Hello everyone! May the Lord bless you and be gracious to you. Let us continue to enjoy all that God has given us, and that includes the Bible, His holy Word.
• Let us pray and ask God to bless us as we feed on His Word.
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You to receive the food of your holy Word. Take Your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in Your likeness, so that the light of Christ might be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfil in us all Your purposes, for Your glory. Teach us Lord full obedience, holy reverence, true humility. Test our thoughts and our attitudes in the radiance of Your purity. Cause our faith to rise and our eyes to see Your great love and authority. Words of power that can never fail; the truth that prevails forever.
Bless all who come before you this day, in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
Acts 13:1-12 The Acts of the Holy Spirit
1In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger [Latin Black], Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch [Herod Antipas]) and Saul. 2While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
4The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
6They travelled 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 [Greek magician] (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9Then 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. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
If you are a believer of Christ, the Holy Spirit is always with you, to guide you and help you. So be always aware of His presence and listen to Him well.
Acts 13 marks the beginning of the third phase of our Lord's great commission.
• In Acts 1:8 the disciples were called to be Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, then in all Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth.
• It’s time to move beyond Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth, the Gentile world, and the Holy Spirit initiates the move.
The Holy Spirit has never been absent in the book of Acts. It has the most references to the works of the Holy Spirit.
• Right from chapter 1, we have the mention of His coming Spirit and then in chapter 2 the baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost.
• Chapter 4 after the threat from the Sanhedrin, the believers prayed and were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly.
• Chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and were judged.
• Chapter 6 the church chose the Seven men who were full of the Spirit.
• Chapter 7 Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit when he preached to the Sanhedrin without fear.
• Chapter 8 Peter prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led Philip to meet the Ethiopian in the desert and he was taken away by the Spirit.
• Chapter 9 Ananias prayed for Saul after his encounter with Christ and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and received his sight.
• Chapter 10 the Spirit spoke to Peter and instructed him to go to Cornelius’ house and the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles.
• Chapter 11 the prophet Agabus prophesied through the Spirit that a severe famine would come.
And now in chapter 13, the Holy Spirit sets apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which He has called them (13:2)
• There is nothing in this book that is unrelated to the Holy Spirit. He is present with us today. Listen well to Him. He guides us with the Word of God.
THE HOLY SPIRIT INITIATES…
In the past few chapters, we have seen the Gospel of Christ preached among the Gentiles, but that was a result of the persecution of the church.
• Believers were forced to move and they brought the Gospel with them.
• Here we have God initiating the move. The Holy Spirit initiates the mission to bring the Gospel to the Gentile world.
Among the leaders in the church then at Antioch were Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen and Saul, Luke informed us.
• Interesting to note that Barnabas was first on this list and Saul last. Barnabas was likely regarded as the senior, being the rep from the Jerusalem church.
• Soon Saul would become the prominent leader of the mission that God has called them.
• And it wasn’t a general call. The Holy Spirit specifically indicated His choice of Barnabas and Saul for this work.
• They were the best from the church, the two teachers who taught the church the Word of God for a whole year (11:26).
This mission trip wasn’t an idea or plan that the church came up with. It was the will of God. The Lord spoke and they heard.
• It was while they were in worship and fasting (in prayer) that the Lord spoke and they heard.
• They heard because they were with the Lord in worship and prayer. They made time for God and heard from Him. They sought God and He directed them.
This is the PATTERN that we have been seeing, the believers were praying when the Holy Spirit visited them.
• In Acts 4 when they were praying after the threat given by the Sanhedrin.
• They were praying in Acts 12 when God delivered Peter from the prison.
• Cornelius was praying when the angel spoke, and Peter was on the rooftop praying when the Spirit spoke.
When we worship and pray, when we read and meditate on His Word, when we set aside time to be with Him, we hear Him.
• God speaks to guide and strengthen His people.
• Most of the time we are not hearing Him because we are not with Him. We are distracted and disrupted by the affairs of life, to have a quiet time alone with God.
• Don’t allow the noises of this world drown out the voice of God. We want to hear from Him.
The church heard and submitted to God’s will, they prayed and sent their best men off. 13:4 “The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit…”
• Luke emphasized that they were sent, not by the church but by the Holy Spirit.
• It is the work of God. The Holy Spirit initiated it and He sent them on their way.
• We can therefore expect the accompanying Holy Spirit to be with them throughout this trip, helping them in “the work to which He has called them” (13:2).
THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDES…
His presence was evident when we read of what happened at Paphos.
• Barnabas and Saul sailed to the island of Cyprus, landed on the East side at Salamis and then worked their way westward towards Paphos, the capital of Cyprus.
• Luke did not tell us much about the cross-island trip except this incident in Paphos, which highlighted the power of the Holy Spirit working through Paul.
The proconsul of Cyprus, Sergius Paulus, being a “man of intelligence” wanted to find out the truth about God from Barnabas and Saul.
• Proconsuls serve in the Roman Senate, so Paulus is a powerful man in the Roman government.
• Unless invited, it would be impossible for Barnabas and Saul, two Jewish unknowns to meet him.
• But God made this possible. He prepared Paulus’ heart and have him invite Barnabas and Saul to his court.
Sound familiar? Isn’t this like Cornelius in Caesarea, wanting to know the truth and the Lord led Peter from Joppa to him? Now Barnabas and Saul from Antioch to Paphos.
• The Lord must have already seen this lost soul in Cyprus when He called Barnabas and Saul to leave Antioch, for He has come to seek and save the lost, like Sergius Paulus.
Satan tried to prevent this from happening, through Elymas the magician [in Greek].
• Someone wanted to hear the truth of God “but Elymas the sorcerer opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.” (13:8)
• 13:9-10 9Then 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?"
• ESV: “Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?”
Luke let us know that when Paul said this, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, not with his anger. He was speaking the truth as led by the Spirit.
• 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.
• He was a fraud, pretending to know Jesus (calling himself Bar-Jesus, “son of Jesus” in Aramaic) but teaching everything that is contrary to the truth of the Gospel.
• God is providing a straight path for the proconsul to hear the Gospel and Elymas the false prophet is out to “turn the proconsul from the faith” (13:8)?
The only weapon Satan has to counter truth is deception. His greatest fear is that we believe the truth and walk in it.
• When we know the truth, the truth of Christ will set us free, from all our bondage to sin and falsehoods. God will come against those who oppose Him.
• Paul and Barnabas have just entered into a spiritual battlefield here.
• It is a war between light and darkness, good and evil, God and Satan, for the salvation of a soul.
God intervened and struck the enemy.
THE HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERS… Paul to do the will of God.
Paul pronounces God’s judgement.
• For the first time, we see Paul exercising his authority as the apostle called by the Lord to be His “chosen instrument to carry His name before the Gentiles.” (9:15)
• From here on, Luke would call him Paul and it is no longer Barnabas and Saul but Paul and Barnabas.
13:11 "Now 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."
• To be blinded for good is easier. To be made blind only for a moment and then have your sight restored, that takes more than a miracle. It takes two!
• It was a gracious act of God, giving Elymas the chance to reflect and repent. We were not told whether he did.
• The judgment was a demonstration of the truth of God’s Word and the error of his ways.
13:12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
• The work of God authenticates the Word of God.
• What impressed the proconsul wasn’t the miracle - that simply confirmed what he has heard – but the Gospel.
• “He believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord”, the message of Jesus Christ. He saw the reality of the living Christ!
THE HOLY SPIRIT SAVES…
The Lord blinds the seeing, and give sight to the blind!
• He blinds the one who opposes Him. This was the 2nd time we are seeing this. The first time being Saul himself, when he opposed Christ and persecuted His church. He too was blinded momentarily.
• God blinds the one who opposes Him and gives sight to the one who seeks Him.
• God did not just stop Elymas, He turned the stumbling block into a stepping stone for Sergius Paulus to come to faith in Christ.
• In God’s hand, the crisis became an opportunity for Paulus to see the work of God and believe in the truth of God’s Word.
The Lord won this spiritual battle. He always win.
Samuel Logan Brengle (1860-1936) was a worker with the Salvation Army in Boston, in a very difficult area of the city. One day as he passed by a saloon, a drunk man threw a brick at him. It hit him right on his head and Brengle nearly died.
He struggled through and spent 18 months in recovery. During that time, he began to write articles that would form the basis of his little book, Helps to Holiness. When it was published in 1896, it became an influence.
After he was able to begin preaching again, people would often thank him for the book. He would respond by saying, “If there had been no little brick, there had been no little book.”
His wife saved the brick and had Genesis 50:20 engraved on it: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” [the words of Joseph to his brothers].
Paul and Barnabas encountered their first opposition on this trip, but through it, they saw the power of God and His grace at work in saving the life of a high-ranking Gentile governor.
We can expect obstacles and oppositions in God’s work and these can come in the likes of Herod and Elymas.
• Yet we can be sure that the Holy Spirit is present with us to help us do the work and finish it.
• God opens doors and makes straight paths. He can take Herod out and strike Elymas blind. He can straighten what Satan has made crooked.
Prov 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
• He initiates, He guides, He empowers and He saves. But are you hearing Him well?
• I like to pose these questions in closing, for our reflection and application:
? Are you too distracted by the busyness of life to hear Him?
? Have you been reading His Word and understanding what He says?
? When was the last time you made time alone with God to listen to Him?
He is always in our lives, but are we hearing Him well?
Let’s pray.
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for His presence in our lives to guide and quicken us, and help us walk in your ways and not stray from your path. Keep us from all evil and falsehood.
Enlighten us that we may understand your heart and obey Your Word. Show us your way Lord and we will walk in it. Let the truth of your Word set us free to enjoy all your goodness and blessings for us, in this new life we have in Christ. Help us, Lord make time to hear you.
May the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Num 6:24-26) Now and forevermore, AMEN.
Have a good week, everyone.
