Jesus was the door of faith

JESUS WAS THE DOOR OF FAITH
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Acts 14:27 27
On arrivingthere, they gathered the
church together and reported all that God had done
through them and how he had opened a door of faith
to the Gentiles.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
"the DoorOf Faith."
Acts 14:27
W. ClarksonWhen may it be said that God has "openedthe door of faith"
through which men may enter? This is true, as describedin the text when -
I. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS FIRST PRESENTEDTO THOSE WHO
HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UP IN SOME FORM OF ERROR. It was opened,
through the hand of Paul, to the Gentiles, and multitudes enteredin thereat.
This may be said when -
II. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS TAUGHT TO CHILDREN. Then it is
gradually widened as their intelligence opens;it is not long before it is
sufficiently open for the soul to pass through and hold intimate and living
converse with the Divine Friend.
III. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS FIRST PRESENTED TO THE MIND IN
AN APPRECIABLE FORM. Always essentiallyand fundamentally the same,
the truth may be representedin such form as to be wholly inappreciable by
some minds; but, on the other hand, it may be unfolded in such wise as exactly
to meet the needs and satisfythe cravings of the soul. Then there is an opening
through which the satisfiedintellect can pass, and where the soul may feed
and be sustained. Or when -
IV. THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS FIRST URGED ON THE CONSCIENCE
WITH DIVINE POWER. Whenall material considerations Rink into

insignificance and the soul feels, profoundly, that the living truth of God as
revealedin Jesus Christ is the one supreme and sovereignthing, then the door
is opened wide, through which the soulshould pass without delay, for on the
inner side of it is
(1) rectitude,
(2) peace,
(3) usefulness,
(4) eternal life. - C.
Biblical Illustrator
And thence sailed to Antioch...And when they were come, and had gathered
the Church together, they rehearsedall that God had done.
Acts 14:26-28
Apostles and Crusaders at Antioch
J. S. Howson, D. D.If when we contrastthe voyage of Paul and Barnabas
across the bay of Attalia with the voyage of those who sailedover the same
waters elevencenturies later, our minds are powerfully drawn towards the
pure days of early Christianity, when the powerof faith made human
weakness irresistiblystrong, the same thoughts are not less forcibly presented
when we contrastthe reception of the Crusaders at Antioch with the reception
of the apostles in the same city. We are told that Raymond, "Prince of
Antioch," waited with much expectationfor the arrival of the French king;
and that when he heard of his landing at Seleucia he gatheredtogetherall the
nobles and chief men of the people and went out to meet him, and brought
him into Antioch with much pomp and magnificence, showing him all
reverence and homage, in the midst of a greatassemblage ofthe clergyand
people. All that Luke tells us of the receptionof the apostles aftertheir
victorious campaignis what he says in the text. Thus the kingdom of God
came at the first "without observation" — with the humble acknowledgment
that all power is given from above, and with a thankful recognitionof our
Father's love to all mankind.
(J. S. Howson, D. D.)
Missionaryenterprises

T. Newsome.I. THERE IS GREAT NEED IN THE WORLD FOR
MISSIONARIES.
1. There was greatneed for them in the days of the early Church.
2. There is much more need in the present day.
II. IT IS THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH TO TAKE UP the subject of foreign
missions, because —
1. The Church of all earthly things is the most, and indeed only, capable.
2. The Church itself, having receivedthe glad tidings, ought from gratitude to
make them known to others.
III. THIS DUTY, IF RIGHTLY PERFORMED, WILL SURELY MEET
WITH SUCCESS.Notnecessarilyat first, but eventually.
IV. IT IS THE SAVIOUR'S COMMAND THAT the gospelshould be
preachedin all lands.
(T. Newsome.)
Missionaryreports
S. S. Times.1. It is well that missionaries should occasionallyreturn. Their
return will strengthen them, and againarouse the Churches to a new interest
in the missionary cause.
2. The true missionary will report, not what he has done, but what God has
done with him.
3. The true missionary will report holy God has opened the door of faith to
those to whom he was sent.
(S. S. Times.)
The report of the mission
DeanVaughan.This was the first missionaryreport ever presented. Of late
years these rehearsals have been common. And it is well that it should be so,
provided that the accounts are truthfully given and the results anxiously
weighed. Let us observe —
I. THE OBJECTOF THE APOSTLES'MISSION.
1. You all know how ill any work must be done which has not a definite aim.
What would a carpenter's, a builder's, a lawyer's, or a physician's work be
without some end setbefore it? Too often in religious matters this is left out of
sight. A clergyman, as it is said, "performs duty" — that is, he has gone
through the public service, etc. But was that his end, or only the means to his

end? A serious question. Fartoo often we do make these duties ends: if we can
perform our duty (as it is sometimes said) creditably, we are ready to say, "I
have done my duty; I have gainedmy end." But who does not see that no
amount of labour thus accomplishednecessarilyimplies the slightestsense of
the realwork of the ministry? Where is the end in all this? No builder would
satisfy his employer by merely being seenso many hours eachday at his work,
if nothing came of it, or nothing but crookedwalls, leaking roofs, etc. It is even
so in things spiritual. He is not a goodworkman who has nothing to show for
it but his toil. True, in these matters, unlike the other, men cannot by any skill
or any devotion secure his object: God gives, and withholds; and he who
thinks that his own labour or even his own prayer canguarantee successhas
not yet learned his first lessonin the schoolofJesus Christ. St. Paul's objectis
forcibly expressedin his own words, "That ye should turn from these vanities
unto the living God." Turning, conversion, was and still is the end of the
ministry.
2. If this is indeed the meaning of our office, and its responsibility, can any
exhortation be more needful than that which bids the congregationremember
its object and so aid its work? If its end is to turn you to God, yours surely will
be the chief loss and the chief misery if it fails.
II. ITS METHODS. We are struck by its unity, and we are struck also by its
variety.
1. St. Paul appears to speak quite differently to the Jews atAntioch and to the
idolaters at Lystra. With the one he argues from the Scriptures;with the
other only from the book of nature. And how can it be otherwise if a man is in
earnest? Doesthe physician proceed, without inquiry, to apply one mode of
treatment everywhere, and expectthe recoveryof health, which is his object,
to reward such unreasoning efforts? Even so it is with the physician of the
soul. His first business is to ascertainwhere men stand, what men know and
believe. Till he knows some. thing upon these points, he canonly employ the
bow at a venture. To speak to a man of salvationwhen he has never been
conscious ofdanger, to offer a man forgiveness who has never trembled at sin,
is to cover up the mischief insteadof extirpating it, to comfort a man in his
sins instead of rescuing him from them. Till the people of Lystra knew that
there was one God, it was idle to say to them, "Beholdthe Lamb of God,
which taketh awaythe sin of the world." On the other hand, those who
already possessedthe evidence also of a Divine revelation, those whose fault it
was to count themselves safe because they had honoured God with a
ceremonialworship, must be instructed out of that revelation itself as to the

sinfulness of sin, as to the need and the promise and the coming of a Saviour,
in the language ofa prophet in whom they believed.
2. More than half the failures of our ministry arise from inappropriate
teaching and from inappropriate hearing. There is a man here, as there once
was when Jesus Himself was the Preacher, possessedby the spirit of an
unclean devil. He comes hither, drawn perhaps by custom, perhaps by a wish
to gloss overhis loststate, perhaps by an instinctive longing to lull the
disquietude of his soul. This man meets Jesus here. But too often it is only a
hearing of the sound — something about guilt, about atonement, about the
mercy of God — and the man goes awayas he came;what he has understood
he has misapplied; the unclean spirit is still there, soothed, calmed, lulled, like
the surfeited snake till its next fit of hunger. That man ought to have been told
of God in consciencebefore he was told of God in redemption. Till he has
trembled at judgment to come, till he has cried out againsthimself as a sinner,
he can scarcelyprofit, he may even be fatally injured, by the offer of a pardon
which he wants not, or of a Saviour whom he will only crucify afresh.
3. What cannot be done by the preachermust be done for himself by the
individual hearer. Let a man ask himself, "Is that word for me? Does that suit
my case?Godgive me the spirit of wisdom in hearing, lest'that which should
be for my health be to me the occasionoffalling.'"
III. IT HAD ALSO A CAREFUL REGARD TO THE CARRYING ON OF
THAT WHICH WAS WELL BEGUN.
1. In the form of regular supervision. "They ordained elders in every
congregation." He who is turned to God still needs training. It is a comfort to
us to believe that our assemblies forworship and instruction had their origin
in the institutions of the primitive Church. It is not the one receptionof the
one greattruth which will secure us from the risk of falling away. The
minister has to learn; and if he do not learn, his ministry will soonbecome a
vain repetition, a barren and a wearisome form, both to himself and to those
who hear him. Even so is it with the congregation. Theytoo have need to learn
in the schoolof God; and the services ofthis place ate designedto help them in
learning.
2. In the form of well-instructed expectation(ver. 22). Neither our Saviour nor
His apostles evermisled men as to the nature of the Christian life below —
that it must be a conflict, and therefore a life of tribulation.
(DeanVaughan.)
Apostolic rehearsal

R. Treffry., K. Gerok.I. WHAT DID THE APOSTLES REHEARSE IN THE
EARS OF THE CHURCH? "All that God had done with them." Not all that
they had done of themselves, by dint of their own efforts, by the powerof their
own persuasion. Nothow many goodsermons they had preached, what
overflowing congregations were attractedto hear them, or what unbounded
applause had been bestowedupon their ministry. Nor did they make their
sufferings the theme of conversation:yet they were "destitute, afflicted,
tormented" (Hebrews 11:37). "Theyrelated all that God had done with
them." Not what the Almighty had performed by His own immediate agency,
independent of all human instrumentality; but what He had done by their
hands, as the servants of His will.
1. God had by them communicated instruction in Divine things to the people
whom they addressed.
2. They not only taught many: they were also made the happy instruments of
leading a greatmultitude to believe in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. God made them the instruments of confirming the souls of the disciples.
4. God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
II. TO WHOM THE APOSTLES REHEARSEDTHE THINGS WHICH
GOD HAD DONE BY THEIR INSTRUMENTALITY. "Theygatheredthe
Church together," etc. Let us inquire, what were the discriminating marks by
which the primitive Churches were distinguished?
1. By their disunion with the world. The primitive Christians had their
"conversationin the world" (2 Corinthians 1:12), and mixed promiscuously
with human society, "working withtheir own hands" (1 Corinthians 4:12).
They were not "slothful in business";but "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord"
(Romans 12:11). Notwithstanding, they held no unnecessaryintercourse with
ungodly men, never selecting them as companions; for "the friendship of the
world is enmity with God" (James 4:4). Although they were in the world, they
were not of it.
2. The members of the primitive Churches were distinguished by the sanctity
of their characters, andthe consistencyoftheir conduct. Eachof them could
adopt the language ofSt. Paul (Galatians 2:20). The principles by which they
were actuatedwere faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and love to His holy name.
III. WHAT WERE THE MOTIVES THAT INDUCED THE APOSTLES TO
REHEARSE WHAT GOD HAD DONE WITH THEM?
1. We may conceive that it was done to express the warm and grateful
effusions of their hearts.

2. The apostles rehearsedwhatGod had done by their means, to gladden the
hearts of others.
3. They rehearsedwhatGod had done by them, as a public acknowledgment
of the obligations under which they were laid to Him.
(R. Treffry.)
And how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. —God opening
doors: — He who has the keys of David can open all doors. No preachermust
assume these keys to himself, but must pray that God, who only canuse them
effectually, will do so. And if anything is to be effectedfor the salvation of
souls, God must open four doors — the door of the preacher's mouth, the
doors of the hearer's ear and heart, the door of heaven.
(K. Gerok.)
The door of faith
A. Maclaren, D. D.I. This metaphor sets forth that THE SIMPLE ACT OF
TRUST IN GOD, AS REVEALED IN CHRIST, IS THE WAY BY WHICH
WE PASS INTO THE HOUSE OF GOD. Christ says, "I am the Door," and
faith is the means of access. This faith is the outer door, the vestibule which
leads to the real opening by which we enter into all the mystery and the
sweetness ofthe Divine home. It is a very little, low door. There are a great
many much more pretentious ways to God held out to men. There are the
doors of contemplation, of asceticism, ofceremonial, ofa self-righteous,
proud, purity of life; but a man cannot getmore than a stepinwards if he tries
them. But there is a narrow portal yonder, and if a man will go down upon his
knees, and if he will leave his sins outside, it will be like one of those narrow
passageswith a little tiny aperture in it, where a hunted race used to take up
their abode, and which widened out into a broad apartment where a man
could stand in safetyand warmth and home. We go through this narrow door
of trust, but we come out into the large room of our Father's house.
II. The other side of the metaphor suggestsTHE MEANS BY WHICH GOD
CAN ENTER INTO US. The door into our hearts is faith. There is no
possibility, in heavenor in earth, for God to come with His blessings into any
man's heart exceptthrough the door of that man's faith. You take a flask, seal
it hermetically, tie a bit of canvas over the mouth of it, pitch that with tar, and
plunge it into the Atlantic; and the inside of it will be as dry as if it was in the
midst of African deserts. And as long as a man's heart is hermetically sealed,
which it is by the absence offaith, it is all one to him, as if there were no
mercy. The oceanofmercy and love is all outside of him. Notice, in passing,
how small a thing a door is — just a piece of timber worth a few shillings. Yes!

but if a king comes in, there is a dignity about it. Faith in itself is nothing; it is
precious because it is a means by which we lay hold upon precious things.
III. THIS DOOR IS TO BE KEPT OPEN BY OURSELVES. We read of
Lydia's heart being opened by the Lord; and we read of Christ knocking at
the door, waiting for our opening of it to Him. These are two halves of a great
truth. Lydia's heart would never have been openedhad she not willed. You
are responsible for exercising and for continuing to exercise this actof faith.
This is one of those doors that shut to in a moment if not claspedback. Day by
day we must get rid of the world's rubbish that tries to choke up the doorway,
by prayer, by effort to expel the evil. The Lord stands before eachof us and
summons us, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates;even lift them up, ye everlasting
doors: and the King of glory shall come in." Let us answer, "Come in, Thou
blessedof the Lord; wherefore standestThou without!"
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The open gate of salvationThe trouble with many people is that they want to
have a hundred curious questions about God and heaven answeredbefore
they come to Christ and trust in Christ. They do not act so in other matters. If
a man is out in the woods atnight and has lost his way, he does not sit down
on a log and wait for the sun to rise, or for someone to kindle a bonfire that
shall illuminate the whole forest. No, no. If the glimmer of a candle reaches his
eye, no matter how faint and far away, he rejoices — he begins at once to
move in that direction. The light shows that he canbe savedif he will follow it.
And it is so with even the feeblest shining of the light of life which reaches a
man. Let him be faithful to what it reveals, and he is sure of salvation. Says
Dr. Parkhurst: "Light is a sure guide, because,unlike sound, it goes in
straight lines. If you were to strike the tired, diminished end of a sunbeam a
million, million miles from the sun, you are on the certaintrack of the sun the
instant you begin treading upwards the glittering highway that that sunbeam
spreads out for you. And wherever and howsoeverfar out upon the
circumference of Christ's characteryou take your position and begin
threading inward any one of its radiating lines, you move by a line as straight
as a sunbeam towards the heart and centre of the entire matter. One radius is
as goodas another for finding the centre. Each of the twelve gates thresholded
a main avenue of the heavenly Jerusalem." The gate ofheaven is not awayup
yonder; it is whereverwe look to Christ as the Opener of heaven to the
penitent and believing soul. He said, "I am the door; by Me if any man enter
in he shall be saved." The gospel, wheneverwe study it as earnestseekers
after truth, presents to us one of the pearly gates of paradise.
God's open doors

H. W. Beecher.There are few men who would pass through a gold mine,
having full permission to carry awaywith them choicestspecimens ofits
choicesttreasures,who would not make gooduse of such an opportunity. All
along the highway of life God is setting before eachtraveller opportunities to
be and to do. which are far more valuable than the richesttreasures of gold or
gems which earth offers. These opportunities are so many open doors which
lead to the treasure houses of God, prepared for all who seek, and offeredto
all who ask.
(H. W. Beecher.).
The Doorof Faith
R. Tuck
Acts 14:27
And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they
rehearsed all that God had done with them…
The narrative of the returned missionaries, as given to the assembledChurch
at Antioch, took two forms - in part it was a personalnarrative of what they
had done and suffered; and in part it was a report of the acceptancewhichthe
gospelmessagehadreceivedin the countries they had visited. And in this part
of their account, one thing appearedto them to be of peculiar interest - God
had manifestly "opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles." The expressionis
a sufficiently striking one to be made the subject of earnestmeditation. Two
ways of explaining it may be suggested.
1. God had given them large and free accessto the Gentiles for the preaching
of the faith in Christ.
2. God had manifestly made faith, not circumcision, the ground of admission
to his kingdom; and so the Gentiles could be saved. Gospelprivileges were
offered to everyone that believed. ForSt. Paul's use of this figure of the
"door" variously applied, see 1 Corinthians 16:9, 2 Corinthians 2:12;
Colossians 4:3; and comp. Revelation3:8. The figure is a suggestive one. The
specialfavor of God had been enjoyed by the Jews, andin a manner limited to
them. They had been, as it were, shut up with God in his house; none else
might come in, for the door was shut. But now, in the greatness of God's

mercy to men, he had opened the door, made a new and most gracious
condition of admission, and invited "whosoeverwould" to enter in. The grace
of this was too surprising to the Jewishmind, and it was a long time ere it
could receive the truth. Such testimonies as Barnabas and Paul brought from
Gentile lauds did much to establishthe free right of all believing men to enter
the one Father's house, through his graciouslyopeneddoor.
I. THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES FOUND FREE ACCESSTO THE
GENTILES. Theyhad gone forth fully understanding that the door was open
to preach the gospelto the Jews. Theyknew that, wherever they went, they
could enter the synagogues, expound the Scriptures, and preach Christ; but
events that happened brought home to them the conviction that Jewish
privileges were no longerexclusive, and that God had "grantedunto the
Gentiles also repentance unto life." Recallthe incidents which brought to the
missionaries this conviction. They found Divine providence leading them to
speak to Gentile audiences. They found that Divine grace had been before
them, creating in the Gentile mind a preparedness for and a susceptibility to
the gospelmessage. And they found that the condition of entrance into the
new gospelstanding and gospelprivileges was one which the Gentiles could
meet, since faith is common to human nature, and in no sense specialto any
one race. It would even seemthat the missionaries felt their work among the
Gentiles to be more hopeful than that among the Jews. And it led them to
cherish serious thoughts about the vastwork to be done among the Gentile
nations, now God had so evidently openedthe door to them all. Illustrate
from the wayin which the Church of Christ has been led on to preach the
gospelto one nation after another, by the opening of providential doors;
especiallyillustrating from China, and more recently Central Africa. The
inspiration of Christian missions is this fact, "Godhas opened the door of
faith unto the Gentiles."
II. THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES HAD LEARNED TO DECLARE
THAT FAITH, AND FAITH ALONE, WAS THE GROUND OF
ADMISSION INTO GOD'S KINGDOM, They addressedan audience that
was still largely under Jewishmental bonds. Even the early disciples seemfor
a long time to have cherished the idea that Christianity was only a
reformation of Judaism. The very apostles couldnot readily acceptthe truth
of salvationby faith alone. They thought that at leastthe Jewishrequirement
of circumcision must be made. But Barnabas and Paul rendered their
testimony to the fact of their finding the "faith-condition" quite sufficient.
They had required no other of their Gentile converts, and God had sealed

them by the gift of his Spirit, and they had manifested every sign of the true
Christian life. Faith is the only door into the kingdom, but there is no
entrance save by this door. Still the gospelmessageis, "Believe onthe Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." - R.T.
COMMENTARIES
EXPOSITORY(ENGLISHBIBLE)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(27)And when they were come.—
Two years or thereabouts (A.D. 45-48)had passedsince their mission. During
that interval little probably had been heard of them, and we can picture to
ourselves the eagerness withwhich the Christiani of Antioch would gather to
listen to their report.
How he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.—This is noticeable as
the first occurrence, as far as the chronologicalorderof the books of the New
Testamentis concerned, ofa very characteristic phrase. It would seemto have
been a favourite metaphor of St. Paul’s (comp. 1Corinthians 16:1;
2Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3), and comes in here, probably, as a
fragment from his speech. Fromthis point of view it is interesting to note the
recurrence of the phrase in Revelation3:8, both St. Paul and St. John,
representing as they did different sections ofthe Church (Galatians 2:9),
agreeing in the thought that the door of the Father’s house was now opened
wider than it had ever been before, and that no man might shut it.
MacLaren's ExpositionsActs
‘THE DOOR OF FAITH’
Acts 14:27.
There are many instances of the occurrence ofthis metaphor in the New
Testament, but none is exactly like this. We read, for example, of ‘a greatdoor
and effectual’being opened to Paul for the free ministry of the word; and to
the angelof the Church in Philadelphia, ‘He that openeth and none shall shut’
graciouslysays, ‘I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut.’
But here the door is faith, that is to say faith is conceivedof as the means of
entrance for the Gentiles into the Kingdom, which, till then, Jews had

supposedto be entered by hereditary rite.
I. Faith is the means of our entrance into the Kingdom.
The Jew thought that birth and the rite of circumcisionwere the door, but the
‘rehearsing’of the experiences ofPaul and Barnabas on their first missionary
tour shatteredthat notion by the logic of facts. Insteadof that narrow postern
another doorwayhad been broken in the wall of the heavenly city, and it was
wide enough to admit of multitudes entering. Gentiles had plainly come in.
How had they come in? By believing in Jesus. Whateverbecame of previous
exclusive theories, there was a factthat had to be takeninto account. It
distinctly proved that faith was ‘the gate of the Lord into which,’ not the
circumcisedbut the ‘righteous,’ who were righteous because believing,
‘should enter.’
We must not forget the other use of the metaphor, by our Lord Himself, in
which. He declares thatHe is the Door. The two representations are varying
but entirely harmonious, for the one refers to the objective fact of Christ’s
work as making it possible that we should draw near to and dwell with God,
and the other to our subjective appropriation of that possibility, and making it
a reality in our own blessedexperience.
II. Faith is the means of God’s entrance into our hearts.
We possess the mysterious and awful powerof shutting Godout of these
hearts. And faith, which in one aspectis our means of entrance into the
Kingdom of God, is, in another, the means of God’s entrance into us. The
Psalm, which invokes the divine presence in the Temple, calls on the
‘everlasting doors’ to be ‘lifted up,’ and promises that then ‘the King of Glory
will come in.’ And the voice of the ascendedChrist, the King of Glory,
knocking at the closeddoor, calls on us with our ownhands to open the door,
and promises that He ‘will come in.’
Paul prayed for the EphesianChristians ‘that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith,’ and there is no other wayby which His indwelling is possible.
Faith is not constituted the condition of that divine indwelling by any
arbitrary appointment, as a sovereignmight determine that he would enter a
city by a certain route, chosenwithout any specialreasonfrom amongst
many, but in the nature of things it is necessarythat trust, and love which
follows trust, and longing which follows love should be active in a soulif

Christ is to enter in and abide there.
III. Faith is the means of the entrance of the Kingdom into us.
If Christ comes in He comes with His pierced hands full of gifts. Through our
faith we receive all spiritual blessings. Butwe must ever remember, what this
metaphor most forcibly sets forth, that faith is but the means of entrance. It
has no worth in itself, but is precious only because it admits the true wealth.
The door is nothing. It is only an opening. Faith is the pipe that brings the
water, the flinging wide the shutters that the light may flood the dark room,
the putting oneselfinto the path of the electric circuit. Salvationis not
arbitrarily connectedwith faith. It is not the reward of faith but the
possessionofwhat comes through faith, and cannot come in any other way.
Our ‘hearts’ are ‘purified by faith,’ because faith admits into our hearts the
life, and instals as dominant in them the powers, the motives, the Spirit, which
purify. We are ‘saved by faith,’ for faith brings into our spirits the Christ who
saves His people from their sins, when He abides in them and they abide in
Him through their faith.
BensonCommentaryHYPERLINK "/context/acts/14-27.htm"Acts 14:27-28.
And when they had gathered the church together — It is probable the
Christians at Antioch were more than ordinarily met, or could meet, in one
place;but on this occasionthey called togetherthe leading persons of them,
particularly the ministers and deacons, here termed the church, as the heads
of the tribes are often calledthe congregationofIsrael, in the books of Moses.
Or, perhaps, as many of the people as the place of meeting could contain,
came togetheron this occasion. Theyrehearsedall that God had done with, or
by, them — In the whole of their voyages and journeys, in all the countries
through which they had passed. The same expressionis used Acts 15:4; but it
is explained, (Acts 14:12) of the miracles and wonders which God had
wrought among the Gentiles by them; of which wonders the chief, no doubt,
was, that God had communicated the Holy Ghost to the Gentile converts, and
thereby declaredhis acceptance ofthem without circumcision;and how he
had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles — Who had continued so long
in ignorance, idolatry, and misery; making the gospelto shine into their
hearts, and graciouslyreceiving them into the number of his people.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary14:19-28See how restless the rage of
the Jews was againstthe gospelofChrist. The people stonedPaul, in a
popular tumult. So strong is the bent of the corrupt and carnal heart, that as
it is with greatdifficulty that men are kept back from evil on one side, so it is

with greatease they are persuaded to evil on the other side. If Paul would
have been Mercury, he might have been worshipped; but if he will be a
faithful minister of Christ, he shall be stoned, and thrown out of the city. Thus
men who easilysubmit to strong delusions, hate to receive the truth in the love
of it. All who are convertedneed to be confirmed in the faith; all who are
planted need to be rooted. Ministers'work is to establishsaints as wellas to
awakensinners. The grace of God, and nothing less, effectuallyestablishes the
souls of the disciples. It is true, we must count upon much tribulation, but it is
encouragementthat we shall not be lost and perish in it. The Person to whose
powerand grace the converts and the newly-establishedchurches are
commended, clearlywas the Lord Jesus, onwhom they had believed. It was
an act of worship. The praise of all the little goodwe do at any time, must be
ascribedto God; for it is He who not only workethin us both to will and to do,
but also workethwith us to make what we do successful. All who love the
Lord Jesus, will rejoice to hear that he has opened the door of faith wide, to
those who were strangers to him and to his salvation. And let us, like the
apostles, abide with those who know and love the Lord.
Barnes'Notes on the BibleThey rehearsed... - Acts 11:4. They related what
had happened; their dangers and their success. This they did because they had
been sent out by the church, and it was proper that they should give an
accountof their work; and because it furnished a suitable occasionof
gratitude to Godfor his mercy.
All that God had done ... - In protecting, guarding them, etc. All was tracedto
God.
Had opened the door of faith - Had furnished an opportunity of preaching the
gospelto the Gentiles, 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary27. when they had gatheredthe
church together, they rehearsedall that God had done with them, &c.—As
their call and mission had been solemn and formal, in the presence ofand by
the Church as well as the Holy Ghost, they dutifully, and no doubt with eager
joy, convened the church and gave their report of "all that God had done with
them," that is, by and for them.
and how—in particular.
he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles—to such even as before had
not been proselytes. (See on[2015]Ac 11:21;and on the language, see1Co
16:9; 2Co 2:12; Col 4:3). The ascribing directly to God of such accessto the
Gentiles is to be noted.

Matthew Poole's CommentaryAll that God had done with them; God being
with them, and they being labourors with God, 1 Corinthians 3:9 2
Corinthians 6:1. They showedhow much Godhad honoured them in making
them his instruments in the conversionof so many souls.
He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles; he had given the Gentiles
an opportunity of knowing and believing the gospel. The fleece alone had been
wet before, and all the ground round about it dry; and now all the ground is
wet, and that fleece was dry; to allude to Judges 6:37-40, by which this
mystery was presignified, and can only be resolvedby that of our Saviour,
Matthew 11:25,26:Even so, Father; for so it seemedgoodin thy sight.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd when they were come,.... To Antioch:
and had gatheredthe church together:which was in that place, and who came
togetherat their request; for as they were sent out by them, they judged it
proper to call them together;and give them an accountof the issue of their
work they were recommended by them to the grace of Godto fulfil: and being
come togetherat their usual place of meeting,
they rehearsedall that God had done with them; and by them, as instruments;
what grace and strength he had given them to preachthe Gospel;what
numbers of souls were everywhere convertedby it; what miracles were
wrought by them for the confirmation of it; and what persecutions and
sufferings they had endured for the sake of it; and what deliverances were
vouchsafedunto them:
and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles;the phrase, "the
door of faith", seems to be Jewish;it is to be met with in Jewishwritings: it is
said (f),
"there are two women found in the world, that express the praise of God, so
as all the men of the world have not; and who are they? Deborahand
Hannah: Hannah, according to 1 Samuel 2:2 "there is none holy as the Lord,
for there is none beside thee" and all proclaim that she , "opens the door of
faith to the world", as Acts 14:8 "he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and
lifteth the beggarfrom the dunghill, lo, the door of faith; to set them among
princes", lo, the faith that is above.''
The sense here seems to be, that God had given an opportunity to the apostles
to preach the doctrine of faith unto the Gentiles, and the Gentiles had had an
opportunity of hearing and embracing it; God had opened the mouths of his
ministers to preachto them, and he had opened their hearts to attend unto it,
and receive it; for it may be understood of his giving of them the grace of

faith, by which they receivedChrist, and his Gospel, into their hearts: so a like
phrase is used by the Targumiston Jeremiah33:6 who paraphrases the words
thus;
"behold, I will bring unto them healing and redemption, and I will heal them,
and I will reveal, or "opento them", , "the door of repentance";''
that is, I will give them repentance:so here, when God is said to open the door
of faith to the Gentiles, the sense is, that he had given the grace offaith to
them, which came by hearing the word of the Gospel, which he sent them; and
gave them encouragementto believe in Christ; so the phrase a door of hope is
used in Hosea 2:15.
(f) Zohar in Lev. fol. 8. 3. & in Deut. fol. 109. 4. Vid. ib. in Gen. fol. 60. 2. &
68. 2. Vid. Raziel, fol. 39. 2.
Geneva Study BibleAnd when they were come, and had gatheredthe church
together, they rehearsedallthat God had done with them, and how he had
opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/context/acts/14-27.htm"Acts14:27-
28. Συναγαγ.]expresslyfor this object. Comp. Acts 15:30. Calvin observes
well: “quemadmodum solent, qui ex legatione reversi sunt, rationem actorum
reddere.”
μετʼ αὐτῶν] standing in active connectionwith them. Comp. Acts 10:38;
Matthew 28:20; also 1 Corinthians 15:10;and Mark 16:20 : τοῦ κυρίου
συνεργοῦντος. As the text requires no deviation from this first and most
natural rendering, both the explanation per ipsos (Beza, Piscator, Heinrichs)
and the assumption of a Hebraism ‫הׂשע‬ with ‫ע‬ ִ‫ם‬ (Luke 1:72): quae ipsis Deus
fecisset(Calvin, de Dieu, Grotius, Kuinoel, and many others; comp. also de
Wette), are to be rejected.
καὶ ὅτι] and, in particular, that, etc.
ἤνοιξε θύραν πίστεως] a figurative designationof admissionto the faith in
Christ. Corresponding is the figurative use of θύρα in 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2
Corinthians 2:12; Colossians4:3 (of the fulfilling of apostolic work);comp.
also εἴσοδος, 1 Thessalonians1:9.
χρόνον οὐκ ὀλίγον]is the objectof διέτριβον, as in Acts 14:3 : they spent not a
little time in intercourse with the Christians.

Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK"/acts/14-27.htm"Acts 14:27. συν.
τὴν ἐκκλ., cf. Acts 15:30, as was natural, for they had been sentout by
them.—ἀνήγγειλαν: Acts 15:4 (Acts 20:20; Acts 20:27), lit[277], to carry back
tidings (so in classicalGreek, as from a less to a greater), cf. 2 Corinthians
7:7; used here as in Æschylus, Xen., Polyb., of messengers reporting what they
had seenor heard (Grimm). Blass takes it as simply = ἀπαγγέλλω as in LXX
and later Greek.—ὅσα:“how many (or ‘how great’)things”.—μετʼαὐτῶν,
i.e., on their behalf; cf. Acts 15:4, Luke 1:58; Luke 1:72; Luke 10:37, cf. 1
Samuel 12:24, Psalm126:2-3, Hebrew ‫ע‬ ִ‫ם‬ ‫ע‬‫ׂש‬‫,ם‬ Psalm 119:65, and cannot = per
ipsos, which would require διά—the phrase may therefore be describedas a
Hebraism; it occurs only in Luke; Friedrich, p. 33.—ὅτιἤνοιξε … θύραν: a
striking coincidence with St. Paul’s use of the same metaphor elsewhere, cf. 1
Corinthians 16:9, 2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3, and cf. Revelation3:8.
St. Paul’s Galatian Epistle clearly shows that his missionarywork in Galatia
had met with much success,and that the Churches now founded held a large
place in his affections, cf. Galatians 4:14-15. Enoughhad been accomplished,
even if all his desires were still unfulfilled, to make him eagerfor a
continuation of the work to which he had been calledas an Apostle of the
Gentiles, see McGiffert, Apostolic Age, pp. 191, 192;Hort, Ecclesia,p. 66:
“perhaps the greatestepochin the history of the Ecclesia atlarge”:Spitta
refers the whole verse to his Redactor, p. 171.
[277]literal, literally.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges27. andhad gatheredthe church
together]i.e. the Christian congregationatAntioch who had been moved by
the Spirit (Acts 13:2) to send them forth. It was fitting therefore that to them
should be made a declarationof the results of the Apostolic mission.
opened the door of faith] i.e. had made faith the ground of admissionto His
kingdom. It was now no longer through circumcisionthat men should enter in
and be known as God’s people, but the Gospelprivileges were offered to every
one that believed.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK"/acts/14-27.htm"Acts 14:27. Συναγόντες,
when they had gatheredtogether)for this purpose. So ch. Acts 15:30.—
ἀνήγγειλαν, they reported) they rehearsedall to those who, conscious of
Barnabas and Saul’s Divine call, had eagerlylookedfor their success. [A true
rehearsalof the course of the Gospelmay often bring with it manifold fruit:
ch. Acts 15:3-4; Acts 15:12. How rare are narrative sermons of this kind!—V.
g.]—μετʼαὐτῶν, with themselves)Comp. μετὰ, with, ch. Acts 15:4; Luke 1:58;

Luke 10:37.—θύραν, door) John 10:1-2, etc.;Psalm 118:19. Comp. Acts 10:45,
note [When the one Gentile, Cornelius, was admitted, the door was thrown
open to all]. Paul calls it εἴσοδονentering in, 1 Thessalonians 1:9
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 27. - All things for all, A.V.; how that for how, A.V.;
a door for the door, A.V. A door. The door is preferable, because "the faith"
limits the door to one kind of opening. In Colossians 4:3 the case is a little
different both in the A.V. and the R.V., though in the latter "the door of the
Word" would be a truer rendering. Observe how the leading idea of the
narrative is the conversionof the Gentiles. (See Introduction to the Acts.)
Vincent's Word StudiesWith them (μετ' αὐτῶν)
In connectionwith them; assisting them.
And how (καὶ ὅτι)
Better, that. The and has an incressive and particularizing force: "and in
particular, above all."
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Acts 14:27 When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report
all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the
Gentiles.
KJV Acts 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they
rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto
the Gentiles.
• When they had arrived Acts 15:4-6; 21:20-22; 1 Corinthians 5:4; 11:18; 14:23
• They began to report Acts 15:4,12; 21:19; Romans 15:18; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9; 15:10
• He had opened a door of faith Acts 11:18; John 9:10; 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians
2:12; Colossians 4:3; Revelation 3:7,8
FIRST MISSIONARY CONFERENCE
ON THE THINGS GOD HAD DONE
When they had arrived and gathered the church together - The first missionary meeting of
the new church. Today we often say the missionaries come home on furlough.
David Jeremiah summed up writing “The first missionary journey is documented in Acts 13-14,
a journey by ship and on foot that covered 1,400 miles on land and sea over the course of one
year." (But see Toussaint's comment below)

Stanley Toussaint says "Thus ends the first missionary journey which lasted between one and
two years and in which Paul and Barnabas traversed more than 700 miles by land and 500 miles
by sea. But more than that, it demolished the wall between Jews and Gentiles (cf. Eph. 2:14-
16)....Probably Paul wrote the Book of Galatians from Antioch shortly after his first missionary
journey and before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)." (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)
Gathered together (4863)(sunago from sun = with + ago = to lead) means literally to lead
together.
All of Luke's uses of sunago in Acts - Acts 4:5; Acts 4:26; Acts 4:27; Acts 4:31; Acts 11:26;
Acts 13:44; Acts 14:27; Acts 15:6; Acts 15:30; Acts 20:7; Acts 20:8;
John MacArthur on began to report - They kept all their accomplishments in the proper
perspective, noting that God had done all those things through them and that He had opened a
door of faith to the Gentiles. They saw themselves as instruments through whom God had
accomplished His purposes; and all the glory went to Him. That is an essential perspective for a
servant of the Lord.”
John Phillips had a good word on the role of Barnabas writing “What Paul left out Barnabas
filled in.
Wiersbe said "The amazing thing is that Paul and his associates did all of this without the
modern means of transportation and communication that we possess today. Dr. Bob Pierce used
to say to us in Youth For Christ, “Others have done so much with so little, while we have done
so little with so much!” The wasted wealth of American believers alone, if invested in world
evangelization, might lead to the salvation of millions of lost people."
Commended to the grace of God for His work,
Now communicating on how the grace of God worked!
They began to report all things that God had done with them - Don't you love Luke's
description! Not all the things Paul and Barnabas had done, but all that God's Spirit had done
with them. Luke uses an interesting expression "with them," which implies it was a "joint
effort" in one sense, but ultimately it was God initiated (Acts 13:2), God empowered (Acts
14:26) and God glorifying. God's sovereignty was working with their humanity. So we have the
mysterious juxtaposition of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. They were 100%
responsible for carrying out the work to which He had called them, but it was God Who provided
the grace to carry out the work and it was this grace on which they were 100% dependent. See
the "Paradoxical Principle of 100% Dependent and 100% Responsible" (100/100).
It is notable that when Jesus gave the "Great Commission" He promised "lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age." (Mt 28:20) The phrase with you is the same preposition
(meta - with) which Luke uses to describe God "with (meta) them." (see also preceding
comment on "with you") Jesus had been with the missionaries every step of the journey and His
Spirit had continually enabled them! Supernatural work always requires reliance upon a
supernatural Source!
Spurgeon once said "O preacher, if you are about to stand up to see what you can do, it will be
your wisdom to sit down speedily. But if you stand up to prove what your almighty Lord and
Mastercan do through you, then infinite possibilities lie around you!" (The Soul Winner)
Announce (imperfect tense - again and again - see note below)(312)(anaggello/anangello from
aná = up to, again, back {like our English prefix "re-"= again thus "re-port" or "re-hearse" = to

say again} + aggéllo = tell, declare related to ággelos = messenger) means to bring back word
and later to announce, to report. Anaggello in this context means they carried back good tidings,
providing information undoubtedly with considerable detail (see Acts 14:27, 15:4). As in this
case most 14 NT uses of anaggello report or announce something that has to do with God,
including His works and/or purposes.
Williams explains Luke's use of the imperfect tense -“In saying that the missionaries reported
these things, Luke has used the verb in the imperfect. This may mean that the report was
repeated as the two met with different groups scattered throughout the city. But the word church
is in the singular. There may have been a number of groups meeting separately, but there was
only one church."
Simon Kistemaker has another thought on the imperfect tense writing that “Luke employs the
imperfect tense of the verb ‘reported’ to indicate that the story Paul and Barnabas had to tell was
too lengthy for one sitting. Moreover, he adds that the apostles tell about all their work.
Repeatedly, then, they meet with the believers and relate in detail the inroads that the gospel
made among the Jews and Gentiles.”
Vincent adds that anaggello means "to bring the tidings up to (ana) or back to him who receives
them."
Jack Andrews rightly says that the church needs "to hear from our missionaries, pray for our
missionaries, and let our missionaries hear from us. Illustration: When Warren Wiersbe was a
pastor he once had a church officer say to him, “I don’t care how much money you want for
missions, I’ll give it; but just don’t make me listen to missionaries speak!” Warren Wiersbe said,
“I felt sorry for him that his spiritual temperature was so low that he could not listen to reports of
what God was doing in the difficult comers of the harvest fields.”
THOUGHT - Does your church regularly allow returning missionaries to share their
great adventure about their great God and His great Gospel? Today one could even share
by live feed with Skype. If your church is not doing this, then you are truly missing out
on some of the most exciting, stimulating, encouraging, challenging and convicting gifts
that God gives to His church, for in them you get to see first hand things occuring that
only God's Spirit could accomplish! Just imagine if Paul and Barnabas had returned and
the pulpit committee told them "We really don't have a time slot for you in our regular
service!" If you would like just a sample of what you might be missing let me encourage
you to take about 24 minutes to watch for one of the most fascinating Gospel encounters I
have ever heard as you follow missionaries from New Tribes Mission taking the Gospel
deep into the jungles of Papua, New Guinea. The video is entitled "Ee-Taow: The Mouk
Story." ("Ee-Taow" means "It is true!" "It is good!") If you have already seen it, you
know it is time well spent. If you have never seen it, you are in for a treat, as you watch
the light of the Gospel penetrate into one of the darkest places of paganism in the world!
If you are thinking "It's just another missionary video," then just look at a few of the
comments from those who have watched it! I challenge you to watch it without tearing
up! May our Father by His Holy Spirit use this moving true story of redemption to stir
your heart to become seek to become more involved in some way in reaching the millions
of souls who are still lost for Jesus' sake. Amen.
GOD WAS NOW
SAVING GENTILES!

God opened the door on this first journey and it is still wide open to Jews and Gentiles alike.
Have you walked through the open door God has placed before you in you city, your job, your
school, etc?
Toussaint points out that "how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles, is most
important: (a) It shows the Gospel had gone to Gentiles. (b) It was a "by-faith" message and not
by works of the Law. (c) God did it, for He opened the door. (The Bible Knowledge
Commentary)
And how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles - Opened...door is a metaphor that
speaks of what is possible or what was a feasible opportunity. Notice again the juxtaposition of
God's sovereignty and Man's responsibility. God opened the doors which only He could open,
but the missionaries walked through the doors (so to speak) taking the Gospel of grace in which
the Gentiles placed their faith.
One is reminded of Jesus' words to the church at Philadelphia...
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who
has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens,
says this: I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one
can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied
My name.(Rev 3:7-8HYPERLINK "http://www.spiritandtruth.org/id/revc.htm?3:7"+)
Paul used this same metaphor of a "door" in requesting prayer for an open door to present the
Gospel, a request which is somewhat ironic as Paul is in prison!
Praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word
(Gospel), so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ (Gospel), for which (Gospel) I
have also been imprisoned (Colossians 4:3HYPERLINK
"/colossians_chap_4_word_study#4:3"+)
Robertson comments that "Three times in Paul's Epistles (1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3) he
employed the metaphor of "door," perhaps a reminiscence of the very language of Paul here.
This work in Galatia gained a large place in Paul's heart (Galatians 4:14-15). The Gentiles now,
it was plain, could enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22) through the door of faith, not by law
or by circumcision or by heathen philosophy or mythology."
Larkin on God had opened a door - Finally, it was God who opened the door of faith to the
Gentiles. This image captures what the first missionary journey was all about (Read Acts 9:15-
16HYPERLINK "/acts-9-commentary#9:15"+; Acts 13:1-3HYPERLINK "/acts-13-
commentary#13:1"+). God did swing wide open to the Gentiles the door of faith, giving access
to salvation by faith (Lk 13:24-25; Acts 13:38-39; 13:12, 43, 46-48; 14:1, 23). The church will
survive to the next generation when it maintains this kind of fruitful communication between the
just-planted church and the sending church. (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series -
Acts)
Opened (455)(anoigo from ana = again + oigo = to open) means to open, to open up, or to give
access to. Figuratively speaking God's Spirit opened the hearts of the Gentiles to receive and
believe the Gospel seed sown by the missionaries. In a similar use Luke records that Paul was
sent as Jesus' witness to Gentiles "to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light
and from the dominion of Satan to God (REPENT AND BELIEVE), that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’"

(Acts 26:18HYPERLINK "/acts-26-commentary#26:18"+). The derivative verb dianoigo is used
by Luke in Acts 16 to describe another Gentile conversion recording that "A woman named
Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and
the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." (Acts 16:14HYPERLINK
"/acts_16_commenary#16:14"+)
Luke's uses of anoigo in Acts -
Acts 5:19; Acts 5:23; Acts 8:32; Acts 8:35; Acts 9:8; Acts 9:40; Acts 10:11; Acts 10:34;
Acts 12:10; Acts 12:14; Acts 12:16; Acts 14:27; Acts 16:26; Acts 16:27; Acts 18:14;
Acts 26:18;
Faith (4102)(pistis) is synonymous with trust or belief and is the conviction of the truth of
anything, but in Scripture usually speaks of belief respecting man's relationship to God and
divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined
with it.
Gentiles (1484)(ethnos gives us our word "ethnic") in general refers to a multitude (especially
persons) associated with one another, living together, united in kinship, culture or traditions and
summed up by the words nation, Gentiles (especially when ethnos is plural),
Guzik sums up the fact that "The trip was a great success, though not without great obstacles:
The difficulty of travel itself, the confrontation with Elymas on Cyprus, the quitting of John
Mark, being driven out of the cities of Antioch and Iconium, the temptation to receive adoration,
and being stoned in Lystra. Yet Paul and Barnabas would not be deterred from the work God had
them to do.. It can and should be asked of each follower of Jesus, “What will it take for you to
back down from doing God’s will? What kind of temptation or obstacle or opposition will do it?”
Nothing stopped Jesus from doing God’s will on our behalf; as we look to Him, we won’t be
stopped either. Paul later expressed this drive in a letter to a congregation (Php 3:12, 13,14)."
(Acts 14 Commentary)
Respond And Report
Read: Luke 9:1-10
When they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with
them. —Acts 14:27
During a Sunday night service, a man described a week-long mission trip from which he and a
half-dozen others had just returned. There was a vibrancy in his voice as he told why they went
to a needy area in another state, how many yards of concrete they mixed and poured for a church
sidewalk, and how their lives were changed in the process. I was moved and encouraged as he
reported what God had done in and through all those who went.
I see this same pattern of respond-and-report in Jesus’ training of His disciples. In Luke 9 we
read, “He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all
demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick”
(vv.1-2). They responded by obeying His call (v.6), then returned to report what they had done
(v.10). I believe Jesus enjoyed those gospel team reports as the disciples brought encouragement
to Him and to each other.

We can follow that same pattern today as we first respond to God’s call to serve and to witness,
whether it is close to home or far away. When we report the results of His work to others, the joy
is multiplied.
So, what are we waiting for?
THINKING IT OVER
How have I been encouraged by the reports of those
who have served God faithfully? How have I had
opportunity to respond and report?
Your response to God's Call is not complete until you report God's work.
By David C. McCasland (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. —
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
by
Frank E. Allen
Copyright @ 1931
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ORGANIZING THE CHURCH (Acts 14:21-28)
OUTLINE Key verse - 22
This paragraph tells of the return journey of the first foreign missionaries. It includes instruction,
exhortation, warning, ordination, blessing and reporting to the home church.

1. They instructed the members of the church: “Confirming the souls” (22). 2. They urged the
members to remain faithful (22). 3. They forewarned the members of trials (22). 4. They
ordained elders in every church (23). 5. They prayed for God’s blessing to rest upon the churches
(23). 6. They told the home church of what God had done through them (26-28).
This paragraph tells of the return journey of the first foreign missionaries. It is summed up in a
few verses and yet it is as important as the outward journey. As they went out they preached and
won disciples to Christ; as they returned they organized churches, instructed and exhorted the
newly made disciples. Paul and Barnabas must have believed that organizing congregations and
teaching the disciples was just as important as preaching in new fields, else they would have
continued on and out into new fields without taking time to retrace their steps in the work of
organization. They knew that if the work was to grow where it was planted, and if the disciples
were to remain true in the midst of all their temptations and opposition they needed to have
order, leadership, instruction, fellowship and enthusiasm.
It would have been a much less expensive and shorter journey to return down the Roman road
through the Taurus mountains, passing through the Cilician Gates to Tarsus, the home city of
Paul, and thence by sea to Seleucia and over the few remaining miles to Antioch in Syria. It
required courage and devotion to the work to start back over the long journey by which they had
come and through the cities from which they had been driven or mobbed as though they had
been criminals. Nevertheless, they resolved to return by way of Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of
Pisidia. The record is very brief concerning the work of Paul and Barnabas in Derbe. There
seems to have been no opposition there such as had developed at the former cities of Pisidia and
Lycaonia.
The Jews who had hounded them from Antioch and Iconium to Lystra seem to have been
temporarily satisfied that they had stoned Paul. Perhaps they thought he was dead and they
would never be troubled with that missionary again. It is probable also that the missionaries were
not in the city of Derbe all of the time, but were preaching a part of the time in the region round
about (14:6). We are told definitely that they preached in the region round about Derbe and
probably in the region about Lystra.
That which interests us most is that they “made many disciples” in and about Derbe. This is the
sixteenth time that we are told that many disciples were made since Pentecost. The expression
here used (v. 21), “taught many” shows that they taught those who had been made disciples. It

has been thought that they remained all winter in Derbe, waiting for the roads and mountain
passes to clear of snow, before making the return journey. If they did so they would have ample
time to teach the disciples and organize the church. We know of at least one disciple from Derbe
who later accompanied Paul in his frontier mission work. His name, Gaius, is mentioned in
connection with the third missionary journey of Paul (20:4). If Paul and Barnabas had done
nothing more than win the two men, Timothy and Gaius, who later became foreign missionaries,
their first missionary journey would have been of great value. But they did much more for we are
told distinctly that multitudes both of Jews and Greeks believed. The people of the region about
the cities in which their work centered also heard the Gospel.
After they had organized the work and strengthened the disciples at Lystra, Iconium and Antioch
they passed down from the high plateau and through the mountain passes again to Perga. When
they passed through Perga the first time they do not seem to have paused to preach, but on the
return journey they preached in Perga. Nothing is said of the results of their work there. From
Perga they went to the seaport Attalia, from where they sailed back again toward Antioch in
Syria. They then gathered the home church together and reported the results of their work. “they
rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the
Gentiles” (14:27). It is well that we shall note carefully the principal phases of their work on the
return journey.
INSTRUCTED THE MEMBERS
They taught the members of the church: “Confirming the souls of the disciples” (14:22a). The
word “confirm,” in this case is not referring to a ritual performed in some churches, but rather it
means to instruct, establish or strengthen the faith of the disciples.
This was a wise and exemplary work on the part of the first missionaries. Whether their converts
were Jews or Greeks they needed instruction. The Jews needed a new understanding of the Old
Testament Scriptures, to be taught the meaning of the prophecies concerning Christ. These
passages would help to establish them in the faith. The Gentiles, particularly those who had been
heathen up to this time, needed the most careful and elementary teaching of the Word. The
people then did not have the New Testament as we have it today. When they did not have a
written guide they would need more careful oral instruction. They would be opposed on every
hand and they needed to be ready to give an answer for the hope that was in them.

Bibles are plentiful and easily secured today, and still there is need of instruction of recently
found converts. Regeneration is the first essential, but it is not all. Just as certainly as the newly
born child needs the care, protection and nourishment of the mother, so surely does the babe in
Christ need careful instruction. It is well that men and women shall be Christians, but it is more
important that they shall be intelligent Christians.
The writer to the Hebrews did not find them, even though they had their Bibles at hand,
intelligent Christians. He said they had need that some one teach them the rudiments of the first
principles of the oracles of God. They were only able to take the milk of the Word, whereas they
should have been ready to receive solid food as more advanced disciples. He urged them to leave
the first principles and press on unto perfection: “For every one that useth milk is unskillful in
the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full
age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of
baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
And this will we do, if God permit” (Hebrews 5:13-6-3).
That which was true of the early Hebrew Christians is often true of Christians today. They have
more facilities for becoming well-informed, but too frequently they do not make use of them.
There are many who have been members of the church for years who have need that some one
shall teach them the rudiments of the first principles of the Word of God. So far from meditating
on the Word of God day and night, as we are exhorted to do, they seem to have no regular habit
of reading or studying it. They would be ashamed if they were accused of being ignorant of
Shakespeare, but they do not blush when they are found to be ignorant of Moses. What would
you think of a grown man who could find pleasure in nothing more than playing with little
children on the street, a man in body, but a child in mind? You would say: “What a pitiable
sight.” And yet such a sight among professed Christians is a common thing. They have made
scarcely any growth in spiritual things.
If we recall the law of growth we know that in the vegetable world where growth ceases decay
soon begins. If we, as members of the body of Christ, are not making growth we will naturally
deteriorate. If we keep our talent hidden away unused, it will be taken from us. We have a partial
record of what Paul said when he was evangelizing a new field, and what he said as he
established them in the faith. He told them of the fact of the resurrection and of justification by
faith when he first preached to them. Later he wrote at length expounding these great truths to
them. To master these letters requires profound study of the Word. Nothing short of diligent,

profound study will establish Christians in the faith. Therefore, the church needs not only
sermons of evangelism, but also sermons to expound the great and deep doctrines of the Bible.
Christians need to listen, not only to the call of Christ to come to him, but also to the teaching of
Christ and the apostles, that they may follow him in the strait and narrow path that leads past all
the pitfalls of the world and on to the heavenly home of perfection and glory.
URGED THEM TO REMAIN FAITHFUL
“And exhorting them to continue in the faith” (14:22b).
We are told that Paul and Barnabas, when visiting the various churches, would exhort them to
faithfulness. They first instructed them and then they exhorted them to hold fast the faith. Most
of the epistles of Paul take this form; we have first the doctrinal portion and then the exhortation.
In epistles in which are found the most profound doctrines, there are, in the closing chapters, the
most tender and practical exhortation.
Paul knew, as we know today, that head knowledge is not all that the disciple needs. Even an
intelligent Christian may fall. There were many temptations around these early disciples. In the
cities where they lived there were temples to false gods; there were feasts to which they were
invited where meat was eaten in honor of idols; there was lasciviousness even in connection with
worship; there was profanity, lust, luxury, pride, envy, falsehood, deceit, covetousness, parental
neglect, pleasure, labor on the Lord’s Day, and every temptation which the world could invent.
The exhortation of their fathers in the faith, the earnest pleading of Paul and Barnabas whom
they loved, would not be easily forgotten. Nor is the exhortation of fathers and mothers,
ministers and Bible teachers easily forgotten today. Often their earnest words, perhaps their
pleading with tears, or it may be their dying petitions return to us in the hour of temptation and
encourage us to continue in the faith.
Just after Paul had written to Timothy - who was a disciple won on this journey - concerning the
persecutions that he had endured at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, and spoken of the imposters
who would become worse and worse, he said: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast
learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a
child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 3:14-15).

On a certain occasion, it is said: “Abraham Lincoln was riding in a stage coach in company with
a Kentucky Colonel. After riding a number of miles together, the Colonel took a bottle of
whiskey out of his pocket and said: ‘Mr. Lincoln, won’t you take a drink with me?’ Mr. Lincoln
replied: ‘No, Colonel, thank you, I never drink whiskey.’ They rode along together for a number
of miles more, visiting very pleasantly, when the gentleman from Kentucky reached into his
pocket and brought out some cigars, saying: ‘Now, Mr. Lincoln, if you won’t take a drink with
me, won’t you take a smoke with me, for here are some of Kentucky’s finest cigars?’ Mr.
Lincoln replied: ‘Now, Colonel, you are such a fine agreeable man to travel with, perhaps I
ought to take a smoke with you. But before I do so, let me tell you a little story, an experience I
had when a small boy,’ And this was the story:
‘My mother called me to her bed one day when I was about nine years old. She was sick - very
sick - and she said to me: ‘Abey, the doctor tells me I’m not going to get well. And I want you to
promise me before I go that you will never use whiskey nor tobacco as long as you live.’ And I
promised my mother I never would. And up to this hour, Colonel, I have kept that promise. Now
would you advise me to break that promise to my angel mother and take a smoke with you?’ The
Colonel put his hand gently on Mr. Lincoln’s shoulder and said with a voice trembling with
emotion: ‘No, Mr. Lincoln, I wouldn’t have you do it for the world. It was one of the best
promises you ever made. And I would give a thousand dollars today if I had made my mother a
promise like that and kept it as you have done.”
FOREWARNED THEM OF TRIALS
“And that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (14:22c). Paul and
Barnabas dealt fairly with the young Christians of these cities. They pointed out to them that the
Christian life would be a very difficult one. They said they would face “much tribulation.” The
term, “kingdom of God,” as here used, evidently means the kingdom of glory. Paul had learned
this fact by experience as well as from history and Scripture. He had not yet reached the kingdom
of glory, but he found that there were many tribulations along the way. He could testify that the
effort to live a devout life would not eliminate tribulations. On the other hand, he had found that
the more earnest he was, the more tribulations were encountered.

A large portion of “Pilgrim’s Progress” is an exposition of this truth. From the very beginning of
his journey towards the Celestial City, Christian encountered all kinds of tribulation. They
troubled him all the way to the very gate of the City. The Christian is threatened by enemies of
the cross; he is tempted by men who represent themselves to be disciples; he is drawn away by
his own lusts; he is help up to the scorn of the world; in fact wherever he turns he meets with
trials in this world. They that will live godly must suffer persecution.
Jesus did not attempt to deceive His disciples. He taught those who proposed to follow Him that
they might expect privation and tribulation. He warned one whom He thought was offering to
follow Him without due consideration: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;
but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). Though Jesus pointed out
the fact that His followers would endure privations and trials He told them that He would be with
them and make their burdens light.
Dr. Horton who was in danger of losing his sight, went to Germany to consult a specialist. One
day he was in the consulting-room of the oculist in Wiesbaden, and as he waited he put his hand
into his pocket and drew out his little Bible - not to read but to test his sight. As he opened it his
eyes fell on the text in Second Samuel: “For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten
my darkness” (II Samuel 22:29). “I had not been aware,” says the doctor, “of the very existence
of this text, and do not know who but an angel could have led me to it, but I felt, whether I
received sight or not, these words were enough.”
There was a young man in the south who had worked for years to establish himself as a peach
grower. He had invested his all in a small peach orchard which bloomed bounteously - then came
the frost. He did not go to church the next Sabbath, nor the next, nor the next. His minister went
to see him and inquire the reason. The discouraged young man exclaimed: “No, and what is
more, I’m not coming any more. Do you think I can worship a God who loves me so little that
He will let a frost kill all my peaches?” The old minister looked at him a moment in silence, and
then replied kindly: “Young man, God loves you better than He loves your peaches. He knows
that while peaches do better without frosts, it is impossible to grow the best men without frosts.
His object is to grow the best men, not peaches.” “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the
fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice,
inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye
may be glad also with exceeding joy” (I Peter 4:12-13).

“What are our light afflictions here, But blessings in disguise? They only make for us a home Of
rest beyond the skies.
What if we oft are weary now, With burdens hard to bear? They only make the crown more
bright When we that crown shall wear.
O, cast thy every care on Him, Thou weary burdened one, And raise to heaven the trusting
prayer, Thy will, not mine, be done.
So, when the toil and care shall cease, With Jesus thou’lt be blest: When, folded in His loving
arms, The weary are at rest.”
ORDAINED ELDERS IN EVERY CHURCH
“And when they had ordained them elders in every church” (14:23a). The selection and
ordination of elders in various cities, in every church which they had established, was one of the
most important parts of the work of Paul and Barnabas on this first missionary journey. It served
as an example or outline of the divine plan. It gave order and leadership and stability to the
church. If individual members of the church had attempted to remain in seclusion or isolation
they could not have continued to propagate their religion to any advantage. They themselves
would likely have soon lost interest in the Gospel. There is not only strength to resist opposition,
but also power to go forward where there is an organized assembly. Even individual Christians
who remain separate from the church are indebted to it. It is through the church that the Gospel
has been preserved through the centuries and the saving love of Christ has been made known to
the world.
In the Jewish synagogue there was a board of elders. Their presiding officer was the ruler of the
synagogue. The plan of organization in the synagogue was carried over into the Christian church.
As Paul followed the plan already established in the Christian church he superintended the
ordination of elders over every congregation. There are several facts worthy of note concerning
the elders of the church, as set forth here and elsewhere in the New Testament.

The first of these is that the word, elder, refers to the ruling officers of the church. This word is
used interchangeably with bishop or overseer, and refers to the same officer (Acts 20:17-28). The
term elder, refers to the age of the men, and the term overseer or bishop, to the duties of the
office.
Originally men well advanced in years were chosen to this office, hence they were called elders.
They were chosen and ordained that they might be overseers of the church. The word bishop
originally meant the same as overseer, and it came to have a changed meaning not because the
original or divine plan was so intended, but because men sought and took more power to
themselves and established orders of officers in the church. There seem to have been some who
were ruling elders and some who were teaching elders. Paul wrote to Timothy: “Let the elders
that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and
doctrine” (I Tim. 5:17).
A second fact worthy of note is that the elders seem to have been chosen by the members of the
church. The word, “ordained,” means to vote by stretching out the hand. the meaning as used
here is to elect, to appoint or create. The idea evidently is that the members of the church elected
the elders and they were ordained by Paul and Barnabas with fasting and prayer. We conclude
from the example of the apostles that, according to the divine plan, it was intended that the
members of the church should vote for the elders whom they thought were best fitted for the
office, and then that they should be ordained with fasting and prayer.
A third fact which is apparent here and elsewhere is that there was not merely one elder chosen,
but two or more in every congregation. “Elders” were elected “in every church” (v. 23). Paul did
not send merely for the elder, but for the elders of the church of Ephesus when he wanted to see
them at the time of his farewell visit to Miletus: “And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and
called the elders of the church” (Acts 20:17).
Thus it is apparent that from the beginning of the Christian church it was the divine plan that
there should be order and government within the church; that the order should be representative,
every member should have a voice in the affairs of the church; that Christ should be the head
from whom all officers derived their authority; that no one man should dominate in the
government of the church and that they were to be guided by God’s Word and Spirit. No power,

civil or ecclesiastical, has the right to set aside or override the divine plan for the church of
Christ.
INVOKED THE DIVINE BLESSING
“And had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed”
(14:23b). This seems to have been apart from the act of ordination, to have followed it rather
than to have been a part of it. We are apt to take too lightly the blessing of the Lord in answer to
the prayer of God’s saints. Paul and Barnabas must pass on to visit other churches, but they
would leave them in the hands of the Lord. They knew that he had power to bless and if they
would rely upon Him He would bless and guide them.
We are apt to think of a prayer such as the benediction, merely as a form of dismissing the
congregation. It should not be so considered. It is a prayer to the Triune God from whom all
blessings flow. If that prayer is a real prayer by one of God’s believing servants it will be
accompanied with a real blessing upon the people of God.
REPORTED TO THE HOME CHURCH
They told the home church of what God had done through them: “And thence sailed to Antioch,
from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had
done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they
abode long time with the disciples” (14:26-28). When they had visited the churches, sailed back
to Seleucia and had reached Antioch in Syria, where their missionary journey began, they gave
an account of their work to those that had sent them out. It was especially mentioned that He had
opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles. And they tarried no little time with the disciples.
It was an interesting day at Antioch when they set apart Paul and Barnabas to the Lord’s work in
the foreign field and sent them away. It was another important and interesting day when the
missionaries returned to tell of what God had done through them. One can easily imagine that it
was not hard to gather an audience that day. They knew the zeal of Paul and Barnabas. They

knew that they were interesting speakers. They had reason to believe that they would have many
thrilling and blessed experiences to relate.
They would tell of their first work on the Island of Cyprus and how they had been resisted by an
apostate Jew, but how God had manifested His power and had won the pro-consul to Christ.
They would tell of their preaching at Antioch in Pisidia and how, in the face of opposition the
word spread through the whole region. They would speak with growing enthusiasm of their
ministrations at Iconium and how a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks had been led to
believe in the Lord. As they told of the healing of the cripple at Lystra and how the people were
ready to worship them the people would lean forward and listen eagerly, but then they told of
how the mob stoned Paul and left him for dead, and Paul would probably show them some scars
the he would always carry on his body as a result of that terrible ordeal, sighs would be uttered
by some and tears would fall from the eyes of others.
Then as they told of how God protected his life and enabled him to go on and win many disciples
at Derbe, and some of them so promising for future workers, and how the people were holding
fast the faith and were glad to be organized into churches in every city, they would praise the
Lord for what He had done through them. The important note of all their report was that God had
worked marvelously in the hearts of the Gentiles and opened the door of faith in every place
where they had presented the Gospel to them.
Christ was then continuing to work by His Spirit through His disciples. He has worked wonders
in recent years through modern missionaries. Men have gathered in great crowds to listen to the
report of the work of Duff and Moffat and Judson and Chalmers and Livingston and Paton and
Taylor. James Chalmers told interested crowds in London of his work in New Guinea. After
David Livingstone had done a part of his great work in Africa, even the British Parliament was
ready to listen and men would gather at any place eager to hear him speak.
After the death of Livingstone, one wrote:
“Open the Abbey doors and bear him in To sleep with king and statesman, chief and sage, The
missionary come of weaver-kin, But great by work that brooks no lower wage. He needs no
epitaph to guard a name Which men shall prize while worthy work is known; He lived and died
for good - be that his fame: Let marble crumble: this is Livingstone.”

When John G. Paton first went to Australia to try to promote the work of missions in the New
Hebrides, he could hardly find a church in which to speak. But before he had ended his work
there, whether in Britain, the Dominions or America, he could hardly fill the engagements which
men desired to make for addresses everywhere. Hudson Taylor had much the same experience.
Many others might be mentioned whose fame spread throughout the world and who were
listened to by thousands in the home land. Some of the greatest names of men of history are on
the roll of missionaries, chief of whom was the apostle Paul.
Notwithstanding these facts, it is too often true today that there is far too little interest taken in
learning of mission work and promoting it on the part of Christian people. This is true of
missions, both home and foreign. The work of the Lord on the frontier should have its deep
interest for us and enlist our liberal financial support. As in the case of Barnabas and Paul, the
missionaries have enough of hardships among the heathen; they ought to receive the most hearty
support from those who are supposed to keep the home fires burning. Think of what we would
have been if we had not known the Gospel of Christ! How would we like to be in the place of
those who are left in darkness? If we are not going to go into all the world to preach the Gospel,
are we not then ready to encourage, by our sympathy, our money and our prayers those have
gone or are ready to go?
A little daughter of the well-known missionary, Dr. S.M. Zwemer, (The Glory of the Cross -
1938, posted on our site) whose field of work among the Mohammedans was for years at
Bahrain, Persian Gulf, Arabia, used to recite the words of a well-known hymn, but with a
variation of her own, as follows:
“Jesus bids us shine, With a clear blue light, Like a little candle Burning in the night.
“In this world of darkness, We must shine, You in your small corner, And I in Bahrain.”
QUESTIONS (Acts 14:21-28)

1. Of what does this paragraph tell? 2. What were some of the things which the missionaries did
on their return journey? 3. What is meant by “confirming” the disciples? 4. How many times in
the Acts up to this time have we been told that many disciples were won? 5. What disciple from
Derbe later accompanied Paul in mission work? 6. How does organization of the church compare
in important with evangelization? 7. What relation has the Bible and its use to a strong church?
8. Name some of the temptations which would confront the disciples of those churches? 9. How
did their temptations compare with ours? 10. What did Paul say would be necessary before
entering the kingdom of God? 11. What did Jesus say of the necessity of enduring privation on
the part of disciples? 12. What was the value of ordaining elders in every church? 13. How did
the plan of organization in the Christian Church compare with that of the synagogue? 14. Why
was the word elder used of church officers? 15. Was there one or more elders in each church? 16.
Does fasting have a place in the Christian church today and why? 17. Tell why the blessing of
God’s saints should be considered seriously? 18. Where did the missionaries go after they had
organized and established the churches which they had visited earlier? 19. What is the value of
the missionaries’ report at home? 20. What does this teach us with reference to the value of the
furloughs of missionaries and how they may be used?
~ end of chapter 25 ~
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/
Dr. Jack L. Arnold Lesson #35
ACTS
A Real Local Church
Acts 14:21-28
Can we be effective Christians without being affiliated with a local church? Can we be biblical
and not be related to a local church? What place should the local church play in one's Christian
experience? Quite often you will hear Christians say, “i don't have to be part of an organized
local church to be a dynamic Christian. Furthermore, I can stay at home and worship God by
watching some religious program on TV, or I can meet with a small group of Christians in the
home.” The real question is what place has God, in the Bible, given to the local church? If God
has said the local church is important, then we, too, should be deeply involved in the ministry of
the local church.

Still, some objectors would say, “The local church seems so stilted, so formal, so far removed
from where I really live. I just can’t identify with the average local church today.” It is true that
many local churches are stilted, formal, dry and out of touch with reality, but that is the fault of
the local church, not of the resurrected Christ. We are specifically told in the Bible what a local
church is supposed to be, and this is clearly taught to us in Acts 14:21-28. This section of
Scripture sets forth for us what a real local church is, and this should be the pattern for every
local church in the twentieth century.
WINNING MEN TO CHRIST (Acts 14:21)
Preaching (14:21a)
“And after they had preached the gospel to that city . . .” -- The last city, on the first missionary
journey of Paul and Barnabas, to receive a gospel witness was Derbe. The apostles had preached
to two other cities in the province of Galatia, Iconium and Lystra. In these cities they met stiff
opposition as they declared Christ to men and women, boys and girls. At Iconium, the
missionaries were plotted against and had to leave town suddenly. At Lystra, Paul was stoned
and left for dead. When they came to Derbe, they “preached the gospel to that city.” They
evangelized the city of Derbe; that is, they went all through the city, wherever they could get an
audience, and told people about Jesus Christ. They told of the Old Testament predictions of
Christ, how Christ lived a perfect life and performed miracles, how He died for sinners, how He
was raised from the dead, and how He would give the forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all
who change their minds about Him and who believe in Him. They also warned men of eternal
judgment if they did not respond positively to the Lord Jesus Christ.
These missionaries “preached” to lost men. Preaching is different from teaching. Preaching has
more to do with declaring the message of salvation to the lost, challenging them, in mind and
heart, to respond to Jesus Christ as personal Savior. While all gospel preaching must have solid
biblical content, it is directed to prick man's conscience about sin and judgment and appeals to
the will and heart of a man for n response to Christ. Preaching is primarily for those who are not
yet Christians.
In the twentieth century, there is a legitimate place to bring evangelists into a city or local church
to hold evangelistic meetings to reach the lost. However, most evangelistic meetings today are
attended by those who are saved.
Any biblical, local church will be evangelistic when it has a heartbeat to win men to Jesus Christ
by preaching the Gospel publicly and sharing the Gospel individually. “And He said to them,
‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation’” (Mark 16:15).
Once, when I spent a week in California, I prayed that God would give me opportunities to share
the good news of Christ with others. On the flight to California, I had no opportunities, even
though I tried to turn the conversation. My father and his wife would not let me encounter them
with Christ. At my 25th high school reunion, I
was able only to share briefly with one of my classmates. On the way back to Roanoke, I was
sure God would give me someone to talk to. In the three and a half hour flight to Chicago, I
talked with a Seventh-day Adventist minister who, to my amazement, was probably a saved man.
There were some obvious differences between his theology and mine, but I thought he was
straight on the Gospel. Whatever, this was not a witnessing situation. I was getting discouraged,
and in the O'Hare Airport in Chicago, I said to the Lord, “Lord, what is wrong? You just haven't
given me any real opportunities to witness. Have you failed me?”

On the hour and a half trip from Chicago to Roanoke, I sat next to a 26 year old teacher of
Spanish and French. The conversation immediately turned to spiritual things. It was obvious to
me that God was at work in this young man's life. He was very interested, and as the trip was
coming to an end, he said, “This conversation has greatly challenged my life. I wonder where it
will lead me?” He was wide open for the Gospel and the Lord was convicting and drawing.
You see, God had not failed me. He left the best for the last, and I do expect that perhaps
someday I will see that young man in heaven.
Discipling (14:21 b)
“. . . and had made many disciples, . . .” -- The missionaries not only preached the Gospel of
Christ to the lost, but they made disciples. After people responded to Christ, they were taught the
basics of the Christian faith, so they could be effective for Christ. A disciple is a learner and one
who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. There were certain basic, fundamental truths that these
new converts needed to be taught immediately: abiding in Christ, walking by faith, confession of
sin, assurance of salvation, the Spirit filled life, resting in the plan of God, learning to pray, and
other elementary, but absolutely necessary, doctrines for an effective Christian life. The Great
Commission instructs us to “make disciples . . . teaching them to observe all that I commanded
you” (Matt. 28:18-20).
It is obvious that these first missionaries (evangelists) did not come into a city for a week of
meetings and then leave, but they preached and taught, making sure these new converts were
established in the Faith once for all delivered to the saints. The apostles would probably stay
weeks or months in the same city, working diligently with those who had responded to Christ.
Risking (14:21c)
“. . . they returned to Lystra and Iconium and to Antioch,” -- These missionaries displayed
tremendous courage. They went right back to the cities where Paul was stoned, where the
enemies of the Gospel plotted to kill them, where they had been thrown out of town. What
motivated these missionaries to return to these cities, knowing their lives were endangered? They
were concerned for the saints. They thought the welfare of the infant churches was more
important than their own safety. The establishing of sound local churches was of more
consequence to the apostles than their own lives. “But I do not consider my life of any account as
dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the
Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). The missionaries
took risks that they might further the Gospel of Christ, and God blessed every step of faith they
took.
The missionaries did not take the easiest road. Instead of returning to Antioch of Syria through
Celicia, Paul's native country, which was the closest route, they retracted their steps to build up
the Christians. These missionaries were not looking for the easiest way; they were looking for
God's way. which is often the toughest way, but it is the best and most satisfying way.
BUILDING MEN IN CHRIST (Acts 14:22)
Strengthening (14:22a)
“. . . strengthening the souls of the disciples, . . .” -- The missionaries went back to Lystra,
Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia to strengthen the saints. They were truly converted; they had
instruction in the basics of Christianity, but they needed additional truth, real spiritual meat, in
order to become mature in the Faith. These disciples were strengthened by the apostles teaching

them the Word of God. The apostles taught and expounded the whole counsel of God to these
new converts of less than two years. Some may have been Christians only a few months. The
Word sets men free, but men cannot be set free if they do not know the Word. There must always
be strong doctrinal teaching so men will know what God expects of them, so they will not always
be running on their emotions.
The goal of the missionaries was to get these relatively new converts to Christ off the milk of the
Word on to the meat of the Word. They needed to strengthen, stabilize, and solidify these saints
by orienting them to sound doctrine.
The Christian life is more than being converted; it is growing in Christ. It is going on to be what
God intended us to be in Christ. It is impossible to grow in Christ without a good knowledge of
the Word of God.
Why did Paul and Barnabas go back? They were not interested in decisions. They were
interested in disciples. They were interested in church growth. They were interested in
establishing sound local churches. They were interested in planting the church of Jesus Christ
around the world. This is New Testament missions.
Encouraging (14: 22b)
“. . . encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must
enter the kingdom of God.’” -- The missionaries not only taught the new converts, but they
encouraged, exhorted and challenged them to persevere in the Faith. The apostles oriented these
new converts to positive Christian experience as well as sound doctrine. The missionaries were
very honest with these Christians and told them that suffering for Christ was part of being a
Christian. Christians must suffer tribulations and through these tribulations they will ultimately
enter into heaven (the kingdom of God). These new converts found out that being a Christian
wasn't all peaches and cream, and Paul told them that they were going to have trouble and not to
be surprised at it when it came. Why must we as Christians suffer tribulation? First, we must
suffer because the world controlled by Satan hates Christ and therefore hates those who are
followers and representatives of Christ. Second, tribulation teaches us to cling to Christ by faith.
Third, tribulation refines the Christian, making a real genuine spiritual man or woman. Fourth,
tribulation makes the Christian long for his heavenly home and reminds him that he is but a
pilgrim and stranger on this earth.
This verse tells us clearly that we all need suffering and must undergo suffering to make us grow.
Let us thank God for our tribulation and endure it for His glory and our good.
It is so very important that Christians exhort and encourage one another in the Faith. We cannot
really encourage one another unless we know and love one another.
“Take care, brethren, lest there should be in anyone of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling
away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called
‘Today,’ lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:12, 13).
“. . . and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our
own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more,
as you see the day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24-25).
Strengthening and encouraging the saints (teaching and experience) is nothing less than effective
follow-up. It is staying on new converts until they become self-sustaining believer-priests and

Jesus was the door of faith

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Jesus was the door of faith