Chapter13
Among the prophets and teachers of the church
at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the
childhood companion of King Herod Antipas), and Saul. 2 One day as these men were
worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and
Saul for the special work I have for them.” 3 So after more fasting
and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.
One of the major Christian movements
in history was the Moravians in the early 1700’s. This started as a prayer meeting among some
‘refugees” from the Prague area who were in Germany living under the protection
of a nobleman named Zinzendorf. On August 13, 1727 the Holy Spirit showed up,
and they dedicated themselves to a round-the-clock prayer vigil, seeking God’s
direction. In 1732, two of that group went to the Danish Virgin Islands to work with the slaves on the sugar
plantations. Over the next 20 years over 200 missionaries sent out to North
America, Greenland, Alaska, Central & South America, India, and Africa.
Eventually Moravian missionaries went from St Thomas and St Croix to Jamaica
and in the late 1800’s to the coast of Nicaragua. In the 1920’s & 30’s, they brought the
Gospel to the Rio Coco.
The round-the-clock prayer meeting
ended in 1834. It lasted 106 years.
Principle:
The Holy Spirit will always be the
leader in every fruitful ministry. We
must wait for His Leading, and then go in His direction.
Sent
out by the Holy Spirit, Saul and Barnabas went down to the seaport of Seleucia
and then sailed for the island of Cyprus.
There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and
preached the word of God. (John Mark went with them as their assistant.)
Afterward they
preached from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached
Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He had attached himself to the governor,
Sergius Paulus, a man of considerable insight and understanding.
The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he
wanted to hear the word of God. But
Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the
governor to pay no attention to what Saul and Barnabas said. He was trying to
turn the governor away from the Christian faith.
Then Saul, also known
as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked the sorcerer in the eye and
said, “You son of the Devil, full of
every sort of trickery and villainy, enemy of all that is good, will you never
stop perverting the true ways of the Lord? And now the Lord has laid his hand of
punishment upon you, and you will be stricken awhile with blindness.” Instantly
mist and darkness fell upon him, and he began wandering around begging for
someone to take his hand and lead him.
When the governor saw what had happened, he believed and was astonished
at the “teaching of the Lord”.
Acts 13:4-12
Principle
Two elements of Biblical evangelism
& discipleship are
The Word of God & The Power of God
Jesus replied (to the Sadducees),
“Your problem is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the
power of God. Matthew 22:29
We must keep both of these in mind and not forget either!
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