Well, let's turn in our scriptures
to Acts chapter 9 again. As I said earlier, these are
the Acts of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
made this man Paul to be an apostle. He is made of God. He was set
aside. In Galatians chapter 1 he describes
his conversion and his commissioning by the Lord Jesus Christ, directly
commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ. He was profiting in the
Jews' religion above many my equals in my own nation, being
more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among
the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which
were apostles before me. But I went into Arabia and returned
again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went
up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days."
But the other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's
brother. Now the things I write unto you,
behold, before God, I lie not. And afterwards I came into the
regions of Syria and Cilicia, and was unknown by face unto
the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they had heard
only that he which persecuted us in times past now preaches
the faith which once he destroyed and they glorified God in me. Such is the history of our the
apostle to the Gentiles, to we Gentiles, and I have to sometimes
exclude Cole who has Jewish heritage, but we Gentiles are indebted
to Paul and we are naturally drawn to the beauty of his logical
and precise arguments, but we're also drawn, I trust you are,
you are drawn to the character of this man who was just remarkably
zealous for his God, was remarkably taught of the Lord, and had the
most remarkable facility for writing the scriptures, those
scriptures that we read in Romans chapter 8. He had the most remarkable
capacity for writing scriptures, and he bore the most remarkable
testimony for the rest of his days. And the more I study him,
the more I look at him, and the more I read of him, the more
I fall in love with him. But our gospel and our understanding
of the gospel is actually encompassed in history, in real history. And it's one of the great attributes
of our gospel. It's not like Buddhism and other
philosophies. It's actually rooted and grounded
in real history. They were real historic events.
The fundamental things of our faith are fundamental things
that Paul was bearing witness to. He bore witness to the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ described in the Scriptures was the Lord
Jesus Christ who walked Jerusalem streets. There is, at the foundation of
our faith, two fundamental things. There is the witness of the scriptures,
and then the witness of the scriptures fulfilled in the life of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, he's an embodiment
of all of the Old Testament scriptures. All of the promises of the Old
Testament are yea and amen in him. Yes and amen in him. And so when we have the histories
written for us, As we read in Acts, we have to remember, as
John wrote, that if you wrote all of the history, you would
fill the world with the books that should be written. If you
went out there to describe the Lord Jesus Christ today, you
would have to fill the world with all the books, because there's
not enough room in this world to write all the things that
should be said of him. And so both John declares himself and
Luke, no doubt, is as clearly. They are selective in their histories,
which is why when we come to passages like this one in Acts,
it seems difficult to sort of reconcile the journeys of Paul,
because Luke in Acts doesn't mention Arabia, but Paul says,
as we read in Galatians just a little while ago, that after
his conversion he went into Arabia for three days. And the purpose
of Paul declaring that in Galatians is to remind us, yet again, that
Paul received the gospel directly. by revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Gospel is the Lord Jesus
Christ, and Paul received it directly. He received a revelation
of the Gospel because he received and he met the living Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God over all. And so, when we come to our passage
here, we see that Paul, in Damascus, immediately, it says, he started
preaching. And straightway, verse 20 of
Acts chapter 9, straightway, as soon as he is converted, he
was ready to preach immediately. He didn't need to go somewhere
to go to a Bible college and to be trained. He didn't need
to go to Jerusalem to get the approval of the apostles. Immediately,
he was commissioned, trained, and ready to preach. In a straight
way, in verse 20, he preached Christ. And that's all he ever
did preach. He preached the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. I know someone complained about
this years ago, that we speak too much about Jesus in this
church. Well I hope it continues until
the Lord returns. I hope it continues. There's
nothing else to talk about when the children of God are gathered
together. He preached Christ in the synagogues
that he is the son of God. And all that heard him were amazed
and said, is this not he that destroyed them which called on
this name in Jerusalem and came hither with that intent that
he might bring them bound to the chief priest. But Saul increased
more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus. proving, proving that this is
very Christ. And then we come to this verse
that we're looking at, so these verses we're looking at today
in 9 verse 23 and it says then, after many days were fulfilled
The Jews took counsel to slay him. Now, the word, that phrase,
after many days is actually a Hebrew idiom for a long period of time. It means a considerable period
of time. So, to reconcile the Galatian
chronology with this one, we need to see that the after many
days were fulfilled. It means that Paul had a ministry
in Damascus straight away. Immediately, it says in our text
in 9 verse 20. Immediately he was preaching
and then he left. After many, he left and spent
that three years. The other thing we need to remember,
just as the three days of the Lord's time in the tomb, a part
of a day is considered to be a day. So three days is not necessarily
72 hours. Three days might be 24 hours
plus a few hours on either side of it. Three years may not be
necessarily three years, but three three parts of years, if
you understand what I'm saying. But it was after many days. After
many days, the Jews took counsel to kill him. And so we have this,
to reconcile all these chronologies, we have this interesting juncture
in Paul's ministry when he was in Arabia for what he says in
Galatians is three years. And it's unrecorded. It's unrecorded
other than Paul's mention of it. It's unrecorded, and as I said
earlier, Paul had a reason for recording it in Galatians, to
prove to the Galatians that his ministry was a ministry that
had come directly from God. But it might seem strange to
us that three years of this apostle's ministry at the beginning of
his ministry is actually left unrecorded, and there aren't.
There aren't recordings of huge turnings to the gospel there.
And it's very interesting to contemplate that so often we
think, we think that fruitfulness in the work of the Lord is on
the basis of huge numbers and huge turnouts of people. But
fruitfulness in the cause of Christ is faithfulness to his
gospel and faithfulness to his witness. He will bring his people. He'll bring them from afar. He'll
gather his elect to himself. Paul, it says in verse 9, 22
of chapter 9, Paul increased the more in strength. This time
in Arabia was a time of him being strengthened in his faith. It
was a time for him bearing witness to the Lord Jesus in difficult
and unfruitful circumstances. And it might reveal several things
about the Apostle Paul. When you deal in places and times
and situations where there seems to be little fruit, it gets very
exciting when there is fruitfulness. I love how Paul spoke of the
Thessalonians, because he had a ministry to the east of Damascus,
which is nothing much is recorded and there are no significant
records of any ministry, but his main ministry was to go from
Jerusalem up to the north and around the Mediterranean and
across to Rome. And it's just fascinating how
the gospel, in a sense, in remarkable ways, did not go to the eastern
countries for a long time. Thomas went to India, but the
fruitfulness of the gospel in those Arabian countries and in
those eastern countries was very slight. And yet the fruitfulness
of the Gospel went up into Europe, and then from Europe after the
Middle Ages, the Gospel then spread to all of the New World
and came back to those places through British missionaries
and through Americans and others. And so the path of the Gospel
in time is a fascinating one, and as we said earlier, this
is all dictated by our sovereign God. But where God's servants
meet with difficult times, it's only that when something refreshing
comes along, they get very excited, don't they? So when Paul was
in Greece, he writes to the Thessalonians, now we give thanks to God always
for you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without
ceasing your work of faith and labour of love and patience of
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father. Knowing brethren, beloved, your
election of God, 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 sakes.
And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. The word is received so often
in much affliction with joy in the Holy Ghost. He loved these
Thessalonians. He loved being with them. And
there is a great encouragement for the people of God. That's
one of the reasons God's children gather together. There's a great
encouragement when we see the work of God in the lives of other
people. And we are made to be joined
together, one to the other. But anyway, to come back to our
text in 923, Acts chapter nine, verse 23, and after many days
were fulfilled, after these days of this ministry in Arabia, as
Galatians calls it, and just to remind you that the names
of countries and the boundaries were far more fluid in those
days. In fact, there were times when
Damascus itself was in Arabia, and the only other mention of
Arabia in the New Testament is the mention that Sinai's in,
Arabia. Arabia is basically the region
to the east of what is Israel, and so it encompassed places
like Damascus as well. So when Paul says in Galatians
he went to Arabia, it may have only meant that he went some
miles to the east into that Nabataean kingdom. But after these many
days, after those three years, this considerable time, He comes back. After many days,
he came back and he was preaching again, obviously, and the Jews
took counsel to slay him. Verse 24, but their laying await
was known of Saul, and they watched the gates night and day to kill
him. It's interesting, isn't it? Twice
in this passage of scripture we have people attempting to
kill Paul to stop that gospel witness. You can imagine how
much Satan would have loved to have stopped this man from being
the preacher of the gospel to the Gentiles and that gospel
going out through Paul's witness and writings into this whole
world. They sought to slay him. They
sought to slay him. It's extraordinary, isn't it?
The opposition of the religious people to the Gospel is intense
and irrational, but it's vehement, isn't it? As much as Paul went
there to slay them, to bind them and bring them back to Jerusalem,
now, as Isaiah 11 verse 6 says, now that That wolf is lying down
with the lambs, Isaiah 6 talks of that, 11 verse 6 talks of
that great time when the gospel comes. And the wolf shall dwell
with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and
the calf and the young lion shall be and the fatling together and
a little child shall lead them. When God makes peace with people. He makes peace between his people,
but necessarily there is enmity amongst others. What a remarkable
transformation in the life of Paul. They were lying in wait,
and they were watching the gates night and day to kill him. You'll find later on in Acts
and several times they actually conspired to kill him, just as
they did the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a conspiracy to kill
the Lord Jesus Christ from the moment his ministry was revealed. And he was revealed and declared
himself to be the Christ of God. But what vanity, what vanity
of man to stand against the plans and purposes of our God. Imagine
trying to hide your counsel from God who sees everything. What
vanity, what vanity. Over and over again throughout
the scriptures you might recall in 2 Kings 6 that Elisha had
his town surrounded by this army because they had found out that
everything that they said in their councils Elisha had revealed
to him. He knew exactly where their army
was moving all the time and told the Israelites. But again and
again we have in the scriptures remarkable testimony of the Lord.
causing a revelation of what is going on in the thoughts and
the hearts of other people, a revelation to himself, a revelation to his
people of his care and protection of them. He declares, the Lord
Jesus promised in Acts 26 when Paul describes The Lord's commission
of him is to deliver thee from the people, which is the Jews,
and the Gentiles, unto whom I now send you. Paul is sent God's
servant. are immortal until God has finished
with their witness in this world. All of God's people are immortal. Nothing can harm them and nothing
can touch them until their time. I don't know if you recall, but
I love how Nehemiah was building the wall and he was just surrounded.
It's a great picture of the church, Nehemiah. There he's building
the walls, this these walls that speak of the Lord Jesus Christ
and his surrounding and protecting his people. And the closer the
walls got to being fulfilled and completed and secure, the
more the opposition intensified. And in Nehemiah chapter 4, these
people are scheming, they're scheming again and again. And
they all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem
and to hinder it. And it came to pass that when
our enemies heard that it was known unto us and that God had
brought their counsel to naught, What did they do? We all returned,
all of us to the wall, everyone to his work. They returned to
their work and when the work was completed, there's a lovely
description of this in Nehemiah 6.16, and when it came to pass,
when all our enemies heard thereof, when the wall was finished after
52 days, All the heathen that were about
us saw these things, and were much cast down in their own eyes,
for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. God will put the counsels of
those who oppose the gospel to nought, and he will exalt his
people, and he will have his church. He will build his church,
and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. There was,
in the Gospels, a remarkable times, again and again, they
wanted to entrap the Lord Jesus Christ. And He knew their schemes
from afar. He knew their thoughts as they
stood before Him. He knew their hypocrisy. They
even came to Him pretending to be righteous. They sent a man
pretending to be righteous to entrap Him. This was known. Their lying in wait, verse 24,
was known as Saul, even though they watched the gates night
and day to kill him. It was known as Saul. Then, in
verse 25, then the disciples took him by night. and let him
down by the wall in a basket." They let him down by the wall
in a basket. He who had come to Damascus as
the leader of an army, of a troop of soldiers, now left in a basket. Paul uses this in 2 Corinthians
chapter 11, you might just turn there. Paul uses this to describe
the fact that it's in the seeming weakness and the frailty, the
frail humanity and in the persecutions of God's people that Christ is
exalted. is exalted, not by the strength
of his people so often, he is exalted by his strength in the
midst of their weakness and their frailties. He's talking to these
people of glory in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 11, 18. Seeing
that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. So this is
where Paul's boasting is. For your suffer fills gladly,
seeing you yourselves are wise. For you suffer. If a man bring
you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take you, if a
man exalt himself, if a man smite you in the face. I speak as concerning
reproach, as though we had been weak. How be it? whereinsoever
any is bold. I speak foolishly, I am bold
also. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are
they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of
Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of
Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more,
in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons
more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews, five times I received
the 40 stripes, save one. Thrice I was beaten with rods.
Once I was stoned. Thrice I suffered a shipwreck.
At night and day have I been in the deep, in journeyings often,
in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren. in weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness, beside those things that are without,
that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? If I needs must glory, that word
glory is to boast, if I must boast, I will boast, I will glory
of the things which concern mine infirmities. how different he
is from the religious world. What a remarkable transformation
God had made in this man. The God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which is blessed forever, knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus, the governor under
Aretas, the king, kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison,
desirous to apprehend me. So when he came back to Damascus,
not only had he incurred the wrath of the Jews, but it seems
that he had incurred the wrath of the secular authorities as
well. And through a window, in a basket, I was let down by the
wall and escaped his hands. What a weak thing. There he was,
suspended in a basket, fragile. So easily dealt with by those
who stood opposed to him, he had no way of defending himself.
He was just let down by night in a basket. In weakness, in
weakness, when we are weak like children and we are resting in
the hands of a sovereign God and know His strength, we don't
have to trouble ourselves about our weakness at all, brothers
and sisters. And our weapons are not carnal weapons. We don't
fight gospel battles with carnal weapons. Our weapons are spiritual. So Paul had this interesting
time, didn't he? He had an interesting time in
Damascus preaching, he had this time in Arabia, and then he came
back to Damascus, and then, in verse 26, and when Saul was come
to Jerusalem, he assayed himself, he tried to join himself to the
disciples, but they were all afraid of him, and believed not
that he was a disciple. So the first thing to note here,
of course, is that Paul longed to be with the other disciples.
The first thing, the first priority of him The first priority of
him was to join with them as quickly as he possibly could.
He wanted to be in public fellowship with the children of God, and
he does so for the rest of his ministry. Wherever he has the
opportunity, he longs to be in public fellowship. When he begins
and goes to places like Philippi, the first thing he does is go
to a place of prayer where he can be with people he believes
might be fellow believers. Again and again and again, he
does go there. He does, in his life, always
honour the gathering of God's people together. As we know from
Galatians, he didn't go back to Jerusalem. He wasn't there
to seek the approval of the apostles. He wasn't there to seek their
affirmation for his ministry and his witness and his gospel.
He was taught it directly by God and he had it affirmed, both
by those who responded positively and by those who responded negatively. Both confirm the gospel always. Sheep. Sheep is what the Lord
Jesus Christ called us. Sheep. And it's meant to be pictural,
isn't it? It's meant to be a great picture of our helplessness,
our need of a shepherd, and our need to flock together. The illustration
is really simple, isn't it? If you are a shepherd, Graham's
had a bit to do with sheep, if you're a shepherd, If your brother
goes out into his paddock and he has 500 sheep in a paddock
and there is one in a corner somewhere all by itself, you
know instantly, you know that that sheep is not well, that
sheep is in danger, there's something wrong with that sheep and you
don't look at the 499, you'll go and find that sheep and find
out what's wrong with that sheep because that sheep is in danger.
And what you are doing as you go and care and nurture that
sheep is the one thing you want is that sheep to be brought back
into the fold. We are, we are in need. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
we are in need of the fellowship of other believers. We cannot
survive on our own. There are no healthy sheep. There is no such thing in the
Roman understanding of our idea of a Rambo-type soldier who goes
out and does battle on his own. They never contemplated doing
battle on their own. They wanted as many people around
them to be as secure as they possibly could. If you're going
to be a soldier, if you're going to be a warrior for Christ, if
you're going to be a sheep in his fold, the shepherd will do
the gathering. The shepherd will do the gathering.
And where he gathers his sheep, he is there as the great shepherd
of those sheep. And it's in that gathering and
it's in that fellowship that he nurtures them and ministers
to them and speaks to them. I can't speak to your hearts.
But the Lord Jesus Christ can. Our great God can speak to your
hearts. I don't know the great needs
and the great trials that you are going through. Sometimes
I know some of them. that when you come to the gathering
of God's people, He knows, He knows, and it might be a simple
word, it might be a touch, it might just be the fellowship
of one of God's people that will be the cause of that. The Lord
Jesus Christ, if you read Ephesians, will be glorified in this earth
in the church. If He's going to be glorified,
and if you're going to be one who glorifies Him, you'll glorify
Him in the church. He longed for the fellowship.
That's what Paul said to go back to these Thessalonians. He was
so desirous of them. He longed to be with them. How
did he describe them in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 17? But we brethren,
being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart,
not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face
with great desire. Wherefore, we would have come
to you as often as we could." One of the things that we look
forward to with our visitors from overseas is, and we'll have
Peter and Jill here for four weeks in October and early November,
is that there is a bond that's developed between God's people.
And I trust when Greg's visit is over, you have some friends
in Florida, and they have some more friends in Australia. Not
just friends for a season, not just friends for the good times,
but friends forever. Someone that'll have your back,
someone that'll be there, that will do anything they possibly
can to care for you, will do anything they can for your eternal
soul. They'll sacrifice everything
for them. But when poor Saul, poor Paul,
there he was, kicked out of Damascus, let down in a basket, the Jews
against him, the authorities against him, and he comes to
Jerusalem, and there he is, and he finds that even after that
testimony, and even after his ministry, and even after the
work of the Lord Jesus, so clearly in his life, There he was, and
they believe not that he was a disciple. Now, the three years
in Arabia might well explain the fact that Saul's ministry
in Damascus was short, and then he had disappeared from the scene
for a while. And Damascus and Jerusalem are
six days apart, and so it's quite possible that in that great distance,
news doesn't travel very quickly. It may be that they hadn't heard
of what he'd done in Arabia, and they hadn't heard of his
return to Damascus. And there was, in those days,
little correspondence between kings and those in authority
in places like, with people like Herod and Aretas. But also, the
church in Jerusalem was a persecuted church, and there was reason
for them to be cautious about people coming back. So they were afraid of him. It's
extraordinary, isn't it? How he must have felt, coming
back to that place and seeking to join himself with them in
the church. And then we have one of these delightful buts
in scripture. But Barnabas. But Barnabas took
him. But Barnabas took him, verse
27, and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he
had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him
and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. See, Barnabas has two issues,
hasn't he? He wants to remind the apostles and to bring to
their notice the fact of what the Lord had done, how he had
seen the Lord in the way. And he wanted to bring to their
notice what response that had elicited in Saul's life, how
he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. No wonder Barnabas is called
Son of Encouragement. He was a remarkable man in that
early church, and he had the esteem of those apostles, not
just for his generosity, but for his other characteristics,
which we'll come to in the rest of Acts. He was a passionate
evangelist. And also, he may have had, because
he came from Cyprus and had land in Cyprus which he had sold,
he may, having come from those northern regions north of Israel,
he may have had some contact with Saul in his earlier days. I don't like ever speculating
on these things, but there is some particular reason that Barnabas
was joined to Saul. It's wonderful how the sovereignty
of God overrules all of these things, and our God works in
such a way that Saul is brought into the fellowship of the apostles.
Verse 28, and he was with them, coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And he spoke boldly in the name
of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Grecians, but they
went about to slay him. No sooner had he left one place
where people wanted to kill him than he reaches another place
where exactly the same response is. But it's lovely, isn't it?
But now he was with them. He was with them. I love how
the Lord Jesus describes his children, his bride, in Psalm
16 verse 3. It says that the saints, the
children of God, the ones who are made holy by the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ, they are the excellent ones of the earth,
in whom is all his delight. to be with the children of God,
to be counted one among them, to be with them because of the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the revelation of him in
the hearts of his people through the preaching of the gospel.
And that continuing witness of the Lord Jesus brought to us
by the Holy Spirit keeps reminding us that we are one with them. We have, brothers and sisters
around this world and throughout time, and we are with them, he
was with them. And he spoke boldly in the name
of Jesus. He spoke boldly in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke boldly of the characteristics
of our great God. He spoke boldly of the Lord Jesus
Christ as revealed in all of the scriptures and then revealed
in history before their faces. There was just a reality to that
historic revelation. God has made this Jesus, whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And those, extraordinarily, who
had the most witness laid out before them historically were
those who were the most opposed to it. It's an extraordinary
thing, isn't it? It's a great reminder that believing,
trusting, relying on the Lord Jesus Christ is a sovereign act
of a great and holy God. It is a sovereign act that demands
all of us of the infinite power of our Almighty God to bring
people to that place where they find Him delightful and they
proclaim Him. He spoke boldly in the name of
the Lord Jesus. He spoke boldly about Him being
the Christ of God. He spoke boldly about Him being
the Son of God, the eternal Son of God. He spoke boldly about
what happened on Calvary's tree, that in that cursed death He
bore the sins of all of God's people and he bore them away
forever. And he wasn't going to be hindered.
He wasn't going to be hindered just as he wasn't hindered in
Damascus. He wasn't going to be hindered.
If he leaves one place where he is refrained from preaching
the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ, there will just be another
door opened. And for the rest of his life,
there was a door closed And then there was another door opened.
There was a door closed in Thessalonica and a door opened in Berea. And
the door was closed in Berea and he's off to Corinth again
and again and again. He just goes from one place of
witness and persecution to another place of witness and persecution,
all the time preaching boldly, preaching boldly. We have every
reason to be bold in our declaration of who the Lord Jesus Christ
is, and we have no reason or warrant whatsoever in any way
to trim the message, to try and make the message of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ palatable to men who hate him. We declare
him in such a way that when there is opposition arising to the
message we proclaim, we just keep proclaiming it. We find
another place and another door because there will be one opened
to us. This gospel, according to the
Lord Jesus Christ, this gospel will be proclaimed through all
the earth. All of God's sheep, all of God's
elect children will hear this message, and all of them will
be made to respond by a sovereign work of our God. There is no
limitation with God. There's no limitation. People
say, well, what happens about someone who's born in the jungles
and far away from the gospel? They'll be brought to hear the
gospel. The gospel will be brought to
them, and they will be brought. It's through the preaching of
the gospel. that people are saved, that are brought to a belief
in the truth and a rest in who the truth is. He disputed with
the Grecians. It's interesting, isn't it? Paul,
who came from Tarsus and was well versed in the Greek language
and Greek understanding, disputed with the Grecians. These were
the Grecian Jews in their synagogues. And the remarkable thing is that
Saul was there when Stephen, who had disputed with the same
Grecians in their synagogue, And they couldn't stand against
Stephen, the logic and the understanding that the Holy Spirit had given
him, and neither could they dispute against Paul. But now, what a
remarkable thing for them, that Saul, who had aided and abetted
them in putting Stephen to death, was there now preaching the gospel
to them. Such is the wonder of the gospel,
isn't it? It's just extraordinary to ponder those that stand in
opposition and in enmity to it may end up being its greatest
advocates. It's always, as Matthew Henry
said, it's always a bad cause that has recourse to persecution
for its last argument. When people use words that vilify
God's people and vilify the gospel they preach, they are always
confessing their defeat. They are always confessing their
defeat. We have one simple task, brothers and sisters, that is
to bear witness to the truth. And the truth is self-supporting,
isn't it? It's supported from throughout
the scriptures, and God wonderfully opens the minds of his people
such that like Saul and Stephen, whatever opposition they had,
whatever they were saying in opposition to the Lord Jesus
Christ, they were given words from the scriptures and wisdom
beyond understanding, and it infuriates men. Simon had those
debates with the elders there years ago, and it just infuriated
them. It infuriated them. They had
no answer whatsoever to the simple truths about the Lord Jesus Christ. They are defended in the scripture. They are and they will be. They
will be defended by God himself. So we have reason to preach boldly. We have reason to stand with
those who preach boldly. But also, we have reason, as
the Lord Jesus taught his disciples, that when a place won't accept
you, you shake the dust off your feet. The most unworthy thing
in that place, you shake that off your feet. It doesn't cling
to you, and you just go to another village where you are welcomed.
And such it is with the Gospel. When the doors are closed, others
are opened. And so in verse 30, Paul now
takes his leave of Jerusalem and then goes on that journey
north. He goes to the coast. And when the brethren knew that
they were about to kill him, about to slay him, they brought
him down to Caesarea and they sent him forth to Tarsus. They sent him forth to Tarsus.
So when the Lord Jesus commissioned Paul in Acts 26, He says, rise, stand upon thy
feet, Acts 26.16, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things
which thou hast seen and those things in which I will appear
unto thee. He will be a witness. All of
God's servants will be a witness to him. delivering thee from
the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee." God's
servants are sent of the Lord on a mission from our great God. He superintends where they go,
He superintends who will respond, He superintends who will respond
positively and who will respond negatively, and He directs and
orders all of the affairs of their lives perfectly for His
glory and for their good. They will appear weak and frail,
but it's not about their strength. It's not about your strength,
brothers and sisters. It's about he who is faithful. Seeing we're in Thessalonians,
I'd like to finish with that great declaration. We sang about it earlier in 1
Thessalonians 5 verse 24. Faithful is he that calleth you
who will also do it. Faithful is he that calleth you
who will also do it. What will he do? The very God
of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you
and He will do it. He will glorify His Son in this
world and He will glorify His Son in His people and glorify
them in Him. He will do it. It's His gospel. He will send it out. He will
preserve it, protect it, and ensure its delivery. Let's pray.