"Just Men”
[Acts 14:1-18]
June 13, 2010 Second Reformed Church
Would you like to be idolized? Whether it be as an “American Idol” or as a great actor or politician or someone else – would you like people to know you name and ask for your autograph and scream in joy when they see you and try to touch you? Carol admits to trying to pass for Kelly Clarkson.
Remember that Paul and Barnabas had been driven out of Antioch in Pisidia, so they left and continued on in their missionary journey to Iconium. And remember that they didn’t stop preaching the Word of God – they didn’t go into hiding because of the persecution they faced – no, they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. Despite having to endure persecution, they were joyful because the persecution meant that the Message of the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Alone was heard. And God the Holy Spirit strengthened them and prepared them for the next work they would have to do.
So, when they arrived in Iconium, they went directly into the Jewish synagogue and began to preach that Jesus is the Savior that God sent to earth, Who lived and died and ascended back to the Throne of the Son, where He reigns sovereign over all. And Luke tells us that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed the Message of the Gospel that they preached.
Yet, again, other Jews stood up and disputed the message of the Gospel, so Paul and Barnabas stayed for a long time, speaking boldly, witnessing to the work of Jesus in their lives, and giving miraculous signs as God the Holy Spirit worked through them as confirmation that what they were preaching was true.
And let us remember: the signs that they performed were meant to confirm the message, not to bring conversion by themselves, because the devil and his angels can do miracles. So, it is not through doing miracles that people are brought to faith: God normally brings people to faith through the right preaching of God’s Word. That’s why the Word of God and its preaching has to be central to the worship service – God meets with us and ministers to us and matures us through His Word. And God normally brings people to faith through the right preaching of God’s Word.
Luke records how Lazarus and the rich man had a conversation across the divide after they had both died: the rich man was in Hades, and Lazarus was in Paradise. And the rich man had left behind five brothers who were not believers, and he pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead, believing that such a sign would cause them to believe. “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And [the rich man] said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead’” (Luke 16:29-31, ESV).
All the pomp and show and miraculous signs that we could muster will have no effect on a person who rejects the Word of God, because God normally brings people to faith through the right preaching of God’s Word.
So, let us understand, signs and wonders do not cause faith, they confirm the Word of God.
The author of Hebrews writes, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Hebrews 2:1-4, ESV).
The author of Hebrews tells us that we must pay attention to the Word of God read and preached because it is through it that we know and come to faith. It is through the Word of God that we learn that every sin requires punishment, and there is only One Hope through salvation in Jesus Alone. And this salvation – this message of the Gospel – is witnessed to and confirmed by the working of signs and wonders and miracles – as God is pleased to do them. Yet, signs and wonders do not cause faith, they confirm the Word of God.
The people of Iconium were divided: some came to faith through the preaching of the Word of God and His Gospel, and they were strengthened and confirmed as Paul and Barnabas did signs and wonders among them, but others remained steadfast in their unbelief, and they plotted with the rulers of the Gentiles and the Jews to stone Paul and Barnabas to death.
But word got to Paul and Barnabas first, and they thought it best to go on to the next stop, rather than confront their persecutors, so they went on to Lystra – about twenty miles south, and they continued to preach the Gospel.
It will help us to understand what happened by quickly reviewing the mythology of the founding of Lystra. The story goes (cf. Eadie or Kistemaker) that a group of settlers came to the land and began to build houses, and Zeus and Hermes came to them in human form and asked for a place to sleep. Everyone turned them down except for one elderly couple. Zeus and Hermes were outraged at the lack of hospitality and turned all of the residents – except for the elderly couple – into wolves. The Greek word for “wolf” is lykos. Thus, Lystra is “wolf town.”
Back to the Holy Word of God: Paul and Barnabas arrived in Lystra and met up with a man who was crippled in his feet – lame from birth, and Paul was given the knowledge to know that as this man listened to Paul preach, he truly believed in Jesus with saving faith. And Paul said to him, “Stand upright on your feet.” And, notice, the man didn’t struggle to get up and haltingly take a few steps and then walk. No – he leapt up and began walking all around.
Everybody knew this man – he had been asking alms all of his life. They knew he had been born lame – that there was nothing the doctors could do. And then they remembered their mythology, and in excitement and fear, they stopped speaking Greek and began speaking the local language of Lyconian – which Paul and Barnabas did not understand – but they later found out what they were saying – “Zeus and Hermes have returned Let’s not be like our forefathers – let’s treat them with respect and worship them ” So the people of Lystra ran and got the priests of the temple of Zeus, and then brought oxen to sacrifice before Paul and Barnabas, and garlands to put around their necks.
And then someone filled Paul and Barnabas in – “They think you’re Zeus and Hermes, come to visit them again, and they are setting up altars to worship you.”
Paul and Barnabas were horrified. They tore their clothes in abhorrence of this blasphemy and rushed out to the crowds and demanded that they stop what they were doing: “Stop What are you doing? We’re just men. We are the same form and nature as you are. We are not gods. We have come to bring you the Good News that you would turn away from the vain things – these idols and false gods – that you have worshiped and instead worship Jesus.”
Now, notice, since Paul was speaking to Gentiles – non-Jews – he did not turn to the Prophets to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Promise of God for a Savior – not initially. Instead, he appealled to natural theology, because they were not versed in the Hebrew Scriptures. He told them that the God Who provides salvation through Jesus Alone is the God “who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them”
In the past God did allow the nations to walk in their own ways – to go after idols and false gods, but God never left Himself without a witness in nature: He is the True One God Who did good for all people by giving rain and fruitful seasons, “satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
Paul explained to them that God is the God of the rain and the harvest, the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth. This One God Alone brings health and joy, and He is also that God Who Alone brings Salvation from the sin that we all do.
The Gospel is not about us – it’s about God. And we must focus our message – our preaching – our ministry – on God. It is all of God and all through God, and we do a disservice – at best – when we confuse it with anything else. We are just men and women. God saves. Jesus saves. God works through us – through the reading and preaching of His Word. But, the Message is not me and it is not you – it’s God – it’s Jesus.
Even with that explanation, they were hard pressed to convince the people that they weren’t going to turn them into wolves. They wanted to worship them – just to be sure. What if this was a test? Wouldn’t it be best to just let them worship Paul and Barnabas and then tell them the Gospel? It wouldn’t hurt anything, right? They would know that they weren’t really worthy of worship, right?
Sometimes we idolize pastors. Sometimes we skip worship when the “regular” pastor is away. We shouldn’t do that. Worship isn’t about the pastor. We shouldn’t idolize or worship a pastor. We are here to worship our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, and if the pastor in the pulpit – whether he be the “regular” pastor or not – is preaching the Word of God Alone, we do right to be in worship to worship God.
God said, “You shall not bow down or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6, ESV).
There is no such thing as “casual” worship. And God will not accept less than all of our worship. We cannot worship God and.... That’s what we have found Israel did throughout the Old Testament, and every time God warned them to stop, they turned to God and told God that they were worshiping Him – just a few other gods in addition – just to be safe. And God was furious God deserves all of our worship and no one and nothing else deserves any of our worship. Anything that we put in the place of our Triune God – is idolatry – it is worship of something other than God.
God requires that one day in seven be wholly set aside for His worship. And that is for our good – by setting aside one day in seven, we break the work cycle, we fellowship with other Christians, and we are met by God Himself, and He ministers to us as we worship Him.
Sometimes it’s easier to understand why people don’t come to worship than why some people do: people don’t come to worship because they don’t believe it is necessary or important – it’s not a priority. It’s not worth their time. And then there are people who go to worship – or, actually, they go to “church” – but they don’t believe the Bible, they don’t believe in Jesus, they don’t want to be there for more than an hour.... People have told me that they go to “church” to feel good, to become better people, and so forth. But how can that be, if they don’t believe what is read and preached?
Let us understand something that ought to be basic, though it seems it is not: God is God. God is the Almighty, the Thrice Holy, the Only One worthy of our worship.
Paul and Barnabas are not to be worshiped. I am not to be worshiped. None of you are to be worshiped. We are just men and women. God is God. God is the Almighty, the Thrice Holy, the Only One worthy of our worship.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, help us not to be confused, but to be passionately desirous of Your Worship. Have it be our joy and strength to come into Your sanctuary and offer up ourselves to You as living sacrifices of praise and worship. Make Yourself and Your Worthiness known to us. And cause us to turn aside from everything that is unworthy of You, that we might find ourselves all the more satisfied in Your Presence in worship. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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