The thought which has been quietly shaping itself in our minds over the past weeks is a powerful and transforming one –namely, that the goodness and mercy (love) of God follow hard on our heels to turn every tragedy and calamity into a triumph and every loss into a gain. This is the essence of having Christ in our life in both His Presence and His indwelling! It is easy to affirm this as we look back –the challenge is to affirm it with equal conviction as we look ahead too. If you can get hold of this divine truth in your heart/mind and absorb it into your life as a working truthful principle or call it law, then it will transform your attitude/character to everything in life. Never again will you be at the mercy of circumstances or vicissitudes of life. In Acts 5:40-41 we read an astonishing statement saying: “40So, convinced by him, they took his advice; and summoning the apostles, they flogged them and sternly forbade them to speak in or about, the name of Jesus, and allowed them to go. 41So they went out from the presence of the council (Sanhedrin), rejoicing that they were being counted worthy [dignified by the indignity] to suffer shame and be exposed to disgrace for [the sake of] His name.” Rejoicing? Over injustice? Someone may ask which is likened to being joyful in trials! How is it possible to rejoice over an injustice? Because they believed, with David, that the last word was not with men, but with God –goodness and mercy (love) would follow them and turn the situation to their advantage. When you can rejoice over injustice, you are indomitable. Indomitable is when something is impossible to subdue or defeat or depress you in all perspective of it. Another verse from Acts that always intrigues me reads: “And the patriarchs [Jacob’s sons], boiling with envy and hatred and anger, sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt; but God was with him,” as seen in Acts 7:9. The phrase, “but God…” is always at the end of every injustice –He (our God) has the last word in every situation. This is a divine principle or you call it law that man is yet to be thoroughly familiar with in life circumstances! And just as God used the injustice done to Joseph to feed the Egyptian people and his own family, so He transforms every injustice, every sorrow, every bereavement, every tragedy, every calamity for our good. Christianity may not explain everything, but it most certainly transforms everything.

Now let us read Acts 13:13-31; 13 Now Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John [Mark] separated himself from them and went back to Jerusalem, 14 But they [themselves] came on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue there and sat down. 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders [of the worship] of the synagogue sent to them saying, Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation or consolation or encouragement for the people, say it. 16 So Paul arose, and motioning with his hand said, Men of Israel and you who reverence and fear God, listen! 17 The God of this people Israel selected our forefathers and made this people great and important during their stay in the land of Egypt, and then with an uplifted arm He led them out from there. 18 And for about forty years [c]like a fatherly nurse He cared for them in the wilderness and endured their behavior. 19 When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them [the Hebrews] their land as an inheritance [distributing it to them by lot; all of which took] about 450 years. 20 After that, He gave them judges until the prophet Samuel. 21 Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had deposed him, He raised up David to be their king; of him He bore witness and said, I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart, who will do all My will and carry out My program fully. 23 Of this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel a Savior [in the person of Jesus], according to His promise. 24 Before His coming John had [already] preached baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was ending his course, he asked, What or [d]who do you secretly think that I am? I am not He [the Christ. No], but note that after me One is coming, the sandals of Whose feet I am not worthy to untie! 26 Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and all those others among you who reverence and fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation [the salvation obtained through Jesus Christ]. 27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know or recognize Him or understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have actually fulfilled these very predictions by condemning and sentencing [Him]. 28 And although they could find no cause deserving death with which to charge Him, yet they asked Pilate to have Him executed and put out of the way. 29 And when they had finished and fulfilled everything that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead. 31 And for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are His witnesses to the people.

What is the main message of Acts 13? Chapter 13 illustrates the boldness of Paul and the disciples in their proclamation of the Word of God and their pursuit of lost souls. We also see that there has always been direct opposition to the gospel and probably always will continue to be until humans come to a fuller and better understanding of the Gospel as a fulfillment of the Scripture and how all of these applies to the life of every individual. When I was just a toddler, my brother David, 12 years older than me, found a maple tree seed—what we call helicopters or whirly birds. David decided to plant one of those half-grown silver maples growing from that whirly bird. My dad did his best to mow it over, but he only mowed once a week, and that little tree grew even when my dad was sleeping. Eventually autumn would come, and that little tree won. Today you can see that tree from the Satellite photos it’s so big! My dad saw just a tiny seed, but my brother saw a mighty maple. The gospel is a lot like that seed my brother planted. Some plant the gospel message, and some water it, but God makes it grow. He God gives the increase in the human heart. In our text, we learned how the proconsul Sergius Paulus came to know Christ. After this great Roman governor became a Christian, Saul took the name Paul, and this event increased the number of conversions in Cyprus. Even many years later, while the vast majority of Jews living on the island were hostile to the Christians, the Gentiles were filling the Churches. Their activity seriously disturbed the Jewish community. Initially, the apostles taught the Jews only, but when they rejected them, they began to preach the good news to the Gentiles. The tradition of Cyprus maintains that under the pressure of outraged Jewish community, Paul was captured in Paphos and, after being tied to the whipping post, punished with 39 strokes of the whip. While in Cyprus, according to tradition, many others, mainly Gentiles, were converted, including Herakleidios, who became one of the first pastors there in Cyprus scattered in various cities throughout the island because of the persecutions coming from the Jews. Key Thought: The gospel is so powerful that it is unstoppable. We just have to preach it and God will give His supernatural increase in the hearts of our hearers no matter the challenges we face as a result of the Gospel. Every preacher of the Gospel of Christ should know that our Lord Jesus Christ told us that these things (persecution and rejection) which they did unto Me, they will also do it unto you when you truly preach My Word! 1. The Pathway for the Gospel (13:13): Though it was such a fruitful time, it was intense, and at points likely vicious, so John Mark deserts his friends and makes his way back to Jerusalem while “Paul and his companions” continued to plant the first Churches in Asia. The question is do you see yourself as a pathway for the Gospel to be spread? If you do not, know that God wants you to be! A Promising Pathway; Paul, Barnabas, and others set sail to evangelize a whole new part of the world: Asia, what is modern-day Turkey. They felt the direction of the Holy Spirit leading them to stay in the east and evangelize. This is a sensitive principle, for people to know when the Holy Spirit is directing you to an important area of need by the Spirit! Acts 13:13a, “Now Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia.” There were many Roman colonies in Asia, and Paul knew this was the way the gospel could get to the whole world. These were the world’s crossroads at the time. That is the point where the Gospel needs to be dropped or kept so that it can spread to all parts of the world just as our Lord Jesus demanded! If God had led them to Cyprus in order to save Sergius Paulus, the governor there, then what else did He have in mind for Asia? Is the big question: And this is exactly how every worker for God in spreading the Gospel should be thinking as they work on! When we look out at/for the harvest fields, it’s easy to become jaded and critical, but how vital it is to remember the Lord’s promises to save our loved ones and to see God’s heaven full. We must always have an attitude as wide as God’s love and power and not limiting God. We should always have in mind that He God can and will save multitudes and not just a handful for His kingdom. He has promised to do so. Go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come (as seen in Lk 14:23, “23 Then the master said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and urge and constrain [them] to yield and come in, so that my house may be filled.”)! Of all people the Lord’s saints should be the most hopeful on the planet. God saved you, didn’t He? He can save anyone. And you might be the vessel He will use! So far, we have seen there is a pathway, and there is also a promising pathway! Meaning there are other types or kinds of pathways: most people are not aware of some of the tempting tendencies of following our Lord Jesus Christ and that is exactly what this sermon highlights! A Treacherous Pathway; Sadly, not everyone seemed to have that hope. John Mark seems to have been discouraged if not intimidated by the journey as he tries to visualize the outcome based on Paul’s case. We read in Acts 13:13b, saying “And John [Mark] separated himself from them and went back to Jerusalem,” John Mark knew that to plant Churches in Asia, you had to go through the Taurus mountain range, and that would be treacherous. It extends across the coast and inland of what is today the country of Turkey. Paul had grown up in the highlands of the Taurus mountain range. This may have been too hard a task for John Mark, so he departed back home to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas on the other hand, plowed forward. Nothing it seemed could stop them from spreading the good news to the cities of Asia. John Mark may have retreated because there was an obvious management change, from Barnabas to Paul. Barnabas was very familiar with Cyprus, and there had been an amazing response. But here in Acts, it is very clear, if we look at the text closely, this from this moment on Paul is the one in charge of the missionary journey, not Barnabas. Paul is the one so familiar with Asia Minor, not Barnabas. Paul is clearly leading the way. It may be that John Mark did not appreciate that Paul had been given the leadership position over his Uncle Barnabas. We hear no complaint from Barnabas about his loss in status, but obviously there was a complaint from John Mark. So we can see that so many things constitute a Treacherous Pathway to the Word of God and to the servants who are spreading it! A Familiar Pathway; From Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas and other companions head to evangelize Asia. They landed in Perga, a small port city on the coast of the Mediterranean, just north of Cyprus. This is Paul’s stomping grounds. Perga is not that far from Tarsus. Paul had arrived in a neighborhood familiar to him since boyhood days. His birthplace was in these parts. [5] Paul would have already travelled these pathways before. It is during this trip to Asia, we learn later, in Lystra and Derbe that a young man named Timothy hears the gospel and is converted to Christ. He’s from a very faithful family with a Jewish mom, and grandmother, but an unbelieving Greek father. So that you have some familiar elements in a particular situation does not mean there will be no challenges!

Acts 13:14, “14 But they [themselves] came on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue there and sat down.” The first stop in preaching the gospel in Asia is in Antioch of Pisidia, also known as Caesarea Antoich. It’s a treacherous journey to get there, being 3,600 feet above sea level. This is to be the location of the first Church plant in Galatia. Paul’s master plan for Gentile evangelism almost always included a witness for Christ in the local synagogue. Because he was a trained rabbi, a graduate of the famous school of Gamaliel in Jerusalem, he could be sure of an initial hearing in any synagogue. If he could reap a quick harvest for Christ in the local synagogue, he would have a nucleus for organizing a Church. [6] They go to the Jews in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and Paul is invited, as a guest rabbi, to teach the people there. So you can see from Paul’s example that there is need as a true servant for you to have worked under another servant so as to gain some experience! A Promising Invitation; Acts 13:15-16. “15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders [of the worship] of the synagogue sent to them saying, Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation or consolation or encouragement for the people, say it. 16 So Paul arose, and motioning with his hand said, Men of Israel and you who reverence and fear God, listen!” The order of service proceeded with the usual prayers and Scripture readings, Paul and Barnabas making the responses as ordinary members of the congregation. When Paul and Barnabas had first come in, the presiding elders of the synagogue no doubt met them. It would not take them long to recognize that these men had recently been in Jerusalem, were well-traveled, well-informed, and well-taught. What would be more natural than to turn the podium over to them? In a place like Pisidian Antioch, somewhat off the beaten track and certainly remote and isolated from Jerusalem, visitors of their caliber must have been rare. There would be a natural curiosity about the men as well as a hunger for news from Jerusalem. Paul’s procedure was to wait until opportunity came and then to seize it firmly with both hands. He had not gone to the synagogue that Sabbath hoping someone would invite him home for a meal, or to expound the theories of Hillel, or to relate news from here and there. He had gone there looking for an opportunity to preach Christ, and now it had come. Decisions as to his movements had been right. The platform was now his. [7]Don’t be worried about how God will open up the door for you to preach the gospel just be on the watch out. Paul and Barnabas had no idea what God was going to do in this strategic city, but they were led by the Spirit. They went not knowing if they would be able to share Christ Jesus with these people. But God opened the door and gave the words. And so is the example that all should follow! God is always giving us great opportunities but the trouble is that some time we are not watchful to know when the opportunity is given! A Promised People; The text before us now contains the first recorded sermon of the Apostle Paul. The content seems to be taken both from Stephen’s sermon and the Apostle Peter’s at Pentecost. He uses the same outline as Stephen and the same texts as Peter. It’s astounding that the prayer of Stephen to save his hearers was answered in the life and message of the great Apostle Paul. Do you see how our God work? A request that we make might be answered somewhere along the line! But sometimes we do not know that our requests have been answered. Out of Egypt; God calls a people out of Egypt. Helpless people are the only kind that God calls. He resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. In Acts 13:17, we read “17 The God of this people Israel selected our forefathers and made this people great and important during their stay in the land of Egypt, and then with an uplifted arm He led them out from there.” We find that Paul reminds his hearers of the helplessness of all who do not know Christ. Israel was like that. They were in slavery, and it was truly an impossible situation. “With uplifted arm” he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Remember Egypt was called “the iron furnace” in Deut 4:20. It was a place where they were told what to do by their taskmasters. Isn’t that what our old life was like? We were all in our own Egypt one way or other until God called us. We had the taskmasters of the idols of our heart, doing things the way we like until we find out there is a way God wants us to live our life so that it will be well with us. We were blinded by our sin (our erroneous way of life full of carnality) and in a completely impossible situation. We were all dead in our sin and headed to a sinner’s hell. But God led us out of Egypt! Out of our individual Egypt! Out of the Wilderness; Paul then told them of how God calls His people out of the wilderness. He provides for us there. Shoes don’t wear out there. Where Manna rains from heaven. We see the goodness of God in the wilderness. A close and sincere examination of our life reveals there was a time when things happened to us without much efforts as compared to another time when things happens with difficulties, can you remember such times? Acts 13:18, “18 And for about forty years [c]like a fatherly nurse He cared for them in the wilderness and endured their behavior.” It is interesting Paul says that God “put up with them.” Glory to God He sometimes puts up with us and our sin. He loves us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He wants us to come out of the wilderness and into His Canaan land. Into Canaan; Acts 13:19, “19 When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them [the Hebrews] their land as an inheritance [distributing it to them by lot; all of which took] about 450 years.” Then he continues the history of Israel about the conquests of Canaan, even seven nations under the command of General Joshua. In one day, God made the sun stand still so that Israel could keep conquering the nations; can you imagine that, God making the sun, that is nature to stand still for the sake of His people. You know when we say God’s people many seem to mis understand, it means a people or persons who are dear to Him than others, those who seem to understand Him more than others, who obey Him, love Him more than others, are those term God’s people or person, you can be one or you can make yourself one and it all begins by loving Him and everything about Him, obeying and knowing His Words to your finger tips knowing His Dos and Don’ts! They had such a victory they couldn’t do it all in one day united mind as seen see Josh 10-11; Deut 7:1. Dear saints, we have our own General Joshua. His name is Yeshua, and He will make the sun stand still for you as well. He will conquer all your enemies. But we have to know Him, love Him and believe and trust in Him! On to the Kingdom; Now Paul turns to an exciting time where God brings Israel to a kingdom under David. God continued to do things for them according to their request meaning to have them wholly for Himself and using them to teach others and bring other nations to know and love Him like Israel. Acts 13:20-22, “20 After that, He gave them judges until the prophet Samuel. 21 Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had deposed him, He raised up David to be their king; of him He bore witness and said, I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart, who will do all My will and carry out My program fully.” How promising the history of Israel is to bring Israel to a king, yet this king is terribly imperfect. As great as any of the kings were, each was marred by sin and selfishness not knowing God the way God wants Himself known. They did not completely fulfill God’s promises to His people. A Promised Savior; God continued searching for what He is searching for, which is getting a people or a person who will wholly rely on Him to teach, lead, and love His people! All the kings of Israel left God’s people disappointed. They kept waiting for the true king, the Messiah. And finally, He came! The prophecies are fulfilled. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal 4:4-5). Paul announces that the Messiah has come to save their souls. Acts 13:23, “23 Of this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel a Savior [in the person of Jesus], according to His promise.” Hallelujah, Paul gets to the heart of the message. The blazing center of the Bible’s message is Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus. He’s our promised Prophet, Priest, King and Savior. Paul’s message was about Lord Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises, the Scripture. Lord Jesus is the Messiah, the only Messiah, and the Jewish Messiah and the Messiah of the world. Lord Jesus came from the seed “as He promised” (13:23). Paul was establishing an important principle in the interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures: they pointed to and culminated in Jesus Christ.[8] When the resurrected Christ taught the Scriptures, He did the same thing. Luke 24:27, “27 Then beginning with Moses and [throughout] all the Prophets, He went on explaining and interpreting to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning and referring to Himself.” So we can see that in spite of all the effort by our Lord Jesus for people to know Him and His mission on earth, people did not and so it is till today! A Promised Salvation; Now Paul recounts how Christ came into history, announced by John the Baptist, who may have been more famous than Lord Jesus at this time. They had surely heard of John, but had they considered John’s message about the coming Messiah? Acts 13:24-26, “24 Before His coming John had [already] preached baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was ending his course, he asked, What or [d]who do you secretly think that I am? I am not He [the Christ. No], but note that after me One is coming, the sandals of Whose feet I am not worthy to untie! 26 Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and all those others among you who reverence and fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation [the salvation obtained through Jesus Christ].” The message of salvation through Lord Jesus came first through John the Baptist, and now Paul was telling those in the synagogue at Caesarea Antioch in the rugged Taurus mountains. He speaks not only to the Jews—“sons of the family of Abraham,” but also to those “who fear God,” that is Gentiles that had become proselytes of Judaism. Paul is announcing that the salvation through Messiah promised by the prophets had finally come. But did they take it? A Promised Fulfillment; Not only had the Messiah come, but specific prophecies have been fulfilled. Paul goes through several prophecies here. Acts 13:27-31, “27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know or recognize Him or understand the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, have actually fulfilled these very predictions by condemning and sentencing [Him]. 28 And although they could find no cause deserving death with which to charge Him, yet they asked Pilate to have Him executed and put out of the way. 29 And when they had finished and fulfilled everything that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead. 31 And for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are His witnesses to the people.” All that “was written of Him” was fulfilled through the rulers of Israel. He was put to death, executed by Pontius Pilate. Paul’s about to tell them that His death was a substitutionary death, that through His death they could be justified, their sins forgiven. But right now, Paul is going through the historic fulfillment of the prophecies. Just as the prophets wrote of Lord Jesus, He not only died, but He was buried, and then He rose again on the third day. The prophet Hosea had promised that Messiah would rise on the third day (Hos 6:2). Then Paul, as he often does, calls eyewitnesses to account. He tells them there is evidence that can be submitted for the resurrection: you can talk to those who witnessed it. We know there were over 500 who were scattered from Galilee to Jerusalem, and likely throughout Asia and Europe by this time. They went forth from Pentecost to every nation under heaven. Perhaps some in this synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia had already heard one of the witnesses testify of Lord Jesus. Today how many of us truly believe in this history of our Lord Jesus Christ? Let us work hard so that history does not repeat itself!

God can do the impossible. He can change the heart of the most stubborn sinner and make him humble. The average cost of a physical heart transplant including the immunosuppressant drugs after the surgery is close to a million dollars. Yet, the best heart transplant a man can receive is a spiritual heart transplant. It costs Him/him nothing and the new heart will never fail. We can’t give that spiritual heart transplant, but God can and will. If you trust and believe in Him! We are called to plant the seeds of the gospel wherever we go. We cannot make it grow. God has to do that. We plant, and we water, but God gives the increase.