Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

6 · The preacher asserts that two distinct miracles occur: the internal work of faith-production and the external work of physical healing

It's fair to say that as Paul is preaching the gospel, the Holy Spirit is working through the preaching and in the heart of the man who is unable to walk. It's almost as though two miracles take place here. First, the faith placed in the heart of the man to be healed. And second, the actual healing. When Paul says, 'Stand upright on your feet,' not only does the lame man stand up, the Word says he sprang up and began walking. This helps us to see that healing is— this healing is definitive, immediate, and is a witness to the power of the one true and living God. God does the work of bringing the man to saving faith, and God does the miracle of making him walk.

7 · The preacher shifts attention from the miracle itself to the crowd's response, inviting the congregation to imaginatively enter the scene and consider their own hypothetical reaction before examining the actual response recorded in Scripture

So remember, this guy would have been known in Lystra as someone who was unable to walk. He was recognized daily by the people of Lystra, and so when he sprang up and walked, it surely caught the attention of the crowd in a significant way. So here's my question to you: if you were in that crowd, knowing that man, seeing him spring up and walk, what might your reaction have been? Think about that for a moment. Put yourself in their shoes. And then let's look and see how the crowd actually responded to the miracle.

8 · The preacher exposes the crowd's misinterpretation of the miracle, noting the linguistic detail that Paul and Barnabas initially don't understand the crowd's Lycaonian worship

Verse 11 in your copy of the Scriptures, Acts chapter 14, verse 11. And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, 'The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.' Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. So first, what do we see? The miracle, the crowd sees the miracle, but then they start shouting in their native tongue, Lycaonian. This tells us at this point, that's a really important detail, because it says that Paul and Barnabas probably don't understand at this point what they're shouting, just that they're excited. They see that the people are excited in response to a miracle. So then the next thing we learn is what the people are shouting. They're saying, 'The gods have come down to us in the,' what? 'In the likeness of men.' Why this phrase here? Why does it say, 'In the likeness of men,' and why is it important?

9 · The preacher provides the cultural and mythological background necessary to understand the crowd's fear-driven response

The people were obviously interested in the spiritual realm and quick to recognize this miracle as divine in some way. In Lystra at this time, there would have been a well-known legend of the gods Jupiter and Mercury, also known as Zeus and Hermes, coming to the town seeking hospitality. They wander through the town. They're saying, 'Hey, can we have hospitality?' They look for hospitality place after place after place, and person after person after person denies them hospitality until they're on the outskirts of town— Zeus and Hermes on the outskirts of town. They find hospitality with a poor couple who out of their poverty shows them hospitality. So Zeus and Hermes, like any good gods do, lay waste to their people. They destroy the village. They destroy the town. Zeus and Hermes, when the gods of the people, Zeus and Hermes, condescend to earth in the likeness of men, what happens? They bring a vindictive judgment on their followers when their followers reject them. It's no wonder then that upon seeing this miracle, the people of Lystra respond with fear and reverence. This clearly is Zeus and Hermes again in human form. We don't want to repeat the past, so let's show them reverence.

10 · The preacher juxtaposes the pagan conception of divine condescension (vindictive judgment) with the Christian gospel (self-sacrificial love)

Now contrast that story, contrast their perception of the gods of Lystra shown in the crowd's response. With the gospel that Paul and Barnabas have been preaching all over the region thus far. That is this: that the true and living God condescended in the likeness of man, Jesus, to forgive, redeem, and restore a rebellious humanity, not through the destruction of his creation, but through the destruction of himself.

11 · The preacher pauses the expositional flow to directly address new or non-Christians who may not understand the phrase 'the destruction of himself,' providing a brief gospel explanation

Now you may be here this morning and you're a new Christian, or you're not a Christian, And you're like, the destruction of himself, what does that mean? Let's look at that for a moment. Jesus took on flesh, the likeness of man, sacrificed his own life in death for the redemption of his people, and rose from the grave, conquering sin, death, and the grave for the good of his people and his own glory. When faced with his rebellious people, he redeems them. It's a contrast. From the vindictive nature of the Lystran gods.

12 · The preacher summarizes the crowd's response, noting that at the point of sacrifice preparation, Paul and Barnabas finally understand what is happening

The crowd's response seems to be born of fear and awe of Paul and Barnabas as Zeus and Hermes. It is at this point that the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas. Now Paul and Barnabas realize what's happening. They've heard the excitement and the people bring out their praise and worship. God's glory was on display through a miracle, the healing of the man, and the crowd began to give honor to Paul and Barnabas as false gods in human form instead of giving glory to the author of all good gifts and miracles, the God of all creation. The crowd throws their garland at the wrong objects of worship.

13 · The preacher presents Paul and Barnabas' decision point as a binary choice between accepting glory for themselves (with the benefit of ending persecution and gaining comfort) or redirecting glory to God (with the cost of continued hardship)

Now, in addition to the crowd's response, which is pretty obvious, it might be helpful to acknowledge that Paul and Barnabas had an opportunity to respond based on the response of the crowd to the miracle. Option 1 is this: Paul and Barnabas are being worshiped, so maybe they give in to what the crowd is chanting. They draw attention to themselves and say, like, you know what, we did do a great job healing that guy, didn't we? We are pretty awesome. Come on, keep giving us your worship. We are Zeus and Hermes. Look at us. Remember, they've been facing persecution and death threats on behalf of the gospel. Accepting the praise of the people would be like, 'Yeah, we're done with the death threats. Give us the glory.' They would have lived their life in probably lavishness supported by those who were worshiping them. And then they have another option. The other option is to deflect attention away from themselves, knowing the mission that God has sent them on. Direct the attention to the source of all truth and say, 'No, this is not our work. That healing was not our work. It's the work of the Lord. Repent of your false worship. Believe in the one true God.' What this likely would have meant is a continued life on the run, a continued life preaching the gospel, people responding to the gospel, but also being persecuted for the spread of the gospel and preaching of the gospel. The challenges they had been facing would not end.

14 · The preacher exposits the garment-tearing gesture as a culturally recognizable sign of horror at blasphemy, establishing that Paul and Barnabas' response is visceral revulsion at the misdirected worship

Paul and Barnabas— spoiler alert, choose option 2. The text says that they run into the crowd tearing their garments. Think about what you know about the stories of people tearing their garments in Scripture. There's 3 things that they tear their garments for. One is death, mourning. One is distress. And one is perceived blasphemy. Those are the reasons in the ancient world for rending one's garments, for tearing our clothes. Once the chief priest of Zeus comes out and starts offering sacrifice to them, Paul and Barnabas realize this is an instance of blasphemy. So they quickly run into the crowd, tear their clothes, and shout, 'No, it's not us! Don't worship us!'

15 · The preacher transitions from the apostles' rejection of worship to Paul's corrective mini-sermon, which establishes God's identity as Creator and sustainer, witnessed through natural revelation

Paul starts preaching, 'Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of like nature with you. We bring you good news.' that you should turn from these vain things to a living God. This God who made heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations, He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways, yet He did not leave Himself without witness, for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. In this mini-sermon, Paul is attempting to correct the perspective of the people as they— he's trying to give and draw their attention to the true and living God. Which brings us to our third point of the day: a corrected perspective.

16 · The preacher expounds Paul's rhetorical strategy: establishing human creatureliness first, then distinguishing the living God from inanimate idols, then pointing to natural revelation as witness to the Creator

Paul first makes sure to deny the perception of his own deity. He says, Barnabas and I are men just like you. There's nothing special about us. He then says, here's the good news. Turn from these vain things. Worship a living God. Paul moves the focus away from him and Barnabas and to the living God. This is important because the pantheon of gods in this ancient world were often statues and legend. They were inanimate objects with perceived value and influence. So what Paul is saying is turn from all these worthless things and worship the true and living God who is over all. He says that this God made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in the sea. As much as he would like to get to Christ in this moment, he has to establish that the gods that the people of Lystra worship are not true gods and they can know the one true God. Then to emphasize this point, he says— he points to how they can know the one true God. The things that witness to God over all creation. He recognizes that God has allowed the nations to walk in their own ways, but also for witness to himself. He references the good he did by giving rain and abundance of food and gladness. Later on in chapter 17, Paul ends up at the Areopagus and gets to give a really long sermon about this stuff, where he gets to expound on all this stuff and cause people to turn to Jesus. But right now he needs to start with this mini-sermon because he recognizes the need and attention and affection of his audience.

17 · The preacher summarizes Paul's homiletical logic: the crowd's affections must be redirected from the messengers to the message-giver before the full gospel can be proclaimed

Paul's audience in Lystra desires to see their gods satiated. They want to make sure that they don't invoke the wrath of their gods, as was the legend. Their desire, their excitement, their adoration was because of a miracle they perceived Paul to have performed as one of their many gods who was finally in front of them. So, Paul attempts in this mini-sermon to avert their affections from himself and redirect their response to the object of all affection, the one true and living God, who is the author not just of that miracle, but of all miracles. He realizes that when he establishes that, then he can preach the fullness of the gospel. Which he eventually gets to do again at the Areopagus. He has to take right now the attention from the messengers and turn the attention and affection to the message and the one who sent the messengers.

18 · The preacher pivots from exposition to application, quoting the Gospel Transformation Study Bible to frame the apostles' self-understanding, then clarifying the historicity of the account before posing the application question

Listen to what the Gospel Transformation Study Bible summarizes this big picture as: Those who proclaim the gospel must realize that they are no more than rescue centers filled with the Holy Spirit sharing the good news. Paul, being filled with the Spirit, knows and understands the big picture, his place and God's place, and proclaims the good news accordingly. So we've walked through this story together. We've gone on this journey. And remember, when I say story, this is not a fictional story. This is a historical event of a healing that took place and God's glory displayed through it. This is a historical, uh, walking through of a journey that two missionaries saved by God did, and a way that Christ built his church through the work of the Holy Spirit. So as we read this story, this account, what might God be wanting to take from us to take from his word here?

19 · The preacher identifies two primary temptations drawn from the passage: misplacing worship (like the crowd) and stealing glory (the temptation Paul and Barnabas resisted)

When I look at this text, I see two big temptations for us being walked out. One, we have the opportunity to respond like the crowd did. We have the opportunity to place our affections where they don't belong. To place our worship where it doesn't belong, give glory where it's not deserved. That's option temptation 1 for us in the example of the crowd. Or temptation 2 is what Paul and Barnabas thankfully didn't do, is to steal the glory meant for God and give it to ourselves. So let's apply this. First, identify what or who is drawing your attention from God. Let me say that one more time. Identify what or who is drawing your attention from God.

20 · The preacher translates the crowd's garland-throwing into contemporary cultural language, identifying how modern culture systematically trains people to worship excellence, skill, and greatness in created things

When we give in to the temptation to place our affection or attention where it doesn't belong, we might not be sacrificing oxen and throwing garland at Greek deities, but think about how the world shapes our affections for a moment. Our world gives honor and glory to the skillful. Performers are sought after and honored. People pay massive amounts of money to see people who are the most gifted and talented in their craft. Honor is given to the most excellent of athletes or most respected of musicians. The highest capacity C-level executive or the people who make the most money or have the most power are honored the most. I listen to a lot of podcasts and you would be astounded at how many podcasts are dedicated to the process of becoming the best at whatever it is that you want to become the best at. Do these things, just do all the things that we say and you will be the best and you will be honored in your field. The process to become the best is coveted and encouraged and sought after. The perception of greatness is worshiped and sought after in virtually every field, every sphere of modern life. Help makes us go— want to throw our metaphorical garland at people and things we deem deserving of godlike respect all the time. And the church is no exception.

21 · The preacher applies the misdirected worship warning specifically to Christian celebrity culture, offering a diagnostic test: what happens to your faith when a spiritual leader falls? The application exposes the difference between grateful appreciation of gifts and idolatrous dependence on gifted people

Think about this for a moment. Can you picture a gifted teacher, a gifted author, somebody who seems to have the gift of dividing the Word rightly but is very popular, who grows in popularity because of the way that they speak or the way that they write. They're charismatic in the way that they communicate. We have a tendency to seek out every new book, podcast, or sermon they produce. It's not sinful to appreciate the good gifts that God gives, but it becomes dangerous when we elevate these people or things to godlike status in our hearts, minds, and actions. When we create the cult of personality and worship the cult of personality, worship the messenger rather than the message that they bring. A good test of this, a good test of whether we've thrown our garland at the feet of people or gifts instead of a living God is what happens when somebody like this falls. When it comes out that the person you read or listen to or glorify as a domineering leader, or they deconstruct their faith, or it's found out that the leader you've been following is abusive, what happens in your heart? Where is your heart drawn in that moment? Do you trust in the goodness and faithfulness of an unchanging, gracious God to keep his promises in spite of the failures of sinful people? Or does your faith get rattled to the point of distrust in God because what the fallen human did in sin? Test that in your hearts regularly. We are regularly faced with the challenge of either worshiping the God of excellence, or pursuing the God of greatness in our everyday lives, or chasing the cult of personality, but these gods will let us down every time. Every time.

22 · The preacher summarizes the first temptation with three diagnostic questions, then transitions to the second temptation: glory-thievery

So an application question for us at this moment: where do you worship the created rather than the Creator? Where do you worship the gift rather than the giver? And where have you worshiped the messenger rather than the Message, capital M? We must wrestle with this in our hearts. As followers of Christ. Now, number 2, that was the temptation of the crowd, the crowd's response. Second temptation is to be a glory thief. So, our big picture question here is, or application is, don't be a glory thief.

23 · The preacher introduces the second temptation (glory-thievery) using Paul Tripp to expose the sinful human tendency to usurp God's glory

Paul and Barnabas had every opportunity to draw attention to themselves. The crowd was literally throwing their worship at these 2 messengers from God. The example of Paul and Barnabas can really be helpful to us today. Follow their footsteps. Flee the temptation to draw undue attention to the gifts that God has given you that the Holy Spirit empowers you to use. Paul Tripp says this far better than I can. Listen to what he says. Sin turns you and I into glory thieves. The original design was for human beings to live in a glorious world and exist in perfect relational harmony with a glorious God. But sin corrupted the original design, and now you and I have the desire to live for ourselves. Instead of living for the glory of God, we try to steal that glory for ourselves. We demand to be in the center of our world. We take credit for what only God could produce. We want to be sovereign. We want others to worship us. We want to establish our own kingdom and punish those who break our laws. We tell ourselves that we're entitled to what we don't deserve, and we complain when we don't get whatever it is that we want. It's a glory disaster. Now, when I read this, I thought, 'Hey, it's me. I am a glory thief. That is my nature. I am so quick in my heart to take credit for what God deserves the credit for.'

24 · The preacher uses a hypothetical scenario drawn from student life (awards, athletics, performance) to make the glory-thievery temptation concrete and recognizable

Think of the different realms of life. Let's walk through a couple of these realms as an exercise. Think about work or school. Let's move to school for a second. There's 8 to 12-year-olds in here and there's people from high school in here. You're in school. You play a sport. You are a part of a musical or a theater presentation. You have— we are at the end of the year, which meant it was awards season recently. You have opportunities to be up for awards. When you win an award, lots of people come up to you and they say, 'Wow, you're awesome. Wow, what a great job. Wow, you're so talented.' And here's what the temptation, giving into the temptation to be a glory thief might look like. Your response when hearing, 'Man, you're just so talented,' might be, 'I sure am. Thanks for noticing. It's about time somebody recognized how awesome I am.' They're like, oh man, you won the MVP for your team this year. You're like, I sure was the most valuable player, check it out. Maybe you were the soloist for the musical and everybody comes up to you and they're like, man, your voice was just amazing and the makeup was cool too. And you're like, I know, it was great, wasn't it? A right response while avoiding false humility to these things when people encourage is, Thanks for that encouragement. I'm super grateful to be able to steward the gifts that God has given me.

25 · The preacher extends the hypothetical illustration into the work world, showing how glory-thievery manifests in professional contexts — both in self-congratulation when succeeding and envy when others are recognized

Let's move out of school for a moment and let's look at the work world. We've all either been in school or work, so I think this could apply for any of us, right? Maybe the work world, you finally close a huge deal that you've been working on for 6 months. You're like, it's huge, you close it, and you're like, pfft. I am so good at what I do. Maybe you win, maybe you achieve a milestone in your job for something that like you've been working towards for a long time and you're like, it's about time somebody recognized how awesome I am. Or maybe somebody else gets that award and you're like, they shouldn't have gotten that. Don't they see how awesome I am? Now look, I have to admit something. This is a mirror for me. This temptation is a mirror for me.

26 · The preacher shares a personal story about his own athletic experience and the Lord's providential protection from pride, then confesses his ongoing struggle with glory-thievery despite that protection

By the grace of God, I went to a school, I played sports, I loved playing sports, and again, by the grace of God, our teams were terrible. I had very little opportunity for pride in those. I made the paper once for the opposing team for getting obliterated by 3 of the opposing players. It was a team, it was just like, like this, and just getting destroyed. So the Lord in his kindness allowed our teams to be terrible so that I wouldn't be able to be proud about those things. But there have been times in my life where I have been offered things or I've been recognized for things, and often the first reaction in my heart is like, yeah, I totally deserve that. Instead of, Lord, thank you for giving me the gifts, Help me to steward them well. Maybe you relate.

27 · The preacher extends the illustration into church service, revealing how easily glory-thievery can masquerade as godly service

The church. Now this is an interesting one because the church can be a realm of temptation for glory thievery. And it's sneaky. Think about it this way. What's your first response when someone compliments or encourages you for an area of service? I have someone in mind. Me. Again. Because since 7th grade, I often find myself deserving compliments for the things that I do. In 7th grade, I started serving in the church, Amherst Alliance Church. My parents still go there today, and I was serving in the nursery, and often people would come up to me and say, 'Man, you're so good with babies.' And I'd be like, in my heart, I'd be like, 'I sure am. Babies love me, it's the best. Thank you for recognizing that.' That was 7th grade. My whole life, I've had to deal with this issue of like, am I serving for God to be recognized by God, Or am I serving to be recognized by other humans? Is my desire to serve someplace because I have to, because I want to get recognized by somebody for the great service I'm giving in light of what God has done? Or like, hey, look at all the things I'm doing. Or is it in light of what God has done? You serve out of a grateful heart and your audience is one. I will tell you, I tend toward the first one. My whole life I've tended towards the first one, that temptation. I'm happy to take credit for all sorts of things the Lord is doing.

28 · The preacher uses a missions trip scenario and the 'soul winner guy' camp illustration to expose how Christians subtly shift from God-glorifying testimony to self-glorifying testimony

Maybe you've had this experience in church. You've gone on a missions trip. When you get back, you're sharing what the Lord has done. And as you're sharing over and over again, the language turns from, man, look, the Lord gave us so many opportunities. I'm so grateful he gave us the opportunities to serve in this various ways, to Man, I was able to address a ton of issues with these people, and I think I gave them hope with my amazing words and communication skills. Man, I led worship for these people, and it was awesome. They responded so well. Or like, I, man, these people don't have medicine, so I healed them with my medicine. Or like, I, and you see how this creeps? This like, this, you started giving glory to God, but then you're like, it's really easy for people to encourage me and give glory to myself. Maybe you just shared the gospel with somebody and they responded and gave their hearts to Jesus. I was at a camp one time in Michigan, and the speaker for the camp talked about a number line of dominoes, and zero was the point of salvation where the Lord caused eyes to go open. But there's people, there's maybe, let's go down to negative 5 dominoes. There's people that are leading up to that moment that the Lord is using to lead up to that moment of salvation, and then there's people that the Lord uses for sanctification. And so he talks about soul winner guy or soul winner girl being that last domino that falls. We all want to be soul winner guy or soul winner girl because we want to be at that moment where we're in the gas station and somebody's like sobbing and you're like, what's wrong? And they're like, I just want to give my heart to Jesus. And you're like, done, let's do it. And then you get to be there for that moment and then you're like, I did pretty good there recognizing that that guy needed Jesus, huh? And, and, but that's not what the Lord wants in that moment. He's been working in that person's life up to that moment. He just used you at that moment, and he's going to use a bunch of other people moving on. So the temptation in that moment is to say, look what I did, instead of realizing that the Lord used you for something he didn't need you totally for. And you could say, hey, look what the Lord did here.

29 · The preacher uses parenting as the final realm of glory-thievery temptation, confessing his own tendency to accept parenting compliments as personal achievement despite regular failures

Now let's talk about another super easy topic: parenting. Someone tells you your kids are so well behaved, and maybe they are in that moment. I can tell you, I can tell you that there is not a moment I feel more like a parenting expert than when somebody tells me my kids are behaved. Like, 'Oh, your kids are so well behaved.' And I go back and, 'Can I show you the book I wrote on parenting?' I have a 4 and a 5-year-old. That's the farthest thing from expert as humanly possible. If you are trying to write a book— side note— as a parent of a 4- and a 5-year-old, just don't. Just don't. Find somebody with like a head full of gray hair that's parented for a long time. My great-grandpa used to call you Q-tips, and the Q-tips are the ones that are full of wisdom. So go find someone full of wisdom and ask them to write the book. Don't give in to the temptation to say like, you know what, I am the best parent. Because the irony is this, we regularly screw up. And I'm gonna just talk about myself here. I regularly screw up and fail in my parenting, but I don't wanna call attention to that. When you say to somebody like me, or just anybody, any parent, like, man, you were so good at that parenting moment, we all wanna say, yes, we were, because there are so many moments that we absolutely weren't. And these are opportunities to call attention to how much grace gives us. In the hard moments of parenting. I'm happy to give the glory that people give me, to take the glory that people give me, but man, is it so much better to give glory to the one who gave us grace and gives us grace in our parenting. Maybe your kid professes faith in Christ and you're like, man, I shared the gospel with my kids so good, and pat yourself on the back for how great a parent you are, realizing God just used you as a tool. He's the one who does the drawing to himself, not you.

30 · The preacher summarizes the illustration section with a concrete application: in the mundane moments of life where we receive recognition, we have opportunities to redirect glory to God and share the gospel

Look, my hope in these stories is that it helps identify how easy it is for us to be tempted to be glory thieves. The catalyst for temptation will rarely, if ever, be a miraculous moment of healing in front of a pagan crowd that you're trying to preach the gospel to. The moments are far more mundane than that, but the temptation is just as great. God has given his people good gifts to steward well. He has given talents and abilities to his people that reflect his image. He is the giver of good gifts, and it's okay to appreciate how God may be using those gifts, but we must direct the attention of people to the giver of the good gifts, not how well we execute or utilize those good gifts. Look for opportunities to shine, the light on God instead of yourself. Look for the opportunities that God gives you to share about the giver of gifts with non-believing friends and coworkers through situations like these. Kids, 8 to high school, if you're in co-op, if you're at school, wherever you are, wherever you're with a group of kids, take opportunities to share what God has done in your life. These are— there's opportunities all over the place to do that.

31 · The preacher introduces the final application point — trusting the Holy Spirit — by explicitly naming what the sermon is not (moralism)

So Our last point is trust the work of the Holy Spirit. And we might be getting to the end of this thing and you're like, why after a sermon on the glory of God would there be an application about trusting the Holy Spirit? We didn't really, like, we didn't, like, talk about the Holy Spirit in the passage. But I think it's important to recognize that this is not a be better sermon. This is not something where I'm telling you just have to be better. It's not a message that by being aware of these temptations, you'll be able to save anyone, including yourself. There's no amount of good work you can do, No amount of weight you can lift, no amount of music you can play, no money you can make to save anything or anyone. The Holy Spirit was with Paul and Barnabas as they arrived in Lystra. We know that from context. The Holy Spirit was the one who gave the lame man the ability to believe and then to walk. The Holy Spirit helped allow Paul and Barnabas to continue to preach the gospel, to preach the good news. And the Holy Spirit is ultimately the one who sends them to their next destination. He's present and working the whole time.

32 · The preacher addresses the pastoral reality of gospel rejection, using the crowd's persistent resistance to normalize the experience of faithfully proclaiming the gospel without seeing conversion

However, look at the response of the people of Lystra in verse 18. Even after God performs a miracle through Paul and Barnabas and Paul provides the corrected perspective, the people of Lystra seem to remain unconvinced and continue in their misdirected affection. Verse 18 says this: Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them. Maybe you regularly share the gospel with people. Maybe you regularly give glory to the one who deserves it. But your people are not like the lame man who believed and was healed. Maybe the people you're sharing the gospel with are like the people of Lystra. They seem to remain unconvinced, and they continue in their misdirected affection and worship. Here's why that's okay. Because we need to trust the work of the Holy Spirit. As we'll see in a few weeks, God continued to build his church. Come back in a few weeks, we have a couple guest preachers while Ricky is continuing his sabbatical. They're doing great, by the way. And we have a couple guest preachers, and then Ricky's going to come back and he's going to preach on the stoning of Paul. After this time in Lystra, Paul gets stoned. Rocks thrown at him, and things— there it is. So they think he's dead, right? They think he's dead, and God uses that moment to say he's not dead and encourage the elders, and his church continues to be built, right? Now remember this, that those who proclaim the gospel must realize that they are no more than rescue centers filled with the Holy Spirit, sharing the good news. Christian, don't be discouraged when your audience to the gospel proclamation seems to remain unconvinced. Remember this: your job is not to save with your good gifts. It's to be filled with the Spirit, share the good news, and point to the giver of good gifts.

33 · The preacher issues a direct evangelistic appeal to non-Christians in the congregation, diagnosing their spiritual condition using the passage's categories (worshiping false gods, separated from God) and offering the gospel invitation to repent and believe

Finally, Paul says in this passage, turn from these vain things to a living God. I would be remiss if I did not address those who do not believe in our group today. If you're not a Christian and you're here today, this text presents a challenge for you. If you've not given your life to Christ, then you have effective gods that are ruling your life. You are like the crowd, worshiping and responding to false gods. You are separated from God. Without the hope and forgiveness found in Christ. But our hope today is that you would see the goodness of God, hear the good news, repent of your sins. As Paul says here, turn from these vain things to a living God. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and paid for your sins, past, present, and future, through his death and resurrection. See that God desires to move your affections from the vain things of this world to himself and join the family. To God be the glory. Great things he has done, and may I add, continues to do.

34 · The preacher transitions into the communion liturgy with a prayer asking for the Holy Spirit's help to resist the temptations identified in the sermon and to live lives that give glory to God rather than stealing it

Let's pray before we take communion together. Heavenly Father, we need your help. Help us to notice where these temptations are happening and to flee them. Give us power through the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, help us give glory to you in our everyday lives, in our work, in school, in sharing the gospel, in our families, in our homes, here at Cross of Grace. Help us, Lord, to give you the glory you deserve and not take it for ourselves. Thank you for your goodness and your faithfulness that you continue to remind us of. In Jesus' name, amen.

35 · The preacher frames the Lord's Supper as the fitting culmination of the sermon's themes, leading the congregation in corporate confession using Psalm 51 to acknowledge sin and ask for God's mercy and cleansing before partaking

Would you take the bread and the cup? It seems appropriate today that we gather at the table to celebrate the Lord's Supper. So as we celebrate together, let's confess our sins through the reading of God's word. Would you, as I pray these words from Psalm 51. Would you agree in prayer with them, with me, as I read them? Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out our transgressions, wash us thoroughly from our iniquities, and cleanse us from our sins. Let's take a moment and remember those moments and ask for forgiveness.

36 · Following confession, the preacher proclaims the assurance of forgiveness from Titus 3, emphasizing that salvation is by God's mercy through the Holy Spirit and Christ's work, not human righteousness — reinforcing the sermon's anti-moralistic theme

Hear our assurance of forgiveness. From Titus chapter 3. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

37 · The preacher gives the fencing of the table from 1 Corinthians 11, calling for self-examination and proper discernment while inviting believers to participate and asking non-believers to observe and consider their need for Christ

The account of the Last Supper says this: Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. Himself. We have just confessed our sins. We have just been assured of the pardon of Christ. If you have believed in the name of Jesus and have been saved, you are invited to participate in this shared meal. If you're not yet a Christian, we'd ask that you just observe this family meal. Search your heart. Ask the Lord what might be drawing you away from him. Turn to him. Open your eyes to his saving grace today. And come to the table.

38 · The preacher recites the words of institution, administers the elements, and concludes by framing communion as proclamation of Christ's saving death until his return

The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it. He gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take, eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' Let's take the bread. In the same way, he, Jesus, took the cup, saying, this cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Let's take the cup. Every time you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord until he comes. With thanksgiving, would you stand? As we offer our praise to the Lord, we declare what gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer. He is the object of our affection, of our hope, of our glorification. So let's declare that the world not see us, but Christ in us.