Acts 13–14 | Paul’s First Missionary Journey & the Expansion of the Gospel

In today’s episode of The Bible Made Real, Kathy Abraham teaches through Acts of the Apostles chapters 13 and 14 as the Gospel begins moving beyond Judea and Samaria to the Gentile world.

These chapters mark a major turning point in the book of Acts:

• Paul and Barnabas are set apart by the Holy Spirit
• Paul begins his first missionary journey
• spiritual warfare intensifies
• the Gospel expands to the Gentiles
• persecution increases
• miracles and healing occur
• discipleship and church leadership are established

This episode explores calling, perseverance, opposition, spiritual maturity, leadership, and what it means to remain faithful to God through both suffering and success.

Key Themes in This Episode

Set Apart by the Holy Spirit

The church in Antioch prays, fasts, and discerns the leading of the Holy Spirit as Paul and Barnabas are commissioned for ministry.

God often:

• separates us from old seasons
• removes distractions
• calls us into new assignments
• prepares us through consecration

Paul’s Identity Shift

Acts 13 marks the transition from “Saul” to “Paul” as his ministry to the Gentiles begins to fully unfold.

The proud persecutor becomes the humble servant of Christ.

Spiritual Warfare & Kingdom Expansion

Paul confronts Elymas the sorcerer, exposing deception through the authority of the Holy Spirit.

This section reveals:

• spiritual warfare accompanies kingdom expansion
• the Gospel confronts darkness
• truth exposes deception

Paul’s Sermon in Pisidian Antioch

Paul walks through the entire story of Israel and shows how Jesus Christ fulfills:

• the Law
• the Prophets
• the promises to David
• the hope of the Messiah

One of the major themes:
Justification comes through Jesus Christ—not through the Law of Moses.

Opposition Does Not Mean You Missed God’s Will

Throughout Acts 13 and 14:

• opposition increases
• persecution rises
• division occurs
• people reject the Gospel

Yet Paul and Barnabas continue boldly.

This episode explores how pressure often produces spiritual oil and endurance.

Healing the Lame Man in Lystra

After a miraculous healing, the people mistake Paul and Barnabas for Greek gods and attempt to worship them.

Paul and Barnabas immediately reject the praise and redirect all glory back to God.

A powerful reminder:
Influence without humility becomes dangerous.

Paul Is Stoned — Yet Keeps Going

Paul is nearly killed, dragged outside the city, and left for dead.

Yet he rises, continues the mission, and strengthens the churches.

This section reveals:

• Christian endurance
• eternal perspective
• perseverance through suffering

Building and Strengthening the Church

Paul doesn’t just evangelize—he disciples, strengthens believers, appoints leaders, and establishes healthy churches.

True ministry:

• develops people
• strengthens faith
• creates stability
• raises leaders

Scriptures Covered

Acts 13

• Paul & Barnabas commissioned
• Elymas the sorcerer
• Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch
• The Gospel goes to the Gentiles

Acts 14

• Ministry in Iconium
• Healing the lame man
• Paul and Barnabas mistaken for gods
• Paul stoned in Lystra
• Strengthening and appointing leaders

Major Takeaways

• God often sets people apart for specific assignments.
• Spiritual warfare accompanies kingdom expansion.
• Opposition is not always a sign you are outside God’s will.
• Boldness is obedience despite fear.
• Your identity cannot be rooted in public approval.
• Suffering is part of Christian formation.
• Healthy ministry strengthens and disciples believers.
• The Gospel must continue moving outward.

Memorable Quotes from This Episode

“God often separates us from old seasons to prepare us for new assignments.”“Pressure often produces oil.”“Biblical boldness is not the absence of fear—it is refusing to let fear govern obedience.”“You cannot build your identity on people’s praise.”“The apostles measured success by faithfulness, not comfort.”“Leave the outcome to God.”

Reflection Questions

1. Is God separating you from an old season or assignment?
2. Have you mistaken opposition for failure?
3. Are you rooted in God’s approval or people’s opinions?
4. How do you respond to criticism or rejection?
5. Are you helping strengthen and disciple others in their faith?

Leadership & Spiritual Formation Themes

Calling Requires Endurance

Paul’s journey reminds us that real calling involves:

• sacrifice
• perseverance
• suffering
• spiritual maturity

Healthy Churches Need Leadership

Paul appoints elders and establishes structure to strengthen the growing Church.

The Gospel Expands Through Faithfulness

The early Church grew not through comfort, but through courage, conviction, and obedience.

Connect with Kathy

🌿 Website:
Kathy Abraham Official Website

📖 Instagram:
@kathyabidinglight on Instagram

Welcome to The Bible Made Real.

Be sure to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming episodes.

You can connect with Kathy on Instagram @kathyabidinglight and learn more at kathyabraham.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, welcome to the Bible Made Real Podcast. I'm Kathy Abraham, and today we are continuing our study in the book of Acts. We are going over chapters 13 and chapters 14. So chapter 13 marks a new era in the book of Acts. This is Paul's first missionary journey. And now he's moving um beyond Judea and Samaria and actually entering into the ends of the earth, as it says in Acts 1.8. So we are entering a new expansion to the Gentiles. Really, what Paul was missioned to do, we are going to now see uh come to fruition in these next chapters. Actually, from Acts uh 13 on to the end of Acts, Acts chapter 28, will be this sort of commissioning to the Gentiles to the ends of the earth. We will see this church planting, missionary movements moving beyond boundaries, um, and really the expansion of the church happening here. Okay, let's begin at the beginning of chapter 13. We're gonna see here that the church sets apart Saul and Barnabas for this expansion and preaching of this missionary journey. So let's go ahead and read the first few verses together. Acts chapter 13. Now in the church that was in Antioch, there was a certain prophet and teacher teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Mannion, and who had been brought up with Herod the Tetriarch and Paul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away. Okay, this is really important. So these are holy men of God, okay, part of the church of Antioch. By the way, this is Antioch of Pisidia, not Antioch of the Syriac Church. Okay, that was already established. This is a different um area. And they were praying together, fasting. So keep in mind they were unified in prayer and fasting. And then the Holy Spirit really spoke to them, uh, either through prophecy. So a lot of these uh people here mentioned were prophetic. Okay, so it could be be through prophecy and just through the revealing of the Holy Spirit in their hearts that really um Saul and Barnabas were anointed and set apart for this work that God really wanted them specifically to be sent out. Uh, and so we see this through their prayer, through their fasting, and the laying of the hands. They were blessed and anointed and commissioned by the body. It wasn't one person that chose them, it was the body of Christ working together to discern the will of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. So I want us to look at this Greek word actually, separate, uh, here that we see in verse two. The work aphariso literally means to be consecrated or to be set apart with boundaries or for a specific purpose. Now, they were already serving God, they were already Christians, they were already converting people, but specifically there was an anointing and a mission for them that they had to go and fulfill. It was a certain assignment. And so this word is very, very powerful because I believe God uses these seasons in our life to do the same thing for us. It's really setting apart. It's there's a clear distinction of what was and what is, and um, and what you're supposed to be doing and what you're not supposed to be doing. And this is exactly what the Holy Spirit did in this moment to separate them and say they are different, they are anointed. Not that they weren't serving me before, but I need them to do X, Y, and Z. And this is uh very clear. We see this throughout the Bible. Many have been set apart to do something specific. We see it even in the Old Testament, even with Jonah. People have a specific calling at a certain time. Jeremiah says that I have been set apart from my mother's womb. Later in Romans 1:1, Paul says, I have been separated to the gospel of God. And God sometimes does this in our lives, right? He separates us from old comforts, uh, old environments, old seasons, old distractions to fully have us focus on what's ahead. He cannot, we cannot be in the past. And so sometimes God will really make a clear distinction, a create, clear delineation. And God does this in our life too. He separates us when he wants us to move forward in a new calling, a new season, a new assignment. He'll clearly make us uncomfortable in old familiar circles. He wants to remove distractions, he wants to remove old attachments in order for us to fully serve him in the new season, in the new capacity that he's asking us to do. So God does this for us too. He sets us apart for the new thing that he's calling. So be uh sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit through fasting, through prayer, through this discernment, through the counsel of wise counsel, you'll be able to see and discern what God is asking you to do and what he's asking you to leave, because there's something else he wants you to do and fulfill in your time here on earth. Okay, let's move on. The next section is this confrontation we see between Elamis' sorcerer and Paul. Okay, so verse four. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. Now, when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus, who was with the Procounsel Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elamis, the sorcerer, for so his name is translated, withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, this is the first time, by the way, he is addressed as Paul. We'll we'll get to this in a second, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, Oh, full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind and not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, and when he saw what it had been done, been astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Okay, so what's going on? So a proconsul was a high Roman official at the time. And a lot of them had their own private sorcerers who could help tell their future and help predict things for them. So one of them here was Bar Jesus, also known as Elamis. And Paul, Saul, uh, saw him and obviously filled with the Holy Spirit, could discern the spirit, right? We are being, we are told to test the spirits. If we have the Holy Spirit, we can test if the spirit is not from God, it could be an enemy, right? And clearly this man was driven by the evil spirit uh to perform his sorcery and his uh sort of foresight. Uh Bar Jesus was really upset because he knew that if the pro council believed in Jesus Christ and believed the words of Saul and Barnabas, that he would be out of a job. And that's exactly what happened. Here we see Paul rebuking him boldly, and it causes him to be blind. This is real spiritual warfare, and spiritual warfare accompanies kingdom expansion. The gospel confronts deception, and God confirms his authority with truth and power. And this is where we actually see Saul consistently being called Paul. Now, did God change his name? No, not necessarily. We don't see that. There's a clear distinction we see with Abraham's name being changed, with um Jacob and Israel, and with Simon and Peter, but we don't see that here with Paul. There isn't a clear time where God actually changes his name. But let me tell you what probably is the case. He probably had two names. Remember, Paul was um of also from Roman origin. He was Jewish, but he was a Roman citizen. So because of that, most likely he had two names. Just like um Daniel was Balthazar and Esther was Hadassah. See, they were Jewish captives in the Babylonian Empire. So they were assigned Persian or Babylonian names, but they also had Hebrew names originally. Same with Paul. So Saul was his Hebrew name, and Paul was his Roman Latin name. So why the change now? Because this is exactly where his shift is happening. Saul is now fulfilling his calling by going out to the Gentiles as God told him, I've set you apart as a chosen vessel of mine to go and speak and preach to the Gentiles. And so now he is fulfilling this. So now his identity is changing. And after Acts chapter 13, we actually see that Luke exclusively calls him Paul from now on. Saul was his original Hebrew name, but Paul functions better in this Roman Gentile world. And what does Saul remind them? Saul reminds the Jews of this tall, impressive, handsome king that they once had, right? But do you know what Paul means? Paul means small and little. The church fathers often interpret this as a proud persecutor, becoming the humble servant of Jesus Christ. Okay, let's move on to Paul's famous sermon here at Pisidia, Antioch. Now, when Paul and his party set sail for Paphos, they came to Perga and Pamphylia, and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. But when they had departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to him, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. I will just stop right here because I want to explain this. So in the synagogue, it was typically um normal service. They would read the Shema, which is Deuteronomy 6, uh, and then they would have any kind of reading, most likely from the law of Moses. So anything from Genesis to Deuteronomy, they would read. Then they would ask anyone um visiting a possible, you know, uh religious leader or a priest to come and give a word. And so they noticed that Paul and Barnabas had come, they were visitors. So it was very customary for them to invite them to say something. So he opened it up, okay. Um, so the rulers of the synagogue invited them and say, if anyone has anything to say, please say it. Exhortation for the people. Okay. And in verse 16, this is where it says, Then Paul stood up and motioning with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he brought them out of it. So here we're going to see Paul is going to go through this entire background, literally, of the whole story of God and the the Old Testament. He will talk about all the things that the Jews really, really held on to belief. He is trying as a last effort to really show these people this is Jesus Christ, this is the Messiah you've been waiting for. Don't wait for someone else. This is him. So he's really trying to prove this uh through this long sermon, as we'll as we'll see here. Verse 18. Now for a time of about 40 years he put up with their ways in the wilderness. He's talking about the wilderness with Moses. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, this was under Joshua, he distributed their land to them by elopement. After that, he gave them judges for about 450 years, until Samuel the prophet. And after that they asked for a king. So God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed Saul, him, he raised up for them David as a king, to whom he also gave testimony and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, whom will do all my will. From this man's seed, according to the promise of God, raised up for Israel a Savior, Jesus. And after John had prophesied, prophesied and preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, Who do you think I am? Am I not he? I am not he, but behold, there comes one after me, the sandals of whose feet I am unworthy to loose. Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, those whom among you fear God, to you and the word of the salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers because they did not know him, nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, he's totally calling them out. He says, You guys read these words every single time you get together in the synagogue to worship and to pray. Do you not see this? Are you blind to see the truth? Have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. And when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. He has seen for many days by those who come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers, God has fulfilled this for us their children, and that he raised up Jesus, as is also written in the second Psalm, You are my son, today I've begotten you. And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, as he spoke in thus. I will give you the sure mercies of David. Therefore he also says in another psalm, You will not allow your holy one to seek corruption. The Jews understood corruption as death. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with the fathers, and saw corruption. This is death. But he whom God raised up saw no corruption. Does this remind you of something? This is exactly like Peter's sermon that we see in Acts chapter two. He says the same thing about David. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what he has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you. Okay, let's pause here. I just want to point out one key verse here, verse 39. By him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you cannot be justified by the law of Moses. This is the clear distinction that Paul is trying to tell the Jews in the synagogue, that you cannot be justified by this law, that your worship and prayer and and reverence, just the law of Moses without accepting Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Messiah cannot justify you, cannot accept you, and cannot cover you. And you cannot be belong to the kingdom of God without this justification of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's calling them out. Okay, let's move on and see what happens. Verses 42 until the end. So when the Jews went out to the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Interesting. So the Jews had left the synagogue, but who was receiving this word? The Gentiles. They were excited. They craved it. They heard it and they were like, we need to hear this again. Can you come back and preach to us next week? See, their hearts were good. It's that good soil that God talks about in the parables. It's that good soil. When the seed is planted, it receives it and it doesn't reject it. And that's the heart that God wants from us, the one that receives him, that receives his word, that is open to it. When he says, Do not harden your hearts, but I've given you a heart of flesh. A heart of flesh is sensitive and soft to the workings and promptings of the Holy Spirit. Verse 33. Now, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And on the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. Imagine. But when the Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming. They opposed the things spoken by Paul. They were jealous. They were jealous that they had a following. They were jealous that people were listening to them. They were jealous that they were speaking truth and that uh they were getting popularity. And then Paul and Barnabas grew bold. See, remember, it's this opposition that makes them bold. It's this persecution that actually sharpens and deepens their faith. They don't run away scared. They're not cowards anymore. We see now the apostles with the fire of the Holy Spirit just being bold, bold and fearless. They are not scared of the persecution. They are not scared of the harm or the shame that can come from the religious leaders. They don't care. They actually are more stirred up. They are more embodied by the boldness. Remember, they prayed for boldness in the times of persecution. And they said it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. See, they remembered their priority. They remembered what they were sent for. You and I always have to remember when things get hard and things get tough in our life, we just can't give up. We have to remember why we're here. Who sent us here? What's the original calling? Zoom out. Zoom out from your hard times. Take a step back and say, wait, no, no, no. This was needed. This was beneficial. That hard conversation you had with your coworker, that hard conversation you had with your spouse or your child, that difficult email you had to send to somebody, whatever it could be, it was necessary. You needed to do it. And it's important to follow through in the very hard thing that God is asking you to do, not to run back. But if it's really what God is asking you to do, clearly here they're set apart for this. Paul is remembering and saying, it was necessary. We had to come and speak the word of God to you first, right? Before they went out to the Gentile nation, he said, we are following the order and law of God. But since you reject it and you judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. We tried the Jews, they rejected it, it didn't work. But now we turn to you, Gentiles, right? The world. For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for the salvation to the ends of the earth. This is Isaiah 49, 6. Now, when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as been appointed to eternal life believed. Many were converted, okay? And the word of the Lord has been spread throughout all the region. Here's the expansion. It's the expansion with the hard times. It's the expansions with the rejection and the persecution. Okay. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city. They raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and they expelled them from their region. But what did Paul and Barnabas do? The last two verses. It says, They shook off the dust from their feet against them, and they came to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. See, despite the opposition they faced, they still they still shook the dust off their feet and they said, We there's nothing for us to do here. We did what we were called to do. Your reaction and the way you receive us is not up to us. Oftentimes God asks us to do hard things, right? And the outcome is really not up to us. We can't really focus on the outcome. Pleasing people or getting a reaction that we want out of people is not really our job, right? We are called to do the work and allow God to take care of the outcome. We give it to Him. Paul says that Apollo supplanted, I watered, but who gave the increase? It was God. Leave the outcome to God for everything. The hard thing, the good thing, your success, everything. Leave the outcome to God. Don't worry about the way things will turn out. And definitely don't worry about other people's opinions or reactions. That's not your job. If you are being um walking in the Holy Spirit, if you are walking in the grace of the Holy Spirit and you have the virtues of Jesus Christ with kindness and love, but firm and doing the will of God, you cannot worry the reaction of other people's. It's not your job to carry that weight on your shoulders. Notice the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Okay, let's move on to chapter 14. Okay, now Paul and Barnabas enter the synagogue in Iconium and they begin to preach, like they always do. Okay. Verse 1. Now it happened in Iconium that they were together to the synagogues of the Jews, and so spoke a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed. And the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles. And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rules, rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derby, cities of Lyconia and to the surrounding regions, and they were preaching the gospel there. Okay, what's happening? First, we see that a great multitude of Jews and Greeks both believed. Okay, that's a good thing. The gospel is breaking ethnic, culture, and social barriers. The kingdom is expanding, but ultimately after expansion comes resistance. Notice how it says in verse 2 that they had poisoned their minds against the brethren. The enemy often does that. He uses these tactics of fear, misinformation, suspicion, distortion, offense to divide the body of Christ. Notice that the opposition is not just intellectual disagreement. It's actually emotional and relational corruption. Matthew 10, 34, Jesus says, Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. What does he mean by Jesus doesn't mean violence, but he is talking about a clear distinction between light and darkness, between surrender and resistance, with lead between belief and corruption, between belief and unbelief. The gospel comforts the humble but confronts the prideful. A lot of people today would assume if there's opposition that God must be closing this door, that this definitely is not God's will from you, and you should definitely leave this situation. But the apostles interpret it differently. Notice in verse 3, it says, Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. They were persevering in this time of oppression. It got difficult, it got hard pressed on every side, as Paul says. But that didn't cause them to leave. That caused them to pour oil. That pressure produced oil. Do you get it? When you and I are going through hard things, God is not asking us to flee, but asking us to stay. Stay in the heart and allow him to use you for his glory. This is the same boldness we see with Peter's sermon, the same boldness that they prayed for every single time they had opposition. And notice, biblical boldness is not the absolute. Of fear. You and I will still feel fear, but it is the refusal to let fear govern obedience. That is very different. And then later we see that the sign and wonders were done with their hands. See, God partners with their boldness. You and I always have to take that first step of faith. And then the divine grace comes rushing through to help you, to do the things you can't do on your own, to provide the signs and wonders and the miraculous, supernatural, divine energy and grace to do the things you could never accomplish on your own. The gospel was not merely philosophy, but it is the manifestation of the glory and grace of God. And later here in verse 4, we see that the gospel creates division. It says the multitude of the city were divided. You either choose Christ or you don't. You're either black or you're white. You're either hot or you're cold. That's why lukewarm Christianity just does not work. It's not a real thing, it doesn't exist. And then this violent plot forms to stone Barnabas and Paul. So they flee. They flee to Lystria and Derby. For their safety, okay? They're bold, but they're not stupid. They ask, they still have an understanding and wisdom. And you and I too, right? We we can be bold, but we have to also be wise. And when it's dangerous, where it comes to a point where it's dangerous, and God has created a way, an escape for you to move and to continue to keep safe, you can do that. So remember, opposition is not always a sign that you're out of God's will. Actually, it can be the opposite. Some of the biggest breakthroughs in Scripture occurred under resistance, under misunderstanding, under criticism, under spiritual warfare. The apostles did not measure their success by comfort. They measured their success by faithfulness. There's a lot of lessons here to be learned about leadership. Number one, preach truth faithfully. Number two, expect mixed responses. Number three, do not let opposition silence conviction. Number four, stay courageous. Number five, remain discerning and wise. And number six, keep moving where God sends you next. Many people want influence without criticism, leadership without resistance, calling without warfare, and visibility without vulnerability. But throughout acts, every major breakthrough and accomplishment was often accompanied by misunderstanding, jealousy, division, pressure, and spiritual attacks. The question is never is if there will be opposition. The question is how will you handle the opposition? And can your obedience be tried and true through this test? Okay, let's move on to the next section of the healing of the lame man here in Lystra. Okay. Verse 8. And in Lystra, a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand up straight on your feet. And he leaped and walked. And now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lyconian language, The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men. And Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priests of Zeus, whose temple was in the front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless, he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good, he gave us rain from heaven and fruitful season, fulfilling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings they could sacred scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. Imagine they treated them like gods, literally great gods, and wanted to sacrifice to them. Their worldview is completely pagan. They're not thinking of Abraham, the old covenant, the promising of the Messiah or the prophecies. They're strictly thinking in a very worldly pagan nature. Notice how Paul says, seeing this man had faith. How did Paul know that this man, this lame man, had faith to be healed? Because faith is evident in our posture and the way we carry ourselves, our expectations, our response. And imagine this whole town never seeing a crippled man jump for joy. They were in complete shock, but they completely misinterpret this miracle. They give credit to Greek gods who had no place here. Paul and Barnabas have this very strong reaction. They tear their clothes. And in Jewish tradition and culture, this is a sign of grieving, horror, outrage, and blasphemy. Accepting honor and worship that's due to God is spiritually catastrophic. Unlike the pagan rulers who actually enjoyed divine attention and worship, the apostles knew that this was so corrupt and wrong, and they violently rejected it. They immediately tell them, What are you doing? We are men like you, flesh and blood just like you. We are not God. Don't do that. Don't worship us. Don't set us on a pedestal. And in the world we live in today, we do that. We celebrate celebrities. We put people, flesh and blood, on pedestals and not God. But the true heart of a disciple and an apostle is a heart of a servant that redirects all glory and all attention to God. And Paul and Barnabas understood this: that power without humility is dangerous. Influence can corrupt you, and admiration can become idolatry. God does not want us to have our value in people's opinion or people's praise because people are fickle and they are not who we are going to see at the last moment of our lives. When we are standing before God, it's not, we are not accountable for any to anybody else except God Himself. People's opinions change. Look how fickle they were. One day they were saying, Hosanna and the highest accepting Jesus into Jerusalem. And the very next day they were saying, crucify. Anchor your identity and value in what God says about you, not what other people say or think. This is a good exercise for us to practice and discern the intent of our heart. Do we secretly enjoy when people are praising us? Do we seek recognition and public praise or worship? Do we build our identity around admiration? Or are we constantly pointing back to Jesus Christ, staying humble, staying grounded, fully aware of our fallibility and flesh? This is exactly the model that Paul and Barnabas show us here in Lystra. Okay, verses 19 to 20. Then the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and they dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby. They stone him. Imagine a second ago they were worshiping him like a god, and here they are stoning him. Doesn't that sound familiar? Exactly what they did to Jesus Christ. We see this every day in public figures, in celebrities, even in our own spheres of influence. One day people are accepting you, cheering you on, uh loving you, and just being so excited for you. And the very next day they can completely reject you, hurt you, slander you, hate you, attack you. This is why scripture consistently warns us against building our identity or stability on popularity, applause, influence, admiration, or public acceptance. Here they were truly attempting to kill Paul. They stoned him and dragged him, supposing him to be dead. Imagine the condition he must have been in, must have been totally bleeding, unconscious, near death, and suffered outside the gates just like Jesus. But look, something astonishing and miraculous happens. The gathers, he gathers around the disciples and he just immediately gets up. He rose up and just went into the city as if nothing happened. Scholars debate was this a miracle? Was he strengthened all of a sudden? How did this happen? But we don't really know, but we do know. Clearly, he was empowered by the divine strength of God. And what does he do? He departs the next city. He doesn't stay and rest or go shrink back and say, I'm done with this. They're trying to kill me. I'm out. This is not for me. No, he continues. He keeps going. There's no self-preservation here. And we see this throughout Paul's letters. He says, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And he says, it's not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I allow now live, I live according to the flesh. And he says, I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. He was fully surrendered, fully locked in, fully dialed to follow the calling of Jesus Christ. Paul has this eternal perspective in mind. In 2 Corinthians 4 17, he says, For our light affliction, which is just for a moment, is working for us a far more an internal weight of glory. Let's move on as uh we end this chapter. Verse 21. And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. I just want to take a moment to pause here. Notice that they weren't just focusing on converts. Okay. Paul was really interested in strengthening the believers who already accepted Christ. It's one thing to be converted and to seek new people and evangelize, but we are also called to strengthen the body of Christ and the believers who already are there. See, he's not just a church planter and leaves. He continually is going back to renew their faith, to strengthen them, to exhort them. And we see this throughout all of his letters. He continues to strengthen and pray for them and create it, really, he's creating discipleship. This is true discipleship. He's just not leaving them hanging. He doesn't have an encounter in a moment and just never and disappears and never talks to them again. He is developing and strengthening their relationship with Jesus Christ. We are also called to do the same things. Oftentimes we're saying, who are we serving? We're serving the same body. We're serving people who already know Jesus. Yes, but we're strengthening their resolve. We're strengthening their faith. And we're helping to strengthen the whole church as well. And notice Paul is not saying, oh, it's through comfort. It's going to be easy that you are going to uh work the kingdom of God. No, he's saying it's through many tribulations that you will enter the kingdom of God. He's not sugarcoating Christianity. He's telling them it's going to get hard and this is the only way. Remember, narrow is the way and difficult is the path that leads to eternal life. But he wants to encourage them and say, continue in your faith. Oftentimes we can begin well and excited, but if we don't end well, then what's the point? We must learn to endure deeply. That's why scripture always talks about abiding, enduring, remaining, standing firm, staying faithful. So when they had appointed elders, verse 23, in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Here they are creating different leaders, right? This is again discipleship and spiritual formation. And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. Now they had preached the word in Perga, and they went down to Atalia. And from there they sailed to sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. And when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that he opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, so they stayed there a long time with the disciples. We see here that healthy churches have this sort of shepherding model that Paul has done. Accountability and spiritual oversight are necessary in a healthy church. The apostles understood that movement collapses without stability and leadership and the continuation of the gospel. Mature leadership is very important in the body of believers. And notice how they commended them to the Lord. Leadership is not this sort of organizational management role, right? Or position. No, it's a sacred stewardship. They knew that leaders had to be fully entrusted to God. And notice how it ends here. It says that they all gathered together, and what did they do? They reported all that God had done with them. They didn't complain. They didn't say all the hard things. They didn't say, oh, we did this and we did this and we converted these people and these people follow me now. And I've had these many followers. And no, they talked about the work that God had been doing. They gave all praise and glory to God and they retold all the wonders that God had been working. And they stayed there, ministering together with the disciples. Okay, so the main points for this chapter is that ministry work requires perseverance. People's opinions are unstable. Your identity and value must be rooted in God alone, not in public approval. And that suffering is a part of Christian formation. The early church expected hardship, not comfort, for their discipleship. And that healthy ministry builds others up. Paul didn't just evangelize. He strengthened, he developed, he stabilized, he organized, and he established leaders. Acts 13 and 14 reminds us that God often calls people when they are faithfully worshiping. Opposition does not mean that you missed God's will. You cannot build your identity on other people's praise. Calling requires endurance. The gospel must move outward, not inward. Spiritual maturity means staying faithful both in suffering and in success. I hope you enjoyed these two chapters in Acts, and I'll see you next week when we'll be going over Acts chapter 15 and 16. See you then. Thanks for joining me on the Bible Made Real podcast. If today's message resonated with you or encouraged you, please like it, share, and hit follow so that you never miss a single episode. And make sure to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as it really does help us to reach more listeners. You can also visit my website, KathyAbraham.com, to receive the Bible's tools, resources, all the prayer books that you saw today, and free devotionals in your inbox every week. You can also follow me on Instagram and TikTok at KathyBydaylight, behind the scenes content and daily articles. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I'll see you in the next one.