 Today, we're in Acts 13. We're going to look at verses 1 through 13. What I'm going to do, I'm going to take you into verses 1 through 5. Then I'm going to move you into verse 6 and conclude at verse 13. And so, we'll begin here in Acts 13 at verse 1, reading to verse 5, and get into our study. Now, in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Sirene, who had been brought up with Herod, the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia. And from there, they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Solomonus, they preached the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. And so, there was an outbreak of persecution as we've studied through the book of Acts, we saw that an outbreak of persecution. And because of the outbreak of persecution, the Gospel had spread out, had come to the city of Antioch. We saw in Acts 1119, those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the Word to no one but Jews only. We know that Antioch was approximately 300 miles northwest of the city of Jerusalem, and that's where this ministry has been taken place as a church in the city of Antioch. And Antioch, as we have seen, was a strong church. And as a strong church, Antioch sent relief to Jerusalem to those who were in need during a famine. Again, we saw that in chapter 11, verses 27 through 30. And so, we're looking at what's taking place in the church of Antioch. So, it says in verse 1, in the church that was at Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers. And then the names of these prophets and teachers are mentioned. Now, I'm going to give to you a bit of a study on that topic, prophets and teachers. And it's not going to be thorough, but it is going to be enough to give you some information. When you see prophets and teachers in the church, we need to know that prophets and teachers were the ones who gave instruction as well as direction to the church. It would seem that prophets were in a separate category from teachers, because when you look in the book of Ephesians chapter 4, Paul speaks about that. And he says in verse 11, and he gave some to be apostles, prophets, and teachers. And so, they're different, they're like different offices, but you have the prophets and you have the teachers. Now, a teacher is gifted by God to explain and illustrate Scripture. A teacher gives what are called the fundamentals of the faith. But prophets, prophets often give revelation as well as direction. In chapter 11 of Acts, verse 28, we had a prophet by the name of Agbas. And Agbas had prophesied of a famine that would occur. So, I spoke of future events in order to get the church ready and to prepare them for what was about to take place. You'll see him again in chapter 21, verses 10 and 11, where it says, after we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agbas came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, the Holy Spirit says, in this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles. And so, you have teachers who explain the fundamentals of the faith and you have prophets who speak concerning direction for the church very often for the future. And so, that's what we have here when it says in verse 1 that there were in Antioch certain prophets and teachers. And so, you have a list of names. I'm not going to again give you a lot of detail about them, but we know Barnabas. Barnabas had been commissioned to minister to believers in Antioch. We have Simeon. It's interesting, but Simeon, it says, who is called Niger. The word Niger is a Latin word for black, so it refers to his color as well as descent. He was more than likely from North Africa. We have Lucius of Cyrene. Cyrene was a city in Libya, again in North Africa. We have Minahin. He's an interesting person in that he was a foster brother of Herod Antipas, who was the tetrarch of Galilee and Pariah, and he was the one who murdered John. And then you have Saul. Now, Barnabas had invited him to come to minister in Antioch, and we saw that again in chapter 11. And so, these are the ones who are mentioned here, but I want to develop something with you in verse 2. I'm going to spend some time looking at this with you today, because for some in here, this may be an important thing for you to hear, and I want to take some time to develop this with you. Again, it says, As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Having fasted and prayed, laid hands on them, they sent them away. I want to show you a few things here about planting churches and doing works for the Lord. When it says in verse 2, they ministered to the Lord. The word ministered, as used in this context, is really harkening back to an Old Testament concept. In the Old Testament, when somebody was ministering to the Lord, that spoke of temple service, and so it spoke of pure worship to God. When you're ministering to the Lord, you are worshiping Him and serving Him. So when I was a young believer, actually I was a young pastor, and the then senior pastor and I had a conversation because he had been reading this, and I should put this in context. The senior pastor was 22, and I was 29. Just gives you some insight. So it was like already five years ago. It's amazing. But we were young men. We were learning what the Word of God had to say and how the Word of God instructed us, both of us. And he and I had a conversation on one occasion, and he said, what do you think it means when it says they ministered to the Lord? How do you do that? Since when does God need to be ministered to? Well, the term is an Old Testament priestly concept of full worship and service to God. That gives you some insight into what true Christian service is. It's worship first and foremost to God. It's the worship that you first and foremost have towards God that puts you in a place to be of service to God. You don't really serve God if you're not worshiping God. And you need to understand that because today there are many who think that they're serving God, but they're not worshiping God. So they're busy, and they're busy doing things, and they burn out because their service is not being generated by true worship. That's a very important point because there are a lot of Christians today who are very works-oriented. The more they do, the more they think that they're really serving God. But in fact, they're getting tired and they lose their joy and they become what I call grumpy saints. They've lost the joy. It's not enjoyable any longer. It becomes a burden, and they're always down, and they're always tired, and they're always complaining. It's because they've got it reversed. It's like Martha and Mary, where Martha's are banging those pots and pans in the kitchen, and she's angry because Mary's seated at the feet of Jesus. And she says in her own heart, you know, what's that lazy good for nothing up to, and goes in. And then you know the story. She begins to give orders to Jesus. Tell that woman to get up and help me. You know, that's what you'll do. That's what you will do every time you labor in the flesh. That's what you'll do. You'll begin to be angry at the Lord himself for not giving you relief. And that's why it's so beautiful how the Lord says Martha, Martha. He says it twice. Martha, Martha, you are careful about many things. You're filled with anxiety about a variety of things, but your sister Mary here has chosen the better part. In other words, if you're going to serve me, you first are seated at my feet. When you are seated at my feet, then you're ready to serve me. But trying to serve me without having relationship with me, that's not real worship. That's your efforts. You will get burned out. I've been asked more than once recently. I don't know what some kind of hint or not, but I've been asked, how have you remained faithful to serving the Lord for as long as you have? I'm not. I'm wondering if they're saying, isn't it time to retire? I don't know. But how is it that you have? I've been teaching the word since 1973. That's 44 years. How have you remained serving the Lord without burning out for 44 years? The answer, worship him first. You worship him first and then out of the abundance of relationship, you give to others. And so it's a very important point here because as we're looking at this, they ministered to the Lord. They were worshiping him. And so let me give you a couple of things. One, this reveals that ministry includes all Christians. All Christians are to worship and minister. It's not just a special group of people. Sometimes there are people who go to church and they say, well, the pastor and the paid staff are to do everything. After all, that's why they get paid. It's not a job. It's ministry. And the bottom line is, is we're all called by God to serve him. It's not just one special group. It's the whole body of Christ. Everyone is a minister. We're all equipped for works of service. In 1 Peter chapter two, verses four and five, the apostle said, as you come to him, the living stone rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to him, you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So ministry includes all people, not just some people. Second, it reveals that ministry is centered on pleasing and serving God. This is an important point, but can be missed sometimes. Ministry is not simply meeting people's real or felt needs. Ministry will always be an overflow of relationship that one has with the Lord. And then third, ministry is at its core true worship of God, because when real ministry occurs, God receives all credit and God receives all glory. I am the Lord. That is my name and my glory. I will give to no one else, neither my praise to graven images. We have a tendency today of giving praise to the vessels. We have to be careful. It's not that those who serve the Lord in positions of influence ought not to be respected. Of course, there's a respect that you have you honor all men. You give honor to where honors do. Of course, that that's a given, but we have to be careful that we don't elevate people to a position of receiving the credit for the work that God himself did. We have to be careful with that. In the Psalms, in Psalm 115, it says, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory because of your mercy, because of your truth. So not unto us, but unto your name give glory. So all glory in ministry goes to the Lord. And that's a very important thing. So ministry is at its core pure worship to God. And so as we're reading about this, notice again that they were also fasting. When it speaks concerning them fasting, that reveals the serious seeking of the Lord because fasting is normally the abstaining from food for a spiritual purpose. It is really also, when you look at it in the Old Testament, an indication of it's a symbol of mourning. So it's a mourning over sin and a drawing close to God through the repentance. Psalm 35, 13, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. And so they were fasting, seeking the Lord. And as they were doing so, preparing as they served him, notice the Holy Spirit said. So now he said, separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work I've called them to. So God's direction comes. It comes through one of the prophets apparently. So that gives us insight into the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. He's giving them direction. And notice what he says, separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. When it says separate, that means to set apart for some purpose. So that gives me insight into how the Holy Spirit works and how he does his ministry. I want you to see a few things here. Again, one, Luke writes that this occurs as they ministered to the Lord. So the call came during a season of worship, prayer and fasting. That's important. Perhaps I have somebody in this room right now who is considering doing a Bible study or planting a church. Surprise. You may be surprised to know that that happens quite often. There are people who will come to Bible studies just like this, perhaps even this one right now who have in their heart a desire to one day plant a church. So let me share with you something in particular that might be of help to you. I would have you note that the direction came as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting. I would show you that the call came during a season of worship and a season of prayer. It did not come through a long strategy session. It did not come through building up a team to go out and do work. It did not come through somebody doing what they today are calling vision casting. It did not come through getting a team together. It did not come through doing a demographic study. You may find this interesting and perhaps you won't let me say it quickly because somebody someday may think it's interesting. I'll put it on the radio. Maybe one person will today. Oh, I might as well talk to you. I'm going to visit with you for a minute. Here we go because I'm kind of hesitating this because in this because I'm thinking I don't want to bore some who are not interested in this, but it's a very real fact and it's something I'm concerned about. So I'm going to share with you a little bit about it because I know that when I do that there is somebody that needs to hear this. So I'm going to say it when we planted this church. It came through the direction of the Holy Spirit. It didn't come through a demographic study of some sort. Where is there a need for a church? Because when we began this church, we actually began the work in Ontario and there were already a number of churches in the city of Ontario. I had to within my own heart rationalize a reason for having a church when you already have several. Why do you need another one? And so the Lord very obviously through his spiritual direction made it possible for us to plant the church. I didn't bring a group of people together and cast vision. That's taking place right now. What do I mean by cast vision? I mean you invite certain key people that you think have certain gifts and abilities and certain commitments and willingness to do the work and support financially. I'm talking about creating a group of people who are of support for you and then when you gather them together then you do what is called a vision cast where you say this is what I see the Lord wants to do. This is how we're going to accomplish it. These are the four things that I'd like to see. This is my three-year plan. This is my five-year plan. That's called vision casting. You're pouring out to them the things you think in terms of strategies. You don't do a demographic study. You don't look at your city that you're going to and say well it has this demographic population. There is this percentage of white, this percentage of black, this percentage of Hispanic, this percentage of Asian and so you don't do that. What you do is you pray, you seek the Lord, you ask God for direction and when the Spirit says move you move. That's how it works. That's how it works. I did not look at this church when we began this church and say I want to have a church that is made up of this intellectual in terms of education, this financial in terms of finances. I didn't do any of that. I just started a church. Just started a Bible study. Now, I'll go one step further. When the church first began, we'd been going for about a year. We had a couple hundred people or more at that time and had a friend of mine who was more than a friend. He was more of a mentor. He was 20 years plus older than me. His name was Dr. Moore. Dr. Moore was one of my professors at Biola that I had grown very close to. Dr. Moore was over the church planting kind of ministry in terms of the educational system at Biola teaching people how to plant churches. I called Dr. Moore after we'd been going for about a year. His name was George, but I always called him Dr. Moore. I said, I'd like to share with you. I planted a church and he said, how's it going? I said, it's great. He said, let's have lunch. I said, okay. I went to see him. No, I had read seven books on church planting. I knew at that time, we're talking 36 years ago, 35 years ago, I knew the essentials of the model of church planting. I knew it. I had memorized those things. So I went and I met him and we were in the cafeteria and we began to speak and I got my train. He got his and I put the tray down on the table and unloaded the cafeteria food, which is a step below hospital food. And so I put it there and Dr. Moore says to me, David, he said, your church is going, I think it was about 300 at that time. He said, your church is going to 300. I said, yeah, about there. And he goes, tell me how that happened because he did church growth. He taught church growth. So I said, well, and I began to give him the seven principles of church growth. So I said, well, it requires, this is just a moment. I have to get something. This is the truth before the Lord. When he got up and walked away to go get his, his dessert or whatever it is that he had forgotten to get the spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart. By the way, you're reading how the spirit said the spirit said the spirit spoke to my heart and said, if you take credit for this, I will take my hand off of you. I'll never forget that. He talks to me like that all the time. He really does. If you take credit for this, I will take my hand off of you. Dr. Moore came and sat in front of me. He says, now tell me how has this happened? I said, it's all God. It's all God. I said, I have got no clue. No clue. I'm serious. I am totally dead serious. It is, I said, Dr. Moore, it's Jesus. It's Jesus. Lift him up. He draws him into himself. That's the secret. That's it. Just lift him up. You see, because that's what the, I'm careful with that because the Lord is, I believe, I really believe that he would have, he would have taken his hand off us. I really believe that. And, and so I said, nope. I said, it's the Holy Spirit's work. Well, that's how it works. We need to understand that it's the work who does that. It's the spirit who does that. So it doesn't come through the strategy sessions, the team building or anything like that. It doesn't come through doing the demographic studies. It comes from seeking the Lord and worshiping him. And, and, and it wasn't something that they just thought, well, let's give it a try and see what happens. It wasn't something like that at all. So one, God leads you as your holy serving and worshiping him to the call was actually a call that came through spirit-filled, worshipful, mature Christian leaders. One of the prophets spoke is what had happened. And these were men who were acquainted with the ways of the Lord. These were men who were walking in the Spirit. They knew the voice of the Lord when he spoke. They had that discernment. And so there was something that was presented to them by the leaders of the church and, and the leaders were saying, the Lord is saying, you're to be separated for work that God has called you to. So they were well acquainted with the ways of the Lord. They were not zealous novices. They were not simply hungry to do something for God. They were not presumptuous. They were people who are waiting on the Lord. That's very important. A third thing, the Holy Spirit said separate to me, the body of Christ trusted these men. They trusted that they would be sent out by these men. It was an official act of sending out these missionaries. That's an important thing because if, if you feel you have a call to go and do a work and you want to plant a church and all, it's a good thing to have people who know you and love you that you're accountable to, who can be encouragement to you when you go out and do the work of ministry. That's very important. You know, my, my dear son in the faith, Joe McCharsney is doing a work in Montclair. You know, and you know, Joe is, Joe, Joe is accountable to me as his pastor and as his mentor and as someone who loves him. And, and I, and I, and I will be there for him to help and advise not to be the one who makes the decisions, but to encourage him to know God's voice and these things because I've been there. And that's what you need. You need somebody with that kind of, of capacity and that kind of responsibility. They were sent out by the church. They were recognized by the elders, but their separation to do the work of ministry didn't come from the group of men. It came from God. So their accountability went beyond their accountability to the prophets, the teachers, and even the congregation. Their accountability is firmly planted in the relationship with the Lord who sent them. My own pastor Chuck presented to us something that I think is true and I own myself and that is if a man is not accountable to God, he will never be accountable to any other man. It starts with your accountability to God. When you have an accountability to God, when you fear the Lord, when you want to please him, then you will place yourself in a responsible position of hearing advice from others, but it begins with your relationship with God. And then he says, set him apart for the work. Now that's interesting because the word work there, the work ministry or the work which I have called them is the word Ergon in Greek. It speaks of the labor to which I've called them. And so ministry is work. That is something we know, don't we? Ministry is work. It's not a hobby. It's not a recreation. It's work. And two, he says the work to which I have called them. So God is the one who determines where you go. He says, I have called them. Ministry is not a one man show. Notice he said the work I have called them. It is a team effort. One of the most, I don't know. I don't know what the proper word would be. Something that we need to be aware of and that I'm aware of is this. And again, this is something that those who have a desire to minister, these are things that you can learn. I'm just kind of sharing some things that are out of this passage that are practical to ministers, to be honest with you. But I'll tell you this, the church cannot be built on one man. It can't be. I know the day is going to come and it's really not that far down the road. It's not tomorrow. It's not next year, but it's not that far down the road. When I'm going to hand this ministry over to somebody else, I know that. I'm praying that Jesus comes before that seriously. But one day, one day the Lord's going to say, get out of my way. I'm going to bring somebody else in. And I will not have a sentimental attachment. I will say, God, it's your church. Time for me to move. And I'll tell you one great reason why. Why? Because it's very dangerous when a church has a love for the pastor to the point where they can't receive the word from other people. That's dangerous. You know, it's God's word. If it is God's word, it's rightly divided, then the church can benefit from any anointed teacher, right? That's a bottom line thing. What happens though, and especially in our era, I've seen it to be true, is we have a tendency of elevating the vessel. So if that vessel is not there on a Sunday or a Wednesday or two Sundays in a row, some people won't even go to church because the vessel's not there. That's dangerous. That's dangerous. There was a time here in this church where we were going through that where if I wasn't here, some people didn't show up. I stopped saying I'm not going to be there. I stopped because I didn't want people to come to hear me. I wanted them to come and hear the word. I wanted them to meet with God. But I understand that there's a relationship that a person has with their pastor or that that person speaks to their heart. I understand that, but it's also very dangerous when that person actually becomes the person they need to hear. That's dangerous too. It's God's word. When it's rightly divided and the Holy Spirit is present, we can grow. And I'll tell you, I'm looking forward. I'm looking forward to having Tony Clark here. I'm telling you that because I love the guy, and I know this church will too. And there are a lot of men out there that I think would do a wonderful job of leading this church because it's about Jesus and it's about his word. And that's how it works. And I hope this church always remembers that. I do appreciate, and I'll go on and say this unnecessary as it may be, I do appreciate those of you who love me. I appreciate that a lot more than those of you who hate me. I'm serious. I'd rather be loved than hated any day of the week. But I also know that, and I hope you do too, that the hero of this church is Jesus Christ. I know that too. He is. We have to keep that in mind. I didn't have to say it, but I am. Because as I go through this, this is what I'm seeing here. And this is what I'm sharing because it's really important for us to know that it was a team effort. Jesus sent the disciples out in teams and there are no superstars in the kingdom. It says in verse three, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So that's how they were sent out, prayer and fasting. And then they continued to pray for them as they left. They laid hands on them demonstrating their blessings and blessing their efforts. It also symbolized their unity in the work of the Lord as well as their accountability. And so in verse four, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia. So this was all occurring in a place called Antioch. And Seleucia is the port of Antioch. They sailed for Cyprus. Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean, just west of Syria and south of Turkey. And it says in verse five, they arrived in Salamis. And so they got salami there. That's where it's from. No. You're seeing if you're listening. Oh, what's that? Oh, the Holy Spirit just exploding. Amazing. They arrived in Salamis. They preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews and they had John as their assistant. A couple of things here. So they had John as their assistant. We have Paul. We have Barnabas. And we have Barnabas's cousin. And his name is John Mark. They're ministering together. Colossians four, 10 tells us that Mark is the cousin of Barnabas. We've been introduced to him in chapter 12. We know that the church met in his mother Mary's house. And in chapter 12, verse 25, it says Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled their ministry, they took with them John, whose surname was Mark. So John was what they referred to as an assistant. Now just touch this very quickly. The word assistant speaks of an under rower, a subordinate rower. It's another word for a servant. It's anyone who serves with their hands, a servant. John had come with them as one who would relieve the load of ministry in a practical way. He may also have come along as one who recorded the events as a scribe. You're going to see him later. I just want to point that out because I want you to notice this. They had John as their assistant. We'll look at him later on. So as this is taking place, we change gears. Verse six, when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Alamos, the sorcerer, for so his name is translated, withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, Oh, full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind not seeing the sun for a time. Immediately a dark mist fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. When Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. Let's look at this man here, Alamos. I don't know how to really say his name, but I'll call him Alamos. We can call him Al if you'd like. Paphos was a Greek settlement. It was known for a variety of things, including the cult of Aphrodite. Aphrodite was, quote, unquote, the goddess of procreation. She is associated with sex, with love, and so they were very promiscuous. So it was known for the cult of Aphrodite. It is in this place that they encounter a man who is referred to as Bar Jesus or son of Jesus. The word Bar speaks of son of. So he's called Bar Jesus, but he's also known as Alamos. Alamos is an Arabic word for a wise man. It's also where you can translate the word into magician, magus. And so Alamos is known as a wise man, but in reality what he is is a sorcerer. I want you to notice that Luke doesn't refer to him as a wise man. He speaks of him. Luke says that he is a Jewish sorcerer and a false prophet. That's how he approaches this. He doesn't give him any credibility at all. He identifies him as a sorcerer and a false prophet. He is an apostate Jew. He's in the employ of Sergius Paulus. He's sort of a court magician. He would be one who interprets dreams. He was an occult practitioner, and that is strictly forbidden by God. All you need to do, take the note, Deuteronomy 18, 9 through 15, and you see that in the law that this sorcery is forbidden. So as a Jew, Alamos was acquainted with the Word of God as it pertains to that, and he did not care for it, nor did he heed what God said. He knew that the Bible forbids sorcery, but he could care less about it. Well, somebody says, well, what's wrong with practicing sorcery? I'm a Christian, and if somebody asks me, what's your sign? I'll say Capricorn or whatever. Leo, Virgo, Sagittarius, idiotic. I will call it what we... That reminds me, I always think of this. When I met Marie, she asked me what my sign was. That's the fact. What's your sign? The fish. Oh, you're a Pisces. I said the ichthus, the sign of the fish, which is a symbol of Christianity. See, I know the Bible teaches us that astrology, sorcery, is forbidden. It's forbidden, and Alamos knew that, too, but it didn't matter to him at all. There are those today, though, who are Christians, who will still put on their Facebook page that they're a Sagittarius and all of that. I've seen it, and so without getting legalistic, it is wrong to do that, and I'll tell you why, because the Bible forbids the practice of astrology and a variety of things that go under the label of occult, card reading, palm reading, what is called psychic entertainment, and when somebody is involved in the occult, the word occult refers to finding the hidden things, and so in this practice of Ouija boards and tarot cards and all, there is an attempt to ascertain information about future events or things that pertain to my life. In Deuteronomy 29-29, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us, and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. God has information that is His own, and should He choose to reveal it, He does so and would do so through prophets. He would also reveal and does reveal His mind to us through His Word. You see in Daniel 2 verse 22, it says God reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness and light dwells with Him. So we are forbidden to try and ascertain the things of the future, etc., through these means, because those are works of the flesh. In Galatians 5 19-21, it says the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contention, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. In Revelation 22, 14, and 15, blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city, but outside are dogs and sorcerers, and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. The word sorcerer is from the Greek word pharmakea. The word pharmakea is a root word that we get the word pharmaceutical from. Sorcerers would use drugs in their incantations and their spells. So I have people who have said, well, wait a minute, you know, you can do recreational drugs. I had somebody say to me, and I've heard this recently again, but when I first was saved, I had someone say, no, man, we can smoke pot. It's herb, man, because that's what we used to call marijuana. We called it herb. He says it's herb, man. Didn't you see that God gave the herb? So we can use it, man. That's how we used to talk. We can use it, man. Well, no. And the Lord forbids me using anything recreational use to alter my consciousness, my perceptions, and variety of things like that. Marijuana, marijuana does that. So there's a whole variety of recreational drugs. It's actually a work of the flesh, and it's strictly forbidden. And there's a big argument going on today concerning recreational use of drugs. And I have, I know that there are those today who are stronger evangelists for drug use and alcohol use than they are for the gospel of Jesus Christ, because they're so caught up with it. They're so addicted to it, and they use it so much. Well, the bottom line is, sorcery is forbidden. This man here was a sorcerer. He's also a false prophet. His name was Bar-Jesus, but they called him Alimus, or wise one. Now, it says in verse 7, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. And this man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. So Sergius Paulus' notice is regarded as an intelligent man. He was a proconsul. The word proconsul would be like a governor. He was a man with an inquiring mind, is what he's saying here when it says he's an intelligent man. He was learned. He was wise. He was philosophic. And he desired answers to religious questions. This was an intellectually honest man. He was open to listening to what the gospel had to say. He isn't described as a genuine believer here. He is described as being fair-minded and open. But as it says, he wants to hear the word of God. Notice verse 8. Alimus, the sorcerer, so his name is translated, withstood them seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. So he withstood them. He attempted to discourage him. Now, this is a man who knew. Alimus knew that if Paulus actually got saved, that Alimus would lose his influence. And also, it may be that as a Jew, he would be opposed to the gospel message. You know, even to this day, unsaved people very often will get angry when you're preaching to their friends or their parents. It happens often. If you're on the street and you're sharing and street witnessing and you start speaking to somebody, it happens all the time. Where somebody, a friend or whatever, will begin to interrupt or swear or get rude in some way and try and interrupt the conversation. It happens all the time. It happens all the time. Those on our street teams, they know that. They know that. It happened. Whenever I've done that, there's been times when I've been speaking and I'll share with somebody. I'll be talking to somebody and somebody interrupts. And they just want to argue and they get real boisterous and pugnacious. That's what's taking place here. There are people to this day who do that. They can discourage people from answering the invitation. They can hinder them from going to church. They can hinder them from listening to someone who's sharing the gospel. They do get angry. They do interrupt. They can storm out. That's what's taking place. And Alimus is that way. He's seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. So notice what happens, verse 9. Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him. I don't know how that would feel, but I think I'd probably feel like I was going to melt if Paul was looking at me with that intense. He said, O full of all the seed and all fraud, ye son of the devil, ye enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? What a hater Paul is, right? What a hater. He calls him a man who is full of deceit. Someone would say, well, look how judgmental this man is. Look how critically he is. Look how harsh he is. After all, Alimus was religious. And isn't that all that matters? And yet, why was he labeled deceitful and wicked? And the reason he's labeled as deceitful and wicked is because he sought to turn the proconsul from here in the gospel. He sought to prevent the influence of the truth from entering his mind. And in his opposition to truth, he revealed himself as a son of the devil. And notice how he speaks in verse 10 and speaks of the straight ways of the Lord. You see, he's referred to as a false prophet because false prophets change how to come to God. I'll say this. It's so simple and some will say simplistic. We speak so many times and you can do this. I've been in comparative religions classes in secular college, comparative religion, and you will hear it. There are all these religions. You've all heard it. I've heard it. There's so many religions. How can one be true? Well, that's where people are wrong. There aren't so many religions. There's one and that's God's and everything else by different names is false. That's a Christian answer to that. There's one truth. There's one God. There's one gospel. There's one Messiah. There's one Holy Spirit. That gospel presents Jesus to the world. So the false gospels, the false messages can be called anything from Buddhism to Islam, Scientology. You can name them. They all deny Jesus Christ. Every one of them present themselves as a way to God and every one of them are wrong. There is a straight way and that's what Paul is speaking about right now. In Matthew 7 verses 13 through 15, it says, enter by the narrow gate. Wide is a gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. There are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads the life and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. That came from Jesus himself and that's why Paul would say what he said and then in verse 11 he goes further, now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind not seeing the sun for a time. Immediately a dark mist fell on him and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. The darkness, somebody said the darkness of his soul now is experienced by his physical eyes. Now the blindness is temporary out of grace towards him. When he regained sight it would be a blessing if he would have come to faith in Jesus Christ but by going through what he did he demonstrated the power of the Lord and when this happened verse 12 the proconsul believed when he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord and so this sign confirmed the word and he was astonished at the confirmation that was given to the gospel. Again remember miracles are not for believers but to grab the attention of unbelievers and so as this took place he grabbed his attention and he was astonished and he saw the power that was demonstrated at that moment and he gave himself it would appear to the Lord the proconsul believed and then finally verse 13 when Paul and his party set sail for Paphos they came to Perga in Pamphylia you know wouldn't that be a lot easier if it said they came to Montclair in California and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. We'll be looking at this because what you see right here John departing from them and returning to Jerusalem creates a tremendous division between Paul and Barnabas. We're going to see this you know Paul such a godly man Barnabas such a godly man are going to have a strong dissension over this one thing that we just read the fact that John left them because Paul believes that when John Mark left him that he was abandoning the ministry revealing his immaturity Barnabas whose whose name means son of comfort was an encourager who thought you know we'll give the young boy another opportunity and the breach between them was so severe that they split and when Paul takes off and Barnabas takes off you never see Paul and Barnabas again and it all begins right here when it simply says John departed and went back. We'll look at that in some detail when we get there in chapter 15.