Persevering Disciples
How do you know someone is healthy? Well, after those Thanksgiving meals, you know nobody is! You can’t always tell whether someone is healthy or not just by looking at someone. They could have an underlying illness though they look healthy on the outside. The real way to know someone is healthy or not is with time. Time will tell. If they persevere, they are healthy.
It’s the same spiritually. How do you know a Christian or a church is healthy or not? I would say, if they persevere, they are healthy.
Paul and Barnabas conclude their first missionary journey in today’s text. They end by returning to share how God had been at work through their first mission. On the outside you know what it would look like? From the metrics by which we measure the health of a church, it would look as if their first missionary journey was a major failure.
You know how we measure health? With three B’s. Budget, building, and bodies. Did you know a church could have all three of those and not be healthy? Paul and Barnabas encountered persecution, and you don’t see massive numbers come to faith like you did at Pentecost, but what you see Paul and Barnabas do is proclaim the gospel and leave people in a position in which they will persevere…They set them up to be healthy.
Persevere in proclaiming the gospel. (1-7, 19-21)
In Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, Paul faced intense persecutions. Yet, they return to those very places to continue to proclaim the gospel.
In Lystra Paul is stoned and left for dead. This even makes his list of sufferings:
2 Corinthians 11:25 – Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea…
These experiences served as a precursor to Paul's charge to Timothy, reminding us that perseverance is not optional but it’s integral to a faithful Christian walk.
2 Timothy 3:11-12 – 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
We don’t always immediately see fruit, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Where there is faithfulness, there is fruit. Do you know how Timothy came to faith in Jesus? He likely came to faith through the gospel ministry in Lystra. That’s the same place Paul was stoned and left for dead.
2 Timothy 1:5 – I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.
Lystra is where Paul would recruit Timothy from to accompany him on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-2). Real faith perseveres. The gospel took root in a grandmother, mother, and they passed it down to their son Timothy.
Parents, persevere in sharing the gospel with your children. Wife, persevere in sharing the gospel to your husband. Believer, persevere in sharing the gospel to those God places in your path. You may have opposition, but the gospel will take root. Even amidst the difficulty of Lystra, we see the gospel produce persevering disciples.
Let’s back up now, though. There is an interesting thing that happened to Paul and Barnabas that likely won’t happen to you when you proclaim the gospel. They tried to worship them as Zeus and Hermes.
Lystra is a city like many others, that worshiped idols and false gods. There was a temple to Zeus at its entrance. One of the local legends told of an ancient visitation by Zeus and Hermes to the city of Phrygia. In that story, only one couple in the city received Zeus and Hermes graciously, so the rest of the population was destroyed in a flood.
Those in Lyconia, knowing that legend, wouldn’t want to make the same mistake, so they seek to worship Paul and Barnabas believing them to be their gods because they had worked a miracle (Keener, IVP Background Commentary).
But Paul and Barnabas don’t make the same mistake as Herod did in Acts 12. Just like Herod who delivered a speech in bright glimmering clothing, Paul and Barnabas were thought to be gods — but Paul and Barnabas immediately reject this notion. Herod did not — and God immediately struck Herod down because he didn’t give God the glory (Acts 12:21-23).
Let’s look at Paul’s response to this situation. It will tell us a lot about truth and how God acts towards those who reject Him.
Common Grace: God satisfies all. (8-18)
Psalm 19:1-2 – The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
The heavens teach us something about God. We can know He exists just by looking up. Nature, in a sense, is a silent preacher, testifying to the majesty of the Creator. Paul understood this. I’m sure he’s thinking back on this experience and others when he wrote this in Romans 1.
Romans 1:18-23 – 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
In Lystra, the suppression of truth unfolds as the crowd mistakes Paul and Barnabas for gods. This mirrors the consequences outlined in Romans, where the rejection of God's clear revelation leads to futile thinking…the suppression of the truth in unrighteousness.
I forget where I heard it said, but I like the saying: Atheists don’t believe there is a God, but God doesn’t believe there are atheists. Romans 1 gives us the inside scoop into that, and Paul points it out in his speech to them. God’s creation gives testimony to His existence. The provisions of His common grace constantly preach His goodness.
James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…
All the good things in your life…think about them. They’re not from you. But don’t you want to thank someone? That in itself is an apologetic of God’s existence…your longing to say “thank you.” Because God is the giver of all good things. Even if you deny His existence.
But He doesn’t leave us there without excuse. God, in His grace, reveals the gospel to us.
Saving grace: God saves those who repent and believe. (15)
Paul calls them to repent and believe. The word “repent” means to turn. He is telling them to turn from false idols to the living God. That’s not just a turning, but it’s a believing. They have to believe that the idols they are worshiping aren’t real. They aren’t alive. That’s why they must turn to the “living God.”
Jesus came preaching, “Repent and believe in the gospel, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15)
The Gospel is not just a message of God's power to heal physically, as demonstrated in Lystra, but it’s a call to repentance and belief for spiritual healing…a spiritual healing that we all need.
Though they were faithful to proclaim the truth of the gospel, people came from Antioch and Iconium to lead the people to disbelieve the claims Paul and Barnabas were proclaiming. Their minds were poisoned, and their hearts didn’t turn to the living God, so they tried to kill His messengers.
God works even amidst difficulty, though. Where the gospel is proclaimed, there is fruit. It may take a while for the seed to grow, though. Yesterday, my kids and I prepped a little area and planted some flowers. Well, we planted some seeds. We got some packages for free from TDOT as part of a “Project Milkweed.” They were giving out seeds to increase pollinators. We got red milkweed seeds, which are supposed to attract butterflies. Why did we plant them in the Fall, though? The freezing, winter cold is essential for the germination process of milkweed seeds. Without the freezing cold winter months, the seeds aren’t prepared to take root and blossom into these beautiful flowers that attract butterflies.
It's much the same for Christians. Even though you couldn’t see it, God was doing a work at Lystra, and He was doing a work in Paul and Barnabas as well. We see them travel back along the same route they took, but this time they go to encourage and strengthen the disciples they made. They desire that these disciples persevere.
The Great Commission consists of more than proclaiming the gospel. It also consists of “teaching” people to follow Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). And we see here the major way God has set up to teach disciples, growing them to be healthy and persevering. He plants them in a church, overseen by elders.
Disciples persevere through the local church. (21b-28)
Before Paul and Barnabas head home on their missionary journey they risk seeing some of the churches they just planted one more time. They go back through the cities that rejected them, even the ones that tried to stone him. But it’s worth it because they want to practice discipleship and raise up leaders.
Disciples persevere through the local church. That is where the souls of believers are strengthened and where they are encouraged to continue in the faith. Then Paul says these words to encourage and strengthen them: “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God…” Remember, Jesus came preaching “Repent and believe the gospel, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” But through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Paul and Barnabas can now speak from experience that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” They returned to tell the disciples that tribulations are to be expected. That God is faithful always, and that they should continue in the faith.
Do you know how a disciple continues in the faith? Do you know a sign of a healthy disciple? They stick it out at a church. Paul preached to the local churches that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God, and as soon as we don’t like the music, we leave the church. Or as soon as we get uncomfortable, we leave the church. This isn’t the mindset of Paul, who shed his blood to plant these churches. And this isn’t the mindset of Jesus, who humbled Himself to the point of death to purchase and create a people for himself.
Healthy churches consist of persevering Christians. Paul and Barnabas also “Appointed elders for them in every church…” They raised up leaders. Specifically, Paul would later, in the same letter to Timothy, reveal the qualifications for elders (1 Timothy 3: 1-7). Elders are given to fulfil the Great Commission and develop persevering disciples. Believers don’t persevere by believing whatever they feel is right, but by being shepherded in truth. That’s the purpose of elders. Healthy churches have a plurality of elders that leads them in the Truth.
Also, we see another principle at work here. Healthy, persevering churches develop leaders.
Paul and Barnabas share with the believers how they’ve suffered during their mission, but then they rejoice. They raise up other disciples and God does amazing things. If we’re feeling uneasy about our building, our budget, or our bodies, do you know what we should do? Put extra effort into discipleship and developing leaders. That’s how this will be a healthy, persevering church made up of healthy, persevering Christians.
