Acts 14:8-20
(based on a sermon by Steve Shepherd)
There was a preacher who was an
avid golfer. Every chance he got, he could be found on the golf course
swinging away. It was his obsession. One Sunday was a picture-perfect
day for golf. The sun was out, no clouds in the sky, and the temperature
was just right. The preacher was in a quandary as to what to do. The
urge to play golf overcame him. He called his assistant minister and
told him that he was sick and could not attend church. Then he packed up
the car, and drove three hours to a golf course where no one would
recognize him. Happily, he began to play the course.
An angel
up above was watching the preacher and was quite perturbed. He went to
God and said, “Look at the preacher. He should be punished for what he’s
doing.” God nodded in agreement.
The preacher teed up on the first
hole. He swung, and the ball sailed effortlessly through the air and
landed right in the cup three hundred and fifty yards away. A perfect
hole-in-one. The preacher was amazed and excited. The angel was a little
shocked. He turned to God and said, “Begging Your pardon Lord, I
thought you were going to punish him.” God smiled. “Think about it — who
can he tell about that shot?”
Is it possible that a preacher would miss
church for a game of golf? Or for something else: fishing, hunting, a
ball game, etc.? Possibly. Depending on the preacher. And why would he
do such a thing as that? BECAUSE PREACHERS ARE ONLY HUMAN, JUST LIKE
EVERYBODY ELSE!
Have you heard that phrase used before by anyone? “I did thus and so but it’s just because I’m only human.”Is that an excuse or an admission? I think
many people use that expression as an excuse for any wrongdoing or error
in their life. And it is true that preachers are just human like
everybody else. But honestly, don’t we generally expect a little more
from a preacher? That is, don’t we expect him to be more faithful, more
committed, more serving, more dedicated than the average person? We
probably do expect more from the preacher but that doesn’t mean it will
happen. Some are even worst than others in the church.
Also, another problem that comes with being
in front of people is the temptation of wanting and hungering after
praise. Some televangelists seem like they “eat up” this praise and
sometimes get to the point where some almost act like they can do
nothing wrong.
In our text we have Paul and Barnabas doing
something good by the power of God and the people wanting to give them
the credit for it. Paul was quick to say, “Wait a minute here, just
wait, we are only human like you.” He was honestly trying to get the
people to realize that it was God who deserved the glory and not him.As we look at this text, I’d like to
consider what good we “humans” can do in life and what the proper
attitude we should have as we look here at Paul and Barnabas..
Read Acts 14:1-10 “At
Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue.
There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks
believed. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other
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 perform signs
and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the
Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among both
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 gospel.
In
Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way 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.”
I. WE MUST DO GOOD
ILL.- The story is told about
a fellow who opened a delicatessen where there was 2 other delis in the
same neighborhood. One promoted his line of baloney with this line of
baloney: “Finest in the world!”The other delicatessen declared, “Best in the Universe.”The last put up a sign reading: “Nicest in the neighborhood!”
What about you? Are you the nicest
person in the neighborhood? Are you kind and courteous toward others?
Here in verses 9 and 10 we see Paul doing a really good deed. He saw
this man who had never walked in his whole life, that he had faith
enough to be healed, and so he blessed him by telling him to stand up on
his feet. Vs. 10 says that at once he jumped up and began to walk. Can
you just imagine the scene, and how that man felt. God used Paul to bring healing to the lame
man. Paul was God’s instrument of kindness, of doing good. There have
been times when I wish that I could bring physical healing into a
person’s life like this but that has never happened. However, just
because God doesn’t heal someone through my prayers like this doesn’t
mean I can’t still do good to people in some form or another.
Gal. 6:9-10 says “Let us
not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us
do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of
believers.”
Here he said, ‘Don’t give up doing good.’ Others will be blessed by our good deeds and we will too! As a man soweth that shall he also reap.
It is sometimes easy to give up on certain people but we must never
give up doing good. Some people will respond in different ways than
others. I’ve been disappointed by some but also surprised by some
others.Paul also said, “As we have opportunity..”
We all have opportunity every day to do something good for someone. We
need to stay awake to these opportunities. Our goodness may lead to
godliness. That is, doing good to others may lead some to Christ, which
should be our ultimate goal in life!
In Eph. 2:10 Paul also wrote
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
So based on this verse I guess God always had in mind for us to do good works.
In Acts 10:38 Peter characterized Jesus as a man who went about doing good because God was with Him. And the same should be true of us! If God is with us and working in us through His Spirit we should be doing good things to others and for them!
ILL.-
When Charles Schwab was 70 years old, he made the following statement.
He said, “I’d like to say here in a court of law, and speaking as an old
man, that 9/10ths of my troubles are traceable to my being kind to
others. Look you young people, if you want to steer away from trouble,
be hard-boiled. Be quick with a good loud ’no’ to anyone and everyone.
If you follow this rule, you will seldom be bothered as you tread life’s
pathway. Except you’ll have no friends, you’ll be lonely, and you won’t
have any fun!”
And I’d like to add, you won’t honor Christ
either. We all need to be open to opportunities to doing good for
others, even if it’s just something simple like opening a door for
someone or saying a kind word or offering a friendly smile. And don’t
forget that laughter is not only good medicine, it’s also a great
witness for Christ!
II. Regarding the attitude we should have: WE MUST BE HUMBLE
Read Acts 14:11-16 “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.
But
when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their
clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: “Friends, why are you
doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good
news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God,
who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.
In the past, he let all nations go their own way.”
“We’re only human…like you!”
ILL.- George Gordon Liddy, a Watergate
conspirator, once said: “I have found within myself all I need and all I
ever shall need. I am a man of great faith, but my faith is in George
Gordon Liddy. I have never failed me.”
Perhaps
you’ve met someone like this in your life, a person who was completely
sold on themselves. They had all the answers and thought they knew
everything. No matter how good we are or no matter how
good we think we are, we should never get a “big head” over anything we
do in life. We are only able to live and serve and do by the grace of
God.
In I Tim. 1:15-17, Paul wrote, ”Here
is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that
very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners,
Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for
those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
No matter how
much good Paul did in life he still felt as though he was a sinner, the
worst of sinners. Most people, however, don’t like to admit they’ve ever
done anything wrong in their life. We prefer to think of ourselves as
being pretty good people.
However, Solomon wrote “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall”. (Proverbs 16:18)
In I Peter 5:5-6 Peter wrote “All
of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble
yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up
in due time.”
I’d rather be humble and receive God’s grace than have him upset with me for having a proud or haughty attitude. In our text, after the healing of the lame man, Paul was humble and quick to give God the credit, “We too are only men, human like you.”
And then he pointed to the God of heaven as being the author of that
good healing. There it is! That’s the right spirit! The right
attitude! The right way to think! Be humble! Give God His rightful
glory. And then…..
III. WE SHOULD EXPECT SOME OPPOSITION
Here’s the part I don’t like. If you do good in this world and live for Christ, some will oppose you.
Read 14:18-20 “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. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.”
Wow!; they STONED HIM, THINKING HE WAS DEAD.
Brothers and Sisters, I’m not afraid to die but I’m not in a hurry to go
to my grave either. That’s one reason I don’t intend to preach the
gospel in a country like Turkey. And it may have been that bad for the
apostle Paul as he went place to place.
2 Timothy 3:10-15 says “You,
however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith,
patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of
things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I
endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone
who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while
evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being
deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have
become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able
to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Opposition will
come to you no matter what you do or how kind you are. If you live for
Christ opposition will come. If you are kind and present a witness for
Christ out in the world some people will frown at you, some will merely
pass you by but others may accuse you of being stupid or even worse.
Some accused
Jesus of being in league with the devil.
But How do we silence our opponents?
One day a
man met preacher Charles Spurgeon on the street, took off his hat and
bowed, and said, “The Rev. Mr. Spurgeon–a great humbug!” Spurgeon took
off his hat and replied, “Thank you for the compliment. I am glad to
hear that I am a great anything!”
How do we silence our opponents? It’s best to respond in as positive a manner as possible. Instead of fighting fire with fire, just laugh and be positive. It will confuse them for sure.
ILL.- While contending with all kinds of problems in the building of the Panama Canal, Colonel George Washington Goethals had to endure criticism of countless busybodies back home who freely predicted that he would never complete his great task. But the determined builder pressed steadily forward in his work and said nothing. Someone
asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer your critics”. “In time,”
Goethals replied. “How?” The great engineer smiled. “With the canal,” he
replied.
How do we silence our opponents
and critics? Just keep on doing our work and doing what’s right. People
will see the truth and come to believe in time. (That’s what Paul did)
CONCLUSION: I’m only human. I’m just a man. Yes, we
are just human but we are God’s people and that makes a difference in
our lives. Because we belong to the Lord, we should be different people,
better people, kinder people, thoughtful of others. We should be going
around doing good.
In Eph. 3:7-8 Paul wrote “I
became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me
through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of
all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ.”
Did you hear it? Although I am less than
the least, God still gave me His grace to preach. The same is true of
you. No matter who you are or what you think of yourself, God gives you His grace to do good, to serve, to give, to love, etc. and in order that ultimately He might be glorified. We may be only human but we serve a divine and all-powerful God!
