 With that said, I want to take you here into Acts 13. I'm going to read verse 13 first, give you a little bit of an introduction, and then we'll move through our study. And we're looking at what I have chosen to term a summary of the Gospel. So in verse 13, Acts chapter 13, it says, Now when Paul and his party sit sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. Now remember Barnabas and Saul had been sent out to do a work that they had been called by the Lord to perform. They were going to go to places where the Gospel had yet to be preached. And as we saw, the church in Antioch had sought the Lord in prayer and fasting. And as they did so, one of the prophets had given directions to the leaders. The Spirit had sent out Barnabas and Saul to the work that I've called them to perform. So after fasting and after praying, the leaders laid hands on them, sent them out. They went by ship to the island of Cyprus, and they preached in the synagogues. Now they had taken John Mark with them. He had gone with them as their assistant. John had gone with them to lessen the ministry load, if you will. He arranged lodging. He made sure their needs were met. He recorded the events that took place. So while they were in a city called Paphos in Cyprus, they encountered, as you remember, a sorcerer who was named Elmas. Elmas was, at that time, what we today would refer to as an influencer. He was an apostate Jew. And he acted as a sort of advisor to the proconsul, a man by the name of Sergius Paulus. Now when he saw that Sergius Paulus was interested in the Gospel, he was stood Paul and his team. He knew that if Sergius would get saved, he would lose his influence over him. So when Saul saw the things that he was doing, he openly confronted him. He told Elmas, you're trying to pervert the straight path to the Lord, and for this you'll be temporarily blind. And that immediately came to pass. Now after seeing this, the proconsul believed. The miracle that happened and the message proclaimed had convinced him of its truth. That's what Jesus had said in Mark 16, verse 20, when it says, they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. And so he had been convinced and came to faith in Christ, which brings us to verse 13. And so in verse 13 it says, when Paul and his parties set sail from Paphos, they came to Pergen, Pemphilia, John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. So in verse 9 we saw the first time Saul had been called Paul. Now we see that Paul has become the leader of a missions team. This is going to be his first mission journey. Barnumus is not regarded as the leader of the group. Paul has now ascended to that position. And so Pergen, Pemphilia was in what we would call today Turkey. It was an ancient Turkey. And Pergen was the capital of this place, Pemphilia, and it was situated on the coast. And we notice that Paul often went to large cities for the most impact. I'll show you that again in just a moment. But this is what takes place there. Verse 13, John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. Now at first this seems innocent enough. John departed and he went home. Why did he do that? It's left unsaid. It isn't mentioned to us why he did that, but there's a lot of speculations. He may have been unsettled about what had happened with Elimus. When he saw what took place, that might have caused him a little bit of fear. Or he may have been afraid when he realized how dangerous it was to go out on a mission trip. He might have been overwhelmed by new countries and foods and languages. A lot of people have a real difficulty transitioning to different language and culture. I've seen that a lot of times. One of the first things people will ask us when we're going to Israel is, what about the food? Do they have salsa? Can we eat some chicharron? And the answer is no. You can't do that. They have difficulty with language. They have difficulty with culture. They have difficulty with the foods. And sometimes people just have a real sensitivity to that. So some are saying, well, maybe he was just overwhelmed by the newness of everything. And others have said, well, he may have been concerned for his mom because famine had hit Jerusalem and he wanted to take care of her. There's no way that we know, but we do know this. But everyone is cut out for such a life and it must have proved at that time too much for him. Now, in any case, this was not something Paul was comfortable with. That's what actually led up to the breakup of Paul and Barnabas and their ministry team. Later on in chapter 15, we're going to see in verses 36 to 40, sometime later Paul said to Barnabas, let's go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preach the word of the Lord and see how they are doing. Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark with him, but Paul did not think it wise to take him because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. So he didn't just vacate, he deserted. And the way that Paul looked at it was, I don't want to bring somebody who didn't prove to be mature enough to do the work required of him. And that created a great problem. Well, this is where we see how that happened right here in verse 13. John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. And so in verse 14, continue, it says, when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch and Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them saying men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. And so this is not Syrian Antioch, it's a city named Antioch, but this is in the region. This is a different city. It's in Galatia and it's an important city. It was a key Roman colony. Now I mentioned a moment ago that Paul placed great importance on evangelizing the chief cities. That's because they were planted at strategic points along what was called the Roman road. The roads were modern, making the spread of the gospel much quicker, so they would go to larger cities very often in order to preach the gospel. Well, in this city was a Jewish colony, which meant that there would be a synagogue. You see, a synagogue was established wherever there were at least 10 Jewish men. So on the first Sabbath after their arrival, Paul enters into the synagogue. Now when you go into a synagogue, I'm assuming most of us have never been through a synagogue service, but the normal order of service included prayers and two scripture lessons would be read, one from the law and the other from one of the prophets that would bear relation to the earlier reading. So after the readings, an address was normally delivered by a suitable member of the congregation, and the rulers of the synagogue would appoint the one who would address the congregation. So they see that Paul is there with several people and they're invited to speak. Because often happens, God opened the door for Paul to enter in. You see, one of Paul's greatest desires, and he makes it clear in his writings, was to bring the gospel to the Jewish people. He says in Romans 10, one and two, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. I bear them witness. They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. My greatest desire is to see them come to faith in their Messiah. So when given an opportunity, Paul was ready to preach, and here he is in a synagogue. Well it says in verse 16, Paul stood up and in motioning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. So that gives us the composition of the audience, there are Jews and there are Gentiles. The Gentiles would be referred to as Godfarers. As he begins to speak, he's outlining Israel's redemptive history, and he's outlining the acts of God on the behalf of Israel. And what he does is he clearly outlines the course of God's grace towards the nation. Now it says he's going to give a word of exhortation. Exhortation speaks of an appeal. It speaks of consolation. It can speak of encouragement. It can speak of a beseeching or an urging. What he's doing is he's bringing a word of exhortation. He's bringing an urgent word to them by preaching the gospel. Now what message could possibly be more encouraging and urging than the gospel? You see the gospel is good news. It's the center of all Christian life and ministry. In 2 Corinthians 5, 19 and 20, Paul says God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's trespasses against him. And he has committed to us a message of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. And so that's the exhortation, that's the urging, that's the urgency of the message. He's given an opportunity. They say you have a word of exhortation, you have something you want to say? You ought to be ready any time, by the way, to be able to do something like that. You ought to be ready when given opportunity to preach the gospel, to share the good news. Because God sometimes will open the door for you to do that. I've had the opportunity, when I was a younger man, prior to being in pastoral ministry, I was given opportunity on more than one occasion to be able in a college class, in a secular college, to share the gospel. And it's something that you want to do. It's something that you ought to be ready to do. You're just waiting for your opportunity. I've shared this before, but I was in a class. It was a history class of some sort. Everyone else was given the opportunity to take a few minutes. We were going to be given a word. And we had kind of expound on that single word for like five minutes. And everyone in the class was going to have to do that. And I was just sitting there waiting in class after class after class had taken place. And it's a secular college. It's not a Christian college. And finally, the professor says, David, it's your opportunity. Come on up, you're going to share. And so I walked up and I was like 24 years old or so. And I walked up and I stood there and he said, your word that you're going to speak on is freedom. Now, what would you be able to share with on the word freedom? Are you prepared to do that? So he said, you're going to speak on freedom. And I said, freedom? And I still remember some of what I said to the class that day. I said, when you speak about freedom, you're speaking about something that causes you to have liberty. And liberty comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ said, you will know the truth. The truth will set you free. And so when you give your heart to Jesus Christ, you can have the freedom that comes through Jesus Christ. See, you have to be ready at any moment when God gives you opportunity. The word of God ought to be in your heart. And then after I shared and sat down, somebody said, you don't speak much, but when you do, you say something important. That's the gospel. That's how it works, guys. And so Paul was there ready to give out the word of God. So when he's in this synagogue, and his whole purpose is to preach the message, and they say, do you have something to say? Give an exhortation to the people. Paul said, in all of verse 16, he stood up, he motioned with his hand, and he said, men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. And then he goes on in verse 17, and he says, the God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he brought them out of it. Now, for a time of about 40 years, he put up with their ways in the wilderness, and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land to them by allotment. And he says, after that, he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel the prophet. Afterward, they asked for a king. So God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. And when he had removed him, he raised up for them David, his king, to whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart who will do all my will. So he begins to give to them a bit of the history of Israel. He's laying the foundation so that these people are going to be able to understand the context by which he's speaking, how they will know why Jesus Christ is so important. Now, this is something similar we already saw when Stephen preached in the book of Acts. Notice how he says these things here, as he's sharing here. He says that God chose, that God exalted, God brought them out, and God even put up with their ways. Now, the fact that Israel was chosen, exalted, and delivered could make them proud of themselves. They could think that they're special. But in fact, God explains this in a different way. This is all intended to make them humble and thankful, not proud and arrogant. This could make them think that they were special, all on their very own. It's like the little girl, little boy who grows up thinking they're so very special because everybody tells them how cute they are, you know, that kind of thing. They could feel, oh, we are really special. No, here's what the word says. In Deuteronomy 7, verses 7 through 9, the Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than other people. For you were the least of all people. But because the Lord loves you and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Therefore, know that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments. In chapter 9, he went on in verses 4 through 6 to say, do not think in your heart after the Lord your God has cast him out before you saying, because of my righteousness, the Lord has brought me in to possess the land. But it's because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. It's not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you and that he may fulfill the word which the Lord's word to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Therefore, understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. So it's not because you're so cute. It's because God hates the evil that has taken place in that land and God is gonna show his greatness through that which is weak and that's how it works. Now, Paul says God is the redeemer of the one who gave them in inheritance. His mighty hand was revealed in his work in Exodus because he delivered them from bondage and so Paul is laying the foundation of the work of God in what is called redemption. Notice verse 18 how he says, for a time of about 40 years, he put up with their ways in the wilderness. This is a reminder of the patience and the long-suffering as well as the mercy of the Lord. He goes on in verse 19 and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land to them by allotment. So he's given them the history. Notice he destroyed seven nations. Now it took years for these seven nations to be destroyed but the nations he's referring to again are found in Deuteronomy chapter seven verses one through three. The Hittites, Gurgoshites, Amorites, the Canaanites, Parasites, Hivites and Jericites as well as the Uptites, Adesites and Sallulites. I mean there was a lot ofites out there at that time and he got rid of all of them. I don't know why so don't ask me why I say things like that. Notice how they're described as larger and stronger than Israel. God is delivering the land to them. Why? Because these people are evil. Israel is not to make treaties with them. They are to be destroyed. They must not be taken as wives. Israel must not give their wives or rather their sons or their daughters in marriage to them. They were to separate and eradicate. It took many years, the last being the Jebusites that occurred during the reign of David. Sometimes people wonder about these kinds of things. These people were very evil. I think in the United States in these days people don't understand what evil actually is. And some people are not noticing that evil is right now being on, it's in the news every day. It's in the news every day. Without going too deeply into this, that's not the reason I'm giving this particular study but I'll say this. I find it amazing how people can make excuses for evil. Where we have college campuses filled with protesters who are on the side of a group of people who, one, they don't understand the history of what's taking place in the land, but two, they're not really thinking through what has happened in the invasion or Israel was basically in peace, living in peace. And then you have people come in and destroy, eradicate and brutalize. Let me say one thing really quickly. I don't know who can argue in favor of people who come in and behead babies. I don't know how a person can stand up and say, and I'm on their side. I don't understand how they can come in and say, I'm on the side of people who burned babies alive and burned little children alive. I don't know how you can stand on that side. That is, America has to wake up and understand that is what is called evil. That is evil. People aren't evil, they just need to be loved and trained. No, wait a minute. No, that is called evil. That doesn't mean we shouldn't pray for them and that doesn't mean that we shouldn't hope for them to be converted and that doesn't mean it simply means you call it what it is, that is evil. And when the children of Israel entered into the land that they were gonna be taking, it's because the people there were evil. When you read your Bible, you see many times that there was such evil. We're going through Esther right now. I'll say this quickly, it's not in my notes. We're going through Esther. And I was mentioning recently that with Haman Haman is a person who hated Mordecai who was a Jew, he hated the Jews and he had done something to try and get every Jew eradicated not only from where he was at that time but also all the way into anywhere that they could be found throughout the world. And his desire was to have them annihilated, destroyed and killed. And so I mentioned that he had, they had what they call gallows. The gallows for us normally is hanged by a rope around your neck and we think of that as the gallows. The gallows during that day were not in reference to hanging. It was in reference to impaling. And what they would do is they would take the prisoner and they would impale them on a rod and let them agonize and agonize. It was the most cruel way they could find to kill people. And so that was common. Darius impaled 3,000 people at one time. At one time. You're not talking about good people, you're talking about evil. And so when the Lord was speaking to the children of Israel that they're entering in and taking land, the reason they're taking land is the seven nations were evil. And his intention is to eradicate this, to wipe it out so that it ceases. And so they went through this as a process and continued on until the time of David. So what Paul is laying is a foundation for them to see that in fact they have been rebellious and they need a savior and that God has provided one for them. So he says in verse 20, after that he gave them judges for about 450 years until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they asked for a king. So God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years. And when he had removed him, he raised up for them David as king. To him also he gave testimony and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart who will do all my will. So he continues on laying this foundation. Verse 20 speaks about giving them judges for about 450 years until Samuel. That's called the age of the judges. It came after the death of Joshua, Moses's assistant. There were about 18 judges if you include Baruch and the two sons of Samuel. The first judge that's mentioned in scripture is a man by the name of Othniel. The last was Samuel's sons Joel and Abiyah who were rejected by the people. He points out that after Joshua, a generation had arisen that did not worship God but they had gone into idolatry and because of this, God had given them over to their enemies. So even though they were hardened against the Lord, he still showed them pity. That's the point he's making. God gave them judges to deliver them from their enemies. In Judges 2, 16 through 18, it says the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they wouldn't listen to their judges but they played the harlot with other gods and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked. In obeying the commandments of the Lord, they did not do so. And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. And so he speaks about the judges but in verse 21, afterward, they asked for a king. So God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years. He was the first Jewish king and now he's given them their history. Saul had what are called three unearned qualities. When you look in the life of Saul and all, he had three, it's been pointed out, three unearned qualities. He had a family who was from the tribe of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin in the nation of Israel was a prestigious tribe. He had height. He was head and shoulders above all the men in Israel and not only that, he was very good looking. And so he had three unearned qualities. They were the kinds of things that when the people saw them, they said, we want him as our king. They were not looking for the character. They were not looking for the things that sometimes are not seen on the outward. They weren't looking for those qualities. They were looking for somebody who could stand up and look like a powerful leader. That's what they wanted. The people wanted him, but God rejected him. And Saul was replaced by David. And notice how he's referred to as a man after God's own heart because man looks on the outer appearance but God looks upon the heart. And so Saul was rejected but David was approved. Well, this is where he starts moving towards the promise of the gospel. In verse 23, from this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a savior, Jesus. Now he's laid his foundation. Anytime you're preaching a message, you lay a foundation that you can build on. Paul has been doing that. He's been bringing them to a place by reminding them of things they already knew. These were people who knew scripture. And now he's going to speak concerning how the gospel fulfills that. What he's doing is he's using the scripture to present Jesus as fulfilling the promise. He says that Jesus is from the line of King David. This speaks of Jesus's humanity. He was Jewish. Years ago I was in a parking lot. Marie had gone into a store and I was in purgatory so I sat in the car. And I looked and I saw somebody walking from car to car walking towards me. They were going through the lines. And so I wondered what they were doing. So I started my car and I drove and I got closer to him so he could come and talk to me. And so I was there. He finally comes in, I rolled down my window and he says, I'd like to talk to you about the Messiah. And I said, great. I thought, you know, good. Let's talk about it. He says, I'm with Reverend Sun Myung Moon. He was part of the Unification Church. Some of you don't even know of that because that was while back down. He made a big splash for a while. I said, oh really? He says, yeah, I'm a devotee of Sun Myung Moon. And he is the Messiah. And I said, no, he's not. And he said, but yes he is. I said, no, no, he's not. He goes, why do you say that? I said, because he's Korean. You know, the first thing I was called was a racist. First thing, see that word that is used so easily and so flippantly today? Everybody's racist, right? That's not just today. That's been going on for a long time. So I'm sitting there and the guy goes, yeah, you're a racist. They said, why would I be a racist? Because you're saying that he couldn't be Messiah. I said, I'm not saying that scripture does. And so you quote scripture, 2 Samuel 7, 12 and 13. When your days are fulfilled, you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Your house, your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. He's speaking of David's seed, which is Messiah, Jesus. In Matthew 1, verse one, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, Romans 1-3. Jesus Christ our Lord was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh. And that's the point he's making, that Messiah Jesus Christ is the one who fulfilled the promises. And so he's laying the foundation, so they'll know that. In verse 24, he says after John had first preached before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, who do you think I am? I am not he, but behold, there comes one after me, the sandals of whose feet I'm not, worthy to lose. And so he's once again presenting Christ. Jesus is of the seed of David, and John was the prophesied forerunner. John is spoken of as a forerunner of Messiah, unworthy servant that he was. In Mark 1, verse seven, John preached. There comes one after me, who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to stoop down and lose. John 3, 28, you yourselves know how plainly I told you, I am not Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for him. That is all. And so he's laying the foundation now. He's pointing them to a promise made to David and that the forerunner who had come as prophesied by Malachi. And he goes on now in verse 24, that after John had first preached before his coming, the baptism of repentance to the people of Israel. It was John who said, who do you think I am? I'm not he, but behold, there comes one after me, the sandals of whose feet I'm not worthy to lose. And then men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor even the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled him and condemned him. And though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. Now, when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. So he makes it very clear that this is what scriptures revealed. The people did not perceive what the scripture taught concerning Messiah, why their eyes were blinded by unbelief and their hardness of heart. And he makes it very clear that this is all written concerning him. It says they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. And he makes it clear that he was resurrected. Now, here's something I want to say to you. Those of you especially who preach, I like to share evangelize. Remember this, in evangelism, the cross and the resurrection is the center. It's evangelism when you are preaching the death of Christ and his resurrection. So many times today, people give what they're calling an evangelistic message, but they keep out the cross. And they don't speak about his death and his resurrection. They just say things like, you know, if you want a better day, if you want a better life, if you want to go to heaven, just open your heart and say, yes, Jesus, I need you. I can still remember there was a time when people in our area, there were buses that were going through here in Ontario and Chino, where it said, on bus it had an advertisement. I mentioned it when I first saw it years ago now. It said, just say Jesus come into my heart and you'll be saved. That's not the gospel. There are a lot of people, oh yeah, Jesus come into my heart. That sounds good. No. Why did Christ die? And why was he resurrected? You need to present those things. You can't just say, you know, close your eyes and say these words. They need to understand. I'm lost. I'm messed up. I'm not just sick. I'm crazy. I need help. I'm a sinful man. I'm a sinful person. I break people's hearts. I steal from people. I lie to people. I'm loaded constantly. I'm evil. Somebody says, well I'm not that. I don't do those things. You've got your own sins. You know them. We all have our own sins. Our little pet sins. And they can take you captive. And you have to get to the point where you say, what am I gonna do? Oh wretched man that I am. Who's gonna save me from this body of death? God help me. That's how I got saved. I got to the point where I said, I am tired of hurting people. I'm tired of lying. I'm tired of stealing. I'm tired of being boozed up. I'm tired of the dope. I'm tired of what I'm doing. I need help. And it wasn't just a psychiatrist. My dad sent me to a psych. It wasn't the psych. He couldn't help me. It was my sinfulness. And they needed somebody to tell me, Jesus Christ loves you. He died on the cross for you. He'll give you a new life. He'll forgive you of all your sins. He'll cleanse you. And he'll give you something worth living for. I needed to hear the gospel. You see, and that's where it comes from. That's where it comes from. It's not making somebody who's a sinner feel good because he's a sinner. It's somebody who needs to know he's a miserable creep who needs God. It's that simple. Now that's not popular to say, and maybe next week you won't be back, but it's true. It's just true. I mean, oh, man hurt my feelings. Well, that's too bad, you know. But it's true. And that's the gospel. God help us. And I think that it's not popular today because people are too busy trying to think they're better than they are. But he's letting them know, verse 31. He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he has raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm. You are my son. Today I've begotten you. And that he raised him from the dead no more to return to corruption. He has spoken this. I will give you the sure mercies of David. Therefore, he also says in another Psalm, you will not allow your holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised up saw no corruption. And so this event he's saying has been verified by eyewitnesses. He's saying the promises of God were fulfilled. In Psalm 2 verse 7, there's a promise of resurrection without decay for Messiah, not for King David. And Isaiah 55 verse 3 speaks of the sure mercies that included the resurrection of Messiah that you see in Psalm 16 verse 10. So he says verse 38, therefore let it be known to you brethren that through this man has preached to you the forgiveness of sins and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold you despisers, marvel and perish, for I work a work in your days a work which you will by no means believe though one were to declare it to you. Be careful, he says, that this isn't come upon you. This is the promise of the gospel, forgiveness and justification. In Acts 10.43 it says to him all the prophets witness that through his name whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. But notice his warning in verses 40 and 41. How shall we escape Hebrews 2.3 would say if we ignore so great a salvation, this salvation was which was first announced by the Lord was confirmed to us by those who heard him. How shall we escape? If you hear the word and you reject it then the penalty is upon you. I've had people say in the past I've heard it you have to how can God send people to hell? How can a loving God send people to hell? How can a loving God send good people to hell? Well one there's no such thing as a good person. There's none good, no not one the scripture says. There was only one good person and he was crucified. That was Jesus. All of the rest of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But God has sent us a message, a way to escape, and that's called the gospel. But if we reject it, if we say I don't need it, I'm good by myself, I don't need that kind of superstitious stuff, I'm all right. That he's saying it, you despise us, marvel and perish. I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe though one were to declare to you you're rejecting the gospel and as a result of that you will pay the price because you made the choice. In verse 42 when the Jews went out of the synagogue the Gentiles beg that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation had broken up many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas who speak into them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And this word had impacted the Gentiles and they want to hear more. Isaiah 11-10 says in that day there shall be a root of Jesse who shall stand as a banner to the people for the Gentiles shall seek him and his resting place shall be glorious. Well as this is taking place, verse 44, the next Sabbath almost a whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming they opposed the things spoken by Paul. And Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first but since you rejected and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the Gentiles for so the Lord commanded us I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. 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 elieved and the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region that the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women of the chief and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from the region but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. It's interesting how it points out that the Gentiles had begun inviting friends and families to hear this beautiful message but the unbelieving Jews notice were filled with envy and the opposing they started contradicting and speaking evil of Jesus the gospel and Paul and Paul in verse 46 says you're rejecting and judging yourselves. It's right that the gospel should come to the Jew first he's saying but you have rejected it. Now how are you judging yourself unworthy of everlasting life he's saying by rejecting the gospel. In John 1 11 and 12 he came to his own his own didn't receive him but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name you're rejecting him and therefore you're seeing yourself as unworthy you're judging yourself unworthy of everlasting life because you're rejecting the message that gives it to you. So I'm gonna speak to the Gentiles they're open to the gospel. It's interesting I want you to look at verse 45 for a second here when the Jews saw the multitude they were filled with envy contradicting blaspheming the opposed the things spoken by Paul it's interesting how people very often would prefer people to go to hell than to go to heaven. I was sharing how that when I was first saved I was taught you've received something now give it away all of us who were part of what was called the Jesus movement were people who were taught from the beginning share the gospel with people tell people about Jesus Christ is the most normal and natural thing for us to do and we did it most of us did and I remember I was a heavy partier I was a heavy partier drug drug in the whole nine yards and so I can remember I was standing in the front yard one day and a young woman came walking by I knew her because I partied with her and she sees me standing in the front yard of my parents house and she stops and says hey how you doing we have a conversation. I said I'm doing great man I get my heart to cry she says what do you mean by that and I said yeah I got saved what are you talking about I said you want to hear what happened she says yeah so that was taught to tell people I don't know a whole lot but I'll tell you what I was and where I'm at so I told her I said you know what you remember we partied together you remember yeah I said this is what happened she says that sounds great I said it is great I said you want it too she said yeah I said you're a sinner you know that she goes yeah I do I said yeah you are so like I we're sinners but we need a savior we need to be forgiven I said I'm no better new I just know what I need and I need Jesus and she says I do too and I pray with her now I'm three weeks old in Christ I hardly even know my own testimony let other things yet you know so I say you know what I was taught we have to read the Bible can I come over and read it with you she says yeah so I go to her house later on that night and I sit down in her front room her mom is there she introduces me to her mom hi and I open the Bible and we just read it I don't know anything I just have been told read the Bible so I read it to her she calls me up later and she says my mom doesn't want you in my house anymore serious and I said oh she says yeah she doesn't want some Jesus freak in the house she says I was raised a Catholic and we need to say that I said really I said you're also a doper Catholic right she wants that too she says whatever I can't see you anymore you can't come and talk to me about Jesus anymore I had a guy in this church he was a heavy doper and he got saved young man he went home and we had a phone call from his mom I can handle my son as a drug I can't handle him as a Jesus freak leave him alone so you have people like that they want to keep you in bondage they want you to stay that way they don't want you to know freedom and that's what's taking place here they were filled with envy contradicting and blasphemy and opposing the things of the gospel spoken of by Paul and that still takes place even to this day so he shares with them concerning what the Lord has commanded notice verse 48 he says 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 when it says appointed to eternal life God is the agent of salvation he drew them to himself sovereignly and he determined in the past that he was gonna save not only the Jews but also the Gentiles and they heard the word of God they believed it and as a result of that they were saved but at the end verse 50 the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women of the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from the region they shook off the dust from their feet against them came to Iconium the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit persecution erupted it was fostered by Christ rejecting Jewish people and they kicked them out but in Matthew 10 Jesus had said this in verses 14 and 15 whoever will not receive you nor hear your words when you depart from that house or city shake off the dust from your feet assuredly I say to you it'll be more tolerable the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city you don't stay those who don't wanna hear leave them with what they heard and go speak to somebody else who has yet to hear and keep moving and keep moving but everything they have heard they will be held accountable for you were given your opportunity you rejected it you found yourself as he had said earlier you have judged yourself unworthy of everlasting life now me, I heard the gospel more than once but God is very patient and thank God, thank you God that he repeated that invitation long enough for me to finally hear it and say I need it I need this forgiveness I need the remission of sins and the joy that comes because notice in verse 52 the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit they weren't rejected the gospel was rejected they didn't take it personally they knew that they were there to give a message the one who was being rejected was Jesus it was their job to share and they moved on and in doing so there was great joy in their heart and the power of the Spirit as they kept moving out preaching the gospel and there were many who were still gonna hear it even to this day and come to faith in Jesus Christ you just don't give up you just move on and as you do so God still moves he hasn't stopped moving he continues to move and he will continue until the day we're taken to be with the Lord Jesus Christ