Chapter 17—Heralds of the Gospel
This chapter is based on
Acts 13:4-52
.
“Sent forth by the Holy Ghost,” Paul and Barnabas, after their
ordination by the brethren in Antioch, “departed unto Seleucia; and
from thence they sailed to Cyprus.” Thus the apostles began their first
missionary journey.
Cyprus was one of the places to which the believers had fled from
Jerusalem because of the persecution following the death of Stephen. It
was from Cyprus that certain men had journeyed to Antioch, “preach-
ing the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 11:20
. Barnabas himself was “of the country
of Cyprus” (
Acts 4:36
); and now he and Paul, accompanied by John
Mark, a kinsman of Barnabas, visited this island field.
Mark’s mother was a convert to the Christian religion, and her
home at Jerusalem was an asylum for the disciples. There they were
always sure of a welcome and a season of rest. It was during one of
these visits of the apostles to his mother’s home, that Mark proposed to
[167]
Paul and Barnabas that he should accompany them on their missionary
tour. He felt the favor of God in his heart and longed to devote himself
entirely to the work of the gospel ministry.
Arriving at Salamis, the apostles “preached the word of God in
the synagogues of the Jews.... And when they had gone through the
isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew,
whose name was Bar-Jesus: which was with the deputy of the country,
Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and
desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is
his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the
deputy from the faith.”
Not without a struggle does Satan allow the kingdom of God to
be built up in the earth. The forces of evil are engaged in unceasing
warfare against the agencies appointed for the spread of the gospel,
and these powers of darkness are especially active when the truth
is proclaimed before men of repute and sterling integrity. Thus it
112