If you love to read and are anything like me, you love reading books. You find great joy in picking a book off the shelf and sifting through the pages as you sit down with a great cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate…etc. Maybe, just maybe, if you are able, you might be reading a few books at once. This is often the case for me.

However, if you go without reading that book for a while, you can often forget where you were within the story. In this case, you will do one of two things: continue reading where you are at and hope you catch on, or you will go back and re-read from a few pages back. As we begin our trip back into the book of Acts, I want to catch us up on where left off in the book.

Acts 13: 1-3

If we go back to Acts 13, we heard about “The Main Business of the Church.” Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and Saul were gathered together as prophets and teachers in Antioch. During a time of worship the Holy Spirit speaks and says “set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the worship to which I have called them.” (13:2). These men listened, fasted and prayed, and then laid hands on Barnabas and Saul to send them out on His mission.

This is exactly the main business of the church. The main business of the church is to obey the Holy Spirit in promoting God’s glory among the nations by sending out workers called by God to preach the gospel. Through this section of Scripture we learned three things:

1. The Spirit is sovereign over the Church.
2. To be obedient to the Sovereign Spirit, godly leaders must take time to worship and seek his will.
3. The purpose of the sovereign Spirit is to glorify God among the nations by sending out workers who preach the Gospel.

Acts 13: 4-12

As Paul and Barnabas get sent out on mission, they encounter a magician, “a false prophet named Bar-Jesus (13:6)”. During this conversation, Paul stops this man right in his tracks and forbids him to do stop leading people astray. Paul then tells the man that he will be blind for a while (13:11) and because of this the proconsul believed.

Throughout this section, we learned that there is a battle going on out in the world. We will encounter people who are testifying against God and His Good News. However, this battle has been won in Jesus through His death on the cross. We have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us and we have already been given the armor of God to go out proclaiming the Good News beings lights in a dark world.

Acts 13: 13-41

Paul and his crew continue on their missionary journey to Antioch of Pisidia. The apostle Paul’s first and longest recorded sermon deals with the theme of God’s promise of salvation: “From the offspring of this man [David], according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus” (13:23). “To us the word of this salvation is sent out” (13:26). “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children [or, to us, their children] in that He raised up Jesus, as it also is written ...” (13:32-33). The sermon falls into three parts, each beginning with Paul’s direct address to the congregation:

1. The promise given (13:16-25);
2. The promise kept (13:26-37);
3. and, your response (13:38-41).

Throughout this sermon, we learned “God’s promise to send a Savior and His fulfillment of that promise in sending Jesus demands a response.” We live in a day that scoffs at the thought of God’s judgment. Even many who profess to know Christ say, “My God is a God of love, not a God of judgment.” But what matters is not how you speculate God to be, but rather, how He has in fact revealed Himself in His Word.

The God who keeps His promises is also the God who carries through with His warnings! Paul’s sermon gives abundant evidence that God faithfully kept His gracious promise to send Jesus as the Savior of all who will believe in Him. The word of this salvation is sent to you (13:26). Through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you (13:38). Through Him everyone who believes is justified in God’s sight (13:39). But also, all who scoff at Him or ignore Him “will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:9). Remember, Paul was speaking here to a religious audience. Everyone present believed in God. But they needed personally to put their trust in His promise of salvation through Jesus Christ so that the words of His warning did not come upon them.

 
Acts 13: 42- 14:7

Paul finishes sharing, in detail, God’s promise of Salvation. You would think these people who assume that Paul is off his rocker and deny his message. Rather, Paul experiences just the opposite. People are begging him to come and tell more about the saving work of Jesus Christ. “Since God is glorified in the salvation of His elect, He wants us boldly to proclaim the gospel, even though it divides people.”

The Gospel is Good News. To the world it is offensive and simply it doesn’t make sense to them. The Bible plainly declares that even the best of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). Even those who strive to be righteous are filled with pride. They think that they can commend themselves to the holy God, which pulls Him down and elevates them. When we come to the cross of Christ as guilty sinners and simply receive what the Son of God did on our behalf, He saves us by His grace, and He gets all the glory. We have all been commissioned to go out into the world sharing this Good News (Matthew 28:19-20).

 
Acts 14: 8-28

Paul and barnabas continue on their missionary journey to Lystra where they encounter a man who could not use his feet (14:8). Paul spoke to this man and allowed him to walk. Instantly Paul and Barnabas have new names (14:12) and have to teach the surrounding crowds that they are not idols to be worshiped (15:25).

As usual, the Jewish leaders catch wind of what was happening and they instantly seek to find the men responsible for stirring up their city. Paul is dragged out and nearly stoned to death, and essentially left to die. The disciples come around and help to heal Paul from what he had just gone through. Once order is established in the church (14:21-23), Paul and Barnabas rest. As faithful servants of Jesus Christ, they appropriately rested and had their "batteries recharged". This something we all need to be doing as we day in and day out seek to share God's story of Salvation in which we give him all the glory as our spiritual act of worship.