Joy Amidst Mixed Results
This past Lord’s Day, Pastor Harlow showed from Acts 13:44–14:7 how Paul and Barnabas kept preaching with joy even as the gospel met both glad faith and bitter opposition. When many in Antioch rejected the word, the apostles turned to the Gentiles, and “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” In doing so they took up Isaiah 49:6, God’s promise that his Servant would be a light for the nations, a promise fulfilled in Christ, the light of the world, who now makes his people a light to others. Though they were driven out of Antioch and threatened in Iconium, the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, a reminder that our faithfulness rests on God’s sovereign work rather than on how our efforts are received.
