a title of the message, Providence,
Power, and Purpose. That's what we will see as we
go down through here, the providence of God, the power of God, and
the purpose of God in sending these men out. Now, Paul Barnabas,
they go to Iconium to preach the gospel, and many believe the gospel,
it says, among the Jews and the Gentiles, among the Greeks. But
the unbelieving Jews stirred up the people. They stirred up
those Gentiles. They took what Paul preached and they twisted it. They twisted
it. They got into the heads of the
people and clouded their judgment. And I thought when I read that
verse of the parable of the sower, the one that was on the wayside,
Satan came along and took that seed and took it away. And they
took advantage of their ignorance, of their spiritual ignorance,
of their ignorance of God. They took advantage of their
ignorance. But Paul and Barnabas stayed there a long time. They
didn't run from trouble. I tell you, when you go through
the books of Acts, they were ran out of town. Every time they
went to town, they got ran out. How would you like that to happen
to you? Every time you go to town, you get ran out of town.
That's basically what happened to them. But they stayed as long
as they could. And they were not offended when
trouble came. They were not offended. And that
whole city was divided. As I've said, a gospel that does
not divide is not the gospel at all. When we preach the gospel,
we're not trying to just get men to settle down and behave
themselves. We're telling the truth on God.
The truth on Christ and the truth on men. We're not just trying
to get people to straighten up and act right. It says that whole city was divided.
Some held with the Jews and some with the apostles. Well, we know who was right,
don't we? The apostles. But it divided
that whole city. Look over in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. In Luke chapter 12, look in verse... Let's see if I have the right one here.
Oh, I got Matthew. I'm looking at Matthew. I'm sorry.
I need to get to the right book. In Luke chapter 12, it's in verse
35. Well, I've written down the wrong
verse. But anyway, that has to do with,
he said he'd set the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law and
the son-in-law against the father-in-law and the son and the daughter
against each other. He said in the gospel, the gospel that's
of God will bring division. It's just going to happen. He
says it will bring division. And we need to be careful who
we follow. Are you not careful who you let
your children be around? I tell you what, if you're not,
you shouldn't be. We should be careful who we let, even our
children, be around. Not all need to listen when it
comes to adults and we're following a preacher, someone who's preaching
the gospel. Not all men who stand in a pulpit
are preaching the gospel. Not all. John said, try the spirits,
whether they be of God. I said this on the radio about
a couple of weeks ago. I said, don't take my word for
it. Go to the Word of God. Try what men say by the Word
of God. Try what they say. Our Lord says,
straight as the gate, narrow as the way, and few there be
that find it. The apostles, Paul here and Barnabas
and all the apostles, they were so hated by the Jews for their
message of grace. It's a message of grace, and
they were despised for it. They were so despised for it,
they wanted to stone them. They were saying something, weren't
they? They were saying something. But God made them aware of it,
and they fled to another city. God hears the counsel of the
wicked. When they meet behind private
doors, God hears their counsel. Nothing goes on in private, not
really. God hears everything. He said,
no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. And then
they fled to Lystra and Derby. These persecutions that they
suffered really came out to be a furtherance of the gospel.
Lystra and Derby were glad of it. I thought this when I was
reading that. What one man counts as trash
is what? Another man's treasure. So they
counted it, many of those Jews counted this as trash. So they
go to Lister and Durbin, it becomes treasure to many in those places. And there they preached the gospel,
the same gospel that they were being persecuted for. They never
changed their message. We never take the edge off from
it because We're getting in trouble because we're stirring things
up. You don't take the edge off from them. And they didn't. And
God confirmed their messy by healing this man who had never
walked before. Here is a man that everyone knew
around that was in that vicinity, that this man was crippled and
he had never walked in his life. From his mother's womb, he's
crippled. And I thought this is a perfect picture of us. There's
no better picture than this of us. The gospel came to him unasked
for. Did you ask for God to send the
gospel to you? Did you ask for it? His healing
was unasked for. He wasn't asking for that either.
And that's the way it is with us. I think one of the best definitions
of grace is, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made
known unto them that ask not after me." That, to me, is the
best biblical definition of grace. I wasn't looking for him when
he found me. I wasn't asking after him, and
neither was this man. This man heard Paul preach the
gospel, and this is how it happened. This is how God saves sinners.
This is how men are brought from spiritual death to spiritual
life. They hear the gospel of God concerning His Son. They
hear it preached by man, and God grants faith. By the power
and work of His Holy Spirit, He grants faith in the heart
to believe the gospel. That's what happened here. And
Paul perceived that God had given this man faith to believe. We know from the Scripture that
faith is a gift of God. I cannot make you believe. I
cannot muster up enough strength. I cannot do anything to make
you believe, but God can. By the power of His Spirit, He
can grant you faith. So Paul said to him with a loud
voice, not that the loudness of his voice gave any power to
what he was saying. You know, I could stand here
and scream at you. It wouldn't change your heart.
It would probably make you want to throw something at me, but
it wouldn't change your heart. The loudness of it is not the
power of it. The power of it is God speaking. Was it Elijah that God took?
He was in his cave and there was a storm went by, the wind,
and then there was an earthquake, and then there was fire, and
then there was a still small voice, and that was God. That was God. Religion wants
this. They want the fire, don't they?
They want a service where you've got the fire and the wind and
everybody is worked up. I'd rather have God with that
still small voice speaking to the heart. That's what you want. That's what we want. Paul spoke with a loud voice
to let everyone know who healed this man. I'm sure he said, it's
not written here, but I'm sure he said in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They knew who he was talking
about. He used a name that did the healing,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the people saw it, and this is what God has saved
us from right here. You think, boy, those people
were really steeped in superstition and false religion. If we had
been there, we'd have done the same thing. We would not be any
different. You're just like where you were
raised. Really, you are. Train a child up and he'll not
depart from it. Well, train him up for something
bad and he won't depart from it either. It works both ways. And when the people saw it, they
were going to offer sacrifices to Paul Barnabas as if they were
gods that had come down from heaven into their midst. It's
not hard to get people to follow miracles, is it? or signs or
do something that's kind of out of the ordinary. It's not hard
to get people to follow that. Here's what's hard to do. It's
hard to get people to shut up and listen. Really, it is. It's hard to get them to shut
up long enough to listen. I've learned that it's easier
to get people to come and sit down and listen than it is when
you're trying to witness to them, because they always start telling
you what the Bible says. what they think the Bible says. And
you just get this conversation going back and forth and usually
they forget it. You can't seem to get anywhere. Be still. That's what the Scripture
says. Be still. Shut up. And know that I'm God. Just be
quiet and know that I'm God. That's where we need to be brought
to. So Paul and Barnabas here, they rent their clothes, it says.
They tear their clothes and they ran in among the people to stop
them. Stop them. False preachers wouldn't do that,
would they? They allow it. What happened to Herod? He walked
out on that porch, gave a little oration, and the people said,
oh, it's the voice of God. He didn't stop them. God killed
him, but he didn't stop them. Nebuchadnezzar, he walked out
on that porch and he said, look what I have done. Look what my
hands have done. And God put him out to pasture
for seven years. But God's preachers, they're
not in it for self-glory. If they are, I'm telling you,
they're not God's men. They're not of God. But they're not in
it for self-glory. And they said, sir, don't do
this. Don't don't give us any. Don't give us any form of worship. God only is to be worshiped.
He only is to be served and worshipped. God only is to be worshipped.
He said, don't do this. Worship God who made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all this. And they identified Him as the
God of creation. They started with the God who
created all things. Because the One who created all
this is God. He is God. And He only is to
be worshipped. And any true miracle physical or spiritual, especially
spiritual. Any true miracle is of God. Now, he may use memes. He used
the Apostle Paul. He uses preachers. But God is
the one who performs the miracle. Don't worship the memes. No,
don't worship the means. Paul and Barnabas were just a
means by which the gospel came into town. The gospel came into
town through these two men, and they preached the gospel. But
the people of that town was ready to worship them. He said, don't
worship us. Don't worship the means. Worship
God. Worship Him. And he says to them, he said
that this same God allowed all nations to walk in their own
way of ignorance, but He did not leave Himself without a witness
They have no excuse for unbelief. I'm talking about from the time
Adam fell up till now, no one has an excuse not to believe
God. No one. He says there in verse 17, although
God gave, he said God gave them witnesses. Let me find verse
17 here. He says, nevertheless, he left
not himself without a witness. And here's the witness that he
that he gave. in that He did good. He gave
us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with
food and gladness. There's enough witness in that
that should cause you to seek after Him. Look over in Romans
chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1, Look in
verse 20. Well, look at verse 19. Because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God
has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. No one is going to stand there
with an excuse saying, well, I didn't know it. He didn't tell
me. Well, you wake up to it every
day. The heavens, does not the Scripture
say this? The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
showeth his handiwork. Day unto day, utter his speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge. What is that knowledge?
That God is. Every day the sun comes up and
it's screaming to this human race that God is. There is no
excuse not to seek Him. There is no excuse to ignore
Him as if He did not exist. Every day. And it says He barely constrained
the people. They were just dying to worship
Him. Paul and Barnabas, they were
dying to sacrifice Him. Let us do some worship here.
It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong. Just let us do something
here. That's human nature. That's human
nature at its best. Let us just worship something
here besides God, besides Him. Because I want you to note how
quickly this crowd changes. Notice how quickly this crowd,
now remember this is the crowd who was getting ready, they were
getting ready to offer sacrifices here. They were going to offer
sacrifices to these two men. They saw this man, they saw Paul
heal this man who had never walked before. Notice what they saw,
what they witnessed. And then it says the Jews came
from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the people. The same
ones who were ready to worship them are now ready to stone.
Same crowd, same crowd. They were ready. at one time
to worship him, now they're, well actually they did stone
him. They stoned Paul. They stoned Paul, they dragged
him out of the city, and they left him for dead. Same crowd
that was ready to worship him. They stoned him. They stoned
him so bad, they thought he was dead. The disciples thought he
was dead. You know, I thought, you know,
in one place, Paul was, has been thought of as to have bad eyesight.
He said, how large a letter I've written with my own hands. And
I was reading this and I thought, maybe this is where he got this.
This eyesight problem. It's been stoned. Hitting in
the head with these rocks. It may be. But that same crowd,
listen, that same crowd. You remember this when our Lord
came into town on the donkey. What did they say? Hosanna. They praised God. Blessed be
he that comes in the name of the Lord. And just a few days
later, that same crowd cried crucifying. Same crowd. This shows you how fickle human
nature is. This is how fickle we are by
nature. One day we're ready to worship
Him. The next day we're ready to crucify Him. I'm sure glad
God makes a change, don't you? If God did not create within
us a new nature, a new man, well, you'd be lost. You'd be lost. Don't be fooled, listen, don't
be fooled by outward professions. Let time roll by. Let time roll
by. And let trials come along. And
then see who's still around. That's why God sends us, to prove
faith. Sometimes the offense of the
gospel takes a while to sink in to thick heads and hard hearts. Sometimes a person says, oh,
that's what you mean? Is that what you're saying? Sometimes
it sinks in, and then they think, oh, this is not what we believe.
This is not what we believe. Hard thick heads and hard hearts. And it's amazing. It's amazing
that the ones that happens to them. It's amazing. It takes a lifetime. It takes
a lifetime to prove a believer. It takes a lifetime. And here's the test. These all
died in faith. That's the last part. That is
the last test. He's all died in faith. And then it says there the disciples
stood around Paul. They stood there helpless. They
couldn't do anything. But God raised him up and raised
him up. Notice what Paul did here, the
faithful servant of God. The next day he departed to Derby
and preached the gospel there. Isn't that something? The next day, after being stoned,
and they thought he was dead. The next day, instead of licking
his wounds and whining and crying, and we live in a day a bunch
of whiners. We do, I'm serious. We got to have the whiniest day
in our, we live in. I could just cut loose, but I
would probably really make some people mad. I'd get so tired.
This is life. This is not heaven. You're in
a lost world. You're in a body of sin. These
things are going to happen. Paul got up, battered and bruised,
hurting. You know he was hurting. He said,
let's go to Derby and preach the gospel. A faithful preacher is also a
worker of God, just as faith is. And one example that we have
before us, let nothing stop us from preaching the gospel. Let
us not make excuses, but find reasons to do it. They went right back to where
they were persecuted, right back in the face of the enemy. And
they confirmed the souls. They were concerned about those
whom they preached to. They knew they were going to
be in trouble. You and I have not really seen trouble. I mean,
this is a heartache. I won't deny that. Being here
and having to meet in this basement. Someone emailed me. I know it's going to go on the
Internet. Someone emailed me. And they said, I've heard a sermon
on it, sermon audio. And said, I understand you started
a new church. No, we didn't. We did not start a new church.
This is the same old church that's been here for 50 some years. We had to adopt another name
for legal reasons. I'm serious. I don't care who
hears this. But this is not a new church. This is the same old
church that's been for years. We just would not change. We would not change. And Paul
goes back there and he confirms those souls because he knows
that they're going to be persecuted for the gospel they believe.
He knows it. And he goes back there and they
establish elders that is pastors in every church. And they exhorted
them to continue in the faith. Don't quit because it's hard.
Don't quit because times get a little tough. No, you keep
following Him who's able to keep you from falling. They were persecuted much for
believing the gospel. And I looked at this this week
and I thought, we haven't suffered for preaching. I haven't. Now, I haven't. I don't know,
somebody else may have, but I haven't. I haven't lost a meal. I haven't
gone hungry a day over it. Not at all. And I think it's probably this. I called Charlie the other day,
and I was talking to him about this. I said, Charlie, we tolerate
too much in our day. I said, there's some things I'd
like to say on the radio, but I get kicked off. I'd probably get
kicked off if I say there's some things that I'd like to say.
And probably I ought to say it and go ahead and get kicked off.
But I'm telling you the truth. We tolerate too much. Paul tolerated
nothing in false religion. I'm not talking about fleshly
infirmities and things we have in this flesh, brothers and sisters.
We do that. But I'm talking about false religion
and false Gospels. Not too long ago, I said on the radio, I said,
I heard a popular preacher say that Jesus did his part, now
you do your part. And I said, that's a lie out
of hell. But I didn't use the man's name. I said, Billy Graham. I said, that's the biggest lie,
biggest lie that's ever been told. You do your part. OK, crippled
man, you take the first step. You've never walked in your life.
Now you take the first step and God will do the rest. That's
just what he said. That's what Billy Graham was
saying. I told Charlie, I said, I wonder how much trouble I'd
get in if I just used his name. If I just pointed that out. I
said, I bet you we've got a lot of mail. I don't know if you
can use names like that or not, but we tolerate too much. Tolerate too much. Paul was faithful to preach the
truth even if it cost him his earthly life. I'll tell you what Paul preached.
He preached Christ crucified. That's what he preached. And
this means that he preached the glory of his person. He preached
this man whom they crucified, this man that was put to death,
this man whom they hated and despised. This man is God Almighty. This is what you think of God.
He told those religious people, you want to talk about what you
think of God? Look what you did to Him. Just take a look at what
you did to God. He preached the glory of His
person. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. And then He preached His work
as the substitute of God's elect. He preached Him as the substitute. The one who died in the place
of God's elect. He took our sins in His body
on the tree. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. He was made to be sin for us.
And we are made the righteousness of God in Him. He is the substitute. Not those lambs. Not those goats.
His Son. His Son. Now if His Son is the
substitute, that tells me He got the job done. He didn't attempt
it. I said this yesterday on the
radio. I said he did not attempt redemption, he redeemed. He redeemed everyone that God
chose. He did not make an attempt. That's
what I do. I attempt to get things done
during the day. I attempt a lot of things. You
attempt a lot of things. He never attempts anything. Everything he does, he does perfectly,
and he doesn't have to do it twice. And then he preached his sovereign
right to rule over all. Everybody likes to think they're
a free person. Everyone, every angel, devil,
every man, woman, and child, is under the theocracy of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, all flesh is given into
my hands. He saves whom he will. This is
Bible, and he passes by whom he will. And we say, even so,
Father, it seemed good in thy sight. Paul told them the truth, and
he said this, Through much tribulation, if you believe this and you preach
it, through much tribulation shall we enter the kingdom of
God, much. Suffering for Christ's sake is
to be expected. He suffered for us, shall we
not suffer for his sake? He suffered the hard part. He
suffered the hard part. Though he were rich, yet he became
poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. Think how
much suffering. When I look at Calvary, and I
never, I just, this thought goes through my mind often. When I
look at Calvary, what does that say about me? Look what suffering
he did on my behalf. Shall I not suffer some inconvenience?
That's really what it is, is inconvenience. When Christ is preached in truth
and power, men and women cannot remain indifferent. When he is
priest on the throne, as he is, I'll tell you this, you can't
remain indifferent. You can't do it, especially religious
people. I'll tell you why. We've been
told this over the years, because the gospel is offensive to human
nature. There is nothing more offensive
to the natural man than the gospel. Nothing more offensive. It offends
his thoughts of himself. That Pharisee said, I thank thee,
God, I'm not like other men. I said, I'm not like that. I'm
not like that. But I thank you, I'm not like that publican. Oh,
yes, you are. If he just turned you loose, you'd find out just
what you're like. It offends a man's thoughts of
God. He said, you thought I was altogether
like yourselves. Then you find out differently,
it becomes offensive. It offends his pride. It's humiliating
for a man and a woman to admit what they really are. We don't
like to admit what we are. You wouldn't want anybody to
see the thoughts that go through your mind, would you? You would
not want any of your dreams plastered up on the wall, would you? And
shown as a movie. You wouldn't do it. The gospel reveals who we are.
This is us. That's us. That's us. By nature it is. And
then men find it offensive because of the people it's for. Religious
people do. It's for publicans and sinners.
The gospel is for sinners. That's who it's for. Sinners.
Ungodly. That's who it's for. And the
natural man doesn't see himself like that. He sees you like that. I think it was Jeremy, I was
at the shop the other day, I said, we never see ourselves like others
see us, do we? We never do. And then he finds the sovereign
reign of God to be especially offensive. He's encroaching,
God's encroaching on my rights. You don't have any rights. We
may have rights with one another because we're in the same boat.
And we've got to live in it. But before God criminals have
no rights, we're shut up to the sovereign
mercy of God in Christ. Shut up to it. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And
that makes natural men and false religion mad. Look over in Luke
chapter 4. See if I wrote this one down
right. Luke chapter 4. Look in verse... Well, I'm in the Gospel of John. Great day. Luke chapter 4, verse 25 and 28. 25 through 28. But I tell you of
a truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elias, when the heavens were shut up three years and
six months, when great famine was throughout all the land.
But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city
of Sidon, unto a widow, unto a woman that was a widow, a Gentile
woman. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Eliseus the prophet. And none of them was cleansed
except Naaman, the Syrian, the Gentile. And now look what it says in
verse 28. And all of they, not just a few of them, all they
in the synagogue, when they heard these things, you know what they
just heard? You know what our Lord just gave
them? Sovereign mercy. Instead of rejoicing that God
did something here for these two people, they got upset. They got mad and it says they
were filled with wrath. and rose up and thrust him out
of the city and led him into the brow of the hill whereon
their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong."
Here's what he preached. God Almighty is sovereign. He
saves whom He wills. And they were going to cast him
off the hill. That's what men and women by
nature think of God's sovereignty. But that's not what the church
thinks of Him. I'm glad He's sovereign. I'm glad He rules
and reigns over all. And this kind of preaching is
going to bring trouble because it's of God. And it gives God
all the glory and puts man in the dust. That's what it does. But they didn't stop Paul and
Barbara's death. They counted it an honor to suffer for Christ's
sake. It ought to be the highest honor,
the highest honor that could ever be bestowed on any of us
in this life is to suffer for the gospel. to suffer for Christ's
sake. Then Paul, I'll wind this down,
Paul commended them to the Lord whom they believed. He's real. And he's able to keep you. That's
what Paul's telling, Paul's saying he's able to keep you. You know,
he went back to these people who were being persecuted. I
mean, their lives were on the line. And he says, I commend
you to the Lord. He's able to keep you. I can't
keep you. But he can. He can keep you. And when they had gathered the
church at Antioch, they went back to Antioch. That was where
they were sent out from. They went back to Antioch and
they rehearsed, not complained, they rehearsed. They rehearsed
all that God did with them. Claiming nothing of themselves.
They went back and here's what they did. They rehearsed what
God did. What God did. He uses means. He used Paul Barnabas. He uses
preaching. But God did it. God did it. That's the power of God. He did
it. And how that God had opened the door of faith into the Gentiles. And those are our, what do we
call them, forefathers? You know, people like to look
back on their ancestry. This is one of the things that
I like about going through the book of Acts. That's our brothers
and sisters. If you want to look at the family
tree, so to speak, of the church, there it is. Look what they suffered. Look how they handled it. So
they went back there and they rehearsed and they said that
God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. We didn't talk
them into a profession. I'm not going to talk someone
into coming down. I'm not going to talk someone into... I didn't
talk Joanna in. She called me at the house. She
said, I have something I want to talk to you about. And I just knew that's what it
was going to be. And when she told me, I said,
that's the best news I could hear. That's the best news you
can call me with. Someone wanted to confess their
master, their Lord and believer. That's how you confess Christ.
He that believes and is baptized. He that believes and will not
be baptized, that's a rebel. Rebel. He that believes and is
baptized. And he said, we didn't talk him
into a profession. God saved him and God granted
faith to him. And you know what? He's still doing it. He's still
doing it. Two thousand years later, he's
still doing it. The door of faith is still being
opened to the Gentiles. I thank God when I read this
this week, I thought about, I thought about Henry. ministry for those
57 years. I thought, I thank God for faithful
preachers. I thank God for men who stand
on firm ground and they never change. I thank God for that. Okay, Mike.