Strengthening the souls

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” - Acts  14.21-22

There are so many lessons for all of us from the example set by Paul and Barnabas. Over and over so far we have seen their tenacity and dedication and their boldness to preach the gospel no matter what came up or what kind of opposition they faced. By this time Paul had already been stoned and left for dead because of the preaching, but they just kept going.

But they did much more than just preach to see people saved. Here we find out that they went back to the new disciples where they strengthened their souls, exhorted them to continue in the faith, and warned them that trials and tribulation are part of the Christian life.

That sounds like a good preaching outline doesn't it?

I like the idea of 'strengthening souls and exhorting them to continue.' The word 'strengthen' was translated 'confirm' in the King James Version. It literally means to 'set firmly upon.' Paul and Barnabas, in other words, were back to make sure that the disciples truly were saved and that they were getting started on a firm foundation.

Those of us who are mature believers have a responsibility to do the same today. We need to be sure that as we have opportunity we help new believes to make sure that they are on a firm foundation, to set them firmly on the Solid Rock.

Along with that comes the example of exhortation. As the church develops we are going to see that a key reason for fellowship and assembling together is simply to exhort and encourage each other to continue on in the faith.

Finally there was a warning. Lest anyone thing that salvation was going to bring an easy road Paul and Barnabas warned the new believers were still going to face tough times.

Strengthen, exhort, and warn are a major part of our ministry to each other, especially to those are new to the faith.