Acts 13:1-12

V 1-3

Paul begins his first missionary journey here

among the great number of people who are present in what is taking place in the church in antioch, 4 leaders appear to be noted

Barnabus

Lucius

Manean (Friend of the Herod from the time of Christ’s death)

Paul

After a certain period of time where they were fasting and praying for the will of the Lord, they heard the call to send two of their boldest leaders out into the world

Think about what is happening here

A church, rather than focusing on growing themselves or growing their number or what they are doing, takes the call of the Lord to send out its best leaders

There is a strong element of faith that this church has to where they truly do worship the Lord alone

They are not tied to only being able to follow God through the eyes of a leader

Application: God sends us often into uncomfortable things

V 4-8

Paul and Barnabus, with their assistant John Mark, begin to minister in the Jewish Synagogues as they do

There we meet the magician and the roman Proconsul

Magician may not necessarily have been the same as the magician you and I think of. It is someone with knowledge of things like astronomy, claims of dream interpretation, and other various things

Didn’t necessarily make you evil but could have been used for evil

Proconsul

In areas of Rome where unrest were common, the proconsul would lead the troops and report back to the senate on how the area was doing

Paphos

Pagan city

This is where the temple to Aphrodite was placed

There was a worshipping cult that would follow her

Paul and Barnabus didn’t go to an area to start their journey where success was guaranteed or where people were open to what they had

They went to an area of darkness where people worshipped a false diety

Then they come to meet these two and the magician in his heart is set on keeping the proncul at bay and not letting him convert

He is trying to convince him to go against the Lord and to do what is right in his own eyes

What does this say about the company we keep?

V 9-12

Paul looks at Elymius and with full authority of the spirit rebukes him for his heart and desires

In doing so two things are accomplished

The evil of the magician has been silenced by a power that is far greater

The pronconsul comes to faith in Christ

Sometimes yes healing is what brings us to the heart of the Lord

Sometimes, judgment can have a similar effect

One of the reasons we should celebrate God’s justice. He is a perfect judge who shows his justice perfectly.

In his display of justice, others can come to repentance under the authority that they have witnessed