The Gospel to the Gentiles

 

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 9 AUGUST 2026 pm – PASTOR H CASKEY

Acts chapter 13 verse 42 – 49

Turning here to the 13th chapter here of the book of Acts. We see here the apostle Paul and Barnabas they have been separated. It tells us that as we go back to the beginning of the chapter, it tells us there in verse one, “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simon and was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Manaen which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch and Saul.” Then it says in verse number two, “as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work where onto I have called them." And so they were separated, and they were sent forth to preach the word of God. It tells us in verse number five, it says, "And when they were at Solamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews." And then in verse number 14, it says, "And now they come to Antioch." So they have moved on. They're in Pasidia now and “they went into the synagogue there. And it was the Sabbath day.” And this is a wonderful sight that we have here because we see these two preachers, these two followers of Christ, and they're going into the synagogue and they take their seats in the synagogue. And when they take their seats in the synagogue, the leader of the synagogue, he gets up and he goes through what he has to do. first and foremost, he reads, he prays or whatever the case may be. But then seeing Paul and Barnabas sitting there, he looks over to them and he says, "Men, if you have a word, then bring it now." And so they get up and they bring a word. And then we read where Paul and Barnabas, they take them down through the history of the Jewish nation. And they take them right from Egypt, through the pilgrimage and the wanderings and they bring them right to the cross of Calvary and they take them right to the empty tomb where the Lord Jesus Christ had risen. And you know, no matter where we begin at, we must always come back in our preaching to the cross of Calvary. We must always come back to the empty tomb because therein is the power of God this evening. Acts 13 and verse number 42, it says, "And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next season." You see, dear friends, there was a hunger here for the word of God.  I want to focus on that little phrase in verse number 42, “these words might be preached the next Sabbath.”

First of all, I want you to think of the priority of the message. Here were a people and they realized in the depths of their hearts that they had never heard anything like this before. Here was something that they wanted to hold on to and they wanted to hear it again. Their request was a simple one. They came to the preachers and they said, "Is it possible that we might hear this again next Sabbath?" The priority of the message. Remember the woman whenever she was at the well? There she tasted of the water that the Lord could give her. That water that would bring everlasting life. She left the water pot that she had brought out of her house to fill. But she had heard something that day that thrilled her soul and she left it all behind her. She couldn't wait any longer. She had now tasted of that water of God's salvation. But do you remember whenever she went out into the city what she said to the men of the city? She just simply said this, "Come and see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is this not the Christ?" There was a priority about her message. That priority took her away from the well that day to tell others about it. She didn't go back into her own home. Instead, she left the well that day burning with this ambition and with a great burden in her heart to tell others about the message that she had received. Why? There was a priority, but there was an importance about it. Come and see. This man that told me all things. Their request was a simple one. They wanted to hear the same words again the next week. They weren't interested in looking after the preachers. They wanted to hear the message. They knew there was a priority here. They knew there was an an importance here about this message. One of the old preachers of a bygone day, he told the story of how he had been preaching in his church on a particular Sunday morning and he was booked to do a little mission hall that was not far from the church in the afternoon. In the congregation there was a lady who was visiting in the area. She had come over from England and she had heard so much about this preacher and she wanted to come along to the church to hear him. She heard him and then she heard that it was announced that he was preaching in this little mission hall just that very same afternoon. And she thought to herself, "Well, this is great. I'll go along and hear him again." And so she went along to the mission in the afternoon. And the preacher got up and he read his text and he preached the same sermon that he preached on the Sunday morning in the church. And of course whenever the lady was going out she shook his hand and she said “you know I have travelled all the way from wherever it was in England. I heard you were preaching in your church in the morning and I came to hear you but she says you have so disappointed me this afternoon. You just preached the same message word for word as you preached this morning." And the old preacher looked at her and he said, "Well, ma'am," he says, "More fool you for following the preacher." You see, it's the message that's the important thing. It's not the preacher, it's the message that's important. These two preachers had stood up, had taken their congregation down through the whole history of the nation, bringing them right to the cross and to the empty tomb. And the people realized that they had never heard anything like this before. Do you remember Lydia? She left off trading in Philippi that day because she heard about the little meeting that was going on just outside Philippi, just at the riverside. She went along and sat down with the other woman folk and the apostle Paul got up and began to speak. She heard what the preacher said, but something very special happened to Lydia as she sat there listening to the word of God. It tells us that the God of heaven reached down into that very meeting, singled Lydia out and opened up her heart that she was able to receive the word of God and be gloriously saved. It tells us in verse 48, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and they glorified the word of the Lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life." In verse 38, it says, "Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." You see, they were hearing something new. They realized the importance of this message because Paul had explained it in such a simple manner. He says “In this man, in the Lord Jesus Christ you have eternal life because he came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost and on the cross of Calvary he died.” He died for your sins. Then he took them to that morning at the empty tomb. He took them there and the stone was rolled back and the ladies looked in and the angel said, "You seek the living amongst the dead. He's not here because he has risen." This was the message that these people needed to hear. That's the same message this evening. That message has not changed. It's the message of God's salvation to you as you sit and listen this evening. Because the God of heaven, he loved you with an everlasting love. And he took his only son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem you from a lost mankind and to save your precious soul. What a wonderful message this is. Think of Jeremiah, the prophet in the Old Testament scriptures. In chapter 37 Jeremiah is in prison. The people didn't like what Jeremiah had to preach. He was preaching about judgment that was going to come upon the nation. The false prophets were saying, "Listen, judgment's not going to fall." Jeremiah was saying, "You're going to be in Babylon for 70 years." The false prophets were saying, "No, if we do leave Jerusalem, it'll be for maybe two years, and the Lord will bring us back again." But the people didn't like Jeremiah's message. And so, they had him cast into prison. And Zedekiah the king, sent privately for Jeremiah. He wanted Jeremiah to be taken out of the prison house and brought into his presence. He said to Jeremiah secretly in the house, he says, "Is there any word from the Lord?” Here was a man who was beginning to think now about God's word more seriously. I wonder, have we ever sat down and thought about God's word more seriously and what it means to us? A young man took a call to a big busy city church. He felt overwhelmed by it. He felt that he wasn't up to the task. He spoke to his father, a learned man in the word of God. "Dad I've been called to such and such a church in the city. I don't really know whether I'm up to the task." "How do you mean, son?" "You know, Dad in that church, it's a great big congregation, but it's a university city. If I get up into the pulpit and start to preach to that congregation, when I look down, there are school teachers there. There are professors in law there. There are barristers are sitting there and bank managers, financial advisors and judges sitting there. When I look down, I'm overwhelmed. What would I bring to a congregation like that?” And the old father responded, "Son, preach the gospel. That's what they need." And you know, that's what we need this evening again, even in our land. Didn't Jesus say, "Man shall not live by bread alone." “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word will never pass away?” Jesus came to Capernaum and the crowd gathered around and what did Jesus do? He preached the word unto them. Think of Cornelius. He was sitting in his own little home in the attitude of prayer. He was a man that was well thought of, a man of high esteem, a man who did many, many good things. He was a very religious man, a very devout man, but he wasn't saved. All of a sudden, there was someone standing in his midst. God had sent an angel right down to where Cornelius was. And the message for Cornelius was simply like this. “Send for Peter." The angel couldn't explain the way of God's salvation to him. But the message was “send for Peter. He's in Joppa. And when he comes, he will tell you words whereby you might be saved.” Whenever Cornelius heard that, he didn't tarry. He sent off some of his soldiers to find where Peter was. And whenever Peter heard that this man was looking for him, he didn't delay either. He came at once to where he was. And there he spoke to Cornelius and the gathering that he had brought in because Cornelius realized the importance of the message and the priority of the message. He realized that his little family and his neighbours needed to hear this. He gathered them all in. As Peter began to speak and explain the gospel, the Holy Spirit came and that whole house was turned upside down with the gospel

Notice the plainness of the message. Paul begins his message by taking his congregation down memory lane. He takes them right down into Egypt and speaks of those years of slavery. Then he speaks of the wilderness and how God provided for them. He speaks of the conquering of the land of Canaan. He speaks about the river Jordan been dried up for them to enter in. He speaks about Jericho and the city that fell before them. He brought all these things before them and then he brought them to the cross. A message that was easy to understand. The Apostle Paul when he spoke to the people in Corinth, said “Christ sent me not to baptize.” There was a debate and an argument about the ministry of Paul and the various preachers there in Corinth. Paul said, "My baptismal ministry is not important. I did baptize. but that's not important. Christ sent me to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross be made of none effect." Paul explained that the Lord Jesus Christ called him on the Damascus road and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then he was sent forth to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words, but the plainness of speech." Paul realized that he didn't need to use flowery language. He didn't need to dress up the gospel message. The central theme of the gospel message is the cross. Here's what Peter said. “Christ also hath once suffered for us, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit.” He went on to say, “who in his own self bare our sins on the tree.” Your sins and my sins were laid upon the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered, he bled, and he gave his life for you, taking every sin of this old world. I wonder tonight, have you claimed that? Have you come to the Lord Jesus Christ this evening hour? Have you cried out unto him, "I have sinned and I've come short of the glory of God, but my sins have been taken from me and placed upon my Saviour on the cross. And I believe it tonight." In Acts chapter 2, we see there the plainness of speech again. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They came out onto the streets and they began to preach with other tongues and the nations of the people could hear the word of God. And then there were those who started to object and Peter stands up and says “these men are not drunk. This is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel." And he took them right back into the Old Testament scriptures, into the book of Joel, and he began to explain what was happening before their very eyes. And they cried out, "Then what must we do?" And 3,000 souls were gloriously saved.

Notice here the power of this message. This is the message that they wanted to hear. You see, they listened to it on the first Sabbath day, and then they said, "Can we hear this again?" It had a great effect on them, the first Sabbath, but they wanted to hear it again in the second Sabbath. So, we see here the power of the message. It says in verse number 38, "Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." Paul says, "That's our preaching for you. Through this man, we preach the forgiveness of sins. Not through anyone else, not through a church that you may belong to. Not through doing the best that you can and living the life that you want to live, not through reading the Bible and praying, but through this man, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and his willingness to come into this world to seek and to save that which was lost.” Is there any wonder Paul could say, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel." He says, "I'm not ashamed of it." Now, he says, "I'm ready to go to Rome. And I'm ready to preach the gospel in this great intellectual and academic city. I'm ready to preach the simple message of the gospel that Christ has crucified and Christ has died and Christ has rose again from the dead because that is the power of God onto salvation.” Do you remember in Mark's gospel chapter 2 how the four men had a friend that couldn't walk? They took that man and placed him on a little stretcher and they carried him? They had heard that the Lord Jesus Christ was in Capernaum and they took him to where the Lord was. There was a  crowd around the house and they couldn't get into the house, so they just went up onto the roof and they made a hole and they lowered the man down. They began to look up and they could see all that was happening and they could see these men lowering this man down in the stretcher. The Lord saw their faith in doing so. But they lowered that man down and the Lord said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." And the religious leaders, my they were up in arms. “Who can forgive sins but God only?” they cried out. And Jesus says, "Well, is it easier for me to say, thy sins, be forgiven thee or to say to this man, take up your bed and walk?" You see, the Lord had the power to forgive sins. That's the message that we proclaim this evening. That through the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I can be forgiven of our sins. that you and I can have our home secured in heaven this evening. Isn't that what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

There is the prize of this message. In verse number 43 we read “now when the congregation was broken up and many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.” The prize of this message is to see men and women gloriously saved. Saul of Tarsus could point to a very place in the road. If you had said to this young man Saul of Tarsus, “where were you saved?” He could take you out that road and he could come to this place and he says it was right there. You see, that's the prize of the message of the gospel. If you had to say to Zacchaeus, “Where were you saved?” He could take you to Jericho. He could take you down that street and he could take you to that tree and he could say it was there that I was saved. The woman in John chapter 4, she could take you to the well. It's important tonight, dear friends, as we come to the close of a gospel message can you look back upon that day when you were saved? When you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your own and personal Saviour? The story is told of a toll man sitting in his little cabin. It's the dead of night and then a stranger comes down the road and the toll gates are down.  The stranger calls into the little cabin but there's no reply. And so the man jukes down below the barrier, looks in through the window, and the toll man is fast asleep. He wakes him up, and the toll man apologizes. He says, "I hear the call so often, I just sleep through it." How many tonight are sitting in this province at the end of a gospel meeting or a gospel mission and they have heard the call so often that they've just fallen asleep. Make sure that you are saved by God's grace.