Could you imagine witnessing this? Seeing the very man that was thought to be dead because of the stoning he just went through, alive, breathing, and seemingly well. Only doing what this time? The very thing that got him stoned in the first place: preaching the Gospel.

It is beyond apparent that this Message meant more than words could even describe to these individuals in the early church. Dalton Thomas of FAI puts it as so in his book, ‘Unto Death,’ where he says “therefore, the call to ‘suffer’ and ‘die’ is first and foremost a call to encounter the One who causes us to see death as gain and suffering as incomparable to the weight of glory that is ours in Him.” Which just echoes Paul’s future letter to the Philippian Church stating to them that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” [1.21] Today’s passage of Scripture is Paul truly exemplifying what he meant when he said that he was torn between the two: ”if I must continue living after being stoned, then it will continue to be for Christ Jesus and the building of His Bride. But if this leads me to death, then it is not done in vain.”

The Lord saw this mentality, this grit, and this belief and was not done with Paul’s life. What obedience we witness; in which, I hope and pray spurs you on as you read.

[Acts 14.19-28]

14.19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they remained no little time with the disciples.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ After Valentine’s Day yesterday, I am wildly impacted by the biblical understanding of ‘love’, especially as it is described in v. 4 of I Corinthians 13: “love suffers long…” How is this so perfectly embodied in these missions found in Acts? What verses stick out as you read this with I Corinthians 13 in mind?

+ Why might have Paul not died?

+ Why did Paul continue preaching the Gospel after being stoned to the point of death? Where did he receive this strength?

+ Do we see this grit throughout his epistles?

+ Why would this testimony spark belief amongst the crowds? Especially in seeing that the outcomes of “believing” might be of the same nature?

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ I often have to think about what my reactions would be in scenarios like this. Dallas Willard in his book ‘Spirit of the Disciplines’ says this to provoke his reader to practice discipline, which I find helpful in thinking about confrontations like in today’s account: ‘You will be challenged to consider how thoroughly you are committed to following Jesus, and you may find that your commitment is remarkably flabby and thin because it has never been translated into how you spend your time.”

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?