The Holy Spirit, a Bible, a Passport, and a First-Aid Kit, Part 2

Acts 14:1-28

Main Idea: The completion of the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas provides us with an instructive and inspiring model of Christian perseverance.

1. Perseverance in Iconium (14:1-7)
   1. Persevere with courage (14:1).
   2. Persevere in reliance on the Lord (14:2-4).
   3. Persevere with prudence (14:5-7).
2. Perseverance in Lystra and Derbe (14:8-21a)
   1. Persevere in faithful and flexible evangelism (14:8-20a).
   2. Persevere through physical trials out of love for the gospel (14:20b-21a).
3. Perseverance in the Return Trips (14:21b-28)
   1. Persevere by being devoted to the local church (14:21b-28).

In chapter 14 the missionaries simply keep on doing what they were doing previously. This chapter contains stories of more sacrifice; it includes more examples of the Spirit at work; it notes more gospel proclamations suitable for a particular audience; it mentions more mixed responses to the gospel as well as more opposition. Paul saw these events as stories of endurance. In his last letter Paul spoke of his sufferings on this missionary journey, encouraging Timothy (who was from Lystra) to persevere:

But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured—and yet the Lord rescued me from them all. In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim 3:10-12)

In a day when many were abandoning the faith, Paul was to Timothy a godly example of perseverance to be followed. These stories should spur us on to endure for the sake of the gospel too, as we consider not only Paul’s endurance but also the faithful help of the Lord, who rescued the apostle from every trial.

Perseverance in Iconium

Acts 14:1-7

The journey to Iconium wasn’t easy. The city was about ninety miles southeast of Pisidian Antioch and is currently called Konya. Paul and Barnabas traveled along the famous Via Sebaste, through rolling countryside, then past the snow-capped peaks of the Sultan mountain range. The strenuous nature of this trip is obvious.

Iconium attracted lots of people since it was along an east-west trade route. John Stott tells us, “It was still a Greek city when Paul and Barnabas visited it, and was a center of agriculture and commerce” (Message of Acts, 228). In Scripture we see Paul’s pattern of proclaiming the gospel to large, influential cities in a region and then working outward from there.

Luke records three stages of the missionaries’ visit in Iconium. In stage 1 they minister in the synagogue (v. 1). In stage 2 they minister outside the synagogue (vv. 2-4). In stage 3, in response to physical threats, they flee to the cities of Lycaonia (vv. 5-7). In each of these stages we see a particular aspect of the missionaries’ perseverance.

Persevere with Courage (14:1)

The missionaries begin, as usual, by engaging people in the synagogue. Paul and Barnabas were very successful (v. 1). Based on the recorded synagogue sermon in Pisidian Antioch (13:17-41), we can imagine Paul telling the story line of the Bible, which climaxes on the person and work of Jesus, the Messiah.

Even though Paul was committed to reaching the Gentiles (13:46), he still sought to win his fellow Jews to Christ. Not all of them opposed Paul’s message. Also present in the synagogues were Gentile proselytes and God fearers, many of whom were also open to the good news and some of whom had at least a rudimentary understanding of the Scriptures.

What’s more striking than Paul’s pattern of starting at the synagogues, however, is Paul’s perseverance. Remember, he just left a situation where those from the synagogue attacked him! He was driven out of town. Yet here he is again, back in a synagogue. He courageously goes right into a place of likely opposition.

Have you ever known that you would be opposed for speaking faithfully for Christ in a certain situation and yet did so anyway? The type of courage needed for encounters like that comes from the enabling power of the Spirit (4:29-31).

Persevere in Reliance on the Lord (14:2-4)

In verses 2-4 the missionaries encounter resistance from nonbelieving Jews. Effectiveness and opposition go together in the missionary enterprise. Tim Keller notes this general ministry principle: “The greater the effectiveness of a ministry, the greater the resistance and opposition” (Evangelism, 117). Not only did the Jews reject the message, they “poisoned [the] minds” of the Gentile population (v. 2). The opponents engage in “anti-evangelism” with slander and false teaching. Tensions are clearly rising.

Instead of being intimidated, however, the missionaries are inspired to even bolder witness (v. 3)! They stay several months! And as they rely on the Spirit, they preach the “message of his grace” (cf. 20:24; Gal 1:6-7). What upset their religious opponents? Grace. They were mad enough to kill the missionaries over the good news that God extends unmerited kindness to all who will turn to him by placing faith in Christ. Grace tends either to give people an unspeakable sense of relief and joy or produce hostility and anger. The default mode of the heart is works-based righteousness; that’s why people generally either embrace grace or oppose it.

To some in the crowd, a statement like, “Sinners aren’t qualified to receive God’s grace,” would’ve been as welcome as a drop of poison hitting their eardrums. But in that teaching is the beauty of the gospel. Paul told the Colossians that it is “the Father who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light” (Col 1:12). No one is qualified. Yet by God’s work through Jesus, sinful men and women can be forgiven, freed, and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13-14).

Recently my son and I were traveling home and got to the airport earlier than anticipated. So I called the airline and asked to be put on standby for an earlier flight. Since I fly so often, I qualify for free standby access. In other words, if seats are open on a particular flight and I’m at the top of the standby list, I can get on a different flight from the one I booked free of charge. But in this case I had to pay $50 for my son to get on the earlier flight with me. Why? He doesn’t have enough points to merit the free access. He doesn’t qualify for the perk I enjoy.

Aren’t you glad the gospel doesn’t work like that? We don’t have to earn enough moral points with God or pay a certain price for the wrongs we’ve done before gaining access into the kingdom through the salvation Christ offers! Praise God that through Jesus we can have access to God by grace through faith, apart from works (Eph 2:8-9). This scandalous message of grace enrages self-righteous legalists.

The missionaries preached grace with great boldness (cf. 4:29-31) for an extended period of time, and the Lord accompanied their verbal witness with signs. These signs were also acts of God’s grace, authenticating the missionaries’ teaching.

These men weren’t fragile. But their determination didn’t come from their own strength and willpower. They were strong because they were reliant on the Lord. They preached about the grace of Jesus, while they relied on the grace of Jesus. Jesus uses people who depend on him (cf. John 15:5; 2 Cor 12:9-10). These missionaries are giving us a picture of grace-enabled grit that’s necessary for enduring hardship in gospel ministry (cf. Eph 6:1; 2 Tim 1:8; 2:1). This boldness and stick-with-it-ness come from the Lord of heaven and earth, who promises to be with us as we make the gospel known (Matt 28:18-20).

In verse 4 we see people divided. While the gospel unites people who would never otherwise be united (cf. 1 Cor 1:10), it also divides the human race (cf. 1 Cor 1:18). If the gospel message shared is not both uniting and dividing, in fact, you can be sure that the true gospel isn’t being preached.

Persevere with Prudence (14:5-7)

Soon the verbal opposition the missionaries encountered deteriorates into physical threats. Jews and Gentiles plot to stone Paul and Barnabas (v. 5). Upon learning about this plan, the missionaries flee to the nearby towns of Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia. Lystra was about twenty miles south of Iconium, and Derbe was about sixty miles southeast of Lystra; both towns were within the Galatian province.

In verses 8-20 Luke describes the ministry in Lystra, a “quiet backwater town” (Stott, Message of Acts, 230). The ministry in Derbe is mentioned briefly in verses 20-21. John Polhill says, “There were no other significant towns in the region, but the reference to the ‘surrounding country’ in v. 6 might indicate that they evangelized the smaller towns and countryside of Lycaonia as well” (Acts, 311–12). In these places “they continued preaching the gospel” (v. 7).

In this act of relocating, we should notice the combination of prudence andperseverance. The missionaries were brave but not stupid! In fleeing danger, they lived to preach another day. Sometimes the best way to make the gospel known may mean remaining; at other times it may mean relocating. For such matters one must seek the Father, who promises to give his children wisdom when they ask him (Jas 1:5).

Perseverance in Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:8-21a

Lystra was a small country town in Paul’s day, a frontier outpost of the Roman Empire. I like to imagine it as the Wild West. The Lystrans were generally uneducated and, it also seems, gullible. Kent Hughes says, “The people were half-barbarous.” He adds, “The Romans ruled the land, the Greeks controlled the commerce, and the Jews had little influence” (Acts, 184–85). It was, then, a much different place from Iconium. Apparently there was no Jewish synagogue there, but we do know of at least one family of Jewish origin who lived there, that of Timothy and his Jewish mother (16:1). Overall, however, Lystra seems to have consisted mainly of Gentile pagans.

The events in Lystra take place in four parts. In the first section a miraculous healing occurs as Paul commands a lame man to stand up and walk (vv. 8-10). Next, this healing leads the native Lystrans to honor the missionaries as gods (vv. 11-13). Paul and Barnabas protest this idolatrous attempt, and Paul preaches a mini sermon to the crowd (vv. 14-18). Finally, this same crowd is gathered under the influence of Jews from Antioch and Iconium, and they attempt to stone Paul to death (vv. 19-20).

Persevere in Faithful and Flexible Evangelism (14:8-20a)

We find Paul preaching the gospel in a way fitting for this audience, once again giving us a model for effective evangelism. This brief abstract of his sermon is important, as John Stott notes, because it’s “his only recorded address to illiterate pagans” (Message of Acts, 231). In the previous chapter Paul preached in a synagogue to the Jewish audience who were familiar with the Old Testament, but with this crowd Paul has to start with what they can see in creation instead of what they can read in the Scriptures. This doesn’t mean Paul ignored the Bible. Everything he says is consistent with its message. Stott says, “One can’t help but admire the flexibility of Paul’s evangelistic approach” (ibid., 231–32).

A man who had been lame from birth was listening to Paul’s words. The Holy Spirit gave Paul the ability to see what was happening in the spiritual realm, allowing him to perceive this lame man’s faith. The apostle thus commands him to stand up (vv. 8-10; cf. 3:2-10). The man immediately leaps up and walks, a sign of the already/not-yet kingdom (cf. Isa 35:5-6).

Then, in ignorance, the locals react wrongly (vv. 11-13), assuming Paul and Barnabas are gods. Initially, Paul and Barnabas don’t realize it because the Lystrans are speaking their native Lycaonian language. The wild Lystrans called Paul “Hermes,” the Greek god of oratory and the inventor of speech. They call the noble Barnabas “Zeus,” the chief god.

It’s possible that this superstitious and fanatical declaration came from a local legend. The Latin poet Ovid describes how the gods descended to this region, seeking hospitality, but everyone rejected the gods except for one poor couple, Philemon and Baucis, who took them in and treated them kindly. The gods rewarded them by transforming their cottage into a magnificent temple and making them guardians of it. The gods punished the unwelcoming residents with a severe flood. The superstitious people of Lystra may want to escape disaster, so they laud Paul and Barnabas.

In verse 13 the missionaries recognize that something is brewing as they see the priest of Zeus arrive with garland and bulls for a sacrifice. Paul and Barnabas rush out into the crowds and rend their garments. This act was a sign of mourning (Gen 37:29,34), distress (Josh 7:6), or protest of perceived blasphemy (Mark 14:63; Polhill, Acts, 315). Here the missionaries are urging the people to stop their sacrifice.

Ministers today must take note of the missionaries’ intense deflection of glory. Herod would have enjoyed such praise, but faithful Christians understand that only God is to be worshiped.

Paul then preaches a sermon to this group (vv. 15-17). The best commentary on this sermon is in 17:22-31, where Paul preaches to the Athenians—it’s another sermon preached outside a synagogue to superstitious pagans. But Luke expands the Athenian sermon for us, and we see where Paul was going with some of these themes he alluded to in this sermon brief in Lystra.

Paul’s main theme is the nature and work of the living God. The Lystrans believed in many gods and had no knowledge of the only true God, who created and sustains the world. If Paul would have jumped straight to Jesus’s life and ministry, many may have accepted Jesus as one god among the many other gods in their polytheistic worldview. Paul needed to establish that there’s only one God over all things.

Paul’s introduction includes a question: “People! Why are you doing these things?” (v. 15). In other words, he wants them to stop the madness. This reminds us of a similar scene when Cornelius bowed down to Peter in worship. Peter told Cornelius, “Stand up. I myself am also a man” (10:26). Here Paul says, “We are people also, just like you” (v. 15). Both men emphasize the insanity of worshiping humans.

Next, Paul tells the crowd of his desire to share the “good news” with them. Once again, Paul’s preoccupation with the gospel is apparent. Unfortunately, for one of two reasons, we don’t get to see Paul expound on the work of Christ. Either (1) Luke simply didn’t record the sermon entirely, or more likely, (2) the sermon gets cut short because of the mob (v. 18). If it was simply cut short, we should have no doubt that Paul was moving toward the resurrection of Jesus. He simply didn’t have a chance to finish the story, but we can see how he got there in 17:22-31. We must also keep in mind that Paul had already been preaching in the public square (v. 9), where he had been proclaiming the gospel.

What’s stressed here in this sermon, as in previous sermons in Acts—and as in the sermon to the Athenians—is the call for repentance. Paul urges the listeners to “turn from these worthless things to the living God” (v. 15). Paul calls the gods of the Lystrans “worthless” (cf. Jer 2:5; Rom 1:21-23). Paul exhorts the people to abandon these nongods and turn to the one true and living God. That’s why repentance is good news! People can know and worship the living God, instead of worthless idols, through repentance and faith in Jesus. Repentance may not sound like good news to some people, but it is! By turning from dead idols and trusting in Jesus, anyone can experience the Father’s merciful, full forgiveness; they can be set free from slavery to sin; and they can have eternal life. A similar gospel summary is stated in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians:

They themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thess 1:9-10)

As in Thessalonica, Paul longs to see idol worshipers converted, so he communicates repentance in a way that’s intelligible to the audience. Conversion requires abandoning functional saviors and embracing the real Savior, Jesus.

Paul tells the Lystrans some things that set the living God apart from worthless idols. First, God is Creator(v. 15). He may have been alluding to Psalm 146:6. Paul is definitely starting with something to which they could relate and see. And he stresses the universal scope of God’s creation.

Then Paul emphasizesGod’s goodness and providence (vv. 16-17). Who sent the rains for the crops? The only true and living God (cf. Ps 104). Who nourishes the body and satisfies hearts with good things? The only true and living God, who showers common grace on even his enemies (cf. Ps 145:9,16; Matt 5:45). In making a contrast with the harsh pagan gods, Paul emphasizes the goodness of God in everyday life. Every good thing the people had ever experienced was owed to the mercy and grace of the one true God.

Are you aware of the goodness of God in your daily life? Every time you eat a good meal, relax in a comfortable chair after a day’s work, laugh with friends and family around a campfire, listen to the ocean, watch a sunrise, and breathe in the fresh air, you are experiencing the kindness of God.

But do you talk about the goodness of God to unbelievers over meals or in other venues as you talk about the beauty of creation? As believers, we should delight in God’s goodness with gratitude and describe his goodness in evangelism.

Signs of God’s goodness are all “witnesses” from God of his existence, wisdom, and benevolence. Creation itself is preaching an ongoing sermon (Ps 19:1-6). It wasn’t God’s purpose in the past to provide specific revelation to everyone about himself and his ways, as he did for Israel. Yet God revealed himself to the nations through creation, and consequently, everyone remains accountable to God and without excuse before him. Paul develops this concept more in Romans 1, where he says that sinful humanity exchanges worshiping the glory of the Creator for worshiping created things. Consequently, all are in need of redemption.

Perhaps you’re thinking, I can’t use this approach because most people today believe in evolution. They don’t even believe in God. But we must remember that the reality of God’s existence is planted inside of every person (Rom 1). When you hear the statement, “Atheists don’t believe in God,” remember this: God doesn’t believe in atheists! When you talk to unbelievers, don’t feel you must prove to them the existence of God. Paul presupposes God’s existence in his preaching in Lystra. He starts with what is visible in creation and attributes it to God.

It seems like this sermon was cut short (v. 18). The crowd was determined to offer their sacrifices. They hear Paul preach, but they are underawed by his words.

Paul, however, would have a chance to develop his message further in Lystra at a later time, for Luke mentions the “disciples” in the town (vv. 20,22). Timothy and his mother were among those. This means that eventually many in Lystra heard the gospel and believed it. This opening scene, though, shows the challenge that the missionaries faced. But this is just the beginning.

We have no right or need to edit the gospel, but we do need to understand our audiences. We must begin by establishing a point of contact with people, and then we must lead them to the gospel conflict. Often points of contact can be made by simply observing what all humans see and experience and then working from there. Below are a few of those points of contact to consider as you work toward proclaiming the gospel effectively. Most people share . . .

a hunger for love and community,

a search for freedom,

a need to be rid of guilt and shame,

a quest for meaning,

a longing for significance,

a thirst for satisfaction and joy,

an attraction to beauty in creation, and

a love for creativity and innovation.

Starting with a verbal walk down any of these roads can get us into the story line of the Bible. The key is to know the Bible and to know people. “Wherever we begin,” John Stott says, “we shall end with Jesus Christ, who is himself the good news, and who alone can fulfill all human aspirations” (Message of Acts, 232).

In verses 19-20 we see the fickleness of this Lystran crowd and the determination of the Jewish opponents from Antioch and Iconium. A group of angry Jews traveled twenty miles from Iconium, and about a hundred miles from Pisidian Antioch, in order to persecute Paul. These guys were vicious. Many of them gave up days of pay in order to throw rocks at Paul.

Unfortunately, the opponents are able to persuade the fickle locals to join them, and as a result of mob violence, they “stoned Paul” (v. 19). One wonders while reading this account whether Paul reflected back on the stoning of Stephen, and even Stephen’s prayer for the murderers, during the ordeal (Stott, Message of Acts, 233). One also wonders if young Timothy witnessed it. This was probably one event Paul had in mind when he wrote,

Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches. (2 Cor 11:24-28)

To the Galatians he simply summarized his sufferings like this: “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).And he wasn’t exaggerating. Paul imitated the sufferings of Christ as he carried the good news to people who often rejected and even assaulted him (cf. Acts 9:16; Mark 8:34-35).

Every Christian who wishes to follow Jesus faithfully and desires to see people come to know the Savior will have to bear some measure of suffering. It’s what I like to call the missions law. We simply won’t reach people without sacrifice. Although for some reason Barnabas wasn’t stoned alongside Paul, he was also enduring many trials along this journey—his agony over the beating his friend endured no doubt being one of them.

Everyone thought Paul was dead, but as the disciples surrounded him—as a sign of love, protection, and surely in a spirit of prayer—Paul suddenly got up! Then he accompanied the disciples back to the city where the people had stoned him, and he stayed the night. This scene reminds me of another of Paul’s classic statements about grace-enabled endurance:

Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. (2 Cor 4:7-9)

Paul was struck down, but he didn’t stay down! What tenacity! And what a testimony of God’s grace!

Persevere through Physical Trials out of Love for the Gospel (14:20b-21a)

Although he was bruised and battered, Paul and the others began a sixty-mile trek to Derbe the next day. What would motivate a person to endure such physical trials? It was the gospel (v. 21)! Paul cared more about the salvation and sanctification of people than his own well-being (cf. 2 Tim 2:8-10).

Paul’s persistence can encourage us in the ministries in which God has placed us. As a discouraged young pastor, Art Azurdia once asked a pastor of thirty years, “How have you made it in ministry so long?” The older pastor replied, “You know, Art, my dad once told me, ‘Never decide to leave the ministry when you’re tired or depressed,’ so I’ve never left the ministry!” (Azurdia, “Progression by Intention, Part 5”). I love the humor and truth in the statement, but the story makes me wonder whether enduring in the ministry implies that we must live in a perpetual state of depression and disappointment. How could anyone persist in the face of that?

The thread that runs throughout chapter 14 tells us the answer: remembering the importance of the gospel keeps us fueled (vv. 7,15,21). Paul could not get over all the gospel meant—forgiveness, freedom, justification, the presence of the Holy Spirit, adoption, reconciliation, future resurrection, and participation in the kingdom that will have no end. Because of the glorious nature of the gospel, Paul couldn’t stop preaching it—even if that meant suffering. The good news compelled him.

Some Christians put off engaging in ministry, telling themselves, “I’ll serve Jesus when it’s convenient.” But when we are truly captivated by the gospel, when the truth of who Jesus is and what he did for us becomes the most important thing in our lives, we will gladly sacrifice comfort and selfish desires to make sure we help others know him. We must never get over the gospel. We must never let our affections for the Savior cool.

Paul and Barnabas could have kept traveling east to Paul’s hometown of Tarsus and then back to Antioch of Syria. That route would have been the easiest. Scheduling some rest, relief, and fellowship there would’ve been understandable. But instead of going east, the dynamic duo courageously and persistently heads in the opposite direction, backtracking through previous places of challenging ministry! In doing this, they demonstrate an amazing love for the gospel and the church.

Perseverance in the Return Trips

Acts 14:21b-28

In this final section we see the necessity of following up initial ministry efforts and are reminded of the critical importance of establishing healthy congregations. From Paul’s passion to establish churches rather than just evangelizing the masses and from Paul’s own commitment to the Antiochean congregation, we should learn devotion to a local church.

Persevere by Being Devoted to the Local Church (14:21b-28)

God has given us a wonderful gift in the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ. Together we can stir one another up to love and good deeds as we do life together and as we see the day of Christ drawing near (Heb 10:24-25). Paul knew new believers needed local church fellowship. Even he needed the support and strength of fellow believers.

Establishing new churches (14:21b-23). Notice Paul’s commitment to helping form new congregations (vv. 21b-25). Paul wasn’t interesting in getting decisions for Christ. He was interested in making disciples of Christ. So, in spite of possible danger, he retraced his steps to Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch. Making return visits to strengthen new Christians was part of Paul’s future ministry as well (cf. 15:41; 16:5).

Here we see a great model for church planting. John Stott says,

In little more than ten years St Paul established the Church in four provinces of the Empire: Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia. Before AD 47 there were no Churches in these provinces; in AD 57 St Paul could speak as if his work there was done. (Message of Acts, 235)

Paul’s church-planting paradigm rested on three foundations: (1) apostolic instruction,(2) pastoral oversight, and (3) a confident trust in God.

Regarding apostolic instruction, Paul encouraged the believers to “continue in the faith” (v. 22). The phrase the faith indicates they were in possession of a body of doctrine already developed (cf. Jude 3-4). Paul ensured that these new believers understood the basic biblical doctrines. In establishing these doctrines he not only fortified the church against heresy, but he also encouraged the hearts of believers, reminding the kingdom citizens of the inevitability of facing “many hardships” for holding these beliefs. Later, in his letters, he could expand on the basics.

Regarding pastoral oversight, Paul made sure every single local church had a plurality of elders. John Stott points out that the modern pattern of one pastor over the church was simply unknown in Paul’s day (Message of Acts, 236; for more examples of plurality of elders, see Acts 11:30; 15:2,4,6,22-23; 16:4; 20:17-18; 1 Tim 5:17; Titus 1:5; Jas 5:14; 1 Pet 5:1,5). Instead, each church—depending on its size—had a pastoral team made up of full-time and part-time pastors, some of whom were paid and others who served voluntarily (ibid.). These elders were chosen from within the local congregation. Paul later expanded on pastoral qualifications in his letters (1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

Raising up elders from among the ranks of new converts surely required Paul to spend considerable time overseeing their training, demonstrating the need for leadership development within the church (cf. 2 Tim 2:2). All believers need biblical doctrine. They need pastoral care. They need one another. Paul doesn’t make sure that each congregation has a specialized building in which to meet. Instead, he makes sure the people are built up through truth, pastoral care, and community. He equips them.

Finally, the missionaries prayerfully entrust the congregation to the Lord. Since Jesus is committed to his bride, the church, Paul can confidently rest in his nourishment of these congregations.

Rejoicing with the sending church (14:24-28). On the final leg of the trip the missionaries travel again through the rugged mountains until they reach the lowlands of Pamphylia. Upon arriving at Perga, they spend some time evangelizing the area. On their first stop in Perga, they had spent little time there (13:13-14). From Perga they go to Attalia and then finally back home to Antioch of Syria.

Verse 26 forms an inclusio, a bracket, with 13:2 (Polhill, Acts, 320). The Spirit initially directed the church to set apart Paul and Barnabas “for the work” to which he called them (13:2). Then eventually the bruised and battered missionaries return to the church “where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed” (14:26; emphasis added). The mission wasn’t finished, but the work of this trip was completed.

The missionaries rejoice with their brothers and sisters, who had no doubt been praying for them persistently. The missionaries give testimony of all God did through them. They celebrate that God “opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (v. 27).

Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch for some time, enjoying fellowship, sharing stories, and perhaps seeking some medical treatment (v. 28). While there, Paul may have penned his letter to the Galatians around AD 48.

This passage leaves me with two closing questions: (1) Do you need to look to Jesus for persevering grace today as you seek to make the gospel known? Remember, he empowers those who depend on him. (2) And do you truly love Jesus’s church? Timothy Dwight, the late minister and eighth president of Yale, expressed the proper attitude about the church when he wrote,

For her my tears shall fall

For her my prayers ascend,

To her my cares and toils be given

Till toils and cares shall end. (Hughes and Chapell, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, 89)

Such devotion to the church certainly characterized the apostle Paul’s ministry. May it also characterize ours until that day when we see the Lord of the church face-to-face.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What key lessons did you take away from this first missionary journey (Acts 13–14)?
2. What do these missionary stops teach about prudence?
3. Why do we need to hear this story about grace-enabled perseverance?
4. What about Paul’s ministry in Iconium most resonates with you?
5. What does Paul’s brief message in Lystra teach about communicating the gospel to different types of people?
6. What do Paul’s return visits teach about discipleship?
7. What do Paul’s return visits teach about church planting?
8. What does Paul’s return trip to Antioch of Syria teach about “sending churches”?
9. Why is it beneficial to have a plurality of pastors/elders in a local church?
10. Take a moment to pray for some believers who are making the gospel known in difficult places. How else might you demonstrate support of missionaries today?