Acts chapter 12, and we'll begin with verse 20. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace because their country was nourished by the king's country. And upon a set day, Herod arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a God and not of a man. And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory. And he was eaten of worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem. when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them John whose surname was Mark. Let's read on into the next chapter. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon, who was called Niger, and Lucas of Cyrene and Mannheim, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, departed unto Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salmus, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John to their helper. Let's stop right there for now. Loving Father, we do thank you for the reading of these scriptures this afternoon. We pray your opening up of the Word of God to us. We pray your ministry of the Holy Spirit that I may be able to teach and honor you through the ministry of the Word. We ask your blessing now in Jesus' name. Amen. As we come to this passage here at the end of Acts chapter 12, we find this certain event that took place. Before the first missionary journey, or before the first missionaries were sent out, we find this account concerning Herod. Herod is smote by an angel of the Lord for receiving worship. This is kind of an unusual addition here that is made mention, as we know that Herod was not a very good despot, but we find that upon this particular occasion the Holy Spirit brought against Herod such and such judgment that an angel of the Lord caused a great calamity to happen to Herod. And so it mentions here Tyre and Sidon, so as we begin to look at chapter 12 and verse 20, And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, they desired peace because their country was nourished by the king's country. Well, it is thought perhaps that there was some arrangement here between these countries or these tyrants that there was some favor here, but Herod became displeased over the situation. Tyrant Sarden was in Herod's dominion, in his Tetrarch as it were, and for some reason he had incurred his anger against them. It may have been because of some commerce or trade or something like this that was going on at the time, and for whatever political reasons that these these two cities, Tyre and Sidon, became a problem for Herod. And we find that Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, as he is referred to here as the King's Chamberlain, having the sense that he was somewhat the administrator of the king's house, to work out a reconciliation And on the appointed day when this... A certain oration was to take place, as it says in verse 21, and upon a certain day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made oration unto them. I'm not sure if it's Josephus that may have given an account of this, but there was some recommendation that perhaps Herod was arrayed in some refinery. It is believed that he may have been wearing a garment of silver as they often wore various court apparel. It is believed he might have been wearing some kind of an apparel that was made of a kind of like silver, perhaps they would call them silver bangles. And in the sunlight, these may have given off a kind of impressive appearance of Herod dressed in this manner. At least that's what some of the commentators seem to think. But in some manner, as he gave this oration, and his appearance being such as it was, the crowd began to give him some great cheering and glory, as it were, because of his presence. And as it says in verse 22, And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a God. And of course this was to exalt him above his station, as he might be exalted as Herod anyway, Herod of the Tetrach to which he was given authority over, but the crowd hailed him more graciously than they should have. And it seems that they even accredited to him some godhood in some particular manner. Even so, as this oration was being given and as this acclaim being made for Herod, we find that the angel of the Lord struck him, smote him. In this particular incident, the word smote can mean to actually kill, to destroy. In some other occasions, the word smoke might not mean. Remember as Peter is in prison, the angel of the Lord smoked him on the side and woke him up. Perhaps his wing feather just touched him and gave him a little tickle. But here the smoke was much more than a tickle. It was destructive unto death. And again, some of the commentators think that this might have been, his actual sickness might have been ensued upon more than one day. It might have been that he was struck with this disease that he expired within the next few days. And it could be that it brought on some kind of internal calamity within his body, some sickness that caused him great pain and suffering, as we find that the text seemed to indicate that there was some plague, as it were, struck him and he died. In verse 23, and immediately an angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory and he was eaten of worms and died. Now we do know that to take the glory for oneself over God is one of the things that is forbidden in scripture. And even when you come to the book of Revelation, sometimes you have John who seems to bow down, as it were, to an angel, but very quickly the angel says, I'm not God, don't worship me, and so on and so forth. So at any time when when anybody seems to take the glory away from God, when it should be attributed to God, it meets with some severe consequence, especially when that person is a godless person to begin with, as Herod was a godless person. And so we find that this This blasphemy, as it might be called here, served prominently again as a means of awakening hearts to the true God. And so we find that Herod blasphemes and he dies at the hand of the Lord. But the word of God grew and multiplied. And see, again, here is a very positive element that comes out of what God does. God is blessed. God is glorified. the word of God is proclaimed and the word of God grows, that is, it becomes much more a prominent word to be spoken throughout and received, and we find that as the word of God takes hold upon the hearts of the people, upon the hearts of the multitude, we then find that God is pleased and he blesses his church. And so Herod is smoked by an angel of the Lord for receiving worship, and because the people hail him as a God, Herod dies, and the intervention of this angel of the Lord becomes the means of God's judgment upon Herod. Secondly, we find that Barnabas and Saul are then recognized by the Holy Spirit And the first missionaries are sent out, as we might say. So as we look then at verse 25 and following, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. So it is believed that probably what has occurred here is after Barnabas and Saul were in Jerusalem. Remember there was a certain famine that was going on. Relief was given to them to take to Jerusalem, to aid the church at Jerusalem. And they were in Jerusalem for a period of time. Remember they came from Antioch, where the Christians were first called Christians in Antioch. And where they stayed, Pong has stayed for about a year teaching and preaching in Antioch. And so we find that the word continues to spread. In spite of the opposition of the persecution, the Lord worked in his church and among his people And we find that the conclusion of this from Antioch, the gospel message is now spread or is ready to go out or be dispersed throughout Asia Minor. So now we have the extension of the church in Asia Minor and there was a certain call by God and through the laying on of the hands of those who were godly men in Antioch There was a dedication of Barnabas and Saul to the work of the ministry. Another change that seems to be taking place here, that most believe that Saul is now changed, that he begins to use his Gentile name after this period of time. He begins to use the name Paul rather than simply Saul. As Paul is called unto the Gentiles, we now find that the transitionary period of the Church begins to develop much more rapidly. That the work of the ministry through Peter, and as he is called to go to the Gentiles and start preaching to Gentiles, the Church in Jerusalem accepts this fact and begins to recognize it. We find now that Saul is also recognized with Barnabas as being gifted in the work of evangelism, and we find that Saul then begins to take on a broader role also among the Gentile people. And so after the disposition of the famine and the relief of the money to the elders at Jerusalem, Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch and they take with them John Mark, and I believe he's called a cousin of Barnabas. And as we read here in verse chapter 12 and verse 25, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them John whose surname was Mark. Now as we come into chapter 13 of the book of Acts, we find that Barnabas and Saul are sent out by the Holy Spirit and Paul's first missionary journey is considered, his first missionary journey begins to develop. Verse 1 of chapter 13, now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucas of Cyrene, and Manheim who had been brought up with Herod, the Tetrarch, and Saul. And so these were men who were in the church at Antioch, remember, as Paul was there teaching for about a year. We find the church evidently then begins to develop and these men, we might call them elders within the church at Antioch, certainly they were men that were well respected. And they were men who began to be used greatly of the Lord in that church and to begin to carry out the ministry of the gospel in that church. And so what did they do? They recognized the ministry of Saul and of Barnabas. And verse 2, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work unto which I have called them. And again, here is another occasion where the Holy Spirit begins to work within the administration of the Church. We find very early in the book of Acts, we find those seven men who were separated as men of God, men filled with the Holy Spirit, such as Stephen and Philip and others, and they were set apart by the Holy Spirit. Now we find the Holy Spirit also working in this occasion in the administration of the Church, and we find that Barnabas and Saul also noted here as men of God, men of the Holy Spirit, meant to be separated for the work unto which I have called them, verse 2. And so God the Holy Spirit is involved in calling people unto the work of the ministry. Even today we recognize that it's those people who have received some sense of the call of God upon their lives by the work of the Holy Spirit are those men who go out and do the work of the ministry. Professional ministers do not exist in the true Church of Christ. They are men who are called of God, of the Holy Spirit. Those are the ones who go out and do the work. Professional ministers come out of some class of clergy that, I don't know, maybe in the Bible they're called Nicolaitans, but they're definitely not as we have it here. The true minister of God is called to the Holy Spirit to go out and do the work of the ministry. Others do recognize that person, by the way. Others recognize that person. Here we have these men from Antioch who recognize, see what they're doing, they fasted and prayed. They fasted, they were fasting in prayer and praying and God the Holy Spirit laid upon their hearts, separate me, Barnabas and Saul. So we have men who are filled with the Holy Spirit, they recognize others who are gifted through the work of the Spirit of God, and they are called and they go out. So if anybody says, oh I'm a pastor just because I know that I'm a pastor, that's not right. Others in the church also should know of anybody else who is a pastor or has the gift of pastoring or teaching. They should know that. Because the Holy Spirit is involved in those works. We don't go out, we don't take the authority upon ourselves to do those things. God somehow confers that upon us through the work of the Holy Spirit. God does it. And I think that's important that we recognize that. Now it may be that somebody has a burden to go preach. And it may be that they want to go preach, but at some point they're going to be recognized by the church as having those gifts and abilities if they go out in the name of that church and for the glory of God. And in that case, of course, they will go. But it isn't a Lone Ranger thing, and nobody else knows it. God knows it, and God is conferring that work through the church. Verse 3, And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So we find that the church in Antioch now began to be the, we might call it the base of operations, or the home church, as it is for Saul's ministry. Jerusalem was still a very important church in that region, but Antioch also became an important church for the work of the ministry. And we find that Peter is no longer the central figure, but Paul begins to come into the mix as well. Because God also separated Barnabas and Saul. And so as we look here at verse for, and they being sent forth by the Holy Spirit departed unto Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus." So again, we find the work of the Holy Spirit. They being sent forth by the Holy Spirit. And so here the scripture comes out and says, it wasn't these men These men only recognized that they had the gift of the Holy Spirit. They had the gifts that God the Holy Spirit would give them to do the work of evangelism. But the Holy Spirit sends them out. So as much as we recognize that churches are involved in sending people out, we also should recognize the Holy Spirit is the primary force or primary person of the Godhead which is sending. God the Holy Spirit isn't a force, God the Holy Spirit is a person, so the person of the Godhead, God the Holy Spirit, is involved in sending out here, and that is what it seems to strongly here, departed on to Seleucia and from there they came to Cyprus. 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 helper. And so as they went out, they began to, of course, find places to minister and to preach. They departed under Seleucia and from there to Cyprus. And then as they were preaching at Salmus, preaching the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, John Mark was there to help them as well. And so we find the work of the ministry progressing here. Everything God did made his will known throughout the work of the ministry here. And we see that God the Holy Spirit is kind of laying his stamp of approval upon those things which are done to his glory. And so the work of the ministry begins to prosper and to move forward here. Thirdly, as we look at verse 6 to verse 13, we kind of see another situation developing. As the ministry of the gospel begins to spread, not only the church begins to take more role in marking out those who would go, such as Barnabas and Saul, but we find that opposition within the community sometimes comes up and Satan begins to do work to try to prevent the work of the ministry. And as we look at verse 6 and following, here through verse 13, we find that Saul, or Paul as we might call him, he encounters someone who is a false teacher. And when they had gone through the Isle of Papos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus. And so this sorcerer by the name of Bar-Jesus, which means son of Jesus, is a false prophet, and he is also called Eliamus, another name for him. And I believe that Saul then calls him not son of Jesus, but son of the devil instead, because he is a false prophet. He is not a true prophet of God, and he tries to pervert the message of Christ by turning people away from the true message of the gospel. Verse 7, who was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus. And so Sergius Paulus was an official of the country, that they were in that area, in Salmus, and a prudent man who was called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God, and so surges Paulus, and we might take a note here that Paulus is a similar Gentile word as Paul, and so he finds the opportunity, Paul finds the opportunity to minister to these Gentiles. Says, but Eliamus the sorcerer, for so he is by name or name by interpretation, withstood them seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. And we know that that's what false prophets seek to do. They seek to turn away others from the faith. And we have people today trying to do that, turn people away from the faith. Usually they want to turn people away from Jesus, that they might turn them to something else. And they usually redirect them to something else. And we find that for Elimus, or this Bar-Jesus, as he is somehow involved with Sergius Paulus, It may be he felt that his work with Sergius Paulus would be somehow threatened if he converted to Christ. As many people have that kind of feeling, you know, that somehow if somebody converts to Christianity, they'll lose their certain admiration for what they're doing, and they'll change their their affinity away to something else. So this sorcerer by Jesus, he is a false prophet and he seeks to turn people, or turn Surgis Paulis away from the gospel. and that he might not go to that faith which is in Christ. Verse 9, then Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, sets his eyes on him and said, O fool of all deceit and all mischief, thou child of the devil. See, Paul calls him the child of the devil. His name means son of Jesus, but Paul says, no, you're the son of the devil, that's what you are. You're not the son of Jesus, you're the son of the devil. And because Paul knew that he was truly a false prophet, he was not a true prophet of God at all, he had no true faith in Christ, and so Saul rebukes him and he says he's full of deceit, he's full of mischief. You're the son of the devil, you're an enemy of all righteousness. Thou will not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord. So this Elymas, this Bargesus, he was at enmity with God. He was a false prophet. And I think we can always tell false prophets by what their true motive is. If they have no motive to truly know God and to truly preach the gospel of Christ, usually they have a motive which is quite selfish and self-centered, and is not of God. If it's not of God, then it's of Satan, and that's what it amounts to. They are perverting the right ways of the Lord. And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee. and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season." So this is also unusual, we find that Paul takes the authority, he condemns this man, rebukes him for who he is, and then he pronounces a judgment upon him. He doesn't just rebuke him, it doesn't say that he had a demon in him. Perhaps he was a charlatan in the sense that he was trying to line his own pockets through political and social gain. It doesn't say that he is filled with a demon, but Paul does call him a son of the devil. And there are many who, of course, take up their ambition with the devil. That is, they find their pockets aligned by doing the devil's work rather than God's work. They find their pockets being lined by doing unrighteousness rather than righteousness. They find that their pockets are somehow lined by helping people to sin rather than to keep them from sin. or to turn their hearts away from God and to something else, whether it's humanism or revolution or socialism or whatever kind of ism it might be. If they're turning their lives away from Jesus and to some of these other things, then they're not working for God, they're working against God. But for whatever reason, he doesn't seek to rebuke the demon, if there was a demon in him, he doesn't do that. No, he judges him. He just judges him and he says, 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 someone to lead him by the hand. And so a judgment was pronounced upon him. Saul pronounced a judgment upon him. It's like saying, I'm going to put this judgment upon you by Jesus because you are not doing the will of God, you are doing the will of the devil. And you are to be judged for it. And so for a season, he didn't say that he would be blind permanently for a season. He wanted evidently to judge him and to teach him that he is not to do this. And immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Instead of turning Sergius Paulus away from the Lord, from Jesus, we find that this acted only to turn him toward the Lord Jesus. And in other words, he became quite amazed at what had happened. And seeing that Paul was truly of God, seeing that what he did was in the name of God, and of the Lord Jesus, he then becomes quite interested in the doctrine of the Lord. And then verse 13, now when Paul and his company loosed from Papos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. And so they left the Isle of Papos and they came to Perga in Pamphylia and then John departed and went back to Jerusalem here. So this sorcerer, this false prophet as he is called, and the other name given to him, Elyimus, is rebuked, is judged, and we find that God is glorified once again. And it appears that Sergius Paulus comes to the Lord. And so the gospel began to spread more and more. And we find that this first, which is believed to be the first missionary journey of Paul, is blessed as God, the Holy Spirit, uses Paul and Barnabas. And they go forward in the name of the Lord. and they honor the Lord. Shall we pray together? Loving Father, we do thank you for the blessing that you give to your word and the blessing that you place upon those who minister your word and for those who are called to go out and how that the church is very much involved in sanctioning those who are called and the Spirit of God sends them And we're thankful for this as we see it in the Book of Acts. And we know, Lord, that you are still in the process of doing that. Still calling people, still sending people forth, still gifting people by the Holy Spirit, still working in their hearts and effecting a change upon the hearts of those who know the true ministry of the Word of God by the Gospel of Christ. We thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.