Sermon, 010503 am

Jim Huskey, Walking Through Acts # 20

The last time we "drove down a peg" we stopped at the end of the twelfth

chapter of the book of Acts. Now we said back over there in Acts 8:4

that a transition was about to take place. Jerusalem had been the center

of everything, but persecution that arose then at the stoning of Stephen

is spreading disciples. They're going everywhere preaching the word.

In Acts 11:10 we read that some of them go as far as Antioch. While

others had been preaching to done but the Jews only, some went to Antioch

and preached the word to the Gentiles, as well.

When we pick up in Acts 13, it almost seems that now Antioch is going to

become the radiating point from which the gospel is preached. You'll

remember Jesus told his apostles, 'You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

Judaea, Samaria and to the uttermost part of the world.' Acts 1. You'll

remember how, when they preached to those people in Antioch, those in

Jerusalem heard about it and they sent Barnabas up there. Then Barnabas

went to Tarsus and got Saul, and there they continued for a year,

preaching the word. Now notice what happens when we pick up in Acts 13.

"Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and

teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of

Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch,

and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost

said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called

them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them,

they sent them away." Acts 13:1-3. Remember what Saul was told? 'You're

going to bear my name to the Gentiles; you're going to stand before kings.'

Acts 9; Acts 22. So this work is now really about to have its REAL

beginning. He and others are going to make several missionary trips that

will begin at Antioch. The last trip he will make will be that voyage

to Rome, during which time also he's preaching.

"So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia;

and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis,

they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they had

also John to their minister. (that's John Mark; remember early in Acts 12

we were introduced to his mother's houshold, where the disciples were

gathered praying for Peter during his imprisonment) And when they had

gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a

false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus; which was with the deputy

of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas

and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the sorcerer

(for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn

away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul (who also is called Paul)

(and that's the first time we are introduced to that name)

filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, and said, O full of all

subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all

rightousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be

blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on

him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him

by the hand." Acts 13:4-11. Now let me just pause right here. IT IS

A SERIOUS MATTER WHEN ONE TRIES TO TURN PEOPLE AWAY FROM HEARING THE

WORD OF GOD!!!!! God doesn't deal with folks today the same way he did

then; but the very fact that Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit,

was allowed to cause this man to be blind for a season because of his

efforts to turn Sergius Paulus away from the truth, indicates the fact

that heaven has no pleasure whatsoever with those who would do such,

with those who would try to keep people away from hearing the word of

God. I don't believe God likes it any less today than he did then. He

will deal with them in his own time; and they will find that God is not

any more pleased today with such than he was then.

"Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished

at the doctrine of the Lord. Now when Paul and his company loosed from

Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John departing from them

returned to Jerusalem." Acts 13:12, 13. Now remember that. John didn't

stay with them very long and that's going to come up again and again.

"But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia,

and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. (Now they

had departed from Antioch in Syria; that's where the first Gentile

congregation was; but now they've come to Antioch in Pisidia.) And

after the reading of the law and prophets the rulers of the synagogue

sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of

exhortation for the people, say on." Acts 13: 14,15. You know, at one

time that occurred frequently. Their reputation, no doubt, had

preceeded them; but they gave them an opportunity to speak; and they

took advantage of it. But there's a lesson here that's interesting.

Remember the first gospel sermon at which we looked? It was the one

Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. I don't know how familiar you

are with Paul's sermon in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia. It's

a mirror of Acts 2. Now I wonder how that happened. Just stop and

think about it. This man is an apostle born out of due time, as he

calls himself. The Lord appeared unto him in order that he would

qualify as an apostle because he had to be a witness of the resurrection.

He had to have seeen Jesus after he was raised from the dead. He was an

educated preacher. He had been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; he

was educated in the law as well. He was also a Roman citizen. What kind

of sermon is this man going to preach when he gets an opportunity to do so?

"Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel,

and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel

chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers

in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.

And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the

wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of

Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that he gave

them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until

Samuel the prophet. And afterward they desired a king; and God gave

unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the

space of forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto

them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said,

I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which

shall fulfil all my will. Of this man's seed hath God, according to

his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus; when John had first

preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people

of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye

that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose

shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. (now listen to thim) Men

and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you

feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that

dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet

the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have

fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of

death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when

they had fulfilled all that as written of him, they took him down from

the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead."

Acts 13:16-30. What did you say, Paul? 'He has given unto Israel a

Saviour, Jesus.' He preached the same thing Peter preached on Pentecost.

But that's not all. He not only told of those Jews at Jerusalem who

desired that Jesus be put to death, and had him put to death at the hands

of Pilate, he goes further and says that God raised him (Jesus) up.

But that's not all he did. Do you remember Acts 2 when Peter goes back

and talks about David? Listen to Paul. "And he was seen many days of

them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his

witnesses unto the people. And we delcare unnto you glad tidings, how

that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the

same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as

it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have

I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead,

now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give

you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another

psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For

David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell

on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But he

whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore,

men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the

forgiveness of sins." Acts 13:31-38. What was it Peter said? 'David

is dead and buried and his sepulchre is with us unto this day', and

when David, in the psalms wrote, 'thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One

to see corruption' he was not speaking concerning himself, but Christ.

Now isn't that amazing????? A number of years have passed since Peter

preached the first gospel sermon; now the evangelist to the Gentile

world who would also preach to Jews, he'd preach wherever he could,

preaches the SAME gospel Peter preached!!! Now I wonder why that is.

Oh, the answer is simple. They were both guided and directed by the

SAME Spirit. We saw, when Philip went to Samaria, he preached the SAME

thing; we saw when he preached to the eunuch, he preached the SAME

thing; we saw when Peter preached to Cornelius, the first Gentile, he

preached the SAME thing. Now how is it that men today are not preaching

the same thing? They say 'we CAN'T, because we can't all understand it

alike.' Well now, if I understand what I know about this book, the

Bible, the premise is that God, by the SAME Holy Spirit who guided

Peter and Paul and Isaiah and all the prophets and apostles to preach,

also guided them in the writing down of that message - and they all

spoke the SAME thing. Now the bottom line is, somebody just flat

AIN'T PREACHING IT LIKE IT IS. I know that AIN'T GOOD GRAMMAR, but

everybody can understand that!!!!! The SAME man, Jesus, was the focal

point of their preaching and they preached the SAME things regarding

him and they required the SAME things of the people. Now on some

occasions they would be preaching to Jews only; on some occasions they

would be preaching to a mixed audience; on some occasions they would

be preaching to idolaters, but somehow they always got around to

preaching the SAME message. They might use a different introduction

in order to get them to that point, but they eventually preached

concerning the SAME individual and the SAME truths regarding him. Let

me get ahead of myself and jump over to Acts 17 for a moment. Paul is

in Athens, a city wholly given over to idolatry, but what's he going

to preach to a bunch of idolaters!!! Remember, here in the synagogue

of the Jews he's been preaching to people who were mostly either Jews

or proselytes, or very familiar with Jewish doctrine. He gets in

Athens and says, "...Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things

ye are too superstitious, for as I passed by, and beheld your

devotions (and they had a bunch of them and they were afraid they

had missed one, so they had one to UNKNOWN GOD) I found an altar with

this inscription TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly

worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things

therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in

temples made with hands." Acts 17:11-24. Then he goes on and tells

them that God at one time overlooked their ignorance, "...but now

commandeth all men every where to repent, because he hath appointed a

day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man

whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in

that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 17:30,31. Somehow he get

around the subject of Jesus and preached to them the gospel concerning

him. That's why when Paul wrote to the brethren at Corinth later,

they being divided, he said 'I want you all to speak the SAME thing,

that there be no divisions among you.' What brought about division?

People were speaking different things. They were placing emphasis

that God never placed. Paul said "Now this I say, that every one of

you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas; and I of

Christ." I Cor. 1:12. Paul says 'now wait a minute'. "Is Christ

divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name

of Paul?" I Cor. 1:13. What's the problem?????? They're getting away

from the simple truths of the gospel they had obeyed. Get back to

speaking the SAME thing, because these other folks are just messengers.

One did some planting, another watered, but it was always God who gave

the increase. They all got around to preaching the SAME thing and the

reason they got around to preaching the SAME thing is that they were

guided by the Holy Spirit, the SAME Holy spirit. Isn't it amzing that

so many of these folks today who claim to be guided by the Holy Spirit

preach EVERYTHING BUT WHAT THEY, THE APOSTLES, PREACHED, then claim to

be guided by the Holy spirit. Paul said that if any man seemed to be

wise, let him admit that the things Paul preached were of God. Why,

because he was guided by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit didn't

himself. He didn't then, and he still doesn't today. The Holy Spirit

is still bearing witness through this word. It is the sword of the

Spirit, as Paul would describe it in writing to the brethren at Ephesus.

No, there's just ONE message - it's the gospel. Remember what Paul

would write later to the Galatian brethren, "I marvel that ye are so

soon removed from him that called you unto the grace of Christ unto

another gospel; which is not another, but there be some that trouble

you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an

angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you that that which we

have preached unto you, let him by accursed (in the greek the word is

anathama - let him by irrevocably cut off)." Gal. 1:6-8. Some of

these folks standing in pulpits today preaching things that are not in

this word better listen to that one. Let him be anathama, let him be

irrevocably cut off. That's why James said 'brethren, don't be too

many of you teachers, knowing you'll receive the greater condemnation.'

James 3.

The apostles preached the SAME message wherever they went. Now back

to Acts 13, verse 42 beginning, "And when the Jews were gone out of

the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached

to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up,

many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas,

who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear

the word of God. But when the Jews say the multitudes, they were

filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by

Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed

bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have

been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves

unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath

the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the

Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the

earth." Acts 13:42-47. That's exactly what the great commission had

said in the first place, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel

to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.."

Mark 16. Thus that commission is now, as we've continued our journey,

being fulfilled.

We'll stop here and begin at this same place next time. That message

that was preached in the first century is still the ONLY message

ordained of God. Paul said 'woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.'

I Cor. 9:16. Now true that is!!!!