19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having
persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he
rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to
Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many
disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22
strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the
faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of
God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with
prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (Acts
14:19-23 (ESV)
“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
The gospel is a joyous message of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.
It is something that brings joy to the Christian. And yet it marks a person.
The world hates the gospel. It turns the wisdom of the world on its head. It
angers people to think that God needed to die for their sins. In order to
receive forgiveness, it is necessary to realize your sin, and many people just
won’t have that. They would literally rather go to hell holding on to the
delusion of their righteousness before God than admit that God needed to die
for them. Thus those who preach the gospel meet with objection and retaliation
from the world. Paul is stoned.
The kingdom of God is given to us, but the consequences of
that gift in this world is tribulation. In this we suffer for Christ just as he
suffered for us. Today Christians are often under the misconception that God
hates them if they meet with tribulation. When things aren’t going well they
give up hope. They live in fear of “the great tribulation.” The early
Christians who first received the book of Revelation assumed they lived in the
great tribulation. They understood that they would be treated the same as their
Lord. They also knew that He had overcome the world, so they took heart.
Tribulation was not something they sought, but it was something they accepted
when it came.
Something should be said about Elders. The Greek word is
presbyter, it is used at times interchangeably with bishop, and today would be
pastor. It is for the reason of appointing pastors in Crete that Paul sends
Titus there. Paul knew the churches would need shepherds, undershepherds as Peter
calls them. They are an essential part of the church.
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