Bible Guys Classics: Acts 13 Part 1

So today we're looking at Paul going on first of many missionary journeys. Yeah, this is the beginning of the spread of the Gospel through the Roman Empire, particularly up into Europe, which is kind of exciting. So that's what we're talking about today. He's Chris, I'm Jeff, and we're the Bible Guys. Dude. I love that big explosion at the end. Yes, so manly. It is because we're important. It's anticipation heavy. So hey, listen, if you have been tuning in, we did this thing called stump the pastor where we ask people to send in questions. Yeah, and that we collected and sifted through the questions that we're sent in and we're picking five for this week. If you would like to ask us any other questions, send it to info at the Bible Guys dot com and we will take that into consideration the next time that we do something like this. Then they don't all have to be so intense. You could ask some lighthearted stuff too if you want. That's correct. Yeah, but these are intense. Yeah, they are. Well, it is called it is called stump. I like the So so here's what Felicia J. Says. My mom never let me trick or treat or celebrate Halloween as a kid, since the holiday came from pagan origins. As an adult, I'm conflicted how to feel. I can see it's a lot of fun and I'm drawn to it. Almost everyone says it's harmless. My husband would like our future children to dress up and trick or treat. What are your thoughts on Halloween or other pagan holiday traditions. Some say that bunnies and Easter eggs come from pagan origins as well. Are they harmless in modern times? Oh yeah, that's a big one. Yeah, thanks for pulling us into the hornet's nest on this one. Yeah for sure. Wow. So I just I just want to say that I do celebrate all three of those holidays and have fun with Santa on Easter, Bunny and and uh, you know, dress up, trick or treating, go out with my kids and have done you know every year. Well, your family is famous for your great Halloween costumes as a family, Yeah, were don't you guys like Scooby Doo and. Yeah, the whole gang, Yeah, the whole gang. Yeah. Yeah, and then you're famous for hiding Easter baskets, yes, and insane hiding at Easter baskets. So yeah, you're you're pretty pretty well established that you participate in all of the holid days. Yeah, so let's just jump into it. So I like, and my philosophy is this. Let's take Halloween for example. So what Halloween was once rooted in, it is very obvious that it is not celebrated that way by ninety nine point nine to nine percent of the people in the world. So her sentiment of saying, most people say it's harmless, the idea of like trick or treating and having fun with candy certainly doesn't connect to the roots of you know, the Satan's Eve or hallow z E or you know those kind of things, even though that we all know that there's people out there that are creepy, right, So I would just say this. I liken it to Romans chapter fourteen, where Paul is talking about eats or eating a meat sacrifice to false idols. And now keep in mind, the culture of that day was very strong, right, Like, we're talking like it's not just a pagan holiday, we're talking about worshiping another god, which is in direct violation to anything. And so Paul makes the comment and says, hey, listen, I'm paraphrasing, but you know, this is just a piece of steak. I know, it's a piece of steak. It's a good steak. Wouldn't be bad at all if we ate it. It would just be eating steak, right, he says, But we want to keep in mind that other people around us would see it as a stumbling block. So don't offend your conscience, right, and don't be a stumbling block to the believers. Yeah, so you're referencing Romans fourteen. And he also mentions holy days in that passage. So he mentioned some people celebrate and worship God on Holy days. A lot of people say every day is the same, right, So yeah, I would say October thirty first is a unique date, as are you know, the different solstices throughout the year, and that astrologically and from a pagan perspective, for thousands of years, humanity has recognized these dates as being significant, each of the solstices being very significant. The the idea of the trick or treat, dress up in costumes, run around in the neighborhoods, you know, get free candy. That is a distinctly Western concept. I mean people in Myanmar run around trick or treat and you know, in Burma on October thirty first. So it's definitely a Western thing. And it did start off as a pagan thing. But this construct that we have today of putting on a mask and pretending like you're a policeman or a you know, a bear or something, yeah, is that's definitely a Western thing. And so I think what you're talking about is the modern American you know, family tradition of running around getting free candy, wearing a costume. That is I think what you're referencing. That's why you don't have a problem dress up like Scooby Doo and have fun doing it. That's right, that's right. What you're not saying is let's all dance around the maypole or let's all go get naked out in the woods and have a big bonfire and worship the devil. You're not saying that, and none of. That, but like, not get too creepy when you dress upright, But see, I apply that principle to like the movies I watch, sure, Right, So it's not like it's not a good thing to fill your mind with horror movies constantly, right, or or worse than that, like evil stuff. Yeah, I'll be honest with you, like even criminal minds. For me, like, I stop watching it's very fascinating. Like all it does is like they say, oh, let's try to think like a deranged serial killer. That's that's what that is, right, And I can't fill myself with that much darkness. Well, Glacians five says, think on those things that are good and wholesome. Yeah, right. I had to stop watching it. Man, it was killing me. Yeah. And so I my daughter likes documentaries and all the I'm like, man, I can't fill myself with that. So therefore the principle applies, Like I'm not going to dress up with totally evil things on Halloween, things that are just evil. And so I would just say, you know, you know, as long as you keep that principle throughout your entire life in all things. So let me just also say this, So Christmas, you know, the celebration of everything that comes with Christmas is also pagan rooted right, based on good things. Well, December twenty fifth was not the day Jesus was born. That's right. Jesus was born in the spring, not in December. December twenty fifth was a distinct Roman pagan holiday, but the Christians co opted. We took it over and said, hey, it's a major holiday. We're just going to turn it into a Christian holiday. Right, which is probably funny. And by the way, just as a side note for our listeners, Jesus probably wasn't born on zero zero zero. You know, No, he very definitely was not. He was probably born three ads. Yeah, three or four a d. I've always heard four four, but yeah, some are somewhere around that time. So it's not quite exactly accurate as we as we believe it. I'm sorry, BC. Yeah, BC BC. We said ag, yeah, I'm sorry, I said ad yeah, and I went along with you. So so let me let me wrap up with this. I think Romans fourteen and First Corinthians eight both deal with the same idea, and Paul combines both eating of meat that is offered to idols and holy days together, because what we're talking about is pagan practices, right, and that's what he's talking about. He's not talking about holy days like Jewish holy days where they would have you know, Passover, Pentecost or one of those things. That's not an issue for the Jews, they wouldn't have cared. They're talking about He's writing to the to the Romans, right, So now they're asking what do we do with all these holidays that are cultural and social, but you know, we don't worship them or celebrate them from a religious standpoint. So Paul is combined those two and he says, accept other believers in verse in chapter fourteen who are weak in the faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. This is really important. What God says is right is right. What God says is wrong is wrong. And on those things you and I don't there is no argument right because God's right. He's right about what's right. He's right about what's wrong, there's no need. But on the things God doesn't say anything about, that's where we are. We can have differences, right. So sat Augustine said, on essentials we must have unity, and those are all the things about salvation and what God says is right and wrong. On non essentials, the things God doesn't speak about. He said, we have freedom or liberty, but in all things we should have love or charity. It's what he said towards each other. So this is that passage where he's talking about not the things that God said are clearly right or wrong, but in the things God doesn't say anything about. We're just not going to get upset with each other over what you believe versus what I believe on that, and that's why he ends the chapter at fourteen. Don't sin against your own conscience. Now, he says, I know some days are days. Some people like to set aside a day and say I'm going to worship God extra special on that day. Fine, that's wrong, that's fine. Other people go, no, every day is equally important. I'm going to worship God equally on every day, and that's fine too. And he said, just don't judge each other on it. Some people would say, man, it's a great deal. You buy all these prime meat from these temples super cheap. It was great, and others go, that was offered an idol, and first Corinthians Paul says, we know idols are just stones and gold and metal. They're nothing. But he said, what I don't want to do is judge somebody else who has a stricter rule than me on something that God didn't say anything about. Because they're doing that in order to honor God with their life, and so you should give them room. Certainly, don't be the kind of person go you're a jerk, or you're an idiot, or why you're so dumb? Right, instead, say give them respect that they're choosing to go a little further with God on that. But what he does say is be convinced in your own heart whether or not you should or shouldn't do it. If you're not convinced, don't sin against your conscience. Yeah, and that's that really is the foundation law. It is foundation. Yeah. And so so for me, I as long as I am not you know, being super evil on Halloween, and all I do is embrace the social part of it because again it's not connected to what it once was thousands of years ago. My conscience says there's nothing wrong with what I'm doing, right, and so I'm gonna do that. And then and further than that, like especially on Christmas, I'm gonna bring Jesus into those moments, right, and so I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take you know that which the world may not recognize. As you know, Easter Bunny is not the resurrection, right, but we're gonna we're gonna take We're gonna take it. We're gonna interject Jesus and we're going to enter into that culture, have fun socially with people, and then we're gonna just take art whatever opportunity we can to bring Jesus into the equation. Yeah, there are Irish traditions about bunnies and about eggs and all those kinds of things that kind of they've made to reference around the resurrection, around new life, around all those kinds of things. And so you like the egg represents the trinity. Yeah, sure, and so there's several of those things that you know, you can find ways to teach your children. What we did is we were really careful. We said, kids, we're not going to do any evil. We're not going to dress up like which is, we're not going to do ouiji boards, We're not going to do any of the evil or gory, bloody things. So you want to have fun and be silly, that's one thing. You want to be evil. I think that's opening up a door specifically to other evil things in your life. And so there's a fine line there, and I think you have to be convinced and be as with everything. You have to be very judicious in the way that you lead your family in those things, but it can be fairly harmless. I believe we didn't move on. Wow. So Acts chapter thirteen is where we're at, and they're hitting the road now, and basically what we're going to see is for the next couple chapters they're going to spend most of their time in what we would consider now modern day Turkey. They're leaving modern day Syria Antioch in Syria, and they're heading into what is modern day Turkey, which would be Asia Minor is how the map makers called it. They called it Asia Minor. It would be the eastern portion of the Roman Empire. You know, Constantinople eventually became the thing is Dambul with Constantinople house is dambul. Anyways, they'll get in your head. Here you go. I love this song. So Acts chapter thirteen is where we're at, and here's what it says. Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas Simeon called the black Man, Lucius from Syreene Manayan, the childhood companion King herod Antipas, and Saul one day, as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them. So, after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went down to the seaport of Silucia and then sailed for the island of Cyprus. There, in the town to Salamus, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God. John Mark went with them as their assistant. Afterward, they traveled from town to town across the entire island, till finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named bar Jesus. He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. But Alamis, the sorcerer, as his name means in Greek, interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas, and Saul said he was trying to keep the governor from believing. Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked to the sorcerer in the eye, and then he said, you, son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good, will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord? Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time. Instantly, mist and darkness came over the man's eyes, and he began groping around, begging for someone to take his hand and to lead him. When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord. That's our passage today. Yeah, so how about that, you'll be struck blind? And then he was struck blind. Oh, we were just talking about witchcraft and sorcery and here's a real sorcerer. Yeah, so it's real, it exists, right, that's amazing. And by the way, just side note is that this is the first time where Saul is a Comma also known as Paul. So it's like the first evidence of his reputation changing. That's correct, isn't that fun? Yeah? Yeah, And eventually he'll become Paul, but right now it's Barnabas and Saul who's kind of sort of known as Paul too. Yeah. So this is one of the things at the beginning. It's it's kind of easy to blow past the first couple verses, but it talks about the prophets and the teachers. These are the leaders of the church in Antioch. Remember outside of Jerusalem, this is the biggest church, is the Church in Antioch at the time. And there's Barnabas obviously there Simeon called the Black Man. Niger is the other word there right from the West Africa, Lucius from Syene and Manayan, the childhood companion of Heird and Saul. So you have a tremendous amount of diversity here. It's an international group of leaders here, right. You have some Mediterranean people, you have an African man, You've got East Asia or Central Asian people all here. There's a Greek in there. It's very substantial, the breadth of leadership that God has and it's kind of easy for us to blow past that, except for the fact that God wanted us to understand who Simion was, and who Lucius was, and who Manean was. God wanted us to know these guys. Doesn't say anything else about Manaian in the Bible, just this one. Doesn't say anything about anything else about Simon except the spot. And I think it's really cool that God goes, Hey, just want you to know there's a plurality of leadership. It's not just one dictator, and it's lots of cultures, lots of different perspectives. And then don't minimize the fact that Saul came from a sect of the Jewish religion that was the most conservative, hyper religious Pharisees. So you go from the hyper religious jew all the way to Simeon and Manaian and Lucius, who would have come from very different cultures. Wow, it's pretty cool. Well, that's a lot of great insights, isn't it. Neat, that's very cool. Yeah, I was looking at verse number I don't know what that verse that is, number four where he talks about Barnabas and Saul and it says they were sent out by the Holy Spirit. You know, it's so great when you feel like you're doing something that you know God wants you to do. You know, there's so many times in our lives, and obviously this was a pretty big, huge moment in Paul's life, but there are little moments too, where God nudges us to do something. Have you ever been in a place where the Holy Spirit nudges you to somebody or pray for somebody, or to serve somebody, or to give somebody something financially generosity? And whenever you do that, you know that it's going to make a difference. Because even though that Barnabas and Saul have absolutely no idea what's coming, they they're setting out on these unbelievable missionary journeys that are going to just change the world. And I believe that they themselves have no idea what they're doing. They know what they can see in the moment, and they know they're making an impact, right, but they have no idea the future impact. And so it's just a great reminder for us, even that small little verse, that when God nudges you to do something, and you've identified that as the Holy Spirit's nudging in your life, then then never underestimate what God wants to do in you and through you. Because when you feel like God is sending you on a mission, then then do it because the importance is greater than you think. And I also think that you know, even in big ways of our lives. You know, when when God sends us off and he let's just say, he has us quit a job and start a new business, or switch companies, or or move to another place, or you know something really big, right, you know, this is the college that I prayed about and God is God has said this is where I need to go, or this is who I need to marry. Also be confident in that as well, because if you feel like the Holy Spirit is with you and you have God's blessing on that choice, and just know that, you know you're going to feel protected, You're going to feel watched over and God has his hand on you. And that's the value of prayer and fasting. So prayer is seeking God's guidance. Fasting is eliminating all the distractions of life or as many of the distractions of life as possible, so you are more clear and ready to hear, you know, from God. And so the prayer and fasting going to get They were praying and fasting before this happened, right, And then they were praying and fasting after God said, hey, you should do this just to confirm makes Hey, we're not going off on our own on this, are we? And they they wind up hearing clearly from God. And so they send out paulin Barnabas and they paulin Barnabus take John Mark with him. Now, this is the same John Mark that was mentioned in chapter twelve two where it said that they took him with him. But this is well who also wrote John Mark wrote the Book of Mark Mark, and people don't know that. And I think his first name was Mark. Right right. And John Mark was Peter's assistant. So very likely the Book of Mark was Peter's history with Mark writing it down right, John Mark writing. But also I just I noticed this yesterday when we were reading in James chapter twelve. You know when all the Christians were praying, I mean Act twelve, asks what I say, James, Oh yeah, Acts chapter twelve, when all the Christians were praying in the in that house that Peter would be released. It was in Mary's house and she was the mother of John Mark. So this is John Mark's house where this big prayer meeting is happening at. But this Mary, this is Jerusalem. This Mary may have been one of the other Mary's. You know how it mentions Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. You know how there's like three Marys. This might be that other Mary. There's a lot of church tradition that John Mark's mother was one of the earliest followers of Jesus, so that's kind of a cool story. Anyways, they pick up John Mark and they go and they first they're getting ready, they're going to go down. They're leaving Antioch. They go down to Crete, the island of Crete out in the Mediterranean, which is beautiful, and then they go up from there into Turkey. And we'll pick that up tomorrow. But on the island of Crete, Luke is writing the Book of Acts here and he's given us some really clear things, mentioning Sergius Paulus. For years and years and years, people didn't believe that Sergius Paulus was a governor, even though it said it here. He had a different title. But for a very short period of time it turned out he was the governor and finally there was a stella that was found, a carving that had his name with that title, and it was only just a couple of years. This is one of the amazing things about Luke's writing, how incredibly precise he is that at that specific time Sergeius Paulus did have this title that Luke claimed that he had. It's pretty neat, right. So been you're saying they just recently found this. It was about one hundred years ago, but for hundreds of years people said, this Surgeiu's Polus, we know who he is, but he never had that title. Wow, And then they find out he sure did. Isn't that interesting? How since the Bible has written, and since it's been collected and put together as the Word of God for thousands of years, people have gone out of their way to say, Okay, my life's mission is to dispprove the Bible. And we're talking about crazy archaeology in the Old Testament, right, and then even things like this in the New Testament, where the Bible has never once been thrown off its game in terms of historical facts, you know, landmarks and everything like this. And yet this is also. And the authenticity of Luke and the precision of Luke. Luke is considered one of the greatest, even by secular archaeologists and historians. He's considered one of the greatest ancient historians just from his precision, the little details he gives you of things like this that you just totally blow over Sergei's Polis except for the fact that you know now we see it. And then this guy bar Jesus or his other name is Elements. Remember they had Greek and non Greek names. So the sorcerer is trying to dissuade Sergeius Paulus from hearing the gospel. We just and this is where I think we need to end up. We should share the gospel and stand up against those who are fighting against the gospel, regardless of the consequences. And we shouldn't be surprised that there are people going to stand against us. Jesus said, they're going to stand against you because they stood against me. They're going to hate you because they hated me. Don't be surprised by it. And Paul, even though he's a fairly young leader, Saul is not afraid to stand up and go shame on you back down and in the power of the Holy Spirit. There were consequences for this sorcerer. And of course, when your sorcerer struck blind by the guy who's sharing the gospel with you, and you're the governor, you sit up and listen to the gospel out of matchine. And that's exactly what happens. When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer. So the purpose behind miracles are not for our own benefit. The purpose behind miracles are almost always in the Bible, for the purpose of moving the Gospel forward. Or forgot to be glorified. That's correct, because when Jesus was on the earth, that's what he said, it was the purpose of miracles. Well, hey, that's probably a really great place to end any last sentence for listeners. Thank you for listening. We'll see you next time on the Bible. Guys,