Acts 14

This is the first mention of Paul as an apostle. We do not know how replaced in the 12. But as an apostle, he is ordaining leaders in the various places the church is being established. Most of the cities mentioned in this chapter are in present day Turkey. This is also the first time that we see Paul severely persecuted. After working a miracle and the people thinking that Barnabas is the god Jupiter and Paul the god Mercury, the people want to offer sacrifice to them. But persecutors come from Antioch and Iconium and stir up the people. Paul is stoned and thrown out of the city and left for dead. But the next day he is up and on his way to Derbe to preach the gospel in Derby. This is reminicient of when Joseph Smith was pulled from his bed and tarred and feathered and beaten. He spent the night getting cleaned up (what would have been a very painful process) and then was out preaching the next day.

Paul is perfect for his missions. He was a Roman citizen and a Hebrew. Saul is the Hebrew form of his name, Paul the Roman form. He was born in Tarsus, a center for education and prosperity. He always traveled to the important metropolitan centers so the church could spread to outlying areas. He was fearless and unwavering in his missionary work. He traveled 13,400 airline miles which would be more when you consider he took more circuitous routes in some areas. He was imprisoned in Rome for two years and later imprisoned again. Because he was a devout Jew to begin with, he would have been married and you wonder how much his wife would have accompanied him. Or as his family would have disowned him for becoming a Christian, perhaps she disowned him too and that left him unattached to do the work.