LESSON 62

PAUL AND BARNABAS IN LYSTRA AND DERBE

Acts 14:7-18 New Living Translation (NLT)

⁷ And there they preached the Good News. ⁸ While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. He was sitting⁹ and listening as Paul preached. Looking straight at him, Paul realized he had faith to be healed. ¹⁰ So Paul called to him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the man jumped to his feet and started walking. ¹¹ When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” ¹² They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker.¹³ Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles. ¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting,¹⁵ “Friends,^[a] why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. ¹⁶ In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, ¹⁷ but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” ¹⁸ But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.

1.   PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS V. 7

2.   A MAN WITH CRIPPLED FEET V. 8

3.   FAITH TO BE HEALED-LEAPT TO HIS FEET HEALED V. 9-10

4.   GODS IN HUMAN FORM V. 11-13a

5.   PREPARED TO OFFER SACRIFICES TO THE APOSTLES V. 13b

6.   BARNABUS AND SAUL TRIED TO STOP THEM V. 14

7.   REASON FOR PREACHING V.15b-17

8.   BARELY STOPPED THEM V. 18

MISUNDERSTANDING MIRACLES AND HEALINGS LEADS TO WRONG DIRECTIONS

WEBSITE: http://outskirtspress.com/bunitales BLOG:     http://biblebiscuits.blogspot.com

LESSON 61

PAUL AND BARNABAS IN ICONIUM

 

Acts 14:1-6 New Living Translation (NLT)

14 The same thing happened in Iconium.^[a] Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. ² Some of the Jews, however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. ³ But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴ But the people of the town were divided in their opinion about them. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. ⁵ Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them. ⁶ When the apostles learned of it, they fled to the region of Lycaonia—to the towns of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area.

1.   THE SAME THING HAPPENED AT ICONIUM V. 1

2.   SOME REJECTED THE MESSAGE AND POISONED THE MINDS OF THE GENTILES AGAINST PAUL V. 2

3.   APOSTLES STAYED A LONG TIME AND SHOWED MANY MIRACLES V. 3

4.   PEOPLE DIVIDED ABOUT THEM V. 4

5.   MOB OF GENTILES AND JEWS DECIDED TO ATTACK V. 5

6.   APOSTLES LEARNED ABOUT IT AND LEFT V. 6

WHEN THE GOSPEL GOES FORTH WITH POWER, EXPECT OPPOSITION.

WEBSITE: http://outskirtspress.com/bunitales BLOG:     http://biblebiscuits.blogspot.com

LESSON 60

STOPPED PREACHING TO JEWS-DEDICATED TO PREACHING TO GENTILES

 

Acts 13:44-52 New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴⁴ The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous; so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.⁴⁷ For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’” ⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers. ⁴⁹ So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region. ⁵⁰ Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town. ⁵¹ So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium. ⁵² And the believers^[b] were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

1.   ALMOST ENTIRE CITY CAME TO HEAR THE MESSAGE V. 44

2.   JEALOUS JEWS V. 45

3.   PAUL’S DECLARATION V. 46-47

4.   GENTILES GLAD V. 48-49

5.   JEWS THREW THEM OUT OF TOWN V. 50

6.   PAUL SHAKES DUST OFF HIS FEET V. 51

7.   BELIEVERS FILLED WITH JOY AND THE HOLY SPIRIT V.52

REJECTING CHRIST IS COSTLY – RECEVING HIM BRINGS RICHES WITHOUT END

WEBSITE: http://outskirtspress.com/bunitales BLOG:     http://biblebiscuits.blogspot.com

LESSON 59

THE MESSAGE TO PISIDIA (continued)

Acts 13:33-43 New Living Translation (NLT)

³³ and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus: ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father. ³⁴ For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’ ³⁵ Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’ ³⁶ This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. ³⁷ No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay. ³⁸ “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. ³⁹ Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do. ⁴⁰ Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said, ⁴¹ ‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’ ⁴² As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the next week. ⁴³ Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God.

1.   GOD HAS FULFILLED HIS PROMISE V. 33

2.   RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD V. 34-35

3.   NOT DAVID V. 36

4.   REFERENCE TO JESUS V. 37-39

5.   BE CAREFUL V. 40-41

6.   REQUEST TO RETURN AND RESULTS V. 41-43

WEBSITE: http://outskirtspress.com/bunitales BLOG:     http://biblebiscuits.blogspot.com

LESSON 58

THE MESSAGE TO PISIDIA

Acts 13:13-32 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.¹⁴ But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. ¹⁵ After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me. ¹⁷ “The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery. ¹⁸ He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness. ¹⁹ Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. “After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet.²¹ Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. ²² But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ ²³ “And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! ²⁴ Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized.²⁵ As John was finishing his ministry he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon—and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’ ²⁶ “Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles—this message of salvation has been sent to us! ²⁷ The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway. ²⁹ “When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead! ³¹ And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel.

³² “And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors,

WEBSITE: http://outskirtspress.com/bunitales BLOG:     http://biblebiscuits.blogspot.com