There's a certain way that you have to go out, and there's a certain way that we do go out, I guess. Anyways, it's so good to gather together. We've been going through this first recorded sermon of the Apostle Paul. It's not the first one he ever preached, but it's his first recorded one in the Book of Acts. And last week, we looked at, again, his appeal. In other words, again, he preached the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he tells them what to do with this gospel, and it's simply this, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. You know, if you believe on Jesus Christ, all of a sudden you're free from all of the confines that happen to begin of the law, that we have no condemnation because we are in Christ Jesus and Christ Jesus forevermore. And it's a glorious grand truth, isn't it? And he ends off, again, with a warning. You know, there's so many that might be there that might look at that gospel message, that might, again, look at it as it's not applicable to me. I mean, after all, we're Jews. We live this righteous life. And he warns them, don't be like the Israelites of old. Condemnation will come against you. Judgment will come against you if you ignore this great grace of God. that has been given. And so when we look at that, the sermon ends off, again, with that appeal, right? To do this with the sermon. And any preacher that's worth any weight of salt or whatever, weight of gold, has an appeal. There's something that they want the congregation to do with this message, right? Something to do with God's truth. And that's what we see here. And when we look at the response, we realize that there's an appropriate and inappropriate response to the gospel, isn't there? And it's always that way. You know, we are to respond how to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? Through belief. You know, but there's many, again, who continue in unbelief. And there really is only two responses to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's either this idea, again, of belief or unbelief. There's this idea of acceptance or rejection of the message of Lord Jesus Christ. And why? Because there's only two roads, right? There's many ways to reject Jesus Christ, but basically, again, it's rejection of Jesus Christ. There's only two roads. There's a wide and broad road that leads to destruction and a narrow road or a narrow path, you know, with one gate to go through, and that gate is Jesus Christ. And that's the only way, isn't there? There's only one sheepfold, you know, and so there's those that belong to Christ's sheepfold and those that don't. There's sheep and there is gold. There's those that happen to begin in light. There's those that happen to begin in darkness. There's wheat and also tares. There's those who happen to be God's children and those who happen to be the children of the world. And the whole significance of this is there's only really two ways. And so when you look at this passage, and you look at the response of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ right at the end, it's telling us, you know, these two ways. And seeing these two gospel responses, again, I think are so important, because it really informs us what to expect when we preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Because like I say, many people will even say that they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but you can believe in the Lord Jesus And then just continue on any way that you want, because sin really does not matter in your life. I mean, it's amazing, isn't it? Because when you look at that whole scenario, if sin did not matter, then Jesus Christ really didn't need to die. You know, God didn't just come to deliver us from the penalty of sin. but also the tyranny of sin, the control of sin that happens again in our life, deliver us again from its power, right? And we realize that. And it's amazing to look at the book of Acts, because when you look at conversions in the book of Acts, their whole life changed, right? Didn't it? You know, they used to be over here in the pagan religions, and they're no longer. They used to be over here in Judaism, they're no longer. And they identify with the Lord Jesus, and they begin to live with Him. And I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt, even as the word of God, as the gospel is preached in such clarity, with conviction that this is the greatest need that mankind have. You have a response, again, over here that's glorious, that's grand, that's zealous, as far as belief, repentant belief in Jesus Christ. But I think, again, the other response, you know, in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is presented clearly. is a vehemence, is an anger, is a frustration with that gospel message. In fact, I think there's a greater frustration, a greater opposition, the more clear that message happens to be heralded. But knowing all of this helps us respond, right? Because when we see a strong and adverse response to gospel preaching, this is the thing we have to realize. There's nothing wrong with the message. Isn't it? You know, the same human heart that existed in the time of the apostles of Paul right here, exists today. You know, and we realize that manifests itself, but it's amazing. You know, in the midst of that hostility, in the midst of that rejection many times, God uses that to really sanctify us, to change us more and more in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we realize the greatness of what he has really done in our human hearts, don't we? And here's the other kicker. when we realize the fruit that comes through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, somebody responds in the appropriate way, the way that God wants them to respond. That fruit, think about it, lasts for all of eternity. In other words, there's somebody going to be glorifying, praising our great God, praising our great Jesus forever and ever and ever. And I wonder as we look at that, are we willing to go through the persecution? Are we willing to go through the opposition to make Jesus known? You know, of all the difficulties and all the trials that happen to begin in our life, do we have a gospel centrality so much so that whatever it takes to get this gospel out, whatever it takes, again, to preach Jesus Christ, are we willing to do it? You know, I really want us to encourage, you know, to prepare our hearts for, if we're going to be gospel witnesses, if we're going to live out, if we're going to speak forth the gospel to those that happen to be around us, I really want to prepare our hearts to what to expect. You know, to truly see the glory that is truly brought to our Lord and Savior. So I want to see both those responses. I want to see the positive response, because there is a positive response to preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see this in verses 42 and 43. It says, as they went out, 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. You know, I think one thing that catches our attention, you can't help but see it, is how great the opposition against Christianity is. You know, if you haven't seen that, I doubt that you're true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it really is everywhere. It's in our politics, it's in our entertainment, system, it's everywhere that happened to be around us. It's in society, right? We realize there is a rejection. We realize there's an obstinance against all things Jesus Christ, isn't there? And we realize that. But I think that even though that catches our attention and our thoughts, you know, even as we preach, even as we teach the gospel, even as we witness those that happen to be around us, one of the things I think really we fail to see is the greatness of the response. And how many people really respond to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? How many hearts are really touched? How many hearts are really changed through the preaching, through the testifying of the Lord Jesus Christ? I mean, it's absolutely amazing, isn't it? You know, and the other thing I think catches our attention many times is how many people walk away from Jesus Christ? I mean, we see it. If you've been a Christian for any amount of time, you know people who've walked away from Jesus. You know, they've lived that life. They say they praise Christ, that they've trusted in Christ, but somehow in their life, they have walked away. And we even see that among prominent Christians many times. And it's incredible, because that gets our attention. But you know the thing that should catch our attention? is how many people continue on in serving Jesus Christ. Isn't it amazing? You know, they go on and on, and they praise God through thick and thin, through up and down, through trials and difficulties, through sufferings that happen to begin in their life, and they make much of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think, again, many times we look at the rejection, we look again at people walking away, and we fail to see the work of God. I mean, do you know in Canada, that there's hundreds of thousands of individuals, and I'm talking about born-again individuals in Bible-believing churches across our country this morning that are praising and glorifying our great God in our country alone, maybe even millions. And doesn't that encourage your heart? You know, because we realize, again, the one who has orchestrated that through the preaching, through the testifying of God's people is none other than our great God. And He can use our hearts. There really is this positive response to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because look at verse number 42. It says, and as they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And let me just say beyond a shadow of a doubt, I really can't relate to Paul right here. You know, I've never come, somebody up to me and begged me, please be here next week, please be preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm thankful that people come back, but no one's hung on my leg. Please come back, please come back. No one's ever done that. But it is an amazement, because I think we can all relate to this. That true biblical preaching, that true biblical, that's saturated in the Word of God, that's Christ-centered, creates an appetite in each one of us, doesn't it? It creates a hunger. We want to know about our Lord. We want to know about our Savior. We want to know about Jesus. Right here, after Paul concludes, and this would have been basically the synagogue leaders that came up because they were responsible for who would be preaching, who would be teaching on the next Sabbath. They're begging him that they want to come out. This is a good response. We want to learn the word of God. We want to learn these truths about Jesus Christ. Now, they didn't understand everything. In one sense, it's a great response, isn't it? But in the other sense, I think again that this is really a negative response. Because the call of the gospel is not to put off faith, is it? Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of repentance. Today is the day to trust and believe on Him. Because this is what happens so often. We delay, people delay in coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what happens when you delay? We harden our hearts, don't we? You know, and I don't know how many times that has happened to me. You know, I can remember just recently a young man came up to me and he was shaken because of conviction of sin. You know, and he said, again, he needed to get his heart right. And I said, can we talk? And he said he can't talk now. You know, he'd give me a call this week and he would certainly be back at church the following week. And guess what never happened? The call never happened. Guess who never came back to church? That individual never came back to church. And why? Because when we delay in truly trusting Christ today, this is what happens. The heart is hardened. And so many people think that they can control the time, the circumstances of the grace of God really touching their heart. Isn't it true? You know, oh, there's things, you know, I'm just not ready. There's things that I want to experience that happen to begin in our life as if Jesus is trying to destroy our lives. You know, there's nothing greater than recognizing sin's forgiven in an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing more exuberant, more exciting, more joyous, than really is more fulfilling than serving this Lord and Savior. But it's incredible, because you harden your heart. And the first time you harden your heart, you're shaking and everything. You know what you should do. But the next time, again, you reject. It's a little easier. Next time, you reject. It's a little easier. Next time, you reject. It's a little easier. Next time, you start to get even a little more. animosity towards those who haven't begun preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's my plea, if you have not trusted Jesus Christ, today is the day. That grace of God, that conviction as far as the weightiness of your sin and what Jesus Christ has done for sinners like us might not be available next week. You might have hardened your heart in that disposition, so much so that that grace is no longer available to you. Today is the day of salvation. But there is a positive response, and it's in verse number 43. And it says, and after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as he spoke with them, urged them, to continue in the grace of God. And I love the time element right here, right? Because there is a contrast in between the time element of the other. You know, come back next week and we'll hear more. And the time element is right here, is right after last, amen. You know, right after the last amen, I have to get this taken care of. You know, I have to talk about this. And you can imagine, because some of them have probably trusted Christ. Some of them have probably believed in him. And here they are, full of joy, wanting to know more about the Lord Jesus Christ. Some have a heavy conviction of sin, and they really want to know more about this gospel. They want to see how Jesus Christ really can be appropriate in their life. But they can't wait. You know, they need to take care of this. They need, again, to have, to learn of this Christ and know of this Christ and walk in this Christ. I love this because there was a large crowd, right? It says many, many follow Paul and Barnabas. Many came again to talk to them right here. I love also that Paul and Barnabas may make themselves available because I think that's one of the things in our Christianity we do not do, right? Let me just say what Christianity is. Christianity on a human sense is servanthood. Isn't it? It's about me making myself, it's about you making yourself available for the spiritual welfare of others. And I think, again, one of the things, I'm just too busy, I'm just too busy, I don't want to do that, I don't want to relate to that person, or whatever it happened to be. We're just not available. And how often are we making ourselves available, you know, to do that glorious gospel work that God might do, that glorious gospel work through us? One of the things that God wants us to be is available to those that happen to be around us, for the household of faith, for those who happen to be getting outside. you know, that we might have these redemptive relationships with the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we're not told when these individuals, and it seems again like these individuals, because they go out in all the city, we'll see this, and start preaching Christ and testifying Christ, so much so that a large crowd gathered next day, next Sabbath day for the preaching. But we don't know when these individuals really came to Christ. They could have come to Christ when Paul was preaching. They could have come to Christ in these private conversations afterwards. But I really love the way this verse ends, because it ends this way, as they spoke with them. In other words, Paul and Barnabas spoke with them. They urged them to continue in the grace of God. And I really love that, because that's really showing a heart of others, right? That's really showing, again, true Christianity. True Christianity, this is what it is. It's no more and no less. This is what true Christianity is. It's continuing in the grace that we began in, right? The grace of Christ, the grace of our great God that brought us to Jesus, right? That's what Christianity is. And it's one of the clearest signs that you happen to be a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is what? Is that you persevere in the faith of the Lord Jesus. You know, have you ever wondered about your salvation? Have you ever wondered if you truly are in Christ? Have you ever wondered what you did? In the past, maybe you were in a gospel preaching church, maybe again the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ would preach to you, and all of a sudden again you recognize it, you confess your sins before this holy God, you trusted in Jesus Christ. You know, and scripture tells you, you have a new status forevermore. You're a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. But as you struggle, as you go through all of these difficulties and all these things, we start to examine what happened back then. We start to examine, did I really believe? Did I really trust? You know, am I truly a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I truly have my sins forgiven? And you know what one of the clearest signs to answer that question is? And I think a lot of believers struggle with that. One of the clearest signs is not what was done back then. The clearest signs to authenticate what was done back then, here it is, it's what's going on today. You know, listen to what the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter three, verse number 14. For we have come to share in Christ. And just leave that verse up there for a second. For we have come to share in Christ. So he's looking back, right, and saying, I have come to share in Christ. Share in Christ is salvation, isn't it? We are in Jesus Christ. We are all joint heirs with him, right? It's talking about salvation. And then he says, if. This is how I know it's true. So how do I know what's true back then? This is how. If indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. How do I know? Because I'm trusting Jesus Christ today. If you're not trusting Jesus Christ today, what to say about what happened back then? It's what? It's faulty. I never trusted him back then. I might have trusted him again to ease the burdens in my life, or maybe I wanted these friends to happen again over here, or maybe I felt bad about a few things that I did. You know what? The evidence that I truly came to Christ, I'm truly in Christ, here it is. Let it continue. You know, if in the future, all of a sudden, I depart from the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we can know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. You can know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Whatever I professed, whatever I did for Christ was inauthentic. And why? Because the greatest sign that we are born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we've passed from death to life, we are in that light, not in darkness. We are one of his children, is that we continue on. And so you can imagine right here, here's these individuals that trust in Christ, and Paul cares about them. Paul really cares about them, so what does he do? Urges them. This is an absolute necessity in your life to continue in that grace that you started in. And I think it scares us many times, doesn't it? I mean, we look at our hearts, and they're so fickle many times. We fail in so many different areas that happen to be in our life, and we know people who have fallen away from the faith, and we wonder if we will be among that lot. It's incredible, because our lives, you know, the lives, again, of Christians are filled full of trials, temptations, you know, and you look at that, and it's absolutely incredible. And I think a lot of times, Christians think it's gonna be easy. Don't they? They think the sanctification process is easy. You know, I think one of the greatest trials, especially in young men's life, in young Christian men's life, You know, and I don't think it's gonna come as a very big shock as lust. You know, and a lot of times, I'll be asked, can you give me a couple of verses? You know, pastor, can you pray for me? And what they want, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is this, microwave Christianity. You know what microwave Christianity is? I got this juicy chicken with sauce all over it, and I stick it in, and two minutes later, guess what I get to do? I get to eat it. They want instantaneous change. And they don't realize that how God has chosen to conform us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ is this way. Through this hard and difficult process of putting off and putting on, I'm tempted to give up. You know, and through that battle, that's what Christianity is. It's a battle in this life. And what God calls us to do in those moments, right, is to continue in the grace. You know, in the midst of those trials, in the midst, again, of those weeks, and one of the greatest ways, one of the greatest tools that God uses in the midst of that battle, here it is, is the preaching of God's word. You know, the more that we come under that preaching, whether it happens to be, again, on a Sunday or a Wednesday, or whether it happens to be in our fellowship times, or whether it happens to be just gathering with other believers and talking about the struggles, talking about our difficulties, talking about these things, and how this relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ intersects, how this God, again, of all glory, of all grace, of all goodness, of all faithfulness intersects with our lives. You know, and we realize this, don't we? And we're called to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know, you know, the scripture tells us, and here's where the encouragement should be, because we look at it and we say, God, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fall, I'm gonna fall, I'm gonna fall, gonna wander away, gonna wander away. And I realize the road is narrow, but you know why the road is narrow? It's because it's contrasted with what? It's contrasted with the amount of people on this broad road that are going to, here it is, judgment, isn't it? I mean, aren't you surprised because so often we're looking over there and looking over there, and so often, again, we're not looking at how many people make it to the end. Isn't it true? There's individuals in this church right now that have followed Christ not only for a year or two, but for years, and here it is, decades. Guess what they're doing? Still following Christ. I don't know how many funerals I've done and they've always been a privilege to do. I've done far more funerals where people have finished well rather than people who have given up. A lot of times we don't see that. The encouragement that happens to begin right here is we can. We can continue on and why? Because we continue not in our own strength, but in this grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the more that you see that, the more that you see the power of the gospel in our own lives and what God can do, the more we want to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The more that we can say, oh, look at this gospel. And we can profess, even as Paul says in Romans chapter one, verse number 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for what? For salvation to who? To everyone who believes. I mean, incredible truth, isn't it? It really changes. You know, the destiny changes the person forevermore. There's power in the blood. There's power in the message. You know, the more that we're convinced of it, the more that we can see the truth, again, that happens to begin right here, the power, again, that comes through the preaching of God's word, the more we preach, the more we testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. It really has the power to change, again, the most crooked heart that happens to be there. It really can change the leopard spots. Now, that's one response, isn't it? But there is another response, and we also have to prepare our hearts and prepare our lives for the other response. And you have that other response in verses 44 and 45, and look at what it says. The next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowd, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. Now, think about that. We asked this question, I think, last week. And if not, I am 61 years old and I am claiming age. And anyways, thank you for laughing at it. Somebody did, praise the Lord. Yeah, yeah, amen, amen, there we go, there we go. I think I said this last week and I'm gonna say it again. What do you think the greatest problem in your life is? You know, if, exactly, exactly. You know, because I think the greatest problem we always think beyond a shadow of a doubt is external. Isn't it true? You know, and you look at it, if I could just change people, if I could just change circumstances, if I just could change life that happens to begin over here. You know, rather, you get into the problem many times, and even for these Jews that were really religious, the problem wasn't that they did not know the word of God. They did not know the will of God, because it's right there that happened to begin in his word. The problem was, I mean, think about it. You know, we want to hear, you know, we beg you to come back next week, and then all of a sudden, next week comes, and guess what? There's this opposition that this passage describes about. And what has changed? What's different? And here's what's changed, what's going on in the human heart. And I always find it amazing because, again, many times we can look at this passage and say, uh-huh, uh-huh, they rejected, they put off, they put off what they should have done the last Sabbath, and now that hardening of the heart, that hardening of the heart, that disposition, that pride, that arrogance, that jealousy, that envy, again, of other people is coming to play that happened to be right there. And we say, uh-huh, uh-huh, but let me tell you, what's the biggest problem that happens to be in your life as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? Because I really think, I think much of the frustration, much of the sin that we have in our life towards others, this is what we say, if you would understand what I was going through, if you understand what I had done, or what they had done, you would get it. And maybe I would get it, but guess what? It's still wrong. You know, there's still another option. And that option, again, is making much of Christ, obeying Him, loving Him, cherishing Him, forgiving others. Isn't it true? But I really believe, and the reason why I say this, again, so vehemently, the reason why I say it so zealously is because of this. I really wonder if we know that at one section of our brain, but in the living out of our theology, we don't believe it. And let me say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that your greatest problem is not your spouse. Your greatest problem is not your child who's rebelling. Your greatest problem is not the store clerk who didn't give you what you wanted. The greatest problem, again, is not your boss who doesn't recognize, again, the hard work that you do. The greatest problem is not that congregant who always seems to say the wrong thing. The greatest problem is not a pastor who might not see, again, all of your abilities, all of the things that you do in your life. The greatest problem in your life is not external, it's internal. It's what's going on in your heart. Because as you look at his passage, I mean, everything seems to be going great. And let me just say this again. If you're serious about serving Christ, if you want to make much of Christ, if you want to glorify Christ, if you want to praise him in your life, if you want to publish him all around, let me say beyond a shadow of doubt, you will have opposition. Right? You will have opposition. We shouldn't be surprised by that. If they had opposition, if, here it is, if Paul had opposition, if Jesus had opposition, let me say beyond a shadow of a doubt, we'll have opposition in our lives. But everything seems to be going great, and I love this verse that we're gonna read here in a second, because it really, again, I have to ponder this. How empty are the world religions? Have you ever thought about that? Here's all these people, and all these people, again, are religious in one sense and one sort that happen to be there. How empty are they? And not only the ancient religions, but how empty are all the religions that happen to be getting around us? And it shouldn't surprise us, and guess why? Because there is only one name where, here it is, eternal and substantial hope is found, and that name is what? Jesus, isn't it? Because look at what it says, and this would have been the outcome of that many that gathered with Paul and Barnabas after the last Sabbath, but it says the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Now, think about this, because this wouldn't be taking place in a synagogue. And the reason why is the synagogue would have been too small. So as they heard about more people, more people wanted to come out, wanted to come out, wanted to come out, they had to make another arrangement for somewhere else to preach. And it probably was in an open space, an open square that happened to begin in the city. Maybe they contacted city officials and said, again, we're going to have a preaching service that happened to begin right there. And there's another thing that you have to realize, that in the city, if all the city were gathered together, there were more, here it is, Gentiles than Jews, right? There are more of this world, and again, a Gentile, again, is just a non-Jew, but it happened to be, again, of the world, all these various different pagan religions that happen to be around us, and that's where the problem comes in. You know, as you look at this, You know, these things just seem to be a real good thing. They seem to be, again, a positive thing. But here's where the problem comes in. And the problem is, and I want you to realize this, it is with the synagogue leaders. These are the very best people. Remember this? Come next week, come next week. These are the very same people who begged them to come the next week but would not respond to Christ. And we read again right here in this passage of scripture, but when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul reviling him. Now, where did this adverse response come from? And there's an external stimuli, isn't there? And the external stimuli is basically this, a large crowd had gathered to hear them. That's the external stimuli. Now it interacts with what's in our heart. If there's a love for Christ, we're praising God, aren't we? If there's not a love for Christ, it's interacting with our human hearts, and there's a different response that comes out, right? It's not saying that this has to be the response. It's a response because of what's going on in our human heart. I mean, imagine this morning if we came out, and as I went through my message this week, I did imagine that this might happen, and I wish it would have happened. But praise God, this is the congregation that God has ordained for us to meet this very morning. But imagine if you came out and all of a sudden there were so many people that happened to be getting in our congregation. All the seats were filled. Maybe all the fellowship hall was filled. Maybe we had people standing around and they wanted to hear the gospel. They wanted to hear the word of God. As we looked at the parking lot, the parking lot was full. They might have been parking in the business right next to us just to find, again, accommodation. And all of a sudden, we decided, look, we can't do this here. We can't accommodate all these people. So let's take a mic. Let's take some speakers. Let's go out in the backfield. And let's proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, here's the thing. What would our response be? What would our response be? Well, it's cold. It's rainy. You're not spitting out there. You know, what would our response be? I think the response, again, of most of us would be, praise God, this is great, this is grand, this is glorious. But it's amazing because this is not the response of the Jewish leaders when a Jewish Messiah is going to be proclaimed as the answer. I mean, is it? And what was the problem? Because they saw, everyone's seeing the same thing. And the problem is this, it's right there in the text. It says this, they were filled with jealousy. Now think about that because you have to understand that. What does the word filled mean? Anyone? What does the word filled mean? If I say you're filled with anger, filled with vengeance, filled with Jesus, filled with goodness, filled with lust, filled with revenge. I mean, what do we mean by that? And I simply mean this, whatever we're filled with controls us, right? It's something inner, right? As I look at your heart, I can't see what fills it, but if I hang around long enough, whatever comes out, I can see. And that's what it means. In fact, it's used in a positive sense two times in this chapter. In verse number nine, it says that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit as he confronted the sorcerer that happened to be again right there. He's controlled by what? He's controlled by the Spirit of God. He has a word of God saturating his heart that what comes out is a spirit kind of result that glorifies a great God that happens to be above. And the last verse that happens to be in this chapter says this, We're filled with what? Joy and the Holy Spirit. Both of those things are interacting. Holy Spirit, we recognize the significance of our salvation. We recognize the significance of what God has done in our life. We realize we don't deserve this salvation. We don't deserve this calling that happened to be in our life. That gratitude, that thankfulness, that overwhelming sense of peace between us and God creates what? A joy. Right, that's what controls a life. But here's what's controlling their life, and it's gonna control their behavior, isn't it? And it happens to begin jealousy. Now, think about it. What are they jealous of? And they're jealous of this. This is what you have to realize. That you have to realize, for the Jews back then, Judaism, that happened to begin, there's not the religion of the Old Testament, but something that has been corrupted. And it's been corrupted in this way, that it was a way of righteousness before this great God. In other words, a way of being right and being found right in this great God. And here it is, we are the people, the exclusive people of God. We have preeminence, we have position, we have standing in God. Not all these other people. And think about it, because of the gospel, here it is, this Jewish messiah is being preached, he came and lived that perfect life, he died that substitutionary death for sinners like us. If that is absolutely true, and appropriating Jesus Christ in our life is just through simple repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, all of a sudden that preeminence, all of a sudden that position, all of a sudden that standing, all of a sudden that special place in God's heart is obliterated in their theology. And may I say this, the Jews, both the Jews and the Gentiles that Paul talked to after that Sabbath recognized the significance of that message. And that's why they went everywhere in that city publishing that message. That's why there's so many people that are gathered together. And why? Because they got that message. They got that glorious message. But here's the amazing thing. The jealousy that's in the heart causes us to pose the actual work of God that's going on. The problem is not biblical. It's not, again, that they can look things in the Old Testament and see where it doesn't jive with the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem is that they are filled with jealousy. And I believe, again, jealousy is one of the most blinding, other words, we don't recognize it's going on in our human hearts, one of the most blinding and destructive sins that there happens to be. You know, think about it. Think about it from this action. You know, the synagogue leaders, are the purveyor of truths. You know, truth comes through me. It doesn't come through Paul. It doesn't come through Barnabas. And it doesn't come through this guy named Jesus. It comes through us. And that kind of blinding, jealous pride is absolutely destructive. I deserve that friendship more than others. I should have that in my life. You know, so and so, maybe pastor should have asked me to do that ministry, not someone else. I'm so much more qualified. I'm so much more gifted. You know, and we have these various different things that happen to begin in our lives, right? You know, I deserve the recognition. Maybe we look at somebody else's family. We think we're such a good guy. We think we're such a good gal. We look at somebody else's family. We look at our family falling apart. I deserve to be married to a spouse like that. I deserve to have children like that. Have you ever been there? Because I'm gonna tell you something that jealousy cannot do. Jealousy cannot give thanks to God for the blessing in other people's lives. Isn't it true? Whoever you're jealous of, right? Paul says to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. And I think it's really easy to weep with those who weep. But I think it's a lot tougher to rejoice with those who rejoice, especially when we think beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are more deserving of these blessings than other people that happen to be around us. And you just can't. You can't be thankful, oh God, even if they didn't deserve it. I'm thankful that you blessed so-and-so in this way. I'm thankful that through their grace that you gave them this position, you gave them this authority, you gave them these relationships that happen to be in your life. God, you are an all good God. And God, you even give me what I don't deserve in my life. But you can't do that. And here's the thing you have to realize about jealousy. Jealousy is never contained inside, but it will work itself outside. And you can see that in the passage because it goes on, right? Jealousy leads to what? It leads to them, here it is, contradict. And they contradicted whatever Paul had said, whatever he taught. And have you ever known people like that? You try to have a conversation with them, you tell them about politics, or you tell them something about the Bible, and right away they're looking for a way to contradict it, contradict it, contradict it, and contradict it. And why? Because they're the avenue of truth. They're the avenue, again, of wisdom that happen to begin right there. And so many, again, people that happen to begin like that. And when that happens, it gives, right here it is, jealousy in the heart, we start again speaking vocally, and then all of a sudden, it even goes further, because look at how this verse ends off, because it ends off this way, began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. Now, I want you to think about it, just keep it up just two seconds longer. Here's the thing, I want you to look at the two last words in that verse. It's reviling him. And here's the thing, the translators of the ESV to help us understand this verse added the last word. And so think about it, because it says, began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, and then the verse actually ends like this, reviling. Now why is that so significant? Do you know what the actual Greek word is? The actual Greek word is blasphemy. And then we ask, you know, that's a word that's directed this way, they certainly wouldn't be doing to Jehovah God again in the Old Testament. So here's the question, who are they blaspheming? And it's Jesus, the Christ. I mean, isn't it amazing? I mean, how sinful, how corrupt is the human heart if in one week we can go from conviction of sin, one week going to being challenged about Jesus Christ being the Messiah, Jesus Christ being the answer to a human sin problem, to the next week in public cursing that very name, blaspheming the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what you have to understand about jealousy. When it's allowed, we're not seeing it, we're not looking in the scripture, we're not looking at our hearts, we're not examining our hearts to see our greatest problem. Jealousy, if it remains unchecked, will cause you to do things and cause you to go places and do things that you never thought you would do. And here's the kicker, like the religious leaders, it's all done in the name of God. Amazing, isn't it? Now, let me wrap all of this up with two quick challenges, and one is basically this. If you're serious, Christian. If you love the Lord Jesus Christ, and you realize, again, that people are gonna exist for all of eternity, and God has given us a mission here on planet Earth, and we want this God to be glorified, we want Him to be magnified, we want Him to be praised, let me say beyond a shadow of a doubt, you are gonna suffer opposition. There's gonna be trials, there's gonna be difficulties, there's gonna be opposition that comes into your life. And let me also say this, because this is the second thing, this is the corollary. God, if you're willing to live that life for his glory, let me say beyond a shadow of a doubt, God will do in your life through you, right? He doesn't have to use you, but he's chosen to use a vessel like us. He will use you as a vessel of his grace, and he will bring fruit that is beyond all comparison that happens to be in your life. I mean, think about it. Isn't it a thrill to realize that some people will glorify God for all of eternity because God has used feeble instruments like us. We realize that ultimately He opens up the heart, He opens up the life, but it's never apart from the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it amazing that somebody will stand in the presence of Jesus Christ forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever, praising Him, and God used us, you know, as that instrument. to make known the Lord Jesus. Let me ask you, is there anything greater, any greater enterprise that we can be engaged in in the here and now than the making and maturing of disciples for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? Let's be busy about our master's work. Let's bow our hearts in a moment of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness. We thank you for a grace in our lives. We just ask that you be with us, Lord, especially as we go to the table. And Lord, reflect once again on our position. Reflect once again on what has been done for miserable sinners like us that we might live before you. We thank you. Just be with us as we continue. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, I don't