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Acts 13Acts 13:1-52(1) Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

I. Prophets and teachers in the church: The first thing I want you to notice in verse 1 is that the church was abundant with prophets and teachers. Its seems like a strange thing for us to hear today, but I really believe that in the church of Jesus Christ, in general, nothing has changed.

Among all those prophets and teachers, there were certain of them who had some interesting backgrounds like Barnabas, who was from the island of Cyprus, Simeon, which was his Hebrew name, and who was also called Niger, which was his Roman name, Lucius, who was from Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up in the royal court of Herod, and, of course, Saul, with his very interesting background of being born in Tarsus but schooled in Jerusalem. God brought all these men and prophets together at the church in Antioch.

(2) As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

II. Ministering to the Lord: These men were ministering to the Lord. We take that statement at face value, but there’s a lot more being said in it. As they ministered to the Lord, they fulfilled that by ministering to the people. That’s what the Lord called them to do. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul would later write:

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Colossians 3:17(17) And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Colossians 3:23-24(23) And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;(24) Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

You see, it is extremely important that you realize in ministry that if you are going to minister to the Lord, you will have to minister to His people because that is what God has called you to do. As the servant of God, He has called me to minister to people.

a. Not always fun: I can tell you from my many years of ministering and pastoring that ministering to people is not always fun. Sometimes, it can be downright irritating. Some people do not appreciate all that you try to do for them, and some of them can become downright obnoxious. I am sure that there’s not a pastor alive today, who has been in the ministry for any amount of time, who has not found himself grumbling over the demands that people have made of him. I can relate to this. I, too, have, at times, found myself grumbling, but it is always at those times that the Lord speaks to me and says, “Who are you serving?” My answer is always the same, “I serve You, Lord.” “Then quit with the belly aching. Do it as unto Me. Serve My people.” Because of that, I have found myself at times doing things for the Lord what I would not have chosen to do, but so be it.

Notice, once again, that they were ministering unto the Lord. These men had the right attitude for ministry, but their ministry unto the Lord was by serving the people through teaching, helping, and strengthening them.

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III. And the Holy Spirit said: Luke writes here that “. . . the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” The question that I have for you is: How do you think He did that? How did the Holy Spirit speak to them? The answer is really pretty plain. In verse 1, it says that there were “. . . certain prophets and teachers,” and it would have been through one (or several) of the prophets that the Holy Spirit spoke a word of prophecy. Thus, they were directed by a prophetic word through one of them. Thus, the Holy Spirit said.

Later on, Paul the Apostle would write to Timothy, who was the pastor of Ephesus at the time, and encouraged him to stir up the gift of God which had been given to him by the laying on of hands. Evidently, Timothy’s gift had become dormant. It is so true in the church today, my friends. Many of you need to stir up the gifts that God has given you.

(3) And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.(4) So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

IV. The Holy Spirit sends: Verse 3 says that they sent them away after they laid hands on them, but in verse 4, we are told that it was actually the Holy Spirit that sent them forth. It is very important to know the difference, my friends.

(5) And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.

V. John Mark: Barnabas and Saul had taken young John Mark with them on this, their first, missionary journey. He was there just to do the

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menial-type things as a servant to Saul and Barnabas.

(6) And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:(7) Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

VI. Sergius Paulus: Sergius Paulus had once been the governor of the island of Cyprus. It is rather interesting that the people during this time and in this particular area were very superstitious. It is also well known that the rulers had their own wizards from whom they would seek counsel. I do find it interesting that we’ve had several presidents who have sought the advice of certain “prophets,” and I don’t mean of the Christian type. One president’s wife admitted that she sought the counsel of astrologers many times during her husband’s presidency looking for advice. Not much has really changed, my friends. Sergius Paulus had Barjesus as his wizard or advisor.

(8) But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.(9) Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,(10) And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?(11) And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

VII. Paul gives a stiff rebuke: I have to admit, there have been many times that I wanted to do the same thing, but it was probably my lack of faith that anything would happen that I didn’t do it. When I hear some of the twisted teaching that goes on in the Body of Christ and the lack of doctrine and

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exhortation that is exhibited, it makes me want to say, “How long will you pervert the right ways of the Lord?”

(12) Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.(13) Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

VIII. John Mark departs: We are not told why John Mark departed, but we do know that it upset Paul. In fact, it upset him so much that when they started out on their second missionary journey, which we will get to, Barnabas, once again, wanted to bring Mark with him. However, Paul said, “No.” They got in to quite a tiff about it. We are told in the scriptures that their contention was so great that they parted ways. Thus, Barnabas and Mark left for Cyprus again, and Paul and Silas went in a different direction toward Asia Minor. So, the issue between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark drove a wedge between them for quite some time. Eventually, the separation was healed. In fact, Paul would later write concerning Mark and stated what a great help he had been to him. So, what had started off as a rocky relationship developed into something beautiful between Paul and Mark years later.

a. Pamphylia: They did not preach when they got to Pamphylia. The area of Pamphylia is actually a coastal plain. The reason that they did not preach there was because Paul had become very ill. Some have speculated that because Pamphylia was in the coastal plains area, it was also filled with malaria. Many think that Paul had a bad case of malaria. They did not stay in the coastal area of Pamphylia but headed up into the high-plateau region around the areas of Antioch of Pisidia and Iconia. It has been suggested that Paul did this in order that he

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might recuperate from the malaria that he had picked up from the coast.

It actually makes good sense because later on, Paul wrote to these churches of Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia, which you know as the Epistle to the Galatians. (If you didn’t know it, the entire area around Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium is known as Galatia. So, when Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, he was addressing it to all the churches in Galatia.)

Galatians 4:13-15(13) Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.(14) And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.(15) Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

They did not stay in the coastal regions but headed up into the highlands, the plateau area of Pisidia, coming to Antioch.

(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 unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

IX. Synagogue on the sabbath: I find it interesting, once again, that Paul is still meeting on the sabbath. It makes sense if you are going to try to reach the Jews with the Gospel. Every synagogue each sabbath reads a portion out of the law and a portion out of the prophets, even to this present day. They have a ritual, and they read both the law and the prophets. You can also tell which sabbath

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day it was in the year from where they were reading because they continue the same reading patterns, even today. After they had read from the law and the prophets, Paul began his sermon.

(16) Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.(17) The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.(18) And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.(19) And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.(20) And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.(21) And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.(22) And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

X. A history lesson: Paul started off his sermon by going over their history, in brief. He started off by telling them that God was with their fathers and how He had delivered them miraculously out of the bondage of Egypt and then put up with them for 40 years in the wilderness. God then brought them into the land He had promised them. After that, He had established judges over them, who ruled the nation of Israel for 450 years until the time of Samuel the prophet. The people came up with the bright idea that they would like to have a king over them and be like other nations.

Theocracy: Up until this point, Israel had been a theocracy—a people who had been ruled by God. They were no longer satisfied with such an intimate relationship. One of the worst days in the history of Israel was when the people demanded to go from a theocracy to a monarchy in order to be like other nations.

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In I Samuel, we are told that the people requested that they might have a king like other nations. This upset Samuel very much, but God said to Samuel, “Don’t be disappointed; they have not rejected you. They have rejected me from ruling over them.” So, God had Samuel anoint Saul, son of Kish, to be the first king of Israel. Saul reigned for 40 years.

Near the end of Saul’s reign, Samuel was an old man and could barely see, but the word of the Lord came unto him and told him to go to Saul and to tell Saul to go down and utterly destroy the Amalekites. Saul was to utterly destroy everything—and I mean everything. Nothing was to remain alive. As you know the story, Saul went down to the Amalekites, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Saul. When Saul saw how strong and healthy the cattle and sheep were, he decided against destroying them, though he did totally destroy everything else that was not worth keeping. Everything else he saved, including King Agag, himself.

As Saul was returning, Samuel heard the commotion and went out to meet him. Saul said, “As the Lord liveth, I have done all that the Lord commanded me to do,” to which Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep I hear?” I do think it is interesting that Saul uses the spiritual jargon of “As the Lord liveth” before he lies to Samuel about what he has done. When Samuel pointed out the obvious, Saul simply said, “Oh, yea, we kept the good stuff because we’re going to sacrifice them to the Lord.” Samuel’s answer is recorded in I Samuel 15:22-23.

1 Samuel 15:22-23

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(22) And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.(23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

God is now going to look for a man after His own heart who will do the will of God.

Good seeks a man: It does seem to be the case throughout history that God is always seeking a man after His own heart who will do His will. Too many times, we, as people, are like Saul. It is really our own will that is at the center of our lives and not God’s will. Because self is at the center of our lives, we give in to seeking our own will rather than God’s and often wind up rebelling against the will of God when it comes to a choice. My will or God’s will? More often than not, it will be our will that prevails. God, however, seeks after a man who is after His own heart.

The time of Ezekiel: You might recall that during the time of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord God had said:

Ezekiel 22:30(30) And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

God is searching for a man after his own heart who will do His will. During the time of Ezekiel, He could find none. Things were different during this particular period of time when Saul was rejected as king over Israel. God did find one, and that one was David. So, Paul declared that God found David, a man after His own heart to do His will.

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Not flawless: I love the fact that God said that David was after His own heart. Why is that? I love it because David was not flawless. David was a deeply flawed man, but he was a man who would put God’s will at the center of his life. When issues arose and the showdown came, David was a man who chose the will of God over his own every time. A man who will do God’s will is a man after God’s own heart. Thus, He says, “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart which shall fulfill all my own will.”

(23) Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

XI. Getting down to the heart of the matter: After Paul finished rehearsing their history, he came to the subject of Jesus. By taking a huge leap, he went from David to the Savior in one final step.

From David to Messiah: There came a time in David’s life when he realized that God had been so good to him—so merciful to him—that he wanted to build God a temple. In fact, he told the prophet Nathan, “I have a desire to build God a house. I’m dwelling in this beautiful palace, and the arc of the covenant is still in a tent” (II Samuel 7). David wanted to do something grandiose that would express his gratitude for what God had done for him. In David’s mind, he had so much that God had given him, and it seemed that God had so little. So, he wanted to build Him a house. As most of you know, at first the prophet Nathan told David to go for it, to “. . . do all that is in thine heart . . .” ( II Samuel 7:3). Later that evening, however, the Lord spoke to Nathan and told him that he had been too quick in giving David the go ahead. He told Nathan to go back and tell David that God could not allow him to build Him a house because David’s hands were bloody.

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The Lord told Nathan to let David know that instead of David building a house for Him, He was going to build one for David. The Lord told Nathan to tell David, “. . . I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people. . . (II Samuel 7:8). From his seed there would sit One on the throne of Israel forever (II Samuel 7:16), signifying that the Messiah would come through David.

Nathan went back to David and basically told him, “I’ve got some good news, and I’ve got some bad news. The bad news is I spoke too soon. God said you cannot build Him a house because you have blood on your hands. The good news is that God is going to build you a house. From your seed, David, there will be One who sits on the throne of Israel forever.” David knew exactly what God was saying. From his seed, the Messiah would come. The beautiful part about David’s response was that he went in before the Lord and said, “Oh, God, I was a nobody; I was but a kid in the hills of Bethlehem following the sheep, and You took me from that sheepcote and made me ruler over Your people. You’ve done so much for me, and now You tell me that there is a time coming that the Messiah will come through my lineage. Oh, God, what can I say?” David was totally dumbstruck by the riches of God’s grace upon his life.

All of us should have the reaction of David. When we look back at our lives and consider our own wretchedness, our miserable failures, and our often-faithless response to His faithfulness and then experience the overwhelming grace of God being poured out in abundance upon us, it leaves us speechless. What can we say in the face of God’s grace?

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(24) When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.(25) And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.(26) Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

XII. God kept His promise: Paul showed that God kept His promise. He first sent John the Baptist, who was the fulfillment of the prophecy given in Isaiah 40:3.

Isaiah 40:3(3) The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

John was the forerunner to the Messiah, who is Jesus.

(27) For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

XIII. Not knowing the prophets: I find it very interesting here that Paul said that those that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, did not recognize Jesus. They did not know Him when He came. They did not acknowledge Him as the fulfillment of the Messiah because they did not know the voices of the prophets, which they, themselves, read every sabbath day. Because they were ignorant of this, they fulfilled the prophecy themselves in condemning Jesus.

Isaiah 53:3(3) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

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(28) And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.(29) And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

XIV. Fulfilled: Psalm 22 and Isaiah 52 and 53 have now been fulfilled. When these prophecies of scripture were completed, they took Jesus down from the tree.

(30) But God raised him from the dead:

XV. Sole sermon: This is the only full sermon that we have of Paul the Apostle. Just as I pointed out to you in Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, there is a simple theme that runs through them, and that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, it was the Apostle Paul who wrote this as recorded in Romans Chapter 10:

Romans 10:9(9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

You see, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential to salvation, which is why it is the central message of the Gospel. It proves His deity. It proves the validity of His atoning death and authenticates everything that He said while He was on the earth.

(31) And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.(32) And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,(33) God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

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(34) And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.(35) Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.(36) For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:(37) But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.(38) Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

XVI. Driving the point home: Paul began to drive the point home in his message quoting the scriptures off the top of his head and from the core of his heart proving from the Psalms the promises of the resurrection—that the Messiah’s body would not see corruption and pointing out that David could not have been speaking of himself because his own body had already seen corruption—but not Jesus. God had raised Him from the dead. “. . . Through [Him, we are preaching to] you the forgiveness of sins.”

a. Man’s greatest need: Man’s greatest need can only be fulfilled in Jesus Christ because man’s greatest need is the forgiveness of sin. It is impossible for a person to have fellowship with God—to be at one with God—apart from his sins being forgiven. Paul preached to them and to us the possibility of man becoming one with God through the forgiveness of his sins, which is possible only through Jesus Christ because He alone fulfilled all prophecy, was crucified, and rose again.

(39) And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

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XVII. The superiority of Jesus Christ: Paul began to drive home the superiority of Jesus to the law, that only through Jesus all who believe are justified (just as if I’d never sinned), and those of us who believe are justified of all things, which the law could not do. I covered this very thoroughly in our study of the book of Romans. It is so evident that Paul loved the theme of “Justification by Faith Alone,” as we all should.

(40) Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;

XVIII. A warning: Paul brought gravity to his sermon by warning his listeners not to become one of those of whom the prophets spoke.

(41) Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.(42) And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.(43) Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

XIX. Continue in the grace of God: Herein lies the problem, my friends. When these men of Galatia heard the Good News, Paul persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. They did for a while, but then we read the heart-wrenching words that Paul would write back to the churches in Galatia.

Galatians 3:1-3(1) O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?(2) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

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(3) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

So sad: What a grievance it must have been to the Apostle Paul to have to write the words of rebuke to these Christian believers in Galatia, who started off so well, trusting only in the grace of God, only to be “bewitched” by false brethren and false teachers who convinced them that grace was not enough. They began to rely upon their performance in order to garner the favor of God. This is a problem even in our day, friends. It is so human nature during times of testing or trial that we begin to think that we are not doing enough or that somehow all that Jesus did was not enough. This is exactly what the enemy wants you to believe. Don’t you fall for it.

(44) And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

XX. Word travels quick: The whole city turned out to hear the Word of God.

(45) But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.(46) Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

XXI. To the Jew first: The Gospel was taken to the Jew first, but having been rejected, Paul and Barnabas turned to the Gentiles.

Romans 1:16(16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

This will be Paul’s pattern in preaching. He took the Gospel to the Jew first in order that they might

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have the opportunity to accept or reject it, and then he moved on to the Gentiles.

a. Self judgment: What an interesting statement: “. . . judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.” We have talked about this in depth before that when men make a judgment about Jesus, in actuality, they are judging themselves. Just as Pilate said, “What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?” You see, Pilate had already made his judgment concerning Christ, but, in reality, he was judging himself. As I’ve said in the past, that one question that Pilate asked is one that every person has to face. Every one of you will face it: “What am I going to do with Jesus?” It can’t be avoided. You have to make a judgment call concerning Him. Know this of a surety: In judging Him to be the Son of God or not the Son of God, Savior or not Savior, in reality, you are judging yourself because you are the one whose destiny will be determined by your decision.

You see, your decision concerning Jesus has no effect on His destiny. Your rejection of the truth does not stop it from being true. Jesus will be what He has always been, and He will be where He always has been—at the right hand of the Father. But your destiny is determined by what you do with Jesus. My admonition to you is: Don’t be like these foolish Galatians who judged themselves unworthy of eternal life.

(47) For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.(48) And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

XXII. Predestination?: Inevitably, it is verses like this that bring up the question of predestination. First and foremost, let me state one thing from the start.

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Predestination is an actuality; it is a fact. I don’t know any Bible teacher or pastor worth his salt who doesn’t acknowledge predestination, for the Word of God, itself, declares:

Romans 8:29(29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

You see, the question boils down to this: Does God appoint? Does God choose? Does God predetermine? My Calvinistic brothers would say, “Absolutely!” citing the Doctrine of Sovereignty and scripture such as this one for their belief in predestination. We also have to consider verses like I Peter 2:8.

1 Peter 2:8(8) And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

Ultimately, the argument will come around to the issue of man’s free will. Whether you are in the Calvinist camp or the Arminianist camp, they both believe in sovereignty to differing degrees; yet, they differ altogether when it comes to the issue of man’s free will. My Calvinist friends would argue that there is no such thing. My Arminianist friends would say that man does have a free will and, even in his fallen state prior to Jesus, has the ability to choose for himself whether or not to accept or reject Christ and that his decision is totally predicated upon his own reasoning and not according to the predeterminant will of God. A true Calvinist would totally reject this statement on the basis of man’s total depravity. Calvin argued that because man is totally depraved, he has no ability to choose that which is good.

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Even the great theologian Jonathan Edwards in his book, Freedom of the Will, came to believe and understand that man will always choose in the direction of his inclination; meaning, therefore, if a man is totally depraved, his heart is then inclined to evil and that from his birth, which the scripture says. Therefore, he would always choose evil. This isn’t much of a definition of free will but more of an argument for predetermination. On the other hand, those in the Arminianist camp would say that man is totally depraved and not really able to do anything good or productive based on the same argument with the caveat that because to every man is given the measure of faith, the unregenerated man, even in his fallen state of total depravity, still has the ability because of his free will to at least choose to believe and have faith in Jesus Christ. Which one is right?

a. Einstein’s static universe: In 1917 the great physicist Albert Einstein had first come to the conclusion that the universe must be expanding because of his general law of relativity, but this did not fit into his understanding of the universe. So, with some sharpening of his pencil, Einstein could show mathematically that the universe was static; that is, never changing. It would be 1929 when the American astronomer Edwin Hubble proved beyond the shadow of a doubt because of new technology at the time and telescopes that the universe was, in fact, expanding. Einstein went to meet Hubble and to see for himself. Having seen the evidence, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists at the time and still to this day, was forced to abandon his view of a static universe calling it, “The biggest blunder he had ever made.” What does that have to do with us and our discussion?

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b. It is because the view within the body of Christ is that Christianity and the Word of God are static, or, more importantly, that our understanding of the Word of God is static. Just as I would not want to go to a doctor who practices 15th century medicine, I think it is absolutely foolish to throw all of our spiritual eggs in the basket of one man or the other—Calvin or Arminius. Most of the men that God has used throughout the centuries had many things right; but, they didn’t have them all right. Have we not grown in our understanding of scripture in the last 2,000 years? I say, “Yes!” but some say, “No!”

(49) And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.(50) But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.(51) But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.(52) And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

Conclusion:

I find it interesting that even in the midst of persecution, the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. It has often been said that these two are companions. To be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with joy.