The Discipline Of Disciple-making – What Was The Gospel That Turned The World Upside Down

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Biblical Exercises for Spiritual Health & Fitness in 2014 Series

The Discipline of Disciple-Making:

What Was the Gospel that

Turned the World Upside Down?

Acts 14-17

Transcript

But let’s open our Bibles to Acts 14. And you have come this morning, I don’t know if you realize, that you have come to the gathering of the body, the local manifestation of the body of Jesus Christ gathered here as His church at Calvary because He’s drawing and prompting us to do so. We don’t come to church because we have to, because it’s on our calendar and we’re supposed to, because we got some kind of invitation. We come as believers because we are drawn from within that we want to come where Jesus Christ walks among us as His gathered Church. But not only that, we come because His Word is what we want to focus on. One of the hallmarks of the early Church was that they gathered for the Word of God to be taught to them before it was written down. They would hear the speaking from the apostles and from the prophets, and after it was written down, they would have it read to them as the letters came to the churches. And it was only after quite a while that actually people had their own copies that they could carry around and tote with them like we do. And now it’s in so many different forms that it’s hard to believe, but we have come as a succession of all the generations of the Church of Christ to worship Him, focus on Him, and listen to the Lord speak to us through His Word, and I hope that you have a heart to listen and to respond this morning.

Because what I want to talk about, you see it on the screen there. I’ve always wondered what, because it’s not on my screen; all it says there is exit, and I don’t want to do that. But this morning I’m talking about the Gospel, and as I’m talking about the Gospel, we’re continuing through the book of Acts, and you’re in chapter 14. That’s how far we’ve gotten. We’re looking at the 22 Gospel presentations, descriptions, definitions, and also the techniques that they used to communicate the truth. We’re looking at those 22, but as we’re going through those, what we’re coming to this morning is how supernatural the Gospel is. And that’s why I titled this, What Was the Gospel? And by the time we get to chapter 17, that’s where we’re headed this morning is chapter 17. It’s described there by unsaved people, by pagans, by lost people that weren’t converted, they said, those people that have turned the whole world upside down have come here too. Do you understand that’s how lost people thought the Gospel was presented as a world, a paradigm tumble, that everything formerly that was important changes, that everything formerly that was the direction of the life has been upturned. It’s like an earthquake and a tsunami all put together, and that’s how the Gospel was defined.

Now, let me ask you this: has that happened to you? Or do you not even remember something happened to you? Everyone told you something happened to you, or everyone assures you, it’s happened to you. In fact, last week, one of our pastors had just a phone, an appointment with someone they’d never met, and they came in, and the person wanted to talk to someone. And they said, what can we talk about? And the person told them, and of course the first thing we always do is we ask them if they’ve ever heard the Gospel. And they said, I don’t need to hear the Gospel because I’ve always been told I’m worthy of Heaven, and they just went right through that. And the pastor said to them, did you, would it shock you if you knew that’s not what the Bible says? And the short of it is that they were led to the Lord and have become a follower of Jesus Christ. Why? Because the Gospel is powerful. The Gospel that is taught in the Word of God totally changes people from the inside out. In fact, it traumatizes. That’s what we’re going to look at this morning. It traumatizes people that hear the Gospel and don’t respond to it because they see their friends change, but let’s look at that this morning.

Salvation is a miracle from God. Salvation is the most amazing miracle we get to see up close through our lives as believers. First, we get to see it inside of us. In fact, the Bible says that the greatest proof of God is when He moves in and changes us. We become a new creation in Christ. Now again, let me ask you what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. I have hope for my soul, for which long I had sought since Jesus came into my heart. Has that happened to you? Or do you just attend church? See, it’s a miracle. It’s a miracle I can’t perform. You can’t come up here, and I go, you’re saved. It’s amazing how people think that if they get to the right place, and you’re the right person, and if they say the right words, that something will happen to them. God saves people, and only God saves, and it’s a miracle when He does. But you know what the joy is? We get to be right up close.

When people hear about miracles, I mean, there used to be these traveling tent healing services that crisscrossed the United States, especially in twenties, thirties, and forties, and even into the fifties. And people were drawn. There used to be standing room only. They came to see a miracle, and now they can watch on TV. But you know what? You want a real miracle? Get saved. You talk about a verification of God! When you connect with Him, it’s unbelievably powerful. That was, the reality of salvation, that we’re even saved in itself is a miracle of God’s grace, and those who are around us are saved are a part of the constant stream of miracles we get to see and touch personally through life. That’s why coming to church, we come to see lives God has changed, and it stimulates, and encourages, and helps us, and it makes us remember again what God has done to us. In fact, when we get to disciple people, when we get to disciple someone who is miraculously saved is such an encouragement to us.

Now, what is the miracle of salvation? Let me just describe it from God’s perspective. Okay? If you just took together how God looks at us, this is what the Bible says. From God’s perspective, all of us humans were born into this world, infected with a blinding, crippling virus. We had it at birth, we got it; and left alone with no intervention from God it leads to eternal death, and darkness, and endless pain. Every single human being ever born on this planet has had this infection except for One, and He wasn’t a normal human. He was God in human flesh, born in the normal way of humans, except God miraculously conceived Him within Mary so that He did not have the sin virus. But other than that, every single one of the billions born are born with this virus that more and more cripples and blinds them through life. You say, what do you mean by crippled? We are slaves at birth to the god of this world. Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, you’re of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. The reason that kid shot up Seattle Pacific University, whatever, yesterday or the day before is because he’s following his father, the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning and doesn’t abide in the truth. See, that’s what the Bible says is all of our fate, and it cripples us, blinds us, but it gets worse when you think about it. God looks down and sees us sitting blinded in the dark, but we’re at the edge of a deadly chasm. We’re ready to fall into this endless, conscious, painful torment of dying with our sins, and God sees us as we’re sitting there on the edge of that. And salvation is when He opens our eyes, when He turns us from sinful darkness to lovers of God. Do you understand we were born loving the darkness rather than light? Jesus said that. When we’re saved, we love the light rather than the darkness, and we want to love and follow God rather than the god of this world. Now everyone was born blind and paralyzed, a lover of darkness. And at a point in our life when we call out in faith to the only One that can save us, when we call to Him and say, You’re right. I’m paralyzed, sinful, wicked, hopeless, sitting on the edge of the chasm, ready to fall into endless destruction, and I ask You to save me.

Now you notice I didn’t say a formula. There isn’t a specific order of words that you say and have someone nearby intoning and doing motions or something. It is completely connecting to God. And by the way, we saw last time, last Sunday, that God is only one arm’s length away from everybody on this planet. You talk about access. God is this close, one arm’s length, from everybody. He’s standing that close to everybody. He says, if haply you’ll grope, and in your blindness and paralysis if you’ll just try and get to Him. He says, I’m right there. And salvation is when we call out to the One who’s been there all the time and ask Him to save us.

When that happens, it traumatizes unsaved people around us that it doesn’t happen to, and that’s what we’re going to see in the book of Acts.

When the light of the Gospel shines into the hearts and minds of the blind and paralyzed lost sinners, they come alive. They were sitting right on the edge of the cliff; they were just almost toppling into it, and all of a sudden, their eyes are open. They go [Gasp], and they don’t want anything to do with that, and they just start getting as far away from the edge as possible. And all the other people sitting on the edge are going, what’s wrong? Where you going? What happened? What happened? You’re just different. What are you doing? And you and I start telling them, you’re a sinner, you’re blind, you’re paralyzed by your sin, you’re headed to destruction. God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth has moved inside. And they go, you’re crazy! Sit down and be quiet and come on back. And that’s the trauma, and that’s what the whole book of Acts is about if you think about it—the unsettling, shocking condition that all the blind and paralyzed sinners around them, that we cause them when we get saved. When we all of a sudden start, when our eyes are open, we can see! They can’t. They think we’re crazy, and they don’t want anything to do with it. It’s so unsettling.

We can see this most clearly in Christ’s ministry. At the perfect moment, God Himself stepped into time and space. He became a man, Jesus Christ, God the Son, and He lived this super powerful life among humans. Think of everything Jesus did in the Gospels. He came as the Light of the world. He healed, raised, fed, liberated, cleansed, and calmed multitudes of people. If people just got near Him, the power of God was there, and He healed them. And when they were hungry and out in the wilderness, He fed all of them. And when they were on their way to the graveyard, widows with their only sons being carried in a casket, He’d stop the casket, and He’d touch it and the person would come to life. You talk about an explosion of light, and life, and power, and what was the result? You’ve read the chapters. This astounding event of Christ’s love and power flooding the land of Israel was so unsettling to the spiritually blind and paralyzed leaders that they did everything they could to end Christ’s work. Do you remember what they did do? They murdered the Prince of Life. See, that’s how traumatic the Gospel is when people started being turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God. The people around them get unsettled and traumatized. And the account of the book of Acts—all those mobs, and the crowds beating, and tearing, and trying to pull Paul apart, and all the beatings, and the imprisonments, and the stoning’s, and everything else—why don’t they have something better to do? It’s because he rocked their boat and was tipping over their world, traumatizing them.

Well, why do we do this trauma to the world? In the end, after His resurrection, Jesus Christ met with about 500 people, which was probably the bulk of the true converts from His ministry. Have you ever thought about that? Jesus Himself, after three and a half years of preaching and raising the dead, and blind, and lame, and everything else, only about 500 people responded to Him. And He met with the bulk of all those converts, and it says in 1 Corinthians 15, He showed Himself to them. But you know what He told them? He says, you’re to continue the spread of the light of My Gospel, the Gospel of Christ, which began in Israel, but I want you to take it to every corner of this sin-darkened world. That’s what we call the Great Commission. Great because it came from God. Mission because it’s something we’re supposed to do. Co- mission because we do it with Him. See, we can’t save people. We can’t miraculously, I cannot turn someone from being totally enslaved to alcohol, or to drugs, or to immorality, or to fear, or to bitterness. I can’t undo that, but I know who can, and I can introduce them to the One that can do that, and that’s what the Great Commission is. It’s not in our power; it’s in His power unleashed through us. It’s the most amazing thing.

At this end of the spectrum of the Scriptures, after having seen the Gospels now that are written down, think about Jesus Christ, God the Son, commissioning those who were His followers. They were to go in His power and to do something. Now, I wrote it down for you to see what He commissioned them to do. They were all to go in His power and seek to share the life-transforming, sin-removing, blindness-ending Gospel of salvation to every person in the world. That means they were supposed to go up to all those people sitting on the edge of the precipice, ready to tumble into eternal darkness, blindly paralyzed by their sin, and say, you don’t have to. You don’t have to be bound by your sin. You don’t have to be blind. You don’t have to be sitting in darkness. Let me point you to the One, and if you will cry out to Him, for whoever calls the name of the Lord will be saved. And we can say that to every single person. The Gospel is intended for presentation to every creature. We don’t have to go, I don’t know if they’ll respond, or I don’t think they will respond, or I don’t know if they’re one of the elect. Who knows who the elect are? God does. Do you know how we find out? We share the Gospel with them, and they just explode with life. All we’re supposed to do is share that Gospel, the Great Commission. From that mountain in Galilee, Christ launched the Gospel, and He promised to be going out with everyone who will take His message and share it. And He said, I will accompany you. I will empower you in this mission.

And that’s what we’ve been studying in the Book of Acts. You’re in chapter 14. You know how we got to 14? We covered the four Gospel presentations Peter gave. It was Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter. And then by the time we get to chapter 8, it’s Peter and Philip. And then a little bit later in chapter 8, it was Philip all by himself. And then by the time we get to chapter 9, Jesus leads the Apostle Paul to faith. And then by the time we get to chapter 11, multitudes of people are taking the Gospel out. But this morning, we’re looking at the reality that the Gospel is now going global.

In the Book of Acts in chapter 14, we’re looking at the end of the first missionary journey. It starts in chapter 13 in verse 4, and it ends in chapter 14 in verse 27, and it’s Paul’s, you all remember learning that in Sunday school, right? Is Paul’s first missionary journey, and what we’re looking at is what happened starting in verse 15. We’re going to pick up in just a moment. You’re there. We’re going to read it in just a second. We’re going to look at this Gospel. That was miraculous, that utterly turned the world upside down of everyone it touched with the transforming power of Christ in them, and Paul is testifying of this. Actually, the context of what we’re reading is Paul’s come back to his home church, Antioch, the ones that nurtured him, and he was discipled, encouraged by Barnabas. And then he was sent out with Barnabas on this first trip in chapter 13, and now they’ve come home, and that’s what verse 27 is. He’s in front of the church telling them what God did, and that’s going to be a blessing. We’re just going to read three verses of it. So, with that in mind, turn with me to chapter 14 verse 15. This is, if you’re counting, this is the eleventh Gospel explanation presentation in the book of Acts.

And with your Bibles open, let’s stand up, and we’re going to read three verses. You just follow along; I’m going to read them starting in verse 15, then move down to verse 21, then move down to verse 27. And don’t be alarmed. I’m going to go through all the words in between, but I don’t want you to stand so long. Okay? So, I’m just showing you the highlights. We’re just hitting the top. So, those three verses starting verse 15: and saying, men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the Heaven, the Earth, the sea, and all the things that are in them. Now, skip down to verse 21, and when they had preached the Gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. Now to verse 27, now, when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Wow. The first report of the world turning upside down, miraculous spread of the Gospel global.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer. Father, there’s so much just in these verses. How I pray they wouldn’t just be words, that we wouldn’t be so distracted, that our minds are already on whatever is coming next in this day, but that we would ask You to focus our hearts that we might see wonderful truth, that You would open our eyes so that with the eyes of our understanding, the spiritual new creations that we are, that we would hear You. And Father, I always pray for some, and they don’t even know what we’re talking about. This has never happened to them. They just go to church, and they were just baptized, and they’re just a part of an organization, but they are not alive yet. I pray that even this morning sitting here or watching on the stream, that You would stir, and convict, and draw them. And may they cry out to You right where they’re sitting and say, God, I’m paralyzed, I’m blind. I want to see; I want You to set me free. I want You, O God, I want You to save me. You’re here, and You’re an arm’s length away, and what a blessing it would be if You did that miracle again and again and again all around us today. Be at work we pray. Open our hearts as Your children who know You to understand and obey. In the name of Jesus, we ask this, amen.

And you may be seated. Now, let’s go through this with your Bibles open. Start in verse 15. This is a profound part of Scripture. Now, the backdrop, I don’t want to, I could read a lot more verses. Basically, Paul’s come into town, healed this crippled guy. Everyone thought, wow, the gods have come to our town, and they got so excited that they haul out an ox, and they’re going to start sacrificing it to Paul and Barnabas. That’s the short of this. And so right in the middle of that, they cry out in verse 15 and say, men, why are you doing these things? Don’t sacrifice to us. We’re also men. We’re not Zeus and Mercury, we’re not these gods, we’re not here as part of the Roman Pantheon. We have the same nature as you, and here’s what we came for. We preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God. Now what’s that mean in context? They were talking about the temple to Zeus. Now, have you ever seen a temple to Zeus? I usually, in the Holy Land, there’s a marvelous temple to Zeus in a city called Bet Shean. That’s where Scythopolis, it’s also called, it’s in the north. It’s just south of the Sea of Galilee, and it’s one of the largest excavations in the Holy Land. It’s a Roman city that was destroyed by an earthquake in the 700s, the eighth century, it fell down, and so it’s just like it was, and it got covered with dirt, and they pulled the dirt back, just acres of dirt. And you can come to the very heart of the main north-and-south and the main east-and-west road. And right at that road I always pause with the group, and you can see these 60-foot columns. They’re just like toothpicks fallen down; they’re just lying there still. And I say, imagine those columns 60 feet up on that platform. The platform is 20 feet up, and then put a 60 foot column, and then put all the capital on top of that, and this ornate structure. This thing was taller than a 10-story building, and that’s what a temple of Zeus looked like. And here’s Paul standing outside a temple of Zeus 10 stories high with all the people screaming and yelling that are followers, and adherents, and members of the Zeus club. And look what he says to them in verse 15: that you should turn from these useless things, this Zeus stuff, to serve the living God. You’re doing useless activity here. This is not real. This is just a false pagan god. He really laid it onto them.

Someone told me this week, they said, boy, you really hammered baptism last week. I said, yeah, they taught me in seminary. You hammer it once and you don’t come back. The people that you don’t like are the ones that hammer the same thing every week. Not me. I hammer something different every week. I say enough every week to offend someone or everyone, but you don’t hammer it every week. You just hammer it once and let it go. Paul hammered everything about their life. Their whole life was built around, they put this temple front and center, and everything rotated around it. And Paul says in verse 15, this is useless. You should come to the living God. Look at the rest of what it says in verse 15: He made the Heaven and the Earth, the sea, and all the things are in them. He’s the creator. Verse 16, in bygone generations, He allowed nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless, He does not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, He gave rain from Heaven. And what he’s talking about is the kindness of God that His evidence, the hand of God is seen in creation around them. And look at verse 18: and with these sayings he scarcely restrained the multitude from sacrificing to them. Okay, so Paul preaches the Gospel, the people get all excited, Paul restrains them from sacrificing to them.

Now look at verse 19: the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came over there; and they persuade the multitudes, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. Now that is a tame line. That would be like, “On August sixth, Hiroshima was bombed.” Have you ever seen what Hiroshima looked like after? Or Nagasaki? Which one was on the sixth? Nagasaki or Hiroshima? I don’t know. But that doesn’t carry the carnage, and the destruction, and the horror on the ground. Do you know what stoning was like? The Mishna says (the Mishna is the explanation of the Torah, which is the Old Testament), to stone someone, you had to find a hill that was about six feet high, and you got the person, and often it helped if you tied their hands, usually behind their back. And you get them right to the edge, and then you tip them over the hill, and they would fall down, and hopefully they would break their neck. That was, it was trying to be kind. You’re killing them, okay, but you’re trying to do it as nice as possible. And so, you tip them over the hill, and they fall and break their neck. But to make sure they’re dead, everyone carries as big a rock as you can carry, and so you look around and most men probably could hold about a bowling ball size rock. And there with the sprawled, paralyzed, broken-neck person, you would crush them to death with your rock. Do you see why the verse is tame? Paul, whatever they did to him, tied or not, tipped him over the hill or not, they knew how to kill people back then, and they threw rocks hoping. What you do is if you’re trying to get them out of their misery, you go for the head, and here’s this crowd of people throwing bowling ball-sized rocks, and if they missed his head, the throat. Just crushing them. That’s horrible. That’s trauma. What would’ve driven them to that? Because Paul said, your temple’s nothing, your god is nothing, you’re wasting your life. Don’t do all that stuff. And they got agitated to say he’s destroying everything. He’s messing up our world. They were traumatized, and they took it out on Paul.

But look what happens. This is what’s so fascinating. They dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. Verse 20, however, when the disciples gathered around him. So, the disciples, the people who had followed Christ, had a miraculous salvation, they come to the garbage dump where they’d thrown the body of Paul. They were sure he was dead, and they were all standing there, and I don’t think anybody knew what was going to, they were just all sad. Can you imagine going to a calling hours, a wake for a funeral and stand around your beloved like this, and all of a sudden, they sit up. That’s what happened! Look what it says. It says, they stood around him, gathered around him, verse 20, and he rose up and went into the city. And the next day, he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached, verse 21, the Gospel in that city. Did you notice what happens? He doesn’t retire. That would’ve been enough to have been on the circuit in the United States for the rest of your life. You could have gone around and talked about how I got stoned and killed for Christ, and he would’ve just been billboard in every church. He keeps going undaunted because he was called not to make a name for himself, not to get glory, but to point people to Christ. That to me is one of the most astounding things in the whole book of Acts that Paul went to the next city and preached the Gospel to that city. And look what it says in verse 21: and made many disciples.

Do you see? When you preach the Gospel and people respond to the Gospel, they become disciples. You understand, that’s how we started this series. That is the most frequent description. He preached the Gospel; people responded to Christ and became Christ followers. They became disciples, and they returned, look what it says the next word, to Lystra. That’s where he got stoned. Can you imagine the looks on the rabble rousers that all gathered around the temple of Zeus when Paul walks by? And can you imagine the power of the Gospel as these people are seeing God at work? That’s why it turned the world upside down back then.

In verse 22, they strengthened the souls of the disciples. They exhorted them to continue in the faith, and they said, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. I guess so, Paul! Can you imagine? He said, I bear in my body. You know what the Lord did? He brought him back to life. He didn’t heal all the scars and everything. Paul was a collection of the result of all this mistreatment he got. He says, my body. I mean, he had on his back all those stripes from being beaten with rods, and he now had all the scars of being crushed and everything else. He must have been a sight. But he says, you know what? You should realize that through many tribulations, verse 22, we’re going to enter the kingdom of God. Enter the kingdom of God? Did you know that seven times in the book of Acts that describes salvation? You’re entering a new kingdom. You’re going from the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of the god of this world, the kingdom of sin and darkness-loving into a new kingdom where you and I receive forgiveness of sins. We’re set free from the power of the devil. Our eyes are open. We love the light. We’re drawn to light. We follow the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. Wow, the kingdom of God.

Look at verse 23: and when they had appointed elders in every church. By the way, every church had a plurality of elders. From the start, there were never solo elders. There were always plurality. He appointed elders, plural, in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. And so, Paul did not have to be there and micromanage. He just left them, those men of God commissioned and everything, to lead and protect and to feed that church. And they passed through, verse 24, Pisidia, went down to Pamphylia. They preached the Word in Perga. Then they went down to Attalia. And then they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work. This is the home church where they came from. Now we’re in verse 26, which they had completed. They had been sent out; the church prayed for them and supported them. They went out and did it. Then they come back to tell them what they did. That’s why we have reports. It’s very biblical following this pattern. But look what it says. This is what gets me. Verse 27, they gathered the church together, and they reported all that God had done with them.

Now, yesterday, we had a terrible thing happen. Our Swisher mower died and that’s the big 48 or whatever it is, to mow all that, gigantic mower. And so, we—well, not me—my boys had to push mow, and it took hours and hours, and I was watching them out there sweating, and so I said, I’m going to help. So, I took the edger. That’s why I got all sunburned because I haven’t done that in so long. It was very exciting. So, I walked out into the garage where the edger is, and it just was standing there forlornly in the corner like this. It was leaking a little oil and gas, and it was all dirty and dust on it and everything. And I took that thing, and I turned it over and checked and filled it up and everything and put the buttons [Edger Sound Effect] like that. And that thing in my hands just blasted away. I had more fun. That’s why they keep me away from the edger. I edge everything. I just love it. Now I even found you can do half inch sticks with it, just cut them off! And I did trimming the hedges with it. You should have seen me. I was squaring it off. You just can turn that thing every direction. Of course I can hardly move today! And you know what? When I got all done, I took it and set it back in the corner, and it’s still there like this. Did you know, apart from me, the edger can do nothing?

Now look back at this verse. I want you to think about it. Verse 27, now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported the incredible stuff they did. Mm-mm [No]. Paul said, I’m just an edger. And I surrendered to God, and He turned me around and filled me up with what I needed and started me, and He held me, and He cut a huge path through the darkness of paganism. Look at the words: all that God had done with them. You know what he was saying? You’re all edgers, and God, if you’ll just allow Him to, wants to open you up, and fill you full, and seal you, and energize you, and holding you will do things you could never imagine from where you normally sit and lean in the corner lifeless. God did all that, and God got the credit, and the church got all excited. By the way, the people from Antioch were going everywhere. That’s where, did you know, in all the world, this is where people are first called Christians, right here at this church. Everybody wanted to be an edger in God’s hands, and they were just going throughout all of Roman culture.

But he doesn’t stop there. And He opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. See what salvation is? Turning to God. That’s what Paul preached to them. And when God gets involved, God opens the door of faith. When those people hear the glorious Gospel, and the Lord convicts them, and the Lord shows them their sin, and the Lord begins the work of drawing them. When they seek Him, He opens the door of faith. Wow. Everyone got excited about it. So, the Antioch report, by the way, prompts something.

Look at chapter 15, and we’re going to go to the next presentation. The traumatic impact of the Gospel on the pagan culture that Paul just did, telling them about it, leads us to this next, starting in verse 9. What the Lord does is the home church. Now, see, this is Antioch. Antioch is not Jerusalem. Antioch is a pagan city in their own empire. Word from Antioch got all the way back to the people that were in Jerusalem. And look what it says in verse 7 of chapter 15: and there was much dispute going on. Do you know what was happening? The mother church didn’t understand—the home church in Jerusalem—what was going on out there in the territories with those pagans turning to God. And everybody in Jerusalem was all caught up with, are they eating bacon? Are they circumcising their kids? Do they all go to synagogue on Saturday? See, they were all into the Mosaic Law back home. And did you know that’s what happens when you’re not involved in outreach? You get all traditional and want everything comfortable.

In fact, I was telling the elders and deacons on Thursday night that, when I was teaching through the chapter, I said, I remember when we, many years ago, came to Tulsa. Tulsa was a wonderful church. It was about 200 and some people, and the median income of the church was probably a hundred and something thousand dollars. And it was, in fact, people outside the church called it the Tulsa Bible Country Club because it was just all professionals. Everybody, talk about white collar, it was starched white collar. It was wonderful. Everybody knew each other. It was just wonderful! And then when people started getting saved and you had to sit next to, with your $700 suit on, you had to sit next to someone that smelled like gas from a gas station or smelled like sweat, or worse than that, smelled like smoke. Oh! Now it was shocking to them, and it took a while for them to realize that the church could not stay comfortably as a country club. That they had to have sick, and handicapped, and people in recovery from all these things.

Did you know that’s what the Jerusalem church was going through? And they’re saying, oh man, and there’s a big dispute whether they’re really Christians. And so, what happens is Paul gives, and Peter and James joins him. In 15 verses 7 through 9, and then down in verses 19 and 20, Paul said this, and Peter and James affirm it. He says, true Christians are those who turn to God, away from what offends Him, but they turn to God and begin to follow Him, and it’s a supernatural work. And so, watch this progress as Peter and James and Paul get together. And when there had been much dispute, that’s verse 7, Peter rose up and he said, men and brethren, a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the Word of the Gospel and believe. Now that is chapter 10. We’re five chapters later. He’s saying, don’t you guys remember? Don’t you remember I got invited? I was in Joppa, and I got invited to go to Caesarea, which no good Jew should go to because they’re all pagans there. And to get me ready, I was up waiting for lunch, and I was hungry, and I had this vision, and these sheets came down from God, and they were filled with unclean creatures. And I said, Lord, I won’t touch any of that unclean stuff. And the Lord says, don’t call unclean what I have cleansed. And it was making Peter realize that you didn’t have to be a good, Mosaic Law-observant Jew to get saved. So, he says, do you remember all that? How that by my hand, the Gentiles should hear the Word of the Gospel and believe.

Now look at verse 8: God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving to them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us. Do you see why the gift of the Holy Spirit and them being signified of that at the chapter 10 event with Cornelius and his family? So, notice the description of salvation. Hear the Word of God and believe, verse 7. Give them the Holy Spirit, verse 8. Now look at verse 9, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. He said, those idol-worshiping pagans, eating pork and everything else they do, they heard the same Gospel and believed. They got the same Spirit, and God, who does the miracle of salvation, purified their hearts. He said, they’re saved.

Now keep reading down to verse 19. Therefore, I judge we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God. See, salvation is turning to God. I was born of my father, the devil, and the lusts of my father I will do. Salvation turns me from the god of this world to the true and living God. So, they are, verse 19, turning to God. Verse 20, but we write to them, now this is fascinating, abstain from things. And he gives this list. Look at the rest of verse 20: polluted by idols, sexual immorality, things strangled, and from blood. He says, abstain from things that offend God. Now that list is very interesting. If you look at it, it’s clear idols are bad. It’s clear sexual immorality is bad. What is things strangled and blood? When’s the last time you heard a story or a message at church from the Bible about not eating any strangled food?

A week ago, I was up visiting my son. I was in Boston. I went to the Whole Food[s] Market. I’ve never shopped in a Whole [Foods], it’s a national chain. I don’t get out much, but I was in this Whole Food[s] Market, and I was standing there with Bonnie. And I said, honey, look! I said, the meat all has numbered, it’s got a code. I love codes. And so, I saw that, and then on the wall they had this list: one, two, three, four, five, five-plus. I was all excited. I says, wow, let’s look at the meat! And so, I saw one, so I went over, and one says, not crowded in pens. So, I thought that dead chicken wasn’t crowded in a pen. Good! So, I went back, and I found a two, and it said, has access to the outdoors. Another dead chicken that used to have a door somewhere it could go outside! It was getting exciting! I was digging through the meat, and I found a third. Comfortable environment. So, chickens talk about, yeah, it’s a little hot in here and fresh water. And it gets worse. There’s a five, and that means that they just could go freely wherever they wanted, eat anything they wanted out in the sunlight with fresh air, fresh water. There was a five-plus. There’s one above five. I noticed that all the packages were empty. They didn’t even kill those. They got to live forever. They’re still out wandering somewhere. I’m sorry. I believe in conservation, and nature is important, and you shouldn’t litter, and you shouldn’t pollute, and you shouldn’t waste. God is into all that. But rating how much free time the pig got? Did you know you can go to jail today if you go and harm an animal and someone gets a clip of you doing it, you will go to jail for sure. No matter how good a lawyer you have, they’ll play that over on YouTube until you’re in jail or they’ll hound you there. But you can murder someone on the streets of any town in America and probably get 17 months or less, and they’ll let you out. Oh, everything. You talk about world needing to be turned right side up. Ours is upside down. Animals are more important than people? Unbelievable.

All this to say there was a dietary law of the Jews. Look at verse 20, and the Jews. Kosher means that you drain the blood out, you don’t strangle them, you slit the throat. That’s what kosher is. Kasher, it’s done properly. Now, we’re not under all those dietary laws, but what was the council saying? Don’t intentionally offend people. Do you know who the weaker brother is in the Scripture? The weaker brother has more rules in their life, and they can be easily offended if they think something’s wrong. We’re not supposed to flaunt that in Christ we have liberty in that area. Now, just as an example, did you know, you have probably not even noticed this, but I don’t tell stories about buying coffee on Sunday at Starbucks anymore. Do you know why? I walked out from first service, and someone stopped right in the aisle, looked, they just filled the aisle. They looked at me, and they said, it is wrong for you to buy coffee on the Lord’s Day. I said, but I shared the Gospel. They said, it’s still wrong. I don’t tell stories about Starbucks anymore. I still go. I just don’t tell you. And see, look what this is. Don’t intentionally offend people. Don’t go around and say, I’m drinking the blood from my strangled cow, and knowing that the Jews would cringe at that. See, what they’re saying is turn away from anything that offends God. God says, it offends Me if you unnecessarily offend a new believer and make them go against their conscience, it wounds them. But the emphasis is turning to God.

Real quickly look at chapter 16. We covered this a little bit last week, but God opens hearts so that they heed His Word. And this is the thirteenth Gospel presentation. The Apostle Paul is giving it, and it’s starting in verse 14. A certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, which is a lot of information right there. She was in the top one percent of one percent. She was really a merchant of purple. That was one of the most costly commodities of the ancient world. And she was from Thyatira. That’s in Revelation, one of those seven churches. She worshiped God. Now look at this: and the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Now you understand, Paul preached, the Lord opened her heart, and she responded.

Now you ever wanted to balance Calvinism and Arminianism and all the other, it just gets all confusing? Preach the Gospel, God opens the heart, and the people that get saved respond to the Gospel. And it doesn’t explain the mechanics behind it, but right there it is. There is the Gospel. We’re supposed to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. I meet someone, they say, you can’t tell everybody sitting on the edge that they’re falling in that God wants to save them. I said, we’re supposed to go to every creature and say, God wants to save you. So, that’s the preaching the Gospel. The ones that God is at work in, He opens their heart, and all of a sudden, they start listening, and then they respond and come to life. That’s the miracle of salvation, and it’s right here, Lydia. She responded, and she responded and heeded the things spoken by Paul, verse 14, after the Lord opened her heart. In verse 15, and when that happened, she and her household were baptized, and she begged us and said, if you have judged me to be faithful in the Lord, come, and she persuaded us.

Now it’s time to go, but this is where we’re going to pick up next week. Have you ever wondered what Paul taught? We need to pause for a moment and see what it is. Paul taught about this event that took place in their lives. When this woman heard the Gospel, the Lord opened her heart and she responded. What happened between there and baptism? What was it Paul told her and her family happened to her? That’s fascinating to think about. We need to think about when Lydia believed, and others in her family believed, the Scriptures say they were baptized. Have you ever wondered what Paul told them about baptism? What did baptism mean to Paul when he administered it? What did Paul tell them happened to them when they got saved? Do you know why that’s so important? Because we have a lot of people nowadays that don’t seem to be miraculously saved. And maybe we need to tell them, this is what God does, and if you’re saved, these things will be present in your life.

It’s just like someone that buys a car and they’re sitting there, and their car doesn’t move, and someone says, where are your tires? And they go, what are tires? I got this car without tires. And they go, where’s the engine? You lift the lid. There’s no engine. They think they have a car, they don’t. And everybody knows you need the engine, and the tires, and… Yet we have a lot of people that are sitting in their little, and it’s not going anywhere. Their Christian life is going nowhere. And you say to them, where are your tires? They said, what are tires? You go, where’s your engine, the Holy Spirit? They go [Gasp]. You understand? Paul explained to them what real salvation was, and then he baptized them. It’s a miracle, and if it happens, it takes us from being a little edger sitting in the garage to being opened, filled, energized, and in the hands of God doing stuff we could never do. That’s salvation.

Let’s stand for a word of prayer. And as you stand, we are going to pray, but at the end of the service, there are always elders and godly women here, and they have their Bibles. And I’ll tell you why they’re here. If you, this morning, were sitting out there and as you were tracking through, you’re saying, God, this hasn’t happened to me. I ask You today to save me. If you did that, you need to talk to someone and have them start the process of discipling you. These are professional disciplers, the ones that stand up here. These are men and women that are already following God. They’ve been recognized by the church as following God, and they know how to tell other people how to follow the Lord. Or you say, I already am saved, but I just am in a rut. I need a tune-up. Do you know what? They would pray. The Lord is the one that tunes, but you need someone to pray with you and say, you need to surrender to the Lord, ask Him to start, and restart, and renew, and get going, and you need someone to pray with you and encourage you. They’re here to do that. So, if the Lord has worked in your heart, touched you, stirred you somewhere, don’t just go to lunch and forget about it. While you hear His voice, respond to Him today.

Let’s bow for a word of prayer. Father, I thank You for the miracle of salvation. Thank You for turning the world upside down. Actually, You just turn people right side up. That’s what salvation does. But to all the lost, it looked like You were tipping everything over. I pray that we would see that miracle active in our lives every day and that church would be the gathering to see who You have saved and changed. And it would be a place where we get encouraged by one another to go back out and to be an edger in Your hands and cut through a swath of this world for Your glory in the power of Your Spirit so we can tell people what God is doing with us. Thank You for Your great salvation. Bless us as we serve, and follow, and respond to You. In the name of Jesus, we pray, and all God’s people said, amen. God bless you as you go.

Notes

We each are part of the miracle of God called salvation that from the start began to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6).

Salvation: The Miracle from God

Salvation is also the most amazing miracle that we get to see up close throughout our lives as believers. That we were even saved is in itself is a miracle of God’s grace; and those around us who are saved are also part of a constant stream of miracle we get to see and touch personally through life. Getting to disciple a miraculously saved individual is such an encouragement for our faith and walk.

From God’s perspective all humans are born into this world infected with a blinding, crippling virus that left alone: leads to eternal death in darkness and endless pain. So as God looks down He sees us all sitting blindly in the dark on the edge of a deadly chasm. Salvation is when He opens our eyes and turns us from sinful darkness lovers: to God loving and following saints.

God Himself has come down to this Earth from the start seeking out Adam and Eve in their sin. Then He sent a series of prophets and preachers, calling blind sinners to come to the light of God, who stretched from the Pre-Flood world through the birth of Christ.

Followers of God always upset the followers of the darkness of sin and spiritual blindness. God’s salvation bringing to life the spiritually blind and dead always:

Traumatizes the Unsaved

When the light of the Gospel shines into the hearts and minds on the blind and paralyzed lost sinners: they come alive, being released from both their paralysis and blindness. This is unsettling and shocking to all the blind and paralyzed sinners around them. We see this most clearly in Christ’s ministry.

At the perfect moment, God Himself stepped into this world again as God the Son, Jesus Christ. He came as the Light of the World. He healed, raised, fed, liberated, cleaned, and calmed multitudes of people.

But, this astounding event of life, light, and love flooding into the land of Israel was so unsettling to the spiritually blind and paralyzed leaders: that they did everything they could to end Christ’s work by murdering Him.

In the end, after His resurrection, Jesus Christ met with about 500: which may have been the bulk of the true converts from His ministry. They were to continue the spread of the light of Christ’s Gospel, which had begun in Israel: and take it into every corner of the sin-darkened world. That is what we call:

The Great Commission

At the end of the Gospels we find God the Son commissioning those who were His followers. They were all to go in His power and seek to share the life-transforming, sin-removing, blindness-ending Gospel of salvation to every person in the world. That moment is when God left us with work to do for Him.

From that mountain in Galilee Christ launched the Gospel. There He promised to be going out with each who witnessed, and to empower and accompany them in this mission.

That mission is what we have been tracing across the pages of Acts. First Peter proclaims the Gospel 4x in Jerusalem, then Peter & Phillip in Samaria, then Phillip to the Ethiopian (chapter 8), then Jesus Himself to Paul (chapter 9).

Then the Gospel leaps the Jewish realm and Peter proclaims the Gospel to Gentiles (chapter 10), and believers fan out to share (chapter 11). The Gospel goes global with Paul in Acts 13 and never stops spreading.

But the Gospel not only spread, in its wake so did the trauma, and the push back. In the wake of the Gospel we see the growing confusions of those who couldn’t understand what happened to their friends. To a lost sinner, blinded and paralyzed by sin, to see a friend or relative start wanting to follow Christ, instead of what everyone else is wanting to do, is very upsetting.

Please open with me to Acts 14:15 in your Bibles. We have arrived now at a juncture. Paul returns to Antioch after his 1^st Missionary Journey (Acts 13:4-14:27), and reports. The amazing reports get back to Jerusalem and it raises questions, so a report in Jerusalem is needed after this report is given to the church at Antioch in Acts 14. What he reports is that:

The Gospel Went Global

As we read these verses we see the launch of where we find ourselves today: the global spread of the Gospel through transformed former blind and paralyzed sinners, now saved and seeking to share the glorious Gospel with others.

For those of you tracking with us through Acts this is Gospel Presentations:

MESSAGE ELEVEN (Paul): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 14:15, 21, 27 where salvation is described by Paul after his journey through Asia Minor as: turning to God who opens the door of faith.

Please stand with me and read this report:

Acts 14:15, 21, 27 (NKJV) and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Pray

The Traumatic Impact of the Gospel Upon Pagan Culture

Now look at the wider passage with me, and see how traumatic, unsettling, and disruptive the Gospel really can be as it enters people’s sin-darkened lives.

Acts 14:15-28 (NKJV) and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. 19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. 27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.

So the Antioch report prompts a repeat to the mother church, the First Church in Jerusalem. Listen as that unfolds and there we get to hear the next explanation of the Gospel by Peter 7 James.

turning to God & away from what offends Him

MESSAGE TWELVE (Peter & James): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 15:7-9, 19-20 where salvation is described as turning to God and away from what offends God’s Word and people.

Acts 15:7-9 (NKJV) And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:19-20 (NKJV) Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.

God Opens Hearts to Heed His Word

MESSAGE THIRTEEN (Paul): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:14 where salvation is described as the Lord opening a person’s heart to heed His Word.

Acts 16:14-15 (NKJV) Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

We need to pause for a moment and see what Paul taught about this event that just took place in their lives. When Lydia believed, and others of her family also believed, the Scriptures say that they were baptized.

Have you ever wondered what Paul told them about baptism?

What did baptism mean to Paul as he administered it?

What did Paul tell them had happened to them when they got saved; and what did Paul say that baptism was for?

Those are perhaps the most powerful and impactful truths of the Book of Acts. If we can just allow God to fill in the pieces of what is going on here, we can see why the Gospel had such an impact upon every place it came. To help with that, we actually have the private lessons that Paul taught to those who came to Christ, they are recorded for us in the Book of Colossians. So in every baptism event recorded in the Book of Acts we can see belief in the Gospel, followed by the outward sign of that belief in believer’s baptism.

Paul Taught What Baptism Declares in Colossians

In Colossians 2:6-15, Paul wrote to the church at Colossi what he taught in other places where he had visited. Baptism portrays the wonders of what Christ did for us in salvation.

Here is what He said in Colossians 2:6-15.

Colossians 2:6-15 (NKJV) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Here is what made those early believers so powerful: they knew the miracle of salvation. They experienced it, and were taught about it, and understood what God wanted to do and did to them.

Truth # 1: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have A Heart That Is New

Colossians 2:6-11 (NKJV) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

Their new heart spoke of spiritual heart circumcision (Ezekiel 36:26-27), which was the work of salvation as Christ is putting off our old person. Do you know the personal reality of having a miraculous new heart, implanted within by God?

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 2: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have a Past That Is Buried And Forever Gone

Colossians 2:12 (NKJV) buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Do you know the personal reality of having the miraculous work by God of burying your entire past in the sea of His forgetfulness? Do you know the relief that He will remember your sins no more?

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 3: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have A Fresh, New Beginning

Colossians 2:13 (NKJV) And you, being dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

Do you know the personal reality of having a fresh new beginning in life? Born again believers have only a future, their past is gone. We live a life of new beginnings in Christ alone.

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 4: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have An End To All Guilt, Because All My Sins Are On Jesus

Colossians 2:14 (NKJV) having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Do you know the personal reality of having all guilt taken away by Christ? Do you know the assurance that your sins are on Jesus?

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 5: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have Nothing Left to Fear

Colossians 2:15 (NKJV) Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Do you know the personal reality of nothing left to fear? There is no condemnation, no separation, and nothing left to fear because of Christ’s work in us and for us.

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Early Believers Understood Salvation

Today we have the same Gospel, the same miraculous work of Christ. Do you understand how great this salvation really is that God has done in you?

In Christ each of us His followers have:

A heart that is new;

A past that is forever gone;

A fresh new beginning;

An end to all guilt;

And nothing left to fear!

When new believers experienced this, and then were taught what had happened to them, then declared those miraculous events by the waters of baptism: they were experiencing the power of the Gospel! Now do you see what a huge statement it was to be:

Believing & Baptized

That is what we see as we move on to:

MESSAGE FOURTEEN (Paul): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:25-34 where salvation is described as believing.

Acts 16:25-34 (NKJV) But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

We now come to the most amazing of the Gospel descriptions because it is the clearest statement of what happens to those who get saved from the perspective of those who do not.

getting a new King of your life

MESSAGE FIFTEEN (Pagan description): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 17:1-7, where salvation is described by pagans, who observed the process they saw happening as lost people believed and received Christ, as: getting a new King of your life.

Acts 17:1-7 (NKJV) Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.”

Today, has the miracle of salvation turned your world upside down?

Do you have a new King?

That is the powerful Gospel.

When we hear it and believe, God becomes our King and everything changes.

As the Thessalonians said, our world turns upside down.

g, blindness-ending Gospel of salvation to every person in the world. That moment is when God left us with work to do for Him.

From that mountain in Galilee Christ launched the Gospel. There He promised to be going out with each who witnessed, and to empower and accompany them in this mission.
That mission is what we have been tracing across the pages of Acts. First Peter proclaims the Gospel 4x in Jerusalem, then Peter & Phillip in Samaria, then Phillip to the Ethiopian (chapter 8), then Jesus Himself to Paul (chapter 9).
Then the Gospel leaps the Jewish realm and Peter proclaims the Gospel to Gentiles (chapter 10), and believers fan out to share (chapter 11). The Gospel goes global with Paul in Acts 13 and never stops spreading.
But the Gospel not only spread, in its wake so did the trauma, and the push back. In the wake of the Gospel we see the growing confusions of those who couldn’t understand what happened to their friends. To a lost sinner, blinded and paralyzed by sin, to see a friend or relative start wanting to follow Christ, instead of what everyone else is wanting to do, is very upsetting.
Please open with me to Acts 14:15 in your Bibles. We have arrived now at a juncture. Paul returns to Antioch after his 1st Missionary Journey (Acts 13:4-14:27), and reports. The amazing reports get back to Jerusalem and it raises questions, so a report in Jerusalem is needed after this report is given to the church at Antioch in Acts 14. What he reports is that:

THE GOSPEL WENT GLOBAL

As we read these verses we see the launch of where we find ourselves today: the global spread of the Gospel through transformed former blind and paralyzed sinners, now saved and seeking to share the glorious Gospel with others.
For those of you tracking with us through Acts this is Gospel Presentations:

MESSAGE ELEVEN (Paul): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 14:15, 21, 27 where salvation is described by Paul after his journey through Asia Minor as: turning to God who opens the door of faith.
Please stand with me and read this report:

Acts 14:15, 21, 27 (NKJV) and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Pray

THE TRAUMATIC IMPACT OF THE GOSPEL UPON PAGAN CULTURE

Now look at the wider passage with me, and see how traumatic, unsettling, and disruptive the Gospel really can be as it enters people’s sin-darkened lives.

Acts 14:15-28 (NKJV) and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. 19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. 27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.

So the Antioch report prompts a repeat to the mother church, the First Church in Jerusalem. Listen as that unfolds and there we get to hear the next explanation of the Gospel by Peter 7 James.

TURNING TO GOD & AWAY FROM WHAT OFFENDS HIM

MESSAGE TWELVE (Peter & James): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 15:7-9, 19-20 where salvation is described as turning to God and away from what offends God’s Word and people.

Acts 15:7-9 (NKJV) And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mout
h the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:19-20 (NKJV) Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.

GOD OPENS HEARTS TO HEED HIS WORD

MESSAGE THIRTEEN (Paul): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:14 where salvation is described as the Lord opening a person’s heart to heed His Word.

Acts 16:14-15 (NKJV) Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

We need to pause for a moment and see what Paul taught about this event that just took place in their lives. When Lydia believed, and others of her family also believed, the Scriptures say that they were baptized.

Have you ever wondered what Paul told them about baptism?
What did baptism mean to Paul as he administered it?
What did Paul tell them had happened to them when they got saved; and what did Paul say that baptism was for?

Those are perhaps the most powerful and impactful truths of the Book of Acts. If we can just allow God to fill in the pieces of what is going on here, we can see why the Gospel had such an impact upon every place it came. To help with that, we actually have the private lessons that Paul taught to those who came to Christ, they are recorded for us in the Book of Colossians. So in every baptism event recorded in the Book of Acts we can see belief in the Gospel, followed by the outward sign of that belief in believer’s baptism.

PAUL TAUGHT WHAT BAPTISM DECLARES IN COLOSSIANS

In Colossians 2:6-15, Paul wrote to the church at Colossi what he taught in other places where he had visited. Baptism portrays the wonders of what Christ did for us in salvation.
Here is what He said in Colossians 2:6-15.

Colossians 2:6-15 (NKJV) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Here is what made those early believers so powerful: they knew the miracle of salvation. They experienced it, and were taught about it, and understood what God wanted to do and did to them.

Truth # 1: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have A Heart That Is New

Colossians 2:6-11 (NKJV) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

Their new heart spoke of spiritual heart circumcision (Ezekiel 36:26-27), which was the work of salvation as Christ is putting off our old person. Do you know the personal reality of having a miraculous new heart, implanted within by God?

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 2: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have a Past That Is Buried And Forever Gone

Colossians 2:12 (NKJV) buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Do you know the personal reality of having the miraculous work by God of burying your entire past in the sea of His forgetfulness? Do you know the relief that He will remember your sins no more?

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 3: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have A Fresh, New Beginning

Colossians 2:13 (NKJV) And you, being dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

Do you know the personal reality of having a fresh new beginning in life? Born again believers have only a future, their past is gone. We live a life of new beginnings in Christ alone.

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 4: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have An End To All Guilt, Because All My Sins Are On Jesus

Colossians 2:14 (NKJV) having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Do you know the personal reality of having all guilt taken away by Christ? Do you know the assurance that your sins are on Jesus?

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

Truth # 5: Baptism Is My Declaration That I Have Nothing Left to Fear

Colossians 2:15 (NKJV) Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Do you know the personal reality of nothing left to fear? There is no condemnation, no separation, and nothing left to fear because of Christ’s work in us and for us.

That is what these early believers were told; and they believed God. That is the miracle of salvation.

EARLY BELIEVERS UNDERSTOOD SALVATION

Today we have the same Gospel, the same miraculous work of Christ. Do you understand how great this salvation really is that God has done in you?
In Christ each of us His followers have:

A heart that is new;
A past that is forever gone;
A fresh new beginning;
An end to all guilt;
And nothing left to fear!

When new believers experienced this, and then were taught what had happened to them, then declared those miraculous events by the waters of baptism: they were experiencing the power of the Gospel! Now do you see what a huge statement it was to be:

BELIEVING & BAPTIZED

That is what we see as we move on to:

MESSAGE FOURTEEN (Paul): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 16:25-34 where salvation is described as believing.

Acts 16:25-34 (NKJV) But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and th
e prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

We now come to the most amazing of the Gospel descriptions because it is the clearest statement of what happens to those who get saved from the perspective of those who do not.

GETTING A NEW KING OF YOUR LIFE

MESSAGE FIFTEEN (Pagan description): The next Gospel Presentation is in Acts 17:1-7, where salvation is described by pagans, who observed the process they saw happening as lost people believed and received Christ, as: getting a new King of your life.

Acts 17:1-7 (NKJV) Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.”

Today, has the miracle of salvation turned your world upside down?
Do you have a new King?

That is the powerful Gospel.
When we hear it and believe, God becomes our King and everything changes.
As the Thessalonians said, our world turns upside down.

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