Who Were the Galatians? Adventures in Evangelism
Acts 14:1-23

As Paul’s first missionary journey shows us, people responded to God’s Word in different ways in the first century. Not only have people not changed, God is the hero of salvation among the Galatians and us!

1. Pisidian Antioch: strategy
2. Iconium: strife
3. Lystra: stoning
4. Derbe: success

In the first of verse of Galatians Paul sends his greetings and introduces himself as Paul, an apostle. He addresses in verse 2, from all the brethren who are with him to the churches of Galatia. We are in east central, what is today Turkey. We’re looking at Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. Those are most specifically what Paul means by the churches.

I find it interesting as I look into the composition of these places -- they are different. This is not like a bunch of people all from the same stock, all thinking, believing and living the same way. Quite contrarily, there was a hodgepodge of folks in these different places. They represented their cities differently.

I find noteworthy that, first of all, they were all messed up by the same basic human drive, call it pride or self-centeredness, to somehow get themselves to heaven. It affected all of them. On the positive side, it is wonderful that the same gospel of Jesus met these folks where they were and brought them to a right relationship with Him regardless of whatever their background might have been. 

Don’t you suppose if we had a synopsis of the folks in this room -- where we’ve been, how God met us, how He brought us, what He has done with us – wouldn’t we be amazed at the diversity among us?

You probably are aware that 2004 is the Bicentennial year for Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery, a most remarkable event in the history of the United States, perhaps the most remarkable event of its kind in our nation’s entire history. This hand-picked bunch, commissioned by President Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase, to map it, to document what they saw and where they went and hopefully to locate a trade route to the Pacific Ocean. It took them a couple years to explore that purchase and if you’ve the read the journals of Lewis and Clark, or “Undaunted Courage,” the Ambrose book, you realize what an undertaking that was and truly, what a success it was.

As I reflect upon an event a couple thousands years earlier I’m impressed in a different way because here we have two men – it began with three – Paul and Barnabas, setting off on a different sort of journey covering a lot of territory to be sure but with a different end in mind.

They were not marching to the orders of the sitting U.S. president; they were responding to an ancient standing order to make disciples of all the nations. They were aware that Jesus, who had risen from the dead, had said “On this rock I will build my church.” And they’re engaged not just in exploring and mapping and documenting and so forth; they’re engaged in a kingdom building work with happy results all down through eternity and it’s great stuff.

People are the objective. We’re going to look at three different locations and see how it is that the gospel goes out to these different groups of people and it plays to mixed reviews. It doesn’t just land on folks and everything happens predictably the same way, but we see people responding then as people tend to respond now to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There was a bit of a heads up in Matthew 10. The words of Jesus as He sends out His disciples:

¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city.
¹² As you enter the house, give it your greeting.
¹³ If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy,   take back your blessing of peace.
¹⁴ Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.

I find it interesting that in Acts chapter 13, as Paul and Barnabas were being driven from their first city, Pisidian Antioch, it says in verse 51 that they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went on to Iconium.

Last week we talked at length about Antioch and the strategy involved.  Paul’s calling from God was to take the gospel to the Gentiles and so he devised a strategy by God’s grace and the direction of the Spirit. The Gentiles who would likely listen to him would be found in the synagogues of the Jews. They were known as God fearers.

He made his first approach in the Jewish synagogue. The God fearers would be there; they would be his stepping stone into the Gentile world and it worked. It happened that way. The Jews, however, were not pleased and sent him down the road.

His next stop was at a town called Iconium, a fascinating place in east central Asia Minor, today Turkey. Iconium in a sense was a rival city to the old Syrian city of Damascus. Damascus is long claimed to be the oldest city in the world. Iconium would beg to differ. As a matter of fact, the people of Iconium claimed to be the original people. The locals had, traceable down through millennia of history, a flood epic. They believed there had been at one time a deluge that took the lives of everyone on earth. They had a king in antiquity who became bigger than life over time. This king lived before the flood in their legend. He lived over 300 years. His name was roughly similar to the biblical character Enoch, who also lived before the flood, who also lived over 300 years.

This king had a premonition that there would be a flood and everyone would perish. In the wake of his premonition he got an oracle from some religious source -- this is all legend -- and the people of the land, having heard that their beloved king was pronouncing there would be a big flood of judgment, all repented and came to him. Nevertheless the floodwaters came, wiped out the entire population, whereupon according to Greek legend after everybody is gone, the Titan Prometheus was commissioned to go and recreate people. He came to this location of Iconium, and there he fashioned people out of the ground of the earth. He made little statues, if you will, and as the legend goes, gave them life.

In the Greek language, those little statues are called Acone, from which we get our word “icon,” and hence the name of the place – Iconium.

It’s interesting how this works and it is all this type of heritage these people are carrying with them. Paul had to travel 80 to 90 miles from Pisidian Antioch to get there, elevation 3400 feet. Iconium was a Greek city as far as its governing structure was concerned. That will enter into what happened, because in the Greek system they had a council of magistrates elected by the people, this was a Greek way of doing things. If there were ever problems in town, this town council would be expected to act and to act quickly. Not in the interest of justice, but in the interest of preserving the public safety and peace.

In other words, who is right and who is wrong is really not the issue. How can we have peace is the issue. We will see how that plays out as we follow the adventures of Paul and Barnabas in Iconium.

In this particular community there were basically four groups of people representing four different kinds of loyalties. It was sort of a hodgepodge there in Iconium. There would have been people who were Greeks, people who were Romans, people who were Jews, and people who were native Phrygians. Phrygia was the region; Iconium was the chief city of the region of Phrygia.

Along come Paul and Barnabas.

Acts 14
1 In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks.

Remember that’s what they’re up to. They are trying to reach the Greeks. To get to the Greeks, they have to get the God fearers. To get the God fearers they have to be among the Jews. It’s all the strategy of the apostles here.

They’re saying that everybody expects God to send a deliverer, a messiah. Paul’s message is quite simple: We believe the Messiah has come. We believe He is Jesus of Nazareth. We believe it because not only did He fulfill umpteen prophetic utterances about him but He rose from the dead. It’s a big deal. We believe this. The Spirit of God is moving; people are coming to faith as the Spirit of God moves among them and a great many believed.

Things are happening in Iconium through the synagogue both of Jews and of Greeks.

2 But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren.

That word disbelieved also means disobeyed. The Jews who preferred to be wed to their system of working your way to heaven, the Jews who preferred to believe that the Jews were the most important, the Jews who had a religious power structure to defend at all cost – they stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren.

We are now playing in Iconium to a mixed review. We have those who are welcoming the message, embracing the message, those who are finding newness of life; and at the same time people who are stirring up trouble because they are opposed to it.  This is just the way of the gospel in the world. It’s how it is and it certainly is how it was there in Iconium.

Interestingly, they spent a long time there. We don’t know what a long time might have meant, possibly a year to a year and a half. Their entire first journey took about two years, but this is their longest stay. It’s been a long time there so we understand that the strife began to foment. It was an undercurrent and eventually, over time as enough talk and enough disillusionment perhaps and enough jealousy entered in, it boiled over at a point.

3 Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.

The works of these apostles, way away now in Iconium, far into the Gentile world, now are being identified with the Messiah they proclaim. People are seeing this is all one faith. God was moving powerfully among them. Isn’t there an interesting contrast between verse 3 and verse 4? Wouldn’t you think that if the signs and wonders were there and people are undeniably, physically being touched and changed supernaturally, it would make a difference in the hearts of the unbelieving? It didn’t with Jesus and it isn’t with the apostles.

Miracles do not conversions make. People have an amazing capacity to forget, to ignore, to rationalize, to excuse, to look the other way, and even though God is clearly moving among them, their hearts are hard and they will not believe.

⁴ But the people of the city were divided; and some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.

Iconium, a place of strife.

⁵ And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to stone them, they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region;

Things finally got too hot and they left. Clearly the hand of city government was here. It’s far more expedient to move these people along, to encourage them to leave to preserve the peace of the community rather than to try to determine if they’re right or wrong. I wonder if there isn’t some of that in our culture today. I don’t really wonder.

Notice a few highlights of their months spent in Iconium. First of all, we have quite a congregation there. A multitude believed; both Jews and Greeks.

Secondly the problem came about because of disobedient Jews and by the way, that is why Paul would write the book of Galatians. These disobedient Jews are going to be the problem in every city Paul visits. And so he will write the book in light of that.

Notice, third, that this is their longest point of stay and fourth, God was working signs and wonders through them but the people still wanted them dead. Don’t ever trust the human heart, yours or anyone else. They wanted them dead even though God was clearly moving among them.

The gospel plays to mixed reviews and whenever it happens there is always strife. I’ll go back to Matthew.10, a few verses I would like to share -- just to underscore that. In verse 34 a side of the gospel that we need to realize is there and understand what is happening. Beginning in verse 34 with the words of Jesus:

³⁴ “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

What does that mean? A sword divides things, that’s its nature.

³⁵ “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

He’s saying, “Look in my economy, in My kingdom, I come first! Anything else that competes will create strife, and there will be divided loyalties. Notice how Paul translates that. I’m going to read from I Corinthians chapter 1 and from II Corinthians chapter 2.

I Corinthians 1 – Paul writes:

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God

Foolishness on the one hand is the power of God to the other. Expect those two camps to get along and see eye to eye? No. From that standpoint, the cross divides.

II Corinthians 2 – Paul writes:

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
¹⁵ For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
¹⁶ to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.

Same smell. Kind of like cigar smoke -- some love it; some hate it, and it’s the same smell. Paul is saying this is the gospel. Some will be drawn; others will be repelled.

Many years ago, I had been a Christian less than 2 years, and happily filled with evangelistic zeal. At Christmastime my brother and I composed a letter. We felt that everyone we knew should hear that we were Christians and that they could be a Christian too.

We used a Christmas letter to do this. “Dear So and So, Merry Christmas. We really hope that Christmas is meaningful to you because it sure is to me because Jesus has saved me from my sins. He can save you too.” That was kind of the thrust of the letter. We sent it to relatives, family friends. Several dozen letters went out. There were three responses. Most of the folks who received the letter did not respond, they were probably picking themselves up off the floor.

There were two other groups who did respond. A few wrote back and said this is really nice, thank you. I had a couple individuals say they were also Christians. But then there were those who said, “Who do you think you are?” Their response was, in a word, antagonistic. Interesting – identical letter, identical truth, same Savior, same cross, different play. Some for it, some against it.

Paul and Barnabas could take a hint so they left. In verse 6 they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region. There were other places they went and preached the gospel that are unnamed.

By the way, this section of Turkey is an archaeologist’s delight. There are many, many places there that are crying out to be excavated and much to be learned.

They continued to preach the gospel (verse 7). Now they are at Lystra, an entirely different situation. It’s only about 20 miles from Iconium, Lystra was an out of the way sort of oasis spot, naturally watered in the foothills of the Tarus mountains. There was a nominal Roman influence there and a nominal Jewish influence there, and a considerable native population influence there, as we shall see.

In II Timothy, Paul is writing to his friend Timothy. II Timothy was Paul’s last letter prior to his martyrdom. He wrote this:

II Timothy 3
¹⁰ Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,
¹¹ persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch (that is, Pisidia), at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all, the Lord rescued me!

That’s how he characterizes his first visit to three of our four spots. Lystra, though, has got to take the cake.

Acts 14

⁸ At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.
⁹ This man was listening to Paul as he spoke,

Remember, he’s preaching the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus has come to fix things. Jesus has come to introduce a whole new creation. Jesus has come to pay for your sins. Jesus has come to change your life. We can illustrate! The stories from Iconium have reached Lystra. God was working in physically miraculous ways in Iconium.

Isaiah 35, I’m sure, was well known about the deaf hearing and the dumb speaking and the lame walking and the blind seeing. They’re all identifying with the arrival of the Messiah and so that way we can understand this man was listening to Paul. He’s preaching the gospel!

⁹ (continued)
who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well,
¹⁰ said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.”

Obviously whoever is telling this story was there. He’s watching him fix his gaze; he’s listening to his loud voice.

And he leaped up and began to walk.

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.”

This is the only place in recorded Scripture where a missionary met a totally pagan culture. These people are mud hut jungle types today. They had nothing upon which to base faith in anything. They weren’t even Greeks given to philosophy; they were still embracing the local ancient religions of the gods and goddesses taking on Greek or Roman names, depending on the era. They’re still there!

What does Paul do? God heals the man. These local Lycaonians are speaking their native language. Everyone spoke Greek, most everyone spoke Latin, the language of the old Roman empire, and perhaps some Aramaic. These people probably had three or four languages, but the one they go to naturally is their native, indigenous tongue.

They are quite sure that Zeus and Hermes have become incarnate for them. Archaeologists have found evidence of a Zeus-Hermes cult in this region at about this time. This is big stuff to them. They had their own temple and everything.

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul and done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.”

They began calling Barnabas Zeus, evidently because he didn’t say much, and Paul Hermes, because he did. Hermes being the messenger.

¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

Here is the priest of Zeus, in Lystra, and Zeus shows up. What are you going to do? You’re going to want to be his buddy – because he’s your god, right? This is his moment in the sun. This is do or die for Mr. Priest of Zeus, so he does the right thing. He grabs oxen and garlands and brings them to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowd. This is one moment the priest of Zeus doesn’t want to be wrong.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes, and rushed out into the crowd, crying out
¹⁵ and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

We preach the gospel to you -- a reference there again to the good news of Jesus -- in order to get you away from this stuff, to get you to turn from these vain things, these idols, to a living God.

¹⁶ In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways

He is saying, “God has been patient with your religious choices up to this point.”

¹⁷ and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

They are living in an oasis spot in a very barren and desolate place. The object lesson is all around them. He’s drawing on what we call general revelation, the evidence of the existence of God in nature which theologians accurately say is enough to condemn but not enough to save. He’s trying to get their attention to the true God so they will realize their need. He is saying, “Don’t you see how dumb this is? Don’t you see that what you are about to do is incompatible with the gospel we’ve been preaching?”

¹⁸ Even after saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

They talked them out of it, but they weren’t convinced. It’s not over yet. Here come the Jews.

¹⁹ But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

People of this culture are given to mob inclination, easily swayed. We see that from time to time. They won over the multitudes; obviously they had to have been somewhat offended. The priest of Zeus has lost face. He has been there a long time and has quite a bit of pull.

These people then are charlatans. “Well, let’s just kill them.” They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city and supposed him to be dead.

²⁰ But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe.

There were people from varied backgrounds. They were Jewish people – I’m talking about the Christians now – they were people who had been of the Jewish faith but who realized they couldn’t keep the rules and be perfect. They were frustrated legalists who wanted out of that bondage, always trying to perform, perform, perform and keep the rules. They realize this can’t be done.

Paul comes with the gospel of freedom and says, “That’s right, it can’t be done. Why don’t you just embrace the One who did it for you and be free?” They were Jews who moved beyond works and rules to simple faith. They were Romans. If anybody had a crisis of religion at this era in history, it would be the Romans. They didn’t believe any more in their gods and goddesses. The Romans had substituted their emperor and everybody knew he is really only human. They had a religious vacuum going. The Romans knew though that they needed new life and many of them embraced the faith of Christ.

They were Greeks who always exalted human reason and rationale and rhetoric and logic, some of whom the light was turned on by the Spirit of God. They said this thinking business, this elevating of humanity isn’t going to get me to heaven. No, rather than me elevating myself to heaven either intellectually or otherwise, isn’t it good to know that God came from heaven to earth and made that difference up and they embraced the Savior.

There were those who were just your run-of-the-mill Lycaonian pagans, whose gods were not making it for them either, who lived in fear and in superstition and in bondage and slavery. They wanted new life too. The gospel of Jesus reached them all. Educated, uneducated, sophisticated, unsophisticated, highly intelligent down to the marginal – the gospel cuts through all that and goes to the heart and claims souls.

Who are they? They are folks like us. Folks made in the image of God, folks who are fallen and unable to create their own righteousness, folks who are guilty before a holy God and who need forgiveness by faith in the finished work of Jesus.