SERMON OUTLINE
(A). Making the Move: A Need (vs 1-3)
• The City (VS 1).
• The Believers (Vs 1).
• The Holy Spirit (vs 2-3).
(B). Making the Move: An Adventure (vs 4-12)
• A Good Beginning (vs 3-5).
• A Unique Island (Vs 4b-5a).
• A Difficult Experience (vs 6-10).
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• I remember one time when we were moving house;
• And when I looked under the bed I found a box under the bed,
• I pulled it out and looked inside,
• Where I finds two eggs and about 8,000 pounds.
• So I asked my wife Penny what the eggs are for,
• And she replies,
• "Every time I you preach a boring sermon on you I put an egg in the box".
• So I am thinking,
• "That's not bad, in all my years of ministry I’ve only preached badly twice."
• So then I ask here, so what’s all the money is for.
• And she replies, "Well, every time I got a dozen eggs I sold them!"
TRANSITION:
• People move house for a variety of reasons;
• For some it’s because of a new job.
• For others to be closer to family members.
• Some the need is for more space,
• Some fly the nest or move to a bigger place to accommodate a growing family.
• Or may be for less space as the offspring leave home.
• To some the move is improve life - a better district, or to escape a tricky situation.
• There are many reasons both good and bad for moving.
Note: Regarding moving:
• Christians can add another key factor into the equation:
• God.
• i.e. I spent the first 24 years of my life in the same house (I was even born there!),
• Then when God called me into full-time Christian ministry;
• For reasons I will not go into now;
• But I experienced living in six different homes in the next two years.
This morning we are going to see in Acts chapter 13 this principle of God moving people:
• Perfectly illustrated in the book of Acts,
• Acts is a book of movement:
• It is a book of shallow tent pegs, as people are travelling here and there,
• Setting off in one direction or another in response to God’s call.
Ill:
• William Phelps taught English literature at Yale University for forty-one years;
• Until his retirement in 1933.
• One year just before Christmas he was marking an examination paper,
• Phelps came across the note: "God only knows the answer to this question. Merry Xmas"
• Phelps returned the paper with this note:
• "God gets an A. You get an F. Happy New Year."
• Well, God alone knows when, where and why we might move in the future,
• Wise people move with God, they do not fight against his will!
• Acts chapter 13 is a great example of;
• When God clearly says it is time to move on!
Note:
• The book of Acts is one of the few Bible books,
• That first gives us the outline to the book;
• And then gives us the content of the book.
Let me remind you of the outline (Acts chapter 1 verse 8):
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
• Jerusalem was where it all started,
• But sadly for many of these first Christians in the early chapters of Acts,
• That is where it ended as well!
• That’s as far as God’s people went – Jerusalem;
• They put their roots down and they were content,
• So God had to drop the stone of persecution into their calm waters
• And this persecution sent the Christians rippling outward;
• Into the second phase of God’s plan; Judea and Samaria.
• Yet here once again the Christians seem to have got themselves settled,
• They seemed to have forgotten the last part of Jesus’ command:
• “And even to the remotest part of the earth”
Certainly, we can understand their desire to stay settled,
• We all like the comforts of home,
• And the need for security that we find there.
• But when God has a plan, that plan must be implemented!
• God knows what He is doing and at times for some of us that may include us moving on.
(A). Making the Move: A Need (vs 1-3)
• The first few words of verse 1 provide a backdrop for the action that follows.
• Though his phrasing is simple,
• Luke conveys a wealth of information in his portrait of the situation.
• “In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers”
(1). The City (VS 1).
• Chapters 13 and 14 describes Paul’s ministry in six different cities,
• Beginning and ending at Antioch.
• Until now, Jerusalem had been the centre of ministry,
• And Peter had been the key apostle.
• But from this point on,
• Antioch in Syria would become the new centre and the apostle Paul the new leader.
Antioch was the Roman capital of Syria:
• It was the gateway to the east.
• It was a large cities, it was third only to Rome and Alexandrea.
• It was a commercial goldmine.
• And like most large cities, Antioch was multicultural,
• On the outskirts of town stood the temple of Daphne,
• A deplorable centre of prostitution and pagan worship.
Antioch was a competitive place:
• It was well known for its sports, especially chariot racing and horse racing,
• These events lured gamblers into the city,
• To summarise:
• Antioch was a large fast living, wealthy city,
• A city of low morals and pagan religion.
• And right in the middle of this city was the church of Jesus Christ.
(2). The believers (Vs 1).
• “In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:”
• Notice these words are plural, this was a well taught church.
(A). PROPHETS AND TEACHERS (VS 1):
Quote: Everett Harrison helps us tell apart these two ministries.
“As a prophet, a person spoke in response to a distinct moving of the Spirit, providing edification, exhortation, and consolation.
As a teacher, one presumably had a more sustained ministry, making use of the Old Testament and the traditions of the life and teaching of the Lord Jesus as handed down in the church.
The teacher provided the basic information for living the Christian life; the prophet furnished special guidance from the Lord as needed.”
(B). FIVE MEN ARE IDENTIFIED FOR US:
“Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
• It’s easy to skip over a verse like this,
• Thinking that it’s just another list of difficult-to-pronounce names.
• But we’d miss a significant insight if we did,
• For these leaders reflect a great diversity of backgrounds.
Ill:
• Barnabas was a Jew from the island of Cyprus.
• No doubt you have already come across him in chapter 4 of Acts.
• Simeon also had the name Niger,
• Which, according to the experts, was “a Latin term meaning ‘black-skinned.”’
• Lucius was from Cyrene, which was west of Egypt on the coast of Africa.
• His name was Greek, so he was possibly a Gentile.
• Manaen was a member of high society,
• Having grown up with Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee.
• And then there’s Saul with his impressive education and rabbinical training.
• Later he would be known as Paul the apostle.
What a mix:
• A Cyprian Jew, a black man, a Gentile, an aristocrat, and a rabbi,
• This was a cosmopolitan leadership team!
• But with such diverse back-grounds,
• This meant they were better able to minister to the many ethnic groups in Antioch.
• Consequently, the church body had become a model of diversity within unity,
• A microcosm of God’s upcoming worldwide, multicultural ministry.
(3). The Holy Spirit (vs 2-3):
• To launch this worldwide program of evangelism - action was needed,
• The Holy Spirit interrupts the church’s thriving ministry with a sudden command.
(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.”
Notice: When it happened:
• It happened when the Holy Spirit spoke “while they were worshipping (or ministering).”
• The word means “Priestly activity” or “Service”.
• It is a reminder to us that:
• We don’t always need to escape to a mountaintop, to a place of solitude;
• To sense God’s leading.
• Often the best times to hear His voice is while we’re busy reaching out to others,
• i.e. Easier to steer a moving car, than a parked car.
• We should be sensitive at times of activity,
• Because the Holy Spirit is already empowering us for that service.
Notice as well WHO they were serving,
• Not just to the congregation, but the Lord!
• True service involves a right attitude as well as right actions.
• Let’s remember that whatever we do it is always for him!
• i.e. if we clean the Church building – it’s for him!
• i.e. if we preach a sermon – it’s for him!
• i.e. if we express hospitality by invite folks round for dinner – it’s for him!
• Let’s remember that whatever we do it is always for him!
• That then turns what could seem like a chore into a labour of love.
Notice: We don’t know exactly how the Holy Spirit:
• Led the congregation to set apart the two leaders for missions,
• It may have been a word from the prophets,
• It may have been some other way,
• We just do not know, we are not told.
But we do know two things:
(A). GOD’S PLAN WAS SELECTIVE.
• The call wasn’t for everyone, just Barnabas and Saul.
• Not all 5 men but only two.
(B). GOD’S PLAN WAS SPECIFIC: “THE WORK”.
• “The work” refers to “The ends of the earth”.
• God’s original and unchanging plan for this early Church and the Church universal.
• So the plan was specific:
• Only two were called to go to,
• While the others teachers and prophets and the rest of the Church remained.
Be encouraged:
• The fact that God’s calling to certain types of service;
• Is selective and specific is encouraging,
• Because it reaffirms how personal His plan is for each of our lives.
• So we needn’t feel guilty or depressed when He guides some people in one direction,
• And does not lead us that same way.
• The great thing is God has a plan for each one of us,
• Each of us has to trust him day by day to discover that plan;
• And we do that in the knowledge, that the plan he has for US is the best one!
Verse 3: “So after they had fasted and prayed,”
• Twice fasting is mentioned and both times it is not alone,
• It is linked with worship (verse 2) and prayer (verse 3).
• Fasting is a negative action (abstaining from food),
• For the sake of a positive action (worship, service & prayer).
Some have suggested that the church fasted and prayed to:
(1).
• To test and affirm God’s call to Barnabus and Saul.
• And partly to intercede for the two being sent out.
(2). Others have suggested the praying and fasting was for the Church:
• To determine how they were going to support these missionaries,
• Seeking the role that THEY should play in world missions.
Verse 3: “They placed their hands on them and sent them off”
• This affirmation of Barnabas and Saul was a sign of the church’s maturity.
• They didn’t cling to their friends but released them, knowing that God’s will was best.
• Nobody wants to lose their best workers, their best teachers, their best leaders,
• But often that is who God calls and the Church at Antioch was willing to let them go.
For the believers at Antioch this would also be a huge challenge:
• They too would also have to trust God to take up the slack in leadership,
• And replace these men with other gifted teachers and prophets.
Notice:
• Verse 4 begins:
• “Being sent out by the Holy Spirit . . .”
• The people give Barnabas and Saul their BLESSING, “Laying hands on them”
• But the Holy Spirit gives them His AUTHORITY – he called them!
God’s plan to reach the rest of the world is then set in motion,
• And with great anticipation,
• The missionaries launch out to deliver the good news of Jesus Christ.
• Having been enthusiastically set to sea by their fellow Christians,
• They Jump on board ship and wave good-bye to Antioch.
• The thirteenth chapter is a turning point in the book of Acts.
• It is what Winston Churchill would have called one of the hinges of history.
• It marks the beginning of the third phase of our Lord's great commission.
• To go to the uttermost parts of the earth.
• Acts chapters 13 verse 1 to chapter 14 verse 28;
• Tells the story of the first missionary journey.
(B). Making the Move: An Adventure (vs 4-12)
(1). A Good Beginning (vs 3-5):
• Well for these missionaries it was an excellent start,
• A good beginning:
• No mention of any difficulties.
• It was all plain sailing
• i.e. No lost luggage, no illness, no disappointments, it was literally
• All plain sailing (good beginning).
• They started in a way that many missionaries never experience:
• With the backing of their local fellowship.
(A). CHURCH SUPPORT (VS 3):
"So after they had fasted and prayed,
they placed their hands on them and sent them off".
• The church at Antioch was a;
• Praying, supportive, encouraging, and I would suggest a giving church.
(B). GOD'S BLESSING (VERSE 4):
"The two of them (vs 2: Paul & Barnabus) sent on their way by the Holy
Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus".
• Even more important than the church's blessing:
• They had the confidence, assurance, guarantee,
• That what they were doing was right in God's sight.
Quote: Theodore Epp:
"Once a man is satisfied that he is in the centre of God's plan and God is working out his will through him, that man is invincible".
Commissioned by God:
• Barnabus, Saul & John Mark (verse 5b:"...........John was with them as their helper").
• Travelled the 16 mile journey west to Selucia;
• And from there they sailed for Cyprus.
(b). A unique island (Vs 4b-5a):
“…went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5When they arrived at Salamis”
• We do not know why they chose to go to Cypress:
• It maybe the Lord told them to start there,
• That was part of their calling.
• It maybe the link was Barnabus,
• We know he was a Cypriot, and maybe he was burdened for his own people.
Ill:
• "Cyprus" means "Copper".
• A name given because it was a place rich with copper deposits.
• Cyprus also had another common name:
• "Mak-ar-ia" which means: "Happy island".
Quote: William Barcley:
"The Happy Isle, because it was held that its climate was so perfect and its resources so varied that a man might find everything necessary for a happy life within its bounds".
• Sounds like the Hawaii or Bermuda of the first century.
• A beautiful island.
Salamis was the largest city on the island:
• Note: the plural "Synagogues",
• They preached in many different places – and yet no response!
• Now throughout the book of Acts,
• Doctor Luke always mentions a response;
• I suggest the fact that he did not mention it,
• Is because there was no response to their preaching.
(3). A difficult experience (vs 6-10).
(A). EXHAUSTION (VS 6):
• With no response to the gospel in the city;
• They leave Salamis (the city), and they travel to the rural areas.
• "They travelled through the whole island until they came to Paphos".
Now use your imagination:
• Don't skip over the verse, they are not walking down the street
• This will be a journey of 150 miles - on foot!
• Average days travel was 10 miles,
• If you made 12 miles a day then you were in 5th gear and really shifting.
• Verse 6 says that they arrived at Paphos after a long, hard, tiring journey,
• Again no mention of any response in the rural areas of Cyprus.
• In fact it went from bad to worse;
• Opposition arose:
(B). OPPOSITION (VERSE 6-8):
6They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
At this point the tired, maybe disillusioned missionaries:
• Fresh from Jerusalem:
• Memories of those prayer meetings fresh in their minds.
• Suddenly they are in a new culture, among new people.
• They have just experienced a long tiring 150 mile journey.
• They've apparently had no response or encouragement to their preaching.
• And suddenly they are 'eye to eye' with spiritual, satanic opposition.
The opposition is in the form of a man called: "Bar-Jesus".
• Verse 6 describes him as: “A Jewish sorcerer”
• That’s a contradiction, it’s like saying someone is a Christian thief!
• Notice his name “Bar-Jesus”
• Which means: "Son of salvation."
• He is also called: "Elymas".
• An Aramaic word; which means the "skilled magician".
• They are quite formidable titles, which describe a craftsman of his trade.
• He is proclaiming himself as having supernatural understanding & deliverance.
Verse 7 Tells us who he worked for, he was employed by the proconsul:
• The proconsul, was a representative of the Roman government:
• Much like our governor’s today.
• Verse 7 describes him as “An intelligent man”.
• A reminder that it is not just simple people who get led astray by the occult.
(C). CONFRONTATION BY PAUL (VS 9-11).
Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.”
Notice: in verse 9 the name change over:
• Saul from now on will become Paul.
• Saul was a Hebrew, Jewish name, Paul was a Greek name,
• It was common for Jews to take a Greek or Roman second name.
• As an apostle to the Gentiles, he would from now on use a gentile name.
As Paul encountered this man Elymas:
• He would not do it in his own strength;
• Verse 9: “Filled with the Holy Spirit”.
• He did not back down and he was not intimidated.
• Verse 9: “He looked him straight in the eye”, He faced the problem head on.
• Paul tells him he is not the “Son of Salvation” but “A child of the devil”.
• “You are not proclaiming truth but a lie”.
Irony in verse 11:
• Elymas was a man who practiced of the occult,
• He had led many people like the proconsul into spiritual darkness,
• And now he would experience physical darkness.
• And all his skill in the magical arts could not help him.
(D). SALVATION OF THE PROCONSUL (VS 12).
12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed,
for he was amazed (NEB: “Shaken to the core”) at the teaching about the Lord.
• More irony in this verse:
• God blinded the magician because he refused to see the truth,
• But the proconsul who was spiritually blind, had his eyes opened to the truth.
Notice: Sergius Paulus is brought to faith by two things:
• (1). Demonstration of spiritual power, “What he saw”.
• (2). What he heard, “Amazed at the teaching about the Lord”.
True today people come to faith in Jesus Christ by 2 things:
• (1). What they see – our witness.
• ill: Woman of Samaria
• Quote: “The greatest sermon we ever preach is our lives”.
• (2). What they hear – the word of God.
• Quote: Romans chapter 10 verse 17:
• “Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God”.
Final application:
• When people look at us, what do they see?
• When people speak to us, what do we say?
