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READ | ACTS CHAPTER 13

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

On Cyprus

4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

13 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. 14 From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”

16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Fellow Israelites and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; 18 for about forty years he endured their conduct[a] in the wilderness; 19 and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years.

“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. 22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

23 “From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel. 25 As John was completing his work, he said: ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for. But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

“‘You are my son;
    today I have become your father.’[b]
34 God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’[c]
35 So it is also stated elsewhere:

“‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’[d]
36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. 40 Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

41 “‘Look, you scoffers,
    wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
    that you would never believe,
    even if someone told you.’[e]”

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.

46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

“‘I have made you[f] a light for the Gentiles,
    that you[g] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’[h]”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

DEVOTIONAL

There were three major missionary journeys of Paul, which are documented within the second half of the book of Acts. These missionary journeys will become the focus for the rest of the book of Acts and much of the New Testament. These were multi-year expeditions, covering thousands of miles and spanning an important 20-year period in the formation of the early church. They were especially important in relation to the growing population of gentile Christians throughout the Roman empire and how desperately they needed strong leadership and direction; needs which Paul had shown he was capable of providing through his work with Barnabus in Antioch. 
The first missionary journey began in the year A.D.45 with Paul, Barnabus, and John Mark being set apart by the Holy Spirit as apostles and sent on an evangelistic church planting mission, with support from the Antioch Christian Church. A very capable team, but most importantly, a spirit-filled and led team of missionaries. This was the same John Mark who would later write the gospel of Mark. Mark was a valuable companion for Barnabas and Paul. He had grown up in Jerusalem and was a direct eyewitness of many of the words and acts in the life of Jesus. He could relate those stories with special power to Barnabas and Saul, and to others whom they preached and taught. In many regards, this journey was the first real known missionary effort of the church. There had been accidental missionaries who were scattered or went out because of pressure and persecution, but this was the first example of a planned, funded, concerted effort of sending out missionaries with a specific mission. The word ‘missionary’ is related to the act of sending. The Latin word mitto and mittere, mean ‘to send’ and the words ‘mission’ and ‘missionary’ come from the forms missi and missum. These were men who were sent, not by men or even a committee, but by the Holy Spirit, with a very specific mission. 

They traveled first to the island of Cyprus which is just off the coast from Antioch in the Mediterranean. This was where Barnabus grew up so they most likely had lodging and connections already prepared. Immediately after traveling across the island, Paul and Barnabus find a situation in Paphos that would perfectly sum up the next 20 years of their life. The city of Paphos, much like Antioch, was known for its promotion of immorality through the worship of Venus, the goddess of sexuality. Here, Barnabas and Saul faced a combination of immorality, lust, and spiritual darkness that would be common across the pagan world of the Roman Empire. They are invited by Sergius Paulus, a Roman proconsul who is described as an important and intelligent man who wanted to hear more about God. A Roman proconsul was responsible for an entire province and answered only to the Roman Senate, so this opportunity for Paul was significant. Wherever there is great opportunity to spread the gospel, there will also be great opposition to it. Paul was opposed by a man named Elymas, a known sorcerer and false prophet who was most likely under the influence of demonic spirits. His real name was Bar-Jesus which means “son of Jesus,” and Luke couldn’t bear to call him that. This Elymas was also an advisor to the proconsul and attempted to oppose and block the gospel from being shared with him. This story paints a vivid picture of what it means to be a witness of Jesus. There will always be forces of evil who will work either directly or indirectly to stop your testimony or the good news of Jesus from getting out. We should not be surprised or shaken by opposition. Wherever there is likely to be great success, the open door, and the opposing adversaries will both be found, but the God we serve is greater than all the sorcery, magic, power, and authority of this world. Paul, using spiritual discernment and operating in the gift of faith, rebuked and pronounced the judgment of God upon Elymas. As Elymas was struck with blindness, we can’t help but think Paul would remember his own experience years earlier. Certainly, those who resist God are blind spiritually, so God just gave Elymas physical blindness that matched his spiritual blindness. The experience for Paul led him to repent and change his sinful way, so possibly this same opportunity was now presented to Elymas. Paul was harsh in his confrontation with Elymas because the eternal destiny of the proconsul was at stake. The severest words of the Bible, both Old, and New Testaments were always reserved for those who stand between men and the truth of God. 

This rings true in our world today. The only way we can be stopped in our mission to share Jesus is if we allow ourselves to be stopped. The good news in this story is that Sergius Paulus came to Christ. Even secular historians of Roman antiquity have found written evidence that there was in fact a Roman Proconsul in Paphos with this name, and he did, in fact, convert to Christianity!