When Grace Is Proclaimed | Acts 13:42 - 52 (May 1) Mike Armstrong

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

The spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Lord, that is exactly why we are gathered here today.

We are here to lift high the name of Jesus Christ, to give you glory, to bring you glory, Lord.

That is what uh our hearts ultimately uh want, Lord.

We know that many things get in the way of that.

Our own selfishness, our own desires, our own way we want to live our life.

And yet, Lord, we know that it is about you.

And so, God, continue to transform our hearts, continue to uh transform our desires, our motivations to be all about one thing, and that is your glory.

And so, God, as we have sung and as we uh get into your word here in a moment, Lord, I pray that these things would be continued, that you would be honored and glorified, that our joy would increase in uh your Son Jesus Christ.

And so it's in His name we pray these things.

Amen.

Amen, amen.

Hey, girl, go ahead and grab uh a seat.

Welcome.

We are glad to have you all here today.

Uh we are going to open up God's word in just a moment here, but uh first of all, just a couple of things uh to let you know about.

Uh one is we have an offering that we do here uh each and every week, and there are uh a couple of different ways that you can give.

We've got the envelopes at the back, and there's a box there.

If you can uh if you if you like to give kind of cash or check, that kind of thing, uh, you can uh put it in the slot that way.

Uh very simple for you.

If you are an online type person and you embrace that whole uh way of giving, uh you can do it that way as well.

And uh you can go uh right to our website and you can find all the instructions on giving, e-transfers, uh, that type of thing.

Keep it real simple uh for you in that way.

And so appreciate your heart to give and support the work Christ is doing here.

We want to also let you know if you're a guest with us, uh, we're not like pressing you to do this.

Just enjoy uh what the Lord is doing here.

We want you to be blessed and uh and ministered to uh here this morning.

Okay, second thing is we have uh a fairly new prayer time that we're doing on uh Sunday morning, starting at 9.15 here in this building.

And so that whole the whole purpose of that time is to pray for you and to pray that the Lord would move and work through the worship, uh, through uh the the word of God, through our fellowship together, that the Lord would be transforming lives.

And so uh we invite you to join.

If if prayer is something that that you want to grow in, if prayer is something that is is a particular joy to you, uh come and uh and join Steve and the team as they uh lead that time.

It's from 9.15 to 945.

Final thing here, step one.

So step one is uh it's it's a it's a it's a class, I guess, if you want to call it that, but step one is something we try to do once a month, and this is to help you uh understand what God is doing here in our church if you are new to our church.

Okay, so if you are new here, you've been coming for a for a little bit, or this might be your first Sunday here.

Uh, we want you to know that we want to tell you about what our church is all about, right?

It can be a little bit tricky and challenging coming to a new church and trying to wrap your head around all of it.

What do they believe and what are they about and what should I expect here?

And what's my responsibility, my role, all of that.

Um, well, we we have step one uh to teach you those things.

You can ask your questions, uh, you can just listen.

It's an opportunity for for me to meet you as well.

And so our next one is coming up on May 15th, okay?

So two weeks today.

It's following the service immediately in a room just back there, and uh and it's a great time for us uh to hang together and uh and help you understand uh what Redemption Church is all about.

All right, well, let's keep going here.

Let's get our Bibles open to Acts chapter uh 13.

Gonna be wrapping up uh our time in uh Acts 13.

Actually, in the book of Acts.

We're gonna we're gonna I'm gonna kind of end it right there.

Starting next week, we're gonna do uh a new series, four weeks, as I wrap up my uh final time with with you all.

I'm looking forward to all of that.

But Acts 13 uh today, okay, and as you're getting turned there, uh we're gonna be in verses 42 to 52 today, so 10 verses.

Uh but again, as you're finding it, uh I remember years ago uh listening to a pastor, a well-known pastor, who was being interviewed.

And he was being interviewed about a wide range of topics, they're asking about theology and doctrine and practice and all of those types of things.

And I remember the uh interviewer asking him uh the question uh what's the one thing, the one thing that you wish you knew more about as a pastor or as a Christian?

Right?

And he was a he was a very well-learned guy that people went to for wisdom, and and they said, What's the one thing you wish you knew more about?

Or what's the one thing you wish you had a better grasp of?

And I'll never forget his answer.

He said very simply, grace.

The grace.

The grace of God towards himself as a Christ follower was the main thing that he kind of felt he needed to have a you know a better grasp of, a better understanding of in his soul.

You know, and I'll never forget his response because I felt, and I still feel honestly, the exact same way.

Okay, God's grace is the game changer, okay, for us, for Christians.

And the game changer, it doesn't just separate Christianity from all the other religions or or irreligion even.

Right?

We know that that all other religions are all about like how do we get to God?

How do I improve myself?

How do I convince the the divine being, whoever they you know say he is, how do I convince that divine being to approve of me?

How do I convince this being, this God, to let me into whatever heaven uh might look like for whatever um whatever religion it is?

Okay, and so grace differs from that, but it also differs from irreligion.

Okay, so so any atheist who doesn't believe in God whatsoever, uh, they are still, in certain ways, living a works-based life where they are really functionally their own savior.

Okay, where they're where they're trying to improve their lives, they're trying to satisfy themselves, they're trying to find hope and wholeness and meaning and purpose, all of those things through their own efforts, just apart from any form or any any definition, recognition of God whatsoever.

So, so grace is the game changer.

It's you know, Christianity, we know, it differs from other religions and irreligion in the sense that it's all about, primarily, it's all about what God has done for us.

Right?

That's really it.

It's not about us trying to get our way to him, it's about him, you know, him and what he did, what what God did through Jesus Christ in dying and rising again.

Okay?

And that word grace, it it we've talked about it before.

It means gift.

Okay, it means gift.

Okay, so grace is God's good and loving kindness lavished upon you and I, though we don't deserve it.

Okay, that's that's what grace does.

So, you know, grace is the power of God accomplishing good in our lives.

So whenever you need help from the Lord and you cry out to them, you're really asking for more grace.

Okay, you're doing that.

You know, it's God's grace when he reaches into your life, when he reaches into your worst, deepest, scariest fears, right, and in insecurities that you have, that you have even a hard time sharing and being honest about with the people closest to you.

It's God's grace when he reaches into the lies that you believe, and it's God's grace when he heals you from past trauma and the different scars, the pain that we carry around with us.

It's God's grace when he when he convicts you and I of the various ways that we're self-centered, right?

That the arrogance that we have.

It's God's grace to transform our legalism and our and our desire to try and earn something from God that's been earned for us.

It's God's grace who revives us spiritually when we are lethargic and feeling numbness towards him.

Right?

It's his grace that that gently and yet powerfully, I'm sure you've experienced this, gently yet powerfully, kind of precision cuts down into all of those things, right down into the core of who we are, and wows us with who God is.

And reveals what his heart is really like.

Grace is when when the Lord opens our spiritual eyes and enables our hearts, enables our hearts to really truly be struck by how awesome his love for us is, to the point where we're no longer the same as we were before.

Okay, so grace reorients us and at the same time draws us more closely to him.

If you've ever had these kinds of moments in your walk with the Lord where his grace has kind of pierced you like this, and and and your awe of him has expanded and grown, you felt that at the same time, this magnetic pull, this draw towards a deeper intimacy with him, because you experience his true heart for for you in a way that you hadn't before you'd forgotten about.

And when you and I have these moments, it's it's transcendent, isn't it?

It's powerful.

Okay, and and simultaneously, when that happens, when the Lord, when the Lord grabs us with his grace, I believe two more things also happen at the same time.

Okay, okay, one is this sense that, man, I'm I'm I'm just barely scratching the surface of how awesome the Lord is.

Right?

I'm barely seeing just even a glimpse of how great his grace is, his goodness.

Okay, that's the first thing.

And then and then the second thing that happens when we're struck by God's grace is man, I want more.

I'm hungry for this.

I just want to press into him more deeply.

I want more grace, more goodness, more God.

And I think that's what this pastor meant when he said he wished that he knew more about the Lord, more about grace specifically, had a better grasp on it.

Because in the in the brokenness of our world, and and it's you know the fallenness of our own flesh, right, we we seem to easily lose lose sight of what God's grace is.

Right?

We we we do that very easily.

It's kind of like that wet bar of soap.

Remember when people used to use soap so that what didn't come out of a bottle?

Right?

And it's like a wet bar of soap you're trying to hold on to it, but it's like slipping out of your grasp.

Now, in Acts chapter 13, we've just seen Paul, right, along with Barnabas, the two of them together, speak in the synagogue to the people of Antioch and Pisidia.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

Now, I know it was a few weeks back already at this point that we've looked at that because we've had Easter since then, and uh Miles was here last weekend, which is so great, right?

Um but but that's that's where we last left off in Acts 13.

Paul and Barnabas speaking to these people.

He's just proclaimed to them God's good promise to send a Savior.

Remember that?

Right?

And he was explaining that through their history and how that promise has been fulfilled through the person and work of Jesus.

And he concludes his message.

We're gonna get this on the screen, verse 38.

We looked at this a few weeks ago, but I'll just kind of go through it again, say it again.

This is what he says to them as he's finishing off his message to the people in the synagogue.

He says, Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man, Jesus, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

And by him, not yourself, by him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Okay, okay, that right there is the gospel of grace.

Right?

That is it.

We don't deserve it because of our sin against him, but but because God loves you and I, he offers us forgiveness of sins.

That's what the verse says, right?

Forgiveness of sins through the atoning work of his son.

Right?

And his grace frees you and I from the law or or the chains of the law.

Now that's not to say that the law is is bad and and negative, right?

It's it's really just to say that that the law proclaims what to us.

What does the law proclaim to us?

The law proclaims be perfect, right?

Be perfect, be perfect, be perfect.

It's it's the rules, it's the Ten Commandments and many others that we know.

It's it's telling us you need to be perfect to be in a relationship with God.

It's telling us over and over again, which deep down for you and I, and for many of us, even on the surface, we know we're not.

Like we aren't perfect.

Okay, but but interestingly, and you've sensed this for yourself, I'm sure, our hearts kind of function in this kind of weird way, where we so often try in various ways to kind of we we try to earn it, right?

We try to be perfect.

That's what our heart does, and the whole thing becomes this burden to us.

That's where it kind of starts to feel like like chains.

I'm trying to follow these rules and I'm falling short, right?

And and and I'm not good enough, and we have that that whisper coming at us all the time, whispering to us in our souls, and it just feels like this burden that we can't bear.

Whereas Jesus says, I was perfect for you.

Right?

That's grace.

Right?

The gospel of grace is that reminder over and over and over and over again, right?

That Jesus was perfect for us.

Jesus sets you and I free.

He obtains the forgiveness, right?

The forgiveness and freedom that our souls deep down scream for and yet can't be obtained on our own, right?

By our own moral or religious efforts to follow the law and to be good people.

Okay, so this gospel of grace, this has just been proclaimed to this crowd now in Acts chapter 13, in the synagogue, right?

Acts 13 · chapter mention

These people gather there.

And notice with me as we read this here, think about this, understand that they're hearing this for the first time, and notice how it strikes their soul, right?

It pierces right down into the deepest part of them.

And what we're gonna see here today as we go are kind of three main things, okay, that the proclamation of grace produces.

All right, the three things that the proclamation of grace produces, or what the root results are when we do that as a church, right?

That's our mandate.

Our mandate's to proclaim the gospel, to remember the gospel, to know the gospel, to share the gospel.

Okay, so here's the first thing.

Here's their or their their immediate response, rather, to the grace proclaimed to them.

Okay, take a look at verse 42.

Look at this with me.

It says this, and they went out, okay.

They just heard this.

As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told to them the next Sabbath.

They begged for it.

And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

And then verse 44 says, the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

Alright, so here's our first thing.

When the gospel of grace is proclaimed, it produces an insatiable desire for even more of it.

Insatiable desire.

I mean, it's it's not hard to see that in these people's response here, right?

They're hungry for it, right?

Their religious leaders had had for so long been heaping this crushing weight of works-based theology on their weary souls.

Right?

You you need to be like us.

We know they were very self-righteous about that, and and and it was all about what a person has done or not done, right?

And and and you can just you just know that it's been this like, oh, this weight that they can't, they they felt like they can't get out from underneath.

And so when Paul shares God's grace with them, it's it kind of has the same effect as giving somebody a glass of water who's been wandering around in the desert.

Right?

He gives it to them and they immediately chug it down.

It's like the most satisfying thing.

But what do they want?

They want more water, right?

Give me more.

This is just wetting my appetite.

They they they you know, the person immediately begs for more water.

And that's actually the word that's that's used in verse 42.

Look at it again.

It says they begged that these things might be told to them the next Sabbath.

Right?

There's no hidden meaning in the word begged.

It just means like desperate pleading.

Again, it's that insatiable desire, that thirst for even more of the grace that they just heard about and received.

But the next verse further paints the picture of how badly they wanted it.

Okay, it says, and after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, okay, so you're reading into that, obviously somebody came up and said, You're loved.

I don't know any other way to kind of end a service.

Okay, but someone comes up and says that, okay?

They broke up, it says, and and many Jews, okay, and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas.

Okay, so you remember there when we looked at this about uh, you know, probably four weeks ago now, three weeks ago, okay, you'll you'll you'll notice how there were there were Jews and Gentiles together in the crowd.

There were a bunch of Gentiles that had converted to Judaism previously to this, and had you know followed, God feared, God followed the law as well as the Jews did.

Okay, and notice how none of them here wanted Paul and Barnabas to leave.

They just wanted to hear more.

And as Paul and Barnabas spoke with them, it says, go on, it says, they they urged the crowd, look at this, to continue in the grace of God.

Okay, if you have a pen with you, you need to like underline circle, star, smiley face, like you need to you need to highlight that, point arrows to it, whatever it is.

That's a that's an amazing, amazing uh line.

It is this urging, this this strong persuasion on the part of Paul and Barnabas to continue plumbing the depths of God's grace.

Like that's what that's what they're saying.

You're continuing this.

You know, go go deeper into God's grace, see his heart.

Okay, know his heart that he has for you as an individual, that he has for us as his followers.

Know him, love his heart.

Right for for those uh those of the guys in the room here who are in our men's ministry or the ladies who are in the women's ministry, we're going uh through that book, Gentle and Lowly.

Right, and this is probably dovetailing quite nicely with what you've been studying and looking at and reading in that, and how we're seeing the amazing heart that the Lord has for us, right?

How our sin doesn't actually repel him and and and and and make him walk away from us and throw in the towel, not at all.

He actually his joy is increased as he moves towards us.

And that's insane in many ways here what what Paul is saying.

Continue in this.

You're loving it, that's awesome.

Go go deeper.

Don't don't wander uh away from all of this.

Right?

The gospel reveals our Savior's heart to us, and and and once we we see it, when we get a taste of it, the desire for that only grows, just like it did with the crowd here, where we where we beg the Lord for more.

I want to open up my Bible, I want to read it, I want to I want to press into Him, I wanna I want to pray.

There's more urgency in that.

I'm clinging to Him.

Right?

That is That is how we feel now that continu that urging to continue in the grace of God isn't just to continue to learn about it intellectually.

Okay, understand that it's not just about like read another book and be able to answer questions about God's grace, should someone ask you about it.

No, but but to continue living according to it.

Where where by God's grace we we continue to use his word to kind of push back against that thing that our hearts you know always do, where we forget the gospel of grace.

Remember, I've shared that line from Paul Tripp so many times, uh, how he called how he says that we have gospel amnesia, right?

We we've we we so easily forget the grace of God that that sometimes just strikes us so so clearly.

Right?

And and when we forget, as we do that, we end up reverting back to that works-based mentality of trying to earn God's love through my performance, through trying to be a good little Christian boy or girl, right?

Or we try to earn his his love, his favor, even forgiveness.

Where we we feel so guilty about our sinfulness, and so you know what, Lord, I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna serve more in the church.

Or I'm just gonna I'm gonna read the Bible every single day.

And you see how that that motive becomes.

I'm trying to earn something that again, grace reminds us has been earned uh for us.

Okay?

It's a gift.

Again, that's literally what the word is.

Grace is a gift, salvation is a gift.

God's love to us is a gift.

Okay, so Paul and Barnabas is urging to continue in the grace of God that they just proclaim to them is them persuading the people to hold on to this message.

Don't let go of it.

Okay, don't let that insatiable desire that you have right now for the Lord, don't let that fade.

Okay, but okay, but when it does, okay, which is telling because it's going to fade for us, right?

That's going to happen.

When it does fade, repent your way back to it.

Right?

Repent your way back to you, Lord.

Forgive me that I've that I've I've I've pushed you aside and I've got myself focused on other things.

And would you would you allow the grace that I once saw and I once understood to become sweet to my soul again?

Right?

Pleading with the Lord to open our spiritual eyes, to see it again and again and again.

Right?

This is the message that we need to cling to as a church.

Right?

This is it.

This is the message that we preach, right?

This is the message that we proclaim, not just pastor, but but all of us.

This is what we do to our own hearts for sure.

And also to others.

And you might be like, well, why?

Why is that the only message?

Why can't we proclaim a bunch of other things as well?

Well, because this is the only message that saves.

This is the only message that satisfies our deepest longings.

This is the only message that that transforms what's off within us.

It's the only message that through the Holy Spirit produces this insatiable desire for even more grace.

Desire for even more nearness to God Himself.

Now, as as grace grips you and I, you know, more deeply, and it has its way in our hearts, you know, more and more over time, there are a few other things here that this text shows us that it produces, right?

That it gives rise to.

Okay, so here it is.

When the gospel of grace is proclaimed, that's the kind of church we want to be, it's kind of Christians we're committed to being.

When the gospel of grace is proclaimed, it produces opposition to be persevered through.

Opposition to be persevered through.

Now, I wish that I could stand up here and say, man, as soon as you get to understand grace, you get a taste of that, you get hungry for more, you know, every obstacle removes itself out of your path, and it's smooth sailing, and it's you know, it's only you know free and clear and easy life.

That's just not the case.

That that'll be heaven someday, but but that is not the case for us.

Now, I can't promise that.

The Bible never promises that.

In fact, it promises us the opposite, it promises us challenge, it promises us opposition.

Okay?

There definitely will be those things, opposition specifically to our mission.

And then we've seen it all the way through Acts already, right?

So many times.

I mean, take a look at what happens in verse 45.

So they've been struck by God's grace, and then look at this.

Verse 45 says, but when the when the Jews saw the crowd, so this is not like the Jews that were all so fired up and excited about what they just heard.

This is this is a reference to the Jewish leaders, okay, the ones that had rejected Jesus.

Okay, so when the when the Jews saw the crowds and what was happening, they were filled with jealousy.

And they began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

Okay, that word reviling is like that's a punchy word, isn't it?

It means like they're mocking him, they're they're insulting him, they're they're they're they're launching an attack, a counterattack, however you want to look at it.

Okay, and so you look at that and you're like, man, there's the opposition right on cue.

Right?

Classic all the way through uh Acts.

Okay, the the Jewish leaders are straight up jealous.

That's the word that it says there.

Because what they've tried to crush by by by killing Jesus just keeps picking up steam.

Right?

It just keeps expanding and growing.

It can't be stopped.

Okay, and it's the the leader's pride that just keeps them from from seeing, from, from, from, from receiving, from loving the message of grace like the crowds did.

Right?

And so what do they do?

Well, they oppose.

Doing everything they can do to subvert the message, to subvert Paul and Barnabas's efforts, okay, which we know this.

It's it's really God's efforts.

Right?

This is God's mission to proclaim the gospel to the world.

So all the best with trying to subvert that, right?

Right?

But that's what they try to do.

But in the very next verse, notice what you see here.

You see the perseverance.

Paul and Barnabas, they don't they don't retreat, they don't withdraw from all of it.

They're not cowering, they're not silent.

Well, I got nothing to say to this.

Right?

That's not it at all.

Verse 46, look what it says.

It says, and Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly.

Boldly, spoke out fearlessly.

Now you might be like, well, I don't have this fearlessness.

I don't have a boldness inherent in me.

Neither do these guys.

They're just common men, like you and I.

But remember the the believers earlier in Acts, they, you know, when they've been persecuted, they gather in the upper room and they pray for boldness to continue to proclaim the gospel of grace over and over again.

So this is the this is more answered prayer.

Right?

The Lord is giving them this boldness.

Right?

He spoke out boldly, saying, It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, to the Jews.

Okay, since they were the the covenant people of God, whom he had chosen.

Right?

And then he says this, since you thrust it aside, another more good descriptive language, meaning they've just like, but but like like violently thrust it aside.

Like there's a there's an arrogance and and a harshness to it, and how how hard they've rejected Jesus and the gospel of grace.

He says, Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, your actions are speaking louder than even your words.

He says, Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

We're turning to the Gentiles.

And verse 47 says, For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

Right?

And that's actually a that's actually a nod to Isaiah 49, verse 6.

Isaiah 49:6

Okay, Isaiah 49, verse 6.

Isaiah 49:6

And now, and then of course, remember what Jesus Himself had said.

We've gone to it so many times back in Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

In Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

Remember, it's that's like the thesis statement for the whole book of Acts.

And he says, There, you will be my witnesses.

He says, You're gonna be my witnesses in in Jerusalem.

That's like the hub where we're all located.

And then he says, what?

He says, and in all Judea and Samaria, so that's like the surrounding area.

And then he says, What?

He says, What Paul and Barnabas just said, and to the ends of the earth.

Right?

That is the mission of God.

And this, this is really cool.

This is the beginning of the fulfillment of that.

Again, a powerful and awesome moment, despite the opposition that they are facing.

Listen, listen, you and I would do so well as Christians today, in 2022, and whatever year it might be, right?

But in this day and age, we would be so well uh do so well to to recognize and remember uh what I remember another pastor once pointing out uh as he was preaching through this, and that's to see the the pattern, okay?

The pattern that that the book of Acts and much of the New Testament shows us time and time again.

There's a pattern here.

I don't know if you've noticed it or if you've you've seen it, but I'll I'll share it with you.

There's really four things.

Okay, this is the pattern that you're gonna see, and I don't have it on the screen for you, so just write it down, okay?

The first one is proclamation.

Okay, there's a communication of the gospel that happens.

This is what the believers do.

You got you got the proclamation, you've got number two, opposition.

Okay, we're seeing that.

You've got perseverance, that's number three, and then what do you see?

Number four, fruit.

Right?

You see amazing things happen.

It's the it's the very pattern we've actually seen twice already in Acts 13 alone.

Yeah, I don't want to spend too much time on this, but if you flip back just one page in your Bible, uh, starting in verse four and all the way down to verse 12, you see this pattern of four things happening.

Okay, so remember, they were they were on Cyprus and and they were they were told to go out and proclaim the gospel, and and in verse 5 there it says, when they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God.

Right?

There's there's the first part of the pattern, step one.

They proclaimed it.

And then remember they they ran up against that super sketchy magician dude, Bar Jesus, right?

And he was Elamis was was the other name.

Well, look at verse, look at verse eight now.

It says, But Elamus the magician, that's the meaning of his name, opposed them.

Okay, there's the opposition, right?

He didn't like what was happening, and so he opposes them, but then you jump down to uh verse 9 and 10.

It says, But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently, like bore bore like eye daggers right at Elamis, the magician, and said, You son of the devil, and he goes on, right?

He rebukes him.

There's the perseverance.

Okay, that's step three, persevering through the opposition.

And then if you jump down a little bit uh further, okay, what verse are we in?

Verse 12.

Remember the proconsul was involved, that's who they were ministering to, and the proconsul's watching this thing go on between Paul and Barnabas and the magician, Bar Jesus, and it says there in verse 12, then the proconsul believed.

He believed, there's the fruit.

Listen, this is the pattern that we see over and over again.

And we've seen it in the story that we're now reading.

I'm not going to go through uh all of it there, but they go on from that moment.

Uh in you know, verse 13 and onwards, they go to Antioch and Pisidia, which is you know where they're at uh right now, and they enter into the synagogue and they begin to proclaim.

Right?

Paul stands up, it says in verse 16, motioning with his hand, he said.

And that's where he starts to proclaim the gospel.

He talks about the promise of Jesus and how good God was to deliver on that promise.

And then you go right into our passage, that's kind of a long section, you go right into our passage today, and then you see the opposition, right?

We've talked about that.

We see the we see the the perseverance there uh to work through that, and then ultimately you will see fruit.

We're gonna get to that uh in uh a second, uh, but you see the fruit come.

Okay, again, a little bit of time there, but I think it's so helpful for you and I to see that because it encourages us.

It inspires you and I powerfully.

Okay, so let me be very clear about this.

When the Lord encourages or challenges or commands you and I to persevere, okay, when you and I face opposition to the grace that we proclaim and we believe, okay, he's not merely saying, Hey guys, persevere just because.

He's not saying that.

There's nothing particularly life-giving in being told to just keep going with no reasons for it.

Okay, what he's saying to us today, through the word of God, what he's saying in this passage, is that opposition is to be persevered through because it produces fruit.

There's something good waiting on the other side of this.

Don't just get so blinded by the opposition and the difficulty of persevering through that, that we forget that there's actually somewhere we're going here.

There's something good that the Lord wants to produce uh through our opposition and perseverance.

There's a fruit that's there.

Again, whenever the Lord commands us to do anything, it's never, the reason is never just because.

It's never that.

Like as a parent, when when one of your punk kids, okay, asks you, you know, why should I, why should I obey your rules?

Why should I do that?

Okay, it's very unlikely that you stand there and say, well, just because I guess.

Right?

Like you're you're not saying that.

No, you you have you have reasons that that you know of, and and reasons that can be very helpful in communicating to a child why they do this.

Right?

And and an appropriate reason, um a response would be, well, because I said so.

I love how that that answer these days, like, no one's satisfied by that answer, and it's like parents shouldn't respond to that.

I'm really like holding back the tide of just this turning into a parenting sermon.

Right?

But but the but kids need to see that you are an authority, not them.

Right?

Children, child center homes, they need to go.

That's what the world is monitor, uh, you know, showing us.

We gotta show them something different.

Okay, there are more reasons why we tell our kids no or why they should need to obey as well, because it's ultimately for their good.

Right?

It is, it protects them.

Anyways, parenting sermon over.

Okay, but likewise, when when the when the Bible, when when the Lord commands, urges us to action, there are great reasons for that, right?

There are great benefits, there's fruit in store when we do.

Now, all of this is kind of like I'm starting to get into the last thing here, so let's just get to it.

Okay?

When the gospel of grace is proclaimed, it produces joy and glory that exceeds all resistance.

Joy and glory.

So as God's loved ones, okay, as the church, we're to proclaim the gospel, right?

The gospel of grace.

We're to proclaim Jesus.

And we do that in response to our own hearts coming alive with how incredible God's heart is.

And it's not uncommon that the response to our ministry of proclaiming grace is you know, is opposition.

It's not uncommon for that, and that requires, of course, perseverance, like we've talked about.

But again, we don't persevere just because, or for perseverance's sake.

No, we we persevere because the gospel accomplishes something great when we do.

It does.

In others and in us.

We're gonna see this here in uh in verse 47.

Okay, and I'll just read it again.

We looked at it, but it says, For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles.

Okay, here's the reason, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

That's not hidden.

This is a benefit for why we persevere when ministry is difficult.

That's that's the fruit, that's the result that's produced.

We persevere through the opposition we face, proclaiming the grace is at work within us, because of the great because that grace that saved us saves others.

Right?

There's a mission here.

It's a wonderful harvest to be to reap.

And if that wasn't enough for us, notice how there's even more goodness produced when we persevere.

Verse 48.

He says, and when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing.

Right?

There's the joy.

And then the next verse says, and glorifying the word of the Lord.

Okay, so there's there's a personal joy in store for us when we persevere through the difficulty by God's grace.

Right?

There's joy for us.

We are transformed in all of that.

Okay, and then what else happens?

God gets glory.

Right?

They're glorifying the word of the Lord.

That we should say they're glorifying the Lord and his message and who he is and what he has come to do, which is again our chief aim in life, is to bring glory to God.

I love that.

Let's keep going here.

It says, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

That's an absolutely phenomenal statement right there.

That really it brings together, you know, two things really.

It brings together what Luke has intentionally and specifically been teaching us all throughout Acts.

Okay, that ultimately salvation is a work of God's incredible sovereignty.

Right?

That's that's it.

He's he's he's communicating that Christians are God's elect.

Okay, he's he's he's chosen uh us.

Right?

We've been appointed, the verse literally says, we've been appointed to eternal life.

And I'm just gonna say this don't be rattled by that.

Right?

It seems that many people are.

Well, I want more of a sense of control of all of this, right?

But don't you find that as you know, your understanding of getting saved, it feels as though like, well, I'm just the one making the decision here.

I'm choosing to pray the prayer, right?

I'm choosing to do this.

But then you read the Bible and you and you experience grace more and more, you start to plumb the depths of it, and you're like, wait a second.

The Lord was doing something all along.

He was he was drawing me uh to him.

He said, Don't chafe against it.

Don't certainly don't deny it.

It's it's fact.

They worship him for something that is admittedly altogether too wonderful for us to fully grasp.

Now, all of that said, like I mentioned, Luke is bringing together really, I think, two things here.

Right?

The sovereignty of God and in saving those appointed to eternal life, right?

We got that.

But and, and on top of that, and the human response involved on our end.

Okay, there's a dual emphasis, you know, in the the salvation promise that that Luke, uh Luke is stressing here, right?

God's sovereignty and man's responsibility to believe.

That's the word.

Okay, we're we're not altogether passive puppets in the salvation plan.

Okay, we're not that.

Some would have you believe that as well.

Well, there's nothing that we do, and it's just all the Lord, and we just kind of stand here drooling out of our lips, and he does all the work.

Right?

That's not it.

We're not we're not entirely passive in all of this uh at all.

Okay, the the emphasis in this verse, and and and as the the ESV study Bible puts it, some of you have that, and I really liked how they how they put it.

It said, on the way in which divine sovereignty or appointment results in the belief of the Gentiles demonstrating that their belief was due to God's grace alone.

I think that's well put.

It's important for us to really get that.

Why?

Well, so that God gets the glory when sinners are saved.

Right?

That's it.

God gets the glory for that.

Not look how smart I am compared to these fools.

I understood it, I get it, I'm better than no.

Right?

God did it.

He gets the glory.

Keep going here, verse 49.

It says this, and the word, okay, and the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the entire region, through the whole region.

And then verse 50, but says more resistance coming.

You see it right there in that word, okay?

More resistance, but the Jews incited the devout women of high standing.

Now, before you get thinking, well, this is, you know, this you want you want to stir up trouble, get the women going, okay, before you start thinking that.

Okay, look at this.

It says, and the leading men of the city.

Okay, so the Jews incited the devout women and the leading men, and they stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

Okay, so again, there's there's you know the presence of more resistance there.

Okay, but but but look what it says in verse 51.

But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Aconium.

Right?

They shook it, they shook off the dust.

It says, and the disciples, well, look at it, filled with joy.

Right, filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Okay, so so what rises to the surface here in this in this little section that we just read is that yes, there's gonna be more resistance as we go.

Again, hopefully that's clear by now as we've been going through this, and even in what we're talking about today.

There's gonna be opposition to what God's grace was accomplishing, and it was accomplishing that through Paul and Barnabas.

Okay, and yet none of those challenges, none of those setbacks or or difficulties overshadowed the surging joy in the hearts of the believers.

You see that that joy is rising to the surface and overcoming the difficulty of that.

Okay, in other words, the the joy and glory produced by the proclamation of grace exceeded any and all resistance that they faced.

What a wonderful thing.

Listen, remember that when you consider the resistance that we experience in in day-to-day life, in church, in ministry, whatever it might be.

Remember that.

It'll help you when you are discouraged.

It's gonna help you when you're you're feeling weak or you're confused about things, or or you're hurting, or you're you're angry in your relationship with the Lord and as you serve.

Remember, God's grace is available for that.

Continue in the grace of God.

He is He is working in your heart, in and through you, not only to transform you, which is an awesome thing, but transform those around you.

We're gonna we're gonna respond to this right now by singing that, you know, that classic song, Amazing Grace.

Okay, and and so we're gonna sing that together.

We're gonna have a family chat after that, but I want to pray for us as we sing.

And let's respond to what we've heard this morning.

Lord, we come before you and your grace is amazing, Lord.

And if any of us are being honest, we would admit that we don't we don't get it sometimes.

We forget it.

We drift away from it.

And in that we don't realize how truly awesome you are.

We don't realize how how your heart is for us.

Or we don't realize how what we've received from you is as awesome as it truly is.

And sometimes we, admittedly, we get we get thinking that God, you are stingy towards us.

But you're so not.

You've given us everything.

You've given us salvation.

You've removed that that burden of being slaves to the law, which we'll never save.

You've made us free.

You've set us free.

You've given us forgiveness.

And it's all through what you have done.

Lord, I pray that we would, our our hearts would be softened enough today to be able to see that.

To be able to see your love, to be able to understand that.

And then give us that hunger for you, that passion for you, where we we continue in it.

And so, God, help.

You know, my words are ineffective ultimately in changing any any heart.

It's your word and your Holy Spirit that does this, your grace, which is power, which is a gift.

And so, God, we rejoice in these things and ask that you would continue to work.

And we pray all this in Christ's name.

Amen.

But touch my change Embrace my feet really have seen.

The sun forbear to shine, but God who comes the lunch will be for every foreign you for the um but I wanted to share with you this morning that I've been told last the last three and a half years uh to be here serving as the director of integration and discipleship.

And so this is hard news, but also very exciting.

So I wanted to share with you this morning that I have accepted a position as the pastor of discipleship at Harvest Church in Coca.

Um Thank you.

Yeah, no, that's awesome.

So I know we've had a lot of news like this the last few weeks.

So I think the first thing I wanted to say that this was a really difficult decision for us to make.

Uh it'll be hard for us to say goodbye to our church.

We've grown so close to so many of you, and uh and it took a lot of prayer and and seeking the Lord before we were convinced that that this is where God wanted us to go.

Also, know that this decision was made independent of uh of Mike's decision to resign.

In fact, I was unaware that he was planning to resign when I was in the interviews and process with Harvest.

Um so that was difficult, but uh but we trust the Lord through this, right?

It's also important for you to know that Miles knew before he agreed to come in as a lead pastor.

So he's not finding out on the live stream this morning.

Uh he was well aware before he agreed to come and be our lead pastor.

So we wanted you to know that he's coming in fully aware of all the transition uh as uh as uh as I move on.

So, in terms of timeline, Angie and I and and our boys will be moving to Huntsville in July, and we'll be starting, I'll be starting the new position at Harvest in August.

So this means I'm making this announcement uh three months before I leave, uh, which is you know pretty unique, right?

But our our circumstances are pretty unique.

We have a new lead pastor starting at the end of this month.

Uh so I'm thrilled to be able to stay and support Miles as uh as he begins and steps into this new role uh with us.

I'm also really thankful that I'll be able to um to stay and complete the school year with our youth group uh and celebrate what the Lord has been doing through uh through that youth program over the last few years.

And so I'm thrilled to be able to do that.

So ultimately we are trusting the Lord.

You know, as Mike has said, this is God's encouragement, right?

He will continue to build it and be encouraged.

Um we have we we have some idea of who may be coming in next year, so we will continue to trust him uh as we go through this.

We'll have Mike come up now and share the plan moving forward.

It's a lot of transition uh happening uh these days as well.

Um yeah, when when I was had been kind of working through some of this and processing my own departure, and then I heard uh from Jeremy that he was also gonna be moving on.

I felt like maybe some of you uh are feeling right now, or felt if you talked to you uh earlier this week, where you're like, oh good, this is great, this is happening.

That was definitely the the initial uh reaction to all of this.

There's so much for us to absorb uh lately, it would seem.

And and and I know just know this Jeremy and I, as well as the elders, uh, our families have really felt the weight of this on your behalf uh with all of these things.

We've been praying uh for you uh with this.

And I'm gonna do that again in just a second, but a couple of things.

Uh first of all, I really want to thank, really want to thank Jeremy for how he has served along with Angie and their family uh here.

I want to do that just personally, but also on behalf of the elders uh as well, who are both away today.

Uh, and just thank thank you.

All right, thank him for serving so well uh in this role for us for the last uh three and a half or so uh years.

I want to say this, especially I'm thankful for how he served uh while I was off on sabbatical and uh circling the drain a little bit mentally, right?

That's how I was feeling.

And you know, we we we we put we put a lot on Jeremy during during those days, and he carried a lot of water for us, and it I think he just came through that so well and with flying colors, and and that just I mean, you served our family really well through all of that.

It means the world uh to us big time.

And and know that Jeremy, he's he's uh, I think a good way of putting it, he's a homegrown product for us uh in our church, right?

He's been attending here with with his family uh for a bunch of years before they even came on on staff.

As he served, he's not no, no, you know, he's no rookie to ministry, he was serving with Muskoka Woods for a number of years as well.

And and so, as much as these things are always uh difficult for us, it's also hear this, it's also a really great thing for our church to be able to send off one of our very best.

One of our best individuals, one of our very best families.

Okay, I know this, I've heard this.

Redemption Durham is feeling very similarly when it comes to them sending, you know, sending Miles and Amber to us.

Okay, but I'll remind you of how this very thing happened at the beginning of Acts 13, which of course, which we just uh concluded uh this morning, right, in the Church of Antioch, and you know, when when the Holy Spirit, you remember this, he he set apart, that's the term, he set apart Paul and Barnabas for this missionary work to go out.

Now try to imagine how difficult that was for the church.

Paul and Barnabas are like legends to this day, right?

They were, you know, they were the best people that that they had.

You know, and and so as as sad as it is for those of us here, you know, it's also a great joy to know that the Lord has been directing this, right?

And and we and we trust him in that.

We trust him to bear even more fruit in in Muskoka as he goes and and serves in that role there, and of course, and and and here, right in our church, as we continue in Great Commission work, as we see that advanced.

Okay, so like Jeremy said, uh, Miles has uh been in the loop on this uh from day one.

He's not just hearing about this today.

Uh, we've had many discussions with him about that, it's all clear to him, and and know that the two of them, Miles and Jeremy, they're gonna have some overlap time, at least a month and a half, uh, to uh kind of work these, you know, some of these things out and make sure that Jeremy's roles are well taken care of uh here in the church.

And then the other kind of good way of looking at this as well is this really gives Miles the opportunity now to build his team and hire the people that the Lord has in store to serve uh with him, just as Jeremy has done with me.

Jeremy and I go way back.

We were in Bible college together, we've known each other for uh a really uh really long time.

And and again, just like just like uh Jeremy just mentioned here, how how when I stepped out, how the Lord brought us Miles like really quickly in a really great way that was God's grace, we saw it.

Uh the Lord appears to be doing something very similar here with Jeremy.

We've actually been uh interviewing and and Miles really taking the lead on that, interviewing uh a guy just this week uh for uh this role.

And so that's something for you to uh really be mindful of and to pray for, right?

Pray for that.

We know it's in an important position uh to uh uh to fill.

So we have this developing situation where the Lord seems to be doing something very similar as he was doing uh with bringing Miles in to replace me.

Okay, so so keep in mind that with staff uh traditions happening, right, and there's this, I thought it was so cool that you clapped.

That really blessed my heart when Jeremy announced that.

That was really cool.

And you know, it is sad, but at the same time, it is exciting, right?

It it really is.

There's a new era beginning here in this church that I believe the Lord is is by no means nowhere close to done here with our group.

And uh I think there's something very exciting uh about that.

And so I just want to pray now before I dismiss us and uh and let us go from here.

So join me uh as we pray.

God, we come uh to you again one more time today, and uh Lord, we uh admit that our hearts are always mixed in our feelings about these things, Lord.

We uh are certainly sad, Jeremy and Angie, uh Sam and Ben, they mean uh the world uh to us and have had great touch points with all of us here in some way, shape, or form.

And so we're thankful for them.

Thank you for how they've served through some hard days recently.

And uh, Lord, we pray nothing but your blessing on them as they try to find uh a home up north and sell the one here and and get uh situated in a new church and and getting to know more people and building new community for them.

We pray uh for them in that, Lord.

I pray for uh our church here as well, as uh we are looking to uh add some new hires.

And so, God, would you direct, would you provide, Lord, uh the right people to come in?

And Lord, we thank you that you've already given us so much hope and so much joy and the provision of Miles, which is so great.

And then even in in uh you know conversations happening uh just this week uh with another guy to come in uh and join Miles in this.

And so, Lord, we need your we need your grace.

We've talked about it all day.

We need that, we need your power.

Uh, we need you to direct and guide our steps.

Pray for the elders in this as they shoulder this and carry this.

We we ask that you would encourage Dave and Dave as they uh seek to lead your church by looking to you.

God, that's what we pray.

We pray for uh much, much, much fruitful work to be done uh here uh in the life of Redemption Church uh going forward.

And so, God, direct our steps, I pray, encourage us, I pray, show us your power, draw near to us.

We pray all of this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

To you be glory alone.

We pray this in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Have a great week.

You're loved.