The Antioch Church Commissions Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:1–3)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 16, 2025

Do you have a calling? How do you know if God has called you to something specific? How do you facilitate an atmosphere to hear God speak?

How do you know God’s will? Are you seeking God’s will?

Do you treat God like He is the owner of the universe and the creator? I was at the store when Mercedes was almost three years old. Meagan said to grab some potatoes. I went to grab some potatoes. Mercedes said, “Those aren’t the right potatoes.” I said, “Yes, they are.” She said, “No, they are not.” I said, “Yes, they are.” She said, “They are not the right potatoes, Daddy!” I said, “Mercedes, you have been alive for three years; how do you know?” Is that how we act with God? We act like Mercedes. We act like we know it all to the Supreme Creator, and maybe we do not seek His will when He knows it all.   

In Acts 13:1-3, the church in Antioch hears God’s call to set aside Paul and Barnabas for God’s mission. They follow through with that. I want to talk about this passage for a few minutes and show you that the call to missions was heard because they were worshipping and fasting. They were seeking Him. They were putting God on the throne.  

Acts 13:1–3 (ESV)

13 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

This is a pivotal point in the Book of Acts. Paul the apostle was just introduced in chapter 7. At that time, he was a young Jewish man persecuting the church.

Then, in Acts chapter 9, Saul became a Christian. Jesus confronted him.

Now, between Acts chapter 9 and Acts chapter 13, around 12 or 13 years have passed. Paul was converted in about A.D. 33; now it is around A.D. 46 or 47. In Acts chapter 13, the focus changes from Peter to Paul. The rest of the book of Acts is predominantly about Paul. Look how it happens.

1. The setting:
   1. Verse 1: they are in Antioch. Antioch would be north of Jerusalem in Syria. In Acts 11:19ff, we read about how they got to Antioch.
   2. Verse 1 tells us there are prophets and teachers in Antioch. Verse 1 lists four of these specific prophets and teachers. Now, prophesy was a spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit would speak through a prophet to proclaim God’s truth. This might be a conviction about sin or some future event.
   3. Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were listed among these prophets. There is also Simeon called Niger. Niger is Latin for black, so it is likely he was from Africa. Lucius of Cyrene is also a Latin name, and he is likely from an area in Northern Africa, too.
   4. Then there is an interesting note about this man, Manaen. He was brought up with Herod. This is the same Herod who had James killed and brought Jesus to trial and others. Manaen was brought up with him. The Greek wording suggests having the same wet nurse. It is possible that Manaen was the child of one of their slaves. Herod grew up in Rome, and it was common for the children of slaves to grow up with the master’s children. The children grow close, and the slave is freed when he or she is an adult. Either way, Manaen is now serving the Lord with the gift of prophecy or teaching.
2. Verse 1 showed us “who” and verses 2 and 3 show us “what.”
   1. Verse 2 says they were worshipping the Lord and fasting. Isn’t that an interesting intro? What is about to happen, happens while they are coming into the presence of the Lord in worship and fasting.
   2. There are other examples of significant things happening during worship. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah was called while in the temple performing a priestly duty.
   3. Fasting means abstaining from food and possibly other pleasures to seek God. The people of Antioch were worshipping the Lord and fasting. They were seeking God for input. God is about to give them His guidance.
   4. They were worshipping and fasting, and the Holy Spirit spoke to them. The Holy Spirit likely spoke through one of the prophets. The Lord wanted Paul and Barnabas set aside for His work. This idea of setting aside means to set apart for a special purpose. The Lord wanted Paul and Barnabas set apart for His purposes.  Back when Paul became a Christian, the Lord said that He would use Paul to reach the Gentiles. That is about to happen.

• The response:
  1. Verse 3 is about the church’s response. The church obeys. At this point, the Lord hadn’t told Paul or Barnabas where they were going. It doesn’t matter. Paul and Barnabas made themselves available. The church gathered together, and they laid hands on them. This is comparable to ordination. They were sent out.
  2. From Acts 13:4- 14:26, we can read about the missionary journey that resulted from this. Many people heard the Gospel because the church in Antioch was in an atmosphere to hear God.
  3. They were worshipping and fasting. Then Paul and Barnabas obeyed. Paul had taken the Gospel to the known world by the end of Acts. He might have taken it as far as Spain. He took the Gospel to Rome. Things happen when you intentionally create an atmosphere to hear God.
  4. This happened to Meagan several years ago. She was working at McDonalds at the time. She was spending some time in prayer before work when she heard the phone ring. We usually don’t need to interrupt our time with God by answering the phone. But in this instance, she received a job offer. This happened during prayer time.

This Scripture passage shows us a few things. One is that foreign missions are essential. This is Paul’s call, and they go far away. Secondly, this text shows how to hear God’s call by being involved in the spiritual disciplines. These are prayer, worship, fasting, Scripture reading.  

People need the Lord everywhere. While Paul was going around the known world with the Gospel, James was pastoring the Jerusalem church. James, the half-brother of Jesus, stayed home to pastor the church. Missions are important, local and foreign.

Missions is about ministering to temporary felt needs and eternal spiritual needs.

You need to know that you will not hear God if you are not in the spiritual disciplines. Prayer, reading Scripture, worship, and sometimes fasting are imperative to hearing God. Maybe God will call you to a short-term mission trip. Maybe God will call you to full-time missions. Maybe God will be calling you to a new ministry around here. Maybe God will call you to do something else. Will you hear God’s call?

Chuck Swindoll shares the following (this is a copy of the transcript, I apologize for anything that doesn’t read correctly):
“Several years ago, I was asked by an organization that I have loved for many years, the Navigators, to come to their reunion at Estes Park, Colorado, and to be one of the speakers. I was thrilled to be able to do that.
And I traveled there and I found out after I was there that they hadn’t all gotten together for 17 years. So it was a great reunion of this fine Christian organization. The camp was just full of people with stories and hugs and embraces and wonderful moments together.
And it was kind of a sort of reliving the past for that whole week. Well, we finished our time there and a man was to drive me back to Denver to catch a plane back home. On the way back, he said, can I tell you my story?
And I said, sure. He said, actually, it’s a story of closed doors. Great, I said, I’ve had a few of those.”

“So tell me what yours was. He said, we could not find peace in any manner staying in the States. And while at a conference with a number of the leadership of the Navigators, it fell my opportunity to be the man who would open the work in Uganda.
Uganda. He said, I could hardly spell it. When they pointed to me and said, perhaps that’s where the Lord would have you go.
He said, I went home, I told my wife and told our children, I think they had three at the time. Their oldest son was just about to go into school. Not quite.
So there are three little kiddos. And he said to his wife, honey, are you ready to take on the challenge of Uganda and all the holes? She said, if that’s where God wants us, I want to do that.
So they flew to Nairobi, Kenya. Now, couples, for a moment, picture it. You got three kids, one of them still in diapers, one of them should be, they’re all little.”

“You got them flying over to Nairobi, you land, you put your family up in a hotel, you’ve got limited amount of money, you rent a car, a land rover, and you drive from Nairobi into the country of Uganda. Remember, this was just after Idi Amin’s terror reign. He said, one of the first things that caught my eye when I came into the little town, the village, where I was going to spend my first night, and it was dark, were eight, nine-year-old kids with automatic weapons.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, shooting them off in the sky. And I’d drive by, it was like, they’d stare at me and point at me. I thought, no, no, no, no, no, not now.
You know, it took me enough to get here. But it was that kind of context. It was that kind of volatile setting.”

“And he thought, Lord, are you there? He pulled up at a little place, a dimly lit hotel, and he thought, well, I’ll spend the night, lonely, unable to connect with his wife at the hotel back in Nairobi. And he goes up to the counter, and the man that’s taking care of the registration is asleep.
So he wakes him up, speaks a little bit of English, and he registers, there’s one room left, one bed available. So he goes up two flights of stairs, and he gets to the room, opens the door, turns on this little naked light bulb hanging over a table, and one bed is unmade, and his bed is still made up. And he realized, I am sharing this room with somebody.
He said, I dropped to my knees, and I said, Lord, look, I’m afraid. I’m in a country I don’t know, in a culture that’s totally unfamiliar. I have no idea who sleeps in that bed.”

“And he said, just as I was finishing my prayer, boom, the door opens, and here’s this 6 foot 5 inch African saying, what are you doing in my room? Beautiful British English. And he stood up, and he said, I stood there, because this fellow is kind of short, and he said, believe me, I got this bed, and I won’t be here but just one night.
And the fellow said, what are you doing in my country? He said, well, I’m with a little organization called the Navigators. And he broke into this enormous grin, put his arms around this guy, and hugged him.
He said, he lifted me up off the floor and just danced around with me, is hugging me. Praise God, praise God, says this African. And he’s thinking, praise God, let me down.”

“You know, and they sit down at the table, and this brother in Christ, this fellow Christian, this African said, for two years, I had prayed that God would send someone to me from this organization. And he pulls out a little verse pack, and at the bottom of each of the verses, it says, the navigators, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He said, are you from Colorado Springs, Colorado?
He said, I was, but I’m coming to Uganda to begin a work for the navigator. That man became his best friend, a member of his board, helped him find a place to live, helped him rebuild a section of his home, taught him about the culture, helped him with a little bit of the language needs that he had, and he became his best friend for those 14 years they were there.

After 12, 14 years—I forget the exact number of years—they finished their work there. It was established.
Others from the staff of the Navigators came and picked up the work, and this dear little family came back. He had not been back quite a year. His son was finishing his high school, and the high school class was to go to Washington, DC for one of those field trips.
You know what they often do with high school kids? They take them there to look at the monuments and let them see the White House and these great scenes across the nation’s capital. He said to his boy before he left, put his arms around him, and he said, Son, here’s $40.
I want you to buy something that will be a great memory for you so that you can put it in your room and just call it all your own. This is your money. Do with it as you please.
So the kid goes to Washington, DC. They stay almost a week and he comes back with his package. He says, I want to surprise you, Dad”

“So he doesn’t let him come in his room until he finishes. And they walk in his room and the kid had bought a huge Ugandan flag that he put over his bed. He said, those are the best years of my life, Dad.
Talk about perspective. He feared that by going to Uganda, he would destroy or hurt or cripple his family when in fact, his son has a passion now for God’s work outside the borders of these United States. He would have never had that if he had not obeyed and walked through the open door.
God is full of surprises. And if you have come to a closed door, be very, very sensitive.”[1]

[1] From Insight for Living Daily Broadcast: Closed Doors, Open Doors, Part 2, Feb 13, 2025
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/insight-for-living-daily-broadcast/id89603501?i=1000691549656&r=838
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First, Do you know Jesus yourself?

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

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