Acts: Chapter 14

Having been thrown out of Antioch in Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium. They preached in the synagogue. Verse 1 records that Jews, gentiles and Greeks believed but the Jews stirred up the gentiles and the apostles fled to Lystra and Derbe.

Having been thrown out of Antioch in Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium. They preached in the synagogue. Acts 14:1 records that Jews, gentiles and Greeks believed but the Jews stirred up the gentiles and the apostles fled to Lystra and Derbe. There was a dramatic healing of a crippled man but the people then thought Paul and Barnabas were gods and wanted to offer sacrifices to them. In Acts 14:14 and Acts 14:17, we read that Paul addressed the crowed and persuaded the people that they were ordinary men. He went on to explain that they were there to tell them about the living God, the creator of the world. He just about managed to prevent the people from offering sacrifices to him and Barnabas, when some Jews from Antioch in Pisidia caught up with them and incited the crowd to stone them. Paul was dragged out of the town, they thought he was dead! The believers gathered round him and he got up and went back Iconium before travelling to Derbe the next day with Barnabas.

Acts 14:21-28 give us a quick resume of the rest of the journey. Paul and Barnabas put their trust in God and travelled back to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch in Pisidia, strengthening and encouraging the new believers as well as introducing others to the knowledge of Jesus and the new way of life he preached. Then they returned to Antioch, via Pamphylia, Perga and Attalia, preaching the gospel message. At Antioch they gathered the Christians together and told them about the journey God had taken them on and how the door of faith had been opened to the gentiles.

This short chapter brought home to us the courage of Paul and Barnabas. Through their faith in God and gift of the holy spirit, they were able to endure the difficult situations that arose and continued to preach the gospel to people in foreign lands, spreading the news of the kingdom of God.