"Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. 14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, THE RULERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE SENT TO THEM, SAYING, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.”
(Paul preaches the Gospel to the Gentiles.)
God raised the Apostle Paul to preach His gospel. This was the very same young man who had stood by, guarding the coats of those who stoned godly Stephen, thereby consenting to his death. He was the most legalistic of all the Pharisees of his day; a Pharisee of Pharisees! Talk about a turnaround!
As you read through the book of Acts, you'll notice that, though Peter dominates the first half, he is featured less and less as the Jewish people continued to reject Jesus. Paul is featured more and more until finally, at the end of the book, it is all Paul.
In summation: The Jews in their headquarters of Jerusalem through their leadership rejected the Messiah in Person: Strike one. Then He rose from the dead, was seen by over 500 people in His resurrected form and they rejected Him again: Strike 2. Then they rejected Jesus in the preaching of Peter: Strike three.
Time after time, chance after chance, the Jewish leaders of the homeland were presented with the Gospel but they rejected Jesus. Now, through Paul, God is going to give the JEWS OF THE DISPERSION a chance to hear the gospel and accept their Messiah.
Who are they? These are the Jews who, for one reason or another, didn't return after one of their many captivities as we discussed in an earlier portion of this study. Daniel, for example, was one who never returned. After each captivity, some came back to their homeland but most did not. Though many have returned to their ancient homeland of Israel from all the nations of the world in these last days, as prophesied in Ezekiel 34, a great many more are still out there. But the 12 tribes ard not lost.
So, God raised Paul to go and preach the gospel to these Jews. After all, if God gave the those of their homeland a chance, the Jews of the dispersion must also be given the same opportunity. Who better to send to them than a “Pharisee of Pharisees?!
Paul always preached the gospel “to the Jew FIRST, then to the Gentiles.” Every city to which he traveled, he went to the synagogue first and preached to his own people. Only after they rejected Jesus, which invariably happened, did he turn and preach to the Gentiles. You see, above all, he loved his people! Thus began his missionary journeys.
In Pisidea Antioch he preached about Jesus in the synagogue saying, "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39 NKJV)
Paul preached the gospel of Grace! He told his Jewish brethren was that no one could any more be justified by the Law of Moses but only by the Blood of Jesus. LAW IS OUT: GRACE IS IN!
How did they respond?
"So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, THE GENTILES BEGGED that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." (Acts 13:38-39)
Who begged? GENTILES! They were the hungry ones!
Watch what happens next....
"On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. BUT WHEN THE JEWS SAW THE MULTITUDES, THEY WERE FILLED WITH ENVY; AND CONTRADICTING AND BLASPHEMING, THEY OPPOSED THE THINGS SPOKEN BY PAUL......" Acts 13:44
"So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, THE GENTILES BEGGED that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." (Acts 13:38-39)
Who begged? GENTILES! They were the hungry ones!
Watch what happens next....
"On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. BUT WHEN THE JEWS SAW THE MULTITUDES, THEY WERE FILLED WITH ENVY; AND CONTRADICTING AND BLASPHEMING, THEY OPPOSED THE THINGS SPOKEN BY PAUL......" Acts 13:44
The ol’ green-eyed monster of jealousy strikes again. The Jews became very jealous and angry, arguing amongst themselves and opposing what Paul preached. You see, it's the real Gospel, the message of God's Grace, that can really stir the devil up in some people. It's happens in the church today! There are those who look at grace and despise it. They mistakenly believe it to be the devil's work when the "gospel" they're used to hearing which is preached in most churches actually IS the devil's work. It's backwards!
Listen to Paul's response:
"Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; BUT SINCE YOU REJECT IT, JUDGE YOURSELVES UNWORTHY OF EVERLASTING LIFE. BEHOLD, WE TURN TO THE GENTILES." (Acts 13:45-46)
God's plan was that the church would be made up of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews would be saved first, then they would turn and evangelize the whole world. They are the ones who were supposed to reach out to the Gentiles.
"Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; BUT SINCE YOU REJECT IT, JUDGE YOURSELVES UNWORTHY OF EVERLASTING LIFE. BEHOLD, WE TURN TO THE GENTILES." (Acts 13:45-46)
God's plan was that the church would be made up of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews would be saved first, then they would turn and evangelize the whole world. They are the ones who were supposed to reach out to the Gentiles.
You can plainly see that God is giving His people chance after chance. Sadly, though, now we see that the Jews of the dispersion are also rejecting their Messiah through the preaching of Paul; First in Pisidia Antioch, then Lydia, Mysia and Bithinia.
So that was the plan: Everywhere he preached, Paul first went into the synagogue to preach the gospel to the Jews THEN...when the they rejected the truth...he turned and preached to the Gentiles who received it with great joy!
Please join me for Part 12 in this series on Rightly Dividing The Word Of God. Paul lands in Rome at last and gives the Jewish leaders of the dispersion their last chance.
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