Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. (Acts 14:19-20)

Paul and Barnabas went from city to city in the Roman province of Asia Minor, in what is today modern-day Turkey. They preached the good news of Jesus Christ, and when people responded they started congregations. Along the way, they face a lot of opposition. In fact, there was an angry group of Jewish people from Antioch and Iconium who started following Paul hoping to stop him and his companions.

When they came to the city of Lystra, some of these persecuting Jews from Antioch and Iconium traveled more than one hundred miles just to make Paul miserable. They were dedicated adversaries of Paul.

When these opponents came to Lystra, they persuaded the multitudes that Paul was a bad man deserving of severe punishment. They pushed the people of Lystra against Paul and Barnabas and provoked the stoning of Paul. This was obviously an attempt to execute Paul and Barnabas – with the rocks being thrown by the same people In Lystra who wanted to worship them shortly before.

This is a dramatic demonstration of how fickle a crowd can be. Their desire to honor Paul and Barnabas as gods did not last long. This also shows us that it is dangerous for any spiritual leader to cultivate or allow a kind of hero-worship. The same people who give this honor will feel terribly betrayed when the leader is shown to be human.

Prompted by the mob from Antioch and Iconium, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city. Yet,when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up. Paul was miraculously preserved here. But notice what Paul did when he was revived: he rose up and went into the city. Paul did not flee from the city that stoned him. Instead, he immediately went back into it.

This was the courage of a man who would not quit. Paul was determined to keep going as long as God gave him strength. He had the attitude that some later Christians displayed to their persecutors: “You can kill us, but you can’t hurt us.”

The story of Paul begins in Acts when he took part in the stoning of the first Christian martyr – Stephen (Acts 7:58-8:1). As the stone flew at him in Lystra, Paul must have remembered this. He knew that Stephen went to heaven, but when Paul didn’t, then he knew he had more work to do. He would not quit until God stopped him.

You probably won’t face the same persecution that Paul did, but you can have the same commitment to Jesus – and by God’s grace, the same “can’t quit” spirit. Ask God for this today.

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Now when he [Herod] had arrested him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him…. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church…. [Peter was] sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers. (Acts 12:4-6)

The first of the apostles had just been martyred – James, who was one of the closest companions of Jesus; one of the three: Peter, James, and John. Yet Herod, after killing James, was not satisfied. He saw his approval ratings going up in the opinion polls, and thought they might go up even more if he killed Peter. So, Peter was kept in prison.

Herod was nobody’s fool – he knew that the apostles were famous for mysterious jail escapes. Acts 5:17-21 is a good example of one: Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him…. and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out…). So, Herod took no chances – he gave four squads of soldiers the job to guard Peter. Herod also chained Peter between two soldiers. Normally, a maximum-security prisoner would be chained to one solider.

So, Herod had his soldiers and his prisons; but the church had the power of prayer. The outcome would be decided easily. The prison was shut up securely. But when every other gate is shut and locked, the gate to heaven is wide open. The church took advantage of that open gate through their earnest prayers.

Most remarkably, Peter showed no signs of anxiety; he was able to sleep soundly on what seemed to be the last night before his execution. Peter could do this because he had something stronger than the best gates, guards, and chains – Peter had the promise of God. In John 21:18, Jesus had told Peter about his death: When you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.

Peter could reason like this: “Jesus promised me that I would not die for Him until I am old. It has only been a few years since He said that, and I am not really old yet. So this is not my time. I may as well get a good night’s sleep.” The power of the God he trusted was greater than all of Herod’s power.

When we have a genuine trust in God’s promises, it brings a peace that passes understanding in our lives. Are you stressed? Worried? Filled with anxiety about things?

Then get your eyes off your circumstances and fix your eyes on the promises God has made. Then you can be peaceful enough to sleep in even the most desperate times!

Remember, God gives His beloved sleep (Psalm 127:2).

The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. (Acts 10:9)

This short verse from Acts 10 doesn’t seem like something to notice in the chapter. Dig a little deeper and you see an amazing description of how God works.

Acts 10:9 tells us of two men who were household servants of a Roman centurion named Cornelius, who was in the category of what the Jews called God-fearers. These were Gentiles (non-Jews) who loved the God of Israel and were sympathetic to and supportive of the Jewish faith. Yet they stopped short of becoming fully Jewish in lifestyle and in circumcision. They never fully came under the law of Moses, which required circumcision and eating kosher.

Most Jewish people of that time respected and appreciated these God-fearing Gentiles. But they could not really share their life and homes and food with them, because they were still in fact Gentiles and not full Jewish converts

Cornelius was in Caesarea, the Roman headquarters for the province. One afternoon, God gave Cornelius a vision of an angel. The angel told him to send for a certain man in Joppa, which was about 40 miles (65 km) to the south. Cornelius didn’t go to Joppa himself, he sent two household servant – these were the two who went on their journey and drew near the city.

As those two men came closer to the home Peter was staying at (the home of Simon the Tanner), Peter went up on the housetop to pray. It wasn’t strange that he was up on the housetop – in those days, many houses had something like a patio or terrace on the housetop. Just as Peter began to pray, God spoke to him – also in a vision.

Through Peter and Cornelius, God was going to do something new and radical among His people. He was going to make it clear that Gentiles like Cornelius did not have to become Jews before they could become Christians. They didn’t have to go through Moses to get to Jesus; they could go to Jesus directly.

I think it is wonderful how God used both Peter and Cornelius in this. Typically, this is how God operates. He speaks to several people about a matter, not just one. Then confirmation is provided, and out of the mouth of two or three witnesses a word is established.

Here’s another wonderful thing: How God works all things together. While both Caesarea and Joppa were busy with their shipping and shops and trade and industry, God was working great and eternal things behind the scenes. Across 40 miles (65 km), God coordinated a Roman officer’s afternoon angelic vision, Peter’s hungry stomach, a vision for Peter, and the journey of two household servants so that they came to the door exactly when Peter’s vision was finished.

Today, you can trust God to work all things together perfectly in your life.

Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. (Acts 9:31)

Acts chapter 9 began with a zealous man named Saul breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:1). But God was more than able to turn this terrible threat into a great blessing. Here, at Acts 9:31, Luke shows that God’s work not only continued but it was strong, despite the great opposition that came against it.

Notice the places where the church was healthy: all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. The story of the advance of the churches in Judea (including Jerusalem) is found in Acts 1-7. Acts 8 includes the story of the church in Samaria. As for Galilee, the Book of Acts tells us nothing about the planting of churches in Galilee. We don’t know who started these churches, how they did it, or all the great works of God which took place in these young churches. This reminds us that Acts is only a partial history of God’s work during this period.

The churches throughout these regions had peace. This doesn’t mean that all persecution had stopped; instead, it means that they had peace amid persecution. Gods’ people should not need easy circumstances to have peace. As Jesus is with us, we can have peace amid the storm.

The churches throughout these regions were edified. That word edified has the idea of being built up. The churches were growing in numbers and strength. Jesus was building His church, just as He promised (Matthew 16:18).

We also read that all the churches in these regions were walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Each of these are needed in the Christian walk. At any given moment a disciple of Jesus may more need the fear of the Lord or more need the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

How is it in your life? Depending on God to give you wisdom, ask Him to show you if you most need to receive a greater measure of the fear of the Lord or an extra portion of the comfort of the Holy Spirit. I fear that our quick response will always be for more comfort, but we must be sensitive to seasons when we simply need more fear of the Lord.

We can be sure of this – that when God’s people are walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, you may expect that they will also see their numbers multiplied.

The Bible teacher A.T. Pierson wrote about the phrase the comfort of the Holy Spirit: “There is not an evil now cursing or threatening our church life which this ‘comfort of the Holy Ghost’ would not remedy and perhaps remove.” May God give and we receive both the fear and the comfort to build up healthy churches!

And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. (Acts 9:26-27a)

A few years after he was wonderfully converted, Saul (also known as Paul) made a visit to Jerusalem. The visit didn’t go as he had hoped, at least not at first: he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him. It seems strange that Christians in Jerusalem were so suspicious of Saul even three years after his conversion. They perhaps thought that he was part of an elaborate and extended plot. Maybe they were reluctant to embrace such a dramatic conversion without seeing it with their own eyes. Simply, they did not believe that he was a disciple.

That had to hurt. At this point, some people might turn their back on Jesus Christ. We could imagine Saul saying, “I’ve been serving the Lord for three years, preaching Jesus Christ, enduring assassination attempts and death threats. Now you don’t want to accept me as a Christian? Do you call this the love of Jesus? Forget it!”

But Saul had a greater heart of love for Jesus and Jesus’ followers. It no doubt hurt, but he understood that the disciples in Jerusalem remembered the Christians that Saul had killed and persecuted before Jesus changed his life. If the disciples in Jerusalem lacked a little in love, Saul added a little more love to make up for it.

Yet in Acts 9:27 we read something wonderful: Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. Barnabas simply extended the love of Jesus to Saul, and as Saul (Paul the Apostle) would write later, love believes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). Barnabas said, “I believe you, Saul. I believe you had a terrible past and I know Christians were really afraid of you. But I believe Jesus has changed your life, and for three years you’ve lived as a changed man.”

Thank God for people like Barnabas, who will welcome people into the family of God with simple friendship.

Many of us know what it is like to be hurt in the church, among God’s people. Some of us have known this pain very deeply. It seems like many people experience times when they are rejected, abused, neglected, or put out by God’s people. Some of us get treated the way that many of the Jerusalem disciples treated Saul.

If that is you, please don’t despair. You’re in good company, and God is big enough, wise enough, and sovereign enough to bring blessing and good even out of a painful season.

Here’s my prayer for you: that if you are in that painful place, God would send you a Barnabas – someone to hear you, help you, and love you in the name of Jesus. I also pray that God would help you to be a Barnabas to someone else.