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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
Acts 13:50. Paul and Barnabas have been preaching and speaking with people in Antioch in modern Turkey. We have the content of his message as he spoke about Israel, Jesus and then directly to those individuals present. Some warmed to The Word and came to believe.
But opposition arose. Paul and Barnabas have only been there for ten days or so and opposition arises, not because of what was preached but on this occasion, because of jealousy, and the popularity of Barnabas and Paul. Persecution was stirred up, and Paul and Barnabas are expelled from this region. ( Click for more )
In Acts 13:42, after Paul had preached at length and we have the content of his preaching there was a positive response. We would like to hear you again on this next Sabbath. Come again. We invite you to speak further. These people were interested.
There was much conversation, and discussion. Paul and Barnabas urged them to continue in the grace of God. Here from the very start we see how disciples are taught to persevere. Perseverance is mentioned early on in Paul first outreach.
Verse 44. There was quite an attendance the next Sabbath, and the main ( Click for more )
We begin in Acts 13:24. Before the coming of Jesus Christ, John preached repentance and baptism. These are two vital areas where faith and salvation are concerned. No matter how powerful and effective a ministry John had, he was not the promised one. John pointed to the One who was to come after him - namely Jesus.
This message of salvation, of being rescued from sin, is to us and for us - Jews and Gentiles.
Paul speaks in this passage about Jesus being executed, referring to the cross, and this whole activity being illegal. But God raised Jesus Christ from ( Click for more )
We were reading of how Barnabas and Paul on this first mission - this first outreach - this first venture into totally fresh territory for Jesus Christ - preached in Pisidian Antioch, and from Acts 13:16 we are given the text and content of Paul's message.
We have what God gave him to proclaim - the first vital elements - when preaching in a Jewish setting - in the synagogue - but with Gentiles present too - people like us who realised the Jews had something of God which was real. These Gentiles are interested, hungry and seeking God. Verse 19. Paul begins by speaking ( Click for more )
Acts 13. Antioch, in central Turkey, was on the main road from Europe to Asia. On the day of worship, these two men of God, Barnabas and Paul, looked for the place where the Jewish people would be meeting to worship and to read The Word of God.
These two men go into the synagogue to worship and pray and hear God's Word. They go to the place, which had rejected Jesus. The Jews may have rejected Jesus. They may have rejected what God was doing in the world, but God had not rejected them, and God will never reject them. Paul and Barnabas are a sign of this.
Every ( Click for more )
We are in Acts 13 and studying the strategy of Paul and Barnabas as they were thrust out into modern Turkey by the living God. They are preaching and sowing seed just as Jesus Christ did and Jesus commanded them (and us too) to do.
On the Cross, when Jesus Christ hung and died, no more meaningful seed has ever been sown, and what a harvest three days later when this same Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And what a harvest some seven weeks later when 3,000 people came to believe that He was the Saviour, the Lord, the Son of God. It is the Risen Jesus who says to His disciples ( Click for more )
We are reading Acts 13, where we left our missionary friends, Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus.
Now, they sail north from Cyprus, over to the mainland, to Perga, and then they travel up-country and inland to Antioch in Pisidia. The Name of Jesus Christ is about to be preached and proclaimed, where it has never before been preached.
We call Paul and Barnabas 'missionaries'. The word missionary means "sent one" from which we get 'missile'. They are missiles - Christian missiles - missiles sent in the Love of God into the world.
The Word also means - "to send ( Click for more )
In Acts 13:9, we read of Saul being filled with the Holy Spirit as he confronts Elymas who is opposing Saul. Elymas had been involved in the occult. Knowing how to be filled with the Holy Spirit is so essential for all types of ministry in The Kingdom of God, and if we are filled with The Holy Spirit there is no room for other things to get in.
Saul looks Elymas straight in the eye - "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!" That is plain talking. It also happened to be true. "The hand ( Click for more )
In Acts 13 we read that Saul and Barnabas travelled across Cyprus to Paphos, where they are invited into the governor's palace, and Sergius Paulus, a wise man, desired to hear The Word of God.
What a door of opportunity - but they also ran straight into trouble. The two often go together.
A sorcerer - a spiritualist - a false prophet - a renegade Jew - called Elymas - had the opportunity of obeying God. He knew something of the Word of God, but he opposes the men of God, and tries to obstruct Barnabas and Saul.
He wants to keep the preachers away from the ( Click for more )
In Acts 13, Saul and Barnabas, having been called by God and set apart by the fellowship at Antioch, sail for Salamis in Cyprus. They have young John Mark with them as an apprentice. This became the normal pattern. Two men go out together to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach the Word of God, and they take a younger man with them so that he can observe and learn from the more mature men of God. This is how we learn to minister.
We can learn some things in the Colleges and Universities, but normally we only begin to learn how to minister in the love of Jesus ( Click for more )
A Famine of the Word of God (Amos 8.11-12)
Amos' preaching proved too much for Amaziah, priest of Bethel. In fact he was so disturbed that he "invited" Amos to leave the country. Hear his words to Amos: "Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread and there prophesy. But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the royal residence." (Amos 7.12-13).
But Amaziah was not the only one who did not appreciate the message that Amos had for Israel. The greedy men of Israel observed the feast days and the Sabbaths, ( Click for more )
We have spent some considerable time looking in detail at the significance of these five men spending time Worshipping, Praying and Fasting in the opening words of Acts 13. There is good reason for doing so because God speaks, and that Prayer Meeting becomes a major turning point for the local fellowship at Antioch and also for the Church of Jesus Christ - and ultimately for the world. These men knew when to say 'NO' and when to say 'YES'.
When a group of spiritually minded people meet to do business with God, anything can happen. Also, we need to be reminded that ( Click for more )
In Acts 13 we continue to study various aspects of leadership and how men of God respond positively to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Saul was under the authority of the other elders. Saul was submitted to the authority of the others.
Nobody is allowed to run around the Church of Jesus Christ doing what he or she wants. We are subject to those over us. That is why some rebel. Some want to do what they like, when they like, and at a time that suits them. The Church of Jesus Christ allows no such selfishness. We come under the authority of Jesus, as we place ourselves ( Click for more )
We are spending time studying leadership as we read these opening words in Acts 13.
Consider for a moment Moses in the wilderness, leading two and a half million men and women and children for 40 years, being led by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. When you see the pillar move - you move.
Can you imagine Moses thinking or even saying, "Lord, can You not just tell me Your Plans for the next month? Lord, show me Your Diary! And the reply comes, "No - just keep your eye on the pillar." He is led safely and securely - sheltered by day ( Click for more )
Through prayer and fasting these five spiritual leaders in Acts 13 become more sensitive to the prompting and leading and guidance of The Holy Spirit. God wants to direct The Church in a very specific way at this time. These men of God knew how to control their appetites and their physical desires. They were strong enough to control themselves. They were not men who could be easily influenced by external situations and circumstances. They were not men who were easily influenced by flimsy fashions and changing ideas and ideologies and philosophies.
They knew how to ( Click for more )
When these five leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ in Antioch, in Acts 13, meet together in worship, prayer and fasting, God speaks, saying, "Send out two of your best men into the world. Release two of your men. Yes, I know you only have five - release two - let them go - don't hold on to them." That is very seldom easy.
They were hearing from God as they worshipped and fasted and prayed, and they shared what they heard, and they did what God asked them to do.
This is how The Word of God flows into the world. We come to hear what GOD has to say, and then ( Click for more )
In Acts 13 we read of five men, meeting in Antioch. They are leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ in Antioch. They are pastors - elders - overseers - bishops - all the same word. These 'titles' are interchangeable in the New Testament. Now to understand this is vital. A Pastor is an Overseer - an Elder and Bishop - or, a Foreman.
Resulting from misunderstanding and inaccurate translation and use of words we have constructed denominations. This is not a minor matter. It is not some superficial issue.
These five men are praying and fasting - five men from very ( Click for more )
Acts 13. These are the five men raised up by Jesus Christ to lead and pastor those who had come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
They were prophets and teachers. They were able to prophesy - able to speak an immediate inspired word - able to speak a spontaneous word from God for a specific situation - to guide - encourage - give direction.
These five men are meeting together - worshipping the Lord Jesus and fasting - and God speaks to them. "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
God continues to speak. When ( Click for more )
Acts 13:1-2. These five elders in the Church at Antioch are named. Barnabas - here he is again - he was a man of faith. He was a man who was filled with The Holy Spirit - a man who was always going around encouraging others. This is the man who knew how to give generously. This is the man who took aside Saul of Tarsus and found out that Saul had really met the Risen Lord Jesus Christ - and then introduced him to the Church in Jerusalem, as being real and genuine.
And now, Barnabas is a leader in a growing fellowship. He is an elder, and there is no higher office in the ( Click for more )
In these opening verses of Acts 13, we have a most beautiful picture of leadership in the local Church where we read of five men ministering unto the Lord - five men worshipping the Living God - five men of God meeting together for prayer and fasting.
Here is a picture of spiritual leadership. Here is a pattern, which is an example for anyone who wants to be a leader or teacher in The Church of Jesus Christ.
These are the five leaders of that Christian Fellowship in Antioch, which is emerging as an important centre of The Christian Faith.
We have seen how Antioch ( Click for more )
Acts 12:18. The scene is a prison in Jerusalem from which Peter has been miraculously set free during the night. There was quite a commotion in the morning. They had searched the prison for Peter. Every sentry and guard who had been on duty that night, with the responsibility of looking after Peter, was killed.
The scene changes again, north to the coast at Caesarea. Herod moves to Caesarea. He is the grandson of the Herod who murdered all the children of two and under when Jesus was born, and the nephew of the Herod who killed John the Baptist.
Do you see ( Click for more )
Acts 12. King Herod is preparing to kill Peter, but it is futile to attempt to oppose the work of Jesus Christ, and Jesus has much for Peter yet to do. All this is going on and Peter is sleeping in a Jerusalem jail.
An angel of The Lord appears and the light of God is shining in that prison.
The angel touches Peter, awakens him, and says, "Quick - get up" - and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. "Dress yourself. Put on your shoes. Follow me." How is that for giving commands! The gates and doors open. Chains and gates are no problem to our God.
Peter ( Click for more )
We are in Acts 12 where Peter is in prison. His friend and colleague James has been killed - James (or Jacob, the brother of John) - and famine has been prophesied.
Humanly speaking, things were not looking at all good for The Church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. It appeared a bit of a disaster and in one sense it all looked like total failure, as Herod's intention was to pick off the leadership one by one.
But, someone called the Church to prayer. The recognised leader was in jail, and another leader was aware of the precarious situation and called The Church ( Click for more )
In Acts 12, we read of James being killed by Herod and Peter being arrested and imprisoned in Jerusalem. When we come close to Jesus, this is part of the deal. This is in the small print of which we are not always aware when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, but there is a Cross to carry, and sometimes it becomes exceedingly heavy. Some will love you - some will hate you.
The first wave of persecution was against the whole Church, and one positive consequence was that it got the Church on the move. But now the leaders are being molested and persecuted with the intention ( Click for more )
As we leave Acts 11 and move into Acts 12, from one angle everything appears to be so wonderful, but not so, as we read on.
Back in Jerusalem King Herod unleashes another wave of persecution. After a lull - following a time of peace, Herod had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. That must have caused a shudder to run through the Jerusalem fellowship.
So often in the life and ministry of Jesus, we read of Peter James and John. These three seemed to be closer to Jesus than some of the others among the twelve. These three had been present on ( Click for more )
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