2-22-2025          Confirming souls

 

Acts 14:1-40, Acts 15:36-41

Acts 14

Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium and preached there. Unbelieving Jews stirred up the Greeks there and they would have stoned Paul, but he and Barnabas fled to Lystra and Derbe which were in the province of Lycaonia. Here, through Paul’s ministry a lame man in Lystra was healed and the people called Paul and Barnabas gods but Paul used this situation to preach Jesus.  Certain Jews came up from Antioch who caused an uproar over Paul’s teaching which resulted in the stoning of Paul.  They presumed he was dead and threw his body outside the city.  The next day, Paul stood up in the midst of the disciples and then he and Barnabas went and preached in Derbe.

There in Derbe), Paul preached the gospel and taught many and then returned to Lystra and Antioch.  There, he confirmed the souls of the disciples and exhorted them to continue in the faith with the understanding that they would experience difficulties.  Then he ordained elders in every church, prayed and fasted and commended them to the lord, on those who believed (v 22–23).

Then they went to Pamphylia via Pisidia and preached the word from Perga to Atalia.  They returned to Antioch where they shared the work which God had done and opened the door to the Gentiles.         

Acts 15:36-41

After many days, Paul said to Barnabas, “Lets go back to the cities we have been to and see how they are doing”.  There was contention about taking John Mark with them so Paul took Silas and Barnabas took Mark and they parted company. The brothers commended Paul Silas to God’s grace and they went to Syria and Cilicia confirming souls (also Acts 18:22-23).

Take note that Paul was in Corinth about a year and a half (Acts 18:11) and was in Ephesus for about two years (Acts 19:10).  In other words, he didn’t just preach and go but he spent some time in the areas he visited teaching the people and building a foundation for life.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Paul took time to assure tht people understood as he preached and revisited those who had been converted through his ministry and assuring they had leaders to carry on the work.  Paul was concerned about their welfare so he returned to verify their love for Jesus.  Some of the churches did stray after Paul had left, even of those he revisited.  Even when he was unable to return personally, he found himself writing letters to get souls back on track.  

Ministry is not ‘just’ getting souls ‘saved’, but getting them grounded in the faith as well. 

Paul has given an example for us non-Jewish believers (Gentiles).  Paul left the people with a foundation for their belief and a structure to encourage continuing growth in faith.  Yes, structure is important, but structure without true faith is incomplete.  And that structure should assure continuing growth in the love of God.  Working with new Christians helps them develop a reasonable level of Spiritual maturity and that they are in a place where they can receive mature, Spiritual guidance for Spiritual growth from other brothers as well as the Lord. 

We are a people of faith.  We believe that our Lord Jesus has provided us the way to eternal fellowship with the Father (Rom. 10:9).  We believe that the Holy Ghost is in us (1 Corinth. 3:16).  We believe that we should abide in God’s love (1 John 4:16).  So to please God, we know that we need to learn how to abide in His love.  If we don’t believe God is, how can we abide in His love (Heb. 11:6)?  Jesus defines God’s love as “Hear (listen up!), the Lord our God is one Lord and you should love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and the second commandment is like it “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31).  The Law, the prophets and everything since then hangs on these two commandments (Matt. 22:40), from Genesis to Revelation.  These 66 books (73 if you’re Catholic) describe how God loves us and how we should love Him in return.  Many examples of good and bad are given throughout the scriptures for our benefit.  Yes, we see examples of what not to do as well as what we should be doing.

Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26) and yet works without faith is just an empty shell (Matt. 6:1-8).  We show our faith in the Lord by doing His good works in what we say and do.  We know the cliché “actions speak louder than words”?  So, our actions and our words should always be in agreement.  There are many organizations and groups that advocate mentorship, discipleship and Spiritual growth and these are good.  They advocate learning how to walk closer with our Lord, but are these concepts working as they should in today’s churches? 

Read the scriptures and we see the terms “shall be saved” (Acts, 2:38, Rom. 10:13).  Jesus clarifies this by saying “Not everyone that says ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father (Matt. 7:21).  As we grow in God’s love, our Spiritual growth is assured which reassures (in our heart) entrance into heaven (eternal life).

Confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior is just the first step but as we abide in God’s love, the Holy Ghost confirms that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16).  Are we listening to the Holy Ghost?  As examples for us, Paul encountered twelve men in Ephesus.  As he talked with them, he realized that they had never been baptized in the Holy Ghost and Paul laid hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost (Acts 19:1-7).  Cornelius and his household received he baptism of the Holy Ghost as Peter preached to them (Acts 10:44-48).  The Holy Ghost gives us the power to live and do what we need to do (Acts 1:8, Acts 3:12-16, Phil. 4:13). As He abides in us (John 14:16), He leads us into all truth and understanding (John 16:13).  As we continue to grow, this helps us to help others grow in the Spirit so we all can receive greater doses of God’s love and mature therein.

We help others to grow in the Lord and as we are confirmed, we grow in love and in the Spirit.  As we grow, we learn to recognize Father’s love for ourselves and move into a deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior.  Reassurance of our relationship with Father comes from the Holy Ghost and others.

Paul made effort to reconfirm souls to assure that they were on the right track and be part of God’s heavenly kingdom.  How is this being done in today’s church? 

As Paul followed Jesus, are we following his example?

Amen