May
30th Acts
13 D. Preaching in Power – Paul & Barnabas
(To
the uttermost parts of the earth) 1)
(The First Missionary
Journey) Paul & Barnabas called
1:
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and
teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius
of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the
tetrarch, and Saul. 2: As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted,
the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work
whereunto I have called them. 3: And when they had fasted and prayed,
and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
They
go to Cyprus
4:
So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia;
and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. 5: And when they were at
Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews:
and they had also John to their minister. 6: And when they had gone
through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false
prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: 7: Which was with the
deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for
Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 8: But Elymas
the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them,
seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 9: Then Saul, (who
also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on
him, 10: And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou
child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not
cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11: And now, behold, the
hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing
the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a
darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 12:
Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being
astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
Antioch
in Pisidia
13:
Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga
in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. 14:
But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia,
and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. 15: And
after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the
synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any
word of exhortation for the people, say on. 16: Then Paul stood up,
and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear
God, give audience. 17: The God of this people of Israel chose our
fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the
land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. 18:
And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the
wilderness. 19: And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land
of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. 20: And after that
he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty
years, until Samuel the prophet. 21: And afterward they desired a
king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe
of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22: And when he had removed
him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he
gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man
after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. 23: Of this
man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a
Saviour, Jesus: 24: When John had first preached before his coming
the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25: And as
John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not
he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I
am not worthy to loose. 26: Men and brethren, children of the stock
of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word
of this salvation sent. 27: For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and
their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the
prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them
in condemning him. 28: And though they found no cause of death in
him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29: And when
they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down
from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30: But God raised him
from the dead: 31: And he was seen many days of them which came up
with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the
people. 32: And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the
promise which was made unto the fathers, 33: God hath fulfilled the
same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again;
as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee. 34: And as concerning that he raised him up
from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this
wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35: Wherefore he
saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to
see corruption. 36: For David, after he had served his own generation
by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and
saw corruption: 37: But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
38: Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39: And by him
all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could
not be justified by the law of Moses. 40: Beware therefore, lest that
come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41: Behold, ye
despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a
work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto
you. 42: And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the
Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next
sabbath. 43: Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the
Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who,
speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44:
And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear
the word of God. 45: But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were
filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by
Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46: Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge
yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
47: For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be
a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto
the ends of the earth. 48: And when the Gentiles heard this, they
were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were
ordained to eternal life believed. 49: And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. 50: But the Jews stirred up the
devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and
raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out
of their coasts. 51: But they shook off the dust of their feet
against them, and came unto Iconium. 52: And the disciples were
filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.
The
focus of Luke’s history moves north to the city of Antioch. In the
church there were prophets and teachers. The difference between a
prophet and a teacher is that the prophet receives direct revelation
from God and the teacher teaches on the basis of previously given
revelation. As these Godly men ministered to the Lord and fasted, the
Holy Spirit gave direction regarding Paul and Barnabas. They were to
be separated unto the Lord for the work that he had called them to.
Did this come out of the blue? No, this was a confirmation of the
call that Paul and Barnabas felt already. God confirmed his call to
the believers. Paul and Barnabas were to be separated unto the work
that God had called them. Paul and Barnabas set out for Cyprus. When
they arrived at Seleucia they visited the Jewish Synagogue and they
preached the word. John Mark came along as their assistant. Then they
moved on to Paphos were they found a sorcerer and a false prophet a
Jewish man called Bar-Jesus. He was close to the Roman Deputy Sergius
Paulus who sent for Paul to hear the message that they brought. But
Elymas (Bar-Jesus) withstood him seeking to turn away the deputy from
the faith. Paul filled with the Holy Spirit gave a stinging rebuke to
him. Then Paul commanded him to be blind for a while as a discipline
of God. (He was a Jew) When Paulus saw this he believed the Gospel.
They moved on to Perga in Pamphylia but John left the team and
returned to Jerusalem. Then Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch in
Pisidia and again they attended the Jewish Synagogue. It was the
Jewish custom to allow speakers to stand up if they wished to address
the people. So after the reading of the Law and the prophets the
rulers of the synagogue invited them to speak. Paul rose to speak and
Luke records his sermon. He addresses the men of Israel and the
god-fearing proselytes. He spoke of the whole history of Israel from
the call of God in Egypt and of their greatest King David and from
him directly to Jesus the Son of David. He describes the ministry of
John the Baptiser. Then he applies his message directly to the Jews
and proselytes. He describes the rejection of Christ by the Jerusalem
leaders and of their murderous plot and he spoke of his crucifixion,
burial. But then he delivers his bomb shell. BUT GOD raised him from
the dead and he was seen for many days. Then he went on to prove this
from scripture. Psa 2. Then he summarises his message saying that
through his name is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by
Christ all that believe are justified from all things from which they
could not be justified by obedience to the Law of Moses. Then he
gives them a general warning not to despise this message. The Jews
left the Synagogue but the proselytes asked Paul to come again the
following week. When they left the synagogue there were many Jews and
proselytes who followed them. On the next Sabbath the whole city came
to hear the message of Paul. The Jews when they saw the huge
multitudes were full of envy and opposed them, contradicting them and
blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas became very bold and said it was right
that you should hear the word first but because you show yourselves
to be unworthy of everlasting life we will turn to the Gentiles. Paul
showed that this was a fulfilment of prophecy. The Gentiles were very
glad and the message was preached throughout the whole region by the
converts. However the Jews stirred up trouble and expelled Paul and
Barnabas from the area. They did the apostolic thing of shaking the
dust from their feet. This was like saying I do not want to be
contaminated by the dust of the streets where the gospel is rejected.
They moved on to Iconium. The disciples were filled with joy and
power for serving God.
- What is the mission that God calls Paul and Barnabas to fulfil?
- What happened in Cyprus?
- How did Paul and Barnabas get on in Antioch of Pisidia?
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