Grateful
Acts 13:48 “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and das many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” [1]
I. Glad
A. Willingly
B. Worthily
II. Glorified
A. Worshipful
B. Wonderful
III. Given
A. Wanted
B. Welcomed
Introduction: Two weeks ago we heard about Saul who was a persecutor of the church. He met Jesus after Our Lord’s ascension. Saul’s life was never the same after that.
We who have met the Risen Lord are never the same. Later Saul was forever known as Paul. We might not get a new earthly name. That might not be the change we receive but changed we shall be in the blink of an eye.
We spoke of the subtle way that we learned Paul’s name was different. In Acts 13:9 we know that Saul was also named Paul before, but now he would be known only as Paul. It is as of his former life was somewhere in obscurity.
There is that other piece of the puzzle that shows the irony for Paul. He was blinded for a time when He met the Risen Lord. When the scales seemed to fall from his eyes Paul was able to see things that were previously hidden from him.
When Paul confronted Elymas the sorcerer the same thing happened to Elymas. Acts 13:11-12, “And now, behold, ithe hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun kfor a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking lsome to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being mastonished at the doctrine of the Lord.” [2]
People are watching! People are seeing! The deputy named Sergius Paulus wanted Paul and the others to come to him so that he could hear about the word of God. He was being misled by a false prophet who was named Barjesus. Sergius wanted to hear God’s truth. He got more. He saw the power of God as God worked through the one God had chosen. After that happened they left where they were and John returned to Jerusalem. It seemed the reason to fear returning to Jerusalem was gone.
Next in Acts 13 Paul and his party are in the synagogue in Antioch. Paul was an Israelite. It was right that he would go to the synagogue and preach to the Jews. The synagogue leaders read from the Old Testament and then asked if anyone else had something to say.
Those of you who have been in places with me know this. It you don’t want or expect me to have something to say about the Bible, don’t ask. They asked and Paul stood up. Maybe they had heard of his exploits; maybe they were just giving a polite invitation. Who knows?
Paul said a lot. The ones who made the invitation did not like what they heard. Here is the last sentence of Paul’s speech to them that day;
Acts 13:41, "mBehold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.” [3]
Is it any wonder why they didn’t want to hear anymore from Paul?
Scripture: The scripture today is Acts 13:48. Please stand if you’re able.
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: So what happened to the Jews after they heard what Paul had to say and who replaced them? Acts 13:42-47…
"42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, nthe Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them †othe next sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and preligious qproselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, rpersuaded them to continue in sthe grace of God. 44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, tthey were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and ublaspheming. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas xwaxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should yfirst have been spoken to you: but zseeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves aunworthy of everlasting life, lo, bwe turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, cI have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth."[4]
The Jews left but Gentiles came and asked if it were possible for them to hear from Paul on the next Saturday service. There were a few Jews who were confirmed that particular day. We must never forget that. Jesus came to the Jews and some believed. Many more will one day. Amen?
The next Sabbath service the floodgates opened. The whole town showed up to hear. That is a revival folks. Do you know how I know? Not everybody was enthusiastic about it. Many were jealous and they did everything they could to break to quench the Spirit. That’s what happens at a real revival.
Paul didn’t back down. He had the truth to tell even if it meant it he might lose popularity with his own people. There were many that day that were not happy at all. They were miserable in fact. These were supposed to be God’s chosen people. Chosen for what? God chose their race to bring Jesus into this world because God alone made them worthy for that purpose.
God made the Jews worthy and yet they chose to judge for themselves against what God had decided. They were not coming willingly for God’s will to be accomplished. They wanted and demanded to be respected worthily by the world. Their demands were the only thing that mattered to them and nobody was going to oppose them.
There was an old car commercial some years ago. You asked for it, you got it, Toyota. Paul told them that they got what they asked for. It was necessary that the word of God came first to the Jews but seeing that they had put it away and rejected their purpose now Paul would preach to the Gentiles. In other words, now anyone who had not had the opportunity before is invited as long as they come willingly.
We read many accounts in the Bible about people who challenge those who present it. Jesus was asked to explain His understanding by those who were charged with the wonderful position of leading others. Instead, they often attempted to trip Jesus up. I have heard many of you here of being similarly questioned by those who really do seem to have an understanding of the Bible. Many times their motives are not for Christian conversation but to support their own misunderstanding of will. Such people have not reached the place of worshipful reverence for God’s conversation.
It is for sure a pity that people make this choice but they are the one who have made that choice. We should not get bogged down over feeling sorry for those who have made their own choice. If we do get bogged down in pity for others making wrong decisions then we will not glorify God in the worship and wonder that is due Him.
When the Gentiles heard that they were worthily accepted by God they glorified the word of truth as a wonderful thing. Instead of wanting to hang onto their own will they accepted God’s will as wonderful and they gave God the worshipful attention that He alone deserves. To do otherwise is an unnecessary distraction to what we Christians should be concentrating on. The devil will lead you to pity those who have made other choices and that will lead you away from the wonderful worshipful relationship of glorifying God.
Should we pray for those who turn from God’s righteousness and instead choose ignorance? In the last part of our focal text today we see that colon punctuation mark after the word Lord. “And as many as were ordained” it says. We must never forget that we were given this gift of redemption not because of anything that we deserve. It was ordered and assigned to us by The Sovereign God. He wanted us because He has a purpose for us. Others rejected being His chosen people and that opened the way for all of us to be welcomed in.
Yes we absolutely should pray for the lost even though they have chosen their own lostfulness. That is what we must do. We are here to intercede for the lost through prayer. Yet we should never allow our love for the lost to overwhelm our worship of God. As we pray for the lost we must consider what God has given us and never lose sight of His gift for us.
The more attention we give to those who have chosen to separate themselves from our love, the less attention we will have to give glory to God. When the Gentiles heard they were glad! They didn’t hide the fact that they wanted to hear from Paul and the others. They didn’t allow the feelings of those who rejected the truth to change their attitude of what a great God we serve. They were glad and they glorified the word of God. They wanted to go to church!
That crowd of discontents followed Paul and stirred up trouble wherever he went and preached. You might think that the fair thing would have been for Paul to preach the word unhindered. That didn’t happen. Paul met resistance everywhere he went and finally wound up under house arrest. God knows that the church will always meet resistance as long as we are left here to tell of His glory. It is how the church grows. Not in numbers but in character and faith and hope.
That crowd of folks that were ordained to eternal life; what was their response? They believed. There is no mention of a debate here over fairness or why not let everyone think like they want to. NO! Those who received eternal life willingly believed and the debate was over. They were saved and now they had a direct link to God so that they could pray for those who don’t.
Prayer: Let us pray
Invitation: Why don’t all the people close to us believe? They see the same things that we see. Some of our children who refuse church and the message of the Bible today have been raised to believe. Why don’t they? Why in the world do they believe the world?
Christians in the local churches are still arguing over worthless things today as much as ever. Why can’t we decide to decide on Jesus and learn to love from each other the lessons that God has allowed in our past? Why am I so upset over these things as a pastor who decided long ago not to be a pastor because of the feelings of hurt that I knew I would have?
Why do people turn to follow their own grown children away from church instead of standing on the solid rock of faith so that their children will learn from the examples of their solid mature Christian parents? Why… Why… Why…
Well we know why! Satan is having his way with the pastors. He is having his way with me. I am forgetting my first love. All those years ago when I heard and believed I was grateful. I accepted salvation worthily as that which was worth more to me than anything this world has to offer.
As time goes by and people slip away, my love for my gift of the word of God now seems to have strings attached. I get upset when people don’t think about God the way I do. Why can’t people feel about the love for God that I feel?
The longer I live here the more I understand how Elijah felt. This is a lonely place here in this cave Lord and I feel like I am alone. That’s the way Elijah felt. That’s the way God wants me to feel. My relationship with God is more important to me than any other relationship in the universe and I alone am responsible for that. All these other feelings are real because God wants them to be real in us. He wants us to have a want to bring in the lost but not at the expense of our gratitude for having a righteous relationship with Him. That is my most precious possession and it is getting more precious with each passing breath.
Am I still as grateful as the moment I first believed or am I so concerned over the choices of others that my love for my God has somehow gotten clouded in the fog? That is the question today. Do you love as a child or is the crowd getting in your way? Are you grateful?
d Comp. John 1:12. Rom. 9:23.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ac 13:48). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
i See 1 Sam. 5:6.
k Luke 4:13.
l So ch. 9:8. & 22:11.
m So Matt. 7:28. Mark 11:18. Luke 4:32.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ac 13:11–12). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
m Cited from Hab. 1:5. Comp. Isai. 29:14.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ac 13:41). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
n Comp. ver. 16.
† Gr. in the week between, or, in the sabbath between.
o Comp. ver. 44 (Gk.).
p ver. 50. ch. 17:4, 17 in the Gk. So ch. 16:14. & 18:7.
q See Matt. 23:15.
r So ch. 11:23. & 14:22.
s ch. 11:23. & 14:26. & 15:40. Rom. 5:15. Tit. 2:11. Heb. 12:15. 1 Pet. 5:12.
t See ch. 5:17 marg.
u ch. 18:6. 1 Pet. 4:4 (Gk.). 2 Pet. 2:12 (Gk.). So James 2:7. Jude 10.
x See ch. 4:29.
y See ch. 3:26. So ver. 26.
z See Deut. 32:21. So Matt. 21:43.
a See Matt. 22:8.
b See ch. 28:28.
c Cited from Isai. 49:6. So Luke 2:32. See Isai. 42:6.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ac 13:42–47). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
