127. Beginner Bible Course: Paul's first missionary journey

EPISODE 127:  PAUL’S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY

In the last episode,

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I said that before Peter leaves the stage, he sets the stage in Jerusalem, defending how he used his keys with Cornelius to open the church to the Gentiles. Meanwhile, something's going on in Antioch and Syria. Refugee is start sharing the gospel with the Jews, but believers in Jesus says both Messiah and Lord start coming from other cities, Cyprus, and siren. They're sharing what the Gentiles and droves of these Gentiles like Cornelius are trusting in Jesus, the Jerusalem church, here's the news. And they send a guy out to check it all out and to encourage them guess who they choose.

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Mr. Encouragement, Barnabas. The end of acts 12 gives us a little deeper peak into Barnabas. It tells us he was a good man. We already knew that he's the generous man and the one who takes Paul under his wing, when nobody will touch him with a 10 foot pole. We're also told he was full of the Holy spirit and faith, quite a guy, good choice to send to Antioch in Antioch. The church expands Barnabas knows he needs help. And he knows exactly who he needs. He goes to Tarsus and pulls Paul out of moth balls, studying and trying to reprogram his do chores for God brain.

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He comes with Barnabas and spends a year there in Antioch. Building up the believers. Luke tells us Christ followers are first called Christians in Antioch. Christians is an interesting word. It means little Christs people running around looking like Jesus will discover in the letters. That's precisely what the Holy spirit wants to begin to shape followers of Jesus. Into during this time a local profit reveals a great famine is coming. The believers in Antioch take this seriously and they take a generous collection for those most in need. You don't have to wonder long who might've inspired that Barnabas with the collection taken.

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They send it where it's needed most to Judea and they send it with Barnabas and Paul. A few months later when they return these men bring someone back with them. A young cousin of Barnabas, John Mark, back at their home base at the church in Antioch. The Holy spirit prompts the congregation with this set apart, Barnabas and Paul, for me, I've got to work for them to do. As we turn the page to acts chapter 13, we quite literally turn a page on the spread of salvation to the ends of the earth up till now. It's been spreading in Jerusalem, Judea, and Sumeria, and even eating out into the vicinity.

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Some traveling those amazing Roman roads also are reached and take this new faith back with them to their remote villages, Barnabas and Paul Head West to the coast. They set sail to Cyprus. This was Barnabas home turf. They crossed the entire Island of Cyprus, but they don't experience a lot of success. They only get one convert, a guy at the other end of the Island. He's an important guy, a pro council, and they almost didn't get him. He hears about these guys invites them for a private chat, but even here, a Jewish sorcerer in this guy's world seeks to block Barnabas. And Paul Paul confronts him.

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He says, you're a child of the devil. You're perverting, all righteousness. And then Paul puts down a signpost for the pro council. He strikes the sorcerer blind. When the pro council sees this power from God flowing through Paul, he goes all in and believes Paul's words. The Jesus who died and was raised is both Messiah and Lord. Once again, I'll point out the purpose of God's science through Jesus and the apostles was primarily to confirm their message that the gospel was from God. I should mention Paul and Barnabas were not alone. They took a helper, John Mark, Barnabas cousin. This is a pretty serious trip that will last about a year or more.

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I'm sure they planned it well. And these two older guys were counting on this young man to really pull a lot of the weight. These three men sail Northwest to the mainland of Asia minor were given one verse of what happened when they landed. John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. That's all it says. The word left. There's a fairly strong, a better translation would have been John Mark bailed out on them. They had planned to be a three legged stool. Now one of those legs has been removed. He's returned home to Jerusalem. Imagine a two legged stool we'll discover in a future episode, this incident leads to a serious breakdown between Paul and Barnabas.

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When they get on the mainland big head quickly to another Antioch. This time in passivity, as we'll see was Paul's custom. They go to the synagogue on the Sabbath where God-fearing people are meeting to study the old Testament and discuss what it might mean after the scripture has been read Barnabas and Paul are invited to address the group. Paul gets up, he gives a quick tour of the old Testament all the way to the time of David. When you read this, it sounds strikingly like what Stephen said in front of the council before they condemned and stoned him. When I read it, I have to wonder if Paul had any flashbacks to that day.

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Then Paul gets to the meat of the message. The gospel Jesus, the son of David is the Messiah he died, was buried. And God raising him up is proof of that. Then this lawyer, Paul breaks out his old Testament brilliance. He demonstrates that it is through Jesus. God gives complete forgiveness of sins. When you all in and believe you never got complete forgiveness of sins through keeping the law. Paul gets a warm reception, shaking hands at the door. They ask him to come back the next Sabbath and he and Barnabas do the place is packed. Luke reports nearly the whole town was there. This made the religious Jewish people, the priests, et cetera, extremely jealous.

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This time when Paul speaks, they confront him, contradict him and then throw insults and abuse at him. I'm guessing some of those were about his speech or his height or his looks. Paul responds, okay. You've had your shot. If you Jews won't respond to Jesus, the Messiah will go to the Gentiles. The Gentiles start to whoop it up. Many of them believe this causes certain Jews to stir up the leading men and women of influence in the city. The short story is Barnabas and Paul are run out of town on the outskirts, maybe standing next to the welcome to Antioch passivity assign they shake the dust off their feet.

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Jesus had said to do that when you were rejected, but they not only leave behind the dust. They leave behind some spirit filled, joyful baby believers. Most of them Gentiles. I should make a quick point. At the beginning of acts 13. This missionary duo is introduced as Barnabas and Paul. It quickly becomes Paul and Barnabas. They move on to the next town. I conium, once again, they go into the synagogue on the Sabbath and I conium Paul's message is well-received that day, many Jews and Greeks believe. But once again, the Jews in the city stir up, the Gentiles were not told how they did it, but Paul and Barnabas are not easily unnerved.

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They linger in the city and keep teaching God steps it up and demonstrates the truth that they're teaching by giving them the power to do science. The city becomes divided some hanging on Paul's, every word and others digging in those digging in both Jews and Gentiles began to plot together what to do about it. Now, Jews and Gentiles normally didn't lock arms on anything, but here's the case where the enemy of my enemy is my friend that happened around the life of Jesus as well. Well, when Pharisees and Sadducees who generally found each other ignorant or distasteful locked arms to destroy a common enemy.

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Jesus. When Paul and Barnabas hear about their plot to stone them, they quickly flee town. I'm guessing in the dead of night, they head to the next town list. DRA, once again, they enter the synagogue on the Sabbath. As Paul is giving his message. He sees a man who's never walked. Paul sees faith in the eyes of this man. He stops his message and says, stand up. And the man does. And here's how the crowd, they think Paul is Hermes and Barnabas. Zeus. No kidding. In just a matter of hours. The local priest of Zeus has brought oxen to sacrifice to them.

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When Paul and Barnabas realized what's going on, they tear their clothes in grief and disgust, and they begged the people turn your praise toward God. But even here they can scarcely keep them from sacrificing to them as gods. But then Luke tells us some Jews come down from Antioch and I conium. They stir up the crowd. And this crowd turns on Paul and Barnabas with a vengeance. They stoned Paul and dragged his body out of the city. Disciples were standing around him, certainly Barnabas. And some of those who'd believed in LIS DRA. And as they're standing there, Paul opens his eyes gets up and then get this goes back into the city.

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That's so Paul, now we need to pause a moment. That's no small deal. In the second letter, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. He said he was once stoned. This is that time. But he says something else in that same letter, it's in chapter 12. If you want to read it. He said there was a time when something interesting happened, something incredible, something that he couldn't even really describe. He explains when he was caught up into heaven and he uses the term paradise. At that time, he tells his readers. I saw things that really are unspeakable heaven, paradise people ask. When did that ever happen to Paul?

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Some people believe it happened right here at <inaudible>. Some people speculate. Paul really was dead, but his mission wasn't over. So God raised him back to life here. Again, this is just speculation. Hey, let's ask him someday. When we see him, others have wondered what kind of lingering physical effects might Paul have experienced from this stone? Clearly God could have completely restored him, but on the other hand, God doesn't always protect his people. That way. Paul could have carried with him from this incident, traumatic head injuries. It could have changed his appearance. Maybe it had something to do with that contemptible speech people talk about in his later letters and who knows what could it have done to his eyesight?

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Which we also noted Paul and Barnabas go on to Derby. All we're told is a large number of people go all in on Jesus. That's all it says, Paul and Barnabas then decide to head back home. They could have gone straight Southeast from Derby Tarsus. Paul's hometown is not far away at all, but instead Paul decides he needs to retrace his steps. That's correct. Back to <inaudible> where he was stoned. I conium where they escaped for their lives and Antioch, where they were run out of town. Why would he do this? Luke gives two reasons. One to strengthen the baby believers in these towns, Paul and Barnabas are going to sneak back there, find these believers and do what they can to encourage and ground them in their faith.

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And the second reason is to appoint some under shepherds in those small clusters of believers in each town, Luke calls them elders, toddler Christ, followers, who will do the best they can to take care of the baby Christ followers. They reached the coastline where they started. Then they sail straight back to Antioch back in their home church. They give their missionary report. They've taken the better part of a year, perhaps longer. And we believe about 80, 48 or 49. Here might be their missionary report. We went to Barnabas's home Island, Cyprus, not much interest there. One convert, no follow-up.

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Then we went to Asia minor. When we got to the mainland Barnabas cuts in John Mark had an Aaron back in Jerusalem. Paul under his breath goes the little rat bailed out on us in Antioch capacity. We spent a couple of weeks, some folks turn to Jesus as Lord and Messiah, but then we got written out of town. We found the Jews. They're not very receptive. Only the Gentiles were very open to the gospel. We then went to conium. There was great initial reception. Then the Jews and Greeks ganged up on us. We did our best to hang in there and build up the new followers. God gave us some amazing signs, but the more signs we did, the more the opposition dug in.

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So we fled for our lives in the middle of the night. Barnabas steps up. I'll tell about Lister, Paul. It was pretty cool. Paul was preaching in the synagogue and he heals this guy born lame. Then it kind of went down Hill by afternoon. The local priest of Zeus was calling me Zeus and Barnabas, the spokesman Hermes. They thought we were Greek gods, but we told them we weren't. I mean, it was a big party for us, but some Jews followed us from Antioch and I conium. And by evening they turned the crowd on us. Paul was well stoned and dragged out of the city. I thought my partner was dead. I can hear Paul whisper. Maybe I was Barnabas continues in Derby.

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There was a strong response, but we didn't stay very long. Paul thought we ought to go back to LR. I conium and Antioch, you know, on the down low, we did what we could to encourage the baby believers. And we selected a few from each group to be their shepherds. I'm not even sure they know how to spell shepherds, much less be one. So pray for them. Oh. And by the way, most of our converts are Gentiles. I'm trying to imagine the look on the faces of those people who had set them apart for this work. I wonder if Paul considered maybe going back to Tarsus and making tents to story, doesn't improve much back in Antioch.

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Men come from Jerusalem and they're teaching these Christians in Antioch. You are truly saved unless you are circumcised. When Paul, the lawyer and missionary hears this, he just can't let that one go on answered. We'll discover what he does about it in our next wordpicture.