Good morning. It's good to see all of you here today and on this beautiful July 4th holiday weekend that we we get to celebrate our freedom that we have in this country. Not only freedom to live and worship the way that we do, but also the freedom to Well, to be united together in Christ. We, in this country, when I was a kid and I was growing up, something that's not much talked about anymore that was really emphasized was that the United States is a melting pot. I remember my mother talking about it, she was a teacher, and I also remember the teachers in the school that I went to talking about in history and social studies and all that, How this country is a melting pot and it's not, we're not English people from England, we're not French people from France, we're not Spanish people from Spain or African people from any of the countries there or Egyptians. We're all of those nationalities and all of those different people, we're just all together and we're something new, something different and American. That was really a wonderful idea that I grew up believing. And then when I got to be an adult, they just threw it all in the trash. And now I guess it's more profitable to try to play people against each other than it is to unite people. But you know where that idea comes from? That idea of this melting pot comes from Christianity. It comes from the gospel and it comes from the book of Acts and what we've been talking about in Antioch and this church that was formed there in Antioch that is no longer, it's no longer just simply a sect of Judaism, but it's also not some pagan Gentile religion, but you've actually got Jews who worship the true and living God. And then you've got these Gentiles, and they're together, and they're worshiping the true and living God together. As Paul says in Ephesians 2, that He's brought you who were far off near, and He's proclaimed peace to those that were near and to those that were far off. And in Christ, in Himself, He's made both into one new man. One new man. Something different that's never been before. This is Christianity. And this is really what we've been looking at. We started back in Acts chapter 11 with the formation of the church in Antioch. It really began there, this turning point in the book of Acts. And what we saw there is a new organism, this church, a uniquely Christian church, because some men had gone up preaching the Lord Jesus, not just to Jews, but to Gentiles also. And this church was formed. They didn't know what to call them. They couldn't call them Jews. So they were called Christians. They were first called Christians there because their people who belong to Christ, citizens of His kingdom. And so, as we think about what's going on, you know, as people celebrate and we celebrate the freedoms that we have in this country and the grace, let's just remember that everything in this world, it's just a reflection. And most of the time, it's a poor reflection. of its creator. God has created everything, and he's created everything for his own glory. And we owe the freedoms that we have, we owe the life that we have, we owe every bit of it to our creator. We owe it to him. And we should, as we celebrate any holiday, anything that we celebrate, We should always be looking past that and looking to Christ, looking to Him and celebrating it for His glory. So, that being said, let's read through our text. We're gonna be, this morning, I didn't even tell you where we're gonna be yet. We're going to be in Acts chapter 13. We're gonna start in chapter 12, verse 25. And we're going to read through chapter 13, verse 13. And the title of the sermon is A New Chapter, The Gospel to the Gentiles. Actually, The Gospel to the Nations, excuse me. A New Chapter, The Gospel to the Nations. Let's read our text. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark. 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 Manan, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. 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've called them. Then when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 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. 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, 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. But Elimas the magician, for so his name is translated, was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him and said, you who are full of 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? 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. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. 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. Let's pray. Oh, Father, we thank you so much for your word, and we thank you for your grace. Thank you for bringing us together once again today to look into your word, to hear from you, Lord, to draw near to you, and I just pray that you be with us today, that you be with me, that you organize my thoughts, Lord, as you would have them, that you speak, Lord, that your message come forth, that we see your glory, that we draw near to you and that we worship you. Lord, I just pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. So I was talking a little bit while ago about, you know, beginning with the church in Antioch back in Acts chapter 11, and we saw the church spring up and the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to him, sent him the son of encouragement. And he goes down there and he becomes the shepherd. He starts shepherding them. And he says, you know, I need to go get Saul. He needs to be involved in this. And he goes and gets Saul and brings him back. And so they're there teaching the church for a year. And the church is growing and people are being added. But then some prophets came down from Jerusalem and they said there's going to be a famine all over the land. And so the prosperous people there in Antioch, the people who the Lord is blessing, they have hearts that they want to help those who are suffering back in Judea and in Jerusalem. And so they take up an offering and they send it back through Paul and Barnabas, Saul and Barnabas. And somewhere during this time that all of this has taken place, we come to chapter 12 and Luke takes us back a little bit and he takes us back to Jerusalem for one last narrative of what's going on in the church in Jerusalem before continuing with the next phase in the book of Acts, which is the gospel going out to the nation. So what we looked at in chapter 12 is really the last narrative about the Jerusalem church. Now we'll see it again in the Jerusalem council. It will come up a couple more times in the book, but as far as narrative of what is going on in Jerusalem with the advancement of the gospel and in Judea and Samaria, Chapter 12 was kind of the last testimony in the book of Acts about it before the focus changes and we begin to look at the gospel going out to the world. But in chapter 12, Luke wants to leave us with about three things. And he does it by making a contrast. And the contrast he makes is really between two different people who represent everybody in the world. They represent everybody in Jerusalem and Judea. They represent all the Gentiles. They represent everybody on the planet. And those two people are represented by Peter, the apostle Peter, and Herod, the king, Agrippa, Herod Agrippa. And the contrast that is made there in chapter 12 was that there's basically only two kingdoms. You don't understand that. There's only two kingdoms in this world. There is the kingdom of God, and there is the kingdom of this world, this temporary kingdom of this world that's passing away. And you are going to live for one kingdom or the other. You're going to live your life serving and promoting and building dedicated to one kingdom or the other. Either the kingdom of this world that's perishing or the kingdom of Christ. In the story there in chapter 12 that Luke shows us, Herod Agrippa is a successful man. He has reached the top, the pinnacle. He is the king and he's restored his grandfather's kingdom to its glory and he's ruling over all of it. His whole life has been spent in accomplishing this. He takes the throne, he becomes this uncontested king over all of Palestine when he's 47 years old. He rules it for seven years, he exalts himself and God strikes him He's eaten by worms from the inside and he dies. He lived for the kingdom of this world and he perished and his kingdom perished with him. Peter, on the other hand, is sitting in prison in the story that Luke tells and he's sitting in prison waiting to die because Herod's gonna kill him as part of his politics. But you know, sitting in that prison, He's still more free than her it is. He's sitting there and he's just as free as a bird. He's so free he can just lay there and sleep, knowing that his judgment's been passed on him. He's sentenced to execution the next day. But that's not where his hope is. His hope's not in this world. He's living for the kingdom of Christ. And the Lord delivers him from that prison. And so what you see in Acts chapter 12 is you see the gospel is moving forward, and it continues to move forward. And that's what Luke wants us to understand is going on in the church in Jerusalem, even though he's not gonna record more stories and more historical narrative about it. The gospel is advancing, the church is growing, and the world is persecuting it. both the secular world and the religious world. They're persecuting the church. But you know how he ends it up? But the word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied. And that's the story. And that's what Luke leaves us with with the church in Jerusalem. The gospel's advancing. The secular and religious world are opposing it. But the word of the Lord marches on. It continues to grow and to be multiplied. And so that was Acts chapter 12. Now, the last verse in Acts chapter 12 actually goes with our next story, which begins in Acts 13 and is gonna take us on Paul's first missionary journey. And it begins, we begin with this message for today, in Acts 12, 25. It says, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark. So Barnabas and Saul took the relief, they took it down to Jerusalem to relieve the saints who were hungry, who needed help there in Jerusalem, and while they're there, they gather up John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, the human author that was used. Many scholars actually believe that it's Peter's gospel and that Mark wrote it down for him, was his scribe. But anyway, he's Barnabas's nephew. And so when they deliver this help to the church in Jerusalem, they gather this young man up with them and they take him back to Antioch. And they return, and they get back to the church in Antioch, and that's where we're at in chapter 13 in verse one. And it says, now, there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers. Now, I read commentaries on this, and one commentator that I read thought that maybe prophets and teachers were were describing different characteristics of these different guys that are named off here, that maybe the first three were prophets and the other two were teachers. Well, they gave an explanation, but I really didn't buy it. I think that prophets and teachers is describing all five of them. And the reason why I think that is because prophets here, what it means is not foretelling, but foretelling. They were prophets and teachers. They were those who would prophesy. They would stand up and proclaim the word of the Lord. And in a sense, we're all called to do that as Christians. We're all called to show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. We are to foretell the gospel, foretell the word of the Lord, particularly those who are in ministry. That's the reason why you go into ministry is because you have seen the glory of God in the face of Christ. And you've got this fire in you and it's like it burns in your bones and you can't hold it in like Jeremiah said. You've got to foretell it. You've got to proclaim it. So I think that all five of them are prophets in the sense that what it's talking here. And then it says in teachers, well, If we were to go over to the description of an elder, and these five guys here are the elders in the church. It doesn't specifically say elders, but these are the five leaders in the church, the elders. They're the spiritual leadership of the church there in Antioch. And if we go over to the qualifications of elders and overseers over in Timothy, It specifically tells us in verse two, an overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. So I believe that they're all five prophets and teachers. And so this church is, it's a blessed church. It's got five elders, five qualified elders who are gifted in getting up and prophetically proclaiming the word of God and teaching others the word of God as well. And it's gonna name them off. Luke's gonna name them off here in this verse. And he starts with Barnabas. And this verse and this group of guys here that is described is the perfect, it's the perfect representative leadership of this uniquely Christian church that is a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. When we look at this group, you've got Barnabas, who is a, he's a Levite. He's of the tribe of Levi, but he was born on the island of Cyprus. He grew up in Greek culture on the island of Cyprus. So he's a pretty diverse guy himself, but here's Barnabas the Levite, and then Simeon, or Simon, is the same name, who was called Niger. Well, the reason why Simon is called Niger is because Simon is black. He's from North Africa, probably from Cyrene, it doesn't say, but scholars, Scholars believe that this is very likely the same Simon of Cyrene that was conscripted to carry Jesus' cross when he stumbled. And this Simon is called Niger because he's black, and it's not a racial slur, it's a descriptor. It's a Latin word. It's a Latin word just describing him just like James the Lesser. talking about the smaller James to distinguish him from James the brother of John. And so you've got diversity here in the eldership already with these two guys. And then there's Lucius of Cyrene. He would also have been from North Africa. It's a straight west. and the northern part of Africa, actually in Libya is where Cyrene would have been. It's in what is now Libya. And then Manann. Manann is an interesting character because it says Manann had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch. Well, the word that describes Manann's relationship with Herod the Tetrarch which is Herod Antipas, that was the Herod that was, he wasn't really the king, although they called him the king, he was the Tetrarch, that just means that he ruled over a portion of the kingdom. It was divided up after Herod the Great died, and so Herod Antipas, one of his sons, is ruling over this small part of it, but anyway, Mannaen grew up with Herod Antipas and the word that describes their relationship is the Greek word centropos. That word literally means foster brother. So what it is suggesting is that he was very possibly an adopted brother or at least an intimate friend that grew up in the same household with Herod the Tetrarch. That would suggest that it's very possible that he was Idumean, a descendant of Esau as well, not a descendant of Jacob. He's an interesting character. And another thing about Manahan is Manahan is, what it means is comforter. And one commentator that I read suggested that it's very possible When we look at his relationship with Herod the Tetrarch and the fact that Menaen means comforter, it's very possible that like Barnabas, this was not his real name. This was very likely a name that was given to him by the apostles because of his character. And that he very well could have been the fellow that's mentioned back in Luke chapter eight named Chuzza. And let's just go look at Luke chapter eight. In Luke chapter eight, in verses one through three, it talks about Jesus' ministry, and it's talking about where the financial support is coming from for it. And it says, soon afterwards, he began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The 12 were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses. Mary, who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means. Some scholars have suggested that this very well, this Mannaan very well may be Chuzot. Whether he was or whether he wasn't, he was a very, very close friend, probably grew up in the same household as Herod the Tetrarch, who was ruling whenever the Lord Jesus was crucified, and now here he is. as an elder in the church in Antioch. Isn't that amazing, the power of the gospel? And this is this diverse group of men And if you looked at that on a map, where all of these guys are from, it's a big circle. They're not from the same region. They're from a diverse area. They speak different languages. I mean, they probably all spoke Greek, just like most people in the world. We don't really realize it, being from America, being from the United States, but the culture that we've grown up in, most people in the world learn English in school because of commerce and trade. My wife's got a German brother. They were taught English in school growing up. Along with their German that they were learning at home. And other countries are the same way. Well, Greek was that way in this time. People learned Greek because it was the language of commerce. So they probably all spoke Greek to some degree. But they all came from different areas with different dialects and their own languages. And they're all from long distances apart and they all came up in different cultural settings and the Lord brought them all together and made them elders there in this diverse church that he's put together of people who wouldn't have even sat down to a meal together. But now they're taking communion together and they're worshiping the Lord together in the church in Antioch. And verse two says, 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. So they're, imagine that, they get together and they pray, and they fast, and they seek the Lord's will for the church. And the Holy Spirit tells them what to do. The Holy Spirit directs the church. I am firmly convinced that if the leadership of the church prays and seeks the Lord's will for the direction of the church, the Holy Spirit will guide and direct and govern the church. I believe, and here at Heritage Baptist, I can tell you, your leadership is committed to that. Your elders, your deacons, we are committed to finding the Lord's will for the church and pursuing it. And that's what I want for us. That's what I think we all want. We want, and I believe that if we seek that, that the Lord is gonna give it to us. You know, Jesus said, seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened. Ask and you'll receive. Seek and you will find. It's gonna happen. It's a promise that we have, and if we seek the Lord's will, and we ask for it, it's gonna be given to us, and the Holy Spirit is gonna direct us, and that's what we see there. The Holy Spirit said, said. Now how did he do that? Did he just, did everybody just hear a voice? Did, or did he speak through one of the elders there? Did the Holy Spirit indicate to one of the elders there, hey, it's time. You know, I don't know exactly how the Lord did it, but I do know that the Lord indicated to them that it was time for Barnabas and Saul to proceed, to advance, to move out from the church there at Antioch, to move forward. And they already knew that they were gonna do it. This wasn't something new. It wasn't a new idea. Whenever, you know, Whenever the Lord converted Saul on the road to Damascus, and the Lord is talking to Ananias, and he's getting ready to send him to Saul, he says, he's gonna be a chosen instrument of mine to take my message to the Gentiles. So this is not a secret, it's not something new, but now we have the Holy Spirit saying specifically, okay, this is it, this is the time. It's time to move forward and advance the gospel to the nations. And we're going to, this is the launching point here at the church in Antioch, and we're gonna move out from here. And verse three says, then when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. And they here, this is not just the elders, this is the church. They have a commissioning service. And they pray over these guys. And they lay their hands on them. And then the church sends them out. And I know that it is because when they come back, they come back and report to the whole church. It's not like, It is the church that calls, it's the church that establishes, it's the church that recognizes people who are gifted to ministry and it's the church that sends them out. But then we look at verse four, it says, so being set out by the Holy Spirit. So is it the church or is it the Holy Spirit? Yes. It's the church, but the Holy Spirit works through the people of God to accomplish His purposes. So the church is the Holy Spirit's means for accomplishing His purpose in this world, and He works through His church, and that's what He's doing. He raises them up and He sends them out by and through His church. So they're sent out by the Holy Spirit and they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. Now Seleucia is 12 miles west of Antioch on the coast of the Mediterranean and straight west of there, about 75 nautical miles, is the island of Cyprus. So they go down and they get on the boat and they go to Cyprus. Well why did they go to Cyprus? Well, the Bible doesn't tell us. But I mean, I could think of three reasons just looking at a map. It looks like a pretty easy route to take. I mean, it's a straight line. You just go right down to the coast, you get on a boat, and you go right over there. So it's kind of an easy way to go from where they were at. A second reason very well could have been the fact that Barnabas is from Cyprus. And so he would be familiar with it. And you know when you go to do something, especially something like that you've never done before, a lot of times it's easier to start out with something familiar and then work your way into things that aren't as familiar. And so that could probably be a reason for going to Cyprus. And also there was a pretty sizable population of Jews on Cyprus. And so they would know that there would be some synagogues, and there would be some places where they could go and speak the gospel to people who would be familiar with the scriptures. So you put all that together, I mean, I'm just speculating. The Bible doesn't say, but those are good, logical reasons why they could have chosen that route. But they go to Cyprus. And when they reach Salamis, which is a small town, or it was, On the western end, the eastern end, on the eastern end of the island of Cyprus, which would have been what they would have come to as they came across, they come to this little town and they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And it says, and they also had John as their helper. Well, they went to the synagogues of the Jews first. Now, yes, their mission is going to be to take the gospel to the nations, but they start out going to the synagogues. And I think there's a couple of reasons for that. One is because Paul is very clear that the gospel came first to the Jews. I mean, Jesus came through the nation of Israel. He came through the Jews. And in Romans 1, 16, he says that he's not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God to salvation to the Jew first. It came to the Jews, but then to everyone else as well. And so they go to the synagogues, but I believe they want all of the Jews to hear the message. They want all of the Jews to hear the message that this Messiah that we've been waiting on, that's been promised, He's come. This King that you've been looking for, His kingdom is here. Now, it's up to you. And so they have that choice to make. They can either be like Peter, and they can embrace this kingdom that's come, this kingdom of Christ, and they can live for that kingdom, or they can continue to serve the kingdom of this world is passing away. They will do one or the other, but I believe that they sincerely desire that all of the Jews hear the gospel and are told this message that your king has come. And his kingdom is here. And so that's one reason why they go to the synagogues. And then another reason is they know that it's a place where they're going to have a forum. They can get up and they can speak. And the people that they're speaking to are going to have some familiarity with the scriptures. And they're going to know what they're talking about. And they've also got John as their helper. Now, you can take that one of two ways. Some believe that they're taking John along as a helper to carry the scrolls. This is John Mark. And a lot of the rabbis, they would have a helper, an apprentice that would go with them around to the synagogues and they'd carry the scrolls, you know, and they'd get them out and open them up for them. And then the rabbi would read from it and they'd roll them back up and put them away. And he could have been doing some of that. But he also could have just been that he was there just generally helping them and learning. And I think it's probably more indicative of that, but a little bit of both. He's there and he's helping them with everything that they need. And then verse six says, when they had gone through the whole island, they went all the way from east to west across the island of Cyprus. It was 115 mile walk. and they get to the other end of the island, probably stopping at every little village and town along the way, and when they get to the other end at the city of Paphos, they found a magician, a false prophet, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, 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. Now, this false prophet, Bar-Jesus, is an interesting character. You know what the term Bar-Jesus means, literally? Bar is son, so his name means son of Jesus. And Jesus means Yahweh is salvation. So Bar Jesus' name is the Son of Yahweh is salvation. This man's name is the gospel. But he's Antichrist. He is completely opposed to it. He's a study in irony. But he has this influence with the proconsul. He's a magician. One who practices sorcery, he practices deception. But he's with the proconsul, the Sergius Paulus, and Luke describes him as a man of intelligence, a man of discernment. The word could be translated either way. And this man summons Barnabas and Saul, and he seeks to hear the word of God from them. Now this is probably a professional summons, probably not from personal interest in the gospel. As governor, Proconsul is basically, he's the Roman governor of the region. So this guy is the Roman governor of the island of Cyprus. And part of his job is to examine every itinerant preacher that comes along and draws a crowd and see what they're saying and make sure that it's not going to have a negative effect on the Pax Romana. Pax Romana was the Roman peace that most people didn't mind Roman occupation because the Romans kept the peace. all the way across the world in relative safety because of the Romans. And you didn't have to worry about the neighboring country coming and taking your farm because the Romans kept order. And that's the reason why they were able to rule for as long as they were. So anyway, Anyway, what happened is this guy thinks, you know, we've got these guys preaching, a lot of people are coming and listening to them, so I need to hear what they have to say. So he brings them in to hear what they have to say and make sure that they're not preaching anything that's gonna disturb the peace, anything that's gonna upset order. And he gets them in there. And then verse eight says, but Elimus, the magician, for so his name is translated, was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. So Elimus is actually his professional title. This is still Bar Jesus they're talking about, but Elimus means magician or sorcerer or conjurer. It can be translated all of those ways. So Elymas, the magician, was opposing them, and he is seeking to keep the proconsul from believing what they're saying. He's contradicting the gospel message. And verse nine says, but Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him. Now, before we move on from verse nine, there's something pretty big here that we've got to deal with. This is all up to now, Luke has been referring to Saul as Saul. But in this verse, there's a transition. He says, but Saul, who was also known as Paul, and for the rest of the book of Acts, He's not gonna call him Saul anymore. He's gonna call him Paul. Up to now in the book of Acts, this has primarily been a Jewish mission. Saul is a Jewish name. It's Paul's Jewish name. And up to now, because it's primarily been a Jewish mission focusing on Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and those regions, Luke has, he has spoken in a Jewish manner. But beginning here in verse nine of chapter 13, he's going to switch to Paul's Roman name, which means small, by the way. It's interesting because Saul was the first king of Israel. Paul is a Roman word that means small. So he's going from this kind of exalted name to a humble name. You do with that what you will, but he's filled with the Holy Spirit. and he fixes his gaze on the magician and he 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? He's basically telling him, you antichrist. That's what he's saying. You antichrist. Who's the liar and the father of lies? Satan. You son of Satan, full of deceit and fraud. You know, Isaiah says, and then John the Baptist applies it to himself, that he's the voice crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. But this guy is doing the opposite. He's trying to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord. He's trying to twist the message and take away from the gospel and pervert it. As was mentioned to me earlier, there's nothing new under the sun. That's been going on since the beginning and you see this guy doing it here and it's still going on today. We'll go out and proclaim the gospel and somebody's gonna oppose it, somebody's going to pervert it, and somebody's going to try to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord. But then Paul says in verse 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. And you know, this seems like, well, Paul cursed him. Man, this is harsh, isn't it? Paul has cursed this guy, but he's just temporarily blinded. And something really interesting struck me. I believe that Paul is, this is merciful here, and I think this is directed by the Holy Spirit. It says Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit. But let me ask you a question. Whenever Saul of Tarsus met the Lord on the road to Damascus and he was struck, what was he struck with? Blindness. And so when he calls the curse on this guy here who's opposing the gospel, Saul was marching to Damascus, opposed to Jesus and opposed to his gospel. And the Lord strikes him with blindness so that he can see the glory of the Lord. Takes his eyes off the world, off of this kingdom and puts them on the kingdom of Christ and on his glory. And so Paul does the same thing for this fella. He says, You're gonna be struck blind for a little while, buddy. So that you can maybe see the real glory. So that you can get your eyes off of this kingdom and you can see the kingdom of the Lord. And he struck blind. And verse 12 says, then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. Now, you can read this and really easily get the idea that, well, it was this sign. The sign of wonder, you know, Paul worked a miracle, and so the proconsul believed it. That's not what it says. That's not what it says. The sign was the testimony to the truth of what they were saying. It was. But if you read it carefully, It says he believed when he saw what had happened, when he saw what had happened, but the reason why he believed was because he was amazed at the teaching of the Lord. Let me ask you something today. How long has it been since you were amazed at the teaching of the Lord? If it hasn't happened today, You need to start reading your Bible every day. This is why you need to be in the word of God every day because When you get into the Word of God and the Holy Spirit opens that Word up to you and shows you these wonderful things in the Word, then you're filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and you're amazed at the teaching of the Lord. That's what makes a Christian. He shows you the glory of God in the face of Christ and you're amazed at the teaching of the Lord and you come to believe. And that's what happened. to Sergius Paulus, this Roman proconsul. Yes, the sign that Paul performed, it testified that the Lord was with them, but that's not what converted him. What converted him was the teaching of the Lord. The word of God converted him. And it says in verse 13, now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga and Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. So what they did, when they left Paphos, they basically went out and went north up to the south coast of Turkey. That's where they went. But John Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem. But if you look what it says here, everywhere up to now, everywhere up to now, whenever they did something, it says, Barnabas and Saul did this, or Barnabas and Saul did that. But now in verse 13, it's completely changed. It says, now Paul and his companions put out to sea, and they went on, and that's the way it's gonna be for the rest of the book of Acts. There's been a shift of focus. And this is not a slide against Barnabas that Luke is doing here. It's a literary device. He's showing you by the way that he's changing how he refers to people and things that we've changed direction. We've changed our focus. Our focus has been here, and now our focus is out here. And you need to make this transition in your understanding. And the way that he's doing it, is by the way that he refers to people, and he's put Paul in the position of leadership there. And that's the way it's gonna be from now on. As it moves forward, it's gonna be Paul in leadership as this leading character in the story that the Holy Spirit is using and working through to take this gospel to the nations. And this right here, this little text, is the turning point, and it's where the focus changes from this area and it goes out to this area. But it says, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. And we know that later on, kind of getting ahead in the story, later on, Barnabas is gonna want to take John Mark with him again on another missionary journey. And Paul's gonna say, nah, he bailed on us. We don't wanna take him now. And they'll have a disagreement over it. Now, scholars, they debate over why John Mark left. And it could have been for a lot of reasons. It is suggested maybe he was homesick. He was a young man. Maybe he wasn't mentally and physically prepared for the rigors of constant travel, going from town to town and preaching and what they were doing. And that's possible. I read one commentator that even suggested maybe being a good young Jewish man, he might've been opposed to what he was beginning to see with the message being taken directly to Gentiles. I don't really think that's true though, because he came with them from the church at Antioch. So I don't think that one holds water. But for whatever reason, he went back. But you know what? The Lord is sovereign over all of these things. And the Lord is the one who directs our steps. And the Lord is the one, the Holy Spirit is the one who sent them out from Antioch. The Holy Spirit is the one who took them to Jerusalem. Cyprus, the Holy Spirit is the one who took them to Paphos, who took them to Bar Jesus and Sergius Paulus there. The Holy Spirit is the one that spoke through Paul and struck that magician blind. The Holy Spirit is the one who amazed Sergius Paulus, the governor, and opened his eyes and amazed him at the teaching of the Lord. The Holy Spirit is the one directing all of this, and the Holy Spirit is the one who is going to direct John Mark as well. So we see him making that decision to go back home. We see tension there. But I also know, because I've read through the book, that later on, he's going to be reconciled to Paul, and Paul's going to say he's useful. So the Lord is sovereign over even our missteps. The Lord is sovereign over even the things that we do that at the time seemed like maybe we shouldn't have done that. And later on we regret it. But then we can go back later and we can see that the Lord had been teaching us and guiding us all the way. And the Lord is the one building His church in the book of Acts. And the Lord is the one taking His gospel to the nations. and the Lord is the one working in his church. And that's where we're at. The Lord is the one working in this church. And my prayer is that we be a church like the church at Antioch that is a church of all people, that is a church that has its eyes fixed on Christ and on his kingdom and not the kingdom of this world, and that we be a church that raises up and sends out people who are filled with the Holy Spirit and who are called to show forth, to foretell the gospel of Jesus to the nations, and that we be a church that is united in Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your gospel going forth to the nations. We thank you for recording these things for us in the book of Acts and showing us how you work in this world and how you work in our own lives and how you make all these things work together for our good and your glory. Lord, we ask that you be with us as we take communion today and as we. As we have a fellowship meal. Lord, that you be glorified in our communion or unity that you be glorified in our fellowship and that you just be with each family and each one through this weekend and keep everyone safe and and keep our hearts and our minds focused on you and your kingdom and your gospel. In Jesus' name, amen. So we're going to take the Lord's Supper today. And as we're preparing to do that, I think that thinking about this church in Antioch is a really good place to prepare our hearts and our minds