Acts 13

http://www.esvbible.org/Acts+13/

Barnabas, Saul, and John Mark left for Antioch again with three other friends. While they stayed there, they served as prophets for the Church at Antioch. Eventually, the Lord spoke to them and told them that they needed to release Saul and Barnabas from service so that they could do the work God called them to do. They left with John Mark and spread the word to distant places. The governor of Cyprus at the time sent for them because he wanted to hear the word of God. There was a false prophet there, however, who claimed he spoke from God, although he was truly just an astrologer. When Barnabas and Saul began to teach, Elymas, the false prophet, tried to distort what the apostles taught to keep the governor from believing. At that moment, the Holy Spirit filled Saul, and he cursed Elymas and told him the Lord would blind him for a time until he learned his lesson for trying to distort God's message. As soon as Saul finished speaking, the Lord blinded Elymas. The governor believed in God from that moment and was amazed by His teachings.

Paul, as he becomes known as somewhere around this time in his journey, and Barnabas head to Antioch near Pisidia. There, John Mark heads back to Jerusalem. They attend a service at synagogue, where the teachers talk about Moses and the prophets. Then, they ask Paul and Barnabas if they have anything to add. Paul stands up and talks about how God chose their ancestors to grow to a great nation of people, delivered them from Egypt, removed the seven tribes from Canaan for them, gave them the judges, gave them Samuel, gave them a king when they asked, gave them David with the Lord's favor. Finally, God sent a Savior to the world in Jesus Christ, and even before Him, God sent John the Baptist to warn the people of His coming. God has always had the Jews' desires and needs in mind. Paul says that the Jewish officials, however, did not know Moses' teachings despite the fact that they were supposed to uphold those teachings. They executed Jesus, which just fulfilled what the prophets said. They did not understand what the prophets had written, so they did not realize that they were doing exactly what was written. They killed Him, but God brought Him back to life, and He appeared to people around Jerusalem. In the same way, God will bring all those who believe in Jesus as their Lord a and Savior back to life. God never fails when He promises something, as He proved when He brought Jesus back to life. Jesus' body did not decay. You will not find His remains because He rose from Heaven in His body. The Jews loved the message, and invited Paul and Barnabas to speak the next day on the same subject. When the Jewish officials saw the crowds, they became jealous of Paul and Barnabas and began contradicting whatever Paul said. Paul and Barnabas say that they had to speak to the officials first, but since they rejected it, they moved on. Paul and Barnabas say that when we reject God's Good News, we find ourselves unworthy of Everlasting Life. At this time, an uprising began in Antioch. Today, there are Spiritual Uprisings all through Africa and Asia. The Lord will help spread the message, but in the way He created the universe, He needs our help to do it. Go out and speak to the lost, and help save them. The gentiles loved Paul and Barnabas's message, and they praised the Lord; however, the Jews kicked them out of their region, so Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium.