Leave the Results to God

Acts 13:49-14:28

The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. – Acts 13:49-52

We pick up the story from last week with Paul and Barnabas in Pisidian Antioch. Recall that Paul and Barnabas were sent out from the church at “regular” Antioch, and they sailed to Cyprus, seen people become believers at Paphos on Cyprus, where God also used Paul to cause a false prophet to become blind, and then sailed to what is now Turkey, where they traveled inland up to Pisidian Antioch. Here Paul gives an impassioned explanation of the gospel in the synagogue, but after encountering hostility and opposition, he took it to the streets, where many, many Gentiles became believers.


Here it says the Word spread through the whole region. But, not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, they encountered opposition by the leaders of the city, both men and women. There are no details here, but Paul and Barnabas were expelled from the area. Probably they were told that if they stayed, they would be killed or imprisoned. So, following Jesus’ own guidelines, they “shook the dust from their feet” and left.

And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." – Mark 6:11

Perhaps something is lost in the translation of cultural traditions from then to today, but maybe not. I picture a scene like in an old John Wayne western, where a guy is thrown out of a bar, perhaps through the front window, and he then makes a show of brushing himself off, perhaps saying “I know when I’m not wanted,” before leaving. In our culture, anyway, it is a funny picture.

But despite the loss of their leaders, the people there were “filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” One goes with the other, I think. The new disciples were filled with joy because they were focusing on the Author of their salvation rather than on their circumstances. You could say they were leaving the results, their future, up to God.

At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. – Acts 14:1-3

Paul and Barnabas went to a new city, Iconium, and used familiar methods – they went to the Jews first, much as Paul would later write, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to the Romans:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. – Romans 1:16

Once again, God granted them great success – many came to the faith, both Jews and Gentiles. But once again the new believers faced opposition. It’s not quite clear to me whose minds were poisoned – perhaps Gentile nonbelievers against Believers, or perhaps Gentile believers against Jewish believers. Either way, Paul and Barnabas stayed there for some time, and God continued to bless what they were doing.

The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the good news. – Acts 14:4-7

Opposition grew to a point that plans were made to kill Paul and Barnabas by stoning. But God helped them to learn of it beforehand (apparently, just beforehand) and they fled to Lystra and then Derbe.

In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. – Acts 14:8-10

This is a miracle similar to what God did through Peter early in Acts, in Jerusalem. Was the result similar? Did thousands come to faith in Christ? In a word, no.

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. – Acts 14:11-13

I would like to point out some facts that authenticate this story. The following is from a book entitled, “Evidence and Paul’s Journeys” by Jefferson White.

Historical evidence reveals that the lower classes of the interior of Asia Minor still spoke in their native tongues as late as the first century. This was in contrast to the more heavily populated areas along the Mediterranean coast, where native languages had largely disappeared in favor of Greek. Thus Luke’s reference to a native dialect in this inland city is accurate.

It is interesting that the crowd called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes. The populace of every locality in the ancient world worshipped deities that were considered to be the patrons of their area. Archeological evidence reveals that the Zeus-Hermes combination was the local cult of the city of Lystra. A number of inscriptions have been discovered that are dedications to the two gods, linked in a common worship.

Elsewhere on the web I found the following. These are two actual inscriptions on monuments found in the ruins of Lystra:

"Kakkan and Maramoas and Iman Licinius priests of Zeus."

"Toues Macrinus also called Abascantus and Batasis son of Bretasis having made in accordance with a vow at their own expense (a statue of) Hermes Most Great along with a sun-dial dedicated to Zeus the sun-god."

Continuing on with the quote from “Evidence and Paul’s Journeys”:

The Roman poet Ovid, writing in the first century, portrays, in his poem "Metamorphoses," an appearance of these two gods to an old couple living not far from Lystra.

From what I have read elsewhere, this was a legend strongly believed in Lystra. Hermes and Zeus had appeared, disguised, to the town, and most of the town had treated them poorly. But this old couple showed kindness to them, and for a reward, Zeus turned them into never-dying keepers of the temple of Zeus in Lystra, making them trees that stood at the entrance to this temple to that present day. So in a real sense, the people had a bit of a “complex” about how they had treated them poorly in the past. They were determined that if Hermes and Zeus ever showed up again, they would be ready and show them proper respect and worship, for if they didn’t, something terrible might happen to them.

A bit more from “Evidence and Paul’s Journeys”:

Nor is it particularly unusual that the local population of Lystra should want to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods. When Apollonius of Tyana, a pagan miracle worker, was tried before the Emperor Domitian at the end of the first century, one of the charges against him was that he had allowed himself to be worshipped as a god. The Greek writer Lucian also tells of an incident, occurring early in the first century, when a provincial town worshipped a wonder worker as a god.

Paul is the central figure in Acts, so it may seem strange that the people of Lystra identified Barnabas as Zeus, who was the more important of the two gods. Luke does not tell us why this identification was made. However, historical evidence reveals that it was a common belief in the ancient world that when two gods came to earth, the lesser one did the talking. Since Paul did the preaching, the people probably concluded that Barnabas must be the greater god. This is a small historical point, but it underscores the authenticity of the narrative.

Isn’t that fascinating? It gives a much greater appreciation and understanding of what was going on in Lystra. What was going on, from Barnabas and Paul’s perspective was a disaster. The gospel message was completely lost on these people. The whole town was going crazy, in a scene reminiscent of that of the Israelites building their golden calf. Paul and Barnabas were determined to do something better than Aaron did. The picture above is an artist's rendition of the situation.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." – Acts 14:14-17

There is no politically correct speech here. They called sacrifices to the most sacred “gods” of their city “worthless things.” Notice how they appeal to them not with Old Testament scriptures, which would be foreign and meaningless to them, but with an appeal to nature. The God who created the universe has been kind to you by helping your crops to grow in plenty. The location was an especially fertile plateau, a center of farming.

Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city.– Acts 14:18-20a

Things went from bad to much, much worse. If I understand what this is saying, these Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium showed up, saying something like “Men, what they are saying is true. They are just men! They are not Gods!” You can picture Paul and Barnabas saying, “Yes, listen to them!” But then, the Jews said something like, “Yes, they are just men, but they are not good men. They are trying to deceive you to get you to turn away from your gods! You heard them, they just called your sacrifices worthless things! I say we kill them now!”

Much as Paul had overseen the stoning of Stephen, now he was the one being stoned. The intention of stoning was death. They thought Paul was dead. And perhaps Paul was dead briefly. We don’t know. Paul may have been talking about this event in II Cor. 12:1:

I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – II Cor. 12:1-10

“Whether in the body or out of the body” may mean “whether I was alive or dead, I’m not sure.” And it may be that the “thorn in the flesh” Paul talks about here may be a result of his near-fatal injuries in this stoning. It is likely he was badly disfigured, especially in his head, and he may have broken bones in his face or skull. There is a good chance he had to walk with a limp for the rest of his life.

Think of this when you think about this passage, where God tells him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul learned to delight in his “hardships” which is an understatement if I ever heard one. He left the results of his life, the way in which God would use him, totally to God. Again, this is how we should live.

It would be easy to question God after something like this. “God, I thought You wanted me to go preach the gospel. But now I am permanently maimed! These people did not turn to You at all! What are You doing? You are making me useless!” Some of you may feel like this, whether due to the demands of daily life, or due to hardships, illness, weaknesses, insecurities, difficulties caused by others, job uncertainties, or anything else. It is a hard lesson, and I am preaching to me when I say it, but the answer is the same as God’s to Paul: My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. And like Paul, as hard as it seems, we should respond with “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. – Acts 14:20b-22

This is about as far from the so-called “prosperity gospel” that some falsely teach that you can get. Picture Paul, his face misshapen, a man old and decrepit before his time, taking your face in his scarred arms and saying, with conviction, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Don’t be afraid of hardships. Do what you do for the Lord, dedicated to Him, and leave the results up to God.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. – Acts 14:23-28

Can you imagine the return? Someone shouts, “Hey, it’s Barnabas and… can that be Paul?” Joy turns to shock. “Paul, Barnabas, what happened?” I can hear Paul say, “Oh, that? It’s only a momentary light affliction. But let me tell you all that God has been doing! It is so wonderful…”

An application: Live lives dedicated to God. Remember that His grace is sufficient for you. Remember that His power is made perfect in your weakness. And leave the results to God.