Barnabas and Paul - Part 1 (Acts 13:1-12)

Welcome & Announcements

March 20th is the BRN Evangelism Conference at Calvary Church, 150 Harvest Fields Dr., Boalsburg, PA 16827. Some walk-up registrations may still be available.

On March 31 at 7pm, we’ll be showing The Most Reluctant Convert. Admittance is free and we’ll provide snacks and drinks.

Quarterly Business Meeting on April 2 after AM Worship.

No Bible Study & Prayer on April 5th, instead join us for Good Friday Worship on April 7th at 7pm.

Resurrection Sunday Worship on April 9th. Community breakfast at 10am; worship at 10:45am.

Please be aware that I’m making some adjustments to our order of worship—all this means is that the order in which we do things is changing slightly and I’ve added a New Testament reading as part of our Scripture Reading as well as reciting the Apostle’s Creed. Of course, this is going to be an adjustment, so please be patient as we do make these changes.

Reminder for Giving; NAMB Giving coming soon

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 72:15-20)

Our Call to Worship is Psalm 72:15-20, which finishes up this royal psalm in praise. Please stand and read Psalm 72:15-20 responsively with me—I’ll read the odd-numbered verses, please join me in reading the even-numbered verses:

Psalm 72:15–20 ESV

15 Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! 16 May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! 17 May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed! 18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen! 20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

Starting today, we’re making a few adjustments to our service and I’ll explain these adjustments in greater detail at a later date. The first of these adjustments is the addition of the Apostles’ Creed in our Order of Worship. This may be unfamiliar to you but let me just explain that it gives a very basic doctrinal statement that reflects the bare minimum that someone can believe to be a Christian. I’ve decided on reciting this creed to help you memorize a very simple way to explain what you believe:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,       creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,       who was conceived by the Holy Spirit       and born of the virgin Mary.       He suffered under Pontius Pilate,       was crucified, died, and was buried;       The third day he rose again from the dead.       He ascended to heaven       and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.       From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,       the holy universal church,       the communion of saints,       the forgiveness of sins,       the resurrection of the body,       and the life everlasting. Amen.

In addition to adding the Apostles’ Creed, I’ve decided to add a New Testament Scripture Reading in conjunction with our Old Testament reading. We’re doing this for two reasons—(1) we’re dedicated to the idea of the public reading Scripture and (2) reading a passage from the New Testament in addition to the Old Testament will help us to read through Scripture more efficiently. Josh, can you read Genesis 22 and Matthew 3 for us?

Old Testament Scripture Reading (Gen 22)

Genesis 22 ESV

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” 15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba. 20 Now after these things it was told to Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 (Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

New Testament Scripture Reading (Matt 3)

Matthew 3 ESV

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ” 4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Congregational Singing

O Church, Arise (353)

O God, My Joy (100)

Mercies Anew (84)

Preaching of God’s Word (Acts 13:1-12)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Acts 13:1-12.

And while you turn there, let me catch you up to where we’re at in Acts 13. Throughout the book of Acts, we’ve been tracing the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, into the northern parts of the Mesopotamian region, and even into Asia Minor, which is the modern-day area of Turkey. As we’ve seen the spread of the Gospel throughout these different regions, we’ve watched as great miraculous events occurred to confirm the message of the apostles as genuinely being from God. Of course, periodically, we’ve watched as people directly oppose the Gospel.

And what we see in Acts 13, which records essentially the ordination of Barnabas and Saul and part of Saul’s first missionary journey is two-fold: (1) from The Ordination of Barnabas and Saul (1-3), we see the simple idea that when God calls you to do something and the local church confirms it, you need to go; and (2) from Bar-Jesus, the Magician (4-12), we see the truth that there will always be opposition to the Gospel and you need to proclaim the Gospel anyway and call out false teaching when it’s presented.

Prayer for Illumination

Our text starts, again, with this concept of Barnabas and Saul essentially being ordained, let’s read vv. 1-3.

The Ordination of Barnabas and Saul (1-3)

Acts 13:1–3 ESV

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of 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 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

The text starts by giving us who exactly is involved with this first scenario or situation. We learn that they’re still in Antioch and there are five people here, Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Saul.

These five people are described as “prophets and teachers,” and there are a few other details given about the three that we haven’t heard of before:

Of Simeon, we’re told that he was called Niger, which means black and is reflective of his skin-tone—though, let me be clear, they clearly didn’t look down on him because of his skin-color, even though they nicknamed him black because they recognized him as a teacher and prophet for the church.

Of Lucious, we’re told that he is from Cyrene, which was an Ancient Greek city in northern Africa.

Of Manaen, we’re told that he was a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch—this Herod isn’t the same one who was responsible for murdering children at the beginning of the Gospel accounts, this is the Herod who was responsible for martyring John the Baptist.

Now these details might sound inconsequential but it does show us about the extent of the spread of the Gospel—that the Gospel has superseded locations (it’s crossed countries, military borders, and even continents), it’s spread between people groups (it isn’t just Jewish in nature, even people from Africa now believe), and it even reaches people in different socio-economic groups (like the man who is best friends with the ruler of the region).

The Bible says that these five people “were worshiping the Lord and fasting,” when the Holy Spirit told them to “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

We don’t know what exactly this communication was like—whether they audibly heard from the Spirit, which could be possible because some of them are apostles or if it was a situation in which they felt compelled by the Spirit to go about this work but regardless, Barnabas and Saul clearly sensed a call from the Lord to do something for the Holy Spirit.

And the other three teachers and prophets of the church in Antioch also sensed a call from the Lord upon Barnabas and Saul, so they obediently lay hands on them and send them to do the work that the Spirit had called them to do.

There is a lot that could be said about these three verses but I really only want to emphasize three: (1) God calls those who serve Him (and again this is in a specific calling sense), (2) the local church confirms when God calls someone (in a specific calling sense), and (3) the local church then sends those who are called and confirmed to do the work of ministry.

Where this is most seen today is in the calling of God on pastors, missionaries, and evangelists; but it really works on every level (whether it’s a call to vocational ministry or a call to minister in non-ministry positions).

God calls--you don’t just decide to be in the ministry (you don’t just decide to be an elder, a pastor, or a missionary, or evangelist—God calls you first).

The local church then confirms that calling—those in the local church who know you will check your gifts, your heart, and your character and if they think that you’re called to something specific, they are to encourage you, exhort you, and help prepare you for that role.

And it is then the local church that sends you out to do the work of ministry—you can’t just decide to do it on your own.

For example, in my case:

I started sensing the call to ministry when I was 14—I know that sounds awfully subjective that it was almost just a feeling but it’s a little more than that—it involves a feeling but it also involves the sense of knowing that there was nothing else that I’d rather do and that if I didn’t fulfill my calling into ministry, I would literally be disobeying God. It involved the realization that I could serve God best by being in vocational ministry.

That calling was then confirmed by my home church in Ohio, which took significant time, effort, and even money to disciple me, train me, and prepare me. My calling for ministry was then reconfirmed over and over by different local churches in Pennsylvania (like the Church of God in Brisbin, New Beginnings Baptist in Osceola, churches in North and South Carolina (Bethany Baptist in Gastonia, NC, Palmetto Baptist in Powdersville, and both Rutherford Road Baptist and Griggs Memorial Baptist, which eventually ordained me for ministry).

It was Griggs, the Fellowship Church in State College, and the North American Mission Board that then sent me to Central Pennsylvania.

Do you see how there was a calling by God for ministry into eldership, multiple local churches confirming the calling, and multiple local churches involved with sending?

So Saul and Barnabas are sent by the local church after being called by God to go and they go by means of Seleucia and Cyprus and then Salamis, before they made it to the island of Paphos. And on that island they meet a magician, “a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus” let’s read vv. 7-11 together.

Bar-Jesus, the Magician (4-12)

Acts 13:7–11 ESV

7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

This false teacher who was known by multiple names (Bar-Jesus, which meant “son of Jesus,” which is probably a name he gave himself, and Elymas, which means something along the lines of “wise man” or “sage”) was hanging around the proconsul, the political leader for the area.

Bar-Jesus utterly opposes Saul and Barnabas and there’s really two reasons for his opposition—one is plainly told us in v. 8, the second is implied:

The first reason given in v. 8 is that he sought “to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”

And because this reason is expressly stated, we could assume that this is the biggest reason for Bar-Jesus’ opposition to Saul, Barnabas, and the Gospel.

Bar-Jesus didn’t want the proconsul to believe in Jesus, so, of course, his immediate course of action is to make what Saul and Barnabas say seem foolish and to point the proconsul towards anything and anyone other than Jesus.

The second reason is rooted in the reason for Bar-Jesus’ opposition to the Gospel—why would Bar-Jesus not want Sergius Paulus, the proconsul to believe?

The Bible says that Bar-Jesus was with the proconsul and the impression is that Bar-Jesus hung around the proconsul like how someone who was in the president’s cabinet would hang around him—to give advice and to be in the ear of the leader.

Bar-Jesus opposed the Gospel because he realized that if the proconsul believed in Jesus, the need for a magician who could read the stars and supposedly tell the future would dissipate—he was concerned about his own position or authority and what would happen to him if the proconsul actually believed in Jesus.

Or in other words, Bar-Jesus was more concerned with having power, authority, and influence than he was with the truth—he was more concerned with puffing himself up, being in control, and having a semblance of authority than he was with the Gospel.

And in the process of opposing the Gospel, he took what God had said and he twisted it, we see this in Saul’s condemnation of him in vv. 10-11.

We see Saul, who according to v. 9 is filled with the Holy Spirit, come to Bar-Jesus and confronting him. In vv. 10-11, Saul calls Bar-Jesus a “son of the devil” and an enemy of God who is “full of all deceit and villainy.”

Saul utters severe and harsh words against Bar-Jesus—he doesn’t beat around the bush, he doesn’t make it out to be something that it isn’t—because Bar-Jesus is opposing the Gospel and because he’s twisting the truth to prevent others from believing.

He is an enemy of God, he is a liar, he is literally a child of Satan.

All because Bar-Jesus wanted power, authority, and a semblance of being in control, we can learn a lot from this situation.

And then Saul pronounces judgment upon Bar-Jesus in v. 11, “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time,” which happens instantaneously.

Now, you might ask why Bar-Jesus experienced judgment in such a quick and somewhat harsh manner and I can’t make a firm statement on this, but let me suggest two reasons:

First, because they lived during a time in which the Scriptures were not complete—meaning, the New Testament hadn’t been written yet, God was quick to judge anything that twisted the truth and lead people astray.

This isn’t always the case but in this instance, when the Gospel was still spreading and hadn’t spread to this area yet, He is quick to protect His Word.

In today’s world, judgment against false teaching doesn’t happen as rapidly, though false teaching is clearly still a significant issue in our modern-day world.

Second, by judging Bar-Jesus quickly, God reveals that what Saul and Barnabas were teaching and preaching was genuinely from God and what Bar-Jesus was teaching was completely against God.

This blindness that Bar-Jesus experiences has an effect on the people around him and the effect is rather simple—the people recognize that Bar-Jesus was a liar, a deceiver, a false prophet and they realize that Saul and Barnabas were preaching and teaching the truth.

This is true to the extent that when all this happens, v. 12 says, “then the proconsul believed . . . for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.”

Now, in the remaining few minutes, I’d like to give some specific application, which I hope will help you to best apply these verses to your life. And I think the best way for us to see the application clearly and simply is to retain the two divisions that we used through our exposition (1) The Ordination of Barnabas and Saul (1-3) and (2) Bar-Jesus, the Magician (4-12).

Application

Let’s start with the first section, The Ordination of Barnabas and Saul (1-3)—In this section, we see Barnabas and Saul teaching and preaching in Antioch with other teachers and prophets of the church. It is during a time of fasting and prayer when the Holy Spirit speaks to them and calls Saul and Barnabas to go. I summed up this section with the idea that if God is calling you to do something or go somewhere and the local church confirms it, you need to go.

Now, of course, this is speaking of a specific calling. It isn’t talking about the general calling of God on all believers.

And what I mean by that is simple—there are general callings placed upon believers that aren’t in mind in this passage—the call to make disciples of every nation, the call to live a holy life that is acceptable to the Lord, the call to love one another and to love God, these are all examples of the general calls that are placed on all believers that aren’t in mind in this passage.

What we see with Saul and Barnabas is a specific calling of God on their lives to go and do the work of ministry, which we all have—that specific calling could be to be a pastor-elder, deacon, evangelist, or musical worship leader or it could be to teach in a public school, to work for the post office, or to work for a manufacturing company making parts to something that you don’t know what does.

God can call you to ministry or He may call you to minister in the job that you’re at.

When it comes to vocational ministry—pastor-elder, evangelist, musical worship leader, or missionary or church planter, that calling needs to be confirmed by the local church.

Again, it isn’t something that you choose to do just because you want to—it’s something that God calls you to do and the local church confirms you to do and the local church sends you to go.

And, can I be frank, if you’re unwilling to listen to the council of biblically sound local churches and pastors, you shouldn’t attempt being in any sort of ministry—you aren’t ready for it.

Now, here’s the issue, we tend to fight against God’s calling on our lives but when God has called us to do something, we need to do it especially after the local church confirms our calling.

Don’t fight against it, don’t ask God for signs to confirm it, just go and do it.

In many cases, to obey this calling will require training, maybe higher education, and it’ll require great sacrifice in your life

But stop waiting, stop hesitating, stop procrastinating—go and do what God has called you to do.

In the second section, Bar-Jesus, the Magician (4-12)—we see a liar, a deceiver, a false teacher who opposes the Gospel of Jesus Christ and opposes the ministry of Saul and Barnabas. I summed up this section with the reminder that there will always be opposition to the Gospel, but you need to proclaim the Gospel anyway and you need to call out false teaching when it’s presented.

In Bar-Jesus’ case, it seems that there was some sort of jealousy here regarding his position amongst the proconsul and Barnabas and Saul’s arrival. (4-10)

Which simply reminds us that there will be all sorts of motivations for false teachers to teach false things. Sometimes it’s to gain or retain position, authority, and power.

Other times it’s simply because they literally hate God and the things of God and would prefer to subvert the truth and reject the Gospel.

Regardless of motivation, opposition to the Gospel ought to be expected by believers—we should expect unbelievers to not like the truth. And in the occasions in which the opposition comes in the form of false teaching, deceit, and lies from false teachers:

It is right and to be expected for true believers to call out the falsehood just like Saul called out Bar-Jesus.

Now occasionally, some argue that this isn’t loving; that if you’re a real Christian, you ought to just love them and accept them anyways, but I think it’s clear from Saul’s example that that isn’t even remotely true.

False teaching needs to be called out.

Opposition against the Gospel needs to be exposed.

And the reason for this is simple--if false teachings and oppositions aren’t called out, then believers will fall into false teaching and unbelievers won’t know what is actually true. (12)

First, how can we expect believers to grow in the truth (to be sanctified in the truth) if we never call out what is untrue? How can we expect believers to stand firm on the Gospel if we don’t openly call out what isn’t the Gospel?

Second, how can we expect unbelievers to come to Jesus if they don’t actually know what the Gospel is because it’s crowded out with lies and deceit? How can we expect people to understand the Gospel if we wrongfully and sinfully conflate it with false gospels?

You need to be prepared for opposition towards the Gospel and you need to be ready to defend the truth and call out false teachings and false teachers.

Of course, this requires that you know the Gospel—that Jesus came, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died on the cross for the remission of your sins; that He was buried and resurrected and sits at the right hand of God reigning on high; and that all you need to do is repent of your sins, believe in Him, and follow Him to be saved.

And this requires that you actually know the truth and you’re actively reading, studying, and delighting in the Word of God as frequently as possible.

And that you’re being discipled not in false teachings but in truth by people who are seeking to help you mature in your faith.

And it requires that when you do see and hear false teaching, that you’re actually willing to obey God and call it out for what it is.

You need to be prepared for opposition towards the Gospel—be ready to defend the truth.

Really, what Acts 13:1-12 teaches us is two-fold—(1) when God calls you to a specific calling and the local church confirms this calling upon you--stop fighting with Him, stop looking for a sign, just go and do it. And (2) be prepared for opposition towards the Gospel—be ready to defend the truth and call out false teaching.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

Yet not I, but through Christ in Me