They passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. When they had arrived, and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations. They stayed there with the disciples for a long time.
Parallel Translations
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They passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia.
When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.
When they had arrived, and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations.
They stayed there with the disciples for a long time.
-
And they went thorow out Pisidia and came into Paphilia
and when they had preached the worde of God in Perga they descended in to Attalia
and thence departed by shippe to Antioche from whence they were delivered vnto the grace of God to the worke which they had fulfilled.
When they were come and had gaddered the congregacion to gedder they rehersed all that God had done by them and how he had opened the dore of faith vnto the getyls.
And ther they abode longe tyme with the disciples.
Show all 3 translations
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Thus they went throughout Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia.
And when they had preached the woorde in Perga, they came downe to Attalia,
And thence sailed to Antiochia, from whence they had bene comended vnto the grace of God, to the woorke, which they had fulfilled.
And when they were come and had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed all the things that God had done by them, and howe he had opened the doore of faith vnto the Gentiles.
So there they abode a long time with the disciples.
Cross-references (36)
- 1 Corinthians 16:9 (v27) for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
- Acts 15:12 (v27) All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations…
- 2 Corinthians 2:12 (v27) Now when I came to Troas for the Good News of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the Lord,
- Colossians 4:3 (v27) praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds,
- 1 Corinthians 5:4 (v27) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Show all 35 cross-references
- John 9:10 (v27) They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
- Acts 11:18 (v27) When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to…
- Acts 15:40 (v26) but Paul chose Silas and went out, being commended by the brothers to the grace of God.
- Romans 15:18 (v27) For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
- 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (v27) Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted. Apollos watered.…
- 1 Corinthians 11:18 (v27) For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.
- Revelation 3:7-8 (v27) “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one…
- Acts 11:19 (v26) They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,…
- Acts 15:3-6 (v27) They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They…
- Acts 21:19-22 (v27) When he had greeted them, he reported one by one the things which God had worked among the Gentiles through his ministry. They, when they…
- 1 Corinthians 14:23 (v27) If therefore the whole assembly is assembled together and all speak with other languages, and unlearned or unbelieving people come in,…
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 (v27) But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but…
- Acts 11:26 (vv26, 28) When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they were gathered together with the assembly, and taught many people.…
- Acts 13:1-3 (v26) Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,…
- Acts 13:13-14 (v24) Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. But they,…
- Romans 15:19 (v26) in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully…
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 (v26) For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of…
- Colossians 1:25 (v26) of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God,
- Colossians 1:28 (v26) We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;
- Colossians 4:17 (v26) Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”
- Acts 15:30 (v26) So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.
- Acts 15:35 (v28) But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
- Acts 15:38 (v24) But Paul didn’t think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn’t go with them…
- Galatians 2:11 (v26) But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned.
- 2 Timothy 4:2 (v26) preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching.
- 2 Timothy 4:5-8 (v26) But you be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. For I am already being offered,…
- 3 John 1:6-8 (v26) They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God,…
- Acts 14:23 (v26) When they had appointed elders for them in every assembly, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had…
- Acts 15:22 (v26) Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch…
- Acts 20:32 (v26) Now, brothers, I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all…
35 distinct cross-references across this passage (36 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (24 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv24, 26, 27 24. Passing through Pisidia. We have already said that…
24. Passing through Pisidia. We have already said that Paul and Barnabas came to Antioch of Pisidia. Being now about to return to Antioch of Syria, whence they were sent away, they go through Pamphylia, which is the middle region toward the mount Taurus. And Perga and Attalia are cities lying near together. And whereas Luke saith, that they preach the Word in the one only, we may thereby guess that they had not opportunity offered them everywhere to teach, which they were wont to neglect or let pass nowhere.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Paul and Barnabas having made an end of their…
Paul and Barnabas having made an end of their peregrination, and being returned to Antioch, do render an account to the Congregation or Church.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv24, 26, 27, 28 24 And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they…
24 And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
Ver. 24. And after they had passed through Pisidia] At Antioch in this country they had planted a Church before. {See Act 13:14-15, &c.} Now being to return to the other Antioch in Syria (whence they had been sent out at first), they pass through Pamphylia, a country that lay toward the mountain Taurus.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv24–28 Going the same way back which they had come,…
Going the same way back which they had come, as appear by Act 13:13,14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v24 This last paragraph of the chapter acquaints us with…
This last paragraph of the chapter acquaints us with the return of Paul and Barnabas to Antioch in Syria, from whence they set out two years before, and where they were by the prayers of the church most affectionately recommended to the grace and assistance of God, for carrying on of that great work, to wit, the conversion of the Gentiles; which God had abundantly succeeded them in.
Learn thence, That the best provision and preparation for any business, especially any business of importance, wherein the glory of God is concerned, is fervent prayer. Thus the apostles here, being sent out from Antioch with prayer, they return with praise; the Lord granted them both safety and success; safety as to their persons, and success as to their labours.
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Observe farther, Being returned to Antioch, they call the church together, and declare the great things which God had done with them and by them; to the intent, no doubt, the church might join with them in their praises and thanksgivings, who had before assisted them with their prayers and supplications: They rehearsed all that God had done with them, that he might have the entire praise and glory from them.
Observe lastly, The subject matter of that report which they joyfully made to the church of Antioch; namely, how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles; that is, given them an opportunity to know, nd ability to believe, the gospel, which like a door was formerly shut to them, but now mercifully opened; and which was the far greater mercy yet, Almighty God did not only open the door of the gospel to them, by bringing his word amongst them, but he opened the door of their hearts to receive it, and entertain it when brought. The opening the heart and mind of sinners effectually to receive the truths of the gospel, is the special work of the Holy Spirit of God.
Lord! how insufficient are all external means, how excellent soever in themselves, to operate savingly upon men’s minds, unless the Holy Spirit opens the understanding, as well as the ministers open the scripture! He that opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, opened the Gentiles’ hearts to receive the doctrine of faith, and inclined their wills to the obedience of faith.
Eternally praised be God for the gracious illuminations, the sanctifying impressions, the powerful assistances, and the quickening influences, of the Holy Ghost, which worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv24–27 And after they had passed throughout Pisidia,.... The country…
And after they had passed throughout Pisidia,.... The country where Antioch, the last place mentioned, was; see Act 13:14 they came to Pamphylia; See Gill on Act 13:13, Act 2:10
Acts 14:25
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act 14:25
act 14:25
act 14:25And when they had preached the word in Perga,.... A city in Pamphylia, Act 13:13. The Alexandrian copy, and others, and three manuscripts of Beza's, read, "the word of the Lord"; as do the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions: they went down into "Attalia"; not Italia or Italy, as some Latin copies, and as the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read; but a city in Pamphylia, bordering on the sea, as Ptolomy writes (b); as this place did, as appears by what follows. So Jerom says (c), that Attalia is a city of Pamphylia, on the sea coast; it was formerly the metropolis of it: it is now in the hands of the Turks, and is called Sattalia; near it is a bay, called Golfo di Sattalia, where there is a considerable mart for the whole country: it is famous for tapestry, which is made in it: it had its name from Attalus, king of Pergamus, the first founder of it. Beza's ancient copy here adds, "preaching the Gospel to them"; to the inhabitants of Attalia, and doubtless with success, though no mention is made of it here, nor elsewhere, nor of any church in this place; nor do we read of any in ecclesiastical history until the "sixth" century, when Dionysius, bishop of Attalia, is said to be present in the fifth synod at Rome (d); unless Attalia, called a city of Lycia, can be thought to be the same with this, of which another Dionysius was bishop in the fifth century; and assisted at the council of Chalcedon (e).
(b) Geograh. l. 5, c. 5. (c) De locis Hebraicis. fol. 95. K. (d) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 4. (e) Ib. cent. 5. c. 10. p. 589.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv25–26 Perga and Attalia were cities of Pamphylia.
Perga and Attalia were cities of Pamphylia.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv24–28 Verse 24. Passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.]…
Verse 24. Passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.] See Clarke on Ac 13:13.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv24, 27 Act 14:24-26. After they had passed through Pisidia, &c.…
Act 14:24-26. After they had passed through Pisidia, &c. — Paul and Barnabas having, on their return from Phrygia and Galatia, visited all the cities of Lycaonia and Pisidia, where they had formerly planted churches, they came at length to Perga, in Pamphylia — Where they spent some time in preaching the word; probably because they had remained there but a short space formerly. And having thus revisited all those cities, and given the churches in them their due form; they came down to Attalia — A sea- port town below Perga; and thence sailed to Antioch — In Syria; from whence they had — By the divine appointment; been recommended — In a very solemn manner; (Act 13:2-3;) to the grace of God — To his favour, aid, and blessing; for the work which they had fulfilled — And where, therefore, they were very desirous both of rendering a particular account of their ministry to their brethren in that church, and also of returning their grateful acknowledgments with them to the divine providence and grace, to which they owed their safety amidst so many extreme dangers, and their success in such difficult labours.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv24–28 Throughout Pisidia - See the note at Act 13:14.
Throughout Pisidia - See the note at Act 13:14.
They came to Pamphylia - See the notes on Act 13:13. These places they had visited before.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv24, 25, 27 This Antioch was a sea-port in Pamphylia. (Bible de…
This Antioch was a sea-port in Pamphylia. (Bible de Vence)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv25–28 when they had preached the word in Perga--now doing…
when they had preached the word in Perga--now doing what, for some reason, they had not done on their former visit, but probably with no visible fruit.
they went down into Attaila--a seaport on the Gulf of Pamphylia, drawing to itself the commerce of Egypt and Syria.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv24–26 24. Throughout Pisidia—They passed through the province southward.
24. Throughout Pisidia—They passed through the province southward.
Pamphylia—(See note on Act_13:13.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv25–28 25. when they had preached (spoken) the word in…
25. when they had preached (spoken) the word in Perga] which they do not appear to have done when they passed through it before. See Act_13:13-14, note.
Attalia] A seaport of Pamphylia, at the mouth of the river Catarrhactes. For its history see Dictionary of the Bible. The Apostles had sailed, as they came from Paphos, directly to Perga, which they reached by coming some way up the river Cestrus. Now they go by land from Perga to the seacoast at Attalia, where there was more likelihood of finding a vessel in which they could sail into Syria.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv25, 27, 28 (25) And when they had preached the word in…
(25) And when they had preached the word in Perga.—The travellers retrace their steps. There is a coincidence more or less striking in the report of what they did at Perga. In Act_13:13 there is no mention of their having preached in that city. We are simply told that Mark left them there, and that they then went on to Antioch. On their return, accordingly, they did what they had then left undone.
They went down into Attalia.—On their first journey they had gone straight from Paphos to Perga up the Cestrus. Now they made a détour which led them to the port at the mouth of the Catarrhactes, named after Attalus Philadelphus, King of Pergamus. There is no record of any work done there, and they probably only went to it as the port where they were most likely to find a sailing-vessel that would take them to Antioch. Their ship would naturally pass between Cilicia and Cyprus, enter the Orontes at Seleucia, and sail up to Antioch.
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Whence they had been recommended.—Better, perhaps, commended, the compound form having slightly changed its meaning. The words seem to imply a mental survey on the part of the travellers of all that had passed since they had started on their journey. The “grace of God,” to which they had then been commended, had not failed them.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv24, 26, 27, 28 Vers. 24, 25. They passed through for after they…
Vers. 24, 25. They passed through for after they had passed throughout, A.V.; and for they, A.V.; spoken for preached, A.V.; to for into, A.V. Paul and Barnabas had come from Cyprus to Perga. (see Act_13:13, note) Thence to Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They now returned from Derbe by Lystra, Iconium, Antioch, Perga. But, instead of taking ship at Perga, after preaching the Word there they went down to Attalia, now Adalia or Satalia, the chief seaport of Pamphylia, some miles west of the month of the Cestrus, probably hearing that a ship was about to sail thence to Antioch. It does not appear that they made any converts or even preached at Attalia.
Vers. 24-28. The work of God.
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This first famous missionary tour had some features quite peculiar to itself and is, in some respects, inimitable by us. Bat in other aspects it may be regarded as a typical work of God.
I IT was BEGUN IN GOD. It was
(1) prompted by his Spirit; (Act_13:2, Act_13:4)
(2) entered upon after seeking Divine guidance (ver. 26). Paul and Barnabas went forth, the conscious workmen of God himself. They felt that what would be done through their instrumentality would be done "by God with them." All was, as all should ever be, "begun in him.
II IN HIS STRENGTH IT WAS CARRIED ON AND COMPLETED. In his strength. The entire account, from beginning to end, conveys the idea that the apostles sought and found their strength in a Divine source; indeed, nothing less would have sustained them under the difficulties and sufferings of their mission. It was carried on and completed. It was a work which they fulfilled
(1) spite of Mark"s discouraging defection; (Act_13:13)
(2) notwithstanding the physical difficulties of traveling and the active animosity of the Jews;
(3) though every personal consideration would have led them to conclude it earlier (ver. 21). Undeterred by any checks, untempted by any inducements, they went quite through their work God"s work and did not cease to toil and to endure until everything was done they could do, not only to introduce but to establish the Christian faith in the heart of the heathen land they visited. Well is it for the Christian workman when it can be said of him that he "fulfilled" or finished his work. Sometimes
(1) weariness, or
(2) timidity, or
(3) dissatisfaction, or
(4) dissension overtakes the laborer even in the field of holy love, and he lays down his weapon and forsakes his work. Not his is the crown and the Well done!" at the hand and the lips of the Lord.
III IT WAS CROWNED BY A RECITAL TO THOSE WHOM THEY REPRESENTED. Paul and Barnabas were undoubtedly sent of God; but they also went as members of the Church at Antioch. That Church regarded them as its representatives, followed them with its sympathies, sustained them by its prayers, and received them back with its warmest welcome. And to that Church, gathered together for the purpose, they recounted" all that God had done with them a most suitable crown to a noble work. With eager, sympathetic, rejoicing spirits the assembly must have received the narrative. How grateful must have been the psalms, how fervent the prayers, how heartfelt the congratulations, that followed! A work is not crowned until its story has been told to those who had a real and living part in its initiation and its procedure.
IV IT WAS FOLLOWED BY INVIGORATING REST (ver. 28) the rest of
(1) happy human fellowship and
(2) appreciated service. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v26 And thence sailed to Antioch … And when they…
Act_14:26-28
And thence sailed to Antioch … And when they were come, and had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed all that God had done.
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Apostles and Crusaders at Antioch: a historical contrast
If when we contrast the voyage of Paul and Barnabas across the bay of Attalia with the voyage of those who sailed over the same waters eleven centuries later, our minds are powerfully drawn towards the pure days of early Christianity, when the power of faith made human weakness irresistibly strong, the same thoughts are not less forcibly presented when we contrast the reception of the Crusaders at Antioch with the reception of the apostles in the same city. We are told that Raymond, Prince of Antioch, waited with much expectation for the arrival of the French king; and that when he heard of his landing at Seleucia he gathered together all the nobles and chief men of the people and went out to meet him, and brought him into Antioch with much pomp and magnificence, showing him all reverence and homage, in the midst of a great assemblage of the clergy and people. All that Luke tells us of the reception of the apostles after their victorious campaign is what he says in the text. Thus the kingdom of God came at the first without observation--with the humble acknowledgment that all power is given from above, and with a thankful recognition of our Fathers love to all mankind. (J. S. Howson, D. D.)
Missionary enterprises
I. There is great need in the world for missionaries.
1. There was great need for them in the days of the early Church.
2. There is much more need in the present day.
II. It is the duty of the Church to take up the subject of foreign missions, because--
1. The Church of all earthly things is the most, and indeed only, capable.
2. The Church itself, having received the glad tidings, ought from gratitude to make them known to others.
III. This duty, if rightly performed, will surely meet with success. Not necessarily at first, but eventually.
IV. It is the Saviours command that the gospel should be preached in all lands. (T. Newsome.)
Missionary reports
1. It is well that missionaries should occasionally return. Their return will strengthen them, and again arouse the Churches to a new interest in the missionary cause.
2. The true missionary will report, not what he has done, but what God has done with him.
3. The true missionary will report holy God has opened the door of faith to those to whom he was sent. (S. S. Times.)
The report of the mission
This was the first missionary report ever presented. Of late years these rehearsals have been common. And it is well that it should be so, provided that the accounts are truthfully given and the results anxiously weighed. Let us observe--
I. The object of the apostles mission.
1. You all know how ill any work must be done which has not a definite aim. What would a carpenters, a builders, a lawyers, or a physicians work be without some end set before it? Too often in religious matters this is left out of sight. A clergyman, as it is said, performs duty--that is, he has gone through the public service, etc. But was that his end, or only the means to his end? A serious question. Far too often we do make these duties ends: if we can perform our duty (as it is sometimes said) creditably, we are ready to say, I have done my duty; I have gained my end. But who does not see that no amount of labour thus accomplished necessarily implies the slightest sense of the real work of the ministry? Where is the end in all this? No builder would satisfy his employer by merely being seen so many hours each day at his work, if nothing came of it, or nothing but crooked walls, leaking roofs, etc. It is even so in things spiritual. He is not a good workman who has nothing to show for it but his toil. True, in these matters, unlike the other, men cannot by any skill or any devotion secure his object: God gives, and withholds; and he who thinks that his own labour or even his own prayer can guarantee success has not yet learned his first lesson in the school of Jesus Christ. St. Pauls object is forcibly expressed in his own words, That ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God. Turning, conversion, was and still is the end of the ministry.
2. If this is indeed the meaning of our office, and its responsibility, can any exhortation be more needful than that which bids the congregation remember its object and so aid its work? If its end is to turn you to God, yours surely will be the chief loss and the chief misery if it fails.
II. Its methods. We are struck by its unity, and we are struck also by its variety.
1. St. Paul appears to speak quite differently to the Jews at Antioch and to the idolaters at Lystra. With the one he argues from the Scriptures; with the other only from the book of nature. And how can it be otherwise if a man is in earnest? Does the physician proceed, without inquiry, to apply one mode of treatment everywhere, and expect the recovery of health, which is his object, to reward such unreasoning efforts? Even so it is with the physician of the soul. His first business is to ascertain where men stand, what men know and believe. Till he knows something upon these points, he can only employ the bow at a venture. To speak to a man of salvation when he has never been conscious of danger, to offer a man forgiveness who has never trembled at sin, is to cover up the mischief instead of extirpating it, to comfort a man in his sins instead of rescuing him from them. Till the people of Lystra knew that there was one God, it was idle to say to them, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. On the other hand, those who already possessed the evidence also of a Divine revelation, those whose fault it was to count themselves safe because they had honoured God with a ceremonial worship, must be instructed out of that revelation itself as to the sinfulness of sin, as to the need and the promise and the coming of a Saviour, in the language of a prophet in whom they believed.
2. More than half the failures of our ministry arise from inappropriate teaching and from inappropriate hearing. There is a man here, as there once was when Jesus Himself was the Preacher, possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil. He comes hither, drawn perhaps by custom, perhaps by a wish to gloss over his lost state, perhaps by an instinctive longing to lull the disquietude of his soul. This man meets Jesus here. But too often it is only a hearing of the sound--something about guilt, about atonement, about the mercy of God--and the man goes away as he came; what he has understood he has misapplied; the unclean spirit is still there, soothed, calmed, lulled, like the surfeited snake till its next fit of hunger. That man ought to have been told of God in conscience before he was told of God in redemption. Till he has trembled at judgment to come, till he has cried out against himself as a sinner, he can scarcely profit, he may even be fatally injured, by the offer of a pardon which he wants not, or of a Saviour whom he will only crucify afresh.
3. What cannot be done by the preacher must be done for himself by the individual hearer. Let a man ask himself, Is that word for me? Does that suit my case? God give me the spirit of wisdom in hearing, lest that which should be for my health be to me the occasion of falling.
III. It had also a careful regard to the carrying on of that which was well begun.
1. In the form of regular supervision. They ordained elders in every congregation. He who is turned to God still needs training. It is a comfort to us to believe that our assemblies for worship and instruction had their origin in the institutions of the primitive Church. It is not the one reception of the one great truth which will secure us from the risk of falling away. The minister has to learn; and if he do not learn, his ministry will soon become a vain repetition, a barren and a wearisome form, both to himself and to those who hear him. Even so is it with the congregation. They too have need to learn in the school of God; and the services of this place ate designed to help them in learning.
2. In the form of well-instructed expectation (verse 22). Neither our Saviour nor His apostles ever misled men as to the nature of the Christian life below--that it must be a conflict, and therefore a life of tribulation. (Dean Vaughan.)
Apostolic rehearsal
I. What did the apostles rehearse in the ears of the Church? All that God had done with them. Not all that they had done of themselves, by dint of their own efforts, by the power of their own persuasion. Not how many good sermons they had preached, what overflowing congregations were attracted to hear them, or what unbounded applause had been bestowed upon their ministry. Nor did they make their sufferings the theme of conversation: yet they were destitute, afflicted, tormented (Heb_11:37). They related all that God had done with them. Not what the Almighty had performed by His own immediate agency, independent of all human instrumentality; but what He had done by their hands, as the servants of His will.
1. God had by them communicated instruction in Divine things to the people whom they addressed.
2. They not only taught many: they were also made the happy instruments of leading a great multitude to believe in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. God made them the instruments of confirming the souls of the disciples.
4. God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
II. To whom the apostles rehearsed the things which God had done by their instrumentality. They gathered the Church together, etc. Let us inquire, what were the discriminating marks by which the primitive Churches were distinguished?
1. By their disunion with the world. The primitive Christians had their conversation in the world (2Co_1:12), and mixed promiscuously with human society, working with their own hands (1Co_4:12). They were not slothful in business; but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord (Rom_12:11). Notwithstanding, they held no unnecessary intercourse with ungodly men, never selecting them as companions; for the friendship of the world is enmity with God (Jam_4:4). Although they were in the world, they were not of it.
2. The members of the primitive Churches were distinguished by the sanctity of their characters, and the consistency of their conduct. Each of them could adopt the language of St. Paul (Gal_2:20). The principles by which they were actuated were faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and love to His holy name.
III. What were the motives that induced the apostles to rehearse what God had done with them?
1. We may conceive that it was done to express the warm and grateful effusions of their hearts.
2. The apostles rehearsed what God had done by their means, to gladden the hearts of others.
3. They rehearsed what God had done by them, as a public acknowledgment of the obligations under which they were laid to Him. (R. Treffry.)
And how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.--
God opening doors:--He who has the keys of David can open all doors. No preacher must assume these keys to himself, but must pray that God, who only can use them effectually, will do so. And if anything is to be effected for the salvation of souls, God must open four doors--the door of the preachers mouth, the doors of the hearers ear and heart, the door of heaven. (K. Gerok.)
The door of faith
I. This metaphor sets forth that the simple act of trust in God, as revealed in Christ, is the way by which we pass into the house of God. Christ says, I am the Door, and faith is the means of access. This faith is the outer door, the vestibule which leads to the real opening by which we enter into all the mystery and the sweetness of the Divine home. It is a very little, low door. There are a great many much more pretentious ways to God held out to men. There are the doors of contemplation, of asceticism, of ceremonial, of a self-righteous, proud, purity of life; but a man cannot get more than a step inwards if he tries them. But there is a narrow portal yonder, and if a man will go down upon his knees, and if he will leave his sins outside, it will be like one of those narrow passages with a little tiny aperture in it, where a hunted race used to take up their abode, and which widened out into a broad apartment where a man could stand in safety and warmth and home. We go through this narrow door of trust, but we come out into the large room of our Fathers house.
II. The other side of the metaphor suggests the means by which God can enter into us. The door into our hearts is faith. There is no possibility, in heaven or in earth, for God to come with His blessings into any mans heart except through the door of that mans faith. You take a flask, seal it hermetically, tie a bit of canvas over the mouth of it, pitch that with tar, and plunge it into the Atlantic; and the inside of it will be as dry as if it was in the midst of African deserts. And as long as a mans heart is hermetically sealed, which it is by the absence of faith, it is all one to him, as if there were no mercy. The ocean of mercy and love is all outside of him. Notice, in passing, how small a thing a door is--just a piece of timber worth a few shillings. Yes! but if a king comes in, there is a dignity about it. Faith in itself is nothing; it is precious because it is a means by which we lay hold upon precious things.
III. This door is to be kept open by ourselves. We read of Lydias heart being opened by the Lord; and we read of Christ knocking at the door, waiting for our opening of it to Him. These are two halves of a great truth. Lydias heart would never have been opened had she not willed. You are responsible for exercising and for continuing to exercise this act of faith. This is one of those doors that shut to in a moment if not clasped back. Day by day we must get rid of the worlds rubbish that tries to choke up the doorway, by prayer, by effort to expel the evil. The Lord stands before each of us and summons us, Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in. Let us answer, Come in, Thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest Thou without! (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The open gate of salvation
The trouble with many people is that they want to have a hundred curious questions about God and heaven answered before they come to Christ and trust in Christ. They do not act so in other matters. If a man is out in the woods at night and has lost his way, he does not sit down on a log and wait for the sun to rise, or for someone to kindle a bonfire that shall illuminate the whole forest. No, no. If the glimmer of a candle reaches his eye, no matter how faint and far away, he rejoices--he begins at once to move in that direction. The light shows that he can be saved if he will follow it. And it is so with even the feeblest shining of the light of life which reaches a man. Let him be faithful to what it reveals, and he is sure of salvation. Says Dr. Parkhurst: Light is a sure guide, because, unlike sound, it goes in straight lines. If you were to strike the tired, diminished end of a sunbeam a million, million miles from the sun, you are on the certain track of the sun the instant you begin treading upwards the glittering highway that that sunbeam spreads out for you. And wherever and howsoever far out upon the circumference of Christs character you take your position and begin threading inward any one of its radiating lines, you move by a line as straight as a sunbeam towards the heart and centre of the entire matter. One radius is as good as another for finding the centre. Each of the twelve gates thresholded a main avenue of the heavenly Jerusalem. The gate of heaven is not away up yonder; it is wherever we look to Christ as the Opener of heaven to the penitent and believing soul. He said, I am the door; by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved. The gospel, whenever we study it as earnest seekers after truth, presents to us one of the pearly gates of paradise.
Gods open doors
There are few men who would pass through a gold mine, having full permission to carry away with them choicest specimens of its choicest treasures, who would not make good use of such an opportunity. All along the highway of life God is setting before each traveller opportunities to be and to do which are far more valuable than the richest treasures of gold or gems which earth offers. These opportunities are so many open doors which lead to the treasure houses of God, prepared for all who seek, and offered to all who ask. (H. W. Beecher.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v24 24–28. Preached the word in Perga. Here they had…
24–28. Preached the word in Perga. Here they had landed early in this missionary journey, but did not then, from some cause, pause to preach the gospel. See 13:13, 14. Went down into Attalia. A seaport not far from Perga.
Thence they sailed to Antioch. The Syrian Antioch, the first Gentile church, the mother church of Gentile missions, the church that sent them forth several years before (13:1, 3). Exactly how long a time had been occupied in this missionary tour cannot be ascertained, but it is almost certain that the visit to Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 11:29, 30 and 12:25, took place in a.d. 44, while that mentioned in 15:2 took place in a.d. 51, there being six or seven years between. This time was occupied with the missionary journey and the stay at Antioch. The first probably extended over three or four years.
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They rehearsed all that God had done with them. They very properly made a report to the church that had sent them forth. It was a very cheering report. The gospel had been planted in the great island of Cyprus, received by the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, and extended through Pamphylia, Pisidia and Lycaonia, strong churches having been planted in their principal cities.
Abode there a long time. As near as we can learn about two years, no doubt busy all the time preaching in the great city.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v24 24-28. Now the apostles take a circuitous route through…
24-28. Now the apostles take a circuitous route through Pisidia, Pamphylia and Italia, arriving back at Syrian Antioch, whence they set out on this great evangelistic tour. Convening the church, they are received with delight by all the saints, who are spellbound and electrified by their rehearsals of the mighty works of God through their humble instrumentality in the various heathen lands of their long and perilous peregrinations.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v27
Acts
‘THE DOOR OF FAITH’
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Act 14:27.
There are many instances of the occurrence of this metaphor in the New Testament, but none is exactly like this. We read, for example, of ‘a great door and effectual’ being opened to Paul for the free ministry of the word; and to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia, ‘He that openeth and none shall shut’ graciously says, ‘I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut.’ But here the door is faith, that is to say faith is conceived of as the means of entrance for the Gentiles into the Kingdom, which, till then, Jews had supposed to be entered by hereditary rite.
I. Faith is the means of our entrance into the Kingdom.
The Jew thought that birth and the rite of circumcision were the door, but the ‘rehearsing’ of the experiences of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary tour shattered that notion by the logic of facts. Instead of that narrow postern another doorway had been broken in the wall of the heavenly city, and it was wide enough to admit of multitudes entering. Gentiles had plainly come in. How had they come in? By believing in Jesus. Whatever became of previous exclusive theories, there was a fact that had to be taken into account. It distinctly proved that faith was ‘the gate of the Lord into which,’ not the circumcised but the ‘righteous,’ who were righteous because believing, ‘should enter.’
We must not forget the other use of the metaphor, by our Lord Himself, in which. He declares that He is the Door. The two representations are varying but entirely harmonious, for the one refers to the objective fact of Christ’s work as making it possible that we should draw near to and dwell with God, and the other to our subjective appropriation of that possibility, and making it a reality in our own blessed experience.
II. Faith is the means of God’s entrance into our hearts.
We possess the mysterious and awful power of shutting God out of these hearts. And faith, which in one aspect is our means of entrance into the Kingdom of God, is, in another, the means of God’s entrance into us. The Psalm, which invokes the divine presence in the Temple, calls on the ‘everlasting doors’ to be ‘lifted up,’ and promises that then ‘the King of Glory will come in.’ And the voice of the ascended Christ, the King of Glory, knocking at the closed door, calls on us with our own hands to open the door, and promises that He ‘will come in.’
Paul prayed for the Ephesian Christians ‘that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,’ and there is no other way by which His indwelling is possible. Faith is not constituted the condition of that divine indwelling by any arbitrary appointment, as a sovereign might determine that he would enter a city by a certain route, chosen without any special reason from amongst many, but in the nature of things it is necessary that trust, and love which follows trust, and longing which follows love should be active in a soul if Christ is to enter in and abide there.
III. Faith is the means of the entrance of the Kingdom into us.
If Christ comes in He comes with His pierced hands full of gifts. Through our faith we receive all spiritual blessings. But we must ever remember, what this metaphor most forcibly sets forth, that faith is but the means of entrance. It has no worth in itself, but is precious only because it admits the true wealth. The door is nothing. It is only an opening. Faith is the pipe that brings the water, the flinging wide the shutters that the light may flood the dark room, the putting oneself into the path of the electric circuit. Salvation is not arbitrarily connected with faith. It is not the reward of faith but the possession of what comes through faith, and cannot come in any other way. Our ‘hearts’ are ‘purified by faith,’ because faith admits into our hearts the life, and instals as dominant in them the powers, the motives, the Spirit, which purify. We are ‘saved by faith,’ for faith brings into our spirits the Christ who saves His people from their sins, when He abides in them and they abide in Him through their faith.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv24–28 24-26. Leaving Antioch of Pisidia, the apostles returned as…
24-26. Leaving Antioch of Pisidia, the apostles returned as far as the sea-coast by the same route through which they had gone up into Pisidia. (24) " And passing through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia; (25) and having spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. (26) Thence they sailed to Antioch, whence they had been commended to the favor of God for the work which they had performed. " Perga, on the river Cestrus, a few miles above its mouth, was the point at which they had disembarked on their first arrival from Cyprus. They had made no delay there at first, but now we are told that they "spoke the word in Perga." Luke's silence in reference to the result of this effort is an indication that it was not very decided. It is probable that their design was simply to usefully employ an interval during which they were waiting for a vessel bound to Antioch. This conjecture is confirmed by the fact that they finally left Perga by land, and walked down to Attalia on the sea-coast, where they would be likely to meet with a vessel without so long delay. They were not disappointed; for "thence they sailed to Antioch."
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v24 The last part of the return journey:
The last part of the return journey:
v. 24. And after they had passed through out Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
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v. 25. And when they had preached the Word in Perga, they went down into Attalia,
v. 26. and thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
v. 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.
v. 28. And there they abode long time with the disciples.
It was impossible for Paul to be inactive in the service of his Lord while he was traveling back to Syria. So he and Barnabas made a missionary trip through Pisidia, the province adjoining Roman Galatia on the south. Thus they reached Pamphylia and now took time to speak the Word of God in Perga, where they do not seem to have stopped on the journey to the upper country, chap. 13:13. Incidentally they seem to have waited for an opportunity of setting sail for Syria. But when no chance offered, they went down to the seacoast, to the harbor of Attalia, in Lycia, whence they sailed to Antioch. In this city they had been appointed to their office as missionaries and committed to the grace of God for the work which they had now finished. They had enjoyed the singular, merciful blessing of God on their journey, and had, above all, received abundant assurance that it is the grace of God which enables a man to do work in the Gospel. Eph 3:8. So it was with a heart full of thankfulness that they returned to the congregation at Antioch, just as soon after their arrival as it could be arranged, there was an assembly of the congregation, in which the two missionaries reported in full on the success of their labors, as they stated it, how many and how great things God had done with them as the instruments of His grace, and also on their behalf, in being with them and aiding them, both in performing the work of their calling and in enduring the persecutions that had come upon them. It is God who must give the increase whenever and wherever the Gospel is preached. It was He that had opened to the Gentiles the door of faith, making their hearts willing, and giving them free access to the salvation of Jesus Christ. Note: It is altogether well-pleasing to God if the missionaries at home and abroad make reports of their work to the congregations that have sent them forth, thus showing that God is with the work, and that He opens the doors to the preaching of the Gospel. After this, Paul and Barnabas both spent a long time with the disciples of Antioch, probably more than a year, busy with their work of preaching and gaining new members for the congregation of Christ.
Summary
Paul and Barnabas preach the Gospel at Iconium, at Lystra, and at Derbe, enduring persecution for the sake of the Lord, and then retrace their steps for the sake of strengthening the brethren, continue their work in Pisidia and Pamphylia, finally returning to Antioch, in Syria
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v27 General Information:
General Information:
Here the words "they," "them," and "They" refer to Paul and Barnabas. The word "he" refers to God.
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gathered the church together
"called the local believers to meet together"
he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles
God's enabling the Gentiles to believe is spoken of as if he had opened a door that had prevented them from entering into faith. AT: "God had made it possible for the Gentiles to believe" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
faith
Gentile
disciple
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v26 14:26-28 As soon as Paul and Barnabas returned home…
14:26-28 As soon as Paul and Barnabas returned home to Antioch from their first missionary journey, they called the church together and gave a full report of their evangelism and discipleship. They humbly acknowledged divine guidance in opening the door of faith to the Gentiles (see 11:18; 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12). Similar reports (Acts 15:4, 12; 21:19) always stressed the activity of God as working through the ministries of his servants (see Rom 15:17-18; 1 Cor 3:5-9; 15:10-11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.