Acts 14:19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city supposing he had been dead
Some people know how to read the room. They can walk in the room and know the undercurrents, the vibe, the feeling, the discussion going on before they came in. They know what is going on and therefore they tailor their message to that room. On the other hand, we distrust politicians because they are so good at this that they change themselves in order to gain followers no matter who they are talking to. We know politicians that change their accent, the way they act, their very personality in order to gain a following. I think that is pretty much universally deplored and distrusted, which I can understand.
In Acts 14 you have a man, Paul, who definitely knew his audience. He talked to a variety of people. Acts 14:1 says he spoke to “a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks who believed. He spoke in synagogues. He spoke to philosophers and so on. He knew his audience, but he did not change his message and he did not need their affirmation. What is so interesting about this is the response he got from people as he gave God’s message.
In one particular incident in Acts 14 there was a man who was “impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother womb, who had never walked.” The risen Jesus raised this man up on healthy feet through the Apostle Paul. Christ did this miracle through Paul. When that happened, the response of the people was interesting. Verse 18 says that they wanted to do sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. The people assumed they were gods and wanted to sacrifice to them as if they were gods.
Verse 19 says, “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.” So, in one verse Paul and Barnabas are worshipped as gods and in the next verse they are stoned and left for dead.
Imagine one moment you are being heralded as a god and the next you are being stoned as a criminal. What do you do in such a case? How do you protect yourself from the highs and lows of every day and keep yourself on mission and on point? The answer is that you judge your day by two things: God’s grace and your faithfulness.
As to God’s grace, Paul and Barnabas “had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.” They didn’t build a ministry; they fulfilled it, and they did so by the enabling and empowering of God Almighty. God did the work. They did not rely upon themselves but upon the grace of God.
The second thing is their faithfulness to God. God does not reward you for being talented. He is the one who gives the talent. You can hone it, but God gives it. God rewards us for being faithful. He says, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” So, today may be high or low, but judge your day by the grace of God and your faithfulness.
Things can go two ways. They can go well, people call you great names, laud you, applaud you, and think you are fantastic, and they can go badly. In the end there is only one God, one message, and one you. As to the one God. In verse 15 He is called the living God as opposed to the vanities or emptiness of false gods. God is a living God. There is only one message. Verse 27 makes reference to the message they were giving and how it opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. There is only one God, only one message, and only one you. So, know your audience, but don’t change your message. Judge your day by God’s grace and your faithfulness.