Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
December 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.
4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “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. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. (Acts 13:1-12 NIV)
Today, we are going to talk about missions. We come to the first missionary journey in history. There have been many since then. This was the very first one. We find this journey in Acts 13-14. It took place 47-48 AD. Today, we are going to look at the first missionaries in history (Paul and Barnabas).
Paul was not just an apostle. He was not just a deep thinker, a great theologian. He was not just a writer. He wrote most of the books of the NT. He was not just a miracle-worker. He was a missionary. He was an evangelist.
This passage is all about missions. Not all churches have a mission focus. Many churches have a focus on other things. The Church of Antioch was focused on missions. It was a mission-minded church. What type of missions did they do? It was a little different from some mission work today.
Type of Missions
1) Spirit-directed mission
This mission was God’s idea. It was Spirit directed. It wasn’t Paul and Barnabas’ idea. It wasn’t the church’s idea. It was the Holy Spirit’s idea. The Holy Spirit said, “Separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to do.” The Spirit still calls today.
The Spirit did not direct everyone in the church to do this, just Saul and Barnabas. Should you get jealous that the Spirit called them and not you? No. The Spirit calls you to do something else. We should do what we are called to do.
Paul and Barnabas had an opportunity to be especially used by God, but they did not have it easy. They were hated, persecuted, arrested, tortured, beaten with stripes, put in stocks and shipwrecked.
It was a special call to ministry but was also a special call to suffering. Paul almost lost his life on this journey. He was stoned. He had rocks thrown at him.
This first missionary journey was Spirit-directed and Spirit empowered. They did not have modern technology. They did not have access to the Internet or email. They did not have a car or plane. They did not have a cell phone or even a home phone, but they had the Holy Spirit.
2) Church-supported mission
Paul and Barnabas did not go on this mission trip on their own. They were not lone ranger Christians. They were part of a local church. Their local church put their hands on them, prayed for them, commissioned them and probably supported them financially.
Paul and Barnabas were not super Christian. They were not superhuman. They were about to embark on a major venture, and they needed prayer support. We should always work in connection with a local church.
3) Evangelistic focused mission
Paul and Barnabas were sent out by their church to preach the gospel. The first place they went to was Cyprus. There are a lot of beaches in Cyprus, but Paul and Barnabas did not go to Cyrus to go swimming. They went to preach the gospel.
Many today go on mission trips but don’t preach the gospel. Some go on a short-term mission trip. They go to a third world country, put a roof on a building and call it missions. The gospel is not preached. That is not what Paul and Barnabas did.
They preached the gospel, and they preached it to people who have never heard of Jesus. They preached it to the unreached. They did not have to go to the jungles of Africa. They found the unreached near them.
They found an area where there were no churches and preached the gospel. There were plenty of synagogues there but no churches. They preached the gospel to those who had never heard it, and they did it without the NT.
It wasn’t written yet. Some books of the NT were written after these missionary journeys, but none of them were written before them. All they had was the OT. They preached the gospel with just using the OT. Could you do that?
4) Miracle-working mission
Paul and Barnabas did not just do Billy Graham evangelism. They did not have big crusade meetings in the arena, although there is nothing wrong with that. They did not just tell people about the four spiritual laws. They did power evangelism.
Power evangelism combines the proclamation of the gospel with the demonstration of God’s power through supernatural signs and wonders. Where do we see it in Scripture?
But you will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NIV)
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:15-18 NIV)
Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel and performed miracles. They healed people. They raised people from the dead. Paul has a power encounter with a Jewish sorcerer who practiced black magic. That led to the first conversion on the journey. He was a Gentile, not a Jew. He was not Gentile; He was an important Gentile.
He was a government official. Peter’s first Gentile convert was a Roman soldier named Cornelius. Now, Paul’s first Gentile convert was a Roman governor named Sergius Paulus. He is the second Paul in the chapter.
5) Team-led mission
This first missionary journey was a team effort. Paul did not go alone. Barnabas did not go alone. This was not a one-man operation. Paul went with Barnabas. They took John Mark with them to help them. They knew the importance of working in a team.
Some are better at working on a team than others. Sometimes, it leads to jealousy and power struggles, but it did not seem to lead to that on this missionary journey.
When the mission began, Barnabas was the leader. Barnabas was older than Paul. He had been a Christian longer. He is mentioned first. In the beginning of the chapter, the order is “Barnabas and Saul”
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.”
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)
The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. (Acts 13:7 NIV)
Paul played second fiddle, but he did not complain. He was glad to go on the journey. By the end of the chapter, there is a clear change in leadership. Paul replaced Barnabas as the leader of the mission. That is when his name changed from Saul to Paul.
As PAUL AND BARNABAS were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed PAUL AND BARNABAS, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God (Acts 13:42, 43 NIV)
Then PAUL AND BARNABAS answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:46 NIV)
But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against PAUL AND BARNABAS, and expelled them from their region. (Acts 13:50 NIV)
There was not a word that Barnabas was jealous when that happened. There would be jealousy on the part of many leaders today. Many leaders today, even the ones in the church. They have big egos. They are into power but not Barnabas.
John Mark did not last long. He left very early on this first missionary journey (Acts 13:13) and went home. Why did he go home? Did he go home because his uncle was no longer in charge? Did he get homesick? We do not know.
In Acts 15, we find out that Paul was not too happy about this. He lost respect for John Mark. He did not trust him. He did not think he was dependable or reliable. He got the reputation as a quitter. Paul saw him as someone who started something but did not finish it.
6) A Hometown Mission
This first missionary journey started in Barnabas’ hometown. The first missionary journey began in Cyprus. Barnabas was from Cyprus. He was born there.
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36 NIV)
Cyprus was close to Antioch. It was about sixty miles away. Barnabas was born on the island. Tradition says he died there. He is the patron saint of Cyprus
What is the lesson here? “Your first mission trip might be your own people, your own family, your own hometown.”[1] The Great Commission was to start in Jerusalem and go the uttermost part of the earth.
7) A Biblical Mission
What did they preach? What message did they preach? They had a biblical message. They preached the Scriptures, and they did it publicly in the synagogue.
When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed THE WORD OF GOD in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper (Acts 13:5 NIV).
Not all pastors today preach the Bible. They preach their own ideas. They did preach human wisdom. They did preach politics. They tell stories. They tell jokes. They entertain people.
Many do not preach the Bible. The Bible talks about some controversial topics. It is not politically correct. That might offend some people. That might cause attendance to go down, so some pastors water down the message, but Paul and Barnabas preached the Word of God.
They went to Cyprus. The first city they went to in Cyprus was Salamis. It was a big city. There was a synagogue there, which tells us there were some Jews on the island and the first thing Paul and Barnabas did was to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Why did they go?
They were Jews and did not stop being Jews after they became Christians. Jews went to the synagogue, but Paul and Barnabas did not just go for worship; they went for evangelism.
They saw it as another opportunity to tell people about Jesus. That is not why we go to church today. People in church today already know about Jesus. There are other reasons why they went to the synagogue.
Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. He was sent to the Jewish people. They used the same Bible that Paul used, so there was common ground. That is why Paul says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation TO THE JEW FIRST (Romans 1:16).
8) An Opposed Mission
Whenever the gospel is preached, there will be opposition. This mission encountered opposition, almost from the start. Paul and Barnabas do not just face human opposition.
They faced satanic and demonic opposition. They encounter direct spiritual opposition in the form of demonized Jewish sorcerer named Elymas. These missionaries meet a magician in Cyprus.
Peter encountered Simon Magus Simon the Magician in Acts 8. Paul encounters Elymas the magician (NASB) or Simon the sorcerer (NIV). The word magician is a little misleading. These men did not just do magic tricks. They were into the occult.
6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith (Acts 13:6-8 NIV)
Judgment on a SorcererWhat do we know about this sorcerer? We learn several things from Elymas. 1) He was Jewish It is strange to be a Jewish sorcerer. That is like being a Jewish atheist. Sorcery was against Jewish law. It was against biblical law. Jews were not supposed to be mixed up in black magic. 2) He worked for the governor He was on staff. He was the court magician. He was Sergius Paulus’ personal sorcerer. Craig Keener said, “Kings often had a diviner in their royal court”[2] 3) He opposed the gospel Paul preached. Lots of people heard the message. It was reaching people. They were responding to the message. The governor heard about the message and wanted to talk to Paul and Barnabas. Elymas tried to stop that. He wasn’t just fighting Paul. He was fighting God. There are plenty of people like Elymas today. Paul used to be like that himself. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. (Acts 13:7-8 NIV) 4) He was confronted by an apostle. Elymas actively opposed the truth but Paul did not back down. He confronted Elymas boldly to his face. He spoke truth. He revealed his true character. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “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. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? (Acts 13:9-10 NIV). Paul said that Elymas was a fraud. He was a complete fake. He was not the son of Jesus (that is what Bar Jesus means) but a son of the Devil. He was not Jesus’ child but the devil’s child. He was not a true prophet but a false prophet. He was full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. If someone did this today to someone, we would call him rude, arrogant and intolerant. 5) He received divine judgment. Paul predicted it. He gave a prophecy of what was going to happen to Elymas. Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun. Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.” (Acts 13:11 NIV) That may seem a little harsh, but it wasn’t. Elymas was not killed. He did not drop dead. He was just blinded and it was temporary. He got his sight back. The same thing happened to Paul. He became an apostle and wrote books of the Bible. 6) This miracle led to a surprising conversion When the proconsul saw what had happened, he BELIEVED, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. (Acts 13:12 NIV) |
Confrontation TodayWhat does this say to us today? Can we confront people like this today? Should we do this today or is it something that only apostles can do? Some of the things Paul did, we can and should do today. Other things in this chapter are unique and rare. We can confront people the way Paul did, if we do several things. 1) Speak to people directly Paul was direct with Elymas. He was blunt. We often use indirect communication because we don’t want to offend anyone. That is the way spouses often talk to one another. We give hints to people and hope they get the message but sometimes we need to be direct, especially when you are dealing with false teachers 2) Look at things spiritually For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12 NIV) That is what Paul did here. He did not see Bar Jesus. He saw a son of the Devil. He saw Satan working in and through Elymas. Too often, we do not look at things spiritually. We don’t have spiritual eyes. 3) Be led by the Spirit Paul did not get into this confrontation because he was looking for a fight. He did not say what he did because he was arrogant and rude. He was filled with the Spirit. Many times, we say things because we are upset and angry. In this case, Paul said what he said because he was led by the Spirit. The judgment of blindness doesn’t happen every day. It is rare. It did not happen every day with the Apostle Paul. This is the only time in his ministry it happened. If we could do this all of the time, every other person on the street would be blind. |
[1] https://www.biblicaltraining.org/learn/foundations/nt100-new-testament-overview/nt100-07-pauls-first-missionary-journey-part-1?msg=login-success
[2]Craig Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary (Vol. 2 3:1-14:28), p. 2012.
