There's something very exciting
about verse 49 when we read, and the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. That's an exciting thought,
isn't it? To think of the word of the Lord
spread, published, everybody in that region getting to hear
the gospel. I've entitled this message, The
Word of the Lord published. And it was not only the apostles
that published this message, but it was everybody who heard
that message in Antioch and believed. They spread this message throughout
all of that region. And wouldn't it be a blessing
of grace if the Lord enabled you and I to spread and publish
the gospel all throughout this region? I pray that the Lord
would give us all a burden and a desire to do that, to be heralds
of his gospel. Now, what is meant by the word
of the Lord? The word of the Lord was published
throughout all that region. Well, on the very surface, the
word of God and not the word of men. I'm not interested in
hearing any man's opinion, are you? I'm really not. I want to
hear the Word of God. I love what Paul said when he
said, I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man. It's not derived from any human
source. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. The word of the Lord was spread
abroad in that region. And in the immediate context,
it's Paul's message in Acts chapter 13. You can read the content
of that message in verses 16 through 43. And the message is
summarized in verse 38, Be it known unto you, therefore, men
and brethren, this is why I have been saying everything I've said,
it's leading up to this point, be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, that's so important,
through this man, all of the gospel, all of the word of God,
all of salvation, comes through this man. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man. I love, you know, there's two
things I enjoy saying immensely. Jesus Christ is God, that's the
first thing. Jesus Christ is God. And here's
what I also like to say, Jesus Christ is man. He is the man. Through this man is preached
unto you, is declared unto you, is announced to you the forgiveness
of sins. Now, forgiveness, the forgiveness
of sins is not an offer. It's not something God offers
to you. It's something he declares you to be. You don't do something
to be forgiven. He declares you to be forgiven. And when he declares you to be
forgiven and you hear it in the power of the Holy Spirit through
believing the gospel, how that rejoices your heart. And here's
the reason for forgiveness. The reason for forgiveness is
not because you asked to be forgiven. You know, we saw that real clearly
this morning with Ab and Eve. They never asked to be forgiven.
They never asked for mercy. They never confessed their sins.
They never even showed any contrition for their sins. All they did
was blame God. But God provided a sacrifice
for them. Here is the reason behind the
forgiveness of sins. Look in verse 39. And by him,
all that believe are justified. Now don't miss the meaning of
that word. All that believe are justified. And what that means is if you're
justified, that means you never sinned. That means you stand
without guilt before God. There's nothing in his holy law
to condemn you for. You stand just before God. It's
not some kind of title pasted over us. It's what every believer
is through and through. You say, but I still sin. I know
that, and you will to the day you die. But in God's sight,
you are justified. You never sinned. That's what
it means, sinlessness. And the reason a sinner is forgiven
is because they've been justified. And God says, I forgive your
sins too. He forgives your sins because
of this great and glorious work of justification. Now this is
the message that was spread abroad. And we have such confidence in
preaching this message because look what verse 48 says. 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. Now we have this confidence in
preaching. Everybody who's ordained to eternal life they're going
to believe. Ain't no doubt about that. That
is a for sure thing. And that's what gives us confidence
in preaching this message. God's got a people, and every
single one of them will believe. You know, in another place in
2 Timothy chapter 2, I think it's verse 10, Paul said, I'd
do all things for the elect's sake. that they might also obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Now,
what a reason to preach. Here's something that's interesting
about preaching. Preaching's got failure built
into it because the preacher's bringing the message. It's got
failure built into it. I can't ever think, boy, I brought
a good message today. No, you never think that. You're
frustrated, you know that there's so many things that you could
have said more clearly, and you get frustrated with yourself.
Failure's built in. Long as I'm involved in it, failure's
built in. Somebody says, preacher's having
a hard time. Yeah, I know, feel sorry for him, don't get mad
at him. Feel sorry for him. Hard job, but success is also
built in. Because everybody God has ordained
to eternal life will believe. And that just gives me such hope
in preaching the gospel. It's not up to me to be able
to convince anybody of anything. But God, in his mercy, will reveal
himself to all of those he chose to save. And so the gospel was
spread abroad in this church. region, throughout all the region.
Isn't that glorious to think about? I pray that the Lord would
cause us to be the instruments of spreading the gospel throughout
this region. Oh, ask the Lord to give you
a true burden for this. a true desire for this, not to
glorify yourself, to be a soul winner and all the stuff religion
does, but to see his gospel spread. You know ahead of time that you
don't get any glory for it because it's only the elect that believe.
You can't say, well, I want that person to Christ. You know, I
hate it when preachers say things like that. How do you know they
were converted by this sermon? How do you know? How do you know
anybody was converted? How do you know everybody wasn't?
You know, I mean, it's just, we don't know. We don't know, but
at any rate, the gospel was spread throughout this region. But here's
what always happens when the gospel is spread. But, verse
50, but the Jews, the same Jews, the same group that the Lord
said, you're of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your
father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning
and never abode in the truth, the Jews. They stirred up the
religious and honorable women. Now you got a real problem when
you have these people stirred up. The religious women, the
honorable women, the women who had influence, the women who
were somebody. They knew if we stir up these
women, We've got some allies that can really mess up what
Paul and Barnabas were doing. That's what they were thinking.
So they stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief
men of the city, the men who were the important men, the somebodies,
and they raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled
them out of their coasts. Persecution is the token that
the gospel is being preached. That's scriptural. It's the evidence that the gospel
is being preached. Not that everything's going well,
but that there is persecution. Now look in Galatians chapter
five with me. Verse 11, and I brethren, if
I yet preach circumcision, works, it's what that refers to, works,
the law. Why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. Now Paul says, if I'm preaching
law, I'm not gonna be persecuted. But if I preach the gospel, that's
when the persecution appears. That's the offense of the gospel.
Turn with me to the last beatitude, Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five, this is
the last beatitude, verse 10. He said, blessed are the poor,
blessed are they that mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, blessed
are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are
the peacemakers, blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness sake. This is an indication of God's
blessing. Blessed are they that are persecuted
for righteousness sake. Now, question, what does the
Lord mean persecuted for righteousness sake? What does the Lord mean
by that? Now, this is very important.
Is he speaking of being persecuted for your righteous acts and your
righteous living? people persecuting you for how
good you behave yourself and how well you treat other people,
perhaps your help toward charity, things that you can do. Is he
speaking of you standing up for what you really believe is right?
I mean, you'll stand for it. and you'll be willing to be persecuted
because you're not going to be set back. You believe what you
think is right and you'll stand for it. And somebody that doesn't
agree with you persecutes you. Is that what he's talking about? You stand up against abortion
and same sex marriages and you're castigated for it and shunned
by many. Is that what he's talking about?
You stand up for some political or moral issue you feel strongly
about, and you're persecuted by those who have the opposite
point of view. Is that what he's talking about? You're persecuted for being a
conservative. You're persecuted for being liberal. Is that what
the Lord's talking to? Perhaps people are living in
a lifestyle the Bible clearly says is sinful. and you confront
them about it and they get angry and they become offended and
they see every fault you have and they can bring it all out
and you're castigated by them and despised by them only because
you went up and confronted them about something in their lives
that the Bible clearly forbids. Is that being persecuted for
righteousness sake? No. No, it's not. You see, more often than not,
people who are persecuted are not persecuted for righteousness
sake, but for self-righteousness sake. You can chew on that. Most of
the persecution that takes place is not persecution for righteousness
sake, but for being a jerk, a self-righteous jerk, and offending people in
that way, coming across as a moral authority over other people.
Now, that's what most persecution comes from, and that's not the
persecution the Lord is talking about when he talks about persecution
for righteousness sake. Now, you're there in Matthew
5. Turn across the page to Matthew 6. Verse 33. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and, what's that next word? His righteousness. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. The same righteousness that David
spake of in Psalm 71, 16, when he said, I have made mention
of thy righteousness, even thine only. That's the only righteousness
David knew anything about. In Romans 1, verses 16 and 17,
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein, in the gospel,
is the right way to live? No, it's the righteousness of
God revealed. Now, there's no more important
term than this, the righteousness of God. Now, in the gospel, we
see his righteous character. And you know, when Paul talks
about people that he's praying for, that he desires to be saved,
he said, my prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. I bear them record. They have a zeal for God. They're
religious, very religious. but not according to knowledge,
for they being ignorant of God's righteousness." Now, what is the righteousness
of God? Well, it's His righteous character. He's of two pure eyes
to behold of iniquity. Thou hast loved righteousness
hated iniquity. That's who He is. He's holy.
He's glorious. He's righteous. He's altogether
righteous. And men are also ignorant of
His righteousness in their condemnation. They don't really believe that
they deserve to be cast off by God. They don't think it would
be a just thing. Oh, they know they've done some
bad things, but being cut off Cast into hell? Men don't really
believe they deserve that. Sure, we've done bad things,
but nothing of that nature. They're ignorant of God's righteousness
and their condemnation, most especially. They're ignorant
of God's righteousness and salvation. You see, if I'm justified before
God, it's because I have His righteousness as my personal
righteousness before God. That's what Paul meant when he
said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law. That which is through
the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God
by faith. Now listen to me. The reason,
the only reason I will be accepted on judgment day is because I
have the righteousness of God. The righteousness of Jesus Christ,
that is my personal righteousness before God. He worked out a perfect
righteousness. He was nailed to a cross because
he was made sin. He put that sin away. That perfect
righteousness that he worked out is every believer's personal
righteousness before God. And that's the righteousness
he's speaking of. And if you preach his righteousness,
If you're persecuted for righteousness sake, it's because you maintain
that the only righteousness there is, is the righteousness and
merits of Jesus Christ the Lord. And that is the only ground of
salvation for any sinner and all the works of men. The good
works, the bad works, the in-between works. They're all filthy rags. Everything that comes from man
is a filthy rag. All your religious doings, all
your hopes of being saved by what you do, it's no good. The
only hope any sinner has is for God to take the righteousness
of his blessed son and give it to me as a gift. Somebody says, well, how can
I know if he's done that for me? Do you believe the gospel? Can you enter in to this, to
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. It doesn't
mean his faith is a substitute for righteousness. He believes
the righteousness of God. That's the evidence. He looks
to the righteousness of God. only, the righteousness of Jesus
Christ only. There is no other righteousness. All the works of men are evil. Every one of them. Now, if I
preach that, if I stand for that, people will be offended. But blessed are you that are
persecuted for righteousness sake, you shall be filled. Now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. Now
that's the righteousness he's speaking of. So when they start
up this persecution, These religious ladies and these somebody men,
these important men, I don't have any doubt that they were
upset about this preaching of the righteousness of God that
is so evident in this sermon in Acts chapter 13. That creates
persecution. Nonetheless, listen to this scripture.
I haven't quoted this one yet. Romans 14, 17, the kingdom of
God. Well, that's what I'm interested
in, aren't you? The kingdom of God. Not a human kingdom, but
the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. It's not do's and don'ts. The kingdom of God is righteousness. The righteousness of God. The
righteousness of Christ. The only righteousness God will
accept. The kingdom of God is righteousness. And you know what comes out of
that? Peace. You know the only thing that
gives me peace is knowing that God only looks to Christ for
everything He requires of me. You know, that gives me peace.
I'm not worried. If that's so, then it is. It
is. If His righteousness the only
righteousness there is and that's all God requires and that all
God accepts you want that's all I'm hoping in the kingdom of
God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost note
the order his righteousness there's gonna be peace and wherever there's
this peace there's joy inspired by God the Holy Spirit Now these
people were stirred up and they raised up persecution look back
on our text in Acts chapter 13 Acts chapter 13 Verse 50, 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 they expelled
them out of their coasts. Now, what happens when a kid
is expelled from school? They're expelled because of bad
behavior. And they're looked upon as a
menace to others, as negatively affecting other students. So
they get them out. Now that's the way these people
were treating Paul and Barnabas. They expelled them out of their
coasts because these are negative people. These are people who
can bring things we don't want for our people and for our children. And they expelled them out of
their coasts. The same region spoken of in
verse 49, when the word of the Lord was published throughout
all the region, now Paul and Barnabas get kicked out. But look what they did in verse
51. But they shook off the dust of
their feet against them. Now, this is an obedience to
what the Lord said in Luke chapter nine, verse five, whosoever will
not receive you when you go out of that city, shake off the very
dust of your feet as a testimony against them. A testimony that
will be used on judgment day. Now, does that mean that Paul
and Barnabas were indifferent about the salvation of these
people and they're being kind of hard hearted and arrogant
and just, through with you." Was that their attitude? I don't
think so. Matter of fact, I know it wasn't. I'm sure that they
were brokenhearted to see these people reject the gospel. You
can't have any other kind of attitude but that, but here's
the point. They knew they were preaching God's message. And
they weren't going to be despondent. They weren't going to be discouraged
over people rejecting this message because they knew this is the
message. The righteousness of God. This is the message. The
righteousness of God. This is the message. Forgiveness
because of justification. This is the message that it's
through this man all of this is preached. And they had the
confidence. The Lord gave them that confidence. They had boldness
in the gospel. And if somebody's gonna reject
this message, your blood's on your own head. That's what they
were saying. Your blood's on your own head. This wasn't an
indifference about their salvation, but it was saying, this is the
truth. And if somebody doesn't believe
the truth and somebody doesn't love the truth, they're wrong
for it. This is their problem. They're
bringing this on their own head. They shook the dust of feet symbolically
against them, but look at what a blessing took place out of
that. They came to Iconium. And you can read, now the folks
at Iconium, you're gonna read about them in Acts chapter 14.
They get to hear the gospel because Paul and Barnabas were expelled
from Antioch, where this great work of grace had been done.
The Lord is using all that. Now, these men, these Jews who
stirred up the religious women and the chief men, They thought,
we can get him out of here. But they didn't know they were
pawns in God's hand being used by God for the spread of the
gospel. That's the way it always is. God really is God. And he sends
the gospel to these people in Iconium. And look at verse 52,
and the disciples. It's not just talking about Paul
and Barnabas. This is talking about the disciples.
The disciples were filled. Now, don't miss that. Somebody
filled them. This is spoken of in the passive.
It doesn't mean they're passively indifferent about this, but what
this means is somebody did this to them. Who is it that filled
them with the Holy Ghost? The Holy Ghost. God Himself. He filled them with the Holy
Spirit, and they were filled with joy. Now, they were kicked out of
Antioch. They were persecuted for righteousness
sake. And what does the Lord say? Rejoice
in that day and be exceedingly glad, for in like manner persecuted
they the prophets which were before you." Be happy about it.
What about when in Acts chapter 5, I think it's verse 41 or 42,
when they counted a joy that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for His name? Would you count that a joy, a
high privilege for the Lord to honor you, to allow you to suffer
shame for his name in your preaching of the gospel? Now, they were
filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Now this joy was
not a manufactured joy. You ever been around somebody
who tried to let you know, I've got joy. Yeah, what next? People try to manufacture a joy.
I've got joy in my life. I've got joy in my heart. I'm
a joyous person. As soon as somebody tells me,
I've heard that a lot from people before. I got joy in my life
and the implication is nobody can get any joy from your preaching,
but I've got joy in my life. That doctrine you believe doesn't
produce joy. It's just harsh doctrine and so on. There's no
joy in that. Well, not to you, but there is
to everybody who believes. You don't have to manufacture
joy. This is the product of the filling
of God the Holy Spirit. There is joy. And let me remind
you of this. Joy and happiness are two different
things. Happiness is based upon happenings. Happiness is based upon circumstances. Everything's going my way. Got
plenty of money in the bank. Don't have any enemies. Got good
health. Don't have any trials. Have good
relationships with people. No conflict. I'm happy. I'm happy. You know, I've said this before,
but anytime somebody says, I want to be happy, I'm thinking, oh,
watch out. They're going to do whatever
it takes to get their happiness. That's going to happen. I'm just
waiting. What's going to happen now? I want to be happy. But
joy is not about circumstances. Joy is not about happenings.
Joy works like this. Righteousness. I've already quoted
this scripture. Righteousness. God's righteousness. The peace
that comes from having his righteousness as your personal righteousness
before God. Joy. You can't hear the gospel,
really hearing it, without joy. It's impossible. Makes you happy. Makes you joyous. You can't hear
of the hope that you have. You know, Paul spoke in Romans
15, 13 of the joy and peace of believing. The God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing. Now, the God of hope.
I have a hope because of the God of hope. I have a hope that
when I stand before God on judgment day, justified. And I've got a hope that everything
between now and then And everything before then, now, is working
together by God for my good and his glory. You can't believe that and not
feel joy. Now, if you start thinking, well,
how much joy? If you start thinking about how you're feeling, you're
missing it. Forget your feeling, think of
the truth, the God of hope. your justification before him,
everything working together for your good and his glory. That's
gonna give a believer joy. And if you're filled with joy,
it's because you've been filled with the Holy Spirit. And the
disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. Now understand this, everything
we experience in this thing of walking with Christ, Everything
we experience in this thing of believing the gospel, everything
we experience in this thing of the fear of God and the awe of
God and the reverence for his person, everything we experience
in this thing of believing the gospel and resting in Jesus Christ,
that's all because of God the Holy Spirit. You know, when you
look to Christ only, and are satisfied with nothing but Christ.
You know who the author of that is? The Holy Spirit. That didn't come from you. That
came from God, the Holy Spirit. They were filled with joy and
with the Holy Spirit. Paul prayed, I've already quoted
this scripture once, for the Romans, the God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing. Now that's where the
joy and peace come from. You try to, I need peace. I need to feel peace. I need
to feel joy. You're not gonna feel any of
that. It doesn't come from that. The joy and peace of believing. You believe the gospel. you will
have joy and you will have peace. And these people, oh, what a
blessing it was to them to enter in to the joy and peace of believing. The disciples were filled with
joy and with the Holy Ghost. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word, how we thank you for your righteousness, how we thank you
for your righteous character, how we thank you for your righteousness
displayed in the gospel, where you've made a way to be utterly
righteous and declare us to be righteous through the work of
thy son on Calvary's tree. Lord, we stand amazed at the
glory of your grace. Lord, fill us. with all joy and
peace in believing. Let us enter in to righteousness
and peace and the joy of thy spirit. Bless this message for
Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Dwayne,
come lead us in closing hymn, please.