23 And when they had made selection of some to be rulers in every church, and had given themselves to prayer and kept themselves from food, they put them into the care of the Lord in whom they had faith.
I did not take you with me when I went away from Crete, so that you might do what was necessary to put things in order there, placing men in authority over the churches in every town, as I said to you;
Which they did, sending it to the rulers of the church by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints.
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the rulers of the church.
I, a ruler in the church, send word to the well loved Gaius, for whom I have true love.
I, a ruler in the church, send word to the noble sister who is of God's selection, and to her children, for whom I have true love; and not only I, but all who have knowledge of what is true;
And the things which I have said to you before a number of witnesses, give to those of the faith, so that they may be teachers of others.
Do not put hands on any man without thought, and have no part in other men's sins: keep yourself clean.
Let rulers whose rule is good be honoured twice over, specially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Writings say, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. And, The worker has a right to his reward. Do not take as true any statement made against one in authority, but only if two or three give witness to it.
And the Apostles and the rulers of the church came together and gave thought to the question.
And when they came to Jerusalem, they had a meeting with the church and the Apostles and the rulers, and they gave an account of all the things which God had done through them.
Now there were at Antioch, in the church there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Symeon who was named Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, a relation of Herod the king, and Saul. And while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the Holy Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for which they have been marked out by me. Then, after prayer and going without food they put their hands on them, and sent them away.
And he took twelve to be with him, so that he might send them out as preachers,
And after you have undergone pain for a little time, the God of all grace who has given you a part in his eternal glory through Christ Jesus, will himself give you strength and support, and make you complete in every good thing;
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who had love for us and has given us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, Give you comfort and strength in every good work and word.
And the Lord give you increase of love in fullest measure to one another and to all men, even as our love to you; So that your hearts may be strong and free from all sin before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
And from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had not done.
Starting from the baptism of John till he went up from us, one will have to be a witness with us of his coming back from death.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 14
Commentary on Acts 14 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 14
We have, in this chapter, a further account of the progress of the gospel, by the ministry of Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles; it goes on conquering and to conquer, yet meeting with opposition, as before, among the unbelieving Jews. Here is,
Act 14:1-7
In these verses we have,
Act 14:8-18
In these verses we have,
Act 14:19-28
We have here a further account of the services and sufferings of Paul and Barnabas.