The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
June 21
Acts 13:42-14:7
Commentary by Nick Boork
June 21
Acts 13:42-14:7
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June 21 ~ Acts 13:42-14:7
So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 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, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 14
Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. 3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. 7 And they were preaching the gospel there.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In this portion of Scripture we see the apostle Paul emerging as the primary speaker wherever he and Barnabas traveled. The best way for you to grow is by practicing the Nike 101 principle “just do it”. We see an age-old conflict happening as new ministry rises up that brings a fresh word from God. The old, established, traditional, institutionalized religious systems just can’t handle it because people get excited when the anointing of God begins flowing freely and powerfully through new messengers that have come to town.
We see the apostolic call being clarified through Paul as the Jews reject his message. He said that the Lord has ordained that we be a light to the Gentiles. Something very important that I would point out here is that Paul had Scripture that he used to make his stand and defend his ministry. In verse 47 he quoted the prophet Isaiah: For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Ref; Isa. 42:6)
Even Jesus recognized His call to preach and based that call on the Scriptures themselves. A God called man will have the Scriptures come alive inside him with a conviction that moves him with faith to obey the leading of God and begin to preach. The anointing of the Holy Spirit will manifest through the gifts in operation per the area of ministry God has called you to fulfill. Jesus quoted directly from Isaiah the prophet, chapter 61, to when He began to preach. In other words, Jesus understood His call to preach from specific Scriptures and quoted the same publicly:
Luke 4:16-21: So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me. Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
From this point on, Jesus preached the gospel according to these Scriptures, bringing the message of God’s forgiveness, the power of deliverance from demonic oppression and the virtue of the Holy Spirit to heal humanity! (See my book Developing the Preacher Within You available on Amazon.com) So, the rejection from the Jews just solidified the specific calling that Jesus had given to Paul to be his witness to the nations. The Bible says that Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off from their feet against them. This is something Jesus instructed the apostles to do when people rejected their message:
Mark 6:11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! See also Matthew 10:14, Luke 9:5 So it appears that Paul and Barnabas continued this practice when the Jews from the synagogue rejected the Gospel. It was communicating to them that they clearly rejected the Word of God and the apostles were not going to even allow the dust from their city to stay with them. In other words we’re not partaking of your position of unbelief and we have no fellowship because you’ve made a clear decision to reject Jesus Christ.
Wow, today it seems like there’re so many pastors and leaders that just seem to want to please everyone and not offend anyone and not preach a message that would cause anyone to get upset about sin. It maybe a good idea to get back to this principle but I think it should be practiced at the leading of the Holy Spirit. If it had not been for the grace of God none of us would be saved and our heart attitude should be to please God and God is love. I think that the main reason for this practice was to make sure that people understood that they were rejecting Jesus Christ and his salvation. I’ll never forget the time that I was preaching on the streets in Pontiac Michigan and a couple of men confronted me that were homosexuals. They actually came up to where I was preaching and wanted to know my position on homosexuality to see if their lifestyle was acceptable as Christians. I felt the Spirit of God on the inside of me telling me to wipe the dust off my feet against them immediately. I actually bent down and began wiping the dust from my feet and looked in their faces and said you know the truth and you’ve rejected it. God loves you but he hates your sin. I left them with a couple of my street evangelism team members and turned back around, picked up my mega phone and continued preaching!
Today, there are entire denominations that have caved into the pressure to accept homosexuality as a lifestyle to the point of blessing and marrying gay and lesbian couples. When the government changes the standards of God concerning the family and marriage by rewriting the laws and allowing homosexuals to legally marry and become a family this is where the church should be the prophetic voice of God and draw a clear moral line. This is also where some denominations, churches and leaders will cave-in under the pressure and compromise the message of the Word of God. What did Jesus say about being salt and light?
WHATS THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in the synagogues of the Jews but the majority of the Jewish people rejected their message.
2) This only clarified the call that the Lord had given Paul to reach the Gentiles.
3) The apostle Paul had received a direct call from Jesus Christ but he also based his ministry upon the written Word of God that the Lord had revealed to him.
4) If you’re called to the ministry the Lord is faithful to speak you out of his Word and give you revelation knowledge from the Scriptures about your calling and ministry.
5) Paul and Barnabas had to shake the dust off from their feet and move on to another city preaching the gospel because the Jews rejected the salvation available in Christ alone.
6) God is love and wants to save every person however when people come out publicly against the Gospel rejecting it, sometimes the minister or the messenger needs to shake the dust off against them.
7) The gospel is the Gospel and if it offends some people we can’t compromise it to please men otherwise we will offend God. Today, many churches have departed from the requirements of salvation and the message of the Gospel has been watered down to not offend men. A gospel that does not require repentance or the turning away form sin is a false gospel and will produce false converts. Ref; Mark, 1:14-15, Luke 13:5
So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 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, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 14
Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. 3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. 7 And they were preaching the gospel there.
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In this portion of Scripture we see the apostle Paul emerging as the primary speaker wherever he and Barnabas traveled. The best way for you to grow is by practicing the Nike 101 principle “just do it”. We see an age-old conflict happening as new ministry rises up that brings a fresh word from God. The old, established, traditional, institutionalized religious systems just can’t handle it because people get excited when the anointing of God begins flowing freely and powerfully through new messengers that have come to town.
We see the apostolic call being clarified through Paul as the Jews reject his message. He said that the Lord has ordained that we be a light to the Gentiles. Something very important that I would point out here is that Paul had Scripture that he used to make his stand and defend his ministry. In verse 47 he quoted the prophet Isaiah: For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Ref; Isa. 42:6)
Even Jesus recognized His call to preach and based that call on the Scriptures themselves. A God called man will have the Scriptures come alive inside him with a conviction that moves him with faith to obey the leading of God and begin to preach. The anointing of the Holy Spirit will manifest through the gifts in operation per the area of ministry God has called you to fulfill. Jesus quoted directly from Isaiah the prophet, chapter 61, to when He began to preach. In other words, Jesus understood His call to preach from specific Scriptures and quoted the same publicly:
Luke 4:16-21: So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me. Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
From this point on, Jesus preached the gospel according to these Scriptures, bringing the message of God’s forgiveness, the power of deliverance from demonic oppression and the virtue of the Holy Spirit to heal humanity! (See my book Developing the Preacher Within You available on Amazon.com) So, the rejection from the Jews just solidified the specific calling that Jesus had given to Paul to be his witness to the nations. The Bible says that Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off from their feet against them. This is something Jesus instructed the apostles to do when people rejected their message:
Mark 6:11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! See also Matthew 10:14, Luke 9:5 So it appears that Paul and Barnabas continued this practice when the Jews from the synagogue rejected the Gospel. It was communicating to them that they clearly rejected the Word of God and the apostles were not going to even allow the dust from their city to stay with them. In other words we’re not partaking of your position of unbelief and we have no fellowship because you’ve made a clear decision to reject Jesus Christ.
Wow, today it seems like there’re so many pastors and leaders that just seem to want to please everyone and not offend anyone and not preach a message that would cause anyone to get upset about sin. It maybe a good idea to get back to this principle but I think it should be practiced at the leading of the Holy Spirit. If it had not been for the grace of God none of us would be saved and our heart attitude should be to please God and God is love. I think that the main reason for this practice was to make sure that people understood that they were rejecting Jesus Christ and his salvation. I’ll never forget the time that I was preaching on the streets in Pontiac Michigan and a couple of men confronted me that were homosexuals. They actually came up to where I was preaching and wanted to know my position on homosexuality to see if their lifestyle was acceptable as Christians. I felt the Spirit of God on the inside of me telling me to wipe the dust off my feet against them immediately. I actually bent down and began wiping the dust from my feet and looked in their faces and said you know the truth and you’ve rejected it. God loves you but he hates your sin. I left them with a couple of my street evangelism team members and turned back around, picked up my mega phone and continued preaching!
Today, there are entire denominations that have caved into the pressure to accept homosexuality as a lifestyle to the point of blessing and marrying gay and lesbian couples. When the government changes the standards of God concerning the family and marriage by rewriting the laws and allowing homosexuals to legally marry and become a family this is where the church should be the prophetic voice of God and draw a clear moral line. This is also where some denominations, churches and leaders will cave-in under the pressure and compromise the message of the Word of God. What did Jesus say about being salt and light?
WHATS THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in the synagogues of the Jews but the majority of the Jewish people rejected their message.
2) This only clarified the call that the Lord had given Paul to reach the Gentiles.
3) The apostle Paul had received a direct call from Jesus Christ but he also based his ministry upon the written Word of God that the Lord had revealed to him.
4) If you’re called to the ministry the Lord is faithful to speak you out of his Word and give you revelation knowledge from the Scriptures about your calling and ministry.
5) Paul and Barnabas had to shake the dust off from their feet and move on to another city preaching the gospel because the Jews rejected the salvation available in Christ alone.
6) God is love and wants to save every person however when people come out publicly against the Gospel rejecting it, sometimes the minister or the messenger needs to shake the dust off against them.
7) The gospel is the Gospel and if it offends some people we can’t compromise it to please men otherwise we will offend God. Today, many churches have departed from the requirements of salvation and the message of the Gospel has been watered down to not offend men. A gospel that does not require repentance or the turning away form sin is a false gospel and will produce false converts. Ref; Mark, 1:14-15, Luke 13:5
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll