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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
A C T S.
CHAP. XIV.
We have, in this chapter, a further account of the progress of the
gospel, by the ministry of Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles; it
goes on conquering and to conquer, yet meeting with opposition, as
before, among the unbelieving Jews. Here is,
I. Their successful preaching of the gospel for some time at Iconium,
and their being driven thence by the violence of their persecutors,
both Jews and Gentiles, and forced into the neighbouring countries,
II. Their healing a lame man at Lystra, and the profound veneration
which the people conceived of them thereupon, which they had much ado
to keep from running into an extreme,
III. The outrage of the people against Paul, at the instigation of the
Jews, the effect of which was that they stoned him, as they thought, to
death; but he was wonderfully restored to life,
IV. The visit which Paul and Barnabas made to the churches which they
had planted, to confirm them, and put them into order,
V. They return to Antioch, whence they were sent forth; the good they
did by the way, and the report they made to the church of Antioch of
their expedition, and, if I may so say, of the campaign they had made,
| Paul at Iconium. |
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1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together
into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great
multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made
their minds evil affected against the brethren.
3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord,
which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted
signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
4 But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with
the Jews, and part with the apostles.
5 And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and
also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully,
and to stone them,
6 They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe,
cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
7 And there they preached the gospel.
In these verses we have,
I. The preaching of the gospel in Iconium, whither the apostles were
forced to retire from Antioch. As the blood of the martyrs has been the
seed of the church, so the banishment of the confessors has helped to
scatter that seed. Observe,
1. How they made the first offer of the gospel to the Jews in their
synagogues; thither they went, not only as to a place of meeting,
but as to a place of meeting with them, to whom, wherever they came,
they were to apply themselves in the first place. Though the Jews at
Antioch had used them barbarously, yet they did not therefore decline
preaching the gospel to the Jews at Iconium, who perhaps might be
better disposed. Let not those of any denomination be condemned in the
gross, nor some suffer for others’ faults; but let us do good to those
who have done evil to us. Though the blood-thirsty hate the upright,
yet the just seek their soul
seek the salvation of it.
2. How the apostles concurred herein. Notice is taken of this, that
they went both together into the synagogue, to testify their
unanimity and mutual affection, that people might say, See how they
love one another, and might think the better of Christianity, and
that they might strengthen one another’s hands and confirm one
another’s testimony, and out of the mouth of two witnesses every
word might be established. They did not go one one day and another
another, nor one go at the beginning and the other some time after; but
they went in both together.
II. The success of their preaching there: They so spoke that a great
multitude, some hundreds perhaps, if not thousands, both of the
Jews and also of the Greeks, that is the Gentiles, believed.
Observe here,
1. That the gospel was now preached to Jews and Gentiles together, and
those of each denomination that believed came together into the church.
In the close of the foregoing chapter it was preached first to the
Jews, and some of them believed, and then to the Gentiles, and some of
them believed; but here they are put together, being put upon the same
level. The Jews have not so lost their preference as to be thrown
behind, only the Gentiles are brought to stand upon even terms with
them; both are reconciled to God in one body
and both together admitted into the church without distinction.
2. There seems to have been something remarkable in the manner of the
apostles’ preaching here, which contributed to their success: They
so spoke that a great multitude believed–so plainly, so
convincingly, with such an evidence and demonstration of the
Spirit, and with such power; they so spoke, so warmly, so
affectionately, and with such a manifest concern for the souls of men,
that one might perceive they were not only convinced, but filled, with
the things they spoke of, and that what they spoke came from the heart
and therefore was likely to reach to the heart; they so spoke, so
earnestly and so seriously, so boldly and courageously, that those who
heard them could not but say that God was with them of a truth.
Yet the success was not to be attributed to the manner of their
preaching, but to the Spirit of God, who made use of that means.
III. The opposition that their preaching met with there, and the
trouble that was created them; lest they should be puffed up with the
multitude of their converts, there was given them this thorn in the
flesh.
1. Unbelieving Jews were the first spring of their trouble here, as
elsewhere
(v. 2):
they stirred up the Gentiles. The influence which the gospel had
upon many of the Gentiles, and their embracing it, as it provoked some
of the Jews to a holy jealousy and stirred them up to receive the
gospel too
(Rom. xi. 14),
so it provoked others of them to a wicked jealousy, and exasperated
them against the gospel. Thus as good instructions, so good examples,
which to some are a savour of life unto life, to others are a savour of
death unto death. See
2. Disaffected Gentiles, irritated by the unbelieving Jews, were likely
to be the instruments of their trouble. The Jews, by false suggestions,
which they were continually buzzing in the ears of the Gentiles, made
their minds evil affected against the brethren, whom of
themselves they were inclined to think favourably of. They not only
took occasion in all companies, as it came in their way, but made it
their business to go purposely to such as they had any acquaintance
with, and said all that their wit or malice could invent to beget in
them not only a mean but an ill opinion of Christianity, telling them
how destructive it would certainly be to their pagan theology and
worship; and, for their parts, they would rather be Gentiles than
Christians. Thus they soured and embittered their spirits against both
the converters and the converted. The old serpent did, by their
poisonous tongues, infuse his venom against the seed of the
woman into the minds of these Gentiles, and this was a root of
bitterness in them, bearing gall and wormwood. It is no wonder if
those who are ill affected towards good people wish ill to them, speak
ill of them, and contrive ill against them; it is all owing to ill
will. Ekakosan, they molested and vexed the minds
of the Gentiles (so some of the critics take it); they were continually
teasing them with their impertinent solicitations. The tools of
persecutors have a dog’s life, set on continually.
IV. Their continuance in their work there, notwithstanding this
opposition, and God’s owning them in it,
v. 3.
We have here,
1. The apostles working for Christ, faithfully and diligently,
according to the trust committed to them. Because the minds of the
Gentiles were evil affected against them, one would think that
therefore they should have withdrawn, and hastened out of the way, or,
if they had preached, should have preached cautiously, for fear of
giving further provocation to those who were already enough enraged.
No; on the contrary, therefore they abode there a long time,
speaking boldly in the Lord. The more they perceived the spite and
rancour of the town against the new converts, the more they were
animated to go on in their work, and the more needful they saw it to
continue among them, to confirm them in the faith, and to comfort
them. They spoke boldly, and were not afraid of giving offence to
the unbelieving Jews. What God said to the prophet, with reference to
the unbelieving Jews in his day, was now made good to the apostles:
I have made thy face strong against their faces,
Ezek. iii. 7-9.
But observe what it was that animated them: They spoke boldly in the
Lord, in his strength, and trusting in him to bear them out; not
depending upon any thing in themselves. They were strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might.
2. Christ working with the apostles, according to his promise, Lo, I
am with you always. When they went on in his name and strength, he
failed not to give testimony to the word of his grace. Note,
(1.) The gospel is a word of grace, the assurance of God’s good will to
us and the means of his good work in us. It is the word of Christ’s
grace, for it is in him alone that we find favour with God.
(2.) Christ himself has attested this word of grace, who is the
Amen, the faithful witness; he has assured us that it is the word
of God, and that we may venture our souls upon it. As it was said in
general concerning the first preachers of the gospel that they had
the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by signs
following
(Mark xvi. 20),
so it is said particularly concerning the apostles here that the
Lord confirmed their testimony, in granting signs and wonders to be
done by their hands–in the miracles they wrought in the kingdom of
nature–as well as the wonders done by their word, in the greater
miracles wrought on men’s minds by the power of divine grace. The Lord
was with them, while they were with him, and abundance of good was
done.
V. The division which this occasioned in the city
(v. 4):
The multitude of the city was divided into two parties, and both
active and vigorous. Among the rulers and persons of rank, and among
the common people, there were some that held with the unbelieving Jews,
and others that held with the apostles. Barnabas is here reckoned an
apostle, though not one of the twelve, nor called in the extra-ordinary
manner that Paul was, because set apart by special designation of
the Holy Ghost to the service of the Gentiles. It seems, this
business of the preaching of the gospel was so universally taken notice
of with concern that every person, even of the multitude of the
city, was either for it or against it; none stood neuter. “Either
for us or for our adversaries, for God or Baal, for Christ or
Beelzebub.”
1. We may here see the meaning of Christ’s prediction that he came
not to send peace upon earth, but rather division,
Luke xii. 51-53.
If all would have given in unanimously into his measures, there would
have been universal concord; and, could men have agreed in this, there
would have been no dangerous discord nor disagreement in other things;
but, disagreeing here, the breach was wide as the sea. Yet the
apostles must not be blamed for coming to Iconium, although before they
came the city was united, and now it was divided; for it is better that
part of the city go to heaven than all to hell.
2. We may here take the measures of our expectations; let us not think
it strange if the preaching of the gospel occasion division, nor be
offended at it; it is better to be reproached and persecuted as
dividers for swimming against the stream than yield ourselves to be
carried down the stream that leads to destruction. Let us hold with the
apostles, and not fear those that hold with the Jews.
VI. The attempt made upon the apostles by their enemies. Their evil
affection against them broke out at length into violent outrages,
v. 5.
Observe,
1. Who the plotters were: Both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their
rulers. The Gentiles and Jews were at enmity with one another, and
yet united against Christians, like Herod and Pilate, Sadducees and
Pharisees, against Christ; and like Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, of
old, against Israel. If the church’s enemies can thus unite for its
destruction, shall not its friends, laying aside all personal feuds,
unite for its preservation?
2. What the plot was. Having now got the rulers on their side,
they doubted not but to carry their point, and their design was to
use the apostles despitefully, to expose them to disgrace, and then
to stone them, to put them to death; and thus they hoped to sink
their cause. They aimed to take away both their reputation and their
life, and this was all they had to lose which men could take from them,
for they had neither lands nor goods.
VII. The deliverance of the apostles out of the hands of those
wicked and unreasonable men,
v. 6, 7.
They got away, upon notice given them of the design against them, or
the beginning of the attempt upon them, of which they were soon aware,
and they made an honourable retreat (for it was not an inglorious
flight) to Lystra and Derbe; and there,
1. They found safety. Their persecutors in Iconium were for the present
satisfied that they were thrust out of their borders, and pursued them
no further. God has shelters for his people in a storm; nay, he is, and
will be, himself their hiding place.
2. They found work, and this was what they went for. When the door of
opportunity was shut against them at Iconium, it was opened at
Lystra and Derbe. To these cities they went, and there,
and in the region that lieth round about, they preached the
gospel. In times of persecution ministers may see cause to quit the
spot, when yet they do not quit the work.
| The Lame Man Healed at Lystra; Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. |
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8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet,
being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:
9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and
perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he
leaped and walked.
11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up
their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come
down to us in the likeness of men.
12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius,
because he was the chief speaker.
13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city,
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done
sacrifice with the people.
14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of,
they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of
like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn
from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own
ways.
17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he
did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,
filling our hearts with food and gladness.
18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people,
that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
In these verses we have,
I. A miraculous cure wrought by Paul at Lystra upon a cripple that had
been lame from his birth, such a one as was miraculously cured by Peter
and John,
That introduced the gospel among the Jews, this among the Gentiles;
both that and this were designed to represent the impotency of all the
children of men in spiritual things: they are lame from their birth,
till the grace of God puts strength into them; for it was when we were
yet without strength that Christ died for the ungodly,
Rom. v. 6.
Observe here,
1. The deplorable case of the poor cripple
(v. 8):
He was impotent in his feet, disabled (so the word is) to such a
degree that it was impossible he should set his foot to the ground, to
lay any stress upon it. It was well known that he had been so from
his mother’s womb, and that he never had walked, nor could
stand up. We should take occasion hence to thank God for the use
of our limbs; and those who are deprived of it may observe that their
case is not singular.
2. The expectation that was raised in him of a cure
(v. 9):
He heard Paul preach, and, it is likely, was much affected with what he
heard, believed that the messengers, having their commission thence,
had a divine power going along with them, and were therefore able to
cure him of his lameness. This Paul was aware of, by the spirit of
discerning that he had, and perhaps the aspect of his countenance did
in part witness for him: Paul perceived that he had faith to be
healed; desired it, hoped for it, had such a thing in his thoughts,
which it does not appear that the lame man Peter healed had, for he
expected no more than an alms. There was not found such great
faith in Israel as was among the Gentiles,
3. The cure wrought: Paul, perceiving that he had faith to be
healed, brought the word and healed him,
Ps. cvii. 20.
Note, God will not disappoint the desires that are of his own kindling,
nor the hopes of his own raising. Paul spoke to him with a loud
voice, either because he was at some distance, or to show that the
true miracles, wrought by the power of Christ, were far unlike the
lying wonders wrought by deceivers, that peeped, and muttered, and
whispered,
Isa. viii. 19.
God saith, I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the
earth,
Isa. xlv. 19.
Paul spoke to him with a loud voice, that the people about might take
notice, and have their expectations raised of the effect. It does not
appear that this cripple was a beggar; it is said
(v. 8)
that he sat, not that he sat begging. But we may imagine how
melancholy it was to him to see other people walking about him, and
himself disabled; and therefore how welcome Paul’s word was to him,
“Stand upright on thy feet; help thyself, and God shall help
thee; try whether thou hast strength, and thou shalt find that thou
hast.” Some copies read it, I say unto thee, in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Stand upright on thy feet. It is certain that this is
implied, and very probably was expressed, by Paul, and power went
along with this word; for presently he leaped and walked,
leaped up from the place where he sat, and not only stood
upright, but to show that he was perfectly cured, and that
immediately, he walked to and fro before them all. Herein the scripture
was fulfilled, that when the wilderness of the Gentile world is made
to blossom as the rose then shall the lame man leap as a hart,
Isa. xxxv. 1, 6.
Those that by the grace of God are cured of their spiritual lameness
must show it by leaping with a holy exultation and walking in a holy
conversation.
II. The impression which this cure made upon the people: they were
amazed at it, had never seen nor heard the like, and fell into an
ecstacy of wonder. Paul and Barnabas were strangers, exiles, refugees,
in their country; every thing concurred to make them mean and
despicable: yet the working of this one miracle was enough to make them
in the eyes of this people truly great and honourable, though the
multitude of Christ’s miracles could not screen him from the utmost
contempt among the Jews. We find here,
1. The people take them for gods
(v. 11):
They lifted up their voices with an air of triumph, saying in
their own language (for it was the common people that said it), in
the speech of Lycaonia, which was a dialect of the Greek, The
gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. They imagined that
Paul and Barnabas had dropped down to them out of the clouds, and that
they were some divine powers, no less than gods, though in the likeness
of men. This notion of the thing agreed well enough with the pagan
theology, and the fabulous account they had of the visits which their
gods made to this lower world; and proud enough they were to think that
they should have a visit made to them. They carried this notion so far
here that they pretended to tell which of their gods they were,
according to the ideas their poets had given them of the gods
(v. 12):
They called Barnabas Jupiter; for, if they will have him to be a
god, it is as easy to make him the prince of their gods as not. It is
probable that he was the senior, and the more portly comely man, that
had something of majesty in his countenance. And Paul they called
Mercury, who was the messenger of the gods, that was sent on their
errands; for Paul, though he had not the appearance that Barnabas had,
was the chief speaker, and had a greater command of language,
and perhaps appeared to have something mercurial in his temper and
genius. Jupiter used to take Mercury along with him, they
said, and, if he make a visit to their city, they will suppose he does
so now.
2. The priest thereupon prepares to do sacrifice to them,
v. 13.
The temple of Jupiter was, it seems, before the gate of their city, as
its protector and guardian; and the priest of that idol and temple,
hearing the people cry out thus, took the hint presently, and thought
it was time for him to bestir himself to do his duty: many a costly
sacrifice he had offered to the image of Jupiter, but if Jupiter be
among them himself–in propria persona, it concerns him to do
him the utmost honours imaginable; and the people are ready to join
with him in it. See how easily vain minds are carried away with a
popular outcry. If the crowd give a shout, Here is Jupiter, the priest
of Jupiter takes the first hint, and offers his service immediately.
When Christ, the Son of God, came down, and appeared in the likeness of
men, and did many, very many miracles, yet they were so far from doing
sacrifice to him that they made him a sacrifice to their pride and
malice: He was in the world, and the world knew him not; he came to
his own, and his own received him not; but Paul and Barnabas, upon
the working of one miracle, are immediately deified. The same power of
the god of this world which prejudices the carnal mind against truth
makes errors and mistakes to find easy admission; and both ways his
turn is served. They brought oxen, to be sacrificed to them,
and garlands, with which to crown the sacrifices. These garlands
were made up of flowers and ribbons; and they gilded the horns of the
oxen they sacrificed.
| Victimæ ad supplicium saginantur,
hostiæ ad pœnam corenantur. So beasts for sacrifice do feed, First to be crown’d, and then to bleed.
|
| So Octavius in Minutius Felix. |
III. Paul and Barnabas protest against this undue respect paid them,
and with much ado prevent it. Many of the heathen emperors called
themselves gods, and took a pride in having divine honours paid
them: but Christ’s ministers, though real benefactors to mankind, while
these tyrants only pretended to be so, refused those honours when they
were so tendered. Whose successor therefore he is who sits in the
temple of God, and shows that he is god
and who is adored as our lord god, the pope, it is easy to say.
Observe,
1. The holy indignation which Paul and Barnabas conceived at this:
When they heard this, they rent their clothes. We do not find
that they rent their clothes when the people vilified them, and spoke
of stoning them; they could bear this without disturbance: but when
they deified them, and spoke of worshipping them, they could not bear
it, but rent their clothes, as being more concerned for God’s honour
than their own.
2. The pains they took to prevent it. They did not connive at it, nor
say, “If people will be deceived, let them be deceived,” much less
suggest to themselves and one another that it might contribute both to
the safety of their persons and the success of their ministry if they
suffered the people to continue in this mistake, and so they might make
a good hand of an ill thing. No, God’s truth needs not the service of
man’s lie. Christ had put honour enough upon them in making them
apostles, they needed not assume either the honour of princes or the
honour of gods; they appeared with much more magnificent titles when
they were called the ambassadors of Christ, and the stewards
of the mysteries of God, than when they were called Jupiter and
Mercury. Let us see how they prevented it.
(1.) They ran in among the people, as soon as they heard of it,
and would not so much as stay awhile to see what the people would do.
Their running in, like servants, among the people, showed that they
were far from looking upon themselves as gods, or taking state upon
them; they did not stand still, expecting honours to be done them, but
plainly declined them by thrusting themselves into the crowd. They ran
in, as men in earnest, with as much concern as Aaron ran in between
the living and the dead, when the plague was begun.
(2.) They reasoned with them, crying out, that all might hear,
“Sirs, why do you these things?” Why do you go about to make
gods of us? It is the most absurd thing you can do; for,
[1.] “Our nature will not admit it: We also are men of like passions
with you” homoiopatheis: it is the same word that is
used concerning Elias,
where we render it, subject to like passions as we are. “We are
men, and therefore you wrong yourselves if you expect that from us
which is to be had in God only; and you wrong God if you give that
honour to us, or to any other man, which is to be given to God only. We
not only have such bodies as you see, but are of like passions with
you, have hearts fashioned like as other men
for, as in water face answers to face, so doth the heart of man to
man,
Prov. xxvii. 19.
We are naturally subject to the same infirmities of the human nature,
and liable to the same calamities of the human life; not only men, but
sinful men and suffering men, and therefore will not be deified.”
[2.] “Our doctrine is directly against it. Must we be added to the
number of your gods whose business it is to abolish the gods you have?
We preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the
living God. If we should suffer this, we should confirm you in that
which it is our business to convert you from:” and so they take this
occasion to show them how just and necessary it was that they should
turn to God from idols,
1 Thess. i. 9.
When they preached to the Jews, who hated idolatry, they had nothing to
do but to preach the grace of God in Christ, and needed not, as the
prophets in dealing with their fathers, to preach against idolatry:
but, when they had to do with the Gentiles, they must rectify their
mistakes in natural religion, and bring them off from the gross
corruptions of that. See here what they preached to the Gentiles.
First, That the gods which they and their fathers worshipped,
and all the ceremonies of their worship of them were vanities,
idle things, unreasonable, unprofitable, which no rational account
could be given of, nor any real advantage gained from. Idols are often
called vanities in the Old Testament,
1 Kings x. 13; Jer. xiv. 22.
An idol is nothing in the world
it is not at all what it is pretended to be, it is a cheat, it is a
counterfeit; it deceives those that trust to it and expect relief from
it. Therefore turn from these vanities, turn from them with
abhorrence and detestation, as Ephraim did
(Hos. xiv. 8):
“What have I to do any more with idols? I will never again be
thus imposed upon.”
Secondly, That the God to whom they would have them turn
is the living God. They had hitherto worshipped dead images,
that were utterly unable to help them
(Isa. lxiv. 9),
or (as they now attempted) dying men, that would soon be disabled to
help them; but now they are persuaded to worship a living God, who has
life in himself, and life for us, and lives for evermore.
Thirdly, That this God is the creator of the world, the fountain
of all being and power: “He made heaven and earth, and the sea, and
all things therein, even those things which you worship as gods, so
that he is the God of your gods. You worship gods which you
made, the creatures of your own fancy, and the work of your own hands.
We call you to worship the true God, and cheat not yourselves with
pretenders; worship the Sovereign Lord of all, and disparage not
yourselves in bowing down to his creatures and subjects.”
Fourthly, That the world owed it to his patience that he had not
destroyed them long ere this for their idolatry
(v. 16):
In times past, for many ages, unto this day, he suffered all
nations to walk in their own ways. These idolaters, that were
called from the service of other gods, might think, “Have we not served
these gods hitherto, and our fathers before us, time out of mind; and
why may we not as well go on to serve them still?”–No, your serving
them was a trial of God’s patience, and it was a miracle of mercy that
you were not cut off for it. But, though he did not destroy you for it
while you were in ignorance, and knew no better
yet now that he has sent his gospel into the world, and by it has made
a clear discovery of himself and his will to all nations, and
not to the Jews only, if you still continue in your idolatry he will
not bear with you as he has done. All the nations that had not the
benefit of divine revelation, that is, all but the Jews, he suffered
to walk in their own ways, for they had nothing to check them, or
control them, but their own consciences, their own thoughts
(Rom. ii. 15),
no scriptures, no prophets; and then they were the more excusable if
they mistook their way: but now that God has sent a revelation into the
world which is to be published to all nations the case is
altered. We may understand it as a judgment upon all nations that
God suffered them to walk in their own ways, gave them up to their
own hearts’ lusts; but now the time is come when the veil of the
covering spread over all nations should be taken off
(Isa. xxv. 7),
and now you will no longer be excused in these vanities, but must turn
from them. Note,
1. God’s patience with us hitherto should lead us to
repentance, and not encourage us to presume upon the continuance of
it, while we continue to provoke him.
2. Our having done ill while we were in ignorance will not bear us out
in doing ill when we are better taught.
Fifthly, That even when they were not under the direction and
correction of the word of God, yet they might have known, and should
have known, to do better by the works of God,
Though the Gentiles had not the statutes and judgments that the
Jews had to witness for God against all pretenders, no tables of
testimony or tabernacle of testimony, yet he left not himself
without witness; besides the witness for God within them
(the dictates of natural conscience), they had witnesses for God
round about them–the bounty of common providence. Their having no
scriptures did in part excuse them, and therefore God did not destroy
them for their idolatry, as he did the Jewish nation. This however did
not wholly excuse them, but that notwithstanding this they were highly
criminal and deeply guilty before God; for there were other
witnesses for God, sufficient to inform them that he and he only
is to be worshipped, and that to him they owed all their services from
whom they received all their comforts, and therefore that they were
guilty of the highest injustice and ingratitude imaginable, in
alienating them from him. God, having not left himself without
witness, has not left us without a guide, and so has left us
without excuse; for whatever is a witness for God is a witness against
us, if we give that glory to any other which is due to him only.
1. The bounties of common providence witness to us that there is a God,
for they are all dispensed wisely and with design. The rain and
fruitful seasons could not come by chance, nor are there any of
the vanities of the heathen that can give rain, neither can the
heavens of themselves give showers,
Jer. xiv. 22.
All the powers of nature witness to us a sovereign power in the God of
nature, from whom they are derived, and on whom they depend. It is not
the heaven that gives us rain, but God that gives us rain from heaven,
he is the Father of the rain,
2. The benefits we have by these bounties witness to us that we ought
to make our acknowledgments not to the creatures who are made
serviceable to us, but to the Creator who makes them so. He left not
himself without witness, in that he did good. God seems to reckon
the instances of his goodness to be more pregnant, cogent proofs
of his title to our homage and adoration than the evidences of his
greatness; for his goodness is his glory. The earth is full
of his goodness; his tender mercies are over all his works; and
therefore they praise him,
Ps. cxlv. 9, 10.
God does us good, in preserving to us his air to breathe in, his ground
to go upon, the light of his sun to see by; but, because the most
sensible instance of the goodness of Providence to each of us in
particular is that of the daily provision made by it of meat and drink
for us, the apostle chooses to insist upon that, and shows how God does
us good,
(1.) In preparing it for us, and that by a long train of causes which
depend upon him as the first cause: The heavens hear the earth; the
earth hears the corn, and wine, and oil; and they hear Jezreel.
Hos. ii. 21, 22.
He does us good in giving us rain from heaven–rain for us to drink,
for if there were no rain there would be no springs of water and we
should soon die for thirst–rain for our land to drink, for our meat as
well as drink we have from the rain; in giving us this, he gives us
fruitful seasons. If the heavens be as iron, the earth will soon
be as brass,
Lev. xxvi. 19.
This is the river of God which greatly enriches the
earth, and by it God prepares us corn,
Ps. lxv. 9-13.
Of all the common operations of providence, the heathen chose to form
their notion of the supreme God by that which bespeaks terror, and is
proper to strike an awe of him upon us, and this was the
thunder; and therefore they called Jupiter the thunderer,
and represented him with a thunderbolt in his hand; and it appears by
that this ought not to be overlooked; but the apostle here, to engage
us to worship God, sets before us his beneficence, that we may have
good thoughts of him in every thing wherein we have to do with him–may
love him and delight in him, as one that does good, does good to us,
does good to all, in giving rain from heaven and fruitful
seasons; and if at any time rain be withheld, or the seasons be
unfruitful, we may thank ourselves; it is our sin that turns away
these good things from us which were coming to us, and stops the
current of God’s favours.
(2.) In giving us the comforts of it. It is he that fills our hearts
with food and gladness. God is rich in mercy to all
(Rom. x. 12):
he gives us richly all things to enjoy
is not only a benefactor, but a bountiful one, not only gives us the
things we need, but gives us to enjoy them
(Eccl. ii. 24):
He fills our hearts with food, that is, he gives us food to our
hearts’ content, or according to our hearts’ desire; not merely for
necessity, but plenty, dainty, and variety. Even those nations that had
lost the knowledge of him, and worshipped other gods, yet he filled
their houses, filled their mouths, filled their bellies
with good things. The Gentiles that lived without God in the
world, yet lived upon God, which Christ urges as a reason why we
should do good to those that hate us,
Matt. v. 44, 45.
Those heathen had their hearts filled with food; this was their
felicity and satisfaction, they desired no more; but these things
will not fill the soul
nor will those that know how to value their own souls be satisfied with
them; but the apostles put themselves in as sharers in the divine
beneficence. We must all own that God fills our hearts with food and
gladness; not only food, that we may live, but gladness,
that we may live cheerfully; to him we owe it that we do not all our
days eat in sorrow. Note, We must thank God, not only for our food,
but for our gladness–that he gives us leave to be cheerful, cause to be
cheerful, and hearts to be cheerful. And, if our hearts be filled
with food and gladness, they ought to be filled with love and
thankfulness, and enlarged in duty and obedience,
Lastly, The success of this prohibition which the apostles gave
to the people
(v. 18):
By these sayings, with much ado, they restrained the people
from doing sacrifice to them, so strongly were these idolaters set
upon their idolatry. It was not enough for the apostles to refuse to be
deified (this would be construed only a pang of modesty), but they
resented it, they showed the people the evil of it, and all little
enough, for they could scarcely restrain them from it, and some
of them were ready to blame the priest, that he did not go on with his
business notwithstanding. We may see here what gave rise to the pagan
idolatry; it was terminating those regards in the instruments of our
comfort which should have passed through them to the Author. Paul and
Barnabas had cured a cripple, and therefore the people deified them,
instead of glorifying God for giving them such power, which should make
us very cautious that we do not give that honour to another, or take it
to ourselves, which is due to God only.
| Paul Stoned at Lystra; The Disciples Exhorted and Encouraged; Paul and Barnabas Ordain Elders. |
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19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and
Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew
him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
20 Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up,
and came into the city: and the next day he departed with
Barnabas to Derbe.
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had
taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and
Antioch,
22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them
to continue in the faith, and that we must through much
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
23 And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and
had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom
they believed.
24 And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to
Pamphylia.
25 And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down
into Attalia:
26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been
recommended to the grace of God for the work which they
fulfilled.
27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church
together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how
he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
28 And there they abode long time with the disciples.
We have here a further account of the services and sufferings of Paul
and Barnabas.
I. How Paul was stoned and left for dead, but miraculously came to
himself again,
They fell upon Paul rather than Barnabas, because Paul, being the chief
speaker, galled and vexed them more than Barnabas did. Now observe
here,
1. How the people were incensed against Paul; not by any injury they
pretended he had done them (if they took it for an affront that he
would not let them misplace divine honours upon him, when they
considered themselves they would easily forgive him that wrong), but
there came certain Jews from Antioch, hearing, it is likely, and
vexed to hear, what respect was shown to Paul and Barnabas at Lystra;
and they incensed the people against them, as factious, seditious,
dangerous persons, not fit to be harboured. See how restless the rage
of the Jews was against the gospel of Christ; they could not bear that
it should have footing any where.
2. To what degree they were incensed by these barbarous Jews: they were
irritated to such a degree that the mob rose and stoned Paul,
not by a judicial sentence, but in a popular tumult; they threw stones
at him, with which they knocked him down, and then drew him out of
the city, as one not fit to live in it, or drew him out upon a
sledge or in a cart, to bury him, supposing he had been dead. So
strong is the bias of the corrupt and carnal heart to that which is
evil, even in contrary extremes, that, as it is with great difficulty
that men are restrained from evil on one side, so it is with great ease
that they are persuaded to evil on the other side. See how fickle and
mutable the minds of carnal worldly people are, that do not know and
consider things. Those that but the other day would have treated the
apostles as more than men now treat them as worse than brutes, as the
worst of men, as the worst of male-factors. To-day Hosanna,
to-morrow Crucify; to-day sacrificed to, to-morrow sacrificed.
We have an instance of a change the other way,
This man is a murderer,
v. 4;
no doubt he is a god,
v. 6.
Popular breath turns like the wind. If Paul would have been Mercury, he
might have been enthroned, nay, he might have been enshrined; but, if
he will be a faithful minister of Christ, he shall be stoned, and
thrown out of the city. Thus those who easily submit to strong
delusions hate to receive the truth in the love of it.
3. How he was delivered by the power of God: When he was drawn out
of the city, the disciples stood round about him,
v. 20.
It seems there were some here at Lystra that became disciples, that
found the mean between deifying the apostles and rejecting them; and
even these new converts had courage to own Paul when he was thus run
down, though they had reason enough to fear that the same that stoned
him would stone them for owning him. They stood round about him, as a
guard to him against the further outrage of the people–stood about him
to see whether he were alive or dead; and all of a sudden he rose
up. Though he was not dead, yet he was ill crushed and bruised, no
doubt, and fainted away; he was in a deliquium, so that it was
not without a miracle that he came so soon to himself, and was so well
as to be able to go into the city. Note, God’s faithful servants,
though they may be brought within a step of death, and may be looked
upon as dead both by friends and enemies, shall not die as long as he
has work for them to do. They are cast down, but not destroyed,
2 Cor. iv. 9.
II. How they went on with their work, notwithstanding the opposition
they met with. All the stones they threw at Paul could not beat him off
from his work: They drew him out of the city
(v. 19),
but, as one that set them at defiance, he came into the city
again, to show that he did not fear them; none even of these
things move him. However, their being persecuted here is a known
indication to them to seek for opportunities of usefulness elsewhere,
and therefore for the present they quit Lystra.
1. They went to break up and sow fresh ground at Derbe. Thither
the next day Paul and Barnabas departed, a city not far off;
there they preached the gospel, there they taught many,
v. 21.
And it should seem that Timothy was of that city, and was one of the
disciples that now attended Paul, had met him at Antioch and
accompanied him in all this circuit; for, with reference to this story,
Paul tells him how fully he had known the afflictions he endured at
Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra,
2 Tim. iii. 10, 11.
Nothing is recorded that happened at Derbe.
2. They returned, and went over their work again, watering what they
had sown; and, having staid as long as they thought fit at Derbe, they
came back to Lystra, to Iconium, and Antioch, the cities where they had
preached,
Now, as we have had a very instructive account of the methods they took
in laying the foundation, and beginning the good work, so here we have
the like of their building upon that foundation, and carrying on that
good work. Let us see what they did,
(1.) They confirmed the souls of the disciples; that is, they
inculcated that upon them which was proper to confirm them,
Young converts are apt to waver, and a little thing shocks them. Their
old acquaintances beg they will not leave them. Those that they look
upon to be wiser than themselves set before them the absurdity,
indecency, and danger, of a change. They were allured, by the prospect
of preferment, to stick to the traditions of their fathers; they are
frightened with the danger of swimming against the stream. All this
tempts them to think of making a retreat in time; but the apostles come
and tell them that this is the true grace of God wherein they
stand, and therefore they must stand to it that there is no danger
like that of losing their part in Christ, no advantage like that of
keeping their hold of him; that, whatever their trials may be, they
shall have strength from Christ to pass through them; and, whatever
their losses may be, they shall be abundantly recompensed. And this
confirms the souls of the disciples; it fortifies their pious
resolutions, in the strength of Christ, to adhere to Christ whatever it
may cost them. Note,
[1.] Those that are converted need to be confirmed; those that are
planted need to be rooted. Ministers’ work is to establish saints as
well as to awaken sinners. Non minor est virtus quam quoerere parta
tueri–To retain is sometimes as difficult as to acquire. Those
that were instructed in the truth must know the certainty of the things
in which they have been instructed; and those that are resolved must be
fixed in their resolutions.
[2.] True confirmation is confirmation of the soul; it is not binding
the body by severe penalties on apostates, but binding the soul. The
best ministers can do this only by pressing those things which are
proper to bind the soul; it is the grace of God, and nothing less, that
can effectually confirm the souls of the disciples, and prevent
their apostasy.
(2.) They exhorted them to continue in the faith; or, as it may
be read, they encouraged them. They told them it was both their
duty and interest to persevere; to abide in the belief of Christ’s
being the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. Note, Those that
are in the faith are concerned to continue in the faith,
notwithstanding all the temptations they may be under to desert it,
from the smiles or frowns of this world. And it is requisite that they
should often be exhorted to do so. Those that are continually
surrounded with temptations to apostasy have need to be continually
attended with pressing exhortations to perseverance.
(3.) That which they insisted most upon was that we must through
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Not only
they must, but we must; it must be counted upon that all
who will go to heaven must expect tribulation and persecution in their
way thither. But is this the way to confirm the souls of the
disciples, and to engage them to continue in the faith? One
would think it would rather shock them, and make them weary. No, as the
matter is fairly stated and taken entire, it will help to confirm them,
and fix them for Christ. It is true they will meet with tribulation,
with much tribulation; that is the worst of it: but then,
[1.] It is so appointed. They must undergo it, there is no remedy, the
matter is already fixed, and cannot be altered. He that has the
sovereign disposal of us has determined it to be our lot that all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus should suffer persecution; and
he that has the sovereign command over us has determined this to be our
duty, that all that will be Christ’s disciples must take up their
cross. When we gave up our names to Jesus Christ it was what we
agreed to; when we sat down and counted the cost, if we reckoned
aright, it was what we counted upon; so that if tribulation and
persecution arise because of the word it is but what we had notice
of before, it must be so: he performeth the thing that is appointed
for us. The matter is fixed unalterably; and shall the rock
be for us removed out of its place?
[2.] It is the lot of the leaders in Christ’s army, as well as of the
soldiers. It is not only you, but we, that (if it be
thought a hardship) are subject to it; therefore, as your own
sufferings must not be a stumbling-block to you, so neither must ours;
see
Let none be moved by our afflictions, for you yourselves know that
we are appointed thereunto. As Christ did not put the apostles upon
any harder service than what he underwent before them, so neither did
the apostles put the ordinary Christians.
[3.] It is true we must count upon much tribulation, but this is
encouraging, that we shall get through it; we shall not be lost and
perish in it. It is a Red Sea, but the Lord has opened a way through
it, for the redeemed of the Lord to pass over. We must go down
to trouble, but we shall come up again.
[4.] We shall not only get through it, but get through it into the
kingdom of God; and the joy and glory of the end will make abundant
amends for all the difficulties and hardships we may meet with in the
way. It is true we must go by the cross, but it is as true that
if we keep in the way, and do not turn aside nor turn back, we shall
go to the crown, and the believing prospect of this will make
the tribulation easy and pleasant.
(4.) They ordained them elders, or presbyters, in every
church. Now at this second visit they settled them in some order,
formed them into religious societies under the guidance of a settled
ministry, and settled that distinction between those that are taught in
the word and those that teach.
[1.] Every church had its governors or presidents, whose office it was
to pray with the members of the church, and to preach to them in their
solemn assemblies, to administer all gospel ordinances to them, and to
take the oversight of them, to instruct the ignorant, warn the
unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, and convince gainsayers. It is
requisite that every particular church should have one or more such to
preside in it.
[2.] Those governors were then elders, that had in their qualification
the wisdom and gravity of seniors, and had in their commission the
authority and command of seniors: not to make new laws (this is the
prerogative of the Prince, the great Lawgiver; the government of the
church is an absolute monarchy, and the legislative power entirely in
Christ), but to see to the observance and execution of the laws Christ
has made; and so far they are to be obeyed and submitted to.
[3.] These elders were ordained. The qualifications of such as
were proposed or proposed themselves (whether the apostles or the
people put them up) were judged of by the apostles, as most fit to
judge; and they, having devoted themselves, were solemnly set
apart to the work of the ministry, and bound to it.
[4.] These elders were ordained to them, to the disciples, to their
service, for their good. Those that are in the faith have need to be
built up in it, and have need of the elders’ help therein–the
pastors and teachers, who are to edify the body of
Christ.
(5.) By prayer joined with fasting they commended them
to the Lord, to the Lord Jesus, on whom they believed. Note,
[1.] Even when persons are brought to believe, and that sincerely, yet
ministers’ care concerning them is not over; there is need of watching
over them still, instructing and admonishing them still; there is still
that lacking in their faith which needs to be perfected.
[2.] The ministers that take most care of those that believe must after
all commend them to the Lord, and put them under the protection and
guidance of his grace: Lord, keep them through thine own name.
To his custody they must commit themselves, and their ministers must
commit them.
[3.] It is by prayer that they must be commended to the Lord. Christ,
in his prayer
(John xvii.),
commended his disciples to his Father: Thine they were, and thou
gavest them to me. Father, keep them.
[4.] It is a great encouragement to us, in commending the disciples to
the Lord, that we can say, “It is he in whom they believed; we commit
to him those who have committed themselves to him, and who know they
have believed in one who is able to keep what they and we have
committed to him against that day,”
[5.] It is good to join fasting with prayer, in token of our
humiliation for sin, and in order to add vigour to our prayers.
[6.] When we are parting with our friends, the best farewell is to
commend them to the Lord, and to leave them with him.
3. They went on preaching the gospel in other places where they had
been, but, as it should seem had not made so many converts as that now
at their return they could form them into churches; therefore thither
they came to pursue and carry on conversion-work. From Antioch they
passed through Pisidia, the province in which that Antioch
stood; thence they came into the province of Pamphylia, the
head-city of which was Perga, where they had been before
(ch. xiii. 13),
and came thither again to preach the word
(v. 25),
making a second offer, to see if they were now better disposed than
they were before to receive the gospel. What success they had there we
are not told, but that thence they went down to Attalia, a city
of Pamphylia, on the sea-coast. They staid not long at a place, but
wherever they came endeavoured to lay a foundation which might
afterwards be built upon, and to sow the seeds which would in time
produce a great increase. Now Christ’s parables were explained, in
which he compared the kingdom of heaven to a little leaven, which in
time leavened the whole lump–to a grain of mustard-seed, which, though
very inconsiderable at first, grew to a great tree–and to the seed
which a man sowed in his ground, and it sprung up he knew not how.
III. How they at length came back to Antioch in Syria, whence they had
been sent forth upon this expedition. From Attalia they came by sea to
Antioch,
And we are here told,
1. Why they came thither: because thence they had been recommended
to the grace of God, and such a value did they put upon a solemn
recommendation to the grace of God, though they had themselves a great
interest in heaven, that they never thought they could show respect
enough to those who had so recommended them. The brethren having
recommended them to the grace of God, for the work which they
fulfilled, now that they had fulfilled it they thought they owed
them an account of it, that they might help them by their praises, as
they had been helped by their prayers.
2. What account they gave them of their negociation
(v. 27):
They gathered the church together. It is probable that there
were more Christians at Antioch than ordinarily met, or could meet, in
one place, but on this occasion they called together the leading
men of them; as the heads of the tribes are often called the
congregation of Israel, so the ministers and principal members
of the church at Antioch are called the church. Or perhaps as
many of the people as the place would hold came together on this
occasion. Or some met at one time, or in one place, and others at
another. But when they had called them together, they gave them an
account of two things–
(1.) Of the tokens they had had of the divine presence with them in
their labours: They rehearsed all that God had done with them.
They did not tell what they had done (this would have savoured
of vain-glory), but what God had done with them and by them. Note, The
praise of all the little good we do at any time must be ascribed to
God; for it is he that not only worketh in us both to will and to do,
but then worketh with us to make what we do successful. God’s grace
can do any thing without ministers’ preaching; but ministers’
preaching, even Paul’s, can do nothing without God’s grace; and the
operations of that grace must be acknowledged in the efficacy of the
word.
(2.) Of the fruit of their labours among the heathen. They told how
God had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles; had not only
ordered them to be invited to the gospel feast, but had inclined the
hearts of many of them to accept the invitation. Note,
[1.] There is no entering into the kingdom of Christ but by the door of
faith; we must firmly believe in Christ, or we have no part in him.
[2.] It is God that opens the door of faith, that opens to us the
truths we are to believe, opens our hearts to receive them, and makes
this a wide door, and an effectual, into the church of Christ.
[3.] We have reason to be thankful that God has opened the door of
faith to the Gentiles, has both sent them his gospel, which is
made known to all nations for the obedience of faith
(Rom. xvi. 26),
and has also given them hearts to entertain the gospel. Thus the gospel
was spread, and it shone more and more, and none was able to shut this
door which God had opened; not all the powers of hell and earth.
3. How they disposed of themselves for the present: There they abode
a long time with the disciples
(v. 28),
longer than perhaps at first they intended, not because they feared
their enemies, but because they loved their friends, and
were loth to part from them.
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