FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF VILLA RICA, PCA

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The First Missionary Journey

By

Rev. Todd W. Allen

Villa Rica 3/28/04

Acts 13:1-12  

               The great commission of our Lord Jesus had already been operating by virtue of the persecution that had begun in Jerusalem, scattering the disciples. The church at Antioch was the result of that unofficial missionary activity. Barnabus had been sent to the Antioch church by the apostles at Jerusalem and he had fetched Paul to come and assist him.

In this Acts 13 passage we are told of the call of the Spirit of God to commission Barnabus and Saul to set forth on a mission to the whole world. This became known as the First Missionary Journey. The church had been ministering and fasting before the Lord and God speaks in the Person of the Holy Spirit to choose Barnabus and Saul to take the gospel to the pagan world of the Roman empire. This is noteworthy because it greatly expands the outreach of the gospel from primarily being the redemptive message to the Jewish people to now include the greater world of the Gentiles.

The Kingdom of Heaven had before the coming of Christ been exclusively for the Jews. The Gentiles were not entitled to the special rights of God’s chosen people. They were outside the privileges of the temple and were not a part of the Israel of God. But now the gospel includes all who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 

Now of course the gospel had already been touching some Gentiles. Peter had the first summons to preach to Cornelius and he and his house had been saved. The gospel had been preached in Judea and Samaria and had reached Syria and Antioch. The Antioch church was composed of both Jews and Gentiles and it continued to grow and become even more spiritual under the teaching of the men God sent there. Now the time has come for the Antioch Church to become the first mission-sending church.

To emphasize the importance of this allow me to refer you to the New Testament explanation of how the Gentiles are now included in the Israel of God. Turn in your Bible to Ephesians chapter Two. In this book of Ephesians the apostle Paul sets forth the previously hidden mystery that the Gentiles are now included in the people of God. In chapter two he explains that we were dead in our trespasses and sins and that we walked according to the course of this world.

Look at Ephesians 2:3-14  : ³Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together ^with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

¹¹Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹²remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, Eph. 2:3-14 (NASB)

So here we see as plain as plain can be that God’s plan and purpose is to bring the Gentiles into the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Jew and Gentile are united in one body in Jesus Christ. The wall of partition is broken down. Gentiles are no longer excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. They are no longer strangers to the covenants of promise as had been the case all through the rolling centuries. Now God is sending forth the first team of missionaries to evangelize the lost of all tribes and tongues and peoples of the earth.

This is enormously important. You really cannot understand the worldwide scope of God’s redemptive plan and purpose unless you understand the Spirit’s call and commission of Barnabus and Saul as the beginning of world missions to all men and nations and groupings of people.
               We read in Acts 13, verse 2, that as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

I.  The Commissioning Act - Verse 3.

They laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them away. No doubt they knew where they were headed. They had an itinerary in mind. We are told that they went first to the sea coast town of Seleucia, not very far, about 16 miles from Antioch, and from there they set sail for the island of Cyprus, about 100 miles off the Syrian coast. They went first to the city of Salamis on the east side of the island. They preached wherever they could.

From Salamis they traveled the length of the island to the opposite side on the west to the city of Paphos, about a hundred miles away from Salamis. This city was the center for the worship of Venus and served as an example of Greek culture and moral corruption. It was a province of Rome and also the home of Sergius Paulus, the governor of the Island. He apparently was a man of high character, a representative of the Roman government, and one who was interested in what Barnabas and Saul had to say. He sent for them to come and speak the Word of God to him.

II. The Conversion Of Sergius Paulus

Here is an instance of a man of considerable influence who desired to hear the Word of God. We do not often find a person of authority and status seeking the Lord. Satan desires to keep all such men in their unbelief because he knows that their influence can turn others to the gospel. The Bible informs us in 1 Cor. 1:26-29 of the rarity of intellectuals, prominent and powerful men to become Christians. ²⁶For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; ²⁷but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, ²⁸and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no man may boast before God.

But thank God such men are not excluded from the gospel. Perhaps it is just that the gospel has a tougher time with the intelligentsia and publicly important people. They have so much ambition, so much pride, and so much emphasis on success in this world that they are not interested in the gospel, or else they find the gospel too otherworldly, too spiritual. It requires repentance and faith, surrender and submission to the Lordship of Christ. So they generally close their ears to it. But then all men are like that. We have to attribute salvation to the grace of God in every instance. God is the author and finisher of our faith.

 But Sergius Paulus was a prudent man.  He desires to hear what these missionaries have to say. Isn’t that sensible? He was at least open to the gospel. But when Satan cannot prevent a person from hearing the gospel he will try to turn him aside from the gospel by other means, usually by some sort of opposition. He will either supply a counterfeit message or else try to discredit the gospel.

We read in this thirteenth chapter of Acts that there was a magician, a sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar Jesus, which in the Greek is translated Elymas. He claimed to be a prophet, a wise man, a diviner. Like the wise men of Egypt he claimed for himself certain powers in the supernatural sense. We use the term occult today. The Bible teaches us that all such persons are satanically influenced and deceived. They involve themselves in areas forbidden to the Christian. This man opposed Barnabas and Saul as they are presenting the gospel to Sergius Paulus.

Think about that for a moment. The Holy Spirit had commanded Barnabas and Saul to go forth with the message of the gospel, but here comes an agent of Satan to oppose them. Surely no Christian can doubt that we war against principalities and power, spiritual wickedness in high places. This agent of Satan had worked his way into the confidence of the governor of the Island of Cyprus. He is advisor to the governor. How Satan loves to have it so.

But Saul, who at this point in time is called Paul, rebukes him. The scripture says that Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit and looks him full in the face and said to him:  “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹“Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹²Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. (Acts 13: 10-12)

 What a defeat for Satan and his servant. God is able to deal with his enemies, and does. You will recall the time when the Sodomites were going to break down the door of Lot's home and forcibly take for their perverse sexual pleasure the angels who had come to investigate the moral condition of the city. But they were struck with blindness so that they could not find the door.

Or on another occasion, when the king of Syria sent his army to take Elisha the prophet because he had been telling the king of Israel what he was thinking and saying in private. But Elisha prayed that God would strike the army with blindness, so Elisha then led them to Samaria where but for the word of Elisha they would have been slaughtered by the king of Israel. Instead he told the king to set before them a feast of food and send them home to their king. (2 Kings 6~8-23)

The partial judgment on Elymas was an earnest of the judgment that will come in full measure unless he repents. Those who oppose the gospel have space of time to repent. His blindness was not permanent but temporary. Yet it was enough to let him know that he is opposing the most high God and that continued opposition will result in even worse punishment. Jude speaks of such men as wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. Yet God does not send them to such a fate without warnings beforehand. Those who masquerade as prophets and wise men but who know not the Lord shall be judged worthy of the second death.

But the upshot of this encounter is that the governor is converted. Praise the Lord! The opposition of Satan only served as the clincher to the apostle's message. He was intelligent enough to know that a power greater than that of Elymas has intervened in this matter. He sees the hand of God confirming the message of Paul and Barnabas. And he believes and is saved. 

When we witness for Christ and proclaim the gospel we can expect opposition from Satan and the world. We are seeing that so clearly today in the opposition that has been so furiously raised against Mel Gibson and his film the Passion of Christ. The arguments raised are specious. Christ’s death on the cross is God’s greatest gift to mankind. The Devil may twist it and distort it but it is a blessing for all who see God’s salvation flowing from it.

The Devil claims control in those countries with a false religion or secular humanism and he fiercely wars against the gospel when it comes, as it did when Barnabus and Saul went to Cypress. Satan will use every means he can to prevent the gospel from getting a hearing.

Vigorous efforts are being made to make secular humanism the order of the day in America. We see the ACLU and other secular humanist and atheistic groups attempting to remove every vestige of the name of God and Christianity from our society. But we can take a leaf out of the apostle Paul as he stood against this agent of Satan. We know something. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to as many as believe. Christ is on the throne of glory and the Devil is a defeated foe. As Christians we will face the foe but we are to stand true to the faith once delivered to the saints. Satan brazenly and brashly opposes the servants of the Lord. Paul did not flinch. He met the Devil head on and turned a very difficult situation into victory.

You never win when you run away from the Devil. God gives victory when we stand our ground and believe God for the rout of the enemy. It was the strong stand Paul took against this false prophet that won the governor to faith in Christ. Perhaps it was the only way to win him. God let this encounter with Satan be the very means that brought Sergius Paulus into the Christian faith.

But lastly, Not only can we draw from this encounter Paul and Barnabus had with an agent of Satan to stand true to the Word of God and face down the Devil, we ought also to see that God’s redemptive plan and purpose is a challenge to each of us to be involved in world missions. This is God’s will for his Church. Every Christian has a call to be supportive of the mission enterprise of the God of heaven. We face an enemy but we are not to let that keep us from doing all we can to carry out the mission of the church, to take the gospel to every creature. We may be called to go as Barnabus and Paul were called.

I have in my hand a copy of the March 27 issue of World magazine. They show on page 21 the five missionaries who were murdered in Iraq in March, Larry and Jean Elliott, David and Carrie McDonnell and Karen Watson.  Before they went to Iraq they were aware of the risks. After their deaths Pastor Phil Neighbors of Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, California read from a letter Karen Watson, one of the slain missionaries, had written to be read only in case of her death. She wrote: “To obey is my objective. To suffer is expected. His glory will be my reward.”

Have you come to him? Do you believe in him as your Savior and Lord? Turn to him as Sergius Paulus did and you too will be saved. Then commit your way to the Lord and help carry out the great commission.

HYMN #450   “So Send I You