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biblestudy: Acts (Part Thirteen)

Acts 13: The Work of Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 13-Dec-88; Sermon #BS-AC13; 60 minutes

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OK, let's go back into the 13th chapter of the book of Acts. OK, chapters 13 and 14 bridge over into the very important 15th chapter. In that they show the first concerted effort to take the gospel to the Gentiles. And these of course are Gentiles with any without any prior commitment to Jewishness of any kind. Even though they we are going to see very clearly that the apostles first went to the synagogue in order to Have a point of contact with the community, yet they were not requiring in any way that their converts from the Gentile areas be required to go through circumcision or anything that has anything at all to do with the Old Covenant. Of course they were requiring that the people repent. They believe the gospel, those things involving the New Covenant, and of course we see that this is going to lead right into chapter 15 and the controversy is going to be brought to a head. We've been leading up to this point and chapter 15 is going to be pivotal for the continued taking of the gospel in Gentile areas. In verse one, We have the listing of a group of men in the church at Antioch. So maybe it's just interesting to consider that the First efforts To reach Gentiles was not taken from Jerusalem, but it was taken from the church in Antioch. Why that was, I do not know. I can only guess that it probably had something to do with the nature of the personnel. There in the church in Antioch and also in the character of the congregation there. I am sure that it was predominantly Jewish. But I'm also sure that there are quite a number of of gentile converts already beginning to come into the church there in Antioch. And I am also reasonably sure that the church there was largely Hellenistic Jews. seemed to have a more tolerant outlook for the Gentile world than did the Jews in in Jerusalem. So at any rate, Antioch becomes the base of the apostle Paul's activities. All of his missionary journeys are taken from that base. And in this particular case, why he's going to leave from here, and go over into Cyprus and then into Asia Minor. Now, we do not know which of these people were prophets and which were teachers. Perhaps there was some overlapping. It really doesn't make that big of a, of a difference, but out of this group of people, Paul and Barnabas are selected to be the man to be the man who would make this. Attempt to go out to the to the Gentile world. Now it seems as though the whole congregation was involved in this in the selecting. Uh, of these men I do not mean that they voted. I am talking about. This word minister. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted. That they very likely is the entire congregation. Administered here is translated in other places worship. In other places, in fact, in the, in the Greek Septuagin, that same word means to serve in the temple. It was Used in the sense of Uh, the priests carrying out their obligations, their responsibilities. you know, you and I know what the word minister needs to serve. So these people were serving God. Now I'm bringing this up because I want you to see the way. At least there is one way in which the Bible shows we can serve God. Now how did they do it? They fasted and prayed. You see, that is a service to God. See they ministered to the Lord and they fasted. Fasting is a service to God. Uh, let's see, the Holy Spirit said, There is no indication of how this was. Oh. Arrived at When it says the Holy Spirit said, It is very likely the way the Holy Spirit said. Was it simply brought to people's minds. The qualifications of these men. So that Paul and Barnabas stood up. And the people agreed, yeah, they are naturals for this. Barnabas and Paul have these qualifications. They saw that Uh, in a sense, there was no competition for the for this responsibility because it became very apparent that these were the men who had the qualifications. Yeah So then It says that having fasted and prayed, laid hands on them and sent them away. Undoubtedly that they were interceding with God. Uh, in regards to these two men and the responsibility that they were going to be carrying out. So verses 4 and 5. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went on to Seleia. And from there they sailed to Cyprus. Now Seleucia was Antioch's port city. Antioch was inland. And I just found out today and doing some reading. Why they had a port city and why the main city was set off in land somewhere. Well, the reason was, was to avoid pirates and invasions. So they have a little city. Where the seaport would be, And so if somebody was attacked, the loss of the port wouldn't be all that great. And they figured that by the time the port was attacked and sacked, that they would be able to get their defenses. Uh, arranged and it would be much, much harder for the invader to take the the main city there. Antioch and Seleucia were about 16 miles apart. And So they went from there, the solution, and then they set sail for Cyprus. I'm going to give you some distances because I, I want you to get a little bit of a grasp. Of how small the area was that we are dealing with here. Now the distance from Seleia. The Cyprus was only 60 miles. Only half the distance from here to Bakersfield. On that day and age, why it was a a reasonably good journey. And I'm sure it took them a little while to get there, they were not sailing along at 55 miles an hour. So they They reached in the eastern edge of Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, Salami was a little bit further south, probably traveled over land. They might have gone there the whole way because Salemus is a seaport city. They preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they also had John as their assistant. Now John turns out to be. But John was his first name, John Mark. To get to back to market in just a little bit. Now Cyprus It's a fair size island. It's about 140 miles wide. For long, pardon me. And about 60 miles wide. Uh, it was really very important for The Roman Empire It is important because of its strategic location. In the Mediterranean Sea. It's important because of shipping. It was a good place to stop. On the way into the Uh, into the area of Palestine or to Egypt. And also it was important for a certain mineral that was very important at that time of history and Apparently quite rich copper mine. So it was quite a jewel in in Rome's. Areas of land that that they governed over. And About 22 BC or quite a, quite a number of years, 40, 50 years before the events that were. Going through right now, it was pretty much given its Great. Uh, the Rome Rome still kept the pro console there, and we are going to run into him here in just a little bit. But they were pretty much self-governed. The population was predominantly Greek. And apparently a fairly large colony of of Jews scattered throughout the island as well. Now, we see a pattern developing here, and that is that first of all, they went to the Jews. After they had gone to Salaus. They went on to the city of Papyros. Papros is further south, southwest from Salaus. And it's almost on the western shore of of Cyprus. About 90 miles from themselves. Here they contact Oh A certain po And also an Elimos. Verse 6. Now when they had gone through the island to Papyros, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus, son of Joshua. Who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, and this man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. I am sure that that that description of Paulus is put in there in order to let us know that Paulus was not taken in by the sorcerer. Even though the sorcerer was attached to his retinue. That he was intelligent enough to see through that this guy was nothing but a fake. Maybe he kept them around for entertainment. I do not know what it was, but he was intelligent enough to see through that. Now it might also be there. Because as the The nominal governance As pro console It was his responsibility to represent Rome. And to see that Rome's wishes were carried out. So he undoubtedly began to hear. Some of the scuttlebutt going around about Paul and Barnabas preaching. And I think that One of the reasons why he is described as being an intelligent man is that he moved very quickly to find out what this was about, so that he could head off any kind of a riot. Should have developed, or if he could discover whether or not this religion was really legal. Rome had laws regarding the practice of religion. And some religions were not legal. Apparently you had to be licensed by the state in order to be able to practice your religion, and if you are not legal. Then you could just be shut off. was persecuted out of existence. I think that I mentioned this to you when we were covering the background. And some of the purposes that that Luke would be Approach it, describe it here in this, and that is in every case he possibly can, he is showing that Christianity was accepted. By the government in Rome. And that the trouble invariably came from the Jews. Now sometimes Rome was involved, but they were involved at the instigation of the Jews. For some, I, I haven't quite figured out yet why, but for some reason it is very important to loot to show that the religion was accepted. That it was legal for them to practice what they did. And Again, we are going to see that this is another example that this that this took place because Paulus actually gave us approval. We'll go on. But Elimos, the sorcerer, or so his name is translated, withstood them seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Paul, who is also called Saul, who, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked in. Intently at him And said, O fool of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord. Now indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately a darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Now here is the, I believe. Oh. The first time The song is called Paul. We're going to watch a gradual change take place here. And the changes. This is the first step. Saul becomes Paul. The next thing you begin to notice. Is that it becomes Paul's company. In the beginning, it was Barnabas and Saul. The first thing you know it's going to be Paul and Bars. I do not think that that Paul just took over. I think though that it just began to dawn on Barnabas that he was dealing with somebody who was better equipped to handle the responsibilities of evangelism than he was. It doesn't in any way diminish what Barnabas was. It just means that that God had called Paul to be. Uh, a leader in this area. And Barnabas was humble enough to recognize it. And to And they relinquish his leadership. I do not know who Luke's source for this was. And we've spent an awful lot of time with the apostle Paul. Maybe the apostle Paul was his source. I do not know. But It it seems As though Luke was not amongst them at the time that this was going on, and so he would have to get his material from others who told him the story, but at any rate, you see Paul gradually coming to the forefront here and Barnabas becoming. What we would call today the second man. OK, now, did Hollis become a Christian. It's not a burning issue. But The general feeling is that yes, he did. There is a reason why they say that, and that is that it says that the proconso will be leak. Which is a statement that the that Luke makes in other places. In which the people were obviously converted. But Nothing else is told about it. Because it's believed that he later fell away from the church. His conversion became unraveled. And he and he fell away, but it was not a lasting conversion. But at the time he was deeply impressed. And there is no reason to doubt his sincerity. That he believed what has been what was told to him. And And it was converted but was not. A real strong. It would be especially difficult for somebody in government to be converted. Especially somebody that's that close to to the very top. To recognize that on the one hand, spiritually you're part of one government, and on the other hand, you're part of a of a liberal government that is governing over over a nation. That would be a tough fence to strap. I would say the best thing for him is to get rid of that one government and stick with the church. Who OK, verse 13. Now when Paul and his party set sail from Papyros, they came to Perga and Pamphylia, and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. We're going to find out later that apparently there was quite a contention. Between Uh, these men Barnabas Paul and Mark. Mark No reason is ever really given. It's just open to speculation. But later on, Paul's reaction to Mark. is of such a nature that it indicates that he felt that Mark abandoned. The work is and Went off on his own. I do not mean that he left the church. He did not leave the church, but he left that missionary church. He left them high and dry and apparently it made Paul distrust Mark. to such an extent that he no longer wanted him to be to be traveling with. Later on, we find Paul writing art. And at least they had. I guess you might say made up, although I do not think that he was really a part of Paul's team anymore. OK, they very quickly they moved from Cyprus and now they are in. Southern Turkey, what we call turkey today. But then it was the state of Pamphylia. They landed at Pur. There is no account at this time of any kind of preaching. And nobody knows why they got there and they left. OK, verse 14, but when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch with theidia. Now we have another state. Within the Roman Empire and another city, Antioch, you know how many Antiochs there were? There were 16 of them They were all in the Middle East. They were all named after. And Not necessarily all named after the same one. a whole string of But there were 16 of them. But in this case it was Antioch in the city. Paidia or Antioch is is another 40-50 miles from Perga. A little bit further north and east of there. OK, they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and they sat down, and after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers Of the synagogue sent to them saying, men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Well that's kind of interesting. How did they How did they know that Paul was anybody? Or I mean, somebody other than just an ordinary traveler. Undoubtedly they had travelers going through there from time to time. I wear something. Did he have on the robe of a priest? I was he wearing a certain kind of cap hat? Do you have some tassels on. Did he informed these people beforehand? who he was and say that if there was an opportunity, would like to speak. I do not know, but something gave these people a clue from synagogue to synagogue, Paul had no trouble at all getting up to speak. And I do not think that there was such disorder in a synagogue that anybody who happened to come by, especially strangers, was allowed to stand up and speak. But there was something about the apostle Paul, some way of identifying himself undoubtedly would let them know that this man was somebody of importance. Perhaps it had something to do with his days in Jerusalem. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. Perhaps there was some distinguishing feature about his clothing that he used to to open up the doors before him, but at any rate, he seemed to have no trouble at all having an opportunity to speak. It was after he spoke that he had trouble speaking anymore after that. OK, verse 16. Well, I, I just wanted to say something about. Antioch was the major city. In that area, it was a pretty good size. And There were apparently Fairly large numbers of of Jews Jews there. And At any rate, it gave him another base from which to operate. Further became the base of his operations in that area. Let's go on to verse 16. Then Paul stood up and motioning with his hand, said, Men of Israel and you who fear God listen. The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt. Put up with their ways in the wilderness when he had destroyed 7 nations, the land of Cana, he distributed their land to them by a lot. After that, he gave them judges for about 450 years. 21 afterwards they asked for a king. So God gave Saul, the son of Kish, man of the tribe of Benin for 40 years. That he. Raised up for that David is also he gave testimony and said, I have found David the son of Jesse. And after my own heart will do I will. here So. It Going through Me what to think. Yeah. Thank you that so sad. That's so great. that No problem. So I woke up. Oh great. This man's see, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel, he saved you. After the first week. For his coming out the people. And as John was finishing his verse, he said, Who do you think I am? I am happy. You know, there comes one after me, the sandal on his feet. I am not worthy to lose. You know the promise that he is talking about here. Those ones that are given back is turned 2nd sandal. Chapter 7. How familiar these things will be. The Gentiles, I do not know. Certainly they would be familiar with Jews. II Samuel 7, beginning in verse 12. In your day, God is speaking today. Your days are fulfilled. rest with your fathers. I will set up your seat after. from your body, I will establish his. He shall go the house for my name, and I will establish the throne of the stranger forever. I will be his father. He shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men for the blows of the son of man, but my mercy shall not be hurt. I took it from I remove from your from before you. At your house, your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Notice that your house, your kingdom. Your dynasty Shall be established forever before you. Your ground shall be established forever. Where all these words. 3 So they spoke. I know the song. 89 Verse 29. The writer of the song Clothing II Samuel My mercy, I will keep for him forever. My covenant shall stand firm with him. His seat also I will make to endure forever. His strong as the days of. I got a little bit further to. Verse 36. The sea shall endure forever, throne as the sun before me, shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness the sky. OK, that's enough of that. Back to Acts 13. And the Messiah is very clearly to come from the seed of nature. I was just clothing. Here in order to establish The Jesus of Nazareth fits them out. Of the promises that were given today, Jesus of Nazareth is Messiah. John spoke of John was not the one. Proudly there were many people among the Jews who thought of John as being a very great man. Possibly many of them might have thought of it in terms of being the Messiah. As abo cuts them off, so no, he's not the one, but John himself said that he was not the one. Verse 26. And in brother and sons of the family of Abraham. And those among you who fear God, the Gentiles. To you, the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know. Even the voice of the pros. That's interesting because he is telling them that they rejected the writings of the prophet, the voice of the prophet, because it was very clear to those people in Jerusalem that they had opened their minds to believe that Jesus of Nazareth fit. The ties that were made. Whether it was in France or whether it was in Samuel, whether it was in Isaiah, they rejected the law and the prophet. He himself said that. Because they did not know it. Or even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath have fulfilled them in condemning him. You know there is that word no again. Surely they do. They knew who he was. They knew his name, they knew what he looked like, they knew it. They were not intimately. All right. They were in fellowship with. They were not trying to imitate. So we did not know. The biblical verse 28. Though they found no cause for death in it, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was you know, he did not. Blame the death of Christ. On the road. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him up from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. You know, right in verse 26. is a turn in this message. its Christian application up until that time. Jews I'm sure could agree with very much the same. Practically all But when the application came to Jesus Christ and what it was going to mean to these people's lives. Then the message demanded a great deal more attention. Now they were going to be first to make a decision. Would they agree that Jesus was the Christ? Even though it could be shown. There was plenty of evidence available. Jesus of Nazareth fit the prophecies that were made. Would they convicted, would they be willing to make an application of the person. There is an appeal here. Underlying all of this. not throw away their opportunity. You know where it is. He brought that up about the Jews in Jerusalem to give them an example of the way it ought not be done. They put the man to death. Don't you do that. Don't you turn your back. Don't reject him. He fits the prophecies. He is the Messiah. Now this application Beginning here in verse 26, has 4 major points. Number 1, he was crucified. Number 2, he was buried, 3, he was resurrected, and number 4, he was witnessed as being alive. Paul could have said, how many, how many witnesses do you want me to bring forward to you? To testify. Well, he could have got, I do not think he did it because it would have been unwieldy to do so. That thing regarding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was not done in a corner. It was done at Passover. When there were millions of people from all over the Mediterranean world, Jews who were witness to it. Even on the day of Pentecost, you have read there in in Acts the 2nd chapter of all the nations that were represented. Again, Jews from those areas who were in the Pentecost to keep the holy day. Passover was a bigger holy day. That season was bigger than was Pentecost, and it is more likely that there were far more people there who could testify of what was done. Isn't it likely that there were some people there from Antioch? No City that large, that large of a Jewish population. There would have been people there who were witnesses to what was done in Jerusalem. Verse 32. We declare to you glad tidings. That promise which was made to our Father. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he has raised up Jesus, as is also written in the 2nd Psalm. Now to support the 4 points, he begins to quote out of the Old Testament. The first comes from Psalm 2. You are my son Today I have begotten you. Now Psalm 2 The Jews recognized that something. It had a dual application. They knew that it applied to the Messiah most directly. But secondarily, It applied To those who are the followers of God. They understood About the ghetto, they may not have understood the mechanics of it. They certainly did not understand the theology of it. But the concept was there. The idea of the ghetto. And so it had been the Jews' idea all along that they were the ones. That fit into Psalm 2. Certainly primarily the Messiah, but secondarily them. Now Paul is. is putting a new light on it and he said, Hey, it doesn't apply to you, it applies to the Christians. And that of course would include Gentiles It's beginning to become I'm sure that by this time, it's beginning to dawn on the Jews who are there, that Paul was making a radical application to something that they thought was theirs and theirs own. That is generally what stirs them up. Because they do not want to relinquish their favored position with God. Well, that's too bad. As if they would have just understood, they were not relinquishing a thing. They would have been gaining to have a right understanding. And a right relationship with God. Instead they wanted to to selfishly hang on and exclude others from the kind of relationship that they felt that they had with God, but they did not in reality have it. Now in Psalm 2 What God is doing there. Oh. Is that God Legitimizes The king You read that song, you have to read the whole song. But in it God legitimizes the king as His Son. Now the Jews belief was. At the beginning of the sun would be fulfilled in the resurrection. That's why Paul quoted it. That was their belief. The son was resurrected. He is king, and that son is Jesus of Nazareth. Always proclaiming to them their king. Oh, it goes on. And that he raised him from the dead no more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus I will give you the sure mercies of David. That comes from Psalm 16 and verse 10. In this case, the sure mercies of David. Was the resurrection again from the dead. That is the mercy that David would receive. David is eventually going to receive it. He too is going to receive that mercy. He is going to be resurrected. He's going to live forever. But God gave it first to David's offspring. Jesus of Nazareth. And so he has given that sure mercy of David. So what that works out to in Psalm 16:10. is a promise To David's offspring. Of the permanent dominion, the kingship. Of his offspring Reverse 35 Therefore, he also says in another song. You will not allow your holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption. So return to that verse about the vision of Fatima. Even one as great as David. fell asleep and was buried, saw corruption, and he's not floating around disembodied spirit. But he who God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren. That through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sin. And by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. There beware, therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold you despisers marvel and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe though you were to declare, though one were to declare it to you. Now Paul introduces here the subject of justification. You will not go into it a very great deal. But it is through Right In the blood of Jesus Christ that forgiveness and justification come. Now justification We might call it today acquittal. Being found innocent. It means more in the biblical sense of being made right with God. Now this offer From God Through Christ's death is to all, to everyone who believes that's universal. Now if the Jews understood what he said, he would then also have to include the Gentiles. Well, there was one more thing that I, I wanted to clarify here. Maybe you did not catch it. And maybe it's just a technical point. But it is something that is, I feel absolutely essential to understand. It's in verse 39. And by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. That thing where it says from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Now if you read that in the right wrong way. It could give you the indication that some things are justified by the law. That's not what it means at all. What he is really saying is not one thing was ever justified by the law. Justification is by faith. In the blood of Jesus Christ. It takes shed blood to be justified. The wages of sin is death. The blood stops flowing. The death pays the penalty and justified. However, if we are justified by our own death, we are dead. What good is there just through justification by one's own death. So God in His mercy applies the death of Jesus Christ vicariously. Because of faith. And enables us to continue living. Remember that verse we read back there in Hebrews? For it is not possible for the blood of wolves and goats to forgive sin. There was never any justification. As a result of the Of the blood of a bull or goat or anything that is by law. The law has to be satisfied through death through blood. That blood, that death was through the the death of. of a perfect sacrifice. I want you to hold your fingers there. Let's go back to a backup. Like a backup. Now that that verse that we just read there, verse 41. is quoted from Habakka. Uh, I just wanted to show it to you. In its context It's very likely if we did this today. We took something out of context the way the apostle Paul did. We probably get sniffed at. Christianity today. People would write tracts against us. And say that we were really nasty and far out in the way that we did think we were playing fast and loose with the Bible. But See if I can pick it up. In verse 5, Look among the nations and watch. He utterly astounded. For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe though it were told you. That's what he quoted. What did it apply to in its context? Didn't apply to Jesus Christ at all. Nothing at all to do with the preaching of the gospel. Had nothing at all to do with justification, had nothing at all to do with the forgiveness of sin, who shed blood, had nothing at all to do with the law. It doesn't seem to apply. The contexts at all, but it does. The principle applies. It applies in the fact that what God did through Christ was a marvel, and it did cause people to wonder, and people did not believe it. Even though it was done. What, a man lived 33 years and never sinned? A man go into his grave after being crucified. And then be resurrected. And not only be resurrected but ascend to heaven. But before ascending heaven, His small group of followers were empowered. By a spirit that came from heaven and gave these people the power to speak in different languages and to hear in different languages. And they have the power to to raise people up from infirmities that they had from the time that they were born. To heal people who were lame. Well, the Jews did not believe it. Some Gentiles did and some Jews did, but not very many Jews. What it applies to here in its context is God raising up the Chaldeans to become the oppressors. Of the Jews. to ravish the nation. And to take them into captivity. That's what it applies to here in the backup one. But the apostle Paul just took the principle. So, hey, it applies here. And he quote And it's in the scriptures. It does apply. But it really seems to be far out. If you look at it in its context. In verse 42. And when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them next Sabbath. Now when the when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God, and the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. Apparently they left the synagogue and went out onto the sidewalk. That reminds me of several times that Mr. Waterhouse came to town. And he spoke for his usual 3 hours in the hall that we had rented. And then we talk for another half an hour, 1 hour inside. And finally they were flicking the lights and everything, and you go out onto the sidewalk and you keep talking away at another for another hour or two, and then finally you have to leave. That's what these people had done. They were just Enraptured with what they had heard, it was something that really Stirred their minds and they wanted to hear more about it. They could not get enough inside the building and so they went outside the building and how long they Ask questions and was probably as long as Paul and Barnabas were willing to answer. Well, The next Sabbath This is one of the proof texts. It can be used to show that the apostle Paul was not adverse to the keeping of the Sabbath. He gave it's no indication at all that there is any change, any directive that came from Christ or any of the apostles in Jerusalem. He had every opportunity to tell these people, well, come on back tomorrow because Sunday is the day that we should be keeping anyway. I just went into the synagogue because there was a crowd here and it was a Sabbath, and I knew there would be people, but tomorrow, come back tomorrow, we will hold another church service, and then the week after that on another Sunday, and we will get you started off on the right day and you can just separate away from these Jews. And you'll be the better for it. There is nothing like that at all. So the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the word. Probably a bit of hyperbole there, the whole city. It's a pretty good sized city. But you can imagine what happened during the week. The Gentiles who were at the synagogue said, hey, guess what? I heard a guy talking about last Saturday. And they were just excited enough. That these people said, do you think that they'd mind if we came to hear them too? You going there next Saturday? Sure. Well, count me in. I want to hear it too. So everybody probably brought a person or two with them, maybe whole families, and there was a good sized crowd there to hear. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy. Jealousy And probably also a measure of anger because the synagogue was being overrun. I mean, I can understand that. Because to them it was an important place. Here were people trying to crowd in there, and who knows what kind of destruction could have taken place. They were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed 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 reject it. And Judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. Now that is very interesting. It's interesting to me because I think we have the approach. That if people hear the gospel, And they just nonchalantly turn away. But that's all right. They're going to have their chance in the 2nd resurrection. Well, maybe they will, but it seems to me that the apostle Paul took this a lot more seriously. They judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. Had they had their opportunity. Well, this verse, of course, does not stand alone, but I think that it's a lot more serious than We have maybe been Thinking over these years. At the very least, those people were judged unworthy of eternal life. They judged themselves unworthy of eternal life at that time. And it looks to me as though the apostle Paul was saying that if they had made the right decision, God would have then made it possible for them to have eternal life in the first resurrection. A far better resurrection. And maybe in turning away, they gave up a very great deal. In their jealousy, in their anger. Moving them to In a stiff neck way, reject something that they should have been able to check out both in the scriptures and also in the news that they could have very easily have gotten from Jerusalem about what occurred. I'm sure that they could have gotten evidence regarding the life of Jesus Christ. To show them well enough that this man did fulfill the prophecies regarding the Messiah. In verse 48 For so the Lord has commanded us. I have set you to be a light to the Gentiles. That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. Now that's interesting. There is another scripture. The ball is ripped out of its context. That applies to the Messiah. Paul applied it to himself. I'll tell you, if Mister Armstrong would have done that, that man had so many detractors. That it probably would have hit the kingdom of the cult's book or something in there about how he is taking all these things upon himself. The apostle Paul was not against. He was not adverse. It's right in the scripture. He took scriptures that applied to the to the Messiah and applied to them to himself. Now you know how he was able to get away with that? And not Have it be blasphemy. It's because Of the close relationship there is between Christ and His church. We are part of his body. You know the principle there that's in Matthew 25. If you feed one of his servants, it's the same as feeding him. That principle is in many other places in the Bible. So if one of his servants is a light to the Gentile. What applied to Christ in the way of prophecy also applies to his servant as well. It works in both directions. Now when the Gentiles heard, Heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, as many as has been appointed to eternal life, he believed, is not that interesting. There is the choosing of God. Being appointed to eternal life. the Gentiles' response is immediate and wholehearted. It doesn't mean that every Gentile believed. The message spread, verse 49. The word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the regions. But the Jews stirred up devout and prominent women. Uh, and the chief men of the city. Raised up persecution against Paul. Uh, and Barnabas, there is Paul first and expelled them from the region. Now the Jews Couldn't confine Paul's ministry to the synagogue. So what they did is that they stirred up Devout So It is very likely that these devout women For Gentiles. They may have been proselytes. Now these women in turn went home to their husband. Who was a prominent Businessman, politician. Council member or whatever. They were leading lights in the city. And the ladies put the pressure on their husbands who in turn then stirred up. The police forces and whatever I guess. Now it is very likely. That what the Jews managed to do was to get a charge of false religion against The apostles. And somehow or another They made it stick. Even though it was not true. They made it stick Well In this case, it was probably an official action taken by the city. And the reason we, I think we can say that is because in verse 50 they were expelled. It was not a mob action. But apparently the city council Made a movement and they got the police to just usher them out of town. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them. They came to Iconium. The shaking the dust off the feet was a symbol of scorn. It was pretty much tantamount of saying, I'm going to have nothing at all to do with you anymore, almost to the place of declaring them as pagans. It's as though the dust was contaminating their shoes. Uh, the dust from the city that in which these people lived and when they shook it off, it was Panama to kind of expelling them or excommunicating them. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. From there they went on to Iconium. Iconium is about 80 miles away from there. By the next week we will get on into chapter 14.

JWR/aws/drm

 

 

Sermon Topics

False Gospels

Jesus Christ's Return

Life after Death

Repentance

Resurrection

The Gospel

The Kingdom of God