"Intro to Acts 13:1-13

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/5/2018 9:53 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Acts 13:1-13

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 13:1-13

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While 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." 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.  4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, 10  and said, "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. 12 Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. 13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.”

            John MacArthur entitles this first chapter in his second commentary on the book of Acts beginning with chapter thirteen “The Character of an Effective Church.”  One of the things that I have been passionate about since I have become a believer is the work of full time missionaries.  We have had many missionaries in our house for meals or to stay with us over night and have loved listening to them tell stories of their lives as they were called by the Lord just as Paul and Barnabas were as seen in our verses for today.

            I can’t help but quote the first paragraph from John MacArthur’s commentary as to me, it has great meaning and so I want to pass it on.  “There is much truth in the humorous adage that some people make things happen, others watch things happen, while still others are left wondering what happened.  What is true of individuals is also true of churches.  Some churches are dynamic, aggressively reaching out with the gospel to make an impact on the world.  Some know God is moving in other churches and wonder why they aren’t experiencing that power.  Still others just barely exist, languishing while the spiritual (and maybe even physical) weeds grow.  They make an impact only on their members’ social lives.” 

            We have been keeping an eye on the church at Antioch as we have moved through chapters eleven and twelve and now chapter thirteen.  The church began after the stoning of Stephen as many Jewish believers left Jerusalem and a group of Hellenistic Jews brought the good news of the gospel to Antioch.  We saw that Saul and Barnabas ministered to this church for a year and we also learned that believers were first called Christians at Antioch even though at that time its meaning was different than it is now as it was a scathing term that the believers wore as a badge of honor.  Most of the believers in this church were Gentiles but there was love there no matter whether Jew or Gentile.  We know this is true as they sent relief to Jerusalem because of a famine that took place there.

            I suppose that the greatest factor that made this church special was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, both the members along with its leaders.  “2 While 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." 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus (Acts 13:2, 4).” 

            One may wonder what a Spirit-filled church looks like.  MacArthur writes “A Spirit-filled church may be defined simply as one whose members walk in obedience to the will of God.  Since God reveals His will in Scripture, a Spirit-filled church must be deeply committed to the Word of God.  Indeed, a comparison of Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 reveals that being filled with the Spirit and letting the Word richly dwell in one’s life produce the same effects.  Therefore they are the two sides of the same spiritual reality.”

            We have mentioned that the first twelve chapter of the book of Acts focused on Peter’s ministry and chapter’s 13-28 focus on Paul’s ministry.  Another difference is that under Peter’s ministry the majority of believers were Jewish and under Paul’s ministry the majority will be Gentiles.  We will see that the book of Acts began in Jerusalem and will end in Rome as the Gospel message would be penetrating the Roman Empire.  Now as far as the gospel reaching out to the Roman world it began to spread from the dynamic, doctrinally sound, growing, Spirit-controlled church at Antioch.  MacArthur writes that this church had “Spiritual leaders, with a spiritual ministry, who went on a spiritual mission, faced spiritual opposition, and experienced spiritual victory.”  Those are the different subjects we will be looking at as we follow the outline from MacArthur’s commentary.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I spoke about Christ opening a door in our Sunday school class yesterday.  Christ has to open the doors, but as a believer I have to go through that open door as I am obedient to what He has called me to do. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord, through His Spirit to lead me where He wants me to go, and accomplish through His power what He wants me to accomplish.

Memory verse:  Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Bilhah” (Genesis 35:25).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who were a semitic people that manifested their bitter enmity to Israel as were descendants of Esau?

Answer in our next SD.

2/5/2018 10:54 AM