You can tell that we're breaking
in the middle of a flow of thought. Verse 44, And the next Sabbath
day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of
God. But when the Jews saw the multitude,
They were filled with envy and spake against those things which
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you. But seeing ye
put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest
be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 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 the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout
and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised persecution
against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coast. But they shook off the dust of
their feet against them and came to Iconium. and the disciples
were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Let me read verse
48 again. We will eventually wind up here. 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. Now, I begin this
morning, brethren, by asking of you a favor, and that is that
I might be allowed a longer than usual introduction. And don't
worry, this does not mean that the message or the sermon will
be any longer. But in order that we might get
a general overview of this part of the book called the Book of
Acts, as well as its importance and its place and its position
in the canon of the New Testament Scripture, and that we might
lay the groundwork for tracing out the spread of the gospel
of our Lord as was intended and predicted by Him before His ascension. as in Acts 1 and verse 8. You shall receive power in the
Holy Spirit coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto
me in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost
parts of the earth. Now, the book of Acts picks up
where the Gospels leave off in the record of Christ and of Christianity. They take up where the Gospels
leave off. And the Gospels cover a period
of about three years of history. And the book of Acts, we're told,
covers a period of approximately 30 years in the history of Christianity. Acts has been called the second
volume of Luke. for both Luke and Acts open with
a mention of a man who was a Christian disciple by the name of Theophilus. So how much would we lose in
the history of the church and the spread of the gospel and
of Christianity if there were no book of Acts in our New Testament? which is in effect the history
of the spread of the gospel and it coming under the Gentile. And it fills that gap between
the gospels and the epistles of Paul called by God. And it covers what I like to
call the transition period in the book of Acts. Let me explain. This period when Judaism is gasping
its very last breath. When Judaism is on its deathbed
and Christianity is coming in its place. when the types and
the shadow are giving away to the literal substance, when Moses
is decreasing and Christ is increasing, when the shadows are giving away
to the very images in the Lord, when the high priest is not a
mere man but is the very Son of God at the right hand of the
Father on high. And when the restriction of the
Jewish Sabbath give way to the freedom of the Lord's day, and
when the significance of circumcision is not that of the flesh, but
is that of the heart. So it is no stretch to say that
the book of Acts actually has two parts, or has two haves. It divides itself, as it were,
into two halves of the history. And as James A. Alexander put
it, each half is grouped around a prominent central figure or
individual. In the first twelve chapters
of Acts, for example, the apostle Peter is the prominent minister,
or apostle, and he presides over the church in Jerusalem. He has what Paul called the apostleship
unto. the circumcision in Galatians
2, 7, 8. And as such, the apostle Peter
took the lead at Pentecost when it occurred, and he was used
of the Lord for the extension of the gospel into Samaria in
Acts 8. And it was he in Acts 10 that
was used of the Lord at the Gentile Pentecost at the house of Cornelius. And though Paul is converted
in Acts chapter 9, and though he was the apostle unto the Gentiles,
as we frequently read in the New Testament, yet we find some
things that might surprise us. Number one, that it was Peter
and not Paul, that was the instrument of God in giving or pouring out
the Holy Spirit upon the Gentile in Acts 10 at the house of Cornelius. And the second thing is that
after his conversion, In Acts chapter 9, Paul fades into what
we might call virtual obscurity until here in chapter 13 of the
book of Acts. Oh yeah, we read about Paul before
Acts chapter 9. at Acts 13. For example, in Acts
9 and verse 27, the apostles, and rather disciples, were afraid
of Saul, and it was Barnabas that came and took him under
his wing and commended him unto the brethren. In Acts 11 and
verse 25, It was Barnabas that went and fetched him down to
the city and the church at Antioch. And in Acts 11 verses 29 and
30, it were Paul and Barnabas that carried a love offering
to the needy saints which were in Judea. And then the Scripture
said they returned unto Antioch. where they labored there among
what the author calls, quote, certain prophets and teachers,
Acts 13 and verse 1. Now, it was from here in Antioch
that Paul rose to prominence as the apostle that he was called
and intended to be by the Lord. And he became the most prominent
and the most dominant figure in his day concerning the gospel
and the Word of God. We are told here in Acts 13 of
an amazing and effectual work of the Spirit of God among the
people in the church there at Antioch. And that is that the
Holy Spirit said, the Holy Spirit spoke. Whether orally, or by
the words of one or more prophet, or by impressing it upon the
majority of the hearts of the people, it is hard for me to
say. But it was a work of the Spirit
of God, as we read in verse 4, Acts 13. They, Barnabas and Paul,
were sent forth by the Holy Spirit and they departed. They went
out to preach the gospel in the regions beyond. They went out
into some of the Roman provinces and began to preach the gospel
in what we might call virgin territory, where the gospel had
not yet been preached, and Christ had not yet been declared in
all of His fullness. Now, let's make this point before
we move along in our way. That is to say that here in this
is proof in the Scripture of the deity of the Holy Spirit
of God. The Spirit said. The Spirit sent. They went out by and under the
Spirit. And it is also evidence of the
distinct individual personality of the Holy Spirit, the third
member of the Godhead. There are two very distinct statements
here involving the Holy Spirit. We look at verse 2 of Acts 13,
the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit said, separate me Barnabas and
Saul. And then in verse 4, they being
sent forth by the Holy Spirit. Now, a minute ago, I mentioned
Paul rising to prominence here out of the church at Antioch,
and let's notice a couple of things here. They're not earth-shattering,
but they are evident in this passage of the Scripture. First
of all, we notice concerning these two men, Barnabas and Saul,
or Saul and Barnabas. Before this, prior to this time,
when the two men are mentioned, it is in this order, Barnabas
and Saul, Acts 11.30 and 12.25, 13.1, 13.2, 13 and 7. Soon, however, in chapter
13, the author is speaking in verse 13 of Paul and his company. So it goes from being Barnabas
and Saul to being Saul, a Paul, and his company, and reversing
the order, calling them now Paul and Barnabas." 1343, 1346, 1350,
and again in chapter 15 and verse 2. Then another thing to notice
before we go on our way It is here in Acts 13 and verse
9 that this man is first called Paul. Up until this time he is
known as Saul of Tarshish. It is here that he becomes known
as Paul. Saul, of course, was his Jewish
name and may have been given unto him after King Saul who
was the first Jewish king. But Luke here uses his Roman
name Paul because Paul was a Roman citizen. Acts 16.37 and twenty-three
and twenty-seven. And Paul uses that name in his
epistle. Now going out to preach among
the Gentiles predominantly, he answers or uses his Roman name
Paul. You remember that Timothy might
better serve among the Jew if he was circumcised, and Paul
better serve among the Gentiles under the Roman name of Paul. Now, it is common to refer to
these trips by Paul as missionary journeys. And there are three
of them that are written up very clearly in the book of Acts. The gospel of Christ has been
carried forth into many places, and large numbers of Gentiles
are believing and being called into the gospel of Christ. Now just for the sake of knowing,
here are the three preaching tours of the apostle outlined
in the book of Acts that Paul went on. The first one is written
up in Acts 13 and 14. In those two chapters, Paul's
first missionary journey. And on this one, he left from
his home church in Antioch and returned there. And on this trip,
He was accompanied by Barnabas. Now, the second trip is in Acts
15, verse 36, down to chapter 18 and verse 22. And on this
one, he is in the company of Silas and of Timothy. And this time, he is armed with
that apostolic decree from the conference in Jerusalem In Acts
15 and 16, verse 4, he adds to the liberty of the Gentiles that
they need not become Jews in order to become Christians, but
that they might go directly from their paganism to Christianity. They need not stop. They might
pass Judaism, pass Mount Sinai, pass the ceremonial law, and
pass the house of circumcision, and yet arrive at the Lord Jesus
Christ justified and saved. Now the third missionary tour
is found in Acts 18, verse 23, down through chapter 21 and verse
16. This time ending or coming back to Jerusalem,
and much trouble awaited Paul there and for the rest of his
days. Now, by marking these divisions,
we can see that our opening text pertains to things that occurred
on the first missionary journey, or tour, of Paul. They left Antioch,
and the Scripture said they passed onto Seleucia. Then they sailed
across to the Isle of Cyprus, to the cities of Salamis and
Paphos in Acts 13, 4-12. There Paul did a mighty work. then in verse 13 to Perga, then
in verse 14 to Antioch, a different city of Antioch, this one in
Pisidia, and this runs from Acts 13 verse 14 down to verse 52,
where occurred the things in the opening text that we read
involving are revolving around a contention concerning the Jew
and the Gentile as to their requirement before God. Now, in Acts 13,
please notice two cities of the same name that are mentioned,
and yet they are distinguished. Antioch, the first one, Paul's
home church, is that one north of the land of Palestine in Syria. Paul went forth from there that
he might preach the gospel. Now the other Antioch, in the
13th chapter of the book of Acts, was in Pisidia, and some say
in the territory or the area of Galatia. And it became the
custom of Paul, as it had been with the Lord and with the other
apostles, whenever he was on a Jewish Sabbath, he'd come,
he attended the Jewish synagogue, in that particular city. They
often did this. It was a custom of the Lord first,
then of the Apostle and of Paul. For example, in the fourth chapter
of the Gospel of Luke, the Lord went into the synagogue in Nazareth,
stood up, took the scroll of Isaiah the prophet, and read
the Scripture that showed him to be the Messiah sent from God. Now, usually, there were two
sorts of people that were present in these synagogue services,
and they're seen in Paul's words down in verse 16. Men of Israel,
number one, and two, You that fear God, that is, those that
were Jews in the flesh, those that were Jews by nature, and
those that were Gentile proselytes who had proselytized over unto
Judaism. And it is very clear here in
Acts chapter 13 that there was a goodly number of Gentiles that
were present in attendance at the synagogue here in Antioch. Now, this chapter in verse 15
gives us another insight into the order of a Jewish synagogue
Sabbath service. Notice what Luke writes, and
after the reading of the law and the prophets. Now, the law,
of course, refers to the writings of Moses, not to the Ten Commandments
or to the ceremonial law, but to the books of Moses—Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In Acts 15 and 21,
for Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him
being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. In John 8,
verse 5, the accusers of the woman taken in adultery say,
Moses in the law commanded us. And so they were referring to
the book of Leviticus and the book of Deuteronomy. Also, some
passages from the prophets were read, and others say that a portion
of the Psalms was read in a Jewish Sabbath synagogue servant. The Lord, as I said, in Luke
4, read from the prophet Isaiah, known as the prophet, and then
one of the elders or ruler or rabbi in that particular synagogue
would give an admonition to the people or bring a commentary
of some sort before them. Others such as visiting teachers
and visiting rabbis were allowed to speak. They were given that
honor and they were allowed to speak. A thing that both Christ
and Paul took advantage of. And in Acts 13, 15 through verse
52, and Paul is speaking in all of that passage of the Scripture,
they came back to him and they said, look, welcome. If you have
anything to say, say on. Our ears are open. And did Paul
ever have a word for them? My, he loaded their wagon. And for the sake of time, we
can only give a short summary of what Paul said unto them. And forgive if I use a mixture
of the thoughts of commentators which they have written. Paul
starts his speech with reminding them of God choosing their fathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob delivering
the people out of the land of Egypt that he put up with their
manners or their behavior forty years in the wilderness that
He placed them in the land of Canaan, that He gave them 400
years of judging. Then He raised up Samuel to be
a prophet. Then He raised up a king Saul,
removed him, and raised up David, and promised Israel a Savior
of the seed of David. Not only that, but Paul says
here, look, this is the one that John the Baptist gave witness
unto. And yet Israel crucified him,
but God raised him up without seeing corruption. And what occurred
in Christ, he said, exactly fits the pattern of the scripture. Now if you look at verse 38 and
verse 39, let them know that only in Jesus Christ is there
forgiveness of sin and justification which the law could never provide. Now notice in verse 40 and 41,
a closing warning. Let them beware of casting away
the truth of the gospel, lest the judgments of God foretold
come upon them. And the apostle quotes Habakkuk
1 and verse 5, that God will work a work which no one will
believe, though it is declared in their ear. Now, let us settle
in at about verse 42, which, by the way, Expositor are somewhat
perplexed at, I find, in reading several of them. Did Paul and
Barnabas go out? Did the Jews leave out? Did they
want to hear more in a week or during the week, as the margin
in the King James has it in verse 42 and 43 is not very clear or
clear in the margin, whichever. When the synagogue service ended,
when the gathering was at an end, when the meeting broke up,
when the people were officially dismissed and it was time to
go home, and the closing benediction had been given on that day, and
the ramblings, or rumblings rather, of the people could be heard
inside and outside. Did Paul's words set some who
heard on edge at this particular servant? The man quoted scripture
all right, but the question we have, did he apply it in a way
that was right. He quoted Scripture, yes, but
he applied it in a way that they had never heard their teachers
do before. They had never heard it on this
wise at all. So, just as Paul and Barnabas
were about to take their leave and go back to their resident,
a number of people some Jews, and some Gentiles, we read, proselyte,
followed the two preachers, went along behind them or beside them,
and had some kind of an exchange with them. And Paul and Barnabas
took their leave after exhorting the people this way, to continue
in the grace of God. They had heard the new revelation. Call the grace of God. James
Alexander put it this way. Paul and Barnabas persuade and
exhort them to persevere in their pursuit of saving truth and of
the gospel of Christ. The word of the cross had given
them some light. The word concerning Christ had
caught their interest. They did not despise what they
heard and they did not trample it under feet or cast it behind
their back. So now they are exhorted not
to let it slip. but to think upon it, to meditate
upon it, to keep their mind upon it and to hear them again of
the same matter. We fast forward a week then to
the next Sabbath day in verse 44 where we read, And came together
almost the whole city. Can you imagine that? On the
next Sabbath day, the word had spread, there had been much conversation
and discussion, and so almost the whole city came to that place. No doubt at the synagogue, to
the Jews greatly outnumbered, this time their synagogue taken
over by Gentiles, their synagogue overrun by pagans. They come or they arrive to find
their seat has been taken by visitors. They find a full house
maybe and standing room only. And this filled the Jews with
envy upon two accounts as we read. Number one, not only were
they Gentiles and not even proselytes that had showed up at the synagogue,
but number two, these Gentiles in great numbers were disposed
to believe and to receive the things that were spoken by Paul. They would hear him further on
this matter of salvation in that person called Christ that he
had preached. They would hear more of this
forgiveness of sin. You know, it's amazing. as God
had prepared a Gentile audience to hear Peter in Acts 10 at the
house of Cornelius, so God is here in Acts 13 disposing Gentiles
to hear the word of God and to be present where it is heard. The Jews, however, acted in their
usual and ordinary manner. They opposed, they contradicted,
they condemned, and at time they resorted unto persecution and
unto violence. In verse 45. So let me, if I
might, chase a rabbit for a minute. Very quickly catch him. and have
him cooking in the pot. Paul's opposition, wherever he
went to preach the gospel, almost always came from the Jew. Almost always. When persecution
did arrive, it came from the Jew. And that was true even in
the Roman provinces. Let me give you some examples.
In Acts 13 here, it was at Antioch. In Acts 14 and 19, it was at
Lystra. In Acts 17 and 5, it was at Thessalonica. In Acts 18 and 6, it was in Corinth. And in Ephesians 19 and 9, it
was at Ephesus, just to name a few. So most of the time, his
persecution came in the form of Jewish kinsmen. On the other
hand, we read of two times in the book of Acts where Paul felt
the wrath of the Gentiles, felt the wrath of the Romans. Both times, both times when their
financial interests were threatened. It was not a theological question. It was not a theological objection. Not at all. Number one is in
Acts 16 and verse 6. We remember Paul cast the spirit
of divination out of a young maiden, of a young woman, who
had brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying. Well, Paul cast out the demon
and they lost their instrument of profit. There is another one
in Acts 19. It occurred at Ephesus concerning
silversmiths for the goddess Diana. their craft was in danger. Thus, the Jews opposed Paul on
gospel and theological grounds and the Gentiles on economical
ground. So, going back to Acts 13 and
verse 46 and verse 47, let's look at it again. Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word
of God should have first been spoken to you, meaning Jews,
of course. But seeing you put it from you
and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
unto the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee light to the Gentile, that thou shouldest
be for salvation to the end of the earth. Now very clearly,
the gospel, the word of God, the appearing of Messiah was
first the privilege of the Jews. That's clear in the scripture.
Matthew 10, 5 and 6. Matthew 15, verse 24. Acts chapter
3, 25 and 26. Romans 1, verse 16, to the Jew
first and also to the Greek or the Gentile. Paul justifies here
his turning unto the Gentile by two facts. We read them just
now. Number one, the Jews, in verse
46, had put away the Word of God from themselves. They had
opposed it and they had rejected it, and that with great animosity,
at times in violence. And in so doing, they had judged
themselves unworthy of eternal life. For there is no eternal
life apart from the Word of God or the Son of God. There is no
eternal life. There is no religious truth apart
from the Scripture or the Word of God. One version has it to
repudiate You have repudiated. That means to disown. You have
cast it off. You refuse to have anything whatsoever
to do with it. To not acknowledge or accept
the Word of God is to judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life. And they have passed sentence
upon themselves because you reject the Word of God and you'll never
find your way to God or unto Christ. But look at v. 47. Here's another reason. Because
prophecy foretold that Messiah would be a light unto the Gentile. Paul has in his mind, no doubt,
texts like Isaiah 42 and v. 6 that he would be a light of
the Gentile. Isaiah 49 and verse 6, I will
also give thee for a light unto the Gentile, that thou mightest
be for salvation unto the end of the earth. There is Isaiah
11 and verse 10, A root of Jesse, to it shall the Gentiles seek. Now these texts do not refer
to a trickle of proselytes. Misunderstand that. They do not
refer to a trickle of proselyte. One now, and then another, and
then another. But they refer to a large in-gathering,
a significant in-gathering of Gentiles, who for centuries had
been left to walk in their own way and in their darkness. Acts
14 and verse 16. And they were excluded from the
covenant of promise and of hope. You see that in Ephesians 2,
verses 11 and 12. I think about what Isaiah wrote
in chapter 65, verse 1, and what Paul quotes in Romans 10 and
verse 20. I am found of them that sought me not. I am found of them that sought
me not. I am called by a name. The people are called by my name
which were not called by my name. Think about this. Sovereignty
and election. I am found of them that sought
me not. They did not seek me. They did
not search after me. And yet I am found. Now, let's come to Acts 13 and
verse 48. The Gentiles hearing All that
Paul had said, rejoice to hear that God would accept them and
would look upon them in favor. And that he would accept them
in Jesus Christ as he would the Jew. Let us consider the last
part of verse 48. Perhaps we ought to read it again. and as many as were ordained
to eternal life believe." Listen to that. Here is a testimony
of the sovereignty of God in the word ordained. which is that
word tasso or tasso, and is at least eight times in the New
Testament appointed in Matthew 28, 16. It is translated set,
S-E-T, in Luke 7, 8. It is determined in Acts 15 and
2. It is ordained in Romans 13 and
verse 1. So let's be careful not to turn
these words upside down. It is not said, as many as believed
were ordained of eternal life. That's the way some people would
like for it to read. But it does not read, as many
as believed were ordained of eternal life. Neither is it as
many as wanted or were disposed, as some versions of the Scripture
have translated it in some versions of the Bible. Neither was their
believing, that is, their faith, either actual or foreseen, the
ground of their being ordained to eternal life. Rather, here
is a clear declaration that their faith, their believing was, as
John Gill wrote, quote, the fruit and effect of divine ordination,
unquote. Here is election. Here is sovereignty. And here is proof that it runs
among the Gentile. Now the words are very clear
to cause and effect. As many as were appointed Believe,
and also notice, not every Gentile that was present and heard Paul
and Barnabas believe, for not all were ordained unto eternal
life, only those ordained to eternal life became believers. So let us notice and emphasize
the three little words, as many as. As many as. As many as were ordained to eternal
life belief. Now, compare the three words
in other places in the Scripture. John's Gospel 1, 11, and 12. He came to His own. His own received
Him not. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power, and so forth. Acts 2.39. The promise is to
you and your children, as many as the Lord our God shall call. Listen to Revelation 3 and verse
19. As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Now these words put a limitation
on the thing under discussion. Not all, Not everyone, but as
many as. Everyone that, in that group,
ordained to eternal life, believe. Oh, thank God. Acts 11, 18. God has granted the Gentiles
repentance unto life. Acts 18, 17, 27. They have believed
through grace. Acts 14 and 27, God has opened
the door of faith unto the Gentiles. Acts 15 and 19, the Gentiles
have turned unto the Lord. And look at it. It rests upon
this. And the Gentiles heard it. They
were glad. They glorified the word of the
Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. Look at that, as many as were
ordained to eternal life belief. Thank God for that great act
of God's even from eternity.