It would not be too difficult today to travel to Iconium, the place where Paul and Barnabus reach on their journey at the start of chapter 14. Today it’s called Konya, they even have a Hilton Hotel there now, and I suspect it would not be difficult to arrange to visit there.

But for Paul and Barnabus things would have been rather different. They arrived in Iconium after being expelled from Antioch after a powerful section of the Jewish community had stirred up trouble for them with the authorities. Yet they are unperturbed in their purpose of spreading the good news of the gospel.

In Iconium they follow their usual pattern and visit the Jewish synagogue. They have opportunity to speak. No doubt they tell the worshippers of Jesus, of his life and teaching. They tell of his death and resurrection which are not only the proof that he is the promised messiah, but the means whereby God grants forgiveness and acceptance to those who believe as his children.

As a result of their preaching, a great number of Jews and gentiles believed. But once again, there is strong opposition to the apostles. The Jews, who were opposed to the gospel, stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against Paul and Barnabus. But that did not deter them. Well aware of the opposition that the new believers would be up against, spent quite some time in Iconium, continuing to teach about Jesus.

God honoured their courage. Luke tells us that the Lord confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders, no doubt miracles of healing or other miraculous occurrences. Paul and Barnabus were involved in a very real battle to establish the truth. Wherever they went, there was usually a strong section of the Jewish community who were vehemently opposed to their message.

Barnabus and Paul however would not be intimidated or discouraged, they knew the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. So they continued to preach, and they continued to encourage those who had believed the gospel and accepted Jesus. Notice the methods Paul and Barnabus used. There was a determination that refused to be put off in the face of opposition. There was the help of the Holy Spirit that opened the hearts of those who heard the message to enable them to believe.

There was the confirmation of the gospel message by the miraculous signs. There was even an acted out warning to those who refused to accept the message; the apostles would on occasion shake the dust off their feet as a warning to those who rejected the gospel, just as Jesus had taught his disciples to. These are still the means and the methods for spreading the gospel today.

God calls us to persistently share the good news. God will honour the gospel with the working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who hear. God is still able where he sees fit to confirm the gospel by signs of his power and love. We also still have a responsibility to warn those who do it of the folly of rejecting or opposing the gospel.

We see in the story however, that the apostles’ opponents were prepared to use other means. We are told that in Iconium their opponents plotted to stone Paul and Barnabus, they opposition was so intense that they wanted to see them dead. In that situation they simply did as Jesus commanded his disciple, ‘if they persecute you in one town, flee to the next’, Jesus had taught.

We see in the New Testament believer’s sometimes taking advantage of the protection of the authorities from their enemies; but you do not see the believer’s resorting to violence to win their cause, Jesus had rejected the way of violence, and his true followers always reject it too.

So Paul and Barnabus move on to another town, to Lystra. Lystra was about a day’s journey away. It seems there was probably no Jewish synagogue there; Lystra seems to be a pagan town. It doesn’t stop them sharing the gospel there however. They preach the good news. Paul notices a man in the audience who has been crippled all his life. He senses that this man is responding with faith to his message. Paul tells him to stand up on his feet. The man does so. A miracle has occurred; the lame man can walk.

The people are impressed, but they misunderstand completely. They think that Paul and Barnabus are gods. It seems they speak in a local language, so the apostles probably do not understand what they are saying. News gets around to the pagan priest, and before long they have made arrangements and the priest arrives with bulls to offer as sacrifices to Paul and Barnabus.

When they realise what is going on they are horrified. They tear their clothes and rush among the people to prevent them from offering the sacrifices and convince them that they are just human. This shows us how much more pagans who had no knowledge of the Old Testament needed to learn. The apostles have to start from square one, teaching them about the one creator God who in his love provides for their needs through the creation. They should turn from their pagan ways and seek the one true God, the apostles tell them.

Things were not going well in Lystra, but they were shortly to get a whole lot worse. The hostile Jews from the previous two towns where Paul and Barnabus have been turn up looking for them. They are intent on putting a stop to their preaching, and they persuade the crowd that Paul is a villain. Together they stone Paul, stoning was the Old Testament sentence for blasphemy.

Paul’s prone body is dragged out of the city; he is left for dead. What a disaster. But a group of people gather around the battered body. In spite of pagan ignorance, in spite of language problems and misunderstanding, in spite of the hatred of the mob and their lies there are those in Lystra who have become believers. The fight is not lost; the truth of the gospel prevails.

Paul isn’t dead either, he revives; he goes back into the city to recuperate prior to leaving with Barnabus the next day. This time they travel a greater distance. They go on to Derbe, which is some sixty miles to the east. They are in fact now heading in the direction of Tarsus, Paul’s hometown and beyond that lays Antioch in Syria, the place where they had begun their journey; from where God had sent them out. But they arrive in Derbe, they preach the gospel and win a large number of disciples.

They have faithfully preached the gospel. It is as Jesus said it would be, like sowing seed. In some cases the word fell into fickle hearts, some who responded initially soon turned away, but with others, the message of the gospel took root and began to grow. Paul and Barnabus had done a good faithful job surely it was time to head over the hills for Tarsus and back to Antioch, back to their home church.

But they do not do that. In spite of the fact that there are a lot of angry people in the places Paul has been through, men who want Paul’s blood; Paul and Barnabus turn around and go back the way they came. Why do they do it? It is to do with the nature of the church. Jesus had given his disciples a new commandment. He had told them to love one another. When a person becomes a believer, they become part of a new covenant community, bound together by the love of Christ.

The apostles knew that those infant churches that had been formed as a result of the gospel preaching shouldn’t be left in isolation in the hostile world. So they return to each town, strengthening the believers, encouraging them to remain true to the faith. Reminding them that if you are a follower of Jesus, there will be many hardships on the way.

The apostles also knew that in any church you need those who will take the responsibility to lead and teach and care for the flock. So prayerfully and with fasting they appoint the elders that they discern should care for the churches. Notice it is not an elder in each church, there were elders in each location, the leadership of those infant churches was shared.

Then we find they committed the believers in these new churches to the Lord. Human relationships within the church are important. No one knew that better than Paul. He had a heart for all the congregations he had been involved with. In the future he would be back to visit again.

But the most important relationship is the one that we have with the Lord. There are things that our fellow Christians can do for us; but there are also things that they cannot do. It’s important that we understand that, ultimately the best thing that we can do is commit one another to the Lord, and to his care.

Ultimately faith is not about joining the organization of the church. Faith is about putting our trust in the Lord. Like the apostles in those newly formed churches, when we say the grace together at the end of our worship, we commit our fellow Christians to the Lord in whom they have put their trust.

So Paul and Barnabus return to Antioch. There is a sense of joy and excitement at what God has done through Paul and Barnabus. The good news of the gospel has been made known. God has not only inspired the journey, God has blessed and honoured the labours of Paul and Barnabus.

Although the churches are spread across hundreds of miles they are bound together in love and fellowship; but most of all they are rooted in a common faith in Jesus. They know the joy and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, but they also have learned something of the reality of what it means to share in the fellowship of Christ’s suffering. May God grant us to understand the lessons from his word for us today.

Amen.

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