Acts 14:17

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. NEVERTHELESS, [ kaitoige (G2544)] - 'Although indeed.' NEVERTHELESS, [ kaitoige (G2544)] - 'Although indeed.' HE LEFT NOT HIMSELF WITHOUT WITNESS. Though the heinousness of idolatry is represented as so much less in the pagan, by how much they were outside the pale of revealed religion, the apostle takes care to add, that the pagan have divine "witness" enough to leave them "without excuse." IN THAT HE DID GOOD, [ agathourgoon (G14) is preferable to -...

− 17.− _Notwithstanding, he did not suffer himself to be without witness. _Paul and Barnabas take from the Gentiles in this place the cloak [pretext] of ignorance. For how greatly soever men please themselves in their own inventions, being at length convicted of error, they fly unto this fortress, [asylums] that they ought to bear no blame; − (35) but that God was rather cruel, who did not vouchsafe so much as. with one hiss to call those back whom he saw perish, [perishing.] Paul and Barnabas cut off − (36) this frivolous objection, when they show that God lay hid in such sort, that he [still] bare witness of himself and his divinity. Notwithstanding, we must see how these two things can hang together; for if God bare witness of himself, he did not suffer (so much as in him lay) the world to err. I answer, that this kind of testimony, whereof mention is made, was such

8-18 All things are possible to those that believe. When we have faith, that most precious gift of God, we shall be delivered from the spiritual helplessness in which we were born, and from the dominion of sinful habits since formed; we shall be made able to stand upright and walk cheerfully in the ways of the Lord. When Christ, the Son of God, appeared in the likeness of men, and did many miracles, men were so far from doing sacrifice to him, that they made him a sacrifice to their pride and malice; but Paul and Barnabas, upon their working one miracle, were treated as gods. The same power of the god of this world, which closes the carnal mind against truth, makes errors and mistakes find easy admission. We do not learn that they rent their clothes when the people spake of stoning them; but when they spake of worshipping them; they could not bear it, being more concerned for God's hono...

Verse Acts 14:17. _HE LEFT NOT HIMSELF WITHOUT WITNESS_] Though he gave the Gentiles no revelation of his will, yet he continued to govern them by his gracious providence; doing them _good_ in general; _giving then rain_ to fertilize their grounds, and _fruitful_ _seasons_ as the result; so that _grass_ grew for the _cattle_ and _corn_ for the service of _man_. _FILLING OUR HEARTS WITH FOOD_] Giving as much food as could reasonably be _wished_, so that _gladness_, or general happiness, was the result. Such was the gracious provision made for man, at all times, that the _economy_ and _bounty_ of the Divine Being were equally evidenced by it. He never gives _less_ than is _necessary_, nor _more_ than is _sufficient_. His _economy_ forbids men to _waste,_ by going them in gen

NEVERTHELESS - Though he gave them no revelation. HE LEFT NOT HIMSELF WITHOUT WITNESS - He gave demonstration of his existence and of his moral character. IN THAT HE DID GOOD - By doing good. The manner in which he did it, Paul immediately specifies. Idols did not do good; they conferred no favors, and were, therefore, unworthy of confidence. AND GAVE US RAIN FROM HEAVEN - Rain from above - from the clouds, Mark 8:11; Luke 9:54; Luke 17:29; Luke 21:11;...

EXPOSITION ACTS 14:1 _Entered _for _went both, _A.V.; _Jews _for _the Jews, _A.V.; _and _for _and also, _A.V.; Greeks for _the Greeks, _A.V. Observe how in every case Greeks are found attending the synagogue. SO SPAKE, etc. This illustrates the statement in Romans 10:17, that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." ACTS 14:2 _The Jews that were disobedient _for _the unbelieving Jews, _A.V. and T.R.; _stirred up the souls of the Gentiles, and made them, _etc., for _stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds, _etc., A.V. The Jews that were disobedien

NEVERTHELESS, HE LEFT NOT HIMSELF WITHOUT WITNESS,.... Of his kindness and goodness to them, during this long interval and period of time; for they had not the written law, yet they were not destitute of the law of nature; and had, besides, many instances of providential goodness, by which they might have known God: and should have been thankful to him, and glorified him as God, and not have worshipped the idols of their own hands; the goodness of God should have led them to repentance, and not have been abused to so many wicked purposes as it had been: IN THAT HE DID GOOD; in a providential way, to persons very undeserving of it, of which some particular instances follow: AND GAVE US RAIN FROM HEAVEN, which none of the gods of the Gentiles could, do, Jeremiah 14:22. So מפתח גשמים, "the key of rains", is by the Jews a said to be one of the keys whi

CHAPTER 14 _ 1. The work in Iconium and the persecution of the Apostles (Acts 14:1)._ 2. In Derbe and Lystra; the Impotent Man healed (Acts 14:7). 3. The Stoning of Paul and further ministries (Acts 14:19). 4. The Return to Antioch (Acts 14:25). Iconium was a Phrygian town, bordering on Lycaonia. Here again the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles. They abode there a long time, and in spite of opposition and persecution they spoke with much boldness the Word of God. Signs and wonders were also done by their hands. When their lives were threatened by the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, they fled to Lystra and Der

LYSTRA. Lystra, 25 miles SW. of Iconium, 10 miles off the trade route, in a secluded glen. Lystra and Derbe were the two cities of the Lycaonian region of Galatia; Roman influence was strong there, and Lystra was a Roman colony. The cure of a lame man in connexion with the preaching leads to serious consequences. The incident reminds us forcibly of Acts 3:2; in both cases the lameness is congenital, and the man leaps. In this case, however, faith plays the part it does in the Gospels; it is awakened apparently by Paul's preaching. Of the language of Lycaonia nothing is now known; _the_ mention of it is like a mist over the whole story. It is not asserted that Paul and Barnabas understood that language; but we know that Greek was currently spoken in the district. The recognition of the missionaries as divine beings (cf....

ON TO ICONIUM (Acts 14:1-7)...