to Acts chapter 13 for our Bible reading. Acts chapter 13, and we're going to read from verse 1 of the chapter. As I mentioned in the Lord's Day, this being the last Tuesday night of the month, we want to devote as much time as possible to prayer, praying especially for the mission in November time with the Reverend Fletcher. But tonight we can also remember the meetings with the boys and girls It commenced tonight in Kilmorey Court and then next week also in the open air meetings and so please remember those also. Tonight when we come to prayer but we're praying with the mission in mind that the Lord might come and visit us with a very special time of blessing and right up to that time when the mission commences that he'll come and visit us here and revive our hearts and strengthen our souls and help us to be stirred up in our hearts so we might be up and doing this time of special evangelism, special ministry, that the Lord will touch our own hearts and as we wait before him tonight, that the Lord will come and bless us here in the time of prayer. Before we get to prayer though, we want to read some verses from Acts chapter 13, make a few comments on them and then we'll get straight down to our time of prayer. Let's read from verse 1. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simeon It was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Mannaean, which had been brought up with Herod the Tertiary 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. So they had been sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed on to Seleucia, and from thence they sailed 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 minister. And when he had gone through the isle unto Paphos, he found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man, who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, who is also called Paul, fell with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, and said, O fool of all subtlety and all mischief, thy child of the devil, thy enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And, lo, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, And 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 some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Amen. We'll finish at verse 12, and we trust that God will bless His word to our hearts. The formation of the church at Antioch is recorded for us in Acts chapter 11. It was a church in many ways that was formed out of the labors of persecuted Christians who upon the death of Stephen had to flee from Jerusalem and they travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch and they did so preaching the word of God. And as those believers, and it didn't involve the apostles, the apostles stayed in Jerusalem, but as those believers were travelling through those various areas, those various towns, preaching the word, and the thought there is that they were just testifying of the word of God and gossiping the gospel, the Lord was pleased to move and precious souls were saved. And a church in Antioch was formed. It became a very strong church because Saul, or Paul as he became known, came down with Barnabas and for some time they stayed there and taught the saints in that particular city. In Acts chapter 13 we are told something of the make up of the church at Antioch and if you look there at verse 1 you will discover it was made up of men like Barnabas and Simeon and it was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Mannaean which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. Now the church at Antioch was made up of a group of people who had very different personalities. He came from very different backgrounds. In fact, some of them came from different places altogether. And yet with all of that diversity in the church, there was a tremendous spirit of unity. There's nothing to suggest here that this was a church at variance with itself. Rather, these believers were together. They were one in Christ, of course. It was that unity because of their position in the Saviour. But not only that, it's clear from verse 2 that they met together and they ministered unto the Lord. The idea there is that they spent time in prayer. Verse 2 also makes mention of the fact that they fasted. And the focus of that verse and the theme of those phrases is the fact that here were people who were worshipping the Lord together, waiting upon the Lord. willing to walk in the ways of God and longing together for the furtherance of the gospel. There was a very good and a very pleasant situation within the church at Antioch. And therefore God sent a blessing. Of course that's in line with what we have in Psalm 133, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. And then we read later on in that Psalm, it's there that the Lord commands the blessing. And I suppose in many ways that's what makes the church at Antioch a model church. And there are characteristics here that ought to be seen in every congregation. We ought to come together as we worship the Lord, as we wait upon the Lord in prayer with that sense of unity, with a desire to keep that bond of peace and also to know the Lord's presence amongst us as we wait before him and as we seek his face in prayer. And therefore this church at Antioch in that sense was a model church. But it wasn't only a model church in that sense, it was also a model church in regard to its evangelism. Or the evangelism that emerged from this church. When you read Acts chapter 13, when you read Acts chapter 11, but also Acts chapter 13, it's clear that the church in Antioch had a burden for souls. They had an interest in the lost. And of course that's what interests us tonight. I think these verses are extremely simple and yet for all of their simplicity they are extremely powerful. And I want to draw your attention really to what we have there in verses 2 and 3 and 4. And I want to draw some very simple lessons as we come to prayer tonight, not wanting to take up too much time considering this passage, maybe we'll come back to it another time, but just drawing your thoughts and your mind to some very important matters. Notice with me first of all that the Spirit of God always leads the church of Christ forward in God's work. The focus of these verses, especially verse 2, is the intervention of the Spirit of God in the life of this church. Especially in that area where it directs, or where the Spirit of God directs and leads the church, to send men out as missionaries to the lost. Look at verse 2. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate thee Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. Now the work in focus there is undoubtedly the work of God. The work of seeing the kingdom of God extended. The church of Jesus Christ built up. And you'll notice that it's the Spirit of God who is leading the church forward in that particular business. Now we might speak of this as special evangelism. These men being sent out as missionaries to other parts of the world. And I use the phrase special evangelism in the sense that we understand that this was something that not the whole church was involved in because it was only Paul and Barnabas or Saul and Barnabas who were set apart. The other disciples were going to stay in Antioch They were going to labour for the Lord there, but Barnabas and Saul were going to be sent forth as what we might term missionaries to foreign fields. But the point still stands that this was a time of particular evangelism, a time of special labour for the Lord, a time of concentrated effort whereby the gospel would be spread and the kingdom of God would be extended and that time was directed by the Spirit of God. In other words, this was God's will for the church. Believer, it is still God's word for the church tonight that we go out and seek to win the loss to Jesus Christ. That's what the Spirit directs the church to do. It's interesting when you read of Christ's commission to the disciples before he ascended back to heaven. He told them to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. They were to commence at Jerusalem and then Samaria and then the uttermost parts of the world. And what you have in the book of Acts is really the outworking of that commission. You have the disciples starting off in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. and from Jerusalem then they begin to spread out. And whenever Stephen was stoned to death and these believers who were being persecuted left Jerusalem and went to these other areas, right into Antioch itself, there was the fulfilling of that great commission. And now we find that from Antioch Paul and Barnabas are being sent even further still. And in the book of Acts you have the unfolding or the outworking or the developing of the great commission of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is always God's will for us. That's always the way the Spirit directs the church. Whether we think of missionaries who go to the foreign field, and that's always a need. Or whether we think of missions at home, whether it's with the boys and girls across the street, or whether it's in a church or a hall or a tent or wherever. It's the will of God that we be busy seeking to win the loss to Christ. That's what's happening here. The Spirit of God directs the church to send Barnabas and Saul on this gospel mission and on this missionary endeavour. And surely it ought to be our desire to be led of the Spirit in this very same way. to throw our hearts and our whole strength into this particular matter. A gospel mission is not just held and meetings advertised and we just expect people to come in. We've got to be busy. We've got to do what we can to draw and encourage and invite others to come in under the sound of God's word and that undoubtedly is God's will for us. That's how the Spirit leads how the Spirit directs that the Church of Christ might go forward in the work of God. And then you'll notice also from this passage that the preaching of the Word is essential for the furtherance of God's work. If you look at verse 5, it says that when they were at Salamis, they preached the Word of God. Verse 7, the deputy of the country, he wanted to hear the Word of God. Verse 12, He was astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Now there are two things there. There is the pre-eminence of the Word. Whenever these apostles Saul and Barnabas went forth as missionaries, they went with the purpose of presenting the Word of God. They did not go to those areas and to those islands, to Cyprus, with the thought of presenting their own theory. or coming with some social plan for development or some other kind of thing that was going to impact upon the people in that kind of way. They went with the Word of God. The Word of God was preeminent in their heart, preeminent in their mind. This was their chief desire, that they might be enabled by the Lord to present the Word of the Living God. Of course, that's what Paul tells Timothy. In 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2, having outlined the dark nature of the last days, the days of apostasy and perilous times, he then tells Timothy, but Timothy, you preach the word. You preach the word. And that's the church's business. The word of God must be preeminent. But not only is there the preeminence of the word, there's also there the preeminence of preaching, or the priority of preaching. They were to go and preach the word in verse 5. Now we mentioned in chapter 11 in verse 20 that the believers who were persecuted, they went preaching the Lord Jesus. Now there are two different words there in the original. The one in chapter 11 has the idea of just in conversation, just meeting people and conversing with them. and in that way conveying the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, just gossiping, that's really the thought behind the word. Just as they travelled and went from place to place they gossiped out the word of God, they spread the news of Christ and it's called their preaching. In chapter 13 a different word is used and it has the idea of declaring in a more public way, in a more outspoken way, I suppose the way that we're familiar with in our regular services. That's the thought here. The preaching of the word of God. And that's how God's work is advanced. That's the means that God has chosen. We read in Corinthians that it has pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's why in many of our pulpits we have the statement we preach Christ crucified. Because the church must be a preaching church. That's why we call weeks of gospel missions, not to engage in some kind of entertainment program, but that we might engage in a preaching program with the Word of God being pre-eminent and the message of Christ taking priority. That's how God advances his work. That's why it's important to have gospel missions. That's why it's important in our regular Sunday services. That's why it's important in our children's meetings and all of those other services that we have that the Word of God is presented and set before the people. Because that's the means that God has been pleased to use. The means that God has been pleased to appoint and ordain for the furtherance of his work. The Church of Christ has taken the greatest possible strides forward under the preaching of the Word. That happened throughout the book of Acts. It happens right through to this very day. Then the last thing that I want you to notice is that the preaching of God's Word will be attended to with the power of God in salvation. You'll notice that there was one man converted here in this opening part of this missionary journey. One man, the deputy of the country. There was Elymas the sorcerer, he tried to put him off, he tried to turn him away from the faith, verse 8. But the Lord moved in his heart and even though Paul had to stop and deal with the sorcerer and called him a child of the devil and full of all subtlety and mystique, even though all of that takes place, the deputy of the land is converted. He believes, that mentioned there in verse 12, then the deputy when he saw what was done believed being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. There was preaching and as a result of the preaching a soul was saved. Whenever we think of gospel missions, and this has been much in my mind these last number of days especially, whenever we think of gospel missions we have it in our mind that we love to see the Lord do mighty things and many, many people being saved. And sometimes when that doesn't happen The devil will put into our minds the thought that God hasn't really answered prayer, that God hasn't really worked, that God hasn't fulfilled his promise. I don't believe that for a moment. You will notice there that Paul and Barnabas preached, if you look at verse 5, when they were at Salamis they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews and they had also drawn to their minister. It doesn't record there that any people, anybody was saved. They just preached the word. And when they come into the other part of the island, this man, this deputy, he asks to hear the word of God, and it seems that he's the only one who asks to hear the word of God. But God's at work. That's the point. God is at work. Even though there's not the hundreds and thousands coming to be saved, even though there's not the movement that there was on the day of Pentecost, God was still working. Souls were still being saved. The Gospel was still prospering. There was fruit following the preaching of the Word. And God is always at work. God is always at work. That's something I fear we lose sight of, especially in the regular ministry. whether it be in the Lord's day, in the morning or evening time, or in the youth fellowship, or the children's meeting, or Sunday school classes, or wherever there happens to be the preaching and setting forth of God's word, if things are not happening outwardly, we can begin to imagine that God is not working. Sometimes we can imagine that God will only work when he sends revival. Believer, that's not true. God is always at work, even though we may not see him, even though we may not be able to perceive the fact that God is working. God is always working. And even here on this opening part of this particular missionary journey, God was at work and God was fulfilling his own divine purpose. And let's never lose sight of that. Perhaps we think and perhaps you have felt that God's not working and unseen by us, God is dealing with hearts. Unseen by us, God is convicting of sin. Unseen by us, God is saving souls. If you turn with me to Job chapter 23 and verse 9, there's a statement there that ought to encourage our hearts. Job chapter 23 and verse 9. Remember Job's situation, he was in dire straits because of his circumstances, not understanding what was taking place but accepting the sovereignty of God, realising that his Redeemer liveth. And he says in verse 9 of that chapter, well we'll read from verse 8, Behold I go forward but he is not there, and backward but I cannot perceive him, on the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold him. He hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him. Notice where God is working. Job cannot see this. He cannot perceive. He cannot behold. That's what he says in verse 8 and verse 9. And yet he has this confidence on the left hand where he doth work. And that verb translated there, doth work, is in a sense that suggests a continual working. Notice where the Lord is working. He's working on the left hand. I'm left handed so I can say this. The left hand, it's side is always the awkward side, the weak side. That's how it's perceived. And yet that's where God's working. Job couldn't see it. He couldn't perceive it. But he knew that God was at work. And that's what was happening in this missionary journey. God was working in that man's heart, that deputy's heart. So when Paul and Barnabas came, that man asked to hear the Word of God. Believer, that's what we need to pray for. That the Lord will work and that the preaching of His Word will be attended to by the power of God in salvation. And then the glory will all be his. So Isaiah 55 and verse 11 speaks of, it says, his word shall not return unto him void. It will accomplish that which he has sent. It will prosper in the thing that he has sent. It will prosper in the thing that he pleases. The Lord will bless his word. It's God's will that we desire the work of God to go forward. That's all that I And it's God's means that the preaching of the word is used in the furtherance of his work. And in the preaching of God's word, God is pleased to work. Therefore tonight when we come to pray, we can come with boldness, we can come with confidence. We're not coming to ascertain is it God's will to preach in a mission. We're not coming to ascertain Is it God's will that the gospel is preached? We're coming simply to pray that God will bless that Word, that preaching of the Word, in a powerful fashion, and that souls will be saved. And even right up to the mission time, that in the months between now and then, that we will see the Lord at work, and that hearts will be prepared And that when God's servant comes to preach, there will be people who will come desiring to hear the Word of God. Of course, there will be those like the sorcerer here who will oppose it. The devil will certainly oppose it. But our God is greater than the devil. And let's pray that God will move in a very particular way. And right up to that time, the Lord will move through the ordinary, if I use that phrase, the regular ministry, that the Lord will move in a mighty way and prepare the ground for this time of special gospel preaching. I trust the Lord will bless His word to our hearts.