The Apostle Paul was a great man of God, but he did not have a good start at all. We are first introduced to Paul at the stoning of Stephen towards the end of Acts Chapter 7. But while Paul did not have a good start, he had a great ending.

We want to consider in this newsletter why Paul and Barnabas were effective in ministry. In Acts Chapter 13 Barnabas and Paul are being commissioned by the Holy Spirit to begin their “Mission-field” work. We need to note that these prophets and teachers in Acts13 did not commission Barnabas and Paul, this was the work of the Holy Spirit. These men actually released them. We note that the Holy Spirit is the one who told these men in Acts 13:1,2 to set Barnabas and Saul aside for the work that He had called them to. Too many people believe and feel that the Holy Spirit is given to make us act in strange ways. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to empower the church (GK. Ecclesia – the called out ones) to carry out the work of pointing people to Jesus. Barnabas and Saul were effective in ministry because they obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit. “Barnabas,” whose name means “son of exhortation” (encouragement) or son of consolation” was the one who brought Paul to the Apostles when many of the believers in Jerusalem did not believe in his initial conversion. Barnabas is also the one who goes to Tarsus in search of Saul and brings him to Antioch where they ministered for an entire year. Both Barnabas and Saul were full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:24, 13:9). In order to be effective, you must be able to hear the Holy Spirit and then obey His leading. The setting apart of these two men all transpired by divine influence. As long as they were willing to hear and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, they were effective. If you can shout on the singing and snore on the preaching, you are going to have a problem hearing the Holy Spirit. Your effectiveness comes through your ability to hear and respond to the Spirit and Word of God.

I recall how I was missing the Holy Spirit’s prompting too often in my life several years ago as I failed to take action when He was leading me. After coming to realize too late oftentimes that “Yes, I was being prompted by the Holy Spirit,” I then began to pray that God would make me sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and His voice and I also prayed that God would help me to be obedient. The prompting by the Holy Spirit must be followed by obedience. You will notice that in Acts 13, these men were fasting and ministering when they heard the Holy Spirit. If you are not in the Word of God and spending time with Him, you are going to have a problem hearing Him; you might hear a lot of things, but it probably will not be the Holy Spirit.

So today, let’s be led by the Spirit of God and obey what He tells us through His Word.