ACTS 13:42-52. RESULTS OF PREACHING Those preachers who have personally experienced the grace of God in their own lives, beginning with their salvation and then daily grace for living and serving God; love the Lord Jesus Christ, and want to see other people saved. That love constrains them to reach beyond where they are to other areas with the good news of the Gospel. They now see other people as fellow travelers to eternity who will be in heaven or hell and the lake of fire forever and ever. With enthusiasm and vigor, they preach the Gospel as a message that burns in their soul. A cold and formal presentation of truth as a sermon to be delivered doesn’t convey the life-changing power of the Gospel when a person believes it.
It is not uncommon for a stir to be created in individuals, families, and communities when the word of God has a free course and is glorified. In the hearts of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is joy that wasn’t there previous to their conversion to Christ. Those who reject what they hear because the Spirit of God uses the word of God to convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come often get upset. Their way of life is disturbed, and their religious complacency, which has made them comfortable in their sins, is seriously challenged by the plain preaching of the word of God. They may become hostile to those who preach and deliberately reject what is preached. Often, this is not just turning away themselves from the truth of God, but they are moved with anger and malice to stop others from listening to the Gospel and believing in the Lord Jesus. Jealousy is a natural reaction when someone else gets the affirmation the jealous person craves to make their meaningless life significant.
The word of God burns in the soul of a preacher filled with the Holy Spirit. He is compelled to “preach the word; be instant in season and out of season.” When a preacher of the Gospel is on fire for God, a writer from years ago said, “Other people will come to watch him burn.” Those who hear the word of the Lord with an honest heart will find themselves warmed by its truth. They will then seek out the truth themselves, or will look for help from others who “can guide me.” Then “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Paul, the preacher, was absolutely convinced that only faith in Christ saves, and he knew personally what he preached. He had been a law-keeper, and found out for himself the law does not save nor does it give peace to the restless soul. The law condemns and sentences transgressors but offers no remedy for sin. Salvation and justification can only come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Jewish leaders rejected the Gospel in favor of the do-it-yourself religion of law-keeping, Paul then declared that they, the preachers, would take the Gospel to the Gentiles. The Jews forfeited their place of privilege as those through whom the good news of the Gospel would reach the world. Jews and Gentiles who were saved became “one new man,” the church, which God calls “a kingdom of priests.” As a result of Paul’s preaching, a number of important things took place in that city.
There was a desire to hear, v.42. “The Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” A thirst for God had been created in the hearts of Gentiles, and they wanted to hear the Gospel again. Anxious people want to hear the word of God, whether in public or in private conversation. Some who had been saved in that city were urged “to continue in the grace of God” by Paul and Barnabas. Quite often, the “after meetings” are as important as the actual preaching of the Gospel because personal questions are able to be answered, and the word of God is personally applied to an individual’s need for clarification.
There was a general awakening, v.44. “The next Sabbath day there came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” When God begins to work in some people's hearts, and they are saved, that moves others to become interested and think about their own condition. Some of them will seek to have their own spiritual needs met and will pay attention to what is preached. The important thing in preaching is that it is the word of God that is preached, not the ideas of men. “The word is night thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart; that is the word of faith that we preach.” Sermons can be skillfully prepared and presented, but that does not make what is said a message from God. A biblical message preached in a way consistent with the scriptures of truth, presented by a messenger prepared and filled with the Spirit, then becomes the “Lord’s message in the Lord’s messenger.”
There was bitter opposition, v.45. “The Jews were filled with envy, and spoke against Paul.” When the Gospel message is eagerly received by earnest seekers, and souls are saved by God’s grace, those who reject and resist the Gospel will seek to stop its effect on other people by scorn, mockery, and any other form of opposition they seek to use. When the word of God is preached, sin is exposed for what it is and what it does. Contradiction of sinners and charges of intolerance, bigotry, and blasphemy by those who choose sin over salvation is bound to come.
How preachers react to opposition often reflects who they really are. Those who know the Lord in truth will have the love of God in their hearts and burning in their souls. They will be moved to greater boldness under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There are some who will reveal that they preach another gospel. Those who in the pride of their own hearts and the bitterness of their own souls toward the word of God, judge themselves to be unfit to receive the free gift God offers to sinners. They spurn God’s grace through the Lord Jesus Christ and will seek to do their religious activities, hoping to please God in “my own way.”
There was joy among the Gentiles, v.48. “They (Gentiles) were glad and glorified the word of the Lord.”. Those “other sheep” who were not Jews were openly brought into the green pastures and the fold of the Good Shepherd, by putting their faith in Him. They were glad to learn the word of God and to know that what God said was relevant to them and the Jews. The self-satisfied religionists who wanted to keep their traditions rather than obey God were sent away with only the filthy garments of their own self-righteousness on them to meet God in their sins. They would not come to the Lord Jesus that they “might have life.”
There was apparent defeat, v.50. “They expelled them out of their coasts.” The chief men of the city must have been pressured by the “devout and honorable women” to get rid of those two men who were exposing their self-righteousness, and making them face, in their consciences, hidden sins that they had tried to keep from disturbing their false peace. The Gospel message often digs deep into our inner consciousness as it reveals the sins that we try to keep hidden from our own minds. Light overcomes darkness, but “men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.”
The preachers may be cast out of a community, and those who oppose them breathe a sigh of relief, but a work of God has been done which will not be undone. People will remember pushing away those who wanted to do them good. God’s purposes do not go down in defeat. They may just be accomplished in a way that is different from what we had planned.
There was triumphant grace, v.52. “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” The preachers were gone, but evidence of grace and a work of God remained in Antioch of Pisidia. Those Gentile believers, and likely some Jewish believers, were rejoicing over the liberty they found in Christ. They were experiencing the new life God gave and found it to be abundant. They had started a new life in fellowship with God and His people. They had new power to live for God and speak for God, as well as having the joy of forgiveness of sins, peace with God, freedom from the consequences of sin, and the joy of knowing God was with them.
Those who had persecuted and opposed the preachers of the gospel and “cast them out” would have likely been convicted as they watched those preachers sit down and take off their shoes to shake the dust of the city off them. Those watchers would know what that meant, and the effect of what they had done would leave them uneasy and uncertain about what was going to happen to them. Justice and judgment do not usually come as quickly as we might think. Waiting for it to fall on someone who does what they know is wrong will leave them nervously wondering when just retribution will fall.
The pursuit of happiness doesn’t always lead to the possession of joy. Joy doesn’t come from circumstances but from God and the consciousness of His presence with us. The fruit of the Spirit is produced in a believer by God’s grace. Believers don’t find the fullness of joy because life is comfortable or because we are successful, wealthy, and well-known. Power over others as a leader or authority over nations doesn’t produce joy. Joy comes when we know God works in us, through us, and for us. Then we can see the evidence of it in the lives of those who heard the preaching of the Gospel and, by believing the message, were willing to repent of their sins to God. When they put their personal trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, knowing the sacrifice He made on the cross was in their place and for their sins – then they find joy and trust the Lord with heartfelt thanks.
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