Quiet Time in Acts 13
- Filip
- Jun 13, 2022
- 4 min read
EXPAND TO READ: ACTS 13 (HCSB)
Preparing for the Mission Field
1 In the church that was at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to.” 3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.
The Mission to Cyprus
4 Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God’s message in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God’s message. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (this is the meaning of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 Then Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer 10 and said, “You son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? 11 Now, look! The Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Paul’s Sermon in Antioch of Pisidia
13 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem. 14 They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”
16 Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen! 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty arm. 18 And for about 40 years He put up with them in the wilderness; 19 then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land to them as an inheritance. 20 This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. 22 After removing him, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man loyal to Me, who will carry out all My will.’
23 “From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus, to Israel. 24 Before He came to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’
26 “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and those among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. 27 For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words by condemning Him. 28 Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked Pilate to have Him killed. 29 When they had fulfilled all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and put Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead, 31 and He appeared for many days to those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people. 32 And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors. 33 God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm:
You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.
34 Since He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, I will grant you the faithful covenant blessings made to David. 35 Therefore He also says in another passage, You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay. 36 For David, after serving his own generation in God’s plan, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed. 37 But the One God raised up did not decay. 38 Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you, 39 and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses. 40 So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:
41 Look, you scoffers, marvel and vanish away, because I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will never believe, even if someone were to explain it to you.”
Paul and Barnabas in Antioch
42 As they were leaving, the people begged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath. 43 After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and persuading them to continue in the grace of God.
44 The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the message of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to oppose what Paul was saying by insulting him.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: “It was necessary that God’s message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles! 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 So the message of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the prominent women, who worshiped God, and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district. 51 But they shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 12): I found this rather profound to include in this portion of the Scripture as it is well after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The proconsul was struggling in his faith and leaning towards no longer believing in the one true God until he witnessed with his own eyes a miracle that happened under Your name, Father. He struggled with an unseen belief and truly began to believe and follow You once he witnessed Your miracle in-person. I too have struggled at times with my unseen faith. Although I can look back and see Your presence all over after the fact, I have struggled at times with not witnessing a miracle from You in-person and immediately as some in Your scripture have been privy to. Please forgive me for this immaturity in my faith, Father. Forgive me for some of my doubts and selfishness at times. Help me to be better at living in my unseen faith, so that I am truly blessed by the Holy Spirit and Your will for my life. Help me to be better at living in my unseen faith, so that I can become the Godly man You want me to be and so I may glorify You through all things in this life, Father.
PROMISE (verses 32-33): As always, I am so grateful for this promise and the fulfillment of the promise. Paul was giving them the back story of this promise essentially from the beginning and through the generations on how it came to fruition and fulfillment. In the end, he said that he was proclaiming the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors and that God has fulfilled this promise for us and our children by raising up Jesus from the grave and the eventual ascension into Heaven by Your side. Thank You for both the promise and the fulfillment of this promise, Father. Thank You for committing to our good future and salvation through such a powerful and amazing promise that has been fulfilled!
ATTITUDE (verses 38-39): Help me to embrace an attitude of salvation and freedom from my sin, Father. In these verses, it is written that through Jesus all of our sins are forgiven and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that we were not justified from through the law of Moses. I am freed from the old law and am reborn into a new creation under Jesus. Help me to be better at walking in this freedom, Father, so that I no longer carry guilt nor shame from my mistakes. Instead, I can walk freely knowing that even when I do make mistakes, You are there for me with arms wide open to offer me grace and forgiveness if I simply ask for it and release that burden to You.
COMMAND (verses 40-41): This is quite a direct command from my perspective. You tell us to beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to us. We are to beware of “scoffers” as well as ensure we ourselves do not become scoffers. You tell the scoffers to vanish away as You are doing a great work in our days that we cannot fathom even if it were explained to us directly. I’m sure I’ve been guilty of being a “scoffer” in my faith towards other believers at different times in my life. I am not proud of that, but I do know that I am still growing and maturing in my faith. I ask You to remind me in those moments that I am delving down the path of being a scoffer, Father. Remind me to quickly turn back to Your path and will for my life, so that I am not told to “vanish away” as You tell the scoffers here. I do not need to know Your plans, I just need to know what my next step is in those plans, so help me to be better at understanding and embracing this in my life.
EXAMPLE (verses 44-52): This is such a powerful example of timing, order, and obedience. Paul and Barnabas had essentially witnessed to some of the spiritual leaders and Jews solely during the first Sabbath. They were invited back to do the same during the next Sabbath, but these spiritual leaders and Jews were not happy that a bunch of “Gentiles” showed up this time around. Paul and Barnabas quickly squelched that with Your truth by preaching that God has made all His followers a light for the Gentiles for the purpose of bringing them salvation as well. We are not to be selfish with our faith and with You, Father. No matter someone’s history, background, culture, upbringing, race, gender, etc. You are always wanting us to share You with everyone for the purpose of their salvation and expansion of Your kingdom. Paul and Barnabas handled this perfectly even through the criticism by sticking to Your truth through it all. Although the spiritual leaders and some of the Jews expelled them from the city, the message still became clear to the “Gentiles” in the crowd and their eternal salvation was solidified as a result. This is an amazing testimony to the power of Your truth and how we are to relay Your truth even through critics.
*DAILY NOTE: I am blessed to be able to have these conversations with You, Father. Blessed to be able to learn more about You and from You. Thank You for teaching me more about the history of the promise of my eternal salvation. Thank You for teaching me more about how I must lean on Your truth and wisdom at all times, even when critics are approaching me. Continue to work in me, Father, so that I do not fall back into my fleshly defaults when situations like this arise. I often want to get defensive and sometimes even angry when I am not being heard or harsh and unwarranted criticism comes at me and this is not what You have called me to do. Paul and Barnabas didn’t respond in anger. They simply kept speaking Your truth regardless of what the outcome may be. Help me to be more like this if I am in a situation similar to this, Father, so that I may glorify You through it all and potentially even bring Your truth to someone for their own eternal salvation and expansion of Your great kingdom!
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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