THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY BEGINS

Acts 13:1-3 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. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

When last we heard, Paul and Barnabas had been sent, to the elders of the church of Christ in Jerusalem, with a gift for the brethren which dwelt in Judea to give them relief from the famine that existed in that area of Palestine (Acts 11:29-30). Then in Acts 12, we read of the severe persecution brought by Herod upon the body of Christ that was intended to quell the spread of, or completely eliminate, the New Testament church. To do this and, at the same time, please the Jews, Herod Agrippa had the apostle James executed, and followed this with the imprisonment of Peter. Even with all this persecution intended to eliminate the influence of the church of Christ, Luke tells us that the word of God grew and multiplied. At the time this was taking place, we learn that Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark (See Acts 12:24-25).

The lesson text now takes us back to the church of Christ that was at Antioch. Those that fled the original persecution of the church in Jerusalem founded this congregation of God's people. Following this, they were taught, by disbursed Christians from Cyprus and Cyrene, that the hope of salvation was extended by God to all people of the world, both Jew and Gentile. Because of this, the body of Christ in Antioch experienced rapid growth in number and in the true faith which God supplied through prophets and teachers, who delivered unto them God's true, and complete, gospel message of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Here we find two types of men that preached the word of God. First were the prophets, who refer, not necessarily to those that predict future events, but to those that taught the will of God by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Secondly, there were teachers. Although all prophets were teachers, not all teachers were prophets. Teachers are distinguished from prophets in that they were not given the messages they taught by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Instead, they taught the will of God, which they had heard and learned from the true, inspired prophets of God. Some prophets and teachers are mentioned in the lesson text that have little, if any, further identification. Of these were Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch. The two others mentioned were Saul and Barnabas. We are not told how long they remained in Jerusalem, but they had just returned from delivering relief gifts from the church in Antioch to the church at Jerusalem.

As these prophets and teachers worshipped and served the Lord in Antioch, and as they humbly and sincerely sought spiritual guidance through prayer and fasting, God, through His Holy Spirit spoke to them and said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. This in no way supports, teaches, or gives credibility to the "ordination" of one to the ministry of Christ Jesus, that is a common practice among many religious denominations today. Barnabas and Saul were separated from the rest by designation; they were specifically appointed by a direct command of God through His Holy Spirit; they were named to carry out a specific duty and responsibility assigned to them by God, Himself. These two men of God were not appointed to a specific office, or, at this time, given any ecclesiastical designation. Rather they were separated from the other members, prophets, and teachers of the church at Antioch to carry out a special mission to serve God and the cause for which His Son, Jesus Christ died.

It was God who called them, and it was God who endowed them with the knowledge and ability to carry out the mission they were given. It was not the members of the church of Christ at Antioch. However, they did signify their approval and gave their blessing to Saul and Barnabas with this encouraging action: And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. It was from Antioch that, for the first time in biblical history, Holy Spirit-inspired men were sent by God's authority for the purpose of teaching the gospel of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ to the entire world.