Sent Out by the Holy Spirit

MEMORY VERSE: “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.” —Acts 13:2

ACTS 13:1-5; 14:21-28

JUDGING from the first verse of the lesson there was a goodly supply of “prophets and teachers” in the church at Antioch. The word “prophet” as here used does not necessarily mean a seer, or one who foretells events, but rather a public expounder of the Gospel. One may be a teacher of the Gospel and not be a public speaker.

These servants in the church at Antioch were evidently faithful to their trust, and receptive to the indications of God’s providences that two of their number could be spared to serve in a larger field. The “Holy Spirit said, separate me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them.” Just how this directive was conveyed to the brethren at Antioch we may not know definitely. It may have been by a vote of the congregation, which selected Barnabas and Saul from among the other servants to minister the Gospel to hearing ears in other places.

Through his Spirit the Lord spoke of Barnabas and Saul as being ones called to a special work. We know that Saul was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles. While no special mention is made of Barnabas in so far as a special work for the Lord is concerned, he was a very close associate of Paul’s. He introduced him to the other apostles in Jerusalem, and when sent to Antioch by the elders in Jerusalem, Barnabas went to Tarsus and got Saul to accompany him.

At this point in Paul’s ministry he is often referred to as Saul, and in our lesson Barnabas is named first—“Barnabas and Saul.” But because of a miracle performed by Saul early in their first missionary journey, the name Saul is dropped, and references to the two are usually “Paul and Barnabas.”

Verse 5 of the lesson informs us that these two servants “preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.” While they proclaimed the Gospel of Christ in Jewish synagogues wherever possible, Paul did not lose sight of the fact that he had been appointed a special apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul and Barnabas realized that a full ministry of the Gospel involved more than just the original witness, and that a follow-up ministry was needed so that those who originally responded might be built up in the faith. Paul referred to this principle in one of his epistles when he spoke of the fact that he had sowed the seeds of truth, Apollos had watered, and that it is God who gives the increase.

So we read in our lesson that Paul and Barnabas returned to the various cities where they had preached the Gospel, “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Paul and Barnabas did not preach the “prosperity Gospel” such as is so often heard in these modern times. They did not tell their hearers that by becoming followers of Jesus they would be blessed in the material things of life, and that they would greatly enlarge their circle of friends.

Instead, they presented the true story of Christian discipleship, in that they made it plain that to be a follower of Jesus would mean much tribulation; that their reward as believers was not to be in the present temporal blessings of life, but in a future joint-heirship with Jesus in his kingdom. Yes, to prove worthy to live and reign with Christ in his millennial kingdom involves “much tribulation.”

Paul later expressed this thought to Timothy when he wrote, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny him, He also will deny us.”—II Tim. 2:11,12

Their first missionary journey completed, and the new disciples confirmed in the faith, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch and gave their report, which indicated that they had ministered to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews. How the brethren at Antioch must have rejoiced!

QUESTIONS

How did the Holy Spirit select Saul and Barnabas for missionary work?

Is it important that evangelistic efforts be followed up?

Explain the reward of faithful followers of Jesus.

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