Acts: Review and Paul ends his second missionary Journey (Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
Unnoticed and Unstoppable
Unnoticed and Unstoppable
In Acts 1-7 we see the origin of the church begins with the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. It explodes with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of Peter and the 12 on Pentecost. It grows in the face of opposition as God continues to work miracles and change hearts. The church goes through organizational struggles, sin issues, and comes out the other side with boldness and commitment to the Gospel.
Last week we left off after the martyrdom of Stephen and how that event launched the church into broader ministry. We talked about Philip and Peter’s ministries and the importance of willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapters 8-11, there is one player that stays under the radar. His role, however, is essential to what comes next.
His name is Barnabas.
Acts 8-12: Persecution, Calling, more Miracles, and Visions
Acts 8-12: Persecution, Calling, more Miracles, and Visions
Early church expansion
Saul:
Conversion
Introduced in Jerusalem: 9:26
Brought to Antioch by Barnabas
Phillip:
Samaria
Road to Gaza - Ethiopian Eunuch
Spiritual teleportation to Azotus
Peter:
Peter and John to Samaria - lay on hands
Heals paralyzed Aeneas in Lydda
Raise Dorcas (Tabitha) to life in Joppa
Peter’s vision
Peter Goes to Caesarea to meet Cornelius
Peter proclaims God’s intent to save Gentiles to the church in Jerusalem
Peter is imprisoned and set free by an Angel
James: Martyred
Barnabas:
Gets Paul a meeting with the leaders of the Jerusalem church
26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.
27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.
28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
Connects Paul to Antioch as they grow
19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.
20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,
24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.
25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Travels with Paul to delver aid to Jerusalem
Acts 11:27-30
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).
29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.
30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Acts 13-14: Paul and Barnabas first missionary journey
Acts 13-14: Paul and Barnabas first missionary journey
Paul’s Missionary Journey 1
Highlights:
1. Confront Elymas the magician on Cyprus and the proconsul is saved.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.
6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.
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.
12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
2. Antioch Pisidia preaches to the Jews until they reject him and he turns to the gentiles.
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
3. Jews from Antioch disrupt ministry in Iconium and they flee to Lystra and Derbe.
4. Paul heals a man in Lystra and they mistake them from Zeus and Hermes. Jews again from Antioch follow and stir up the crowd to stone Paul.
5. Paul continues to travel with Barnabas and proclaim the gospel in Derbe and encourages the believers while ensuring that elders were put in place for the fledgling churches.
6. They return to Antioch
Acts 15-18:23: Paul’s second missionary Journey
Acts 15-18:23: Paul’s second missionary Journey
Jerusalem Council: Gentiles do not need to be circumcised
Paul and Barnabas separate
Paul prevented from traveling into certain regions but receives a vision to travel to Macedonia.
Philippi:
Lydia Conversion with family
Paul and Silas imprisoned
Paul and Silas freed
Guard saved with household
Magistrates confronted about citizenship
Thessalonica:
Paul not accepted by the synogogue
Meets next door at Jason’s
Has to flee to Berea
Berea study and examined the word
Paul leaves for Athens alone and teaches at the Areopagus
Paul goes to Corinth:
Spent time with Priscilla and Aquila until the arrival of his companions.
Paul’s vision:
9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
The end of the second missionary journey.
18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.
19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.
21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
What vow was he under?
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the Lord,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
4 All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.
5 “All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.
6 “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body.
7 Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.
9 “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it.
10 On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting,
11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day
12 and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 “And this is the law for the Nazirite, when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting,
14 and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish as a peace offering,
15 and a basket of unleavened bread, loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings.
16 And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering,
17 and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering.
18 And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering.
19 And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration,
20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 “This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”
Paul stops in Ephesus
19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.
21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.
Paul Goes on to Jerusalem:
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
The mission continues: What is your role?
The mission continues: What is your role?
Are you a Barnabas?
Are you a Paul?
Are you . . .