Sent Off for Gospel Advance (Acts 13: 1-14a)
February 8, 2026
Shepherd Bible Church
SENT OFF FOR GOSPEL ADVANCE
(Acts 13:1-14a)
INTRO
1. Once upon a less-psychologically-sensitive time, the motto of the U.S. Coast Guard was “you have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.”
2. A violent sea might capsize a ship, or run it aground and begin to break it apart.
3. A swimmer might get yanked out to sea by a riptide.
4. Returning safely to shore is every lifesaver’s goal, but never the ultimate goal.
5. Of utmost importance is the responsibility to brave the dangerous sea in order to save lives—potentially at the cost of one’s own.
6. This is not the duty of every citizen. But it is the duty of those who are commissioned for lifesaving work.
7. Brothers and sisters, we are called by our Savior to go out. We do not need to come back.
8. We are commissioned by Christ to proclaim the light of the gospel in a dark world, behind enemy lines.
9. And we know some of our brothers and sisters in other lands lose their lives in the process.
10. Most of us in the anomaly that is America return safely to shore.
11. Yet, whether killed, imprisoned, misused, or simply ostracized and maligned, the death and res of Jesus orients us as his people outward.
12. Specifically, it orients us to spread the truth and honor of his name in new places.
13. In the temple courts, Simeon held the infant Christ and blessed God, “My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32).
14. In Matt 28:18-20 Jesus authorized and commissioned his disciples to take this light to all nations.
15. And here, in Acts 13, we witness a major, westward launch of that mission from the gospel beachhead of the thriving church at Antioch in Syria.
16. Chapter 11:19-21 the Spirit moves uniquely through Chapter 11:22-26a
17. The Gentile mission has begun, and now in Chapter 13 that mission shifts into high gear.
I. THE HOLY SPIRIT CALLS, AND THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH SENDS OFF BARNABAS AND SAUL ON MISSION (VV. 1-3)
A. Verse 1
1. “Prophets and teachers” probably apply to each of these men individually.
2. As teachers they instructed the assembly in the meaning of the OT Scriptures as fulfilled in Christ.
3. It also involved calling God’s people to live a life of obedience and holiness as a central and intended outcome of God saving grace.
4. As prophets serving before the NT Scriptures, they received direct revelation from the Holy Spirit for the edification of the church.
5. So, these leaders labored in prayer and study to feed the Antiochian church God’s truth.
6. “Barnabas” was a wealthy, Hellenistic Jew from the isle of Cyprus and a prominent leader in the Jer church which sent him here to minister.
7. Simeon and Lucius of Cyrene were likely from North Africa.
8. Manaen was raised in a Roman palace with Herod Antipas, either as an adopted brother or close companion.
a. Herod would execute John the Baptist.
b. Manaen took the opposite path, embracing as Lord and Savior the crucified Messiah whom John the Baptist proclaimed.
c. Herod, once a man of high standing in Rome, was by now living in exile at Lyons.
d. Manaen, once a man of high standing in Rome, now served the King of kings.
9. Then there was Saul, a Jew from Tarsus, a former Pharisee, whom we know so well.
10. Analysis
a. Stepping back, we must see that no power on earth could unite such a diverse group of men.
b. But the gospel of Christ united them to work arm-in-arm teaching God’s people his truth and the way of life in the Lord Jesus.
c. And we should note that they are recognized as leaders—as office holders—in the church.
1) All God’s people can teach God’s word. But faithful churches recognize those uniquely responsible to feed the flock.
2) Ephesians Chapter 4: the office of pastor-teacher is a gift to the church from Jesus who intends for his churches to be Bible-teaching, word-saturated assemblies.
d. Pastors are commissioned by Christ to teach the whole council of God.
e. This means they are to avoid no doctrine, nor to ignore any biblical theme or moral principle in deference to the world.
f. The preaching/teaching ministry of a local church must exalt Jesus Christ as the controlling center of divine revelation.
g. It is to expose and condemn sin and falsehood, pointing believers to spiritual maturity in union with Christ (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
11. Translation: That’s all happening in the vibrant, fruitful, gospel-advancing church at Antioch.
B. V. 2
1. We are not told how the Holy Spirit conveyed this message, nor to whom.
2. We are simply told that the church was “worshiping the Lord and fasting”, fasting as a means of intensify prayers for the Lord to magnify his name in the advance of the gospel.
3. The Holy Spirit responds to their prayers by calling the church to set apart Barnabas & Saul for that very purpose.
C. V. 3
1. They were “sent off.” Let that sink in.
2. Gospel advance required someone to leave, someone to launch out from the spiritual greenhouse of the church at Antioch.
3. Consider, first, the role of the church:
a. The church prays and fasts and lays on hands, a symbol of the church’s identification with, and authorization of, these gospel servants.
b. So, the church surrounds Barnabas & Saul, “We go with you in spirit. You leave with our authorization. You serve with us by going. We serve with you by staying, supporting, and upholding you in earnest prayer.”
c. NOT – Barnabas & Saul hatch a plan and press the church to support their plan. BUT - the entire body discerns together God’s direction and calling.
d. ALSO – patience, Saul ministered the word in Antioch for 10 years.
e. Ideal pattern - raise up the best members of a vibrant church and send them off with the church’s blessing and support.
f. SBC - orient yourselves this way - choose the long game of building to the point where you can one day send out a new church. I may be dead and gone by that time, but what a joy that would be. “No way” … You are forming the base for that dream.
4. Consider, second, Barnabas & Saul
a. We have no doubt that Barnabas & Saul are up to the task, psychologically speaking.
b. But they were losing something dear to their souls—a vibrant, well-led, well-fed, gospel-preaching, convert-baptizing local church.
c. God was calling them to leave the environment they knew, to venture out into the deep, dark unknown.
d. Application:
1) No one here today is in the position of Barnabas & Saul. BUT you, Shepherd Bible Church, know this pain, this uncertainty, this vulnerability as you were “sent off” from your local church.
2) You were sent off with prayer and fasting and the laying of hands, because this is how the gospel advances.
3) Our Savior was sent and he went—sent from heaven’s glory to earth.
4) And to this day he uses local churches to send out members who go into the world to establish new gospel outposts, beachheads, lighthouses.
5) THINK - there were hundreds of thousands of unbelievers in and around Antioch; but, like the creation mandate to fill the earth, so the new creation mandate is to launch out into the world and spread the gospel everywhere.
6) We are, of course, just a tiny spec in that mission, but you are participating in it!
7) You have been “sent off” to establish the outpost of Shepherd Bible Church in the growing city of Rosemount.
D. Translation: In the next movement of the narrative …
II. THE GOSPEL BEARS FRUIT AMONG GENTILES ON CYPRUS (VV. 4-12)
A. Verse 4
1. NOTE: Ultimately, it was not the church at that sent off Barnabas & Saul, but the Holy Spirit.
2. Barnabas & Saul make the 16-mile journey to Seleucia on the seacoast, then, from there, the 50-mile journey by ship to the island of Cyprus.
3. This is Barnabas’s homeland and a strategic stop along the Mediterranean Sea’s shipping corridor.
B. Verse 5
1. Salamis is a commercial center and the leading governmental center of the eastern side of Cyprus.
2. The team starts by proclaiming Christ’s saving grace in the Jewish synagogue where there is deep familiarity with the OT Scriptures.
3. John is NOT John the apostle and brother of James.
a. This is John/Mark, whose mother’s house in Jerusalem staged the prayer meeting for Peter when he was delivered from jail in Acts Ch. 12.
b. John was an early disciple of Jesus and walked with the inner circle of disciples.
c. It’s likely that others joined the team as well (v. 13 - “companions”)
C. Vv. 6-8
1. Paphos is the capital city of Cyprus.
2. Many Jews populated the island and the team meets a certain “Bar Jesus.”
a. He is a magician or wizard who wields influence with the proconsul (i.e. governor) of the island.
b. The magician’s name means “Son of Jesus” or “Son of Salvation.” Ironically, he is a son of Satan and lost.
3. We know not how the connection was made, but Sergius Paulus expresses interest in hearing the message Barnabas & Saul are preaching.
4. But Bar Jesus, also known as “Elymas,” which means “sage” or “wise one,” objects.
5. He wielded powerful influence at court as a healer and interpreter of “signs: by use of “formulas, incantation, amulets” etc. (Bock, 445).
6. The pagans believed he had secret knowledge of what to do and events that were to come.
7. Syncretism of this sort was commonplace.
D. Vv. 9-10
1. “Well, that was not very nice! Isn’t the fruit of the Spirit “gentleness and kindness?”
2. Illustration: You are standing next to a friend waiting to cross a busy road, you step back as you see a car heading toward you that is sliding this way and that on the ice, but your friend is distracted and stands put in the path of the car. You tackle your friend to the ground and badly bloodying his or her face on the sidewalk is, under those circumstances, gentle kindness next to getting obliterated by a car.
3. Elymas stands in the way of the gospel and Saul knows that he is thereby paving the way to hell for those who could hear the gospel.
4. As one commentator notes, “Paul judges his former self here” (Klauck in Bock).
5. Translation: And now, as an apostle, Paul is empowered to perform a sign that will bolster his witness …
E. V. 11
1. A godless Jew rejects Messiah and is plunged into literal darkness, aping his spiritual blindness.
2. In this clash of kingdoms, the reigning Christ judges Elymas physically, that he might repent and escape eternal judgment.
3. But in any event, Paul’s curse on the one who held others captive with his magic, convinces the proconsul of the truth of Paul’s message.
F. V. 12
1. No doubt this powerful ruler is astonished by the miracle he has witnessed.
2. But notice that he is mostly astonished by “the teaching of the Lord.”
a. That is how we discern true faith.
b. A person who is enamored with miracles and religious hype, but does not love God’s word and cling to it as the bread of life is not yet born again.
c. Romans 10:17: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” That is how we are saved, and thereafter we naturally love God’s word.
3. Sergius Paulus “believes.” This word does not always indicate genuine conversion, but without any negative statement to the contrary, I fully expect to meet this man in eternity.
4. What was “the teaching of the Lord” to which he responded?
a. Defined - rest of chapter
b. Sin + Christ + death + resurrection + reign + return - belief = new birth
G. Conclusion
1. Evangelism is always a clash of kingdoms.
2. The Holy Spirit witnesses along with our spirit whenever we evangelize faithfully.
a. Barnabas & Saul had left the security of their brothers and sisters in the church at Antioch.
b. But as they were sent off, the Holy Spirit went with them and witnessed with them.
John Chapters 14-15: “I will not leave you as orphans … I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper (Advocate, Paraclete) … When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness.”
c. The Gentile mission is underway in a big way.
III. JOHN ABANDONS THE GOSPEL TEAM AT PERGA (VV. 13-14a)
A. V. 13
1. Pamphilia was not the happiest place on earth.
2. It was a low-lying area surrounded by mountains and the air quality was poor and an incubator for malaria.
3. In Galatians 4:13-15, Paul reminds the Galatian churches of the serious illness that providentially steered him their way as he preached the gospel.
4. Paul may have contracted malaria, pressing him to push past Perga into the higher elevations of Pisidia and then on to Galatia where the air quality was better.
Illustration: This is actually a thing. Missionary John Paton lived in a hut on low-lying ground on the island of Vanuatu near Australia and nearly died. His health was greatly improved when he simply moved to a higher elevation where the air moved and thus was cleaner and cooler.
5. In any event, air quality was by no means the only trial the team faced as they ventured on.
6. We learn here that John abandons the gospel team.
a. We are not told why. We don’t need to know.
b. It is enough to conclude that being sent off to bear the torch of gospel light to souls lost in spiritual darkness is no easy calling.
c. At this point on his spiritual journey, John did not have the “you have to go out, but you don’t have to come back” spirit and backbone.
d. Not yet. He would grow into it.
e. But we witness the reality that leaving what is known for the unknown tests the soul.
7. Application:
a. Now clearly, no one here has made a similar sacrifice to the one John Mark made.
b. But as members of SBC, you have ventured out from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the known to the unknown.
c. That is rarely an easy course to choose, and always one calling for determined endurance.
d. It seems John Mark lost sight of the importance and beauty of serving Christ by establishing new outposts of gospel light.
e. Whatever troubled John’s heart, 15:38 demonstrates that his departure hurt the team and destroyed Paul’s confidence in him.
f. It’s a dark cloud in the story, but thankfully a cloud that would lift.
8. Translation: But in the moment, in stark contrast to John’s exit, we read these words of hope.
B. V. 14a
1. “But they went on”!
2. The rest of the team did not retreat. They persevered and went deeper yet into the darkness with the torch of the gospel.
3. New beachheads of born again believers, new gospel embassies or lighthouses would be established.
4. The early church continued to send people off and to press the mission outward.
5. Some of them “came back.” The Apostle Paul went out, but did not come back in the end. Paying with his life, he set his affections on the world to come and we are all the better for it.
CONCLUSION
1. SBC, I am convinced that this outpost of the gospel is part of the fabric of this grand plan of God.
2. And I firmly believe that you have been sent here by the Holy Spirit to form a new gospel outpost for the glory of Christ’s name.
3. Whether this is for a short time, or a long time, that is the Lord’s sovereign purpose, of course, not ours.
4. I spoke to a pastor a couple of weeks ago who has labored faithfully in a local church for over 2 years that has dwindled in vitality for decades; they decided to disband; my encouragement is that God used him to feed the flock and proclaim the gospel for over 2 years - key faithfulness.
5. But I have far greater hopes for Shepherd Bible Church and I pray for this assembly daily.
6. We often beseech the Lord as a church to prosper you, to add to your numbers, to increase your gospel footprint, to unify this assembly around God’s word.
7. And may God also unify you and encourage you in the ongoing gospel enterprise of the assembly.
8. In one sense of the word, you had to go out and you have launched out.
9. May the Lord of the harvest continue to grant you strength and fruitfulness as you trust in him to persevere in the challenging, but vital work of establishing a solid, biblically faithful body of Christ in Rosemount.