Devotional Acts 14: Faith Precedes God's Miracle Practical analysis of Acts 14: the persecution of Paul and Barnabas, the exclusivity of biblical truth, and the importance of never losing faith. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Acts 14: Faith Precedes God’s Miracle

Today’s devotional is found in the book of Acts, chapter 14, and this is what happened.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Paul and Barnabas go to the synagogue in Iconium to proclaim the gospel and convert many members (both Jews and Greeks). But there was a faction of Jews who did not like the message they spread. So, they hatched a plot to mistreat and stone them. When Paul and Barnabas discovered the plan of the Jews, they fled to Lystra and Derbe. In Lystra, Paul heals a man lame from birth, and the crowd begins to view them as gods who have come down to earth, calling Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercury. As soon as Paul and Barnabas realized what the citizens of Lystra were doing, they urged them to stop worshiping them, explaining that both Barnabas and Paul were human beings just like them. However, Jews from Antioch and Pisidia pursued the apostles all the way to Lystra and persuaded the crowd to stone Paul and drag him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But Paul was not dead, and the apostles returned to Syrian Antioch, where they had been commended for the work of preaching the gospel. Gathered with their brothers in Christ, they reported everything God had done through them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Observations

These were my observations.

1. Truth is exclusive. A statement cannot be true and false at the same time. If it is true, then everything that opposes it is false, and vice versa. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the gospel to the congregation at the synagogue of Iconium, some accepted and converted, while others rejected it. This caused a division among them, which is a key characteristic of truth: its exclusive nature leads to a division between those who accept and those who reject. This is exactly what happened in Iconium. The Jews and all who agreed with them planned to mistreat and stone the apostles: “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.” (Acts 14:4–5 NIV).
2. Miracles only happen for those who have faith. As soon as Paul and Barnabas entered Lystra, Paul saw a man lame from birth. But Paul also noticed that the lame man listened intently and believed everything Paul preached. This was the sign Paul needed to perform the miracle of healing him through the Holy Spirit: “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.” (Acts 14:8–10 NIV). This is a very important point in our walk of faith. Often, when we face problems over a long period, the tendency is to stop believing there is a solution for them—especially after exhausting every option we could try on our own. This is a problem, because miracles come after faith. Jesus demonstrated to us in several gospel verses that faith precedes the miracle: “«‘If you can’?» said Jesus. «Everything is possible for one who believes.»” (Mark 9:23 NIV), “Then he touched their eyes and said, «According to your faith let it be done to you»” (Matthew 9:29 NIV), and “«Go,» said Jesus, «your faith has healed you.» Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” (Mark 10:52 NIV). Therefore, faith must be even more enduring than hope—it can never die. We must always persevere in faith and pray unceasingly. For as Jesus said, everything is possible for one who believes.
3. When the enemy cannot stop you by fair means, they try to stop you by foul means. Paul and Barnabas were willing to keep spreading the gospel no matter the cost—if you want to know why, read this devotional. While they spread the gospel, the Jews and those in agreement with them kept trying to stop them in various ways (e.g., slander, accusations of blasphemy, etc.). However, none of these methods worked to silence the apostles. So they realized they would have to take a more drastic and final measure. Thus, they incited the crowd in Lystra to stone Paul to death: “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.” (Acts 14:19 NIV). This is a profound message. The more boldly and unceasingly we spread the gospel, the more the enemy tries to silence us with extreme measures. This is the price that all of us Christians must be willing to pay: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, «Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.»” (Matthew 16:24–25 NIV).