ACTS "Through The Bible"- Acts 13

Brett Meador: Then Paul stood up, beckoning with his hand, said, "Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience." Now, this is interesting because this is the first time Paul is giving a sermon. They give him an opportunity to preach.
Narrator: Pastor Brett Meador on being ready to fulfill God's call.
Brett Meador: Are you ready to give a word? "Well, I'm not a leader in the church." Yeah, but you're a leader in your home. Maybe that's the time to be ready to teach, in season and out of season. That's kind of important. And I just wanted to note that Paul was ready to roll.
Narrator: Paul and Barnabas embark on their first missionary journey in Acts chapter 13, encountering both fierce opposition and incredible opportunities. Along the way, they faced resistance from a hostile sorcerer, and Paul's first sermon angered the Jews, yet blessed the Gentiles, eager to receive the Gospel. Pastor Brett Meador reflects on the early church growth from Today's Word.
Brett Meador: Here in Acts chapter 13, we start in verse one. It says, "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul." Now, let's go through this list because it is kind of an interesting list. Who are the people of the church of Antioch here? Well, before we get into the people, notice it says of the people there, there were certain prophets and teachers. That's kind of important to note. Where do we get the definition of a New Testament prophet? First Corinthians chapter 14, which you have to remember, that tells us exactly what a prophet is. It says there, just real quick, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, exhortation, and comfort." In the Old Testament, the prophets often spoke on behalf of God, and often that would include futuristic things, "Thus saith the Lord," and the foretelling of all kinds of things—the fall of Jerusalem, foretelling prophets telling about the coming of the Messiah. In the New Testament, however, the prophets are those who speak a word of edification, exhortation, and comfort. That's kind of an important thing. As there were those that were prophets, but also those that were teachers, and then we meet some of these people of the church. The first one is Barnabas. We met him earlier, if you recall. Interesting facts: he was a Levite, which means in the Old Testament, he would have served for sure in the temple. He was an owner of property, and he sold it and gave it to the church. He sold all of his land and put it toward the work of the Lord. That was in Acts chapter 4, verse 36. So that's the first character, and he's going to go through a lot of this story with us. He's a real key part of the New Testament church, Barnabas. The next guy that we have on the list there is Simeon. Some of your translations say Simon, but you have to understand, Simon and Simeon are kind of considered synonymous in the names. Most scholars believe this is the same Simon the Cyrene who carried the cross of Jesus when they killed Jesus on the cross. He was the one from Cyrene, which is Northern Africa. The next guy's name is Lucius. We don't know much about him. He's most likely the same person spoken about in Romans 16:21, where Paul greets Lucius. Probably the same guy. Then another interesting character, Manaen. Now, this guy was brought up in the court, the royal court, of his foster brother, Herod Antipas. He was also called Herod the tetrarch. This is the Herod that killed John the Baptist, beheaded him. It's also the Herod that presided over one of the trials of Jesus before his crucifixion. One became a world leader and an evil, horrible guy, and then the other guy, raised in the same household, becomes this Christian and a leader and a dynamic part of the church in Antioch. What an interesting irony. One goes full-bore Christian believer, the other still just a pagan, whack-o world leader, sad to say. And then we also have Saul that's mentioned here. And again, this is his Hebrew name because we're still on that desired, sought-after. So those are kind of the characters that we got in verse one. It's quite a list, but these are the ones that are teaching and prophesying there at Antioch. Well, verse two, "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 'Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.' And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." And so, an interesting tag team: we got Saul and Barnabas, the dynamic duo for now. Verse four, "So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister." Which John was this? John the Apostle? No, John Mark. John Mark, he's been around, by the way, in the story. Most scholars believe all the way back in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember the little kid that ran away naked without any clothes on because they were trying to apprehend him, so he ran off? He was just a kid back then. But one thing about John Mark, he was an eyewitness of Christ and that whole thing seen in the Garden of Gethsemane. So that gives John Mark some credibility. He's probably in his 20s by now. He's a young man, but he jumps in with Barnabas and Saul. Verse six goes on, "And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus." The Greek word for sorcerer is the word "magi." Does that ring a bell? The sorcerer was magi, a magician or wise man. But the implication is magic, power that's not from God. And the wise men of the East, they probably did practice those kinds of things, definitely astrology and signs from the stars. And so, his name is Bar-Jesus, but he practiced magic. He was a false prophet, verse six, and shockingly, a Jew. It says in verse seven, "Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God." Word got out that Paul and Barnabas are there, they were preaching the word. So this guy, Sergius Paulus, he was a bigwig. He was kind of a heavyweight dude, leader of that city. And he sort of bros with this guy that's the sorcerer. And so they all say, "Hey, we want to hear more about this." And so in verse seven, it tells us that this guy Sergius Paulus. Now, then in verse eight, "But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, and said, 'O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season.' And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, Sergius Paulus, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord." Have you ever been sharing the Gospel with someone only to have someone else pushing the other direction? Well, here's Paul preaching and Sergius Paulus wants to hear the message, the doctrines of Paul and Barnabas. But this sorcerer is like, "Yeah, we're going to get in the way of that and try to keep him from accepting Christ." Now, one thing I'd like to point out because we live in a very soft, wimpy Christian culture today where the church likes to tell us, "Don't say anything harsh, only talk about what we're for, don't talk about what we're against, it's only about love." Watch out for sloppy agape. Can I just say that? One of the attributes of love is also truth. And one of the things that I think some of our Christian brothers and sisters have checked in is the idea of love that it only means that you're being soft and squishy-mishy and not talking about things that are hard and difficult. Did you hear Paul here? He lets this guy have it. Like, he lays into him. You might say, "Brett, you're mean sometimes when you talk about these guys like that." No, no, this is something that I as a pastor am called to do. Acts chapter 20, verse 29, Paul said, "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." And it says, beware. Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" So this is one where Paul just lays into this guy. You say, "Well Brett, you're not that mean." Well, I'm not that mean, nor have I made anybody blind. That's nothing I've done. This is pretty radical. Paul says, "And you shall be blind." Blink, blink, blink, suddenly he's blind. He's walking around with people leading him around. That's a tough day at the office right there for this guy. And it's just because Paul is calling it out. And why, by the power of the Holy Spirit, did Paul do this? Remember how Paul was saved? Do you remember? He was made blind. I wonder if Paul's thinking, "Man, maybe the only hope for this guy is to be blind." And it's funny that the Holy Spirit did the same thing to Elymas that he did to Paul. And maybe there might be hope for him, maybe hopefully turn him to Jesus, hopefully save him. But we don't know. We don't know what actually became of this Simon the sorcerer guy, Elymas his other name by interpretation. But we do know what happened to Sergius Paulus, the leader of Paphos, one of the leaders. Because it tells us very clearly in verse 12 that the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Now, what's fun about this one—I love it when the Bible, 2,000 years ago, this is amazing. But one of the things that's kind of fascinating is Sir William Ramsey reports that inscriptions bearing the name Sergius Paulus found on Cyprus, this very island in archaeological digs, they found the name bearing Sergius Paulus and it said he was confirmed as a Christian and that his entire family became Christians. Like, this is not even in the Bible. This is just an extra-biblical archaeological find that once again, time and time again, confirms the Bible. Don't you love that? The Bible that we hold is so amazing in so many ways. But archaeologically, you'd think there'd be one thing that you'd say, "Oh man, that just proves the Bible wrong, inaccurate, might as well pack it up and forget it." But there's not one thing like that. And if there are things, and I'll say it like this, these so-called pipe-puffing cardigan sweater-wearing professors, "Oh, the Bible's full of wrong things." They are the ones who are wrong and they've been proven wrong time and time again. It's embarrassing how many times they've been proven wrong. And they'll continue to be proven wrong as we keep digging in archaeological digs. But anyway, that's such a cool thing that they actually found Sergius Paulus' name and he was called a Christian and that his whole family was a Christian. That's kind of cool. So, verse 13, it says, "Now when Paul—" Now, notice how we're calling him Paul all of a sudden. We didn't have a beam from heaven, we didn't have God say, "Thou shalt be called Paul from here on and forevermore." Nothing like that. It's just suddenly we're calling him Paul. So that's why some people think Sergius Paulus maybe was an idea, "You know, maybe I should go with the Paul, more relatable to these people that are Gentiles." Perhaps. But that's all we really know, is that we're pretty much going to call him Paul from this point on. So it says, verse 13, "Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem." Now, this is where it gets curious. Okay, so we go from Paphos, just to keep our map going, all the way up north to Turkey, which is Perga. And what's interesting about this is here Paul starts becoming the main guy. And that's interesting because if you note in verse one, Paul was the last one, or I should say Saul, was the last one on the list. And that's not a shock. He hadn't really done anything yet. Like, he was still just kind of the guy that used to persecute and torture Christians, but he wasn't known. See, we all have a hard time picturing him as anything but Paul the mighty apostle. But actually, he's kind of the last on the list in verse one. But now is where we start to see Paul sort of take a little step forward and now we're talking about Paul and we're not talking about Barnabas as much. The reason I observe this is over the years in ministry, I have found that sometimes the Lord does a switch on who's leading. The Lord changes out leaders and uses different people and different leaders in different ways. Even in my own personal ministry, when I was younger particularly, there were times where I thought I was asked to be in charge of something and then somebody said, "No longer you're in charge of that. We got somebody else who's going to do that." I have some funny stories I don't have time to tell you, but times where I thought I was teaching the Bible at a youth thing and then suddenly another guy shows up and says, "I'm teaching tonight," and I'm like, "Who told you?" "Oh, the pastor, my boss." I'm like, "Okay." And so I've had to deal with that kind of stuff. And that can be a little wounding sometimes when you feel like, "Man, the Lord's called me to lead," and then somebody just kind of jumps in there and takes the leadership. Maybe some of you have been there. Can I just say, the Lord works it all out and you don't have to worry about it. Just go with the flow and see what the Lord does. The Lord's going to use Barnabas mightily, differently, but the Lord's going to use Paul mightily, differently. But both of them are going to be used mightily. But here is where some would argue that something happened. Could it be that John Mark was sort of, "I kind of like to think of Barnabas as the leader and now Paul's sort of taking the lead"? He just had the incident with the sorcerer and the Holy Spirit used Paul to blind the guy. And then this leader just got saved through Paul. Barnabas was just standing watching. Paul did all this and now we're talking about Paul all the time. And so some would argue, some scholars say this is why John Mark left, because he maybe he didn't like Paul's leadership, maybe he didn't feel called to leadership. But this contention started, I think maybe right here perhaps, because suddenly all of a sudden John Mark leaves. This would make sense because the contention, if you know the story, they're going to go on another journey and Barnabas is going to go, "Let's go and I want to bring John Mark." And Paul's going to say, "No. John Mark's not going with us this time." And Barnabas is like, "I think we should go." And that's where they divide ways and suddenly that's it. So we're going to see that in the story. But I just want you to kind of see this kind of stuff. You might think, "Oh, it's terrible that this division happens in the church." It happened with Paul and Barnabas. It's been happening ever since. This shouldn't shock us that there's kind of division and tension and sometimes whenever you have people involved, you got problems. But good news, if we just put our trust in the Lord, he's going to work all those things out. And to chill out, not get bitter, not get upset, try to get better rather than getting bitter. The people that last and survive those kind of church conflicts, they're usually stronger and more mature. I've noticed sometimes people get what they, the more trendy term today is "church hurt." I was hurt. And they just go off and they say, "I was hurt," and that's kind of how they end. "I'm just hurt. I'm wounded." But I would say do whatever you can to get healing from the Lord and get back into the church because I know it's flawed and I know there's people that make wrong decisions, but it doesn't mean you gotta license to bail out of the church. A lot of people do that today, especially with this term church hurt. And then church hurt goes to deconstruction, and then deconstruction goes to ultimately walking away from the Lord altogether. Watch out for that. I like the people that can work through these things. We're going to see these guys work through this little trouble. So John Mark leaves them, goes to Jerusalem. We're not really sure why, but maybe he's upset that Paul was starting to be large and in charge and the Holy Spirit is sort of sealing that deal, which is kind of a big shift. So verse 14, it says, "But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down." Okay, now don't confuse this. This is a different Antioch. Isn't it funny they have all the same names? But this Antioch is in Pisidia, north of Perga. But it's a different Antioch, much smaller, nothing like the other Antioch, which was one of the top three cities of the Roman Empire. So different Antioch. Verse 15, "And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, 'Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.'" Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience." Now, this is interesting because this is the first time Paul is giving a sermon. They give him an opportunity to preach. One of the things you know about a church leader, if they're ready to preach or teach, in season and out of season. Paul's just got an opportunity. The door is opened. Does anybody have any word of exhortation for the people? Say it now. Like say it now or forever hold your peace. And so guess what? Paul, he stands up and he's ready to roll. Why? Because he's truly that kind of a leader. That's the kind of leader an elder, pastor, bishop should be in the church of Jesus Christ. Apt to teach. That's one of the requirements of an elder, pastor, bishop in the church, to be ready to teach on a dime. In our minds, are you ready to give a word? Some are like, "Well, I'm not a leader in the church." Yeah, but you're a leader in your home. Mom and dad to have a teaching ready to roll for your kids when you get that little downtime, that little moment where the kids are actually being still for 10 seconds. Maybe that's the time to be ready to teach, in season and out of season. You know, some of you are horrified by that notion of being ready to teach, apt to teach. Well, it doesn't always mean in front of a big crowd. One of my favorite stories, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was a big guy with a booming voice. Huge pulpit. They didn't have a PA system so they had all these sound panels and boards that sort of when he preached, it would just echo through this huge hall and he would preach as you go up the stairs, you then go up onto the pulpit and preach from that high, and it was a huge and packed house every time. But one of the great stories is Spurgeon taught young men how to preach. He even has a book that I love called Lectures to My Students. But in one of those stories, he got a bunch of his young men that were in training, pastors in training, and he brought them into this hall. Even though it was largely empty, it was just the students and Spurgeon was sitting in the front row. And the exercise was to be able to just be ready to teach whatever you're given. And so Spurgeon would just give out like a scripture or something or a story and the guy would walk up and then Spurgeon would tell him what to preach on. And as he was walking up, he was supposed to formulate a sermon and then give that sermon in front of Spurgeon and all the other students. Well, this one guy gets called and he walks up, nervously shaking like a leaf, and he leans over and Spurgeon says, "Okay, your topic is Zacchaeus." Gulp. And the guy nervously goes up these big stairs, gets up to that big level, and at the pulpit with a quiver in his voice, he said, "I have three points today," which was a Spurgeon thing, Spurgeon always had three points, so they were following his lead. He said, "Number one, Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and I am a wee little man. Number two, Zacchaeus was up a tree, and I am up a tree. Number three, Zacchaeus was told by Jesus, 'You come down from there,' and I will now come down from here." And he went down those stairs. I love that. Preaching can be scary and intimidating. Some people think I'm not scared or intimidated and I just seem—here's the truth of the matter. I'm always horrified. I just learned to cover it up. That's all I'm doing. Just learned to kind of calmly do. I think it's because I'm used to being dumb in front of people. But it's more about you're handling the perfect Word of God. And man, you don't ever want to do damage to the Word of God. But one of the best ways you can be ready to preach the Word of God without doing damage to the Word of God is to study the Word of God and to be in the Word of God. That's kind of important. And I just wanted to note that Paul was ready to roll. And he's been in the Word for over a decade now, studying, and it's going to be obvious he knows the scriptures. He already knew the Old Testament because of the Pharisee thing, but translating it into the New Testament church, Paul's been working hard and you're going to see that. By the way, according to most studies, what people fear the most is number one, public speaking. Over 75 percent as their top fear according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. The second one is death. Death is number two, public speaking is number one. That's true. But it's funny how the Lord's called us to go and preach the Gospel and speak the word. So this is 14 years or so after Paul is saved and he's been studying and now he's ready to roll and this is Paul's first sermon.
Kurt: Pastor Brett Meador pausing for today in a verse-by-verse account of the first missionary journey of Paul here on Today's Word. And I invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here in a moment. But first, Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church, just south of Portland, Oregon, where Pastor Brett Meador is the senior pastor. Each day he'll deliver clear scripture teaching to strengthen your faith and deepen your walk with the Lord. We invite you to find out more by going to todayswordradio.com. If you've missed any portion of this study, you'll find all of his messages online at todayswordradio.com. Well, Pastor Brett is with me now. Brett, there is a question that will interest many people and that is, I know you began your ministry here at Athey Creek Church 30 years ago. So if you could go back to a younger Brett in 1996, would you have thought that Christ's return for the church would have happened by now?
Brett Meador: That's an interesting question, Kurt. And honestly, I think that the early disciples probably expected Jesus's return in their lifetime, 2,000 years ago. In Acts 1:11, the angels said, "This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven." So from the very beginning, the church was living with an expectation of his return. Now if you fast forward to today, some people might say, "Well, it's been 2,000 years." But the Bible actually addresses that in 2 Peter 3. It says the Lord is not slack or literally lazy concerning his promise but is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. So the delay is not neglect, it's actually mercy. And here's the key: we're still called to live ready. Jesus said in Luke 12, "Be like the servants who are watching and waiting and ready for their master's return." So whether it was 1996 or 2026, the right posture, in my opinion, is the same. Live expectantly, stay faithful, be ready because he could be coming at any moment. Now, if he doesn't, I think I'm in good company with Peter and James and John and Spurgeon and Billy Graham and all those who have gone before us. They all expected the Lord to come in their lifetime, but I think that changed the way they lived.
Kurt: That's really a great reminder that we do need to stay faithful awaiting his return, knowing that that alone can keep us faithful like all those you mentioned. Thank you, Pastor Brett, for that encouragement. And I do want to remind you that if you'd like more information about Today's Word Radio, Athey Creek Church, or Pastor Brett Meador, just visit our website at todayswordradio.com. Well, next time, Pastor Brett will continue in the book of Acts and we'll see the impact that the Apostle Paul and Barnabas have in their first missionary journey.
Narrator: Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.