Paul was stoned, left for dead, and rose up and went into the city.

Acts 14:19-20

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.” Acts 14:19

In the previous post, we read how Paul and Barnabas had the Holy Spirit working through them to do a miracle of healing. As a result, they were scarcely able to restrain the multitudes [Acts 14:18] from worshipping them as gods. The people of Lystra were on the brink of serving people as gods and using Paul and Barnabas as an example of why they should. When people are honored instead of God, the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way and lawlessness becomes prevalent. “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:44

When the Jewish people from Antioch at Pisidian and from Iconium heard that Paul and Barnabas were sharing the Gospel of Christ in Lystra, they came to persuade the multitudes of Lystra against Paul and Barnabas. That is when the people of Lystra stepped beyond the brink and into total lawlessness. In today’s culture, the multitudes of the global population are persuaded to despise Christians, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself, and the Holy Spirit. They favor the persuasion of living by the will of the beast that gives them what to speak, think, feel, and do. Click here for a post on the extinction of Christianity as described in the post on Revelations 12.  “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’” Revelation 12:17

The Jewish people from Antioch at Pisidian, who were against Paul’s teaching of Jesus Christ, were the prominent women and chief leaders of the city, as described in the post on Acts 13:49-52. And the Jewish people of Iconium plotted a violent conspiracy against Paul and Barnabas for preaching the Gospel of Christ, as described in the post on Acts 14:4-7. The Jewish people of Antioch and Iconium joined forces to come against Paul and Barnabas in Lystra. In today’s culture, the prominent women, governing authorities, and the global culture are one collective force against God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and all of Christianity. They choose to worship the creature human being instead of God the Creator.

All of the multitudes of Lystra were persuaded by the Jewish people of Antioch and Iconium to stone Paul to death. This is like the global culture of today who are persuaded to cause the death of belief in God, the message of the Cross, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The global culture does the bidding of the beast that gives them what to do, say, feel, and think.

The multitudes who stoned Paul dragged him out of the city and left him for dead. Today, Christianity is being put to death and dragged outside the social network of today’s atheistic culture and left for dead. They want the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all of Christianity to die and be driven into extinction. These are times when the culture of the beast rejoices and the followers of Jesus Christ mourn. Although we are left for dead, we will rejoice again in our resurrection from the dead, as our Lord Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” Matthew 16:20

“However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.” Acts 14:20

Assuming that Paul had been killed, after a horrific stoning by the multitudes, the disciples of the Gospel of Christ gathered around him. At that time, Paul rose up and went into the city. I believe Paul was indeed raised up after actually being dead. This is the power that God has over life and death, this is the power of God that resurrected our Lord Jesus from the grave after three days, and this is the power that will resurrect us from the grave when Jesus returns. We will rise up and enter the eternal city of the New Jerusalem.

After rising up, Paul and Barnabas went to Derbe. On this earth, our born-again experience is about the resurrection in the spirit. We rise in the Spirit to share our experience with others. Our born-again experience is the Gospel of Jesus Christ written on our heart.

On the map below, you can see Derbe where Paul and Barnabas went to from Lystra.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11