The Gospel's Unstoppable Trajectory Text: Acts 14:19-23
Introduction: The Cost of Kingdom Advance
We live in a soft age. Our Christianity is often a padded, comfortable affair, more concerned with felt needs and therapeutic reassurances than with the sharp, bloody edges of kingdom conflict. We want the crown without the cross, the resurrection without the crucifixion, and the triumph of the gospel without having to get any mud on our boots. But the book of Acts is a bracing corrective to all such sentimentalism. It is the story of the explosive, world-altering advance of the kingdom of God, and it shows us plainly that the path of that advance is paved with both conversions and conflict.
The gospel is not a polite suggestion. It is a declaration of war against the principalities and powers, against the spiritual wickedness in high places that has held mankind in bondage. When the gospel arrives in a city, it does not ask for a seat at the table of existing idols; it flips the table over. It proclaims that Jesus is Lord, which is another way of saying that Caesar is not, that Zeus is not, that money is not, that self is not. And you cannot make that kind of exclusive claim without picking a fight. The world system, which is built on a foundation of rebellion against the true God, will not take this challenge lying down. It will hiss, it will rage, it will throw rocks.
In our text today, we see this principle in stark relief. The Apostle Paul, having just been mistaken for a pagan god, is now treated as a criminal worthy of death. The same crowd that wanted to offer him sacrifices is now persuaded to stone him. This is not a sign that the mission is failing. On the contrary, it is a sign that it is succeeding magnificently. The gospel was doing its work, separating, dividing, and conquering. And in this, we see the pattern for the church in every age. The gospel creates a crisis, it demands a verdict, and the reaction it provokes is a reliable indicator of its power.
This passage is a bucket of cold water for the timid and a shot of adrenaline for the faithful. It teaches us about the resilience of the gospel, the necessity of hardship, and the foundational importance of establishing godly order in the midst of chaos. This is not just a historical account; it is a strategic manual for the ongoing conquest of the world for Christ.
The Text
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning over the crowds and stoning Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. But while the disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. And after they had proclaimed the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.” And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
(Acts 14:19-23 LSB)
The Unkillable Apostle (v. 19-20)
We begin with the sharp reversal of Paul's fortunes:
"But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning over the crowds and stoning Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. But while the disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe." (Acts 14:19-20)
Notice the source of the opposition. It is not the pagans, initially, but the unbelieving Jews. These are the same agitators who had run Paul out of Antioch and Iconium. Their zeal is remarkable; they traveled over a hundred miles just to stop this preaching. This is religious fury, the kind that crucified the Lord Jesus. They cannot stand the gospel of grace because it dismantles their system of self-righteousness. They "won over the crowds," which shows us the fickleness of public opinion. One minute, the crowd sees a miracle and shouts, "The gods have come down to us!" The next, persuaded by a few determined enemies of the gospel, they are picking up stones. A man who builds his ministry on the approval of the crowd is building his house on a sinkhole.
So they stone Paul. This was not a random brawl; it was an attempted execution. They dragged him out of the city, as was the custom, and left him for dead. From a human perspective, the mission in Lystra has ended in catastrophic failure. The lead missionary is dead in a ditch. But God is not limited by human perspectives. The text says, "But while the disciples stood around him..." This is a crucial detail. In the face of this apparent disaster, the new converts do not scatter. They gather. They surround their fallen leader, likely in sorrow, perhaps to bury him. Their faith, though new, is not a fair-weather faith.
And then the great reversal: "he rose up." Whether this was a miraculous resuscitation or a recovery from a severe concussion, the effect is the same. God was not done with him. Paul was, for all intents and purposes, unkillable until his work was finished. And what is his first move? He "entered the city." He walks right back into the place where he had just been stoned. This is not recklessness; it is a declaration. It is a statement that the kingdom of God does not retreat. It is a demonstration to those young disciples that the gospel creates a courage that defies death. He is showing them what he will later write: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21). After making his point, he prudently leaves the next day for Derbe. The point was not to be foolish, but to be fearless.
The Counter-Intuitive Strategy (v. 21-22)
After a successful stint of ministry in Derbe, Paul makes a decision that must have seemed insane to any sensible observer.
"And after they had proclaimed the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.'" (Acts 14:21-22 LSB)
Instead of taking the safer route home, Paul retraces his steps. He goes right back into the cities where he had been viciously opposed, where plots had been made to kill him, and where he had been stoned and left for dead. Why? Because the gospel is not a hit-and-run operation. Paul was not just an evangelist; he was a church planter. He knew that making converts was only the first step. These new disciples were spiritual infants, left in a hostile environment. They needed to be strengthened, established, and prepared for what was to come.
And what is the message he brings to strengthen them? It is not, "Don't worry, things will get easier." It is the exact opposite. He tells them, "Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God." This is the hard-headed, realistic, and deeply encouraging truth of the Christian life. He is not sugar-coating the pill. He is steeling their souls. The word for afflictions here is thlipsis, which means pressure, trouble, tribulation. It's the normal Christian life.
This is profoundly pastoral. Paul is framing their future suffering not as a surprise or a sign of God's displeasure, but as the necessary path, the ordained curriculum for entering the kingdom. Jesus said the gate is narrow and the way is hard (Matt. 7:14). To tell new believers anything else is to set them up for disillusionment and failure. The modern church, with its obsession with comfort and prosperity, has largely abandoned this apostolic message, and in so doing, has produced a generation of Christians with the spiritual backbone of a chocolate éclair. Paul knew that true encouragement does not come from false promises of ease, but from a true understanding of the battle. We are soldiers, and soldiers expect hardship. Knowing that the afflictions are part of the plan, that they are the "must" of entering the kingdom, is what gives us the grit to persevere.
Establishing Order for the Long Haul (v. 23)
Paul's final action in these cities is crucial. He does not just leave them with an encouraging word; he leaves them with a structure of leadership.
"And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed." (Acts 14:23 LSB)
This is absolutely essential. The long-term health and stability of these fledgling churches depended on godly, local leadership. The Holy Spirit does not just work through itinerant apostles, but through established, qualified elders. Paul is implementing the biblical pattern of church government: a plurality of elders in every church. These men were to be the shepherds, the overseers, the guardians of the flock against the wolves that Paul knew would come.
The process of their appointment is instructive. It was done with "prayer and fasting." This was not a casual, bureaucratic decision. It was a weighty, spiritual matter. They were seeking the mind of the Lord, subordinating their physical desires to their spiritual focus, acknowledging their utter dependence on God to identify and raise up the right men. This is a far cry from the corporate head-hunting or political maneuvering that can sometimes characterize church leadership decisions today. This was a solemn act of spiritual warfare and discernment.
After appointing them, Paul and Barnabas "commended them to the Lord." The word here means to entrust, to deposit for safekeeping. This is a beautiful picture of faith. Paul did not have to micromanage these churches from afar. He established the right order, appointed the right men, and then entrusted them to the care of the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church. He knew that the one who had saved these people was more than able to keep them. This is the pattern for all Christian ministry: we labor with all our might, we establish biblical order, and then we confidently entrust the results to God.
Conclusion: The Optimism of the Cross
So what does this snapshot of apostolic mission teach us? It teaches us that the Christian life is a fight, but it is a fixed fight. It teaches us that suffering is not an elective course; it is a required class for kingdom entry. And it teaches us that God's method for advancing His kingdom is through the planting of well-ordered, biblically-led churches.
The trajectory of the gospel is always forward. Paul gets stoned and left for dead, but he gets up and goes back to work. Churches are born in the midst of riots and persecution. This is not a story of retreat or defeat. This is the story of victory. This is the confident, optimistic, postmillennial advance of the kingdom of God. The afflictions are real, but they are the birth pangs of a new creation. The opposition is fierce, but it is the death rattle of a defeated enemy.
Our problem is that we have believed a different story. We have bought into a pessimistic, defeatist eschatology that sees the church as a beleaguered minority, huddled in a bunker, waiting for an airlift. But that is not the picture we see in Acts. We see a conquering army on the march. The gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
Therefore, we must recover this apostolic mindset. We must not be surprised by affliction, but see it as the price of admission into the kingdom. We must not be deterred by opposition, but get up, dust ourselves off, and walk right back into the city. And we must be about the business of building, of establishing order, of appointing elders, and of commending our work to the Lord who is faithful. The world will throw rocks. But our God is in the business of resurrection. And through many afflictions, we are not just entering the kingdom; we are building it.