhaps that might be in the form of ancestor worship or involvement in the occult.

Or maybe superstition like not walking under ladders, touching wood, making a cross as a good luck charm.

Or maybe worshipping the God of materialism, what I can have, or the God of beauty, how I look, and the sacrifices that we make of our time and relationships to pursue these idols.

Speaking the gospel into those situations might involve saying it's vain and pointless.

These gods are fake and dead.

But the good news is that you can return and repent and worship the true God who is good and is for you.

You don't need to manipulate him to make life good for yourself.

And yet, how our culture screams against doing this.

Don't we live in a moment where you cannot tell others what to believe?

You have your truth, I'll have mine, you do you.

But you can see how far from this Paul's approach is.

Worship of the one true God brings freedom from the misery of superstition and idol worship.

It was good news for idol worshippers in Lystra, and it's good news for our friends.

And another reflection here is that Paul doesn't preach everything at once.

I think sometimes in our evangelism we feel that we need to get to the cross and explain penal substitution.

And that is a good instinct, but Paul wants to establish that there is one God, the creator of all.

And he's good.

And maybe for our friends who believe that science explains everything, the stone that we need to put in their shoe is to ask who created science?

What caused the Big Bang?

Why is science ordered?

An appeal to the witness of God in creation.

And a final reflection before we move on.

If we explain the gospel clearly and faithfully, and people do not respond in faith, then we have not failed.

Look with me at verse 18.

Even with these words, they scarcely restrain the people from offering sacrifice to them.

It doesn't look like this crowd responded very well to Paul's message, and maybe some did, but it was God's work, and like Paul, all we can do is be obedient to the call to proclaim Jesus as Lord and leave the miracle of change hearts to him.

So let's move on now to our last point, which is through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

I'm going to read verse 19 to 28.

So verse 19.

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derby.

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia, and when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Atalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had fulfilled.

And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles, and they remained no little time with the disciples.

Now, if this responsive crowd isn't enough, we are told that Jews came from Antioch to oppose Paul.

Now this was more than a hundred miles away.

So you can imagine the zeal of these Jews and these people opposing Paul, that they would go to such lengths to stir up the crowd to stone Paul and drag him out of the city.

Now we're not sure that as the disciples gathered around Paul, whether his raising up was a miracle or whether he did just get up.

But what tenacity for Paul the next day to go to Derby and to preach the gospel.

Maybe at this point I can bring up the map again that I showed you at the start.

Is it there?

Yeah, amazing.

So imagine you are Paul and Barnabas, you're in Derby, I don't know if you can see it on the map.

So you've got two choices.

Do you A head east, back to your sending church, stop off at Tarsus, have a cup of tea with Paul's mum and dad, and go on to Antioch in Syria?

Or do you be go back the way you came, through the towns where you've experienced persecution, strengthening and establishing new churches as you go?

So Paul and Barnabas chose B, and verse 22 is the strapline for what they did.

Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

I don't know what you would say to a new convert to encourage them to keep going.

Maybe keep coming to church, spend time with your church family, maybe encourage them with the blessing of knowing God as your father and Jesus as shepherd.

And those are all good and true things.

But Paul wants to talk about tribulations.

It's a reality check.

There is a cost to following Jesus.

There will be opposition in this life.

Better that he's honest with them up front and rather than leave them discouraged and disheartened when opposition arises.

Jesus says to his disciples in John 15, 18, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

Now I don't know about you, but when this subject comes up, I start wincing.

We don't want persecution.

The God of our age is comfort, and it's easy for our hearts to seek after that.

And yes, we praise God that we live in a country where Christians are not openly persecuted.

And we pray for brothers and sisters, like we have this morning in China, who are persecuted for following Jesus.

But there still is a cost for us to follow Jesus.

As we draw near to him, the opposition comes.

Maybe that's from family members.

Maybe when we speak up at work about him, there becomes opposition.

Maybe when you speak at school to your group of friends, that there comes opposition.

And Paul's message to this young church is that when you do get opposition, the plan has not failed.

The gospel still advances.

We can and should be encouraged to keep going, to keep trusting in Jesus.

And he anticipates that they're going to be tempted to give up.

But he wants to strengthen their souls.

What a wonderful image.

He wants to grow strong Christians who will endure.

And isn't it so wonderful to see who gets the credit in verse 27?

Look with me.

And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Paul and Barnabas are not the heroes of this story.

It's God that gets the glory for what he had done with them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

So as we draw to a close, let's return to the question that we started with.

Is the gospel good news for superstitious people?

I hope it's been an encouragement today to see that yes, it is.

Because God has revealed himself in nature as the one true God, gracefully giving us good things, but even more so salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus.

This is good compared to the misery of superstition and worship of things that have been created, dead gods that can never satisfy.

And is it good news despite the cost and the opposition?

Yes, because the gospel cannot be stopped.

Jesus is building his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

So as we close, let me read these words from Paul to Timothy before I pray.

This is from 2 Timothy.

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Let me pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you that you are good, that you are the one true God.

Lord, we pray that you would help us to turn our hearts from idols, to worship you, to repent of our sin and to worship you and Jesus and receive the good things that you have for us.

Lord, we pray that we would be strengthened, encouraged, that we would not give up if there is opposition, knowing that your gospel is victorious.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.