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Acts 14:11-18  MANS NEED TO WORSHIP

Introduction:

	In our previous text the Apostle Paul and Barnabas fled from Iconium to 
the city of Lystra.  As they started to enter the gate of the city they 
encountered a beggar who was lame in his feet.  He had been cripple from birth.  
After the Apostle Paul talked to him and witnessed to him about Jesus, he called 
for the man to stand to his feet and the man did.  He was miraculously healed.  
	In our text today we see how the people of the city reacted to the 
miracle.  They sought to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods.  Paul and Barnabas, 
of course, sought to persuade them to worship the God of heaven instead.  In 
this text we get a good idea about man’s need to worship. 

I.  Paul and Barnabas considered to be gods

	V. 11, “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.”  The gate of this city, like all gates of all large cities in 
those days, was a busy place.  There were almost always people around.  The 
government of the city was at the gate.  The market place was at the gate.  So 
when the man was healed and saw him leap to his feat and start walking around, 
they got excited.  They knew this man and they knew that he had been cripple 
from birth.  They knew that a work had been done by a great supernatural power.  
So the news spread quickly and people from all parts of the city gathered to see 
what was going on.  Almost all the people reached the same conclusion.  They 
reached the conclusion that Paul and Barnabas were not human.  They concluded 
that they were gods from heaven who had come down to earth in the form of men.  
	As you know, Paul and Barnabas, were not gods.  They were two preachers, 
two missionaries, who had come to Lystra to bear witness of One who is Deity God 
and who had, indeed, come down to earth in the likeness of man.  They came to 
witness about Jesus.  Yet Jesus did more than come in the mere likeness of man. 
Jesus came as a man.  He was Deity God born of a human mother.  He was born a 
human being, a little child, who grew up into manhood, a fully grown man.  Jesus 
is real God and He is also real man.  
	But the people of Lystra thought Paul and Barnabas were gods.  Furthermore 
they thought that of all the many gods that they believed existed they knew 
which gods Paul and Barnabas were.  V. 12, “And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; 
and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.”    Jupiter and Mercury 
were names given to two of the heavenly bodies, two planets which the 
astronomers of that day had observed and named.  However, the astronomers did 
not consider them to be planets.  They believed them to be gods.  According to 
their religious belief, Jupiter was the older god and Mercury was his son.   
Furthermore, they believed that Jupiter was quiet and reserved and that Mercury 
was  very talkative.  He was an eloquent speaker.  So they immediately jumped to 
the conclusion that Paul was Mercury because he was the talker.  
	The thing that made it so easy for them to believe that Paul was Mercury 
and that Barnabas was Jupiter was that it was commonly believed in Lystra that 
Jupiter and Mercury had already made an earlier appearance in that city.  So 
they viewed Barnabas, the quieter older man to be Jupiter and they believed 
Paul, the younger man who was an eloquent speaker, to be Mercury.  In their 
minds, the miraculous healing of the lame man cinched it.  There felt positive 
that these two preachers were gods. 

II.  An attempt by the priest of Jupiter to make a sacrificial offering to Paul 
and  
      Barnabas

           	V. 13, “Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city...”  
Luke said that the priest of Jupiter was before the city.  What this means is 
that there was a temple built to Jupiter was just outside the gate of the city.  
The priest of Jupiter was present there at temple when the miracle took place. 
It was believed that Jupiter was the protector of the city of Lystra.  It is 
possible that the priest of Jupiter may have actually seen the miracle take 
place.  It is more likely that he was inside the temple and that he was quickly 
informed about the miracle.  Being that close, however, he must have seen the 
man leaping and walking after he had been healed.  
	So even the priest of the temple of Jupiter was convinced that Barnabas 
and Paul were Jupiter and Mercury.  So he quickly set about to make a 
sacrificial offering to them.  (V. 13),  “...brought oxen and garlands unto the 
gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.”  The word, oxen, is 
plural, and so we know that he brought more than one ox.  Since he thought he 
would be making sacrifice to only two gods, it is likely that he brought only 
two oxen.  
	The garlands were wreaths made of branches and flowers.  Tradition has it 
that they usually placed the wreaths on the heads of the animals which would be 
sacrificed.  However, it is said that sometimes they would place the garland on 
the statues of the god to whom the sacrifice was made.  It is likely that since 
they thought that the gods were physically present that they intended to place 
the garlands on the heads of Paul and Barnabas, themselves.  

III.  The objections of Paul and Barnabas

	V. 14, “[Which] when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard [of], they 
rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out.”  Paul and Barnabas 
were deeply disturbed by this turn of events.  They rent their clothes.  In that 
day this was an action that all people recognized as a sign of being deeply 
disturbed.  This should have also disturbed the people.  Since they thought that 
Paul and Barnabas were gods, it should have been upsetting to the people to know 
that their gods were disturbed and displeased at them.  This action should have 
caught their attention and made them stop to find out what was so disturbing to 
Paul and Barnabas.  
	In addition to Paul and Barnabas tearing their clothes, they ran among the 
people crying out to them and urging them to stop.  V. 15, “And saying, Sirs, 
why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you..”  The idea 
is that they were shouting to the people and telling them that they were not 
gods.  They were just humans like the people.  
	(V. 15), “...and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities 
unto the living God...”  In essence they were saying, “We don’t want you to 
worship us.  We are here to call you to turn from the worship of all idol gods 
and that includes us.  We are here to call upon you to worship the true and 
living God.  
	(V. 15), “, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that 
are therein.”  “We are here to call upon you to worship the God who created the 
heaven and the earth.  We are here to get you to worship the God who made the 
sea.  We are here to get you to worship the God who made all things and is the 
ruler over all things.”  
	V. 16, “Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.”  
The word, suffered, as used here means “allowed, permitted.”  Paul and Barnabas 
said that the real God, the true God has allowed the Gentile nations to worship 
idol gods, but He never approved of such worship.  He merely tolerated it.  
	V. 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.”  The Old Testament writings, including the law books, 
the history books , the prophets, and the poetic books  had all been given to 
the nation of Israel.  The New Testament had not yet been written.  Therefore it 
might seem at first that the Gentiles were left without a witness concerning 
God.  But Paul pointed out one thing that all the world, including the Gentiles, 
had for a witness concerning the true God.  The goodness of God to send the rain 
and give the harvest was a constant testimony of the goodness of God.  God send 
the rain on the just and God sent the rain on the unjust.  He sends the rain on 
the Jew and He sends rain on the Gentile.  God’s goodness to all is a testimony 
to all of His love and mercy for all.  The Gentiles were without excuse for 
their rejection of God and their worship of false gods.  
	V. 18, “And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that 
they had not done sacrifice unto them.”  Finally--- finally Paul and Barnabas 
were able to restrain the priest and the people and keep them from making a 
sacrificial offering to them as gods.  I think that must have been a great 
relief.  

IV.  The need of man to worship

	God has placed a built-in inclination deep down on the inside of every man 
to worship God.  The purpose that God had in placing this instinct within man 
was to cause every man to worship the True and Living God.  The Bible says that 
God desires that every man repent.  God wants each person to repent and to place 
his faith in Jesus Christ and be saved.  Man needs to worship God.  He needs to 
repent of his sin to God.   Without repentance, Jesus said that he would perish.  
Man needs to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation so that all his sins may be 
forgiven and so that he will go to heaven when he dies.  
	But Satan has led some men to stifle that inward need and inward tendency 
and  persuaded them to deny the very existence of God.  No man is an atheist by 
birth and natural instinct.  Every man has the inward inclination to worship, 
but under the influence of Satan some men have made a deliberate choice to 
reject the idea of the existence of God.  An atheist is an atheist by choice.  
He chooses to be an atheist.  So every man needs to yield to his natural inborn 
instincts and to worship God.  
	But the mere worship of a god is not enough.  Every man needs to worship 
the true God.  He does not need to worship the heavenly bodies such as the 
planets of Jupiter and Mercury.  The planets  are inanimate objects.  They do 
not live.  They have no power hear and answer prayer.  They have no power to 
help in time of trouble.  They have no power to forgive sin and save the soul.  
They do not have the power to keep one safe in the judgment and to carry one to 
heaven.  
	Man does not need to worship gods that he has made with his hands.  He 
does not need to worship gods that are made of wood or stone or silver or gold. 
These idol gods may be fashioned so that they have ears, but they cannot hear 
when you pray.  They may be fashioned so that they have eyes, but they cannot 
see you or know you.  They may have hands and arms, but they cannot help you in 
the time of your need.  They cannot put food on the table nor clothes on your 
back nor make you well when you are sick nor comfort your heart when you are 
bereaved or distressed.  
	Neither does man need to worship his fellow human beings.  They are living 
beings, but they are living beings who are sinners and who need to be forgiven.  
They cannot cleanse a man of his sin so that he man stand uncondemned in 
judgment.  They cannot save the soul.  Rather they need to be saved. The one and 
only God whom man needs to worship is the God who made this entire universe and 
rules over it.  
	Man needs to place his faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  He needs to 
place his faith in the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.  Jesus 
said, “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.”  That is, no person can go to 
heaven without first placing his or her faith in Jesus Christ for salvation of 
the soul.  
	Man needs to worship God by believing in the truths of God’s Holy Word.  
In John 4:24 Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must 
worship him in spirit and in truth.  
	Man needs God to watch over him and help him even while he is in his 
mother’s womb.  Man needs God in all of the various stages of his life.  He 
needs God to put food on the table.  He needs God to give him air to breath, 
water to drink, a shelter over his head and clothes on his back.  He needs God 
to hear his prayers help him with all of the many problems that he faces every 
day of his life.  He needs God to forgive his sin and to cleanse him of all 
unrighteousness.  He needs God to produce the new birth.  He needs God to take 
him to heaven when he dies.  He will need God to raise his body from the grave.  
He will God need when he stands before God in judgment.  He will need God to 
make sure that he does not wind up in The Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  
	God calls upon all men to repent of his sin and to call upon Jesus Christ 
and trust Jesus Christ to save his soul.  But God leaves that choice to the 
individual.  	

Conclusion:

	To you who are unsaved God gives you opportunity now to trust in Jesus and 
be saved.  He will not extend that privilege to you forever.  You need to take 
advantage of the opportunity while you can.  Will you do so?
	To you who are saved, God gives you the opportunity to follow Jesus in 
baptism, to be a member of a New Testament church and to worship and serve God 
faithfully.