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Acts | 1-8: | 9:1-19 | 9:20-31 | 9:32-43 | 10:1-23 | 10:24-48 | 11 | 12 | 13:1-12 | 13:13-41 | 13:42-52 | 14:1-18 | 14:19-28 | 15:1-21 | 15:22-41 | 16:1-15 | 16:16-40 | 17:1-15 | 17:16-34 |  18:1-17 | 18:18-28 | 19:1-20 | 19:21-41 | 20:1-16 | 20:17-38 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 23:12-35 | 24 | More Coming Soon |

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These small group Bible studies of Acts 14:19-28 contain commentary, discussion questions, and practical application. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.

Acts 14:19-28 Bible Study – Don’t Follow the Crowd

Outline

I. Paul stoned (19-23)
II. Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch (24-28)

I. Paul stoned (19-23)

Discussion Questions

• Why did the same crowds that wanted to worship Paul stone him?
• What caused this change?
• What does this show us about people?
• Did you ever witness such radical changes in attitudes?
• How can we protect ourselves from being similarly swayed by aggressive opinions and powerful peer pressure?
• What can you do to develop deep roots spiritually?
• What does this passage teach us about the dangers of mob mentality?
• How did Paul survive the ordeal?
• What would you have done if you survived something like that?
• What did Paul do?
• What can we learn from his example?

Cross-References

John 2:23-24 – Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.

Exodus 23:2 – You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice.

Galatians 6:9 – And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

1 Thessalonians 3:2-4 – And we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.

Colossians 1:23 – If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. The fickle crowds –

Acts 14:19 – But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

In verse 18, the Lystrans were attempting to worship Paul and Barnabas. In verse 19, they attempted to stone them to death. It was a rapid and total reversal. Paul had just healed the cripple. There is no record of any disagreement or of Paul or Barnabas even preaching anything that was unwelcome.

The only new development was Jews coming from other cities and slandering Paul and Barnabas. These non-Lystran Jews incited the crowds to murder Paul.

Their own eyes should have shown them that Paul and Barnabas were not only innocent of wrongdoing, but had done a miraculous good deed. Yet they turned on the two missionaries like rabid dogs.

How could this happen? Why were the Lystrans so fickle?

They had no conviction or moral backbone – The Lystrans were easily influenced. They quickly jumped on the bandwagon to sing Paul and Barnabas’ praises. Just as quickly, they jumped off.

Reflect – What does this show us about how people make decisions and even how they form beliefs and convictions?

Most people have a basic desire to fit in and be well-liked. Even babies practice social referencing. That is the process by which infants look to their parents or other caregivers for clues about how to respond to various situations. If the mom smiles, the baby knows it is safe and also smiles. If the dad reacts with fear, the baby does too.

But people do not grow out of it. Many studies have been done that prove people will often knowingly give the wrong answer to a question to fit in with the group.

The Milgram crowd behavior study in 1969 showed that when one person in a crowd looked up, 40% of passersby looked up. When 15 people looked up, 80% of passersby also did.

During emergencies, many people will wait and look around to see how others react. While they may know there is a disaster, their desire to blend in and not attract attention may still cause inaction.

Personally, I have experimented with the power of suggestion. Sometimes, when on a walk and I am in the lead, I will go right around an obstacle. Most in the group follow. Then, on another obstacle, I go left and most follow that. Do you follow the route of the person in front of you or evaluate the best route on your own?

Many people went along with transgender ideology because it was the trendy thing to do and they were afraid of standing out or going against the current. Some people did start speaking out and then many who were silent joined in.

The Bible rightly calls us sheep because we have strong herding tendencies!

Most of the crowds were likely not personally convinced that Paul and Barnabas were Hermes and Zeus, just as the majority likely did not believe they deserved death. But those who were vocal had a disproportionate influence on the rest. Once the majority seemed to be going one way, the rest joined in, not out of personal conviction, but out of convenience.

Reflect – What are the dangers of making a decision to fit in with the crowd?

People are naturally sinful and in a state of rebellion against God, so the majority is often wrong.

Exodus 23:2 – You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice.

Proverbs 13:20 – Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

“Everyone is doing it” is a terrible reason to do something. Jesus said that the broad way leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13).

Every believer should use their own minds and be equipped to discern truth from falsehood. We do this not with our own intelligence, but by accurately interpreting the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15).

The tides of culture ebb and flow this way and that. Like a flash flood, they carry almost all before it. The only things that normally survive flash floods are objects that are rooted deeply in the earth, specifically trees.

Psalms 1:1-4 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

To stand against the popular, but sinful, opinions of culture, we need to have a deep root in the Lord. We do that through Bible study, prayer, worship, and fellowship.

Application – Do not follow the path of less resistance. Do not follow the crowds. They are fickle. They do not have spiritual discernment because they don’t have the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14). When you make a decision, don’t look around first. Look to the Word of God.

That is not to say that counsel is not important. Getting godly counsel is wise. The key is to ask counsel from people who also look to the Bible and not just cultural norms.

2. Paul’s near-death experience–

Acts 14:20 – But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

To Paul’s executioners, he appeared to be dead. He was dragged out of the city and left there. The disciples gathered around, presumably in mourning and perhaps also in prayer.

Yet Paul wasn’t dead! He just stood up and walked off! The next day, he started traveling again and went on to Derbe (a 60-mile journey), showing that he did not need a long hospital stay or extended recovery time.

What happened?

The passage doesn’t say, but no other explanation besides a miracle makes sense. It would be possible to be stoned and left for dead and live to tell the tale. But being able to walk off on your own power and then continue on as if nothing happened is miraculous.

Either the Lystrans were blind, feeble, and incompetent or God supernaturally intervened to save the life of His messenger. I am going with the latter.

God wins. Nothing and no one can thwart His plan. He can make a way where there seems to be no way. If it is not your time to go, you won’t. God’s power overrides all human evil intent.

Isaiah 54:17 – No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed.

Isaiah 14:27 – For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

In June 2025, an Air India flight took off bound for London. It crashed right after takeoff and killed 241 out of the 242 people on board. Only passenger Vishwash Ramesh in seat 11A survived. Vesna Vulović fell without a parachute from an exploded jet (10 KM, 6 miles) and survived. For whatever reason, God saw fit to keep them alive.

Application – Trust in God and His timing. He controls the future. Jesus said that worry cannot add a single hour to your life (Matthew 6:27). He does not always intervene miraculously to save lives, but He does promise that nothing can ever separate us from His love (Romans 8:35-39).

3. Paul carries on –

Acts 14:21-22 – When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

The trauma Paul experienced would have sidelined most people for a long time, if not permanently. But Paul carries on serving God as if nothing had happened. You might expect that he would need strengthening and encouraging, but in this passage, we see that he is the one doing the strengthening and encouraging!

Reflect – What enabled Paul to react with such courage, tenacity, and perseverance?

Paul’s sufferings and God’s deliverance were part of who he was. He shared testimonies of these experiences to encourage others to press on. Perhaps that is why God allowed him to suffer these afflictions to begin with.

2 Corinthians 1:4 – Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The comfort and strength God gives to us, we are to pass on to others.

Application – Like Paul, we should stand firm in the face of trials and carry on. Perhaps we can even leverage those trials into testimonies that will make our witness to others even more powerful as they see that God has worked in our lives.

Can you share a testimony of a trial you have experienced and how God has used it in your life? Did affliction or difficulties ever keep you from doing what God called you to?

II. Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch (24-28)

Discussion Questions

• Where do Paul and Barnabas’ journeys take them in this passage?
• Why was it important that they go back to Antioch?
• Why was it important that they give a report?
• What did they share in their report?
• How did this connection help Paul and Barnabas?
• How did it help the church in Antioch?

Cross-References

Luke 8:39 – Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.

1 Chronicles 16:8-9 – Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch –

Acts 14:25-26 – And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.

Antioch is the church that commissioned Paul and Barnabas on this first missionary journey (Acts 13). Now the journey was finished and they returned to their home sending church.

This was important for them to continue to be accountable, strengthen relationships, give testimony of God’s work, and motivate the believers in Antioch to be involved in building the kingdom.

Paul and Barnabas were not lone-ranger believers. They were still accountable to other believers.

Application – If even Paul and Barnabas, super missionaries, did not operate as lone rangers doing their own thing, how much more should we also be accountable and connected to other believers (Hebrews 3:13, Proverbs 27:17)?

2. They report of God’s goodness –

Acts 14:27-28 – And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.

Paul and Barnabas gathered the church together and gave a report. They “declared all that God had done with them.” That must have been a long report because God had done a lot!

They had been persecuted, rioted against, stoned, opposed, and almost worshiped. But they had also seen miracles, signs, healings, new believers, and new churches. God was doing a great work and they made sure to tell the church at Antioch all about it.

Reflect – Are you always ready to share testimonies of what God is doing in your life? If yes, then share one!

Let us first be observant to notice what God is doing. Have eyes to see and ears to hear. Then let us be quick to testify of His work to those around us.

David’s attitude in Psalm 66 is a great example for us to follow.

Psalms 66:16 – Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.