Acts chapter 13. Paul and Barnabas. Remember, they were called, set
apart, and sent by God. Now why were they sent? They
were sent for one purpose. They were sent to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ. And they did that faithfully.
They went to that country in Cyprus. They preached on that
first, when they first came to that first city, went all the
way across that country of Cyprus. to Papos, and then they sailed
north to Antioch, and there they also preached the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They were faithful to preach
the gospel wherever God opened the door, wherever God gave them
opportunity to preach the gospel. We know as we read the record
in verse 42, some wanted to hear more. As they closed out that
first message, that first meeting there in Antioch, it says in
verse 42 that some wanted to hear more about the Lord Jesus
Christ, how He justifies sinners by His grace. When the Jews were
gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles thought that these words,
the words of life, the words of truth, might be preached to
them the next Sabbath day or during the week. They had a desire
and a hunger to hear more of this one Jesus Christ, how he
justifies the ungodly through his blood atonement. My friend,
if you have a desire to hear of this gospel, it's not there
naturally. It's a desire that God has implanted
in your heart and in your soul. Some wanted to hear more. Some
didn't want to hear any more at all. And then verse 43, Paul
and Barnabas encouraged them who were following them, many
of the Jews and religious proselytes, religious Jewish people who had
joined that Jewish religion, having heard the gospel, God
having done something in their heart and created an interest
in their heart, they followed. Paul and Barnabas. Now, you can
imagine, as this congregation, large congregation, broke up,
and as Paul and Barnabas, they were going to wherever they were
staying at, and this group of people followed them. And they
said, we want to hear more of this one Jesus of Nazareth, who
is the Savior of sinners. Well, Paul said to them, as they
followed and requested, he said to them, speaking to them and
persuading them, to continue, continue seeking the Lord, continue
believing and trusting in Him, continue to seek salvation by
what it says there, persuaded them to continue in the grace
of God. It is by the grace of God that
we are saved. It is by the grace of God that
He has chosen a people from all eternity. It is by the grace
of God that we are saved. It is by the grace of God that
we believe the gospel. It is by the grace of God that
the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life for us. It is all by the
grace of God, is it not? I would persuade you, my friend,
to continue in the grace of God. Don't seek salvation by your
deeds, your best efforts. I would persuade you to continue
to seek salvation by the grace of God. Where's the grace of
God manifested and revealed? Well, it's in Christ. We believe
through the Lord Jesus Christ that we shall be saved even as
others. So I would persuade you and ask
you by God's grace to continue Continue in Christ. Continue
in this grace of God. Salvation, all of God, and all
of grace. Now, notice verse 44. The next
Sabbath day. Now this is a week later. The
next Sabbath day, on the Saturday, the Sabbath. That's the Jewish
Sabbath when they came together. Now the whole city, they've had
a week of meetings, preaching. There's been much interest stirred. Many came out of curiosity. Many
came because they had a need to hear more. Many came or some
came with no good. Some came with malicious ideas
and with something contrary to the gospel of God's grace. It
says almost the whole city. Some didn't come to hear the
Word of God. Some came to criticize and to speak evil about the gospel.
But it says the whole city, almost. What a gathering. What a meeting. And I pray that this is why we
are here today with an earnest desire to worship God and to
hear. Wouldn't it be something to hear
from God? Would it be something if God
would speak to your heart and speak life and salvation to you? That's what I need. That's what
I pray for you, to hear the Word of God. Now, opposition. Verse 45, when the Jews, these
religious leaders, when the Jews, these self-righteous Pharisees,
when they saw the multitude, they were happy. Now, you would
think, You would think that they would have a desire
for the good of the hearers to believe the gospel and to be
saved and to know God. But these folks, instead of being
interested in salvation and interested in God's glory, they weren't
filled with that. They were filled with what it
says there, envy. Envy. When they saw the crowd,
they said one to another, you know, we can't get a crowd like
that. They said to one another, you
know, if Paul and Barnabas stay here in this town and keep preaching
it, we're not going to have anybody in our synagogue. They're all
going to leave and go follow Paul. They were envious. They
were filled with envy and jealousy. They were about to lose their
job. They were about to lose their
congregation. And they got upset. So what did
they do? Not only filled with envy, their
heart was wicked. And out of the wicked heart,
they spake against those things spoken by Paul. Now, last week,
they heard Paul preach the gospel. And at that time, there was no
outward evidence that they were opposed to what Paul had said.
But here now, they've had a week to think about it. And I'm sure
as Paul was preaching and Barnabas was preaching during that week,
they were probably meeting too and saying that, you know, we
can't allow this to go on. Not at all. So they started speaking
against those things spoken by Paul. They started saying things
like, you know, well, Paul, he's a You know, he's a man that's
been run out of town. He's a man that's been run out
of Jewish religion. He was a Pharisee, and we had
to take that away from him. You know, he's just a no-count.
You can't believe anything he says. They not only began to
discredit Paul and discredit his ministry and the things that
he said, but they went further. They went further. They spoke
against Paul's Savior and God. It says they're not only speaking
against Paul and contradicting what he said, denying what he
said, but they spoke evil, blaspheming. Who did they blaspheme? The Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
They spoke evil. That's what that word means.
Belching out evil out of their heart. Out of the heart proceeds
evil thoughts. What's in the well of the heart
usually comes out through the bucket of the mouth. And that's
what happened right here. They spoke that evil that was
in their heart. They vented out evil against
God, against God's gospel, against God's servants. Well, what's
Paul going to do? Here we see again that he's confronted
with opposition. Is he going to quit? Is he going
to go home? Is he going to change his message?
Is he going to change his manners? Is he going to change his method?
Is he going to say, well, can't we just get along? Can't we agree
on some things and agree to disagree on other things? Can't we just
get along? He waxed bold. He was more than
bold to plainly speak the gospel of God's grace. And then he says
five things here. Five things. He says, first of
all, it was necessary. It was necessary that you be
confronted with the Word of God. It was necessary. And it is necessary
that the gospel be preached to the Jew first and also to the
Gentiles. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. The preaching of the
gospel, there is a necessity of preaching. God said so. Who
said so? Well, He does. Turn over here
to Romans 10. Romans chapter 10. That's why
we're so insistent upon every service when we meet to read
the Word of God, to study the Word of God, to teach the Word
of God. Romans 10. It's necessary. The gospel of
Christ is the power of God unto salvation. There must be a hearing
of that gospel. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing
what? Some nice story? Some experience
I had? know the word of God. Romans
10 verse 13, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? God has ordained the preaching
of the gospel to the salvation of His people. How shall they
preach except they be sent As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they've not obeyed the gospel,
as Isaiah said, who had believed our report. So then, faith comes
by the gospel. Faith comes by the gospel, and
the gospel is the word of truth. Faith comes by the message of
the gospel. And the message is the word of
God, the truth of God. There is a necessity of preaching
the gospel. Of his own will beget he us with
the word of truth. We're born again, not of the
corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible word of God. There has to be the word in the
new birth. There has to be a seed, and that
seed is the word of God. Secondly, he said this. back
in our text. First of all, he said, it was
necessary that the gospel be preached to you. First, it should
be spoken to you. But, he says, seeing that you
put it from yourselves, you just pushed it away. You pushed it
away. It was set right before you and
you pushed it away. He said, it's not for me. That's
what they said here. But seeing that you put it from
you, You put it from you. You cast it away. You rejected
it with contempt and with scorn. It reminds me of this scripture.
Turn to John 19. John 19 reminds me of this scripture. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But look at John 19. Then Pilate sought to release him.
Verse 12. John 19, 12. And the Jews cried
out, this same crowd, this same self-righteous crowd. They said
to Pilate, if you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend. You're not Caesar's servant.
Whosoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. That's
what they accused Christ of. You're the king? Yeah, I'm the
king. When Pilate, therefore, heard
that saying, he brought forth Jesus and sat down in the judgment
seat in a place that is called Phaedon, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of
the Passover, about the sixth hour, and he said to the Jews,
Behold your King! And they cried out, Away with
him! Away with him! Crucify him! And
Pilate said, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered
and said, We have no king but Caesar. They rejected the gospel. They cast it away from them with
scorn and contempt just as these folks did. You put it from you. Put it from you. And then he
says this in verse 46, And you judge yourselves. You judge yourself. You've brought judgment upon
your own house. You judge yourself unworthy of
everlasting life. You consider yourself to have
no need of a Savior, no need of a substitute, no need of a
sin offering before God, no need of a justifying righteousness,
no need to be saved by the grace of God. You condemn yourself
by rejecting the only hope that any sinner has is Christ. Don't
reject the gospel. Receive Christ as all your hope. And then he says this, fourthly,
he said, Lo, we turn. We turn from you self-righteous
Pharisees, you who are going about to establish your own righteousness. We're going to turn from you.
You see, God's preachers are not beggars. I don't beg you
to do something for God. I preach the gospel and I'm glad
if God gives you grace to believe it. I'm going to keep on preaching
it. But my friend, if you won't hear it, I'm going to find somebody
who will. I'm going to find, and that's
what he says here, Lo, we turn to sinners. I'm looking for a
sinner. Someone who's interested in hearing
the gospel. Someone who needs this Savior,
the Lord Jesus. We turn to sinners. You see,
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Does that describe you? Come
on now, let's shut right down to the cock. Is that you? Well, you know, I'm a pretty
good fella. Well, you know, I see worms crawling around on the
parking lot from time to time after rain. What's one worm compared
to another worm? Just a worm. That's all I am,
a worm. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. That's
all we are before God is sinners. Sinner. Sinner. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to save worms. That's right. Who needs a Savior? A worm. You know what it says
in Psalm 22? The Lord Jesus Christ calls Himself
a worm. You think about that. Here's
a God of glory became a worm to save this worm. He became
the sinner on Calvary's tree, having my sin put on Him, having
my sin in His own body. He said, no man and worm bearing
my sin. that He might show grace to those
His people. He came to save sinners. I'm
looking for a sinner who needs a Savior. And I'll point you
to Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, fifthly, verse
47, in Acts 13, So hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have
set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest
be for salvation. Christ is for salvation. He is
the light. He says that in John 8, 12, I
am the light. I'm the light of the world. He's
the only light of salvation. And what do we do as His servants? We hold forth Christ the light. And we tell sinners who in the
dark behold the light. Look to Christ. He is the light. He is the water. He is the bread. He is the door. He is the shepherd. He is all and in all in salvation. Look to Him. He is salvation. He is salvation. He is the only
Savior of sinners. See, my friend, this is a sinner's
gospel. This is for sinners. Well, that's what He said. God's
servants hold forth Christ. Christ in Him crucified. His
person. We've seen this in our study
of the book of Acts. Turn to Acts chapter 2 verse
36. Acts 2 verse 36. His person.
Acts 2 verse 36. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know with surely that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you crucified Lord and Christ. That's His person. He is Lord. He is the Messiah. He is the
Anointed. He is the Christ. And then they
declared His work. Neither is there salvation in
any other. In Acts 13, verse 38, this was
the closing statement of Paul's message. Be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sin. And by him all that believe are
justified from all things which could not be justified by the
law of Moses. We hold forth the light, salvation
by grace, and point sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look
at verse 48. When the Gentiles, when these
sinners heard this, that Christ is the light for sinners, that
Christ is the Savior for sinners, when the Gentiles heard that,
look what it says, they were glad. They were glad. Oh, I tell you, glad. And they
glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. When these who were made aware
of their sin, their need of salvation, how God purposed to send the
message to them, this good news to them, they were happy. They were made happy. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin through Christ. They had a desire to hear more
of that message. And it says, not only were they
glad, but they glorified the Word of the Lord. They glorified
Christ. They worshiped and honored the
Lord Jesus Christ, and they said in their heart, as Paul writes
to the Galatians, God forbid we should glory in any other
but the Lord Himself alone. They glorified the Lord by attributing
all of salvation to Christ, His person, and His glorious work. Now notice this statement here,
and this is a powerful, powerful statement. The last part of verse
48. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believe. Now this describes to us exactly
who's going to believe the gospel. It doesn't say as many as believe
the gospel were ordained. That's putting the cart before
the horse. As many as were ordained to eternal life. That's who's
going to believe the gospel of God's grace. Who believes? Those who are ordained. I want
you to underscore that phrase, as many as. And let's turn to
some scripture where it's used in other places. Turn to John
chapter 17. As many as. Who's going to believe
this gospel? Those ordained to life in Christ. John 17. Look at this here. Verse
2. As thou has given him power.
John 17 2. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him." That's who he's going to save, those
given to him in the covenant of grace. Now turn back to John
chapter 1, verse 12 and verse 13. John 1, verse 11 says, He came
unto His own, His own received Him not. Verse 12, But as many
as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name. Now why did they believe? Read the next verse. Which were
born, not of blood. They're talking here about natural
lineage or heritage. I'm not a believer. I'm not born
again because my daddy was a believer. Not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh. It wasn't my will that willed
myself to believe. Not of him that willeth or him
that runneth, but it's God that shows mercy. Nor the will of
man. Some man didn't will me in or
tell me that I'm born again. But we receive Christ, we believe
Him because we're born of God. As many as receive Him are those
who were born from above. Now turn to Acts chapter 2. Here's
another place for that, as many as. Acts chapter 2, verse 38. Acts 2, 38. And Peter
said to them, Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sin. Now, I'm not saying that baptism
is a reason for remission. That word F-O-R looks back to
Christ crucified. And you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you, to your children,
to all that are for us, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. How does He call? With the gospel. With the gospel. And then turn
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Look at this. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. And this word
there where it's used, ordained, is also the word appointed. 1
Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 9. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us. He has appointed us unto, to
obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, 2 Thessalonians
2, 13. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren. The love of the Lord. because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now look
back at the text, Acts 13. The Gentiles, when they heard
this good news of the gospel, God's purpose to save sinners
in Christ, they were glad, they glorified the word of the Lord,
and they believed. How is election known? How is
your election known? By your calling. God calls with
the gospel. That's how I know anything about
election. Beloved, knowing your election of God, for our gospel
came not to you in word only, but in power. and in the Holy
Spirit with much assurance. Believing the gospel is a miracle
of God's grace. Now, here's the rest of the story.
Verse 49, Acts 13. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. The word of truth was
published, preached, proclaimed. What a privilege and what a charge
and responsibility God has given us as believers to go on all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. So the word of the Lord was published
by these who believed the gospel. They went forth preaching this
message and being a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. But here's
this other crowd, verse 50. These unbelieving, self-righteous,
God-hating Jews stirred up some devout and honorable women. These
women, wives of the chief men of the city, some people think.
They got to these chief men of the city through these women.
And they raised persecution. They raised persecution against
Paul, against Barnabas, and they kicked them out of town. They
expelled them. Expelled them. I tell you what,
they could kick Paul and Barnabas and expel them out of the city,
but they could not expel salvation that God had wrought in the hearts
of His people and the influence upon their heart. You can kick
the messenger out, but you can't get to the message that's believed
in the heart. And that's what happened here.
They threw out Paul and Barnabas, and they, verse 51, they shook
off the dust of their feet as a witness against them. Remember,
we read how beautiful are the feet of them that bring the gospel
of peace. And here Paul shakes the dust
off his feet. You see, this gospel to them
wasn't a message that was beautiful and needful. They thought it
to be the dust. And Paul shakes off the dust
of his feet as a witness against them. Verse 52. and the disciples, even though
Paul left, even though Barnabas fell out of town, the disciples
were filled with joy. They had that joy in here. They
were the true circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, that
rejoice in Christ Jesus, that have no confidence in the flesh. They were still rejoicing in
this message of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells in the
heart and bears testimony to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The preachers were kicked out
of town and they went rejoicing. The newborn babes in Christ found
great joy believing and resting in Christ. Now you think about
this. What about that other crowd? They still were in bondage and
in sin, seeking salvation by the deeds of their hands. Still
in bondage to the law. What a contrast between those
believing, being filled with joy, and those who were groping
about in the darkness of legalism, dead works. Well, I pray the
Lord will bless that.