¹Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ²While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Amidst the growing Gentile congregation at Antioch were six prominent leaders, including Barnabas and Saul. The gospel had filtered into all levels of society, as evidenced by the fact that one of these six had been raised with one of the members of the ruling Herodian family. At this point we are still too early in the history of the church to discern a specific church order, other than a division of apostolic work and the work of “servants” in Acts. We will soon see Paul and Barnabas appointing elders in the first mission tour. While the text does not mention elders in the church in Antioch, we can surmise these six acted in that capacity.

This passage presents the launching pad for Paul’s (a.k.a. Saul’s) missionary effort. The Lord gives us a precedential glimpse, a pattern followed today by many missionary efforts. A sending church commended individuals to spread the gospel in other lands. We note several attributes of the sending activity. First, the leaders were “ministering to the Lord,” which we take as including “prayer and ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). They were doing the Lord’s work of teaching, worship, and fellowship, along with concerted prayer and fasting. Fasting is mentioned twice in this passage, highlighting its importance in discerning the Holy Spirit’s voice. We see fasting and prayer again when Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in the new churches in Acts 14:23. If we take this as precedent for us today, the appointment of those who serve the Lord vocationally (as we might call it today) must occur only after rigorous spiritual exercise, a high spiritual focus.

Barnabas and Saul were God’s choice, not men’s. Their selection was not a result of men using their own wisdom to choose good candidates for the task and then superimposing their choice as the Holy Spirit speaking. No, the Holy Spirit spoke to all six men before any decision was made. But what did this look like? Was it an audible voice, an inner impression, a vision? The text doesn’t tell us that. Suffice it to say that however it happened, the six men got the message, the same message, with no ambiguity or shades of interpretation. And so begins the second half of the book of Acts, the ministry of the apostle Paul.

Lord, help me to hear Your voice guiding and directing me in serving You.