Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles
4 - Paul and Barnabas as Missionaries
If you are following along in your Bible our study of the life and work of Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ, we have reached Luke’s account in Acts chapter 13. We are seeking to learn lessons from the experiences of this great man of God.
We noted in the last talk that Barnabas and Saul met with the believers in the newly formed church in Antioch for at least a year. We are told that they taught great numbers of people, and you may remember that it was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians. As a typical New Testament church they would meet often for regular worship and prayer, and for the presentation of the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a large church made up of numerous nationalities. Acts chapter 11 verse 20 tells us that “men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.” Here was a church consisting of both Jews and Gentiles, but they were all one body in Christ, and for them He was the supreme head. They were part of his church for which He had given his life on the cross. We are told in Acts chapter 13 verse 1 that there were other prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch in addition to Barnabas and Paul. Between all of them there was a Levite, a black man, a North African, a nobleman and a Pharisee, but such a distinction in race, colour, social class and education could not harm a fellowship enjoying oneness in Christ Jesus their Lord.
The Holy Spirit had provided within this infant church prophets and teachers to benefit them. Prophets spoke the word of God as the Spirit revealed it to them before the coming of the New Testament Scriptures, and the teachers explained it. The Lord Jesus himself had promised his disciples, before He returned to his Father in heaven, that the Holy Spirit would reveal the things of Christ to them and remind them of what He had taught them. How we thank God that some two thousand years later the Holy Spirit continues this work of revealing the truth of God’s word to those who believe.
As time went on, it became apparent that the Holy Spirit was working in and upon Barnabas and Saul, and actually made it clear to the church that the Lord was assigning them to take the gospel to the Gentiles. The church in Antioch was itself a powerful evidence that the gospel was not only for the Jews, but for all nations.
You may remember the words of the Lord to Ananias many years before at the time of Saul’s conversion: “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.” The clear indication of this came to the church leaders as a result of their worshipping the Lord and fasting and evidently seeking his will for them. Their only desire was to follow the pathway which the Lord in his purpose had laid out for them. It is not always easy for any one of us to know the leading of God in and for our lives, but we should wait patiently upon Him, and only move as He directs us.
So Barnabas and Saul received the blessing of the fellowship in Antioch and set off on their missionary journey. Incidentally, the word Missionary comes to us from the Latin language, just as the word Apostle comes from the Greek, and both mean the same thing: “One who has been sent out on a mission.”
In chapters 13 and 14 of Acts, we notice that Luke records a change in leadership from the older man, Barnabas, to the younger man, Paul - as Saul became known from this time on. Barnabas, the one who so graciously encouraged Saul in the early days of his conversion to Christ, now teaches us a lesson in humility, by taking the lesser place. He was an example of how a true servant of God should be, willing to stand aside for the one appointed by the Lord.
The significance and importance of what Paul and Barnabas were setting out to do as missionary pioneers cannot be overestimated. It was eventually to change not only religious belief, but long held philosophies, and to have a lasting effect on the civilisation of the world. Paul’s missionary journeys would cover some eight thousand one hundred miles or over thirteen thousand kilometres and take around ten years!
The record of these missionary journeys covers just eight and a half chapters of the book of Acts. Luke only records the most striking incidents and events of these journeys, and probably not all are given. His purpose seems to have been to show how, and in accordance with the command and promise of Christ in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, the knowledge and power of the Christian gospel was spread, beginning in Jerusalem, then throughout Judea and Samaria and outwards into the whole world.
Christian workers could well take note of the methods Paul used as he and his fellow-worker went from place to place. For example, they sought first a place to lodge in, and then some form of employment so that they would not be a burden on anyone. In Paul’s case, we are told that he worked at his trade as a tent maker. On the Sabbath day they would find the Jewish synagogue and an opportunity to speak after the Scriptures had been read. In his presentation Paul would perhaps use the Old Testament Scripture that had been read, speaking of the message of the prophets and leading into the great topic that was dear to his heart, that Jesus was their promised Messiah, and closing with an exhortation for the people to believe on Him.
Such a presentation would naturally excite great interest coming from one who, by his speech and his handling of the Old Testament Scriptures, would be recognised as a cultured Jewish Rabbi. Paul would be asked to speak again on the next Sabbath when the synagogue would be full of people curious to hear what this stranger had to say, who had spoken so powerfully. This time Paul would proclaim Jesus Christ more plainly as Saviour of both Jews and Gentiles. This would generally produce a hostile reaction from the Jewish leaders who would not believe that the Messiah was for Gentiles as well as Jews; that He came to be Saviour of all who would believe on Him. But some of the Jews present would believe, and along with them some of the Gentile adherents to the Jewish faith. This would be the starting point of the Christian church in that community.
This good news which Paul preached to both Jews and Gentiles was the moving force of his work. Wherever he went and whenever he had the opportunity he told the people about Christ. This was because he believed, and knew from his own experience, that this gospel of salvation from sin’s penalty was the power of God for the salvation of everyone who would respond and believe. And it still is!