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Scripture Reading: Acts 13:1-12
In this message we shall continue to consider 13:1-12. In 13:1-4a we see that Barnabas and Paul were set apart and sent by the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:4b-12 describes their journey to Paphos of Cyprus.
Acts 13:1-2 say, “Now there were in Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Here we see that these prophets and teachers were not conferring with men and organizing; rather, they were ministering to the Lord and fasting.
These five were ministering to the Lord directly. This means that, spiritually speaking, they were not at the altar in the outer court, but were at the incense altar in the Holy Place. In the Old Testament the priests ministered at two places. When they served the people, they ministered at the altar in the outer court, offering sacrifices to God for the people. But when they served the Lord directly, they were at another place — at the altar in the Holy Place burning incense. These five brothers in Antioch were at the incense altar in the Holy Place ministering directly to the Lord through their prayers.
As they were ministering to the Lord in this way, He as the Spirit came in and spoke to them, saying, “Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul.” This indicates that here the Holy Spirit is the Lord.
However, many Christians think that the Spirit is separate from the Lord. Some even say that the Spirit is the agent or representative of the Lord. If the Spirit is merely the Lord’s representative, then in 13:2 the Holy Spirit should not have said, “Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul.” Instead, the Spirit should have said, “I, the Spirit, am an agent of the Lord. I represent the Lord and work for Him. Therefore, I do not say that you should set apart Barnabas and Saul unto Me. I tell you to separate Barnabas and Saul unto the Lord, for whom I am working.”
In 13:2 we have the Lord, the Holy Spirit, and “Me.” Who is this Me? Is this Me only the Holy Spirit and not the Lord? Surely the Me in this verse is the Lord.
The five prophets and teachers were ministering to the Lord. As they were ministering, the Lord as the Holy Spirit spoke to them. This corresponds to Paul’s word: “And the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17). Hence, the Spirit could tell them to separate Barnabas and Saul “for Me.” This Me is both the Lord and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we should not think that the Holy Spirit is separate from the Lord. No, the Holy Spirit is the Lord to whom we minister. When we minister, we minister to the Lord. But when the Lord responds to us, He responds as the Holy Spirit. Because He is the Lord, He could say as the Holy Spirit, “Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul.”
In 13:2 the Holy Spirit as the pneumatic Christ, the Head of the Body, told the five to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which He had called them. This was a giant step taken by the Lord for the spread of the gospel of His kingdom to the Gentile world. It was begun from Antioch, a Gentile center in Syria, without organizing a mission, without raising funds, without human ordination, and without any human plan and method. It was initiated by five faithful and seeking members of the Body, who afforded an opportunity, through their ministering and fasting, to the Head of the Body that He, as the Spirit, might set them apart to carry out His great commission to spread His kingdom for the establishment of His church in the Gentile world through the preaching of His gospel.
This major step had nothing to do with the church in Jerusalem organizationally, and it was not under the authority and direction of Peter and the other eleven apostles in Jerusalem. It was begun solely and purely from a Gentile center, far away from the atmosphere and influence of any Judaic background and practice, and even from the practice and influence of the church in Jerusalem. It was absolutely a move by the Spirit, in the Spirit, and with the Spirit through the coordination of the faithful and seeking members of the Body on earth with the Head in the heavens. This was not a religious movement with a human schedule. From Antioch the Lord’s move on the earth for God’s New Testament economy had an entirely new start. Although the flow of the Lord’s move began from Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and later came to Antioch and went on from Antioch to the Gentile world, it had a purified start by the Spirit at its turn in Antioch.
Acts 13:3 continues, “Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” Here we see that they fasted and prayed; we are not told that they discussed and decided.
In 13:3 the laying on of hands denotes identification. It signifies that they who laid their hands were one with those on whom they laid their hands. By this they declared to all that they were one with the sent ones in their going to carry out the Lord’s great commission.
The first part of 13:4 says, “They therefore, having been sent out by the Holy Spirit.” In verse 3 Barnabas and Saul were sent by the other three. But here it says that they were sent out by the Spirit. This proves that the three were one with the Spirit in the Lord’s move, and the Spirit honored their sending as His.
The laying on of hands in 13:3 has nothing to do with ordination. The three who laid hands on Barnabas and Saul were not members of a mission board or religious organization who were assuring the sent ones of their financial support. That is the practice in many Christian groups today. Someone who is being sent out to the mission field may think that unless the members of the board lay hands on him, he will not be assured of their financial support. But if they lay hands on him, he will know that he will have the money he needs. Such a situation is common today.
If we lay our hands upon the sent ones, it should never be as a pledge of financial support. Rather, in the laying on of hands we should be one with the Triune God not to ordain the sent ones but to identify ourselves with them. Therefore, the laying on of hands signifies that our spirit, our prayers, and all that is within us go out with the sent ones. This is not ordination — it is identification.
Whenever we lay our hands upon someone in the Lord’s recovery who is being sent out by the Lord, we must do it in this way. Otherwise, we should not practice the laying on of hands.
The laying on of hands is not a ritual or a matter related to ordination. The laying on of hands is a matter of life in the Spirit. In Acts 13 the three were burdened to share in the commission of Barnabas and Saul. This was the reason they laid their hands upon them. Through the laying on of hands they indicated that they would go with Barnabas and Saul in their prayers and in the Spirit. They would be one with them and go with them at any cost.
Because of the influence of the religious background and because of the damage caused by the laying on of hands in the way of ritual, we have been reluctant to practice the laying on of hands. Sometimes I have had the burden to lay hands on a particular one. However, I hesitated to do this because many regard this as a ritual or as something related to ordination. We should not have ordination or any rituals. What we need is the genuine and proper identification. There is the need of the laying on of hands. But we should never do this ritualistically. If we practice the laying on of hands, it should be according to the inner leading and with a genuine burden in the Spirit. Our practice should be different from that of traditional Christianity, which is far off from the pattern presented in Acts 13.
In Acts 13 we see an excellent pattern. We do not have such a pattern in Jerusalem because the church there was in the initial stage. What the Lord did in Jerusalem actually began with His calling of the disciples. As He walked beside the sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, and He called them to follow Him (Matt. 4:18-19). As He went on from there, He saw two other brothers, James and John, and He also called them (Matt. 4:21-22). After calling these four and the other disciples, the Lord brought them with Him for three and a half years. He brought them through His crucifixion and into His resurrection. Then in resurrection He appeared to them during a period of forty days. Following that, the Lord brought them all to the Mount of Olives and in their sight visibly ascended to the heavens. With such a background and spiritual education, the disciples prayed for ten days. Then on the day of Pentecost Peter’s ministry began.
What the Lord did with the disciples in the Gospels and in the first two chapters of Acts cannot be repeated. The Lord will not call followers today as He called Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Therefore, with the disciples in Jerusalem we do not have a pattern that can be repeated among us today. However, the pattern in Acts 13 can be repeated.
When the Lord Jesus called Peter and Andrew, He said to them, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). But when He called Saul of Tarsus, the Lord indicated to him through Ananias that He would make him not a fisher of men but a vessel. In Acts 9:15 the Lord said to Ananias concerning Saul, “This man is a chosen vessel to Me, to bear My name before both the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” Peter was made a fisher of men, but Paul was made a vessel. There is quite a difference between a fisherman and a vessel.
The new turn in Acts 13 is not a turn with fishermen but with vessels. When Paul was sent out, he was sent out as a vessel. This means that he was sent to be a vessel containing Christ and bearing Him to the Gentile world. Wherever Paul went his ministry was to impart to others the very Christ he contained. He was a vessel containing Christ, and he ministered this Christ to others.
The start in Antioch is very different from that in Jerusalem. The start in Jerusalem is not a pattern for us today. But the start, the turn, in Antioch surely is our pattern, and we need to follow it.
Acts 13:4b tells us that Barnabas and Paul “went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed away to Cyprus.” This was the start of Paul’s first ministry journey, which ended in 14:27.
Acts 13:5a says, “Having come to Salamis, they announced the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.” Barnabas and Paul did not go to attend the Jewish synagogue gathering, but to take advantage of their gathering to announce the word of God, just as the Lord did in His ministry on earth (Matt. 4:23; Luke 4:16). As in Acts 13:14, their purpose in going to the synagogue was to grasp the opportunity to preach the gospel.
We have seen that the word “synagogue” is an anglicized form of the Greek word sunagoge. This Greek word is composed of sun, together, and ago, to bring. Hence, it denotes a collecting, gathering, congregation, assembly. By transition it came to mean the place of gathering. It is used in the New Testament to denote the congregation (Acts 13:43; 9:2; Luke 12:11) and the congregating place (Luke 7:5) of the Jews, where they sought the knowledge of God by studying the holy Scriptures (Luke 4:16-17; Acts 13:14-15).
According to 13:5b, Barnabas and Paul had John as their attendant. This is actually a defect in the pattern caused by the lack of experience. Barnabas and Paul should not have brought John with them. Eventually he left them and returned to Jerusalem (v. 13). The reason for John’s leaving may have been his inability to bear the hardships of the journey.
When Barnabas and Paul were about to go on their second journey, “Barnabas intended to take John, who is called Mark, along with them also” (15:37). However, “Paul did not consider it suitable to take with them this one who withdrew from them in Pamphylia and did not go with them to the work” (v. 38). As we shall see, there was a sharp contention between Barnabas and Paul concerning this. Because John was Barnabas’ cousin, he wanted to bring him along with them, but Paul did not agree. The point we would make here is that the problem began with the mistake in taking Mark along with them the first time.
Those who serve the Lord full time should be careful in bringing someone else along with them. Not everyone is able to endure all the hardships of serving full time. If you lightly take someone along with you, there may be trouble. The mistake made by Barnabas and Paul in taking Mark with them on their first journey eventually led to the separation between Paul and Barnabas. It was a serious matter for them to make such a mistake.
Acts 13:6 and 7 say, “And having passed through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called Barnabas and Saul to him and sought to hear the word of God.” This proconsul was the governor of a local government in the Roman Empire.
Verse 8 continues, “But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.” This is the objective faith, referring to the contents of the gospel in which the believers in Christ believed.
Acts 13:9 goes on to say, “But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him.” The change of name may indicate the change in life. In any case, from this point on Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit, took the lead in the apostolic ministry all the way. The filling with the Holy Spirit here is the outward filling for power, as in 2:4; 4:8, 31; and 9:17.
According to 13:10, Paul said to Elymas the magician, “O son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all villainy, enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” The straight way is the way of truth and the way of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:2,15,21).
Acts 13:11 and 12 conclude, “And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And instantly a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul, when he saw what took place, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” Elymas the magician was punished and put to shame. Then the Lord showed His straight way to the proconsul, and the proconsul believed and was saved. As a result, a testimony was raised up in that locality.
