All right, please open God's Word to the book of Acts. We're in chapter 13. We'll actually read a couple verses before chapter 13. This is really where we start to dive into the ministry of the Apostle Paul, who wrote a number of our New Testament books. I love the Apostle Paul, and I hope you will grow in a love for him if you don't already have a love for the Apostle Paul. There's many things I love about the Apostle Paul. Perhaps what I love the most is how rooted in the Scriptures he is. So as he starts to preach in these synagogues, he has so much to say from the Old Testament Scriptures. And I'm telling you this today because my intention is to cover all of Acts chapter 13. There is no way I could do that in one week because Paul references like eight or nine different Old Testament scriptures in a short section. So what I intend to do today is cover what's happening in Acts chapter 13. And then if the Lord wills, when we get back together next week, I wanna look at all those Old Testament scripture references that Paul uses to present Christ to the people in Antioch of Pisidia. And so that's what we'll do. So you think, oh, we're skipping all this wonderful stuff in here. I know. I feel the same way that you do. I just don't want to make you sit here for two or three hours at a time. So we're going to take half this week and half next week, and we'll call that good. All right, so Acts chapter 12, or 13, just to pick up a little context, read with me starting in verse 24 of chapter 12. So just a couple verses back. But the word of God increased and multiplied, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem. Remember, they had gone there to deliver money for famine, really. when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Menean, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus." We need to pause there and pray. God, I am so grateful for Christ as we just sang that we can run to Him. He is an advocate and a friend, a savior and a healer. He is our Lord. He is our Christ. So I pray today that you would help us to see Christ, know Christ in this scripture. Speak to your people, God, through your word. In the name of Jesus, amen. So the gospel has spread, and it will continue to spread to the ends of the earth by the word, the spirit, and the church. So the word is seen here in verse 24. as the proclamation of the good news, the gospel about Jesus. That good news is that God is establishing his kingdom and gathering his people to Jesus, his son. He's begun this process by rising him from the dead. So Jesus has died in prison. All of this is, of course, according to the scripture. So this word of the gospel, as we see from Paul, is not out there in a vacuum. It's rooted in what God had already revealed and what we call the Old Testament. the kingdom spreads by the word and the kingdom spreads by the Spirit. By that we mean God the Holy Spirit who was sent by Jesus and the Spirit directs and empowers the proclamation of the word. These things work together. The Spirit both moves people who are already Christians to tell this good news and changes hearts to hear it. where the kingdom spreads by the word and by the spirit and by the church. Notice this church in Antioch. The church here is a local church. Put that big emphasis, local. This is not the church as an institution, but the church is a body of Christians, a group of people who gather around the word and are filled with the spirit and work together to make Jesus known. That's what a church is. And so the Word of God, the Gospel, God, the Holy Spirit, and the local church, those are God's means of bringing his kingdom to the world. So you have to go back to Acts chapter 11 to read about the formation of the church in Antioch. We were there a few weeks ago. The Gospel comes, people believe, they start to gather and worship. Now, here we are, however many months, perhaps years later, in Acts chapter 13, and Antioch is now sending people out. I think it's safe to assume that that's why they were praying. We hop in the middle of this prayer meeting here in Acts chapter 13. I think that's probably why they were praying. We've received this good news. Now we got to get it out there. We need to send it to the next town. Send it forward by people. And so here they are seeking God's wisdom. Who do we send? Maybe that's why we have these five names here. Like as if they said, okay, God, we're gonna put these five people here. Who do you want to send out of this group of teachers and prophets in our midst? Say, we've got extra to spare. Let's send it out. God, who do you want? And the spirit says, verse two, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul. And then it's like one sentence of obedience. They pray, they fast, they lay hands on them, and then they send them out. Go. Take the good news. This is what local churches do. It's what local churches did back then, it's what local churches need to do today. So we have it painted on our sign outside, printed in our bulletins, and I hope it's buried somewhere in your heart. This little mission statement of Crossroads Bible Church. Knowing Jesus and making him known. Now that knowing Jesus part is really wonderful and thrilling and we're going to spend some time today talking about it. Think right now about the making him known part. What could we crossroads learn from the church in Antioch? Well first we would need to identify a need. That's what they do. We're gonna read here in a minute. We just read that they go to the island of Cyprus, and then Saul and Barnabas are gonna head up to Asia Minor. It'd be a great day to look at that map in the back of your Bible if you have one. And they go to Jewish synagogues and to Gentile cities to tell people the good news about Jesus, because perhaps they haven't heard. We need to go make sure everybody everywhere knows about this. You gotta identify the need, and brothers and sisters, the need around you is great. It's great. Think for a second. Can you name a handful of people that you know and see regularly who do not know Jesus? Who do not have faith in Him? You know some people. You think of their faces and their names. Most of the people who live near you and who work near you, who spend time around you, are not Christians. If they were, then there would be churches on every corner that were full this morning. And they're not. You would need to just come to grips with this reality. Most of the people that you live around are not Christians. Many of them have not heard the good news about Jesus. And their eternal destiny is separation from God under his wrath. And he's put us here to tell it. So the need is great. And that need pushes us to pray. As much as we talk about going, and going is good, it starts with this utter dependence, God, the need is bigger than we can handle, and we are nervous, and scared, and feel ill-equipped, so we desperately need your help. So like the church in Antioch, we can pray, and we don't demand that God does what he does here in Antioch, that the Spirit specifically says, these two people go to Cyprus. But we should pray for God's guidance to reach people with the gospel, right? And when we often, we talk about this, like put something, God putting something on our hearts. The book of Thessalonians, second Thessalonians calls it a desire for good. These are things that where we say, God wants to do this, we think. We have to pay attention to that. Pray for God's guidance. And then we have to send people out. I don't know, maybe God will call some of you. to go somewhere outside the Tri-Cities to take the gospel to a community that needs it. And I'll tell you what, there are communities all over Washington State and the United States of America and the world that need this gospel. So the work is, as Jesus says, the harvest is plentiful. So if you think, well, I think God's sending me somewhere, then we ought to do what they do here. Be examined through prayer, seek the wisdom of the elders of a church, be confirmed and laid hands on and sent out Christians are sent from churches. But you may not be sent to some other community. You most certainly are sent here, where you are, at your home, in this neighborhood, in the Tri-Cities. And so may the Spirit stir your heart and fill your bones with courage. Open your lips and speak. God has provided us great examples in the church in Antioch. and in Barnabas and Saul. We could probably spend so much more time meditating on how we could be a church like the first three verses of Acts 13, but we're gonna keep going. Because what we actually get here is a glimpse into how Paul and Barnabas or Saul and Barnabas do this. How they take this good news about Jesus and make it known. So chapters 13 and 14 chart what we call Paul's first missionary journey. So if you do happen to have maps in the back of your Bible, you probably have a map that's called the missionary journeys of Paul. It'd be a great map to make sure you look at today and other days. ahead this is where Paul takes the gospel out around Asia Minor and then returns to this church in Antioch. And so right here in these this chapter and in the next we get a taste of how Paul and Barnabas proclaimed Christ. A taste of the cost and a taste of the reward. So let's pick it up again at verse 4. So being sent out by the Holy Spirit they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Solomus, they proclaimed the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had John to assist them. Now, I forgot to give a map to the media people who do the slides, so you'll have to just picture this in your mind. But if you have a map in the back of your Bible, you've got Jerusalem down here. You travel up to Antioch along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Antioch's actually offset a little bit. It's about 15 miles then to the coast. You hop on a boat, you go over this big island called Cyprus. And that's where Paul and Barnabas are. And Saul goes first, it says in verse five, to the synagogues. Now this is Saul's pattern. You're going to see it over and over in the book of Acts. They go to the synagogue and they tell the Jews about Jesus because Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. He is a Jewish Messiah and Paul himself is Jewish and so he can speak to them sharing the good news for us. In verse 6, pick it up, when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elimus, the magician, for that is the meaning of his name, opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. We have a, so we have a Roman governor, he's smart, he's seeking to hear the word of God that Barnabas and Saul are preaching to the Jews, but he's got this Jewish false prophet in his retinue who is opposing these preachers. We call him Bar-Jesus. Now that name Bar-Jesus in Hebrew means the son of Jesus or the son of Joshua. So there's a bit of irony here because this man is no son of Jesus. Right, verse nine, pick up what Saul has to say. So Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time. Immediately, mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord." All right, this is Saul. He comes out swinging. You know, when we read about Peter preaching the gospel in Jerusalem, Peter speaks with clarity, and urgency and compassion. With his opponents, he's appealing to them as brothers. Brothers, can't you see who Jesus is? It's this real heart of compassion, which accurately reflects the compassion of Jesus. We see Jesus very compassionately reaching people. But you know, Jesus also boldly confronted his opponents, calling them serpents. exposing their wicked motivations. And now here's Paul taking up that more confrontational side of Jesus. We're taking the gospel to the world, Christians. You need to be wise when you should embody the compassion of Jesus and when you should embody the confrontation of Jesus. Both are valid. Now that doesn't mean you get to strike people with blindness if they disagree with you. Those miraculous powers belong to the Apostles to show that the power of Jesus is greater than a so-called magician. Luke mentions this little detail that his name is Elimas. The meaning of that is probably lost on us. It's probably some sort of word that if we were native speakers of Greek, or Hebrew, or Aramaic, or all three of those, in the first century, we might get the play on words. But it doesn't come across. And from what I can find, commentators, everybody's just guessing what this thing means. Probably the original readers would have understood the play on words. The play on words, though, Luke tells us, is to portray this man as evil. He's a false prophet. He's a dark artist. He's an opponent of the gospel. He's not a son of Jesus. He's a son of the devil, and therefore he needs to be confronted by Saul, which we get a little detail about Saul that his other name is Paul. And now I can stop trying to confuse you all the time by referring to him sometimes as Saul and sometimes as Paul. I'm just gonna call him Paul. from now on uh paul was probably his roman name as we see here a governor named sergius paulus that was probably his this the apostle's name as well was probably paul's um saul would have been his jewish name so it makes sense that now that paul is venturing out into the roman empire he would use his roman name paul so before we leave cyprus because that's basically all we get here at cyprus with barnabas and paul I want to draw your attention to a few groups of people that are really going to play a very important role as we go forward in the Book of Acts. We'll focus a lot more on this next week and the weeks to come, but just get a taste of this today. The first group are apostate Jews. These are people like Bar-Jesus, Elimas. So they're Jewish in ethnicity, but they are in no way following or worshiping the God of Israel. Those are apostate Jews. Then we also meet faithful Jews. These are the Jews in the synagogues. They're Jews who gather to worship Yahweh. They're hearing the Word of God and they're seeking to know God. Lots of faithful Jews that we'll meet in the Book of Acts. The next group are God-fearers. These are non-Jewish people, like Sergius Paulus, who we just met. who are seeking to know God and worship the God of the Jews, but they're not ethnically Jewish. So the Jews would have called them Gentiles, but they would have called them God-fearers. You're gonna hear Paul use that language here in the rest of chapter 13. We also have a group of what we would call proselytes. These are God-fearing Gentiles who did everything they could to convert to Judaism, specifically being circumcised. And so remember back in Acts chapter eight, we met the Ethiopian eunuch, And so he would fall into this category of being a proselyte. And then another group that we meet many of in this chapter and future chapters is the Gentiles. So that's just basically anybody who's not Jewish. And in many of these groups, they have no association with Judaism. So they're Romans, they're Greeks, they've got their own religious and ethnic identity, and they're also going to hear this good news about Jesus. And the last group are Christians. Now here's what's so important about this. Christians are often called disciples or believers. But it's a new group of people. This is something different than has ever been done. Because what we'll find is Christians is a mix of faithful Jews like Peter and Paul and Barnabas. And God-fearers like Sergius Paulus and Cornelius back from chapter 10. And proselytes like the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts chapter 8. And even a whole bunch of Gentiles like we'll meet at the end of Acts chapter 13. So something new that God is doing in bringing all this variety of people together as the new people of God in Jesus Christ. the kingdom of God being built by his word and his spirit and the local church. I'll try to keep all those groups somewhat in your mind and I'll come back to them and revisit them often as we work through Acts. All right, let's get in a boat with Paul and Barnabas. Acts chapter 13, verse 13. Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia and John left them and returned to Jerusalem. But they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. Okay. Think of that map. We've got the big Mediterranean Sea. We're now in south-western Turkey in Perga, and then up to Antioch in Pisidia, which is a different Antioch than the Antioch from the beginning of Chapter 13. It gets confusing with the Antiochs, but this is just a different Antioch. Antioch in Pisidia. Now Antioch, what happens in Antioch in Pisidia, verse 14, and on the Sabbath day, they went to the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them saying, brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it. Pause there, this is how normal Sabbath day worship worked in a Jewish synagogue. It'd be a reading from the Torah, the law, like we just saw, followed by a reading from the prophets, what we just read about, followed by a sermon, if there was somebody who was able to preach. And so here we've got these two visitors, and probably a whole crew of them, Paul and Barnabas, maybe they even told the people, hey, we're prophets from God, we're teachers from God, and they say, well, hey, it's a Sabbath day, we've read the law, would you get up and say something? So Paul has his chance. And I just assume this is how Paul's ministry usually went because this is how Jewish synagogues worked. Show up, you're given the opportunity to preach, preach the good news about Jesus. What we have in Antioch then is, I take it to be a real event that happened in Antioch that's also emblematic, an example of all that Paul did in other synagogues. So pick it up in verse 16. So Paul stood up, motioning with his hand, he said, men of Israel, And you who fear God, see it? We got faithful Jews and God fears. It's two groups of people. Listen, the God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt. And with uplifted arm, he led them out of it. And for about 40 years, he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying the seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years, and after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Pish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, I have found in David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will. Now, when I picture this scene, up to this point, I just picture everybody kind of nodding their head. These are all Jews who know their scriptures. So Paul just covered Exodus through the end of 1 Samuel, basically, and into 2 Samuel. It's pretty impressive how far he got in just a few sentences. But everybody knows these stories in the synagogue. They're just, yeah, yeah, we know what's going on, right? They're kind of saying amen. That's what people do when they listen to something they understand and agree with. Paul is reminding them, though, that God keeps his promises. Remember how God kept his promises to our forefathers? Not just in the past, Paul's argument is that God is keeping his promises in the present. Because, Acts chapter 13 verse 23, of this man's offspring, of David's offspring, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he has promised. That's the main point of the sermon. You should always listen for what is the main point of a sermon. This is Paul's main point. To the Jews in Antioch, to the God-fearers, hear this good news. God has kept his promise and brought a savior, and his name is Jesus. Same today, Crossroads Bible Church. Friends, guests, hear this good news. God has brought a savior to the world, and his name is Jesus. That's the point. Now Paul's gonna back it up, verse 24. Before his coming, before Jesus' coming, John, that's John the Baptist, had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said, what do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie. Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been given the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. but God raised him from the dead. And for many days, he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people." Just as Paul assumes that all of these Jews and faithful Jews and God-fearers knew the history of Israel, he also supposes they know the stories about John the Baptist and Jesus. Just because they're off in a ways from Jerusalem and the Roman Empire doesn't mean they're ignorant of what's been going on. You should be amazed at how fast news travels in the ancient world. It's fast and it travels far. So they've heard about this John. They've heard about this Jesus. And so Paul is explaining to them what's happened. His preaching sounds a lot like Peter's, reminding them the Jewish leaders had him crucified through Pilate, but God raised him from the dead. Paul's saying this is what's happened. What does it mean? That's why he's here. That's what he's here to tell them. What does it mean? It means that Jesus is the Savior of Israel and the Savior of the world. Now listen to how Paul gives scriptural answers for historical events. Verse 32, and we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus from the dead. as also it is written in the second psalm you are my son today i have forgotten you and as for the fact that he raised him from the dead no more to return to corruption he has spoken in this way i will give you the holy and sure blessings of david therefore he also says in another song you will not let your holy one see corruption for david after he had served the purpose of god in his own generation fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption but he whom god raised up that's jesus did not see Corruption. So you see what I mean that Paul's just keeping all these scriptural references? That's what we'll get to more early next week. Today, you need to get the point that Saul is making, Paul is making. That God has brought a Savior to Israel, who is God's promised Son, to fulfill the covenant He made with David, and to put an eternal King on the throne. And how did God do it? By raising Jesus up from the dead. Okay, so he's explaining historical events with scriptural reasons, and now we can get to the point in Paul's sermon, we say, well, so what? Okay, so great information, Paul. What does it mean? Now hear Paul's appeal. Verse 38, let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man, through Jesus, through the resurrected Son of God, through this man, Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. And by him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. This is the good news for us. Forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. That's good news to everybody, the Jews, the Gentiles, to the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, Crossroads Bible Church of the Tri-Cities. It's good news to us. Forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. As I said earlier, it's thrilling to know Jesus. Let's talk about why. Think for a second of a heavenly scale where all of your sin, all of your evil deeds, all of your rebellion against God, every lie you've ever told, Every careless word that blasphemes God's name, every disobedience to your parents, every distrust of God, every moment and breath of ingratitude, all of that is heaped up on one side of the scale. All of our scales fall to the ground with a thunderous clang on the floor. The scale tips towards guilt and condemnation for every single one of us. We realize that. How can we possibly balance that out? Let me tell you what doesn't work. It doesn't work to try to do enough good to outweigh the bad. It's impossible. You can try to fill your life up with all sorts of religious deeds and good things, to somehow make up for all of that sin that weighs that scale down, but it's impossible. And if you've ever given any time to trying, you know how much more of a burden it becomes. And so here we are, weighed down by our conscience, weighed down by our inability, we are both guilty and helpless before God. Now here's what Jesus does for you. He forgives you. It's not just that Jesus gives you a superior morality or religion, Jesus takes all the guilt and condemnation off of the scale. And he stands on the other side, lifting the burden from your soul and giving you life with God forever. He forgives you. That's such good news. And the more you and I see how great of a sinner we all are, the greater we see that Jesus is as a Savior. Do you know His forgiveness? Do you love His forgiveness? You've never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins. Ask Him today. He will. That's what it means to become a Christian. It's to be a forgiven person. Now if that were all that Jesus did for us, that would be enough to praise Him for all eternity. Like if He forgave us, that's enough. But He did more. Paul preaches in Antioch, forgiveness and freedom. Pick it up again at verse 39, Acts 13. Everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. You have to remember that Paul was speaking to faithful Jews and God-fearers. They lived by the law of Moses, God revealed in the Old Testament. They were careful to listen to and keep God's law. But Paul isn't here dismissing the law, saying forget about all of that. He's showing them that God's design for the law was insufficient. Not that God was insufficient, but he made the law to be insufficient to give freedom. The law was never designed to give freedom. What does then Jesus free us from that the law cannot? I spent a lot of time thinking about that. I've got three things, and there's probably more. If you want something to ponder, What does Jesus free us from that the law of Moses cannot? Let me give you three answers that are for Jews and for God fears and for me and you. First, Jesus frees us from condemnation. That's a natural outworking of forgiveness. If you're forgiven, you're no longer condemned. So Paul writes about this in Romans chapter eight. I'll read for you from Romans eight verse three. This is our freedom from condemnation. So Romans 8.3 is a little, you have to track with it. It's a little bit of a mouthful. For God has done, this is Romans 8.3, for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. It's the same language of Acts chapter 13, right? The law of Moses could not do something. Here's what God has done in Jesus. God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Okay, I've got a lot to think about there. That was a long sentence. What does this mean? I'll tell you what it means. Just if you're looking at it, look back to Romans 8.1. This is what it means. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That's what it means. This means here's what Jesus has done for you. He's freed you. Freed you from condemnation. Second thing Jesus frees you from. He gives us the freedom of access to God. So the Old Testament law of Moses made provision for a priesthood and a temple and a sacrificial system. The whole point of all those is that, so Israel could be close to God. That's what we want. We want to be close to God, to know God, have access to God. But in the Old Testament, access to God is only available through a mediator. a priest, and only the high priest can enter the holy place, everybody else was separate. And that's the problem with sin. This is what sin does to us. It separates us from the goodness and love and power of God. And so there's this amazing scene in Matthew 27, where when Jesus dies, the curtain of the temple is torn in two and opened up. It's a very symbolic gesture that access is granted now. So you and I still have to draw close to God through a mediator. but our mediator is Jesus, which means we have full access to God because Jesus is God. This is what the law of Moses could not do is give you full access to God. Jesus gives you the freedom of access to God. And the third thing that Jesus does is he gives us freedom from the bondage of sin. So this corruption of our hearts that we talk about, this like evil deeds that we do, sin, It's so much more than the things we do. Sin is a master of our desires. You only have to be honest to realize that. The deficiency of the law of Moses was that it could not change people's hearts. That's how God designed it. There's no mistake by God. God designed the law so that if you were a faithful Israelite, you would get done with all the feasts and all the festivals and all the sacrifices and all the priesthood, and then you would fall before God and say, it's not enough. not enough. And God in his grace then forgives and changes people's hearts when they trust in him. So this is what Jesus has now perfectly provided. He changes your mind. He changes your heart. He makes you new. He gives you new desires and new thoughts and new loves. Again, let me just quote from Paul in Romans 6. He says, we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Set free from sin, that's what Jesus gives you. Freedom from the bondage of sin. So if you hate how your sinful temptations constantly draw you to things that you hate and don't wanna do, rejoice. That is not your master anymore. Jesus has set you free. Now, we struggle with that because we're kind of like newborn babies who are trying to learn to eat and talk and walk with our new bodies and minds. The Bible describes us as children who are being matured. That's why we have to constantly remind ourselves of the forgiveness and the freedom that we have in Jesus. That's good news for us. forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. Kids, that's what you could remember today. I know I give you kids descriptions of the gospel all the time and that's on purpose. Here's a great description of the good news about Jesus that you can remember kids. The good news is forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. So if your parents ask you, what is the good news? You can say, it's forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. Now all of us has to decide if we believe that. if we actually have faith in Jesus. Do you trust him for your forgiveness? You follow Jesus because he has set you free from condemnation and the bondage of sin. Paul lays that question out in Antioch. You remember he's talking to a whole bunch of Jews and God fears and he's gonna lay out, do you actually believe this or are you going to reject it? So pick it up, Acts 13 verse 40. Beware therefore, Paul says, lest what is said in the prophets should come about Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish, for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe even if one tells it to you. See, Paul knew that after his message that many of the Jews and many of the God-fearers would scoff at him. As the week goes along, he knows many of the Gentiles are going to scoff at him. You should know that as you tell people the good news about Jesus, there will be scoffers There's a warning here, beware. Don't reject this message, lest you be like the prophets, lest you be like those in Jerusalem who had Jesus crucified. Believe instead, believe and have life. Now in Antioch, a lot of people believed. So we get caught up sometimes with the opponents of the gospel, but don't forget that in the book of Acts, there's many people who believe. So verse 42, as they went out, all sermons died. The people begged that these things might be told to them the next Sabbath. 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. That is to continue to believe, to trust Jesus, to walk in the freedom that you have. Now, things in Antioch are about to get better and worse. Pick it up, verse 44, the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the lord that's what i mean by things get better because that's not just the jews and the god fears anymore there's a whole bunch of gentiles remember we're like in modern day turkey we're in the roman empire we are far away from any cities in israel the whole city That's really good. More people to hear the good news. Things get better. But, verse 45, when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul and reviling him. That's how things get worse. Jealousy leads to opposition. We're gonna pick that up a lot more next week. Verse 46, Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 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. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. So as the gospel of Jesus goes out to the ends of the earth, So does the opposition, both from Jews and from Gentiles. We're going to come back to that point next week. But for today, my hope is that just taking in what Paul said and was preached about Jesus, that you would be filled with joy, that the gospel is good news to you. Jesus is the Savior of the world. That's the proclamation of Barnabas and Paul, and it's the proclamation of all Christians today. When we make Jesus known, we're not trying to convince people that our religion is better than theirs. When we make Jesus known, we're not trying to convince them that what we do on Sunday morning from 10 to 11.30 is better than what they do on Sunday mornings from 10 to 11.30. No, that's not our goal at all. When we make Jesus known, we're trying to help people understand that they can be forgiven by God. They can have freedom from the bondage of sin, free access to God, and freedom from condemnation. That is good news that everybody needs to hear. The church in Antioch, way back at the beginning of Acts 13, was so compelled by this good news. They said, we have to take it to the next town. We have to send it to Cyprus and into Asia Minor. We've got to make this Jesus known. They were so compelled that they prayed and they asked God to send him so that others would hear and others would believe and others would be sent. And may that be true for us today. that we so love this good news that God has given us, that we long for him to send us to our friends and neighbors and co-workers, to our community and to the ends of the earth. That is the great mission that God has given to all of us. It does come with a cost. Whether you're opposed by dark forces like Elimis, Bar-Jesus the magician, or you're opposed by political systems and people of influence like we just read about in the city of Antioch, or you're opposed by friends or family members or coworkers who revile your faith in Jesus, there's always a cost to making Jesus known. But there is also a great benefit. That is the Holy Spirit working among us, calling us to faith in Jesus, changing people's minds and hearts, forgiving their sins, setting them free, and directing us to make Jesus known. so that delighting in his forgiveness and freedom, we would then let other people know about it who would delight in his forgiveness and freedom that would pass it on to other people because his forgiveness and his freedom is our great reward. Let's pray and give him thanks. God, we are so grateful for what you've done for us in Jesus. And so God, would you give us opportunities to tell other people I know for some of us we get frustrated because we don't feel like we interact with that many people or know that many people. And so God, you have called us all to rent out stadiums and gather hundreds of thousands of people faithful where you put us. God, help us to so love the forgiveness and freedom that we have in Christ that we pass it on at every chance we get. And God, we pray for more chances, okay? That more people in our community would know the good news about Jesus and the forgiveness and the freedom He gives us. And God, for us as a church, would you fill us with satisfaction because you've given us full forgiveness and freedom. And then God, would you send us, put into our hearts and our minds a zeal like they had in Antioch to make Christ known. We ask this in His name, amen.