down into Attalia: 26. And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. 27. And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. 28. And there they abode long time with the disciples.
We have here a further account of the services and sufferings of Paul and Barnabas.
I. How Paul was stoned and left for dead, but miraculously came to himself again, v. 19, 20. They fell upon Paul rather than Barnabas, because Paul, being the chief speaker, galled and vexed them more than Barnabas did. Now observe here,
1. How the people were incensed against Paul; not by any injury they pretended he had done them; if they took it for an affront that he would not let them misplace divine honours upon him, when they considered themselves they would easily forgive him that wrong. But there came certain Jews from Antioch, hearing, it is likely, and vexed to hear, what respect was shewed to Paul and Barnabas at Lystra; and they incensed the people against them, as factious, seditious, dangerous persons, not fit to be harboured. See how restless the rage of the Jews was against the gospel of Christ; they could not bear that it should have footing any where.
2. To what degree they were incensed by these barbarous Jews; they irritated them to that degree, that the mob rose and stoned Paul, not by a judicial sentence, but in a popular tumult; they threw stones at him, with which they knocked him down, and then drew him out of the city, as one not fit to live in it, or drew him out upon a sledge, or in a cart, to bury him, supposing he had been dead. So strong is the bent of the corrupt and carnal heart to that which is evil, even in contrary extremes, that as it is with great difficulty that men are restrained from evil on one side, so it is with great ease that they are persuaded to evil on the other side. See how fickle and mutable the minds of carnal worldly people are, that do not know and consider things! Those that but the other day would have treated the apostles as more than men, now treat them as worse than brutes, as the worst of men, as the worst of malefactors. To-day Hosanna, to-morrow Crucify; to-day sacrificed to, to-morrow sacrificed. We have an instance of a change the other way, ch. 28. This man is a murderer; v. 4; no doubt, he is a god, v. 6. Popular breath turns like the wind. If Paul would have been Mercury, he might have been enthroned, nay, he might have been enshrined; but if he will be a faithful minister of Christ, he shall be stoned, and thrown out of the city. Thus they who easily submit to strong delusions, hate to receive the truth in the love of it.
3. How he was delivered by the power of God; When he was drawn out of the city, the disciples stood round about him, v. 20. It seems, there were some here at Lystra that became disciples, that found the mean between deifying the apostles and rejecting them; and even these new converts had courage to own Paul when he was thus run down, though they had reason enough to fear that the same that stoned him would stone them for owning him. They stood round about him, as a guard to him against the further outrage of the people; stood about him, to see whether he were alive or dead; and all of a sudden he rose up; though he was not dead, yet he was ill crushed and bruised, no doubt, and fainted away; he was in a deliquium, so that it was not without a miracle that he came so soon to himself, and was so well as to be able to go into the city. Note, God's faithful servants, though they may be brought within a step of death, and may be looked upon as dead both by friends and enemies, shall not die as long as he has work for them to do. They are cast down, but not destroyed, 2 Cor. 4. 9.
II. How they went on with their work, notwithstanding the opposition they met with; all the stones they threw at Paul, will not beat him off from his work; They drew him out of the city, (v. 19.) but, as one that set them at defiance, he came into the city again, to shew that he did not fear them; none even of these things move him. However, their being persecuted here is a known indication to them to seek for opportunities of usefulness elsewhere, and therefore for the present they quit Lystra.
And, 1. They went to break up and sow fresh ground at Derbe; thither the next day Paul and Barnabas departed, a city not far off; there they preached the gospel, there they taught many, v. 21. And it should seem that Timothy was of that city, and was one of the disciples that now attended Paul, had met him at Antioch, and accompanied him in all this circuit; for, with reference to this story, Paul tells him how fully he had known the afflictions he endured at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, 2 Tim. 3. 10, 11. Nothing is recorded that happened at Derbe.
2. They returned, and went over their work again, watering what they had sown; and having staid as long as they thought fit at Derbe, they came back to Lystra, to Iconium, and Antioch, the cities where they had preached, v. 21. Now, as we have had a very instructive account of the methods they took in laying the foundation, and beginning the good work, so here we have the like of their building upon that foundation, and carrying on that good work. Let us see what they did.
(1.) They confirmed the souls of the disciples; they inculcated that upon them which was proper to confirm them, v. 22. Young converts are apt to waver, and a little thing shocks them; their old acquaintance beg they will not leave them; those that they look upon to be wiser than they, set before them the absurdity, indecency, and danger, of a change; they are allured, by the prospect of preferment, to stick to the traditions of their fathers; they are frightened with the danger of swimming against the stream. All this tempts them to think of making a retreat in time; but the apostles come and tell them that this is the true grace of God wherein they stand, and therefore they must stand to it, that there is no danger like that of losing their part in Christ, no advantage like that of keeping their hold of him; that, whatever their trials may be, they shall have strength from Christ to pass through them; and, whatever their losses may be, they shall be abundantly recompensed. And this confirms the souls of the disciples, it fortifies their pious resolutions in the strength of Christ, to adhere to Christ whatever it cost them. Note, [1.] Those that are converted need to be confirmed; those that are planted need to be rooted. Ministers' work is to establish saints as well as to awaken sinners. Non minor est virtus quam quaerere parta tueri—To retain is sometimes as difficult as to acquire. Those that were instructed in the truth must know the certainty of the things in which they have been instructed; and those that are resolved must be fixed in their resolutions. [2.] True confirmation is confirmation of the soul; it is not binding the body by severe penalties on apostates, but binding the soul; the best ministers can do that only by pressing those things which are proper to bind the soul; it is the grace of God, and nothing less, that can effectually
