Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
November 2025
1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While 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 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3 NIV)
Today, we turn a page in our study of Acts as we come to Acts 13. Acts 13 begins the second part of the book of Acts.
Many don’t know it, but the Book of Acts is divided into two parts. We call the book “The Acts of the Apostles.” It is really just the acts of two apostles.
The Two Parts of Acts
The first part focuses on Peter. The second part focuses on Paul. Acts 1-12 gives us stories about Peter. Acts 13-28 gives us stories about Paul.
There are and there are a lot of parallels between the two. Both preached in Acts. There are sermons of Peter in Acts. There are sermons of Paul in Acts. Both started churches.
Both healed people. Both healed a lame man from birth. Both raised someone from the dead. Peter raised a woman from the dead and Paul; raised a man from the dead.
Both did incredible miracles. Some were healed by the shadow of Peter. Others were healed by the handkerchief of Paul.
Both were involved not only with miracles of healing but miracles of judgment. Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead at Peter’s feet. Paul caused a sorcerer to become blind.
It was Paul’s first miracle. How would you like your first miracle making someone blind? It is a strange miracle.
Both experienced opposition and persecution. The first part of Acts ends with Peter in prison. The second part of Acts ends with Paul in prison.
Today, we are only going to do something we almost never do. We are going to look at only three verses. They deal with sending out missionaries.
They are sent out not just by the church but by the Holy Spirit. It will not amount to much if a church sends some missionaries out if the Holy Spirit is not behind it. First, let’s get the setting.
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul (Acts 13:1 NIV)
The Book of Acts is really the tale of two cities: Jerusalem and Antioch. We said that the first church came from Jerusalem. The Church of Jerusalem is the mother of all churches.
The first Gentile Church was in Antioch. The Church of Antioch was the mother of all Gentile churches.
An Incredible ChurchThe Church of Antioch was an incredible church. It was incredible for several reasons. 1) It was an INNOVATIVE church It was the first Gentile church. It tried something brand new that no other church had ever done before. It did not just do what the other churches in the area were doing. 2) It was a DIVERSE church It was a multicultural church. It was racially diverse. It was multi-racial and multi-ethnic. Many churches today are all one race. We have white churches, black churches, Asian churches. Two of the leaders of this church were black (Acts 13:1). This church had some black preachers. They were not DEI hires. They were not just members of the church; they were leaders of the church, and this was during a time when there was slavery in the Roman Empire. First, was Simeon who was called “Niger.” Simeon is a Jewish name. Niger is Latin for black (e.g., Niger, Nigeria). He had a Hebrew and a Latin name. He had a Jewish and a Roman name. Niger is spelled with one g, not two. This man was a leader in the Church of Antioch. He was a black Jewish Christian. Lucius, who was also on staff at this church, was from Cyrene. Cyrene is in Africa. It is in northern Africa in modern day Libya. This church had people who were completely ordinary, and it had some people with political connections. Manaen was brought up with Herod the tetrarch (Herod Antipas). He knew him personally. He might have gone to school with him. He was probably wealthy. 3) It was a COMPASSIONATE church This Gentile church gave a gift to their poor Jewish brothers in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27-30). They had compassion for people in need. 4) It was an EVANGELISTIC church This was the first missionary church. They wanted to reach out to those who had never heard about Jesus. 5) It was a GIFTED church This was a church that had the gifts in it. How would you like to have a real apostle in your church? How would you like to have someone who wrote some books of the Bible attend your church? We would not have that today because God is not writing any more books of the Bible. The canon of Scripture is closed but we can have good leaders. Everything rises and falls with leadership. A church is only as good as the leaders it has. That is why every church should do what it can to cultivate good leaders. 6) It was a CHARISMATIC church This church had not only teachers, they had apostles and prophets in the church. This church not only had gifts in it; they had charismatic gifts. 7) It was a BALANCED church How would you like to have Paul and Barnabas on your pastoral staff? Your staff would be balanced. They not only had someone like Paul. They had Barnabas, who knew how to encourage and build people up. Most churches have one man at the top. It’s a one man show. Many pastors act like dictators. They have no accountability. This church had five leaders. They had Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manean and Saul. They had five leaders who got along great. There was no jealousy or competition. Larry Richards called these five men “The Dream Team.”[1] Barnabas was mentioned first on the list and Saul was mentioned last. We would probably have put him first. His name changes to Paul in this chapter. 8) It was a SPIRITUALLY SENSITIVE church This was a church that listened to the voice of the Spirit. Some churches are more sensitive than others to the Spirit. Some are more open to the work of the Spirit. This church could have resisted that call and told Barnabas and Saul that they did not want them to go at that time. That would have been hard on the church to have 2/5 or 40% of their pastoral staff to leave them. They could have said that they only want one of them to go, so they do not lose half of their staff at Antioch. Instead, they were sensitive to what the Spirit told them to do |
Today, we want to talk about the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What the Holy Spirit does in this passage, he still does today.
Two Extremes
There are two extremes in the church today when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Both views are unbiblical. Both views are dangerous.
Some fringe groups overemphasize the Holy Spirit. They focus on experience and feelings and do not care about spending time studying the Word. That is not considered important.
Many Christians and churches today have the opposite problem. They underemphasize the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is rarely talked about in some churches. Those are the spooky people.
This group loves to study the Bible. That is good but their study is all intellectual. It is academic. Experience does not matter at all to them.
Christianity is just a set of doctrines to believe. It is one thing to believe that God exists. It is another thing to know God personally, to experience God and to have a relationship with God. That is something completely different. Today, we are going to look at three things the Spirit does today.
Work of the Spirit Today
1) The Holy Spirit gives gifts to believers
The first thing missing in the church today are the gifts. Many churches today do not have them. A.W. Tozer once wrote a book entitled, The Tragedy of the Church: The Missing Gifts.
Many churches do not believe in these gifts today. They teach that they are no longer around. They died out two thousand years ago. God never does those things anymore. That is very popular in some circles. It is popular in some Baptist churches.
We see from the first verse that the gifts were present in the church of Antioch.
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets AND teachers (Acts 13:1 NIV)
They had not only teachers; they had prophets. Most Baptist churches only have teachers in the church. Some charismatic churches only have prophets. This church had both. What is the difference?
A prophet gives a new revelation of God about something. It is new information. A teacher explains the revelation that God has already given. A teacher unpacks it. They do two completely different things. This church had both and they had other gifts.
They not only had prophets, they had apostles. Paul was an apostle. This church had had missionaries. They had evangelists. They had people with the gift of healing.
They had people with the gift of miracles. Paul had both. They had people who spoke in tongues. Paul says in I Corinthians that he spoke in tongues. These were all gifts of the Spirit.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (I Corinthians 12:7-11 NIV)
Not everyone is a teacher. Not everyone is a prophet. Not everyone speaks in tongues, but we all have a spiritual gift. It is a gift of the Spirit, given by the Holy Spirit to us. Do we know what our gift is? Are we using it for the glory of God?
2) The Holy Spirit speaks to people
Does God talk to people today? Many say that God does not do that today. He only talks through the Bible. He does talk through the Bible. That is very common in some circles.
There’s no question about it. The Bible is the Word of God. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Most of the time God speaks to us is through the Bible. Every word of it is inspired by God.
The question we want to think about is this: Is this the only way that God talks to people today. The answer is No. God is not limited to the Bible. We see that in our text.
2 While 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 (Acts 13:2 NIV).
How did the Holy Spirit say, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul?” He did not say this in the Bible, although those words were later recorded in Scripture.
Did He speak audibly? Luke doesn’t say but the Holy Spirit most likely spoke through a prophet. Remember, there were prophets in the Church of Antioch.
The Spirit speaks to today. Sometimes He speaks through prophets. Sometimes, we have thoughts in our head that are not ours. I heard the testimony of a young mother.
Her daughter got sick. She was changing her diaper and heard the word pneumonia. She went with her sister-in-law to the doctor.
He used the stethoscope on her and said, “She is fine. She just has a cold.” The mother said, “She has pneumonia. I know it.” And the doctor was angry at her.
He said, “There is no pneumonia in this child. You want me to put your infant baby through an x-ray, because you have a hunch, she has pneumonia
She said, “I know it. Put her through the x-ray right now.” He was angry but he did it. He came back stunned and said, “I don’t know how you knew it.
She had pneumonia in the middle of her lung and the only way to test for it was with an x-ray.” Mary Beth said, “I knew I heard God.”[2]
When do we hear God? 2 WHILE 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 (Acts 13:2 NIV).
Notice who the Holy Spirit spoke to. He did not speak to anyone. He spoke to people who were praying, worshiping and fasting. We never fast or pray.
We never worship and wonder why we do not hear the Spirit speaking to us. They fasted not to lose weight but to put God first in their life, even above eating. It is a sign of total consecration to God.
3) The Holy Spirit calls people to ministry
Barnabas and Saul did not go into ministry, because this was what they always wanted to do. They did not volunteer to become missionaries.
They went into ministry, because this was what Holy Spirit wanted them to do. They were not chosen by the church but by the Holy Spirit. It was His idea.
2 While 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 (Acts 13:2 NIV).
Paul, CALLED to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God (I Corinthians 1:1 NIV)
Ministry requires a call. To do ministry, you need a call and it has to come from the Holy Spirit. Have you ever received a call to do any type of ministry?
Some try to do what God has not called them to do. Some preachers say that they are called to preach but for some reason no one is called to listen.
Some try to do ministry without a call. You should not be a foreign missionary unless the Holy Spirit calls you to do it. This was Spirit-led ministry.
This call was selective. It was personal. The Holy Spirit did not call everyone to do this. He called two men BY NAME.
2 While 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 (Acts 13:2 NIV).
This is rather interesting. There were five men on staff. The Holy Spirit could have picked one man to go. He could have picked three men to go but He chose two men but not any two men.
He could have said to the church, “Pick two men to go out on the mission field to serve me.” He didn’t do that. The Holy Spirit picked the men. He said, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for this job.”
Not everyone got to go. Some got to go, and some got to stay. The Holy Spirit called some men to leave and go on this mission trip, and He called some to stay in Antioch and minister.
Not everyone is called to go on a mission trip overseas, but we are all called to be a light wherever we are in a dark world.
You should never go into ministry, any type of ministry unless you are called to do it. You need a call. You should not be a missionary or a pastor unless the Holy Spirit calls you to do it.
You don’t need someone else’s permission to do what God has called you to do.[3] You don’t have to wait for your family and friends to give you the green light to do it.
On the other hand, if you have a call, others should recognize that call. There should be some type of confirmation. That is what we see in Acts 13.
God called but the church was to confirm those who are called. The church is to recognize and support those who are called.
They gave their blessing. They had a commissioning service for them. They laid hands on them, prayed over them and sent them off (Acts 13:3).
Difference Between a Calling and a CareerWhat is the difference between a calling and a career? They could be the same thing. Your career could be your calling, but there is a difference between the two. Some could use their career to hide from their calling. A career is all about you. It is about making money and advancing yourself to the highest position. It is about work and earning a paycheck. We all do have to live. A calling is doing something that you love to do. It is doing something that you are passionate about. It may not even seem like work. A calling is doing something you were created to do. It is doing what God wants you to do. It does not focus on you. It focuses on God and what He wants you to do. |
[1] Robert G. Girard & Larry Richards, The Bible Made Easy! The Book of Acts (The Smart Guide to the Bible Series), p. 159.
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPLgKAMYw54&list=PLr3TlK5Y_OV4Xn-BqVNATsG1EnsmKWrrx&index=8
[3] https://thebiblespeakstoyou.com/you-dont-need-permission-to-do-what-god-has-called-you-to-do/
