Lesson for June 18, 2025
Paul the Apostle
Lesson 4
Paul’s First Missionary Journey – Part 2
Acts 14:8-22
“In Lystra a man was sitting whose feet were incapacitated. He had been disabled from his mother’s womb and had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul looked at him intently and saw that he had faith to be made well, and he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And the man leaped up and began to walk. When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have become like men and have come down to us!’ And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Moreover, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men, of the same nature as you, preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these useless things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them. In past generations He permitted all the nations to go their own ways;yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.’ And even by saying these things, only with difficulty did they restrain the crowds from offering sacrifices to them. But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking that he was dead. But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made a good number of disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.’”
Healing was always designed to focus attention on the message, and the communication of the Gospel message. And the apostle Paul used this miracle for the preaching of the Gospel. Paul observed that this man had faith.
Apparently, this was in the marketplace where there were many people gathered, and Paul was already in the process of preaching the Gospel. He spoke with a voice that could be heard in the marketplace and said, “Stand upright on your feet.” He didn’t just get up; he jumped up and began walking!
The Greeks generally sacrificed pigs to their gods, Zeus and Hermes, but on special occasions they would sacrifice oxen. The garlands simply indicated that they were entertaining “gods.” They were in a house when Paul and Barnabas heard this, they could have easily fallen into the temptation trap of being considered a god. However, they were grace orientated, they avoided the temptation. So, instead they set the record straight that they were not gods. They did not want Satan converting a miracle into something that would obscure the Gospel, which was what Satan was attempting to do by his influence over these people.
Paul and Barnabas wanted them to understand that they were mere mortals like their audience and were certainly not gods. Pagan idolatry and offering sacrifices to Zeus and Hermes was part of the religion of the Gentiles, so Paul and Barnabas wanted to make it clear that their message was about the one and only true God. And they pointed out that the one true God made the heavens and the earth and He had always recognized the free will of man. And when a person rejects Christ as Savior, even before Christ came, God always recognizes the right of the individual to reject Christ, He does not force people to accept Him.
Notice what Paul and Barnabas said, “We are also men of the same nature as you and preach the Gospel to you 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.” (Colossians 1:16)
In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. This means that Jesus Christ Himself has been revealed since the beginning of human history. Adam was saved by faith in Christ, Abraham was saved by faith in Christ and there is absolutely no other way to be saved, there is only one Savior, Jesus Christ.
Never in the history of the human race has there been a person who was positive at the point of God-consciousness who has not heard the Gospel and had the chance to respond through faith in Christ. So, God revealed Himself in the conscience of man, but He also revealed Himself in nature. And His blessings in nature benefited everyone, believer and unbeliever alike. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; I John 5:12; Romans 1:18-25)
Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. The apostles succeeded is restraining them from offering sacrifices to them. Believers are commanded to have nothing to do with idolatry, according to I Corinthians 10:14-21, 19:14 and II Corinthians 6:16. Idolatry is a form of demonism according to Deuteronomy 32:17. Idolatry caused Israel to enter into a state of immoral degeneracy as a nation, according to Psalm 106:34-39. Idolatry is caused by rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. Rejection of Christ creates a vacuum in the soul into which is drawn in idolatry. Idolatry begins in the mind and ends up as habitual practice. In other words, idolatry can be anything that a person worships other than God. (Romans 1:18- 25; Jude 2:10-13; Ezekiel 14:7)
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking that he was dead. But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he left with Barnabas to Derbe. And after they had preached the Gospel to that city and had made a good number of disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. The word strengthening is a compound Greek word, meaning to establish, which comes to means to stabilize. He came to stabilize their minds, and to do this he had to communicate Bible doctrine. It takes doctrine in the human spirit for a believer to be empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit, rather than by the sin nature. Strengthening of the souls of the disciples means the communication of Bible doctrine so that believers become spiritually self-sustaining. It should be the objective of the Christian life for every believer to have enough doctrine so that they are totally and completely dependent upon God, so that they understand the grace of God, are oriented to the plan of God, and so that wherever they go and whatever they do they can have perfect inner happiness and peace, and do not have to use human viewpoint. Believers need Bible doctrine as a stable platform and a solid foundation for life.
Encouraging them to continue in the faith. The faith refers to Bible doctrine in their souls. Paul and Barnabas were encouragers. They knew how to teach the Christian life as a principle of grace. They understood that the Christian life is what God does in and through believers as they yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And how does the holy Spirit lead us? He leads us by teaching us Bible doctrine, helping us to recall what we have learned, and assisting us in the proper application of that doctrine. We call this Operation Z.
There are four stages to Operation Z. In stage one, the pastor communicates accurate Bible doctrine to his congregation. In stage two, the Holy Spirit teaches this doctrine to the human spirit of believers. In stage three, the Holy Spirit transfers the doctrine from the human spirit to the mind of believers. In stage four, the Holy Spirit converts mere academic doctrine into full spiritual knowledge in the stream of consciousness of believers when they believe the doctrine. Therefore, Operation Z is a ministry of God the Holy Spirit to Church Age believers who are positive toward Bible doctrine and filled with the Holy Spirit.
The primary role of believers in the local church is to learn, believe, and apply Bible doctrine to their lives. This is accomplished by consistent exposure to the accurate teaching of the Word of God by a man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. Learning Bible doctrine requires the filling of the Holy Spirit, concentration and a positive attitude toward the teacher and what is being taught. As a believer hears the pastor communicate accurate Bible doctrine, this spiritual information is being taught to the human spirit of the positive believer by God the Holy Spirit.
Once the Holy Spirit teaches this doctrine to a believer’s human spirit, He automatically transfers that information into their mind. This doctrinal information stays in the mind as academic knowledge until a believer applies their faith to the doctrine by saying, “I believe it.” When they believe what has been taught, God the Holy Spirit converts that doctrinal information into spiritual, useable information, so it can be applied to the life of a believer.
Since you have free will, you must take the initiative to learn Bible doctrine in order to grow spiritually. This requires an inventory of Bible doctrine stored in your soul to meet every circumstance of life. The more Bible doctrine you have stored in your soul, the easier it is going to be to handle any problem you face in life!