The Book of Acts tells how the early Church grew after Jesus’ ascension. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, giving believers power to preach boldly. Peter and Paul were key leaders in spreading the gospel, which moved from Jerusalem to the Gentile world. Even through persecution, the Church grew strong through prayer, unity, and generosity. God used ordinary people, including former enemies like Paul, to carry out His mission. Christians today are called to be Spirit-filled, faithful, and bold as they continue the work that began in Acts.
[Music] Good morning my good people of God.
I trust God that you had a wonderful weekend. I see joy on your faces. continue to be joyful
because our joy is dependent upon who we are in Christ Jesus. It’s not dependent upon our outside
circumstances. So always rejoice in the Lord and be glad. Acts of the Apostles chapter 13 is where
we will pick it up today. But before we continue, I want to give you a brief review of what we
covered in Acts of the Apostles chapter 12. You remember uh Acts of Apostles chapter
12 describes um a time of persecution and deliverance in the early church. King Agrippa the
first violently attacking the church at this time. He killed James the brother of John. And when
he noticed that what he did pleased the Jews, so he wanted to please them more and he laid hold
of Peter, put him in the jail and waiting for the feast of Passover to be over so that he can uh
execute him just like he did with James. But something happened. The angel of the Lord showed
up at night and rescued Peter. And uh Peter from there as a matter of fact he thought he was seeing
a vision not knowing that it was real until that uh iron gate opened on his own accord. From there
he left and went to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark where the believers were gathered
praying for him to be released. So when he knocked at the gate a servant girl named Rhoda went to
answer the gate. But when she heard Peter’s voice, she was so excited that she did not open the gate.
She ran inside to tell the people that Peter is at the gate. But they did not believe her for they
said she was beside herself. And then when she continued, they said that was Peter’s angel.
Finally, when they opened the door, the gate, Peter came in and told them about what happened.
how the angel of the Lord rescued him and he left that location to a safe place. So now Herod went
back to Cesaria. There he gave a public speech to the people of Tyre and Sidon. They were not
at peace with him for they depended upon Herod for food. So they wanted to make peace. He gave
them a public or oration and, in that speech, they praised him saying this is the voice of an
of a god not a voice of a man. So Herod enjoyed their flattering and their buttering. As a result
of that he did not give praise or glory to God. So he was struck dead by an angel of the Lord.
We also covered last week that Barnabas and Paul returned from their visit to Jerusalem where they
went to deliver help to the believers there. They went back to Antioch and uh they returned
now with John Mark with them to Antioch. That chapter ended by telling us that the
church continued to grow by the power of the Spirit of God. That’s what we covered last
week. But before we continue today, let’s have a word of prayer together. Holy father, you are
our heavenly father. We are always delighted to come to your presence as your children united
in Christ Jesus, thanking you for your word. Father, it is an opportunity to come together
to be taught by your Spirit. We appreciate it so much. We live in a world today where there are
so many false teachers. Those who have perverted the truth. Those who’ve gone around just to fleece
the flock. We have so many higherlings today not interested in feeding the flock. Father, we pray
that uh when they heal the womb of your people slightly by saying peace, peace, even when there
is no peace, we come running to you so that we can receive the word, your word, the truth. When
the foundations of the nations are destroyed by these heretics, Father, we come to no other place
but in your presence to receive your word. As we dive into today’s teaching, teach us by your Holy
Spirit. Give us guidance, revelation, knowledge, understanding. We want to know the truth. We don’t
want to be deceived. Give us clarity of mind. We are so grateful that by your Holy Spirit,
you will empower us to be doers of your word. Use us as a light to this dark world. Help us
to be instruments of righteousness to reach the unreached to tell the untold about the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord so much for what you’ve done for us. They are
innumerable. Can a man take the glory that belongs to you? Oh no, Lord, for you will not share your
glory with anyone. So holy God, with one accord, your children said this morning, not unto us, not
unto us, but unto your name we give all the glory, honor, power, majesty, and dominion in
the matchless name of Jesus Christ. And everybody said, amen. I welcome you today uh to
today’s teaching. We are going to cover Acts of the Apostles chapter 13. So let’s go ahead and
dive in and I will begin with verse one.Now in the church that was at Antioch there were
certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to
the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the
work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid
hands on them, they sent them away. So today the church at Antioch was growing. You
remember Antioch now that popular city had about 1 million people living in Antioch at this time
and uh the word of God came into Antioch and the people believed and so many people came to
faith. So it is now growing. So many people now coming to faith. But uh especially now they
have prophets, they have teachers, those who heard from the Lord and those who taught the people
about the word of God. I want you to notice the diversity we have here. We are told about
Barnabas, a Levite from the island of Cyprus, one who is called a son of encouragement, one
who was also gave generously, who sold his land and gave the money to the apostles so that they
can use it to help other people. We are also told about Simeon here also called Niger. Now Niger
means black. So possibly this guy is of an African uh descendant. He’s an African descendant. And
we also have Lucius of Cyrene. Cyrene is uh from North um Africa. So that’s where he came from.
Modern day Libya. And we have Manaea, someone who was raised with Herod Antipas. That’s the Herod
it is talking about here. not to Herod Agrippa. This is Antipas, the one who called off the head
of John the Baptist. So he’s telling us here how the gospel also reached people who had political
power. And we also have Saul here who became Paul, a great persecutor of the church, one who turned
to a powerful teacher as well as a missionary. So that is the diversity we have here. So what we
learn from this section we just read. Now what we learn is God called leaders not based on race or
on their class or on their past. So this is a mark of a healthy church. A healthy church is the place
where you go, you see diversity of leaders because God calls people from different backgrounds. So
you see this also reflects the present kingdom of God. The present kingdom of God should be a place
where we go and we find diversity, unity as well as being led by the Spirit of God. and also,
in the life that is yet to come, the kingdom of God will be filled with people from different
uh nationality backgrounds. So if you are if you don’t have the tolerance for other people, you
better have it now because when you get to the kingdom of God, you know what’s going to happen
when we get to heaven? You will see people from different walks of life, nationality, backgrounds.
That’s the God we serve. And what else do we learn from this section? We learn that God uses a
worshiping church to launch His mission. So we are talking about the first missionary journey here.
The first missionary journey did not start with marketing plan or activity. No, rather it started
with prayer with worship, fasting and uh when they surrendered themselves to this atmosphere, the
Spirit of God spoke, separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work which I have called
them to do. Before ministry is to people, it must first be to God. The voice of God is most
clearly heard in an atmosphere of surrender. That atmosphere of prayer, fellowship, communication
with God, fasting, that’s when you hear the voice of the Spirit of God the most. And this is where
they position themselves. They were praying. They were fasting and then they heard the voice of the
Spirit of God, and someone will ask how did they hear the voice of the Spirit of God. Remember
here it tells us that there were prophets, and they were teachers. So I believe God gave
one of them a word of knowledge and he spoke it out. What else we learn in this section?
The Holy Spirit leads and the church obeys. It was the Holy Spirit of God
who called Barnabas and Saul. What the people did was to respond to the ones
the Holy Spirit called. They were not called because of ambition or because the church just
wanted them to go. It was the Spirit of God who called. And the church responded in prayer and in
fasting and then in laying on of hands to them. So my good friends, missions and the leadership
are God’s work. They don’t belong to us. The role of the church is to obey, to discern, and to
send. That’s what the church should do. You see, we don’t have any business laying hands on people
who are not called by God. As we see in so many churches today, you know, they lay hands on
people whoever they want. They just lay hands on them not uh knowing if God called them or not.
That’s not the way it’s supposed to happen. We are supposed to first of all watch those people,
we have to observe them. We have to pray. We have to discern. We have to look at the fruit
in their lives. And when we have come to that conclusion and then the revelation from the Spirit
of God, we will have that peace from within that these people are called by God. And that’s when we
would confirm what God has already ordained by the laying on of hands to send them for the
work of the ministry in the kingdom of God. So if you want to hear from God, you have to be
a worshipper first, not a worker. A worshipper first. You see, when you minister to the Lord,
you put yourself in that position that you are able to hear very clear from the Spirit of God.
And that’s what we should do. When we worship, God will minister to us and we will have the
revelation of those that He has called into the ministry. Even for us, find out what God
has called you to do. There is no gift less person in the kingdom of God. We are all called
with a purpose. Pray and ask God, what have you called me to do? Maybe you are not called to be
the one to be sent out those missionaries. No, but maybe God called you to be the one who will
finance their mission, the one who will pray for them, the one who will encourage them. Maybe God
has called you into one of the ministries in the church. Find out which one God has called you to
do and get to work. Be diligent about it. How do you know? If you’re not very sure, pray about it.
Now, begin to volunteer. You see what I’m saying? When you get to that one that God has called
you to do, as you volunteer there, there will be peace about it. You will have joy doing it. Even
though it may not be an easy task, but whosoever the Lord calls, he will empower. You will have
the grace there to do that work of the ministry. So find out today, my good friends, what has
God called you to do for the kingdom of God? get to work. Be busy about it. Be faithful
about it. Be obedient about it. Now, let’s continue in verse 4 So, being sent out
by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of
the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. 6 Now when they had gone through [a]the island
to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was
with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and
sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated)
[b]withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is
called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “O full 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? 11 And 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 dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him
by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being
astonished at the teaching of the Lord. So here let’s talk about uh the first missionary
journey. That’s where we are right now. So Paul and Barnabas are now at their first missionary
journey. As they prayed and laid hands on them, they were sent to this journey. I put up a map
because I’m a visual learner. So the map that I put up on your screen will show you the areas,
where they covered during their first missionary journey. So it started they started from Antioch.
No remember this is Antioch in Syria and uh from there they went to Seleucia. Now Seleucia is
a seaport. From Seleucia they will sell to the island of Cyprus where Barnabas was born. So
maybe someone is wondering how did they know where to start? I think it’s very simple natural.
Uh because Barnabas was from the island of Cyprus. He told Paul, “Hey, come let’s go to Cyprus. I
know that place very well. I grew up there. So, it’ll be easy for us to start. Maybe that’s
what they did. I’m not sure. And uh when they got to the island of Cyprus, they
arrive in a place called Salamis. Now, Salamis is in the north of the island of Cyprus.
There they preach the gospel in the synagogue. So for you to have a synagogue, you will have
to have 10 Jewish men in any city. So if they have 10 Jewish men there, they able to start a
synagogue. So they preached there first because the gospel is first to the Jews and then to the
Gentiles. So that’s what they observed here. And now from Salamis they went to Paphos. Now Paphos
is in the north of for this island of Cyprus. So if you are going from Salamis to Paphos,
you’ll be going about 75 miles from the north to the south. So it is at this place Paphos that
they met a proconsul. A proconsul is someone who um was in charge of a certain province, a Roman
Empire leader, one who uh oversaw as a certain district. So this guy’s name was called
Sergius Paulus. He was an intelligent man. He wanted to hear the good news. But
unfortunately, Elmas, a sorcerer, one whose other name is bar Jesus, hindered him, wanted to hinder
him. He wanted to hinder him from hearing the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. But you know
what happened here? What we just read here? Paul filled with the power of the Holy Spirit of God
looked at him and rebuked him. He called him the son of the devil, an enemy of righteousness
and he told him that he will be blind for a season and that happened immediately. So when
Sergius Paulus this proconsul heard the good news followed by the corresponding action of
this miracle of this uh Elymas the sorcerer being blind he believed. So this proconsul was one
of Paul’s first converts into the kingdom of God. What do we learn from this section my good
friends? Gospel faces opposition but God’s power wins. So Elymas here revealed spiritual darkness
that is still fighting against the truth today. That’s what he did. He didn’t want another one
to see the light. Even though he was in darkness, he didn’t want anybody seeing the light. Spiritual
war, but Paul rebuked darkness and the truth of the word of God prevailed. So we see the same
thing going on today in so many places. Even so many countries, they don’t want to hear the
gospel. They don’t want to hear the gospel. And they don’t want others to hear the gospel
as well. So they make laws and decrees that makes it an offense if you preach the gospel
over there. Sometimes they will execute, they will kill people if they preach the
gospel. Do you remember Jesus Christ uh when He confronted the religious leaders
especially the Pharisees and the scribes? for hypocrisy. In um Matthew chapter 23 verse 13,
Jesus Christ said this to them, “But woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up
the kingdom of heaven against men. For you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are
entering to go in.” Jesus Christ addressed this. They don’t want they don’t want to go in, but
they want other people not to go in. This is not only happening outside places. Sometimes it
happens inside families, homes where maybe um both parents are from different uh denominations
and one parent is thinking that the other one is misled because of what he believes. And instead
of that one believing what he or she believes, he or she wants to also pull the children
along with whatever they believe. Even though they may be wrong, they don’t want
the children to see the light of the truth. So God doesn’t take it lightly when you hinder
people from coming into the kingdom of God. Remember Jesus Christ said anyone that will
cause one of these little ones to stumble, it will be better for that one that a stone is tied
on top of his or her neck and cast into the sea. Search your heart. What are you doing
right now? If you don’t believe, are you hindering other people from believing
the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ? We continue now in um verse 13. Now when Paul
and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them,
returned to Jerusalem. 14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. 15 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 [c]exhortation for the people, say on.” 16 Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his
hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: 17 The God of this people [d]Israel chose
our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with
[e]an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. 18 Now for a time of about forty years He put up with
their ways in the wilderness. 19 And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan,
He distributed their land to them by allotment. 20 “After that He gave them judges for about
four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And afterward they asked for
a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty
years. 22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also
He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who
will do all My will.’ 23 From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for
Israel a[f] Savior—Jesus— 24 after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of
repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who
do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals
of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’ 26 “Men and brethren, sons of the [g]family
of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the [h]word of this salvation has been
sent. 27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him,
nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning
Him. 28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put
to death. 29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down
from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead. 31 He was seen for
many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the
people. 32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. 33
God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it
is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.’ 34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more
to return to [i]corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure [j]mercies of David.’ 35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your
Holy One to see corruption.’ 36 “For David, after he had served [k]his own
generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and [l]saw
corruption; 37 but He whom God raised up [m]saw no corruption. 38 Therefore
let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the
forgiveness of sins; 39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from
which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest what has
been spoken in the prophets come upon you: 41 ‘Behold, you despisers,
Marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you.’ We read a
lot of verses here, but they are all connected. So you will see here from um verses 16 all the way to
41 is Paul’s first recorded sermon in the Bible. So we continue to look at our
map which is on your screen. When the left paphos which is the
south part of Cyprus they sailed to a place called a Perga in Pamphylia.
when they got to that place um John Mark left them and he returned back to Jerusalem.
And this will be a point of uh disagreement between um Paul and Barnabas as we will read
uh when we get to Apostles chapter 15 verse 38 I believe. So Paul and uh Barnabas continued
from uh Pamphylia to now Antioch in Pisidia. So when we talk about Antioch in Pisidia now it’s
completely different from Antioch in Syria this Antioch now is near present day uh town of Yalvac
in southwest of Turkey. So there the preached also on the Sabbath day remember they first will
preach to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. So on the Sabbath day they went to the synagogue
and they preached to them. So after the reading of the law and prophets they noticed that they
were visitors in the house. So they gave them the audience to come and speak to the uh congregation.
And uh Paul stood and he gave a powerful message. So he began his message by reviewing the history
of Israel and connecting the dot to Jesus Christ. So he used the history of Israel to point Jesus
Christ to them to point them to Jesus Christ. He spoke to them about their
ancestors that God used their ancestors to fulfill the promise of the
Messiah who is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He spoke to them about how God led them out of uh
Egypt after they’ve been there for so many years. How he led them 40 years in the wilderness.
how he conquered seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to them. How He raised
up for them prophets. How he raised up for them um kings and judges. And then when he got to the
kings, he focused now on David because from his descendant, God brought the savior into the
world. He also mentioned John the Baptist and he told them that John the Baptist denied that he
was Jesus Christ because John the Baptist said I am not him. There’s another one who’s coming and
that one is the one you should believe in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So he reminded them that Jesus
Christ was rejected and then He was crucified but God raised Him from the dead. So when he got to
the resurrection part, he quoted some scripture in order to point to them that when David wrote those
psalms, he wasn’t talking about himself. He was talking about Jesus Christ because David died and
he was buried and his body decayed. So the first one he quoted was Psalm 2:7 where God said, “You
are my son. Today I have begotten you.” You know this psalm, the Jehovah witnesses when they knock
at your door, they will quote this verse to you just to deny the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They would tell you, you see, that Jesus Christ is is a human is a human being. He was born. So when
they come to your door and they confront you with this verse, laugh and smile and tell them, “I’m
going to give you clarity.” Tell them that it’s not talking about the womb. it’s talking about the
tomb. it’s talking about Jesus Christ being raised from the dead. Jesus Christ being the first fruits
of resurrection. You remember when Jesus Christ died, He was buried. He was in the grave for three
days and three nights. When the right time come came, there was chaos in the uh uh kingdom of
darkness. Satan, his demons, and all the forces of darkness, they were there doing everything
possible to make sure that Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead. But when that time came,
the father from heaven spoke and said, “You are my son today. I have begotten you.” And as soon as
the father said that, the power of the Holy Spirit raised Jesus Christ from the dead. That’s what
this psalm is talking about. So you remember that uh human body when uh human body dies it returns
to 17 elements of the ground or mostly hydrogen oxygen and uh about 15 trace elements and that’s
the way it has been people die and they are buried and they remain there they decay but Jesus Christ
was the first want to come out of spiritual death. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him a
glorified body not to die again. When Jesus Christ was here on the earth, remember He raised
people from the dead. Lazarus being one of them, but Lazarus died again. So that’s what it’s
talking about here. So he continued to tell them that uh Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.
He is the Messiah that the Bible, the prophets prophesied about. And He also quoted to them Psalm
16:10 where it said you will not allow your holy one to see corruption. it’s talking about Jesus
Christ not about David. David wasn’t talking about himself. So Paul ended his message by giving them
a very strong appeal. And what is that appeal? He told them that it is only through Jesus Christ
that anyone can be justified. That Jesus Christ is the only way for anyone to come into the kingdom
of God. It is the only way that your sins can be washed away. Now the word justified means as if
you had not sinned. That’s the way God see us. When you come into the kingdom of God, He sees
you as one who is justified, one who is in Christ Jesus, just like you never sinned. But Paul did
not stop there. He warned them not to reject the message by quoting Habakkuk 1 verse 5. He says
the rejection of this message will lead to a judgment. He said don’t let that happen to you.
He warned them and then as we see here, he offered them both grace and consequences. He said this is
grace. If you receive believe in Jesus Christ you are saved. You come into the kingdom of God. But
if you don’t believe he says the consequence is eternal damnation. Blessed be the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So what do we learn from here? So we learn that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment
of God’s plan. So Paul used their history here, their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob to
connect the dots for them to show them that Jesus Christ is that promise God made the
Messiah. He is the fulfillment of that promise. that Jesus Christ did not just come out of nowhere
out of the blues. That He came as God planned, and he opened the eyes of their understanding
by connecting the dots for them to see that reality. You know my good friends, if
you take the Bible and you summarize your whole Bible in one sentence, do
you know what that sentence will be? Jesus Christ of Nazareth, His first and second
coming. That’s it. That’s what the Bible is all about. If you cut the Bible anywhere, it will
bleed. Why? Because it will point you to Jesus Christ. It will point you to the cross. It will
point you to the Messiah. That’s what the Bible is all about. Another thing we learned from
this section is salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ not in the law of Moses. So only by
faith can anyone be justified. That one is settled forever. It can never be changed. We cannot
gather together, and we vote against it and then overthrow it or overturn it. Not possible. It
is settled forever. Jesus Christ is the only way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to
the father but by Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So we also see here the purpose of the law
that the law cannot justify you. That’s what it says. So then what is the purpose of the
law? I’m glad you asked. So let’s talk about the purpose of the law. The law was put in place
so that you will know that you are a sinner. It reveals to you how far you have fallen from
the from the grace of God. The law is just like a school master, the one that leads you to Christ.
And when you get to Christ, the law is fulfilled in Him. Remember that Jesus Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to anyone who believes. Now Jesus Christ fulfilled the law. The dietary
law, the civil law, and the ceremonial law, every one of them has been fulfilled in Christ
Jesus. The only thing that still remains intact is the moral law. That will never change. For
God said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” It is still true today. It stands. It will never
be fulfilled in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus, we do not have the license to sin. But we
have the liberty and the power not to sin. So the law is just like a mirror. You look at
the mirror and it reveals the flaws in your face, but it cannot fix those things. It shows you
gray hairs on your head, but it cannot change those gray hairs. You see what I’m saying?
It’s just like the scale. You stand on it, it tells you how much you weigh, but it cannot
help you lose weight or gain weight. It then points you to the one who’s able to do that.
And it points you to Jesus Christ of Nazareth. That is the purpose of the Law. So Jesus Christ
is the only way that anyone can be justified, can be brought into the kingdom of God.
All their sins can be forgiven because of what Jesus Christ did. All you have to do
is to believe and you will be justified. So now we um we continue from verse 42.
I’ll see here if I can I believe I can read it because my tablet just uh dimmed
a little bit. I believe I didn’t charge it a lot enough. So now in 42 it says, So
when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be
preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now 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. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came
together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled
with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46
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. 47
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.’ ” 48 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. 49 And the word of the Lord was being spread
throughout all the region. 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. 51 But they shook off the
dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were
filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. So after the Paul gave this powerful
message on the day on that Sabbath day, the people begged Paul and Barnabas, please come
back again. We want to hear that good news. Oh, it is a good news indeed. Come
back. We want to hear some more. And as a result of that message Paul preached
a lot of devout Gentiles came to faith as well as some of the Jews. So they were so excited to
hear this message. So Paul and Barnabas encouraged them even more telling them please remain in the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not go back to the law for Christ has already fulfilled the
law for all those things were shadows. Now the true substance is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So
they encouraged them to remain faithful. So when the next Sabbath day came the whole place
was filled. Oh, there was nowhere to sit. They came to hear some more and uh the leaders
saw when they saw this large crowd they were filled with envy. They couldn’t take it. So what
did they do? They contradicted and blasphemed the message that uh Paul preached and by doing this
they inspired devout men and women prominent men and women in the city to rebel against Paul
and Barnabas and the message they brought. As a result of this they were expelled from the city.
But before they left, Paul spoke boldly to them, telling them that it is necessary that when they
come into any city that they first of all will bring the message to the Jews. But because
they have rejected this message and counted themselves unworthy of eternal life, now they
will go to the Gentiles. So they made it very clear to them. They dusted their feet off their
region. the dust of their feet and they left. So we see here Paul telling them that they
counted they’ve counted themselves unworthy of eternal life. What does that mean? We are
the ones who make the choice. You see we decide whether we’re going to come into the kingdom
of God or we’re not going to come into the kingdom of God because God created us as free
moral agents. He will not force us to do so. So their rejection means that they said oh we
are not worthy to come into the kingdom of God. So they made that decision for themselves.
What are we doing today? Sometimes you see people making the same decision. And you cannot
force them to come into the kingdom. You cannot put a gun to someone’s head and say you must
come into the kingdom. In heaven you’re not going to see someone who’s being dragged into
heaven screaming and shouting I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here. No. God
wants fellowship with those who love him, who wants to be in relationship with him. So they
made this choice, and they counted themselves unworthy of eternal life. And Paul reminded
them about this choice which they have made. But on the other hand, the Gentiles were
so happy and excited and they were glad, you know. So the church grew and
as many as had been appointed to eternal life, they believed. So what does
it mean? As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. There are some
people when they read this verse here, they come to a conclusion that uh God has already
selected those who will come into His own kingdom. So they will say why do I why do I have to worry
myself trying to be born again? How do I know if God I’m one of those that God selected to come
into His kingdom? There are those who interpret this verse just the way I said it. But that is not
true. That’s not what this verse is talking about. Not at all. So the question is this. What is it
talking about then? So with this I want to talk to you about the doctrine of human volition
and the doctrine of divine predestination. It’s just a fancy these are fancy words. So let
me break it down. So the doctrine simply means teaching. Now human volition means human choice.
So we have the doctrine of human choice and what does it say that God created us as a people
with choices. He gave us the ability to make choices on our own. So we are the one who will
make the decision whether we want to come into the kingdom of God or if we don’t want to come
into the kingdom of God. And there are verses in the Bible that tells us this is true. Remember
in Joshua chapter 24:15, Joshua speaking to the people of Israel said, “Choose you this day
whom you will serve. Choose you this day whom you will serve.” You are the one who’s going to
make the choice. The choice of whom you going to serve. You are the one who’s going to make that
choice. God is not going to force you to do it. The popular verse in the New Testament, John 3:16
says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” So God did His own part. He brought
His own son and then He asked us to make the choice that whosoever believes, you will be the
one who’s going to make that part. You are the one who’s going to believe or not. And if anyone
believes will come into that one will come into the kingdom of God. Which means God has not uh
selected those who will come into the kingdom of God. He presents it to us as a choice. What
do you want to do? You going to come in or you not going to come in? And do you remember Romans
chapter 10 verse 13, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So you call, you
will be saved. You are the one who is going to make that choice. Now in the other hand, divine
predestination is just another way of saying that God has already made a choice of those who will
come into the kingdom or not. And that is true because it is based on God’s foreknowledge.
Because God knows everything. He sees the end from the beginning. He knows those who will hear
the good news and they will make the decision to come into the kingdom of God. So based on that
knowledge, God can have divine predestination. And let me give you uh two uh biblical
references on foreknowledge of the Lord. talking about God’s foreknowledge. So
if you go to um uh the first one is um if you read um Romans 8 :29 for whom he foreknew
He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren and another one is found in first Peter 1:2 elect according to the foreknowledge of
God the father in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ. So here we see that uh because God has foreknowledge that is why He’s able to know
those who will come into the kingdom of God. As a matter of fact, there is one verse in the
Bible that puts these two doctrines together. And that verse is found in um John 6:36. Jesus
Christ speaking. He says, “All that the father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes
to me, I will by no means cast away or cast out.” So He says all the father that gives all
the all that the father will give to me gives to me will come to me. So He’s talking
about divine predestination here based on foreknowledge of God. And then He says anyone
that comes to me I will by no means cast out telling you that you have your own job to
do as well. human choice, human volition So let’s in closing today, what do we learn
from this section that we read right now? We learned that uh gospel is for all but not all
will receive it. So Paul first of all preached the gospel to the Jews. when they rejected the
gospel, then he went to the Gentiles. Sometimes when you minister to people, when you share
the good news with people, they will say, “No, don’t let that discourage you at all. Continue
to be obedient and faithful.” That’s what counts. That’s what God looks at. How obedient you are,
how faithful you are. Do not count numbers and say this one said yes, that one said no, this one
said yes, that one said no, and then you begin to place yourself on a pedestal stool or you begin to
be discouraged. No, the reward after you get born again, the reward from Jesus Christ His Bema seat
will be based on faithfulness, on your obedience. So don’t say, “I preached to that one, but they
said no. So I don’t want to say anything to anyone anymore.” Don’t say that. How do you know if God
was using you to be a one that will plant a seed? Because when you minister to someone and you
tell them about Jesus Christ and they say, “No, you just planted a seed. And maybe a week later
someone else will plant another seed in their life and then down the road they will come to that
place when the Spirit of God will convict them using what they have heard and then they come into
the kingdom of God. And now God will use another person to water them which means to teach them the
word of God for them to grow in their faith. Just like Paul said, I planted and Apollos watered.
But it’s God who gave the increase. So our job as children of God is to be obedient to keep and
obey the commandment of Jesus Christ when He said go into the whole world and preach the good news.
So we go, we share the good news. We don’t reject the good news for anyone based on their race, the
background they came from, or their nationality. We are obedient when we share the good news with
them and then let them decide for themselves if they’re going to take it or if they’re going to
reject it. When they say no, we go on to the next person and we continue on and on until we see the
kingdom of God populated. Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have come to the end of
uh today’s program, today’s teaching and I want to offer you now an opportunity to come into the
kingdom of God. If you are not yet born again, which means you have not made Jesus Christ, your
Lord and your Savior, you have not received by faith His death on the cross on your behalf.
If you have not made that decision yet, if you are still depending on your good works to have
access to the kingdom of God, you are going the wrong way. The right way is to have faith in what
Jesus Christ did at the cross for you. And once you come into the kingdom of God, good works will
follow as fruit of righteousness, not as root of righteousness. So I want to pray with you today.
The time is ticking and it’s very short. Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life. No one come to the Lord to the father but by me.” And Peter will re-echo this by saying in
Acts of the Apostle chapter 4, there is no other name under heaven that is given among men whereby
we must be saved but the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So I urge you today, heaven is real,
so as hell. Hell is real also. Those who receive Jesus Christ when they are alive on the earth and
when they die will spend eternity in heaven. But those who rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior when they were alive here on the earth, when they die, they will spend eternity in hell.
Are you going to make your choice today? I believe the wisest choice is to secure your eternity.
This life here and everything that comes with it are fleeting. Do not depend on that which will
perish. Secure that which is eternal and that is found only through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Pray
with me and mean it with all your heart. ‘Father, I have come to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
believe He is your son who died for my sins and you raised Him up from the dead on the third
day. Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you this day, please come into my life. Be my Lord and Savior. I
believe that I am now born again, a child of God. My name is written in the lamb’s book of life. I
repent from my sins and turn away from them. Thank you, Father, for the precious gift of Jesus Christ
to the world. Amen.’ Congratulations if you prayed that prayer. You are now a child of God. Please
find a Bible based church. Become a member so that you can be taught in the word of God. That
is the only way you can grow in your spiritual work. Remember only those who hear the gospel and
do what the gospel says are the ones who will reap the benefits of the gospel. So be a good be a
doer of the word of God. I want to pray for you as I end today’s teaching. May the Lord be with
you, bless you, guide you, keep you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and uh give you His
peace that passes every understanding even in the times of turmoil. May He give you wisdom, wisdom
of words and actions, wisdom that is from above. I pray that he will heal every disease in your
body today and that he will give you he will give his angels charge over you to deliver you
from every destruction. I pray that He will lift you out of that pit. Set your feet upon that
rock and that He will bless the rest of your week as he opens financial opportunity for you
in the name of Jesus Christ. Everybody said, “Amen.” My good friends, we walk by faith. We
don’t walk by sight or by what we hear. The enemy will try to throw so many things on your part
this week. Rejoice and be strong and believe that uh finally when Jesus Christ says yes, all things
remain yes. That the enemy has no power over you. Neither can he hinder or take away that which
God has granted to you. And surely there is an end. Your expectations will never be cut off.
Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am excited to tell you about my new book. Uh
the title of this book is living in victory, the things that belong to us. So there are so
many things in the Bible, in the word of God that belong to us. And uh sometimes out of ignorance
we don’t know about these things so we do without. So this book is loaded with information telling
us about the things that belong to us and how to lay hold of those things and make use of them now
not in the sweet buy and buy. It is available on Amazon and you can also get it from our website
kim.org and the information will be on your screen. I am glad to tell you about my new book
Holy Spirit the helper in us. This book is loaded with information about things that you need to
know about the Holy Spirit of God. It covers topics like how to be led by the spirit of God,
hearing the voice of God, gifts of the spirit, the fruit of the spirit and much more. It will
be a very good resource for you and your family and friends. It is now available on Amazon or you
can get a copy through our website www.kuim.org. always remain blessed in the name of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. My good friends, I am glad to tell you about my new book titled
um receive healing today and the subtitle is Jesus is still the same. This book is loaded with
topics on uh Bible divine healing. It takes you, it tells you how to receive healing from God
and how to keep that healing. It’s going to be a very good resource for you, your
family, and even for your friends. This book is now available on Amazon and you can
also find it on our website www.kuim.org. Remain blessing the Lord, my good friends. I want
to introduce to you my new book and this book is titled um James and Colossians with a subtitle
walking in wisdom. This two in one commentary book contains lifechanging letters for every
believer. The book of James calls believers to live out a genuine faith, one that produces uh
godly works, endures trials, control tongues, and show passion. For you know, James said, “Faith
without works is dead.” The book of Colossians lift our eyes to Jesus Christ who is the center of
it all. It declares the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all creation. as well as his sufficiency for
every believer. This will be a very good resource for you and uh for your family, a good gift for
a friend. It also it also be a good resource for uh Bible study groups. Now is available
on our website ww.kim.org org or also on amazon.com. Remain blessed in the name of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. [Music]