Acts 14- Please God No Matter the Cost

Acts 14 is a short but action packed telling of the last few stops on Paul and Barnabas' first missionary journey.  Take three minutes to read it.

In this chapter Paul and Barnabas travel to the towns of Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.  They experience a near stoning, a stoning and great success. There are many truths that we can put to use today from this chapter, but I want to focus on two things.

1) Please God not people.
When Paul and Barnabas get to Lystra they heal a man and all the sudden the people are bringing wreaths and bulls to them.  The people were getting ready to sacrifice them because they thought they were Zeus and Hermes.

To understand why the people are calling them Zeus and Hermes you need to know a bit about Lystra's history.  In a legend of Lystra the gods Zeus and Hermes came to town once before.  In the legend no one, save an old couple, were hospitable to them.  So, Zeus and Hermes kill everyone in the town but the old couple.  The people of Lystra refuse to repeat the legend, so out of fear they are hospitable to Paul (Hermes) and Barnabas (Zeus).

When Paul and Barnabas figure this out they ask the people to stop and tell them that they are not gods rather they are just men.  Instead of pleasing the people they told the truth and later the Jews from Antioch Pisidia convince the same people that were praising them to stone Paul.  It would have been easier to please people, but they chose to please God.  What would you do?

Truth is, if Paul and Barnabas pleased the people instead of God they would have eventually been knocked off their pedestal.  The crowd will always build up and then wait for the opportunity to tear down.  If you don't believe me watch True Hollywood Story.  Truth is, please God and He will never let you down.

2) God Never Promised Us a Rose Garden.
Lynn Anderson sang the song "Rose Garden" the song begins "I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden".  Christians, on this earth God could sing you that line today.  We often preach a gospel of ease and earthy reward, but we neglect the pain and hardship He actually promised us.

Verse 22 "'We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God,' they said."  Paul and Barnabas firmly believed that they must face trouble to run the Christian race.  Paul was just stoned to the point of near death, yet he was brave enough to go back to Lystra after the stoning.  He feared no one.

When Paul presented the Gospel he didn't fail to mention that God never promised us a rose garden; rather, he mentioned that God promised us hardships on this earth.  However, in Romans 8:18 Paul says, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."  This Gospel, the true Gospel, will achieve the same results that it did for Paul today if we have the guts to preach it.

Remember, 1) Please God not people and 2) God never promised us a rose garden.  Pleasing God is worth it even when trouble comes.  Please God in all circumstances today.