Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #24 - 14:1-28)
E. 14:1-28 NORMAL CHURCH EXTENSION: PERSECUTION AND GROWTH
1. 14:1-7 PERSECUTION SPREADS THE GOSPEL
a. 14:1 GREAT SUCCESS IN ICONIUM
E-GEne-to de en I-koNIo kaTA to auTO ei-selTHEIN auTOUS
And it came to pass in Iconium that they entered together
eis ten su-na-goGEN ton IouDAIon, kai laLEsai HOUtos HOSte
into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that
piSTEUsai IouDAIon te kai HelLEnon poLU PLEthos.
a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed.
b. 14:2 DISOBEDIENT JEWS REPEAT IN ICONIUM WHAT STARTED IN ANTIOCH OF PISIDIA
hoi de a-peiTHEsan-tes[544] IouDAIoi ePEgei-ran,
But the Jews that were disobedient stirred up the souls of the nations,
kai eKAko-san [2559]tas psuCHAS ton ethNON kaTA ton a-delPHON.
and made them evil affected against the brethren.
c. 14:3 GOD CONFIRMS HIS WORD WITH SIGNS FOLLOWING
hi-kaNON men oun CHROnon diEtri-psan [1304] par-re-si-aZOme-noi [3955]ePI to KuRIo,
Long time therefore they tarried therebeing bold in the Lord,
tomar-tuROUNti toLOgo tes CHAri-tos auTOU,
who witnessed unto the word of his :grace,
diDONti seMEIa [4592]kai TEra-ta [5059]GInes-thai diA ton cheiRON auTON.
granting signs and wonders to be done by their :hands.
d. 14:4 But the multitude of the city was divided; and some were with the Jews, and some with the apostles.
esCHISthede to PLEthos tes POle-os; kai hoi men Esan sun tois IouDAIois, hoi de sun tois a-poSTOlois.
e. 14:5-7 PLANNED PERSECUTION FORCES SWIFT DEPARTURE
hos de eGEne-to horME[3730]ton ethNON te kai IouDAIon sun tois ARchou-sin [758]auTON,
And when an onset was made both of the nations and of the Jews with their :rulers,
huBRIsai [5195] kai li-tho-boLEsai [3036]auTOUS, su-niDONtes [4894], kaTEphu-gon [2703]eis tas POleis
to treat them shamefully and stone them, 6 they became aware of it, andfled unto the cities of
tes Lu-ka-oNIas, LUstran kai DERben, kai ten peRIcho-ron [4066]: ka' 'KEI eu-ag-ge-liZOme-noi [2097]Esan.
:Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the region around: 7and there they were preaching thegospel.
2. 14:8-18 A PROBLEM ARISING FROM A HEALING
a. 14:8 THE CRIPPLED MAN AT LYSTRA
Kai tis aNER aDUna-tos [102], en LUstrois, tois poSIN eKAthe-to,
And at Lystra a certain man sat, impotent in his:feet,
choLOS ek koiLIas [2836]meTROS auTOU, hos ouDEpo-te pe-ri-ePAtesen.
a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked.
b. 14:9-10a PAUL PROCLAIMS HEALING
HOUtos Ekou-en tou PAUlou laLOUNtos: hos, a-teNIsas [816]auTO,
The same heard :Paul speaking: who, fixing hiseyes upon him,
kai iDON HOti Echei PIstin tou soTHEnai [4982],
and seeing that he had faith to be made whole,
EIpen meGAlephoNE, A-NAste-thi [450]ePI tous POdas sou orTHOS [3717].
10a said with a loud voice, Stand upright on your :feet.
c. 14:10b And he leaped up and was walking. kai HEla-to [242]kai pe-ri-ePAtei.
d. 14:11 A FALSE INTERPRETATION
hoi te OCHloi iDONtes ho ePOIe-sen ho PAUlos, ePEran ten phoNEN auTON, Lu-ka-o-niSTI LEgon-tes,
And the crowds saw what Paul had done, andthey lifted up their :voice, saying in Lycaonish,
Hoi theOI ho-moi-oTHENtes [3666] anTHROpois kaTEbe-san [2597] pros huMAS.
The gods are come down unto us in likeness of men.
e. 14:12 And they called :Barnabas, Jupiter; and :Paul, Mercury, since he was the chief :speaker.
eKAloun te ton BarNAban, DIa; ton de PAUlon, HerMEN, e-peiDE auTOS en ho heGOUme-nos tou LOgou.
f. 14:13 PAGAN PRIEST SEEKS TO SACRIFICE TO THE APOSTLES
ho te hi-eREUS [2409] tou DiOS tou ONtos pro tes POle-os,
And the priest of :Jupiter whose temple was before the city,
TAUrous [5022] kai STEMma-ta [4725] ePI tous puLOnas [4440] eNEGkas, sun tois OCHlois Ethe-len THUein.
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, andwould have done sacrifice with the crowds.
g. 14:14-15a QUICK REACTION OF BARNABAS AND PAUL
aKOUsantes de hoi aPOsto-loi, BarNAbas kai PAUlos, di-arRExan-tes [1284] ta hiMAti-a he-auTON,
But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard it, they rent their own :garments,
e-xePEde-san [1530] eis ton OCHlon, KRAzon-tes [2896] kai LEgon-tes, ANdres, ti TAUta poiEIte?
andsprang forth among the crowd, crying out 15a and saying, Men, why do you these things?
h. 14:15b-16 THE EXPLANATION OF THE APOSTLES
kai heMEIS ho-moi-o-paTHEIS [3663] es-men huMIN ANthro-poi, eu-ag-ge-liZOme-noi [2097] huMAS,
We also are men of like passions with you, andbring you good tidings,
aPO TOUton ton maTAIon [3152] e-piSTREphein [1994] ePI TheON ZONta,
that you turn from these :vanities unto a living God,
hos ePOIe-sen ton ou-raNON kai ten gen kai ten THAlas-san,
who made the heaven and the earth and the sea,
kai PANta ta en auTOIS, hos en tais pa-ro-cheMEnais [3944] ge-neAIS
and all that arein them, 16who in the generations gone by
EIa-sen [1439] PANta ta ETHne poREUes-thai tais hoDOIS auTON.
suffered all the nations to walk in their :ways.
i. 14:17 GOD, NOT MAN, MEETS NEEDS AND FILLS HEARTS
KAItoi ouk aMARtu-ron auTON aPHEken,
And yet he left not himself without witness,
a-ga-thourGON ou-raNOthen huMIN hu-eTOUS diDOUS kai kaiROUS kar-poPHOrous [2593],
in doing good and giving you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons,
em-pipLON [1705] troPHES [5160] kai eu-phroSUnes [2167] tas karDIas huMON.
filling your :hearts with food and gladness.
j. 14:18 And with these sayings they scarce restrained the crowds from doing sacrifice to them.
kai TAUta LEgon-tes MOlis kaTEpau-san [2664] tous OCHlous tou me THUein auTOIS.
3. 14:19-28 IMPORTANCE OF CONFIRMING CHURCHES AND INDIVIDUALS
a. 14:19 ANTIOCH AND ICONIUM JEWS INCITE STONING-DEATH OF PAUL
E-PELthan [1904] de aPO An-ti-oCHEIas kai I-koNIou IouDAIoi:
But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium:
kai PEIsantes [3962] tous OCHlous, kai liTHAsan-tes [3034] ton PAUlon,
and having persuaded the crowds, and stoned :Paul,
Esu-ron [4951] Exo tes POle-os, noMIzon-tes [3543] auTON teth-neKEnai [2348].
they dragged himout of the city, supposing he was dead.
b. 14:20 PAUL SPARED DEATH - WITH BARNABAS TO DERBE
ku-kloSANton [2944] de ton ma-theTON auTON, a-naSTAS [450], eiSELthen eis ten POlin:
But as the disciples surrounded him, he rose up, andentered into the city:
kai te ePAUri-on eXELthen sun to BarNAba eis DERben.
and on the morrow he went forth with :Barnabas to Derbe.
c. 14:21-22 TRIBULATION: THE WAY TO HEAVEN
eu-ag-ge-liSAmeNOI [2097] te ten POlin eKEInen, kai ma-theTEUsan-tes [3100] hi-kaNOUS [2425],
And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had discipled many,
huPEstre-psan [5290] eis ten LUstran, kai eis I-KOni-on, kai eis An-tiOchei-an,
they returned to :Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch,
e-pi-steRIzon-tes [1991] tas psuCHAS ton ma-theTON, pa-ra-kaLOUNtes [3870] emMEnein te PIstei, kai HOti,
22 confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting themto continue in the faith, and that,
diA polLON THLIpse-on [2347] dei huMAS ei-selTHEIN eis ten ba-siLEIan [932] tou TheOU.
Through many tribulations must we enter into the kingdom of :God.
d. 14:23 ELDERS APPOINTED IN EACH OF THE ABOVE CITIES
chei-ro-toNEsan-tes [5500] de auTOIS kat' ek-kleSIan pres-buTErous [4245],
And when they had appointed for them elders in every church,
pro-seuXAme-noi [4336] meTA ne-steiON [3521], paREthen-to auTOUS to KuRIo, eis hon pe-piSTEUkei-san.
andhad prayed with fastings, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.
e. 14:24 And they passed through :Pisidia, andcame to :Pamphylia.
kai di-elTHONtes [1330]ten Pi-siDIan, ELthan eis ten Pam-phuLIan.
f. 14:25-26 FROM PERGA - RETURN TO ANTIOCH
kai laLEsantes en PERge ton LOgon, kaTEbe-san eis AtTAli-an;
And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia;
ka' 'KEIthen aPEpleu-san [636] eis An-tiOchei-an,
26and from there they sailed to Antioch,
HOthen Esan pa-ra-de-doMEnoi [3860] te CHAri-ti tou TheOU eis to ERgon ho ePLEro-san [4137].
from where they had been committed to the grace of :God for the work which they had fulfilled.
g. 14:27 SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL: A GROUND OF JOY
pa-ra-geNOme-noi [3854] de, kai su-na-gaGONtes [4863] ten ek-kleSIan,
And when they were come, and had gathered the church,
aNEGgel-lon [312] HOsa ePOIe-sen ho TheOS met' auTON,
they declared what things:God had done with them,
kai HOti Enoi-xen [455] tois ETHne-sin THUran [2374] PIste-os.
and that he had opened a door of faith unto the nations.
h. 14:28 And they tarried no little time with the disciples.
diEtri-bon [1304] de CHROnon ouk oLIgon sun tois ma-theTAIS.
NOTE: - 14:15b - This verse reminds us of Peter with Cornelius. When the latter fell on his face to worship Peter, he said to Cornelius much what Paul and Barnabas told the people of Lystra. With great difficulty they prevented these pagans from worshiping them. One of the biographers of Charles G. Finney entitled it, “A Man of Like Passions!” Then we read of King Herod who receivedthe worship of the people instead of rejecting it and giving it to God - and hewas eaten of worms!
14-21-22 - “Through manytribulationsmustwe enter into the kingdom of :God.” See how different this message of the First Century church apostles is from much of the false emphasis of the nature of the true Gospel as so often preached today! The solution? Get into the Wordstrongly; soakin it; kneel and vocally meditateover it; and listen to itand follow itmore than the siren-call of such present day preachers. Chinese Christians during the Communist take-over last century, felt they had been deceived by Missionaries who failed to use the emphasis of the early apostles as given here.
14:27 - And when Paul and Barnabas returned to the Antioch church that had initially launched them on this first journey, “they declared what things:Godhad done with them, and that hehad opened a door of faith unto the nations.”How careful those early apostles were to give allthe glory to God! Read “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers, where you can receive this sameexample of faith. J.A.W.
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