CAN'T STOP THIS

Acts 14:19-22 NKJV 

19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." 

 What kind of mindset did Paul and Barnabus have? In our four verses for today, we see a series of events that indicate an unusual mentality.   

Paul and Barnabus had been preaching in Antioch, Lystra, and Iconium. They had amazing results in all three cities. And they endured major persecution. They were kicked out of Antioch and Iconium. And Paul was stoned in Lystra. Being stoned in the ancient world was much tougher than receiving a negative post on your social media account. Men would pick up big stones and hurl them at you until you were dead. At Lystra, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of town supposing that he was dead.   

But the disciples gathered around him, most likely praying, and he rose up. I am not certain if he was raised from the dead, but even so, he was brutally attacked and dragged. But he gets up and goes back into the city. Back into the city?. One that Paul was able to rise. And two, that he went back into the city where they had just stoned him and left him for dead. What were these guys thinking? The last place I would want to be was back in the same city where the just killed me or at least did a pretty good job of wounding me badly.   

The other thing that is astounding to me is that after Paul and Barnabus made many disciples in Derbe, they backtracked. They returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. Again, I don't know that I would be taking the exit to any of those cities. I would be thinking bypass and find another place. But these guys had a different mindset.   

Paul and Barnabus went back to strengthen the souls of the disciples. They went back to minister to the ones that had recently converted to Christianity. They showed a complete disregard for their own personal safety and went back into these hostile areas to help the people.   

Paul and Barnabus encouraged the believers in these cities to continue in the faith. To stay and hold on to what they had believed about Jesus. There has always been a pressure that works against faith. The message to believers then and today is that we must purpose in our hearts to continue to hold tightly to what we believe. Paul would later write Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. That's a good indicator that adopting an assertive stance regarding our faith will serve us better than being passive or inactive.   

The last thing Paul and Barnabus shared was that living for God down here was not a bed of roses. Through many tribulations the Kingdom of God is entered. That would indicate some trouble and difficult times. The root word of tribulations means to crush, press, and squeeze. That sounds a lot like pressure. If anyone could speak to this, it was Paul and Barnabus. But there was wisdom in their words. The wisdom was that they were preparing these new believers to understand that living a Kingdom life would not be easy. I realize that no one wants to hear that, but to be forewarned is to be forearmed. David wrote in Psalms 34:19 that the righteous would have many afflictions, but. But the Lord delivers them out of them all. Paul and Barnabus were simply preparing these young Christians to not be quickly shaken when they met problems.   

These two men, Paul and Barnabus, were committed to carrying the gospel to the world. Their courage to face difficulties head-on is an inspiration. We can not only learn from their words, but we can benefit from their mindset and example.   

PRAYER  

Lord, strengthen me so that I might fulfill my place in Your Kingdom. With You, I am stronger than the pressures that come my way.