morning church open your Bibles to Acts chapter 13. Our text today will be Acts 13 verses 42 through 52. Let us pray. Father we thank you for the good news. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit who dwells in us to lead us into guidance and to all truth. Father we ask today that as we open your word would you open our hearts would you open our minds would you take your word and buy your spirit would you transform us would you mold us and shape us indeed Father would you conform us to the very image of Christ that we would be a people salt and light in this earth to give glorious witness to Christ the Lord the King of glory. Father we are your people saved by your grace and we ask that you would do this for your glory in Jesus name Amen. Acts chapter 13 beginning in verse 42 we're continuing our journey here through the book of Acts where with Paul and Barnabas who are still at Antioch in Pasidia on their first missionary journey this is the first missionary journey of Paul of three likely four missionary journeys he took in his lifetime and though they encountered opposition on the island of Cyprus it was here at Antioch that Paul and Barnabas first encountered persecution but it would certainly not be the last time and after intense opposition from the Jews it is here at Antioch that Paul makes this bold declaration saying behold we turn to the Gentiles. Acts 13 beginning in verse 42 here the word the Lord so when the Jews went out of the synagogue the Gentiles beg that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath now when the congregation had broken up many of the Jews had to end of out proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God on the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God but when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming they oppose the things spoken by Paul then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first but since you rejected and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth now when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed and the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region but the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit this is the word of the Lord here in our text actually in verse 42 your translation may actually say so when they went out of the synagogue the people begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath that's actually what the majority of text read my new King James has so when the Jews went out the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached the same purpose is achieved but if you have a different translation I just wanted to inform you that is why Paul and Barnabas as they went out were begged by the people that they would preach to them on the next Sabbath this word of the Lord and Luke records that the majority of the people desired to hear God's word from Paul and Barnabas again on the next Sabbath in verse 43 we see that when the synagogue service had broken up Luke tells us many of the Jews and about proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who in turn persuaded them to continue in the grace of God those who followed Paul and Barnabas were those who chose to follow Christ both Jews and Gentiles who had adopted Judaism as their religion that's what a proselyte is whether they became full converted Jews and and when as far as circumcision not all of them did that but they were as we said last week God fears well these God fears these Gentiles and devout Jews many of them followed Paul and Barnabas choosing to follow Christ and Paul and Barnabas encouraged them to continue in the grace of God trusting in a salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ these followers of Christ were encouraged to continue looking to Jesus Christ and the grace found only in him and not look to a justification through the deeds of the law for no flesh is justified in his sight by the deeds of the law if it is works it is not grace that was true in Paul's day that is true in our day if you think you can somehow work or help God out with your salvation you're not trusting in the grace these followers of Christ were encouraged to come through to hear the word in a couple of other believers we met along the way for such a public expression of sin and debauchery you would think the church would rise up and make a stand for righteousness but that is not the case here in Antioch of Pasidia this was the spirit of God moving on the hearts of men creating a desire in them to hear the word of God and we need such a move of God today in our own city and our own land especially seeing the greater church mostly silence in the face of such public debauchery and sinfulness and it's not just happening in our town it's happening all across this nation and across the world we need a move of God when this happened the Jews saw the multitude of people and they were filled blue grights with envy or jealousy it was the message of salvation for all peoples Jew and Gentile alike that provoked these Jews to jealousy it was the word spoken by Paul recorded in verses 38 and 39 that not only provoked the crowd to desire to hear more but also provoked these Jews to jealousy their Paul boldly proclaimed therefore let it be known to you brethren that though this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins and by him everyone there's the key word everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses the key word here is everyone as in everyone who believes is justified and in their envy in their jealousy of mostly the Gentile crowd and their zeal for the word of God these Jews were filled with a jealousy and an envy and they contradicted and they blasphemed and they opposed the things spoken by Paul meaning they opposed Christ and they opposed the message of the gospel being preached so widely to all peoples to all nations then Paul and Barnabas grew bold in verse 46 Paul blue grights Paul grew bold and said it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first but since you rejected and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the Gentiles this boldness was the very reason the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church at Tinecost Jesus told his disciples to wake for the promise of the Father with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit would come the power to be witnesses to him and it was the power of the Holy Spirit that emboldened Paul to declare the words he was speaking to these Jews who were filled with jealousy it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first Paul declares and that necessity arose from the command of Christ recorded for us by Luke in his gospel account in Luke 2447 and also at the beginning of the book of Acts in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 Jesus commanded that the gospel be preached to all nations but that gospel mission was to begin and did begin in Jerusalem then Judea then Samaria then to the ends of the earth Jesus came first to the Jews but his gospel would go to all the nations to the very ends of the earth and so here we are today the ends of the earth who have received and are receiving the gospel of Christ and it is still changing heart and it is still changing the world it is in accordance with this purpose of God that the Apostle Paul says of the gospel in Romans 116 it is the power of God the salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek and the death of Christ on the cross and his atoning blood for all who belong to him whether Jew or Gentile that blood is sufficient for all behold we turn to the Gentiles was Paul's declaration after the Jews opposed him and the gospel and Paul declares to these Jews the necessity of coming to them first but also the necessity of going and taking this message to the Gentiles these were extremely bold words spoken by the Apostle that boldness came by the Holy Spirit who empowered Paul for such a ministry it is the same Holy Spirit and the same power that emboldens us and empowers us today for the ministry of the gospel it is the Holy Spirit who gives us power to be witnesses don't waste that power church pray and use it boldly we are called to walk in that power and to be filled with it just as Paul in Barnabas and you and I must not trust in our own power we must depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to fill us and to embolden us and to step up and step out in faith to proclaim the powerful gospel especially in the face of opposition we had some amazing conversations yesterday at the Pride event and I told one of the guys I was talking to who was an ally who actually was in that lifestyle I told him I said I'm not here to convince you to believe something different to think something different I'm here to declare to you the truth if I can change a man's heart then another man can come along and change that heart back your job is not to change hearts only God changes hearts your job and my job my responsibility your responsibility is to declare the truth the gospel is the power of God the salvation not you not your charisma not your knowledge not your eloquence you plant the seed you water the ground and you trust in the power of the gospel to change hearts that's why we were out there yesterday to give witness to the truth that God might change hearts this is what Paul did in Antioch in the whole city turned out by the power of the Holy Spirit and we're called to walk in that power and to be filled with it just as Paul and Barnabas were not trusting in our own power but depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit Paul then says for the Lord has commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles to the nations that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth and he has set us as the same thing Paul quoting the prophet Isaiah reminds them it is the Lord who has commanded them to carry out such a mission to be a light to the nations taking his salvation to the ends of the earth and this is still our mission today we are to live it everywhere we go being salt and light and taking salvation every place we go and in everything we do now when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed the Gentiles Luke writes were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and we need to understand why that is why were the Gentiles so glad to hear this good news the Gentiles who had been largely marginalized by the Jews and oppressed by the Romans were ready more than ready to hear good news and Paul and Barnabas delivered that good news the thing about the gospel that was so appealing to the masses of the Roman Empire was that it abolished the distinctions that typically cast people into social ranks and files that determined their status in society the gospel of Christ became the great equalizer now in Christ your value is determined by the risen savior who died for you who redeemed you and made you his very own special possession by his own blood that he shed for you now in Christ you are a new creation the old has passed away behold all things have become new it's hard for us to imagine because we live in such blessing we live with such freedom we live with the freedom to make of our lives whatever we're willing to work to make it we can be as wealthy as we would like to be or at least try to achieve that it's God who gives the power to create wealth but you don't have the things holding you back that the vast majority of people in the Roman Empire and Paul's day had holding them back you realize that a large part of the very population of Rome itself were slaves who were not even considered human they had no rights they had no choices they were just like a hammer or a shovel or any other tool a man would use today to achieve whatever it is he wants to achieve and when that tool broke when it was worn out and there's no use anymore it was thrown away with no regard to any humanity at all so when the gospel comes to the masses who have been dehumanized by this empire that is conquered the world and they hear that the king of kings and the Lord of lords died for them and values them you bet the Gentiles wanted to hear this good news now in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek slave nor free nor any other distinctions that historically and sinfully segregated and separated people for you are all one in Christ Paul writes in Galatians 328 this does not abolish diversity and humanity but it unites into one all who are in Christ we are now called one holy nation a royal priesthood his own special people to show forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light who once were not a people but now are the people of God those are the words of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2 9 this is describing the Lord's church this reality of the gospel has liberated literally liberated the world abolishing various systems historically used in many cultures to divide and suppress peoples in the most sinful of ways they may still exist in man's eyes but not in God's eyes men can demean you men can think all kinds of things about you but your identity is not determined by men your identity is in Christ determined by God who saved you by his grace there is no longer justification for such sinful divisions and separations for those who are in Christ today we find the same old diabolical ideologies that historically have been used to promote divisions and separations and even genocide among people groups these ideologies even exist in the body of Christ ideologies that promote neo-Nazi anti-Semitic and other discrimination based on culture and ethnicity social status skin color and any other host of factors it is becoming a growing cancer in segments of the church today and the work of the enemy we see knows no bounds whether it be on the left or whether it be on the right he doesn't care what hair is see you believe just don't trust in Christ and his gospel and the grace of God such ideologies are not consistent with the gospel of Christ they are sin plain and simple and it is certainly nothing new in fact it is ancient the enemy has used it since the beginning Solomon says there is nothing new under the sun and that is just as true today as ever before this is the same lie of the enemy since the beginning and it is as old as humanity there are natural distinctions but there are not the same that these are not the same as sinful distinctions the gospel abolished those sinful distinctions and the Gentiles flooded into the church into the faith because of it the lie is not new the gospel destroys those sinful distinctions distinctions used to separate and turn people against one another and this is what the enemy does he turns men against one another and therefore against their creator he uses hate but it doesn't even have to be full-fledged hate it is sufficient if it is simply not love Jesus does not call us simply to not hate one another he calls us to love one another and there is a difference it is not enough that I do not hate when I am commanded to love we too often adopt the world's view of love which is the wholesale acceptance of all things in the name of love I can't tell you how many times I heard that yesterday love is not a wholesale acceptance of all things especially those things simple or ungodly the phrase love is love is not love at all rather love is the proper and godly opposition to what is sinful and ungodly thus love is learning how to properly hate sin while loving sinners love does not preclude consequences love endorse them therefore love is certainly not in difference in other words it's not just not hating it's actually loving one of the most appealing parts of the gospel is that your value as a human is no longer determined by the majority or by those who possess the greatest power in might now in Christ our value is determined by the god who created us and redeemed us by his blood all men from the greatest to the least will one day give an account to the judge of all the earth and I promise you he will do what is right the only distinction God now recognizes is whether a man is in Christ or not all men no matter their ethnicity or place of origin no matter their social status on this earth all men will be judged according to their relationship to Christ whether they are known by Christ or whether they are not always tell people the true test is not do you know Christ the test is it's Christ know you live your life in such a way that it is plain to see that Christ knows you because he has changed your life and your life now is a walking living demonstration of his love and of his gospel the gospel calls us to love one another with the same love with which we have been loved by him you and I certainly do not deserve this love I am eternally grateful he will not give to me hopefully to any of you what we truly deserve instead if we are his he has already given us his eternal grace his eternal love his eternal blessing in Christ Jesus Christ loved us and died for us while we were his enemies still in our sin thus Jesus instructs us to love our enemies and to bless those who curse us Matthew 5 44 this is how the gospel changed and conquered the Roman Empire and the world and it is still changing and still conquering the world today don't walk by what you see walk by faith see by faith don't look at this world through your natural eyes and let your natural vision define everything for you walk by faith even as the patriarchs of all did as Jesus said of Abraham he rejoiced to see my day how did Abraham see his day he saw it by faith how will you see the kingdom ultimately completely victorious over the kingdom of darkness you will see it by faith and you will believe it because Christ has promised it so it doesn't matter what we see today it matters that we believe the word of God the promise of God and we live our lives and we pray and we work accordingly in his time the victory of the gospel will be complete and we are called to join the fight to see his kingdom come and his will done on earth as it is in heaven and greater and greater measure even to a thousand generations according to Jesus the prayer for our enemies the blessing for those who curse us is our praying and working through the power of the gospel to see our enemies crucified with Christ so that they are no longer our enemies but become our brothers through the cross enemies are destroyed and made one with the body in Christ this good news of God's grace appealed to the nations and it appeals to them still today problem is not the gospel the problem is the lack of its proclamation when we have ministers of God by vocation and in name perhaps only in name get up and tell hundreds of sinners celebrating their sin that God approves of their sin and their lifestyle and she does it in the name of God we understand what the problem is the problem is we don't have enough men standing up not just in parks across our country but in pulpits across our country calling sin sin and challenging men stop being cowards and get up and stand up and do what is right lead your family and be Christ not only to your family but be Christ to this culture and be Christ to the men who are looking for something and they're looking for it in all the wrong places and they are being set up for a fall that will be even greater than the fall they've already experienced when everyone and everything they pin their hopes in disappoints them and they will be disappointed if they're not looking to Christ I promise you that is true that is true as sure as I'm standing here today the result of the good news was and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed Luke's choice of words here is significant as he affirms the biblical doctrine of predestination and election some would try to imply that this really is indicating some internal disposition that these Gentiles had and that's why they believe but this is not what the Bible is teaching us here faith was not the cause of the decree or the appointment faith was the result of God's decree of election the Greek word Taso which is translated most accurately as appointed if your Bible says ordained the actual more accurate word is appointed and this word appointed is a word that does not imply an inward disposition it is a word that carries the plain meaning of determination and appointment as in predetermination and predestination and appointment by someone outside the faith of these Gentiles did not arise due to some inward disposition their faith was the product of something from outside them put another way a divine ordination or a divine appointment to eternal life is the cause not the effect of any man's believing and this is why you believe today because God appointed you to salvation when he chose you in him before the foundation of the world and this is what we are taught in Romans 828 through 30 Romans 916 921 and 923 we're also taught this in Ephesians 1 4 through 5 and 1 11 go back and listen to the tape and find those scripture references and go read what the Bible says what the Bible teaches about our salvation it belongs only to God it does not belong to us we're made a part of it and we come to be possessed by God and his salvation by the grace of God you came to believe by his grace through the preaching of the gospel for the gospel is the power of God to salvation and it must be preached for men to be saved therefore do not keep silent but proclaim to all his good news verse 49 and the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region it wasn't Paul and Barnabas going out everywhere it was Paul and Barnabas preaching and teaching the gospel making the disciples those converts those disciples in turn then went out and they began to spread the word of God this is why you come to church every Sunday you come to worship God but you also come the Bible says to be equipped for the work of the ministry this is not an evangelistic service we went out to the park yesterday to evangelize we didn't go and invite all of them to come to our church today so we could evangelize them no the people of God come to the church they get equipped and now you are to go out just like the people of Antioch, Positia did and spread the word of the Lord and make disciples this is what we're called to do and as Paul and Barnabas preached in disciple those newly converted believers of that city and region obeyed the command of Christ to spread the word and make disciples and we too must obey like they did for the good news is too good for us to keep to ourselves verse 50 but the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region it's interesting that Luke mentions first that the Jews opposed to Paul stirred up Gentile women and this is what this this phrase devout and prominent women this is referring to Gentiles these were prominent women not Jewish women but Gentile women but the Jews went to them because of their prominence because of their influence these women were proselytes who had who had no doubt some allegiance to the rulers of the synagogue who probably led them into the into the faith which is why they worshipped in the synagogue and these devout and prominent women had influence and the Jews sought to use that influence to stir up opposition to the gospel they were okay as long as those devout women and those devout Gentiles conform to their way but when Paul and Barnabas came and started preaching the gospel of Christ and said you're not saved by keeping the law you're saved by grace in Jesus Christ this alarmed the Jews and rightly so because the gospel would tear down their legalistic and anti-Christ religion the chief men may have included their husbands and other prominent and powerful men of the city and when we look at this and think about this this is just like the serpent in the garden that went first to the woman to seduce her eventually leading to her husbands seduction and being let us stray these were Gentiles of power and means that the Jews turned against Paul and Barnabas and what was stirred up resulted in persecution and Paul references these persecutions later in his letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3 11 and eventually Paul and Barnabas were expelled from the city leaving after they shook the dust from their feet this is what Luke records in verse 51 but they shook the dust off their feet against them and came to Iconium in his gospel account in Luke 9 verse 5 Luke records the words of the Lord Jesus concerning those who will not receive the message of the kingdom and Jesus said to shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them and this is exactly what Paul and Barnabas did when they were expelled from Antioch after shaking the dust off their feet they traveled southeast to the city of Iconium this is wisdom this is the wisdom of the spirit it's like having a conversation with someone that the pride festival you could stand there probably the whole night having one conversation but you realize I'm not going to change this person's mind and that's not why I'm out here I'm out here to plant seeds into water and trust God to change their heart and so you try to plant as many seeds as you can you try to water as much ground as you can but when you're rejected and they don't want to hear what you have to say you don't persist and keep trying to talk to them Jesus said when they reject you and they don't hear what you have to say shake the dust off and move on and in his gospel account this is exactly what Luke records when he records the words of Christ then in verse 52 Luke writes and the disciples the this that is the disciples made by Paul and Barnabas there in Antioch in Pasidia and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit why were they filled with joy we just talked about because they had been liberated by the good news they had a complete new identity and understanding of who they truly are in Christ no longer defined by a Roman emperor or a slave master or anyone else the joy of the Lord is our strength it was the disciples filled with joy and strength in the Holy Spirit who strengthened and empowered these disciples for the work of the kingdom and gave them endurance in the midst of tribulation it was the Holy Spirit who did this the same is true for us today the joy of the Lord must be our strength and we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit empowered to do his will though we here in America do not suffer the hard persecution we read about here in the book of Acts and in the scripture we do suffer from the seduction of this world this is our greatest threat our greatest threat is not persecution that could come one day but it's not today our greatest threat today is seduction the seduction of the world has been present since the beginning and yet perhaps it is accurate to say that we are bombarded with more seductive opportunities all around us and within our grasp within our grasp right here you can go anywhere in the world you want to go with this thing right here you can see anything you want to see you can hear anything you want to hear just touch the screen and go where you want to go that's seduction that's temptation unlike any other time in history the temptation to descend into the sin of this world through the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of lie is as prevalent now as ever before if not more whether through persecution or seduction it matters not if we succumb to this world and forsake the faith the seduction and the deception it is real and it will really capture you if you allow it to therefore stand strong in the Lord and in the power of his might rejoice in the Lord always and again I will say it rejoice in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit here's your charge church we need a move of God like the one recorded by Luke and Antioch like occurred on the day of Pentecost that cities would hunger for the word of God but it will not come without prayer you are charged to pray fervently and earnestly now more than ever in our lifetime we need the church to stand strong you are charged to stand and to stand strong they humiliated our Lord publicly and he stood strong in the midst of shame and suffering he endured it for the joy that was set before him and you are called to endure for the same joy set before you a church victorious it will not come if it does not begin with you you are called to endure suffering and shame and hardship for the joy set before you and for Christ's sake the church needs biblical men men who understand true strength who reject the temptation the world replaced before them to pursue what appears to be strength but is not Christ is our ultimate example of what a true man is what true strength is what true leadership is and what true love is you are charged to be men like Christ who know how to stand who know how to lay down their life and die to self the church needs mothers the Jerusalem above the church is our mother women you are charged to be mothers to the body of Christ to demonstrate the role of godly women godly mothers nurturing nursing babies of the kingdom not just physically naturally but spiritually as well women you are the glory of man that is exactly what the scripture says man is the glory of god but woman is the glory of man and you are charged to be glorious in every way for the glory of Christ and for the glory of his bride the church we are collectively the church of the Lord Jesus Christ live in such a way that you glorify your bridegroom your lord your savior they men let us sing our thanks to God the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace the Lord be with you you