On the Move, Part 1
Notes
Transcript
On the Move, Part 1
On the Move, Part 1
The book of Acts makes a shift in chapter 13.
Luke goes from a focus on the Jerusalem church to now focusing on the mission of Saul who will soon be called Paul.
We read in the first couple of verses in Acts 13 these words
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.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
Barnabas and Saul are called by the HS and affirmed by the church in Antioch to pursue preaching the gospel message elsewhere.
Notice that the first believers were forced out.
Forced out of their homes.
Forced to abandon their lives.
Forced to find rest and solace away from home.
But Barnabas and Saul were sent out.
They were sent out to preach the gospel message.
They were sent out to reach the nations.
They were sent out from their homes.
Here is something key that we need to understand, as Christians we are not called to be stagnant.
We may never be forced out of our homes.
We may never be sent out to plant churches or be missionaries, but Jesus does tell us to go.
Go and make disciples.
Go and grow the kingdom.
Go and be a light in the darkest of places.
Go and spread the truth about who God is and what he is doing in calling a people to himself.
Notice how they were sent out.
By the Holy Spirit.
They weren’t going alone. They had the God of the Universe traveling with them.
They had access to his power, presence, comfort, aid, and wisdom.
He was never going to leave them or forsake them.
Maintaining the promise made when Jesus commissioned the disciples to make disciples.
You do recognize that as a follower of Jesus you are not alone, right?
That if you have placed your trust and hope in Jesus Christ that you have the Holy Spirit living within you.
He is ministering to you.
He is guiding you into all truth.
He is empowering you to be transformed into the image of Jesus.
That if it wasn’t for him you would be a hopeless mess when it comes to living a godly and righteous life.
He is also with you when you talk to others about God.
He will instruct and guide you in wisdom and truth if you hold fast to his leading.
The HS will never leave you or forsake you
But that doesn’t mean that every conversation you have with others about God will be a fruitful one
I was in door to door sales for a little bit when I was younger and the guy training me told me to think about sales this way.
“Some will, Some won’t, so what, move on”
I sometimes think about this when talking with people about the gospel and telling them the truth of God, but I have modified it a little
“Some will, some won’t, Pray up, move on.” It’s not up to me
They aren’t rejecting me. They are rejecting God.
This is what we see when Barnabas and Saul get to the first stop on their missionary journey.
Before we jump into the text I want to really quickly show you a map of this First Missionary Journey
Barnabas and Saul traveled to all these places and they are all discussed, however, only a few of them are discussed in detail.
The two encounters we are going to see today happen in Paphos and Antioch Pisidia.
In today’s passage, we are going to see a few shifts.
The first one comes in v.9.
We are going to see that, for the most part, Saul is going to undergo a name change.
Luke is making a choice in v.9 by calling Saul, Paul.
It’s not a name change like we see in the story of the bible where the name change has to do with a change of heart or mission.
It is simply that he had a Jewish name and a Greek name.
His Jewish name was Saul and his Greek name was Paul.
It like this. You know a Hispanic man and you call him George.
His name is most likely not George, but Jorge.
However, he may think it’s easier for you to relate to him, say his name, or for any other reason he lets you call him George.
That’s kind of what is happening with this name change of Saul to Paul.
The other change we will see happen in v. 13, but we will talk about that in a few minutes.
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.
Title Slide
Barnabas and Saul were empowered and led by the HS to preach the word of God to all who would listen, but we see here in v. 5 that they went to the Synagogues first.
This is a pattern that we will see over and over again in Paul’s ministry.
He would preach to the Jews first then to the gentiles.
Why would he do that?
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
The Jewish people were the first to receive the revelation of what God was doing in and through history.
Jesus was a Jewish man himself from the line of David.
Though they rejected and mocked Jesus they still are the chosen people of God.
God had made them a promise and that promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
So the message of the gospel is for everyone, but it is for the Jew first then Gentile.
When Barnabas and Paul arrive in Paphos they encounter a Jewish False prophet, Bar-Jesus. (v.6)
He is with the Governor of the area, here they call him proconsul, but he functions as the civil leader in this area.
In these two men we see the reality of “some will, some won’t” going on.
The Governor, Sergius Paulus, is intelligent and curious about the message that Barnabas and Paul are preaching.
This just goes to show you that people of intelligence and unintelligent, people of wealth and of poverty, people of every walk of life need to hear the gospel.
We shouldn’t take for granted that anyone knows the message of Jesus.
We shouldn’t assume that those who are in power and influence don’t need Jesus.
Jeff Bezos needs Jesus, Bill Gates needs Jesus, Stephen Hawking needed Jesus, Albert Einstein needed Jesus,
Your neighbor, mom, grandma, boss, child, and friends need Jesus
He welcomes all who will call out to him.
Some will call out to him when he is presented to them, but some won’t.
The Sorcerer, magician, charlatan is not interested in their message.
In fact, he believes it to be hostile to his very being.
He opposed the gospel because it stood against him.
If Sergius were to accept the gospel Bar-Jesus would be without a job. He would be without influence and power.
Bar-Jesus was against the gospel because of his own greed and pride.
He was actively trying to impede the gospel message as Sergius Paulus was listening.
So the HS had to step in and rebuke him through Paul.
“Paul filled with the holy spirit looked intently at him”
Have you ever been stared down by a person in authority?
Their eyes piercing to your soul.
The heat radiating from their stare.
Now imagine a person filled with the holy spirit, by the prompting of the HS staring intently at you.
That had to be a terrifying experience for Bar-Jesus.
Then the rebuke itself would pierce the heart and soul.
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.
Bar-Jesus’ name means Son of Jesus. Son of the Savior.
Yet here he stands opposed to the gospel.
He Stands opposed to righteousness.
He stands opposed to the Savior.
So he is called the son of the devil. Enemy of Righteousness, full of deceit and villainy.
You have to understand Bar-Jesus was a Jew that practiced witchcraft and sorcery.
He was one with the promise that rejected it for his own gain.
He was blind to the truth.
He was blinded by greed and pride.
So Paul, under the inspiration and direction of the HS caused him to truly be blind.
Similar to the blindness that Paul experienced on the road to Damascus
He was now physically blind to mimic his spiritual blindness.
Due to this event and the teaching of the gospel, the governor became a believer.
He was the some will.
That is the reason we tell the gospel to people because the reality is some will.
Some will come to know the fullness of life in Christ.
Some will come to repent and receive the forgiveness found in Christ alone.
Some will become new creations and be welcomed into the family of God.
Some will, some won’t it isn’t up to you who does or doesn’t your command is to tell others, God’s the one who calls.
The Journey continues. But not without a hiccup.
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem,
14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
Ministry Hiccup
Before we move forward to the next town we need to see something that is a reality when ministry is being done.
There is a transition that will be easy to overlook and not make note of.
The team switches from Barnabas and Saul to now being recognized as Paul and his companions.
The leadership of Paul is not locked into place.
His influence is now greater and he is the newly crowned leader of this group.
In addition to this transition, we also see that John Mark leaves the group.
Why he leaves the group we don’t really know.
It could be because he gets sick.
It could be because he is homesick
He could be overwhelmed by the travel and the acceptance of Gentiles into the fold.
He could be upset that his cousin, Barnabas, is no longer in the position of leadership and the power has been handed off to Paul.
Any and none of these could be true. What we do know is that it doesn’t sit right with Paul.
38 But Paul insisted that they should not take along this man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work.
Paul feels that Mark’s leaving wasn’t justified.
He felt abandoned and Deserted.
So much so that he wouldn’t allow Mark to travel with them anymore.
This eventually causes a rift in Paul’s relationship with Barnabas, too.
Ministry work can get messy.
We are, after all, called a family. And if you have the perfect family I would love to meet you and them.
There are arguments and disagreements that happen.
This doesn’t nullify the ministry work being done, but it can cause disruption in relationships.
Mark still is used by God to write the Gospel According to Mark.
Paul is still used mightily by God. There just happened to be a hiccup in their relationship.
We have to be ready for there to be these kinds of issues, but we also need to be willing to rectify and reconcile.
Though this was a problem then, Paul and Mark eventually are able to be reconciled.
In one of his Last letters Paul pens these words to his Protege Timothy
11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.
Mark was still useful and a blessing to Paul.
So when we hit these speed bumps or hiccups with one another let us be quick to realize that we are still useful and a blessing to one another.
We should still want to reconcile with one another.
After Mark departs the Journey continues to Antioch Pisidia
This Antioch is different than the Antioch we have previously studied.
This was just a popular name for a town during this time period.
There were some 15 different towns named Antioch at this time.
Let me set the stage for you a little before we read the text.
Much like we have read previously Paul enters the town and goes to visit the Synagogue in Antioch Pisidia.
Much like church services around the world the synagogues had an order of service or liturgy that they followed.
There would be a recitation of the Shema
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Followed by a reading of the scriptures
They would read a section out of the Pentateuch and a section of the Prophets.
Then there was a sermon or exposition of the scriptures read.
This was sometimes offered to a visiting rabbi or Jewish leader.
They knew that Paul was in town so they offered him the opportunity to preach.
Like a good preacher, he accepted the offer and traced the Scriptures all the way from the Exodus to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
Paul has a good sermon ready to go.
Let’s look at the first part together:
16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen.
17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.
18 And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.
20 All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.
24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
Announcement of the Savior
Paul is speaking to both those of Jewish descent and those who are “God-Fearers” Gentiles who worship the God of the Bible.
Paul goes through the History of the Bible that leads them to the reality of Jesus.
Like a lot of people, these men liked to participate in retrospection.
Basically, they would rehearse the history of their ancestors.
Like some one reminiscing on the “Good ole’ Days” and the such.
So Paul knowing how they like to talk about their history begins just there.
Paul is very deliberate in the way he tells the story.
The Israelites are passive in the movement of history.
God is the one who does all the work, Israel is the recipient of that gracious work.
Just look at the verbs used by Paul.
God chose.
God Made.
God Led
God put up with.
God Gave land.
God Gave Judges.
God Gave them King Saul.
God removed Saul.
God raised up David.
God has brought a savior
This is a reality that we should all hold on to. God is in charge and he is the one moving history for his people. For his glory. For his praise. For his purposes.
This is true in all of history, but especially true in the history of redemption.
The history of salvation.
God chose Israel to be his people.
They didn’t earn it. They didn’t deserve it. But God chose them anyway b/c they were going to be his witness to an unbelieving world.
They were going to be the ones by whom the Divine Messiah would come.
Even in slavery and captivity in Egypt God kept his people and made them great.
He led them out and moved them into the promised land.
For 400 years they were slaves, 40 years they wandered the desert, and 10 years it took them to overcome and conquer the land promised them.
450 years God provided for them and sustained them.
God gave them judges to reign and rule, but that wasn’t good enough.
The people were ungrateful and wanted a king like the other nations.
They didn’t merely want to be God’s people ruled in God’s way so they asked God for a King
God gave them Saul.
Saul Failed.
He abandoned his calling and followed after false gods, so God determined to give Kingship over to David, Son of Jesse.
From David the promised king came
The true, perfect, promised king.
The Savior that Israel had longed for.
The Savior that Israel had waited for.
The Savior that Israel needed came just as God had promised
Through the line of David.
Announced by the Prophet John the Baptist.
Preaching the message of repentance.
And yet, his message wasn’t recieved well.
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.
29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
30 But God raised him from the dead,
31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.
32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers,
33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’
34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption,
37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.
Rejection of the Savior
Paul was letting them know that the very one that their fathers longed for.
The one they waited for.
The one they needed was rejected.
But not just rejected.
This innocent man was:
Beaten.
Cursed.
Mocked.
Tried as a criminal.
Executed.
But God wasn’t finished.
This Promised One was Raised From the Dead.
Veritably so.
He appeared to his followers. Spent time with them
Ate with Them.
Ministered and Taught them.
He wasn’t dead.
God’s promise of an incorruptible one had come to pass.
Not through King David, but through King Jesus.
David Withered away and is now dust of the Earth.
The Promised One, Jesus, is sitting at the right hand of God
Calling people to himself.
Blessing people who cry out for salvation.
He is Alive.
This is why we celebrate.
Jesus is alive.
He isn’t dust of the earth.
He is reigning and interceding for his people.
He sends a comforter to his people.
The one we worship and adore lives forever.
But in order to participate in the salvation given to us by Jesus it cost us something.
That’s the part that some people don’t want to hear.
38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”
Hope in the Savior
Jesus offers us forgiveness.
But to receive the forgiveness we have to recognize our need for forgiveness.
We have to recognize that we can’t earn God’s love.
That was something that Paul was trying to get across when he said that they “could not be freed by the law of Moses.”
Good Works, Morality, Being a decent person though not bad things to aspire to are unable to provide forgiveness for sin.
Standing before God as one condemned he will not look at your deeds and justify you.
It is only through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ that one can gain forgiveness.
But this message doesn’t make a lot of friends.
We like to earn what we get.
We don’t like hand outs.
We don’t like to be confronted with our own sinfulness.
We don’t like that Jesus is exclusively gracious.
Because we believe we aren’t that bad. I’m not a sinner.
Those other people may be, but not me.
And even if I am a sinner, it’s not that bad.
Any Sin. Any Grievance. Any Disobedience to the law of God makes you guilty.
But Jesus offers forgiveness.
He cleans the slate.
He washes us white as snow.
Jesus does what the law couldn’t.
He makes us right in the sight of God.
Much like with Bar-Jesus and Sergius Paulus some people like the message and some don’t.
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.
43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.
46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
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.
Results of Gospel Preaching
Some people were excited to hear the gospel message.
Many, in fact, they they wanted to continue to hear the message.
And they invited their friends to come here the message as well.
Because the next Sabbath everyone in town was present.
They were begging to hear about the glorious grace extended to them through Jesus Christ.
There was a hunger for truth.
But for some of them they contradicted and opposed the message of the Gospel.
The Jewish people in the Town were jealous of the crowd and attention that the message of grace was receiving.
They opposed the message so much that they ran Paul and Barnabas out of town.
But what they were missing was the fact that God was open to the Gentiles receiving the truth.
Not at their exclusion but at the Addition of More people knowing the hope, love, and restoration found in the Cross of Christ.
So in the face of rejection and persecution, Paul and Barnabas “shook the dust off their feet” and went on to their next destination.
They were going to leave behind those that rejected them.
Their feelings about that rejection.
They were not responsible for the unreceptive Jews.
They were responsible for preaching the message not its reception.
This is something that we shouldn’t forget. We are not responsible for someones response to the message only that we are faithful to preach the message.
That’s why Paul and Barnabas could leave with Joy.
They were walking in the will and way of the Lord.
When you tell someone about the goodness and glory of Christ they may accept or they may reject.
You are only responsible for your obedience in telling the message.
You are called to make disciples and tell others about the hope and forgiveness found in Jesus.
My question to you is:
Have you placed your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ or have you rejected him?
Have you found the peace and hope that comes from a deep and meaningful relationship with God or are you just going through the motions hoping that God will be pleased?
You won’t receive forgiveness based on your good deeds, your church attendance, your parents faith.
You can only receive forgiveness if you bow the knee and submit to the lordship of Christ.
If you profess to be a believer and follower of Jesus.
I challenge you to put your faith into practice.
Let others see Jesus in the way you live.
But don’t just Model Jesus tell them about him.
So that more can come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.