The Unseen Engine of Christendom: Strengthening the Saints Text: Acts 18:22-23
Introduction: The War Against Tedium
We live in an age that is desperately at war with tedium. Our evangelical culture craves the spectacular. We want the big event, the emotional high, the viral moment, the conference that changes everything. We want our Christianity to be a constant series of exclamation points. And so when we come to a passage like this one, a dry little travel summary tucked away in the book of Acts, our eyes tend to glaze over. Paul lands here, goes up there, goes down to another place, and then sets off on another long walk. It feels like reading someone's expense report.
But this is a profound failure of the imagination, and a profound theological error. If we find this passage boring, it is because we have been catechized by the world to believe that kingdom work must always be loud, flashy, and photogenic. But the kingdom of God is like leaven, working silently in the dough. It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds, growing into the largest of trees. The real work, the engine room of the Great Commission, is often quiet, steady, administrative, and relentless. It is pastoral. It is doctrinal. It is the long, hard, glorious grind of faithfulness.
These two verses are not filler. They are not Luke just trying to get Paul from point A to point B. This is a strategic report from the front lines of a spiritual war for the world. This is the apostolic blueprint for building a Christian civilization. It is a quiet passage, but it is humming with the power that overturns empires. It shows us the absolute necessity of accountability, the central role of the local church, and the non-negotiable, foundational task of strengthening the saints. If we want to see Christendom built, we must learn to love the glorious monotony of the work described here.
The Text
And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch. And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
(Acts 18:22-23 LSB)
The Necessity of Accountability (v. 22)
We begin with the first stop on Paul's itinerary.
"And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch." (Acts 18:22)
Notice the geography here. It is theological geography. Paul lands at the port of Caesarea, and from there he "went up." In the lexicon of the Jews, one always goes "up" to Jerusalem. This was the mother church, the site of Pentecost, the location of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Paul, the trailblazing apostle to the Gentiles, the man who withstood Peter to his face, is not a lone ranger. He is not an entrepreneurial ministry maverick with a great vision and no oversight. He is a man under authority, in fellowship with the other apostles. He reports in. He "greeted the church." This is the principle of accountability.
This is a sharp rebuke to the spirit of our age, which celebrates the renegade and the independent operator. We have a romantic notion of the man who answers to no one but God and his own conscience. But that is not the biblical pattern. True authority flows from submission. Paul's authority as an apostle was not diminished by his reporting to the church in Jerusalem; it was demonstrated by it. He was part of a team, a soldier in an army, a member of a body. He understood that the mission was corporate, not individualistic. The health of the whole church depended on this kind of mutual submission and fellowship.
After this, he "went down to Antioch." Antioch was his sending church. It was the forward operating base for the mission to the Gentile world. This was his home base, the church that had first commissioned him and Barnabas by the laying on of hands. He returns to them, not just to rest, but to report, to fellowship, to be a part of the life of the body that sent him. The local church is not a mere gas station for the spiritually empty; it is the strategic headquarters for the conquest of the world. Paul's relationship with Antioch shows us that the Great Commission is prosecuted by and through local, visible, accountable churches.
The Apostolic Grind (v. 23)
After a time of rest and fellowship in his home church, the work resumes.
"And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples." (Acts 18:23 LSB)
There is a necessary rhythm to Christian work. There is the going out on the campaign, and there is the returning to base to refit and resupply. After spending "some time" in Antioch, Paul departs again. And notice the nature of this departure. He "passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia." This was not a haphazard wander. This was a planned, deliberate, apostolic circuit. This was a grueling, thousand-mile walk with a singular purpose. This is the shoe-leather of dominion, the sheer hard work of building the church.
And what was the purpose of this massive undertaking? The text gives it to us in three crucial words: "strengthening all the disciples." The Greek word is epistērizōn. It means to establish, to make firm, to buttress, to make stable. This is the heart of the passage. This is the unseen engine of Christendom. Paul is not just planting flags and moving on. He is returning to the churches he had already planted in order to fortify them.
So what does this "strengthening" entail? It is not, we should note, an emotional pep rally. It is not a worship concert designed to gin up feelings. This is apostolic strengthening, and it has at least three components. First, it is doctrinal fortification. Paul is laying down sound doctrine, reinforcing the theological foundations, and refuting the errors of the Judaizers and other wolves who were constantly harassing these young flocks. A strong disciple is a well-taught disciple. A strong church is a church that stands on the granite of biblical truth, not the shifting sands of experience. Second, it is covenantal encouragement. He is reminding these believers of who they are in Christ, what their duties are as members of the new covenant, and exhorting them to persevere in faithfulness, especially in the face of persecution. Third, it is structural ordering. He is ensuring that these churches are properly ordered, with qualified elders and deacons, and that they are functioning in a healthy, biblical manner. To strengthen the disciples is to strengthen the local church as an institution.
Conclusion: The Strategy for Victory
So what does this brief travel log teach us? It teaches us the apostolic strategy for victory, a strategy that is profoundly at odds with the spirit of our age. The kingdom of God advances, and Christian civilization is built, not primarily through political coups or mass media campaigns, but through the slow, patient, deliberate, and often tedious work of strengthening disciples.
This is the essence of a postmillennial vision. We believe that the gospel will triumph in history, that the nations will be discipled. How will this happen? It will happen exactly as it is described here. It will happen through the multiplication of strong disciples, who form strong families, who constitute strong churches. And these strong churches, fortified in the truth and ordered according to the Word, become the leaven that transforms the whole lump of a culture. This is building from the bottom up. Paul is not trying to seize the levers of power in Rome. He is making a thousand-mile journey on foot to make sure the believers in Galatia have their doctrine straight. He is playing the long game.
This is a profound calling for all of us. For pastors and elders, your central task is not to be a charismatic CEO or a slick entertainer. Your job is to do what Paul did. Strengthen the disciples. Preach the whole counsel of God. Patiently teach the truth. Fence the table. Administer the sacraments. Visit the flock. Do the slow, hard work of pastoral fortification.
And for every believer, you have a Galatia and Phrygia. It is your home. It is your circle of friends. It is the people in your small group. Your task in the Great Commission is not necessarily to go overseas, but it is absolutely to strengthen the disciples right next to you. You strengthen them through hospitality. You strengthen them by discussing sound doctrine. You strengthen them by encouraging them to faithfulness and holding them accountable in love. You strengthen them by being a faithful, functioning, submitted member of a local church.
The world is not won for Christ by frantic, flashy programs. The world is won by the relentless, faithful, and often quiet work of strengthening the saints, one by one, church by church, until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. This is the apostolic strategy. This is our blueprint for victory. Let us get to work.