The Progression of God's Plan — Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning Church.
It’s good to see each of you who have made it out to join us this morning and I want to also say welcome to all those who may be joining online.
Last week we started Chapter 13 and looked at the first 12 Verses where we watched Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey.
They were guided by the Holy Spirit to leave the Church in Antioch and set sail from Seleucia and then they visited Barnabas's homeland, the isle of Cyprus.
They started in Salamis and then made their way across the isle to the far side where they visited the city of Paphos.
It was here that they were invited by the governor of the island, Sergius Paulus, to share the gospel with him but if you will remember, the Proconsul had a confidant, a sorcerer named Bar-Jesus who was also called Elymas.
And Elymas didn’t want the governor to hear the gospel because I’m sure he knew it would lead to his demise so he tried to intervene and stop Barnabas and Paul from sharing the gospel with him.
It was at this defining moment, if you will remember, that we seen Saul transition to the Paul we so often speak of today.
Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, called out Elymas and the dark forces behind his magical power and put him in his place by pronouncing the mighty hand of God to blind Elymas and the Bible says, “And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand.”
At this point, with his confidant having been blinded by the almighty hand of God, and upon his hearing of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the governor of the land, Sergius Paulus decided the greatest thing he could do was to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and so he did.
The Bible says in...
Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
And that’s where we left off last week.
This week, we’re going to pick up on our missionary journey with Barnabas and Paul right where we left off last week as they leave the isle of Cyprus and continue on where the Holy Ghost leads.
So, if you have your Bible’s turned to Acts 13:13 would you say, Amen.
Vs. 13
John Phillips — The island of Cyprus dropped astern as the missionary party boarded another ship and headed toward the mainland. Paul was now clearly in the lead. From now on it is “Paul and his company.”
Pamphylia lay on the southern coast of Asia Minor. Cilicia lay to the east and Lycia to the west. The district probably took in little more than the mostly flat ground between the towering Taurus Mountains and the sea. In Paul’s day it was a regular province, having been joined by the Emperor Claudius to Lycia and much of Pisidia. The capital city of Pamphylia was Perga on the River Cestrus, about seven miles from the sea. A temple to Artemis (Diana) stood on a hill outside the city.
Paul had arrived in a neighborhood familiar to him since boyhood days. His birthplace was in these parts. Now he had some very tough decisions to make, and it soon became evident that Paul was the man to make them. The way he wanted to go lay through the Taurus Mountains. There were perils everywhere. The coastline was infested with pirates; the mountains were the home of brigands; the way ahead was steep and rugged and full of wild beasts and lawless men. The going would be tough. But none of that deterred Paul. Difficulties did not deter him; they dared him. It is one of the marks of a pioneer. To quit a missionary enterprise just because of some difficulties would mean to surrender all along the line.
The same could not be said though for John Mark. The Bible says here that… “John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.”
Now, we don’t have a lot of context behind why John Mark left Paul & Barnabas but we can glean from other verses that whatever it was it upset Paul very much.
In...
38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.
And we can glean from the word “departed” used here that the leaving was in a negative fashion.
There are many words used in the Bible to speak of leaving but as John Phillips puts it...
John Phillips — The Holy Spirit takes a serious view of withdrawing in such a careless way from a commitment. That is evident from the way He uses the word “departing” (apochōreō). He uses it on only two other occasions in the New Testament, both of them solemn. One is in connection with false profession (Matt. 7:23), and the other is in connection with a particularly stubborn case of demon possession (Luke 9:39).
He uses the same word to describe Mark’s abandonment of the first great missionary venture of the church at this critical juncture. The use of this word here implies how great a breach of commitment it was. Mark’s defection added extra burdens to the two missionaries, and it led later to a serious disagreement between two men who had loved and laughed and labored together over the years.
With John having departed, Paul and Barnabas press forward in their Holy Spirit led journey.
Vs. 14-15
Antioch of Pisidia is not to be confused with Antioch of Syria where the mighty Church from which Paul and Barnabas had started their journey.
Chuck Swindoll said — Pisidian Antioch—not to be confused with Paul’s sending church in Syrian Antioch—had become a sizable city in the first century. To Romanize the area, Augustus had established several colonist cities and linked them with the Via Sebaste, an east–west highway leading from Ephesus, stretching across modern-day Turkey and through the Cilician Gates, and reaching all the way to the Euphrates. Antioch already existed before Augustus, but it became a popular location for colonists and quickly grew into the most important city on this route.
According to Josephus, two thousand Jewish families were relocated to this area around 200 BC, and the existence of a synagogue in Antioch implies that many remained there by the time of Paul. They were Hellenized, spoke Greek, and were cut off from Jerusalem by both distance and terrain; only the most ardent Jews would have made the journey for the festivals, and they probably didn’t receive a lot of visits from rabbis. Even so, this area attracted a significant number of Gentile “God-fearers.”
And what better place to start sharing the gospel of Jesus than the local Jewish synagogue. At the very least, they would find here a group of people who believed in the same God as Paul & Barnabas.
It would be a great place to springboard from and begin telling the city about the one and only Son of God who gave His life so that we can be saved.
So, they visit the synagogue and find themselves a place to sit in order that they might witness the order of events for the day.
After the reading of God’s word, the rulers of this synagogue as Paul and Barnabas if they have anything they’d like to share to encourage the people.
These folks didn’t know who they were talking to!
They had no idea that before them set a man who had been called to preach the gospel Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.
They had no idea that this man Paul was there for that very reason!
They had no idea that the Word of God was pent up in Paul as it was in Jeremiah who described it as a fire in his bones!
The opportunity had been extended and little did they know but Paul was about to take them up on their offer!
Vs. 16-41
Vs. 20
16 Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.
Vs. 22
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: For wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, And knowledge to them that know understanding:
Vs. 28
Paul would later say in...
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The writer of Hebrews, whom I also believe to be Paul, would write...
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
And then the faithful bold servant of Christ Peter said this...
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Vs. 31
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.