Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180033A
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00:29 The pleasure is mine once again to welcome you
00:33 to the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 This is our weekly gathering together to study the 00:39 word of God and to search into the things of the Lord... 00:43 and we are so happy that you have joined us 00:45 on this very day. 00:47 I'm going to go right into the introduction of 00:49 my fellow travelers and fellow students of the word... 00:52 Jill Morikone, Mollie Steenson, Pastor Kenny Shelton, 00:55 and Shelley Quinn - good to have you all here. 00:58 We've been having a wonderful time because we've been 01:02 looking at the Lord's work in the early Nascent days of the 01:07 church, of the Christian era and we've seen how 01:10 the men and women filled with the Spirit of God 01:13 and with power went forth doing mighty, mighty 01:16 works for the Lord. 01:18 We have been assured that in these last days 01:20 those same things - mighty works will be repeated 01:22 as we come closer and closer to the second coming 01:25 of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 01:27 So we've been having fun! 01:28 We've enjoyed listening to each other; 01:31 fellowshipping with each other; 01:33 and hearing what the Lord has done and is doing, 01:36 and, indeed, will do before we see Christ face-to-face. 01:39 Now, should you want to join us in a more systematic 01:42 way, there are two ways that you can do that... 01:44 First, you can go to your computer, 01:46 fire that computer up and go to "Adult Bible Study Guide," 01:50 ABSG.Adventist.org 01:56 and you can download your study, 01:58 and that makes it nice because it allows you to sort of 02:00 go with us - you can make notes - I like to have a 02:02 pen and paper in front of me and you can open up your 02:05 computer and sort of add some things and you can study 02:08 right along with us at home. 02:10 The preferred way for me is for you to make your way 02:14 down to the local Seventh-day Adventist Church, 02:16 should one be close to you, introduce yourself to the 02:19 saints there and request an "Adult Bible Study Guide," 02:23 and tell them 3ABN sent you, let them know, 02:25 and then spend a little time with them. 02:27 They will be more than happy to study with you. 02:29 You will find that the Seventh- day Adventist people are 02:32 wonderful people, loving people and they do love 02:35 to study the word of God. 02:36 So if you show an interest, I guarantee you, 02:39 they will have an interest and you can study together; 02:41 you can make some new friends and should you go 02:43 on a Sabbath or a Saturday, may I suggest that you 02:47 stay by for the sermon and if you're fortunate, 02:50 they will have potluck or what we call "fellowship lunch," 02:53 stay by for that too, and so you can have a 02:56 wonderful day as together you learn some things from 02:59 the word of God and this is a marvelous lesson that I 03:03 guarantee will thrill you and really give you a 03:07 little pep in your spiritual step 03:10 as we walk together on the road to glory. 03:12 Now, Sister Shelley Quinn, would you open up 03:14 with prayer for us? Absolutely... 03:16 Heavenly Father, We come before You in the 03:17 name of Jesus thanking You for grace; thanking You for Jesus 03:23 our Savior; thanking You for Your Holy Spirit and Your word. 03:28 And we pray right now, Father, You will send Your 03:31 Holy Spirit to just pour Him out on all who are calling 03:36 upon Your name, all who are participating 03:39 in this lesson study and, Lord, let Him be our teacher 03:43 and may Your name be glorified... 03:45 In Jesus' name, Amen 03:48 We will take a look, this particular week, at Paul's 03:52 first missionary journey and this is really 03:56 an exciting study. 03:57 The memory text for this particular week comes to us 04:01 from the NIV, perhaps we should read it together. 04:04 "Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through 04:09 Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 04:13 Through him everyone who believes is set free from 04:18 every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain 04:24 under the law of Moses." Acts 13:38 04:27 Truth being told, we could stay on that memory text 04:31 for the next hour and not exhaust it because 04:33 so much has been said, but we need to wind our way 04:36 through this lesson... and an exciting one it is to be sure! 04:42 We were talking about, when last we met, 04:47 the work that was going on in Antioch, home of the first 04:53 Gentile church and Acts 11:26 tells us one of the first 04:57 places that the disciples were called Christians... 05:01 And there is some understanding that this designation of 05:05 Christians really was not a praise kind of a thing, 05:09 it was an epithet; it was sort of a nasty thing 05:12 that they were putting on these new followers of this Nazarene 05:21 carpenter who many did not accept and they were 05:27 ... these new followers were so fervent and so passionate 05:31 that they called them, "little christs," you know, 05:34 "christ-ettes" almost... kind of a thing, 05:36 and so the term was not meant to be a term of praise, 05:39 it was meant to be derogatory, but, you know, sometimes 05:42 when you own some of the stuff, I'm sure the brethren felt 05:44 "that's alright, I'll take that name," you know, 05:46 "I'll own that, if you want to call me a Christian, 05:49 a Christian I will be," and it certainly did not stop. 05:52 So a lot of this began in the City of Antioch. 05:57 And so this fervent evangelistic posture 06:01 of the saints in Antioch really made it one of the first 06:05 really important Christian centers outside of Judea 06:09 as far as evangelism is concerned. 06:13 One of the backstories to the beginning of the church was 06:17 the reticence of the early believers to move away 06:22 from Jerusalem and to focus their efforts, 06:25 in an organized way outside of Judea and that local area. 06:31 Of course, we were just years from 70 AD when the 06:34 City of Jerusalem was destroyed, 06:36 and, of course, they were forced then to spread out. 06:39 But at this point in time, they were somewhat reticent 06:42 for that to happen and Paul and some of these other people 06:46 really moved out on their own as pushed and 06:50 motivated by the Lord. 06:53 So we're dealing with the City of Antioch... 06:55 It's a Greek city founded by Seleucus in 300 AD. 06:59 Now when we think of Seleucus, we think about 07:01 the four generals that took over the Grecian Empire 07:05 after the death of Alexander the Great. 07:08 You had Lysimachus, Ptolemy in the South, Seleucus 07:11 and Cassander. 07:12 So Seleucus founded this city, so of course 07:14 it was a Greek city. 07:16 Now, of course, the Romans were in charge, but really 07:18 the Roman civilization was built for the most part 07:22 on a lot of Greek philosophy 07:24 as far as government was concerned. 07:25 Certainly their pantheon of gods... 07:27 they changed the names, but the same gods. 07:29 So when you think Romans, really there is Greek 07:32 underpinnings too to a lot of the things 07:34 that happened in Rome, and this was a 07:36 Grecian city because it was founded by a Grecian general. 07:39 All three of Paul's missionary journeys began in Antioch, 07:43 I think we established that last week if not the week before. 07:46 So Antioch had in some ways, for a time, some of the 07:50 same spiritual status as did Rome and, of course, 07:53 the intellectual heart Alexandria, 07:57 so it was the third largest city in the Roman Empire... 08:02 And really, it was a very vibrant town and a very 08:06 important town during the days, that we're speaking of here, 08:10 in the Book of Acts. 08:12 Perhaps it is somewhat understandable then 08:15 that fairly early on, there was this pressure to add 08:21 Greek philosophy to this pure religion 08:25 because so much of the world outside of Palestine was 08:29 Greek-influenced, and so very early on, there was this 08:34 subtle pressure and Greek thinking, Greek philosophy 08:41 to the Greek way of approaching life began 08:43 to insinuate itself into the church. 08:45 Now we don't see this here just yet, but as we move 08:48 further on, you see it a little bit more, a little bit more 08:51 and then you have that coupled with the pressure from 08:54 the Jewish community to try to make them Jews, 08:57 and you got the Pagan community to try to make them Greek, 08:59 and so the early church had a lot of fighting to do 09:02 to establish itself hemmed in by these two philosophies 09:07 that were pushing at it all the time. 09:10 It was because of their commitment that Christianity 09:14 became what Jesus intended, and I like this... 09:16 this is directly from the Sabbath School Lesson... 09:18 "A world religion, one in which the gospel would be 09:22 spread to every nation, tribe, tongue and people." 09:25 And so we see beginning as we look at what is happening 09:29 in Antioch. 09:30 Let's move on to the Sunday part of the lesson, 09:35 and I'm gonna rearrange my papers here... 09:39 Salamis and Paphos! 09:46 In the church at Antioch, there already were devout men. 09:51 Christianity had spread to Antioch. 09:55 While they were ministering and fasting, 09:59 and I think this is important, that the sending out of 10:03 Paul and Barnabas, came as a result of fasting and prayer 10:08 and teaching the will of God. 10:10 They did not think themselves so wise and so perfect 10:14 as to select these men without direct intervention 10:18 from the Lord, and I think whenever we're trying to do 10:20 something for the Lord, it's good to get the Lord 10:23 in there early - you know, start with the Lord, 10:25 pray it up, make sure that you're doing the will of the 10:28 Lord and not leading and asking the Lord 10:30 to bless what you've already done. 10:32 And so, these men are praying and fasting, 10:35 and ministering and the Bible says, and this is important, 10:39 the Holy Spirit directed. 10:41 This was not man's decision and that's important 10:43 because of some little rub-up that we're going to 10:45 see in the next couple of chapters. 10:47 But as this began, this was at the 10:50 the direction of the Holy Spirit. 10:52 Now this says this, my fellow students... 10:55 that sometimes even in the church, 10:59 you can have two people who are both blessed by the Spirit, 11:02 both led by the Spirit, who could have 11:04 differences of opinion. 11:06 Being one in the Spirit does not necessarily mean 11:09 we think precisely alike, nor do we act it. 11:13 I think the test of your Christianity is 11:17 what happens once you disagree. 11:19 You know, if we're just agreeing, we're walking along, 11:21 holding hands - no problem. 11:22 It's when we disagree that our Christianity 11:24 leads to sort of bubble and percolate to the surface. 11:27 And we see that a little bit later on. 11:29 So this selection of Saul and Barnabas at that time, 11:33 is important - as we will see later because it was 11:36 initiated by the Holy Spirit. 11:39 This was an action of the Holy Spirit. 11:41 The men laid hands on them and then... 11:46 You know, I like this idea of laying hands on people. 11:49 I'm a touchy kind of person and I think that goes back 11:52 to the days when I was blind, you had to handle people 11:57 to be able to make your way. 11:59 You had a sighted person paired with a blind person, 12:03 and so you're accustomed to touching. 12:06 If I feel comfortable with a person, man or woman, 12:09 sooner or later I will touch you some place, 12:10 on the shoulder - I try to be respectful, you know 12:12 I'm not handling you, but as a blind person, 12:16 you don't feel really comfortable with a person 12:19 until you touch them... 12:20 you know - until you make some sort of contact with them. 12:24 And, I've never lost that, the idea that if I say 12:28 "Good morning" to you and I know you, I will just 12:30 reach out and touch, you know, kind of thing 12:32 because it's just natural. 12:34 So this idea of laying hands on people, I really like that! 12:37 You know, let's lay hands on them and let's give them 12:40 a sendoff in the Lord Jesus. 12:42 So the brethren laid hands on them and sent them away. 12:47 Now the lesson takes pains to note that once we reach 12:51 Acts 13 and 14, the Book of Acts makes a shift 12:56 and from that point on to the end, 12:58 we're really dealing with the journeys of Paul, 13:01 the work as done by Paul. 13:02 We looked at Peter and James and some of the other brethren, 13:05 but now we're kind of focusing laser-like on Paul 13:09 through the rest of the book. 13:11 And Paul has much to tell us and much to say. 13:14 So this is one of the initial strategic and planned 13:17 forays into the Gentile world. 13:19 This one was planned by God, and it was not man's 13:23 initiative, it was God's. 13:25 "There was in these early years, of the Christian era, 13:28 some hesitancy as I said before and I want to 13:33 sort of lean on this, to evangelize non-Jews, 13:38 you know, on a wholesale basis and frankly there were a 13:40 number of reasons - some of it was prejudice, some of it was 13:44 the idea that we are the chosen people, 13:46 some of it was rejection of the gospel message... 13:49 But, for whatever constellation of reasons there was, 13:52 there was this hesitancy to go out into the wider world 13:55 and take the gospel to those who needed to hear. 13:59 When we place ourselves in God's hands with the intent 14:04 of doing God's will... you know what you're going to do? 14:08 You're going to evangelize! 14:09 You're going to take the gospel out - there's no other 14:12 way to be a co-laborer with God - if you've got the 14:15 Spirit of God in you, it's fire shut up in your 14:17 bones, it's gotta leak out some kind of way, 14:20 either you're gonna tell somebody, 14:21 you're gonna show somebody, you're going to do that. 14:24 And I think it was fear and then maybe not knowing 14:27 and we have that today. 14:29 We've done evangelism here at 3ABN so many times, 14:31 and we've seen that people are a little afraid to go out 14:34 and sometimes share the Lord. 14:35 And we have that here... for any number of reasons. 14:39 Truth being though, no reason is sufficient just because 14:43 Christ said, "All power is given to Me," 14:45 and what we are seeing in the Book of Acts, 14:47 is based again on Acts 1:8, when they were 14:51 given "dunamis" power to do the work of God, 14:54 and all of these men that we have talked about 14:56 certainly Saul/Paul was full of the Spirit of God, 15:00 and recognized his call from the Lord. 15:04 I'm looking at my time because it's getting away from me. 15:08 So, Agrippa kills James, jails Peter and harasses the church 15:16 while this is spreading. 15:17 You know, persecution really is fertilizer for the gospel... 15:24 even the devil realizes, "the hotter I push down, 15:26 the more they'd spring up," so he could not stop. 15:28 And Paul sails to Cypress, he goes to Salamis, 15:33 and... let me take just one minute over my time 15:36 because I've got to talk about what happens at Salamis 15:38 and to a greater sense what happens on the 15:41 other side of the Island at Paphos. 15:44 Very quickly... We've got a Jewish half-Christian 15:52 by the name of Bar-Jesus, and he is sort of 15:59 "house-sorcerer" for the Roman proconsul 16:03 which is the governor. 16:05 He is trying to dissuade this man from 16:11 coming to the Lord and it's interesting the Jew is trying to 16:14 to push him away and Sergius Paulus, the Roman governor wants 16:18 wants to come... Here then is the summation... 16:21 In verse 10, Paul calls Bar-Jesus deceitful and a fraud, 16:26 and he loses his sight and Sergius Paulus 16:29 comes to the Lord anyway. 16:31 The upside of the lesson is this... 16:33 simply that the worse place you can be in the world 16:35 is between the Lord and somebody who wants to get saved, 16:39 you never want to find yourself there, 16:40 you always want to find yourself 16:42 in the will and on the side of God. 16:45 Amen! Thank you so much Pastor CA. 16:47 What a wonderful foundation for the first missionary 16:50 journey of Paul or, at this time, he is still called Saul. 16:53 Saul and Barnabas! 16:55 I pick up the story when they depart from Cypress. 16:58 They have been at Salamis and Paphos and when they depart 17:02 from there, they take a ship and they go north to Perga. 17:06 So let's take a look at that, we're in Acts 13:13... 17:10 "Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, 17:14 they came to Perga and Pamphylia and John, 17:18 departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. 17:21 So there's a couple of points I want to note 17:23 just in this passage here... 17:25 #1... A name switch has occurred. 17:28 I don't know if you picked up on that. 17:29 All the way through Acts, Saul of Tarsus is called "Saul," 17:34 until we get to in Pastor's CA section, verse 9, 17:38 it says, "Then Saul, who is also called Paul, 17:41 ... so in that place, he puts Saul and Paul together. 17:44 And then when we get to verse 13 from hereon 17:47 through the rest of the Book of Acts, he is called "Paul," 17:49 the "Apostle Paul." 17:51 The other thing is - we see a leadership switch 17:53 takes place here. 17:55 Remember when Pastor CA talked about the setting apart 17:58 for the work that was to take place. 18:00 When the brethren in Antioch fasted and prayed 18:03 and laid hands on them, who did they lay hands on? 18:05 It says in Acts 13:2... "Barnabas and Saul." 18:10 We come over to Acts 13, it says when they're in Cyprus, 18:13 Acts 13:7... "Barnabas and Saul." 18:16 You notice Barnabas' name is mentioned first, 18:19 and then Saul's name. 18:20 Now of course, in verse 9, Saul is mentioned 18:24 "Saul who is called Paul." 18:25 Now when we get to verse 13, instead of saying, 18:29 "Barnabas and Paul," because now they're calling 18:32 him Paul, or instead of saying "Paul and Barnabas," 18:36 what does it say? "Paul and his party." 18:38 Barnabas is not even mentioned here in this section. 18:43 The leadership switch you can see as it progresses 18:45 through the book of Acts... Paul is emerging 18:48 as a dynamic leader of the early Christian church, 18:52 and that continues really through 18:54 the rest of the Book of Acts. 18:58 The other thing I see here is that John Mark left, 19:01 he deserted them and he returned to Jerusalem. 19:06 Perga - they went up to Perga, it's about 150 miles 19:10 from Paphos, going from, you know, they're on Cypress 19:13 the Island in the Mediterranean Sea, it's about 150 miles 19:16 north of Perga and this is the southern part of what we 19:19 would call modern-day Turkey... 19:21 And so they landed there in what we would call 19:24 modern-day Turkey and John Mark decided, for whatever 19:28 reason, "I'm going back home to Jerusalem." 19:32 Now whether John Mark thought "this is too much for me, 19:36 I'm a little discouraged," I know there are different 19:39 philosophies as to why he left and went back to Jerusalem, 19:43 and this is in Acts of the Apostles, p.170, 19:46 "Mark was intimidated and losing all courage, refused to 19:53 go farther and returned to Jerusalem." 19:56 Now we would say later, this is going to cause 19:59 contention between Paul and Barnabas - we see that 20:02 with the second missionary journey, 20:03 but years down the road, I love the ending of this 20:07 passage because in 2 Timothy 4:11, when Paul... 20:12 this is the last book that Paul wrote, he's imprisoned 20:15 there at the end of his life and he writes these words... 20:18 "Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful 20:22 to me for ministry." 20:24 That shows that John Mark, he grew up, he matured 20:28 as a Christian and he was eventually 20:30 reconciled back with Paul. 20:31 So at this time, John Mark has left and Barnabas and Paul 20:36 or Paul and his party, continue on the journey here. 20:39 They're going up to Pisidian Antioch, we're in verse 14. 20:43 When they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch 20:46 in Pisidian, now that's 100 miles north of Perga, 20:49 they're traveling by land. 20:50 "And went into the synagogue 20:52 on the Sabbath day and sat down." 20:54 We will notice this throughout 20:56 Paul's missionary journeys often. 20:58 Pastor CA, when he goes to a new city, 21:00 he goes to the synagogue first, you notice that. 21:03 He preaches to the Jews in the synagogue and then he 21:06 expands the gospel and shares it with the Gentiles as well. 21:10 "And after the reading of the law and the prophets, 21:12 I'm in verse 15, the rules of the synagogue said to them 21:16 saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of 21:18 exhortation for the people, say on." 21:21 So this is Paul's first recorded sermon in the Book of Acts. 21:24 Now, obviously, he has given many, many sermons 21:27 before this time, but this is 21:28 his actually first recorded sermon. 21:31 It's his longest sermon as well 21:33 that's recorded in the Book of Acts. 21:35 Almost 30 speeches are in the Book of Acts and they 21:38 comprise probably a third of the book. 21:40 So Luke thought it was pretty important to record 21:43 quite a few of the speeches and the sermons that were given. 21:45 Of the 30 speeches, Paul gives 11 of them in the Book of Acts. 21:51 There are some similarities between what he shares 21:53 with the brethren here at Pisidian Antioch, 21:56 and Peter's sermon - the Pentecost sermon in Acts 2, 22:00 and Stephen's sermon - we could say his defense before 22:03 the Sanhedrin in Acts 7 or you can say the 22:06 offence before the Sanhedrin because he was delivering the 22:10 "rib" to them as far as the covenant lawsuit. 22:13 So the similarities that I see... 22:15 They all had a focus on Jesus. 22:16 Jesus in the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. 22:20 King David and the coming Messiah. 22:24 They all talked about Jesus and His death and burial 22:27 and resurrection. 22:28 Now, Paul's sermon begins with the Israelites coming 22:32 out of Egypt and we will look at that. 22:34 Peter's sermon begins with David and Jesus. 22:39 Stephen's defense or offense, whatever you call it, 22:42 actually began as the earliest of the three sermons. 22:45 It begins all the way back with Abraham leaving Ur, 22:48 and the promise to Abraham, and his sermon 22:51 continues probably the longest there. 22:54 So let's look at the line of thought in Paul's sermon, 22:56 and there's probably - if you were to divide it, 22:58 I would divide it into three sections. 23:01 The first section is a sketch of Jewish history 23:04 to the time of David... that begins in verse 16. 23:08 Paul stood up and motioning with his hand, he said, 23:11 "Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen... 23:14 "The God of this people Israel, chose our fathers 23:18 and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers 23:20 in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm 23:23 He brought them out of it." 23:25 Now for a time of about 40 years, He put up with 23:28 their ways in the wilderness, and when He had destroyed 23:31 seven nations in the land of Canaan, 23:34 He distributed their land to them by allotment." 23:37 So what is he saying? God, your God, our God 23:40 brought the Israelites, brought you out of the land 23:43 of Egypt - He sustained you in the wilderness 23:46 for those 40 years and then He destroyed the 23:49 Canaanite nation so you could take possession of the land. 23:52 After that, He gave them judges for 450 years, 23:56 Samuel the prophet, they asked for a king, 23:58 they got Saul and then we get David... 24:01 Verse 22... "And when He had removed him, 24:04 meaning Saul from being king, He raised up for them 24:07 David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 24:11 "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after 24:14 My own heart who will do all My will." 24:16 Now it kind of shifts to the second phase of Paul's sermon, 24:20 and this phase he shows Jesus as the fulfillment 24:24 of the Old Testament prophecy. 24:26 That begins in verse 23... "From this man's seed 24:30 according to the promise... that would be from David's 24:32 seed because the Jewish people were looking for the coming 24:35 Messiah - through the seed or linage of David... 24:38 From this man's seed according to the promise, God raised 24:41 up for Israel a Savior - Jesus," and then he talks about 24:46 John's preaching about the coming of the Messiah, 24:48 and then if you go down, he talks about Jesus coming 24:53 and His death... We go to verse 30, 24:56 "God raised Him from the dead and He was seen for 25:00 many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee 25:03 to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people." 25:06 And then he quotes some from the Old Testament from 25:10 David, from Psalm and some of those prophecies and how 25:12 Jesus fulfilled that. 25:14 Then we switch to the third portion of Paul's sermon here, 25:19 and Mollie is going to share more with it. 25:20 I just want to touch on one thing... 25:22 This is the invitation to justification by faith, 25:27 and a warning against rejecting the salvation available 25:32 through Jesus. 25:33 So we see that in verse 38... "Therefore let it be known 25:36 to brethren that through this Man... that's Jesus Christ... 25:40 is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 25:42 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from the 25:46 things from which you could not be justified 25:48 by the law of Moses." 25:49 The Jewish people believed in almost salvation by works. 25:54 They thought that they had to do things and keep the law 25:57 perfectly and he is saying... Jesus came and Jesus is 26:01 the One who forgives you and Jesus is the One who 26:04 justifies you. 26:05 And Mollie, I know you have more to share with us 26:08 on that with in Pisidian Antioch... 26:10 I will get that out, Pisidian Antioch. 26:13 Okay and thank you for laying the foundation for this. 26:16 It is amazing to me how God has laid these Sabbath School 26:21 Lessons out - one builds on the other and if you hadn't 26:24 laid the foundation, what I have to share 26:27 may not be received as easily. 26:29 So Jill actually just read the two scriptures that I'm 26:33 going to read to you again, that's in Acts 13:38-39. 26:39 Thank you Jill. 26:40 "Therefore let it be known to you... 26:42 ... now where is Paul at this time, where is he? 26:44 He's in the synagogue, so who is he teaching to? 26:48 Who is the crux, who makes up the most of the congregation? 26:53 See, this is the Jewish people. 26:56 So.. "Therefore let it be known to you brethren... 26:58 Paul calls them "brethren." Why would he do that? 27:01 Because he's a Jew and that's something I want to stress. 27:04 Paul LOVED his brothers, he was a Jew, 27:08 and the son of a Jew and had an ancestry of Jews. 27:13 He loved these people, it was vitally 27:15 important to him that they receive the truth. 27:18 "Therefore let it be known to you brethren 27:20 that through this Man... Who is he talking about? 27:23 The Lord Jesus Christ. 27:25 ... is preached to you the forgiveness of sins, 27:28 and by Him everyone who believes is justified 27:33 from all things from which you could not be justified 27:39 by the law of Moses." 27:40 You could not be justified by the law of Moses. 27:44 Now that may not set well with some of these Jewish believers, 27:50 but let's see the purpose that Paul is doing this... 27:55 He is never doing anything really to bring dissention, 27:59 but again I want to stress this, Paul loves his brethren. 28:02 Paul stresses the inability of the law of Moses to justify. 28:07 He is in no way suggesting that the law was bad 28:12 or trying to do away with the law - abrogate the law. 28:17 He was bringing correct doctrine, a correct doctrinal 28:23 teaching where there is misunderstanding. 28:26 See, Paul wants the Jewish faith for all of us 28:34 is the foundation of Christianity - is it not? Yes 28:36 This is our foundation, thank God for the Jewish 28:41 faith that had this foundation of religion laid... 28:45 and the natural progression of this Jewish faith... 28:50 What had they been prophesying and predicting was coming 28:54 all of these years? The Messiah! 28:56 So with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ... 28:59 what was supposed to happen is everybody receive the 29:03 Lord and things just continue to progress and move forward. 29:07 So, I'm going to read this to you... 29:11 This is out of the Quarterly, this is a good Quarterly, 29:14 CA, I agree with you. 29:16 "The law is unable to bring justification because it cannot 29:20 produce perfect obedience in those who observe it. 29:24 Even if the law could produce perfect obedience in us, 29:28 that perfect obedience cannot atone for past sins. 29:32 Now think about this... Brother Kenny, can you, 29:34 by an act of your will, choose to be perfect 29:38 all day long today? 29:40 We can say, "Oh Lord, I'm going to be perfect 29:43 the rest of the day... Oh, I want to be, 29:46 but... there's that "but." 29:48 Oh and that's when... Oh Jill, we thank God 29:51 for 1 John 1:9, but see when you are relying on the 29:55 law - on your perfect obedience, 1 John 1:9 29:58 has no place for you because it's your works... 30:02 1 John 1:9... The Scripture says, "If we confess our sins, 30:09 He is faithful and just... HE is faithful and just 30:12 to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all our 30:15 unrighteousness." 30:16 Well if you are depending on your good works, 30:19 then you're depending on your righteousness, 30:22 on your ability. 30:23 So let me go on with this... 30:26 This is why justification cannot be earned, 30:30 not even partially. 30:32 We can receive it only by faith in 30:36 what Jesus Christ did for us. 30:38 Okay... The Jews wanted to be justified. 30:42 Pastor CA, the Jews - they wanted to be justified. 30:46 They were just going about it the wrong way. Well said. 30:50 They were relying on being justified by works of the law. 30:54 Paul says, "No, the law can't justify - only through 31:00 faith believing in the crucified Savior can we be justified, 31:06 brought into right relationship with God. 31:08 So Paul... it was vitally important to Paul 31:13 that he take them from their misunderstanding. 31:17 You know, I had to call it "error" earlier and it is error, 31:20 but it wasn't an error that they were wanting to be in. 31:26 They just had a misunderstanding, 31:28 they had been taught wrong. 31:30 You know, that's called "ignorance." 31:32 Do you know there is nothing wrong, Jill, in being 31:35 ignorant because what is the remedy for ignorance? 31:38 Education! Being taught what is right! 31:43 But this concept that it's not works, that was a whole 31:49 new concept for them - that's what they had been taught, 31:53 how long? All of their life, 31:56 they had been taught. 31:57 There were three main aspects in the Jewish religion. 32:01 Now CA help me with this, and I think I've got the 32:02 right understanding... 32:04 #1... It's the importance of temple worship. 32:08 #2... The importance of the study of the law. 32:11 #3... The importance of good works. 32:14 So this is what they had been taught. 32:16 And I'll agree with #1, it's important 32:19 that you're in church. Amen! 32:21 That's vitally important that you're in church. 32:23 #2, I agree with that. 32:25 It's important that you study God's word. 32:29 #3, You know, I'm going to agree with that too. 32:31 It's for grace you are saved through faith, 32:34 that not of yourself, it's a gift of God, not of works. 32:38 But we are created unto good works, is that not true? 32:41 So it's not that what they were taught was totally in error, 32:46 but they had just had a misunderstanding of it 32:49 thinking that it was those works that were going to save them... 32:53 Kenny, do our works save us? No... 32:55 It's not our works, it's the shed blood of the Lord 32:58 Jesus Christ and what He wrought out for us at Calvary. 33:01 So let's see how those in the synagogue 33:05 received Paul's message, that's Acts 13:42-44... 33:11 "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, 33:13 the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached 33:16 to them the next Sabbath. 33:18 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews 33:22 and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who seeking 33:27 them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God." 33:30 "On the next Sabbath... listen at this... 33:32 "On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city 33:36 came together to hear the word of God." 33:38 How many people Jill? The whole city. 33:41 Almost the whole city. 33:43 Now let me just tell you this right off the bat... 33:45 trouble's brewing. 33:47 Trouble is brewing! 33:48 If they had just been kinda paw pawed at, 33:50 and nobody showed up, trouble wouldn't brew. 33:53 Let's look at chapter 13, again starting with verse 45... 33:58 "And when the Jews saw the multitudes... saw what? 34:02 The multitudes... they were filled with 34:05 "envy"... is an ugly word. 34:07 ... envy, jealousy - causes strife, and it causes jealousy. 34:12 And contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed 34:16 the things spoken by Paul." 34:18 They started contradicting what he was saying. 34:20 Flying in the face of the truth of the word of God, 34:23 can God ever honor that? Never honors that, okay. 34:26 Verse 46... "Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold... 34:29 now they were already pretty bold... 34:31 and said, "It was necessary that the word of God 34:34 should be spoken to you first... he was speaking to the 34:38 Jewish people - it was important that I bring this 34:41 message to you first, but since you reject it, 34:46 and judge yourself... Paul is not judging them, 34:50 their actions judge them... 34:52 and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, 34:56 behold we turned to the Gentiles... Mercy! 34:58 for so the Lord has commanded us, "I have set you as a light 35:03 to the Gentiles that you should be 35:05 the salvation to the ends of the earth." 35:07 And that's a quote from Isaiah 42:6. 35:10 Verse 48... "Now when the Gentiles heard this, 35:14 they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord 35:16 and as many as had been appointed to eternal life 35:19 believed and the word of the Lord was being 35:22 spread throughout the whole world." 35:23 The Jewish leaders rejected the gospel and that had a 35:27 two-prong effect. 35:29 #1... Their rejection excluded them from God's salvation, 35:36 but the other side of that was it liberated Paul 35:41 and Barnabas to turn to the Gentiles... for exactly that. 35:44 Well I'm going to look at what I want to bring away from this. 35:47 This is what I think we need to bring away from this 35:50 if nothing else... 35:51 Ephesians 2:8-9... "For by grace - and I've 35:54 quoted it 2 or 3 times already... 35:56 "For by grace you have been saved, through faith 36:03 and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God 36:07 not of works lest anyone should boast." 36:09 Pastor Kenny... 36:11 Well you set it up here the last minute or two, 36:14 you said, "There's trouble brewing," 36:16 I think that was the words, so that kinda came over to 36:18 my part of "There's trouble brewing," 36:20 and I think any time that we move forward in the 36:23 cause of Christ, there's going to be some trouble. Yes. 36:25 I think what CA brought out, 36:26 but it's how we deal with the trouble. Yes. 36:28 Trouble is going to come, no matter where you're at, 36:31 or what you're doing is moving forward, 36:32 trouble is going to come and Iconium here is where we are 36:34 with our lesson - Wednesday's lesson and I thought it was 36:37 interesting - but a little background on it, 36:39 but it's an important city in inland of Asia Minor... 36:43 You know, if people don't study that, 36:44 you have no idea and maybe they don't care, 36:46 but it's good to know. 36:48 It was incorporated to the Roman providence 36:50 you know, in about 25 BC, I mean it was 36:53 the early, early stages. 36:55 The city has been constantly inhabited - something has been 36:59 going on there - it says the good seed 37:00 was planted and maybe some bad seed, 37:01 but some things have been going on there. 37:03 Paul and Barnabas went to preach in Iconium, but before 37:06 we get there in Iconium, but interesting what happened 37:09 to them when we were talking about in Antioch... 37:11 They were preaching the good news and they were 37:13 doing a good work, what happened? They were driven out. 37:15 They were driven out and somebody was mentioning 37:18 the other day about gnashing the teeth and people 37:21 were getting so mad... I've been to board meetings, 37:23 but I don't think I've ever been to one quite like that. 37:26 People get a little upset sometimes as Christians, 37:28 but there were some people here that, 37:30 I used to have an aunt to say that "If looks could kill, 37:33 there would be a lot of people dead," 37:35 so, I've never been around all that, but there was some 37:38 horrible things going on in the name of Jesus, 37:41 and so there had to be some straightening out that 37:42 was done when we look here, but they had to flee 37:45 because the persecution broke out... 37:47 And a lot of times we're content to stay, aren't we? 37:50 We're content to stay where things are going well. 37:53 When things are not going so well, we tend to 37:55 jump out of the boat sometimes and then go find 37:58 some other place. 37:59 But backup just a little bit before Iconium, 38:01 what do we find? 38:03 And I think this is something that maybe we need to 38:05 hit a little harder than maybe we've hit it and you 38:07 don't really want to, but we have to look and really 38:10 put responsibility where it really lies. 38:12 Responsibility, many times, was with not only the people, 38:16 us as it were or the early church, 38:18 but the leadership - we have to be careful. 38:21 You know, you look at yourself and you think you're 38:22 leaders here in different departments, 38:24 we're leaders in the cause of Christ. 38:25 We have responsibility in the cause of Christ 38:28 to be the right kind of leader because a man or a woman 38:31 says "I'm a leader," they're going to have to prove it to me 38:33 from the word of God before I'm going to get behind them 38:35 and follow them all the way. 38:37 But notice that the stirring up almost always... 38:39 the leadership was involved. 38:41 I'm not trying to criticize or condemn in any form or fashion. 38:44 People can apply it where they want to do it, 38:46 but I think this is imperative that we look at these issues 38:48 over here. 38:49 Running Paul and Barnabas out of town, right, 38:53 every place they went to preach, 38:55 all of a sudden, they were greeted and everybody was 38:56 happy, they were all excited and pretty soon, uh oh, 38:58 we don't like what we're hearing and stirring up opposition, 39:02 and somebody mentioned... there was jealousy, 39:04 against one another and pretty soon there was all kind 39:07 of problems. 39:08 It was interesting, Acts 13:54 in Wednesday's lesson... 39:12 It says, "And the disciples were filled with joy 39:15 and with the Holy Ghost. 39:17 I love that because when they were thrown out, as it were, 39:21 thrown out... what did they do? 39:22 They were still happy! 39:23 What was that Scripture? 39:25 I think that was Acts 13:52. ... 52 Okay 39:28 Yeah, it still says they were thrown out. 39:30 How many of us who might get removed from a certain 39:33 position or even from church... I would be careful 39:36 to mention the word "disfellowship," 39:38 but we're going to leave and we're going to be 39:39 happy - we're going to be happy about it. 39:41 They left with great joy because they knew they were doing 39:45 #1 what? They were doing the right thing here, 39:47 and that, to me, joy is fruit of conversion. 39:50 It's one of the fruits of the Spirit. 39:51 So regardless of what happens to us, it may be hurtful, 39:54 we may shed tears over it, but what was the end result? 39:57 We're going to continue on down that same road 39:59 on account of the joy to be persecuted and were things 40:02 to happen in our life as God's little workmen 40:04 to help us to continue to grow. 40:06 Paul constantly - this is what I get from this lesson... 40:09 Paul constantly preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Amen 40:13 That caused him problems, that will cause you problems, 40:16 that will cause me problems, but that's what we are 40:18 commanded to do is to preach Christ, lift Him up! 40:21 As He was lifted up... 40:26 People that are not spiritual don't want to see 40:27 Christ lifted up - they want to see man that's lifted up. 40:30 The arm of flesh, they want to lean to the arm of flesh. 40:34 Now how sad that is because we find that even today 40:38 we cling to the arm of flesh. 40:40 Interesting even in Adventism, and in our world today 40:43 in churches, they'll say, have you ever heard this one? 40:46 "What side you on?" 40:47 I said, "What do you mean, what side am I on?" 40:51 Well they say... you're on this side or this side, 40:55 and either way I look at one side or 40:57 the other, it's the arm of flesh." 40:58 My response simply is, "I'm on God's side." 41:01 "I'm on God's side." "Well no, but you have to be..." 41:03 "No, I have to be on God's side." 41:05 So here was issues that people were... I mean they were 41:09 every day - it came to the point 41:10 they had to make this decision choice. 41:12 Testimonies to Ministers, p.380 says, "They need to cease 41:15 putting their dependence upon men making flesh their arm." 41:20 So they were still doing that because they were listening 41:22 to the ones who were leading out and they got all excited 41:24 and all of a sudden there was division and separation 41:26 and all these problems here. 41:28 Testimonies to Ministers, p.380, says this... 41:30 "The warnings given in the word of God to the children of Israel 41:33 were meant not merely for them... notice this... 41:36 but for all who should live upon the earth." 41:40 So it's more than... Oh, it happened back then, 41:42 we need dare not talk about it, 41:44 I'm not afraid to talk about it today. 41:45 I'm not afraid to talk about it. 41:47 The Scripture is very clear, a lot of passages are 41:48 brought up - we need to be very careful who we follow. 41:51 Jesus must be the One that we follow. Absolutely! 41:54 You know, that said, "Well we understand all that, 41:56 but we'll follow because the brother said this 41:58 or that brother said that." 41:59 I just go back to the word of God and say, 42:01 "Where does it say it in the word of God?" 42:03 If it says it in the word of God, 42:05 we all are willing to do that. 42:06 But see, they weren't willing to do it, that's why some 42:08 of the problems in the early church. 42:10 You know what was laid out was straight, was good, 42:13 the message was good, but they decided not 42:15 to follow that because they didn't want to hear it. 42:17 Jesus said in Psalm 50:15, "Call upon Me in the day 42:21 of trouble... I like this one. 42:22 Call upon Me in what? In the day of trouble, 42:25 I will deliver thee that thou shall glorify Me." 42:29 So we are to glorify God, aren't we? 42:31 How many of you ever heard this... I need to say this... 42:34 "We're the voice of God." Have you ever heard that one? 42:38 The voice of God... It needs to be balanced out, 42:40 but this is true - this is the statement "We're the voice of 42:42 God," and I've always said to those people... 42:43 "If we claim to be, as it were, the voice of God 42:46 or God speaking through us," then we must say those things 42:49 that God would say. Amen! 42:51 See, if we do not say that what God would say, 42:53 we are NOT the voice of God, regardless of position, 42:56 and that just makes good sense. 42:58 I'm not trying to tear anybody down or raise knots 43:00 on anybody's head - it's simply to look at the word of God, 43:03 and say, "Ooo, that's what God's word says, that's what I want, 43:05 that's what I want to do." 43:07 Well jealousy developed, we know that scene. 43:09 If we won't get through all of it, we want to think about it, 43:12 but anyway... no, who does, but as we look at this 43:15 lesson here, what happened? 43:17 The Jews began to get jealous because of the Gentile 43:21 converts... when they came... Ooo - when they came into 43:24 the faith, they were happy. Yes! 43:26 See I'm starting to get happy now! 43:28 The Jews looked at them and they had long faces, you know, 43:32 they weren't so happy, they were hearing the truth, 43:35 but these Gentiles when they came in - think about it, 43:37 this was the first time they heard this message possibly. 43:40 It was exciting, it was new, it was thrilling and 43:43 sometimes they might have raised their hand or they 43:45 might have shouted - well it offended other people. 43:48 But I've kind of let that go, and Lord if I want to raise 43:50 my hand, I'll raise my hand, if shout, I wanna shout! 43:52 Because why? Look at here... 43:54 They were so excited... think about you when you 43:56 first came into the faith. Absolutely! 43:58 When you first heard this, you thought that you were 44:00 just going to what? 44:02 I'm just going to pop! Yeah I'm just going to pop if I 44:04 can't tell somebody, if I can't do something, 44:07 you know, if I can't tell it show on my face, 44:09 I'm just gonna pop wide open! 44:11 There would be nothing left of me. 44:12 But see, that's kind of the way the converts were, 44:15 and some jealousy occurred and because they weren't 44:18 showing this kind of a religious excitement in the cause 44:21 of Christ - the witnessing saving power of God is awesome 44:25 when it touches down and reaches down to get an old sinner 44:29 and brings you up right? 44:30 Them bootstraps bring right on up, you know through 44:32 the grace of God. 44:34 Find Paul and Barnabas continued to speak, 44:36 to the Jews first and then certainly they went to the 44:38 Gentiles, but notice... the work still flourished 44:41 even though the enemy was working very, very, very hard. 44:44 I like it because you brought out two points and this time 44:47 is almost up... because it says, "Paul on every 44:50 occasion, he went to church on the Sabbath... 44:52 hmm, I like that. Now why did he do it? 44:55 Well two certain reasons is, #1... I think is because 44:58 he could make contact with the Jews which priority, 45:01 contact with the Jews. 45:03 And certainly #2, he could certainly keep the Sabbath 45:05 of the Bible. Right. According to Luke 23:56. 45:10 So he was just following along in the footsteps that he should 45:13 that his Master had showed him; things that Jesus had 45:15 encouraged him to share. 45:17 So, yes, things are going to go on, we're going to have 45:20 problems; we're going to have tests; we're going to have 45:21 trials - the early church did. 45:23 There were divisions and separations, but God's people 45:26 God's real people I believe will come together. Amen 45:29 God's real people - there will be a unity. 45:31 A unity that Christ prayed for in John 17. 45:34 That I look at it now and I say, "Oh God, only You know 45:36 how this can come about, only You know why" 45:39 because there seems to be such division and separation, 45:42 but we need to be shouldering together, pulling together 45:44 put our heads in the word of God and say, "This is 45:46 what God's word has said, by God's grace, 45:49 by God's strength, this is what I will do. 45:53 Amen and I have to just say Brother Kenny, 45:55 I love your enthusiasm. 45:57 The word "enthusiasm" is... theo - it's God within, 46:02 and then the "iasm" - I am sold myself, so Ooo! 46:07 Alright, I have Thursday's lesson and we need to 46:10 talk about "Lystra and Derbe." 46:13 So let's just begin in Acts 14:5... 46:17 So here they are, we're starting off, 46:19 they're still in Iconium, the city is divided. 46:22 Some are siding with the Jews, some with the apostles, 46:25 and verse 5 says, "When a violent attempt was made 46:28 by both the Jews and Gentiles with the rulers 46:31 to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it, 46:35 and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, 46:39 and to the surrounding region 46:41 and they were preaching the gospel there. 46:43 And in Lystra - now they spent some time in Lystra, 46:46 but Luke only records one story, 46:49 and we're getting ready to look at that. 46:51 In Lystra, a certain man without 46:53 strength in his feet was sitting, 46:55 a cripple from his mother's womb who had never walked... 46:58 so from birth he has been crippled. 47:01 This man heard Paul speaking and Paul observing 47:06 him intently... now notice this... 47:10 and seeing that he had the faith to be healed... 47:14 see faith can be seen, I've always said that... 47:17 seeing that he had the faith to be healed, 47:20 said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your 47:23 feet and he leaped and he walked. 47:26 Now when the people saw what Paul had done, 47:29 they raised their voices saying in the Lycaonian 47:33 language, "The gods had come down to us in the likeness of 47:38 men and Barnabas, they called Zeus... 47:41 Zeus was the supreme god of the Greek pantheon. 47:46 And Paul, they called Hermes because Hermes was the 47:50 attendant and spokesman for Zeus - he said, because 47:55 he was the chief speaker." 47:57 Our Quarterly points out that there was a Latin poet 48:01 who had written a story about these same two gods, 48:06 Zeus and Hermes, who had come down incognito and gone 48:10 to visit in a little village and when they got to the 48:14 village, the people didn't receive them, they were very 48:17 indifferent, but there was this humble, little, elderly 48:19 couple who brought them into their home, treated them with 48:23 great hospitality and respect and you know what happened? 48:26 In the story, this is all legend, of course, 48:29 but in the legend, what happened was that Zeus 48:34 and Hermes turned the little, humble house of this old couple 48:40 into a temple and the old couple into priests and they destroyed 48:45 the rest of the city. 48:46 So this is the story that was circulating about the time 48:49 that Paul and Barnabas are there and so, 48:53 then it goes on in verse 13... 48:55 You can see why these people reacted the way they do 48:58 if you understand that story... 49:00 Verse 13... "Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was 49:03 in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gate, 49:07 intending to sacrifice with the multitudes, 49:10 but when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, 49:13 they tore their clothes... that was always a sign 49:16 that somebody was committing blasphemy in your presence... 49:20 you tore your clothes. 49:21 And they ran in among the multitude crying out and saying, 49:25 "Men why are you doing these things? 49:27 We also are men with the same nature as you and preach 49:32 to you that you should turn from these useless things 49:36 to the living God who made the heaven and the earth, 49:38 the sea and all the things that are in them. 49:41 So turn to the Creator God who in bygone generations 49:45 allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 49:49 Nevertheless, he did not leave himself without witness 49:52 in that he did good, He gave us rain from heaven 49:55 and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts 49:58 with food and gladness." 50:00 And with these things, they could scarcely 50:03 restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. 50:06 So then... now watch this... Here they are in this 50:12 situation here and the Jews from Antioch and the Jews 50:18 from Iconium, they were both just been run out of these 50:21 cities, right? 50:22 ... came there and having persuaded the multitudes, 50:25 they stoned Paul and dragged him out of city 50:29 supposing him to be dead. 50:31 Can you believe this... Jewish opponents from 50:34 ... these were people who just had pushed Paul and Barnabas 50:39 out - they are following them to cause problems 50:43 and they cause a complete reversal of the situation. 50:46 The people go from adoration, wanting to worship Paul, 50:51 to wanting to kill him. 50:54 So perhaps what they convinced these people 50:58 that - alright, these men have said they're not gods, 51:00 perhaps they convinced them they were demons, 51:03 I don't know how they did it, but what was Paul's reward 51:05 for the miracle that he did for this lame man? 51:08 Well, he was stoned and drug out of the city 51:12 and left for dead. 51:13 They thought he was dead or they would have finished it off. 51:15 So now let's look at Acts 14:20. 51:20 "However, when the disciples gathered around him, 51:23 he rose up and went into the city... now these disciples were 51:27 the new believers and it probably included Timothy. 51:30 Timothy was a native of Lystra, his father was Greek, 51:36 his mother was Eunice, his grandmother was Lois 51:39 and they were both Jewish. 51:41 And then it says, "The next day he departed 51:44 with Barnabas to Derbe." 51:46 Alright, and he being Paul, the whole...It's... 51:51 when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and 51:54 went into the city and then Paul and Barnabas 51:56 go into Derbe. 51:57 So they're compelled to leave Antioch, 52:00 they're compelled to leave Iconium, now they're 52:04 compelled to leave Lystra... don't you think that Paul 52:08 could have felt a little bit gloomy, have a little 52:11 pity party - you know, here I am serving the Lord. 52:14 Lord, You called me, You turned my life upside-down, 52:18 but he wasn't, he was zealous and he was ready to go 52:23 witnessing - and he is on his way to Derbe, 52:25 and what does God do? Hm! 52:28 He gives him an abundant harvest of souls 52:30 in Derbe, let's look at verse 21... 52:32 "And when they preached the gospel to that city in Derbe, 52:36 and made MANY disciples... so God gives them an abundant 52:41 harvest... then now watch what they're going to do... 52:44 They're going to backtrack, they're going to go back 52:47 to Lystra, Iconium, on their way back to Antioch, 52:51 strengthening the souls of the disciples exhorting them to 52:55 continue in the faith and saying, "We must through many 52:58 tribulations enter the kingdom of God." 53:01 So they evangelized Derbe, now they're backtracking 53:06 because they're ready to go back to Antioch and give the 53:09 report, but they go back right into Lystra again where 53:14 they just stoned him and left him for dead; 53:16 then they go back to Iconium, and on to Antioch. 53:21 These are the same cities that threatened them and physically 53:25 abused them and kicked them out, and it's interesting to me... 53:28 that the Bible doesn't talk, Luke doesn't record 53:32 any renewed opposition, so maybe when they went back, 53:37 they confined their ministry just exclusively to 53:40 the small group of new believers 53:44 that they were there to strengthen. 53:45 But you have to know that these churches were all 53:49 in the Roman providence of Galatia and this is 53:54 probably the churches to whom Paul wrote this 53:58 Book of Galatians and they're in southern Galatia, 54:04 but they endured opposition from the Jews, 54:09 they endured opposition from the Gentiles and they needed 54:13 encouragement during their time of suffering. 54:15 When he said in verse 21, "We must through many 54:18 tribulations, enter the kingdom of God, 54:22 he's not preaching a theology of suffering for salvation. 54:26 This doesn't mean that you're, you know, going on the 54:29 long - what's the word they use... pilgrimages 54:35 with the crosses on their back or something. 54:37 He's just saying that we're going to share in 54:39 Christ's sufferings, but boy, Paul, 54:41 in 2 Corinthians 11, he tells about how much he 54:45 understood this, doesn't he? 54:47 Forty lashes he got five times. 54:49 He was imprisoned, he was beaten with rods, 54:53 shipwrecked, etcetera. 54:54 He wrote to Timothy later, 2 Timothy 3:12... 54:59 He said, "Yes, all who desire to live godly 55:01 in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." 55:04 See, this is just when you enter the Kingdom of God... 55:08 and he told the Colossians that God has brought you 55:11 into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, 55:13 but these tribulations that we suffer are consequences 55:17 for entering the Kingdom, but the grace of God 55:20 will work in us and through us until such time as Christ 55:27 returns. Amen! Amen! Amen! 55:31 So very, very well done! 55:35 Paul's methodology was so consistent in that he went 55:39 into the synagogue and there he got a read on 55:43 how the city was functioning and what he was facing. 55:47 A couple of things come to my mind in the last 1-1/2 minutes 55:50 that is left to us... 55:54 #1... He found resistance in everything. 55:57 Sadly, many times from his own countrymen. 56:02 In fact, the most pernicious resistance was from the Jews. 56:06 There was resistance from the Gentiles - sometimes 56:08 it was because he was eating into their profit-margin; 56:11 he was preaching things that they could not support. 56:13 But this kind of evil backbiting resistance came 56:17 from his own countrymen. 56:18 But that resistance was also accompanied by 56:23 converts in every city, miracles in every city, 56:28 and the establishment of the brethren in every city. 56:31 There are two texts that come to mind that I want to just 56:34 reference very quickly... 56:36 Paul in his letter to the Hebrews, he says, 56:38 "Let your conduct be without 56:40 covetousness, be content with such things as you have, 56:43 for He Himself has said... and this is what keeps you 56:47 when you got resistance... "I will never leave you 56:49 nor forsake you, so we can boldly say - I like this part, 56:54 we can BOLDLY say... 56:55 "The Lord is my helper." Amen! 56:57 You think Paul knew that the Lord was his Helper? 56:58 Of course he did, boldly he could say, 57:00 "I know God is with me, I could see His keeping hand." 57:03 "I will not fear what can man do to me," it's powerful. 57:08 And the last one, 2 Timothy 1:12, 57:12 this is a great text... "For this reason, I also 57:15 suffer these things; nevertheless, 57:17 I am not ashamed for I KNOW Him in whom I have believed." 57:22 You see, when you've got opposition behind 57:25 and opposition in front, you gotta know 57:29 who you believe and that's the word for us today. 57:32 Once you know Jesus, you can stand for Him, 57:34 you can take it because you know Christ is on your side. 57:37 We'll see ya next week! Bye, bye... |
Revised 2024-08-06