After his conversion Saul
immediately began to preach in the synagogues at Damascus. Instead of
proclaiming that the followers of Jesus should be arrested he testified that
Jesus is the Son of God. He soon found that his life was in danger and his
disciples helped him to escape through a hole in the wall. Saul went into
Arabia until it was safe for him to return to Damascus. He continued in
Damascus for about three years and then went up to Jerusalem.
There was a disciple in
Jerusalem who had proven himself to be an encourager. His name was Joseph but
we shall always know him as “Barnabas”. “Barnabas” means “son of encouragement”
We know that he was of the tribe of Levi and that he was a native of Cyprus.
The disciples in Jerusalem were afraid of Saul. They knew that when he left
Jerusalem he was an enemy and they did not know how to trust him.
In
spite of the fears Barnabas came to help. Let’s read about that
event in Acts 9:26-28. And when he had
come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid
of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But
Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on
the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had
preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out
among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
Barnabas knew some of Saul’s
history and was confident that he was safe. Since he did not fear Saul he was able
to bring him to the apostles. In his letter to the Galatians, Saul, by then
called Paul, told about this encounter. Luke did not know how many apostles he
met with but Paul tells us that he met with Peter and spent about two weeks
with him. And almost as an afterthought, he said that he met with James, the
Lord’s brother. Within a very short period of time it became obvious that Saul
of Tarsus could not stay in Jerusalem if he wanted to stay alive.
So…
For
his protection, Saul was sent away. Let’s continue to read in Acts 9:29-30. And he spoke and disputed
against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And
when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him
off to Tarsus.
So, within the first four or
five years of his life in Christ Saul returned to his home district in what is
now Turkey. For several years Saul traveled around the regions of Syria and
Cilicia preaching the good news of Jesus. We have no record of the time that
Saul spent absent from the Holy Land. Knowing what we do about him in his later
years, as well as in the immediate years after his salvation, we can be sure
that Saul went into the synagogues and preached the good news about Jesus. In
fact, there may have been churches founded during that time. I can’t believe
that he would have failed to bear witness anywhere he went. Saul/Paul was
consistently a witness for the living Lord Jesus Christ. His isolation would
come to an end when God was ready to use him.
Fourteen
years later Barnabas came to Antioch. Let’s read Acts 11:20-22. But there were some of them,
men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists
also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was
with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The
report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent
Barnabas to Antioch.
The church in the region that
Saul was operating in began to have an influx of Gentile believers. We do not
know if there was any connection between Saul’s life in Tarsus and the growth
of the church in Syrian Antioch. What we do know — Antioch was rapidly becoming
a large center of Christianity. Within the first 300 years we are told that the
church there grew to more than 100,000 disciples. Obviously, this early
response to the gospel concerned the apostles in Jerusalem. After all, Jesus
himself had told them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came
on them (this occurred almost immediately and is recorded in Acts 2). And when
this powerful spirit came on them they would become Christ’s witnesses
beginning in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and would continue to the end of
the earth.
You recall the event I’m sure.
Immediately after Jesus ascended into heaven two angels appeared to them and,
in effect, asked why they were standing there looking up into heaven. Angels
are always prepared to do the will of God without question and without
hesitation. I am fairly sure that the angels do not understand how we can be so
hesitant when we have a clear instruction from God!
When Barnabas was sent to
Antioch by the apostles, still huddled in Jerusalem, he saw right away that the
grace of God was manifest there. Barnabas was pleased at what he saw but he
needed help in deciding how to present the report to the apostles. Barnabas
needed someone who could relate to the people of the region. After he had given
it some consideration, and a lot of prayer…
Barnabas
knew who could help. Let’s continue to read Acts 11:25-26. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and
when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met
with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples
were first called Christians.
I would really like to be able
to see a record of the things that Saul had done in Tarsus and the surrounding
region. I do not believe for one moment that he was able to be quiet about his
newfound faith. At the same time, he needed to study and pray to understand the
tremendous changes that had come into his life. After all, he had persecuted
the church! Wouldn’t that disqualify him? He had to know, from God, that he was
acceptable. It mattered little what men thought. Only what’s done for Christ
will last.
Accepting Barnabas’ call for
help must have been very refreshing to the man who had persecuted the church.
He went gladly to see what he could do to bind the church together.
We are so impatient! It’s true
that we rush in where angels fear to tread. Saul and Barnabas settled into the
role of teaching pastors for this rapidly growing church.
For an entire year they taught
the new church. My how good it would be to see the outlines of their Bible
teaching. How good it would have been to sit in on their leadership
discussions. They had a definite problem! The church was rapidly becoming a
mixture of Greeks and Hebrews. God was preparing his two servants for their
future ministries. During the time that they were in Antioch a prophet named
Agabus reported that there was going to be a famine that would particularly
harm the church in Jerusalem.
The Christians in Antioch felt
an obligation to help those who had sent the gospel to them. In order to help
solve the problem…
Barnabas
and Saul became a team. Let’s read on Acts 11:29-30. So the disciples determined, every one
according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And
they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
First, they helped to organize
financial relief for the elders in the home church. The leaders of the church
in Antioch knew they couldn’t do better than sending these two fine Christian
men to Jerusalem with the offering.
By this time, Barnabas and
Saul were inseparable. Wherever one went the other went. They worked well
together. It seems to me that Saul was the teacher and Barnabas was the worker.
Barnabas could bring people together and organize them and Saul could teach
them. This mission team would finally began to fulfill the words of Jesus on
the day of his ascension. God was preparing them to bring the gospel to the end
of the earth. Up until that time it seems that there was a Christian presence
in Rome and also along the far eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Most of the
believers were organized in such a way that they were led by the church in
Jerusalem.
We cannot know if there were
any other centers of the faith. We have no record to rely on but there are
stories told about the expansion of the gospel beyond what Luke recorded for us
in Acts.
On their trip to Jerusalem…
They
added to their team. Let’s read on Acts 12:25. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had
completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.
We do not know much about John
Mark. It appears that he was a cousin of Barnabas. We know also that his mother
had a sufficiently large house where the church could meet. The church was
meeting for prayer in the house of John Mark’s mother when Peter was rescued by
an angel.
It would appear that John Mark
was not with them very long before the church at Syrian Antioch came together
to be an entirely new phase outreach.
The
team then became traveling missionaries. Let’s look at Acts 13:1-3. Now there were in the church
at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius
of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of 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 Then
after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
The title “prophet” is not
used a lot in the New Testament. It usually refers back to the Old Testament
prophets. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he speaks of prophecy in
its place in the church there. Whatever their role was at Antioch they were
listed among the teachers. When I consider what was happening in the church in
Antioch I am reminded of one of J. Edwin Orr's more colorful phrases, which he
repeated time and again, was: "Whenever
God gets ready to do a great work, He always sets His people a-praying."
Orr was one of the faculty members at the Fuller Seminary School of World
Mission a generation ago. He was a great evangelist as well as a prolific
writer. Incidentally, he wrote the last verse of Amazing Grace – “When we been
there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun we’ve no less days to sing God’s
praise than when we first begun.”
While they were fasting and
praying the church in Antioch began to sense a new direction from God. As they
understood God’s direction they set aside Paul and Barnabas for the special
ministry. After fasting and praying they laid hands on them and sent them away.
The next few months were exciting times for Paul and Barnabas and John Mark.
As we have seen from the
earlier experiences of the disciples, the gospel was spreading fairly slowly
across the world. At his ascension into heaven Jesus had announced that they
would receive power and were expected to carry the gospel out into the world.
They would begin in Jerusalem but they were not to stay there. We are not told
exactly how much time had passed but it was certainly more than seventeen years
since Jesus had left the earth. The gospel was being spread but it was almost
accidently rather than intentionally. Now it was time to get serious about
spreading the good news!
All scriptures quotes are
from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard
Bible Society.
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