The Next Sabbath
Acts 13:42 – 14:7
Jeff Hughes – September 14, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. The scripture tells us in the book of Isaiah the prophet, chapter 52, verse 7, simply this - 7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation.
b. Paul was invited to speak to a Synagogue in the Galatian city of Pisidian Antioch one Saturday, in A.D. 46, and Paul’s message was one of salvation. Not a complex salvation, worked out through ceremony and tradition like the Jewish rabbis of the day were teaching. The salvation that Paul taught was one of simple grace, given through faith in Jesus Christ.
c. No doubt that this message was a shock to the Jewish listeners, and their reaction would probably not be good, but Paul is faithful to teach it, even though he knows that he is in danger of being accused of false teaching, which carried with it the penalty of stoning.
d. A lot of people focus on some folks getting angry at the message Paul taught and their persecution of the apostles in their wrath. But, they are missing the focus of this passage we are going to look at today if they focus on the bad. The bad news was bad, but the good news was that many of those people listened to Paul’s words, and it made sense to them.
e. Like Isaiah, they saw the feet of Paul beautiful, and the message he was teaching sweet. They had been looking for salvation, but missing it. Now, they got it. But, God can tell the story much better than I ever could, so, let’s get into our study today.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. In ancient Rome, crowds by the tens of thousands would gather in the Coliseum to watch as Christians were torn apart by wild animals. Paul Rader, commenting on his visit to this famous landmark, said, “I stood uncovered to the heavens above, where He sits for whom they gladly died, and asked myself, ‘Would I, could I, die for Him tonight to get this gospel to the ends of the earth?’” Rader continued, “I prayed most fervently in that Roman arena for the spirit of a martyr, and for the working of the Holy Spirit in my heart, as He worked in Paul’s heart when He brought him on his handcuffed way to Rome.” Those early Christians “lived on the threshold of heaven, within a heartbeat of home, no possessions to hold them back.”.
b. Our study this morning comes out of Acts, chapter 13, verse 42, through Acts chapter 14, verse seven. We will finish chapter 13 today. We are almost to the halfway point through the book of Acts.
c. Let’s read starting in verse 42.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 42 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.
ii. 1 Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. 3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. 7 And they were preaching the gospel there.
iii. In this passage of scripture, we see two main groups of people – people who embrace and accept the teaching of the apostles, and people who reject it.
iv. We still have these two groups today. There are people who will just never get it. They never understand what they are missing out on.
v. Maybe you know some people like that. People who are skeptical of the gospel message, and all that it entails. Maybe you are here this morning though, and you are hearing about all of this for the first time. Maybe you haven’t had a church background, and you want to learn more.
vi. I would encourage you to listen with not only your ears, but also your heart this morning if that’s you.
vii. Maybe you’re here this morning, and you have made that decision in your life to follow Jesus. That’s great! You need to rejoice in that. I want you to think about something this week though, something to ponder as we study our text this morning, and that is – how are you affecting the people God has placed around you?
viii. Are you being the witness that Jesus has called you to be? Not everyone is called to roam from town to town preaching and teaching like Paul and Barnabas. But, there are times that the Lord gives to you in which you can share the gospel in your own special way.
ix. I pray that each one of us here this morning would use each and every opportunity we had available to reach out to others.
x. In our study this morning we will look at six points. There’s an outline in your bulletin so you can take notes. We will look at the Curious Gentiles, The Crowd, The Celebration, The Clash, The Comforter, and last the City Divided.
xi. We will finish chapter 13 today. We are almost to the halfway point through the book of Acts. We know from last week’s study that Paul’s message at the synagogue was directed not only at the Jews, but also to God-fearing gentiles as well. We will focus on some of those gentiles in our first point, found in verses 42 and 43.
b. The Curious Gentiles (Acts 13:42 - 43)
i. 42 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.
ii. We see here in verse 42 that as Paul draws his message to a close, some of the Jews gathered there left the synagogue. They were most likely upset about the message and its content.
iii. They didn’t believe that Jesus was their Messiah, and Paul’s message of grace and forgiveness must have seemed like a contradiction to everything that they had ever been taught.
iv. The God-fearing gentiles approached Paul, and they wanted to hear more about this new doctrine. They asked Paul that he would come to the synagogues the next week, that they might get the chance to hear the gospel again.
v. After the meeting was concluded, some of the Jews, and the gentiles that had converted to Judaism came to Paul and Barnabas, and apparently, they had embraced the gospel, and had made a decision to follow Jesus.
vi. These were the people who were truly seeking salvation. They didn’t want to wait another week, they wanted to hear more now, and learn more now, rather than later.
vii. They came to Paul and Barnabas, who encouraged them, persuading them to continue in the grace of God. Now, in order for them to continue in the grace of God, they had to be in the grace of God already, that’s the assumption that we have to make here, and that is a right assumption.
viii. The question that comes to my mind is this – did they continue in the grace of God long term? The answer to that question is a no. They didn’t. Paul would later write in Galatians chapter 1, verse 6 - 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
ix. So, it is obvious that these folks would need further encouragement in their faith to continue, as we find out in Galatians.
x. Grace is defined as the exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor; disposition to benefit or serve one another; favor bestowed or privilege conferred.
xi. Grace towards one another, showing love towards one another is a cornerstone of the Christian walk. When you think about it, we are simply called to reflect the same love and grace that Jesus gave to us towards one another.
xii. Scripture tells us in 1st John, chapter 4, verse 11 - 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
xiii. As Christians, we are called to love one another, to show grace to one another. It is what sets us apart from people who don’t have Jesus, that love for one another.
xiv. The important thing in this passage is this – if we begin in grace, then we need to continue in that same grace as we grow in our Christian walk.
xv. To eliminate that grace, we fall into legalism, and that is what they were leaving behind in Judiasm – all the rules and regulations. Many people wanted to be free of the rules and regulations, but some folks wanted to keep the rules and regulations, as we see in our next passage.
c. The Crowd (Acts 13:44 – 47)
i. 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.’ ".
ii. The next Saturday, Paul and Barnabas returned to the synagogue there in Antioch to teach the people who would come about Jesus. A very large crowd had gathered there to hear the gospel being taught this week.
iii. No doubt that the little synagogue there in Antioch was bursting at the seams, and it was a standing room only crowd there. The people came to hear the word of God being taught.
iv. You see the Jewish leadership of the synagogue had rejected the gospel, and had missed out on the chance for eternal life in the process. It surprises me even that Paul and Barnabas returned to the synagogue the next week in the face of this opposition.
v. But I believe what motivated that is that they wanted to present the gospel to the Jews gathered there not only once but twice, so that they would have a chance to believe, and be saved. Paul would later write to the Romans, the gospel is for the Jew first, and then the gentile
vi. But, the leaders of the synagogue were envious of the crowds that the gospel brought in, and they sought to discount it, arguing against the gospel, and blaspheming the name of Jesus.
vii. They were in open opposition to the gospel message that Paul was teaching. They were interrupting Paul’s teaching as if it was some kind of debate, and people were probably getting turned off by this.
viii. So, at this point, Paul and Barnabas were filled with the Holy Spirit to shift the debate back to a teaching focused on Jesus Christ. Their basic premise was this – “Hey, if you guys are going to reject the gospel as we have presented it here, then you are forfeiting the eternal life that you could have received by believing in Jesus.
ix. The gospel coming to the Jews was a privilege, because they were God’s chosen people, from antiquity, that’s what his message focused on last week, but here, we see that many of the Jews there rejected that privilege, and Paul was then to bring the message to those who would hear it – the gentiles there at Antioch.
x. The Jews made themselves unworthy of eternal life by the decision they made. I want us to take note of that, because we are going to go into that in more detail in the next point.
xi. Look down to verse 47 – Paul and Barnabas were commanded by God to take the gospel to the gentiles. They quote Isaiah chapter 49, where God tells the nation of Israel that He had set them apart to be a light to the gentiles, so that they would turn and believe.
xii. The nation of Israel had failed miserably in this, because they had fallen so deeply into legalism and the spiritual bondage that comes from legalism.
xiii. Christianity wasn’t like that though. It was a gospel of grace, not a gospel of rules and regulations, it was something fresh, something freeing, and the gentiles responded to it, as we see in the next two verses.
d. The Celebration (Acts 13:48 - 49)
i. 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.
ii. The gentiles hear the gospel from Paul and Barnabas, and they were overjoyed! We are told here that they glorified the name of the Lord.
iii. This is a stark contract to the Jews there in Antioch who blasphemed the name of the Lord. The word glorified there is the Greek word Doxazo, it is also used in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians in chapter 3, verse 1 where he writes - Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you,
iv. The next sentence here is a curious one. As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. This is used by some to argue that God has made two classes of people – people who are going to be saved, and another class of people that God has made to not get saved. This is a pretty upsetting doctrine to me.
v. Now, scripture does tell us that God chooses us. John chapter 15, verse 16 says this - 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain
vi. But, I find it hard to believe that a God who loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us would make people who don’t have a chance. Remember back in verse 46, that the Jews rejected the word of the Lord, and they made the choice to reject eternal life.
vii. But, this does get a little bit dicey. God does know all things. He knows the end from the beginning, and He knows who is going to get saved and who is not. So, He does choose us. But, we choose Him, too.
viii. I know this from reading other verses like Joshua 24:15 - “choose you this day whom you shall serve” It is our own choice as to whether of not we believe. How does all of that reconcile? How does all of that fit together? Honestly, I don’t know. That’s something I plan on asking about when I get there. But, I do know this - it all fits together in God’s divine plan.
ix. If you’re here this morning, and you’re worried about whether God has chose you or not, pray with me to accept Jesus as your savior at the end of the service, and we can answer that question today. Then you will be appointed to eternal life.
x. Verse 49 tells us that the word of the Lord continued to spread throughout the whole region. The gospel was being spread throughout Galatia by the efforts of Paul and Barnabas, but more so by the witness and the lives of those who were affected by the gospel, just like it still is today.
xi. The people who were continuing in the grace and love that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ could not help but to spread the gospel with their lives.
xii. But, whenever the gospel is stirred up in the hearts and minds of people, Satan is stirred as well, we see his reaction to what was happening in Antioch in the next two verses.
e. The Clash (Acts 13:50 - 51)
i. 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.
ii. Now, there were a number of prominent women from the upper classes of Greek society who worshipped at the synagogue. This was common of this day and age.
iii. The Jewish synagogue rulers used these women to stir up their husbands against Paul and Barnabas, to thwart the gospel being spread throughout the region.
iv. These leading men of the city persecuted Paul and Barnabas, and had them thrown out of the city of Antioch. The Jews had done what they had set out to do, to get rid of Paul and Barnabas.
v. But, one more thing to note here is that Paul and Barnabas knew who was behind them getting thrown out of town, and they didn’t leave town before performing a symbolic gesture towards the Jewish leaders in Antioch.
vi. They shook off the dust from their feet as the left town. It was a customary action for Jews to shake the dust from their feet when they left a pagan town, and returned to their own land.
vii. This was to symbolize their cleansing from the pagan area that did not worship God. They wanted no part of the pagan area, not even the dirt from the place touching their feet.
viii. For Jews like Paul and Barnabas to do this to other Jews was to compare them to pagan gentiles, and the general meaning was that Jews who reject the gospel, are no better off than pagan gentiles.
ix. So, we see the missionaries leaving Pisidian Antioch here, they get on the Roman road going East towards Lystra, but turn a bit off to the north to stop at Iconium.
x. Iconium was a large city also in the Roman province of Galatia, about 90 miles east of Antioch. The city was a thriving economic and agricultural center. Iconium was famous for its weaving industry, they grew highland flax in the plains around the city, and raised sheep and goats there was well to feed this industry.
xi. This industry no doubt attracted some Jews who had left their homeland, and there was enough Jews here as well to have a synagogue, as we will see in the next two verses.
f. The Comforter (Acts 13:52 – 14:1)
i. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. 1 Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.
ii. Now, verse 52 is a footnote to the previous story about what had happened in Pisidian Antioch. The people there that heard the gospel and made a decision to follow it were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, just like other people we have seen previously throughout the book of Acts along the way.
iii. Our author, Luke was writing this to let us know how things went in Antioch after Paul and Barnabas left, because they left so abruptly, on bad terms.
iv. No doubt that Paul and Barnabas were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit as well, being led to go to Iconium. Many times, people in the ministry run into some kid of opposition, and give up. That is not what we see modeled for us here by Paul and Barnabas.
v. Pastor Jon Courson says this - In ministry and in life, we will either `shake it off’ or get shaken up. Those who shake the dust off their feet when an attack comes or when rejection hits will go on. Those who get shaken up will quit.
vi. The lat thing I want us to glean from chapter 13, as we look at verse 52 is this – being filled with the Holy Spirit goes along with joy.
vii. There is a real difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is a condition that is dependent upon the circumstances of our life; joy exists in spite of the circumstances around us.
viii. Ask almost anyone what his main purpose in life is, and almost invariably the answer is " happiness." Most of us, however, are not sure what we mean by happiness. Usually it is related to the conditions in which we are living. Joy is very different. It can exist when all else seems wrong and disturbed. " Joy" is closely related in its root to the word "grace."
ix. When a person knows that God loves him just as he is, and accepts His grace in Jesus Christ, then he knows the precious experience of joy.
x. That guys, is why both the believers at Antioch and Paul and Barnabas can have joy in the midst of bad circumstances - they had the joy of their salvation that comes from Jesus Christ.
xi. So, Paul and Barnabas make their way to Iconium, and they go in to teach at the local synagogues there in Iconium, just like they did in Pisidian Antioch when they were there.
xii. As we mentioned last week, Paul does this because it is a convenient place for him to preach the gospel to both Jews and God-fearing gentiles.
xiii. He can present the gospel to the Jew first, and then to the Greek, just as was done in Antioch. In Iconium, it seems that Paul’s message of the gospel was well received, because we see from verse 1 that a good number of Jews and God-fearing gentiles believed the gospel at its first presentation there.
xiv. The evangelistic success is no doubt refreshing to Paul and Barnabas, and they would have been encouraged by the good reception there, having just been kicked out of Antioch.
xv. The good reception is short-lived however, as word spreads from the synagogue in Antioch about Paul and Barnabas, and the gospel message that they were presenting. We will look at that, and close up there today in chapter 14..
g. The City Divided (Acts 14:2 - 7)
i. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. 3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. 7 And they were preaching the gospel there.
ii. The Jews that did not believe the gospel there in Iconium stirred up the gentiles that had not heard the message yet against the new Christians there in Iconium, along with Paul and Barnabas.
iii. The sought to sabotage the gospel through slandering the names of those who believe in it. They gossiped about the believers, and in the first century, just like today, gossip spreads like wildfire.
iv. James tells us in chapter 3 starting in verse 8 this - 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
v. It is indeed tempting to listen in to gossip, and I know people who simply live to hear the next juicy tidbit or rumor that comes along, but as believers, we are not to do that. We are to live by a higher standard.
vi. Gossip and rumors can kill someone’s character, and it can kill a church or a ministry. John Tudor once said that a rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way.
vii. The amount of money that corporate America spends on trying to combat rumors – urban legends runs into the millions. Gossip and rumors are things that we as Christians need to avoid. The best way to do that is to go to the source, and don’t give an ear to the person trying to spread the rumor.
viii. So, after Paul and Barnabas had their names drug through the mud, they decided to stay on in Iconium, to preach and teach, and evangelize.
ix. God blessed their outreaches there, and they did signs and wonders there, by the power of God working through them in that part of the country.
x. So, they stayed on there in Iconium, until the city was divided by the slander campaign waged by the Jews. The question comes, why did they chose to stick around, in the face of the opposition in Iconium, when they just stayed two weeks in Antioch? It is because the church there in Iconium needed more instruction, more teaching in order to become grounded.
xi. Paul and Barnabas hang around to do just that. But, at some point, the opposition to the gospel had grown so great, that the people of the town decided to stone Paul and Barnabas.
xii. But, when Paul and Barnabas learned of this, they left town, to carry the gospel to more cities, Lystra and Derbe, to the south of Iconium, and that is where we will pick up next week, with Paul and Barnabas.
xiii. The question to all of us this morning is this – Do you have that joy in your life that only comes from a relationship with Jesus? If you don’t, we are going to pray in a minute, and I will give you the chance to make that decision this morning.
xiv. Point Summary – There are two things I want us to take away from this message to try and apply to our lives. The first is that true joy only comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. That joy remains even in the face of bad circumstances. So, if you or someone close to you is going through a bad run in life, their reactions to it are often a gauge of where they are at spiritually.
xv. The second thins I want us to take away is that gossip and rumors can kill a person’s character, or a ministry, and we as Christians should not engage in such behavior.
xvi. I‘d like to close with a short story.
h. Conclusion
i. At a nursing home in Florida, a resident group was discussing ailments: "My arms are so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee," said one. "Yes, I know, my cataracts are so bad I can’t even see my coffee," replied another. "I can’t turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck," said a third, at which several others nodded weakly. "My blood pressure pills make me very dizzy," another went on. "I guess that’s the price we pay for getting old," winced an old man. There was general agreement and a short moment of silence ensued. "Well, it’s not that bad," said one woman cheerfully. "Thank God that we can all still drive!"
ii. You see, despite all of the setbacks and difficulties faced by them Paul and Barnabas continued to preach and to teach in the cities around Galatia.
iii. Their joy and determination was fueled by their relationship with Jesus Christ. Would to God that each one of us here would have that same joy and determination.
i. Let’s Pray.
