Acts 14:1 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, we see the gospel preached in Iconium, where the apostles had to go after leaving Antioch. As the blood of martyrs has often helped the church grow, so the forced scattering of believers has spread the gospel seed. They first offered the gospel to the Jews in their synagogues. They did this not only because the synagogue was a place of worship, but because the Jews were always to be reached first wherever the apostles came.

Even though the Jews in Antioch had treated them badly, the apostles did not refuse to preach to the Jews in Iconium, who may have been more open. We should not condemn whole groups because of the sins of some, and we should do good even to those who have done us harm. Though cruel people hate the upright, the righteous still seek their soul, that is, they seek their salvation (Pro 29:10).

Notice also how the apostles worked together. Luke points out that they both went into the synagogue, showing their unity and warm affection for each other. This let people see how Christians love one another, and it helped strengthen their witness. Since two witnesses establish a matter, their united testimony carried more weight. They did not take turns or separate their efforts, but went in together.

The result of their preaching was great success. A large crowd, perhaps hundreds or even thousands, believed, both Jews and Greeks, meaning Gentiles. The gospel was now preached to Jews and Gentiles together, and those who believed from both groups came into the church together. In this way, both groups stood on the same level before God. Both were reconciled to God in one body (Eph 2:16), and both were received into the church without distinction.

There also seems to have been something especially powerful about the way the apostles preached here. They spoke plainly, convincingly, warmly, and with real concern for people’s souls. They spoke so earnestly and boldly that listeners could tell God was truly with them. Still, their success did not come from skill alone, but from the Spirit of God working through their words.

Their preaching also met with strong resistance, and this was a useful test for them. It kept them from becoming proud because of the many who believed. Unbelieving Jews were the first to stir up trouble, as they often were (Act 14:2). The gospel drew some Gentiles to faith, but it made other Jews jealous and angry. What brought life to some brought judgment to others, as Paul later explains (Co2 2:15, Co2 2:16).

Those unbelieving Jews then used false stories to poison the minds of the Gentiles against the believers. They did not just mention their complaints when the chance came. They made it their business to go to people they knew and say whatever could turn them against Christianity. They told them it would destroy their pagan beliefs and worship. In effect, they stirred up hatred against both the preachers and the converts. The old serpent worked through their poisonous speech to spread bitterness in these Gentiles, like gall and wormwood.

It is no surprise that people who dislike the good also speak badly about it and work against it. The tools used by persecutors often live a hard life, always being pushed and driven by others. The Gentiles were being constantly troubled and worn down by these repeated efforts.

Even so, the apostles stayed and kept working. Since the Gentiles were being stirred against them, one might think they would have left quickly or spoken more carefully. Instead, they stayed a long time and spoke boldly in the Lord. The more they saw the hostility of the town and the danger to the new believers, the more they felt the need to remain, strengthen them, and comfort them. They were not afraid of offending the unbelieving Jews. What God had said to Ezekiel about hardhearted hearers was now true of the apostles, I have made your face strong against their faces (Eze 3:7-9).

What gave them courage was not their own strength, but the Lord’s. They spoke boldly in the Lord, trusting his power and support. They depended on him, not on themselves. They were strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Christ also worked with them, just as he promised, “I am with you always.” When they went forward in his name and strength, he gave proof that the message of his grace was true. The gospel is a word of grace, because it brings God’s good will to us and the means by which he works in us. It is Christ’s word of grace, because we find favor with God only in him.

Christ himself has confirmed this message of grace. He is the Amen, the faithful witness, and he has assured us that this is the word of God, so we can trust our souls to it. As it was said in general about the first preachers of the gospel, that the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word with signs that followed (Mark 16:20), so it is said here in particular about the apostles that the Lord confirmed their witness. He did this by giving them signs and wonders to do by their hands, both in miracles over the natural world and in the greater wonders done through their message, when divine grace changed human hearts. The Lord was with them while they were with him, and much good came from their work.

The city was then divided into two groups, and both sides were active and strong. Among the rulers, the leaders, and the common people, some stood with the unbelieving Jews, and others stood with the apostles. Barnabas is called an apostle here, even though he was not one of the twelve and was not called in the same special way as Paul. He had been set apart by the Holy Spirit for special service among the Gentiles, that is, the non-Jews. This whole matter shows how widely the gospel was noticed and discussed. Everyone in the city had to choose a side, no one stayed neutral. It was either for us or against us, for God or for Baal, for Christ or for Beelzebub.

Here we can see the meaning of Christ’s prediction that he did not come to bring peace on earth, but division (Luke 12:51-53). If everyone had agreed to follow him, there would have been true peace. And if people could agree on this one thing, they would not fall into so many dangerous quarrels in other matters. But since they disagreed here, the break became very wide. Yet the apostles should not be blamed for coming to Iconium, even though the city had been united before and was divided afterward. It is better that part of a city go to heaven than that all of it go to hell.

We should also measure our own expectations by this. We should not be surprised if the preaching of the gospel causes division, and we should not take offense at it. It is better to be mocked and persecuted as troublemakers for going against the crowd than to go along with the crowd toward destruction. Let us stand with the apostles and not be afraid of those who side with the Jews.

Then came the attack from their enemies. Their evil feelings finally broke out into open violence (Acts 14:5). Both the Gentiles and the Jews, along with their rulers, joined in the plot. The Gentiles and Jews were normally enemies, yet they came together against Christians, just as Herod and Pilate did against Christ, and as Sadducees and Pharisees did against him, and as Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek once joined against Israel. If the enemies of the church can unite to destroy it, should not its friends set aside personal quarrels and unite to protect it?

This was the plot they made. Now that they had won over the rulers, they thought they could succeed. Their plan was to treat the apostles shamefully, bring disgrace on them, and then stone them to death. In this way, they hoped to crush the gospel cause. They aimed to take away both the apostles’ good name and their lives. Yet this was all the men could take from them, since they had no land or wealth to lose.

The apostles were then rescued from the hands of those wicked and unreasonable men (Acts 14:6-7). They got away when someone warned them of the plan against them, or when they first sensed the attack beginning. They made an honorable retreat, not a shameful flight, to Lystra and Derbe. There they found safety. Their persecutors in Iconium were content, for the moment, that they had been pushed out of their area, and did not follow them farther. God has places of shelter for his people in a storm, and he himself is, and will be, their hiding place.

They also found new work, which was what they had come for. When the door of opportunity was shut in Iconium, it opened in Lystra and Derbe. They went there, and throughout the surrounding region, preaching the gospel. In times of persecution, ministers may see reason to leave one place, while still refusing to leave their calling.