Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

1. [1] The list of those who were “prophets and teachers” were Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2. Saul, who will be called “Paul” from Ac 13:9 forward, will be the leading figure in the book of Acts.

B. The Call by the Holy Spirit

1. [2] We read that these prophets and teachers were “ministering to the Lord.” The word “minister” is the Grk word leitourgeō and typically means “priestly service,” which included various temple services and duties (Ex 28:5; Nu 1:50). Here it would refer to the activities of ministry for the Lord such as: leadership, teaching, evangelism, prayer, and fasting etc. Their service for the Lord was an act of worship for them.

2. It was God the Holy Spirit, the key figure in Acts, who called Barnabas and Saul to a special ministry. They were to be “set apart” (aphorizō - lit. mark a boundary cf. Ex 19:12, but often called to a holy and special purpose for God cf. Le 20:26; Ro 1:1; Gal 1:15) from their current ministry at Antioch and to a special ministry. This was a ministry that Barnabas and Saul were called specifically by the Holy Spirit Himself (“for Me”…“I have called them,” “sent out by the Holy Spirit” vs. 4).

3. [3-4a] The church at Antioch followed the direction of the Holy Spirit by zealously fasting and praying. They also laid hands on them, not to confer a special grace upon them, but as a unanimous and authoritative agreement. So, they sent them off into a great missionary endeavor. There had been other evangelistic missions in the church, but this is the first one specifically commissioned “by the Holy Spirit” and organized through the church.

II. THE FIRST PART OF THE MISSIONARY JOURNEY (Ac 13:4b-6a)

A. Seleucia

1. [4b] Seleucia was a seaport approximately 16 miles from Antioch (of Syria). Barnabas and Saul’s direction and initial destination was the island of Cypress.

B. Island of Cypress

1. Either they were instructed by the Holy Spirit to begin at Cypress or perhaps Barnabas and Saul chose Cypress since it was Barnabas’ hometown (Ac 4:36).

2. In any event, Cypress was well situated, being on the shipping lanes between Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece. It is the third largest island on the Mediterranean and is about 150 miles long and 60 miles wide.

C. Salamis

1. [5] Salamis was the chief eastern seaport of Cypress. When Barnabas and Saul arrived there, they began evangelizing and proclaiming the “word of God.” This was not only their normal pattern, but it was now their mission.

2. Though Paul was called by the Lord to be the the apostle to the Gentiles, his passion was for his own kinsmen according to the flesh, the Jews (Ro 9:1-4; 11:4). As it became Paul’s custom, he first went to the synagogues (Ac 13:14; 14:1; 17:10; 18:4) and then went to the Gentiles to which he was called (Ac 13:44-48).

3. Luke included the fact that John Mark had been taken along on this missionary journey. His position was that of a “helper” (huāretās - lit. “under rower,” fig. assistant or attendant), however, he would eventually desert them (Ac 13:13).

D. Paphos

1. [6a] They continued proclaiming the word of God throughout the entire island until they came to the western seaport, named Paphos.

2. It was known as the center of the worship of Aphrodite (Venus). Cypress held an annual three-day festival called the Aphrodisia, which involved temple prostitution.

III. THE MEETING OF SERGIUS PAULUS (Ac 13:6b-7)

A. Bar Jesus

1. [6b] They happened across (“found”) a magician by the name of “Bar-Jesus” (son of Jesus or Joshua). The title “magician” (magos - astrologer, sage) carried the idea of a sage who was a revealer of omens and secret things.

2. Luke described him as a “Jewish false prophet” signifying not only that he prophesied predominantly to the Jews, but that he was a “false prophet” (pseudoprophātās - pseudo prophet), who led the people away from the true God (Dt 13:5).

3. However, magicians were not without a bag of mystical tricks or whatever it took to convince the people. Simon the magician, who feigned belief in Christ (Ac 8:9, 13), offered the apostles money for what he thought was magic powers and signs (Ac 8:18-19).

B. Sergius Paulus

1. [7] Eager to have influence, Bar-Jesus attached himself to some degree to the “proconsul” (anthupatos - Roman governor), named “Sergius Paulus.”

2. Sergius Paulus was characterized as a man of “intelligence” (sunetos - put together, understand) possibly referring to both his knowledge and interest of religious and philosophical beliefs. The proconsul called for Barnabas and Saul to teach him further in the Scriptures and hear their message.

IV. CONFRONTATION WITH ELYMAS THE MAGICIAN (Ac 13:8-12)

A. Elymas

1. [8] Being a false prophet as well as fearful of losing his influence, Elymas (Elumas, not likely a translation of Bar-Jesus but the Arabic word for “magician” or “sage”), “opposed” (anthistāmi - “set against,” resist, Gal 2:11; Ep 6:13) Barnabas and Saul’s teaching.

2. Elymas’ purpose was to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

B. Paul’s Prophetic Curse

1. [9] The apostle “Saul” (Hebrew name) was also known as “Paul” (Roman name), and from this point on in the book of Acts, he would be called by the latter. In Paul’s epistles, he himself goes by the name of Paul (Ro 1:1; 1Co 1:1; 2Co 1:1; Ep 1:1).

2. Luke informs us that what Paul said to Elymas, came from the Holy Spirit (“filled with the Holy Spirit”). Therefore Paul “fixed his gaze” (atenizō - captivated or intent, Ac 1:10; 3:4) on him in preparing for a prophetic curse.

3. [10] Under the influence of the Spirit, Paul accurately and boldly characterized Elymas. By opposing the truth and teaching error, this false prophet was full of all “deceit” (dolos - bait, i.e. deception or fraud) and “fraud” (hradiourgia - reckless or unscrupulous).

4. His deceit comes from the father of lies making him a “son of the devil” (Diabolos, Eng. diabolical cf. Jn 8:44).

5. For attempting to be an obstacle to the gospel, he appropriately was called an “enemy of all righteousness.”

6. By his continual perversion of the truth, he was ceaseless in “making crooked” (diastrepsō - distort, pervert) the straight ways of the Lord’s salvation.

7. [11] Similar to Peter’s pronouncement of judgment against Simon the magician (Ac 8:20-23), Paul tells Elymas that the “hand of the Lord is upon him” (term of blessing (Ac 11:21) or judgment).

8. With that, Paul pronounced blindness upon the false prophet and immediately “mist” (achulus - medical term for impairment of sight, dim) and “darkness” fell upon him.

9. The false prophet was literally blind and needed to be “led by the hand.” This was a fitting symbol for his spiritual blindness, by which he led the people.

V. THE CONVERSION OF SERGIUS PAULUS

A. [12] When Sergius Paulus observed the power of God through the apostle, he believed Paul’s message and was converted.

B. The proconsul was “amazed” (ekplāssō - struck with astonishment) at the teaching of the Lord. The Holy Spirit illuminated the truth and wisdom of the gospel.

VI. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. Missions

1. The history of missions is the history of the proclamation and demonstration of God's message of redemption to all mankind.

2. Christians often overlook the fact, that the Bible is a missionary book in that it binds the whole Bible together in the unfolding, gradual development of God's plan in reaching mankind with His message of reconciliation.

3. "If it be the duty of all men to believe the gospel then it is the duty of those who are entrusted with the gospel to endeavor to make it known among all men." (William Carey, The Father of Modern Missions, 1786)

B. Mission-minded Church

1. The missions-minded church is a biblical New Testament church. The responsibilities of the New Testament church would include.

a) Bring them in (evangelism)

b) Build them up (edification)

c) Send them out (missions and ministry)

d) Partnership with missions

C. How to Know the Call of God

1. Delight yourself in the Lord (Ps 37:4a)

2. He will give you His desires (Ps 37:4b)

3. Know your spiritual gifts

4. Look for open doors of opportunity (Col 4:3)

5. Receive the encouragement of God’s people

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516