In the book of Acts chapter 13,
Acts chapter 13, the apostle Paul is preaching in a city called
Antioch, some 600 miles north of Jerusalem. And in Acts chapter
13, beginning with verse 14. I read, it says, when they, that
is Paul and Barnabas, departed from Perga, they came to Antioch
in Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
and sat down. And so Paul and Barnabas were
attending the worship service in the Jewish synagogue in the
city of Antioch, sitting there. And after, verse 15 says, after
the reading of the law, and the prophets. The rulers of the synagogue
sent unto them, or that is, sent word through a messenger saying,
Ye men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the
people, say on. They sent word asking Paul and
Barnabas if they had something to say that they would speak. And verse 16 says, Then Paul
stood up, and beckoning with his hand, said, Men of Israel,
and ye that fear God, give audience. Ye that fear God. Paul is going
to preach. He's going to preach the gospel.
He's going to preach the Word of God, the truth, the gospel.
And he addresses them that fear God. Those that fear God, listen
up. And I want to address the same. Those true seekers, true worshipers,
God-fearing people, those who truly fear the living and true
God, not those who are playing religious games, but those who
want to worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
who have no confidence in the flesh. Those who worship God
in spirit and in truth. God-fearing people. Give ear, he said. Give audience.
Listen up. Verse 17. Paul continues his
message. The God of this people of Israel
chose our fathers and exalted the people. Paul begins by saying
he's the God of Israel. The God of the Jews. Jesus Christ
said the same thing. He said, salvation is of the
Jews. That's what he said to the woman
at the well. Salvation is of the Jew. He's the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. One faith. One faith. He's the God of Israel. He is chosen, he says. He chose
our fathers. God Almighty chose a people just
as He chose Israel of old and bypassed the whole world. God
has chosen a people in Christ. Paul writes in Romans 11, verse
5, Even so, at this time there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. Read Romans 9 for yourself. The
Apostle Paul talks about The election of God according to
the purpose of God's election, it must stand, he said. Not of
works, but of him that calleth. So God chose a people then and
now. And he says in his message, verse
17, when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, all of
God's chosen, all of God's elect people, before God brings them
out, of the world, before God Almighty reveals Himself to them,
before God Almighty saves them, they are strangers to the truth,
strangers to the gospel, and they are living in the land of
Egypt, just like the Israelites were, the sons of Jacob. They
were living in Egypt in bondage and under cruel taskmasters.
And so it is with God's people until He brings them out. Well,
how does He bring them out? Verse 17 says, Paul continues,
he says, "...they dwelt in the land of Egypt, and with a high
arm brought them out of it." With a high arm God brought them
out of Egypt. And so it is even now with God's
people, all of God's elect, all of God's chosen, all of those
whom God has chosen to save. He does the saving. He brings
them out. of Egypt. He calls them. He draws them. He saves them. He redeems them out of the world,
chooses them out of the world, people out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, and tongue under heaven. He does it with a high arm that
is a sovereign, all-powerful deliverance. Oh, I hear these
peanut preachers say, God has no hands but your hands. Nothing
could be further from the truth. The God of the Bible has a high
arm and a strong, a man of his right hand, the scripture said.
A God in whose hands our breath is. It's not God that doesn't
have any hands, it's us. Our hands are tied by sin and
tradition and ignorance and we're dead and trespassed in sin and
the God of the Bible in true salvation brings out his people
with a high arm A high arm takes the sovereign power of God to
save a dead sinner. And that's how he saves every
one of his chosen. He brings them out. He does the
saving. Well, Paul goes on to say in
verse 18, "...and about the time of forty years suffered he their
manners in the wilderness." God Almighty put up with that bunch
of ungrateful Israelites for forty years in the wilderness
as they murmured and complained. wanted to go back to Egypt. And
so it is with all of God's people who are not worth saving. That's just a fact. Salvation
is by mercy. That is, not getting what we
deserve. And salvation is by grace. God giving us what we
didn't earn. And God puts up with His long-suffering. Peter said, account that the
long-suffering of God is salvation. God puts up with His people.
their ignorance, their unbelief, all of their lives. And he suffers
with them. He is long-suffering. Paul goes
on to say in verse 19 and 20, when he destroyed seven nations
in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. God
Almighty sent his people toward the promised land, through hostile
territory, and destroyed nation after nation in their path. It
is not that the people were innocent whose land they traveled through. Oh, no, they were not innocent.
They maltreated the Israelites. They were a violent people who
hated the Jews, but God Almighty, providentially, sovereignly made
a way for them to go to the promised land, and did so by destroying
many of those nations. And so it is, the Scripture says
in Isaiah 43, I gave Egypt for thy ransom, and Ethiopia and
Sheba for thee, since thy was precious in my eyes. God's chosen
people, the whole world exists for the sake of His people. That's
right. In verse 20, he goes on to say,
after that, God gave them judges. about the space of 450 years
until Samuel. Judges were given, rulers, leaders
were given to lead God's people. And so it has been with God's
chosen from the beginning. God has given prophets, apostles,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers to lead and guide and teach His
people. Verse 22, and it says when He
took Saul out of the way, a usurper, a king whom the people had chosen,
but not God, well, he raised up after that David to be their
king, whom he gave testimony and said, ìI have found David
the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill
all my will.î God Almighty has always had but one king for his
people. There has only been one king
of Israel, one true king, the king of kings and Lord of lords,
and that is the son of David. the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
In verse 23, Paul preaches of this man's seed, David that is,
hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior,
Jesus. A Savior, that's what his name
means. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. That's what his name means, and
that's what he did. And he right now sits at the
right hand of the majesty on high, ever living to make intercession
for all of his people. Verse 26, Paul goes on to say,
Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, whosoever
among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation
sent. To you who fear God, men and brethren, children of the
stock of Abraham, not the whole world, but God's chosen, children
of the stock of Abraham. Ah, the foundation of God standeth
sure, Paul said in a letter, the Lord knoweth them that are
his. Yes, he does, because he chose them before the foundation
of the world. Wrote their names in a Lamb's
Book of Life, on the palms of his hands, there engraved. And
it says, to those that fear God, whom the Holy Spirit puts the
fear of God in, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
Yes, to you, the word of this salvation. It's not everywhere,
it's not in every place, but it's sent to God's people. How
do you know there's an elect people? How do you know there's
a sheep? Well, wherever the gospel is found, there must be sheep,
because to them is the word of this salvation sent. Verse 27,
Paul goes on to say, "...they that dwell at Jerusalem, and
their rulers, because they knew him not." That is, they knew
not Christ, they knew not God. their rulers, their religious
rulers, nor do they know the voices of the prophets which
are read every Sabbath day. They have fulfilled these voices
in condemning him. Paul says, although they read
the Bible every Sabbath day and they pretend to be preachers
and teachers of the law, understanding not what they affirm or whereof
they have found it. He said they read the Word, yet
they don't believe. They don't know God. They don't
believe God. They understand not. And so it
is today. So it is today. My, my. So many
Bibles. It's so true. So few who truly
know the living and true God and worship Him in spirit and
in truth. It said they fulfill the Scriptures
in condemning Him. Those who don't know the true
and living God, or the true gospel, or the true Christ, they condemn
this message of God's sovereign, electing, saving grace. But they
are fulfilling the Scriptures, and God said they would do so.
Well, Paul goes on to preach Christ crucified in verses 28
through 39. He preaches Christ crucified,
whom God bruised, and yet God raised from the dead and exalted
his own right hand and made him ruler over all. And he says in
verse 38 and 39, Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin.
Through this man, by him, by Christ only is there forgiveness
of sin. Through his righteousness all
who believe by his grace are made righteous. Through his sin
payment, through his blood atonement, all those who believe by his
grace are forgiven. No other way. Verse 39, he says,
By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. No other way to
be found guiltless before God, holy, innocent before God, but
only by this man, his blood and his righteousness alone imputed
to their account. Well, it says that the rulers
of the synagogue didn't like that. And they left in a huff. But verse 42 says, the Gentiles besought
Paul and Barnabas that these words, these same words might
be preached to them the next Sabbath. The next Sabbath. They wanted to hear it again.
The same words, the same gospel. And down in verse 48, it says,
when the Gentiles, they came back again to hear it. And when
they heard this gospel, they were so glad and glorified the
word of the Lord. They glorified God's word. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. That's what it said, Acts 13,
verse 48. As many as were ordained to eternal
life. As many as God Almighty before
the world began ordained to say, to give life to. Yes, salvation
is by grace, by God's sovereign electing grace through faith. Yes, you must believe, but that's
not of yourself. It's the gift, the sovereign
gift of God. Well, if you would like this
message on cassette tape, write to us. We'll send it to you free
of charge. Until next Sunday, good day.