Now if you'll turn in your Bible
once again to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Let's read verse 1 together.
Now there were in the church that was located geographically,
this church was located at Antioch. Antioch. And there was in that
church certain prophets and teachers, and these five are mentioned
here, Barnabas, Simeon, that is called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Menaion, which had been brought up with Herod, and then old Saul,
Saul the apostle. When the Lord established this
local assembly, The church simply means those who were called out,
called out. And these called out by God's
grace, by the power of God and the irresistible Spirit of God,
they assembled together as a body of believers, and they formed
this local assembly here at Antioch. And God had blessed this ministry
in this local congregation with a number of gospel preachers.
We don't know who the pastor was at that time, but I'm sure
that God raised up a faithful man to preach and pastor that
church. Maybe one of these five men here
did pastor that church. We don't know, but it's a good
possibility. But God gave this church many
blessings. They were not only saved by God's
grace, but they had a generous giving spirit. You remember back
in chapter 11, turn back over there, chapter 11, verse 29. These here at Antioch, when they
heard about the brethren suffering in Jerusalem, they took up a
collection and they sent relief to the brethren in Jerusalem,
verse 11, verse chapter 11, rather, then the disciples, every man
according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren
which were in Jerusalem. So God blessed them with not
only a multitude of faithful gospel preachers, but God blessed
them with a generous, gracious spirit, a willingness to give
as the Lord had blessed them. And then God also gave them this.
He gave them a desire to go and support and to send out the gospel
in other places. They were so blessed with this
message of Christ and the gospel. They wanted others to hear in
the empire of Rome. They wanted others to hear of
this message that set them free, that gave them salvation in Christ. They wanted their family and
their friends who lived in other cities to hear the gospel. I want to foster that kind of
spirit, don't you? to go and preach the gospel in
other places and support those who do? And missionaries who
were called of God and sent of God? This church in Antioch had
become a preaching center, a place of worship. They had many blessings,
blessed of God. It was a place of worship, a
place of preaching, a place where the gospel was sounded out and
sent abroad. It was a place of worship, not
entertainment. It was a place of worship, not
dealing with social affairs. I'm sure they took care of those
who were in need. But it was a place known as a
place where the gospel was taught and preached and a place of worship. A place of worship. You remember
Saul and Barnabas spent one whole year there teaching and preaching
the gospel. You know, my prayer for us is
this. When someone mentions the ministry here, may it be said
of others that this is a place where the gospel is taught and
preached, and where we make much of the Word of God, and that
where we are interested in preaching the gospel not only here, but
preaching the gospel in other places, supporting the missionaries.
And may when others talk of us, as believers in Christ, that
they may recognize that this is a place of worship, not entertainment. I'm not interested in entertaining
folks, but a place of worship, a place of teaching and preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This congregation had
been blessed with a number of faithful gospel preachers who
had tasted of the Lord that he is gracious, who had the experience
of grace in their heart, who were gifted of God, blessed of
God, and had the ability to tell others of the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Some notable men here, Barnabas
and Paul the Apostle. Now notice, if you will, verse
2, as they ministered, that is, as they preached the gospel.
That's what a minister does. We are servants for Christ's
sake. As they ministered to the Lord. How do you minister to
the Lord? How do you serve the Lord? Well,
by serving one another. They preached the gospel to these
who were in need. They ministered. They were servants
of the Lord. And they were serious about what
they did. They fasted in sincerity, seeking
the Lord's will, seeking the Lord's message. And as they were
about God's business, doing the will of the Lord, about the service
of the Lord. The Holy Spirit said, somehow
this was impressed upon the minds of these who were believers,
the Holy Spirit made known, you separate unto me or you separate
for me these two men out of these five, Barnabas and Saul. for
the work whereinto I have called them." Maybe this church and
these brethren had been praying about preaching the gospel in
other places. Maybe they were seeking the will
of the Lord in this matter, don't you think, about preaching the
gospel? And as they prayed, the Holy
Spirit made it known that, here's the two men I've chosen to preach
the gospel in other places. And notice it says, For me, for
me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work. Preaching the gospel is
a labor. It's a labor. It's a labor of
love, but it is a work. It is a work. Whereunto I have
called them. Now notice here, the Spirit of
God, three distinct acts of the person of God, the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit is a person, not an it. It's a person. He is a person. Father, Son,
Holy Spirit. Notice, he says here, separate
for me. For me, that's a person. Whereunto
I have called them. Me and I. He's a person. And then he says this. He's speaking,
he's calling, and he's sending God's ministers with God's gospel
to preach the gospel in other places. Now, no man puts himself
into the ministry of the Lord. No man puts himself into the
ministry of the Lord. Now, some may put themselves
and call themselves ministers, But I'm saying that no man puts
himself in the ministry of the Lord but those who are called
of God and ordained of God. I never sought out one time,
one opportunity or ever asked to preach the gospel anywhere.
Never. God called me to the ministry. I tried to avoid it for many
years and couldn't. A man doesn't put himself in
the ministry. God calls and puts those in the
ministry. I never dreamed that I'd ever
be in a situation pastoring a church and preaching the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But this is the work that God
has done, and this is the work that God has called us unto.
You know, I refer to my ministry as a work. I often say, well, I go to work
at 8 o'clock or 7.30. Sometimes I come early and I
leave work at 4.30, 5 o'clock. And sometimes I'll be talking
to someone and say, well, I get home from work. I'll say to them,
well, I get home from work about 5 o'clock and they'll, they know
I'm a preacher and they know I pass it and they'll say to
me, where do you work? Well, today it was Romans chapter
9. Or Acts chapter 13. I mean, that's my ministry. That's
where I work, and that's where I labor in the Word, in the Gospel. And that's what God's ministers
do. They work, and they labor at
the labor of love, and that's what God has called us unto.
Preaching Christ and Him crucifying. Verse 3, now notice this. When
they had fasted and prayed, when they sought the widow of the
Lord, in this matter. And they fasted seriously about
and prayed long. They laid their hands on them,
that is Saul and Barnabas, and they sent them away. Now these
believers prayed with earnest zeal that God would bless their
efforts in preaching, that God would prosper them, that God
would give them success. And by the laying on of hands
here simply means that they recognized They recognized what God had
already done. It wasn't that they laid physically,
put their hand on and conferred any kind of... No, they recognized
what God had done. And they fully agreed with the
purpose of God. Recognized the gifts that God
had given them, and the Holy Spirit's calling them, and then
they supported them. And then it says there they sent
them away. Think about this. You think they
left Antioch with empty pockets? I don't think they did. I believe
they left there with the full support of this church. They prayed about it. The Holy
Spirit gave a witness. This is the will of God concerning
the gospel. They didn't leave town empty
handed or with empty pockets. They went with the full support.
of this church in Antioch. Don't you know that's so? And
it's a privilege to give to the ministry and support the ministry
and to support missionaries. We've done that here for 20 years.
We've done that here for 20 years and by His grace, I hope we can
continue to support those who preach the gospel in other places
and for the support of the ministry here. Notice, if you will, verse
4. So here they leave town, they
leave Antioch, Barnabas and Saul, on the mission that God had purposed,
the mission that God had called them to. Now, is it going to
be a success? Well, you know it's going to
be a success. So they're being sent forth. You can be sure if
they're sent forth of God, it's by purpose, and it will have
an impact. They departed from the coast
city, Seleucia, and they sailed to Cyprus. Now why did they choose
Cyprus? Well, there's a good indication
here. Turn to chapter 4. This man,
the last verse, or two verses in Acts chapter 4, this man Barnabas,
remember he sold everything? When he entered into the ministry,
he sold his house, he sold his land, he sold everything and
gave it to the church. In Acts chapter 4 verse 36, And
Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being
interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite, and of the country
of Cyprus, having land, sold it, brought the money, laid it
at the apostles' feet. So this man, he's going back
home. Go home and tell your friends,
your family, how great things God has done for you. So they
sail on to Cyprus. They sail to Cyprus, the home
country of Barnabas. It would be like me leaving here
and going back to Salt Lake City and preaching the gospel there
to my home city, my hometown where my family still resides. Now, verse 5, and when they sailed
to Salamis, they preached the Word of God. What were they going
to do? What were they sent to do? They
preached the Word of God. They preached the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, it's interesting where they started. They started
in the synagogue of the Jews. And that word synagogue simply
means assembly. They went to the assembly where
the Jews met, And they preached the word of God, and they had
also John Mark to their ministry. Now this was Paul's method of
preaching when he went to different places. Now notice, if you will,
in Acts chapter 13, he started right there at the headquarters
of religion. In Acts chapter 13, when he came
to Antioch in Pisidia, verse 14. Now this is a different Antioch
than Syria. This is Pisidia. He went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down, and after the
reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent
unto him, saying, Amen, and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation
for the people, say on. God opened up the door as they
were reading the law of God and the prophets of God, and then
They stood up, and I'm almost certain that they did this, they
began at that very scripture that was read, as Philip did
with the eunuch and priest unto them, Christ. Now we get a good
indication of the message in Acts chapter 13. In Acts chapter
13, verse 38, where it says they preached the word of God in the
synagogue of the Jews. Notice their message here. Acts
13, 38, Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin.
They preach redemption through Christ. By Him, underscore that,
by Him, by the Lord Jesus Christ, by His blood, by His atonement,
by Him all that believe are justified from all things which could not
be justified by the law of Moses. So they preach justification
by the grace of God through faith in Christ. That was their message. And that's our message. And the
message hasn't changed. Still the same. Christ and Him
crucified. Now, so here they're preaching
in the synagogue. Now look at verse 6. They're
in this city of Thalamus. Verse 6, And when they had gone
through this island, and they started on the east coast, and
they went through the island preaching the gospel, probably
several hundred miles from Salamis to this town of Paphos on the
other side of the island. And when they had gone through
the island under Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false
prophet, a Jew, whose name was Son of Joshua. Now when they
came, they met this man, much like Peter did with Simon Magus
in Acts chapter 8. It says of him here that he was
one who used trickery and magic to seduce and to con people. It says here of him that he was
a false prophet. He was a false prophet. It says
here that he was a Jew. He had a Jewish heritage and
I'm sure that he somehow incorporated enough Judaism and enough of
the law of Moses and he mixed that with his magic and he came
up with a potion and had the people under a spell. And he
was with this man, notice verse 7, he was with this man who was
the governor of the country. Evidently he was a personal advisor. He was a personal advisor to
the deputy of the country. Notice verse 7 says, which was
with the deputy. He served him in some capacity,
and his name, this governor, calls him here the deputy. He
was a Roman governor of this country of Cyprus, Sergius Paulus. He was a wise man who called
for Barnabas and Saul, and he desired, he had a desire to hear,
it doesn't say that he had a desire to hear from Paul. He had a desire
to hear from God. The Word of God. Now this is
a miracle. This is an absolute miracle.
By the marvelous, sovereign providence of God, this man had a desire
to hear the gospel. Now sinners don't naturally have
this desire. If you're sitting here today
and you have a desire to hear the Word of God, it's because
God put that in your heart. Naturally, you don't have that
desire. Men love darkness rather than the light. And this word
here, desire, means to seek after. It's a strong word. It means
to seek after. It means to crave. He had a craving. You ever have
that craving? Hunger? That's a strong craving,
isn't it? I mean, it's hard to suppress
it. And the only way you suppress that craving is you've got to
eat something, don't you? This man had a craving to feed
upon God. That is a miracle of grace. I
pray that craving for all of us, that desire for all of us.
Well, he called to hear the Word of God. So what's going to happen?
Well, look at verse 8. Here's a confrontation, a confrontation. The gospel and God's service
are confronted with this false prophet. This man, Eliamas, he's
the same man as mentioned in verse 6, son of Joshua. He was
plainly, he was a trickster. He was a slick willy. He's a
sorcerer. He withstood them. He got right
in the way. He said, you're not coming near
old Sergius Paulus. He's my meal ticket. He takes
care of me. I get money from him. And you're
not coming near him. Stop right there at the door.
He withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from Christ,
from faith. You know, that's what false prophets
do today. They would have you run after
anything and everything but the Lord Jesus Christ alone. They will withstand the gospel
and they will turn or try to turn away or divert your attention
to something else. False prophets today still oppose
the true gospel of God's grace. Did you know that? They did. When we talk about sin and depravity,
they'll talk about sin and depravity to an extent, but the false prophet,
they'll deny what we call total depravity, total ruin, and total
sin. They still withstand the gospel
of God's grace. They'll deny falling Adam and
ruining Adam. False prophets will now. We're
going to keep preaching it. Ruined in the fall. These false
prophets today still oppose not only total depravity, deity and
sin, but they also are opposed to God's electing grace, God's
sovereign grace. They say things like, well, you
know, every man has a chance. Well, is salvation by chance?
This book says that salvation is by the grace of God. They're
opposed to God's electing grace. He said, I claim that I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. So then it's not of him that
willeth or of him that runneth, but it's God that shows mercy.
The false prophets today are still against God's electing
grace. They still do not and will not
recognize that God is God, that He has a sovereign right to save
whom He will. False prophets hate that. Telling
you the truth. You confront them with them,
and they will stand you to the face. False prophets today not
only hate total depravity, not only hate God's electing grace,
but they also hate particular redemption. Go right on down.
They hate particular redemption. And I mean by that, the effectual
redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. They'll say things like,
well, you know, He died for all the sins of all men. That's a
lie. Scriptures don't teach that anywhere.
Finally, one scripture that said he died for all the sin of all
men everywhere of all time. It's not there. But I do read
this, and I mean by particular and effectual redemption, that
the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a representative man, representing
his covenant people. And when he died, representing
them as the high priest and the sacrifice appointed of God, he
justified those for whom he died with his blood. That's what we
call effectual, definite atonement, particular redemption. He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. We do not teach, and this book
does not teach, universal redemption. It teaches particular redemption. Jacob have I loved. Esau have
I hated. But prophets today still pose
God's redeeming blood. that's effectual to the elect
of God. They're still opposed to the
way of grace. They're still opposed to total
depravity. How about invincible call? The irresistible call of
God? Well, you know, God's trying
to save everybody. They just won't let Him. What kind of God is that? That's
a penitent God. If you can stop the will of Almighty God, you've
got a penitent God. He's not God. You're God. You see, false prophets today
oppose invincible, irresistible God. They oppose that, and the
Scriptures teach it plainly. No man can come to me. What does
that mean? No man can come to me except
the Father which sent me draw him. This man, Eliamas, was opposed
to that, just as every false prophet today is opposed to God's
invincible, call of God the Holy Spirit. You can't stop God. It's God who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace. You can't stop the hand of God,
the purpose of God. False prophets today are not
only against total depravity. I'm going right down to TULIP.
T-U-L-I-P. Do you know what TULIP is? Total depravity. Death and atonement. Irresistible grace. Limited atonement. Unconditional election. T-U-L-I-T. Perseverance is the last one.
Perseverance. Will the saints persevere? Will
they hold out? My friend, they're kept by the
power of God. They're eternally secure as Christ. How secure are the saints of
God? As secure as the Lord Jesus Christ is on the throne in glory. To kick a believer out You've
got to kick the Son of God off the throne. That ain't going
to happen. We're capped by the power of God. False prophets
hate that. They don't believe in perseverance
or preservation of the saints. Well, back to the story. What's
Paul going to do? Here he's got opposition. This
man withstood the message, denied the message, tried to keep Sergius
Paulus from the message. What's Paul going to do? Look
at verse 10. He said, or verse 9 rather, then
he said, then Paul, who then saw who is called Paul, filled
with the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him. What's he going
to do here? Is he going to compromise? Huh? That's what they do in religion
today, they just compromise. Is he going to quit? Go home? Why? It's too hard out there.
Let's just quit. Is he going to back down? How about this
one? Oh, let's just all get along.
You know, you're going your way, I'm going my way. We're all going
to end up in the same place. Let's just try to get along.
That's not what he did. You look at verse 10 carefully. This is an astonishing thing. Here's what Paul says, full of
the Holy Spirit. Here's what God, what should
be our attitude? The exact same attitude as Paul
had. And those who are full of God
and full of the Holy Spirit, they have the same exact attitude
toward those who foster and preach false gospels. Look what he says in verse 10.
You look at this carefully. He said, O fool of all subtlety,
all mischief, You're a child of Satan. You're a devil. You're a devil. You're an enemy. You're not a friend. You're an
enemy of all righteousness. You're a perverter. You're a
perverter of truth. You pervert it. You cease not
to pervert the right ways of the Lord. Now, that's a strong
statement. I mean, it's a powerful statement.
A powerful statement. God exposes this false prophet
and makes him a public example of the wrath and judgment of
God. First thing he calls him here, he says, you're a devil.
Remember what the Lord said in John 8 to those Pharisees? You
are of your father. They said, Abraham's our father. He said, you are of your father,
the devil, inspired by Satan. Full of all subtlety. Tricksters. This word also means
bait. He would hold out artificial
bait that suckers might come by and latch hold on it. Full of all subtlety. Full of
all mischief. And that word there means recklessness. Reckless. And then he says here,
you're an enemy. You're an enemy of all righteousness. You're an enemy to the righteousness
revealed in the gospel. And then he says here, you're
a perverter. You're a distorter. You've confused the grace of
God. Go over here to Galatians chapter 1. Remember what the
apostle said to those Galatians? There were some coming among
them and saying, well, you know, Christ is okay, but You need
to be circumcised to really be saved. You need to keep the law
to really be saved. And look what Paul says to them
here in Galatians chapter 1 verse 6, I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel, verse 7, Galatians 1 verse 7, which is
not another, but there would be some that would trouble you
and pervert the gospel of Christ. Though we or an angel from heaven
preach any other gospel unto you, than that which you have
preached, let him be, let him be." Oh, it's okay. You're okay. I'm okay. What's that word there? Damned. That's what it means. As we said before, I'm going
to say it again. If any man preach any other gospel
unto you, even if it's an angel from heaven, let him be anathema. See, my friend, it's the truth
that sets us free. He said you're a perverter of
the right ways of the Lord. You're an enemy, not a friend,
not a friend, an enemy of all unrighteousness. One old preacher
said false prophets are empty of all that is good and full
of that which is evil. That's true. Well, two things
happen in this story here. What's going to happen? Who's
going to win? What happens? Look at verse 11
and verse 12. Two things happen. Verse 11, the apostle says, Behold, the
hand of the Lord is upon you, you false prophet. You're going
to be blind. So blind, stone blind, that you're
not going to be able to see. And immediately there fell on
him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking someone
to lead him by the hand. Judgment fell on him immediately. The hand of God struck him blind. Here's the flip side. Two things
happened. The hand of the Lord condemned
one. The same hand of the Lord blessed
the other. Look at verse 12. And the deputy,
the deputy who had the desire to hear the word of God, heard
the word of God, saw the power of God. When he saw what was
done, believed. being astonished. He was astonished. God opened his eyes. He saw the
Lord Jesus Christ as all of his salvation. He was astonished
that he was a believer. Are you astonished that God would
give you that desire and cause you to hear the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ? That's astonishing to me that
I would be a believer of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He believed
the doctrine, the power of the Lord. Now you get a hold of this. The same almighty sovereign hand
condemned one and blessed the other. Here again we see the
example of God's sovereign saving grace. Condemned one, saved the other
by his grace. Don't you see that all the way
through the scripture? There was a Peter, there was a Judas,
there was a Jacob, there was an Esau, there was an Abel, there
was a Cain. All the way through the scripture,
God makes a distinguishing mark between his sheep and the goats. Turn to Acts 13, verse 48, and
I'll let you go. Acts 13, 48. Who's going to hear
and believe this gospel? When the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad, and they glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as, as many as, were ordained to eternal life, believe. Believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.