Who sent Paul and Barnabas on their first journey from Antioch?
The Holy Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas on their first journey from Antioch. Scripture is careful to point out that it was not the church at Antioch that sent them, but the Holy Spirit. This establishes that their apostolic mission originated by divine direction, not merely human ordination or church appointment.
Les teaches that when Paul and Barnabas left Antioch for that first journey, the Scripture was careful to show that it was not the Church that sent them, but the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sent them, not the Antioch church. Les connects this to Paul's insistence that his apostleship did not come through the Twelve or any other group ordaining, teaching, or setting him down. Instead, Paul came on the scene by the miraculous laying of the Lord Jesus on him of this apostleship. The same divine sending, not human appointment, is the point.