Commentary on Acts 14:18-22

By Bob Myhan

¹⁸And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.

It apparently was very difficult to convince the people that Barnabas and Paul were not Zeus and Hermes and stop them from sacrificing to them. But they were finally able to do so.

¹⁹Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. ²⁰However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

Not satisfied with having expelled Paul and Barnabas from Antioch and Iconium, the Jews from those cities came to Lystra with the purpose of executing Paul in the manner prescribed in the Law. Paul nearly died but recovered in one night then left Lystra for Derbe, which was about 60 miles southeast.

²¹And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²²strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."

Having made many disciples in Derbe, they retraced their steps visiting the many congregations they had established. It is likely that Barnabas, “Son of Exhortation” that he was, took the lead on the return trip. In his epistle to these very congregations Paul mentions “the marks of the Lord Jesus” that his body bore (Gal. 6:17), no doubt referring to the visible marks of his being stoned at Lystra. On their return trip through Galatia, the members of these churches had seen these marks. He used these marks to illustrate what he later wrote to Timothy. “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). And this is not the only occasion on which Paul suffered for righteousness’ sake. To the church at Corinth he wrote,

We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you (2 Cor. 4:8-12).

 In that same epistle, contrasting himself with his detractors in that congregation, he wrote.

Are they ministers of Christ?--I speak as a fool--I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness-- besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches (11:23-28).

Paul was not a glutton for punishment; he desired to live godly in Christ Jesus, even if it meant persecution. This writer was once asked in Bible class, “Who did Paul think he was?” He thought he was the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). He had persecuted the righteous before his conversion and was willing to be persecuted after. But this is not the only reason he was willing to suffer. He was also willing because it enabled him to comfort others in their suffering.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation (2 Cor. 1:3-7).

Are you willing to suffer, dear reader?

(To be continued)

A Study of the Holy Spirit (Part 19)

By Bob Myhan 

“Personality in God is the sum total of the infinite attributes resident in the inmost depth of his one divine nature; the three persons in the Godhead are the three individualities, the three personal centers of consciousness, the three separate self-conscious and self-determining persons or selves" (H. Leo Boles: The Holy Spirit: His Personality, Nature, Works, p. 33). While the Godhead is a unity and is divisible by three, each member of the Godhead is an individual and is, therefore, indivisible.

Thus, those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells do not have His literal, infinite self in their bodies, because His literal, infinite self is an absolute one, not a united one, and cannot be divided. He is in one place –heaven. A literal indwelling in each of a multitude of Christians would require His infinite self to be separated into the physical bodies of all Christians. Therefore, it must be the case that He indwells Christians indirectly, that is, through means. The means of the Holy Spirit's indwelling is God's word. Please read, in your Bible, Romans 8:1-16.

Now, to whom is there "now no condemnation"? There is “now no condemnation” to "those who are in Christ Jesus" (v 1); there is “now no condemnation” to those "who walk not after the flesh but according to the Spirit (v 1); there is “now no condemnation” to those "who live according to the Spirit" (v 5); there is “now no condemnation” to those who are "spiritually minded" (v 6); there is “now no condemnation” to those who are "in the Spirit" (v 9); there is “now no condemnation” to you if "the Spirit of God dwells in you" (v 9, 11); there is “now no condemnation” to those who "have the Spirit of Christ" (v 9); there is “now no condemnation” to you if "Christ is in you" (v 10); there is “now no condemnation” to you, if "by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body" (v 13); there is “now no condemnation” to those who are "led by the Spirit of God" (v 14); there is “now no condemnation” to us if "the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (v 16). And, of course, the Spirit bears witness via the word.

Paul is not writing of different conditions on which different Christians are not condemned. He is writing of the same condition throughout. That condition is being “in Christ Jesus,” or in a right relationship with Him. This right relationship comes via the Holy Spirit as we conduct ourselves in a manner consistent with what the Holy Spirit has revealed. The Spirit's indwelling is evidence that one is "not in the flesh but in the Spirit" (Rom. 8:9). This shows Paul is speaking of something that we can perceived by the senses - our application of God's word to our lives. 

(To be continued)