Today we will be in Acts chapter 13 verses 13 through 52. Acts chapter 13 verses 13 through 52, the title of the message is When God Opens the Door. When God opens the door, seizing divine opportunities, that's what we're looking at this morning. And by way of Introduction, this morning, Steve Jobs founded Apple Incorporated. In 1976 was Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. And despite early successes, they had internal conflicts in the company. And Steve Jobs had an explosive personality and he would yell at people and cuss people out and do all kinds of things. And so in 1985, Jobs was ousted from his own company. And that could have been the end of Steve Jobs. if he hadn't been the unique person that he was, but he was ousted from the company he founded in 1985. the door was closed at Apple. So he went on to found NeXT Computing. And NeXT Computing built computing systems for education and different professional industries. And Steve Jobs had a dramatic change while he was at NeXT. No one knows exactly the story of what happened, but he had a dramatic change And during that time, he bought a little company called Pixar. And that was in 1986. And in 1995, Pixar released Toy Story, which I'm sure all of you with grandchildren are familiar with. So they made a lot of money off of that. And in 1997, Steve Jobs sold NeXT Computing to Apple Computers. And that brought Steve Jobs back into Apple. And then he ousted the CEO and took over his company again. And this time, instead of being a failure, he was very successful with Apple, and they created the iMac, and then the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad, which I'm preaching off of this morning. Jobs' ability to walk through the doors of opportunity despite setbacks and previous failures was instrumental in establishing Apple as one of the most valuable and influential companies in the world. If you try to do anything of significance in the world, if you try to serve God in any way, you will face opposition and you will face setbacks. One of the keys to dealing with these is to understand when God is opening and closing doors. And that's what we're talking about today, when God opens a door. So the passage we're going to study today covers the beginning of Paul's first recorded sermon during his missionary journey. It highlights his arrival in Antioch of Pisidia, his preaching in the synagogue, and the diverse reactions from the audience. And this study will help us to explore the key themes of God's faithfulness, the fulfillment of his promises in Christ, and the response to the gospel, and of course, the open doors of opportunity. So the first thing that we see is that Paul and Barnabas begin their missionary journey in Acts 13, 13 through 15. And in verse 13, we see their departure from Paphos and arrival in Perga. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John, deporting from them, returned to Jerusalem. Paphos was the city on the island of Cyprus where Paul and Barnabas preached to the Roman proconsul. You remember this from last week. His name was Sergius Paulus. And Sergius Paulus believed the gospel and they were opposed by Elymas, the sorcerer. And Paul made a prophecy and Elymas went blind temporarily. and Sergius Paulus got saved. And so from there they sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, which was located in modern-day Turkey. It was situated inland from the Mediterranean coast near the modern city of Antalya. And at the last part of this verse, the Bible says, and John, deporting from them, returned to Jerusalem. So John Mark returned to Jerusalem. His mother lived in Jerusalem. And maybe he went to visit his mother. The Bible doesn't really say why he returned, but we do know how Paul reacted to it. And Paul was not happy. Acts 1538, the Bible says, but Paul thought not good to take him with them who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work. So Paul looked at John Mark as a quitter and he wouldn't have that. So the next time Barnabas wanted to bring his cousin, John Mark, with them, Paul said, we're not going to do it. No, he quit before. And so they had a split and Barnabas went one way with John Mark and Paul went the other way. Also notice that the Bible says, he thought it not good to take him with them who departed from them from Pamphylia and went not with them to the work. Ministry is work. Now some people don't think that preaching and teaching is real work, but it is. The work Paul was talking about was the work of preaching and teaching and facing opposition for doing it. That's work. And Paul didn't want to take John Mark again because he quit the work and wouldn't stay with him. But later Paul changed his tune. He changed his mind about John Mark. And in 2 Timothy 4, 11, as Paul is facing death and he's locked up, he says, only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry. So now Paul is saying, bring Mark. He's profitable to me. Mark went on to write the gospel of Mark. So now we go back to chapter 13 and we see the arrival in Antioch of Pisidia in verse 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. Now this is not the same Antioch where Paul and Barnabas were sent out of, the church of Antioch. That is Antioch of Syria. This is Antioch of Pisidia. So apparently Antioch was a popular name. But they go into the synagogue and sit down. Of course, Antioch was a significant city, and it was in the region of Galatia, in the province of Galatia. And it was an administrative and military center. And it was a city of Hellenistic culture and had a substantial Jewish community, which Paul and Barnabas addressed in the synagogue. Now, you notice that they go in and they sit down, which was the custom. And they sit down to hear the reading of the law and the prophets. And in verse 15, they get an invitation to speak. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them saying, ye men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. So it was traditional for the Jews to read the law. and the prophets. They would read through the entire first five books of the Bible, which is the law of Moses, they would read through that in a year. And they just took it in sections and read it on the Sabbaths in the synagogues and in other meetings, but they would read through it in a year. During the tyrannical reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus banned the reading of the law. So the Jews started reading from the prophets, and they found passages in the prophets that lined up with the passages in the law that they would have read. And so they started reading the prophets. And then after Antiochus, when it was legal to read from the law again, then they started reading both the law and the prophets. So that's what they were doing here. Paul and Barnabas are asked to speak. The synagogue was orderly in the way that they did their services. And we see that carried over into the church. In 1 Corinthians 14 40, Paul says, let all things be done decently and in order. So in the synagogue, people didn't just jump up and start speaking. Now in some churches, people do that. I don't know if any of you have ever been to a church like that, but in some places, they'll just, you know, the preacher's prepared a message and he's got his message and people just jump up in the middle of the service, I've got a word from the Lord, and start speaking and take over the service. Now Roger speaks sometimes during the service, but he doesn't take it over, he's basically doing an extended amen when he speaks. He'll compliment whatever I'm preaching, or he'll ask a question, which is great. But there are people, in fact, when I was younger, I talked to a guy. He was a young man. And he said, if the Lord leads me, I'll just stand up in church whenever I want to and start speaking if the spirit moves me. And obviously, that wouldn't be the Holy Spirit who's moving, because the Holy Spirit says, let all things be done decently and in order. But we see that the synagogue was orderly in the way it was ran, and Paul and Barnabas listened patiently, and then the leaders of the synagogue sent a message and said, hey, if y'all have something to say, they were Southerners. They said, if y'all have something to say that'll encourage us, say it. And so Paul and Barnabas, you know, Paul acted as a guest in these synagogues. It wasn't his synagogue, it was somebody else's, so he would act as a guest, which was the right thing to do. Chaplain Richard Steele and I went to the Philippines one time, and we were in the Philippine Islands, and we were near a Catholic seminary where they trained priests, and we were invited by the seminary to have dinner with them. So we went, we were their guests, so we were very polite. And we ate dinner with the priest and we're talking. Everybody spoke English, so we were talking to them. And there was some guy there from the Vatican that was really big, but he didn't come to the dinner. He went up on the hill to something. And so we were eating and chaplain asked if we could say a few words. He said, we are preachers. Can we say a few words? And so they said, sure. So we were very polite, but we got up and preached the gospel to them. And we weren't rude, because we were in their house, but we preached the gospel. And so Paul is in. Well, actually, Chaplain did say that preachers should be married. He threw that in. At any rate. you know, because priests don't get married, right? But anyway, Paul and Barnabas here are asked to speak, and it's their house, so that, you know, it's their synagogue, the other people's synagogue, so they're very polite, and they stand up, and we have Paul's sermon recorded here. And so we see Paul's sermon in the synagogue, verses 16 through 41. And the introduction and appeal is seen in verses 16 and 17. And Paul began by saying, then Paul stood up and beckoned with his hand and said, men of Israel and ye that fear God, give audience. So the men of Israel is of course the Jews and ye that fear God are the Gentiles who were present there, the Jewish proselytes. They were Gentiles who believed in the Jewish God. 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. And this was actually a very common way of beginning a sermon. Stephen did a similar thing. They would go and give a history of Israel. So he goes back and he talks about their deliverance and the exodus from Egypt. And then he talks about God's faithfulness to Israel in verses 18 through 22. And about the time of 40 years, suffered he their manners in the wilderness. Now the Jews had bad manners in the wilderness. If you, I don't know if you, well, all of us remember this, but when they were in the wilderness, what did they do a lot of the time? They complained. They griped and complained. You know, we don't have water, the water's no good, and the food is boring, we're sick and tired of eating angels' food, we want something else to eat, and so God suffered their manners in the wilderness for 40 years, and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. So the children of Israel took the land, from the people in Canaan by God's decree. And so a lot of times people get, like there's people in the United States that bring up grievances from land supposedly stolen from Mexico, many centuries ago and they want to bring up all this stuff and you know in Israel they fight over the land that's supposed to belong to all these people but there's just there's times when God decrees in history for land to go to certain people and that's what it's supposed to be that's where it's supposed to be and it happens In fact, they had a big scandal up in Canada over supposedly land that was stolen from natives, and they were all buried out there, and cemeteries had been desecrated, and then in the end, there was nobody buried there. It was all a scam. But they had like protest over it. It was a scam. But at any rate, God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and divided their land to them by lot. And after that, he gave unto them judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the prophet. And afterwards, they desired a king. And God gave unto them Saul, the son of Sis, or Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin by the space of 40 years. So Saul became their king because they rejected direct rule from God through the judges, and they wanted a king like the other nations. So he gave them Saul. Sometimes God gives you what you ask for, and it doesn't turn out well. We ought to pray thy will be done instead of, you know, demanding certain things. You can pray specifically, but pray for God's will to be done because sometimes He gives you what you want and it doesn't turn out well. And by the way, I want to thank John for pointing out that we had three internet things because the slides are working this morning. Now they may quit after I say this, but they are working this morning. They've been breaking every other week. And he said, isn't there a third one of those? And I said, Yes, I'll have to go look for that. And I said it'd be a good idea if we put it in the office over there. Well, it turns out it was in the office. And it's hooked up in the office. And the door has been shut. And I think the shut door was blocking the signal. So I opened the door, and it seems to be working fine. So appreciate that, John. So. So anyway, they desired a king and God gave them Saul for 40 years. 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 fulfill all my will." Now David sinned against God. He committed adultery and murder, but he was still a man after God's own heart. He repented and he did the will of God. Saul constantly would disobey God. David lived a life of trying to do what God wanted him to do. And now we see in verses 23 through 31 proclamation of Jesus as the promised savior. Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a savior, Jesus. Now, according to his promise, what promise? God promised that the Messiah would come from David. Psalm 89 verses 3 through 4, I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, thy seed will I establish forever and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. Isaiah 9, 6-7 is a prophecy of the Messiah, and it shows that He is a son or a descendant of David. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. I don't know how you can read this and not know that Jesus is God from reading this. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom. To order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So the Messiah would sit on the throne of David. He would be a descendant of David. Now back to Acts 13. When John had first preached, Before his coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, John had a message of repentance, telling the people to repent and believe in the Messiah who was coming. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, to 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. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. So he's including both Jews and Gentiles and saying to you is this word of salvation sent. 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. So the people in Jerusalem read the prophets every Sabbath day, and they did not know their Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the prophets prophesied that the Messiah would be crucified. And these people who read the prophets every day rejected their Messiah and fulfilled the prophecies by crucifying the Son of God, the prophecies they were reading. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. So there were many people that saw him alive. And now he gives scriptural support for the resurrection in verses 32 through 37. And we declare unto you glad tidings, this is good news, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 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 and that is found in our Bible in Psalm 2 and verse 7 I will declare the decree the Lord hath said unto me thou art my son this day have I begotten thee and As concerning that he raised him up from the dead how no more now no more to return to corruption He said on this wise. I will give you the sure mercies of David and And that's found in Isaiah 55, 3, incline your ear and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Wherefore, he saith also in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. And that's found in Psalm 16 10, for thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. 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." So he's saying this was not written ultimately about David, even though David wrote the psalm and said, you will not leave my soul in hell or in the grave, neither will you suffer your holy one to see corruption. David wasn't writing about himself because he died and his body decayed. But he was writing about the Messiah. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. That's Jesus Christ and that's who David was writing about. And so in verses 38 through 39, having established the resurrection from Scripture, now he offers forgiveness and justification. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, Jesus Christ, through this man has 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." So he's preached the gospel here. All that believe, not all that behave. Not all that obey the law, but all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. That's the gospel. And now we see in verses 40 through 41 a warning against rejecting the gospel. Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. 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. This is a quote from Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 5. Behold, ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously. For I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. And so then we have their response to the gospel message. This is the third section of this. Their response to the gospel message, Acts 13 verses 42 through 52. And we see their initial reception in verses 42 and 43. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. So after the Jews left the synagogue, either because the worship service was over or because they were offended by Paul's message about Jesus, The Gentiles who had been listening asked if Paul and Barnabas could speak to them again the following Sabbath. These Gentiles were interested in what Paul had taught and wanted to hear more. And now in verse 43, 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. So we see that even though it started with the Gentiles, it's not just the Gentiles, but it's the people, it's the Jews and Gentiles decided to follow them and hear more. This highlights how the message of Paul and Barnabas was so impactful that the listeners eagerly anticipated another opportunity to hear them speak. In verses 44 through 45, we see widespread interest and opposition. And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. So they were so excited that they went out and invited all their friends and neighbors We need to have a friend and family day here soon where we invite a bunch of people. But all their friends and neighbors were invited and they came to hear the word of God, almost the whole city. 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, very similar to what Elimas did. with the proconsuls, so they're blaspheming and speaking against Paul. These are the unbelieving Jews, obviously. These are the unbelieving Jews. In verses 46 through 48, we see that Paul turns to the Gentiles. 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 you put it from you and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. And of course, it had been the Gentiles who had first approached Paul and Barnabas after the service wanting to hear more. And the Gentiles were, in general, more receptive than the Jews. But the gospel had to go to the Jews first, because Romans 1.16 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. And Acts 13 verse 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. This is a reference to Isaiah 49 verse 6. And he said, is it a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel? I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. So we see even in the Old Testament, it was prophesied that the gospel, the message of the Messiah would go to the Gentiles. In the Great Commission, Christ had told them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1.8, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 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. So the Gentiles were glad that God cared about the Gentiles. They had been in the synagogue where they were treated as second-class citizens, and maybe not so much in this synagogue, but they normally were, especially in Israel. They were treated as second-class citizens, and now they're rejoicing that God cares about the Gentiles. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed, and we see here the free will of man working in conjunction with the sovereign will of God, to believe is an act of the will. But it is not as many as believed were ordained to eternal life, but rather it is as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. So God ordains their salvation, and then they believe the gospel as an act of free, or more specifically, freed will. But they get saved. And then we see persecution and expulsion, verses 49 through 52. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts." So they threw them out of the whole region. They said, get out of here. They stirred up the chief women who, no doubt, stirred up the chief men. Because if your wife's upset about something, well, you're upset about it eventually. So they stirred up the chief women and then the chief men. and they kicked them out of the coast. But they, this is Paul and Barnabas, shook off the dust of their feet against them and came unto Iconium. So Paul and Barnabas shake the dust off their feet is a symbolic act of rejection and testimony against those who reject their message. Jesus said, Matthew 10, 14, and whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. So there was opposition, but also great joy. So in conclusion, when God opens a door, Number one, recognize divine opportunities. Recognize divine opportunities. When God opens a door of ministry or witness, recognize it as a divine opportunity to share his message. Just as Paul and Barnabas were led to preach in new places and encountered receptive hearts, be alert to the opportunities God provides you in your daily life. Embrace them with boldness and faith. Recognize divine opportunities. Number two, persevere through opposition. Persevere through opposition. Even when God opens doors, you may face opposition and challenges. It's not you may, you will face opposition and challenges, just like Paul and Barnabas. Understand that opposition is a part of God's plan. Persevere with courage and trust that God will ultimately prevail despite the difficulties. Number three, trust in God's timing. This is hard to do, but trust in God's timing. Paul and Barnabas's journey reflects the importance of trusting in God's timing. They moved from place to place where their message was rejected and continued to other locations where it would be heard. Trust that God's timing for opening doors is perfect and that he has a plan for each season of your life. So trust in God's timing. And then finally, expect and embrace change. Nobody likes change, but we've got to express, expect and embrace change. When God opens doors, it often involves change and transition as seen in the shifts from one city to another in the apostle's journey. Embrace the changes that come with new opportunities and trust that God is guiding you through these transitions for his purpose. Ultimately, the change we need is the radical change of mind that comes to us through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. That's the change we all need. And that's the change that only God can give, the radical change of mind through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, because Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and if we'll turn to Him in faith, He will save us and give us eternal life. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the open doors that You give us, and I also thank You for closing doors that we don't need to walk through. And I do pray that you would grant us opportunities to share your gospel this week and share your word with our friends and family and loved ones and those we come into contact with. And I pray that you'll just help us to do that as we have opened doors. We ask it in Jesus name, amen. Let's stand and sing a verse of amazing grace if you need to come to the altar.