Do you remember what is going on in the Book of Acts?
In Acts 11, we learned about the rise of Antioch as a city of Christian influence. We also learn that Saul and Barnabas became teachers and influencers in the city of Antioch.
We learn in Acts 12, that Saul and Barnabas came down to Judea with an offering from the church in Antioch. While there, James is put to death, and Peter is jailed. Yet, Peter is miraculously set free by the power of an angel of God.
At the end of Acts 12, we see Saul and Barnabas make their way back from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Today, our passage picks up with Saul and Barnabas back in Antioch.
Before we read our passage, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Ok, let’s look at this passage together. Look at Acts 13:1-12:
1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As 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 they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.
4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant. 6 When they had traveled the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas 10 and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? 11 Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
By the way, church. I mentioned a few weeks ago that the attention of the Book of Acts would soon shift away from Peter and the twelve apostles towards a focus that is primarily upon Paul. This is that time. As we continue through Acts, you will see the primary focus will be on the ministry that God accomplished through Paul.
So, in today’s passage we will read about a journey that Saul and Barnabas take as one of their very first missionary journeys. Today’s sermon is entitled “The Journey to Cyprus.”
So, let’s learn about this journey.
First, we see that . . .
I. Saul and Barnabas are set apart.
We learn right away in verse 1 that there were several different prophets and teachers in Antioch, including Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, Barnabas and Saul.
Then, in some way (we don’t know specifics), the Holy Spirit of God spoke to them and told them to set apart two of these prophets and teachers for a work to which God was calling them.
Of course, we are familiar with these two who are set apart: they are our friends Barnabas and Saul.
Notice what the church does: verse 3 says they did four things:
1. They fasted – That is, they went without food in order to turn their focus to God.
2. They prayed – They spoke to God collectively as a church.
3. They laid hands on them – This does not mean that they roughed them up; rather they devoted special attention and focus on Barnabas and Saul as they lifted up to God in prayer.
4. They sent them off – After they set them apart and prayed, they sent them off in obedience to the Lord.
By the way, these are all things that we still do today as a church:
We seek to hear from the Holy Spirit of God. We desire to know what God wants for us.
We fast and pray for each other. Perhaps you’ve never fasted; I encourage you to do so. I’d love to talk to you more about what that means.
Also, we pray for folks. We send them off for ministry or affirm a special ministry that God has for them.
You see, God was calling His servants from His church then, and God is calling His servants from His church now.
He is calling pastors and teachers. He is calling ministers and missionaries. He is calling helpers and supporters.
God is calling His people for special tasks, and as the Church in Antioch did, we must be prepared to pray for them, prepare them, set them apart, and send them out.
So, first, Saul and Barnabas are set apart.
Next, we see that . . .
II. Saul and Barnabas are sent out.
The end of verse 3 says, “they sent them off.”
Then, starting in verse 4 and following, we read:
4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.
We hear about this fellow John mentioned in this passage.
Again, this is John, who is sometimes called John, sometimes Mark, and sometimes John Mark.
John Mark is the assistant who went along with Saul and Barnabas. We heard about John Mark last week. This is the same guy.
In today’s passage, Saul and Barnabas minister on the island of Cyprus.
In order to get to Cyprus (here’s a zoomed-out view), Saul and Barnabas left Antioch, traveled to Seleucia, and then they sailed down to Cyprus.
Now, we’re going to see in just a moment that Luke (the author of Acts) puts his focus on a particular ministry experience that Saul and Barnabas had on the island of Cyprus, but it’s presumed that Saul and Barnabas were ministering the entire time they were there.
They were called out by God, and they were sent out by God’s church to do God’s work on the island of Cyprus.
However, not everyone was glad that Saul and Barnabas were there to do the work of the Lord.
That leads to our third point:
III. Paul and Barnabas are silencing opposition.
We learn in verse 6 that Saul and Barnabas encountered a sorcerer of Jewish descent, who we’re told is also a false prophet.
The name of this false prophet is Bar-Jesus, which actually means “Son of Jesus.” There’s some irony about his name because Saul will call him the son of someone else in just a moment.
Verse 7 says, “He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.”
Then, verse 8 lets us know two things:
First, Bar-Jesus is also known by the name Elymas.
Second, Bar-Jesus opposed the ministry of Saul and Barnabas and tried to keep them from ministering to this proconsul.
A proconsul is a type of leader appointed by the Roman Empire who is over a particular area.
Apparently, Bar-Jesus didn’t like the fact that the proconsul was interested in what Saul and Barnabas had to share. So, he sought to turn the proconsul away from the teaching of Saul and Barnabas.
Well, notice how Saul handles the situation. Look again at verses 9-11:
But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
We see, first of all, this other name for Saul.
Of course, this is his more famous name. Saul is also known as Paul.
You see, Saul was his Hebrew name, and Paul was his Roman name.
He is more commonly known today as Paul, which is due primarily to the fact that Paul is what he is more frequently referred to from this moment in Acts 13 and onward.
So, Paul looks straight at this false prophet sorcerer and says to him, “You are a son of the devil.” He is essentially saying, “Your name may mean ‘Son of the Savior,’ but your behavior indicates that you are a a son of Satan.”
He also says, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery,” and you are the “enemy of all that is right.” Then he says, “Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?”
Paul told it like it was, didn’t he?
After calling out Bar-Jesus for his sin, Paul then pronounces a prophetic judgment that will come upon Bar-Jesus.
Paul tells him that he will be temporarily blind, and, indeed, that blindness came upon him.
There’s some beautiful irony in the fact that the description of this blindness is very similar to that which Paul himself experienced during his conversion experience with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who knows, perhaps after this temporary blindness was over for Bar-Jesus, he too would come to the ability to see with his spiritual eyes, not just his physical eyes.
Nevertheless, after the proconsul witnessed all that happened, verse 12 says he “believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.”
The proconsul heard the message of the Lord, he witnessed the work of the Lord, he was astonished, and he believed.
Church, when people hear the word of the Lord through His people, and witness the work of the Lord in His people, many will be astonished, and they will believe.
As we learned last week also, no opposition can stop God accomplishing astonishing acts and miraculously saving sinners.
That takes us to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: God can use His servants in astonishing ways, even in the face of opposition.
God used Paul and Barnabas to minister on the island of Cyprus, and miraculously change the life of that Roman proconsul.
There is nothing that the forces of evil could do to stop Paul, whether it was Bar-Jesus (the son of the devil) or the devil himself.
So, let us serve God faithfully, expecting Him to do astonishing acts through His people.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Pray for faithfulness during opposition.
Listen, God’s people will be opposed. It’s inevitable. The ways of God are not the ways of this world.
People may discourage you, people may insult you, people may hinder you, people may even persecute you.
Pray for God’s Holy Spirit to fill you with faithfulness.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Determine to share the Word of God.
Paul and Barnabas were sent out as missionaries to take the gospel to the island of Cyprus and beyond.
Likewise, some of us may be sent to take the gospel around the world.
What’s for sure is that we are all sent out, no matter where we are, to take the gospel with us every day to share with others.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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