Start a new chapter in our study
in this letter penned by Luke under the inspiration of God
the Holy Spirit. The name of the message is God
the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit. He's incredible. Don't hear a lot of messages
on the Spirit, do we? But you know, he's just as much
God as the Father and the Son. I try to emphasize in my preaching
the wondrous work of God the Holy Spirit. Now, here not bring
attention to himself, right? But if God the Holy Spirit didn't
regenerate us, we wouldn't be saved. Christ
accomplished the work of our salvation, didn't he? And the
Holy Spirit applies that, doesn't he? And we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. And the three are one. Father,
the Word, and God the Holy Spirit. It's wondrous. Wondrous. Let's stand up and read verses
25 from Acts 12, 25 to Acts 13, verse 5. And I want to include
the last verse in chapter 12. It's very pertinent along with
the rest of the verses that we're gonna look at. We're gonna look
at verses one to five today in Acts 13 along with a short little
look at Acts 12.35. So let's start in Acts 12.25.
I'm sorry, let's stand up. And we'll read from Acts 12.25
to Acts 13.5. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem. when they had fulfilled their
ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets
and teachers, as Barnabas, and Simon that was called Niger,
and Lucas of Cyrene, and Manan, which had been brought up with
Herod the Tetriarch, and Saul. And as they ministered to the
Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and
Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when
they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they
sent them away. So they, being sent forth by
the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia, And from thence they
sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis,
they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews,
and they had John to their minister. My, oh my. Now the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ as he spoke to his disciples when he was here on earth He said, I will build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He will build
his church. He's the foundation of the church. He's the chief cornerstone of
the church. He's the head, we're the body. He is the most important
aspect of the church. Right? He gave himself for us. He came to save his people, his
body, his elect, right? He came to save his people from
their sins. And he accomplished that. Scripture
said he shall not fail. He didn't fail, did he? You know,
sometimes modern religion brings forth this Jesus who failed because
he's done all he can do. Now the rest is up to you. That's
not our God. If that's all he's done, then he's done nothing to save
people, has he? But you know what he did? He
saved his people from their sins. And God, the Holy Spirit, comes
and regenerates us. And we believe, we're given the
gift of faith and repentance. Repentance is just taking sides
with God against ourselves. That's what repentance is. People
say, oh, you gotta repent. Well, I take sides with God against
myself. Yep, I'm a sinner, I need a savior. It's a change of mind, beloved,
about the way, who God is, what he's done, why Christ came, Christ
is God in the flesh. It's amazing that we believe
those things now as believers. Isn't that amazing? When we didn't,
it's absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible. So our
Lord wasn't referring to a building made with hands, but to His chosen
blood-bought children, His church, His Ekklesia and the Greek, which
is a called-out assembly, a called-out people. You and I were called
out. I was living in Canada. Sister
Ann and I were living in Canada, right? But we didn't know we
were the called-out ones. We had no idea. And then He called
us out one day, didn't He? And you all were down here in
America. God saved you. He called you out from among
all the world. Isn't that beautiful? We're called
at once. And the churches in the building,
of course, we know that. The church is the people, the
ecclesia. They're called at once. I love our building. It's wonderful.
But it's not the church. I'm looking at the church. It's
the saints of God. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, my. And he was talking about his
elect amongst the Jews and the Gentiles. He says, I'll build
my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
They won't. How much opposition has the church
of God received through the years? And those voices are silent and
the gospel is still going forward. Yeah. Inquisition, millions of
our brothers and sisters killed, millions by the Catholic church,
slaughtered. Does it stop the gospel going
forth? There it goes. Right? Amazing. Absolutely incredible. And each member of the universal
body of Christ is a living stone. We're living stones, beloved.
Built into a holy temple by God, of course, right? And the blood of Christ is the
mortar that keeps us all together, beloved. It's amazing. Absolutely amazing. And He places His stones, beloved. We're living stones that He places.
Oh, my. By the life-given power of Jesus
Christ, our risen, exalted Lord and Savior, and by the life-given
power of God, the Holy Spirit. According to what? The will of
the Father. It's wonderful. See, Christ didn't
just go die for everyone. No, he died for a people, didn't
he? He even told the Jews, and I've talked to many people about
this, and they don't see it, but then again, I never saw it
before the Lord saved me either. And I say to them, well, look
at this. The Lord says, I give my life for the sheep, and he
says down here to these Pharisees, well, you're not my sheep. What does that mean? It means
they're not his sheep. But he has a sheep, don't he? And remember that beautiful parable
about the shepherd going out and finding that lost sheep?
That's you and I, beloved. And he gets it and puts it on
his neck and brings it home and has a great feast. Oh my. My, oh my. under the preaching
of the glorious gospel of salvation in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. And by his perfect work, God
saves such as should be added to his church daily. He's still
saving today. He's still saving people today,
isn't he? He's still moving. Oh my, he's still gathering in
his elect. And you know what? And all the forces of evil and
all the wicked in the world cannot stop that from happening. I love Pilgrim's Progress. You
ever read that? There's a part where pilgrims walk along, and
there's these two lions, and they're on chains. And he said,
I don't know if I should walk through that. And I think it
was Evangelist that was with him. I can't remember who was with
him. He said, you walk right through there. And he walks, and these
things are just, they're snarling, and they're at their leashes,
and they're pulling on the chain. The chain won't let go, will
it? That's how the devil and all the evil forces are, and
all the wicked of this world, to the church of God. They cannot do anything unless
God allows it. An old pilgrim, he'd just walk
right through there. without even a scratch. Now, we go through this world,
we get some wounds, don't we? Oh, yeah. Some of them come from
places we don't even expect. But God carries us right through
it all, doesn't he? He exercises his power. Jesus
Christ is Lord of all he would be ceased he would cease to be
Lord of all if anything could hinder his work Wouldn't he People say well that old devil
he's doing that well most the time it's my flesh. Thank you Religious folks love to blame
the devil for everything Oh, the worst enemy is the flesh. And the only way we overcome
the flesh is by the power of God, the Holy Spirit working
in us. Otherwise, we go right in our face. I am being
honest here. Oh, my. So rejoice, beloved of God, rejoice. God shall save all his people,
and all his blood-bought people are called according to his purpose,
and he shall take each one of those individual sheep home to
glory. Now again, we may go through
some rough waters. I think all of us have, and there
may be more rough waters ahead. but he'll take his people home.
So he says, well, what happens if I get Alzheimer's and I can't
remember who God is? It don't change your salvation,
does it? Is our salvation dependent upon us? No, it's dependent upon
Christ, isn't it? Who's your hope right now? Amen,
right? He's the only hope we have for
salvation. You know, I'll give you the same
words that Barnabas did. Cleave to him. Cleave to him. Oh my. My oh my. Let's remember that what's recorded
here in Acts chapter 13 and the whole Bible is what the Holy
Spirit has recorded for us. We have a perfect word. We have
recorded exactly what God has wanted recorded. Someone says
to me, well, what about this book over here? It's not recorded,
is it? Oh, my. My, oh, my. And by the grace of God, we believe
this, don't we? Because we didn't before the
Lord saved us. Before the Holy Spirit regenerated us, we didn't
believe this book. I didn't. It just sat and collected dust
on my dad's dresser. The place we kept family pictures. My oh my. So what's, the whole Bible, and
what's recorded is, remember this too, as we go through the
book of Acts, let us remember this too. All this is recorded
for our learning. It's recorded for us. These are
events that happened thousands of years ago. But isn't it amazing? See, the scripture crosses cultures,
crosses time, crosses civilizations, because the word of God is as
relevant for us today as it was for them. Imagine when they get
these letters, remember when they, imagine when Theopolis,
who this was written to, got this and he's reading this. Imagine the excitement that he
started to generate inside him by the Holy Spirit of God. Oh,
they're going to the Gentiles. Let's keep reading, see what
happens. And for us too, it generates the same excitement for us, doesn't
it? When we went through that section, Jesus Christ is Lord
of all, that's it. He's Lord of all, period. And
as Eric and I were talking, and he saved us from our sins. and
there's nothing we do. We're saved by Jesus Christ alone
plus nothing, right? Let's just stay there. I love
doctrine, I love theology, but let's just stay there. There's
more there than we can ever learn. And then we read, like we did
in Sunday school, God became a man. God saved us, sister. God saved
us. Not just a mere man. God saved
us. Someone asks you, what do you
mean Christ is your savior? God saved me, didn't he, sister?
Saved me from my sins. God did that. God became a man. And you know what? I mentioned
this in Sunday school. How many witnesses does it take
usually to try a man or a woman in court, right? One eyewitness,
right? Well, there was 11 eyewitnesses,
right? Plus Paul saw Christ. That's a lot of eyewitnesses. We have eyewitnesses accounts,
right? John, Matthew, Eyewitness accounts, beloved.
Luke. My, oh, my. And Mark is written
by John Mark, who we're going to see here. My, oh, my. People say, well,
you have no proof. Well, we got eyewitnesses. Right? We got eyewitnesses, beloved. My, oh, my. So in this chapter,
what we start to see is the eternal purpose of God, that the gospel
be preached to all the world. And like I said earlier this
morning, I'm not afraid of whosoever will. Folks say, you Calvinists, you're
afraid of whosoever will. I ain't afraid of whosoever will.
I don't know who the elect are. Whosoever will, let them come.
I know God's gonna bring them. And you know, we who are born
again, we're part of the whosoever will, by the grace and mercy
of God. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. People get all tied up in knots
about different things. Let's focus on Christ. Right? Let's focus on Christ. So prior to this, the center
of the church was Jerusalem. Everything came out of Jerusalem
prior to this. But we will see a shift going
forward from this point in the book of Acts anyways, that the
Gentile city of Antioch becomes the center. Prior to this, the gospel being
preached basically to the Jews only. And we're gonna see later
on in this verse, there's an amazing part later on in this
verse. And, Look at verse 48. Here's the Gentiles, they're
standing around with the Jews, right? And they're listening
to what these guys are saying. They're listening to what these
guys are saying. Actually, let's start in verse
46. I can't wait till we get here. Then Paul and Barnabas
waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first
be spoken to you. That's the Jews. That's the Jews.
But seeing you have put it away from you and judge yourself unworthy
of everlasting life. Folks who reject Christ judge
themselves unworthy of everlasting lives. They're condemned. Look at that. Judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting lives." Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Now here, these Gentiles have been sitting here, hearing this,
they're probably thinking, oh, this is for the Jews. And they're
eager, we're going to see, they are eagerly listening, beloved,
and the Spirit's working in them. Look at this, for so hath the
Lord commanded us, saying, I have sent thee to be a light of the
Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends
of the earth. They're preaching Christ. And
when the Gentiles, now here we go, look at this. There's some
Gentiles being given hearing ears and seeing eyes. And when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. Can you imagine that?
It's for us, too. They're a bunch of pagans like
we all were. This salvation's for us, too. They were glad,
beloved. They were rejoicing. Oh, my. And they glorified the word of
the Lord. Look at this. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life, what? Believed. See, Paul was just
preaching. Barnabas was just preaching.
But there was some of the whosoever will in there. Isn't that beautiful? And how did they come? By regeneration
of the Holy Spirit of God, they believed. They were given faith
just like you and I were. Same Spirit regenerated them.
They were given the same faith we have, and they were glad. They've been, now look at that.
You know what happened right there? They were turned from
idols to serve the living true God. The one true living God.
Just, just like that. They didn't say, do you notice
what, do you notice what Paul didn't say? Well, first you gotta
bow your head and repeat this prayer. You notice what didn't happen? The Holy Spirit does the work.
I love what Spurgeon used to say. He said, God can save you
in your seat without you moving a muscle. And there it is. There
it is, right there. Right in that text, right there.
He didn't say anything. No, they were regenerated. And
they were glad. Just like that. They went from serving pagan
idols, and what's it say? They rejoiced, didn't they? And
they what? What does it say in there? They glorified who? Amen,
sister. They went from worshiping pagan
idols, one second, to glorifying God. Isn't that wonderful? And their salvation was in Christ,
just like our salvation's in Christ. And they looked to Him
alone. And did they know a lot of doctrine? No. But they believed,
didn't they? I'm sure they learned things.
But they went about saying, God save me. The God of the Jews. Save his Gentiles. Let me tell
you about him. Remember Cornelius? I love Cornelius. Peter shows up, the house is
full of people. Come hear this wonderful words.
Come hear these wonderful words. Oh my, it's beautiful, beloved.
It's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. So prior to this, too, the church
was still bound with many of the fetters of Jewish legal worship.
But from this point forward, we're going to see those bonds
broken free. We're set free, beloved. We're set free in Christ. And Acts 13 marks a point in
history itself when our Lord God He began gathering his elect
from all the four corners of the earth. And if you're a believer, that includes us. Isn't that wonderful? He gathered Annie and I from
Canada. My, oh, my. He gathered you guys
from down in West Virginia. Man, oh my, Eric, he grabbed
you out in California. My wife in California, too. And
you all in Michigan. Isn't that amazing? And here we are, worshiping the
King, gathered together, worshiping our great God and King. Oh my. My, oh my. Paul bought forth
very clearly in Corinthians, I'm going to quote a couple of
verses here. He says this in 1 Corinthians 1.23, but we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews, the stumbling block, and unto
the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of a God.
if preaching could get back to just preaching Christ. Now, I love doctrine just like
everybody else does. But does doctrine save? No. Christ saves. Now, true doctrine's
all about Christ, right? But just having a knowledge of
doctrine doesn't save us. You must be born again. I had
lots of doctrine and I wasn't saved until the Lord regenerated me. God saves. God saved us by the
power of God the Holy Spirit and his regenerating power. Then
Paul said this in 2 Corinthians, he said, for we preach not ourselves.
God sent preachers, don't preach ourselves. We preach Christ. He says this, but Christ Jesus,
the Lord, and ourselves, you're servants. You're servants. I'm a servant of the church,
beloved. I'm a servant of the ecclesia
here in Elmont. We're all servants, aren't we?
Every one of us is a servant to Christ. Let's not get above
that. We're servants. bound together
by the love of Christ in our hearts. And it's glorious. It's glorious. And then in Colossians it says
this, even the mystery, mystery there is a truth, a truth that
has not yet been revealed. The gospel is a truth that's
not revealed until God the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. Christ, the Savior of sinners. Even the mystery which has been
hid from ages and from generations. Think of that. Ages and generations
perished in their sins. But now is made manifest to his
saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory, whom we preach. Look at that, Paul
says, whom we preach. I'm not gonna get caught off
going preaching about this and preaching about that, preaching
my opinion. Whom we preach, whom we preach? Christ. Christ. Now I'll tell you what,
I cannot exhaust in my lifetime preaching about Christ. I can't. warning every man and teaching
every man that in all wisdom that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus. Whereunto I also labor according
labor, striving according to his working. Who's working? The
Holy Spirit of God working in us. His working, which worketh
in me mightily. Do you know we can't even walk
the Christian walk without God, the Holy Spirit working in us
mightily? I heard a preacher this week.
I really, really liked and he fell. He fell. He stepped out on his wife. Tragic. Tragic. Tragic. And he was a reformed fellow
who preached, we're not under the law, which is wonderful.
So I went on this reform page I'm on. There was people in there
tearing that guy apart. Ripping him to shreds. And one fellow wrote, there go
I, but for the grace of God. See, we need to stop kicking
brethren when they're down. And that man went to the elders
in his church, confessed, stepped down from the pulpit, and is
no longer involved in ministry. I commend him. He's known worldwide. Isn't that amazing? And people
still. So, I ask you this. Was David
no longer our brother when he committed adultery with Bathsheba? Was David no longer our brother
when he had Uriah go to the front lines and he was murdered or
killed in the battle? No, God said, he's a man after
my own heart. Now, did he suffer consequences? He was chastised, wasn't he?
By God, see, by God. Let that be a warning to us. But these folks that say, well,
they're false preachers, okay, I've listened to the man preaching
the gospel, but he did the right thing. He did the right thing. Let us always seek to restore
brethren who have fallen, no matter what it is. because sin
in God's eyes is sin. O Lord, if thou shalt count iniquity,
if thou shalt number our transgressions, who shall stand? Not me. Oh, but we're covered
in the blood of Christ, aren't we? Praise God for forgiveness
in Christ. Praise God for the the wonder,
work, and power of God, the Holy Spirit. So we preach Christ. Let's read verses 25 to verse
3 in Acts. 25 from Acts 12 to verse 3 in
Acts 13. And Barnabas and Saul returned
from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, took
with them John, whose surname was Mark. So that's John Mark. It's the one who wrote the Gospel
of Mark. Now there were in the church
that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, Simon,
that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Menin, which had
been brought up with Herod the Tetriarch, and Saul. So he was,
actually I found out about this fella, he was supposed to be
the adopted brother of Herod, and he was raised up in Jerusalem
the same time we see as Paul too. So they may have even been
acquaintances, we don't know. As they ministered to the Lord
and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me, Barnabas and Saul,
for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had
fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them
away. Now, scripture tells us that
all things God works all things after the
counsel of his own will. All things. And even with our
limited understanding of those words, all things after the counsel
of his own will, we should know that absolutely nothing happens
by chance. Nothing. Nothing. All things means all things. And Paul said this in 2 Corinthians
5.18, So, nothing happens that God doesn't know about. That
God doesn't know about. And that verse brings forth the truth
that nothing happens by chance or luck. So Barnabas and Saul returned
to Antioch with John Mark by the will and purpose of God. Right? And it wasn't by chance
or luck. It was all according to the will
of God. So what we see set forth here
and in the scripture all happens according to the will and purpose
of God. Now we don't understand that will and purpose. Because
we see through a glass darkly, but let us be assured it does.
And what comfort that is for you and I, as believers, to know
that our souls are in the hands of the Sovereign One, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Bar-Ambassador returned to
Antioch, and they're taking a love offering,
from the church, they had already taken a love offering from the
church at Antioch to the needy church at Jerusalem. And now
they're returning back, they're returning back to Antioch. And in verse one, we're introduced
to several of the prophets and teachers who were at Antioch.
Barnabas, that's Barnabas who's with Paul and Saul. Simon, nigar,
the word nigar means black. no reference whether it was his
skin or his hair, we don't know. Lucius, some believe that that's
Luke the physician, that's speculation. Manyan, interesting again, he
was brought up with the Herod the Tetriarch, and also Saul,
who refers to the Apostle Paul. And these men were leaders in
the church at Antioch. and they're identified as prophets
and teachers. They're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, same spirit that regenerated us, same spirit that
they have. Same faith they have, same faith
we have. Same Savior we have, same Savior
they have. It's amazing. And he gave gifts to his church,
and they were using these gifts for the glory of God. Now let's read Acts chapter 13,
verse 2. As they ministered to the Lord
and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate me, Barnabas and Saul,
for the work whereunto I have called them. Now these spiritual
leaders, they dedicated their life to the ministry of Christ. Just like all believers do. Now they're not super Christians.
They're just folks the Lord saved, gifted them with gifts that they
used to glorify God. But they're just ordinary Christians
like us. Isn't that amazing? Resting in
Christ, trusting in Christ alone. And they ministered, which means
they perform religious functions. Worship, Whatever you do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians
3.17. Right? Whatever we do. So these faithful servants were
worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with obedient hearts. They were
performing what God had ordained for them to do. And it says they
were fasting this time, and God the Holy Spirit spoke to them.
We're not told why they were abstaining from eating. We don't
know. So we shouldn't even speculate.
Speculation gets us in so much trouble. I'll tell you why. Let's just read the word of God
and believe it. Right? Speculation, oh my, it just,
it can lead to severe error. So we don't know why they're
fast and the scripture's silent. And so we do well, where the
scripture's silent, we do well to be silent, right? Yeah. And we see at this time
that they were ministering to the Lord and fasting. The Holy
Ghost said to them, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the
work whereunto I've called them. And take note that the Holy Spirit
here refers to himself as a person. You know that? Separate me Barnabas and Saul. God, the Holy
Spirit's There's God the Holy Spirit, God the Father, and God
the Son, and the three are one. But they're three distinct personalities,
aren't they? Look at that. Separate me. Barnabas and Saul. For the work
were unto I of what? Called them. Are we called by
the Holy Spirit of God? Yes, we are. Affectually called.
Invincibly called. I always have to laugh when people
say, well, you can resist God. I couldn't resist him. He must be stronger than God
or you think you are. And that's pretty funny. If God, the Holy Spirit's drawn
us. I like what Rupert Reibenbach
said, a team of wild horses couldn't keep us from him. Right? Because it's an effectual drawing
by God the Holy Spirit. God draws us. God the Holy Spirit. As much God as the Father, as
much God as the Son. He's got the same power. If He draws us to Christ, and
Christ keeps us, does that mean we're all of a sudden going to
be lost? Because of something we did? How am I? See, our faith is built
on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His righteousness. He is
the foundation, beloved. He's the foundation. My, oh my. Robert Hawker said of this, the
pronouns me and I, because notice that too, separate me, Barnabas,
and Saul for the work unto I have called them. Robert Hawker says
this, the pronouns me and I are wholly personal and are not capable
of being used any other way. And as much as we infer the person
of a man by the actions of a man, so the person of God the Holy
Ghost is as fairly and fully inferred by the actions here
ascribed to him. This is God the Holy Spirit moving. And what are the actions ascribed
to God the Holy Spirit in our text? Well, he, God the Holy
Spirit, spoke to the leaders of the church in Antioch. He,
God the Holy Spirit, named personally Barnabas and Saul as his missionaries. And he, God the Holy Spirit,
spoke of a particular work for Barnabas and Saul to perform,
which we know that he would equip and enable them to do. Eric and I were talking about
committees and all that stuff. There are no missionary committees
here, is there? Separate them and send them out. Isn't that
amazing? Yeah. And notice they were sent
out from the church, too. Isn't that amazing? Oh my. That's one thing I like about
the Sovereign Grace Churches If we find out there's a sovereign
grace missionary, they don't have to go around from church
to church, because we just provide the money for them and say, go
on out in the field, preach the gospel. And if, remember there
was a need, somebody found out there was a need by Walter Grover.
Walter Grover, a long time ago, they needed a car. Well, the
churches found out, because he didn't tell anyone, he was mortgaging
his home up here in America. And, oh, that was Moose. And
the churches found out and got together and sent him $25,000
and got himself a rig and some other stuff. That's how it should
be, right? That's how it should be. And there's no committees
and all that stuff. You just send the money to him.
Preach the gospel, man. Don't be covered about by those
things. Oh, my. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. And God, the Holy Spirit, doesn't
speak of himself, beloved. His ministry is take the things
of Christ, reveal them to God's chosen people, his born-again,
blood-washed people, and therefore we'll know who God's preachers
are by whom they preach. How do you tell if a man is sent
from God? Who do they preach? Just listen. Do they preach themselves? What
did you call Eric, the church, the dark pit? What was that? Black hole. Yeah, Eric says you
go to some churches and they're like black holes. There's no
gospel there. They're just a black hole. I
like that, that's true. Preachers not preaching Christ?
My oh my. But we have to preach Christ
and Him crucified in His perfect sin-atoning work that He did
for His people. He did it. He did it all. He accomplished it by Himself. And we, like I said, I preach
a finished work. I don't preach anything man has
to do. It's already been done 2,000 years ago. It's marvelous. Look to Christ and live. Whosoever
will, let him come. Spirit of the bride, say, whosoever
will, come. Look to Christ. My, oh, my. God's preachers don't
preach salvation by the works of man, but self-righteous preachers
deceive themselves. And their here is by encouraging
them to trust in something they've done in order to gain merit and
favor with God. We can't gain merit and favor
with God by anything we do. You know that? I'm serious. I don't care if we got the best
intentions. We cannot gain merit and favor with God by anything
we do. The only merit and favor we have
before God is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Period. I'm gonna preach that till the
Lord don't give me no more breath. My, oh my. And God doesn't send false preachers.
He doesn't send false preachers who speak of themselves, who
speak of salvation by their own works of sinful men and women. God, the Holy Spirit, sends his
ministers to preach Christ. Paul and Barnabas are sent to
preach Christ, beloved. That's what they're sent to do.
They're sent to go and preach Christ to a lost and dying world. Do they know who the elect are?
They got no clue. But they preach to everyone,
don't they? And leave the results in God's hands, right? That's what we're to do. And we tell here is the great
things God done. God sent the Son, his only begotten
Son, the Word of God, who became flesh and dwelt among us to save
his people from their sins. And he accomplished that work.
It's done. Look to him and live. And we
know if you're going to look, it's by the power of God, the
Holy Spirit. And if the Lord saves you, we're
going to rejoice with you. My, it's wonderful. We don't preach salvation by
the works of man or partly by man. No, we preach salvation
by Christ and him alone. See, we boldly declare that the
whole human race fell in Adam. I mean the whole human race.
We fell in Adam, beloved. Some people say, that's not fair.
Well, you want fair? Fair would be no one saved. We
don't want fair, do we, Brother Jim? No, we want mercy. And then we find out God sent
his son into this world to die for our sins. He's the second
Adam. He's the perfect one. He's the
sinless one. He's the spotless one. My oh my. We preach Christ and him crucified.
We tell our hearers that Jesus Christ is the second person of
the Trinity. He's the sovereign creator. The sovereign became a servant
to save us from our sins. Yep, it's true. That's marvelous. And we boldly declare that the
whole human race was condemned in Adam because he sinned against
God. And we're born sinners now. Oh,
that beautiful little baby, Wayne, you're telling me, that beautiful
baby's innocent. He's a sinner. He's a sinner, just like you
and I. If he comes from a human mom
and dad, he's a sinner. Right? Oh my. And we've been shown that we're
all dead in trespasses and sins with nothing to offer God in
exchange for our souls. And we warn our hearers, do not
trust in your own righteousness. Do not trust in your own works.
They'll lead you to hell. And the only reason we know that
is because God saved us from our sins by the power of God
the Holy Spirit and his regenerating power. Our righteousness, our natural
righteousness, is nothing but filthy rags in the eyes of the
Lord. And we preach Jesus Christ is the only righteousness that
God will accept. The only righteousness that God
will accept is Christ. Telling our hearers that if our
faith is in Christ, then he's our righteousness alone. We're
clothed in his righteousness. If our faith isn't in Christ,
then we're dead in trespasses and sins. We are not clothed
in his righteousness. But with unspeakable joy in our
hearts, we declare that Jesus Christ, by the supreme sacrifice
of himself, obtained eternal redemption for his promised children, that he by himself purged our
sins from the sight of God. Marvel at that this week. Think
about that this week. God has purged our sins. God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, by His sacrifice has purged our sins
from the sight of God. He uttered the words, it's finished.
What's that mean? It's finished. The work is done. And the Holy Spirit of God, He
knows what the will of God is because He's God Himself. And
His will is in total agreement with the Father and the Son. And they willed to save a people. And we're of that number. That's
amazing. And how are we of that number?
by the shedding of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
purchased our eternal souls, given his life for us, taken
the wrath of God for us, taken the judgment of God that was
due us for us, and he bore it all. My, oh, my. Think of this, God, the Holy
Spirit, He's as much God as the Father.
God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the blessed triune
God, was there when the eternal covenant of grace was established,
when the Father chose us in Christ. He was there when God the Father
chose his people in Christ before the foundation of the world.
He was there when the names of God's elect, oh I marvel at this,
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. He was there when God's people
were ordained to eternal life. He was there when all of God's
elect were predestinated unto the adoption of children. It
was God Himself who appointed a time and place where His children
would be delivered from the power of darkness. And the appointed
preacher, He appointed the preacher that we'd be under, or hear,
listening to, when it pleased Him to save us. And God, the Holy Spirit, was
there when they planned and purposed all this in eternity, the exact
day of our regeneration, the second of our regeneration. He
was there, and He agreed to it all. And think of this, too, the truth
concerning the purpose of God. the salvation of his chosen people
are just as true as today as they were in the apostolic age. That's still true, isn't it?
And God the Holy Spirit still equips his preachers, still separates
his people, still equips his preachers and separates them
for the work that he has them to do. He calls us to perform
and he still sends all his preachers to where he wants at the appointed
time. Come in December, December 15th,
I'll be here nine years. And it was appointed by God for
me to be here. And for you to be here. Isn't that amazing? Oh my. And he's appointed us to the
place where we will preach the gospel, and he still makes his
gospel effectual. God the Holy Spirit still makes
his gospel effectual in the hearts of his chosen people, all according
to the eternal purpose of God. God desires the salvation of
his elect, yes, and only his elect. God is in one mind, the
scripture says. Who can turn him? And what his
soul desireth, even that he doeth. Whatever he desires, he does.
Isn't that amazing? Now let's look at verse three.
And when they fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them,
they sent them away. This isn't an ordination service,
not at all. They're ordained by God to be
preachers. This isn't an ordination service. but they're sent out
by God, they're separated by God for the mission work, and
he sends them out, he equips them. This fasting and prayer,
one commentator says, was for God's blessing on Barnabas and
Saul for the missionary work that was set before them, for
the Lord to protect them and for a providential hand of God
to provide their every need. Now let's read verses four and
five of Acts chapter 13. So they, being sent forth by
the Holy Ghost, departed unto Cilicia, and from thence sailed
to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis,
they preached the word of God in the synagogue, and they had also John to their
minister. So Barnabas and Saul we see sent
forth by the Holy Spirit of God. It's clearly stated here in our
text. to preach the gospel. Now notice they didn't take it
upon themselves. They just went back to Antioch. The Holy Ghost
separated them. They didn't say, well, I'm gonna
go do this now. God sent them. God sent them. The spiritual
leaders didn't send them out. But they knew as well as Barnabas
and Saul that it was God, the Holy Spirit, who had separated
them as missionaries. See, we complicate things so
much. These men, they were sent out to preach. Go and preach. Oh my. They went to Seleucia, or at
first they went to Cyprus, which was an island in the Mediterranean
Sea. In order for them to get to that island, they went to
Seleucia, which was a seaport about 24 miles from Antioch.
So they could sail from there to Cyprus. And verse five tells
us that Barnabas and Saul, when they got to the island of Cyprus,
went to Samalis, which was one of the cities on the island.
And supposedly there was multitudes of Jews living there. Multitude
of Jews living there, so where did they go? Well, they went
to the synagogue that they had built. So there were so many
of them that they built the synagogue. So Paul, he always went to the
synagogues, didn't he? To preach the gospel. And look
at verse five again. Let's read it again. And when
they were at Samaelis, they preached the word of God in the synagogue
of the Jews. And they had also John to minister.
So our text here tells us that Barnabas and Saul preached the
word of God. They preached the gospel. That's
what they did. They preached Christ. Simple, but yet profound. Right? They didn't say, well,
you have to fall this kind of way and this way and this way.
No, they just preached Christ. Now, as I said, we all love doctrine,
but preach Christ. If you're preaching the truth
about Christ, good doctrine will come. Because all true good doctrine,
all sound doctrine, is all centered in Christ. Right? It all is. Preach the gospel. Preach Christ. Preach the good
news. That's what sinners need to hear, right? And saints will
be equipped, will grow as the gospels preach. I guarantee you,
saints will grow while the gospels preach. How do I know that? He works
in us. I need to hear the gospel all
the time, do you? And I hear myself preach the
gospel. I'm preaching to myself, too.
But at three in the week, I'm listening to the sermons, because
I need the gospel. I need it. I'm a sheep like everybody
else. So they're at Salamis, and God,
the Holy Spirit, sent them there. And look, they're doing what
God, the Holy Spirit, sent them to do. They're preaching. God's ordained preachers must
get our messages from the Holy Scriptures, but just reading
the Holy Scriptures is not preaching the gospel, is it? No. And we're not preaching the
gospel by just declaring that there is a God, because the devil
believes that too, doesn't he? And he trembles. Oh, but brethren, the message that God the Holy
Spirit sent Barnabas and Saul to preach, they preach Christ
and Him crucified, dying for sinners, and that sinners are redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ. They preached the resurrection.
Remember the Jews got all mad at them because they were preaching
the resurrection of Christ. Oh, earlier in Acts, they wanted
to kill him, remember? Wasn't their time. My, oh my. Remember the man at
the gate called Beautiful? And then they were bought before
the Sanhedrin, and that man at the gate called Beautiful was
bought with them. And when Peter spoke, he spoke
about the resurrection, oh, they got so mad. Well, that's what
they preached, that Christ actually died and rose again from the
grave three days later for our justification. How do we know
that? Well, Paul says that in Romans.
He was raised for our justification so that we might stand before
God. And they preached a perfect salvation,
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what they preached.
Perfect salvation accomplished by Him, with nothing to be added
to it, and nothing to be taken away. And our text does not tell
us that God the Holy Spirit delivered any of His saints at Samaelis,
but God tells us this through the prophet of Isaiah, You remember
Jeremiah. Jeremiah preached for years with
no conference. Right? But listen to this. So
shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, and it shall
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please. And it shall prosper in a thing
whereinto I sent it. Isaiah 55, 11. See, the preachers
can stand up and confidently know that God the Holy Spirit
is going to take the word and accomplish what God the Father
wills. I'm just a mouthpiece proclaiming
Christ. He saved my soul. I'm going to
tell others where to find bread, the bread of life, the Lord Jesus
Christ. My, therefore we are just to
preach Christ. Preach the glorious gospel of
salvation in Christ alone and leave the results in the hands
of God. He's the sovereign Lord. He's
Lord over all. And then our text tells us that
Barnabas and Saul had John to their minister, or he was ministering
to them. He was their helper. He was their
helper. He took care of their needs. They needed something, he took
care of it. Need a drink, there you go, Paul. He took care of them. And he continued with them on
the missionary journey. Now we know later on he started
preaching and stuff, but he was helping. He was ministering to
them at this time. He wasn't ministering the word
at this time. He was ministering to the, as one commentator said,
the mundane needs of Barnabas and Saul. But he didn't care.
He's serving God. And as a willing servant of Christ,
he was ready to be used for the glory of God, as Jesus saw fit
how to use him. And I ask you, beloved, you who
are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God, is this not true
of all of us as well? Lord, just use me however you
will. I'm planted here. Use me as however you will. You know, there's no greater
honor for the born-again blood-washed believer. There's no greater honor than
a hell-deserving sinner to be allowed to serve the Lord Jesus
Christ. No greater honor. I remember a preacher friend
of mine, Donnie Bell, told me one day, he said, Wayne, I'd
have to step down to be president of the United States. That's true for even all believers,
isn't it? We have a high position in Christ.
We know we're not deserving of that. Not at all. We'd have to step down to be
president. My, oh my. Isn't that amazing? What an honor
to serve the Lord. I'm gonna close with this Colossians
3.23. And whatsoever you do, I mean anything, do it heartily
as to the Lord and not unto men. May God give us the grace to
serve him. Brother Jim, can you close us in prayer today?