Acts 14:3














The apostle elsewhere expresses in a sentence what was the common experience of his missionary life. He says (1 Corinthians 16:9), "A great door and effectual is opened unto me, and. there are many adversaries." And we must still accept the fact that, if we will do any special work, or manifest in work any energy or individuality, we shall soon have persons opposing, misrepresenting, and hindering us. Here, in the very outset of St. Paul's missionary career, the influence of the "unbelieving Jews" is indicated, and this fanatical Jewish party persistently followed up the apostle wherever he went, trying to destroy his work and create prejudice against him. It may be said - What great things St. Paul would have accomplished if he had not been checked by these hinderers! But a deeper view of the influence permanently exerted on the Church by St. Paul's life and writings would rather lead us to say - What sublime things St. Paul did accomplish in spite of the hinderers, and even out of the very impulse excited by their opposition; for in this, too, God made "the wrath of man to praise him"! More and more clearly is it now seen that a man's moral nobility is gained, not by silent, unresisted growths, but by the steady, persistent, often imperiling, conflict with adverse influences and open foes. And that which is true in the individual life is true of the composite Church life. We may thank God that he has overruled, for the Church's permanent good, the hinderers, the opposers, the persecutors. We may consider

(1) the sources whence hindrances come, getting illustrations from the older times, and making applications to our own;

(2) the influences which hindrances may have upon the mind and feeling of the workers; and

(3) the influences which they have upon the growth and progress of Christ's Church.

I. THE SOURCES WHENCE COME THE HINDRANCES TO CHRISTIAN WORK, They have always come both from without and from within the Church; but our thought is new chiefly confined to hindrances coming from without. Hinderers are generally:

1. Persons of antagonistic disposition, who always take "the other side," are quick to imagine some evil in everything attempted, see no good in anything with which they are unassociated, and have a sort of natural horror of things that are new.

2. Or persons who have strong religious prejudices, which they feel the fresh thing tends to undermine, and for which they consequently fight as if they were the truth of God.

3. Or persons who cling to doctrinal forms or to ceremonial rites, and fail to see that God may send forth floods of new life, too mighty to be kept within their prescribed riverbanks, and so they vainly try to hold back God's floods.

4. Or persons who have no faith in the future, and cannot trust God to oversee and overrule the future, even as he does the present and has done the past.

5. Or persons whose temporal condition may be injuriously affected by the new enterprise; as illustrated by the shrine-makers of Ephesus. The phases which these hindrances take in modern life need to he carefully observed and thought out.

II. THE INFLUENCES WHICH HINDRANCES MAY HAVE UPON THE MIND AND FEELING OF THE WORKERS. Those influences, of course, differ according to the disposition of the workers. We may divide them into these classes.

1. Hindrances will dishearten and depress some. It is characteristic of some that they are sunshine workers, and give up easily when the least cloud-shadow passes across. These are usually weakly in body and nervously sensitive, and they need encouraging and the frequent kindly word.

2. Hindrances wilt keep up in some a "dogged persistency." This expression is not the most graceful one, but no other so well expresses their condition of feeling. Like Nehemiah, they simply keep on, let other men talk, send messages, or do what they will; and if they say anything to the hinderers, it is only this, "We are doing a great work, therefore we cannot come down."

3. And hindrances arouse some to new and nobler activity. The spirit of the soldier is in them, and the very presence of a foe, and the very difficulties of an enterprise, touch and awaken the noblest within them. Direct application to present-day Church-workers should be made, and the duty of resisting the undue influence of hinderers pressed home.

III. THE INFLUENCES EXERTED BY HINDRANCES ON THE GROWTH AND PROGRESS OF CHRIST'S CHURCH. Apply to:

1. Internal growth in spirituality, in development of doctrine, in practical application of principle to details of life.

2. External progress. Hinderers give publicity to the Christian Church, calling the attention of many who would otherwise not hear of it. Hinderers waken the natural sympathy of men for a resisted and persecuted thing.

3. Hinderers increase the evangelizing and aggressive fervor of the Church, and so, by means of the hinderers, Christ's kingdom steadily advances. Illustrate by the persecutions of the early Church, the history of English Protestantism, and the tale of Christian life in Madagascar. The Church may have "many adversaries," but she learns how to make their very enmity her inspiration. - R.T.

And thence sailed to Antioch...And when they were come, and had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed all that God had done.
If when we contrast the voyage of Paul and Barnabas across the bay of Attalia with the voyage of those who sailed over the same waters eleven centuries later, our minds are powerfully drawn towards the pure days of early Christianity, when the power of faith made human weakness irresistibly strong, the same thoughts are not less forcibly presented when we contrast the reception of the Crusaders at Antioch with the reception of the apostles in the same city. We are told that Raymond, "Prince of Antioch," waited with much expectation for the arrival of the French king; and that when he heard of his landing at Seleucia he gathered together all the nobles and chief men of the people and went out to meet him, and brought him into Antioch with much pomp and magnificence, showing him all reverence and homage, in the midst of a great assemblage of the clergy and people. All that Luke tells us of the reception of the apostles after their victorious campaign is what he says in the text. Thus the kingdom of God came at the first "without observation" — with the humble acknowledgment that all power is given from above, and with a thankful recognition of our Father's love to all mankind.

(J. S. Howson, D. D.)

I. THERE IS GREAT NEED IN THE WORLD FOR MISSIONARIES.

1. There was great need for them in the days of the early Church.

2. There is much more need in the present day.

II. IT IS THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH TO TAKE UP the subject of foreign missions, because —

1. The Church of all earthly things is the most, and indeed only, capable.

2. The Church itself, having received the glad tidings, ought from gratitude to make them known to others.

III. THIS DUTY, IF RIGHTLY PERFORMED, WILL SURELY MEET WITH SUCCESS. Not necessarily at first, but eventually.

IV. IT IS THE SAVIOUR'S COMMAND THAT the gospel should be preached in all lands.

(T. Newsome.)

S. S. Times.
1. It is well that missionaries should occasionally return. Their return will strengthen them, and again arouse the Churches to a new interest in the missionary cause.

2. The true missionary will report, not what he has done, but what God has done with him.

3. The true missionary will report holy God has opened the door of faith to those to whom he was sent.

(S. S. Times.)

This was the first missionary report ever presented. Of late years these rehearsals have been common. And it is well that it should be so, provided that the accounts are truthfully given and the results anxiously weighed. Let us observe —

I. THE OBJECT OF THE APOSTLES' MISSION.

1. You all know how ill any work must be done which has not a definite aim. What would a carpenter's, a builder's, a lawyer's, or a physician's work be without some end set before it? Too often in religious matters this is left out of sight. A clergyman, as it is said, "performs duty" — that is, he has gone through the public service, etc. But was that his end, or only the means to his end? A serious question. Far too often we do make these duties ends: if we can perform our duty (as it is sometimes said) creditably, we are ready to say, "I have done my duty; I have gained my end." But who does not see that no amount of labour thus accomplished necessarily implies the slightest sense of the real work of the ministry? Where is the end in all this? No builder would satisfy his employer by merely being seen so many hours each day at his work, if nothing came of it, or nothing but crooked walls, leaking roofs, etc. It is even so in things spiritual. He is not a good workman who has nothing to show for it but his toil. True, in these matters, unlike the other, men cannot by any skill or any devotion secure his object: God gives, and withholds; and he who thinks that his own labour or even his own prayer can guarantee success has not yet learned his first lesson in the school of Jesus Christ. St. Paul's object is forcibly expressed in his own words, "That ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God." Turning, conversion, was and still is the end of the ministry.

2. If this is indeed the meaning of our office, and its responsibility, can any exhortation be more needful than that which bids the congregation remember its object and so aid its work? If its end is to turn you to God, yours surely will be the chief loss and the chief misery if it fails.

II. ITS METHODS. We are struck by its unity, and we are struck also by its variety.

1. St. Paul appears to speak quite differently to the Jews at Antioch and to the idolaters at Lystra. With the one he argues from the Scriptures; with the other only from the book of nature. And how can it be otherwise if a man is in earnest? Does the physician proceed, without inquiry, to apply one mode of treatment everywhere, and expect the recovery of health, which is his object, to reward such unreasoning efforts? Even so it is with the physician of the soul. His first business is to ascertain where men stand, what men know and believe. Till he knows some. thing upon these points, he can only employ the bow at a venture. To speak to a man of salvation when he has never been conscious of danger, to offer a man forgiveness who has never trembled at sin, is to cover up the mischief instead of extirpating it, to comfort a man in his sins instead of rescuing him from them. Till the people of Lystra knew that there was one God, it was idle to say to them, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." On the other hand, those who already possessed the evidence also of a Divine revelation, those whose fault it was to count themselves safe because they had honoured God with a ceremonial worship, must be instructed out of that revelation itself as to the sinfulness of sin, as to the need and the promise and the coming of a Saviour, in the language of a prophet in whom they believed.

2. More than half the failures of our ministry arise from inappropriate teaching and from inappropriate hearing. There is a man here, as there once was when Jesus Himself was the Preacher, possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil. He comes hither, drawn perhaps by custom, perhaps by a wish to gloss over his lost state, perhaps by an instinctive longing to lull the disquietude of his soul. This man meets Jesus here. But too often it is only a hearing of the sound — something about guilt, about atonement, about the mercy of God — and the man goes away as he came; what he has understood he has misapplied; the unclean spirit is still there, soothed, calmed, lulled, like the surfeited snake till its next fit of hunger. That man ought to have been told of God in conscience before he was told of God in redemption. Till he has trembled at judgment to come, till he has cried out against himself as a sinner, he can scarcely profit, he may even be fatally injured, by the offer of a pardon which he wants not, or of a Saviour whom he will only crucify afresh.

3. What cannot be done by the preacher must be done for himself by the individual hearer. Let a man ask himself, "Is that word for me? Does that suit my case? God give me the spirit of wisdom in hearing, lest 'that which should be for my health be to me the occasion of falling.'"

III. IT HAD ALSO A CAREFUL REGARD TO THE CARRYING ON OF THAT WHICH WAS WELL BEGUN.

1. In the form of regular supervision. "They ordained elders in every congregation." He who is turned to God still needs training. It is a comfort to us to believe that our assemblies for worship and instruction had their origin in the institutions of the primitive Church. It is not the one reception of the one great truth which will secure us from the risk of falling away. The minister has to learn; and if he do not learn, his ministry will soon become a vain repetition, a barren and a wearisome form, both to himself and to those who hear him. Even so is it with the congregation. They too have need to learn in the school of God; and the services of this place ate designed to help them in learning.

2. In the form of well-instructed expectation (ver. 22). Neither our Saviour nor His apostles ever misled men as to the nature of the Christian life below — that it must be a conflict, and therefore a life of tribulation.

(Dean Vaughan.)

I. WHAT DID THE APOSTLES REHEARSE IN THE EARS OF THE CHURCH? "All that God had done with them." Not all that they had done of themselves, by dint of their own efforts, by the power of their own persuasion. Not how many good sermons they had preached, what overflowing congregations were attracted to hear them, or what unbounded applause had been bestowed upon their ministry. Nor did they make their sufferings the theme of conversation: yet they were "destitute, afflicted, tormented" (Hebrews 11:37). "They related all that God had done with them." Not what the Almighty had performed by His own immediate agency, independent of all human instrumentality; but what He had done by their hands, as the servants of His will.

1. God had by them communicated instruction in Divine things to the people whom they addressed.

2. They not only taught many: they were also made the happy instruments of leading a great multitude to believe in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. God made them the instruments of confirming the souls of the disciples.

4. God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

II. TO WHOM THE APOSTLES REHEARSED THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAD DONE BY THEIR INSTRUMENTALITY. "They gathered the Church together," etc. Let us inquire, what were the discriminating marks by which the primitive Churches were distinguished?

1. By their disunion with the world. The primitive Christians had their "conversation in the world" (2 Corinthians 1:12), and mixed promiscuously with human society, "working with their own hands" (1 Corinthians 4:12). They were not "slothful in business"; but "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11). Notwithstanding, they held no unnecessary intercourse with ungodly men, never selecting them as companions; for "the friendship of the world is enmity with God" (James 4:4). Although they were in the world, they were not of it.

2. The members of the primitive Churches were distinguished by the sanctity of their characters, and the consistency of their conduct. Each of them could adopt the language of St. Paul (Galatians 2:20). The principles by which they were actuated were faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and love to His holy name.

III. WHAT WERE THE MOTIVES THAT INDUCED THE APOSTLES TO REHEARSE WHAT GOD HAD DONE WITH THEM?

1. We may conceive that it was done to express the warm and grateful effusions of their hearts.

2. The apostles rehearsed what God had done by their means, to gladden the hearts of others.

3. They rehearsed what God had done by them, as a public acknowledgment of the obligations under which they were laid to Him.

(R. Treffry.)

And how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. —God opening doors: — He who has the keys of David can open all doors. No preacher must assume these keys to himself, but must pray that God, who only can use them effectually, will do so. And if anything is to be effected for the salvation of souls, God must open four doors — the door of the preacher's mouth, the doors of the hearer's ear and heart, the door of heaven.

(K. Gerok.)

I. This metaphor sets forth that THE SIMPLE ACT OF TRUST IN GOD, AS REVEALED IN CHRIST, IS THE WAY BY WHICH WE PASS INTO THE HOUSE OF GOD. Christ says, "I am the Door," and faith is the means of access. This faith is the outer door, the vestibule which leads to the real opening by which we enter into all the mystery and the sweetness of the Divine home. It is a very little, low door. There are a great many much more pretentious ways to God held out to men. There are the doors of contemplation, of asceticism, of ceremonial, of a self-righteous, proud, purity of life; but a man cannot get more than a step inwards if he tries them. But there is a narrow portal yonder, and if a man will go down upon his knees, and if he will leave his sins outside, it will be like one of those narrow passages with a little tiny aperture in it, where a hunted race used to take up their abode, and which widened out into a broad apartment where a man could stand in safety and warmth and home. We go through this narrow door of trust, but we come out into the large room of our Father's house.

II. The other side of the metaphor suggests THE MEANS BY WHICH GOD CAN ENTER INTO US. The door into our hearts is faith. There is no possibility, in heaven or in earth, for God to come with His blessings into any man's heart except through the door of that man's faith. You take a flask, seal it hermetically, tie a bit of canvas over the mouth of it, pitch that with tar, and plunge it into the Atlantic; and the inside of it will be as dry as if it was in the midst of African deserts. And as long as a man's heart is hermetically sealed, which it is by the absence of faith, it is all one to him, as if there were no mercy. The ocean of mercy and love is all outside of him. Notice, in passing, how small a thing a door is — just a piece of timber worth a few shillings. Yes! but if a king comes in, there is a dignity about it. Faith in itself is nothing; it is precious because it is a means by which we lay hold upon precious things.

III. THIS DOOR IS TO BE KEPT OPEN BY OURSELVES. We read of Lydia's heart being opened by the Lord; and we read of Christ knocking at the door, waiting for our opening of it to Him. These are two halves of a great truth. Lydia's heart would never have been opened had she not willed. You are responsible for exercising and for continuing to exercise this act of faith. This is one of those doors that shut to in a moment if not clasped back. Day by day we must get rid of the world's rubbish that tries to choke up the doorway, by prayer, by effort to expel the evil. The Lord stands before each of us and summons us, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in." Let us answer, "Come in, Thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest Thou without!"

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The trouble with many people is that they want to have a hundred curious questions about God and heaven answered before they come to Christ and trust in Christ. They do not act so in other matters. If a man is out in the woods at night and has lost his way, he does not sit down on a log and wait for the sun to rise, or for someone to kindle a bonfire that shall illuminate the whole forest. No, no. If the glimmer of a candle reaches his eye, no matter how faint and far away, he rejoices — he begins at once to move in that direction. The light shows that he can be saved if he will follow it. And it is so with even the feeblest shining of the light of life which reaches a man. Let him be faithful to what it reveals, and he is sure of salvation. Says Dr. Parkhurst: "Light is a sure guide, because, unlike sound, it goes in straight lines. If you were to strike the tired, diminished end of a sunbeam a million, million miles from the sun, you are on the certain track of the sun the instant you begin treading upwards the glittering highway that that sunbeam spreads out for you. And wherever and howsoever far out upon the circumference of Christ's character you take your position and begin threading inward any one of its radiating lines, you move by a line as straight as a sunbeam towards the heart and centre of the entire matter. One radius is as good as another for finding the centre. Each of the twelve gates thresholded a main avenue of the heavenly Jerusalem." The gate of heaven is not away up yonder; it is wherever we look to Christ as the Opener of heaven to the penitent and believing soul. He said, "I am the door; by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved." The gospel, whenever we study it as earnest seekers after truth, presents to us one of the pearly gates of paradise.

There are few men who would pass through a gold mine, having full permission to carry away with them choicest specimens of its choicest treasures, who would not make good use of such an opportunity. All along the highway of life God is setting before each traveller opportunities to be and to do. which are far more valuable than the richest treasures of gold or gems which earth offers. These opportunities are so many open doors which lead to the treasure houses of God, prepared for all who seek, and offered to all who ask.

(H. W. Beecher.).

People
Barnabas, Hermes, Jupiter, Mercurius, Paul
Places
Attalia, Derbe, Iconium, Lycaonia, Lystra, Pamphylia, Perga, Pisidia, Pisidian Antioch, Syrian Antioch
Topics
Abide, Abode, Bare, Barnabas, Boldly, Bore, Causing, Confiding, Confirmed, Considerable, Enabling, Freely, Giving, Grace, Granted, Granting, Hands, Heart, Indeed, Kept, Marvels, Message, Miraculous, Pass, Paul, Permitting, Reliance, Relying, Signs, Speaking, Spent, Stayed, Taking, Tarried, Testified, Testifying, Testimony, Witness, Wonders, Yet
Outline
1. Paul and Barnabas are persecuted from Iconium.
8. At Lystra Paul heals a cripple, whereupon they are reputed as gods.
19. Paul is stoned.
21. They pass through various churches, confirming the disciples in faith and patience.
26. Returning to Antioch, they report what God had done with them.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Acts 14:3

     1416   miracles, nature of
     1449   signs, purposes
     5776   achievement
     7758   preachers, call
     7915   confirmation
     8202   boldness
     8654   importunity, to people

Acts 14:1-3

     1651   numbers, 1-2
     7757   preaching, effects

Acts 14:1-6

     7505   Jews, the

Acts 14:1-7

     5817   conspiracies

Acts 14:1-23

     7924   fellowship, in service

Library
Dream and Reality
'The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.' --ACTS xiv. 11. This was the spontaneous instinctive utterance of simple villagers when they saw a deed of power and kindness. Many an English traveller and settler among rude people has been similarly honoured. And in Lycaonia the Apostles were close upon places that were celebrated in Greek mythology as having witnessed the very two gods, here spoken of, wandering among the shepherds and entertained with modest hospitality in their huts. The
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

'The Door of Faith'
'And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.'--ACTS xiv. 27. There are many instances of the occurrence of this metaphor in the New Testament, but none is exactly like this. We read, for example, of 'a great door and effectual' being opened to Paul for the free ministry of the word; and to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia, 'He that openeth and none shall shut' graciously
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Deified and Stoned
'And 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. 12. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Cripple at Lystra
There are two or three points in this narrative to which I shall call your attention to-night, making, however, the lame man the center of the picture. We shall notice, first of all, what preceded this lame man's faith; secondly, wherein lay his faith to be healed; and thirdly, what is the teaching of the miracle itself, and the blessing which the lame man obtained through faith. I. WHAT WAS IT WHICH PRECEDED HIS FAITH? That "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," is a great and
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

Historical Criticism of Mediæval Amplifications.
But along with the genuine and trustworthy matter, the compiler has embodied much that is unattested and in many cases inherently improbable, and even some things that are demonstrably untrue. i. The Miraculous Details.--To the category of the improbable--the fiction of hagiology or the growth of myth--belong the miracles so freely ascribed to Ephraim and the miraculous events represented as attending on his career. It is noteworthy that Ephraim himself, though no doubt he believed that he was
Ephraim the Syrian—Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian

St. Barnabas' Day. We Preach unto You that Ye Should Turn from These Vanities unto the Living God which Made Heaven
St. Barnabas' Day. We preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: who in time past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 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. 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7 Sollt ich meinem Gott nicht singen [130]Paul Gerhardt. 1659. trans. by Catherine
Catherine Winkworth—Lyra Germanica: The Christian Year

Whether it was Fitting that Christ Should be Transfigured?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was not fitting that Christ should be transfigured. For it is not fitting for a true body to be changed into various shapes [figuras], but only for an imaginary body. Now Christ's body was not imaginary, but real, as stated above ([4222]Q[5], A[1]). Therefore it seems that it should not have been transfigured. Objection 2: Further, figure is in the fourth species of quality, whereas clarity is in the third, since it is a sensible quality. Therefore Christ's assuming
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Of Bearing the Cross --One Branch of Self-Denial.
1. What the cross is. By whom, and on whom, and for what cause imposed. Its necessity and dignity. 2. The cross necessary. 1. To humble our pride. 2. To make us apply to God for aid. Example of David. 3. To give us experience of God's presence. 3. Manifold uses of the cross. 1. Produces patience, hope, and firm confidence in God, gives us victory and perseverance. Faith invincible. 4. 2. Frames us to obedience. Example of Abraham. This training how useful. 5. The cross necessary to subdue the wantonness
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Jewish Rejecters and Gentile Receivers
'And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47. For so hath the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Paul at Athens
'Then Paul stood In the midst of Mars-hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24. God, that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25. Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

The Publisher to the Reader.
There are no sermons I know of any divine or pastor in this kingdom, that have been more frequently printed, or more universally read and esteemed, than the elegant and judicious discourses of Mr. Binning, which were published after his death, at different times, in four small volumes. As there was a great demand for these valuable writings, about twenty six years ago; so these printed copies of them were compared with his own manuscript copy now in my hand, carefully revised, and then printed, in
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Of Bearing the Cross --One Branch of Self-Denial.
The four divisions of this chapter are,--I. The nature of the cross, its necessity and dignity, sec. 1, 2. II. The manifold advantages of the cross described, sec. 3-6. III. The form of the cross the most excellent of all, and yet it by no means removes all sense of pain, sec. 7, 8. IV. A description of warfare under the cross, and of true patience, (not that of philosophers,) after the example of Christ, sec. 9-11. 1. THE pious mind must ascend still higher, namely, whither Christ calls his disciples
Archpriest John Iliytch Sergieff—On the Christian Life

Apostles To-Day?
"Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are ye not my work in the Lord?"--1 Cor. ix. 1. We may not take leave of the apostolate without a last look at the circle of its members. It is a closed circle; and every effort to reopen it tends to efface a characteristic of the New Covenant. And yet the effort is being made again and again. We see it in Rome's apostolic succession; in the Ethical view gradually effacing the boundary-line between the apostles and believers;
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Letter xi (Circa A. D. 1120) the Abbot of Saint Nicasius at Rheims
The Abbot of Saint Nicasius at Rheims He consoles this abbot for the departure of the Monk Drogo and his transfer to another monastery, and exhorts him to patience. 1. How much I sympathize with your trouble only He knows who bore the griefs of all in His own body. How willingly would I advise you if I knew what to say, or help you if I were able, as efficaciously as I would wish that He who knows and can do all things should advise and assist me in all my necessities. If brother Drogo had consulted
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Sovereignty of God in Reprobation
"Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God" (Rom. 11:22). In the last chapter when treating of the Sovereignty of God the Father in Salvation, we examined seven passages which represent Him as making a choice from among the children of men, and predestinating certain ones to be conformed to the image of His Son. The thoughtful reader will naturally ask, And what of those who were not "ordained to eternal life?" The answer which is usually returned to this question, even by those who profess
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Holy violence
"But," says one, "do you wish us to understand, that if a man is to be saved he must use violence and vehement earnestness in order to obtain salvation?" I do, most assuredly; that is the doctrine of the text. "But," says one, "I thought it was all the work of God." So it is, from first to last. But when God has begun the work in the soul, the constant effect of God's work in us is to set us working; and where God's Spirit is really striving with us, we shall begin to strive too. This is just a test
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Phil. 1:01 the Rights and Duties of Lay Churchmen.
[19] "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons."--Phil. 1:1. THIS opening verse of St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians is a very remarkable text of Scripture. I suspect it receives far less attention from Bible- readers than it deserves. Like the gold of California, men have walked over it for centuries, and have not observed what was under their feet. In fact, if some Anglican divines had stood at the
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

Though These Eternal Moral Obligations are Indeed of Themselves Incumbent on all Rational Beings,
even antecedent to the consideration of their being the positive will and command of God, yet that which most strongly confirms, and in practice most effectually and indispensably enforces them upon us, is this; that both from the perfections of God, and the nature of things, and from several other collateral considerations, it appears, that as God is himself necessarily just and good in the exercise of his infinite power in the government of the whole world, so he cannot but likewise positively
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God

The Extension of the Church Throughout the World
A.D. 45-70 Section 1. The First Mission to the Gentiles. [Sidenote: A.D. 45.] [Sidenote: St. Paul and St. Barnabas sent to preach to the heathen.] It would seem that in the special Eucharistic offerings and Lenten discipline mentioned by St. Luke[1], the Church in Antioch was seeking guidance of her Divine Head as to her duties with respect to the gentile world in the midst of which she was placed; and that the command of the Holy Ghost to consecrate St. Paul and St. Barnabas as Apostles to the
John Henry Blunt—A Key to the Knowledge of Church History

Concerning Persecution
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 We are now come to the last beatitude: Blessed are they which are persecuted . . '. Our Lord Christ would have us reckon the cost. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have enough to finish it?' (Luke 14:28). Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution. But we see here a great encouragement that may
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Epistle xxxix. To Anastasius, Bishop .
To Anastasius, Bishop [1602] . Gregory to Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14), because that great river which once had left the rocks of Antioch dry has returned at length to its proper channel, and waters the subject valleys that are near, so as also to bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and some an hundred-fold. For now there is no doubt that many flowers of souls are growing up in its valleys, and that
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Messiah Suffering and Wounded for Us
Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: ..... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. W hen our Lord was transfigured, Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and conversed with Him. Had we been informed of the interview only, we should probably have desired to know the subject of their conversation, as we might reasonably suppose it turned upon very interesting and important
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

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