Preaching turned to persecution Acts 13:42-52

Introduction

Paul and Barnabas had travelled many miles to get to Antioch in Pisidia, and as they arrived they went to the synagogue to hear the law and prophets read and then were asked if they had anything to say. Paul then used the very law and prophets they had just heard read to reintroduce them to Jesus and then he went on to share the Gospel.

Nobody knew he was coming, and nobody knew what he was going to say, but the message he preached would intrigue those in attendance so much that even after he finished preaching they continued to follow. Here we are going to see Paul continue the conversation, The boldness of Paul and Barnabas to preach the gospel, and the joy found in persecution.

Paul continues the conversation vs. 42-44

As the Jews departed from the Synagogue, the Gentile besought (urged him) to preach these words the next sabbath.

They were intrigued by what Paul was preaching and wanted to hear more.

Not only were the Gentiles interested, but the jews and religious proselytes, which were gentiles converted to Judaism, were intrigued as well.

For so long the message they heard was all about the law, and here was preaching about the grace of God, that God sent his only son to die for them .

Paul encouraged them to continue in grace. The Christian life does not begin and end at salvation, it begins at salvation and we must continue in the grace of God every day.

How do we continue in the grace of God?

We remain steadfast

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

We grow in grace

2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

Live in alignment to God’s word

Paul Chappel said this “I cannot not affirm what the Bible condemns” As Christians we cannot affirm what the Bible condemns if we want to continue in the grace of God.

The Bible says it this way in 1 Peter 1:15–16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

Share the Gospel

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

As believers we should be doing theses things every day!

On the next sabbath day the crowd had grown a little than the week before.

The Bible says almost the whole city was there and notice they didn’t come to hear Paul the came to hear the word of God.

At the end of every sermon we shouldn’t be thinking what a sermon, but rather what a saviour. The word of God was paramount in the Paul’s preaching, and if we want to see the revivals they saw in the first century church, our preaching must get back to the preaching of the word of God.

I think a big lesson that we can learn from this story is we must be faithful no matter the size of the crowd. Whether we have 4 or 400 in attendance the word of God must be preached and the Gospel proclaimed.

The Boldness of Paul and Barnabas vs. 45-49

When the Jews caught wind of what was going on, they were filled with envy.

The greek word here is the same word that is translated indignation in Acts 5:17 where it talks about the religious leaders being filled with indignation against Peter and John.

Envy had caused the Jews to do a lot of things they shouldn’t.

It was envy that moved the Jews to turn over Jesus to Pilate

It was envy that moved the Jews of the homeland to turn against the apostles.

Now it was envy that moved the Jews of the dispersion to turn against Paul and to reject the Gospel both out of anger and bitterness.

Envy causes us to do a lot of things we shouldn’t as well. We must be careful that we don’t get bitten by the bug of envy, because it can cause us to miss out on God’s blessing on our life.

Here the Jews allowed the envy bug to get ahold of them so much that they spoke against what Paul was teaching.

The bible says they contradicted what they were teaching

Contradict- To oppose by words; to assert the contrary to what has been asserted, or to deny what has been affirmed.

And they blasphemed them as well

Blasphemed- To speak evil of; to utter abuse or calumny against; to speak reproachfully of.

Because they didn’t like what Paul and Barnabas were preaching they tried to contradict every word they were teaching. The biggest problem with that is Paul wasn’t preaching his own message, he was preaching the word of God, so they weren’t contradicting him they were contradicting the Word of God.

They were also trying to drag their names through the mud to discredit the message they were preaching.

As they were doing this Paul and Barnabas waxed bold which means they spoke confidently in the Spirit and gave them some truth directly from the word of God. \

Paul reminds them, that the Word of God could have been spoken through them.

I believe of the Jews had accepted the Gospel, that God would have continued to use them as his mouthpiece as he did in the Old Testament, but Paul puts it this way “But seeing that ye put it from you” this literally means they thrust it away. Week after week the Gospel is presented, and every time it is rejected it is as though “it is being thrust away”

The Jews judged themselves unworthy of eternal life

May I remind you that we are most certainly unworthy of eternal life when we come before God. We could never measure up to the standard necessary for eternal life on our own, but praise God, Jesus is the Propitiation for our sin, a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and because of His sacrifice we are worthy of eternal life on the merits of Jesus Christ.

While they were unworthy, they rejected the one who could make them worthy, so God has set them aside and is now using the church to get the Gospel out. The Church has not replaced Israel, and when the church age is over Israel will again be God’s mouthpiece, but until then he is using the church.

Paul then quotes Isaiah 49:6.

Isaiah 49:6 “And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”

Because the Jews had rejected the Gospel, the Gentiles would now take it to the world. Jesus came not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles, but this is the first time we would see a missionary tell the Jews they would be going to the gentiles to get the Gospel out.

John Phillips said this “His decision to turn directly to the Gentiles was not an angry reaction to Jewish intransigence but one based solidly on God’s word and will. It was not spite but Scripture that motivated.”

After Paul quotes scripture to the Jews the Gentiles rejoice.

They were glad

They glorified the word of the Lord

Then they got saved

Here we see God’s drawing interact with mans responsibility.

We see that they were ordained or appointed to eternal life. They had been drawn by the Holy Spirit to salvation, but they still had to believe. God can draw us but if we don’t believe we cannot get saved, in fact if God draws us and we don’t respond we have rejected Christ.

Someone said this “God’s ability to ordain people to eternal life never operates apart from their ability to obey the Gospel as an act of their will.”

D.L. Moody said it this way “The elect are the whosoever wills and the non elect are the whosoever won’ts.”

Once they got saved the Word of the Lord was published throughout all the regions.

The great commission was continuing.

As members of a new testament church the great commission is still our mission and we should continue to share the gospel until every nation and language has heard the Gospel.

Joy in persecution vs. 50-52

Notice the response of the Jews to the Word that was just preached by Paul

They stirred up devout and honorable woman and the chief men of the city.

They raised persecution to try and silence them

They expelled them or kicked them out of their coast.

But also notice the response of Paul and Barnabas

they shook the dust of their feet.

They were filled with Joy and the Holy Ghost.

Like nehemiah said the joy of the Lord is our strength.

No matter what we may face we can find joy in the midst of our trial as we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

This morning we have come to a time of decision, if the Holy Spirit is drawing you to get saved, don’t delay, there will never be a more convenient time than now.

Christian, this morning are you discouraged that people aren’t responding when you share the Gospel? Take courage you have either planted a seed or watered a seed that has already been planted.