In previous Q&As, we addressed, at times, the workings of the Apostle Paul. It is therefore interesting to investigate, in more detail, his three missionary journeys which are recorded in the Book of Acts.
Paul was born and raised in Tarsus, in Cilicia, as a Roman citizen. Tarsus was known as an educational center. Commentaries tell us that Paul learned seven languages there. He later moved to and resided in Antioch, where he and Barnabas pastored a church for a year (Acts 11:25-26). Tarsus was about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Antioch.
He began his first missionary journey from Antioch together with Barnabas (a Levite from Cyprus, Acts 4:36), after they had both been appointed as Apostles. The ordination occurred about AD 47 and, and, according to William Barclay, “The Acts of the Apostles,” the journey lasted about three years. Others say it lasted one to two years. Paul travelled on his first missionary journey approximately 1,400 to 1,500 miles (2,250-2,400 kilometers), going from Antioch to Cyprus and continuing to Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He travelled by boat or on foot, walking on Roman roads.
We read in Acts 13:1-4:
“Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen 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.”
From that moment on, Saul became known as Paul. Prior to this episode, Barnabas was always mentioned before Saul. But shortly thereafter, Paul is listed first. Also, notice that Barnabas and Paul were ordained to the office of apostle [compare Acts 14:4,14], the highest office in the hierarchy of the Church, but this did not happen directly through an apostle, but it occurred through ordained prophets and teachers, under the guidance and inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit.
The fact that it says that the Holy Spirit “spoke” and “sent out” the apostles does not entitle us to conclude that the Holy Spirit is a person. It is not, but the power and mind of Jesus Christ who acted through the Holy Spirit (compare 2 Corinthians 3:17; for a thorough discussion, see our free booklet, “Is God a Trinity?”).
One of those prophets or teachers was Simon who was also called Niger. He probably came from Africa, as Niger is an African name. There is a certain tradition that he was the Simon who carried Jesus’ cross (Luke 23:26).
They were accompanied and assisted by John Mark, a relative of Barnabas (Acts 13:5; compare Acts 12:25).
They went to the island of Cyprus, a Roman province, and in Salamis and Paphos, two cities on the island of Cyprus, they preached the Word of God. Paphos, the capital of Cyprus, was infamous for its worship of Venus, the goddess of love. There, they had an encounter with a sorcerer whom Paul called “son of the devil” (verse 10; compare also 1 John 3:10). God struck the sorcerer blind because of his rebellion, and as a consequence, the proconsul of the city believed (verses 11-12).
Then, they left Paphos and sailed to Perga in Pamphylia. It was there that John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem (verse 13). This departure would later lead to a separation between Paul and Barnabas. Mark was “the cousin of Barnabas” (Colossians 4:10). The Bible did not say that this separation was ever cured. But we read that many years later, Paul told the Colossians from his prison in Rome to receive Mark (see again Colossians 4:10), and when writing just before his death, Paul stated that Mark was very useful in serving him (2 Timothy 4:11).
Mark had been a young man when he departed from Barnabas and Saul. His mother’s house in Jerusalem seemed to have been the place where many brethren assembled (Acts 12:12). Why Mark went back to Jerusalem, the Bible does not say specifically.
From Perga, they traveled to Antioch in Pisidia, where Paul preached in their synagogues. This Antioch is not the same city as the Antioch where Paul resided and from which he had begun his journey. Antioch in Pisidia was part of a Roman territory, as were the cities of Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. In a synagogue in the city of Antioch in Pisidia, Paul was asked by the rulers to speak to them, and he delivered a lengthy message about God’s Work and the role of Jesus Christ (Acts 13:16-41).
The word spread, and the Gentiles asked Paul to speak to them the next Sabbath (verses 42-43). Verse 44 says: “On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.” Notice, Paul spoke to them on the next Sabbath. He did not speak to them on the next day, Sunday, but waited an entire week to preach to them again on the Sabbath. And the entire city knew that Paul kept the Sabbath and that he would preach to them on that day.
This proves that Paul kept the Sabbath long after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and that he did not believe that Jesus had nailed the Sabbath to the cross. It also shows that Paul taught the Gentiles, not just the Jews, on the Sabbath, thereby pointing out that the Sabbath still had to be kept.
The Jews became jealous. They opposed Paul and Barnabas and even though the Gentiles “were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (verse 48), the “Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region” (verse 50).
Note that they had been “appointed” to eternal life. They had been preordained to be called at that time (Romans 8:28-30). Jesus confirmed that no one can come to Him unless His Father draws them (John 6:44, 65).
They went to Iconium, which was 90 miles away. There they spoke and “a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed” (Acts 14:1). They stayed there “a long time”, but again, unbelieving Jews “stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren” (verse 2). Still, Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly, and Christ granted signs and wonders “to be done by their hands” (verse 3). Signs and wonders done by their hands would include miracles of healing through anointing sick persons with oil and the laying on of hands (compare Mark 6:13; 16:18; Acts 28:8).
As the city was divided and a violent attempt was made “by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,” they “fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region” (Acts 14, verses 5-6), where they continued to preach the gospel (verse 7).
In Lystra, Paul healed a cripple who had never walked, but the idolatrous people were about to worship him and Barnabas as pagan gods (Hermes and Zeus) which Paul strongly opposed in a lengthy speech (verses 11-17). His message is timeless and very relevant for us today as well. He said, among other things:
“‘Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness’” (verses 15-17).
Still, “they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them” (verse 18).
But Jews from Antioch and Iconium came to Lystra to convince the multitude to stone Paul, and they “dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead” (verse 19). However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city” (verse 20). Consider Paul’s boldness. He went right back into the city and to the people who had stoned him, being totally unafraid of them, knowing that God was with him.
From Lystra, Paul and Barnabas departed the next day—not right away—to Derbe (verse 20), where they preached the gospel and many became disciples through their preaching. Paul would later say in the letter to the Romans:
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Romans 10:14-15).
Afterwards, they returned to “Lystra [where Paul had been stoned], Iconium, and Antioch (in Pisidia)” (verse 21). He encouraged and strengthened the brethren, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and it was on that occasion, that Paul’s famous words were uttered, in verse 22: “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” He later would tell Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:10-12:
“But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra–what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
They appointed elders with prayer and fasting in every church (Acts 14, verse 23), went again to the city of Perga (where John Mark had left them) and preached there “the word” (verse 25). After that, they returned to Antioch (from which Paul had begun his first missionary journey), and “when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So they stayed there a long time with the disciples” (verses 27-28).
God must open doors to His Church to go through them and to fulfill its commission.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:9:
“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
He added in 2 Corinthians 2:12:
“… I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord,”
He elaborated in Colossians 4:3-4:
“… praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”
In Revelation 3:8, 10-11, Christ gives His end-time church the following promise:
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name… Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”
And as we saw above, God must also open doors to individuals, like the “door of faith.”
This ended Paul’s first missionary journey.
(To be continued)
Lead Writer: Norbert Link