Spirit-Empowered Missionaries: How God sets apart, sends out, supplies, and ensures the success of His missionaries

John G. Paton

I was first introduced to John G. Paton at a Desiring God conference February 8, 2000. I was just an infant in the faith, not yet a year. The title of the talk was “You Will Be Eaten By Cannibal’s: Lessons from the Life of John G. Paton.” From the moment Piper began his talk until he closed, I don’t think I moved a muscle. I was struck with fascination and fear. At that moment I realized my understanding of missions was severely flawed. Piper, through the life of John G. Paton, stripped and ripped my rosy romanticized view of missions from my heart dosing the flesh wound of my soul with the salt of gospel minded, Christ exalting, God honoring, bible driven missions.

I did not sleep that night. I wrestled with God and his way of advancing his kingdom. I did not like the fact that advancing God’s kingdom came with so much cost. I thought to myself, “How, God? How does it work? How does your kingdom advance in the midst of such opposition, and suffering, and pain? How is there any success? How do you persuade people to go? When they are there, how do they overcome such evil?” I was left wondering, “What if you call me to the same life as you called John G. Paton? I don’t think I can do it. I don’t think anyone can do it.” In my heart I knew I was right, if the kingdom was left in my hands.

Luke’s account of the Paul’s first missionary journey reminds me that the kingdom of God is in God’s hands, and He empowers those whom he calls to the mission field. Through the Antioch church and through Paul and Barnabas, we learn that the Holy Spirit plays an intricate role in the advancement and success of God’s kingdom. This morning God will show you that,

FBCL can joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus to the nations because the Holy Spirit sets apart, sends out, supplies, and ensures the success of our missionaries.

If we are going to do missions biblically we must first believe with all of our heart that

Missions is a Holy Spirit Empowered Endeavor (Acts 13)

Jesus promised to empower His disciples with His Spirit to testify of His saving gospel message. (Acts 1:8)

As we ave seen throughout our study in Acts, the Holy Spirit empowers His people to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus in the church, community, and home. It is no different regarding missions. Missions is a Holy Spirit-Empowered endeavor.

As you read Acts 13, Paul’s first missionary journey, you see the Holy Spirit empowering the advancement of God’s kingdom through missionaries. It is the Holy Spirit who calls Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:2). The Holy Spirit sends them out in Acts 13:4. Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit when he confronts Bar-Jesus the magician (Acts 13:9). As we have seen in previous passages, it is the Holy Spirit who empowers the disciples to preach the gospel, just as Paul does in (Acts 13:13-48). It was the Holy Spirit that ensured those who God appointed to eternal life would be saved (Acts 13:48), and the Holy Spirit is what fills the disciples when the continued on to Iconium and the rest of their missionary journey (Acts 13:52; 14:1).

I can appreciate John V. Taylor’s perspective when he says,

“The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. He is the director of the whole enterprise. The mission consists of the things that he is doing in the world. In a special way it consists of the light that he is focusing upon Jesus Christ.”

The church must recognize that the advancement and success of God’s mission is in God’s hands. The church cooperates with the Holy Spirit to advance God’s kingdom in all the earth, but its movement forward and eventual fulfillment never falls entirely on us. It is God’s Kingdom. The mission is in God’s hands. He will overcome every enemy and make sure every saint is sign, sealed, and delivered.

This gives us hope. There are times that the church looks defeated and missionaries can testify how defeating the mission field can feel. Right now, it may look like the church is stalled or moving backwards. The world may try to tell you that God is dead (Friederich Nietzsche 1884), or that God is nothing more than an opium for the masses (Karl Marx). Take heart, church. Do not believe the lies of the devil. Jesus has already won.

John 16:33 HCSB

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

His death and resurrection sealed our victory. For now we will suffer. But God has given us His Spirit to ensure our work is not in vain. He has overcome and continues to overcome with every soul he draws to himself. All whom the Father draws to himself will come to Him through His Son (John 6:33-37). In that light, missions becomes more about the Holy Spirit cooperating with the church to collect the spoils of His victory. Missions is first and foremost a Holy Spirit-Empowered Endeavor.

With this in mind, let’s look at the Spirit’s missional role in the church.

The Holy Spirit Sets Apart Missionaries (Acts 13:1-3)

We’ve already spent a lot of time on this text several weeks ago. However, it is important to notice the Spirit’s work in setting apart missionaries. The Spirit makes it clear that everyone serves a purpose in the church. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he made sure the church was equipped for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:10-12).

In Acts 13:2, Luke shows us that the Holy Spirit sets apart special people to leave the local church to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Acts 13:2 HCSB

As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.”

We want to pay attention to two words in the text “set apart” and “called.” If God has set apart people to be missionaries two questions need to be answered? First, how does a person they are called to missions? Second, how does the church know a person is called to missions?

The Holy Spirit Speaks (Acts 13:2)

Do not miss the context by which Paul and Barnabas are set apart. The church is fasting and praying. The congregation has gathered to worship God through his resurrected Son. The Holy Spirit has been given to each one of them to empower and equip them to do the will of God. In the context of worship, the Holy Spirit speaks his will. When the Holy Spirit speaks, he speaks collectively to the church and personally to Paul and Barnabas.

One of the roles of the Holy Spirit in God’s economy of things is to guide and direct God’s people where he wants them to God. When Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism the Holy Spirit “immediately drove him into the wilderness to be tempted” (Mark 1:12). Philip was told by the Holy Spirit to “go up and join the Ethiopian” (Acts 8:29). The Holy Spirit told Peter to go with the three men to Cornelius’s household in (Acts 10:19-20). And as we see in Acts 13:2, the Holy Spirit speaks to Paul and Barnabas directing them to go on mission. Wen God sets apart his missionaries, he simply tells them. He can tell them audibly, which is not as often, and he can speak to their heart.

When John G. Paton was twelve years old, the Holy Spirit spoke to him revealing His plans for John to be a missionary. In his autobiography he writes,

“I had given my soul to God, and was resolved to aim at being a missionary of the cross, or a minister of the gospel.” (p. 34)

He recounts the Lord saying to him,

“Go across the seas as the messenger of My love; and lo, I am with you always.”

There is no doubt the Holy Spirit spoke to John. His calling was sure. He never wavered from his missionary call. It would be approximately 20 years before John would leave for the New Hebrides Islands in the South Seas.

The Church Responds (Acts 13:3)

The church responds in two ways. First, they recognize that Paul and Barnabas were two solid candidates for this kind of work. Barnabas, as we have seen, had been a staple in the Christian community from its earliest gatherings. His name is Joseph but he better known by his nickname Barnabas which means “son of encouragement.” This tells you about his demeanor as a man. He gave up all his belongings for the sake of the community (Acts 4:36-37), and he was the first to reach out to Saul when Jesus called him to the faith (Acts 9:27). Saul, as we know is Paul. Acts 9 affirms his conversion and explosion into ministry. Both Barnabas and Paul spent a year discipling the Antioch community in the faith. These men were known, loved, and trusted.

Second, they respond in faith. In Acts 13:3, they worship God with more prayer and fasting and ordain Paul and Barnabas for their missionary work by laying hands on them. The prayer, fasting, and laying on of hands is the churches way of approving and agreeing with the Holy Spirit. Then they release them from the church to go into the world. Do not under estimate the difficulty of this on the church and the missionaries.

It takes a lot of courage to go and let go. Missionaries need supplies and support. The church must give sacrificially toward their mission. Also, consider the leadership lost with both Paul and Barnabas not there everyday. These two men were vital in the success of the outreach, discipleship, and fellowship of the church. Their influence on the vitality and success of the church was immeasurable. When leaders like this leave the local body to go on mission, the local church takes a hit.

It was not easy for Paul and Barnabas to leave a church family they had grown to love. There is great deal of pain involved in leaving loved ones to go on the missionary field. God requires missionaries to put His kingdom interests above their own. That means missionaries often live away from their homeland, sometimes never seeing their loved ones again.

John G. Paton recounts the last time he saw his father some forty years later. It was when he was leaving for the mission field.

“My dear father walked with me the first six miles of the way. His counsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are fresh in my heart as if it had been but yesterday; and tears are on my cheeks as freely now as then, whenever memory steals me away to the scene. For the last half mile or so we walked on together in almost unbroken silence,– His lips kept moving in silent prayers for me; and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain! We halted on reaching the appointed parting place; he grasped my hand firmly for a minute in silence, and then solemnly and affectionately said: “God bless you, my son! Your father’s God prosper you, and keep you from all evil!”

This was the last time he ever saw his father. Jesus says, “You must count the cost to be his disciple (Luke 14:28).” How much more meaning does Jesus words have on the heart of a missionary? It takes a lot of courage to go and let go. Where does that courage come from? Do I have it? Do we have it? If you have Christ, you have the courage. God would not set you apart for the work if he was not going to send you out to do it.

The Holy Spirit Sends Out Missionaries (Acts 13:4-5)

Acts 13:4–5 HCSB

Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God’s message in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.

You might say this is redundant. Its worth noting,however, that Paul and Barnabas were not the masters of their fate or the captains of their souls, as Kent Hughes rightly points out. They were set apart and sent out by Christ’s Spirit. He was their master and captain. The Spirit gave them the courage and the bravery to move away from the church they had grown to love over the last year toward an unknown but glorious mission. The mission begins with the Spirit sending his missionaries in the right direction.

The Holy Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas toward Cyprus. Barnabas had grown up in Cyprus (Acts 4:36). Cyprus had a large Gentile population. Salamis, a large commercial port city on the east end of the island, however, had a significant Jewish population. It is here Paul and Barnabas began preaching in the Synagogues with John Mark. Salamis was a major hub in the Mediterranean world. Aside from the wealth and commerce that flowed through the city, the nations came and went as well. Cyprus would become a prominent fixture in the book of Acts as the gospel spreads.

It takes a lot of prayer and discernment for both the church and the missionary to know when and where God is calling us to bring the gospel. There needs to be a lot of humility, cooperation, and faith among the church and the Holy Spirit’s leading. All three work together for success mission endeavors, especially when that endeavor is dangerous. For Paul and Barnabas and the Antioch church, it was clear that the Holy Spirit wanted them to head toward Cyprus. For John G. Paton, the church thought he was out of his mind.

The Holy Spirit began putting a burden in his heart for the people in the South Seas. He was part of a church in Glasgow Scotland that was passionate about missions. A pastor kept recruiting people to go to the South Seas to join John Inglis’s work among natives. The problem was these natives enjoyed eating people. No missionary wanted that assignment. Two missionaries, John Williams and James Harris, were already martyred and eaten two years earlier. John’s heart, however, became warm toward the Cannibals. He noticed no one was caring for them. How does that happen?

When God calls a missionary to reach a people group, no matter how depraved they appear, he will often warm the heart of the missionary for those people. Nothing else can explain why John G. Paton would intentionally give up his lucrative pastoral position in Glasgow and the support of his family to go live among Cannibals. He did not do it out of obligation, but out of a sincere passion and love for the natives. He was criticized and called insane. But he knew without a doubt this was God’s call on his life. As a matter of fact, when he was accepted by his missions agency to go on mission there, he said,

“Nothing so clears the vision and lifts up the life, as a decision to move forward in what you know to be entirely the will of the Lord.” John G. Paton

The Holy Spirit sets apart and sends out his missionaries with the same kind of burden He has for the lost. The burden identifies the direction and the people the missionary must reach. The church and the missionary must always keep that humility that comes with prayer and fasting before the Holy Spirit to discern when and where our missionaries will go. We know that if the Spirit sets them apart and sends them out, that he will also supply everything our missionaries need.

The Holy Spirit Supplies Power to Overcome For Missionaries (Acts 13:9-11)

The Holy Spirit leads Paul and Barnabas across the island to Paphos. Paphos was the political center of Cyprus and the proconsul was an appointed governor by the Romans Empire. Sergius Paulus was the proconsul of Paphos. He is noted as being an intelligent man who wanted to hear the message that Paul and Barnabas was ready to bring.

Acts 13:6–8 HCSB

When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God’s message. But Elymas the sorcerer (this is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

You will notice that as soon as they bring the gospel opposition arises. Jesus was a fairly popular name at the time. Bar-Jesus means son of Jesus. He’s considered a false prophet because he’s a sorcerer. Sorcery violates God’s commandment and is punishable by death. So his name is fitting for him for he is not the real thing. He is an imitation of the truth. He’s an apostate and he brings a false message to the proconsul.

Paul identifies him

Acts 13:9–10 HCSB

Then Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer and said, “You son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?

Opposition to the gospel is Satan’s work. Satan lies and perverts God’s word. His goal is to deceive people from knowing the truth and therefore having eternal life. Satan had the proconsul’s ear as long as Bar-Jesus was his counsel. Paul and Barnabas threaten that and Satan makes himself known by opposing God’s missionaries. As it often happens with God, he takes His opposition and uses it for His good.

Luke makes sure the reader understands its the Holy Spirit’s power that is operating in Paul when he speaks. Paul was “filled with Holy Spirit” and spoke with the authority of the Holy Spirit. You know this because of what happens in verse 11.

Acts 13:11 HCSB

Now, look! The Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul declares a temporary judgment on Bar-Jesus. In the same way Jesus blinded Paul in his conversion, Paul pronounces blindness on Bar-Jesus. It’s not a final judgment. Paul says it is only for a time. Bar-Jesus’s judgment exposes the blindness of his own heart and his need for the gospel. God also displays his power over Satan. The same authority and power Jesus had over Satan’s kingdom, so His Spirit gives to his missionaries to overcome the evil one. That is part of the empowerment to testify given in Acts 1:8. The Holy Spirit supplies the power you need to overcome opposition. You can see why Paul says to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). he had seen God supply the power and courage to overcome multiple times in his missionary work. A couple of verse later he says, “And my God will supply your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).” The holy Spirit, sets you apart to send you with his power to overcome any obstacle you may face.

John G. Paton lived in constant instability among the natives. One day they loved him, the next they wanted to eat him. Furthermore, they were constantly at war with each other and John was caught in the middle. One night a chief and his men showed up to John’s hut to kill him. When he opened the door to greet them, the native men stepped back in fear. John spoke for a moment with the chief and then they left. The following day the men returned and asked John, “Where are the men who were with you last night?” John told the chief that there were no men with him. The chief confessed that he came there that night night to kill John, but became afraid when he saw the two warriors standing by John in the door. John knew God had protected him that night with two angels. We know God’s power is displayed in my ways. Its not often as dramatic as this, but it is never ineffective. He always shows up and ensures you will overcome.

The Holy Spirit Ensures the Success of Missionaries (Acts 13:12; 48)

As I said before, the success of God’s kingdom is in God’s hands. The Holy Spirit cooperates with his people to advance the kingdom, but the ultimate fulfillment is the Spirit’s work and responsibility. Luke shows the church that it is the Holy Spirit who saves God’s elect.

Acts 13:12 HCSB

Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

The Holy Spirit blinded Bar-Jesus because he was opposing God’s kingdom. We don’t know if Bar-Jesus ever repented of his sin. He goes off into the distance as a lesson that no one opposes God and wins. Bar-Jesus’s judgement also worked to bring about faith in the proconsul. There are two things at play here.

First, Paul and Barnabas came with the gospel. They were preaching the gospel when Bar-Jesus began to oppose them. The message of God’s salvation is what Sergius heard an had to understand to be saved. The message is simple.

We are all sinners

Romans 3:23 HCSB

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

We deserve eternal death

Romans 6:23 HCSB

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But God loves us

Romans 5:8 HCSB

But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!

If you will confess your sin and believe you will be saved

Romans 10:9–10 HCSB

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Secondly, Sergius witnessed the Holy Spirit’s work on Bar-Jesus and it moved him to believe, that is put his trust in Jesus. The sign and winder of bar-Jesus’ blindness by the Holy Spirit validated the authority of the gospel message. There was no way Bar-Jesus could deny the power of Christ because Christ shut him up with darkness. Had Bar-Jesus’s truth or message or power been greater than the Holy Spirit’s he would not have been blinded. Sergius saw this and the Holy Spirit helped him put the two together. Next week we will see more of the Holy Spirit’s work in drawing sinners to the Father. For now, we see that

The Holy Spirit ensures that the message is proclaimed with the power needed to persuade sinners to come to Christ for salvation.

John G. Paton served the South Seas for over fifty years. He lost wives and children and his life was under constant threat. If reaching the Cannibals of the South Seas were solely up to him, the mission would have died not long after it started. Paton readily admitted he often wavered in his faith and wondered if these people could ever come to salvation. As we know, the mission was not left to him. He was an active participant for sure, but it was the Spirit’s setting him apart, sending him out, supplying him with the power to overcome, and ensuring his success. Paton is the poster child of success for missions.

By the time he died at 83 years old in Melbourne Australia, the entire island of Aniwa was saved for the kingdom. He made sure that had their own translation of the New Testament. He built orphanages and trained a future generation of evangelists and missionaries. The Holy Spirit used John G. Paton to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus among Cannibals. He was a missionary because he was set apart by God for such a work. He endured because he was exactly where he knew God wanted Him to be. The waterfall of God’s grace was not pouring over Glasgow. God’s life sustaining grace was pouring for John Paton over cannibals in the South Seas. He overcame Satan’s opposition because he who was in Paton was greater than the one who is in the natives. John G. Paton was successful because God wanted the Aniwa natives to know his love in Jesus Christ. And he sent Paton there to live among them and preach the gospel so that God can draw all of those whom He is calling to Himself. (John 6:44; Acts 13:48).

You can joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus to the nations because you know the Holy Spirit sets you apart, sends you out, supplies you the power, and ensures the your success.

John Piper put his conference talk of John G. Paton into a book. He closes the book with these words about Paton.

“He was a courageous man who understood how to do missions when dying is gain. God is sovereign, and Paton knew it. He endured one threat after another and put it all on the line for the glory of Christ.” John Piper

We know where his courage came from, and we know the faith that sustained him. The role of the Holy Spirit in Paton’s life is no more undeniable than it was in Paul and Barnabas’s life. It will be just as undeniable in your life when God calls you to the mission field for the glory of Christ.

Who is God setting apart at FBCL? Who is God sending out to the ends of the earth? How are we going to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to get them where they need to be? Is it you?