Unstoppable ChurchНамуна

Acts 14:19-23 NKJV– Paul and Barnabas Risk Their Lives for Discipleship

Risking it All for Evangelism and Discipleship!

Sharing the Good News (“Gospel”) that a person can have his/her sinfulness forgiven and can experience God’s salvation that provides peace with God both immediately and eternally in heaven, is the most important message a believer is able to share with a person. It is the most important decision anyone can make. That is why the Apostles and the believers risked their lives to share the Gospel with those who needed to be saved. The book of Acts is filled with examples of believers risking their lives to share the Gospel with unbelievers. All believers today should likewise commit their lives to do whatever it takes to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth! But there was a second reason the Apostles and first-century believers also risked their lives in the book of Acts – to disciple these new believers! To them, they knew that fulfilling God’s command for all believers in Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8 required them not just to see a person accept Christ, but to also see that same person “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18a NKJV). Just as they traveled to new towns and were beaten within an inch of their lives for sharing the Gospel (Acts 14:19), they also risked their lives to return to those cities to make sure new Christians were being properly discipled and that the churches were establishing strong leadership to mature the believers in those communities!

We see Paul’s conviction to share the Gospel and to risk a lot for people to hear the Gospel for the very first time. While in Iconium, they were “speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace” (Acts 14:3b NKJV), but the ones who opposed his message of God’s grace grew violent and attempted to “abuse and stone them” (Acts 14:5b NKJV). As a result, they fled to “Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. And they preached the Gospel there” (Acts 14:6b-7a NKJV). Then these same violent opposers followed Paul to Lystra, “stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead” (Acts 14:19b NKJV). After being revived and strengthened after his injuries, Paul then “departed with Barnabas to Derbe” (Acts 14:20b NKJV). It was obvious that Paul was convicted to evangelize the unsaved world and share the Gospel message to the “uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8b NKJV).

Then, the unthinkable happens. Paul decides to return to these same cities (Acts 14:19)! Wait! What?! Are you sure, Paul? You already accomplished your goal of sharing the Gospel there. Why would you need to return? But for Paul, the mission of the church was not only to evangelize the lost but also to disciple and spiritually strengthen the believers! On his way back to Antioch to report to the other Christian leaders how the Gospel was received in the Gentile cities he had visited, he felt compelled to return to these cities and disciple them.
He actually returned to where he once experienced abuse and persecution for the purpose of making sure these new Christians were being properly discipled and that the churches were establishing strong leadership who would further mature the believers in that community.

Paul had an intentional agenda to accomplish when he revisited these towns. He wanted to offer his support to spiritually strengthen the believers. Acts 14:22-23 shares where he returned and what needed to be accomplished in these fledgling churches in order to be spiritually strong and effective witnesses in their communities. Paul and Barnabas sought the Lord through prayer and fasting as they proceeded with the following discipleship process (Acts 14:23b NKJV):

1. Strengthen the believers through words of affirmation and further teaching (Acts 14:22a).
2. Encourage them not to quit (Acts 14:22b).
3. Remind them that being an active and passionate believer in Jesus will not be easy (Acts 14:22c).
4. Appoint spiritual leaders in each church (Acts 14:23a).
5. Charge them to continue the mission of evangelism and discipleship and to entrust their spiritual care and ministry to the Lord before they departed (Acts 14:23c).

To these believers who were committed to “being witnesses...to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8b NKJV), discipling brand-new believers should be held at equal weight to evangelizing people in their community. In fact, approximately 15 years after Paul visited these cities to further disciple and strengthen the believers, he was imprisoned for two years (Acts 28:30-31). During this two-year imprisonment, he wrote to the believers in Ephesus about the importance of both evangelism and discipleship. He emphasized that believers must know the power of their position in Christ (the Gospel) and the equally important priority to grow and live as members of the family of God (Discipleship).

After spending the first three chapters of this Letter to the Ephesians explaining how deep and profound a believer’s position in Christ is because of being saved, Paul then spends the last three chapters explaining that it is equally as important to grow and live spiritually after salvation. Paul accomplished this by using a vivid Greek word to describe how both elements of evangelism and discipleship should be given equal emphasis in a believer’s life. In order
to transition from the Gospel section of the letter to the discipleship portion of the letter, Paul’s first sentence of the discipleship section reads: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy [“OX-ee-oh-s”; “in equal weight to”] to the calling with which you were called” (Ephesians 4:1a NKJV). In the book of Acts, Paul risks his life to both reach unbelievers with the saving Gospel and to return to those very dangerous areas in order to do whatever he could to support the Christian leaders and believers in their spiritual maturity and growth.

The “Missionary Journeys” (as many call them today) of Paul and other believers in the book of Acts were actually both evangelistic and discipleship endeavors. In the book of Acts, evangelism was the beginning of the celebration of new life and the first step of fulfilling God’s great commandment (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8), and discipleship was the second required spiritual activity that allowed these new believers to experience the fullness of this new life in Christ!

Ponder & Pray Today…

Reflect upon how important sharing the Gospel was to the first-century believers. Give serious thought to exactly how much you would sacrifice to see any non-believer accept Christ. Now, ponder how much you would sacrifice to see current believers continue to grow in their spiritual walk.

Pray over two specific people with whom you engage on a weekly basis: 1) A person that you know has not accepted Christ as his/her Savior. Plan now how you could encourage this person to give serious consideration to accepting Christ this week. 2) A believer who is currently growing spiritually or a believer who needs to begin actively growing spiritually and engage either person appropriately with love. Offer any support you can to help them in their spiritual journey this week.