Acts 14:6

Notice that God does not expect Christians to die as soon as possible. One's faithfulness or courage is not suspect when they simply decide to move on to the next town. "It is not wrong to flee when your life is in danger, and when by staying you can do no more good. There is not any reason for sticking your neck in the guillotine unless you are forced to do it. God expects us to preserve ourselves unless truth, honesty, and integrity are involved" (Reese p. 501). "The cities of Lycanonia" "Lycanonia was one of the ethnic provinces of Asia Minor in pre-Roman times. In Roman times, it was incorporated into the area called Southern Galatia" (Reese p. 501). Critics of the Bible in times past accused Luke here of inaccuracy, for they claimed that Iconium was also. city of Lycanonia and that no border existed between these cities. But British scholar William Ramsay has noted that while Iconium was Lycaonian earlier and later again, Luke's statement was accurate at the period when Paul visited this area and it was accurate at no other time except between 37 and 72 A.D. (St. Paul the Traveller, pp. 110-111). Some have wondered by Paul selected these cities, because neither town had. large population. Ramsay refers to them as. "quiet backwater". Perhaps they were. temporary refuge, and people in any town need the gospel. "Lystra" Was situated about 40 miles SE of Iconium, and Derbe was about 20 miles farther to the east. The location of Lystra was positively identified in 1885. Augustus had made it. Roman Colony in. AD The site of Derbe was identified in 1956. "The surrounding region" Paul preached in these cities and in the countryside and surrounding villages as well.