PT-2 "Humility" (Acts 14:8-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/15/2018 9:37 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  PT-2 “Humility”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Acts 14:8-18

            Message of the verses:  “8 At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, 10 said with a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." And he leaped up and began to walk. 11 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." 12 And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 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. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? 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. 16  "In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; 17  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." 18 Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.”

            We begin this Spiritual Diary by looking at verse eleven.  What we see in this verse is what we might say is a bizarre reaction to the miracle that God did through Paul as those who were around this man believed that the gods that they worship came down to earth.  I have no idea of how many gods these people worshiped, but there were many for sure and as we know they were worshiping either demons or Satan but not realizing it.  John MacArthur writes something very interesting about this:  “This strange and surprising turn of events had its roots in local folklore.  There was a tradition in Lystra (recorded by the Roman poet Ovid, who died in A. D. 17) that the gods of Zeus and Hermes once came to earth incognito.  When they arrived at Lystra and asked for food and lodging everyone refused them.  Finally, an old peasant named Philemon and his wife, Baucis, took them in. Their inhospitable neighbors were drowned in a flood sent by the vengeful gods.  Philemon and Baucis, however, saw their humble cottage turned into a magnificent temple where they served as priest priestess.  After their deaths, they turned into two stately trees.”

            Now if the people in Lystra knew about this story, and it seems that they did they did not want to make the same mistake as their ancestors had made so they “began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.”  I have heard stories of Paul’s appearance, that he was rather short and not really good looking and so this may have been why Barnabas was called Zeus.  However they identified Paul with Hermes because of him being the chief speaker and Hermes was the messenger of the gods.  It is probably safe to say that because these people were speaking in the Lycaonian language that neither Paul nor Barnabas understood what was going on. 

            In verse thirteen we see that the priest of Zeus who had a temple outside their town did not want to be outdone and so he was bringing a sacrifice to offer to Paul and Barnabas.  I think that we know Paul well enough that he was not going to put up with this and so both he and Barnabas tore their clothes which was a Jewish expression of horror and revulsion and blasphemy as we saw the high priest do when he though Jesus was blaspheming. 

            Continuing from verse fourteen we read that Paul and Barnabas began “crying out and saying, ‘Men, why are you doing these things?  We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you in order that you should turn from these vain things.’”  Paul and Barnabas certainly knew that they were not any kind of god, but they surely did know that they represented the One True God to these people and wanted them to know this in no uncertain terms. 

            This crowd at Lystra, that is the Gentiles had little if any understanding of the Old Testament and so they had little idea of what Paul and Barnabas were talking about, and so Paul did not talk about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from the Scriptures but they proclaimed the “living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them. A little later on in the book of Acts we will see that Paul used the same way of talking to the unbelievers on Mars hill in Athens.  (Acts 17:22-31). 

            John MacArthur speaks to my heart as he comments on verse sixteen, a verse that I am having trouble understanding.  He writes “There was a tolerance on God’s past toward sinners who did not have the full revelation of His holy will. 

            “It is important to realize at this point that nothing has ravaged gospel preaching to the untaught world more than the theory of evolution.  Because it poses an explanation of the existence of everything without a Creator or moral lawgiver, people who accept it fail to see any need for God or a first cause.  Thus they cut themselves off from all that creation, reason, conscience, and providence are designed to do—namely lead them to God.”  It looks like we will be further looking at the theory of evolution when we get to chapter seventeen of Acts.

            I was listening to my favorite political commentator on the radio yesterday who mentioned a man who had just died who was, in a worldly way, was very smart.  This man stated that our earth only had 200 more years before it would be uninhabitable and suggested that we begin to explore other planets to live on.  The commentator went on to talk about what evolutionists believe on how the universe was created, the big bang theory.  He stated that in this theory there was a ball about the size of a golf or tennis ball which expanded in a large explosion to create what we have now.  My question is where did this ball come from?  I will tell a short story that explains what these foolish people believe.  There was a man who believed that he could create a man out of dirt, the way that God did it.  So the man was talking to God stating that he could do something just like God did and so he went and got some dirt and was about to show God that he could create a man when God looked down at him and said “Get your own dirt.” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  If it were left up to me and any other believer to convince a person that they need to trust Christ as their Savior and Lord then it would never happen.  It is a true miracle when someone receives Christ.  Believers are only to give out the message so that the Spirit of God can use that message to give an effectual call to the unbeliever.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Money” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Today’s Bible question:  “How did Jesus overcome the temptation of Satan?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/15/2018 10:36 AM