1. Chapter 13: 1-12 March 7& 10, 2012 Dr. Ronald C. Hill, Sr.

2. Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Acts 13:1

3. Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. Acts 13:1

4. A. A prophet is one who is inspired to interpret the will and purposes of God.

5. B. A teacher is one who gives progressive instruction concerning God’s redeeming purposes.

6. 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. Acts 13:2

7. C. Paul and Barnabas were called into missionary service and were commissioned by the church at Antioch.

8. 1. This group of believers were worshipping the Lord and fasting from food.

9. 2. A spirit filled Christian is especially sensitive to the communication of the Holy Spirit while they are fasting, praying and worshipping God.

10. 3. No doubt the Holy Spirit spoke through one of the prophets in the group as God directed Paul and Barnabas to their respective ministries.

11. It is important for the church of today to practice the discipline of prayer and fasting especially when we are in need of direction for our lives and ministries.

12. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 13:3

13. D. They did 4 things:

14. 1. They fasted. 2. They prayed. 3. They laid hands upon them. 4. They sent them away.

15. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. Acts 13:4

16. E. The same Holy Ghost that called them is the same Holy Ghost that is now sending them into their ministry.

17. 1. God will do the exact same thing for His called men and women of God if we follow the pattern that is set forth in the Book of Acts. We simply must be willing

18. 1. to be led by the Holy Ghost. We must not get ahead of God and we must not run from God when He calls us.

19. 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. Acts 13:5

20. F. After being commissioned by the church for this first official missionary journey, Paul and Barabas, with John Mark as their attendant, sailed to the island of Cyprus and its east coast city, Salamis.

21. 1. We note that they preached the word of God ; which is to say they preached the death and resurrection of Christ.

22. And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: Acts 13:6

23. G. From Salamis they worked their way across the entire length of the Island of Paphos on the west coast. Salamis was the chief commercial city of this Island. Paphos was the capital city.

24. H. When they had passed through Paphos they came upon a certain Jewish wizard or sorcerer, a false prophet name Bar-Jesus.

25. 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. Acts 13:7

26. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Acts 13:8

27. I. Serguis Paulus was an intelligent and sensible man of sound understanding. He was inquisitive after the mind and will of God. No doubt this is the reason he was closely associated with this false prophet named Bar- Jesus.

28. 1. Being a pagan, he did not know the difference between sorcery and that which was legitimately of God. For this reason we must not be so quick to condemn people that follow false doctrines and false teaching; they simply don’t know any better.

29. 2. Sergius Paulus was a man of power and influence. Satan seems to put forth a special effort to prevent these type of people from getting to know Christ.

30. 3. He knows that their life whether good or bad, will have great influence upon many.

31. o Many, if not most of the men and women of power and influence in America, are not involved with Christ and His church. Most of them are being influenced by some false God or by sorcerers or witch craft worker.

32. o As the church we must continue to win the down and “outers” but we also must begin to focus on the up and “outers”. We pray will save the rich and famous. These souls are important too. God

33. o does not hate the rich. We must not be afraid to give them the Gospel.

34. 4. Satan used Elymas the Sorcerer to oppose Saul and Barabas seeking. He was seeking to keep the proconsul from accept- ing Christ as savior.

35. * Satan is using people today to fight against those of us who would dare to promote the Gospel of Christ. He does any and everything to keep people away from us. For this reason we must continue to

36. fast and pray for lost souls to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We are at war with the spirit of Anti-Christ that is at work in the hearts of unsuspecting men and women of today.

37. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him. Acts 13:9

38. J. In this verse Saul’s name is changed to Paul. “Paul” is the Roman derivative of the Hebrew “Saul”.

39. 1. The term filled with the Holy Ghost indicates that Paul received a special new anointing to deal with this severe problem. God will often give us a special anointing to do a special job.

40. 2. The Holy Ghost led Paul to focus his sight on Elymas.

41. And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? Acts 13:10

42. K. The gift of discerning spirits operated in the heart and mind of Paul and he was able to expose the evil work that was being performed by Elymas the sorcerer.

43. 1. The gift of discerning of spirit is one of the nine gifts of the spirit. It is a most important gift as it relates to the people we deal with.

44. 2. This gift will give us the ability to discern and distinguish between the utterance of true spirits and the false ones.

45. And now, 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 Acts 13:11

46. him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Acts 13:11

47. L. Paul speaking with the special disciplinary authority vested in him as an apostle, announced that Elymas would be stricken with blindness for a time. Elymas had attempted to keep the proconsul and others in

48. L. spiritual darkness, now he would be punished with physical blindness.

49.  I believe God will give the same kind authority to his apostles today.

50.  This authority will enable us to demonstrate judgment upon evil men and women in the time in which we live.

51.  There are sorcerers who are being used by the devil today, that must be stopped and exposed.

52.  We must fast and pray against witchcraft and the other curious arts that are being used by men and women today.

53. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Acts 13:12

54. M. The deputy saw proof that the doctrine of the Lord was true and that the power of God was backing His ministers.

55.  People of all classes will come to Christ if we will give them sound doctrine that will be accompanied by the miraculous power of the Holy Ghost.

56. LIFE LESSONS 1) We must know the call and spiritual gifting that God has deposited into our lives.

57. LIFE LESSONS 2) We must hone our gifts through the discipline of prayer, fasting and faithfulness to the work of God. We must provide a obedient heart for God to flow through.

58. LIFE LESSONS 3) We can expect opposition to come from people that are controlled by the devil.

59. LIFE LESSONS 4) We must be bold to do and or say what God directs us to do or say.

60. LIFE LESSONS 5) We can expect God to confirm His word and we can expect souls to come to Christ.

61. LIFE LESSONS 6) We must continue to preach the Gospel wherever we go.

62. LIFE LESSONS 7) We must learn to completely depend on the power of the Holy Ghost.

63. AVAILABLE ONLINE Studies in Acts Notes available online For download www.loveandunity.org