Acts 14

Bible Passage:  Acts 14

The year is 2010.. The place is Singapore..

We are living in a peaceful era, in a peaceful place. When I say peaceful, I’m referring to the context of living in an environment of religious freedom, where we as Christians can worship our God in peace and with almost no restrictions, and no real danger. In a situation like this, I think we can say that we have been blessed to be in an environment where we can build upon our faith and have spiritual nurture with ease, albeit the toils we face in life like at work or in school. But other than that, everything is good right now.

Or is it? *jarring chord*

Perhaps, one might think that it is somewhat too peaceful. Not that that is bad. But, sometimes, with complacency could come some misguided contentment. We might not see the need or feel the urge to improve upon our faith, to grow in spiritual nurture. We might not have the motivation to encourage and strengthen one another in faith.

Now after much jargon for the intro (phew..), let us look at a point I’d like to highlight in this chapter.

In my Bible, from verse onwards, the sub-theme is entitled “Strengthen the converts”. Even the top of the page writes that. And this was what Paul and Barnabas did, as said in verses 21-22:

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

Note that it says that they “returned” to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. They went back to the very places where they had previously preached in before Derbe, and there, they were persecuted, idolised as a couple of bogus gods, and Paul actually got rocked! I mean… Stoned!

But knowing these dangers that they might have had to face these tribulations again, why did they go back? Because they knew the importance of strengthening the disciples there. The majority of these disciples were newly converted believers who came to believe in Jesus during Paul’s and Barnabas’ first visits. So the duo knew that they needed to be encouraged (Remember biblereadingcompanion’s entry about encouraging? No? Go read it again then!) to withstand and go through the tribulations they would face with courage and faith, that they would be able to enter the kingdom of God.

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Col 1: 27-28)

This was what Paul wrote to the church in Colossi. He knew the importance of not only preaching the gospel, but also to teach and warn them, that they may be presented perfect in Christ. Paul Barnabas had been through quite a rough ride in Iconium and Lystra (as seen earlier in Chapter 14). I would think that they would have shared of their experiences to the believers there, on top of testifying of God’s grace and guidance. They had been through them, and by the grace of God, they made it out of them well and could still stand before them and exhort them. Surely the believers would be encouraged and strengthened!

Today, we should do the same to those who had recently come to believe in the Lord. We should guide them in faith and the truth, strengthening them to face the challenges that are inevitable in the life of a believer of Christ. Not just the converts, but even believers who have been in the church for a longer time can be susceptible to them.

Despite these peaceful times, even though we might not experience the trials that Paul and Barnabas went through in Lystra and Iconium, the aforementioned challenges are real, and they can very well derail any one of us if we are weak in faith. Some of us may go through low moments in our lives that could seriously affect our faith. Knowing this, we have to understand that encouraging and strengthening one another in the faith is a must even today.

We can share testimonies with one another that speaks of God’s grace, love and mercy even in times of tribulation. We can share bible verses or hymns that can strengthen us. Or we can come together in one accord to pray for one another and common matters of the church.

In conclusion, whenever we come together, we have to stir up one another in the faith and exhort the brethren, just as the following verses go:

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Heb 10: 24-26)