Acts 13-14

Hello everyone, I'm Dr.

Steve Holt.

I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast.

Each week we go into God's Word.

We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse.

And we are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.

So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.

You know, I love meeting new people because I love getting to know their hearts.

You know, whether it's here at church or outside the church.

And when I meet new people, sometimes God will give me a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom or something about them that helps me interact and minister to them a little bit more effectively.

Sometimes I can sense when someone has pain from church in their background.

And when I do that, sometimes I'm reluctant to say I'm a pastor.

Not that I'm ashamed of the gospel of Christ, I'm not.

But I know that every word I say after that is going to be filtered by a paradigm that's filtered through pain.

So sometimes I'm creative of when I tell people what I do.

So a couple weeks ago, I was on a brother's reunion.

We met off the coast of Georgia in St.

Simon's, and I had a flight from Denver to Baltimore, Baltimore to Jacksonville, on my connecting flight from Baltimore to Jacksonville.

I gotta tell you, when I fly, I always find the cheapest seat.

Sometimes I have to sit in the middle.

So I'm in the middle seat.

And how many of you know the middle seat can be pretty cramped at times, right?

And there's two big people on either side of me.

And that's the way it was on this flight.

And the gal on my left was asleep, the gal on my right was awake.

And so I said, Hey, my name's Al.

What's yours?

And she told me, and I said, Is Jacksonville your final destination?

She said, Yeah, I used to live there.

I'm going back to meet family.

I said, What a coincidence.

I'm going to meet family too.

That's cruel.

So, where are you from?

She said, Boulder.

I said, I'm from Colorado Springs.

And she said, Well, that's a completely different city than Boulder.

And I could tell by her haircut what she was talking about.

And so I sensed that maybe she had some pain from church in the past.

So I said, you know, what do you do?

She said, Well, I work for the city of Boulder.

I'm in urban planning.

I said, Well, that must be really rewarding.

She said, It is, we really help a lot of people.

And she said, Al, what do you do?

And here's where I want to be creative.

I said, Well, really, I belong to a global enterprise.

We're actually in every country on earth.

She said, Wow.

I said, you know, we deal with people in hospitals and orphanages and hospices, and we take care of people and develop people really from cradle to grave.

She said, that's amazing.

And I said, we specialize in behavior alteration.

And the whole time she's talking, her voice carried.

And so five rows up, five rows back, everybody on the side, they're all leaning in.

She said, Tell me, tell me, what company do you work for?

I said, the church.

And I said, and I'm a pastor.

And everybody around giggled.

And she giggled, and we had a great conversation.

And that has nothing to do with my sermon, but it's good to get you good to get you to start laughing before we start.

So we're in Acts again.

If you want to turn to Acts chapter 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

And I want to give you a little bit of historical background.

Steve's done a great job, you know, opening up the word to us in the book of Acts.

And didn't Marcus do a good job last week?

I mean, you can clap.

I tell Marcus every time he preaches, I want to get saved all over again.

You know.

So the book of Acts, you know, Steve alluded to the fact that it was probably written by Luke, and it was written right around 62 A.D.

So that's think about 29 years after the ascension of Jesus.

But this, these chapters we're going over, part of 13, part of 14, is really Paul's first missionary journey.

It took place about 46 to 48 A.D., 13 to 15 years after Jesus rose into heaven.

Gives you a time frame.

And it starts off in Poseidian, Antioch, not to be confused with the Antioch from Syria.

And I think Marcus did a good job of that.

That sometimes cities have the same name.

There's a Portland, Oregon, there's a Portland, Maine.

Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, Missouri.

How many towns have an Elm Street?

So it's a different Antioch than the one in Syria.

And if you turn, you know, you're at Acts right now, but Acts 13, 14 marks a major turning point in the history of the early church.

And here's why.

Keep your finger in Acts.

And if you turn back to the first chapter of Acts, and almost all the scriptures I'm reading today are from the New King James, but Acts chapter 1, verse 8, it says, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8

So this is the first time the gospel is being spread beyond Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

They're spreading the gospel and they're taking it as far as they can know.

And why?

Well, when you know him, you should want to make him known.

Let me say that again.

You can write that down.

When you know him, you should want to make him known.

When I first got saved, you know, that first year I led about 400 people to the Lord.

You know, my mom had four boys in five years, and there was a miscarriage.

It would have been five boys in five years.

And she got gray hair and sense of humor really quick, and we were a handful.

My brother Mike's sitting in the back, and I remember mom would chase Mike, and he was shorter than the rest of us.

He would chase him to give him a bath, and he'd just run right underneath the dining room table without even ducking, you know.

But we were a handful.

Um, so we were living in Atlanta.

We got um, my parents got divorced, and one thing about Atlanta, Pastor Steve lived right outside of Atlanta, we lived right outside of Atlanta.

He won state in high school in gymnastics.

His team got second by a couple tens of points to my brother's high school.

And he went on to the University of Georgia.

His coaches were my oldest brother, was going to the University of Georgia, Georgia.

His coaches were my oldest brother's good friends.

So it's like we were connected for 50 some years and didn't know each other.

It's kind of neat.

But this is the tail end of the Jesus movement.

We all had long hair, we were long-haired hippies, we all had regular jobs, we're all good in sports, but we all sold drugs.

And so I'm working at a restaurant, managing a restaurant, I'm 19, and this girl would come in about three times a week.

I thought she was the cutest thing on earth.

Her name was Barbie Tester.

I still remember her name.

And I've still been in contact with her throughout the years.

I thought she was so cute, but what was cute about Barbie, she had the glory of God all over her.

And so one day I got the nerve up and said, Barbie, will you go out with me?

She said, Oh, you seem like a nice guy, but I only go out with guys that go to church with me.

And I'm thinking, how hard can church be?

I said, I can do that.

So God of the Sneaky got me into church on a Sunday, and I walked through the door, and everybody in there was beautiful.

They had the glory of God all over them.

They were just glowing.

And some music started playing, and I turned to say something to Barbie, and her eyes were closed, her hands were raised, and she was worshiping the Lord.

And it was so strange to me because, you know, I knew nothing about God.

He wasn't on my radar.

You know, I spent all the weekends hunting and fishing and drinking beer and raising cane.

And so it was all fresh and new to me, and I looked around, everyone's doing the same thing.

I saw some words up on a screen, realized that they were singing, that's what they were singing, had a good beat to it.

So I started tapping my toe and you said, you know, church isn't so bad.

I just leaned on every word the pastor said.

They had an altar call at the end of the service.

I didn't respond because it was all fresh and new to me.

But all day long, that's all I could think about was that altar call.

And that night I got down on my knees, did a sinner's prayer, and I knew that I knew, that I knew that I knew, that I had transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, and I started weeping.

My first thought is I should probably read a Bible.

I didn't know if I had one.

I had a bookshelf full of books, and I looked on there, sure enough, there was a Bible.

I didn't had no idea where it came from.

I didn't know anything about the Bible.

I didn't know there was an Old Testament and a New Testament.

I started reading the New Testament.

Why?

Because I could pronounce the names.

I found out two years later, Nebuchadnezzar is not pronounced Nebuchadnezzar.

And Malachi is not Malachi, the Italian prophet.

I read all night, I cried all night, and I had this tremendous sense of urgency that Jesus is coming back soon.

So it got daylight, I called my mom, said, Mom, you got to get saved.

It found Jesus is coming back next week.

And so she just, you know, said, That's nice, dear.

Well, she did get saved before she died, which is a great thing.

So I wanted to go tell the world.

So my parents got divorced.

We were living in Atlanta.

We moved up to Minnesota to my mom's hometown.

My dad's hometown is five miles away.

We were related to the whole town.

When I say we were related to the hometown, my grandpa had 16 kids, another brother 14, another brother 12, another brother 10, no stoplight.

88 in my graduating class, I was related to 52 of them.

You know, it's hard to find a girlfriend.

It's the only town in America where the family trees do not fork, you know.

You divorce your wife, she's still your sister, you know.

So I'd tell people I'd walk my kids to school because we were in the same grade, you know.

But anyway, Minnesota.

So I wanted to go tell the world.

And um so my brothers, two of my older brothers and I went with mom to Minnesota.

We were all bartenders at the same bar, and I went in the bar, it was called Don's Rendezvous.

I opened the door and I invited everyone over to my house for a Bible study.

And they thought I found a new drug.

And I did.

I went from doing LSD one day to J-E-S-U-S the next day, and God took away all the desire for drugs and alcohol.

So that's a great thing.

You can clap for that.

So that first year I led about 400 people to the Lord.

Why?

Because when you know him, you should want to make him known.

And that's what Paul and Barnabas are doing.

This is their first missionary journey.

So let's pick it up in Acts 13, 42.

And I'm reading now the King James.

So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

What words was he speaking about?

Well, if you look back in the earlier part of chapter 13, Paul's talking about Jesus.

And he says in verse 28, and though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death.

In verse 30, it says, But God raised him from the dead.

If you drop down to verses 38 and 39, it says, Therefore, let it be known, brethren, that through this man is preached you the forgiveness of sins, and by him everyone who believes is just justified from all things which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

So these words, the Gentiles wanted to know more about these words.

They wanted to know more about Jesus.

Verse 43.

Now, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes follow Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

So he persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

That word continue means that many had already started in the grace of God.

And how many you know continuing in the grace of God is just as important as starting in the grace of God.

In fact, grace and gratefulness are the antithesis of entitlement.

Let me say that again.

Grace and gratefulness are the antithesis of entitlement.

Because the more I stand in awe of God, the less I'm gonna stand in judgment of other people.

The more I realize that I'm concerned about all the things God has left to do in me, the less I'm concerned about all the work he has left to do in all of you.

And when you're grateful, you don't take things for granted.

In fact, when you continuously take things for granted over and over and over again, quite often the things that are granted are taken.

So bottom line, continue in the grace of God.

You know, many people feel that grace is unfair when it's doled out to someone else who they feel is unworthy until until they need a little bit of grace themselves.

Isn't that true?

So verse 44.

On the next Sabbath day, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

Think about that.

Almost the whole city came together.

You know, they didn't have TV, radio, or any of the telecommunications that we have today.

So when someone new came to town and they were proclaiming something new, news spread fast.

And the good news spread extra fast.

And they came to hear what?

The word of God.

You know, there's power in the word of God, right?

You know the expression, you can never step into the same river twice.

Why?

Because the current's always moving, the you know, the sand's changing, there's debris floating.

You can never step into the same river twice.

But equally true, you can never read the same Bible twice.

Why?

Because it's alive, it's living, it's an active.

And so, you know, I might read the same verse 20 different times.

On the 21st time, God enlightened something to me that I didn't see before.

It's like a sculptor hammering away at marble.

He could hit that thing 30 times with the hammer and the chisel, nothing.

On the 31st time, it breaks away exactly how he wants it.

The word of God is power.

There's power in the word of God.

Verse 45.

And as I'm preaching up here, say a word that my voice holds out, because I'm it's starting to wane a little bit.

Verse 45.

But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy.

And contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things Paul had spoken.

The multitudes were filled with envy.

They saw Paul and Barnabas, or their new kids in town, and they were jealous of them.

And they were jealous for a couple different reasons.

Number one, they were jealous because they felt that the Messiah was just for the Jews and not for the Gentiles.

And they're also jealous because they felt the Gentiles shouldn't be made equal to God's chosen people.

You know, the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence.

The grass is greener wherever you water it.

Isn't that true?

The Jews were more concerned about being popular and looking good than they were about serving God.

Here's a big statement here.

Don't lay sod where God is planting seed.

Don't lay sod where God is planting seed.

Why?

He's much more concerned about developing our character than he is making us look polished.

Sometimes we'll ask for an oak tree and God will hand us an acorn.

Why?

He's more concerned about developing our character than he is making us look good and making us look polished.

Verse 46.

Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first.

He's talking to the Jews.

But since you reject it and you judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we're turning to the Gentiles.

They grew bold.

Why do they grow bold?

Because they're speaking in the power and the unction and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

You know, when I first got baptized in the Holy Spirit, it gave me power to witness to people.

I got saved November 18th, 1978.

December 18th, one month later, I'm on the phone.

Guys talking to me about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Had no idea what it was.

Tell me about it.

He said, Well, in the book of Acts, 120, we're in an upper room for 10 days, waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Came in like a mighty rushing wind.

They had tongues of fire and started speaking in other tongues.

I'm 19, I'm living my own.

As soon as I heard wind of fire.

I heard a wind outside.

And it got louder and louder and louder and louder.

My front door blew open and a wind of fire came in my house.

I'm freaking out.

Things are flying off the walls.

I said to the guy, Is this normal?

Is this normal?

Is this how it's supposed to happen?

He said, Just go with it, just go with it.

It's probably a good thing.

It's probably a good thing.

I'm freaking out.

This wind hits me.

And I fly through the air about 10 feet and I hit the ground, speaking in tongues.

And I've never been the same since.

And it's given me power to witness to other believers.

But it says in that verse, he's saying to the Jews, but you rejected it.

Paul and Barnabas let the Jews know that it was a privilege that the message came to the Jews first, a privilege that they were now rejecting.

Verse 47, 48.

For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.

He's quoting from Isaiah 49, 6.

And it says, Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as been appointed to eternal life, believed.

Keep your fingers there and turn with me if you would to Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

So St.

Paul, the son of this missionary journey, wrote Romans.

So in Romans chapter 1, I'll give you a second.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

In verse 16, it says, For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jews first, and then for the Greeks.

So they went to the Jews first, they rejected it, so they took it to the Greeks, they took it to the Gentiles.

So if you want to turn back to Acts 13 and verse 49.

And the Lord of the Lord, it's easy for me to say.

And the word of the Lord was spread throughout the whole region.

The word of the Lord was spread, yes, by Paul and Barnabas, but especially it was spread by all the lives of the people that were being brought to Christ.

I mean, they it's good news.

They want everyone to know.

It's amazing to think this church, Poseidon Antioch, was just formed one week earlier.

I told Steve before COVID hit, we were at like four or four hundred and fifty people.

I said, if we grew like they did in the book of Acts, within two months we'll be at 33,000 people.

Think about that.

They grew exponentially.

So good news travels fast, doesn't it?

Verse 50.

But the Jews stirred up the devout and pro the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

How many of you know that when a revival was stirred up, that's not the only thing that stirred up.

You're gonna stir up opposition from the enemy's camp.

You're gonna stir up persecution.

You're gonna stir up the demonic.

In fact, if you don't have much persecution in your life right now, go out and share your faith a little bit more and see what happens.

Because I'm sure once you do, it's like hitting that hornet's nest and you're gonna bring a stirring in the enemy's camp.

You know, if you turn to Matthew chapter 16, one of my favorite verses, Jesus is talking to the disciples, Matthew 16, 15 through 18, it says, and he said to them, But who do you say I am?

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father is in heaven.

And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, what rock?

The rock of Jesus is the Son of God, that I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

You know, I've never known gates to be an offensive weapon.

Therefore, defense.

But we hear this: the gates of hell will not prevail against us.

We have this connotation sometimes of gates attacking us, and we're being attacked by the gates.

Gates are a defensive weapon.

We're on the offensive every time we share our faith, we're attacking the gates of hell, and the gates of hell will not prevail against us.

Let me say that again.

Every time you share your faith, you're on the offensive.

And you're attacking the gates of hell, and the gates of hell will not prevail against you.

That's good news.

Verse 52.

And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

You know, think about this.

They just got driven out of a city and they're filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

What are they on?

Are they on drugs?

You know, being filled with joy is a choice.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a choice.

We can choose to be that way.

James chapter 1, verses 2 and 3 says, My brethren, count it out joy when you fail or fall into various trials.

James 1:2

And that's what they were in, knowing that the testing of your faith brings patience.

Ephesians 5 18 says, Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.

So being filled with joy, being filled with the Holy Spirit, that's a choice we can make.

I'd rather be joyful.

It takes the same amount of energy to be joyful than it does to be sad.

Might as well be joyful.

Acts chapter 14, verse 1.

Acts 14:1

Now it happened in Iconium that there went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke there that a great multitude of both the Jews and the Greeks believed.

They were together in a synagogue of the Jews.

They always started with the Jews first, and then they went to the Gentiles if it got rejected.

You know, they probably felt a little bit uh refreshed having success in Iconium after being driven out, you know, by um by the opposition in uh in Antioch.

They looked at the opposition persecution as a sign for God that they should move on.

When the grace is lifted in an area of your life, it may be that God is nudging you out of the nest because he has a different assignment for you.

Let me say that again.

When the grace is lifted in an area of your life, it may be that God's nudging you out of the nest because he's got a different assignment for you.

I can think of several jobs I've had that when the grace lifted, everything became a little bit more difficult.

I became irritated and agitated a little bit quicker.

And it was God nudging me out because he had a different plan for me.

And I obeyed and followed his plan, and it led to good things.

Verses 2 and 3.

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 his hands.

Now I just said sometimes opposition, persecution are a sign that God is nudging out of the nest and move to the next city.

Here they stayed.

And why did they stay?

Well, first of all, Paul said the unbelieving Jews.

So he wasn't talking about all the Jews, just the unbelieving ones.

But they stayed because God was granting them miracles, signs, and wonders.

When I have opposition and someone doesn't like me, I'm not so concerned anymore.

I used to be hurt by that because I want everyone, everyone wants everyone to like them.

But if people don't like me, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

Why?

Because God told me a long time ago the loudest boos come from the cheapest seats.

Think about that.

He said, consider the source.

The loudest boos come from the cheapest seats.

So as you know, I care less and less about what people think about me, and I care more and more about what I think about others.

Therefore, they stayed there a long time.

Why?

Because they were getting miracles, signs, and wonders.

You know, how many people jump from conference to conference to conference looking for miracle signs and wonders?

The Bible says miracles, signs, and wonders should follow those that believe.

And it's a sign for unbelievers.

Bunch of scriptures on this.

Mark 16, 17 tells us these miracle signs will accompany those that believe.

Romans 5, 19, 15, 19 says they were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit.

Hebrews 2.4 says the exact same thing.

They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God's Spirit.

Here's a little rabbit trail.

You know, every miracle Jesus did, he did as a man, not as the son of God.

Let me repeat that.

Every miracle Jesus did, he did as a man, not as the son of God.

1 Timothy 2.5 tells us, for there's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus.

It didn't say the Son of God, Christ Jesus, it said the man Christ Jesus.

In fact, the same spirit that rose Christ from the dead, he dwells within us.

Romans 8.11 tells us, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give you life to your mortal bodies through a spirit who dwells in you.

So he dwells within us.

And then John 14, 12 says, Jesus is saying this, most assuredly I say to you, this is Jesus talking, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also on greater works than these he will do.

Because why?

Because I go to my Father.

So everything that Jesus did, we can do.

He said, Greater works we will we do.

I can walk on water in the winter when there's ice.

I want to walk on water during the summer.

I want to take my lawn chair with me, go out in the middle of the lake and fish, have a cold one and go fishing in the middle of the lake, and I don't even need a boat.

Boy, I'm looking for the forward to that day.

Greater works will we do.

Verses four through six.

But the multitude of the city was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles.

And when a violent attempt was made by both the Jew, the Gentiles and the Jews, with the rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derby, cities of Lycaonia and to the surrounding region.

Now forgive me if I mispronounce the names of cities.

Mark Twain once said, Never trust a man that can't spell the same word at least two different ways.

I think he meant never trust a man that can't pronounce the same word two different ways, also.

So if I'm butchering these names, forgive me.

Just a note here in verse 4, it says that they part-sided with the Jews and the apostles.

It's the first time Paul and Barness's Barnabas are called apostles in the book of Acts.

Lystra and Derby were about 20 miles down the road from Iconium.

You know, I've never been to Jerusalem.

I know a lot of people that have.

My brother has a lot of other people.

And one thing they tell me, that a lot of them will tell me, it's how close everything is together.

So I mean it's just 20 miles down the road, some of these cities.

So one of the common comments is that, you know, even that everything in Jerusalem itself is so close together.

Verses 7 through 10.

And they were preaching the gospel there, and in Lystra, a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

This man heard Paul speaking, Paul observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand up straight on your feet, and he leaped and he walked.

They were preaching the gospel there, and as they started preaching the gospel, then the signs and wonders came after they started preaching the gospel.

Paul sensed that he had the faith to be healed.

Sometimes you can just sense that when you're praying for people, we're praying for people up here.

I sense they have the faith to be healed.

I've seen a lot of different healings, but first 200 people I prayed for, nothing happened.

Two of them died.

And I said to God, God, you're gonna ruin my street rap.

God says, It's not your job to heal people, it's my job.

It's your job to pray for people, it's my job to heal them.

It's God's job to heal people, it's our job to pray for them.

Verses 11 through 13.

Now, when the people that saw Paul saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in Lycaonian language, the gods have come down in the likeness of men.

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

Then the priest of Zeus, who was um whose temple was in front of the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice for the multitudes.

He was gonna have a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas.

He said the gods have come down in the likeness of men.

It was quite common in Greek mythology for the gods to come down in human form.

And they just witnessed the guy getting healed, so they associated that with these guys must be gods.

Miracles, signs, and wonders, but they're a sign for unbelievers.

John 4, 48 says that Jesus said to them, Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.

So some people won't believe unless they see them.

You know, I was in India four years ago, almost to the day, um, and I was preaching to this unreached people group.

They'd never heard the gospel before.

And I was preaching through an interpreter who was speaking through an interpreter about the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And I said, I'm gonna start praying, and I want to pray for all of you, but I don't want to lay hands on any of you because they treat Americans almost really reverently, almost like gods.

So I didn't, I want to take the attention off me and put it on God.

And so I said, I want to pray for you, but I'm not gonna lay hands on any of you because I want you to see this is God doing this and not me.

And so when I started praying to the one interpreter, to the next interpreter, a mighty rushing wind came in, and the village of about 60 people all got baptized in the Holy Spirit at the same time screaming on the ground.

It was, yeah, you can clap to that.

It was pretty amazing.

But verses 14 through 18.

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 in the same nature as you, and and preach to you that you should turn to these from these things, useless things, to the living God who made heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own name, their own ways.

But nevertheless, he did not leave them without witness, because he did good.

He gave us rain and from the heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

With these sayings, they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.

When Paul and Barners heard this, it says, heard what?

Heard that they were about to sacrifice to them.

They tore their clothes.

Tearing your clothes back then was a typical Jewish reaction to blasphemy.

So Paul and Barnabas are saying, This is blasphemy, what you guys are saying.

He did good and he gave us rain from heavens and fruitful seasons.

Those are things that were attributed to gods like Zeus.

And Paul and Barness were saying, No, this is from the living God.

Our God gives you these things.

So verses 19 and 20, and we'll end at verse 20.

Then Jews from Antioch and the worship team, if you're if you're out there, you guys can come up.

Or maybe they're in back yet.

Then the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city, and the next day he departed Barnabas with Barnabas to Derby.

Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there.

So Antioch was about a hundred miles from Derby and Lysra.

And so it reminds me of remember when COVID was happening a few years back, and during the summers, uh all the cities were burning down.

You'd see these protesters, and some of these protesters were paid, and they're going from city to city to city to city.

And this reminds me of these protesters are coming all the way from uh Iconium, 100 miles away, just to cause irritation and stir up trouble.

And it says he rose up and went into the city.

Can you imagine this?

They thought he was dead, and when the disciples got around him, he may have been dead, and maybe they prayed over him, maybe he rose from the dead.

It doesn't say, but he rose up, but he goes back into the city.

Now, I don't know about you, but would you go back into a city that you just got stoned from, you know?

But he went back into the city and he left the next day.

He stayed overnight.

Why?

Because he wanted to leave on his own terms.

Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.

We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

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