Think on these questions as you dwell in Acts 13:1-12:

1. In this passage, Herod's demise is depicted in a dramatic and vivid manner, illustrating the consequences of his failure to give glory to God. How does this event serve as a powerful reminder of the sovereignty of God and His ultimate authority over human endeavors, even those carried out by individuals in positions of power?

2. The contrast between Herod's fate and the progress of the Gospel message is striking. Despite Herod's attempts to hinder the spread of the Word, we witness a significant outcome: "But the word of God increased and multiplied." How does this highlight the unstoppable nature of the Gospel's advance, and what lessons can we draw from this for our own lives as messengers of God's Word?

3. The incident involving Herod's violent death serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of seeking personal glory and failing to acknowledge God's supremacy. How can we apply this lesson to our own lives, ensuring that we prioritize giving glory to God and faithfully proclaiming His Word, knowing that His purposes will prevail regardless of any human opposition?

Transcript:

 So, we have learned and continue to see that nothing will stop the advancement of the gospel.  Man may come against it, even kings, but God will prevail. And so, the story here in Acts is once again shifting. It's going to show us even further how the gospel is going to the Gentiles. And so, we see this here as we start looking at the church in Antioch. Now there were people there, Barnabas, Simeon, let's see, Lucius, Manan, and Saul. And so, they were praying, they were worshiping, and they received a message from the Holy Spirit telling them that Barnabas and Saul are to be set apart. There's work that they have to do.

So, they fasted, they prayed, they laid their hands on them, and then they sent them off. And so, we're going to start seeing a whole lot more of Barnabas and Saul throughout the rest of Acts. This is now going to be the focus, these missionary journeys of Barnabas and Paul. And so, we have them going to Cyprus.

Now, we can see here, as if we look, did I overshoot it? There it is.  You can see, if you're watching on video, that Cyprus is an island to the west, and you probably knew this already, but to the west of basically Palestine. They're to the west of Israel.  And so, this missionary journey is going out into the world.

What a first trip! They've got to get on a boat. They have to go to this island. And what we see here is that they're, they're expanding their reach. We know where they have been so far, On the mainland, but now we're seeing how this is going forward and going out while they arrive and they come across someone who is described as a magician and they're a false teacher, obviously trying to keep this pro council on Cyprus from coming to the faith. And so, Saul, and we see in verse 9, Saul, who is also called Paul. Now, from this point forward, we're going to see Paul called by this name that he was referred to by the Gentiles, or his essentially his Roman name. And so, from this point forward, we're going to see Saul called Paul.

And so, Paul is seeing this magician who's trying to lead this proconsul astray and well what happens? Well, it's an interesting story. Paul calls him a son of the devil. He calls him an enemy of righteousness. He's full of deceit. He's full of villainy.  And he asked this question, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

Why are you opposing God? Remember what we've seen before when people oppose God. Bad things happen, right? Nothing is going to stop the advancement of the gospel.  And so, Paul does something interesting. He basically tells this magician. Look, you think you have things going on that you can do certain things, well, let me show you something else.

You are not going to speak, or be able to see, you are going to be blind for a time. And it happens. It happens. He can't see. It says that immediately mist and darkness fall upon him and he needs 12.

The Pro Council believed this person here on Cyprus, this person in a position of power, he believes when he sees what had happened, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. He sees the power of God and he understands the power of God unto salvation. That we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, we see this advancement Of the church and again human powers cannot stop it No matter how great this guy thought he was no matter what his false teaching was the true proclamation of the gospel is going to bring people to faith because the church is going out into the world. And so, this is good news for us, right?

The gospel came to us.  Paul and Barnabas going out into the world to the Gentiles is part of the reason that the gospel comes to us. God advances his word.  God advances his gospel that the people of the world might come to faith that we might hear and believe the got believe the gospel Regardless of our ethnicity.

So, this is a huge part, as we think about Christmas Eve, and as we think about Christmas, this is a huge part of why we celebrate the coming of Jesus. Yes, He came in human flesh as a Jewish person. He kept the law. But it was for the purpose of bringing all people to faith. It was not just for the Jews.

This came to all people because we were all dead in our trespasses and sins because we had all fallen in Adam. We all need the last Adam, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins. So, as we think about the message of Christmas, may we remember how that message has come to us. It has gone across oceans. Just as they went across the sea in a boat to take the message, it has come across oceans to us.

It has gone throughout the world because God loves his people. He brings his people to himself. And so, may we Celebrate that as we have joy at Christmas May we relish in the joy of the great salvation that has been brought to us through Christ by the proclamation of the gospel.