The Jerusalem Confession – part 1
Acts 15:1-35 (1-11)
November 25, 2012

As you know we have been studying through this book of Acts.
It is the record of how Christ built His church.

Well, one of the unique things about Christ as the builder is that He not only is responsible for adding bricks,
But for designing the structure as well.

He doesn’t just grow the church, He builds the church

And one thing we are sure of
Is that His sovereign hand is all over the church.

Nowhere is that more clearly seen
Than in His sovereign addition of the Gentiles to the church.

For example:
As we have studied this book we have looked at three different events
That we called Divine Appointments.

The first was Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
Now he was certainly a proselyte for he had come to Jerusalem to worship,
But a Gentile none the less, and God saved him.

Then we saw Ananias and Saul.
Now Saul was certainly a Jew, but saved for what purpose?
To be a spokesman to the Gentiles.

Then we saw Peter and Cornelius.
Cornelius was a Gentile, but also a “God-fearer” which meant
He adhered to all Jewish thought, but had not been circumcised.

But we have continually seen the sovereign hand of God
Literally push His church in the direction of the Gentiles.
(That was certainly seen during that first missionary journey)

In fact when Paul and Barnabas returned, we heard their testimony.
Acts 14:27 “When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”

It really isn’t hard to detect what God has been up to.
He is saving Gentiles according to His sovereign will.

And so Christ is building His church with both Jewish and Gentile bricks.

BUT CHRIST ALSO DESIGNS THE CHURCH.
He also determines how she looks and operates.
And that is one thing that becomes apparent in our text here tonight.

We get to see the sovereign hand of God direct the doctrine of the church.

Now you may not realize it, but this is really
A very important chapter in your Bible.

I know that as Baptists we pride ourselves in being “People of the book”
• We like to claim that we simply believe Scripture.
• It is our guide
• It is where we go for all our answers

And certainly we strive to do that in all things.

But it might shock you if I told you that your faith
Rests on more than just the Bible.

Our faith not only rests on the word of God,
But on the consensus of what God’s word means.

Let me put that another way.
We don’t just believe what Scripture says,
We believe what Scripture means.

How do we know what Scripture means?
Well, it is the Holy Spirit who interprets Scripture for us.

1 Corinthians 2:10-13 “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

2 Peter 1:19-21 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

So it isn’t just us reading the Scripture,
But us having the Scripture revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

In order to help us do that, God has granted to us tremendous gifts.
One of those is obviously the Holy Spirit,
Of whom every believer is a partaker.

Every believer gains his understanding of Scripture from the Holy Spirit.

BUT WE DON’T GET ALL OF OUR UNDERSTANDING
DIRECTLY FROM HIM.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

Well, let’s suppose you go home and read Acts 16 to get a head start in our study and in verse 3 you read that Paul circumcised Timothy.

(That will seem strange after the fight of chapter 15,
Not to force Gentiles to be circumcised)

But you read that and wonder, why?
What does that mean?

In order to find out you should pray and ask the Holy Spirit.
But is that all you will do?

No, some of you will come and ask me.
Some of you will go and read a commentary.

WHY?
(Is it because you are giving up on the Holy Spirit?)

No, it’s because this is also how the Holy Spirit works.
Ephesians 4:11-13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

It is the Holy Spirit who gifts men to be able to understand
And explain and apply and proclaim the word of God to us.

It is still the Spirit, He just does it through us.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THIS?

That means your faith doesn’t just rest on
What you go home and read in the Bible in a closet.

Your faith also rests on what Spirit-filled men of God
Have taught you in regard to what the Scripture means.

Our faith not only rests on the word of God,
But on the consensus of what God’s word means.
This is in essence what Paul meant with statements like this:
1 Corinthians 11:2 “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.”
2 Thessalonians 2:15 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”

Paul didn’t just point the churches to the Scriptures,
He pointed them also to the traditional belief of the church
Which was gleaned from studying the Scriptures.

Now, whether you realize it or not, you and I benefit greatly from this.

Most church historians recognize at least 7 ecumenical councils
Which shaped what is considered to be orthodox Christian doctrine.

The first would have been the Nicene Creed.
“I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.”

From that some still argued how Christ could be both God and man.
This eventually led to the “Chalcedonian Definition”

stating that “…Jesus Christ is one and the same Son; the same perfect in Godhead and the same perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man…”

And there were others.

But the point is that throughout history men have read the Bible
And come to different conclusions as to what it said.

But Spirit-filled men of God studied the Scriptures,
Sought God’s wisdom, and laid down for us
What is true doctrine and what is false.

These men helped solidify the church’s belief as to what the Bible means.
And everything else was considered heresy.

For example:
• The Council of Nicea said anyone who denies the deity of Jesus is a heretic.
• The Chalcedonian Definition says that anyone who denies the hyper static union is a heretic.

And that has guided and protected
The true doctrine of the church for generations.

Your faith rests on more than what you have learned
Directly from the Holy Spirit.
Your faith also rests on what other gifted, Spirit-filled men have learned.
Now I tell you that, because tonight we study the first ever church council.
We study the first time that believers gathered together
To determine what the official doctrine of the church would be.

Their decision (led by the Holy Spirit) would
• Shape the direction of the church
• Solidify the doctrine of the church
• Separate what is true from what is heretical

This was an important council.

AND WHAT DOCTRINE WAS DEBATED AT THIS COUNCIL?
Whether or not salvation was obtained by grace through faith,
Or if it was obtained by works.

And this is just one of those areas in which Jesus Christ,
By the power of His Spirit, through His people,
Would continue to build and design His church.

This is a very important chapter.

So tonight let’s begin to work our way through it.
#1 THE DISAGREEMENT
Acts 15:1-5

At this point you know that we have a predominantly Gentile church in Antioch and it is thriving.

We already saw back in chapter 13
• How they loved the word of God,
• How they genuinely worshiped God,
• How they submitted to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

We saw that they were a missionary church
And one that rejoiced at the growth of the kingdom.
The church in Antioch was a great church.

And so it was only a matter of time before Satan attacked.

(1) “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the customs of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Not only where they upholding a works-based salvation,
But they were also indicating that
None of these uncircumcised Gentiles at Antioch were yet saved.

• Forget that they already had the Holy Spirit…
• Forget that they had already been walking in submission to Him…
• Forget that they had a love for truth…
• Forget that they had a love for the lost…
• Forget that they had left paganism to worship Jesus Christ…

These men came down and indicated that despite all that,
They were still not saved.

The implications of this are huge.

THIS MESSAGE RAN THE RISK OF WRECKING THE ANTIOCH CHURCH.

In fact later in the chapter when the church in Jerusalem responded
With a church to Antioch they wrote:
Acts 15:24 “Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,”

This message literally unsettled the souls of these new Gentile believers.
In short they began to doubt their salvation.

The believers at Antioch had believed they were forgiven and saved from God’s wrath, now to find out that this may not have been the case at all.

You can only imagine the fall out here.

And so naturally Paul quickly rose to their defense.
(2) “And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.”

We’ll get into in a little more detail later,
But for now it suffices to see that Paul had “great dissension and debate”

Paul didn’t agree with their assertion one little bit.
He did not hold to their works-based doctrine of salvation
And he challenged them head on.

However, their argument was compelling enough that instead of just dismissing these men from Judea, notice what the church did.

“the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning the issue.”

This was a serious debate, and these Gentiles wanted to know.

And so what we have here is literally a debate that threatened
Not only to wreck the church, but to split it right down the middle.

See, you had Jews who always believed
That Judaism was paramount to salvation.

And they didn’t have any problem with Gentile salvation
So long as they first became Jewish.

But here we had Gentiles claiming salvation,
And skipping over Judaism to acquire it.

No doubt, the fear among Jews is that their traditional way of life would somehow be lost in the mix, and they were fighting to keep it.

But the debate was on.
And Paul and Barnabas and others are off to Jerusalem to settle the issue.

Now I do like Paul’s journey to Jerusalem.
(3-4) “Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.”

Paul really sounds confused doesn’t he?

The debate is supposed to be that these Gentiles aren’t yet saved
Because they aren’t yet circumcised.

But that didn’t stop Paul from stopping in every town on the way
To share about God’s salvation of the Gentiles.

And perhaps it was Paul’s zeal to speak of Gentile salvation
That caused the issue to flare up again in Jerusalem.

(5) “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

Now there is a similar argument,
But I want you to notice a bit of a difference.

The first group had said back in verse 1, “Unless you are circumcised…you cannot be saved.”

I think we can assume that those men
Were for the most part indifferent to Jesus.

It doesn’t appear that they minded people following Jesus,
They just wanted to keep the focus on Judaism.

But this group is different.
• They were a “sect of the Pharisees” which says a lot.
• But they also “had believed”

These men were saved and yet they said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

We can probably classify the original group as non-believers.
And we can classify this group as weak believers.

They are similar to those weak believers we find in Romans 14
Who think you can be saved but must still honor one day above another,
Who think you can be saved but still must maintain a certain dietary restriction.

The danger is that the weak faith of these believers
Had united with the unbelief of the Judaizers
And it has put the church at a dangerous cross-roads.

At the heart of the discussion was: SALVATION
What is required for a man to be saved?

And to answer the question the council of Jerusalem is about to convene.

The Disagreement
#2 THE DEBATE
Acts 15:6-21

Now we won’t make it all the way through this section tonight,
But quickly let me point out to you what we see.

Now first it is important once again to notice
How the church handled this matter.
(6) “The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.”

This issue was not opened up for a church-wide debate.
They didn’t take a majority vote among the people.

The spiritual leaders of the church convened
To determine what God’s will was on the matter.

The rest of the congregation isn’t involved until verse 22,
When the decision of this council has been reached.

And even then the only part the rest of the congregation has in the matter
Is to determine who goes, not what the verdict is.

This was how the early church handled doctrinal issues.
It was left up to the spiritual leaders to come to a consensus of God’s will.
And in this debate, it would be nice if we had a transcript,
But Luke gives us the responses from three people.
Peter’s Reaction
Paul’s Recollection
James’ Recommendation

All three of these apostles weigh in, and all are vitally important.
• Peter’s response is based on experience and belief.
• Paul’s response is based upon God’s activity.
• James’ response is based upon God’s word.
(all three of these matter in discerning God’s will on the subject)

Well, let’s get into Peter’s Reaction

And according to Peter, there are three problems
With seeking to force the Gentiles to be circumcised.

1) CIRCUMCISION IGNORES GOD (7-9)

Now you will see that this council began with “much debate”.
There was no obvious answer for them.

After all, those who held to the necessity of circumcision had a wealth of Old Testament Scriptures to support their view, but one would be hard-pressed to find a verse that said circumcision wasn’t important.

This was an intense debate.

And then Peter stands and starts his reasoning.

And Peter’s first point is that requiring circumcision ignores God.
How?

Well look at what Peter remembers.

GOD CHOSE GENTILES
(7) “After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.”

And we certainly remember that.
• Peter didn’t choose the Gentiles.
• The Jerusalem church didn’t choose the Gentiles.

It was God who sent Peter to Cornelius.
Peter didn’t even want to go, and God had to convince him.

There was only One who wanted Gentiles saved, and that was God.
GOD CONSECRATED GENTILES
(8) “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;”

God has a unique and special way of setting apart those who are His.

WHAT IS THAT METHOD?
He gives them His Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:9 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
And Peter said, God gave them the Holy Spirit.

GOD CLEANSED GENTILES
(9) “and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.”

Not only did God choose them and consecrate them,
God also cleansed them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

A mark of a genuine believer is the process of sanctification in their lives.
These Gentiles had left pagan lifestyles filled with idolatry to walk in righteousness and serve Jesus Christ.

God did that in their lives.

And this is Peter’s point.

God Chose them, God Consecrated them, God Cleansed them
And all of that without ever circumcising them.

To come in now and declare the necessity of circumcision
Completely ignores all that God has already done in their lives.

• Was God’s choosing and consecration and cleansing all for nothing?
• Did God accomplish nothing by this?

By coming in now, you ignore the obvious work
God has already accomplished.

Circumcision ignores God
2) CIRCUMCISION TESTS GOD (10)

Now that is really an interesting statement.
Peter directly confronts his opponents.

“Now therefore why do you put God to the test..?”

I think we all know the implications and problems of this.
Namely you aren’t supposed to put God to the test.

Matthew 4:5-7 “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’; and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'”

Hebrews 3:8-10 “DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’;

You don’t test God.
You don’t push Him to prove Himself to you.

Jesus preached that “an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign”

And yet Peter says that these people,
By enforcing circumcision were testing God.

“by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear”

HOW WAS REQUIRING CIRCUMCISION PUTTING GOD TO THE TEST?

By ignoring God’s obvious work and now requiring their own conditions
They were calling into question the effectiveness of God’s salvation.

Remember the Israelites?
Exodus 17:1-2 “Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?”

Then after Moses brought water from the rock
Exodus 17:7 “He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?”
They called into question the REALITY or GENUINENESS or EFFECTIVENESS of God’s salvation.

And that is what these Judaizers and this sect of Pharisees had done.

They completely ignored God’s salvation, called it into question
And then declared that more was needed.
WHO WERE THEY TO CHALLENGE GOD’S SALVATION?

Furthermore you are requiring something of them
That we couldn’t even live up to.

You are completely overlooking God’s work and enforcing your own.

Circumcision Ignores God, Circumcision Tests God
3) CIRCUMCISION MINIMIZES GOD (11)

And there is Peter’s complete and total doctrine in regard to salvation.

“We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

Peter says, “We aren’t saved by our works, we aren’t saved by our efforts, We were saved by grace.

• Which one of you earned God’s favor?
• Which one of you achieved righteousness on your own?

The only reason you are saved is not because
Circumcision earned you the right to be saved,
It is because God was gracious to you.

You didn’t atone for your sin, Christ did.
You didn’t satisfy God’s righteous requirement, Christ did.
He graciously granted you salvation when you did not deserve it.

Peter’s question now is, “Do you think God saves us by grace and them by works?”
And the answer is obviously no.

But see, to require circumcision is to minimize the grace of God.

And there really is a lot more to say about this,
But we’ll have to get to it next time.
I don’t want to short cut over Peter’s main point.

But tonight, I want you to see how the church handled doctrine,
And that their decisions were so important for us.

It was these Spirit-filled men who saved this precious truth for us.
And now, it requires Spirit-filled men to preserve it.

But we’ll have to continue on with this next time.

 

This was in essence what Paul wrote to the Galatians who were most affected by this heresy.

You will remember in the second chapter of that letter Paul recounted an argument he had with Peter over Peter’s inconsistency regarding this issue.

It ended with Paul saying this:
Galatians 2:15-16 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

And then Paul said:
Galatians 2:20-21 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

See, to trust in works is to nullify grace, it is to minimize the power of grace to save.

It is to say grace is good, but not good enough.
It is to say Jesus paid a lot of it, but not quite all of it.

And that is what these men were doing, they were minimizing the power of grace.

We sing that grace is amazing and rightly so.
We sing that grace is marvelous, infinite, matchless
We sing that grace exceeds our sin and our guilt

Don’t nullify it.

Paul will go on in his letter.

Galatians 5:2-6 “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”

There again Paul is saying seeking to work for it is to disregard the power of the grace that was offered.

And this is Peter’s argument.

To push for circumcision on these Gentiles is
To Ignore God’s work,
To Question the effectiveness of God’s gospel,
And to minimize God’s role in salvation.

Why would you do that?

Now, there is obviously a whole lot more to be learned from this council, but I hope you see the tremendous fight that occurred to secure a salvation for us that was void of all human effort.

This was an important event, hopefully we’ll conclude it next time.

Opposition & Open Doors
Acts 14:1-28
November 11, 2012

As you know, we are still studying
The first missionary journey of the apostle Paul.

God had chosen Paul as His minister to the Gentiles
And that ministry is underway.

And we have seen God’s sovereign prerogative
To select the Gentiles for salvation.

As we have noted several times already,
Gentiles weren’t saved because the Jews so badly wanted it.
Gentiles were saved because God wanted it.

This is still evident tonight as we close out this first missionary journey.

We are going to look at the entire chapter,
Because through this chapter Luke is making two distinct points.

(VERSE 27) “When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”
1) HOW GOD USED US
2) HOW GOD OPENED A DOOR FOR US FOR THE GENTILES

By the way, both of those concepts emphasize the sovereignty of God.
And both of those concepts are very important to us.

First Paul wants them to know how God used them.
It is not how we used God…
It is not how God helped us fulfill our mission…

Paul and Barnabas wish to make it known
How God used them to fulfill His mission.

He is the One with the plan,
We are merely tools in His hands to accomplish His purposes.

We are also familiar with the concept of open doors.

Revelation 3:7 calls Jesus: “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens,”

And in that regard, Jesus says to the church at Philadelphia
Revelation 3:8 “I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”
We understand the “open door” / “closed door” concept.

The idea is that there are insurmountable barriers to our mission.
There are WALLS we can’t climb, there are VALLEYS we can’t cross,
There are BURDENS we can’t move.

We understand that the work of missions and evangelism
Is a spiritual battle against an extremely crafty foe.

In fact Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

We also know that man is spiritually dead
And unable to come to Christ on his own.

I’ve always thought the best picture of this is the story of Lazarus.
Here was a dead man in a tomb, unable to hear the voices weeping for him.

But when the voice of Jesus told him to come out of the tomb,
He was able to immerge.

It takes the work of God to accomplish these things.
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

And that is where we get our “open door / closed door” theology.
If God opens a door, we step through it and seize our opportunity.
If God does not open a door, we move on, recognizing our inability to force it open.

And this isn’t bad theology.

Paul actually said:
Colossians 4:2-3 “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;”

Paul recognized that apart from the intervention of God,
His ministry was dead in the water.

It really links back to Jesus’ statement about being the vine
And we the branches, saying, “apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

We understand the necessity of God’s intervention
To open doors if men are to be saved.

In this chapter Luke wants you to know how God used Paul & Barnabas
And how God opened doors for them.
And so tonight as we study the end of this first journey,
I want us to walk through the text and see the hand of God at work.

5 things God supplied to Paul and Barnabas to enable them fulfill His mission.
#1 HE GAVE BOLDNESS IN ICONIUM
Acts 14:1-7

• You remember that this mission started out with Paul, Barnabas and Mark all sailing to Cyprus where Paul saw the salvation of the proconsul after silencing the false prophet Bar-Jesus.

• And from there they traveled up to Pisidian Antioch where we just heard Paul preach an inspiring message in the synagogue and saw many Gentiles be saved.

Now Paul and Barnabas have traveled to Iconium.

Iconium was about 80 miles SE of Pisidian Antioch and when they got there, “they entered the synagogue of the Jews together”

Paul had just revealed that he was turning to the Gentiles,
But as you can see he never completely gave up on the Jews.

And that is a good thing, for in Iconium they “spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks.”

So, there were some Jews who were saved.

And then this is where the boldness comes in.
(2-3) “But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren. Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.”

While some Jews were saved, some remained militant.
They actually “embittered” the Gentiles against “the brethren”

“embittered” comes from a word that actually means “poisoned”
They completely turned the crowds against Paul and Barnabas.

But, notice their response.
“they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord”

Instead of retreating, instead of becoming timid,
Paul and Barnabas stepped up the plate and stood for the truth.

And this boldness came from who?
“the Lord”

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

God gave this.
1 Thessalonians 2:2 “but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”

Philippians 1:19-20 “for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”

And this even explains why Paul told others
To pray that he would have boldness.

Ephesians 6:19-20 “and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
He knew his boldness came from God.

God was also “granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.”

This was certainly meant to give credence to their message.

But the main thing you see is that God wanted to use them to preach the gospel, and in order to do that He gave them boldness.

So they preached, and then the town became really rough:
(4-7) “But the people of the city were divided; and some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to stone them, they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region; and there they continued to preach the gospel.”

They boldly preached and when an assassination attempt became known
They moved on to another region.

This, by the way, is not cowardice.
Matthew 10:22-23 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.”

It wasn’t cowardice this is one of the ways in which God OPENS DOORS.
What was it that got the gospel out of Jerusalem to begin with?
Persecution

So already we see God using these men,
And God opening doors for them.

So God gave them boldness in Iconium.
#2 HE GAVE CONVICTION IN LYSTRA
Acts 14:8-18

So now Paul and Barnabas have moved on,
But they have not stopped preaching the gospel.

And here, they are met with another interesting catalyst.
(8-10) “At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.”

This was nothing short of a miracle worked at the hands of Paul.
God had granted him the ability to perform the signs of an apostle
And that is what he did.

The reason Luke specifically includes this miracle
Is because of the confusion it produces.

(11-13) “When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.”

So Paul works a miracle and the crowd completely misinterprets it.
They think Barnabas is Zeus and Paul is Hermes
And they are so convinced that they priest of the temple
Wants to actually come and sacrifice to them.

But once again, although not ideal, this is God opening a door.
You may not realize it, but the crowds misconception actually allows Paul the opportunity to preach the gospel as a correction to their behavior.

And as God opens the door, He also supplies Paul with conviction.

the conviction clearly seen in Paul is
• The conviction that God alone should be worshiped,
• That Jesus Christ alone can save,
Paul was so convinced of this, that he didn’t even let a flattering event like this change his message.

But God had supplied Paul with conviction
And he took the open door afforded by their ignorance
And once again stood to preach the gospel.

(14-15a) “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you,”

Paul adamantly opposed their gesture and made no bones about it.
He then preached.

Now, unlike at Iconium, here we actually know what Paul preached.
“and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

Paul sermon is clear, convicting, and to the point.
1) ABANDON IDOLS
2) EMBRACE THE TRUE GOD
A. He is Creator
B. He is Sovereign
C. He is Gracious

God made everything and should be worshiped by you.
Now He hasn’t judged you yet for your willingness to give His glory to images,
But rest assured He isn’t ok with it either.

That is why He has continually left a witness for you,
By doing good for you and giving you rains and harvest.

God wants you to turn from idols and worship Him.

And again, it wasn’t a message that was completely received.

(18) “Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.”

But the point is that God had given Paul a conviction to preach to this pagan crowd, and even opened a door for him to do so.

It may not have been an ideal door, but it was an open door none the less.
He gave boldness in Iconium He gave conviction in Lystra
#3 HE GAVE ENDURANCE IN DERBE
Acts 14:19-20

Now this is without a doubt a difficult truth to swallow.

Paul has been faithful to preach God’s message without hesitation.
• He has confronted false prophets…
• He has confronted hateful Jews…
• He has confronted mindless pagans…

And now he is confronting tremendous hostility.

(19) “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.”

I guess that helps us understand just what type of opposition
Paul was facing in Pisidian Antioch and in Iconium.

These weren’t people who apparently could agree to disagree.
These Jews came and somehow won the crowds
And succeeded in getting Paul stoned.

This is enormous hostility.
• Paul was just hit with rocks until they thought he was dead.
• He had to be tremendously broken and tremendously bruised and bloodied.

And then, out of complete disrespect
They just tossed his body outside of the city.

At this point, we would be awaiting our care-flight home.

But notice what God must have provided.
(20) “But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe.”

I have no difficulty in seeing a miracle here that Paul was able to get up.
I would almost have to think bones should have been broken,
And so to get up must have been a miracle.

But beyond that, look at what Paul did.
He “entered the city”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Paul was no quitter, he had endurance from God.

And then, “The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe.”

“The next day”!?
• Derbe was 40 miles.

Could you really be stoned on one day, left for dead,
And then make a 40 mile walk the very next day.

That is what we call ENDURANCE

Paul would later command Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

And I think Paul certainly modeled it here.

He had endurance.
God undoubtedly supplied it.

And by the way, his endurance paid off.
Look at verse 21, “After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples…”

God gave him the endurance he needed to continue on in the journey
And people were saved as a result.

He gave boldness in Iconium He gave conviction in Lystra
He gave endurance in Derbe
#4 HE GAVE COURAGE TO RETURN
Acts 14:21-23

This is another aspect of the story that I find tremendously fascinating.

• It is one thing to boldly confront Bar-Jesus when he is trying to deceive…
• It is one thing to debate Jews who are blaspheming in Antioch…
• It is one thing to preach to embittered crowds in Iconium…
• It is one thing to correct confused crowds in Lystra…
But you just got stoned.

It was Jews from Antioch and Jews from Iconium, and it happened in Lystra, and now you are going to return to all of those places?

That is exactly what they did.

You and I fully understand that this was courage,
And it could have only come from the hand of God.

God undoubtedly gave Paul and Barnabas the courage
To return to those places of hostility.

But beyond that I also want you to see the door that God opened.

Because we saw the aggression of the Jews from Antioch and Iconium,
We obviously know what it must have been like
To be a Christian in those towns.

It could not have been easy to be a new Christian convert in those areas.
These new churches had a tough row to hoe.

And so Paul comes to deliver them a message:
(21b-22) “they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

He wanted to deliver a message encouraging them
To endure tribulation for the sake of the kingdom.

But I want you to understand, not just anyone can go into a persecuted area
And tell those who are suffering that endurance is necessary.

Why would they listen to Paul to endure tribulation?
God opened a door of opportunity.

WHAT DID THAT DOOR LOOK LIKE?
Stones in Lystra

That stoning must have been awful, but it did open a door
To be able to effectively encourage other believers.

God not only granted Paul courage to return,
But also granted him an opportunity
To encourage believers in a difficult region.

You will also notice that Paul did more than simply encourage them, he established them.

(23) “When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

I know that our prior conversations about being elder led stirred up quite a bit of controversy around here, and rest assured I’m not doing anything right now.

But it is important that we all recognize what Scripture clearly says.
Every church had “elders”, and those “elders” were appointed.
(Actually appointed by God and revealed through prayer and fasting)

There was no pulpit committee
There was no majority vote

And this was the norm for the early church.

Titus 1:4-5 “To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,”

But the point is that God gave courage to Paul
And at the same time gave him credibility and an open door through the stoning he endured.

He gave boldness in Iconium He gave conviction in Lystra
He gave endurance in Derbe He gave courage to return
#5 HE GAVE PERSPECTIVE IN ANTIOCH
Acts 14:24-28

The first mission trip is over.

Paul would preach in Perga on the way home
And then sail from Attalia back to Antioch which was their home church.

And verse 27 is the verse that really gives us understanding.

(27) “When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”

Now this is what we call perspective.

We know what occurred on this trip.
• Opposed by Bar-Jesus in Cyprus
• Argued with blaspheming Jews in Pisidian Antioch
• Confronted an embittered mob in Iconium
• Corrected confused pagans in Lystra
• Ultimately stoned in Lystra

And yet Paul and Barnabas come back and report
How God used them and what open doors they had.

WOULD YOU HAVE CALLED THOSE THINGS OPEN DOORS?
Would you have looked at all the opposition they faced and seen it as opportunities?
I’m not sure I would have.
(but they were)

• It was stubbornness in Antioch that first led Paul to push to the Gentiles.
• It was opposition in Iconium that gave Paul opportunity to publicly address them.
• It was confusion in Lystra that gave Paul opportunity to preach the gospel.
• It was the stoning in Lystra that gave Paul opportunity to encourage the brethren.

They saw all that happened as open doors.
That is tremendous perspective that God had given them.

It reminds me of Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
Paul is writing from prison.

Philippians 1:12-14 “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”

Let me give you another example of an open door:
Galatians 4:12-14 “I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.”

Or how about the island of Malta?
• Paul arrived there after being shipwrecked.
• Paul received credibility after a snake bite failed to injure him.

Are those things really open doors?
Yes they are.

The point that we see at the end of this missionary journey is that God was working to bring about the salvation of the Gentiles.

And He did it by giving boldness and courage and conviction to preach.
He also did it by using opposition to open doors for more ministry.

And because Paul and Barnabas were interested in being used by God,
They were able to see that the struggles they faced
Were not indicators of divine displeasure,
But rather ways in which God was granting them opportunity
To speak to people they would not have otherwise been able to speak to.

• Do you suppose the Gentiles ever get word that they have been selected by God, if the Jews in Antioch don’t first resist?

• Do you suppose the priest of Zeus’s temple ever hears the sermon of Paul if the crowd does not first misidentify Paul and Barnabas?

• Do you suppose the believers in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch would have been as apt to listen to Paul to tell them to endure tribulation if had traveled unscathed?

God was working.
He was using opposition to open doors,
So that He could use apostles to preach the gospel.

If nothing else tonight it helps us understand
That God may be opening more doors in our lives for ministry
Than we at first thought..

That is why after revealing that his imprisonment had actually furthered the kingdom, Paul gave this encouragement to the Philippians:

Philippians 1:27-30 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

And so we hear his encouragement
And look for open doors in our ministry,
Even ones that we did not originally see as open doors.

God’s Choice of the Gentiles
Acts 13:42-52
November 4, 2012

One of the things we often hear in regard to the nation of Israel
Is that they are “God’s Chosen People”

In fact we even read last week as we looked at Paul’s sermon:
Acts 13:17 “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.”

And it is really not surprising to us any time
We refer to Israel as God’s chosen people.
That is a term that we have grown to be familiar with.

However, what has become a somewhat shocking truth
Is to realize that God still operates the very same way today.

It is amazing to me that people can readily admit that God chose Israel
And then balk at the fact that God still chooses men and women today.

And yet Jesus clearly taught us:
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

He even told His disciples:
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

Now granted many would read that verse and say, “Well Jesus chose them to be His disciples, but their salvation was their free choice.”

And this notion exists today.
If I were to ask you if you want to be a preacher, or a missionary, or a worship leader, almost everyone throughout the Baptist world would say, “Well God must call you to do that. You don’t just choose it for yourself.”

People recognize that God must call to the ministry,
But dismiss the fact that God must also call for men to be saved.

God is sovereign, and He is sovereign over salvation.
• He was the One who chose Israel.
• He was the One who chose the disciples.
• He is the One who chooses believers even today.

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

And I remind you of this point heading into our text tonight
Because I want you to see a very specific incident
That reveals that Israel is not the only people God ever chose.

We readily admit that God chose Israel, and then many stop short of saying God chose Gentiles as well, but He did.

As I told you last week, God is working to save Gentiles.
The Cornelius encounter proved that.

Neither Peter, nor Cornelius had any real interest in the other,
But God orchestrated that meeting in order to pour His Spirit out upon Gentiles.

But even after that event,
We did not see the church get too enthused about saving Gentiles.
• They went out and preached to Jews only.
• Even the church in Antioch, when they sent out Paul and Barnabas saw them
go only to the synagogues to preach.

But God had a different plan in mind.

Now, I know that the sovereignty issue can be tough to swallow.

In fact, TURN TO: ROMANS 9:10-18

This may be one of the most difficult truths to swallow in Scripture.

You are aware in this passage that Paul is dealing with Israel and God’s plan for them.

By the time we get to chapter 11, we will see Israel returning to God,
But chapter 9 is all about their rejection of God and His rejection of them.

And what we learn is that Israel’s rejection
Was according to the sovereign choice of God.

And to prove that Paul started with a little illustration from their history where God had done this sort of thing before.

(VERSES 10-13)
• It wasn’t Jacob and Esau who chose first, God did.
• The sovereign God set the order.
• The sovereign God made the choice.

And what is man’s initial response to this?
(VERSE 14)

And verses 15 & 16 explain why God is not unjust in doing this.

God is not unjust because neither Jacob nor Esau
Deserved deliverance to begin with.

It wasn’t unjust that God hated Esau.
(God was well within His holy prerogative to do that)
It was merciful that God loved Jacob.

And then Paul gives another example
(VERSES 17-18)

God does in fact choose who is saved.
You can argue if you want, but you will be arguing with Scripture.

Now I say that because I want to take us back now to Acts 13
And reinforce this truth.

Namely that Israel isn’t the only people God ever chose.
In fact the reason Gentiles are saved is because God also chose them.

There are 3 things I want you to see tonight.
#1 THE RESPONSE, IN SPITE OF TIME
Acts 13:42-43

Hopefully you remember what transpired in the previous verses.

• Traveled to Pisidian Antioch and entered the synagogue
• God opened a door for Paul to preach
• Paul preached an encouraging and uplifting sermon (mercy and patience of God)

We saw God’s Providence
• To choose Israel,
• To multiply Israel,
• To deliver Israel from Egypt,
• To tolerate Israel in the wilderness,
• To settle Israel in the promised land.

We saw God’s Deliverance
• To give Judges over and over,
• To give a king,
• To then give King David,
• To eventually give the King of Kings; the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

God was continually merciful and patient with disobedient Israel.

And even when Israel killed God’s Messiah,
God gave a second chance by raising Him from the dead,
And by sending Paul to preach about it.

And then Paul’s sermon ended in verses 40-41 with him saying:
Acts 13:40-41 “Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: ‘BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE, THOUGH SOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.'”

Paul revealed the mercy of God and then gave a heart-felt appeal to Israel
That they would not reject it.

That was the sermon, now we get into the response.

And I have to tell you the response was good.

(42) “As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.”

Now it’s one thing to have someone say, “Good sermon”,
It’s another thing to have them beg you to come
And preach the same sermon again next week.

These people were excited.
They loved what they heard, and not only did they want to hear it again,
But they also wanted all their friends to come hear it too.

And that is not all.
It didn’t stop at “begging”

In fact it didn’t really stop at all.

(43) “Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.”

Some just refused to leave, wanting to hear more right now.

And Paul and Barnabas obliged them.
Paul’s main encouragement was that they “continue in the grace of God.”

This does not yet indicate that they were saved,
They will occur down in verse 48.

Rather Paul is here reinforcing his sermon.
He had just told them about the mercy and grace of God to continue to provide deliverance, most recently in Jesus.

And since they want to know more,
Paul tells them to “continue” in that grace.

In other words, run to Jesus and cling to Jesus
Paul had told them:
Acts 13:38-39 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”

That was grace, and Paul is encouraging them to grab it and cling to it.

But the beautiful point to be made
Is that these people love what they heard.

And it didn’t matter to them that church was supposed to be over.
It didn’t matter to them that the Cowboys were playing
(everyone knew they were going to lose)

They wanted to hear more of God’s word
And they wanted their friends to hear it as well.

BUT…
(Not everyone shared their enthusiasm)

Response, in spite of time
#2 REJECTION, IN SPITE OF TRUTH
Acts 13:44-47

And we are literally blown away by what we see take place here.

“The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.”

It is quite clear that those who begged Paul to preach the message again,
Went out and did their job to make sure there were people there to hear it.

These people knew that what they had heard was the word of God
And they did everything they could
To make sure their friends and family and neighbors came to hear it.

(45) “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.”

Well apparently everyone wasn’t so enthused about the sermon.
We have some, who even though they knew this was a message from God
Decided to adamantly oppose it.

WHY?
“they were filled with jealousy”

They simply didn’t like the fact that Paul was now getting all the attention.
They didn’t like the fact that there was a new man with such popularity.

HOW?
“began contradicting the things spoken by Paul”

It was good old fashion debate.
And if we have learned anything from the present election season about debating, it is that you don’t have to tell the truth to debate.

And that is what these Jews were doing to Paul.
The aim and goal was to confuse.

HOW FAR DID THEY GO IN THEIR OPPOSITION?
“and were blaspheming”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Matthew 12:31-32 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”

Jesus there says to clearly understand the message of the Holy Spirit
And then to reject it, is blasphemy.

It is to reject what you know to be true simply out of an obstinate heart.
And that is what these men were doing.
They “were blaspheming”

They knew Paul’s message was from God.
They knew God’s word supported what he said.

But at this moment they were concerned about truth,
They were concerned about fame.

And so they willingly opposed the truth
For the sake of winning the argument.
They blasphemed God.

And you will notice the Paul (just as he had done with Bar-Jesus)
Boldly opposes them.

(46-47) “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. “For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.'”

Now Paul did recognize the necessity of starting with Israel.

“It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first”
• We know that God’s covenant was with Israel.
• God’s plan was to save Israel.
• God’s Messiah was sent to Israel.

And so it was necessary to start with them.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

HOWEVER…
“since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

In other words, God had every intention of saving you.
God desired to see you repent.
But you won’t repent and so God is moving us toward the Gentiles.

And then Paul gives the Scriptural proof of such a move.
Quoting from Isaiah 49:6, Paul says:

“For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’”

IN SHORT, THIS WAS ALL PART OF GOD’S PLAN.
From the days of Isaiah, God knew that He was going to save Gentiles.

In fact, let me read to you Isaiah 49:6
Isaiah 49:6 “He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

There the Lord is talking to the Messiah,
Saying it is too small to only save Israel,
I will also use You to save all the nations.

God had always planned to save Gentiles.
And now we see the method by which He would do it.

God would use the stubborn obstinance of Israel
To drive missionaries away from Israel and to the Gentiles.
This was all part of God’s plan.

Response, in spite of time Rejection, in spite of truth
#3 REJOICING, IN SPITE OF TROUBLE
Acts 13:48-52

“When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord…”

Now that is quite a contrast to Israel isn’t it?
One blasphemed it, one glorified it.

AND NOTICE:
“and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”

That is a statement of definite sovereign work.

And this isn’t new.

Remember Pentecost?
Acts 2:38-39 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Peter knew that those who would be saved were
“as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Look later to Corinth:
Acts 18:9-10 “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

“for I have many people in this city.”
There God knew that there were many who would be saved.
They weren’t saved yet, but God knew they would be,
And so He encouraged Paul to stay.

It is the same thing here.
“as many has had been appointed to eternal life believed.”

WHY DID THEY BELIEVE?
They had been “appointed to eternal life”

God directed them.
God chose them.
God predestined them.
This was not an accident, this was the sovereign plan of Holy God.

And the effect?
(49) “And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.”

They weren’t just believers, they were missionaries.

Charles Spurgeon “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”

Well you certainly couldn’t call these people imposters.
They rejoiced in this truth and they began to spread it.
And this even in spite of opposition.
(50) “But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.”

The Jews had had enough of this message of Gentile salvation.
And they set out to stop it.

BUT THEY COULD NOT STOP IT

They couldn’t stop Paul
(51) “But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.”

They couldn’t stop the new believers
(52) “And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

What God was doing, could not be stopped, God was saving the Gentiles.

And so when we look at this story in the book of Acts,
We see two very important truths.

1) JEWS WERE UNWORTHY OF ETERNAL LIFE
2) GENTILES WERE CHOSEN FOR ETERNAL LIFE

And here we see the sovereign plan of God unfolding yet again.

TURN TO: ROMANS 9:19-24
(We read through vs. 18 a moment ago)

People don’t like the thought that God can sovereignly choose one over another, but look at what Paul says here.

(VERSES 19-21)
And that is true isn’t it.
If God wants to do it, He certainly has the prerogative.

And then Paul begins to explain what God is up to.
(VERSES 22-24)

Many people look at sovereignty or election
Like we have this massive group of people out here
Who want to be saved, but God refuses to choose them,
And so they are lost against their will.

That is not so.

Verse 22 says that God “endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction”

God didn’t ignore them, God endured them.

Did we not read that very thing about Israel last week in Paul’s sermon?
Acts 13:18 “For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.”

So don’t assume God is here rejecting those who want Him,
God has endured patiently those who didn’t.

NOW WHY WOULD GOD DO THAT?

(23-24) “And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

This links right back to the Pharaoh illustration a moment ago.

Look back up at verse 17.

God raised up Pharaoh in order to demonstrate His power against him.
(But it is not as though Pharaoh wanted God)

God simply took an adversary deserving of judgment,
But first delayed judgment and then brought him to power,
So that He could use him to demonstrate His power to Israel.

Now, go back to Israel.
It is not as though they wanted God, they obviously didn’t.

God simply let them hang around so that He could use them
To demonstrate His “glory” to those He had chosen for salvation.

And that is what was taking place here in Acts 13.
• God took Jews who had already hardened their heart,
• But instead of destroying them instantly,
• He allowed them to remain
• That He might use them later in order to show mercy to Gentiles.

That is why we call this
“The sovereign plan of God and God’s choice of the Gentiles.”

If you look at this as unfair, you are looking at it wrong.
Israel had every chance in the world to respond to God.

Romans 9:1-5 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

I think it is clear that they had every opportunity and rejected.
So God is certainly not guilty in rejecting now.

What we delight in is that God chose the Gentiles.

Do you realize that we as the church are now God’s chosen people?

1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”

We are all now the chosen people of God.

And all that began to be revealed here in Acts chapter 13.
God is moving His church in the direction of His will.

And as a Gentile, I certainly must rejoice
To see the great extent to which God has gone to save me.

The Sermon of Paul
Acts 13:13-41
October 28, 2012

As you know we have been following the church at Antioch
And their love for God and their subsequent missionary effort.

This church sought God
And God used them to reach the world with the gospel.

And having studied the beginning of this missionary effort,
Tonight we move a little further into this first missionary journey.

And as we dive into this a little
We will really begin to see the plan of God take over.

You will remember the words of the Holy Spirit
To the church at Antioch in response to their fasting and worship.

Acts 13:2 “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

And we definitely remember what that work was.

Acts 9:15-16 “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

In the letter to the Galatians Paul wrote:
Galatians 2:7 “But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised”

Paul was God’s messenger to the Gentiles.
God had revealed the mystery to Paul
That Gentiles were fellow heirs with the saints of eternal life.

And now that first mission is underway.

However, even with all this calling for Gentiles
We have still yet to see this all-out mission to reach Gentiles.

In fact, you will remember that after Peter saw Cornelius saved he was in trouble. After Peter convinced the church that God was in this, we read the following:

Acts 11:18-19 “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.”

So the church knew Gentiles could be saved,
But were still less than eager to reach them.
BUT GOD WANTED GENTILES SAVED
• And so God brought about the conversion of Gentiles
• And God brought about the church in Antioch
• And God called out the missionary of Gentiles to be on his way

Well, even now Paul and Barnabas are God’s missionaries to the Gentiles and yet, where have they gone?

Acts 13:5 “When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.”

They were still headed to the Jews, namely the synagogues,
And that is true even in our text here this evening.

(13-14) “Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.”

Now certainly this reiterates to us Paul’s extreme love for the Jews.

Romans 10:1 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
We understand Paul’s love for Israel.
But that does not change his calling to go to Gentiles.

What we start to see taking place here is that
Even though Paul is still seeking to reach Jews,
God will take charge and push Paul toward Gentiles.

At the end of this sermon we will note the response.
Acts 13:45-46 “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

So in the grand scheme of the book of Acts,
We understand why Luke chose to include this sermon and this incident.

This was a pivotal incident in Paul’s life.
This was the event that really began to push Paul
Toward more of a Gentile ministry.

Paul will pour out his heart with a truly compassionate
And mercy filled sermon and yet Israel will reject it.
This event pushes him toward Gentiles.

It doesn’t mean he never preached to Jews again,
He does in the very next city, but this is where it really all started.
So we see that God is at work pushing the church to reach the Gentiles
And He is doing that through the stubborn opposition of Israel.

However it is also beneficial to see exactly what Paul preached.

And in this sermon we have Paul outlining
The tremendous love and patience and mercy of our God.

The tragedy is that Israel continually rejects it,
But it does our heart good to study it once again
And to be reminded of the God we serve.

There are six points to Paul’s sermon.
#1 THE REMINDER OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE
Acts 13:16-22

So we know that after leaving Cyprus Paul sailed north to Pamphylia
And it was there that John left them.

According to Acts 15:38 Paul says that John deserted them.
• We don’t know why.
• Perhaps the opposition of Bar-Jesus rattled him.
• Perhaps he felt overwhelmed.
• Perhaps he was homesick.

But John left and yet Paul and Barnabas pressed on.
They came to Perga and eventually Pisidian Antioch
Where they went to the synagogue.

(15) “After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

And so once again we see a door opened for the gospel.
• It isn’t quite the violent rushing wind at Pentecost…
• It isn’t the healing of a cripple by the temple…
• But it is still God opening a door, and Paul will step through it.

And as he begins his sermon
He begins by remembering the providence of God.

And if you will notice Paul has a purposely selective memory.
When Stephen gave a similar sermon in Acts 7
His memory focused on the failings of Israel.

Here Paul remembers the mercy and faithfulness of God.

And you can break this reminder into two main categories.

1) GOD, THE SOVEREIGN SAVIOR (16-19)

Paul references 5 very unique events by which God revealed Himself
In a sovereign way and as a definite savior to Israel.

GOD CHOSE US
(17) “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers…”

Abraham didn’t choose God, God chose Abraham.
God approached Him.
God initiated the relationship.

• Moses said (Deut. 7) Israel was fewest in number and insignificant…
• Ezekiel said (Ezek. 16) Israel was like a rejected baby squirming in blood…
Abraham was a Pagan
Sarah was baron
And yet God chose them.

GOD MULTIPLIED US
“and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt,”

God not only chose them, but He multiplied them an increased them.

Genesis 46:27 says that when Israel entered Egypt they were 70 in number.

But by Exodus 1:7 we read:
Exodus 1:7 “But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.”

God had told Abraham that his descendants
Would be like the sand of the seashore and they were.

God not only chose them, but multiplied them.

GOD DELIVERED US
“and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.”

You will remember that Israel’s greatness threatened the Pharaoh
And he persecuted Israel and inflicted hard bondage on them.

So God sent forth a deliverer named Moses to lead His people out.
And God did this through miraculous plagues and miraculous deliveries.

It was a supernatural event.

GOD TOLERATED US
(18) “For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.”
Now there is a true statement if ever there was one.
• We could talk about the golden calf
• We could talk about the grumbling at Meribah and Massah
• We could talk about their rejection of Moses
• We could talk about their affairs with Moabite women

These people continually pressed God.

God Himself said of them:
Hebrews 3:10 “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’;”
These people tested God over and over and over
And yet God tolerated them.
God put up with them.

• Yes they wandered for 40 years, but God never forsook them.
• Yes God moved outside the camp for a while, but He never abandoned them.

God stuck around.

GOD SETTLED US
“When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance”

And after 40 years in the wilderness
God then gave this people the promised land.

Under Joshua we have the conquest
In which God gave Israel a land flowing with milk and honey.

And we read “all of which took about four hundred and fifty years.”

That was the time from the patriarchs through slavery, to the conquest.

For 450 years God continually showed Himself
To be a sovereign savior of Israel.

He chose them and never abandoned them nor failed to deliver them.

God, the Sovereign Savior
2) GOD, THE PROVIDER OF DELIVERANCE (20-22)

Notice in these verses the verbs that are continually used.
(20) “He gave”
(21) “God gave”
(22) “He raised”

These verses picture God as a giver or a provider.
WHAT DID HE PROVIDE?
Deliverance

(20) “After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.”

WHAT WERE THE JUDGES?
Judges 2:13-18 “So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had spoken and as the LORD had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed. Then the LORD raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do as their fathers. When the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them.”

The Judges were deliverers, raised up by God
To deliver Israel from her foes who beset her.

We know of Barak, Jephthah, Jehud, Samson, Gideon,
All the way to Samuel, who was the last judge and first prophet.

These men were raised up by God as deliverers.

But as you read, Israel didn’t particularly like the Judges.

WHAT DID ISRAEL WANT?
1 Samuel 8:19-22 “Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the LORD’S hearing. The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

The people didn’t like having judges, they wanted a king.
They wanted someone to organize an army
And go out and fight their battles for them.

And yet, even though it was a rejection of God, God granted their request.

(21) “They asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.”

They wanted a king, God provided a king.

But you remember that Saul wasn’t the greatest king in the world.

• He struggled with obedience…
• He struggled with reverence…
• He even dabbled in witchcraft…
And God rejected him.

And so what did God do?
(22) “After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have sound David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’”

So after they had A king, God provided a GOOD king.
And each of these kings was a deliverer for Israel.

AND THE POINT IS THAT THEY WERE ALL PROVIDED BY GOD.
• He gave the Judges
• He gave the Kings

God was a deliverer.

And that is what Paul reminds this synagogue of here.
We have a God who has chosen to be our Savior,
And who has never failed to provide us with a deliverer.

That is The Reminder of God’s Providence
#2 THE REVELATION OF GOD’S SAVIOR
Acts 13:23-25

After reminding of what God has always done in the past,
Paul now says, “AND GOD IS UP TO IT AGAIN.”

The same savior God, the same delivering God
Is still providing a deliverer.

“From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus”

He gave judges
He gave kings
Now He gives the Messiah

And Paul reminds that this king was announced to them before hand.

(24-25) “after John had proclaimed before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. “And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’”

Just as God provided deliverers in the past,
God has provided a deliverer today.

So, in essence, God hasn’t changed, He is still saving,
He is still providing a deliverer, just as He has always done.

God hasn’t changed, but unfortunately neither has Israel.

The Reminder of God’s Providence The Revelation of God’s Savior
#3 THE REJECTION OF GOD’S SAVIOR
Acts 13:26-29

God raised up a deliverer and Paul says, we are here to proclaim Him.

(26) “Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.”

God has sent us to proclaim this Savior.
WHY?
(27-29) “For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. “And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. “When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.”

• We are sent to proclaim Him because the people ignored John.
• We are sent to proclaim Him because the people didn’t recognize Him.
• We are sent to proclaim Him because the people rejected the prophets.

We are proclaiming this Savior
Because once again Israel proved true to form.

• When Moses was appointed to deliver, they rejected Him.
• When Judges were appointed to deliver, they rejected them.
• When Kings demanded righteousness, they ignored them.
Well, Israel hasn’t changed.

God sent a Savior / Deliverer and once again He was rejected
First they didn’t recognize Him.
Second they tried to condemn Him.
Thirdly they had Pilate execute Him.
Finally they buried Him.

So God has acted true to form by providing a Savior
And a Deliverer just as He always has.
And Israel has acted true to form by rejecting Him,
Just as they always have.
SO DID PAUL JUST COME TO RUB IT IN?

No.
This is a sermon that speaks of God’s continual mercy and patience.

• You didn’t deserve deliverance from Egypt, but you got it.
• You didn’t deserve God to hang around in the wilderness, but He did.
• You didn’t deserve the Promised Land, but He gave it to you.
• You didn’t deserve judges to deliver, but He gave them.
• You didn’t deserve a King to fight your battles, but He provided them.
• You didn’t deserve the Messiah to come, but He sent Him.

And now that you have killed the Messiah,
You don’t deserve another chance.

But, that really isn’t the nature of our God is it?

The Reminder of God’s Providence The Revelation of God’s Savior
The Rejection of God’s Savior
#4 THE RESURRECTION OF GOD’S SAVIOR
Acts 13:30-37

After killing the Messiah, you deserve to lost all opportunity,
But God is a God of second chances.

“But God raised Him from the dead;”

Now certainly the resurrection has huge theological implications
• It reveals Jesus as the Son of God.
• It validates His righteousness
• It verifies His work of justification
• It also makes His role as intercessor possible.

But aside from the theological points, the resurrection of Jesus
Is one of the greatest second chances God ever gave.

You kill the greatest Savior Israel ever had,
And yet God still gives you a chance to know Him.
God brought Him back to life.

And because this was such a difficult notion for Israel to swallow,
PAUL does spend some time proving the fact.

THE WITNESSES (31)
THE PROPHECY (34-37)

Those points are very similar to the points Peter made at Pentecost.

And that is good news, for look at what Paul says in verse 32
(32-33) “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’”

And there is Paul’s main point.
Your rejection did not stop the sovereign plan of God.

God made a promise to the Fathers that He would raise up a king on David’s throne and this king would not undergo decay.

God fulfilled that promise to us, by raising Jesus from the dead.

THE POINT?
God has been merciful and patient with Israel since the beginning
And that still hasn’t stopped.

You even killed His Son,
And yet God has still granted you a second chance of deliverance.

God is still putting up with you.
God is still long-suffering concerning you.

And here is what that means for you.
#5 THE REALITY OF GOD’S SALVATION
Acts 13:38-39

Since God has given you yet another chance through Jesus,
Here is what that means.

“that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”

Now, through Jesus God is offering you two things.
1) FORGIVENESS
2) FREEDOM

Neither of which could be provided by the Law.

The Law didn’t forgive, they Law condemned.
Romans 7:9-10 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;”

Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

And thus the Law never gave freedom from sin.
Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

THROUGH THE LAW YOU NEVER EARNED FORGIVENESS
AND YOU NEVER FOUND FREEDOM,
But through Jesus Christ, God has granted you an opportunity
For both of those things.

I know you rejected Him the first time,
But God has given us all a second chance and raised Him from the dead.
And now, you can be forgiven, and now you can be free.

That is the reality of God’s Salvation

#6 THE RESPONSE TO GOD’S SALVATION
Acts 13:40-41

“Therefore take heed”

In other words, this time pay attention.

“so that the things spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you: ‘Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish; for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.’”

If you are wondering what Paul is quoting, it is from Habakkuk.
And if you wonder what that unbelievable work
God was about to accomplish was, this was it:

Habakkuk 1:6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.”

God said the work I am about to do that you would not believe is
I am going to raise up the Chaldeans to come and annihilate you.
And they did.

But in Habakkuk’s day the people would not listen to the warning.

WELL PAUL SAYS, NOW PLEASE DON’T BE LIKE THEM.
• God has given you a second chance to accept Jesus Christ.
• God has raised Him from the dead and sent us to tell you about Him.
• This is God again being merciful like He has always been.
• This is God again being patient like He has always been.

Please take advantage of God’s great patience and mercy
And don’t be like the people of old
Who wouldn’t believe regardless of who came and told them.

AND SO YOU GET PAUL’S SERMON.
It is an all out heartfelt plea to the Jews of his day
To take advantage of the great patience and mercy of God.

The sad things is, as we will see next week, they didn’t.
Instead the Jews rejected again.

Which is why Paul will say:
Acts 13:46 “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

“You judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life”

What a tragic statement!
They chose to remain lost, but it wasn’t due to lack of effort by God.

And friend tonight I just want to remind you of
God’s great patience and mercy.

• If you are a believer then you can rest in His mercy and patience knowing that God is not the type of God who abandons His people.

• If you are not a believer then maybe tonight you see that God has opened another door for you to respond. God gives a second chance.

2 Peter 3:9-10
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

The First Missionary Journey – part 4
Acts 13:1-12 (9-12)
October 21, 2012

Well I can assure that when I first started looking at Acts 13,
I did not envision that it would take us four weeks
To get through the first twelve verses.

However, I have been really encouraged by the example left for us
By this church in Antioch as to what it means to be a church
With a heart for God and a church that God uses to reach the world.

Thus far we have seen:
1) THE CHURCH (1-2a)
And we saw not only their commitment to the spoken word,
But also their commitment to seek God.

“While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting…”

• I love that this church had no apparent agenda…
• I love that this church had no planned program to fulfill…

This church was just feasting on the word of God, ministering to God,
And seeking the will of God wholeheartedly.

And because they were such a church it does not surprise us
That they heard God’s call to go on mission.

2) THE CATALYST (2)

• They prayed and God answered their prayer.
• They wanted to know what they could give, and God said, “Barnabas and Saul”

God had a mission in mind and as this church sought God, He started it.

3) THE COMMISSIONING (3)

And here we found the obedience of this church.

In missions you really only have three options.
• Go
• Send
• Disobey

And this church sent.

4) THE COMMUNICATION (4-5)

And so after these men had been called and sent
They then went about doing exactly what we would expect.
They “began to proclaim the word of God…”

The gospel is central to missions…
Men cannot be saved without it

And so it is vitally important that their mission encompassed more than
Just humanitarian aid, or random acts of kindness, or cultural instruction.

These men preached the gospel.
5) THE COMPETITION (6-8)

And while we don’t always enjoy moments of opposition,
They were a tremendous indicator.

John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”

Even John wrote in his epistle:
1 John 3:13 “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.”

• The world hates God.
• The world hates righteousness.
• The world lies in the power of the evil one.

And so if we don’t ever face opposition,
Then one can confidently assume that we are not doing our job.

So opposition wasn’t pleasant, but it is a good indicator.

And that is where we left off last week.

This great church on mission now facing opposition
As they seek to preach the gospel and see men saved.

And so let’s see how this church handled such a dilemma.
#6 THE CONFRONTATION
Acts 13:9-11

We already saw last week specifically what was going on.

We met a Jewish false prophet whose Hebrew name was “Bar-Jesus”
And whose Greek name was “Elymas”.

And this man was “seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”

So this otherwise perfect mission has now hit a snag.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN A MOMENT LIKE THIS?

Well, let me show you what Paul did.

And by the way I hope you pick up on Luke’s humor here.
(9) “But Saul, who was also known as Paul”

I find that humorous and is it seems to be direct response
To the fact that Elymas had two names.

“Bar-Jesus” also known as “Elymas”
And so Luke writes “Saul, who was also known as Paul”

But more than that we love what we see here.
“But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,”

Paul was not avoiding…
Paul was not shrinking down…

Paul wasn’t even just focusing on the proconsul
And trying to ignore the false prophet.

Paul zeroed in on the false prophet.

“and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?”

I’m betting that was just a little bit more direct than Elymas was expecting.

We live in a day of political correctness and general tolerance,
But you don’t even find language that direct on political talk shows.

Paul lays in to this man.

And I guess the first question we would have is
Why Paul was so direct and harsh?

WHY WAS HE?
Because this man was seeking to keep another man lost.

Is there a greater crime?

If you walked upon a man who was holding a pregnant woman down on the sidewalk and just beating the tar out of her, would you politely say, “Excuse me sir, I certainly don’t mean any offense, but if you don’t mind would you stop hurting this woman.”

Harsh crimes deserve harsh rebukes!
No wonder Paul was so harsh.

• It reminds of John the Baptist to the false religious leaders., “You brook of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

• It echoes the tone of Jesus in Matthew 23 when He eight times said, “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”

This was an offense of the greatest degree
And it needed to be handled accordingly and so Paul pulls no punches.

And notice how Paul exposes him.

He exposes:
HIS FRAUD
“You who are full of all deceit and fraud”

Paul exposes his chief weapon, and that is deception.
False prophets are masters of deception.

From magic tricks to ear tickling sermons deception is always the plan.

And Paul exposes him for the fraud that he is.
HIS FATHER
“you son of the devil”

I told you last Sunday night that “devil” translates DIABOLOS in the Greek and it means “accuser” or “slanderer”.

And Paul says that Elymas is a chip right off the old block.
He also is a liar and a condemner.

HIS FOE
“you enemy of all righteousness”

Paul exposes what this man is against.
• Elymas didn’t oppose foreigners.
• Elymas didn’t oppose Judaism.
• Elymas didn’t oppose tent makers.

Elymas opposed righteousness.
He hated Paul’s preaching of righteousness,
And he hated Paul asserting that righteousness
Could only be found in Jesus.

HIS FORTITUDE
“will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?”

In other words, not only are you a liar and a condemner and an enemy of righteousness, but you won’t stop unless someone stops you.

Just like the devil who won’t stop until he is bound in the pit for a 1,000 years neither would this man.

And that really reveals why this man, and men like him
Must be adamantly opposed and confronted.

If you ignore them, they won’t stop, they must be opposed.
They must be stopped.

And that is precisely what Paul did.
(11) “Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.”

Hmm…Wonder where Paul thought of that?
(Of course, that is what Jesus did to him)

But the point is that Paul put a stop to him.

And I really want to focus in on this for just a moment this evening.

What Paul did is absolutely necessary,
But don’t assume what Paul did was easy.

Confrontation is one of the most difficult things
A Christian is asked to do in this world.

• It doesn’t matter if it is confronting a non-believer who needs the gospel…
• It doesn’t matter if it is confronting a believer who has fallen into sin…
• Or if, like here, it is confronting an antagonist who needs to be silenced…

Confrontation is a difficult thing to do.

BUT FOR THAT THIS CHURCH HAD ANOTHER ATTRIBUTE

• We already know you need to be one who seeks God. (as this church did)
• We already know you need to be one who submits to God (as goer or sender)
• We already know you need to be committed to the gospel

But let me also remind you
That you must be a man or woman of courage.

Paul said it well when he wrote the second letter to Timothy.
2 Timothy 1:6-8 “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,”

• Paul was asking Timothy to have courage.
• Paul was asking Timothy to stand against something that was frightening.
• Paul was asking Timothy to do something that made him uncomfortable.

Timothy needed to have courage.

And so really for the past few weeks as I knew this verse was coming,
I’ve been thinking a little about the necessity of courage.

And through this time it has occurred to me:

COURAGE AND FAITH RUN SO CLOSE TOGETHER THAT MANY TIMES IN SCRIPTURE YOU CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM.

And I wanted to give you several examples of that this evening and just sort of focus you on how important courage is in your Christian walk.

We could back up long before this,
But let me start our journey with Moses.

Deuteronomy 31:1-6 “So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross this Jordan.’ “It is the LORD your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the LORD has spoken. “The LORD will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. “The LORD will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

Now think for just a moment what Moses is asking these people to do.
He is asking them to invade a foreign land and wipe out its inhabitants.

These are the same inhabitants, by the way,
That made their fathers turn and run in fear.
And now Moses is asking them to go in and take that land.

And you notice the two things he said it would require.
One is obviously courage, but closely mingled in is faith.

While he is telling them to be courageous
He is at the same time saying God will not fail you.

That is also why when Moses does hand over the reins to Joshua
He actually says:

Joshua 1:6-7 “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”
And that is not the last example by far.

Speed up several years.
David is on his death bed
And he is about to hand over the kingdom to his son Solomon.

1 Kings 2:1-4 “As David’s time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. “Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the LORD may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’”

He is remembering God’s promise to keep his sons on the thrown,
But David knows that one of the things that affects that
Is the faithfulness of his sons.

His sons must keep God’s commandments.
But in order to keep God’s commandments
David knows that Solomon will have to have courage.

So David writes “Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man.”

Following God will very seldom ever be the popular choice,
You must have courage.

And one could really blame the downfall of Solomon on a lack of courage.
He gave in to his wives and built temples for pagan gods for all of them.

Move forward again
(and these were really a couple of stories that struck me)

TURN TO: 2 CHRONICLES 15

We are dealing here with King Asa.
Asa would have been Solomon’s great-grandson.
And chapter 14 says Asa did a good thing by removing the foreign altars.

He also trusted God and defeated an Ethiopian army 1 million strong.

And on the heels of that victory God sent word to Asa.
READ 1-7

God tells Asa that there is work still to do and a blessing for doing it,
But in order to do all that God requires it will require courage.

And notice in verse 8 that Asa did it.

I know it reads like a small thing that Asa removed all the idols,
But imagine the backlash if you were president
And ordered the removal of every false god from America.

Skip down:
READ VERSE 16

That is not an easy decision to make, and yet he displayed courage.

TURN TO: 2 CHRONICLES 32

At this point Hezekiah is king in Judah.
(Israel has already been destroyed by Assyria 20 years prior)

But Hezekiah is trying to seek the Lord,
And then something truly difficult happens.

READ 32:1
So the same people who just wiped out the northern kingdom
Have now come for you.
You would think this was a time to panic, but he did not.

READ 32:2-8

And there again we see tremendous courage from Hezekiah
And it is coupled with his faith.

TURN TO: EZRA 10

Ezra is weeping because the returning exiles are taking foreign wives.

READ 10:1-4

Talk about courage required.
You are about to tell men to put away their foreign wives,
You had better get ready for a backlash.

TURN TO: HAGGAI 2

Now I need to give you some background here.
Ezra 3:2-3 “Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers arose and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. So they set up the altar on its foundation, for they were terrified because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, burnt offerings morning and evening.”

These exiles are living in this land and literally terrified
Because of the inhabitants of the land.

And one of the things these inhabitants were seeking to do
Was stop the building of the city and the temple.

In fact the inhabitants had already sent a letter to Artaxerxes accusing them of conspiracy and had been given permission to stop the building of the temple with force of arms.

But notice what Haggai says to Joshua and Zerubbabel

READ 2:1-4
• Was it easy to rebuild? No
• Was it frightening? Yes

But if they were going to obey God then courage was required.

It is not easy to serve God in this world,
You must have courage.

And of course we remember the popular stories:
• David and Goliath
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace
• You know of Daniel and the lions den
• You know of Gideon
• You know of Moses
• You know of Esther

The point is you can’t serve God without courage, it is necessary.

Furthermore the absence of courage is condemning.
Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

I think that is why I love what Paul did here
When faced with Elymas the magician, he displayed courage.

He took the stand that had to be made.
He did not follow fear, he followed faith and courage.

Let me also remind you where your courage comes from.

We actually received a clue here in Acts.
(9) “But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,”

WHERE DID SAUL GET HIS COURAGE?
“the Holy Spirit”

“And you will receive _____________ when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”

Jesus said:
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

We know that Jesus has overcome, we know that He is the victor,
The Holy Spirit testifies to these things in our lives, so have courage.

Paul said:
2 Corinthians 5:6-10 “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord — for we walk by faith, not by sight — we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

See how Paul’s faith affected his courage.
He knew the truth and he acted upon it.

Now let me bring this back full circle.

We may very well in our lifetime have to face execution
Like so many did in the Old Testament,

But right now our biggest opposition
Is simply the fear to speak and confront falsehood.

That is what Paul did to Elymas.
He confronted him.
We need that kind of courage.

It takes courage to speak God’s word.

Jeremiah 1:17-19 “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”

Ezekiel 2:3-7 “Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ “As for them, whether they listen or not — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them. “And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. “But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.”

So can I challenge you to be courageous as well?
Can I ask you to muster up courage and speak what must be spoken?

Courage was required of every man and woman if God in Scripture
It is certainly required of us as well.

And let me show you again why.
#7 THE CONVERT
Acts 13:12

“Then the proconsul believed…”

And, by the way, his salvation
Is really the focal point of these first twelve verses.
What we have to do is backtrack and see why.

Obviously God is the Savior and we don’t want to take anything away
From His sovereign hand to save.

However look back at how all this started.
• A church sought God
• God called some from that church
• The church sent those God called
• Those who were sent were faithful to preach
• And when opposition arose, those who were sent confronted it

The end result was the salvation of this man.

And we are even told here, why this man believed.
“Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.”

Now pay attention to what is said.
We know the man was “amazed at the teaching of the Lord.”

That means this intellectual man who had earlier
(7) “summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God”
Was not disappointed by what he heard.
In short, he wanted to believe.

But something stood in his way.
WHAT WAS IT?

The false prophet Elymas.

However, once that man was removed,
He was then free to believe what he had heard.

DO YOU SEE NOW THE NECESSITY OF COURAGEOUSLY CONFRONTING FALSE DOCTRINE?
The gospel is the power of salvation and must be preached.
But, the deception of the enemy must be silenced as well.

Titus 1:7-11 “For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

This is why Paul also wrote to Timothy.
1 Timothy 1:3-7 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”

Paul was asking Titus and Timothy
To do the same thing he had just done here.
If Paul hadn’t challenged Elymas this man may have still been lost.
Courage matters

And that concludes the beginning of this first missionary journey.

Don’t lose sight of the essentials.
• A church that seeks God
• A church that submits to God
• A church that sends out the called

• The called who are faithful to go
• The called who are faithful to preach the gospel
• The called who are faithful to confront opposition

Seeking – Submission – Sending
Going – The Gospel – Courage

These are the attributes that made this church at Antioch
A great missionary church.

I think certainly we are challenged to walk by their example.