Sermon at Beecher Island Sunday School
Acts 14: 8-18
9/30/18
by Hunter Irvine
+ Open in prayer.
= Acts 14: 8-18 reading by Howard
+ Paul heals a man who had never walked.
Notice how the man “jumps up!” He really did have faith. He had never walked, yet once healed he jumps up, I speculate with excitement and joy!
The response of the people in that town of Lystra was to think Barnabas and Paul were gods in human form.
They called Barnabas – Zeus, and they called Paul – Hermes.
Folks in the town realized a miracle had taken place, so they assume it was the work of the gods of that culture.
They quickly think Barnabas and Paul are gods.
Notice a priest of Zeus brings bulls and wreaths to sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul. This is key!
First, as we learned in Sunday school, every four years the Greeks had the Olympiad, the Ancient Olympics, which at the core was a religious festival to Zeus. During the Olympiad, they would sacrifice 100 bulls to Zeus, since he was not only a god, but a king of the gods.
Then they would give wreaths to the athletes who won events, which was symbolic that winners were a favorite of Zeus. They believed those who gained victory were favorites of Zeus.
Thus by bringing bulls and wreaths, that combination, to Barnabas and Paul, it was a conviction by that priest of Zeus that Barnabas and Paul were gods in human bodies.
~ But Barnabas and Paul were not gods in human form.
And Zeus and Hermes were false gods!
+ The truth is, Jesus of Nazareth, He was fully God, and He was fully human!
He did not simply come down from heaven and slip in a body like slipping into a shell. He was born a human baby, and could experience all of the emotions, feelings, and limitations which us human beings experience.
Jesus truly was God in the flesh! He was God incarnate.
In my youth, I was not a Christian, but I knew about Zeus.
I knew about Zeus since I was taught about the Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle at my high school, Falls Church High School, in my Humanities class. (I was also taught some about those philosophers at Virginia Tech and CCU.)
I remember Socrates and Plato talking about the god Zeus, and others.
But in studying those philosophers at Falls Church High School during my lunch hour, I did not have love.
Those false gods offered no love!
What a struggling high school young man needed was love!
My fourth year at Colorado Christian University, I took “Contemporary Youth Problems,” which was basically an adolescent counseling class where we learned details about youth struggles, and then learned methods for counseling.
During one class session near the end of the semester, the topic was depression in adolescents. The professor explained that a high percentage of high school students suffer from depression, he elaborated on the subject, and then he was giving some steps for recovery.
In that class was a really mature woman who had much respect from her fellow classmates and the professor. I vividly recall how in the midst of the discussion that mature woman told the professor about how she had suffered from severe depression in high school. Professor Koerper asked her, “How did you get over it?”
There were a few seconds of total silence.
Then the woman said, with utter conviction, “Jesus.”
That was a great day for me at CCU, because that young woman blessed me with her testimony. I was reminded that I needed the love of Jesus when I was at Falls Church High School. Not having such, even though I was able to progress from high school in various manners, deep in my heart I still had hurts from high school which needed healing. Such healing resulted after I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990. And even now where I am blessed with the love of Jesus, I still need to rely on Him daily.
Gaining His love has resulted in salvation, and blessings which can be known on my journey in this world in the midst of smooth days and rough days by relying on the One who still loves me.
+ If you are not in a relationship with the living God, I invite you to open your heart to Jesus.
Jesus loves everyone. There are no favorites with Jesus.
Jesus loves all people.
You can be in a relationship with Jesus if you believe in Him.
I warn you ahead of time there will be some suffering.
Yet receiving the love of Jesus results in goodness, and it results in eternal life with the living God.
Jesus, who was fully God and fully human, gave Himself as a sacrifice on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of people. Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death. Then He was resurrected.
