The Bible teaches that there is only one special One, the One true and all-powerful God, who alone deserves the honour and glory. As we continue our studies from the book of Acts, we see in Acts 14:8-20 that there was a big issue over whether Paul and Barnabas themselves were to be treated as gods or whether they were actually servants of God.
In these verses we see how Paul and Barnabas were determined that God alone would be glorified for the great healing miracle that had just taken place. They refused to take any glory from God. From this story, we can learn some very important lessons about how the glory should always be the Lord's.
1. Never imagine you are God (Acts 14:13; Acts 14:15; 1 Corinthians 4:7)
2. Always be sure to give honour to God (Acts 14:17; 1 Timothy 1:17; Mark 8:36)
a. The living God (Acts 14:16)
b. The creator God (Acts 14:16)
c. The compassionate God (Acts 14:17)
3. Stay faithful to God at all times (Acts 14:19-21; 1 Corinthians 10:31)
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How would you react if you received celebrity recognition? Would you be happy to be idolised? Would you take some glory for yourself or insist on giving the glory to God? Paul and Barnabas were treated not even as stars but as actual gods. The crowds imagined that the apostles were Zeus and Hermes (also known as Jupiter and Mercury), the most powerful of the Greek gods. Suddenly they found themselves as the focus of a classic pagan celebration (Acts 14:13). At this point, Paul and Barnabas dramatically tore their clothes as an expression of their grief at what was happening and ran into the crowd actually shouting out according to Acts 14:15: ‘Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you.’ To be a true Christian we must understand that ‘it’s not about you’ as Rick Warren states at the start of his best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life. We must never be full of our own self-importance and acting like we are God. We should not live to promote our own ambitions and achievements. We should not fall into the trap of believing that we are responsible for the blessings in our lives or that we are in control of our lives. Instead we must recognise that God is above all things and that we are his humble servants (1 Corinthians 4:7).
Do you always give honour to God? The apostles not only said that they weren’t gods but quickly switched the focus to God (Acts 14:17). Paul believed that God must be honoured above all (1 Timothy 1:17). In this story they focussed on: The living God (Acts 14:16); The Creator God (Acts 14:16); and The compassionate God (Acts 14:17). We too are called to point people away from false gods of money, business, sex, fame and pleasure and give our lives to seeking first the kingdom of the one true living God (Mark 8:36).
Are you faithful to God at all times, in both good and challenging circumstances? Once the crowd understood that Paul and Barnabas were not actually gods they quickly turned on them (Acts 14:19-20). Paul was attacked so badly that he was left for dead. Yet amazingly he got up, went on to the next place and carried on preaching and as Acts 14:21 says ‘won a large number of disciples.’ Even in times of opposition and trouble, we must always stay faithful in serving God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
