First Missionaries

The Way Home
THE FIRST MISSIONARIES

Story 9 - Acts 11:19-30; 13:1 to 14:28
We have seen how, after the death of Stephen, those who were driven out of Jerusalem went everywhere with the good news of Jesus. Some of these men traveled as far as Antioch in Syria, which was a great northern city, two hundred and fifty miles from Jerusalem. At first they spoke only to Jews, preaching the Word of Christ; but soon many Gentiles, people who were not Jews, heard about the Gospel and wished to have it preached to them also. So these men began preaching to the Gentiles, telling them about Jesus Christ and how to be saved.

The Lord was with the Gospel, and in a little time a great number believed in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles. So, at Antioch in Syria a church was built where Jews and Gentiles worshiped together, forgetting that they had ever been apart. News that Gentiles in Antioch were coming to Christ spread to the church in Jerusalem. Since the followers of Christ in Jerusalem were Jews, they were unsure whether Jews and Gentiles should worship together as one people. After a time, it was decided that someone wise from Jerusalem should go to Antioch and see this new church of Jews and Gentiles.

The wise man they chose was Barnabas. Remember him? He was the good man who had given his land to be sold to help the poor and who had brought Saul to the church when the disciples were afraid of him. So Barnabas took the long journey from Jerusalem to Antioch. When he saw these new disciples, so many, so strong in their love for Christ, so united in their spirit and so earnest in the Gospel, he was glad and told them all to stand fast in the Lord. For Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

The church at Antioch was growing so fast that it needed men for leaders and teachers. Barnabas thought of Saul, who had once been an enemy, but was now a follower of Christ. In order to find him, Barnabas traveled to Tarsus, the early home of Saul. This is where Saul was located at the time. He brought Saul to Antioch, and there Barnabas and Saul stayed together for

a year, preaching to the people and teaching those who believed in Christ. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called by the name “Christians.”

On one occasion some men to whom God had showed things that should come to pass came from Jerusalem to Antioch. These men were prophets, speaking from God. One of them, a man named Agabus, said through the Spirit of God that a great famine, a need for food, was soon to come upon all the lands. This came as Agabus the prophet had said, in the days when Claudius was emperor at Rome. Over all the lands many suffered from hunger because food was very scarce.

When the followers of Christ in Antioch heard that their brethren in Jerusalem and Judea were in need they wanted to help. So they gave as much money as each one could afford. They sent Barnabas and Saul with the money. Barnabus and Saul carried the gifts of the church to Jerusalem and stayed there for a time. When they went back to Antioch, they took John Mark with them, the young son of Mary. Remember her from our last story? Peter went to her house when he was set free from prison.

Some time after they returned to Antioch, the Lord called Barnabas and Saul to go forth and preach the good news of Christ to people in other lands. On one occasion, while members of the church were praying together, the Spirit of the Lord spoke, saying, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for a special work to which I have called them.”

Then the leaders of the church at Antioch prayed and laid their hands on the head of Barnabas and Saul. And Barnabas and Saul went forth, taking the young John Mark along. They went down to the shore of the Great Sea at Seleucia and took a ship and sailed to the island of Cyprus. On that island they visited all the cities and preached Christ in all the synagogues of the Jews.

On the west part of the island, at a place called Paphos, they met the Roman ruler of the island. He was a man named Sergius Paulus. He was a good man, and he sent for Barnabas and Saul, so that he might learn about Christ from them. But with the ruler was a Jew named Elymas, who claimed to be a prophet. He opposed Barnabas and Saul teaching the Gospel and tried to persuade the ruler not to listen.

Then Saul, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on this man Elymas, the false prophet, and said to him, “O you man full of wickedness, you child of the evil one, you enemy of the right, will you not stop opposing the word of the Lord? The hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind for a time, not able to see the sun!”

And at once a mist and a darkness fell upon Elymas, and he groped about, feeling for someone to lead him by the hand. When the ruler saw that the power of the Lord brought blindness he was filled with wonder and believed the Gospel of Christ.

From this time on Saul was called Paul. He was no longer Saul, but “Paul the Apostle,” having all the power that belonged to Peter and John and the other apostles.

From the island of Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas and John Mark sailed over the sea to a place called Perga. At this place John Mark left them and went back to his home in Jerusalem. But Paul and Barnabas went into the land of Asia Minor and came to a city called Antioch. This was not Antioch in Syria, from which they had come, but another Antioch in a region call Pisidia. There they went into a synagogue, and Paul preached to both Jews and Gentiles. Not many of the Jews believed Paul’s words, but a great number of Gentiles, people who were not Jews, became followers of Christ. This made the Jews very angry, and they roused up all the chief men of the city against Paul and Barnabas, driving them away.

Paul and Barnabas went to another city named Iconium, and preached the Gospel with such power that many of both Jews and Gentiles believed in Christ. But the Jews who would not believe stirred up the city against Paul and Barnabas, and they gathered up a crowd of people hoping to seize the apostles so they could do them harm and kill them. But Paul and Barnabas knew of the coming of their enemies, and since they had planted the church and completed their work in Iconium, they quietly went away from the city.

The apostle Paul and Barnabas next went to the land of Lycaonia and preached the Gospel in the city of Lystra. There were few Jews in that city, and they preached to the people of the land who were worshipers of idols. Among those who heard Paul speak at Lystra was a lame man, who had never been able to walk. Paul fixed his eyes on this man and saw that he had faith to be made strong. He said to him with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet!”

And at the words the man leaped up and walked. As the people saw how the lame man had been healed, they were filled with wonder and said, in the language of their own land, “The gods from heaven have come down to us in the forms of men!”

They thought that Barnabas was Jupiter, whom they worshiped as the greatest of the gods; and because Paul was the chief speaker, they thought he was Mercury, the messenger of the gods. In front of their city was a temple of Jupiter; and the priest of the temple brought oxen and garlands of flowers and was about to offer a sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul as gods. It was some time before the two apostles understood what the people were doing. But when they saw that they were about to offer sacrifice to them, Paul and Barnabas rushed out among the people and cried out, “Men, why do you do such things as these? We are not gods, but men like yourselves. And we bring you word that you should turn away from these idols, which are nothing, to the living God, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things. It is God Who has done good to you and given you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling you with food and gladness.”

And even with words like these, they could scarcely keep the people back from offering sacrifices to them. But after a time some Jews came from Iconium. These Jews stirred up the people against Paul, so that instead of worshiping him, they stoned him and dragged out of the city what they thought was his dead body. Then they left him, and as the believers gathered around, weeping, Paul rose up alive, and went back into the city. On the next day he journeyed with Barnabas to Derbe. There they preached the Gospel and led many to Christ.

After this they went back to the cities where they had preached, to Lystra in Lycaonia, to Iconium and Antioch in Pisidia, and to Perga in Pamphylia, and visited the churches which they had founded. They encouraged the believers, telling them to continue in the faith and saying to them that those who would enter into the kingdom of God must expect to meet with trouble, and that God would give them a full reward.