Okay, today turn to the book of Acts, chapter 13, this ministry meeting, and I'm going to read the first 13 verses in the book of Acts. In Hebrew, we call it Maasei Shlichim, or the Acts of the Apostles, but actually it is the Acts of the Ruach HaKodesh, of the Holy Spirit of God, who have acted in the lives of people in the world and brought many to the knowledge of Yeshua, the Messiah. And many from among the Jewish people, from among the Gentile world, have come to faith in the Messiah. And it is the act of the Holy Spirit of God who have been working in lives, opening hearts and turning many to the Lord, saving souls by the preaching of the Gospel.

And here we read in chapter 13, and I'm reading the first 13 verses of this chapter, and please follow with me. Now there were in the assembly that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Shimon that was called Nigar and Lucius or Lucius of Cyrene and Menachem which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrach and Shaul as they ministered to the Lord and fasted the Holy Spirit said separate me Barnabas and Shaul for the work whereunto I have called them and when they have fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away so they being sent forth by the Holy Spirit departed unto Seleucia and from thence they sailed to Cyprus and when they were at Salamis they preached the word of God in the synagogue of the Jews and they had also drawn to their minister and when they had gone through the isle of Papos they found a certain sorcerer a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 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.

And Alimas the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation, withstood them seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Shaul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him and said, O fool of all subtility and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right way of the Lord? 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 him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, he believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Pappos, they came to Perga in Pampilia, and John, departing from them, returning to Jerusalem. I'll pause here because this is where the section breaks through very nicely in the book of Acts. And brothers and sisters, the book of Acts, as I've mentioned, that the first 12 chapters in our studies in the past concerning the Acts of the Holy Spirit of God is a development beginning in the city of Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem, where our own people, the Jewish people, have accepted Yeshua the Messiah, bringing forth the message of the gospel to the Samaritan in Acts chapter 8, Ultimately going to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10.

And finally is now the message is broadening out to the nations of the world. And when we get to Acts chapter 13, we find really now that the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua is being proclaimed through Shaul, through Paul and others like Barnabas to the nations of the world. now the gospel is going to be spreading to many many nations i want you to notice for a few moments how many cities are mentioned here in chapter 13 and 14 notice it began with antioch in chapter 13 and verse 1 notice it's going on to seleucia in verse 4 and then to cyprus in verse 4b and then it's continued to Salamis this is of course is a city in Syria it's about 16 kilometers from Antioch and from there it's moving in verse 6 to Pappos and then from there on you will notice for example in verse 14 we have Perga and then in verse 14b we have Antioch of Pisidia and then we can move on and you can see that the message of the gospel is moving on in chapter 14 and verse 1 Iconium and then verse 8 Lystra and then back to Antioch at the end of chapter 14 and you can see brothers and sisters that now the gospel that we began to be preached by a Hebrew believers in the city of Jerusalem in the land of Israel moving now to Samaria moving now to the uttermost parts of the then known world.

And what we find here in chapter 13, that while we were talking about Peter and his ministry in the first earlier chapters of the book of Acts, from chapter 13 on, the emphasis is on Shaul ministry, Paul ministry among the Gentile world. And you know, brothers and sisters it is wonderful that that message is still continuing on you and i would have never come to faith in the messiah in the messiahship of yeshua and we'll never know since forgiven unless the preaching of the gospel continued on over the years and reached us today thousands 2,000 years later, people such as you and I. But I want us to notice in this chapter 13 something very important.

You know, sometimes in ministry or in the service for the Lord, we neglect to realize the importance of the call of the Lord. You see, to serve the Lord is not something that we do it in our own flesh it's not something we do it in our own energy it is something that demand the guidance and the help of the Spirit of God Ruach HaKodesh it is the Holy Spirit of God who is the one that using the servants using the people of God in the service for the Lord because you know that very well we are talking to our families about the Messiah and we don't see much response we are talking to dear ones that we love to tell them about yeshua the messiah and we don't see much response and sometimes we get so discouraged we wonder is it true what god said in his word is the bible correct of what he said that salvation is for all men why don't people come to accept the messiahship of yeshua why people refuse the gospel Why the heart of men is so hard?

Well, we know that unless the Spirit of God does a work in our heart, it doesn't matter what we say. It doesn't matter how much we talk. Because salvation, it's not an issue of the energy of the flesh and what we successfully succeed to influence another. It's not like that.

unless the spirit of god does a work in hearts hearts will simply not come to him no one can come unto me yeshua unless the father draws them and then the drawing of the father in the power of the spirit of god bring people to himself and here in act chapter 13 we see how God prepare the servants and he called them for the ministry and they are still need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit of God because otherwise they will never be successful in the spiritual ministry and so look at this in the first five verses Acts 13 verses 1 to 5 we have the call from god of this man by the

name of shaul and also his companion barnabas he's calling them for service and look what happened it says first of all in verse one that there were in the church which was at antioch certain prophets and teachers and then it gives us a list it says barnaba and then he says shimon and then he says lucius and then it says menachem and then it says shaul and i mentioned those words in hebrew because in fact most of them were jewish were believers and they now were shifting from the central location of the city of jerusalem to the city that is in Syria called Antioch.

Antioch, beloved brothers and sisters, became the central place where the Gentile world have been hearing the message of the Messiahship of Jesus after the Hebrew believers have preached already the gospel to the Samaritans and also gone all the way to the area of Antioch. and from there on we find out that there were brothers in that local assembly in the city of Antioch and it says that some of them were prophets and some of them were teachers now this is not an old testament prophets this is a new testament prophets and they were not necessarily talking about their future but the prophets were prophesying that which the lord has spoken concerning in this present time the church age they were teaching about the word of god they were ministering to the believers there in antioch not only prophesying or speaking forth the word of god but teaching them you know teaching is extremely important no student can grow in the area that he is called to unless he's being taught and that's why teaching is so essential bible studies the reading of the scripture the teaching concerning the things of god And there were those five men that I mentioned there, Barnabas, Simon, Lucius, Manain, and Saul, they were teaching and speaking forth the word of God in the local assembly in Antioch.

Now, do you know that the church, if you for a moment go back with me to Ephesians, I want you to notice what the apostles said in Ephesians chapter 2, that the church, the assembly, were built upon the apostles and the prophets' ministry.

look in Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 20 it says and you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets Yeshua the Messiah himself being the chief corner stone in other words the foundation the teaching the instructions that believers receive in first century and you and i receive it today is upon the teaching of the apostles of the earlier new testament prophets and the teachers who teach us regularly the word of god consistently rightly dividing the word of truth help us to understand the mind of the lord through the written word of God and so here we find out in this chapter 13 that these prophets and teachers were there in the city

of Antioch those five names again I'm repeating them Barnabas Simon Lucius Menaen and Saul were there ministering to the body of Messiah in this local church that is why when we gather together to meet together around the lord we constantly teach the bible open and read the scripture and we take the text and we elaborate on it we read the text and we expound on the text because teaching and speaking forth prophesying speaking forth the word of god is essential for the building up of the body of the messiah a believer that doesn't read his bible and doesn't learn from the word of god cannot grow cannot be fed spiritually from the word of god

and grow and mature in his life as a believer and that's why in antioch they were teaching and speaking forth the word of god now look what happened in verse 2 we learn something that is precious notice that as they ministered unto the Lord and fasted the Holy Spirit said separate me Barnabas and Shaul for the work whereunto I have called them now sometimes we wonder sometimes how do I know whether the Lord have called me for ministry you know the lesson that we learn here from these men is that they didn't sit at home and wonder whether the Lord called them.

They didn't fold their hands and they waited to see some sort of a revelation from God that the heavens would be open. No. What we find out that they ministered unto the Lord. You notice at the beginning of verse 2, as they ministered unto the Lord. They were going about their spiritual life in their business of ministering the word of God to the brothers and sisters in the local assembly. They were preaching the word. They were ministering the word. They were sharing the scripture. They were encouraging and building up the body of Messiah as they ministered unto. And notice that it doesn't even say as they ministered unto their brethren.

It says as they ministered unto the Lord. You see, they were ministering to the Lord. They're not doing it because of their brothers and sisters. They were not saying, you know what? Only if I have so many people, then I'm going to begin to do my teaching. No, they ministered to the Lord on an ongoing basis. They taught the scripture. Of course, they didn't have the full canon of scripture then. They only have the Old Testament, the Tanakh. And they had the knowledge that they knew of the Messiahship of Yeshua through the other disciples.

but they ministered to the Lord they served the Lord through teaching the word of God to God's people and as they done this ministry unto the Lord the spirit of God was calling them it was not a school they've never gone to school they've never gone five years gone to school to Bible school and qualified to teach the word well we never read of them going to any school we never read of getting any diploma we never read of them actually being genius but they were guided by the Spirit of God they were moved by God you know I'm thinking about the history of our own people you know Moses Moshe Rabbeinu our lawgiver he

was learned in the school of Egypt but he had to unlearn all what he learned in the school of egypt and go through the school of god and the school of god taught him how to lead our people israel out of egypt and bring them and lead them and direct them and instruct them and minister to them until he brought them just before they enter into the promised land no school no education no nothing no diplomas but it was simply faithfulness to the lord to the god who called them for the ministry and here it says as they ministered unto the lord the spirit of god said separate me barnabas and shaul for the work

wherein i have called them It is a call from God.

It is God who was calling these two men Bar-Naba, son of a prophet, and Shaul. It was God who was calling these two Jewish men for the ministry among the Gentile world. And the Spirit of God said, notice that the Holy Spirit of God is a divine person. You know, it's not feeling, it's not emotion. He is a person, God, the Holy Spirit, is one of the persons of the triunity, God the Son, God the Spirit, God the Father, one God, three persons in the Godhead, and it is the Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, who have said, separate unto me, Barnabas and Shaul, for the work were unto I, this is the Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, i have called them you know the beautiful thing about this is that the spirit of god will use the people of god who are going about serving him as they move along in the life of service for the lord he will direct them he will call them he will lead them on as they are serving him and desiring to serve the God who have called them to serve him.

Now, if you for a moment, please turn with me to Genesis chapter 24. I want to show you another man that was called by God, was led by God as he was serving the Lord.

In Genesis chapter 24, we know the servant of Abraham Avinu, our father Abraham he was sent by Abraham to go to bring a bride for Isaac his son and look what he said to Rebecca where he found her later on and he was speaking with her and wanting to know if she would be the one that will be the bride of the son of his master Abraham we read of him in verse 26 and 27 of genesis chapter 24 and the man bowed down his head and he worshiped the lord and he said blessed be the lord god of my master abraham who has not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth

and then he said this clause very interesting i've been in the way the lord led me he said to rebecca i didn't sit here and waited until the lord will give me some sort of revelation from heaven my master told me to go to bring a wife and i've been in the way and the lord led me while i was walking with the lord while i was on my way in my walk towards the obedience to my master i was going to bring a bride for my master i've been in the way the lord lead me brothers and sisters this is a great encouragement for us the same thing as paul shaul and barnabas ministered

to the lord the lord called them as the servant of abraham our father was on his way the lord led him as you and i will be on our walk with the lord and seeking to live for him and to obey him and to be consistently following after him the lord will lead us and he will direct us and he will let us know what is next and how to do things but we must be in the way we must be in god's business all along god cannot use you and i if we are not occupied with him it's not like a magic that he press a button and all of a sudden we are

occupied with him and then we kind of get out of this and we are not occupied with him and then he press another button and we again occupied with him no we need to be on that road to live for him and then as we are on the way he leads us and he opened doors to us over the years i can tell you for the short time that i participate in the lord's work so many doors were open that you didn't plan on them to come your way they just open and as the doors are open you go through that door and you serve the lord in this area and sometimes the lord shut

the door and you have to wait on him and you continue to follow him and then another door is being opened that's the way the lord is working and he's calling his servants here in chapter 13 in order to present the gospel and to continue it further among the gentile world and so he called them he said to them as they ministered to the lord and they fasted the holy spirit said separate unto me Barnabas and Shaul for the work where unto I have called them he had a call for Barnabas and Shaul the ministry that he was going to give them is to spread the gospel beyond the borders now beyond Jerusalem beyond Judea

beyond Samaria to the uttermost part of this earth and they are being used called by god to be the one that would spread that message of the gospel and so in verse three when they had fast and prayed now these two expression here fasted and prayed are very important fasting it's not only because we need to lose weight but fasting has to do because of concern for something they were concerned for something is that the mind of the lord and how are we going to go about it lord direct me and they fasted and they also prayed you know to pray brothers and sisters if you're honest with me if there's anything that we neglect

the most is prayer spending time in prayer first of all in private then with our husbands and wife and our children then with our brothers and sisters if there is anything that we neglect the most is to talk to the Lord instead of talking to the Lord we're talking to people instead of talking to God about people we're talking to people about other people instead of talking to God and telling him God here's my problem here's my issue here's my concern here are my desires God help me direct me Well, we find out that Shaul and Barnabas prayed.

The brothers and sisters in the local assembly in Antioch prayed. And they talked to the Lord. They fasted because now they were going to go out. They were going to preach the message to the other cities to broaden the exposure of the gospel in many other cities. And so they fasted. Secondly, they prayed. and thirdly notice what they did they laid their hands on them now what does it mean to lay their hands on them you know in scripture old testament in the tanakh in the hebrew biblical israeli history as well as in new testament history the laying of the hands speaks of identification in other words when i lay hands of someone i identify with that person you remember that in olden time when the hebrew would come to the temple or even before that to the tabernacle in the wilderness when an israeli who have sinned and needed to be forgiven he would bring an animal to the altar to the tabernacle and he will lay his hand on this little lamb and when he lays his hand on this lamb he confessed his sins and his sins were transferred to that lamb and when the lamb was killed by the priest then his sins were forgiven when laying of the hand speaks of identification, of fellowship, of acknowledgement.

And so when the brothers and sisters in a local assembly in the city of Antioch could see that they were called by the Lord, that the Holy Spirit of God had called Barnabas and Saul, they fasted and they prayed and they laid their hands identifying with their call you know we sometimes call various groups of people have certain way of they call it an ordination we have ordained somebody but the point is here we learn from these verses that it's not a human ordination it is a divine call but the brothers and sisters of the local assembly identify with that call and they lay their hands upon these two brethren i want to read a

verse in first timothy chapter 5 and verse 22 that the apostle paul said to a younger man by the name of timothy some words of counsel that he gave him and look at this and he said to him timothy lay hands suddenly on no man neither be partakers of other men's sins keep thyself pure what he was saying to timothy he says timothy don't lay hands suddenly on everyone in other words don't identify very quickly with someone you know someone comes along and we do not know who that person is we need to know someone we can identify with that individual and the laying of the hands speaks of identification of fellowship and timothy was

exhorted by the apostle paul timothy don't lay hands suddenly on anyone don't lay hands suddenly don't be rushing yourself into laying hand into identifying with everyone but take your time find out if this is the mind of the lord if this is the will of the lord and then you can identify and then you can lay your hand upon that person in identification and fellowship and so the brothers and sisters in the local assembly of this city of Antioch in Syria they have identified with the call.

They saw that this is the call from God. These two men served in the local assembly. It takes time to build up character, to grow and mature and to be used by the Lord. You cannot just be as a young man without experience just to carry on. It takes time to build up your spiritual growth. It takes time. And they were ministering to the Lord. They were serving the lord and then the spirit of god called them and the brethren identify with it and they recognize that they can send them away now with their blessings and oh how it must have been encouraging to shaul and to barnabas when the believers in the local assembly recognized that they had a call from the lord and so here we see in these verses the fact that they have been sent by the Spirit of God.

You notice it says in verse 5, when they were in Salamis, Salamis is a city in Syria, about 16 kilometers away from Antioch. What did they go to do? They preached the Word of God. That's all the ministry that these brethren, as they moved forward, as they left Antioch, this place where they had been commended to the Lord's Word, they were preaching the Word.

they were teaching god's word unless a person hear the gospel he cannot be saved we need faith coming by hearing hearing by the word of god so they were preaching the word simply proclaiming the message but you know what they proclaim at first you notice that the first thing that these two men have done they preach the word of God in the synagogue of the Jews you know that is something that apostle Shaul Paul always have done whenever he have gone to any city in his ministry he first of all gone to his own brethren who were Jewish people who did not know yet the messiah and he has gone to the synagogue first of

all you will know that throughout the history of paul chapter 13 chapter 14 chapter 17 chapter 18 he went to the synagogue chapter 19 he went to the synagogue every time he had arrived to a city he had gone to the synagogue of his own brethren of the jewish people why because the bible does teach in romans chapter 1 that paul wrote as an instruction to the roman believers he said i am not ashamed of the gospel of the messiah for it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone that believe and then he add to the jew first and also to the Gentile this is a principle began right there being taught by

the apostle and also practiced by the apostle he have gone to the synagogue of the Jewish people and he began to talk to his brethren and he shared with them about the messiahship of Yeshua and yes he was opposed by the vast majority because our own people have not accepted the messiahship of yeshua at his first coming only the minority a small group of jewish people from among our nation israel have accepted like their apostles the early disciples who proclaimed the message of the messiah but the main company of our nation israel did not accept the messiahship of yeshua by the way up till today we are struggling in proclaiming the message of the gospel

to our own nation to our own people 2,000 years of God and it is still as a nation Israel haven't yet accepted the Messiah but the Apostle Shaul Paul and Barnabas here the first thing that they have done they have went and they preached the word of God in the synagogue of the Jews and you know what in the synagogue of the Jews we have always the word of God the scripture, we have the Tanakh so they opened the Tanakh the Old Testament and they began to share from the Tanakh, from the Old Testament about the Messiahship of Yeshua.

That He is the Messiah. That He was prophesied by our forefathers that He will come, the son of David who would come and will die and will pay for our sins. They shared the message in the synagogue. It's very precious because as they were speaking, there were two Jewish men talking to their Jewish brethren. About the Jewish Messiah. Through the Jewish, the Hebrew scriptures. Wonderful to see that. And they were on the way to preach the message to the Gentile world. Because the message of the gospel is not limited to the Jewish people. It is going beyond the borders of Israel. Because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And so they've gone. And they have began their journey, and in fact, from chapter 13 to the end of chapter 14, we have the first missionary journey of the apostle Paul. And you know what they did? It says in verse 5, at the end, that they took with them a young man by the name of Yohanan, John, as their servant, as their minister. In other words, this young man, we read of him here in verse 5, was serving the Lord with Shaul, Paul, and with Barnabas. He ministered to them. There are many areas and many things that he helped them. And you know, it's so nice to see an older brethren going with a younger brethren together, walking together.

It's so beautiful to see that. And how he helped them and he assisted them and he ministered to them. In fact, if you notice at the end of chapter 12, it says there that Barnabas and Shaul returned from Jerusalem, they returned to Antioch when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they took with them John, whose surname was Mark. In other words, this Mark, John, came from Jerusalem, from Jerusalem, with Barnabas and Shaul, and he went to Antioch, and now he was with them in Antioch, and then they took him now for their first missionary journey. But it doesn't take too long, and you find this young man getting discouraged, and he's leaving the ministry.

And you will see this in a moment. But they took him along. In the beginning, there's a good start. He's gone along with them. He ministered to them. And Shaul and Barnabas really use him. Actually, he was a relative of Barnabas, a family member. And so Barnabas took him along with Shaul, and together they ministered unto the Lord. And it was beautiful to see older and younger, All in this point of time, Jewish believers ministering to the Lord and ministering to the people of God. And so now, notice, in the next verses, which we read today, from verse 6 to verse 13, we find out that as they began to go to preach the gospel, there is an opposition to the message of the gospel.

When there is a real word of God preached, always there is a counterfeit next to it. When the servant of the Lord going truly to minister the gospel, the word of God, there is always a false prophet or false servant who come along, sent by Satan, to oppose the message. To trick the people of God. To send people away from hearing the message. You can see it right here in the next verses. Look, and it sometimes happened, even in this case, the opposition came from a person who was also Jewish. Look what it says in verse 6. The false prophet, when they had gone through the isle of Antupapos.

Pappos apparently was the capital of Cyprus. They found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus. Bar Yeshua, Ben Yeshua. Now, interesting. Here we see that there is a false prophet, a sorcerer. Actually, the word sorcerer comes from the Greek word magos, which means a magician. He makes tricks. He's a magician. It's a counterfeit. And he found himself in a place called Papos. And when they have gone and arrived to Papos, they found that man there. Again, I want us to realize whenever God sent his word, there is always a counterfeit next door. It happened in the past to our own nation.

Remember when Israel came out of the land of Egypt, there was the mixed multitude comes along. They came out with them, and they are the ones who stirred up the people and carried the people and said, Well, why should we continue to go? Where has happened to this Moses? Where does he lead us into this wilderness? Why? We are hungry, we have no food, and they complain and so on. And this is exactly what's happening here. They were just beginning now to develop the work. It doesn't take too long, but all of a sudden you find out that there is false prophet. You see, interesting that you have here in verse 6 false prophet, while in verse 1 and 2 there are the true prophets.

There are those who are truly speaking forth God's word, And there are those who falsely, not speaking God's word. And we find this man, by the name, it says here, his name is Bar Jesus. And you notice the interesting thing, you know, Jesus is a Hebrew word Yeshua or Yehoshua. And the word Bar means son. In Aramit, Bar, in Hebrew, Ben. Bar, Jesus, son of Jesus, son of Yehoshua. While we have the true Yeshua, the Messiah, who died for our sins, who gave himself a ransom for many. Here we see a man who is false prophet with such a name as son of Yeshua, son of Jesus, Yeshua.

Well, we find out in the next verse that there was also in the same area called Papos, a man who was a deputy or a chief Roman officer. It says in verse 7, which was with the deputy or the chief Roman official, a Sergius Paulus, a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God.

you see God was beginning to work in the heart of this Roman official a deputy and he desired to hear the word of God and he was calling Barnabas calling Shaul to come because he wanted to listen to the word of God that tells us brothers and sisters that there was already divine work working underneath the Holy Spirit of God already beginning to work in the heart of this official the deputy here the roman official and that he stirred him up and he was calling Barnabas Saul come I want to hear the word of God tell me what you have in mind what do you have to share with me I want to hear the

word of God but as he desired that the opposition to that message is coming right away because look at this in verse 8 this almir this is the sorcerer we stood Shaul and Barnabas it says here Almias the sorcerer for Saul is his name by interpretation Alimas means sorcerer so Alimas the sorcerer for Saul was his name by interpretation he withstood them he is seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith apparently he called Barnabas and Shaul they share with him the word of God and then coming this man by the name of bar jesus or alimas and he was withstanding them stopping them from sharing the word of god we're standing he wanted

that this deputy will not turn to yeshua and don't we know that by experience in our life how much satan is drawing people away from hearing the scripture how he's seeking to stop people from hearing the word of God they will hear all kind of garbage but not the word of God they will listen to all kind of things but not to the simplicity of the love of God that's what Satan does he doesn't want us to hear the message of the gospel he doesn't want man to be brought to God he's a defeated foe and he's waiting the time of his total defeat but in the meanwhile he opposing the message of the word

of God and so we find that there was this opposition he withstood them and he sought that the deputy will be turned away from the faith now do you remember brothers and sisters when Yeshua was still alive when he was ministering in Israel among our Jewish people and he was sharing the message with various parables you know parables means it is a spiritual truth he's bringing about by sharing practical things that have happened he shared many many parables but one of them we need to take a note of here if you please turn with me to Matthew 13 verse 24 the lord said we read here another parable yeshua put he forth unto them he

was speaking there to the disciples but the kingdom of heaven and he said in verse 24 the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sow good seed in the field.

But while he slept, his enemy came and he sowed tares among the wheat, and he went on his way. But when the blade was springing up and brought forth fruit, then appears the tares also. So the servants of the householder came And they said unto him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in the field, from where then these tares came? And he said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servant said unto him, Will thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said unto them, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles, and burn them. And then gather the wheat into my barn.

now you notice in that parable yeshua said that a certain man sow seeds and then as he sowed the seeds this is really speaking to us of the seed of the message of the gospel you know as we go about and we share the love of god and the way of forgiveness of sins satan doesn't want others to hear that the enemy doesn't want your family my family our friends people we love they don't want them to hear about the messiahship of yeshua why should they he doesn't want them just like he didn't want you and i the god of this world blinding the mind of men lest they will hear that message of the

glorious gospel he doesn't want them to hear that message so he blinds them so you know what he sows all kind of seeds that are not what god have intended and people in a sense here and taking in that which they shouldn't and these false religions and everyone tell you well this is my way and this is a better way and everyone these all kind of false groups and false religions and then they appear at the same time that the good godly individuals that were saved appearing and what happened you don't know what to do and therefore when people came and when the enemy saw these tears then the servants came to this person and

they said to the household and they said listen sir should we cut them off right away from the beginning and pull them away and he said to them no don't do that because you may end up harming the others so let them grow together and the time will come when he's going in the end when he's going to end up gathering all what he's going to do he's going to gather together the turns first will pile them together and burn them with fire and then he's going to gather the wheat and will bring them into the barn and the lord jesus yeshua the messiah really explained to us in this present day dispensation there are

true believers that those are wheat and they are false professors who say that they belong to god who give the appearance as if they belong to god but they really were never saved and satan have sown these tears among the wheat the lord explained the very same parable in the next verses in matthew chapter 13 beginning from verse 36 and look what he says there when jesus sent the multitude away he went into his house and his disciples came to him and they say tell us the parables of the tares in the field and he answered and he said unto them he that soweth the good seed is the son of man this is the

messiah the field is the world the good seed is the children of the kingdom but the tares are the children of the wicked one the enemy that sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels as therefore the tares be gathered and bound in fire so shall it be at the end of the world the son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and he shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun

in the kingdom of their father who hath an ear let him heal you see what Yeshua is saying exactly what happened to Shaul and Barnabas when they were going to preach the gospel there was there a false sorcerer who claimed to be a prophet but he was a false prophet opposing them did not let them preach the message of the gospel to that man who was the deputy he didn't want him to accept the word of God so he was opposing this man he was opposing Shaul and Barnabas that he will not hear the word of the Lord and so brothers and sisters look at this it's kind of sad because you know as long

as we are here on earth Satan will always oppose the things of the Lord he will always seem to discourage the people of God he will always sow things among the people of God to lead people astray and even though he comes as an angel of light give appearance as if he's sent from God or messengers from God and you realize that the end will come when God will have to judge those that follow Satan those that reject the Messiahship of Yeshua God loves men God wants no one to perish but men ultimately have to acknowledge the messiahship of yeshua because there is no other way of salvation except through yeshua the messiah and so

here in conclusion as we move on towards the end look how shaul respond to this man when he opposed them he was not gracious not easy with him because he was teaching false teaching and he was leading someone astray and so Shaul it says here in verse 9 to verse 13 we see the response of Shaul of Paul I want you just to take a note that it says in verse 9 then Shaul who also called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit set his eyes on him just take a note of this expression, Shaul, who is also called Paul.

Many times people make the mistake and they say, see, when he was Jewish, his name was Shaul. When he became a Christian, his name became Paul. Now, let me tell you, that is not what the Bible teach. Being a Christian does not mean that you are not Jewish.

Christian means follower of Christ, follower of the messiah you see his name was shaul but his name was also paul in other words every jewish individual who lived in the diaspora had two names he had a hebrew name and he also had a gentile name because he lived in the diaspora and shaul was not exception his name was shaul and his name was paul and if those that say that Shaul's name was changed to Paul after he became converted to Christianity then he became a believer in Yeshua already in Acts chapter 9 and from Acts chapter 9 if you notice his name is continuing to be called Shaul it didn't stop you notice that in

Acts chapter 9 if you just make a note in verse 1 his name is Shaul in verse 4 Shaul Shaul Yeshua told him why you persecute me in verse 8 Shaul rose up from the earth and then later on in verse 11 Hananiah was said to go to a man by the name of Shaul after he had already accepted the messiah and then we continue on and you find out that in verse 17 that Hananias came to him and he called him brother Shaul he didn't call him brother Paul in verse 19 of act chapter 9 it says that he received food then was shaul certain days with the disciples who were in damascus he

was with the believers in damascus but his name was shaul and you just continue on and you will see that his name did not stop to be shaul it's just that now that he was ministering to the gentile world he uses the gentile name paul now there may be a reason for that because the word Paul means little and he also did not want to take this prominent place even though he was called by God but he wanted to take the place the humility the littleness to belittle himself and not to exalt himself there may be that reason but his Hebrew name is Shaul his Gentile name is Paul and now as long that he

was in a sense reaching to his brethren within his jewish community he used the word shaul but when he went on and he was preaching from there on to the gentle world and he is the apostle of the uncircumcision he used the word paul and by the time we get in chapter 13 from verse 13 on the bible uses the name paul all along but the word Shaul his Hebrew name and his gentle name is Paul it is the same person he did not get another name when he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah his name was Shaul before he became a believer his name was Shaul after he became a believer but ministering

to the gentle world the scripture uses his gentle name by the name of Paul and so notice that in Verse 9, then Shaul, who also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit.

Again, notice, the Holy Spirit guided this servant of the Lord. He set his eyes on this man by the name of Alimas. And he said to him in verse 10, look at the statement to Alimas. O fool of all subtility and all mischief, thou child of the devil, You see, Paul had what is known to be as righteous indignation. He was so opposing the false preaching, that which was not right with God. He said to him, will you not cease to pervert the right way of the Lord? You know, there is only one way, and it is the right way of the Lord. You can't be saved unless it is through someone who pay your penalty for your sin and sins.

We think we're going to go to heaven and we're going to say to God, God, look at me. I've done good things. I've been there. I'm coming from this background. What's God going to say to us? Depart from me. I can't let you come into my heaven because you are a sinner. You need to deal with the question of sin. And thank God, brothers and sisters, that God provided a way, A right way. The right way of the Lord is through recognizing that God has provided the Lamb. There is a way to be right with God. Sin has been paid for. The Messiah Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, has died for us on the tree.

He paid a price.

He shed His blood that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life it's the only way dear friends dear brothers and sisters we have no other way the best of us is a sinner and so paul was actually angry he was so upset with him why do you do that perverting the right way of the lord why is it when you're going to stop and so in verse 11 look at the judgment of God that fell upon that false prophet it says 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 him a mist and

a darkness and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand now look at it before he was blind spiritually now he's also blind physically before he was teaching false things now he needs someone to help him to walk because god had blinded him god had judged him this reminds me also of samson Those of us that are studying the book of Judges, we're going to get to the time when Samson, who was a Nazarite, who was supposed to be separated unto the God of Israel, when Samson disobeyed the Lord, the Philistine took out his eyes and Samson needed to have somebody to help him to walk him by the hand.

and here is this man at the same thing of course samson was a child of god he was a hebrew chosen by god to be a servant of god who failed in his service but here's a man who was a false prophet and god judged him and when he judged him he not only allowed him to continue with his spiritual blindness but now he made him physically blind and he needed somebody to lead him by the hand and so while we see the darkness of this false prophet then we see the salvation of this deputy who wanted to hear the word of the lord who wanted to hear the message of the messiahship of yeshua

listen to verse 12 then the deputy when he saw that that which was done he believed he believed being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord you see this pagan Gentile man Roman deputy the spirit of God began to work in his heart and he called Barnabas and Shaul come tell me the teaching or the word of the Lord and they came and told him the enemy sought to take away that seed from him but by the grace of God he saw what happened to this false prophet he saw that he was withstanding Barnabas and Shaul and then when he saw it and he accepted the word of God it says he believed it's believing,

that's it he believed as it says here being astonished at the teaching of the Lord he simply believed believe, you know God says in the Bible for God so loved the world John 3.16 that he gave his only begotten son this is Yeshua the Messiah that whosoever believe on him shall not perish but have everlasting life just to believe faith cometh by hearing hearing by the word of God the writer to our brethren the Hebrews said in hebrews chapter 11 without faith it is impossible to please him to please god for he that cometh to god must believe that he is just to believe you don't have to work for that you don't have to

pay money for that you don't have to be goody two-shoes for that you don't have to do anything except confess that you are a sinner and believe on the lord yeshua the messiah who paid the price when he died for us on the tree just believe and you notice he said he believed he was astonished at the doctrine of the lord at the teaching it's not merely some feeling from heaven or something like that and we get some zapped from somewhere it is teaching brothers and sisters it is the word of god it is the word of god and then he concluding here with the last verse now when Paul and his company loosed from

Pappos they came to Perga and Pampilia and then John departing from them and he returned unto Jerusalem John he was a young Jewish man who came relative of Barnabas was taken by Shaul and Barnabas from Jerusalem brought down to the place that is called Antioch to a Gentile city and he served with Shaul and Barnabas ministered unto them but then we find out at the end of verse 13 that he left them he departed and he returned to Jerusalem now nobody really know the reason some suggest he was afraid and I can tell you that how many times we are afraid fear that comes because of opposition because of all kind of things that may

happen in a ministry in serving the Lord secondly remember he might have been very timid a Jewish boy we grew up in Jerusalem what do we know about the Gentile pagan world maybe when he was exposed to all the paganism that existed in these areas in Antioch, in Pampos and in Salamis and you saw paganism and he couldn't take it and he went back home there were many reasons that you can manage maybe he got homesick i don't know about you but i've been homesick for years want to go back to my homeland it took me a long time before i kind of got used to say okay that's where i'm going to live for

now for a while but i was homesick wanted to be with my family it's natural but whatever the reason may have been, he left the ministry.

He left the service for the Lord. And as you will find out later on, and we're not going to mention it now, the apostle Paul, Shaul, did not want to take him again because he left the ministry. And there was a division among Barnabas and Paul later on because Barnabas wanted to take Mark John but Paul says no he is not valuable now he left the ministry we are not going to take him and then later on in the history of the Apostle Paul he says bring John Mark again and John was restored to the ministry this teaching us brothers and sisters that God is in a business of restoration when you get discouraged and you go away and you go astray and you fall by the wayside and you said i'm tired and i'm afraid and i'm weak and i'm homesick the lord is able to restore us back and to use us back in the ministry that's wonderful to know and paul was honest enough and had spiritual maturity enough to take him back to be used for the ministry but here we find John leaving them and going back to Jerusalem because perhaps he was homesick or perhaps he was afraid or perhaps couldn't take paganism or whatever reason it may be.

But thank God that the first missionary journey had begun. This man by the name of the deputy got saved. This roman soldier roman officer got saved and the gospel was moving on in the wide world so many will turn to faith in yeshua the messiah may the lord bless us and keep us serving him and ministering to god's people as we preach faithfully the word of god