Well good morning to everyone. Good to have each and every one of you here this morning. Nice full house and a beautiful sunny day. 

We're gonna be studying Acts 13. I'd like to begin this morning by asking you to turn to John chapter 3 with me please. John chapter 3. This is a passage you're probably familiar with where Nicodemus comes to Jesus to ask him about entering the kingdom. 

John 3 at verse 1: There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 

And if you go down to verse 16 with me please, a familiar verse: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil." 

Nicodemus was a religious man, a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin. He was one of the most holy men by man's standard of that time. And he came to Jesus and Jesus told him that he needed something, he needed to be born again. 

And he goes on in those later verses to explain to us that being born again comes through believing Jesus. That the only way that we can be justified, as we'll see in our text today, we can't be justified by the law of Moses, we can only be justified by faith in Jesus Christ. And Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, hearing a message about Jesus Christ, the Word of God. 

Now what this necessitates for us and for the world is that men hear a message about Jesus, that they hear the gospel. If a man must hear to believe to be saved, to be born again, then he must hear that message about Jesus and therefore we must take that message to every man in this world, to every creature as Jesus said. 

In our text this morning, we're going to see the importance of making the gospel clear and what we're really going to see is Paul's first recorded sermon as we begin to look at Paul's ministry. It's not his first sermon, he's been preaching for several years and leading people to Christ, but this is the first recorded sermon, the beginning of Paul's ministry to the Gentiles as recorded in the book of Acts. 

And we'll spend the rest of our time in this book studying his missionary journeys to bring the good news to a lost and dying world. Now what we see in Paul's life is that with the preaching and furthering of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there very often comes a great deal of hardship and difficulty. 

We see this from the very beginning and all the way through the history of the church. There is the hardship of travel, as we'll see in our text today, of getting to the remote and difficult and dangerous areas to reach men with the gospel. There is persecution and open opposition to the gospel and to the efforts of believers because as Jesus said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. 

Believers are despised in this world because they bring a message of truth, of an exclusive way of salvation through Jesus Christ by faith alone in him. And there is the subtle animosity that exists with all lost men, a lack of agreement, of fellowship, of comfortable relationship, even with our closest loved ones who do not believe. 

For the ambassador of Christ, the one who endeavors to bring the good news to the lost of this world, wherever that might be, there is always a battle, a struggle, discouragement, and opposition. And we see this in the life and ministry of Paul on his missionary journeys beginning right here in Acts 13. 

Let's read our text, it's a long text, but this is encompassing Paul's sermon in the synagogue. Acts 13 at verse 13: Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga and Pamphylia. And John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch and Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. 

And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." 

Then Paul stood up and motioning with his hand, said, "Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelled as strangers in the land of Egypt. And with an uplifted arm, he brought them out of it. 

Now for a time of about 40 years, he put up with their ways in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land to them by allotment. After that, he gave them judges for about 450 years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward, they asked for a king. So God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. 

And when he had removed him, he raised up for them David as king, to whom also he gave testimony and said, "I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will." From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior, Jesus. 

After John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, and as John was finishing his course, he said, "Who do you think I am? I am not he. But behold, there comes one after me, the sandals of whose feet I'm not worthy to loose." 

Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning him. 

And though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. 

And we declare to you glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he has raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, "You are my son, today I have begotten you." And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus, "I will give you the sure mercies of David." 

Therefore, he also says in another Psalm, "You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption." For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God raised up saw no corruption. 

Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish. For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you." 

I've given you four points on your outline today for the text. First, we're going to see difficulty and desire. Second, opportunity and encouragement. Third, context and clarity. And fourth, warning and exhortation. 

Well, the first point we see in our text this morning concerning the ministry of reconciliation that's been given to us, the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel, to make the gospel clear, is that in this we will experience difficulty, but within those difficulties, a tremendous desire to see men saved. 

And turn over with me to 2 Corinthians 11, please. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul gives testimony of some of the hardships and difficulties he endured in his journeys preaching the gospel. In 2 Corinthians 11:23, he writes, "Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more. In labors, more abundant. In stripes, above measure. In prisons, more frequently. In deaths, often. From the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys, often. In perils of waters. In perils of robbers. In perils of my own countrymen. In perils of the Gentiles. In perils in the city. In perils in the wilderness. In perils in the sea. In perils among false brethren. In weariness and toil. In sleeplessness, often. In hunger and thirst. In fastings, often. In cold and nakedness. Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches." 

This was the experience of Paul in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, and certainly he had many blessings and joyous experiences and tremendous fruit, but a good deal of his life and ministry was comprised of hardship, suffering, and discouragement. There was always the bitter along with the sweet, and some scholars believe that a good part of this list that he gives us in 2nd Corinthians 11 came from the journey he made described in verse 13 of our text. 

It's easy just to read over these words, but the journey from Paphos to Antioch and Pisidia was about 490 miles. Some of this by ship, but the most difficult and treacherous part from Perga up to Antioch was on foot on narrow paths through the mountains where there was a real and present danger of bands of thieves, and from Perga to Antioch of Pisidia was nearly a hundred miles through the Taurus Mountains. 

I can't imagine what it must have been like in those days to travel through those kind of terrains and those dangerous situations and walking everywhere they went. We see in verse 13 that John Mark, for whatever reason, decided that he would not make the trek, and he returned to Jerusalem. And later we're going to see that Paul had a serious problem with John Mark over this issue and caused division with him and Barnabas. Yet in all this, Paul was determined to preach Jesus Christ. This was his passion. This was his great desire, because he knew that this was the only way that men could be saved and the gospel of Christ could be furthered, fulfilling his ministry and glorifying God. 

In Philippians 1:21, Paul wrote, "for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain." You see, God put a desire in Paul's heart. He poured out his love into Paul's heart, just as with every believer. That love compels us, and thus we speak. 

We speak the truth to every man in great hope and desire for that man to be saved. He wrote to the Corinthians, "it is a small thing for you to judge me, for I don't even judge myself." Paul knew that the only opinion that mattered was God's opinion, that of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and he longed to serve Him. He longed to honor Him and obey Him in the ministry of the Word. 

Paul had many difficulties, but he also had a great determination driven by his desire, and that's a tremendous example for us. In 2nd Timothy 3, Paul wrote to young Timothy, the pastor, "all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, in order that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 

And in chapter 4, he said, "I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom, preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables." 

Now listen to what he says to Timothy, "but you be watchful in all things. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry." This is what Paul believed. He believed that the scriptures were inspired by God, that these words are the words of God, and that it is the job of the minister of Jesus Christ to preach these words, to do the work of an evangelist, to endure afflictions for the sake of Christ. 

And notice what he said to Timothy, this is true for each one of us, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in kingdom." You see, it's what God thinks that matters. It is Jesus, the one who will judge the living and the dead. Jesus is the one to whom I will give account, the one who died for me and raised me to newness of life. 

It's what God thinks that matters. Not me, not men, but what God says I must obey. And this is exactly the way Paul lived his life. Even in the midst of all these difficulties, he was determined to preach Christ. And he told us in Corinthians to follow him as he follows Jesus Christ. He's an example to us. 

God put a great love and desire in the heart of Paul, and we see that when he had opportunity, he was ready to give encouragement through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We read back in our text in verse 15 that after the reading of the law and the prophets in the synagogue there, he was given the opportunity to speak. I love that. Reminds me of a down south thing, you know, "say on." You got something to say? "Say on." 

And Paul took that opportunity. He stood up. He said, "listen to me." And then he gave an account of the history of Israel. And when we get down to verse 32, he says, "we declare to you glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers." He talked about that promise. He talked about God's working in the history of Israel. 

He talked about how he had promised them a Savior through the line of David. And he tells us in verse 33 that God has fulfilled this for us, their children, and that he's raised up Jesus. "You are my son. Today I have begotten you." And he has raised him from the dead, he says. "No more to return to corruption." David returned; he corrupted; he rotted in the ground. But Jesus saw no corruption. 

And in verse 38, he says, "therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man, Jesus, is preached to you the forgiveness of sins, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." 

In these verses we see context and clarity. I was just up Lake of the Woods this week fishing with my brothers from Indiana, and my one brother is not saved, and we've been growing in different directions for years, and he went on about the Muslims, and how I must hate the Muslims, and we're all children of God, and what's wrong with me, and we kind of had a little yelling match there for a minute until I got a hold of myself. 

But the point is, Jesus is the exclusive way to salvation. He's the only way. And for everyone who believes him, they are justified. That's what we see in Paul's sermon. He's in the synagogue. He's with the Jews and those Gentiles who feared God, and he's been given an incredible opportunity to speak and to teach. 

Now what does he do? He starts where the Jewish brethren are with what they understand and can relate to. There's a context within which he preaches here in the synagogue of the Jews, but note clearly that his immediate goal is to preach Christ, to make the gospel clear. 

I think this is a universal principle. We find this to be true when we seek to preach the gospel as well. There's a context. We're looking to open a conversation or relate in some way to the person or people we are talking to, but with the sole purpose of making the gospel clear. 

I remember many years ago I was invited to speak at the National Trappers Convention and to oversee the Sunday morning worship service. It was a tremendous opportunity to preach the gospel to a whole group of trappers, my people, but most of them were not saved. So I used the trapping example, setting a certain kind of trap that was required by law to be set under the water. 

And the thing was it was much more efficient to set it mostly out of the water if you wanted to catch a beaver. So this was a law that was often broken and I used this example. I said if a man were to go out and run a long line in spring for beaver and he set a hundred of these beaver traps and 99 of them were completely under the water legally, but he set one of them out of the water, what would happen if the warden found that trap? 

And the point was it doesn't matter how many good things I've done, or how many times I've followed the law, if I break it once I am a lawbreaker deserving of judgment. And I was able then to make the gospel clear to these trappers of how Jesus died in our place for our sins, to pay for every one of our sins, how he rose again victorious over sin and death and hell. 

You see, Paul is in the synagogue and what the Jews understood was the history of Israel, of God's working through that nation, choosing them out and working in and through them to accomplish His will. And what they understood and appreciated most of all was the promise, the promise of Messiah, made by God to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, of a Messiah, a deliverer that would bring salvation to Israel. 

And this is what he covers in verses 16 to 23 in our text. In verse 15 they received the opportunity. The leader of the synagogue says, "'Say on, brothers.'" They were just waiting on the Holy Spirit to arrange the details, and when the opportunity came, they were ready. 

In his preaching, Paul is simply using the opportunity given to him to make the gospel clear. He's using the situation and the opportunity he has in a natural way to quickly and clearly get to the gospel of Christ. Sometimes we hear the ideas of men that we have to build long relationships or earn the right to preach the gospel. 

We might even have to know someone for years before we can tell them the truth about Jesus. But I think that kind of thinking is completely foreign to the Scriptures. It took Paul just a couple minutes to get to Jesus, and Jesus wasn't necessarily a popular name among the Jewish congregation. 

It's an important lesson for us. We find many opportunities. God brings us opportunities. He brings people into our lives. He sets up the circumstances. Many ways to turn a conversation or seize an opportunity, and it's good to relate to people and start where they are and preach the gospel, but the point is to make it clear. 

They have to hear a clear message about Jesus in order to believe, and they have to believe in order to be born again, and they have to be born again to enter the kingdom, Jesus said. And that's what Paul does in this sermon. We see the context, but quickly we see the clarity. 

Verse 23 again of our text, it says, "from this man's seed," speaking of David, "according to the promise, God raised up a Savior, Jesus." In verse 26, "men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent." 

"For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers because they did not know him, nor even the voices of the prophets, they didn't know the Scriptures, which are read every Sabbath. They have fulfilled them in condemning him. They asked Pilate to kill him without a cause." 

Verse 30, "but God raised him from the dead. He was seen by witnesses, and now these men come and they preach what they have seen, declaring glad tidings, the promise has been fulfilled in Jesus." 

That was the message, that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day to fulfill the Scriptures, to fulfill the promise of God of a Deliverer. And it's through this man that forgiveness of sins is preached. Paul is bold in telling the truth about Jesus and about Israel having rejected and killed their Messiah, not knowing, he says, but he also makes abundantly clear the truth that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise of God. 

That it's through this one man that they could have their sins forgiven, and that it's by believing him that we can be justified, not by the law of Moses, but by faith in Jesus. You know, this is an amazing statement in the context of that synagogue, that it's not by the law of Moses. They were trying to be justified by the law of Moses, they were trying to keep the law, and Paul says, no, all of that is a lie. 

The law was not the fulfillment of God's promise; the law was meant to lead you to the fulfillment of God's promise, Jesus, and only he can save you from the wrath of God for your sins, and only by faith in him can we be justified. 

My friends, this message was a bombshell for legalistic Jews, and it's a bombshell today for legalistic Christians in our world, because they're all trying to justify themselves by the law of Moses, by the works of the law, and the fact is that the law, good works, cannot justify you because you have broken God's law and deserve to experience his wrath in the lake of fire forever. 

James 2:10 tells us if we keep the whole law but offend at one point, we are guilty of all. Romans 3:23 makes clear that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The law requires perfection. Jesus said you must be perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect, Matthew 5:48. 

We don't need the law, we don't need sacraments, we don't need rituals, we don't need systems to earn favor with God, what we need is mercy, what we need is the grace of God found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and we need to choose to cast away all of our own righteousness and receive his righteousness by faith. 

This is the only way we can be made right with God, and in verse 32 it says, "we declare to you glad tidings." Religion, justification by the law of Moses, salvation by works is a dead end literally and cannot make you right with God; it is not good news, that's what Paul said in Galatians 1, it's not another, it's a different gospel, it's not good news, but the true gospel according to the Word of God is glad tidings, it's good news of salvation by the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross and his burial and resurrection from the dead, and the fact that through faith in him alone we can be saved, we can be secure forever, this is good news. 

So we see in the course of ministry we will have difficulty, but God has given us a great desire pouring his love out into our hearts, that we'll have opportunity to bring encouragement by the truth that we need in our preaching context and clarity, and finally this morning we see that part of making the gospel clear is warning and exhortation. 

Look at verse 40 of our text and see how Paul ends his sermon: "'Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you. Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you.'" 

Isn't this what we find in our time? It can be so discouraging and frustrating to preach the truth, to make it clear, and have men just reject it, to refuse a free gift. Paul embraces the difficulties of preaching the gospel with determination. Paul seized the opportunity to bring encouragement with glad tidings, with context and clarity, and here we see him exhort his hearers to believe the gospel, and he warns them against unbelief. 

He appeals to them to believe Jesus, to receive Christ as their Messiah by faith. "'Beware,' Paul says, "'pay attention. Make sure you do not despise the glad tidings of the gospel. For God has said of Israel and the prophet, "'I will work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you.'" 

This is a warning and an exhortation that we find throughout the scriptures when we see the gospel preached, a warning to believe and not to perish, an exhortation to realize our sin and our need for a Savior, to turn from self-righteousness and religion to faith in Jesus Christ. 

I'd like for you just to look at a couple of these warnings in the book of Hebrews with me, please. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1, we see a pattern in the book of Hebrews of teaching doctrine and then warning to those who would not believe or heed that doctrine. 

Hebrews 2:1: "'Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels prove steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him?'" 

If we were duly punished under the law of Moses, he says, how much greater condemnation? How shall we escape judgment if we neglect, if we reject Jesus Christ, if we fail to believe him?" 

There's a similar warning in Hebrews 6, and perhaps the clearest warning is for those who had heard and known the gospel found in Hebrews 10, if you'd turn to Hebrews 10 at verse 26, please, and listen to these sobering words. 

In Hebrews 10:26, "'For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,' that's just what the prophet said would happen with Israel, 'though someone declare it to you plainly, you will reject it.'" If we sin willfully, if we reject the gospel after knowing, after hearing it, he says, "'there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose? Will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God under foot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart or sanctified, a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." 

And again, "the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Making the gospel clear, my friends, includes context and clarity, making sure that we're getting the message across about the substitutionary death of Christ, that he died in my place, in your place, for our sins, that he was buried and rose again, that through faith in him we can receive his righteousness. 

We can be made right with God. And that salvation cannot be accomplished by the law of Moses. It cannot be accomplished by good works. We have to be clear, but making it clear also demands a call to believe and a warning not to perish by failure to believe Jesus. 

Paul was committed to preaching nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified, and he offered these glad tidings, this good news to men of salvation through faith in Jesus alone. And he warned men of the certainty of judgment for those who reject Jesus, and he called on them. He pled with them. He begged them to come to faith in Christ. 

This is what Paul's life and ministry was all about. And my friends, this is our call as well in this world, as disciples of Christ, to take the gospel to every creature, to offer glad tidings and call men to believe, to make the message clear. 

Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 5, "knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin, Jesus, to be sin for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God in him." 

There will be hardships, there will be difficulties, but we continue because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us, because although as we see as Jesus preached in John 10, so many pick up stones, yet still there are those who believe on his name and are saved. 

This is our joy, this is our privilege, this is our life as believers in Jesus Christ. We seek those opportunities that the Holy Spirit provides, we long to make the gospel clear, and we call on men to believe, to come to Christ and be saved, and we grieve over those who perish, who will not come. 

These are the lessons, the principles that we see in Acts 13 and Paul's sermon in the synagogue, lessons that still serve us well in our life and ministry today. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful that you've given to us the Word, the truth, the gospel to preach, to be your ambassadors. I just pray, Lord, that you would help us to abide in Jesus day by day, to trust him, to believe him, and to have him live his life through us, that we might be fruitful for your glory and lead many to Christ. It's in his name we pray.