Acts 13
1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Barnabas and Saul fasted and prayed for God to send them in the direction He would have them go.
4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
They preached to all of Israel.
6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
"Bar" Hebrew for "son" and this guy is thinking he is all that. He's calling himself The son of Jesus. A false prophet is saying the lest.
7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
This "Barjesus" is traveling with the deputy of Cyprus. Sergius Paulus is wanting to hear The Word and evil is riding along so he can try and twist it.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
"Elymas" = "wise man" this guy thinks he is. As Paul teaches Elymas is trying to cause confusion. He doesn't want the deputy to know The Truth.
9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him.
Paul is staring Elymas down.
10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Paul is calling this sorcerer and false prophet out right in front of everyone. He calls him a pervert against God.
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
He wants to cause blindness to people with his lies, God will let him have a taste of his own medicine. Now he must put complete faith in those that lead him. If we just let someone lead us without checking what is said in The Word for ourselves, we run the risk of following humans lies and traditions instead of God's Word and His ways.
12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
The deputy Paulus heard and saw firsthand the power of The Lord with The Holy Spirit working though Paul.
13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
Paul and Barnabas sat down to hear The Word being taught.
15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
These leaders of the synagogue in Antioch wanted Paul and or Barnabas to give them some word.
16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.
Paul is asking for those that love God to give him their attention.
17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.
God gave the people a way out of the traps of evil.
18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.
Because of their actions, God kept them out of the promise land and let them wonder in the wilderness.
19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.
20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
For 415 years the judges ruled the tribes that would become Israel.
21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
The people grew tired of judges = law and wanted a king instead. They could see the other nations had flesh leading man and they wanted the same. God gave them Saul and the ways of humans. They had a King, they just couldn't see spiritually because of their flesh thinking. This is the same problem today. People have their eyes closed to their spirit. God is King of KING and LORD of Lords †
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
After 40 years God removed Saul and would put in place David, a man that truly loved The LORD. David would stay focused on God's will, not his own.
23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
Through the seed of David would come Christ Jesus. Not all seed is of the same seed. Those that have The Key of David understand this.
24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
It was John the Baptist preaching in Matthew 3:2 Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.
We should never worship a human. It is God that placed us here for His pleasure. The only question we must ask ourselves is, "Am I pleasing Him?" The answer of course is in our faith and fruits = actions.
26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
Those that love God have The Word that Christ came to save the lost.
27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.
They ignored Gods Word, it told them of Christ coming and what those that refuse Truth would do to fulfill the prophecies.
28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.
Those in Jerusalem couldn't find any wrong doing in Christ still wanted Him dead. That's satans children for ya!
29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
30 But God raised him from the dead:
31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
God keeps all His promises and this one was no different. He said He would raise up Jesus up and He did. Ref. Psalm 2 †
33 God hath fulfilled the
same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is
also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee.
God came in this flesh but once and He won't be doing
it again.
34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
God came in this flesh but once and He won't be doing it again. Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psalm 16:10 For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; Neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Christ body didn't go back to dust, He rose where we decay.
36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
David's flesh went back to dust. It went back to the element of this earth. His soul went back to The Father and a new body. Ref. - 1 Cor. 15
37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Paul was preaching about Christ and the forgiveness of sins through repentance in Jesus Christ name.
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Condition! "all that believe" Result! "are justified" It is in Christ we are forgiving.
40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;
41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
Many refuse The Truth, even when He is right in front of them.
42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
Paul struck the ears of those Gentiles. They heard about Christ and hungered for more. They understood it wasn't going to come from inside the church.
43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
These kenites and their followers, the proselytes may be telling Paul and Barnabas to continue in preaching but many of them do this just for show. Did you know there are "pastors" of today preaching salvation but don't even believe in Christ? There are!
44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Once you hear The Truth of God, you should feel compelled or hungry for more.
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
"Jews" here aren't the tribe of Judah, it's the Kenites and their followers the proselytes that claim to be Jews. Same thing is happening today. There are kenites moving into Israel claiming to be true Jews, but are kenites and we have many claiming to be Christians but won't take any time to study or follow Christ. There is so much sugar in the churches today, it's become a cancer.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Because you wouldn't listen to The Word of God and teach them, we, Paul and Barnabas will go teach the people ourselves. They'll reap just as we reap what we sow in life. We that believe and follow Christ have life today and to come †
47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Paul and Barnabas were set in a place and time in were God could have them spread The good news of Christ.
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
The kenites and proselytes worked up the crowd as to cause confusion. They started with the women and went to those in high authority as to work their way into the people. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, you can see the same things happening all over the world today.
51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
Paul and Barnabas are Christians! You can't win over us, we already have victory † We just move on because there are people everywhere in the world that are hungry for The Truth. I won't waste my time trying to change your mind. It would take away from those who want to hear it.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Spirit.
They were filled with joy because of the opportunity God has given them. They may have left the city, but they knew some are saved. If one in your life time comes to God by your preaching, it was more than worth those that hated you for it.