Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. We'll continue our study in this
wonderful book. Last week we left off at verse
48. We're going to look at that again today and we're going to,
Lord willing, finish this chapter. And then next week we'll start
on chapter 14 as we journey through this book. And this is the halfway
part of this book. And so it's been a wonderful,
wonderful time. Actually, no, chapter 14, next
chapter will be the halfway point, because there's 28 chapters,
will be the halfway point of this book. And it's been a wonderful
journey so far as we go through this. We'll continue our study
from last week. We left off at verse 48, but
let's read verses 48 to 52. Let's stand up together and read
these wonderful words. This will be our text today. I love verse 48, I'll tell you,
this is just amazing. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the
Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews
stirred up the devote and honorable woman and the chief men of the
city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled
them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of
their feet against them and came unto Icaron. And the disciples
were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. My, oh, my. Okay, so we see there in verse
48 of Acts chapter 13 where the Holy Scripture proclaims that
our Lord and our Lord Jesus Christ plainly proclaims this too when
he says he gives his life for the sheep and we see the word
of God plainly proclaims here teaches that the blood-washed,
born-again believer was ordained to eternal life. And that does
not just include the Gentiles here in this text, but that includes
every believer of every age. God chose Abraham. Do you know
God... Now here's something to think
about. Do you know God chose Abraham the same time as he chose
us? And do you know that God chose Paul the same time he chose
us? You know how we know that? Because we were all chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world. I remember reading
an old preacher right now, and I was sitting there just going,
that's just mind-blowing. But it's true. It's true. It's absolutely amazing. So we
see here, plainly put forth in the text here, and that word
ordained is actually appointed. It's actually appointed. Think
of this. We're going to have an election, right? In election,
you cast a vote for the person you want appointed to be the
president, right? Well, God doesn't have to choose
between people. He has his people. He's chosen
them in Christ. And we've been appointed. So
whoever wins the election will be appointed the president, right?
I was talking to some folks today and I said, you know, or not
today, this week, and I said, Because they're always going
off about the doctrine of election. I said, you know, let me explain
it to you. Right? And I use that very thing
right there, that they're going to vote for someone, and that
person, if they win, is going to be appointed. Right? Well, with God, there's no winning
or losing. We're appointed by God. We're
ordained by God. Right? And it's nothing to do
with us, except we're receivers of that. See, election is all
around us, right? We make choices every day, don't
we? We make choice what clothes to put on, right? What to wear. When you plan a trip, you have
a destination and a starting point, right? And then you have
a way back home too, don't you? Did God not plan and purpose?
how everything's gonna work out, right? Christ came to this earth at
the appointed time, and then he returned home, didn't he?
Right? And he accomplished that which
he came to do, which is the salvation of his people, those who were
appointed by God to eternal life, or ordained. It's the same word.
In the Greek, it's appointed. So we can read it and say that
as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Who appointed
them? God did, right, sister? Yeah,
God appointed them. We didn't appoint ourselves.
We didn't even want to, we weren't even interested. Where were we,
brother? We had no desire to be appointed.
But praise God, he appointed us. We're rejoicing now, aren't
we, brother Jim? He saved our souls. We heard
the gospel at the appointed time, again, the appointed time, at
the appointed place, according to the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God, because it pleased him to do so. And
we're saved because it pleased him to do so, according to his
will, Ephesians says. So election is, for the believer,
it's a wonderful doctrine. Because we know we never would
have chosen God. But he chose us. Now for the
religionists, I was there. I can tell you this by experience.
For the religionists, it's the most hated doctrine that you
can ever tell them. I'm not going to have to tell
you what happened when I recoiled from it. when I heard it, when
I was in religion. And A.W. Pink says that. The
most hated doctrine by religionists is the doctrine of election.
And one of the most beloved doctrines for the believer in Christ, the
born-again, blood-washed believer, is the doctrine of election.
Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely incredible. But
there's hope, right? Because some of us were there
where we hated it. We weren't raised where we heard
it. And the natural man recoils from it anyways, because they
have to bring up the free will. And again, talking to the fellows
this week, right away they brought up will. And I said, well, I
was made willing. And they kind of look at you
like, what? Just tell people that. Say, yeah, I was made willing
by God. We don't unwillingly come to
Christ, do we? In our natural dead state we
do, but when we're born again, do we willingly come to Christ?
Of course we do. We run to Him, don't we? Always define what people mean
by election, and always define what they mean, because it's
not usually what the Bible means. Even the will. They believe we don't think the
will is exercised. Of course the will is exercised.
But it's because we have a new nature. It's because we're born
again by the Holy Spirit. Isn't it wonderful? These folks
were born again. They were ordained to eternal
life. And what happened? They believed. Isn't that wonderful? You see the simplicity of it? And people muddle it all up,
right? We were looking at that scripture
in Isaiah 45 this morning. Look unto me and be you saved. For I am God, and there's none
else. Look unto me. It doesn't say, look and do all
this stuff. Look and you'll be obedient afterwards,
which we desire to be obedient. Of course we do. But that's not
a qualification. For salvation, is it? Look unto
me and be saved. These Galatians were given faith
to look to Christ. And look, they glorified God
beloved. They were so excited. They were so excited. We see that. Look at the text.
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. They were happy. They were rejoicing. The gospel is good news, beloved. This is wonderful. You know why I get excited? Because
I'm saved. I once was lost and now I'm saved. Praise be to God. This is wonderful. It says, and the Gentiles heard
this and they were glad, and they glorified the word of the
Lord. They said, praise your mighty name, Lord, for saving
my soul. Hallelujah. This is wonderful. I was serving a bunch of dead
idols who couldn't do nothing, and now by the grace and mercy
of God, I serve the one true living God. Their eyes were opened. The scales
were removed. Their hearts were rejoicing.
They're born again, blood-washed saints of God. Oh my. And those who are taught
by God the Holy Spirit will rejoice, won't we? We rejoice in the salvation
we have. Think of this, it cannot be taken
away from us. God doesn't give his children
salvation and say, well, you messed up, I'm taking it back.
God doesn't work that way, beloved. God is not like us. He's a father
not like our fathers. And think of this, God's not
angry with his people. His anger has been appeased.
His wrath has been appeased by the Lord Jesus Christ. And actually,
we were, We weren't ordained to the God's wrath, beloved.
We looked at that, didn't we, brother? We were never ordained
to God's wrath because we're in Christ. Now we're born dead
in trespasses and sins. Of course we are. But the wrath
that was due us was ordained to fall upon Christ. Isn't that amazing? So we can
say God's eternal love has been set upon us from eternity. Now think upon that. Think of
the love we have for our kids and our family members. It doesn't
even come close to the eternal love of God, which has been set
upon his people. Do we deserve that love? Brother
Brian, do we deserve that? We don't deserve that at all.
We deserve condemnation, don't we? If we got what we deserve,
we'd go to hell. But we get mercy. We get grace. And that's why these Gentiles
were so happy, because they thought salvation was only for the Jews. And here it goes. The gospel's
going forth, beloved. And here we are, a bunch of Gentiles
rejoicing. You ever think of that? So how
we feel is how they felt. We join the Lord, don't we, in
our hearts? We're thankful for our great God and for what he's
done for us. They were too. Oh my, I'll tell
you what, these were probably jumping Baptists. They were happy. They were happy. They were glorifying
God, right? They were happy. at this salvation. And the blessed truths of the
gospel bring joy to the sinner because we know that our sins
are all forgiven by the perfect, complete, sinatonic work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so we thank him, we give
God the glory and honor and praise for his unspeakable gift, which
is Christ. Can we explain who Christ is?
It's incredible. He's God. And he's the God-man
who now, as God, he's Lord, but now as man, too, as the God-man,
he has the name above all names. He's being exalted as a man,
too, to Lord. So he's Lord as God, and he's
Lord as the God-man. Just look at Philippians 2.9,
wherefore God hath holy exalted him, and given him a name above
all names. We looked at that this morning, didn't we? Speaks
of his humanity. And the reason he's being exalted
is because he was obedient to God, right? Unto death, in life and death,
to save our eternal souls. And he accomplished it by the
shedding of his precious blood. And it's perfect, isn't it? The
work is perfect. If we try to ruin it or add anything
to it, we ruin it. You see how serious it is? Oh
my. So God's grace is actually incredible. His goodness is incredible. He shows his grace and manifests
his grace to undeserving sinners who deserve nothing but hell.
And that's me, and that's you, if you're a believer. And yet
he's manifested his grace. He's manifested his love. in
giving Christ to die for our sins. My, oh my. And think of this, too. The elect
we see here are from every nation. They've went through Cyprus,
right? And this is just the beginning
of the Gentiles being called in. Where are we from, sister? You and I, Sister Anne, are from
Canada. where we sit amongst folks from
all different states, right? In America. And there's a multitude
more of people all around the world in all different nations
who God's saved and still is saving. He's drawing in his people
by the preaching of his gospel. So isn't that amazing? And the
scripture says out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation,
there's a people. My, oh my. Our God is magnificent. Our Savior is incredible. He's
absolutely incredible. I'll tell you what. So God's
people are from every nation, from Israel and from the Gentile
nations. But we're all called out of darkness. Remember that. We're all called
out of darkness. because we come into this world
in spiritual darkness, don't we? Dead in trespasses and sins. And the only way we're called
out is by the same way, by the power of God, the Holy Spirit.
He must take us and regenerate us. And he takes us from the
kingdom of darkness. That's what we were in. We were
servants to sin. I was a slave to my own sin. And he's taken us from that,
and he set us free. Now, think of this, too, though,
and this is where we can rejoice. Right now, we still have the
presence of sin, right? Okay, and that's hard enough
for us right there, but think of this. We are free from the power of
sin. It doesn't have the power it
once had. Eric, you and I were talking, but it's like a dragon
that comes out of the cave now. Before it roamed everywhere, it flew
everywhere. Now it's like a dragon that comes
out of a cave and rears its ugly head. And we need to call the
dragon slayer, don't we? We need to call on Christ, because
we can't slay that dragon ourselves. Oh my. But it doesn't have the
power it once had over us. And you know what else it doesn't
have? We don't have the guilt, the sin hanging over us anymore.
You ever think of that? We can live every day without
the guilt of sin upon us. That makes us rejoice,
doesn't it, Brother Brian? We have been set free from the
guilt of sin. You know how? By the precious blood of Christ.
Now, we remember our sin, and it puts us in the dirt. But God
says, I don't remember it no more. If God doesn't remember
it, Donnie Bell, I love what Donnie says one time, he says,
I haven't felt guilty over my sins since the Lord saved me.
Now somebody might say, what? He says, no, I haven't. Because
I know it's all bought and paid for. Now he's not saying we can
go out and do whatever we want. He'd be the first one to tell
you, you don't do that. But I understand now more and
more where he's coming from. It's bought and paid for, beloved.
It's bought and paid for. Now we grieve, personally we
grieve over our sin, of course we do. But the guilt of it's
being paid for. The penalty too. Think of this,
the penalty's being paid in full. The penalty's being paid in full.
So when we stand before the holy God, clothed in the righteousness
of Christ, he says this, You're not even guilty. I don't see anything. When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Now, those
who stand before him in their own righteousness and their own
sin, oh, woe. Woe to them. But for the believer,
and this is amazing because God clothes us in Christ's righteousness.
We stand before Him clothed in the righteousness of His Son,
a perfect righteousness from the perfect God-man, from the
perfect man. Is that not mercy? Is that not
grace manifest to us? Is that not love? And then, we're
free from the penalty. We're also free from the condemnation
of our sins. Because as I've said many times,
if we got what we deserve, we'd all go to hell. We're free from the condemnation.
No wonder these Gentiles were rejoicing. No wonder they were
leaping. Remember the guy at the gate
called Beautiful? He's leaping and jumping and praising God.
Because he's saved. He can walk all of a sudden.
No physical therapy. Right? No having to be done in
a special place. I always tell my friends who
believe in these faith healers, I said, those guys are a bunch
of sh... They're... I won't say it. They're awful though, because
you know what? If you and I had a gift like that, where would
we be? In the children's hospital? In the cancer wards? Right? And I'll tell you what, you would
never want for money. You wouldn't even have to ask
for it. You see how much these guys, they're just charlatans.
That's all they are. They have no power. They say,
well, we can only perform those things in special meetings. Do you hear the hiss behind it? Yeah. I'm sorry, I got off track
there. My oh my. So Paul and Barnabas,
by the will of God, continued the work. They were called to
do this work, and they go to Antioch and Pisadia, and they're
preaching the gospel. And we see the Gentiles hear
this now. By the grace and mercy of God,
they're saved. They're rejoicing. They're rejoicing. But you know what? Wherever the
true gospel is preached, there will always be opposition. You
know what someone told me one time about this church? Because
we believe in what he calls Calvinism. which I just call biblical Christianity,
right? He said, it'd be better for this
town if that church didn't even exist. And I looked at him and I said,
you know what? You better be careful. I said, because we preach the
gospel over there and there's a whole bunch of God's saints
over there who love the Lord. And the gospel's going forth.
Yeah, I expect opposition like that. But when he starts talking
about my family, which you guys are, talking about our king like
that, because he put this church here, didn't he? He ordained
this work. I said, you better be careful. You're on dangerous
ground. Dangerous ground. But wherever
the gospel's preached and proclaimed, there's going to be opposition
like that. There will be. It's just, look at our text here,
look at this. Look at verse 49, this is wonderful.
And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the
region. So it didn't just stop in a town, it just went everywhere. The gospel's spreading like wildfire,
isn't it? Here these idol-worshipped Gentiles,
by the grace and mercy of God, are hearing the word of God,
and the Lord's saving them. And it's the gospel's just going
forth. And as far as we know, Paul and Barnabas are still preaching
in Antioch. They've not gone out further.
They're still preaching in Antioch, and it's just going, it's flowing
like wildfire, beloved. Oh, isn't it wonderful? I'll
tell you what, it just makes your heart sing. This is incredible.
Look at this. Here we go. Here we go, verse
50. But the Jews stirred up devote
and honorable woman and the cheap men of the city and raised persecution
against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts. Oh my. It's God's appointed time
for them to move on, you know that? That's really what's happening
here. Isn't that amazing? God uses persecution to move
his people on. Remember Peter, when you read
his epistles, he's writing to the elect who are scattered in
Pontus, and Galatia, and Cappadocia. That's because Paul was persecuting
the Christians in Jerusalem, and they scattered, just like
what's happening here. They scattered all over, and
the gospel just went forth like wildfire. Right? And it's all according to the...
Now, some might look at it, well, look what they did. Yeah, but
according to the will and purpose of God, this is happening, right? Always gotta remember that. And
this is God moving them on. They might've felt like, hey,
we're gonna just stay here and keep preaching the gospel. Man,
three quarters of the city came out, remember? We'll have another
meeting next week. We don't know how long of time
has passed, but they're still meeting. We know that. So marvel,
though, at how the word of the Lord was published, and it went
throughout all the regions. My, oh, my. And now we see these
self-righteous Jews, which are just like any self-righteous
religionists. It's not just the Jews. It's
anyone who opposes the gospel, and they're in opposition to
the gospel. That's what they're in opposition to. My oh my. And John Gill believes that these
Gentiles who the Jews stirred up were some of the more wealthy
people of the city. I don't know why he believes
that, but that's what he thought. And they were also maybe Jewish
proselytes, so they still adhere to the Jewish religion. and they
were stirred up. But remember this. See, this
is something, as I was putting this together, it clicked again.
They are pawns in the Lord's hands. I used to play chess all
the time. I love playing chess. You know,
pawns are an incredible weapon to use. People think, ah, they're
just a little piece, you know, they're just a little insignificant.
No, they can control a whole game. And here, these people
are stirred up, and they're just pawns in the hands of the Lord.
Remember, remember this too. All the leaders in this world
who will be, or who are currently now, are just pawns in the hands
of our great God. They're just pawns, beloved. Just pawns. This is His world,
isn't it? This is His creation. He can
do whatever he wills with it. And so here they are, they're
being stirred up, but they're pawns in the hands of our sovereign
God, who we know, according to scripture, Ephesians 1.11 says,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Isn't that amazing? He works
all things according to the counsel of his own will. Now, it's hard sometimes for
us to submit to that, isn't it? Because we don't understand His
will. But we do. We surrender to His
will, don't we? Sometimes we may go, I don't
understand what's going on. But then we bow our knee to Him.
We bow our knee to our great God and King. And may God the
Holy Spirit be pleased to keep that blessed truth before us,
all of us, especially at times when we come face to face with
those who oppose his gospel. And I'll tell you what, you're
going to find people who oppose his gospel. You're going to find people who
oppose the wonderful doctrine of election. You're going to
find people who oppose the wonderful doctrine of limited atonement. that Christ only died for his
people. And a good response to that is, ask people, when the
sacrifices were made for Israel, were they for the Egyptians,
the Hittites, the Persiates, or any of those otherites? No. They were only for Israel. That pictures Christ's sacrifice
for his people, his church. Remember, Israel is a type of
the church. It's a wonderful thing, and people won't have
a problem with that. But they seem to have a problem
with the fact that God chooses people. Well, I can understand,
I was there. But when you learn, when God
teaches that, it's amazing. It's amazing. You know I like
to say it fizzes our brains, and it does, doesn't it? It really
does. It's beyond our comprehension,
My oh my. So let's read now verses 45 and 48 of Acts chapter 13. Look at this. And we're gonna see two different
people here. We're gonna see, now every time the gospel's preached,
there's two kinds of hearers. There's two kinds of hearers. Every time the gospel is preached,
whether it be here or whether it go out into the internet,
there's ones who hear it and rejoice, and there's ones who
hear it and say, yeah, I don't really need that. Or I'm going
to wait. I can wait. It's not for me right
now. And then there's some who just
outrightly blasphemy against God's Word. Look at this. Look at verse 45. But when the
Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake
against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting
and blasphemy. And then look at the second.
That's the first type of people right there set before us in
this text. And then look at verse 48. Here's the second group of
people, second type of person. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad. And glorified the word of the
Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Note
the two different types of people set before us here in the text.
Both hearing the preaching of the gospel. Both hearing the
same message. Both of them hearing the same
message. my oh my and then look at verse
50 we see the same people who were mentioned in verse 45 that
they're filled with they're filled with envy it says there in verse
45 and they speak against the gospel now what do they do well
they stir up other folks too But the Jews stirred up the devote
and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised persecution
against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts. So we see, my oh my, the group
of people in verses 45 and 50 who are opposing the gospel.
And then we see the group in verse 48, who by the grace of
God, see that's the difference. Who made you to differ? Who made
me to differ from another? God. They both heard, both groups
heard the message. Same message, both groups get
in trespasses and sins. Oh my! But one's given faith
to believe. One's born, one group's born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, given faith to believe. the gospel
of salvation in and through Christ alone, and by his perfect sin
atoning work, and they rejoice. The other ones are still mad
and filled with envy. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
2. 2 Corinthians. So who made them to differ? Who
made the two groups there in our text to differ? Well, only
God, right? And God alone. And it appears
that there's an immediate consequence to the preaching of the gospel,
isn't there? One group hates what they're hearing, and the
other group is rejoicing. Henry Mahan used to say, every
time he preached the gospel, there would be some who would
leave mad, and there'd be some who'd leave glad. It's true. It's true. Oh my. Oh my. And we see again, like
I said, the immediate consequence of Paul's preaching, Christ and
some believe. And this is only by the power
of God, the Holy Spirit. And there's nothing new under
the sun, beloved. It's the same today. It's the same today. It's
always been this way. The proof of its divine truth
is the gospel is a savor unto life to some and a savor unto
death to others. And Paul's going to write about
this here. Look at this in 2 Corinthians 2. We start in verse 12. Look at this. Furthermore, when
I came to Torahs to preach Christ's gospel, and the door was opened
unto me of the Lord. I love this. Paul just brings
forth, I'm sent there to preach Christ. Right? Isn't that wonderful? And the
door was opened. God opened the door for him.
I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus my brother,
but taking my leave of them, I went from Thenson to Macedonia. So we see here, he has trouble
in his spirit because Titus isn't there. Titus was supposed to
be there, and he's got trouble. Paul's a little anxious. That
means just like you and I. He's a little worked up. He's
a little troubled. We get troubled over things?
We're no different than our brothers and sisters. So Paul journeyed
to us. When we get to Acts 20, verse
6, we see the preach the gospel of Christ is brought forth there.
And God was pleased to open the door for him. And this indicates
that he had liberty and freedom to preach the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It was a good hearing. God moved
and worked, and just as we see here in our text in chapter 13,
God's saving sinners as he's pleased. But we see Titus was
not there to give him an account of the church at Corinth. He
was to give Paul an account of the church at Corinth. And so
he journeyed on to Macedonia where, what happens? Titus meets
him. And he's refreshed, look at verse 14. So he's saying praise
be to God here, no matter whether we face opposition from enemies
of the gospel or not, God's gospel will triumph. It will. It will always triumph, it will
always accomplish what it sets forth to do. And again, we're
gonna see later on in this text that it's a saver of life to
some and a saver of death to others. My oh my. And so Paul's bringing
forth in every place they preached. that God reveals the sweet, sweet
fragrance, the sweet fragrance. Look at verse 14. Now, thanks
be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh
manifest the savor of his knowledge. It's a sweet smelling savor to
God's people. It's a sweet fragrance. The gospel
is a sweet fragrance for us. You ever walked into somewhere
and smelt the smell and you go, oh, that's beautiful. And it's just
a smell. The gospel is like that for us.
It's a sweet smelling savor. It's just wonderful. It's like
the ointment that the lady put on Christ's feet and it filled
the whole house. The gospel fills the whole house
with a sweet smelling savor. It's like a priceless box of
perfume, beloved. And its fragrance fills the place
that it's at. And everyone smells it or is
aware of it. And this is still true today
when the gospel is preached. Look at verses 15, we'll read
verses 15 and 16 together. For we are unto God a sweet saver
of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the
one we are a saver of death unto death, and to the other the saver
of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things? That latter part right there,
Paul is bringing forth how every gospel preacher feels and every
believer feels. Who's sufficient to say these
things? Who's sufficient to preach the
gospel? None of us. See, that's God makes the preacher.
God builds the preacher up, makes him who he is. It's all him. So we see here, though, to the
hearts that are opened by the Holy Spirit of God, who feel
the guilt of sin and the beauty of Christ, the substitute and
the sin offering, this gospel, it's a sweet fragrance unto life. It's a fragrance unto life for
us, beloved. It's wonderful. And life is spiritual
life, everlasting life, which we have in Christ. But to those
who are perishing, we see here, whose hearts are hardened and
are filled with pride and unbelief, the fragrance of Christ is an
offensive odor. Don't, oh, I got to get out of
here. I don't want nothing to do with
that. I don't need that. oh my my oh my turn if you would one
chapter over and you know this that the rejection
of our gospel the gospel of the lord jesus christ only adds to
the condemnation of those to whom it's a saver of death unto
death it only adds to their condemnation Eternal death is added to spiritual
death. Death for sin is added to death
in sin. And then Paul says, who's sufficient
for these things? Look at verses five and six of
2 Corinthians 3. It says, not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think anything is of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. Who has made us able ministers
of the New Testament? Not of the letter, but of the
Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. This
verse right here should make every preacher, right? Every one of us know that we
can't do nothing without Christ. Who's sufficient? Look at this.
This is Paul writing this. This is the Apostle Paul. And
he says this, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
anything of ourselves. He's saying we're nothing. But
our sufficiency, our ability, our call, our message comes from
God. And he's the one who's sufficient.
He's the one who gives us strength to get up every week to proclaim
the gospel. He's the one who gives us the
messages to preach. God and God alone. And look at
this in verse six, who also have made us able ministers of the
New Testament, we don't feel very able. Not of the letter,
but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life. See, the gospel message is a
life-giving message. It's a life-giving message, and
that life is only found in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's eternal
life, the forgiveness of all our sins, to be righteous before
God in Christ. Now let's go back to the second
chapter and look at what we see here in verse 17. For we are
not as many which corrupt the word of God, but of sincerity,
but as of God in the sight of God speak we in Christ. So I'm not going to get much
on those who corrupt the word of God because I already spoke
of those charlatans. And they corrupt, they're actually
corrupting the word of God. Anyone who's teaching false gospel
is corrupting the word of God. Anyone who's adding works to
salvation is corrupting the word of God. It's a very serious thing. And I don't care if it's a pinprick
of works. If you think you're gaining merit and favor with
God by a pinprick of your works, you're corrupting this perfect
salvation in Christ. Now, we're all recovering Pharisees,
right? All of us are. We're all having grave clothes
fall off us all the time, right? All of us. It's not talking about
that. This is talking about people
who teach false gospels, or add works, any kind, and I mean pinprick
works, to salvation. It's no longer salvation. My
oh my. So we see in this last verse
that Paul declares that he does not, like so many hucksters or
false preachers and flesh merchants, make merchandise of and deal
treacherously and deceitfully with the word of God. We must
say what the word of God says. Right? Because that's what it
says. We don't understand it all. And we might not, there
might, there's plenty of verses I don't understand. Is there
plenty of verses you don't understand in this word? Yeah, plenty, right?
But as God's pleased, he gives us light, doesn't he? And we
go, is the ink still, is it wet? Right? Because we've never seen
it before. God reveals it to us by his mercy
and grace. And it's usually in a time when
we need that. And it gives us grace and strength. My, oh my. So Paul's, he's saying he preaches
with sincerity, with the purest motive, which is the glory of
God, right? We gospel preachers aren't looking
for a following. We desire for our hearers to
follow Christ. And we know that comes about
by the grace and mercy of God. If you look to me, you're gonna
see all kinds of flaws in me, because I'm a sinner saved by
grace. But I'll tell you what, let's both look to the one who's
perfect. Let's both look to the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone.
Let's both look to the sinless one. Let's all of us do that. Because I've been in congregations,
and I know several people here have been in congregations, I've
talked to you about this, where everybody's looking at other
people in the congregation, what they're doing wrong or what they're
doing right, and nobody's looking at Christ. Vicki and I lived in places like
that, right? And it's miserable. But if we're
all looking at Christ and see our own insufficiency, and we're
looking at the one who's sufficient, and you know what? When we look
at our brothers and sisters in Christ, let us look at them in
Christ. Flawed sinners as we are, but
let us see each other in Christ. It's wonderful. Oh my. Let's go back to the book of
Acts again, chapter 13. We see these unbelieving Jews
here. Despite their opposition, verse 49, the word of the Lord
was published throughout all the region. Oh, my. Published throughout all the
regions. The Jews, now think of this, too. God's servants,
they faithfully preach the gospel, and God sovereignly accomplishes
what he wills. Whatever he wills, he accomplishes
it. Just as today, the Gospels preach, some believe and some
believe not, but God's purpose is always accomplished. You know,
the Jews did exactly what they wanted. They did exactly what they wanted,
didn't they? Yeah, they did. Yet, by their unbelief, by their
unbelief, the Gospels were being sent to Gentile sinners, because
that's what God wanted to happen. They were guilty of their own
sin, weren't they? God's not the author of their sin, they
did what they wanted to do. And God took the evil and made
it work out for good. Because here we are, a bunch
of Gentiles rejoicing in Christ. Because the gospel went forward
to the Gentiles, according to the will and purpose of God.
I was talking to a fellow who's a dispensationalist this week,
and he's saying, well, the only reason the gospel came to the
Gentiles is because the Jews rejected the gospel. Well, there's
truth there, but it was according to God's will and purpose. God
had always planned and ordained that we would be saved, right?
Because as many as were ordained, what? To eternal life believed.
When were they ordained? In eternity. So when was it God's will and
purpose that they would be saved and we who believe would be saved?
In eternity. God didn't go to plan B, did
he? No, not at all. No, it's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Now think of this too. What is
occurring here before us demonstrates four gospel truths. Number one,
unbelief is the cause of eternal damnation. Look at verse 46 of
Acts chapter 13. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should first
be spoken unto you, but seeing you have put it from you, and
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. So unbelief is the cause of their
eternal damnation. And anyone who perishes in this
world goes into a Christless eternity Right? It's because of their unbelief.
Number two, election is the cause of saving faith. Look at verse
48. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. So they were saved. Why? All because of God. So if you go to hell, it's all
you. And if you go to heaven, we rejoice
in this, don't we, sister? It's all God. Isn't that amazing? What does
God have to do for a man or woman to go to hell? Just leave them
alone. Just leave them alone. The third thing that happens
when the gospel is preached is all who obey the gospel in time
were ordained to eternal life. 1 Thessalonians 1, 4, and 5 says
this, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God, in the
Greek that's chosen, for our gospel came not unto you in word
only. See, for some it comes in word only. They hear it just
like the other person hears it, right? Both these parties heard,
right? Both the Jews and the believing
Gentiles heard the same gospel. But to one it came in word only.
But you know what came in the other? Listen to this. And when
it says this, for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
Gospel comes in power to God's people, beloved. The power of
God, the Holy Spirit. It's wonderful. Salvations of
the Lord. And the fourth thing that happens
is the preaching of the gospel always accomplishes and glorifies
God. It always accomplishes God's
purpose, and it always glorifies God. Listen to this, in 1 Corinthians
2, verses 14 to 16. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. But he that is spiritual judges
all things, yet he himself is judge of no man. For who hath
no in the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. my oh my which is humility we've
humbled ourselves before the mighty hand of god because of
the grace of god by nature we wouldn't do that but god's done
that for us it's amazing it's absolutely amazing let's look
at verse 50 now acts 13 50 but when the but the jews stirred
up the devote and honorable men and women of the chief and the
chief men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and
Barnabas and expelled them out of their coast." Well, we see
here prominent, unbelieving men and women of the city supporting
these wicked Jews, raised persecution against Paul, and out they went,
kicked them out of their city and out of the limits of the
city, out of their coast. And you know what? These folks
were probably patting themselves on the back after that. They
were probably petting themselves on the back after that. Thinking
they'd done their gods a favor by getting rid of Paul and Barnabas.
And they thought they were rid of the preaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They thought, it's gone now, finally. We're gonna
have some quiet again. They'd driven away God's missionaries
out of the area. But again, it's all according
to the purpose of God, right? But marvel at this, by this time,
by the time that they had expelled Paul and Barnabas from their
coasts, our Lord Jesus, and by the time our Lord Jesus had sent
Paul and Barnabas to the next appointed place to preach the
gospel, he had added within that city that they had left a multitude
of believers. They got rid of the preachers,
but remember all them Gentiles who were saved? And the word
of the Lord was published throughout the whole region. Now they got
a handful of these guys going all around talking about Christ.
Isn't God great? Isn't He glorious? See, men will
try to stamp out the gospel, and God will mock their calamity. Won't He? He'll laugh at them.
His will and purpose shall be accomplished. Oh my, those wicked
men and women who drove Paul and Barnabas out of their land
could not stop the mouths of the new believers that were amongst
them. As our sovereign Lord had called a multitude unto himself
in the area of Antioch and Pisadia. And they would have assembled
themselves like we assemble ourselves. They would have done the same
thing. Paul and Barnabas would have told them that. Make sure
you keep assembling. Oh my, and the gospel truths
would be preached. And more would be added to their
numbers by the irresistible drawing power of God the Holy Spirit.
Let's look at the next verse in verse 51. We see Paul and
Barnabas shook off the dust of their feet against them and came
unto Icronim. But they shook off the dust of
their feet against them and came unto Icronim. Turn if you would
to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. We'll see
that this is what our Lord commanded his disciples to do when he sent
his disciples out, and he said, if they don't receive you, just
kick the dust off your feet. Kick the dust off your feet.
This was not to be viewed as a thing spiteful, or mean-spirited,
or retaliation, or even a physical act to be performed. Our Lord
is simply telling them that when people refuse the gospel we preach,
we ought to leave them alone. Leave them alone. They have nothing
to do with our King. We can't walk in fellowship with
them. Just leave them be. Look at this in Matthew chapter
10, verses 5 to 14. These 12 Jesus sent forth and
commanded them saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles
and into any of the Samaritans, the city of the Samaritans, enter
you not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
So they're not sent to the Gentiles, are they? As you go and preach,
saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely you have received,
freely give. Doesn't cost nothing, does it?
Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses, nor
a script for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor
yet staffs, for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into
whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy,
and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house,
salute it. And if the house be worthy, let
your peace come upon it. But if it be not worthy, let
your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive
you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house
or city, shake off the dust of your feet. And then Matthew 10,
15, look at this. Look at this. Oh my. Verily I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the
day of judgment than for that city. Oh my goodness. It's a very dangerous thing to
despise the preaching of the gospel. We see that right here. The Lord
Jesus sends forth his ambassadors to call sinners to repentance.
Calling for rebels such as we, right? Because I'm just a saved
rebel who has been saved by the grace and mercy of God. Calling
other rebels, saying, here, here, this is where we find peace in
Christ. This is where we find forgiveness
of all our sins in Christ. But they will not bow to him
as Lord and King. You know what waits for them?
Nothing but judgment. Nothing but judgment, beloved.
In the day of judgment, look at this, this is the Lord speaking
these words. In the day of judgment, it shall
be more terrible for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for
those who hear but will not believe the gospel. My, oh my, I pray for my kids
and my family, my friends who do not know Christ. Oh my, what solemn words of warning,
beloved. I know God does the saving, but
we can pray for our kids, can't we? We can pray for our family,
we can pray for our friends. We do not know Christ. To see
this, verily I say unto you, this is the master himself speaking,
this is God in the flesh. It will be more tolerable for
the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for
that city. And then we tie that in with
what we looked at in 2 Corinthians about the gospel being a savor
of life unto life, and then a savor of death unto death. Oh my. What solemn words of warning
are these to those who will hear the preaching of the gospel? And so we see these two faithful
missionaries did exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ instructed
them to do in Matthew 10, 14. It's the responsibility of God's
ministers to preach Christ and his gospel to all, but not all
will believe. And they bring eternal damnation
upon their own heads. Now, missionaries will go to
one country, to another, but God's adoring pastors, we can't
leave our appointed posts. We're not missionaries. I'm not
a missionary. I used to be an evangelist, but now I'm a pastor
now. I can't leave my post. I'm called
here, Elmont, Michigan. Nine years next month. Nine years,
beloved. Brother Norm and Brother Donnie,
when I first came here, they said, you're planted there. You've
got to bloom where you're planted. Get your roots in the ground.
Find a plot. My, oh, my. By the grace of God,
I'll continue to preach until he removes me, Lord Willard,
from this earth. So we see here, Paul and Barnabas
being missionaries, they just shook the dust off their feet
against those who persecuted them, and off they went. And
remember, there's still believers in the city, and they're going
to stay there, aren't they? And the gospel's going forth. So
those folks, those folks that thought they got rid of them,
them preachers got rid of them, we got rid of them Christians.
Nope, you didn't. No, you didn't. Oh my. I have to laugh sometimes at
portions like that. It just makes me. Because I know
how those fellas feel. Because I was there at one time. Were you? Yeah. So off they go to the next appointed
place. Look at verse 52. And the disciples were filled
with joy and with the Holy Ghost. So marvel at the fact that our
Sovereign Lord had called these multitude of Gentiles to Himself
in the area of Antioch, Pisadia. And again, they would have assembled
together on a regular basis to preach His Gospel and to praise
and worship our Lord Jesus Christ. And not only would it fill Paul
and Barnabas with great joy, but John Gill believes that this
is speaking of those who were left in the city. I think both
parties would be filled in rejoicing. I know as a preacher, if you're
leaving that place, you'd be rejoicing at what God's done.
And their missionaries, they'd be just rejoicing that they...
Do you see that door we had open by the Barnabas? Those folks
were eager to hear the gospel. They followed us and wanted to
hear more. And the next week when we got together, Barnabas
goes, yeah, Paul, did you see that multitude? Next week we
got together and almost the whole city came out. Oh, my. Filling with joy, wouldn't
it? And we know the Gentiles were
filled with joy, don't we? We already know that. So there'd
be joy flowing in all the believers' hearts there. Oh, my. And is God still working today?
Absolutely. He's still saving sinners as
he's pleased to save sinners. He moves and his will is being
accomplished. And here we are today, gathered
together, hearing his word and rejoicing in his wonderful truths.
And one day, as we sang that song face to face, we're going
to see him face to face. What a day that's going to be.
My, oh my. Brother Brian, would you mind
closing?