Believing In and believing On

<p>BELIEVING IN AND BELIEVING ON</p> <p>Arriving at Acts Chapter thirteen we find that from this point on, Paul’s missionary journeys become the key feature of the Book of Acts. He was commissioned to do thos buy the leaders in the church at Antioch. Acts 13:1 The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophets and teachers, such as Barnabas, Simon, (nicknamed Niger the black one), Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch (syntrophos – a step-brother), and Saul. One day as they were all praying and fasting and waiting for guidance, the Holy Spirit spoke to them: "Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do. </p> <p>Setting off on their appointed mission they sailed first to Cypress where Barnabas was from, and we read earlier in Acts chapter 4 that he had sold some land in Cyprus and given the proceeds to the church in Jerusalem. There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogue and preached. John Mark who went with them as their assistant was the son of Mary whom we saw in the last chapter – she owned the home where all the believers were praying for Peter to be released from prison. John Mark was also the nephew of Barnabas. Afterwards they preached from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos where they meet a Jewish counterfeit prophet named Bar-Jesus. His name in in Greek was Elymas which means a wizard or sorcerer. He had attached himself to the Roman Proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of considerable insight and understanding who invited Barnabas and Paul to visit him, because he wanted to hear their message from God. But the sorcerer Elymas interfered and urged the Proconsul to pay no attention to what Paul and Barnabas said, trying to stop him from trusting the Lord.</p> <p>Vs.9 Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, glared angrily at the sorcerer and said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of trickery and villainy, enemy of all that is good, will you never end your