“Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel.” (Acts 14:1-7 ESV)
“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. 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. 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.” (Acts 14:19-23 ESV)
Paul and Barnabas were servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, called by God to take the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people, to both Jew and Gentile. And so they traveled from place to place sharing the message that Jesus taught which is that if we are to come after Christ Jesus, we must deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. For if we deny Jesus, and so we hold on to our sinful lifestyles, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we obey our Lord, in practice, then we have eternal life with God.
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Some people received the message of the gospel, and they believed in the Lord Jesus, in truth and in righteousness. Others may have made superficial professions of faith in the Lord Jesus, but by their actions they denied him. And yet others rejected the gospel in entirety, and some of them threatened and mistreated the apostles of Christ. Some of that may have been in the form of false accusations and leading people to reject the gospel, while some of it was in physical forms of violence, resulting in the near death of Paul. But through it all, Paul and Barnabas continued to share the gospel truth.
Now this is what I find interesting here. The unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. “So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord..” That is not a normal human response to persecution, is it? I mean, the unbelieving Jews were antagonistic against the apostles and what they were teaching, and so they convinced at least some of the Gentiles to reject them. And “so they remained for a long time..” like that is a natural reaction to having a whole bunch of people’s minds poisoned against you. But that is a God thing!
But when Paul and Barnabas learned of a plot to have themselves stoned, they fled from Iconium to Lystra and Derbe, and there they continued to preach the gospel. And there Paul was instrumental in the healing of a man crippled from birth, and the crowds began then to worship the apostles (see verses 8-18), but Paul strongly denied that they were gods, and he exclaimed to the people that they were just men called of God. But then the Jews from Antioch and Iconium followed them to Lystra where they persuaded the crowds to stone Paul and then to leave him for dead.
But, by the grace of God, Paul survived, and the next day he and Barnabas went to Derbe where they continued to preach the gospel of Christ to the people, and as a result, many people became disciples (followers) of Jesus Christ. But then what did they do? They returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They returned to the places where they had been mistreated, persecuted, rejected, had plots to stone them, had people’s minds poisoned against them, and where Paul was stoned, dragged out of the city, and deserted, for they supposed that he was dead.
So why did they do that? Why did they return to the places where they had been lied about, mistreated, hated, rejected, persecuted and left for dead? Because the Spirit of God led them to return in order that they might strengthen the souls of the disciples of Christ living in those cities, and that they might encourage them to continue in the faith and to warn them that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And that is true dedication to the Lord and to his service, when we will put our own lives on the line in order to share with others the truth of the gospel of Christ.
That reminds me of Elisabeth Elliot. She was a Christian missionary who returned to the tribe that had killed her husband two years prior, to live among the people, and in order to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people in Waodani, Ecuador. How was she able to do that? First of all, only by the grace of God, and secondly by choosing to forgive those who murdered her husband. And I am most certain that she did so under the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for this was not a flesh choice. This was a God thing! And this was inspired by the love of God for people.
So what can we learn from this? We can learn the importance of forgiveness of those who mistreat us and who do evil against us. We can learn that sometimes when we are mistreated that God says “leave,” and sometimes he says, “stay,” and sometimes he says “return,” even to people and to places where we have previously been rejected and mistreated. Why? Because God’s ways are greater than our ways, and he has a plan and a purpose for it all, for the salvation of human lives and for the strengthening of the biblical body of Christ, especially in times of great testing and trials.
So, always be open to hear the voice of God speak to you, and then obey what he says for you to do, even if it means returning to a place where you previously have been mistreated. And keep sharing the truth of the gospel despite all opposition against you. For the salvation of lives is at stake.
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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